Session Report For Monday 17th March 2014
We had our third session, though yet again the entire group wasn't present and so we had;
Joshua H. Headlam (Nick)
Lucian Gilmore (Adam)
Agnew Uptil (Tori)
A couple of days had passed since the events of Omens, the Runners were
finally introduced to Durwin Bitterleaf who'd come to collect the late
Evelyn Grimes to the city morgue before her burial. After a brief chat
with Durwin, the Runners were instructed by Magistrate Cathmore to
patrol along the Old Mosley Canal and the Rudshore waterfront whilst
keeping an eye for petty crime.
Reaching the waterfront they saw that the mudlarks were already out as
the tide receded, they also noticed an old man amongst the mudlarks who
was trying to pull something free from the mud before he cried out in
alarm and scrambled back. Turned out the old man (who introduced himself
as Ned Penny) had uncovered bodies of some young girls, though with
some oddities; appeared to be no older than their early twenties yet
also prematurely aged, wore simple cloth dresses, had strange markings
all over them, were shrivelled as if they had suffered from starvation
and had been untouched by the Hagfishes that infested the Wrenhaven
River.
Ned Penny pointed out that the bodies probably drifted on a current that
he knew began outside the city and pointed out the rough location of
the current on a map (which the players noticed were close to some old
ruins). The Runners' surgeon pointed out that the cause of death was a
single stab in the heart with a knife and that the state of the bodies
was 'unusual', Magistrate Cathmore also dug up a Watch report about some
missing girls that was a couple of months old. The report stated that
the girls had gotten jobs as housemaids at the home of a Professor Errol
Greymane only to suddenly vanish after they had started working there,
the Watch report also stated that the house was found to be unoccupied.
Looking up a book on the old Witchcraft Acts the Runners found that the
markings were known to be linked to the Outsider, something that was
suppose to be reported to the Abbey of the Everyman. They went to the
Office of the High Overseer and paid Ronan Hurlough a visit, he
confirmed that the markings were indeed linked to the Outsider and that
Professor Greymane had requested access to the Abbey's archives about a
year but had been denied. Apparently Greymane's request was made through
the Academy of Natural Philosophy and was supposedly for 'research'
purposes. Though Hurlough had mention that the markings looked like ones
typically used in rituals that attempted to summon the Outsider.
With the above information in had the Runners paid a visit to the
Academy, Uptil's contact in the form of Professor Plankton-Burnes (or PB
for short) allowed them entry. PB explained that Greymane had been
studying an old stone tablet that bore strange markings and gradually he
become obsessed with, increasingly delving into the occult and
acquiring whalebone charms and runes. Eventually he was cast out from
the Academy, his remaining possessions were interned in the Academy's
vaults and to gain access the Runners would need to speak with Anton
Sokolov who is the head of the Academy.
The session ended with the Runners preparing to head to Sokolov's apartment on Kaldwin Bridge.
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Monday, 19 January 2015
Thresh Street Runners - Session 2
Session report for Monday 3rd March.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Session Two, Omens Part 2
Had our second session, Tori was ill but our fourth player was able to make it this week and so those present were;
Joshua H. Headlam (played by Nick)
Lucian Gilmore (Adam)
Chud Hathbone (Tay)
Session started off where we left off last time, chiefly following the blood trial of Evelyn's killer through the alleys of Rudshore until it literally ran dry. They returned back to the office where the Overseers had left and the Runners' surgeon was doing a post-mortem on the late Evelyn Grimes, another clue was found in the form of skin under Evelyn's fingernails that showed that she clawed at her killer as her life was squeezed out of her. Coupled with the injury the killer sustained from cutting themselves upon the glass they broke in order to gain entry the players had some clues to help identify the suspect.
Though with nothing else to go on they headed to the Hound Pits Pub in order to find Jonas, whom they found enjoying a meal and tankard of ale. Few questions later the players learnt that there was a contract on the next High Overseer that offered 25,000 coins, there was a rough-ish looking man who'd offered the contract and that nobody had really taken the contract once they learnt it concerned the Abbey. Jonas also told them he'd seen the man in question earlier, chiefly that the man had a rag tied round his arm and had a scarf pulled up over his face. The man also frequented the Hound Pits for the hound fight and would probably be there later that day for that night's fight.
