Journey to Hawaiki

Split Paths

/ gregorywallsworth / 1 Comment

Our heroes Kani-the Shapeshifted, Sneej-the Koa Mano, Kali – the Kahuna of Hina, Lolati – the Ariori, and Jura – the Wayfinder listened to a brief discussion between Princess Anahera and Prince Tepiti. Mostly about mundane plans for the island. As most interactions between the two have been recently, it led quickly to bickering. Each of the leaders outlining clearly different priorities. Tepiti pushed for building more ships and repairing the massive Pahus they reached the island on. While Anahera focused on immediate needs for the comfort of the island.

Shortly after the crowd was dismissed, one of Anahera’s basket sharers came to find the heroes. She mentioned that Anahera had requested their presence. The group followed her back to Anahera’s hut.

Inside the hut the group found Anahera, Kahuna Akamai, and Anahera’s basket sharers. Anahera sighed, thanked the group for coming, and then began. “I have a quest for you. I know what I am asking is dangerous, but I have the sense things on the island are not right. You all know what happened recently with the Sirens, and I fear something may happen again. My coronation was interrupted, and it feels like it was a direct message from the gods.”

She paused for a moment and took a deep breath to calm herself again. “I know that incident was caused by an innocent past mistake of Tepiti’s, but I can’t help but feel the timing was a message. The gods had to show me the path to get here, and perhaps our ancestors can’t find their way here. I was hoping to send someone to the underworld, to show them the way back.”

The group was shocked by this request but focused on questions first. They asked if it was possible to return and how to get there. During this discussion, Lari, a newcomer to Anahera’s circle and the island, attempted to interrupt. The whole time Anahera spoke, she had been aggressively agreeable to her opinion.

“Ahem, I may know another way. That wouldn’t require traveling to the underworld.” She paused and was given permission by Anahera to continue. “The Ponaturi, have drums which the spirits can hear. My people had a ritual using a Ponaturi drum. Perhaps, if you could fetch one of their drums we could call your ancestors in a ritual. I could show you how if you could instead get a drum.”

The heroes then asked her if it was safe. She said it was closer, and that if they timed it so they stole from the Ponaturi just before dawn, the Ponaturi would have to return to the sea. However, once they learned the Ponaturi’s instruments were made from the bones of dead people, this path started to seem less appealing.

The heroes continued to debate whether to head to the underworld and asked for advice if they went. Kahuna Akamai warned them to avert their gaze if they see spirits before they reach the underworld.

As they left Anahera’s hut, Jura noticed someone darting away from it into the forest, heading towards Tepiti’s hut. The group followed. Once they arrived at Tepiti’s hit, they found the Prince, Kahuna Kalahari, and Tepiti’s basket sharers all inside. The group shared of Anahera’s quest, and Tepiti and Kalahari responded.

Tepiti shared Anahera’s concern that something was wrong. He too suggested that something else might happen, and mused that this may not the final destination of his journey. Then, he proposed an alternative quest. “I fear we need to see our path forward, perhaps you can visit the isle of the reflecting pool. It is a dangerous place, and seeing the truth requires a great sacrifice.”

At this point, Kahuna Kalahari chimes in. “Ah, Tepiti. So close, but how many times have I taught you the legends. It’s not a sacrifice of life, but one of meaning. A like gift for a like gift. And beware the Mo’O. Stone lizards that grow, until the grow too large and heavy to move, and become rock formations forever resting where they last lay down.”

Discussion continued back and forth on what to do. The group first tried to assess whether they could go to all three places, but ruled that out. Before leaving the hut, they again asked for advice about the underworld. Leaning towards that as their ultimate destination. Kahuna Kalahari told them to follow the light, up, and out of the caves and warned them about pools in the caves.

Then the heroes sought out Pavu, a village elder.  Pavu, was a renowned adventurer in his younger days. As they approached, he offered a cordial greeting in his raspy old voice. The group shared their quest with Pavu. Then he quickly quipped, “Perhaps you seek out Maui himself, or the isle of little giants too!”

Discussing the options with the heroes, he did also offer some practical advice. Recounting Maui’s tale of stealing fire from below, he warned of taking bone tools offered to them. He mentions the Pokongans are known to have many legends of the Ponaturi, and described the Mo’O.

The group then got assistance from villagers to load their vessel with supplies and decided to set sail. Settling on a path that would take them first to the reflecting pool, then the underworld.

Jura’s excellent navigation skills provided a smooth journey to the island. Four days of smooth seas, the smell of salt in the air, and the gentle rocking of waves. Then, a small rocky shape in the distance began to grow larger. As its details sharpened, the island appeared like it may have once been a single Mo’O. While time must have dulled the sharpness of the features, it’s head, body, and legs were all quite distinct.

As the group approached, Jura carefully navigated through a small coral reef and brought the vessel to shore. Once on shore, Kani and a few others attempted to chart a path, to the pool. However, no path was apparent.

Sneej then saw a good vantage point from what looked like the head of the truly massive Mo’O. Sneej carefully crept to the top to get a better view. At the top, he heard the thunderous sound of stone hitting stone nearby. He was able to make out a reasonable path to the pool, but the Mo;O was in the way.

Returning to the group Sneej explained the path to Kani, who then set off leading the party through meandering rocky ravines. After walking for a short while, again the group heard the thundering sound of the Mo’O’s footsteps.

Kani attempted to sneak up and investigate but accidentally kicked some stones as he was about to round the corner. Peering his head around, he saw a massive Mo’O. He darted back towards the group as quickly as possible.

Hearing the thing thundering towards them, the group started to scatter. Kani and Jura attempted to hide, Lolati climbed to the top of a nearby rock, Sneej thundered forward cutting himself to activate his shark form. Kali, summoned forth a deadly illusion, to attempt to draw the beast away. Then, the Mo’O charged.

