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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 climbed Sunpeak. The tallest mountain in the world. Former stronghold of the Dragons. Ruined battleground. At the top they found Fafnir, the young Dragon, Buckle’s adopted and estranged daughter.
GM note: Fafnir is a former player character whose player left the game when the pandemic started.
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
Party: Orichalcum the Construct, Fafnir the Dragon, Melvin the Rain
Ori is searching for his master along the Mighty River, and sees smoke rising above the trees. Too much smoke for a campfire. Ori flies in to investigate. Perhaps giants are literally smoking trees. Alas, reality is much less fun. A group of robed figures are tearing up a wagon, throwing the cargo into a fire. They yell about removing temptation from the youth. The wagon owner, tied to a nearby tree, urges them to “Please be chill!” but they don’t listen. Ori swoops in, grabs the robed figure who appears to be the leader, and carries him aloft for a chat. Ori demands to know what’s going on. The leader says that they have an annual ritual of removing contraband from the area. The wagon was carrying an intoxicant that is unacceptable according to the laws of this group. The leader agrees to let the wagon owner away safely, but when Ori returns him to the ground, the robed figures takes a swing at the Construct! Ori crosses his arms and blocks the blow.
Melvin has noticed this commotion and approaches unseen, still in the form of the late Allan a Zham. He summons rain to douse the fire and unties the wagon owner during the confusion. Melvin and the owner slip away, and Ori also disengages once he sees that the owner is safe.
Ori and Melvin rendezvous and make camp. During the night, Melvin has a strange nightmare, and when he awakens, there’s a small statue of a monster holding a pearl next to his head. he examines the statue. It’s a mountain troll, Trolls are rumored to be clever, but there are no stories about trolls and pearls. Weird. Melvin chucks the statue in the river. As the statue moves away from him, he gets a bad headache. He groggily walks through the river to retrieve the statue. He wears a big trenchcoat and stores the statue in an inside pocket.
There are tracks leading away from the camp. Ori floats up to see where they lead. He finds a campsite with two people sleeping. One seems like a normal traveler, curled up in a bedroll under the stars. The other is in a very fancy, very neat tent. The traveler is exhausted, but the occupant of the tent is busy with his morning routine. It’s the Brianiac who was recently exiled from Thaumatown! Ori asks if he could have a word with the Brianiac. The Brainiac says he has a vocabulary of over 45,000 words. Which one does he want? Melvin approaches, and Brainiac recognizes him from the trouble in Thaumatown! He wakes up the other traveler in a panic! The man apologizes to Melvin. He is the previous owner of the statue, and it wouldn’t let him sleep. Now that he has passed it to Melvin, he can sleep again. He’s scared that Melvin will retaliate, so Melvin takes a calming posture, keeping his hands in view and staying a distance away from the man. Melvin wants to know how the man acquired the statue. He just woke up one morning and found it. He couldn’t get rid of it, and he couldn’t sleep. The statue told the man to give it to Melvin. It wants Melvin more, somehow. The man carried it for weeks, and he can finally sleep now that it’s gone. Melvin asks what the man will do now, and he shrugs.
Brianiac always knows what to do next! He has retreated to his tent and emerges with a strange metal capsule. He fires it at past the tired man, knocking him to the ground, and capturing Melvin! Nonporous containers are the only things that Rain can’t just ooze through. Ori flips out his claws and slashes the capsule to burst it, but it’s charged with electricity! Ori’s own energy is disrupted, making it difficult for him to control his physical components. Brainiac gloats. Ori may have more physical power, but that power is subject to the laws of science, so Brianiac always has the advantage! Brain over brawn! Ori recovers during the monologue and snatches Brainiac up for a forced chat. “We’re less trouble for you if we leave,” says Ori, “so it’s better if you just release Melvin.” Brainiac is impressed by Ori’s logic. From his many belts and pouches he produces two tools. One will turn off the electricity, and the other will open the capsule. Ori lets Brainiac down and he flees.
Ori releases Melvin and they continue on their journey towards the two volcanoes on the southern horizon. Melvin warns Ori that the cursed statue may make him a bad master.
