Tension

The game played in the first Tension livestream follows our three "heroes" as they attempt to escape from Long-Drop Jail, no matter what (or who for that matter) gets in their way. It is a direct sequel to the Dungeon World livestream, featuring two returning characters. The Tension system used in the game was developed by Jay, GM of the regular Thrilling Intent series. Throughout the stream the viewers in Youtube and Twitch chats were asked to name every significant NPC that the players encountered.
== Synopsis ==
The game begins with a trio of inmates who have been chained together in a cell of the 7th iteration of the Long-Drop Jail, a prison on the edge of the Sinking City, former city-state of Alaran. We're reintroduced to two of the bank robbers involved in the Vault of Wonders heist: Caspian, a hardcore bard and recent convert to the religion of Zozmaism, and Chauncey Filigree, a dwarfish entrepreneur/black-marketeer who has recently been resurrected as a zombie. They are joined by Koh Kura, an ex-carnival magician with a talent for deception. 
The three inmates are led from their cell to the jail's mess hall. They start a riot by setting fire to a skeleton sitting at one of the tables and flinging it at the kitchen staff. In the confusion they slip out through the kitchen door having gained two allies: a man from Onorhant named Treebranch-Cestus-Fishmilk ("Fish" for short), and a goblin named Squeaky Peter Greasily. They also pick up a few fellow escapees, and a priest who they convince to masquerade as an Alarani guard to help them trick their way past the real guards. Having always wanted to be an Alarani guard, he decides takes on the guard-name "Chat". Koh plans to betray the Greasily by having Chat direct the attention of the real guards to the goblin, but Chat gets too deep into the Alarani guard role and betrays the entire group immediately. 
Through a few rounds of messy combat: Chauncey throws the still-burning skeleton at some guards, Koh is bitten by the goblin, Caspian attempts to start a mosh, and Chauncey sics his trained rat (named "Forehead Jr.") on the remaining guards. Fish drags Koh and the attached goblin down the hall as the rest of the escapees follow, and they find their way to a room filled with fire. Chauncey detaches his head and sends his body into the room of fire to investigate. Not only is his body reduced to a skeleton in the process, but he discovers an animate skeleton in the middle of the fire. The newly dubbed "Hellington the Hell Skeleton" - a skeleton powered by fire - is recruited to the group by Chauncey, who promises that they can be co-Generals of the skeleton army when they "destroy the living and rise triumphant out of the bowels of the earth". Meanwhile Koh has been trying to get her goblin bite disinfected, as it turns out that a person will transform into a goblin after being bitten by one. She has the bite treated first with a "prayer" to Zozma performed by Caspian, and then by having Hellington burn it with fire.
The escapees find their way to the prison confiscatory and pick up some useful items (Koh finds some lengths of rope to use with her knot-tying skill, Fish finds his sword, Chauncey stuffs his ribcage with several swords, and Caspian finds a second guitar). Outside the confiscatory they encounter the traitorous Chat walking with a pair of guards and take him hostage. By the end of the exchange Hellington has charred both of the guards down to their skeletons (the cardboard armour readily goes up in flame) and Chat has been shanked to death by Caspian. Hellington also reduces Chat to a skeleton and then re-animates him and another skeleton they found along the way. Chat is re-dressed in the armour of an Alarani guard that they capture from a passing group searching the prison for the escapees. They also realize that a thug named “Peanut” has been following them at a distance all along and welcome him to the group.
The skeleton army advances on the guards while searching for the exit, trying to look as spooky as possible. Apparently the guards have mistaken the inanimate skeleton “Jimknee Femur” that Chauncey threw at them earlier as a member of the army and have brought it along. A series of events follows involving tug-of-war, Chauncey and Squeaky Peter being thrown at the guards and Chauncey turning himself into a bomb with the swords in his body as shrapnel. The line of guards have been knocked down into a bloodied heap and infected with goblin blood through their open wounds. Chauncey’s body has been destroyed, but Koh is able to place his head on Jimknee Femur’s body. They abandon the injured goblin.
Sneaking past the guards, the group finds a cell occupied by a Varanovan ambassador, sixth Prince of Varanova “Bishley ‘Pansy’ Erstrom”, and his personal guards. Chauncey charms his way into the room by introducing himself as an ambassador of Skeletopia and takes the prince hostage. Koh and Fish lock the guards in the room to prevent them from following, and then tie up the prince and take him with them. The prince is very cooperative, having apparently been through several kidnappings before. He was in fact presently being held in the prison as a hostage as part of the 5th to 6th attempt at Alarani and Varanovan negotiations. Bishley helps direct them to the exit: an archway with a gate leading to a bridge that extends over the PIT - a seemingly bottomless drop-off. It's actually very close to the original cell where they started. Encountering more guards, they untie the cooperative Bishley and arm him with a sword to fight alongside them. There is a series of events in which Chat betrays them again and heavily injures Peanut, despite having been cut in half by Fish with his suddenly and inexplicably flaming sword. Caspian provides background music. The group takes down the guards, finds the golden key to the gate, and pointedly lock the door behind them to contain Greasily and the goblin infestation.
Crossing to the other side of the bridge over the PIT, they find another gate guarded by two guards. In the room beyond them is the prison's "Heart Pillar" which suspends this entire level of the prison to the above floor of the Sinking City. While Chauncey and Koh try to lie their way past the guards, Caspian takes initiative to kick a guard over the edge and into the PIT. The massive group of guards on the other side of the gate begin to charge them. The generals of the skeleton army take the lead and attempt to delay the rush of guards with their spookiness. Koh encourages Bishley, Peanut and Fish to join the fray as well while she hangs back in safety. Taking advice from Zozma, Caspian ties a chain to himself and jumps into the PIT to hide himself by dangling 15 feet below the edge. 
The sorcerer warden of the prison approaches from behind, forcing Koh in the room to search for another exit. Finding that reinforcements are arriving from the opposite side of the room, Koh and Chauncey retreat by climbing up the Heart Pillar, anchoring a rope to it for a handhold. They pull Hellington and Bishley up onto the pillar, and Fish cuts the pillar below the group (this time his strange sword is surrounded by a gross and rippling tear in space) before being pulled up by a rope as well. As a final act, Chauncey sics his rat at the sorcerer warden to keep him from interfering. The sorcerer, the massive group of guards, Peanut, and Caspian are carried down into the darkness, with Caspian rocking out all the way down.
Koh, Fish, Chauncey, Bishley and Hellington climb up the Heart Pillar to the floor above. Hellington and Chauncey are granted a minor dukedom in an area of Varanovan territory that needs to be cleansed with fire to eradicate a goblin infestation. Koh leads the group in running a hostage racket in which they turn Bishley into the nearest Varanovan party barge for the reward money and then kidnap him again and find another Varanovan party barge.
== Cast ==
Chauncey Filigree: Zombie entrepreneur. Has someone else's heart of gold.
Caspian: Rebellious youth turned devotee of Zozma.
Koh Kura: Ex-carnival magician.  Was, "wrongfully convicted" for practicing magic with a licence in Alaran.
=== Other Escapees ===
Treebranch-Cestus-Fishmilk: Was from Onorhant. Arrested for having emphasizing words in such a way that led people to believe he was a serial killer.
Squeaky Peter: Of the Greasily clan. A narc. Goblin.
Forehead Jr.: A rat trained by Chauncey during his time in prison.
Hellington the Hell skeleton: an animate skeleton powered by fire
Bishley ‘Pansy’ Erstrom: sixth Prince of Varanova. Ambassador to the Alarani. Pleased to be valued as a hostage.
Category:Livestreams