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Author Topic: [Campaign Diary] DARK ALBION: THE ROSE WAR (System: Lion & Dragon)  (Read 750 times)

PFrota

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Hey, all. I've started a Lion & Dragon campaign specifically with the intention of playtesting an adventure I'm writing and it's developing wonderfully well. Since this is the place with the most chance of someone interested in the system / setting reading about it, I'll be posting the updates here for now. Hope there's something there that you guys can use to inspire.

Cast

Crowley Family. A minor knightly family, headed by Lord Alexander Crowley (44) and Lady Eleanor (39). They have three children: Alexander (21) and the twins Christopher and Barbara (16).
Underhill Family. A minor knightly family. Their youngest son, David (21), serves in the war in Frogland and after the events of the Battle of Castillon he forms a close bond of friendship with Christopher, becoming his ally and supporter.
Dawn. Her real name is Lady Grace Wolton. At 17, she serves in the Crowley Estate as a humble handmaiden. She is secretly of aristocratic origin, but her family's lives and fortune were taken by a noble Magister who used dark magic to marry her sister, control (and kill) her parents, and get rid of her older brother. She survived due to her connection to Barbara, who helped her hide in the Crowley Estate.
Duncan. A 19-year-old Scot who abandoned his clan after serves the Crowley family. He was taught how to read and write by Christopher, who was taken as a hostage by Duncan's clan when they were children. Despite their unusual circumstances, the two formed a bond of friendship.
Elizabeth Saintjohn. As a child she was a simple servant of the Crowley family, until she was chosen by the Sun and taken to be trained as a cleric. She serves in a monastery in Crowley land.

Current Player Characters: Barbara Crowley (Level 0 Thief), Christopher Crowley (Level 0 Magister), David Underhill (Level 0 Fighter), Dawn (Level 0 Thief), Duncan (Level 0 Scots Man), Elizabeth Saintjohn (Level 0 Cleric).

« Last Edit: February 24, 2021, 11:10:37 AM by PFrota »

PFrota

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Re: [Campaign Updates] Lion & Dragon / Dark Albion
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2021, 11:36:35 PM »
Session 1 - Prologue
Player Characters: Barbara Crowley (Level 0 Thief), Christopher Crowley (Level 0 Magister), David Underhill (Level 0 Fighter), Dawn (Level 0 Thief), Duncan (Level 0 Scots Man), Elizabeth Saintjohn (Level 0 Cleric).

YEAR 1453, JULY

Frogland, Battle of Castillon.
The Loss of Castillon was one of the worst defeats ever suffered by Albion. After this, the Frogmen reconquered all of the Anglish lands on the Continent with the sole exception of Calais.

(Scene 1) Lord Crowley (accompanied by his sons, Alexander and Christopher) is serving in the Albion army under the command of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. The Earl leads his army into a fortified Frogmen encampment without waiting for reinforcements, believing that the enemy was retreating, and refuses to withdraw even after realizing the strength of the French position, causing his men to suffer extensive casualties from the Frogmen knights, dark magics, and walking dead. Commander Talbot's horse is hit by a foul magical projectile and dies, pinning its master under him; despite the Crowley's attempt to save him, a frogman knight kills the Anglish commander. The Anglish army is routed, Lord Crowley and Alexander manage to control their unit for an organized retreat. Christopher is knocked down by a frogman spear, his horse rides away with him and he is separated from the others and lost.
(Scene 2) Against his will, David Underhill is fighting on the fringe of the battle. He notices the horse with the unconscious knight and controls the beast, saving the young man. Revived, Christopher joins forces with Underhill in organizing a retreat to save as many lives as possible. They are joined by refugees loyal to Albion. On the way they are attacked by frogmen and human soldiers, and after a desperate resistance they manage to help the refugees cross the channel back to Albion. The two then escape to Calais.

