Session 12 Prep

* **Dream Sequence** - Players will have dream sequence (roll to see which one dreams it). The player will walk through the burning town in MacMurrough with smoke or black mist coming from the mouths of the people panicking and dying in the destruction. Everyone's shadow is abnormally thin with oversized heads. It is hard to see anything through the smoke. The only sound is indecipherable talking in the direction of the castle. When the player gets there, they will see the party standing by the castle gate, shrouded in white mist, expressionless, still as statues in poses that indicate conversation. A shadow will be looming overhead, darker and wider the closer to the castle the player gets and, looking up, the player will see Srough, gigantic, taking up the full sky, grinning at them with his yellowed teeth. Here the player will wake up in a cold sweat.
* Aubrey is stopped in the common room by Bruce, who tells her that he has a special job for her, which needs doing immediately. The employer is here currently, and wishes to speak in person, should she take the job. The employer is Angus O'Ferrall, who looks uncomfortable doing such obviously shady business. (**Take Sarah aside for this conversation**)
	+ He will confess that the way he has been going about things has been wrong, but his father must be stopped, as his plan in more sinister than the eccentricity that it seems. He will not elaborate further, at least requiring Aubrey's cooperation. If she agrees, he will put her up to finding proof of his father's intentions, advising to start looking in his solar, in the next few days of the tournament.
	+ If Aubrey can get it out of him, he will explain that he has been told that Fergus plans to pursue a crown, and that many will die before he achieves it. If pushed further he will reluctantly reveal that this was told to him by some entity, a thin man with an oversized head, whose lips don't move. It is no thing of God's Earth, so he calls it an Outsider.
	+ He will bid Aubrey not tell anyone about this, including her companions. He will promise a reward of 5 pounds should she agree to the terms and 15 more should she complete the task.
* The Tournament Begins!!! Brian and Neille will be summoned to the castle for the preliminary bouts. (There are 2138 competitors)
	+ Entering the castle's inner bailey, the courtyard has been set up with 40 barriers (20 ft square each). Fighters will be randomly selected to pair up with another, to fight them 1v1 in one of the enclosures. Each fighter must succeed in 4 of these fights in order to proceed to the main tournament (this should reduce the 2138 fighters down to 267). This happens over the course of 3 days.
	+ Before fighting begins, Fergus will appear and give a speech, about how glad he is at the number of those who have come, and affirm that there are those among the people with abilities that may be seen as strange or unnatural. However he has it on good word of men of great renown and stature have gained such abilities, that they are no curse, but a blessing, and one to be admired and appreciated. As such, he encourages such people, as the olympians of old Greece, to demonstrate what a man may accomplish to his utmost. He will reaffirm the rules, and encourage a sportmanlike attitude.
	+ Here we will see Simon, Bressal, and Sir Harold in the first day's fights. All 3 will succeed both bouts.
		- Simon will be apologetic regarding what happened in Dublin, but will be called to fight before he can elaborate further.
		- When he rejoins the group, he will explain regarding his working for a man named Donnchad, whose cause he had supported. He told Donnchad what Brian had said, and that he planned to postpone the revolution, but was convinced to at least aid in this attack, as the men would not back down, and would need Simon's help to avoid casualties. Following the attack, he left Donnchad's group, hoping to meet Brian in O'Ferrall. He is sorry for jumping the gun, but will go about things the right way as of now.
		- He is dressed in his tartan pants with no shirt, a mask, and wielding no weapon, simply a large kite shield.
	+ Bressal:
		- Will be cheerful and sportsmanlike, hoping to see the party at the other end of the bouts. He is donning a helm and mail over gambeson, and wielding a staff.
	+ Sir Harold:
		- Will be a knight in plate, wearing a token and carrying a staff, a five o'clock shadow and tired eyes. He will laugh at Bressal's sportsmanship, wishing instead for his own victory. He will argue for about one line with Bressal, and end the conversation with lowering his visor as he is summoned to fight.
	+ After the players do their bouts, there will be a 20 min break to sort the winners and losers, before the second fight is called.
		- In this break, Brian and Neille can meet with each other or NPCs, and will notice Sir Harold walking past, having lost his token. Bressal will call to him, giving him back the token. Harold will hesitate before giving a genuine and polite thank you. He will then walk back to his lord and lady, the latter of whom will address him.
	+ Murchad will be there as well, not to fight but to see how Bressal is doing.
		- Bressal's normal cheer will be gone, and he will be cold as he addresses Murchad.
