A cult of two goddesses with a powerful Priesthood has established itself on Temple Isle. The life force of nature is slowly draining away from the rest of the world and concentrating here. The animals are… well, not quite right. Some deep magic is at work, but what is it’s purpose? And who in the Temple is actually in control?
A group of sword & sorcery fantasy adventurers are ship-wrecked and stranded on the wrong side of Temple Isle. They share a common purpose. Can they band together to survive the island crossing and complete their quest to discover what is happening and why?
Good humored gritty story, a lot of the fun will come from character development and interaction as well as puzzle solving and adventuring.
=== Re-Booting ===
This is a re-boot of a story that played through two chapters and had several characters retire. Some of the characters from the original Storium are returning to continue their quest.
The Narrator will be posting the story to date with slight adjustments from the original telling in order to solve some challenges around building a common purposes among the characters that was encountered in the original play and also to facilitate the introduction of new characters. Even if you are a returning player, please read through the re-telling to insure that reality is appropriately revised for your characters.
If your character is new rather than returning to the story, please assume that you were also ship-wrecked but on a different part of the beach, and that you will be hooking up with the returning characters in your first scene.
=== Creative Commitment===
Before submitting a character for this story, please read this Agreement Letter and be prepared to affirm to the Narrator that you understand & agree.
http://ourstorium.net/agreement-letter/
Participating in Storium will take some time and requires commitment. If you aren’t going to be able to participate consistently and promptly the majority of the time, please pass this story by.
The plan is for this story to go at a slow but steady pace. One scene a week with a couple of moves per player per week. If you can write once on a weeknight, and once on the weekend, we’ll set a nice steady pace for everyone.
http://ourstorium.net/creative-commitment/time-commitment/
Feel free to dig into the ourstorium.net web site further around any point you are concerned or curious about, or just to get more educated about Storium and how this Narrator plays.
Please write the majority of your moves in present or present future tense. Past tense is acceptable if you are specifically telling a story or recounting something that happened in the past. Overuse of past tense will be grounds for the Narrator to request a revision.
=== Character Submissions ===
Your character description should include a physical description - what would someone meeting the character see. There should also be some background or history and some indication of your motivations to be on this quest.
We’ll assume you are human unless you say otherwise in your character description.
Example cards are provided. Please feel free to create your own or edit the Narrator’s provided cards. Add images to personalize them as you see fit.
Characters will be reviewed and accepted or rejected based on how interesting they are and if they contribute to a balanced party of adventurers.
=== Story Considerations ===
This is not a D&D RPG adventure and therefore it is not governed by those rules. This is a Storium in a fantasy setting. Please assume that your dice were lost in the ship-wreck and leave your D&D preconceptions on the beach where you wash up.
Magic Casting - Magically oriented characters can’t be all-knowing unlimited all-powerful flatten everything, or its no fun. On the other hand, for the purpose of this story you can invent how the magic your character knows works. This is an open ended fantasy world. Describe in your character sketch their magical area, specialty, or path. A fire mage isn’t going to cast a lot of water manipulation spells but would still know how to do basic general stuff.
If you didn’t talk about it at all in your character description,
or it doesn’t make obvious sense with your character’s Nature,
or you haven’t learned it in the course of the story,
then assume you can’t do it.
Still want more structure? OK. If you insist. There are Strength cards which can stand for for magic casting. Those cards will help set a limit to the quantity of actions you can take against challenges including spell work. Lets assume that for something tiny and simple (strike a flame, create a sound, etc.) you can just do it as needed as long as you narrate it. For something medium size or damaging you should use a Strength card to do it. For something really big [weather control, earthquakes etc.], multiple magic strength cards should be applied.
I think this will work out pretty organically because you would only whip out big damaging stuff to overcome challenges, and overcoming challenges requires playing cards in Storium.
Weapons and Damage - Same principles apply as explained in the magic section above. If you are especially skilled with one or more weapons, best tell us about it in your character sketch.
Cutting your own finger open accidentally on your sword, smashing a bug with your war hammer or cutting a rope with your dagger, free action, write all about it. Pound a creature’s head with a mace in an attempt to kill it, write it and play a Strength or Asset card. Cut off a dragon’s head with one swipe of your sword, multiple cards.
If the Esteemed Narrator has a problem with the cards you play vs. the narration you write, a revision will be requested.
Having said all of that, please don’t get too hung up on this, it will be fairly organic in practice. The richness of the character will be personality, background, mission and your writing. Spells & weapons are just one way to take actions. Other types of strength (and weakness!) cards representing skills, characteristics or talents will be useful too.
Hosted and narrated by:
Leila Kirkwood (Avalon)
Completed 08/10/17.
Scenes played: 8
License: Community License
