Quinn of Axeford (Ironsworn Actual Play - Session 4)

Session 0

Session 3

Ah, now this session is more of the Ironsworn style of struggling to accomplish anything while narrative matters spiral unexpectedly. I also once again ran some mechanics in a way that isn't quite RAW, in this case deferring the consequences of a Miss for a more dramatic moment. Saving an early failure to make things worse later on without needing to hope for a rolled opportunity is something I like doing as a means of still having the dice influence what happens but doing so in a way that feels better in the narrative than a minor trouble that's resolved immediately and mostly forgotten afterwards.

On an unrelated note, it's probably getting awkward to track Quinn's (mechanical) development solely from these play write-ups, so I'll start including a character summary at the end.

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Quinn did not often find much undisturbed sleep, and this night was no exception. He woke, sweat-soaked, while it was still dark, but that suited him this time. He listened to Servan’s snoring and waited for the embers of dawn to bring some light into the hut. Once he could see enough to move about, he rose and crept over to Servan’s stock of herbs and oddities, scanning quietly for anything that might be useful for the task ahead.

Resupply: 3 + 2 Wits = 5 vs 8/9 -> Miss (Pay The Price deferred)

Quinn grabbed a couple vials that seemed to be the healing ointment Servan had used on his wrist, along with some additional cloth bandages, and tucked them into his pack. With one last look at Servan’s sleeping form, he muttered a prayer for good fortune and left.

The journey to the cove was tense but fairly brief, as Quinn moved swiftly to make up for lost time. Standing once again at the edge of sea, he said, "Basira, Keeara, Khinara, Kimura, Mertyl, please be safe," before lighting a torch and walking through the ruined archway.

Face Danger: 3 + 2 Wits = 5 vs 4/7 -> Weak Hit

Spirit: 2 – 1 = 1

Endure Stress: 5 + 3 Heart = 8 vs 2/6 -> Strong Hit

Spirit: 1 + 1 = 2

Momentum: 9 – 1 = 8

Reach A Milestone: "Find the villagers..." Progress: 0 + 2 = 2

The twisting tunnels and the echoes of the sea merged with the figurative and literal shadows dancing around him, threatening to throw him off course without Servan’s guidance, but whenever he felt himself coming close to giving up, Quinn paused to remember those he was here for, those who were doomed to be lost if he quit. It happened more times than he would have wanted, but he persevered, at long last finding himself back in the idol’s chamber.

New rubble was strewn about, seemingly shaken loose by whatever malevolent force had been behind the rumbling during his previous incursion, but neither idol nor any immediate sign of the villagers remained in the chamber now. Attempting to steel his nerves for what he might discover despite the flutter in his chest, Quinn searched for traces of any of them having left the chamber.

Gather Information: 2 + 2 Wits = 4 vs 1/8 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 8 + 1 = 9

Starting with the area where he recalled the villagers having been left behind, Quinn took heart in not finding any signs of injury around there. And, more usefully, there were telltale scratches of laden wheels leading from the idol’s previous location deeper into the ruins. "Someone must’ve moved that thing," he thought, "and maybe taken the others with them. Surely, there wouldn’t be any reason to do that if they were dead." The last was more hope than certainty, but he tried to not dwell on that as he pressed on into new territory.

Face Danger: 5 + 3 Heart = 8 vs 2/9 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 9 – 1 = 8

Oracle 11 (Character Goal): 34 = Seize power

Oracle 12 (Character Descriptor): 69 = Manipulative

The scratches led to another ruined archway, beyond which stretched a stonework corridor. Stories of the horrors lurking in the various ancient ruins spotted about the Ironlands danced through Quinn’s mind, but he pushed them aside, forcing his mind to stay focused on the task at hand.

Unfortunately, Quinn’s attention was so fixated on keeping track of the trail that he did not realize he was not alone, until he heard a voice whisper, "Interloper."

Quinn snapped his head up and scanned about. He had wandered in front of a barred cell, within which stood a figure matching his height, wearing a rough woolen covering that it would be generous to call a robe, their face obscured by stringy black hair hanging down to their waist from all sides of their head. "Interloper," the figure whispered again, shaping the word as if their mouth was struggling to make the sounds.

