Friday Night Game Report - Atlantis: The Second Age RPG, Session 29
Last night, the Friday night gaming group came out to continue their on-going campaign of the Atlantis: The Second Age RPG of sword & sorcery fantasy in the Antediluvian world. You can read about the previous session by following the link. This post is extremely 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:
Sahauviia the Green (Kathy) - Atlantean Sorceress
Koomara Hadansi (Angela) - Galacean Scavenger
Melucene Palleremos (Ellison) - Hesperian Priestess-in-Training
Vaino the One-Eyed (Mark) - Cimmerian Adventurer
Uratan of Pemba (Peter) - Asena Pemban Scout
28th Tashritu, Year 506 Meta Kataklysmos (M.K.)
Some two days later, the player Heroes continue their travels. Sahauviia the Green, Koomara Hadansi, Melucene Palleremos and Vaino the One-Eyed have started to get to know Uratan of Pemba somewhat. Koomara and Uratan are at odds and nearly come to blows, as the two cannot agree on matters pertaining to shelter. Koomara tells the others once more that there are Tharshesh travel sheds along the main caravan routes in the country, and that they should have already come upon one, but Uratan's decision to lead the characters in a slightly different direction the day before may have thrown them off the route. Uratan says this is not the first time that he's led a caravan or a group of people through these parts, but Sahauviia gets the feeling he's not being truthful with them on the subject. Finally bowing to Koomara's insistence that she knows what she's talking about, the player Heroes allow her to lead the way, though Uratan insists on joining her in the lead. Vaino merely shrugs at Sahauviia and Melucene, who tells them that the Goddess will show them the way, and the heroes proceed to follow Koomara through the Tharshi scrub terrain. Vaino approaches Koomara, and she tells him that she's not really sure now where the nearest traveller's shed is, but he tells her he has faith in her skills. His faith in her is rewarded late that day, when the Heroes reach one of the travel sheds. She merely gives Uratan a self-satisfied look, and the Heroes prepare to camp and rest for the night.
Guarding the travel shed during the night is Vaino's idea, an opinion shared by Uratan, and it is as dawn is approaching when the player Heroes are woken by Uratan shouting for them to wake. The player Heroes are somewhat shocked and surprised when a shadow passes overhead. Uratan shouts a warning about the gryphon! With a bird-like screeching, Koomara sees the creature swoop down at terrifying speed, snatch something off the ground near the small copse of trees where they tethered their horses, and then wing its way back into the sky without skipping a beat. Koomara angrily shouts that it's her horse, and without any care for the danger, runs to the terrified horses, quickly followed by the other player Heroes. Seeing her belongings scattered on the ground, as the gryphon tore the saddle bags free when it snatched the horse, Koomara gathers up her things while the others calm the remaining four horses. The angry Koomara tells the others that perhaps it would be best if they prepared to move on after a quick meal "to refresh our spirits". The area is too exposed for her taste, Vaino agreeing with her wholeheartedly, and she says that they may be able to find another travel shed in the Tharshesh lands bordering Galacea and its forested terrain; she warns the others that they can be dangerous, however, as brigands and bandits tend to prey on those who make use of them in the more outlying and savage parts of Tharshesh. Indicating that Vaino should lead the way, much to Uratan's bristling anger and annoyance, Koomara accepts Melucene's offer and mounts up behind her after re-configuring their belongings to fit on the horse.
