#the ones from Ironsworn are maybe a bit too...Ironsworn for this game?

[cogitrot]

I've been dipping my toes into Solo RPG and found Iron Valley! I just started my first playthrough today and am almost done with the first day. Took a bit of a break because I'm having trouble moving the story, but I'll get there.

This is Mushroom (though he doesn't have his name yet), my entirely randomly rolled character. He abruptly found himself wandering the wildest parts of the Rosy Bastion arboretum one fine morning with no idea how he got there, where he came from, or what his own name is! He managed to locate the settlement, but unfortunately for him he's been having a really hard time explaining what happened, which isn't very surprising, since it's hard to explain yourself when you don't remember what happened! Probably not helped that the first two townies I rolled (at least the two who are adults and therefore the ones handling this) are both probably the grumpiest and most suspicious characters in the town, maybe. Really! They all really just want answers to the exact same question, but none of them really, really believe that the other guy doesn't have those answers! So they keep asking each other the same questions over and over! And getting the same answers! Over and over! For basically the whole day!

I think I'm going to have Roja, the mayor, finally call it for the night, actually. There's only one tick left in the day and they're all too tired and worked up to make any progress, and Mushroom still needs a place to sleep! They could all use a night, actually! They'll give Mushroom a tent and some supplies because that's what I randomly rolled the town is definitely not set up to house a whole additional adult person out of nowhere! Don't worry, Stranger, they'll give you a really good sleeping bag. They feel kind of bad about this. Only kind of, though. It is a very nice sleeping bag.

Juniper, the farmer whose kid found Mushroom, considers for .5 seconds offering her couch, but like. She's got a kid. She's not inviting strange adults into her house just yet. Sorry, Stranger From The Arboretum, you'll survive one night on the ground. Gran, the kid in question who has been left alone to stew over this juicy new development while the adults all ineffectually panicked in a closed room and rolled the 'romantic' trait: Parental Figure You Have Rescued A Man From Great Adversity. Can You Not See This Is Your Spouse. How Could You Condemn My Future Father To A Night On The Cold Hard Ground.

Mushroom, holding his new tent and sleeping bag and flashlight and some granola bars because he might get hungry or something and a toothbrush and some toothpaste and four (x4) water bottles because that was what the office fridge had in it and zero (x0) answers against his chest and too emotionally exhausted to function at the moment: This Is Fine.

...Oh, cool, I typed my way out of the floundering I was doing. Yay! Off to see if Mushroom finds a good place to sleep or a GREAT place to sleep. Does Mushroom know how to set up a tent? I suppose we will find out. If he rolls a miss he's just going to fall asleep face down on top of the packed up tent somewhere. I wouldn't be surprised at this point; man's had a Day. He'd be fine, probably.

[doycetopia]

Ravenloft Ironsworn, part 9, The Gates of the Castle

The Gates of the Castle

So I’ve been sick for about a week, and finally feeling well enough to get back to Brigitte and Ismark and Ireena. During the break, I spent a bit of time wondering if I missed a chance to swear a vow to Madam Eva – something about breaking the Vistani’s arrangement to Strahd. It’s interesting, because in a ‘normal’ game of Ironsworn I think I would have been quick obvious to do something like that, but with Ravenloft it never occured to me, since the vistani themselves are little more than set dressing (and sometimes a random encoutner) as originally presented.I got stuck in that mindset.

I’m not so far along in the story I couldn’t go back and retcon the vow, but I decide not to – mostly because it’s pretty redundant with other vows i already have going, and because I just have one more ‘open’ vow slot left, and I’d like to save it for something … I dunno. Different. We’ll see.

Now then…

Once again, we continue up the dark, fog-shrouded road, dead leaves crackling under foot. The road splits in two again, after several miles. A narrower road, curving back northeast, continues toward the castle, while a broader track road leads west into the heart of the mountains and dense forest. Cobblestones still show up in patches on both, but neither sees either much attention or traffic, these days.

[Oracle: Do I stick with the cliche thing at the crossroads, from the module? I think it’s unlikely, and the oracle agrees, so we’re tossing the two-horse carriage waiting for us.]

After passing between the nearest peaks, the narrower road takes a sudden turn around the shoulder of granit and startling, awesome presence of Ravenloft itself towers ahead and above. Ismark comes to a stop just in front of twin guardhouses of turreted stone, broken from years of exposure. Beyond these, a 50-foot-wide crevice gapes between the cliff and the walls of the castle, a chasm that disappears into the darkness below. A lowered drawbridge of old, shorn-up wood beams sags slightly between us and the arched entrance to the courtyard. The slack chains of the drawbridge creak in the wind. A rotting wooden portcullis, green with growth, hangs above the entry tunnel.

[Basically this, but with no eye-glowing crows.] Through the gates and on the far side of the courtyard, the main doors Castle Ravenloft stand open. A rich, warm light spills out into the courtyard. Torches flutter sadly in sconces on both sides of the open doors. If I want to go in, pretty much the only way is across the drawbridge, which looks reasonably sound but also like it’s definitely suffering from long years of exposure.

So it’s not a question of where we’re going but how; whether we go in like we were invited, or go quick and quiet and try to get out of sight.

Yeah, DEFINITELY want to sneak in. Yeah I’m also DEFINITELY not going to start things off with that crappy roll, so let’s burn my momentum and get into the castle a little further than the front gates before things go south.

The drawbridge looks a bit rough but it’s more than strong enough for three people walking. Once through the portcullis and into the entry proper, we can either go right up to the front doors of the castle (no), or sort of circle around the castle out in the courtyard and see if I can find an alternate entrance.

