[BW One-on-One] Part 3, Si Juk Meets Death

[luke]

Continuted from this thread:
http://burningwheel.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3263

One thing I forgot from the end of session 2:

Rich had Si Juk meditate at the shrine. He was looking for insight into the Dread Lord's whereabouts. He failed the roll and I presented him with a vision. The Crane God came and scooped him up in his beak and flew west with him. He dropped him on the shores of a vast basin lake. On the shores of the lake sat a large demon, contemplating the waters and the sunrise. The demon turned to him and spoke: "The one you seek is not in hell." The demon paused for a moment and then continued, "And there is no heaven."

Si Juk woke up with a start. I seem to remember Rich having Si Juk call the demon a liar, but I can't recall if that's true or not.

Session 3!
The next day, following the vision, Si Juk and his crew rolled back the wheel stone in the shrine. Underneath was a shaft descending about one story down into darkness.

At this point, Rich wanted to explore the tomb from which the Dread Lord had risen. He took a guess that there was a tomb underneath the shrine based on the various tales he'd heard about the Dread Lord "rising" from the shrine. He was, obviously, correct.

Game-history-wise, this was a tomb that had been previously explored twice. Once by the players when they created the Dread Lord and once by an assassin hunting up the truth behind the Dread Lord. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my notes for the location! When I ran it the first time, I had props and notes and a sketched map. I couldn't find any of that stuff this time around. I remembered the location very clearly, but I was hoping to have the notes to back up my memory -- especially since Rich was treading on a beaten path.

Si Juk descended into the shaft and landed in a straight tunnel. The tunnel was ankle deep with water. The walls held reliefs and carvings and inscriptions.

Rich had Si Juk use his Firebuilding to make torches for the exploration. Awesome! We tested and he was successful.

Rich had Si Juk use his Reading skill to try to decipher the tomb inscriptions. We tested and he failed!

After that, Si Juk came to an ornate stone door barring the corridor, it stood ajar now, though. In the door was an obvious tomb trap: four large squares cut into the door each surrounding by an inscription. Within the squares were large pegs. One stood out, one was depressed, and two were replaced by flat stones.

Upon investigation, Si Juk saw that the flat stones were triggered traps. The stones had apparently closed on the hands of the unwary -- he could see the remains of bones and flesh caught in the seam of the stone.

More coming soon. I'm off to rock!

[luke]

Rich had Si Juk press on past the open stone door. The hallway descended a step or two and the carvings became more ornate. He could see pictures of the founding fathers of the Niraih Empire sailing across the sea.

After another few paces, he came to a drop off. The tunnel ended in a squared off chamber, but the floor stopped about three paces before the far wall. It appeared that there was another shaftway descending. It was filled with cold, black water.

At this point, I stopped describing the action and asked Rich want he wanted to do.

"I want to check out the shaft."

"You want to make the dive?"

"Yeah."

Hm. In my GM mind, this was potentially bad. I knew exactly what the layout of the rest of the tomb was and I knew just how dangerous it was -- very, very dangerous. I also knew that what Rich was seeking was not here. This was game history we were exploring.

Rich was excited and nervous. It was clear he wanted to explore the rest of the tomb, but I wasn't certain that the risks were going to equal the reward.

We negotiated some more and I decided to just take this step by step and give Rich and Si Juk every single benefit I could: I assumed Si Juk would take every necessary precaution and described events accordingly.

Without even asking Rich, I described him making exploratory dives to check the depth. He would have to swim one storey down the shaftway, locate a small doorway and then swim into a new water-filled space of unknown depth and size.

This whole affair was very dangerous for Si Juk -- he had just earned the Short of Breath trait from his Mortal Wound. His Forte was only B4. (It had been dropped to B3, but he practiced back up to B4 at the beginning of the first session of the one on one game.)

I set an obstacle 4 for the test. I told him it was going to be a Forte test, not a Speed test. It was about endurance, not maneuverability. I set that deliberately to force him to make the tough decision of either playing into his weakness or backing off.

Rich hesitated after hearing the obstacle.

I sat back and thought for a moment then said, "Look, the information in this tomb is not vital to your quest. It's cool and it'll be useful for Si Juk, but you don't need it to find the sword.

