SESSION 7. THANK THE GODS. this marks the beginning of arc 2! hyped as fuck! i think i mentioned that i plan to do these posts by a session-by-session basis instead of in groups of two, but if not. that's what i'm doing!
with this in mind. 9 pages total. which is, yes, less than i usually have for my other posts, but it also slightly less than my normal number of pages for the other sessions just on their own. this, however, is irrelevant because there were some really good quotes this session, and my hand cramped trying to write as fast as these players were throwing out bars!
So, without further ado- here are the quotes from session 7 of my d&d campaign that i found particularly interesting, and my thoughts on them!
"None of the ladies like me, but they follow you around like a shepherd." - Gideon Ahab, to Butchie
honest to god so mad that this dude is the first quote of this list. trust and believe that if this was ranked by enjoyment and not chronologically, he would NOT be up here. however, i will admit that this moment made me giggle.
"So here's the thing about being a real man- don't be a douche." - Butchie
WE LOOOVE A TRANSMASC BEING ASKED HOW TO BE A REAL MAN. YES ABSOLUTELY. going to ignore the fact that gideon probably doesn't know that butchie isn't cis. it's the principle of the matter.
"They probably don't want to be around you because you suck." - Butchie, to Gideon Ahab
HE DOES. HE DOES AND HE SHOULD BE TOLD AS MUCH.
"The way you talk to people changes the way they treat you." - Butchie, to Gideon Ahab
quote one of fifty billion on the list of absolute bars in this session. this is just, on a basic level, the reason why gideon is getting the behavior he's getting. if you are a misogynistic freak you WILL be catching hands. both verbal and physical. there is no world in which he should be surprised. but also. it's gideon ahab.
"I think I get it." - Gideon Ahab "I hope so." - Butchie
he got it on a base level, unfortunately, but at least he got it!
"There's a reason that Jackson doesn't like me anymore... It's not anybody else, it's got something to do with me, and I've never thought about that before." - Gideon Ahab
HIS BRAINCELLS FINALLY MADE CONTACT THANK FUCKING GOD. the biggest breakthrough yet, i need this man to keep going. maybe i'll actually like him by the end of the campaign! that would be a miracle!
"I am as fine as I can be." - Anemoia Basalt
anemoia :-[[ anemoia i am so sorry my pookie :-[[ both for last session and for spooking you in this scene :-[[ we're gonna figure this out!! we're gonna get you home!! trust!!!!!
"She loved the people here, and as far as we know, she loved you." - Willamae Carmichael, to Butchie, about Elysia
i actually just can't handle this quote at all. like actually just take me out back. i'll be bringing this quote up in therapy. if we don't find her i'll tweak the hell out and she's not even in MY PC'S BACKSTORY.
"How do you put back together 7 years of friendship?" - Butchie
FIRST OF ALL. 7 YEARS. I NEED TO BE SHOT. second of all. the way if i, milo, was made to forget 7 years of a dear and loving friendship of mine, and i eventually found out about it, i don't think i'd be able to mentally handle it. i'd combust. butchie you're better than me in this moment, but unfortunately not by much just based on your behavior atm.
"You're safe to feel things. Say what's on your mind, I don't mind." - Willamae Carmichael, to Butchie
WILLAMAE I LOVE YOUUU. YOU ARE SO DEAR TO ME. YOU DESERVE THE WORLD AND MORE. YOU'RE SAFE TO FEEL THINGS???? IT'S SOOO OVERRRR
"You always have a place here at The Unknowable." - Willamae Carmichael, to Butchie
The Unknowable, aka the first gay bar in Hyperion <3. it's a crime that it took my pc 7 sessions to go here. it's so slay. also, finding out that Butchie used to be a bouncer at said gay bar?? iconic as fuck. what a guy.
