Themes: Spirits, Environmentalism

Content warnings: Mortality

Level: Beginner

Summary #

Rafas are sent on a delivery quest to pay off the Lantook in preparation of the Spirit Festival. When they hear guttural sounds coming from the woods, they can investigate, either willingly or coerced by the Lantook, who are bothered by the sounds. They will meet a cantankerous Vegetable Man, Aden, who is being starved from his umbilical cord in the earth. Behind his gruff exterior is a soft heart for his livestock of vegetable animals.

Directed towards an energy drain along the river, the Rafas discover a mill. The owner, Farmer Roi, excitedly spouts off about new city technology that draws on the “limitless” energy source. With Roi completely unaware that his excessive use is hurting the nearby spirits, can the Rafas persuade him to limit his power consumption?

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. She is practical and a bit gruff. She likes that she can help the Rafas in their mission. She is known for her excellent hand pies, which the Rafas bring with them on their days’ work.

Rafa Yona #

Political Alignment: Rebel

Rafa Yona is a Shepherd of Souls known for her lack of tact. She is direct and exuberant. She is non-speaking and communicates in Shadow Tongue but employs Flo, the House Gnome, as an interpreter. 

Flo, House Gnome #

Flo regularly interprets for Rafa Yona. She generally likes her job and takes pride in smoothing over Yona’s direct language. Like most House Gnomes, she dislikes the Lantook on principle.

Miri, Lantook #

Miri is friendly with both Chef Galit and Rafa Yona. She coordinates their hand pie sales. She is friendly unless insulted or talked down to.

Aden, Vegetable Man #

Aden is thousands of years old. He hates humans and is known to chase them off his property, although his bark has always been worse than his bite.
He hasn’t spoken with humans in over a decade and fulfills companionship through his livestock.

Farmer Roi #

Political Alignment: Innovator

Farmer Roi is a prominent farmer in Kahal. He is Kahal’s representative to the Farmer’s Council. He is opinionated and stubborn. He is an Innovator, who is passionate about integrating new technology to make farming more efficient.

Optional Characters #

Rosh Rafa Shai, 48 #

Political Alignment: Moralist

Rosh Rafa Shai is the leader of the Society of Rafa. They may provide players general advice, but stay neutral in their decision making.

Frog Scholars #

If the players want to ask to talk to other spirits, have an NPC suggest the Frog Scholars who live nearby.  They will be willing to study the impacts of energy bending on the spirits and whether any interventions are helping. Frog scholars are pleasantly surprised by guests and offer refreshments (insects) before remembering that the Avodai are vegetarian.

Eric Alonzi #

The Head of the Farmer’s Council, Eric Alonzi, is a Lumdai. Lumdai believe that humans are above spirits and will want to move ahead on using energy bending technology to help the local farmers. As a Lumdai, he also believes Spirits are demons and evil.

Potential Solutions #

Ultimately, the intended solution is to convince Farmer Roi from leaving his machine running at all times.

If players are determined to draw power from another location or distribute equipment or something, they should be encouraged to, but keep emphasis on balancing the needs of energy by spirits and humans for coexistence.

Setting #

The Olive Moon brings in the best parts of Autumn, when the Harvest concludes and the weather starts cooling. Trees start changing color to vibrant reds and oranges, not yet losing many of their leaves.

Scene: Impetus #

Narration: You are sitting in the Society of Rafa dining room for breakfast. The long table is laden with bread, cheese, jams, honey, and vegetables. Rafa Shepherd of Souls Yona sits next to you. He has long brown hair and a purple stole. Yona is non-speaking and communicates with Shadow Tongue, so his interpreter Flo, a house gnome, also joins him for breakfast.

Narration: Suddenly Cook Galit rushes out of the kitchen.

Cook Galit: Rafa Yona! I have that delivery ready for the Lantook today. There’s some Lantook fall festival at their fishing village to celebrate their migration—it’s going to be quite the celebration tonight.

Narration: Cook Galit waves at a huge pile of crates in the kitchen.

Cook Galit: Look at all these boxes, I think you’ll need some help. Might be the biggest delivery of the year, other than what we gift them at the Spirit Festival.

Flo: Do we really have to go visit the Lantook?! Hooligans, the lot of them, but set them up fishing and they’ll waste the day away while calling it work.

Yona grins and signs at Flo.

Flo: You and your side business. I signed up to work for a Rafa, not a hand pie salesman. I’ll come. But I am not carrying anything! So you better get some help. 

Narration: Yona gestures at you and points at the boxes, making a praying motion with his hands.

Yona pulls a cart over to the dining room door and carries a box into it. Flo runs into the cart and sits on the box. 

[Wait for player action. If necessary, prompt: “What do you do?”]

Narration: The cart is loaded. Yona goes over to pull the cart. She pulls exaggeratedly at the handles, as if the cart is very heavy.

Narration: Yona waves for help.

Narration: You make your way south from the House of Healing along the main road, take a right into a path through the Lantook summer farmland, then enter the woods. The trees are tall, and squirrels scamper in the trees. Loud moans and groans erupt from further in the forest.

[Regardless of player choice, have everyone chance upon Farmer Roi sitting alongside his donkey.]

Farmer Roi: No, thank you kindly, but I’m not hurt. Whatever’s making that wretched sound, it ain’t me. Just resting a spell on my way to the water mill to see how that new tech is holding up. But that damn spooky moan says it’s time to move on!

[Inquisitive players might choose to trace the sound to its source, but others will feel obligated to see their delivery through. This optional scene is for the latter types. ]

Optional Scene: Lantook village #

Narration: You finally happen upon the Lantook Fishing Village by the river. Children scamper and splash in the shallows, while some older folk sit with fishing poles cast into the deeper waters.

