Castaway
Ashley Torres
EDGE 1 | HEART 3 | IRON 1 | SHADOW 2 | WITS 2
DEVOTANT: Alo, the Drowned Goddess (Heart)
You worship a god, power, or entity. Give it a name and choose one of your stats to represent its nature. When you Secure an Advantage or Gain Ground by calling on it for guidance or aid, roll +linked stat. On a hit, take +1 momentum or +1 spirit. On a strong hit with a match, a miracle or sign manifests; take another +1 momentum or +1 spirit.
NECROMANCER
While in the presence of the remains of an intelligent being, you may Gather Information by summoning their spirit to answer your questions. If you do, roll +heart and take +1 momentum on a hit.
CUTTHROAT
If you wield knives...
When you Strike, add +1. When you make a move using a knife not as a weapon to attack or threaten, but as a tool to cut an object, gain leverage, or grab hold, add +1 and take +1 momentum on a hit.
HEALTH: 5 | SPIRIT: 5 |SUPPLY: 5
MOMENTUM: +2 | MOMENTUM RESET: +2
Fire. Burning, burning. The right side of her face, searing with pain. Screaming. Half-darkness. A hastily-applied eyepatch. Then, an explosion. Icy cold water. Blackness...
Ashley wonders if she has entered the arms of Alo... but no. She feels the weight of her mortal body return to her, and her intact eye pries itself open as it rejects the call for a return to sleep. A clear blue sky, with the sun high up, blasts into her exhausted brain, forcing her to sit up.
She sits on a sandy beach, with a jungle ahead of her. Around her is strewn the wreckage of the Last Chance, the ship she was aboard alongside her fellow followers of Alo in the Fellowship. As she stands up and looks around, the weight of her situation hits her. She has been separated from her siblings by the mysterious marauders who attacked without warning or provocation. Because of them, for the first time in her life, she is alone.
She falls to her knees and reaches for the iron bondstone in her belt pouch. Miraculously, it still remains. She holds it to her chest tightly.
"Brothers and sisters... by iron, I vow to return to you. And by iron, I vow to find and confront the people who committed this act against us."
Swear an Iron Vow (heart)
Action: 1 + 3 = 4
Challenge: 3, 6
WEAK HIT
Ashley breathes deeply. She has little guidance, but she does have determination. The first part of that determination is to survive her current situation.
She thinks. How can she figure out where she is? If she can figure that out, maybe she can determine if the island is inhabited. Maybe something useful could have survived the wreckage? Or...
She notices a body strewn on another part of the shore nearby, and rushes to it. Unfortunately, even as she tries to shake them awake, she can tell they're dead. This wasn't someone she knew personally, but it is a sister lost all the same. She sighs and closes the dead woman's eyes... then has an idea. She can feel the spirit is still close. If she can just reach out...
Gather Information (heart)
Action: 6 + 3 = 9
Challenge: 8, 2
STRONG HIT
The fallen sister appears in her mind's eye, whispering to her. "Sister, you have survived! I am so happy! Even as I prepare to meet Alo, you live and may carry our stories."
Ashley takes a deep breath, steadying herself. "And I promise I will. But I have a question to ask of you before you leave this world. This island... do you know where we are?"
The spirit ponders this, seeming to take in the surroundings. "I know we were pulling near a settlement when were attacked... Kitan Lagoon, a small village with a powerful healer who trades with us. We were hoping to pick up some medicine to resupply..."
Ashley nods. It somewhat occurs to her how little she was told about where she was going day to day, but she pushes it aside. "How far is it from here?"
"We seem to be on the opposite side from the lagoon... several hours travel at least, even if you cut through the jungle. But you'll fare better there than among this awful wreck!"
"I see... I'll have to make it work." She looks to the jungle. "One more thing, Sister... those people who attacked us... do you know who they were?"
The woman shakes her head. "It all happened so suddenly... I don't know if anyone knew what we were attacked by."
"I will find out. I promise." Ashley grips her bondstone, letting out a breath as she lets go of the spirit. "Be with Alo now. May I see you with her, but only in a time faraway."
The spirit fades as it completes the traditional goodbye. "May I see you there, only in a time far away."
Ashley breathes in and out, wondering how long that will be her last conversation with a sibling of the Fellowship.
Reach a Milestone: Confront the Marauders
Ashley decides to search the wreckage for anything that could be useful before moving forward, either around or through the jungle.
Secure an Advantage (wits)
Action: 6 + 2 = 8
Challenge: 3, 5
STRONG HIT
Ashley finds a cutlass--useful for cutting through the jungle--as well as much foodstuffs and water flasks. She even finds a bedroll. She stuffs it all in her pack and prepares to make her way into the jungle.
