Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The party: Buckle the Beast/Heart of Earth, Stella the Halfling/Hunter
Last time, the Fellowship was in no position to prevent a geological cataclysm. Petra used Frost’s Breath and a giant robot spider to collapse Sunpeak. This time, they recover and consider what to do next.
An express mail delivery person approaches the Miranda, operating cables and pulleys with his arms to make the wings on his backpack flap.
Wilbur: It’s the Miranda! The description they gave me was not correct. I have a message for you from Edna Harcourt-Dragonbane of Port Fennrick.
Buckle: Oh boy.
Stella: Uh huh. Hopefully she can’t yell at us through the letter.
Wilbur lands, unrolls a scroll, and reads it.
Wilbur: From Edna Harcourt-Dragonbane, Mayor of Port Fennrick, to Stella Muddyfoot, Buckle, and Professor Gummidge–is this the right boat?
Buckle: Gummidge isn’t here, but yes.
Wilbur: After a thorough investigation, we have determined that the death of Perry Ogre-Bane was sefl defense. We searched his room and found that he made intricate and long-term plans to kill both Stella and Buckle.
Buckle: He died?
Wilbur: As for the other injuries and property damage, as a former adventurer I understand how things can get out of hand, so if you are willing to pay a fine of one precious item each and apologize to each person you injured (except for one guest we have not been able to locate) then you will be welcome back in Port Fennrick.
Stella: Unexpected.
Wilbur: Do you have a reply? I have more deliveries to make.
Stella is intrigued because most people the Fellowship offends don’t try to get in touch again. She wonders how Port Fennrick is doing under new management. Buckle isn’t enthusiastic about apologizing to more people, but he’ll go along with Stella.
Stella: Please tell her that we will make our way there after some errands we need to run. It might take a while.
Buckle: Thank you for your graciousness. We’re sorry to hear that Perry died.
Wilbur gives Buckle a weird look, but writes down their replies. He takes a running start along the deck, jumps overboard, and flaps really hard. His contraption works and he flies off to continue his route.
Stella wants to investigate the remains of Sunpeak. The Miranda is just off the shore of the Ice Fields, which have been transformed. Sunlight warms the surface, and the rushing melt-water cuts deep channels in the remaining ice. The surface is pcked with boulders thrown out from Sunpeak’s collapse. It’s not a place of safety where the crew of the Miranda can recover. Castellum is the nearest town and was out of range of the destruction, but the Miranda is not welcome there.
Buckle: We don’t have anywhere else to go and Port Fennrick just gave us an invitation.
Port Fennrick is on the eastern coast, like the Ice Fields and Castellum, but further south. Finsea is just off the coast and underwater. It’s a Merfolk city. Buckle decides to recover in Finsea, then go apologize in Port Fennrick.
There’s a floating dock for surface folk that’s connected by an air-filled tunnel to a tourist section of Finsea. The tunnel is made of woven kelp, so it’s called the help-a-vator. The tourist section of Finsea is enclosed by a glass dome so air-breathers can see the ocean while they visit hotels, restaurants, tour guides, and other touristy things. The gift shop has hats with various fins, so tourists can represent their favorite fish. Buckle thinks that’s disrespectful to the natives.
There’s a cheap hotel and a fancy hotel. The fancy hotel is all-inclusive. That doesn’t mean everyone is welcome. It means that all services are included in one price. There are dinner shows, tours boats, and underwater excursions where each guest wears a helmet connected to their tour leader with a central air pump. Buckle doesn’t see why people would need a helmet. The cheap hotel has beds and a door that locks.
Buckle: We should stay at the cheap place. I can take you on underwater tours, don’t worry.
The clerk is amphibeous and unenthusiastic.
- Eugene he/him Sala-man clerk: They really don’t want to be here. They hate this place, and will bug off if you need them to.
- Biting Sarcasm: You cannot Talk Sense to a Surly Coworker.
- Conveniently Off Duty: The Surly Coworker will flee the scene if things get too wild and dangerous for them to handle.