As the Mo’O charged forth Sneej and it briefly tussled. Sneej attempted to bite it but found his attack ineffective. Lolati threw a massive stone down from above. Instead of hitting the Mo’O, it crashed into Sneej.

 Then, the Mo’O spotted the illusion and charged, trampling Sneej into the stone and leaving him unconscious. Seeing an opportunity, some of the group charged past the Mo’O. Then Kani transformed into a massive bird. Flying low and dropping stones hoping to continue to distract the beast as the party headed towards the reflecting pool. Kali, quickly healed Sneej, and helped him stumble his way through the rocky landscape to the reflecting pool.

Exhausted and out of breath, the group made it to the relative safety of a small almost perfectly reflective pond. The grotto containing it was filled with lush greenery, the only they observed on the whole island. Then, Jura stepped forward and peered in.

At first, he saw only his own reflection. A moment later the slimy head of an eel, about the size of a human popped up. “What is it you seek?”

Jura explained what they sought. The guardian replied, “And what can you offer me?” Jura responded, sharing the secrets he’d learned through wayfinding. As he did, the head dipped below water. What he described appeared on the surface of the pond. The patterns of the stars used to find islands, the shape of the swells as you near land, images of islands visited in the past all reflected in the water as if his thoughts were an image before the pond.

After he finished, the pond’s reflective surface returned for a moment, and the eel’s slippery voice could be heard saying, “Now I shall show potential paths forward.” The reflective pond showed two scenes side by side.

One scene showed Anahera being dragged deep into the forest by her new friend Lari, along with a few men. The other vision showed a relatively safe passage through caves leading to the underworld. Neither vision conveyed any sense of time. The eel simply said, “These are both possible truths.”

Seeing how the pool worked, Sneej walked up to it. The eel emerged, “And what do you have to offer.” Sneej tossed in his Lei’O’Mano and shield. The eel lit up for a moment, “These tastes of who you are, I shall show you who you can become.”

The eel once again dipped below the surface, and the pool began to change. It showed a voyage. Tepiti leading a small group of outrigger canoes to an unknown destination, and Sneej swimming beside them. It showed Sneej as a shark tearing apart a massive Squid attempting to sink one of the vessels, and then the vision slowly faded away.

Fearing the unknown of the timing of the vision of Anahera’s kidnapping, the heroes rushed back to the vessel and headed back to their island. The first few days of their journey passed uneventfully. As the sun rose on the final day the heroes found themselves surrounded by  a thick impenetrable fog. Knowing they were close to home, and trusting his instincts, Jura bravely navigated through the fog bank. Trusting to all his senses except vision.

Once back on the island, the heroes sought out Kahuna Kalahari to attend to Sneej’s lingering wounds, from the Mo’O. Then they headed to Anahera’s hut. They found some of her basket sharers, and Kahuna Akamai, but everyone said she and Lira had been missing all day.

Thinking back on the vision, the group quickly identified the Anahera was taken. Worried she may have already been taken, Kani transformed into a bird and took to the skies. Luckily, Anahera was screaming and relatively easy to find. He returned to the group and told them what he heard.

The party ran back to their vessel on more. Grabbing Tepiti along the way. As fast as they could, they set sail hoping to reach the islands opposite shore faster via sea. With the combination of Jura and Tepeti navigation skills the group circumnavigated the island in near record time.

As they searched the far shoreline, they found evidence of a beached canoe. Anchoring just off shore the group quickly found the canoe, and attempted to prepare an ambush. While Kani attempted to set an Ambush, Jura began to sabotage the boat and set a trap. Hiding holes on the bottom of the hull and rigging a tree to fall when the enemy made it to camp.

Just as the sun began to set, the group of Pakongans appeared with a scrapped and bruised Anahera in tow. As they entered the campsite the ambush was triggered. The tree smashed the first Pakongans head open as it fell. This sent Sneej into a bloodrush, and he immediately charged. Transforming into a half-shark as he ran. Fighting without sword or shield, his first bite landed and killed another Pakongan. All the while, our group of heroes was being inspired by the Loloti’s Ariori battle hymn.

In moments half the Pakongan party was killed. Kani ran up to join the fray. At this point, Lari attempted to cast a spell, but she was dominated by Kali’s willpower suppressing the spell before it could manifest. Then, Kani swung at the Pakongan leader, just nicking him. The small nick was enough for the effects of the poison he had prepared to set in. Moments later, the lead was torn apart by Sneej, and Lari ran off into dusk. The whole time Anahera cheered the heroes on, saying, “I told you you’d pay for this!”

After the dust settled, Tepiti walked up to Anahera. He said, “I think this island is yours. I do not think it’s where I’m meant to be. But, maybe, if I reach my destination then I’ll still win our first bet. If I return from where I’m called, perhaps you’ll give me that date?” Then he turned to the heroes, “Will any of you join me, I don’t know where I’m headed. But I know the ocean calls.”

Siren Encounters

/ gregorywallsworth / 2 Comments

I missed writing a summary of the session where the heroes faced the sirens I described here. I tend to over prep, largely because I love world-building. Instead of a narrative description of what happened, I thought I’d share my notes with some commentary. My notes throughout this article are italicized. I left them exactly as they were written, just to see how rough things start out.

This adventure was inspired by an idea i had for the opening scene. My adventure kicked off with the following:

You find yourselves gathered on the beach looking inwards to the island as the Kahuna’s beckon Princess Anahera to the makeshift altar they assembled.  You hear the gentle song of the wind through palm fronds, smell the salty ocean breeze, see the sun setting over the palm trees behind the princess.

