Clockwork: Dominion: Highland Spirits

Gen Con 2016 August 6: 10 am: Clockwork: Dominion: Highland Spirits

• GM: Talia
• ???: Trevor Sole (widower)
• Dan Chase: Shara-El, a nephilim
• Kegan: Alan (Alon?) Ailenhead (widower)
• Me: Ash, a changeling of indeterminate / changeable gender
• David: Owen Innis
• Emily Dempsey: Paddock, a changeling stray. My notes say "Blue", which might or might not refer to his skin color.

The world of Clockwork: Dominion is steampunky and complex. Fortunately, much of the detailed background isn't important here. What is important, more or less:

• The universe is the Clockwork, and when things go awry with it, folks say "The Pontus rises." A Pontus event is something as unusual as a rain of fish, but could be more dire.
• There are mages and magicians.
• There are fae and changelings.
• There are nephilim who are not part of the Clockwork.

The system is card based, going from -5 to +5, with the Doom and Fate cards as the ultimate fumble and critical success. The card deck is used for quick tests, for initiative in conflict, and for social as well as physical conflict.

The PCs were a group loosely affiliated with, I think, some society of mages or other. They were looking into the disappearance of Lord Lindsay Taggart, who was a member of the society. And, while they wished to find him and make sure that he was safe, it was perhaps even more important that they find and secure the Sunstone, some kind of magical artifact he had custody of. The lord lived in the Scottish highlands, and the name of the scenario is obviously intended to be a pun.

Alan was posing as Somerton Holme, the cousin and heir of Lord Lindsay Taggart. This was not a ruse intended to hold up for more than a few days. Shara-El posed as his cousin and "prospect", and Trevor as his valet. Ash (aka "Miss Ash") was Shara-El's chaperone. Paddock was Somerton's bodyguard. Owen was his business partner, I think. The group traveled to Lord Taggart's home, Balloch House, and apparently discussed the ethics of what they were doing, or at least, the ethics of, er, something.

Ash: That's not lying -- that's -- being -- flexible.

Alan: Well said.

They were met by a woman of 23 or 24 years. She had chestnut hair, well cared for and dressed, and wore a beautiful, green dress which had been fashionable perhaps 10-12 years ago. She introduced herself as Lord Taggart's ward, Skeen Ekhardt (if I read my notes correctly). Ash realized that she was a canny operator, but there was some slight worry.

Skeen introduced them to:

• Mrs. Walsh, the cook and head housekeeper, roughly 40s-50s
• Mr. Scrips, the eldest man on 2 feet, slightly hunched, stoop shouldered, Lord Taggart's valet
• Murag, a maid, in her 30s
• Alice, chambermaid, 15-16
• Ross, the groundskeeper and gardener, who didn't give a fig

The staff hadn't been expecting "Somerton" quite so soon, and hadn't gotten a letter from him.

"Sommerton": Well that's mighty unfortunate. I blame the postal service.

Owen, Paddock, and Trevor were given "large closets" as rooms. I don't recall whether those were tiny rooms or reasonably sized, as I never recall when "closet" is literal or how big it's supposed to be. My notes say that there was an 1873 newspaper, and something about strange events outside of town. They also say "6 -) w/servants", and I don't recall what that means.

The household seemed to believe that Lord Taggart had thrown himself into the lake. They had found his shoes on the shore, and that was the usual code for "I've drowned myself. Sorry about the bother. You don't need to go looking for me."

Someone told one of the visitors that Lord Taggart's father was a "beast". He was also, I believe, deceased. Ash discovered a secretary desk, I think in the lord's study, with hidden drawers. Alas, Ash couldn't do anything in front of Mr. Scrips, despite the man constantly getting confused.

Everything felt somehow off to the more sensitive members of the group. It wasn't the obvious things they could tell, like the fact that the staff were very protective of Mr. Scrips, who clearly suffered from all too ordinary dementia. No, it was more a susceptibility to the Pontus.

