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/Knight
Last time, the Fellowship settled into the Forgotten Lands, Lucia figured out the regent situation, and Dryden found a hidden chamber with three locked doors.
Dryden opens Infinite Windows using his half of Edna’s friendship bracelet. The Window opens to show huge tree trunks growing close together. Before Edna can step through, Pulmero rushes through and falls on his knees in front of Lucia:
Pulmero: Forgive me, queen! I was a fool. I shouldn’t have left you.
Lucia: What do you mean?
Pulmero: I was following Edna to make sure she wasn’t up to something, but I followed her through this portal, and I didn’t even know where I was! What if something did happen? How would I get back? I won’t leave your side again!
Edna: My friend convinced him that following me was a mistake. Did I miss the banquet?
Dryden: If only. It’s sure to be dull and tedious.
Lucia: Edna is a well-bred lady. I’m sure she enjoys these events.
Edna: I’m very well-bred. I’m the first in four generations to inherit Ogrism.
Dryden: I might do something else. Librarians love banquets, and I found something in the library. Behind a secret door and down a narrow passageway, there’s a hidden chamber with three locked doors.
Edna: I’m good at opening doors, but I’m not good at small passageways. How big is the chamber with the three doors?
Dryden: the chamber is pretty big. The narrow tunnel is long enough that the chamber must be outside the library grounds. My lizard friend is watching the tunnel.
Edna: Go to the chamber and use the friendship bracelet and Infinite Windows to bring me in.
Dryden is amazed. He never thought of that. Averiela rolls her eyes. She won’t join the investigation.
Dryden: I figured you weren’t interested in exploring the library when you didn’t run up the water I threw out of the tower.
Averiela: That was supposed to be a bridge? Of course I can run on water droplets, but by the time the first drops reach the ground, the last drops are halfway down the building.
Dryden: I guess I over-estimated you
Edna: Queen Lucia, I humbly ask to be excused from tonight’s banquet.
Lucia: What will I tell everyone? Your absence will be noticed.
Dryden: We’ll attend, but slip out between the 3rd course and the 4th dessert. When Claudia gives her speech.
Lucia: I trust you’ll find an appropriate time to slip out after you’ve greeted people.
Dryden: No fireworks this time.
Lucia: People may expect fireworks if they remember stories of your youth.
Dryden: Someone has to give the Forgotten Lands something to remember!
That evening, everyone arrives at the Bastion of Memory for the banquet. Averiela is dressed in fancy robes. In the months that they were adventuring together, none of the Fellowship ever saw her wear these robes, or even knew they were in her pack. She sits with the Elven delegation, next to the ambassador. Odd, Surely that seat is for someone of higher rank. She nods at people, but doens’t really interact. Her favorite food of all the lavish courses is sweet potato.
Downtime: Each player introduces a situation, which another player resolves
GM note: That’s not actually what the rules say, but that’s how we played it.
Oloris, the navigator of the Luna Penumbra, still wants to learn about the local geography, even though Lucia has ordered him not to put that information in the atlas he is writing. He gains access to the Elven delegation by saying he’s with Averiela and asks some nosy question. Such a faux pas!
Averiela: Oloris, although I appreciate your inquisitiveness, this is neither the time nor place for such questions.
Averiela Talk Sense (+sense, explan plan) 10+
Oloris looks sheepish and makes an excuse to leave.
Lucia stands at the entryway and greets guests as they arrive, then mingles to have longer conversations. She thanks artisans and teacher for their contributions to society, comments on how their children have grown, and so on.
Downtime: Each player introduces a situation, which another player resolves
Not everyone is pleased by Lucia’s return, or her long absence. A banker worries about the economic impact of a queen errant and asks if she opened any new trade routes in her journey.
Lucia: I’ve made valuable connections with people and leaders. The journey to the Forgotten Lands is arduous, and we only need a few things from the mainlands. I don’t see how it’s profitable to trade…
Edna has an epiphany, but keeps it to herself and does not interrupt Lucia.
Lucia: …especially because we want to be forgotten. Enough people know about us already. If too many people remember us, the aura of forgetfulness around our lands will collapse!
Banker: Won’t a notable figure traipsing about have the same effect?
Lucia: They don’t know from whence I came. Hearsay isn’t memory.
Edna picks up Dryden for a private conversation. He sits on her shoulder.
Edna: Travel to the mainland is hard, but traveling via Infinite Windows isn’t! We could trade instantly. I’m always going to other places with my other friends. If I keep track of what each place produces and needs, we could make a lot of money!
They agree to slip out of the party and meet in the garden to go to the library. Dryden enthusiastically greets people who supported him in his youth, while staying towards the edges of the gathering. He wants to be seen, but not to draw attention to himself. He switches a few namecards so his two most boring teachers sit next to each other. He decides to cancel his puppet show, which is easy because he didn’t tell anyone he was putting on a puppet show. Edna doesn’t need to draw attention to herself because she’s 16 feet tall. Everyone will remember that she was here.
