Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Numenera: Disenchanted Tales - Session 11

Numenera: Disenchanted Tales - Session 11

Mr. Gibbs' Piratical Sing-Off

Elsa, a Graceful Nano who Wears a Sheen of Ice
Anna, a Swift Jack who Entertains
Merida, a Rugged Glaive who Carries a Quiver

Summary

A billion years beyond "once upon a time" the Three Princesses of Nihliesh were poking about in Lowport looking for Nemo's Bar and Pub, where they hoped to find Mr. Gibbs.  Commodore Jek Sperro was absolutely sure that Gibbs would be able to help him find his way to the Oracle Jruve near the coast-line of Ancuan, as the two had worked together in the past.  Eventually the party found the bar that they were looking for, but it was an incredibly raucous site.  Inside the building there were dozens and dozens of pirates, each dressed in shark-leather and wearing bits and pieces of coral, metal, and other jewelry.  Also inside was the insidious Captain Rook, a large cybernetic looking man with a metal chest and a pair of metallic hands.  Near the captain, laughing at his jokes and drinking several bottles of grog all at once was Mr. Smee, Captain Rook's octopus assistant.  The bar was packed, and it looked like there was no way to get in, save for the fact that there was a signup out front for Karaoke Sing-off's.  The squirrelly looking man who was writing down names told the princesses that if they wanted to enter, they would have to take part in the sing-off themselves, and be paired up against the meanest, baddest singers in all of the City of Bridges or Ghan.  

Merida was the first to sing-off, and she was facing Mr. Smee, a brown and orange sentient octopus who was never far from his metallic lord.  As was the custom, a silvery light appeared above the princess's head, created by an artifact that was built into the stage at Nemo's.  The silver apparition probed Merida's mind, and then instructed her that she was to sing a song about Olaf the cryo-mutant.  Merida was able to rhyme about 40 seconds worth of beautiful song, in sort of a hip-hop fashion, spinning a tale about her pal and how he was in love with Bel back in Nihliesh.  At the end of the song, it was so amazing that Mr. Smee couldn't even muster a word out of his beak, and Merida was declared the winner.

Next the light was flashed over Anna's head.  The Nihlieshan princess was told that she was to sing about her home… Nihliesh.  This was easy for the princess, and so her tune started out soft and pleasant, telling of the beauty and happiness in her home.  Her opponent was none other than Mr. Gibbs himself, a cat-faced abhuman, who figured that since he was the coordinator of the event he had this all in the bag.  But then Anna changed keys and started a dance beat, shouting a "baby" here and a "baby" there.  She wailed for over a minute, only stopping when she couldn't figure out another word to say rather than "baby."  Mr. Gibbs was shocked.  He had never heard anything quite like it, and he too bowed out of the competition, bested by one of the greatest singing voices he ever heard.

It was finally up to Elsa to finish the trio's conquest of Nemo's.  But the graceful nano was singing against Captain Rook himself!  The loud and evil man who fused flesh with steel glared into the eyes of Elsa as she started to dance.  The silvery light commanded her to sing about the war-moth encounter, and not only did Elsa sing out loudly about the moths, but she started to fashion moths out of ice and snow, and as the song progressed she threw them out and into the audience, much to their delight.  Captain Rook didn't even get a chance to go up and sing… the audience was clapping so loudly that they proclaimed Elsa the winner before she could finish.

Mr. Gibbs paid each of the princesses 100 shins for winning the sing-off competition.  Merida asked if they could go outside so that Commodore Jek Sperro could be involved in the conversation, to which Mr. Gibbs agreed.  Sperro and Gibbs drafted a quick plan to use the knowledge and maps that the navigator had to help the commodore reach the Oracle Jruve far south of the Sea Kingdom of Ghan.  But there came a warning from Gibbs:  Captain Rook had been made to look quite foolish by the rest of the City of Bridges' pirates during the sing-off… he would be coming for the party once they reached the high seas.

Quotes

"How is there an eyepatch made of metal?  Wouldn't it fall off his face?" - Evie was having a hard time with the GM's descriptions.

"I'm just thinking of L.A. Noire and that bar in the game." - Maybe I'm letting Carrie spend too much time watching me play on the PC.

"I had a friend who loved a belle and Olaf was his name-o!" - A verse from Merida's song about Olaf.

"Nihliesh was where I was born… Nihliesh was so great and tall!" - A verse from Anna's song about Nihliesh.

"There were war-moths, one's name was Swirley, one's name was RPG!" - A verse from Elsa's song about the War Moth encounter.

"I feel like I'm at a Devo concert." - The wife was just shaking her head at the girls' singing.

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