Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
The fellowship: Boris the Remnant, Pierre Jardiner the Harbinger, Yonne the Rain.
Last time, the Fellowship met Indira (a survivor with a mysterious past) and learned about goo people. This time, they try to reach their ship in Hullift.
Boris, Yonne, and Indira are in the military base next to Hullift. Pierre still has not arrived through Infinite Windows.
Hullift response level 4
- famine
- bustling
- sheriff
- show of force
Boss: Dawn she/her Human dock leader.
One of Hullift’s suspended docks is tilted down. The cranes that pick up ships are holding the dock in place. People are trying to extend the dock into a ramp leading to the sea below.
The city is in an uproar. Indira wants to find Geologists.
Boris: I feel vaguely responsible for her. We loosed her on the world, kinda.
Yonne: We happened to be in the area. We’ll help her out. We can’t go to the ship and leave. Then Jardiner won’t know where we are.
Boris: Where we are is where we are. He teleports to us. He’s a smart guy. A college graduate.
Indira: Call out if you see a Geologist.
They leave the military base and move through a residental area. The Geologist headquarters is visible on a hill on the west side of town. Some people are trying to get out. Some people carry suitcases. Some push carts full of boxes. A man goes from door to door asking for people, but they don’t live there anymore. Boris looks for lost children.
Boris Look Closely 7-9 ask 3 questions, get 1 unhelpful answer
- Tell me about the crowd of people
- Hullift is a port. There are more people leaving and entering the Empire than usual. When the Fellowship arrived, the city was busy, but organized. People are not following protocol anymore. The man going door to door (Samuel) has been out of the Empire for a long time and is trying to find people he used to know.
- Tell me about any lost children
- Sunny, she/her Halfling child. Not even 2 feet tall. She stands at a lamppost at a corner. That’s where she was told to go if she got lost.
- Innocent Charm: Only the truly evil can cause harm to a child.
- Mischief Maker: The child has a tendency to get up to no good. They regularly put themselves in harm’s way, and anyone trying to protect them can do so without rolling by taking that harm for them.
- Huntar, he/him Dwarf child. He’s not following protocol. Dwarves come out of the stone as looking like teenagers of other races. They have to build up their muscles and learn how to use their body. Huntar is as tall as a Human child, but he’s much wider. He’s visible even in a crowd of taller people, because he’s several hundred pounds of stone, so he knocks people around as he wanders. He thinks he can walk under a horse-drawn cart, but he’s just a bit taller than he’s used to, so he hits his head and knocks bundles off the cart.
- Sunny, she/her Halfling child. Not even 2 feet tall. She stands at a lamppost at a corner. That’s where she was told to go if she got lost.
- What will happen if I help a child?
- Boris finds out the hard way by doing it.
Boris figures that someone will deal with Huntar, since he’s making a ruckus. He goes to help the tiny Halfling girl. who may be overlooked. Boris moves swiftly through the crowd so no one gets a good look at his terrifying face. Sunny looks one direction and when she looks back, Boris is right there.
Boris: Are you lost, little girl?
Sunny expects to hear this from an authority figure, but Boris doesn’t look like an authority figure.
Sunny: Are you a Guard? Mommy said if I got lost I should stay at a streetlight and the Guard would help me find Mommy?
Boris: The guards are predisposed, so–
Sunny: I don’t know what that means.
Yonne slithers up.
Yonne: There’s so many people to help right now that the Guards asked us to do some help. We’re going to help you find your mom, OK? What does your mom look like?
Sunny: That seems reasonable. She’s really tall and really pretty. She’s got short red hair. I’m not supposed to play with it. She’s got this dress that I like that’s green.
Yonne: Is she wearing that dress today?
Sunny: Ummm
Boris: Is she as tall as I am?
A Guard marches up, looking angry.
- Betty, she/her human guard: A local guard who is a real stickler for custom and order. Loves to stick her nose where it doesn’t belong, especially if she smells trouble.
- Rules Are Rules: Betty cannot be bribed, and refuses to forgive rule breaking. She will always lecture you or arrest you, depending on the severity of the rule.
- Suspicious Glare: Betty will follow the fellowship around as long as they are in the area she supervises. She keeps a close eye on all their actions and moves.
Betty: You thought law had broken down, but the guard has eyes everywhere! We’ll protect this child from you strangers!
Yonne: Well, I guess this guard will help you find your mom instead. Bye.
