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 What is Ironsworn? Ironsworn is a set of free rules for a tabletop RPG. It can be played in the typical manner (i.e. with a gamemaster guiding other players like any other pen-and-paper game), but it's noteworthy for its emphasis on facilitating solo and coop play without a GM. How do you play an RPG by yourself without a GM? Lots of ways! There's the old-school 'Fighting Fantasy' type novel. These are essentially CYOA-books-with-extra-steps. Others use decks of cards (custom, playing cards, or tarot), journaling, or rolling dice against tables of possibilities. Ironsworn falls in the latter category. These are all discussed in the solo RPG thread. In this game, we'll start with a set of basic assumptions about our world, a handful of bonds indicating our character's pre-existing relationships, and at least two vows with which to motivate our adventure. One vow will be a long-term quest, while the other more of an immediate situation which motivates us to start right now. We'll use those basic facts as writing prompts. At each branch of the story we'll discover what happens next through a combination of thinking about our assumptions, what seems most likely, and 'consulting the Oracle' -- dice-driven tables we'll roll against whenever we have questions. I don't intend this to be a CYOA thread, but I do welcome any comments, corrections, or suggestions. What's this about Earthdawn then? Earthdawn is a game and setting published in the early 90s by FASA Corporation of Shadowrun and BattleTech fame. Earthdawn is sort of the Warhammer Fantasy to Shadowrun's Warhammer 40,000, i.e. the fantasy counterpart to the more famous futuristic sci-fi setting (which kinda-sorta-maybe takes place in the distant past of the same fictional universe as said sci-fi future). Earthdawn is my "white whale" of tabletop gaming. I inherited the books in my early teens from an older neighbor when he went off to the army, and ever since I've been collecting them and reading the fluff, but have never really understood its systems or convinced anyone else to actually play it with me. I plan on using Earthdawn's lore as loose inspiration for this game of Ironsworn.  Earthdawn is a post-apocalyptic high fantasy focused on a land called Barsaive. The overall level of magic in the world of Earthdawn waxes and wanes like the tides of the ocean over millennia. When the 'tide' was most recently at its highest ebb, a period called "The Scourge" happened. The Scourge was a predicted 500-year period during which high levels of magic allowed Lovecraftian beings called Horrors to leave their homes on the astral plane and freely enter normal reality. To survive it, the sentient races (dubbed 'Namegivers' in Earthdawn) of Barsaive built various magical bunkers and sheltered-in-place. Now, almost 100 years earlier than expected, the Scourge seems to be ending, and the lockdowns are lifting. Is it really safe to reopen, and return to the world outside? If this isn't a CYOA game, why post here? I actually started this game on my own Discord last week, but soon realized that I wished I had a larger potential audience for all of this writing I was doing. I totally understand if you don't want to read me rambling to myself, especially when I'm not asking for audience participation, but the fact that someone besides my own family might read and enjoy it is sufficient motivation for me to keep writing it even if no one actually does. With all that being said, I'll get started turning this into an actual game.
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May 30, 2021 16:19
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I played the hell out of Earthdawn back in the day, so I'm curious to see where this is going.
