[Game Thread] Session 1 - Underneath the Ersiine

[Fragmaster01]

'But that's where the magic is, you see! A simple story holds its own world inside those pages, with little care towards our petty laws and restrictions.
- Speaker Unknown

Friday, 14th October, Audren Hills
Welcome once again, to your happy little suburb. It's a quiet place, just a bit outside the hustle and bustle of the Big City. Here, the hills are hilly, the skies are rainy, and people are generally wrapped up in comfortable layers of clothes to ward off the approaching fun of winter. There are crowds going off to a high school football game, but that's little concern of yours. Because tonight... you have Plans.

So now, a few select individuals gather at the house of one Fiona Mallory, to partake in Magic and Mystery™. Perhaps you have brought refreshments for the others? Perhaps you are a horrible freeloader. Whatever the case, prepare those dice, and let us set forth on a grand adventure!

Fiona:

OOC Intro your characters! How do they arrive, what do they look like, did they bring snacks as expected? That sort of thing.

[Mal Radagast]

Daylight stretches farther in autumn...there are perhaps a few hours left, even now. This place, only a bit out of your way, feels as though it stretches farther than it does also - situated more upon the hill than the valley, the view describes more than simply where you are but where you have come from, perhaps where you are going. To one side, a valley of vines in neat rows, and an old Victorian mansion down among them. There is a road through the vineyard, leading out and away - though perhaps that is the way you came. More likely you came from the town just down the other side, through the fairegrounds - each year, from late summer until mid-autumn, the winery hosts this local Renaissance Faire. The grounds are perfect for it, half-wooded as they are, not far from the main road...and remarkably good for business.

You can see the line of the sun, setting first in the valley...it doesn't even appear to move, though you know it must be. An odd light - autumn evening light - the gold made somehow antique, burnished by the rust and copper leaves which no longer soak up so much as they did only a month or two ago. Green is becoming an odd color, now, which so often surrounds you. There are those few pines and junipers, perhaps a spruce, interspersed with all the warmth of the dying leaves. It sticks out, sparks, this lively color - perhaps, you think, that's why they're called needles - you notice more the differences between the greens which spring and summer wash over, how the juniper has much more blue than pine. A deep breath brings the smell of them - the pine riding light along a cedar breeze, itself somewhat heavy with oak and maple. Perhaps you can distinguish the difference, or perhaps not, but it does not lessen your appreciation. Closing your eyes, twisting to the sharp wind, you let it clash into the softer, warmer breaths of campfires and roasted foods.

Then, of course, you reopen your eyes to the winding roads which surround you - paths through forest or town, and over hill - roads for cars, carts or horses, many made only by people enjoying their own way in their world. The setting is perhaps not entirely unlike that which you will shortly affect, barring a certain replacement of magics and technologies. It is a sort of patchwork village of oddly spaced buildings and stages, half-inhabited at night by the same people who work them during the day. In a curious way, this place is more true, more living by night. These people live here - at least until they move on.

The Hammer and Hand is your particular location, one of several fictitious pubs - all owned by the winery, of course. This one is named for the open forge built alongside it which, as a matter of fact, is currently in use. In the slowly waning light, an iron-haired old smith instructs his assistant. Hot steel rings and sparks fly, that chill wind flicking only briefly past the pair, drinking some small heat from the forge-fire.

Your host, Fionn Mallory, sits at a long wooden table not far from the warmth of the blacksmith's brazier. Long legs extended beneath brown skirts, green-sleeved arms crossed over a matching brown waistcoat, she does fit well with her surroundings. Green eyes, the color of that high-collared shirt, framed by a warm smile and very warm autumn hair. The essential stacks of book and notebooks are scattered across the table, with a few exceptions kept closer by. Scattered between the books are small metal cups and leather casks of wine – one of the benefits of working for this particular faire.

A collection of celtic performers down the way is either practicing or simply having fun; either way, you can hear a few fiddlers, a pennywhistle and a bodhrain – if you know what a bodhrain is - running melody to the hammer’s rhythmic pounding. Fionn takes a long sip of wine and a deep breath, pleased with her world as it stands. There is light enough to see by out here, and warmth enough to feel, and a common room behind for when these things diminish. She waits...

[Connor]

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Anthony showed up a little earlier than he usually would to a gaming session. The rough sound of his 1987 Honda VT 500 permeated the locale of the Faire... jarring most of those familiar with the noise back into this century, and in some cases, back into this reality. He brought the bike to a stop in front of The Hammer and Hand, and throttled the engine once more for good measure... 'clearing out the tailpipes' he always called it. Didn't matter... Fiona would likely hate it, and that would be enough for him.

He loved to get her goad up... she was cute when angry. It spoke volumes that they were both of Irish decent... and looked it. They both had a fiery temper, but the biggest difference between them being that he wouldn't dream of losing his cool near the diminutive Gaelic for 'rose'róis. Not that he would ever have the gall to tell the girl he was interested... she'd probably laugh him out of her house. Inwardly he sighed, outwardly he removed his leather satchel from the base of his seat and placed his black helmet where the satchel had sat. He was about ten feet from the doorway when the Irish lass came bursting out of the mock Inn...

