User:Soranin/Sandbox4

EXAMPLE OF PLAY: “THE NANBAN TRADE” SEQUENCE

Goto Islands, Japan - 1543 (“Ming Dynasty” Time Frame).

One of Wang Zhi’s pirate ships is leaving the west coast of Fukue Island to return to China. As so often happens, the Simulation begins with a white flash and muffled sounds that quickly acquire clarity. Soon, the muted sounds become a cacophony of raised voices, gunfire, and the clanging of blades. The information was accurate. The pirates are hosting an expedition of the Portuguese Rite of the Templar Order and transporting crates of matchlock arquebuses.

Isa and Marcela have just entered a Simulation Sequence in the Animus, with Guile as the Reader. Marcela is playing Shao Jun, an Assassin Ancestor of her modern day character, while Isa takes the role of an Echo, a ronin known as The Sunlight Sword.

The wooden deck creaks under your weight as you jump aboard accompanied by a crew of Assassin initiates, bullets hissing past you. Right behind the line of arquebusiers, you spot the pirate captain escorting a young European man in a black cape to the jolly boat. The man is dressed in priest’s garb and wears a large, gilt cross with green enamel around his neck. He is hurriedly hiding something in a sack, a shiny, golden sphere furrowed by neat, geometric lines. That must be it, an Apple of Eden, the reason you came to the island in the first place. Bullets are zipping past your heads, so, first of all, I’ll need a Reaction check from everybody as you try not to get hit!

[...]

GUILE (The Reader): Great roll! Is there a narrative advantage you’d like to insert into the Scene with the Free Raise, Marcela?

MARCELA (Shao Jun): I’d like to end up very close to the man with the box, possibly remaining unnoticed by him. Do I recognize him? Do I know if the green enameled cross has any significance?

GUILE (The Reader): Sure! So, not everything is going smoothly. The Sunlight Sword is surrounded by enemies, is out of breath, and possibly injured, but Shao Jun has managed to find shelter behind a crate. She also recognizes the priest as João Machado, right-hand man of the missionary Gaspar Vilela, veteran of the Military Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz – a Templar! Back to the battle: the Arquebusiers are reloading. Your Key Objectives here are to take out the Templars, take possession of the cargo of firearms for the Brotherhood, and get hold of the Apple of Eden. How do you Approach the Scene?

ISA (The Sunlight Sword): Time to bite the bullet! In order to defeat the Templars, I know we have to succeed in the assault… I guess a lot of these pirates will have to die too. Nothing is true, everything is permitted, right? *laughs* I attack with my father’s katana, painting tragic kanjis of crimson across the deck.

MARCELA (Shao Jun): I take a run-up and use a barrel to leap high into the air, pouncing on my targets like a tiger! I want to grab the Apple, but I also want to take care of Machado and the pirate captain at once, using all I have at my disposal: my martial arts, my fine sword, and my hidden footblade! However, I guess I am calling a Raise…?

GUILE (The Reader): Before the lifeless bodies of the pirate and Machado can hit the ground, Shao Jun already holds the golden sphere in her hand. A few pirates take their chances and dive over the railing, while a last couple of gunshots accompany the sound of the Templars perishing under the blade of The Sunlight Sword and their companions. Unfortunately, despite your victory, one of the dying arquebusiers manages to drag himself to a gunpowder case and throws a burning match inside. I guess you all need to roll another Reaction check…