Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The fellowship: Dryden of Conwall the Collector/Hunter, Averiela the Elf/Elven Elite, Lucia the Brave the Heir/Halfling Sheriff, Edna Crusher-Harcourt the Ogre (kinda?)
Last time, the Fellowship lost a member to a teleportation accident, and in searching for her, made a boat out of a Dragon skull mounted as a trophy by evil Vampire Fairies.
The Fellowship paddles east toward Doctor MacLeod’s Anti-Moon Weapon and away from the creepy Dead Forest to the west because Ol’ Jardinier’s magic says that Edna is to the east. They read the messages left by previous adventurers about the Vampires and the Anti-Moon Weapons’ destruction.
Lucia: These are very helpful messages!
The Anti-Moon Weapon is a mountain with a mile-long gun through the center, and huge slit cut into it to allow the gun to rotate. As the Dragon-skull boat floats past this mountain, pieces of the huge gun break off and start tumbling down the slope, causing an avalanche! No, that’s snow. A rock-a-lanche! The Fellowship has enough warning to avoid being buried in the debris, but the river is choked and starts overflowing its banks upstream from the debris. Dryde nand Lucia survey the scene
Dryden Look Closely (+hope, Lucia’s aid) 10+
- What is hidden or out of place?
- Most of the debris is rock and dirt from the mountain slope, but there are plenty of metal pieces too. Most of the metal pieces were broken by physical force: twisted or snapped. Some of the fragments have melted edges.
- Tell me about the river’s path. What is it doing? What will it do next?
- With the main riverbed blocked, the water is rising until it spreads and finds another path to take. Walking around the area and carefully noting the slope indicates the river can take a path further south.
- What will happen if we leave the debris in place?
- The river used to turn south a few miles ahead. This new path will cut of the “elbow” of the river, and whatever is in that area will lose access to the river.
People often depend on rivers to live, so the Fellowhsip wants to minimize disruption and restore the river’s path. Lucia wonders how they can move al lthat heavy debris. Edna could do it, but she’s gone. Dryden has a solution, as usual.
Dryden considers the debris and wonders which gadget to use this time. Most of the debris is rock, but the metal pieces are almost pure iron. Back when Dryden was a child, his parents tried manay strategies to keep him out of places he wasn’t supposed to be, including securing those places with iron doors. Iron rusts, of course, so Dryden wondered how to speed up time to rust through the doors faster. He coudln’t figure it out himself, but he knew people who knew people. He met an alchemist who thought she was a failure because in all her research, she never produced gold, but she did find a way to turn an iron nail into rust almost instantly. Dryden used her technology to develop the itme which he now draws from beneath his cloak. A long tube inside another tube. he uses his unbreakable Dwarven hammer to make a dent in the piece of debris he’s going to destroy, and places the tube in the divot. He warns everyone to be ready to move.
Knows-Too-Much and White Sands escort Lucia to a safe distance. Averiela stands near Dryden in case something goes wrong.
Dryden Queen of the Wild: Command Lore about the local wildlife. Every Beast is a Companion to you.
Dryden notices Giant Eels in the river.
Dryden: Oh, we have to warn the fishfolk!
Dryden puts his head underwater and gargles out a warning, which the Eels appreciate. He activates the trap!
Drdyen Explosive Trap: open or block an entrance
Averiela Get Away 10+ Avoid harm, avoid notice
Averiela Poetry in Motion: pick another Get Away option: bring Dryden along
Averiela runs on the surface of the water and the Giant Eels pull Dryden to a safe distance underwater. After twenty seconds, the tube explodes in a cloud of rust! The metal piece crumbles and water is able to push through. Much of the debris crumbles aside. Some of the water will continue in the original channel, and some will flow to the south.