Dryden meets Edna and her companions (Ol’ Jardiner and Viktor) in the garden. Averiela’s wolf (Knows-Too-Much) has decided to join them as well. Edna tells Ol’ Jardiner to deploy the new technique. He helps her put on a leather apron with big pockets all over. These pockets are big enough to hold people, because that’s what they are for! Edna lifts each of her companions into the pockets, then leaps out of the garden towards the library.
Edna Free Ride: You can carry the whole Fellowship
Edna Mighty Leap: jump to anywhere you can see
Edna Get Away (+hope, Dryden’s aid) 10+, avoid notice, avoid harm
Edna: Do you have everything you need to get into the chamber?
Dryden: Yes, and no word from beast or bird of any change.
Edna Toss Aside: 7-9 go to aviary, land safely
Edna throws Dryden up to the aviary’s window. The top of his arc is right at the level of the window, so he just has to grab the windowsill. Dryden heads inside and great Greico the 4th, the gecko watching the secret door. He offers some beetles. Dryden uses the magic stone to open the door, steps through, then takes the magic stone. The door closes. He trots down the narrow passageway to the chamber with the three doors. As he enters the chamber, the magic stone gets hotter.
Dryden: It’s getting warmer. I love this game!
Dryden Infinite Windows 10+ correct location, keep item
Dryden opens Infinite Windows. Edna, Knows-Too-Much, Ol’ Jardiner, and Viktor hustle through before the window closes.
Dryden: Edna, this got hotter when I approached.
Everyone examines the doors, the chamber, and the magic stone. The left side of the chamber is foggy. The three doors are on the right side of the chamber.
- A big steel door, plain and strong, with no handle.
- A small wooden door, intricately carved, with a handle but no lock
- A tall narrow metal door embossed with an intricate pattern. It has a lock but no handle.
Dryden Look Closely (+hope, Edna’s aid) 10+
- What is hidden or out of place?
- Dryden’s magic stone is a teal gem in the shape of a flower. Above each door, there’s a small recess shaped like a flower. The doors seem to represent something in a story.
- How could the doors hurt me or help me?
- Like all doors, these doors control access to somewhere else. There’s an energy with an almost musical quality coming from behind these doors.
- What will happen if Edna tears the doors down?
- Ol’ Jardiner warns Edna about a deep magical enchantment on the doors. Anyone who attempts to destroy them will be shocked and paralyzed for 30 minutes.
Edna puts the teal gem in the slot above the steel door.
Booming Voice: Travelers, do you come to try the Tests?
Edna: Of course!
Dryden: What’s the grading scale?
GM note: I forget the exact wording of the cool riddle. Three times three. Earth, sky, and sea.
Edna tries to open the steel door, but it doesn’t open.
Edna: Is this part of the test?
Dryden kicks the steel door likee a cool ninja, but it doesn’t budge. It doesn’t even make a cool ringing noise.
Dryden: Three tests. Let’s put the gem on the other doors.
Edna moves the gem to the slot above the small wooden door. The door makes a ringing noise, but the door doesn’t open. Dryden tries to open the steel door, which makes an off-key ringing noise and does not open. Dryden tries to open the narrow door and gets a minor shock!
OK, the doors don’t open yet. Dryden and Edna look around the chamber for other clues. The left side of the chamber is a mossy cave full of mist. It’s warm and humid. They hear running waters and faint laughter. Edna asks Ol’ Jardiner what to do. He gives bad advice, but he does know a lot about magic.
Edna Look Closely 7-9 ask 3 questions, find out 1 answer the hard way
- What is hidden or out of place?
- This side of the chamber is a disorientingly dark. Edna edges closer and hears laughter whizzing around her ears. She falls and slides down a slope in the darkness. There’s a pool at the bottom of the slope. The foggy and darkness extend to the pool.
- Tell me about the laughing voices. How could they hurt or help me?
- Silver lights jump around her.
- Silver Voices: We have visitors! It’s been so long. This one’s really tall!
- Tell me about the silver voices. What are they doing? What will they do next?
- Silver Voices: We are going to annoy you to death!
- The silverly lights are tiny sprites. Some circle Edna’s jewelry. Another lands on Knows-Too-Much’s nose. Another pokes Dryden.
Dryden: Edna, you good?
Edna: I can’t see to jump up. There’s a pool down here and a bunch of annoying sprites.
Dryden: We need lights.
Dryden considers his options. Fireworks are his first choice, of course. he invented a type of Roman Candle. They aren’t well thought-out, but are quite useful. He plants one in the ground. It spits a fountain of light, then gets congested until a big burst of light emerges.
Dryden: spends 1 use of Curious Curios. Useful.
Edna leaps to the light, then stomps and swats at the annoying sprites
Edna Mighty Leap: Jump to to anywhere you can see.
Edna God Of War: You can try to Keep Them Busy no matter how outnumbered you are
Edna Keep Them Busy 7-9 their attention is all on you, and you will face retaliation
While the sprites are distracted, Dryden tries to open the doors. He moves the teal gem from the wooden door to the narrow door.
