Monomyth structure - Session 10

Eli runs out of options.



(Previous session can be found here.)

As part of the Refusal stage some things need to be established for the benefit of the audience:

• the heroes fears and doubts
• the consequences of the refusal
• the dangers inherent in the journey

The last two have been shown during the course of play. Eli's fears and doubts were sort of mentioned during Session 5's chargen as part of his "features:

• Unassertive & scared of confrontation
• Wants peace and affection

These have not been linked yet as things that make him hesitate to embark on the journey itself (though the interruption of his relatively peaceful and affectionate life are pushing him towards the journey). As I played through this session, some of those fears started to materialize.
I also need to find out more about this mentor figure.

*****************************(Session begins)*********************************
Getting rid of Ainus has proved impossible, and even the local witch is powerless against him. Ainus has proven more than capable of turning the authorities against Eli, as well. Will he ever release his parents?

Time seems to be running out as well. According to the witch, and Ainus, "judgement is coming from the bowels of the earth". Has some unspeakable force been unleashed to hunt him already? [Using an image from the Bright Idea Deck: a painting with a goat]. His mind, probably fed by years of folklore, and countless library books,  flashes images of half beast/half men horned demons, probably and of being chained to burning hot grills, and tortured eternally.

Eli gulps and asks Ainus where he can find his deranged disciple; his mentor to-be.

Ainus tells Eli that his disciple's name is Camus the Traveller [ROR: a foot]. Interesting enough, but the situation is more dire than Eli had first thought: Camus' prison is not a normal prison. Rather, it's a place to which the worst sort of criminals in the empire are banished.

[What is it? [ROR: flashlight, sleeping. Had a bit of Mythic Fate Chart help in fleshing this out]. This criminal exile community is located in a place where the native denizens sleep by night: vampire land.

[Why can't Ainus help Eli get there?] Ainus is evasive.

[What is this place's name? RSC (Rory's Story Cubes): arrow and magic wand for the name ] The Cursed Battlefield.

[A roll of Eli's Brains stat on Chaos Factor 5 indicates that Eli knows a lot about the history of this place from the history books he has read. What was this battle, and how did the place end up infested with vampires? Using RSC: an airplane, a shadow/demon, and a bee.]

Eli has read about the place, and the battle. The magic flying citadels that the Empire attempted to use against the resisting nation, and the Faustian deal that nation's shaman's made to keep the Empire at bay: allowing shadowy beings to "pollinate" their warriors in exchange for powers with which to fight off the Empire. The final result was a Phyrric "victory" for that nation as it became what it is now.

That evening, as Eli parts on a boat to the mainland, he wishes there was another way, but it seems his only hope to get back his normal life is to find this Camus. He doesn't even have Thor to help him anymore.  He is unsure he'll even survive outside Hart's island.




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