The Lands of the River - A Bronze Souls Quest

[MissBegot]

[x] Drink from thy flask, restoring Resolve & Focus.
[x] Also refill the flask. The Maiden said that it could be refilled at any body of fresh water, right?
[x] Proceed farther upstream. The river is life, or was, at least. Everything immediately important will be there.​

You unstopper the flask and raise it to your lips. Instantly you feel a cloud lift from your mind; the fatigue is still there, but the burden is lightened. You can do this.
Resolve
╞══════════════════╡20/20
Focus
╞══════════════════╡13/20

Hesitantly, you lower the flask to the river's surface. When you dip the neck in, the icons on the side begin to glow green, like sunlight through leaves. It seems to take far longer to fill than its size would suggest, much less the mouthful you just drank. Eventually the glow subsides and it begins to overflow. You take another sip and once again there is a sensation of clarity as your confidence returns. You might say you feel more alive, but you're not sure you ever felt this clear-headed when you were alive.
Focus
╞══════════════════╡20/20

Pausing to top up the flask a final time, you set off again, this time keeping a safe distance from the water. After an hour or so, keeping half an eye open for crocodiles has become second nature, or rather it's become second nature again; you grew up by the river, you know this. What were you thinking, blundering around like some… outlander?

You resume your reflections. You're not an outlander, but this land is still not quite as you left it.

[x] Introspection: Muse upon the wrath of Satat-Mehet. What crime could bring down such a punishment as this? You'd know something about what kind of things might offend her most, right?
What could drive Satat-Mehet to close the gates of life and death? Classically, the surest way would be hubris; a pretender to, or an attempt to usurp, her domain. Someone powerful who set themselves above the gods? It seems unthinkable that the people as a whole might have ceased to honour her, especially in so little time.​

The Delta​

---

Off stalked Telipinu; grain and abundance he took away from field and meadow. Off to the copses stalked Telipinu, and in a copse he buried himself. Forthwith, the seed ceased to yield produce. Oxen, sheep and men ceased to breed, while even those that had conceived, did not bear. Hillsides were bare, trees were bare, and put forth no new branches. Pastures were bare, springs ran dry. A famine arose in the land; men and gods alike were about to perish of hunger.

- Translation from a Hittite myth of the vanishing of the agriculture god Telipinu, circa 3,300 years old.​

Click to shrink...

You realise that you've been unconsciously walking over little ridges that once marked the edge of fields, now dry and being taken over by the sands. The river bends away to your right, and in that direction you can see some fields that must still be worked, and the suggestion of distant buildings.

Ahead, across the dead fields, there is a hill, and atop it a shrine flanked by a pair of modest obelisks. It looks like a shrine to Suteshet, where the farmers would make offerings at the desert's edge in hopes she would keep her desert from their fields. Suteshet's domain has now entirely encompassed it, and the shrine now overlooks the conquering sands as they march across the desolation.

Where will you go?
[ ] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.
[ ] Up the hill toward the shrine, where the icons of Satat-Mehet's ancient rival stand triumphant.

You may choose a new introspection!
[ ] Introspection: Write in.

Spoiler: Author's Notes

Sorry this took a while, I've been stuck on another bossfight with Chronic Pain.
I'll occasionally drop these ancient quotations in where they fit the theme; think of them like a loading screen bonus, or the text that comes up on your screen when you enter a new area.
By the way, there's a reason the life flask is filling your Resolve first, all will become clear eventually.
Oh, and I updated the Character Sheet with all your spell details for the future!

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.​

You turned to follow the river. The shrine could wait, your duty was first to the Living. Right. Your duty…

[x] Introspection: We're about to meet people. What are the duties of a Moon Priest to their community, above and beyond your promise to the ferrymaiden?
{Recollection: Success}
You were a priest of Imunhekau, God of the Moon, secrets, change and transformation, guide to the lost. Where other priesthoods oversee the regular procession of that which is and will be, you were there for all the times, and people, that did not fit the pattern. Wherever there is an inconvenient edge case, an exception that disproves a rule, there is Imunhekau.

