From 2dec6e567710ef7e2da8ce2d4baa873a801841ae Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Andrew Cohn Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:56:45 -0800 Subject: [PATCH] vault backup: 2025-12-10 15:56:45 --- .obsidian/workspace.json | 2 +- Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md | 223 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 224 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/.obsidian/workspace.json b/.obsidian/workspace.json index 6d1988e..1179d7c 100644 --- a/.obsidian/workspace.json +++ b/.obsidian/workspace.json @@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ "type": "markdown", "state": { "file": "Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md", - "mode": "preview", + "mode": "source", "source": true }, "icon": "lucide-file", diff --git a/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md b/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md index e087986..e667ffd 100644 --- a/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md +++ b/Avalon/02_Sessions/session 6.md @@ -1037,3 +1037,226 @@ Let Joe and Ben have a quiet beat: - Ben can double down (“I got this under control”) or admit he’s in over his head. Fade back to campus / home with that hanging over them. + +# Soren – The Dry River Calls + +>[!quote] Narration +>School spits everyone out in different directions. +> +>Ben and Joe drift off toward the Circle, Pip’s shadow hanging over them. +> +>You should go home. +> +>Instead, you find your feet taking you toward the bus stop. Then the transfer. Then the dirt road that leads out toward the **real** river – the one that actually matters. + +Remind the player what this place is without saying “corpse” out loud yet: + +>[!quote] Narration +>By the time you crest the last low rise, the sun’s dragging itself down toward the mountains. The **riverbed** stretches out below – wide, cracked, and dry, a pale scar through the scrubland. +> +>There hasn’t been real water here in weeks. +> +>But you feel it the second you see it: +> +>That tiny pull in your chest. Familiar. Hungry. +> +>Your **friend** misses you. + +Let Soren pick how she comes down – slow, cautious, or like she owns the place. + +>[!quote] Narration +>You pick your way down the slope, boots crunching on loose rock. The air is hot and still. No birds. No wind. Just the soft grit of your footsteps. +> +>You know exactly where to go. +>Past the sun-bleached branch that looks like a hand. +>Past the half-buried tire. +>Down to the little hollow where the dust is just slightly… wrong. + +If you want a roll, call for a **DC 12 Wisdom (Insight)** to gauge how much she’s in denial: + +- **On Success (she’s self-aware):** + + >You know how messed up this is. + > + >You know that coming back here doesn’t “fix” anything. + >But it doesn’t stop the feeling that you *owe* them this. At least a visit. At least a hello. + +- **On Fail (she rationalizes it):** + + >Your brain spins you a better story. + > + >You’re just checking. Making sure nothing’s moved. Making sure no one else found them. Making sure your secret is still yours. + > + >That’s responsible, right? That’s what a *good* friend would do. + +Now, lean into the “calling” and the corpse without being graphic: + +>[!quote] The Friend +>When you reach the hollow, the heat feels heavier. The air tastes like dust and copper. +> +>You can’t see much – just a hint of fabric in the shade of the overhang, a shape your eyes have learned to slide around. +> +>You don’t have to see them. +> +>You know exactly where **they** are. +> +>And for a heartbeat, you swear you hear it: +> +>“You’re late.” +> +>Not out loud. Not in your ears. Just… in the same place the **Root** has been rattling around since B2. But softer. Familiar. Annoyed. + +Let Soren respond however the player wants – out loud or in her head. Give a couple of prompts if they freeze: + +- “What do you say when your only reliable friend is a corpse in a ditch?” +- “What’s the first thing you apologize for?” + +Then: + +>[!quote] The Friend +>The presence sulks around the edges of your thoughts. +> +>“You went somewhere,” it murmurs. “Somewhere loud. Somewhere with screaming. Didn’t take me.” +> +>There’s a smear of trench – wrong sky, tower on the horizon, that frozen moment of the man being torn in half – and then it folds back into the dry riverbed. +> +>“You like *them* better?” it asks. “The new ghosts?” + +You can give her a quick **DC 13 Wisdom save** here if you want stakes: + +- **On Success:** she keeps it together, steers the conversation. + + >You feel the pull, but you don’t tip. You stay standing, stay in your own skin. + > + >You remember Pappy’s warning. The heartbeat. *Run up, not down.