Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The fellowship: Edna Crusher-Harcourt the Ogre/Knight, Vestri the Dwarf, Yuri the Outlander
Last time, the Fellowship traveled south and found the Oolite Mines, where the forgers who stole Vestri’s dagger are reported to be hiding.
Yuri and Vestri peer over a ridge at the mine below. It looks mostly like a normal Dwarven mine. The Dwarves are mining in groups. Besides the obvious safety benefits, Dwarves consider mining a social activity. They sing songs together, and the songs resonate with the ore in the earth. There are different songs for different ores. But the miners here are not normal Dwarves. They are Dwarf-shaped, but made of metal. They work in groups of five: three digging, one sorting, and one–well it doesn’t really sing. A hollow compartment in its chest contains a variety of tuning forks. The different pitches of the tuning forks resonate with different ores much like the Dwarven songs, just more directly and without any joy, culture, art, or community.
Infinite Windows opens behind the Fellowship and Edna steps through.
Edna: Hi, friends! Oh! Who are we hiding from!
She imitates the others and drops flat. The impact of her eight-ton body shakes the ground.
Vestri: We found some fake Dwarves, but they look like Dwarves.
Yuri: Do we really need to hide?
Vestri: Hide first! We can show ourselves if we need to.
Edna: I have sympathy for things that aren’t quite what they seem. I’ll say hi.
Edna remembers the first year or two of her decade-long growth spurt, when no one was sure if she was an unusually tall Human, or becoming an Ogre. People couldn’t be openly rude to her because of her family’s influence, but it still stung. She doesn’t want others to feel that prickly aloofness. She walks towards the nearest group of Metal Dwarves and hails them. They do not respond. Vestri and Yuri follow her. Vestri looks at the ground, and identifies the reddish rock as hematite. he sings the Hematite song, hoping the Metal Dwarves will sing along. They don’t, but the song does attract a living Dwarf.
This Dwarf comes out of a tunnel in the mine. The funnel-shaped mine has some ramps built into the slope with tunnel entrances leading off of them. This Dwarf is short and broad and very heavy. The stones braided into his beard show that he’s travelled a lot.
Vestri: Hello, nice mine you’ve got here.
Dwarf: Oh, it’s nothing really.
Vestri: We’re looking for some people. Can you point us in the right direction?
The Dwarf points north towards Templeton
Vestri: I see you have travelled a lot. I myself am on my first quest. I spent my first 80 years with my family.
The Dwarf gives only short replies. Vestri gets the feeling that the Fellowship is not welcome.
Vestri: We’d be happy to get out of your way. We just need to find two certain Dwarves. They are thieves and forgers.
Vestri Talk Sense (+wisdom, appeal to desires) 10+
The Dwarf Vestri is speaking to is Tomay, one of the forgers! He flees back dwon the ramp towards the tunnel entrance when he realizes that he’s the one the Fellowship is seeking. Yuri follows.
Yuri I Need To Know: You can always Speak Softly, even in dangerous situations
Yuri Speak Softly 10+ ask 3 questions
- What can you tell us about the Redrock Dagger?
- Soday hid the original in the ruins of Saarland, north of Fairmeadow
Edna Mighty Leap: jump to anywhere you can see
Edna leaps to the tunnel entrance to cut of Tomay’s escape, but since Yuri is talking to him, she reconsiders her plan to land on him in midair! She windmills her limbs to adjust her trajectory and lands close to Tomay and Yuri, but not directly on them.
Edna Uncontrollable Strength: careless actions cause collateral damage
Edna’ sloppy landing crushes the ramp. She and piles ofrubble slide down to the bottom of the pit. Tomay ducks into the tunnel entrance, and Yuri pulls himself inside as well.
Yuri Overcome: 10+
- What do you want, and how can we help you get it?
- Sounds like you want to shut me and my brother down. Please don’t tell anyone about our forgeries.
Yuri: I will not say a thing.
Tomay: I’ll get Soday. He’ll tell you where he stashed the dagger, then you’ll never see us again. I promise!
- What can you tell us about where the dagger is hidden?
- Soday: The dagger is on the second floor of the Saarland Mint. There’s a secret room above the entrance. It’s a ghost town. The only people you need to worry about are dead!
