The Rebellion Arc - 04: Kusseth City

In which a theft, a reunion, and a fireworks festival occur in the largest city in The Known World.

5th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group entered Kusseth City and Xein immediately made every reasonable attempt possible to get rid of the presence of his time in the clink, even going so far as to get fresh clothes, see a doctor, and waste large amounts of marks on reasonably good quality food. Kethranmeer expressed a desire to see his maker, but had no idea where he lived. The group needed to resupply and Kethranmeer led them around the city to various establishments while also heading in the general direction of a friend, and warden, named Traith Harris. 

Before tracking down Traith the group attempted to find a bank of some kind in the hopes that they could cash the bank notes that they found in the brigand fortress. They found and were logged by bounty hunters at KGoB Branch 76345 and set up accounts in the bank and were paid for their bank notes. After leaving the bank the group did more shopping, John and Xein had the good fortune to stumble upon a mechanics shop and were able to peruse some high tech equipment, John finally purchasing an early model steam rifle and using the mecahnist's facilities to craft some homemade explosive rounds. 

With their shopping done, the group made their way to the 37th district of Kusseth City and Kethranmeer, in his frustration, assaulted the door of a station house. With no response from the station, Kethranmeer led the group east to the 39th district and made a scene in front of an apartment building and finally roused Traith from his home. As Traith, a sickly looking human of probably sixty years of age, began speaking with his old friend a series of gunshots rang out nearby. Traith, irritated by the prospect of work in his off time deputized the group and sent them to investigate after memorizing their citizenry numbers. The group discovered that a trio of karthak had assaulted two junior wardens and were in the process of eating them, the group intervened, killed the canines, and reported back to Traith. Traith used a telegraph and notified A'lst that the group was en route and then sent them on their way.

On their way to the 295th district the group ran into a group of bards and everyone remained fairly civil while the bards extorted marks from the group. After that it was a quick walk to A'lst's warehouse, which was fairly robust in nature and filled with a delightful amount of electrical equipment. A'lst paid everyone a ridiculous sum for escorting his friend home and even gifted Xein with a motorized battery that would run his fancy new sword electrically, rather than kinetically. A'lst expressed a desire to catch up with Kethranmeer and make some repairs on his friend's fairly abused body and the group was open to this, agreeing to return in one week's time to pick up their friend. Kethranmeer said goodbye to the group, D'Alton in particular, and they left. 

On their way to an inn called the Waltzing Warhorse the group heard a young girl crying down an alley and moved to investigate. Gidaeon's immense insight into the behavior and attitudes of humans made him suspicious of the girl's false sounding sniffles. Derf, without any sort of investigation, began throwing rocks at her while Manwathiel scaled the side of a building and discovered a dozen members of a youth gang perched above the cul-de-sac waiting for the unwary to "help" their lure. Manwathiel returned to her companions and everyone agreed that they girl deserved to be raped and that they were going to leave. 

Prior to entering the Waltzing Warhorse, the group encountered a somewhat smug looking soldier in the grey of Kusseth's infantry and were handed a message from their friend and ally Reginald E.C. Walthuler that detailed an account of his travels in the Whurent mountains. Upon entering the inn itself the group was accosted by a slightly bumbling (and malformed) thief. The theft of coin was discovered before the brigand could get away and the group chased him up a flight of stairs and murdered him hardcore, rather than dragging him to a warden or reporting him to one. Following that, the group was charged a ridiculous fee for rooms for the next five days to compensate the owner of the Waltzing Warhorse for damages done to the premises. The group spent the next four days holed up in their rooms together doing nothing. 

14th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Kussethian Independence Day. Kethranmeer observed the holiday with A'lst, everyone else stayed holed up in their rooms at the Waltzing Warhorse, which is unfortunate because Kusseth puts on a pretty good fireworks show. 

15th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Group returned to A'lst's warehouse and Kethranmeer, now new and improved and all shined up, rejoined them. After they left the premises of the Waltzing Warhorse, the owner of the inn lodged a complaint with a local warden and charges of murder and destruction of a business' property were added to the data associated with the citizenry numbers of the group (but not Kethranmeer, because he wasn't there). While wandering the city the group encountered Senior Warden Traith Harris and he told them that he was unaware of their involvement with the Beltan prison break and when he reported their presence in his reports an alert was wired to him by the analytical engines of Kusseth's lawmen and he was tasked with bringing them in. He mentioned that bards play nicer when Jack was out and about and that they were friends of Kethranmeer, so he was inclined to give them a head start to escape the city and his jurisdiction. Everyone procured horses and they left Kusseth City. As they were leaving Kusseth, D'alton stole two horses so that everyone had a horse to ride south, except Kethranmeer. The group rode south with no particular direction in mind, but they followed the highway that led directly to Tolon and crossed the River Nantul. In the evening they took their rest at a traveler's roost and waited for Kethranmeer to catch up. Xein and John attempted to one up each other in terms of pranks, but they were both too perceptive to be tricked by the other one's antics. John took the first watch and heard a rumble of thunder to the east. 

