Post by Bruce on Jul 30, 2017 11:40:39 GMT
GM’s Observations - Part 1
- During the ten year time compress, Grant decided to go back to Florin and see if he can recover the imprisoned Princess (last seen in Session 44).
- Also, I finished my 96 page notebook which I use for note-taking during the sessions. It took me eight months of gameplay to fill it, hence S115 is the first session in a notebook. In it, I recorded what David and I agreed would be the flavour of the next story arc. The words say: “MORE FUN. MORE MAYHEM. LESS RESPONSIBILITY. MORE GIRLS. MORE VILLAINS.” Basically we’ve done a number of serious story arcs and we have heaped a lot on Grant and Ethan’s shoulders. We decided that it was time to get back to basics for a bit - two friends, back together on the Stair, getting into trouble together.
Interlude - Return to Bloodstone
- Upon returning to Realm 0 (Earth), Ethan contacts Abbie and finds out that she and Marc went their separate ways after only three weeks. All Ethan’s worries about losing Abbie were completely unfounded. Even though there was a spark between the two of them, there was also a very wide gulf. Ethan and Abbie both feel a little foolish, but it is not long before they are getting along once more. Ethan tells Abbie about his adventures in the Legendary Realm and she is interested in visiting.
- Ethan visits Bloodstone once more with Abbie, carrying gold from Realm 7 (the Dragon Hoard) to pay the Royal Dragoons. Abbie is introduced the Baron as Lady Abigail, a sorcerer. To their surprise, they find that the Baron has already hired a elderly wizard named Emlyn who has taken up residence in the town, and Abbie become friends with Emlyn in record time. Emlyn offers to tutor her in new magics. Aelfwynn is astonished and more than a little intimidated by Lady Abigail (Abbie). It seems obvious to her that Ethan is out of her reach and she becomes very sad.
- Ethan finds that there are still problems in the Bloodstone Valley to deal with - mostly orcs - but the Bloodstone forces are more than capable of dealing with the threats. Ethan and Abbie return to Realm 0 as a couple once more.
- Three months later, Ethan receives an Icon contact from Lady Aelfwynn - he is able to grab a few items before he accepts, but at the instant he does he is flung into the Legendary Realm in the middle of the frozen north. Aware that this is one of the pitfalls of accepting an Icon contact from someone within the Legendary Realm, he is nonetheless surprised to find himself nowhere near Bloodstone. Worse still, his Sorcery does not work in the frozen wastes. It as though all magic and life is being sucked out of this place. He uses Wayfinding to find his way out of the frozen north (found to be the northern kingdom of Vaasa) and then transports himself to Bloodstone.
- In Bloodstone Pass, the winter is more severe than any they have seen before. Baron Tranth and Lady Aelfwynn ask for Ethan’s assistance, and he uses Eidolon to restore the natural order of the valley, softening the winter. Leaving the Legendary Realm once more, he contacts Grant and asks for his help to investigate the peculiar weather, and also informs Abbie. Abbie decides to join them, taking Stolvir with her into the Legendary Realm (much to the shock of the villagers - they have never seen a friendly white wolf of Stolvir’s size before).
- Grant quickly deduces that the Witch King of Vaasa is behind the extreme winter. The epicentre is a high mountain deep in the Galena Mountains that is blanketed with ice and snow. Grant decides that the source of the magic is deep underground and that the abandoned Bloodstone Mines may be connected to what is going on. A group of adventurers heads across the frozen countryside to investigate. The party consists of Princes Grant and Ethan, Captain Olric (of the Royal Dragoons), Lady Abigail and Stolvir, Tamal (the dwarf who has become a good friend of Grant’s) and an adventurer named Gareth Dragonsbane (who arrived in the village after the bandit army was defeated). Over the course of the next few days they delve well beneath the old mines into unexplored deeper levels.
- In the depths of the earth, the group encounters a race of deep gnomes led by King Ruggedo who are under siege from a race of fell dwarves that have been corrupted by Umbra. Again, the heroes go to war, this time in the bowels of the Underdark. The fighting is fierce and again, the fell dwarves clearly have powerful allies. To break the deadlock, Grant and Ethan decide to break into the dwarven hive and find the source of their Umbral power. They find a temple dedicated to none other than Lord Mowbray, and the fell dwarves are attempting to give him new life. The two friends disrupt the rituals, slay many of the temple priests and ultimately collapse the entire temple complex. Unfortunately the fell dwarves continue to fight on, and Grant and Ethan once more use their mastery of the Greater Powers to tip the balance, burying the fell dwarves miles down in the deep earth.
- In the aftermath, Grant strikes an accord with King Ruggedo - the Bloodstone mines will be reopened with the deep gnomes’ help, and a tithe will be paid to the underground king. To avoid Bloodstone having to sell the gemstones at the Free City of Heliogabalus and attracting the attention of the other nearby baronies and duchies (fragments of all that is left of the Kingdom of Damara), Ethan offers to buy the gemstones (using gold from the Dragon Horde in Realm 7) for the time being. It is understood that word will get out sooner or later, but they seek to delay the inevitable as long as possible. Neither Grant nor Ethan have any interest in fighting yet another war - and the next one will likely be bad. The Legendary Realm seems to be creating ever-increasing challenges for them.
