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 ran some errands in Port Fennrick. This time, they return to Von Till’s castle to deal with the consequences of creating the Smouldering Forest.
GM note: Reminder to everyone, especially the Horizon, of what increases the Response Level of a region. The game has been too easy.
The Fellowship returns through Infinite Windows to the Luna Penumbra, docked above Von Till’s castle. The workers report a commotion to the south, but they can’t see what happened. A wall of smoke starts at the far edge of the moat along the southern wall. There’s a form half-visible in the smoke. The Fellowship brought tools, so the workers can start repairing the walls now. The Drowned Forest is draining, so the moat has an obvious outer edge now. There’s a new message on the castle’s message board!
Stella: Location boss, Smouldering Phoenix, is coming to attack you. Has a nest (on ground) in Smouldering Forest. Giant turtle is dead. Can use shell!
Avereiela gasps. Dryden does a double-take. A giant turtle slain?
Markus: The Phoenix is coming to attack us?
Averiela: Well done, Dryden.
Dryden: But we have renewed the forest! It would make sense that the Phoenix comes from the ashed forest. Maybe it’s a good forest! Maybe phoenix is good!
Dryden confidently walks into the Smouldering Forest. Averiela climbs to the top of the castle wall and peers through the smoke with her keen Elfsight.
- What is going on here? What do my senses tell me?
- This used to be the southern half of the Drowned Forest The ground is dry or muddy. No standing water anymore. The dead trees have lost their small branches to fire. Blackened tree trunks smoke endlessly like chimneys. The fire never goes out, and never completely consumes the trees.
- STAT: Fire-aligned: Beasts with the Fire-aligned template live here
- Fire-Aligned: This creature has the Burning tag and is immune to damage from heat and fire
- Response Level: 5
- Response Moves:
- Dark Secret: The location gains another stat. Hot: The heat from the smouldering trees requires Protection
- Separation: When the location reaches this response level, someone is separated from the Fellowship
- Guardian Underfoot the Great Tortoise (DEAD)
- Show of Force: When the location reaches this response level, the Boss gets a Hard Cut that it can spend at any time (SPENT)
- Bad Weather: Smoke from the smouldering trees limits visibility to 20 feet
- Tell me about the shape. How could it hurt me? How could it help me?
- It’s the shell of a great tortoise that was killed by Acid Slimes.
- Tell me about the Smouldering Phoenix. What is it doing? What will it do next?
- The Phoenix has returned to its nest and seems pleased with itself.
- Smouldering Phoenix it/its : A smoky, skeletal shell of a bird. Its attempts to self-immolate and revive itself end in clouds of billowing ash and darkened smoke, spreading further corruption around it.
- Corrupted Titan: The phoenix is Giant. When anyone smaller than it attempts to attack it, they must first pay a price.
- Phoenix Smoke: The phoenix cannot properly ignite. It is immune to Burning attacks, and any attempts to ignite it cause the area around it to be filled with blinding, choking smoke. It leaves a trail of smoke as it flies.
- Smouldering Phoenix it/its : A smoky, skeletal shell of a bird. Its attempts to self-immolate and revive itself end in clouds of billowing ash and darkened smoke, spreading further corruption around it.
- The Phoenix has returned to its nest and seems pleased with itself.
Dryden walks into the hot, smoky forest and immediately starts coughing. He sees the turtle shell and gives a wolf-like howl of mourning! Dryden knows The Ancient One, a great sea turtle, and some of his associates. There aren’t many great turtles. Dryden recognizes the marking on the shell. This was Underfoot!
Dryden: No! Not Underfoot! I rode on him when I was younger.
He retreats back to the castle.
Dryden: Guys, we have exosuits. We need our ship. We need to go get that shell.
Markus suggests using the ship’s Harpoons to pick up the shell. The Fellowship shuffles companions around on the ship so that someone operates the exosuits, someone operates the harpoons, and Averiela can see through the smoke and direct the ship.
Ol’ Jardiner: Hold on, are we going out on our revenge mission now, or are we pulling the shell into our castle first?
