Session

Play Report: Lorn Song of the Bachelor x Mangayaw (Session 9)

by goobernuts

This is a retelling of a game session of Lorn Song of the Bachelor run with Mangayaw.

The Party Crashers

  • Malakas, a shamanistic healer
  • Bantok, a hunter without a bow
  • Eumining-gud, an aswang curse whisperer
  • Dumalapdap, a nimble ratfolk musketeer
  • Tusok, a witch’s apprentice and shapeshifter

Singer’s Stone

The party wanted to learn more about Vung Si Vung, that they might find out how to end his curse. They were directed by Oppu Wa Oppu to the Singer’s Stone.

The Singer’s Stone is a natural ampitheatre formed by a cliff, about half a day away from the village by boat. New singers learn from and sing for the elder singers to earn their tattooes.

The party approached an elder in the middle of tattooing. They asked if he knew more songs about Vung Si Vung and performed the Song of Vung Si Vung for the elder, a song they only heard from Auntie Sati. They were graded badly by the elder, who also remarked that this is the first time he has heard of the Vung Si Vung and his song.

A young singer approached the party. His name was Rus Si Rus, his skin still a blank canvass. He told them he was about to sing the Song of Vung Si Vung, his favorite song, to earn his tatoos.

The party decided to stay a few more hours to watch. Rus Si Rus sung the Song of Vung Si Vung and was acknowledged by the elder singers. He was then given tattoos of open maws with curling tusks, signifying he is a true singer of the Gleaming Fins.

After his promotion, the party approached Rus Si Rus to congratulate him. The young man was ecstatic. When the topic of Vung Si Vung came up, Rus Si Rus was confused. He could not remember the name, nor the song he just sang for his promotion. “My apologies, my head is in a haze. It must be the adrenaline from performing catching up to me.”

Not even the elders who oversaw Rus Si Rus’ promotion could remember.

Auntie Sati confirmed their suspicions. The Gleaming Fins singers could not retain the memory of Vung Si Vung.

Return to the Old Ruins

An impatient Vartu Si Vartu and his 10 retainers boarded his outrigger boat. The party apologized for the delay. He smirked at the size of the party’s dugout canoes compared to his.

And they set off for the Old Ruins again.

On the way, the party spotted a raggedy girl by the banks of the river. She waves to them. “Hey, I lost my doll. Can you find me a new one?“

Eumining-gud remembered she has a doll made of abaca fibers in her pack. She retrieves it and offers it to the girl. The girl beams a smile at them.

As a jest, Eumining-gud also offers the girl a centipede from her pack. The girl refused. “It’s okay, I have plenty of friends already.” From the water surfaced many kraits and surrounded the girl, but never biting her.

The party left with haste, chills down their spines. They didn’t dare imagine what could have happened if Eumining-gud did not have that doll. The girl waved as they paddled away.

Directions from a Godling

Their first order of business in the ruins, visit Sikkukurut. They asked for Vartu Si Vartu’s patience in this detour.

The trek to the Lungs was short. They were met with a deafening wall of chirps and chatter. Hundreds, thousands of kingfishers roost upside down under the ceiling.

Sikkukurut was easy to spot, being made of orange-ish smog. The party offered her the teeth they plucked from the cave crocodile they defeated and asked her how to get to Inna Wa Inna.

Sikkukurut laughed at the idea of a toothless cave crocodile. “Heehee! Wonder which one you defanged!” Satisfied with the prank, she gave the party the directions they needed.

“Want more information? Steal Inna Wa Inna’s tapestries! Or bring vampire snails! Heehee!”

Following Sikkukurut’s directions, the party found themselves in front of a great brass door. It sports a bas relief of a woman, impervious with corset, weaving shuttle, and knife.

Beyond the door was a waterfall. Around its plunge pool, ferns garland lounge-worthy rocks. It was like a scene plucked from your childhood and planted underground.

There is a lit cottage here, guarded by 4 pebble golems. Inside is a weavery workshop.

A woman sits at a bench, polishing stone with a strip of stingray leather. On her right is a basket full of unfinished, smooth pebbles. She is the paragon of poise.

An impossible sight lay before them. But then again, the Old Ruins has been full of such things.

GM COMMENTARY

  • The end is in sight. I can feel it!
  • I think I did a good job with unraveling the mystery in the Singer’s Stone. I just wanted to pat myself on the back for that.
  • It was a coincidence that Eumining-gud had what the Snake Urchin wanted. The abaca doll was something she got from her mangkukulam background. I didn’t expect it would be used like this!

Play Report: Lorn Song of Bachelor x Mangayaw (Session 8)

by goobernuts

This is a retelling of a game session of Lorn Song of the Bachelor run with Mangayaw.

