A man in a cloak, holding a sword and torch, looks upon a room full of water, skeletons, and treasures as strange shapes representing monsters are in the back.

Arden remembers this place vividly. A place of unknown death and a whispered warning shouted loud.
Image © Dean Spencer

Previously, on the Stone Crack'd...

Rescuing some children from a demon's attack, Arden and Co get caught up in a centuries long squabble between the village of Tyv and the two of Jorn. Both lay claim to the legacy of Kind Brother Hyrdale and his art and both have a single relic from the past. Arden pretends to accept a request to steal Jorn's relic in order to investigate but after getting there, and befriending a young priest named Danna, he finds that not only is the relic blank but the image depicted—a wolf bright and colorful—has come to a ghostly life and is "haunting" the moorland near Jorn.

About The Bloody Hands

The once great Khelia Empire has crumbled due to a long war between mages (The Troubles). After five generations (roughly a century and a half) a new technology has been developed: The Veil. Its anti-magical properties allow the remnants of the empire to rebuild without the threat of mages and their creatures of darkness they used to lay waste to towns and cities. Now the Arcane Order employs Guardians and Agents to protect the Veil. Guadian Arden Ulet, a Seer, was given a fool's errand task of tracking down a shadow organization knowing for its signature mark: two bloody hand prints left at the scene of their crimes. Only Arden has made fast friends and loyal allies and have dived deeper than the Order expected. As he gains in power and reputation, he beings to suspect the truth of "The Bloody Hands" is something more sinister and devious than he ever imagined.

Content Warning: Fantasy violence, extremely mild smoking and drinking.

This post is in RECAP style. The upper portions are a recap of what happened, some notes, and commentary. The actual session is down in the ACTUAL PLAY NOTES section which is presented as only mildly edited ad mostly raw and so has a variety of asides, reasonings, tables, and such built in. See the about page for this blog for more details. The Image Oracles described in the post (gamemaster phases and mechanic notes, especially) are from the Guardians of the Shadow Frontier one-sheet (CC-BY Richard Woolcock and Zadmar Games). They can be seen on the Tricube Image Oracles page.

The Stone Crack'd 05 - The Triptych Healed

The Hound of the Jorns Fields and the Explosive Storm

Sheriff Tynsdale, Danna, and Arden set out into the moorland east of Jorn and try to find the strange living painting. The weather has begin to lessen and the storm has passed through. The stretch they are on was once fruit orchards now going native. Old farm walls mark plots of land abandoned by farmers.

After several hours, Arden finally gets a sense of where the "wolf" has gone. It is at a secondary quarry from the main, a branch that has been let go for a few years due to it being unstable to mine. When they get there, they find a surprising extra sight. Someone has decided to camp out in the shadow of this quarry, using the old rough walls to block some of the wind and the rain.

At this point, Arden gets a sense of great mischief going down. Nol Quint is getting their revenge by first sneaking into The Stormy Bottle Tavern, stealing what seems to be an old jar stored behind the bar (actually a literal storm jar), and then using the bottled up storm inside to drive people inside to distract them while Nol gets away with the painting (not yet knowing it is blank). Arden senses also that this storm will slam into this old, rickety quarry wall and crush the tent underneath.

While Danna and the sheriff look on in shock, Arden suddenly starts shouting and runs to the tent to start pulling people out. A trio of older ladies and some of their family and servants are inside. Unlike the locals, they recognize the Guardian uniform that Arden is wearing and can tell he is serious about them fleeing. The people rush away from the quarry right as the freshly born storm hits the area and knocks people down and sends rocking crashing into the land below. Arden pulls everyone to one of the old walls that he senses will stay standing, and gets people into a rough approximation of shelter.

Arden then takes off running back for Jorn as the campers go and try and reclaim some of their stuff and the "wolf" howls and paws at something hidden behind the rock walls.

The Second Confrontation against Nol Quint

Danna and the sheriff decide to follow Arden as they start running through town to find Nol and the painting. Arden, driven by his vision still turning in his mind, leads them through a quick chase with the locals' help to the spot where Nol is trying, and failing, to reclaim their horse in a hurry. Nol Quint is arrested.

Turns out that Nol, not fully understanding the power of the bottle, had opened it up inside of the church itself. The resulting shock wave slammed into the sturdy walls but did not break them (it did shatter the windows). Nol ended up taking the brunt of the storm's fury as it poured out of the church and exploded into the surrounding area.

Nol is arrested for the theft, for the damages caused, and for the potential loss of life. The blank canvas which did survive the storm intact is regained.

Arden Collapses Trying to Commune

Arden says he needs to go back to the old quarry and try to solve this. Jansen tries to join to make up for his previous interference but Arden says Jansen is not to blame and should stay. Danna does join him, though.

Arden returns to his attempt to connect with the "wolf." The spiritual beast is still digging at the walls and is resisting communication. Arden senses that the wolf is reacting to some sort of transformed desire. Something intended has gone wrong and only by solving that can .

While attempting to help dig out whatever the wolf is trying to show him, as the disrupted campers look on from below, Arden reaches his exhaustion point and collapses.

