Session 1: Aylo's Search

Aylo and Hirbrit are on a hunting trip over the ocean when the trigger for adventure calls

Does Aylo sense an unidentified Potent? No, but...
Does a warning from his parents come through? No, but...

Gilrun and Elsena said they'd be back in five days. Its been 15. The two are roasting a large fish over a fire on a cliff overlooking the sea.

Aylo: "They've been late before, but never this late, on this short of a trip. I'm beginning to get worried."

Hirbrit: "There are many reasons such a delay could happen, both those of opportunity and those of inconvenience."

Aylo: "Does opportunity explain this? Three times the stay has already passed, and the time given was very precise. This would be an occasion of inconvenience."

Hirbrit: "Then we shall be inconvenienced. Probably less so than your esteemed parents."

Aylo: "Perhaps I should look in on them."

Hirbrit: "That is a bold decision. Explain your thoughts."

Aylo: "This isn't one of your carefully thought out puzzles! Its a feeling. I ought to go and ... do something."

Hirbrit: "I do not give you puzzles to entertain myself. This puzzle is all the more important in that I did not create it out of thin air. Explain your reasoning."

Aylo scowls and prepares his thoughts. Or rather fabricates the reasons he should go. "I should use the high oratory style then?"

Hirbrit: "You audience is myself and yourself. You could try demeaning us with demagoguery."

Aylo: "Oh, lets see -- Five nights ago, the esteemed and mighty Gilrun and Elsena left to perform a task. A simple task. One so simple that though it would take over a hundred hours, they gave an exact time of return. They have not returned. Either of them. Nor have they sent message. Let us consider why they would do such a thing."

Hirbrit: "Now perhaps we will consider more that just this point."

Aylo : " Stop heckling. Where was I? oh yes. Perhaps they found an opportunity. An item of power they can bind to themselves. But would that not requires merely one of them? And if it required two of them, and took an extreme amount of time, would they not have sent a message? perhaps not leaving all of the way to our location, but surely they would send some message. Thus we can conclude that this is not an opportunity, as they would have left some message--"

Hirbrit: "You're leaving out a possibility, Aylo."

Aylo: "Really? if it was a short opportunity, they'd be back by now. If it was a long one, they'd have sent a message."

Hirbrit: "You disappoint me."

Aylo: "You leave me flabbergasted. This is not a lesson. This is a serious matter about the well-being of my parents, and you want me to wade through this sea-scum you call logic."

Hirbrit: "Logic is for serious matters, young master. It is only sea-scum when you fail to apply it properly. In what case would your parents take a long opportunity and yet not send a message?"

Aylo: "If...If.. I can't think!  blast you goblin! I'm worried and you want me to answer some hypothetical. Yes, yes, I know. The hypothetical has great bearing on the matter troubling me. Or something like that. Umm... because they didn't care enough to send a message? They didn't realize they'd be gone so long? They're all ridiculous!

Hirbrit: "Take your thoughts seriously Alyo, and they will guide you well."

Aylo. "They didn't realized they'd be gone so long, or they didn't care. They obviously care. They may care about the mission more, but... they'd find way. They are very resourceful. Though it may only have gotten partially here, which means a message would be waiting somewhere."

Hirbrit: "And what about your other thought?"

Aylo: "If they didn't realize how long they'd be gone then ... Then I supposed they'd still be there. But that is a small chance. If we wave away everything based on that, then we may as well sit here eating fish on a cliff until I grow a beard and you die of old age."

Hirbrit: "The High Oratory style, remember?"

Aylo: "Logic may be useful here, but high oratory? its just you and me! we're trying to figure out what's going on with my parents and. Correction. I'm trying to figure out what's going on with my parents and you're worried that I'm not using high Oratory."

Hirbrit: "You're not even using proper demagoguery."

Aylo: "Fine. But even should they have sent no message, even if unexpected forces have conspired to force them into disguise and a concealment of their powers for a full 15 days -- acting upon their absence will not hurt their cause. To confirm that they are in disguise is simple, and all parties are accomplished at disguise. In most cases merely identifying their presence from afar will be sufficient. But let us examine the other case -- the alternative, that they have been delayed by what we have lightly deemed 'inconvenience' "

Hirbrit mutters something about "Demagoguery."

