So from our last session, I know that Althus is going to be stopping at some waypoint on his way to the hunting lodge. I don’t have anything in mind for this particular waypoint, so I turn to Chartopia’s random waypoint generator and get: Mystical bay/fjord and meet a fellow traveler: Kabeera is a dangerous aggressive raider. His current goal is to protect a person. His current stance towards you is friendly.
I’ve got some ideas for this fjord (it’s got to be a fjord), but I want to know about Kabeera and this person they’re trying to protect. The generator defaults to male pronouns, but I’m going to steal Adam Koebal’s simple roll for pronouns (roll 1d6, 1-2 he, 3-4 she, 5-6 they). Got a 6, so Kabeera’s nonbinary. They’re a dangerous aggressive raider, so probably also some sort of outsider like Althus. I’m beginning to imagine they’re someone like the Scotsman from Samuari Jack, if not in style then in archetype–a fellow outsider who mimics our hero and could be the protagonist of their own story.
In the worldbuilding section, they mention a group of raiders called the Skulde as a possibility about why we fled the Old World. While I didn’t select it, but I do like there being this culture of raiders and I could imagine that they are just another people who fled the Old World to the Ironlands. So Kabeera is a Skulde.
And now for their protectee. Are they with Kebeera? Seems likely, so we’ll Ask the Oracle (pg. 107) and apparently the answer is no (rolled an 8 on percentile dice). So perhaps Kabeera is trying to find whomever they are trying to protect. But who are they? The Oracle says they are are a Hostile Mercenary named Perella (he/him). Another Skulde or someone who wandered into one of their settlements.
I think I can roll with this. Now the important question (phrased as a yes or no question for the sake of the Ask the Oracle table: does Kabeera notice Althus before Althus notices Kabeera? Seems 50/50, so we roll and Kabeera does notice Althus first.
Althus followed in Cratch’s wake, the mighty mammoth clearing brush and branches out of its way incidentally as it moved through the forest. The woods opened up into a clearing and Althus looked to get his bearings. He was near one of the many fjords that cut into the Ironlands near the Flooded Lands. If it was the one Wulan had told him about, all Althus needed to do was follow it south.
As Althus looked about for a landmark, a voice called out, “Northerner!”
Althus reached for his belt knife out of reflex. He could not tell if the shout was a challenge, a call for help, or a greeting and Althus wanted to be prepared for any of those options.
A large person came barrelling towards Althus. They were dressed in leathers and carried a bearded axe in hand. Their face was painted in a wide black stripe running down the middle from brow to collar: the tribal markings of a Skulde.
Althus tensed for an attack, but it did not come. The Skulde stopped about a dozen paces from him and raised a hand in greeting.
“Northerner,” they said in that same excited tone though at a more casual volume, “I need your assistance.” And then they ran back to the cliffs of the fjord.
Althus cocked an eyebrow at this greeting and turned toward Cratch. “What was that?” Althus asked.
As if in reply, Cratch let out a low bellow and dropped down into a resting position. It seemed to Althus he wasn’t leaving until he found out what the Skulde needed.
“What do you need, Skulde?” Althus said as he approached the cliffside. “You are a Skulde, right?”
“Aye,” the Skulde said, picking up a rope from the ground. A stick or rod was tightly cinched under one armpit, and all their other gear–a leather satchel, some freshly killed rabbits, and the rest of the rope–was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. They wrapped the rope around their waist a few times and tied a quick knot. Once it was secured, they handed the rest of the rope to Althus. “Hold.”
“What are-” Althus started to ask, but as soon as he had taken hold of the rope, the Skulde walked towards the cliff and hopped off the side.
This seems like some Face Danger. We care about how strong and sturdy Althus is, so we’re rolling +iron. We miss (8 vs. 8, 8) and it’s a complication, so we either fail or are undermined in our success and must Pay the Price (regardless if we succeed or fail). Since “Althus drops this person they just met” sounds boring, I think we’re going to go to the Pay the Price Oracle (pg. 105) for some inspiration. We get “it is harmful,” so I think what happens is the jolt of the Skulde leaping off the side of the cliff. We’re going to take 1 harm (sending us down to 4 health) and rolling Endure Harm.
I don’t think Ironclad should help with this, but it looks like we don’t need it with a strong hit (10 vs. 7, 1). We’ve got a lot of momentum (+7) so I think we can Shake It Off and lose 1 momentum to regain 1 health (putting us back to 5 health).
