Let's Play Lone Wolf: Book 29 and beyond!

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achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Shoot the bow, hope we don�t hit the kid.

# ? Jan 24, 2023 11:08

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 14:15

Toplowtech: Aug 31, 2004

nelson posted:

We have a bow and wish to use it.

Also lol at the non winnable fight, it's kinda more honest than insanely high CS fights.

# ? Jan 24, 2023 11:25

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

We have a bow and wish to use it.

# ? Jan 25, 2023 00:46

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

You unshoulder your Bow ~~and retrieve the Arrow of Atonement from your Backpack. With a prayer to Goddess Ishir on your lips, you take aim at the Autarch�s retreating back and let fly your magical missile~~. However, as you are retrieving the Arrow of Atonement from your Backpack, a dark aura surrounds your fleeing target. A winged shadow of Sejanoz with eyes like pools of darkness breaks away and swoops down on you with incredible speed! This ghastly spectre opens its clawed arms to embrace you. You must evade it at all costs!

Vampire Shadow:
COMBAT SKILL 42
Fight only for one round of combat. You cannot use any hand weapon, including your Kai Weapon, since you are wielding your Bow. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 2 to your COMBAT SKILL for this single round.

No Endurance score, eh? Well, two can play at that game.

Wise Hawk: COMBAT SKILL 31 Vampire Shadow: COMBAT SKILL 40 Combat Ratio: -9

As our current Endurance is below 7, we can't use Kai-surge.

We roll: 1.

That would have killed us instantly if we hadn't already been dead, but we'll treat it as losing more EP than the Vampire Shadow.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

You fail to evade the Vampire Shadow and in an instant it has merged with your body! Born of the evil spirit of Sejanoz, it seizes your mind, plunging you into panic. With monumental effort, your Magnakai skills expel the entity and you breathe deeply, struggling to regain your self-control.

Sejanoz and Kamada are nowhere to be seen. You dash after the Autarch and reach a chamber heaped with rubble and earth. Desperately, you ascend the mound towards a hole in the ceiling, leading to the surface. Your Sixth Sense, benumbed by your encounter with the Shadow, warns you of the first shell just as it explodes at your feet.

The Autarch's gunners have been ordered to cover the tunnel with Bhanarian steam-cannons, and obliterate anything that emerges. Your life and your quest end here, in the Xiin catacombs of Fort Vlau. For Prince Kamada and the New Kingdoms, the nightmare has just begun.

Death count: 5.

Do we want to reroll, or go back and not use the bow?

Tiggum fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jan 25, 2023

# ? Jan 25, 2023 03:31

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

We have a bow but do not wish to use it.

# ? Jan 25, 2023 04:27

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Reroll

# ? Jan 25, 2023 10:48

moosecow333: Mar 15, 2007; Super-Duper Supermen!

nelson posted:

We have a bow but do not wish to use it.

Heresy

Reroll

# ? Jan 25, 2023 11:09

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

achtungnight posted:

Reroll

# ? Jan 25, 2023 20:35

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

nelson posted:

We have a bow but do not wish to use it.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

As you reach the tunnel entrance, Sejanoz turns and hurls a glass sphere that is filled with a volatile yellow fluid. It smashes near your feet and releases a billowing cloud of poisonous gas.

Shall we use Deliverance?

I don't know why we'd choose not to, but it's an option.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 04:39

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Don't watch Deliverance. It's not a good movie.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 04:51

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Tiggum posted:

Shall we use Deliverance?

🤔

Of course we should use Deliverance.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 04:52

moosecow333: Mar 15, 2007; Super-Duper Supermen!

We�re already dead, let�s do some dubious drugs.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 06:01

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Ben Dever posted:

Another piece of news announced at Dragonmeet is that LIGHT OF THE KAI will be released in two volumes, bringing the final number of Lone Wolf books in the saga to thirty-three.

Take a look at your copy of Book 31. It's so thick that it's practically a cube. Vincent and I promised ourselves not to do this again - to be better disciplined with word count, provided it doesn't diminish the story.

The story my dad laid out for LIGHT OF THE KAI, however, is not something we wish to diminish. To tell it properly (and to avoid printing another cube), it deserves to be told in two parts:

Light Of The Kai: Volume One
October, 2024

Light Of The Kai: Volume Two
October, 2025

So almost two years to go before we get the first half of the final book, and another year after that before we get the second half. And it's going to be long. No word on the bonus adventures. Also, Ben seems to have reverted to spelling his name without the additional E on the end. I'd assume it had just been a typo if it hadn't been reproduced so consistently across their official communications for that brief period.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 08:23

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

moosecow333 posted:

We’re already dead, let’s do some dubious drugs.

