Dodushkun: Session 2

The System: Savage Worlds.

The Setting: Dodushkun, unofficial capital city of the Volbruggar Provinces, ten years since last we left our heroes. The decade has been rough on the hardy Volbruggar people under the Gerneschmenk Empire. Raids and burned fields due to a personal dispute between Lord-Governors has festered into almost open warfare. Dodushkun thus far has remained neutral, but whispers abound that Lord-Governor Gadelbrecht plans to intervene in some manner, should the fighting spill over onto his land.

The Player Characters

Saldo: A curious, reckless young man well-trained in the martial art Sanhar. He spent the previous ten years in Borderpost at the school there, and quickly rose as a student until he earned his wraps and left to take the odd job or Contract. He is just outside the Volbruggar border when he receives a letter from Alvra, calling him back to take care of the orphanage in her absence.

Gorvis: A confident scoundrel, Gorvis spent the last decade working under Jormind, a locksmith who is also a member of a thieve's guild specializing in selling lock specs to interested parties. He was a Lifter, one of the people the ring sent out to make sure there were feet on the ground. He is in Dodushkun when he receives his letter and goes across the city to the orphanage the next day.

Ingevla: Ingevla stayed in the city until she was old enough to legally stand on her own, and started taking Contracts. She spent the next ten years tramping about the land with the intent to make her Citizenry and family Name worth something again. She has been moderately successful, with a number of successful and impressive Contracts under her belt, but she answers the letter immediately once she receives it.

Chaya: After demonstrating her alchemical brilliance to Alvra, Chaya's guardian managed to get word to the Order of Philosophers, and the girl left soon after. Hailed as a talent, Chaya worked her way through the ranks towards mastering the Third Art of Alchemy. After a school friend leaps from a clocktower after allegedly consorting with the Forbidden Arts she dives into her schoolwork. When her letter arrives she takes a break from her education to attend.

Felix: Mysteriously absent, though rumor is he was simply delayed on the road. Jokes are made at his expense about drinking water from ditches.

Ten years or so after our last session our heroes receive letters from Mother Alvra stating that her recent duties require her absence from the area and she requests they return to take care of the orphanage during her absence, and that if they have any questions to go to the Sunken Stone and ask for Karek. They all arrive at roughly the same time and talk about their adventures before attempting to enter the orphanage.

Finding the door locked, Gorvis picks it handily. They enter the orphanage and pause...

The place is absolutely trashed. Broken pieces of furniture litter the floor, the beds are ripped apart, the chests are stomped in. They cautiously explore the building and find it empty, though Mother Alvra's room is still locked. Gorvis picks this lock and they find Alvra's room empty, though her mattress is askew. Saldo searches her desk and finds three empty imprints in the dust: an outline that looks like a dagger, and two indistinguishable square ones. Gorvis looks under the mattress and finds the outline of a door and a strange, triple-keyhole.

Gorvis replaces the lock on the front door with one from his master's shop, and hands out keys. The apprentice working there mentions that Jormind said he will be absent for a few days. The group puts together a group fund of their money, fixes the place up, and goes to sleep.

The next morning Gorvis goes to his normal morning bar, Chaya and Inge go supply-shopping at the Wall Market, where they end up indignantly bartering with a carpenter to make them some cheap chairs. After berating him on his obvious over-charging, he drops the price and promises delivery within the next one-and-a-half weeks.

They all meet up at the Sunken Stone  and quiz the bartender, Gill, about this man, Karek. The bartender says he has a room on retainer, but only visits every so often. Inge bribes him with 5% of his yearly wage, so he lets them into the man's room. They find nothing unusual, but Inge leaves a note saying, "Wayward Souls" and leave.

The next morning there's a knock at the door. They answer and it's Karek's wife. She asks why they're asking about her husband, and they don't answer. She says that he's dead and they need to leave her be. They show her the last two lines of the letter that instruct them to look for him, and she calms down. She apologizes and says that they can pay their respects at a graveyard overlooking where the river enters the lake.

They make their way through the Sprawl and towards the graveyard. It's a fair walk, but they make it in good speed. Once there they inspect the graveyard and find the right stone. While discussing what to do about it, Gorvis bends down real low, takes a whiff of that dirt, realizes something isn't right, reaches in, and feels a key. He tries to palm it, but Saldo sees through his shit and calls him out on it. After a speech from Chaya about family, they leave.

They head back to the orphanage, making it just inside the gate before they closed it for dusk.They open up the bed-door first, and find an extensive stash of alchemy ingredients, enough to stump even Chaya. At the bottom in a locked chest are four ingots of [Talmium](http://www.reddit.com/r/Iumendros/comments/2kzh5m/talmium/), an incredibly dangerous magical stone that can be programmed to perform magic. Unfortunately, too much exposure can cause Talmium Sickness, which kills pretty much all the time. They put that back.

Saldo goes and tries the key in the fountain keyhole. It makes a lot of deep mechanical noises and a set of stairs descends into the ground. The group, led by Saldo, descends, follows a long tunnel, and find a ladder that descends deep into darkness. Undeterred, Saldo marches onward.