Edit After The Fact: I've mentioned logging numbers and such previous to this breakdown of a scenario. For those of you not aware, Kusseth tattoos a ten digit alpha numeric identification number on each of its legal citizens. This code is used to track the actions of most citizens. Most wards in a Kussethian city have only a few routes to enter or exit, so most citizens are logged in their travels around a city by guards and wardens and such. The code has rules and guidelines in my notes somewhere, but basically uses the citizen's race and social class and background and such to identify them and track their movements. The usefulness of this means of tracking is somewhat debatable, but keeping track of all the numbers and storing data on analytical engines creates jobs in the bureaucracy of Kusseth's Wards of Government. I try not to think about Kusseth's government and economy too much, it leads to stroking out.

The Rebellion Arc - 03: To Kusseth City We Go

In which underground curiosities are discovered and brigands are lit afire and buried alive.

2nd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group woke up and exited the Cavorting Colt and approached the Kemmel foundry. The group met with an Elduman official from the Kemmel foundry and agreed to seek out an ore transport that has possibly suffered road troubles somewhere between Kusseth City and Kemmel, the group was paid 300 marks to investigate and was promised double that when the foundry received confirmation of the wagon's condition and location. The Group stated that they had intended to travel to Kusseth anyways. Over the course of the day the group encountered no wagons, but found a traveler's roost around nightfall. In the roost, they encountered a warrior named Nakmander, last knight of Meroteth who was disgusted at the half-breedness of Xein and D'Alton, he instructed them to seek Meroteth if they had any pride or desire to learn of their true heritage. Nakmander also gave them a decidedly fell bracelet of black iron that glowed green intermittently.

3rd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The night passed peacefully, except for John throwing a few bullets in the fire to wake up Xein. The group arose early in the day, setting out for travel almost immediately. Around noon they heard a cannon being fired off up ahead and saw an indistinct shape on the side of the road up ahead. The wagon turns out to be the wagon they're looking for. The group joins the mine representative Ensel, and the four brothers of the house of Ethel and defend the wagon from an onslaught of Dwenoren that had marooned the wagon with tunnels and explosives. After the battle they are paid and the wagon heads off to Ensel, the group find its way to a traveler's roost and sleeps overnight. Xein creates a clever system of pulleys and ropes that leaves John hanging from the ceiling during the night. It is unpleasant. Kethranmeer stands guard. 

4th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

After another day of travel, the group reaches a traveler's roost after dusk. After a brief discussion they agreed that based on the ability of them all to see pretty well in that dark they decided they should rest for the next twenty-four hours and begin their travels anew at night to avoid the draining heat of the day. They discover that the roost they have taken refuge in is in much better shape than the previous two they stayed at. While moving around and arranging his gear Derf trips over a disengaged tripwire and smacks his face against the stone floor, discovering that part of the floor is actually a wooden board with fake bricks glued to it that conceals a secret shaft cut into the earth. In an attempt to overcome his claustrophobia, Kethranmeer follows the group below. Further investigation reveals that there is a Dwenoren sized complex hidden beneath the roost, somewhat excavated to allow for taller folks to enter it with slight discomfort. The group finds a mix of extremely sturdy Dwenoren construction and shoddily done layman work within the complex, they also find traps and tripwires, many of which are disengaged and no danger. While investigating a mess hall they come across a patrol of Uncout brigands that appeared to be guarding the place, the guards were extremely surprised to find the group in their home and blood was shed. The group finds the end of the hole and finds a loot closet, only managing to open it when Xein cuts it open with his torch, setting off an explosive fire trap in the confines of the small tunnel. As they leave the area and pass an open door they hear the sounds of voices expressing concern about what the Hell happened down here and who killed the guys who were left to guard the place. The group successfully sneaks past the first group of brigands, but immediately finds another in front of them. Xein and Manwathiel jury rig a trap from the remains of the one they set off and some matches and pitch to slow down anyone who follows them, then Derf runs out into the mob of bandits in front of them foaming at the mouth and bellowing like a moose or something. The rest of the group sidles into the room while the bandits are distracted and gets the jump on them. The sounds of battle draw the attention of the first group of bandits, but as they move to investigate they detonate the trap set for them by Xein and Manwathiel. When the battle finishes, Derf and Kethranmeer hold the door closed against the pounding of the brigands behind it and Xein welds it shut. The group safely exits the secret dungeon beneath the roost, but once again they hear voices nearby. They decide to wander outside and face their foes and engage in their most epic battle yet, Kethranmeer and D'Alton very nearly meeting their ends at the hands of their foes. Once they vanquish them they find a key to the loot closet they were forced to cut open earlier. With no more bodies in need of bloodletting before them, the group heaves the bodies down the shaft and closes it up. They continue their twenty-four hour rest period.

5th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group awakes after nightfall and continues on their travels. Before they get out of eyesight of the roost, a dirigible comes swinging low out of the sky towards them, trailing a rope and steam. Out of the cloud of steam belching from the airship a man swings down off of the rope, he bears a heavy satchel and states that he's an agent of Walthuler and hands D'Alton a rolled up scroll from that gentleman of the same name. D'Alton reads an account of Walthuler's travels in Whurent and the group continues on towards Kusseth City, eventually reaching the outskirts of the shanty town around it. They discover that there is construction on the walls and wardens are making patrols through the shanty town, which indicates that new wards will be built for the first time in two hundred years. They ignore the vendors, bums, and pickpockets and approach the gate. They're only forced to wait for a half an hour, and get to see an unlicensed Fell Human try to enter the city. After being logged by the guards they enter the mighty bastion of law and corruption that is Kusseth City. 