# ? Jan 26, 2023 09:12

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

nelson posted:

Of course we should use Deliverance.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

The vile gas makes you cough and retch, but your Kai Mastery neutralizes the toxins that have entered your lungs, and the discomfort soon passes.

Your order Princess Mitzu to help her father to safety. You fear that the gas will swiftly be fatal to the aged Khea-khan if he should inhale its poisonous vapours. The brave Princess obeys your command. As she helps her father to reach the far end of the burial crypt, you run through the poison cloud and set off in determined pursuit of the tyrant and his young hostage.

As you run, you notice that many sarcophaguses line the tunnel. Your Magnakai skills detect a tremendous surge of necromantic power. Ice-blue energy crackles from the tomb stones in the dark corridor ahead. To your horror, a legion of reptilian skeletons-remains of a people that inhabited the Great Lissan Plain ages ago-emerge from the sarcophaguses to block you, animated by the cruel will of the Vampire Lord. If you possess a Runic Block, turn immediately to 310. If you do not have this Backpack Item, you must fight your way through the pack of undead reptilians.

Tahrani Skeletons (animated by Sejanoz)
COMBAT SKILL 42 ENDURANCE 42
These puppets are immune to all psychic attacks except Kai-blast. If you possess the Kai Weapon 'Illuminatus', 'Spawnsmith', 'Valiance' or 'Alema' you may add the bonus that you gain from its unique properties during this combat. If you possess a Vial of Bina Water, you may throw it at the start of the fight to inflict them 10 ENDURANCE points of damage.

Both "Spawnsmith" (rather than "Spawnsmite") and "to inflict them ... damage" are accurate transcriptions. For this fight, it matters how quickly you win, so I'll run this combat despite our current status.

Wise Hawk (with Valiance): COMBAT SKILL 40 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 42 Combat Ratio: 0 We roll: 3 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 37 We roll: 2 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 33 We roll: 7 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 24 We roll: 2 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 20

And time's up. Could we have won this fight? Yes. But we'd have to be lucky to do 42 points of damage in only four rounds. And obviously if we hadn't been playing in zombie mode we could still have been killed ourself before the four rounds were up.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

Once you have dispatched the last skeleton, you rush after the Autarch and reach a chamber heaped with rubble and earth. Sejanoz and Kamada are nowhere to be seen. Desperately, you ascend the mound of rubble towards a hole in the ceiling, leading to the surface. Your Sixth Sense warns you of the first shell just as it explodes at your feet.

The Autarch's gunners have been ordered to cover the tunnel with Bhanarian steam-cannons, and obliterate anything that emerges. Your life and your quest end here, in the Xiin catacombs of Fort Vlau. For Prince Kamada and the New Kingdoms, the nightmare has just begun.

Death count: 6.

So now do we want to cheat our way past the skeleton fight or the vampire shadow?

# ? Jan 27, 2023 02:59

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Wafflecopper posted:

let's do this and die horribly a whole bunch of times

Welp, that was prescient. Since we�re cheating anyway, can we restart the book with max cs and different skills?

# ? Jan 27, 2023 03:27

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Geez, this getting tough. I�d rather get it over with than restart.

Cheat past the vampire shadow.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 03:48

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

nelson posted:

Since we�re cheating anyway, can we restart the book with max cs and different skills?

Not at this time, but since there's going to be a long wait before the next book comes out I might do that after this book's bonus adventure. Or possibly run through as Braveheart? There have been a number of options we couldn't take due to lack of Disciplines and/or rank.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 03:58

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Tiggum posted:

Not at this time, but since there's going to be a long wait before the next book comes out I might do that after this book's bonus adventure. Or possibly run through as Braveheart? There have been a number of options we couldn't take due to lack of Disciplines and/or rank.

Sounds good.

achtungnight posted:

Cheat past the vampire shadow.

Sure, why not.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 04:09

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

I might be cool with playing this book as Braveheart, if we use our most recent stats. Play as a new game plus of a previous adventure.