"Who are you?" Quinn whispered back, his free hand reaching into his tunic to grasp his knife.

The figure shrugged. "Does it matter?"

Quinn let out a huff of frustration and started trying to find the scratch trail again when they asked, "You’re looking for the other humans?"

"What do you know?"

The figure’s previously flat tone took on a hint of satisfaction. "I can help, if you help me first."

"What do you know about them?" Quinn asked again.

"A simple task, surely," the figure said, ignoring his question. "Provide me with the means to leave this place, and I shall assist you. Otherwise...." The figure shrugged.

"What do you need?"

"Ah, an unexpected surprise. Very well, but step closer, so that we need not be so loud." The figure shuffled up to their side of the bars. Warily, Quinn did likewise.

Lowering their voice to be almost inaudible, the figure said, "These bars are old and ill-maintained. Searching for some specific way of opening them seems excessive. Force a break, that I might slip free."

"And how do I know you’ll help me afterwards?" Quinn asked.

"You don’t," the figure replied, "but you hardly look fit to carry so many others out by yourself, so unless you fancy making the choice of who among them lives, I’d wager you haven’t much of an alternative."

Secure An Advantage: 6 + 2 Wits = 8 vs 3/5 -> Strong Hit (choice: take control)

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

Momentum: 8 + 1 = 9

Reach A Milestone: "Find the villagers..." Progress: 2 + 2 = 4

"Step back," Quinn said, waiting for the figure to comply before he took a moment to examine the bars. The metal was corroded badly, and a testing strike with his elbow revealed that they were much softer than he had expected, bending from the impact. He wedged the butt of his torch between two of them near the ground and used it as a lever to wrench. With a loud pop and a lingering ringing, one of the bars broke. Setting the torch down for a moment, Quinn wrapped one of his spare bandages around the broken bar to protect his hands as he bent it aside, aiming to make enough of a gap for the figure to crawl through. "Well, come on through," he whispered, glancing about nervously, as he was sure that the noise of the bar breaking would attract notice.

The figure shuffled close, squatted, and sidled through before rising again. "Freedom, at last," they said, bending their neck from one side to the other with a litany of joints cracking. "Follow."

Quinn scrambled to recover the dropped torch and catch up to the figure as they moved away faster than he had thought they could. Though questions and doubts swirled in his mind, he was glad for the haste and more concerned with staying alert for dangers than with learning more about the other person.

Before long, they emerged in a space that could have been mistaken for a nighttime courtyard if they had not been underground. The cavern ceiling rose dramatically above the open square, with more patches of bioluminescent growths in it making an effect not unlike the twinkling of countless stars in a cloudless sky. In the center of the space sat the familiar idol, with a wooden cart on four metal wheels sitting next to it, and the bodies of the villagers laying on the ground around it.

Without hesitation, Quinn opened his mind to see the idol’s mystical energies.

Gather Information: 3 + 2 Wits + 1 Sighted = 6 vs 4/9 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 9 + 1 = 10

The same ethereal fabric from before were present again, wrapping around the villagers, along with the sigils he had seen before on the idol. However, a storm of dark energies was also lashing out from the figure, who was advancing steadily. Turbulent whirlpools from beyond material reality formed where the two sets of tendrils touched. "Freedom at last," the figure whispered.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Quinn shouted, drawing his knife.

The figure paused and turned its head to look back over its shoulder. The curtain of stringy hair parted slightly, and a blood-red iris shined back at Quinn in the torchlight. "You should hurry," it said, mockingly, before resuming its advance towards the idol, arms extended.

Face Danger: 5 + 2 Wits + 1 Sighted = 8 vs 5/7 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 10 + 1 = 10

Reach A Milestone: "Find the villagers..." Progress: 4 + 2 = 6

Quinn’s stomach felt like it dropped through the floor, but he forced back the shock to hustle over to the idol, spying the sigil that he had stabbed before and striking at it again. The energy reaching out from the idol recoiled, releasing the villagers, but that seemed to also be what the figure had been waiting for. Its dark nimbus extended to envelope the idol.

"You said you’d help," Quinn growled. He pointed the knife at the figure, but it showed no reaction to the gesture.

"I did help, by leading you here," the figure said flatly. "It’s your own fault if you’d thought I’d offered to do aught else. You really should hurry, though. This next part may be...volatile."

Face Danger: 6 + 1 Iron = 7 vs 1/6 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 10 + 1 = 10

Reach A Milestone: "Find the villagers..." Progress: 6 + 2 = 8

Fulfill Your Vow: 8 Progress vs 3/8 -> Weak Hit

EXP: 3 + 1 Dangerous = 4 (1 unspent)

Oracle 18 (Major Plot Twist): 88 = Two seemingly unrelated situations are shown to be connected.

Bond: The figure in the ruins

Feeling like trying to attack the figure physically would be futile, Quinn rushed to load the bodies of the villagers into the cart. He put the last of them onto it and started pushing the cart out when the figure reached the idol.

"So long, Quinn."

Quinn froze, but before he could even think of turning to confront the figure, there was a brilliant flash of light from the idol, and then a loud crack presaged the rumbling of the cavern threatening to collapse.

Leaving that mystery as a matter for another time, Quinn drove his shoulder against the side of the cart as hard as he could, hoping that the stonework corridor he had come in through would be more stable than this cavern.

Face Danger: 2 + 1 Iron = 3 vs 5/6 -> Miss

Burn Momentum: Strong Hit, Momentum Reset (2)

Momentum: 2 + 1 = 3

Spurred by the desperation of the situation, Quinn almost managed to reach the threshold into the corridor as the collapse started in earnest. He gave the cart one last push, collapsing to the floor from the effort, before a plume of dirt and rock dust surged over him, blotting everything else from sight. All he could do then was curl up on the ground as his whole world became a deafening quaking in the dark.

After what seemed like an eternity, it settled. Quinn fumbled in his pack, coughing to clear the dust from his lungs, and after a few failed attempts, managed to light his last torch. By some miracle, the cave-in had stopped short of him, and he could see the stonework corridor stretching ahead. He pulled himself up to his feet and staggered forward to find the cart.

Pay The Price for earlier Miss on Resupply

It sat against a wall in a turn of the corridor, dust-covered but otherwise intact. The villagers were beginning to stir as well, to Quinn’s relief. "Kimura!" he gasped. "Keeara! Basira! Mertyl! Khi...Khinara?"

The baby was the only one who was not moving. Quinn dropped the torch and climbed onto the cart, dropping to his knees next to Khinara and pressing an ear to her chest. Her heartbeat was faint, and her breathing was too shallow for him to feel any movement. Quinn knew well enough that she was dying, and there was nothing he could do, nothing in the supplies he had brought, that could stop that. He huddled over her body, trying to just give her whatever comfort he could in her final moments, until all signs of life faded.

Spirit: 2 – 4 = 0

Momentum: 3 – 2 = 1

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

Quinn stayed like that, ignoring the confused questions from the other villagers, until he felt the tears stop. He rose, holding Khinara’s lifeless body in his arms. "One of you, grab that torch," he said, the words sounding hollow to him.

"We’ll need the light to get out of here."

The journey out of the ruins and back to Axeford was somber. When they came close enough to be noticed, Kimura took the lead to gather the others to reunite with their families. Walking on in a daze, Quinn was unresponsive to anyone’s calls. He stepped through the open door to Taylah’s cabin, finding her busy in her kitchen. "Overseer," he said, "I failed."

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Character Summary: Quinn of Axeford

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

Health: +2 / 5

Spirit: 0 / 5

Supply: +3 / 5

Momentum: +1 (max +10, reset +2)

EXP: 1 available / 4 total

Bonds: 0.75 / 10 Progress

Vows:

Heal the scars left by the haunt that had attacked Valeri (Epic, 0 / 10 Progress)

Assets:

Bonded (x / - / -)

Sighted (x / - / -)

Trickster (x / - / -)

Cutthroat (x / - / -)