This series of posts is going to be a direct copy / paste of my first game of A Single Moment. It's a roleplaying game designed for two players that tells the story of how two Samurai have come to odds and what awaits them. Check it out here. For our game, instead of samurai, we've gone with knights in a fantasy world.
The rest of this post and the series are going to be directly pulled from the game, and I'll note which players entry is from whom. The game begins by setting up a Duel between the players. Each chapter that follows reveals a moment in the past that has helped build towards this climax. Both players gain what are called Edges, Hatred, and Scars, and those fill up as Choice Tokens are awarded during each chapter at pivotal moments in the fiction. Each chapter highlights specific Virtues shared by the players. At the end of all the chapters, the players use all they've gained throughout the chapters to play through the final battle.
OPENING SCENE
My name is Artrail Gartsworth. I am of the Legion of Judgement. This is my tale.
My name is Tristan Falconne. I am formerly of the Legion of Judgement. This is my tale.
It is during the peak of the inquisition, where the evil and wicked have been pursued vigorously in the name of the church. It is a frigid autumn eve coming into dusk.
We stand upon sacred ground known as The Swordscrown. A ring of monolithic swords carved from black stone, one for each King dating back to the beginning. The clouds lay heavy and move quick in stark contrast to the stillness of these massive gravestones around us.
It has taken what feels an eternity of injustice to come to this single moment.
This story is about Mercy. Those who are without it, and those who grant it unerringly.
CHAPTER ONE
Virtue: Modesty
Key Focus: "The Time When We Still Trusted Each Other
I recall a time where an act of indecency lead to a compromise of trust.
We were hunting a creature that had appeared to be a demon hiding as a person. We were in the slum district of our prideful kingdom. Searching alleyways, shops, homes. Turning over anything we deemed suspicious. It was a quiet, somewhat cool midsummer day.
It was the first mission we were given after being granted Knighthood. I was surprised we both made it through squireship especially since the Sword Saint, the highest ranking member in the Legion of Judgement kept such a close eye on us. I guess it does help that he was your brother.
It is true. Leopold is my brother and he can be a pain in the ass, but because of that, I had to work harder than most others because of the pressure. I was surprised that you made it through squireship. That comfy lifestyle of nobility, I thought you were going to be soft and weak, but you proved my initial instinct wrong.
A Choice Token goes to Tristan.
Tristan and Artrail continued their hunt for the "demon who wears the face of a man" in the back alleys of Merona, the heart of the kingdom. Following a lead exploring the dusty remains of an abandoned shop, Tristan prods Artrail with some questions to break the silence.
"So, how does it feel to be next in line to assume the rank of Sword Saint? Don't make that face, we all know it's going to be you."
While going down the alley, headed into the old dusty shop. Artrail looks over to Tristan and lets out a long sigh, "I don't know, I haven't even thought ahead that far. I know I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility." He pauses for a moment, "What about you? Do you have no desire to pursue the title?"
"Well of course I want to be Sword Saint, most of the Knights of the Legion do. But we all know that's not going to happen. And let's be frank, I'm not exactly the best swordsman or most powerful Channeler. My lineage is probably the only reason I'm still here." Tristan replies. He cuts himself short, and motions to some fresh footprints and a broken door just up ahead in a dead-end alley.
Artrail and Tristan rush up to the door and Artrail leads through. The pathway seems to lead down a staircase and into the sewer system. The trail of prints hard to make out on the stony exterior floor.
The previous words of Tristan resonate through Artrails mind, "Look, it's the choices we make from this point on that will be garnering favor to becoming the Sword Saint. And the first step at gaining that attention is finding this demon."
The discussion comes to a halt as both hear a noise coming from a room up ahead. Tristan takes the lead and carefully treads forward mace in hand. He stows it slowly as he recognizes what looks like a babushka like woman, cowered in the corner, begin to cough.
He reaches a hand forward, offering aid. "Ma'am, are you alright?"
"Wait!" Artrail shouts, but just a bit too late. The woman reaches out to take Tristan's hand with her own, old and weathered hand. Her face lowered down into shadow revealing very little detail. "I will be fine, dearie."
Artrail watches in confusion, but is sure that this is the demon, the pushes forward and knocks their hands apart. "What are you thinking, you cannot trust her." He says while drawing his large sword from his back, holding it to the woman.
Tristan puts his hand up towards Artrail, "Whoa! Put that away, you're going to hurt somebody with that thing. See, she's harmless. Looks like just another dead end."
As Tristan utters those last words a deep laugh begins to grow from the dark side of the room. His eyes go wide as he quickly turns to face the old woman but it's too late. She's standing, with a palm outstretched and a dart of black smoke shoots forward at the knights.
A Choice Token goes to Tristan.