The Kahunas, Akamai and Kalahari, move up to the stage as a gentle lulling song begins. It’s sound a perfect match to the melodies of nature. Many of those watching the ceremony rise to sway to the rhythm of the music. Then, the crowd begins to disperse.

The two Kahunas look out on the crowd with shocked expressions, and chaos erupts. Kalahari dives for a drum and begins vigorously pounding a chaotic counter-rhythm. Not a single beat of his rhythm aligned to the captivating song coming from the sea. Combined the music is almost painful to listen too. Many of those previously captivated by the song, now appear confused or in pain.

Simultaneously, Kahuna Akamai tackles the princess, covers her ears, and begins screaming for people to run to the woods. But, alas for some the Kahuna’s actions came too late.

 A crowd of people compelled by the gentle music coming from the sea walk into the ocean. Some are swept away by the current, others run to those walking heedlessly into the waves attempting to pull them back. A few manage to drag their loved ones back to shore against their will, while others are pulled away with those they intended to save. Almost as surreptitiously as the song began, it stops. The sun, now below the horizon. The spirit of the day crushed.

Amidst the chaos, what do you do?

The monologue was longer than I like, but I wanted to set the overall tone of the scene. Plus, I sometimes do these things as writing exercises that also help with character development for the NPCs.

I also had notes for actions the PCs could take during the scene:

During the Scene. What can the players do.

They can role exert or survive (str or dex) to run down and drag people back. As they do, be sure to reward high rolls describing people they’ve managed to save.

If they immediately take a small craft out, they can roll Survive/Notice Wisdom to try to figure out where the sound came from. A high roll will lead to a quick combat encounter with 1 or 2 sirens depending on the group size.

If I recall, the heroes ran inland. My next section of notes was a summary. I decided I wanted to add some more friction to the slow burn romance between Anahera and Tepiti. So, I tied in a miss from an earlier session where no one had done anything about the Tahitians allying with the Sirens.

“I am sure it is no mystery why we have called you hear today. ”Prince Tepiti takes a moment to look each of you in the eyes, then turns towards Anahera and bows his head in shame.“ My Princess, I have failed you here. But, I’ve found our bravest adventurers to help us once again secure our island. We,” The prince gestures broadly to the princess and the two Kahuna’s present, ”Do not know exactly what happened, and are hoping you all can help us figure out what’s occurred and prevent it from happening again.”

What can they learn before setting out.

  • The Kahuna’s will each share info of what could be learned on their respective islands.
    • Kalahari. Tahitians have had many past run-ins with Sirens, they may perhaps know where the Sirens were from.
    • Tepiti will note that some discussion of Sirens was made in the war councils before Parau-tia was killed.
    • Akamai. Will be immediately suspicious of the Patongans who attempted to kill Anahera.
    • Anahera. Will mention her brother and suggest that he of anyone would know how a voice could be amplified so effectively.
    • Others on the island?
      • A fisherman from Tahitia will share a technique to create an ear plug from tree resin.

This list is a lot more representative of my usual prep. My Polynesian adventures are story heavy, so I write a lot of narrative scripts. I don’t usually read these aloud when they are this long. But, writing them out helps me think about how the characters react in different situations.

The rest of my adventure outline was a series of bullet points. Outlining potential courses of action.

For this adventure, I used time pressure to build some tension. I placed three leads on the island, far more than they could follow. I designed them so easy it would be easy to follow-up on one, hard for two, and impossible for three (I put them in a bit of a triangle on the map). The players opted to tackle the two closest objectives.

One other thing worth noting in the adventure outline, is the redundancy. My notes say, “They have three potential ways to find the location of the sirens.” This is an intentional and important part of adventure design. It’s really easy for players to miss hints that may otherwise seem obvious. You’ll find lot’s of advice out there on this, and it’s part of why people say to use red herrings sparingly. While playing, I’ll roll with creative ideas the players come up with, even if it wasn’t the intended solution.

Adventure Outline

The adventure has three key components.

  1. Finding out how the Sirens have amplified their voice (a massive conch shell)
  2. Finding the location of the Sirens
  3. Figuring out how to deal with the sirens

Additionally, the PCs are given a variety of choices along the way. These choices provide advantages for various ways to deal with the Sirens.

  1. They have three potential ways to find the location of the sirens:
    1. Sailing to Tahitia to follow up on rumors they hear from former Tahitians who have fallen prey to Sirens in the past. This is a common fear from Tahitians. The Kahuna from Tahitia will hint at this in the intro.
    1. Sailing to Anahera’s former enemies the Patongans, assuming they’ve somehow allied with the Sirens. (An ironic error of judgement by Anahera and Tepiti, but even Tepiti is unaware of the level of corruption Kahuna Parua-tia had bestowed upon his father).
    1. Searching for the SIrens themselves, with the help of Hina or Tahwhiri. Provide some advantage to PCs who quickly move to chasing down the Sirens in the opening scene.
  2.  How they deal with the Siren threat.
    1. Force. Destroying the conch shell and killing many sirens.
    1. Subterfuge. Stealing the conch shell and using it to protect the island from their song.
    1. Negotiation. Striking a deal with the sirens, and helping them once again learn a new song from the gods.

A key issue in this adventure is timing. The timeline for the following events is such that the PCs should be able to sail three times (visit two of the three islands and return) before the situation escalates untenably. One of the Kahuna’s will send a message on the winds to the PCs after the second attack warning of an escalating situation. This may incentivize the PCS to use speed while traveling, but risk some encounters at sea.

Tahitia.

Asking around the island, you’ll hear rumors of fisherman who’ve heard singing at dawn and dusk while fishing. While this isn’t totally unheard of, it’s grown stronger recently and Tama Waiariki’s canoe was recently found empty in the reefs.

