Tales of the Ironlands

Kalyra Sophisdottir

Episode 02: A Debt to Pay

Note: This has been edited to remove uninteresting bits — in all, I cut about 22 minutes of silence, paper shuffling, umms, ahhs, and muttering of rules passages.

If you would like some music to go along with this, try the playlist Shadowlands on Spotify. That’s what I was listening to as I played.

Session Report

Kalyra begins in desperate straits, wounded, cursed, and barely back from death’s door. Struggling away from the boar, she looks for the closest thing that might pass for shelter. A couple hundred yards away from the scene of the fight she finds a large boulder projecting from the side of a hill. Taking shelter from the wind on the lee side of the boulder, she sinks to the ground and roots through her pack, pulling out the herbal remedies that her mother packed for her before leaving Peilinham. No longer on the very verge of death, Kalyra pulls out bandages, lineaments, herbal tonics and salves which she uses to bind her many wounds from the fight with the boar. Heal, strong hit: 9 vs double 8, clearing the Wounded condition and gaining +1 health because of the match.

It is getting dark and cold. Although it is spring here in the Ironlands, it is early spring, and even at the height of summer it is a chilly place. She makes camp. Kalyra is experienced. She has spent time in the wilds before, accompanying her father Beren on his long looping trails through the forest to hunt. However, she has not often spent time by herself in the wilds. It is ... a lonely task. The wind rustles through the trees. She huddles against the rock, wrapped in her cloak. She has decided not to light a fire, lacking the strength to gather the firewood that would be necessary for that; and so she simply huddles through the long night. It is not particularly restful, but in the morning she feels somewhat better. Strong hit on Make Camp, 9v8/6, +2 health, -1 supply.

In the morning she tends to her wounds once more. She pulls out a salve that her mother prepared. It is a light balm which smells faintly of the pine needles which went into the making of it. She goes to spread this across her wounds to ward against infection; but as she does, her trembling hands drop the jar to the ground. It shatters, tumbling against a rock and coming to rest in the dirt. She looks at it numbly; it is quite a blow. But there is nothing much for it. 3v8/8, failure, -1 supply.

After a single day on the trail, Kalyra is weary, and worried that she will end up in another fight. If that happens, she will need every advantage. And so, she conducts the Keen ritual to enhance her sword once again. She draws the sword, grasps the blade by her hands and holds it to her chest, as is her wont when she is communing with the souls it has sent beyond the Black Gate. As she hums the ritual that calls out to the souls tied to the sword, they rise up, their voices keening back at her in her mind. 6v5/8. Weak hit, -2 Spirit; Endured Stress, 7v7/8. Miss. -1 Momentum. At this point I failed to realize that I needed to Suffer a Setback because my momentum was already at -6; instead, when I reset my momentum I reduced it by one more than it would ordinarily have been. Rules! There are lots of them.

“The world is a hard place,” Kalyra says to herself. “I should eat something before I go.” She fixes herself a simple breakfast, taking a moment to gather a few sticks for a fire and makes some oatmeal. The warmth soothes her soul, just a little bit. Resetting momentum by using Secure Advantage to Make Preparations. In retrospect this is maybe a little squishy. 6v4/8, weak hit, reset momentum to zero.

Although she is still not in a great position -- the day is wasting, and her father needs her. Undertake Journey, 4v1/10, weak hit. Kalyra pulls herself together and staggers onwards. It takes a little while to find the trail of the primordial; but once found, it is not difficult to follow. As a being of earth and stone, it has left a trail of disrupted earth that will take some time to fade.

Part way through the day, however, the trail crosses a creek which flows down from the hills that rise to the north west. It’s not a deep creek, but it is cold, shallow, rocky and swift. Kalyra takes a moment to remove her boots, and roll up her trousers so she can slosh through. But part way through she slips on a rock and falls into the stream. No particular harm befalls her from this, but once she gets to the shore on the far side, she discovers that her pack fell open, and another one of her herbal remedies has washed away. She spends some time looking for it, in the hopes that it will have washed up downstream; but it is gone. The stream is a waypoint, but -1 supply.

With her supplies getting dangerously low, Kalyra takes the remainder of the day to hunt and forage. She has a bow and arrow -- she’s not the best with them, but they will serve. And she will keep an eye out for fresh supplies of herbs. Resupply, 5v3/1; strong hit. +2 supply. Kalyra not only finds an excellent patch of rubywort, used for stanching wounds, she also kills a rabbit, and has fresh rabbit for dinner. This occupies the rest of the day, and she makes camp once more. Make Camp, 5v3/7. It’s a little difficult to find a good camping spot that’s not too far from the trail of the primordial, but eventually she finds a great nurse log, a mother tree. It must have been centuries old when it fell, and even now it is rotting away and providing a place for the new trees that have begun to spring up from it. She contemplates the balance of nature: the old giving way to the new, and the hope of renewal springing from death. +1 Spirit.

