Shuttle's Shipyard

Session 01 - Blood Bond Tournament (Shuttle's Shipyard)

7 min read

Session 01 - Blood Bond Tournament

TL;DR

The party entered the annual Blood Bond tournament in the Dry Dock arena of Shuttle’s Shipyard and won the first two challenges: a free-for-all melee and a bell‑tower race. A mysterious hooded Undoer then sealed the arena and opened a rift to the Edge, releasing a chitinous parasite. With aid from Fringe Guards, the party doused it in oil, set it ablaze, and slew it. The barrier fell, the crowd erupted, and the High‑Edge Warden proclaimed the survivors Edgerunners. Everyone levels up to 1.

Cast (PCs)

  • Declan Rafferty — sailor and rope‑hand; deft with daggers and a crossbow; clutch climber.
  • Kargstulk — half‑orc fugitive; longbow and greatsword; lamplighter’s flash‑powder trick.
  • Spark — kobold brawler; shoved into the Edge pit during Round 1 (deceased).
  • Duncan Diddleyfuck — human witchborn and smith; boomerang ace; fell in Round 1 (deceased).
  • Snagmaz — hunter with spear, shield, and javelins; joined mid‑tournament; frontline anchor.
  • Na (the Dwarf) — axe‑throwing bruiser; joined for Round 2 and beyond.
  • Emid (the “Ukrainian Eminem”) — crop farmer turned marksman; later becomes a Ranger.

Setting & Vibe

  • City: Shuttle’s Shipyard, a rope‑bound, crane‑laced city that straddles the realms along taut “threads.” The exiled god Shuttle binds things together; the civic law is “No loose ends.”
  • The Treadworks’ distant thrum and the scent of oil, amber, and hemp hang in the air; Spindle Square buzzes with festival energy.
  • Blood Bond origins: After the Forgetting Riots ~60 years ago, the High‑Edge Warden Thane instituted an annual open tournament to select Edgerunners from all walks of life.
  • Master of Ceremonies: High Caller Bolo, “the Wave Tongue,” sells the spectacle with velvet‑smooth patter.

Round 1: Arena Free‑for‑All

Arena: Elevated platforms, sand and sawdust underfoot, and a deadly central void that drops into “the Edge” (nothingness). Green armbands (party) vs. purple (rivals).

Notable foes

  • “Big Mads” — a burly baker (Arena Fighter 2).
  • Lissa “Sharptongue” — quick with a whip from the Knot & Bone clinic.
  • Hook Bent — one‑eyed, hook‑hand fisher‑drunkard of the Slackline tavern.
  • Two hooded “dodgy” newcomers (not typical city folk).

Highlights

  • Spark rushed the frontline and was unceremoniously shoulder‑checked into the Edge by a hooded newcomer. No recovery; Spark was lost to the void.
  • Duncan opened with a glorious natural‑20 boomerang that ruined Big Mass’s face, but later went down to a counterstrike and died as the baker collapsed over him.
  • Kargstulk put arrows into targets and probed the arena props (leaky barrels of lamp oil noted for later!).
  • Declan’s daggers shone: he slipped past a blinded Hook Bent and sank a blade into Lissa’s eye, dropping her.
  • Crowd Interaction: Children hurled intricate monkey’s‑paw knots; successful catches granted Luck tokens. Later, flower wreaths also conferred Luck. Luck tokens stacked and were spent for advantage or to impose GM disadvantage.

Outcome

  • The party outlasted the opposition. Bolo and the crowd roared approval. Surviving PCs earned Luck and momentum.

Round 2: Ring the Bell (Tower Challenge)

Objective: The first team to ring the bell atop a 20‑ft tower (stairs/ladders only halfway). Rivals fanned out to race.

New/Named foes

  • Quick Lance — fast, eager climber (and the butt of many crowd heckles).
  • Barrel‑Brawler Tuck — a dense dockside brawler.
  • Quickstepper Lara — baker’s daughter; nimble but outmatched.
  • Rope‑Dancer Mika — famed performer from the Slackline; masked and armored today.

