ACKSperiment Session 6: Cats Do Dance

Run Date: May 9th, 2023

Today was full of winging it and rulings. The players had a lot of fun, earned some rewards (perhaps due to my own screw ups), and reached a resolution for the ACKSperiment; which I'll speak more on later.

PCs

[Pa]: Dalinar (Lv3 Asn); Briaca Lv3 BlDa, Herman (Sir Not Appearing This Session)

[Sa]: Amethyst (Lv1 Vg); Rue Lv2 Clr, Hatty Lv2 Mag

[Sh]: Moonlight (Lv1 SlSw); Ceriala Lv1 Clr, Snarley Lv1 Ftr

Cats Do Dance

The session opened with Dalinar telling an exaggerated recap of the events from last week. Hatty was likely the only one that believed it. Afterward, the group decided to close the time gap (Dalinar is "ready" on Wednesday) and figure out what their plan was. There was a short discussion about exploration and some eyes looking over the map. My players enjoy just wandering into the wilderness and seeing what cool things lie out there, and this session became that.

The party headed across the ford in Türos Tem and stayed their first night in the hills. As luck allows, Unique Terrain appeared again, though not in the party's favor this time. Due to the wind and overcast sky, the party decided to find a place semi-sheltered. What they discovered was a large slab of flat rock that isolated them just enough to block the wind. Once camp was set up and watches decided, the group settled into sleep.

Dalinar was on first watch, and during his rounds, noticed that the shadows on the stone looked strange. Could it be the wind playing with the flames or the way their camp was laid out? As he looked on, he began to noticed strange, humanoid shapes that appeared to be dancing maddeningly around a central light: the party's campfire. Dalinar resisted the desire to join the dancers as he called out to the party. As they awoke, they too were drawn into its spell. Much of the party pushed down the urge to join the dancers, though Hatty, her cat, and several others immediately began a maddening rendition of their own; their shadows soon appearing on the wall and eyes glazing over.

Dalinar and Hatty's cat have an unspoken accord, and as such, the elf chose to slap the cat. He was not happy, panting away at the exhaustive nature of the movements it had previously made. Once it caught its breath, it latched onto Hatty's leg and began tearing it apart. Bit by bit, the party tried to break the dancers of their spell. Finally, someone started tossing dirt and sand onto the flame to snuff it out. As the darkness surrounded the party, the last couple dancers collapsed in exhausted heaps. The party regrouped and moved away from the stone before setting up a new camp.

The following day, the party decided to press their luck despite several of them being exhausted from the previous night. They followed the river toward Türos Aster and discovered a Safe Haven: An abandoned Mityaran church, long overgrown. Rue spent some time cleaning the area and what was left of the Noble Lady's statue before the party settled in for the night. The next morning, before departing, they spent some time checking for remains, old treasures, etc. While they found nothing valuable, they discovered that the church was part of a small community long lost to time.

A new day meant a new opportunity to press their luck. The group worked their way southeast and discovered another UT. From a distance, it appeared as though a line of trees had cut their way from the forest; forming a peninsula of sorts. As the party approached, they spotted that the objects were not trees, but bleached white stones with rounded, semi-jagged tops. The dwarves of the group knew whatever it was wasn't stone, and one of the players voiced their theory: Bone? As the party examined the area, and one of them took a pick to get a sample chunk, the group realized that these were indeed teeth of some impossibly gargantuan beast. They followed what they believed to be the jawline into the woods and up into a hill where they found a section that looked more like a bench. I explained that the teeth were not sharp, but more herbivorous; flatter. They decided to split up and see if there was anything of interest in the area.

They discovered after a couple hours milling about that there were carvings or old paintings on the surfaces. Hatty (I think) is artistic, and realized that some pieces were mountains, others rivers. They soon put together that the teeth bore a giant map; and the point of interest was a strange building deep in the mountains. This sparked some discussion about heading back to town to get climbing gear and winter clothes. While I haven't been running ACKS long, even I know just how deadly the mountains can be.

