Foul Moving Castle
One Shot Open Table Play Report
Mythic Bastionland
The Fanged Knight
The Amber Knight
The Bone Knight
The Leaf Knight
Myths
The Legion
Prologue
I started by asking the players what they wanted to do this session and the players soon decided that there was a moving castle so ugly that it's existence was unwarranted. Sweat pouring down my brow I scoured the Myths to find something that would fit for I couldn't see the castle plot point filling more than 30 minutes in a 3-hour-session.
The players suggested more narrative elements and were, to my dismay, trending towards Disney-esque. Which is something that I don't enjoy as much as Arthurian/mythological. But I landed on the Legion as a good jumping off point for the session.
The Company had recently freed one of the four missing rulers from supernatural imprisonment, and we decided that should happen again today. The recently freed ruler had, in his supernatural cell, learned the way to locate the Moving Castle. This info was passed on to the Company and they were keen to set out. The Moving Castle had a formidable arch leading from the courtyard to the castle interior and the ruler was trapped in the keystone (think Han Solo in carbonite).
Chillbane Motte - 014.004
The Company arrived by sea at the Chillbane Motte and the Amber Knight wasted little time in acquiring a wheelbarrow of clay, which they hitched to their horse.
The Steward informed the Company that hostile troops to the south were becoming more and more a nuisance, but that their base of operations seemed impossible to find. Neither soldier nor hunter could locate the damned thing. As stated in the prologue, the Company knew how to locate the Moving Castle, but as I write this I realise we never really worked out any practical details.
015.004
The Company travelled east for several hours until it came time for lunch. The Amber Knight checked for allergies and decided that mushrooms would be a fitting meal for all. They found some large mushrooms nearby, bright and multi-coloured. We rolled to see if the mushrooms were hallucinogenic and the Amber Knight was soon travelling the ethereal expanse.
Being an avid potter their trip took them to their pottery wheel and the bowls and plates and jugs were soon churned out. The trip then took a different turn where the pots and plates grew and twisted and elongated. The Amber Knight found themself surrounded by many clay men. They all had the same face, but cracked and broken in different ways. Many clay hands outstretched, trying to suffocate the Amber Knight.
The Amber Knight returned to reality, brow sweating.
The Legion 1 - 015.004
After their drug-filled lunch break, the Company set off towards the south. Alas! their path was blocked by a large mud pool. One of the Company stubbornly tried to just wade through, but it was clearly evident that wading would be an ineffective (and possibly fatal) way to cross. The mud pool carried many broken helmets, but the Company thought little of this. Some helmets even had face plates, the faces bore the same characteristics as the faces in the Amber Knights vision. This inspired the Amber Knight to speak to the mud which answered only in the occasional bubble popping.
The Company was ready to find a way around the pool when they heard the helpless braying of a horse sinking in the mud. While the Amber Knight still spoke to the mud, the others were set on helping the panicking horse.
It took some deliberating, all the while the horse sank lower and lower and its cries became filled with anguish. It was eventually the Bone Knight who used their mail as a sheet to disperse her weight (their explanation made more sense than my summary here) and made her way to the horse. The Leaf Knight then stepped in and threw rope towards the Amber Knight and together pulled knight and horse out of the mud.
Let's see if this horse will come in useful later...
The Legion 3 - 015.004
Night fell and the Company made camp. During prep at least three voices approached. Two knights walked out to meet their visitors, while the Fanged Knight and the Leaf Knight hid in the bushes. The voices belonged to 5 soldiers of Chillbane Motte. They were a routine scouting party, but had been ambushed and lost 2 fighters. Both had immediately sunk into the soft ground the moment their soul left their body. The 5 survivors were battered and wounded and wished for company for the night before heading back to Chillbane Motte. The Company agreed to be that company.
The Legion 2 - 016.004
Morning saw the Company travel to higher altitudes where the ground was less moist. While surveying the upcoming path they saw a fleeing soldier, heading their way. The Amber Knight mounted a rock, ready to lob off the head of the soldier as he passed. The Leaf Knight wished not to wait and just threw a branch at the soldier, flooring him handily.
Five similarly dressed soldiers emerged from the tree line in formation. The soldiers had muddy banded mail and the same helmets the Amber Knight had previously found in the mud. I'm not sure if it was the Ludo pieces I used or the fact that I described a forward V-formation, but my players made several bowling comments and then all but the Leaf Knight charged towards the formation, trying to knock over as many as they could. While they charged, the Leaf Knight was intent on removing the visor of the soldier he had knocked down, he really wanted to get a glimpse of that face.
