Time for part 6 of 10 of my self-contained Spire episodes! Devlin, a besotted fan of your cell’s idol, Verana, contacts you to let you know that a relatively famous artist has dropped out of an exclusive art competition that neither he nor you had ever heard of before. The Ministry thinks this could be a good place to at least win some extra money, if not take out a few pompous aelfir while you’re there…
Let me know if you’re interested! (If you are repeat players from my one-shots or sessions, you will be able to add an additional Low Advance to your existing character ahead of the game).
As before, I have attached all the materials needed to create a character from the choice of 15 classes. These characters have resistances (Blood, Mind, Silver, Reputation and Shadow) that can be impacted in the game instead of hit points. You should start with the Spire Characters file first if you would like to create a character, as it gives all the necessary approach directions. An extra piece of help, however, is that if you are provided the same Domain or Skill twice, you can gain a Knack, which allows you to roll with mastery. A knack is a more focused version of the domain or skill. For example, if you got the Fight skill twice, you could choose to have a knack in fighting with blades and you could roll with mastery whenever you fought with a bladed weapon.
I have been interested in spire for a long time and this seems like a perfect way to try the system out! I assume since you say it’s new player friendly I am completely OK just dropping in in session 6 out of 10, right?
It’s just the type of magic used for spells. Broadly, there is Divine and Occult magic. Divine magic always has a stated cost to use. Occult magic can fail and has a cost if it fails.
So, just to be clear - what is probably Veraana’s best artwork to date, including all the suggestions about how it’s beautiful and inspiring, is now sitting in a courtyard in the Silver Quarter, and plenty of people saw her make it - in fairness, they might have other stuff on their minds just now, but that has got to earn her a solid bump in fame before too long, right?
I think we need some consequences so here are some consequences!:
Since Dance-Upon-Blades, Lilith’s Special Tactics Commander, was blown up by the cell, Lilith has been promoted to his position.
The loss of Brigadier Hammer-On-Stone and Major-General Silk-Sways-In-The-Wind so close to each other (and far away from the front line!) has led to demands from the Allied Defence Force and its martial supporters around the Spire Council to demand increased security measures in Spire. This is supported by the near loss of another Bishop of the Solar Pantheon, with rumours swirling of coordinated attacks on all forms of aelfir society. This has resulted in checkpoints being installed between all levels of Spire, checking papers and for weapons. You can still get through (if you find the right City Guard for the right price), but it still makes it much harder to get around armed.
Maji Eboh and her Black Guard have been made to look weak on security. They have started accompanying many more aelfir around Spire and have pulled in additional veterans to swell their ranks, and have moved to a much more “fight first, questions later” type of approach with any perceived slight by drow. Expect increased probability of Black Guard being present at aelfir locations of interest.
An inquiry has been opened into the events leading to two high profile deaths at a closed invitation-only event. The chaos following the fallen boulder meant that the event and it’s fatal conclusion could not be kept from the public eye and the security organisations need to be seen to be doing something. Both the Secret Police and the Paladins have opened joint investigations into the mysterious “red diamond followed by a red boulder that both disappeared after a few minutes”. Rumours within the commercial district speak of a human exotic item seller that used to claim he had items that could produce such magical objects. It won’t be long until the authorities find him - and his list of buyers.
The sculpting twins, Julia and Josselyn, have been spreading rumours to the less well-respected drow papers that Veraana may well be a witch beyond a mere idol, and that she could be dangerous. No one is taking them seriously yet, as most of it seems to be a response from their jealousy of Veraana’s work in the contest, which is being dubbed “The Broken Beauty that Never Won”.
The report of the woman on-site bearing the same symbol as on the original rail gun letter has Jeff extra worried and has informed you that the Ministry is trying double hard to find any evidence of an additional secret organisation and he will let you know if they find anything.
Randy the human fire artist seemed unconcerned by the chaos of the art contest and immediately found a new station for his work, continuing to use his flamethrower happily around the city to create beautiful cinder art.
. Want to give it a try?