Dryden: I think we should pull the shell in and I think we should make it part of our ship. Underfoot would want his armor to continue to protect.
Dryden wears an exosuit and walks out to the shell. Markus flies the ship overhead, guided by Averiela, and Doodle fires the harpoon into the ground. Dryden takes it and hooks it securely to the shell. Markus raises the ship slowly. The cable goes taut and starts lifting the heavy shell. Dryden rides the shell, with an hand on the cable for balance. Markus lowers the shell into the eastern courtyard, next to the fallen outer wall.
Markus: The tortoise is dead and the shell has survived, so whatever attacked it, the shell was impervious.
Ol’ Jardiner inspects the shell scientifically. Averiela wonders what sort of magical item she could create with such a powerful object.
- Is there anything hidden or out of place?
- Over the years, things have grown into the shell, like rocks and branches. Also many weapon blades that snapped long ago. The bone has grown around them.
- Tell me about the shell. How could it hurt or help me?
- It’s thousands of pounds of impervious bone. It can protect from almost any weapon, but it can also crush with its weight. Ol’ Jardiner disturbs a hive of supernatural insects.
- What will happen if I try to reshape the shell with magic?
- It’s an ancient shell that is really strong. It grew slowly along with the turtle, but any attempt to quickly re-shape it would have serious consequences.
- Psychic Bees: A hive of bees that shares an intelligence. They mean no harm, but their ambient psychic energy causes confusion all around them.
- Psychic Aura: The bees know everything that enters their territory. They ignore anything that isn’t a threat, but everything noticed by their network develops strange headaches and blurry vision. Anyone near the bees is in Despair when rolling with +Sense.
- Alien Intellect: The bees do not think like single organisms do, and behave according to what is best for the hive. Their actions are strange and unpredictable. They will happily let individual bees die for the sake of the hive. They do not recognize others are individuals, and assume everyone else is in their own hives too – as such, they do not value the lives of others, either.
Ol’ Jardiner stumbles back and falls off the shell.
Averiela: Let’s take the hive to the Phoenix.
Ol’ Jardiner: Ow. They didn’t come out earlier because smoke makes bees hide.
Dryden: The easiest thing is to keep the harpoons attached and fly them back. Let’s just go straight to that Phoenix.
Markus lifts the ship and the shell into the air. Ol’ Jardiner is left lying on the ground. Dryden hops off the shell, and flies down on his Flying Disk. He scoops up Ol’ Jardiner and throws a smoke bomb to keep the Psychic Bees away. The smoke bomb didn’t produce the right kind of smoke, so the Psychic Bees sting Dryden and keep coming. Markus heads towards the Smouldering Forest so the smoke will drive the bees back to the hive. Averiela takes over the ship’s wheel, since she can see where she’s going. Dryden brings Ol’ Jardiner to the deck and shouts orders to get the crew moving. The Luna Penumbra sails safely to the Phoenix’s nest and the Psychic Bees retreat to their hive.
The Smouldering Phoenix sees them coming. How dare they invade his domain?
- Angering the Boss increases the Response Level to 6
- New Reponse Move: Always a Bigger Fish. A new Boss arrives.
The Smouldering Phoenix has attracted the attention of a full-grown Phoenix. She flies in from above as the Luna Penumbra flies in from the north.
- Exotherasa she/her (pronounce “ther” like “Other” but the O belongs to “exo” Exo-ther-asa, not Ex-other-asa)
- Agenda: Champion Tyrant
- Prove your strength. Maintain your rule.
- Pheonix (modifed Roc Stats)
- Firebird: The Phoenix is Burning, Giant, and immune to damage from heat or fire. She can spit fireballs (Ranged, Burning, Reload)
- Get Carried Away: The Phoenix can fly away with anyone she deals damage to. If she is not stopped quickly, she will escape to the skies. she will never willingly drop someone she carries until she reaches her destination.
- Unnatural Toughness: The Phoenix’s other stats cannot be damaged while she still has this stat.
This new Phoenix is more important than the invading airship, so the Smouldering Phoenix flies up to meet her. They speak to each other in a language that none of the Fellowship understands. Averiela sees the Smouldering Phoenix gesturing at the shell.
