Month: May 2022

The ascent

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Hi all and welcome to this weeks twist day, Wednesday, where I want to lay the foundations down for connection the days which will see the party approaching the last known location of the monks and, well, thats the twist.

Chilling respite

219WeCR

The purchasing of provisions was made easier due to the gossip that spread like wild fire from the ships crew and the refugees. Tails of the foreigners that has stormed an Oni bastion and bested their leader only after convincing an entire race of notoriously vicious marsh dwelling tribes of toad-kin to turn on their chiefs to fight with them soon spread.  Soon the party were aware of people staring and whispering amongst themselves and when a calculating or criticising eye was cast towards them it was a moment before someone leant against their ear and soon the gaze changed to one of reverence and respect, or fear.

The party were able to acquire most of their supplies with a heavy discount, their newfound fame and reputation preceding them in most vendors but a few, those sponsored by a rival family to the Harimasu’s. Here the prices were increased so much that the savings from the other vendor’s were taken up nearly instantly.

As they left the city the now familiar tawny hawk flew from the top of the gatehouse and drifted along the wind currents above the road towards the mountain ranges in the distance. The horses that Kyoko had found for them proved strong, reliable and fit which enabled them to make good time.

Watching the hawk dart ahead under the canopy of leaves and branches above was the only sign that they were still on the right track, maybe. The hawk had been disappearing for a few moments piercing through the top of the trees before returning a few minutes to indicate the party to continue following. About a day up the mountains the party stopped nearing a small waterfall fed crisp cold pool of water.

Setting up camp not wanting to be travelling these parts at night the party watched as Takeo, the man-hawk flew off towards the mountain peak again to scout the way forward for the next morning, but the party got the feeling that they were lost. Soon the crackle of wood splitting and burning on the firepit greeted the setting of the sun and soon the sounds of singing insects and calls from Nocturnal animals joined the fires chorus.

As the party settled down they marvelled at how quite the surrounding area was. A few birds were high off the ground in nearby trees and calling to one another but the movement of beasts and creatures in the darkening woods beyond their campfire light was never towards them, as if they hesitated to approach the light and party.

As the night went on the birds started to get quieter until the only sound was the bubble of the waterfall and crackling of the fire. Despite the coldness of the water there was a sourness to it that caused the party to decide to drink from their water skins instead. Cracking of twigs near the waters edge caused the party to flinch but apart from moss covered rocks and bushes. A few moments later and a hawk crashed through the branches above, shifting and turning into a human as it crashed amongst the group.

“Run you fools. It’s upon you!” Takeo cried as he nursed his left arm.

Well the thought of drinking full bodies water, see what I did there, is sure to leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. Thanks for joining tonight and don’t forget to visit tomorrow where I look to hopefully work on a battle map and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Maneater

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Hi all and welcome to Tuesday where I wanted to shift focus away from the bustling city and into the wilds outside of the safety of Shuimu.

I want to go back to one of the favourite points of view styles for a few of my favourite novels

The Damp Dark

219TuTDD

Drip, drip, dip… The darkness made an excellent chamber for reflecting noice from the other side. The warm, wet dark contrasted to the slightly immuninated ice cold pools of water that had worn away at the rocky surface of the cave floor forming mini reflections of the pool and waterfall that had given life to the cave hundreds of years ago.

A bald hard scalp pierced the waters surface causing the watcher in the dark to narrow her eyes, staring intently at the potential intruder as she lounged in a worn out groove against the back of the cave. Several other protected thick scalps appeared in other connected pools throughout the cave, “ah, they made it back” she thought as she relaxed her guard and picked up what she had been chewing on a few minutes earlier, a femur, broad and strong with some scraps of meat left on it. Her powerful jaws causing a splinter to occur in the bone before she used a sharpened rock to crack open the bone to expose the marrow. A long sharpened finger nail on her right hand made quick work plucking out the rancid congealed goo from the hard casing.

