...an order of magician-monks who punish blasphemers...
...a demon-god of blood and vengeance, forgotten since antiquity, recently awakened...
...a summoner of illusions and diversions, mild and of good humor, but gullible...
...a prodigy-mage, still a maid, drunk with occult power...
Starring:
Wizzie, a healer and magician of some skill. Twenty years older and wiser since last we saw her, Wizzie is a member of the Order of Monk's Peak, dedicated to the responsible and ethical practice of magic. The recent awakening of an ancient demon-god has driven a wedge between her and the leader of the Order.
George O'Hallohan, a necromancer, demon-speaker, and general ne'er-do-well. Rumors concerning a source of fel power have drawn him to Monk's Peak in the trusty guise of an amateur historian. Though it has been near two decades since last we saw him, George has seemingly only aged a mere handful of years.
The Grand Illusio, conjurer of illusions and mystical diversions. A recent arrival to the foothill village of Tenderstone, Illusio has heard these rumors of evil in the mountains, and he's determined to prevent its escape into the wider world...
At the edge of the Known World, where the mountain's stony peaks rise to pierce the clouds stands the Father of Mountains, Monk's Peak. Rising to an unimaginable height, the crag has been hollowed out by an order of mages to serve as a place of study for the mystical and arcane...and a prison to the more dangerous aspects of that realm of study.
Recently something has gone terribly wrong. Rumors concerning the awakening of an ancient demon-god has made its way to Tenderstone at the foot of the mountain, and its people, so accustomed to peace, have grown uneasy. With the recent arrival of two strangers, it seems these rumors may hold some larger amount of truth.
George O'Hallohan and the Grand Illusio meet in Tenderstone and make their way up the mountainside. After several hours of hiking and discussion concerning the nature and practice of magical techniques, they arrive at the carved entrance to Monk's Peak just as the Order is having a bit of a tiff concerning their practices and leadership.
The argument focuses on the leader of the Order, a mage of substantial power known as Mistren Mastercaster, and the newest inductee to the Order, a prodigy of middle age but monstrous power, Wizzie. Mastercaster blames the escaped demon on her arrival, as her power signature was felt all across the Outer Lands and attempts to convince the other mages to expel her from their mountain.
Wizzie isn't having it, though. With a few choice words she brings her substantial expertise and experience to bear and embarrasses Mastercaster in front of the rest of the Order. With the argument put on ice, Mastercaster retreats to the Archive to study as the others go about their work.
Wizzie, however, notices the new arrivals and confronts them. She notices one looks familiar...this "historian" is very similar to a necromancer she met nearly two decades ago, just before the fateful showdown at Quaylude's Tower in the Outer Lands. We flash back to just after the first session, to the moments immediately after the theft of Quaylude's amulet...
Wizzie exits Quaylude's Tower, a little worse for the wear but primarily only injured in her pride. The man she thought was a historian is there, at the rear of a mass of walking dead risen from the ruins of the village. Despite her best attempts, Wizzie's power ultimately proves unable to prevent the spurned necromancer from setting his risen corpses against the ill-prepared members of the caravan, and she watches, helpless, as they are slaughtered to a man and risen to swell O'Hallohan's ranks.
Illusio sees the dawning recognition on Wizzie's face and attempts to distract her by disguising George as a woman and an illusory puppy. Wizzie, driven by unresolved rage, dispels the magic and calls George out for being a monster. After some harsh words which almost devolve to harsh actions, the three come to an uneasy peace when they agree to work towards sealing the demon first and foremost. They make their way to the Archives to see what they can discover.
You see, the most critical part of demon-speaking is knowledge of the demon's name. Without that information, it's like trying to fit a cage around the breeze. Fortunately, Monk's Peak also happens to serve as a repository of arcane knowledge, which includes various nefarious books containing information from the Fel Realms.
Wizzie leads the three to the Archives, a massive cavern lined from floor-to-unseen-ceiling with scroll racks and bookshelves, the whole of all information and knowledge in the Known World. The three split up:
Wizzie, familiar with the Archives and well-versed in this sort of thing, goes to the section containing fel knowledge and soon learns the full name of the demon: Biel Koz'biel, which translates to "Maker and Unmaker." She replaces the book and goes to check on the progress of her two companions.
Illusio, believing the name of the demon would be difficult to research, grabs ahold of a book from one of the forbidden shelves and is immediately swept away as the thing starts flying up, up, and up. The Archive, you see, is semi-sentient, as most collections of arcane knowledge are, and is guarded by a swarm of Flying Books (Unique [The Archive], Maneuvering) which act to prevent the discovery of its knowledge. So, Illusio finds himself three-hundred feet up, flying with great speed towards the back of the cavern. Once the book reaches Disposals, Illusio begins the three-hour walk back to the entrance of the Archives.
George hangs around a bit, doesn't do a whole bunch of research, and eventually gets a part of the demon's name from Wizzie: Koz'biel.
