Tales of the Ironlands

Kalyra Sophisdottir

Episode 03: The Wisewoman

Session Report

Last time, on Tales of the Ironlands, Kalyra Sophisdottir tracked the primordial that took her father down to its lair, a cave in the southern reaches of the Hinterlands of the Ironlands. Inside it, she found her father: bound, against the wall, held in place by almost staples of stone about his wrists and waist. The wall behind him was growing into his body, and when she investigated further and began attempting to get him loose, the primordial itself put in an appearance.

Kalyra and the primordial had a brief conversation in which she demanded to know what it was doing to her father. It indicated that it was turning him into a primordial. Or at least that’s what she took from its rather cryptic pronunciation of “Child.”

Unwilling to see her father turned into a primordial, Kalyra tried once again to free him; and the primordial intervened, preventing her from doing so and speaking of a debt that must be paid. The two of them fought: Kalyra on the back heel from the start. After a swift combat in which Kalyra did poorly, she was forced to flee. As she ran, she choked out a promise to her father to return for him.

Making her way out of the cave, she looked back and saw the primordial looking back at her with eyes of glowing orange from deep within the cracks of its creviced face. And that is where we left off.

Kalyra scrambled deeper into the woods and stops, supporting herself against a tree. Breathing in. “I can’t ... I can’t fight that. It’s too strong! I don’t know how. Agh.”

As she breathes and catches a moment’s peace after the intense fight in the darkness of the cave, the scent of pine sap fills the air. It is early spring, and the sap is running. Her hand comes away from the bark of this pine tree sticky with sap, which will no doubt take days to rub off.

She makes her way deeper into the forest: almost aimlessly, uncertain of exactly where she’s going, only that she wants to put a little more distance between her and the cave of the primordial before she stops to heal her wounds. After maybe a quarter to half a mile, she finds herself standing at the top of a low rise that looks down into the valley carved by a long slow stream. The slanting rays of the sun highlight the golden grass which grows in the grove about the banks of the stream. A deer looks up at her, flicking its ear in her direction; but she is in no shape to go hunting.

She finds a spot not far from the water and sets about tending her wounds. Much of her supplies were destroyed in the fight and in the travails of the journey before that. She still has some of the rubywort that she harvested the previous day, on her way to the cave. Pulling it out, she dumps her pack beside her on the ground and just sits heavily and begins the weary process of tending her wounds.

Heal check: 9v6/5, strong hit, clear wounded and gain +2 health.

The rubywort stings. It is not a pleasant plant to use; but it also numbs the flesh a little bit after the initial sting. Most of her wounds are not open; she has taken a severe beating, but she is more bruised than cut. The fists of the primordial are not sharp, but decidedly solid.

Having spent some time healing herself, she makes camp in the waning daylight. Make camp: 4v6/7, miss.

There is a cold snap in the night. Kalyra, having not even looked for a rock to take shelter behind, simply lies in the grass shivering in her cloak. The cold bothers her sufficiently that she is unable to get to sleep until deep in the night; and then when she finds herself dozing off, she wakes suddenly, terrified that she is going to freeze. She stays awake the remainder of the night and gains no rest.

In the morning, she builds a small fire and cooks some food. She takes off her shoes and soaks her feet in the cold, cold waters of the stream beside her. “I’m running low on supplies,” she says. “I suppose I should do something about that.”

“What am I going to do?” she says, flopping back into the grass. “I can’t fight it, it’s too powerful. I need an advantage of some kind. Could I maybe lure it out of its cave? And ... well, what if I ... snuck past it and ...” She exhales in frustration. “Can I even free him? It looked like the wall was growing into his body. I ... agh.”

“It didn’t sound like he was in pain when he spoke. I just ... I don’t know enough. I don’t understand what’s going on!”

Kalyra puts her shoes back on and listlessly cooks herself breakfast, a little more oatmeal. It’s running low now, she didn’t bring a great deal of it, not having packed for an exceptionally long journey. But there is enough for this morning’s breakfast. Secure Advantage to reset momentum: 8v5/3, strong hit. Reset momentum to +1.

“I need ... I need to understand what’s going on. How could I find out? Think, Kalyra -- think!”

For a while, almost as much as an hour, Kalyra sits on a stone on the bank of the stream staring moodily at the flowing water and trying, struggling to think of everything she’s ever heard about primordials. They’re not well understood.