Thick cold fog swirls around in this darkened courtyard. Sporadic flashes of lightning lance the clouds overhead, but too far away to cause much thunder. Light rain patters down, sporadically.

Directly ahead, the large main doors of the castle are wide open. Warm light spills from those open doors into the courtyard. The dark towers of the keep loom above in the mists and drizzle.

Ismark eyes the open doors of the castle. “I’m concerned they’re expecting us.” His tone is flat with irony.

Brigitte might be able to explore the courtyard around to the northern side of the castle, where she can see carriage tracks worn into the damp ground, or south and around, which seems to see less traffic.

1 is roughly Brig&co.. 2 and 3 are ways we can circle around the castle. 4 is the wide open front doors.

Brig could also maybe try to get up on top the wall along the walkways, but with the mist and rain, the walls are going to be quite slick and hard to climb.

After a bit of pondering, Brig opts to head south and around the castle (3).

The walls of the castle don’t have many arrow slits or windows in the front half of the side courtyard, and those that do (right off the corner tower) let into a room that is completely dark. It’s impossible to make out anything inside.

A massive wall separates the side courtyard’s ‘front’ and back, (that wall just past #3), and connects the walls of the castle to the outer walls of the keep. That big wall is pierced by a single gate, 20 feet wide, leading through the joining wall. The gate is blocked by a rusting portcullis, which is

[Oracle: Raised? Unlikely. No.]

NOT raised. Brig will have to try to move it to keep going here. Or double back. Luckily, she IS strong enough to give it a try…

[Face Danger, with Iron – I could maybe be using some rules from Delve here, but give me a break, I’m still sick..]

Ugh. -1 momentum kind of sucks, since I’m already down to 2, but I like that better than anything else. “Face a new Danger, hmm? Okay…”

Brigitte strains to lift the massive iron portcullis, pushing it up through the rusting grooves in the gate opening, and (with a bit of Ismark’s help) manages to get it up to about shoulder height – barely – at which point both he and Ireena slip underneath and through, and I try to figure out how I am going to get through and let the gate down without alerting the whole castle to our location.

Ismark and Ireena have backed away from the portcullis to give me room to get under and dive away from the gate, if that’s what I decide to do, and they are both watching me, so they don’t see the hulking, humanoid shadow rise up from the eaves of the castle several floors above us, and drop – silent as a cat on soft grass – into the stone courtyard behind them, it’s broad wings flaring.

Again, my two companions aren’t looking that direction, but with Ismark’s torch raised, high, I can see the looming form of … one of the castle gargoyles, come to life through some horrid magic, and coming toward them!

Brigitte just drops the gate and charges.

original post

[knittedkikwi]

Ironsworn update

Ey, I made progress on my main quest! This was about the only milestone that I had planned, so we’ll see how the rest of it goes. I’m really curious to see if the prompts come up with a cohesive story. So far so good, though. I hadn’t planned for Mira to find out about her magic like she did, but it just worked so well! And now I’ve gotten to fill out the world a little bit more while adding two new quests.

I’m surprised at how easy it is for quests to pop up in this game. I thought it might be every time I get to a new town, look for a problem, but my terrible luck with rolls mean I keep getting weak hits that lead to new problems and it’s super interesting. Anyway, story is below the cut. Summary is down below.

Summary: Mira learns a little more about Mystics and finds out getting to learn from one might be difficult. And expensive. Especially for someone with maybe 1 gold and the world’s emptiest room. Fought with a friend. Made a bond with another friend after accepting a quest. Set out on a journey.

Mira woke up the next morning feeling better than she remembered feeling in a long time. Admittedly, that wasn’t hard when your memory only went back a few months. Still, she should at least be a little sore. Time to see if Sadia could point her in the right direction.

Mira jumped out of bed. She quickly got dressed and checked on Gabriel before heading out to the common room. Sadia was working on something at the desk while the first wave of breakfast patrons started to shuffle in.

“Morning Sadia.” Mira jumped up to sit on the desk. “How’s things?”

Sadia looked at her and crooked an eyebrow. “Get down. Just cause you’re some sort of local hero now doesn’t mean you can treat my desk as your personal throne.”

Mira slid off and leaned on her elbows instead. “Fair enough. Hey, do you remember that mystic that came through town a while back?”

“Jihan? Yeah he comes through from time to time,” Sadia eyed her warily, “Why?”

“I need to find him,” Mira leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper, “I had to fight a mystic in the Wilds. Things were going badly and as a last ditch attempt to turn it around, I used a rune I saw him put on his weapon.”

Sadia’s eyes went wide. “You could read it?”

“Yes. Which both Dotani and Emelyn say most people aren’t able to do. I need to find this Jihan and see if he can help me figure it out.”

“Oh Mira, I don’t know that he can. Jihan is very easy to talk to, but even I can’t get him to explain how his rituals work. All mystics are trained in Baku and have to follow a very strict code.”

“Well, where is this Baku? Maybe I can get training there.”

“Far to the south,” Sadia set down her pen and gave Mira a hard stare, “I don’t think this is a good idea though. Jihan told me about the school once and not only is it dangerous, but it’s extremely expensive. Most mystics come from noble families in larger settlements. They certainly don’t wander out of the Wilds with no memories and no money!”

“I’ll figure it out. There are villages along the way. Maybe I can do odd jobs on the way there and save up a down payment at least.”

“I don’t like it. You’ve already had one run in with bandits and barely survived. There are bound to be more along the road.”

