Hourglass of the Silver Sands: Session 4

STARRING:

Joanna as Mara, Travelling Monk
Jon C as Spectre, Sorcerer Supreme
Bill as Isandlwana, Travelling Matchmaker

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: ???

---

As the diplomat of the group, Isandlwana took over talking to the major. Without releasing his bonds, she moved the chair he was on outside and leaned it over his blazing house. The distance between him and the fire changed according to the usefulness of his answers. The sight of Mara with her bow drawn up on the rooftop scared off anyone who wasn't killed or captured yet.

The (ex)mayor of Daiyu told the Eclipse of the horrifying ease with which the Wind-Cutting Whirlwind slaughtered the people of Maret. He told her that he was the True Prince of the Earth, a title currently used by the Dragon-Blooded who usurped it from the Solars many centuries ago. However, this man was no Terrestrial Exalt. The mayor revealed that like the townsfolk of Daiyu, he served Cecelyne.

Spectre's knowledge of demonology proved useful here. Cecelyne was also known as the Endless Desert, sister to Malfeas, the King of Yozis. The Yozis were the beaten and imprisoned Primordials that the Chosen of the Gods fought at the Dawn of Time. Yet he has never heard of the Yozis to create Chosen of their own for this power lied only within the Highest Gods.

The (ex)mayor said the Whirlwind always walked with his face covered and spoke very little. Similarly to Spectre, he carried a scimitar with him. Apparently, the massacre at Maret was part of a ritual to summon Bahamut, a demon closely tied to Cecelyne. A little singeing later he said he heard he was heading to the Temple of Zun and swore this was all he knew. Taking pity on the man, Isandlwana dragged him to safety. Unfortunately, neither of the Exalts knew anything about Zun or its custodians nor did they knew what happened to the mysterious Exalt that helped them fight the demons.

When they told Mara what they found they were surprised to learn she was actually from Zun. She grew up in the temple and knew its history. It was once an ancient fortress built at the top of an artificial mountain placed thousands of miles away into the Southern desert. As expected, the monks therein practised meditation and martial arts but also made it their duty to store dangerous artifacts left from the glory days of the First Age. Mara was very displeased knowing the people she considered family would face imminent danger while the other two Solars were worried what Whirlwind would get his hands on if he were to successfully attack the temple.

Velvet Fist, who until now was fighting on the other side of town, felt there was no time to waste. She jumped onto her horse and went off into the sunset!

The more composed Spectre drew a pentagram on the sand. He took a trinket giving to Mara by her mentor and proceeded to call out his name and chanting the Dirge of Shadows. After he said it 55 times and the moon finally set, he threw his knife into the centre of the pentagram thus pinning down the shadow of Mara's mentor. She told the shadow of the danger to the temple. The shadow was released from its binding and it flew back to its owner who may now have a very unsettling nightmare warning him of a demon attack.

Meanwhile, Isandlwana went from door to door, kicking each one open and giving the people a piece of her mind. She tore down any blasphemous icons, carvings and anything else that was even remotely connected to the Yozis and ground them under her heel while wagging her finger at the occupants. She lectured them on the wickedness and folly of bowing down to demons, particularly those that take the shape of vermin. She reminded them that their ancestors must be ashamed of them. Her condemnations were usually very effective in inflicting taboos but she wasn't sure if the Unconquered Sun's blessing was strong enough in this case.

The ritual was hard enough that after all was done, Spectre turned to his fellow Solars and said:
"Now I must rest," he crossed his arms in front of his chest and his body fell down. His bodyguard was quick enough to catch him before his back touched the desert sand.

The Solars went to bed at dawn to rest before the ardours labours of the next day. When they arose from their slumber, Spectre asked how far away was the temple of Zun, to which Mara replied it is located on the top of an enormous artificial mountain in the far South, very close to the border dividing Creation from the powers of chaos.

"It will take us a day to reach the temple," Spectre calmly said.
"It took me THREE MONTHS," Mara was simply astonished.

The Twilight summoned forth a chariot made out of a shard of the sky, pulled by steam-breathing steeds of pure white and manes of sunlight. They had to wait until Isandlwana finished her business. She was in the process of picking a new mayor for the town and making him swear an oath to uphold the law and to have no traffic with demons. Her anima burst into life, forming Old Realm runes sanctifying the oath in the eyes of Heaven. Fate itself would strike against oathbreakers. Although it was a strong measure, she felt it was a necessary step in ensuring the safety of Daiyu.

