Let the Show Commence

### Writer

Jonny Christie, Matt Christie, Rob Christie, Richie Maynard, Eric Rios, Corey Sexton

### Director

Jonny Christie

*Let the Show Commence* is the title of the first episode of the first season of S.H.A.D.O.W. and the pilot session of the entire game.

This Session was played on March 4th, 2017

## Plot

Members of S.H.A.D.O.W. go on an Assassination job in Kyesi but are side tracked by the sudden appearance of a Spectator.

## Synopsis

Team B, consisting of leader Phylyco, archers Aragi and Aguero, and mage Mathite poorly attempted a Mayor's Assistant assassination in the Minor City of Vrisoe. Something went wrong and the bells are ringing as they try to escape. Phylyco cuts off the targets hand and burns the building to the ground then goes to meet back up with his squad. As he gets there and arguing insues, seven city guards attack them. Phylyco convinces them he's a civilian and manages to avoid the battle while the other three deal with them. The rogue however manages to be an actual assassin and kills numerous guards undetected until they win the battle and head back to camp.

On their way back they stumble upon an Ocre Jelly and spend some time trying to capture it before giving up and moving on. They make it back to camp and talk to Lara who sends Phylyco to the boss for his mission update. He goes and meets with the boss, Saint Hylophagous, who introduces "Bizzy", another Tiefling, and his cat, Boris. The rouge swiftly ignores the monster and completely throws the others under the bus about the mission disaster. The next morning team A arrives, consisting of Mal the berserker, two gnomes, Mort and Vida, the old wizard Psaro, and a dwarf in chains. Mal takes the dwarf to Hylophagous and Phylyco is also called in to meet them for a debriefing. the dwarf introduces himself as Di-Syl and Hylophagous doesn't believe him. Mal gives the boss an ancient mask that was found at the monastery. Aragi attempts to eavesdrop but is intercepted by Lara. Mal states mission failed and the boss lets him go which infuriates Phylyco who he sends to get Aragi, Lara, and Psaro. Meanwhile Aguero receives a "remedy" for his night terrors from Mathite and Hylophagous places Aragi in charge of a mission to Kyesi with Mal, Bizzy, and Di-Syl. Aguero gets possessed and causes havoc in the camp, nothing seriously damaging. Di-Syl will only leave if he gets his mask back and Aragi gets into a tussle with Mort over letting the prisoner out and failing horribly. Mal appears and the three leave followed by the uncontrollable Aguero. Phylyco tries to get onto the mission and brings the mask back to Di-Syl since Hylophagous claims it's nothing more than an old relic, nothing cursed about it. The two try to catch up to the party but not after sending Psaro back to him for another meeting. Crazy Aguero catches up to the others and Aragi ties him down so he doesn't hurt himself or anyone. A black smoke exits Aguero's mouth and he comes back to normal. The other two catch up and Phylyco and Aragi start to argue for power, causing the human to jump into the shadows and hide. While camping a Spectator is spotted and Aguero tries to convince the party to see what it is guarding.

The next morning Aguero gets possessed again and walks off back towards the circus while everyone else decides to find the Spectator, save for Mal who continues towards Kyesi. The other four manage to get into the Spectator's ring and find a rock with a mysterious face carved in it and a hole that only the dwarf can fit in. They send Di-Syl in and Bizzy gets spotted by the Spectator so the remaining three fight it off before Bizzy gets the final blow on it. Meanwhile in the hole, the monk gets snuck up on my a female Gorgon named Veronya who he swiftly punches causing her to scream in agony and run off deeper into the chasm. Bizzy sends Boris down as a leopard with a note to get Di-Syl back up so they can continue with their mission but the dwarf ignores it and goes deeper into the cave with the cat.

After a few minutes Bizzy decides to punch the rock to make the hole bigger so they can get down there and he breaks it enough for Aragi and Phylyco to get down. Meanwhile Aguero comes out of his possession in the city of Vrisoe. He decides to sleep at the Sprinkling Pixie and get back to the circus in the morning. Back at the rock Bizzy is still punching away and Aragi and Phylyco catch up to Di-Syl and convince him that they'll come back at a later date and they hear a massive roar and something heading in their direction. They desperately climb out of the cave and Aragi is almost caught but Phylyco cuts the rope and the pursuer falls, narrowly missing. They finally head back towards Kyesi and catch up to Mal who Phylyco convinces was actually catching up to them. The next day Aguero heads back to the circus to talk to Psaro and can't find him so he talks to the other performers and no one seems to know where he is except that Hylophagous sent him into town for supplies. Aguero and Mathite head back into Vrisoe to find him but no one in the city has seen a dragonborn, concerning them both. The others make it to Aethel (City) and Phylyco heads to the STG house while Aragi and Mal share a drink. Aguero and Mathite go out hunting for the trip and find a body in the nearby river. The blind man drags it out of the water and the final shot shows that it is a deceased Psaro'Kokkalo.

## Cast

### Main

* Aragi Maxul
* Phylyco Brokenwhisper
* Aguero Cryhawk
* Mathite'Vomenos
* Di-Syl
* "Bizzy" Cignall
* Saint Hylophagous

### Supporting

* Lara Youngheart
* Boris the Cat
* Mal Bloodjaw
* Mort Soulspark
* Vida Soulspark
* Psaro'Kokkalo
* The Demon Sachayoj
* Copperbeard
* Gregory

### Guest

* Esho Halesun
* Veronya the Gorgon

## Trivia

* First appearance of Aragi
* First appearance of Phylyco
* First appearance of Aguero
* First appearance of Mathite
* First appearance of Di-Syl
* First appearance of Bizzy
* First appearance of Saint Hylophagous
* Psaro'Kokkalo was the first character Christie came up with for the game and was also always planned to be killed off at the end of the first session to show the players that "No one is safe, even that sweet old man"
* The Spectator was the very first instance that Christie didn't have pre-planned, causing the party to drift off the main quest for almost 4 hours of game time.
* The Mayor's Assistant that is killed at the beginning of the session is named "Esho Halesun" but this is never mentioned at any point in game.