GM Observations/Summary
- In Session 3 we gained an ally with knowledge of the Stair. This session was all about expanding the PC's knowledge base about what Lords of Gossamer can do, and tempting them with the possibilities.
- This is also the first session where I realised (as GM) that we need a mapping tool to keep track as to what realm is accessible from where, how is accessible and how long will it take to get there.
Grand Stairway Section 1
- Grant and Ethan decide to take Bella's family home, but when they return to the Grand Stair, the quickest way home is via Shadow Earth. Bella's father explains that there is another Door within Shadow Earth that can take them home.
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1985 (Brown Door)
- Grant and Ethan return to Shadow Earth, but there is no trouble to be found. Instead a ginger cat awaits them with a white handkerchief in its mouth. The handkerchief carries a message that the other family have lost, will cease hostilities and are no longer bound by the terms of the 'competition' to remain in the realm. They too are returning home.
- As such, Bella's family take the two Lords of Gossamer to another Door, set within the local church grounds. This Door is part of a high wall around the graveyard. Stepping through the Door, the Lords find themselves in a totally new section of the Grand Stair.
Grand Stairway Section 3
- The new section of the Grand Stair that they come out onto is a landing on a wooden stairway. It is only a short walk to the realm that Bella's family comes from. Coincidence? Grant and Ethan think otherwise. The Door is a finely crafted work of brass, and quite unlikely any door that Grant and Ethan have seen so far. They sense that their home realm is a very long way away, but that they can find the way home if required.
Realm 11 - Xalya (Brass Door)
- Firstly Xalya is pronounced Zaelia. The Door opens out onto an arched courtyard and there are a number of robed figures waiting for Bella's family. The Door they have stepped through is one of three. One of the others was once another Door, but Ethan and Grant sense that it is no longer in use. The second Door is still active. The third (which they have stepped through) has a banner across it which seems to be wishing good luck. It is old, to the degree of almost falling apart.
- A number of discussions occur. None of the robed figures will admit to having names, but they use titles instead to protect their names. The 'cat family' returned first and then advised them that Bella's family would be returning soon. They are happy to see the two families, but also ashamed by what has happened. It comes out little by little that the people of this realm have met other Lords of Gossamer before - and there are four prominent statues of them to be found in the bazaar; but no one has seen a real Lord of Gossamer in over 8000 years. However, there is an artefact that was a gift from the Lords, which appears as an upturned chandelier (similar to that found on the Grand Stair) which apparently 'speaks for the Stair', giving them instructions as to what object 'the Stair' wants them to find, and how to perform a ritual to activate a Door (by putting a magical banner above a door), and actually creates the corresponding destination Door on a nearby landing (!) These scavenger hunts have been a friendly competition between the Xalyan families for thousands of years, but then two groups did not come back. Even though the artefact has continued sending instructions, normally once or twice a year, the natives have been too afraid to follow the instructions and have not done any more forays onto the Grand Stair.
- Grant and Ethan spend almost two weeks in Xalya where they are treated with a mix of reverence and awe. The natives have a ritualised code of conduct, where agreements are bound in magic and hence binding and enforceable. The culture is completely alien to anything that Grant and Ethan have seen before. Grant is fascinated by this and attempts to learn everything that he can about this civilisation. The natives have collected many objects from many worlds. Ethan instead seeks out places of beauty (great waterfalls, hanging gardens etc) and 'sees the sights'.
- The natives share their knowledge of the Lords of Gossamer by sharing the legends and stories have been handed down over the millennia. Grant and Ethan get a number of clues about what might be possible GM's note: there are hints of Eidolon, Umbra Mastery, Sorcery and Wrighting in the stories that are told. Of particular interest is that the natives understand sorcery and can make it work on many worlds, and that they have rituals to 'create Doors'. The idea that the Stair itself was giving direction to the natives seemed ridiculous, but neither Grant nor Ethan could rule out the possibility that it was true. The natives also said that there had been times where the Grand Stair had been 'dangerous' and they had been instructed 'by the stair' not to open any Doors, but that had not been for some time.