With the ceremony finished, Spectre, his bodyguard, Isandlwana and Mara climbed on board the chariot and the horses galloped across the square and up into the sky. The speed with which they raced through the heavens was four or five times as fast as the quickest horse on land. Between Spectre driving and Mara navigating, they reaches the temple in time for the sun to set. Interestingly enough, it wasn't hard to find a place of land at the temple. It had stone blocks in a square pattern near the centre of the temple grounds that was ideal for landing from high above. Fortunately, they did not met with any resistance from the monks who could have fired First Age weaponry that could decimate cities at them.

They were greeted by the monks, among them Mara's master. Spectre was quite surprised that her master seemed very stoic today. In his experience, the targets of last night’s ritual were left with disturbing dreams throughout the night. It is then that they noticed Mara’s master has an earthy scent about him. In fact, nearly all of the monks had a hint of one element or another about them. Spectre and Isandlwana were worried for a moment that Mara might not have told them everything about the temple. Introducing Solar Exalted to a group of highly religious and martially formidable Terrestrials may have been something they’d rather avoid.

Ignoring their concerns in face of Mara’s utter trust, they began to research the literature on Cecelyne and Bahamut. They found a passage in one of the demonology tomes about Bahamut. The demon had the shape of a giant fish and he is the foundation on which Cecelyne, the endless desert, lays. The Exalts minds gave them a glimpse into the past, to the times when they fought the Primordials for control over Creation. Cecelyne, the sister of Malfeas, was the Principle of Order. After the war she was imprisoned in the body of her brother that became the Yozi's prison. Her defeat caused her to bow to the Solar for they were strong thus she now enforces order through power, rewarding those with the strength to force their will onto others.

Meanwhile, Spectre was on the lookout for any potential traits beyond the temple walls. It is when the two women came back that the Copper Spider noticed someone crossing the desert. It was a lone woman, seemingly unarmed but he could not make out much else other than the rich and worn down clothing before she collapsed, most likely due to heatstroke. Mara and Isandlwana descended down as quickly as possible. Mara tended to her before moving her back to the temple while Isandlwana stood guard. They remained vigilant in case this was some clever trap set up by the Wind-Cutting Whirlwind.

---

Bonus Material: Storyteller's Commentary

This session had some of my favourite moments. Isandlwana wagging her finger at the Yozi cultists and giving them a lecture, Spectre literally falling asleep and the reaction on Mara's face when she heard how long her journey back would take.

This session also explains what Velvet Fist was doing. Taking into account she was a Dawn, I decided she took on half of the town on her won... and then rode off into the sunset, in a very western way, because the player disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Another missing player was Whisper. A similar strategy was implemented here. He is a Night Caste so he simply didn't want to be found by the rest. They are the super-sneaky Solars.

Other than that, this session had a lot of exposition. I hope I managed to write up what's going on without confusing anyone who doesn't know the setting. I was quite happy to get the opportunity to add the Temple of Zun to the story, which is Joanna's creation. I love introducing player created elements into the plot only to let the player who created them describe them to the rest. I think it adds a certain realistic feel to the game.

I should probably give a little bit of info on the different titles the Solar Castes have. I am fond of using synonyms for them so here it goes:

Dawn - Ascending Sun, Child of the Dawn, Lightbringer, Bronze Tiger, Sword of Heaven, The Forsaken (derogatory)
Zenith  - Resplendent Sun, Pillar of the Sun, Solar Thunder, Golden Bull, Hammer of Heaven, The Blasphemous (derogatory)
Twilight  -Descending Sun, Child of Twilight, Solar Lightning, Copper Spider, Arrow of Heaven, The Unclean (derogatory)
Night - Hidden Sun, Concealing Shadow, Nightbringer, Iron Wolf, Dagger of Heaven, The Wretched (derogatory)
Eclipse - Crowned Sun, Harmonious Voice, Solar Wind, Quicksilver Falcon, Quill of Heaven, The Deceiver (derogatory)

Hourglass of the Silver Sands: Session 3

STARRING:

Joanna as Mara, Travelling Monk
Jon C as Spectre, Sorcerer Supreme
Jules as Whisper, Master Thief
Bill as Isandlwana, Travelling Matchmaker

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: ???