# ? Jan 27, 2023 06:24

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

nelson posted:

Welp, that was prescient.

lol tbh idk if "prescient" is the word you're looking for so much as "inevitable"

# ? Jan 27, 2023 06:37

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

You unshoulder your Bow ~~and retrieve the Arrow of Atonement from your Backpack. With a prayer to Goddess Ishir on your lips, you take aim at the Autarch�s retreating back and let fly your magical missile~~. However, as you are retrieving the Arrow of Atonement from your Backpack, a dark aura surrounds your fleeing target. A winged shadow of Sejanoz with eyes like pools of darkness breaks away and swoops down on you with incredible speed! This ghastly spectre opens its clawed arms to embrace you. You must evade it at all costs!

Vampire Shadow:
COMBAT SKILL 42
Fight only for one round of combat. You cannot use any hand weapon, including your Kai Weapon, since you are wielding your Bow. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add 2 to your COMBAT SKILL for this single round.

Wise Hawk: COMBAT SKILL 31 Vampire Shadow: COMBAT SKILL 40 Combat Ratio: -9 We roll: 3 8

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

Summoning all your skill, you evade the Vampire Shadow, and the entity vanishes (the ENDURANCE points that were lost in the single round of combat represent the surge of power you expended to accomplish this feat).

With a prayer to the Goddess Ishir on your lips, you retrieve the Arrow of Atonement, take aim at the Autarch's retreating back and let fly your magical missile.

We roll: 0.

The Arrow of Atonement narrowly misses the Autarch by no more than a hand�s breadth. It lodges in the wall of the tunnel, and the fleeing tyrant is unaware of how close he came to death.

You rush forward and wrench the Arrow of Atonement from the mouldering stone, and then you pursue the Autarch and his innocent young hostage.

As you run, you notice that many sarcophaguses line the tunnel. Your Magnakai skills detect a tremendous surge of necromantic power. Ice-blue energy crackles from the tomb stones in the dark corridor ahead. To your horror, a legion of reptilian skeletons-remains of a people that inhabited the Great Lissan Plain ages ago-emerge from the sarcophaguses to block you, animated by the cruel will of the Vampire Lord. If you possess a Runic Block, turn immediately to 310. If you do not have this Backpack Item, you must fight your way through the pack of undead reptilians.

Tahrani Skeletons (animated by Sejanoz)
COMBAT SKILL 42 ENDURANCE 42
These puppets are immune to all psychic attacks except Kai-blast. If you possess the Kai Weapon 'Illuminatus', 'Spawnsmith', 'Valiance' or 'Alema' you may add the bonus that you gain from its unique properties during this combat. If you possess a Vial of Bina Water, you may throw it at the start of the fight to inflict them 10 ENDURANCE points of damage.

Wise Hawk (with Valiance): COMBAT SKILL 40 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 42 Combat Ratio: 0 We roll: 9 Wise Hawk (with Valiance): COMBAT SKILL 40 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 31 We roll: 2 Wise Hawk (with Valiance): COMBAT SKILL 40 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 27 We roll: 4 Wise Hawk (with Valiance): COMBAT SKILL 40 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 21 We roll: 2 Wise Hawk (with Valiance): COMBAT SKILL 40 Tahrani Skeletons: COMBAT SKILL 40 ENDURANCE 17

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

Once you have dispatched the last skeleton, you rush after the Autarch and reach a chamber heaped with rubble and earth. Sejanoz and Kamada are nowhere to be seen. Desperately, you ascend the mound of rubble towards a hole in the ceiling, leading to the surface. Your Sixth Sense warns you of the first shell just as it explodes at your feet.

The Autarch's gunners have been ordered to cover the tunnel with Bhanarian steam-cannons, and obliterate anything that emerges. Your life and your quest end here, in the Xiin catacombs of Fort Vlau. For Prince Kamada and the New Kingdoms, the nightmare has just begun.

Death count: 7.

Shall we now cheat past the skeletons, or retry that shot at Sejanoz?

# ? Jan 28, 2023 02:11

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Shoot the vampire!

# ? Jan 28, 2023 11:10

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

We have a bow and we will use it goddamnit

# ? Jan 28, 2023 11:18

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Cheat the skellies

# ? Jan 28, 2023 14:23

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

Black Robe posted:

We have a bow and we will use it goddamnit

# ? Jan 28, 2023 17:34

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

Black Robe posted:

We have a bow and we will use it goddamnit

# ? Jan 28, 2023 20:47

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

RudeCat posted:

We have a bow and we will use it goddamnit

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

Summoning all your skill, you evade the Vampire Shadow, and the entity vanishes (the ENDURANCE points that were lost in the single round of combat represent the surge of power you expended to accomplish this feat).