At the foot of the two volcanoes, Ori and Melvin meet Fafnir and her Kobold servant Coco as they search for a route up to the peaks. Smoke rises from the eastern peak, but the western peak is dormant, so they head for the dormant volcano, since that seems safer. They recognize each other as fellow adventurers, kindred spirits. Fafnir says, “Since we aren’t fighting, we can be friends.” Ori thinks that’s a good idea, and does not anticipate violence. “Yeah, if there was, I would win!” says Fafnir. Introductions all around. Fafnir is amazing when Melvin demonstrates his shapeshifting. Coco is the brains, and Fafnir is social muscle. Ori asks Coco to be his master. Coco objects, saying “Fafnir is my master!” Ori realizes his mistake and addresses Fafnir, “You’re not hired social muscle. She’s hired brain muscle.” Ori asks Coco about her experience serving Fafnir. Coco does a lot of damage control. Ori decides to try serving Fafnir for a while.
Melvin says “This is my first time meeting a dragon. Do you like treasure?” He shows Fafnir the cursed statue, and she immediately jams it in her mouth. Melvin gets an awful headache, so Fafnir spits the statue out. it’s not so easy to be rid of the curse.
Fafnir flies up above the two volcanoes to look around. The smoke from the eastern peak smells like wood and garbage, not molten rock. The caldera of the western peak contains staircases spiraling down. Around the caldera are signs of an old camp. It’s a war camp. Decades old. It was abandoned, not destroyed. Its defenses point in towards the caldera, not out towards a threat coming from the mountain slopes. Very strange. Fafnir points out a route to her earthbound companions, and they all join her at the top and look around. There’s a memorial: 40 spear points stuck in the ground in neat rows, and a chunk of volcanic stone engraved with the name “Crusher”.
GM note: I apologized for delaying the game by flipping through pages of notes at this point, but my players were thrilled to learn that they were seeing the aftermath of a one-shot played by a group on the other side of the country.
The group wonders about sending Ori down the caldera to investigate further. Ori asks Fafnir, “Is that an order?” Ori is never in Despair when following orders. “Yes!” says Fafnir, and Ori goes. The two spiral staircases in the calera are old and haven’t been used for a long time. one of them is broken near the top. The bottom of the caldera is a thin layer of dirt and rubble over a perfectly smooth sphere of hard rock. The sphere is so big that it extends past the edges of the caldera. Fafnir and Melvin join Ori at the bottom to look around. This rock is not natural. Melvin figures it was created by magic, in a ritual that would have taken minutes or hours. Hard to do while besieged by an enemy army.
Coco has a couple of plans. Fafnir could dive bomb the rock sphere and try to break it, or they could investigate the other volcano. Ori worries that whatever they find might be hostile. Fafnir thinks getting in a fight would be fun. Ori worries that they might be powerful, but Fafnir would welcome powerful allies. Ori tries one more time to make her understand “OK, combine the two.”
Ori looks inside the caldera of the eastern peak.
The inner wall is covered with metal chimneys, pipes, and hatches. The smoke comes from these and from a smouldering pile of trash at the bottom. This is clearly artificial! Ori brings Melvin down into the caldera and they float into one of the large pipes. It slopes upward as it goes into the mountain, and at the top is a dumbwaiter. Apparently trash is loaded into the dumbwaiter, then sent up the shaft. At the top, the dumbwaiter tips over, and the trash slides down the chute and falls into the smouldering heap at the bottom of the caldera.
Ori and Melvin take the dumbwaiter down and emerge in a bustling industrial facility. There’s a whole city hidden underground! The inhabitants are Goblins: short, green-skinned humanoids. Those who spot the intruders are surprised, but not panicked. Outsiders aren’t unheard of. Ori and Melvin go back outside and tell the others. They take a different route inside. Melvin unlocks a maintenance hatch, so they can enter the city by a route intended for people. The tunnels are winding and branching, but the crew eventually reaches that same facility. It’s a waste management facility. Loads are brought in, valuables are sorted out, then the rest is either burned, dumped, or poured into a large stone pipe.
Ori floats out into the bustling street and says “Take me to your leader!” which causes quite a commotion! There’s an official-looking Goblin directing traffic who offers to navigate Goblin bureaucracy for the right price, if you know what I mean. A shady Goblin slips a card to Ori and says, “This is the real power!” The card has an address for a place called “Cloorick’s” Ori consults with the team to see which option to choose. Coco recommends bribing the official, but no one has much money, so they go find Cloorick’s. It’s an unfriendly looking building with no windows. The main entrance is a heavy metal door with one of those sliding slots like a speakeasy. Fafnir knocks, the slit opens, and a pair of bored, dismissive eyes peers out at her. Fafnir asks for access, but the doorman couldn’t be less impressed, and tells Fafnir how she’s uninteresting, weak, and unworthy. fafnir immediately smashes the door in!
