Pariah Session 7 - Play Report

Use the tags to find previous and for some more details. Hex fills used this session:

• Llama herds, predated upon by Nameless One in wolf pack.
• Alpine Apes, 22, carry a Stone of Degeneration. Bitter, envious.

As most of the pariahs came-to after their horrifying experiences, they realised Idle Quiet had not returned with them, leaving a near-automaton in his stead. After some experimentation, they determined some part of him had been left behind, and vowed to journey back to that other realm to return it. However, they decided to examine the clearing they had spotted the night before first - figuring they had come this far.

Travelling down the mountain stealthily, they soon found themselves in dense alpine forest. In a clearing, they spied a pair of white apes, foraging in the undergrowth and speaking to one another in deep, grunting voices. Silently, they determined to not talk to the apes - something Purple Point took to mean they would attack them. He launched one arrow wide, following with another that struck one of the apes which bellowed in pain - answered in turn by alarm calls from throughout the forest. The other apes charged Purple Point, the rest of the band springing out of hiding and attacking, slaying the ape after Blue Fallen stopped it with a mighty blow to the shin. Prior to the engagement, the listless Idle Quiet had been told to attack the apes - and so he charged the injured one, which counter-charged and smashed him to the ground with a single huge fist. This strike flung his conciousness out of his body, and so it sought safety - possessing the body of the ape. Hollowed out and free of emotion, Idle Quiet took in this new experience calmly, picking up their erstwhile body and carrying it back to the band - Cunning Mountain hit them ineffectually with a stick before the others determined something unusual was occurring. Able to intuitively understand the alarm calls echoing throughout the forest, he called out an “all-clear” to the others. This effort allowed the mind of the ape to drive the invader out, driving their body forwards to kill one of these murderers. Their fist went wide, and they joined their companion in death.

Idle Quiet, having lost their name in the nightmare dimensions of The Beyond, is now considered Spirit-Touched - able to project their mind-soul and possess the bodies of other. The player and I agreed this would be triggered in a high-stress situation - a near lethal hit the perfect opportunity.

The forest was now silent of alarm calls. The band gathered the corpses and dragged them up to their cave, covering their tracks before feasting upon ape flesh and making themselves vests from their torsos. This done they camped, uneventfully. The next day too was peaceful as they crossed the mountain and found a cache of the puffballs which had enabled them to travel so far from the material plane. They discussed the metaphysics of giving Idle Quiet a new true name to be bartered for his old, wondering if the newly-named identity would be willing to be destroyed in such a way. Eventually, they determined instead to travel to The Beyond, find the captor of Idle Quiet’s name, and take it back by force. They settled in for another monstrous trip.

This session ran short as we like to start and stop with major events - in this case, it also gives me a chance to prepare a horrible journey through The Beyond, rather than the roll-and-write trips we’ve used previously.

If you would like notifications for blogposts and product releases, please sign up for my mailing list.