Everway: Piper's Plight
Kat's second game was "Sweetest Dream of All", originally called "Piper's Plight". This was on Saturday. I had thought I'd set the alarm for 8am. Actually, I had, but I mis-set the clock by 12 hours, so it thought we went to bed at 2pm and did not ring at 8pm. We woke up on our own at a quarter to ten. Josh helped me carry a box of stuff to the front desk, then headed out for the 10 am OnTE tournament. By the time I'd gotten my package in ready-to-ship format, with the help of the hotel front desk staff, it was nearly 11.
Normally, I'd have figured there was little point showing up an hour late. But then it occurred to me that this was an Everway game. Kat would probably spend the first hour explaining the rules and having folks create characters. I already knew the rules, and I'd planned to play Finder again.
Sure enough, Kat was going over the rules when I got there. I think it took her till almost noon, half our playing time, to finish. So, even though she told me to make up a new PC, I didn't hold things up.
I was tired. I didn't want to come up with a complicated character, and I figured Kat would appreciate having a player who did not take much time explaining the character concept. So I created the simple Courting Harp, a spherewalker trying to get a large enough dowry to wed Harp, the woman he loved. All of the PCs needed a connection to the young musician Piper. Kat decided that he was Courting Harp's fixer, telling him things like, "You know, if you rescue that princess, you'll get a reward."
It was a minimalist background, and that evening, I speculated that this might be best for one-shot written in advance convention scenarios. After all, I said, so many players spend so long creating elaborately detailed backgrounds that simply cannot come up in a pre-written convention game. Kat disagreed, pointing out that spending the extra time and coming up with the details results in players who -know- their characters and who are comfortable playing them. I take her point, but I also note the minor frustration I have when I play Finder, knowing that most GMs running a pre-written convention scenario will ignore, and rightly so the fact that Finder is working for a mysterious and possibly sinister patron.
All of the PCs were friends of young Piper, who was rumored to have done something really terrible in Harvest, a nearby realm famous for its crops. Kat sketched an intersection in Gateway where Piper played for children and a few adults while his dog danced. Out of his site, seven men apparently from Harvest approached. Kat asked each of us where our PC was and encouraged us to add whatever detail we wanted to the scene. Thus, when someone asked if there was a shop with a window across the street, Kat told him to phrase it as "There is a windowed shop across the street." Better still, tell us what kind of windowed shop is across the street.
Most of the PCs tried to approach Piper to warn him / ask him about the approaching Harvest guards. I think there were six PCs. I only remember two names, Courting Harp and Scribble. One had Hawk in his name, another Dragon, while a third was a cat-like spherewalker, so I'll call them Hawk, Dragon, and Cat. The sixth was a mystical healer. I'll call her Mystic, though I'm sure that's not her name.
Mystic tried to sense the flow of energy, and I think she was the only one not immediately converging on the unsuspecting Piper. Courting Harp and, I think, Cat, fell under the mild spell of Piper's playing, forgot their intentions, and joined the listening crowd. Scribble drew a magical glyph on her hand, ran up to Piper, said, "It's so good to see you again!", and touched him on the cheek with the glyph, which rubbed off on him, making him too slippery to hold. Piper treated this as a dance step, gracefully incorporating it into the show. Dragon and Hawk alerted Piper to the Harvest men's presence, while Mystic noticed that the Harvest guards always stayed out of their captain's line of sight. This meant that they'd occasionally vanish as he moved and reappear directly behind him.
The captain clearly thought he was alone in his attempt to arrest Piper. As he tried to do this, never mind that he was now in Gateway and had no legal authority, the teleporting guards attacked the crowd, always remaining unseen by the captain. Piper, seeing children getting hurt, tried to help. Courting Harp tried to pull Piper aside, but was foiled by Scribble's spell. Cat was wounded, but managed to keep a guard from killing one of the children. She tackled the guard, but he vanished as she hit him. The captain was knocked onto his back, whereupon the guards vanished and did not return.
At this point, the captain was unconscious, several children were d ead or wounded, and Dragon was shouting for the city guard. Mystic did what she could to heal the wounded and accompanied the unconscious captain to the guardhouse so she could heal him as well. The other PCs told the guards that the captain's back must be touching the earth at all times, as he was under a curse. They arranged to meet Piper at Frosty's, and Mystic agreed to join them later. Kat explained Frosty somehow managed to keep his eatery cooler than the outdoor temperature. Scribble's player asked if perhaps she used her magic to periodically renew the cooling spells, and Kat liked that idea. An excellent example of improvisation and not blocking. So Scribble went around re-touching her magical graffiti. When we had all the pieces of the story, they looked like this.
Piper had visited the realm of Harvest which was suffering from a plague of rats. He asked the queen what she'd give him if he got rid of them.
"Whatever you want," she said.
"How about that lovely silver flute?" he asked. She agreed.
Piper got rid of the rats. The grateful Harvest folk held a parade with lots of posters. The queen publicly thanked him and offered him a kiss in lieu of the flute. Piper said that he'd rather have the flute she'd promised, and she had to give it to him. He admitted that it wasn't diplomatic of him, but he wanted the pipe more than a silly kiss.
Shaft, the Harvest captain, reported that after Piper left, each night, a child would fall asleep and not wake up. The queen told Captain Shaft that Piper was to blame, and he would brook no contradictions. The Queen said it; therefore, it was true. And she had ordered him to bring Piper to Harvest, so that was what he was going to do.
Piper wanted to return to Harvest when he heard the story. He insisted he had nothing to do with the children falling asleep, but he wanted to help. The PCs wondered if the loss of the silver flute caused the problem. Piper didn't think so. Examining the flute showed that it enhanced Piper's natural magic slightly, but its lack shouldn't be causing the problem in Harvest.