		- Murchad will regret what things came to, but will not believe that his father is sound of mind at present, and believes that the county needs the stability of a clan head who they know and can trust. He acknowledges that the conflict has only damaged that trust, but the possibility of a nigh-randomly chosen heir has to be nipped in the bud.
		- He will elaborate if pressed that while he doesn't know the details, he can tell that his brother knows something about Fergus that renders him untrustworthy. He asks Bressal, that "if you wants to end the war, can you investigate him? You already know that something's amiss. We should all know why". Bressal will refuse unless Brian agrees and bolsters Murchad's statement.
	+ We will see several people wearing masks and costumes during the preliminaries, and wielding powers, though they will attempt to be subtle enough at this point. Includes:
		- The Lime, a man who can secrete/shoot acid.
		- Red Rock, a woman who can turn her body to rock.
		- The Lone Company, a man who can clone himself to a total of 5 people.
		- A guy who can control plants.
		- A guy who can increase gravity on all but himself in an area around himself (up to 2x)
	+ If need be add the major super characters:
		- Martin O'Reilly, the Blue Heron, who can fly.
			* He is energetic and observant.
		- Isaac O'Kelly, the Hammer of O'Kelly, who can shoot concussive blast from his hands.
			* He is pedantic and clinical.
		- Emin, a short woman looking out of place in her armor. She can paralyse a single person by looking into their eyes.
			* She is timid and quick to apologise, but wants to win and knows she can.
		- Thomas Tanner, a young tanner who can create a single invisible wall of force (20 ft x20 ft) within 20 ft of himself.
			* Lacks confidence, but is willing to give it his best. He is focused, but a little bashful.
		- Lord Henry, the Pillar of Wessex, who can become invincible but immobile.
		- Lord Geoffry, the Golden Star, in his gold gilded armor, with the power to shoot lasers from his eyes.
	+ **Meanwhile** - Aubrey will be able to search the castle for clues. If she chooses to follow up on Johan's capture to the dungeons, she can find him having been brutalized to death, as well as Meive having been locked up as well, as Johan had confessed her involvement. Next to her is the corpse of the guard who had been body-swapped by Fergus.
		- By Meive's account, the guard walked into her cell, and questioned her on who else knew what she and Johan had found. She will say she told him of Aubrey and Brian, apologizing for that. The guard then took out a knife, and stabbed himself right through the throat. His face was one of satisfaction, then rapidly turning to panic a few seconds after he stabbed himself. This happened yesterday evening.
	+ Meive is scared that it will look like she killed the guard, and she will be killed for it, and will beg for Aubrey's help to escape. Aubrey can help her or leave her, or whatever else, as she will.
	+ If Aubrey takes Meive from the castle, on the way she will be met with the castle jester, Odo, dressed in motley dominated by red. Odo will question her on what the two women are doing. He will know the truth, but will seemingly buy any excuse Aubrey comes up with. Odo will come up with some flowery language to see her off with and be on his way. He will report this encounter to Fergus.
		- Odo is the only person in the castle, save Fergus himself who is aware of Fergus' powers, and aids him in his endeavors. He has powers himself, being able to copy the powers of anyone he can see within a 30ft radius, only one person at a time, lasting 5 minutes, can be swapped at any time.
	+ Fergus will find Aubrey later and pretend at coincidence, Odo will be with him to point out who she is. He will attempt casual conversation, seemingly friendly, while trying to gauge who she might be connected to. He will send Odo to fetch one of the lads from the stables and ask him to bring his horse round the back to brush him, as he will be riding later today. After this conversation, and after appearing to the crowd and potentially other players, will meet Odo and the stable hands, swapping bodies, and will attempt to kill Aubrey.
	+ Assuming Aubrey defends herself, she can try to follow up on who this guy was, which will lead her to the stable or stablemaster. No one will know why the lad did what he did. A successfull investigation will reveal a tear of bright red fabric (belonging to Odo) in amongst a greatly disturbed bed of hay, as if someone had been inside it, thrashing around.
		- Odo will have changed clothes to a bright green outfit, and is mingling in and amognst the crowd, particularly the more esteemed members of society, making jest and witticism, and playing around with his toy sword.
		- He will be almost impossible to sneak up on as he uses his power casually to keep mindful of his surroundings, but fighting him would be easy, as he is no fighter. If he is casually confronted, he will reveal nothing. If he is forcefully confronted and unable to get help, he will lie, and failing that will try some trick, and pushed to his absolute maximum, he will copy Aubrey's powers in order to manufacture his escape.