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 survived a village full of Werewolves and failed to open a portal to the Moon. After Ol’ Jardiner killed the Strange Entity that came through the portal, the Fellowship is ready to try again
Ol’ Jardiner returns to the Luna Penumbra through Infinite Windows. He uses the knowledge he learned from the Strange Entity to make the passage smoother. He has a new companion, Atlas, a bard and completionist who wants to record all the information in the world. Everone else is already on-board. The Fellowship is ready to go to the Moon, but they lost the mirror shard in the incident with the Strange Entity. Infinite Windows requires an item from the destination, so without the shard of the mirror that fell from the Moon, they can’t open a portal to the Moon.
Ol’ Jardiner: If we get another bit of the Moon, I know how to work it.
Dryden: We could get more bits of the Moon.
A mirror fell in Sugar’s Crossing, breaking the bridge, but the bridge has been repaired and the mirror removed long ago. There’s a mirror in Vieport, powering a beam weapon. The Fellowship stole the Luna Penumbra from Vieport (sort of. It’s complicated) so they aren’t welcome there. Markus is unknown in Vieport, but he’s not good at being sneaky or subtle. Finding more mirror shards sounds easier than inventing a vehicle to reach the Moon without a portal, so the Luna Penumbra returns to Sugar’s Crossing.
The current guards of Sugar’s Crossing are from Fairmeadow. If Lucia or Gleador were still in the Fellowship, they’d get a hero’s welcome, but the current roster is mostly unknown to them.
Tomay & Soday: Didn’t we just escape from here? Why are we back?
Will hides the Dwarven forgers in the smugglers’ hold. The Fellowship searches for evidence of mirror shards. Atlas finds Sarah Miller, the town gossip, and starts swapping stories.
- What can she tell us about where the mirror went?
- The Sea Viper swooped in and took the mirror away free of charge. He’s tricky, but also greedy, so he didn’t continue his charade of philanthropy by paying to rebuild the bridge. He just needed to mirror to build a weapon on his palace in Vieport.
- Tell me about the clean-up after the bridge disaster?
- Many people worked on cleaning up and repairing the bridge. The mirror left shards everywhere. They became treasures for children. After scouring a disaster site for sharp pieces of glass, the kids used them as currency in a black market. The parents feared the mirror would cause some kind of disease or curse, so the kids had to keep their collections secret.
- What would she have us do next?
- She wants to chat with Atlas some more.
Ol’ Jardiner is wary of asking too many questions, so he leaves, but Atlas says to gather more information. Dryden recalls that his biggest fan, Bingo, is a child who is interested in secrets. Surely he knows where the Fellowship can find a mirror shard. Dryden walks down the street with his Flying Device floating in front of him and his cloak flowing behind him. He tells the children he meets about the legend of Star Rider. Bingo sees him and wants to look cool in front of the other kids.
Bingo: Oh, Star Rider. I used to think you were cool.
Dryden: I know you’ve done a lot of cool things. Have you ever signed autographs before? No? It’s really fun. So, you have something cool, and then you put your name on it and it makes it even that much cooler. If you were at something, you could put your name on it. Remember when you were at the bridge? We could both autograph something together and commemorate “This is from that time” Then when you’re rich and famous you could sell it for more money.
Bingo: But if I’m rich, why do I need the money?
Dryden: You’ll be even more famous because someone wants your autograph.
Bingo scurries off and returns with a mirror shard and some writing implements. Hopefully one of them will mark the glass. After some experimentation, Bingo and Dryden autograph the back side of the mirror.
“Bingo and Star-Rider Mirror-Fall”
Dryden: Now that’s something that you can hold on to or sell later on. Do you other kids want an autograph too? I don’t have a shard. If anyone has an extra, I’ll trade you for it. I’ve got some kinda cool things.
Dryden reaches behind his cloak and pulls out some stuff. One object looks like a stone ball, but it bounces very high when Dryden throws it against a wall. Ol’ Jardiner thinks that playing tricks on children is a waste of time. He pulls out a cut amethyst and holds it up.