The sudden pull on the rope caused ALthus’ whole body to jerk. The rope’s fibers dug into Althus’ hands, but Althus quickly adjusted and found a sturdy footing. Once he had the rope managed, Althus shouted out to the Skulde, “What in iron’s name are you doing?!”
“Need to go lower!” was the Skulde’s only reply.
Althus dutifully fed more of the rope down, slowly lowering the Skulde to wherever they wanted to go. For a moment, Althus considered just letting the rope go but the dark thought passed after a moment.
Once the Skulde had reached whatever destination that had in mind, they shouted out “Stop now!”
I think Althus wants to try and figure out what’s going on. I don’t like Gather Information for this, so instead we’ll just Ask the Oracle. I figure I would rate this as Unlikely as I doubt someone from an outsider culture would know much about another outsider culture, but we will see. We get a 16 on the roll, so Althus has no idea what is transpiring.
Althus mulled the situation over in his mind. The Skulde could only be 10 or 12 feet down the cliff, nowhere close to the bottom. Perhaps something was stored in the cliff, like a cache? Althus looked across to the opposite cliff on the other side of the fjord and saw tassels or flags peppering the side of the cliff. He had no idea what it meant, but he figured he would find out in due time.
After about fifteen excurating minutes holding the Skulde off the side of the cliff, Althus felt a tug on the rope followed by a shout of “Lift!” Althus reeled in the rope and soon the Skulde was scampering over the side of the cliff.
“So what were you doing,” Althus asked the Skulde once they were back on their feet.
“Gotta find someone,” the Skulde said briskly as they collected their gear from the ground.
“Who? And how are those flags or whatever going to help?” Althus pressed.
“Ribbons are prays to the God of this cliff, Dismashk,” the Skulde answered. “Once the ribbon break free, Dismashk hear the prayer.”
“So what, you just attach it loosely to the cliff?”
“No,” the Skulde barked back as if Althus had insulted them, “that would be cheating.”
“So you’re just going to wait to find out if your god hears your prayer?” Althus said, his incredulousness barely clamped down.
“No,” the Skulde said plainly, “but could not hurt.”
Althus let that rattle around in his head. He could just call the Skulde a fool for believing in gods–his own people taught him that the gods were dead–but that did not seem like it would help the matter. Althus extended a hand for a shake. “I hope you prayers are answered.”
The Skulde did not shake Althus’ hand. Instead they grabbed Althus in a big bear hug and squeezed. “Thank you!”
After a moment, the Skulde released a confused Althus and started walking away. “Goodbye, Northerner. I go west.”
“Goodbye, Skulde,” Althus replied once he’d gotten his wits about him. “And good luck.”
Once the Skulde had disappeared into the forest, Althus turned to Cratch. “We go?”
With this milestone completed, we’re at a crossroads. We could attempt to Reach Our Destination now, but we’ve only got three progress marked. I think we will quickly do another milestone to raise our chances.
We roll to Undertake a Journey and get a strong hit. We get some options, and I would like to make good use of our resources and mark an extra progress on our journey, bringing us up to 7 total. I roll on the Random Waypoint Generator and get a forgotten lake with no additional complications. I imagine the freshwater of the lake allows Althus and Cratch to refill their waterskins and perhaps get in a quick bath.
With 7 progress, we’re now going to attempt to Reach Our Destination… and get a miss (7 vs. 9, 8). We don’t have the momentum to counteract this, so it looks like we’ve gone hopelessly astray, our objective lost to us, or we were misled about our destination. I know which I think it is: either Wulan misled us about there the daughters escaped off to or they misled Wulan. We reach the hunting lodge and they are nowhere to be found, the lodge has not been used in years.
Given our time limit before Baron Servan reaches Wyvern’s Rest, I cannot imagine us finding the daughters before then with nothing to go on. I think our goal is lost to us, which triggers the Forsake Your Vow move. We lose 2 spirit as our quest was Dangerous and must roll for the Endure Stress move. We get a miss (9 vs. 10, 9) and so lose momentum (bringing us down to 5). Since we do not have a bond with that community or the Baron, we don’t need to worry about the rest of the move.
The fallout from this is probably Althus rampaging in the hunting lodge in his anger. All he wanted to do was help the people of Wyvern’s Rest and now he cannot even get back there before Baron Servan descends upon the town. All he can do now is move on and hope he can do better next time.
Next time, Althus ventures off into the unknown.