The Fellowship carries the Dragon-Skull boat past the debris and continues downriver in the original channel. To the surprise of Lucia and Dryden, this river flows just to the north of Lady Evelynn’s estate. Last time they visited Lady Evelynn, they left on bad terms and are surely not welcome back. They hope that since the water level is so low, they can hide the boat under the river bank. Averiela’s keen Elven eyes spot a woman in the observation dome on the roof of Lady Evelynn’s mansion, looking out towards the river. The boat has been spotted! A figure leaves the mansion and comes down the hill towards the river.
Lucia Quiet! Don’t Move. Hide allies as long as they don’t move.
Lucia hides everyone so the Dragon-Skull boat appears empty.
Lucia: Lady Evelynn is a pragmatic business woman. She won’t attack us without reason. She doesn’t know you, Averiela. You could get hosptiality and tell her what happened to the river.
Averiela sits up in the boat to greet the person approaching. It’s Kali, the sullen Tiefling servant, who works outdoors so she has less opportunity to be rude to Lady Evelynn’s guests. She’s five-foot-nothing, petite, red skin, with short vertical horns on her forehead.
Kali: Keep moving. Travelers are not welcome here. Don’t make trouble!
Averiela eloquently introduces herself and assures Kali of her pure intentions. Kali is unimpressed, spits out “Good!” and turns on her heel to return to the estate.
The Dragon-skull boat floats down the river, which bends from east to south and heads towards Sugar’s Crossing. Lady Evelynn’s sugar mill is only getting half the water it usually gets, and the new river channel is washing out the road from her estate to the town. Surely this will change the balance of power between the three millers in the town. Lucia and Dryden notice that the bridge over the river has been repaired. Two volcanoes tower over the east side of the river.
Roddy Eagle Eye
Roddy the Sharpshooter is usually very quiet and his ghillie suit makes him look like a bush, so it’s easy to forget that he’s here. A hand emerges from the shapeless bush that follows the Fellowship and points up towards the mountain peaks.
Roddy: Edna!
A few seconds later, Edna falls out of the sky and lands on the east riverbank, her feet skidding and digging huge gouges in the dirt! Ol’ Jardinier runs to her and she scoops him us and tosses him in the air. She’s so happy to see everyone again. She sets down a very thin Human man and introduces Victor, her new butler. She’s introducing the rest of the Fellowship and realizes she doesn’t know Averiela’s full name. Averiela explains that she is “Averiela Star-Radiance, Last Child of the Westerwinds” and that Averiela means “Seeker of Truth” She has more titles, of course, but these will do for now.
Edna is excited to show Ol’ Jardinier some jewelry pieces she picked up in Thaumatown. Alas, the wizard who owned them won’t be needing them anymore. Perhaps Ol’ Jardinier could assemble them into some Ogre-sized jewelry for Edna to wear. Ol’ Jardinier sets to work with a combination of tools in his waist-coat and magic spells. He taps his bifocals and they turn dark. He touches his thumb and forefinger together and generates a spark, which he uses to weld the jewelry pieces together. Averiela wants to know the name of the jewelry that Ol’ Jardinier is making, since all powerful jewelry must have a name.
GM note: Edna needs a way to travel between the two Fellowships that I play with, so this jewelry will give Edna a way to interact with Infinite WIndows and teleport back and forth reliably, like a “Best Friends” necklace that can be split into two pieces. The piecee that stays with Dryden is “from” the other piece that Edna wears, so Dryden can offer that piece to Infinite Windows and find Edna whereever she is.
Drdyen wants to dispose of the Dragon skull properly.
Edna: Is this cursed? The other people wanted me to dispose of some remains and those remains were cursed. We might have cursed a whole town. I’m not sure. We left town quickly due to some unrelated unplesantness.
Lucia: We could let the Dragon skull float out to sea.
Edna: No! Mermaids live in the sea. You can’t just dump things in the sea!
Averiela remembers lore from her people that Dragons were either buried on the mountain where they annointed the King, or somewhere close to the sky. That mountain might be out east, but the legends are old and vague.
