Tales of the Ironlands

Kalyra Sophisdottir

Episode 05: Masks and Murder

Session Report

Last time on Tales of the Ironlands, Kalyra Sophisdottir made a long overland journey from the hut of the wisewoman Aliaanor into the Deep Wilds in search of a tribe of elves. She needs to speak with a Kocari, one of the shaman caste of the elves.

After travelling she found a tribe called the Bantu Clan where she successfully introduced herself to them, established friendly relations, got in to speak to their elder — and completely failed to gather the information that she needed. It seems that the elves dislike deathtouched, and so the elder of the Bantu Clan refused to give her any aid and required her to leave in the morning.

Kalyra — somewhat dejected — returns to the bank of the river that she was walking along before finding the Bantu Clan in the hopes of finding another elf clan, one which might aid her. Opted to lose one spirit, dropping from 5-4, and Endured Stress. 8v5/10, weak hit; she presses on.

Kalyra follows the river south and west. It curves to the west; previously it was flowing south and east, but now is more south south-west. Undertake a Journey to find another elf clan; because she is already in the Deep Wilds this will only be of troublesome difficulty. 8v8/10; miss. Rolled on Pay the Price; 38, the current situation worsens. After some debate, I took this to mean that some hotheads from the Bantu Clan took a dislike to her, and decided to dispose of her once she was well away from their village.

As Kalyra is making her way along the river heading south southwest, a group of three elves emerges from the trees. Their masks conceal their faces; she can’t see what their mood is like. She starts to speak to them — “Hello!” — and then one of them hurls a spear at her. One of them calls out to her in the elves’ own tongue, which of course she doesn’t understand; and then the spearman rushes forward. We have spearman, a swordsman and an archer. This will be a dangerous encounter. Entered the Fray with +wits; 5v5/2; weak hit. Took initiative.

Kalyra sidesteps the spearman, pulls out her sword (still Keen from two sessions ago) and immediately strikes back at the spearman, stepping inside of his range. Strike. 4v7/2. Inflicted 3 harm (6 progress). I was briefly taken aback by how comparatively easy this felt, but decided to take it. She sidesteps that spear and brings her sword down; the elf crumples without a further sound.

“I didn’t want to fight!” she says. “Why are you doing this? Back down!” Compel +iron to get them to back down. 8v1/4, strong hit. Immediately moved to End the Fight, as she did not really want to kill any of them. 6v1/3, strong hit. That was a one-hit fight.

The spearman crumples to the ground as she holds her sword threateningly at the archer and the swordsman. They look at one another, their masks concealing whatever expression might be on their faces; but Kalyra is pretty sure that they are frightened because they break and run. She watches them go. And then she looks down at the elf at her feet. She jams her sword into the dirt and sees if she can save him. Rolled a Heal check. 8v8/5; weak hit.

She whips out her supplies and sets about healing the wounds that she herself inflicted, binding them. The elf is entirely unconscious on the ground and bleeding rapidly. It’s touch and go for a while there, but in a few minutes she has stabilized him.

“What a waste of time,” she says. She props him up against a rock well away from the edge of the river. She kindles a small fire inside of a sandy area, leaving plenty of space around it which is clear of leaves and anything flammable, and then she takes a portion of her own supplies and leaves him some bandages and a little food. Suffered -1 Supply.

She stands up retrieves her sword, wipes it clean; sheathes it; stands over the elf, his breathing shallow.

“I don’t know what you thought you were doing, but you’re a damn fool. You should count yourself lucky to be alive.” And with that she turns on her heel and continues her journey onward. Undertake a Journey; 5v3/8, weak hit. Suffered -1 Supply for +1 Momentum (to 7). Marked progress on the journey.

It is late afternoon, but not dark yet; there’s still time to resupply. 7v8/4, weak hit. Took +2 supply at -2 Momentum down to +5. Kalyra spends a little time canvassing the banks of the river as she walks along looking for any edible plants, medicinal herbs and finds that the entire area is lush. She is able to gather a fair bit of both edible and medicinal supplies as she goes along.

In the evening she still hasn’t found another elf clan, and so she makes camp. She opts not to light a fire, as she’s not entirely certain that she might not be followed. She doesn’t know if the elves who attacked her were Bantu Clan, but she suspects they might be; so rather than light a fire that might give away her position, she eats a cold dinner (more of the jerky she had in her pack) and beds down a little ways off the bank of the river, up against a tree. Make Camp. 9v9/3, weak hit. +1 momentum to +6.

