The Scabbard and the Sword: Session 3

STARRING:

Bill as Brutus "Sten" Stentor, Lithium's Sound Technician

Jack as Joseph, the Hobo-Rat

Lisa as Five (now known as Two), Creepy Death Obsessed Darkling

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: 12th June 2010

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About halfway to the Freehold's main Hollow, Lithium got a call from her agent reminding her of the upcoming gig. She had to go back to her place and make sure she's ready for it or else her contract would be in ruins. Thus only three changelings arrived at the Hollow to meet with the Winter Queen.

They found Ninian in the throne room playing chess. Sten approached her and began a lengthy monologue on what happened and what they found out. While he was giving the speech, with appropriate sound effects, the Queen motioned him to sit down on the other side of the chessboard.

"Your turn," she placed a pawn two spaces forward after Sten reached the point of the story that was a few minutes behind the present. Never having played this game before, Sten moved the pawn the Queen had placed back to its starting position.

"So you found the Privateers' hiding place," she contemplated Sten's move, trying to decipher his strategy. "Can I see the stew?"
"No!" Two tried to protect her own with her body. The Queen flicked her wrist in the air and the stew began to float through the air over to her. Two quickly slurped it all in, visibly annoying the Queen.
"Have you told this to anyone else?" she turned back to Sten.
"No," he mirrored the Queen's move after she move a bishop closer to the centre of the board.
"I would like to ask you not to tell about this to anyone else," she said after looking at his and Joseph's Mantles.
Joseph and Two agreed nearly straight away. Sten on the other hand hesitated.
"What will we do now?" he asked.
"The best thing we can do at this point... Hide," she nodded to her own words.
The changelings were dismissed.

Although Sten did mention that the Ogre was expecting his buddies to arrive with a new changeling during the witching hour, the Winter Queen didn't like their idea of trying to go and save a lost cause. Since they were told to hide, they decided the best place to hide was next to that cottage that they found in the Hedge.

On their way there, they stopped at the train station to gather some Glamour. Joseph stepped in the way of an office worker who was trying to catch a train. He tried to sell him the Big Issue and didn't take no as an answer. Even when the man took the magazine out of his hands and threw it on the ground, he simply picked it up and asked if he wants to buy it. Meanwhile Two was talking to a mother with a child, getting dangerously close to her baby and talking to it in a very creepy way. Unfortunately, this reminded her of how she was taken to Arcadia as a young child. The Darkling lost her mind, she fell to the ground shouting and screaming. Sten was pacing back and forth, trying to decide what to do when the Railway Police started to walk towards them. Joseph made a quick escape.

The police helped Two get up and escorted her and Sten out of the premises. They offered to call the ambulance but Two was regaining her hold on sanity. They went to the alley with the Trod. Joseph jumped out of the sewers and the three were back together before they entered the Hedge.

This time they stayed on the path. Luckily, Two noticed a string going over the Trod before either had a chance to fall into the trap. She put her arm over it so the other two changelings had no problems going over without triggering it.

When they finally reached the cottage, Joseph climbed a tree, Sten hid behind it while Two went off to have a peek inside. She saw the stew cooking above a blue flame, the Ogre they met having a nap and a couple of big bags. When she told them what she saw, they waited for the rest to arrive. Somewhere after the witching hour, they saw four changelings coming this way somewhere from the opposite way than the one they came. There was a man made out of ice, with a frozen nose and a colourful T-shirt with palm trees all over it, an Arctic fox and two chain-mail wearing Wizened with swords hanging from their belts.

After they entered the cottage, Two went off to take another look inside. She heard the Elemental shouting at the Ogre and saying something about the Goblin Market and a scabbard before she was noticed. As quickly as possible, she ran off and climbed a tree. The changelings went after her but didn't see where she went. Two felt safe until she noticed the Beast sniffing the ground. She tried to get her jacket off and threw it away as a distraction, but due to her frail body, she fell face down on the ground.

Seeing the events taking a turn for the worse. Sten charged in with a battle cry that he quickly wrapped around himself while Joseph started to jump from tree to tree. He made it in time to fall onto the head of the Ogre before he crushed Two under his fists. While Joseph was ripping the Ogre's face out of him and fending off another Beast, Sten engaged in single combat with the other Elemental who was now wrapped in cold and ice. Unable to grab a hold of the rat, the fox started to bite Two.

As the battle progressed, Two was slashed from behind while Sten heard a swooping sound of metal and the clanking of armour before he weaved out of the way. The two Wizened stepped out of their hiding places with their swords drawn.

