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spaceandfluff · 4 years ago

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Ironsworn: Hunter’s Quarry

Chapter 1: The First Vow

Here begins a tale of a lost hero, scarred by the past but prepared for the future. A lone hunter braving the wilds to put an arrow in every beat that threatens the good people of the Ironlands. Here is the tale of Emelyn Shona.

Darkness. Pain. Monstrous wailing. The whistle of an arrow through the air. A comforting voice. That’s all Emelyn remembers as she jolts awake suddenly. A pain in her head as she rests in a surprisingly comfortable bit of bedding on the floor of an unfamiliar home. “Ah, you’re finally awake. I was beginning to worry” spoke a voice from across the room. To Emelyn’s surprise, she glanced over to see a masked elf sat in an old rocking chair. Their mask was made from a silvery wood she recognized as ghostwood, intricately carved with spiraling marks resembling a styalized ghostly visage. “You’re lucky those scouts found you, they said they carried you to the village fearing they’d have to send a corpse back to the Havens.” Emelyn attempted to sit up, her stomach and arms bandaged and covered in herbal salves as burning pain shot up and down her body like a stream running downhill. “Please, don’t try and stand. You need rest.” The elf stood and made his way to her side, kneeling down and assuring the salves were still properly applied. “Who.. Who are you? Where am I? What happened to me?” Emelyn put a hand to her head as she attempted to recount what happened to her. “Well, as far as I know, scouts heard a terrible noise and saw you being battered around by some awful horror. After a few arrows hit it, the creature turned tail and left. And now you’re in Tishetu, my home.” The elf gave her a once-over and nodded to himself. “I’m Kerihu, I’m what some call a healer. But I just know how to patch up injuries.”

After some time of resting, Emelyn slowly regained her strength and was able to stand with help from Kerihu. And she was able to recount her story. Giving an introduction and telling of why she was there. She was part of the Shona clan, a long line of hunters native to Damula village. A small community made up of the Shona, Yorath, and Kalidas families. She was sent out to investigate a reported sighting of a large beast roaming the borders of the Deep Wilds and the Havens, thinking it may have been a bear or even an elder beast. When she came to investigate, it was far worse. A horrifying monstrosity made of dozens of beastail corpses. A chimera, one larger than any other ever seen or hunted by her family. “So you saw it. The Hydra.” Kerihu spoke up after Emelyn had finally recounted her tail. “You’re lucky to be alive, many a scout has went into the woods and never returned, their only final trace being some horrible feral scream. They’re a legend in these wilds, a daemonic force prowling the woods after killing in the winter and retreating to some dark crevice when warmth and light comes.” Emelyn leaned herself against the wall and lowered her head. “I had no idea.. that thing.. it was..” Kerihu silenced her “Please, I won’t ask that you force your mind through more. But living to tell the tale of such a creature is an impressive feat. And judging by the emptied quiver and knives stuck in the beast, you made that thing bleed.” She nodded, but gasped suddenly. “My bow! Did they have my bow?” “Don’t you worry, your is here. It’s important to you?” She looked and saw the old bow resting near the elf’s chair. “It’s.. It’s not exactly rare but.. I strung that bow myself. I made myself. I’ve slain a few wolves with it, even some harrow spiders.” “Ah, you’re a hunter. I understand how important that bow can be. I had a similar life years ago.” He walks across the room and grabs the bow, placing it back in her hands. “I’d hate to see such a fine bow be lacking it’s maker.”