In the morning Kalyra gets up and promptly begins travelling. She’s moving at a steady ground-eating pace, alternating between walking and jogging. She wants to move. She needs to find a clan who will help her. Undertake Journey: 7v8/6, weak hit. Marked progress, -1 supply.

Over the course of the day she consumes some of the edible plants that she found yesterday. She’s loath to stop for very long, but she does keep an eye out for more plants along the way. Resupply: 4v7/1, weak hit. Chose not to trade momentum for supply. She finds nothing; she’s just moving too quickly to really take the time needed forage in unfamiliar terrain. The river runs along beside her — it stays swift, cold, rocky. “It’s amazing how long this is,” she thinks. “I don’t think I really understood how big the world is before.”

The sun is high in the sky; it’s been about half of a day’s journey here. She presses on into the shadow of the evening as it falls. Undertake a Journey: 3v6/8. Miss. Considered burning momentum to cancel the 6 and make it a weak hit; but opted to Pay the Price instead. Rolled a 69: it is stressful. Suffered -1 Spirit and Endured Stress: 5v6/9, Miss, suffered -1 momentum.

Kalyra is getting increasingly worried about how much time she is spending just trying to get the information and the resources she needs to help her father. It’s been a long day. She’s tired, in addition to all her worries. It’s been a long day of silence and a foul, bitter mood descends on her as she starts looking for a place to camp. “Why am I out here? I should ... I should be heading back! I should just try ... but ... oh, this whole thing is awful.” In the grip of these dark thoughts, she doesn’t even bother eating dinner. Kindling a small fire, she sits and stares moodily into the flames for little while before going to sleep. Making Camp: 4v10/10. Paid the Price. 69 again; suffered another -1 Spirit, down to 2, and Endured Stress. 6v2/10; presses on.

As Kalyra is sitting in depression she hears a howling noise in the distance. It’s unlike anything she’s ever heard before. It doesn’t sound like a wolf; she’s heard those plenty of times. It’s more ... guttural. Deeper. Looking up, she can actually see some of the leaves on the trees shuddering — ever so faintly — in response to the howl. Drawing her sword, she rises and looks out into the darkness, but can’t see anything. “What a fool I’ve been,” she thinks. “Staring into the fire destroys your night vision.”

She extinguishes the fire and waits nervously in the dark. Nothing ever comes, but she sleeps poorly that night, and in the morning she gets up hungry and still very tired. Undertake a Journey: 5v2/2. Strong hit with a twist. Marked progress (9). Traded -1 Supply for +1 momentum. Attempted to resupply along the way. 7v8/2, but was unwilling to trade in momentum. Finally, moved to Reach Destination: 9v6/4.

Kalyra forges downstream, jogging along the banks of the river, eyes scanning for useful plants as she strides along. And so focused is she on the ground looking for these plants that she does not notice the small group of elves who she is coming up upon. They turn, and by the time she finally notices them their weapons are out, bows are drawn. She comes skidding to a halt and raises both hands and says “Whoa! Whoa! Friend! I am Kalyra Sophisdottir, and I fear to pay my father’s debt.”

One of the elves draws his arrow back a little further. It looks as though he’s about to let it fly when one of the elves in the front raises a hand, cutting off the action with a short, sharp word. The elf is female. She is wearing a pale gray mask and has dark brown hair, which is braided behind her. She steps forward a little bit and says “Greetings, Kalyra Sophisdottir. I am Raleth, leader of the Skaren Clan. Why have you come here, into our territory?”

Kalyra lets out a faint sigh of relief. “I am seeking a Kocari,” she says. “I need advice on a matter touching on the debt that my father owes. I mean you and yours no harm.”

“Hmm,” says Raleth. “You come at an ill omened time. However, you have introduced yourself politely. You may accompany us to the to the village and we will consider what to do once we have arrived.” She says a few words to the warriors who release — gently — their bows, and return the arrows to their quivers. “Come,” says Raleth.

The Skaren elves take her to their village. It’s about a 20 minute walk — again undertaken in silence. Kalyra notices that two of them are carrying a dead deer, whose feet have been bound together around a pole so that they can walk carrying it. It was evidently a hunting party that she came across.