Additionally, some rumors that Parau Tia had Haikili attempt to recruit the Sirens for their war efforts. If confronted, Haikili will at first lie. A connect or convince check could persuade him to give information. Increase difficulty by 1 if intimidation is used. Playing on his guilt for participating in this should help the PCS

  • The PCs can encounter the Sirens by stalking the common fishing areas at Dawn/Dusk
  • From here they could kill, capture, or attempt to track the Sirens to a cave
  • The PCs can learn the Sirens were paid with a shell from the Island of Little Giants

Pakonga

If any of the islanders are from Moanatu (Anahera’s home island), the chance of escalating to conflict is higher. What happens on this island depends a lot on how the PCs approach. If things go badly, the Pakongans will try to assault the new island in a future adventure.

  • Entering the island.
    • Disquise. The PCs may attempt to disguise themselves as performers or traders to gain audience. Make this a relatively easy check.
    • Subterfuge. May allow PCs to sneak on.
    • Diplomacy. This will be the hardest approach, particularly if the PCs say they hail from Moanatu. Some sort of offering of strength would help this.
  • Chief Aoraki (Oh-raki):
    • If the PCS are brought to him while captured. Perhaps we shall make sport of you, if you win we shall let you leave.
    • If the PCs persuade their way to an audience.
      • We are a proud tribe and need no monstrous allies to fight our battles.
      • Will share the legend of the Sirens. They are not to be trusted.
        • There is an area of caves between X/Y that you may search if you seek them out.
      • Kahuna may share that this seems on par for what Parau-Tia would have done, perhaps the Tahitians had planned to use them. He was desperate and had come to us once asking for an allegiance.

Moanatu

The key thing that could be learned and/or acquired here is the advice of Prince Teva. He will hypothesize that a massive shell could be used to amplify the voices of the Sirens making them especially dangerous.

  • He will help the PCs to devise protective ear coverings allowing them to re-roll all failed saves against Siren Songs once.
  • He will help devise a tool likely effective at destroying the shell.

In one-shots, I always hand-out one time use magic items.  In this adventure, these proved to be super pivotal. By far the most memorable scene was when the PCs finally found the Sirens. One of the PCs used a potion of disguise to change into a Siren. Then then convinced the Sirens he had befriended the people to eat them later.

In the final battle, the rest of the items got used. The PCs ended smashing the conch shell, and returned to the island after ending the Siren threat.

Song of the Sirens

/ gregorywallsworth / 1 Comment

Recently my focus has been on revisions for two upcoming publications, Mysteries in Elanysia and Echoes of the Void. For the first one, I have some commissioned art now and I AM EXCITED! This has put work on my Polynesian game Journey of the Wayfinder on the back-burner.

For my next one-shot, Song of the Sirens, I went deep on original lore for the main enemy. The lore came from trying to answer a simple question, “If the PCs wanted to strike a bargain with the Sirens what would they need to provide?” The answer came quickly, a new song from the gods. This led me to ask, why?

That why became a myth. It’s inspiration is as much Greek tragedy as it is Polynesian. After all I’ve been reading Greek myths since I was a kid. Hopefully I’ve managed to capture a bit of the spirit of Polynesian Myths as well. The legend follows below:

              There was once a beautiful Arioi named Moatangi, whose performances were a mesmerizing array of dancing on water and singing. She’d climb the mast of her canoe, belt songs swinging from the ropes, dive into the sea, and swim back continuing her song until she emerged from the water to finish her ballad as she walked ashore. Over time these acts grew in grandeur. Sometimes she involved dozens of vessels in the act. Lower ranked Arioi would swim in unison, and a chorus of singers, dancers, and musicians accompanied her.

              Her performances eventually attracted the attention of Tavahanu, voice of the wind. At first, he listened silently. The stillness of the wind while he listened provided a quiet backdrop which emphasized the grandeur of her performance. Then, Tavahanu began to carry Moatangi’s songs farther, emboldening the fortes and muting the pianos. Over time, she replaced some of her accompaniment with the sounds of nature. Learning, if only subconsciously, how to leverage the songs of nature. As she sang, the wind would carry the melody of birds, the song of palm fronds swaying in the winds, or the violent echoes of the wind wailing through hollow passages.

              One night as she slept under the stars on the beach, she awoke to a whistling sound leading inland. Thinking she heard the echo of her name on the wind, she followed the sound. Eventually, she found its source to be a cave and heard the most beautiful array of nature’s melodies ever.

The cave was the perfect instrument for the wind. A thousand hollowed out caverns of different shapes and sizes allowing the wind to create a symphony of noises, replicating any sound imaginable. Tavahanu filled the cave with music and Moatangi began to sing a melody to the tune. Her song was a love ballad, like the world had never heard. Starting with the eternal embrace of Rangi and Papa, telling of the one-sided love of Hina and Tuna, the near tragedy of Hinemoa and Tūtānekai, and continuing with all the love stories of the gods.

              Throughout the night islanders were stirred awake by the music. They were mesmerized by the sounds and found themselves compelled to move towards the music. Enraptured by the music everyone who came stayed the entire night. Moatangi never looked outside the cave. She was overcome by the feelings she attempted to express through the ballad she sang. Having finally found the melody within her soul.

              As the sun began to rise the Arioi’s voice broke. Her music stopped, and finally she whispered. “What are you to make such beautiful songs, I have seen nothing all night as I accompanied you? My voice but a back-up singer to the melody of love itself.”

              The wind replied, “Moatangi, you are mistaken. The tune comes from your heart, I but listen and play it so you can sing. I am Tavahanu, voice of the wind. Stay here with me for nowhere else can I come close to echoing the beauty of your voice. No where else can I make all sounds that can be heard by man. Long I have tried to lead you here.”