Finally she picks up a rock and chucks it into the stream, and says “Oh, this is pointless! I need help.” And that’s when it occurs to her that some time ago, she heard tell of a hermit who lives here in the Hinterlands. An old woman. The village didn’t know much about her; only a couple of the hunters had encountered her briefly. She seemed -- peaceful. And they spoke of her as a wisewoman.

“Perhaps I could find her. Perhaps she could give me guidance. Or at least a warm roof for the night. I don’t know where to find her though. Where did Fenrik say he’d seen her? Let me think ...” Gather Information to recall Fenrik’s tale: 8v8/3, weak hit. +1 momentum, complication.

“Fenrik said that he’d encountered her to the west, when he’d ranged west in the Hinterlands. Almost as far as the border with the Deep Wilds. That’s still a ways from here. I’d hoped ... I guess, that I was closer. But I’ll just have to make my way there and, I mean, he’s alive, Kalyra. Father’s alive. And it didn’t look like the primordial wanted to hurt him. I don’t really feel like I have any options. I’ll have to do it.”

Marked progress on her vow to rescue her father, for having discovered where her father is, that he’s alive, and that he’s apparently being turned into a primordial. Formidable quest so 1 progress.

Undertake a Troublesome journey to the wisewoman. He said she lived in a small hut at the base of the stone outcropping that looks like a fortification, like a palisade. It projects upward from the crown of the hill that it is part of, a smooth almost wall of stone. She has a hut at its base.

Before leaving, a Resupply check. 5v1/8. Spent 1 momentum to gain 1 supply. Kalyra takes the first hour of her journey slower than she might otherwise have done, scanning for useful plants and animals. She finds a rabbit that she kills for lunch, and also some ferns of a medicinal sort. They’re not something that she can use immediately, but she’ll be able to brew teas out of them, or make a tisane later.

Undertake a Journey: 3v9/1, weak hit. Along the way, she follows the ridge. “It’s almost like a hog back,” she thinks as she walks along it. “Like the bristles of hair on the back of the boar that I fought. The one that ... killed me.” Still an uncomfortable thought. But this is instead stone. It feels like she’s walking along the back of an enormous boar the size of the world. As she makes her way along, she consumes the rabbit she caught that morning. Supply -1, marks 3 progress on the journey.

By the end of the day, Kalyra feels terrible. The repeated injuries and wounds that she has taken, and the necessity of travelling a long way is wearing on her. She would have thought she could keep going longer; but she’s never taken a beating quite like the one the primordial gave her ... and the boar before that. So rather than travel the full day, she stops and rests for much of the afternoon.

She finds a fairly secure place: it’s a niche in the side of a hill. She carefully looks in. It’s a cave; but a shallow one. You can see the back of the cave from the entrance. It’s no more than 4 or 5 feet deep. She is careful to take a stick and brush it across the floor a few times to stir any poisonous insects or snakes that might be down there. It seems unoccupied; dry. And so she gratefully sets up camp there, and then just sits and naps for a while.

She wakes as the sun is going down, feeling a little better and tends her wounds once more. Heal check: 4v3/1, strong hit, +3 health.

The nap has done her good, especially after a long sleepless night. She is able to set up a small almost homely camp with the last bit of the sun, and makes a small fire over which she cooks dinner. She stares into the flames for a while afterwards, moodily contemplating her troubles. Then she shakes her head to clear it. She douses the flames so as not to attract undue attention in the night, then retreats into the nook.

Make Camp: 5v5/2, weak hit; +1 spirit. Kalyra is grateful that she found this nook in the side of the hill, for it rains during the night. She is happy to discover that none of the water flows in. She remains dry and comparatively warm despite a sudden, fierce downpour somewhere in the middle of the night. The sound of it wakes her when there is a crash of thunder. She sits a the mouth of the little cave for a moment and looks out into the darkness and the rain; and then retreats in once more, wraps herself in her cloak, and sleeps away the remainder of the night.

In the morning, the world smells clean and fresh, as it always does after a cold spring rainstorm. She finds that heartening. Packing up, Kalyra considers going hunting again, but then shakes her head. She wants to travel quickly today: she needs advice. And it’s still a ways to go before she’ll reach the hut of the mysterious wisewoman Fenrik met.

Undertake a Journey: 6v4/2, strong hit, marked 3 progress. Kalyra makes good progress! She is feeling much better. Still stiff, and sore, but her muscles loosen as the day goes on, and she goes at at good pace.