You were a walking reminder that the world was more complicated than it appeared. As a representative of the God of change and edges you were expected to dress the part; the robes divided into light and dark sides, the hair worn long on one side and shaven on the other, as Imunhekau is both female and male, both and neither. You wore an earring that declared your own inclination; many priests did, though some would switch which side they wore it as the mood took them. You habitually wore yours on the 'feminine' side, but most would still address you in the neutral terms of your office.

If there was a routine to your duties at all, it was in being there for those passing through the phases of life. Tending to injuries of the soul, or the mind. Helping those who saw too clearly, who saw the infinite complexity between the cracks of a simple world.
{+1 Culture}​

…of course, that was when Life flowed as it should. Now the ancient order of things is breaking down, and when the old rituals fail, some people may look to you to show them a new way. To guide them to the change that could mean survival.

No pressure.

Introspection Complete!
[ ] Introspection: Write In.

You can see a village ahead now, and you realise you have arrived at the fields that are still worked, because a man is trying to dig out an irrigation channel. He glances up from the ditch at you and bends to his work again. He is wearing only a simple linen skirt, and looks far too emaciated to be capable of the hard labour he's doing.

"Gods keep you, Wise One. Forgive me if I don't stop." He shifts some more soil, and you realise that he stopped breathing as soon as he stopped talking.

Wait, have you been breathing? You hadn't thought about it.
…apparently not.

"What brings you all the way down here? I don't suppose you're here to herald some changes for the better, are you? We've had more than our fill of the other sort."

What should you say? You hoped to find someone and you have, even if he's Dead. So what, so are you. There's presumably Living people around though, or what's he doing this for? The Dead don't need to eat.
[ ] Write in.

Spoiler: Notes

{Key Item Gained: Pronouns} I was going to wait and see how long it took for anyone to ask about those , but it would be unfair to explain the cultural context of a priest of the moon and not tell you.

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?" ...Okay, maybe a little less formal than that, read the room. Field. Ditch.​

"I have been charged‒" You decide not to say who by; you're pretty sure you'd never heard the name Rekhet until today, so you doubt a peasant farmer will have. "‒to seek the cause of the drought, and restore the waters of Life."

He stops and gives you an appraising look, eyes drawn to the feather in your hair. "Well, that'd be a change for the better, right enough. Many before ye've tried, mind."

[x] Introspection: From whence flow the River's headwaters? Where is its Source? Do you know?
You imagine just how many there might be, along the length of the River. What might they have tried, and failed, already? From the northern shores where you began, all the way to the southern edge of the world, beyond the Upper Kingdom, where the sacred mountains of Mehet rise to meet the sky. You hope you won't have to travel the entire length of the world in your quest. Or worse, do so and have to turn back because you missed something along the way.

You shy away from contemplating the vastness of the world. The big picture is made up of little details; focus on those. If you're going to do this, you need to do it one step at a time.

[ ] Introspection: Write In.​

You can't help asking; "And what are you doing here? What use has a Dead man for the harvest?"

Reminded, he bends to his digging again. "To feed his family, and pay his taxes, same as in living. Aye, and we're still taxed the same as when the land was living, for there's two famines upon the delta these days, sands take him!"

"Him?" This might be a lead…

"The Tax Collector! There's little enough water in these parts anymore, so he squeezes out his dues in blood. There's more Dead working the fields than Living now, to feed his damned stockpiles. We petitioned the king, but there's war in the south, they say, and he's not hearing petitioners." His anger has burned down into resignation. "I work every hour Banut sends, and between taxes and bandits and the dying earth it's all I can do to feed my children, and offer a few grains to the Gods." He gestures toward the hilltop shrine, its little obelisks gleaming in the afternoon sun.

You realise the man is withering before your eyes; you can see the strength leaving him with every blow.

What do you do? You may vote for more than one thing to do so long as they're not mutually exclusive, and discuss longer-term plans.
[ ] Write In.