A Vision Back to the Past

Arden wakes up inside of a vision. He has returned to one of his first assignments, an assignment that was meant to break or possibly kill the young Ulet before he could become a full guardian. A new wizard had found the resting place of the Arch Wizard Komodulus. Years ago, Komodulus had led the final assault on Khalid City before the Arcane Order had been formed to end The Troubles. One of their first victories was fatally injuring the arch wizard. Komodulus had a shield that allowed him to freeze the water and air around him and that shield was buried alongside him. Now this new wizard is trying to retrieve it.

In the past, Arden was supposed to fight the wizard over the shield. Instead, he convinced her to leave it and be free.

Now, instead of the dungeon of the past, it is blended with various elements more recently. The wolf guides Arden forward while a kindly old voice has entered Arden's head and keeps asking about different types of success and fulfilment: social success (such as wealth) versus natural success (such as strength) versus spiritual success (such as knowing contentment). In all cases, Arden denies them. Arden feels that success is not achievable, you can only gain progress.

The voice, which is Brother Hyrdale, guides Arden on. Arden asks what happiness Hyrdale wants and Hyrdale replies that he only ever wanted home. All of his long travels and gifts were just trying to share his home.

They are in a room, now, that was in the real world the site of Komodulus's bedroom and his final resting place. Only instead of the young wizard, it is Daniel Quint and Sasha Bell (the mayors of Tyv and Jorn). They have a triptych with one side being the painting of monetary wealth in Tyv and the other side being the painting of the great rainbow wolf in the ancient forest that was in Jorn. The middle painting is of a young boy staring contently at the sky on a farm.

Arden has the storm bottle and asks what he should do. He is told to carve three intricate lines in his hand like lightning bolts and fill the bottle with his blood. Not really explained to Arden is that the storm bottle was created to channel The Shallow's storms and use them in intricate machinery that Hyrdale used. The bottle had been filled with the Saint's blood and stored brewing for years.

Doing what he is told, Arden creates a storm that rips through the vision's room and it shatters the storm bottle, further cutting Arden's hand, while also shattering the frames of the paintings. The three paintings, freed, combine into a single one: the three successes of Hyrdale's life.

The Tunnel and the Triptych Healed

Arden wakes up to find he has been unconscious for days. Jalmar has been watching over him. His hand now has a new sigil of three lightning bolts on it with a magic inside that rivals even the most powerful Order sigils. The voice in his head has called Arden "Stormlight."

That night, he returns to the quarry to meet the wolf again. He finds the folks from the tent are still there and now takes time to talk to them. One is a librarian who has decided to try and collect all the knowledge that was scattered by The Troubles and build an archives somewhere. Her sister and friend came with her along with some family and servants.

Finding the spot where the wolf is trying to dig, Arden clears it aside with help and exposes a door. In the door is a strange glass sphere. Arden channels his new storm powers into it which activates the lock and opens the door and he and Danna and Jalmar enter into the tunnel. It was made, years ago, by Brother Hyrdale to connect his three homes into one: Tyv, Jorn, and the farm. The tunnel has taken a lot of damage from the years (and Argusin) but the trio manage to find a path and move debris aside so others can follow.

Directly below where the farm once stood, a particularly sturdy part of the tunnel hosts a small monk's cell. Inside is the final piece of the true relic: the painting Arden saw in his dreams. He sends folks off in both directions to bring back the other two parts.

Rather than get the fights he expected, Tyv and Jorn actually give their paintings up somewhat easily. Danna meets her Tyvian counterpart and the two hit up and he immediately joins in. Jalmar meets up with the sheriff and Jansen who are both wanting to help Arden.

Altogether, the three paintings fuse into one and the wolf climbs back inside.

However, there is a new problem. If this triptych is taken to the Jorn side, the Jornians will claim it proves it was meant to be in their church. Likewise, the other way means that the Tyvians will claim it. Instead, Arden sends several of the others way—Jalmar refuses and Natalia has joined and likewise refuses—and then uses his new storm powers to destroy the tunnel with the three of them inside. As the waters flow in, he protects the painting in his cloak and the three survive the tumultuous rise to the surface.

At this point, the two mayors again start insisting in their particular village/town's right to the relic but here the two priests take control of the situation. The two of them will oversee a new temple built right here. What's more, the librarian and her people will make this spot the site of their library, gathering up more stories and miracles created by Hyrdale.

Peace will be temporary for Tyv and Jorn, but it will last long enough that by the time the next generation shows up to restart the the problems, there will a whole host of people to protect the legacy.

Arden rides off with his new powers—he can channel storms but anything but smaller, more localized effects will drain him quickly—and a strange new companion: the spirit of Brother Hyrdale hiding out in the back of Arden's mind. What Arden does not know is that the spirit of Kalbarn-Karn was also connected previously. He has become a walking reliquary for Saints.

DOUG'S COMMENTARY

First off, Merry Christmas! It is technically about two weeks before Christmas as I am typing this but I realized what date it will be published as I was wrapping up this fairly long session [which was, as most sessions of this length usually are, two sessions].

