Does anyone have room for another player or have been wanting to put a group together for a Mage: The Ascension game/campaign? I’ve never played but I really want to.
bit ‘o context: our storyteller thinks his writing is “not very good”, and I vehemently disagree…. So, we’re settling dispute by sharing a short vignette he wrote (with a bit of editing from me) for an important part of Cronch Cronch’s backstory, and y’all can be the judges! Please settle this dispute for us.
Lil’ illustration sketches by me included ~ \o/
[CW: memory loss, flashbacks, character death]
Remembrance
Attempting to remember your own past lives has never seemed particularly interesting to you. Whenever the concept has been brought up, you can’t really seem to relate to it. The few times you have been encouraged to try and recall, you just can’t get anything. Maybe you have not even had any past lives?
Oh well, who cares. Not you, that’s for sure.
The first time you were asked to remember was just a few days after you were brought into the coffee shop. Sweet Maia, the old Selkie who at that time was practically a stranger to you, seemed so weirdly interested in figuring out who you ‘used to be’. As if that is something that apparently matters…?
Even though you honestly couldn’t remember a thing, she was determined to bring you far, far into the Dreaming – your first trip there, in fact. To see if that would jostle that stubborn memory of yours, she said. It must not have succeeded, because when you think back on that day, you‘re not quite sure what happened exactly…
At first, walking through the increasingly psychedelic landscapes of the realm of Fae was exciting and different, you tried tasting a wayward Chimera as Maia’s liquid seal eyes looked on with pride. It was a new and unique experience. She was just so excited to learn more about you, and something about her thrilled attitude made you feel excited too!
When you had finally gone deep enough, Maia finally made you stop. The city you had been in previously was completely gone, replaced with a vibrant enchanted forest where trees the size of buildings were littering the landscape. Though you could feel your own appearance getting increasingly monstrous and grotesque, this somehow felt more natural than anything you had experienced before. Maia didn’t seem bothered, and you felt ready for whatever this kind old lady was going to ask of you.
“Now dear, please stay still and answer me honestly…”
You can’t really remember what she did then, though you vaguely recall her asking some weird questions. It must have had some effect, since you apparently passed out in the middle of it – this is what you were told, at least.
Before losing yourself to blackness, you saw something in the corner of your sight; the face of a pale stranger, unknown to you and yet so familiar. But before you could even tell your companion about it, the repressed memories washed over you like a tidal wave, and your vision began to fade…
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Once upon a time on a pleasant summer night, you were going to visit Agatha’s estate as usual, excited for hearing a new story and maybe even taking trip into the Dreaming to go on a new adventure with the vampire. She was always too anxious to leave her home in the real world, only venturing out into town every other night to quickly feed from a mortal and return home posthaste. This didn’t trouble either of you much though, as simply going into the darkest recesses of the Dreaming was much more inspiring for her writing anyways, and your fearsome self offered more than enough protection.
It had been like this for so long, that even back then you couldn’t remember when your companionship had first started. Your reincarnations and her immortality gave you the opportunity to just keep going and going. Even when your mortal self died, she always found you again, your timeless Fae soul reincarnated in a new body. You were both happy and all was well for a long, long time.
That night was different though. You were greeted by nothing but an empty house and broken furniture that had been flung around violently now resting quietly on the old wooden floor. It was already late in the night, and even with a desperate search there was no trace of her anywhere in her home.
When you finally found Aggie, it was far too late. Somehow the local superstitious mortals had gotten suspicious of her and had kidnapped her from her mansion. They had tied her to a pole with a stake in her heart in the town square. Surrounded by witch hunters, you just barely managed to get a glimpse of her blank, pallid face before the first rays of the morning sun started burning her skin.
In a matter of seconds, she was nothing but ash in the wind.
Of course, you were not just any random onlooker, and you were not going to just let it happen. Not today, not like this, not on your watch. With time bending to your fingertips, you knew that you could save her if you just had another chance, in another timeline.
And so, you tried again. And again. And again. And again… yet nothing worked.
You were always just a little too late, always incapable of saving her, always an inch too far to reach her, no matter how many times you tried. With every repeated attempt you could feel yourself become more and more detached from the flow of time, felt your mind slipping, but you had to keep going. You had to save her, whatever it would take.
How much time passed in the real world is a mystery, it might’ve been only a few seconds, but to you it felt like an eternity of fighting an unchanging fate.
You only had one last resource left. With the last of your strength, you gathered up all the remaining Faerie essence within yourself and let it all out at once, Unleashing the entirety of your powers in one last frantic command to time itself. One last wish. A plea.
“Save her!”
At this point the memories become faded. You did not have much of a chance to take in what happened, as both you, the humans, and the entire area around you disappeared from the flow of time. What happened to her, to them, to the town itself — that is all a mystery to you. But somehow, in your heart, you knew that she was gone.
Everything since then has been a flurry of short-lived reincarnations, the toll of attempting to meddle with destiny destroying your mind with every rebirth. It was all so blurry, and your remembrance began to fade more and more every time, until nothing of your previous lives was left for you to remember.
Nothing at all.
_______________________________________
Suddenly you found yourself returning to consciousness in Maia’s grasp, her frail arms barely keeping you standing. Her expression seemed so distressed, though you don’t really know why. You can’t remember what just happened, the memories of that pale face already disappearing from your mind, the feeling of the loss you just re-experienced remaining only in the slight trembling of your hands.
Not long after, you were brought back to the real world and given a nice blanket to nibble on in peace and get some rest. It would be a little while before you were once again brought into the world of dreams, and even then you would never again go that far, or get anymore memories like that. You were firmly instructed not to try.
In the end all you were left with was the vague feeling of having known someone, and the blurry recollection of a familiar face. Yet, as all things tend to do eventually, that too has already faded with time.
Some sketches of characters (mostly npc companions in our party) from Changeling: the Dreaming game I’m currently in. We play as unseelie sidhe preparing for ourselves and a few chosen ones a sweet safe place for the upcoming endless winter (it got much more complicated lately though).
- Raskreia Bloodgood (Sluagh from house Leanhaun and the sweetest creepy lady) - Saleh (Eshu from house Ailil, he’s very sassy but caring, I love him) and the most charming chimera mister Marbles who’s addicted to cherry coca-cola and sugar cubes - lady Tirian (my pc, sidhe, baroness from house Leanhaun, an expert in treasures and various methods of obtaining them, member of Keepers of the Rose) - Rosie McIntyre (Redcap criminal boss of Seattle, fell in love at first sight and tried to kidnap Tirian but after series of events ended up swearing a life-long oath of Guardianship to her… it’s complicated lol)
Hello, vamily, packs, freeholds, magicians, and also guys from underworld and men in black! I am honored to present you a fanmade WoDzine by 44 artists from Russian Art Community! You can find the all shades of World of Darkness inside this artbook.
- only 45% of it is VtM
- yes, you can find even Mummy and Orpheus-themed arts!
- all kinds of characters!
- very nice bonuses!
- and most important thing: this book is filled with love.
ATTENTION!: THIS ZINE IS NON-PROFIT! All your money will be spent on the manufacture process and post services.
From March 16 to March 20 of 2020, Onyx Path Publishing is offering a chance for tabletop fans to visit one of the most influential games from the 1990s; the World of Darkness.
