Sword and Sorcery Superdraft: July 2022

[death tribble]

The Person in Need of Help

Some people cannot keep their hands to themselves and this can land them into trouble. Take for example Hes-Tha. Her name means feather for she has a feather like touch. She has managed to avoid imprisonment or maiming for her livelihood of theft. That does not mean she does not end in trouble or that she has escaped incarceration. But now she has really done it. Her memories are cloudy and vague. She does not recall who brought her to that place, how she got away and what the hidden room had to do with anything. The coins and jewellery were 'too heavy' but the containers with the paper in were just right. She could sell them to someone who could use them but they mean nothing to her as Hes-Tha is illiterate. Now her life is a nightmare as this follower of the Three Fold Way is after her. He has all sort of nasty weapons which would leave her maimed at best. Worse he's working for that evil witch from the Night Fortress, you know the one with the legs to die for. And some horrid flying monstrosity with three heads is after her as well. She thought is was just bad luck to see it at first but now she knows it is hunting her. Where can she go and what can she do ?

[Pariah]

On 7/22/2022 at 9:59 AM, Pattern Ghost said:

I have to tap out. Had a carpet nail in my foot, a fall down a stair (yeah, just one stair but it was a doosy), freaking accounting homework and a surprise webinar to create all since the draft started. Sorry. I'd planned to have some fun with this one, too!

 

8 years ago or so, Lady P broke her foot in two places falling down one stair. Wishing you a swift recovery. 

[Pariah]

Location I: A cave in the mountains of southwestern Montana 

 

There was a cave complex not far from Kevin Thomson's hometown, but it was on private land. Kevin sought permission to explore the caves many times, but was always denied. Then, after his freshman year in college, Kevin went back to ask permission one more time. The family was on vacation. Kevin figured this was his opportunity. After all, he'd gone to ask permission and they hadn't told him no....

 

About half a mile into the cave, probably several hundred feet below ground level, Kevin found an unusual room that was nearly a perfect hemisphere. Embedded in the wall of this room was an unusual stone. It appeared to be sedimentary, but had vivid bands of blue, yellow, red, and green. Kevin reached for the stone, hoping to pull it out of the wall. Instead, he was hit by something like a jolt of electricity and immediately lost consciousness. When he awoke, he was somewhere else.

 

--

 

Ally / Companion: Drin, son of Alon

 

Drin has no memories of his father; he was only a few weeks old when the treacherous usurper King murdered him. Drin's family fled in fear of the young child's life. They settled in the town of Windsong, where Drin grew up in anonymity. His mother has told him who his father was, but nobody in the town outside his own family knows.

 

Drin has grown up strong and has trained as part of the Town Guard from a young age. He is expert in the use of several weapons of war and is a formidable opponent even when unarmed. He prepares for the day when he will join the fight to unseat King Dineev - not as vengeance for his slain father, but to bring justice and peace back to his homeland. 

 

When Kevin Thomson awoke and found himself in an unfamiliar land, Drin was the person who found him.

[Pariah]

Location II: The Town of Windsong

 

Windsong sits in the northern plains of the Kingdom of Dineev and once marked the northern border of the Grand March of Snave. The Town is located at the bottom of a steep ridge and along the shore of a small, memorably blue lake. It sits not quite two miles east of the King's High Road and is the last significant trading center before heading south to the Capitol. 

 

The surrounding area has fertile soil, adequate rain, and a favorable climate overall. Windsong and its environs produce grain, cattle, sheep, fowl, and onions in abundance. Town was once one of the richest in the area. But most of what they produce now goes to support Dineev's castle (and his army), so there is now barely enough left to keep the town's population alive. Many people have left Windsong over the past generation, looking for a better life somewhere else. The town is a frail shadow of its former glory.

 

--

 

Option: Jonna, daughter of Alon

 

Jonna is three years older than Drin and remembers her father remarkably well. Prodigiously intelligent and insightful, she is Drin's confidant and best friend as well as his sister. She supports him in his desire to free the land from it's evil King, but admonishes caution and waiting for the right moment. Drin sometimes becomes impatient with her, but knows deep down that she's probably right.

 

Although her brother does not have The Calling, Jonna does. She is an accomplished magician, and sometimes uses her talents in subtle ways to help the people of the town. She doesn't use her magic openly for fear of attracting the attention of the King.