Bringing Piper there was of dubious value, but someone, possibly Courting Harp, suggested Scibble draw a picture on Piper to make him invisible. She had trouble doing so, and finally realized that it wasn't just that Piper was squirming and giggling that it tickled; he still had the design to make him slippery. Scribble wiped it off, and matters went more smoothly from there. Piper's dog knew where he was, and Courting Harp got Scribble to draw an eye on his forehead so that he could see Piper. For some reason, no one else asked for this. Perhaps it was because Captain Shaft entered Frosty's at that moment, demanding Piper. He couldn't find him, despite Piper's attempt to help by saying, "Here I am!" Courting Harp put Shaft's hand on top of Piper's head, startling the captain enough that the others could explain the situation.
Once the captain understood that Piper was willing to return to Harvest, he calmed down. He asked for Courting Harp's word that Piper was indeed going with them to Harvest, and that much Courting Harp was willing to promise by his hope of marrying Harp. I'm not sure why, but the phantasmal guards were no longer a problem at this point.
Everyone set out for Harvest. It was quickly confirmed that turning Piper invisible was for the best. The villages that had celebrated parades and hung posters in his honor had scribbled over posters "Die!" Mystic insisted on trying to help one of the sleeping children. Cat and Scribble stayed with her while the rest went on to the castle, where, the villagers said, not one child had been affected.
With Scribble's help, Mystic went into a trance to try to find the child's soul and was questioned by the God/dess of Dreams. Approving of Mystic's quest, the God/dess explained that the key of dreams had been stolen. When Mystic saw it, she should grab it and return it. This would allow the God/dess of Dreams to release the sleeping children. Mystic woke up holding a stone that would transport her to the dream world when she had the key. She, Cat, and Scribble rode quickly to the palace.
The others rode more slowly and saw that the previous flat land now had a mountain, and the previous simple palace was now far larger and more elaborate. Heading inside, they were confronted by a man called Seneca, who was indeed old. Shaft told him that Piper was in Harvest and should be brought to the queen. Seneca said not to bother her. When Shaft protested, Seneca said that the queen had so ordered this and by her orders, Piper was to be taken to the dungeon. Seneca left, too distracted to see if the queen's orders as relayed by him were being carried out. Hawk and Dragon expressed their distrust of Seneca to Shaft who looked not at all surprised. Courting Harp headed for the queen's chambers with the invisible Piper and his visible dog. Shaft said to Hawk and Dragon that he intended to carry out the queen's orders, and as Piper was invisible, Shaft could only assume that Piper was following him. Shaft left the two PCs. They headed after Seneca, Piper, the dog and Courting Harp.
Kat showed us a picture of the lovely queen.
Dragon's player (summing it up out of character): Hello, Nurse!
She stood at the window and told Seneca that she wanted a bigger palace and a smaller nose. He winced, but acquiesced. He saw Hawk and Dragon, and somehow, hostilities were prepared. Seneca reached for a key hanging on a chain around his neck as Hawk and Dragon attacked him.
Courting Harp, uncertain how much the queen was aware of, knelt by her feet and asked if she remember the Spherwalker Piper. She made a face and called him a disgusting creature. Courting Harp decided that the queen had no idea of what happened after Piper left and that Seneca had been ruling in her name. As Mystic, Cat, and Scribble ran into the room, he got an idea. Seneca, under attack from five people, died messily. I think first his arm was ripped off and then he was decapitated. Mystic grabbed the key and was teleported to the dream real. She returned the key, and the sleeping children awoke.
Immediately, the palace began to sink gently as it returned to its normal shape and the mountain vanished. Each part of the new scenery had been a dream tied to a sleeping child, for children are the strongest dreamers.
"My dreams!" screamed the queen.
Courting Harp told Piper to play a tune that would remind her that she loved her people. Piper thought that was a good idea. And there the session ended.
Mystic's player got to keep the prop stone. I asked Kat if she had a spare, and she suggested I come back after her evening run of the same game. I did, and this run wrapped up earlier, having only 3 players. They never bothered to speak with Shaft, and one of the phantasmal guards had either hit or grabbed Piper, making him fall asleep. In Harvest, they spoke with a healer who was afraid that if she helped them, the God/dess of Dreams would be angry with her. But maybe the God/dess of Dreams was already angry! Someone had to go find out, but not her, as she could bring someone else back, but no one else could bring her back. And, she explained, she'd rather send the PCs than someone she cared about. The denouement seemed to involve lots of animals in the palace, for some reason. The PCs were successful in the end.
We all played Once Upon a Time when the game ended, and afterwards, I asked about "Piper's Plight". Kat explained that the phantasmal guards were tied to the sleeping children. They were supposed to kill Piper, and then Shaft. Captain Shaft was an honorable man who was indeed under a curse, though not the curse we thought. Yes, the dream guards were linked to him, but the true curse was that he had to believe anything the queen told him. She considered this her gift to him. Courting Harp had been wrong: The queen knew exactly how her dreams were manifesting. Kat explained that the clue was that none of the palace children were being affected. This was the queen's rule, so that none of the children -she- knew would be affected. Kat had even statted out the queen's daughter, who would make a better ruler.
I'd assumed that the palace children weren't affected either because they were in the center of the magic, the metaphorical eye of the storm, or because Seneca didn't want the queen to know what was going on. The queen's reaction to Courting Harp's question about Piper seemed to confirm this, although of course it did no such thing.
Seneca had appeared as a villain in the game Josh played in a year earlier. He was the one setting Piper up as a convenient scapegoat. Ironically, he himself fell into that role for our group. Seneca's position was precarious because the more the queen had, the more she wanted.