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Give the man a drink from thy flask. It won't solve the root issue, but it would alleviate the pain. Small steps.​

[x] We need to gather more information. From this man and others in the community. Already we've heard about bandits, capricious gods, the tax collector and war. We need to complete the picture in our head and locate clear leads we can follow, from small to big. Then probably murder a lot of people when they inevitably refuse to give up power brought with misery.​

You take the flask from the folds of your robe and hold it out to the wizened farmer. "Drink. It will give you strength."

He eyes the flask uncertainly, as the characters on its sides glimmer a deep green. He hesitantly swallows a mouthful, and the effect is immediate; he rises from his stoop, and his limbs flesh out in an instant. He still looks half-starved, but his skin doesn't look so desiccated anymore. "Ah. Thank you, Wise One. That is a blessing indeed." He hands the flask back with reluctance. "Take care with that; there are many who would take it from you if they could."

{Discovery: Partial! +1 XP}
As he finishes the cut with his renewed strength, you ask him for more details about the locals' plight. You walk with him into the village as evening draws in, and as he introduces you to his neighbours, you continue your inquiries. Sifting the grain of truth from the husks of gossip is difficult, everyone has their own theories and private grievances, but you piece together a picture of the situation:

More than half the people you talk to are Dead, bodies and wills worn thin by the day's labours. The flask in your robes feels very meagre as you look at them; even refilling the flask as fast as it allows, to try and sustain even this small community with it would be like watering a field with a beaker. All of the Dead you speak to still have living family, you notice. Your friend from the fields has three children, but his wife passed across the sea before the drought came.

The Tax Collector has gone mad, they say; by the sound of it he's one of the Dead, and is still levying the taxes of the days of plenty on these days of ruin. He and his guards might be found upriver, at the brewery and the granaries. No-one here has seen him personally, but he is rumoured to have become monstrous in form as well as in character, since he died.

Taxation seems to be slowly separating the population into the Dead and the outlaws, as those who cannot sustain themselves in the face of the taxes turn to banditry. Feelings on the bandits seem to be mixed, as they make it even harder for the law-abiding to pay taxes and feed those who still live in their communities, but many of the Living feel the same choice bearing down on them; Death and Taxes stalk the land in one body, and the bandits are the only ones who have escaped, for now. No-one will admit to knowing where the bandits might be found.

There is war in the south; some say the Middle Kingdom incurred the wrath of Satat-Mehet by damming the River of Life, and the armies of the Lower Kingdom march to tear it down. But others say the drought began before the dam was built, and the war is only over what water is left. No-one seems to know much about how the war is going.

Everyone has different theories about the doings of the Gods; there is no priest in the village, and many of them are now looking to you to make sense of this for them. The villagers mostly make offerings at the nearby hilltop shrine of Suteshet in propitiation, to keep the desert from their fields. The local temple to Satat-Mehet, on an island upriver and further into the delta, is too dangerous to visit anymore; apparently a sacred hippopotamus rampaged through the temple, driving out the priests, and now attacks anyone who comes near. This is obviously a dire omen, but no-one agrees on exactly what it portends.

[x] Introspection: Where is your home? Who are your people? Do you know? Do you care?
{Recollection: Partial!}
During your time among the villagers, you can't help but try to recall your own home and people; you remember a city, somewhere upriver. Busy streets, thronged markets, peoples of all Kingdoms and of the desert tribes coming to trade.
{+1 Culture}

You try to remember your family, and it takes an effort to recall that you had one; your father was a Priest of Banut, God of the Sun. Your mother was a scribe. The memories are fractured; you remember places, generalities, but no faces, no names. As you draw more things up from the well of memories, this becomes a more and more obvious pattern.

Something is wrong.
[ ] Introspection: The priests of Imunhekau are expected to present as gynandromorphs, and you had an inclination towards the feminine side. That would presumably mean your name was either gender neutral or feminine, right? Maybe thinking on this will trigger your memory… Your name remains beyond reach.
[ ] Introspection: Why can't you remember anyone? Why is your memory a theatre of scenes only, of roles with no actors?
[ ] Introspection: Write In.​

As dusk draws in, a small informal procession begins to form, as villagers climb the hill in ones and twos to make offerings to the God of the Desert Winds. As if in recognition, the wind picks up from the East, bringing dry air from the Unwatered Lands.

