The Word of al-Masih — Session 001
Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face
With stars to fill my dreams
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been
Sit with elders of a gentle race
This world has seldom seen
Talk of days for which they sit and wait
All will be revealed
— “Kashmir,” Led Zeppelin
Welcome back to the quiet, warm nights of the capital of the Amarian Caliphate, the city of Sahiya. Only the fading flames of braziers and lamps burning low punctuate the darkness, while a crescent moon casts silvery light over the white walls and flat roofs of the buildings. In the Caliph’s palace, our heroine Noor is awake, but why?
To help answer questions like these, a solo roleplaying game uses something called an oracle. This oracle’s form varies from player to player because everybody has their favorite. Still, it’s always a method by which one may generate yes or no answers to questions generally answered by a GM. My oracle of choice is CRGE (Conjectural Roleplaying GM Emulator), and I can’t recommend it enough. Don’t fall for the hype surrounding other oracles. CRGE really will do everything you need.
Let’s ask CRGE some questions. Noor is awake, but is there danger? No. Has Noor been summoned? No. Has she made a note of some disturbance? Yes. A-ha! Perhaps raised voices in the courtyard as riders arrive long after dark? Sounds good.
Noor is ostensibly part of the Caliph’s harem, despite being his daughter (ick!), and lives in that palace section, but we know she’s more than that. She’s one of the Caliph’s assassins and is not bound to her apparent role or living quarters. At night, she roams at will, gathering intelligence on the very ruler who commands her life.
And that’s how she ends up seeing these riders. Perhaps she’s perched on the edge of the roof overlooking the courtyard, and even now, she races across rooftops to a new position where she can see the Caliph, despite the late hour, receive these dusty, travel-worn men.
I have two options here. I can start asking CRGE about the specifics of their news, or I can guide things a bit. I’ll do a little of both. Because the distant messiah figure is our primary antagonist, he should be the topic of discussion. But do the men have news specifically about him? No. Is it about The Martyrs? No, but… it’s related to them. You see, these men come to report the loss of a town in the Caliphate, Gamrafi to forces associated with The Martyrs. The rumor has it that The Martyrs are responsible, but it’s tough to know, given the chaos and the distance.
Whatever the case, the Caliph can’t be complacent. The rise of the messianic figure we’ll call Bishr al-Abdi — and I’m using a random generator for all these names if you’re wondering — must be addressed before things get out of hand. But the situation is delicate, thanks to the many believers al-Abdi has attracted. The Caliph can’t just lead an attack force and start lopping off heads.
Noor learns this because she hides in her observation spot while the Caliph consults with his advisors. And because Noor is the heroine of our tale, the Caliph must reach a conclusion involving her; otherwise, what are we doing here? Therefore, the Caliphate decides he’s dispatched his assassin in disguise to investigate Gamrafi and the surrounding lands.
Because she knows what to expect, Noor is ready for the Caliph’s men when they arrive for an audience with the Caliph in the morning. And we know how things will go because we’re smart.
The Caliph gives Noor her assignment. Will she go alone? No. Will she be the only assassin/spy in the cohort? Yes, and unexpectedly… cross-stitch.
One thing I like about CRGE is that it doesn’t only do binary answers. You already saw a no, but and now we’ve encountered a plot twist. There is a wide variety of these. Cross-stitch means “choose another thread to be the main thread for the rest of the scene.”
CRGE tracks plot lines in threads, but we don’t have any other threads save the original. Consequently, we need more details. Does this other thread have to do with Noor specifically? Yes. Does it relate to The Martyrs? No. To al-Abdi? Yes, and unexpectedly… limelit.
I don’t know that one. Let’s look it up. It means “the rest of the scene goes great for the PCs. Assume that most of the questions about the main thread concerning the scene are answered in a way that benefits the PCs.”
Nice! A free hand. And I have some ideas I can now fold into the narrative at will.
I had thought about al-Abdi being an obscure figure from a backwater somewhere at the edges of the Caliphate (like a certain other Messiah you may have heard of), but what if Bishr al-Abdi is a known quantity? What if he was a good friend, or even a protege, of the Caliph? Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim (AKA the Prophet Muhammad) raised a ruckus in Mecca before being forced to flee to Medina. Maybe al-Abdi is the same way. He turned against the Caliph for religious reasons and was either exiled or escaped with his life. The latter would work well for our purposes.
The Caliph wants to know what sort of threat al-Abdi represents and, if Noor determines it’s feasible, desires him killed out of an abundance of caution. She will travel with a group of women, ostensibly pilgrims seeking the new messiah, and do her duty.
What a great start! I can’t wait to see what happens next! See you then.