"So I'll tell you what, if you want to make the test, here's what failure's going to look like: You can fail and decide to return to the surface or you can fail and push on into the tomb. If you return to the surface, you make it, but you take an injury. If you push on, you don't take a wound, but you have to find another way out of the tomb. You can't go back the way you came."

Rich nodded, blew on his dice and grimly rolled. He failed by a wide margin.

"What's it going to be? Your heart is pounding and your lungs ache. Are you going forward or going back?"

There was a moment of silence as Rich considered. "Fuck it." He clapped his hands together, "I go in."

I raised my eyebrows. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Ok!"

I then proceeded to describe the interior chamber to him. It was a vaulted chamber, with the tomb proper in the center. The tomb itself was a one and half storey high obelisk. The chamber was mostly filled with water. The tip of the obelisk just crested the surface.

I realized that Si Juk had no light source. I stopped. "Hey, you can't see in here. Can we assume you sealed your torch up in a watertight bag and took it with you? You can let your Firebuilding successes ride." Rich had never mentioned what he was going to do for a light source, but there was no fucking way I was going to screw him over because of that.

"Yeah, sure." Rich nodded. The Let It Ride rule came through and helped us get through a sticky situation! If we had to make another Firebuilding roll, and Rich had failed, it would have rendered moot the entire episode -- he would have failed on a technicality. He would have got into the chamber and then got nothing. I certainly didn't want that. The previous Firebuilding successes helped smooth everything over.

Si Juk swam about the chamber examining the carvings. He got a primer in the pre-history of his people. I gave him a test toward learning Obscure History. However, it was only a primer. When he came to the scene which contained the sword that he sought, he noted an inscription. BUT, he'd previously failed his Reading skill test. Let It Ride took us through this one, as well. He failed that test, so while he could get the essential gist of what was going on in the detailed reliefs, he couldn't get the finer points. Which felt good to both of us -- he just earned one test toward learning a new skill.

He explored the obelisk a bit, noting the dissolved mummy within and the peg-holders for a sword, crown and a mantle -- all of which had been stolen about five years ago.

Then Rich asked for another way out. I described, "High up on one of the walls -- at about the surface of the water -- there are two small openings -- shaftways that lead out. You can feel a very gentle flow from the shaft to this room.

Without hesitation, Rich described Si Juk plunging in and heading up the shafts.

"That's an Ob 3 Forte test." To my shock and dismay, he failed this one, too.

"That's a Midi wound, my friend -- B7."

It was Rich's turn to look shocked.

"Hey, I warned you. And there's no going back from here. You've got to suck up the injury and carry on."

Frowning, we noted the wound and I continued describing:

Si Juk emerged in a massive (broad) underground cistern. He relit his torch and searched around. It was a lozenge-shaped chamber, mostly empty of water. There was a walkway running around the side and marks from the priest-engineers who built it engraved in the walls. In the center of the low ceiling, rested a shoulder-width stone plug. That was the only way out.

Rich looked at me in disbelief.

I smiled. "Power test."

"With the injury?"

"Yup, your lung has collapsed. You're sputtering and heaving."

Rich looked grim. "Obstacle?"

"4." This was a very deliberate move on my part. I could have set that obstacle at any level I wanted -- I got to determine just how heavy and stuck that plug was. I took into account that Rich's Power 6 was down to 4. I wanted to make it challenging, but not insurmountable.

Rich had Si Juk mediate and center himself for an extra die and threw in a point of persona. 6 dice for an Ob 4. He was counting on rolling sixes.

He rolled two successes, no sixes. Fuck. This was it. He was going to die in here -- die of starvation alone in an ancient hole.

"Fuck it. I'm spending my Deeds point." Rich grabbed his traitors and rerolled them. I was relieved that he had a Deeds point!

He got two more successes -- just enough to push the plug out.

He emerged a couple of dozen paces from the shrine in the middle of an empty field. Rich described Si Juk gasping and crawling back to his companions on his hands and knees.

Chujitsu, his sworn hobgoblin bodyguard is also a shaman and an herbalist. I rolled for him to tend Rich's wound. I even threw in a helping die from the veteran swordsman Noye. I exceeded the obstacle and gave Rich a couple of advantage dice for the Health test.