Edit After The Fact: It is at this point that we gain Fred and his wife as players.

What I Was Trying To Do

Lately I've been getting nostalgic for The Rebellion Arc, that poor battered campaign that I started writing for 3.5, played with 4e, and switched midway through to Pathfinder while altering background material with each system change. That poor abused campaign where one scenario Derf was a dwarf fighter and the next he was a blind Dwenoren fighter that "saw" things with his sensory spines, and then a few scenarios later he was Derf the Elduman Descended Uncout swordmage and finally Derf the battle sorcerer. I miss that campaign sometimes. I miss those characters.

Anywhosen. So the plot of The Rebellion Arc can be summed up pretty easily. "We busted out of prison, wandered around aimlessly, got into trouble for stealing from a guy, ended up working for him and helping him achieve power to pay him back instead of just giving him the money, then at the last second realized he wasn't such a nice guy and tried to kill him for doing what he told us all along he was going to do."

I call the campaign The Rebellion Arc because while kind of tossing around ideas about what the guys and girl wanted to do, they kind of settled on joining up with a rebellion and Jeremy wanted to successfully pull off the heist his character D'alton had been put away for, which I said I'd do only if he promised to yell, "Where's the van? Where's the fucking van!?"  (Dane Cook anyone?) and he promised he would. So I came up with a few rebellion ideas (Glenwighta/The Fell Peaks, Fell Humans of Hell/Kusseth, Soulless/The Fallen Empire of Man, Laram of Volungshemle/Cenn the Reaver, I think I had one or two more and have forgotten them) and told them about one or two and gave them opportunities to get involved with the others if they picked up the hooks.

The first couple scenarios were really about teaching everyone about 4e and also doing low level stuff to get cash and kind of figure out what the group dynamic was about and kind of about teaching the people with no P&P RPG experience some of the aspects of pen and paper gaming. It was also in part trying to figure out what this taloned and spiky monstrosity of a Soulless was all about. Most assumed he was stupid because he kind of spoke in the third person, if he spoke at all. Later they discovered this was a mannerism of his native tongue, Thoeleknair, and the third person aspect of it was due to the race that spoke it being blind and it being considered rude to not announce who you were before jumping into a sentence.

The first big event was a ghost town that looked like it had been boarded up in preparation for a zombie attack, which is what the group assumed. Nope. Just some Fell Human sorcerers trying to rain fire from the sky down on a Kusseth border town which was totally and completely unrelated to anything else that was going to happen in the campaign. The next big event was in Hell, where the heist took place. They robbed a bank and things went sour and they got involved with Nakmander and began working for him and his rebellion to secure Hell and grow his power so he could strike at Kusseth and free his people and city from its tyranny once and for all.

So they did some stuff for Nakmander. Killed some drunk Fell Human teenagers to cement the alliance with Glenwighta rebels in The Fell Peaks, kidnapped a reaver, rigged an election and put a patsy into power (that was eventually deposed and killed when Nakmander successfully rebelled), fought a dragon, lied to lawmen, started a business, got dysentery, and one or two other things that I cannot recall at this moment. Then the campaign reached the final scenario and they turned traitor and decided to put Nakmander down when they realized he was actually going to destroy Kusseth City with fiery rocks pulled from the sky with sorcery.

The plot of the campaign was fairly basic, oppressed people are oppressed and want freedom, the PCs help obtain that freedom but realize the oppressed people are going too far and decide to fight against them. It wasn't a particularly complex campaign plot and it didn't involve much more than busting heads for the most part. The scenario where they fixed the election was probably the most complicated, and there was minimal combat in that one and at most it involved a few skill checks and the majority was role-playing or planning things out.

I wasn't really trying to do anything unique with the plot. I was experimenting a little bit with sandbox style adventures. Once they settled into working for Nakmander, the sandbox aspect kind of disappeared and turned into a more conventional your quest giver has a mission for you and you go do it kind of campaign. I still think I was able to primarily keep the railroading minimal or nonexistent. They certainly had free reign to do whatever they wanted in the fix the election scenario. I'm not saying they could just ride the train right off the rails during the campaign, but I think I did ok. No one complained about the restrictive nature of the scenarios at least.

I recently had a discussion with Jeremy about what I was trying to do with The Rebellion Arc. I wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel or anything and I certainly wasn't trying to do a save the world style campaign. There were a couple of things I was kind of trying to do though. Not any really super strong clear intent, but I was kind of designing the campaign around a few concepts. I'd been doing a lot of reading and such on the topic of GMing and becoming a better GM so I was kind of trying to depart from previous excursions into world building and campaign construction and such.