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May 30, 2021 16:39
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Part One: Character Building and Assumptions Name: Eris Stats: Edge (Quickness, agility, and prowess in ranged combat): +1 Heart (Courage, willpower, empathy, sociability, and loyalty): +2 Iron (Physical strength, endurance, aggressiveness, and prowess in close combat): +3 Shadow (Sneakiness, deceptiveness, and cunning): +1 Wits (Expertise, knowledge, and observation): +2 We will also track our Health (physical status), Spirit (mental health), and Supply (an abstraction of our rations, ammo, water, etc). These all start at +5. Our final stat will be Momentum, which represents our fortunes so far. Good luck and success will build our Momentum, which we can spend later to influence the odds in our favor. Momentum starts at +2 and builds to a (current) max of +10. As we go along we might accrue various Debilities such as wounds, banes, and burdens, but at the start we don't have any of those to worry about. Assets A character in Ironsworn starts the game with their choice of three Assets. These are analogous to familiars, character classes, talents, and spells in other games. For this game I've chosen:    Bonds Bonds represent narrative connections to people and communities in our world. Our progress in advancing these bonds will serve as a sort of 'high score' at the end of the game, but in addition to flavor, bonds also provide mechanical benefits within the game when our character acts in ways that affect those connections. The game recommends we start with three bonds and corresponding 'ticks' on the Bond progress track: - Our home village of Lostwater. This is the kaer (magical bunker) in which Eris was born and lived all her life thus far. - Our youngest brother, Izan, who has recently become extremely ill with dysentery-like symptoms. - The Kingdom of Throal. Recently, nearly a year after Lostwater's sage first read the signs that the Scourge might be ending, a messenger claiming to be from Throal appeared outside Lostwater delivering a copy of its Council Compact proclaiming independence and abolition from Theran dominion and slavery, proclaiming the Scourge ended, and the kingdom reopened. The messenger was not admitted into the village: most of Lostwater's inhabitants doubted the truth of his words, and many suspected it as a ploy of the Horrors. Eris, however, was filled with the possibility of freedom from the underground bunker, and the possibilities of a free Barsaive. Vows - "I will convince the elders of my village to open the kaer and join with Throal in their work to rebuild a free Barsaive." Rank: Epic - "I will find a cure for my brother's illness." Rank: Dangerous Equipment Ironsworn doesn't bother asking us to note and track every inch of rope and water bottle in our inventory -- these are abstracted in the Supply stat noted above -- but simply to note any important or significant equipment we carry. In addition to the usual adventuring gear, Eris carries an ancestral longsword passed down through her village from the days before the Scourge and a sling, in addition to quilted armor, traveling cloak, knife, spear, and wooden targe-style shield. Imagined fucked around with this message at 17:24 on May 30, 2021 |
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May 30, 2021 17:10
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Assumptions The Old World The Old World was destroyed by The Scourge, hundreds of years of high magic, during which the division between our reality and the astral plane eroded, allowing Horrors to roam the lands at will and forcing all sentient beings to hide themselves in magical bunkers - kaers - until the ebb of magic subsided enough to force the strongest Horrors to retreat. Iron The imposing hills and mountains of Barsaive are rich in true elements. Most prized of all is orichalcum. Legacies I am the first person to leave our kaer since the sage indicated the Scourge's end. Communities Namegivers are few in number in this accursed land. Most rarely have contact with anyone outside their own small steading or village, and strangers are viewed with deep suspicion. Leaders The biggest civilizations - the dwarves of the Kingdom of Throal, and the human magical slaver empire of the island of Thera - rule large areas of Barsaive. In between are smaller villages, ruins, still unopened kaers, and large areas which have been unvisited or unmapped by outsiders since the Scourge's end. Defense Here in Barsaive, supplies are too precious, and the lands are too sparsely populated, to support organized fighting forces. When a community is threatened, the people stand together to protect their own. Mysticism Magic is less powerful than it was during the height of the Scourge, but still used by Adepts. The pollution of the Astral Plane makes raw magic dangerous - it must be filtered through Threads or risk backlash. All Named objects have a True Pattern which gives them power as the pattern grows. Those marked by Horrors lose the ability to be creative, so almost everyone learns an art to demonstrate their humanity. Religion The 12 god-like Passions are real beings who represent the emotions, dreams, and fears of the namegivers of Barsaive. Some namegivers become questors for particular Passions. Three of the Passions have gone mad during the Scourge and become The Mad Passions. Firstborn Dragons are sentient and ancient beings who've inhabited Barsaive since long before other namegivers. Some manipulate namegiver societies and events, others scorn contact with lesser mortals. The Elves conducted a terrible ritual of pain to survive the Scourge, growing thorns through their skin. Now they are known as Blood Elves, and their land the Blood Wood. Beasts Beasts of all sorts roam Barsaive. They dwell primarily in the reaches, but range into the settled lands to hunt. There, they often prey on cattle, but attacks on travelers, caravans, or even settlements are not uncommon. Most are mundane creatures, but others are magical, or horrorspawn leftover from the Scourge. Horrors The Horrors are a diverse range of inter-planar creatures that perpetrated the Scourge. They are considered by most namegivers as entities of capable only of malice and destruction, and the personification of corruption. Horrors are not namegivers, but are sometimes referred to as name-eaters. Horrors are believed to originate from an astral realm, envisioned by some scholars to be a kind of hell. There is very little physically that can serve as an aid in classifying them, though there are certain "species" that display similar characteristics and powers. Horrors manifest in an almost infinite variety of forms -- from ravenous monstrosities that devour all they encounter, to intelligent and malign entities that feed off the negative emotions they inspire in their victims. One trait common to all Horrors is their instinct or desire to cause harm. It is generally believed that Horrors subsist on the negative emotions produced in the victims they harm. The corruption of the Horrors was so profound that several Passions were driven insane during the Scourge.
