Gameplay Session 2

 

From the Journal of Jarast the Sharp:

Fire Season, 327 A.E., Cinder waxing crescent, Wraith new:

Had I known, all those months ago, that leaving my little rock and taking a bunk aboard the Talulah would have brought me to this place, I likely would have made the same choice but I must confess I’d have had to think about it for a long while.  I cannot deny that Black Bay and the marshes that enclose it are like no other place I have seen in my travels, but whether that is a good thing or bad I leave to the judgment of the reader.

The journey itself was a simple enough matter, though it held some surprises of its own, which I will address shortly.  Upon accepting the commission of the elders of Hutum Cehecares, Captain Hohchifo set about learning what we could of our destination, this ill-humored bog that lured Imosak into its bosom with the promise of strong rope fibers, pretty black rocks, and leeches the length of a man’s forearm.  It was certainly well named, the water being darkened by the black mud of the marsh, which it apparently drags back in great quantities with regular tidal flooding.  It is not completely bereft of trees, as the occasional cypress, mangrove or dogwood will rise above the reeds and rushes, but it is these reeds that dominate the landscape.  That and the mud.  The water is brackish close to shore, foul and stagnant further inland except for a few clear running streams that make their way into the bay.  We did have the good fortune to find a well that was not entirely fouled in the abandoned village near where we dropped anchor.

I said that the journey there had its own surprises, which I will relate presently.  The second evening of our voyage I happened past the captain’s cabin and heard a loud thump within.  I knocked at the door and called out to the captain but got no answer, and so, naturally concerned, I made my way inside to find the man lying in a heap on the floor.  I attempted to rouse him to no avail, and so I immediately went for Loquosh, who was luckily nearby.  Loquosh brought forth a small pouch from within the larger deerhide pouch where he carries the various tools of his trade, dipped his fingers inside to produce a dab of one of the foulest ointments I have ever smelled, and wiped it on the captain’s upper lip.  The captain was unsurprisingly roused at once, fortunately none the worse for wear other than a bruise on his shoulder where he had fallen.  I was of course curious and concerned with the cause of his faintness, and this is when he and Loquosh swore me to utmost secrecy.  Captain Hohchifo is dying.  Slowly, to be sure, but certainly all the same.  Loquosh is as skilled in his occupation as any man I have ever known, and they have consulted with every healer in every port we’ve put into since before I came aboard, but if there is any cure to be found it eludes them thus far.  Only the three of us, and Hancha the first mate, know of this, and the captain wishes to keep it that way, and so I will tell nobody other than these pages until whatever illness he has makes itself impossible to hide.

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Begin a session: Important character is put in danger or suffers a misadventure

+1 Momentum.  Jarast learns that Captain Hohchifo is dying.  So far the crew does not know except for first mate Hancha and Loquosh the healer.

Gather Information about their destination and what they can expect to find.

Challenge: 3, 6 vs Action: 7, strong hit.

+2 momentum, learn the following details (none of which are a big surprise, so maybe throw something cooler in there)

Island terrain: Sodden

Island terrain detail: Low-lying wetlands

Island vitality detail: Thin woodlands, bleak scrub, stagnant marshes

Island coastline aspects: Inundated by tidal flooding

Set A Course to Black Bay

Challenge: 4, 1 vs Action: 7 (+supply), strong hit.  Arrive at destination, +1 Momentum

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I mentioned above that we dropped anchor near an abandoned village on the muddy shores of the bay.  Our overland expedition includes myself, Ekath, Hancha, and nine of the crew.  I was concerned that it might seem suspicious that Loquosh did not accompany us, but I expect it would be of even greater concern if the captain were to have another attack without the healer close at hand.  Regardless, the twelve of us made our way into the village, hoping that it might not be as abandoned as it seemed at first.  What we found was far stranger.  There was no trace of a living soul throughout the village, apart from the buildings themselves, and over what had once been the central square floated an object the like of which none of us had ever seen.  In form it was like a great diamond of eight faces, but made of what looked to be iron, half again as long as a tall man, floating perhaps twenty feet in the air.  It hummed softly and rotated as it floated, moving seemingly of its own accord and completely unaffected by the wind.  What purpose it served or perhaps still serves is anyone’s guess.  It seemed an ill-omened thing, though it did not cause us any harm or even seemingly react in any way to our presence.  We all thought it best to give it as wide a berth as possible, though a few men did draw needed water from the town’s well, which was in its shadow.

Further investigation into the area led to a much more immediate concern.  At the edge of the town was a large depression which bore all the signs of being the nest of some large animal.  One of the men saw a long trail leaving the nest to the north and declared that it could only be the lair of something he called an “okomalo”.  This meant nothing to Ekath or myself but certainly seemed to put a fright into the rest of the men.  I asked Hancha what an okomalo was and why it caused such apprehension, and he explained thusly: okomalos are a variety of enormous eels that prowl brackish waters, slow moving rivers, and muddy marshes, camouflaging themselves in the water or mud and waiting to strike at anything they can swallow. Given their enormous mouths, that includes even the largest of men.  They are also said to be able to paralyze anything that meets their gaze, making it that much easier for them to take their prey without exerting themselves.  The locals treat them with some degree of reverence, classifying them with the horned serpents, underwater panthers, sea dragons and herald turtles that make up the Water Beings, who are forever at war with the Thunder Beings (and I have often wondered, could these include the Storm Crows of our own tales?).  The parts of their bodies, particularly their scales and their eyes, are said to contain great magic for the rare man brave and skilled enough to claim them.  Ekath, ever the seeker of glory and trophies, was duly impressed and eager to test his skill against the beast, though the rest of us hoped we could avoid it altogether.  The man is skilled, to be sure, but once again I find myself hoping he does not become a liability before all this is over.