Eugene: Welcome to Sea-Bed Suites. We have single beds and double beds. Price sheet is over here. Wow, there’s a lot of you.
Buckle: We need a connected suite.
The Fellowship gets several rooms at the end of one hall. The balcony in each room is a pool that connects to the ocean. The air inside matches the pressure of the exterior water, so water doesn’t flood into the room. The people in the next room are a family of frogs with 17 tad-poles. They’re visiting Finsea to see the deep water, instead of the coastal waters where they live. A cloud of tadpoles swim out of the balcony, and a few swim into the Fellowship’s balcony.
Tadpole 1: Look at that guy, he’s funny looking.
Buckle: You’re funny-looking.
Tadpole 2: Ha ha ha!
Tadpole 1: That’s not funny!
Buckle: That’s right. Correct. Where are your parents?
Tadpole 2: They’re in room 113.
Buckle: Is that where you should be right now?
Tadpole 1: No, they sent us to play outside.
Buckle: This is outside, or is this inside?
Tadpole 1: It’s outside of my room.
Stella: Go play. Go, go away.
Tadpole 2: But it’s boring outside. Someone should come outside and play with us!
Buckle takes one for the team and goes out to play with the tadpoles. He entertains them by rolling up the sleeves of his fireproof suit to make bubbles come off his arms. They think he’s cool, but eventually get distracted so he can leave.
Meanwhile, Stella examines the fancy hotel.
- What is hidden or out-of-place?
- The main entrance has fancy columns carved into coral and sea-shells, but around the side the workers go in and out of the service entrance, which is underwater. Delivery vehicles (manatee chariots and belugas with cargo pods) are loaded and unloaded. The rider of one beluga dismounts and looks around suspiciously. The beluga is staying too long for a delivery.
- Tell me about the workers. What are they doing and what will they do next?
- There’s a fancy hotel uniform with a round cap and two rows of buttons down the torso. The people making deliveries don’t work for the hotel. Some chariots have names written on the side and colorful uniforms. Other deliveries are made by people in plain clothing. The suspicious beluga-rider (a look-out) is wearing a delivery uniform, but the other people who went inside were wearing hotel uniforms.
- What will happen if I try to follow the “delivery people” dressed like hotel workers?
- Stella puts on her axolotl mask and swims out from her balcony. She clearly doesn’t belong, so someone tries to stop her.
Look-out: You’re clearly not a worker here. Go around the front entrance. There’s machinery around here. You could get hurt.
Stella: Couldn’t you get hurt too?
Look-out: I’m a professional and you’re keeping me from my job.
Stella: If you’re so professional, why is your beluga swimming away?
Stella motions the beluga to leave and it obeys. The look-out swims after it and emits an echo-location pulse. That’s like whistling for a human. Two mer-folk in hotel uniforms swim out of the service entrance carrying a big bag between them and head for the beluga.
GM note: Let’s make sure to restore all stats, gear, and companions right now, because the characters might start spending them.
Stella watches the two mer-folk swim past and is about to follow when someone grabs her shoulder and spins her around. She’s accosted by a mer-folk swordfish accompanied by two mer-folk lobsters in hotel uniforms.
- Meryl she/her mer-folk swordfish Eager Duelist: A relative newcomer, looking to prove themselves. They want a good, honorable fight, and to make a name for themselves.
- Beginner’s Luck: When the eager duelist would be destroyed, damage this stat instead.
- Duel Hungry: The duelist has Hope when fighting one on one.
- Honorable: The duelist will never fight outside of a fair fight. They never ambush anyone, always announce their intent to fight you, and do not bring more allies than the number of enemies they intend to face. If a fight is unbalanced, they will join the weaker side, even if it is against their allies.
- Merfolk Lobster: An armored crustacean the size of a human. Their powerful grip is inescapable.
- Molting: The lobster has a hardened exoskeleton that is easily repaired by molting. When they have time and safety, they heal this stat.
- Iron Grip: Lobster claws only let go when they want to. Anyone grabbed by a lobster cannot escape until the lobster is either dealt damage or decides to let go.