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May 30, 2021 17:40
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I played Ironsworn for about a year straight with a pal online during lockdown haha. Had a lot of fun with the adventure style of the game, works really well once you start getting cozy with how it's meant to be played. The setting you've chosen for the world seems pretty cool, never heard of it before.
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May 30, 2021 17:48
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Day Zero The year is 1421 by Throalic reckoning, 413 since the start of the Scourge. The magical apocalypse was predicted by the wizards of Thera to last 500 years, but as early as 1400 TH various signs and portents within the kaer -- the huge underground bunker villages like Eris' hometown of Lostwater created to hide from the Scourge outside -- began to indicate that it may be ending earlier than predicted. In 1420 a messenger appeared outside the kaer claiming to be from the reopened dwarven kingdom of Throal, proclaiming the Scourge ended and the resettlement of free Barsaive at hand, but he was not admitted into the village; few believed the messenger, and most suspected the message to be a trick of the horrors. Eris, however, wanted to believe the messenger. She had been born in the kaer and longed to see the world outside, no matter the danger. In 1421, when a dysentery spread in the kaer and her brother became afflicted, she knew it was now or never. She swore to venture out into Barsaive to find a cure, and to convince the elder that it was time for the lockdown to end. Taking her gear and the ancestral longsword which had been passed down through her family since the time before the Scourge, she left Lostwater for the first time and stood blinking at the early morning sun even as the huge stone door of her village slammed shut behind her. In Ironsworn Moves are made by rolling a D6 Action Die + relevant stat against the results of two D10 Challenge Dice. If the D6+stat roll is equal-or-higher than both the individual D10 results, that's a Strong Hit. Beating just one D10 is a Weak Hit. Rolling less than either D10 is a Miss. A Strong Hit generally indicates success and will often give us Momentum or bonuses to our next roll. A Weak Hit might indicate success but with complications. A Miss might cause us to Pay-the-Price or Suffer Harm. From here on I will describe the move being used, the roll, and its result like this: Gather Information (+Wits). 6 vs 10,1. Weak Hit. The clang of the gate's bars behind her jolts Eris out of her sense of wonder at the new sights before her, reminding her of the dangers of the world outside of which she's heard constant tales throughout her life -- tales of which she is soon to learn the truth. But where to go first? Before she left the village the elder had shown her a map of the surrounding lands, but it was a map made before the Scourge, a map made by people long dead, 400 years ago. Much had surely changed. She remembered, though, that a river lay to the west of Lostwater, and that in the past there had been much trade with a T'skrang village that lay along its banks. Perhaps she should strike out first in that direction and see if she could find another village of survivors. Looking west, she wondered, are the lands around the kaer dangerous? Here we'll Ask the Oracle. In this case, we're asking a yes/no question. I think it's likely (75%) that the immediate neighborhood is relatively safe, otherwise our kaer would have been attacked long ago. I roll a D100. Result: 55. Fortune or fate seems to have spared the land nearest Lostwater from the worst of the Scourge, otherwise it would probably not have survived. But how far away had the T'skrang village been? It hadn't seemed far on the map, only a few inches, but how far was that out here? All distances seemed vast and bewildering to her now, her senses so long trained to the confines of the magical cavern which had sheltered her people for centuries. How far away had that village been? I guess the journey's rank to be Troublesome. Troublesome means we'll make 3 points of Progress each time we successfully Undertake a Journey to a new Waypoint. When we use the Undertake a Journey move we roll Action +Wits. Since we're leaving a place with which we have a Bond, we take +1 to our first roll. Result: 4 vs 5,7. Our first Miss. poo poo. Now we have to Pay the Price. We roll on the relevant Oracle: code:Imagined fucked around with this message at 17:25 on May 31, 2021 |
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May 30, 2021 18:16
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It is harmful. Harm in this game generally refers to actual physical harm:code:code:-1 Spirit, and now we roll D6+Spirit (since it's still higher than Heart) against the Challenge Dice: 6 vs. 8 and 7. Miss. So D100: 27. Give in to a fear. The vast landscape yawned out before Eris in all directions, stretching from horizon to horizon. Having never in her life seen a distance greater than the half-mile diameter of the inside of her kaer, the sheer scale of the world threatened to overthrow her mind. She had never before imagined the naked vulnerability of standing beneath -- nothing, exposed to open sky in all directions. Feeling faint, she staggered and reeled; her spirit quailed. Where moments earlier she had stood bravely contemplating her journey to the west, now she turned to run -- her mind filled only with the mammalian instinct to burrow, to get under cover, to hide from anything in all that space that might have espied her. She pounded her fists until they bled on the great stone vault door of Lostwater and begged to be allowed back in. It had been open only moments before. She knew someone would have heard her, but there was no response from inside. So altogether we'll suffer -1 Spirit and -1 Momentum. Edge: +1 Heart: +2 Iron: +3 Shadow: +1 Wits: +2 Health: +5 Spirit: +4 Supply: +5 Momentum: +1 Imagined fucked around with this message at 22:05 on May 30, 2021 |
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May 30, 2021 21:50
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Off to a great start with these rolls so far  Glad someone is doing a runthrough of Ironsworn! It's a really neat system and I think a great intro to solo RPG's (despite also being very playable co-op without a GM or with one GM/one player).
