Session 3: The Uncanny Valley Report

General Summary

Gathered behind the strong oak doors of Castle Caerleon’s Great Hall, Camelot’s best and brightest deliberate over what must come next if Camelot is to withstand this attack. Queen Guinevere Pendragon-Lufu I, First and Only Of Her Name, Thé Eternal Widow of Camelot dons the infamous and rarely seen Scarlet Veil of War in place of the mourning black that’s kept her company for two decades. Her armor, once Arthur’s, blood red and light as air. Beside her stands her predecessors, Queen Ena of Cyneburg, two milk maids far out of their league and determined to save a legacy older than the castle in which our party stands. Archmage Merlin Ambrosius explains the horror they face: Le Malicorne, a black unicorn that has plagued the kingdom since the Pre-Apostasy period, has returned. With her she brings dark magic and bad tidings and a death toll that has yet to be tallied in full. Camelot alone cannot defeat her and so it falls to its next generation of knights and mages to go further out into the greater limits of the land of Albion than they’ve ever gone before in search of aid. Each has a solemn duty:

The Twins Pendragon, separated from the comfort of all they’ve ever known, must find their father’s lost blade, Excalibur. Adaleis and Aleydis Lake, Maven Spellswords, must accompany them to their own home realm of Brocéliande to parley for military reinforcements. Sers Le Deux, Toussaint, and Le Gales must accompany all as honor demands to what may literally be end of the earth - the mysterious, must-drenched Isle of Avalon where Queen Morgana Le Fay and her Sisterhood wait, hopefully to offer aid in defeating the black unicorn, whose identity hits closer to home for some than for others. There is little time to waste before Camelot is encased in Amber and there is no turning back — as the doors are flung wide Queen Ena sends her great-granddaughters off with two tarot cards each, her reasons unknown, and waves them off. Once the doors have closed and her granddaughter has begun to assemble her war council, Ena draws two cards so quickly only Dulcibelle Den Mil Nimhe sees them before they disappear back into her deck.

    The Wheel of Fortune. The Emperor. She turns them over in her mind like a rock in a tumbler, sharing a glance with her better and wiser half, and only remembers as she idly ruminates on the Lychnisian red of Guinevere’s armor that she remembers they’ve forgotten to tell the girls about Vermilia. She only just gets the message out before there is a flash of light and a sound like the world ending.

We find our party on the outskirts of Camelot, clumped together in a thin copse of trees marking the boundary between the village of Ocassus and the Uncanny Valley. They have just watched their home disappear. Adaleis, Absabeth, Malcolm, and Grifflynn struggle to shake off the horrors they glimpsed on their mad dash out of Camelot and a sharp cracking sound has just begun to issue forth from Lady Lake’s rucksack. The Valley looms like uncertainty below, the first of what could be many obstacles between them and the salvation of Camelot. The cracking noise persists, now accompanied and occasionally punctuated by small percussive thuds.

  The party stands on the crest of a steep Valley stretching all the way to the horizon line. Behind them to the East, Camelot stands silent and frozen in a bubble of glass. They can see the red wash of the yearly Lychnisian bloodbloom just to the West of the course they took out of town and from here, the color looks…wrong. Too lifelike, even. In front of them just beyond the tree line they've tucked into is The Uncanny Valley, a place which until now has only been a myth for the\ose gathered. The tree line thickens out and then explodes into a series of dense black conifer trees with no leaves on them, carrying on down a 45° slope until it reaches the flat floor of the Valley. Lady Lake tells them as much as she wrestles a magnificent iridescent egg the size of a tankard out of her rucksack just in time to watch the top of it crack, shatter, and cave in on itself, a small iridescent head poking it’s way out and two rainbow eyes locking on her.

“Mother?” A burst of sparkles and smoke comes out of its tiny mouth as it breaks free from the egg entirely, wet wings unfurling slowly.

After learning that Lady is not her mother, but a friend who is on their way to see her mother, the hatchling dragon gets her bearings and introduces herself as Scheherazade of the Thousand Stories, though she invites all in the party to call her Harry. The party is, of course...divided on the safety of including a newborn wild animal on their journey and Adaleis pulls Eleanor aside to impress the importance of Harry's survival both in terms of their party and more importantly, Lady's happiness upon her. Now bonded by a secret and the matter of its keeping, Eleanor Gains 1 String on Adaleis. Meanwhile, Grifflynn and Malcolm attempt to regroup as Malcolm's temper skyrockets due to an irritant in the atmosphere and Grifflynn struggles to reconcile her experience with the mission that lies ahead - though no solution is reached Grifflynn begins to open up and the lifelong friendship is reaffirmed, with each Gaining 1 String on the other.

The Twins Pendragon call their unicorn mounts Isabeau and Silvesse, who arrive accompanied by two other unusual mounts: the Lake Twins' volantem Liadan and Gaufrois. In tow in the rear, the mounts of our brave knights: Malcolm's Mischief, Grifflynn's Valor, and Eleanor's...Horse. Lady communes with the Valley itself and makes contact with it and its apparent steward Molthoe, learning that Vermilia may be closer than expected. Godiva - somehow - confirms this vague hint by revealing that she may have a connection of her own to the red-cloaked Rose of the Wood, though she refuses to reveal anything further. The group takes a moment to make final checks before making their way into the Valley.

