Changeling: The Dreaming
Clay von Carlowitz:
Joe, a Dreamer [when not played as an NPC]
Eleanor Savell:
Nassim, a Seelie Eshu Childling
Nat Adcock:
Dave [unsure], a Seelie Pooka Wilder
Nicola Dimmer:
Tabeta, a Seelie Boggan Grump
Thomas Wii: [unsure], an Unseelie Knocker Childling
- Joe and Nat's character new that to be a pirate, he had to have a number of special pirate objects. So they went searching for them.
- Thomas's Knocker was sent in to town to find garbage by her mentor, who she lived in the woods with. He had been commissioned to build a great boat for an army from a distant kingdom.
- Joe quickly found a place to look: The Ship Inn, which was a place where Sir Francis Drake was known to drink and be merry. He followed his instincts upstairs in a roped off area, where he found a spyglass. The bartender was distracted by Nat's pooka playing Five Finger Fillet, but when the cook went up to check on the racket, Joe hit him over the head with the spyglass and ran downstairs. After promptly making a scene, and with the covering help of Nat's pooka, they got away with it.
- The motley crew met Thomas's knocker, who was freaked out, and they managed to get her amazing duct tape off of her.
- Somewhere in here Joe also found a pirate hat. I forget where and how.
- They then all went up to Exeter University to the Old Library [why? There was a reason...], and Thomas's knocker split off from them and went back to the woods.
- In the Old Library, Joe encountered a Dueling Drake in the old av room that was always booked and no one ever used in the basement. He managed to steal the Dueling Drake's gun from him by distracting him with digestives. Fleeing the av room, the Drake shot a ball of fire at him that slammed him against the bookshelf, and Joe was marked with ash on his forehead when Nassim and Nat's pooka found him, though he couldn't remember much about the Drake.
- Meanwhile, Tabeta had just been put in charge of watching young Asterlan, the son of the Count of Exeter, and met Angus Skye, a court scholar and friend of the Count's, who was responsible for Asterlan's tutoring. Together Tabeta and young Asterlan set out to have a picnic on the Cathedral green, in order to teach Asterlan about the people of Exeter and life outside of the court: both the dangers of the increasingly banal world, and the reason to keep fighting for the Dreaming.
- Nassim, the pooka and Joe quickly made their way back to central Exeter, now looking for two final objects (already possessing the Spyglass, Hat, and Pistol). They got on the wrong side of some chavs, who made fun of Joe's hat. [Or was this where he got the hat? Somehow this hat thing was resolved...]. This attracted Tabeta's attention, because she didn't want to see Nassim get picked on, and she quickly used her Soverign knowledge to tell the chavs to back off. She went back to her picnic, and Nassim joined them briefly - but as she left, she got in more trouble. Asterlan tried to back her up, but Nassim was capable on her own (and actually outshone him sending the chavs away. Elle had a great line like "your face is really funy," or "Yeah, I am really funny," or something like that.]
- Asterlan started making friends with these other changelings, but looked down on this goofy young boy, Joe. They challenged each other to a duel, and Asterlan went back to go and get a sword from his dad's court. Joe looked around for a sword, but all he could find were some sticks. Quickly he taped them together using Thomas's Knocker's magic duct tape, which she had left behind, and it transformed into a pirate sword.
- Tabeta tried to get Asterlan to come back, but the child knew Wayfare, and so he had sped ahead of her. Then she learned that not only had he disappeared, but so had Angus Skye, and they were seen being taken towards the river. Quickly all the changelings ran down to the river, with Joe.
- Bob the Octopus informed them that they had been taken down the river and away [probably teleporting w/Wayfare at this point]. Joe knew how to solve this though - he had a pirate ship. He took them to a place in the woods down river, away from the city, and Bob quickly went about building a pirate ship for them, based on Joe's imaginative power. Thus, the Pirate Ship Reepicheep was built and birthed on the River Exe.