While the group was busy playing with teeth, Dalinar had scouted out a bit and stumbled across a Frost Salamander Lair. Given how hot and humid its been, it seems odd there would be such things out here. Luckily, the power of GM magic solved that issue: Around the cave was the glistening of ice and a fog or mist spilling forth. The Salamanders spotted Dalinar, and rolled extremely high on their reaction. He had caught their attention, and they lazily shifted their positions in his direction. As their mouths opened and began spilling frosted air, Dalinar waved goodbye and left.

The party changed their course after running into the strange map and decided to loop back to Türos Aster, through some plains and into the woods. This is when navigation threw them off course for an extra day or so and several more encounters and rulings rolled through.

As the party hit the woods, they spotted a truly fantastical sight: 4 Pegasi were flying quickly overhead. They were tempted to call out to them, or even try to track them, but upon discovering their Lawful nature; Dalinar changed his mind. With the note in their hat, they pressed further into the wood and started looking for a camp. Herein, however, their party met with another: Ogres. Both groups were cautious of each other, and began a Mexican standoff as each shifted position and angled away from the other. Not once did eyesight break until they were far into the darkness. Luckily, neither party was interested in an engagement.

Another day of travel and some course correction managed to get the party back on track. Thankfully, nothing came to eat them. The next day, however, the party stepped into a glade and found an Elven woman picking comfrey. The party couldn't see her properly due to her white dress and hood, and her cautious attitude worked to throw off the party's guard. She played the scared woman, using the shadows of the trees as cover, and spun quite the story about being a local healer and medicine woman. She invited the party back to her little cottage, and they accepted.

There were some jokes in regards to what sort of monster she was, and I probably should have tossed more clues out before the inevitable. Oh well. The party came out of the woods after ten minutes and discovered a small glade; complete with brook, stone cottage with thatched roof, and flower beds. She invited the party in and began preparing tea. At this point the group was full on into small talk. Dalinar, or maybe Hatty, asked about the types of healing she offered and what sort of items she made. As she listed her experience and various concoctions, she ended on a final note: "The only real struggle of late is finding ingredients for a particularly potent brew."

"What's that?"

"A cure for petrifaction," and with that, the lady dropped her hood and revealed the horrific snakes upon her head. This is the first time I've ever run a creature of this sort, and I was forced to do some weird rulings. Firstly, I'm used to gazes being a cone (MMOlyfe) though the wording makes me wonder if it's single target (you have to lock the gaze with another, eye to eye like the goofy movie is how I read it). Moreover, there was the issue of surprise. Given the circumstances, I had the party roll. This is where another interesting thing happened. Typically, I use "side" initiative. I toss my single number (or a couple if I split into ranks/groups) and everyone who goes, just goes. TOTM makes this a thousand times easier. What I'm not used to is figuring out how surprise would work.

What ended up happening is Hatty was ready and won out on initiative, and had declared her casting of Sleep. She beat our "Elven Lady" by 1, and so shut her down before her action (gaze) could hit the surprised members. Dalinar was extremely happy at this turn of events because he had rolled in preparation of the event and both him and his new blade dancer had become statues. Still, if the lady sleeps, she cannot gaze, etc.

So it was that the party covered her face with a cloth and removed the head. They found a collection of "pretty boy" heads, one of which had the full plumed helm of a legionnaire. The party found the body elsewhere in the garden, overgrown and completely hidden. They tore through her stash and found some comfrey, some petrified electrum, some regular electrum, and a few other gems and treasures. Given the circumstances, and the fact that the group had their cart with them, they hauled out the legionnaire's statue and head and loaded up what few treasures they found.

The next day they began heading, properly, to Türos Aster. As evening began to fall within the woods, the party stumbled across a pair of furious giant eagles. This lead to a very fun question and answer as one of the players shouted, "I pull out the head!" They had no idea if it would work. Hell, I don't know if it's even supposed to. Still, one of the birds began a statue and the other fled. It was at this moment the party really began to consider their options. This weapon of immense power needed to be used!

The next day, the party continued their trek back to town and found a mating ball of giant centipedes. They pulled the Head Trick again and petrified a quarter of them before the battle lines crashed. Luckily, another gaze and the Sleep spell left them in shambles. Oh well, better luck next time. The following day the group made it to the fort.