Narration: The Lantook are knee height. They have chicken feet and long snapping tongues. They are scurrying around in preparation. Pots of fish stew almost the size of a Lantook bubble over fires. The Lantook are rearranging their walking homes for the festival. Their walking homes look like covered wagons with long spindly legs. Others are running around hanging up decorations.

Lantook children: The humans are here with the hand pies—give us some, don’t keep us waiting!

Narration: Yona stops walking and signs at Flo, who is hiding among the boxes, and then points at you. While she translates, Yona goes into the boxes to hand out treats to the kids.

Flo: She says one of you should go find Miri. I’m sure not going out there with them running around like that.

[Players might have to ask around for Miri, or how to identify her. Look out for the Lantook with the bushy hair hanging up decorative lanterns with fireflies in them.]

Miri: Oh, humans! There you are. You brought hand pies? Everyone is so excited for tonight, and we’ve still got so much to prepare.

Narration: In the background, a load guttural moan drowns out any conversation, and the Lantook straighten in fear. The moment passes, but the unease remains.

Miri: Oh gosh! That big human again, ever since we migrated here from the Summer Farmlands. Aren’t you healers? Go and help him for all of our sakes!

Scene: Vegetable Man #

Narration: You follow the moaning north of the Lantook Fishing Village along a deer trail. It is narrow and you have to keep ducking under branches and stepping over logs. You suddenly come to an opening. The first thing you see is sheep, but they are growing like plants out of the ground. One of the sheep “baas” loudly, startled to see you.

Something hisses from the lone earthen building. A very old man snarls at you with long fangs, just barely pushing his body off the ground.  He wears a colorful robe and lays in front of a yurt. Then you notice something unusual—an umbilical cord attaches his midriff to the ground. 

Aden, growling: Get out of here, humans…

Aden: Humans never help. They just tip the balance worse than before. To think that I’m the proto-human, I should cut my cord here and now. There’s not enough energy in the earth for both me and my animals, the poor ones. They don’t deserve this, and they’re so young. I was here before humans, or even the Lantook. Who will look after my livestock when I go?

[Roll first major malady symptom.]

[As players treat Aden and he feels better, he becomes slightly more trusting but not outright friendly. If the treatments fail, he becomes more agitated but in his weakened state cannot harm the players.]

Aden: How innovative, to keep finding more and more ways to suck the world dry. At least you gave me berth when you came a century ago, but now there’s this damn contraption by the river making everything unlivable here.

Aden: Over there, the deer cross through my home on their way to the river.

Scene: The Mill #

[Following Aden’s cues or their own intuition, players should make their way down the deer path towards the river. Farmer Roi’s familiar donkey is tied up outside the building, giving players a clue to whom they will find.]

Narration: Inside, no wheat is being processed into flour at the moment. Pillars spin and giant stones grind as Farmer Roi marvels at the machinery. He’s excited to see the Rafas.

Farmer Roi: Hello again. Curiosity get the better of you when I mentioned that new technology from Terida?

Farmer Roi: Yes, it’s close to a miracle! This siphon here pulls the earth’s infinite energy out and the engine here converts it to kinetic energy that rotates the mill. Doesn’t matter if you leave it, it never stops unlike the unreliable wind!

Farmer Roi: What do you mean, who’d get sick because of this? I’m telling you, the Lumdai report that this technology is harmless to everyone. The sick and the old are unaffected, even when we leave it on perpetually.

Farmer Roi: No, I certainly don’t mean to harm the spirits. But can’t you see how amazing this technology is. I can’t abandon it, that will put us at a huge disadvantage compared to the other villages on the Farming Council.

[Solutions must appeal to Farmer Roi’s desires. He’s looking out for the good of the community as much as himself: this technology will not disappear even if Kahal bans it. The best move is moderation, and many players will appeal to his capitalist side by either showing him that leaving things running will wear down his equipment or by establishing trade with Aden.]

Potential Epilogues #

If Aden dies, his livestock still need caretaking. The Rafa should deal with this, probably by calling upon human intervention because the Lantook will migrate when winter sets.

Hopefully, if Aden lives he will be open to more contact with humans. His sheep’s wool is particularly special and would make for good trades with human weavers.

If players are interested, invite them back to the Lantook party. Miri will welcome them and gift them with any sweet or savory hand pies they like, and maybe ask if the Rafa will deliver some to Aden as a get-well-soon gift. Yona is projecting a Play using Shadow Puppet for the Lantook, and even Flo the House Gnome is still around bopping to the musical accompaniment.

Community Play #

If you are using Community Play, consider player interactions with the following Factions.

Farmer’s Council #

Because Rafa already met Farmer Roi, it makes a lot of sense to continue protecting the planet’s energy through the Council that controls land and infrastructure outside of the settlements. Because of the predominantly Lumdai council members, Rafa must appeal more to capitalist and preservationist reasoning.

Kahal Council #

Alternatively, players may approach the Kahal Council to solidify support amongst the Avodai specifically. Here, the messaging can be much more religious or moral, because Rafa start from the same culture.

Terida University #

Terida University is probably best equipped to study and quantify the land’s life energy and combat the miscommunication of “free and limitless” energy. Here, Rafa can get scientific evidence for future communications.

New Haven Collective #

The liberal leaning of this group are best suited to mass communication. If the Rafa have a strong message they want to make sure gets out there, the New Haven Collective probably has the best the initial connections to spread awareness and publish something with the Avodai Forward Press.