The path leads them a little bit away from the river. Still not terribly far, but off to the west of the river; and in 20 minutes walk or so, she comes to the Skaren village which is pretty similar to the Bantu village. Once again it is a village in the trees up above the ground level 60 to 80 feet, with platforms ringing the the trunks. Once again, there is a very large central tree which appears to have some kind of communal space in it, and smaller dwellings built into the branches of smaller trees with rope bridges connecting them.

“I have business to attend,” Raleth says. “My warrior Varen will show you to a place where you may rest. We will speak again shortly.”

The warrior Varen, following instructions from Raleth, takes Kalyra up the rope ladders to the to the village above and shows her in silence to a small room. It’s pretty similar to the room she stayed in a couple of nights ago with the Bantu. Once again it is wooden and has been either grown or constructed on one of the larger branches of the tree. There is once again a bedroll that can be unfurled there, but it is otherwise mostly unfurnished.

Kalyra nods her thanks at Varen and who departs, leaving her alone in the room. She takes off her pack, sets it down at the edge of the room. There is a window on one wall and she looks out into the village around. There is lots of activity. Down in the clearing in the forest below she can see a pair of the hunting party are busy butchering the deer, which she suspects will be the main course of the evening meal. But there is plenty of activity all throughout the village. It is late afternoon and she can see adults going about their business; she can see children playing, swinging on vines between the various branches and giggling at one another.

The children are not wearing masks. Their faces look more or less human; pale, but perhaps an odd grayish tinge which is different than the pink that you generally see in the pale Ironlander human. The adults all wear masks.

Turning away from the window, Kalyra discovers that she is not alone in the room. There is an elven male standing there. She didn’t even hear him coming in. He looks somewhat older, as far as she can tell; there are white streaks in his hair. His mask looks old and chipped in a couple of places, and looks dry. “Greetings, outlander,” says the elf.

“Uh, hello. I am Kalyra Sophisdottir, and I fear ...”

“You fear to pay your father’s debt,” he interrupts her. “Yes, so we have been told. Why have you come here?”

“Well, I’m seeking a Kocari. The wisewoman Aliaanor told me that a Kocari might be able to tell me more about my father’s state of affairs.”

“I am the Kocari of my tribe. My name is Veris,” says the elven man.

“Oh wonderful, could I ask you ... ?”

“Perhaps,” he interrupts her. He looks over his shoulder and then raises his hand to indicate quiet. “What is it that you wish to know?” he says.

“My father has been taken by an earth primordial. It took into a cave and sealed him up against the wall and the wall is growing into him. I think it’s making him into primordial and I want to know how to rescue him. It said there was a debt that must be paid, and I believe it must be my father’s debt. I need to know what is happening to him, and how I can save him!” As she speaks, she just thinks she catches a glimpse of his eyes widening a little under the mask. “Can you tell me anything about this?” she asks. Compel +heart: 4v1/7, weak hit.

“Perhaps. But there’s something I wish of you first,” Veris says.

“Of course! What can I do? What do you need?”

“You are an outsider here.” He looks carefully over his shoulder. “Our tribe is in turmoil. Our leader Huron ...”

“I thought the leader was Raleth?” Kalyra interjects.

“She is. But our leader Huron died five nights ago. He was healthy one moment, and the next moment he grew pale, began shaking and fell down and died — evidently of a heart attack. But I am suspicious. I think he was murdered —”

“Murdered!”

“Yes. He has returned as a Hollow, and has been haunting the village in the evenings these last three nights. Howling.”

“Oh! I think I heard that last night,” Kalyra says.

The mask of Veris nods. “A Hollow rises when some injustice has been done. He must be seeking justice, I believe ...” And then he steps back into the corner of the room, raises one finger to his mask to indicate silence and vanishes from sight.

Kalyra does a double-take. But before she can say anything further, she too hears the approach of another another person. Entering the room by the rope ladder outside of it is Raleth, the current leader of the Skaren tribe.

“I hope you have made yourself comfortable,” says Raleth.

“Yes, thank you. It’s ... it’s very nice,” Kalyra says, a little dumbfounded at what is going on.

“Very good. Now. You said you were hoping to find a Kocari in order to learn something about your father’s debt. We of course have Kocari; two of them. The elder is Veris. He’s very wise and has been training his apprentice Belisant. Tell me a little bit more about what it is you hope to learn,” Raleth says.

