(no subject)
Following on from my previous post here is a synopsis of my first Order of the Wren game (Late 90s, UK xfiles/fringe/delta green style game). It's been a looong time since I've GM'd but I had a fun time.
Background
Members of the Order of the Wren are inducted to the organization after they've had a brush with the weird and survived. If they seem to show potential it's much easier to turn them into an Asset, than suppress the experience.
One of the peculiarities of the Order is the way they create their cover identities. Each member is given a surname from the approved list of surnames (all UK placenames), and may choose a first name which is some form of derivation of Edward or Elizabeth.
Initial Dramatis personæ:
Beth Bath
A lady in her late 50s who works as an encryption expert for the banking sector. Recruited for the Order after discovering the prize for solving a fiendishly hard puzzle/treasure hunt was actually to have one's brain removed by some insidious insectile creatures.
Edek Axminster
A former KGB agent who was involved in Department Ѯ (Ksi), the Russian equivalent of the Order of the Wren. An op he was on went badly south and he was left 'out in the cold'.
Eddie Preston
A cop from the drug squad. Investigating a new drug on the scene, he was somewhat perturbed when a consumer backhanded him the length of the ally (he was only saved from terrible injury by the rubbish he landed in) and ran up the side of a multistory building.
Liz Dunstable
A geeky teen gadgeteer who was planning to video some school bullies taking drugs, and ended up videoing Eddie's 'enlightening' experience.
The Episode
They get the invite to an Ornithological fundraiser which is their cue to check their respective dead letter drops. They are all given instructions to check into The Rose B&B somewhere in the heart of the New Forest and await further instruction.
Upon arrival they settle in and are informed about their breakfast engagement with Mrs Pembridge. Not knowing about each other yet, our intrepid investigators perform reconnaissance and gather info about the area they find themselves in.
The main facts they find are:
Beth scopes out the local fudge shop. True enough, the fudge is very tasty and the local gossip is dull. Tina Philips is genuinely grieving and is hunting for comfort in the bottom of a fudge packet.
Eddie calls in a favour with police chum to find out more details on the animal mutilations, and finds they have had all suffered from fatal head wounds. Specifically all their teeth were forcefully removed. First there were a couple of cats but most recently a horse was the victim. He calls in on the local police constable who is quite disturbed by the whole thing and blames a Lymington gang, as that's definitely a rough area you can tell as they have a graffiti problem(!). He thinks it might be some satanic ritualistic thing as the victims were all found in fairy rings.
After Liz engages in some subtle surveillance (complete with hand written "SHHH!! birdwatching!" sign), her and Edek combine their skills to create a device that would give a 'ping!' and approximate location of local uninvited guests. They discover that the Philips house and some local fairy rings, ping.
The team spot the pattern of each mutilation happening along a line coming out from the ring in the Philip's back garden, and realise that the huge fairy ring where the fairy festival's closing dance will be in right in the path! They are on a clock!
Using salt and fungicide they destroy the next ring in line. That night Edek, Beth, and Liz watch the destroyed location and Eddie watches the Philips house.
It all seems quiet until Eddie sees some flickering blue light from inside the house, and then a light briefly appearing in the garden's ring before winking out. All is quiet at the destroyed ring, but when the team rush to the next one they find a de-toothed horse still warm and bloody. :(
The next day, bearing gifts of fudge, Beth and Liz talk their way into the Philips' home, and witness Sarah's vegetative state. They also spot and take Henry Philips' hand written field guide to 'fairies, pixies, and other little people', recently given to her by her mother from her deceased grandmothers possessions, as she is 'so into fairies'. They realise that, over excited by the annual fairy festival, Sarah decided to do the ritual for summoning a fairy with her recently lost tooth, but didn't do the all important 'bind' part of it. Sarah has been non responsive since. The fairy has gone on to use it's ability to move instantly from ring to ring when it senses a warm blooded creature, to obtain the teeth it craves and extend the distance it can travel.
Using the information from the book they are able to trap the fairy (which rather than a beautiful nymph, looks like a cross between a fetus and an stick insect or praying mantis).
They give Lisa the fairy and the book to return to the Order and are congratulated on a job well done (whilst Lisa tries to keep her composure around the flighty horrific gift she's just been given). The fairy festival can go on as planned and will not be the blood bath it could have been. Sarah remains in a coma, but there are no more mutilations in the area.
Their first joint operation is a success!
Whilst somewhat rushed at the end (due to time constraints) it was a fun game and I think well expressed the tone of future games.
Background
Members of the Order of the Wren are inducted to the organization after they've had a brush with the weird and survived. If they seem to show potential it's much easier to turn them into an Asset, than suppress the experience.