Ol’ Jardiner: Perhaps we were hasty.
Averiela: I do not disagree.
Dryden: But Phoenixes were once noble. They were wonderful birds!
Ol’ Jardiner: Let’s just unhook this harpoon and we’ll go back and re-group.
Markus: We can’t get away with it?
Ol’ Jardiner doesn’t want to wait for a concensus
Ol’ Jardiner: Doodle, drop it!
Doodle releases the harpoon, dropping Underfoot’s shell onto the Phoenix’s nest.
- Defacing a place of power raises the response level to 6
- New response move: The inhabiants of this location are threats to the world.
The arrival of a true Phoenix empowers all the fire-aligned creatures in the forest. They burst into flame.
Averiela swiftly pilots the Luna Penumbra back to the castle.
Dryden: OK, so we have, to the south of this castle, two Phoenixes. One that is still smouldering. One that is at full power. They have a nest, and have empowered all the fire creatures. We were draining the swamp. Where are we at? I might need to do some rework here.
Averiela: We could divert the north river through the forest. If fire is their strength, I assume water is their weakness.
Dryden: I think we need to add water cannons to our ship.
Ol’ Jardiner: I could do a magical ritual. I can make our ship’s cannons water-enchanted, or I could make our personal weapons frost-enchanted.
Markus: We also currently have no ammo.
Dryden sends crew members to get more cannon ammo out of storage and fix up the ship’s systems. The Fellowship takes stock of their resources. Dryden has a Shadow Warrior from the dark side of the Moon that isn’t as vulnerable to fire as normal creatures. Dryden enchants the Fellowship’s personal weapons with frost. The enchantment is powerful against fire creatures, but if used improperly, it might spread frost on the ground around the wielder. Dryden hands Ol’ Jardiner a beautiful cursed blade. Ol’ Jardiner doesn’t have a weapon of his own after stabbing a metal-eating slime with a metal knife.
Dryden: My necrotic knife. It has different curses when you touch the different symbols.
Ol’ Jardiner: Very nice. It counts as a sword for me because my arms are shorter.
Ol’ Jardiner enchants the necrotic knife, and both Averiela’s and Markus’ bows. Averiela doesn’t trust Ol’ Jardiner with her sword, but he assures her that the enchantment is only temporary, so she agrees. Dryden has a throwing star, a fast robotic bo staff, and a large unbreakable Dwarven hammer. It takes a few minutes for Ol’ Jardiner to enchant that arsenal. There’s no time for Averiela to craft a magical artifact, but there is time for Dryden to set a trap. He places an explosive in the moat that will spray water up, like a oscillating lawn sprinkler.
Markus wonders how the castle workers will be affected by the battle. It’s their home and he expects them to protect it. A victory will give them confidence to live here with such frightening neighbors. The Fellowship sends them to take shelter in the great hall.
GM note: It’s a proper battle with little tokens on a paper map in the middle of the table.
Markus: Jaridiner is the gunner, so he should be on the ship with Averiela.
Ol’ Jardiner: After I enchanted all our personal weapons? We’re back on the ship?
Dryden hides on the southern outer wall. Markus stands on the eastern wall of the inner keep. Ol’ Jardiner hides in the southeastern dome of the inner keep. Averiela stays aboard the ship. They hear the enemy coming before they see them.
Exotheresa: You are young and brash. Let me show you the proper way to behave. A new Age of Fire is coming and we must act like the lords that we will become.
Exotheresa flies in to land on the southern outer wall, with the Smouldering Phoenix flying a respectful distance behind. Her flight path goes directly over Dryden’s explosive trap.
Exotheresa: You brutes attacked without warning, but I offer you a chance to settle this in a reasonable–
Dryden’s trap explodes, blasting columns of water right into the the fiery bird! Her wings go limp and she slumps on top of the outer wall, unconscious. Her weight and the force of the blast damage the wall.
Averiela: So much for talking first.