The Ogre didn't took long before he fell down, barely managing to break any of Joseph's bones. The rat jumped off, with the Ogre's eye in hand and took the Wizened off Two's shoulder. He put his fist into the changeling's mouth, letting him have a taste of the Ogre's eye.

Sten momentarily took his attention off the two changelings he was facing and threw a shout at the fox's ears. This gave Two an excellent opportunity to first stab him in the eyes, then seize his muzzle so he bit his own tongue and finally biting his nose off.

It's only when they realised the battle between the Elementals ended with Sten being turned into a block of ice and shattering into a million pieces that they were overwhelmed. Two started to run, she shouted for Joseph to follow but he was too far gone into rage to take note of anything other than the next kill. The ice changelings closed down on him.

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Bonus Material: Storyteller's Commentary

Stella and Daisy couldn't make it to this session. They said something about real life but I didn't quite understood what they meant. We at first thought we wouldn't roleplay and set up a board game when Bill showed up and we had three players! Enough to run something!

This session was odd. At first it started off with a lot of laughing and joking around until I asked for a break because the laughing was just too much. Unfortunately, I later realised that because of all the humour I forgot to put in a plot hook I've been keeping for the initial scene. No matter, I can put it back in at the next scene, it's not like this is the first thing this happens.

The scene at the train station was interesting. The players were basically trying to get some Glamour. It is a resources that they spend to use their special changeling powers (Blessings and Contracts). One way of getting it is through instilling emotions into people and feeding off them.

The problems started when they entered the Hedge. After the first trap I decided to skip the others since I wanted to get to the Goblin Market scene before the session ended but that didn't work out so well. I thought that upon seeing more than half as many people who are way better armed than the player group is, they'd try and not engage them in direct combat. Especially since I did say at the beginning that World of Darkness combat is lethal.

Instead of running away into safety or at least using surgical strikes and misdirection they decided to go for direct combat against impossible odds. I ended up killing two player characters (including one I really liked) which I despise with my whole being so much that I couldn't get myself to write this summary until now. I had to take Sunday off roleplaying just to calm myself down.

I think I know what mistake I made. I gave people too much room to take the story where they want but that's just falling flat. Right now I think I'll speed things up and aim to finish this game in the next 3 sessions.

PS: I'll explain the Courts with the next session summary since it looks like that one will be way more political than this one got a chance to be.

The Scabbard and the Sword: Session 2

STARRING:

Bill as Brutus "Sten" Stentor, Lithium's Sound Technician

Daisy as Zero, Reclusive Alchemist

Jack as Joseph, the Hobo-Rat

Lisa as Seven (now known as Five), Creepy Death Obsessed Darkling

Stella as Lithium-Morphian, Famous Singer

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: 5th June 2010

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Before the day had a chance to end, the group went to the alley that Fiddler told them about. In front of the passage to the Hedge they were met by a very dirty rat changeling. He tried to sell them the latest Big Issue. Five came closer to him and started to inhale the smell of sewers that emanated from him. He told them his name was Joseph and that he can't let anyone pass. Sten managed to convince him that they have a pass but first they need to enter the Hedge before he can see it.

The Trod was opened through a door leading to a unused pub. Whilst opening, Sten made appropriate door-opening noises. He then showed a piece of paper to Joseph which he accepted as a confirmation of them being allowed to go look at the Trod and where it led. The part of the Hedge closest to the real world looked like the empty pub with a serious overgrowth problem. The more they went through the layer of mud, beer cans and broken bottles the more the Hedge looked like something between a swamp and a jungle. Sten continued making noises of wild animals. At some point Five decided to pitch her own finger on a thorn. When she was done enjoying the sensation of flowing blood, she told the rest she feels there's a Goblin Tree nearby. They all decided to leave the path and look for it.

After nearly an hour of going through the Hedge and getting themselves cut on the many thorns, they came to the conclusion they have no idea where the Goblin Tree could be. They tried going back onto the Trod but even though Joseph was extremely sure they arrived at the exact same spot where they left, the Trod was gone.

"RUN!" Joseph shouted. They all followed his lead until they hear Lithium's scream. A Briarwolf has pinned the Fairest to the ground and was about to bite her head off. They all stopped running and ganged up on the hobgoblin. Joseph kicked it in the groin. Zero pierced its side with her sword cane. Sten covered himself in Lithium's screams. Five tried to poke the beast and managed to stick her finger in its nose on the second try. Under the onslaught of this many changelings, the Briarwolf changed its strategy and threw Five into the air. Her arm landed between the beast's fangs. Joseph jumped and tried to gauge its eyes out but only managed to scratch the back of its neck open. The final blow came from Zero's sword-cane. She hit it in the chest and pulled its heart out.