Slowly the figures emerged from the pools, each clutching a body, or body part from something they hunted beyond the cave before they dropped it in a pile on a central smooth and flat rock. The hunched figures showing no sign of weakness of injury, to do so infront of the others would be yo invite canabalism that cost the last tribe more than half its members, no, this time she would not allow it. Despite their scaled limbs which ended in clawed webbed hands and fingers they moved quite well above the water, their thick, heavy shelled back and partially covered torso the only thing that held them back from being as swift on land as in the water of the pools they lived near.

Standing up her thick scalp touching and scraping painlessly along the roof of the cave, being the tallest and strongest here she got the first pick from the pile.

Pushing aside pieces she deemed unsuitable for her she eventually stumbled upon the top torso of what was once a human, the clothes and skin suggested it had sat in water for quite some time but her constitution was not questioned. Dragging the decaying meat, offal and bones back to the wall she ascended the piles of bones from years of eating like this. The bones and other refuse from her meals forming a slope upwards towards the highest part of the cave. Sitting down and sinking her teeth into the cold flesh she looked down at the others like her as they fought and scrapped over the pile of carcases and corpses. Her eyes fixed towards noting the strength in a few of the males in the cave she wondered if they could find enough food for next years brood – they may need to become more n aggressive and start stockpiling food in the frigid pools which means attacking the humans more regularly.

Thanks for joining me tonight for this brief glimpse at the creatures and antagonist of the week. If you know what they are comment below, lets see if how I described them did them any justice and don’t forget to come back each night for the rest of the week to see if you’re correct – and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Entering the port

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Hi all and welcome to the a Monday night post which means a new week of adventure.

Last week we saw the introduced refugees and corrupted crew fall to The Shadows corruption and begin to turn on Liz and the adventurers. This week I want to take our first few steps onto Ryokughan proper and venture into the Mountains near the Bay of Five Tails

Bay of Five Tails

219MoBoFT

As the sun rose on the third day after they had left Jade Point, the Dancing Drake sailing a bit slower due to the hasty and crude repairs done to the breached hull, the Dock city that controlled the Bay of Five Tails was in sight.

“It’s called the Bay of Five Tails,” Kyoko said, watching her most trusted men stand around the central mast where she noticed some crew and refugees from Jade point tied up, it was reported that there were eleven in total but she could only count five, Choi amongst on of the afflicted. “It’s called such as it is believed that one of our great ancestor dragons, a water spirit that had five tails fought a great battle here and as it brought its great many tails down on its foe the earth shattered before its might and five great channels were carved into the land. Soon these channels filled with rushing sea water as the wounds caused by its strike spread out far and wide forming the marshes, the ones we sailed through and the others further west, and inlets to the sea not far from here.” Several other passengers, Liz and Siu included listened intently to the tail.

“This city we call Shuimu, after the ancestor spirt that fought here and opened up what once was a land locked area and brought trade, wealth and prosperity to the people of this region.” she said smiling as she her remaining crew helped position the ship to dock, her hand reaching out to stroke the wings of a hawk, Takeo, that had flown to her side just as the last of the Shadow Bruised were being rounded up. She looked from the Hawk to the adventurers for Faerun. “He will have to remain in this form for a few days, it seems that he had to call on too much of his clans magic and the change is, not as easy to flow back into human shape as it is to shift to an animal. He did discuss with me before he left his plans, to talk to his master and then to seek out the monks that live within the mountain ranges nearby the City, about two days walk, a week round trip to find the monks and return. I believe this is the best chance we have to learn how to cure and help these people afflicted by the shadow’s curse as well as cure Siu as he has been unable to shake the stone for days and, between you and me, he is not himself.” Kyoko said looking concerned at her ancestor-come-shipmate.

Looking towards the city, the vast open market covered in red, gold, green and blue flags representing different family houses the party were welcomed with a chorus of noise, sights and smells that wafted across the waves and up to the boat as they docked.

“We will keep the afflicted behind bars for a week, then their families may begin to ask questions and I cant risk bad relations with the other major families. In this time I need you to seek out the monks and return with the cure, or knowledge of the cure, so we can begin the process of fighting back against the shadow.” Kyoko said as she picked up the hawk on her arm.

