Episode 2 - Scene 2 "Rocking The Stone"

Once the creature crossed the threshold, Valentine instinctively reached for his sword, hoping that his mediations had paid off. He realised seconds later, however, that he was still unprepared to channel its power. Groaning in pain, he dropped it just as quickly as he'd picked it up, in time to see Joshua draw his own sword and charge. His guard landed a mighty strike, cutting right through its ill-fitting suit jacket. It was a slice that would've brought an ordinary man to his knees, but the pseudo-golem was unfazed and struck Joshua with a stony clenched fist, square in the chest, sending him flying.

Without his sword, Valentine suspected he was pretty useless but he had to try, so he threw himself at the creature, punching it in its abdomen with superhuman strength. It hurt like hell but he heard the encouraging sound of stone cracking. The construct didn't seem to care about any damage it had suffered, however, and threw him hard against the wall. Before he could get up for another attack, Pri picked up the Sword of Kings and launched at the being, bringing a clumsy strike right down on its head. Its magic rocked the creature but Pri had neither the tactical nous nor the wherewithal to keep up the pressure and, before he could intervene, it struck her hard in the stomach. She cried out in pain and Valentine roared in anger.

The pseudo-golem swivelled its head in an instant upon hearing the supernatural edge to his voice and he knew what he had to do. He concentrated hard, leaning on countless memories of the act, and brought his beast to the fore. As soon as it saw his cat's eyes, the energy giving it a vague approximation of life fizzled out and it crumbled. Still as much beast as man, the Lionheart ran to Pri and held her. 'Are you hurt?'

She leaned her forehead against his chest and gripped him tightly, saying, with a strained voice, 'I'm fine.'

Notes:

I set the expectation for this scene as "ambush the golem," but rolled a 5 against the Chaos Factor, leading to an "altered scene." I then got a 5 on the scene adjustment table, which meant "Remove An Object." My mind, obviously, went to the Sword of Kings, since it had just been "added" in the previous scene. Confirming my thoughts, I rolled a 3 on "Destiny's Plaything" for Valentine, which I should've rolled for at the very start, indicating that "something bad" would happen to him (he also got to mark experience). It seemed to fit that the bad thing would be failing to wield the sword, and it would at least vaguely fit the "Remove An Object" idea.

I, then, had Joshua make a "Kick Some Ass" move, rolling a 1 and a 5, added to his Tough, giving him an 8, with an extra harm from his "Ancient Fighting Arts." He took two points of harm and the golem took three. I gave the creature the ability to deal two points of harm per attack, with the ability to sustain ten points of harm, because I thought it fit a slow, stone, creature to be a damage-sponge but not all that deadly.

Valentine then made a "Kick Some Ass" move, rolling a 6 and a 3, which, with his Tough, came out as an 11. Without his sword, I decided he just does one point of harm, plus another for the high roll, taking one point of harm in return, reduced from two thanks to his "Resilience," though I actually think I've misunderstood how that works. Priyanshi's "Act Under Pressure" move benefitted from "I've Read About This Sort Of Thing," which let her roll Sharp instead of Cool but it didn't matter in the end. She rolled a 3 and 4, with her Sharp getting her a 9 overall but the rules allowed me to design a "worse outcome" for her.

The idea of having her get hurt, thus causing Valentine to let his Beast loose, then immediately came to me. I didn't use any mechanic for this since the system isn't really designed for it (at least as far as I can tell) and, also, because I want him to be treated differently than the other characters by the narrative. He is the Chosen One, after all. Finally, I increased the Chaos Factor from 5 to 6 at the end of this scene, though I'm still unsure what exactly counts as a scene being in-control or out-of-control.