Betty: Not so fast! Attempted kidnapping is a serious charge. You’ll have to come with me.
Yonne: OK, but our friend wants to see a biologist. I mean Geologist.
Indira isn’t with them anymore. She’s dedicated to her mission, whatever that is. Betty doesn’t see Yonne’s friend, so Yonne must be lying, which means she’s a criminal!
Boris: I’ll stick around to help find her mom.
Betty has handcuffs for Boris, but has to try several methods to secure Yonne. She doesn’t have hands for handcuffs. A steel cord just goes through her.
Yonne: I really think this is a waste of your time. If you really want us to prove that we’re not trying to kidnap this child, which I definitely wasn’t doing–
Boris: Why are you smiling?
Yonne: You could just stay with us until we find her mom. You could just do that instead of trying to arrest me.
Betty: Alright, you two seem to be together. Yonne, you’d better come with us, or Boris will take your sentance as well.
Betty starts herding Boris, Yonne, and Sunny (she’s a witness) towards the guard station.
Yonne: Seems like you are the one taking the kid.
When Betty isn’t looking, Boris chews through the chain connecting his manacles. Yonne trusts Boris to be able to find her, and it seems like a waste of time to follow Betty. Yonne decides to go find the kid’s mom. Reuniting the child with the mother will prove that they weren’t kidnappers.
Yonne Get Away 7-9 avoid harm
Hullift’s “Bustling” stat gives the roll Despair
Betty realizes her limits. She yells after Yonne:
Betty: Double sentencing!
Yonne Changeling
Yonne turns into Sunny on stilts so that she’s visible above the crowd.
Yonne: Mom! Mom!
Fortune roll for Sunny’s mom noticing: mmixed success
A neighbor who knows Sunny’s family notices.
Mirabella he/him Elf
Mirabella: Sunny, what are you doing here? On stilts!
Yonne: Hi! OK, so two things. One, I’m not really Sunny. I look like Sunny so I can find her mom. And two, do you know where Sunny’s mom is? That first one answers why I’m on stilts. I’m not actually on stilts, I’m–
Explanations are hard. Yonne reverts to her true form, but as tall as Mirabella.
Yonne: Sunny is at the Guard station and I need her mom to go get her. Do you know how to find her mom?
Mirabella: I’m pretty sure that Sunny is in trouble, whatever is happening or who you are.
Mirabella Touch The World Lightly: walk on any surface
Mirabella leaps up and walks on people’s shoulders to reach a lamppost and stand atop it.
Mirabella Elfsight study any location you can see as if you were there
Yonne sees him turn back towards her, think for a moment, then turn away and run off over the crowd. Yonne becomes a ribbon of water flowing through the crowd.
Yonne Overcome 10+
Yonne catches up with Mirabella talking to a Halfling woman with short red hair.
Lyta she/her Halfling astronomer. Sunny’s mother.
Mirabella: This is very strange. I heard it from some kind of weirdo, but Sunny has been taken to the Guard post.
Mom: Thank goodness. We were so worried.
Yonne expands from a ribbon to her normal shape.
Yonne: I’m the weirdo. Hi, my friend got arrested because we were talking to your daughter trying to find you, so I think he’ll be unarrested if you go to the Guard tower with me, ok please?
Lyta: I don’t know about the rest of that stuff, but I’m going for Sunny.
Lyta was packing her scinetific instruments and hesitates to leave them behind, but her daughter is more important. They all head for the Border Guard post, between the two docks.
Meanwhile, Betty was leading Boris and Sunny towards the Guard post. Boris maintains the illusion of being chained up, but if anything in the unruly crowd threatens Sunny, he’ll intercede. Someone running through the crowd can’t see Sunny over the wooden chest in his arms.
Boris Overcome 10+
Boris picks up Sunny with one arm and turns to put his body between her and the rushing man. He knocks the man aside, but catches the chest with his other hand and gives it back to him. There’s no way to hide that he’s not chained up, since he clearly separated his hands.
Betty: You put that kid down right now!
Betty looks around for another way to restrain Boris.
Boris: I’m amicable to coming with you. I don’t want to waste any of your restraints.
Betty has a stick with a replaceable head. It’s usually used for signalling, but can be a weapon when necessary. She places a packet into the head.
Betty: This turns into 18 cubic feet of really sticky foam. I don’t think even you can get out of that. Be on your best behavior.
