Chasing the Sunset & the Avatar

From Vieport, the Fellowship considers how to get to The Empire. The river flowing through Vieport does come from the west, but The Empire is raised above the surrounding terrain, so the boat wouldn’t be able to sail the whole way. They decide to go west by sea.

They know they’ve reached the Empire when the shore becomes high cliffs diving straight into the sea. They find the town of Hullift by the docks that stick out from the top of cliffs. A hot air balloon with the Imperial sea floats above the ocean a ways out. A small Imperial ship intercepts the Miranda. Ichabod (the baby Phoenix) flies out to inspect the hot air balloon, a fellow fire-powered flyer. The Imperial ship hails the Miranda and sends a boat over with a few Imperial soldiers, led my Commander Taylor.

Taylor: All old Tourist Badgehave been canceled.  We’ll ask you a few questions so you get the proper badges to go into the Empire.  Imperial forces are working extra-hard to protect you during this state of emergency.

Buckle: State of emergency? What’s the emergency?

Taylor:  The Empire has been attacked by a dastardly and cowardly enemy. Don’t worry. We’re on it.

Buckle: What kind of attack?

Taylor:  They didn’t say, but we’re putting camouflage netting over our buildings, so it must have come from above. The sky is basically the opposite of the land, so it makes sense that it would be evil.

Taylor asks everyone the standard questions for entry.

Taylor: Do you have enough money and food to avoid being a burden on the Empire?

Stella: Absolutely! I have enough to food to feed my crew basically at all times. We carry with us precious goods.

Buckle: I eat fish.

Taylor: That will serve you well at Hullift, but we don’t have fish inland.

Buckle: I guess I’ll eat Stella’s food.

Taylor:  Are any of you affiliated with any foreign government?

Stella: Not at all.

Buckle: They don’t like us.

Taylor: Who doesn’t like you?

Buckle: The Sea King.

Stella: He likes to use lasers.

Taylor: Really, lasers? Interesting.

Stella: Mostly we just make friends.

Taylor: I can see you have quite a few here. Special abilities require special badges. Is anyone a magic-user? Anyone with elemental properties, or exceptional physical capabilities? The guy with the robot arms look physically superior.

Stella: No, I’m just real good at cooking.

Taylor: Oh, our foodies are renowned for their refined palates. I think you’ll enjoy our cuisine.

Ugg gets a Physical Badge. Buckle is wearing his fire-proof suit, so he’s not obviously Elemental.

Taylor isn’t sure what to make of Jammie the Jellyfish and the Little Lights in a trenchcoat. He call out to his ship, which fires a gun towards the shore. The ship extends a large cone on the landward end of the ship. After a few minutes, something hits that cone. A sailor takes something out of the tip of the funnel and calls back to Taylor. (The Empire’s long-range communcation uses bullets. Taylor asked his superior for a ruling)  Taylor gives them a Magical Badge.

Taylor attaches an Elemental Badge on Ichabod. The Empire is prepared for a variety of body types and has something that attaches to Ichabod’s leg.

Stella wants to learn more about the badges.

Stella Speak Softly 6- (ask 3 questions, 1 false answer, 1 unhelpful answer)

• What can he tell me about the badges?
  • The badges are there to promote public safety and order. If there’s an emergency, badges help the responders know who could help.
• What does he want? How could you help him get it?
  • He wants to know who attacked the Empire, Stella could help by confessing. He says she should report anything suspicious.
• What would he have you do next?
  • You are now authorized to sail to Hullift and be pulled up to dock.

Buckle doesn’t comprehend that the Empire’s state of emergency is a consequence of his actions.

Buckle: Tell me about this attack? What happened? Who is the suspect?

Taylor: There was a visiting noble under the protection of the Empire who was suddenly attacked. A Rapid Response Team came in, insured everyone’s safety and eliminated any remaining threats. Of course they’re taking good care of the noble. The Empire worries that whoever did this sneak attack could attack again from the sky. I’m not sure what good the camouflage netting will do for Hullift. The docks are obvious and have been here for a long time. But that’s not my decision. It’s handled at a higher level.

Buckle begins to understand.

Taylor returns to his ship and moves to intercept the next arriving ship. The Miranda sails on to Hullift. The dockmaster assigns them a berth. While they are waiting, they see another ship (which visits the Empire regularly) get pulled up.  Ropes come down from cranes mounted on the docks with hooks on the end, that fit into stout rings on the ship’s hull. Divers hang on the ropes that come down for the Miranda.

Diver: Since you don’t have the hardware. we’re going to put these bands under your hull. They spread out the load. We’ve done this a lot. Don’t worry.

The divers pull bands under the Miranda and the cranes pull it up in sort of a cradle. Once the Miranda is level with the docks, they look pretty normal, until one looks down and sees the water 200 feet away.

