Session 1: The House of the Three Squires

[Faolan7]

Do tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, or if I should do something differently. Also, apologies for no pictures.

Nearly a month ago, the monastery you called home was burned to ash. A giant bolt of lightning fell from the sky, splitting the building in two and instantly igniting the wood. Chaos quickly ensued, and, sadly, many died. Blaming the unholy for upsetting the Lords, the church decided Magda and Isabelle were to be exiled from Kroyia.

That was until Bishop Borgia convinced the head of the church to let them prove themselves. He recommended that the duo investigate a rumor about strange monsters in a small, hidden village near Thornwood. Neither the church nor the state believe these rumors, as monsters have been banished thousands of years ago, but with the now undead Swelan, the church agreed to let them go, on one condition. Isabelle’s mentor, Peitharian, was instructed to go with the group in order to keep them in line, and Swelan was instructed to go to prove his humanity.

On your journey to Newln, the hidden village, you come across the renowned House of the Three Squires. The travel so far has been easy, with warm and pleasant weather. However, as you approach the House, you get a feeling that your luck may be about to turn around. Not only is the sun beginning to set with dark clouds rolling in, the House’s stockade gate swings open in the wind.

Something is very wrong here at the House. The building appears to be deserted, or maybe ransacked, as when you enter the House of the Three Squires, you find that the furniture has been thrown about, and a trail of blood leads into the kitchen and down the cellar.

Example Goals:
-I'll discover what happened to this House's clients.
-I will rescue any poor souls trapped below.
-I must drive out the evil that has overtaken this place.
-I will impress by companions with my bravery.
-I will loot this place for all it's worth.
-I will track the blood trail to its source.

[Marullus]

The last month has been hard for Isabelle; she is really starting to hold a grudge against house fires. She escaped the burning monetary with the help of Peitharian, but could not escape the horrible flood of memories from five years before, seeing her parents trapped and unable to escape, burned alive before her eyes in the last fire to up-end her life. It was the first time she met Swelan, who had been among those of the Church on-hand, those who claimed her before Loren arrived, those that gave her a new home. Now her church-home burned just like her cottage and Swelan burned too, just like her father. But the Gods bring him back while my parents stay dead.

She is deep in her thoughts, moody, uncertain, prone to quiet tears. The church declared her a monster and discusses her banishment... The only home she knows, deciding she doesn't deserve to ever have a home again. She was sent to "prove herself," lumped in with Magda the Bogeyman. She is the monster, not me... I'm not a vampire. I don't drink blood. I am NOT like her, she thought in her sobs alone in the dark.

As they've travelled, she found her greatest solace in routines. Setting up camp, taking down camp, cooking meals for them, things she would do in a home... If she had a home. Things that she did for Peitharian, things that made her normal. But she couldn't escape it, the abnormal. She could forget the oddness as she cooked, but then faced that Magda and Swelan couldn't eat food.. Because they weren't people. She would retreat sullenly back into her thoughts invariably, feeding the food uneaten by her undead companions to her dog, Morgul. She sat alone and read, sought answers in church doctrine, the comforting finality of its pronouncements -- Undead are unclean and unholy and have no place on this earth. She considered her companions. They are the monsters, not me. I am not undead. I am a real girl. I am not like them. Besides, there aren't monsters, not any more. But inside, it gnawed.. Like none of those things were true, either.

As they approach the house, a lump rises in her throat. Fear. Excitement. Terror. Discovery. "What is this Morgul?" she whispers to her massive mastiff hound. Monsters. Real monsters that do real horrors. Her intellectual curiosity far outweighs her self-preserving fear. She pads softly towards the door, keeping Morgul near, whispering, "We need to know what did this."

[Faolan7]

For clarification, where is Isabelle going? Is she moving toward the House door, or the kitchen/cellar door?

[Marullus]

I assume the kitchen and cellar door are inside the house door? So, I was moving towards the house door, hoping there would be further reveals when her discerning eye looks inside and also allowing room for other PC actions to trump her with their actions. I am the first to post, but not guaranteed to be the primary action.

[Faolan7]

Entering the house, Isabelle finds it to be devoid of life. Without searching carefully, she finds the trail of blood leading into the kitchen, and the common rooms shows obvious signs of a struggle, as most of the furniture is destroyed and knocked over. A strange, unpleasant odor hangs in the air.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Seeing signs of struggle and what appears to be blood, Swelan steps in front of the rest of the party. Should anything dangerous present itself, he is prepared to use his husk-of-a-body to protect his companions. He has seen the sideways glances from the others and knows he must earn their trust.

Swelan looks around the foyer, taking note of the number and location of all adjacent rooms. This looks dire. Shall we inspect the upper floors or follow that... Blood? He is hesitant to point out that, in undeath, he does not breathe, so he must rely on his sight.

What is the lighting?

[Marullus]

Isabelle's mind spins with all the creature's of legend she has read about in books, looking at the evidence before her. What is that smell? What is strong enough? What can I tell about the splatter?

She pads gently around the room on the balls of her feet, her diminutive hands lifting debris gently. She pauses, looking to Mogul. "What do you smell, Morgul? Show me what you smell." The others see her close her eyes, nose twitching, as Morgul sniffs in unison.

[Enoch]

It sounds like we're starting in the cellar, then? What does the room look like? Or are we in the kitchen still, and just see the blood leading into the cellar?

[Rusty Tincanne]

good question. I was thinking we are just inside the front door, in some sort of a foyer where we can see hints of all the rooms adjacent, but no actual detail.