So the players left the Hound Pits and went in search of a second hand clothes shop, a few thugs tried to provoke a fight but were ignored by the players (as strange as that sounds!). But they found a shop and Lucian brought some ragged clothes to wear before returning to the Hound Pits. Joshua and Chud headed to the Rudshore Waterfront and hired a boat to drop them close to a ruined tower close to the Hound Pits Pub where they holed themselves up. Lucian spent some time in the pub before spotting Jonas speaking to a rather shady man wearing a hooded cloak and a rag round their arm, Jonas in turn spotted Lucian and after the shady man had left told Lucian that the man was who they were after (Lucian had also overhead the two talking about scratches on the man's face). Jonas also told Lucian that he would stick close to the shady man during the hound fight to help identify him to the others. Lucian agreed to this and went to tell the others of the plan, Chud remained at the tower whilst Joshua relocated to a balcony on the warehouse that harboured the hound fight and Lucian went into the warehouse.
The hound fight got underway and Jonas told Lucian that he'll help by 'accidentally' ripping the rag from off the shady man's arm, which he proceeded to do as the crowd cheered during the fight. The shady man got angry and after a few heated words with Jonas left at a brisk pace, the players opted to follow after the man. They followed the man through the streets until they arrived at a small tenant building which the man entered and went to a flat on the second floor, the players checked all the possible exits to make sure they had them all covered and went up to the second floor. Joshua knocked on the man's door and pulled out his flintlock pistol as the door was answered, did an Intimidation roll and Aced it like four times. Chud also got in on the act with his own Intimidation roll and effectively reduced the man to a quivering wreck before slapping him in irons as the other two combed the flat for clues and found a note about the contract on the next High Overseer.
After returning to the office, they handed over their evidence and asked the man a few questions. Turns out he'd been picked up by a couple of thugs and blindfolded a few times, then taken to some unknown location where he was given the contract to hand out and also told to kill the Oracle. Since he was blindfolded the whole time he didn't know who the people were aside from the place smelling 'better than average', he also let slip that they'd threatened to harm his sister and reveal info about crimes he'd committed that would earn him a lengthy stay in Coldridge Prison. But there was little else he could offer and so he was thrown into the cells before the players reported their findings to Magistrate Cathmore. The Magistrate congratulated the Runners for bringing in the man, saying that at least he could be tried for the Oracle's murder but the seemingly later conspiracy would have to remain an open case until they had further leads to go on. Before rewarding the players with 10 coins each the Magistrate also told them that Ronan Hurlough had stepped down from the running to be the next High Overseer and thus let the now uncontested Thaddeus Campbell be sworn in as the new head of the Abbey of the Everyman.
Thus the first case 'Omens' was completed.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Session Two, Omens Part 2
Had our second session, Tori was ill but our fourth player was able to make it this week and so those present were;
Joshua H. Headlam (played by Nick)
Lucian Gilmore (Adam)
Chud Hathbone (Tay)
Session started off where we left off last time, chiefly following the blood trial of Evelyn's killer through the alleys of Rudshore until it literally ran dry. They returned back to the office where the Overseers had left and the Runners' surgeon was doing a post-mortem on the late Evelyn Grimes, another clue was found in the form of skin under Evelyn's fingernails that showed that she clawed at her killer as her life was squeezed out of her. Coupled with the injury the killer sustained from cutting themselves upon the glass they broke in order to gain entry the players had some clues to help identify the suspect.
Though with nothing else to go on they headed to the Hound Pits Pub in order to find Jonas, whom they found enjoying a meal and tankard of ale. Few questions later the players learnt that there was a contract on the next High Overseer that offered 25,000 coins, there was a rough-ish looking man who'd offered the contract and that nobody had really taken the contract once they learnt it concerned the Abbey. Jonas also told them he'd seen the man in question earlier, chiefly that the man had a rag tied round his arm and had a scarf pulled up over his face. The man also frequented the Hound Pits for the hound fight and would probably be there later that day for that night's fight.
