The Descent: The Descender

Wikipedia tells me that D&D's D series of modules—Descent Into the Depths of the Earth, The Shrine of the Kuo-Ta, and Vault of the Drow—were published in 1978. That makes me think that my memories aren't deceiving me, because what I remember is already having played D&D for some months before learning about them and really wanting to run or play them. I tried, too, but it didn't work out, for the usual unsurprising reasons, and I never did get another opportunity.

I've decided that it's been long enough, and that I'm by golly owed a foray through this trilogy. So I'm going to see if I can make it happen, with the help of HeroQuest, Cerulean Seas, my own psionics hackery, and the Mythic GM Emulator. First up, the protagonist.

Deepleaper

100 words:

Deepleaper is more analytical than most viridian naiads, and an especially talented shapeshifter. Deepleaper comes from a lineage of kahunas, and has a special devotion to the dolphin spirit, with its gifts of cooperative power. Also, Deepleaper has great personal expertise in the psychic arts of true seeing and true thinking. Shortly before the rites of adulthood, Deepleaper took an oath of pacifism, and keeps it. The name "Deepleaper" comes from a lifelong habit of plunging into interesting-seeming caves and ravines, just to see what lies further down. A wide variety of fishy companions travels with Deepleaper wherever conditions allow.

Markup time:

Deepleaper is more analytical than most viridian naiads, and an especially talented shapeshifter. Deepleaper comes from a lineage of kahunas, and has a special devotion to the dolphin spirit, with its gifts of cooperative power. Also, Deepleaper has great personal expertise in the psychic arts of true seeing and true thinking. Shortly before the rites of adulthood, Deepleaper took an oath of pacifism, and keeps it. The name "Deepleaper" comes from a lifelong habit of plunging into interesting-seeming caves and ravines, just to see what lies further down. A wide variety of fish companions travels with Deepleaper wherever conditions allow.

Keywords and Abilities

Kahuna of the Dolphin Spirit 19

• Peacemaker +3
• Widely Knowledgeable +2
• Natural Healer +0
• Warding Aura +0
• Rally Defenders +0
• Devotion of Unity +0

Viridian Naiad 13

• Intuitive Awareness of Natural Surroundings +4

Psychic 13

• Bodyshaping +4
• True Seeing +0
• True Thinking +0

Oathsworn Pacifist 13
Fish Companions 13

Flaw: Insatiably Curious About the Deeps 17

Commentary

Some traits are marked with +0 as a reminder to myself that they're good candidates for later improvement. They'd be part of keyword descriptions if I were to write out keyword descriptions, but I have a tendency to fall into the trap of world-building and manual-writing so much that I never get around to the actual play, and this is me jumping over that hurdle this time.

Viridian naiads are creatures of the natural world, born as seed pods and cultivated in kelp-like groves for decades until they achieve self-awareness and uproot. They're humanoid, with lean builds, webbed hands and feet, and a leaf-like dorsal fin that runs from the crown of the head to the tailbone. Deepleaper has typical coloring, with a deep emerald green body and violet highlights in the fin.

Viridian naiads can safely dive to 2500 feet without special effort; some individuals, like Deepleaper, have trained and practiced to go considerably further down. They have moderately acute senses of pressure, movement, and electricity, and short-range sonar pinging, to navigate safely in darkness. They breathe water, but can survive a few hours in air without suffering harm.

Most viridian naiads see the world simply and intensely. Their emotions are seldom complicated and almost always deeply felt: whatever makes them happy tends to make them really happy, and every disappointment becomes intense, even if short-lived, grief. They have very little grasp on duplicity (and can be exploited by others who know this and play on their innate sense of harmony and good will; "a naiad's wages" is a widespread term in the seas for working for little more than praise or flattery). Some individuals develop a more refined awareness of how others live, and the complexities that make it hard to say that something is just plain good for bad. These relatively worldly naiads often make welcome translators and mediators, since even when they appreciate the complexities, they bring a simple desire for good outcomes that can help cut through many obstacles to getting them.

A conscious commitment to peace often accompanies this extra awareness and experience, and Deepleaper feels it very strongly. Living without practicing violence oneself and without depending on the violence of others is sometimes very hard work, but peace-seekers like Deepleaper feel it's important to demonstrate the possibilities of the choice.

Like the majority of viridian naiads, Deepleaper gives most worshipful allegiance to Undine, the harmony-seeking naiad goddess, while also respecting and honoring most of the other common gods of the sea.

In game terms, the kahuna is Cerulean Seas' aquatic counterpart to the druid. Kahunas commune with, evoke, and sometimes embody various aspects of the sea as represented by spirit animals. Deepleaper's family has had a shared gift for the work for centuries, and Deepleaper took up the legacy enthusiastically. In Deepleaper's case, the spirit that speaks most welcomingly (and sometimes very persistently) is the dolphin, embodying the virtues of teamwork, shared protection, and strength through shared cooperation. Not all kahunas cultivate pets or untamed animal friends, but Deepleaper likes exploring with company, and usually has anywhere from two to half a dozen friendly free-swimming creatures nearby.

Shapeshifting is a rare but recognized and respected talent among the naiads, and often accompanies that extra appreciation of the world's moral dimensions. Deepleaper can't—at least, can't yet—imitate sentient beings, but can take on the form of almost any wild creature, and keep it up a long time. Each shift of the tides makes it harder to remain in forms other than that of the naiad, but it's not impossible, just a sometimes distracting struggle.

Since this is me indulging in a taste for sci-fantasy, psi takes the place of magic. (There are spirits and it's possible to commune with them, get favors from them, and so on, but I'm separating that out from most of what most RPGs call "magic".) In addition to shapeshifting, Deepleaper is particularly good at sensing the world beyond the limit of physical naiad senses and at recognizing and sharing with other minds directly, exchanging the complexities of multiple languages for those that come from minds seeing each other's symbols and nets of allusion.

Now to get Deepleaper into some dramatic-type trouble.