The Queen’s Heart
Great fun was had with David LaFreniere and Michael X. Heiligenstein in our impromptu game of Dungeon World.
Sometimes in one’s busy life you find a random nugget of precious free time, and what better way to spend in than with some games? Well, that was our opinion anyway. Due to the unplanned nature of the session, I decided to run DW because I’m familiar with it and it lends well to short form play without much preparation. I used a dungeon starter by Isaac Williams called “The Queen’s Heart” to frame our story on and it turned out great: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1261682/dungeon-world/the-queens-heart.pdf
David played Androxous the Obscene, a character I was delighted to see return from a previous game. However, by his own admission, not many would be pleased to see the return of the elven bard, as he leaves mobs of angered priests in his wake through each Steading he travels through.
Michael X played Omar the Thief, a halfling who could be described as suave, debonair, and a little pudgy. In the end he won the Heart of the Queen, but gave it away to save his own skin.
Our fearless heroes won the adoration of a tribe of rabbit-folk after sealing a den of shadow-wolves. Of course, they couldn’t have done it without the help of a pair of stone golems who appreciated their song and dance that both venerated Leelith the Queen of Shadows and mocked her brother Reeth, the Sun God. The racket did, however, manage to draw some of the bloodthirsty dogs out of their den. Omar discoverd that their teeth were in fact real and painful. With the help of brave little Jimmy Red-Fur he managed to get his revenge. Androxous threw some shade-wolf directly into a flaming torch to finish the opposition. It wasn’t graceful, but it got the job done.
The celebration that ensued in the rabbit-folk’s local tavern (named The Flower Patch for the drinks brewed from flowers so ancient that they had begun to ferment) was joyous, indulgent, and quite possibly lewd. Our hungover heroes woke up just in time to intercept a raiding party of froglings who were dragging the soundly sleeping rabbit-folk away in sacks. Omar delivered such a devastatingly existential revelation to General Warty (and his army of six froglings) that he laid down his arms and declared peace with the rabbit-folk, ending their ancient clan war and forgiving them of their long-forgotten crimes.
Together with some more-sober rabbit-folk, the General led our heroes to the center of the Warlock’s Woods, past the poisonous jellyshrooms and up the Warlock’s ensorceled stone staircase (you can only go up backwards, okay?). There they found the sundial altar where the still-beating black heart of the Witch Queen Leelith was chained. When the rabbit-folk and froglings fled in terror, they shared a moment of camaraderie when they realized that they both resorted to hopping to escape from danger.
Androxous explained that the the ruins found in the woods were actually once a temple to the Sun God before His High Priest had been tempted by the Witch Queen’s dark magic. Omar snatched the heart and hid it from the sunlight in a leather pouch. The bard serenaded the heart to placate the Queen as he led the thief through the woods to a macabre marketplace. He revealed that he was a servant of Death Wolf, the last of a line of sorcerers twisted into the hideous form of a gigantic, multi-faced, ravenous wolf. His preferred meal consists of the souls of gods and goddesses that Androxous so loved to mock and insult. With a heavy heart, Omar reluctantly relinquished the living relic to the merchant of death. As a thief, he explained, he found shadows to be very useful for his profession and appreciated the goddess’s portfolio. But he also found his knees very important for his profession, and the crime lord Andrino would make quick work of those if he didn’t settle his debts soon.
The Death Wolf was very pleased with his purchase, and as his three lower mouths viciously tore at the mystic flesh, the fourth, higher mouth spread into a grin, as the torchlight in the cavern underlighting his face grew stronger with every bite.
The session went very well for being spontaneous, thanks to David and Michael’s lively interaction. Bonus points to David for three on-the-spot limericks. Seriously, this guy could be a real-life bard. Hopefully one day we will all find another golden window of free-time to continue the god-hunting adventures of Omar the Free and Androxous the Obscene.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1261682/dungeon-world/the-queens-heart.pdf
Amazing! 👍
Amazing! 👍