- This session is a meld of my storytelling and Lurker37’s. I was given some parameters as to how long the journey would take, I proposed a number of locations along the way, Lurker37 picked some of them and then I expanded upon some of them, then Lurker37 ran the session, expanding and twisting some of the narrative. I’ve broken the narrative into three parts. This is the second of three. This is building to something …. what lies beyond the Black Door?
Grand Stairway Section 13 – Proximate to the Agora
- On the other side of the Door, the Agora spills out onto the Stair and to many other adjacent worlds in close proximity. The floor and walls are made of natural stone but a number of semi-permanent small stalls flank each wall. Isabelle and Ethan continue on their journey.
Realm 34 - Another Earth (Brown Door)
- Pushing on for two days, the duo stop at another Door to rest their weary feet. The Door is brown, but they find themselves stepping out of a red telephone box on the other side.
* Image sourced from Angelicc on DeviantArt
- At first Ethan thinks he is back home on Earth, but the Union Jack flag which flies from nearby buildings has only black, white and red on it. Ethan tests his Everpurse, and finds that it has some Pound coins within, but the face stamped on it is that of a King, not a Queen. Looking up and down the street, it appears to be a cold wintry day and quite late in the day. They conceal their weapons and look for a place to eat.
- They quickly find a pub called The King’s Arms which has a pair of crossed artillery pieces emblazoned on the door, and step inside to a toasty warm environment. The place is just beginning to fill up, but they find a small table and order food and drink. Ethan comments that this reminds him of home.
- They eat their meal in peace but the conversations that they overhear inform them that all is not well in this realm. War looms, and people are all too eager for it. Isabelle appears tired and asks Ethan about finding a place to sleep for the night, but Ethan listens to the pub talk for too long and Isabelle nods off.
- The hours roll on and Ethan keeps watch. He hears the sounds of soldiers marching outside and decides that they should not stay the night. With the table now cleared of food, two young men pull up chairs and sit opposite. (GM’s note - cue Ethan’s Bad Stuff) They attempt to engage Ethan in conversation and ask him which unit he’s with, and when he will be shipping out. Ethan lies, but they keep bugging him and trying to engage him in conversation, to the degree that Ethan finds the whole situation very uncomfortable. At last Ethan is sure that one of them has realises that he’s lying, and he wakes Isabelle and they make an exit. As they make their way down the street in the cold, the two men follow him from a distance. Isabelle asks what is going on and Ethan says that he thinks they’ve been mistaken for spies. They make their way back to the red telephone booth and back onto the Stair before the two men can call for reinforcements.
Grand Stairway Section 14 – The Giants’ Hallway
- The travellers continue on to a section of the Grand Stair which is much wider and taller than what Ethan has seen before. Everything has been magnified by a factor of ten. The doors are giant-sized. The electric light fittings are similarly enormous. Even the wall and floor tiles are huge.
- Ethan asks Isabelle whether she has ever heard of a giant Lord of Gossamer, and she shakes her head. They are both tired by this point as they did not rest long at their previous stop, and the expanse in front of them is making the distance seem even greater. They pick one of the giant Doors and Ethan opens it.
Realm 35 - The Spaceship (Purple Door)
- On the other side of the Door is a spaceship that can only be for giants as everything is oversized. Ethan can feel the motion beneath him - the vessel is moving. They soldier on through the huge corridors looking for a place to rest but meet no one. Eventually Ethan’s Wayfinding guides them into a service duct which leads to a bank of large reservoirs of liquid nutrients and vitamins linked to giant sized dispensaries. Isabelle is disappointed, as is Ethan. The place is certainly out of the way but hardly comfortable.
- They continue on, down a level in an elevator for giants and then out into another series of corridors. Still they meet no one. At last they find a door and Ethan opens it. Within is a great hall filled with huge bunk-beds, each neatly prepared but all empty. Beside each bunk is a locker and a place for storage of a giant’s armour and rifle. It looks like a barracks, but it is completely empty. Isabelle muses where the giants are. Ethan activates his flight spell and has a look at one of the great storage boxes, lifting the lid with telekinesis. Inside is a green uniform with a yellow insignia. Ethan shuts the lid and returns to collect Isabelle, lifting her up onto one of the giant beds. He assures her that it is safe - that the giants must be elsewhere for the room appears disused. Isabelle is too tired to talk further and they rest.
