# 003 - A Brief Stroll on the Riverbank tags: #play/the-solofull-fane #game/rpg/ironsworn #game/rpg/shadowdark ![[Washerwomen.jpg]] When last we spoke, [[Brynn the Con|Brynn]] was getting into trouble, but not the trouble he expected or wanted to. He vowed to keep [[Stagkirk]] free from hobgoblin influence for a year and a day. But the dice meant that there was a serious complication in the way, not the least reason being that no one was buying his lies, which was very awkward. On top of that, I forgot to actually write down the specification of his vow, so we're going to do that now and make sure this gets into the text. > [!faq] Vow: **Free the village of Stagkirk from hobgoblin predation for a year and a day.** > - Rank: Dangerous > - Progress: 0/10 > > **Threat:** Hobgoblin Warband > - Progress: 0/10 There we go. An actual vow with a threat. The warband is up to something. We just don't necessarily know what it is quite yet. In fact, Brynn doesn't even know that there's a warband involved at this point. He will. I promise you, he will. Speaking of things that I forgot to put together in the first pass, I like to use the *Learn from Your Failures* system from *Ironsworn: Delve*, because you may have noticed that RNGesus hates me, and it's in my best interest to do something to help mitigate that. > [!faq] **FAILURE** > > Rank: Epic > > - Progress: 1+1/10 > > When you make a move and score a miss, mark a tick on the failure track. When it hits six boxes, you can *Learn From Your Failures*. I had to go back through and double check the number of full bore misses that we've had in what is effectively two sessions of play, and the answer is five, which means there are five ticks on the failure track. In two sessions, we've already filled one whole box of failures. Great. When we fill six boxes, we have the option of converting it into some XP that we can spend on things, assuming that we learn the right lessons. I'm not going to guess whether or not that is going to happen, because as we have observed, the dice hate me, and you actually have to roll to see if you learn the right lesson when the time comes. Oh boy! ## First, a Chat "[[Masias]], a word before we step off. Maybe two." Brynn had a thoughtful, concerned look and even he himself wondered if it was half-feigned. "Oh, aye?" The big man with the haunted look pulled up short not far from the hall. "This is an awfully large village to be such a small village, if you get me." Brynn glanced around at the number of run down but still standing stone huts, the well-compacted main street, and the remnants of what were clearly ancient decorations, most of which had been broken or desecrated over the years. Masias shrugged. "Just as it's been since I was a child. My old grandpa used to tell stories about chasing a stag into a bunch of old stone buildings and having it's final stand here, and that's where we settled. Some of t'buildings was old when we were new, I guess."[^1] "Lovely story. If it's true. People lie, you know." "So I've heard, sorcerer. So I've heard." Brynn shook it off with a snort. "Right, so let's go talk to the nearest washerwoman, I suppose. This time of day -" "- They'd be about the washing, aye." > [!faq] **Gather Information** > > **Miss**: 2 + 2 (wits) = **4** vs **8**, **9**. > > On a **miss**, your investigation unearths a dire threat or reveals an unwelcome truth that undermines your quest. *Pay the Price*. > > **Pay the Price**: It is stressful. > [!info] Commentary > You know, I suppose I should have expected that. On the positive side, we get to tick up the failure track by one more, so we are at 1 + 2. > > It also means that we get to pay the price, and since nothing immediately came to mind, I'm going to roll. Of course, we get something that is mechanically relevant—it is stressful, which means we need to *Endure Stress (1)*. > [!faq] **Endure Stress** > > **Strong hit**: 2 + 5 (spirit) = **7** vs **4**, **6**. > [!info] Commentary > Well, thank Hades for that. A strong hit, finally, which is great for us since that means that we can either choose to shake it off by sacrificing momentum for spirit, or we can embrace the darkness and take +1 momentum. > > We are already at only +1 momentum, so we're going to embrace the darkness and use spite and frustration as a motivator. At least that brings momentum up to 2—not useful yet, but we're getting there. +spirit drops to 4, but we can live with it. An hour later and Brynn was swearing under his breath. Even with Masias vouching for him and all the accoutrements of a free warden, the women of the village were tight-lipped. Two things stood in his way: the women were distrustful and overly-cautious, which was not unusual, but something had them too scared to speak coherently about what it was up the river that spooked them so. "Somethin' nasty," was about the best they could get out of one before she darted away with a hasty "I've got housework to do, men." "I suppose we just go see for ourselves, then, what this nasty thing is." "Oh, aye." "You don't talk much, do you