AP: The Spires

So I'm MCing my third (or fourth, depending on how you count) campaign in AW. This time in english, and since I write play reports anyway for myself and the players I thought I'd post them here as well. I love reading AP from other people myself.

The players are completely new people to me and has no previous experience in playing a game such as AW, but seems to have taken to it with great enthusiasm. We are four sessions in and thanks to liberal use of augury by the Hocus and the Touchstones interest in visions and such the game has taken quite a supernatural turn, which is great for me. All my previous AW games has always been very down to earth with very little exploration of the maelstrom and such things.

And "The Spires" is a crap name, but I can't think of a better one.

Session 1:

The world is scorched sand and dust and rock, marred by frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In the ruins of a city Haven stands, half a skyscraper towering over the ruins. There Ma (Hardholder) rules her people, producing and dispensing RadChem. A hallucinogenic drug that makes life bearable, prepared from RadWeed that grows in high fall-out zones. Those unfortunate enough to displease her are ejected out into the ruins, a few fingers short.

Collecting RadWeed from the wastes is no easy feat. This task usually falls to Humphrey (Driver) who crams his 4x4 full of Ma's goons and go weedhunting. Now free from the addiction of RadChem himself, he nevertheless once stole from Ma, and is still paying the price.?
      
Ma often seeks the counsel of Geronimo (Hocus), the leader of a nomadic cult of fortunetellers and soothsayer who seeks to divine the true nature of the ancient Gods by whatever means necessary. They have chosen to live in Haven for now, exploring RadChems potential as a path to the Gods.
      
But not everyone agrees with Ma's drugbased rule. Cassandra (Touchstone) opposes it and is the one who helped Humphrey be free of it. Instead she want the people to leave the poisonous Haven and seek out a better place, a utopia she firmly believes in. Long ago she and Ma were partners who helped overthrow Ze Baron, the previous ruler of Haven, and producer of RadChem. She is just now returning after 2 years of travel.

As Haven was running out of RadWeed Humphrey was dispatched to colled more from the closest patch, situated around one of the enormus silver spires that reach up beyond the clouds, situated a couple of miles outside of the ruins around Haven.

Ma invited Geronimo to the roof to discuss the nature of these silver spires that dot the landscape, a favourite past-time of hers. While there Geronimo had a vision of an enormus Ram, running down the spire and slamming into the ground. As it did so a massiv earthquake struck, the ground split open and a fissure, 100 meters wide, appeared. Almost in a stright line from the spire towards Haven, black smoke bellowing from it. Ma and Humphrey, who immediately returned to Haven, managed through the earthquake unscathed. Others were not so lucky.

Cassandra, returning to Haven, had a run-in with the deprived who lives in the ruins, and saved the life of Star, one of Geronimos followers. She arrived at Haven as the earthquake struk and assisted in calming and comforting the frightened popuation. Several of Ma's goons expressed happiness and relief when seeing that Cassandra had returned.

Geronimo, seeing these events as a sign, gathered his followers and made preparations to depart for the spire, while Ma and Humphrey repairs the damage to Haven.

Session 2:
Humphrey was missing from this session.

The next morning, with the sun barely shining through the smog layers in the sky, Humphrey is sent to take a look at the surrounding area and assess the damage caused by the earthquake.

Geronimo and his followers leave Haven on camelback, accompanied by Ma’s lieutenant Hardcore and two goons. Before they leave the ruins they hold a ceremony dedicated to the earth, the mighty Ram, and Geronimo reaches through the psychic maelstrom to the spire in the distance. He can feel the power of the spire flowing up towards the heavens, and now also into him and his followers. Blue lightning starts dancing along their bodies as they chant the earth god’s name. As the ceremony reaches its peak, Milkshake accidentally kills the eunuch Star with an electric discharge.

At Haven the supply of RadWeed has run out and Duck, the foreman at the production plant, tells all of his workers to fuck of work. Ma is not pleased with his subordination and sends him of the work in the kitchens. Cassandra confronts Ma about the decay of Haven during her absence and how the flow of drugs seems greater than ever. The two has a heated argument on the subject which comes to a head when Duck and his workers start a fight in the drug bar. The fight is quickly put to an end by Ma’s gang and Cassadra, but when Ma decides to punish Duck and have him give Ma the finger, Cassandra tries to intervene and call Ma out on the ruthless dictator she has become in front of everyone. Ma refuses to back down and cuts of Ducks fingers as Cassandra leaves the room.?

As Geronimo’s caravan travels across the Scorch towards the spire, now called The Horn, they notice cocking fires among some houses in the distance. Hardcore goes to investigate but quickly returns, perused by a small gang on trucks and motorcycles, their helmets and faces painted white. Their leader threatens Geronimo, shoots one of his followers and attempts to take them all prisoner. But Geronimo manages to get his followers railed up and they kill half of the gang with their bare hands and then the other half, which returns from following Hardcore who tried to escape, with guns that Snake, one of the more zealous cult members, apparently had stolen from Ma’s armoury. There are a few fatalities among the cultist but the victory lifts their spirits and willingness to party, and they continue towards the spire with four prisoners and their honoured dead. Along the way they find the body of Hardcore and add her to the second category.

Cassandra is approached by Visage, one of the original 8 that helped her and Ma overthrow Ze Baron all those years ago. Visage believes that Ma has gone over the deep end and has to be stopped and offers to gather up others that feel the same way. Cassandra accepts her help, but rejects Visages suggestion that they try and kill Ma, still believing that she can be redeemed. However before she can set any plan in motion she is confronted by Ma who manages to deduce her plans and sends her goons to arrest Visage and throw Cassandra out of Haven. In a brief shoot-out Cassandra injures one of Ma’s goons but is herself knocked unconscious and brought to the infirmary under guard.

The cult reaches the spire and sets up camp as close as they can. The geiger counters are going nuts, but no one will live long enough to die from lymphoma or leukemia anyway. They light great bonfires, play music and gets into the party mood, chanting the now familiar “Ram-Ram-Ram-Ram”. As the blue lightning once again appear they sacrifice a pig-rat they brought with them from Haven, and then the four white-head prisoners using a ceremonial meatcleaver. Their leader pleads for his life, claiming that he works for Ze Baron who will come and avenge him. Geronimo dismisses him and in the end his blood splatters on the faces and hands of the cultists and they feast on his and his comrades flesh, save for their left legs which are burnt as offerings to the mighty Ram. Geronimo declares this the day of the Ram and says that a child must be conceived to honour the earth god. The cult proceeds to party all night.

Back at Haven Cassandra awakens in the infirmary with Visage standing over her and Ma’s medic Islington lying on the ground with his throat cut. Visage tells Cassandra that Ma’s goons are after them both and that they need to hurry if they are to make their move. They meet up with Visages allies and Cassandra sends them outside to create a diversion, while she and Visage go to the RadChem processing plant to destroy it. They kill the two guards and proceeds to making a bomb out of gas containers. Ma arrives with her gang and begins to break down the door. Cassandra meets them on the stairs, threatening to blow up the whole facility if Ma doesn’t back down. Ma assures her that the days of RadChem is over, which is the truth as just moments before Ma, who must have been more moved by Cassandras arguments than she let on, sent Root, one of her most trusted men, to burn the remaining stock of RadChem. As Cassandra slumps to the floor, bleeding from her wounds, Visage screams “Die you tyrant!” to Ma and detonates the bomb, consuming herself and the manufacturing plant in a great explosion.

Session 3:
Cassandra was missing from this session.

Humphrey get the following love letter since he missed last session:
After the earthquake you went out into the ruins around Haven, as well as into the surrounding Scorch, for a few days to have a look around and asses the damage caused by it.

You have just now returned to Haven and been brought up to speed by Crimson the mechanic. Seems like there was a big showdown between Cassandra and Ma, which ended with the destruction of the RadChem production plant, Cassandra in a coma and the death of quite a number of people. Haven is tense to say the least.

Roll +sharp to see how well you trip went. On a 10+ pick two choices from the list below and on a 7-9 pick one. One a miss you get nothing, but regardless of how you rolled you may take 1-harm to both yourself and your car in order to make one additional choice. Those shithead scavengers in the Scorch have pretty good aim.
-   You saved a man called Tosh, who claimes he is a doctor, and his wife Millicent, from scavengers. They insists that they are now indebted to you and tagged along back to Haven.
-   A caravan of dead people in the scoch kindly left behind a cache of supplies. You get 3-barter.
-   You found nothing, but learned a lot. Mark 1 experience circle.

Also, choose 2 rumours that you’ve heard from reliable sources:
-   There is a new group out in the ruins that call themselves ”The Healers”. They have been gathering support among the deprived by offering some sort of drug that is not RadChem, proclaiming that Ma is a monster to withhold the drug and the she and Haven has to be brought down.
-   A plague is spreading among the ruins that’s causing massive pus-filled boils to cover the skin of its victims, followed by agonizing death.
-   The mold-farmers and pig-rat breeders in the area have all been hit by hard times. Drought, disease and all kinds of shit. A severe food shortage seems imminent.
Don't you just love being the bearer of bad news?



A few days have passed since the explosion in the RadChem production plant. Cassandra lies in the infirmary in a come as a result of her extensive injuries. And with Islington dead there is nothing to do but wait and hope that she wakes up.

Mas decision to cease RadChem production has not been a popular one. Her gang remains loyal, but the citizens of Haven are furious. Riots and desertion are abound. Outside the deprived amass in front of the gate, throwing rocks and insults at the guards. The weaker version of the drug, meant to ease the withdrawal, does little to improve things, and with a third of the armoury stolen by Snake there is concern about the gangs ability to repel both the deprived and Havens own citizens.

Humphrey returns from his reconnaissance with a few bruises to both himself and his car, a doctor named Tosh whose life he saved, a big-ass armoured semi-truck and some bad news. Among the deprived a plague is spreading that causes pus-filled boils and death and a new group calling themselves The Healers have begun rallying the deprived and the scavengers under one banner, calling for Ma and Havens downfall. Ma brings him to her room and seduces him, despite Humphreys attempt to stay detached. As a thank you Ma gives him a machinegun to mount on his semi-truck. Ah, the romance. Ma then enacts several of the rituals taught by Geronimo and has a vision of a number of people in robes, standing in a circle around a miniature Spire trying to harvest it’s power, but are interupted before they can complete their ritual.

At the Spire Geronimo awakens with the sun shining through the smog layer, a rare occurence, on him and his followers in the remains of their multiday festival of the Ram. But despite their offerings the blue lightning power of the Ram has left him. He proclaims that someone has to venture into the heart of the radiation area and approach the Spire to propitiate the Ram gods favour.

Ma, Humphrey, Daffy and a bunch of Ma’s goons take Humphreys cars and head out towards the spire to reclaim their stolen weapons. On their way out they punch though several of the deprived outside the gate, including smashing a few poor boil-covered, pus-infested souls.

Geronimos plan yields no volunters, but Milkshake makes the argument that Geronimo himself should go as he is favoured by the Gods. The cult initially agrees but Geronimo, suddenly more concered with his own hide than the will of the Gods, claims that he will go, but then the cult will lose its leader and be lost in the world. The enunuck Star begins to cry and offers himself in Geronimos place, but the charismatic leader sways his followers to send Milkshake instead. Milkshake, now believing Geronimo to be a false prophet tells him that the Ram will spare her and that she will return to show him the truth of the Gods.

Just a few minutes after Milkshake has disapperad among the jagged rocks that surround the Spire there is the sound of vechicles approaching. It’s Ma, Humphrey and the gang. Snake tells the cultist to take cover and prepare to fight, but Geronimo calms them and assures them that Ma won’t harm them. The cars stop in front of the cultists and Ma emerges to liasion with Geronimo and Snake. She greets Geronimo as a friend and invites them back to Haven, promising that she will protects them, if they return the arms they stole. Snake tells her to go to hell which results in Ma slapping him and then shooting him in the arm when he tries to bring his gun to bear on her. Geronimo is furious with Snake for risking the wrath of Ma.

Humphrey takes pity on Snake and tends to his wound and sends him back to Tosh in Haven on a four wheeler. He also notices a black duststorm, reaching down from the mog layer to the earth, that seems to dissipate as it’s approaching. Before it reaches them it is gone.

As the day nears its end Geronimo and his followers starts heading back towards Haven together with Ma and her gang, while Humphrey and Daffy goes on a secret mission for Ma. The two head over to the RadWeed plot to collect as much of the plant as they can. However because of the black fumes coming from the fissure in the ground the plants here are dying. They collect as much as they can of the wilting plants, until they are interupted by five dirtbike riders, with helmets painted white, who starts shooting at them from a nearby ridge.

As night falls the caravan making slow progress towards Haven encounters an old man on a wagon drawn by a donkey. The man claims to be looking for Geronimo, who he calls a thief, but Ma dismisses him and sends Smoke and Deedee forward to steal his belongings on the wagon, including a large metal box. When Geronimo makes his presence known the man slumps over and Smoke falls from the darkness of the wagon, into the floodlights of the semi-truck, her throat slit. As Ma yells for the rest of her gang to get out of the cars and get ready she sees a man, all clad in black with a metal mask covering his face, appear behind Smoke, stab him in the back and then disappear into thin air.

It's not actually until now I've been able to start to create fronts. I've always found it easy in the past, but for this campaign it eluded me. All fronts i tried to create just felt really forced and like they made no sense with regards to was being established in play. So I decided to give it a rest and see where the game took us for a while. But after session 3 it became easier and now I think I have them in place.

I suppose it's partially because some of the characters came in being immediately at odds with one another and I wanted to give them a chance to flesh out those conflicts which made it hard to find natural angles for my fronts. And also because I had no fucking idea what the spires and Geronimos gods were.

Session 4:
Cassandra got this love letter at the beginning of the session:
Since the explosion in the RadChem processing plant a week ago you have been in a coma. In this deep sleep you have been beset by visions and dreams of your past and future. Remove 2 damage, roll +hard and make choices from the list below. On a 10+ choose two and on a 7-9 choose one.
-   You've seen your enemies and friends and know their hearts. You get 2 hold. Spend one at any time to help/interfere with any other players character, that you have shared your visions with, regardless of distance.
-   You have been miraculously restored by your visions. Remove all wounds. 
-   A moment of clarity! Mark one experience circle.
On a miss you get the first one, but with an additonal 2 hold that works the other way around.

You also get this move permanently (or perhaps you have always had it?):
Whenever you touch someone, skin to skin, they are beset by visions. Tell them what they see and roll +weird.
On a miss they are but brief flashes, easily dismissed as daydreaming, and you suffer -1 forward. On a hit they are powerful and real, and you take +1 forward if it was a 10+. For NPCs the MC gets to choose one of the following:
-   They are overcome with dread or joy, whichever fits their personality.
-   They become obsessed with whatever the vision showed them.
PCs choose to either be inspired by them and take +1 forward, or distrust them and take +1 Hx with you.

The vision when you touch thingie was suggested by the player during session 2, and I thought it was cool enough to warrant a move of its own.



Humphrey and Daffy are at the spire, collecting from the dying RadWeed plot as a few Whiteheads on dirtbikes starts shooting at them from a ridge, afraid to come closer as they lack the hazmat-suits worn by the duo. As they pack up to leave, Milkshake comes running out from the jagged cliffs and rocks surrounding the spire. Her clothes are in tatters and her body is covered in lesions and radiation burns and she pleads for them to help her. Despite Daffys objections Humphrey runs over and picks up her weak body and carries her to his car. He then drives of, trying to loose the Whiteheads in the fumes coming out of the fissure. The Whiteheads persue but are quickly cut down by Humphrey. Milkshake begs him to take her to the next closest spire, claiming that the power of this one is depleted and that she needs it to survive. Humphrey is reluctant, feeling that Milkshake would be better of coming back to Haven for medical aid, but finally relents and turns towards the next spire.

At the convoy Ma faces off against the masked creature that stabbed Smoke in the fading daylight, calling out for it to surrender, while Gernimo cowers in his vechicle. The masked creature moves around in a disconcerning fashion, leave swirling shadows behind, and apperas in the car next to Gernoimo. It grabs him by the throat and demands he return the power he stole from the spire. Gernimo tries to shoot it and Ma, hearing the gunshot, comes running and shoots it again, causing the shadow to flicker and disappear. With the utter blackness of night approaching they all head over to Old Man Jenkins farm to take shelter for the night. They are greeted by Old Man Jenkins wife Toyota and son Prim, Jenkins himself having displeased Ma some time ago. At supper Geronimo laments the ungodliness of Milkshake, while Ma refuses to believe that sweet Milkshake could fall so and defends her. The two then proceeds to spend the night together.

Back in Haven Cassandra is waking up from her coma under the care of Tosh the doctor. It has been full of visions and dreams, and somehow her wounds have been miraculously restored. She is guarded by Mox and Matilda. Matilda tries to find an excuse to kill her for opposing Ma while Mox looks upon Cassandra with admiration. In the altercation that follows Mox is knocked out and Cassandra disarms Matilda and leaves the infirmary. Outside a large number of Haven citizens wait for her and cheer upon seeing her restored. Cassandra however tells them that she is disappointed with the actions of Havens inhabitants and that she needs to meditate on the future. Over their protests she leaves Haven to go out into the disease-infested ruins. The only one to follow her is the child Flower, who becomes obsessed with eradication the evil in the ruins after Cassandra shows her a vision of it. Havens gatekeeper Putrid, on account of being one of Mas and Cassandras original gang of 8 that overthrew Ze Baron long ago, arms them both and lets them out.

Humphrey, Daffy and Milkshake, having driven all night, reach the next spire. Close to it there is a fortified compound with telephone wires reaching out of one buildings and towards the spire. Humphrey and Daffy goes out to have a closer look. While they are away from the car Milkshake makes a run for it and starts making her way towards the spire. Humphrey runs after her but is spotted by sentries at the compound. A few Whiteheads comes out and demands that he surrenders. Humphrey pretends to go along with it but then ducks in behind some rocks and runs back towards his car and drives away with Daffy.

At the farm Ma and Geronimos morning-after-talk is interupted when one of Geronimos followers shows signs of being infected with the plague. Ma immediately executes the poor soul and Geronimo creates a dowsing rod which he can use to track the disease. It reveals to him that the sickness comes from Toyota who have been in contact with Whiteheads who visited the farm recently, while Ma kills two more people who are identified as sick. Toyota and Prim are killed as well.

Cassandra and Flower make their way through the ruins around Haven, seeing many dead bodies ravaged by the plague. They take shelter in an ruined building and Cassandra shows Flower how to mediate and how to use a gun while she contemplates her future. They are interrupted by commotion outside when a small group of Whiteheads assault and rob a few of the deprived. Cassandra steps out and interrupt them with a gunshot and demands that they take her to their leader, Ze Baron.

Ma and Geronimo starts setting up a quarantine, worried that returning to Haven now might bring the sickness with them. While doing this both Ma and Geronimo have a vision of Milkshake standing with her arms outstreched, her body covered in leisons and burns. Within her a heart beats strongly. But it's not hers, which have been burned to ashes by the radiation of the spire, but that of the creature which grows within her, conceived by Geronimo himself at the festival of the Ram.

At the end of the session we find out that Ma doesn't really respects Geronimo, that Geronimo can't differentiate between the will of the Gods and his own egoism and sense of self-preservation, and that Humphrey wishes to build something of his own (we are doing the excellent "when you reset Hx, ask a question" thing suggested on these forums).

I'm not sure if it's evident from the play reports so far. But for me as the MC it's very clear that the Hocus and Hardholder playbook pretty much write their own story very easily, while the Touchstone and Driver requires me to be more pro-active. Especially with players new to AW. As the character are rarely in the same place I need to shift the spotlight around frequently, and it's easy to leave it on Ma and Geronimo just because they have more NPCs around them to interact with.

Session 5:

The next morning Geronimo and Ma has managed do identify alld the sick using Geronimos dowsing rod. They leave the sick behind with strict orders not to leave the farm and head back to Haven where Mas gang has been busy recruiting, bolstering their numbers. However before they leave Geronimo holds a naming ceremoni for Milkshakes unborn child. Naming it Tesla. This creates a psychic link between himself and the child which has already grown very strong, its heart having the strength of 10 regular ones. He also declares that the situation with Milkshake and Tesla is a results of a conflict between the Gods. The earth God, the Mighty Ram, is angry with Milkshake and wants to destroy her. But the water God, Mother Camel, has blessed her with a child. It is now Geronimos duty to resolve this conflict by killing Milkshake and saving the child.

Cassandras has camped for the night with the Whiteheads she and Flower was traveling with. During breakfast they all hear a car approaching. It is Humphrey and Daffy, driving towards Haven. The Whiteheads begins to lay an ambush but Flowers declares that they are evil men and shots one of them. Cassandra follows up by killing the other two. Humphrey and Daffy hears the gun shots and stops to investigate. Cassandra and Humphrey argue about Ma and Haven, with Cassandra questioning Humphreys loyalty and urging him to come with her instead. They are interupted by Daffy who notices large plumes of smoke on the horizon and insists they investigate. Humphrey questions the normally disinterested Daffy on the urgency and Daffy confesses that the smoke is coming from a small settlement where Daffys sister and her family lives, as well as family members of several other members of Mas gang who don't want to expose them to Haven and Ma. Cassandra sees this a confirmation that Ma is bad news, that her own people don't want to bring their families near her. But Daffy defends Ma, saying that he owes her everything. Humphrey and Cassandra agrees to help him and they all head towards the smoke.

At Haven Ma gatheres her gang and people and she and Geronimo announce an alliance they have formed. In it Ma is proclaimed a high prophet of the Gods, and Geronimo is made second-in-command of Mas hold and gang. The proclamation is meet with sceptical acceptande, even though Ma makes it clear that conversion to Geronimos faith is not requried. Afterwards, when wandering Haven, Gernonimo comes across a number of people, led by Gnarly, who sit in silent prayer and mediation. He tries to talk to Gnarly, but is simply told that they are trying to become worthy of Cassandra so that she will come back and show them her utopia, and is then dismissed. Upon hearing this Ma gathers up Gnarly and those who participated and berates them for not showing her and Geronimo proper respect and forces them to turn the room where they were praying into a holy place for Geronimos followers. Ma then starts to make plans to destroy Ze Baron and take back control of the ruins. She doesn't know where he is though, but Geronimo manages do deduce, though his psychic connection with Tesla, that Milkshake is close to Ze Barons comound. Ma gathers up her gang and gets ready to leave Haven together with Geronimo and a small number of his cultist that plans to collect Milkshake.

As Humphrey, Cassandra, Daffy and Flower gets closer to the settlement they see a gang of raiders torching the buildings and rounding up the people there. Arriving on top of the highway adjacent to the settlement they make a careful plan of attack. But when the time comes to execute Humphrey is distracted by visions of having a home and a family, and Cassandra and Daffy are spotted by the raiders and pinned down. Thanks to Flower Humphrey manages to snap out of it and comes charging down the highway ramp, into the settlement, before the situation becomes worse. Chaos ensue with the raiders being forced from the covers and picked of by Daffy and Cassandra. Cassandra tries to disable rather than kill, but it proves difficult. After the battle she interrogates one of the surviving raiders, but Flower declares her to be a bad person and kills her. Cassandra takes away Flowers gun and lectures her that killing must always be a last resort. Humphrey is slightly more succeful in questioning another raider and learns that they were simply trying to collect slaves to sell to Ze Baron, and weren't targeting this settlement in particular. Daffy checks up on the surviving inhabitants of the settlement, about 25 of them, and introduces his sister Alice. She is grateful towards Humphrey and Cassandra, but insists that they must help them find a new place to settle or they will all die soon. The proposed alternative is that they all go back to Haven, which Cassandra refuses. Humphrey repairs the damaged raiders vechicles and after some discussion the convoy of survivors head toward the northern mountains.

Ma, Geronimo and their respective crews arrive at Ze Barson compound at the other Spire where they split up. Geronimo and his cultist head around the spire to try and find Milkshake, while Ma and her gang assualt the compound with Humphreys big-ass tank that he left in Haven. The battle is swift and brutal with heavy losses on both sides, but in the end Ma is triumphant and the few remaining Whiteheads escape through tunnels beneth the compounds. She lears from one of the dying Whiteheads that Ze Baron did indead die all those years ago when Ma and Cassandra took Haven from him, and one of his lieutenants has been using his name to rally people. In the small building from which the telephone wires extend towards the spire she finds a room where the walls and floor are covered in occult symbols. In its center, with jumper cables from the telephone wires attached, sits a small stone pyramid, also covered in symbols.

Driving up into the northern mountains, on one of the many tiny serpentine road, the settlement refugees come across a spire with its base in a secluded valley. However the sickly orange glow normally emanating from the spires, and the heavy radiation, is not present. The base of the spire is cracked and laid open. Around it lies what appears to be a research station from the old age, thrown together by cargo containers, pre-fab buildings and chickenwire. It appears abandoned, with a number of rusting cars, a bulldozer and a big diger standing in a parkinglot. When investigating a dozen graves are found outside and an old skeleton in a control room overlooking the spire. Two makeshift towers have been built up the side of the spire with stairs and bridges leading into its dark innards. While the settlement survivors explore the buildings and make plans to stay under the leadership of Cassandra, Humphrey heads up into spire, ignoring the vigorously applied "Warning" and "Keep out" tape applied to the stairs of the small tower. Inside the spire is hollow with scaffolding and large tubes running up its inner sides. It apperas to go on forever both upwards and downwards. Humphrey starts to descend along the stairs and ladders put in place by the dead reserachers. Meanwhile Cassandra finds a satchel full of old audio tapes and plays one of them on a hand-powered audio player. A voice speaks of the things inside the spire that killed his companions, and that he himself expects to be dead soon as well. Cassandra immediately runs after Humphrey. As she reaches the opening into the spire she shouts a warning and Humphrey, down below in the dark, hears the sound of movement around him.

At Ze Barons spire, on the opposite side from Ma, Geronimo and his cultist, wearing hazmat suits to protect them from the radiation, find Milkshake sitting on hear knees with her hands pressed to the spire. She is even more covered in lesions and burns than in Geronimos vision, and her stomach is huge. She looks at Geronimo and begs him to leave her alone in a parched voice. Geronimo ignores her pleas and pulls her hands away from the spire. A moment later the low hum from the spire, as well as its sickly orange glow, dies. Blue lightning streams down the spire momentarily, throwing Geronimo and Milkshake clear of it, and hen the spire cracks and starts to fall apart, threatening to bury everyone in the vicinity under its massive hulk.

I'm glad to say that this session saw some more focus on Humphrey and Cassandra. And is this turning into some sort of horror game? Maybe, partially, I don't know. And what the hell are these Spires? They are definately linked to Geronimos gods somehow, but other than that I have no idea.

Session 6:

Humphrey is running up the stairs within the spire with Cassandra calling out to him to hurry up. He is attacked by black dust, which takes solid shapes and forms, that crawl out of the scaffolding. He tries to fend it of with his shotgun, but is briefly covered in it before he can escape from the spire. It burns as it crawls into his eyes, ears and mouth. The pain passes quickly though and he and Cassandra, together with the refugees, search the research station, and listens to the dead researchers audio tapes, for any clues as to what they are facing. They find an abundance of supplies, but as nighttime approaches Humphrey starts to show signs of the plague that has ravaged the area. Meanwhile Cassandra finds mention of the plague, as well as a cure, on the audio tapes. The capacity to create the cure is available in the researchers bio-lab, but requries a substantial sample of the dust as well.

Geronimo and Ma looks out on the devastation caused by the fallen spire on opposite sides. It apperas that everyone managed to escape, but the Whiteheads compound has been completely obliterated. The jagged leftover of the spire stick out of the ground, as a well as from the smog layer above, with the kilometers of spire inbetween missing. They manages to meet up among the fallen pieces. The two midwives of Geronimos cult, Apple and Penguin cares for Milkshake as she screams at the top of her lungs to let her go. Ma shows concern for Milkshake and proclaims that the child shall have three parents. Geronimo, Milkshake and herself. They then return to Haven where Milkshake and the unborn Tesla can be cared for properly.

With very little light left Humphrey dons a hazmat suit and heads into the spire, tied to a rope held by Cassandra standing outside the spire. He follows the stairs downwards to their end, several hundred meters below the entrance. Below him is a gaping void as the spire continous into the bowels of the earth. There he is ambushed by the dust who beats him up badly. But he manages to catch some of it in a jar and scare the rest of it off. As he crawls upwards to escape he tries to contact Cassandra with his walkie-talkie, but all he hears is background noise and voices whispering his own words back at him. Cassandra, trying to contact Humphrey from above, has a similar experience. They both come to the conclusion that it must be the entity within the spire who is trying to communicate. Safely outside again they prepare the cure according to the reserachers instructions and administer it to Humphrey and the refugees. Humphrey then spends the night with Alice while Cassandra obsesses over the audio tapes.

At Haven the chaotic situation caused by the destruction of the RawChem production has finally been brought under control by Mas lieutenants. Milkshake is placed in infirmary, restrained and under guard, her screams now no more then hoarse whispers. However many of Geronimos followers, including his closest confidant Madam Sosostris, show genuine concern for Milkshake and do not seem at all happy about Geronimos declaration that she must die to appease the gods. Ma shares their sentiment, and makes Geronimo promise that he will do nothing to actively harm Milkshake. Similarly the new order with Geronimo as second-in-command at Haven seems to have gone down poorly with large portions of Ma's gang, and several of them show clear disrespect towards him. Ma clamps down on this behaviour hard and lectures the previous second-in-command Deny and makes sure that she understands her new place. Ma and Geronimo also talk about how they should do something about Cassandra and the people who apparently believe in her visions. They then spend the night together.

The next day Cassandra, determined to try and communicate with the spire entity, heads into the spire again. She falls to her knees on the platform just within the entrance and starts reciting a prayer she remembers from her childhood. The words make no sense, but she know that it’s about bringin light into darkness. Almost immediately the dust comes crawling out of the scaffolding. From the walkie-talkie she brought with her a multitude of voices appears to be whipersing ”The light!” over and over again. At this point Humphrey, having been alerted by Duffy who was on guard duty, comes running up to the entrance to the spire. He has a brief glimps of Cassandra before she is completely covered in the crawling dust. It swirls around and then crawls into her through her eyes, ears and mouth. As she stands up again and turn towards Humphrey and Daffy her eyes are completely black from being covered by the dust. She tells Humphrey not to worry and starts to ascend the stairs and platforms within the spire. Humphrey tries to follow, but is immediately attacked by the dust which forces him to leave. He is not happy about leaving Cassandra, but his injuries are very severe, and if he doesn’t return to Haven for proper medical attention he will die. He and Daffy packs up and leave for Haven, but not before Humphrey promises Alice and the refugees that he will be back. On the road Daffy thanks him for helping out, and if Humphrey needs anything at all when back at Haven, then Daffy has got his back.

Geronimo is awakened in the middle of the night by troubling dreams and head down to the infirmary to check on Milkshake. There he finds Apple asleep and the masked shadow that assaulted them on the road standing over Milkshake. He tris to command it to leave, but it declares that it will reclaim the power of the spire as soon as the child is born, steps over and rips out the throat of Geronimos guard. It then turns to Geronimo and slashes him across his face, but as he falls he manages to pull away the creatures mask. He has a brief glimps of what's behind the mask before the creature wails and disappear. Ma is awakened by the guards and brought down to the infirmary where Geronimos wounds are being tended to. Additonal guards are posted and Geronimo makes it clear that he will not leave Milkshakes side until Tesla is born. After Ma has left he also intstructs Apple that, if Milkshake fails to die while giving birth, Apple must ensure her fate by way of poison. Apple agress but makes Geronimo promise that he will appoint Apple as Teslas wetnurs so he can be close to the divine child

This one was given to Cassandra while she was obsessing over the audio tapes.

The researchers audio tapes:
Most of the tapes has been damaged, several of them seemingly intentionally. Others contain nothing but day to day reports on chemical analysis on soil samples from around the spire and similar uninteresting stuff. After listening through them all the following intersting things are noted, though it’s impossible to determine the order in which they were recorded.
-   This will be my last recording. I suspect the end is near. If anyone hears this, stay away from the inside of the spire. It will be the death of you... Mike, I know you will never hear this, you are most likely already dead, but I love you. I’m sorry for leaving.
-   A startling development today. After almost six months in this place there is suddenly signs of movement within the spire. We can hear noises and occasionaly catch a glimps of something scurrying away.
-   We now believe that the dust entity which infected us are not actually protectors of the the spire, but rather some sort of caretaker or service system. The plague is simply a side effect. As for the nature of the masked shadow I... I simply don’t know. And by now I’m not sure I want to know.
-   Damn those generals and politicians for sending us here! What's the point? They are all dead now, and soon we will be too. And yet we keep doing our work, like good little soldiers. We could at least have been given a chance to die with our loved ones, instead of alone in the shadow of this monstrosity. What did we think we could achieve against these spires and their architects.
-   I believe that I’ve found a cure for the plague that killed my companions. Although it’s not actually a disease but rather some sort of nanorobotics that invades the body. Unfortunately I’m going to need additional speciemens from within the spire to complete it, and there is no way I’m going back in there. I’ve left the instructions in the bio-lab if someone braver than me finds this.
-   Amanda has died, and several of the others are showing signs of the disease. Death is apparently excruciatingly painful. I’ve shown no signs of sickness myself, but I have no doubt I’ve been infected as well.
-   This is the only damaged spire we, or anyone we know of, has encountered so far, which is why we came here. This seems inert, but the power contained within the others is simply staggering. If we only could find some way to siphon it.
-   Since Amanda got sick we have been on constant guard. But it appears that the neither the masked shadow or the sentient dust entities are willing to leave the spire. Or perhaps they are simply incapable of doing so.

I guess the time has come to decide on the nature of the spires. Since I was still a bit uncertain on their nature I had a candid discussion with the players after the session and asked them what they thought the spires were and how they related to Geronimos gods. They presented me with several great, though very disparat, ideas. I’ve let them ferement for a few days and I think I have an idea on how to progress.

Given my previous experiences in MCing AW it feels somewhat counterintuitive for me to just decide on such major things in the game world, as I try to leave as much as possible in the hands of the players. But I’m at a point where it’s the action that makes the most sense. With the imminent birth of Tesla and Cassandras ascension of the spire the players look to me reveal these things.

Hey this is a really great AP write up. I've been enjoying reading it. Thanks.

Session 7:

Geronimo was absent from this session, which proved a bit problematic. A lot of the spotlight kept going in Teslas direction. But as Tesla is very closely tied to Geronimo we agreed that for this session they would both be off limits. It did feel a bit artifical once or twice, but in the end I think it was the right call.

At Haven, Geronimo has locked himself in with Tesla, saying prayers and lighting incense, preparing for the childs birth, while Ma inspects the stone pyramid hidden away in a secret room. As she does so it's occult symbols light up and projects around it. As she tries to read them they slowly makes more and more sense, telling her things about people and places far away, such as Cassandra. Humphrey, having recently returned to Haven as well, is being cared for by Tosh the doctor. Tosh brings him up to speed on all the strange things that has been going on while he has been away, including telling him that he does not believe Cassandra to be human. While caring for her he noticed that her blood is much to thick, to many ribs, a highly flexible spinal cord and possibly other differences as well.

Cassandra ascends the inside of the broken spire. As she reaches the end of the stairs and platforms put inot place by the reseracher she climbs the scaffolding towards the faint light far above, all along having the black dust buzzing around her. Suddenly she is floating in a bright light, with a vaguely humanoid shape appearing in front of her. It welcomes her and calls her "architect", saying that she bears their mark without, as part of they eye symbol on her forehead, and within. Cassandra is confused and asks questions about her past and the spire. The entity tells her that the architects made the spires and the entity itself to manage them in bringing power from below to above. But it doesn't know the purpose of this, other than that it will soon be finished, nor does it know anything about Cassandras past. It then tells her about how two spires to the south has been meddled with, their power stolen and one of them broken. The entity demands that she assists her in stopping people from further interfering and in returning the stolen power, threatening to strip her of the mark of the architects. Cassandra agrees and the dust within her burrows permanently into her flesh. She then leaves the spire and speaks about what she has experienced to the refugees who has made it their home. A handful decides to follow her in her quest to protect the spires, adopting her ascetic lifestyle. She and her followers then head towards Haven.

Ma goes to the infirmary and interrogates Humphrey, trying to figure out where he has been. Humphrey gives only vague answers and Ma remins suspicious and tris to convince him that his loyalty is to Haven and that he must remain there. He replies that he has plans to build a workshop in Haven, but when that is done his dept to Ma is paid in full, and conciders himself free to leave at any time. Ma grudgingly agrees and Humphrey starts raiding the ruins for equipment and tools.

A few days later Cassandra arrives at Haven, her followers in tow. Ma intially welcomes them, hoping to bury the hatchet, and offers them water and food in the courtyard around Haven. In view of Humphrey Alice, now part of Cassandras following, is pulled aside by Daffy who is very upset that she has come to Haven. Alice argues that Cassandras call to protect the spires is the right thing to do and the argument becomes heated. Humphrey intervenes just as the siblings are about to start punching one another. Alice asks him to help them in killing Tesla and protecting the spires, but Humphrey refuses to commit to either side, just saying that he want’s to prevent bloodshed.

Meanwhile Cassandra, in front of everyone, requests that Ma gives her Tesla. Ma reacts with hostility ut hides behind her gang when Cassandra steps forward to confront her. Cassandra then proceeds to speak to the people of Haven, trying to convince them about the dangers of interfering with the spires and the vileness of Haven and Ma. Her words fall mostly on deaf ears as the crowd starts chanting the unborn childs name.  The ground starts shaking as Tesla stirs within Milkshake in reponse to their chanting. As Ma steps forward once again and tells people to be calm and that they she wil protect Tesla, Root, one of her most loyal gang members, try to sneak up on Cassandra with a knife. Humphrey, coming outside again with Daffy and Alice, tackles Root to the ground, accidentaly killing him with his own blade. Cassandra berates Ma for this cowardly assassination attempt, while Ma blames the senseless violence and death on Cassandra for not knowing her place. Cassandra and her followers then leave haven.

After leaving Haven Cassandra and her people hide out in the same place she and Flower hid the last time she left Haven, meditating and planning their future. When her followers have gone to sleep Cassandra is approached by the shadow that previously assaulted Geronimo. It calls her sister and requests her help in killing the vile creature Tesla as soon as it is born in order to return the stolen power.

One of the players pointed out something that I forgot to include. During the heated exchange between Ma and Cassandra, Ma loudly declared Tesla to be a god and Cassandra to be a demon. This may become important as Ma has now publicly endorsed Tesla. She certainly regretted doing it almost immediately after.