Passage
Cold open 20 · a night of deck games on the crossing, with Nonne in the middle of them and the mate keeping score
At a Glance
- Who’s in it
- Nonne, playing his past self. The DM voices Piers Godwin, Cole, the mate and the crew. Trill, Haxami and Marellius watch.
- When
- The crossing to Ehn aboard the Ferryman’s Patience, several days in. It ends close to the day, not on it. Before the shore and The Wreck in time.
- Running order
- Nonne’s cold opens run backwards. This runs after The Shore, so the table has already seen Cole dead.
- Status
- Rebuilt 2026-10-12 as deck games. Boxes not written yet.
- Runs
- Five to ten minutes
- Boxes
- Four, numbered below
- Rolls
- The opening throw, the masthead race, the arm-wrestle, Insight, and Perception (the reach)
- Reveals
- Godwin was Nonne’s friend. The mate had a grudge, and it started on this deck.
Behind the screen
Hester Ashby’s cask is in the hold for the whole crossing. Nothing in this scene shows it or hints at it. See candidate G.
Cole steals on his own. Nonne did not teach him (Jack, 2026-10-12). The mate’s grudge is why the beating on the day goes as far as it does.
The second self is around, as in every Nonne cold open. Where and how is the DM’s call at the table.
The opening
The opening line
You’re throwing.
Right away, to Nonne: DC 12 Sleight of Hand or Athletics, player’s choice — how well his knife hits the mark chalked on the mast. Then read box 1.
Read-aloud 1 — the deck at night
Not written yet.
What happens
Beat one — the games
A crew night on deck: knife-throwing at the mark, a race to the masthead, arm-wrestling on a cask head. Cole runs the bets. The crew dare the passenger to join in; the player decides what Nonne enters. Godwin cheers loudest. Roll Insight when Godwin first talks to him, then read box 2.
Read-aloud 2 — Godwin
Not written yet.
If Nonne takes the masthead race, it is against a topman. The dice decide who wins.
Beat two — the mate
The mate challenges Nonne to arm-wrestle, in front of the crew. The player decides whether Nonne accepts. If he does, the dice decide who wins. Read box 3 at the cask head.
Read-aloud 3 — the cask head
Not written yet.
Whatever happens, the mate leaves the deck sore: beaten by a passenger, turned down by one, or watching the crew collect on bets Cole took against him.
Beat three — the close
Late, after the games. The mate is in the stores with a lamp, counting. Roll Perception, then read box 4. Stop there, close to the day.
Read-aloud 4 — the count
Not written yet.
What’s rolled
On the sheet in front of him. The race and the arm-wrestle are decided by the dice, if the player takes them.
| Who & what | DC | Success carries | Failure carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonne — Sleight of Hand or Athletics the opening line |
DC 12 | The knife sticks in the chalk and the crew roar. If it carries: a Dream Inspiration die. | The knife clatters off the mast and the crew laugh. If it carries: 1d4 damage on waking, and a mark that never goes away. Which mark is still open. |
| Nonne — masthead race (Athletics or Acrobatics) beat one, if he takes it |
Contest | Against the topman. Higher roll touches the truck first. | The topman is there first and lets him know it. |
| Nonne — Insight beat one, before box 2 |
DC 12 | Texture: he reads Godwin as kind, nervous and lonely. | He takes Godwin for one more passenger who wants to be seen with the strong man. |
| Nonne — arm-wrestle (Athletics) beat two, if he accepts |
Contest | Against the mate. Higher roll puts his arm down. | The mate puts his down, and says something about passengers. |
| Nonne — Perception the reach, beat three |
DC 14 | A fact carried out: the mate’s tally marks, and his face as he counts. Nonne would know him again. | The mate was there and went unremarked. Serrin, who has read this memory, has seen him. Nonne has not. |
What it reveals
Godwin was his friend. The man in the forepeak in The Wreck liked him before he feared him.
The mate’s grudge. It started on this deck, and Cole was standing in the middle of it.
Still open
Decide before you run it — none of these are invented here
The four boxes. Jack writes them.
The failure mark on the opening check.
The mate’s name, and Cole’s age.
Where the second self stands. Decided at the table.
New facts this page adds. The ship is the Ferryman’s Patience. The chore boy is Cole. Godwin studies tides and currents. The mate held a grudge from a night of deck games. All Fluid until played; Before the Shore leaves the ship’s name and the boy unwritten and is not changed.