One of the main things I was kind of trying to develop was a world that was constantly in motion and didn't just sit around and wait for the players to arrive on scene before things started happening. A lot of times in the past, I built a world and set things up to happen, but then those things kind of hung around waiting for the players to show up to view them or take part in them or to prevent them from happening. With The Rebellion Arc, I kind of set several plots into motion and then just let them roll along to their conclusion whether the PCs were there to watch or take part or not. Now, the players are still the players and the story is still primarily about them, so when they do decide to get involved in things, those things accelerate. Basically, stuff happens on a timeline whether the players are taking part in it or not, but if the players do take part in something they accelerate it. 

So, when the players sat down with Nakmander and joined up with his organization, things started progressing more quickly. Meanwhile, the other rebellion ideas I had set up moved along as well, and some even got involved with Nakmander's rebellion. If the players had peaced out on Nakmander and taken a more active interest in the Rankethlek, Nakmander's rebellion would have slogged along at a slower pace and probably been a lot more costly for him in terms of casualties, while the Rankethlek would have scooted ahead with things and begun fighting Fallen directly, rather than building Steeltown and ignoring the Fallen. It would also have made The Psychogenic Fugue Arc an impossibility.

The other thing that I wanted to do was show that actions have consequences. For instance, D'alton's heist. The group assumed that the bank D'alton had originally tried to rob would be under the same ownership eight years later. They didn't investigate who had an interest in it or anything of that nature. The bank had changed hands, originally being owned by some shady individuals, but when Nakmander started kicking off his rebellion, his first action was to kick mobs and such out of the city. So when the mob using the bank got booted out of Hell, Nakmander took it over. This led to the players getting involved with Nakmander. Additionally, all the faceless mooks and thugs they killed over the course of the campaign had family, they had friends. Just because you drop some 1 hit point minion, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have friends or family that won't be upset. So I crafted the Mysterious Enemies. I based those enemies on some of the more malicious things the group did. One of the guys they hit with a grenade and trapped behind a wolf-iron door that they welded shut. The teenage Fell Humans that were partying in The Fell Peaks that they killed because the Glenwighta told them to. One was the mother of a Kusseth greycoat they got killed for extorting arms suppliers. The brother of their patsy in the election. There were other mysterious enemies, and I had planned for them all to interact with the players during The Psychogenic Fugue Arc. 

I guess the Psychogenic Fugue Arc is the best example to use to show how actions have consequences. The players backed Nakmander and helped build up his power base. When they turned on him and "slew" him, he became obsessed with them. Without that obsession, he probably wouldn't have built himself a clone army of The Robust Five and now be using it to try and conquer The South, and Meroteth might have been reconquered by Kusseth or reabsorbed into The Fell Peaks.

The Rebellion Arc wasn't about morality. The players were thieves and vandals and killed kids and bystanders without so much as blinking. Which is fine. I don't believe in black and white morality for the same reasons I think two word alignments are stupid. It's meaningless. Hekinoe is a world where morality is gray and there are only really shades of more gray. To the Fell Human population of Hell/Meroteth, Nakmander is a shining paragon of Chaotic Good fighting against an oppressive establishment for the freedom of his people from a tyrannical dictatorship. To the average Kusseth citizen, he is a black hearted Chaotic Evil sorcerer that might as well be bathing in the blood of infants after eating their hearts.

Don't get me wrong, some things are bad, period. Rape, pedophilia, etc. But lets look at the bigotry of most average folks of The Known World in regards to sorcery. Sorcerers in most places in The Known World are considered vile and evil, because even the strongest of them can't guarantee that their sorcery won't slip out of control and endanger the lives and well being of those around them. Bigotry is typically a bad thing. However, sorcerers cannot guarantee that their sorcery won't slip out of control and endanger the lives and well being of those around them. You can practice certain methods of spellcasting and utilize certain items to minimize the chance of a misfire, but you cannot guarantee it. So every time a spellcaster casts a spell, he is risking the lives and well being of those around him. All sorcerers are aware of this risk, as sorcery's nature is well documented in The Known World. Does that not make the bigotry of The Known World justified? Does it not make a spellcaster evil for ignoring this danger and casting spells while around other people? Even if you are using sorcery to stop some sort of disaster of mass casualty proportions, you still can't guarantee that a sorcerous misfire from your efforts won't be worse in some way. 

To continue, The Rebellion Arc was about choices and their consequences and about a world that lives and breathes and doesn't sit around waiting for the players to interact with it. Things are still happening in The Known World, even though my players are wandering around Orcunraytrel, and I like that. Makes it feel like the world is more than just window dressing.

You may have noticed that the past two days have had posts kind of detailing The Rebellion Arc appear on the blog. I've decided that I am going to post the logs of each of the scenarios from The Rebellion Arc here on the blog, one a day for five days each week. I'm doing this because my Orcunraytrel players don't really know about The Rebellion Arc, beyond what Eric and I have mentioned. I'm also doing it because I need a break. I've been feeling kind of drained and am having a difficult time creating a post I am happy enough with to actually post, so I think I need a bit of a break from creating new content. 

The Rebellion Arc - 02: Kemmel and Mesl

In which heads are successfully (more or less) laid low.

