I ran my first ever online game last night.

I ran my first ever online game last night. It was a Lady Blackbird one-shot and part of the Gauntlet Hangouts’ Mandatory Fun Club organized by Daniel Fowler. And a big thanks to him because I may not have otherwise mustered up the nerve to try this. Also a big thanks to the players for crafting a fun story!

The player cast (in alphabetical order):

Michael G. Barford as Natasha Siri a.k.a Lady Blackbird

Daniel Fowler as bodyguard, Naomi Bishop

Maxime Lacoste as the goblin pilot, Snargle

Richard Rogers as Cyrus Vance, captain of the Owl

Chris Thompson as first mate, Kale Arkam

Natasha and Naomi were disguised as nuns seeking passage to Remnants aboard the Owl, so Lady Blackbird could be reunited with her once secret lover, the pirate king Uriah Flint, when they were captured by an Imperial cruiser Hand of Sorrow.

They escaped the brig, fought past imperial guards (picture a nun disarming a sky-marine and tossing him down a stairwell is a single move), stole some fuel, freed the Owl, and set the imperial cruiser ablaze in the process.

No sooner than clearing of their captors vessel did they spot another skyship in the distance. It was abandoned, pillaged, and marked with the distinct blue cross of the pirate king Uriah Flint. After boarding, they obtained some repair materials, a mysterious sphere, and the unwanted attention of a sky-squid.

Some quick thinking and teamwork by the crew eventually allowed them to avoid becoming the sky-squid’s next meal. And, in a strange turn of the table, they managed cook part of the sky-squid as they pulled a perfectly char-brioled piece of it aboard through a hull breach.

With the ship repaired and the crew learning the sphere was some sort of a magic engine or power source (and now quite suspicious of their nun passengers’ true identities), they are headed to Haven. But, unbeknownst to them someone has been on their ship and on hot on their trail.

Will Lady Blackbird be able to maintain her disguise much longer? How many more time will Lady Blackbird fall and land in Captain Vance’s lap before she abandons her chase of the pirate king Uriah Flint? Why was the magic orb left behind on an already pillaged ship? And who was the shadowy figure on their trail and also wearing Captain Vance’s missing coat?