The Smouldering Phoenix attacks the most obvious person: Markus on the inner wall. He runs towards the Smouldering Phoenix and gets into the dome with Ol’ Jardiner before the Phoenix can reach him. Ol’ Jardiner isn’t happy that Markus has brought the Phoenix to his hiding place. The Phoenix flies past, wheels in the air, and calls out. Markus shoots frosty arrows at it, drawing its attention.
Averiela gives Halindor (the cook) temporary control of the helm. She orders Doodle, Tomay, and Soday to dump barrels of water over the side of the hovering ship. She runs down the water droplets to land on the Phoenix’s back with a puff of thick smoke. She draws her icy sword and plunges it into the Phoenix. She hesitates, but reassures herself that the Phoenix will rise again, so she’s not really killing it. Her blow does not kill, but the frost enchantment quenches the Smouldering Phoenix’s weak fire. The smoke that formed its wings dissipates, forcing it to spiral in and land on the dome near Markus and Ol’ Jardiner. All three are now in danger from the giant skeletal bird. Ol’ Jardiner’s hiding spot is now the site of the fiercest combat. This has gone terribly wrong for him. It pecks at the windows, trying to snag someone with its hooked beaks.
On the southern wall, Dryden sees dozens and dozens of fire-aligned alligators appear from the Smouldering Forest.
- Gang of Fire-aligned Alligator: Gators are a classic predator of the bayou. Confident as a apex predator.
- Chomp: The gator’s bite is Piercing. Anyone it bites is damaged twice.
- Fire-Aligned: This creature has the Burning tag and is immune to damage from heat and fire
- Gang: This enemy can act against everyone at once. When this enemy is destroyed, this stat is damaged, or this is their only stat left, replace the Gang with two Groups of this enemy. This stat can only be damaged by Area, Dangerous, or Giant attacks.
Dryden: Welcome home to your new moat. Defend the castle! Unless you want this to happen to you.
Dryden points to the unconscious Phoenix on the wall. The alligators are amazed by his display of power, and enter the moat to encircle the castle instead of attacking it.
Back on the castle tower, Markus prepares to climb out on top of the dome and face the giant bird with his sword. Ol’ Jardiner, in a bit of a panic, casts a powerful spell without warning his teammates. He holds Dryden’s cursed dagger out in front of him with both hands, and projects part of his lifeforce out of his chest and through the blade. The beam changes color as it takes on the frost enchantment then blasts through the window that Markus was trying to climb out of. The energy leaking from the beam is enough to burn him at that range. From the outer wall, Dryden is shocked to see his beloved dagger vaporized by the spell, and feels a chill from its empty sheath at his side.
Averiela is on top of the Smouldering Phoenix as the beam disintegrates it. She realizes what happens when a Pheonix dies. She sheathes her sword, backflips off the Phoenix’s back, and grabs the egg as it forms in the middle of the explosion. She slides down the castle wall with the egg safely in hand. She’s heard of an Elf known for working with broken beasts. She could still save this creature. She realizes this egg holds a troubled soul. She holds it close to her heart and bestows a kiss on it. She covers the egg with mud to protect it.
Ol’ Jardiner: We’ve got to do something about these Alligators! Dryden, what are we going to do? I can’t do that again. That really hurt.
Dryden: Well, they’re currently living with us. And we now have a hot sauna.
Ol’ Jardiner: We’re just OK with this? They’re not trying to kill us?
The Alligators will hang around for a while, but they don’t see anything to defend the castle from. Maybe some Slimes will arrive.
Defeating the boss reduces the Response Level to its minimum: 4.
Dryden: When the Phoenix wakes up, what are we going to do?
The True Phoenix is a huge bird, but it’s smaller than the Luna Penumbra, and Infinite Windows can form a window of any size.
Ol’ Jardiner: What if we get that turtle shell, and stuff the bird in there?
Dryden: I heard them plotting the destruction of the world and the rise of the Phoenix Fire People. Is that what everyone else heard?
Markus: Pretty much.
Dryden: So is this Phoenix also corrupted?
Markus: The Phoenix may be healthy, but it may be evil still. It functions properly as a Phoenix.