Thanks to the hospitality of Kerihu, Emelyn was able to stay and rest to regain her strength. Eleven healing salves really did work the kinds of wonders she’d only heard stories about. Other elves had come to see the talk of the girl who survived an encounter with The Hydra. Among them was the leader of this village, an old elf man named Uralar. Though he seemed a very capable leader, there was some glint of deeper machinations behind his whisperwood mask. Kerihu clearly had a good education of speaking the Ironlander tongue, as Uralar spoke it quite haltingly. “You, girl. You are the one they talk about? You survived The Hydra?” As the old elf worked his gaze over Emelyn, Kerihu spoke something to him in the eleven tongue. It wasn’t a language Emelyn knew well, only knowing enough to ask for aid or convey her intentions. Uralar seemed satisfied with whatever Kerihu had told him, and so he turned to her and gave a nod. “You have received good care, so I ask something of you. This village needs help, our roads have trouble. Wild men attacked a traveling group three days ago. Men of your kind.” Emelyn knew exactly what he was talking about. The Broken. Many in the Ironlands have heard tales of them, as most small tribes live at the fringes of the Havens or deep in the woodlands or hinterland hills. She had never faced them before, but she knew she could try her best. “You will be given necissay things and, for our help to you, we require your services.” “So, you need some help handling some Broken attacking your trade roads. I’ll help, in exchange for your hospitality. When I am well enough and stocked enough, I’ll set out and ensure the wild men will be out of your hair.” Emelyn knew what she had to do. Among her possessions was a small knife made for skinning hides. It’s iron blade shining in the midmorming light piercing through the misty treetops. She held the iron in her hands and spoke “I swear upon this iron that I shall defeat the broken attacking your trade roads.” [2 +2 Heart vs 6/10. Miss. I suffer -2 momentum and will plan for new dangers ahead of me, but I must press on] ...But she knew the task ahead would not be easy. She would need to find where the tribe was, and where they attacked on the road, and possibly avoid any other threats. She felt a bit defeated by what had to be done even in her current physical state, but her vow is sworn. It must be done.

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knittedkikwi · 5 years ago

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I found a solo rpg!

So, Mark Hulmes has been playing Ironsworn on his personal stream because it has the ability to support solo play. I finally took some time to watch a little bit of it and, me being me, jumped right into my own campaign. I had this idea of finding out what happens if you make a character with no past. Could you come up with a coherent story for someone starting with amnesia? Solo play relies a lot on you rolling on random generator tables and then making them fit into the situation. Could this be used to reveal a character’s past or would it just turn out crazy. I’m gonna try it and post it here. I’m writing out the campaign as I go as if I were writing a story (with random inserts of the rolls I’ve made so I can remember what I’ve actually done.). I’ve written up her story so far below the cut if anyone’s interested. Be warned, it’s long and I am not a writer. Let’s see how this experiment goes, shall we?

The first thing Mira noticed as she awoke was the complete lack of light. The second thing was the staleness of the air. It was getting harder to breathe and she was starting to panic. Adrenaline surged through her as she took stock of her surroundings. There was something heavy resting on top of her and her hands were wrapped around it. It seemed to be poking her palm, so she released it and started feeling outward. It was a small space, the walls felt like wood. Mira brought her arms up and braced them against the top panel of this box. Using all the strength she could summon, Mira pushed upwards. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, the panel moved. Dirt cascaded down on her as she continued to push. Coughing, Mira sat up and looked around. She was in a cheap pine box, whose top was about four inches below ground. Someone had buried her, but she didn’t know who, or why, or even where she was. Come to think of it, she didn’t know who she was either. She knew her name was Mira, but nothing else.

Mira sat there a while longer to get her breathing under control before attempting to stand. When she did, something heavy fell from her lap with a sold thunk. Her glance down revealed a battle axe, the hand worn smooth with use, the blade showing wear but the edge razor sharp. She frowned. A handle that smooth shouldn’t have been poking her hand, so what had she felt earlier. Mira picked up the axe the axe with ease, despite it being quite heavy. There, hidden under the axe’s head, was a piece of paper. It was folded small enough that it could easily have fit in her palm. She picked it up and unfolded it, revealing writing on the inside.

“Mira-

You must flee. You are no longer safe here. I will catch up with you when I can.

