Everway: The Darkenwood Knights: The Dragon of Darkenwood

My first game was at Thursday, 9 am: Everway: The Darkenwood Knights: The Dragon of Darkenwood. It had also been run with the With Great Power system.

• GM: Kat Miller
• Joshua Kronengold: Dame Rosslyn
• Me: Sir Gavin
• Bruce Neiger: Crown Prince Fiorre
• Michael Miller: Sir Drake

The relationship map was more complicated than I had realized at first. The king was married to queen, and Crown Prince Fiorre was their son. He was best friends with Sir Drake, not realizing that Sir Drake was actually the dragon of Darkenwood. Fiorre's sister, Princess Petra, was, unbeknowst to him, his half sister. She was the daughter of the queen and Sir Gavin. And, while I did not realize this for a while, Sir Gavin was the king's brother. Sir Drake and Dame Rosslyn were both in love with Princess Petra. The unplayed Sir Daniel was in love with Dame Rosslyn.

Each of the knights had a strange power. Sir Drake was a dragon, of course. and the unplayed Sir Daniel could turn into a lion. Unknown to the others, Dame Rosslyn was the daughter of the god of floods, and she had great powers when it came to water. Sir Gavin had a hammer of thunder. Prince Fiorre had a strong connection to the land of his kingdom.

The four knights were summoned to the king. He informed them that Princess Petra had been kidnapped by the Dragon of Darkenwood! The knights were to go and rescue her at once!

Sir Drake said that he was skeptical that the dragon had stolen the princess, and the knights heard that the king had met with a Dark Fey. The queen sent for Sir Gavin to tell him that the king was sending her to the tower, supposedly for her own safety, but if Sir Gavin heard that an accident had befallen her, he was to understand that it was No Accident! She had not yet heard of the princess's kidnapping, and she was aghast at the news.

The princess had been taken from her room, and on examining Petra's room, the knights found traces of fey magic. The princess had been taken from the balcony, or so they were told, yet nothing had been knocked over near the balcony. There were drag marks near the bed and tacks, blacksmith filings -- iron.

They also found letters from various suitors, as many, many people loved the princess. She often wrote on the back of these as thoughts struck her, such as: "Must speak to father about adding more schools in the village -- these poor people can't even spell!"

Sir Gavin (with admiration): Sir Drake, how did you know that the Dragon of Darkenwood didn't take the princess?

Sir Drake: As you see, nothing was knocked over near the balcony, which is where the dragon would have had to take her from. I can't imagine the dragon walking about the room (he walks about the room) -- peering under beds and things. (peers under the bed)

The king had been doing more trading with the fey court, perhaps because their perfumes were more potent. There were often a few in town, but there had been a lot more on the previous night, perhaps a dozen.

Prince Fiorre went to the wise woman of the town.

Wise Woman: Your friends are your enemies, and your enemies are your friends.

Prince Fiorre: Hm, just what I suspected. Tell me more.

He had three sunrises to deal with the problem. What was he prepared to give up?

Prince Fiorre: Anything short of my honor.

Wise Woman: Anything short of your honor is not good enough.

She said that the princess had been offered as a gift. To take back a gift would be to dishonor the king.

Prince Fiorre: Do you have counsel for me, then?

Wise Woman: Yes.

Prince Fiorre: What?

Wise Woman: Don't be tempted. Do not follow the easy path. Do not follow the path that the king has laid out for you, quite obviously.

They discussed the issue of taking back a gift.

Wise Woman: Prince, taking it back jeopardizes the kingdom.

Prince Fiorre: So now, instead of being a knight, I must be a politician.

Wise Woman: You hope to be king someday.

She cautioned him that he would need to leave his sword aside.

Prince Fiorre: You can be a knight without honor. You cannot be a knight without a sword.

Wise Woman: You are not a knight, my prince.

She had more advice:

Wise Woman: Sometimes, when an inappropriate gift is given, willing hearts will accept a substitute.

Prince Fiorre: Have you seen into their hearts?

Wise Woman: I still have my eyes, so apparently not.

Meanwhile, the other knights learned that there were fey travelers at the inn. There was a fight between two of them. They were angry over a woman. The group had also done something odd to the inn when it stayed there, causing the wood to sprout branches that needed clearing. Now, the travelers paid with two boons, as the inn's owner knew all about fey money, and when she complained about the changes made to the inn, they offered to put things back -- for one of the boons. She had told them that she'd deal with it on her own. The knights pitched in to help.

