KALAT

Waltz Through the Shadows 1

S1 Shipwreck

(Day: 1)
(Chaos: 5)

? Scene Test
tbl: Interrupt Scene
tbl: PC Positive
tbl: Timidly/Bizarre

? Weather
tbl: Enthusiastically/Interesting

Stormy sky. Lapping waves. Dark. Okureega is alone. He does not have a single companion — the crash landed ship around him indicates death, carnage, and misfortune.

? Random Encounter
d: 4 -> No

Food. Sustenance. Rest. The big three for Oak right now.

His body aches. Sand all across his face and scales. His pack is intact somehow, with his gear and his club. He brushes his nose.

Looking around, he sees lichen and moss growing out of the ground. A frozen terrain, covered in white. The shores themselves bear little color, frost biting at at his scales.

Okureeza gets on his feet, and gets moving away from the waters into the land as soon as he can, searching for civilization, perhaps friendly faces to assist him on his journeys.

The first thing he does is searches for food, something to hunt, to eat.

@ Forage for food
d: WIS 10 < 13 -> F

He finds fruit growing from the trees, smells them, and finds them rank, unfamiliar, and likely inedible. Tossing them aside, he decides not to eat, and to rest for the night on the shores.

? Random Encounter
d: 3 -> No

He sets up camp, finding a respite in a warm–enough cubby. Though the cold bites, he endures and gets some shut eye for the night, reflecting on the losses of his shipmates, and his ship crew.

S2 Empty Mind

(Day: 2)
(Chaos: 6)

? Scene Test
tbl: Interrupt Scene
tbl: Current Context
tbl: Waste/Intellect

? Weather
tbl: Mysteriously/Cute

Strangely enough, Oak finds the small spot he found comfortable. It’s a small ditch next to a rotting, dead tree. The dead brambles around give a slight shelter to the thick, blowing snow.

He gets up, eyes fluttering open. On awakening, he immediately heads southward. Pack in hand, eyes to the sky, monitoring the time of day.

What were their names?

He can’t seem to remember a one.

? Random Encounter
tbl: 3 trolls, eating, abandoned mineshaft entrance, suspicious

? Do they take notice of Oak
tbl: Yes

S3 Trolls at the Entrance

(Day: 2)
(Chaos: 7)

? Scene Test
tbl: Altered Scene
tbl: Reduce/Remove an Activity + Remove a Character
tbl: Inquire/Burden

? Are they hungry for me
tbl: Exceptional Yes

Oak trudges through the snowland with his shield and club equipped and ready. And it is good that he has them prepared — something lurks ahead.

It appears as a mound, a hill. An entrance of some kind. But it’s guarded.

There’s three of them. Three mountain–like, green–skinned, voracious–looking beasts. Hunched backs, fiendish hunger, gnawing through a corpse–turned–bone meal.

Oak’s scent pierces through the snowy veil. The beasts catch it through the wind, sniffling and turning their heads. In the far distance, Oak sees them lock eyes with him.

Immediately, he sheaths his weapons. Raising his hands, he starts to backtrack his steps, stepping backward. He shakes his head, as if to say, “I mean you no harm! Let me go!”

? Do they come for him
tbl: No
tbl: New NPC
tbl: Dangerous/Foolish

The beasts pay his white flags no attention. Their hungry remains, not yet sated by the first creature they killed. It has turned to bone and sinew by now — a new catch has presented itself for them.

They bound and leap. All three of the green–skins, coming towards the lone lizardfolk adventurer.

A scream from within the entrance. “Run! Run, adventurer, you stand no chance!”

That, Oak cannot abide. A friendly voice. He needs to save them.

S4 Showdown in the Tundra

(Day: 2)
(Chaos: 8)

? Scene Test
tbl: Expected Scene

Oak cracks his knuckles. Once more, he draws his weapons. Time to die.

He sprints towards the approaching men, snow slowing all the while, white and white for miles and miles, grunting and growling into the air. “I’ll show thee the man my mother raised me to be! Die by my hand, ill–misshapen–crooks!” Raising his club overhead, leaping and swinging his club toward the closest figure.

@ Attack
d: 11 < 13 -> F
d: 2 DMG (Fray Dice)

[Troll 1|HP 5]

The troll dodges sideways, but Oak follows up with his round shield toward the back of its neck, and it connects. The troll is pushed down to the ground — but it continues to fight.

@ Troll attacks Oak
d: 18 -> S
d: 1 DMG

[Okureega|HP 7]

Its massive arm swings towards the lizard’s face, and the blow connects. It continues rushing up at him while he steps backwards, trying to fend off the blows.

Its arm follows up, doubling with a second attack to the face.

@ Troll attacks Oak
d: 17 -> S
d: 2 DMG

[Okureega|HP 5]

This one is stronger than the first, blood spurts out this time, along with a tooth. Okureeza’s incisor flies into the snow, burying within.