He passed and gained back his first injured die, but it would be a few weeks until he recovered the second one. I wanted to press on -- to keep the pressure up -- but Rich insisted that he was going to have Si Juk recuperate. He wasn't going any further until he had his die back. In fact, Rich said that he wanted Si Juk to go to the field where the Dread Lord was last seen and meditate for a few weeks.

I thought on it for a moment and agreed.



Next up, The New Town and The Shrine

[Kublai]

So, why did he push on knowing there was nothing relevant down there?

[luke]

Please save any questions until I finish the session. But I can't answer that. Rich can though.

I can attest that his journey into the tomb did later prove fruitful.

[luke]

Si Juk and company journeyed the next day to the alleged battle site -- the last place that the Dread Lord was seen. Except it was no longer a field or a battle site, it was a boomtown.

Si Juk strolled through and saw that the town thrived on two veins of income -- martial arts dojos and shrines to the Dread Lord and his saintly compatriots. The town was full of young men discussing philosophy and demonstrating martial techniques. He had never seen a place like it in all of his travels.

Dojos offered instruction in two main martial arts -- Kimdo and Tae Poong Do -- but there were obviously many different philosophies on how they should be taught. Some schools were purist, some taught a mix of techniques, some focused on physical training, some focused on meditation and posture.

One school in particular was call the Zhu Kwan Technique, it focused on meditation and endurance training. Underneath the name of the school on the sign was also carved the common symbol for "dream."

A tout managed to entice Si Juk into his training area, claiming to have the most powerful art in the region -- so powerful that none of the other schools would spar with them!

It turned out to be a school for a fast-firing short bow technique taught by two older hobgoblin veterans. We had a great moment where Si Juk took a lesson from them and demonstrated his prowess in their technique while also using his Instruction to help his student as he took a shot.

Rich wanted to do some legwork so he sat with the hobgoblin masters and discussed the war with them. They were friends with Si Juk's master. They were deployed in the area at the end of the Dream Rebellion. They were from a clan of master bowmen (bowhogoblins?) and their mission was to interdict and threaten the movements of soldiers from Koyok Kim -- a militant district across the river from the shrine from which the Dread Lord arose. The Kimmers (practioners of Kimdo) tried to use the Dream Rebellion to establish inroads into the region. These hobgoblins were in charge of checking them. After the action ended, they settled here and decided to make a life of it.

We roleplayed that all out. No dice were rolled.

Later, Si Juk went to the largest shrine in the (as yet unnamed) town. The shrine was an informal affair. Its walls were covered with grafitti and testaments from people who actually participated in the Dream Rebellion and those who later came to beatify the Dread Lord. But dominating the shrine were about a half dozen wooden idols -- representations of the Dread Lord and his companions. They were life-like and detailed. They depicted the Dread Lord, missing his left hand, bearing the Sword of Kings and wearing the Crown and the Mantle of the Crymsah (some iconic artifacts of rulership). Also there was Zhu Kwan, the Herald of the Dread Lord, Pyong Gyong, the Standard Bearer of the Dread Lord -- also missing his left hand -- Vega, Sword of the Dread Lord, and simple Han, the Dread Lord's stalwart advisor and supply master.

Those last three were familiar with Si Juk. Pyong Gyong and Han were aliases for two of his good friends, Palgi Park and Anhui the wizard! Vega was a fellow disciple of Fire and practioner of Takashido.

Maybe one of them would know where the Dread Lord was? Well, Si Juk had seen Palgi when he was recuperating. He knew he didn't know. And he he had no idea where Anhui was, but he was also certain that he didn't know. That left Vega. Last time Si Juk had seen Vega, they were in the capital together. Si Juk and Vega, then Lt General of the Center, had kidnapped young Emperor Mino. Vega was charged by Si Juk to disappear him. "You must take him far. None of us must know the location. If we know, the wizards can draw the knowledge from our heads like venom from an open wound. Go!"

He hadn't seen Vega in over four years. He had no idea where he had taken Mino. But Rich was also well aware that he had to find Vega one way or another -- he had promised Princess Sui Nim that he would return her brother to her.

Rich and I also discussed that two of the figures were missing their left hands. I reminded him that two of the stone traps in the tomb had hands crushed in them. After a moment's reflection, it became clear that Palgi and the Dread Lord had been in that tomb and triggered those traps -- costing them each a hand.

I also read Rich a letter that another player had composed during the Dream Rebellion campaign. It was a petition to a merchant to join the cause. It survived at the shrine as an artifact from the times.

