[quote pid="2954" dateline="1596542914"]
markWait, did you write that poem? That's crazy. Nice job.
[/quote]
Yeah...
Thanks Mark!
Here goes. Note that I may not post as verbosely as this in the future. I'll adjust as the muse strikes me. But for now the muse calls for writing!
Recommended Ambient Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSFbKIW8HGs
(Or listen to this episode on my Queen of Shadows podcast. That's right. I've started an audio podcast of the posts below. If you'd rather listen to yours truly tell this tale with background music and improved / revised episodes, I give you the Queen of Shadows podcast on my Roll, Ponder, and Play site on Patreon.)
Episode 1
Three Years Later...
Eilwen pulled the doe’s body on her sledge across the bridge of ice and into Frostbridge as flurries of snow danced around her. Through the drifting roiling clouds and the snow, she guessed it was a couple of hours until dusk. Then it’d really start to get cold. Winter clung on with ragged fingernails of ice. Some years were like that at Frostbridge.
Frostbridge. Her home. Yet... even though it was home, she had started to feel a certain urgency. The crown...her mother’s death had been three years ago and she still hadn’t left. She pushed it away and thought of other things. She always felt gloomy thinking of her mother’s death, and the strange crown Eilwen kept hidden in a hole under her bed.
She smiled, knowing how grateful Chiefton Mabon would be for the fresh meat. Father would also be pleased, and she couldn’t wait to make his favorite venison stew. It was his favorite and--
Someone ran towards her through the flurries of snow. She squinted against the snow.
Aron? He had grown taller and thicker and more sure of himself. He was handy with his axe and shield.
He jogged towards her shield on his back, axe banging against his hip, snow clinging to his blonde tangles. “Eilwen! Thank the gods you’re here. Father and Chief Mabon are missing! They haven’t come back! We have to help them! No... you have to help them. You’re the best tracker and hunter and... Well, the villagers, they’re all--” He ran a hand through his hair. “They’re all falling apart, arguing about who will be the next one to lead Frostbridge. I’ve tried to talk to them, but-- well. They’ll listen to you.”
“Where did they go?”
“To the south east. They left early this morning and said they’d only be gone two to three hours. It’s going to be dark soon!”
“Why didn’t you go after them?”
Her brother gave her a look that said, ‘Do you really have to ask me that?’
Right. His promise to protect and help her... not her father but her.
She scanned the settlement. A crowd of settlers had gathered at the central space by the chieftain’s longhouse, milling about, talking -- well, shouting really. They were obviously agitated. One old crone, Carys, leaning on her walking stick screeched in her nasal voice, demanding that her husband, Cornick, be the next chieftain. When someone shouted her down, Carys beat him three times in his shins with her stick before strong hands wrenched it away from her. The old woman sat down heavily on a log, cursing and pulling her furs about her tersely.
“Without a chieftain, we have no leader. We have no hope!”
“Where is Mabon. We need him!”
Eilwen pushed through the crowd, and as she did so, the arguing and shouting quieted, replaced by mutters and whispers behind hands. She clambered nimbly atop a log pile and shouted above the gusting wind, letting her hood fall back revealing the face of a woman with glistening raven black hair tied in her traditional utilitarian braid. She brushed it every night; it was one of her secret prides. Once, she even put the half crown in her hair, but instantly felt embarrassed and put it back in the box.
“Hear me!” she shouted over the wind. “I know well that Mabon and my father have not returned from their hunt. But do not lose heart, my friends! I will find them and bring them back. I swear it to you! By the iron in these mountains, in my blade, and in my blood.” She held aloft her iron hunting knife, gripping its blade, feeling the bite of its edge. She felt a familiar thrill run through her. The same thrill she had felt when she vowed to seek the crown.
She would seek the crown. But first, Frostbridge, Mabon, and her father... Her father came first. She had already lost her mother to these lands. She would NOT lose her father. Not while blood still flowed in her veins. But nightfall was coming quickly, they had better get moving.
She leaped down and jogged for the longhouse to get more supplies.
OOC:
I'll be posting how the rules work as I go. Probably mainly to help me understand them. I was hoping there was a block-indent feature to forum posts for this kind of OOC content. I'll post my OOC and rules content as italicized text.
So during character creation, you come up with two starting vows, a background vow and a starting vow. Everything, including character advancement, is built around seeking after and fulfilling your vows.
Her first iron vow was made three years ago, her background vow.
(EPIC) Background Vow / Quest - Reforge the crown and unite the clans under her rule (for this one, the rules say I don’t have to make the Swear an Iron Vow move.
(DANGEROUS) Inciting Quest - This one does require a Swear an Iron Vow move. Find Mabon and her father. See them safely back to Frostbridge. Restore Mabon to power.
Epic and Dangerous are the difficulty or rating to fulfill the vow.
I’ll do her first roll now.
SWEAR AN IRON VOW
When you swear upon iron to complete a quest, write your vow and give
the quest a rank. Then, roll +heart. If you make this vow to a person or
community with whom you share a bond, add +1.
On a strong hit, you are emboldened and it is clear what you must do
next (Ask the Oracle if unsure). Take +2 momentum.
On a weak hit, you are determined but begin your quest with more
questions than answers. Take +1 momentum, and envision what you do
to find a path forward.
On a miss, you face a significant obstacle before you can begin your
quest. Envision what stands in your way (Ask the Oracle if unsure), and
choose one.
• You press on: Suffer -2 momentum, and do what you must to
overcome this obstacle.
• You give up: Forsake Your Vow.
So here goes. Her first Swear an Iron Vow move
Moves are always done with a single 1d6 roll + any modifiers. She adds her Heart stat (+1) and her bond with her family (+1)
8 = 6[d6]+2
A great roll. As good as you can get actually. And now the challenge dice...
19 = 9[d10]+10[d10]
Lame...
So her first roll is get compared against the individual dice of the 2d10s, the challenge dice (which reflects the challenge of starting the quest). A strong hit would be if the 1d6 + mods total of 8 beat each individual d10 rolled.
But 8 does not beat 9, nor does it beat 10. So this is a miss.
On a miss, there’s an obstacle that Eilwen has to overcome and her momentum drops by 2 (and goes to 0 -- the initial starting value was 2).
But... wow. Yeah... not a great start. But she’s a hero and will adapt and overcome!
So, what is the significant obstacle? I don’t have any ideas so I’ll use the MAG. A parrot, balloons, cake, sun, big claws or paw of some creature, big eye, hat, axes, some kind of cannon.
Sounds like while people are preparing for their evening meal, and one or more creatures attack the settlement.
While Eilwen and Aron prepared a few supplies for their journey into the mountains, cutting up meat chunks from the deer and wrapping them in cloth, a massive roar echoed through the settlement, followed by a high pitched scream and then frantic shouts.
“That sounded like--” she spun and held the cutting knife, her heart beating faster.
“A bear,” Aron finished, darting to the door where his axe and shield leaned against the wall. He snatched them up.
“But they don’t attack settlements,” Eilwen said stringing her bow with deft fingers and grabbing her quiver. “Well, not usually. I do know my animals.”
“No time to talk about it. Come on!” Aron said
They darted outside.
The snow had continued to fall, and in the distance, they could make out a huge lumbering form, pawing at something on the ground a hundred paces away.
It was at an intersection between three longhouses. Someone was writhing in pain on the ground nearby, screaming.