- As the crew sailed down the river to save Asterlan, storm clouds gathered, and suddenly lighting struck at a keystone in the air, illuminating an insignia that looked like a snake twisting in a rampart. From there, the light filtered downward in the form of a great door on the river, and with a blast the portal opened, sucking the mists and clouds into a single point of light behind it. "Full speed ahead" cried Joe, the now Pirate Captain of the Reepicheep, off on his official Pirate Adventure.
- When the Reepicheep came out the other end of the portal, they were in turbid waters, and they pulled sail so they weren't smashed in the wind. Nassim was at the helm, Nat's pooka, as a rat, scurried around in the crow's nest and the masts and sails, while Tabeta climbed wherever needed, if a little hesitantly.
- They noticed fires burning on a nearby island, and not-so-nice looking people doing it. Then a large sea creature rammed into the Reepicheep, knocking Tabeta into the water.
- Then, with sucking sounds, squid-warriors climbed aboard. A battle began as Joe climbed up top to the sails, shooting where he could. Nassim tried to figure out what they were (chimerical squid), while her chimerical cat companion tore one tentacle-from-tentacle. Joe got a few good shots in, knocking another out, and Nat's pooka tried to trick one into "looking over there," saying "oh look, it's Cthulu."
- The squid did look, but at that moment, the thing that did the ramming - the squid mother - climbed up the side, birthing more squid warriors on her back and opening her giant maw to catch any crew members.
- Joe got in some more shots at the birthing-squids, aborting them, effectively, while Nat's pooka tried vainly to entangle one of the final squid warrior (poodly poodly POO! ::nothing happens::). Nassim and others realized the squid momma was resting herself right in front of one of the Reepicheep's canons, and ducked and dodged their way to the fuse, which Joe ended up lighting by shooting it (after a few tries). The squid momma exploded into the sea and a few chimerical tentacles were left onboard. Nat finally entangled the squid, and threw boxes at it until it died. [These actions may have been recorded out of order.]
- Looking overboard for Tabeta, they noticed that a deal of what appeared to be Merfolk had taken her and were swimming away, with the wind following them. The crew dropped the sails, and to catch up, even used the spinacher (spelling?).
- While chasing the merfolk, the Reepicheep encountered enemy fire from what appeared to be other pirate ships in the area. When one came within range, Nat's pooka lit the fuse of a canon and fired without aiming. Oddly enough, it not only hit the ship, but penetrated into the gunpowder room, blowing the whole vessel apart. Nat's pooka officially achieved Rapture.
- Further enemy fire came from ships born from islands on the archipelago they were weaving through. Nassim took off with her wings and enchanted herself to fly quickly on the wind, which was still following the merfolk, and she attempted to grab Tabeta from them. It appeared as though the Merfolk were luring the Reepicheep and Tabeta's friends...
- The Reepicheep returned fire to the second pirate ship, although it took damage in the battle. The second ship was so damaged by the shots that it was slowed down enough, and couldn't catch up with the Reepicheep with its spinacher down.
- The Merfolk, with Nassim and the Reepicheep on their tale, swerved through a shoal of rocks, and the Reepicheep couldn't turn fast enough, taking damage to the hull. Quickly, Nat's pooka scurried down to help patch the hole.
- Once the Reepicheep had righted itself, it appeared the Merfolk were leading them straight towads a storm-ridden island, with lightning striking it, and a dark ebony ship, with plenty of guns pointed straight at them. Fearlessly, the Reepicheep charged straight at this black ship, while Nassim flew upwards above it, taking shots from the deck. The black ship opened fire on the Reepicheep in its suicide charge, and it sustained heavy damage.
- The Reepicheep rammed into the black ship, and Joe and Nat's pooka snuck aboard. The ship was piloted by the ghosts of children, and they quickly discovered Joe, while Nat's pooka turned into a rat and snuck in through the holes in the hull.
- Nat's rat noticed a second intruder, a gurgling mer-assassin, bore a hole in the hull and sneak aboard the boat.