Meryl: I won’t allow you to steal from my family! Have at you, varlet!
Stella calls to the beluga to come back. The thieves put their bag in the cargo pod and try to ride it away, but the beluga must obey Stella.
Meryl: Fine. We’ll take you all on!
Meryl’s disappointed that Stella doesn’t seem to be fighting her, so she goes to the three mer-folk on the beluga to see if they’ll fight her. The driver comes at her clumsily. She steps aside and spanks him with the flat of her blade as he tumbles past. The other two come at her at once, which offends her. Her lobster goons move in to protect her. Each grabs one, and that ends the fight.
Stella: You’re taught them a lesson. You can let them go as long as they give back your stuff, right? To pulverize them would be too far.
Meryl: Yes, clearly these are no threats. Go on your way. You see the price of your misdeeds.
Stella tells the beluga to do what its owners say, but it can’t come back and rob this place. Meryl is pleased, sure that she solved the problem all by herself.
Sunpeak’s disruption has pushed creatures out of their normal habitat on land and sea. Those creatures push other creatures out, and the disruption reaches all the way to Finsea.
- Bug Swarm: A swarm of bottom-dwelling mollusks and arthropods, pushed out of their normal habitat and looking for food.
- Consume: The bug swarm is hungry, but people are hard to eat. When they swarm over someone, if they have any Food, the swarm will eat their food first, before dealing damage to them.
- Fragile Swarm: The bug swarm can’t be hurt by standard weapons – you need Area, Burning, Giant, or Dangerous attacks to damage them. They can crawl over any surface or enemy they like. Anyone with a bug swarm on them is in Despair. When the Bug Swarm becomes damaged, it is destroyed.
The Fellowship is hanging out in their room when a few lobsters crawl in from the balcony.
Buckle: What’s up, buddy?
The lobsters are upset because they don’t know where the food is anymore.
Stella: You can’t stay in this room. There’s no food for you here, but I have an idea how you can get food.
Stella goes to the fancy hotel and gets to meet the manager because Meryl puts in a good word.
Stella: Perhaps there is a new business opportunity, (or ecological, your choice) for you. Instead of doing whatever you do with your leftovers, open a secondary restaurant for the crustaceans so they don’t eat the town. If you’ve had issues with the environmental impact of your hotel, this is a great way to deal with that. If you’re looking for another revenue stream, perhaps the crusteceans have something they could help you with. You’re about to have a problem, and here’s a solution.
The manager thinks that’s a great idea for cheap waste disposal and assigns workers to implement it. The fancy hotel indeed produces a lot of food waste, since it doesn’t want to ever look like it might run out of anything, so it always orders and serves too much.
The tadpoles aren’t invading the Fellowship’s suite anymore, but the frog family is still loud enough to prevent them from sleeping. Buckle tries to ignore it, but eventually goes and knocks on the door of the frogs’ room. He has to knock again before they hear him and answer the door.
Buckle: I was just wondering. have y’all thought about doing one of those cool tours?
Frog father: We don’t have that kind of money. are you some kind of salesman? Go away.
Buckle goes back to his room and talks to Stella about sending the frog family on a tour. She gives him a bag of coins, which he carefully carries to the front desk.
Buckle: Hey, wondering if you know any tours that include an overnight trip that might be good for a frog family and their tadpoles.
Eugene points to a table covered with brochures. Buckle looks through them for something. There’s a “frontier” themed tour that takes people to the shore (the frontier of the ocean) where they can dig for valuable ore, then spend the night in a cove lit by bioluminescent plankton. Buckle goes to the address on the brochure and negotiates with the tour leader. He returns to the frog’s hotel room with an offer.
Buckle: All expenses paid overnight trip. What do you think?
The frogs think it’s very suspicious that Buckle is offering to take their children to a remote area for free, so they shut the door in his face. Buckle returns to his suite.
Buckle: Well, they didn’t go for the trip.
Stella: Then we’re going on the trip.
