” do you suppose we should roll to get to the town, or is it close enough by now?
✧ …Argaeum mentioned they didn’t have time to get back to ask for help, so even with not being in a rush, I’d say it’s a decent distance.
” mkay. Once we get out of the ruin’s overground and back to the road, i think it’ll probably fall back to Gnarlwood? she’s definitely the one who knows the area.
⏻ mhm! back from a mail run, dragging along two acquaintances who barely leave that side of the valley, or their homes. buncha NEETs.
✧ Yeah, yeah.
” would…like, the employment E isn’t a thing really, in Wake, right? the two of ours’d be stay-at-homes, but i doubt there’s anything as extreme as the NEET label for all but the most extreme cases of deliberate sloth.
✧ I mean, she does have a bit of a point for Winds, at least. Sort of the whole point of the shrine there was just to slack off, though the residents were more of the exception at first.
⏻ god these people and their semantics.
” why do you think we all got into tabletop? speaking of, let’s see here. RAMBLE ON. 1 hope and 1 fear for each, please.
⏻ Hope: No more cats. Fear: Cats.
” Try again. Can’t be the same thing.
⏻ fuck.
✧ Fear… probably the weather, I’d imagine. Since we started past the Mistwalk, we’re outside the constant fog and mist, back into a more windswept and stone area. Could see it getting stormy or rainy or cold.
⏻ Hope: Lively town? Wait no that’s not the journey itself, is it? This is hard.
” real. i’m actually gonna put my Hope down as “running into someone else”, since it’d be a bit ominous if nobody showed up.
✧ I want to come across one of the Deities that hang out around the Cairn. Don’t have a name or Motif in mind, yet.
” swag.
⏻ oh, i guess we can go with: Hope: Seeing any of gnarl’s friends. bit of overlap with yours, aria, but it’s probably fine? and then Fear: Delays. she’s actually been out a while so it’d mean trouble if she doesn’t report in before long.
” aye. man, i’m having a rough go of it with Fears as well. maybe i’ll poach the rains and storms specifically, since Wish has its gear to manage.
✧ Alright, I can just keep the chill and winds then to even it out.
” roll us the dice, gnarl!
RAMBLE ON
(6 5) = 11
” oh wait i didn’t do the. other questions. 11 is amazing though, pop off?
⏻ i’m so fucking good at these dice.
” we had a very easy starting session, so it’d have been 2 or 3 for sure, but i practically don’t even need to. oh well.
IT'S A 13 NOW
(editing the other one doesn’t make sense)
” hrmmmm
✧ We really kinda fucked our options with the amount of overlap, didn’t we? Now that I’m taking a look at them all.
” yeah this is like. 4 options total. i think… yeah no this works out fine, still. we can just have more to pull from next time we’re rambling. learning process.
✧ I love learning. And processes.
⏻ i am processes!
” so we’re in good hands! anyhow, onward we go.
The Cairn is, despite its name, not a very tall pile. It is a quite wide collection of many massive chunks of eroded and age-smoothed rock, much like a slate, stacked on each other and towering on its meager height above the surrounding mists, giving the valley within these mountains the possible affect of some sort of caldera. Were one to look at it from the skies, from the eyes of Dragons or certain Deities, nothing would peek through the cracks save in the darkest, most over-cast nights, where one might catch a few sparks not of the towns, somewhere within the large cracks of the piled massive rocks.
The road this party walks is atop one of these, for they are beyond and above the mists, and the road is carved within the stone beneath rather than any true soil. Grasses pockmark the road as much as lichens and mushrooms in outcroppings: the path is made by those who have walked it, and it is clear that the residents of the towns here do care for their home, and those who visit. It is a rather hospitable crag, though trees are far behind here, and will only be seen once they reach the town they seek.
” It is by one of the infrequent carved benches and resting places that we will come across our first meeting. Also. Is Gnarlwood just like, walking half barefoot?
⏻ oh, you know. one boot, one just sock. it’s rocks, right? no reason to worry about that right now. she’s been through worse.
