Guest Post: Alex's Ironsworn Journal - Chapter 6 - A Traitor's Death

Continuing my brother Alex's Ironsworn campaign journal.

Chapter 6: A Traitor’s Death 

Pay the Price for discovering Wyrmskull Depths: a new danger or foe is revealed. 

What does this foe want? Clash secret -- protect the secret, using violence. 

Varro and Bataar stand up after swearing their vow. There is silence, except for a murmuring from outside the cave. They turn and look - just in time to see one of the woodcutters standing up from a kneeling position in the mouth of the cave. His murmurs rise to a shout as he lunges at the nearest person - Gethin. 

Does Gethin survive? 50/50 -- no. 

A dagger has appeared in the man's hand, and as he plunges it into Gethin's throat he cries "Come, beasts of the Deep Wilds! Claim your right of dominion!" 

There is utter confusion in the cave, and as the traitor darts away into the woods, wolves appear in the cave entrance, snarling and vicious. 

"To arms!" yells Bataar. 

Enter the Fray +Wits: strong hit

Varro quickly moves to take up a position guarding the entrance with quick jabs of his staff, hoping to give the others time to ready their weapons. 

Long-arm, Secure an Advantage +Edge: weak hit 

He is quick, and Bataar joins him a moment later, but the wolves are enraged, and one of them slips by and pounces on the fellow who was poisoned by the spiders. 

Does the poisoned man survive? 30/70 -- no

Varro stops thinking and lets the staff do its work. 

Long-arm, Strike +Edge: strong hit

He cracks the skull of a wolf and, as Bataar raises his shield to hold the cave mouth and the other woodcutters come forward with their hooks and axes, Varro turns to the one that got inside, which has toppled the hapless poisoned one and is mauling him. 

Long-arm, Strike +Edge: strong hit 

With unerring aim he strikes the wolf's skull and shatters it. Then he turns and joins the others in the cave mouth. 

End the Fight: weak hit 

Endure Stress: strong hit -- shake it off, -1 momentum, +1 spirit

A minute of chaos, and the last couple of surviving wolves are driven off. 

How bad are the casualties? d100: 34

Another two woodcutters have fallen, and a third has a nasty bite on his forearm. The party now numbers only six, including Varro and Bataar. With no idea where the traitor went or if more beasts will be upon them soon, and with their medical supplies exhausted, Bataar says they should return to Sova as fast as they can. 

One of the surviving woodcutters, Sadia, fixes him with a resolute stare. "We must bring the fallen back with us. I'll not leave them here to be desecrated by unnatural beasts." 

Bataar looks to Varro, uncertain. 

"We have sworn a vow to help your village," says Varro. "But to do that we must live. We need to move fast, and we already have a wounded man. I'm sorry." 

Compel: weak hit 

Sadia relents, but makes Varro promise to come back for the remains of Gethin and the other three, and to be present at their funeral. The others murmur in agreement. Varro promises. 

Won't be able to forge a bond with Sova until this requirement is met. 

They return to Sova as quickly as they can. 

Sojourn: miss -- burn momentum -- strong hit -- equip, provision 

They inform Overseer Delos of what has happened. He is disturbed by the news of the traitor, who has been identified as Qamar, someone who came here from Merlo last season. But he is understanding of their decision to leave the fallen at the cave, and is thankful to Varro and Bataar for their aid. He gathers the village together and they all contribute some supplies. 

Varro and Bataar spend the rest of the day resting. Their mood is grave. Varro tells the story of his fight with the beast worshippers at Strangled Valley. 

Storyweaver, Forge a Bond: weak hit 

What does Bataar ask of Varro? betray hate

Bataar is quiet for a time after hearing the tale. At last he says quietly, "If we found that traitor, Qamar... do you think we would find that same symbol on his skin? He summoned wolves upon us. Do you think these beast worshippers are throughout the havens?" 

"It looks that way," says Varro. 

"Then they are the ones responsible for my sister's death. Let me come with you, and we will root them out together. Whatever it takes." 

Varro agrees. 

The next day, Varro and Bataar return to the cave, along with the surviving members of their group, save for the man whose arm was wounded. Their mood is grim and determined. 

The party now: Varro, Bataar, Sadia, Torrens and Glyn 

Are the remains of the dead undisturbed? 20/80 -- no 

What has happened to them? demand balance

Their heads are mounted on sticks outside the entrance to the cave. The sticks are driven through the bodies of the wolves, pinning them into the ground. Scavengers have already gone to work on the wolves. Carved into the forehead of Gethin's staring face is a message in the old language. Varro deciphers it: "for every beast slain, a man slain, until the spirits reclaim what is theirs." 

Sadia glares at Varro. The five of them kneel and utter prayers to the ancestors of the fallen. After that they remove the heads and bury them. If they survive whatever is beyond the rune-etched door, they will retrieve the heads and bring them back to Sova. 

With grim determination, Torrens and Glyn light torches, and they approach the iron door. Whatever source of power resides here, they will destroy it or die in the attempt. 

Discover a Site: Wyrmskull Depths, dangerous

Delve the Depths +Wits: strong hit with a match! 