The Fellowship takes the tour boat to an area near Willow’s Landing, a village inhabited by giant albino Platypeople. Platypeople are there to prevent the tour boat from entering. A Platyperson tells the tour guide that some important cultural event is happening here and outsiders are not allowed. She is impervious to the tour guide’s pleas. Buckle recognizes the Platyperson.
Buckle: Pomplamoose!
Pomplamoose: Oh, Buckle! I didn’t recognize you in costume. This is kind of a bad time.
Buckle waddles over to her and Pomplamoose takes him aside.
Pomplamoose: A sacred plant has started growing here. Usually it grows elsewhere. We have to protect it and keep outsiders away.
Buckle: Is it a golden tree? We just saw a golden tree in the forest.
Pomplamoose: I can’t tell you much more unless you decide to move here and be one of us, but you are a Platyperson and you did help me out that one time, so I’m telling you more than I tell the tour guide.
Buckle: I can move here and be one of you? I had no idea. Wow, thanks Pomplamoose.
Pomplamoose: Should I get the elder? Do you want to start on this?
Buckle: I don’t want to leave my friends. Is it something they can do too?
Pomplamoose: None of them are Platypeople, are they?
Buckle: Oh, I see. Playperson exclusive. Very old-school of you. It was good to see you. Good luck with the cultural event.
Buckle returns to the tour group. The guide hopes that he has convinced Pamplamoose to let them through. The tour boat is forced to return. The owner-operator is very displeased, but Stella is happy to sleep on the boat in peace and quiet.
With their recovery complete, the Fellowship heads to Port Fennrick. When the Miranda sails in, Bork recognizes them.
Bork: Are you here to apologize?
Stella: Indeed.
Bork sends a runner to collect the people who were burned during the fight in the Amphibious Arms. The line-up includes a bellhop, two cleaners, a novice Human mercenary named Jenny, and a Lantern Peacekeeper named Guardian. Guardian doesn’t put much effort into fitting into biological culture, like names. Bork yells at the Miranda’s figurehead.
Bork: Gummidge, you have to apologize too!
Buckle: I’m afraid that’s just a body.
Bork: Wow, that’s grim!
Buckle: It’s just a robot. A Powered Armor suit.
Buckle listens to each person tell their story of that fateful night. Most were some variation of “there was a commotion, then you ran past and burned me.”
Novice: That was a jerk move and you were not in control, but this is the first scar I got on my adventures, so I’m not too mad.
Buckle: You’re welcome for the scar. I’ll try to keep my head on my shoulders in the future. You know how it is when people are threatening your life and chasing you.
Novice: Right, it gets wild. I didn’t know.
The Peacekeeper gives Buckle a lecture about responsibility. Buckle bristles at the scolding.
Buckle: Proper protocol isn’t everything. Sometimes you have to go with your instinct. Just because it’s what the rules say to do, it doesn’t mean it’s going ot have the intended outcome.
Peacekeeper: If your protocol doesn’t lead to desired outcomes, you need a better protocol.
Bork and Peacekeeper start to argue. As a bouncer, she jumps in as soon as a problem arises. She thinks it’s better to act immediately and make corrections as necessary than to stand idle.
Buckle: You see, we can’t all have exact information. That’s why we apologize when things go wrong. That’s why we do our best to gather information ahead of time. It’s a balance.
Bork and Peacekeeper are impressed by Buckle’s wisdom. Bork collects the fine from Buckle & Stella. Gummidge will have to pay when he returns to Port Fennrick. Stella offers coins. Buckle offers a Pheonix feather. Now that their debt to society is paid, they can have a pleasant chat with Bork.
- What can you tell me about the Phoenixes?
- Phoenixes are stirred up and more active. She saw some going to the west, and some coming south very recently.
- What would you have us do next?
- I don’t think that’s appropriate for me to say. I’m not the boss of you.
- What should be we wary of in Port Fennrick?
- Wary? No, we’re all plain-dealing and open now.
Buckle & Stella go to the Amphibious Arms to see who’s around. All the people they apologized to are there, as well as Lenny and Larry twin Elves who work at a nightclub as dancers and performers. They don’t really fight anymore. A Dwarf is talking about getting an expedition together to visit Sunpeak and pounce on all the ore and gems which must be exposed now. An Elf Wizard in flowing robes constantly gestures and speaks a little too loud as she tells stories.