Boris wonders if he could eat the foam, or the stick.
Boris: You didn’t see me protect the child but you saw me break the restraints? I’m not trying to be rude, but I think, as an officer of the law, you should not make assumptions in an investigation.
Boris bends down and picks a flower for Sunny as they walk along. The Border Guard post has been overrun. They’re supposed to question everyone and assign badges as needed, but hundreds of people rushed the gates and the Guard lost control. The Captain is pragmatic and keeps as much order as he and the people still reporting to him can enforce. He can’t do anything else, so he doesn’t worry about anything else.
- Lucius he/him Human Guard Captain
- I Saw Nothin’: You cannot Speak Softly with Lucius.
- Gets The Job Done: Lucius stays focused on his work. He will complete any job he is assigned, no matter what happens around him, unless completing the job becomes absolutely impossible or pointless.
Betty: Captain this man was kidnapping a child!
Luius: That child? Looks like she’s safe. Let’s get her inside. Maybe her parents will come for her.
Boris: My friend is getting her parents. I might have an idea on how to help you, Captain, with all the people coming through.
Lucius leads them inside and takes a moment for himself to calm down. Boris looks for a way to help.
Boris: I am incredibly fast. If I run back and forth incredibly fast and rebuff the people getting into the city, it would then create less chaos, and you could get them into a line and get whatever badges they need.
Lucius: Very helpful kidnapper you have here.
Boris: I’m not a kidnapper! Both of you jump to assumptions. Just because I look cruel, doesn’t mean I am cruel.
Boris Talk Sense (+Sense, explain plan) 10+
Boris: I request, if possible, any kind of soft padding, so when I rebuff people, it’s not flesh and bone contacting flesh and bone. I was going to run and create a border of wind and dust, but in case someone panics and runs through.
Lucius: A deterrant. I respect that. Deterrant is how we get a lot of work done here.
The Lucius cuts a cot in half and puts one half in front of Boris and one half behind. The pillow go on Boris’ upper arms. Lucius takes Betty’s steel cord to tie the padding to Boris.
Boris Keep Them Busy 6-
Most people avoid Boris, but one person will not be deterred.
- 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.
Gold Digger Clear The Path: When the dwarf charges forward, everyone in their path is sent flying out of their way, and every obstacle is destroyed.
Yonne arrives just in time to see the Dwarf shoulder-check Boris and knock him back. That’s never happened before.
Yonne: Hey! Don’t touch him!
Yonne Keep Them Busy 7-9 attention is on you, they will retaliate
Yonne Water jets (Ranged, Reload). You can fire rocks and shrapnel from your body, striking out at enemies from afar.
Yonne doesn’t use big rocks. She’s not trying to kill him, just make him stop. It works, and she doesn’t know what to do next.
Yonne: Hey! Don’t hurt my friend. Don’t. Stop it.
The Dwarf is not impressed. He turns around and keeps moving. Boris wonders if if this person is dangerous. He’s very strong, like Boris, but does he intend to use that strength to harm people? He’s not being polite as he shoves his way through the crowd.
Yonne: Did you get out of jail? I found her mom. We’ll leave that guy alone. He will be the problem of whoever makes sure the land isn’t messed with. Is that even happening anymore?
Now that Boris isn’t blocking the way, the crowd surges forward again. Yonne, Boris, Mirabella, and Lyta go into the Guard Post. Lyta and Sunny run to each other and embrace.
Lucius: A happy ending. That’s good. Seems like you wasted your time, Betty. Maybe you should go after that Dwarf. He definitely needed a “physical adept” badge.
Lucius notices some messages have arrived while he was out dealing with the crowds. He opens the capsules and reads each one.
Lucius: There are emperors vying for the throne. That is above my pay grade. They will tell me how that comes out. New head Geologist. Gregory. Haven’t heard of him. The land is “our partner.” I’ll forward that to the Geologists.
Yonne: I lost Indira.
Boris: I assumed that would happen when we got arrested. We made that choice when he decided to help a child. We knew we could get arrested.
Boris stares at the two cops.
Yonne: I wonder where the Trilobite is. The city seems different.
Lucius: If you want to check on your ship, go ahead. Some have made unscheduled departures. I won’t keep you.
Lucius opens the door and the Fellowship takes the hint.