A silver-backed bear had attacked the settlement.
She heard other frantic shouts and cries. Some of the stronger and less timid in their settlement began to run outside carrying weapons, mainly spears, staves, axes, and bows. Others bolted their doors, but the truth of the scene told her that the longhouse was little protection against this creature.
Indeed, one longhouse had a side wall that was already shredded through, burning embers of a cooking fire and smoke had spilled out onto the pathway and flames began to lick up the side of the longhouse.
She heard the screaming of children inside.
OOC: This type of bear is normally a rank of Formidable (a rank higher than Dangerous) but that can change when the fight starts based on the situation. Since its attacking a settlement, something bears don’t normally do, and since the settlers are fighting back, I’ll say it drops down to one level to Dangerous. The rating is the only mechanical attribute enemies / creatures have. They don’t have stats, hit points or any of that. Ironsworn uses progress boxes to determine possibly how close we are to defeating the creature. We use ten progress boxes. Dangerous creatures take two boxes for every harm the creature. That means we e mark off 2 progress boxes for every harm we give it.
“Be careful,” Aron readied his shield and axe and crouched beside her.
“You too,” she nodded, and darted ahead of him in a crouch behind a crate that gave her a view of the bar’s unprotected flank. The snow whirled about them. Shooting in the wind was never easy. Too many variables. Blinking the snow flakes away, she set the base of the notched arrow to her bow string, pulled the string to her cheek and sighted down the shaft.
We are now entering combat. This means we perform the Enter the Fray move to determine who is in control. Our starting momentum is 0 because of the 2 that we lost earlier.
ENTER THE FRAY
When you enter into combat, set the rank of each of your foes.
• Troublesome foe: 3 progress per harm; inflicts 1 harm.
• Dangerous foe: 2 progress per harm; inflicts 2 harm.
• Formidable foe: 1 progress per harm; inflicts 3 harm.
• Extreme foe: 2 ticks per harm; inflicts 4 harm.
• Epic foe: 1 tick per harm; inflicts 5 harm.
Then, roll to determine who is in control. If you are...
• Facing off against your foe: Roll +heart.
• Moving into position against an unaware foe, or striking without
warning: Roll +shadow.
• Ambushed: Roll +wits.
On a strong hit, take +2 momentum. You have initiative.
On a weak hit, choose one.
• Bolster your position: Take +2 momentum.
• Prepare to act: Take initiative.
On a miss, combat begins with you at a disadvantage. Pay the Price. Your
foe has initiative.
She is trying to stay hidden and attack at range. So she rolls + shadow.
7 = 4[d6]+3
4 = 1[d10]+3[d10]
She gets a strong hit, wins initiative, and gets +2 momentum. With initiative, she can act instead of react to the fiction.
The bear hadn’t yet noticed her, due to the distractions from the villagers and screams of the wounded. She lets fly.
STRIKE
When you have initiative and attack in close quarters, roll +iron. When
you have initiative and attack at range, roll +edge.
On a strong hit, inflict +1 harm. You retain initiative.
On a weak hit, inflict your harm and lose initiative.
On a miss, your attack fails and you must Pay the Price. Your foe has
initiative.
3 = 1[d6]+2
9 = 2[d10]+7[d10]
It’s a weak hit. It causes damage, but she loses initiative.
Her momentum is currently 2
The arrow flies true, embedding itself in the bear’s side. It roars in pain.
Progress Count 2 of 10.
Does the bear ignore the wounded settler and rush towards her?
(Somewhat Likely | 1[d10]) No, and...
It ignored the barb jutting out from it’s silver-covered hide and sank its jaws into the neck of the fallen. She heard a final writhing scream followed by a sickening crunch, and the settler stopped moving.
She fumbled with another arrow as a bloody maw raises from the white snow. The red and warm pool around the headless corpse steamed in the light of a fallen lamp.
She still doesn’t have initiative she has to regain it somehow from a reaction she takes to the situation.
Does it move towards her now?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
The bear heard the sounds of the screaming children, and with a snuffled roar, it lumbered to the entry way. One of the settlers, Tomi, the stout goodwife of the home, screamed in defiance and stood in front of the burning entryway, her spear held high, flames about her, protecting her own cubs. Desperately, the woman stabbed at it, but she was not a trained warrior like her husband and been, and her thrusts were largely ineffective.
“Go and help her, Aron!”
“No, I will protect you. I will fulfill my prom--”
“Obey me, and do as you’re told! Now go! I’ll help the children!”
Does he go?
(Likely | 8[d10]) Yes
He nodded and then with a roar, charged towards the huge bear.
Eilwen darted behind her longhouse, running up to the reverse wall of the home where the bear was seeking entrance. Slinging her bow onto her back, she pulled out her knife and slashed through the furs, pushing through the frame of timbers, praying she was in time.
Because she doesn’t have initiative in the combat, she’s reacting to an imminent threat on the children.
FACE DANGER
When you attempt something risky or react to an imminent threat,
envision your action and roll. If you act...
• With speed, agility, or precision: Roll +edge.
• With charm, loyalty, or courage: Roll +heart.
• With aggressive action, forceful defense, strength, or endurance: Roll
+iron.
• With deception, stealth, or trickery: Roll +shadow.
• With expertise, insight, or observation: Roll +wits.
On a strong hit, you are successful. Take +1 momentum.
On a weak hit, you succeed, but 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.
On a miss, you fail, or your progress is undermined by a dramatic and
costly turn of events. Pay the Price.
5 = 3[d6]+2
6 = 3[d10]+3[d10]
Nice! 5 beats 3 and 3. A strong hit. +1 momentum (total of 3 now), and with a match (double 3s) on the challenge dice, we get some positive twist of fate.
Eilwen darted inside, and the two small girls yelped when they saw her. But they relaxed when she put her fingers to her lips and motioned them towards her. Somewhat distracted by her entrance, Tomi only barely managed to get the spear up horizontally as the bear snapped its powerful jaws at her. It shore through the spear, the pieces spinning in the air. Toni fell backwards, bruised but otherwise unarmed. Tomi scrambled on hands and knees out the reverse wall after her children.
Then Aron was there, his axe sunk deep into the bear’s flank. The bear was halfway through the side of the longhouse. It roared in pain and spun around at Aron, and the sudden motion snapped the two beams holding up that side of the house. Flaming debris fell on the bear, and scattered across the flow of the longhouse. The home smelled of the damp burnt fur and cooked food.
(I’m going to rule that it suffered 1 harm from the fire and collapsing wood, so 4/10 progress boxes now)
Eilwen seized a red hot poker lying on the floor. Snatching it up in her off hand, she threw herself at the bear’s singed and bloodied flank.
According to the rules of the game, she can’t Strike at it, because she still doesn’t have initiative, but she can Clash with it. She’ll try that.
CLASH
When your foe has initiative and you fight with them in close quarters,
roll +iron. When you exchange a volley at range, or shoot at an
advancing foe, roll +edge.
On a strong hit, inflict your harm and choose one. You have the initiative.
• You bolster your position: Take +1 momentum.
• You find an opening: Inflict +1 harm.
On a weak hit, inflict your harm, but then Pay the Price. Your foe has
initiative.
On a miss, you are outmatched and must Pay the Price. Your foe has
initiative
6 = 5[d6]+1
15 = 5[d10]+10[d10]
6 beats five but not 10 so a weak hit.
