Session Notes (12/09/22) - Clackers in Peril!

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Game: Troika! + Ultraviolet Grasslands

Module: Ultraviolet Grasslands

Players: 4


This was session 4 of the weekly Troika! game I’m playing with friends online.  I’m still getting the hang of writing play reports as a player, and I have a strong feeling that writing “in character” is maybe annoying to read, but also the way I’m leaning towards.  I’m gonna try it out here.


Characters:

Higbert, Ardent Giant of Corda, my character

Walter Arnold, Member of the Sublime Society of Beefsteaks (a long running character.  Her player played this character in my year long Troika! Pandemic game, and as such has many skills, items, and experiences waaaay beyond a beginning character)

Phil, a Gremlin Catcher who is heavily inspired by Edward Norton’s character in Moonrise Kingdom

Mr. Zoravu, a sorcerer from the academy of doors


Session:

To recap everything from beforehand:

  1. Our characters are drawn to a strange, floating portrait which acts as a dimensional portal.  We each believe it to be important in some way, and Higbert especially believes one day it will take him home to Corda.  We are gathered with it outside the violet city.

  2. Outside the Violet city, we encounter some bluelanders coming into town.  Based on a misunderstanding around Walter’s coat, we end up agreeing to cook them a 7 course dinner in town at the finest restaurant.  We befriend two cat-lords and make our way to the restaurant.  On the way, we picked up a sunburned drunk and a mirror person.

  3. At the restaurant we broke into teams, and Walter successfully cooked an incredible meal that satisfied an autofac and the bluelanders.  They decided to sponsor a caravan for us

  4. We departed into the west.


Higbert, in camp, a few days west of the Violet City, Summer, Week 1, Year 1

The bluelanders are strangers still, but they are leading five mules and my companions west.  The grasslands are empty and vast, and my strides are much larger than the others, so I keep slowing myself down.  My thoughts drift a lot to Corda, where the sun doesn’t shine so harshly, and the colors are more muted, but it is still paradise.  I name all the mules with good Cordan names: Gus, Candelia, Delilah, Francis, and Zippy.


It gets very red, and I don’t understand what’s happened, but Walter falls down while eating, and Mr. Zoravu is hitting the ground with his staff.  The mules are spooked and weird noises are coming from underneath us.  Some of the bluelanders have wandered ahead, leaving the mules behind.  I’m getting anxious.  On Corda, these types of things almost never happen, but in the million million spheres I’ve learned that restless spirits and strange spells can make small folk act funny.  I pull out the Ruby Lorgnette I left Corda with and scan the horizon.  In the distance, on the grass, I see mechanical, tentacled creatures coming towards us.  When I turn around, Walter has just pulled his magnetic sword out of a hole in the ground and declared there is something magnetic down there.  Who made the hole I ask.  Mr. Zoravu they say.


We retreat to the boulders but it is no use, the strange beings arrive.  Phil begins to mimic their movements and I join in, which calms them greatly.  Phil always treats the oddest and smallest creatures well.  Calming them down made a beautiful sight, one that made me think that the Grasslands might be as beautiful as Corda.  The two creatures, mechanical and flesh, swirled around us like jellyfish, gently caressing the grass and us and the world.  I stood still.


Mr. Zoravu kept hearing screaming though, and he said it was from below.  We peered in the hole and saw a massive shape moving around.  I tore the hole open, and a creature like the other two burst forth.  It was like me though: much bigger.  It joined the others in the dance.  It was strange and gorgeous and nothing like home.


The bluelanders call them “clackers” but I’m gonna call them Quigly, Millie, and Zelda.


Player Notes:

I love Troika!  It is so simple and runs almost any module perfectly.  UVG is something I’ve purposefully avoided reading so that I could play in it.  My preferred playstyle is usually exploring a world, and this is delivering in spades.  We had a very short session, but the session centered around getting our caravan started and moving across the grasslands.  I had no idea what to expect and the strange mystery felt so novel and weird and interesting.  It was compelling.

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