” well, so be it. won’t give you the Harm just yet, but she’ll definitely have something by the time we reach the town.
⏻ well, shit. forgot about that. lmao.
✧ Chat, we may be stupid. I also forgot about that.
⏻ wow we’re like, twinning, or whatever the phrase was!
✧ Ew. I’m requesting more braincells immediately.
⏻ awww, you don’t wanna be idiots togethew?
✧ Guards! Get this woman away from me! She’s siphoning my intelligence!
” can you two quite flirting or making out and get back to the game? gosh, i’m right here.
⏻ oh right, i forgot the acting GM is banned from having fun. the worst thing to take from D&D, honestly.
” to the dungeon with her!
✧ You tell her!
⏻ fiiiiiiiiiine -3- anyway that’ll be exhaustion, or something?
” huh? oh. honestly i was thinking, like, limping on one leg. she might be an Imp, but she’s gonna feel walking lopsided for that long.
⏻ eugh. okay, spare boots it is from here on out, i guess. damn.
” or you could take off the other boot…
⏻ …
” anyway, meeting time!
✧ I love meeting new people! ⇐(dubious)
” in front of the group, a short distance off, there is… the remnants of a bus stop, with some more stones around it, and some miniature pot gardens. there is something half-carved, perhaps an attempt at a fountain or centerpiece—there is certainly no water around here, running; the mist in the area contributes enough moisture to drive some rainfall besides the small bits that sneak in through the mountains, which you are all familiar with, so the local plants remain relatively healthy. much like the lichen and moss!
” seated, or rather slumped into the bus stop, hiding from the sunlight as it nears midday, is a figure with 5 left arms, and one right arm wielding a hammer. one final hand seems to rest atop its hat, a thing of wider brim than average while not quite being a sun-hat. the left hands are empty, but various tools scattered here would seem to indicate they were previously held, and may be again in time. and while this figure is by all visible accounts the owner of these tools, their outfit is not that of a stone-worker. instead, a grey akin to the Cairn itself, and shimmering with an intense red within the fabric that the sun hits, makes up a very form-fitting attire. it seems dense, as it deforms under its weight against the bus stop.
” you cannot see much of what lies beneath the hat, but you get the sense it eyes you as you approach, and a smile peeks through. this is not someone Gnarlwood knows.
⏻ damn, okay. uh, she waves to it? them?
“Hello! Hope you don’t mind us sharing the rest here for a moment.”
⏻ she manages to bounce right up to the stop, and if she doesn’t encounter and resistance, she is sitting down and stripping off that other boot. best not make this any worse!
” good decision, though obviously she will still get the level 1 later. barefoot after being used to boots is only moderately better.
⏻ ye.
” alright. at that, this individual is going to push up from their slump and look more directly at you than before, giving out a light chuckle. Their voice is what i’d call gravelly, for sure, but still on the lighter end.
“Aye, I don’t mind. From where?”
✧ Incredibly short-spoken, huh? I’ll bite.
“Greetings. We, well, I am from one of the scars in the mountains, and this one is originally from the Mistwalk. Handspun Winds of Repose.”
✧ /ey are going to gesture to Echo to follow up.
” quick nod, quick flourish of still wearing the detective garb and somehow also the bag on its back. light ticks to…purple.
“Wish Upon an Echo of a Star. Never been up beyond the mists, least not that this body remembers.”
” The stranger is going to manage to cross just two of its arms and lean toward Gnarlwood more.
“You’re one of the Couriers around these parts, aren’t you? I see that uniform scurrying around every now and again. Don’t see many bringing friends along up here, though.”
” They uncross their arms and fully stand up. What’s clear now is that they don’t have too much of a face, as it’s the same grey and red fabric that makes up their face yet somehow still produces a recognizable mouth to smile with. Their limbs, as well, don’t entirely bend as you’d expect muscle to.
“I am known as Weekend, Deity of Greener Grasses. These little dioramas of the soil-sat world are my work.”
⏻ that’s actually such a cracked deity, i love it.
✧ Rare immediate name pull, and it works so well.
