The Wargate Presents
No Oath, No Spell
A World of Darkness Chronicle
Season 1, 2016
Little beast,
are you wild as me?
Left some teeth in your enemies...
We won't be broken,
there's no curse we haven't spoken...
There is no oath,
there is no spell...
to deliver us, to make us well...
- Murder by Death
Smokefall Ridge, The Indian Territory
Weeks have passed for our intrepid pioneers. The Dread that hung over the settlements has been dispelled, and the horrific events in the town nearby have earned that place the moniker "Hell Bend". No one goes out there anymore.
Now the land of the southern Territory are plagued by tales of supernatural outlaws and worse. Strange incidents have definitely slacked off in frequency, but the tales of the place persist even in the larger world. In Ft. Grant, people speak in hushed whispers of a whole town purged of devil worshipers.
Yet people ARE coming to Smokefall! The tiny town has had a bit of a resurgence, and our characters have found themselves in important functionary positions. Now that people are coming to Smokefall, another set of problems emerges. All those people have to be dealt with and integrated into the community.
Even with more hands helping, the crucible of the frontier is not done with the settlers. Life is harsh, and there is competition. Will Smokefall Ridge find a way to solidify itself as an incorporated entity? If so, will the legacy of the settlers stand the test of time...or will the coming years blow away all the characters have built like so much dust in the wind?
No Oath, No Spell is a
World of Darkness chronicle set in The Indian Territory. This chronicle contains the final stories for Smokefall Ridge in our current arc. This is exciting, as our first installment (
The Rough Edge of Night) finished up over four years ago!
Smokefall Ridge and the final state we leave it in will have an effect on our other
World of Darkness chronicles going forward. We have begun to show how two of our settings in particular are interconnected, the Indian Territory and South-by-Southwest.
Dead Man's Hand this season will also affect Smokefall Ridge, so actions in both games this season could potentially affect characters, backgrounds and settings for years to come! This chronicle, and this season in general, will be a legendary time in our
World of Darkness.
Also, this is the first season of 2016, which means it's also the first of a new slew of four-month project seasons! Bear that in mind, settlers - and good luck to you. If you can make it, Smokefall Ridge will as well.
Current Player Characters
- "Doc" Jameson
- A man of science, looking for the truth.
- Ignacio Madera
- The sheriff of Smokefall Ridge and proprietor of Twin Pines Fine Horse Mall.
- Don Juan Ortega
- Mayor of the township of Smokefall Ridge, Don Juan is focused on the town's sustainability.
- Rusty Shackleford
- The former mountain man decided to give "civilization" a go and try his luck in the settlements.
- Josephine Maxwell
- A journalist sent to Smokefall to investigate the strange happenings, she intends to find a big story here in the Territory.
- Jakey Wales
- Life has changed a great deal for Jakey since coming to Smokefall.
- Caleb Tinker
- The town's gunsmith returns after a few weeks worth of introspection on the mountain. Smokefall is looking pretty rough to him...
- Arthur Littlehawk
- A native hunter who lives at nearby Snake Valley, he recently befriended the folks at Smokefall Ridge.
- Doctor Anya
- An educated lady from back east, her medical skills have helped the settlement immensely.
- Preacher
- A new pastor has arrived to take over the services from Don Juan.
- Johnny Chu
- Smokefall gets it's first taste of Chinese cuisine from this immigrant cook.
Deceased Player Characters
Disbanded Player Characters
Chronicle Log
Total Game Time: 49 hrs
Life Outside
(01.03.16 to 01.31.16)
Total Session Time: 23 hrs
The characters make lives for themselves in Smokefall, and deal with the day to day dramas of life.
Your standard Western fare has occurred, and besides the bandits and hooliganry there are stranger things afoot. The best part is that there is now a Chinese restaurant in Smokefall and people love it.
Stones in Dream, Stone in Wood
(02.21.16 to 04.24.16)
Total Session Time: 26 hrs
The woods and wilds around Smokefall begin to reveal a secret that could change the course of history for the Indian Territory.
It seems that the mystical strangeness of the Territory will continue unabated by man's interference. Some sense of stability has come to Smokefall at last - but what new challenges does having so many...
strange individuals in one place bring upon the intrepid pioneers?
Campaign Resolution
For the most part, the land has been preserved. It will be so for the foreseeable future, as far as the residents of Smokefall Ridge are concerned. The area once simply called "the settlements" is now being threatened with the very bane of the pioneer lifestyle - government regulation.
Yet the town is growning, even at a faster rate than the arguably better constructed (and prettier) Primrose. Moreover, the mysterious Media Movement folk connected with Ms. Holmes and her peculiar friends bring a stability to the settlement that was never there before. Several new businesses, funded by the City Council and the Media Movement, are erected and are prospering in the burgeoning trade of the Territory.
Progress has come to Smokefall Ridge. It's set to become a trade hub of the region, superseding Andersen's Hill in that respect. It's good for the town, but the Territory is still a dangerous area. The characters in this chronicle have set the foundation for the future of the Southwest, but what threats will rear their ugly heads in the future?
