Sunday Afternoon Game Report - Atlantis: The Second Age RPG Session 9
On Sunday (the 3rd of May), the players continued to play in their Atlantis: The Second Age campaign, continuing on from where they left off. Here are the game session notes. You can read about the previous game session in this journal entry. This post may be somewhat long, so I've put it behind a cut so that folks who don't want to read any detailed rpg posts don't have to.
CHARACTERS:
Anan the Wanderer (Steven P. Ross) - Ophirite Adventurer
Alethea (Tammy Powers) - Saturnian Mercenary
Dubaku of Ophir (NPC) - Ophirite Sorcerer
Orabela the Silent (NPC) - Balam Tharshi Thief
21st Du'uzu, Year 506 Second Age (SA)
Anan the Wanderer wakes to find he's not dead, though his left leg is lame [SPD at -1). He's lying in darkness on a cot, a speckle of light coming from the roof overhead, stark naked, his injury obviously tended and bound tightly. He tries to rise, but collapses from the pain and physical weakness. There is a musty scent to the room he's in. He calls out, but there is no answer. Anan reaches down to the floor - feels dirt and grit, and hears a scuttling. Before he can react, there is a flare of light from a torch, being held by a man who enters the room. An old man, wearing faded robes, with long white hair and green eyes. He says his name is Hodon, and he's the one who healed Anan. He casually ignites several torches around the
room using magic, and Hodor and Anan talk, the latter telling him half-truths about why he has come to Cadaza, and Hodon says he's a transient and a fool, and the sorcerer tells Anan that he knows the truth. Anan finally admits that he's an adventurer and a transient. Hodon's apprentice, Tala (a 12-year-old girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes), enters the room with bread and broth, and she and Hodon re-treat Anan's wounds. They both leave, telling Anan to rest and sleep and give his wounds time to heal.
Meanwhile, Alethea exits the North Dock Gate of the city to find the area of the city exterior where the mercenary companies were based devastated, a series of blasted ruins. All of the mercenary headquarters are either razed or levelled and in ruins, none worse for wear than that of Namtu's Fighters. Part of the city wall appears to have been used as a weapon on the mercenary base, the massive chunk of rock having flattened most of the building. Alethea cautiously makes her way uneventfully to the ruins of the headquarters of Namtu's Fighters. She is more stunned and shocked than anything else, and doesn't really take it all in. Smoke and dirt still fill the air, and there is a miasma of death about the place. It takes her a good half hour to find a point of egress into the building. She spots one body with two empty weapon sheaths, while all the other bodies in the area are still fully armed. Alethea looks around to see if anyone's lurking, but spots no one. As she cautiously makes her way through the ruined building, she finds other bodies that have perished through expected means (crushed or blasted by magic), but several have been killed by weapons and a few have died seemingly of fright. She hears a nearby disturbance as some of the debris nearby is shifted. Alethea spots a jaguar woman [Orabela the Silent] who, on seeing the mercenary, brings her claws out. The two engage in verbal pleasantries, and decide that they are not mutually hostile.
Anan wakes to find that he's feeling somewhat better. He realises that he's in some kind of shoppe. Seeing his clothing and equipment over in a corner, he hobbles over and dresses as best he can. He goes to the shoppe entrance and looks out, and sees a small agora with lots of people going about their business. Obviously a currently safe part of Cadaza. He is spotted by a Sorcerer from Tartessos whom he cheated at gambling. He impulsively ducks back inside the shoppe [and loses 5 Renown]. There is a roar of "Anan!!!" from outside, and the building shakes violently as it is rocked by a spell. As he looks up, Anan sees the roof collapsing and as he tries to shield himself, Luck is with him as the collapsing area locks around him, protecting him, but trapping him in the rubble and the ruin. Coughing, and through the smoke, debris, and the dust, Anan sees a glimmer of green light below him...
Alethea and Orabela talk, introducing themselves, and the latter recognises the former as one of Namtu's Fighters. They both recognise each other as Saturnian sisters. As a sign of trust, Orabela tosses Alethea a pouch of coins she's looted from the ruins, Orabela telling the mercenary that she has a couple of others for herself. Orabela hears someone coming, and the two women conceal themselves behind some rubble. Two mercenaries with somethng odd about them that the women can't identify stride past them, and then continue deeper into the ruins. Orabela whispers in Alethea's ear, and she jumps. They decide to follow the two "mercenaries". As they walk along cautiously, the two hear a slithering sound, and see an iridescent green snake, about 2 metres long. Orabela is fearful and repulsed by the creature. The two decide to head back into Cadaza proper, as Alethea wants to see if her friend Metnu Jormelif is all right. They'll head for Iemanja's temple. Orabela asks Alethea if she has heard of Orestes the Black-Tongued. She tells her that she has, and the Balam tells her that she's going to kill him one day for being responsible for her family's death.
