[the shadow of yesterday] Rats, Revenge, and Revolution (part 2)

This is the second part of my Rats, Revenge, and Revolution actual play report. It describes the final act in my wonderfully successful The Shadow of Yesterday campaign.

When we last left our heroes, they planned to lead their guerilla army of freed slaves to ambush a group of foul Armeni, who had, in their possession, an ancient book containing the secret of steel foundry. The Armeni were being escorted to Fox Bridge by a phalanx of Philippe�s troops, lead by his greatest general, Lord Galthwait. One of the characters, Kamia, seeks bloody revenge on the Armeni for molesting her. Without telling anybody, Stich, dug up her secret stash of swords (taken from a group of soldiers killed in the very first adventure) gave them to her comrades to use in the fight and bought off her Key of the Precious.

The ambush occured on a road outside of town. There was a conflict between Trevor and Lord Galthwait, the two generals, about the ambushes success. Trevor won and the army broke, leaving an angry Galthwait on horseback and a palanquin (an enclosed carriage carried by slaves) containing the two Armeni. Galthwait cut Trevor with his mighty battle axe but was ultimately defeated. Kamia approached the palanquin with bloody purpose. Entering, she was struck by �the old man�, a poisoner and head representative of the Armeni. As she reeled back, the �old man� and �the book reading man� emerged from the palanquin. The �book reading man�, so named because of his actions during Kamia�s first fateful meeting with the Armeni, was an elf, described as Tilda Swinton in Constantine, but Asian. The book reading man smiled at Kamia, described her as his greatest creation, told everybody that the book was still in the Palanquin, then set the palanquin on fire as he and the old man escaped. Stich ran into the burning palanquin to retrieve the book, as Kamia and Trevor pursued the Armeni into the surrounding forest. Trevor caught and killed the old man, but the elf escaped.

The party was horribly brused after the fight, and Kamia sorely needed to refresh her instinct, so I created a scene in the cabin of an old healing woman the party knew. During healing, the old woman asked Kamia why she sought revenge. She replied that she could not let this happen to anybody else. There really needed to be a quiet, reflective scene after the big battle, and pool refreshment is a terrific mechanic to make it happen.

Later, Trevor meets Cyric. Cyric asks for the book. Trevor says that he has hidden it away as an insurance policy, so that he can be sure that he will be cut into whatever plans Cyric has next. Really, Trevor doesn�t want to give the book to Cyric because he is no better than the Lords he is trying to overthrow. A deception versus know truth contest occurs, and Trevor wins.

Later, Kamia snuck back into Fox Bridge tower to see her niece and Drawcreek, only to find them missing and a letter, written in beautiful Armeni script, telling her to meet the elf in a clearing at midnight, if she ever wants to see her niece or her lover again. The party decides to meet the elf.

At midnight, the elf appears. He says that indeed, Kamia is his greatest creation. That for many years, he has been obsessed with why is it that when people suffer at the hands of others, why some people submit while others resist. He says that he has performed this experiment countless times, and that never has he seen such a beautiful specimen of defiance. But he wonders how deep the defiance goes.

He then says that her niece, Drawcreek, and Trevor�s brother are all tied up and dying of a slow acting poison. He has the only antidote in this small vial. He will give her the antidote if she gives him the knife she took from the first Armeni trader she killed (imbued with a +2 against rapist scum) and swears to abandon her vengeful plan.

What will Kamia choose? Will the party stop Philippe�s plans of empire? Find out in the next instalment of Rats, Revenge, and Revolution!