With a distinct sense of déjà vu, Kalyra says “Well, my father was taken by an earth primordial to a cave far north of our home village of Peilinham. I tracked him down there and discovered that the earth primordial has bound to the wall, which is growing into him. I think primordial is attempting to make him into a primordial. It said there was some kind of debt he had to pay. I need to understand what’s going on so that I can save him.”

Raleth shows no reaction to this news other than a faint nod at the end, and says “Well, I could request the Kocari of the tribe to consult with you. However, there is something I would like first.”

Again Kalyra feels a distinct sense of déjà vu. “Well, what is it? What can I help?”

Raleth sighs and sits down crosslegged on the floor of the room. Kalyra sits also, trying not to glance into the corner where she believes Veris is still standing, even though she cannot see him there.

“Five days ago my father died,” Raleth says. “One moment he was healthy as could be. The next he grew pale, began shaking and fell over dead. His heart gave out.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Kalyra says. “You have my condolences.”

The mask nods.

“It’s very difficult to understand these people when you can’t see their faces,” Kalyra thinks.

“Three days ago, my father rose as what we call a Hollow. Are you familiar with this?”

“I’ve heard of such things. They’ve come back from death to seek justice, I think?” She hadn’t known that before Veris said as much.

“That is correct. You are wise woman,” says Raleth. “In any case, for the last three days he has been haunting the village at night, howling down below. He can’t get up to us because every night we draw up the rope ladders to keep ourselves safe in the night. I need to know what it is that he is seeking. I need to deal with this. I cannot rule my tribe if they believe that their previous leader has gone to his grave in an unjust manner.”

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” Kalyra asks.

“This evening, I intend to confront my father’s Hollow. He comes every night from our burial grounds. I intend to be at the burial grounds to greet him when he takes form, and I want you to come with me.”

“Well ... why?” Kalyra says.

“You carry a sword, do you not?”

Kalyra nods, because clearly she does.

“A Hollow is very dangerous. Your task will be to protect me while I attempt to speak with him and discover what it is that he is after. And in the event that it comes to a fight, I want you to strike him down.”

Kalyra blinks a little at this. “But he’s your own father!”

“He is at the moment causing chaos amongst the Skaren. This matter must be dealt with. And he’s not my father any more. My father is dead. The Hollow that formed from him is disrupting the tribe, and I cannot stand for that.”

“Oh ... well ...”

“You have until the evening to consider. Think well, Kalyra Sophisdottir. Should you choose to accompany me, I will of course ask my Kocari to assist you in any way that they can. However, should you choose to stay behind, I will thank you to leave in the morning.”

“Understood,” Kalyra says, and then Raleth stands and without a backwards glance leaves.

Kalyra sits in silence until she can no longer hear the creak of the rope ladder and for a moment after that; and then she looks over into the corner where Veris’ form steps out of a shadow that she hadn’t even known was there.

“Uh ...” says Kalyra.

“Hmmph,” says Veris. “How interesting. I was about to ask you to investigate the circumstances of Huron’s death. I wonder ...” He trails off. Kalyra makes a compel roll to persuade him to share his thoughts. Rolled +heart; 9v3/4, strong hit, +1 Momentum, and a Gather Information check at +1.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” she says. Gather Information roll at +1; 5v9/1. Weak hit, +1 momentum (up to +8) and complication.

“I believe that Raleth may be responsible for her father’s death.”

Kalyra’s eyebrows go straight up. “What makes you think that?”

“I have no proof,” Veris says, “But she has ... she is a schemer. She has long wanted to take her father’s place. Perhaps she got impatient. I have no proof!” he reiterates, “But Huron was a warrior in his prime. He’d shown no signs of previous health issues. He may have been poisoned. That is what I ask of you. The others of my tribe are reluctant to look into this, and I am bound by oaths that I took many years ago. You, however are an outsider. You could look into it. Find me evidence that Raleth murdered her father, and I will tell you everything that you need to know.”

“Or I could go stand the ground with Raleth, and then she’d ask you to tell me. What would you do in that case, Veris?” says Kalyra.

“I would, of course, do as my clan leader requested. Such are the oaths I have sworn. Think quickly. You have little time,” says Veris, and with that he leaves.

