The Rook's King's Gambit (1/8/23) - Kem
Aug 2, 2023 16:11:57 GMT
Jaezred Vandree and Andy D like this
Post by Tom M on Aug 2, 2023 16:11:57 GMT
Ramsy's Tarokka reading done at the start of the session:
Major Arcana, The Ghost – Representing a losing someone as a pivotal moment of Ramsy’s past
Nine of Stars, The Conjurer (inverted) – Representing looming supernatural threats, creatures akin to gods, hidden from view but in Ramsy’s present
Two of Coins, The Philanthropist – Representing the proper use of vast wealth to fight evil on a grand scale in Ramsy’s future.
It was already dark by the time Kem had collected Jili from the Fort Ettin stables and made his way back to the wagon. The red headed woman in charge of the place seemed curious about him – something he would remember should he find himself heading back this way. Everyone had been very welcoming in fact since he arrived in this place. He mused on this as he hitched the skewbald cob mare to a post for the night and began to make a fire. The night was warm, but the clear sky meant it would probably drop cold later on.
As he tended to the kindling, he heard a rasping voice coming from the window.
“How long were you gone for?”
“Two days, give or take.”
“I had issues of court that needed tending to.”
“What issues were those then?”
The fire crackled as Kem placed a few logs on it and got himself comfortable, smiling to himself at the lack of response.
“What were you doing?”
“Travelling with some adventurers.”
“Did you bring me one.”
“No.” Kem replied bluntly, rolling his eyes.
A long pause.
“What have you brought me then?”
“Another story.”
A quiet grumble from the caravan was the only reply for a short while.
“Fine. Proceed.”
Kem took his time removing some of his more snag-prone piercings before beginning the story as he lay down on the bed roll. “It started in that fort we saw along the way. A battle-weary tiefling knight paying too much for his fortune to be told by a devilishly good looking Skaraga bard and not liking what he heard. Before long they were joined by a curious bugbear covered in bright mushrooms piercing his very skin and a man with a tall hat who made ticking noises when he thought nobody listening. A curious cast of characters I’m sure you can agree.”
“They ventured together to meet their employer, a man with skin of stone who introduced himself as King Scree Rookdweller who within our story told a fantastic tale of his own. He spoke to them of a game of chess on a board stretching over continents and taking place over aeons. The pieces mountains, populated by people made of stone and gems, moved by titans of unimaginable size in a game with rule unfathomable to mortals. He told further of a mountain not far from this place, a pawn hidden from the greater game in an illegal and dishonest strategy.”
“The knight and the clockwork man balked at the story, contrasting it with their understanding of rugged experience and perfected logic, but the bugbear and the Skaraga had clearly seen enough strange things in their time to know that not everything in this world must make sense to be true. The King continued his tale nonetheless, explaining his plan to draw the attention of the titans. He detailed a mad plan that would force the titans to take notice that their game had been corrupted.”
The voice rasped from inside the caravan as Kem stopped to put a kettle on the fire, “And what was this mad plan?”
“All in good time. The five, including the king, journeyed far to reach the mountain that floated above the canopy of a forest’s trees. Allowing the kindly bugbear to first tie ribbons to each of them, bonding them together in friendship, they began the climb.”
“Once aboard, they met a dweller of this place, a person made wholly of rocks unlike the King who had only stony skin. They told a tale of mighty and storied adventurers, legends of this continent, who had barely started on their journey when they came by this place and saved the rock people from a terrible fate. The rock people treated their new guests with great honour because of this and allowed them to make their way through the twisting tunnels of their chess piece home – decorated all around with imagery that no mortal mind could hope to comprehend.”
The story paused as Kem poured out a bowl of soup from the kettle and settled back onto his bedroll, sipping it between passages.
“Meeting more of the stone people, the clever bard was able to show his skill by defeating one of them at their game of chess despite never being taught the rules, and in doing so earned the information that the people aboard the piece understood well that they were part of an illegal move.”
“The bard’s victory was short lived however, as an earthquake seemingly shook their surrounds. The enormous titan had finally decided to make its move. Volunteering to heroically sacrifice his life, the knight chose to make himself a distraction so that the three other pieces could protect the king as he made his move on this complex board.”
“With trickery, guile, and skill the group effortlessly evaded the rock people who stood in their way and enabled the wily bugbear to escort the king to the pinnacle of the mountain and there is where he made his move. The King upended a sack that connected to another realm full of blue paint, it cascaded down one side of the piece and made it obvious to all playing the great game that foul play was at hand.”
“The brave adventurers, including the knight who had miraculously survived, and the clockwork man who had been valiantly injured along the way, came together as they watched the titans watch them back – forced to notice beings normally insignificant in their eyes as they made their voices heard to them.”
“The rock people screamed and wailed, believing that the adventurers would soon meet their doom for their act of defiance, but these mighty beings, akin to the gods themselves were forced to grant their respect to these four friends and the king they escorted. As a mark of this respect, the titans created a new land that would surely be named in the adventurers’ honour for the rock people to live in. A monument to the time that the mightiest of beings realised their respect for and appreciation of beings that were until then insignificant in their eyes.”
Kem finished his soup and laid the bowl down next to his bed roll with a grin as silence reigned in the little coppice the wagon had been left in.