Find an Opportunity: you find a hidden path 

They enter into a twisting natural passageway that opens into another cavern, with several more tunnels leading off from it. Varro spots a rock that seems out of place. Using his staff to lever the rock aside, he finds a steep tunnel leading deeper beneath the ground. 

They descend and find themselves in a sort of alcove in the wall of a much larger cavern. Spire-like stone formations tower in the enormous space, lit by torches and connected by wooden walkways. At the edge of the alcove a walkway extends to the nearest of the spires. 

The match on the Delve move means Qamar is here. What is he doing? Raid history. 

On one wall of the alcove is a stone ledge stacked with dusty old stone tablets. Sitting on the ledge with his back to them, and absorbed in reading one of the tablets, is Qamar. 

The five adventurers don't hesitate. 

Secure an Advantage +Edge: weak hit 

They surround him quickly, weapons drawn. He drops the tablet and reaches for the axe that rests against the wall. Varro rushes towards him. 

Face Danger +Edge: miss with a match! 

Trap: Release cold 

Varro doesn't see the disguised pit that runs along the middle of the alcove. As he lunges at Qamar his foot goes through some thin surface that was covered with dirt, and then he is submerged in icy cold water. 

Does he think of what this means for the archive book? 

Face Danger +Wits: strong hit 

He thrashes around, confused, for a moment, realising what has happened, and instinctively he takes off his backpack, pushes up with all his strength and slings it up out of the pool he has fallen into. Bataar has come forward and extended his hand to Varro. 

Endure Stress: weak hit (-1 Spirit, you press on) 

Drenched and shivering, Varro climbs out of the icy pit. Sadia, Torrens and Glyn have leapt over the pit and are chasing Qamar, who is already running along the wooden walkway towards the nearest stone spire. 

Do they catch him in time? 50/50 -- yes

Halfway along the walkway Sadia tackles him and they both go crashing onto the wooden boards. She has a knife to his throat in a moment and with the help of the other two she drags him back to the alcove. 

Glyn keeps watch over the huge cavern while the others surround Qamar. He glares at them defiantly. 

Varro wants to know: 

- Does he have the cross-and-jaws symbol of the beast-worshippers on his body? Are they all one big cult. 

- How many others are in these caves? 

- What source of power is here that caused the spiders and wolves to turn against them? 

But Qamar is zealous, and may be willing to die before betraying the cult. 

Compel +Iron: miss 

Pay the price: it is stressful 

Varro meets his gaze, and wonders what to say. He has so many questions. And if the man refuses to answer, what then? To kill or be killed is one thing, but to inflict pain on a helpless, surrendered man until he talks? Varro opens his mouth but no words come out. 

Qamar sneers, as if he has seen into Varro's soul and found nothing to be afraid of. In an instant he has leapt to his feet and grabbed Sadia's hand, and is wrestling over the knife. He opens his mouth to shout, but Torrens clasps a hand over his mouth. In another instant Bataar has walked up behind him and driven his blade through his back. 

Endure Stress: miss (-2 Spirit, -1 momentum, marked Shaken) 

Varro backs against the wall and sinks to the ground. He stares aimlessly. After a moment Bataar sits on the ground next to him. 

"Varro, we had no choice."

Varro nods. He draws a deep breath. Bataar points to the traitor's corpse. "Look there. Is that the sign you saw on the ones who ambushed you?" 

It is. Varro feels no surprise but only a kind of weariness. Something vast and evil is afoot in the Havens, and he has wandered into its midst. But he has sworn on iron to see this through. He opens his pack and takes the book from the inner pocket. It is damp, but not damaged. He wraps it in a blanket and puts it back. 

Then he gathers the stone tablets and examines them. 

Lorekeeper, Gather Information: weak hit

What does he learn? Arrive momentum 

Most of what is carved on the tablets is an obscure form of the old language, and he would need time to decipher it. But one bears not letters but an arrangement of shapes and lines. After a moment he realises it is a map. At the edge is the image of some creature's skull, and a character of the old script that he does recognise: "wyrm". 

He shows Bataar. "That's where we're trying to go, I think." 

They look out across the massive cavern. Qamar seemed to be making for the nearest rock spire, which has a dark doorway in it where the walkway meets it. He probably meant to get there and alert his allies, so the party decide to avoid it and try to use the map to bypass the spires and find their way towards the skull. 

Delve the Depths +Wits +1 (for the map): strong hit 

Find an Opportunity: locate an interesting or helpful object 

Feature: twisting passages, abandoned illumination 

They follow the walkway where it branches off and skirts around another of the spires, then down a wooden staircase that spirals around the spire. Once on the floor of the cavern, they find an opening that leads further into winding passageways. Down one of the passages they see a flickering orange light, and they move towards it. On the ground is a lantern, cunningly designed with a hole in its side and an iron flap that can be closed to obscure the light. They take the lantern and continue on their way. 

Delve the Depths +Wits: weak hit -- mark progress and reveal a danger 

Feature: cave pool, makeshift water 

Danger: hostile denizen 

Denizens roll: antler drake