Secondly, The Stone Crack'd reached just a hair past 47 pages worth of notes with this one. I cannot imagine it being really finished in less than about 100 pages at this point, meaning it is roughly the same length of play as the entire rest of The Bloody Hands combined

The last time Arden was overwhelmed, back in the now partially retconned but not really Narys arc, he developed the ability to physically enter into visions and used that power to rescue several people, including Prenty's daughter, from the weird other world and the other worldly beings The Bloody Hand was using to try and control people inside the Veil. This time he developed the ability to control storms (Perk: ability to control storms) and gained the voice of Brother Hyrdale traveling with him (Quirk: can hear a chatty old monk at all times outside of his own control). Seems pretty set in stone that when Arden "dies" his body falls into a vision and is reshaped by said vision so that he can better overcome his obstacles. We have confirmed (earlier in this very mini-arc) that Arden is not a natural seer but instead seems like his natural gift is the ability to rapidly mutate and adapt and create his own sigils while in that state.

I think that Narys arc was the first time I played with adding Mechanical Notes to my blog instead of just ignoring them or shoving them right into the text. That's kind of a fun two-fer.

The image above has an interesting intersection with this campaign. I described Arden early on as wearing a hooded cloak which was fitting for his covert psychic-seer sneaking around and it is clear he has to remove his cloak for people to fully see his face and sigils unless they know the Order and the Guardians pretty well.

Did I set the vision in a dungeon so that I could slightly justify it? Yeppers. That specific Dean Spencer art was in my head when I made Arden because flipping through various Spencer stock art to see if I could find a rough match I saw it and went, "Oh yeah, it was this guy I was thinking about." That illustration is used on the cover of Matt & Erin Davis's (aka, DiceGeeks') The Book of Random Tables: Dungeons and early on in my solo play career that—along with The Great Book of Random Tables, the first couple of Quest tables books, Raging Swan Press's GM Miscellany series, JoyPeddler Game's Harper's Quest 2, and Tana Pigeon's Mythic's meaning tables—was my absolute core random generation toolkit. The Great Book of Random Tables was the source of names and random objects and various town details throughout most of the Barston Bakersfield era.

I have slightly switched to more symbolic tables (like the image oracles used in Tricubes) and broader tables open to a lot of interpretation (like the Meaning Tables) but I still like to keep those old workhorses around. Only, it had been since roughly the start The Bloody Hands since I had really looked at Dungeons. Once I realized I had ripped off a bit art for a mental image, you better believe I was going to find some way to wedge it back in. I thought maybe the tunnel might use the tables once the oracles had pointed to there being something unearthed at the quarry that needed investigation. When Arden passed out from running out of Resolve after two rough days of constantly fighting forces bigger than himself it came to me all once: let's learn some more about the old days when he was younger and much less respected.

I think I have given three or four slight variations of Arden's origin story but this one channels the high notes at least and I am considering it to be the canon choice. He was born to the Ulet family which is highly respected in the Arcane Order. Except, unlike his older brother—Josef—he was more prone to bucking the system and refusing to play the Order's rules. He spent a long time being overlooked for promotion. Eventually he is assigned to Prenty and Jalmar with all three being considered problematic. Then, they were assigned to track down the wild goose chase which was rumors of some shadowy organization leaving behind bloody hand prints. It was meant to sink him as an imposible case—lately we have learned that it is partially "impossible" because The Bloody Hand are supported by people within the Order itself. Instead, he pushed through enough and saved several prominent people and picked up some hidden benefactor and had Kate assigned by said benefactor to watch over and support him. He had been a Junior Guardian for some time and got promoted to full after the events in Narys.

Prenty retired and Jalmar stayed on to watch the no-longer-young Guardian and now Arden is starting to inspire a new group of younger Order members like Natalia and Izzia.

Who was the young female wizard trying to find evil relics all those years ago? No clue. I will likely add it to the threads and see if she ever comes back up.

A few new rules and rolls

As you read through the Actual Play, there are a few rules and rolls added to extend Tricube Tales and Mythic. Here is a quick summary just to catch everyone up [including me].

QUICK TABLES: When I want to slightly control the outcome but also need a little chaos, I will put between two to six options inside of curly brackets—{ two | three | four | five | six }—and then roll that sized dice. If you see that notation I feel like it is obvious but just in case..

OPEN TRAIT CHECKS: Roll the right number of dice for a character's Trait (or, if not a specific character, between 1 and 3 to represent not-likely to fairly-likely). 4s = easy, basic, maybe partial successes. 5s = better, fuller successes. 6s = notable, maybe exceptional successes. Either choose the highest or choose a lower value if multiples are rolled and describe that success as being wider spread or higher in quanitity but not as good as the highest value.

OPPOSED ROLLS: In the case where two named characters are fighting, roll the appropriate Trait (which does not have to be the same Trait). Compare degrees of success first by highest value (6/Hard beats any number of 5/Normal) and then by number if the degree matches (2 5/Normal beats 1 5/Normal). Ties are possible depending on the contest.