“Oh! I’ve heard some rumors of you, then! It’s always lovely to see what you’ve put together when I’m running deliveries. I generally go by Spark-run-gnarlwood.”
” They’re going to laugh at that, and say:
“It’s the one who lives here with the strangest title of them all, hah! You really don’t see many who pull it off like that.”
⏻ ano, eto, bleh? she lets out a sheepish chuckle.
“Well, old habits die hard. Found it hard to give up how my owner talked about me.”
“Oh, don’t I know it. Keep meaning to set out into the Mistwalk myself and do my own Motif more justice, but it’s hard going keeping these things, and equally hard getting more to help me keep them in shape.”
“Are these… Well, are they Shrines? I’ve lived in and near a few, but these seem rather distinct from that.”
✧ While saying that, Winds is going to run a hand on the bus stop and look over the whole rest area, trying to ‘catch a vibe’ as they say.
” i… don’t know if anythey has ever said that.
✧ Oh they absolutely have.
⏻ can vouch? enough theys have that there’s pages explaining it, at least. or maybe that bodes ill for the actual slang weight of it…
✧ Look. If I wanted to be on top of slang, I wouldn’t have ended up as the one trying to turn everything into a grand narrative. Also it’s probably the only fun way to be out of touch, still.
” yeah no that’s accurate. small indie games are finally in vogue, so that’s in touch now. and everything else would be actually problematic to be stuck in, that i can think of.
⏻ there’s at least still being super dramatic with older snapshots of the language, right? the bigots aren’t interested in that part of classical literature most of the time, from what i can tell.
” but isn’t that also not really out of touch? i don’t know how to explain it but it feels theatre-kid-y. it’s always around. oh but maybe that’d also apply to the bad slang…
✧ Sort your mid-autumn crisis out later, we have a session to get through.
” but it’s going to bother meeeeeeeeeee fine.
“Shrines are as Shrines be, and by that I mean, no. It’s rather difficult to explain, you understand.”
✧ Voicing the group thought: We should figure out a better way to sign speakers in dialog. Or some way at all, technically, since we aren’t quite doing that.
” yeah. it worked earlier, but now that we’re talking more, damn it’s rough.
✧ Anyhow. The text of this will be a tad bit annoying, but it should work well…
Handspun Winds of Repose
“Ahh, mm, I see. I do have more questions, but I think I’ll save them for if we meet again. We have some business in Wider North Rock.”
✧ Getting it to work well with the quote-block is so…
⏻ i like it though!
” yeah, no that does work super well. i’m not going to bother retconning all the other text, but it’ll help from here forward for sure. i guess we might as well put some more of it into the actual block, too.
✧ Sweet.
Weekend
“Figured as much.” They eye the party intently for a moment. “We might meet sooner than you think, so take care.”
⏻ incredibly fucking ominous.
Spark
“D’you…live there? Wait, I guess I would have seen your Shrine then.”
Weekend
“Indeed! Now, run along. I’ve got more to do with this one yet.”
” They begin to pick up their tools, humming softly, and each tool springs up as they approach. All three of us travelers feel like we’ve stood here long enough, and at the same time, the wind seems to pick up in this direction.
Spark
“Alright, then, until next time!” She waves as we set off.
Handspun Winds of Repose
“Have a pleasant one.”
✧ How’s the “playing two parts in a conversation” thing working, by the way?
” oh, you know. terribly.
✧ Yeah.
” it’s fine, Echo isn’t really the most talkative around strangers. it is pretty interested in the songcrafting going on, weak as it is, but of course why speak up in front of the Deity?
✧ Ah, so that is what it was.
” oh no! i’ve spoiled a feature of the world!
✧ Guards,
⏻ you can’t just call guards on everyone
✧ Guards,
⏻ oh my god
” the Knights Errant will come for you yet.
Wish Upon an Echo of a Star
So. That is a Deity. More mundane than the records made them seem.
Winds
“Ah, right, you hadn’t met one yet.” /ey glance over behind the group, looking back at the rest stop. “I do know it depends on their whims, what one comes across as, but do remember whatever fragments of history you heard had plenty of time to become distorted.”