• Paddock went down to the basement.
• Ash spoke with Scrip in the study.
• Owen and Trevor were talking to household staff, I think, but wound up in the basement as well.
• Alan and Shara-El were exploring the grounds with Ross.

The wine cellar had a heavy, but an unlocked door. There was a channel carved into the stone of the cellar floor, and a line of salt, as well as silver wire pounded into the wood all around the door frame.

The door slammed closed on Owen. There was a grate; others could see inside. My notes say "Paddock closes", and I assume that refers to the door.

Owen noticed that it was quite cold. A figure approached. It seemed a hundred feet away from the wall, although the cellar was 20 feet deep. The figure was pale and washed out. It wore what seemed to be 20-year-old finest clothing. It stopped an inch or so from Owen's face.

Figure: Who -- or what -- are you?

I think card pulls happened around here, as my notes say:

Reason + Mystery -5 -) 1 Spend point of Ether to flip -4 -) 2

I think this means Owen and Paddock were trying to figure out their next step, as my notes say:

Would you advise it?

How much do you want to know about ghosts before you talk to an angry ghost?

Meanwhile, I think Ash decided to search the ward's room during the meal, pleading illness.

Owen answered the figure.

Owen: I'm a traveller, and I might ask you the very same question.

Figure: Who are _you_ to ask me questions in my own house, Stranger?

Owen: Ah, Lord Taggart. I was a guest of Lindsay and apparently, I strayed into a private area of his abode, and I apologize.

My notes say: 2 + 4 = 6, so I gather that this mollified the ghost of the old Lord Taggart.

Lord Taggart: My worthless boy is keeping strange company these days.

Owen: Yes. He brought me around because I amuse him.

Lord Taggart: Do you also make efforts towards being a magician?

Owen's Player: Oh -- this could be really good or really bad.

Owen: I possess some small talents.

There was a rattling from some of the wine bottles.

Lord Taggart (I think): Trying to inspect my handiwork? Trying to find something _new_ to do to me?

He circled Owen, who, I think, spotted Enochian charms and realized that those were there to keep Lord Taggart in.

Meanwhile, I think that Paddock and Trevor were trying to force there way into the room where Owen was. This was Vigor + Athletics + a card. Paddock got a 5 and Trevor a -2.

Paddock (I think): Faster. Faster would be better.

Trevor (I think): I'm trying

Paddock's or Trevor's Player: So it's safe to say he [Lord Taggart] and his son do not get on.

Owen's Player: How much deeper can I dig myself?

GM: We'll see.

Owen: Sir, I am not entirely sure how to tell you this -- and I did not know how long you've been down here -- but your son is dying.

The rattling increased and some of the bottles exploded, pulled closer to Owen.

Lord Taggart: If my son does not bring me back as I have instructed him to do, I will see that his afterlife is unceasing torment.

Owen: ...of course.

Lord Taggart: Although if you are a magician and you are willing to do what he is not, perhaps an exchange of knowledge? If he is not down here next week, he cannot renew the wards. And I could cure him as well, and take another whack at advising him. Tell me, are you willing to kill for your art?

This may have been interspersed with carefully non-committal answers from Owen.

Lord Taggart (as Paddock and Trevor keep trying to get inside): I believe we will soon be losing our privacy.

He indicated that it would be "A simple thing" to bring him back, which I think meant restoring Lord Taggart to life.

Lord Taggart: If you do not seize the power...

Paddock's player drew the DOOM card. The door opened -- and the lock broke.

Probably as a distraction, Ash brought tea for Scrips. Scrips had a belt and a pin cushion.

Scripps: For the fitting.

Ash was able to soothe him and send him somewhere safe and out of the way so that Ash could return to the puzzle of the secretary's hidden compartments.

My notes say:

• Ritual
• Leather journal
• Sunshine

I'm not sure if that's stuff Ash found. Regardless, I added Ash's Grace and Burglary and drew a card, getting a good total.

