Tiding 03: Stragglers

## Content Warnings

Dead animal detail, being lost, loss of self, family conflict, grief

*"This is not the first time we’ve been forced to leave our homes behind. Nearly fifty years ago – before most of us were born – we lived in a different place, way to the west. There, on an island blanketed in colourless fog, our parents and grandparents lived in a town called Brisal. We didn’t need to wear veils then: our eyes were perfectly suited to the shifting shades of the mist. But tragedy came. Essing, the Remnant that guarded the island, began to fall apart; crumbled like fallen rock before winter waves. Our people decided to leave. They crossed an ocean to reach the Sharrow, braved the territories of unknown Remnants."*

 *Show more/less*

*You'll doubtless hear the stories from that journey as you grow older. The crossing of the river of glass; fending off bats with the wingspans of eagles; the endless demands of the Remnant Vinassus. Eventually, they crossed the green shimmer and reached the Sharrow. They found a home on the edges of the cliffs. The wind was relentless, the earth bare, and the river frozen; but crops could be grown, and animals fed. There were bricks with which to lay foundations. And over time, in the murmurations of bright birds and the wildflower meadows of spring, the Sharrow revealed its own beauty. The stories say that nearly three hundred people attempted that journey, but less than a hundred of them survived. Ri was one of them: a soldier who became a leader, who became a hero. She led the way, pushed people when everything seemed lost. She was the reason that any of them made it here. This time, I'm the one that everyone is looking to. I don't carry a sword; I can't fight or defend people the way that she did; I'm not always sure that I'm- I- Ri helps, where she can, but I'm not always sure that the kinds of decisions she made then, that she's pushing us towards now, are the right ones. I'm glad of her guidance, of course I am, but- I'm also worried about where it might lead us. We're not all soldiers like she is.*"

―An excerpt from the letters of Jeddah Assum

## Summary

As the storm gathers behind it, the caravan heads towards Carn Veskl. There the scouting party hunt for the caves that will give the travellers protection from the winds. The caves that are rumoured to lead out of the Sharrow. Bris builds bridges, Venz soars like an eagle, Belka listens to a dead fox and Challa starts a blaze.

## Synopsis

We open on the scouting party that has reached the bottom of Carn Veskl, taking a break. They see the corpse of a starved fox lying in the snow, looking like it's been here for a while and has not been scavenged which for Venz is unusual: the foxes usually feed on the migratory birds this time of year and would be unlikely to starve. Belka has their face pressed right up to the fox, listening to its stories. They can see where the snow is touching the fox that it is growing moss-like up the fox' body.

Bris calls for the party to move on, saying the caves are just beyond the trees. Ahead of her she can see one of the entrances to the caves, up on the side of the mountain, but to get there the party have to cross a shelf of rock that has partially collapsed under the weight of the ice. Bris suggests they split up either side of the split to see if they can find anywhere they would be able to take the caravan across safely. Bris and Kallan go west along the shelf, Venz and Shu go east, and Belka (who was told to "Do whatever you want" by Bris) decides to follow Bris.

Shu introduces himself to Venz, and they walk east along the shelf. They walk for about half an hour and reach the top of a rise so the are about level with the cave entrance but further round from it, and are able to see across to Carn Vers and back from where they came from. A giant, malnourished eagle flies over them and Shu realises that it is hunting so they both run from it down the mountain. Shu turns to shoot his bow and misses, the eagle gaining on him, and Venz weaves a spell- a big gust of wind to knock it off course, and they escape. Shu suspects that the wind might have been from Venz but he denies it.

We cut to Bris, Belka and Kallan, who have followed the shelf west, to the place where it has collapsed. She notices the shadow of an eagle hunting, and finds a place they could possibly lift the wagons up, and also realises that if the caves are only temporary shelter they could leave the wagons below. Bris also remembers rumours about people living in the mountains but dismisses them as stories. She suggests that they should go and check out the caves while they are here. While Bris is looking, Belka has been looking at rocks. Kallan comes over looking so tired he may collapse, asking when he will have the possibility of rest. Belka braces him in case he falls, but he pushes them off saying he's ok, and Bris calls them over. Belka bugs Kallan for being grumpy until he tells them about how he is worried about the caravan and Belka says to have hope.

We cut to Challa, who has spent the night guiding the wagon with Aachen. As the sun comes up Ayof comes to relieve Challa, and as Challa is heading for Vilte's wagon one of her stones falls out of her pocket and rolls away, at which point she realises that there is supposed to be one more cart behind the Weaver's and there isn't. She doesn't see it behind the column, and decides to go and find Ri where she is dozing in the cart at the front of the caravan, led by her sister Thrir. Challa tells her how they've lost the sixth cart, and Ri confirms that the cart carrying Savel, Iene, and Ven is missing before going to discuss with Jeddah what to do. Challa interrupts them asking if they'll go after them and Ri says that they can't and they have to keep moving. Challa argues that they can't leave them, but Ri has made her decision and no one is willing to volunteer to go and look for the missing cart. Challa runs to her grandmother Tomil and explains everything looking for advice, and Tomil says that Challa can't go after them and that there is no way to guarantee not losing anyone else, and that Challa needs to learn that she can't fix everything.