VARIABLE TARGET VALUES AND TRAITS: This is derived from and extends a rule already existing in Tricube Tales Micro Edition. Roll 3d6. The first die determines the Trait in this order: { Agile | Brawny | Crafty | Agile + Brawny | Brawny + Crafty | Agile + Crafty } (note: if using a one-sheet with different traits, assign them the same pattern but use those traits). If it is two Traits with a "+" that means both are useful for solving the challenge. The second die determines the task Difficulty: { 1-: Easy | 2-5: Normal | 6+: Hard }. You can adjust this to be evenly spread if you wish. Add +2 if the challenge should be generally harder. Subtract 2 (i.e., Add -2) if the challenge should be generally easier. Even when +2/-2 occurs, a Natural 1 on the die is Easy and a Natural 6 on the one is Hard. This can be treated as a surprise if the task was expected to go the other and blended into the fiction. The third die determines the effort: {1-3: No Effort | 4: 1 Effort | 5: 2 Effort | 6: Effort }. If you are sure the Challenge requires no effort, ignore this third die. I like being surprised.

STRENGTHENING SCENE EXPECTATION: There are times where playing at Mythic and letting the scenes go wild is perfect. However, if there is a scene I want to happen then after a single interrupt of this highly expected scene (assuming said interrupt does not completely change the fiction), the next time that scene is expected it can not be interrupted a second time (it can still be altered).

Scene 15

Chaos Factor: 4
Expected: The sheriff, the priest, and Arden hunt the beast on the moorland
Actual: Expected Scene

Can Arden see in the dark with his sigil enhanced eyes? (50/50) No. So he and the others are carrying lanterns. The weather is. . . so, originally I made a roll here and got that the weather had slightly cleared after a full day of storms. This might still be the case but while digging through some materials to prep for this session I came across Raging Swan Press’s GM's Miscellany: Wilderness Dressing "Extreme Weather" which has a few tables to generate a few interesting weather related events. I figured it might be fun to use it instead of going with the original 1..6 scale that I have been using for flavor.

Going with the three “Rainstorm” tables we get:

Description (04) → The storm starts as gentle rain and builds to a downpour before gradually returning to a drizzle. [This is close to what was already there which works…the storm broke, and then returned in force, but has now slowed back down to a misting drizzle]
Events (49) → As the characters make camp find the wolf, a sudden rainstorm strikes; the party have three rounds to prepare before the storm develops into a thunderstorm. [There is no “making camp” in this scene but we can work this stress in with some Standard Agile type rolls, etc].
Hooks (75) → Thieves steal a vital document or other treasure under the cover of a rainstorm; evidence points to one of their number possessing the ability to manipulate the weather. [I said Nol Quint was going to return, and it looks like Nol has some device that allows them to change the weather! This will show up in a couple of scenes, most likely. What is the device used? Using the Arcane Items and Image Oracles we get 1,5 Bottle/Flask (oh my), 5,2 Spider Web, and 6,3 Secret Book → “The Stormy Bottle” has an actual magical relic behind its name. A bottle covered in cracks that when unlocked and opened calls forth a storm for a short time and must be refilled with blood. Danna, abandoning the empty bar to go on this adventure, has made such things possible.

Let’s keep this set-up going with Wilderness Dressing and use some tables from the “Plains” section to generate some more ideas. I know I said “moor” earlier but just imagine whatever comes up next is scraggly vegetation and such.

Minor Dressing (76) → A tumbled dry stone wall runs parallel with the track for a hundred yards before petering out.
Minor Event (55) → Fruit falling from a tree splatters unerringly amid the party.

That should add enough additional background information.

Arden, Danna, and Sheriff Tynsdale set out from the jail late at night to try and find the wolf. The rain goes between stopping and increasing but another storm is coming (one even stronger than earlier that day). The area they are in is moorland past the quarry and away from the river. Old walls made of quarried stone divide the land into farms and plots long since forgotten except perhaps in some tax deed in town hall (and not likely there). Remnants of fruit orchards gone partially wild still bear fruit but the days' storms have caused some fruit to fall.

In the light drizzle, Arden attempts to track the Ghost Wolf. Standard Crafty, 3 effort. Fails (-1 Resolve). 1 Success. 1 Success. 1 Success.

It takes him four hours of letting his visionary powers connect with the holy relic beast’s presence before he finally locks on. Wilderness Feature 3,6 Mine/Quarry 3,3 Extravagant Tent. He finds the Wolf at one of the lesser used outcroppings of the quarry and some traveling group has set up a quite fancy tent. Arden gets the sense the creature wants him to investigate but as he approaches the tent, the storm bottle is opened by Nol and an immense storm is billowing out.

To sense it in time to be proactive will be a Brawny + Crafty Challenge, Hard, No Effort. Arden does pick up the mystical energy pouring out of the bottle in time (1 success) and rushes, shouting at the tent and telling people they need to leave. The storm will cause the quarry to start to collapse and crumble down, which will crush the tent.

Does Danna and the Sheriff trust Arden enough to immediately assist? (50/50) 41 → No. They are confused by his reaction.

Do the people in the tent react to Arden’s words that they need to flee the tent? (Unlikely) 2 Exceptional Yes. This probably means they know of the Guardians and recognize him as one (not personally, but via his sigils glowing in the early morning light).

They run out of the tent, staring confusedly at Arden, and hear him scream “You have to move, we have to move right now!” They begin following him without hesitation even past a confused Danna and Tynsdale. At this time, an immense storm explodes out of Jorn and sweeps across the land. When it hits the quarry it triggers a rock slide that demolishes the tent and destroys the stuff inside (luckily with the exceptional bit, no people nor animals were left). The group is flattened by the storm.