The Company succeeded in knocking over the incoming five soldiers and quickly slayed one of them. The Leaf Knight saw the face of the fallen soldier, the same face the Amber Knight had previously seen, but made of clay, stiff yet malleable (kinda like normal flesh). He handily decapitated the fallen soldier, thrust the head to the sky and yelled ferociously. The remaining soldiers lost another and suffered such a blow to morale all remaining turned tail and fled.
It was clear the soldiers were clay and blood come to life, but had poor morale. I was hoping this would set up something for future encounters, but during the following montage someone suggested the castle has a Big Badtm as the final showdown and the rest seemed to like this idea. So I diminished the role the soldiers would play in a final showdown and instead tried to work out how this Big Badtm would fit into the story.
Montage
The Company had learned of the soldiers, and they obviously knew how to find the Moving Castle. So I broke the pacing of the session and asked the players to describe their preparations as if it were an A-Team montage. They mentioned the knights were doing exercises and applying face paint, which would've sufficed were it a Rocky montage.
At some point earlier on in the session the Amber Knight's player suggested the Company could make a hot air balloon. The Leaf Knight would be in charge of a leafy balloon, the Amber Knight would make a burner (partially out of clay) and I guess the Bone Knight would then be in charge of the basket (?). At this point in the session I wondered if this idea would return, an airborne assault on the castle would be crazy and a hot air balloon feels very A-Team. But earlier in the session I had said that a hot air balloon was a a better fit for between sessions and I think that might've removed the idea altogether.
Eventually the montage consisted of the Company returning to Chillbane Motte, healing up, getting a cart of gunpowder-filled clay jars and the Company camouflaging themselves as clay soldiers. The Bone Knight sacrificed a pinky, specifically the bones, to bringing a clay soldier to life, whom he named Clayson. Clayson got the horse that was saved from the mud. Poetic how the the recently incarnated man rides a horse still coming back from a harrowing near death experience, like both are getting another chance.
Showdown Prologue
While the montage was being constructed I asked for something more substantial for the final showdown. I told the players how the plan would unfurl (see below) and that there would be a showdown in the throne room, between the Big Badtm and the Company. I didn't want a static clash of swords, so what would make this battle interesting?
We had some ideas go back and forth and I eventually came to the conclusion that we were sorely missing more lead-up to make this situation a real banger. Nonetheless, we decided that Moving Castle was to be exploded and now the stones would move erratically, as if in death throws. The Big Badtm also had a pet clay bear and was himself slowly turning into clay. These last two things were what pulled me over the line that the encounter was sufficiently mythic :P.
The Final Showdown - Somewhere along the Southern Peninsula
The Company rode to the Moving Castle. Disguised as clay soldiers they were admitted without issue. They positioned the cart of gunpowder in the courtyard, close to the main castle entrance and there it went off. Soldiers that had not taken cover were slain or severely wounded. Those still living were in heavy shell-shock. The explosion cracked the keystone in two, it appeared this was but a replica and the real Keystone that imprisoned the ruler would be deeper in the castle.
The Company strode into the Throne Room. The Big Badtm was seated upon the Keystone, his clay bear next to him. He revealed himself to be family of the imprisoned ruler. He was passed up and felt the island was his to take. The Company disagreed and made swift work of this foe. At one point a knight stabbed both eyes of the bear which would be kinda horrific, were the bear not made of clay and blood.
When the Company brought the Fallen Nobletm to yield he laughed, blood spattered out his mouth as he did. He claimed the Company needed him to break the curse, without him the Keystone would remain a keystone. The Company decided his life should end and his head was soon detached from his body.
Epilogue
The Company returned to Chillbane Motte with the Keystone. So the goal of the next session is set!
Final Thoughts
Since I run an open table game I don't know where players are coming from regarding their frame of reference. So when I subject them to my highly improvisational game I sometimes get mixed results. It seemed this time, moreso than previous sessions, that there was a disconnect where I wanted to avoid the more whimsy suggestions. It's just really not to my taste, but since running the session I have given some thought towards how better to guide suggestions (and possibly tolerate more whimsy).
The Fallen Nobletm trying to bargain for his life was a good choice since the players were split 2-2. Luckily Clayson was around to cast the deciding vote. But I feel as a referee presenting players with choices that they argue over is a big part of having an interesting emergent narrative.
I really enjoyed the puzzle of saving the muddy horse, but oh boy did it take a lot of time. So that meant that some other elements of the session had to be shortened, which is unfortunate, but it does explain why the final elements were somewhat brief.
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