16th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Everyone gets in a meal and a bath. Hector (Aiden Vaux, perhaps that sounds familiar) and Gidaeon free Danny, the bard working in the Cavorting Colt. The bard shorts them twenty marks when he pays them for services rendered and sometime in the night he kills three individuals, one with poison.

17th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

D'Alton offers his services to Warden Orton, who hires him and any friends he may or may not have to track the bard down and bring him to justice. Orton also logs D'Alton in his logbook. Kethranmeer (being an honorary bard) mentions in his halting fashion that bards must work consistently to tithe back to the colleges and that Mesl is the closest place he could be working. 

18th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Mesl.

19th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrives in Mesl and are logged by the guards at the gate. The guards take note that the group seeks friends in Natl, which has been abandoned for about thirty years since the Dwenoren sank it into the earth with tunnels and explosives.  The bard was successfully subdued and chained to Kethranmeer. After dealing with the bard, the group encountered a "professional" adventurer by the name of Reginald E.C. (Ellicott Chatham) Walthuler who promised to make them aware of anything interesting he encountered in his travels, they were intrigued and scraped together what cash they had to help finance him. 

20th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Kemmel.

21st of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group brought the bard to Warden Orton, who promptly obliterated the bard's head with a scattergun. He then proceeded to demand the payment the bard earned from Tomlin at the Cavorting Colt. The group claimed the bard had no money when they found him, even though he had paid Gidaeon and Hector when they freed him. Orton took the ten marks the bard had earned out of the reward for bringing him to justice. The group grumbled about it but accepted the payment, D'Alton took a finder's fee out of the reward for getting the job in the first place. The group then proceeded to bring a Vyanth by the name of Renaultlel to justice for reneging on a loan. Xein gave a few coins to a bum, who was then given the bum's rush by Hector. Hector then gave a drunk that attacked a whore in the outhouse the bum's rush. He inadvertently touched male genitalia while doing this. A poor dumb sod by the name of Takil was divested of coin to pay up a bar tab as well. Hector bought a reportedly homosexual puppy. 

22nd of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Mesl.

23rd of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrived in Mesl again and was again logged by the guards at the gate. They met a friendly Vyanth who ran the establishment known as Hey Look! Stuff! And were somewhat put off by the proprietor's friendliness. They discovered that soldiers were exhorting a local Gunderson and Sons representative and notified Warden Cassius of this. The warden then proceeded to unleash murderous fury upon the soldiers of the barracks with his shotgun. Severed heads were placed outside of the Gunderson & Sons shop to indicate that it would be stupid for other soldiers to try extorting money from one of Kusseth's biggest suppliers of firearms and firearm paraphernalia. The group then made its way to Commander Kothos' office and were able to see firsthand the wonders of modern technology when his clerk used a telegraph. Kothos suggested they join the military or join Cenn the Reaver, the group declined both suggestions but were interested in work. Kothos told them of a group of deserters that had deserted and needed to be brought back into the fold, he said soldiers were worth more alive than as examples to other cowards. The group was led to the deserters, managed to convince them that Kothos knew where they were and could end them if he liked, even if they were deserters they were being given a chance to come back alive and in possession of all their appendages. The deserters were young, tired, very green, and almost out of food and supplies. They caved and came back to Mesl with the group. When they arrived Kothos and a mob of veterans were waiting for them and pounded the piss and shit out of them, then dragged them off to the conscript camp. Kothos told the group that he had some paperwork to take care of, but they should get a hold of him in an hour and he would have another job for them. They left for the Kemmel mine. 

24th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to the mine.

25th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrived while a patrol was entering the mine and so they were luckily able to enter immediately. To the surprise of the soldiers guarding the mine, the group went about their business in a brisk very business-like fashion and didn't dillydally or get in the way. They found their way to the foreman of the mine and he put them to work shifting broken down ore carts around, they met with some success and were paid for their services. Once they recovered from that labor he put them to work patrolling. 

26th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Day one of the patrol.

27th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Day two of the patrol.

28th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

On their third day of the patrol they found something amiss in the spot they normally took their lunch in. They discovered a Dwenoren hidey hole and entered it, managing to convince Kethranmeer to enter an enclosed space for the first time in the time they'd known him. They discovered some Dwenoren and some explosives in the bolthole, but feeling outgunned and not wanting the stumpies to blow their tunnels, they left the hole and reported the events to the foreman, who immediately mobilized mine soldiers to investigate the hole. With the foreman having no more work for them, they left the mine and headed to Mesl. 

29th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Mesl.

30th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Once again the group arrived at Mesl and were logged at the gate. Kothos was slightly perturbed that they took more than half a week to get back to him, rather than an hour as he had asked, but he still offered them the work, albeit with a reduced reward. They were told to investigate a known Whurent/Kusseth bolthole in the mountains. They did so and entered the tunnels hidden in the cave. In the cave they found a fortified outpost of Dwenoren. They entered, making no attempts whatsoever at stealth, and proceeded to kill anything less than 5' 1" tall. They were only able to penetrate the outpost fully because of a malfunctioning gate mechanism, which Kethranmeer was able to force open with his superior strength. They then proceeded to kill the Dwenoren officers and a welder who was trying to weld a door shut. With the hole cleaned out, they returned to Kothos and were paid after notifying him of the odd door situation.