“Takeo will help you, as much as a bird that cant talk can. Just ask and he will do what he can – this mission is as important to him as it is to us. As soon as Siu and the others are healed we will head to my city, where my family rule, and we can begin the fight in earnest.” Kyoko said, grasping the hands of the party members “I am grateful the ancestors let your path cross mine. Please seek provisions with this bag of gold and return back as quickly as you can. I am sorry you can’t rest for long, perhaps half a day at most, but we know nothing of this affliction only that it appears to be from the Shadow in nature and that it makes the host simply not exist. We need to know how to stop it before they get lucky and something irreversible were to happen.”

As the boards were lowered and trade goods, people (some in chains) and the host of other things were taken across to the docks where important looking officials dressed in white robes stood waiting the party set their first foot down in Ryokughan proper.

Thanks for joining me as I continue my recovery. I hope you are excited for this weeks content as I am as we continue along this exciting adventure and start to meet some of the people of this land in true. There is a bit of content planned for this week, I hope to get out Inkarnate again for some battle maps amongst other things and as my recovery goes well I also hope to also look at more soulbound this week. So don’t forget to come back daily and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Shadows First move

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Welcome to another end of week writeup with our first venture towards the conflict between the adventurers and the shadow directly, well as directly as The Shadow gets for now.

As I mentioned in last nights post I almost went too deep this week, exploring and delving too deeply into several additional complexities once I started to try and put together a logical reason for the creatures (crew, refugees and the like) to be shadow bruised and both undetectable yet not invisible or silenced. But I think settling on the points that I have will be a good middle ground for the adventure so, let’s kick it off.  

Haunted by Shadow

As the ship sailed down the widening River the last signs of the marsh retreated into the wild under a chorus off toad-kin singing songs of praise, protection in and victories to be come.

“It’s nice isn’t it. To be nearly home and be with the first glimmer of hope we’ve had in quite some time” Kyoko began, breathing deeply and looking out across the water and slowly approaching fields be and farmland. “I bet you were be staying to worry weren’t you Takeo” she said turning to the tawny hawk next to her. After a ruffle of feathers Takeo Mei stood next to her.

“When my birds returned without delivering a message I worried, when Jade Point was under siege I also worried. But now I am glad to see that you have made some stalwart companions to usher you home, I knew that they were a good omen, but I don’t remember the Priestess being amongst them earlier.. ” he frowned looking towards the Lizbet as he could sense a strange energy about her.

“She is something else. Single handed turned the Toad-kin into allies. They call her a fallen Star” Kyoko said as she sipped from a cup and watched her. Takeo nodded to Kyoko before walking towards Lizbet and the party of adventurers he met weeks ago.

“I could sense something about you from across the ship. You have a light about you Miss Priestess, one that the darkness and shadow will try and snuff out” Takeo said, nodding to the party as he stopped to stand amongst them, tilting his head listening to a sound that only he could hear.

“Well they have tried already, luckily for me I have had these adventurers, heroes if you will, protect me and shepherd me from harm for now. Even Siu has taken to following a few feet behind me to ensure that I am safe.” she said as the golden scaled beast moved forward making Takeo startle if only for a moment.

“No, I can’t. I won’t. She is the light that will protect us.” he muttered under his breath as he shook his head – the whispers getting louder with each passing moment. His legs walked on their own carrying him next to the railing, around the back of the gathering where the adventurers stood with the person made entirely of blinding light. “No, don’t please. Its a price I cant afford” the man continued as he felt the change happen – suddenly people stopped moving aside, no one looked at him and even the astute and watchful gaze of the man talking to the priestess and the party frowned as if something was missing.

As more people bumped into him he cursed the card game that had won him the stone that was now in his possession, again, a pain on his neck forming as the stone took its mark on him. He couldn’t live like this again, not in the shadow, not without the warmth of others and so with a shuddering sob he drew his long knife, a memento from his father – a fisherman – and drove the point into his chest. He shuddered as the stone fell from his hand and clacked against the railing of the ship and then over the side as he felt his body go cold. All of a sudden people were screaming, the man who appeared to have been watching him before the shadow enacted its price was there in the space he drew his last breath. “The shadow…” he managed to whisper to the man as he felt his eyes close.