Echo
Distortion is the soul of rock.
Spark
“The other day you said it was ‘having a punk spirit’.”
Winds
“I thought soul and rock were different?”
Echo
It throws its hands up out of its pockets.
Normallies.
✧ What.
Spark
“N…normallies?”
Echo
Normallies. One of those slang terms we reconstructed. As far as the Librarian and myself understood it, it refers to the classification of folk without in-depth musical knowledge. You two. Hence, a good way for the arts and theatre to express frustration.
⏻ you can’t keep getting away with this.
” oh, but i will.
✧ Chat, I am shaking my head in disapproval.
Winds
“Interesting. Do the texts at the– Hm?” Head tilt. “Are they still texts in a library if they’re music? What do you call that then?”
Echo
...Were they ever even referred to like that...
Spark
“Okay I’m starting to doubt you’ve spoken more than two hundred words your entire current life.”
Echo
Hey! Lyrics are—
Spark
“No they’re not? Unless you use them as conversation. It’s literally different.”
Echo
Winds, a wandering stick is trying to lecture an apprentice librarian on the components of language.
Winds
“I forgot what I was going to ask.”
✧ Also applies out of character. Something about slang? Oh well, it’ll come to me later. Anything come of this encounter?
” no Bond this time, though you can expect one if we run into Weekend again. i’m debating what happens to the Harm i planned for Spark, though… probably contingent on the next meeting.
⏻ i hope she continues to go unpunished.
” challenging Lady Luck seems to go better for us than most, but don’t bet too deep on it.
⏻ i am manifesting that she continues to go unpunished.
” okay. are we good to proceed?
✧ Onward and…onward.
⏻ yep!
While Wake itself is no stranger to transit, the valley within these mountains has very little in the way of trains and trams. Were you to ask the different towns among the Cairn, they would point to their precarious living position, and shy away from developing heavy rhythmic machines. For the Mistwalk, the moisture and fog is something that most people just don't want to do maintenance in, but lightweight rails for transport are available when there's enough call to build them. The towns and shrines within the mountains themselves, as well as passage through them, do generally have lifts and cable cars, but with how rough the weather can get, they are not always the most reliable thing. All in all, walking is just that prevalent, and spending a week on the road is not that uncommon.
It is evident why the town ahead is called Wider North Rock—from the path, sitting on the lowest layer of the Cairn itself, a few others can be seen out in the distance around the edge, and more several layers up in the center. Each is easily a day's walk or more to traverse in any direction, which cuts an interesting contrast to the mountain range around beyond the mists. Afternoon is pressing on, and the town is thankfully close by, but just as the mosses and lichens of the rock layer begin to give way to small bushes, another figure also is seen staring at the group from the wayside.
” what stands out among the green and slate is their outfit - it’s that of a courier, much like Gnarlwood’s, but with a wide mark of fabric draped down the left side of their head, hanging off their hat. it’s a red-orange, with the lower two-thirds heavily blackened and little of the original design remaining.
⏻ oh, this guy.
✧ Wait, have you said what Spark-run’s mark is yet?
⏻ …wait, i didnt. lmao.
” oh damn you’re right, it’s nowhere in the last post.
⏻ okay! so. she’s got coat clasps to close the thing, with one button for fashion. the other circular bit in the center is styled like a button, but that’s her mark. green and black. not the most common colors for it, given the whole Blackmark thing (see our friend here), but it’s made to vibe with her usual fit colors.
” possibly one of the more difficult design elements to come up with on the fly. at least for me.
✧ You just aren’t the right kind of pervert. You need to channel the spirit of someone who thinks about fabric every time it’s in sight.
” please. sewing once a year is about all i can manage. we can’t afford another expensive hobby right now, anyways.
⏻ just give us another like 10 years, and assuming the world doesn’t explode, we’ll still somehow be too busy to pick up more regular hobbies!
✧ Somehow, that implies we could afford it if the world does explode. Which, interesting thought.