"You reminded me of myself." - Maximilian Kurshahn, to Butchie
THEIR NARRATIVE PARALLELS PAIN ME HORRIBLY. butchie coming into work hungover a couple days before this and maximilian immediately being like "ah. that's a mirror. what the fuck." oh i CAN'T DO IT. there is a conversation between these two about alcoholism approaching on the horizon.
"Do you want company? That sounds a certain way, not like that. Unless you want that. I just know you live alone and I know how suffocating that can be." - Maximilian Kurshahn, to Butchie
LOOK. no she didn't immediately mean it like that. but she also had to shoot her shot!!! it doesn't matter that butchie is her superior!!!! he's a bulky, 7'6 minotaur that she could ride 17 ways from sunday! and she hasn't had sex in a good while! leave her alone!!!!!!!
"I put in my two weeks." - Jackson Bernardi
STADIUM FUCKING CHEEERSSSSS. this quote MAY seem simple but i HAD to put it in here. jackson bernardi you are so special to me!!!!! go do things! find your passions! i'm so proud of you!
"I spent 26 years here, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little upset about leaving, but what other choice do I have?" - Bonny J. Travesty
the sprinkle of bonny angst before the torrential downpour later in the session. . . also this had me realizing that i'm pretty sure bonny is younger than maximilian (who is 28)? which is not something i considered, for some reason? my mind had assumed she was older, i have no idea why lmao
"To you, Butchie, and to Wisteria." - Bonny J. Travesty
Butchie's little promotion party!!! the little toasts we had here were sweet :-] also the fact that i have a drawing in my notebook of what order people sat in our circular corner booth lmao. circular corner booths are legally required to exist in every restaurant/pub in d&d. them's the rules.
"You just don't get it, philosophically." - Our GM, to Anemoia Basalt
i loved that we invented a shitty flatbread place that's open until 2am, for several reasons, but mostly because we got this gem of a quote from our gm because anemoia's player rolled to see if she would like flatbread and got a fucking 3. this is peak d&d. fuck everything else, this is what i play d&d for.
"I would run, but where would I go?" - Headmaster Vhonus
TO HELL. THAT'S WHERE. this fucking guy. this entire scene was CRAZY and you'll understand why a few quotes down but oh my god. the lore we found here?? it circling back to what i as a player know about how souls work in this universe??? i genuinely started fucking tweaking. like what do you MEAN i'm hearing about soul threads again. i cannot handle this. get me out of here (i'm right where i want to be please don't).
"It is no fault of mine, but the fault of the ignoramuses that are in this city, that my plan failed." - Headmaster Vhonus
i mean. fair?? but also you're wild for even starting the project that you started. like yeah you were pulling soul material from corpses and not live people but it's still so odd??? and most likely unethical on some level??? also finding out that he was most likely about to turn on the Artuso Twins because we found notes about his suspicions of them and his notes about the weapons he had been creating with said soul material (and succeeded in doing so) was CRAZY. ALSO. he has a benefactor of some sort, but never mentions them by name, and trades the soul material he collects for "edited" soul material. this is genuinely so insane. i was so sat for this lore drop, and still am ngl
"I was just ending your destruction. To prevent you from stopping others with great aspirations." - Headmaster Vhonus, to Temerity Hellebore
BE. SO. FR. you're the one with the weird blade contraptions made out of literal soul threads?? your research may have started out with good intentions, according to the notes we found at least, but it's still crazy as fuck that you were using parts of people's souls in order to do what you were doing. genuinely on the wildest level of unethical i fear. "great aspirations" my ASS.
"I thought it was wasted potential, but it's much worse. It's potential in the other direction. Potential so misguided. Simply abhorrent." - Headmaster Vhonus
abhorrent is a good word. but like also fuck you headmaster vhonus. literally what you MEAN "in the other direction"??? potential is potential??? just because you don't like what temerity is doing doesn't mean it's misguided potential.