Show Some Respect: Increase Response Level the first time the Fellowship causes Collateral Damage
Oolite Mine’s Response Level increases to 3
Oolite Mine gains Guardian: a Machine threat activates, defending an important location from the players.
A Group of Metal Dwarves advances on Edna.
Edna: Keep Them Busy: 10+
Both Edna and the Metal Dwarves are quite strong and immune to normal damage, so they grab and push and throw and neither side really accomplishes anything. Edna’s having a great time though!
Vestri Look Closely 7-9: ask 3 questions, 1 unhelpful answer
- What are the Metal Dwarves doing? What will they do next?
- The Metal Dwarves want Edna out of the way so they can repair the damaged ramp.
- How can they hurt me? How can they help me?
- The Metal Dwarves are tough and strong. This makes them tireless miners, very good at what they do, but also fierce opponents in combat.
- What do my senses tell me?
- While Vestri looks and listens carefully, he hears a sound coming from beneath his feet. A Dwarf pops out of the ground right next to Vestri!
Bogan Oolite is the leader of the Oolite clan. His beard has many stone beads. Quite a few are the same, so he’s travelled, but he’s also claimed a place. His very long beard is intricately braided around his head like a crown. He must have a hairdresser to achieve that hairstyle, and the braids are neat enough that he must have it fixed up frequently. He has a very cool demeanor. He’s not impressed by outsiders, but will listen to them and decide if they’re worth responding to.
Bogan: You dare ruin my mine so soon after we re-established it?
Vestri: So soon? This mine looks old. I’m sorry for my friend. We will repair the damage.
Bogan: Like me, the miners don’t respond to worthless chatter. We don’t leave your help. Leave.
Vestri: I’d be happy to leave if we find these two Dwarves we’re looking for: Tomay and Soday.
Bogan: I welcomed those Dwarves into my mine because we needed more smith. Now they bring trouble upon it?
Vestri: Your new smiths are forgers!
Bogan: Yes, they must operate the forges to do their craft.
Vestri: That’s not–they create forgeries. They steal masterworks from other Dwarves and make copies to sell.
Bogan: I’ll deal with the Dwarves under my command! I’ll turn off the miners. You tell your big friend to leave.
Vestri: Yes, I will get my big lady friend out.
Bogan takes three tuning forks from a set that he carries and strikes them on the ground. This signal shuts down the Group of Metal Dwarves fighting with Edna.
Vestri: Edna, please come out!
Edna puts down the Metal Dwarves that she’s holding and jogs up the ramp to Vestri and Bogan Oolite at the rim.
Edna: They were pretty tough, but I outlasted them!
Vestri: She can outlast anything except maybe a Dragon. Impressive not just in size!
Bogan: I’ll have to start the repairs on the . . . ah, the miners are undamaged. Fine.
Yuri is still at the tunnel entrance talking to Tomay and Soday.
Yuri: I think we are good to go. My companion may want apology. Some honesty or fake apology would be nice.
Yuri Talk Sense (+Sense, plain) 6-
Yuri Fool Me Once: re-roll one die 10+
Yuri emerges from the tunnel and leads Tomay and Soday to join the others.
Yuri: Ix-nay on the iolence-vay!
Tomay and Soday apologize to Vestri.
Vestri: So you know you shouldn’t be doing what you do? That’s very rude. Change your path, boys! I’ll continue on my path. Hope that we don’t cross paths.
Yuri hustles the Fellowship away from the mine. As they leave, they can hear Bogan start to yell:
Bogan: This is the attention you bring to….
Once the Fellowship is a good distance away, Yuri explains the deal he made with the forgers.
Yuri: You have to tell Lady Evelynn about them, because I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.
VestrI: That’s not quite lying, but it feels like forgery.
Edna: This sort of wordplay is very important in high society. Happens all the time.
Vestri: I don’t like it. When Lady Evelynn’s messenger arrives, I’ll be honest. She’s must be getting unhappy about the lack of results.
END OF SESSION MOVE.
- Did we thoroughly explore a new location? NO
- Did anyone find what they were seeking? YES
- Did we learn something new about the world and its people? YES
Two boons:
- Heal
- Level up Edna & Vestri