Masters of Carcosa - Session 6

The party finally visits the merchant town to the South, Brown Man village of Jahar. These merchants were the ones who escorted the players up to Invak in the first session, when the party encountered them on the road. Because the party had gained some notoriety in the region they were able to wander and meet with the people of the town. I’m quite certain I ran this sort of things using reaction rolls. I tracked the groups renown, which I would sometimes use to modify results up or down, but not in a way that I was particularly consistent about.

You can see that once again I was laying it out pretty thick when it came to reasons to explore the Putrescent Pits of the Ameboid Gods. Don’t worry, the players wouldn’t take the bait.

You can contrast the recap that follows with my Carcosa-style hex descriptions.

Players:

• Dion - Asha-Rea, Ulfire Women Fighter
• Willie Burke - Grenn, White Man Sorcerer
• Eric Boyd - Orange Julia, Orange Women Fighter
• Beloch Shrike - Renoir, Red Man Fighter

Recap:

• The party begins the session in Invak.
• The party travels south from Invak to Jahar. The trip is uneventful. They travel through the night to make it to the town in one day. They camp outside of town, but encounter nothing.
• Unlike Invak, Jahar is particularly xenophobic.
• One of the guards is aware of the Rainbow Connection, and lets the players into the town.
• Most of the people manufacturing goods in the town, along with the guards, have a fairly negative reaction to the party.
• The merchants in town have a more positive disposition.
• The party meets the person who runs the “resale items” shop, along with his children. They pick up some random knick knacks.
• They meet the sage that lives in town.
• For 10 GP he tells them two locations that he thinks feeds the water in the Castle of Decline, which could be the source of the human waste and guts that are poisoning the water
• For free he lets the party know their map of the Putrescent Pits of the Ameboid God is probably junk. The story goes that a cult worshiped the god, that lived in an impossibly deep pit to the North. They would feed the beast all the gold and jewels they could find. Another cult came and fought the god and its cultists, culminating in sealing the god underground by building the mountain range on top of it. He lets the party know that mountain ranges form over millions of years, and this story is probably nonsense.
• The party learn about a citadel to the North East, hidden out of sight. Some merchants saw it a few days back, but avoided the site. The sage will pay 10GP for information confirming its existence.
• The party ventures off in search of the site, which they find without any complications.
• It appears to be sealed from the inside. The party doesn’t want to make a noise by breaking down the front door, or a trapdoor in the roof.
• A cavern near the Castle is also found, and explored.
• The party encounters a group of 6 Mi-Go’s. They kill one and then flee. The Mi-Go’s make a half-hearted pursuit.
• The party returns to Jahar, where they let the sage know of their findings.

Treasure:

• 10 GP paid by the Sage.

Notes:

• Provide clue about next complication.

Being worried about the game being boring was a common theme it seems. Once again some planning for the next session takes place in the comments, and I share a little bit more about what the group has learned about the world. Cole suggested I write a follow up review of Carcosa, having run the game for a few months now. That review ended up focusing a lot on how I prepared to start the game, but didn’t talk much about actually run the game.

• Ramanan S (2015-03-10 17:13): Sorry for the quieter game. I owe you guys a clue for a haven complication. I’ll also update the campaign map with trade routes from Jahar. 
• Richard Hawkins (2015-03-10 17:21): Sorry that I missed out on this one, I will look forward to eating brains soon!
• Beloch Shrike (2015-03-10 18:38): Nothing to apologize for. I got to kill a Mi-Go. Lets do more of that. =D
• edchuk sockmonkey (2015-03-10 20:23): Richard Hawkins​ Lightly sauté them with garlic and a little lemon. Delicious!
• Richard Hawkins (2015-03-10 22:45): Yes… yummy!
• Richard Hawkins (2015-03-10 22:45): Beloch Shrike  a CoC MI-GO! … Yikes
• Ramanan S (2015-03-14 03:41): The merchants reveal the location of towns along their trade routes. To the south they visit: Glom (Ulfire Men village), Lesel (Brown Men Citadel), Brackdor (Bone Man Village), and Cron (Ulfire Man Village). They abandoned routes to the East decades ago because of the Slavers. They stopped trading to the West some time ago, though people can’t give you a straight answer as to why. What do people want to do?
• Beloch Shrike (2015-03-21 16:57): I wouldn’t mind returning to those caverns and exploring further.
• Eric Boyd (2015-03-21 20:03): Are there trade caravans headed anywhere interesting that need guards?
• Dion Williams (2015-03-21 21:34): Either of the option mentioned work for me. 
• Ramanan S (2015-03-21 22:33): Eric Boyd traders will leave from Jahar heading South to the town of Cron soon. The route they take is as follows: 1 week in Glom, 1 week in Brackdor, 1 week in Cron, 1 week in Brackdor & Glom, 1 week back in Jahar. (i.e. That’s where they’ll be for the next 5 sessions.) If you wait a session another group will leave for Lesel: 1 week in Glom, 1 week in Lesel, 1 week back in Jahar. I’ll figure out how to update the map or something.
• cole long (2015-03-21 22:47): Ramanan S you should do a post (or have you done one already?), having DMed several sessions, about what you find Carcosa brings to the table and what you’ve done to make it “yours?”
• cole long (2015-03-21 22:50): i feel like it is one of the rorschach-blottiest settings
• Ramanan S (2015-03-21 22:51): cole long Good idea. I’ve certainly had to do a bunch of flesh things out.
• Ramanan S (2015-03-22 01:06): From the old thread, of note: The merchants reveal the location of towns along their trade routes. To the south they visit: Glom (Ulfire Men village), Lesel (Brown Men Citadel), Brackdor (Bone Man Village), and Cron (Ulfire Man Village). They abandoned routes to the East decades ago because of the Slavers. They stopped trading to the West some time ago, though people can’t give you a straight answer as to why. 
• Ramanan S (2015-03-22 01:10): Also: the merchants won’t pay you to be guards, they have their own guards, and they don’t think your acting troupe is menacing enough. They are fine with you tagging along on any trip, however.
• Ramanan S (2015-03-22 17:52): Event is up. Can do upkeep and haven stuff there.
• Ramanan S (2015-03-28 05:54): cole long http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/review/carcosa-review-reprise/
• Ramanan S (2015-03-29 22:37): http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/masters-of-carcosa/session-6/
• Chris G (2015-03-30 03:02): This is my favorite kind of writeup. I wish I’d thought of it back when I was doing Redbox Vancouver.
• Ramanan S (2015-03-30 03:07): I did the first one as a play report for a Carcosa session Brendan ran. Certainly one of my better ideas as gaming stuff goes. http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca/play-report/rescue-chauncy/