Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard: Zachariah

I played “Pilgrimage of the Sun Guard” (PSG) by my friend Amanda P. this weekend. This is a journaling game roughly in the style of Thousand Year Old Vampire, mechanically speaking, but with a different aesthetic and theme. Rather than tell a story about a monster, themed around memory and loss, PSG instead focuses on a member of a holy order of scholar-priests long after the fall of a great empire, themed around perseverance and resilience. Think something more like Arthuriana in a world that I personally envision as something like the southwestern United States or northern Mexico (that could be entirely me reading into it, though).

While my playthrough doesn’t always get all the rules right, I do try the best as I could for this first time. And I’m confident that it’s both in the spirit of the game that Amanda intended as well as within the scope of the kinds of tweaks we often make in solo games. In the end, it’s about the story and the process, after all.

Some of the text below is paraphrased or taken fairly directly from the game text written by Amanda P. In particular, please note that the prompts were written in second person, but I am rephrasing everything in third person.

Photo by Tom Larsen on Unsplash

Character Creation

• Name: Zachariah
• Background: The Cloistered
• Code: To pursue knowledge and gain honor through sacrifice
• Traits: studious, ascetic
• Cherished Item: a tome of knowledge
• Resources: Might 1, Guile 1, Honor 2

[Note: this character began with extremely low total resources (4 on a roll of 2d6), which in my mind played directly to the strengths of the game.]

Zachariah joined the Sun Guard to pursue education as a spiritual pursuit, looking to deepen his knowledge and understanding of existence. He is young and unmarked, fresh as new-fallen snow. This purity of fervor has given him great charisma that leads to others following.

As the Swordsaint anoints his forehead in holy ritual, the sun bakes the rocks around them, leaving all parched and wanting. The visions come, and they come again, and he has a vision of ancient trees. (Both of these are Signs that I can use in future prompts.)

Crossing the Desert

The desert lies before him and across the edges of his memory, the wind, sand and heat consuming his thoughts. You remember your last crossing, the grit and danger, and steel yourself.

(Crossing this location costs 1 Time, effectively a week. I spend that and roll for two prompts.)

He awakens to rustling and curses; someone is trying to steal something from him that he cannot afford to lose, but they need it more than he does. What is it? How does he react?

In the night, he comes awake to find someone trying to rob him of his waterskin. While he cannot continue without this, the person’s face is cracked and parched, all the signs of thirst upon them. He shares every drop of water he can, bringing relief to the intruder. (Used the hardship sign to avoid spending a resource.)

• Deed: Sharer of Water

Circling above him, a great hawk soars high on thermal winds emanating from the hot sand below. He sees it dive aggressively and then emerge bearing a snake. When has he been ruthless? Could he be as decisive and aggressive in a time of great need?

Zachariah watches the hawk and the snake, realizing that he has never truly been ruthless with anyone other than himself. He has stricken his own spirit in the service of his code. (As he hasn’t really spent a resource yet, I decide to have him regain 1 Time.)

Under the Shadowy Pines

The air is clean and smells of sap. Drips of yesterday’s rainfall fall slowly down onto his head from the trees. The sun seems far away now through hte tightly woven boughs.

(As before, I spend 1 Time for this location and roll for two prompts.)

Brazen piping horns echoing and biting, the clatter of hooves. Huntsmen charge after a mysterious ancient boar. They demand he join them in their hunt. He finds himself surging with them through the thick woods. How does he escape them?

Soon, he finds himself in the vanguard, and a mighty beast falls before them all. At the ensuing feast, he prays with the hunters for their continued prosperity before riding into the night, leaving his share of the spoils with them. (Marked 1 Might and 1 Honor.)

• Deed: Bringer of Great Bounty

Twinkling sounds at twilight. A ring of flowers where giggling voices encourage him to lighten his burdens. How does he appease the small Fae ones? Does he hold to his code?

Zachariah speaks firmly but respectfully and politely, declining their invitation. He explains that he must not tarry with them nor turn aside from his sacred journey. Instead, he looks to the pine canopy and whispers a silent thanks for their examples of strength and fortitude. (Used the “ancient trees” sign rather than spend a Resource.)

The River Valley

Rushing water over stones and through the reeds. Creeks join to great rivers flowing down from the Frost Cliffs beyond. Blooms surround him in the great river valley.

(This is another location requiring 1 Time and giving me two prompts.)

He hears faint cries for help in a thick bit of bramble. Inside, a wounded villager, poisoned and trembling, an arrow in their shoulder. They whisper of a source of healing in a nearby glade. How does he ease their suffering? Does he strike a bargain?

The wounded villager tells him of the leaves of a particular flower that has healing properties. He flies to it, but makes a note and takes one more to press into his cherished tome. (Marked 1 Guile.)