So the players left the Hound Pits and went in search of a second hand clothes shop, a few thugs tried to provoke a fight but were ignored by the players (as strange as that sounds!). But they found a shop and Lucian brought some ragged clothes to wear before returning to the Hound Pits. Joshua and Chud headed to the Rudshore Waterfront and hired a boat to drop them close to a ruined tower close to the Hound Pits Pub where they holed themselves up. Lucian spent some time in the pub before spotting Jonas speaking to a rather shady man wearing a hooded cloak and a rag round their arm, Jonas in turn spotted Lucian and after the shady man had left told Lucian that the man was who they were after (Lucian had also overhead the two talking about scratches on the man's face). Jonas also told Lucian that he would stick close to the shady man during the hound fight to help identify him to the others. Lucian agreed to this and went to tell the others of the plan, Chud remained at the tower whilst Joshua relocated to a balcony on the warehouse that harboured the hound fight and Lucian went into the warehouse.
The hound fight got underway and Jonas told Lucian that he'll help by 'accidentally' ripping the rag from off the shady man's arm, which he proceeded to do as the crowd cheered during the fight. The shady man got angry and after a few heated words with Jonas left at a brisk pace, the players opted to follow after the man. They followed the man through the streets until they arrived at a small tenant building which the man entered and went to a flat on the second floor, the players checked all the possible exits to make sure they had them all covered and went up to the second floor. Joshua knocked on the man's door and pulled out his flintlock pistol as the door was answered, did an Intimidation roll and Aced it like four times. Chud also got in on the act with his own Intimidation roll and effectively reduced the man to a quivering wreck before slapping him in irons as the other two combed the flat for clues and found a note about the contract on the next High Overseer.
After returning to the office, they handed over their evidence and asked the man a few questions. Turns out he'd been picked up by a couple of thugs and blindfolded a few times, then taken to some unknown location where he was given the contract to hand out and also told to kill the Oracle. Since he was blindfolded the whole time he didn't know who the people were aside from the place smelling 'better than average', he also let slip that they'd threatened to harm his sister and reveal info about crimes he'd committed that would earn him a lengthy stay in Coldridge Prison. But there was little else he could offer and so he was thrown into the cells before the players reported their findings to Magistrate Cathmore. The Magistrate congratulated the Runners for bringing in the man, saying that at least he could be tried for the Oracle's murder but the seemingly later conspiracy would have to remain an open case until they had further leads to go on. Before rewarding the players with 10 coins each the Magistrate also told them that Ronan Hurlough had stepped down from the running to be the next High Overseer and thus let the now uncontested Thaddeus Campbell be sworn in as the new head of the Abbey of the Everyman.
Thus the first case 'Omens' was completed.
Monday, 12 January 2015
Thresh Street Runners - Session 1
This is the write-up for the session that I ran on the 17th Feb 2014
Session One, Omens Part 1
Had our first session, those present were;
Joshua H. Headlam (played by Nick)
Lucian Gilmore (Adam)
Agnew Uptil (Tori)
Session started with a brief introduction and description of each character, then a briefing by Magistrate Mattius Cathmore (the leader of the Tresh Street Runners) before heading out on the streets to patrol and deter would be pick pockets. They mingled at a local street market, by the Rudshore Gate, basically having a presence to ward off footpads and street urchins with itchy fingers. They'd been patrolling for a short while when they noticed a disturbance, heading other they discovered a couple of the city guards dealing with a woman who was shouting out. "He will be killed after the Feast but before the Dance!"
The players took charge of the woman, noting that she was blindfolded and wearing fine robes. After getting back to the office they discovered she wore a medallion with the symbol of the Abbey of the Everyman on it, citing that she was one of the clergy. Agnew knew a Father Sondheim and with Magistrate Cathmore's blessing they went to visit him. Father Sondheim helped shed some light by explaining that the woman was probably referring to the Feast of Painted Kettles and the Dance of Investiture, a process by which a new High Overseer is selected (basically Dishonored's version of the pope). He also stated that the woman was probably an Oracle, but didn't know who she actually was and would make enquires.
The players headed back to the office where they were informed by the desk sergeant that the Oracle had screamed a few ramblings in their absence and had been given a tot of whiskey to calm her down. The Oracle's ramblings however were written down;
"Two of the cloth, one vain and the other devout. Both set sight on the high altar, one destined to go before the Harvest whilst the other by the Rain's end."
"Out of the darkness of the rising sun it shall come and hundreds shalt weep unto death!"
"Blinded by trust the Queen shall fall, brought low by a keeper of secrets. Checkmate."
"Many maidens shall become one with the water as he searches for Him."
"The house of fallen timber he shalt go, but other forces lurk."
