Greymoore - Session 3

So last night we had the third session of the "Novel" game Greymoore. We were shy a player, Valos, so that is why he doesn't really appear in the update aside from his standing in the tournament. That being said.

The Cast

Liam Callahan - a 16 year old human farm boy who constantly has his head in the clouds (you guessed it. The Hero!). Liam hails from the "Road's End Villages" the far North Western section of the Kingdom of Cimerea, not that anyone particularly remembers that.

Ilian Holhan - An 18 year old apprentice mage Seraphim who has come down to the surface (accompanied by his mentor and master) to further his studies on the weather as well as several other studies for his magical pursuits.. The Seraphim are a race of winged scholars and magi who live high above the clouds.

Abar Dan Rab Beynonn - An 18 year old Azrian Sword Dancer. The Azrian are a tribe of humans that live in cities in the forests (think Sherwood from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves), they are some of the premiere sword fighters in the land, using a style that emphasizes grace and finesse over power.

Darcy Stanton - A Half-Elf Rogue who has been staying with Rab (Abar) among the Azrian for the last few years. She is as close as a sister to Rab, and helps him on the various jobs he undertakes for the Azrian. Despite her time with the Azrian though, Darcy prefers to fight with her knives rather than use a sword.

Grenru Crabshall - A Dwarven caravan guard from the Dwarf's War Caste. Grenru hails from the famed floating cities of the Dwarves, though it has been years since he has seen home. Assigned to a guard a caravan heading to the northern provinces of Cimerea.

Valos Brycewald - The son of one of the six Earls of Cimerea, Valos recently found out that his older 1/2 brother who had long since been thought dead is alive, and that he is no longer the heir apparent. In a quest to prove himself he has taken to wandering the country and entering every tourney he can find in the hopes of making a name for himself and proving to his father that he should be the next Earl.

The Session

The previous session left off with the party deciding that the fastest way to get the prophecy that Ilian was holding to the king would be for one of them to enter into the tournament that was being held in the capital city of Asgoth. Rab being the 'swordsman' of the group volunteered to sign up, and did entering into both the Swords competition and the Grand Melee. Fifteen other skilled fighters signed up for the swords competition including the Crown Prince of Cimerea, a Flower Knight (A custom in Cimerea that allows one to enter anonymously), Sir Malik Hightower, and Valos Brycewald. With Rab in the tournament, the rest of the group enjoyed the festival and the crowds before sitting down to watch the tournament. Cheering Rab on as he made it all the way to the finals which would be held the next day. Valos was eliminated in the quarter finals by the winner of the Joust tournament Sir Vale.

After the first day of fighting the party retired back to the inn they were staying at, The Corsair, for some celebration and relaxing. Feeling entrepreneurial, and not knowing how much traveling funds they may need, Darcy and Rab put on a show with Darcy dancing and Rab singing and playing the Lute in the inn. The show drew quite a crowd, both from the quality of the performance, as well as the fact that a finalist in the Swords competition was performing the night before the Finals were actually held. While Rab and Darcy were playing, Liam spotted a woman he recognized from his dreams leaving the inn and, giving in to compulsion, followed her out into the street.

Outside he caught her turning down a side street, hurrying after her but never quite able to keep up, always just quick enough to see the last wisp of cloak go around a corner as he followed her further and further away from the inn. Grenru, worried about the farm boy out on his own in the big city, tried to follow but found himself in a similar predicament to Liam, never quite able to catch up and just barely managing to keep the distance from growing too much. Eventually though Grenru does manage to catch up to Liam, stopping the boy just before he wandered down a dark alley on his own. Not to be dissuaded however, Liam convinces Grenru to help him find the woman and with the dwarf in tow heads down the alleyway. Down the alleyway, or more precisely in an offshoot off the alleyway, they find the woman's cloak. Still warm from her body, and smelling of Lilies. Liam decides to hold onto the cloak for her as Grenru begins to drag the boy back to the inn, only then recognizing just how lost he's become in the sprawling human city. The two don't make it back to the inn until near dawn.

The next morning finds Liam and Grenru alone in the inn, the others having gone off ahead to the tourney grounds. Liam, awakening from what can only be described as 'pleasant and erotic' dreams finds that Lily's cloak is missing, in its place rests an actual lily along with a note saying 'Thank you'. Pocketing them both, Liam manages to wake Grenru and rush him out the door so they don't miss the end of the tournament.

