Video episode originally posted Dec 7, 2022.
Transcript of Play
With three days remaining in their journey to the Midnight Jungle, Fabum and Doceep prepare to set out for their second day of travel.
- Chaos die: expected scene
They board their pterosaur chariot, which takes off without incident.
- Location: tundra/arctic/ice
- Story cube: sealed door
Does anybody live here? Unlikely.
- Fate: No. (random event)
- Focus: Move away from a thread
- Event: insightful scientist (accidentally rolled on NPC instead of event)
As the day progresses, Fabum and Doceep soar through the skies of the Crucible. Near dusk, they search for a landing spot but find no alternative to the icy plains. Fabum attempts a piloting check to land the chariot on the slick ice.
- Piloting check: Success with a threat
The chariot skids across the frozen surface before coming to a halt. The pterosaur balks at the cold, and being a cold-blooded animal, requires extra key berries to maintain its energy—a significant depletion of their supply.
They deploy their tent—a standard issue wilderness shelter that expands with the press of a button—and set up a heat generator for the night.
Over their campfire, Fabum recounts her past experiences in the Midnight Jungle, including her brief connection with Beigh, the silicate performer. She reflects on how the relationship didn’t work out.
Doceep, ever the insightful scientist, responds, “Well, how could it? You’re an arbitrator, constantly traveling across the Crucible. You never spend very long in one place. That’s not exactly conducive to the kind of relationship you seem to want.”
Fabum is taken aback by Doceep’s bluntness. She hadn’t thought about it that way before and feels embarrassed, even exposed. “I don’t see why I couldn’t make it work,” she says defensively. “The Crucible is full of challenges, and this is just one to overcome! I’m going to go outside and cool off!”
Bundled in her overcoat, she walks out into the tundra. As she trudges across the plateau, something unusual catches her eye: a metal door embedded in the ice. Its design is futuristic.
Fabum’s curiosity is piqued. She approaches the door, examining its structure and wondering about its purpose.
Is it a datapad entry or more mechanical?
- Fate: No, mechanical. (random event)
- Focus: Close a thread
As Fabum approaches the vaulted door embedded in the tundra, she hears rhythmic music thumping faintly from within. The sound is familiar, and she realizes it’s music she has heard before. Curious, she knocks loudly to overcome the music, and the door creaks open to reveal a giant.
“How can I help you?” the giant asks gruffly.
Fabum recognizes him from her time in the Midnight Jungle. After a brief exchange, she learns that the giants, seeking solitude, have retreated far from their previous home and found this abandoned bunker in the Arctic wasteland. They’ve turned it into their private party zone, complete with flashing lights, loud drums, and an atmosphere of revelry.
Fabum enters and soon finds herself speaking with the lead giant, Grog. “You inspired me, you tyrannosaurus,” Grog tells her.
Fabum: “Actually, I’m a rajasaurus.”
Grog: “You inspired me! I didn’t realize our parties were bothering others. We decided to find a place where we’d never disturb anyone again—a bunker in the middle of a wasteland!”
Fabum joins the giants for a while, dancing and feeling uplifted despite the lingering tension from her earlier conversation with Doceep. She’s relieved to know that this thread of her journey—resolving the dispute between the giants and the silicates—has come to a satisfying conclusion.
Chaos could go either way, so I’ll just roll for it. Chaos increases to 6.
After leaving the party, Fabum returns to the tent, where Doceep is already asleep. The next morning, Fabum and Doceep set out for day three of their journey.
- Chaos die: expected scene
- Location: forest
- Story cube: cradle
Their next stop is a forest, a young and wet environment with saplings, rivers, and swampy terrain—a forest still in its cradle stage.
Does anybody live here? 50/50.
- Fate: Yes.
- Species or faction: faction
- Faction: Mars
This is a problem. Dealing with a lone Martian is one thing, but this is the aggressive, xenophobic faction of Mars. What are they doing here?
- Event: delay love
We’ve established this is a young forest. This is actually the result of Martian terraforming experimentation. They are attempting to delay the growth and maturity of the vegetation, so they don’t reproduce, for reasons yet unknown.