Takeo knelt next to the man he remembered seeing, hearing talking to himself as if a mad man then nothing – as if his existence had been wiped from the world. When the body hit the ground he remembered what had been witnessed and heard and as he heard the words “The Shadow” he searched the man for marks – a large, deep bruise had formed on his neck where it met his left shoulder as if a large round object had been forced onto him for some while.

“Kyoko, we need to restrict the priestess and her companions at once. There is darkness afloat these waters”

Areas of note

The Boat – Confined to the lower decks where there is the ability to limit the access to both the passengers and the crew.

NPCs

Koyko Harimasu

After the appearance of the first shadow bruised Kyoko assisted the party of adventurers in finding a place that could be secured and easily defensible before returning to the deck to work with the crew and Takeo in looking for more of the Bruised.

Elizabeth “Lizbet” Scaulder

Liz is worried about the attacks, especially the nature of them as they appear out of no where but generally only as they are killed.

Her concern is two fold, concern for her safety and the safety of those around her as well as the concern for those afflicted by the curse that gave them this shadow-like quality and if they would be able to be cured from the curse.

Siu

Siu spends his time defending and sticking as close to Liz and Kyoko as possible trying to defend them both – when Kyoko goes back above deck to talk to the crew and the other passengers Siu sticks close to Liz.

Takeo

Takeo, after uncovering the initial attacker and talking to the party about the next best steps goes to see his master, where upon finding his clan hall empty returns back to the ship just in time for it to dock.

Environment and running the adventure

The Boat– see map

Encounter

The first encounter, on deck should be like a script, if the party roll a successful Charisma Saving throw vs Stealth check OR Insight vs Stealth will reveal the creature to the one who made the check – but otherwise they don’t see the first shadow bruised until they hit the deck dead.

Takeo and Kyoko will take the party, Liz and Siu downstairs and into one of the sealed crews quarters to discuss the situation. The end goal here is that Takeo will reveal that he doesn’t have all the information and that he will need to talk to his masters further to get more information – he will then leave after that.

Kyoko will ask the Party to pick a place to defend Liz for now, a lockable or sealable space would be good. The closed off quarters are good options (one with two bed is where Liz would be staying currently), the crews quarters with hammocks may be also suitable or even the sealed in holding cell in the centre of the floor. On their way there they would get attacked by one of the Shadow Touched (see above encounter mechanics) who would try and attack Liz (depending on how the Party are moving) if they decide to stay in Liz’s chambers then the attack happens there.

If the Party move around, or change watch, or, every 6 hours another attack will happen until they have been attacked four times in total where the fifth has two shadow touched attacking at once – which is unusual for them,

Aftermath

Shortly after defeating the last of the shadow touched Kyoko appears saying that they believe they have accounted for everyone including those stopped from attacking Liz and the party. While the party have been dealing with the sudden attacks the ship has moved on and the next destination, the final port, lays ahead of them.

Well that’s it for tonight, thanks for dropping by and sticking with me this week while I recover and begin to feel better again. The next few days may also be slow but I plan to still create daily content this next.

Don’t forget to come back each day this week and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Avoiding the rabbit hole

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Hello and welcome to a Saturday night discussion piece where I want to discuss something I struggle with, complexity.

Now its not making sure things are complex enough its going too far down a rabbit hole and, like all warrens, finding that there is a second, third, fourth and even fifth rabbit hole that has rules, systems, creatures or untapped stories that you want to explore. The issue is that when you burrow into that second tunnel it adds complexity and that complexity makes it hard for both DMs and players – an issue that I am still working out how to navigate.

An example is this weeks example – how to have those afflicted by the Sliver of Shadow curse have the mechanics they do – being present on the Material plane but unable to be seen, heard or interacted with until someone strongly willed enough finally does. What I initially thought was opening up the idea of a reversal of the astral plane mechanics – their body being present and active in the material plane but peoples ability to view them in the plane being as if trying to peer beyond the veil. Now I started to re-read up on the Astral plane to refresh my memory on its mechanics and it was.. complex to say the least, at least in the terms of how I wanted to blend it to work for me.

