GAME ONE (As detailed in the e-mail "Wolves Ate My Loin-Cloth!")

ATTENDEES:
Shumi Etso, progenitor of Martial arts (Terry)
Kahn, greatest swordsman ever and inventor of the Botched roll (Jim)
Ignamman---Ignaminini---ignannana---Um... Iggy, Creator of Brooding Sorcerry (Jeff)
Karn, umpteenth level thief-acrobat (Joe)
The Judge, inventor of hangin' (Paul)
Maska the Barbarian, the first...um... Barber (Alan)
Raysmith, the inventor of Groveling to the Gods (Darren)
The-character-whose-name-I-cannot-recall, Lord king of animal tricks (Robert)
Quinonin (spelling? Mark)

That's our families, Let's play the feud!

As so many "Mark" games do, we begin as broken human beings. Well, broke, at least. We've been hauled to the arenas. We do not fight right away, at least not for sport. No, this fight is about shelter. When we show up, nobody is using the hovels so we try to claim some. A few are successful. The two oldest characters (Raysmith and Quinonin) try to latch onto one of the younger folk who might be willing to help protect them. In this case, it's Kahn, the youthful asiatic swordsman, born with a blade in his hand... and a banana peal under his foot. Two guys show up wanting their hovel back and during an attempt to "posture", he slips and cracks his head. He's hauled away by the two thugs.

Raysmith makes an appeal to allow them old men to stay, and they relent, but when Quinonin leaves to check on the injured man, Raysmith makes his apologies and follows. After all, the two guys in the tent may be strong, but the guys with the character are outside in the cold.

A few of the characters have bonded, but some rarely speak while Maska pretty much stays away from everyone.

There's not enough food for everyone, so there's a bit food theft going on. Raysmith gets by because he's the friendly old guy that nobody wants to bother. Several others have no problems because they are big and nobody tries to push them around. Still a few more actually steal food from others to keep their strength up, which is a good move, since each day beyond a certain point at which you aren't actually stealing food to supplement yourself, you begin to lose dice from your pool due to weakness.

We do such fun duties as cleaning the arena of bodies, building a giant wicker bull in which to make a burnt offering to the gods, and torching the bodies of the dead in a big funeral heap.

And Raysmith makes a friend. He encounters a tiny white mouse amid the rats and such of this trash heap we call home in the slave pits. The mouse shows up, nibbles small bits of food, and leaves of its own volition. Raysmith thinks it is a sign. Some other guests think it is dinner. Two men move to take his mouse and several player characters move to intervene. Kahn scares them off, and they threaten to take the mouse away later. Raysmith warns the mouse to leave, but he seems still interested in showing up. Plus the mouse is beginning to look mighty tastey.

Finally, the fateful day arrives that we are put into the arena to fight. There are 9 of us (Including the NPC), and 8 of them (2 Old guys = 1 Young guy, I suppose), and 1 knife. The all-out footrace starts to get the blade. In this game, a knife versus a normal person is as lethal as it would be in real life. We are rolling for our opponents' speed as well, and rolling very well. But in the end Kahn and Shumi Etso finish first and second. Kahn then proceeds to cut them all a new one while the old men/non-combatants proceed to follow him around, because the safest place to be is near the guy that no enemy wants to approach. The Judge, Shumi Etso, Karn, and Maska are all giving their guys pretty good unarmed beatings. In the end, all of us live and the enemy falls to defeat.

As a reward we are crucified.

No, seriously. The following day is very rainy and ugly and we are brought out and attached to crosses. They then proceed to unleash the wolves on us.

I should mention that this is currently part of a festival and that it seems amid this that there are signs that there is a war in heaven between the gods. While that's not atypical, it is unsual for all four compas-points to be involved, as seems to be the case.

So as the wolves approach and we dangle there like snausages, and Raysmith is praying, a light shines down. It is disturbing to people and the ruckus does cause the animals the halt temporarily. We see a figure walking down out of the clouds. This golden figure proceeds to speak to us, calling us his children. He is the Unconquered Sun, a god worshipped by the illuminated, and he helps us to remember what we once were. We realize, in a rush of memories, that we have lived many past lives and that we were the Solar Exalted, the beings who slew the Primordials and who were in turn overthrown by the Dragon-Blooded. We realize that all that we've been told about theology is wrong and that the Immaculates lie about all that the Solars did.

He bids that we go into the world and do his bidding, then he departs.

The crowd is running around in panic. Karn manages to use his acrobatic skills to lift his feat out of reach of the dogs by flipping back up over the cross. Ignaminis lets loose sorceries from his fingers that singe and destroy wolves. [Insert name of Robert's Character] convinces one wolf to attack another. Several others get free by virtue of their strength or agility. The two old men get free because Raysmith prays his bonds fray. He notes the white mouse with a caste mark has appeared atop his cross, and the Quinonin drops from the bonds as well, and wisely flees away from the combat.

The next several rounds are primarily stunts involving players using pieces of their broken crosses to smack the wolves around, tons of dodging, and in Raysmith's case, tearing off his loin-cloth and using it as a flag to wave off the dog and aid his "dodging" skill. While some of us are merely trying to stay alive and a few are actually defeating the dogs, Maska wins the prize for most defeats, as he lines himself up along the row of four of the five remaining dogs, and proceeds to use is insane strength to scoop them all up like a steamshovel and ram them into the arena wall, pulping the hounds.

At Karn's instruction, Raysmith has gathered the rope we were bound with and forged a makeshift line. Maska tests his throwing arm by hurling Karn up over the wall with the line and then we pull everyone up, including the one remaining dog whom [Robert's Character] has charmed.

We then fight upstairs with more guards, but even with their armor and weapons they are no match for our exalted forms. Well, okay, they take a few chunks of skin outta people, but we all survive and we get their weapons and flee.

We make it through town to a winemaker's place, because Quinonin knows there's an exit out of the city from his place. The two thiefly types (Karn and Shumi Etso) lure our pursuers away then double back. We make it out and over to Quinonin's nephew's place. There, [Robert's character] the crafter proceeds to forge a few things, as this is a smithy. And the rest of us try to rest. In a matter of hours he has a hook-sword for Karn to use.

Next day, around dawn, we are called out from the house. "Anathema! Come out and plaaaayeeeeaaaay!"

It seems a group of militia (Not even the wyld hunt or a bunch of dragon-blooded) show up and want us to come out. Well, strategically we know it's a trap; If they thought we were that much of a threat, they'd have burned the house down or waited for the Wyld Hunt to show up. So we know there's more than meets the eye. But we go out to engage them anyway.

The Judge uses his fearsome presence to cause them to collapse in fear, cowering, and that's when the Dragon Blooded appears with his pet panther. They proceed to boldly engage us, but after the lion is brought down quickly in battle, by Ignaminis' blasts, he rushes in to fight us. Kahn is using a horse to trample the helpless soldiers who are cowering, but comes back to assist. We all move in on this guy but he has an infinite number of parries, but he only seems to decrease the damage. He's taking a few nicks nearly every time he gets hit, so we're wittling away at him. Karn uses his acrobatics to stand on one of us and fight and Kahn leaps from his horse through a window and joins the fray. I can't even recall who brings down the Dragon-Blooded finally, but it's not easy, as he proceeds to parry with is feat and any appendage that is available.

At the end, we instruct the remaining Militia to disarm and leave. We gather up what we need and prepare to hit the road.