[Sorcerer] Intrigue in Mu's Bed (Paula and Robert)

[Judd]

This game has been on hiatus for a little while but is in a nice groove.

The two players have excellent chemistry and the game moves quickly and dymanically.

Two bits of unfinished business from the last game will be a kind of prelude to the next round of Kickers.  We're considering running these next round of Kickers and then jumping ahead to quite a bit into he future to explore these characters a decade or two from the game's present date.

The bits of unfinished business are Amaranth's marriage to her dead god-demon and Ardash and his sister dealing with their powerful and out of control Demon, Lost Beauty.  

Here are their thoughts on kickers that they have sent me:

For Ardash:

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Kidnapped! We'd play the kicker out at the start of the session, of course, but in this Kicker, Ardash is abducted. His eunuch, Nam, puts up a good fight and survives (barely), but is overwhelmed to pass out from blood loss. The concubine is subdued and dragged off: to what end?
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Process of Elimination. In the time since our last session, possibly stretching into the interval before, a couple of the Witch King's servitor sorcerors have been assassinated. The connection between events is unclear, they've been a bit spread out, the reason and immediacy of the problem is unknown and not even fully suspected. Today, Dresda and Ardash go shopping in Mu's Bed, and they are attacked. Who's got a small armed force in the city that they can scramble on short notice to assail the sorceror concubines when they go out? Who let them know the pair were leaving the palace together? And for that matter, do they even survive the attack?
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Extortion. Someone has clued into the nature of the Prince's new wife. They aren't someone that can be removed easily. Ardash intercepts (or is the recipient of) their threats of exposure, and they want something. I'd say that something is: they want some kind of demonic advantage of their own, and without a pet sorceror they've come up with a different strategy. Give us what we want, or we'll talk.
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Lost Beauty. The demon could easily be used for a Kicker, but without identifying the options for dealing with it as before (contain? punish? re-bind?), I'm unsure.
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Here Come the Brides. The Witch King has made himself a new political marriage. She's a sorceress. The underdog brides and grooms jockey as usual, but many are throwing in behind her for now. 'Whatever problems she may present, maybe this is our ticket to get rid of those Bitches from Bel.'
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When Only Disgrace Will Do.  A watch-dog demon of some sort, bound to the Witch King or one of his servitors, has warned that agents of High Brazil are involved in greater activity within Lemuria, sniffing around for links to those with info close to the WK. We could tie in Amaranth/Hassan and have the tip-off in the form of prophecy, doesn't really matter. Ardash volunteers/is volunteered for the job of 'viper in their midst.' An elabourate disgrace is orchestrated and played out, he is cast out from the palace and apparently hot for payback. Now he's got to get the spies to contact him, and find out what they're up to without getting killed. Dying while everyone thinks he actually made sufficient mistakes to be disgraced would be.... undignified. Pulling off the role, however, would further his ambitions nicely.

I like the abduction kicker myself, nice and simple and immediate.

Amaranth's possible Kickers:

1.  A year and a day later, when Amaranth ascends as Duchess.
2.  Birth of the baby
3.  Assassination attempt on Amaranth/Hassan and counterattempts on the guys who tried to kill her
4.  Possible alliances/conflicts with other cults

I think the first two could be combined and the second two could be incidental to the first two.  Let me know if this isn't specific enough.

I like thinking about her when she ascends as Duchess.  I also really like the parallel between her ascension as a noble and Ardash's imprisonment because taking up the duchy will be a kind of imprisonment.

We'll see how it flies, where the players are leaning.

[Judd]

Finally we will get to run this game again this evening.

We tend to make meals when Paula, Robert and I meet for this game and the chili is-a-cookin'.

Time to get the adventure cookin' as well.

Here's what I got:

Ardash's Kicker:

Kidnapped! We'd play the kicker out at the start of the session, of course, but in this Kicker, Ardash is abducted. His eunuch, Nam, puts up a good fight and survives (barely), but is overwhelmed to pass out from blood loss. The concubine is subdued and dragged off: to what end?

Amaranth's Kicker:

A year and a day later, when Amaranth ascends as Duchess.

Bangs:

* Amaranth gives birth to triplets, born of her Demon/God, Hassan.  They are a snake, a wolf and a bear, forms her Demon favors when he isn't walking in human skin.  Eventually they will be able to walk on two legs.

* The other religions, cults and churchs in Mu's Bed are frightened by Amaranth's rise to power.  They wish to feel out her power and perhaps decide if they all wish to pay to have her assassinated.

If so they will summon a Demon to do the deed.

* She has become the Duchess of Mu's Bed, a vassal of the Witch King.  Now she will have to visit her Well Forts, each a little adventure in and of itself.  

Ardash:

* The Exorcist from the first adventure kidnapped him and wishes him to summon Demons for the Exorcist to Banish.

* It becomes obvious that the Exorcist hired the men and women who kidnapped him and they are mercenaries.  They take his blood at one point, say they are going to sell it to Ardash's sister so that she can spread it on her mirror (object Demon).

* The Exorcist asks him to Summon the ghost of a historian who has the power to allow people to re-visit the past.  Together the exorcist and Ardash will visit parts of their innocent youth.

[Judd]

Amaranth:

* Perhaps the churches want Amaranth to overthrow the Witch King and set up a Theocracy with her children as rulers.


Ardash:

* I know a big part of the plot of last session was getting a bride for Ardash's nephew, the Prince.  He had summoned a Demon, a ghost of a powerful Cydonian Empress.  There's gotta be a Bang or two in that...somewhere.

* Perhaps when Ardash hears that his beloved uncle is kidnapped he begins to rip the city apart looking for him or calls off his wedding, saying that he won't get married without his uncle returned.

This oculd lead to a tense scene in which guards break in but are killed, perhaps creating an opportunity for escape.

* His sister sends her ghost, contained in a powerful gem, with one of the mercenaries who has allowed him to see that Ardash is well for alot of coin.

* NO.  No, I've got it.  His Demon, the Mirror of Lost Beauty, has replaced Ardash with a reflection copy.  No one knows he is even gone.

Holy shit.

The reflection pays him a visit.

[Judd]

Paula, Robert and I played the next to last session of Intrigue in Mu's Bed.  The game went well and a good time was had by all.

I think my Bangs for Amaranth were weak and it showed.  My scenes with her, and with Ardash kidnapped there was alot of split screen action, were stale and it was my fault entirely.  Even looking back on the former post I can see that the Bangs concerning her were rather weak.

Ardash was kidnapped by Stygian mercenaries who were in league with many of the brides and grooms of the Witch-King who despire the priviledge of him and his sister, mother to the heir.

Attached to this kidnapping was the exorcist zealot of the Dame Messiah from the first game.

Amaranth gave birth to triplets who were in the form of a bear, snake and wolf, the three animal forms of her demon but with her eyes.  They were demons and so, in fear of losing them to another sorcerer, she immediately bound them upon birth.

Paula and I are deciding what it means that the children are demons if all demons are dead things...

For the next game we are fast forwarding the game ten years.  The Witch-King is dead and the Prince has declared himself Witch Emperor, having annexed Hy-Brasil to his kingdom and has troops occupying Atlantis.

We're going to work out the kickers and bring this sucker to a close.