The first issue was that I immediately started to weave the astral plane into the plot points – my floating story line which I use to keep an idea of where I want it to go without having to cement anything down that would creature massive amounts of re-work as I write this weekly. This was a big issue for me as the added complexity to something that, to be open with, doesn’t need to be any more complex that it currently is and it also started to change and influence plot. Now as I started to mentally untangle the twine that knitted together this years campaign to start adding in the astral-thread I stopped as I started to ask myself “ok, now ‘The Shadow’ – how do they link in with the Astral plane..” the answer wasn’t a mapping session it was quite simply “IT doesn’t he is between planes but takes strength from Shadowfell” – Ok maybe a bit of a spoiler there but I believe you can forgive me. This then helped me work out the curses nature – forcing people to dwell and live like The Shadow – non-existent without being seen in the light.

The second issue was making sure that the rules, the mechanics are easy enough that new dungeon masters can read and understand with minimal study. This is the other issue with going down the rabbit hole and the complexity behind it – it gets hard to memorise so that you can run the system for the other people at the table (virtual or otherwise), the players but more on them in a minute, and with the creatures, maps, core game mechanics, the more advanced mechanics let alone the multiple race-background-class combinations that your players bring that you need to factor in with adding MORE complexity into the mix means more time reading rules, notes or books and less time playing at the minimum or forgetting something crucial and slowing down the process as you move to rectify it.

The third issue is the more complex the rules I find the players, I will refer to them as an audience for this point from now on, may become disenchanted from the session. The audience are not here to try and unpick great puzzles and unravel the secrets of the world – they want to see what happens to a party of adventurers in fantastical situations where they come out ahead against all other odds, or at least a single adventurer and how they look out for number 1, themselves. The more complex, the more rabbit holes in your warren, the more unbelievable it becomes and the easier the disenchantment becomes and they lose interest in the current scene, the session or the adventure entirely (or worse – the campaign…)

The reason for the switch in focus between player and Audience is because I also have several barely started novels sitting there waiting for meat to tie together the plot points and I struggle with keeping it simple to a few key points. For me I love high, grand fantasy where the systems, the complexity and depth is mind boggling and I aspire to produce work of comparable if not equal quality to some truly fantastic Authors. This means that I automatically associate success and ‘awesomeness’ with complexity and so I tend to dive head first into that deep deep pool when I really need to start off in the shallows first and then ease into the deep end.

So for me, keeping the complexity out is to really ensure the success of the campaign, simple. But the broader picture is also a bit of self reflection where I am aware that I tend to get bogged down in the details where I really should just take a step back and start with the basics and work my way up from there – some of the most memorable books I have read only have one or two ‘complex’ concepts and really, they aren’t that complex in the first place. Its not a new language, new ‘style’ of magic, or science, or something its just a way of doing things that I need to start at and see if complexity and further depth is neeeded at a later point.

Well that’s it for tonight, come back tomorrow for more and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The afflicted

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Hi all and welcome to Friday also known as Fightnight!, this week the stat blocks don’t really matter as much as the mechanics behind the encounter(s). We find our group on board the Dancing Drake and sailing towards a port town that will see them travelling further and deeper into Ryokughan.

But what if the threat came from some other place not the of this world, not of the Material plane. This week we touch the tip of that.

Shadowy Assaults

218FrShAs

Those touched by the stones known as the Slivers of Shadow find themselves cursed to be ignored and unrecognised until they go through with their end of the bargain – or they can pass the stone onto someone more strongly willed at which point they are released of the curse.

Now I will save the reason why for later this month but those who find themselves on the precipice of being unable to remove the stone because there are none who can recognise or see them will find themselves quickly pulled between two planes, the Material plane where their body resides and the Shadowplane, Shadowfell, where the entity known as “The Shadow” holds onto their essence, their spirit/soul and this instability of planar existence.

For mechanics I want to keep it simple – A successful Charisma Saving throw vs Stealth check OR Insight vs Stealth will reveal the creature to the one who made the check.