---

Faced with obvious danger, the Lawgivers prepared themselves to fight. Mare drew her bow, ready to strike at the demon the moment it put on enough flesh to pierce through it while Whisper used the opportunity of everyone being distracted to step into the shadows. Confident in his ability not to be seen, he readied his swords and silently came closer to the demon. His skill in staying out of sight was so great that even Whisper himself didn't notice his own feet underneath him. When he tried to make the final step, he tripped over his own legs and fell down on the floor. The demon looked down on what lied next to its toes and tried crushing him with his pincers.

Spectre managed to pull the Hidden Sun out of harm's way before the pincer came down on his spine. It caught his arm but this did not seem to impede Shadow's ability to fight. Spectre quickly began to conjure a sword that could strike spirits in whatever form they would take while keeping an eye out for the other demons. As they were still dematerialised, he was the only one capable of seeing them and so he told his companions they have entered the ground floor.

Mara fired not one but three arrows in the span of time that it takes for a man to blink. Each carried a tiny spark of righteousness with it, enough to burn away the flesh of any unholy creature. As their battle raged, Isandlwana looked from the top of the building but saw no threats. There were two men firing at her but their precision was not worth her attention. Hearing Spectre's words, she bayonet to lever open the shutter of another window, jumped down onto the top of the swinging shutter, and swung into the room. Just in time to deliver the final blow with a blast from her firewand.

The demon vaporised, its body and soul gone. Yet Spectre informed told the other Solars that two more were rising up from beneath the floor. Although they couldn't see them, they were guided by the Twilight's insight and positioned themselves well enough to be ready when the demons took on a material form.

The room they were now in was brightly lit thanks to Mara's and Specter's anima blazing with the light of the Unconquered Sun. It was obviously much harder to conceal oneself when you're standing next to a Chosen of the Sun and perhaps this was why when Whisper struck with his blades from the shadow cast by a demon, the creature stepped forward and made the otherwise deadly wound shallow.

Not wanting to set fire to friend as well as foe, Isandlwana aimed at the demon not fighting Whisper. She recalled a story about a scorpion who stung itself to death after being caught in a circle of fire so she decided to test that theory. In the time a mortal gunslinger would shoot and reload his weapon, the Quicksilver Falcon had already shot four times, encircling her target in flames. It staggered, blazing but it didn't look like it would commit suicide any time soon.

Mara fired her arrows at the demon facing Whisper. Thanks to her extraordinary skills the arrows pierced through the demon's hide but not enough to go all the way through and hit the Night Caste standing behind it. The demon screamed in agony as the righteous fury of the Unconquered Sun burned it from within. Before it could succumb to its demise, Spectre chopped its head off with his newly conjured sword.

Outside, three more demons waited. Strangely enough, the townsfolk seemed to be on the side of the demons. The humans tried shooting at the Exalts who came too close to the windows. After noticing the Exalts stood their ground, two came forward to set the building ablaze. Whisper hurried to the ground floor and with a well placed thrust his blade went right through the wooden wall and into one of the assailants on the other side. The other one aimed his flamepiece at the resulted hole the moment the blade went back but the Dagger of Heaven was already gone.

Mara and Isandlwana fired at the demons from their positions on the first-floor while Spectre was shaping another spell. This time he summoned a bird composed wholly of flame. It flew through the window and up into the air. It quickly noticed its victim in the form of a demon in the middle of the street and flew down like a blazing comet on it. The demon jumped to the side, dodging a direct hit but even so, the bird exploded upon impact with the ground. Half the street was an inferno now. Some thugs were caught in the blast, as was the demon and the remaining arsonist. Even the sand itself was being consumed by the flames. Isandlwana made a quick look through the room and found a bottle of spirit that she then threw at a demon not caught by Spectre's spell. The bottle shattered somewhere on the ground.

The singed demon crushed through what remained of the front door. It found nothing on the first floor because Whisper has already made his exit out the back. He turned left and ran into a narrow alley. He saw some snipers on the rooftop so he jumped up and off the walls on both sides until he landed between them. Shocked by this sudden appearance, they both aimed their weapons at him and fired. Due to Whisper's body bending in impossible angles, they hit each other and were out of the picture without the Night Caste having to do anything.