- The natives give Grant a magical staff (a copy of an ancient relic which the natives have made). When asked what Ethan would like, he at first declines, but then asks if they have a way of allowing Grant and Ethan to find one another, should they be separated across multiple worlds. The result is the natives craft two finely-wrought lockets, each an Icon, enabling Grant to contact Ethan and vice versa.
- Grant and Ethan talk further about experiments to try. Ethan wants to try some causality experiments - i.e.: by finding Shadow Earth 1955, and seeing if a change in that realm would be reflected in their home realm. Grant talks Ethan out of it, by saying that it would be difficult to prove. They talk about finding a realm with a concentration of Doors, some sort of Nexus. GM's note: Bruce hadn't read Kickstarter Post #37 about Nexopolis and David had - so he shut that down. Ethan mentioned that he wanted to find a weapon which was 'worthy of him', and speculated that if he tried such a journey it would likely lead him to a forge with the materials to craft it himself.
- Before departing through the old-bannered door, Ethan stepped out through the second Door onto the Grand Stair, revealing a totally new section of the Grand Stair. He was warned by the natives that it would take him weeks to return home that way but he still wanted to take a look. Again, he was able to sense his home realm, far far away.
- Finally Grant and Ethan departed, knowing that the old banner would be taken down as soon as they left.
Grand Stairway Section 3
- Back on the landing, Grant and Ethan paused to see what happened as a result of the sorcerous banner being removed on the Xalyan side. The Door vanished as if it had never existed. The portal was magically replaced by wood panelling.
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1985 (Brown Door)
- Returning home late early in the morning, Ethan collected the mail and were surprised to find another letter from Antarctica. John (the owner of the house) was missing after a chasm opened up under his tractor. Presumed lost, the PCs had been notified as per his instructions. The date of the accident was 'coincidentally' the same day that Grant and Ethan had first opened the Door and stepped onto the Grand Stair.
- Recovering the journal that Ethan had found (way back in Session 1), they were both disappointed to find out that they were still unable to read it. GM's note - it was pointed out by David that Exegesis only works if a Lord of Gossamer has accessed the home of that language. This journal comes from a realm that Grant and Ethan have not been to yet, nor have they met a native speaker, therefore the text is unreadable. This could be a hole in rules, but we just went with it.
- They discussed what to do and decided that they would next explore the Grey Door that was close to Shadow Earth. However, Grant wanted to make another trip first. Ethan didn't mind as he said he had some 'homework' to do. So the two Lords split up.
- Grant stepped through the Door and back onto the Grand Stair.
Grand Stairway Section 4
- Leaving Ethan behind, Grant started looking for a high-tech reality where he could buy armoured cloth. Grant was thinking 'cyberpunk' (which did exist in 1985) and it took him over an hour walking the Stair to find a suitable door. The Doors become more metallic in this section.
Realm 12 - City Seven (Grey Steel Door)
- Stepping out of a service door, Grant found himself on the roof top of a multi-storey building, looking down at a myriad of flying cars and neon lights below.
- He took a few minutes to take it all in, before tapping into his Wayfinding ability to find a suitable shop. GM's note - we re-read the rules a number of times regarding Wayfinding and decided that it must work within a realm, otherwise its usability was significantly diminished. He managed to find a clothing store with fashionable gear made from ballistic cloth, but he was unable to purchase the items because he lacked any suitable currency. The gold coins he had brought were unusable.
- Hence Grant found a moneychanger but the Asian-lady sitting in the armoured booth was unable to take his gold coins as he lacked a 'card' that she could deposit funds onto. GM's note - remember this is 1985 so Grant isn't used to the idea of electronic money to this extreme. Frustrated, Grant wondered what to do, but trouble found him first. Three thugs attempted to ambush him and take his gold, but they ended up being robbed themselves. The asian-lady in the booth was quite surprised to seem him return with a number of 'cards' that he was able to load funds onto.