Back when Hullift was a functioning port, the Trilobite was carried by a wheeled crane from the dock and suspended in a large warehouse. Rows of these warehouses line streets that extend inland from the docks. One of those cranes now stands as a barricade, tring to keep people and boats from reaching the intact dock. Wooden planks and metal sheets form a makeshift wall between its wide legs. The Fellowship finds the warehouse where the Trilobite is stored. It’s surrounded by people trying and failing to get inside. They are trying to get a ship, any ship, to get out of the Empire.
Boris creates a distraction to let Yonne slip inside unnoticed. He moves quickly through the crowd, starting rumors at multiple locations.
Boris: I heard they’re siphoning fuel from the ships.
Boris: What do you have there? They’re confiscating that stuff!
Aid from Boris cancels despair from Bustling.
Yonne Get Away 7-9 avoid notice
Yonne finds an unsecured upper window and climbs in. Now she sees why no one can enter the warehouse. The Trilobite has extended its legs and dropped to the ground. The arms that are usually used to hurl rocks at distant foes are now holding the large warehouse doors shut. There’s a shout on deck, and one arm reaches up to slam the window shut.
Yonne damages a stat
After she falls to the ground, the crew recognizes Yonne and welcomes her aboard. Citrina, the officer in charge, is not happy.
Citrina: This is not what I signed up for. This was supposed to be a trade mission. We’ve been delayed and now people are trying to hijack my ship! What is going on and how do we get out of here?
Yonne: That is a great question because I also came her to find out what is going on. I thought you or Atlas would know. Where’s Atlas?
Atlas is in a cabin looking through message capsules that he somehow acquired.
Yonne: Atlas! Hi! What are you doing?
Atlas: Lots of fascinating stuff happening. From what I’ve been able to determine, many public figures were revealed as imposters, some kind of magical copies.
Yonne: Oh, yeah, we know about that.
Altas: What’s odd is that more people have appeared to take their place than there were copies that disappeared.
Yonne: All of the copies died last night, but also, they’ve been doing this for a really long time, so some of the original ones have already died. We found a lady in the stone, and they exploded when there was lightning. She was the captain before the captain before the captain and they have this thing. You go inside it and you fast travel, except you don’t travel at all. It was just hiding them and then making a copy. Everyone who had a copy and then was trapped and now they’re coming out. Some of the copies were already gone and some of them melted last night.
Atlas is writing furiously.
Atlas: A remarkably cogent explanation.
Yonne: Thanks! I’m getting better at it. Maybe you want to get off the ship with me and we can find this lady who we lost. She is one of the people who had a copy that was stuck and maybe you want to ask her some questions.
Citrina: You’re leaving? Will you be gone for another three weeks?
Yonne: OK, Citrina, here’s the thing, Citrina, no. We will not be gone for three weeks this time. We’re not going to leave town until we leave on the ship. But we have to get Boris. Things are kind of weird out here. I don’t think they are going to let us leave.
Citrina: I was thinking of making a run for it and jumping off the edge.
Yonne: I don’t think that’s a good idea. There’s a lot of people out there that could get hurt. Sorry. Did you talk to anyone about trading with the Empire?
Citrina: If we had any trade deals, I think they are overcome by events.
Yonne: Oh, right. All the people in power melted.
Yonne and Atlas get onto one of the ship’s arms. Watson, the gunner, liifts them to a high window so they can get out. They reunite with Boris.
Yonne: We’re going to to go find the lady who was in the stone that exploded.
Boris: Indira. Did you see which direction she went?
Yonne: Oh wait. Jardiner is better at this. Pierre! Come back! West, I think. Maybe.
They remember that she wanted to contact the Geologists. Their building is on a hill on the west side of town. A landmark. Atlas only brought a few blank pages. He doesn’t want to drop and lose any books in the chaos.
They reach the Geologists’ building without further trouble. It’s a stone building, which is rare. A fresh piece of stone has thrust up in front, blocking the door. Indira stands outside, yelling at Olivine, the head Geologist of Hullift.
Indira: Are you insane? I don’t care who you just elected in the capital. Have you seen what the Land has been doing? Is that what you want to co-operate with? Do you want to disappear and have your kids grow up with a goo monster?
Olivine: No, this is a new age. That was a mis-communication. We can work it out.
Yonne: Indira, hi, we’re back. Question. You getting trapped. That’s the Land that did that?
Indira Old Scars: The past is heavy. When you Speak Softly with the Lone Survivor, they will refuse to answer any of your questions about their past or their calamity.