The next couple of days pass uneventfully, the player Heroes seeing the massive forest that marks the border with Galacea approaching fast, and the first day of Arakhsamna finds the characters in the woodlands. The player Heroes visibly relax somewhat, though Uratan tells them that the terrain is similar to but does not remind him of the Pemban jungle. "Compared to the alpine forests of my homeland," Vaino says, "I am made uncomfortable and made wary by all this...green." Koomara seems quite happy as she simply tells the others: "I'm home...sort of." As the characters travel for the next several hours, Vaino and the others find a small, rutted path leading deeper into the forest. Koomara reassures him, as well as Uratan, that this is one of the trails and paths the natives who live in the Galacean woods use to travel the forest. She seems to be...excited, and when Sahauviia asks her during one their breaks in travel, tells the Atlantean sorceress that there are many ruins to be found in Galacea, which is sparsely inhabited, some even said to be First Age ruins. Sahauviia's eyes glisten at this, though she says nothing. She and the others notice that Koomara has her short bow prepared, and when they ask, Koomara tells them that Galacea has primitive tribes that live in the forests, but that it's the Arac, the legendary spider folk, that claim much of the land - especially near the ancient ruins she mentioned. Both Vaino and Uratan bring their weapons to hand, but Koomara merely laughs and continues to lead the way.
Over the next day or so, the terrain changes with the forest giving way to coarse scrub and then hillier land with scrub, trees, and a bit more cover. Vaino's sharp eye spots an area with rising, steep hills, as well as various trees and shrubs, among which can be seen various cairns, some large and some small. Most of the cairns do not appear to have been made by humans, as they are quite sizeable. The player Heroes note several things: the bark on most of the trees is sickly looking, there are tracks of some sort that Koomara tentatively identifies as perhaps belonging to the Arac(?), and there is a miasma in the air. Sahauviia notices that there is a bit of ground mist in the area of the cairns as well, and the horses are skittish and nervous. She tells the others that she believes there is some form of (ancient) magic at work here, perhaps relating to the cairns. After debating what to do, Vaino is adamant that he is not going to travel through the mist, as he won't leave his horse behind. Sahauviia tries to convince him that going through the misted area is safe, walking into the mist and then emerging several minutes later. Vaino remains determined however, and eventually an obviously reluctant Koomara and Melucene lead the characters due west and skirt the area of mist that seems to extend endlessly.
After several more hours of travel, with Vaino complaining all the way and Uratan becoming more irritable as they go, the Heroes come upon a stand of hanging trees [so-called because their branches end in noose-like patterns, and because they are habitually bathed in the blood of enemies by certain tribes where they are found]. Dismounting to examine the hanging trees - and the corpse that can be seen hanging in them - the Heroes are taken completely by surprise when a somewhat large group of primitives with bone spears and knives wearing bone armour rush at them. [The player Heroes take these to be Arac, but they are not.]
As fate (or luck?) would have it, Vaino and Uratan are at the forefront of the attack, and are hard pressed to defend themselves from so many attackers. Sahauviia casts a shield spell on herself [for PR 6], and moves over to where Koomara and Melucene are waiting for their attackers to come at them. The three female Heroes form a defensive triangle, Sahauviia hoping to use her shield to protect the others as best she can. The battle goes relatively well for the Heroes, considering they are outnumbered by admittedly weaker opponents. Unable to help the female Heroes, Vaino fights his way through some 8 of the natives, killing or maiming as he goes [expending Hero Points as needed] but still taking several serious wounds [taking some 12 points of damage from multiple attacks]. Uratan, still somewhat injured from the fight with the brigands, uses his dagger, bite and claws to inflict terrible damage on his 6 or so foes [using Hero Points to attack, do damage, and negate damage], and suffers a pair of wounds [for another 6 points of damage]. Using their agility and speed, Koomara and Melucene fight with their weapons (short sword and staff, respectively) and are able to kill several of the tribesmen [using most of their Hero Points in the fight], though they take some cutting and puncture wounds [they suffer 6 points of damage and 5 points of damage, respectively). Sahauviia attacks the primitives with her staff, relying on her shield spell to give her adequate protection, but suffers a nasty slash wound to her right leg [inflicting 5 points of damage]; she also gives her two female companions hope [lending them each a Hero Point]. Seeing that the fight is going against them, as they fall one by one, the primitives cry out in a lilting ululation - and the surviving among them flee into the misty, broken hilly terrain. The player Heroes can't believe what has just happened, and count themselves blessed to have survived. There are some twenty bodies of the primitives scattered around them.