Until the creature attacks they are treated as being invisible and being under the silence spell. All attacks against them are made as disadvantage until they are revealed (Faery fire doesn’t work here as its not a sight based clouding of senses) and when they attack they make their attack with advantage.

Now the nature of the creature doesn’t matter, human, crew member, Jade point refugee – but I wouldn’t have them too strong as it already has the party at a big disadvantage. I would have several people, maybe 6 encounters where the last one is two of the touched attacking at once – at all instances they will ignore the party and go straight for Liz – or through the party to get to Liz as the case may be.

Thanks for joining me tonight – it was another short one tonight but I still wanted to get something out to you all while I am still recovering. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for more content on both Saturday and Sunday and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

In the rafters

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Hi all and welcome to Thursday where we look at extra little things that make the adventure just that bit more..

So now I’m planning on tonight being a short night as I need some time to rest and recover at the moment but I’ll be working on something bigger for next week!

Empty Halls, busy rafters

218ThEHBR

A tiny claw, one of a thousand, gripped into the wood beam rafters that made up the roof support for the older barn. Below the tiny creature, and is brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles a man walked down the hall, care and precision marking his footsteps. But the creature did not care, a itch made in fumble its grip and in doing so it’s fellow creatures scrambled, rushed, clawed and squeaked as their tails and claws clung to the rafters and each other.

The itch happened again causing another scratching and fumbling fit. This beam was to narrow so it made a nice down the hall, yes, the dark room always had more room when the hawk wasn’t in there. As the rat ran along the rafters voices could be heard, one voice really, no response. A sudden commotion behind him caused a tangle of rats to fall and hit the ground causing the boards to squeak, but this rat was compelled to look towards the voices, watching as the not-hawk man had its cloak revealed and as the young hawk dashed down the hall. The rats had scurried into open doors and into hiding spots, fools. Didn’t they know there was no hawk here, the rats ruled the rafters now. Cleaning its whiskers the rat finally scratched that itch as it watched the man turn into a hawk and fly out the window. The last in part terrified his family and sent them deeper into hiding, but it meant he had the rafters to himself for a few moments more. Cleaning behind his ears the rat settled down..

Meanwhile.. a darkly silhouetted figure opened its eyes, bright blue cunning eyes, and reached for a BBQ’d rat.

Thanks for joining me and sorry it was a bit shorter once again, but do come back the next few days for additional content here and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Missing Wisdom

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Hi all and welcome to Wednesday where we look at twists, turns and other such things that make our adventure that much deeper. This week we have an opportunity to thicken and darken the plot, one which I can miss out on.

So get comfortable, grab a coffee (the official energy source of this content) and enjoy.

Empty Halls

218WeEH

The large tawny hawk flew into the open window in the plain looking barn before settling down on a crate as it ruffled its feathers and shifted its form, muscles bones and feathers shifting, growing, stretching and receding until Takeo sat on the crate – a few drops of water still hanging to his hair from the light shower of rain that had greeted him as he flew into the town.

“I hate it when it rains” he sighed shifting his cloak around. The transformation from hawk to man after flying in rain always left him with water under his clothes when they appeared again. Standing and treading down the hall, a familiar path from his training as a child which his feet remembered. Each floorboard was different, only a few of them weren’t floating on top of nails that would squeal when stepped on and for those who remembered the path you could pass through these halls silently.

Passing a door, one belonging to another lotus member who was initiated a month later than he, he saw it was empty, but the external facing window was left open which was expected – their order was given all kinds of orders and had to deal with all situations imaginable.

Approaching the archway at the end of the hall he took off his shoes and placed them next to his masters shoes, as he had since a boy, and slowly stepped past the threshold and into the chamber beneath. A shadowed figure knelt infront of a fire so the feature’s of the face and front of the body were cloaked by shadow and darkness. Coming to rest, standing twenty steps away he knelt down and waited for his master to acknowledge him.

Minutes seemed to go by and Takeo got tired of waiting for protocol “master, I bring tidings from lady Kyoko. Her ships passengers, crew and refugees from Jade Point, have become afflicted with Shadow Bruises. Whats more, they disappear from all sight and senses, well seemingly so at least. Occasionally a person who is acutely aware of their presence can detect them.”