As Illusio moves towards the entrance he loses his patience and attempts to force the Archive to divulge its secrets. His threats against the books soon raises the Archive's anger and he's assaulted by a swarm of Flying Books. Driven to desperation, Illusio conjures the image of a massive book fire, and they back off...though an Introductory Volume to Demon-Speaking reveals a part of the demon's name: Biel.
As the trio convenes, George realizes he doesn't know if the demon's name is Biel, Koz'biel, or Biel Koz'Biel. Without the full name he knows he cannot safely try to bind the demon to his will. With Wizzie proving unwilling to grant him the knowledge he seeks, George loses his patience and reanimates the dead remnants of the Archive's pests to attack Illusio. The conjurer is set upon by a swam of undead rats, roaches, and a mountain's horde of vermin remains. Driven to panic by his fear of bugs, Illusio reveals the full name of the demon, and George puts his pests to rest.
The demon realizes that these practitioners have learned its name and uses its Demonic Influence (Broad, Action/Maneuvering) to trick Wizzie into killing George for his crimes in the past. She resists, but the display is enough to drive the already-unnerved Illusio to action.
The conjurer decides there's no time like the presence and attempts to seal the demon inside one of the forbidden books. Unfortunately, he doesn't possess the demon's full name, and his cage of books bursts into flames as the demon overcomes his magic. The commotion and flame spurs the Archive to shuffle them away to the entrance, and the doors slam shut behind them.
Biel Koz'biel, having just taken his freedom, isn't ready to take on such driven, knowledgeable casters. The spirit flees down the mountain tunnels, seeking an exit or a way to the deeper places of the world, where it can dwell and plot without interference. The three magicians take off in pursuit, so close to resealing this great evil.
Wizzie and Illusio, at the front of the pack, get caught in a cave-in caused by the demon's influence and are knocked out in the first round of rolls. George uses his magic to avoid the stones and herds the demon up and out to a mountainside altar, which radiates power. It is there, in the midst of a great snowstorm on the side of the mountain, where George O'Hallohan speaks the demon's full name and binds Biel Koz'biel to his will.
Wizzie and Illusio awake to a silent mountain holdfast. As she leaves, she passes the ruins of the Order, the wreckage of the mage's rooms and quarters, and the sealed-shut entrance to the Archives. Illusio follows and, after seeing the smoking ruins of what once was Tenderstone, decides this kind of thing is way above his paygrade and leaves before the demon and its master learns of his survival...
To be continued...
We Owe...
Wizzie
Astrid Morningstar
Drahn Skrallguard
Twinkles the Brown
Astrid Morningstar
Twinkles the Brown
The Grand Illusio
GM'S NOTES & OBSERVATIONS
This was the smallest session so far, with three players, two of which were returning. The chosen Oracle was God-Kings of War, which generated a much heavier focus on magicians than I had first expected, but it made sense with who came back. The session still lasted nearly as long as the first, which had six players, though there was a lot more in-character roleplaying and less quick-cuts between scenes.
Additionally, the Oracle wasn't quite so straight-forward as the previous two sessions. I think this partially came from all three characters coming together as magicians, which doesn't quite set up the conflict which In a Wicked Age thrives upon. I feel a bit of this comes from my own in-progress practice at setting up good conflicting scenes; IAWA does seem to do best when the GM drives a relentless pace, with actual transitions that are more than "you walk to the place."
Early into the session I noticed this was a minor issue, as the players didn't have much reason to be at each other's throats. Wizzie's arguments with Mastercaster showed that IAWA isn't really built for civil discussion, so in the future I'll probably have NPCs push for duels or just start off as backstabbers who attack at opportune times. It was interesting to simulate magical duels with Forms rolls, as it gave the players some chances to set how magic actually works. It just took a little bit of practice, as it's a different sort of conflict than "I swing my sword at his neck."\
The Owe List didn't see many additions this time, partially because most of the rolls were made with the highest Forms available. Wizzie's player in particular stuck almost entirely with her d12 and d10 forms, which meant she didn't go back on. Only Illusio, making an altruistic move towards the end, got his name on the list. This marks the second character (alongside Twinkles the Brown) by that player to have a spot on the list, so we'll see what happens when either of them comes back.
Finally, this is the third session and we've yet to see a returning Particular Strength with a change to it. One of the options for returning characters is to increase the Potency of a PS so it gains extra bonuses, but each time a character has returned thus far, they've chosen to redistribute their Forms instead. I think a part of this comes from how IAWA does character damage, as the rulebook says the only way to heal damage to Forms is to redistribute them on return. If this comes up in the fourth session, I'll probably just have the Forms auto-heal, as each session so far has been separated from the others by at least 20 years.
So far IAWA has done a very good job fostering character-investment in the world, much how FATE does with the setting creation sub-session. One difference though is that IAWA handles new players far better than FATE, and implements details in a better, smoother way.
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