The player Heroes assess their situation, and find that most of their wounds are minor but that a couple of the characters have suffered more serious injuries, notably Vaino, Koomara, and Uratan. Melucene and Sahauviia bind their wounds and those of their injured friends as best they can, and go in search of their horses which fled during the attack by the primitives. Uratan asks Koomara if those were the Arac, but she tells them they were not; Vaino says that from what he saw, they were Tharshesh exiles living a rough life in the wilderness here, a fact he says he gleaned from several of the weapons they carried and their features. Koomara says while that's all fine and dandy, they need to find shelter where they can rest and heal for a day or two, and has Vaino (injured as he is) lead the way with Uratan following him close behind. The player Heroes reach an area of forested hills with caves, and find a shelter for a day or two large enough to accommodate them all.
Several days later, the player Heroes emerge from the cave they were resting and recovering in, having re-gained their health [as well as a few Hero Points]. Uratan did a little bit of hunting for some extra food, and the Heroes had to deal with a couple of minor incursions by wild animals, but were able to drive them off easily enough. The player Heroes set off to the north once more, heading deeper into Galacea, and eventually re-enter one of the large forests that dominates the area. The player Heroes travel for several hours, and Sahauviia brings them to a halt. She tells the others that there is a strong feeling of magic in this area. Looking around, Koomara determines that they have come upon an overgrown set of ruins hidden in the forest. However, Uratan notes that there have been several other visitors in the area as well and points out various skeletal remains that he can see. Vaino looks around cautiously, drawing his battle axe as he does so, ever suspicious when there is magic in the area. Koomara tells the others that she wants to look around a bit - she *is* a scavenger, after all, and perhaps they can find something of use or value in the ruins. Melucene asks about whether they should do so, as she had told them the Arac protect places such as this. Koomara replies that there doesn't seem to be any evidence here of the spider folk, and the others eventually cave in and agree to look around the ruins for a couple of hours at most.
After an hour or so, Koomara expresses her frustration at what they have found so far. While there are a few trinkets to be found, worth almost nothing, the indications are these ruins are somewhat recent, no older than about thirty years. With Uratan's help, the player Heroes find several ruined structures overgrown with vegetation and earth, but are unable to gain entry to them. As the Heroes go deeper into the area of the ruins, Sahauviia tells them that the magic in the area is getting stronger...and more malevolent. Koomara is about to give up and tells Sahauviia that perhaps they should get back to their travels and ignore the ruins when the group comes upon what seems to be a series of mounds covered with vegetation and skeletal remains. Uratan tells the others that he has a bad feeling about this, and Vaino quickly draws his battle axe. Sahauviia tells the other Heroes to back away from the mounds, but it is too late. What are at first shadowy figures emerge from several of the skeletal heads adorning the various mounds and the player Heroes realise their danger - these are skull spiders! While some are merely rat-sized, there are a few that are the size of small dogs!
Friday night's session of the Atlantis: The Second Age RPG campaign was the second full session of the continuing campaign that started properly two weeks ago, and was a pretty decent session. There was a lot of roleplaying among the player Heroes themselves, and there was some definite tension and strife among the characters. That all melted away, as the player Heroes got their act together to deal with some threats, but emotions were still simmering under the surface. The players told me they had a pretty good time of it, and are enjoying the game world so far and seeing what it's all about. The action sequences in amidst the travel have given the players a sense of urgency, as they told me, but they also liked Angela's desire to explore the ruins they came upon, as it goes to show that the characters do keep their own interests close to the surface. One thing that surprised me a little bit was the fact that the fight against the group of disenfranchised Tharshi living in the Galacean wilderness taxed the player characters so much. I wasn't expecting it to be so close, but the players did a good job handling the fight, Hero Points and Tempting Fate being useful tools for them in the fight. Kathy admitted that she wondered at a couple of points in that fight if the player Heroes were going to survive it, but she and the other players were glad they had the blood flowing in that situation. A true example of Sword & Sorcery combat and what Heroes do in such situations.