               She paused for a long moment, puzzled by the statement. For nothing has freedom like the wind. Blowing over land and sea, touching both the heavens and the earth. Finally, she replied, “Anywhere can the wind move, why can you not make these sounds elsewhere?”

              Tavahanu explained that although he can move anywhere the wind can, the wind has no voice of its own. The wind plays nature like the Arioi play their instruments. Tavahanu replied, “The whole world is my instrument, but nowhere else can I play such a symphony in one place.”

              As the two conversed, the magic of the music faded. The compulsion over those watching faded, and the crowd began to murmur and ask questions. Only then did Moatangi notice the audience. For her also the compulsion began to fade, and her own wits began to return. Realizing how long she sang, wondering how long people had listened, she considered what singing with Tavahanu could achieve. She glanced down at her painted leg, a symbol of her reaching the pinnacle of status among the Arioi. Realizing singing with a god, could make the black leg seem pale in comparison.

              She considered the winds response and finally responded herself. “Could you not use me?”        

              In this part, the legends vary. Some say the wind filled her lungs. Others say she would wear ostentatious outfits of shells so the wind could make a symphony of sounds. Most say the wind made love to her, using her to make the sounds. Regardless of the truth, the pair traveled together from island to island putting on legendary performances. Captivating all who listened, even playing for and captivating the gods. The stories also agree that eventually, she carried a child.

              Unfortunately, while Tavahanu could father a child. He could not be a child’s father. For a while, the performances stopped as the Arioi cared for the newborn. But the wind kept blowing. Sometimes visiting, but being carried away for longer and longer periods of time.

However, Moatangi had learned many of the wind’s secrets while they had sung together. One day when Moatangi needed help, she sung a song into the wind like that day at the cave. She used its tune to compel someone’s attention, and continued to refine it until she compelled them to help her.

               Moatangi continued to master this skill, compelling others to do her bidding. It started with small favors. Preparing food, launching her boat, caring for her child while she swam. But overtime she would push the limits. She began to compel people to follow her, to rule their minds completely. Sometimes the wind returned, but most times it simply passed through.

              Still during this time her fame and renown had grown so much that gods commonly frequented her performances. But she longed for Tavahanu. She began to test her compulsion on the gods themselves. Small things at first, hoping to compel the wind to stay. With the wind, while she could keep its attention, it would never stop blowing for long. Even though Tavahanu loved her he simply couldn’t stay.

              One day, she was performing on an island far in the west. At the source of Mātāhiti Apatoa (the east wind). She realized if she could capture this wind, she could keep Tavahanu with her. She put on her most brilliant performance yet, and captivated Tahwhiri’s children. Eventually,  Tahwhiri god of storms and winds, realized his children were missing. Asking the other gods he learned of Moatangi. He requested the help of Tangoroa, knowing he needed to send Moatangi into the depths that he and his offspring could not reach.

              Together, Tahwhiri and Tangaora approached the island in a hurricane of destruction. Tahwhiri appeared before Moatangi and said, “Never shall you set shore upon the lands of man again, forever shall you be bound to sea. Where Tavahanu cannot go.”

              Then Moatangi flopped over, splashing into the water. She attempted to stand but found her legs had merged, and her bottom half looked like a fish. Confused and frightened she flopped about in the water. Her appearance had become deformed and hidous. After that, whenever she found a new audience, they ran from her in fear. The only way she could keep an audience, was to compel them.  

So, whenever she sees men, she sings her song and drags them into the sea with her. All the while craving the attention of Tavahanu, who could not come with her. She swam from island to island, looking for caves, hoping to find Tavahanu once again.

              With Moatangi beneath the sea, Tavahanu howls across the sea singing a sad song of mourning searching for her. To this day, he still does. Moatangi’s children can often be found, singing their compelling songs and luring men to the depths with them. Usually near caves, where they find a strange appeal to the howling of the wind through the caverns.

              This is how Sirens came to be, and why they sing their songs to lure men to their deaths. Creating a captive audience in remembrance of audiences they never knew.

Session 3: Visions in Smoke and Ash

/ gregorywallsworth / Leave a comment

The adventure begins with Kahuna Akamai sharing a vision he had with Princess Anahera. The vision was of a lush new island, with limitless coconuts, obscured by smoke and ash. Akamai suggested Anahera may be destined to find this island, if she can lift the veil of smoke covering its path.

Akamai said, “I’ve had this dream many times. Each time different voyagers are converging on the island, and each time a different outcome. Sometimes the voyagers destroy each other on the journey, other times they reach the island together, and sometimes they fight once they arrive. I have no doubt we must rush to find this place; Motu Oa I will call it. I also expect the journey to be filled with great dangers.”

Akamai paused for a moment. As he continued, he said, “We’ve had visions like these before. You must travel to Ngauru and consult with the volcano god Ruamoku. He will need a sacrifice, if he accepts it he may lift the veil hiding the path to this island.”

Princess Anahera turned to the adventurers. The young Kahuna’s Abby of Tane and Jeff of Hina, the Wayfinder Connor, Jules the Shapeshifted, Anani the Ariori, and Blake, a mighty warrior. They quickly agreed to escort her to Ngauru.

Connor then steped aside to quietly ask Kahuna Akamai, if perhaps, they are required to sacrifice the Princess. Although no one else heard what was said, everyone instantly saw the color drain from the Kahuna’s face and the look of shock as he vigorously emphasized that was not the case.

The PCs debated what they might sacrifice. Not coming to a conclusion, they asked if anyone had gone on this journey before. Princess Anahera suggested they speak with a village elder, Kai-Alu.