We split into small groups of three to briefly survey the town and its immediate surroundings.  As I said previously, it was devoid of any sign of human habitation, save one: a journal held by one of Imosak’s expedition, apparently a diarist like myself.  I came across it in one of the homes that had not completely collapsed, a sign that the people we seek had been here no more than perhaps ten days prior, likely less.  I still struggle with the Pushmatahan script, so I had to give it over to Hancha to read when we regrouped.  According to the journal, they had already gathered more than enough ropereed, several bags worth of jet and even some onyx, but Captain Imosak refused to return to Hutum Cehecares.  He seemed to be in search of something else, but would not say what.  More concerning, the okomalo had been stalking the group for days and had already taken two of the expedition members.  They were growing disgruntled, though if they were thinking of mutiny, the chronicler didn’t put it in his journal.  I noted that the fact that the journal was in the hut at all was a sign that they must have left in a hurry.

One of the other groups reported much more promising findings.  They had made their way to a low hill that offered a vantage point, from which they saw a distant plume of smoke some distance to the northeast.  Whether it was the men we sought only the gods could say, but at least it was a sign of some inhabitants, and so once we had all gathered what we needed we set out as a group in that direction.  We kept to the higher, dry ground as best we could, but all the same we found ourselves slogging through deep mud and cursing ourselves for leaving the longboat that had borne us to the shore behind, rather than taking it through one of the many shallow streams or waiting for the tidal flood so that we might take it further inland.

At length, we arrived at a small copse of dogwood trees that afforded us a little height, and that is where I now sit as I write this.  Somewhat disturbingly, we noticed that the largest of these trees had been carved with an image of a horned serpent, not unlike the very one the Talulah flies on her own flag, and that the carving had been painted over in what appeared to be relatively fresh blood.  Where once that image had given me hope as it flew high on the ship that rescued me from my island prison, now it fills me with unease.  The rest of the crew seem to feel the same, and Hancha reminded me that this island’s name, Sishtahallo, is in fact one of the names of the horned serpent.  None of us wanted to tarry long in this place, but the sun was low and this is the only place nearby that offers anything resembling shelter, so we each gathered enough reeds to create some decent bedding for ourselves and rolled some bones to see who would take watch and when.  I shall write again tomorrow night if I am not devoured by Sishtahallo or its offspring in the meantime.

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Undertake An Expedition to get the lay of the land upon arrival, and to look for any sign of Imosak.  Rank: Formidable.

Challenge: 8,1 vs Action: 6 (+wits), weak hit.

Reroll the 8 (Overlander asset), get a nine so nothing changes.

Waypoint reached but there’s peril almost immediately.

Overland cursed landmark: Lifeless settlement

Overland cursed detail: A black iron octahedron floats about 20 feet off the ground, slowly rotating and humming softly.

Overland peril: Wander into or near the lair of a predator.

Predator details:

Environment: Land (amphibious actually)

Scale: Large

Form: Snake/eel

First Look: Oversized mouth

Encountered behavior: Camouflage

Revealed aspect: Paralytic toxin

Overland opportunity: Path transitions into favorable terrain.

The creature is an enormous marsh eel known as an okomalo, said to lurk in shallow brackish waters and mud, waiting to swallow up anything that it can, including people*.  Its gaze is supposedly able to paralyze its prey.  Semi-legendary, considered to be part of the underworld & water creatures such as the Horned Serpent and Underwater Panther who are in constant conflict with the Thunder Beings.  Its scales, fangs, and eyes contain powerful magic for those who are able to defeat it, but most agree that it’s not worth the risk.  The creature is not in its lair when they arrive, but several of the crew recognize the signs and hope to avoid it.  Only Ekath wants to encounter it, hoping to win a good trophy.  Rank: Extreme, if we actually encounter it.

Secure An Advanage by spreading out to see signs of the okomala, the Imosak expedition, or anything else noteworthy.  The “Path transitions to favorable terrain” above means that there is a vantage point such as a low hill from which to observe.

Challenge dice: 3, 7 vs. Action: 8 (+wits): strong hit.  +2 momentum and +1 on the next roll.

A path of broken vegetation trails north, clearly made by the okomala.  The mud and reeds make tracking anything smaller (like people) much more difficult, but they do sight what may be a plume of smoke off some distance to the northeast.

Explore A Waypoint as they look around the abandoned village.

Challenge: 5, 1 vs. Action: 9 (+wits): strong hit.

Progress gained, plus something found from the previous expedition: someone’s journal.  They were definitely through here sometime in the last week or two and judging by how the journal was just left behind, they seem to have left in a hurry.  The journal has sketches, including a couple of the okomalo, which seems to have stalked them and caught at least a couple.

Undertake An Expedition in the direction of the plume of smoke.

Challenge: 7, 1 vs Action: 8 (+wits), strong hit. Mark progress

Nature of waypoint:

Descriptor: Mysterious

Focus: Message

Story Clue: Involves a cultural touchstone

Message indicates that this is the territory of the Horned Serpent, i.e. the official one.  The Okomalo may just be his offspring or little helper.  The Horned Serpent doesn’t suffer trespassers lightly.  Was Imosak hunting for more than just ropereed?

It’s getting late, but the smoke is still a ways away, so they find a dryish spot, cut some reeds for bedding, and draw straws to see who takes first watch.  I do not make an End A Session move, but I do call it a night.

 

 

*For the marine biology nerds out there trying to visualize an okomalo, it's basically like a gigantic eel of the genus Monognathus, except it lives in bogs and shallow, brackish waters instead of at the bottom of the ocean. It ain't pretty.