While still keeping his guard at the ready, Artrail pushes himself in between Tristan and the smoke, putting his back to it. The smoke hits and begins wrapping around his large frame and begins causing a slow burn along his back, as the smoke effortlessly seeps through his armor.
"Damnit!" Artrail growls out in pain.
A Choice Token goes to Artrail.
As the magic pierces Artrail, Tristan rolls forward and draws his mace and swings upward in one fluid motion. Tristan lashes out again and again but the Demon effortlessly evades, each swing finding nothing but dematerialized smoke. Frustrated, he swings down forcefully for another blow, and the Demon catches it with a clawed hand, and tosses the knight effortlessly across the room.
Artrail's burning pain crawls around his back sending him to one knee, and Tristan's body comes flying over his shoulder and slamming into the wall on the opposite side. He lets out a roaring yell as he kicks off his knee swinging his heavy blade wildly behind him. As his body does a full turn, his heart sinks for a moment and he hesitates to make his strike.
The face of the demon has changed to that of Artrail, and it's body just finishing the process of shifting. The brief hesitation allows the creature to effortless evade his blow as it shoves Artrail back off of his feet and makes his way to the entrance. It pauses briefly, eyeing both Artrail and Tristan with piercing orange eyes that phase into the same emerald green eyes shared by Artrail.
A Choice Token goes to both.
Tristan picks himself up from the rubble, knocking aside a broken shelf. He stands and sees both Artrail, and an exact duplicate standing next to each other. Pain lancing through his ribs, Tristan looks on in utter confusion. "Oh no, which one's the Demon" Tristan thinks to himself.
Mace in one hand, he raises the other as blue arcs of energy begin to wrap around it, and points it towards the two figures of his friend before him.
"Stand down, Demon!"
Artrail and this doppelganger become entangled in a grapple. The pure demonic strength of this creature breaks Artrail's grip on his sword, it falls to the ground and clatters with a heavy echo. The two begin punching one another and the demon "plays" the part, taking the hits, appearing to be like the weak mortal. The two finally break appart as Artail drives his elbow in the demon's chest, and while feigning weakness he falls back into the doorway.
Artrail reaches down for his sword, readying a finishing strike when the release of the Tristan's energy catches him in the back. The Divine Lightning incantation, although part of the earlier studies of the Legion of Judgement, still potent in the right situations. It blasts Artrail in the back, dropping him to his knees once more. His blade leaving his grasp once again only to fall to his enemy.
After falling to his knees, he thinks to himself for a moment, "Damn... I should've said something... I should've identified myself...". He collapses to his chest, laying face down on the hardened stone floor from the paralytic effects of the sacred blast.
The face snatcher, cackles with joy as he takes Artrail's blade, and flees the scene.
A Choice Token goes to Artrail.
Realizing his mistake, Tristan drops his weapon and comes to Artrail's aid. "Shit! I'm sorry! Artrail, are you okay?" He helps his friend up, but the weight of his folly sinks deep in the pit of his stomach. "I knew it...I'm not cut out for this stuff. Not yet." Tristan thought to himself.
A Choice Token goes to Tristan.
Artrail makes it back to his feet while still feeling the numbing of the spell. "Brother will not be pleased." As he pokes his head out from the top of the stairway to the sewer, he sees a few bodies strewn along the path. They look to have been severed by a large blade. "Whaa..." he gasps, trying to take in the situation.
Picking themselves up and dusting off, the two follow the trail of bodies and the tracks. They navigate through a labyrinth of tunnels, following the path of destruction as it leads back out to the street. Emerging into the light, the two come to a scene of another pair of Knights of the Legion who have subdued the Demon-Who-Wears-The-Face-Of-Men. Cheers all around as the other Knights, a pair of familiar faces who served in the same squireship Ring as Artrail and Tristan, embrace the two injured Knights, crediting them for finding and driving out the Demon. A job well done.
The two remain quiet, somber, exchanging knowing looks but keeping the truth of their personal failure to themselves, each for their own reasons. Over the next few days back at the Temple their wounds are treated, and their training continues. Surprisingly, the two are given commendations and even recognition from the Sword Saint himself for a job well done on their first mission. A seed of doubt takes root in Tristan's mind on what Artrail might have revealed to Leopold about the details of their hunt.
Later that night. Artrail and Leopold had met up for a meal. The Sword Saint had wanted to congratulate him in person, in a less formal setting. The praises and compliments, bouncing off of Artrail's ego. Deep down, he knew he had failed. Deep down, he knew that he could have beaten this demon. Deep down, the thought of knowing that a creature using his face killing dozens of innocents, it weighed heavily on his soul. And even deeper down, he knew that there was one person that caused this chaos.
CHAPTER END
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