Quinn of Axeford (Ironsworn Actual Play - Session 13)

Ash Adler
15 minutes ago
9 min read

Ironsworn's art is great, even if I'm not a fan of its mechanics (yet)

I have my own ways of handling extended skill check obstacles normally (theoretical long-time readers will have come across them on this blog before), but in the interest of giving Ironsworn a try as RAW as I can tolerate, I decided to use its scene challenge rules instead of my own approach. It worked out well enough this time, but honestly, aside from giving a bit of an opening for how to handle combat with alternative objectives to just straight violent conflict, I think they're one of the weakest parts of core Ironsworn. That said, that's more of a compliment to Ironsworn's design than it is a serious criticism, because I do think they're mostly fine, just a bit off from my personal tastes.

"Piss and blood," Quinn echoed with a sigh. "I don’t suppose any of them have been leaving the walls lately."

Vigo shook his head. "What I hear’s they’re all locked up tight, not granting any audiences since the attacks started."

"They’re all still alive?"

"Far as I’ve heard," Vigo said.

"That’s good to hear, at least," Quinn replied. "It’d probably be harder to reason with them if they weren’t."

"How’d you hear the names?" Tessa asked.

Face Danger: 6 + 2 Shadow + 1 Trickster = 9 vs 7/7 -> Strong Hit + Match

Momentum: 4 + 1 = 5

Quinn glanced about surreptitiously and lowered his voice to say, "I found something suggesting a plot against them, which seems to be connected to the beast problem. If I can talk with the overseer, maybe he can do something to check into it, and if it proves true, lift the lockdown, at least for us."

The pair’s eyes went wide. "Do you have proof?" Tessa asked.

"I have what led me to that conclusion," Quinn said. "I don’t know if it’s real, but if I could show it to Makari…"

"And you’ll get us in, too, right?" Vigo asked.

Quinn nodded. "I swore to, and I don’t break my word."

Ask The Oracle: "Is Vigo’s contact in Greatstead available?" (50/50) = 66 -> Yes

The pair had a quick whispered exchange and nodded at each other. "I know a guard who posts at the Coastward side. Let’s talk with her, see if she can get an audience."

"Right now?" Quinn asked as they started gathering themselves.

"If what you’re saying is true, it’s the best chance we’ve had of getting in since we got here," Tessa said. "I’d rather be inside by the time winter hits."

Quinn agreed and followed them around to the Greatstead gate that he had first arrived at. As the trio drew near, a guard with a spear raised a hand to signal for them to stop. "I’d warned you, traveler," she said, looking towards Quinn, "anything that happens at the camp is your own responsibility."

"Easy, Lucia, it’s not like that," Vigo said.

The guard lowered her hand and came closer so that they could talk more comfortably. "What is it, then? I told you before that I’m not smuggling you in."

Vigo turned to look at Quinn and motioned for him to take the lead. "It’s about the beast problem," Quinn said. "I think I’ve got proof that it’s part of a plot against the overseer. I want to talk to him about it."

"What proof?" Lucia asked, making no effort to mask her skepticism.

Compel: 5 + 3 Heart = 8 vs 7/9 -> Weak Hit

Oracle 11 (Character Goal): 10 = Undermine a relationship

Quinn hesitated. "Nothing personal, but I don’t want to be too open about it. Is it enough to say that I know about what’s happened with Haf, Nekun, and Hirsham?"

Tessa and Vigo gave him questioning looks, and Lucia crossed her arms. "I’m going to need more than that. Give me something that makes me look good for reporting this, preferably something that doesn’t also make it look like I’m part of whatever plot you’re talking about."

Quinn took off his pack and retrieved the obsidian knife. "Do you recognize this?"

Ask The Oracle: "Is the knife associated with the overseer’s family?" (Likely) = 34 -> Yes

Momentum: 5 + 1 = 6

Lucia’s eyes widened, then narrowed. "How’d you get that?" Her grip on her spear tightened.

"I found it in the mire at Ravenwick Lake," Quinn said. "Is that enough?"

Face Danger: 3 + 3 Heart = 6 vs 3/10 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 6 – 1 = 5

Lucia chewed her lip in thought. "That alone doesn’t prove what you’re claiming. I’m guessing there’s more that you’re holding back?" Quinn nodded. "Then here’s what I can offer. I’ll take you in as a suspect to be questioned by the overseer himself."

