Aslan Route 18: The Eye and the Claw

"As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back —
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack."
— Rudyard Kipling, The Law of the Jungle

Fast Travel, 1106 Weeks 01-10

The team make a couple of runs between Exe and Tech-World to acquire and drop off supplies to the Android Liberation Front, then travel to Sink via Paal.

Sink, 1106 Week 11

When the Macavity arrives on Sink, the crew immediately notice an Ahroay’if warship in orbit – just a small one, 800 tons – but this does not concern the crew as they are associates of the Iuwoi clan, which is one of the Ahroay'if's vassals. Their friend Ahoakhi tells them that a dodgy-looking scoutship is somewhere on the planet, and a short hop plus a sensor scan tells them this is the Red Adder and it has parked next to the swamp a few kilometres away from the Monastery.

Ahoakhi also says the warship’s passengers would like to see them.

Their first order of business is therefore to visit the warship. On arrival, Mazun hands over a note for the Captain, explaining that the Red Adder is thought to be a Zhodani spy vessel commanded by a psionic and so cannot be trusted. (For the aslan, psionics are inherently dishonourable, as they are either an attempt to gain an unfair advantage, or an insinuation that the psionics don’t trust you.)

The Macavity’s crew are ushered in to meet a female and a male aslan, who introduce themselves as the Eye and the Claw of the Ahroay’ifko (clan lord) respeectively.

“It’s his hard man,” Rex whispers to Mazun.

The Claw lays out his position. Torpol has gone silent; the clan and the Imperium both sent flotillas to investigate; neither has returned. He knows about the clan flotilla as he sent it, and the Imperial one as protocol dictates military vessels transiting the neutral zone explain their purpose, to minimise the risk of unnecessary violence. His investigations to date reveal the Macavity was the last ship out; can the team shed any light on what’s going on?

As it turns out, they can. Over the course of a lengthy interview they explain what they saw and what they have learned since. The Eye and the Claw digest this, and decide a larger expeditionary force is needed; they don’t care what happens to Drinax, losing Torpol to the Fury is a great inconvenience, but if the Fury takes over Pourne, a high-population world which is already militaristic and xenophobic… well, let’s just say the Fury needs to be dealt with before that happens. Under normal circumstances the Claw would impress the team as advisers, but given what they’ve told him about how the Fury operates, he can’t risk them being mind-controlled and sabotaging his fleet from within. They are therefore free to go, but he would like them to find out what the Red Adder is up to.

They decide to brief the Abbot and the Prince, and conduct their trade with the Monastery, as the Abbot will also ask them to investigate, and that gives them a legitimate remit from the planetary government, such as it is. The Abbot in particular is not happy with the Red Adder once he learns her captain paid vargr corsairs to attack his secure satellite site at the House of Shrouded Mirrors.

A visit to the Red Adder finds field maintenance in progress, while Captain Vipera sits cross-legged on a rock near the swamp, apparently meditating. Everyone puts on their psi-shield helmets, and Mazun approaches to confer with Vipera. She concentrates on what he has to say, and he begins to think she’s not so bad, and there’s no need for violence. Is she manipulating his mind even through the psi helmet?

Mazun asks what she’s doing; she says she’s listening to the swamp. Mazun says the Abbot doesn’t like that, and as a representative of the planetary government, he would like her to leave. Or the friendly warship in orbit could ask her to leave.

Vipera recognises Rex as the vargr who killed half her crew and seriously injured her on Cordan. Mazun points out that her vargr catspaws tried to kill the Macavity’s crew on Pourne. The two agree it’s nothing personal, just business; nothing is explicitly said, but each recognises the other as an agent of their respective powers. Vipera deduces that Mazun is infiltrating the Hierate on behalf of the Imperium, and to avoid future unpleasantness, explains that her brief is to observe and report on the neutral zone, as rising tensions between the Hierate and the Imperium affect the Imperium’s military deployments, which are of interest to the Zhodani Consulate. She proposes that the Fury taking over additional worlds is not in anyone’s interest, and suggests that if an opportunity arises, they might work together against it. Then, the Red Adder leaves; Vipera says she often calls at Cordan, so messages for her can be left there.

Dr Matauranga suggests that Vipera might be useful later, but not if she is killed first; so the team let her go.

Fast Travel, 1106 Weeks 12-20

The Macavity makes several charter runs between Sink and Tyokh, ferrying supplies and ihatei to Sink and trading on behalf of the Abbot. In week 19, the Prince’s exile ends, and the team return him to Tyokh. They are of course invited to the wedding, so they expect to be on Tyokh for several weeks.