Ol’ Jardiner: I don’t know who likes rocks and who likes bouncy balls, but everybody likes gems, right? I’ll trade you this shiny item for one of your shiny items.
The kids all scramble to produce a mirror shard. The first to reach Ol’ Jardiner is a little Halfling girl named Amy. She’s very cute with curly hair and squishy cheeks. Ol’ Jardiner hands her a gem that’s worth more than her mother makes in a year. Ol’ Jardiner is mobbed with kids hoping for more gems.
Ol’ Jardiner: I just need the one. We can go now.
All the kids follow him, causing a ruckus and drawing the attention of their parents. Dryden thinks a riot is imminent, so he distracts the kids with fireworks! The fireworks show the legend of Star Rider swooping over the town.
Dryden: I just love making children happy, everyone!
Markus runs through the barrage of rockets to escape pursuit and get to the ship. Ol’ Jardiner escapes the children and the Fellowship reassembles on the Luna Penumbra. Ol’ Jardiner sends a thought bubble to Atlas, telling them to return to the ship.
The Fellowship now has a sure way to reach the Moon, but the Luna Penumbra must stay behind. They need a safe place to dock it. Markus suggests going to Port Fennrick so Edna can watch it. Ol’ Jardiner thinks opening a portal to the Moon in a big city is risky. The Fellowship looks for a peaceful body of water where the Luna Penumbra will not be disturbed. There’s a lake just outside of Port Fennrick, but it’s defended by a giant floating weapon platform. They decide to land on a lake in the Singing Hills.
When the Luna Penumbra enters the Singing Hills’ airspace, Aku the Sky Serpent intercepts them. Fi and Fum, true Giant twin sisters, ride on his back and interpret for him. They look a bit like Edna the Ogre, but Ogres are mutated Humans, while true Giants are a different species.
Fum: What brings you to Aku’s domain?
Dryden: Hmm, diplomat?
Dryden looks at Averiela, who looks back confused. Averiela doesn’t talk to strangers if she can avoid it.
Dryden: We are coming to land in the lake.
Fi: That’s cool. Be careful with your animals. There’s a hunter around.
Dryden: Is he a sharpshooter? I met a sharpshooter here a long time ago. He didn’t like to be seen, but was a very, very good shot. Have you seen him?
Fum: That sounds right. I haven’t seen him, but he killed that Giant Pelican a while ago.
Markus: Was the Giant Pelican causing problems?
Fi: Not really. It was out of its territory for sure.
Averiela: What happened to the Giant Pelican carcass?
Fum: It was dragged of to the east, into the Fulheim Forest.
Averiela: What are you doing? What will you do next?
Fi: We were meditating and listening to Aku’s wisdom. We’re going to fly to the top of the Table of Famine to the north.
The Fellowship bids them farewell, and Captain Will directs the Luna Penumbra to land on the Moon. This is it! Time to go to the Moon! Ol’ Jardiner performs the ritual as he learned from the Strange Entity, operating Infinite Windows in a more careful way. Several minutes later, the portal opens! The Fellowship looks out at a vast field of hexagonal mirrors tesselated on the ground. The sky is black. A big blue and green planet hangs in the sky. Towers with cable strung between them dot the landscape every mile or so. Ol’ Jardiner is proud of his new ability to operate the portal and steps through. Dryden and Markus follow. Averiela is a bit more hesitant. She carefully puts a toe in the ground and holds her breath. There’s air and gravity. It’s big and empty.
Ol’ Jardiner: Maybe if we follow these wires, they go somewhere. If we were following a river, there’s downstream and upstream, but I can’t tell the difference with these.
Dryden makes bird calls and animal sounds, but nothing responds.
Dryden: I’ve never felt such desolation in my soul!
Markus: I don’t remember, what is our goal here?
Dryden: If we get rid of the Moon, we get rid of the Werewolves.
Markus: Do we know of other consequences of getting rid of the Moon?