- When Ethan awakes he finds that Isabelle is already up and in better spirits. She challenges him to trampoline on the giant bed, Ethan joins in and they end up falling down laughing from the silliness of the situation. They make jokes about pursuit from Nexopolis tracking them to this location and enjoy some simple rations for breakfast. Neither of them are keen to try the soup of liquid nutrients from the reservoirs. At last they retrace their steps but Ethan persuades Isabelle to detour to find some of the giant crew. He is successful in doing so and finds them in giant stasis chambers, hibernating. Thousands of them.
* Image sourced from Google Images. More information on this image at the bottom of this post
- Isabelle and Ethan wander through banks of stasis chambers, marvelling at the size of the army that is asleep here. Finally they return to the Grand Stair. (GM’s note - this is foreshadowing for another story arc…. )
Grand Stairway Section 15 - Painted Hallway
- The travellers continue on for another extended day before stopping again. They have journeyed through a strange section of the Stair filled with Doors of different colours, shapes and sizes which blend into the colour of the walls like large blotches of paint on a canvas.
Realm 36 - Mars (Red Door)
- Ethan turns the hatch wheel and opens the Door, revealing a dining room from perhaps a prison or a military installation. Everything is very plain - the benches, the tables, even the crockery. Many of the plates of food appear to have been hastily left and there are signs of disturbance. A series of red lights bolted into the walls flash intermittently as if in warning.
* Image sourced from Google Images.
- Isabelle immediately announces that she doesn’t like this place - the food is warm - whatever happened here happened recently. Ethan wanders around the large chamber but can find no other people. Only one other door is open which he seals, effectively shutting them in. The nearby kitchen has been abandoned, and still-warm food is freely available. Ethan grabs a plate and fork, and loads up his plate. Isabelle asks how he can be so calm, and Ethan replies “Because I’m hungry”. He then adds that he’s locked the doors - no one will get in unless they’re prepared to burn through the locks.
- Isabelle grudgingly follows Ethan’s lead and they sit in the dining room, filling their bellies and wondering what has happened here. Their conversation is interrupted by a burst of gunfire in the distance. Ethan again reassures her that whatever else is happening in the complex, they won’t be able to get through the door. Isabelle crossly tells Ethan that his Wayfinding is broken and the last three realms haven’t been much fun. Ethan admits that he’s only looking for a place where there is available food, and no immediate danger. Beyond that, he’s not being picky. Isabelle challenges him to do better and Ethan invites her to tell him what to find next time.
- There comes a tapping at one of the hatch doors and Ethan realises that there is someone on the other side of the door which is also a Door. He has never had this situation occur before and he asks Isabelle what will happen if he opens the Door - will the person on the other side be able to come through? Isabelle doesn’t know.
- Ethan carries on eating and the tapping eventually stops. At last Ethan gets up and says that he will look to find a more comfortable place to rest in the complex. However, Isabelle doesn’t want to stay - she feels that something bad is happening and she asks him to leave with her. Ethan agrees - he has no wish to distress her.
Grand Stairway Section 15 - Painted Hallway
- Back on the Stair, Isabelle asks to be taken to a place which she will feel comfortable and welcome. A place that she can eat, change, shower, be waited on and generally relax. Ethan agrees to this in good grace.
Realm 37 - Cavilon (Brown Door)
- Ethan opens the brown Door and on the other side it is dark and warm rain is steadily falling. The Door itself is built into a ruined tower, but only the lowest floor is still intact and proofed against the elements. Ethan takes lead and tells Isabelle that there is a welcoming place nearby, leading her out into the rain. Isabelle likes the rain - it has been many years that she has been in Nexopolis where the rain never falls. She tells Ethan that this is a good start. Ethan gives her a smile.
