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, Markus the Squire, Ol’ Jardiner the Harbinger
Last time, the Fellowship explored Templeton, then discovered a strange automated mansion on the way to Port Fennrick. Now, Edna will stay in Port Fennrick as mayor and her former groundskeeper Ol’ Jardiner will adventure without her.
GM note: We forgot to do the End Of Session move a few times, so we did a Beginning Of Session move to make up for it.
- Did we thoroughly explore a new location?
- Yes, Sola’s Mansion
- Did anyone find what they were seeking?
- Yes, Edna became the mayor of Port Fennrick
- Did we learn something new about the world or its people?
- Yes, the Undead Dragon used in the invasion is the same dragon whose head was mounted in the Fairy Forest as a trophy.
- Two boons:
- Level up: Markus, Ol’ Jardiner
- Gear
- Level up: Markus, Ol’ Jardiner
GM note: Characters aren’t allowed to level up twice in the same session, but Markus & Ol’ Jardiner are far behind Dryden & Averiela, and the author of the book cant come over and stop us, so we did it anyway.
As the Luna Penumbra approaches Port Fennrick, the Fellowship looks down and sees people sneaking towards a Contraband Warehouse. Before the ship is close enough to intervene, Edna, Vestri, and Yuri chase the burglars away. A little cloud, about the size of a football, floats up to the ship, trailing bubbles behind it. It flies up to Dryden and pops, and the sound of Ol; Jardiner’s voice comes out!
Ol’ Jardiner: Please land at the dock on the west side. We have a temporary City Hall there.
Bork directs the Luna Penumbra with a big torch in each hand. When Dryden does a 360 flourish, Bork desperately signals a turn in the opposite direction. Not many ships are in town, so Dryden doesn’t hit anything, and the ship lands safely. In the ruins of the old City Hall, a make-shift building has been constructed from the hulls of landing ships that were sunk during the invasion. Edna has a lot of meetings, so people come in and out of the building all the time. Edna comes out to greet her friends. Dryden leaps from the ship with a flourish, and Edna catches him. Meanwhile, Markus directs the crew to repair and resupply the ship.
Dryden: Now, Edna–thank you for catching me–how goes the mayoring?
Edna: It’s quite complicated. I have to balance the interests of all the different people in town. It was easy to get the dock workers on our side. They respect Bork. Talking other people into agreeing with our government was a challenge. We had help from an expert negotiator.
Edna points to Lucy, who looks like a human woman in an expensive white suit. On closer inspection, her blonde hairdo conceals two horns that curve back from her forehead, following the curve of her skull. Yuri stands very close to her.
Edna: Oh, in additon to getting the contracts finalized, we also get to plan Yuri’s wedding.
Vestri is displeased whenever Lucy or wedding is mentioned.
Edna: I really don’t have time to travel with y’all anymore, but Ol’ Jardiner would like to go.
Ol ‘Jardiner: Yeah, I left the estate for a reason. I don’t want to settle down again.
Dryden: Are their any threats in the area, or has it calmed down now?
Edna explains the negotiations with the Louie’s mob and Finsea, and how the surviving Vampires have been expelled. She needs guards for the Contraband Warehouses, and artisans and laborers to rebuild the city. Nothing that matches the Fellowship’s expertise.
Edna: If you are travelling to other cities, we can give you packages stolen from those cities, so you can return them and spread the good word.
The Fellowship is happy to help, but they don’t know where they’re going next. Ol’ Jardiner wants to explore the Ghostlands, full of hungry ghosts, or return to The Last Village and blow their minds with a ship flying n from the sky. Markus feels like he’s barely started as an adventurer, and wants more excitement.
Markus: What’s the coolest city on the mainland? That’s where I want to go.
Edna: Maybe in a few months, I can say this one, but there’s a lot of work to do.
Ol’ Jardiner looks through his Endless Scroll, which has every combination of letters possible. All the information in the world is in there. He just has to find it.
Ol’ Jardiner: It says to look to the sky, but you can’t because something is in the way.