Mira threw her hands up in exasperation. “That was before I knew I could drain the life from someone like some sort of vampire! Sadia, I need to know why I’m able to do this. This could be my first solid lead on finding out who I am!” A cough from behind her reminded Mira that they weren’t alone. She lowered her voice and leaned in towards Sadia. “You said most mystics came from noble families. What if that mean I’m from a noble family? What if I’ve already been to this school and they can tell me where my parents are?”

“And what if you’re not? What if you get there and they have no idea who you are? They’ll probably refuse to teach you and you’ll be too far for anyone in Grimtree to help.”

“Sadia, please,” Mira’s voice broke. Why couldn’t Sadia understand? “Just tell me where the school is. I have to try.”

Saia stared for a moment. Mira had seen that look often in her few months here. Usually it was directed at patrons trying to get discounts or the maids when they were giving some excuse for missing a shift. She felt like Sadia was peering into her soul and it made her want to squirm. But she wouldn’t let herself. She needed to this too badly.

“In the Barrier Islands off the point of Pilgrim’s Landing,” Sadia finally said, “Follow the river road all the way down and then keep going south. There’s a ferry from the city of Longmark that will take you to the island.”

Mira lunged across the desk and pulled Sadia into hug. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Sadia, whose shoulders had climbed up to her ears at the sudden show of affection, reached a hand up and awkwardly patted Mira on the back. “You’re welcome, now please let me go.”

Mira held on for an extra second before taking a step back. “I’m serious, though. Thank you.”

“I know. Promise me that you’ll be smart about this though.”

“I’ll certainly try. I’ll write once I get there and let you know what happens.”

“You’d better. Now go away.”

Mira smiled as she ran back to her room. She spent the rest of the day restocking and repairing her armor. It was a shame Themon wasn’t in town anymore. He probably had some supplies that would more useful on the road. She also took a moment to apply some of the salve Alban gave her to Gabriel’s wing. A few more days and he should be back to flying at least short distances. She should get some more medicine and bandages before she leaves. Time passed quickly as she prepared for her journey.

As with all villages, new traveled fast. Emelyn was waiting for Mira in the common room when she returned from her shopping.

“I hear you’re going to be leaving us soon.” She said.

Mira set her parcels on the table. “Yes, I’m going to Baku. I think they might help me remember who I am.”

“If Sadia can’t convince you to stay, then no one can,” Emelyn stood up, picking up a package off the floor, “I want you to have this. Even the main roads are dangerous to travel alone. This should offer at least some protection.”

Mira untied the cloth surrounding the parcel, revealing a simple, round, iron shield. She looked up at Emelyn confused.

“I used to travel when I was your age. You could say I had a bit of wanderlust. This was my shield. It’s not magical, but it’s far sturdier than the one you brought from the Wilds.”

“Thank you, Emelyn. I’ll take good care of it.”

“I’m sure you will. I have another reason I wanted to speak with you before you go,” Emelyn pulled another, smaller package out of her pocket, “There’s a small town at the end of the river road called Axewick. Could you take this to the priest there?”

“Of course! What is it?” Mira started to unwrap the package, getting a glimpse of a dark metal with bright flecks throughout it before Emelyn answered her.

“A bit of star-forged black iron.”

Mira looked up sharply. “Where did you get black iron?!” Black iron was incredibly rare. Temples to Ferrous typically kept a piece on their altar.

“I asked Themon to keep an eye out for some. Axewick’s altarpiece was stolen a while ago. The priest sent out requests for help in finding a new one.”

Mira rewrapped the package and set it down. Picking up her new shield, she looked at Emelyn.

“I swear to deliver the black iron safely to the temple in Axewick.”

“Thank you, my friend. Please keep us updated on your travels and remember that you will always have a home here in Grimtree,” Emelyn placed a hand on Mira’s shoulder as she spoke, “Safe travels. May Ferrous be your shield.”

Mira nodded and Emelyn left her to prepare. Emelyn spent the evening packing bag and making sure she had everything. She place the axe and sword she’d gotten from her previous adventure in the bottom of her pack. Nothing could ever replace her trusty battle axe, but having backups was always a good idea. Besides, she may be able to sell them once she got to Longmark. Alban had been kind enough to give her some more medicinal salve, bandages, and some willow bark. She’d stocked up on smoke meats and cheeses for the road. Her small room had been sparse to begin with, but it now looked completely empty after half an hour of work. Maybe, when she came back, she’d have souvenirs and new memories. At least that’s what she hoped.

Mira went to bed early that night, her dreams full of adventure. She woke up just as early the next morning and quietly slipped out of town before anyone realized she was gone. With her hand on her axe, she promised herself she wouldn’t stop until she spoke to the Mystics. 

[knittedkikwi]

Ironsworn update

I know I said no more mega posts, but this game is too fun to put down. Have half a mega post instead. Story’s below the cut. Summary is down below.

Spoilers: Mira tracks the gaunts into the Deep Wilds. Discovered they’ve been transformed by a mystic, who plans to do the same to the kidnapped kid. She runs into her elf buddy, they help her fight. She learns she can do magic. Now she’s got to find the equivalent of Hogwarts in a low magic campaign setting.

Mira walked to the edge of town and stared at the forest in front of her. One tree marked the line between the village and the Wilds. It was a gnarled, ancient,ugly old thing. Mira had never seen any leaves on it, despite it being well into summer at this point. The village took its name from this tree. Children were apparently warned never to pass the tree when they played, lest the hollows get them.

Hollows were a myth, but Mira was still hesitant to head back into the Deep Wilds. She knew there were a lot of very real monster’s in those woods and this time she didn’t have Dotani to help her.