A big metal hand reaches out from under the door and tosses it aside. The doorman is a Goblin wearing robotic arms attached to his real arms and a harness on his chest. he congratulates Fafnir on figuring out the test so quickly. Kicking in the door is the way to prove that you deserve to enter Cloorick’s Fight Club! The doorman’s name is Rabbish.
Players: The doorman is rabid? No, he’s rubbish. Rabbit? Radish? Not quite rad, only rad-ish.
GM note: Say your characters’ names out loud a few times before revealing them to players.
Rabbish explains that Cloorick teaches martial arts as a means of self-improvement. The crew wants to join and learn, but they have to earn their way in. Ori suggests that the crew has styles that the fight club hasn’t seen, and letting them join would give the club access to these new techniques. Rabbish is impressed enough to let them meet Cloorick. Cloorick is a Spider, not one of the giant arachnids, but the intelligent humanoid kind. He wears a Goblin Power Suit, modified for his multi-armed physique. He hears the crew’s pitch, and says that in order to join, they have to win one-on-one fights with some of his students. All FOUR of them have to win to be admitted. Coco has to fight too! Thinking quickly, Ori asks if Coco can wear her armored suit, like Cloorick. You see, Ori IS power armor.
GM note: For time, we had one four-on-four battle instead.
The circular arena has a raised platform in the middle, with half-walls to give some cover. The crew enters from the doors on one side, while Cloorick, Rabbish, and two Goblins with rifles enter from the other side. Cloorick leaps to the center platform. Ori engages Rabbish, parrying his big metal fist with his own metal blade-arms. The impact damages Ori’s blades, and Rabbish grabs him with his other hand and throws the robot across the arena. A gunner takes advantage and shoots Ori where he lands. Fafnir flies up and smashes into Cloorick, destroying part of the platform with the fury of their battle. Melvin rushes a gunner, transforming into Cloorick on the way. The gunner is shocked, and Melvin slams him into the wall, terrifying him out of the fight. Rabbish hits Ori again, and Melvin comes to his aid, distracting the enhanced goblin. Fafnir disengages from Cloorick, giving the remaining gunner a clear shot at her. Blammo! Ori rushes Rabbish, getting too close for Rabbish’s big metal arms to swing, and pummeling him all the way out of the arena into his own locker room. Cloorick leaps in and strikes Ori. Ori’s taking a real beating in this fight. Fafnir takes off and drops onto Cloorick, striking a lethal blow! The last gunner makes a show of throwing his gun aside and forfeiting the match.
The crew has prevailed! Rabbish is very impressed! Since Fafnir defeated Cloorick, she is the new leader of Fight Club! Cloorick had many apprentices, but none ever managed to defeat him. The crew stays to train at the Fight Club for a while and get much tougher. They all gain the Iron stat at +1.
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
Party: Fafnir the Dragon, Stella the Halfling, Buckle the Platyperson
The full moon will rise tonight, so it’s time for Platypalooza, the greatest celebration of Platyperson culture! A party boat heading upriver spots Buckle and invites him and his companions to join. They do, and the boat goes up the Mighty River and takes a tributary to the north to the Platyperson town of Bogden. Paulie, the former mobster, is also on the boat, but there’s no reason to fight anymore.
From the river, all that’s visible is the great dam of Bogden, which creates a large, flat marsh suitable for Playtpeople living. the waterfall prevents the party boat from advancing further, so everyone has to disembark and walk up the switchbacks to the top of the dam. Bogden is a village year-round, but Platypalooza temporarily makes it a vast city. Platypeople from all over the continent come here to celebrate, and people from other cultures also attend because it’s a great party. The permanent dwellings are off in the back. and most of the artificial marsh is a fairground, with booths, stages, games, and so on.
The leader of Bogden officially kicks off the festivities with an opening speech, but our crew realizes that he’s a tricky politician. Listening to his speech will damage their Sense, so they ignore him and explore the shops and stalls. Fafnir loves food and Buckle points out traditional Platyperson food. Lots of fried food. There are giant spider legs on skewers, competing hot sauce vendors shouting about the virtues of their special recipes, and so on. One booth has a challenge: eat a spicy seed pod. Only a few seeds are needed for a whole pot of hot sauce. Fafnir jumps at the chance, and since she’s immune to damage from fire and heat, she has no problem eating the spicy seeds! She gladly receives the cheers of onlookers and a sampler platter from the impressed vendor.
