Our Truths
So there are several sections that the game says we can make decisions about (though we can add more or remove some if we’d like, but I think these are fine):
- The Old World: Why did our people leave the Old World and travel to the Ironlands?
- Iron: The most important possession in the Ironlands. Why is it so special?
- Legacies: What people came to the Ironlands before the Ironlanders?
- Communities: What do communities in the Ironlands generally look like?
- Leaders: Who lead these communities?
- Defense: How do these communities deal with their defense?
- Mysticism: Is magic and mystism all fake, or is there some truth to it?
- Religion: Are the gods real and walk to the world, or are they just superstition?
- The Firstborn: Do other, older ancestries exist (Elves, Giants, Trolls) or all they just stories told to children?
- Beasts: Are the beasts of legends (griffins, dragons, etc) true or just old wives’ tales?
- Horrors: Are there even darker horrors than the Beasts that lurk on the corners of the Ironlands?
Each of these sections in the book have three default options: Something similar to real life, something slightly mystical, and something that makes the world seem like a world of adventure like the Greek legends. Personally, I’d like some options that create some mostly isolated communities of people that let us travel about like a roaming murder-hobo. Below are some that I picked out from the book that (hopefully) create a setting like that.
- The Old World: The sickness moved like a horrible wave across the Old World, killing all in its path. Thousands fled aboard ships. However, the plague could not be outrun. On many ships, the disease was contained through ruthless measures—tossing overboard any who exhibited the slightest symptom. Other ships were forever lost. In the end, those who survived found the Ironlands and made it their new home. Some say we will forever be cursed by those we left behind.
- Iron: The weather is bleak. Rain and wind sweep in from the ocean. The winters are long and bitter. One of the first settlers complained, “Only those made of iron dare live in this foul place”—and thus our land was named.
- Legacies: Other humans sailed here from the Old World untold years ago, but all that is left of them is a savage, feral people we call the broken. Is their fate to become our own?
- Communities: We live in communities called circles. These are settlements ranging in size from a steading with a few families to a village of several hundred. Some circles belong to nomadic folk. Some powerful circles might include a cluster of settlements. We trade (and sometimes feud) with other circles.
- Leaders: Leadership is as varied as the people. Some communities are governed by the head of a powerful family. Or, they have a council of elders who make decisions and settle disputes. In others, the priests hold sway. For some, it is duels in the circle that decide.
- Defense: The wardens are our soldiers, guards, and militia. They serve their communities by standing sentry, patrolling surrounding lands, and organizing defenses in times of crisis. Most have strong ties to their community. Others, called free wardens, are wandering mercenaries who hire on to serve a community or protect caravans.
- Mysticism: Magic is rare and dangerous, but those few who wield the power are truly gifted.
- Religion: The people honor old gods and new. In this harsh land, a prayer is a simple but powerful comfort.
- The Firstborn: The firstborn live in isolation and are fiercely protective of their own lands.
- Beasts: Beasts of all sorts roam the Ironlands. They dwell primarily in the reaches, but range into the settled lands to hunt. There, they often prey on cattle, but attacks on travelers, caravans, or even settlements are not uncommon.
- Horrors: We are wary of dark forests and deep waterways, for monsters lurk in those places. In the depths of the long-night, when all is wreathed in darkness, only fools venture beyond their homes.
I think these hit the ideas I was going for, but I think we can think on some ways that we can shift and change these.
First, I’m thinking Iron may be something that is in short supply or even something with a religious bent to it (like the Beskar steel on the Mandaloran). Perhaps the Beasts and Horrors are repelled by the Iron and blacksmiths hold an almost priest-like position among communities. Or perhaps all the Iron comes from rare meteoric deposits that people are always on the look out for? Perhaps these Wardens mentioned in the truth about defense are entrusted with an Iron talisman that marks them as one, making those who have Iron someone of importance?
What do you folks think?