Irish Knights Game 1 Part 1

Welcome

So, here we are starting the new storyline… The Irish Knights make sure you’ve read last weeks post introducing the characters HERE. Just a short primer, the Manhattan knights are on a break for a while (and as I write this post, we are actually coming back to them in the next gaming session). This game picks up hours after the first Manhattan Knights game with a band of storm knights getting sent to Ireland.

The Set Up

We start this game on the same note we started the previous, with a bunch of storm knights sitting around a conference table deep inside a Quonset hut on the shore of Greenland. Sebastian Quinn is delivering a speech, he is currently in negotiations with the government of Iceland, as he wishes to move the base from Greenland to there. At least the bulk of it. To that end he has heard that the forces of Ulthorion, dark highlord of Aysle has amassed a navy in North Ireland. The only place free of the high lord’s rule within striking distance is Iceland, as the smaller isles are already his.

The rumors are given weight by the sheer number of dragonboats that have been following the coasts of Ireland, demanding tribute in men or timber. Once these boats are full, they head back north. Interestingly, they have also been grabbing up core earth ships as well. Small yachts and sailboats, they rope them off and tug them back to north Ireland. Quinn believes that the raiders are counting on these stolen ships being affected by the cosm and changing into boats they are more familiar with.

Act 1: Spy Games:

Quinn is dispatching five storm knights to the town of Sligo on the west coast of Ireland. They consist of three core earthers and two people from Aysle:

Fairuza is a Pakistani woman who survived the horrors of Orrosh and discovered a talent for alchemy while battling in Kolkata.

Alex is a Russian woman whose girlfriend is one of the Oracles of the Delphi, psychics who can predict the future. She’s a tough woman who prefers to let her auto-shotgun do her talking.

Davey Smith is an English body-builder and realm runner who is new to all of this but he really wants to help. He has a penchant for using his body as a shield.

Ash is an elf with a dark past who worked with the High Lord and thus has an understanding of his troops and methods. He knows the enemy and despises them.

Ragnall is an old cleric, a healer and priest of the Light. Despite being a curmudgeonly old bastard, he is still a righteous warrior.

These five are traveling to Sligo, a city that straddles the line between Earth and Aysle. A literal line cuts the city in half, everything west of the line is still core earth and everything east is Aysle. Alex and Fairuza will be staying in Sligo to see if they can track down a path to a Stelae and also to deal with the strangeness of the city. The rest of the group will be booking further passage across the bay and then up river to Donegal.

Donegal:

Leaving Sligo behind the Irish Knights take the river up to Donegal and are finally completely within Aysle. There are almost no change storms on this side of Ireland, the transition is smooth. The change over to Aysle has been kind to Donegal, the ancient castle that gives the town its name has been restored above and beyond its original form. A clash of late medieval and pure fantasy has restored the castle and even placed a curtain wall around the core of the city.

Most of the houses are a clash of Tudor style buildings and early Anglo-Saxon thatched houses on the out skirts of the city. The bulk of the city is on the south eastern side of the river, but their destination is to the north of the river. Donegal has a Delphi House, matter of fact it is one of 6 such houses in Ireland, and they have a master to call upon.

Argo the Magister:

The House is across the river, the Irish Knights end up cutting through the core of Donegal, turning north they cross the river on a small wooden bridge, barley wide enough to allow two cars to cross. The trio are fairly certain this is still a core earth bridge despite its quaint lines and measure. The road turns toward the east but a separate path of cobbles lead northwest, and taking this road the Irish Knights come to Donegal House.

The House is a Tudor manor with a slate roof, trailing ivy on the walls and well-maintained lands that includes several acres of orchard. A well-dressed man-servant opens the door before they have a chance to ring the bell. With a bow he correctly guesses their names, or I should say he correctly guesses which names belong to which face, and then leads them into the house.

Everything is rich wood and almost museum-like displays are in very nook and cranny. The butler opens a door into a large library, offers to bring them tea and food, and then announces them to the only person within the room, Argo.

Argo is an elf who is exceptionally dressed, he looks like Charles II walked out of history, from the long-curled hair to the very fine clothing. This man is one of refined tastes and habits, who has never done a day of labor in his life. Yet, there is a strength about him and there are a fair number of weapons mixed amongst the books, leather backed chairs, and whiskey decanters.