"I hope you failed in that grandeur you craved." - Temerity Hellebore, to Headmaster Vhonus
SHOUTOUT TO BULLDOG, A FELLOW PLAYER IN THE CAMPAIGN, FOR GETTING ME THIS QUOTE BECAUSE I MISSED IT BECAUSE MY HEARING OVER DISCORD IS BAD. especially considering that this is a BAR. GET HIS ASS TEMERITY.
"If I had it my way, this school would be self-contained, not overreaching." - Temerity Hellebore
temerity you are so right all the time. your takes are so correct. it's genuinely weird as shit what they were trying to do (possibly might try and do again? maybe not, considering both harkin and vhonus aren't in power anymore).
"Are you going to stab me in the eye with that?" - Headmaster Vhonus "A little blood never hurt anyone." - Anemoia Basalt
THIS WAS FUCKING INSAAANE. LIKE THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO DESCRIBE THIS MOMENT IN THE SESSION. mouths were AGAPE ACROSS THE BOARD. so so so many thoughts about this moment and how we're going to talk about all of it in-game in future sessions. the way that anemoia was so rightfully angry here, that i don't necessarily blame her but i know that once we fully explain it that she'll be horrified.
"You are a hypocrite, Anemoia. I need you to know that." - Maximilian Kurshahn
continuing the commentary above since this is in the same moment, practically. but it's the way that anemoia doesn't realize that she's a hypocrite. she doesn't fully understand what she's done is exactly what has been done to her (and several other party members, but she doesn't know that) because it hasn't been explained to her. she hasn't connected the tool she used on vhonus to the memory devices that she's come across previously. such a fucking phenomenal narrative moment that i think will permanently change party dynamics. intra-party conflict in d&d is so juicy and fun. anemoia you are such a creature and i as a player love you.
A way home, that was closer than you knew, that was utterly ruined by fire." - Our GM, to Anemoia Basalt
THIS WAS SOOOO UPSETTING. finding out that, right before we got into the room, vhonus destroyed a fairy circle, aka a portal to the feywild, aka where anemoia is from. oh this was so heartbreaking. the way my pc didn't know what a fairy circle was and just described the scorched dirt and mushrooms on the ground so matter-of-fact. unbeknownst to her, anemoia was about to go ballistic and plunger 70% of vhonus' life-force out of his body. ohhhhh it's so over
"Thanks for following me. You're not very sneaky." - Bonny J. Travesty, to Butchie
I genuinely got emotional during this entire scene, so there's that. good thing i locked the fuck in because the quotes were SO good. like holy shit. the way that bonny started freaking the fuck out when anemoia did what she did. i knew it was the start of some good roleplay (sorry bonny. . .)
"Sorry I left, I wasn't very useful." - Bonny J. Travesty "I did too, it's okay." - Butchie
i actually cannot blame either of them for checking the fuck out. like the only way maximilian got through it was getting so angry that she disassociated. this shit was just. like. damn.
"I'm sorry." - Butchie "For what? You didn't do nothin'." - Bonny J. Travesty "I can still be sorry even though it wasn't my fault." - Butchie
OHHH THISSSSS. heavyyy on the "I can still be sorry" part. like no butchie didn't do anything in the moment to contribute to the stress that was that entire situation, but he can still be apologetic. he's empathizing with her. he gets it. he GETS. IT.
"If you're missing even a piece of yourself, you will be stuck there. And I'm going to be stuck there, and so are you. And I don't know if I'm going to be able to recognize anyone when I get there." - Bonny J. Travesty
i think i fucking blacked out here?? like this was such an emotionally charged scene i'm surprised i got as much as i did, but i missed exactly what she was talking about here, but it's fucking brutal, and it's a specific religious belief about a place in the northern part of the continent our characters are on right now. like i think it's a form of an afterlife, from what i can recall. and that you'll be ushered to it by the goddess of death, or at least a figure representing her? had to have a smidgen of assistance from a fellow player for this one, but i imagine we'll learn more about this belief as the campaign goes on. gut-wrenching. the religion talk in this scene, goooooosshhh
"It was supposed to be something that made me feel warm... gave me someone to fight for." - Butchie
"it was supposed to be" is SUCH a way to phrase this, very pointed and purposeful. loved this. so good
"That religion doesn't seem kind." - Butchie "I envy you. It's cold and it's lonely." - Bonny J. Travesty "My religion hasn't been too warm lately either." - Butchie
AUUUGH. cannot tell y'all how insane i am about this set of dialogue. two people having issues with their own religions being envious of the other despite neither religion being something to be envious of. devastating.