Overall, the Friday night session of Atlantis: The Second Age was a terrific game session, with as much conflict coming from within the party of characters as from external sources. I'm looking forward to the next session of the game quite a lot. :)
CHARACTERS:
Sahauviia the Green (Kathy) - Atlantean Sorceress
Koomara Hadansi (Angela) - Galacean Scavenger
Melucene Palleremos (Ellison) - Hesperian Priestess-in-Training
Vaino the One-Eyed (Mark) - Cimmerian Adventurer
Uratan of Pemba (Peter) - Asena Pemban Scout
28th Tashritu, Year 506 Meta Kataklysmos (M.K.)
Some two days later, the player Heroes continue their travels. Sahauviia the Green, Koomara Hadansi, Melucene Palleremos and Vaino the One-Eyed have started to get to know Uratan of Pemba somewhat. Koomara and Uratan are at odds and nearly come to blows, as the two cannot agree on matters pertaining to shelter. Koomara tells the others once more that there are Tharshesh travel sheds along the main caravan routes in the country, and that they should have already come upon one, but Uratan's decision to lead the characters in a slightly different direction the day before may have thrown them off the route. Uratan says this is not the first time that he's led a caravan or a group of people through these parts, but Sahauviia gets the feeling he's not being truthful with them on the subject. Finally bowing to Koomara's insistence that she knows what she's talking about, the player Heroes allow her to lead the way, though Uratan insists on joining her in the lead. Vaino merely shrugs at Sahauviia and Melucene, who tells them that the Goddess will show them the way, and the heroes proceed to follow Koomara through the Tharshi scrub terrain. Vaino approaches Koomara, and she tells him that she's not really sure now where the nearest traveller's shed is, but he tells her he has faith in her skills. His faith in her is rewarded late that day, when the Heroes reach one of the travel sheds. She merely gives Uratan a self-satisfied look, and the Heroes prepare to camp and rest for the night.
Guarding the travel shed during the night is Vaino's idea, an opinion shared by Uratan, and it is as dawn is approaching when the player Heroes are woken by Uratan shouting for them to wake. The player Heroes are somewhat shocked and surprised when a shadow passes overhead. Uratan shouts a warning about the gryphon! With a bird-like screeching, Koomara sees the creature swoop down at terrifying speed, snatch something off the ground near the small copse of trees where they tethered their horses, and then wing its way back into the sky without skipping a beat. Koomara angrily shouts that it's her horse, and without any care for the danger, runs to the terrified horses, quickly followed by the other player Heroes. Seeing her belongings scattered on the ground, as the gryphon tore the saddle bags free when it snatched the horse, Koomara gathers up her things while the others calm the remaining four horses. The angry Koomara tells the others that perhaps it would be best if they prepared to move on after a quick meal "to refresh our spirits". The area is too exposed for her taste, Vaino agreeing with her wholeheartedly, and she says that they may be able to find another travel shed in the Tharshesh lands bordering Galacea and its forested terrain; she warns the others that they can be dangerous, however, as brigands and bandits tend to prey on those who make use of them in the more outlying and savage parts of Tharshesh. Indicating that Vaino should lead the way, much to Uratan's bristling anger and annoyance, Koomara accepts Melucene's offer and mounts up behind her after re-configuring their belongings to fit on the horse.
The next couple of days pass uneventfully, the player Heroes seeing the massive forest that marks the border with Galacea approaching fast, and the first day of Arakhsamna finds the characters in the woodlands. The player Heroes visibly relax somewhat, though Uratan tells them that the terrain is similar to but does not remind him of the Pemban jungle. "Compared to the alpine forests of my homeland," Vaino says, "I am made uncomfortable and made wary by all this...green." Koomara seems quite happy as she simply tells the others: "I'm home...sort of." As the characters travel for the next several hours, Vaino and the others find a small, rutted path leading deeper into the forest. Koomara reassures him, as well as Uratan, that this is one of the trails and paths the natives who live in the Galacean woods use to travel the forest. She seems to be...excited, and when Sahauviia asks her during one their breaks in travel, tells the Atlantean sorceress that there are many ruins to be found in Galacea, which is sparsely inhabited, some even said to be First Age ruins. Sahauviia's eyes glisten at this, though she says nothing. She and the others notice that Koomara has her short bow prepared, and when they ask, Koomara tells them that Galacea has primitive tribes that live in the forests, but that it's the Arac, the legendary spider folk, that claim much of the land - especially near the ancient ruins she mentioned. Both Vaino and Uratan bring their weapons to hand, but Koomara merely laughs and continues to lead the way.