The other three Exalts came down the stairs and got rid of the last remaining demon with their combined powers. Mara leapt through the air and caught the demon's tail with her fighting chain while Spectre and Isandlwana finished it off with their respective weapons. All they needed to do now is to interrogate the mayor while fending off frenzied attacks from half the population of the town.

---

Bonus Material: Storyteller's Commentary

This was a full on combat session. I never had this long a combat before. I'm quite glad I used a battle-mat for it because I sure wouldn't be able to keep track of what's going on otherwise. It doesn't help that my mind works on abstractions and I have difficulty imagining exact measurements so having squares as movement markers was a great boon and it made Athletics Charms that bit more useful.

I was very, very happy when the players realised that being Solars they don't have to worry about destroying everything in sight. They had to worry about keeping enough intact to have something to work with later on. Yes, all that carnage described above was caused by their attempts not to annihilate the surrounding region. Jon made sure that his spell wouldn't hit any more buildings... and I dare not mention the round square controversy we had! (oh wait, I just did!)

A little bit about the setting now. Exalted is a fairly standard fantasy setting when it comes to the level of commonly used technology. In the South, however, people do have access to guns (flamepiece) and riffles (firewand). The main difference is that these weapons don't fire bullets, they fire... well... fire.

The anima mentioned above is the result of an Exalted using their supernatural powers. The more they use them, the more they begin to shine with the light of their patron! In case of Solars, they become walking lightbulbs, filling the surrounding area with all the shades of the sun.

Hourglass of the Silver Sands: Session 2

STARRING:

Joanna as Mara, Travelling Monk
Jon C as Spectre, Sorcerer Supreme
Jules as Whisper, Master Thief
Bill as Isandlwana, Travelling Matchmaker

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: 12th of November 2009

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The gun shots reverberate throughout the town and are heard by a figure just on the outskirts of Daiyu. Mara, clad in the attire of a wandering monk, led by a disturbing feeling enters the town. She has to force herself not to be overwhelmed by the utterly disgusting sensation of walking through the town's air. She takes out her flute and begins to play on it to ease her nerves.

The music reaches the ears of Spectre and Isandlwana, who stop in their tracks to see where it comes from. Spectre opens his sight to the flows of Essence but cannot see anything out of the ordinary about the person. Mara comes closer to what appears as a hostage situation while the two Solars wait for what seems like an Immaculate Monk to reach them.

Meanwhile, a shadowy figure climbs up the mayor's house. He peeks into a room situated at the back of the building and finds the mayor praying over an altar in his study. He silently opens the window, walks towards the man and hits him in the head with the back of his sword. The mayor collapses with his head in the sand on the silver altar.

Whisper ties the man up and inspects the room. He finds a book with ancient symbols on it. Recalling such items can get you a nice price, he takes it with him and looks at the altar. It is made entirely of silver, two candles on each side and in the middle a bowl with the same ancient symbols drawn around it. The inner layer of it is made of silver on which sand has been put. He takes the bowl with him before looking into the desk's drawers. Within he finds a strange object, a cross between a hammer and a chain, and other torture weapons. Satisfied with his search, he wakes up the mayor and attempts to scare him with the prospect of torture but his nerves appear stronger than that of a regular person.

Outside, Isandlwana and Spectre confirm that Mara isn't an Immaculate Monk. They explain the situation and call for the mayor's attention. After not getting any reply they decide to enter but Spectre stops them to say that there is a ward in place that would go off if they were to cross the threshold. They go inside regardless.

Whisper hears a door creak at the other end of the corridor. He goes to look, after his eyes adjust to the darkness he sees a slender girl with the tail and pincers of a scorpion. He follows her as she walks towards the stairs leading down and hides on the ceiling above them.

Downstairs, the Exalts go inside. They grab the nearest oil lamp they can find and lit it. When asked, the sheriff tells them the mayor should be upstairs and the Exalts can hear the fear in his voice. They tell him to lead the way, followed by Isandlwana's prodding firewand and the other two Lawgivers. They manage to reach half the way up when a giant scorpion's tail pierces through the sheriff's body. Isandlwana jumps back, Mara shoots an arrow that turns into pure light, illuminating their surroundings for an instant before hitting the unholy creature. The firewand is raised up, a shot is given but the creature moves to the side. Seeing an opening, Whisper leaps forward, spinning through the air with both of his swords drawn. He lunges the blades through the monstrosity and into the ceiling, allowing him to stand on it.