* Image sourced from Google Images. This is Warwick Castle
- About a quarter-mile away through the forest is a castle of grey stone. They head to the main gate and ask for shelter. The guards open the gate when they see that a lady is in distress, and they are ushered into the main hall where they can dry themselves by a roaring fire. They have arrived just before meal time and a roast boar is being cooked on a spit over the fire. As they dry themselves, a young man in fine garments enters the room and asks who they are. Ethan introduces himself and offers his hand, only to have the young man look disdainfully at him. (GM’s note - cue Bad Stuff) The young man says that he is the King, and Ethan promptly falls to his knees and begs the King’s indulgence. The King is pleased and takes interest in Isabelle, saying that her servant (referring to Ethan) is very odd. Isabelle gives Ethan a smile as she is led away. For dinner, Isabelle enjoys the King’s company on the High Table along with the other nobles whilst Ethan sits with an older squire, and two burly knights on one of the Low Tables. Occasionally Ethan looks up from his plate of bread and catches Isabelle’s eye - she seems to be enjoying the situation very much.
- That night Isabelle is escorted by the King to a guest room, and Ethan sleeps on the floor of the main hall like many others - with the dogs. In the morning he helps the servants rebuild the fire and then goes for a walk looking around the castle grounds. It is still raining heavily and his clothes are still a touch wet, but he dons a simple cloak to insulate himself from the worst of it. Breakfast is simple porridge and Ethan finds that he quite enjoys talking to James, the older squire.
- Ethan’s morning is interrupted by a servant girl carrying a satchel who comes over to see him “It’s me,” says the serving girl with Isabelle’s voice as she pleads in his ear. “We’ve got to go now.” Ethan stands up and excuses himself, and makes for the door. Isabelle cannot get out of the place fast enough - the rain dispels the shapeshifting glamour and she encourages him to make haste. The guards at the main gate look at the pair of them doubtfully, but open the door and wish them both good luck. Just before the door shuts Ethan thinks he hears a cry from the castle being carried on the wind. Isabelle hasn’t waited for him - she’s marching off and he has to run to catch up.
- Without a word spoken between them, they arrive back at the ruined tower and Ethan opens the Door.
Grand Stairway Section 16 - The Black Stairs
- Ethan and Isabelle continue on in silence. Isabelle is clearly flustered and Ethan has no idea what has happened. At last when they are hours away, Isabelle stops on the Stair and tells Ethan to turn her back while she changes. She ditches the wet clothes and tosses them behind a statue, quickly changes into some dry clothes then opens the satchel. At this point, Ethan peeks and finds her surveying a jewel encrusted tiara, a brooch with gemstones and a ruby almost as big as a man’s knuckle. “You robbed the King?” Ethan asks. Isabelle blinks at him and confesses that she was making the best of a bad situation. She says that the gentleman wasn’t taking no for an answer. Ethan is surprised and says that he thought she liked the King. Isabelle frowns momentarily, then admits that she did like him. It comes out that she locked the King in his bedchamber, and then grabbed some of his treasure on the way out.
- The two travellers continue for another day, choosing to sleep on the Stairs rather than open another Door. Isabelle comments on how bad Ethan smells, given that he was sleeping with the dogs. Ethan answers that they were warm but didn’t smell very good. Isabelle tells Ethan that the next realm they go to has to have a proper bed and a bath.
- The Stair changes dramatically. Neither Isabelle nor Ethan have ever seen a damaged section of Stair. Even the wooden uprights appear charred and warped as if suddenly hit by flame.
* Image sourced from Google Images. Originally from haikyo.org
- As they descend deeper down the Black Stairs, they pass a Door which gives Ethan pause. It is a Black Door, blackened and blistered as if by fire, set within an arch of stone blocks. It is not the path to Lucien, but there is something of Power on the other side. (GM’s note - Ethan uses Wayfinding for many things, and one of them is to spot items of interest/power) Isabelle doesn’t like the look of the Door, but Ethan is determined to see what is on the other side….
GM Observations (2 of 2)
- The inspiration for Realm 35 is Robotech, with ‘micronian’ Lords of Gossamer boarding a Zentraedi Cruiser - this isn’t a one shot. More is coming on this front.
I’ll post up the third part on Sunday 29th June….. Things are about to get very very bad for Ethan ….
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