What do you do?
[ ] Climb the hill to visit the shrine of Suteshet; it might be wise to pay your respects, and maybe even seek answers. It's also the only high ground you're likely to reach before the sun sets, if you want to get the lie of the land.
[ ] Make for the Brewery; this is a lesser blight than the drought you are here to end, but one that you cannot leave unaddressed.
[ ] Seek out the bandits; one way or another, the banditry is another strain on the land that cannot be sustained.
[ ] Make for the Delta Temple; the drought is surely tied up with the River God somehow, and this bears investigating, however dangerous.
[ ] Write In.

Sorry this update took so long!

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Climb the hill to visit the shrine of Suteshet; it might be wise to pay your respects, and maybe even seek answers. It's also the only high ground you're likely to reach before the sun sets, if you want to get the lie of the land.​

Sand stirs in the eastern wind as you approach the hill, through the dying fields. Reaching the top, you halt to give the villagers space for their own prayers, and look back toward the village. From here, you can make out the places they described; the distant roof of the temple in the delta, the remote granaries upriver… and everywhere, the shrinking fields and encroaching desert.

You remember the soft voice of the Ferrymaiden, and draw the roll of papyrus from your pocket. "If you stand in a high place and call my name, I will give you what guidance I can."

You wet your lips, and call softly into the evening air. "Rekhet. I am here. Can you guide me?"

There is no answer, but after a moment you realise dark lines are appearing on the papyrus. The coastline extends into a sketch of the river mouth, and the river extends inland, hieroglyphs inscribing themselves to mark several villages, the temple, the granaries and brewery… on the river near the village appears a symbol of a boat, with a lapwing perched upon it. Looking up from the map, you realise there is indeed a barque there, and a distant hooded figure in the stern. The hill where you stand is marked with an eye, and with the icon of a desert hound at rest; the symbol of Suteshet.

[x] Introspection: Why can't you remember anyone? Why is your memory a theatre of scenes only, of roles with no actors?
Waiting for the villagers to finish, you fall into reflection on your missing memories. You learned in life to treat afflictions of the mind and soul, and you're increasingly sure this is one of the latter. The part of your soul that contains your name, and connects to the names and identities of others, the Ren, is either damaged or absent. You realise you can't recall the name of any of the villagers, though you must have been told them.

You start to make a mental - or spiritual? - inventory of the parts of your soul:

• Khet, the physical body: You're pretty sure that would have been left in your tomb.
• Sah, the spiritual body: The self-image, which gets used to make your new body in the afterlife. That's presumably what you're walking around with now.
• Ren, the name: You're pretty sure this is missing, and until you get it back the gaps in your memory will remain. If you are truly Nameless, others may find it hard to recognise you too, so looking for people you knew in life is unlikely to help. Maybe if you can find some record of your name, you might be able to recover it. Your tomb, if nothing else, should have that. Alternatively, you could try to make a new one; it wouldn't help recover your memories, but if you try hard enough, reinventing yourself might create a new Ren.
• Ba, the personality: You're still you, you have familiar inclinations, feelings, and creativity, but you feel like you used to be... more so.
• Ka, the vital force: Nope. Not having Ka is what being Dead is all about.
• Ib, the heart: Yes, definitely still there. You can feel the weight of it in your soul, the burden of your deeds and the need to do the right thing.
• Akh, the intellect: What do you think is doing all this work? Yes, of course you have this. Maybe it used to be a little keener though.

Great. Not only do you have to fix the world, you might need to fix your soul as well.
Introspection Complete! You have unlocked the Soul Stats. Opportunities to improve these will be hard-earned, but will give additional insights, memories and options.
[ ] Introspection: Write in.​

You turn to look at the shrine, and realise the villagers have left while you were lost in thought. The setting sun gleams on the small limestone obelisks and the altar, and before the altar is something that certainly wasn't there before; a large black desert hound, laying down with head raised and ears alert, eyes fixed on you.

What do you do? This is surely a servant or sending of Suteshet, God of the desert winds, mistress of the Unwatered Lands, ancient enemy of Satat-Mehet. You know the proper forms for propitiation, to pay respects, make offerings or vows; if you wish to ask a boon, now is the time.
[ ] Write in.