GM: You feel the latch go -- and then everything gets really weird

Meanwhile, Russ, the groundskeeper, was telling Alan / "Sommerton" about the suicide, by which I think I mean the presumed suicide of the most recent Lord Taggart.

Ross: You're not very familiar with house, are you sir?

Alan: Regrettably not as familiar as I would like.

The player added Focus + Intuition and drew a card, getting a high enough total that Alan realized that Ross's "casual" stroll was deliberate. It took them further and further from the house, to a bit of a beaten path, and then to the top of a hill to get their bearings.

Russ: Bit hard on the nails if you know what I mean, and if not, I'd rather not say.

I have no idea what that meant, though at the time, it may have been clearer. I think Ross was giving a history of the Taggart family, saying that its members tended to "go crazy".

Ross: _His_ father -- he burned down the house.

I think this meant the current Lord Taggart's grandfather -- though it could have meant the ghost in the cellar.

Ross (continuing): ... and his father before him..

By now, they were approaching the top of the hill.

Ross: ...A few locals had gone missing. (pauses) Just about here now.

He mentioned Witch Finders, though I forget the context.

Ross: And then _this_ happened.

He gestured, and from their vantage point at the top of the hill, Alan and Shara-El could see several acres of forest that was... not petrified. They were literally just... _stone_.

Ross: Summat lives in caves a mile or so that way -- but I figure this is the best way to let you know the last couple of lords were up to summat.

Alan / "Sommerton" (taking all of this in): Ross, please take me back to the house. I don't want to look at this a moment longer.

Ross: Fair enough. The lord used to go hunting -- he was generous after a hunt -- laid a bottle or two of scotch. Good man.

My notes say "Dismissed maid?" but I'm not sure what that means.

Alan asked about Lord Taggart's ward.

Ross: She just showed up at table one morning. There was no carriage the night before. (pause) No luggage either.

Alan: And this didn't strike anyone as odd?

Ross (spits): With due respect, Mr. Holme -- (gestures at forest) This is a bit of an odd place.

I think Alan raised the question of why Ross chose to work in such an odd place.

Ross: Not many houses hereabout has need of a gardener and groundskeeper. I've a son to think of -- bairn's only 4.

Alan: Of course.

Ross: I believe it's time for that glass of scotch?

Alan: Several.

And they went inside the house.

GM: And everything goes weird.

And we took a stretch / bio break.

GM (once everyone's settled back in): You are all in positions around the house. You've had a terrible jarring experience.

The shade of Lord Taggart looked deeply concerned for a moment. Then, he just sniffed and disappeared.

Ash found a journal in the secretary with pages and pages of the spidery handwriting of Lord Taggart.

Right outside the door of the house was a _huge_ mass of vegetation. The blades of grass were 4 feet tall.

I think someone may have referred to it as a mess and when questioned about it, said, "You do not see the mess?"

Alan (perhaps not serious): I blame Ross

There was an earpiercing woman's scream from 2nd floor.

Essentially, there had just been a Pontus Event, or so it seemed.

The binding in the cellar was still intact.

Owen: Good. So, of all our problems, our angry vengeful sorcerous ghost is not one of them. Yet.

Owen: Did the rest of you feel that?

Someone else (my notes said "I", so I don't know who it was): Yes. It was quite disturbing.

The scream had come from Lord Taggart's ward.

Skeen: I don't want to go back there!

Gradually, they coaxed her to tell her tale. She had been rescued from Annwyn by Lord Taggart. She had been born in 1799 and wound up essentially the property of the Lord of the Rivers. (I'm sure she explained how that came to be, but I no longer recall it.)

Lord Taggart had been the guest of the Lord of the Rivers, introducing himself as a magician. On the 7th night of a feast, he performed for the hall. The Lord of the Rivers was pleased and offered him a boon. He asked that Skeen be sent to his room for an evening's entertainment.

Skeen: That was bold. The Lord favored me.

