(Search & Sitemap)
> The Minstrel's Song >
Player's Introduction
Previous
1
2
3
4
Next
Printer-Friendly Version
Here is a sample of play. The characters are Kendall Lightfoot, a Janra scout given prophecy, Qualinesti (regional name), an Urvanovestilli scholar given knowledge in the first sense, Pirt, a Jec wayfarer given faith, 'Limna, a Yedidia interpreter given healing, and Torv, a Tuz hunter given the gift of help. They are currently in a Tuz village on the Urvanovestilli border. As they have been together for a while, they have all studied a common language (specifically Jec), which they have by now learned to speak with a reasonable proficiency.
I would like to emphasize that this is only one of many, many possible kinds of situations.
[...]
Pirt: "What did the riddle say, again?"
Qualinesti: "As tall as a house, as round as a cup; people drink from me without lifting me up."
Pirt: "Hmm... [pauses in thought for a minute] I wonder if it was talking about a well. Why don't we split up, search the village for a well, and meet back here in half an hour, and go to the well if we find one?"
Qualinesti, Kendall, 'Limna, Torv: "Sounds good to me."
Game Master: In half an hour's searching, you find that the village has one well, next to the miller's house. From the looks of it, it has been dry for quite some time. Pirt found, from a brewer, that the village now gets water from a valley about half a mile away.
Kendall: I'm going to climb down the well and search for any signs of anything interesting.
Pirt: "Would you like to borrow my lantern?"
Kendall: "Yes, thank you."
Game Master: The well is approximately 25 feet deep; after fifteen minutes of climbing and searching, you find that one of the stones has letters chiseled into it in some script, apparently Urvanovestilli, which doesn't spell out letters that you can read.
Kendall: "Pirt, may I also borrow your rope?"
Pirt: "Certainly."
Kendall: I'm going to climb up, take the rope, tie a Swami seat on Qualinesti, and body belay him down into the well.
Qualinesti: "Wait a minute. How am I supposed to get back up? I can't climb the way you can."
Kendall: "Relax. I can belay you, and if you really can't climb, I can pull you up. But climbing's so easy!"
Qualinesti: "I am not a Janra."
Kendall: I'm going to wink as I say, "We all have our problems."
Torv: I'm going to pick Kendall up and throw him over my head.
Game Master: Kendall, are you going to try to dodge?
Kendall: Given an opportunity to fly through the air? No way!
Game Master (to himself): Why did I even ask? (to Kendall) Sure enough, you find yourself flying through the air, and land in a couple of somersaults.
Kendall: I'm going to saunter back. (to Qualinesti): "So, how about heading down to read the inscription?"
Qualinesti: Ok, I'll head down.
Kendall: Once he's down safely, I'll climb down as well.
Game Master: After a little while of identifying the script -- it comes from some weird dialect -- you are able to decipher the message. It reads, "Do the opposite of usual to what is opposite me."
Kendall: Hmm... no buttons to push this time. I'm going to inspect the stone again.
Game Master: You don't find anything new.
Qualinesti: Are the stones arranged in any kind of orderly pattern?
Game Master: Yes; as a matter of fact, they are. There are thirty-two in a circle.
Qualinesti: I'm going to see if I can do anything to the opposite stone -- especially pull it out.
Game Master: You can't budge it.
Kendall: I'm going to give it a try.
Game Master: You are able to pull it out one inch, at which point you hear a sound of some kind of stonework moving. After a few seconds, the base of the well beneath you begins to tremble, and slide to the left.
Kendall: I'm going to jump up and shoot my feet out to the sides so that they catch on a foothold, and shoot an arm around Qualinesti's waist to hold him up.
Torv: I'm going to grab the rope and brace myself so that I can pull up Qualinesti and Kendall, if need be.
Game Master: Ok. (To Qualinesti and Kendall) The stone beneath you slide out to the side, revealing stone steps receding into the darkness.
Kendall: I'm going to shift Qualinesti to my back, and climb down to the stairs, and head down.
Game Master: At the end of the stairwell is a closed door, with twenty buttons and what appears Qualinesti to be a cryptogram. It says, [hands sheet to players]
Up pqfo uif eppxbz, qsftt jo cvuupot uxp, uisff, gjwf, ojof, boe pof npsf cvuupo. Uijt pof npsf cvuupo dpoujouft uif qbuufso.
Qualinesti: [looks at it] "Both 'uif' and 'pof' are repeated; I'd be willing to guess that one of them is 'the'. ('nspf' and 'cvuupo' are repeated, but I don't know any four or six letter words as probable as 'the'.) For 't' to go to 'p' is back four; 'h' going to 'o' is forward seven; 'e' to 'f' is forward one. That doesn't help us any. 't' to 'u' is forward one, 'i' to 'h' is... T-o o-p-e-n... Got it!
"To open the doorway, press in buttons two, three, five, nine, and one more button. This one more button continues the pattern.
"Hmm. Two plus three is five; five plus three is eight. No, that's not it. Two plus three is five; two plus three plus five is ten. Now if we could only find a happy medium."
Pirt: "Two times two minus one is three; two times three minus one is five; two times five minus one is nine. Hey! I think I've got it. Who's for pushing buttons two, three, five, nine, and seventeen?"
Qualinesti: "Hmm, that's a little complicated. If we add, two plus one is three, three plus two is five, five plus four is nine... it doubles, so nine plus eight is seventeen."
Kendall: "I think you agree. How about if we try it?"
Others: "Ok." Game Master: Gears begin to turn, and the door hinges squeak as the door turns back.
[The party enters the underground, and after a while of puzzles and exploits, locates the map which they had been in search of. Coming out after a couple of days, they go to an inn.]
Game Master: Jim, could you come with me for a second? [pulls Kendall's player, Jim, out of earshot of the rest of the players.] During the night, you have a dream in which an angel appears and tells you to go the cave of Munra, a great prophet and sage, which is indicated by the notched circle on the map. He tells you to examine carefully and heed the information on the map, and says that on the way you will meet three trials, which must be overcome.
Kendall: I'm going to ask the angel what the trials are.
Game Master: "That is for you to discover." [They return to the players.]
Kendall: "Last night, I had a dream. An angel told me that we must seek out the cavern where Munra lives, which is marked by a notched circle on the map. Munra is a great prophet and sage. We need to try to understand and pay attention to the map on the way there. We will meet three trials on the way, which we must overcome before arriving."
Qualinesti: Are there any caravans or other wayfarers travelling in that direction from the village?
Game Master: No.
Torv: "How 'bout if we all buy five days' provisions and set out?"
Others: "Ok."
Qualinesti: Is there a path to the cave indicated on the map?
Game Master: Yes, there is.
Qualinesti: "I suggest we follow the path."
Others: "Ok."
Game Master: You begin to follow the path. Along the way, Torv finds an adequate supply of rabbits, boars, and so on to keep you fed, as well as springs and streams sufficient to always have at least some water in your waterskins. After fifteen days' travel, you come to the place indicated on the map as Riddler's Pass. There are two ridges coming together, forcing any travellers to pass between them, and between the mountains lies a yawning chasm.
The weather is an intense thunderstorm.
(Search & Sitemap)
> The Minstrel's Song >
Player's Introduction
Previous
1
2
3
4
Next
Printer-Friendly Version