Part 1 - Return to the Sparrowhawk
- It has been many years since Grant first saw the Princess in the Glass Mountain. She has been asleep in a massive fortress of transparent crystal for hundreds of years - apparently only a Prince can rescue her, and only by climbing the mountain. Flying to the summit doesn’t work. Grant has long desired to become a Prince and he believes that he has now done so, by becoming Prince Grant of Damara (from the Legendary Realms). Grant has kept secret his desire to return for many years, but he confides in Ethan that he wants to rescue her. She is the most beautiful girl that he has ever seen. (GM’s note - yes, love at first sight is a killer, eh?) Ethan agrees to go with Grant - he even teases Grant that he might get to the summit first and hence a good natured contest is struck.
- Grant tells Ethan the story that he heard years ago from a merchant called Tolliver whom he travelled with. He tells Ethan:
- Grant explains that for five hundred years brave knights and princes have tried to scale the peak but it has defeated them all. The peak is made of smooth, indestructible glass and the slopes are very very steep. It is possible to fly to the top of the mountain, of course, but the crystal will not open for anyone who has not actually climbed up the side of the mountain. The merchant Tolliver told him that Prince Christian of Normark flew up on dragon-back more than thirty years ago but it still would not open for him. Even magicians have tried to break the spell but none have succeeded.
- The friends decide to board the sky ship Sparrowhawk (which has a Door to the Stair) and travel in comfort from Guilder, onto Florin and then Dinar. They organise fine clothes (which Raine of Marindar makes for them) and book cabins upon arrival. Ethan is carrying a large duffel bag - when Grant asks what he is carrying, Ethan simply says that he plans to get to the top first.
* Image by TerryLH on DeviantART
- On board the Sparrowhawk, they are treated very well - Grant and Ethan are both invited to the Captain’s table for dinner one night. They meet a young boy of sixteen named Prince Hans (GM’s note - a reference to Prince Hans from Frozen which I couldn’t resist) who is also going to try to win the Princess, Colonel Wolff (a high ranking officer within Dinar’s army and in the service of King Adolphus) and Count Ducat. Count Ducat is just as obnoxious as Grant remembers, but last time he was impersonating someone else and hence the Count does not recognise him. Sure enough, a duel results and Grant cuts off half of the Count’s impressive moustache to demonstrate his superior swordsmanship.
- As they travel across Europa, both Grant and Ethan enjoy their cruise and the parties onboard. A young noble, Charlotte, becomes smitten with Grant and they hook up. It’s a friendly, no strings attached sort of relationship as Grant is clearly heading to Dinar in order to rescue the Princess. Grant also strikes up a friendship with Prince Hans, who appears naive and very much out of his depth.
Part 2 - Preparing for the Ascent
- Arriving in Dinar, Grant and Ethan find lodgings in an expensive inn called the Red Fox. The next morning they look around the quaint mediaeval township. A lot of the people are setting up for the festival, and there is a market selling fresh produce in the town square. Grant and Ethan separately look over the mountain - it is over three hundred metres high and is very sheer. Grant sees Prince Pieter checking his equipment - he appears to be planning to use normal climbing equipment. He checks that he is able to jam some pitons into the lower sections. Grant himself tests his shapeshifting to confirm that he can adjust his fingertips and adhere to the surface like Spiderman.
- Grant also finds Prince Horatio with a giant mechanical centipede. Each of its legs has a giant suction cup attached. Grant has met Prince Horatio before but the Prince does not recognise him as last time, Grant was in disguise. Last time Prince Horatio was using a giant mechanical spider but it broke down part-way up the face. This seems to be an evolution of his previous attempts. Grant chats with Prince Horatio - apparently it is his 13th attempt. Grant gets the impression that he isn’t particularly interested in reaching the Princess. He’s here for the intellectual challenge and the opportunity to test out his latest machine.
- In rounding the mountain, Grant finds Ethan eyeing the mountain details with a spyglass. He merely smiles and says nothing.
Part 3 - The Festival
- By the afternoon the festival is in full swing and Grant enjoys himself. He spots some bookmakers taking odds on the known Princes, whether it be to the first to scale the mountain, to the first to fall off. Grant considers placing a wager on himself, but thinks better of it.
- In the afternoon there is a call for silence. On the stage is King Adolphus, the faerie lord Luxin, the faerie princess Titania (who is wreathed in floating flowers) and the dragon high lord Silvan (in human form he has pale skin and pure silver hair). The King’s representative greets the crowd and bids them welcome on the King’s behalf. He then asks Titania to cast the customary spell that will identify the royal-blood Princes who will compete in this year’s ascent.
- Titania casts her spell and a cloud of bright coloured flowers descends over the crowd. The flowers gather around and then settle on the royal-blood Princes. The flowers identify Princes Pieter, Hans, Gustav, Horatio, Grant, Ethan and Rinaldo but do not settle on Rinaldo. Grant is surprised to see Rinaldo once more. Rinaldo is standing beside a woman who is obviously his wife - even though he is of royal blood, he has no intention of participating. Grant wishes he could talk to Rinaldo again, but again Rinaldo would probably not know him.
Part 4 - Annual Ball
- That evening, Prince Grant dances happily with Charlotte. Prince Rinaldo seems to be very happy dancing with his wife. The others are polite but cordial. In between dances, Grant talks amicably with Hans once more. They notice that Horatio has decided to have an early night.