- Nassim landed, with Joe in trouble, and the Captain of the Pirate Ship Kidnapper came out and told the ghosts to capture her. Reviled by the very thought of death, she nonetheless rallied the children against their captain, and went to save Joe - except that the assassin had already killed the Captain. It appeared as though the Mer had deeper plans for Nassim and this Boy Pirate.
- On board the ship, Nassim found a large amount of dross, and also a book with the pictures and details of all the ghost children.
- Meanwhile, Tabeta was taken below the waves and transformed to resemble the Mer, and recieved orders from an elder in a deep cave beneath the island they were heading to. This elder, Prosper, informed her that the Mer were always fighting for this tiny chunk of sea, from the times of Drake and Cornish pirates to the Navies and now, to a rogue named Josalind, who was responsible for capturing all these children, including the ghosts, and Asterlan. Tabeta was given a staff with unknown power, and a book which, if slammed over a fae face, would "deface" them. She was told to do this to Josalind, and Prospero would help her get Asterlan back. He also gave her an odd insignia, which was found on one of Josalind's ships that they raided.
- Tabeta rose with three other Mer warriors to guard her, and together, on the Kidnapper, the group formed a plan to save Asterlan. Tabeta was going to go and distract Josalind by dueling her with the staff, while Nassim, Joe, and Nat's pooka were going to sneak around to the other side of Josalind's island, where Asterlan was being held, and make off with him.
- Tabeta found the ghost book, and noticed it had the same insigna that Prospero showed her, but mixed with the insignia of the Kingdom of Mists. She suspects political dealings. Inside, Asterlan is listed as a captive taken to the island, as is Angus Skye, who, it says, is known to have ties to the Kingdom of Mists.
- Tabeta swam through a number of underground passages with the Mer warriors, and weaved her way up to the top of the island, the mer warriors quickly dispatching any guards.
- Nassim, Joe and Nat's pooka sailed to the other side of the island, but came under fire by a watch tower that noticed Nassim's wings. Joe returned fire with a pistol. Nassim [or was it Nat's pooka?] returned fire with a cannon, dislodging the tower enough to get away.
- With the ship's ghost crew under her command, Nassim had them lower longboats and row the kithain and Joe to the shore, where they found an abandoned dock. Nat, as a rat, scented danger in the air, while Nassim had the distcint feeling she was being watched. They investigated the harbor, which was filled with old children's toys. Nassim's cat hissed, and her fur stood on end as she arched her back, and something sqriggled (a technical term) through the toys towards the door. It got out, and they suspected it was hiding under the harbor. Joe stayed up in the room, investigating the toys. Nassim and all jumped down, and called out after they heard a sound behind a post.
- Shots and sword clangs rang out from the harbor, and Nassim and all got back up just in time to see a man in a dark coat and a black lace cravat walk out with Joe over his shoulder. They charged at him, but he used advanced magic to teleport himself away. They then scaled the mountain side, searching for Asterlan.
- Tabeta in the meantime, came out to duel Josalind. She was sitting at the apex of the island, torturing Angus, who had been taken captive, and had an audience of seven living children. Josalind's inborn ability to control the weather came to a battle against Tabeta and her staff, which was designed by generations of magical study amongst the Mer to do the same thing. Josalind mocked her, suggesting Prospero was just using her, and refered to her staff as "The Splinter From Heaven."
- Winds lashed, against each other, frightening the children, and one fell off his rock and was knocked unconscious. Josalind took great offence at Tabeta hurting one of her "wards" and called down lightning on Tabeta, who thankfully lept blindly out of the way when she felt all the hair on her neck prickle. The battle continued, even blowing some of Tabeta's guards over the edge of the cliff nearby. The staff had been opening its knowledge to Tabeta little by little over time, but now, it revealed all of its secrets.
- The man in the black coat appeared with Joe, and Josalind vowed her protection, and called down lightning again. Rather than dodge, Tabeta held the staff aloft and filled with with glamour, turning it into a shaft of lighting itself, calling another shaft from the sky to join it. The two blasts hit each other, creating ball lightning, which Tabeta managed to control, only barely. It missed all the children and nearly killed Angus, who pushed Joe out of its path, but she directed it straight towards Josalind, who was, to say the least, incapacitated.