In the morning, she treats her wounds once more. Heal, 6v2/4, strong hit. Initially this was a weak hit because I opted for +1 health from Herbalist rather than the +2 bonus on the check, but then realized that Heal actually restores 2 health if it succeeds, which would max out her health without the extra +1. So I retconnned it to add to the check and make it a strong hit instead. She is young and resilient, and heals quickly; although she is still a little stiff, she is effectively back to full capacity, which is amazing considering two days previous she was at Death’s Door. Literally.

Once again, Kalyra did not light a fire in the night, but simply huddled in her cloak for warmth. She notices -- and perhaps it happened the previous night too, but she had not realized -- she notices that the cold wind didn’t seem to bite as deeply as she might have expected. She finds this slightly puzzling; but she is glad not to be cold.

It has now been three days since her father was taken. Worried for him, Kalyra continues her pursuit. Undertake Journey, 8v4/2; strong hit. Heading north, she reaches a waypoint that she knew was coming: the border between the Havens and the Hinterlands. The Havens are hilly; but not nearly so hilly as the Hinterlands, which begin the long slow rise to what will be the Veiled Mountains beyond them. Coming to the top of a hill, Kalyra sees a shield of stone that has been thrust up from the ground: a spine of stone that runs west to east, dark grey, and clad in a cloak of trees. That is the border to the Hinterlands. As soon as she crosses over it tomorrow morning, she will be well and truly out of territory that she has any familiarity with. I was thinking of the Hogback in Colorado, a long serrated ridge that marks the edge of the Rocky Mountains.

Kalyra resupplies once more. 3v5/1, weak hit, -1 momentum, +2 supply. In the forests she hunts, bringing down a partridge that she found running about on the forest floor. She has it for dinner as she makes camp once more. She hopes her journey ends soon. Make Camp: 9v7/5, strong hit, Relax and +1 on her next Undertake Journey check. The night is uneventful. This evening she makes a camp fire; she has found a fold in the hills, where she thinks her fire will not attract attention. She is careful to gather old, dry wood that will burn cleanly and not send up much smoke. She keeps it small. It is a relief to have hot food and some warmth in the night.

In the morning, she resumes her travels once again. Undertake Journey, 4v6/8; miss. As you enter the Hinterlands the land becomes progressively more broken. The hills grow taller, and the way between them becomes less obvious. There are a series of valleys and rises over which Kalyra makes her way, following the trail of the earth primordial. It seems the primordial was not much concerned with obstacles that cause difficulty to smaller humans. The trail leads down a long, steep slope of loose scree. Many thousands of tiny flakes of stone cover it; the footing is perilous. Face Danger: 7v2/4, strong hit. +1 momentum. Kalyra sees that it should be possible to simply slide down this slope: she takes a seat and slides, bumping, down the slope of scree, coming to a halt in a cloud of rock dust at the bottom. Standing up, she brushes herself off and smiles. It was fun, she has to admit. I mistakenly marked progress on the journey at this point, thinking that successfully dealing with the slope meant that I passed the journey check after all. Whoops.

Reach Destination: 9v4/7. +1 momentum. Shortly after reaching the bottom of the slope of scree, Kalyra finds the primordial’s destination. Asked the oracle: Where was the primordial going? Oracle says: 1 on Locations, Hideout. The primordial to come to a hideout: an enormous cliff. In the face of it, there is a large cave opening, and the primordial’s trail leads directly into it.

Kalyra makes her way into the cave, sword at the ready, cautiously advancing. Asked the oracle: what does she see in the darkness of the cave? Action and Theme: 11 (Break), 6 (Safety). Within the cave, Kalyra finds her father. He is held against the wall; bonds of stone hold him to it. His face hangs; he is clearly severely wounded, and probably unconscious. Looking around, she does not immediately see anything else, and so she rushes forward.

“Father! Father!”

He makes no response.

As she comes closer, Kalyra can see a strange thing happening: it looks as though the stone is slowly growing into her father. Tiny strands of stone have separated from the wall behind him and begun to press into his flesh. She looks at this in puzzlement, and attempts to free him. He is held in place by bonds of stone that wrap about his wrists waist, and legs. She begins to chip away at the one, and successfully frees his right arm, which falls forward. He groans as she does so.

“Father ... are you awake? Can you hear me?”

He makes no response.

And that is when she hears the rumble from behind. Looking back, she sees the primordial is there. Perhaps it was ... melded into the stone wall before? Perhaps it was gone, and has returned? It is unclear, but it is there now, and it watches her. Its face is made of a dozen tiny rocks that cling together in a vaguely humanoid shape. In the gaps between, where they eyes would be, she can see a pair of glowing orange lights, and it gazes deep at her.

She turns. “What are you doing? Why have you brought my father here? What are you doing to him?”

The primordial gazes back at her, and it speaks in a deep gravelly voice: “Child.”