- R”

Odd. The confirmation of her name was reassuring, but she couldn’t remember where she was running from. And who was this R she was supposed to meet? She started rifling through her clothes to see if there were any other notes. Unfortunately, she was only wearing a simple dress that she supposed had been cream colored, before the dirt bath, and a green cloak. The cloak caught her interest. Symbols she did not recognize were embroidered all over it in black thread. What could that mean? Mira supposed the only way to find out was to find a village and start asking questions. Now if only she knew which way the village was…

Mira wandered the woods for hours before she was found by an elf named Dotani Kerihu. They were surprised to see her, but showed her compassion nonetheless. They traveled with her for a month, teaching her how to hunt and navigate the area she now knew was called the Deep Wilds. Dotani showed her how to craft a simple shield, light a fire, set snares, and, eventually, how to befriend animals. Mira seemed to have a special affinity for owls and manage to convince one to travel with them. She named it Gabriel, though she does not know why.

She doesn’t know why she does a lot of things. Her axe, for example. When Dotani was trying to show her how to split wood for a fire, Mira was immediately able to choose the precise point on the log to split it cleanly into two. When her axe stuck into the stump they were using as a base, she was able to wrench it free as if she had done it hundreds of times. Dotani let her borrow the whetstone he used on his daggers one evening. Before he even had a chance to start explaining what it was or how it worked, she was running it along the edge of her axe with the ease of someone well versed in the practice. She found herself going through what she assumed were training stances every night. She wished she knew where she learned them. Dotani seemed impressed with her form, finding very little to correct.

Eventually, Dotani lead her to the edge of the Wilds. They explained that due east was a large village named Grimtree. It was safe and she would likely be able to find work there. Hopefully she would be able to find answers. He gave her a token before they parted, a small wooden circle with a symbol carved on it. They explained that should she ever return to the Wilds and need Dotani’s help, find someone and show them that token. Then Dotani disappeared into the dense forest and Mira headed off on the first leg of what would hopefully be the journey to her past.

Mira stumbled into town, nervous about what she might find. What she ended up finding was Sadia Chandra, the owner of the only inn in town. Mira knew she needed someplace to stay and realized she would not have much luck with the general populace once she saw the distrustful looks from the townsfolk. (Not that she could really blame them. She’d washed her clothes as best she could, but they were still stained from her time underground.) So she headed to the Dragon & Raven Lodge to see if she could make some sort of arrangement. That’s where she met Sadia, barking orders at some long suffering waitress while simultaneously getting people room keys or extra blankets. Sadia was a sever woman with a eyes that always made you feel like you’d done something wrong. She nearly threw Mira out when she asked to pay for a room through work. Mira mentally thank Dotani for everything they had taught her as she played up her skills as a hunter and laborer. She was eventually able to convince Sadia to let her stay in exchange for running odd errands and helping at the inn whenever needed. The room wasn’t much, but it was clean and had hot water. Sadia even gave her a sensible set of work clothes (although this might have been because Sadia couldn’t stand that dress. Mira kept it in hopes that it might mean something later on.).

After a month, Sadia even trusted her to make a purchase from the traveling merchant, Themon Kai. He had been in town when Mira arrived, but she hadn’t paid any attention, being rather focused on find someplace safe to stay. Now, she was seeking him out with a couple of silver pieces to hopefully purchase more cutlery for the inn. Themon was easily found, seeing as he wore more elaborate clothing than most of the folks in town and had the voice to match. He was set up in the square, shouting about his wares and laughing with customers as they talked. He seemed to know everyone in town, including Mira somehow. When she approached, he remembered seeing her pass through and remarked that she looked considerably better than last he saw her. Surprised, Mira found herself having a quite enjoyable conversation with him. Looking over his wares for new forks and spoons, Mira spotted some old armor that intrigued her. Themon caught her eyeing it and explained he’d picked it up from an old shield maiden who retired several years ago and no longer needed it. The price was 5 gold pieces, but he might be willing to lower it if she could tell him a good story.

