Campaign Updates: T2K and EPT

As promised, I'm going to start writing short posts in which I update you about what's going on in the various campaigns I'm refereeing (the ones in which I'm playing are another matter). I say "short," because it's been my experience that even people who genuinely want to hear about your RPG campaign aren't all that interested in a blow-by-blow discussion of everything that transpires. I suspect that's one of the reasons – but not the only one – that my old House of Worms session recaps weren't all that well received: they were too detailed. Tékumel is a pretty alien setting as it is; getting down into the weeds of our latest session only made things worse. Lessons learned!

Barrett's Raiders

My Twilight: 2000 campaign has been going for just a little over three years now, having started in December 2021, shortly after the release of Free League's edition of the game. The characters began the campaign shortly after the disastrous Battle of Kalisz in July 2000, their unit of the US 5th Mechanized Infantry cut off NATO lines and fleeing pursuit by Polish and Soviet forces of the Warsaw Pact. To escape, they fled south before heading southeast in the direction of the ruined city of Częstochowa. By mid-September of the same year, they'd successfully evaded capture and, after many adventures, were headed back west, with the intention of hooking back up with friendly forces.

In the course of their travels, they ambushed a Soviet truck that was carrying a very unusual cargo: a medium atomic demolition munition or MADM, colloquially known as a nuclear landmine. The MADM was obviously of US manufacture. How the Soviets had come into possession of it or why it was on the back of a GAZ-66 truck traveling the backroads of central Poland the characters have yet to discover. All they know is that the MADM is the rightful property of the US government (whichever one you prefer) and that it ought not to be in Soviet hands. So, for the last little while, there's been added urgency to not being captured, lest a nuclear device fall into the hands of the enemy.

Presently, the characters are just south of the city of Stargard, which, if rumors are to be believed, is not far NATO-controlled territory in northwest Poland. However, while making their way there, they discovered that they were being followed. Rather than allow events to overtake them, Lt. Col. Orlowski, their commander, decided to take the initiative. The unit made use of the terrain to fortify themselves and their vehicles, as well as sending out a reconnaissance team to scout the area. They soon learned that their pursuers were a Spetsnaz GRU hunter-killer team of maybe a dozen or so men and a BMP-1 fighting vehicle.

The Spetsnaz were obviously intent on reclaiming the MADM. This hampered their ability to attack with full effect, as they did not wish to damage the device. The characters took full advantage of this and, after a few minutes of intense fighting, won the day. However, Lt. Col. Orlowski was uncertain if they'd successfully taken out all of the Spetsnaz and so will likely order the unit to leave the area quickly, hoping to reach safety before reinforcements arrive. Given the high value of what they're carrying, he expects they'll be pursued for some time to come yet.

House of Worms

The announcement of the death of emperor Hirkáne Tlakotáni has started the clock on the next Kólumejàlim, the "choosing of the emperor" by which his successor will be chosen from amongst his heirs, both known and hidden. There is a one-month period of mourning throughout Tsolyánu, but especially in the capital of Béy Sü. This period also gives all Hirkáne's heirs the time needed to travel to Béy Sü to present themselves to the Omnipotent Azure Legion as possible candidates for the many trials that make up the Kólumejàlim. 

Of course, to do that, an heir must present to the OAL an inscribed golden disc that was given to their guardians at the time of their birth. In the case of public heirs – those whose identities are already known – this is usually a simple matter. In the case of hidden heirs, intrigue is possible. Sometimes, the clan or temple to whom an heir was entrusted may decide, for whatever reason, not to advance the heir for consideration. In other cases, they may choose to substitute a different candidate, using the disc as "proof" of the new candidate's identity. Since there is no way to know for certain – most heirs are given to their guardians as infants – this is an accepted part of the Tsolyáni succession system.

One of the player characters, Kirktá, is a hidden heir to the Petal Throne. Though he will probably not present himself as a candidate for the Kólumejàlim, the other characters don't want to waste this opportunity. An heir who "renounces the gold," which is to say, publicly withdraws himself from consideration after announcing himself, can nevertheless reap great rewards. He will typically be given some sort of imperial sinecure and perhaps more, especially if he wisely throws his support behind the heir who ultimately becomes emperor. 

Unfortunately, the circumstances of Kirktá's early life are filled with strange and indeed suspicious events, one of the most important being that he does not know the location of his golden disc. Therefore, he can't present himself as an heir when the time comes. Presently, the characters are busy investigating the matter, trying to locate it. They suspect the disc is held either by someone in his former Red Sword clan or someone in the Temple of Belkhánu, to which he once belonged. Until the disc is located, though, Kirktá's status – and any hope of gain stemming from it – are very much up in the air.