She slammed the poker down onto its head and drove her dagger deep into the beast's side.
(Progress 6/10)
She now has to do the Pay the Price move which is basically bad stuff. I choose the most obvious negative outcome.
The bear twisted away, blood streaming down its back, and yanked her long hunting dagger out of her grip. It remained embedded in the bear's thick silver fur. The knife was a simple thing, but it meant a lot to Eilwen. Her father had given it to her the year she turned 16. It bore his and her initials carved into the bone handle.
She still holds the poker, and her bow and arrows, but without a knife, she can't use her sneaky stabby stabby asset.
Is the bear still partially inside the building?
(Somewhat Unlikely | 9[d10]) Yes
She can’t really see what’s happening on the other side due to the fur smoke and flames. She hears shouts and cries from the other side and the roaring of the animal.
Does she see a hunting knife in the room that she can readily snatch up? I’ll say unlikely due to the smoke, flames, and debris scattered across the home.
(Unlikely | 1[d10]) No, and...
The bear twisted, snarled, and a massive claw raked the air in front of her. Eilwen tried to dodge and leap backwards through her slashed opening made just moments before.
Face Danger:
7 = 5[d6]+2
8 = 7[d10]+1[d10]
Nice. That’s a strong hit.
Ducking and sidestepping with grace, she slipped through the opening as the claws smashed into one of the cross beams, snapping it.
Does it follow after her?
(50/50 | 4[d10]) No
How is Aaron faring? Good?
(Somewhat Likely | 1[d10]) No, and...
She spun waiting for it, but it didn’t follow. Through the tattered furs, she saw it turned and rushed towards Aron. It raked a furrow in his shield, and the force of the blow cracked one of the boards and slammed Aron to the ground. Dazed, he rolled in the snow and buried his axe into the bear’s forepaw.
Eilwen dropped the still sizzling poker in the snow in a hiss of steam. Then in a fluid motion, she readied her bow and set another arrow. She moved in a stealthy jog around the side of the longhouse, raised her bow, and sought for an opening, as Aron and other villagers attacked it.
Secure an advantage move...
4 = 1[d6]+3
5 = 2[d10]+3[d10]
A strong hit! She chooses Take control: Make another move now (not a progress move), and add +1 to her next move.
She let fly and her shaft took it in the back of its neck.
Strike move:
5 = 2[d6]+3
9 = 8[d10]+1[d10]
And gets a weak hit
8/10 progress -- It is potentially almost down, but she has to Finish the Fight, a specific move.
It stumbled forward a few paces, its breath coming out in heaving clouds, blood sprayed the snow around it. Spears from the other villagers also pierced its hide, and it thrashed about, screaming in pained rage. She shot another another arrow into its back.
The mammoth wall of fur snarled and scattered the villagers with its massive paw, and it charged towards her! She knelt, sighted down her shaft, wind gusting about her, fur cloak flapping as flurries of snow obscured her vision. Aron shouted and charged after it, his axe raised high. She let it come closer... closer.
She’ll do a Turn the Tide move to steal initiative. She can do this once per fight.
TURN THE TIDE
Once per fight, when you risk it all, you may steal initiative from your foe
to make a move (not a progress move). When you do, add +1 and take +1
momentum on a hit.
If you fail to score a hit on that move, you must suffer a dire outcome. Pay
the Price.
Normally on a foe charging, if you don’t have initiative, you’d use the Clash move. But since she stole initiative with her Turn the Tide move, she’ll use Strike again.
She gets a +1 and +1 momentum if she gets a hit.
1d6+2 for edge + 1 for the bonus.
9 = 6[d6]+3
Nice Action roll! Hopefully the Challenge dice are low.
14 = 4[d10]+10[d10]
Blast! Oh well. A weak hit. She still inflicts harm and gets another momentum (total 4 now) and the beast now has 10/10 progress bars filled. That's as good as it'll get.
Two arrows streaked from her bow in quick succession. One bounced off its skull, but the other arrow thudded into its neck, close to the artery...but not close enough. It barreled towards her, snarling and snapping its jaw, claws beating the air. She tried to dive and roll underneath it to avoid the attack.
She’s lost initiative so has to react to it’s attack.
She’ll do Face Danger move to represent her rolling under it:
6 = 4[d6]+2
5 = 1[d10]+4[d10]
A strong hit!
The beast’s ragged breath was hot and rank as it snapped and clawed at her, but she dodged every blow, diving and rolling under it, coming up in a crouch as it barreled forward and spun around, blood flecking the snow, saliva dripping from is maw.
The rule book says “A strong hit means you succeed. You are in control. What do you do next?” Sounds like I can still act.
She pulled out two arrows from her quiver, waiting for the right moment, and fit both to her bow string. It gave a fantastic roar rearing back on its hind legs, saliva clinging to jagged sharp teeth. Time to finish this. She sets her jaw and shoots.
She's doing a Legolas move there...and will attempt the End the Fight move. At any time she can try to End the Fight but you need to make some progress against the foe. She has 10/10 progress boxes filled. Now all she needs to do is at least score a weak hit on a move.
END THE FIGHT
Progress Move
When you make a move to take decisive action, and score a strong hit,
you may resolve the outcome of this fight. If you do, roll the challenge
dice and compare to your progress. Momentum is ignored on this roll.
On a strong hit, this foe is no longer in the fight. They are killed, out of
action, flee, or surrender as appropriate to the situation and your intent
(Ask the Oracle if unsure).
On a weak hit, as above, but you must also choose one.
• It’s worse than you thought: Endure Harm.
• You are overcome: Endure Stress.
• Your victory is short-lived: A new danger or foe appears, or an
existing danger worsens.
• You suffer collateral damage: Something of value is lost or broken, or
someone important must pay the cost.
• You’ll pay for it: An objective falls out of reach.
• Others won’t forget: You are marked for vengeance.
On a miss, you have lost this fight. Pay the Price.
She’ll do another Strike move.
3 = 1[d6]+2
Well, that is one sour action roll. Drat! She’s sure to fail here as I doubt both challenge dice will be ones.
But we'll see what happens though with the challenge dice.
13 = 4[d10]+9[d10]
Well, this just stinks... She doesn’t have enough momentum to burn to change any of the dice. She has 4 total (the challenge die has to be less than your momentum score). If she had 1 more she could have discarded the 4 challenge die, giving her at least a weak hit.
So she loses the fight and pays the price.
Now I just need to narrate how. I could roll on a table that they provide for Pay the Price but one of the options is to go with what logically happens. I'll do that.
She aimed for the open mouth and let fly, the instant she did, she regretted it. She was a good hunter, one of the best, but two arrows at a time? What had she been thinking? The shot went wide and two arrows whistled through the air to bounce off a nearby boulder. The bear rushed towards her, bowling into her, knocking her over. On her back, she saw teeth and claws. She covered her head.
But then Aron was there with a battle cry! He leaped over her in front of it, his furs and axe flashing around him, clods of snow in his hair. His axe smashed into the beast’s face with his axe again and again. Blood streaming from its face, the bear bit into his already battered shield, shattering it. Aron cried out in pain as the jaws clamped down around his arm.
I’ll say part of the price paid is suffering harm. A Dangerous foe gives 2 harm. Since we're fighting as a group (not just my char) I'll split it up between herself and Aron’s shield. Meaning she takes 1 harm. NPCs helpers don’t have stat or anything like that; so technically applying harm like that is all treated in the narrative for them.