Ol’ Jardiner: The Strange Entity mentioned we could drop it on the planet, which would be horrible.
Dryden: The Strange Entity said we could drop in on the planet, push it away–was there a third option that didn’t involve cataclysm?
Ol’ Jardiner: Now that I think of it, all the options involve cataclysm. He mentioned that if we fix the Moon so it operates how the Dragons intended, it would remove the lycanthropy curse and kill all vampires who come out in the moonlight. Or we could focus the mirrors and completely destroy everything in one area. Maybe we could turn the mirrors off?
Averiela: Are we anti-Vampires?
Ol’ Jardiner: They want to eat me.
Dryden: They tried to kill me multiple times.
Vampires’ food is other people, and every Vampire Lucia examined was evil. The Fellowship is OK with killing them all, but they need to get oriented first. Markus follows the nearest line of cables to his left and examines the moonscape. One of the mirrors is newer than the others and is not installed securely like the others. Markus steps on the border of two mirrors and the new one slips! Markus falls into the gap and gets caught! His feet don’t touch anything on the other side. Markus sticks him arms out and tries to pull himself out. Ol’ Jardiner uses Wizardry to pull Markus out from a distance. Markus falls in between the mirrors and disappears from view! Ol’ Jardiner sends Doodle to slip through the narrow gap between mirrors. Hopefully it can help somehow. Dryden looked one way and when he looked back, Markus was gone and Ol’ Jardiner looked very worried.
Done below the mirrors, Markus pulls a torch from his pack and looks around.
- What is going on here? What do my senses tell me?
- The underside of the mirrors are mounted to a metal substructure. It’s like the catwalks backstage in a theater. Most of the places are not places for people to go. The catwalks, tunnels, and ladders are small. They are designed for creatures smaller than Markus. Wires connect to each mirror to adjust them. Each mirror’s wires are gathered into a bundle, and the bundled are bundled, so there’s a hub somewhere nearby.
- Tell me about the mass of wires down here? How could it hurt or help me?
- Not all the wires on this new mirror have been connected, which is why it was loose and Markus could fall through. If this is how the mirrors are controlled, this might be how the Fellowship could correct the Moon’s operation. These cables might contain high voltage or high-pressure hydraulic fluid.
- Is something hidden or out of place?
- Markus sees a catwalk that runs parallel to a bundle of wires. In one spot, the railing bends outward and the wires bunch up into a nest. Someone lives in there: a Kobold! Markus has never seen a Kobold before, so he just sees yellow eyes at the entrance of the nest.
Back on the surface, a pod approaches from the direction the Fellowship was traveling, riding the cables up on the towers. It’s some kind of cable car or gondola. Ol’ Jardiner is still looking at the crack that he sent Doodle down. Dryden waves. The cable car stops at the nearest tower and Kobolds emerge. They are humanoid lizards, about three feet tall. They are carrying tools and sensors. They get into an elevator and get about halfway down before they notice the Fellowship. They hit the brake and point and talk amongst themselves. One Kobold has a frame backpack that is stacked high with books. One pulls out a book and flips through the pages, trying to figure out what to do.
Averiela’s not paying attention. She is still freaked out about not being on her home planet. She runs in little circles and dances, testing the environment. She’s used to being one with nature, but tis place is alien. She detects that gravity is 96% fo what she’s used to. Most people won’t notice, but to an Elf, it’s a jarring difference. She’s frustrated and angry.
Dryden: Oh, do you like books? We have a guy who likes books too!
Kobold: OK, they’re in sunlight. That’s good.
The Kobold with the books approaches and gives a formal greeting that he’s apparently memorized. Something about eternal glory to Dragons. This one is clearly in charge.
Kobold Overseer: Do you bring news from the surface?
Averiela runs around nearby, cursing under her breath.
Dryden: Well, first, we seem to have lost one of our number. As far as from the planet below, how long since you’ve had news?
Kobold Overseer: There was that strange guy that came through the teleporter a year or two ago. About the time of the explosion. Which was right about here, actually.