- Ethan’s experience of the ball is most unfortunate. A lady of the court takes particular interest in him, and it is clear that she is husband hunting. She is pushy to the point of being rude, and loud to the point of being obnoxious, and she clings to him like a bad smell. After trying to be patient with this behaviour (and it is obvious to him that her intentions are anything but honourable), he uses Psyche to befuddle her, leaving her feeling faint and unable to dance further.
- Grant notes that Ethan is leaving the party and decides to call it quits as well.
Part 5 - Faerie Mayhem
- As Grant and Ethan make their way out of the royal residence, they are warned by one of the King’s staff that the celebrations are continuing outside and that the faeries are having their ‘fun’. They are advised to proceed directly to their lodgings to avoid being bewitched.
- Outside it is complete mayhem. A crowd of revellers are being dowsed by sparkling pixie dust and some of them are behaving very oddly. A pink frog swims through the air as though this is a perfectly normal thing. Some of the peasants are getting very frisky with one another, all inhibitions gone. Occasionally a handful of tiny faeries fly overhead, stopping occasionally to cast spells from tiny twig-like wands before moving on.
- Grant and Ethan find Princes Hans and Gustav have not made it back to their lodgings. Instead they are having an argument on the street. The argument is over who will own an unnaturally bright blue kitten that is mewing softly at their feet. Before Grant can ask what is going on, Gustav draws his rapier and suddenly he attacks Prince Hans. There is a clash of steel, and Grant decides to try to pick up the cat and get rid of it. As he attempts to do so, the kitten’s eyes glow burning red and a voice in Grant’s head tells him not to touch ‘the kitty’.
- With gnomes hopping across the street on green bunny rabbits, and a faun chasing a giggling girl, Grant tries to break up the fight. As he does so, a faerie dumps green pixie dust on him, turning him an assortment of rainbow colours. It takes him about five minutes to make sure that the two Princes aren’t going to kill each other, and by that time, he realises that Ethan has disappeared.
- Grant decides that Ethan can take care of himself and he heads to bed, passing some stunned peasants who are looking upwards as though there are some fireworks exploding above them that only they can see.
- Meanwhile Ethan has decided to play some tricks on the faeries themselves - as they cast spells at the peasants, he casts spells back at them, or counters what they are doing. As they grow foot long moustaches or lose all of their hair, the faeries figure out what he is doing and they start a magical spell-ball fight. Ethan ends up with a pig’s tail, blue hair that won’t stop moving (even though there is no wind), floating a few centimetres off the ground and drifting without being able to touch the ground to walk and wearing rainbow coloured clothes.
- Time passes as Ethan has a lot of fun, and the faeries have a lot of fun with him. He completely loses track of time as he drinks some of the offered faerie wine, and is encouraged to party all night (which he does). Somewhere in the haze of the evening’s festivities, he meets up with Fleur and Bettina (from Session 110). Ethan is surprised to see them because this isn’t the Legendary Realm, but Fleur chuckles and says that the fey have their own magic (she doesn’t explain what she means by that). Ethan dreams and he isn’t sure what is real and what is not anymore. He doesn’t get back to his lodgings that night.
Part 6 - Beginning the Ascent
- The next morning, Grant has a hearty breakfast and wonders where Ethan has gotten to. He doesn’t bother trying to contact him via Icon, figuring that he’ll show up. But at 9:20am when the climb is only ten minutes away from starting, Grant starts getting a little worried about where Ethan has gone.
- Ethan wakes up only a few minutes before the event. He is very mixed up but then he remembers what he is supposed to be doing and he hurries back to his lodgings to pick up his duffel bag. Arriving at the event just before the King’s representative gives the go ahead, Grant shakes his head at his friend, but Ethan merely offers a wink.
- At 9:30am, the Princes begin to climb. Prince Pieter uses rope and pitons. Prince Horatio powers up his centipede machine (which unfortunately then stalls). Princes Hans and Gustav seem intent on climbing the same face and Grant thinks that Gustav means to murder Hans on the face so he decides to position himself between them.
- Grant uses Umbra to adhere himself to the face like Spiderman and slowly he begins to climb. A commentator from below calls out how each of the Princes is doing so Grant has some idea how is going relative to the others. In the first ten minutes, Grant climbs about a third of the way up. It is slower going than he expected and the section above looks harder. Prince Horatio still can’t seem to get his machine started. But at least both Hans and Gustav seem to be focused on the climb and not on murdering each other any more.
- With a loud bang, Ethan fires a projectile at the top of the mountain. He is using a massive rifle with a suction cup and conventional rope - but somehow he missed the top of the mountain. Grant laughs. Ethan will never live this down - how can one miss a mountain? But Ethan calmly reloads and prepares to fire again.
Part 7 - The Black Hounds
- The second section of the ascent is rough and jagged rather than smooth, making it even more difficult for Grant. He hears that he is in the lead, and suddenly there is a roar from the crowd as Prince Horatio’s machine has started. It moves towards the face and begins to climb slowly but steadily.
- There is another bang and Ethan’s second projectile hits the upper section of the mountain and sticks. Ethan begins to climb the conventional way as he has a strong anchor point.