Stella: We intend to venture further into the Empire. Where will you be putting my boat?

A straddle carrier drives out onto the dock, takes the Miranda from the dock cranes, drives it into a warehouse, and hangs it from mounts near the ceiling, still supported by the load-distributing bands. The carrier driver and the warehouse foreman sign a boat storage form and the dockmaster gives it to Stella.

Stella: They really like paper here.

Now the Fellowship gets a good look at the Empire. Big rolling hills, covered with brown grass and scattered brush extend to the horizon, except to the northwest, where another plateau rises above them. The Empire is like a layer cake of the western United States.

Buckle is stewing on the knowledge that Petra didn’t die. As soon as he steps off the wooden dock and onto the rocky surface of the Empire itself, he feels magic in his heart. The ground he stands on rises to form a pillar about 3 feet wide and six feet tall.

Imperial citizens: Look at that!  The ground rose to meet his feet!  Amazing!  Go get the Geologist!

Buckle wonders how he got up there. He feels the presence of magic, similar to the magic in Buckle’s Heart Of Earth. The Geologist arrives with the Captain of the Rapid Response Team that’s stationed in Hullift during the state of emergency.

• Geologist Shannon he/him Elf
• Captain Madison she/her human: The Captain leads a well-trained squad, keeping them in line and making certain they aren’t led astray. A crew led by a Captain is far more clever and dangerous than your typical gang of baddies.
  • Devoted Underlings: Anyone trying to harm or distract the Captain does so to one of their allies instead. The Captain is only vulnerable while alone.
  • Leadership: The Captain’s allies cannot be distracted, confused, or separated while the Captain is with them.

Madison thinks Buckle is an avatar of the land. Shannon thinks Buckle has stolen the magic of the land to for his selfish use.  Buckle doesn’t pay much attention to their argument.  He wonders if he can control this magic, which feels so similar to his own.

Buckle Look Closely 10+ 

• Is something hidden or out of place?
  • There is a huge amount of magic under the ground in the Empire. It’s similar to Heart of Earth’s magic, except it seems to be present all over, powerful and primal.  Buckle didn’t lift the ground. The ground reacted to his presence.
• What will happen if I reach out with my feelings?
  • Buckle isn’t controlling the ground, but it does respond to his movements.

The Imperial citizens aren’t talking about magic. They speak as though the land had a will of its own.  Buckle steps off the pillar. He falls and hits the ground which then rises in another pillar.

Shannon: See how clumsily he uses a power that is not his own!

Madison:He’s getting used to it. He hasn’t had a body before.

Stella sends Silk to get Buckle and distracts Shannon and Madison by joining their conversation very loudly and asking many questions.

Stella Keep Them Busy 7-9 their attenion is on you for a moment

Buckle climbs onto Silk. The pillar doesn’t lower when Buckle leaves it.

Madison: That spider is taking the avatar away! Stop it!

Madison’s squad of armored Platypeople move to surround Silk. The platypeople mostly forswear weapons, because that’s technology. Wooden spears for fishing are fine.  It’s unusual to see Platypeople wearing metal. Their long spears look like fishing spears (with the hook on one side of the blade), but they’re metal.

• Group Of 12 Horde Knights (Platypeople): The armored backbone of the Horde. Knights are tougher than the rank and file, and are well equipped to dealw ith many foes, but their more expensive gear and tougher training mean the Horde has less of them.
• Knights are never found in Gangs or Armies.
  • Big Sword: The Knight’s attacks are Giant.
  • Cool Armor: This stat must be damaged twice.
  • 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.

Silk tilts Buckle off, then climbs on top of Buckle. The land again raises Buckle on a pillar.  Shannon goes to a communication tower and fires a message “up-hill” so he can go “over Madison’s head” and get a decision that favors him. Stella is concerned for Silk. Seems like Buckle will be fine, since people are venerating him.

Stella: How dare you threaten the avatar’s steed?

Stella Talk Nonsense 7-9 owe a favor: Stick around until someone in charge can investigate Buckle

Madison is convinced that Silk is part of Buckle entourage. The Platyperson Knights move to a non-threatening stance.

Stella sends Rose and Ugg to deliver the trunk that Mr. X gave them. It’s heavy, but Ugg’s mechanical arms can lift it.

Stella spends Rose’s Loyal Beyond All Reason

Buckle spends Ugg’s Tough As Can Be

Buckle feels some magic approaching. High Geologist Toshi steps around a corner. Madison and Shannon both rush to plead their cases, but Toshi holds up his hand to silence them.  Toshi walks around the pillar, stomping and feeling vibrations.  He puts his his hand flat on the side of the pillar and moves his hand up. The pillar rises with his hand, disconnecting from the earth. A thick dark brown substance leaks out from the hole left behind, something between molasses and tar. Toshi is shocked and drops the pillar! That dark brown goop is the magic of the land!