- Tabeta moved in to deface her with the book that Prospero gave her, when the man in the black coat implored her not to, saying he was a spy from the Kingdom of Mists, and told her the book would give Prospero the power to control anyone whose face he had, meaning he would have an instinctive ability to control the weather AND a magical ability too, and it would make him a force to be reckoned with. So they bound Josalind and left her, while this man in the black coat introduced himself as Stephen.
- Stephen proved his allegiance by explaining the real situation: the Kingdom of Mists had a Seelie Queen and an Unseelie King. In order to shift the balance of power in the Isles of the Mighty, the King had gone about supporting rebels in Cornwall who wanted to make the Principality of Cornwall a seperate Kingdom from the Kingdom of Chalk. He funded these kidnappers, who worked for the Cornwall separatists, and who had stolen Asterlan to get the Count of Exeter to acknowledge Cornwall as a separate state. The Seelie Queen, however, had sent Stephen to spy on what was happening, and was working to outwit her husband with Stephen's secret intelligence. However, it appeared she no longer needed to.
- Together they went to go and try to save Asterlan.
- Meanwhile, Nassim and Nat's pooka scaled to a plateau, where Asterlan was surrounded by more ghosts of children, tied to a pillar, on top of which was a statue of the grim reaper. As lightning and wind crashed on the other side of the island, a stray boulder flew and hit the reaper in the face, waking him up.
- Nat caused a diversion attracting the Reaper's attention, while Nassim used her practiced skills of dealing with ghost children to get to the center and untie Asterlan. Nat transformed to a rat and hit in the rocks while the statue of the reaper clanged about looking for him.
- Enchanting herself with Quicksilver, Nassim sped away with Asterlan towards the rowboats at the beach, the ghosts following her en masse. The reaper went after them.
- After they had gone, Stephen, Angus, Tabeta, Joe, and the other children, teleported to the site, and found them gone. Together with Nat they all ran down to the beach. Nat had a head start, and caught the second boat back to the Kidnapper, the first being taken by Nassim.
- When the others got to the harbor, Stephen advised they burn the place where all the toys were kept, because they were the memories anchoring the ghosts to the island. So they did, and the ghosts on the beach dissipated.
- The ghosts aboard the Kidnapper had taken up guns and were shooting at the statue of death, which was swooping at Nassim. She [or Nat] ran inside the captain's cabin and destroyed the book of the ghosts, and all the ghosts on board the ship disipated, and the statue of the reaper turned back into a statue, and fell into the water.
- As they sailed towards the portal, merfolk chased them, and Stephen told Tabeta she had to "drown the book." She dropped it in the sea, and some mer broke off and chased after it. Next, she had to put the staff down into the sea, so she hurled it, and it became a bolt of lightning and shot straight down to the ocean floor, electrifying the water and killing most of the merfolk and squid warriors in the area.
- Together they sailed out on the Kidnapper back to the River Exe, where the banality of the city melted the boat into nothingness, and they all teleported to the shore thanks to Stephen's wayfare.
- Upon returning Asterlan and the other children, all the members were inducted into the Court of the Count of Exeter, and Tabeta was knighted, making her Lady Tabeta. They also were oath-bound and charged with Asterlan's protection and education: to be there to protect him from any ignorance that might wheedle its way in, but not to protect him from himself - to help him succeed, but if he should fail, to help learn something from it.
- Joe was returned to his home by dinner time, but had already began to forget his pirate adventure. Soon the trinkets he kept around would just be interesting objects, but the oath that he had made with his First Mate was witnessed by the Dreaming, and would not fade. Perhaps unconsciously one day, he would need a helper and through the fabric of reality and dreams, a lone rat-like scoundrel would appear.
Interesting twists:
-The forming of an Oathcircle around Asterlan that could be used for later games.
-A family tie to Joe
-LOADS of money and an introduction to the political side of Changeling.
-The potential for a new "Empire Strikes Back" style adventure.