"I swore my oath of devotion to Judith." - Butchie "The Goddess of Tragedy, and you are roped up in it." - Bonny J. Travesty
first reveal for me as a player as to what god that butchie is a paladin for!!!! slay!!! but also the way he speaks about his experience with it (and also the dialogue immediately below this) is just. ouch ouch ouch. free him.
"I tried to break my oath. Did you know that?" - Butchie "I didn't. How did it feel?" - Bonny J. Travesty "I wanna say it hurt a lot, but I can't remember most of the conversation." - Butchie
I CAN'T REMEMBER MOST OF THE CONVERSATION. WHEN A COMMON THEME SO FAR IN THIS CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN STOLEN MEMORIES. COULD I HAVE A BREAK FROM THIS TORTURE. WHERE IS THE EXIT SIGN. LET ME OUT.
"That's the thing about faith... it haunts you." - Bonny J. Travesty
there was more said here, but i am but a man and i can only write so fast. but. STILL. bonny j fucking travesty. actually more like the player who inhabits her body. I CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH. LET ME LIVE. STOP STABBING ME AND MY RELIGIOUS TRAUMA.
"I think it's a parasite." - Bonny J. Travesty
OHHHHHH IT'S SO FUCKING OVER YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. describing your religion and your faith as a relationship in which only one side benefits and the other is only harmed and obtains nothing good from the exchange means INSANE THINGS TO ME. the idea that oaths exist as a concept that seems mutually beneficial, but in reality it is a connection that will kill the host that it attaches to. somebody sedate me.
"I think any choice you make- you didn't, there's no way." - Bonny J. Travesty
being so convinced/in denial that any decision you make is not your own and was already predetermined. oh my fucking god i could die. being like. there's no way i did this and it wasn't destined to happen. because if it wasn't and i could have done something different and that choice would have mattered and been mine to take, then it's my fault. i have to accept that it's my fault and i can't bring myself to. that's what this reads to me at least. regardless. UGH.
"I break my oath every day. In more ways you could ever know." - Bonny J. Travesty
finding out that bonny is possibly married was not on my d&d bingo card?? or at least was. she pointed out a ring during this, is why i say she is/was married. what if i died. can't handle this rn.
"Can I tell you something stupid? I'm not worried about leaving here. I'm not. I know the people I'm forced to care about will make do. I don't wanna go." - Bonny J. Travesty
Bonny being so terrified to leave Hyperion was actually just the worst thing to witness ever probably. no words, no thoughts except screaming in agony over this quote.
I think it's a parasite that tricks you into loving it." - Bonny J. Travesty
AGAIN. THE COMPARISON OF A RELIGION BEING A PARASITE. THAT TRICKS YOU. INTO LOVING IT. ARE WE SERIOUS RIGHT NOWWWWWW
"I haven't seen him in ages, but it's impossible to leave. And I don't know why." - Bonny J. Travesty
bonny revealing that father job is her dad was also not on my bingo card, but i had the theory in the back of my mind just based on observations i made in previous sessions. regardless, this was so upsetting. just being so afraid to leave despite having not been in that environment for an undisclosed amount of time. the fear they instilled in you sticking around without you wanting it to. can we just. take a second.
"To parasites, I guess." - Butchie "To parasites." - Bonny J. Travesty
what a fucking send-off to a session!! definitely not painful and devastating at all!!!!!!!!! there's nothing wrong with me emotionally. what are you talking about. shut up. go away.