- Then suddenly there is a faint gust of wind above Grant and a small quantity of blue pixie dust falls towards him. He uses Umbra to counter it, but he wonders where it came from. As if in response, black faerie hounds step out of the glass mountain from further up the face and in complete defiance of gravity, they begin running towards Grant as though the vertical face was a horizontal plane.
- Despite the difficulty of using Gorgorin whilst climbing, Grant manages to drive them off, and ‘kills’ two of them. They vanish in a bloom of black smoke. Grant climbs further, to the beginning of the third and most treacherous section of the face.
Part 8 - The Red Cap
- Looking down, Grant notes that Hans and Gustav have started bickering again, but neither of them has managed to climb beyond he first section of the face yet. The third section is very difficult - it is almost vertical, very smooth and it seems to resist efforts to stick to it. Grant is able to adjust his form to continue climbing, but it is more difficult than he expected.
- Meanwhile Ethan climbs easily using the well secured rope. He makes good progress but then strange faerie worms start climbing down the rope towards him from the anchor point above, forcing him to use some sorcery to remove them. This slows him down, and then he spies a little man with a red hat grinning at him from above. The little man shows him sharp teeth and then begins to cut strands of fibre off Ethan’s climbing rope. As he cuts away each strand, he dangles it over the drop and then lets it fall to the ground far below. Ethan grits his teeth and tries to climb faster. With each strand, the rope becomes weaker.
- Grant continues on but is buffeted by a strong wind that hits him with significant force. Grant can tell that there is some sort of air spirit here, and he uses Umbra to dissuade it from attacking again. Carrying on, the mountain goes beyond vertical, forcing him to cling to a small overhang with precious little purchase to hold on to. Using all of his strength, Grant claws his way up the last few metres of the climb and onto the landing outside the Princess’ cave.
Part 9 - Not While I am King
- Expecting trouble, Grant braces himself and sure enough, he is hit full force by a mighty wind that threatens to hurl him from the mountain. He sees King Adolphus directing the air magic at him, and his bodyguard Colonel Wolff is there. Using Umbra and raw Strength to hold his position, Grant stands firm. Colonel Wolff draws a rapier and goes to engage him - but Grant simply pitches him over the edge. The poor Colonel falls to the ground below, to the astonishment of the crowd.
- King Adolphus reinforces his magics in an attempt to drive Grant off the mountain. It all makes sense for Grant. The Princess in the Glass Mountain has a stronger claim to the throne than the current King does. Despite the winds tearing at him, Grant marches forward and attempts to convince the King to surrender. With fury written over his face, the King intensifies his efforts to drive Grant off the precipice. Grant hits the King with a single light blow and lays him out cold.
Part 10 - The Princess in the Glass Mountain
- In the heart of the Glass Mountain, the Princess lies asleep - she hasn’t aged a day. But this time he sees a metal whistle on top of the glass case that wasn’t there before. Raising it to his lips, Grant gently blows and there is a faint tinkling sound. Cracks form in the case. The ground shakes a little.
* Image by Jet097 on DeviantART
- The Princess moves. She opens her eyes. She is disoriented but Grant helps her out of her resting place, and escorts her out of the glass tunnel. The shields her eyes from the bright light. When she speaks, Grant realises that she doesn’t speak the native tongue - she speaks an older language which he can understand but few others are likely to.
- Stepping out of the cave, Grant and the Princess appear on the outcrop - the crowd goes wild below as they see that he has freed the Princess after more than five hundred years. Grant finds that the tinkling of glass has revealed a way down from the mountain. A staircase down has been revealed.
- Suddenly, a figure lands on the platform behind them with a thud. It is Ethan - he has climbed over the top of the mountain. Clutching a red cap in his hand, he stares at Grant and the Princess and realises that he is too late. Grant gives him a slight smile and then continues to escort the Princess down the mountain.
- In the days that follow, the Princess finds herself a woman out of time. Only Grant and Ethan can understand her, and she is alone in a strange land. She was only seventeen years old when Maulkind’s curse fell - she remains a bewildered seventeen year old girl, albeit a very gifted one. She still has all of the other faerie blessings that were bestowed upon her when she was born.
- Grant is astonished by this - he fell in love with a face and an ideal, but the practical reality is very different. Princess Athelwyne is young, and very vulnerable.
- During the ten year time compress, Grant decided to go back to Florin and see if he can recover the imprisoned Princess (last seen in Session 44).
- Also, I finished my 96 page notebook which I use for note-taking during the sessions. It took me eight months of gameplay to fill it, hence S115 is the first session in a notebook. In it, I recorded what David and I agreed would be the flavour of the next story arc. The words say: “MORE FUN. MORE MAYHEM. LESS RESPONSIBILITY. MORE GIRLS. MORE VILLAINS.” Basically we’ve done a number of serious story arcs and we have heaped a lot on Grant and Ethan’s shoulders. We decided that it was time to get back to basics for a bit - two friends, back together on the Stair, getting into trouble together.
Interlude - Return to Bloodstone
- Upon returning to Realm 0 (Earth), Ethan contacts Abbie and finds out that she and Marc went their separate ways after only three weeks. All Ethan’s worries about losing Abbie were completely unfounded. Even though there was a spark between the two of them, there was also a very wide gulf. Ethan and Abbie both feel a little foolish, but it is not long before they are getting along once more. Ethan tells Abbie about his adventures in the Legendary Realm and she is interested in visiting.