One of the peculiarities of the Order is the way they create their cover identities. Each member is given a surname from the approved list of surnames (all UK placenames), and may choose a first name which is some form of derivation of Edward or Elizabeth.
Initial Dramatis personæ:
Beth Bath
A lady in her late 50s who works as an encryption expert for the banking sector. Recruited for the Order after discovering the prize for solving a fiendishly hard puzzle/treasure hunt was actually to have one's brain removed by some insidious insectile creatures.
Edek Axminster
A former KGB agent who was involved in Department Ѯ (Ksi), the Russian equivalent of the Order of the Wren. An op he was on went badly south and he was left 'out in the cold'.
Eddie Preston
A cop from the drug squad. Investigating a new drug on the scene, he was somewhat perturbed when a consumer backhanded him the length of the ally (he was only saved from terrible injury by the rubbish he landed in) and ran up the side of a multistory building.
Liz Dunstable
A geeky teen gadgeteer who was planning to video some school bullies taking drugs, and ended up videoing Eddie's 'enlightening' experience.
The Episode
They get the invite to an Ornithological fundraiser which is their cue to check their respective dead letter drops. They are all given instructions to check into The Rose B&B somewhere in the heart of the New Forest and await further instruction.
Upon arrival they settle in and are informed about their breakfast engagement with Mrs Pembridge. Not knowing about each other yet, our intrepid investigators perform reconnaissance and gather info about the area they find themselves in.
The main facts they find are:
- The local sweet shop does very good fudge. The pub does a good steak and ale pie.
- The village really is very small and sheltered.
- There has been a spate of animal mutilations recently.
- The Philips family seems to be suffering a rash of bad luck. The old head of the Women's institute died and now her granddaughter (regional tap dancing, and spelling bee champion) is in a coma
- There is to be the Annual Fairy Festival this weekend (the major event on the village's calendar).
Beth scopes out the local fudge shop. True enough, the fudge is very tasty and the local gossip is dull. Tina Philips is genuinely grieving and is hunting for comfort in the bottom of a fudge packet.
Eddie calls in a favour with police chum to find out more details on the animal mutilations, and finds they have had all suffered from fatal head wounds. Specifically all their teeth were forcefully removed. First there were a couple of cats but most recently a horse was the victim. He calls in on the local police constable who is quite disturbed by the whole thing and blames a Lymington gang, as that's definitely a rough area you can tell as they have a graffiti problem(!). He thinks it might be some satanic ritualistic thing as the victims were all found in fairy rings.
After Liz engages in some subtle surveillance (complete with hand written "SHHH!! birdwatching!" sign), her and Edek combine their skills to create a device that would give a 'ping!' and approximate location of local uninvited guests. They discover that the Philips house and some local fairy rings, ping.
The team spot the pattern of each mutilation happening along a line coming out from the ring in the Philip's back garden, and realise that the huge fairy ring where the fairy festival's closing dance will be in right in the path! They are on a clock!
Using salt and fungicide they destroy the next ring in line. That night Edek, Beth, and Liz watch the destroyed location and Eddie watches the Philips house.
It all seems quiet until Eddie sees some flickering blue light from inside the house, and then a light briefly appearing in the garden's ring before winking out. All is quiet at the destroyed ring, but when the team rush to the next one they find a de-toothed horse still warm and bloody. :(
The next day, bearing gifts of fudge, Beth and Liz talk their way into the Philips' home, and witness Sarah's vegetative state. They also spot and take Henry Philips' hand written field guide to 'fairies, pixies, and other little people', recently given to her by her mother from her deceased grandmothers possessions, as she is 'so into fairies'. They realise that, over excited by the annual fairy festival, Sarah decided to do the ritual for summoning a fairy with her recently lost tooth, but didn't do the all important 'bind' part of it. Sarah has been non responsive since. The fairy has gone on to use it's ability to move instantly from ring to ring when it senses a warm blooded creature, to obtain the teeth it craves and extend the distance it can travel.
Using the information from the book they are able to trap the fairy (which rather than a beautiful nymph, looks like a cross between a fetus and an stick insect or praying mantis).
They give Lisa the fairy and the book to return to the Order and are congratulated on a job well done (whilst Lisa tries to keep her composure around the flighty horrific gift she's just been given). The fairy festival can go on as planned and will not be the blood bath it could have been. Sarah remains in a coma, but there are no more mutilations in the area.
Their first joint operation is a success!
Whilst somewhat rushed at the end (due to time constraints) it was a fun game and I think well expressed the tone of future games.