“I hope you don’t expect me to learn a lesson from this story.”
“You can’t blame me for trying.” Kem sighed as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Major Arcana, The Ghost – Representing a losing someone as a pivotal moment of Ramsy’s past
Nine of Stars, The Conjurer (inverted) – Representing looming supernatural threats, creatures akin to gods, hidden from view but in Ramsy’s present
Two of Coins, The Philanthropist – Representing the proper use of vast wealth to fight evil on a grand scale in Ramsy’s future.
It was already dark by the time Kem had collected Jili from the Fort Ettin stables and made his way back to the wagon. The red headed woman in charge of the place seemed curious about him – something he would remember should he find himself heading back this way. Everyone had been very welcoming in fact since he arrived in this place. He mused on this as he hitched the skewbald cob mare to a post for the night and began to make a fire. The night was warm, but the clear sky meant it would probably drop cold later on.
As he tended to the kindling, he heard a rasping voice coming from the window.
“How long were you gone for?”
“Two days, give or take.”
“I had issues of court that needed tending to.”
“What issues were those then?”
The fire crackled as Kem placed a few logs on it and got himself comfortable, smiling to himself at the lack of response.
“What were you doing?”
“Travelling with some adventurers.”
“Did you bring me one.”
“No.” Kem replied bluntly, rolling his eyes.
A long pause.
“What have you brought me then?”
“Another story.”
A quiet grumble from the caravan was the only reply for a short while.
“Fine. Proceed.”
Kem took his time removing some of his more snag-prone piercings before beginning the story as he lay down on the bed roll. “It started in that fort we saw along the way. A battle-weary tiefling knight paying too much for his fortune to be told by a devilishly good looking Skaraga bard and not liking what he heard. Before long they were joined by a curious bugbear covered in bright mushrooms piercing his very skin and a man with a tall hat who made ticking noises when he thought nobody listening. A curious cast of characters I’m sure you can agree.”
“They ventured together to meet their employer, a man with skin of stone who introduced himself as King Scree Rookdweller who within our story told a fantastic tale of his own. He spoke to them of a game of chess on a board stretching over continents and taking place over aeons. The pieces mountains, populated by people made of stone and gems, moved by titans of unimaginable size in a game with rule unfathomable to mortals. He told further of a mountain not far from this place, a pawn hidden from the greater game in an illegal and dishonest strategy.”
“The knight and the clockwork man balked at the story, contrasting it with their understanding of rugged experience and perfected logic, but the bugbear and the Skaraga had clearly seen enough strange things in their time to know that not everything in this world must make sense to be true. The King continued his tale nonetheless, explaining his plan to draw the attention of the titans. He detailed a mad plan that would force the titans to take notice that their game had been corrupted.”
The voice rasped from inside the caravan as Kem stopped to put a kettle on the fire, “And what was this mad plan?”
“All in good time. The five, including the king, journeyed far to reach the mountain that floated above the canopy of a forest’s trees. Allowing the kindly bugbear to first tie ribbons to each of them, bonding them together in friendship, they began the climb.”
“Once aboard, they met a dweller of this place, a person made wholly of rocks unlike the King who had only stony skin. They told a tale of mighty and storied adventurers, legends of this continent, who had barely started on their journey when they came by this place and saved the rock people from a terrible fate. The rock people treated their new guests with great honour because of this and allowed them to make their way through the twisting tunnels of their chess piece home – decorated all around with imagery that no mortal mind could hope to comprehend.”
The story paused as Kem poured out a bowl of soup from the kettle and settled back onto his bedroll, sipping it between passages.
“Meeting more of the stone people, the clever bard was able to show his skill by defeating one of them at their game of chess despite never being taught the rules, and in doing so earned the information that the people aboard the piece understood well that they were part of an illegal move.”
“The bard’s victory was short lived however, as an earthquake seemingly shook their surrounds. The enormous titan had finally decided to make its move. Volunteering to heroically sacrifice his life, the knight chose to make himself a distraction so that the three other pieces could protect the king as he made his move on this complex board.”
“With trickery, guile, and skill the group effortlessly evaded the rock people who stood in their way and enabled the wily bugbear to escort the king to the pinnacle of the mountain and there is where he made his move. The King upended a sack that connected to another realm full of blue paint, it cascaded down one side of the piece and made it obvious to all playing the great game that foul play was at hand.”
“The brave adventurers, including the knight who had miraculously survived, and the clockwork man who had been valiantly injured along the way, came together as they watched the titans watch them back – forced to notice beings normally insignificant in their eyes as they made their voices heard to them.”
“The rock people screamed and wailed, believing that the adventurers would soon meet their doom for their act of defiance, but these mighty beings, akin to the gods themselves were forced to grant their respect to these four friends and the king they escorted. As a mark of this respect, the titans created a new land that would surely be named in the adventurers’ honour for the rock people to live in. A monument to the time that the mightiest of beings realised their respect for and appreciation of beings that were until then insignificant in their eyes.”
Kem finished his soup and laid the bowl down next to his bed roll with a grin as silence reigned in the little coppice the wagon had been left in.
“I hope you don’t expect me to learn a lesson from this story.”
“You can’t blame me for trying.” Kem sighed as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.