 

Unknown to Drin, or pretty much anyone else, Jonna carries the Fire Stone. In fact, the only other person who knows she has it is her mother, who gave it to her.

[Pattern Ghost]

6 hours ago, Pariah said:

8 years ago or so, Lady P broke her foot in two places falling down one stair. Wishing you a swift recovery. 

 

Thanks. I'm mostly OK. I caught myself from falling by grabbing the walls (more or less), but twisted my bad back a bit in the process. It's still a little tweaked out, but that should pass. I just have to glue myself to about four or five hours of accounting homework today. I'll probably lose a SAN point or three.

[Cancer]

Or worse, end up with some imaginary SAN.

[Pariah]

12 hours ago, Cancer said:

Or worse, end up with some imaginary SAN.

 

That sounds like a complex problem.

[Cancer]

Well, put it another way.  I think the Tick has lots of imaginary SAN.

[Cancer]

eleventh (next to last) installment: Option: Unexplained magical manifestation

 

The statue in the plaza of Lonu Central never moves on-camera.  Usually the draconic humanoid is in a dramatic action pose, the winged warrior about to strike at the completion of a dive, wings curled out behind it as it reaches the target of its attack.  In a few scenes, however, it is in different poses.  Once it is standing, wings furled, arms held up in a gesture of beneficent salute.  In another isolated moment it points downward in the clear attitude of a friendly sage instructing beloved pupils.  No explanation is made for the changes.

[assault]

Second Last Pick.

---

Secondary Antagonist: Latro the Conqueror.

Latro wants to be a King. No, Emperor.

All he thinks he needs is the Sword of Destiny, and a rabble of supporters.

Unfortunately, because of the prophecy, the people of Ytic believe him, and would rather flee than defend their city.

Who will stand against him?

[assault]

And I'm stuck on my last (Monster) pick. A lot of the problem is that my picks have diverged from my original idea, so my Protagonist is actually irrelevant to the rest of picks. (My Ally/Companion is probably my actual Protagonist.)

 

And therefore, so is my original plan for my Monster. That's a shame, because it was a good idea - just in a different story. It was basically a Rocky Horror joke - "In just seven days...". But that doesn't really work in the context that has emerged.

So I need another monster. Annoying.

[csyphrett]

Protagonist:  Mr Straw

 

Ally/Companion: Charonus

 

Primary Antagonist: Lord Runnymede

 

Secondary Antagonist: N'Shalla the shaman

 

Person(s) in need of help: Lady Macklemore

 

Monster: Birds of Cawdor

 

Locations: Corn River, Crow Cove, 

 

A McGuffin/Gadget: the Ring of Cawdor

 

A Deity: Cawdor

Option: Anything else your fiendish imagination comes up with.

 

I just need the option and I am going with minions for Lord Runnymede commanded by Colonel Geoffrey Everstone who wants to get rid of his smuggler enemy and woo the beautiful Lady Macklemore. He is not happy that a wandering swordsman is making him look bad.

 

 CES

[Cancer]

I think this is a few hours early, but oh well.

 

Final installment: McGuffin

 

Farstar, completely unaware of the confrontation at Lmuma Creek (indeed, fuly ignorant of the town's existence) scans the world through a scrying crystal, has been searching for Akhar, now that he's ready to declare himself and populate his realm.  He finds the Orc and bespeaks him, his voice manifesting around Akhar as the weary warrior addresses the townsfolk in the grey light of dawn after a long night of destroying monsters.  Akhar is admitting: there are too many, and their progress is unquestionable: they will arrive at dusk that day.

 

Akhar reacts with fear and mistrust initially, not recognizing Farstar's voice when he hears it, but quickly accepts this master's words, and explains the untenable situation in a few tumbling sentences.  Farstar scans the surrounding area for several minutes and confirms that if anything, Akhar's assessment is not bleak enough.

