The Limit of Lesbianism and the Art of Chainsawing

Most excellent and noble ladies and gentlemen, it is time to tell you of our second Fading Suns session.

I am writing about this session more than a month after it had happened and without notes to refresh my memory. If any gross mistakes or omissions are found in the text, I trust my players would be so kind as to correct me. If you’re interested in my previous games with this group, take a look at the first session and at Niki’s brilliant idea from a different game.

While contemplating how to respond to the Decados challenge, the group spent several hours socializing with the other nobles. It was decided (by the men of the delegation) that that the perfectly straight Op-la should seduce the equally straight Rene Hawkwood, because the latter is rumored to be a pirate and thus must be a Lesbian. Needless to say, while the two women had a perfectly pleasant conversation, nothing exciting ensued.

Drake noticed that the Princess had obvious latent psionic talents, which her deeply religious family had suppressed. He started talking about philosophy and art with her. Given the Princess’ constant giggles and rosy cheeks during the conversation, it’s possible that Drake had done a too good job in swaying her heart...

Drake teaching the princess about the art of the mind. The King does not approve...
Art by Yan, player of Drake

Dovis Lax, always the schemer, socialized with everyone and overheard many interesting rumors, including that Shaquille is hardly interested in marrying the Princess (or indeed, any woman) and thus offered to support whichever party paid him the most. He also acquired some highly illegal surveillance technology from the Kodaks delegation, which he employed to good effect to spy on the Decados. Low on cash, the delegation had stated that they will straight-out murder Shaquille if he interfered in their affairs. The statements had a profound effect on the young nobleman and he excused himself for the rest of the evening.

Young Quintus, despite his tender age and small stature was more than willing to face his accuser in the field of honor, something that would have doubtlessly resulted in his death. Knowing how stubborn the boy is, the group had devised a plan how to save his life without antagonizing him or compromising his honor. They staged a fake attack on the group’s suite and had Op-la and Quintus bound on the floor. At the same time, using his amazing control over his body, the somatic Drake changed his appearance to look like Quintus and fought in his stead.

"Gimme the sword, I can kill him, no problem at all!"
Source unknown

The chainsaw-wielding Decados duelist was no weak foe, but eventually Drake defeated him, garnering much admiration from the guests and the King. Afterward, Quintus was released and it was made clear to him that the rest of the delegation looked for him while he was in the bandits’ hands. To save his reputation, Drake fought in his stead. Quintus accepted the news with good grace, but also visible disappointment.

Throughout the duel, the pious (yeah right) Flint whispered religious promises in the King’s ear, making him further well-disposed toward the Van Gelder delegation. All would be well, if not for one little problem – Lord Arthur of Hawkwood, an experienced duelist and soldier, has strong suspicions about whether it was really Quintus fighting in the duel.

The Marriage of Cruel Minds

Last weekend we started a Fading Suns campaign with a grand double-session opening (which explains the enormous length of this post). In the mornings we explored secret Templer tunnels under Acre and a Templer fortress in Yehiam and in the evenings we gamed like it’s 1099!

These are the PCs (may the Pancreator have mercy on their souls!):

What Yan scribbled on the back of his character sheet

Drake (Yan) is a perfectly introverted egoist whose narcissistic focus on the self gave him potent supernatural powers. He is of noble birth and godly education, but a terrible event in his past has forced him to flee his homeworld and find refuge in the Van Gelder court.

Baron Dovis Lax (Vadim) is a barrister and an intellectual in the service of Lord Primus Van Gelder. He is a man of coins of and words, not steel and laser. When Dovias words fail to convince, his warlike retainer Dov continues the negotiations to the bitter end.

Flint (Sasha) is warrior monk trained in theurgy. God is his shepherd, but just in case he also packs a mean laser pistol and consecrated sword. Proud and self-centered, he’s on a path to hubris and damnation, unless he attains salvation through godly and charitable deeds.

Op-Lya (Olja) is the scandalous bastard daughter of Lord Primus van Gelder. Denied a formal title, she became an infamous figure in the seedier locales of Kun Lun. She often gets disturbing visions of the past.

Sir Tron (Nik) is a child raised by aliens and adopted by Op-Lya (whose player is his mother in real life). Despite his tender age, Tron is a master of telekensis and a bold spaceman if ever there was one! Nik is the creative force behind this escapade.

All PCs are loyal retainers of Lord Primus Van Gelder, a minor nobleman with major ambitions. Presently, they’re tasked with escorting his teenager son Quintus to Leminkainen, where a dying, heirless King is holding a fancy banquet to find a suitable husband for his daughter and successor to his reign. The PCs are to insure Quintus leaves the affair with a ring... via any means necessary.

