Late Night, Moose Rock — November 07, 35386 B.C.
? a line starting with a question mark signals we’re asking the oracle a question.
-> a right-pointing arrow indicates the oracle’s response
> a right-facing angle-bracket shows PC action
:d dice pool roll
=> shows consequences/outcomes
{ Text inside braces is the Star Spirit, speaking in Stenn’s mind. }
Italicized text without curly braces denotes Stenn’s private thoughts.
Bold text indicates player thoughts and explanations.
As we enter this Scene, I'm envisioning that the leading men of Clan Moose Rock will now hold a ceremony in which they'll try to invoke powerful intervention from an array of spirits. Chaos Factor has increased to 6, after the bujant attack and the Red Snow.
? Do I need to check the scene for change? -> Percentile roll 42 (60% chance): Yes, check ? Is it in fact changed (30% chance)? -> Percentile roll 44: No
The scene proceeds as I had envisioned it. Stenn and three other clan leaders will partake in an invocation ceremony while sharphened. The shaman will call upon Arctos; the hunter upon Herne; the chief upon Valdghar, and Stenn upon Ursus.
Most of The People had retired to their frostdens. The bonfire had eaten itself down to a broad bed of hot coals, to which Stenn only occasionally added a stick or larger chunk of wood. No women were present. The only men besides Stenn were Chief Hrowaka, Shaman Ghindar, and Drogan Elkfist — the clan's best hunter. They were wrapped in their furs. Fortunately, it was not windy.
The chief leaned forward to deeply inhale vapor given off by Ghindar's rock which was affixed atop the shaman's staff — a rock that for all the world resembled a moose standing upon a boulder; a rock gifted to the Clan generations ago, the stone was heavy, deeply black, and glossy. It was a rock ... and yet more than a rock. The chief had taught Stenn a decade ago that a thing could be multiple things at the same time.
And so Stenn carefully controlled himself as the shaman brought the rock to him, held it under his nose. He breathed in deeply, relaxed. He sighed as the vapors took effect and his senses sharphened even as tension melted out of him. The stone had no holes, was not porous, but the vapor it emitted was real enough. It smelled like the scent of pine resin in an evergreen wood. Stenn watched as Drogan inhaled, then as Ghindar seated himself on the opposite side of the fire from the chief and dosed himself.
Stenn's thoughts clarified, took on sharp edges. He noticed tiny details illuminated by the campfire: the vibrant hues of the red, orange, and yellow flames were vivid and dynamic, dancing in mesmerizing patterns. The way the smoke curled and wove through the air took on an intricate beauty, almost looking like a living entity — and Stenn felt the vast presence of something ... Other and knew that it was always there even if he wasn't usually aware of it.
Body, Mind, and Spirit are in heightened synergy while one is sharphened (see Terminology), bringing into focus a derived attribute called Forte.
Ghindar loudly intoned, "Arctos the Mighty, gift us your wisdom and strength!" A chorused ululation erupted (boosting Ghindar's effort by adding another die to his dice pool) from men of the camp who were listening near the openings to their frostdens. The People knew that this joint outcry would keenly draw the great stag's attention. At the same time, it allowed the men to vent their anger and grief at Norda's passing. Women grieved in silence, of course, so that only Malachai would take heed, and would receive their tears as rain unto the harvest, blessing the next crops the clan planted.
Let's see how successful is the shaman's invocation. For this, Ghindar's Anima — 5 — is applicable (Ghindar gets +1 die for tribal ululation and +2 dice for his Trait Disciple of Arctos):
That's two Successes, and did you notice the pair of three's? That increments the Twist Counter to 1 (we ignore further doubles if part of the same roll).
Drogan Elkfist raised his voice, "Herne, disrupt the fell spirits of the forest! Frustrate their efforts to sully your children, and grant us your benison against all bujant!"
Drogan's Anima is four, and he has no Traits to help with this invocation. He's not a PC in the usual sense, but since he'll be acting as one (stay tuned), I'm allowing him to have a pool of Adversity Tokens. He recognizes the grave importance of this ceremony, in view of the recent Red Snow and clan deaths, so he spends two of his four Adversity Tokens to bolster his invocation effort — bringing his dice pool to six (4 from Anima + 2 from Adversity Tokens). Let's see how he makes out:
Whew! Good thing he used the Adversity Tokens, too; even with them, he got only a single Success (remember that a 5 or 6 result in a dice pool counts as a Success). But it is a success, and that's what matters. Doubles again: Twist Counter increments to 2.
The air thickens, and the fire — though not stoked — rises higher. Stenn's heightened sense of smell detects the tell-tale odor of concentrating spiritual presence. Ah, there it is. { It's called ozone }. Stenn mentally shook his head: the Star Spirit said some really strange things, sometimes.
From across the fire, the chief gives a perceptible nod. It's Stenn's turn.
Stenn doesn't think he's as connected to the spirit-world as are the chief and the shaman. And damned if he doesn't credit some of Drogan's hunting exploits to Herne. And so Stenn, knowing it will sap him but also that he can soon sleep, pours himself into his invocation (i.e., he's spending three of his five Adversity Tokens). His Anima is four. Adding the three tokens swells his pool to 7, and the Star Spirit, his enigmatic helper, makes it 8 total):
"Great Ursus, whose claws can carve our enemies, we ask your aid and protection. Trample our foes in the world of spirits, and guide our clan out of our recent kulva!"
Damn! A single Success out of eight dice. And of course Stenn's roll has doubles, because that increments the Twist Counter to 3, triggering a roll of the Twist Dice and resetting the Twist Counter to zero. Twist dice result (on 2d6):
Snake Eyes! And another double (Twist Counter rises to one). Looking this up on the Determine The Twist table, I get "A third party appears". Hmm...
Stenn senses how close he came to failure, and he senses something more, something familiar ... getting nearer...
"Valdghar!" shouts Chief Hrowaka, hear your Son! May your axe severe the arms of our enemies, the spirits of our foes!"
The chief has lost his life-mate, Norda. He knows he is dying, diseased. And he knows that if the spirits do not lend significant aid soon, his trible may be decimated. And so, though it requires digging deep, he spends all four Adversity Tokens in his invocation attempt. That's Anima 4 plus 4 tokens, for 8; then he has the Son of Valdghar trait: dice pool is now at 10, and he Pushes His Luck, adding a eleventh die, the Luck Die...
Four Successes! Outstanding! And, the Twist Counter rises to two. The chief's margin of success results in some spirit-world synergy: Ursus and Stenn's Star Spirit are perhaps collaborating. At any rate, what happens next is most unexpected. Its nature comes from Stenn's Twist Die roll, while the magnitude (the reveal will be in the next AP) reflects the chief's margin of success.
The intensity of the illumination coming from the bed of coals in the mostly-consumed bonfire redoubles, and a single knife-sharp wind cuts through the circle of men, and then a wolf bounds from the forest shadows into the firelight, leaping over the fire in an arc toward Stenn Bearclaws!