The Party Crashers

  • Malakas, a shamanistic healer
  • Bantok, a hunter without a bow
  • Eumining-gud, an aswang curse whisperer
  • Dumalapdap, a nimble ratfolk musketeer
  • Tusok, a witch’s apprentice and shapeshifter

Courtesy Calls and Treasure Trading

Having returned to the Gleaming Fins village, the party decided it would be best to visit Vartu Si Vartu before all else, as a courtesy.

The Warrior seemed to want Vartu Si Vartu. The party wants to take him to the old ruins with them, as an offering or an extra hand in a fight. They told him about the Warrior and how he could be connected to the Bachelor. They told him about their defeat at the hands of this Warrior.

Vartu Si Vartu is conflicted. He wanted proof that the Bachelor is a god, but the party now says he’s only a man. It is not the information he wanted, but this could also mean he could rebuild his pride by defeating the Warrior.

He decides he wanted to see this Warrior for himself. The party asks for a few days to rest and recover from their wounds.

The party brought up Re Wa Re’s plight with the The-Isles-Like-Precious-Ivory Trading Company. They offered the golden harp as partial payment, and asked if the chief could shoulder the rest of her Debt. Vartu Si Vartu accepts the harp, leaving them a precious golden chain as change, and agrees to take care of Re Wa Re as a new servant.

Searching for Answers and Treatment

The party visited Auntie Sati next. They had questions; about the Warrior, about the catfish.

Auntie Sati confirmed their assumptions that the Warrior was Vung Si Vung from her song. She gave them advice; if Vung Si Vung is too far gone to communicate with, maybe they could talk to his wife, Inna Wa Inna. If the Warrior persists in living, it would not be a stretch of the imagination that the wife he loved enough to die for would be there with him.

Auntie Sati showed the party the unconscious Hummu Si Hummu, with catfish detached from his crotch. Auntie Sati explained that the extraction mutilated both body and mind. She’s worried about the party’s report of a whole village of these catfish-controlled folk. The party assured her they didn’t plan on letting Grimkin control the Bachelor.

After reporting to Oppu Wa Oppu, the injured went back to Auntie Sati for treatment. They paid extra to speed up the process; only three days instead of a whole week, so Vartu Si Vartu would not have to wait for long.

Play Report: Lorn Song of Bachelor x Mangayaw (Session 7)

by goobernuts

This is a retelling of a game session of Lorn Song of the Bachelor run with Mangayaw

The Binmanwa Party

  • Malakas, a shamanistic healer
  • Bantok, a hunter without a bow
  • Eumining-gud, an aswang curse whisperer
  • Dumalapdap, a nimble ratfolk musketeer
  • Tusok, a witch’s apprentice and shapeshifter

Rescue, Rest, and Escape.

The situation is dire. Tusok is pinned down by the Warrior. Out of the Binmanwa, only Eumining-gud was in any state to rescue him. Bavu Si Bavu, their companion, steeled his heart and followed her.

Eumining-gud began to sing the Song of Vung Si Vung, as she remembered it from Auntie Sati. The Warrior’s interest was piqued. He recalls the characters, the events, from a life ago. As Eumining-gud sang, Bavu Si Bavu dragged Tusok to safety.

Having the Warrior’s full attention was nervewracking. He could only seemingly express in bestial growls and roars. Eumining-gud tried her best to communicate with him, and the Warrior seemed to love the reverence she was showing him.

Eumining-gud grasped at straws. What could she offer the Warrior? The chief of the Gleaming Fins, perhaps? The Warrior seemed to like this suggestion.

With such an ambitious offer, Eumining-gud inched out of the longhouse. The Warrior let her go, eargerly awaiting for her return with his offering.

The party rested in the Catfish Village. Grimkin San Mor is disappointed in the result of their raid, but sees another opportunity to take control of the Warrior when the party returns with the Gleaming Fins chief.

After deliberating what to do next, the party decides they should return to the village to fully recuperate. But how to leave this ruin? The Mouth was closed to them.

There is the whirlpool in the basin. At the bottom is a well of darker water, edged with stones in negative color. They feel a pull towards it. Seeing no other way, they each dove into the water.

They were pulled into the well. They swam and swam and almost drown. Then sunlight! They are outside the Ruins.

Return to the Gleaming Fins Village

The trek back to the village began in the Skeletal Graveyard. The party witnessed skelephants being assembled in mid-air with unseen hands.

Bavu Si Bavu acted as guide. “Don’t travel through the forest. Lose sight of the river and you are lost. Animal trails shift, hill-spirits move stuff around.”

They encountered a bird spirit that led them to an agaru tree, which they cut down with Bantok’s panabas. The bird spirit was not very happy about that.