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May 31, 2021 08:51
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(Right? So far I've failed at taking two steps away from my front door!) The shadows were significantly shorter when Eris came to her senses. She found herself sitting on the ground, leaning against the cool stone of the vault door. Protective ward runes were etched in True Earth which circumnavigated the entryway, part of a system of magical defenses which had, thus far, kept Lostwater safe from the Horrors. She wondered how often it had been tested. The thought that, even here, feet from her home, might play host to the monsters was strangely motivating: "If I'm not safe here," she thought, "and I can't go home, then I might as well get on with it." She stood and dusted herself, attempting to recover the dignity she'd felt earlier. Undertake a Journey. 7 (4+3) vs. 2 and 7. Weak Hit. code:Edge: +1 Heart: +2 Iron: +3 Shadow: +1 Wits: +2 Health: +5 Spirit: +4 Supply: +4 Momentum: +1 She hiked into the west all through the day and well into the evening, when it began to get so dark that she stumbled several times over rocks and roots she hadn't seen. Better make camp, she thought. Make Camp. 5 (1+4) vs. 6 and 3. Weak Hit. code:It was hard to sleep in the wilderness. The hushed night noise of other Namegivers in the kaer was replaced by a cacophony of unseen life: insects creaked, birds sang, and things for which Eris knew no name filled the air with sound. At one point, something large just outside the reach of her small campfire crashed through the nearby brush and off hooting into the hills. When her heart finally calmed down again, she eventually dozed, but fitfully. Imagined fucked around with this message at 17:26 on May 31, 2021 |
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May 31, 2021 15:34
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(With any luck, two more legs of our journey ought to take us... somewhere) Eris woke feeling stiff and a bit cold, but somehow refreshed. Her wiry red-brown hair, which had poked out the end of her bedroll, was damp with dew. An iridescent green and purple beetle crawling tentatively across the back of her hand, startling her, and she brushed it off. That she had survived a night on her own in the wild seemed a milestone, and somehow she felt more confident and capable. She boiled a small bit of ground coffee in her percolator and sipped at it thoughtfully while she chewed a conservative breakfast from the store of dried cave mushrooms she'd packed. She thought she had, perhaps, 4 days worth of food without resupply, if she was careful. And lucky. She packed her gear with loving care and prepared for another day's march. Undertake a Journey. 7 (4+3) vs. 10 and 7. Miss. (Wow.) Pay the Price. 51. It causes a delay or puts you at a disadvantage. 400 years of wild growth without the taming influence of civilization has made the wilds of Barsaive a difficult place through which to travel on foot for even the hardiest adventurer, and Eris, though naturally hardy even for a troll, was a bit out of shape. Soon, she found the flora in every westward direction almost impassably dense. By midday, she had made almost no progress. Undertake a Journey. 8 (6+2) vs. 5 and 5. Strong Hit, Opportunity. (This is the Ironsworn version of a critical hit or fail) First, we've made 3 more Progress on our journey: 6. code:code:While probing her way with seeming futility westward through the vegetation, Eris paused to rest and reconsider her path. She was surprised to realize she could hear faintly, in the distance beyond the jungle, the sound of running water. And the cry of gulls. The prospect of her first goal being so close at hand gave her a new burst of strength, and she simply plowed forward straight into the brush. Thorns and brambles scratched at her hide and snatched at her cloak, but by mid-afternoon she emerged from the trees onto the wide sandy bank of a broad, slow moving river. Looking across she saw a village, or rather, the ruins of a village. It was not immediately obvious how she might cross to it. Imagined fucked around with this message at 17:54 on May 31, 2021 |
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May 31, 2021 17:10
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(Let's see if we can get there.) Reach Your Destination. 6 vs 3 and 1. Strong Hit. (Finally, some good luck.) code:With a sinking heart, Eris realizes that this must have been the village on the map she had been shown back in her kaer. Of course, she had known that many ill chances might befall any settlement during the centuries of the Scourge. She had hardly dared to hope that her village's situation might be resolved so easily as a visit to one nearby town. Cautiously, she worked her way down the banks of the river until she found a narrower portion where the water seemed shallow, and bits of rubble or stone created an easier path to cross if she was careful. Soon she stood on the opposite side of the river looking at the deserted little hamlet. She saw no one, and nothing seemed to be moving. Still, she wondered, what happened here? code:(Well poo poo.) Imagined fucked around with this message at 19:02 on May 31, 2021 |
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May 31, 2021 18:10
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The ballad of Eris, who went for a walk, fell down a hole, and was never seen again.