- Ethan visits Bloodstone once more with Abbie, carrying gold from Realm 7 (the Dragon Hoard) to pay the Royal Dragoons. Abbie is introduced the Baron as Lady Abigail, a sorcerer. To their surprise, they find that the Baron has already hired a elderly wizard named Emlyn who has taken up residence in the town, and Abbie become friends with Emlyn in record time. Emlyn offers to tutor her in new magics. Aelfwynn is astonished and more than a little intimidated by Lady Abigail (Abbie). It seems obvious to her that Ethan is out of her reach and she becomes very sad.
- Ethan finds that there are still problems in the Bloodstone Valley to deal with - mostly orcs - but the Bloodstone forces are more than capable of dealing with the threats. Ethan and Abbie return to Realm 0 as a couple once more.
- Three months later, Ethan receives an Icon contact from Lady Aelfwynn - he is able to grab a few items before he accepts, but at the instant he does he is flung into the Legendary Realm in the middle of the frozen north. Aware that this is one of the pitfalls of accepting an Icon contact from someone within the Legendary Realm, he is nonetheless surprised to find himself nowhere near Bloodstone. Worse still, his Sorcery does not work in the frozen wastes. It as though all magic and life is being sucked out of this place. He uses Wayfinding to find his way out of the frozen north (found to be the northern kingdom of Vaasa) and then transports himself to Bloodstone.
- In Bloodstone Pass, the winter is more severe than any they have seen before. Baron Tranth and Lady Aelfwynn ask for Ethan’s assistance, and he uses Eidolon to restore the natural order of the valley, softening the winter. Leaving the Legendary Realm once more, he contacts Grant and asks for his help to investigate the peculiar weather, and also informs Abbie. Abbie decides to join them, taking Stolvir with her into the Legendary Realm (much to the shock of the villagers - they have never seen a friendly white wolf of Stolvir’s size before).
- Grant quickly deduces that the Witch King of Vaasa is behind the extreme winter. The epicentre is a high mountain deep in the Galena Mountains that is blanketed with ice and snow. Grant decides that the source of the magic is deep underground and that the abandoned Bloodstone Mines may be connected to what is going on. A group of adventurers heads across the frozen countryside to investigate. The party consists of Princes Grant and Ethan, Captain Olric (of the Royal Dragoons), Lady Abigail and Stolvir, Tamal (the dwarf who has become a good friend of Grant’s) and an adventurer named Gareth Dragonsbane (who arrived in the village after the bandit army was defeated). Over the course of the next few days they delve well beneath the old mines into unexplored deeper levels.
- In the depths of the earth, the group encounters a race of deep gnomes led by King Ruggedo who are under siege from a race of fell dwarves that have been corrupted by Umbra. Again, the heroes go to war, this time in the bowels of the Underdark. The fighting is fierce and again, the fell dwarves clearly have powerful allies. To break the deadlock, Grant and Ethan decide to break into the dwarven hive and find the source of their Umbral power. They find a temple dedicated to none other than Lord Mowbray, and the fell dwarves are attempting to give him new life. The two friends disrupt the rituals, slay many of the temple priests and ultimately collapse the entire temple complex. Unfortunately the fell dwarves continue to fight on, and Grant and Ethan once more use their mastery of the Greater Powers to tip the balance, burying the fell dwarves miles down in the deep earth.
- In the aftermath, Grant strikes an accord with King Ruggedo - the Bloodstone mines will be reopened with the deep gnomes’ help, and a tithe will be paid to the underground king. To avoid Bloodstone having to sell the gemstones at the Free City of Heliogabalus and attracting the attention of the other nearby baronies and duchies (fragments of all that is left of the Kingdom of Damara), Ethan offers to buy the gemstones (using gold from the Dragon Horde in Realm 7) for the time being. It is understood that word will get out sooner or later, but they seek to delay the inevitable as long as possible. Neither Grant nor Ethan have any interest in fighting yet another war - and the next one will likely be bad. The Legendary Realm seems to be creating ever-increasing challenges for them.
Part 1 - Return to the Sparrowhawk
- It has been many years since Grant first saw the Princess in the Glass Mountain. She has been asleep in a massive fortress of transparent crystal for hundreds of years - apparently only a Prince can rescue her, and only by climbing the mountain. Flying to the summit doesn’t work. Grant has long desired to become a Prince and he believes that he has now done so, by becoming Prince Grant of Damara (from the Legendary Realms). Grant has kept secret his desire to return for many years, but he confides in Ethan that he wants to rescue her. She is the most beautiful girl that he has ever seen. (GM’s note - yes, love at first sight is a killer, eh?) Ethan agrees to go with Grant - he even teases Grant that he might get to the summit first and hence a good natured contest is struck.
- Grant tells Ethan the story that he heard years ago from a merchant called Tolliver whom he travelled with. He tells Ethan:
Almost five hundred years ago the Queen of the time gave birth to her first child, a daughter. All of the local notables were invited to the baby’s christening - Faerie lords and ladies, Dragons, nobility and wizards. Unfortunately the King and Queen neglected to invite a very powerful and bad-tempered witch named Maulkind. Everyone know how badly witches react to that kind of social snub, and Maulkind was particularly touchy about it. She arrived at the christening anyway, and the entire company was in terror lest the old woman pronounce some dreadful curse on the child.
