Ashes of Avatar 01: Siege of Senlin
Back in the saddle, dusting off cobwebs, let's play our first session!
Somewhere in the outskirts of Senlin, a young girl is frantically gathering kindling and adding it to her muslin duffel. She is joined by a dozen or so more of the village's nimblest hands. Inside the village square, the gates are closed. Uncles and Aunts fasten leather and ceramic armors. Mothers and Fathers hand them stone clubs with glittering crystalline blades wedged into the edges of the clubs and prepare to weather siege in storm cellars.
But inside, Ayami is playing shamisen to a crowd of regulars in exchange for fruit tea and vegan dumplings. She's not keen on mushrooms and veggies, but it's what's available in Binh Hao's Dumpling shop. He's a short man with short words, offering simple service to the visitors of Senlin.
Phi stops for tea at Bujing's "Rolling Tea Shop", which advertises itself as the "only true tea shop in town". There seems to be some cultural contention about what truly constitutes tea in this town. Bujing imports the finest Fire Nation tea leaves, while these savage locals will steep just about anything- Mangos, Blueberries, even Ginger!
Bo, a traveling druid of some notable accomplishments, is surprised to see Bujing accuse Phi of paying counterfeit Fire Nation currency. He's making quite the scene, attracting the attention of Ayami but also some Fire Nation loyalists. The curt words come to blows, with Bujing running in fear but Toby putting up a fight. Guo, the local guardsman, appreciates the three adventurers re-establishing the peace and asks if he can call on them if there's trouble later. And sure enough, a pack of Skunk Otters is charging the gate.
Ferocious as they may be, they are no match for three adventurers such as these (and a guard, beside himself and unable to get a shot in). They're unstable on dry land, and doubly so when Bo entangles them in it with his earth bending abilities. After barely getting a scratch on the people or village, the skunk otters either die or flee, shouting about the "stolen resources" not being "worth taking back".
Guo is impressed with the group's work and speaks with village elders to secure lodging for the new heroes (kind of a low bar if you ask me, but Guo's impressed). Each is furnished with the most luxury available in this tiny town; Personal cabins of the finest crafting and decorating. He's got more work for them that he'll explain about in the morning, but for now he hopes a good night's rest is a reward enough. (Oh, and keeping Phi's secret, from the town and her fellowsđ).
Tonight's session was mostly about remembering how to play- Which dice roll when and what are we even doing here? The world is thin and far away for now, with low level encounters and a traditional DnD meet-at-a-tavern pretense. We'll do more when we have more, and the road from here to there looks like this.
Christopher Knowles