  A troubled Eleanor requests an audience with Lady. The two slip off into the treeline, at which point quite literally Eleanor lays both her zweihander and her burdens at Lady's feet: Eleanor worries that her "family heirloom" is closer to a family curse and requests an assessment of it. In a moment of rare confidence, Lady comforts Eleanor with the knowledge that while ancient and certainly enchanted (likely fueled by bloodlust), her weapon is more representative of a labor of love than an act of malice. Eleanor tries and fails to voice her concern that Lady is aware of her complicated lineage due to her father's knowledge, and Lady assures Eleanor that while she knows, it is because she pieced it together on her own before further asserting that Eleanor's grandmother, also located on the Isle of Avalon, may provide the secrets needed to defeat Le Malicorne without killing it.

When questioned on her seemingly comprehensive knowledge of Eleanor's family and how Lady could possibly have met her grandmother, Lady clarifies her age and explains that "in her youth" (80 years ago, give or take) she had "quite a lot of cause to be in Avalon." The moment breaks and our Spellsword and Knight revert to their usual method of interaction, stiffly separating - at least, at first. After taking a moment to gather her courage Lady Lake turns on her heel, tugs Eleanor gently by her braid, and kisses her before rushing back to her horse, leaving an immobilized Eleanor holding her braid. Eleanor Gains 1 String on a Smitten Lady and Adaleis uses her sisterly privilege to gain a little insight into the interaction in the woods before Eleanor rejoins the group. As they prepare to leave, an unseen presence moves amongst them, giggling and brushing past them, literally raising Malcolm's hackles. Before Eleanor can handle the situation in the usual fashion, Lady stays her hand and allows Absabeth time to understand that Malcolm's predicament is his own business and perhaps more complicated than one might first assume.

The party departs down the steep slope to the Valley's flat floor and is steadily making their way when disaster strikes: Silvesse's hooves slip in the black mud of the hillside and she and Godiva Pendragon begin to tumble. Godiva's quick thinking and cool head prevail and she succeeds in correcting the skid in time to hear the disembodied giggling from earlier and watch as Silvesse is instantly calmed, allowing both princess and unicorn to return safely to the ground, unharmed. The source of the giggling is revealed to the the 4" tall figure sitting atop Silvesse's head, who goes on to introduce herself as Rainbow Pretty Bugg and express her profound excitement at encountering "Unblemished Ones" for the first time along with an offer to guide the party through the Valley. Further down the hillside, Malcolm's luck changes and he begins to tumble head over tail down the hillside in a crash of armor - he is temporarily slowed by an iridescent faun in his bath before both continue their unslowed tumble, only coming to a stop (relatively) unharmed at the feet of a red-cloaked figure who offers their hand to Malcolm and pulls him to his feet.

The physically imposing figure removes her hood and quickly assesses Malcolm's condition before recognizing Godiva Pendragon further up the hill, calling out to her.

Rewards Granted

LORE KEEPER AWARDED:
Real World Experience
+2 XP to party for bravery and strength following the Siege of Camelot

Free Willy +1 XP to Grifflyn for (partially) opening up to Malcolm during Emotional Support   An Oncoming Storm
+3 Wit to Malcolm for all attempts to perceive through sight, sound, or smell. Source: Unknown

  PLAYER AWARDED:
Adaleis - +1 String to Eleanor for keeping her secret
Grifflynn - +1 String to Malcolm for trying to comfort them
Lady - +1 String to Eleanor for being Smitten
Malcolm - +1 String to Grifflynn for trying to calm him

Character(s) interacted with

• Scheherazade (Harry)
• Vermilia
• Aylward Molthoe Malenfant
• Rainbow Pretty Bugg
• Leucine the Faun

Created Content

A COMPLETE LIST OF PARTY MOUNTS + COMPANIONS

• Abi: Isabeau, unicorn
• Adaleis: Gaufrois Howard Lake, volantem
• Eleanor: ...Horse, horse
• Grifflyn: Valor, horse
• Lady: Líadáin, volantem; Scheherazade, dragon hatchling
• Ivy: Silvesse Ramon Pendragon, unicorn
• Malcolm: Mischief, horse

Notes

CONDITIONS ACQUIRED

Absabeth (1):
Frightened, –2 to Fight
Adaleis (1):
Guilty, –2 to Emotional Support
Grifflynn (1):
Insecure, -2 to Entice
Malcolm (1):
Guilty, –2 to Emotional Support (Note - failed Emotional Support rolls represent consumption by guilt and will result in acquisition of +1 Feral)

PERSONAL TRACKERS   Grifflynn (The Trickster, Feelings Tracker): 2
Malcolm (The Beast, Feral Tracker): 4