To resist the storm is an Easy Crafty Roll requiring 2 effort. Arden gets that in the first roll so pretty quickly grasps where to go. The old stone wall. Though it is crumbled and cracked, the stone that still stands was made to weather plain storms. This one is rough but it still offers some protection. He leads the group quickly to the wall and the hunker down as the storm blows out in a matter of half an hour, leaving even less than the normal drizzle than before.

Standard Crafty Challenge. Arden gets 3 successes. When he sensed the storm he immediately got a glimpse of the church, a figure dressed in all black (he recognized Nol), and a storm bottle. He shouts “Nol is taking the painting” and starts running back to Jorn.

Does the wolf follow? (Very Likely) 97 Exceptional No. The ghost wolf stays with the people who were just taken from the tent. What is it doing? Actions Table: 43 Fall 10 Burden. It is staying near the rock quarry, imitating the action of trying to lift up the rocks.

The people who were just very rudely awakened will { Follow Arden | Start trying get to their things | aid the wolf } Start trying to get to their own things, lifting heavy stones. We do not know who they are, why the wolf was protecting them, or why they recognized Arden’s authority. Just yet.

Scene 16

Chaos Factor: 5
Expected: Arden rushes back into Jorn to capture Nol before they can get away with the painting
Actual: Expected scene

Danna is more on board now, so will be helping. Capturing Nol will take a Standard Agile roll with no effort. Nol was a bit trapped by their own storm which was strong enough it woke some people up so their going is slow. Plus, Arden had a very strong vision leading him right to Nol’s location.

Arden gets one success. Danna gets one success. Tynsdale gets one success. They both keep up with Arden’s directions and head back into town where Nol is trying to gather their stashed horse when Arden bursts in with the others and captures the would be thief (said would be thief rattled by the force of the storm).

Was the church demolished in the storm? (50/50) 5 Exceptional No. The church is very strong so the storm actually exploded around the room, blowing out candles and smashing out windows, but the structure held. This means that Nol took quite a bit of a hit from the force of it being temporarily contained.

Tynsdale arrests Nol and reclaims the painting (or well, the canvas) and takes them both to the jail. Jansen Dels is awakened and is told about what Arden is up to and apologizes for the previous actions. It is now around 4 in the morning but Arden wants to go back out immediately to the quarry before the light of day banishes the wolf for another 12-14 hours.

Scene 17

Chaos Factor: 4
Expected: Arden communes from the wolf and learns what it is trying to show him
Actual: As expected

The storm bottle’s effects have caused the weather to break. Stars are showing though a lot of stuff is smashed by the pressure. The fruit trees are broken. Lamps and lanterns near the quarry have been wrecked. A few smaller, less sturdy buildings around town have collapsed and a number of rescue efforts are underway. Jansen goes to follow Arden in Tynsdale’s place but Arden asks him to stay and help everyone who needs it.

Danna goes off with Arden.

They run back to the quarry and find the party trying to reclaim their stuff and in something like an imitation of that, the Wolf keeps trying also move its large, rainbow paws around on the stones.

To communicate with the wolf takes Agile + Crafty | Normal | 3 effort. The wolf does not want to “talk,” it wants to get something that was unburied by the storm. What are some of its motivations? Using the Complex Questions table we get 6,4 Transformation + 4,6 Love or Desire. Ok. The people of the two cities by treating these paintings as holy objects have transformed Brother Hyrdale’s intention of bringing three blessings to his home. They were meant to be a trio but one is “lost” [accessed through a tunnel long since buried by some long ago rockslide at the quarry and now on the cusp of being re-found] and the other two were treated as sources of pride to be kept from one another.

The wolf refused to return to the one painting until the other two are together with it again.

Two successes. Failure (-1 Resolve). Another failure. Arden finally has exhausted himself trying to help the Wolf get access to whatever is trying (he has been up and very active for hours now and fought off a major curse the day before, it makes sense he would be completely drained) and collapses. Into a vision.

Scene 18

Chaos Factor: 5
Expected Scene: Arden is in a vision seemingly inside a dungeon. He is searching for something as a young, probationary Guardian. There are more truths, here, though.
Actual Scene: As expected

Using DiceGeeks’ Book of Random Tables: Dungeons, let's get some details of this vision dungeon (based on a prior experience of Arden).

Dungeon Origin (10) → The subterranean temple to some unspeakable demon.
Items to Find (11) → The Shield of Komodulus.
Main foes and Rivals (8) → A wizard who wants the party to leave so he can finish the ritual.
Combat Complications (19) → Ice Covers the Floor.
Three different rooms. (7) Treasure Room. (19) Cistern. (8) Cell.
Dungeon Descriptors #1 (10) Melted. #2 (17) Hazy. #3 (5) Vast.
Vision twists (Image Oracles): 6,4 Magic Bottle (again), 5,3 Conversations, 6,5 Lightning Bolt (again)...so the storm bottle is in the dream and someone is telling Arden to { fill it | consume it | destroy it | use it | find it | bury it } Use it.