Party plan & execution

  • “Stick together, drop the closest, send one runner.” Declan volunteered as climber, leveraging rigging experience and a grappling hook.
  • Emid instantly head‑shotted Rope‑Dancer Mika with a brutal longbow shot (8 damage, one‑and‑done).
  • Na the Dwarf hurled a handaxe that severed Lara’s arm on impact; he later closed in and lopped the other one with gallows humor about her father’s Christmas rolls.
  • Snagmaz formed a shield wall near the ladder and skewered foes (notably Henning) with a spear.
  • Declan sprinted, tossed his grappling hook, climbed hard, and reached the bell—ringing it repeatedly as the arena shook with cheers.

Outcome

  • The bell tolled victory for the team. Wreaths and beads rained from the stands. Morale peaked—right before everything went sideways.

Twist: Undoer’s Rift and the Edge Parasite

Immediate aftermath

  • The perimeter torches guttered; a sigilled barrier shimmered, sealing the arena. Fringe Guards pounded against it, unable to enter.
  • A hooded figure (an Undoer) stepped within, wove the barrier, then blink‑stepped away—likely only a few hundred feet, still within the city.
  • A rift yawned in the left wall. From it scuttled a chitinous, many‑legged parasite (a chull‑like horror). Its purpose felt disruptive, not purely predatory.

The fight

  • Initiative reset with two Fringe Guards joining inside (notably “Lars”).
  • Emid doused the creature in lamp oil (remember those leaky barrels?).
  • Snagmaz struck flint and steel and lit the oil—both he and Emid rolled fire damage as a joint stunt.
  • Kargstulk used the lamplighter’s flash‑powder trick to blind the creature, imposing disadvantage on its attacks for a round.
  • Lars executed a disruptive eye‑shot, further hobbling it.
  • The burning horror tried to scuttle back toward the portal, but Snagmaz closed and delivered the finisher: a spear thrust “from ass to throat,” opening it end to end as flames consumed it.

Outcome

  • The barrier failed; the rift collapsed. The crowd went wild. The High‑Edge Warden declared the party worthy Edgerunners on the spot. First Weaver Selene tended wounds and sanctified the moment amid drifting motes of light.

Rulings, Tokens, and Table Notes

  • Luck Tokens: Earned via crowd throws (monkey’s paws, wreaths). They stack and can be spent for advantage or to impose the GM’s disadvantage. Players shared tokens to save allies on key saves.
  • Death at Level 0: On hitting 0 HP, roll 1d4 + Con mod to set rounds‑to‑death; allies can stabilize with an INT 15 check. Spark fell into the Edge (no recovery). Duncan failed on the ground after being finished by a rival.
  • Opportunity Attacks: Not in use for these scenes (Shadowdark default).
  • House Boon on Level‑Up: The first spell a newly 1st‑level caster attempts next session is rolled with advantage; on failure, it still locks until next day per Shadowdark rules.

NPCs & Organizations

  • High Caller Bolo (“Wave Tongue”) — silver‑tongued MC of the Blood Bond.
  • High‑Edge Warden Thane — presides over the Blood Bond and Edgerunner oaths.
  • First Weaver Selene — mender and ritualist who sealed the promotions.
  • Fringe Guards — city defenders against Edge incursions; two aided inside the arena (Lars distinguished himself).
  • Hookbent — one‑eyed tavern regular from the Slackline; died in the melee.
  • Lissa Sharptongue — attendant from the Knot & Bone clinic; killed in Round 1.
  • “Big Mass” — rival baker; battered Duncan before being slain.
  • Quick Lance, Barrel‑Brawler Tuck, Quickstepper Lara, Rope‑Dancer Mika — notable Round 2 opponents.
  • The Undoer — hooded saboteur who sealed the arena and opened the rift; escaped via short blink.

Results & Rewards

  • Victory in both tournament rounds.
  • Edge Parasite defeated; crisis contained.
  • PCs are elevated to Edgerunners and level up to 1.
  • Gear: Between scenes, characters can roll starting gold and purchase appropriate equipment (many picked up leather armor and upgraded kits).
  • Class Picks (as of log): Emid becomes a Ranger. Na is a Fighter. Others will finalize choices at the table.

Prepared from the session recording/transcript of our first Shadowdark game in Shuttle’s Shipyard. If you spot a detail to correct or add, ping the GM before next session so we can keep the canon tight - no loose ends.

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