The PCs walked across the village to Kai-Alu. An old man in 70s, a famous adventurer in his youth. He looked up as the PCs enter his hut. The PCs gave him the space and reverence a man of his mana and stature deserve. He asked, “what brings such a young spry group and the princess to my humble home.”

The PCs describe the adventure they had been tasked with. Then Kai-Alu told of his adventure. “I can still remember the putrid stink of sulfur today. The whole way up the mountain was obscured with smoke and ash. We made it to the top and sacrificed a truly beautiful feather headdress.” He pauses for a moment. “But alas, I don’t think it was enough. One voyager died on our return journey. And the chief whom we sought a blessing for had a terrible, short, and violent reign over Moanatu.”

The PCs asked why the sacrifice didn’t work. Kai-Alu responded, “I don’t think the sacrifice meant anything to the chief. Ruamoku saw through it as trivial and meaningless wealth cast into his pit. He let us leave, but I think he cursed the chief.” Kai-Alu warned of other dangers on the island. Great Pele-Hele’s (Lava Monsters), and wandering paths obscured in smoke and ash where adventurers can lose their way.

The PCs bid Kai-Alu goodbye and went to prepare to take the Princess’ new vessel to Ngauru. The mid-size outrigger canoue was recently blessed by Hina, Goddess of Fertility, Death, and the Moon. Jules, knowing  about poisons gathered some last minute herbs in case anyone was struck ill from inhaling the sulfur. The others gathered food supplies and makeshift tapa cloth face masks. Ready to move on, the group set out for Ngauru.

Connor, and his trainee Bob, were well renowned for their navigation skills. He made the journey in record time with smooth sailing the whole way. As the group beached their outrigger, they recalled the warning about the Pakangans. That Princess Anahera was probably not the only one to have received this message from the gods. The heroes then found an alcove to hide their boat in and a good vantage point to scan the sea for approaching vessels. A tiny dot appeared on the horizon.

Knowing the warmongering nature of the Pakangans, the heroes found the perfect location to set an Ambush. They set a fire to draw the other vessel in, laid a trap of sharp obsidian in front of it, and hid themselves among rocks on the coast.

The Pakangan vessel beached itself, and then its riders cautiously disembarked. As this happened, Blake stepped out behind the fire and threatened the group of Pakangans. One brave Pakangan charged forward, tripped on the trap, and impaled himself on a series of daggers. His life slowly drained down the rocky shores and into the see.

More cautiously the rest of the crew inched forward and clustered near the boat. Abby called upon the power of Tane to lull the Pakangans to sleep with a gentle breeze carrying the soft sound of birds chirping. In moments, the Pakangan leader stood alone on the shore of Ngauru facing the brave group of Maonatan adventurers.

A brief attempt to parlay was made with the leader who resisted the song on the wind. However, this lone Pakangan moved towards his sleeping comrades clearly intent on waking them. Then all hell broke loose.

The PCs emerged and threw spears at this lone warrior. One spear pierced his skin, the other putting a small cut in his shoulder. He yanked the first spear out and threw it to the ground as if it means nothing to have been impaled. The Pakangan leader was encircled by the heroes. He deftly maneuvered through the Moanutan warriors and walked over his crew yelling at them to wake up.

The rest of the PCs charged the disoriented group of drowsy seamen. In moments, several fell dead. Heads smashed in with clubs, guts spilled across the ground. The morale breaks on the remaining Pakangans and attempted to flee. Combat stops almost as suddenly as it started. With the two survivors, the leader and Steve, fleeing to the relative safety of their vessel.

Then, the two remaining Pakangans surrendered. After tieing them up, the heroes debated what to do with their prisoners. Let them return to Pakanga, execute them, or sacrifice them to Ruamoko. Ultimately, they decided to sacrifice them. In a desperate plee to find a way out, the Pakangan leader attempted to lead the heroes astray. Lying he told them they need to sacrifice a Pele-Hele heart to Ruamoko. While not true, it would be a fine sacrifice.

The PCs then commandeered the Pakangan vessel’s tiki to Ku, god of war, and prepared to drag the prisoners to the top of the mountain. Deciding to see if they can get more information out of Steve, the group bargained with steve, for his life. Persuaded by Connor’s utterly incomprehensible confidence, coupled with a total lack of decorum, Steve and Connor bonded instantly. Steve told the group that they were the sacrifice they planned, and that they need no Lava monster heart.

The entire group, except Bob who stayed behind to watch the two vessels, headed up the Volcano. They found a clear path and eventually come to a juncture. Glancing in the smoke they saw images representative of Hina and Tane. Realizing they must choose a path, they deliberated whether they follow the albatross (Tane) or the stars (Hina).

Jules attempted to scout ahead and saw that the entire Volcano was covered in an obscuring layer of smoke. Impenetrable from above, he realized for he was lost. He landed, and used one of the pair of echoing conch shells to talk to the group, and find his way back. During this time, Anani, performed a dance for Hina and Tane each symbol lighting up in turn. Eventually, deciding Hina has blessed their journey so far, the heroes followed the stars.

At the next path the heroes faced three more choices, each a constellation. Sirius, Ekoru (a tail), and Tautoru. Unsure what these symbols were meant to convey they again deliberated on the path forward. Turning to Steve, they asked if he knew anything. Steve suggested it had something to do with the first sound (letter) of each constellation. Still uncertain, Jeff prayed to Hinna for guidance, she lit the way highlighting Tautoru. This pattern repeated, as they spelled out TOP and found their way to the volcanoes summit.

As they reached the top, they looked down into the pit of the volcano. Lava began to bubble up, and Ruamoku took form. A gigantic humanoid shape, made of pure lava slowly emerged from the pit. His form remained constant, but within lava circled continuously, quickly hardening wherever the current stoped.