Stella finds Clara, a fellow Halfling running a booth. Clara sells pastries, which are a staple in Halfling culture, but an exotic treat to Platypeople. Clara is one of many Halflings who fled the Halfling homeland during the Giant War, a war against Giants. Part of the reason that Stella explores this continent is to find scattered Halflings and tell them the good news: It’s safe to return home. The war is over! The Halflings won by surrendering! Instead of fighting the physically superior Giants, Halflings let them settle in Halfing towns, then relentlessly pranked them until the giants got so annoyed that they fled! Clara is delighted to hear the news ,and starts a batch of celebratory peace cookies. Stella asks if Clara knows where other Halflings are. There’s usually one in every city. Clara mentions Sam, living in a walled city to the north. Stella and Clara say farewell with the old Halfling saying, “You always have a home.”
As the crew is moving through the crowd, looking for more fun, a large Platyperson roughly shoulders past Fafnir. Fafnir won’t stand for such ill-treatment. “I’m not stairs! You can’t just stomp over me!” The large Platyperson is The Champ! He says “I’m on my way to win the Fluming championship again. There’s still time for you to sign up. Meet me on the field and see how easily I can stomp over you!” It’s on now! Fafnir, Stella, and Buckle rush to sign up for the tournament. Fortunately, Buckle can explain the rules of the traditional Platyperson game to the Dragon and the Halfling. Silk, Gus, and Rose will cheer from the stands.
Each team has to take a log from the log pile, stand it upright at their base, and climb it. One point for reaching the top. One bonus point for flipping the log during the dismount, but failing the dismount costs one point. It’s a foul to clearly hit with another player, so don’t get caught! The field is flooded, since Platypeople are amphibious.
The first team that the crew faces in the preliminary round is three lumberjacks. The referee slaps his tail to begin the match, and everyone rushes for the log pile! Stella keeps the lumberjacks busy while Fafnir and Buckle grab a log. Fafnir is ready to climb the log, but Buckle can’t raise it himself. Fafnir switches with Stella so she can help raise the log. Once it’s up, Fafnir runs from the lumberjacks, spreads her wings, and flies to the top of the log! One point! A flippy dismount for a bonus point and it’s 2-0. Fafnir goes in to get another log, but the lumberjacks block her path out. She’s super-strong, so she picks up the log and flies over them, dropping the log to her teammates and continuing into the stands. Stella and Buckle raise the log, and Stella flies in to land on top. Foul! It’s illegal to score from out of bounds! The crew loses a point instead of gaining it. Next, Fafnir interferes with the lumberjacks and gets caught. She has to wear a penalty vest, restricting her movement. The vest is designed for Platypeople, so it’s especially awkward on her. She’s around the same size, but has more limbs, and in different positions. The field is reset, and when the refereee slaps his tail, Fafnir and all three lumberjacks rush for a log. Fafnir draws their attention by running in a figure-8. With all three focused on her, there’s no one left to score or prevent Stella and Buckle from scoring. Buckle is barely able to lift the log by himself, and Stella struggling upwards, barely slapping one hand on top. It counts! The crew wins and goes to the next round of the tournament!
Now that they have the hang of this, the crew is able to beat other opponents and reach the finals, against The Champ and his dangerous team! The match begins at sunset, and the stands are packed as most other events have wrapped up, and everyone wants to see the final showdown! Big lenses on towers around the arena catch the last light of sunset and focus a spotlight on the referee, as he announces the two teams and hypes up the crowd.
The Champ’s team is mean and effective. In addition to the Champ, widely known as the greatest individual player the game has ever know, there’s a Brawler, tough and strong; and a Hunter, who disappears under the shallow water to reappear at an inconvenient time. The crew huddles to discuss strategy before charging into battle.
At the tail slap, Stella and Fafnir rush for a log. Champ and Brawler get in their way, and Hunter silently slips under the water, disappearing. Stella insults Brawler’s mother as she tries to slip by, and he angrily slams her into the stack of logs. Obvious foul! The field is reset. At the tail slap, Champ heads right for Fafnir. Stella moves to intercept, but Champ dodges to the side and kicks her leg as he passes. Stella falls into the water and is face to face with Hunter, who strikes her again. No call from the ref. Meanwhile, Fafnir and Buckle try to keep Brawler away from the logs, but he wrestles one away from them. Stella gets in Champ’s face to keep him busy, and snatches something from his pockets while he’s distracting. It’s blackmail material on the referee! No wonder our crew aren’t getting the calls they deserve! Fafnir and Buckle steal Brawler’s log back. While the three are tussling near the stack of logs, Fafnir breathes fire, setting fire to the whole stack! Flaunting her immunity, she climbs on top of the flaming pyre and lies down. Brawler and Buckle fall into the fire and catch a light! Fafnir grabs Buckle and hurls him out to their goal, where the shallow water extinguishes his flames. She follows that up by hurling a flaming caber out to Buckle. Stella tries to set the log up for Buckle to climb, but Brawler is coming for her!