Dryden: Hmm, either it’s cloudy, or it’s underground.
Averiela: What about that lottery ticket?
The lottery ticket came from the City of Clay, but that city is abandoned. Perhaps the Fellowship could find out where the people went, follow them, and claim the prize. There’s an entrance through the Underground Waterways that the Luna Penumbra will not fit through, but also an entrance from the surface on the north side of the Treacherous Mountains. The Fellowship decides to find the northern entrance of the City of Clay and investigate from there.
Ol’ Jardiner: Maybe we use the ship’s cannon to make the entrance big enough to fit through.
The route will take the Luna Penumbra past Bogden and Thaumatown, so Edna checks the manifests of the Contraband Warehouses and retrieves a package taken from Thaumatown. Edna ships a pallet of food to Bogden to relieve the famine. They are still struggling after Platypalooza’s unexpected end. The warehouse contains a magical artifact taken from Allan A Zham. He’s dead, though.
Edna: Maybe he had an apprentice. Check the tower, then give it to the town leaders.
GM note: I forgot that the previous party already returned packages to Bogden and Thaumatown. The artifact that I invented this time is a combination of the two from last time. Unstable like Froob’s rare reagents, and exotic plants like the Botanical Collectors. I even mentioned Wages Of Fear & Sorceror as inspirations for the unstable cargo.
The artifact stolen from Allan A Zham is a glass box with a frame over the top. Strings of small glass balls hang from the frame. Each glass ball contains a different kind of plant. It’s a kind of ark. It’s supposed to be carried to a new location, then the glass balls are thrown onto the ground. The plants inside grow iwth magical speed as soon as the glass encasing them in broken. Knocking the ark over en route will cause all the plants to grow all at once inside whatever vehicle is transporting them. That’s bad!
A long journey: Each player sets a scene:
Averiela’s scene. What was tricky about leaving Port Fennrick?
The crew of the Luna Penumbra shuffles around to compensate for Edna and most of her Companions leaving. Ol’ Jardiner introduces his companion Doodle, a two-dimensional creature he found in the Endless Scroll. It becomes the Muscle. Ol’ Jardiner could pilot the ship, but the guns are more fun. With all those arrangments done, the ship is about to leave, but someone is desperate to get on board. This person might be a man. They are covered in shabby grey silk, with a long beard spilling out of a hooded cloak.
Mysterious person: Wait! I’m coming! I know i paid.
Ol ‘Jardiner: I’ll look for your ticket here. Yeah, it looks legit to me.
Markus: Where are you trying to go? Where is your ticket for?
Mysterious person: Where ever the ship is going. I don’t know. I just bought it from the guy over there.
Ol ‘Jardiner: You’re going to Lazy-I Ranch to seek your fortune out north-west.
Ol’ Jardiner drops a marble on the ground and it rolls under the mysterious person. It’s a magical eyeball that helps him see under the mysterious person’s cloak.
- Is something hidden or out of place?
- This person is a Spider, not a Human. The big robe (spun with the Spider’s silk) conceals their six arms and jointed exoskeleton. The long beard is also Spider’s silk.
- Tell me about the Spider. How could he hurt or help me?
- He calls himself Hank Holliday. Just as Ol’ Jardiner deployed his magic eyeball without breaking eye contact, Hank drops a silk line, pulls the eyeball up into his cloak, and destroys it, without missing a beat in conversation.
- Hank Holliday is a Spider Orator:
- Silver Tongue: Hank has control over The Innocents, and can command them to do anything he wishes.
- Wall Walker: Spiders can walk across any solid surface with ease, no
matter the surface’s orientation. They can also spin webs to cross gaps or
create bridges or build homes.
- What is Hank doing? What will he do next?
- He’s trying to get out of town to avoid trouble. He intends to leave the ship before reaching his final destination.
Markus chats with Hank while Ol’ Jardiner tries his spy stuff.
- What does he want and how could we help him get it?
- He wants to avoid people in town, and a flying ship is a great way to get away.