The PCS offered the enemy leader to Ruamoku. Without a word he rose up to his full height of almost fifteen feet and swiped him into the pit. The leader attempted to dodge but was no match for the speed and ferocity of this god. He screamed as he fell, until moments later, his form was engulfed in lava.

With a simple wave of his massive hands, Ruamoku cleared a path for the heroes down the mountain. He spoke in a voice with the sound of thunder, “The way is clear.”

Once the heroes reach their outrigger, Princess Anahera described the new Mele Hoku to Connor. She then asked if the group would accompany her to this new land, Motu Oa. Deliberating on what to do with the extra boat and passenger they decided to take both vessels and test Bob’s abilities as a Wayfinder.

The group feared the sea, with no god to guide their vessel. But, while the group ascended the mountain Bob carved a beautiful Obsidian moon to represent Hina. Finding a strange piece with two colors, he captured her ever shifting duality with almost perfect precision. However, insulted by the sacrifice of his totem and his worshippers, Ku himself took notice of the group of heroes.

They set sail, again Connor’s impeccable wayfinding skills helping them navigate the waters with ease. A few days into their Journey they saw a massive Pahu ahead. Jules changed into a massive albatross, and scouted ahead to the Pahu.

It was clear the Pahu was built for war, with symbols of Ku along its massive canoes. However, the passengers looked peaceful. It was a group of families, potentially looking for a new island. Jules also spotted two small outriggers scouting ahead and behind the massive Pahu. As the heroes deliberated what to do, one of the outrigger canoes spotted them. It then changed course to intercept the heroes between their current location and the Pahu.

Anani, examining the sales, recognized that this flotilla all flew patterns associated with the island of Tahiti. Once the vessel approached, the heroes and foreigners exchanged pleasantries. Then Anani persuades the Tahitians to grant them an audience with their leader Prince Tapiti.

Prince Tapiti and Princess Anahera exchanged pleasantries and shared that they both sought a bountiful new island. They seemed to hit it off, with Prince Tapiti perhaps a bit more enamored than Princess Anahera. Potentially because of his two recently called off engagements, which sent him sailing into the unknown to seek new lands.

Discussing that they both seek to claim the island, Princess Anahera proposed a race. They agreed to terms. A single vessel each, six occupants, and quite imbalanced prizes. Prince Tapiti wins a date, but must put the very island they sail to on the line.

Shortly thereafter the two outrigger canoes chosen for the race take off, leaving behind the rest of the flotilla. The first day of the race, the heroes pull ahead, but never made it out of sight of Tapiti’s outrigger. The next day, Tapiti (with a little assistance from Ku granting Tapiti’s crew strength for paddling), closed the gap. On the final day, the two vessels remained neck and neck until Hina blessed the heroes with a favorable gust of wind. Blowing them ahead with the island in sight.

Seeing he may lose Tapiti, launched himself from the boat and swims ahead to almost make landfall first. He emerged, soaked and exhausted, and looked to Anahera and said, “Surely that’s worth a date.”

She replied, “I believe you mean, that’s worth a date, My Queen.” After a brief pause, “Perhaps, you can earn one another time.”

The two walked off to discuss, and returned agreeing Anahera is queen, and Tapiti may rule as second in command. With both their people welcome to settle on this island. Tapiti, is clearly infatuated with Anahera, while Anahera’s intentions remain somewhat less clear.

The heroes slowly part ways. Jeff, Abby and Anani staying on the island, the others returning to Moanatu to tell Anahera’s cohort they may follow her to a new land.

Journey to Hawaiki’s Pantheon

/ gregorywallsworth / Leave a comment

I look forward to sharing resources I’ve used for game design in future posts. Some of my favorites are Matt Colville’s YouTube series and On-Writing by Stephen King. This first post is about designing my Polynesian inspired game-setting. My worlds always focus on a theme. In this world, I wanted to capture the feel of a mythological story. So, I centered world development on the Pantheon.

While many mythological Pantheons could be used directly in TTRPGs, the vast array of gods within and across Polynesia made this challenging. I struggled to find a starting point, so went back to the drawing board to consider what I’d do if no Pantheon existed. If I were designing a Pantheon from scratch, I’d start with key domains the gods needed to support, create those, and add details as needed.

I used a variation of that approach here. I started with the gods in the Maori creation story. Then, where I found gaps, I looked for other Polynesian gods to fill the gap. Overall, my goal was to design a Pantheon that captured Polynesian mythology and worked well for game design.

So, let me quickly summarize the creation story I used and the gods in it.

In the beginning, Papa (mother earth) and Rangi (father sky) were locked in an eternal embrace, with the world between them stuck in darkness. Their children grew tired of the darkness and lack of space and discussed what should be done. First a suggestion to slay their parents was raised, but in the end the siblings, all but Tawhiri, agreed to rend them apart. One by one their children tried, and failed, until Tane with the strength of his forests reaching into the sky broke his parents’ eternal embrace. The gods listed below form the major gods of this Pantheon.

Tane. Tane is associated with forests and birds.

Rongo. Rongo is associated with cultivated food.

Haumia. The father of uncultivated food.

Tangaroa. Fish and reptiles.

Tawhiri. The father of winds and storms.

I realized I needed gods associated with healing, war, and death. So, I looked around Polynesian stories for gods to cover these domains. I choose two more from Maori mythology, and one from Hawaii:

Ku. Ku is the god of war in Hawaiian mythology.

Hina. Goddess of the Moon, associated with fertility, and mother of Maui.

Hine-Nui-Te-Po. The mother of death. There is a great story about Maui trying to make humans immortal and failing related to Maui and Hine.