Kalyra sits in silence for a good five, ten, fifteen minutes just struggling to to work out what to do here. Will she investigate Raleth? Or will she stand at Raleth’s side against Huron? I paused the recording for a long time while I figured out what I would like Kalyra to do under these circumstances. It was close to forty minutes. I decided Kalyra was more inclined to believe Veris than Raleth, largely because if she was in Raleth’s position she would be frantic to find out why her father’s soul had returned seeking justice. But ... her spirits are low, and she desperately wants to get the knowledge she needs so she can go save her own father. She was therefore seriously tempted to just go fight the Hollow with Raleth as the most straightforward solution.

Sitting in the room that she’s been taken to in the village of the Skaren clan of elves, Kalyra draws her sword, holding it in front of her by the blade. “I will set things right for the Skaren,” she says. Swear an Iron Vow. 5v2/7, weak hit. +1 momentum, up to 9, which is very nice. Marked it as a Dangerous quest. Also marked progress on finding a Kocari and learning about primordials, because she has found a Kocari and looks like she might be able to actually learn something from him in the not-too-distant future. Up to 4 progress on that.

Having sworn this vow (which is nicely non-specific as to who exactly she’s going to aid), Kalyra leaves her pack, taking her sword with her and makes her way out into the village. She wanders around, looking to see what the life is like in an elven village. Down below the hunters have more or less finished butchering the deer. It has been reduced to a pile of meat sitting on the hide that they stripped from it first. As she watches, they begin packing up the meat and taking it to wherever it is they do their cooking here. She’s curious about that, considering they don’t seem to use fires inside of their their structures (for good reason).

As she is looking over the edge of the platform at the hunters down below, she hears pit pit pit pit pit, and looking back over her shoulder she discovers that there is a little elf girl looking at her with wide eyes. “Hello,” Kalyra says, waving her hand at the little girl.

The girl nods and says something in her own language, a flowing liquid language that Kalyra does not speak.

“Sorry,” she says, shrugging and holding out her hands.

The little girl says something again, and Kalyra just has to shake her head. Then something occurs to Kalyra. She says “Veris. Take me to Veris.” She gestures as well. I was unsure what type of move it would be to communicate to someone who doesn’t speak your language, so I just rolled +heart and hoped for a weak hit or better. 6v9/10. Nope.

The child looks blankly back at Kalyra. She comes over, reaches up and tugs on Kalyra’s shirt to get her to kneel down. Kalyra does, and then the little girl starts feeling Kalyra’s face. Kalyra submits to this, blinking a little bit when a small finger is accidentally poked into her eye a little bit.

“Careful there,” Kalyra says. “Veris. Take me to Veris.”

And then the girl giggles and runs away.

Sighing, Kalyra stands and resumes exploring the elven village. Although those rope bridges scared her the first time she saw them in the Bantu village, it must’ve been the dark is much as anything, because navigating them during the day doesn’t seem so bad. They’re fairly broad: broad enough for two people to cross in opposite directions at the same time if they’re confident in their abilities. So walking in the center of the bridge means that there is plenty of space on either side for Kalyra to fall on should she lose her footing.

The bridges extend quite far into the forest. It takes a good five or 10 minutes to walk from one end of the village to the other by the bridges. She makes her way in a big slow loop — it seems to be almost circular around the central tree.

She stops a man who is going in the other direction by holding up her hand and says “Veris. Veris!” Making another attempt to get someone to take me to Veris, with a straight +heart roll hoping for a weak hit. 5v8/9. He simply looks puzzled and shrugs.

Kalyra continues exploring the village. “He’s got to be here, somewhere,” she thinks.

Finally her eye falls on the central tree. “The elder of the Bantu Clan stayed there. Perhaps Veris is there.”

She makes her way across the rope bridges, looking for Veris; and she finds him. In the center of the village, inside of the large communal space there. However, she also finds Raleth at the same time.

“Ah, our guest has arrived,” says Raleth. “Have you given my offer consideration?”

“I am still thinking,” Kalyra says. “And exploring your village while I do. It is a beautiful place.”

“Thank you,” says Raleth, eyes half lidded behind the mask.

Kalyra glances at Veris as if she could communicate a desire to speak privately with nothing more than a glance. Again, I wasn’t sure what move this should be. Because she wanted to communicate privately without tipping off Raleth, I rolled +shadow and hoped for a weak hit or better. 6v8/2. Weak hit.