Ignoring the fact she nearly lost an arm. Five suggested they leave this place before the rest of the pack gets here. They started running, following Joseph, the fastest of the group. Their run was stopped by the sight of a cottage in the middle of the Hedge. A blue flame cast shadows from inside. Joseph went to knock on the front door but before his fingers could touch the wooden door, a net sprang up from under his feet. Next thing he knew he was up in the air. A large man with patches of white fur over his body came out of the cottage. Lithium quickly changed herself to look more like the Ogre. She told him she was his long lost brother. The family reunion went extremely well.

The Ogre was happy to see the brother he didn't know he had. He asked if the changelings who were with him were for the lady-boss but Lithium said they were here to help him find his way through the Hedge. "Joseph, Joseph" Five stood right under the caught Beast. While he plainly started to bite his way through the net. The Ogre offered his brother some stew that he's been cooking for the rest of his Motley but Lithium declined. Five on the other hand was very interested in it so the Ogre went back to get her a takeaway. When he returned with a bowl of warm stew, Joseph was already out of the net. The Ogre was friendly enough to show them the way to the nearest Trod. When they were once again on the path, Five cut her finger on a thorn again to check if they should go left or right. On the left she sensed a crossroads with other Trods while the right led out of the Hedge.

On their way there, Sten was eerily silent while Zero tried to make Five give her the stew. She managed to barter a piece of meat from the Darkling before they reached the same alleyway they used to enter the Hedge. Zero quickly ran of to her laboratory to analyse the meat slice while the rest tried to agree on what to do next.

After a short discussion, they decided to report their findings to the Winter Queen.

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Bonus Material: Storyteller's Commentary

This session went a lot better than the last one. I did plan on having a combat session but I didn't think it would be with a Hobgoblin. When Lisa said they would go look for the Goblin Tree, I allowed them to make a team effort roll of finding it and they failed. Then they failed the roll to find their way back onto the Trod so to speed things up I had a Briarwolf try eating them. The combat I planned for when they'd arrive at the cottage but since it already happened, I didn't make that be the default. I was very impressed with Stella's idea of turning into the long lost brother of the Ogre and fooling him into being friendly. Fortunately, Ogre's aren't that good when it comes to Composure rolls so at least that attempt succeeded.

I don't think I've ever saw this many failed rolls during a game. How can you not roll an 8-10 on ONE DIE when you're rolling EIGHT is beyond me but it happens. It will be interesting to see what happens next since technically, the players are running blind right now.

Five and Sten were the most exciting characters this session. I hope I did manage to mention their weirdness and odd behaviour in the write-up. That's pretty much what changelings are like. Spending time in Arcadia really screws your mind, body and soul. I should give them some extra experience points just for that.

And now a little bit about the terms used here. The Hedge is place where time and space don't follow the same rules as the real world. That's why Trods are so useful since they do connect two of the same points between the Hedge. It's also good to know where you're going when the Hedge is home to many strange creatures, known as Hobgoblins, whose motivation to catch changelings ranges from eating them to being their best friend for ever and ever! In the Hedge you can also find Goblin Trees. These are special plants that give Goblin Fruits. A Goblin Fruit can be pretty much anything. From an apple that has bullets in it to a cranberry that makes you hallucinate like you were on LSD... but the hallucinations are real. Some Goblin Fruits are benevolent, they can give you Glamour or cause your wounds to melt away. Unfortunately, you won't know what they do until you bite into them.

I also started to use synonyms for character names. Every changeling has a Seeming, it describes the type of changeling that they are. The Seemings: Beast (Joseph, Sophie), Darkling (Five), Elemental (Sten), Fairest (Lithium), Ogre and Wizened (Zero). I'll probably mention Courts in the next session summary.

The Scabbard and the Sword: Session 1

STARRING:

Bill as Brutus "Sten" Stentor, Lithium's Sound Technician

Daisy as Zero, Reclusive Alchemist

Lisa as Seven, Creepy Death Obsessed Darkling

Matt as Sophie Juliet White, Bunny

Stella as Lithium-Morphian, Famous Singer

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: ???

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It is December 2009 and Brighton is suffering from the worst winter ever. While the Winter Court is proud of their season's prowess, it is making life difficult for everyone involved. Roads are full of snow to the extent driving is dangerous, the trains are delayed a lot more than usual and if heating breaks down in an office, it is easier to just go home and start buying cheap food.