Booming Voice: Hear ye, hear ye, make sure your choices are tried and true.
Sprites: You don’t know the puzzle? You don’t know the trick?
Dryden: Has anyone opened the doors?
Sprites: No! they don’t know how it’s sealed.
Dryden: If you know, others will know. I could talk to someone else. Show me if you’re so clever.
Sprite: You’re not asking the right questions!
GM note: Oh no, the party is stuck because they don’t understand the puzzle! Gotta give some hints.
Dryden: So what happens when you open the doors.
Sprites: It’s all in the poem.
Ol’ Jardiner: It’s the elements.
Sprites: Silly human, you’re still confused.
Ol’ Jardiner: I’m not human. It’s an optical illusion. People don’t realize how tall I am because I stand next to the big lady.
Dryden slides down to the pool and starts collecting elements: one vial with water and one with dirt. He looks in the pool and sees the bottom of the pool is covered with hundreds of tiles and gems, similar to the teal gem they already have. Dryden dives in and grabs a handful of gems. They are squishy, but rebound to their original shape. Dryden holds up a handful.
Dryden: Little pixies! I think it would be amazing to arrange all these gems into a perfect pattern.
Sprites: Silly human, you’ve got the wrong one!
Dryden holds up another gem.
Dryden: How about this one?
Sprites: You’ll be here all night.
The Sprites swarming around Edna can’t injure her, but they converge on one of her bracelets to steal it.
Edna Overcome 10+
Edna covers her bracelet with her other hand and shoos the Sprites away.
Ol’ Jardiner: The rest of us are solving hte puzzle. You wanna help? Earth, Sky, Sea. We have lots of Sea gems.
Edna puts the teal gem back above the wooden door, which makes a nice sound.
Edna: I don’t know how gems can be made of air, but we should bring the squishy gems near the other doors and see if they react.
Ol’ Jardiner:If we’re going to brute-force this puzzle, Edna’s the one to do it!
Edna slides down to the pool and scoops up all the gems into her apron pockets. She jumps back up and approaches the doors. She puts her hands in each pocket, and feels a cool gem in a certain pocket. She takes out the gems, one handful at a time, and spreads them out on her open hand to find the cold gem. Once she finds it, she drops the other gems and moves the cold gem near the three doors. The gem is coldest near the narrow door. She puts it in the slot. Bot the narrow door and the wooden door make pleasing noises in harmony. The fog and darkness on the other side of the chamber dissapate.
Dryden goes to the left side of the chamber and looks up. The fog is thinning and the air is less humid. The Sprites are laughing. On the ceiling of the chamber is a mosaic of the sun, made of many gems.
Dryden: Good news! I have my Flying Device.
Edna: Alright. I wasn’t looking forward to jumping up and down repeatedly.
Sprites: Make sure it doesn’t fall on you!
Dryden: Do you know the right gem?
The Sprites laugh at him. Around the edge of the mosiac are a bunch of numbers: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10… Every third number is replaced with a glazed tile.
Dryden: If it falls, you can sort it out from the floor.
Edna: It would be a shame to break something so pretty.
Dryden: Should we capture and threaten the Sprites? OK, Sprites, prove your worth! Save this mosiac.
Sprites: We’re not proving our worth. You’ve the ones being tested.
Dryden flies around and inspects the mosiac
Dryden Look Closely 7-9 ask 3 questions, find out 1 answer the hard way
- What is hidden or out of place?
- There’s a faint ouline on the glazed tiles.
- What will happen if I pull the wrong gem?
- You’ll be cut off from the other chamber.
- Tell me about the sun.
- In Elven culture, the sun is a symbol of hope, the future, and goals. “Even The saying goes: when all is lost, the sun still shines”
Drdyen looks at the rays coming out from the center of the sun. They seem to point towards tile 9, or maybe tile 27.
Dryden: Three squared is nine. Nine squared is eighty-one. Three cubed is twenty-seven.
Dryden grabs both tiles 9 and 27! There’s a rumble, and a sonic blast knocks Dryden off his Flying Device because he pulled the wrong gem. A single gem on the moasiac lights up, because he pulls the right gem too. Dryden falls and Edna catches him.
Edna Protect The Little Ones: If an ally withing arm’s reach would suffer harm, you take the harm in their place
Edna spends ! use of special armor
Edna and Dryden look up at the ceiling. There’s the gem they need, but how can they get it? Ol’ Jardiner is tired of watching them flail around and takes action!
Ol’ Jardiner spends Overwhelming Power
Ol’ Jardiner reaches for the gem and his arm stretches and stretches, all the way to the ceiling! He pulls the gem off the ceiling, but his arm doesn’t retract fully. He runs to the three doors with his long arm dragging behind him, and flings his hand up to the slot over the steel door. His harm moves like those “sticky hands” that were sold in vending machines in grocery stores. All three doors chime in harmony. The wooden door opens! A startled gnome appears from behind the wooden door.
Gnome: You interrupted my nap!
NO END-OF-SESSION MOVE