Dryden: I’ve got an ethical question. Do we end the Phoenix and give it another chance?
Markus and Averiela don’t like the idea of executing a captured foe.
Markus: Also eggs are far easier to transport. It’s on fire already. Can we not just, help it along?
Averiela looks horrified. Ol’ Jardiner doesn’t have a weapon anymore, so he can’t kill it himself. Dropping the Phoenix off the wall will wake it up, as will carrying it with the ship, but it won’t be able to fight.
Averiela: If we can put it in the turtle shell–
Dryden: Is there a Phoenix home we can send it to?
Averiela: If we are concerned that they are plotting something bigger and dangerous–
Dryden: If we are traveling with it, we definitely want it egg-sized.
Ol’ Jardiner: Is it OK to kill it? I took some philosophy classes. There’s this idea: “the Continuity Of The Self” How can you prove that me now is the same me that cheated on that test. Because if I’m different, then it would be wrong to punish me, because I didn’t do anything. There’s the idea that memories are stored physically in the brain, and everytime you go to sleep, that consciousness dies. You wake up with a new consciousness that accesses the old one’s memories. Is that what’s happening to the Phoenix, or does it come back completely new, with no memories.
Dryden: Elves are immortal. Are Phoenixes immortal? I think finding the Phoenix home sounds like a great adventure.
Averiela: Then we can come back here after the workers have finished building the wall and the fire alligators have defeated the slimes.
Dryden: While we’re talking about eggs, we should check out that nest.
Averiela realizes the necessity of executing Exotheresa, but it breaks her heart. She goes up to the giant beast and touches its beak and nod her head in respect. She pulls her sword and thrust it deep into its heart with tears rolling down her cheeks. In doing so, she tries to send some of her kindness and generousity into it.
Ol’ Jardiner: The beaks don’t even have nerve endings.
Averiela makes a horrible noise that Ol’ Jardiner has never heard before. He knows that was too far. He finds an excuse to be elsewhere on the ship, as Averiela flies it back to the giant nest in the Smouldering Forest.
Ol’ Jardiner forms a bond: I am scared of Averiela
Dryden: We should incorporate the shell somehow into our ship. I feel like Underfoot would want his shell to be roaming and protecting.
Dryden goes down to guide the harpoon again. The psychic beehive is still on Underfoot’s shell, and the smoke that kept them at bay has receded. Fire-aligned birds and deer in the area are agitated.
- Group of Fire-aligned Deer
- Fire-Aligned: This creature has the Burning tag and is immune to damage from heat and fire
- Fleet of Foot: You are in Despair when you Get Away from Deer
- Group: This enemy can act against two people at once. When this enemy is destroyed, this stat is damaged, or this is their only stat left, replace the Group with two normal enemies.
- Group of Hunting Birds: Birds of a feather hunt together.
- Fire-Aligned: This creature has the Burning tag and is immune to damage from heat and fire
- Go For The Eyes: Hunting birds can only harm the stat Sense. If they would deal damage to someone whose Sense is damaged, the hunting bird Keeps Them Busy instead.
- Group: This enemy can act against two people at once. When this enemy is destroyed, this stat is damaged, or this is their only stat left, replace the Group with two normal enemies.
Hunting Birds harry the crew on the deck, while Deer charge past Dryden over and over. Dryden does a parkour move into a tree and calls out to wolves, mountain lions, and bears.
Dryden: Smoked meat is available!
He hears an answering cry from somewhere in the distance. A fox is on its way. The deer can’t climb trees, but the Psychic Bees are still a problem.
Up on the Luna Penumbra, Markus yells at the hunting birds and waves his sword. The Hunting Birds dive bomb him one after the other. Averiela runs through the rigging, grabs Markus by his collar, and throws him back from the bow towards the rest of the crew. She’s so fast that the Hunting Birds don’t know where they’ve gone. Markus and Averiela grab some cargo netting and attach an arrow to each end. They fire from opposite sides of the deck and ensnare all the birds. Ol’ Jardiner sees his chance and runs to the harpoon gun. He blows a thought bubble and sends it down to Dryden:
Ol’ Jardiner: OK, hook it up!