With a prayer to the Goddess Ishir on your lips, you retrieve the Arrow of Atonement, take aim at the Autarch's retreating back and let fly your magical missile.

We roll: 6.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

The Arrow of Atonement strikes Autarch Sejanoz in the thigh and causes him to shriek out in agony. With a superhuman effort, he wrenches the missile from his limb and hurls it back at you with fearsome force.

We roll: 1.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

The arrow strikes you in the centre of your forehead and an explosion of white light engulfs your vision. For a few fleeting moments you feel yourself tumbling backwards into a deep, dark abyss. Then all sensation vanishes and you cease to be.

Tragically, your life and your mission end here in the catacombs of Fort Vlau.

Death count: 8.

Shall we aim better, dodge better, or fight the skeletons again?

# ? Jan 29, 2023 04:15

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

nelson posted:

Cheat the skellies

# ? Jan 29, 2023 08:24

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

Black Robe posted:

We have a bow and we will use it goddamnit

# ? Jan 29, 2023 09:19

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Aim better. Sun God Kai, guide my hand!

# ? Jan 29, 2023 10:11

moosecow333: Mar 15, 2007; Super-Duper Supermen!

Dude we really suck, punked on by our own arrow?

Let�s shoot better

# ? Jan 29, 2023 19:14

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

moosecow333 posted:

Dude we really suck, punked on by our own arrow?

Let�s shoot better

# ? Jan 29, 2023 21:21

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

moosecow333 posted:

Dude we really suck, punked on by our own arrow?

Let’s shoot better

# ? Jan 29, 2023 23:11

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

RudeCat posted:

Let�s shoot better

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

Summoning all your skill, you evade the Vampire Shadow, and the entity vanishes (the ENDURANCE points that were lost in the single round of combat represent the surge of power you expended to accomplish this feat).

With a prayer to the Goddess Ishir on your lips, you retrieve the Arrow of Atonement, take aim at the Autarch's retreating back and let fly your magical missile.

We roll: 0 8 7 5 3 7 6 9.

The Hunger of Sejanoz posted:

The Autarch shrieks with agony as the Arrow of Atonement strikes him in the middle of the back and skewers his heart. Prince Kamada slips from his grasp as he collapses to his knees, and you rush forwards to drag the frightened young boy away from Sejanoz�s rapidly decomposing body. For centuries his unnatural powers have preserved his cadaverous frame and held time at bay, but within the matter of a few seconds, time wreaks its vengeance upon the demonic Autarch. His flesh and bones disintegrate to a fine dust that seeps through the cracks in the floor and disappears without trace.

You return Prince Kamada to his mother and help carry the Khea-khan from out of these perilous catacombs. You are met by Captain Chan at the portal entrance, and he is greatly relieved to see that the Imperial Family are still alive. But when you tell him that Sejanoz is dead he can hardly believe his ears. �Ishir be praised! At last, after 3,000 years, our continent is free of that accursed tyrant!�

The Bhanarian army outside Fort Vlau turns and flees in disarray upon discovering that their leader has been destroyed, for they believed him to be immortal and invincible. The way is now open for the caravan to reach Tazhan unhindered, and upon your arrival there, you discover that the news of Autarch Sejanoz�s demise has already spread the length and breadth of Southern Magnamund. The Khea-khan is able to rally the New Kingdom armies and sweep the shattered remnants of the Bhanarian armies back into their own lands and beyond.

Congratulations, Grand Master. Your victory is total. You have rid this continent and its people of a cruel tyrant who has threatened their peaceful existence for many centuries, and your triumph here is set to become legend. In future times the chronicle will tell of other quests that you undertook on the road to becoming a Kai Supreme Master. Until the time comes for their telling, may the Gods Ishir and Kai watch over you, always. But other quests await you on the road to becoming a Kai Supreme Master, and the time has come for their telling. May the Gods Ishir and Kai watch over you in:

The Storms of Chai

# ? Jan 30, 2023 03:03

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Final stats for Wise Hawk

Name:

Gender:

Rank:

Combat Skill:

Endurance Points:

Grand Weaponmastery (+5 CS w/ swords)
Deliverance (Once every 20 days, if EP < 9, restore 20 EP - used 7 days ago)
Curing (Restore 1 EP per numbered section, used 10/10 times this book)
Assimilance
Kai-surge (+8 CS, -1 EP/round)
Mindblast (+4 CS)
Animal Mastery

Weapons:

Bow
Chai Spear (+1 CS)

Belt Pouch

2 Gold Crowns

Backpack:

Flute
Bottle of Rice Wine
Meal
Andui Flask (purifies any liquid placed in it)
Bottle of Rice Wine

Special Items:

Quiver (5/6 arrows)
Valiance (sword; +5 CS; +3 CS magicians or creatures born of magic)
Ang�sei (Enemies get -2 CS)
Xo-lin's Samor Archer
Arrow of Atonement
Xi-die

Deaths:

# ? Jan 30, 2023 03:04

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

For all their talk of restoring this to the full glory of how it was always meant to be, this edition does practically nothing to improve the book, and it's still among the worst of the series, imo. I have gone through and worked out where the content we missed is, so when we do replay it I'll make sure that we see as much as possible, but honestly it's pretty underwhelming. Up next will be the bonus adventure, The Edge of Night, but I'm moving house in a couple of weeks so I'm going to wait till after I'm settled into the new place before I begin.

# ? Jan 30, 2023 03:08

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

It looked like most of the bonus content was additional ways to lose EP?

# ? Jan 30, 2023 03:37

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Wafflecopper posted:

It looked like most of the bonus content was additional ways to lose EP?

Mostly. But there is one significant section that we missed entirely that has a bit more to it.

# ? Jan 30, 2023 04:04

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# ? Apr 29, 2024 14:15

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

The Edge of Night

The Edge of Night posted:

Introduction

For more than three thousand years, the people of Bhanar have laboured under the oppressive rule of their Autarch, Sejanoz. Rumoured to be truly immortal and possessed of great power, Sejanoz has enforced his dark will over both Bhanar and the borderlands of neighbouring Chai for many years. Bloody skirmishes and untold abuse against his own people have been the hallmarks of Sejanoz's long and violent reign.

From the western reaches of the Bhanarian Plain to the mired depths of Angfeng Forest, no corner of Bhanar has been free of Sejanoz's influence and corruption. Nowhere is his power more absolute, however, than in the shadowy streets of Otavai, the nation's capital city. Here, the Vampire Lord's will has enslaved Agarashi-foul creatures from the Kelderwastes, the Vanchou and the Dammerdons-to serve as enforcers, soldiers, and brute labour for his factories and shipyards.

The skyline of Otavai is often choked with smoke from the foundries and forges at its crowded urban heart. The products of this industry are then transported to factories at the city's southern docks, where cutters and battleships are being constructed and outfitted for war with steel-plated hulls and powerful steam-cannons. While many of the nations of Southern Magnamund have been occupied with strife of their own, every country with a coastline has been watching the naval expansion of Bhanar with growing concern.

The Autarch's many servitors provide the muscle needed for his war efforts, but few of these bound beasts have the mental capacity to direct themselves. As Bhanar's military grows, its need for effective command has also increased. Too imperious to trust his oppressed citizens or foreign Drakkarim with leadership of his forces, Sejanoz has taken matters into his own withered, inhuman hands.

Enter the Vampirium

Drawing on the power invested in him through his dark pact with the spirit of Agarash, Sejanoz has imbued his own blood with the ability to confer a form of his immortality upon others. Different from the creation of undead Arisen frequently used in his dark temples, this process turns the subject into an inhuman creature of the night while also robbing them of their free will. Unable to refuse any command issued by the Autarch and bound to serve him in every way, these lesser Vampires are the extension of his will throughout Bhanar-much different from the few other Vampires who willingly made a pact with Agarash's spirit to serve Sejanoz but retain a form of evil free will. Greater and lesser Vampires who respond to the Autarch are collectively known as the Vampirium.

The Vampirium serve as Sejanoz's generals, spies, overseers, and hidden enforcers, and in that they are much more efficient than the Fathers of the Liberation, a party of mortal fanatics created when Sejanoz founded Bhanar and who serve him as a brutal secret police. Capable of hiding their undead curse and appearing fully human when necessary, Sejanoz's blood-slaves and volunteer Vampires could be anyone in the nation, embedded in any group or acting in any role he might need. Rumours spread among the people of Bhanar ensure fear and suspicion enough for the Vampirium to maintain order through their mere existence. Just the possibility of a Vampire in their midst can be enough to quell a potential uprising before it can even begin.