Albion, Crowley Estate in Northumberland.
(Scene 3) Barbara Crowley hears from her mother the story of how Lord Crowley saved her during the war and they fell in love "like in the tales". Later, she entertains Owen Hautreeve, one of her many suitors. Supposedly the young knight was hurt during a tournament and missed the opportunity to travel to Frogland to fight in the battle, but she tests him until she's sure he faked his injury to avoid the war. She believes him to be a coward and not at all bright, but enjoys his good looks. While Barbara and Owen are together, a jealous Duncan observes from afar, until interrupted by Dawn, who pressures him into talking about his past.

YEAR 1445, Flashback. Duncan remembers how he became friends with a hostage taken by his clan - young Christopher Crowley, who taught him how to read.
YEAR 1451, Flashback. Duncan recounts how he fell in love with the daughter of the leader from an enemy clan, who was betrothed to his own clan’s future leader (his cousin). That marriage was supposed to bring peace between the clans, and when they were discovered, Duncan’s cousin challenged him to a duel. He preferred to run instead of risking killing a kinsman, and his lover followed him. They were ambushed and tried to escape, but she was wounded in the fight and bled out. Going into a rage, Duncan killed many of his kinsmen that day, and ran away to the south. He sought out the young Anglish nobleman who had been his hostage and now Duncan serves House Crowley as a bodyguard and hired sword.

Albion, a Monastery in Northumberland.
(Scene 4) The acolyte Elizabeth (formerly a servant of the Crowley family before she was chosen by the Unconquered Sun) receives Urswick, a priest of the Church. The priest orders her to perform a series of unimportant tasks as part of her duties, and she complies. One of the tasks was to retrieve a relic of the Church - a golden sun disk - from one of the monastery's guarded rooms for cleaning. She brings the relic to Urswick, who keeps it and dismisses her. On the following day, he is nowhere to be found and she discovers she was manipulated into unknowingly stealing the relic for him. She secretly vowed to retrieve the item, and leaves the monastery to ask for help at the Crowley Estate.

Calais, Last Anglish Fortress in Frogland.
(Scene 5) David and Christopher are reunited with Lord Crowley and Alexander. When they arrive at the camp, they hear Alexander trying to convince Lord Crowley to not look for Christopher; "The boy was useless", he says. David barges into the tent in defense of the young man, telling how his strategies and planning saved many people. Alexander and David immediately hate each other and Lord Crowley has to intervene to avoid bloodshed. That night Lord Crowley tells Christopher he doesn't care if he's not a warrior and that he'll arrange either the best tutors so he can become a magister or the best teachers if he wants to practice his sword skills. He also recounts how his wife was a noble with ancient lands in Anjou, now under frogmen dominion; and says he fears they will never recover Eleanor's ancestral home. On the following day, the three cross the channel back to Albion.

Albion, Crowley Estate in Northumberland.
(Scene 6) Elizabeth is received by Barbara and Dawn; she tells what happened to her. Barbara says she can stay there and the three women spend some time sharing their misfortunes (Barbara sounds annoying, since her "misfortune" is being too pretty and having many rich suitors). Outside, while on patrol, Duncan notices someone unknown in the manor's grounds. He follows and notices the man preparing to shoot a crossbow at the three women. Duncan quickly attacks and kills the man before he could shoot. When the three come see what happened, both Elizabeth and Dawn believe the man was trying to kill her, and even Barbara is not sure she wasn't the target - unfortunately, as the would-be-assassin is dead, they can't be sure. After being scolded, Duncan investigates the body and finds a note scribbled in a language none of them understand; they keep it to ask Christopher about it (since they know he speaks many languages) upon his return.