“Child? What do you mean?”

“Child.”

She looks puzzled. The primordial moves towards her. She raises her sword defensively, but it does not attack as yet. Instead, it lifts one massive arm and extends a finger that is the size of Kalyra’s head. It points at the tiny strands of stone that are beginning to grow into Beren’s back.

“You’re making him ... a primordial?”

“Child. Yes.”

“But why?”

Asked the oracle: Why is this primordial trying to make Beren Verkenson into another primordial? Theme. Rolled a 75, then ignored it and picked an entry that caught my eye.

“Debt.”

“Debt? Whose? ... Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. I can’t let you take him!” And Kalyra turns once more to break her father free.

“No!” the primordial says. Enter the Fray: 8v8/10. Miss. The primordial smashes Kalyra back away from her father, sending her sword spinning back somewhere behind her in the darkness of the cavern. Kalyra scrambles to her feet and runs to retrieve her sword. Face Danger: 2v8/9. Miss. The primordial lunges forward as she rises to her feet. She cries out as it strikes her, but rushes to look for her sword anyway. But she cannot find it. Took 4 damage, forgot to make Endure Harm (did it later once I realized my mistake).

Secure an Advantage: 6v6/2. Weak hit. +1 momentum. Kalyra backs herself into a narrow crevice at the back of the cavern. The primordial is too large to get at her there; but unfortunately she is trapped there. Asked the Oracle: Is my sword in here with me? Oracle says: yes! Kalyra backs away, and retrieves her sword, but is still trapped in a corner with an angry primordial outside. The primordial begins pounding on the walls outside, attempting to collapse the cavern atop me. Face Danger: 3v2/10, weak hit. Kalyra dodges most of the rocks, but one of them crashes against her pack, and she hears a tinkle as something in there is smashed -- probably more herbal supplies. At this point I made a Strike move, forgetting that I didn’t have initiative. 4v1/1, strong hit.

Kalyra rushes forward, raising the sword of her ancestors and strikes at the primordial. Her blow lands true; and as it lands, the sword calls, crying out; and a moment later a stone hits the primordial from behind. Glancing under its arm, Kalyra sees that her father has raised his head. He is awake, and he has clutched at a stone that was within his reach and thrown it at the primordial. 1 bonus harm from the match.

“Dad!” Kalyra calls out. “Hang in there ... we’ll get through this!”

“I ... will ... try ...“ he chokes out.

Heartened, Kalyra strikes again. Strike: 8v8/1, weak hit. The primordial recovers and takes a swipe at her. Clash: 3v10/3. Keen bonus fades. Missed. Took 4 damage (-1 Health, -3 Momentum). Kalyra backs up to get out of its reach once again. Secure Advantage: 5v1/8, weak hit, +1 momentum. Groping around in the darkness, she throws some rocks at it to try and drive it back a bit. Secure Advantage: 7v7/6, +1 momentum.

Kalyra calls out to Beren. “Father! Are you all right? Can you move?”

He coughs back, “I am restrained ... you surely saw ...”

“Oh ... right. I’m just ... ugh.”

At this point I realized I’d forgotten Endure Harm checks on both of the hits and made them. First one came up a weak hit (press on), and the second came up 6v6/6. Miss on a match. Marked wounded, -1 momentum, additional -1 momentum due to doubles.

The primordial once again begins pounding on the walls in an attempt to get at Kalyra, while she throws rocks at it again. Clash at range: 5v8/3, weak hit. In the audio I misspoke and said I was inflicting 2 harm, when I meant 2 ticks. Pay the Price: Face Danger: 4v3/8, weak hit. More rocks begin falling from the ceiling. Kalyra dodges them, but her bag gets momentarily caught on the rough wall, and some of her supplies spill out unheeded to the cavern floor. -1 supply.

Clash at range again: 3v1/6, weak hit. Once again I misspoke, referring to 2 ticks as 2 harm. Pay the Price: 2v3/5, miss. The nook that Kalyra was hiding in begins to collapse. She dodges past the primordial and turns to face it. It lumbers towards her once more. Clash: 6v9/10. Miss. She staggers backward as the primordial slams its enormous stony fist into her. -4 Momentum, yielding -5.

“Debt. Must. Be. Paid.” the primordial grinds out.

Kalyra successfully evades the fists of the golem, but it is clear she must flee. “I’m sorry, father!” she cries. “I ... I’ll come back -- I swear it!” Face Danger: 7v8/1. Weak hit. -1 Spirit

Emerging from the cavern, Kalyra scrambles away, going as quickly as she can, battered, bruised, wounded. She leaves a blood trail behind her as she clambers away into the forest. Behind her the primordial emerges from the cave and looks after her, but does not leave. It needs to stay. It has Beren there. But it looks after her with its enormous head and glowing orange gaze.

She glances back, stricken with desperate shame at having walked away from her father.

And that concludes the second session.