During this exciting match, the sun has set, and the full moon has risen. The cheers from the massed spectators turn into screams! People start running, and three large figures emerge. Three werewolves: one of the left, one of the right, one near Stella’s companions! Buckle looks closely and realizes that the bite of these monsters can turn its victims into more werewolves! He yells at the crwod to run! A werewolf slashes at Silk, knocking it out of the stands into the flooded playing field. This clears space around the werewolf, so Fafnir seizes the opportunity, hefting a flaming log, and throws it like a mighty javelin! It strikes the werewolf and carries it through the stands! Nothing left but a pile of flaming debris! Buckle assists Silk, and Stella engages one of the remaining werewolves to keep it away from civilians. It still has clothes and pockets, and she swipes a slingshot. Fafnir’s about to leap into battle, but the Champ is upon her. He yells, “You’ve ruined the game, and you’ve stolen my spotlight!” and throws a mighty punch. Fafnir catches the Champ’s fist in her claws and her face shines with the power of her conviction. She says, “You say you’re the hero of these people? Prove it! Save them from these creatures!” The Champ is stirred by her impassioned speech. He agrees, but after they beat these monsters, he wants to finish the game and beat Fafnir. the Champ strides towards the werewolf by Stella. The werewolf swings down with his massive paw. The Champ dodges the paw, which crashes into the benches. The champ steps on the paw, pinning the werewolf, and winds up a powerful blow to the jaw. These things don’t look so scary after that humiliation. Stella finishes that werewolf with its own slingshot. As the werewolf crumples to hte ground, it transforms back into the Platyperson that it used to be.
Was that all of them? Some people are hiding under benches. Other have fled the stadium and cowering in tents around the fairground. There’s a third werewolf that no one engaged! It left the stadium and is running for a tent full of helpless civilians! Fafnir flings herself into the air and hastily attacks form the air! This will be an awkward landing that leaves her in a bad position in front of rampaging, but she’ll land a mighty blow first. The blow is enough! They both crash to the ground, but only Fafnir gets back up. The werewolf also shrinks back into a human form as it dies.
All the stands and booths have hastily closed. Shopkeepers and partiers alike are fleeing the area. The Champ wants to continue the game, but Hunter disappeared in the chaos and hasn’t re-emerged. The referee declares that hte Champ’s team can’t continue and must forfeit! The Champ is going to tell the referee something, but notices that he no longer has the blackmail material! He’s lost the game, lost his leverage, and Fafnir outshone him in combat. His defeat is thorough! He stomps away, but his little webbed feet make funny slapping noises. The Mayor of Bogden hails out crew as heroes! they receive the prize money, and for saving the town, he tells them a secret: There’s a legendary magical site under extinct volcanoes to the south. The crew examines the blackmail material. Platypeople don’t use paper, since it would dissolve in water, so documents are written on wax tablets. These documents prove that the referee is actually a beaver with a false bill, not a Platyperson at all!
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
Party: Fafnir the Dragon, Stella the Halfling, Agnes the Harbinger, Buckle the Platyperson, and Rook the Remnant.
Fafnir spent the night sleeping under a porch after chasing a lanky black cat. The next morning, she happens upon the rest of the party as they are walking through the streets. “Good to see you, Dad,” she says to Buckle. She doesn’t know anything about the trouble last night, and just wants breakfast. The black cat is walking along with them and Agnes has a vision that this cat will save the world. A magenta Pomeranian appears and chases the black cat. As the party chases the two animals, a mobster named Billy appears to grab the Pomeranian. That’s not OK! These are our pets now! Agnes tries to wrest the dog away from Billy and he tosses her aside. Fafnir flies past at high speed and grabs the dog, but Billy punches her as she passes. Billy sees that it’s five against one and flees. Rook floats silently after him, hoping that he’ll go somewhere dark. If he does, Rook will make sure he never emerges. Since it’s morning, even the narrow alleys aren’t dark. Billy returns to the aquarium and goes inside. It’s dark in there, but Rook can’t enter without an invitation, so they returns to the rest of the party.