(End of Session 1)
« Last Edit: February 24, 2021, 10:25:59 AM by PFrota »

PFrota

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Re: [Campaign Updates] Lion & Dragon / Dark Albion
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2021, 11:09:35 AM »
Session 2
Player Characters: Christopher Crowley (Level 0 Magister), David Underhill (Level 1 Fighter), Elizabeth Saintjohn (Level 0 Cleric). (some players couldn't make it to the game)

YEAR 1453, JULY

Albion, Dover - Road to Canterbury.
(Scene 1) The Crowley Knights (Lord Crowley, Alexander, and Christopher) plus David Underhill leave Dover with the intention of going to Canterbury as pilgrims, to purify themselves from the chaos they have seen and experienced in the Continent and to ask forgiveness to the Sun for the defeat (Lord Crowley is very religious, Christopher is somewhat religious, Alexander and David much less so). Eventually, David notices a commotion on the road and they see what looks like highwaymen attacking a group of poor pilgrims, and ride to defend them. To their surprise, the attackers are cloaked individuals, heavily armed and armored, who speak in Frankish. They win, but Alexander is gravely wounded while defending Christopher (and mutters a "useless" to his brother before passing out, because I'm that kind of GM).

(Scene 2) After the battle, Christopher tends to his brother's wounds with great success (natural 20), showing great talent for medicine. David and Lord Crowley help the "pilgrims" and to their surprise they discover they are disguised Anglish Knights (what explains why they were being followed by warriors from Frogland). They are carrying chests of gold and silver and their leader is none other than the Duke Somerset himself - Edmund Beaufort, Marshal of Albion, whose incompetence in leading the army culminated in the defeat at Castillon and the loss of thousands of lives. He orders Lord Crowley and the characters to not speak of that, and presents each one with a reward for their service (while making sure to discreetly let them know it's actually a bribe and that it's not smart to disobey a Duke - especially one with the Queen's favor).

(Note: At this point, Lord Crowley is a loyal Lancastrian, so he obeys; but the implications of what they saw here and PC action may change his opinion in the future. The Players themselves don't care about the sides of the War of the Roses yet.)

(Scene 3) The PCs enlist nearby peasants to help them carry the wounded Alexander on a stretcher; he's taken care by Christopher along the way and quickly recovers, but still spends a day recovering after they arrive in Canterbury. In the city they go through several purification rituals, make lots of donations, experience some of the religious fervor of the town and meet the Archbishop John Kemp, who blesses and forgives them for their failure at Castillon.

Albion, a Monastery in Northumberland.
(Scene 4). Elizabeth quietly goes back to the monastery to meet with one of her monk friends and learn more about the stolen relic, in search of a clue that might point her in Urswick's direction; he urges her to abandon the quest of retrieving the relic and telling the superiors about what happened. She refuses and when she's about to leave, two clerics of the Unconquered Sun surprise her and she's captured. Taken to a cell in the monastery, while she waits she sees a man on the adjacent praying room flogging himself while he loudly prays to the Sun for guidance. He does so the whole night, and when the sun comes up he is helped into her cell, where he presents himself as Vicenzo, a "humble student of Bishop Cauchon" (an INT check reveals the name "Cauchon" as the bishop who trialed and sentenced the famous Joan of Arc to burn at the stake, what makes Vicenzo an inquisitor). He interrogates her, who willingly reveals everything about the theft of the relic. Vicenzo, now wearing inquisitorial robes, says that knowingly or not, she stole from the Church and helped the spread of Chaos, so she must be punished. He says that "such a thing can't be done under the Sun", meaning she will have the whole day to think about what she's done and will be punished at sunset.

(Scene 5) Elizabeth spends the day praying and at sunset, while looking at the last rays of the sun leaving Albion through her cell window, she receives a vision of herself, in full combat regalia of the Unconquered Sun clerics, commanding knights holding a banner with a sun disk surrounded by chains. The clerics and Vicenzo arrive during the vision, and from their point of view it's revealed she's floating, surrounded by the light of the sun. The clerics fall to their knees and the subsequent interrogation by the inquisitor, aided by clerical powers, reveals the vision was real - she is a true Chosen of the Unconquered Sun. The banner she saw points that she was chosen as the living patron saint of the Order of the Chained Knights, and thus no punishment will be given - instead, Vicenzo informs Elizabeth that she must be immediately sent to the City of Arcadia, where she will be presented and tested by the Pontifex himself, Nicolaus V.

(End of Session 2)


« Last Edit: February 24, 2021, 11:15:38 AM by PFrota »