Urban Shadows: London, 1604 (Tuesdays in July, 8 pm EST)

London, 1604. Queen Elizabeth is dead. James of Scotland is king of England…but due to a nasty outbreak of plague, his triumphal procession through the city has been delayed for months. That hasn’t kept the city from flourishing and festering apace. Apprentices brawl outside the bear-baiting pits and playhouses. Recusant Catholics nervously eye the traitors’ heads rotting on pikes over London Bridge. Footpads divide up ill-gotten gains and whisper about who has been leaking secrets of the underworld to agents of the Crown.

And that’s before we even get to the vampires. (And werewolves, ghosts, fae…)

We’ll play four sessions of Urban Shadows on Tuesdays in July (skipping July 23rd). A slot in each session is reserved for Jesse A. Attendance at all sessions is ideal, but not required. RSVP for each session you want to attend.

Familiarity with the historical period is a bonus, but not required. I’ll take care of everything needed to convert the game’s default modern setting to London at the dawn of the 17th century. Let’s find out together what London’s factions, mortal and otherwise, are up to in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s death.

Tone and expectation for the game will be discussed beforehand. Be aware that some themes this game might deal with are classism and social stratification, criminality and precarity, religious persecution and patriarchy. We will be using the X-Card and Lines and Veils as safety tools, and the Open Door policy will be in effect. This series is operating under the Gauntlet’s inclusivity policy, on which more information can be found here (http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/the-inclusivity-policy.html).

2019-07-03T00:00:00Z2019-07-03T03:00:00Z Session One
2019-07-10T00:00:00Z2019-07-10T03:00:00Z Session Two
2019-07-17T00:00:00Z2019-07-17T03:00:00Z Session Three
[No session July 23rd]
2019-07-31T00:00:00Z2019-07-31T03:00:00Z Session Four

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Urban Shadows: London, 1604 (1/4)
Queen Elizabeth is dead, long live King James! But who are those surviving and scheming in the shadows of the city? Introducing Veteran Moroccan spymaster Yeften ibn Idir “The Corsair,” colorful Fae agent Ariel Oakley, John Dee’s Wizard daughter Katherine, and recusant Catholic Vamp Lord Francis Fenton, Earl of Northampton.

Urban Shadows: London, 1604 (2/4)
Our heroes investigate the kidnapping of John Dee and pay a visit to the Tower. We also get some insight into Queen Titania’s plans for England—and the schemes of Francis’s vampire sire, Theophilus Vardine.

Urban Shadows: London, 1604 (Session 3/4)
Night falls on London. Phillip Kemp, the Hunter, stalks a masked woman with fiendish eyes. Yeften ibn Idir, the Veteran, talks down magicians and mercenaries to rescue John Dee. Dee’s daughter Katherine, the Wizard, weaves forbidden magics to put a scheming coven in its place. And Ariel Oakley, the Fae, discovers it’s easier to make it into the Tower of London than to make it out in one piece.

Urban Shadows: London, 1604 (Session 4/4)
The finale is here, and with it, King James’s pre-triumphal procession ball! Yeften the Veteran, Ariel the Fae, Phillip the Hunter, and a returning Lord Francis the Vamp face spectral bears, fae plots, demon tavern brawls, and a tense conversation with His Majesty’s spymaster Sir Robert Cecil. Will London still be standing by the time they are done?