PILGRIM

Pilgrim takes place on the Fourth World or Fourth Plain. Our hero, Morgan, is the bastard of the Reigning King Tyrus VI of Clearshores. A foulness has been festering and spreading through the plain for a decade. The sickness eventually finds its way to the King's Grounds, where the King's servants and mistresses live. Morgan lives in the King's Palace and does not contract the disease. While the best physicians treat those on the King's Grounds, the disease has no cure and will surely kill even those best attended to. Fearing for his/her family's lives, Morgan pleads with his/her father to let him/her make a pilgrimage to the Great Mountain of the World to seek out The White Wyrm who resides in its fogs and brought life to the Fourth World. Morgan's father is hesitant. No one has returned from the Great Mountain. Depending on whether or not Morgan is a male or female, his reasons differ. If Morgan is a man, he claims the costs of a Funeral Parade are too steep to be wasted on a fruitless journey. If Morgan is a woman, he is more caring and claims he fears losing her. Morgan convinces his/her father by reasoning that the sickness has spread to the King's Grounds and will undoubtedly spread to the Palace shortly, and the White Wyrm can be their only hope for dispelling the plague. If Morgan is a man, the King offers three squires, three horses, 1000 pieces of gold, a month’s rations, and the King’s seal. If Morgan is a woman, he offers her eight squires and two Knights, ten horses, 10,000 pieces of gold, three month’s rations, and the King’s Seal.
Morgan sets out at dawn, but must first make preparations. He/She needs a carriage or two to travel the rations and must make plans for an ideal trek. A carriage can be rented at the stables for 80 pieces of gold or bought outright for 220. Alternatively, Morgan can take the carriage at no cost if the stableman’s son may squire for Morgan on his/her journey. The stableman’s son is rude and ill-trained, and will be a nuisance for a part of the journey. The carriage may be stolen, but would require Morgan to leave in the middle of the night with little sleep and less time to plan.
Once Morgan is on the road, commonplace events occur. They come across bandits, hunt for food and look for shelter. What makes this game different is that every character must be looked after. Sleep, food, and water are essential and affect Morgan and her crew’s effectiveness on the battlefield and on the road itself. Followers can be met and taken up along the way. Up to twenty at once; but choosing at random will be costly, and most likely, deadly. Conflicting battle types will clash during fights and may end up with members of Morgan’s crew dead at the hands of an ally. A wise Morgan will make comprehensive battle plans, such as attacking first with archers before charging in for hand-to-hand combat. Freedom is given and absolute, but time is of the essence.
Before Morgan can begin his/her trek up the Great Mountain of the World, he/she must cross the Slow Sea. Boats vary by size, merit, and arms. The Slow Sea is dangerous; said to be home to Merpeople and Seaserpents, and known to be home to pirates. The trip across is long. If your party is too big to travel on a single ship, you may have to choose to wait for the rest of your crew to land. Careful not to waste time, Morgan might be forced to choose between waiting to be sure her friends are safe, or travelling on with a lesser group.
The Great Mountain is aptly named, and is not so much a mountain as an island of its own. Trekking up it is disastrous and you will surely lose men along the way. Bears, wolves, and cruel men call the slopes of the Great Mountain their home and Morgan will be lucky if a day passes without bloodshed. Besides these creatures of the cold, children are told that devils live in the Mountain’s crags and valleys, so Morgan must be careful not to lead her band somewhere they cannot escape from.
Finally, after a treacherous journey and a diminished and defeated group reach the peak, Morgan is lost in the fogs. The White Wyrm is nowhere to be found, but is loud as ever. The grumbling and screeching is pounding Morgan’s ears. As Morgan leans over a cliff and stares down, it reaches its crescendo. A boiling pit of lava bubbles below Morgan, hissing at him/her. The White Wyrm is no dragon, but the mountain in itself. Thousands of years it has waited, and held its breath. Hot ash and black lava pour down the Great Mountain and into the slow sea. A plume of black smoke, big as the sky can be seen from every corner of the fourth world. We watch as it envelops the blue and blots out the sun from the King’s Grounds, as Morgan’s mother pulls her children close.

END