Aylo: "And you complained I wasn't using it before. But this is a weightier matter. What manner of inconvenience could hold back an experienced Potent like Elsena Goodwitch for 10 days. Particularly when she was with in the company of Gilrun Stonemaker? At a surface, the possible reasons are myriad. But we can dismiss most out of hand. This is not a delay caused by weather. It is in fact, caused by danger to something external they care for, or by danger to themselves. A Potent is always mobile, unless faced by something sufficient to endanger them."

"Thus either they are pinned down trying to save something or someone, or they are of themselves, in danger. Should they be pinned down saving something in such a way they cannot spare the magic or minutes to send a message, my aid will be most welcome. Should they be in danger, is it not better for us to know now, rather than wait for the danger to come seeking us?"

Hirbrit: "That is sufficient for now. I will critique your form on our way to find them."

Aylo: "You're not going to argue?"

Hirbrit: "I was convinced for a while now. But it was important that you come to this conclusion yourself, and that you think it through properly."

Aylo: "Some day I'm going to hit you with a lightning bolt on purpose."

Hirbrit groans and gets slowly to his feet "only after my heart stops." He leans heavily on his walking stick. "Lets go."

Which world are his parents on?
Mountains and Clouds
what inhabits this world? roll normally
What races are on that world? Classic Races TL 2
Elves (Feudal  Beastfolk (waspfolk) Goblins
How many cultures (1d3):  1
Feudal Multipolar
Name: Gontolan
Do the mountains float? Yes. Oh good.
What's the clime? Temperate+Coastal
Does one race dominate? Yes, but... there are exceptions
Does it dominate through numbers (alternative military might) Yes.
Goblins dominate

Aylo takes to the sky, and Hirbrit follows. He gathers his power, and storm cloulds gather around him, lightning flashes, and all at once, he is gone. Gone to a different world. Gone to Gontolan.

Gontolan is a land of floating mountains and soaring clouds -- one of Aylo's favorite. They arrive in the midst of a storm cloud, and fly out of it. As Aylo has been to this world before, he's within a few miles of where he wants to be -- the city his parents started from. Aylo stretches out his senses to try and sense his parents: 12 vs 9 -- success by 3. By 8 if he takes his time, which he does. This lets him sense Potents within 1,000 miles of him.

Does he sense his parents? No, and...
Does he sense another Potent? No.
Name of the City? Estabranth
Major Race: Mixed City

"I can't sense them anywhere. Where are they?"

Hirbrit: "We could try searching the city to find out if anyone has seen them. I don't know if they were trying to disguise themselves or not."

Aylo: "But why would they gone? Their business was in Estabranth, and they gave an exact estimation of how long things would take. That means they aren't on a wild dragon chase off through the worlds."

Hirbrit: "We walked through this before..."

Aylo: "They weren't planning to go on a wild dragon chase through the worlds. Ok, we have more information, lets think where they are. They aren't in Estabranth. They could either be on a different world, or they could be somewhere else on this world. Or ... I suppose they could be in some magical effect that disguises their presence. That last one is rare. If they are on a different world, I can only assume that'd it be due to other potents. If they didn't let me know first its likely the potents are present. That's a scary thought. If they are still on this world, but far enough away from their starting point that I can't sense them, they're in disguise in the midst of some crazy crusade that started here. I don't know which one is more likely."

Hirbrit: "Then we take precautions for both. Are there any things you should do if they are under cover for a long period of time?"

Aylo: "Stay... Stay out of their way. I can be helpful, but not when I know this little about what's going on."

Hirbrit: "And if they're dealing with potents?"

Aylo pales "Then I lie low and avoid them."

Hirbrit: "Exactly."

Aylo: "Not to sound rebellious, but that's not what I want to do. I want to know what's going on, and I want to help. I'm going to track them down at least to the point where they go undercover. Any Potents currently around aren't here right now. We can find out more information quite simply."

Hirbrit looks like he's going to say something, then waves the hand not on his stick: "As you wish".

Aylo and Hirbrit approach Estabranth on foot. Aylo brings up his hood to disguise his face... he'll be taken for an elf in this city if they can't see his ears clearly. The city buzzes with activity.