She glances at Veris, who gives no sign of the understanding her message, and so Kalyra turns and makes her way out again. She finds a place not far from where her room is, and sits down on the edge of the platform looking out over the forest below. There are birds hopping about in the branches of the trees, and she can see from here that there are more of those light-emitting flowers that she saw at the Bantu Clan. Every one of the buildings in the village appears to have them growing outside the front door — and presumably inside as well — so that they have light when they wish it in the dark.

“I must get some seeds for those,” she says. “They’re great.”

After a while she hears footsteps from behind her. Looking back, she sees Veris approaching.

“Have you come to a decision?” he asks quietly.

“Yes. I’m going to assist you as best I can.”

“Very good. What you intend to do?” says Veris.

“I am no good at sneaking about looking for evidence. I’m going to go to Raleth and tell her that I will accompany her to see this Hollow who has arisen from her father. If anyone knows who is to blame, it is the Hollow. So when he appears, I will simply ask him whether he was murdered; and if so, whether he can point out his murderer. I wish you to come quietly in the shadows as I have seen you do — that’s an excellent trick, by the way — and witness this. Otherwise ... it would only be my word against Raleth’s in the event that the Hollow names her.”

“Very good,” Veris says. “This evening then.” And he walks casually away.

But as Kalyra looks up, she can see that Raleth has emerged from the central tree and is looking at them from across the distance. It’s much too far to see the eyes through the mask, but she has the distinct feeling that this interaction has been observed.

Kalyra makes her way back to the central tree and up to Raleth, who looks at her impassively.

“I will accompany you and face the Hollow who has risen from your father,” she says.

“Hmm. Very well,” says Raleth. “We will meet just at dusk, down below. Prepare yourself.” And with that Raleth turns and walks away.

Kalyra spends the remainder of the afternoon exploring the village for a little while, and then sitting in her room waiting. She pulls out the sword — the sword that she has from her father — and spends a good long time sharpening the edge, polishing it, making sure that all is in readiness before she slips it back into her sheath and sets out to meet with Raleth down below. Marked progress on the vow to Set Things Right for the Skaren, because I have a plan and am executing it. 2/10.

At dusk Kalyra makes her way down from the trees. In the clearing below, she finds Raleth has come. Raleth is wearing a set of armor, which looks as though it is made from ... leaves, perhaps. Many thousands of tiny leaves. But they look inflexible, not fragile at all. Perhaps they have been hardened somehow. She carries a spear and a bow. The pale gray wood of Raleth’s mask gleams in the light of the rising moon.

“Very well. I see you’ve come,” Raleth says. “Let us go, we have little time before the Hollow rises from the burial grounds.” With that she turns and leads the way.

There is a winding path through the trees, marked by ferns that grow on either side. Kalyra speculates that perhaps the ferns have been tended by the elves.

In about 15 minutes’ walk, they come to an opening: a clearing in the forest. All around the edges are trees which have grown up from the edge of the forest which are of a different sort than any tree she has seen before. “Here lie our fallen,” Raleth says. “Here is where the Hollow will appear.”

Almost as if speaking its name had summoned it, there is a gust of wind. Detritus flies through the air and rises up from the ground in the breeze, forming large solid mound that heaves itself up out of the ground. A mask — eyes black in the darkness — sits at the front of this being. As it rises up from the ground, Raleth steps forward and speaks something in her own language.

The Hollow pulls itself up and howls, a deep resonant howl that Kalyra can hear in her bones. Before Raleth can speak again, Kalyra calls out to it and says: “Spirit! Were you murdered?”

Raleth turns to face Kalyra, mask gleaming in the moonlight, and the mask of the Hollow tilts up and down in a definite nod of affirmative.

“Spirit! Can you name your murderer?” Asked the Oracle whether he can name his murderer. Huron was poisoned. He may not have known who was responsible. Gave it a 50/50 chance, with a 51 or higher meaning yes, he will be able to to point out his murderer. 59, yes. Asked the oracle: who murdered Huron, Raleth or Veris? Low is Raleth, high is Veris. 22: it was Raleth. The Hollow raises its arm and points at Raleth.