“They have started to attack the guest of princess Kyoko, targeting her it seems but there is resistance in the host. I believe they are being cursed by a stone as black as shadow and directed, forced even to make attempts on the life of the guest.” Takeo looked at his master, unmoving and unyielding. “Master do you know of what I talk about” he said moving forward to get closer. Something wasn’t right, the figure wasn’t moving but seemed to be unnaturally still. “Forgive me master” he muttered before approaching the figure and pulling back the hood. As he did several stray feathers wafted down and what was a very convincing decoy was revealed to be feathers and fabric under the robes of his master.

Frowning his senses went on full alert, a creak from the hallway, the rattle of a window, something somewhere was not right. Pushing his body through the the mental preparation to transform into his raven he darted down the hall, his dirk drawn and ready as he seemed to hit every squealing floorboard on his flight down the hall. The transformation process was physically and mentally draining and normally the Lotus agents couldn’t transform so quickly again after reverting to their human form, and his mind was rejecting the ancient magic.

As he stopped near the crate where he came into the building by he looked around, willing his heart to be silent and his body to take the form of the Raven.

Silence. The building was silent, not a sign of life, or more important death anywhere. His mind settled and his body started the shift, looking around the room as his eyes shifted and changed he didn’t see a single thing out of order, like nothing had changed or been here. As he turned and flew out the window he started to piece together what his next steps would be. Without his masters seemingly endless Knowledge there may be no one but the monks who secluded themselves from the world of men long ago.

Thanks for joining me tonight to look at the trials of Takeo with me, that name may stick somewhat, don’t forget to come back the next few nights to get more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The knowledge of the Lotus

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Hi all and welcome to Tuesday where I wanted to bring in something I have been looking at on the side for some time now and with the return of Takeo it feels right to bring it out more.

So in the interest of time let’s kick tonights write-up off.

Takeo of the Lotus

218TuTotL

As the door opened and closed, Kyoko going out to mingle amongst the treaty of the crew and people of Jade Point, Takeo looked over the party, Siu and Liz who sat in infront of him.

“my teacher’s have a phrase for that mark, Shadow Bruised, those who have had shadow touch them but not take them.. yet..” he began looking at the confused and concerned faces before him. “Likely started with one, probably not the one who took his life, and its infected the others. Thats about the extent we do know of it, but some monks and shamans may know more. We know you are not the cause or threat but to ensure your safety we must keep you locker up. Until we reach the mainland.” He said looking thoughtful.

“have there been any other people with that mark, the err, shadow bruise?” Liz asked quietly, concern for their health evident on her face.

“one or two, but I suspect there is more. What worries me with our first victim,”he gurstured to a room that was currently closed and locked up, “is that I lost sight of this person, could not see, smell or hear them as if they ceased to exist until that knife pierced his chest. I will need to talk to my master about this to understand how to track those inflicted with the mark.”

As the people present started to discuss the options available to them the door rattled, but no one was there. A few moments passed as the group discussed what they could do Siu stopped mid sentence and stared across the room before lunging forward and pouncing towards the corner of the room, closest to where Liz was standing. As he collided with something a flurry of claws and teeth accompanied a guttural screech. Blood, fabric and the occasional golden scale fell to the floor as the room bore witness to a haggard looking man with eyes sparkling with madness slashing and stabbing as the golden beast did its best to disarm or kill the would be assassin.

A moment later and a snake-like lunge was followed by a crunch and crack and both Siu and the man fell to the ground. Siu stood up slowly before backing away from the dead man. “I tried to remove the knife but it wouldn’t come free.” He said, panting and looking mortified “he was muttering when I realised he was in the room about snuffing the light and being freed.”

“I didn’t notice him until the blood hit the floor.” Takeo said looking concerned towards the door he swore was locked. At that moment Kyoko pushed open the door in a hurry.

“the key’s missing..” she began before seeing the body in the ground “looks like you found the source of the disappearance” she added.

“Siu.. whats that on your neck?” Liz asked as she pointed at a polished black stone that looked like it had been adhered to his scales, a tarnishing to the scales around the stone gave the appearance of a bruise.