Does the bear carry Aron away?
(Somewhat Unlikely | 5[d10]) No
Then the bear tossed its head and tossed Aron. With a pained shout, he half flew, half stumbled into the burning building.
The villagers gasped and shied back from the bear unsure what to do.
Eilwen, seeing her brother thus treated, forgot the bear and scrabbled to her feet and darted to the building. She had to save Aron! Her family came first.
“Aron!” she screamed and pushed aside a smoldering log, pulling him to safety.
The bear roared once more on its hind legs, then, still pierced in a half dozen places, with her black barbs embedded in its hide, clawed at one of the spearmen, knocking him dazed and prone. Then it snatched up the struggling settler by its powerful jaws, gave another sickening crunch with its maw, and lumbered away into the wind and snow.
Is it a bad burn? (I'll say somewhat unlikely since Eilwen got there quickly)
(Somewhat Unlikely | 4[d10]) No
What about his arm. Is it bad?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
Ahh. I’ll say he’s made himself a set of hardened leather armor. Cool! He's hurt but he should be good in a day or so.
Eilwen pulled Aron to safety. His hair and clothing were singed from the fire and streaks of ash marred his face.
“How are you?” she said.
“Tired,” he said holding his arm.
“How is it?”
“Not bad. Just sore. You?”
She had a minor claw gash down one shoulder, herself, but there was no need to worry him over that. It wouldn’t kill her, though it did burn every time she lifted her arm.
“Let me see,” she said and checked his arm. She saw a hardened leather greave that was nearly torn through, but it had protected him.
“Is this from father?”
“Aye. I’ll mend it tonight. We made it together, he and I, last birthday, remember? That was when he also gifted me the axe and shield. He knew I wanted to be a warrior...” he scratched at his head. “What fool boy doesn’t, eh? I think he must’ve had some black iron from somewhere to trade the peddler last fall to get this, as such tools are not cheaply gained. Of course, the shield is gone now,” he said and gave a sad grimace at the tattered remnants nearby.
“It served its purpose, and I’m glad for it,” she said, gripping his shoulder, giving him a brief hug. “You saved my life. Thank you!”
“As I am duty bound to do,” he said, pulling away with a wince. They leaned on each other as they watched the longhouse burn. He inclined his head in respect and then finished in a whisper “...your Majesty.” Was that reverence or regret in his voice. She wasn’t sure...
She quieted him with a fierce look. “It’s not time for that.”
“As you say,” he nodded.
Is her favorite knife still embedded in the bear’s back.
(Somewhat Likely | 2[d10]) No
She peered after the bear and noticed her knife in the snow near the decapitated corpse. Her knife must've fallen out in the final seconds of combat. She picked up her knife from the snow and sheathed it. “Let’s finish our preparations. We have to find Father.”
---
She had bound her shoulder as best she could while Aron had packed. Now she joined him in the final touches of their preparations. Night was a scarce hour away. A dangerous time to be traveling, but if father were hurt or lost, they’d have to find him soon.
Boots crunched on snow and despite the wind she heard voices.
“...a dark day indeed for the settlement.”
“Aye, we’ve lost Mabon, and now two others dead.”
“Do you think Eilwen will bring Mabon back? The lass seems determined.”
“Bah!” a man’s voice said. “It takes more than determination. You needn’t fear. Some huntress...The girl couldn’t even handle that bear. What help do you think she’ll be to Mabon? Besides, if Mabon were half the leader he claimed, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to get lost in the mountains or...whatever happened to him.”
Fur and cloth did not mask sound well, and she and Aron heard the conversation as a group of men tramped past their longhouse. It was Bevan. She gritted her teeth as she put the final supplies in her pack. Her hands went to her knife. She hated that man! She started to move to the door.
“Ignore him, sister,” Aron whispered, grabbing her arm.
Bevan! He was as slick as an eel on ice with features and manner to match. He was much too fine a person for these harsh lands. Why he decided to take up his lot with Frostbridge she couldn’t ever make out, but his silver tongue could talk circles around most.
Last spring, he had approached her father, asking Eilwen to marry him. When father tossed him out on his hands and feet with a bloody lip, his ire towards her family had only deepened.
The man had also always been jealous of Mabon’s power. Bevan only sought after his own gain and not for the good of the settlement.
The voices continued:
“If it comes back? What then?”
“We still have warriors. Strong men who will be ready if that happens,” Bevan said. “We’ll finish what Cadfael’s whelps could not.”
“What of you and Cadfael’s daughter? Weren’t you going to marry the wench?”
“It’ll be done in its own time,” she heard him say. “She is a fine looking morsel isn’t she... like a ripe fruit in the spring. A succulent youth...”
The voices receded and soon only the wind was all they heard outside their home.
Aron’s face darkened, “I should kill him for you.”
“No. He has friends. He’ll need to be challenged in a formal duel that will neuter any power he has. And I will do it," Eilwen said. "Just as soon as I see Mabon restored.”
I’ll say her vow got a new milestone tacked onto the end to deal with Bevan’s meddlings once and for all once they get back.
“You’re a hunter. I’m the warrior, remember?”
“I’ll learn,” she said. “I’ll have to if I’m to hold onto this,” she lifted her mother’s box onto the table and lifted the lid, shifted the moth-holed covering and pointed to the ruined crown.
Aron’s eyes glittered in the lamp light, as he eyed the shorn gemstone and rent crown. “When will you reveal yourself?”
“Not yet. In fact, we’ll need to take this with us and hide it someplace safe. I don’t like keeping it here. Think what would happen if Bevan found it?”
He nodded, then shifted and leaned forward peering closely into the box. “What’s that?”
There, half hidden under the shorn golden crown, was a medium-sized leather sack.
“Just something of mother’s that she...that she left me,” she finished. But she felt nervous just seeing the sack. She knew what it contained.
“What is it? I’ve never seen it.”
She hadn't meant for him to see it. In fact it hadn’t been in the chest when mother had first revealed the crown to her three years ago. But that morning her mother died, there it was in the box under the crown.
But Eilwen had seen the item before that. Inside the sack was a set of iron discs bound together with an iron loop, and on front and back of each disk were small angular runes etched into the iron. Oddly, the iron bore no sign of the weather. 'Black iron,' the Ironlanders called the precious metal. It was also amazingly light to heft. Thinking of the disks, another memory of her mother surfaced, her finger tracing those symbols, muttering strange words and Eilwen as a little girl reciting them. A strange angry humming on the wind. Mother reading the words to Eilwen, teaching her the symbols. How to pronounce them... shadows creeping in among the rafters, beckoning, drawing closer...
“It’s nothing,” she suppressed a small shiver and shut the lid. Then she picked up the box and put it into the top of the pack. It was most decidedly NOT nothing. But she supposed she would have to become practiced in the words on the disks as well. There would be time for that later. “Let’s hide the box away from the settlement and then find father and Mabon.”
He gave her an unreadable look and then nodded, shouldering his own pack.
OOC: Current Stats:
Name: Eilwen, daughter of Cadfael & Arwed
Stats:
Edge 2
Heart 1
Iron 1
Shadow 3
Wits 2
Health: 4/5
Spirit: 5
Supply: 5
Momentum: 4
markWait, did you write that poem? That's crazy. Nice job.