But Maulkind said nothing during the christening. After the other guests had presented their gifts for the child, she strode forward and said to the Queen, "She is a handsome baby, and will grow up to be a lovely woman. Such a beautiful Princess should have a fitting husband. I predict that only the bravest and cleverest Prince in all the world will marry the Princess.” Mounting her broom, Maulkind flew away cackling, while the entire court breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone thought well of the witch for being so generous after the King and Queen neglected to invite her. It was years before they discovered what Maulkind's words at the christening really meant. On the morning of the Princess’ seventeenth birthday, the King and Queen were horrified to discover she was missing from her chambers. Outside the capital city, a strange new mountain stood - a peak of sheer glass a thousand feet tall. In a cave atop the mountain the Princess lay embedded in the crystal, fast asleep.
But Maulkind said nothing during the christening. After the other guests had presented their gifts for the child, she strode forward and said to the Queen, "She is a handsome baby, and will grow up to be a lovely woman. Such a beautiful Princess should have a fitting husband. I predict that only the bravest and cleverest Prince in all the world will marry the Princess.” Mounting her broom, Maulkind flew away cackling, while the entire court breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone thought well of the witch for being so generous after the King and Queen neglected to invite her. It was years before they discovered what Maulkind's words at the christening really meant. On the morning of the Princess’ seventeenth birthday, the King and Queen were horrified to discover she was missing from her chambers. Outside the capital city, a strange new mountain stood - a peak of sheer glass a thousand feet tall. In a cave atop the mountain the Princess lay embedded in the crystal, fast asleep.
- Grant explains that for five hundred years brave knights and princes have tried to scale the peak but it has defeated them all. The peak is made of smooth, indestructible glass and the slopes are very very steep. It is possible to fly to the top of the mountain, of course, but the crystal will not open for anyone who has not actually climbed up the side of the mountain. The merchant Tolliver told him that Prince Christian of Normark flew up on dragon-back more than thirty years ago but it still would not open for him. Even magicians have tried to break the spell but none have succeeded.
- The friends decide to board the sky ship Sparrowhawk (which has a Door to the Stair) and travel in comfort from Guilder, onto Florin and then Dinar. They organise fine clothes (which Raine of Marindar makes for them) and book cabins upon arrival. Ethan is carrying a large duffel bag - when Grant asks what he is carrying, Ethan simply says that he plans to get to the top first.
* Image by TerryLH on DeviantART
- On board the Sparrowhawk, they are treated very well - Grant and Ethan are both invited to the Captain’s table for dinner one night. They meet a young boy of sixteen named Prince Hans (GM’s note - a reference to Prince Hans from Frozen which I couldn’t resist) who is also going to try to win the Princess, Colonel Wolff (a high ranking officer within Dinar’s army and in the service of King Adolphus) and Count Ducat. Count Ducat is just as obnoxious as Grant remembers, but last time he was impersonating someone else and hence the Count does not recognise him. Sure enough, a duel results and Grant cuts off half of the Count’s impressive moustache to demonstrate his superior swordsmanship.
- As they travel across Europa, both Grant and Ethan enjoy their cruise and the parties onboard. A young noble, Charlotte, becomes smitten with Grant and they hook up. It’s a friendly, no strings attached sort of relationship as Grant is clearly heading to Dinar in order to rescue the Princess. Grant also strikes up a friendship with Prince Hans, who appears naive and very much out of his depth.
Part 2 - Preparing for the Ascent
- Arriving in Dinar, Grant and Ethan find lodgings in an expensive inn called the Red Fox. The next morning they look around the quaint mediaeval township. A lot of the people are setting up for the festival, and there is a market selling fresh produce in the town square. Grant and Ethan separately look over the mountain - it is over three hundred metres high and is very sheer. Grant sees Prince Pieter checking his equipment - he appears to be planning to use normal climbing equipment. He checks that he is able to jam some pitons into the lower sections. Grant himself tests his shapeshifting to confirm that he can adjust his fingertips and adhere to the surface like Spiderman.
- Grant also finds Prince Horatio with a giant mechanical centipede. Each of its legs has a giant suction cup attached. Grant has met Prince Horatio before but the Prince does not recognise him as last time, Grant was in disguise. Last time Prince Horatio was using a giant mechanical spider but it broke down part-way up the face. This seems to be an evolution of his previous attempts. Grant chats with Prince Horatio - apparently it is his 13th attempt. Grant gets the impression that he isn’t particularly interested in reaching the Princess. He’s here for the intellectual challenge and the opportunity to test out his latest machine.
- In rounding the mountain, Grant finds Ethan eyeing the mountain details with a spyglass. He merely smiles and says nothing.
Part 3 - The Festival
- By the afternoon the festival is in full swing and Grant enjoys himself. He spots some bookmakers taking odds on the known Princes, whether it be to the first to scale the mountain, to the first to fall off. Grant considers placing a wager on himself, but thinks better of it.