- What should we be wary of when dealing with him?
- He lies all the time. Most people couldn’t read his arachnid facial expressions, even if they could see under his hood.
- What can he tell us about why he wants to leave Port Fennrick?
- Hank talks in circles and Markus can’t get a straight answer out of him.
Dryden: I think you should talk to Ol’ Jardiner here and promise not to hurt the people of Bogden.
Hank feels a conspiratorial hand aroudn his shoulder as Ol’ Jardiner leads him to a private corner. Ol’ Jardiner is much shorter than Hank, so he’s using Wizardry to touch remotely. They make a magical promise.
Ol’ Jardiner: I promise that no one on this ship will hurt you as long as you’re on it, if you promise not to hurt anyone at your destination.
Ol’ Jardiner offers a handshake.
Ol’ Jardiner: I know about the hands. It’s fine.
Hank offers an exoskeletal claw from beneath his cloak. Ol’ Jardiner grasps it in a handshake, and claps his other hand on the back of Hank’s claw. When he releases it, the claw is inscribed with a fancy capital J. Ol’ Jardiner learned how to write like that by illuminating manuscripts at the academy.
The Luna Penumbra flies to Bogden, and the Fellowship delivers the pallet of food to Anter, the vilage elder. Edna’s not there to carry the whole pallet, so the crew breaks it down and carries
Champ: Is this the promised feast? You look a bit different, but all adventurers are the same. Adventurers promised us a feast, but they cheaped out and only had enough for a few kids.
Dryden: Hey, Champ, I bet you can carry this food faster than we can.
Champ: Of course I can!
So Champ helps unload the Luna Penumbra and mocks the Fellowship for being slow and weak. Anter is very happy to see all the food.
Ol’ Jardiner: Hmm, I’ve got a message I gotta read from Edna Crusher-Harcourt, Dragonbane, new Mayor of Port Fennrick. She hopes this will be the start of a mutually beneficial trade relationship and the end of your unfortunate famine.
The Fellowship trades stories with Anter, except Ol’ Jardiner, who thinks it’s a waste of time. Dryden tells Anter about the Library Invasion. Anter says that Froob puts Sally & Sallet in a vat of special chemicals to prevent them from transforming, so they didn’t have to stab them. Markus tells a story about sneaking into the library as a child. Dryden got caught and Markus didn’t. Anter reveals that when she was younger, she messed up during a hunt and fled back to town with a dangerous predator in pursuit. She ran past Champ, who fought and defeated it. When they returned to town, all anyone heard was how Champ defeated the creature, not how Anter almost led it into town.
The Framework makes the journey harder:
When the Luna Penumbra leaves Bogden and climbs to cruising altitude, the mice report to Dryden that Hank Hollidy has taken the Plant Ark! When Dryden reaches the hold, Hank has opened the cargo door and is about to rappel down a silk line, holding the Plant Ark in a few hands. Dryden immediately jumps, deploys his flying device and hover near Hank.
Dryden: You should have stayed on the ship!
Hank realizes the promise Ol’ Jardiner gave only applies when he’s on the ship. He starts climbing up the silk line, but Dryden cuts it with his sword! Hank falls. He holds the Plant Ark under one arm, and grabs orbs with his other five hands and throws them down below him as fast as he can. They hit the ground and sprout into moss and shrubs and plants that will break his fall. Dryden aims his Ranged Rope to snatch the Plant Ark from Hank’s arm. The Ranged Rope wrenches the Plant Ark, but can’t hold on to it. Every plant orb remaining inside bursts at once and Hank disappears into a bal of rapidly growing plants! The airbrone pile of plants hits the pile of plants growing on the ground. Markus brings the ship down closer to the new forest.
Ol’ Jardiner: I was hoping we could fulfill the letter of the law by delivering the Plant Ark and not its contents, but I guess that glass box is broken too.
GM note: That’s a new Location with stats and a boss and everything. So cool!