Do Fabum and Doceep notice Martian activity?
- Perception check: failure
Fabum and Doceep land cautiously, finding a spot between the rivers to set up camp. However, their supply of key berries is dangerously low. They need to find some today.
Fabum decides to call Voobep for help. She contacts him through her communicator, and his cheerful face appears on the screen.
Voobep: “Ah, my favorite arbitrators! Thank you again for the data you provided at the last site. It’s already making people take my Vault battle theories more seriously. I’m happy to help you with whatever you need.”
Fabum: “We’re running low on key berries. I’m sending you our coordinates—could you check if there’s been any key forging nearby where we could find more?”
“Yes, sure, I’ll look at it.” Voobep replies.
Is there something nearby? 50/50.
- Fate: Yes.
Voobep: “Ah, yes! Not far from your location. I’ve sent the coordinates. Thank you again for the observations from the last site—they’ve been most helpful. If you could keep sending me data and careful observations, I’d greatly appreciate it! I’ll use it!”
Fabum thanks Voobep and sets off for the site, and since they are not aware of the Martian presence, Doceep stays at camp to tend to their supplies.
She arrives at the site, a small island surrounded by intersecting waterways. The area is filled with young saplings, and Fabum spots a bushel of key berries.
On a scale of one to ten, how bountiful is this harvest?
- d10: 1
Unfortunately, the harvest is meager—barely enough to extend their supply. Slim pickings.
As Fabum collects what she can, she remains unaware of the Martians conducting experiments in the area.
Is there one scout, or more than one?
- Fate: Exceptional yes (just one, with no others nearby)
A lone Martian scout, armed with a ray rifle, gets the jump on Fabum. “You! Tyrannosaurus! Hands up!” they bark.
Fabum raises her tiny hands. “Actually, I’m a Rajasaurus. Common mistake.”
Scout: “Whatever! This is Martian territory. You need to leave immediately.”
Fabum knows they can’t afford to leave without the berries. She uses her charm to negotiate.
“I’m so sorry to interrupt your very important work. We’re only camping for the night and will be gone first thing in the morning. Let me finish collecting these berries, and I’ll head back to camp. I’ll even send a message to your superiors about what an excellent job you’re doing.”
- Charm check: Success with three threats
The Martian lowers their weapon slightly and replies, “Fine. But I’m following you back to your camp. I’ll be staying there all night to keep an eye on you. You better not step out of line at any moment! Or I’ll use this ray rifle on you.”
Not a great situation, but considering the other options, Fabum will take it.
Fabum: “May I continue to harvest these berries?”
Scout: “Go ahead. There’s not very many anyway. And those aren’t the plants that I’m interested in.”
She gathers the berries and the Martian follows her back to camp.
When Fabum returns to camp, Doceep looks up to see her carrying a small sack of berries, followed by the armed Martian.
Doceep: “Whoa whoa whoa. What’s going on?”
Fabum explains the situation, noting that the Martian will be staying with them overnight.
Despite the tension, her curiosity gets the better of her. “So, what’s your assignment here?” she asks.
Scout: “No questions. None of your business. This territory has been seized by Mars. No one else is allowed here.”
As the night progresses, Fabum observes that the scout has received no reinforcements and hasn’t used their communicator. It becomes clear that the Martian is alone, stationed in this remote location. Sensing an opportunity, Fabum uses her charm again. “It must get pretty lonely out here in the woods. We’re happy to share some of our provisions if you’d like.”
- Charm check: Success with one threat
The scout hesitates but eventually agrees. “Very well. It’s not standard Mars rations, but I will partake.”
Sharing their supplies—at a cost to their reserves—Fabum and Doceep learn more about the scout.
“These scientific research assignments can be… lonely,” the Martian admits. “But all for the glory of Mars! I accept my assignment, no matter how small, insignificant, or lonely the task.”
Doceep, intrigued, chimes in. “I’m a scientist too. Can you tell us about the experiment you’re running?”