Nevertheless, the Lord of the Rivers had offered a boon, and he sent her to Lord Taggart's room. Lord Taggart had asked this so that he could rescue her, and the two of them slipped out of the realm and back to Lord Taggart's home.

Skeen: That damn stone -- he was a fool to trust it. He said it gave him protection against faeries. Weak ones, maybe.

It was pretty clear that the house had been somehow transported to the realm of Annwyn, or at least to somewhere from where they could reach the domain of the Lord of the Rivers. It was also clear that Lord Taggart and perhaps the Sunstone were in that domain.

And this is where we had an NPC (Skeen) explain to the PCs how to get to the realm of the Lord of the Rivers, which was followed by the GM describing that route. My notes say:

• Rite to find way from Lord's domain to home
• Rite of Ariadne's Thread
• Winds
• Purple Moor
• Staircase of Starlight
• (Something illegible that looks like "Sewer" but probably isn't) -) Garden
• Giant's Mouth
• Hedge Maze by Horse

Ash (I think): Making our job that much easier.

Owen: I would say less difficult.

Ash: No no, that much easier -- it's just that much is difficult [I think -- my handwriting isn't clear].

Owen: Touche.

Ross didn't seem to be present, but I don't think that was significant. Probably he had not yet gone into to the house when everything went weird.

Folks wondered why the heck Lord Taggart was anywhere near the lake after having angered the Lord of the Rivers.

Someone: Lord Taggart shouldn't have taken a bath or drunk a cup of water!

They decided to bring the shade of the old Lord Taggart along, binding it to Alan's silver watch.

Shara-El: I also have a locket.

Owen (I think): Nah, he's a guy.

Alan: May I have my watch back?

Owen: Yes please! Don't drop it!

And the group set out, leaving Skeen and the rest of the servants in the house where they hoped they'd be safe. They followed Skeen's directions, and fwiw, my notes say:

Pine -- sewer
stars models of planets
wind
+ cross River

They were in what looked like an idealized version of the Highlands. I think they saw the banner of the Lord of the Rivers, and I believe they spoke with his son. The son was willing to bring them into his father's hall, but did require that they swear an oath first. It was a reasonable one, basically promising to be good guests and not to steal from the lord, who had gotten understandably cautious since Lord Taggart had robbed him.

My notes say that there was a "Scribe + hook", but I think "hook" was probably "book", as my notes say it was chained to the desk. There were three thrones inside. I think one was for the Lord of the Rivers, one for his lady / consort, a red haired woman; and one for his son.

Someone, possibly the Lord of the Rivers himself, was a 9-foot-tall fox-headed hunter.

Before petitioning the lord, folks were expected to give him gifts. There was a tray for those, and on the wall hung a wide miscellany of items from previous guests, each, no doubt, with its own story. We all thought about this.

• Shara-El gave some of her hair.
• Alan gave his father's watch, which I think was NOT the one to which the shade of the old Lord Taggart had been bound.
• Paddock gave his crucifix.
• Trevor gave his brass knuckles.
• Owen gave his dark glasses, which were not considered as much of a gift as he'd intended.

I looked at my character sheet which listed a few items Ash carried. One of these was calling and business cards for many identities that Ash assumed, male and female.

Ash (putting the cards on the tray): I have been all these people.

That did get a murmur of approval, and I later realized that this was a particularly appropriate gift to name in a roleplaying game played at Gen Con.

My notes say "Quince -- Kelpie", which probably means that there was a kelpie named Quince in the hall.

Given that they'd promised not to steal from their host, and given that they knew how unwise it would be to do so, they were direct and honest about why they were there. Ash said that they wanted to bargain for a fool who had robbed the Lord of the Rivers.

Lord of the Rivers: .A fool you rightly name him. Come, fool!

And indeed, the Lord Taggart was dressed as a fool.

Here again, my notes are hard to read. It looks like "You are aware that if you bargain for him, ?your are damaging goods?" I'm not sure if that's the lord saying that the fool was damaged goods or if the visitors were asking that they get the fool's possessions as well as his person, as Lord Taggart did have the Sunstone on his person.