Rumors made True:

Argo gestures for his visitors to sit in several chairs arrayed around a low table. They exchange greetings and pleasantries, and then he gets to business. He offers them liquor, Davey and Ash decline, but Ragnall takes the whole decanter. Argo places a hand drawn map of the area on the low table and pulling a long, thin dagger from his back he uses it as a pointer to lay out all of the information he currently.

He has charted the sightings of the longboats and the numbers of people either stolen or seduced away.

Ragnall: “Seduced?”

Argo: “Yes, men have come down the highways and come into town and asked for skilled tradesmen, offering them land shares and good wages to move to their city. Instead of forced, slaved labor, Ulthorion’s men are using a softer handed approach. Many have taken the offer and moved their entire families to the north.”

Argo finishes his glass of whiskey and then turns the cup over placing the wet rim on the map and then removing it… a circle surrounds the city of Londonderry.

The details:

Argo: “I believe that the raiders are condensing their forces here, and that they are building a fleet with the only possible target being Iceland.”

Ash: “Other than the name of this city we already have all of this information from Quinn.”

Argo, slightly perturbed, suddenly smiles: “Well that saves me time repeating myself, glad that Quinn actually reads reports. Well then, welcome to my house. Your mission will be a simple one. Go to Londonderry, observe and count, then come back here and we’ll plan further. Simple, easy.”

Best Laid Plans…

The Irish Knights look at one another, they haven’t really worked together before, only been together for the week of travel from Greenland to Sligo, and then to Donegal. A simple plan. [out of character, at the table, my players cackled madly… merely travel and observe and come back. No chance they wouldn’t start trouble somewhere along the way.]

The meeting ends suddenly. Step one, Daveyboy decides that he wants to change from core earth clothes to more Aysle appropriate. They then spend the rest of the day moving around Donegal and even meet the Baron in the castle, introducing themselves as storm knights come to fight for the city. Most of the city is Aysle but there are still bits of core earth that are slowly changing to the cosm. There is some talk among the people that they expect that the Queen is coming back. Ash is a little surprised that the people don’t know that the Queen is alive and well and working against Ulthorion. They quickly realize that this part of Aysle is “out in the sticks,” far away from real news or information. While Ulthorion currently rules most of Aysle he has no presence in this town, none of his soldiers police the city and while the Baron claims that he follows all the laws of the land (thus he should be serving Ulthorion) he shows allegiance to the Queen.

On Mission.

Having spent enough time getting used to their home base, the knights decide to immediately set out on their spy mission. The trio leave Donegal through the main gate and take the highway. The road is struggling to remain a mix between modern asphalt and Roman cobbles. The land around the wall is well cultivated with farm stead well spread out but still in sight of the walls and each other.

After an hour of walking down the road, Ragnall, the least observant of the group, pauses and points at a large group of extremely poorly hidden people on either side of the road. Legs and arms sticking out of brush and one guy who keeps poking his head up over a rock.

Ragnall: “Do you think a bunch of F@%$*$G idiots are going to waylay us?”

The bandits leap out at his words, screaming a bunch of mostly incomprehensible phrases, the only one that is clear at all is “Stand and Deliver!” Ten men armed with knives and short bows stand screeching and screaming.

Lethal Response:

Ash leaps forward without a word, his longsword ripping out of the scabbard the only sound of his attack. In a flash he kills three men with a single sweep of his blade. Davey follows his lead and lumbers at a slightly slower rate into the men on the other side of the road. Being a large wrestler, he grabs two men and smashes their heads together, they drop like ragdolls

Ragnall cackles: “You stupid F****** C**** you’ll burn in Hell for attacking my Holy F****** person. I’ll P*** on your graves!” [did I mention that Ragnall is very foul-mouthed? This taunt is actually a social attack in the game of TORG, I have brought them up in the Manhattan Knight series, but usually these interaction attacks are handled using Sasha’s telekinesis to trick creatures. In this case, Ragnall has scared these guys, those that are still alive.]

The last five brigands flee, Davey shoots one in the ass with his pistol and Ash uses magic to propel an arrow through another and into the ass of a third. They limp off into the woods and the trio let them flee.

Ash: “Hey, this guy had magic boots! They fit.”

From Foul to Pious:

With their blood flowing from the warm-up fight and with Ash enjoying his new boots, they start to walk further up the road. Ragnall yells out, they have to treat the bodies with respect. He drags them to the side of the road and starts to cover them with moss and rocks. Davey joins in and Ragnall drops back to say his version of last rites over the men.