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[Mal Radagast]

"Oy! Ye canna treat that foine machine like a bloody toy, ye half-arsed pillock!" Fionn jumps up, advancing on the dolt and his bike. "And ye canna leave her'ere, either." Knocking him out of the way, she hops onto the cycle herself and guns it back down the hill before he can react. Parking it down in the lot, she laughs while she wanders her way back - it's been a while since she's stolen a vehicle, even for such a short time.

[Suika]

Tali had heard about the Renaissance faire being held at the winery already, and had even thought about attending, though her natural shyness kicked in a few seconds later as she realised just how many people were likely to be there. The realisation that the game would be taking place there had caused a certain amount of dithering, even as she prepared the snacks she was bringing, before remembering that she'd already agreed to the session, and that not appearing would be rude.
Once finished, she packed the snacks in her old messenger bag, put her newly aquired dice in a side pocket along with a pair of mechanical pencils, and set her mp3 player on random before heading out the door. It would be a fairly long jog, but nothing she couldn't manage easily enough.

Even though the sun was some way off setting, Tali felt the wind against her cheeks, and was glad she'd remembered to being a jacket for the trip home, because it felt like it was going to be a chilly night. She could hear the sound of a motorbike somewhere up ahead, and had to look at her watch to reassure herself that she wasn't late. Still, she picked up speed anyway, because she wanted to arrive early enough to be able to pick a seat in a corner, or at the end of the table, so she wouldn't have to be right in the middle of things.

It was only when she arrived at the grounds that Tali realised that she wasn't entirely sure where she was supposed to be meeting up with the others, and it took a minute or two before she plucked up the courage to start walking into the faire to try and see if she could spot one of the other players.

[Caput]

James wanders through the door chewing an apple and grinning like a fool. " I like this place." He hangs his jacket on a chair, leaving himself in a casual shirt and a pair of grey jeans.

As he takes his place at the table, he draws a couple of shiny new rulebooks out of his shopping bag and puts a big, greasy paper bucket in the middle of the table. "Hi. I brought treasure: Hot doughnut holes and chocolate dipping stuff." He's smiling, but looking a little uncertain too. "Oh, and a probably functioning character."

[Connor]

"What the hell..." Anthony spoke both to himself and to the world as Fionn rushed past him and practically took his Honda for a joy-ride. He hadn't considered parking the bike in the Lot... it was simply too far away for his taste. The legality of the issue at hand notwithstanding, and despite his general rule not allowing others on his bike... he had to admit she looked far too fine riding the bike, even at such a short distance. When she crested the hill, he had a few choice words. Obviously.

"Hey! The hell, Fionn? I don't mind ya stealing the bike... but could you at least make sure to wear the helmet next time... I'd hate to see that pretty skull of your all split asunder-like, skidded on the roadside..."

[Caput]

James's eyebrows raise as he cracks a grin, looking from one to the other. "You stole a bike?"

[Mal Radagast]

Winding her way back up the hill, Fionn gives a nod and a wink to the minstrels - they bolstered her show a bit earlier on, and she bought 'em a round to compensate. Nice chaps. She also spots a pair of blue bangs wandering a bit aimlessly. "Oy," she says, "you're wit me, lass" hooking an arm as she passes. The short, shy girl stumbles, carried off by an Irish momentum.

Cresting the hill, she tosses the keys back to the big celt - though she had considered keeping them - then shakes her head at the other man in blatant contradiction. "Me? Carse not, I never."

 

Drat - I had wanted to stick a Bluff check in tt tags around that last...

[Suika]

Tali had decided to look for people who appeared out of place at the faire, in the hopes that they would be the other players. Fionn's sudden appearance and grab, however, solved the matter quite handily, although it took her a step or two to regain her balance. She took a peek at the taller girl before speaking up, though her voice wasn't very loud.
"Oh...um, thank you...."

She was a little dismayed as she arrived to see that there were already other players there, which limited her seating options a little, but she was careful not to show it. She manages to snage a corner seat and unpacks her own copy of the core book, also relatively new, along with her dice and pencils. She then brings out the food she brought: an assortment of savoury snacks; and places it in the middle of the table, alongside the paper bucket.
"G.good evening...."

[Connor]

Anthony did all he could to keep from laughing outright as he catches the keys. Had it been anyone else...

But, it wasn't and it was a moot point now. "So... we hopping right in, or are we going to take a tour of the Faire first?" He asked everyone in attendance. He wasn't sure how many or who was all supposed to show up. Three was as good as four or five in his book.

[Mal Radagast]

"Aught here to tour til mornin' - Faire's closed. They'd not'ave let you lot in without my word." Looking around at the small party of gamers, Fionn tries to think who's missing. Mousy lass, aye...mellow fellow, aye...smarmy git, aye...aha! "An we're missin' that squirrely lad, as well." She takes up her little iron wine-cup and leans against a convenient tree. "Best enjoy the morsels, breeze, an' music till he shows, eh?"

[Fragmaster01]

You all settle down and get ready to game. The scraggly kid is oddly absent, but it's been a while, and you need to start at some point.

Fiona pulls up the DM screen, and opens the adventure book.

[Caput]

James screws up his eyes. "Hmm... I. Uh... I don't feel well?"

[Connor]

Anthony rolls upon his back, somehow realizing that he was prone and face down. The ground was cooler than he would have thought, and that helped whatever was screwing with his internal organs. "Yeah... I don't feel so good either..."