- Boboli, he/him Dwarf Gold Digger: A greedy dwarf trying to strike it rich.
- Clear The Path: When the dwarf charges forward, everyone in their path is sent flying out of their way, and every obstacle is destroyed.
- Greed Is Good: The gold digger is easily bribed by Precious things and promises of riches, and is always willing to stop and listen to any offers.
- Unbreakable: This stat is always damaged first. Whenever a different dwarf gold digger stat becomes damaged, heal Unbreakable. If the gold digger would be destroyed while this stat is undamaged, damage this stat instead.
Buckle: Do you know about Artifact of Powers, or want any identified?
Boboli: Are you proposing a business partnership?
Buckle: If you have any you want identified, maybe on the way to the peak, I’d be more interested in the trip.
Boboli: If you are willing to be paid in information instead of actual precious items, that sounds amazing. Wait, you are offering me information. That will cost me money. I’m a bit confused about the deal you are presenting.
Buckle: Do you know what friends are?
Boboli: I’ve heard of them.
- Zalamel the Magnificent, she/her, Elf Wizard: Wizards are known for two things: Supreme power and zero responsibility.
- No Sense of Right and Wrong: The Wizard is Dangerous and their actions always cause collateral damage of some kind, no matter what they do. When the Wizard harms a member of the fellowship, that player will tell you what else happened as a result of the spell.
- Kaboom!: The Wizard can deal damage as a Hard Cut to anyone they like.
- Mage Armor: The Wizard can only be harmed by magic.
Zalamel has been scolded for casting magic in the bar, but she gestures and speaks a little too loud.
Zalamel: A giant metal spider? I’d just magnetize it to the wall. I have all kinds of spells to blast it. I don’t care about this rumored spider.
Somoene orders a round of shots and Zalamel sets them on fire, but also ignites the bartender’s rag. He douses it in the sink. Buckle has no concept of real magic.
Buckle: I can do that too. All it takes is a little alcohol and a few matches.
Zalamel: Is that a challenge? If you propose a wizard’s duel, I’ll show you up!
Buckle: That’s OK, magic doesn’t exist.
Zalamel:If magic doesn’t exist, how does this happen?
Zalamel summons spectral knives and and flings them at Buckle. He’s hit, but most fly past him. Lenny and Larry catch two in mid-air.
Lenny: Reminds me of old times.
Larry: Aww, they disappeared.
Walther, the bartender, rings a bell.
Walther: Fight!
Buckle: Ah, yes, illusions, of course, exist.
Buckle uses the Medallion of Cleft Sky to dim the room and summon the aurora borealis.
Walther is impressed. Buckle can get free drinks whenever he wants.
Jenny: Zalamel, take it outside!
Zalamel: Fine, I will!
Zalamel’s wide-brimmed hat falls to the floor. She’s not under it anymore. The point collapses until the hat is a flat disc, which shrinks to nothing.
Buckle: See? Illusion.
The Fellowship finds Cyana a ship going upriver to Lichenton. She got more than she bargained for in her short adventuring career.
Stella checks with Buckle to see what he wants to do. Going to Sunpeak with Boboli seems good. Buckle wants to go there anyways.
Boboli: Make me an offer. Why should I travel with you?
Buckle: Make us an offer? Why should you travel with us on our boat, eating our food?
Stella: Is that the offer? Transportation and food?
Boboli: I’m a gold-digger. As a Dwarf I’m an expert on mining, and tunneling and rocks. I do wonder how you are taking a boat to a mountain.
They agree to travel together and take the Miranda up the Mighty River. The Mighty River is unaffected by Sunpeak’s collapse. No boulders falling out of the sky. The Miranda stops at the Raging Rapids.
Boboli: Ah, here we should go under the mountain to the City of Clay!
Stella: Is it the new city that got buried? Or the old one?
Buckle: Last time we went underground here, we ran into a Fire Elemental. Sound fun, let’s do it.