Lastly, I described Si Juk noticing a three part inscription repeated around the shrine: I am unto the mountain, unbreakable. I am unto the ocean, unstoppable. I am unto the sky, insurmountable.

I told him that it finally clicked. That those words were inscribed in the tomb on the sword. He couldn't read them then in the old script, but seeing it written out in new script made it clear.

No roll for that one -- that was part of the failure result for the Reading test. I did make him roll an Ob 1 Resources test to pay off the the old monks who worked the shrine. Each time he visited, he had to make a donation. One Resources test covered all the research.

After that, we negotiated some practice time for the rest of the recuperation. Then I asked Rich what he wanted to do next.

"I want to make a Circles test to find someone who was with the Dread Lord on the day he disappeared."

"Great!"

Next up: Si Juk journeys to Haeyanga's farm and learns about some dirt.

At this point, we were about 2 hours into our session. This one was a long one. More coming soon.
-L

[luke]

Rich wanted to Circle up a peasant who ended up a high ranking member of the Dream and who was "there." It was a tough test, but it was also well within his Circles. He was successful. In fact, he got to name the new character. He chose Haeyanga or something close to that.

The man was born a slave. He joined the Dream Rebellion in his thirties. He fought, survived and eventually acted as one of the Dread Lord's "outer circle." These were a group of skilled peasants who helped manage the massive army -- they organized food, water, toilets, carts, animals, blankets, shelter, etc. Now Haeyanga lived on a sprawling plantation where he grew rice and other crops. His life had been completely changed from the Dream -- much for the better.

I was determined to give this man and the others like him a particular perspective. Their Dream died, but they were not bitter. They had done well for themselves.

Si Juk came upon the farm and the man was at work in the paddies with the other hands. Si Juk asked for hospitality and he brought the young traveler back to the main house and fed him.

Rich and I roleplayed out this conversation, too. There was a lot of roleplay in this session and not so much conflict.

In this one, Si Juk was asking probing questions about the "final day." Haeyanga described the army gathered for a great battle, not far from here, about six years ago. The Dream had built up an unstoppable momentum and none of the small armies of the Crymsah lords could stand up to them. There were hundreds of thousands of slave soldiers on their side. The fortitude and skill of the Crymsah warriors could only hold back such pressure for a short time.

The Dream had only one last fortress citadel to crush and the war would be over. But there was trouble in the Dread Lord's camp. The Lord himself would not leave his tent. There were assassins and wizards about. Haeyanga described the elaborate pavilion that the Dread Lord had set up with strict security. He even had decoy pavilions set up and strewn through the sprawling camp.

The battle never came. Haeyanga related the story: He awoke that morning prepared to fight. When he made his way to the Dread Lord's tent, everyone was packing up and wandering off. In the main tent, only Zhu Kwan and the Dread Lord remained. Vega and Pyong Gyong had gone and many others with them. (Han had disappeared months prior to the end.)

It was over. The army just faded away mere hours before their greatest victory. He spoke with only a touch of sadness in his voice. The man obviously was aware that though that last battle was never fought, the war had been won and his life irrevocably changed for the better.

Si Juk pressed him on the location of the Dread Lord. But as far as Haeyanga knew, the Dread Lord never emerged from his tent that morning -- he ascended back to heaven. The only man who was with him was Zhu Kwan -- the Herald of the Dread Lord.

"Where is Zhu Kwan now?" Si Juk asked.

Haeyanga admitted that the ex-Herald still wandered through the region, but he hadn't seen him for a couple of years. At their last meeting, Kwan had told him that he was going across the river to Koyok Kim to study.

Si Juk bid the man good luck and good health and took his leave. He and his band immediately set out for the ford at the Shrine and then for Koyok Kim on the western banks of the broad East River.

On the far banks of the river stood a heavily staffed, busy fortress. Everyone who came across the river was interrogated by the Kim officials in the fortress. Rich didn't want any part of that, so he asked if he could use Inconspicuous to get by. I agreed and we made a versus test. He won and was through the check point. Note that I did NOT roll for his companions or give any modifiers or anything else because of them. It just wasn't important. Si Juk's the star of this episode and it is via his skills and abilities that he survives.