The dungeon is from when Arden was a youth. Long held out from getting the proper promotions or recognitions despite his Ulet name because he was considered a threat to the Order because of his constant optimism and naivety. The task was meant to break him and drive him off. A dungeon from the wizard Komodulus who manipulated cold and ice and strove to freeze Lake Khel in an assault on Khalid City at the very end of the Troubles. The brand new Arcane Order, long before they formally turned against magic, repelled him and drove the wizard to an island in the lake. There, the wizards shield which gave him much of his powers was lost as the wizard died from his wounds. Arden was sent to that island to get the shield despite it being far too dangerous for a young, mostly unsigiled person.

What he found at the time was the ice covering the dungeon was starting to melt, flooding lower rooms and filling the dungeon with haze even in the upper rooms. A wannabe wizard who fancied herself the rebirth of Komodulus was also there and was trying to drive out Arden so she could carry out a badly planned scheme. In an unexpected move, he smashed the shield and aided the wizard to escape capture.

Being denied either an arrest or a magical artifact, his handlers contemplated throwing the book at him but his As Of Yet Unidentified Benefactor pulled some strings had him instead assigned to work with a couple of other outsiders: Prenty and Jalmar. The two rougher Agents were often considered semi-failures by the Order for their tendency to prefer the outside world and bucking of the rules.

The three grew into a strong unit.

In this vision, though, Arden is not looking for the shield, at least not “really”. He is looking for a triptych of three paintings. Instead of the young wizard, he is going to find Sasha Bell and Daniel Quint struggling to tear the triptych in three. A kind old voice (Hyrdale) will be instructing Arden to fill and use the storm bottle to prevent this. Three cuts in his hand in an arcane depiction of lightning bolts to bleed into the bottle.

Arden remembers this place vividly. A place of unknown death and a whispered warning shouted loud. Water from the melting ice above cascades down stairs and fills this room up. Odd creatures climb along the walls, leftovers from The Troubles. Insects, reptiles, and fungi bound together by dark magic. On the floor in front of him, several human skeletons lay in the damp and around it, their bones picked absolutely clean. A chest full of Old Khelian gold is open with only a single golden relic taken from it. Presumably whatever trap was sprung killed them before they could take more.

Arden has his old training sword, not his newer arcane sword. Wearing his guardian cloak before he was even properly sigiled. Sent here to the once island home of Komodulus. Perhaps the last of the great evil wizards. Struck fatally in the battle of Khalid City. Arden has been sent to gather a shield imbued with Komodulus’s ice magic but someone else is here. A young wizard. Someone who fancies herself an evil wizard of old. The Resonant Towers are spreading. You can now travel all the way from Khalid City to Hub without breaking through the Veil. A few people who think The Troubles should come again are scrambling.

Only…this is not where Arden is. It is where he was. He is also an older Arden Ulet. The youth in his mid 20s now replaced by a man in his mid 30s. Covered in sigils and battle scars. Two Ardens at the same time. And upstairs, it is not a shield and a wizard he must fight, but something else. At the top of the stares, a glowing wolf swirls with colors and Arden follows.

“That’s right, follow my wolf,” a voice says. It is not unkind. In fact, you would very much so describe the voice as the epitome of kind. No speaker is evident but he feels a presence at his shoulder. Leading him own. At the top of the stairs is a treasure room, strangely undisturbed. Ice has long frozen most things in place but still, you would think thieves might have tried harder. The ice is now melting, water flowing down behind him and down the stairs while the room is covered in a haze.

“That is one way to happiness, is it not?” says the voice. “All that money could buy a lot of necessary things, buy a lot of unnecessary things.”

“No, these are all traps. Nothing you can buy here but a painful death like those below.”

The voice laughs at this and the wolf travels into another room. In the past, the next room was another treasury. A gallery of ice destroyed paintings. Here it is a cistern. Once it held water for this entire keep but now most of the water has given way to plants and animals that have long considered a home. An entire ecosystem clinging to what little light filters down into the cracks. Arden recalls this as the place he entered the keep. The walls and roof caved in to let in outsiders.

“Nature survives even when you try to control it. Like my wolf. He was caught into my paint and told to sit still but he grew tired of it. Freedom is another happiness, your companion Jalmar knows this.”

“Yes, but again no. This is not freedom. This is clinging to the scant place you are allowed. There is happiness there but you just push out and not allow the stone walls to define you.”

The laugh, again. “My, my, what a bright young lad.”

The wolf climbs through a doorway designed to allow folks to gather water and Arden follows. Rather than a long hall it is a simple cell. The remains of a prisoner sits cross-legged upon the cot. Another skeleton in this long forgotten place but this time the skeleton seems…happier.

“How about this freedom, then? One to not care at all about the walls and seek happiness inside?”

“Again, no. Contentment only works if everything is perfect. Otherwise, we must be the ones who break down the walls.”

“Then break down the walls, Arden Ulet. Become my last piece of art in this troubled place. Stormlight. The one who shines into the happiness we convince ourselves exists while allowing it to become our prisoner. It will not be easy.”

“Nothing is.”

“Indeed.”

The wolf pushes into a crack in the back of the cell and flows through. Arden does the same.