As I recall, to go to the land of the fey meant to go to the dark side of the moon. Sir Drake said that he could handle this, and reminded Prince Fiorre that he was the prince's friend. Then, he turned into his true shape, and, as the Dragon of Darkenwood, flew, with his fellow knights riding on his back.

The knights were asked to disarm. Dame Rosslyn was greeted warmly. The dragon was not pleased, and made his displeasure known to the queen and to the gatekeeper.

Dragon: I have suffered you these seven times seven years on my land. These lands are mine and all within them!

Kat told us that there was a law of threes. If one made a claim three times, that needed to be either accepted or formally challenged, I think.

Sir Gavin revealed that Princess Petra was his daughter, not the king's.

Fey Queen: You speak truth -- _you_ are welcome here.

Indeed, the queen very much wanted Princess Petra's friends and relatives to see her, assure themselves that she was well, cheer her up, and get her to cooperate and marry the queen's son. Meanwhile, the argument between dragon and gatekeeper continued.

Gatekeeper: _My_ mother lies with every third breath.

Dragon (under the impression that the marriage may have already happened): Are you newly wed?

Gatekeeper: No.

Dragon: Then my quarrel with you can wait.

Gatekeeper: Do you only quarrel with those who are newly wed?

Pressed for his name, he said: My title for the hour is gatekeeper.

The dragon continued to insist that everyone in the woods was his, especially the princess.

Gatekeeper: Are you making a claim, then?

And, indeed, the dragon did try. However, the third time he said that Princess Petra was his, the queen gestured, and birds drowned him out. This meant that it did not count as a claim.

The princess was well, more or less. She was in the middle of a circle of columns, unable to leave it. There was a comfortable divan in the center. There was also food and drink, but she had wisely refused both. The knights gave her what food and drink they had brought with them.

The queen had a young maiden following her around, looking amused when someone spoke back to the queen. The gatekeeper called her away at one point when it looked like violence might break out, and she went to him, reluctantly. We found out after the game that the maiden was in some way the soul or the innocence of the queen. Similarly, the witty, mercurial gatekeeper was tied to the queen's son, Eclipse, a laconic man who had none of the social graces to aid him in wooing Princess Petra.

Eclipse (holding out a ladle of water, as the princess turns from it): You might drink something! It won't kill you!

Indeed, technically, it wouldn't harm her. It would, however, mean she might not be able to leave.

The queen explained that the king had offered his daughter to her, and she had accepted. True, it was something of an insult that he had lied, but was he not Sir Gavin's lord? Might he not dispose of Petra as he chose anyway? And in this realm, Petra would never grow old, nor would her beauty fade.

The queen did not wish to marry one of her female subjects to Prince Fiorre, for any woman of her realm would age and die in the prince's realm. This was completely different from the princess marrying her son -- that was a rescue!

Queen (to Dame Rosslyn): _You_ are unmarried.

Dame Rosslyn: ...That is _not_ going to happen.

Josh might have played her as potentially willing to make this sacrifice for Petra if Sir Daniel the Lion were in the game, as then there would be more angst to spread around.

The princess was very confused to hear of her true parentage.

Petra: Am I even a princess, then?

She was assured that she was.

Eventually she figured out that Sir Drake was the Dragon of Darkenwood, at which point she promptly fainted.

The queen noted that Prince Fiorre had no right to negotiate while his father was still alive. Sir Gavin told him that his mother feared that the king would try to kill her. The knights bade farewell to Petra and returned to their land, where much was amiss.

The wise woman had been seized for treason. Indeed, most of the women had been seized, and they, as well as the queen, were to be burned as witches. Horrified, the knights raced to the castle.

In the courtyard, fires were being prepared at the king's command. Sir Gavin pounded the ground to make thunderstorms, and Dame Rosslyn made sure that there was sufficient water to douse the flames. The knights remonstrated with the king who insisted that all mothers were witches, all unfaithful.

Sir Gavin tried to focus the king's wrath on himself, but the Dragon of Darkenwood found his patience exhausted. He challenged the king, and, as a great mist rose about them, devoured him.

When the mist cleared, only the dragon remained. The women were freed, and the dragon made it clear that he was a friend to the new ruler, King Fiorre.

The queen approached the dragon.

Queen: Did you kill the king?

Dragon: I did. He was no fit king.

Queen: He was still a king, and that was no fit end for him. There is only enmity between us.

And she turned and walked away.

The dragon left so that Sir Drake might return, and the knights told their tale. Sir Gavin said that King Fiorre should banish him, and that he would abide with the fey so that Petra might return. There may have been another deal made as well, but if so, I don't recall what it was.