"And if I can’t make my case, I’m there to take the fall?" Quinn asked.

Lucia shrugged, feigning helplessness. "If you aren’t going to give me something better, you have to take the risks."

"Fine," Quinn agreed, putting the knife away as the others tried to hide their surprise. "Lead the way."

After telling the other two to wait where they were, Lucia took Quinn through a personnel door in the gate and brought him to a simple holding cell on the other side. Once he was inside and she had closed the grate, Lucia said, "I’ll see what I can do to bring the overseer. I hope you enjoy waiting."

Oracle 12 (Character Descriptor): 15/84 = Bold/Determined

The sky was turning red from the sun’s descent by the time Lucia returned, accompanied by two more people, one wearing hardened leather armor with a sword sheathed at their hip, the other in a flowing white robe with a dark iron circlet on his head. "This is the one, Overseer," Lucia said before stepping aside. The sword-bearer stopped next to her, very intentionally standing one step closer, while the robed man walked up to the cell.

Scene Challenge: Convince Makari about the beast – Dangerous

Secure An Advantage: 6 + 2 Wits = 8 vs 1/5 -> Strong Hit (choice: Prepare to act)

Momentum: 5 + 2 = 7

"I’m told you have important information about the beast," Makari said. "Talk, now."

Despite the coal-black decorations on the man’s face, Quinn could read the emotions lurking behind Makari’s eyes. Haggard, frightened, aggrieved, all feelings that Quinn was familiar with. "Firstly, I believe you’ll want this," Quinn said, taking out the obsidian knife and holding it by the blade to extend the handle through the bars of the cell.

Face Danger: 4 + 3 Heart = 7 vs 5/6 -> Strong Hit

Scene Challenge: "Convince Makari about…" Progress: 0 + 2 = 2, Countdown: 0

Makari took the knife and examined it. "Hirsham never would’ve given this up," he said, eyes narrowing at Quinn. "Explain."

"I found it in the mire at Ravenwick Lake," Quinn said calmly. "You can still see the mud staining on the handle." Softening his tone, he added, "I’m sorry about Hirsham, and Haf and Nekun."

Face Danger: 2 + 3 Heart = 5 vs 6/10 -> Miss

Burn Momentum: Weak Hit, Momentum Reset (2)

Scene Challenge: "Convince Makari about…" Progress: 2 + 2 = 4, Countdown: 0 + 1 = 1

Makari flinched but regained his composure quickly. "You haven’t really said anything yet. Show me that you actually know something."

"The beast isn’t just some beast. It’s…well, I’m not entirely sure what it is myself, but it left an impression of otherworldly anger at the bog so powerful that it tried to penetrate my dreams last night. Even just the traces of its presence roared in my mind. That’s not something natural."

Face Danger: 5 + 2 Wits = 7 vs 2/9 -> Weak Hit

Scene Challenge: "Convince Makari about…" Progress: 4 + 2 = 6, Countdown: 1 + 1 = 2

Secure An Advantage: 1 + 2 Wits = 3 vs 1/7 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 2 + 1 = 3

"The others I’d sent there said the same thing. Superstitious nonsense," Makari said, though Quinn could tell that he had doubts. "And you still aren’t doing anything to prove that you aren’t involved or trying to use the matter as some ploy to your advantage."

"I was attacked by it on my way back from there," Quinn said, trying to convey his earnest honesty as best as he could. "I didn’t get a good look at it in the mists, but it looked like a person, at least in its general shape, bigger than me, clad in just some kind of heavy cloak or pelt. I was lucky it didn’t take my head off before I knew it was there, but I somehow managed to run away. I may not know exactly what it was, but I don’t think it would’ve attacked me if it wasn’t worried in some way about what I had found at Ravenwick."

Face Danger: 6 + 3 Heart = 9 vs 4/10 -> Weak Hit

Scene Challenge: "Convince Makari about…" Progress: 6 + 2 = 8, Countdown: 2 + 1 = 3

Makari grew tense at the description. Once Quinn was finished, he walked right up to the cell and peered closely at Quinn. "A stranger shows up, making wild claims with little to back them up beyond implications, saying he knows the threat to Greatstead better than its own overseer, saying that he managed to withstand an assault from the beast that has claimed more of ours lives in the last month than any other in living memory, with the body of a boy and the face of a girl. Why should I trust you?"