At the bottom of the ladder they find...a [room](http://imgur.com/uy3rbmX). It has a few chests, filled with tinderboxes, rope, changes of clothing, all manner of things used to survive. There are two beds, well-made, and a table with a sword on it. On the floor in the center of the room is a bloodied sword lying in a drying pool of the stuff. There's a cabinet containing some nice chain shirts and two swords that match the two already out.

On the wall is a huge map of the city, including the isles. Pinned in maybe a dozen places are little flags, unmarked except by individual colors. They puzzle over this before seeing the half-open door. Once opened fully, it reveals a passage, long and low, that slopes slightly downward in the direction of the lake...

And that's where we faded to black, as our (mostly) reunited ragamuffins venture into unknown depths...

The End

Dodushkun: Session 1

The system: Savage Worlds

The setting: Dodushkun, the City of Isles. More specifically, the Shambles [1] , the northern district of the mainland city, where Mother Alvra runs her orphanage. A district with a smoke-stained history, the streets wind and twist, and buildings are an eclectic mix of run-down old styles and newer, cheap housing. We join our heroes six months after the previous session.

The Player Characters

Saldo: The dashing, somewhat dumb kid with a passion for wrestling and shooting. He has spent the past six months training with Sal, a Sannosimma gunsmith with a passion for the martial art Sanhar. When he isn't training with Sal, he is helping Mother Alvra with her errands or causing mischief with his orphan siblings. Pretty tough for a nine year old.

Gorvis: A caster and a trickster, he goes where he wants, when he wants. The past six months have seen him working (nominally) as a shop-keeper with Jormind Bedrek of Jormind's Discount Securities, a locksmith who is willing to teach Gorvis how to make tumblers dance. He makes folks reconsider the scheming capabilities of eleven year olds.

Ingevla: A far-flung apple from a stunted noble family tree, she's been spending her free time as a lady-in-waiting for a low-noble household in the city. When her mouth isn't getting her into trouble, it's getting her out of it. For being ten years old, she's smarter than you'd think.

Our Newcomers

Felix: He's one scruffy-looking nerfherder of a twelve year old, a fact he's perfectly willing to hold over Gorvis's head. Also perfectly willing to arm himself with his pretty face and foul mouth, he's a tough little sucker. Sold to Mother Alvra from the same batch as Chaya.

Chaya (kai-ah): The studious scholar of the group, Chaya's family taught her a smattering of Alchemical Philosophy before they died in a way she refuses to speak of. She's a tiny pacifist, though her brewing and Alchemical skills are far ahead of her peers, and you'd be shocked to learn she's only eleven.

We begin six months later, as Alvra introduces the two newcomers to the other orphans. Before she leaves on her daily errands she gives them the new rule talk: No magic in-doors, no fighting or thieving among yourselves, and to not go in her room. When she leaves, she also lets them know that, over the past few days, a gang of good-for-nothing street rats have been dropping shit down the chimney. She wants them to figure out who and stop them, but to cause no lasting injuries or deaths. Alvra specifically says this to Gorvis, Inge, and Saldo before leaving.

While the other kids are talking, Gorvis goes outside and climbs onto the roof where the chimney is. He takes out some grease he's found out in the city and liberally coats the roof around the chimney. Inside the group plans and goes outside, where Gorvis suggests he hide in a barrel and let them know when he sees someone coming. It's mid-day, so the prospect of locking
Cartman Gorvis away for a while appeals to them. They decide on some whistle codes and wait.

While he sits in the barrel, the rest of them decide to show the newcomers the town. Inge and Saldo take Felix and Chaya to a nearby tavern where there is known to be a large number of street kids in attendance. After Felix underestimates Volbruggar ale's potency, they notice two kids in the corner. Felix and Inge approach while Saldo and Chaya try and gather rumors from overhearing the other patrons.

After some well-done diplomacy, Felix and Inge get the kids to open up that there is a gathering that night at a run-down storefront. They give them directions and scoot. Meanwhile, Chaya and Saldo learn that other people have also had shit dropped down their chimneys at night.

The plot thickens.

They head back to the orphanage, where they find Gorvis has went back to his bed and rooted through their stuff. After some harsh words, Inge shares that she's never felt like anyone wanted her and that she just wants to belong. They inform Gorvis of their escapades and make a plan to stake out the place that night.

The storefront is a two-and-a-half level affair. After staking it out, they see a few kids enter and go inside. It seems to be a gathering of the district's streetgangs, and there's one kid who seems to be in charge. He hops up on a table and announces that it's time for that night's game of Shits and Giggles to begin. The goal is to dump as much shit, either literal or figurative, down as many chimneys as possible. Whoever wins gets a bag of coin they lifted off a merchant earlier that day. The last winners were the Broken Bottle gang, and Alvra's kids (unnamed as of this moment) have joined up to take it down from the inside.

They find a map of a few tanneries that leave their vats open at night and make their way towards one. With little effort they hop the fence and fill two sacks halfway with offal, while scaring off some kids who were targeting the same place. On their way back to the hideout, they almost get apprehended by some constables, but quick thinking with one of Chaya's Obscure potions gets them safely away.

On the way back, Felix can't help but lower his pants and drop a 10/10 turd down some poor person's chimney.

When they arrive at the hideaway they see that Gorvis's trap has caused a kid to twist his ankle and return early. In order for their plan to go right, Inge buddies up to him, takes him to a nearby bar, and fills him with enough liquor to make a ten-year-old drunk. There aren't minimum drinking ages here, whatever.

With Chaya on watch at the front door and Saldo up high on a balcony, Felix and Gorvis set up their trap: they place three of Chaya's Obscure potions (functionally identical to smoke bombs) in the bottom of the sacks and hoist them to the top of the inside. Gorvis takes the rope and climbs outside onto the roof, and the rest leave and wait across the street in an alleyway.

After all the street kids have returned, they drop the bag. The smoke inside the shattered potions carries the stinking odor of animal offal as Felix holds the door, causing the kids to be engulfed in the stench. They make their getaway and return to the orphanage (contemplating leaving Gorvis), where Inge ties an intestine around the chimneypipe as a warning.

A few days later, Alvra is impressed that the kids have succeeded so well that they are being given a wide berth by the other street kids. She buys them all some maple candy as a reward.

The End

Next time: After a ten-year time skip, the orphans are called back to Dodushkun by vague, yet distressed letters from Mother Alvra. But for what purpose?

Dun dun duuuuun!

Dodushkun: Session 0

The System: Savage Worlds

The setting: Dodushkun, the City of Isles. On the coast of Lake Dannr, and the seat of power in the kingdom in all but name only, it's a huge city marked by structures left behind by whatever race inhabited the planet originally. Technology is equivalent to late 1700s, with guns being wide-spread, magic regularly studied but rare, and the feudal system drying up.

The player characters:

Saldo: The dashing, somewhat dumb kid, he's the youngest of the group at nine years old. Enjoys wrestling, and not much else.

Gorvis: A caster, he'd been on the streets for a year or so before getting caught breaking a minor law and getting entangled in the system. Used to living on his own. He's the oldest, at eleven.

Ingevla: The cousin-of-a-cousin of an aristocratic family, her parents died and she was put into the system instead of being put up with. Pragmatic in the extreme, and always willing to use her Imperial Citizen status and natural charm to get her way. She's the middle orphan, at a new ten.

The Non-Player Characters:

Mother Alvra: Young, pretty, and head of Mother Alvra's Home for Wayward Souls, she has recently purchased three orphans from the church for an unknown purpose. She seems well-liked by the people in the district, and is always treated with more respect than normally afforded people of her age.

We start with the orphans arriving at their new home. Mother Alvra gives them a short tour [1] of the orphanage before leaving them on their own with instructions to not burn down the (stone) building. After hearing her joke fall flat, she leaves on errands, saying she'll be back within the hour.

Left to their own devices, the orphans are a little unsure of what to do. After getting some short introductions out of the way, Gorvis asks Ingevla for a few of her hair-pins, which she surrenders because he's bigger than her. He immediately makes his way through the building and then wanders over to Mother Alvra's chamber door and tries picking the lock.

Ingevla shrugs, changes into her sleep clothes, and tries to take a nap.

While Gorvis is trying to pick the lock, several other orphans enter the building, though some cursory glances reveal that they obviously don't live there. The newcomers show confusion at someone else being there, and say they didn't know someone was already trying at the joint that day. After managing to convince the newcomers that yes, it was indeed Gorvis's turn to steal from the orphanage that day, they leave the three PCs a marking to follow if they want to know what the business is.

Gorvis goes back to trying to break the lock. Saldo, apparently still unsure of his new lot in life, sans-parents, stands around and eventually gravitates, naturally, towards the older boy.

Gorvis picks Alvra's lock and steals five marcs from her desk drawer. Saldo, feeling the stirrings of what might grow into that ever-elusive conscience, tells him to put it back. Gorvis, unimpressed, tries to push past.

Saldo isn't taking that shit. He successfully grapples the older boy in a headlock.

Hearing the commotion, Inge rises from her bed and goes to see what's up. Seeing the two older boys beating each other up, she begins to hit herself on the arm enough to bruise herself. After a few hits the absurdity of the situation sinks in, and Inge sinks to the ground, sobbing.

Meanwhile, Gorvis has managed to get himself untangled from Saldo's grapple. In an attempt to get the boy out of the way, he lashes out with his magic in an icy burst along the ground, through the mistress's doorway.

Saldo sees the motions and dodges to the side, leaving the sitting, sobbing, and bruised Ingevla directly in their path. The ice pierces her and she immediately starts bleeding onto the stone floor.

"Oh fuck," was stated, both in- and out-of-game, as Gorvis realizes that he almost killed Ingevla...just as Mother Alvra returns.

Alvra drops her things and rushes over, pushing the two boys out of the way. She manages to get Ingevla fixed up, who immediately begins sobbing. Alvra calls her on her bullshit and gathers the kids at one of the tables, after shooting them a knowing look after noticing her door is unlocked. She tells them she'll get them targets for their...aggressions, and makes them clean up the ice and blood.