“Deep breath, Mira, you’ve got this.” She adjusted the pack of supplies on her back and strode past the tree, towards what she hoped would be a very near herd of gaunts.

She trekked through the forest for a couple of hours. Her cloak was drenched, thanks to the almost constant rain in the Wilds. Daydreams of fires and dry clothes danced through her head. A nip on her ear brought her out of her reverie.

“Ouch! What is it Gabriel?”

The owl looked pointedly at the ground. She had been so lost in thought that she almost missed the signs that something had passed through. She dropped to her knees and took a closer look. There were definitely hoof prints. Gaunts were all over the wilds, so that wasn’t surprising. These were leading away from the village, so probably the ones she needed. She followed them for a few minutes and was rewarded with a single pair of boot prints, small enough to be a child’s. It looked like the group had stopped for a minute. Finding only one set of prints meant Sagura was likely riding on one of the gaunts. Why? Gaunts weren’t typically known for kidnapping. They’re beasts, they don’t have a use for hostages. And they certainly weren’t known for letting people ride them. Something strange was happening here. For now, she just needed to follow the tracks.

She walked for another hour or so before she ran into a surprise. A gaunt hung from a tree, trapped inside a hunter’s net. Mira scanned the area for whoever had set the trap. Seeing no one, she turned back to the skeletal horse. She’d seen gaunts before and found them disconcerting. Now that she’d been in a town, she knew why. Horses shouldn’t have scales or pure white eyes. This one was different though. It had spines protruding from its neck where its mane should have been. As Mira circled around the hanging animal, it lashed out with its hooves. She stumbled back in time and watched as the creature continued to kick towards her, even as she backed away.

“Gabriel, have you ever seen a gaunt react that viciously?” she murmured. The few times gaunts had seen her, they opted to run rather than fight.

“Hooo” Gabriel’s feathers were fluffing up as he shuffled from foot to foot.

“Yeah, I don’t like it either. Something’s changed this one. Filled it with hate. We need to hurry before whatever did this does it to Sagura.”

Mira continued in the direction the tracks had headed. It took several more hours, and a stop to eat and redo bandages, but she finally caught sight of the group. Thankfully there weren’t many. These ones also had spiked manes and seemed more aggressive than normal, but the concerning thing was the people riding two of them. One she could easily identify as Sagura. The other was covered in tattoos and wearing clothing that looked like it had been made from leaves and vines.

“Shit, it’s a mystic!”

Mira had seen a mystic come through town a couple of months ago. Same tattoos, better clothes. The villagers had been equal parts excited and scared. Magic may be real, but it is very rare. Mystic’s were some of the few people who could actually harness it.

“I guess that explains the weird gaunt. We’ll have to be very careful.” She turned her head to look at Gabriel. “I hope you don’t mind, but you are staying far away from this fight.”

An ambush would probably be the best. But how would she sneak up on them? And how could she get Sagura safe first? She needed some way to scout ahead of them. She shadowed them for a bit until she saw them start into a small hollow that she recognized. It was a winding path that narrowed towards the other end. She decided to sneak across the top and set up an ambush at the end.

She moved as quickly and quietly through the woods as she could. She found the area of the hollow she needed. It was more of a gorge really. Narrow with steep walls, the gaunts would be forced to walk single file. Perfect, now she just needed to get everything ready.

“Bud, I’m gonna find a tree for you to hang out, ok?” She whispered. Where was a good place to stash an owl? She moved partly into forest and found a hollow in a tree. It was just big enough for Gabriel to hide and close enough that she could hear him if he needed her. She lifted him inside then turned back towards the valley, only to be confronted by a wooden mask with two luminous eyes staring back at her.

“I didn’t expect to see you back so soon.” A hand pushed the mask up, revealing a handsome, but unearthly face. The eyes were too large, the features too pointed with sallow, green tinged skin that crinkled like dry leaves when the elf talked.

“Dotani! You have impeccable timing, as always. Would you be willing to help me with something?”

“For my favorite enigma, certainly. What do you need?”

This was perfect. With two of them, that mystic didn’t stand a chance.

“A boy went missing from Grimtree. It turns out he was kidnapped by a mystic riding these strange gaunts. I need to get him back. I was going to ambush them when they were bottlenecked in. How about you station yourself on the other side and we take the mystic out together?” She spoke quickly as they walked back to the gulch.

“That sounds like an excellent idea. I assume we are trying to get the boy away from the mystic as soon as possible, then.” Their long, pointed ear twitched as if they heard something. “The group is almost here. Hide.”

Dotani placed the mask back over their face and then jumped to the other side of the gulch easily. Mira pulled her axe free from her belt and got ready to throw her knife.

The gaunts rounded the corner. She took a deep breath and moved into a crouch to hide while she lined up her shop. Her injured leg chose that moment give out. She lurched forward, trying to throw her knife, but it went wide. Even worse, she lost her grip on her axe. It fell to ground, maybe ten feet in front of the mystic. Mira looked at Dotani, who was staring straight at her. He gave a swift nod towards her axe before standing up to take his own shot. Mira jumped to the ground as Dotani let the arrow fly.

The mystic reached his hand up and caught the arrow midair. Mira watched as he drew it back through his closed hand and smeared blood on his forehead.

“I see you, Mira. You are think you are brave, but you’re just as frightened as the day you awoke in that grave. Leave the boy to me and you still have a chance to find out the truth about yourself.”