Dropping to the stairs, he pulls his swords out of the wood. The body falls down. Spectre realises that this creature is not a spirit but a halfbreed of human and demon. The girl's last words are a terrifying shriek. Whisper rans back to the mayor, Isandlwana and Mara follow him while Spectre casually walks behind them.

When they reach the room with the mayor still tied up, Mara goes into a frenzy. She takes out her orichalcum direchain and smashes the altar with it. A dozen or so shrieks can be heard from outside all around them. Whisper goes to the window but sees nothing, Isandlwana jumps out and grabs the roof's ledge. Spectre enters the room only to see a creature much like the one before, a half-man, half-scorpion of twice the size of a human being, materialising before his very eyes.

---

I thought this game session would be a purely combat heavy game. As it turned out, the addition of two more Player Characters changed that and added more investigation and Player-to-Player interaction.

We also had to retcon the previous session's ending due to Nadjib not joining us. We just had Velvet Fist left at the inn guarding the deputies. It's easier than having to run a character without a sheet.

The combat that did result was very fast, as Joanna rightfully noticed. The enemy was on the level of one of the characters and against a Zenith and a sneak attack from the Night, it had little chances avoiding being killed. I was mainly hoping to poison someone, but it didn't work out. Happens...

I'm pretty happy with how this session went. The only thing that didn't work out was communication between me and Joanna. Using British Sign Language alphabet isn't working so I had to write a lot and fortunately, the other players helped repeating my words to Joanna because my accent makes it harder to read my lips. I will just write a lot and use a pen this time, I have no idea why I kept using the pencil...

Next session I'll try to get a grid map or just blank sheets of paper to draw the map of the area. I'd like the combat here to be really epic and I do expect a lot of questions as to who is where and how far. A map usually helps a lot in those cases...

Hourglass of the Silver Sands: Session 1

STARRING:

Nadjib as Velvet Fist, Ex-Prostitute Martial Arts Mistress
Jon C as Spectre, Sorcerer Supreme
Bill as Isandlwana, Travelling Matchmaker

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: 5th of November 2009

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The day started with Velvet Fist, Isandlwana, Spectre and their companions entering the town of Maret. They found it completely destroyed. The stench of death surrounded the whole place. There were bodies and dried blood on the streets and in the houses.

It was then that Velvet Fist found a man who did not die yet. She asked him who is responsible for this.

"The Whirlwind," were his last words.

Velvet Fist stood up and shouted out to the Heavens that he who is responsible for this massacre will be punished, then she took off towards where the trail led her. Her mentor followed her grudgingly.

In order to decipher how this tragedy came to be, Spectre examined the bodies while Isandlwana looked at the footprints left in the sand. She concluded that such footwork could belong to either a group of people of similar build or to one person possessing incredible speed. Spectre noted that many of the bodies where either cut with such a force that even bone shattered when the blade came through or cut several times in the blink of an eye. Other findings were that judging by their clothes, they were attacked at night, most likely two days ago, many tried to flee but they were also killed. Only their livestock was spared, whether by intent or having run away was unclear. Meanwhile, Isandlwana checked the trail leading out and into Maret to see how many travellers passed in the recent days, it seemed like only one person on horseback came in and left about two days ago.

Spectre tried to find if there is any specific pattern to the killings by putting rocks where the bodies were found. He noticed that the rocks vibrated and moved slightly when placed so he opened his eyes to the patterns of Essence. He saw that Maret was built on the crossing of powerful Dragon Lines. They have not been tapped but had a thin layer of silver sand on it.

The Lawgivers and their servants prepared a funeral pyre and as it burned, they set off to follow the trail going in the direction of a town about two days away.

On their journey they discussed what the motive behind this crime could be and speculated whether a geomantic plot was in operation. One that could perhaps change the nature of the energy flow, giving it a deathly taint, and if repeated at other important foci, it would be possible to achieve some large-scale sorcerous effect.

