The following journal describes the first session of a Monthly Gods of the Fall game run my Marc Plourde. You can find his session notes and GM prep for this session on his blog HERE it is a great read. The players and characters for this game are as follows:
Dave Hanlon plays Demodamas an Abrasive destroyer who delved too deeply.
Jim Baltzell-Gauthier plays Utar a Taran Champion who grows to Towering Heights
Andrew Lyon plays Iztal a Mysterious Shaper who walks in the Night
and I play Polodius an Inquisitive Savior who explores Dark Places
Now without further adieu…
23rd of Zenowa, 42AF – The Festival of the Fallen Gods
Quite a few interesting things happened this night of festivities. I could look at this night and say it changed the course of history for me and my companions. Some Scholar might argue the future of the Afterworld itself changed that night. I, however, cannot speculate. I am too close to the events to gauge their true impact. I will say that night started all that is about to transpire.
The night began quite benign, we were unaware that things were changing. Demodamas, Utar, Iztal and I were in Somorrah enjoying the opening ceremonies of the Festival of the Fallen. The Festival is a nightlong celebration of the Gods we once worshiped. On the night of the Festival, a shower of meteors streak through the sky. These meteors, according to the Church of Adherence, are signs from the old gods letting us know that they are still around and will one day return. Others believe they are just pieces of Elanehtar trying their best to remain in the heavens.
The ceremony was over and the revelry was commencing. We started heading off to grab some drinks when Iztal saw a sleen with a marionette puppet. The puppet Iztal noticed looked just like him. Everything even the mask and robes. The sleen, Iztal said looked at him in awe and then promptly dropped the puppet and ran. Iztal claimed when the puppet hit the ground his body felt the blow of the fall. However, after we retrieved the puppet we could not duplicate this effect. As Iztal, Demodamas and I tried our best to examine the puppet, Utar did his best to chase down the sleen. Both of us failed. The puppet didn’t hold any magical properties that we could find, and Damodamas and Iztal tore it apart looking for some remnants of Iztal in the puppet as if it was some sort of effigy, nothing was found.
It was a shame the puppet was destroyed, even though it was of a flimsy papier-mâché its craftsmanship was top notch.
We soon regrouped and decided to chalk the whole incident up as a strange oddity of the night since we had nothing to go on. None of us knew then the great future that lay before Iztal, but looking back I think the sleen artist must have had some great foresight ability and had known of the greatness to come.
The next encounter we had that evening, seemed like a small event at the time. Back then we knew nothing of the Risam family, and what they would mean for our future. You see we were heading towards the inn where I had reserved a balcony seat that overlooked the amphitheater where the Elizium Players were to put on a show before the Meteor shower, when I kicked something on the ground. I looked down to see it was a jeweled amulet. I picked up the amulet and could tell there was something special about it. Its gold trim was intricate and the jewel was flawless, it seemed to radiate power. As I was examining the jewelry Utar called from an alley nearby. I looked up and saw him escorting a very distraught looking young woman. The woman was dressed in her festive garb and held a snapped chain in her hand. Apparently, her necklace chain had popped and the amulet, a family heirloom, had been lost. I showed her what I had found and she declared that it was, in fact, her amulet. I would love to say I handed it over without a moment’s hesitation, but that would be a lie. There was some hesitation. The power the amulet radiated was unmistakable. There was something there. I would have loved to of kept it and studied it to unlock its secrets. But alas it wasn’t mine. So, return it to the poor Lild Risam I did.
We continued on our path found our seats and watched a great show.