His voice echoed of the walls, seeming to come from everywhere. The sound filled her mind. Part of her wanted to agree, wanted to run away and focus on herself. Then she thought of Sadia and Emelyn and Alban and all of the rest of Grimtree. They may have been slow to embrace her, but she was one of them now. Which meant Sagura was one of hers.

“You know nothing about who I am,” she replied, picking up her axe and facing him.

He drew a sword she hadn’t seen before and scrawled a rune on it in his blood. As he raised it and charged, she realized it looked awfully familiar. She raise her axe to stop the blade, but felt something sharp pierce her shoulder. Looking down, she saw a dagger sprouting from her shoulder. Sagura had his arm outstretched with a strange, manic smile on his face.

“Dotani, he’s cast a ritual on the boy. Knock him out if you can but don’t hurt him!” She pulled the dagger out and slashed out as the gaunt standing beside her. The animal danced away as its rider brought the sword around for another blow.

Mira got her axe up in time to block and used her chance to slash at the legs of the gaunt with the dagger. A solid blow! The creature went down, but the mystic used her moment of distraction to wrench her axe from her hand. Dotani pelted the man with arrows, but he was too fast. The gaunt took most of them and stilled.

Thunder seemed to sound all around them as Mira realized Sagura was charging at her on his own mount. Mira tried to dodge to the side, but there wasn’t enough room to escape completely. She was thrown to the side as Sagura galloped past and flew into the wall. She shook her head, trying to get the ringing in her ears to stop. She now had an enemy on either side of her. Dotani was managing to keep the mystic at bay for now, but she needed to get Sagura off that gaunt.

She ran at Sagura as he tried to wheel around in the narrow space. Pulling with all her force, she brought him down to the ground. She flipped the dagger in her hand and brought the pommel down on his head. Sagura raised his arm and blocked the blow. He started wrestling with Mira over the dagger. The now riderless gaunt finally managed to turn itself around and started charging.

Mira watched as two arrows sprouted from the gaunt’s side. She continued to wrestle with Sagura for a moment, but the kid played dirty. He reached for her belt and grabbed her own knife. She tried to stop him, but that only gave him the chance to get his own dagger from her hand as well. The enemy had managed to completely disarm her. She hear footsteps rushing up to her.

“Mira, behind you!” Dotani shouted.

She whirled in time to see the Mystic raising her own axe against her. Fuck him! That was her axe! She screamed and threw her weight into his chest, knocking them both to the ground. As they wrestled for the axe, the mystic caught Mira’s gaze. Something about his eyes frightened her. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear.

“You’ll never belong to that town. They don’t know you. How could they when you don’t know you either? You must have committed atrocities in your past to earn the fate you got. Surrender and I’ll end it for you.”

Tears streamed down Mira’s face as she finally got her axe free of his grasp.

“I’m going to make the boy stronger. He’ll never have to face what you have. He’ll be strong enough to avoid it. Humanity will pay for what it did to the Old World and he’s going to help me bring about that vengeance. Starting with you!”

“Shut up!” she screamed. He was right. She didn’t know herself. Humanity had destroyed the Old World. But she wouldn’t let him punish those who had never even seen it. She couldn’t let him turn a child into a monster!

Her axe lashed out with a speed she didn’t even know she had in a desperate attempt to turn this fight around. She swung the axe low and swept his legs out from under him. From the corner of her eye, she saw Dotani jump down and knock out Sagura. Acting on pure instinct, she wiped some blood from her shoulder and scrawled a rune on her axe. The same one she’d seen the mystic draw on his own weapon. She raised her weapon high and brought it down onto his chest. She felt ribs crack and saw blood spray.

Mira watched as the rune that she had written glowed. All of the blood on her axe seemed to disappear inside it as a faint red glow traveled up from the weapon to herself. She could feel the dagger wound closing. Even her leg felt better. The mystic looked up at her with surprise on his face.

“You are one….of us! One of….the magic wielders! Spare me….and I can….teach you….” His breath came in short bursts. She could hear him getting weaker.

“I’ll find a teacher on my own. One who isn’t going to waste their skills taking revenge on the innocent.” She raised the axe once more and brought it down on his head this time.

The forest went still once more. Mira heard footsteps behind her and felt a hand on her shoulder.

“So you can use magic. That’s not something I expected from you,” Dotani’s voice whispered like dry leaves blowing in the wind, “He’s right, you know. You should find a teacher.”

“I know. I didn’t actually expect that rune to work though.” She didn’t even know what she drew. It happened so fast, she let her hands guide her. The frightening thing was that this hadn’t felt like the first time she’d done that.

Dotani turned her around. “I know not how human magic works, but Firstborn cannot even duplicate the rune if they cannot wield it,” he glanced at her axe, “That looks like a bloodstain to me. I see no shape.”

Mira blinked and looked at the rune. It was still clear to her, although it was fading rapidly. “Where would I even find a teacher? I only know one town and the people there practically ran away when a mystic traveled through.”

“I would suggest asking someone who might have spoken to that mystic.”

Mira looked up sharply. “Sadia. She runs the only inn in town. If anyone knows it would be her.”

“Excellent. You have a plan. Now I suggest you go get that owl of yours,” Dotani’s ear twitched, “It sounds as though he is starting to worry.”

Mira ran as fast as she could out of the gulch and back to the tree. Gabriel had hopped out onto a branch and was shuffling side to side as he waited. He started screeching as soon as he saw her.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to drop out of sight, but my leg gave out and I dropped my axe and it all went wrong!” She scooped the panicked owl up and placed him back on her shoulder. He immediately leaned into her, making soft hissing sounds all the way back to the scene of the fight.

