Kyriel: Season 1, Episode 0

For the third part of the story, I’m using what I call IBEAMVP or VIPBEAM or whatever you feel like calling it. It uses the Index Card RPG as its foundation with Moldvay, Cook and Marsh Basic and Expert D&D as inspiration. The Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (1st edition) Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual will provide information that the first three don’t handle (and that I don’t particularly feel the need to houserule) and a bunch of creatures.

The last three are supplements: Maezar's Node Maps for mapping dungeons and caverns; Veins of the Earth for generating caves and, potentially, the Underworld if the dice take me there; and the omnipresent The Perilous Wilds, my go to for dungeon and wilderness design.

And here’s the next session zero: Make A Move (Icon for Hire)

Five stars fall from the sky, one strikes the low mountains near the town of Vosepos. Dust billows in a circle around the small crater. A solitary figure is on one knee, a bronze shield biting into the rocks beneath her, supported by an eight foot long spear. Three pairs of wings limned in lightning radiate from her spine, flexing then blown away by the wind.

I am Brencia, the First and Last Grey, and I have come here to kill myself.

I stand, pushing the corinthian helm back to track the falling stars. The last of my power went into creating them to assist me in stopping her. One tracks to a forest, another to a mountain range far in the distance. The third falls behind the mountains over my shoulder, and the fourth strikes the mountain itself. The impact sends a shockwave that knocks me off balance.

To stop Brencia, I had to become something I wasn’t. I had to become…

“Visemar,” I whisper, mortal heart stopping. “What did we do?”

In the 20th century, there was, is, a saying, “In case of fire, break glass.” When Brencia unknowingly attempted to imprison me, that set a dangerous chain of events in motion. So, Visemar broke Eternity to save me. With Eternity broken, the tapestry frayed, and the future is unwritten. With Eternity broken, we were no longer immortal, no longer gods, and I have no control over fate.

It is during this time that Brencia begins her rise to power. Her sorcerous ability will grow and twist until she becomes a master of death. Eventually, she will become The Raven Queen. Did you ever wonder why The Queen has no name? I can explain:

Any sorceress worth her salt knows that names have power. Names can bind you. Names can control you. So she’ll erase her’s. Her first task as The Raven Queen will be to murder anyone that knows her name. Even Visemar.

Visemar is, was, an immortal being. Where I was the calculating, meticulous hand of fate and death, he was hope and perseverence. He swore upon his name he would never harm me; I never made the same to him. I had thought his oath was to me, but it seems to extend to all the incarnations of me as well. Hence, why Visemar could never destroy Brencia and hoped that, one day, someone else would. And here I am.

Brencia is the voluptuous, seductive and talented sorceress. She isn’t misguided or misunderstood. She knows exactly what she wants. She wants to be the elegant solution to the world’s problems. I have seen her necropolis, and it is absolutely beautiful in its spires of bone and marble. If it wasn’t for the breaking of Eternity, I may have eventually let it pass. However, now that I am mortal and powerless, things have changed.

I am to play her opposite since Visemar is imprisoned. Where she is soft, beguiling and sorcerous, I am hardened, athletic and designed for battle. An Amazon clad in bronze and leather with the hoplite weapons to match. And I have one advantage no other will have: I know her name.

Would it surprise you if Brencia wasn’t even her true name? My name is Kyriel. And everyone that knew that name is dead by my hand. I figure someone should know in case I fail. With such an uncertain future, who knows what could happen next. Perhaps I started an acausal paradox. Perhaps I, the goddess of fate, was destined to be here to die.

I mentally mark where the closest of the four stars fell then make the half day trek down to Vosepos. I would need food, water, anything I could think to take with me on my first trip. If this was to be our last gasp, so be it.

Let the games begin.

KYRIEL, VOLTAIC ANGEL OF RETRIBUTION

Kyriel stands just over six feet tall. Her muscled build proudly displays her Amazonian heritage. She has long copper hair with a shock of silver running through it, like she had placed paint on her hand and swept it back; it is often bound tight when she wears her corinthian helmet. True to her heritage, her eyes are a pale mint green.

STR +2 [+2 basic, +0 gear]

DEX +1 [+0 basic, +1 gear]

CON +1 [+1 basic, +0 gear]

INT +1 [+0 basic, +1 gear]

WIS +0 [+0 basic, +0 gear]

CHA +0 [+0 basic, +0 gear]

Armor +5 [+2 basic, +3 gear]

Basic Effort +1 [+1 basic, +0 gear]
Weapon Effort +1 [+0 basic, +1 gear]
Magic Effort +0 [+0 basic, +0 gear]
Ultimate Effort +0 [+0 basic, +0 gear]

EQUIPPED GEAR

WORN common armor (bronze cuirass, corinthian helmet and greaves)

HAND astrapi doru, the lightning spear (copper socket upgrade, +2 Weapon Effort)

HAND common shield (hoplon)

HAND bracers of the zephyr (+1 Dex)

BELT kopis

CARRIED GEAR

PACK pouch of 50 coins