” viva la revolución… but yeah! you as Gnarlwood know this particular Blackmark, so would you like to call out to them, or let them start up the conversation?
⏻ sure! to the first one.
Spark
“Well, well, if it isn’t 8th.” She strikes a bit of a pose with her hands in her pockets as she comes up on him, light smile on her face. “Waiting for little ol’ me again?”
“8th”
”…You could say that, yeah.” He looks up at the group, and then kicks back more, not particularly seeming interested in Winds or Echo beyond a quick question of “They with you?”
Spark
“Yerp. Friends from further out. First time up here, far as I know.” She looks back at the two of them in case they want to chime in.
Winds
“Yes, I’ve generally just been up in the mountains, and spent a short time outside them if anything. You…r friend?” The question posed to Sparks, of course. /ey are visibly disconcerted meeting a Blackmark, but he doesn’t read as hostile as the rumors can make them out to be.
Spark
“Eh. Basically. He’s like an ex except without the dating part.”
“8th”
“Could there be a worse way to introduce a guy, one must wonder.”
Spark
“Bro you’re literally sitting on the side of the road waiting for me to get back. What happened to passing each other in town? Nothing urgent ever happens here, for us.”
Echo
Were you two coworkers? Or was 8th already a Blackmark once you made his acquaintance?
“8th”
”…Does it count as coworkers if we all get up to our own thing? I can’t count a single time I’ve ever seen her in the office once she stopped running.”
Spark
“And who’s fault is that? You somehow are the one who got kicked out for having such an erratic schedule.”
” They scoff at you.
Spark
“Anyway, you two, this is 8th of Night Delving.” She loosely points at him, half-turning back to her traveling companions. “He doesn’t get along well with… Well, the other Couriers don’t get along well with him after he got kicked out, and the Postmaster won’t let him hang around as a bad influence for the few new runners, so he mostly tracks me down to tell me about weird shit I’m missing out on by enjoying my life and walking everywhere.”
“8th”
“Oh, if only everyone was as selfless as you.” He rolls his eyes, but finally stands up. “Right. What brings you so far in from the mountains, if you never leave it?”
✧ Winds awkwardly looks back and forth between the three others. Does Echo wanna say anything first?
” yeah, sure.
Echo
Requested... No. Invited? A change of pace from the library, and looking for more music. Basically, ii got told to learn from more living Songs instead of staying cooped up studying how to repair old ones.It shrugs.Fair point, really. Unsure how to feel about the Cairn yet. Dryer is nice.It stretches its joints a bit, and rocks back and forth on its joints.Unsure if ii like it long-term.
Winds
“It’s certainly nice to be out of the mist. Um. I suppose we should introduce ourselves, here? I rather missed the timing…”
“8th”
He blinks a couple times before replying. “You know what. It’s been so long since I chatted up someone new, I forgot about that.”
Winds
“Oh, were you never out across the Mistwalk, then? There’s a Shrine up in the mountains, where I live.” After an awkward pause, /ey continue: “Handspun Winds of Repose,” and then wait for anyone else to speak.
⏻ for the record, it’s really funny how we’re all sort of not answering the questions properly.
” oh absolutely.
Echo
Wish Upon an Echo of a Star.It hooks a thumb at the music case on its back.In case it's still unclear, as ii know different places do names differently, ii am a Fool, and this here is the beloved Instrument.
Winds
“Ah! Yes. Tailor, myself is.” /ey immediately visibly regret how that came out, grimacing a bit. “I. I don’t. Haven’t. It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to people at length. Working at a Shrine of rest, you get very used to the silence.”
Spark
“Well, it’s no surprise to me, but I sure am the only one here used to chatting, eh?” She sticks her hands in her pockets, and starts walking slowly backwards in the direction of the town. “C’mon, then. We can get used to each other on the way. Don’t wanna need to set up another night on the road if we don’t have to!”
” honestly, with just a minute of walk, we’ve already arrived ‘in the town’, though most of the buildings are farther in, packed up and down into the rock. what’s around for now is half-tilled plots and chaotic mixes of shrubbery, seeming to bring the greenish carpet of moss and lichen up smoothly over to the roof of the town, just two stories up for most of it. no trees to be seen, but there’s something that could maybe pass as one—the radio tower in this town, with a handful of vines hanging from its lower rungs, another two stories up or so.