Across the river, in Koyok Kim, Si Juk found a very interesting province: well-maintained roads and buildings, good public order, clean and disciplined soldiers, but also a land gripped by famine. To the south of this once flowering land stood the old Niraih capital. For years now, the capital had been wrapped in an accursed lightning storm that extended for hundreds of miles in all directions. Koyok Kim wasn't within the cloud, but the storm affected the weather here. Since the storm erupted from the capital, the district has been wracked by an ever worsening drought.

At the center of the district stands a massive statue of a non-descript, featureless man at least two stories high. There are many legends surrounding the statue and what it is meant to represent. The Kimmers believe it is an image of their great, venerable general, the eponymous General Kim! Around the feet of the statue laid a bustling little city. One that Si Juk noticed is that the city was full of schools for children and adults. We roleplayed out a great scene between Si Juk and a small child. He persuaded her (with a successful test) to let him have a look at her lesson book. He wanted to see what she was being taught.

Si Juk and his men were prowling about the district, investigating and researching. They were looking for signs of Zhu Kwan. But I wasn't giving up Kwan without some sort of test. Rich had the idea in his head to make a Circles test to get access to General Kim. We figured the obstacle -- it was astronomical. Rich chose to make a Circles test to find Zhu Kwan instead. He failed.

I described that, after asking around a bit, he awoke (in a field where he'd been sleeping) the next morning surrounded by 12 Kimmer soldiers and one official. I calmly informed him that he was under arrest. I also let him know that his men were ready to fight their way out of this. But Rich decided against it. He was unsure of the Kimmer's abilities -- he'd heard wild tales about their talents. He chose to go peacefully.

He and his men were stripped of their belongings and thrown into a prison in the center of the small city. It was a neat affair with doors made of open, thick wooden lattice work.

Rich didn't know it, but Zhu Kwan was an old player character. Before this session of play, I went to my roommate Rick and asked him about his old character, Zhu. What would he be doing post Dream? Would he change? Would he maintain his ideals? Rick and I talked for about 45 minutes about the character. So I was fresh for the next scene!

I paused and gave Rich a blank stare as if to say, "Now what?" He glowered back at me.

Then I described a tall man of Kota Bulan stock entering the prison and coming to his cell. He was tall with an unshaved face and long, shaggy hair. He dressed in the manner of the other Kimmers.

"Why are you looking for me?" There was no way I WASN'T going to have Si Juk find Zhu Kwan. I just used the Circles test to once again judge the footing for the encounter. I felt like a Duel of Wits from prison would be pretty fun!

"I seek the Dream!" Si Juk was gripping the bars and gazing intently at the tall man. "I must find the Dread Lord. I must find the Dream. I must find the sword!" (I'm paraphrasing)

But Zhu Kwan had heard this all before. In my mind, this character had probably been besieged by crazies looking for the Dread Lord ever since the Dream Rebellion ended. I kicked off the Duel of Wits hard: "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't let you rot in this prison."

Rich fired back, "You will take me to Dread Lord so that I may become the Dream and purge this land of sorcery and wizards" or something like that.

It was an intense, sharp and short Duel of Wits! Rich won, but only by one; it was a major compromise.

The compromise: "I will take you, but no matter what happens neither the Dread Lord nor the Sword, Crown or Mantle may never leave my side. Swear it to me."

Rich agreed with a raised eyebrow. He knew I was up to something, but he didn't quite know what. I'm sure he had his suspicions.

At that point it was 2AM and we were both exhausted. We ended the session with artha awards and a test review.




Next up, BW 1-on-1 Session Four: Si Juk Gets into Serious Trouble plus Some Old Friends!

Comments are welcome, sorry this took so long!

[TimP]

What an awesome story! I weep at the thought of how trifling and inconsequential my use of the Burning Wheel mechanics has been, to this point.

Seriously though, this whole series of posts is extremely illuminating and useful (and even inspiring).

[stormsweeper]

So, why did he push on knowing there was nothing relevant down there?

I'll bet the answer is along the lines of: "because it's fucking awesome!"

He's also been doing the whole "I will do anything to get what I want" thing. Even swimming into a tomb robbed by former party members.

[luke]

Hopefully Rich will chime in and enlighten us!

[Fourth Horseman]

So, why did he push on knowing there was nothing relevant down there?

Why did Lord Mallory climb Mt. Everest?