One thing we’ll cover in a later post is the godly influence mechanic I’m working on building. This required lesser gods that have some association with the major gods. This part took more research. Stories from Polynesian mythology are filled with hundreds of minor gods, and I imagine thousands more have been lost to time. I could have just started picking and choosing which ones to use, but I wanted to first understand the hierarchy of Polynesian gods. Usually, these minor gods represented a narrow natural phenomenon. Two broad patterns emerge.

The first pattern is the progeny of the major gods covered narrow aspects of their broad domain. Given the emphasis on genealogy in Polynesian mythology this was unsurprising. The Maori creation myth provides one example of how these gods relate to the major gods. Tawhiri wanted to exact vengeance on his siblings. To do this he created a host of minor gods associated with the winds. These included gods for the four directions of the winds, squalls, and fierce storms. Then he sent these gods to battle against his siblings. The story goes on to describe his siblings doing the same.

The second pattern is slightly harder to disambiguate. Many of the gods themselves have multiple aspects, and compound names to represent them. One particularly profound example from Hawaiian mythology is Hina. Hina of Hawaii has dozens of names each an aspect of who she is. Some examples for Hina are Hina-puku-iʻa (Hina-gathering-seafood) the goddess of fishermen, and Hina-ʻopu-hala-koʻa who gave birth to all reef life.

While I haven’t fully selected the minor gods I’m using, I decided to borrow inspiration from both approaches. The minor gods will encompass narrow aspects of the major gods’ domains, even when they are not distinctly separate in the stories.

The adventure begins: Secret Love

/ gregorywallsworth / Leave a comment

Note: The links highlighted throughout the text are to a WIP campaign wiki on Scabard, a wonderful DM tool I would highly recommend.

Chief Pauihito called the adventurers into his hut, an honor reserved only for those of great Mana. He sat sullenly on his throne holding a large, shattered conch shell. As the adventurers entered, he thanked the adventurers for coming so quickly.

Raising the shell gently, as if he could somehow will its pieces back together, he began. “This shell arrived this morning via bird, it was obviously sent as a message to end the engagement of my son Price Pauifeia and Princess Manao of Borotonga. Setting aside the great dishonor this places on our family, I am looking to avoid a war against the combined might of Tahitia and Borotonga. Alone, we are the strongest, but I fear the consequences of facing their combined might. Could you help me find out why they called off the engagement?” The wedding date was fast approaching, set initially to occur after the next full moon.

The PCs (player characters) proceeded to probe the chief for additional information. They asked about the recent visit from the Borotongan emissary, how the royal family reacted to the news, and if anything seemed amiss in the interactions between the two tribes. The chief shared that his daughter, Princess Tepiti seemed the most disappointed and mentioned some fisherman had said they saw the moon missing a few nights ago.

The PCs started out chasing down the few leads they had, beggining by talking with the Chief’s Kahuna HareHare. The kahuna shared a vision he had of the story of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. Though, the version of the dream portrayed a dark tale. Instead of reaching the other shore and finding her true love, she drowned halfway across the lake. HareHare suggested this may be a signal of Hinemoa’s disapproval and suggested a great sacrifice may be needed to obtain a clearer message.

Exploring the rest of the island, the PCs pieced together clear evidence the two princesses were in love and pulled a confession and a gift intended for Princess Manoa from Princess Tepiti. They also heard rumors of a ghost ship passing by the night after the moon was mysteriously absent.

HareHare worked with Su (the pc Kahuna) to conduct the ritual, using Tepiti’s gift to Manoa, and received the same vision. But this time, he received a Mele Hoku (star chant), as she swam towards the sound of the flute across the water and began to drown, a clear vision of the night sky was shown in the vision.

The next morning the PCs set out under the roof of voyaging on this unknown path through the skies. On the second day of their journey, the PCs crossed the path of the ghost ship. Though it was not a ghost ship, it was just a poor fishermen succumb to a mysterious, potentially magical, disease. They pushed the fishermen’s vessel away, lit it aflame to stop the disease from spreading, and continued on their way.

The remainder of the journey was uneventful and on the seventh night they reached the isle of MotiPoti. As they approached, they heard a whistling that sounded like the flute in the vision. They threw anchor for the night and waited until the morning.

As the sun rose, they found the whistling was simply wind howling through a cave entrance. The parties shapeshifter changed into a great frigatebird and scouted the island. In the cave they found a massive crab, known to be a favorite of the god Kiwa, along with a fresh body and footprints that likely belonged to the crabs last big meal.

The group first gathered supplies on the island for the journey back, and then ventured into the cave. A short battle ensued, and just as the crab was about to die Su put it to sleep. Little did the group realize, sparing this crab saved them from the full wrath of Kiwa later. They searched the cave, found a tattooed arm of a Tahitian, and mushrooms often used in some dark rituals.

The group quickly fled the island, fearing any other dangers that may lurk here, and set sail to Borotonga. With evidence from the island, they were convinced the Tahitian kahuna must have done something to poison the union between the Borotonga and Morotana.

After arriving in Borotonga, the group was escorted to Chief Temaunota. They presented the arm, the mushrooms, and their story. After a brief exchange with the chief and his kahuna they managed to convince him of their tale. Working with the islands kahuna and using the mushrooms originally put to a nefarious purpose, they set out to conduct a long and complicated ritual to reverse the plague.

After successfully appealing to the gods for help through the ritual, the PCs had won over the trust of the Borotongans. They then set out to chat with Princess Manoa. Although Princess Tepiti’s original gift was sacrificed to have the gods show them a path forward, during the journey the PCs competed to make the best replica of the original tiki. After a heart to heart with Princess Manoa, they approached the chief with a proposal for a new union between the islands.

With relatively little resistance, the chief vowed to renew the marriage between the islands, but this time proposed a marriage among the princesses.