The magenta Pomeranian that the mobster was after is named Wallace. Agnes wants to know who owns this brightly colored pooch, so she holds its collar aloft. She sees through the eyes of the owner, swimming over kelp fields towards and underwater city, holding a large bag.
GM note: We had a lengthy discussion about the definition of ownership. Is Wallace a possession of its owner? What happens if Agnes holds a mobster aloft? Do pets own their toys and collars? We decided that living creatures are not possessions, but objects given to pets belong to their owners.
Agnes holds Wallace up to Buckle, who can speak to any beast and asks questions through her interpreter. Wallace lives in a house with other animals. He can’t read and is colorblind, so he can’t give an address or describe the place satisfactorily. Agnes asks if she is his favorite, and Wallace heartily agrees, licking her hands for emphasis. Agnes tries to overcome her grim demeanor and smile, but it’s hard. Wallace does remember the way home, so he leads the group there: an aquarium
Agnes uses sight beyond sight to look through the wall of the building and sees two figures: a human and a Platyperson. The team prepares to breach the building. Fafnir and Stella are on the roof, reaching it through flight and wall-crawling spider mount, respectively. Agnes, Buckle, and Wallace the magenta Pomeranian form up at the back door. Stella’s companions, Gus and Rose, cover the front door. Rook is ready to float to whichever area needs help.
Paulie, the Platyperson, bursts out of the back door. Fafnir leaps from the roof, grabs Paulie’s head on the way down, and smashes it into the boardwalk with all her weight behind it. Paulie’s still conscious. She gathers herself and lifts her head despite Fafnir’s efforts to keep her down. Paulie draws a nasty weapon, the limb bone of some large creature, with one end snapped off into splinters. She flails about, endangering everyone nearby. Rook approaches and uses his hypnotic voice to calm her so Buckle and Fafnir can get clear. Stella puts a pit trap in the boardwalk between Paulie and her friends.
Billy, the human mobster that fought the crew earlier today, makes a break for the front door. Gus and Rose try to hold him back. Gus is a cook, and forcibly Cinnamon Challenges Billy. While Billy is busy sputtering and coughing, Stella runs over to talk him down. Billy went after Wallace so aggressively because his whole life had been disrupted when the mob was betrayed by one of their own, their leader exiled, and their prized animals scattered. Billy was trying to reclaim the animals (like Wallace) to reclaim a semblance of the order his life used to have. Stella is sympathetic, but says that holding onto the past doesn’t work, and that Billy needs to act on what’s happening now, not what he wishes was still happening. Billy is really encouraged by these wise words.
Paulie is still mad and goes after Buckle, but falls into the pit trap, which drops her into the river. This just lets her escape, since Platypeople are excellent swimmers. Buckle dives in to pursue her, and has a heart to heart talk with her. She and Billy were trying to hold on to the mobster way of life after their headquarters was smashed up and their people scattered. Paulie (mechanically a “Beast Loner”) realizes that she doesn’t need to cling to this structure that doesn’t even exist anymore. She’s capable on her own. She swims off to make her own way in the world.
Things seem handled here in Port Fennrick, so the crew decides to head up the Mighty River. As they walk upriver, they meet a boat coming down river. It was attacked and is on river. Buckle uses Tail Slap to splash water over the burning boat and put it out. They ask how the boat caught fire, and the captain says that it certainly wasn’t a fire-breathing lizard. Those have been extinct for a hundred years! Fafnir fumes, literally. Agnes tells her to behave, or she’ll withhold Fafnir’s snacks. Fafnir’s Kobold companion Coco will feed Fafnir, so Agnes’ threat is blunted.
Further upriver, Stella’s riding spider (named Silk) bolts off the path after a bird. It’s the chrome songbird that Ori and Melvin released a while back. The chrome bird, (a Crow-m, perhaps?) sings a piercing note that resonates at the frequency of reality itself, and manifests a coiled spring underneath Silk, sending Silk flying into the air. Silk and Stella decide not to mess with this bird and return to the path. Rook is happy, because Songbirds were considered extinct. Nice to know a few are still around.
Further upriver, mysterious music floats through the air. “Do you hear that?” Agnes retorts, “I’m blind, not deaf!” Fafnir flies ahead to investigate and finds Slick (ex-pirate) playing a harmonica next to a campfire, with a traveller’s bindle nearby. This is what people do when they are sad and they have nowhere to go, right? Fafnir likes his music and asks to hear more. Slick is pleased and plays very fast. Fafnir is impressed. People would like to hear this music. You could be in show business. Slick is encouraged to hear this. He’s got a goal to aim for now. He thanks Fafnir and runs towards Port Fennrick at incredible speed to start a new life as an entertainer!