Quinn looked at him with sympathy as he reached into his pack again. "I’m sorry, Overseer Makari, but given what’s happened to your family, I think you know that this isn’t a beast, it’s a murderer with a grudge against you. Hirsham thought so, too," he finished, holding out the parchment.

Face Danger: 6 + 3 Heart = 9 vs 3/5 -> Strong Hit

Scene Challenge: "Convince Makari about…" Progress: 8 + 2 = 10, Countdown: 3

Resolve: 10 Progress vs 2/7 -> Strong Hit

Reach A Milestone: "Get Tessa and Vigo…" Progress: 6 + 1 = 7

Makari took the parchment, started to read it, then looked up at Quinn before reading it again more closely. "This…even torn as it is, I know this is Hirsham’s writing," he said, his demeanor cracking for a moment.

He folded the parchment, rebuilding his facade in the process, and turned to the two guards. "Release this man. I want to speak with him in my quarters."

Wordlessly, they let Quinn out and led him through the settlement. He tried to stop and gaze in wonder, having never been in another place with remotely so many people, with so many buildings that he could not even guess the purpose of, but the sword-bearer grabbed his shoulder from behind and pushed, forcing him to keep up a brisk pace to avoid being bowled over. They entered a longhouse, walked through a great hall that seemed to Quinn to be larger than the whole of Redmoor, and entered a private room illuminated by fires encased in glass. The overseer dismissed the two guards, closed the door, and asked, "What is your name, traveler?"

"Quinn. Of Axeford."

"I am Makari, Overseer of Greatstead," he said, extending his hand. After a moment, Quinn copied the gesture, and they shook hands. "Have a seat. You don’t look like you’ve had a chance to recover from your journey."

"I’m used to not sleeping much," Quinn said as he sat down. "That problem seems to be wearing more on you."

Gather Information: 1 + 2 Wits = 3 vs 5/10 -> Miss

Pay The Price: 57 = It causes a delay or puts you at a disadvantage

Momentum: 3 – 2 = 1

Oracle 1/2 (Action/Theme): 58/44 = Impress/Faction

Oracle 1/2 (Action/Theme): 07/58 = Avenge/Language

Oracle 10 (Character Role): 06 = Bandit

Makari let out a solitary laugh as he sat across from Quinn. "Before he…left, Hirsham spoke to me about his thoughts on the attacks. He thought it too much of a coincidence that the most obvious common tie in the victims between the first two were Haf and Nekun being our siblings. I’d thought it a stretch, but after Ravenwick was attacked after he showed up there, and no other attacks had happened in the two weeks in between, it does seem like that’s the link."

"Do you know what it is?" Quinn asked. "Who it is?"

Makari shook his head. "Your description is more than anyone else has given."

Quinn thought for a moment. "Whatever this is, there’s definitely a touch of the supernatural involved. I was actually coming to Greatstead in search of the Summersong tribe, to help me find a mystic for other reasons, but it seems the gods put you on my path instead. Do you know one who can help with this?"

Compel: 3 + 3 Heart = 6 vs 1/4 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 1 + 1 = 2

Reach A Milestone: "Heal the scars…" Progress: 0.75 + 0.25 = 1

Reach A Milestone: "Confront the figure…" Progress: 2 + 1 = 3

Reach A Milestone: "Get Tessa and Vigo…" Progress: 7 + 1 = 8

Makari hesitated for a moment before saying, "Not one that I trust, but if we must, there’s Gethin the Veilwatcher. It might take some convincing to get her help, though. She’s in the prison."

Character Summary: Quinn of Axeford

Edge 1 / Heart 3 / Iron 1 / Shadow 2 / Wits 2

Health: +2 / 5

Spirit: +3 / 5

Supply: +3 / 5

Momentum: +2 (max +10, reset +2)

EXP: 0 available / 6 total

Bonds: 1.25 / 10 Progress

Vows:

Heal the scars left by the haunt that had attacked Valeri (Epic, 1 / 10 Progress)

Confront the figure from the ruins (Formidable, 3 / 10 Progress)

Deliver the doll to Serene (Troublesome, 0 / 10 Progress)