“8th”
“So.” He makes no particular effort to look at who he’s talking to. “Anything interesting happen on the trip?”
Spark
“I meannnn, we fought some Cats. Fought off? Stole from.” She points at the other two. “They did most of the work, really. Picked up something for an Argaeum…”
Winds
“Orator, if I’m not mistaken.” /ey fish the note out and double-check. “Yes, of Rainfall.”
Spark
“Got it with me right here,” she continues, patting one of her bags, “and it’s why I ended up bootless coming back. Figured I’d just get a new pair to commemorate the trip.”
“8th”
”…I don’t see, just for the record, but sure, I see.” He sighs. “Explains why you were a bit late.”
Echo
Are there many Cats around these parts? Or ruins? ii'd like to check them out if so. The ruins. And ii suppose also the Cats. They were enriching.
✧ Winds shoots a concerned look.
Spark
“Ruins, a few. Cats, as many as ever?” Sparks shrugs. “I honestly don’t keep count of the ruins, don’t think most do. They don’t do much for the towns here, and even our delinquent runners and Couriers are usually too busy to waste time in those when there’s information and packages to carry…”
” i am slightly regretting taking part in the rotating GM idea thing. like, it’s fun. but.
✧ Makes it hard to figure out how much ‘you’ should be saying, though, doesn’t it?
” yeag. oh well. questions to be answers for next go at it.
“8th”
“It’s not like there’s not Ruins, but you can’t just be Ruins explorers, right? Not a pair of two who’ve never… Eh, not my business.” He shrugs, and then pulls out a small coin from a pocket, which he immediately flicks to Spark. “This, is. And now it’s yours too.”
⏻ what the heck! penny for your thoughts, bastard.
” she’d recognize the coin as something 8th has passed her before. it’s one of the reasons he hangs around the Cairn so much still.
⏻ ahh, right. still, what the heck!
Spark
“Hello?” She turns the coin over once, and pockets it, but still returns a puzzled glare. “What, now?”
“8th”
“Tag in, or join me in truancy. I’m literallly just the messenger this time. Trusts me for that much still, at least. Anyway, you’ve got a night or two. Rest up.”
” by now, our group is solidly inside the town’s boundaries, and 8th starts noticeably dropping behind the group, before randomly dipping into what looked like a wall of leaves, and vanishing.
Winds
“I mean no slight to you, of course, but that is an incredibly confusing friend you have, Gnarlwood.” Winds does a double-take at the bush of vanishing, but even if someone else starts after 8th, /ey aren’t likely to follow.
Spark
“Well, you uh.” Rarely, she’s looking away sheepishly as she talks, and even spins back around finally. “Birds of a feather, right? Look, we’ve all got our circumstances. Let’s get to my usual place and then I’ll split off to get some new boots, while you two get settled. We can look around after, or even tomorrow.”
Echo
Are there any stages, or theatres, or places one could perform? Evening is, generally speaking, one of the best times for it.
Spark
“I, uh. There’s street corners? The plaza? Someone’s roof? Oh, right, Argaeum tonight?”
Winds
“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like that.”
Echo
A roof jam does sound quite interesting. ii am not the best at climbing, but these leaves might be enough to fix that.
Spark
“Please test your weight before you bring down a garden. Yeah, I can just ask the Postmaster, and we can talk about—” She stops dead in her tracks, and then stomps the path lightly. “fuuuuck the Postmaster isn’t gonna be around that’s why. Dammit. I forgot it was that time again.”
Winds
”..????” /ey barely make a vocalization, but it’s some sort of confused noise.
Echo
ii feel we have been skipping several steps since getting here. should wee talk this over once lodging is secured?
Spark
“Yeah. Yeah! No worries, I’ll just poke around myself later.” She puts a hand to her temple, and resumes walking. “Alright, let’s get those beds.”