Over the next day or so, the terrain changes with the forest giving way to coarse scrub and then hillier land with scrub, trees, and a bit more cover. Vaino's sharp eye spots an area with rising, steep hills, as well as various trees and shrubs, among which can be seen various cairns, some large and some small. Most of the cairns do not appear to have been made by humans, as they are quite sizeable. The player Heroes note several things: the bark on most of the trees is sickly looking, there are tracks of some sort that Koomara tentatively identifies as perhaps belonging to the Arac(?), and there is a miasma in the air. Sahauviia notices that there is a bit of ground mist in the area of the cairns as well, and the horses are skittish and nervous. She tells the others that she believes there is some form of (ancient) magic at work here, perhaps relating to the cairns. After debating what to do, Vaino is adamant that he is not going to travel through the mist, as he won't leave his horse behind. Sahauviia tries to convince him that going through the misted area is safe, walking into the mist and then emerging several minutes later. Vaino remains determined however, and eventually an obviously reluctant Koomara and Melucene lead the characters due west and skirt the area of mist that seems to extend endlessly.
After several more hours of travel, with Vaino complaining all the way and Uratan becoming more irritable as they go, the Heroes come upon a stand of hanging trees [so-called because their branches end in noose-like patterns, and because they are habitually bathed in the blood of enemies by certain tribes where they are found]. Dismounting to examine the hanging trees - and the corpse that can be seen hanging in them - the Heroes are taken completely by surprise when a somewhat large group of primitives with bone spears and knives wearing bone armour rush at them. [The player Heroes take these to be Arac, but they are not.]
As fate (or luck?) would have it, Vaino and Uratan are at the forefront of the attack, and are hard pressed to defend themselves from so many attackers. Sahauviia casts a shield spell on herself [for PR 6], and moves over to where Koomara and Melucene are waiting for their attackers to come at them. The three female Heroes form a defensive triangle, Sahauviia hoping to use her shield to protect the others as best she can. The battle goes relatively well for the Heroes, considering they are outnumbered by admittedly weaker opponents. Unable to help the female Heroes, Vaino fights his way through some 8 of the natives, killing or maiming as he goes [expending Hero Points as needed] but still taking several serious wounds [taking some 12 points of damage from multiple attacks]. Uratan, still somewhat injured from the fight with the brigands, uses his dagger, bite and claws to inflict terrible damage on his 6 or so foes [using Hero Points to attack, do damage, and negate damage], and suffers a pair of wounds [for another 6 points of damage]. Using their agility and speed, Koomara and Melucene fight with their weapons (short sword and staff, respectively) and are able to kill several of the tribesmen [using most of their Hero Points in the fight], though they take some cutting and puncture wounds [they suffer 6 points of damage and 5 points of damage, respectively). Sahauviia attacks the primitives with her staff, relying on her shield spell to give her adequate protection, but suffers a nasty slash wound to her right leg [inflicting 5 points of damage]; she also gives her two female companions hope [lending them each a Hero Point]. Seeing that the fight is going against them, as they fall one by one, the primitives cry out in a lilting ululation - and the surviving among them flee into the misty, broken hilly terrain. The player Heroes can't believe what has just happened, and count themselves blessed to have survived. There are some twenty bodies of the primitives scattered around them.