If you ask a boon, there will likely be a price; make a plan vote with the boon(s) you ask for, and an offering in exchange. Traditionally this may be material goods, or a vow; a promise of service or tribute, either now or in the future, in return for the boon. I may comment on offerings if I think you're over/under-promising, or veto them if they are unlikely to be acceptable to Suteshet.

There's no obligation to ask for anything, but you may not get her attention so easily again.

Spoiler: Author's Notes & Mechanics

Introducing new mechanics, I hope this works out! It might take a while before you can advance the soul stats, but strengthening your soul will be one of the ways to improve skills (depending on what aspect you strengthen) and also give you more insights, thematic premade votes, and self awareness.

This is also the first opportunity to petition a God. This is a polytheistic setting, so you can do this with any God, and it's classically a transaction; you make an offering in return for something. Invocations are a related process, specialised and reliable ways to call upon the Gods; you can learn Invocations from any God too, but gaining access to an Invocation is itself a Boon that has to be asked.

The Gods are not normally chatty, usually communicating in portents, but these are strange times, so if they really want to get a message across, you might get something more direct.

I would have liked to give you an actual map, but sadly I am not an artist and can't produce anything I'm happy with, so for now the map will just be a list of known landmarks. Note that these lists are not always comprehensive, and there may be more to discover; for example, you have inferred the existence of a bandit camp that is not on the map yet.

Character Sheet Updated

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Plan: Friends in High Places​

-[x] Introduce yourself and pay your respects, though perhaps don't be too earnest about your overall mission. The tax collector is trying to bleed the people drier than the desert sand. Rather classic hubris right there. Ask if Suteshet might appreciate showing this madman who's the highest law of the land, and granting the jackals and common folk a full enough belly to offer more attention (and maybe some beer) to the gods. If it's not too impertinent, ask how she's been faring in a changing world.​

-[x] Boon: Any assistance would be welcome, but a companion to help us with this task and on our journey ahead would be most appreciated. Especially if it's up front, so that we don't end up dead(er) first.​

-[x] Offering: The Tax Collector, dead or otherwise neutralized. A tithe of his stored goods (gods like beer right?).​

Suteshet has few priests among the Peoples of the River, but she is widely propitiated, and you know the correct forms. When asking her forbearance, it is customary to emphasise her fearsomeness, but when seeking aid, the petitioner must offer reverence; she is not just a god of the outcast and outlands, but a mighty and ancient god, older than most of her peers, and a true part of the order of things. She is proud, and not to be crossed.

Once, long ago, before the River came, all these lands were hers, and one day they may be again. She regards the Lands of the River as her kingdom, usurped by Satat-Mehet, and thus their ancient enmity arose. Now Satat-Mehet's power wanes, and Suteshet is ascendant.

The tribes of the Unwatered Lands revere her as the God of the Winds, and they hold that though she is vengeful, it is with good reason. Though you were raised to see her as a god of destruction and chaos, it might be wise now to appeal to her in the name of justice.

You kneel, almost eye to eye with the stoic hound, and bow your head. "Mighty Lady of the Winds, Mistress of the Sands, I beg your aid. The local Tax Collector seizes by force the bounty of the land, to excess, starving men and gods alike. I pray your aid in restoring the rightful order of the land, and will render up a tithe of all this man has seized, as your rightful tribute. This I, -" you hesitate a moment, "- the Nameless Seeker, emissary of Rekhet, vow to you, Suteshet."

You raise your eyes slowly, and are met by those of the black hound. Wind swirls around the hilltop, and there is a metallic taste in the air. The hound remains perfectly still for a moment in the dying light, and in its dark eyes you detect a flash of stormlight. Then in a swift movement, it leans forward and licks your brow, then stands and leaps over your head. You roll aside and turn to look where it has gone, but it is nowhere to be seen. The wind turns southwest, though; in the direction of the brewery.

You have gained Windhunter's Call, an Invocation of Suteshet!