I think the Lord of the Rivers suggested a contest, and one of the players noted that his character had an obsession with gambling. I think it was Alan who had that.

But, something needed to be offered in the contest on the visitors' side. Ash or Shara-El suggested the watch with the shade of the old Lord Taggart, Ash noting that this would be a torment to his son. While Ash was correct about that -- the current Lord Taggart went white -- it wasn't sufficient for the Lord of the Rivers.

Perhaps some years of service, say 7? But, said the Lord of the Rivers, 7 years is a very brief time.

He would take a soul. He would take memories. He would take service, either now or after a person's death in the mortal realm. Ash tried to convince him that he could use an agent in the mortal realm, but he was utterly uninterested in the mortal realm. Why should he care about it? His own realm had all he needed.

Shara-El offered the watch with the shade of the Old Lord Taggart, her memories up until now, and her service after her death.

Paddock offered his service, feeling that this was a place he truly fit in like nowhere else he had ever been.

Ash offered service after death.

Trevor offered "past", which I think meant his memories.

I forget what Owen and Alan offered, but Owen was not happy about Alan agreeing to all of this, and said, "We _will_ talk about this later._

If the visitors won the contest, the Lord of the Rivers would return Lord Taggart and the Sunstone and not pursue Skeen. The lord's lady looked pleased about that last.

As for the contest, they had to defeat fae from the house of one of the rivals of the Lord of the River who were staying in his hall as honored hostages.

A servant of the lady came to advise the visitors, as she was grateful to them for curbing her lord's pursuit of Skeen.

Lady's Servant (about their foes in the upcoming contest): The lord will be happy if you kill them. He wins, no matter what.

Their foes would be:

• Phoetian, frog-headed, the weakest
• A troll
• A redcap
• A glastig who had a siren's voice
• Darby, a prince and duelist. He arrived for the contest shirtless and tying his hair back.

Paddock targeted the glastig, as the visitors wanted to take down the person with the siren's voice, and he succeeded in rendering her unconscious.

Trevor shot at the prince, who, the visitors had been warned, was probably the most dangerous at straight out combat.

Shara-El: They didn't take the items from us before the fight?

Alan: I know exactly what you're going to do and it's _stupid_. So do it.

Shara-El did not do it immediately. Instead, she drew her sword. So did the prince.

Owen fought the troll, and I think knocked him off balance, at least for the moment.

Alan shot the redcap with a hipshot, but didn't do quite well enough.

Ash used glamour to go invisible at the same time as creating a duplicate Ash who charged Phoetian. Phoetian lost a point of guard.

Owen fought the troll. The redcap fought Paddock, despite Alan's attempts to interrupt.

I think Phoetian bit Ash and realized that he was fighting an illusion. Or perhaps someone else bit Ash, as my notes indicate that Ash overwhelmed Phoetian and then tried to attack the prince. Regardless, Ash stuck to the tactic of trying to sow effective confusion and mayhem while staying safe.

Shara-El was hard pressed by the prince. She attempted to do the "stupid" thing Alan expected.

Shara-El (to the watch holding the shade of Lord Taggart): If you do not assist us now we will _all_ die and you will be stuck here forever.

The watch opened and Lord Taggart manifested.

Shade of Lord Taggart: What on earth makes you think I would want to help _you_, you poxy bitch?

The prince stabbed Shara-El through her midsection, leaning into the blow.

Darby: You should surrender before I have to make you ugly.

Paddock came to her aid, and Owen used a salve on her. Alan knocked the troll out. Ash made an illusion of someone on the other side, but I'm not sure whether or not that was effective.

And at this point, we were pretty much out of time, so the GM agreed that the PCs would win, as they were being extremely effective.

Better still, we had reached the end of the combat, or at least, the round, without the PC who had drawn the DOOM card for one of his initiative cards having to flip it over. This was a Good Thing.