19.1 Dealings at the Far Edge of Death
Planning¶
Pamplemousse awakens in Yomi upon the far banks of the Sanzu river. Read the following description of his surroundings:
Awakening in Yomi
You awaken to the gentle lapping of ice-cold water against your left side, the freezing waters ebbing across your left limbs then chest and abdomen before slowly ebbing back. Although I say 'freezing waters', you quickly realize that the water lacks a certain quality of wetness that indicates it is not, in fact, water. And, in fact, the biting cold lacks a certain chill in its bite. This is something fluid, but entirely unknown to you until this point.
As you open your eyes, you see an ethereal grey river to your left, endless in both length and breadth. A faint grey mist hangs loosely around you and your environs. The sky, black as night, still seems to illuminate your surroundings, faintly. You are in a place entirely and completely foreign to you.
When Pamplemousse stands up, but before he can take any further actions, he finds himself in the presence on an ethereal entity.
Description of the Presence
The ethereal creature before you is barely perceptible, but emanates a terrifying deathly aura. You fear this thing, though you do not know why.
Allow Pamplemousse to respond in his liking
Clarifications from Death
Ah yes, for a soul thou art, and now only that. What's more, a soul now forever lost to the lands of Yomi. Yon, to thy left, lies the river Sanzu o'er which you passed just now. Knowest thou what this fact portends?
Clarifications from Death continued
Though art dead, now and (more like as not) forever... That is, dead, unless thou receiveth succor from me. For I, Shinigami, art the very spirit of death in these lands and, as such, hold sway o'er thine death as well. I've come to offer thou three paths to escape thine foul fate. Each opportunity I come to offer will be more hopeless than the last. At the same time, each offer will grant thou greater and greater maximum potential benefit. Beware though thou, in order to hear mine proceeding offer, thou must forever cast aside the others I will have offered before. More hopeless, but at the same time, more *potentially* beneficial to thou. Tell me then, art thou prepared to hear mine first offer, pathetic soul?
Refuses to answer questions
I will not answer thine questions nor permit thou to bargain, mortal, no matter how well phrased, nor how pleadingly you may try.
First Offer
Mine first offer is that of sacrifice. In exchange for consuming your singular worthless soul, I will resurrect the spirits of all those others whomst did die in that same nighttime raid which claimed thy life. By no means will it ever be possible to resurrect you from the dead, by magic or godhood either.
Will thou takest this offer?
First Offer accepted
The creature before you, who named itself Shinigami, seems to smile then quickly envelops you and you know no more. This is the end of Pamplemousse.
Second Offer
Mine second and second to last offer, then, is an offer of subordination. In exchange for a sliver of thine soul and being beholden to me and mine bidding, I will grant thee great powers befitting one in the employ of death itself.
- First, a great and terrifying scythe thou wouldst have the ability to call forth and wield, which will grow with thine power.
- Second, thou wouldst be able to call forth minions of death to do thine bidding.
- Third, thou wouldst be able to consume the souls of those thou wouldst kill at thine pleasure.
- Fourth, thou wouldst be able to call on me with the spell Commune once per day.
Will thou takest this offer?
Second Offer Accepted
The creature before you, who named itself Shinigami, seems to smile then quickly reaches out and grasps at you, stealing a part of you. With great force, you are suddenly pulled over the river's waters, and unconsciousness silently but unerringly takes you.
Third offer
Mine third and final offer, the offer thou must now accept or be doomed to roam the lands of Yomi with no further promise of rescue is this: pick a board or card game of strategy or chance of thine choosing and play one game of it with me. If thou may succeed, I will grant thou a sliver of myself. Thou wouldst have all the powers I offered before, as well as those much greater.
(Re-read the first through fourth powers granted)
- Fifth, thou wouldst gain the ability to travel back and forth between Yomi and any other plane with the spell Plane Shift once per day.
- Sixth, thou wouldst gain the ability to resurrect the dead once per day. Right now, this ability would work as per the spell Raise Dead with no component cost, but would grow more powerful as thou do.
- Seventh, thou wouldst gain the ability to become ethereal as the spell Etherealness once per day.
- Eighth, thou wouldst become immortal and unkillable for so long as death itself persists.
If you lose the game of your choosing, I will consume both thine soul and the souls of all those lost in that terrible nighttime raid.
Will thou takest this offer?
Third Offer Accepted
The creature before you, who named itself Shinigami, seems to smile then quickly places down the requisite pieces for your game, materializing them from thin air.
Third Offer Refused
The creature before you, who named itself Shinigami, seems to frown then quickly fades out of perception. You are alone this is the end of Pamplemousse.
Rules of play: Thomas will choose one game to play with the DM. The DM will have one trick they can play at any time. This one trick allows Jesse to perform any one of the following feats:
- Exchange any random outcome with any other random outcome. For example, exchange any card with any other extant card, or exchange any result on a die with any other valid result for that die.
- Move an existing piece to any valid location on the board.
- Put any item of play that has been removed from play into either their hand, or if there is no hand, onto the board.
- Place one item of play on the board, if they already have the requisite item to be placed.
- Collect 5 of any collectable resource from the bank, up to as many of that resource remain to be collected.
In-Game and Post-Game Notes¶
Thomas chose option 3. He has chosen to play the board game Strategos.