[Marullus]

I read it as:

• We're in the first room(s) of the house.
• We see a blatant blood trail into the kitchen, then through it to the basement. (My goal is to follow it and confirm what creature did this)
• We haven't searched carefully but there is more to find if we do so
• There is a clue in the "odd smell"

Isabelle is angling first towards the search/odd smell. If it is a "say yes" moment, we'll know momentarily (saying we look means we find). If it is a testable moment, I tried to set up a Lore Master test with a helping die for using the dog's sense of smell on the odd scent (as she can channel his senses). We'd need to know if Theologian or Scholar are eligible to help.

[Faolan7]

Marullus is correct. Your characters are currently in the common room, where all the tables and chairs here have been thrown about or destroyed. The blood trail leads into the kitchen.

Swelan: There aren't additional rooms downstairs. There's just the kitchen and the common room, but there is a stairway leading upstairs, where you can assume the sleeping rooms are. There isn't any additional lighting in the House, so the only light comes through the windows from the setting sun. It isn't Dim lighting quite yet, so torches are unnecessary at this point.

Isabelle: The scent is unlike anything that has crossed your nostrils. Make a Lore Master test to use your studies to identify this scent. In this case, I'd say Scholar could help, but not Theologian because this isn't a religious thing, nor related to angels or demons (Spoilers!). As always, if you can come up with a reason for something else to help, feel free to try. For example, using Hunter to identify the scent using your tracking abilities. Took a little while to rationalize Lore Master, but I see it now.

[Marullus]

What is the OB for the Lore Master test?

[Faolan7]

Oops! Sorry! I forgot I was supposed to give you the difficulty (Still used to Pathfinder). I apologize. It's a Ob 2 Lore Master test. Sorry for forgetting that.

[Enoch]

I am willing to help with Hunter, if desired.

Magda wrinkles her nose, though her eyes keep darting back to the blood trail, and every so often she shuffles half a step in that direction, seemingly involuntarily.

"That is...an unusual smell. I don't think..."

[Marullus]

Okay, our first roll! Assumptions on our process:

• Help consent is assumed unless directly stated.
• The roller includes help from other's sheets if it can apply.
• Everyone gets to add with their own posts, explaining their help and coloring the scene.
• If someone wants to help with a wise instead of skill, they can state that even retroactive if it applies.

Right?

Isabelle is rolling 2D Loremaster + 1D Fresh + 1D thoughtful +1D tools (dog's sense of smell) + 1D Hunter (or Loremaster) from Magda +1D scholar from Peith. Swelan doesn't have Lore Master or Scholar and this isn't a battlefield or wilderness. So, he's not on the test.

Sound right? Making sure we do a walk through before the first dice roll.

[Enoch]

Just a mechanical/metagame suggestion (BW games expect metagaming and design their systems so that metagaming serves the story): with so many dice to throw against Ob 2, I'd use Thoughtful or another trait against yourself and earn a check. Maybe you over think it a bit.

[Marullus]

A solid suggestion. I would rather use Moonchild against myself, though, instead of just "over thinking it." Suddenly trying to access powers that you've been repressing for five years has consequences and is better fodder for the GM if this turns out a failure.

Remove +1D for Thoughtful. Add +1 Ob for Moonchild.
Final roll: 6D vs Ob 3

In Isabelle's memory, she is again back in Hazla, poring over her worn out copy of Magical Beasts and How to Find Them, her favorite text as a child. It never worked; they don't exist anymore, the practical student of the Church within her chides. But something does, something that's here she thinks excitedly. In her mind, she thumbs through all the volumes of lore - fairy tales and make-believe to others, but if she were real then they had to be too - trying to remember all she could on smells like this one. Morgul the Hound watches her with intelligent eyes, waiting, more than just a dog but also a wellspring of her powers. Powers denied while striving to be normal... Excited by the odd smell, the opportunity for discovery, she opens herself to Morgul, joining senses as she loved doing as a child in Hazla.

[1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 4 [1d6] = 1 [1d6] = 6 [1d6] = 3 [1d6] = 6
Four successes, one check earned, one test towards the grind...

The senses, the otherworldly knowledge, wash over the girl, who momentarily is overcome by the rush, a flood released by the cracks in her self-repressive walls. It is alarming to the others around her for a moment before she recovers enough to resume speaking. Isabelle and Morgul sniffing in unison, she works together with Magda and Peith to search the room, her thousand-yard-stare eyes looking through them as she speaks, interpreting clues as they go.

[Rusty Tincanne]

2D Loremaster + 1D Fresh +1D tools (dog's sense of smell) + 1D Hunter (or Loremaster) from Magda +1D scholar from Peith = 6D
-1 for moonchild
Shouldn't that have been 5D v Ob3? Though with that margin of success, it doesn't really matter.

Swelan tries to avoid feeling helpless by keeping watch for anything that might pose a danger. He is pleased to see the two young women working together. And pleased to see he still finds pleasure at something in the world.

[Marullus]

Shouldn't that have been 5D v Ob3? Though with that margin of success, it doesn't really matter.[/ooc].

My bad. I did a +1Ob instead of -1D. It should've been 5D vs Ob2 instead of 6D vs Ob3. No difference to the results.

[Faolan7]

Instead of taking -1D, Marullus increased the test to Ob 3. It's effectively the same thing, so I'm not worried about it.
Edit: Ninja'd by Marullus.

Isabelle: The origin of the smell comes easily to you. The scent appears be a kobold, or a number of them, as the strength of the scent gives away.
End turn 1. 12 more turns until end of session.

Swelan: The common room appears to be abandoned. Whatever attacked the patrons of the House has already left.