Why does the city exist (trade, trade, politics, industry, trade/politics, trade/industry)? Politics. Its a local capital
Have his parents stopped by any of their normal contacts in the city (Solo6 skewed for success) Yes, and... Ok, multiples.
NPC: Agriculture, Gloomy or Sad, Smooth, Wheedling Voice, Looks rapidly from person to person, Makes terrible life decisions, Hope/Fear:Sex, Waspfolk, female, Name: MiLok.
Are wasp folk hive structured? No, but ... they tend to live in bigger groups than other species.
What did they talk to MiLok about? A brewing War
A war with who? Rastior, to the north. Goblins
Rastior government: Dictatorship (Bipoloar)
Estabranth government: Different -- feudal empire with satalites
Stage of Conflict: Trying to back down.
Is it be coming more likely (alternative less likely) 

Alyo stops by MiLok, a waspling that his mother is fond of and with an ear for gossip. MiLok is surprized to see Aylo, but invites him in. She reports she did see his parents.

MiLok: "Elsena and Gilrun visited me what, thirteen days ago? They wanted to know about the trouble with the goblins up north. The buggers waylaid another caravan. The governor ought to show those filth a lesson! Merchants can't be safe until Rastior stops protecting them. I think Elsena saw what I was saying. They were certainly interested in the whole thing."

Hirbrit: "Did they head up north?" (does she know? No).

MiLok: "I don't know. I never  know where you people are headed off to."

Aylo: "Thank you very much. You saw them last 13 days ago? Thank you."

As they leave, Aylo wonders if his parents headed to Riastor or to higher contacts in Estabranth. Or even if they went to try and settle things with the raiders.

Do they have contacts in the local government? No, and... They're really not all that fond of the government here, and their classical personas are known to feel that way.

Aylo decides to see if the guard has had any run-ins with his parents. MiLok hasn't heard of anything that matches their description (rolled 13 on current affairs) so Aylo decides to try asking the guard itself. He rolls vs acting to pass himself off as someone in the know, and demands if they've made any progress on finding Gilrun or Elsena. He... rolls 16 on the acting roll. Oh dear.

Is he recognized? No, but... they're pretty sure he's not friendly.

And public speaking -2 to see if he get the information anyways... vs 11 is a bare success!
Aylo: "I need a report on Gilrun Stonemaker. His activities recently have us quite worried."

Soldier: "On Gilrun... Surely you mean Elsena? What has Gilrun to do with? Who sent you?"

Aylo: "The captain of the third company. He needs to coordinate with everyone else."

Soldier: "oh, the third company. If you want to know, you'll need to talk to our commander himself. We've made good progress though. " (Streetwise fails by two. Tactics succeeds by one).

Are the soldiers all the same race? Yes, but... that's just happenstance
What's the race? Elves. not what I expected.

Aylo recognizes the soldiers are moving into position to strike at him. So he strikes first. Lightning arcs out away from him towards 4 of the 5 soldiers. In an area attack like this, its an automatic hit for each, but they get a defense -- but must make an IQ roll to react in time. Only one of them makes the IQ roll, though he makes the dodge, leaping out of the way (and is now prone). 3d burning arcs through each of the three unfortunate warriors. doing 6,14, and 9 points of damage. the second two fail knockdown checks. The third is stunned by the bolt passing through his chest.

Hirbrit is off to the street side, watching Aylo display his power. The front-most soldier drives a spear towards Aylo's chest (potential hit). Aylo leap/flies backwards away from the tip. (successful dodge). He whips up winds around himself, forming a shield of violent air, and causing his hair and clothing to flap dramatically. The elf soldier who had dodged the lightening is up and near his squad leader. They attempt to attack Aylo at the same time, one from each side. Aylo brings up his hands and a wall of wind crashes into the soldiers. The leader takes 24 knockback, and is thrown back 3 yards, but being an elf (with perfect balance), he keeps his feet. The other elf takes much less of a hit, only 10 knockback. The effect isn't temporary -- its a permanent gust of wind protecting him. The two elves look at Aylo in something akin to fear, then turn tail to run. Their comrades are still recovering.

They're still in range. Alyo launches another wave of electric strikes. Both dodges fail and the bolts strike true. Volts of energy do 13 and 14 damage each. Both elves fall to the ground. Aylo looks at the last elf, the one he stunned, and growls: "Don't run. I need to talk to you." He doesn't have intimidation, but the threat of force just given was pretty impressive. 12 (will) - 5 (default) +4 (show of force) vs 9 is a success. The elf doesn't move, but just watches in terror as a potent displaying his power floats up next to him.

And we'll end the session there.