Themes: Work/Life Balance, Social Anxiety, Guilt

Content warnings: Slice of Life

Level: Beginner for players, more advanced for Storyteller

Summary #

Two mini-scenarios about Zabbah help players learn simulated social relationships of Society of Rafa, hoping deepening their role-play. Particularly, this is a scenario without supernatural causes, showcasing dynamics of play that not all players might intuit.

To open, Rafas react to a standard health emergency at the Communal Oven. Players fulfill an errand collecting Zabbah bread before evening starts the community’s Day of Rest (Zabbah), and the Rafas witness Baker Ahava having heart issues. She accidentally ruins much of the community’s supply of Zabbah bread, causing consternation about how to fulfill the religious obligation to eat the bread at dinner.

After returning to the House of Rafa they get sucked into another mini-scenario with an apprentice shopkeep. This shopkeep, Orly, has a great work ethic but is ultimately ill-suited to the social dynamics and will need help adjusting or finding her niche. The two plots overlap in that the first patient visits the second patient’s shop as a supporting character, allowing the Rafas to follow up on her care as well.

Key Characters #

Chef Galit, 45 #

Political Alignment: Legalist

Chef of the House of Healing, Galit will probably be known to players unless this is their first Scenario. Galit wanted to work at the Communal Oven, and to this day insists her hand pies are better than Ahava’s (which is definitely true, given Galit makes them nearly every day so that the Rafas can pack them in their Rafa Bags for energy).

Baker Ahava, 64 #

Baker Ahava runs the Communal Oven. She is a good baker and a perfectionist who believes strongly in her duty to her community. She has a hard time trusting in others, including her niece Leila, who assists her at the Communal Oven.

Assistant Baker Leila, 19 #

Political Alignment: Agnostic Traditionalist

While initially absent so that tensions can stress Baker Ahava into a heart problem, Leila can come back to assist any time after Ahava’s health scare.

Merchant Mikael, 66 #

Political Alignment: Modernist

Mikael is a successful and famous merchant and public works benefactor in the region. Although he is not a micromanager of his employees, he is strict about protocol and takes a keen personal interest in all employees’ well-being. This prompts him to visit Rosh Rafa Shai on behalf of his anxious apprentice.

Apprentice Orly, 14 #

Political Alignment: Legalist

Orly is an anxious young girl trying very hard to follow through on her childhood wish to be a successful merchant. She compares herself unkindly to her slightly older sister, Ariella, who is successful as an apprentice Cobbler.
Orly is coded as autistic, so please attempt to steer clear of harmful portrayals. She has social anxiety because she’s used to reading the room and noticing people respond differently to her. She craves scripts for routine interactions but overshares in the heat of it and she stims by tapping her fingers, which can come across as boredom.

Optional Characters #

Rebzi Gilya, Reba Livia, or Rosh Reba Nakum #

If the Rafas seek out someone to help save Zabbah in the travesty of so many breads ruined, it makes sense to include religious leadership.

Potential Solutions #

The first dilemma is what to do about not having enough Zabbah bread to meet the entire town’s religious obligations, as there aren’t enough loaves for every household to have two loaves per tradition. Players could propose that households come together for a communal potluck, in which case there’s an abundance of bread for all, or that half the families go to one another’s houses, in which case there are just enough loaves.

Other creative solutions:

• cutting singular loaves and rebaking for a second to make “two loaves”
• allowing the House of Rafa to sacrifice their loaves, perhaps because they are exempt from some Zabbah restrictions
• using religious leadership to assure Kahal’s residents not to worry about a single misstep on the Way

The second dilemma is helping Orly deal with her misgivings about the social components of her apprenticeship. Orly’s desire to be a storekeeper could be fulfilled as an account and inventory specialist, rather than dealing directly with customers, or she could practice social scripts for interacting with customers (“fake it until you make it”). As long as the Rafas get permission to talk to her boss Mikael, they could even help facilitate conversations about changes that would accommodate her at work.

Setting #

It is the Midnight Moon, meaning we are into the Winter season for this mostly temperate climate. The natural chill is above freezing, but most characters are intuitively dressing warmer: more scarves and layers to trap the body’s heat.

While not integral to the story, it’s worth noting that patients with coronary heart disease are negatively affected by the cold, particularly on blustery days. Use this to your advantage, since it is a physical ailment that makes patient Ahava’s heart attack more of a physical ailment that can be treated without becoming a medical mystery.

Scene: Impetus #

Narration: The Circle are gathered in the kitchen, helping prepare vegetables for the communal meal with Chef Galit. It’s your day off before you go on duty, when tomorrow is Zabbah.

[Play with responses to this prompt, or you can switch to debating whatever vegetarian dish Galit should make for dinner.]

Chef Galit: I think that about does it, I can take it from here. Now, be dears and fetch our Zabbah bread from the Communal Oven? Other Rafas brought the dough in this morning, and Baker Ahava is normally done with our loaves about now. You’ll want to get there earlier since the days are shorter, and everyone in town will show up sometime in the next couple of hours.