Another troll comes following up, sending their calf towards the lone man’s side.

@ Troll attacks Oak
d: 16 -> S
d: 0 DMG

It’s a glancing blow. Oak redirects himself, barely dodging the kick. The second troll doesn’t let up, however, and after missing its blow follows up with a chopping motion, aiming for the shoulder.

@ Troll attacks Oak
d: 20 -> Crit
d: 2 DMG

[Okureega|HP 3]

It hits him, and there’s a snapping sound to come along with it. He cries out in anguish, eyes up to the sky for a brief moment.

Behind, the third troll is chasing, wanting and lusting for flesh, for more meat.

Okureega is not liking his odds — he turns, and starts to book it.

? Is there a way for him to block their chase
tbl: Yes
tbl: Create/Leadership

“Filthy creatures!” He spits out, while running toward the treeline. Dead branches overhead, he mutters an incantation under his breath.

@ Cast Lesser Ward
d: 16 > 11 -> S

A glow over his skin. Pale, beige, sickly. He stays in the rougher terrain where he is more capable. With the troll in range, he stops in his tracks, and jumps off the base of a tree and focuses a blow toward the face of the first troll.

@ Attack the troll
d: 11 -> F
d: 1 DMG (Fray Dice)

[Troll 1|HP 4]

It’s a minor blow, which bops its head backwards before it looks forward at its prey once more. Undeterred, though wounded now, it retaliates with its fist, trying to claw at Oak’s guts.

@ Troll attacks Oak
d: 1 -> Fumble

It misses, punching hard into a tree. Oak uses the opportunity to strike with his club at its stuck arm, cleaving upwards above him.

@ Oak retaliates with his club
d: 20 -> S
d: 2 DMG

[Troll 1|HP 2]

It’s a good blow, snapping its arm the wrong way.

The other two try to make their way into the forest now, difficult to traverse through.

? Do the other trolls make it this round
d: No

They are not in time to save their comrade, whose arm has been twisted into the wrong way. The cold snow beats down on the arm, falling down from the dead tree’s branches.

Oak steps forward, sending a blow toward the gut of this disgusting creature.

@ Club to gut
d: 8 -> F

The thing extends its free arm, and catches his club, pushing it aside. As he does, he punches forward with it towards Oak’s arm.

@ Punch arm
d: 17 -> S
d: 1 DMG

[Okureega|HP 2]

He raises its shield, but the force of the blow is enough to hurt him still. He coughs blood as he is sent towards the tree, below the broken arm still embedded in it.

? Do the other two make it this round
tbl: Yes
tbl: NPC Action
tbl: Bargain/Object

Racing forward, finally making it to their catch, they do not attack. Instead, they speak with growling, mewling voices, filled with hunger. “Good fight, good spirit. Make for yummy meal. Impressed, we are.” Echoing one another, cacophany of beastial desire. “Have your arm, you have your life. Good deal for us! An arm, for an arm!”

S5 Armless

(Day: 2)
(Chaos: 9)

? Scene Test
tbl: Interrupted Scene
tbl: PC Negative
tbl: Triumph/Danger

Anguish.

Okureena not only has lost his comrades. He has now also lost a piece of himself.

Literally.

Bruises over his scaled body. His padded, linen armor, though agile is Okureega he is not agile enough at times to avoid the blows.

His arm is missing. Taken by the trolls, who scamper off and out of the wood.

@ Rest
[Okureega|HP 4]

He shuts his eyes then and there. Cold. Difficult to breathe. The ward on his body he did not sufficiently focus on to block the blows. He has much to learn.

? Does someone helpful arrive
tbl: Exceptional Yes
tbl: Remote Event
tbl: Support/Business

Dead woods and branches dollop snow on the resting adventurer. Okureega’s a dubiously endurant one.

Somewhere far from there, a figure walks. Northward, they go, toward the tundra and beach.

? Inspiration
tbl: Slow/Unexpected

Troppling stallion, atop it the shadowy figure. They are in no rush. The horse bears many packs upon it.

Toward Okureega they are bound.

Reflections

Hi, thanks for reading! This is session one of a new campaign in ShadowRim, a setting based on Skyrim for ShadowDark. Hoped you enjoyed reading it, I certainly had fun playing it, but it felt … freaking hard LMAO

Shifting from Dark Tunnels to this made me miss the granularity of the hit locations to be honest, even though I did not fully understand it. However, I like that even though I was using Scarlet Heroes, at Lv. 1 I was getting busted. Frankly, I have a tendency to take it easy on my characters — they by all means should have kept going and ate Okureega.

Blacklight - Compatible with Shadowdark RPG

I think I will be trying out this next, to combine with the other stuff I’m using. Maybe this isn’t the best system to be using for that style, maybe I’m better served reading and learning Blade Runner or CY_BORG, and I just might still do that. But, this looks cool to. I’m still weighing my options.

Thanks once more for reading — catch you next time.