Fortunately for Velvet Fist, who had wandered off the trail, they caught up with her on their second day of travel. They reached the town of Daiyu when it shortly after nightfall. Spectre looked at the essence patterns within the town and noticed it was all covered in silver sand. Even the air itself had them floating around. He decided to look around Daiyu's perimeter while the other two went to warn the mayor of the slaughter.

When hearing the news of what happened to Maret, Isandlwana realised the man was feigning surprise. She was unable to draw any more information out of him. He did offer them to stay at the inn for the night, as a way of thanking them for the warning, but Isandlwana knew he merely wanted them to stay in one place. Confident in their ability to overcome the threat, they went to the inn.

On their way there, Velvet Fist made a speech to inform everyone of the faith of their neighbouring town and that they have nothing to fear for that tragedy won't be repeated here. An old lady raced out of a nearby house, shouting "Sun-born!" and pointing her finger at her. A man in his mid-years run out of the house soon after, apologising he took his mother back to the house. Velvet Fist knocked on their door, the man greeted her and apologised again, saying that his mother has become a little nuts in her old years. The sound of fists bashing the floor was coming from upstairs. After an unsuccessful attempt to seduce the man, Velvet Fist returned to accompany Isandlwana to the inn.

Meanwhile, Spectre's search proved slightly fruitless. There was no source to the unnatural silver sands, they merely seemed to have been put there by someone and slightly tainted the local Dragon Lines. The other thing he noticed was how the townsfolk were not alarmed by the presence of a strange robed figure walking through the night at all.

Ending his survey, he was nearly ambushed by a thug. Fortunately, his bodyguard was fast enough to knock him out before the thug had any chance to hurt Spectre. Spectre told his bodyguard to carry the man and they entered the inn with a very drunk (already!) friend. They sat down at the table occupied by the other Solars and began discussing what to do with him when he woke up.

Not long into the discussion, the place quieted as the law-enforcers entered. The sheriff ordered everyone to leave the premises but not the Solars. He demanded their arrest. He claimed they have attacked the man sitting next to them, hitting him unconscious and dragging all the way here. The Solars demanded witnesses, to which the sheriff replied he has more than enough and he can take the Exalts to them.

Impatient as they are, the sheriff's assistants reach for their flamepieces but they were too slow. The Sheriff found himself staring at the inside of Isandlwana's firewand while the rest stood there in silence. A shot was fired at Velvet Fist, who dodged out of the way with preternatural grace while Spectre turned the table on its side and hid behind it with his bodyguard.

Another shot was fired at the ceiling as Velvet Fist's sashes spun around the weapons, taking them away from their hands. The sheriff tried to grab the firewand in order to wrestle it out of Isandlwana's hands but instead she hit him with firedust hidden in her sleeve. She quickly took his gun and used it to put a display of fire-breathing in hopes they would mistake them for Terrestrials.

Having disarmed the entire watch, Spectre and his bodyguard escorted the law-enforcers. As they walked out, they noticed a lone sniper taking aim at them. Velvet Fist threw a fan at him but he crouched and she only hit the building. After the fan returned to her, Isandlwana reasoned with the man by using a firewand aimed at him and flamepieces aimed at his fellow officers. His weapon dropped to the ground shortly thereafter.

The Exalts decided it would be easier if Velvet Fist and Spectre's bodyguard were to stay behind with the sheriff's deputies while Spectre and Isandlwana set off to have words with the mayor.

---

It is strange how sessions go. I planned for the players to begin in Daiyu after having witnessed the atrocities committed at a town they previously visited. Before I finished saying the intro, the players started asking me questions about this town and the next thing I know, they are in that town investigating! If I were a more experienced storyteller, I would smack them for interrupting my story! That would teach them their place for sure!

As is, I had to improvise what actually happened there. In my infinite wisdom I even managed to confuse setting information: ley lines are actually called Dragon Lines (sorry Jon! as compensation I may not kill your character next session). I also noticed I should have given Jon some information on the magical properties of the setting, I think I confused him on how common Dragon Lines are.

I also thought there would be some deaths when the cops came in. Instead all I got is thinking they are misguided innocents and lots of disarming attempts. Next fight will be a lot more good vs evil.

Overall, I was quite happy how this birthday session ended up being.