Dryden: Speaking of that explosion. One of these came down, took out a bridge, almost got some people. I helped save them. There’s also a bit of news in that–do you know about Werewolves?
The Kobolds consult the books, flipping through the index of several volumes.
Kobold Overseer: W-E-A-R? W-H-E-R-E? I’ve got “WOLF”
Dryden: So, a bit of news is that, this Moon, when it’s full, turns people down there who have been infected with, umm
Markus: Lycanthropy?
Dryden: Yes, lycanthropy, and we’re wondering if we can get rid of that. Is that in your manual?
Kobold Overseer: That’s not how it’s supposed to be. Are you sure those aren’t Vampires that are dying?
Dryden: Vampires? No. We would not mind if more of those were gone.
The Kobolds notice Infinite Windows.
Kobold Overseer: We turned on the terminal recently, but we haven’t been able to get back. Is that the new terminal?
Dryden:That’s how we got up here, but what we’re trying to figure out–he have a lot of questions, and more importantly right now–
Dryden gestures at where Markus disappeared and Ol’ Jardiner is pacing worriedly. Down below the surface, Markus sees yellow eyes peering out from a nest of wires.
Markus: Hello! I come in peace!
Mysterious Kobold: That’s not an official greeting. That’s a good sign. Are you also a deserter?
Markus: Umm, I don’t think so. I got lost and fell down here.
Mysterious Kobold: Well, don’t tell anyone I’m here. You look weird, if you don’t mind me saying so.
Markus: Why do I look weird? Do I have something in my teeth?
Mysterious Kobold: You’re all squishy and scaleless and gangly and tall. I don’t know what you call that growing on your head. Certainly not horns.
Markus: Nope, that’s hair. Where am I?
The Mysterious Kobold rattles off some co-ordinates that mean nothing to Markus.
Markus: Are you a deserter?
Mysterious Kobold: Surely you can’t work for them, so yes! I’m hiding out here. I think this mission is stupid. Someone should have told us something by now.
Markus: How long have you been here?
Mysterious Kobold: Seven years. Oh, down here? I took off about three years ago. My people have been here 103 years. My grandfather started to get suspicious of the Dragons. They should have come and got us by now.
Markus: Well, I hate to tell you this, or maybe not because it confirms your suspicions: There are no more Dragons. They were defeated.
Mysterious Kobold: Oh no!
He flees over and through the wires with practiced grace. Markus runs after him, but is limited to the catwalks.
Markus: Wait! How do I get out of here?
- Vince, he/him, Kobold deserter: Deserters live in the Moon’s substructure, hollowing out homes and hiding from those loyal to Dragons.
- Wire Whiz: Deserters know their lairs inside and out. They can
collapse any part at any time, and clear new paths when they have time and safety. - Tunnel Rat: Life in the off-limits sections of the Moon requires certain skills. Deserters never lose their balance or their footing, no matter how narrow or precarious the path, and they can climb along walls as quickly as they can run.
- Wire Whiz: Deserters know their lairs inside and out. They can
Vince cuts cable ties as he runs, so a big bundle of cables swings down into Markus’ path. Markus slashes the the bundle and half and leaps through, miraculously avoiding arcing electricity, flailing wires, and spraying hydraulic fluid. Vince is cornered and must answer Markus’ questions.
- What can you tell me about your history with Dragons?
- Vince: I’ve never seen them, but stories are passed down in the manuals.
- What do you want and how can I help you get it?
- Vince: I’m off the mission, especially if the Dragons are dead, so I wnat to leave the Moon, but I don’t want to be eaten by Vampires. Is there a non-Vampire place to evacuate to?
- What can you tell me about how the Moon works?
- Vince: There is a base on the center of the near side of the Moon. That’s where we live and work. We don’t ever go to the opposite pole. We take cable cars out on the network of cables to service things that break, which doesn’t happen very often.Our job is to maintain the Moon. We were told that it would win the war, but you say the war is lost.