Due to the severe weather conditions on the day, Lithium's gig was cancelled and she stayed in her flat for the day. At about midnight she heard knocking on her window. As strange as it was, having someone knock on the window on the second floor, she ignored it. A moment later said window was smashed with a piece of ice.

The gig cancellation also affected Sten who decided to have a walk down the beach. He was very enamoured with the sounds the waves did when they swept and melted the snow lying on the sand. He took his time throwing rocks at the wave breakers. At one point a wrinkly mad changeling jumped out and shouted him down for giving him a bump on the head. A few words of apology later, he went off to continue his sound making somewhere else. Sten didn't go far before screams of the changeling reached him. He came back to find the changeling's living place ravaged by ice and with a newly open Trod into the Hedge.

Seven was hanging around in her studio flat when she heard knocking on the door. Naturally she went to open it and was surprised to find a Trod going through the corridor. The Darkling felt a cold presence behind her and knew immediately she was in grave danger. Without giving it much thought she burst out of her flat and into the Hedge. Keeping to the path she seemed to have lost her assailant until she stumbled onto something. The next thing she knew she was in some large room with other changelings everywhere. They tried to get her up but she refused the offer of help. Later on she would hear that she ended up in a Spring party. Some time before she arrived, the lights went out and chaos erupted. When everything was over, some guests went missing while a newly opened Trod into the Hedge was discovered. No one noticed Seven wasn't invited.

Meanwhile Sophie enjoyed an evening on the beach with her boyfriend, Dave. They were lying down on the snow and kissing each other when something pulled the love of Sophie's life into the sea. She grabbed his hand and they were pulled in together. Her struggle to pull them both out of the ice cold waters ended with her letting go and saving herself. She looked at the waves and saw a figure in the distance, a woman in a white dress standing on the water. The woman was gone with the next blink.

Zero's routine was shattered with a knock on the door. It was a puppy changeling by the name of Fiddler, a fellow member of the Iron Spear. He told Zero that the Green Knight, the Summer King, needs something analysed. It was a piece of unmelting ice that was found on the scene where a changeling was supposedly kidnapped. Fiddler couldn't tell anything more since he had to run.

After rumours spread of changelings disappearing all over Brighton, the Winter Queen decided to call the whole Freehold in. The court held place in a Hollow with the entrance within an abandoned building close to the railways going out of Brighton Station. In order to enter, a changeling had to walk in through the door frame on the second floor and go back through it without turning or looking.

During the meeting, Ninian, the Winter Queen, tried to calm the Freehold down. She had hoped that whatever Zero found out would put everyone at peace. Unfortunately, she mainly said that the piece of ice was created by making a contract with Ice. The Freehold was quick to jump to the conclusion that a True Fae is working to bring all of them back to Arcadia. A heated discussion erupted where blame was thrown at each Court and their respective leaders. Either due to being bored with the bickering or deciding taking action is best; Lithium, Sten and Seven decided to help Zero investigate further into the matter. They went to find Fiddler. He told them where the place the piece of ice was found was and that there would be a guard but they just had to tell him they were on orders from the Summer King to look into the Trod's appearance.

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I have to honestly say that this session was probably the worst I ever had. At one point of the game I just broke badly enough that I wanted to just walk out of the room and not come back. Instead I looked through my Magic cards as a distraction of sorts.

The unexpected arrival of three more players technically brought the game up to 11 players though 3 were absent from this session. Before the second one started two players bowed down and another two decided they won't be playing so we went down to 6, which is a better number. Due to 2 players leaving, I decided to edit the session summary to reflect only the currently active participants.

My plan for this session was to give each player a piece of the puzzle as to what is going on. I wasn't too pleased with it. I think we either had too much out-of-game distractions or I am way too subtle for my own good.

Looking over this summary I think I should say a few things about the world of Changeling The Lost. Changelings are people who have been kidnapped by the True Fae, taken to Arcadia and changed into something not-fully-human. Some were changed into animals, others into scenery while others were just servants. Some times a changeling escapes and goes back to the real world but they will never be human again, they will forever have the features of what they were in Arcadia.

In order to better protect themselves from the True Fae taking them back, they organise themselves into four Courts based on seasons. Each Court has a King or Queen who rules the Court and the Freehold during one fourth of the year. The Freehold is a term used to describe all changeling of a city/region.

The Hedge is what divides Arcadia from the real world. A Trod is a safe path through the Hedge while a Hollow is a piece of the Hedge that has been crafted into a safe place. The Hedge is not a nice place... the second session shows the players why.