TARALEILA MACINTYRE
(ALANNEAN MACEACHERN)
The ARMILLARY OF THE AGES Campaign
Beginning at some point during 2001, I began GMing a campaign for the first time in years. The game was 7th Sea. The players were many and varied. And the campaign that ran on and off for almost three years has since become legend.
In all truth, I inherited this particular group of players and the initial campaign, when a rather bad break-up precipitated ousting the former GM. Everyone else wanted to keep playing. I offered to pick up where Craig had left off, if folks wanted to keep playing their original characters. They said yes, I designed a couple of scenarios, and we were off and running.
True to swashbuckling tradition, there was much wine (sparking what has now become the famous Montaigne vs Castillian wine debate among the players), women (exactly how many of the PCs had Lecherous as a Hubris?), and song (we had a dancer and a guitarist, both of whom used their skills to seduce to great effect). Wits and weapons were both rapier-sharp, but all was not always happiness and light.
To counteract the cheerful devil-may-care attitude, the group had frequent run-ins with the Inquisition (who is always unexpected, and not amusing), found themselves embroiled in political intrigue on a continent-wide scale, and even had dealings with things not of this world. They danced with Death on more than one occasion, and did not always come away unscathed.
Angst and heartbreak also were laced through the campaign, be it the Inishman who'd been cursed by the Sidhe to play out a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, the Castillian whose sister had been abducted as a war trophy by a hated Montaigne general, two Vodacce women being hunted by the Seven Princes, or the Highlands woman known as the Iron Knight. Triumph and tragedy were the characters' bedfellows for the duration of the campaign.
But the single thing that set this campaign apart from all the rest was, of all things... a ghost.
A ghost that not everyone could see.
A ghost that seemed to exist throughout history.
A ghost that could show you your entire life with a single touch.
A ghost that could play tricks with time.
The ghost, known as Alekto, was the focus of an overarcing story idea that took nearly the entire three years to resolve. During this time, the players found themselves racing across every civilized country in Theah, researching lost cults, trekking through god-forsaken ruins, bargaining with madmen, evading the Inquisition and the Explorers' Society, until they finally discovered the titular artifact of the campaign - a great and terrible item that could rip apart the threads of destiny.
I honestly don't think my players drew a breath during the entire last session of the game except to hyperventilate.
We haven't played in two years, and people still talk about that campaign.
The ARMILLARY OF THE AGES Campaign Music
Regarding my game, the music helped inspire scenario ideas or else I used the pieces to help solidify the feeling I was going for in the game. (This is by no means the full track or scenario listing - these were the scenarios that took longer than usual and thus warranted music.) To this day, none of my players can hear "Conquest of Paradise" without thinking of the 7th Sea game, as it was pretty much voted the campaign theme song.
In rough order of use, the track listing is as follows (plus the scenario title):
1. Der Name der Rose - Main Titles [scenario: Honour is My Guide]
2. The Lion King - To Die For [scenario: Secret Agendas]
3. Braveheart - Revenge [scenario: The Court of the O'Bannon]
4. Doctor Who: The Curse of Fenric - Evil from the Dawn of Time [scenario: Alekto's Ghost]
5. 1492: Conquest of Paradise - Monastery at La Rabida [scenario: Knight versus Knight]
6. The Truman Show - A New Life [scenario: Wanderers of the Waves]
7. The Princess Bride - Once Upon a Time/Storybook Love [scenario: High Society]
8. Quest for Glory V - Dance of Mystery and Intrigue [scenario: The Greatest Lover in Theah]
9. Quest for Glory V - The Rite of Justice [scenario: A Long-Awaited Duel]
10. The Princess Bride - The Friends' Song [scenario: ... But Never Noble Memory]
11. 1492: Conquest of Paradise - Conquest of Paradise [scenario: Destiny Has No Secrets]
12. The Mask of Zorro - Stealing the Map [scenario: Las Munecas Rotas]
13. The Truman Show - Truman Sets Sail [scenario: La Familia]
14. Glory - The Whipping [scenario: Blood of the Martyrs]
15. 1492: Conquest of Paradise - Hispanola [scenario: Sanctuary]
16. 1492: Conquest of Paradise - Light and Shadow [scenario: Dying for the Faith]
17. Gladiator - Sorrow [scenario: Dying for the Faith, Part II]
18. The Hunt for Red October - Putin's Death [scenario: Dance of the Fireflies]
19. The Shadow - The Hotel [scenario: Alekto's Ghost]
20. The Truman Show - Underground/Storm [scenario: Time's Tapestry]
21. The World is Not Enough - Pipeline [scenario: Running Out of Time]
22. Dark City - You Have the Power [scenario: The World is Unmade]
23. Shrek - Transformation/The End [scenario: Free at Last]