I don't know jack about the surrounding forts. Aster is now "not Tem, and with a sawmill." The group headed up to the fort to ask about their statued legionnaire and see if the medusa had a bounty on her head. Alas, no, but the Subaltern was both friendly and intelligent. He advised them find a mage that could cast the desired spell. Unfortunately, they'd probably have to head to Siadanos to find one. The players discussed their plan of action, especially since they were already a week into the future. We decided that the head would rot in 7 days (from severing) before becoming completely useless. Since we had a good amount of session time left, they decided to push time on and go to Siadanos.

A day or so out from the city proper, the party spotted an Orc raid on a nearby hamlet. They followed the smoke and decided to attempt to intervene. The leader had spotted their approach and rallied his crew to ready. Initiative went to the players (mostly), and between two Sleeps and the Head, they left all but 6 of the creatures up. Morale did not shatter, however, and a volley of spears flew into their ranks. It didn't do much. The following round another Sleep spell went out and that was all she wrote.

After executing the Orcs, helping the villagers, and looting some bodies for a few GP here and there (what do these things carry on them, anyway?) the party finished their trip. It was in Siadanos that they learned the cost of Stone to Flesh. Sure, they managed to find the Mage, but 4500gp was well out of their price range. They tried bargaining, but the mage was uninterested. He did try a bit of catty subterfuge by asking what the group was going to do with the body, and that he'd have no issues letting them throw it away in his "trash bin." The party declined, and instead hit up the local headquarters to see about identifying this mysterious legionnaire.

I don't know jack about this world, but the "Elven Lady's" lair had a +2 armor and +3 shield. Both were petrified to this statue, both bore the sign of Ammonar, and nobody knew what they really were. The record keeper they met was extremely friendly, and asked them to leave the statue with him overnight. Feeling that this guy was much more trustworthy, they agreed. The next day, they were invited back and to their luck the keeper discovered who the poor legionnaire was: Arthuras, Legate. He had lead a contingent to tame the wilds beyond the Krysivor some two centuries past. It was a doomed attempt, as the Legate disappeared and the lands soon fell to beastmen and the wilds returned. This also served to explain the Mityaran church they'd discovered.

Shortly after this explanation, the mage from the previous day came in. They prepared the body for the inevitable mess while a procession waited outside. The spell was cast, the arms and armor removed, and the remains sent to their final destination. It was at this point that the record keeper requested the party turn over the items so that they may be interred with the ashes. I revealed what the items were and a discussion commenced as to what was better: items or XP. The keeper could only offer 10k gp (a quarter or so of the price).

The party favored respect, accepted the deal, and were given a writ that ensured their expenses would be covered for the next few nights. The money was gathered, the party rewarded, and the session wrapped up.

Rewards

PC: 2090.9gp/7636xp

HM: 1045.45gp/3818xp

Afterword

I decided to make today the day for review as it ended on a high note. Unfortunately, most everyone had to split. The major point of interest? The group, despite some hesitation due to lack of narrative elements/powers they like, is willing to shift toward ACKS as the system framework. What we need to discuss now is how to move forward. I am not familiar with the many systems and pieces the game has to offer; and I'm generally a fan of making up what I need when I need it. The latter requires a level of proficiency I have not reached. Moreover, it's been a while since I've run in a truly fantasy world. The one I was running didn't have elves, gnomes, etc; but instead labeled most supernatural events and creatures as Faerie, Fae, et al. I've slowly loosened those reigns over time, though mostly through reskins and adjusted labels.

Whether or not we start from scratch will decide if I need to dive into the fire. Admittedly, years of my players' creations are something I would like to keep, even in a new world. Barbarian and Shaman elves instead of Arcane Wood Friends? Rifle wielding bird men on a flying citadel? Ara Ara Moth Moms? Okay, the last one didn't actually end up in play since the "East" was just mentioned in passing, but the point stands. "ACKS already does that," is amazing. I just need to get to the point where, "I know how to do that."

Anyhow, that's that for now. Curious to see what the future holds.