In the tournament, for the finals of the sword competition Rab faces off against the Flower Knight, who in her victory over the Prince of Cimerea was revealed to be Elise ila Tamera the princess of the neighboring kingdom of the same name (Tamera). Undaunted by the presence of royalty, Rab dives right in, only to find the princess didn't make it to the finals by luck. She manages to drop him to the ground with the back of her shield, backing off to let him recover his feet before they continue. Rab, back on his feet, scores a lucky hit as his blade slips right past the Princess's guard and armor wounding her deeply, her response leaves Rab flat on his back again and barely able to move. Though before being able to hit the fourth, and thus winning, time, the princess collapses as well telling the judge that she can't safely finish the match and so will be withdrawing. The crowd isn't particularly pleased, though considering the fights they've received from Rab, and the fact that he did beat the one who beat their prince all is forgiven quickly.

The swords tournament done, everyone settles back to watch the Grand Melee, where one of Rab's opponent from the swords tournament (Sir Malik Hightower) wins due equal parts to his strength, resilience, and being built very much like a mountain. The fighting over, each contestant is given their prize, the Joust Champion receives a stallion, the Swords champion a master quality blade, and the Grand Melee champion a master quality shield. During the presentation, Rab gives the King the prophecy from Ilian before retiring with the group back to the Corsair once again.

That night, Ilian and Liam once more find themselves dreaming. For Ilian he is living in a small cottage along with close friends and family. The feeling is homely, comfortable, warm, and inviting. As he relaxes in the dream the scene pans out to showing the outside of the cottage. Pulling back further he sees that the cottage is surrounded by an army of approaching creatures and men, an army that stretches for as far as the eye can see. As it keeps pulling back, and ilian gets an idea of just how vast this army is the cottage bursts into flames at the center, and Ilian bolts awake in his inn room to find that the curtains are a flame. Freezing in panic, his cries of 'Fire! Fire!' awakens Darcy and Rab who manage to put it out.

For Liam, the dream starts off much the same, only he is not with friends and family in the small cabin he calls home. Just lying in bed curled up around his wife, a beautiful woman with smoke colored skin looking very much like Lily. As he relaxes, the door is kicked off of it's hinges as an ogre steps in and pulls the trigger on its crossbow. The quarrel goes straight into Lily, killing her instantly and sending Liam into a rage as he grabs a nearby sword and sets about angrily, and violently, hacking the Ogre to pieces.

In the waking world, Grenru is awoken as Liam tossing and turning in his dream lashes out and hits the headboard of the made-for-dwarves bed he is in at the same time his feet hit the footboard. The bed, a solid and thickly built thing made of oak, can't stand up to the pressure and breaks dropping Liam to the floor. Having just put out the fire in her room, and hearing the noise, Darcy rushes over. Managing to stop Grenru from possibly getting hurt by trying to restrain Liam, and taking a more subtle and motherly approach to calming the boy down, which thankfully succeeds.

The morning is almost as eventful as the night, as Ilian in an attempt to be helpful, and figuring he knows what makes a bed, attempts to use magic to fix the bed that Liam broke. Even with his understanding, and a masterful control of the magic, he gets more than he bargains for as he brings the wood of the bed back to life, enabling itself to mend the broken connections even stronger than before. At the same time, the head-board begins to sprout branches and leaves that reach to the ceiling before they stop as Ilian watches on in part horror, part fascination. Things don't get better as a scream from below alerts them to the fact that the bed also grew roots.

Darcy just barely manages to calm the innkeeper and his wife down about the situation just moments before a messenger from the King arrives and informs them the King wishes them in the castle should he have need of them on hand. This is also when everyone realizes that Liam has received a package, a good quality shield along with a note wishing him 'good luck'. The group packs their things up and heads out for the castle, everyone almost immediately scattering to the winds to explore and leaving Darcy alone in their suite of rooms with her memories of a place that was a lot like this castle.

The session ended there with Rab and Liam finding Malik who agreed to give Liam some sword lessons, and Grenru and Ilian climbing the highest tower they could find in the castle so Ilian could feel the sky. Darcy, left alone, curled into a ball in the corner with memories of dying people and a burning castle running rampant in her mind.