Challa heads to the Weaver's cart where Korrin is sleeping and which Ayof is still leading. Challa tells Ayof that they are missing a cart and that no one is going after the lost cart. Ayof stops the cart and shouts for Aachen to swap with him, and says how family seems to mean little to the villagers if they will abandon a family to a little storm. Challa asks if he has seen a bigger storm which he replies no, but he's always lived through storms before so why break that tradition. Ayof heads out into the storm, and Challa grabs Korrin and follows him, holding hands in a line.

We cut back to Bris and Belka, who with Kallan are heading up the collapsed shelf towards the caves. They hit a ravine, and Bris looks back to see if she can see Venz or Shu but can't, and decides they should head back. Belka says they don't all need to go back, so Bris sends Belka back while Kallan and Bris work on building a bridge.

Venz and Shu are heading back west along the edge of the treeline, with Shu pointing out where the eagle is. There's a break in cover for about 200m before they make it back to the treeline they set off from, and there's too many branches for Shu to shoot the eagle. Venz realises that the eagle will be best hit by weaving, and that the trees around them are starting to fossilise and carbonise at their bases, turning white with flecks of grey and black. Venz Weaves a crosswind to knock the eagle off course, which Shu realises he is doing as they run across the clearing. As they reach the other side of the clearing, Venz collapses and finds himself as if in the body of eagle high above them. He feels how it is starving and slowly dying, and gets a message from Sharrow: "I'm dying, tend to me".

Belka is making their way back to where they split up from Venz and Shu, thinking about how Kallan has been a bit more off and feeling bad for leaving him with Bris. Belka, using their skills as a Heart, intuits that Kallan was lying about being down just because he was tired: he's not OK because of the trip down south he made with the other scouts. Something happened there and he came back two months later changed. He feels set apart from the other villagers, as if his behaviours and reactions no longer fit in; he now has a kind of distrust of himself.

Belka is still skirting through the trees, and sees the distant figures of Venz and Shu running away from the eagle, and catches up to them in time to find Venz collapsed with Shu trying to wake him up. Belka slaps Venz, which does not work, only shows that Venz's eyes are not currently his own as they are now the colour of the sky. Belka turns to Shu and tells him about the path Bris found, and they set off carrying Venz between them, with Venz walking but clearly not with it. Belka looks back and sees the eagle plummet to the earth, as it hits the ground Venz wakes up with a gasp, disorientated.

Challa doesn't know how long she has been wandering through the snow storm, unable to see more than a person in front of her, holding hands with Ayof and Korrin. They press on as the storm worsens until suddenly Challa finds herself not holding anyone's hands and sees a light up ahead of her. She yells that she's moving towards the light and does so as the screams and laughter and shouts of the storm build around her. The light turns out to be the cart, broken down in the storm, with four figures sat on it- two children Ailen and Venren, and two adults Ven and Savel. Ven asks Challa what she's doing here, and questions why they sent a child not the hunters. When Challa says the hunters were scouting and they didn't technically send her Ven says that she should not have come for them. Ven then says that she can't get Savel to leave, and can't leave him. Challa goes over to Savel who is holding a burning torch (which is where the light was coming from) and says that they have to wait for his sister Iene, who has wandered off. Challa, knowing the cart doesn't move, suggests setting the cart on fire as a beacon so that Korrin, Ayof and Iene can find them. The cart burns and after about 10 minutes Ayof and Korrin find the cart, but there is no sign of Iene.

Ven and Savel argue about whether to leave, Savel refusing to leave Iene behind. Challa talks to Ayof about what to do, and he says how waiting for your sister is one thing but making your family wait too is another, and that they need to leave. Challa goes and talks to Savel to try and convince him to leave, and succeeds by offering to pay tribute to Iene. They leave the burning cart behind and walk out into the storm as a group, Ayof seeming to know where he is going but getting less and less confident as time goes on. They can't find any trace of the caravan and the storm is getting heavier and heavier, and from the distance they hear a scream which silences the storm for a minute, until it starts up again with hideous laughter.

## Mechanics

The players state their characters' Beliefs, which can be found on the character pages.

* Bris rolls 9 in Peaceful with Survivalist to declare where the caves are
* Venz rolls 4 in Peaceful with Pay Attention to the World Around You on Carn Veskl
* Venz rolls 9 in Scared with Tempt Fate to escape the eagle
* Venz rolls 11 feeling hopeful (the emotion that mapped to was not said) with Weave A Spell
* Bris rolls 10 in Peaceful with Pay Attention to the World Around You to see if there is a way up the shelf
* Venz rolls 11 in Scared in Pay attention to the World Around you to know what the best way to avoid the eagle is
* Venz rolls 7 in Mad with Weave A Spell to Weave a crosswind to fight the eagle, which has side effects and makes the Sharrow summon Venz to its side
* Belka rolls 10 in Sad with Read A Person on Kallan, gaining 3 holds on him
* Venz gains a Bond on Shu for getting them out of a tough spot
* Challa rolls 8 in Scared with Tempt Fate to make it through the storm
* Challa rolls 8 in Scared with Tempt Fate to set the cart on fire
* Challa rolls 10 in Scared which is Spiked with Manipulate to convince Savel to leave, and Savel gains a Bond on Challa
* Challa rolls 2 in Powerful while Spiked in Scared (so at -2) with Tempt Fate to lead the group back to the Caravan

## Notes

### Session intents

* Adam: Drive the action forward.
* Ryan: To see Venz weave a spell
* Steve: To encourage Bris to interact more, while staying true to her character
* Thryn: To see some of the weirdness of the world
* Ziz: None this session

### Plot Notes

**Warning! There may be spoilers ahead!**

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