The darkest use of Sejanoz's power to create Vampires has not been to uplift loyal members of the populace into positions of authority, however. He has also used it in the past to rend the will of those who dared to oppose him in the past. While most of his enemies have long since been slain, a rare few have met with a far worse fate-enslavement of their bodies, minds, and souls.

Defiant to the Last

Once, long ago, you were a fisherman on the island of Skia. Your village was heavily taxed by local authorities and most of your catch went to feed the nobles and soldiers of Yua Klio, the city-fortress that claimed to 'protect' your people in the Chai Sea. Your frustrations finally gave way to rebellion when hostilities erupted over the construction of the Chai Wall between the Szuchow Range and the Hyunsei Mountains.

A ship from Yua Klio came to conscript every able-bodied villager to send east into battle. Your whole life they had taken your livelihood, but now they had come for your lives. Seeing your sons being dragged from your home was more than you could take. By the end of the day, the troop ship was on the ocean floor and you were at war.

The 'Skia Rebellion' lasted just long enough to get the attention of the Autarch himself. After several attempts to assault the island were turned aside and hundreds of soldiers failed to gain a foothold on Skia's rocky beach, Sejanoz set sail from Otavai in the Scarlet Tiger, his personal flagship. His fleet blotted out the waves and in a hail of barbed arrows, your insurrection ended. Most of your people died in the initial rain of steel from the sky.

They were the lucky ones. You and Jargal, your eldest son, were dragged before the Autarch in chains. A swift execution would have been too merciful, but after long hours of torture, Sejanoz strapped on his war claws and approached the mast where you had been bound and lashed. You knew better than to beg for mercy. Instead, you and Jargal stared up at the Autarch, defiant despite your injuries.

After all, your home was gone. Your people were lost. The worst Sejanoz could do was kill you.

Bound by Blood

How wrong you were. Perhaps Sejanoz had been impressed with your skill, a peasant fisherman organising an island village to defy Bhanar's military and fighting them to a standstill for several days. Perhaps he was merely exercising his deepest cruelty by stripping you and Jargal of so much more than just your lives. Whatever his reasons, the Autarch dragged his claws across your throats and watched as you bled to within moments of death.

What came next is a blur of red and shadow, both your dark rebirth and the countless years since then. You have been a puppet, a slave to Sejanoz forced to do his horrid bidding. In his corrupt service, you have done things for which you are certain there can be no forgiveness. The ancient Mythenish once revered Ishir before turning away from her worship. You are certain that the Goddess, were she to see even a glimpse of what you have become, would turn away from you instead.

But this guilt and shame has only existed in the few moments each sunset when you awaken from your day-sleep before the evil of Sejanoz overwhelms you and just at sunrise when he fades into dark rest just before you do. Every other moment of your existence has been spent as an agent of the Autarch-a Fang of the Vampirium.

Until tonight.

The Game Rules

You are Altan, an unwilling member of the Vampirium and a blood-slave of Autarch Sejanoz, the tyrant of Bhanar. For centuries, you have served your dark master, brutally enforcing his reign over your own people. In all that time, you have constantly been one failure or fatal whim away from destruction. But now, even as your free will has been restored to you, you find yourself in even greater danger!

First thing to do is roll for Combat Skill and Endurance:
Combat Skill: 6 + 25 = 31 Endurance: 9 + 30 = 39

We also have a statistic called Hunger that starts at 1 and can increase and decrease throughout the adventure. If it reaches 10, "disastrous consequences" will occur. We will also need to roll "Hunger Checks" at various points, which we pass by rolling under our current Hunger score. If we roll a 0 on a Hunger Check, we automatically pass and reduce our Hunger by 1.

Next we need to choose our fighting style:

The Edge of Night posted:

Ixn Shui-The Crashing Waves

The folk of Bhanar are warriors either by calling or necessity. For you on the island of Skia, it was the latter. Unable to possess true arms and armour, your people developed a way of fighting that took advantage of empty hands, wood-shod feet, and the tools of their livelihood-farming implements and fishing gear.

Skill in Ixn Shui grants you a +1 to your base COMBAT SKILL and only penalises you -2 CS when you enter battle without a weapon.