The Luna Penumbra flies over the Singing Hills. Dryden makes a banner to trail behind the ship that says, “RODDIE WE MISS YOU” After a while, there’s a thump against the hull. Ol’ Jardiner looks over the side and uses Wizardry to bring up one of Roddie’s needles, fired from his custom-made pneumatic rifle. There’s a note attached that says, “Thanks for the long-distance communication” and explains the hunting challenge he’s doing. The Singing Hills are guarded by Aku, who is blind, but has very good hearing. Roddie avoid his notice while stalking and shooting his prey. Roddie is autistic. Most social interactions make him uncomfortable. The specific way he likes to interact is far from normal. When he starts a project (building a pneumatic rifle, hunting while avoiding being hunted), he puts all his energy into it and gets very good at it.
Averiela wants to drop a gift for him. Ol’ Jardiner chooses a magical bauble that he thinks Roddie with appreciate. It’s a flat spring, like a watch spring, with a lens attached. if anyone looks into the lens, the spring goes “boing!” loudly. Roddie can place it behind him and be warned if anyone is sneaking up on him.
The Luna Penumbra continues north and east over the Lazy-I Ranch, which has herds of Brontosaurus (a long-necked dinosaur that doesn’t exist on Earth) and Megacerops (a large,extinct rhino with a Y-shaped horn).An Elven arrow flies past Markus with perfect precision. A warning shot! Ol’ Jardiner blows a magic bubble, whispers a message into it, and releases it over the side. About the time that he realizes that his mysterious message is one-way communication, an arrow with a note tied around it hits the mast! It says, “Fly clear. You’ve been warned.”
The ranch is in a valley between the Table of Fanime on the east and Cloudhold (a mountain whose peak is hidden by storm clouds) on the west.
Dryden: At some point, flying into the thunderstorm would be very exciting, but not right now.
To the south, the Treacherous Moutains rise up. Ol’ Jardiner points out a spot in the foothills. That’s where he and his other group of friends emerged from the City of Clay. Dryden uses the afterburners to land the flying ship on solid ground near the entrance.
The Fellowship goes underground and find themselves in a salt mine. The light from the entrance sparkles on the walls. A huge area has been hollowed out inside the mountain, criss-crossed with bridges. Without an eight-ton Ogre threatening to collapse the bridges, and with Ol’ Jardiner’s memory of passing this way before, the Fellowship has no trouble getting through the mine and into a residental area. Ol’ Jardiner and Markus look around for clues about what happened to the CIty of Clay and where the residents went.
- What is hidden or out-of-place?
- Trails of stone that have melted and re-solidified. Sometimes the trails run along a path, but sometimes they go through walls.
- Ol’ Jardiner: That’ll be the Fire Elemental. Don’t stand too close. It’s extremely hot.
- Markus: Maybe that’s why they left?
- What are the residents doing? What will they do next?
- Most of the tunnels and caverns are straight and smooth, lined with bricks. One road/tunnel at the end of the residental district turns in a different direction and becomes quite wide and quite rough. This tunnel goes straight to the surface on the western side of the Treacherous Mountains. It was carved in haste as an escape route! The homes have been stripped bare, so the residents had enough time to pack their belonging.
The Fellowship enters a huge kiln chamber. In the center of the room are two beehive-shaped kilns, 50 feet tall. The walls of the chamber are shelves full of bricks. The entrance at the far side of the chamber is bricked up.
Ol’ Jardiner: I did that. Help me pull these bricks out. There’s something on the other side you should see.
Dryden: We should fight the Fire Elemental.Then someone else could come and start a brick business.
Dryden uses his unbreakable Dwarven hammer to break down the brick wall. The Fellowship goes through the door to another room, but the far wall of the room is gone and open to a huge chamber with a lake of lava at the bottom. Other rooms, similarly opened are visible on the far side of the chamber. Lava moved through and cut the city in half! Ol’ Jardiner walks close to the edge and points out where he was the last time he came through. The lava in front of him rises up and forms a vaguely humanoid shape. It’s a Fire Elemental!
- Fire Elemental: A 10 foot tall being of molten rock, perpetually on fire.