They enter the Dwarven Waterways, which are bustling with rafts going up and down. The City of Clay is repopulated and peaceful now. There’s a wide winding path of obsidian through the city that used to be a river of lava. The northern exit from City of Clay is closed, but Boboli charges through the guards and the debris until he reaches the surface.
The Fellowship finds itself in the Debris Bowl, which used to be Lazy-I Ranch. It was surrounded by mountains and one of those mountains collapsed. Most of the debris ended up here. The surface is hundreds of feet higher and unstable. It’s completely destroyed and lifeless. Cloudhold is visible, very visible, because the storm that usually covers the peak is gone. The eastern face of the mountain is covered in debris from Sunpeak. Shrapnel the size of building. Boboli is excited to start digging immediately.
Buckle: You know, Boboli, I bet if you start digging you’ll find dinosaur bones.
Boboli: I don’t need to go that deep. I’m just going to go through the new stuff.
Stella feels bad for not stopping this disaster. She heads north, towards the roots of Sunpeak, which still jut from the surrounding debris. As she walks over a rise, she steps into an area covered in sharp obsidian shards! It only hurts her once, since it’s easy to avoid when she can see it. She and Buckle reach the ruins of Sunpeak without futher incident. Sunpeak is all unstable debris, jagged boulders, and sharp obsidian, but it’s also unnaturally cold.
Stella: Buckle, I need the moss.
Buckle takes off his fireproof suit and gives it to Stella. They examine the area.
- What is hidden or out of place?
- A shiny metallic object sticks out of the debris. It’s a leg from the Spider Tank.
- What will happen if I dig around the leg?
- It’s not connected to the rest of the Spider Tank. Digging through unstable debris is dangerous.
- Tell me about the Dragon Spirits. What are they doing? What will they do next?
- The big Dragon spirits that the Fellowship met when they climbed Sunpeak are gone. There’s one Dragon Spirit left: Fafnir.
Stella: Nooooo!
Buckle: It’s all my fault! She’s gone!
Buckle wanders around, inconsolable. Fafnir notices him, but is bound to the place where she died. Stella also needs a moment take this in. Buckle digs a hole to hide in.
Stella: Maybe we should go back and get whats-his-face to dig this area out.
Stella remembers that the ancient Dragon spirits she met earlier were stuck near their skeletons. Maybe they could bring Fafnir with them if they find her remains. Could Buckle deal with that, emotionally? Stella returns and asks Boboli to dig around the leg, because it’s near something of great importance.
Boboli: If I get to keep everything vauable I find, that sounds great.
Stella: You can keep everything valuable with the exception of one item
Boboli: Do you know what that item is, or do I lay them out and you pick one?
Stella: It’s a really cold stone, of sorts. Don’t take any bones.
Boboli: That’s OK, bones have a low value density.
Boboli accompanies Stella back to Sunpeak and starts digging out the mechanical leg, throwing big rocks out of his way. There are a few areas of extra-cold stone, which Boboli points out to Stella. He finds a few flamestones and lava geodes (which stay warm for decades) but doesn’t find many. He doesn’t find the rest of the Spider Tank, of any corpses. He gives Fafnir’s spirit a wide berth. He finds a tunnel leading south.
Stella goes to check on Buckle. She sees steam pouring out of his hidey-hole from his evaporating tears.
Stella: Buckle, do you want to talk about it?
Buckle: Talk about what? I’m good. I’m good. Just resting.
Stella: That’s a no. Buckle, you know it’s important to show your emotions, right?
The rocks start to glow.
Stella: I’m going to back away. Whatever you need to let out, just do it.
Stella moves far back and flaming rocks fly in every direction. When the outburst ends, Stella goes to check on Buckle. He still needs time, so she helps Boboli sort gems, to be helpful and stay in the area. She thinks about ways to honor Fafnir’s memory and her bond with Buckle. After a while, Buckle comes over.
Buckle: The tunnel goes south, right? I’ll be right back.
Stella: Will you?
NO END-OF-SESSION MOVE