[/quote]
Yeah...
Thanks Mark! Here goes. Note that I may not post as verbosely as this in the future. I'll adjust as the muse strikes me. But for now the muse calls for writing!
Recommended Ambient Music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSFbKIW8HGs
(Or listen to this episode on my Queen of Shadows podcast. That's right. I've started an audio podcast of the posts below. If you'd rather listen to yours truly tell this tale with background music and improved / revised episodes, I give you the Queen of Shadows podcast on my Roll, Ponder, and Play site on Patreon.)
Episode 1
Three Years Later...
Eilwen pulled the doe’s body on her sledge across the bridge of ice and into Frostbridge as flurries of snow danced around her. Through the drifting roiling clouds and the snow, she guessed it was a couple of hours until dusk. Then it’d really start to get cold. Winter clung on with ragged fingernails of ice. Some years were like that at Frostbridge.
Frostbridge. Her home. Yet... even though it was home, she had started to feel a certain urgency. The crown...her mother’s death had been three years ago and she still hadn’t left. She pushed it away and thought of other things. She always felt gloomy thinking of her mother’s death, and the strange crown Eilwen kept hidden in a hole under her bed.
She smiled, knowing how grateful Chiefton Mabon would be for the fresh meat. Father would also be pleased, and she couldn’t wait to make his favorite venison stew. It was his favorite and--
Someone ran towards her through the flurries of snow. She squinted against the snow.
Aron? He had grown taller and thicker and more sure of himself. He was handy with his axe and shield.
He jogged towards her shield on his back, axe banging against his hip, snow clinging to his blonde tangles. “Eilwen! Thank the gods you’re here. Father and Chief Mabon are missing! They haven’t come back! We have to help them! No... you have to help them. You’re the best tracker and hunter and... Well, the villagers, they’re all--” He ran a hand through his hair. “They’re all falling apart, arguing about who will be the next one to lead Frostbridge. I’ve tried to talk to them, but-- well. They’ll listen to you.”
“Where did they go?”
“To the south east. They left early this morning and said they’d only be gone two to three hours. It’s going to be dark soon!”
“Why didn’t you go after them?”
Her brother gave her a look that said, ‘Do you really have to ask me that?’
Right. His promise to protect and help her... not her father but her.
She scanned the settlement. A crowd of settlers had gathered at the central space by the chieftain’s longhouse, milling about, talking -- well, shouting really. They were obviously agitated. One old crone, Carys, leaning on her walking stick screeched in her nasal voice, demanding that her husband, Cornick, be the next chieftain. When someone shouted her down, Carys beat him three times in his shins with her stick before strong hands wrenched it away from her. The old woman sat down heavily on a log, cursing and pulling her furs about her tersely.
“Without a chieftain, we have no leader. We have no hope!”
“Where is Mabon. We need him!”
Eilwen pushed through the crowd, and as she did so, the arguing and shouting quieted, replaced by mutters and whispers behind hands. She clambered nimbly atop a log pile and shouted above the gusting wind, letting her hood fall back revealing the face of a woman with glistening raven black hair tied in her traditional utilitarian braid. She brushed it every night; it was one of her secret prides. Once, she even put the half crown in her hair, but instantly felt embarrassed and put it back in the box.
“Hear me!” she shouted over the wind. “I know well that Mabon and my father have not returned from their hunt. But do not lose heart, my friends! I will find them and bring them back. I swear it to you! By the iron in these mountains, in my blade, and in my blood.” She held aloft her iron hunting knife, gripping its blade, feeling the bite of its edge. She felt a familiar thrill run through her. The same thrill she had felt when she vowed to seek the crown.
She would seek the crown. But first, Frostbridge, Mabon, and her father... Her father came first. She had already lost her mother to these lands. She would NOT lose her father. Not while blood still flowed in her veins. But nightfall was coming quickly, they had better get moving.
She leaped down and jogged for the longhouse to get more supplies.
OOC:
I'll be posting how the rules work as I go. Probably mainly to help me understand them. I was hoping there was a block-indent feature to forum posts for this kind of OOC content. I'll post my OOC and rules content as italicized text.
So during character creation, you come up with two starting vows, a background vow and a starting vow. Everything, including character advancement, is built around seeking after and fulfilling your vows.
Her first iron vow was made three years ago, her background vow.
(EPIC) Background Vow / Quest - Reforge the crown and unite the clans under her rule (for this one, the rules say I don’t have to make the Swear an Iron Vow move.
(DANGEROUS) Inciting Quest - This one does require a Swear an Iron Vow move. Find Mabon and her father. See them safely back to Frostbridge. Restore Mabon to power.
Epic and Dangerous are the difficulty or rating to fulfill the vow.
I’ll do her first roll now.
SWEAR AN IRON VOW
When you swear upon iron to complete a quest, write your vow and give
the quest a rank. Then, roll +heart. If you make this vow to a person or
community with whom you share a bond, add +1.
On a strong hit, you are emboldened and it is clear what you must do
next (Ask the Oracle if unsure). Take +2 momentum.
On a weak hit, you are determined but begin your quest with more
questions than answers. Take +1 momentum, and envision what you do
to find a path forward.
On a miss, you face a significant obstacle before you can begin your
quest. Envision what stands in your way (Ask the Oracle if unsure), and
choose one.
• You press on: Suffer -2 momentum, and do what you must to
overcome this obstacle.
• You give up: Forsake Your Vow.
So here goes. Her first Swear an Iron Vow move
Moves are always done with a single 1d6 roll + any modifiers. She adds her Heart stat (+1) and her bond with her family (+1)
8 = 6[d6]+2
A great roll. As good as you can get actually. And now the challenge dice...
19 = 9[d10]+10[d10]
Lame...
So her first roll is get compared against the individual dice of the 2d10s, the challenge dice (which reflects the challenge of starting the quest). A strong hit would be if the 1d6 + mods total of 8 beat each individual d10 rolled.
But 8 does not beat 9, nor does it beat 10. So this is a miss.
On a miss, there’s an obstacle that Eilwen has to overcome and her momentum drops by 2 (and goes to 0 -- the initial starting value was 2).
But... wow. Yeah... not a great start. But she’s a hero and will adapt and overcome!
So, what is the significant obstacle? I don’t have any ideas so I’ll use the MAG. A parrot, balloons, cake, sun, big claws or paw of some creature, big eye, hat, axes, some kind of cannon.
Sounds like while people are preparing for their evening meal, and one or more creatures attack the settlement.
While Eilwen and Aron prepared a few supplies for their journey into the mountains, cutting up meat chunks from the deer and wrapping them in cloth, a massive roar echoed through the settlement, followed by a high pitched scream and then frantic shouts.
“That sounded like--” she spun and held the cutting knife, her heart beating faster.
“A bear,” Aron finished, darting to the door where his axe and shield leaned against the wall. He snatched them up.
“But they don’t attack settlements,” Eilwen said stringing her bow with deft fingers and grabbing her quiver. “Well, not usually. I do know my animals.”
“No time to talk about it. Come on!” Aron said
They darted outside.
The snow had continued to fall, and in the distance, they could make out a huge lumbering form, pawing at something on the ground a hundred paces away.
It was at an intersection between three longhouses. Someone was writhing in pain on the ground nearby, screaming.
A silver-backed bear had attacked the settlement.