This room is very similar to how it once was. Komodulus’s private quarters only the large bed in the middle, which had been frozen with deep blue ice, sealing the wizard and his shield into forever sleep, instead is a table with a triptych of paintings up on it. The individual pieces are combined into one. Rather than the young wizard and her scared but trying to be so proud face, Arden sees Daniel Quint and someone who looks a lot like Tasha from Jorn. They each have one painting from the triptych in their hand and they are both shouting at the other to let go as the trio very nearly rips down the middle of the third.

Arden shouts at them to stop and they ignore him. The voice speaks, “They are only doing what their fathers and mothers did, what their great uncles and half-grand-fathers did. They have been attempting to destroy my miracle all the while.”

Arden looks towards his left shoulder, where it seems the voice originates, “What about you, which happiness do you seek?”

“Ah, home, of course. I was lucky enough to have three. Now I have none.”

“What will I do?”

“Cut your hand three times in the following pattern,” and upon Arden’s hand three complicated lines almost but not really like lightning bolts appear. “Pour your blood into the bottle. Then open it and yourself, Stormlight, and destroy all that once was so the past can remain.”

Arden follows the instructions and then lets himself pour into the bottle and then the bottle to pour out into the room. A storm like a hurricane shatters the ice and breaks the frames of the triptych. The three paintings, freed of the grasp, flow into one.

Standard Crafty. As the vision starts to fade and the storm bottle shatters in Arden’s hand, he glimpses the middle painting, the one overshadowed by the others. It shows a simple farm and upon it a small kid looking up into the sky and knowing he will leave soon and never truly return.

Scene 19

Chaos Factor: 5
Expected: Arden wakes up with the power to manipulate storms and understanding how to find the third relic. Danna is nearby.
Actual: Altered. A new character has been added. Another character is removed. It has been a couple of days since he passed out. Instead of Danna, it is Jalmar who is guarding Arden.

Arden is fully rested and has all Resolve and Karma returned.

“Hello, old friend.” Arden says.

“Ah, finally, you wake!” The older man looks quite happy to see Arden conscious again. Apparently after Arden did not return the next morning Jalmar set out his ravenhawk and there could detect Arden in Jorn and set off. When he arrived, Danna had been keeping guard but Jalmar did not trust anyone but himself.

Natalia and Izzia remain in Tyv but are willing to show up at the first sign of Jalmar calling them.

Arden explains a brief of what happened and says he needs to wait until nightfall to complete a task. Jalmar agrees but makes it clear that there will be no more solo missions for a bit.

That night, they head towards the side quarry (along with Danna) and again the wolf is still standing at the cave in. Are the folks from the tent still there? (Unlikely) Yes. They have been there this whole time waiting for Arden to return. Have they removed the rocks? (50/50) Yes.

Ok, let’s find out a few details about them then. DiceGeek’s Great Book of Random Tables:

Human NPCs (29) → Wren Vane, Librarian, Female
Human NPCs (53) → Lona Hollis, Gardener, Female
Human NPCs (56) → Whitney Ormond, Miller, Female
Goals (64) → To found a library.

These three women, along with a few retainers are traveling { north | south } north towards the Veil because they have a dream to found a library dedicated to all the stories which might be lost and have dedicated their recent lives to gathering information about all the places lost and altered along the Shallows. Wren Vane’s husband died and her unmarried younger sister Lona joined her. Her friend Whitney Ormond and Whitney’s husband also felt it was a worthy cause. They had stopped here to see the relic initially but after the destruction spent the next half day or so trying to gather their stuff. When they heard that the Guardian who had saved them was in some sort of coma/trance they stayed to find out more. Witnessing the Wolf, they actually helped to unbury the stones it was trying to dig.

Past the stones is a… Image Oracles: 2,1 Wood Axe + 2,4 Spyglass. Behind the moved stones is a great oaken door harder than stone and carefully carved and designed. In the middle of it is a large glass pane of complex design.

Easy Crafty Challenge. 1 Success.

Arden lifts his hand which in the real world also bears the strange arcane lightning bolts and channels a gentle plains storm into the glass. The door unlocks and swings open and the wolf bounds inside. 1,3 Footprints + 6,2 Dig Dug. The tunnel is clearly man-made and glowing foot prints (human) lead down into the dark.

Arden, Jalmar, and Danna enter. They follow the tunnel but tine has caused it many issues as it has caved in in places and others is full of water from the river.

Brawny + Crafty | Hard | 2 Effort (6 total).

Arden spends two karma and gets 3 successes to map out a path that everyone can follow.
Jalmar gets one success and moves some of the boulders aside so the others can follow.
Danna gets two successes and finishes helping Jalmar clear the way.

Eventually, the group of two threes find a chamber almost directly under the river. Water drips down in places.

Did this chamber survive Argusin? (50/50) 37 → Yes. Despite the great bulk of the demon, the chamber is mostly just cracked and warped out of alignment, but the center of it is a plain monk’s quarters with another sturdy door. A simple cell made of river rock and clay.

Arden knows what might be inside so asks Danna to run ahead in the tunnel and bring Daniel Quint and the priest from Tyv here. He asks Jalmar to go back and find someone who looks like Tasha.

Do they argue? (50/50) 46. Yes, by try to argue but Arden gets a 6/Hard in an open Crafty roll so soon enough they go to find the people.