Further upriver, Agnes notices something sparkling on the riverbed. Fafnir hates water and won’t investigate. Agnes sends Wallace, but Wallace is unable to dislodge it from the riverbed. Agnes cuddles him and tells him he’s a good boy and tried his best. Agnes sends Snek down to investigate and discovers that it’s a hatch, mostly buried under mud. Snek has no hands and can’t open it. Agnes tells Buckle to go open it, but he puts his foot down and demands that he use his proper name. In the last day she’s called him “Beagle”, “Bickley”, and “Buckley”. His name is Buckle! With that settled, Buckle swims down to grab the valve. With remote assistance from Agnes, he pulls the valve open, revealing a tunnel beneath the river! Rook floats down into it and finds a hidden tunnel network. There’s a station nearby with a stairway concealed by a false rock. Fafnir pushes the rock aside from the top, and the crew heads down into the mysterious depths.
Chasing the Sunset is a West Marches-style exploration game using Fellowship 2nd Edition‘s Horizon rules.
She just hatched yesterday, from an ancient egg that Buckle found and incubated. She’s has four legs, wings, and is about the size of a Golden Retriever. She likes to strike from above with her sharp talons, but doesn’t always control her great power. Perhaps other eggs or dragons have survived. She’s traveling to find them. She heard that somewhere out there is a city made of gold.
Long ago, dragons ruled the world, but they were brought down by trickery and almost wiped out. They are vengeful, although not many survive to enact vengeance. Rumor has it that they are also very greedy.
He’s a Platyperson who has electrical senses to detect living creatures, venomous spurs, and the ability to breath underwater. Incubating eggs is normal for platypi, but it’s quite unusual for dragons to emerge from those eggs. He’s traveling for a reason that he has not shared with his companions. He heard about a underwater crystalline cathedral.
Platypeople keep to themselves & don’t interact with outsiders much. Their ‘cities’ (small compared to the cities of Elves or Orcs) can be underwater, on land, or both. There’s a great festival called Platypalooza scheduled for the next full moon. Platypeople have a reputation of being ignorant, backwater folk.
They is an incorporeal ghost, unable to touch or be touched by anything. They died near the end of the war against the dragons, but they remains. They remembers. They heard that somewhere out there is a temple with the power to restore the dragons.
Long ago, their people served the dragons, but they were all killed in the same war that killed the dragons. Rumor has it that dragon sympathizers like Rook remain because they were cursed by witches!
She’s a blind prophet, who has sight beyond sight. She riding a flying snake named Snek, who can shrink and coil around her neck like a scarf when flying is not needed. Agnes has a ring that lets her see through Snek’s eyes. She also has a vague sixth sense of things near her, so she won’t run into things, even without Snek’s help. She travels to find a legendary library of powerful magical tomes.
The blind prophets are nomads, and avoid each other, since multiple prophets close together cause magical interference, distorting the prophesies. When prophets dream, they are possessed by some magical force and recite or write prophesies. These prophesies come from several different sources. Rumor has it that the prophets are just high all the time, and their visions are drug-induced hallucinations.
This is not like Europe 500 years ago declaring that lands were unknown and uninhabited just because Europeans didn’t know about or didn’t live there. Our characters know that the world is bigger than what they’ve traveled or heard about. They are going past the limits of their experience, not to some undiscovered country. There will be people and nations out there. Our characters’ ignorance of those people does not invalidate them.
Agnes found a Fairy Ferry that runs across the sea to the land they will explore. This ferry is made of two enormous leaves. One forms the hull and another forms the deck. The stem of the hull curves up, providing an elevated platform like the bridge of a human ship. The ship is driven by two propeller shafts, one on each side of the ship. The propeller blades are shaped like giant maple seeds. The shafts run inside the hull and are connected to basically bicycles. Teams of fairies take shifts pedaling to propel the ship. Fairies are about a foot tall, extremely skinny and delicate humanoids. They fly on transparent insect wings. Their skin can be any pastel shade, and they favor flower names. They are nude, except for accessories, like Captain Periwinkle’s impressive tricorne hat. They have a constant glamour that makes it impossible for one to get a clear view of their bodies. They always seem obscured, un-detailed, PG-rated.