Sagura lay on the ground, still unconscious, but now tied up in thick vines. Dotani was nowhere to be seen. So much for having some time to catch up on the way the way back.

“Thanks Dotani!” Maybe he was still close enough to hear. If not, the trees would probably tell him. Mira grabbed the mystic’s sword. She then picked up the teenager with ease and started the trek back home, somehow feeling stronger than when she started.

The journey back led her past the gaunt that was stuck in the net. As she passed, she noted that the spikes had disappeared and been replaced with its typical mane. She set Sagura down and took a moment to lower the animal and release it from the net. As she’d hoped, it immediately sprinted away and back into the Wilds.

“Good to know that the effects fade after death, I suppose.” Gabriel gave a small hiss in agreement as Mira picked up Sagura and headed home.

A frantic woman at the edge of town greeted the group, along with Emelyn. She examined Sagura with critical eye and then gave Mira a surprisingly strong hug.

“Thank you for getting my baby back! You have no idea how worried I was. What happened?” Sagura’s mother still hadn’t let Mira out of the hug, despite the fact that they were probably crushing her son.

Mira sighed as she extricated herself, “A mystic took him.” Sagura’s mother took her son from Mira’s arm and the headed back to town at a brisk pace. Emelyn and Mira trailed behind.

“A mystic?” Emelyn asked. “Like the one that passed through a while ago?”

“No, this one didn’t seem like the other one. He wanted to do something to Sagura so he could help him get back at the Ironlanders for what they did to the Old Country. He’d already transformed some gaunts into more aggressive forms. I think he had started the process on Sagura already. He did something to him to make him fight against us.”

“Us?”

“I ran into an old friend. He helped me fight. Knocked out Sagura so I could focus on the mystic.” Mira glanced at Emelyn. “Do you know anything about magic?”

“I know a bit. Rituals usually require some sort of rune or talisman, though I have seen some use the essence of nature.”

“Could you show me any of the runes?”

Emelyn shook her head. “I’ve never seen any. The one time I saw a mystic cast something, it was like trying to look through fog. I could tell something was there, but not what.”

Mira frowned, “I don’t suppose you know where I could find a mystic?”

“No. Why do you need one?”

“I learned something about myself out there and I think I need one to help me sort it out. I’ll see if maybe Sadia knows.”

“Good idea. She tends to hear all sorts of things from the folks staying at the inn,” Emelyn placed a hand on Mira’s shoulder and turned to look at her. “For now, consider your oath fulfilled. The village is safe, Sagura is back where he belongs. Go rest and speak with Sadia in the morning.”

Mira smiled and nodded. Her bed sounded amazing at that moment.

[doycetopia]

Ravenloft Ironsworn, part 8, The Fortune Teller

The left fork of the road slants upward slightly, heading up into the mountains – it this road up which most of the spirits continue to travel.

The right fork slants slightly downward, toward what looks like the base of the mountains, rather than their peaks.

At the fork, I see Liqa, standing next Reinhardt. They are both staring silently down the righthand, downward traveling path, away from the route the other spirits have taken.

Reinhardt regards the smaller path solemnly, then turns to me. As I approach, the two spirits stare meaningfully at us, but say nothing. They look back at the smaller path, then turn – seeming exhausted – and trudge up the larger road the rest of the spirits have already taken, leaving me at the crossroads, with a decision to make.

I’m heading right. It seems like there are clues to be found there.

Okay.

The canopy of mist and branches overhead suddenly gives way to a clearing, near a wide spot in the river. Dry grass rustles in the wind. Colorful wagons are parked along the banks of a pool. The strains of an accordion mix and a somewhat desultory fiddle mix with the the wind in the trees. Several – perhaps as many as 10 – brightly clad figures surround a large, roaring fire. The seldom used road passes close by this camp.

As I approach, several voices call out “Hale from the fire, join our singing and break bread with us” – a traditional greeting among the mysterious travelers known as the Vistani.

I’m a little surprised to realize they know I’m here, as I’m still far from their firelight, but they seem friendly enough.

As we approach, they wave us in toward the fire and offer bread and a skin of wine. Ismark and Ireena accept both graciously – Ireena in particular seems comfortable with the fireside etiquette – no, that’s not fair – both of them are, but it’s more surprising that Ireena can tip the wineskin and get a perfect stream into her mouth. Ismark seems more the type, I suppose.

I accept both bread and wine, taking what hospitality requires, and ask the vistani why they make camp so close to the castle in the mountains. (The pool next to their camp lies near a waterfall that tumbles from the heights above, and Ireena glances at it often.)

They shrug it off a bit. “we know how to stay safe from night creatures,” they say, but at the same time none of them look up at the high cliffs where the castle looms far overhead.

“Also,” one adds, poking the fire and not looking at us directly, “Madam Eva told us we might have visitors tonight… If you are willing, she wanted to speak with you.”

They nod in the direction of one of the wagons. Not the largest, but the most brightly painted.

We spend a few more minutes with the Vistani, so as not to seem rude, then I use the lateness of the hour as an excuse to visit this Madam Eva quickly.

[Spooky fortune teller! Check off another Bingo box for creepy fantasy story]

Madame Eva doesn’t even look up when I enter the shrouded door of her wagon. She is shuffling and dealing an oversized deck of cards onto the small table in front of her.

[Gather Information – a strong hit, which I’m going to let ride throughout this scene, since it’s potentially chock-a-block with information both explicit and vagued-up.] “They said, at the fire, you wanted to talk with us,” I say.