- In the afternoon there is a call for silence. On the stage is King Adolphus, the faerie lord Luxin, the faerie princess Titania (who is wreathed in floating flowers) and the dragon high lord Silvan (in human form he has pale skin and pure silver hair). The King’s representative greets the crowd and bids them welcome on the King’s behalf. He then asks Titania to cast the customary spell that will identify the royal-blood Princes who will compete in this year’s ascent.
- Titania casts her spell and a cloud of bright coloured flowers descends over the crowd. The flowers gather around and then settle on the royal-blood Princes. The flowers identify Princes Pieter, Hans, Gustav, Horatio, Grant, Ethan and Rinaldo but do not settle on Rinaldo. Grant is surprised to see Rinaldo once more. Rinaldo is standing beside a woman who is obviously his wife - even though he is of royal blood, he has no intention of participating. Grant wishes he could talk to Rinaldo again, but again Rinaldo would probably not know him.
Part 4 - Annual Ball
- That evening, Prince Grant dances happily with Charlotte. Prince Rinaldo seems to be very happy dancing with his wife. The others are polite but cordial. In between dances, Grant talks amicably with Hans once more. They notice that Horatio has decided to have an early night.
- Ethan’s experience of the ball is most unfortunate. A lady of the court takes particular interest in him, and it is clear that she is husband hunting. She is pushy to the point of being rude, and loud to the point of being obnoxious, and she clings to him like a bad smell. After trying to be patient with this behaviour (and it is obvious to him that her intentions are anything but honourable), he uses Psyche to befuddle her, leaving her feeling faint and unable to dance further.
- Grant notes that Ethan is leaving the party and decides to call it quits as well.
Part 5 - Faerie Mayhem
- As Grant and Ethan make their way out of the royal residence, they are warned by one of the King’s staff that the celebrations are continuing outside and that the faeries are having their ‘fun’. They are advised to proceed directly to their lodgings to avoid being bewitched.
- Outside it is complete mayhem. A crowd of revellers are being dowsed by sparkling pixie dust and some of them are behaving very oddly. A pink frog swims through the air as though this is a perfectly normal thing. Some of the peasants are getting very frisky with one another, all inhibitions gone. Occasionally a handful of tiny faeries fly overhead, stopping occasionally to cast spells from tiny twig-like wands before moving on.
- Grant and Ethan find Princes Hans and Gustav have not made it back to their lodgings. Instead they are having an argument on the street. The argument is over who will own an unnaturally bright blue kitten that is mewing softly at their feet. Before Grant can ask what is going on, Gustav draws his rapier and suddenly he attacks Prince Hans. There is a clash of steel, and Grant decides to try to pick up the cat and get rid of it. As he attempts to do so, the kitten’s eyes glow burning red and a voice in Grant’s head tells him not to touch ‘the kitty’.
- With gnomes hopping across the street on green bunny rabbits, and a faun chasing a giggling girl, Grant tries to break up the fight. As he does so, a faerie dumps green pixie dust on him, turning him an assortment of rainbow colours. It takes him about five minutes to make sure that the two Princes aren’t going to kill each other, and by that time, he realises that Ethan has disappeared.
- Grant decides that Ethan can take care of himself and he heads to bed, passing some stunned peasants who are looking upwards as though there are some fireworks exploding above them that only they can see.
- Meanwhile Ethan has decided to play some tricks on the faeries themselves - as they cast spells at the peasants, he casts spells back at them, or counters what they are doing. As they grow foot long moustaches or lose all of their hair, the faeries figure out what he is doing and they start a magical spell-ball fight. Ethan ends up with a pig’s tail, blue hair that won’t stop moving (even though there is no wind), floating a few centimetres off the ground and drifting without being able to touch the ground to walk and wearing rainbow coloured clothes.
- Time passes as Ethan has a lot of fun, and the faeries have a lot of fun with him. He completely loses track of time as he drinks some of the offered faerie wine, and is encouraged to party all night (which he does). Somewhere in the haze of the evening’s festivities, he meets up with Fleur and Bettina (from Session 110). Ethan is surprised to see them because this isn’t the Legendary Realm, but Fleur chuckles and says that the fey have their own magic (she doesn’t explain what she means by that). Ethan dreams and he isn’t sure what is real and what is not anymore. He doesn’t get back to his lodgings that night.
Part 6 - Beginning the Ascent
- The next morning, Grant has a hearty breakfast and wonders where Ethan has gotten to. He doesn’t bother trying to contact him via Icon, figuring that he’ll show up. But at 9:20am when the climb is only ten minutes away from starting, Grant starts getting a little worried about where Ethan has gone.
- Ethan wakes up only a few minutes before the event. He is very mixed up but then he remembers what he is supposed to be doing and he hurries back to his lodgings to pick up his duffel bag. Arriving at the event just before the King’s representative gives the go ahead, Grant shakes his head at his friend, but Ethan merely offers a wink.
- At 9:30am, the Princes begin to climb. Prince Pieter uses rope and pitons. Prince Horatio powers up his centipede machine (which unfortunately then stalls). Princes Hans and Gustav seem intent on climbing the same face and Grant thinks that Gustav means to murder Hans on the face so he decides to position himself between them.