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May 31, 2021 18:22
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(Well, first, let's do that Pay the Price.) Pay the Price. 46. A new danger or foe is revealed. (That's what I was afraid of...) Even from a distance, it's clear that whatever happened to this village, it happened recently. Smoke still wisps from several of the smoldering buildings, easily visible against the horizon as it rises into the darkening sky. Tools and other artifacts, still in decent condition, lie scattered about : a fishing rig toppled over by the river, a shovel cast aside by the road. From its size and number of houses, this looked to be a habitation of a few hundred namegivers. What could have killed or driven them all away? A Horror? What sort of Horror? Few had seen one and lived to tell the tale, it was said, but of what Eris had heard spoke to an almost infinite variety of monster -- from bestial terrors little more complex than particularly terrible terrestrial predators to beings of cunning to match any namegiver for deviousness and subtlety, entities whose concrete existence had as much physical reality as a malign thought who fed on pain and discord as much as blood and flesh. These latter were said by the wisest scholars to be most deserving of the sobriquet "Horror". Even as Eris had these thoughts, the answer seemingly revealed itself: she heard voices coming from the direction of the town's center: proud, boisterous voices whose very tones spoke of victory already won, of those who held no fear of reprisal, but the content of whose individual words she could not yet quite distinguish. Realizing that she had been far too exposed while crossing the river and while investigating the scene, she quickly tried to hide herself among the ruins at the edge of the village. code:($@#&!) Imagined fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Jun 1, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 14:34
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I'm both really enjoying a look at the Earthdawn setting, and seeing how an Ironsworn game stuck in subspace luck hell turns out.
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Jun 1, 2021 15:05
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(Pay the Price does not require that we consult the Oracle posted earlier. Here's what the rule actually says:code:1-50: Eris would be attacked 51-100: Eris would be captured) Roll D100. 70. Captured. Eris finds herself hiding at the edge of the looted village and wrestling with indecision. She had heard stories of the Sky Raiders, as these plainly were, and her curiosity itched to see what they were like. Would they have one of their flying ships, a drakkar, nearby? She had always wanted to see one. Raiders were supposedly more interested in loot than murder for its own sake, and she had seen no actual evidence of death here yet, but she guessed they would be more inclined to fight than talk if they spotted her observing them. Although she'd brought her sword and shield, she had never actually used either in real need, and she didn't relish the thought of making her first attempt against a superior number of experienced fighters. She was just on the point of resolving herself to turn away and retreat from the scene when rough hands seized her arms from behind, pinning them uselessly against her sides with irresistible strength. She could not even turn to see her captor's face. A man's voice barked in her ear, but not without a hint of amusement in his voice, "Stand up. Don't try anything stupid. Now walk." Her mind raced as she tried to think of a way to escape. Seeing her moment of hesitation, the unseen assailant kicked the toe of his ironshod boot into the back of her left knee, causing her to stagger and fall. In one practiced motion he lifted her bodily to her feet again and said, "None of that. Walk." Imagined fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Jun 2, 2021 |
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Jun 1, 2021 20:37
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(Now things get complicated. First, I think by reaching this village by the river we've hit a milestone in our Vows: - "I will convince the elders of my village to open the kaer and join with Throal in their work to rebuild a free Barsaive." Rank: Epic - "I will find a cure for my brother's illness." Rank: Dangerous The first is Epic, so a milestone only gives us 1 "tick" (1/4 of a Progress point) of Progress. Let's notate that as 0.25. The second is merely Dangerous, so we Mark 2 Progress per milestone: 2. So to recap: - Reopen kaer: 0.25 - Find cure: 2.0 Now, who are our captors? First, how many are there? I think there's a Small Chance there are more than 12.) Ask the Oracle: "Are there more than 12?" code:(We know there are at least 2 (we heard talking) so we can roll 2D6 and find out how many there are.) Roll 2D6. 