She heard other frantic shouts and cries. Some of the stronger and less timid in their settlement began to run outside carrying weapons, mainly spears, staves, axes, and bows. Others bolted their doors, but the truth of the scene told her that the longhouse was little protection against this creature.
Indeed, one longhouse had a side wall that was already shredded through, burning embers of a cooking fire and smoke had spilled out onto the pathway and flames began to lick up the side of the longhouse.
She heard the screaming of children inside.
OOC: This type of bear is normally a rank of Formidable (a rank higher than Dangerous) but that can change when the fight starts based on the situation. Since its attacking a settlement, something bears don’t normally do, and since the settlers are fighting back, I’ll say it drops down to one level to Dangerous. The rating is the only mechanical attribute enemies / creatures have. They don’t have stats, hit points or any of that. Ironsworn uses progress boxes to determine possibly how close we are to defeating the creature. We use ten progress boxes. Dangerous creatures take two boxes for every harm the creature. That means we e mark off 2 progress boxes for every harm we give it.
“Be careful,” Aron readied his shield and axe and crouched beside her.
“You too,” she nodded, and darted ahead of him in a crouch behind a crate that gave her a view of the bar’s unprotected flank. The snow whirled about them. Shooting in the wind was never easy. Too many variables. Blinking the snow flakes away, she set the base of the notched arrow to her bow string, pulled the string to her cheek and sighted down the shaft.
We are now entering combat. This means we perform the Enter the Fray move to determine who is in control. Our starting momentum is 0 because of the 2 that we lost earlier.
ENTER THE FRAY
When you enter into combat, set the rank of each of your foes.
• Troublesome foe: 3 progress per harm; inflicts 1 harm.
• Dangerous foe: 2 progress per harm; inflicts 2 harm.
• Formidable foe: 1 progress per harm; inflicts 3 harm.
• Extreme foe: 2 ticks per harm; inflicts 4 harm.
• Epic foe: 1 tick per harm; inflicts 5 harm.
Then, roll to determine who is in control. If you are...
• Facing off against your foe: Roll +heart.
• Moving into position against an unaware foe, or striking without
warning: Roll +shadow.
• Ambushed: Roll +wits.
On a strong hit, take +2 momentum. You have initiative.
On a weak hit, choose one.
• Bolster your position: Take +2 momentum.
• Prepare to act: Take initiative.
On a miss, combat begins with you at a disadvantage. Pay the Price. Your
foe has initiative.
She is trying to stay hidden and attack at range. So she rolls + shadow.
7 = 4[d6]+3
4 = 1[d10]+3[d10]
She gets a strong hit, wins initiative, and gets +2 momentum. With initiative, she can act instead of react to the fiction.
The bear hadn’t yet noticed her, due to the distractions from the villagers and screams of the wounded. She lets fly.
STRIKE
When you have initiative and attack in close quarters, roll +iron. When
you have initiative and attack at range, roll +edge.
On a strong hit, inflict +1 harm. You retain initiative.
On a weak hit, inflict your harm and lose initiative.
On a miss, your attack fails and you must Pay the Price. Your foe has
initiative.
3 = 1[d6]+2
9 = 2[d10]+7[d10]
It’s a weak hit. It causes damage, but she loses initiative.
Her momentum is currently 2
The arrow flies true, embedding itself in the bear’s side. It roars in pain.
Progress Count 2 of 10.
Does the bear ignore the wounded settler and rush towards her?
(Somewhat Likely | 1[d10]) No, and...
It ignored the barb jutting out from it’s silver-covered hide and sank its jaws into the neck of the fallen. She heard a final writhing scream followed by a sickening crunch, and the settler stopped moving.
She fumbled with another arrow as a bloody maw raises from the white snow. The red and warm pool around the headless corpse steamed in the light of a fallen lamp.
She still doesn’t have initiative she has to regain it somehow from a reaction she takes to the situation.
Does it move towards her now?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
The bear heard the sounds of the screaming children, and with a snuffled roar, it lumbered to the entry way. One of the settlers, Tomi, the stout goodwife of the home, screamed in defiance and stood in front of the burning entryway, her spear held high, flames about her, protecting her own cubs. Desperately, the woman stabbed at it, but she was not a trained warrior like her husband and been, and her thrusts were largely ineffective.
“Go and help her, Aron!”
“No, I will protect you. I will fulfill my prom--”
“Obey me, and do as you’re told! Now go! I’ll help the children!”
Does he go?
(Likely | 8[d10]) Yes
He nodded and then with a roar, charged towards the huge bear.
Eilwen darted behind her longhouse, running up to the reverse wall of the home where the bear was seeking entrance. Slinging her bow onto her back, she pulled out her knife and slashed through the furs, pushing through the frame of timbers, praying she was in time.
Because she doesn’t have initiative in the combat, she’s reacting to an imminent threat on the children.
FACE DANGER
When you attempt something risky or react to an imminent threat,
envision your action and roll. If you act...
• With speed, agility, or precision: Roll +edge.
• With charm, loyalty, or courage: Roll +heart.
• With aggressive action, forceful defense, strength, or endurance: Roll
+iron.
• With deception, stealth, or trickery: Roll +shadow.
• With expertise, insight, or observation: Roll +wits.
On a strong hit, you are successful. Take +1 momentum.
On a weak hit, you succeed, but 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.
On a miss, you fail, or your progress is undermined by a dramatic and
costly turn of events. Pay the Price.
5 = 3[d6]+2
6 = 3[d10]+3[d10]
Nice! 5 beats 3 and 3. A strong hit. +1 momentum (total of 3 now), and with a match (double 3s) on the challenge dice, we get some positive twist of fate.
Eilwen darted inside, and the two small girls yelped when they saw her. But they relaxed when she put her fingers to her lips and motioned them towards her. Somewhat distracted by her entrance, Tomi only barely managed to get the spear up horizontally as the bear snapped its powerful jaws at her. It shore through the spear, the pieces spinning in the air. Toni fell backwards, bruised but otherwise unarmed. Tomi scrambled on hands and knees out the reverse wall after her children.
Then Aron was there, his axe sunk deep into the bear’s flank. The bear was halfway through the side of the longhouse. It roared in pain and spun around at Aron, and the sudden motion snapped the two beams holding up that side of the house. Flaming debris fell on the bear, and scattered across the flow of the longhouse. The home smelled of the damp burnt fur and cooked food.
(I’m going to rule that it suffered 1 harm from the fire and collapsing wood, so 4/10 progress boxes now)
Eilwen seized a red hot poker lying on the floor. Snatching it up in her off hand, she threw herself at the bear’s singed and bloodied flank.
According to the rules of the game, she can’t Strike at it, because she still doesn’t have initiative, but she can Clash with it. She’ll try that.
CLASH
When your foe has initiative and you fight with them in close quarters,
roll +iron. When you exchange a volley at range, or shoot at an
advancing foe, roll +edge.
On a strong hit, inflict your harm and choose one. You have the initiative.
• You bolster your position: Take +1 momentum.
• You find an opening: Inflict +1 harm.
On a weak hit, inflict your harm, but then Pay the Price. Your foe has
initiative.
On a miss, you are outmatched and must Pay the Price. Your foe has
initiative
6 = 5[d6]+1
15 = 5[d10]+10[d10]
6 beats five but not 10 so a weak hit.