"Like brothers they shalt go unto a bastion of sorrow."
"A clothier shalt meet his end by those whom meant to protect him."
"An iron road will see trice men fall."
"Idle hands shalt wrought a flood of despair to wash away the city's heart!"
"The northern road they ride with pistol and blood soaked coin left in their wake."
"He watches from the shadows, taunting you he shalt. In the time out of time he shalt strike! Slash! Slash! Slash!"
"She'll be a sly one, hawking her cobbled bits of bones like a merchant hawking his wares. Fools she'll seek to make of the lot of you! In circles she shalt lead, all the way to the Far Continent you shalt go!"
The players figured out some of the correct meanings, drew connections to the present case with others whilst the rest they could only give their best guess at. Regardless from Magistrate Cathmore they found out there was two candidates to be the new High Overseer; Jonan Hurlough and Thaddeus Campbell. From here they were able to figure out that these were whom the Oracle was referring to and realized that now was the Month of Harvest. So a visit was paid to the Office of the High Overseer where they talked to both Hurlough and Campbell, the former proved to be quite devout whilst Campbell turned out to have risen through the ranks by using blackmail and was acting like he'd been chosen to be the new High Overseer (he was rehearsing his speech). The players also learnt that a band of assassins led by a man named Daud, who were suspect to use black magic, were the most likely suspects to kill any new High Overseer. Though they also suspect that Campbell might be involved, but dropped this theory due to the fact that he was a blackmailer and therefore wouldn't want to get his hands dirty. Regardless they got access to the Abbey's archives and dug up all that the Overseers had on Daud.
Through informants and contacts they managed to arrange a meeting with Daud, though they were a bit wary about it. Turned out to be an "oh crap..." moment when they found out that Daud's assassins were pretty good AND that the rumours of black magic were true. But they found out that whilst that was a job out to kill whoever became the new High Overseer, Daud didn't take it as he wished to avoid confronting the Abbey. Though they managed to eke out a name of one of Daud's contacts who told him about the job, a man named Jonas who was known to frequent the Hounds Pit Pub in the Old Port District. After Daud and his fellow assassins vanished in front of the players' eyes, the players returned back to the office and reported some of their findings. The desk sergeant informed them that Father Sondheim had come up with a name for the Oracle, an Evelyn Grimes who'd gone missing from the Annex of the Office of the High Overseer. The players weren't keen on returning there, but Magistrate Cathmore suggested having the Overseers come and collect Evelyn themselves, something the players agreed to and then turned in for a paranoia filled night.
Next morning at the office they found the desk sergeant arguing with a couple of Overseers over some paperwork, but they managed to calm things down before going to fetch Evelyn. However they discovered that somebody had broken in and strangled Evelyn in her sleep, Magistrate Cathmore fobbed the Overseers of with some story that Evelyn had left during the night as the players investigated. Turned out the nightwatchman had filled out the log book in one go and snoozed for most of the night, there was the footprint of a boot in the muck in the alley outside and the killer had caught their arm on the broken glass.
Session ended with the players setting about trying to find Evelyn's killer and then finding Jonas to get some more info.
Session One, Omens Part 1
Had our first session, those present were;
Joshua H. Headlam (played by Nick)
Lucian Gilmore (Adam)
Agnew Uptil (Tori)
Session started with a brief introduction and description of each character, then a briefing by Magistrate Mattius Cathmore (the leader of the Tresh Street Runners) before heading out on the streets to patrol and deter would be pick pockets. They mingled at a local street market, by the Rudshore Gate, basically having a presence to ward off footpads and street urchins with itchy fingers. They'd been patrolling for a short while when they noticed a disturbance, heading other they discovered a couple of the city guards dealing with a woman who was shouting out. "He will be killed after the Feast but before the Dance!"
The players took charge of the woman, noting that she was blindfolded and wearing fine robes. After getting back to the office they discovered she wore a medallion with the symbol of the Abbey of the Everyman on it, citing that she was one of the clergy. Agnew knew a Father Sondheim and with Magistrate Cathmore's blessing they went to visit him. Father Sondheim helped shed some light by explaining that the woman was probably referring to the Feast of Painted Kettles and the Dance of Investiture, a process by which a new High Overseer is selected (basically Dishonored's version of the pope). He also stated that the woman was probably an Oracle, but didn't know who she actually was and would make enquires.
