Tric continues to clash with his mother but grows closer to Kachen. Scene 16 Scene 17 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org. Need c…

Datajack Prime holds talks with the Stepdaughters of Chiron council to work out the details of the new alliance. Scene 18 Scene 19 Scene 20 Scene 21 Scene 22 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

The cleanup of South Tower begins. Scene 13 Scene 14 Scene 15 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org. Need context? Jump to the star…

Mariah reflects on recent events and what they have taught him about himself. Scene 14 Scene 15 Scene 16 GM Notes This episode depicts a mental health counseling session. Mariah has recently been through an incredibly traumatic experience. While he makes progress in a single session here, in real life, a breakthrough can take months or more. Therap…

Tric and Heppa clash with the Rats again. Scene 12 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org. Need context? Jump to the start of the se…

After helping train a xenodragon, Mariah and Cleve visit Sal to learn about some prophecies. Scene 11 Scene 12 Scene 13 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

The city of South Tower burns. Scene 10 Scene 11 Note: This episode uses mechanics detailed in Skill Adventures by David Shamp, available from the Genesys Foundry on DriveThruRPG. Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed…

An attempt to view the prophecies of the Cult of Chiron does not go as intended. Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9 Scene 10 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Tric and Heppa learn more about Kachen’s recent activities and his past with Rhaessa. Scene 6 Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. V…

Mariah holds a wide-ranging conversation with Deirdre’s son Jack. Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Alric, Heppa, Tric, and Glammur entertain themselves at South Tower’s After Harvest Festival. Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 GM Notes The players really enjoyed the Full Bloom festival early in our campaign, so I decided to give them a chance to experience another. Inspiration came from a lot of places. For one, there are the youtube video…

Cleve and Xiao meet with the mysterious rangers. Scene 1 Scene 2 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Additional allies arrive to join the fight against shadow mage Godol and his Rat confederates. Scene 21 Scene 22 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit …

The Prophet of Chiron and some followers pay Mariah a visit at the hospital. Scene 39 Scene 40 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

The elves and their allies clash with Godol the shadow mage and his. Scene 20 GM Notes Most of the NPCs in the fight today are units from the Battle for Wesnoth video game that we’ve already seen in earlier encounters, like Ruffians, Shadow Mages, and Efa the Bandit. The only new one here is Tric’s merfolk friends, who are based on the Netcaster li…

Cleve and Marina secure proper care for Mariah. Scene 35 Scene 36 Scene 37 Scene 38 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Rhaessa and Heledd join Tric and Heppa in their investigation of necromancers underneath South Tower. Scene 17 Scene 18 Scene 19 GM Notes The exploration of the space under South Tower was heavily inspired by combat maps from the Battle for Wesnoth video game. Cave terrain frequently has mushroom tiles, mining cart tracks, and old fortifications. A…

With the help of a mysterious ranger, Mariah’s friends keep him out of harm’s way. Scene 34 GM Notes Rangers, in our game, are actually based on embassy guards. Some countries require their guards to all have a uniform appearance, even down to strict height limits. Inspiration really can come from anywhere. Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Vi…

Tric catches up some with Kachen and gets to know the new server at the Parting Glass. Scene 13 Scene 14 Scene 15 Scene 16 Note: This episode uses an adaptation of our Fight Night rules. Find them here. GM Notes In this episode, we finally get a scene that closely resembles our campaign artwork! When we commissioned the piece from Del Borovic the t…

The briar beasts make their move to consume Mariah. Scene 33 Note: The battle started in today's episode continues in next week's. From a writing standpoint, it made sense to combine Mariah's viewpoint into one scene, and the exterior viewpoint into another. So if you read this write-up, you'll get some spoilers for next episode and you'll also not…

Tric recruits the white mage Rhaessa to help with whatever foul magics are afoot beneath South Tower. Scene 12 GM Notes In the Battle for Wesnoth video game, there are undead units whose attacks have the plague quality. Any unit killed by one of these rises again as a Walking Corpse—unless they were standing in a village when it happened. I’ve take…

Mariah is finally reunited with his friends, but that doesn’t solve all his problems. Scene 27 Scene 28 Scene 29 Scene 30 Scene 31 Scene 32 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Kachen shares a little of what he was up to over the summer. Scene 10 Scene 11 GM Notes In the Battle for Wesnoth video game, the only mainline unit with teleportation is the Silver Mage. They are able to move between villages that their side controls. In terms of the battle map, that means any villages flying their side’s flag. I’ve translated tha…

All of Dr. Yerin Gupta’s plans come crashing down around her. Scene 23 Scene 24 Scene 25 Scene 26 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Tric and Heppa deal with a late night intruder. Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org. Need context? Jump t…

Briar beasts run rampant in the Garden of Chiron. Scene 20 Scene 21 Scene 22 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Tric reconnects with some of the Dunefolk of South Tower, but neither his mother nor Damal are terribly impressed with him. Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The…