Back on the surface, two mirrors away from Dryden’s conversation with the Book Kobold, a mirror suddenly groans and sags out of alignment.
Kobold Overseer: We must fix that!
The Book Kobold knows exactly which volume to pull out. There’s a bookmark that opens to the relevant section. He calls out instructions, but the rest of the work party can mostly recite the instructions along with him. They’ve done this a lot. They run to the mis-aligned mirrors and two jump down the gap without hesitation. Others jump up and down on the high side to bring it down. One has a laser instrument to measure the mirror’s alignment.
The Kobolds working under the stricken mirrors see Markus and Vince.
Kobold Worker: Someone cut all these wires! There’s a nest. It must be a deserter!
Markus counts on the Kobolds looking at Vince’s nest. He grabs Vince and sneaks right under the Kobolds and up to the surface. He hurts himself on some sharp edges as he squeezes through.
On the surface, Doodle has returned with a written report on what happened, ending with Markus running off. Ol’ Jardiner reads the report, turns to tell Dryden and Averiela, and sees Markus pop out.
Kobold Overseer: You’re not on the work crew! You’re Bang-Bang VI, the deserter!
Vince: That’s not my name! I’m Vince!
Kobold Overseer: Who ever heard of that name? We have your records. It’s not one of the books that I brought, but we have records back at base. And you’ve sabotaged our vital work.
Vince: No, it’s a sham! Open your eyes! The Dragons aren’t even alive anymore. We need to reject the whole project!
Drdyen: I can confirm with news from the surface: The only Dragon that we encountered was a skull that we buried respectfully on top of a mountain.
The work crew erupts in absolute chaos. This challenges all that they know and believe and work for! The Kobold leader directs his work crew back into the cable car.
Vince: We’ve got to tell everyone the truth!
Vince also runs for the cable car.
Dryden: Can me calm down and talk? No? OK.
Ol’ Jardiner doesn’t know what to do. Suddenly there are sides to take. He wants to slow things down and reaches out with Wizardry to pull the elevator’s brake. He grabs the wrong control and all the Kobolds zoom up to the cable car, leaving the Fellowship behind. There are sounds of a struggle from the elevator. Dryden flies up to the elevator with his Flying Device. He jumps in and twirls his robotic bo staff around, trying to separate Vince and the work crew.
- Work crew, various pronouns, Group of Kobold Pokers: This kobold worker hides behind a panel and pokes their enemies with a dangerous tool.
- Use the Pointy Bit: The Poker’s attacks are Piercing.
- Big Shield: When an ally would be damaged while the Poker is near them, damage this stat instead.
- Co-Co IX he/him Kobold Overseer: This kobold has the manuals, making them the boss.
- The Manuals: Whoever has the manuals is the current Kobold Overseer. All kobolds obey the Kobold Overseer so long as they hold the manuals. If this stat is damaged, the Kobold Overseer loses the manual and becomes a different type of kobold. If another kobold picks up the manuals, replace their stats with these ones.
- Scamper Away: When the Kobold Overseer is damaged, they run away.
Averiela is so frustrated. She’s mad about being on the Moon. She’s mad about being pulling into some in-fighting she doesn’t care about. She runs up the tower and shoves the quarreling Kobolds apart.
Averiela: That is enough! Yes, the Dragons are gone. No, you can’t just yell that to everyone. Dryden, if you have good ideas, you should think quietly and quickly but do not say a word!
The Kobolds are cowed by this very tall outsider and settle down. Dryden sends the elevator down to the surface to rejoin the rest of the Fellowship.
Vince: The truth has to come out! I knew the mission was a sham.
Co-Co IX: This is terrible news. We need to confirm it, then read all the manuals to see what to do next.
Dryden: How many of you are there? Are there ten of you? A thousand of you?
Co-Co IX: A few thousand.
Markus: We’re all on the same side here. We want to get rid of Vampires. To do that, we have to fix the Moon and actually make it work.
Co-Co IX: We’ve been doing that according to the procedures in the manuals.
Markus: Well the procedures are wrong.