She slammed the poker down onto its head and drove her dagger deep into the beast's side.
(Progress 6/10)
She now has to do the Pay the Price move which is basically bad stuff. I choose the most obvious negative outcome.
The bear twisted away, blood streaming down its back, and yanked her long hunting dagger out of her grip. It remained embedded in the bear's thick silver fur. The knife was a simple thing, but it meant a lot to Eilwen. Her father had given it to her the year she turned 16. It bore his and her initials carved into the bone handle.
She still holds the poker, and her bow and arrows, but without a knife, she can't use her sneaky stabby stabby asset.
Is the bear still partially inside the building?
(Somewhat Unlikely | 9[d10]) Yes
She can’t really see what’s happening on the other side due to the fur smoke and flames. She hears shouts and cries from the other side and the roaring of the animal.
Does she see a hunting knife in the room that she can readily snatch up? I’ll say unlikely due to the smoke, flames, and debris scattered across the home.
(Unlikely | 1[d10]) No, and...
The bear twisted, snarled, and a massive claw raked the air in front of her. Eilwen tried to dodge and leap backwards through her slashed opening made just moments before.
Face Danger:
7 = 5[d6]+2
8 = 7[d10]+1[d10]
Nice. That’s a strong hit.
Ducking and sidestepping with grace, she slipped through the opening as the claws smashed into one of the cross beams, snapping it.
Does it follow after her?
(50/50 | 4[d10]) No
How is Aaron faring? Good?
(Somewhat Likely | 1[d10]) No, and...
She spun waiting for it, but it didn’t follow. Through the tattered furs, she saw it turned and rushed towards Aron. It raked a furrow in his shield, and the force of the blow cracked one of the boards and slammed Aron to the ground. Dazed, he rolled in the snow and buried his axe into the bear’s forepaw.
Eilwen dropped the still sizzling poker in the snow in a hiss of steam. Then in a fluid motion, she readied her bow and set another arrow. She moved in a stealthy jog around the side of the longhouse, raised her bow, and sought for an opening, as Aron and other villagers attacked it.
Secure an advantage move...
4 = 1[d6]+3
5 = 2[d10]+3[d10]
A strong hit! She chooses Take control: Make another move now (not a progress move), and add +1 to her next move.
She let fly and her shaft took it in the back of its neck.
Strike move:
5 = 2[d6]+3
9 = 8[d10]+1[d10]
And gets a weak hit
8/10 progress -- It is potentially almost down, but she has to Finish the Fight, a specific move.
It stumbled forward a few paces, its breath coming out in heaving clouds, blood sprayed the snow around it. Spears from the other villagers also pierced its hide, and it thrashed about, screaming in pained rage. She shot another another arrow into its back.
The mammoth wall of fur snarled and scattered the villagers with its massive paw, and it charged towards her! She knelt, sighted down her shaft, wind gusting about her, fur cloak flapping as flurries of snow obscured her vision. Aron shouted and charged after it, his axe raised high. She let it come closer... closer.
She’ll do a Turn the Tide move to steal initiative. She can do this once per fight.
TURN THE TIDE
Once per fight, when you risk it all, you may steal initiative from your foe
to make a move (not a progress move). When you do, add +1 and take +1
momentum on a hit.
If you fail to score a hit on that move, you must suffer a dire outcome. Pay
the Price.
Normally on a foe charging, if you don’t have initiative, you’d use the Clash move. But since she stole initiative with her Turn the Tide move, she’ll use Strike again.
She gets a +1 and +1 momentum if she gets a hit.
1d6+2 for edge + 1 for the bonus.
9 = 6[d6]+3
Nice Action roll! Hopefully the Challenge dice are low.
14 = 4[d10]+10[d10]
Blast! Oh well. A weak hit. She still inflicts harm and gets another momentum (total 4 now) and the beast now has 10/10 progress bars filled. That's as good as it'll get.
Two arrows streaked from her bow in quick succession. One bounced off its skull, but the other arrow thudded into its neck, close to the artery...but not close enough. It barreled towards her, snarling and snapping its jaw, claws beating the air. She tried to dive and roll underneath it to avoid the attack.
She’s lost initiative so has to react to it’s attack.
She’ll do Face Danger move to represent her rolling under it:
6 = 4[d6]+2
5 = 1[d10]+4[d10]
A strong hit!
The beast’s ragged breath was hot and rank as it snapped and clawed at her, but she dodged every blow, diving and rolling under it, coming up in a crouch as it barreled forward and spun around, blood flecking the snow, saliva dripping from is maw.
The rule book says “A strong hit means you succeed. You are in control. What do you do next?” Sounds like I can still act.
She pulled out two arrows from her quiver, waiting for the right moment, and fit both to her bow string. It gave a fantastic roar rearing back on its hind legs, saliva clinging to jagged sharp teeth. Time to finish this. She sets her jaw and shoots.
She's doing a Legolas move there...and will attempt the End the Fight move. At any time she can try to End the Fight but you need to make some progress against the foe. She has 10/10 progress boxes filled. Now all she needs to do is at least score a weak hit on a move.
END THE FIGHT
Progress Move
When you make a move to take decisive action, and score a strong hit,
you may resolve the outcome of this fight. If you do, roll the challenge
dice and compare to your progress. Momentum is ignored on this roll.
On a strong hit, this foe is no longer in the fight. They are killed, out of
action, flee, or surrender as appropriate to the situation and your intent
(Ask the Oracle if unsure).
On a weak hit, as above, but you must also choose one.
• It’s worse than you thought: Endure Harm.
• You are overcome: Endure Stress.
• Your victory is short-lived: A new danger or foe appears, or an
existing danger worsens.
• You suffer collateral damage: Something of value is lost or broken, or
someone important must pay the cost.
• You’ll pay for it: An objective falls out of reach.
• Others won’t forget: You are marked for vengeance.
On a miss, you have lost this fight. Pay the Price.
She’ll do another Strike move.
3 = 1[d6]+2
Well, that is one sour action roll. Drat! She’s sure to fail here as I doubt both challenge dice will be ones.
But we'll see what happens though with the challenge dice.
13 = 4[d10]+9[d10]
Well, this just stinks... She doesn’t have enough momentum to burn to change any of the dice. She has 4 total (the challenge die has to be less than your momentum score). If she had 1 more she could have discarded the 4 challenge die, giving her at least a weak hit.
So she loses the fight and pays the price.
Now I just need to narrate how. I could roll on a table that they provide for Pay the Price but one of the options is to go with what logically happens. I'll do that.
She aimed for the open mouth and let fly, the instant she did, she regretted it. She was a good hunter, one of the best, but two arrows at a time? What had she been thinking? The shot went wide and two arrows whistled through the air to bounce off a nearby boulder. The bear rushed towards her, bowling into her, knocking her over. On her back, she saw teeth and claws. She covered her head.
But then Aron was there with a battle cry! He leaped over her in front of it, his furs and axe flashing around him, clods of snow in his hair. His axe smashed into the beast’s face with his axe again and again. Blood streaming from its face, the bear bit into his already battered shield, shattering it. Aron cried out in pain as the jaws clamped down around his arm.
I’ll say part of the price paid is suffering harm. A Dangerous foe gives 2 harm. Since we're fighting as a group (not just my char) I'll split it up between herself and Aron’s shield. Meaning she takes 1 harm. NPCs helpers don’t have stat or anything like that; so technically applying harm like that is all treated in the narrative for them.