In time, it will fall to other folks to step up and face those challenges - whatever they may be. Though we do not know the exact ultimate fates of the player characters yet, the Smokefall Ridge City Council and Community Development Committee have the administration and development of their growing town to deal with. They have been entered into the Honor Roll of the Wargate for their role in combating the powerful spiritual forces gathered in the Territory. Undoubtedly, we will hear from them again - eventually learning what exactly becomes of them as time unfolds.
We cannot divine their fates just now, as we must look to the others who are yet to come that will make their mark on the coming world. A world that waits more than a century away...and a great deal can happen in such a long span of time.
The Lodge of Dusk at Silver Lake, Near Smokefall Ridge
April 19th, 1878
The inside of the Lodge of Dusk was very impressive, especially to those who were unfamiliar with the ingenuity of the native tribes. The strange, dark wood that made up the structure was something most people had never seen before...and it's origin wholly unknown. Yet that was par for course here, as so many things took on qualities of the strange. Such things as the low, slow drumming inside was like the sound of a pounding pulse inside your skull - it wasn't loud, but it could not be ignored. The burning sage was there as well, cloying the senses in a manner that was wholly of the strange.
Lisa Holmes stood facing Five Stones and White Hawk. The City Council was with her, as were the members of her cabal. She held the child in her arms, and Jakey Wales stood beside her. Still, her emotions were running rampant...and she struggled to maintain her calm. Jakey put his hand on her shoulder to offer support, but she couldn't lift her gaze from her baby's face.
Rosa Wales was almost 8 months old now, and what she was about to do was the most difficult thing she had ever faced. The Mastigos of the Free Council who had faced down and tamed her own inner demons was gone. Only the mother of the child was left, and she wept.
Five Stones put his hands out over the altar. She hesitated, then stepped forward and presented Rosa to the shaman.
The atmosphere among those gathered was tense, but hopeful.
The werewolf stepped forward from the darkness of the shadowed recesses. Though she showed her war-form to the onlookers, the Lunacy did not affect them. Her fur was a soft brown, and she was adorned with shamanic vestments and spirit charms. Her staff, dangling with mystic seals and medicine stones, clanked on the hard dark wood of the floor.
The mage and the shaman looked up at her. She acknowledged them softly.
Lisa and Five Stones faced one another across the square podium of the altar, and the werewolf took her place on the east side. "Protector, " the female wolf said, her voice surprisingly motherly and soft, "take your place." Mongwau the shaman stepped from the gathering to stand on the empty side opposite the wolf.
"It is an honor, Onowa." he said, reverently. "Let us begin."
The wolf, Onowa, shook her hand over the child held by Five Stones over the altar. She began to speak the tongue of the spirits, reminding them of the pacts she had made with them. Then, it began to appear.
It was a wispy thing, thin and gaunt. It was made as of smoke, and curled from the burning sage smoke hanging in the air. It reached out and began to coil around baby Rosa. Lisa began to waver, but Jakey was there to hold her. She did look at him this time, and his eyes told her to trust in him.
A second spirit appeared. It wound it's way down like the other, and seemed similar yet had a different quality of light to it, eerily a smoky purple unlike the other. It began to do the same, and as it did, the other spirit lifted away from the child to coil around the head of Onowa. It made a lazy, coiling smoke ring above her head. In a few moments, the other spirit followed suit.
The smoke coiled together, and the other shamans moved away from the altar, with Five Stones stepping straight back a step holding Rosa to his chest. The wolf motioned to the altar, and commanded the spirit to appear and speak it's truth. The two spirits made one, vaguely in the shape of a human upper body, in the space above the altar's burning sage. When it spoke, a mouth opened to reveal the purple-lit smoke. The voice that issued forth was a horrifying, rasping whisper.
"tHiS - cHiLd - - iS-oF - - - uRaThA - - -"
Lisa gasped, and many of the natives seemed to exchange nervous glances.
"tHiS - cHiLd - - wIlL nEvEr sLeEp - - -"
The spirit faded away.
Lisa looked at the ground, resigned. Jakey looked at Five Stones, and they nodded to one another. They had already made the agreement, and it stood.
"It is settled, then!" came a commanding voice, breaking the tense silence. Bullet Braids stepped forward from the crowd and raised his hands to gather the attention of the gathering. "The child is one of us. She will go with Onowa."
He walked to Lisa and the Council. The cabal also drew in closer, eager to hear what he had to say.
"As for you, willworkers..." Bullet Braids continued, lowering his voice as he approached. "Now...and only now...will we speak towards what you ask of us. The child will be safe with the Hunters in Darkness, and you have shown us you know of our ways...and what Mother Luna asks of us. We believe we have seen the only way forward."
Bullet Braids stared at the Council with a scrutiny of one sizing up one's own allies instead of one sizing up how to destroy his enemy. It was an odd sensation to those who had encountered him before. "Come, " he said, "let us complete our pact, and speak of the seasons yet to come."
Yesterday Hawk and I scored an opportunity to sit with the esteemed Venger Satanis of Kor'thalis Publishing at the helm of his Alpha Blue game on Roll20. Hilarity ensued, and we had a blast.
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