Spoiler: Windhunters' Call

• Call the Hounds of Suteshet, who herd the sandstorms across the desert; lightning strikes either side of you and becomes a pair of black desert hounds, their eyes, mouths and claws crackling with energy.
• Cost: 14/12/10
• Range: Close
• Effect: Summons 2 Stormhounds to your sides to run down your enemies. The hounds will remain at your service until death or dismissal, unless you fight the servants of Suteshet, or enter or cross the River (refilling your Flask counts!).
  
  • Stormhound (Elemental Beast)
  • Hounds of Suteshet: The summoner may roll twice and take the lowest on rolls to track or pursue prey, or locate things in the Unwatered Lands. The Hounds are immune to Lightning and Desiccation damage, and roll twice and take the lowest when attacking the servants of Satat-Mehet, but may not enter water. Their presence is an obvious sign of Suteshet's favour, which will likely inspire fear in the Peoples of the River, and respect in Outlanders.
  • Resolve 6
  • Bite Attack 60/35, 0/2/4 Lightning damage, ignoring Armour Reduction.
  • Endurance 40/20
  • Athletics 60/35
  • Wards 60/40

Well, that was as clear an answer as you might hope for. The gods seldom speak directly, even to their own priests, but the omens usually require more interpretation than this.

What should you do now?
[ ] Walk to the Brewery now, as night draws in.
[ ] Walk to the Brewery now, invoking a Silver Aten to light your way as the sun sets.
[ ] Return to the village and seek out Rekhet, you have questions for her.
[ ] Write in.

Don't worry about splitting the vote over travelling with or without a Silver Aten; I'll compensate when taking the count.

 

[MissBegot]

Big thanks to @open_sketch for this art!

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Walk to the Brewery now, invoking a Silver Aten to light your way as the sun sets.​

You follow the portentous wind. The sun slowly sinks into the west, as Banut's light dies and he begins his chthonic journey toward dawn and rebirth. The passing of his light reveals the stars, and the wake of his passage across the sky.

{Invocation: Partial! +1XP}
The moon is not yet up, but you call upon the Hidden One to lend you their light for a while. From behind you rises a silver aten, the moon disc, until it hovers over your head to illuminate your way.
Focus
╞══════════════════╡18/20 🌑

At the limits of the light of your aten, you occasionally catch glimpses of movement, the suggestion of canine shapes, hounds or jackals travelling the same direction. You try to put aside your unease; you begged the aid of the Mistress of the Sands, and these must be her creatures. Certainly nothing else attempts to waylay you, travelling by night beneath an aten, and flanked by desert hunters; if there are any bandits in the area, they have enough sense to read those omens and steer clear.

[x] Introspection: So far, names don't seem to come easy, even if they were just said to you. Except those of the gods, perhaps written deeper than most, and Rekhet, who you'd never even heard of before. Why? Who might she be? Is she a servant of a god across the sea, a god herself, or something else entirely?​

You lose track of time; you don't feel any need to sleep, and the chill of night no more bothers you than the midday heat did. As you walk, keeping an eye open for danger, you think back to the matter of names, and specifically the ones you can remember. You hadn't really questioned why the names of the gods were exempt, they're gods, but why can you remember Rekhet?

{Culture: Partial! +1 XP}
There are many smaller gods, but you are sure you've heard of none by that name. She must at least serve a god though; ferrying dead souls is no mortal occupation, and the feather she gave you is itself a token of service. You realise she's probably entrusted you with her own symbol of office. You reach up to touch it and can feel the truth of that; the feather was bestowed on her for her service. She has placed a great deal of faith in you by letting you carry it. You hope you're worthy of such favour.

You cannot pursue this line of thought further, on what you currently know and can remember.
[ ] Introspection: Write in.​

At last, you reach the brewery; ahead, a low mudbrick wall surrounds the granaries and the counting-house. It looks as though some of the brewery buildings have been demolished to wall in this small compound. You can see two guards with spears and shields manning a gate, and a little way along behind the wall on either side, two more are stringing bows at your approach.