” is this a “let’s get that bread” reference?
⏻ let’s get that bed.
✧ …What is the gameplan of Hypixel Minecraft Bedwars? Jeopardy-style answer.
⏻ FUCK off, we do not need Bedwars in the roleplay
” nono please continue
✧ In Wake, Bedwars is a regional tradition much like the Gävle Goat, specifically in that the idea is the destruction of an otherwise normal object.
⏻ we are passing some people waving to Sparks, she is waving back with her free hand,
✧ I like the idea that it’s specifically some sort of Shrine-related activity, either a mock fight between Deities or some really odd form of tribute. The Bed is prepared and set up and then a group of people or even other Deities do their best to slip past any watchful eyes and burn it, trash it, or do something to mess it up before it’s dismantled legitimately.
⏻ i hate how you’re making this sound fun.
” what’s a oneshot if you don’t add some cursed lore to work with?
⏻ ok, you two can keep brainstorming, i guess we reconvene next time at the inn? oh god it’s gonna be my turn to GM.
” have funnnn heart hands
✧ Technically, you have the most say in what Sparks knows anyway, so it works out really well.
⏻ They’re not wrong, chat.
POST-SESSION NOTES
” i mean first order of business is: this one took us like 4 weeks to write because we kept getting sidetracked and work ran us out of energy to write anything lol. besides that. surprisingly few rolls?
✧ Yeah… There really weren’t many moments where it felt like there was a space to roll. Not a complaint, of course, but interesting. I wonder if that changes with more tense dialog, or someone you’re mad at.
⏻ we should make a bunch of enemies so we can test that out! or something.
✧ The roleplay burnout for 17 non-players is going to be insane.
” finally, an excuse to hibernate!
⏻ +Yeah!
” and, second order of business, uhm. i want to address that we didn’t really come into this with a plan for the characters. or really much of anything.
⏻ +Yeah!
✧ Yeah. It’s not like we haven’t GM’d anything before, but, surprisingly, this is the first time we’re doing anything on the level of a campaign from scratch? So, we set up our characters pretty barebones, set them on the road, and decided we’d figure something out by the second or third post. Which, for the record. I think we do have ‘something’ now?
” roughly. it’s definitely highlighting how… well, two things. the complete openness of Wake is super nice for just Doing Something by cobbling together the different area motifs. i also really understand why modules exist, now that we’re going through something from scratch. they kinda puzzled me for a while, as a concept? but i’m realizing that that’s basically entirely from having one singular point of tabletop design as reference coughD&DandPathfinderarebasicallythesamethingwithmanyofthesameissuesandasfunastheycanbeingroupsthesearenevergoingtobesomethingthaticanmanageplayingregularlytbqh, and i get why and how they help people start up GMing, especially for a system.
⏻ “especially for a system” is a very funny comment considering. the us.
” d’you think a module would actually go over well for us, in practice?
⏻ no i think we’d hate it. but mostly because what we’re interested in isn’t really something you can “module”, in the first place. and also railroading is more interesting when it isn’t… idk. something something jackbox party pack is only fun with friends to show it off to?
” yeah that tracks.
✧ I’m impressed at how well that comparison works. Unfortunately, I’m gonna cut us all off here since we’re running a bit longer and would prefer if this section keeps short, but! A final note on length. I think we’ll make it somewhere between 5 and 7 of these long. Can’t really see how the story works if it stretches beyond that, myself, but if we spend more like this, uh. C’est la vie? Maybe we allow word count to double. Specifics to be ironed out, as always, but next up is probably some well-overdue in-character talk about what we’re even doing with the three of them already in the first place. Because we kind of skipped over the purpose vignette and went right to roleplay.
” a good decision, still, but certainly might be harder to get what the title’s talking about if we don’t talk about it. early next time we should get to it, so look forward to that. in. idk another 2 months? depends on how much energy the job and the vtt project sap. and the translation thing. and games. so many amazing games are killing our schedules.
⏻ i’m going to file a cease and desist against From Software so they stop adding content to Nightreign, i swear.
” play unbeatable.