Autumn in Hieron 01: We Have Not Yet Begun To Be Pompous

## "We Have Not Yet Begun To Be Pompous"

Hadrian fighting the skeleton painter (Art by @jesscookie1)

*"Our Dungeon World campaign kicks off, as the party lands on a strange island, dominated by a giant tower. Austin makes a beach landing seem much harder than it needs to, causing Ali to wonder if her armor is too heavy. Keith learns about what birds eat and Art learns how they talk. Jack admires some paintings. Nick demonstrates how to disappear completely, and at the worst possible time."*

## Plot

### Love Letters

* Hadrian spoke to the chief of the new halfling arrivals to Velas, and told her of the Samothes canon*:*
> *In the beginning there was the Earth, the people, and our enemies: the dark and the danger. You told her that the King-God was mortal, but a mortal, like her, of craft and purpose. You taught her that the King-God built weapons and armor for his friends, and taught them how to build homes, and roads, and bridges. She now knows the story of the Sun, that one night in exchange for his freedom, an enemy of the King-God revealed the location of a distant source of power, a mountain of fire and metal, which the King-God used to build our Sun, and his Crown.*
>
>

She delivers the message to her people inexchange for a symbol of the King God's strength, and some incorporation of their harvest deity into your faith.
* Lem felt a sting of guilt, as he had only stolen the violin just last night and was about to receive an extended loan from the New Archives, to fund his journey to Velas. He fills out the paperwork carefully and receives a map of the Northwest quadrant. A few days later, the Archivists notice that the violin is missing.
* The Great Fantasmo was drawn to this mission from Velas of occult mysteries in a strange tower. He, however, is given the duty of unpaid Chief Consultant, while Captain Calhoun serves as the expedition leader.
* Hella is originally contracted by the Velas council to serve merely as a tour guide, but soon proves her worth when Captain Brandish steals the expedition ship and their supplies a few days before their departure. With her blade to guide them, the group brings it back and Hella receives souvenirs: a strange map which points to a mysterious spot on Ordenna and a tube of brass and glass that makes objects appear closer than they are.
* While the group returns with the stolen ship, Fero is approached by a komodo dragon from the Isles of Dusk, which includes the Isle of Eventide. It gave him a warning, and allowed him to study its essence, adding it to the pool of animals he could become.

### Synopsis

The Isle of Eventide is equidistant between Velas and Ordenna, and the gang has been contracted to travel there in collaboration of the Ordenna and Velas governments as well as the New Archives.

Boat and Ice Party begins here, as Hella, Fero, and Lem are in one small rowboat with Hadrian and Fantasmo behind them. Fero has trouble guiding the boats to shore through the tough waves, but Fantasmo prestidigitates arrows as a sort of landing strip to guide the two boats to shore safely. Birds with people faces call to Fero and Hadrian, telling them to leave this place. Back on the beach, Lem plays a not-quite song to make Hadrian stronger when dealing damage. Fero flies to the top of the tower with the birds, who tell him that they're new to this tower but that the food is theirs. Fero assures them that he won't eat any more than they want him to. On the ground, Hadrian calls for the group to put on their armor. Lem learns that the tower was built pre-Erasure, designed and built by a civilization in south Hieron whose whole culture was focused around designing and building settlements. Fantasmo corrects Lem, saying that the physical structure was actually built by the Old University.

The party enters a small house on the way to the tower. There's practical books about woodworking and bread, as well as "fantasy Hemingway novels." Paints and painting also cover the area, paintings of ships and cliffs and a woman with a genuine smile. There is moldy and dusty bread, a few weeks or so old. A garden exists as the backyard, beautiful but slightly overgrown. Lem finds a ring of keys in a false bottom in a drawer of the bedside table. Fantasmo detects that the paints are still usable due to magic, and that there are also magical footsteps approaching the house from the tower. He turns invisible.

A dwarven skeleton opens the door, and is shaking a broom. His mouth is opening and closing, as though to yell at them, but no sound comes out. They proceed to stab Hadrian, who retaliates by slicing the skeleton, throwing them against the wall where they shatter into pieces. The skeleton chatters for a few more moments, before being still. Fero calls for "Tazzy!" and Fantasmo responds back, sounding shaken, "Is the skeleton creature dead?"

## Cast

* Austin Walker (GM)
* Ali Acampora (Hella)
* Keith J Carberry (Fero)
* Jack de Quidt (Lem)
* Nick Scratch (Fantasmo)
* Art Tebbel (Hadrian)