• Deed: Seeker of Hidden Life

Splash! Looking into the creek, he spies a bejeweled fish, occasionally bobbing up to the water’s surface to catch glances at him. It occasionally appears to be a fabulous personage, then again, a fish. He feels called to join it. How does he resist its mighty pull?

Zachariah steels his resolve and exercises every bit of internal strength to recall his own purpose. The Shrine of the Sun Guard is not in the creek, despite the allure of the glinting water and those within it. (Marked 1 Honor.)

• Deed: Speaker of the Waters

Ascending the Frost Cliffs

The late autumnal wind shrieks through his bones as he begins his climb, with foreboding clouds threatening snow to cover the trail in the coming hours.

(This is the last of the 2-prompt locations. After spending 1 Time here, he will have 2 left.)

There is a figure in the ice floes that he sees in brief reflections, a weirdling one of power. A bargain is offered, an exchange of power for time. What does he give up in exchange for more time with fair weather?

He has no more power. Time is all he has. Regretfully, he leaves the young figure in the ice and presses forward.

(Not technically how the game is designed, but given how I handled Time as a Resource in the desert, this makes the most sense now. Also… Aang, right?)

Grey clouds make raucous noise, shaking the loose stones on the path ahead, quickly covered by heavy snowfall. Lightning strikes a tree to the north of you, igniting a small flame. Do you dare continue or do you seek shelter in some forgotten hollow?

Zachariah sees this as a warning and huddles into a small cave, waiting out the spirits’ anger. Perhaps he should have bargained with the figure in the ice after all. (Marked 1 Time to represent this delay.)

The Endless Stairs

Up and up, carved into the mountain face, thousands and thousands of stairs going around the mountain to the long abandoned hallowed halls of the Sun Guard.

(Unlike previous locations, this one only will have one prompt, although it still requires 1 Time.)

White and gold are their surcoats, but no tales of honor and glory follow in the ashes left behind by the Dread Arbiters of Will. Their small war band of four riders charges his position, armed to the teeth with sword and lance and axe as he approaches the Endless Stairs. What resources does he use to escape their steel and cruelty?

Rather than fight, for which he has neither ability nor desire, Zachariah stands before their charge and reads from his tome, shielding himself with nothing but the knowledge that he walks the path of his forebears. The Arbiters cleave the book as they ride past, but they do not return. (Marked 1 Time and his Cherished Item.)

Recovery of Resources

Zachariah is out of time now, caught on the Endless Stairs before he can reach the Shrine he seeks. (This requires rolling on a separate prompt list.)

He meets a beautiful stranger and are consumed by an impossible tragic love (Tristram and Isolde, Lancelot and Guinevere). Who is it, and how do you part at last to continue your journey?

While lost in despair, a fellow traveller finds him. They are not a Sun Guard, of course, but a pilgrim of some other sort, seeking the same Shrine (or so they say) for their own unspoken reasons.

In time, Zachariah comes to realize that this traveller seeks his heart but not his purpose. He pulls himself away, knowing he must always remain true to himself even when all else is lost.

(Regain 3 Resources: 1 Time, 2 Honor)

The Declaration of Deeds

Finally, he reaches the Shrine of the Sun Guard. It is damaged and broken, yet it continues to stand as a testament to the purpose for which it was originally constructed. The spirits escort Zachariah down the broken halls as he prepares himself for the promised audience with the Last Guardian.

As the voices gain volume, he listens and momentarily blances when asked of his failures. He tells them of the loss of the sacred tome and the knowledge contained in it, of his loss of heart as well, but also that he learned that remaining true to his own purpose could outburn any other fire in his heart.

He then declares his deeds, as he is bid:

• A Sharer of Water
• A Bringer of Great Bounty
• A Seeker of Hidden Life
• A Speaker of the Waters

The guardian spirits whisper, “it is finished. The Blessing has arrived.” Impossibly bright light fills the chamber, blinding Zachariah. When it fades and he can see once more, the Shrine is restored — or, perhaps more truthfully, rebuilt. Not precisely as it was, for that would dishonor all those who had worked to defend and rebuild it as they could. But now it appeared as it must be for the Sun Guard to go forth once more into the land.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed this, particularly once I got over my doubts about how much Time should be spent. (The rules are actually clear on this; I just skimmed them too fast.) This was a nice thematic change from TYOV, and I do love a good journaling game. (In fact, I have a specifically designated physical notebook that I use to play these games; some of them then get documented here on the blog.)

Perhaps this would make a good setting for a campaign of some other game. have been wanting to do some overland exploration in a solo game, so maybe this could provide a good seed with a few locations, a story to drive the exploration, etc. I really love settings that are basically about people emerging from a sort of dark age and rediscovering the past glory of their ancestors - no colonization, no Others, just trying to struggle and rebuild. I have done this specifically in some group games, and to a lesser extent in my Latter Earth series here, but I could refocus on it here.

Regardless, I’m so grateful to Amanda for writing this game. I will certainly come back to it in the future.