- Burning Aura: Anyone who is not immune to fire cannot get close without
paying a price. - Wildfire: The Fire Elemental is Burning and Dangerous.
- Tough As Nails: The first time a Fire Elemental would be damaged or
destroyed, damage this stat instead.
- Burning Aura: Anyone who is not immune to fire cannot get close without
Ol’ Jardiner: Overwhelming Power!
Ol’ Jardiner Do Not Trifle With Wizards: When you conjure a powerful spell to destroy something in your way, pay a price, then take up to three points of damage. You inflict that much damage to your target. You then become exhausted, and roll with Despair for the rest of the scene.
Ol’ Jardiner damages Wisdom, Courage, and Doom
Fire Elemental damages Tough As Nails
Ol’ Jardiner:I thought that was going to work!
Markus runs in to pull Ol’ Jardiner away. He’s not quick enough, and the Fire Elemental swipes both of them with a flaming arm. When Ol’ Jardiner comes to rest after skiidding across the floor. He pulls a flask from his vest and drinks a helaing elixir. Markus stops, drops, and rolls, but he’s still on fire!
Averiela throws a waterskin in the air and shoots it, so it bursts and rains water down on Markus and Ol’ Jardiner. They are no longer on fire! Ol’ Jardiner uses a large glowing needle to sew up the leylines of magic, flipping the floor over and dumping the Fellowship into a room below. Ol’ Jardiner holds some tinder in his fingers and snaps to make a spark. A soft light immulinates the dark room. The Fellowship has a bit of time to recover and plan another attack.
Dryden: I have a vial of water from the river of Vieport. I want to open up a portal and dump the river on top of the Fire Elemental.
GM note: This is such a Dwarf Fortress plan! Just redirect the river to turn the lava into obsidian! I’m sure it won’t flood the whole fortress!
Dryden: We should have equipped ourselves with Exosuits to be immune to fire.
Markus: We didn’t know. Well, Ol’ Jardiner knew.
Ol’ Jardiner: It was a lot easier when I could ride in Edna’s pockets and jump across the lake of lava.
Ol’ Jardiner found a ritual in his Endless Scroll that will make him immune to fire.
Ol’ Jardiner: I have inverted my elemental polarity. Slight wrinkle: water hurts me now.
Time to go! The Fellowship exits the safe room and goes back out to the lake of lava. Markus yells and taunts the Fire Elemental to draw its attention. It works too well and the Fire Elemental moves in from the lake onto the platform where the Fellowship is gathered. Averiela moves with Perfect Grace and runs up the wall of the chamber, carrying Markus. Dryden uses parkour to dodge the Fire Elemental’s attack, climb a little ways on the rough wall of the chamber, then jump off and land on his Flying Device. He flies up to meet Averiela and Markus at the top of the chamber. Ol’ Jardiner stands confidently and lets the fire flow harmlessly around me.
Dryden and Averiela open Infinite Windows and a huge waterfall appears in midair! Ol’ Jardiner tries to run as the water splashes down, but a wave flows into the kiln room and sweeps Ol’ Jardiner along with it.
Ol’ Jardiner: This is so much harder without Edna in front of me!
Markus slips from Averiela’s grasp. Dryden throws a shield (made from a turtle shell, confiscated from EEE) and Markus uses it to surf down the waterfall and into the kiln room, where he lifts Ol’ Jardiner out of the harmful water.
The waterfall kils the Fire Elemental, hardening it and the surface of the lava lake into obsidian! Steam fills the chamber. Fish start coming through the portal. Dryden looks up through the portal and sees boats in Vieport. It would be best to close the portal before it causes more trouble. Dryden and Averiela grab all four sides of the portal and pull it closed. Something dangerous comes through before the portal closes: a patrol of Vieport’s snakefolk gaurds! They plummet hundreds of feet onto half-molten obsidian. RIP. Averiela throws Dryden down, away from the closing portal, then runs down the last drops of the waterfall and catches him!
GM note: do an end of session move at the start of next session