Undertake an Expedition (wits)
Action: 2 + 2 + 1 = 5
Challenge: 6, 2
WEAK HIT
Waypoint: Curtains of hanging vines
The vines are thick here. Thick and heavy. Even with the cutlass, Ashley struggles to push through them. And then her foot catches on something--
Face Danger (edge)
Action: 2 + 1 = 3
Burn Momentum: 8
Challenge: 4, 7
MOMENTUM BURN: STRONG HIT
Ashley just barely pulls her leg out of the way as the vine snakes off into the wilderness. She looks around. The vines feel different now--seeming to vibrate with the expectation of a waiting predator.
She whispers to herself. "Are they...?"
Moving. Thinking. Hungry. Ashley must move very cautiously now. The vines completely surround her. What to do...
She decides to slowly bring herself down to crawling flat on her back, even her head barely up, and start slowly crawling her way out of the vines.
Face Danger (shadow)
Action: 5 + 2 = 7
Challenge: 3, 1
STRONG HIT
Slowly, tediously, almost tasting dirt the entire way, Ashley crawls her way away from the vines. She doesn't dare even look up above until she's several feet away from the trees. Once shes in the clear, she sits up, catching her breath after having to take shallow breaths for such a long crawl.
"There," she tells herself. "Not so bad, yes?"
She pauses, considering the vines. Maybe there's some way to make use of them. She moves in slowly and carefully to cut one loose...
Face Danger (wits)
Action: 6 + 2 = 8
Challenge: 8, 10
MISS
She pushed her luck too hard. Her wrist catches on the vine, and she's pulled up, up, up, speeding towards the canopy! She tries to cut herself free--
Face Danger (edge)
Action: 1 + 1 = 2
Challenge: 8, 9
MISS
--And drops the cutlass. She helplessly watches it fall, then looks up, and finds the whole upper half of her body trapped in the carnivous plant's mouth.
Endure Harm (health)
Action: 1 + 4 = 5
Challenge: 1, 7
WEAK HIT
The dissolving acid releases immediately, and it stings and tingles. But it doesn't digest her, not yet. She puts aside thoughts of how stupid she is for now--she needs a way out of this. She tries writhing around slowly, delibirately, looking for some kind of weak point...
Secure an Advantage (wits)
Action: 2 + 2 = 4
Challenge: 2, 9
WEAK HIT
She slips down for a second! A seam! She moves to push against it with all her might!
Face Danger (iron)
Action: 2 + 1 + 1 = 4
Challenge: 4, 8
MISS
And then the plant grips tighter, leaving her even more trapped.
Endure Stress (spirit)
Action: 4 + 3 = 7
Challenge: 9, 2
WEAK HIT
She's scared. She's humilated. She's running low on lung capacity. She was always meant to meet Alo, but not like this, not like this... because of her own stupidity...! With little else she can do, she starts making muffled calls for help...
And then the plant suddenly lets go, putting Ashley in freefall. She screams in terror, but finds herself caught by another vine. But this one doesn't pull her up--instead, several of them wrap aound her, entanging her but also keeping her from falling further.
She finds herself face to face with a pale elven woman with long, flowing sea-green hair that wisps all around her head.
The woman squints with bewilderment. "Why, oh why, did you turn around to face the vinetrap plant again after escaping?"
"You watched all that?!"
"I am here on business. I stopped to watch as I found your situation somewhat entertaining. Not enough to allow you to be digested, of course."
"Well, thank goodness, I suppose! Can you make them let me go?!"
The vines untangle so fast that Ashley is flipped around in the air and lands flat on her back, groaning in pain. The elven woman stares over her with some curiousity.
"Who are you?"
"Sister Ashley Torres, follower of Alo and member of the Fellowship of the Fated."
The woman scoffs. "You must be very sheltered, giving your name and membership in such an organization so easily... low on the totem pole, hmm?"
Ashley squints back. "I don't know what's that is supposed to imply, but I think I at least deserve to know your name."
The woman crosses her arms. "Very well. I am Sargassa, a simple witch of these shallow waters."
Ashley stands up. "Why were you coming this way, anyway?"
Sargassa pauses, looking Ashley up and down. "...You said you were a member of the Fellowship, yes? I should be asking why you're here. We were expecting your vessel last night, but it never arrived. I was coming this way to see if I could discover what happened."
Ashley pauses, trying decide what to say. "...We were waylaid by... I don't know. But we were shipwrecked... or I suppose I was. I am... the only survivor."
Sargassa seems to pause, taking in this information. "...Unfortunate. What do you intend to do now?"
"I was told of the Kitan Lagoon on the other side of the island. I'm trying to get there. Is it where you came from?"
"Indeed. I can help you there... though I warn you, these jungles are not easy to traverse."
Ashley rubs her wrist. "Clearly..."
Sargassa is already beginning to walk off with her hands behind her back proudly, with or without Ashley. "Come now, if you want a hope of surviving."
With little other choice, and indebted by Sargassa saving her life, Ashley follows Sargassa deeper into the jungle...
Reach a Milestone: Confront the Marauders