“They lied to you, at the fire.” She glances up and catches my expression. “Oh, not about that, I did want to talk to you – all of you.” She shakes her head. “But the reason we don’t have to worry about von Zarovich is because some of our people do his bidding and have insured – they believe – the Family’s safety from his other minions.”

She makes a show of miming spitting to the side in disgust.

“Do they really believe he will leave your Family alone?” I ask, trying to seem unperturbed at being surrounded by enemies.

Eva shrugs. “He has, for several Generations. We are… useful… to him.” Again she looks disgusted.

Her eyes flicker up to us again, then the cards. “But I can see you will attempt to bring the monster down, and I would offer you what guidance I can,” she says, gesturing to the cards spread in front of her, and the stools on your side of the table.

“You view the future?” I ask, easing onto the leftmost stool. “I’m assuming in vague bits and pieces that we’ll understand only too late.”

She shrugs again, unoffended, while Ismark and Ireena join me. “The images I see are often incomplete, but combined with wisdom and insight and…” she smirks “a little bit of luck, they can help you.”

I tilt my head toward her. “Well, I appreciate any help I can get.”

“Excellent.”

She gathers up the cards, shuffles them, and has me cut the deck before she begins to deal out an array. She lays five cards out, face down, then slowly turns each over and studies each one before speaking.

“These may tell you more of the things you seek, and whisper what the monster’s ultimate goal might be…”

[And thus a new Oracle enters the game – the famous/infamous fortune telling straight from Ravenloft – I6. Sorting this draw out took QUITE a while.]

She indicates the first card… “This card represents an object of great power – a powerful force for good and protection against the forces of darkness. It is in a place of tranquility, a harbor for the mighty and powerful; a place of wisdom, warmth, and despair. Great secrets are there.”

Ireena whispers “fathers holy symbol that was stolen.”

I nod. “That’s what I was thinking”

Madam Eva taps the next card.

“This card is good for you. It is a card of power and strength; the victor’s card. it tells of a weapon of light – a weapon with a vengeance. You may find this amid the ruins of a place of supplication and prayer.” Istvarr: “Well… that sounds… Promising.” he winks.

I rock my head left to right. “I’m not getting my hopes up.”

Madam Eva taps the next card.

“This card speaks of history. Knowledge of the ancient may help you understand your foe.” “This knowledge lies in the Monster’s mother’s place.”

Istvarr makes a face. “Probably that book the priest was yammering about.”

I nod. “Maybe.”

“I don’t fancy digging around his mother’s four-hundred year old unmentionables looking for it.”

Ireena rolls her eyes.

Next…

“This is the object of your search – the monster! Ah! I see darkness and evil behind this card! A powerful man whose enemy is light, and whose powers are beyond mortality.” She closes her eyes, concentrating. “A king’s throne is the place to find him.”

“Subtle,” Ismark says.

“The cup indicates there is a very good influence there. If you are there, the powers of good will aid you.”

It does not surprise me to hear count Strahd would surround himself in the symbols of royalty. It does surprise me to hear some hint that he may be at a disadvantage in that place. [Making a note in case we face off in some kind of throne room.]

And finally….

Eva’s eyes are still closed when she reaches out and touches this card. “And here is the root. The reason and foundation for darkness and chaos. This card shows the purpose of all things. It is the key to life and death and beyond.” Her eyes open, wide. “The darkness loves a light and desires it.” She looks at Ireena, who pales. “Great plans are in motion about you; plans that the dead may find warmth from the living.”

“Like hell,” I mutter. I study the cards for a minute, then stand. “Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us, but if you don’t mind, we’ll be on our way.”

“My people do not all feel as I do about the monster in that castle” Madam Eva says, as I step toward the door of wagon. She is not nearly as old as I’d first assumed. “Many simply ignore him. Some serve him. You may encounter them when you reach the castle, or even before; I cannot say.” Her jaw clenches, her dark eyes bright. “But know that some that oppose him, and I am one of them, and I hope this helps you as much as it can. You and your friends,” she says, looking mostly at Ireena.

The ghosts are gone well ahead by the time we return to the main road.

[And with that, I’m marking off milestones for a couple different vows related to Strahd. Lots of information – here’s hoping we recognize it when it’s useful.]

One of the things I find really cool about how Ironsworn is interacting with Ravenloft is the list of ‘stuff’ that this card reading lays out for me. In the original module (and in World of Dungeons), these are your basic magic weapons or holy symbols with bonuses to specific foes or turning undead or whatever. That’s fine. In Ironsworn, on the other hand, this event basically lays out a road map for acquiring stuff that will make beating Strahd achievable. I mean, I’ve set him and the related quest up as Epic, and without boring everyone I’ll say that a 1v1 versus an Epic foe is pretty much a self-inflicted death sentence.

However, it’s very straightforward in Ironsworn to say “this thing lowers the threat level of [particular thing or category of thing]”, so if you get [magic weapon] and [holy symbol] and [fight the guy in this one blessed location], you can, through significant prep work (all of which conveniently advances the quest itself), get the Big Boss Showdown to something manageable, which in every version of the game (DnD, WoD, Ironsworn, whatever) is the point of the stuff in the first place.

It’s just really… neat.

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[doycetopia]

Ravenloft Ironsworn, part 6, Gooooo-ing to the Chapel and We’re… Goooonnnna get Buried…

Okay, we’re heading to the northwest part of the village, E5 and E6, the church and cemetery. Sounds peaceful.

Now, not to be too much of a gamer about it, but the thing is, I’m pretty sure the only way to get XP in the game is to make and complete Vows. “Free all of Barovia from Strahd” is epic and all, but it’s not going to be meat on the table any time soon, if ever. I need to keep doing small things – side quests, if you like.