Attempt to Reach destination: 6v6/1, weak hit. Arrived, but complication. The butte that Fenrik described is difficult to miss: it towers above the land around it. About mid-afternoon, Kalyra approaches it. She does not know what side the hut might be on; and so she begins circling it, widdershins. Asked the Oracle: What kind of complication? Rolled on Theme. Answer: Rival.It is not too difficult to locate the hut. As Kalyra makes her way around the base of the butte, she finds it: sitting just as Fenrik had described it. The hut is low to the ground. In fact, it is a circular hole excavated in the ground. The entryway leads down a set of steps that have been carved into the land and lined with stones. A conical roof was built overtop it, rising from just above the ground. There’s a wall perhaps a foot tall, and the roof, which is made of pine branches that have been thatched with yet more pine branches. A stream of smoke rises from the very top of the hut, where an opening has been left to allow the smoke to vent.

Clearly, there is someone home. As Kalyra trots into the clearing, she discovers that there is a young man standing in the yard who appears to be chopping wood. “Who goes?” he says, hefting his axe as she approaches.

“Easy! Friend,” she says, showing her empty hands.

He does not lower his axe. “Many as cause problems claim to be friends. What’s your business here?”

“I ... my name is Kalyra Sophisdottir. From Peilinham. I’ve come to consult the wisewoman. Is she in?”

He’s a young man with dark black hair and bright blue eyes. He looks at her distrustfully.

“Ah ... is she here?” Kalyra repeats.

“What business do you have with her?”

“Well, as I said, I’m hoping to consult her. I need to know more about primordials.”

He looks over Kalyra. “The wisewoman is in poor health. I think you should go away. Come back later.”

“Oh, I can’t!” says Kalyra. “It’s time sensitive. Please ... please, may I see her?” Compel, rolling Heart: 8v3/6, strong hit. +1 momentum.

“Please,” Kalyra says. “I need to see her. Listen: I’m a healer of some skill. Perhaps I can assist with whatever ails her?“

That’s enough to persuade him. He is grateful for an opportunity to get the wisewoman some treatment. “What has been ailing her?” Kalyra asks. “What are the symptoms, and how long has it been going on?” Gather Information at +1: 7v6/9, weak hit.

“I don’t really know what’s ailing her,” the young man says. “She has a fever, and she’s been abed for three days now. I’m no healer -- she’s better at that sort of thing herself, but she’s been a little feverish, and not in any position to treat herself. My name’s Tegan, by the way.”

“Tegan. All right. Well, that could be almost anything. Fevers are common. I’ll have to examine her and see if I can determine what it is.”

“Wait!” says Tegan. He glances at her sword. “Leave that outside. No weapons are allowed inside her house.”

“Oh!” Kalyra is uncomfortable at this. She doesn’t want to let the sword out of her sight. “Well ... all right. I’ll just prop it up here, against the outside of the hut. Is that all right?”

He nods. She undoes her swordbelt and leans her scabbard and sword against the exterior of the hut. “All right. Let’s go in.”

Entering the hut, she discovers that there are two bedrolls set up on opposite sides of the hut, and a central fireplace, the source of the smoke she saw rising earlier. Pots and baskets are tucked neatly away at the back; there is a table near the entrance, which seems to be where they prepare food. On the bed to the right, there is an old woman who lies, tossing, turning, mumbling.

“I’ll see if she’s feeling well enough to speak,” Tegan says. He kneels down by her low bed, which sits no more than two feet off the ground, and gently shakes her by the shoulder. “Grandam. Grandam. There’s a healer here. Are you awake?”

The old woman’s eyes flutter. She opens them, and says weakly: “A healer? ... how did you get a healer here?”

“I didn’t!” says Tegan. “She just came out of nowhere. She says she wanted to see you.”

Kalyra approaches. “That’s right. But I’d better treat you first. Here ... may I examine you?”

The old woman doesn’t even begin to nod; her chin dips just a fraction. She is weak. Examining her, Kalyra finds that she is rail thin. Her hair is lanky; she has liver spots on her face, and her eyes are slightly milky. She can evidently still see, but it cannot be very clearly. Feeling her brow, the old woman is burning up. She has a high, high fever. “Oh, my goodness,” says Kalyra. “Here. Let me try ... I have here ... do you have ... boil some water for me, please, I need to make a tea.”

Tegan nods sharply and pulls a small iron pot from some shelves. He rushes out the door to fetch water.

Kalyra continues her examination. She takes the old woman’s hand in hers and gently feels the pulse. It is there; but thready. Weak. “Hmm.”

“What will you do to treat me?” the old woman says.