Dryden reaches for his prank weapon to distract the eight flaming Deer between him and Underfoot’s shell, but it’s spent. He takes his magical throwing star and hunts for a deer. He hits a few, which slow down but keep running.
Dryden: These deer are tougher than alligators!
A fox appears, answering Dryden’s summons.
Dryden: Yes! Fox, nip at their heels! Drive them away! I’ve wouned them. Take one out for your dinner.
The fox chases the deer around. Dryden drops to the ground and approaches the turtle shell. He crawls underneath to see if there’s anything in the nest. There are no eggs in the nest. He crawls out again.
Dryden: Stay to the north, Fox friend!
Dryden swings his large unbreakable Dwarven hammer like a golf club at the beehive. It pops off cleanly and disappears into the smoke! He hooks the harpoon to the shell and bangs his metal staff on the cable to signal Ol’ Jardiner.
The Luna Penumbra pulls Underfoot’s shell aloft and sets off to find someone who knows what do to about these Phoenixes.The Fellowship leaves notes on message boards.
DROWNED FOREST MESSAGE BOARD
Dryden: Jumping overboard impulsively leads to safe landings and captured foes.
Vampire slain. Castle gained.
Repairs begun. Battles won.
Corrupted Phoenix twain–
Egged. Rise whole again?
Markus: I sure hope the workers finish the reconstruction by the time we get back.
SMOULDERING FOREST MESSAGE BOARD
Averiela: Phoenix corrupted, ruled in flame & fire,
Destroyed, things no longer so dire.
still remains fire creatures, condemned evermore
Attacking those walking the forest floor.
Ol’ Jardiner: Fascinating developments in zoological metabolism. Choose research subjects judiciously. Some have sentimental value.
Dryden: Underfoot, mighty tortoise, your shell lies empty
Your steps ceased their slow, steady tread.
Ancient wisdom lost. Acid slime! Your crime
solidifies your destimed demise.
When the ship is a good distance away from the nest, the crew releases the Hunting Birds from the nets and they flee back to their home.
Markus: As cool as this is, I really don’t feel like fighting Phoenixes. So I’d like to get these eggs dropped off before they hatch.
Dryden: When they hatch little, they won’t be a problem. But they grow quickly.
Markus: Are we going to keep killing them? That’s a terrible idea.
Dryden: Phoenixes are noble birds! These ones must have gone astray somehow.
Is there a bird sanctuary that can raise them and teach them about democracy? The warring Elven cities would just use them as weapons.
Options for the next quest:
- Do something with Underfoot’s shell
- Tell the turtle community about Underfoot’s death
- Find out about Age of Fire that Exotherea mentioned
- Find the Phoenix homeland
- Elven bird sanctuaries
Ol’ Jardiner: If we go tell the turtles, we won’t be able to use the shell. They’ll be offended.
Dryden: I think it’s honoring that the shell goes on. Part of Ancient One’s honor was transporting us and carrying us. For Underfoot’s shell to continue to provide protection, that’s a great way to honor him. If Underfoot had gone on his normal life, at some point he would have taken his final rest and become a protective place for whatever community he last chose. But he did not have that choice. We can of course consult the turtles, but to have his shell flying around the world to protect lots of turtles would be a high honor.
The Phoenix Eggs will hatch soon, but no one knows exactly when. To learn how to deal with them, the Fellowship needs to track down a wandering Sage who knows almost everything because they’ve been almost everywhere. The Fellowship will start by finding Ancient One to give the news about Underfoot and ask about the sage.
END OF SESSION MOVE
- Did we thoroughly explore a new location?
- NO
- Did anyone find what they were seeking?
- YES, Markus seeks adventure and usually finds it
- Did we learn something new about the world and its people?
- YES, Phoenixes and the “new age of fire”
Two boons:
- gear
- gear
GM note: We spent food to heal stats, then used Gear boons to get more food to heal more stats
Dryden replaces the beautiful cursed blade that Ol’ Jardiner destroyed with a vial of Elven water that will take any shape he commands. He commands it into the form of a weapon.