Indira refuses to answer.
Boris: How can we assist you by meeting the Geologists halfway?
Indira: Halfway? You want to get planted like crops?
Boris: No, so you can get indoors to converse instead of yelling across the street.
The Fellowship doesn’t understand the philosophical difference between the two parties. The cautionary tale of the Twisted Monolith is mostly true. Long ago, Indira tried to use the magic of the land. The land was excited that someone was interacting with it and responded strongly. Rocks are very different from people in scale, speed, temperature, and pressure, so the land’s response was not survivable. Indira was merged with the stone instead of being destroyed. As far as she’s concerned, the land traps and tortures people. Meanwhile, in the capital, Geologists have seen that the land is learning to communicate emotionally, not intellectually, and they really are making progress towards mutally beneficial co-operation.
Yonne is confused and frustrated by the argument. Now, she has a mind similar to other intelligent beings, but she remembers gaining self-awareness. For a time she knew there was a world outside herself but didn’t know how she fit into it. She’s also an elemental creatures of water, so she sympathizes with the land. She flattens into a shallow puddle and sinks into the land to feel it out.
Yonne detect vibes 6-
GM note: The roll was 1. Snake eyes and a -1 modifier
Yonne sinks down to the rocks and the rocks get hot. The land thinks coziness is warm, and it welcomes Yonne by heating up. This is an existential threat for Yonne, who can evaporate. (Techically, the land could evaporate anyone, but Yonne’s evaporation point is much lower)
Yonne takes damage
Yonne pulls up into an inverted teardrop so as little of her touches the ground as possible.
Yonne: The land is scary. I tried, I went down and it got really hot and you know how I am with heat.
Indira: Yeah! See? She tried it. It immediately tried to kill her!
Yonne climbs onto Boris’ shoulders so she doesn’t have to touch the ground at all.
Indira uses her magic to rip a section of soil and rock away, revealing dark brown goo: the physical manifestation of the land’s magic. Yesterday, this would have been a serious crime.
Indira: Are you sure Gregory isn’t a goo person? That stuff! The goo people were made out of that!
GM note: The goo people were copies of the real people, with memories and personalities. The land just re-absorbed all of them, so it received all those memories! This will give it more than enough information to know how to act like a person. But since it’s land, which operates on a different timescale, it’s working through the memories in real time. It won’t finish for decades, maybe centuries.
Boris wants to demostrate to the Geologists that communing with the earth is dangerous. He wants the Geologists to feel like they are turning into goo. Make the stone building soften and droop. But go back to normal. Don’t actually bury them.
Buckle Talk Sense (+emotion) 7-9 owe a favor
The crack in the ground that Indira made widens and travels toward the Geologist’s building. Boris senses that his fire will start the heat that softens the stone.
Boris spends 1 use of Flame
Boris slides along the exposed magical goo and his feet set the goo on fire. He lands on the doorstep, and….
Land reaction: imperceptibly slow
…nothing happens
Boris: Be afraid! Do you not see the earth’s terrible mighty power?
Olivine: You’re doing it wrong. I’ll show you how to do it. Soil is partially very small rocks.
Olivine comes out and works her magic.
Olivine Geologist: Damage this stat to make the land do something.
Indira chants and dances to counter-spell Olivine.
Olivine: Please be quiet! Stop trying to ruin things. You need to accept this new era of progress.
Olivine Zeal: When Olivine gives advice, you get Hope on the first roll to follow her advice, or Despair on the first roll to go against it.
Indira has Despair and can’t succeed
Indira gives up. Olivine makes a stirring motion, and the land breaks up the stone under the dirt layer and mixes it to create deeper soil. Boris gives Indira a hug because she seems down. It’s been centuries since Indira touched a living person. She starts crying. Boris’ skin is tough and leathery, but it’s soft compared to the rocks Indira has been trapped in.
Boris forms a bond with Indira
Yonne is confused by the citizens of Hullift packing up and trying to leave their home. In her experience, most people stay in the place they are from. A few people wander, like her adventuring companions, but mostly people have a home and stay there. She understands people coming in, since coming in used to be hard, and now it’s easy. And what’s up with the Moon?
The Fellowship returns to the Trilobite and assigns Sillian as cook. He’s 8, so he makes cereal and candy salad. Also soup with lots of sugar.
NO END-OF-SESSION MOVE