“Well, for starters, I’m going to give you a heavy dose of willow-bark tea,” Kalyra says. “Your fever is high. We need to drop that.”

“Hmm. Very good,” the old woman says, half coughing, half laughing. “My ... you are ... you ...” and the old woman squints a little bit. Then her hand convulses within Kalyra’s, and she gasps. “You are deathtouched! Have you come for me?”

“What?” says Kalyra. “No! No ... what?”

“Your eyes,” says the old woman. “Your eyes.”

“What do you mean?” says Kalyra. “I don’t understand.”

“You have no pupils. You have no irises. And your eyes glow blue in the dark. That is the sign of the deathtouched. How can you not know this of yourself?”

“Ohh!” Kalyra says, and gently lowers the woman’s hand to the blankets. She sits back on her haunches. “Ah ... yes. My eyes have changed? I didn’t know. It only happened a few days ago, and I’ve been by myself ever since. The only one who’s seen me is ... well, the primordial, and my father.”

“Primordial?” says the old woman.

“Yes. Never mind. We’ll get to that. I was ... I was foolish on the way here. I walked between a mother boar and her piglets. The boar charged me, and I couldn’t get away. I just couldn’t get away, and we fought, and we fought, and then we killed each other. At the same time. And I saw ... I saw the hallway. I saw the Door. And I put my hand on the ring to open the door. Then Death came from behind me. I could hear the Black Lady speak, and we bargained. And then she sent me back, after I agreed to what she wanted. It’s been no more than ... three? Four days? I’m losing track. But I haven’t had an opportunity to see myself since then. I don’t carry a mirror or anything.”

The old woman laughs slowly. “Ha. Ha. Ah ha. Oh. That must have been ... you must have had a powerful reason to bargain with the Black Lady,” says the old woman. “Powerful reason. Powerful reason ... powerful ... but ... ah ...” Her voice trails off into a series of pained gasps. “I am tired. Let me be until the tea is ready.”

“Yes.” Kalyra banks the fire. It is warm here in the hut, and she is worried that the old woman’s temperature is high enough that if it rises higher she may die of the fever. Going to the door, she takes out her cloak and uses it to fan a little air out, keeping the circulation going.

A few moments later Tegan comes back and almost gets her cloak to his face. “What? What are you ... ?”

“Just trying to get a little air circulation. It’s a little too warm in here, I think.”

“Huh. Very well,” he says. He squeezes past her and sets the pot of water to boil. It’s a small pot so it doesn’t take terribly long. Tegan looks back and forth between Kalyra and the old woman.

“Did she speak while I was gone?”

“Yes,” she says, “We spoke a little. She was ... is there something wrong with my eyes?”

He looks at her, frowning. “Well of course! Didn’t you know?”

“No! I ... she said I was deathtouched, and I suppose I am. It’s just ... it only happened a few days ago, and haven’t had an opportunity to look in a mirror since then. You’re the first people I’ve seen. Well, except for my father, but he wasn’t in a good position to tell me anything.”

“You must have had quite a rough journey,” Tegan says. He seems unsympathetic, still suspicious of her.

“It’s been rough,” she says. But just then the water boils. “Ah, good. Do you have a cup?” He produces a clay mug which has been glazed with a dark teal glaze. Kalyra extracts from her pack some willow bark which has been powdered and ground. She strains the hot water through a good dose of that, several times over, to increase the potency of the tea.

“Could you help maneuver her up so she can drink?” Kalyra says. “Also I want to let it cool, just a little.”

Tegan goes over to the bed and helps the old woman sit up just enough that she can sip the tea. She swallows, weakly.

“All right,” says Kalyra. “I hope that helps. Other than that, I think we need to cool her a little further. If there is more water where that came from, cold water this time, we can make a compress.” She goes about the process of treating this woman as best she can. Heal check: 10v7/7.

Kalyra spends much of the night tending the old woman. She actually becomes quite bossy, and insists that Tegan make some broth. She sends him out into the woods and tells him not to come back until he has some fresh meat that can be brewed into a sustaining broth. Although he has many misgivings about this, he recognizes that the wisewoman desperately needs nourishment if she is to fight off this ailment.

So he goes out into the woods, and about an hour later he returns with a brace of three squirrels that he managed to catch. They skin and gut them, and set the meat to boil. The two of them have boiled squirrel for dinner. They crack all the bones for what little marrow they might offer and put them in to boil as well, then feed the rich broth to the wisewoman.