They came upon a roasted boar, laid out like a feast on the other side of the river. Gore stains mark the area. They thought it was either a trap or a sacrifice. Either way, it was not to be messed with.

They found themselves at the mouth of the Old Ruin again. Their boats and harp was still there. With a better means of travel, and some treasure to bring back, they reached the village.

Play Report: Lorn Song of Bachelor x Mangayaw (Session 6)

by goobernuts

This is a retelling of a game session of Lorn Song of the Bachelor run with Mangayaw

The Binmanwa Party

  • Malakas, a shamanistic healer
  • Bantok, a hunter
  • Eumining-gud, an aswang (?)
  • Dumalapdap, a ratfolk musketeer
  • Tusok, a witch’s apprentice

A Deal With The Catfish Captain

Grimkin San Mor looks like a corpse wearing pirate regalia, with a catfish attached to her crotch. In actuality, the catfish is Grimkin herself. “This is my crew. We are family. What skills can you offer? Will you join us? My crew always needs capable hands. Join our family.”

The party asked the captain about her goals. She said wants to control the Bachelor by attaching a catfish on it. She doubts her crew can take the beast on with just themselves, so she is looking for help.

And if she gains control of the Bachelor, “what then?”, the party asks. More power, Grimkin answered. She did not elaborate.

The party felt that Grimkin attaining power would not be the best for the Gleaming Fins, and for anyone else really. They planned to go with her plan, only to betray her at the last minute.

“Would we need to have catfish attached to our crotches as well?” they asked. “Not yet,” Grimkin answered, “consider this a free trial to our family.”

The Warrior

Grimkin had the key to the stupa in the Bachelor-Filled Belly. Opening it revealed a staircase leading somewhere deep down. At the end of it is the interior of a longhouse.

The longhouse has glinting tapestries, silver fixtures, and a carpet of bones and skulls. In the far side, a dais holding mummified remains. It is guarded by two person-shaped piles of teeth. A figure skulks up above, on the timber struts.

Not knowing how to approach this situation, Bantok nonchalantly entered the interior and wipes off wet-corpse slime covering his hands on one of the tapestries. This prompted the tooth golems to approach him, teeth grinding as they move. The mysterious figure started singing, and teeth from the skulls on the ground stirred to form into another golem.

Dumalapdap scampered up to the timber struts using the tapestries with such agility. He caught sight of the figure: crocodile scales tattooed all over its body, teeth filed into points that it evokes a crocodile’s maw, a bestial look on his face. He was very clearly a Warrior.

Dumalapdap tried tackling him, with Eumining-gud attempting to distract it with her long neck. But the Warrior would not budge. Dumalapdap is left clinging on to him to avoid falling onto the floor. Realizing her approach is ineffective, Eumining-gud started to chant Maga Kulam, directed at the Warrior.

Below, another tooth golem arose. Malakas and the party’s companions move in to back Bantok up against them, with Tusok shooting blowdarts from behind. The wet-corpses move in against one, with Grimkin barking orders.

There was a clash of blade and teeth. Malakas was bitten by an armful of teeth and was dragged into a hug of a thousand incisors. Bantok hacked at the golem to save him, but it did not budge.

The Warrior jumped from the struts onto the carpet of bones and reached for Dumalapdap, who let go to avoid it. Eumining-gud finished her chant and the Warrior’s neck swelled, limiting his airflow. He pants and coughs, his movement dulled, but he remains a huge threat.

The Warrior drew his great machete from the wooden scabbard strapped to his waist. He swung it at Dumalapdap who failed to dodge it, producing a large gash across the ratfolk’s chest. He swung a punch with his other hand, launching Dumalapdap into the wall.

The group of wet-corpses hacked their tooth golem down, but the rest of the party are still having difficulty dealing with theirs. Bantok is hug-munched by the other golem. Tusok, realizing the grim ending that awaits them should they continue this fight, remembered the Mentala tattoos etched on his arms by the witch he once called master. He knows not what the Mentala would do, but he chanted it anyway.

Tusok’s form changed in a moment. His skin to thick leather, his limbs to stumps, his ears to wide flaps, his nose into a trunk, and his canines into tusks. He had become taller and wider than any other in the room.

Tusok used this form to cause a ruckus, than the others might escape. Once they did, he let go of his bestial form and made for the stairs himself, but the Warrior pounced on him. He failed to escape.

GM Comments

This fight was epic, even if the odds weren’t in the players’ favor. They even had a detachment on their side, but still no luck. I’m glad my players enjoyed the session despite my dropping in and out of the voice chat because internet in the Philippines is broken.

Here’s a funny story about safety tools. At the start of the campaign, I had the player fill out their Lines and Veils. Someone put Dental Horror on the Ask Me First category. Knowing about the Tooth Golems in the adventure, I knew we’re eventually gonna have a conversation about that. That time was this session.