8. There are 8 Raiders. (That sounds reasonable.) code:Roll D100. 75. Yes. (Male/Female? 50/50.) Roll D100. 62. Female. (Sky Raiders are traditionally trolls in Barsaive. Are these trolls? Almost Certain.) Roll D100. 86. Trolls. (The leader is a female troll. What's her Rank?) code:(Interesting. What's her motivation?) code:Roll D100. 44. Wild. (What else?) Roll D100. 2. Attractive.  (What about the rest of them?) Roll D100. 46. Cunning. (And?) Roll D100. 18. Active. (Alright, we've got some things to work with in the next update...) Edit: It occurs to me that using male/female as the only possibilities for an NPC's gender is old-fashioned and unnecessarily exclusionary. I'll use a less binary table next time, sorry. Imagined fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jun 2, 2021 |
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Jun 2, 2021 16:57
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Eris was frog-marched into the remains of the town square. To her left, six large trolls with swords or hatchets at their belts were busy carrying looted items from the village up the plank of a ship -- a ship in size and form much like a naval brigantine, but this ship was not afloat in any body of water -- rather it hovered, tugging gently at its anchor, a few inches off the ground. Despite her situation, Eris could not help but stare in fascination. This was a drakkar, an airship of the Sky Raiders! Old Marikis back home would never believe that she had actually seen one -- if she survived, and ever got back to Lostwater. She realized she had better concentrate on the situation at hand if she wanted to ever see that day arise. Her still-unseen captor steered her toward a tall troll woman who stood observing the loading of the drakkar with arms crossed, facing away from Eris. (Let's see, the leader needs a name. I'll use an online name generator.) When Eris was a few paces from the woman, her detainer pulled on her arms to indicate she should stop. He cleared his throat and announced, as the tall troll turned to face the new arrival, "I caught this one skulking around at the edge of the village, Captain." As we mentioned, Eris was strong even for a troll, and she had always been taller than most of the girls in her kaer; this 'Captain' was taller still, and Eris found herself looking up into a stern face and eyes that narrowed with suspicion as she glared with fierce intensity at her new captive. The Captain addressed the man over Eris' shoulder, "She's armed. Did you not search her?" Eris' arms were suddenly free, and she turned to see this man who accosted her. He was another troll, older looking and shorter than the Captain. He stammered obsequiously, "N-not yet, Captain. This one offered no fight, and I wanted to make sure my claim to her spoils was witnessed." With a practice efficiency that spoke to much practice, the man removed Eris' sword belt and shield, and dumped her pack out on the ground in two fluid motions. The Captain glanced down at the meager contents of Eris' pack and snorted derisively, then turned her gaze back at the prisoner before asking her, "And what were you doing there?" Face Danger. 6 (4+2) vs. 2 and 7. Weak Hit. Eris faced up to the woman with, she hoped, more courage than she felt. Unable to think of a convincing lie, she hoped the actual truth might do, "I was coming to visit the village. I got here... after you did," she answered. The skepticism did not leave the Captain's eyes, but her reply carried a tone of bemusement, "I see. That explains why you didn't have the sense to run away like the rest of them." The tall troll bent and snatched a hunk of Eris dried pork jerky from the ground and stuffed it into the corner of her mouth. (-1 Supply). Hearing this Eris felt relieved, but not surprised. Oddly enough, she had not really felt in danger. Eris asked, "So you didn't hurt the villagers?" Gather Information. 6 (4+2) vs. 5 and 10. Weak Hit. The Captain let out a single short, concussive laugh. "You are bold. Or stupid. (+1 Momentum) I'm the one asking questions. But no, we're not here to kill peasants -- where's the fun in that? They know how this game works. Why don't you? Why were you here?" Secure an Advantage. 3 (1+2) vs. 7 and 6. Miss. Pay the Price. 79. A surprising development complicates your quest. code:
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Jun 2, 2021 23:35