Kalyra stays up much of the night. Tegan goes to bed, but Kalyra sits in the hut, up against the wall, keeping an eye on her patient all night long. In the morning, she is tremendously improved. Her temperature has dropped sharply. Her breathing is better, and her heart beats more steadily. She seems to be on the road to recovery.

Tegan is relieved. And so, it must be said, is the old lady.

“I’m sorry,” Kalyra says, “I didn’t get your name, ma’am?”

The old woman -- who is now sitting up, propped up against a roll of her blankets says “Ha. My name is Aliaanor.”

“My goodness, I’ve never heard such a name before,” says Kalyra.

“It is not a common name, any longer, but it was all the rage when I was a girl in the Old World.”

“You came from the Old World?”

“Ha ha. Oh, yes. Yes, I remember it clearly. I was just a lass of fifteen when the ships set sail. Sometimes I remember the Old World more clearly than anything here in the Ironlands. Hmm.”

Kalyra is impressed. It has been two full generations; this lady must be ninety if she is a day; perhaps as much as a hundred.

“So: Kalyra, is it?”

“Yes.”

“You came looking for me. Why?”

“Well ...” says Kalyra. “I have a problem. And I don’t know what to do, and I need advice. And ... you remember Fenrik? He’s from my home village, Peilinham, in the Havens. It’s not terribly far from here as these things go ...”

“Ah yes, the hunter. Hmm. Tall man, red hair; traded us a good hunk of wolf meat for a night’s rest. He was a pleasant man, I thought,” says the old woman, Aliaanor.

“Oh yes, that’s Fenrik; always has a good story and a big deep booming laugh. He seemed to think that you were particularly wise, and I desperately need advice.”

“Well, considering you have healed my disease, I can certainly give you advice.”

“All right. A few ... it’s more like a week ago now. A primordial -- an earth primordial -- came to Peilinham and broke down the walls. We fought it, but then it grabbed my father. I was knocked unconscious in that fight; and it grabbed my father, and it took him. It fled north; when I woke up I grabbed a pack of supplies and my father’s sword and I swore a vow to bring him back. I tracked it north. On the way, as I told you yesterday, I met that boar and fought it; and that’s how I came to ... make my bargain with Death.”

“But that’s not what troubles me right now. That’s for later. Right now is, I found where the primordial was going. It’s a cavern, a couple of days journey to the east of here. Inside, I found my father. He was restrained. He was up against the wall, being held in place with bonds of stone. And the stone was growing into him. The primordial appeared as I was trying to get him free, and I demanded to know what it was doing to him. It said, ‘child’. I asked what it meant, and it pointed at the stone that was growing into him, and said ‘child’ again. I think it’s making him into a primordial! And I don’t understand why or how to get him back. But I can’t just let him have my father.”

“Fascinating,” says the wisewoman. “You know, I’ve always been terribly interested in primordials. Ever since I saw that water primordial rise up out of the ocean as we were landing in our ship on the Ragged Coast all those decades ago. It looked at me with its burning green eyes, and then it went back into the waves, and I never saw it again. Fascinating creatures.”

“So, can you tell me what it’s doing? How do I stop it? Is there any way to fight it?”

“Easy! One question at a time.”

“All right. Have you ever heard of anything like this before?”

“I’m afraid not,” says Aliaanor. “I have never heard of a human becoming a primordial before. This is new to me, and fascinating. But! I might know who could tell you more about it.”

“Oh! That’s wonderful. Who?”

“You need to speak to the Kocari,” she says.

“The Kocari?”

“The Kocari are a caste of the Firstborn; a caste among the elves. Their shaman class, and they know more about the creatures of this part of the world than we have discovered in the past two generations that we’ve been here. You must find and speak to a Kocari, who can tell you more about your father.”

Kalyra sighs deeply. “Oh. But! But the stone, it’s growing into him! What can I ... how long do I have?”

“I think -- and I do not know this for certain -- but I suspect. Earth primordials are slow and deliberate. I think that you probably have some time. Now, not a tremendous amount of time; I wouldn’t dawdle by any means, young girl. But! I think you can take the time to discover what you need to know in order to help your father.”

Kalyra heaves a tension-draining sigh. “Well, that’s a relief. As for fighting it, how can I fight it?”

“Well, I have heard stories, and in fact I have actually seen a warrior fight a primordial. Mind you it did not go particularly well for the warrior. They are fearsome combatants.”

Kalyra rubs one shoulder ruefully at that, because she has first-hand experience on that point.