Still talking as they exit the ruins of Namtu's Fighters mercenary base, they're taken by surprise by two burly mercenaries wearing scavenged armour armed with dagger, longsword, and battle axes. Both also have slung shields, taken from dead mercenaries of Namtu's Fighters. As the fight begins, Orabela uses her cat-like reflexes and dodges the mercenary's blows until he strikes her, inflicting minimal damage and angering the Balam. With a pair of devastating strikes [and several Hero Points spent], Orabela inflicts some serious damage to the surprised mercenary. Alethea and her foe also exchange blows to no effect, until the latter takes some wounds, finally. She loses her spear, jamming it into a stony gap in the wall of the ruins, and then uses her longsword. They continue to fight to a draw. The mercenaries, who are both wounded, decide not fight over the loot that might still be left, and agree to depart peacefully. Once they are gone, Orabela comments on the exhilaration of the fight, and while Alethea agrees, the latter staunches her bleeding wounds.
I had a pretty good afternoon of Atlantis: The Second Age, marred only by one thing that I'll get to momentarily. The game session went pretty well, the two players getting involved with a few things (though I use the term loosely in one player's case) and the basic plot unfolding rather nicely. Both Tammy and spross's characters met new people, and in some cases, made new friends, and there was a pretty good fight sequence at the end of the session that allowed both Tammy and me to exercise some of our afternoon frustration. Once more, spross continued to present an inconsistent, mostly out of character, type of characterisation and my annoyance and frustration knew no end at one point. His character doesn't have a personality, and as a result, spross really has no idea who or what his character *is*. This is leading to some really weird, and inconsistent, stuff on the character's part. Totally out of character (no pun intended) for the sword & sorcery genre. And I really wish he would get his act together. Other than that, there was a lot of good stuff that went down this session, so I was pretty happy with how things went.
In any event, I'm looking forward to continuing this adventure this weekend (though that may not happen, given that it's Mother's Day), and seeing how things unfold. So far, so good. :)
CHARACTERS:
Anan the Wanderer (Steven P. Ross) - Ophirite Adventurer
Alethea (Tammy Powers) - Saturnian Mercenary
Dubaku of Ophir (NPC) - Ophirite Sorcerer
Orabela the Silent (NPC) - Balam Tharshi Thief
21st Du'uzu, Year 506 Second Age (SA)
Anan the Wanderer wakes to find he's not dead, though his left leg is lame [SPD at -1). He's lying in darkness on a cot, a speckle of light coming from the roof overhead, stark naked, his injury obviously tended and bound tightly. He tries to rise, but collapses from the pain and physical weakness. There is a musty scent to the room he's in. He calls out, but there is no answer. Anan reaches down to the floor - feels dirt and grit, and hears a scuttling. Before he can react, there is a flare of light from a torch, being held by a man who enters the room. An old man, wearing faded robes, with long white hair and green eyes. He says his name is Hodon, and he's the one who healed Anan. He casually ignites several torches around the
room using magic, and Hodor and Anan talk, the latter telling him half-truths about why he has come to Cadaza, and Hodon says he's a transient and a fool, and the sorcerer tells Anan that he knows the truth. Anan finally admits that he's an adventurer and a transient. Hodon's apprentice, Tala (a 12-year-old girl with dark hair and bright blue eyes), enters the room with bread and broth, and she and Hodon re-treat Anan's wounds. They both leave, telling Anan to rest and sleep and give his wounds time to heal.