Mira had no money beyond what Sadia had gave her for errands, but she couldn’t get the armor out of her mind. Mira asked Sadia if she could take extra jobs at the inn to earn some money. Sadia begrudgingly agreed (Mira thinks Sadia’s starting to warm up to her, even if she won’t admit it) and Mira started making money for the first time in her life (as far as she could remember, anyway). It took a couple of months, but Mira saved up the 5 gold for the armor. Themon had been through town a few more times and Mira found she really enjoyed his company.

This time, though, she had a mission. She wanted that armor and some extra supplies if possible. When Mira marched up to Themon, he seemed to already know what was on her mind.

“You look as if you intend to purchase some armor!” He said with a smile.

“I do, and some other items if you have them. But first, let me tell you about the first thing I remember.” Mira told him as much as she could about waking up in the grave, befriending an elf, and eventually making her way to Grimtree. She left out the note, sharing that felt a little too personal, but tried to dramatize in a way she knew Themon would enjoy.

By the time she finished, Themon appeared simultaneously delighted and concerned. “You most certainly have had an interesting few months. I believe that story was well worth a discount. Let’s say 3 gold for the armor. And….take care, Mira. If what you just told me is true, you must have run afoul of some very dangerous people. Don’t go charging into adventure foolishly, or you may end up in the same place again, but you won’t wake up that time.”

Mira gave him a nod, “I am aware, Themon. Though I may not know why I was there, I intend to not repeat the same mistakes. But I do need to uncover who I am, one way or another.”

“Alright, just so long as you’re careful. If you start traveling, we’ll likely run into each other again. While I stay mostly in the Havens, I have been known to go to more far-flung areas from time to time. Keep me updated and I’ll see what I can do about keeping you supplied.”

“Thank you, Themon. I look forward to it.”

Mira walked back to the inn with her armor, a new knife, some basic provisions, and a plan to start travelling around the Havens in search of her past. The next morning though, bells started ringing as the townsfolk swarmed to center of town. Emelyn Sayer, the Head Woman in town, was standing on the porch of the main hall. She was a cheery woman with a powerful voice and the ability to get her way no matter the resistance. She had lead the town well the past few years and people tended to rely on judgement and level headedness. So Mira was shocked when she saw Emelyn looking frazzled. Emelyn seemed to return to herself after a moment and her voice rang out clearly over the square.

“Townspeople, 140 years ago, when this town was founded, we made an agreement with the Firstborn of the Deep Wilds. We would protect their realm and in exchange we received the Iron Shield to protect us. That shield has hung in the Main Hall ever since to keep us safe from the monsters that roam this land. But now, it has disappeared. Stolen in the night, leaving us exposed. I need a volunteer to find whoever stole the shield and return it to us before the terrors of the land realize we are vulnerable.”

Gasps were heard throughout the crowd as Emelyn spoke. Mira knew of the Iron Shield. It was always hanging behind the Head Woman’s chair. Sadia had told her that it had never rusted and never needed polishing. This was her chance! She could test her skills and her armor now before heading off to find her past.

“I will go!” Mira shouted, “I will find the Iron Shield and bring it back.”

Emelyn looked at her appraisingly and then looked to Sadia. Mira wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn she saw Sadia nod ever so slightly. “Step forth, Mira, and take the Iron Vow.”

Mira worked her way to the front of the crowd, excitement thrumming in her veins. The townsfolk parted for her as she got closer. Those faces that had seemed so distrustful her first day now showed some dawning respect as she pulled her axe from her belt and knelt in front of Emelyn.

“Mira of the Deep Wilds, do you swear to find the Iron Shield and return it to the people of Grimtree?” Emelyn did not state it, but Mira understood what would happen if she failed. The village would be raided and this small community she had started to like would be destroyed.

Gripping the iron of her axe head, Mira made her oath, “I swear to return the shield to its rightful place here in Grimtree, or die in the attempt.”

#rpg #ironsworn #classic amnesia start #let's blindspot/mollymauk this

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