After the play, the streets were alive with revelry and Adherents were on almost every street corner proselytizing to the people about how the gods will someday return and the Meteor shower which was less than an hour away at this point was proof that they still had power. The Adherents’ words did not sit well with everyone. As one Adherent priest was finishing the 3rd stanza of Mudarak’s Song he was interrupted by a man in heavy armor. “Mudarak’s Dead!” The man laughed. “He’s not coming back.” I will say this upset me; not that I was a true believer, I just thought it rude. This was the Adherents’ night. Let them have their beliefs and just enjoy the festivities was my way of thinking. “Join the order of Reconciliation.” The man continued. “Nulumriel is the only one….” I had to step in, and so I did. I commanded the armor-clad man (and his 4 other companions to my surprise) to stop badgering the priest. I then proceeded to give him a long perfectly reasoned argument about why they shouldn’t bother the order of Adherents, and how the Reconciliation and the Adherents could peacefully coexist if reason was employed. As I was talking at the Reconciliators, Iztar slowly dimmed the lanterns on the streets to let me know the rest of the group had my back.
I finished my argument and I thought it went well. I was wrong. The armored man decided to just use his whip on me. The leather stung my arms and side and wrapped me up in the process. My companions, however, didn’t take this assault lightly. Iztar snuffed out all the lanterns plunging us all into darkness. Demodamas waded into the darkness and cut the leader’s whip the blade glancing off the man’s armor and set me free. I looked around and saw the two other Reconciliators staring at me blades drawn and so I plunged myself into the artificial darkness Iztar had provided. Utar started to grow to his full size, and Demodamas launched a full-on assault on the band’s leader. He caught the man in the side with his sword and whispered in his ear ‘There’s a hole in your shiny armor.’ Demodamas jumped back as the leader tried to retaliate, but this was the plan all along. In the darkness, all I could hear was the awful crack of bone and wet thud as Utar felled the Order of Reconciliation leader. Demodamas kicked the leader’s body out of the darkness and told the other Order thugs they didn’t need to die that night like their leader did. The two outside the darkness fled. The ones inside the darkness did as well once Iztar lifted the shadows and they finally saw what had transpired. I was the only injured one that night but I was fine. I congratulated the others on a fight well fought, one that was righteous and just.
I returned to the Adherent priest the one originally accosted. He was in shock and appreciative. I told him thanks weren’t necessary and I helped him Finish Mudarak’s Song.
“He Finds the lost, Guides the Forlorn, Raises the Poor, and Discovers Lost Roads,
Mudarak Breaks Paths to New Places, Ranging Even to Where the Invisible Sun Shines”
I will always remember that stanza for like Mudarak we broke paths to new places and discovered things where no visible suns have ever shown. We gain much in those journeys and lost some as well.
Eventually, we made it to our viewing spot and the shower was spectacular. The Meteors run south to North so if you view them from the north side of the city you can watch them as they streak across the Ruinscape. However, half way through the shower something strange happened. One of the meteors was too large. A burning ball quickly approaching the ground. The ground shook violently as the Meteorite slammed into the earth in the verge. It was only a matter of moments until you could see a red glow in the sky to the north.
We, of course, headed towards the glow to investigate. The turned earth and ground slowed our progress as we headed towards the meteor. The trees in the area were all on fire. Utar, however, was able to extinguishment them with a device he had been carrying around for some time. As the way got rockier the thrown earth more treacherous, Demodamas released a device we found in the deep a thing that maps the land. It returned to show us the crater. Inside the crater was a swirling mass. The object in the center was a strange semi-oblong thing. It was, however, surrounded by a storm of energy. Crimson and purple energy. The thing in the center was obviously an object of great power and chaos. I had read many descriptions of the Great Storm to the north known as the Eye of Elanehtar but at that time had yet to see it for myself. However, I knew then that the storm that had been described countless times in verse and prose matched the storm I was seeing before me in the crater that night.
We approached the edge of this localized storm, and could barely make out that there was something inside. The energy of the storm was something to behold. It wasn’t normal lightning it ran horizontally and on a curve, like a barrier containing something inside. It was fascinating to me. Utterly bewildering. I got as close as I dared, which was closer than my companions. And then, I did something some might say was reckless, other might say was bold. I, however, was driven only by my desire to learn. I had to know. I reached out and touched the wall of energy.
My 20 Sided Life 