Londonderry is over 80 kilometers away, so they push on trying to get as far as possible on the first day. With Ragnall their pace is rather slow and they guess it will be at least three days to cover the distance.

They manage to cover a full 20 kilometers before they stop for the night. Off the road they spy some crags and what appears top be natural standing stones. They decide to make camp in the brush near these stones, the swell of the crags will block them from being noticed from the road and give them cover for a fire.

Caerns and Wraiths:

Lulled by the quiet beauty of the countryside and lack of challenge the trio sleep. Ash is awakened when the scar across his face burns with cold. Shadowy shapes surround the camp and one of them is among them, a tall creature of flowing cloaks and bits of armor, it is a wraith and it holds a black bladed sword in both hands, poised to stab downward into the sleeping Ragnall.

Ash screams, and triggering his magic he opens a small portal at his side, the other end of this portal opens up behind the wraith. Without getting up from his bedroll, Ash stabs his own blade through the portal and into the wraith. Despite its flowing, incorporeal nature the sword bites deep and with a shriek the wraith discorporates, only the blade in its hands remains behind. Dropped into the ground a mere inch to the side of Ragnall’s head.

Fight for their Lives!

Ragnall rolls away from the blade in the ground and prays for protection, he is rewarded with the strength of the Light, a numbus of light surrounding his monk’s robes. Davey comes up from his blankets swinging a machete and his blade meets no resistance as it passes through a wraith. The wraith stabs back and is surprised when it meets a stab vest underneath Davey’s tunic.

Two more wraiths remain, one attacks Ragnall with a touch and the old priest staggers back as a bunch of lives flash before his eyes, they are all the people the creature has ever fed upon. The other wraith attacks Ash, but the elf ducks below the strike and maneuvers to a position where he can attack both the wraith on Davey and the one that just attacked him. His sword strikes both but has no effect. Things are looking dire after the stunning death of the first wraith. Davey strikes again, also no effect, and Ragnall turns away from the visions of the dead and prayers again. Blessing all of them with renewed strength and vigor.

A wraith screams at Ragnall, “You’re too old to even make a snack.” And the priest is shaken by these words.

Slowly turning back to the favor of the characters:

Ash, feeling the strength flowing thru him from Ragnall’s prayer focuses his attack and jams his blade directly into the wraith. This time it hits something and the creature screams, but it is not killed. [game one aysle, day 95 on the timeline, Ash drops a 64 to hit!! Davey drops a glory card!]. GLORY card played.

Power floods into the whole of north Ireland as possibility energy surges. The storm knights rally to this power, but these wraiths also seem to feed off of it. It’s a pyrrhic victory.

Davey strikes a wraith and hits as well, his machete tearing ghostly cloth from the creature. The trio then move to stand side by side as Ragnall slams his staff into the ground and starts to summon lightning. The wraiths claw at the heroes but their hands are ineffectual against the heroes. Ragnall unleashes his bolt of lightning and one of the wraiths is blown to tatters.

Ash jumps in and finishes off the undead creature and it discorporates with a sigh, its blade shatters to ashes.

The Irish Knights lose ground:

The groups exchange a flurry of blows back and forth, claws and swords striking both sides mostly to no effect. Until finally one creature gets its hands on Ragnall and drains him of possibility energy, the old man staggers back and in his weakened state the wraith strikes him down with its sword. The old man bounces off the ground and doesn’t get back up.

Davey, enraged at his fallen companion, lunges into the middle of the creatures and takes wounds of his own as he bashes about with his machete. On the ground Ragnall is not dead, merely wounded and he heals himself with another prayer, he tries to find a way to turn the tide further in their favor. But so far playing dead seems to be the most effective. Davey and Ash fight with supreme anger and eventually Ash manages to drop another of the wraiths.

The finish:

With only one wraith left the backslide ends and the heroes once again start to ascend. The trio all pile on the last wraith and eventually beat it into the ground. When all is done the only sign of the struggle is the heroes shredded bodies and the single black blade standing in the ground.

Ash claims the blade, feeling the raw power within it. Ragnall heals Davey and then looking around the area they see that one of the “natural” standing stones now has a small cave opening within it. They had made their camp within a circle of burial caerns.

End of Part 1

So, this is NOT the end of ACT 1 Game 1, next week I’ll bring you the other half of the session. Are my players foolish enough to go into the caern? (do you really need to ask that? Not if you’ve read all the previous posts!)