Thousand Year Old Vampire - Session 2

In the previous session of Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings, I used the default setting for Trophy by Jesse Ross.

Current Summary

I am a vampire who once was a retired soldier in the Charcoal District of Ambaret. (The rest of this summary is in his voice.)

A vampire named Neven defeated me and burned my eyes. I can see in all directions at once, but I cannot close my eyes to sleep. That led me to learn the secrets of Inscription and the alchemy to burn knowledge into my physical body.

I had a friend named Foret that helped me steal this marble gargoyle. He’s a manikin now, although I have not seen him in many years. Perhaps he will return to me someday.

Long ago, an old man named Baso helped me adjust to street life, I hid in the sewers of Ambaret with a street gang before coming to Naganeh.

In the aftermath of a rebellion, I fled and eventually started a new life as an alchemist and “human library” named Balzor across the Blossoming Sea in the kingdom of Naganeh. Bright lights cause me pain and I cannot remember much of my life before; in fact, I prefer not to think about what little I can remember.

Notes

While this is a separate session, that doesn’t really have a mechanical effect on this game, so I pick up counting from the previous prompt (29, which I completely exhausted).

Prompt 30.2

You feel a love forbidden by the convention of mortals around you. Create a new Character. Lose a Resource.

Despite the fact that the humans of Naganeh are no longer under the rule of the snake people, the descendants of those rulers still live on. One of them, Maelia ils Terseth, has kindled a relationship with me; eventually I am forced to give up my heirloom greatsword to pay for her extravagant tastes.

Prompt 31.1

You fall into a deep slumber for a hundred years. Strike out any mortal Characters.

At some point, Maelia betrays me and her magic sends me into a deep slumber rather than death. When I awake, she has passed out of this world. ((I had already struck out the other mortals at the end of the previous session.))

Prompt 35.1

You encounter the descendant of an old foe and help them in some way. Why did you do this? Check a Skill. Create a mortal Character.

Despite the fact that we cannot be related, when I meet her great-granddaughter Faelia, I feel a twinge of something like familial love and protect her from a similarly jilted lover, perhaps because I understand some of why her great-grandmother did what she did. (Checked “Vigilant”.)

Prompt 40.1

How do you conceal yourself while you sleep? What steps have you taken for protection? Check a Skill and create a Resource. Create a mortal servant Character, if you like.

Naganeh, somewhat like Ambaret, lies on the sun-drenched coast of the Blossoming Sea, but is home to so many kinds of peoples that a significant portion of the city is in catacombs, and so I reside there with Faelia, who helps me in my laboratory. (Created “Catacomb Residence” and noted that Faelia serves me now.)

Photo by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

Prompt 41.1

Your body is distant from human concerns. Lose a Memory slot. Erase your oldest extant name.

Time passes and I find myself losing track of what has happened on the surface. On my skin, I find tattooed the name “Valen” and the story of an old man named “Baso”, but I do not remember why I have these names. (Moved that memory to a diary.)

Prompt 39.1

Age has damaged your Diary. Strike out three nouns from the Memories in your Diary, starting from the oldest entry. If you have no Diary, do this to the first three nouns in a Memory of middling age.

The vagaries of alchemical work and the lack of almost any light on my skin has faded my tattoos. I can no longer read the names on it (those of Baso, the Kingsguard, and Ambaret).

Prompt 45.1

Your body is undergoing further corruption and change. When do you first notice these new changes? Create a Mark.

Whether from this time underground, my alchemical research, or embedding knowledge in my body, I find that I no longer move as I once did - literally, as my legs have atrophied and lost all bone, turning into something like tentacles. I barely notice this change. (Created “Tentacle Legs”.)

Prompt 49.1

What simple, practical skill proves invaluable in your strange existence? How did you learn it? Create a Skill.

How did I ever function before learning to navigate by hearing? (Created “Echolocation”)

Prompt 45.2

Your body is becoming more effective as it becomes less human. Create a Skill based on one of your Marks.

My tentacle legs have increased in number and mobility, and I skitter through the dark tunnels quickly and easily. (Created “Skittering Beneath the Earth”)

Prompt 43.1

You have archaic ways in spite of your focus on blending in. Create a Resource based on a checked Skill that reflects this.

Despite my age and changes, I still remain as Vigilant as ever by establishing an informant network among the children who pass back and forth from the Undercity to the surface. (Created “Informant network of urchins”)

Prompt 46.1

You are exposed and flee to a far-off land. Convert any stationary Resources to a new Resource representing portable cash or treasure. What name do you travel under? What profession do you claim when you come to rest?

Eventually, those in power decide that I am far too monstrous even for their tolerance and I am exiled to the surface, finding a small village deep in the Rekshari Forest; this new name of “Melir” will do fine, and I act as something of an advisor to those nobles plotting their intrigues back in their homelands. (Created “Bag of gems”, removed my laboratory, residence, and network. Moved my memory of corruption and inscription to my diary.)

Prompt 43.2

Swap around the proper nouns between two Memories. Do not create an Experience about this.

I swap around nouns between my memory of coming to Naganeh and my relationships with Maelia and Faelia, such that I believe I came from the city of Faelia to Maelia, had a relationship with Ambaret, and later took her descendant Naganeh on as a helper.

Prompt 41.2

A social convention or taboo from some long-forgotten part of your existence is hardwired into your being. What is it? How does this hinder your movement in society? Create a Mark.

As I once served a crown, I find myself unable to speak ill of those in power, even when they are clearly corrupt; this does not help me with my advice on intrigues. (Created “Speaks no ill of those in power”)

Prompt 42.1

What piece of contemporary technology can you not interact with due to your vampire nature? How did your first encounter with this technology almost get you destroyed? Check a Skill.