The player Heroes assess their situation, and find that most of their wounds are minor but that a couple of the characters have suffered more serious injuries, notably Vaino, Koomara, and Uratan. Melucene and Sahauviia bind their wounds and those of their injured friends as best they can, and go in search of their horses which fled during the attack by the primitives. Uratan asks Koomara if those were the Arac, but she tells them they were not; Vaino says that from what he saw, they were Tharshesh exiles living a rough life in the wilderness here, a fact he says he gleaned from several of the weapons they carried and their features. Koomara says while that's all fine and dandy, they need to find shelter where they can rest and heal for a day or two, and has Vaino (injured as he is) lead the way with Uratan following him close behind. The player Heroes reach an area of forested hills with caves, and find a shelter for a day or two large enough to accommodate them all.
Several days later, the player Heroes emerge from the cave they were resting and recovering in, having re-gained their health [as well as a few Hero Points]. Uratan did a little bit of hunting for some extra food, and the Heroes had to deal with a couple of minor incursions by wild animals, but were able to drive them off easily enough. The player Heroes set off to the north once more, heading deeper into Galacea, and eventually re-enter one of the large forests that dominates the area. The player Heroes travel for several hours, and Sahauviia brings them to a halt. She tells the others that there is a strong feeling of magic in this area. Looking around, Koomara determines that they have come upon an overgrown set of ruins hidden in the forest. However, Uratan notes that there have been several other visitors in the area as well and points out various skeletal remains that he can see. Vaino looks around cautiously, drawing his battle axe as he does so, ever suspicious when there is magic in the area. Koomara tells the others that she wants to look around a bit - she *is* a scavenger, after all, and perhaps they can find something of use or value in the ruins. Melucene asks about whether they should do so, as she had told them the Arac protect places such as this. Koomara replies that there doesn't seem to be any evidence here of the spider folk, and the others eventually cave in and agree to look around the ruins for a couple of hours at most.
After an hour or so, Koomara expresses her frustration at what they have found so far. While there are a few trinkets to be found, worth almost nothing, the indications are these ruins are somewhat recent, no older than about thirty years. With Uratan's help, the player Heroes find several ruined structures overgrown with vegetation and earth, but are unable to gain entry to them. As the Heroes go deeper into the area of the ruins, Sahauviia tells them that the magic in the area is getting stronger...and more malevolent. Koomara is about to give up and tells Sahauviia that perhaps they should get back to their travels and ignore the ruins when the group comes upon what seems to be a series of mounds covered with vegetation and skeletal remains. Uratan tells the others that he has a bad feeling about this, and Vaino quickly draws his battle axe. Sahauviia tells the other Heroes to back away from the mounds, but it is too late. What are at first shadowy figures emerge from several of the skeletal heads adorning the various mounds and the player Heroes realise their danger - these are skull spiders! While some are merely rat-sized, there are a few that are the size of small dogs!
Friday night's session of the Atlantis: The Second Age RPG campaign was the second full session of the continuing campaign that started properly two weeks ago, and was a pretty decent session. There was a lot of roleplaying among the player Heroes themselves, and there was some definite tension and strife among the characters. That all melted away, as the player Heroes got their act together to deal with some threats, but emotions were still simmering under the surface. The players told me they had a pretty good time of it, and are enjoying the game world so far and seeing what it's all about. The action sequences in amidst the travel have given the players a sense of urgency, as they told me, but they also liked Angela's desire to explore the ruins they came upon, as it goes to show that the characters do keep their own interests close to the surface. One thing that surprised me a little bit was the fact that the fight against the group of disenfranchised Tharshi living in the Galacean wilderness taxed the player characters so much. I wasn't expecting it to be so close, but the players did a good job handling the fight, Hero Points and Tempting Fate being useful tools for them in the fight. Kathy admitted that she wondered at a couple of points in that fight if the player Heroes were going to survive it, but she and the other players were glad they had the blood flowing in that situation. A true example of Sword & Sorcery combat and what Heroes do in such situations.
Overall, the Friday night session of Atlantis: The Second Age was a terrific game session, with as much conflict coming from within the party of characters as from external sources. I'm looking forward to the next session of the game quite a lot. :)