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Friday, June 5

Chapter 54: The Nǎoké - Introduction

This scenario begins with a scene from the Necromancer Games adventure, “The Isle of Bonjo Tombo” from the Dead Man’s Chest supplement, set in the Arcanis setting and continues with “The Viceroy of India” adapted from the Tatters of the King Call of Cthulhu supplement by Tim Wiseman. You can read more about Arcanis at http://www.onaraonline.org. Please note: This adventure contains spoilers!

Our cast of characters includes:

• Dungeon Master: Michael Tresca (http://michael.tresca.net)
• Beldin Soulforge (dwarf fighter/dwarven defender) played by Joe Lalumia
• Ilmarė Galen (elf bard/fighter/seeker of the cerulean sign) played by Amber Tresca
• Kham Val’Abebi (val rogue/psychic warrior) played by Jeremy Ortiz (http://jeremyrobertortiz.blogspot.com/)
• Vlad Martell (human fighter) played by Matt Hammer

Where last we left our heroes, they were in dire straits. Sebastian had sacrificed himself to save Arcanis by leading the King in Yellow to Carcosa. Kham, who ended up being the key to opening the gate to Carcosa, had his throat slit by the King in Yellow and barely survived. Ilmarė was pregnant and exhausted from her journey through a Ssethregoran portal. And their allies had been taken hostage by Cho Sun, the dreaded Khitani pirate. With no way home and few options, Vlad and Beldin are getting frustrated. And there’s nothing more dangerous that two frustrated fighters.

I changed the name of the ship from the original adventure (it was called the Rapier) to the Kitana, for want of a better “Khitani-sounding” name. But as Jeremy pointed out, that’s not much better. So I changed it to Nǎoké. It means “skull” in Chinese. I thought it fitting since Cho Sun and his men were known as the Brotherhood of the Skull.

This is the adventure where Beldin picks up a magic item that changes his relationship with the sea, for the better. This is also our heroes’ first real nautical adventure, complete with swashbuckling heroics, giant sea monsters (two!), romance, betrayal, and the pirate life. As Beldin soon discovers, the life of a pirate may seem glamorous on the surface, but deep down it ain’t pretty. [MORE]

Labels: arcanis

posted by Mike Tresca at 6:37 AM

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