The people of these days use some sort of device that provides additional light at night, and the first time someone thought to use it to illuminate our conversation space, the pain was so great that I nearly lost the ability to speak. (Checked “Silent as the Grave”)

Prompt 41.3

A ghost haunts you, though you do not know if it is real or a manifestation of madness. Bring back a long-dead Character as a spirit.

There is a presence here that whispers the name “Benah”; were we lovers, friends, enemies? (Un-struck Benah and changed her status to “spirit of a long-dead thief”)

Prompt 42.2

You make the acquaintance of a group of mortals who share an interest in some Resource you possess. Is it a club? Are these friends? Create three mortal Characters. Develop a Skill related to the Resource in question.

A group of antiquarians frequently study this marble gargoyle as an ancient artifact from a long-dead kingdom. They call themselves “Kyzel”, “Andria”, and “Numun”, and they flatter me at every turn, so I let them live for now. (Created “Kyzen, adventuring archaeologist”, “Andria, a manikin obsessed with human history”, and “Numun, a scholar of ancient languages”. Added the skill “Sculpture”)

Prompt 43.3

Examining a Resource you possess sparks a forgotten Memory. That Resource once belonged to another Character, but you had forgotten this. Gain tremendous insight into your history by recalling this Memory. Write this forgotten Experience into your Memory or directly into a Diary. To be clear, you are creating a new “forgotten” Experience, not bringing back a Memory you struck out.

This marble gargoyle once belonged to Ambaret, my lover from long ago, and together with my research colleagues, we deduce what the snake-people of Maelia once must have believed.

Prompt 40.2

You are approached by a supernatural Character unknown to you. They take you on a bizarre journey, then offer you spiritual solace in exchange for a terrible pledge. What do they demand? Will you accept? If you accept, gain a Skill.

A being of pure intellect calling themselves “Foret” (did I once know them? I do not believe so) takes me through a space I cannot describe and promises me that I will be able to feel pain once more if I lead these students to them. I accept, and they give me the skill “Sensations of the Flesh”.

Prompt 47.1

The world has evolved in ways you can’t comprehend, causing you to lose a good amount of wealth. What happened? Check a Skill. Create a Skill that will hopefully prevent this from happening again. Lose a Resource.

I have no idea what happened, but my “Bag of Gems” is now worthless as, well, a bag of rocks, something about “transmutation” beyond anything I ever understood. (Checked “Alchemy” and created “Trades on Knowledge”).

Prompt 54.1

Your strange accent and old ways always reveal you as an outsider, mocked and cheated at best or hated at worst. Smother these useless traits by converting an old Memory to a new Skill for blending in.

I have developed the ability to hold my body into a form that others recognize as human; it is, at best, a mask, but it is enough to allow me to move among the people of this era. (My memories of my physical changes to a tentacled, echolocating monster is converted to a Diary, which consists of sculpted runes pressed into small statues. Created “Control of my Flesh)

Prompt 58.1

Society has changed. How has travel become easier for you? Recover any stationary Resources for which you still have a Memory; they are re-added to your Resource list.

Between the growth of Foretism (a philosophical school started by my old colleagues) and my ability to control my flesh, I find that I can return to places that existed long ago. (Recovered my laboratory and residence)

Prompt 61.1

Someone reminds you of a beloved Character long dead. Check a Skill to curry their acquaintance. Create a mortal Character.

I don’t know why, but this Harim woman reminds me of Ambaret, someone I once loved in some way and long ago. (Checked “Sensations of the Flesh” and created “Harim, a sinuous dancer”)

Prompt 59.1

A mortal discovers the journals of a long-dead Character, or your own lost Diary, and approaches you. What do they seek? Gain a Skill or a Resource. Create a mortal Character.

Long ago, I had a diary with a crown lock on it, and somehow this person Varupex believes they have found it. They wish for me to tell them the truth of the long-ago places it describes. (Created “Occult library” and “Varupex, an occult researcher”)

Prompt 55.1

Timeless introspection becomes manifest in creative acts. Choose a creative Skill based on a lost Memory.

I have lost the memory of my old lover Ambaret, but I have taken up dancing in her memory. (Created “Dancing”)

Prompt 58.2

What memories are unearthed by wandering these old places? Get back a lost Memory related to the stationary Resource or gain a new treasure Resource which you’d concealed here.

In my old laboratory, I find references to “Faelia” and they appear to be of a person, perhaps a coded reference to the city I fled? Or have I been so unfaithful to the memory of those who once served me? (Recovered my memory of Faelia and my physical changes, and created “Diary 3: A journal printed on acid-free paper”)

Prompt 60.1

Check a Skill to avoid arrest as a criminal. What happened? Who was arrested in your place? Create a mortal Character if necessary.

Our occult studies draw the ire of the authorities, and I flee, leaving Varupex to take the fall. (Checked “Skittering Beneath the Earth”)

Wrapping it up

I decided to call it early here because the world of Trophy just doesn’t extend well into the far future without a lot of world building. This is likely why TYOV explicitly says to use real-world history as the setting for the fantasy of the vampire.

A few other lessons learned:

• Keep track of deleted memories, even those that have not moved to a diary, as later prompts may refer to elements from them.
• I need more random tables or other oracles for generating mortal characters; the character creation tables in Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold are a good start but would need fleshing out (especially the name table).
• Trophy Loom still could be a great setting for solo games, just not this particular one. I have several others in mind as I’m finding group gaming to slow down a bit at the moment.