1st of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group got up and got ready to head for Kusseth when a messenger from Kothos approached them. They were paid 100 marks a piece and notified via letter that the door they found led right into Whurent and their quick action and bloody skillset allowed Kothos and some of his soldiers to enter the door and secure an outpost further into Whurent than even the Great Trench.  Kothos told them to return in three months time when the situation was under control down there if they want some more work. After that they were approached by a representative from the foundry and were told that an ore caravan has gone missing somewhere along the route to Kusseth and that foul play is suspected, they were told that they will receive 300 marks for looking into the issue and double that upon its safe return if they choose to attempt to locate the wagon in their travels. The group opts to wait till the following day to travel.

The Rebellion Arc - 01: Beltan

In which imprisonment ensues and later comes to an abbreviated end.

14th of Thirdmonth, 9987 DK

The group is imprisoned in the Beltan prison camp for a variety of offenses.

14th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

A plot masterminded by Smiling Jack and various other notables of the Beltan alumni allows them to escape. They head north with Kethranmeer (at this time known as Spineplate or Beast) in tow to Kemmel hoping to lie low and remain off the radar of the wardens and soldiers searching the area for escapees.

16th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Arrive after nightfall on the outskirts of Kemmel. 

Edit After The Fact: This scenario was primarily just an introduction to 4th Edition and Dungeons and Dragons in general for some members of the group. Not much happened. Mostly it was just exploring skill use and combat and utilizing the power system. It was also about choosing an NPC to hang around with. 

Kethranmeer: FATE Style

I talked about a FATE a bunch, and decided to do this for shits and giggles and also to experiment with the system. This would kind of be him just prior to his death at the end of The Rebellion Arc.

Name: Kethranmeer

Description: He's a Soulless turned Rankethlek that has no face. He's big and metal and rusty and wields two hammers in combat, a heavy maul with a head of blackstone and a lighter wolf-iron hammer that he can throw if he needs to. He's a bit rusty and noisy, and his hide is a mishmash of weld marks, iron, copper, tin, and various other metals. Despite the rust and weld marks, he is still a pretty imposing figure. 

Aspects

High Concept: Metal Warrior Growing Weary of Slaughter

Trouble: Built His Sons From His Own Flesh

Aspect 1 (Solo Adventure): Died Once, Came Back With a Heart of Lightning

Aspect 2 (Group Adventure): Always Backs D'alton

Aspect 3 (Group Adventure): Knows a Thing Or Two About Sorcery

Skills

Superb (+5): Fighting

Great (+4): Physique

Good (+3): Contacts, Crafts, Will

Fair (+2): Athletics, Contacts, Intimidation, Notice

Average (+1): Burglary, Lore, Resources, Stealth

Stunts

-Armor of Fear: Use Intimidation to defend against Fighting attacks, but only until you are dealt a stress by an attack.

-Heavy Hitter: When you succeed with style on a Fighting attack, you gain a full scene aspect with a free invocation, instead of just a boost.
-Tough As Nails: Spend a fate point and reduce the severity of a consequence by one step once per session.

Refresh: 4 (meaning that at the start of each session Kethranmeer starts with four fate points)

In addition to his basic attributes, Kethranmeer had some special items.

Blackstone Maul

This crude looking hammer has a rectangular head of blackstone that was fashioned by the Fremwighta as a gift for Kethranmeer when The Robust Five worked for them and killed a bunch of drunken Fell Human teenagers. Long ago, and now more and more frequently, the Glenwighta were able to mine blackstone and use it to construct cities that were resistant to sorcerous assaults. It has the following aspect:

 -Bane To All Sorcery

Ash Grease

Ash grease is a concoction Kethranmeer came up with to aid him in stealthy endeavors, partly so he could keep up with D'alton if he needed his help in some second story work, and partly so he could keep quiet while his friends and allies were sleeping in the mansion and he moved about the mansion never sleeping and working on freeing his sons. It has the following aspect:

 -Surprisingly Effective At Keeping Over A Quarter Ton of Rusty Metal From Being Shiny And Noisy

Now, this version of Kethranmeer is definitely not as "powerful" as 15th level Fighter Kethranmeer. This is because of the process of leveling we used in The Rebellion Arc and because of FATE's more restrained means of character improvement. Kethranmeer's attack progression with a full attack action was +28/+23/+18 and dealt 1d10+27 bludgeoning damage with a critical of 19-20/x3. The blackstone maul granted a +4 bonus to saves vs. sorcery, spell resistance 18, and halved the bonuses to AC that stemmed from magical effects when Kethranmeer attacks a target with the hammer. The ash grease gave him a bonus to Stealth checks by lubricating his rusty joints and dimming the reflective nature of his metal flesh.

So how would I use or GM this version of Kethranmeer? The skills and stunts are fairly self-explanatory. I think I'd invoke the high concept any time I felt that being made of metal would help with a defense roll or something. I think I'd compel it any time I wanted to complicate things and make him back down from a fight or only enter into battle reluctantly. I can also envision using it if someone used something electrical in nature on him, whether it be a spell or like a lightning gun, to make the attack have an easier time of hitting him. 

