Numenera - Tales of the Broken Mask - Session 1

Characters

• Chase Rombek, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Elehar, a Tough Glaive who Rages, played by Scott

Summary

In the city-state of Nihliesh, south of the Steadfast and at the very edge of the Beyond, mutants and their mutations are not only respected, they are also revered.  The Fahat, a syndicate of incredibly powerful mutants, rules in Nihliesh and shares a great deal of power and control with other organizations that have similar beliefs.  One such group are a collection of bounty hunters and assassins known as the Blessed Hunters of the Broken Mask.  Led by an "entity" known only as Typhaon, the "Broken Mask" recruits to it's ranks mutants and those seeking mutations as a means of self-evolution.  Many of the organizations believe Typhaon to be a god, while others belief it to be a mutant who has completely transcended form. 

Four "Unmasked Seekers", the lowest rank a member of the Broken Mask could hold, recently joined the guild and had one final test before their first true assignment.  Each seeker joined the Blessed Hunters of the Broken Mask for their own particular reason.  

There was Chase Rombek, a superstitious nano with powers of divination. Hailing from the Steadfast, Chase was an ex-Aeon Priest who followed a vision quest while in the desert.  Unlike the rest of his order, Chase believed the numenera to be true magic, and that supernatural powers, divine or arcane, fueled the incredible cyphers and artifacts.  Although not seeking mutations, when Chase heard of Typhaon and the possibility that it was a "god", the nano sought out the Broken Mask. 

Jak was a mutant warrior who placed great faith in his own evolution.  With mutations that gave him increased protection from poison and cold, sticky pads on his hands, and a severely deformed head covered in blue hair, Jak did not fit in with life in The Steadfast, and Nihliesh would be a place of solace an comfort.  Having met Chase while he was on his vision quest, it would be Jak's tales of Typhaon that would fill the nano's ears.  

Unfortunately, not everyone in the party accepted Jak's mutations.  Glyquorg as a jack-of-all-trades who preferred the company of animals, especially his shanu "Lemux."  Neither Glyquorg nor Lemux could stand the appearance of Jak's face, which was somewhat hypocritical of the party's lone jack.  Glyquorg himself had a simple mutation, cosmetic and minor, however this quirk forced the jack to leave the service of the Angulan Knights, and find another path.  The Blessed Hunters of the Broken Mask believed Glyquorg's connection to the Angulan Knights to be potentially useful, but the order's trust in the exiled jack was limited.

Finally there was the barbarian from beyond the Southern Wall, Elehar the glaive.  Suffering from poor impulse control, the ill-tempered Elehar was the only man in Nihliesh known to have been born and bred in the impossibly cold region of the Ninth World, but few ever got past his personality to ask him about his upbringing.  Like many Unmasked Seekers, Elehar desired the mutations bestowed by Typhaon, and had a special connection with Jak and his constantly evolving form.  Elehar also had a connection to Lemux, Glyquorg's shanu, and was continuously looking for an excuse to devour the monkey-lion.  

The party's first mission was to ambush the nano-pirate Karai, who operated off of the Ancuan coast and often traveled between an unknown village on the water and Nihliesh.  Rather than stealing treasure or numenera, Karai dealt in information.  The unbound seekers' mission was to assassinate Karai before he could enter the city-state.  Waiting along the side of a popular trail, the four seekers schemed for two days before Karai appeared.  The lone nano, riding atop a snowloper, slowly moved down the trail, not appearing to notice the four members of the Broken Mask.  Glyquorg had set a snare trap earlier, and was eager to prove the device's effectiveness.  But when Chase used his "enchanted mirror" to show that Karai was not truly walking in front of the party, Jak moved forward to investigate.  Strangely enough, Glyquorg's trap was loosed upon Jak, nowhere near where it had initially been planted.  Although the mutant glaive dodged the snare, he was then blasted by a cold and icy blast, which was nothing more than a cool breeze to Jak.  

Chase moved forward to investigate the image of Karai, which his scan revealed to have been an "old image", at least thirty minutes old.  Somehow the pirate-nano was manipulating time.  The party started searching the area, looking for signs of Karai, and Glyquorg saw that there was a hand buried just under the sand and snow of the desert.  In the hand was a cypher, and Jak shouted that the blast came from that direction.  Quickly Jak and Elehar started digging up the area around the hand and they found that Karai appeared frozen and yet was not cold.  Jak's battle-axe even shattered against the nano's frozen neck.  Believing this to have something to do with time travel, and that the body would reanimate soon, Chase directed Jak to tie up the pirate-nano.  Sure enough, thirty minutes later Karai awoke, and started to "monologue."  This was not to Jak's liking, and the exiled ex-Angulan Knight fired a crossbow bolt into the bound nano's chest just before Elehar used his great sword to strike down Karai.  

Quotes

Andy: "I have a small blue monkey-lion on my shoulder."
Scott:  "Not for long."  

"Well that's the job, I take a swing at him."  - Andy nonchalantly declares his attack against the bound Karai.