How well do the two priests get along? {1..6 with 6 being high} 5. Quite well. The old trope of the two young idealists meeting up and having an awkward sort of nerd flirtation.

In an hour or so, everyone (including Natalia, with Izzia staying behind to chat with the kids he helped saved a few days ago) show up and then and only then does Arden go up and open the door by once again channeling a gentle storm on a summer day into the device. The door opens and inside is the bed that Hyrdale once slept upon. On it is another painting. This one depicts the scene of a child at a farm realizing his higher calling.

As it is exposed, the wolf lets out a long and sad howl.

“Good job, Stormlight,” Arden hears the voice say.

Arden attempts to convince the folks here that these three paintings are not meant to be the pride of one or the other but all three were gifts to Hyrdale’s three homes, the last being a chamber under the farm he could return to hide when he was feeling overwhelmed by his lifelong mission.

Agile + Brawny + Standard + 2 effort.

Arden asks the two priests (who have been laughing and flirting in a corner) to each run as fast as they can and then to grab the other two paintings and bring them back to the statue. Sasha and Daniel shout and run each in their own direction but have trouble keeping up with the youth. The three older women try to stay but Arden asks them to follow the wolf down the tunnel and then come back to the spot the wolf leads them.

Arden has a problem. If he takes it down either tunnel, Tyv or Jorn might claim that single act was proof that they were true inheritors.

Instead, he wraps the painting tightly in his water proof guardian’s cloak and then asks Natalia to break the roof of this tunnel and to let the water in. He is going to take it straight up.

Arden gets one success and so holds on. Jalmar gets one success finds a place to crack the rocks. Natalia upgrades it to Hard Crafty but begins to channel her basic sigils newly acquired to find weak spots in the rock and crrrrrack…the walls start coming down and the tunnels fill with water. Arden gets another success and swims up once the torrent slows, keeping the painting dry. Finally, Jalmar gets two successes and brings himself and Natalia to the surface.

Once again, they wait at the foot of the statue. The plains are already healing from Argusin’s effects.

Danna and [Other Priest] Show up.

Did they have anyone attempt to stop them? No. The Tyv priest was able to get in an out like he was carrying one of his duplicates. In Jorn, Sheriff Tynsdale and Jansen Dels actually help Danna to sneak out with it.

The two youth again run double time and meet back up at the statue that both places considered forbidden.

Arden places them in the configuration he saw in his vision and as he does the frames wrap together as a complex locking mechanism activates and the wolf climbs back inside.

Arden sets this upon the base of the statue and states a new home needs to be built. Eventually, the older folk show up and there is already a squabble about it needing to be kept at Jorn (“No, it was nearly stolen from there!”) or Tyv (“In that tiny little shack?”). The two priests take control of the situation (4 on a d6, so not complete but better than nothing) and pledge to work together. The old women say they will use their rescued tent to protect the painting before the next rain hits…any second now. And THEY will stay to make sure people respect these two lovely kids.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Arden says to the other priest. Danna giggles and says it is Rishard.

Arden stops and asks Wren if she came across another village about a day south. A place where things might be off. Does Wren know about it? (50/50) 26 → Yes. “That’s Oone. Be careful though. A traveling merchant told us to head towards the river and stay well clear.”

Jalmar looks over. “I told you it was a trap.”

Arden: “Yet…”

As Arden and Natalia and Jalmar are leaving to get Izzia, Arden looks back and sees an old man standing by the paintings. One that looks a like his statue. The old man waves and Arden waves back to the confusion of the folks near him.

The voice in his head says, “I am a cute one, aren’t I?”

Back at the base, Danna gets to lecturing and Rishard joins it. She has a 6/Hard on Brawny to intimidate and Rishard has a 6/Hard on Crafty to charm. Between the two of them they actually back the elders/mayors down, for now.

“Why couldn’t it have been the riches that came out of the paining?,” asks Rishard.

A voice near them responds, “Because that boy would never have chased riches. A glowing rainbow wolf, on the other hand…”

Tyv and Jorn will be at peace for { a few weeks | a few months | a year | a decade | a few decades | for a quite long time } 4 → A decade. Eventually they will find a reason to squabble again but with Danna and Rishard teaming up there is a good chance that Hyrdale’s homes will find their own peace.

Is the voice of Kalbarn-Karn also inside of Arden, just maybe quieter? 15 -> yeaaaaah. This should be interesting.

Chaos Factor down to 4.

CREDITS

This game uses Tricubes Solo, the Tricubes one-sheet "The Guardians of the Shadow Frontier," [both by Richard Woolcock and Zadmar Games] and The Mythic Game Master Emulator (2nd Edition) [by Tana Pigeon].

Additional tables come from Cezar Capacle's Random Realities, Ben Milton's Maze Rats + Knave 2nd edition, Kevin Crawford's ...Without Numbers series (primarily Worlds...) + Scarlet Heroes, Matt & Erin Davis's Big Books of Random Tables, and Madeline Hale's Table Fables.

Other sources should be be credited in the raw play notes.

Graphics come from a variety of sources. A frequent source of the opening/splash images is ArtUK and I recommend that site/resource to any who like classical art.

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