“Well. We now know how they get the mark and know what to ask the monks and my masters” Takeo continued as he stared at the stone.

Siu just stood still as he felt a presence sneak up his spine and as he felt the stone grow heavy on his scales a chilled whisper drifted past his ear “hello Jung..”

Thanks for joining me tonight and don’t forget to come back the next few nights as we begin this months new adventure with a few plot driving moments. Don’t forget if you do play thorough this campaign to let me know as I am excited to see how others find it! and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Shadow Bruised

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Hi all and welcome to the first Monday of the month where we look at the plot for the month, well for this part of the month.

Last week I introduced some refugees onto the boat, one of which having a run in with Mugrave outside the town of Jade Point, so this week I want to see where I can take that.

The Touched

218MoTT

As the ship sailed down the widening River the last signs of the marsh retreated into the wild under a chorus off toad-kin singing songs of praise, protection in and victories to be come.

“It’s nice isn’t it. To be nearly home and be with the first glimmer of hope we’ve had in quite some time” Kyoko began, breathing deeply and looking out across the water and slowly approaching fields be and farmland. “I bet you were be staying to worry weren’t you Takeo” she said turning to the tawny hawk next to her. After a ruffle of feathers Takeo Mei stood next to her.

“When my birds returned without delivering a message I worried, when Jade Point was under siege I also worried. But now I am glad to see that you have made some stalwart companions to usher you home, I knew that they were a good omen, but I don’t remember the Priestess being amongst them earlier.. ” he frowned looking towards the Lizbet as he could sense a strange energy about her.

“She is something else. Single handed turned the Toad-kin into allies. They call her a fallen Star” Kyoko said as she sipped from a cup and watched her. Takeo nodded to Kyoko before walking towards Lizbet and the party of adventurers he met weeks ago.

“I could sense something about you from across the ship. You have a light about you Miss Priestess, one that the darkness and shadow will try and snuff out” Takeo said, nodding to the party as he stopped to stand amongst them, tilting his head listening to a sound that only he could hear.

“Well they have tried already, luckily for me I have had these adventurers, heroes if you will, protect me and shepherd me from harm for now. Even Siu has taken to following a few feet behind me to ensure that I am safe.” she said as the golden scaled beast moved forward making Takeo startle if only for a moment.

“No, I can’t. I won’t. She is the light that will protect us.” he muttered under his breath as he shook his head – the whispers getting louder with each passing moment. His legs walked on their own carrying him next to the railing, around the back of the gathering where the adventurers stood with the person made entirely of blinding light. “No, don’t please. Its a price I cant afford” the man continued as he felt the change happen – suddenly people stopped moving aside, no one looked at him and even the astute and watchful gaze of the man talking to the priestess and the party frowned as if something was missing.

As more people bumped into him he cursed the card game that had won him the stone that was now in his possession, again, a pain on his neck forming as the stone took its mark on him. He couldn’t live like this again, not in the shadow, not without the warmth of others and so with a shuddering sob he drew his long knife, a memento from his father – a fisherman – and drove the point into his chest. He shuddered as the stone fell from his hand and clacked against the railing of the ship and then over the side as he felt his body go cold. All of a sudden people were screaming, the man who appeared to have been watching him before the shadow enacted its price was there in the space he drew his last breath. “The shadow…” he managed to whisper to the man as he felt his eyes close.

Takeo knelt next to the man he remembered seeing, hearing talking to himself as if a mad man then nothing – as if his existence had been wiped from the world. When the body hit the ground he remembered what had been witnessed and heard and as he heard the words “The Shadow” he searched the man for marks – a large, deep bruise had formed on his neck where it met his left shoulder as if a large round object had been forced onto him for some while.

“Kyoko, we need to restrict the priestess and her companions at once. There is darkness afloat these waters”

Thanks for joining me tonight for the start of a new week and I hope that this slight twist in the plans we have here came as a shock, well at least part of it did. I am looking forward to the next legs of the journey as we approach Kyoko’s home city so don’t forget to tune in daily so you don’t miss a beat – and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe