Quinn of Axeford (Ironsworn Actual Play - Session 14)

Ash Adler
3 minutes ago
9 min read

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

Resolving that string of Weak Hits at the start was a bit of a journey, but once it all shook out onto firm ground, it did finally get to a point to proceed from in a pretty fun way. I feel like I'm getting close to attempting to fulfill the main vow that's been driving the last few sessions, which does have me nervous about it going terribly wrong, but hey, I wouldn't roll so many dice if I didn't enjoy some thrill of gambling.

Makari led the way to a squat stone building, with the sword-bearer trailing behind Quinn. "Heed my warning, traveler," Makari said as they walked. "Be careful about trusting anything that witch says. She’s liable to make up any lies she thinks may get her released."

"I’ll keep that in mind," Quinn said, though he was barely aware of the conversation over his continued wonder at the sights of Greatstead.

After opening an iron-banded locked door, the sword-bearer lit a torch to provide light as they descended a spiral stairway. The stonework of the walls gave way quickly to fabrication of a much older time, bringing up memories in Quinn’s mind of the deeper ruins near Axeford. He huddled in on himself, suddenly wishing he were someplace other than where he was, breathing in stagnant and musty air, walking down a corridor of cells behind barred thresholds. The fact that the construction was not exactly the same did little to comfort him, while the flickering shadows dancing in the torchlight had him seeing other things at the edges of his vision.

These cells were empty, fortunately, save for one at the end of the corridor. In it, there sat a ragged old woman with a shaven head, bare except for bindings on his wrists, her weathered and tattooed skin showing chafing from too much time spent on rough stone. A smear of dried blood had crusted under a poorly-stitched wound at the side of her mouth, and bruising mottled her face, but her eyes glared at Makari with burning ferocity. "Gethin," the overseer said, twisting the name with distaste.

She gave no response.

"This one would speak to you," Makari said, motioning for Quinn to step forward.

He walked up to the bars, not entirely successful in suppressing a shudder. "This is horrible," he whispered.

"It’s a prison," Makari replied dismissively. "Anyway, get on with this. I don’t want to spend more time here than I need to, either."

"Gethin," Quinn said, forcing himself to say something before the air of oppression overwhelmed him. "I hope you can help me."

"You want me to help you?" she asked, in a voice far too serene for the circumstances. "Well, it speaks well of your senses to think that I can, but your present company makes me wonder why I should."

Compel: 1 + 3 Heart = 4 vs 1/10 -> Weak Hit

"Something mystical has been targeting the overseer’s family," Quinn said, as if that explained everything.

"And, what, he’s promised to release me if I help save them?" she asked.

"I made no such promise," Makari growled.

"My, how motivating."

"This is pointless."

"Overseer," Quinn interrupted, turning towards Makari, "her help could save your life, and anyone else’s that the creature would kill otherwise. What has she done that would mean she deserves this confinement after an act like that?"

"Not quite the right question," Gethin chided. "You should be asking what I’ve done at all to deserve this in the first place."

Quinn looked at her and then back at the overseer. "What did she do?"

Makari kept his attention on the prisoner as he said, "She brought pain and misfortune to the people of Greatstead."

"That’s…vague."

"Don’t overstep, outsider," Makari warned.

"What he means," Gethin said, "is that I refused to do what he said, so he had me locked in here out of fear."

Makari cursed and turned his back on her.

"Gethin," Quinn said again, "if you were released, would you have any reason to stay in Greatstead?"

"Not so long as they have that fool for an overseer."

Makari snapped around and hissed invectives at her, but Gethin waited without reaction for him to finish before arching an eyebrow at Quinn.

He took it to mean the display explained her reluctance to cooperate, and he could not fault her. "Overseer," Quinn said, calmly, "wouldn’t her own self-imposed exile serve the same end as her confinement?"

Compel: 1 + 3 Heart = 4 vs 2/9 -> Weak Hit

"Are you mad?" Makari asked back, seeming genuinely surprised. "She’s a witch. Who knows what vile magic she’d invoke, if given the opportunity."

"Did she do anything before she was imprisoned?"

Makari narrowed his eyes at Quinn. "I’m not on trial here, especially not by someone who seems to think my efficiency at protecting the people of Greatstead is a fault."

Quinn raised his hands to signal he was not trying to be a threat to the overseer. "If she doesn’t have a reason to help, she won’t, and if she won’t, I can’t."

"We can torture the information out of her."

Quinn’s eyes went wide at the idea, but he tried to disguise it as shock rather than horror by saying, "And you’d trust what she’d say if you did that?"

As Makari mulled over that thought, Quinn turned to Gethin. "If you were to be free, would you swear to bring no harm to the people of Greatstead, including the overseer?"

Face Danger: 4 + 3 Heart = 7 vs 5/10 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 2 – 1 = 1

Ask The Oracle: "Did Gethin know Servan?" (Unlikely) = 07 -> No

"You’d take a witch at her word?" Gethin asked.

Quinn shrugged. "There’s a man I knew named Servan. Have you heard of him?" Gethin shook her head. "Well, he impressed on me that someone knowing a bit of the mystical doesn’t make them dangerous or subhuman by itself." Quinn’s voice caught for a moment at the memory of the circumstances that conversation had happened under, but he pushed through to continue, "The knowledge can be dangerous, but what matters is how it’s used. You’ve not given me a reason to distrust you, so while I wouldn’t follow you on faith alone, I’m open to giving you a chance to show that having some trust in you isn’t a mistake."

Makari interjected, "And what authority do you have to make that decision?"

Face Danger: 6 + 3 Heart = 9 vs 4/8 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4

Gather Information: 4 + 2 Wits + 1 = 7 vs 3/10 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 4 + 1 = 5

"None but my own experience," Quinn said, keeping his focus on Gethin. "Mystics bleed like anyone else, Overseer. If she breaks her word on this matter, I’ll take care of fixing it myself, but unless that happens, all we’re doing is wasting time going in circles between you two. Not to mention, as long as that threat is out there, you and your family are at best as much prisoners as she is behind the walls of Greatstead. At worst, you’re on borrowed time without even knowing it. So, I ask, for your own sake if no one else’s, agree that giving information that proves helpful about this matter will be enough to secure Gethin’s release, on the condition that she’s to leave Greatstead immediately and never return for as long as you’re overseer."

The sword-bearer gripped the weapon on their belt, but Makari held up a hand to ward off the implied threat. "Few would talk to me like that," he said, before slumping his shoulders with a sigh. "One less these days, without Hirsham. Your terms are agreeable, outsider, but if she breaks her word, you’ll bear the responsibility for any damage she causes, on top of dealing with her."

"And do you find those terms agreeable?" Quinn asked Gethin.

"You think you’re giving me a choice?" she asked back.

"Not much of one," Quinn admitted with a shrug, "but if you prove trustworthy, there are settlements not far from here where I can help ensure you’ll be welcome, if you don’t have another place to stay."

"Yes, who wouldn’t welcome a witch at the start of winter?" she said sarcastically.

"I’m confident they would, if I asked them to," Quinn replied sincerely. "I’m in need of your help on my own matter of a mystical nature, too, so I’ve reasons to stay on good terms with you."

Gethin regarded him for a moment. "Who are you?"

"Quinn. Of Axeford."

"Well, Quinn of Axeford, I thank you for that offer, but I have my own shelter, so you needn’t ask anyone to house me. As for the terms of my release, that’s probably the best I’m going to get, so I accept. What is it that has the overseer so desperate that he brings you to bargain on his behalf?"

Before Makari could respond to the barb, Quinn explained the situation in general terms, leaving out the details of what he had found at Ravenwick and how he had escaped during his return trip. "Interesting," Gethin said. "I have some thoughts, but I need more to narrow down the options. Do you have anything of the creature?"

Quinn asked Makari, "Can I have Hirsham’s knife for a moment?"

Compel: 4 + 3 Heart = 7 vs 2/6 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 5 + 1 = 6

"Why?"

"There were some traces of the creature on it. That should help her."

With some reluctance, Makari produced the knife. Quinn picked off the fur caught on the blade before returning it, then reached through the bars to offer the fur to Gethin. "This is from the creature."

Gethin took it in her hands and peered at it closely. "I’ll need some time."

"We can wait," Makari said gruffly as he put away the knife.

"I’ll also need to do some witchcraft."

"Absolutely not!" the overseer objected. "How do we know you won’t use this to summon the creature here?"

"I’ll know," Quinn said, sharing a look with Gethin when she raised her gaze to meet his that he hoped conveyed the truth of the statement. "If she does anything suspicious, I’ll put a knife through her neck."

Face Danger: 5 + 2 Shadow + 1 Trickster = 8 vs 3/6 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 6 + 1 = 7

Makari eyed him for a moment before asking, "How do you know so much about witchcraft, Quinn?" The words dripped with threat.

"I’ve had to learn much, quickly, ever since my village was cursed," Quinn said. "You’re welcome to check with them about my integrity, or with the people of Redmoor. Of course, either of those would take some days to do, so if you want matters here to be resolved quickly, that’s not an option. Instead, perhaps you can trust that I had surrendered myself willingly to your guards to earn an audience at your mercy, and that I had opportunities to cross you if I had wanted to in your private quarters."

"Don’t think that means I trust you," Makari growled before turning his attention back to Gethin. "Proceed, under his watch."

After a mocking salute, Gethin began mouthing strange words under her breath. Quinn watched as she knelt and swayed in place, satisfied that his gamble was paying off when he saw the energies gathering around her pour into the fur in her hands. At one point, she asked for the sword-bearer to bring the torch closer, and she stared into it silently for what seemed hours before finally rousing from the reverie. "Oh, my. You’ve gotten yourself involved in quite a mess, Quinn of Axeford," she said, an unsettling smile creeping over her face as she looked at Makari. "Your supposed creature is a devil of a vengeful spirit, driven by an unjust death blamed on the overseer."

Reach A Milestone: "Get Tessa and Vigo…" Progress: 8 + 1 = 9

"Preposterous lies!" Makari exclaimed. "I’ve never killed anyone!"

Ignoring the outburst, Quinn asked, "Is there any way you know to deal with the spirit?"

Gethin rolled her eyes towards Quinn. "Neither iron nor fire can harm this spirit, but that’s not what you’re asking. You know the answer to your question, don’t you?"

"Set right its wrong," Quinn whispered, earning a nod of approval. Saying it out loud compelled him to realize why she had described the situation as a mess.

"Overseer," Quinn said, "Gethin said the spirit felt that the death was unjust. That’s not a feeling that makes sense to attach to a personal murder, so I don’t believe you killed this person directly. Have you had any criminals executed?"

Makari drew himself back to some measure of stately manner and answered, "No."

"Then has anyone died in this prison?" Quinn asked after a moment of thought.

"There was a bandit who refused to take responsibility for her crimes," Makari said. "She ended up starving herself to escape her sentencing."

"That’s…awful," Quinn said. Seeing the narrowing of the overseer’s eyes, he added, "Making things worse by refusing to accept your wrongs, I mean."

Gethin shot a look at Quinn that said she picked up what he was really saying, but Makari seemed mollified by the elaboration. "Yes, it was a waste. As I recall, her name was Keelan Siora, though those who escaped her depredations on the roads said she called herself Qamar."

"Wait a minute. By any chance, was that short for Qamar Deepwater?"

"How did you know that?" Makari asked.

The bottom fell out of Quinn’s stomach. "Because that explains why the spirit blames you. Someone used that name with me on my way here."

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: +7 (max +10, reset +2)

EXP: 0 available / 6 total

Bonds: 1.25 / 10 Progress

Vows: