Broken Lances #1
This was the first session of our new in-person campaign, Broken Lances. We did get the opportunity for a healthy session zero the week before, and a lot of time between then and now was spent percolating on the ideas swirling around. The morning before the game, I sent a short 2-page primer to the players, giving a flyby overview of the religion, culture, and history of the realm: Katalon. And thus, we began...
What Is Broken Lances?
Pitched to my players as part of a menu of 7 different campaign options, this one got the most votes. Broken Lances is a game about a noble house striving for greatness in a medieval, low-to-no fantasy land. The realm has been without a king for 20 years, and has plunged into perilous anarchy.
During session zero, the players wisely decided that all their characters are brothers and sisters. So I wisely decided their father, Count Francisco, would die just before play started. Cue music...
What Happened?
We started over breakfast at the high table in our house's home, Castle Trevino. The PCs' father, Count Francisco, died of sudden illness 7 days ago. Tomorrow will be the grand tournament he had worked so hard to plan. Now the event has taken on a memorial tone...Outside, the fields are full of laborers as the September wine grape harvest is brought in.
Xavier (the eldest legitimate son) verbally spars with Countess Catalina (the late Count's second wife), while Eloi (the eldest, a bastard) drags Yuli (the youngest, Catalina's only son) from his pigsty of a bedroom. While they enjoy breakfast, Elsidena (Xavier's fraternal twin) helps Chamberlain Aldonza plan for the tournament. Elisenda shows off a cold streak by shutting down Aldonza when she tries to badmouth the rivalry between Xavier and Eloi.
Before she shuffles off in disgrace, Aldonza complains that venison (meant to be served to guests tonight) has gone missing from the kitchens. Xavier proposes a friendly hunting competition to Eloi, and Yuli demands to tag along. They saddle up with a few huntsmen and dogs, then ride off to the nearby forest.
Elisenda, wishing to lead the castle staff in prayer (this seems 50/50 legitimate piety and an OCD-esque response to her brothers' chaos), finds Brother Salvador (the family chaplain) in his room. She notes his prayers seem extra fervent and tense, and in conversation makes a terrible discovery. Brother Salvador claims the late Count had spoken about his plans to disinherit Xavier for a perceived lack of faith. He was even told that a document had been drawn up! He warns Elisenda that, if such a document exists, his faith and his honesty would demand him to bless it, being the late Count's last request to him...Elisenda is horrified, knowing that if Xavier does not inherit, the young Yuli will become Count, trapping her under the thumb of the Countess Catalina "the snake" forever...
The boys riding off toward the forest pass the tournament grounds, finding commotion as a naked madman is loudly decrying the sins and blasphemies of the poor laborers working to prepare the grounds. The boys stop to calm the man, who they find is half-lucid and covered in dirt. Eventually they take him away from the overstimulating work site and walk to a well, where they get him a drink and learn his name is Guyal. Yuli volunteers to return to the man to Castle Trevino, which after a stern warning to "not try anything", the older brothers allow him to.
Yuli returns to the castle with the Guyal and immediately tries something.
He drags the poor soul to the kitchens, insisting to the kitchen mistress Guntroda that Guyal is a newly hired cook. Leaving the kitchen staff in bafflement and Guyal on the verge of another breakdown, Yuli grabs a tray of tarts and returns to his room to gorge and nap.
In the woods, the brothers have their friendly hunting competition. Ultimately, Xavier shoots a deer, and Eloi is left in the dust. While the deer is dressed, Eloi heads toward the road next to the forest, and sees a train of riders and baggage heading toward the castle. Expecting one of the noble houses who will join the tournament, he is shocked to see their banners are those of House Garsa, his family's old nemeses who absolutely shouldn't have been invited. Seeing a beautiful woman with a sapphire necklace at the head of the train sends him fleeing to the hunting party, warning Xavier that Garsa is on their road, before immediately riding back to the castle to change into good clothes...
At the castle, while Yuli naps, Elisenda's prayer session is interrupted by screaming from the kitchens. She and a few men-at-arms rush over, finding Guyal in a fury, once again overstimulated. Flexing her noble majesty, Elisenda calms the man and leads him away by the hands, taking him to Brother Salvador, for the madman "is clearly one in need of the charity of the Church". Salvador graciously accepts him, asking Guyal's aid as a man of letters in translating a text back at his room. Guyal is led away.
As House Garsa's train arrives at Castle Trevino's gate, our house gathers to greet them, uncertain of their intentions. The tall arrogant head rider, evidently a full-blooded Garsa, scans the crowd and calls out for Count Francisco. Xavier approaches, makes introductions to the family, and informs him that the Count passed away 7 days ago. The Garsa man, Vicente, says something like "what a shame, but there will still be a tournament, no?". Empathy at its finest.
Introductions are made. Vicente, Count Garsa's son & heir, makes a polite advance on Elisenda. Eloi, quite taken with Vicente's sister Lady Esteboa, tries to catch her eye, but fails when Yuli foppishly kisses her hand, forcing Eloi to drag him away and then mumble something contrite. They also meet (briefly) Brother Goxco, the youngest Garsa son, who has become a priest.
As the evening wears on, Xavier joins Vicente for a drink in the quiet hall, and they toast. Vicente seems discontent and withholding, but settles for drowning himself in wine.
Meanwhile, Elisenda searches out the document that would disinherit Xavier. She intrudes on her late father's study, and remembering a clue from fairy tale he had told her many times, finds the document rolled inside a hollow curtain rod. Unwilling to read it, she hurries to find Xavier, first running across Brother Salvador, who says little except to accidentally insult her appearance.
As another noble house's train arrives, that of our old allies House Ermini, Elisenda locks eyes with Xavier across the entrance hall. He can tell something is terribly wrong...
GM Notes
My players might read this post, so I won't get into too much spoilers or behind the scenes. The session was a blast, and we fit a lot into 2 hours! Next time, we'll start with meeting House Ermini, then jump into the next day for the tournament!
One thought for myself: sometimes, when I get rolling, the pace becomes a bit frenetic. Now I'm generally a fan of a fast pace, a breakneck pace even, because there's only so much time to play RPGs and we all wanna get to the juicy stuff. But especially in these early sessions, I also want to give myself and the players permission to slow down at times and really live in a scene. This did happen more than once, so maybe this is a weak note? Food for thought!
Til next time.