* + > + >You’re already as “down” as it gets. + +- **On Fail:** lean into the obsession, not violence: + + >You sink down onto your haunches without quite deciding to. The dry dirt stains your knees. + > + >For a moment, the world contracts to this hollow, this secret, this little knot of rot in the sun. + > + >Home doesn’t matter. School doesn’t matter. Only the fact that you left them here alone for **weeks**, and now the Root is whispering in places they never told you existed. + +Give her one small act: + +- Does she tell the friend about the field? +- Promise to bring them “a piece of Korrin” next time? +- Draw the Convergence Engine in the dirt and then scuff it out? + +Finish light(-ish): + +>[!quote] Narration +>Eventually, the light starts to go. The sky shifts from blazing blue to gold to that ugly sodium orange that means the streetlamps are waking up back in town. +> +>The presence fades with the heat. +> +>“Don’t stay away so long next time,” it whispers, dusty and fond and wrong. “I get lonely.” +> +>You climb back up the bank. +> +>Behind you, in the hollow, nothing moves. +> +>But you can’t shake the feeling that when the **Root** reaches for you, it knows this place now too. +> +>It knows where you keep your friends. + +# Session End – Group Drift & Root Stinger + +## Walk Home / Split Screen + +>[!quote] Narration +>The day doesn’t end all at once. It frays. +> +>Ben and Joe peel away from the Circle, streetlights flicking on overhead as the sedan’s taillights disappear down the road. +> +>Soren leaves the riverbed behind and cuts through side streets toward a house that never seems quite happy to see her. + +Give each player a quick, focused beat as they walk / ride home. + +### Ben – Bad Deal, Good View + +>[!quote] Narration +>Ben – your mom’s SUV is a dark rectangle waiting at the end of the block, expensive paint catching the last bit of sun. +> +>Every step you take toward it, Pip’s “Madera Canyon” line crawls up your spine. + +Optionally call for a **DC 12 Wisdom or Insight**: + +- **On Success:** he clocks how close he is to being *useful* vs being a target. +- **On Fail:** just anxiety, no clarity. + +Let Joe poke him here if you want a last little RP exchange: + +- “You really gonna work for that guy?” +- “Dude, you heard him.” + +Button: + +>[!quote] Narration +>Your mom waves from the driver’s seat, all smiles and soft music. Inside the car, the air smells like leather and vanilla. +> +>Outside, the Circle sign flickers. For half a second, it glitches – the O’s stutter into a jagged ring of purple before snapping back. + +### Joe – Legacy + +>[!quote] Narration +>Joe – by the time you get home, your pockets are full of handouts and your head is full of someone else’s war. +> +>The house smells like grill smoke and laundry soap. Your sisters are arguing over who gets the couch. Your dad is watching a rerun of some old Mageball final with the volume too loud. +> +>The action figure in your pocket is *heavy*. + +Let him decide: + +- Does he pull Pappy out and stare at him? +- Chuck him in a drawer? +- Go straight to the backyard to hit the tackling dummy until his knuckles hurt? + +If you want a light roll: **DC 11 Wisdom** to see if Pappy “bleeds in” again. On fail, the toy stays quiet – which might be creepier. + +### Soren – Home Front + +>[!quote] Narration +>Soren – the front door to your house is unlocked. It always is. Nobody here worries about strangers getting in; they worry about you getting out. +> +>There’s laughter from the kitchen. Your parents. Elise. Plates clink. Someone mentions “first impressions” and “scholarship committee” and “Elise’s potential.” +> +>Your name doesn’t come up. + +If the player wants to go in and mix it up, let them. If not: + +>[!quote] Narration +>You slip past the doorway noise and retreat to your room. +> +>The jar of fingernails on your shelf hasn’t moved. Your diary is right where you left it. +> +>For the first time today, the house hum drowns out the Root’s heartbeat. +> +>It doesn’t feel better. Just… different. + +--- + +## Button – The Root Watches + +>[!quote] Stinger +>Somewhere far below Avalon, beneath the Mageball field and the Circle and the quiet middle-class houses, the **Root** groans. +> +>Where B2 used to be, raw magic flows through fresh stone, forced into a new path. Runes blink in the dark like irritated eyes. +> +>On a maintenance relay buried in a forgotten junction box, glyphs flicker to life one by one: +> +>**[SIGNAL RESTORED]** +>**[ECHO PATTERN: KORRIN]** +>**[LOCAL ANCHORS: SILVERSONG–MULKERBERG–FOOTBALL]** +>**[FLAG: POINTS OF INTEREST]** +> +>For a heartbeat, the glyphs glitch – characters stuttering, rearranging themselves into something that almost spells a name you don’t quite see. +> +>Then the lights go out. The hum continues. +> +>Above, three teenagers try very hard to have a normal evening. + +>**SESSION 6 END**