AAR: Shooting the breeze with the Pine Clan

This continues a long-form campaign, Zen and the Art of Caravan Maintenance.

Emmett & Joshua are seeking ancient truth in the scrolls of the Lime Nomads, in a pink Routemaster autogolem. Joshua wants to cross the Final Barrier and be able to raise the dead. And they’ve found the Pine Clan and saved it from a megavome.

Story

Well, the Pine Clan are just breathlessly thrilled about being helped. They’d migrated, then been attacked before they’d set defences and learned the land. As soon as the Matriarch saw how strong the vome-mother was, she ordered a retreat to the high ground. Many people died in that first attack, and then during the trek. From there they hoped the creature would get bored when it could no longer attack, but they realised they had bottled themselves in.

This story was told to Joshua and Emmett in fits and starts by excited fighters, and later in more reserved detail by the Matriarch herself, in her private tent.

But before discussing why the party has returned to the Clan, it is time for a funeral and a feast¹.

The next day, there’s time for a longer meeting with the Matriarch. She’s very pleased to see them, although clearly choosing her words carefully in front of Spiral. The Pine Clan have moved away from the road, they’re blamed for the “unrest” in Potsherd Crater, and she wants the increased safety of being deeper in the Steppes, in case of “unwelcome visitors”. She’s also grateful, the Clan has partly refuelled the autogolem but they don’t have much to spare. She puts the services of the Clan Elder at their disposal.

Elder Toth translates the scroll, it’s an artefact stolen from the Nomads by the Porcelain Princes. It describes a ritual to re-bind a person’s mind (preferably to their body). It needs Near-Moon dust, still fresh, and a caster can only perform the ritual three times before it consumes their spirit. Joshua is visibly disappointed in the restrictions and requirements of the ritual. He wants to do so much good in the world.

Elder Toth has a request though - this document is an original nomad artefact! Regardless of how the Porcelain Princes got hold of it, it’s part of their heritage. He asks the party if they would accept a copy of the document instead. The original would go to the Village in the Lavender Cliffs - it’s a holy place, Spiral can’t go. The rest of the party would be honoured guests.

Troubled, Emmett and Joshua re-visit the Matriarch for a more-open discussion. The Matriarch puts it like this: The Clans all specialise in different subjects. Pine work on “foreign relations”, including with the Porcelain Princes. And now they’ve heard a bounty hunter called Dugg has taken a contract for the Matriarch. Please kill him if possible. Joshua doesn’t like that at all, but agrees to keep an eye out.

The Matriarch offers some escorts to the Lavender Cliffs. They can guard the caravan en route, and then watch Spiral and Salmon while Emmett and Joshua enter the Holy Village. The caravan can then proceed onto the Violet City without any further detours.

Tools

Unchanged.

Lessons learned

Not sure if I’m getting this “raise the dead” quest right. It felt too powerful to be unrestricted, but the player was so disappointed I feel like it’s played out more like a bait-and-switch.