Gholon Zhah-The Dragon's Scales

You have spent many years during your service to the Autarch fighting alongside the soldiers in his army, throwing yourself against his many foes and slaying in his hated name. You have gained an affinity for lammeluk, the layered armour worn by elite Bhanaran troops and can withstand blows that would bring down many of your fellow Vampirium. Skill in Gholon Zhah grants you a +2 to your base ENDURANCE. Once during this adventure, if a combat result would reduce you to 0 ENDURANCE, you drop to 1 instead.

Kagh Bahk―The Scarlet Tiger

Though no one would ever accuse the Autarch of sentimentality, Sejanoz saw something of his own fighting spirit in you after your defiance in the Skia Rebellion. Over the course of centuries, whenever the mood struck him, Sejanoz singled you out for special training in Kagh Bahk, his personal fighting style.

Skill in Kagh Bahk does not increase your characteristics. Instead, you benefit from its lightning-fast attacks and swift evasion techniques. During the first round of combat, you choose two Random Numbers. The first is resolved normally but you only suffer half the ENDURANCE loss, if any, rounded down. The second number can only result in your opponent losing ENDURANCE; you lose nothing.

If you are wearing Bahk Nagh, the clawed gauntlets favoured by practitioners of this style, your enemies lose +1 ENDURANCE every combat round after the first. This special first round cannot benefit from Red Rage.

Then we have to choose three Crimson Gifts:

The Edge of Night posted:

Red Rage

Potent blood flows through your veins, blood that grants you strength and speed when you need it most. Whenever you check your Random Number on the Combat Results Chart, you may choose to activate Red Rage and have your enemy lose ENDURANCE as if your result was two columns to the right.

This unnatural power does not come without a cost, however. Whenever you activate Red Rage in combat, you must also add one point to a special characteristic on your sheet called Hunger. See Hunger at the end of this section for more details.

You possess the Crimson Gift of Red Rage, as it is the hallmark of all Vampirium and the first power most of them develop. You may also choose any three of the following:

Shadow Stride

Your dark power has marked you as a true creature of darkness. As such, shadows are your sanctuary and can carry you across great distances without having to reveal yourself to others or to harm. As long as you are in a large shadow of any kind, it is difficult for others to see you. You can also travel from one shadow to another, provided they are both large enough to cover you and you see your destination.

Bloodsight

You are a blood drinker and a stealer of life energy. This constant need for sustenance has sharpened your senses and given you the ability to detect living beings within a short distance no matter how they try to hide. If you concentrate, you can even 'see' their true forms and physiology, allowing you to penetrate any form of disguise.

Brazen

Your centuries of existence have altered your body in many ways, but the most striking change has been to your skin and muscles. Both have hardened while remaining flexible, turning your flesh as resilient as bronze. You can still be injured, but it is difficult to do you any permanent injury (reduce all sources of ENDURANCE loss by 1 point, to a minimum of 0, after all other effects have been resolved) and you are nearly invulnerable to all temperature extremes- other than those caused by sunlight and fire.

Voice of Agarash

The power that sustains you comes from Agarash the Damned, and that corruption has turned you into something almost as inhuman as the Agarashi themselves. There are few outward signs of the monster you have become, but your voice reveals what you are to any who also follow Naar's dark ways and can force obedience from those of lesser rank or weaker will.

You have heard that some members of the Vampirium with this Gift can use it to invoke powerful magic, but you have never been taught anything of the sort. Be warned that using the Voice can be painful to yourself and others.

Bestial Soul

Animals know you for what you are. Few will approach you willingly, while most will flee your presence if at all possible. Normal beasts will never attack you unless starving or forced to do so. You have learned how to harness this stigma to impose your will on animals, pressing them into your service for a brief time. Supernatural beasts are mostly immune to this Gift but you still gain a small advantage whenever you face them in combat.

Prey's Seeming

You were not just a blunt instrument in Sejanoz's service. You were also his agent, his spy, and his assassin when necessary. Your experience in these roles have drawn out this Crimson Gift, the power to make yourself appear alive and suppress your unnatural aura of menace. With intense concentration, you can appear to be someone specific, but this change is illusory and can raise your Hunger very quickly if you are not careful.

If you possess both Bestial Soul and Prey's Seeming, you cannot utilize both at the same time.

So pick one Fighting Style and three Crimson Gifts (not including Red Rage).

# ? Feb 21, 2023 04:13

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