PARIAH DISCORD SESSION 016: TURTLE LAKE

A summary of the SIXTEENTH session of the discord live voice-chat game of PARIAH. This is a continuation of events in the FIFTEENTH session.

To find out more about PARIAH please read this post https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/p/pariah-proto-neolithc-psychedelic.html or trawl through the many, many posts tagged pariah at this link https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/search/label/Pariah.

Sorcerers' Sage by Abigail Lingford

SESSION 16: DAY 17 

(CROW MOON WANING)

(This session took place on Saturday 10th October, real world)

The following players were in attendance:

- Alex (thezanderd) playing Little-is-the-Gazelle

- Oisín  https://twitter.com/OisinoftheHill Earnestly-Wooded

Earnestly-Wooded and Little-is-the-Gazelle decided to take the canoe for a spin in order to procure some sorcerers' sage to facilitate communication with the dead.

It grows beside a secluded mountain lake.

Today's weather:

...it's another scorcher! Weather rolls are made with 2d6 and track across the hex-flower according to the navigation tool on the right. Hex Flower concept refined by Goblin's Henchman

With the river being relatively calm (a month into the dry season) the pair made excellent speed as they propelled themselves upstream, but they needed to take regular breaks to rest their arms from the furious paddling.

They encountered some very wary local farmers, who seemed sceptical as to the origins of the canoeists, noting that their method of travel was favoured by the Hill Tribes. They rested a while and fished in the river. Gazelle played the flute, which seemed to please some of them, though he was playing only for himself.

They resumed there travels, stopping again for a short break after a few miles of furious paddling. This time they appeared to be alone, but were aware of a dark feline shape tracing the edge of an empty rice field. They watched it from a safe distance, discussing whether to attack, until it disappeared into the trees. They returned to their canoe.

Paddle Uphill

The weather remained exceedingly hot as the sun passed it's zenith:

Gazelle and EW arrived at the foot of the mountain by the early afternoon. They concealed the canoe in the undergrowth, and began to make their way up the slopes, following the watercourse as it cascaded down the slopes of the mountain.

:

 

from Etau's settlement they followed the river west, towards the mountain lake.

The lake was vast: still, calm and a deep blue, surrounded by a vaguely sandy shore.... and fields upon fields of sorcerers' sage. As the began the process of harvesting, there was a disturbance in the waves. There manifested, from within the lake, an enormous Turtle emerged from the waters and issued a deep, sonorous note by way of greeting:

I picked this image because it's cool... but the creature here is a tortoise, not a turtle: tortoises cannot live underwater. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/32214019/well-meaning-people-are-accidentally-drowning-tortoises

The Great Spirit of the lake demanded tribute: EW laid his axe on the shore, as Gazelle began to play a haunting melody upon his flute. The tune drifted across the serene lake like a sweet summer fragrance, and a beatific smile spread across the ancient spirit's face. It began to hum that some melody as it lowered itself beneath the water's surface, sending waves across the water that washed up on the shore and took EW's axe with them, back down below.

Forever Gazelle would remember having played that tune, but never could he recall quite how it went. The turtle spirit took it from him.

* * *

EW and gazelle took as much sorcerers' sage as they could carry, noting that there was plenty growing here, but it had been hard to get to. With the sun beginning to set they decided it was time to set a fire and make camp for the night, assured of the protection of the Spirit of the Lake.

What's that Noise?

Thence came a sound in the night- a-hissing and a-slithering and alerting the pariahs that they were not alone. An inspection by Gazelle revealed a most terrifying entity: glimpsed between the tress, it was as though six snakes of enormous size had been tethered together, and were slithering across the forest floor as one.

Gazelle ordered his companion to flee as he backed away slowly, keeping an eye on the creature and always cursing the turtle-spirit for not protecting them. He eventually fled down to wards the mountain river path, but could not find Earnestly Wooded.

The other pariah had been distracted be a curious mewing sound, almost like a child crying. It was coming from within the forest growing on the mountain slopes. Earnestly wooded wandered earnestly into the wood... and there he found... a bush-baby

When the two pariahs caught up with one another, Little-is-the-Gazelle once again rolled his eyes at one of his number picking a mysterious creature in the wilderness, and grumpily inisted that they make there way back to Etau's settlement. It was almost dawn, after all, and they made there wasy dawn the eastern slope, fully able to appreciate the glory of the rising sun.

* * *

The campaign continues at https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2020/11/pariah-discord-session-17-realm-of-dead.html

Download the art-free edition of PARIAH for no charge at the following well-know digital RPG stores:

https://atelier-hwei.itch.io/pariah-art-free

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/327711/PARIAH--ART-FREE-EDITION