I’m going to start sharing the session recaps for the new campaign here, people seem to like these articles and I look forward to any comments or suggestions!
The World of Weirth is a setting much like a Hyborian Age, with danger at every turn, Swords & Sorcery magic, demons and mad prophets. Check the world of Weirth tab above for more info, including a draft of the Player’s Guide.
We are using the Low Fantasy Gaming rules, with my own home-brew interpretation of the Hyborian Age magic system by Jason Vey. My personal contribution is the actual mechanic of powering the spells through personal life-force, fire, water, or blood sacrifice… Spellcraft becomes much more consequential, thoughtful, strategic and deadly for both caster and recipient.
(These session reports may be a week or so behind the actual day of play, in order to clean them up and make them presentable. They will get better, more detailed and start to include dialogue. I hope.
Any way, part one:
Prologue – Part One
[Session Zero – Aug 18, 02020]
Kalder the Magic-User (James) and Oxardozius the Shepherd (Lucas) have joined a caravan to Laralasbol for the Festival of Swords, marking the first part of Fall. The trip should take 8 or 9 days.
Kalder is looking to see more of the world and learn new magic, Oxardozius has just mustered out of the service and is looking to turn his earnings into more gold!
Three days on the trail and the two have become friends, among the other merchants, guards, fellow travelers, and hangers on. There is also a Holy Delegation of the Church of Santixuk (God of the Sky, Peace, Reason and Serenity) with their own cadre of warriors dressed in blue tabards over their armor. The masks of their helmets are painted white with a royal blue symbol (the tri-sected circle). They look formidable.
Over campfires and skins of wine, the pair have heard a couple of rumors, One: the caravan’s Quartermaster has a supply of Mother’s Milk*. Two: there are Darklings* in the woods north of Sunbridge, that is why the Exalted (Holy warriors of Santichuk) are along with the caravan.
That afternoon they arrived at the town of Fire Rock, setting up camp outside the walls. Kalder and Oxardozius decide to take a night in the town, sleeping in a real bed. They pay a 1 GP toll at the gate, and are surprised that there wasn’t more of a hassle. They get rooms, a meal, and a bath at the Toad’s Rest, a serviceable inn with private rooms and locking doors.
Shameran, the tavern-girl (about 28-30 years, Xythian, looking haggard and not friendly) responds to conversation that there is entertainment at the other inn in Fire Rock, the Silver Chalice (a much more upscale facility).
K and O make their way to the Chalice for the entertainment: music, singing, and a performance of acrobatics. The Singer is the main attraction, a beautiful Telantean woman with a voice like a bird. The audience is spellbound!
After the performance Kalder moves through the crowd to attempt to speak to the singer, and she sees him, smiles, and gives a friendly wave (Reaction Roll 12!). He approaches, introduces himself. She says her name is Shazalimir, that she is going to join her Patron for a bit, but would like to have a drink with Kalder later…
Meanwhile, Oxardozius sees a young boy in Silver Chalice livery attempting to steal a customer’s coin purse. O grabs for the boys hand, he turns to look at O and turns white with fear! O attempts to detain the boy, but he squirms free and drops to the floor, scooting through the crowd and into the kitchen.
Oxardozius follows, but seems to have lost him in the crowded chaos of the kitchen. He sees two other children in the same livery (white shorts and tunic, embroidered with a chalice in black thread) and confronts them. They seem to know nothing of the other boy, and become agitated. The girl (about 12 years old) pushes Oxardozius out of the kitchen.
Oxardozius makes his way across the common room to Kalder, tells him what happened, then confronts the Master of the Dining Room, one Konomor (a Telantean). Konomor is dismissive, refusing to believe that one of his servants would ever steal.
Kalder sees another young boy in Chalice livery, and confronts him about the attempted thievery. The boy is adamant that none of them could ever steal, protesting vigorously – “it’s not allowed”, “we aren’t allowed to steal here”.
Kalder threatens him with a little sympathetic magic and the boy grasps his arm, shaking like a leaf and as pale as a ghost. His forehead beads with sweat, “we are not allowed to steal here” he blurts, before pulling away and disappearing into the crowd.
As the boy escapes, Kalder realizes that most of the well-to-do crowd, and the Master of the Dining Room, are Telantean, but the liveried servant children are Xythian. And now that he thinks about it, the acrobats looked like actual red-headed Tanso Wagoneers, not just Xythians in red wigs!
Notes:
- Mother’s Milk – a magical substance collected from certain magical forest creatures that can be made into a healing elixir and can give sorcerers special powers. It is rumored to be very dangerous.
- Darklings – monstrous human-like creatures that dwell in deep forests and caves, they are Known to be tribes of cannibals that desire to eat human flesh raw. It is believed that they are humans who have forgotten the faces of their ancestors (an old Xythian turn of phrase that means someone is acting/behaving inappropriately or shamefully). Children are often threatened with “being left out in the woods for the Darklings to eat!” to deter bad behavior.
- Wagoneers – The Tanso are an insular people, with a very distinctive look – they have very fair skin, and flame-red hair. Mostly they keep to their boats and barges in a great lake to the north, but some clans venture south for gold and trade. They are excellent entertainers, putting on shows, plays, music and acrobatics. They are always welcome, even in the smallest villages (where they usually will perform for food and shelter), as their presence lightens the heart and they often have news from away.
Tune in next time for more exciting action!
LFG Playtest Campaign 1 – The Shadow of Evil Chaos is an experiment with a new (to me) game system, Low Fantasy Gaming, and a new magic hack designed to bring the atmosphere of danger from the pulp novels of Swords & Sorcery. We are playing fully online over a Discord Voice server, using some home-brew maps, art and characters designed on the HeroForge 3D printing site. Follow all of the posts here: LFG Playtest Campaign 1.