 

Farstar gives Akhar and villagers twelve hours of notice, directing them to assemble their goods and marshal everything they can move in the center of town.  He throws a hasty protective circle around the periphery of the hamlet, though this cannot delay the attackers much.  The twelve hours are needed to prepare the receiving end of the McGuffin/spell.  At the end of the twelve hours, as evening twilight is deepening, the zombies are pushing their way into the lanes between the little houses.  The townsfolk, their pets and livestock, their baggage, and Akhar are crowded into the gathering space in front of the little shrine.  Farstar's voice booms over them all, ordering them to lay hands on everything they have packed to move, and the orcs comply.  Over the course of a few seconds the townsfolk fade out literally as the zombies come within five yards of where they stood. Half a world away, they fade back into existence amid the main plaza of Lonu Central, where it is mid-morning of a sunny summer day in a maritime Mediterranean environment.

[assault]

Hopefully I will get most of the rosters updated today.

If people can put their own rosters together, that would help, but only because I'm lazy.

I'm still personally failing on my Monster pick, but I've explained why before.

Mind you, on a personal level, this has been the useful exercise I was hoping it would be. I've stuck names on a bunch of characters and ideas I had sitting in my head in fragments for years. Not as much fun for everyone else though. I should have worked out a way for more interaction between players.

The Monster, the Monster...

[assault]

The Dark Lord Surga has a problem. He is being pursued by an even more powerful entity - a Hellhound.

So far, it has forced him out of his familiar haunts, and into the broader world - but sooner or later it will catch up with him.

Monster Pick: The Hellhound.

 

---

If I was to actually write this thing, there would be a lot of other characters, including plenty of women. It wouldn't be anything like the sausage fest this list of picks implies.

[death tribble]

Location 3

Haunted City of Meera

This is where Hes-Tha ends up with the Lost Scrolls. The Beast of Grantham is tracking the scroll case which Jaleeka enchanted with Gideon's mark so the Beast is hot on the thief's trail. Velath will be along shortly with assorted minions. Macrus and Pelas have climbed down into The Pit Between the Mountains and got the script. From there they have journeyed into the Grand Library of Urdman where Pelas has solved the script and they now on their way to the Haunted City. No-one stays in the city overnight as they tend to disappear. The ghosts are supposed to get them. Gideon has enchanted the scrolls and the Beast so that they are safe. 

 

 

[death tribble]

Option

The Rose Oracle

The Order of the Rose have a secret weapon which is The Rose Oracle. The oracle is mobile and tends to follow the most dedicated knights hovering in the air. It is undetectable to Gods like Gideon and monsters like the Beast. Velath has seen it briefly but does not know what he saw. Jaleeka has almost seen it out of the corner of her eye and is aware that something has been aiding her enemies but she is not sure what. Pelas is oblivious to the Oracle which amuses it no end. Macrus is respectful of it but does not rely on it 100% as he feels it would make it vulnerable to the powers of evil.

The oracle has shared a concern that what has happened so far has been 'too easy' and the Paladin agrees. To reach the library so easily and for Pelas to solve the script so easily has made Macrus suspicious. When he finds out that Hes-Tha has the scrolls and cannot read, that will be the tipping point.

[death tribble]

My selections in order from the specified list

 

Player: death tribble

Protagonist: Macrus, Knight Initiate of the Order of the Rose

Ally/Companion: The Most Reverend Pelas Quorl of the Sacred Order.

Primary Antagonist: Jaleeka of the Night Fortress

Secondary Antagonist: Velath of the Three Fold Way.

Person(s) in need of help: Hes-Tha, illiterate thief who has the scrolls

Monster: The Beast of Grantham (a giant Chimera)

Location One: The Pit Between the Mountains

Location Two: The Grand Library of Urdman

Location Three: Haunted City of Meera

McGuffin/Gadget: The Scrolls of Aldorius

Deity: Gideon, Lord of Trickery
Option:  The Rose Oracle

[assault]

OK, so despite my semi-regular mild depression, I've managed to put the rosters together. (Second post on the first page on this thread.)

There may be some errors, and of course people might want to add last minute picks.

But aside from that, we should be about ready to go to the poll.

The question is: what categories would be appropriate?

There hasn't been much weirdness, so a straightforward: "I would prefer to read/watch/play this" could be an option. Or we could get fancy. What do people think?

---
(It hasn't the most successful draft, IMHO, but at least there's been some interesting entries.)

[death tribble]

To be honest we have had fewer entries and I think most of us took it seriously because it is usually the other players who bring the chaos when you are the GM