I asked the player what they don’t want to happen in-game, and they proceeded to describe the Tooth Golem’s critical hit effect almost exactly. I was beyond amused. I hope this short story amuses you too..

Play Report: Lorn Song of the Bachelor x Mangayaw (Session 5)

by goobernuts

This is a retelling of a game session of Lorn Song of the Bachelor run with Mangayaw.

The Binmanwa Party

  • Malakas, a shamanistic healer
  • Bantok, a bow hunter
  • Eumining-gud, an aswang (?)
  • Dumalapdap, a ratfolk musketeer
  • Tusok, a witch’s apprentice

Lost Treasure Hunters

The party decided to push past the Cloth-Packed Belly to see what is beyond it.

They reached the teak log bridge when they hear an incomprehensible muttering. On the other side of the bridge were silhouettes of two men. By throwing a nostalgia wisp towards them and Eumining-gud extending her neck to get a closer look, they observed that these men were milky-eyed, pale and hairless. They sported Gleaming Fins clothing and tattoos.

The party crossed the bridge partway to try to communicate to the men. The strange men beckoned to them to come closer. “So cold… So hungry…”

Eumining-gud stretching her neck over the bridge

Deciding they’re not going to converse properly with distance between them, Bantok and Dumalapdap decided to cross the bridge. The men lunged at Dumalapdap immediately, but only bit the wood of his shield. The rest of the party came to his rescue. A flurry of blades, sticks, and projectiles and the two strange men fell.

Bavu Si Bavu recognized one of the men; someone he knew from younger days. A few years ago, he talked about going into the Old Ruin to look for treasure. He was never found again, until now.

The party decided to tie the strange men up, in the hopes they’ll find a cure to their sickness. That is, if this was caused by a sickness.

The Bachelor-Filled Belly

The archway to the Belly looked different from before. It’s still ink-black under the light of their nostalgia wisps but instead of cavorting monkeys, the motifs were of yawning crocodiles.

A strange, moist breeze flows from inside the archway. The sound of waves lapping on a shore and a shrill clicking. There’s a wide lake here, with an island right in the middle. On the island, an ornate-looking stupa.

The party’s investigation of the space was interrupted by an albino crocodile, hugging the wall like a gecko. It emits clicking sounds to navigate the dark ruins. It crawls from the wall to the floor, towards the party.

Bantok grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it behind the crocodile to try to distract it. “Oh please, I’m not that stupid.” the crocodile scoffed, almost offended.

The party was taken aback by the talking crocodile, but quickly got over their surprise to try to talk it down. Unfortunately, the white reptile is intent on getting a “taste test.”

Dumalapdap and Malakas quickly jumped into action. Dumalapdap lodged a rattan stick in between the crocodile’s jaw, while Malakas tried to stab it from behind. With the crocodile’s jaws unable to bite, it used it claws against Dumalapdap. But before any serious damage was done, Bantok’s panabas cut down the lizard.

The crocodile continued the conversation while completely helpless, not really minding that it is under the mercy of the party. It answered the party’s questions about the ruin to the best of its abilities. That is to say, it didn’t have much information for them. Then, the party took out its teeth, as part of the deal with Sikkukurut.

Moving on from the crocodile, the party swam across the lake to the island. The stupa has a brass door, sporting a bas relief of a warrior, regal with feathers, spear and shield. It wouldn’t budge, even with their combined strength.

At the other side of the lake was another archway. It glows white in darkness, so the party spotted it easily. They took that path forward.

The Cloaca and the Catfish Village

The tunnel past the archway led to a flooded space. Faded traffic runes on the floor, sound of thunder periodically ring out. Small stormy clouds float at shoulder level, some fitted with saddles.

Re Wa Re recalls a children’s story, of monkeys using clouds as a means of transportation. The party wanted in on this. Malakas, Eunimining-gud, and Bantok each rode atop some of the clouds with saddles. The clouds buckled and kicked violently, causing Bantok to slam into the wall. They stopped trying after that.

The floodwater drains into a lower level in a rushing stream. Seeing no other way forward, the party rode it downstream.

The stream led to a water basin. Huts, made of trash, human leather, and flesh, line the bank. The villagefolk curiously surround the party. They have partly putrefied skin and catfish attached on their crotches; wet-corpse hosts just like the party encountered before. They give way to a corpse-host in regal pirate wear: Grimkin, the leader of the catfish.

GM COMMENTS

  • This session has more combat than the first 3 combined hahaha
  • Minutes after the session were taken to discuss crocodile dicks and how a catfish might attach itself on one. Time well spent, I’d say.