“Traitor!” hisses Raleth, and draws her spear. Enter the Fray; rolled +heart for a face-off. Settled on Formidable difficulty for fighting Raleth. 8v6/1, strong hit. Momentum increased by +2, capping out at 10 and gained initiative.

“Kinslayer!” Kalyra calls out. “You murdered your own father. By his own actions are you condemned!” She draws her sword says “Stand down and face justice!” Compel +iron: 3v1/4, weak hit. Momentum capped, lost initiative.

Raleth takes her spear out and backs away from the Hollow. “I should never have tried to use you. You were an unknown quantity.”

“What did you hope to accomplish, Raleth?” says Kalyra. Gather Information check at +1: 9v4/9. Weak hit. Momentum capped and complication.

“Isn’t it obvious?” says Raleth. “I wanted my tribe. Mine! Father was old and weak. I deserve this.” And the complication is that..

Three archers materialize out of the shadows at the far side. Separate track for a dangerous foe and lost initiative.

Raleth is not going to wait any longer. She orders her lackeys to attack Kalyra, while she herself attempts to deal with the Hollow. She turns and charges the Hollow, thrusting forward at it with her spear while the archers take aim at Kalyra and begin lofting arrows at her through the gathering darkness. Clash +edge. 2v10/10, miss and things get worse.

As the arrows come towards her, Kalyra tries to leap out of the way. Stumbling backwards in the dark her heel catches on something — a rock in the grass — and she falls prone, sending her sword flying away into the darkness. She has been disarmed. Secure Advantage to get her sword back! Rolled +edge. 4v2/8, weak hit. She has not found her sword, yet, but she’s on her feet and can move once again.

The archers attempt to shoot her again. In the background Raleth is fighting her father, dodging nimbly out of the way of its massive strikes. It howls occasionally, and the leaves of the trees tremble. Pine needles sift down from some of the conifers in the area with each howl. Clash +edge 4v2/5, weak hit. Did not inflict harm, as Kalyra did not have a ranged weapon ready. Paid the price: 2 harm down from 5 to 3. Apparently forgot to Endure Harm, whoops.

She needs her sword back. She turns and looks frantically in the darkness for it. Secure Advantage again, this time with +wits because she’s already moved roughly where it went. 4v8/10. Rolled a 2 on Pay the Price: roll again and make it worse. 61: it’s harmful. Great. Took 2 harm. In order to make it worse, I did Endure Harm and rolled twice on the action die, taking the lower of the two rolls. Initial action die was 4, rolled it again and it dropped to 2, for a total of 4v1/4: weak hit. Pressed on.

She really needs that sword so she’s got to keep looking for it. Secured an Advantage once again and got 3v8/9. Kalyra is forced to drop prone again and roll out of the way as another volley of arrows flies through the air. “I can’t find my sword, I’ve got to get clear ...”

She scrambles to get behind a big tree so that she can’t be shot. Face Danger: 5v5/8, and decided to burn my momentum to cancel both challenge dice and make it a strong hit. I was hoping to do that on a Clash or a Strike or something that inflicts harm in order to trigger my Swordmaster ability — but Swordmaster is useless with no sword. Dropped from 10 momentum to 0, and then got +1 for the “strong hit” on the Face Danger. She successfully finds her way to the trees.

The Hollow roars again. Its booming roar rolls out over the countryside; it must travel for miles. The elves are moving for position. She needs to find her sword. Secure an Advantage again in the hopes that the dice will finally help me out. Rolled +edge: 5v2/10. Weak hit, +1 momentum.

Kalyra moves to start heading out to look for her sword. She hears a sound in the shadows, and whipping her head around she discovers that Veris is there, and he has her sword. He hands it to her.

“Did you see?”

“I did.”

“All right. Those archers — I have to do something about them.

“Leave that to me,” he says, and asks “Do you have any water on you?”

“Yes, I have a water skin. Hold on.” She pulls that out of her pack and hands it to him.

“Very good.” Aid an Ally: rolled +wits. 4v5/9. Miss.

He begins conducting a ritual to raise a fog in the area, rendering ranged weapons very difficult to target accurately.

Glancing back around the tree, Kalyra can see that Raleth is holding her own against the Hollow. She has to admit, that woman is tough. Kalyra has fought things like that. She’s fought an earth primordial. Raleth has been taking a beating, but she’s also been dishing one out. The Hollow is beginning to look a little torn and frayed around the edges, but as it moves, it keeps gathering to itself more bits of the surrounding terrain. Pine needles and grass and clumps of dirt soar up out of the ground to join into the body of the Hollow.