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Again, Eris had little to say but the plain truth, "I'm from a kaer nearby, across the river. Some of our people are sick. I came here to find a treatment." The raider Captain made no reply, but took Eris' gaze and held it in a long, searching stare. "Did you now?" She turned to the man who had captured Eris, "Felix, let me see that sword." Swiftly, the other troll did as commanded, offering his Captain the sword he'd taken from Eris. An heirloom handed down in her kaer from the time before the Scourge, Eris had been told that the sword had once belonged to an Adept, that it had a True Name, though none knew it. The Captain laughed as she took it from its scabbard, clasping it by the hilt with one hand and by the blade with the other, and bent it in half as easily as she might have snapped a twig. The blade instantly popped loose from the hilt, and the Captain let the parts drop to the ground, saying as she did, "It's a good thing you didn't come to fight us with that." Eris cried out and reached out to snatch up the broken sword, and the raiders did not hinder her. She knelt in the dirt, holding the remains gingerly in both hands. The Captain answered the unspoken question that must have been plainly visible on Eris' face: "A training sword, child. Your people sent you out into the wilderness with a toy. Perhaps... they did not know." She left the rest unsaid: perhaps they did. (!!!) (To be honest I'm a bit unsure at this point whether to make a Secure an Advantage or a Gather Information move. I'm going to say that Eris would be faced with a crisis of confidence at this point and be forced to reevaluate everything that was driving her here. So let's call it a +Heart 'Secure an Advantage' move.) Secure an Advantage. 3 (1+2) vs. 9 and 10. Miss. 
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Jun 4, 2021 14:56
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Poor Eris is about 17 different kinds of cursed.
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Jun 4, 2021 19:28
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Pay the Price. 88. It wastes resources. The indignities for Eris did not stop with having her 'toy sword' broken. Even as she knelt in the dirt, stunned, the raiders continued the work of loading booty aboard their drakkar, and, in their heedless tramping back and forth, managed to trample and crush some of her rations into dust. (-1 Supply) Shaken from her grief over the revelation of the sword, this casual destruction of her already meager supplies cut like a death-stroke to her heart. Faster than Felix, still close at hand, could reach out to snatch her back, she surged to her feet and rushed at the troll who had stepped on her gear, a wordless sound of rage issuing from her throat. For her the world took on a reddish tint; despair hardened her into a mindless fury and she sought only to strike, biting and clawing, for revenge. Secure an Advantage. 5 (2+3) vs. 5 and 2. Weak Hit. The offending raider who was Eris' target was caught completely flat-footed (+1 Momentum) by this ferocious but utterly futile assault. Turning from his work, he wheeled toward his attacker, knocking her back off her feet and roughly onto her rump with his left shoulder even as his right arm reached automatically for his sword. At that moment the Captain, who had watched all this unfold, interceded, stepping between the raider and Eris and stretching one hand out toward her comrade in a warding gesture. Standing over Eris, whose eyes were still wide with fury even as she sat in her failure, she commanded, "Remain seated, you rear end." To to her raiders, she said, "Continue loading. I'll take care of this." She faced Eris, "Even if you had had a real sword, Haijen there would have cut you to shreds. I've seen him kill warriors bigger than you and many times your match in skill. You might be brave, but you are stupid, like a feral beast. What is your name?" Eris told her. "Eris," the Captain confirmed, "Well, Eris the Feral, what are your plans now?" Eris felt her heart collapse as the red mist clouding her vision receded and her rationality returned, and she was faced with the reality of her situation. "I don't know," was all Eris finally managed in reply. Secure an Advantage. 4 (2+2) vs. 2 and 8. Weak Hit. Looking at the younger troll, humiliated and hopeless, sitting helpless on the ground before her, the Captain felt a rare surge of wild empathy (+1 Momentum). A note of hard decision edged her voice as she declared, "I am Zulja, chief of this tribe. You will come with us." code:Imagined fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Jun 7, 2021 |
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Jun 7, 2021 15:33
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So it was that Eris found herself gripping the rails for dear life aboard the Sky Raiders' drakkar as it lifted into the air like a vulture freshly gorged and disturbed too soon from its feast. Overloaded as it was with the loot of the village, it protested this treatment in creaks and groans that, though they did not seem to concern the sailors, terrified Eris, who had never ridden so much as a boat on the water -- much less into the sky. code:
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Jun 8, 2021 22:08
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