“Earth primordials are very tough. However, they are more susceptible to weapons like hammers, or mauls, or maces: things which impact them and knock their rocks loose. A sword is better than nothing by a long shot, but not only is it less injurious to the primordial than a maul would be, but you also run the risk of damaging your blade on the rocks. No, what you need for that is a bludgeoning weapons.”

“Oh!” says Kalyra. “Well, I have a sword. I’m pretty good with the sword, I think. But I have never touched a mace in my life. Oof.”

Aliaanor chuckles. “Well, I have no such thing to offer you, so there’s another thing you’ll need to do: acquire a mace or a maul or a club, even, would be better than a sword.”

Kalyra sighs. “That’s going to be difficult. I don’t know where I could go to get such a thing.”

“Well, you’ll just have to seek another settlement, then.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Kalyra says. “It’s ... I don’t know how long I have, really. But it’s heartening that I can at least try. I have to try!”

“Thank you, thank you so much, ma’am. I’m fascinated that you remember the Old World. What was it like?”

“Oh, I could tell you so many tales of the Old World!” says Aliaanor. “But you have a vow to pursue. More than one, unless I miss my guess. Come back to me when you have a little more time at your disposal. And if I’m still among the living, then I will tell you.”

“No! Don’t speak like that,” Tegan interrupts, breaking his long silence. “Don’t talk like that, Grandam! You’re on the mend. You’ll be fine!”

The old woman just smiles faintly. “Nothing can cure age, Tegan. Nothing can cure age. I feel much better, it’s true; but I have lived a long and fruitful life. And there cannot be terribly much left of it at this point.”

“All right,” Kalyra says. “Where can I find these Kocari you speak of?”

“You will need to travel into the Deep Wilds. I spoke with some there once, years ago; the Kocari -- there’s at least one in every tribe. Sometimes as many as four or five, but usually just one and an apprentice. Find a tribe of the elves, and you will find a Kocari.”

“I don’t know much about elves,” Kalyra says. “They are strange. Is there anything I should know about approaching them?”

Aliaanor says “Yes ...” Asked the Oracle: What does Kalyra need to know about approaching the elves? Rather than rolling picked two words that seemed neat from the Action and Theme oracles: Share Truth. “I ... lived among the elves, for a very brief time. It was ... enlightening. But the thing that you must know is that when you approach the encampment, when you find an encampment of the elves, people who come peacefully are expected to share a truth about themselves. To announce it to the camps. Particularly on the first visit. On subsequent visits it is enough simply to announce your presence; but if you wish to be polite, and to have a real hope of success, you must share a truth about yourself.”

“Uh ... what kind of truth?”

“The kind of truths they value are the kind of truths that it is somewhat difficult to discover. You’ll have to think about it, my dear. I can’t tell you what sort of truth to tell them. That is something you must discover for yourself.”

“Oh. Well. All right! Thank you very much, Madam Aliaanor. I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me.”

“Go with my blessing, for what it’s worth, girl. I hope that you come back to visit me and tell me the tales of what you have learend, and what you have done.”

Kalyra packs up her gear and starts to leave the hut. But as she goes, Aliaanor calls out to her. “Girl.”

She turns to look back.

“Bargains with the Black Lady are dangerous. See that you honor your vow. Otherwise I fear there are worse things in your future than death.”

“Yes.” says Kalyra.

And with that, she leaves. Decided to treat this interlude as a Sojourn. Rolled +heart, 5v8/1, weak hit. Took +2 spirit.

Kalyra steps outside, and Tegan follows her. Her sword has been undisturbed this whole time outside. After Kalyra proved her good intentions by healing Aliaanor, Tegan offered an oilcloth with which to wrap it against any moisture. She unwraps it and hands it back to him. He takes it silently, and says “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” she replies. And with that, Kalyra turns. She makes her way into the woods a little ways, out of earshot of the hut. Then, reflecting that she is about to embark on a dangerous journey to find the Kocari in the Deep Wilds, she does two things.

First, she takes out her sword, and swears a vow: “I will find the Kocari, in the Deep Wilds, and learn what they know about Earth primordials.“ Marked this as a Dangerous quest. Rolled +heart: 4v5/2, weak hit. +1 momentum.

Second, the edge of her sword was blunted against the primordial. Holding it to herself, she hums, reaching out for the souls the sword has slain in its past. Ritual: Keen. Rolled +heart, 8v1/2, strong hit.

With that, Kalyra sheathes her sword, strides forward to the south west, her face turned towards the Deep Wilds where she hopes to find the Kocari.