“It’s a plant growth experiment,” the Martian replies curtly. “That’s all I’m allowed to say. The rest is classified.”
Fabum and Doceep exchange glances, noting the new information.
This is a new thread: Martian plant experiments.
The Martian scout keeps watch all night, leaving Fabum and Doceep exhausted by morning due to the constant interruptions. At first light, the scout commands, “All right, get out of here. Go. You’ve got to leave now.”
Fabum and Doceep hastily pack up and take off in their pterosaur chariot. It’s the fourth day of travel, and by the end of it, they should reach the Midnight Jungle—barring unforeseen complications. However, their supply of key berries is completely depleted, so if they do not find key berries today, the pterosaur will become very hungry and and very cranky. They decide to contact Voobep for assistance, hoping to locate a site for key berries near their route.
Chaos increases to seven.
- Chaos die: interrupt scene
- Event focus: move away from a thread
- Event meaning: usurp intrigues
One of our threads is the mismanagement of the Saurian Arbitrator’s Guild. Doceep used to be a scientist, and was reassigned to the Guild for reasons we don’t know. “Usurp intrigues” indicates to me that there are secret machinations going on behind the scenes, and right now Doceep is going to try to take over the mission.
Do Doceep’s secret orders have to do with these plants, or something else that’s going to happen later today?
- Fate: No. (later)
As they soar into the sky, Fabum contacts Voobep. “Sorry to call you so early—I’m not even sure what time it is there in Partum Mechanica. Time is tricky on the Crucible. We found some key berries yesterday, but it wasn’t enough. I’m sending you our flight path toward the Midnight Jungle. Can you let us know if there are any key berry sites along the way?”
Voobep: “Did you take some documentation for me?”
Fabum: “Unfortunately, I was interrupted by an overzealous Martian scout and I didn’t have time.”
Voobep: “Well, that’s very interesting then, isn’t it? You seem to have a lot of requests for me.”
Fabum: “Look, we need these key berries. We ran low, and we didn’t get very much to begin with. Surely there’s something in your vast knowledge of vault battles.”
- Charm check: Triumph
Voobep: “You’re right. I absolutely do know a lot! In fact, I’m going to show you how much I know. I’m going to send you all my data I have on key forging and Vault battles. That way you can find it yourself! ” The transmission includes a complete map of key forging locations, an invaluable resource for their journey.
On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being in the Midnight Jungle, and 10 being where they are right now, where is the nearest site of key berries?
- d10: 10
- Location: swamp
- Story cube: hypnotic
The nearest site is revealed to be a swamp on the border of the Martian experimental area. Fabum sets a course for the swamp, noting that it’s early in the day and they can afford a quick stop.
Upon landing, they discover the swamp’s unique dangers—it’s hypnotic, designed to lull intruders into a false sense of security with swirling gases and vines bearing glowing, mesmerizing eyes.
Fabum attempts a discipline roll to resist the swamp’s hypnotic effects.
- Discipline check: failure
Fabum ventures into the swamp to gather key berries while Doceep stays with the chariot. A vine with swirling purple and yellow eyes descends, wrapping around her face. “Oh,” she murmurs, entranced. “That’s very pretty, and very interesting…”
Behind her, Doceep speaks, his voice filled with regret. “I’m sorry, Fabum, but I have other, special orders. I’m taking control of the chariot.”
Would he just leave her there? That seems so harsh. I feel like they’ve established some rapport, but I don’t know what kind of orders Doceep has. Very unlikely.
- Fate: Yes.
Doceep: “So sorry it had to be here. I was starting to like you. I’m leaving you a packet of supplies. Goodbye.”
Fabum is so entranced by the hypnotizing vine that she almost doesn’t know what’s happening. It seems like a dream.
As the chariot vanishes into the sky, Fabum remains lost in the swamp’s spell, dimly aware of the betrayal but unable to act. Doceep’s secret mission and the intrigues at the Saurian Arbitrators’ Guild have left her stranded in the most perilous of situations.
Next Episode: Keyforge Ep 5 Doceep’s Secret Mission