Chef Galit: It’s cold, this time of year, but no snow yet. Take a fresh, warm hand pie for the road, they’re still the best—go toe-to-toe with Baker Ahava’s, I dare say. Not sure why I never got the job, but it is more fun cooking with you lot than standing outside all day. Don’t forget to bundle up before you leave!

[Encourage the Rafa to describe how they stay warmer in brisk temperatures.]

Narration: The air rushes at your faces when you open the wide double door of the House of Rafa. The leaves have fallen from everything but the evergreens, but the sun is high, slightly past high noon but seemingly more distant than the summer months. The wind is sharp but invigorating, and you know that you can be warmer walking but be quicker if you bicycle.

As you approach the northern edges of Kahal, you see a small person running wildly from town, arms pumping.

You make out that it is Ari, a fit younger boy from town cutting across a field towards the House of Rafa. He looks panicked, but he seems relieved to notice your Circle and adjusts his destination back to the road. He doesn’t stop sprinting until he reaches you.

Ari, winded: Baker… Ahava… collapsed. She dropped half the town’s bread! I saw it—all the loaves everyone worked so hard to make, covered in dirt. And right before Zabbah! We can’t have Zabbah without bread. Can you help her?

Narration: You see the crowd as you approach the Communal Oven. A beautiful wall of bricks, rounded into a circle with numerous port-doors to access baked goods, topped with a clay dome. The townspeople notice the Rafas as you approach, making way and directing you right to Baker Ahava. She is sitting, head down, clutching her chest, and breathing heavily.

Baker Ahava: That was quick, lad… even for you… I… [cough].

Baker Ahava: No, I have been having chest pains, but I didn’t think… It all came on so fast, I couldn’t breathe right and the pain shot through my back and shoulder. I ruined it all, so much Zabbah bread. I’m ashamed!

Narration: Ahava leans further into her knees, breathing heavily.

Baker Ahava: I know I’m no spring chicken anymore. I took on my niece as an apprentice two years ago, but I needed her to go tell the mailman not to hold my mail. I wouldn’t be taking that trip after all. She’s not ready to do this alone—I still have to do everything for her!

[At this point, players should be tending to Ahava’s heart attack symptoms in whatever way they can, scheduling appointments for Heal Organ, or telling her to trust her apprentice to do more so she can learn. Once you feel like that is being resolved, continue with the description below.]

Narration: Baker Assistant Leila returns, aghast at what’s happened to her aunt. She pushes through the crowds, who have been watching in relative awe at the Rafas healing Ahava. Now, however, their gossip starts getting more vocal:

Crowd: Maybe it’s time to retire. Baking is hard work for an old woman.

Crowd: Now what? I can’t have Zabbah in my house without Zabbah bread, it’s a holy deed to break loaves.

Crowd: Where’s my bread, probably still burning in the oven?

[Players need to direct before things get more rowdy. See potential solutions section above for more. The Society of Rafa’s 12 loaves are still in the oven and can be retrieved, but it’s not enough to entirely replace the town’s ruined loaves.]

Scene: Returning to the House of Healing #

[Players should return home to inform Chef Galit about any changes to the Zabbah dinner necessitated by their problem solving in the first half of the adventure.]

Chef Galit: Oh dear, I had no idea that Ahava wasn’t scheduling checkups! She knows I’d make sure you all visit her at work if necessary. But maybe we’ll have to force her at home so she’ll rest up. Anyways, go report this to Rosh Rafa Shai in their office, and I’ll continue getting dinner ready.

Narration: You head upstairs in the House of Rafa towards Shai’s office, where all of Kahal’s Medical Records are kept. Shai is distraught by what’s befallen Baker Ahava and fetches her Record so that you can update it appropriately with this new health condition.

[After a few moments, while players are adding to Ahava’s Record, you can introduce the below action:]

Narration: There’s a sharp rap at the door, and Rafa Apothecary Maya sticks her head in.

Rafa Maya: Um, did you have an appointment this afternoon? It was quite unusual when a man approached me in my garden, but it was even more shocking when I got close enough to see it was Mikael of Emporium of Quality Goods!

Rosh Rafa Shai: Oh, yes, I’d quite forgotten in the flurry of events. Please see him in!

Merchant Mikael: That’s quite a garden outside, but how do you keep everything from invading other parts of the garden without walls. I could probably fund something like that, what could it cost, a few hundred at the most?

Rafa Maya: Well, that would be a lot easier than negotiating with every plant to stay in their patch, that’s for sure. Thanks!

Rosh Rafa Shai: You’re too kind, Mikael, but we’ll take you up on that. I was hoping a meeting right before Zabbah would just be a philanthropic endeavor.

Merchant Mikael: I hate to disappoint you, but not quite. You know I pride myself in providing the best healthcare in all of Markes [winks] by keeping the House of Healing well provisioned, but it doesn’t do any good if my employees don’t use it. I’m here about our new apprentice, Orly. I’ll bet she hasn’t even scheduled an appointment yet, has she?

Rosh Rafa Shai: You know I can’t betray our patients’ privacy, but seeing as you are here for her sake, I can at least look up her file… Ah, here it is. Hmm, nothing looks troubling on the charts. What reason do you have to refer her to us?