The players headed back to the office where they were informed by the desk sergeant that the Oracle had screamed a few ramblings in their absence and had been given a tot of whiskey to calm her down. The Oracle's ramblings however were written down;
"Two of the cloth, one vain and the other devout. Both set sight on the high altar, one destined to go before the Harvest whilst the other by the Rain's end."
"Out of the darkness of the rising sun it shall come and hundreds shalt weep unto death!"
"Blinded by trust the Queen shall fall, brought low by a keeper of secrets. Checkmate."
"Many maidens shall become one with the water as he searches for Him."
"The house of fallen timber he shalt go, but other forces lurk."
"Like brothers they shalt go unto a bastion of sorrow."
"A clothier shalt meet his end by those whom meant to protect him."
"An iron road will see trice men fall."
"Idle hands shalt wrought a flood of despair to wash away the city's heart!"
"The northern road they ride with pistol and blood soaked coin left in their wake."
"He watches from the shadows, taunting you he shalt. In the time out of time he shalt strike! Slash! Slash! Slash!"
"She'll be a sly one, hawking her cobbled bits of bones like a merchant hawking his wares. Fools she'll seek to make of the lot of you! In circles she shalt lead, all the way to the Far Continent you shalt go!"
The players figured out some of the correct meanings, drew connections to the present case with others whilst the rest they could only give their best guess at. Regardless from Magistrate Cathmore they found out there was two candidates to be the new High Overseer; Jonan Hurlough and Thaddeus Campbell. From here they were able to figure out that these were whom the Oracle was referring to and realized that now was the Month of Harvest. So a visit was paid to the Office of the High Overseer where they talked to both Hurlough and Campbell, the former proved to be quite devout whilst Campbell turned out to have risen through the ranks by using blackmail and was acting like he'd been chosen to be the new High Overseer (he was rehearsing his speech). The players also learnt that a band of assassins led by a man named Daud, who were suspect to use black magic, were the most likely suspects to kill any new High Overseer. Though they also suspect that Campbell might be involved, but dropped this theory due to the fact that he was a blackmailer and therefore wouldn't want to get his hands dirty. Regardless they got access to the Abbey's archives and dug up all that the Overseers had on Daud.
Through informants and contacts they managed to arrange a meeting with Daud, though they were a bit wary about it. Turned out to be an "oh crap..." moment when they found out that Daud's assassins were pretty good AND that the rumours of black magic were true. But they found out that whilst that was a job out to kill whoever became the new High Overseer, Daud didn't take it as he wished to avoid confronting the Abbey. Though they managed to eke out a name of one of Daud's contacts who told him about the job, a man named Jonas who was known to frequent the Hounds Pit Pub in the Old Port District. After Daud and his fellow assassins vanished in front of the players' eyes, the players returned back to the office and reported some of their findings. The desk sergeant informed them that Father Sondheim had come up with a name for the Oracle, an Evelyn Grimes who'd gone missing from the Annex of the Office of the High Overseer. The players weren't keen on returning there, but Magistrate Cathmore suggested having the Overseers come and collect Evelyn themselves, something the players agreed to and then turned in for a paranoia filled night.
Next morning at the office they found the desk sergeant arguing with a couple of Overseers over some paperwork, but they managed to calm things down before going to fetch Evelyn. However they discovered that somebody had broken in and strangled Evelyn in her sleep, Magistrate Cathmore fobbed the Overseers of with some story that Evelyn had left during the night as the players investigated. Turned out the nightwatchman had filled out the log book in one go and snoozed for most of the night, there was the footprint of a boot in the muck in the alley outside and the killer had caught their arm on the broken glass.
Session ended with the players setting about trying to find Evelyn's killer and then finding Jonas to get some more info.
Friday, 9 January 2015
Stirrings
Just a heads up, looking at resurrecting and re-purposing this blog as more of a general gaming blog.
I'll still post Warmachine/Iron Kingdoms related stuff from time to time but will also cover other gaming antics I've been up to. Over the coming weeks I'll be posting up session reports of the Dishonored based RPG that I've decided to run via the Savage Worlds system.
I'll still post Warmachine/Iron Kingdoms related stuff from time to time but will also cover other gaming antics I've been up to. Over the coming weeks I'll be posting up session reports of the Dishonored based RPG that I've decided to run via the Savage Worlds system.
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