The cloud has not formed yet. Face Danger to get close to the archers. Rolled +edge. 7v5/5. Gained initiative, and +1 momentum, up to 3. Due to doubles, gave her a +1 on her next move, which was an immediate Strike. Rolled 5v3/6, weak hit, and inflicted 3 harm (2 base, +1 from Keen), for 6 progress on fighting the archers. Lost initiative.

Kalyra charges in amongst the archers swinging her sword. One goes down to her first hit and then she injures a second one. The two who are still standing drop their bows and draw long sharp daggers from their sides, trying to stab her. Clash, +iron. 6v2/4, strong hit! Gained initiative, gain +1 momentum, and inflicted harm, which caps out that track. End the Fight with the archers: 8v2/2. I think I needed to make a progress roll here instead of iron and did it wrong, but the double 2’s on the challenge dice would have worked pretty much the same, so I don’t think it matters.

Lashing out amongst them, Kalyra makes mincemeat of the archers. They fall away. Panting, she looks up to see that Raleth is still fighting the Hollow. Veris abandons his ritual, attempting to raise a fog, because the archers are no longer an issue. Let Kalyra keep initiative, and couldn’t think of a good twist for the double 2’s, so I gave her +1 momentum, up to 5.

Kalyra stalks across the battlefield towards the daughter battling with her father’s spirit. Kalyra is angry. This woman murdered her own father just to take control of the tribe, and then tried to kill Kalyra after attempting to use her to kill her father’s spirit (again!). She stalks across the field and strikes at Raleth. Strike: 5v5/7. Burned my five momentum to make it a weak hit, triggering Swordmaster. Inflicted 5 harm: 2 base + 1 Keen + 2 swordmaster. Marked 5 progress.

Raleth cries out as Kalyra stalks up behind her and brings the sword crashing down on Raleth’s back. She spins, jabbing her spear at Kalyra. Clash: 7v2/6, strong hit. Inflicted +1 harm from the strong hit on Clash, for 4 more progress.

Kalyra turns the spear away with her blade, stepping inside of it and bringing the sword crashing into Raleth’s belly. End the Fight: did the progress roll correctly this time. 9v6/10, only a weak hit.

Raleth has made a foolish mistake: she has turned her back on a Hollow, and it reaches forward with its two massive hand-like extensions, grabs her by her arms and just tears her in half. Kalyra is sprayed with the gore of Raleth’s death. Suffered -1 Spirit and Endure Stress: 4v1/1, strong hit. +1 momentum, and another +1 momentum for the doubles.

Kalyra is grimly satisfied. Not terribly happy about being sprayed with the blood of the dead elf woman; but grimly satisfied to see justice done. Panting, heaving with the exertion of combat, she looks at the spirit before her as Raleth’s body slides to the grass of the clearing.

The Hollow lowers its mask towards Raleth, reaches down with one hand and tears the mask from Raleth’s face. Blank elven eyes stare up at the dead night; and the Hollow snaps the mask in half, hurling the pieces in two different directions.

“Be at rest, spirit. Justice is done,” says Kalyra.

The spirit doesn’t really acknowledge Kalyra’s words at all. It raises its mask towards her and then slowly, gently collapses and disperses. The mask is the last thing to fall, with a clatter, to the ground — across the breast of Raleth.

Footsteps come across the shadowed burial grounds. Veris approaches. He looks down upon the dead body of Raleth.

“What a fool she was,” he says. “I have never trusted her ever since she took ghostwood for her mask.”

“What is it with you and masks, anyway?” asks Kalyra.

He chuckles. “Your face is — something for friends, and family. People you care for deeply. Once you are grown you must take a mask. That is the way our people do it.” Marked progress on Set Things Right for the Skaren: 4/10. There are things yet to be done here.

Kalyra turns to Veris and says “I have unmasked the murderer. Or rather — the Hollow unmasked her. Literally. Will you tell me what I need to know?”

“Yes,” he says. “I will tell you whatever I can. So soon as we’ve settled matters in the village tomorrow.” Marked progress on Find a Kocari and Learn about Earth Primordials.

And Kalyra nods; because she is weary to the bone.

And that is where we are going to call session.