During this time, Dr Matauranga determines that the artefact he retrieved from the House of Shrouded Mirrors on Pourne is not Sindalian after all, but is an Ancient artefact in a Sindalian case. He feels compelled to take off his gloves to touch it, and at once hears a voice in his mind:

“Guard me well, for I am the Third Most Valuable Thing. Stay alert; trust no-one; keep your weapons handy.”

The voice advises him not to tell anyone else about it, and asks what his aims are. The doctor explains he wishes to learn, especially about matters genetic.

“Good,” says the voice. “Learning is the goal.”

Repeating its advice to him, the voice falls silent. For now.

Tyokh, 1106 Week 21

Ellie takes time out of wedding preparations to contact the Macavity’s crew on a matter of some delicacy. When you meet her to discuss it, gender roles and crew personalities dictate that she focuses on Vila.

Ellie says that her sister Troisei has gone missing. They don’t get on too well, but nonetheless she is a sister and her maid of honour at the wedding; her absence will be embarrassing to say the least. Vila wants to know what’s in it for him. Ellie explains that Troisei is the best commercial brain of her generation in the clan, and will be able to steer lucrative contracts the Macavity’s way. Ellie thinks this might be the work of the rival Htyowao clan or Tyokh’s organised crime syndicate; the former seek revenge, though this would be an unusually dishonourable way to go about it, and the latter seek leverage. It’s also possible that Troisei’s interest in gambling on duels might have led her astray, so at least the initial investigation needs to be handled discreetly.

Meanwhile, Mazun reports back on his meeting with the captain of the Red Adder to the Prince, the Abbot and the Claw, mostly accurately, but omitting the “false and irrelevant” speculation about his profession and allegiance. He also sends a report to his factor by regular post, disguised as a trader keeping a friend up to date with the news. He mentions meeting the Claw, that the Aslan are worried about Torpol and sent a detachment that vanished, and that the Aslan heard of an imperial detachment going the same way and also vanishing, and also mentions meeting the Red Adder captain and what was said there too. He puts in nothing secret or that betrays his true nature, writing on the assumption that someone along the way will read it.

To be continued...

Meanwhile, Off-Camera...

It looks as if some Fronts (see Dungeon World or Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master) are emerging of their own accord.

Front 1: The Fury. Even if the PCs don't rise to the bait, the Fury can still be a Front. Specifically, the Ahroay'if are growing concerned, and will want to nip the Fury in the bud while they still can.

• 1106 Week 01: Ahroay'if mission to Torpol declared overdue. Ahroay'if know about Macavity by now and want to interview crew, send word to Sink.
• 1106 Week 03: IN mission declared overdue. Ahroay'if Type C arrives at Sink, waits for Macavity. The Claw of the Ahroay'ifko (20, Heroic) is aboard to debriefs Mazun and company. He has authority to act in the Ko's name on this matter. The female known as the Eye of the Ahroay'ifko (13, Observant) is with him, acting as his G2.
• 1106 Week 06: Mazun's report reaches Tobia. Hilarity ensues.
• 1106 Week 07: GeDeCo mission to Tropol declared overdue. IN starts assembling task force.
• 1106 Week 11: Macavity arrives at Sink.
• 1106 Week 19: Prince's exile ends, boon companions invited to wedding on Tyokh.

Front 2: The rivalry between the Iuwoi and the Htyowao clans. A low-level vendetta which can pop up any time things go quiet.

Front 3: The "Unpronounceable Mafia". What if the Alley Cat has been unable to sway Hteleitoirl, and instead starts talking to the Htyowao?

GM Notes

I did very little prep for this session, beyond thinking about the implications of the fronts; that's what they're for, after all. I reasoned the Ahroay'if need information the PCs might have, and the only place they know the PCs will eventually turn up is Sink, so they would send an envoy to wait for them. I made up the job titles for the Ahroay'if visitors. My players struggle with aslan names so NPCs need memorable job titles. Likewise, not everyone is happy about the impending wedding, and a couple of the fronts could get some mileage out of sticking a stick in the wheel.

The "Third Most Valuable Thing" is a tagline from an old Digest Group Publications magazine, and its instructions come from a couple of oracle rolls on tables in the Mythic GM Emulator. Not entirely sure what I'm doing with this yet, but both Imperial and Zhodani intelligence are interested in it and it is somehow connected with the Fury.

I've realised it has been months now since I actually looked at any of the Pirates of Drinax files, confirming that my player handout on the Aslan Route's worlds has everything I need to know on it. So PoD has been archived. This matters partly for my state of mind - I'm happiest when I'm only using 2-3 documents for a campaign - and partly because my cheapo supreme laptop only has about 4 GB of usable HDD space, the rest is taken up with Windows and whatnot, so all of my gaming files need to fit into about 1 GB if they are to sync with it.