Buckle stands at the prow. He’d rather swim. Boats seem like big-city nonsense to him. Rook lurks at the entrance to the lower deck. They can’t enter without permission. Agnes & Fafnir are below. Fafnir is hungry and licks a bench. Maybe it’s salad. Fairies powering the screws change shifts. A fairy named Crocus notices Fafnir and yells at her, Agnes gets a glimpse of something strange in Crocus’s locker that he’s trying to conceal. Agnes convinces him to give Fafnir candy in exchange for taking a shift on the bicycle. He gets fruit & candy from the locker, revealing an evil charm. A large splinter of wood with a dried tentacle wrapped around it, secured with twine. Agnes takes a piece of fruit & uses it to look through Crocus’s eyes. He’s looking at he evil charm, muttering about “soon, close!”
Agnes goes above to gather the team & tell of the danger. Only now do Fafnir and Agnes notice that poor Rook was left outside in the rain. Rook sinks through the deck to stick their head into Crocus’s locker, but is spotted. Buckle’s electrical sense & Agnes’ ley lines detect something approaching from starboard, connected to the charm. They go to warn the captain. Periwinkle sends Rose, the burly first mate, to check on Crocus, who is running up to the deck to complain about Rook.
Just as Rose & Crocus meet, the Kraken emerges! Tentacles threaten the ship! Rook tries to distract a crushing tentacle. It works! The tentacle attacks them, but passes through them and smashes through the deck of the ship. Another tentacle grabs Rose. Fafnir runs to pin Crocus & hopefully take his charm. She was thinking of just killing him, but restrained herself. Crocus dodges & blasts her with fairy dust, damaging her Sense. Also, the charm is still in Crocus’s locker, not on his person. Since no one helped her, Rose is yanked overboard.
Agnes goes overboard somehow. Snek flies out to look for her. Buckle jumps into the water and asks the Kraken to please let them pass. The Kraken is surprised to hear someone speak to it, so it emerges to look at the situation more closely.
The Kraken’s squishy, bulbous head and giant yellow eye tower over the ship. One tentacle is still wrapped around one of the propellers. Snek picks up Agnes & Rose & carries them back to the ship. Fafnir flies up, drops onto the Kraken’s eye, and tears at it without restraint. Chunks of squid-flesh rain down on Buckle, who dives under the ship to safety. The ship can’t dodge & takes more damage. The Kraken submerges, leaving Fafnir in the water.
Under the boat in relative peace, Buckle notices farms and buildings on the sea floor. He swims down to seek help.
Agnes sends Snek to retrieve Fafnir from the water. Rook pretends to have Crocus’s charm. Crocus approaches, trying to get it back. Rook backs up to the edge of the ship, hoping that Crocus will fall overboard, but Crocus can also fly, so they both float past the edge of the ship.
The binding tentacle that no one dealt with snaps off the starboard propeller shaft.
The Kraken re-emerges on the port side of the boat. Fafnir does the same trick to score another hit, disabling the Kraken’s tentacles. She restrains herself and does not inflict collateral damage. The Kraken submerges & Fafnir is left in the water again.
Buckle swims into a cave in the sea floor from which light is shining. Inside, there’s a mer-person working metal over a volcanic vent. Buckle asks for help, but the smith demands something precious first. Buckle hands over a crocodile tooth, a trophy of a previous hunt. The smith starts planning how to turn it into an impressive necklace, but then remembers the business at hand and swims up to engage with his smithing hammer.
Fafnir swims over to the ferry and tries to climb aboard. Coco, Fafnir’s scheming Kobold minion, has planned for just such an occasion and helps Fafnir aboard.
Under the ferry, the mer-smith charges in, striking mighty blows with his hammer. Buckle is going to use the distraction to strike with his venomous spurs, but the Kraken attacks with its beak. The smith is caught in the terrible jaws and drops his hammer.
Agnes manipulates the ley lines to open a path to a closed space: the inside of Crocus’ locker. She grabs the charm and destroys it with her runeblade. The Kraken convulses as the blow is struck, and sinks limply to the sea floor below.
Buckle takes a trophy from the Kraken as it sinks. The smith claims the carcass as salvage, since it fell on his fields. Even with half its propellers gone, the ferry is able to limp to port under the expert guidance of Captain Periwinkle.
Port Intrepid is built on stilts in a marshy river delta. Folks move around in town either by boat or on boardwalks. A platform overlooking the bustling dock has three important features:
The party heals. Fafnir and Buckle level up. Fafnir teaches Agnes the “Dragoon” move that was so effective against the Kraken. Buckle gains another animal trait and teaches Fafnir how to use electro-sense.
Thus ends the first session of Chasing the Sunset. Next time, a different group of characters will have different adventures.