Meanwhile, Alethea exits the North Dock Gate of the city to find the area of the city exterior where the mercenary companies were based devastated, a series of blasted ruins. All of the mercenary headquarters are either razed or levelled and in ruins, none worse for wear than that of Namtu's Fighters. Part of the city wall appears to have been used as a weapon on the mercenary base, the massive chunk of rock having flattened most of the building. Alethea cautiously makes her way uneventfully to the ruins of the headquarters of Namtu's Fighters. She is more stunned and shocked than anything else, and doesn't really take it all in. Smoke and dirt still fill the air, and there is a miasma of death about the place. It takes her a good half hour to find a point of egress into the building. She spots one body with two empty weapon sheaths, while all the other bodies in the area are still fully armed. Alethea looks around to see if anyone's lurking, but spots no one. As she cautiously makes her way through the ruined building, she finds other bodies that have perished through expected means (crushed or blasted by magic), but several have been killed by weapons and a few have died seemingly of fright. She hears a nearby disturbance as some of the debris nearby is shifted. Alethea spots a jaguar woman [Orabela the Silent] who, on seeing the mercenary, brings her claws out. The two engage in verbal pleasantries, and decide that they are not mutually hostile.
Anan wakes to find that he's feeling somewhat better. He realises that he's in some kind of shoppe. Seeing his clothing and equipment over in a corner, he hobbles over and dresses as best he can. He goes to the shoppe entrance and looks out, and sees a small agora with lots of people going about their business. Obviously a currently safe part of Cadaza. He is spotted by a Sorcerer from Tartessos whom he cheated at gambling. He impulsively ducks back inside the shoppe [and loses 5 Renown]. There is a roar of "Anan!!!" from outside, and the building shakes violently as it is rocked by a spell. As he looks up, Anan sees the roof collapsing and as he tries to shield himself, Luck is with him as the collapsing area locks around him, protecting him, but trapping him in the rubble and the ruin. Coughing, and through the smoke, debris, and the dust, Anan sees a glimmer of green light below him...
Alethea and Orabela talk, introducing themselves, and the latter recognises the former as one of Namtu's Fighters. They both recognise each other as Saturnian sisters. As a sign of trust, Orabela tosses Alethea a pouch of coins she's looted from the ruins, Orabela telling the mercenary that she has a couple of others for herself. Orabela hears someone coming, and the two women conceal themselves behind some rubble. Two mercenaries with somethng odd about them that the women can't identify stride past them, and then continue deeper into the ruins. Orabela whispers in Alethea's ear, and she jumps. They decide to follow the two "mercenaries". As they walk along cautiously, the two hear a slithering sound, and see an iridescent green snake, about 2 metres long. Orabela is fearful and repulsed by the creature. The two decide to head back into Cadaza proper, as Alethea wants to see if her friend Metnu Jormelif is all right. They'll head for Iemanja's temple. Orabela asks Alethea if she has heard of Orestes the Black-Tongued. She tells her that she has, and the Balam tells her that she's going to kill him one day for being responsible for her family's death.
Still talking as they exit the ruins of Namtu's Fighters mercenary base, they're taken by surprise by two burly mercenaries wearing scavenged armour armed with dagger, longsword, and battle axes. Both also have slung shields, taken from dead mercenaries of Namtu's Fighters. As the fight begins, Orabela uses her cat-like reflexes and dodges the mercenary's blows until he strikes her, inflicting minimal damage and angering the Balam. With a pair of devastating strikes [and several Hero Points spent], Orabela inflicts some serious damage to the surprised mercenary. Alethea and her foe also exchange blows to no effect, until the latter takes some wounds, finally. She loses her spear, jamming it into a stony gap in the wall of the ruins, and then uses her longsword. They continue to fight to a draw. The mercenaries, who are both wounded, decide not fight over the loot that might still be left, and agree to depart peacefully. Once they are gone, Orabela comments on the exhilaration of the fight, and while Alethea agrees, the latter staunches her bleeding wounds.
I had a pretty good afternoon of Atlantis: The Second Age, marred only by one thing that I'll get to momentarily. The game session went pretty well, the two players getting involved with a few things (though I use the term loosely in one player's case) and the basic plot unfolding rather nicely. Both Tammy and spross's characters met new people, and in some cases, made new friends, and there was a pretty good fight sequence at the end of the session that allowed both Tammy and me to exercise some of our afternoon frustration. Once more, spross continued to present an inconsistent, mostly out of character, type of characterisation and my annoyance and frustration knew no end at one point. His character doesn't have a personality, and as a result, spross really has no idea who or what his character *is*. This is leading to some really weird, and inconsistent, stuff on the character's part. Totally out of character (no pun intended) for the sword & sorcery genre. And I really wish he would get his act together. Other than that, there was a lot of good stuff that went down this session, so I was pretty happy with how things went.
In any event, I'm looking forward to continuing this adventure this weekend (though that may not happen, given that it's Mother's Day), and seeing how things unfold. So far, so good. :)