His trouble has a fairly narrow focus, which isn't exactly great. But I think I could easily figure out some ways to compel it based on his concern for his sons and the well being of the Rankethlek. I suppose I could use it to base compels of weakness on it, as he did replace his wolf-iron bits and pieces with inferior metals. Or have a joint or rusted knee or spring stick or creak or something if he was trying to avoid alerting enemies to his presence. The trouble can probably be refined a bit, but we'll leave it for now.

I think the Died Once aspect could be utilized any time I'm trying to show that Kethranmeer isn't exactly accustomed to being afraid. I mean, who cares about a mean looking enemy's snarling face trying to use Intimidation on you when you were chewed up and spit out by a dragon and then died and were reborn, then became a monstrous beast of metal and anger till a friend brought you back to sentience. I could probably find a way to invoke it on Craft checks involving electricity as well. I suppose as a GM I could also compel the aspect based on Kethranmeer's fear of returning to the beast-like state The Robust Five found him in initially or to offer up something like PTSD style complications.

Always Backs D'alton is pretty versatile as something to invoke or compel. Any time I want to complicate things by D'alton being in danger and Kethranmeer storming off to rescue him or aid him in something he doesn't really approve of, compel time. I can also see invoking it any time D'alton might be in danger, say like if an enemy is really giving D'alton a run for his money and Kethranmeer needs to unleash some pain so he can help his buddy out.

Knows A Thing Or Two About Sorcery might be pretty handy to invoke when using Will or Lore or something to defend against sorcery or to identify what some weird runes mean or something. Might also help him figure out if anyone is lying about sorcery (I'm looking at you, Derf). I can also see invoking it to help identify the abilities of a mysterious magical item or perhaps to figure out an enemy sorcerer's spellcasting methods to better defend against them or create an advantage against them.

The hammer aspect might be useful in allowing him to use Fighting to pierce magical protections defending a sorcerer or to use Fighting to defend against sorcerous attacks. Using Fighting to defend against magical attacks might need an additional note or ability added to the aspect though, but we'll leave it as is for now. The ash grease could be invoked when using Stealth or to defend against Notice checks and that sort of thing. I am aware that the ash grease has a ridiculously long name for its aspect. I would probably try to shorten it if this were anything more than an exercise in experimenting with a new system.

So I guess that is how I would represent Kethranmeer in the FATE system. I'm obviously a newb with this system, so some of my aspects and the possible uses of them I've suggested might be off or inappropriate in their interpretation. Regardless, I think this is a fun system with a whole metric shit ton of versatility. Aside from referring to the rules frequently to make sure I understood them appropriately and advanced his power properly, it was fairly easy to make him and I think I'd have just as easy of a time if I tried to make something based on sci-fi or mystery or action themes instead of fantasy.

Good times. 

What Things Look Like

I get very irate about players not paying attention to details in my campaign. I have like a little mini-rage stroke every time someone types Gobleen instead of Goebleen or Serethian instead of Serevish. I am a little more forgiving when it comes to something like Orcunraytel, because that word doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, and I try not to get too irritated about this issue in general because my campaign world matters a lot more to me than to my players and I am overly sensitive. But still, it bothers me because I tend to put a lot of time into this stuff, which makes me really overly invested in it, which is why I am overly sensitive. I know I am obsessive and sensitive, and I know my players are great guys and don't mean anything by spelling things wrong or by thinking dragons in Heknioe breathe fire, but still, part of me is all butthurt about it. On the other side of this coin, when Jason calls Eldumans immortal, psychic, crystal dryads, it makes me giggle and blush like a little schoolgirl. #nohomo...?

I have a larger mini-rage stroke when people have a blatantly incorrect image in their heads of what things look like in my campaign world. I try real hard to write down what things look like so there is a strong impression and people aren't left wondering what the fuck their characters look like. This is all in our heads after all, so I have to do my best to make sure we all have basically the same picture in our heads where all this stuff is being played.

In Stephen Brust's Vlad Taltos series (a really great series I have been reading since high school that I would recommend to anyone that is a fan of fantasy), there is a race called Dragaerans. For a while, Tony pictured them as dragon men. They were elves, flat out, straight up Tolkien-esque elves and Vlad's grandfather actually calls them elves at one point. It is important for everyone to be on the same page when envisioning this stuff because there are different questions raised by what a race looks like. Why do dragon men use swords when they have claws and fire and stuff? Why do they wear armor when they have scales? Why do the dragon men uses magic when the dragons in the world use psionics and have tentacles?

To preface the next section: I apologize for picking on you Eric. 

I was talking to Eric the other day about the Sereth and he asked me how alien they looked. I listed their standard features, which is a basically humanoid appearance as far is number of limbs and having a head and stuff, pointed ears, completely hairless bodies, extra long arms and legs, normal sized torsos, vertical slit pupils, nictitating membranes over their eyes, extra fingers and toes with extra joints, extra knees and elbows, and gray skin. I consider this to be a pretty alien appearance. If I saw such a thing walking down the street, I would probably try to fuck it or kill it with fire. Eric told me he has been picturing Sereth as grays. The aliens. The skinny, gray-skinned, black eyed, earless, noseless, hairless aliens. With giant heads. Though he did say he imagined them with smaller heads. My brain exploded. We cleared up what they look like and he said, "So they look like an elf with no hair?" and my brain exploded again.