- Grant uses Umbra to adhere himself to the face like Spiderman and slowly he begins to climb. A commentator from below calls out how each of the Princes is doing so Grant has some idea how is going relative to the others. In the first ten minutes, Grant climbs about a third of the way up. It is slower going than he expected and the section above looks harder. Prince Horatio still can’t seem to get his machine started. But at least both Hans and Gustav seem to be focused on the climb and not on murdering each other any more.
- With a loud bang, Ethan fires a projectile at the top of the mountain. He is using a massive rifle with a suction cup and conventional rope - but somehow he missed the top of the mountain. Grant laughs. Ethan will never live this down - how can one miss a mountain? But Ethan calmly reloads and prepares to fire again.
Part 7 - The Black Hounds
- The second section of the ascent is rough and jagged rather than smooth, making it even more difficult for Grant. He hears that he is in the lead, and suddenly there is a roar from the crowd as Prince Horatio’s machine has started. It moves towards the face and begins to climb slowly but steadily.
- There is another bang and Ethan’s second projectile hits the upper section of the mountain and sticks. Ethan begins to climb the conventional way as he has a strong anchor point.
- Then suddenly there is a faint gust of wind above Grant and a small quantity of blue pixie dust falls towards him. He uses Umbra to counter it, but he wonders where it came from. As if in response, black faerie hounds step out of the glass mountain from further up the face and in complete defiance of gravity, they begin running towards Grant as though the vertical face was a horizontal plane.
- Despite the difficulty of using Gorgorin whilst climbing, Grant manages to drive them off, and ‘kills’ two of them. They vanish in a bloom of black smoke. Grant climbs further, to the beginning of the third and most treacherous section of the face.
Part 8 - The Red Cap
- Looking down, Grant notes that Hans and Gustav have started bickering again, but neither of them has managed to climb beyond he first section of the face yet. The third section is very difficult - it is almost vertical, very smooth and it seems to resist efforts to stick to it. Grant is able to adjust his form to continue climbing, but it is more difficult than he expected.
- Meanwhile Ethan climbs easily using the well secured rope. He makes good progress but then strange faerie worms start climbing down the rope towards him from the anchor point above, forcing him to use some sorcery to remove them. This slows him down, and then he spies a little man with a red hat grinning at him from above. The little man shows him sharp teeth and then begins to cut strands of fibre off Ethan’s climbing rope. As he cuts away each strand, he dangles it over the drop and then lets it fall to the ground far below. Ethan grits his teeth and tries to climb faster. With each strand, the rope becomes weaker.
- Grant continues on but is buffeted by a strong wind that hits him with significant force. Grant can tell that there is some sort of air spirit here, and he uses Umbra to dissuade it from attacking again. Carrying on, the mountain goes beyond vertical, forcing him to cling to a small overhang with precious little purchase to hold on to. Using all of his strength, Grant claws his way up the last few metres of the climb and onto the landing outside the Princess’ cave.
Part 9 - Not While I am King
- Expecting trouble, Grant braces himself and sure enough, he is hit full force by a mighty wind that threatens to hurl him from the mountain. He sees King Adolphus directing the air magic at him, and his bodyguard Colonel Wolff is there. Using Umbra and raw Strength to hold his position, Grant stands firm. Colonel Wolff draws a rapier and goes to engage him - but Grant simply pitches him over the edge. The poor Colonel falls to the ground below, to the astonishment of the crowd.
- King Adolphus reinforces his magics in an attempt to drive Grant off the mountain. It all makes sense for Grant. The Princess in the Glass Mountain has a stronger claim to the throne than the current King does. Despite the winds tearing at him, Grant marches forward and attempts to convince the King to surrender. With fury written over his face, the King intensifies his efforts to drive Grant off the precipice. Grant hits the King with a single light blow and lays him out cold.
Part 10 - The Princess in the Glass Mountain
- In the heart of the Glass Mountain, the Princess lies asleep - she hasn’t aged a day. But this time he sees a metal whistle on top of the glass case that wasn’t there before. Raising it to his lips, Grant gently blows and there is a faint tinkling sound. Cracks form in the case. The ground shakes a little.
* Image by Jet097 on DeviantART
- The Princess moves. She opens her eyes. She is disoriented but Grant helps her out of her resting place, and escorts her out of the glass tunnel. The shields her eyes from the bright light. When she speaks, Grant realises that she doesn’t speak the native tongue - she speaks an older language which he can understand but few others are likely to.
- Stepping out of the cave, Grant and the Princess appear on the outcrop - the crowd goes wild below as they see that he has freed the Princess after more than five hundred years. Grant finds that the tinkling of glass has revealed a way down from the mountain. A staircase down has been revealed.
- Suddenly, a figure lands on the platform behind them with a thud. It is Ethan - he has climbed over the top of the mountain. Clutching a red cap in his hand, he stares at Grant and the Princess and realises that he is too late. Grant gives him a slight smile and then continues to escort the Princess down the mountain.
- In the days that follow, the Princess finds herself a woman out of time. Only Grant and Ethan can understand her, and she is alone in a strange land. She was only seventeen years old when Maulkind’s curse fell - she remains a bewildered seventeen year old girl, albeit a very gifted one. She still has all of the other faerie blessings that were bestowed upon her when she was born.
- Grant is astonished by this - he fell in love with a face and an ideal, but the practical reality is very different. Princess Athelwyne is young, and very vulnerable.