Merchant Mikael: Orly was so eager and energetic at the beginning of her summer internship—paid, of course—but she walks around now as if weighed down by bricks. She’s much too young to feel this way yet. Give it at least another decade or two, I tell her! Imagine, she’s 12 and so eager to become a clerk for my store that she hounds me every time I’m in Kahal, which is every week if I can manage it. Not even old enough for a proper apprenticeship yet, and she presents a resume for crying out loud. Even if it’s mostly baby-sitting and good grades. No, I think exemplary grades were her words.

Merchant Mikael: Anyways, I can’t see her suffer more, but she won’t listen to my mentoring that health is more important than any job. Tells me that I wouldn’t have accepted such a platitude, and I feel like a hypocrite. All I’m asking is, check in on her, she should be at the store right now.

Rosh Rafa Shai: It’s a little late in the day. [Turns to look at you] I know it’s your day off, but could you possibly check in on Orly? Zabbah starts soon, and I can’t ask anyone else to do it.

Scene: Visiting the Shop #

Narration: You approach the storefront as the sun nears the horizon. The day will end in an hour, marking the start of Zabbah when families will start lighting candles, bringing the Eternal Flame from the House of Prayer into their homes. You peer into the shop where Orly is dutifully wiping the counters and surfaces.

Apprentice Orly, who stops cleaning: Welcome!? One moment and I’ll be right out to assist you in any way you need!

Apprentice Orly: Someone always forgets something last minute, and because most of the shops are closed on Zabbah because they’re owned by Avodai, I like to have everything cleaned up so they don’t feel rushed by my closing.

Apprentice Orly: Yeah, I’ve wanted to be a merchant since before my sister wanted to be a cobbler. Keeping lists and inventories in my head, until I learned to write in school. And I’m top marks in math, another skill of the successful merchant. Merchants get to travel and bring goods Kahal wouldn’t have without them, like these glass plates from Za’rima. You know they say the origins of glass making were when lightning struck sand, and—oh dear, I’m doing it again. Talking too much…

Apprentice Orly: Well, I have this rash. I keep scratching at it, can’t seem to leave it alone when people come in. I’m trying my best not to infect it, believe me!

A flustered Baker Ahava rushes into the store.

Apprentice Orly: Welcome! I expected you earlier.

Baker Ahava: Oh, Rafas! These young dears saved my life earlier today, you know. Don’t tell me you are shadowing me, to see if I have another heart problem?

[Players should interact intuitively]

Baker Ahava: I meant to send my apprentice to get ritual candles for tonight when I sent her on errands. I swear, the worst part of not having a spouse is everything falls on me to prepare for Zabbah.

Narration: Orly shows Ahava to the the candles section, which is poorly stocked and only has premier candles at the moment. They have double wicks in an intricate helix shape. They are beautiful, but clearly a cut above standard. Orly describes their point of origin, being imported from another country.

Baker Ahava: Ahk, those are so expensive! Gouging the poor forgetful codgers, eh, well ring me up, dear.

Apprentice Orly, scratching at her rash impulsively: W-w-we might have some m-m-more in the back. If you c-c-could just wait, I could check!?

Baker Ahava: No, no, just sell them to me so I can start Zabbah on time.

[Deliberately pause for players]

Narration: Orly steers Ahava towards the register and collects payment. She’s clearly shaken by the turn of events, but she manages to complete the transaction without help.

Apprentice Orly, scratching: Oh, should I have gone to check inventory anyways? Why didn’t I do that earlier when we sold out? Maybe I could have given her a discount, or wait, would that be robbing Mikael? Aww, my head hurts.

[Steer players towards counseling this young girl towards better understanding herself. See potential solutions section for more.]

Possible Epilogues #

After all of the buildup on Zabbah’s importance to the community, Storytellers could give players the opportunity to see themselves through dinner. If they convince the community to do something communal to make up for the shortage of loaves, let them join the festivities therein. Perhaps let a Reba speak on the importance of supporting one another in times of strife, rather than coming apart.

Community Play #

Rafa should be conscientious of their patients’ privacy, as always, but this Scenario probably does not hamstrung them with too much secrecy.

The Better Shop Bureau #

Mostly based on Orly’s anxieties fitting into her work apprenticeship, it makes sense to engage the Bureau on how they can improve their apprenticeships. Consider interacting specifically with Mikael but try to engage the players with improving all apprenticeships based on what they learned with Orly.

The House Spouses #

Given the central importance this group has with the Communal Oven, it seems likely that they would be able to find contributions that would make Baker Ahava’s life a little easier as she promotes the responsibilities on her niece/heir apparent. Consider if they can clean the Oven on shifts, encourage Ahava to take breaks and drink water, whatever.

The Old Guard #

Alright, I’m reaching. But if you need to convince someone to take it easy when they don’t want to retire, sometimes you are best off giving them new/easier responsibilities to focus on.

Loving Kindness Committee #

Honestly, they’re probably a cheat code for easiest Faction to involve.