Eric, again, I love you man and I apologize for picking on you. You are one of my truest friends and one of the main reasons I continue to play and love these games we play together. #nohomo...?

This kind of warped perception of how things look in my campaign world upsets me. This isn't art, it isn't subjective or open to interpretation, it looks like what I say it looks like. Sereth and Vyanth do not look like any fantasy race I have ever heard of. My knowledge is not comprehensive so there very well could be plenty of creatures that look like them in books and settings I have no knowledge of. The elfy aspects begin and end with pointed ears and having limbs and a head and stuff. Elves are five and a half feet tall in 3.5 Edition I think (which puts them at about a foot and a half shorter than Sereth/Vyanth), they have five fingers and toes, one elbow per arm, one knee per leg, human looking pupils, human amounts of joints in their fingers and toes, their limbs are not overly long and are appropriately sized for their torsos, they're typically pale, and they have hair. Humans and elves look kind of alike, and halflings look like small humans, though the Pathfinder versions are a bit elfy if I remember correctly. Elves do not look like Vyanth or Sereth. I refuse to accept that anyone can believe this, even if it is just based on the quick and dirty description I've listed in this fairly ranty post. It is inconceivable to me. It's like saying Dwenoren look like dwarves. You know what race in my campaign world looks like elves? The Nock. Because they are elves.

Interesting note, some goats have horizontal, rectangular pupils and the cuttlefish has kind of a W shaped pupil. 

Look, if you're going to say that Sereth look like elves because they have arms and legs and a head and pointed ears, you also have to say they look like goblins, because goblins have all of those things. So do half-orcs, gnomes, and halflings. They all have as many physical traits in common with the Sereth as elves. Goblins actually have more, because they're bald and have gray skin. So goblins look more like Sereth/Vyanth than elves do. Would you say the Sereth and Vyanth look like goblins? Does that sound like it makes sense? For a seven foot tall creature to look like a three foot tall creature simply because they share having pointed ears, having a head and neck and torso and limbs, being bald, and having gray skin? These are superficial similarities and it is akin to me saying that Eric and I look alike or that Ninja Kitty looks like a black panther. I guess maybe it kind of gives a frame of reference for what the Sereth/Vyanth look like, but this frame of reference excludes all the defining physical features of the race.

This is really my fault. See, when we started gaming in Hekinoe we had three new players. Two guys and a girl that had never played DnD before but played video game RPGs and read fantasy novels or at least were familiar with Lord of the Rings. We used 4th Edition because it was new to the new folks and the old hands too and that would put us all on equal footing as we learned the game together. To simplify things, I called the races Serethian Elves and Vyanthian Elves, because pointed ears. I didn't want to scare the new people with all the zany shit in my head, so I altered my background material a bit to make things a little more familiar to them so they could picture things in their heads a little easier. There were also Whurentian Dwarves and the Children of Volung were elves too. There were Goblins and Orcs as well. Sigh. Then the guys quit playing with us (one joined the Navy and the other gets high like it's his fucking job and he makes a hundred grand a year) and I was getting sick of hammering my square fucking campaign world into 4e's round high fantasy hole and we switched to Pathfinder. I had a lot of respect for the girl and figured she could handle the change. When the rules change happened I reverted everything to my 3.5 Edition vision of the campaign world. But, first impressions tend to be lasting impressions, so I feel like some of the names still have elf or dwarf tacked onto them, even if it is just in a player's head.

So anyway, I have to ask my players a question now. Past or current doesn't matter. What I would like to know is, how do you envision the races of my campaign world? What do they look like to you? I want to know how you imagine them. I want an idea of what you see when I say Dwenoren or Child of Volung so we can all be on the same page.

Fallen are kind of a freebie, as they were originally described as rotting undead when they should really be crystal humanoids with rotted fragments of faux-skin and internal crystalline structures that pulse with dark necromantic energy. I still can't believe I described them as typical sentient undead with rotten bodies and bones. They were Eldumans. They are undead, immortal, psychic, crystal dryads. Hmmm, I suddenly have an idea for a sect of Fallen that still practice psionics. A bunch of Soulthief Vitalists and Dreads. 

Anyway, as a refresher, my campaign races are Children of Volung, Conwighta, Dwenoren, Elduman Descended Uncout, Eldumans, Fallen, Fell Humans/Fell Descendants, Fell Soulless, Greenskin Abraxens, Okwighta, Rankethlek, Sereth, Solwighta, Soulless, Uncout, and Vyanth.

Thanks guys. Sorry again, Eric.

Edit After The Fact: Eric was fine with me posting this post, I checked with him before I set it to publish. He and I talked and he explained that my descriptions of races in the campaign book are kind of vague and hard to get a good handle on. So I plan on going back and maybe tightening those up a bit more so I'll probably post updated descriptions here on the blog or pass out newer versions of the campaign book. Still, if everyone could comment on what the races look like to them, I would appreciate it, as it'll help me shore up my descriptions in the campaign book.