While the planet isn’t worth what a pig would spit, and the Kingdom in question is one of the poorer and less sympathetic on the planet, the nearby jumpgate is worth killing for. And killing there will be – a plenty!

Screaming in Space
Soon after entering Lemikainan space, the PCs find out the Kurgan Khanate and House Hazat are no longer vying for the princess' hand on account of no longer being. Their flotillas had crossed paths in space and managed to destroy each other within seconds. Nevertheless, the PCs' scanners reported some signs of life on the Kurgan vessel and the PCs chose to explore it. Inside they found madness and horror – the dead rise, a dark entity possesses Flint and the ship begins to deform, cutting Olja and Tron from the rest of the crew.
A spiritual and physical battle ensues and the PCs soon learn that the dark entity on-board lusts, but at the same time is repelled, by a holy book carried on board as a gift for the king. They encountered other survivors – a Kurgan soldier, three clueless inquisitors and an antinominist (space Satanist) who called for the evil entity to save him, only to be torn apart by the possessed Flint when no longer useful.
At the same time, the PCs who didn't board started cutting the damaged vessel with their lasers to release their friends trapped onboard. Op-Lya hacked the vessel’s computer and after a lengthy battle with the dark entity in cyberspace (hacking for the Prophet!), defeated it and gained control of the ship’s computer – enabling her allies to safely reclaim the holy book. Meanwhile, Tron, the only PC who speaks Kurgan, helped the PCs communicate with the Kurgan though radio communication. He was also the first to discover the dark entity’s weakness – it cannot control a possessed body that has a sheet from the holy book stuffed in its mouth (indeed, it was the original form in which they found a sheet from the book). However, in his enthusiasm to assist his friends, Tron had attempted to board the vessel before the sliced metal cooled, damaging his spacesuit and nearly dying in the process.
Despite sustaining numerous injuries and having their faith shaken by the Devil, the crew survived this test of their faith and mettle and safely made it to Lemikainan. The internal battle with the dark entity had placed a small seed of hubris in Flint’s heart. Only time will tell if he will shrug it off or succumb to blasphemy...

Very bad in space. This is how it looks like.

Meet the Royal Bastards
Victorious and possessed of a valuable relic, the PCs arrive on Lemikainan and head to Sardan - a fancy hotel where the banquet is to take place. The PCs freshen up, preparing for the evening’s festivities and intrigues. Meanwhile, Sir Tron, mortally injured by decompression, wakes up in the hospital with the Kurgan, Ali Alan Al-Uzbek, sitting by his bed.
Dinner starts and the King (Alexi Isadorvich, Tsar of Isador Island) announces the guests of honor:

• Na-Lord Quintus Van Gelder, the PCs' charge
• Lord Arthur of Hawkwood, a moralist widower
• Na-Count Dmitri Decados, a self-mutilating degenerate
• Na-Duke Shaquille Yamamoto of house Dexrite, a polite enigma
• Professor Philips Kodak, an outstanding engineer
• Warchief Thurium Ukrops m'Valdalla, a half-man, half-machine space viking
• Bishop Ignatius of the Orthodox Sect, a humble (but very rich) servant of the lord
• Lady Captain Rene Gooddale Hawkwood, a renegade rumored to be a pirate
• Soradir Qur'a'tin Cha'bulgar Ya, an alien atheist thinker

As soon as the King finished introducing the noble guests, a scary looking knight from the Decados entourage, rises up and rudely challenges Quintus to a duel. Quintus, pale as a ghost, said that he has no idea who that man is... why, the young Van Gelder never saw this Decados in his life! It’s quite obvious the boy has no chance to defeat the older and bigger knight. But refusing a duel would ruin all chances to prove that he’s noble enough to marry the princess.

What to do, oh what to do...?

WELCOME TO THE PARTY!!!
Art by Tom Berry

Flash Creativity

I played with some grown ups the other day. The son of one of the players didn't go to bed because he said it was very interesting to watch us play. It was a detective adventure and the boy soon started coming up with his own theories and suspects. At this point, his mother told him that he can't actually talk with NPCs, because he doesn't have a character.
After about a second of contemplation, the boy took her sheet, drew a amulet on her character illustration and said, "I'm a little spirit locked in the amulet. I can talk to you and through you."

You see this? This is an entire adventuring party.

I thought it was rather ingenious of him.

The group, by the way, rather liked the idea of tabletop RPGs. After a brief deliberation, we decided to go with Fading Suns. Speaking of Fading Suns, I cannot recommend the soundtrack of the Emperor of the Fading Suns enough. It's got a perfect mix between being exciting and being non-distracting. Perfect music for games!