A cry goes up from the gate; "Halt! No admittan-", but it is broken off as there is a baying of hounds in the darkness and two black shapes hurtle toward the gate. The archers knock arrows and the gate guards raise their shields and lower their spearheads.

What do you do? The wall and the gate are at Medium range from you, just inside your aten's light. This places you well within bowshot, but out of immediate danger from the spearmen. The onrushing stormhounds will reach the gate soon, but likely not before the archers loose.
[ ] Write in.

Spoiler: Notes & Mechanics

You get the stormhounds free this time; consider it the benefit of following the omens promptly, and also compensation for not stopping to refill your flask.

Range:
Ranges in this game are a bit approximate. There are 4 bands:
Close: Within reach of melee weapons, small AoEs.
Short: Close enough to charge, or throw a javelin, very large AoEs.
Medium: Too far to charge without a chariot or similar, only high Might characters can throw a javelin this far.
Long: Within bowshot (that is, aimed shots at a single person; not arcing volleys as on a battlefield).
Extreme: Out of range of everything.
You may move as part of either your action or reaction, such as charging into melee, or dodging out of reach. If how quick you do this matters, it will be part of your roll. You can generally move 1 range band in a turn, unless you devote your action to running, in which case you might cover 2.

Multiple Foes:
If you are attacked by multiple enemies in a turn, it will apply a stacking penalty to your defence roll. Unless enemies have an appropriate special ability, you will still only take damage from one of them, but it's a lot harder to avoid getting hit when ganged up on; try to limit the number of enemies that can attack you at once!

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Use Crescent Moonbow on one of the archers. Let the hounds deal with the spearmen for now.​

[x] Dodge for your reaction​

You reach up and pluck the moonbow from your aten's glow, drawing back swiftly and loosing at the left archer as he raises his bow. The silvery bolt passes right through his chest, and he collapses like a puppet with the strings cut.

The hounds have already reached the gate as you turn your eyes to it; the guard to the right is fending off one hound, while the archer to his flank knocks another arrow. The other hound has seized the left guard by the leg, sparks flying from its jaws. Despite this, the man is raising his spear again with remarkable stolidity.

There are shouts from beyond the wall as the alarm is raised. The remaining archer is still watching the hounds, and the spearmen are clearly fully engaged.
Focus
╞══════════════════╡16/20 🌑
Stormhounds of Suteshet
╞════╡6/6 ╞════╡6/6

Lower Kingdom Spearmen
╞════════╡╞════════╡
Lower Kingdom Archers
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What do you do now? The hounds are dividing the guards' attention nicely, but reinforcements are on the way. You are not the currently the focus of any attacks, so just vote for your action and any repositioning you wish.
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You may still write in Introspections to add to the next vote at any time, but I want to keep the combat moving so the vote itself will be held later.

Spoiler: Notes & Mechanics

I've rolled the Hounds' attacks and defences under the hood; you don't learn as much about enemies from how your allies fight them, so the dice results are hidden and you have to go off the descriptions and health bars. They're doing well though!

 

[MissBegot]

[x] Target the remaining Archer with Star's Call while the hounds distract the spearmen.​

[x] In case of an attack, dodge.​

You hesitate for a moment before trying a little less force on the next archer, but your uncertainty disrupts your focus and saps your energy a little as you turn the gesture to recapture the moonbow into a flick of your staff to send forth a mote of starlight. The spark flies slow but true, too slow to interrupt the archer's shot, and bursts upon his side, the brief brightness revealing clearly the linen armour that softens the hit. The archer ducks down behind the wall and you see his helmeted head turn toward you.

His arrow struck true, and the stormhound lets out a cry that is half canine whine and half soughing wind, as it limps backward from an outthrust shield. The other hound, however, has dragged its victim down and stands astride the prone body as two more guards pull open the gate and level their spearheads at it.

{+1 Incantation for Partial}
Focus
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Stormhounds of Suteshet
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Lower Kingdom Spearmen
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Lower Kingdom Archer
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What now? You have drawn the archer's attention, the hounds are having mixed success, and two more spearmen have arrived to hold the gate. You might be able to hit all 3 with a Rain of Stars, but you judge that you would catch the victorious hound in the process.
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