Shock and dismay among the work crew.
Markus: The vampires have won. They are not destroyed. And there’s this new thing called lycanthropy which the Moon has brought. But if we fix the Moon and make it work properly, it will cure the disease and get rid of Vampires and you can go home. Or stay here, if you prefer. But you will not be beholden to the Dragons that do not exist. My proposal is that we fix the Moon together, then they can return with us.
Vince definitely wants to return. The other Kobolds want proof of the results of the war. They’re not sure how Markus can prove that, because they aren’t good at thinking of new things.
Dryden: Would you like it in a book? I’m sure Atlas has a history book somewhere.
Atlas shows the Kobolds their manuscript collecting stories of the war between Dragons and Vampires. The Kobolds are convinced, and everyone takes the cable car back to base.
GM note: Now the players must invent a technical problem and a technical solution for why the Moon isn’t working. The problem is magic, because lycanthropy is a magical disease. The Vampires found out about the Dragons’ plan and cursed it, which had the unexpected side effect of causing lycanthropy. The curse also didn’t completely work, because it only affects the Moon when it is full. They inserted the curse into the Kobolds’ manuals.
Ol’ Jardiner and Atlas go to the library to examine the original manuals. The Kobold carefully copy these manuals and use the copies for daily use, to avoid damage to the originals. When Ol’ Jardiner wants to eat, the Kobolds insist that he leaves the library. Averiela feels less angry after she has a meal. Feeling recharged, the Fellowship returns to the library and looks for clues. Dryden reaches behind his cloak and pulls out books and catalogs. He looks through lists of spells, curses, and ilusions. Altas uses their vast experience with books and writing to find any irregularities. Even Doodle joins in. It was formed from a magical text and still has an affinity for them.
By combining all their efforts, the Fellowship discovers that certain letters in the master manuals have been traced over with vampire blood. They read the letters, but they don’t spell anything. They write them backwards. They read the whole word, or maybe the word before it. All their attempts at numerology fail. The solution comes from geometry. When the books are closed and stacked on the shelf, the marked characters form points in a three-dimensional lattice. The letters don’t matter, only their position. Markus wonders if they need to make new manuals and destroy the originals. The Kobolds regularly make new copies of the manuals, but destroying the originals in anathema. They are the basis of their whole society! Averiela suggests only damaging part of the originals. The curse only manifests part of the time, so maybe only part of the manual needs to be destroyed. Markus wonders if that would change the curse instead of eliminating it. Ol’ Jardiner proposes that they destroy the originals but don’t tell the Kobolds.
Ol’ Jardiner: We just swap them out somehow. And if they leave the Moon, they don’t need to read them anyways.
Ol’ Jardiner looks through his Endless Scroll for a cleansing spell that will eliminate all the vampire blood. Dryden thinks such a spell would involve sunlight. Ol’ Jardiner thinks it’s more likely to require his blood.
END OF SESSION MOVE
- Did we thoroughly explore a new location?
- NO. There’s more to see on the Moon
- Did we discover something new about the world or its people?
- YES. Ol’ Jardiner learned secrets of the universe, and everyone learned about the Kobolds living on the Moon
- Did anyone find what they were seeking?
- YES, Markus found adventure. He always finds what he’s seeking. Ol’ Jardiner also found forbidden knowledge and a huge magical conundrum.
- Two boons
- Gear
- Heal
MOON MESSAGE BOARD
Averiela: This place is unnatural.
A weapon gone wrong.
Cursed by blood creatures,
It breathes not grace, soul, or song.
Dryden: Vampires cursed the Moon.
We hope to fix it soon.
Appleton gets a boon.
Werewolves meet their doom
Markus: It’s like when people think for themselves instead of toeing the party line. If you need help convincing them, find it written down.
Ol’ Jardiner: Sanguinous glyphs, surreptitiously inscribed, form multi-dimensional lattice of arcane significance, corrupting reflection’s intended cleansing purpose to lycanthropy. Working on solution. Watch next full Moon!