- Grant procured a number of shirts made of ballistic cloth and an armoured jacket. On his return to the Grand Stair he found himself being followed by a strange black/silver orb (a robot of some kind) but he was able to lose it on the underground trains before returning back to the Door.
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1985 (Brown Door)
- Back on Shadow Earth, Ethan had been busy at the local library and had a large number of books on chemistry and metalworking. He seemed surprised that Grant had been gone so long (almost ten hours) but was not upset. Grant explained where he had been, and Ethan suggested that they delay their next adventure until the morning, given that all nearby realms seemed to be on the same night/day routine.
- The next day, they set off for the Grey Door. Grant was dressed in his armoured jacket and a ballistic cloth shirt, carrying a backpack and his 'staff of power'. In contrast, Ethan had remained in loose fitting clothes that he had picked up from Versais, but had added a woollen jumper given that the corridor behind the Grey Door was almost certainly underground.
Realm 2 - Behind the Grey Door
- Reopening the door and finding the tunnel still thick with dust, Grant led the way with a filtered torch. They found a chamber with old scrolls of parchment in it and decided that the area was an archive of some kind. They did find an area which was torch-lit (at the base of a circular stairway) but decided to head upstairs rather than find the person who lit the torch.
- Above ground, they found themselves in a medieval city made of white stone, and built into a white cliff-face. The people seemed happy and content, and the two Lords were able to wander without being challenged.
- They spent almost two hours looking around the city, listening, without a clue as to where they were. Beyond the high white walls there were fields and farmyards as far as the eye could see, and beyond that, mountains.
- At last, Grant decided to find a moneychanger. He found Babel, a ruddy-faced man who was only too glad to change the local currency (silver coins) for the gold that Grant and Ethan carried. They asked a few leading questions and found out that the white city around them was …. Minas Tirith. GM's note: Now this is where player knowledge and character knowledge must be separated. David and Bruce have read the Tolkien's book "The Lord of the Rings" and seen the movies. Grant read the book as a child and couldn't remember the significance. Ethan hadn't read the book at all. However, Grant had picked up a copy of "The Lord of the Rings" in Tyndam (Realm 3) and only then did it dawn on him that there was a connection across the different worlds.
- When Grant explained what he knew of "The Lord of the Rings", Ethan seemed vaguely amused that the book might have been written with knowledge of the actual world and events. But Grant was suddenly very concerned, and encouraged them to depart at once.
Realm 0 - Shadow Earth 1985 (Brown Door)
- Back on Shadow Earth, Grant picked up the copy of the book that he had acquired in Tyndam (Realm 3) which had been left behind at the manor house, and they went back to the bookstore to buy all of the Tolkien works and compare those works against the Tyndam copy. The manuscript was identical (although the Tyndam copy was an earlier edition). Upon inspection of the coins, Ethan found that they had been minted in the Fourth Age between the years 31 and 38, and King Elessar was depicted on the coins. That again lent weight to the idea that the Tolkien books were either written with real knowledge of real events, or at least inspired by them. Grant and Ethan spent some time reading through the novels, and their speculation was that the Frodo/Bilbo character was potentially an 'everyman' character, whereas the Gandalf character could either be a Lord of Gossamer, or a cover for one. Grant seemed more convinced than Ethan. Ethan pointed out that they still had no idea whether this Minas Tirith had been through the same events from the books.
- At the conclusion of this discussion, Grant became determined to find out what the significance of the manor house at Tyndam was, and why a copy of the book would have been left there. In hindsight, all of the other books in that library were dated from the 1800s but The Lord of the Rings was first published in 1954.
And that's where we left it. There is a puzzle to be solved - Grant and Ethan have just found some more of the pieces.
EDIT: picture of Xalya added
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