Toshi: I have studied for decades to feel the faintest tremors of the land’s will and I have never seen someone so attuned to the land! I’m a novice again!

Buckle: Hey, what’s that stuff?  Is that lava?  It doesn’t look like lava.

Toshi keeps everyone back to avoid touching the goo. Buckle slides down the pillar and stomps in the goo!  The goo crystallizes into tiny Platyperson-shaped rock creatures.

Buckle: My babies! Ichabod, come see your new siblings!

Toshi faints! the crowd is convinced that he is the avatar of the land and a golden age must be at hand. Seeing their reaction, Buckle takes off his fire-proof sweater! No one cares that he doesn’t have an Elemental Badge. The town throws a festival in Buckle’s honor.

The food at the festival is mostly flatbread with some kind of bean or grain paste on top. They’re all various shades of brown and have simlar bland flavors. Imperial foodies have sensitive palates because they have to notice minute differences in boring food. The Empire is semi-arid, so they don’t have an abuncance of food.

Toshi and Madison thank Buckle for various things that land does for the Empire, including state secrets. The Rapid Response Teams arrive so rapidly because they travel via the underground magic. They go into the goo, get dis-assembled, and emerge somewhere else.

GM note: Teleporters are existentially terrifying. This suggests several nightmare scenarios, like all high-ranking government officials being dead & replaced by copies, unlimited copies of soldiers popping out of the ground, or finding the originals stored somewhere underground.

Everyone thinks Buckle is very cool and very important, but they won’t leave him alone and they want him to fix all their problems. Each settlement has three leaders with different responsibilities:

• Militia commander: military and defense
• Accountant: civil administration
• Geologist: interface with the land

High Commander Wrex arrives to request a boon from Buckle. He tells Buckle about the attack that caused the state of emergency. It came from the Moon and the target was an airship carrying the prince of the Forgotten Lands. Most of the crew survived, including the prince.

Buckle: Did this airship look like a spider from the top?

Wrex: Yes, it has legs for landing. It used to have eight, but it only has four now. We are rebuilding the airship. We want the prince to feel taken care of, even though he was attacked on our land. Surely you already know this, but the damage was limited to the ship and not the land beneath. This seems to be an earth vs. sky thing.

Buckle: It’s always good to be safe, but I think that the danger has passed. You needn’t concern yourself with attacks from above while I’m here!

Buckle Talk Sense (+Grace, impress/dazzle) 7-9 owe a favor: Buckle protects the Empire

Wrex: We’ll lift the state of emergency, but keep our research projects going. At a lower priority.

Buckle: I do have something that I need your help with. Earth and fire are opposed to ice. There is an Ice Queen at large. I need to know, has she come into your lands?

Buckle Talk Sense (+Sense, explain plan) 7-9 owe a favor: bless crops

The communication tower shoots messages to border outposts. Within two hours, the accountant has compiled a report showing that no Frost Witch has entered the Empire in the past year.

Buckle: Also, she might have been driving a Spider Tank.

Wrex: The closest thing we saw to a spider was the royal ship that was attacked.

Buckle is escorted to a long, low curved wall. It’s a circular wall a kilometer across. Inside is a farm, with an irrigation system that spins around the center. It’s covered by a tent that catches and collects moisture to be re-used. Housing and warehouses are built into the wall. Buckle looks at the crops and the storerooms. The land is getting used to Buckle. it rises and falls as he passes, but pillars don’t burst from the ground anymore.

Buckle Look Closely 7-9 ask 3 questions, 1 answer the hard way

• What does my electrosense tell me?
  • The magic in the land is not alive like an animal, so his electrosense doesn’t detect it.
• Tell me about the magic in this farm? How could it hurt or help me?
  • Buckle can get the land to enrich the soil, but it may make a demand of him at a later time.
• Is something hidden or out of place?
  • something emerges when the land enriches the soil.

 

GM note: Does Buckle need a custom move to ask the land to do something? What IS the will of the land?

The soil is thin and tends to get packed hard. It’s hard to plan. The land starts shaking, breaking up all the clumps. Earthworms appear to aerate the soil and leave fertilizer. The rocks immediately under the farm are pulverized into more soil. When the shaking subsides, the farmers are amazed to find the soil is easy to turn with a spade and is twice as deep as it used to be.

At artifact floated to the surface as the ground shook and all the small particles of dirt fell below it. The Empire has almost no knowledge of archaeology because they don’t dig into the land, except in special ceremonies preformed by geologists, and only where the land allows. It’s a series of six hexagonal containers with an axle in one corner, so each section can spin out individually. It’s wooden, but the Elves treated it with a special wax that prevented it from rotting. Whatever it once contained has rotten away.

Buckle: Do you have a museum or anything?

Stella: Maybe the fourth arm of government can be historians.

NO END-OF-SESSION MOVE