Does the bear carry Aron away?
(Somewhat Unlikely | 5[d10]) No
Then the bear tossed its head and tossed Aron. With a pained shout, he half flew, half stumbled into the burning building.
The villagers gasped and shied back from the bear unsure what to do.
Eilwen, seeing her brother thus treated, forgot the bear and scrabbled to her feet and darted to the building. She had to save Aron! Her family came first.
“Aron!” she screamed and pushed aside a smoldering log, pulling him to safety.
The bear roared once more on its hind legs, then, still pierced in a half dozen places, with her black barbs embedded in its hide, clawed at one of the spearmen, knocking him dazed and prone. Then it snatched up the struggling settler by its powerful jaws, gave another sickening crunch with its maw, and lumbered away into the wind and snow.
Is it a bad burn? (I'll say somewhat unlikely since Eilwen got there quickly)
(Somewhat Unlikely | 4[d10]) No
What about his arm. Is it bad?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
Ahh. I’ll say he’s made himself a set of hardened leather armor. Cool! He's hurt but he should be good in a day or so.
Eilwen pulled Aron to safety. His hair and clothing were singed from the fire and streaks of ash marred his face.
“How are you?” she said.
“Tired,” he said holding his arm.
“How is it?”
“Not bad. Just sore. You?”
She had a minor claw gash down one shoulder, herself, but there was no need to worry him over that. It wouldn’t kill her, though it did burn every time she lifted her arm.
“Let me see,” she said and checked his arm. She saw a hardened leather greave that was nearly torn through, but it had protected him.
“Is this from father?”
“Aye. I’ll mend it tonight. We made it together, he and I, last birthday, remember? That was when he also gifted me the axe and shield. He knew I wanted to be a warrior...” he scratched at his head. “What fool boy doesn’t, eh? I think he must’ve had some black iron from somewhere to trade the peddler last fall to get this, as such tools are not cheaply gained. Of course, the shield is gone now,” he said and gave a sad grimace at the tattered remnants nearby.
“It served its purpose, and I’m glad for it,” she said, gripping his shoulder, giving him a brief hug. “You saved my life. Thank you!”
“As I am duty bound to do,” he said, pulling away with a wince. They leaned on each other as they watched the longhouse burn. He inclined his head in respect and then finished in a whisper “...your Majesty.” Was that reverence or regret in his voice. She wasn’t sure...
She quieted him with a fierce look. “It’s not time for that.”
“As you say,” he nodded.
Is her favorite knife still embedded in the bear’s back.
(Somewhat Likely | 2[d10]) No
She peered after the bear and noticed her knife in the snow near the decapitated corpse. Her knife must've fallen out in the final seconds of combat. She picked up her knife from the snow and sheathed it. “Let’s finish our preparations. We have to find Father.”
---
She had bound her shoulder as best she could while Aron had packed. Now she joined him in the final touches of their preparations. Night was a scarce hour away. A dangerous time to be traveling, but if father were hurt or lost, they’d have to find him soon.
Boots crunched on snow and despite the wind she heard voices.
“...a dark day indeed for the settlement.”
“Aye, we’ve lost Mabon, and now two others dead.”
“Do you think Eilwen will bring Mabon back? The lass seems determined.”
“Bah!” a man’s voice said. “It takes more than determination. You needn’t fear. Some huntress...The girl couldn’t even handle that bear. What help do you think she’ll be to Mabon? Besides, if Mabon were half the leader he claimed, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to get lost in the mountains or...whatever happened to him.”
Fur and cloth did not mask sound well, and she and Aron heard the conversation as a group of men tramped past their longhouse. It was Bevan. She gritted her teeth as she put the final supplies in her pack. Her hands went to her knife. She hated that man! She started to move to the door.
“Ignore him, sister,” Aron whispered, grabbing her arm.
Bevan! He was as slick as an eel on ice with features and manner to match. He was much too fine a person for these harsh lands. Why he decided to take up his lot with Frostbridge she couldn’t ever make out, but his silver tongue could talk circles around most.
Last spring, he had approached her father, asking Eilwen to marry him. When father tossed him out on his hands and feet with a bloody lip, his ire towards her family had only deepened.
The man had also always been jealous of Mabon’s power. Bevan only sought after his own gain and not for the good of the settlement.
The voices continued:
“If it comes back? What then?”
“We still have warriors. Strong men who will be ready if that happens,” Bevan said. “We’ll finish what Cadfael’s whelps could not.”
“What of you and Cadfael’s daughter? Weren’t you going to marry the wench?”
“It’ll be done in its own time,” she heard him say. “She is a fine looking morsel isn’t she... like a ripe fruit in the spring. A succulent youth...”
The voices receded and soon only the wind was all they heard outside their home.
Aron’s face darkened, “I should kill him for you.”
“No. He has friends. He’ll need to be challenged in a formal duel that will neuter any power he has. And I will do it," Eilwen said. "Just as soon as I see Mabon restored.”
I’ll say her vow got a new milestone tacked onto the end to deal with Bevan’s meddlings once and for all once they get back.
“You’re a hunter. I’m the warrior, remember?”
“I’ll learn,” she said. “I’ll have to if I’m to hold onto this,” she lifted her mother’s box onto the table and lifted the lid, shifted the moth-holed covering and pointed to the ruined crown.
Aron’s eyes glittered in the lamp light, as he eyed the shorn gemstone and rent crown. “When will you reveal yourself?”
“Not yet. In fact, we’ll need to take this with us and hide it someplace safe. I don’t like keeping it here. Think what would happen if Bevan found it?”
He nodded, then shifted and leaned forward peering closely into the box. “What’s that?”
There, half hidden under the shorn golden crown, was a medium-sized leather sack.
“Just something of mother’s that she...that she left me,” she finished. But she felt nervous just seeing the sack. She knew what it contained.
“What is it? I’ve never seen it.”
She hadn't meant for him to see it. In fact it hadn’t been in the chest when mother had first revealed the crown to her three years ago. But that morning her mother died, there it was in the box under the crown.
But Eilwen had seen the item before that. Inside the sack was a set of iron discs bound together with an iron loop, and on front and back of each disk were small angular runes etched into the iron. Oddly, the iron bore no sign of the weather. 'Black iron,' the Ironlanders called the precious metal. It was also amazingly light to heft. Thinking of the disks, another memory of her mother surfaced, her finger tracing those symbols, muttering strange words and Eilwen as a little girl reciting them. A strange angry humming on the wind. Mother reading the words to Eilwen, teaching her the symbols. How to pronounce them... shadows creeping in among the rafters, beckoning, drawing closer...
“It’s nothing,” she suppressed a small shiver and shut the lid. Then she picked up the box and put it into the top of the pack. It was most decidedly NOT nothing. But she supposed she would have to become practiced in the words on the disks as well. There would be time for that later. “Let’s hide the box away from the settlement and then find father and Mabon.”
He gave her an unreadable look and then nodded, shouldering his own pack.
OOC: Current Stats:
Name: Eilwen, daughter of Cadfael & Arwed
Stats:
Edge 2
Heart 1
Iron 1
Shadow 3
Wits 2
Health: 4/5
Spirit: 5
Supply: 5
Momentum: 4
(Enjoying my content? Want to show your support? Consider joining my Patreon at Roll, Ponder, and Play!)