Mariah remonstrates with his captor. Scene 18 Scene 19 Note: In this episode, you’ll once again hear us using social material and maneuver mechanics that come from a Genesys supplement called I Declare! Adjudicated Social Encounters for Genesys by Micah-Shalom “FatCrab” Kesselman. You can find it on the Genesys Foundry at DriveThruRPG here: https:/…

Upon returning to the Parting Glass, Heppa delivers to Alric the message from his parents in Weldyn. Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 This arc contains spoilers for the Battle for Wesnoth campaigns Eastern Invasion and Liberty. There are also references to Dead Water. Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our m…

Mariah’s reunion with his old friend Deirdre does not go as smoothly as Cleve’s reunion with Roze did. Scene 13 Scene 14 Scene 15 Scene 16 Scene 17 GM Notes When we describe Mariah’s view of the sunset-lit world as featuring diamonds, and an ocean of islands, and a forest deep and silent, we’re quoting there from Mariah’s theme song, which is “Rive…

Tric and Heppa bid farewell to Terwaen’s household with several revealing conversations. Scene 15 Scene 16 Scene 17 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Vis…

Marina takes Cleve and Mariah to the Stepdaughters of Chiron council building. Scene 8 Scene 9 Scene 10 Scene 11 Scene 12 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Tric duels Dame Merriver. Scene 14 Note: This episode uses our Fight Night rules. Find them here. GM Notes The Battle for Wesnoth video game inspired a lot of specific events and NPCs in our tabletop campaign. I leaned heavily on the closing events of the Eastern Invasion campaign, even quoting from the epilogue where Gweddry and Owaec are granted …

Some among the Stepdaughters of Chiron prove less easy to get along with than craws are. Scene 5 Scene 6 Scene 7 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Tric and Heppa talk with Dame Merriver about threats to the kingdom… and her illicit weapon shipments. Scene 13 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit t…

Mariah, Cleve, and Marina visit with some farmers on the outskirts of Stepdaughters of Chiron territory. Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 GM Notes The description of the farm in this episode is actually inspired by alter eco chocolate bars. The inside of the packaging has a labeled graphic of regenerative agriculture in practice, which we thought fi…

Sir Anyc shows Tric and Heppa around and presents them to Dame Merriver. Scene 11 Scene 12 GM Notes Dame Merriver is a character we’ve had floating around our campaign from way, way back. All the rumors and theories about her is what inspired me to give her the special ability Ominous Reputation. She also has a theme song in my campaign playlist, w…

The team debates how to handle the remaining demon craw. Scene 14 Scene 15 GM Notes In humans, hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, is a crucial treatment for situations like menopause or gender transition. Personally, HRT helped me become myself for the first time. For Checkerboard, the proposed HRT regimen might help her undo the Progenitor abuse…

Tric and Heppa learn of some tensions within Terwaen’s household… and within her people. Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9 Scene 10 GM Notes There are a number of mounted units in the Battle for Wesnoth video game. In preparation for this arc, I reviewed their descriptions and artwork for inspiration. Terwaen and Anyc are Knights, and Rugg and Inyc are Palad…

The team deals with the repercussions of Dr. Citali’s errant pistol shot. Scene 11 Scene 12 Scene 13 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Tric and Heppa are welcomed to Terwaen’s home. Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org. Need context? Jump to…

Demon craws attack. Scene 10 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

As they approach Terwaen’s village, Tric and Heppa befriend a knight after observing a duel. Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 This arc contains spoilers for the Battle for Wesnoth campaigns Eastern Invasion and Heir to the Throne. There are also references to Northern Rebirth. Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found he…

The Progenitor research facility holds a few surprises. Scene 7 Scene 8 Scene 9 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

Heppa and Tric study Mal-Vektor’s staff—which is almost as dangerous as the man himself. Scene 12 Scene 13 Scene 14 GM Notes We won’t be seeing Ash and Aglana again in this campaign—at least not together as a couple. So I’ll take this opportunity to fill in some of the backstory that informs their behavior, but that didn’t get stated openly at the …

Their new friends lead Mariah, Cleve, and Marina to a Progenitor ruin. Scene 4 Scene 5 Scene 6 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

The elves extract what information they can from their necromancer prisoner. Scene 11 Our character art by Del Borovic and the map we refer to (by me!) can be found here. Our music is sampled from Return to Wesnoth by Matthias Westlund (aka West), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, part of The Battle for Wesnoth Project. Visit them at wesnoth.org. Need c…

Mariah, Cleve, and Marina face some unexpectedly tough negotiators. Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories

A necromancer joins the battle against the elves. Scene 10 GM Notes As usual, I got my inspiration for NPCs from the Battle for Wesnoth video game. I prepped Giant Spider and Yeti encounters, since those are units found in caves and mountains. I also wanted to broaden the range of undead my players had to deal with, and so I turned to a unit line w…

Data Haven enacts its plans to slow down Morgan’s Planetary Security Force. Scene 19 Scene 20 Scene 21 Scene 22 Scene 23 Scene 24 (Letter to Fritz) Our music is from Purple Planet Music. Visit them at purple-planet.com. Need context? Jump to the start of the series!By Dicey Stories