Lucia: How will we transport this huge skull all that way?
Edna reaches down and picks up the Dragon skull boat with one hand.
Lucia: Maybe the volcano that the Secret Library is inside is a Dragon mountain.
Dryden: The librarians aren’t fond of me.
Lucia: I’m queen, so I’ll go in. Averiela can join me. Her people are welcome from times of old.
The Fellowship starts hiking up the slopes of the volcano. Enda holds the Dragon Skull over her head and gets a running start, then thinks better of leaping directly to the peak and walks alongside her friends.
Dryden: What happened to you when you disappeared?
Edna: I was following the Wild Unicorns into the portal, ready to see the enchanted meadow, and next thing I knew, I fell onto a raft full of Platypeople!
Lucia: How are the Platypeople? We know they were having trouble with werewolves.
Edna: I don’t know about that. There were a few injuries, but I paid for the damage to the raft. Oh no! I said I’d replace the broken logs, but we left town so quickly I didn’t remember to fell any trees.
Dryden explains that the top of the volcano is home to many marmot varmints. He wonders if that treasure-seeking Dwarf that he scared off will be back. When the Fellowship reaches the summit, they see the marmot varmints, but no Dwarf.
Edna: Should we put the Dragon skull next to the graveyard up here?
Edna sets the Dragon skull boat down near the rows of spear points from the ancient battles, and clears off the clay so the boat is a clean skull again. Averiela places a ring of rocks around the skull. She carries sand from her homeland, and sprinkles some of it on the ring of stones while reciting sacred Elvish words. Lucia draws her sword, salutes the skull, and draws a circle in the ground around the skull, outside the circle of stones. Dryden is a commoner, so he does not have the proper lineage to do the rituals that he knows. He withdraws a respectful distance and makes a cairn.
After the provisional funeral, Lucia walks to the staircase down the inside of the caldera.
Edna: Y’all already know about the secret?
Edna leaps down from the rim and her force of her landing makes the ceramic dome covering the Secret Library ring!
Edna: I can’t fit inside, but I hear it’s really something to see!
Dryden: How do you know?
Edna: The entrance is only this big. I obviously won’t fit through.The other folks told me about it, though. Y’all just missed them.
Lucia and Averiela go through the crack in the ceramic dome to the Secret Library for the Forgotten Lands. The interior is lit by magical blue torches. The librarian, is a sheet ghost with glasses hovering in front of the eye holes in its sheet. Rows of shelves and stacks of books, scrolls, and maps stretch out into the distance.
Lucia: I and my comanions have come to learn about Dragons!
Lucia Speak Softly 7-9 three questions, one unhelpful answer
- What can you tell me about hatching Dragon eggs?
- Dragon Eggs must be kept hot for 49 days. On the 50th day, the eggs hatch. The parent Dragons use their claws to help the baby Dragons break through the hard eggshells. Averiela jumps in. The Elves know that the parents are actually tapping on the eggshells to signal the babies that its’ safe to come out. After hatching, the parents and babies do a bonding ritual. No one has seen it up-close, but Dragon roars echo through the land, and Dragon magic ripples outwards. Averiela’s lore says that tapping on the eggshell helps with the bonding ritual.
- What can you tell me about the Dragons’ enemies?
- The Librarian says there are no serious contenders to the Dragon’s rule of the world. Clearly a lot has happened since this library was sealed away, since Dragons are now extinct.
- What can you tell me about how Dragons crowned their kings?
- According to legend, the Dragons gather to crown a new king on the hottest day of the year, on the highest mountain in the world, far to the north.
Averiela wants to consult with her kin to see if she’s worthy of hatching the Dragon Egg she found. Alas, her homeland is across the sea, near the Forgotten Lands, a very long journey. The Sapphire Islands (home of Gleador) are closer, just south of this continent. She could also call a conclave and gahter representatives of the various Elf peoples to her.