So: a troublesome vow to bury the Burgomaster. On the one hand “har har, you have to carry him allll the way across town, what a big tough adventurer you are”, but on the other, the job is exactly as tough as I choose to make it – I can elide through pretty much everything else that happens in town and just get to the road up to the castle in about a paragraph, but I don’t learn or gain anything from that, so why not have some fun with this stuff?

Anyway, I swear the vow:

Which is good. My goal is clear. No complications like “we can’t bury him here – it’s not hallowed ground anymore!” or whatever. And hey: +2 momentum brings me to the max of 10, so wooot.

I see myself and Ismark walking slowly up the street toward the church, at either end of a bier. Ireena flanks us, pensive but resolved.

Since this is actually attached to a vow, I need to make some kind of progress here, and that means challenges. The first thing I imagine is the possibility of more interference from the village – either more superstitious, angry villagers (they wouldn’t help bury their Burgomaster in the first place, maybe they don’t want to see him buried at all, for fear it will make Strahd angry), maybe some vistani, or even something worse. We’ll see.

To reflect that, I’ll Face Danger (Ironsworn’s catch-all move for “I’m doing something generally risky for which there isn’t a better move) using Heart (loyalty, courage) as we carry the dead man through town in front of pretty much everyone.

I’m feeling pretty good about this – the challenge was strong, but I overcame. (I’ve been pondering moving Brigitte’s stats to the “challenging” stat array (4,3,3,2,2), as some folks have suggested, but so far this session the dice are making me feel silly for worrying about it.

I mark three boxes on the vow, but other than that, benefits to me are kind of slim, since I could get 1 more momentum, but I’m maxed out.

Atop a slight rise stands a gray, sagging edifice of stone and wood. This church has weathered the assaults of evil for centuries on end and is worn and weary. The bell tower hangs to one side, its strident call long silenced. Flickering light shines through holes burned through the roof shingles. The rafters strain to maintain their burden.

The church interior is a shambles, with overturned and broken benches littering the floor. At a claw-scarred altar toward the far end is the priest.

Donavich has apparently been praying and chanting throughout the night for weeks. He spends each night, every night, warding off evil from his church, and has fallen asleep against the altar.

So I need some information from this guy on several topics. I’m going to Gather Information (+1 for the community Bond) and play from there:

Oy. Okay, my dice are mayyyybe saying I should change my stat array. Whatever. I don’t want to snag the story at this point on this guy, so I’m going to burn my momentum to get a strong hit instead of a miss.

This works for me, since I imagine him not being too enthused about our plans – it takes a lot of energy to convince him to help us out at all and, thus, be involved. Cool.

When woken, introductions made (his voice is hoarse and weak), our intentions explained, and our will convincingly conveyed (until he finally stops trying to talk us out of “this madness”) he shares the following…

There is a book in Castle Ravenloft’s library (“At least it was held there at one time…”) that might help destroy the devil Strand. It is well known from ancient times that Strahd kept meticulous notes on all that he did or said. “Perhaps some weakness of his may be found there.”

The burgomaster’s holy symbol? Well, he certainly doesn’t have it, but he was shown it a number of times – a golden disk with a stylized Sun design. “An ancient thing, from distant lands – no one even knows how it came to be this far north.”

It’s possible the book of history he mentioned will explain such things – he seems a bit fixated on the idea of the thing.

Probably the thing he’s least enthused about, except for the “storm the monster’s castle” thing, is burying the Burgomaster while night is coming on. I’m going to try a fairly gentle compel, with Heart…

“The moon is rising soon!” he says.

“I’ve never minded the moon,” I reply.

He eyes the door leading to the churchyard, shaking his head fretfully, his hands trembling.

I lay a hand on his shoulder, relenting. “Don’t trouble yourself about this, Brother Donavich,” I murmur. “I know the words to say, well enough, and I’m sure Ireena and Ismark know the way to the family plot. Have you proper tools for the task? I’ve only a camp shovel…”

Maybe it’s the idea I’m letting him shirk his duty to the village. Maybe it’s asking for the tools. Maybe it’s just the pity in my eyes, but the firmness comes back into his eyes and jaw. “No. I mean, yes, they’re in the caretaker’s shed, but no… I’ll come with you. Let me get my things. Let it be done correctly and well and bravely, for a brave man.”

I’m going calling that another milestone on a troublesome vow.

Finally, and quite simply, I’m going to Face Danger (with “strength and endurance, so +iron) while digging the grave and putting the Burgomaster to rest. The day is passing, the moon is rising, and Things Might Happen, so let’s see how it goes.

Okay, a weak hit, “Face a troublesome cost.” Choose one.

You are delayed, lose advantage, or face a new danger: Suffer -1 momentum.

You are tired or hurt: Endure Harm (1 harm).

You are dispirited or afraid: Endure Stress (1 stress).

You sacrifice resources: Suffer -1 supply.

Fine. I’m going to go with Enduring Stress (-1). My following Endure Stress roll is another weak hit, which effectively does nothing. I “soldier on.” Here’s what happened to cause the stress:

As we conclude the burial ceremony, I see something terrible and unexpected. The moon has risen, and its light catches faint outlines of people — an assemblage fading in and out of view at the gates of the graveyard. They seem to be… Waiting. Either calmly, or resigned.

Donavich sees the direction of my stare, though he does not look himself. “They do this every night,” murmurs the priest. “Almost a hundred souls. They assemble, then, at midnight, walk the road that leads to the castle.”

“That is terrible,” I mumble.

But what is more terrible – I recognize one of them.

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