Masias?" "Nae." Brynn paused a moment. "Probably for the best." ## The River Sticks > [!info] Commentary > Time to put together the journey that we are about to take. I don't want to spend a lot of time on it. It should go pretty fast. It shouldn't be terribly hard. We're just going to assign it a challenge rank of Troublesome and go on with our happy lives. > > The whole point is for Brynn and Macias to get up to wherever the something nasty is that needs to be taken care of and clear out the brush which has come downriver along the way. There's probably a connection between these things. > [!faq] **Undertake a Journey** > > **Weak hit**: 4 + 2 (wits) = **6** vs **3**, **9**. > > On a **weak hit**, you reach a waypoint and mark progress, but suffer -1 supply. > > **Overland landmark**: **74**. You hear the calls of unusual wildlife. It's not far out of town along the river that the first *noises* from upstream start being heard. It sounds large and unpleasant, whatever it is, crashing through brush in a blundering way. Brynn and Masias had just sat down to break bread when the noises started, looking at each other with more curiosity than fear. The hard work of clearing the brush by the river worked up both hunger and thirst. "Bear?" Masias tilted his head, listening more intently. "Too noisy. Even those big bastards try and keep it down. Not enough splashing, either, so not fishing." "Well, it's not our problem at the moment. Back to it. We'll find out sooner or later."[^2] > [!faq] **Undertake a Journey** > > **Weak hit**: 2 + 2 (wits) = **4** vs **8**, **2**. > > **Overland landmark:** A spectral manifestation appears > > **Oracle: Character: Disposition:** 19. Cooperative Several hours later and the surprise of the moment was deep in the river itself, the shimmering strands of *something* barely seen. Brynn caught a look at it first, muttering, "That's a big fish." Masias turned to look into the water and hastily backpedaled further from the edge, "Not a fish, nor thing of this world, warden. I've never seen its like, but I know something from beyond." Brynn felt no hurry but stepped out of the muck himself as the serpentine body worked its way downriver, glowing in a way that natural things simply did not, like the shine off the surface, only deep.[^3] "You live in an unusual place, my friend," Brynn finally managed as it slithered downriver to the south. "It's always been like this. Is it so unusual? There's always something coming from the hills and mountains to the north; if this is the worst we see today, we'll be well ahead." > [!faq] **Undertake a Journey** > > **Weak hit**: 1 + 2 (wits) = **3** vs **1**, **4**. > > **Overland landmark:** A large creature hunts or forages here, but pays you no heed Afternoon was in full force and while the heat wasn't as bad as it would've been earlier in summer, after half a day of hard labor, it was a welcome change to come on a wider spot in the river and, on the other side, see a magnificent elk grazing with nary a twitch or toss of the head to acknowledge their existence at all. The men simply stood and watched it for a while, knowing it for a danger and it likewise, but having no stomach for even a display of threat. The afternoon was too nice to spoil. ## Something Nasty > [!info] Commentary > Surprisingly pleasant as trips go, though not particularly kind to our supply. +Supply is down to 2, which is fine to get us back to the village. > > That won't be a problem. Now it's time to resolve the journey and then to figure out what our "something nasty" is. > > Let's start with the journey itself. > [!faq] Journey to the Something Nasty resolved. > **Weak hit**: 9 vs **9**, **8**. > > On a **weak hit**, you arrive but face an unforeseen hazard or complication. Envision what you find (*Ask the Oracle* if unsure). > [!info] Commentary > My shocked face is in the shop for repairs because of overuse. I suppose even rolling verses a 9, I should have expected to get a weak hit at best. On the positive side, we know exactly what kind of thing is going on here. There's a nasty creature which needs to be put down. > > Something escaped from the caves adjacent to the underground temple. We don't need to roll to figure that out. It's obvious from the established fiction, not just what we've done in the story, but from the *Sunless Fane* itself. > > So let's put together this monstrosity. I have no idea what it is, but let's roll it out. We have tables in *Lodestar* for envisioning monstrosities. Let's go. > [!faq] What Monstrosity! > **Size:** D100: **45**. (Medium - person-sized) > **Primary Form:** 12 (Beast / mammal) > **Characteristics:** > - 41: Multi-segmented body > - 19: Strange color / markings > - 38: Tail > > ![[Red Cave Worm]] > > **Activity:** 96 (Removing) > **Disposition:** Hostile > [!info] Commentary > I suppose absolutely nothing of that should be a shock either, since there are red worms already in the scenario. I say we grab one of the larger versions and have it escaped from the cave system and dragged downriver to where it currently is, in the process of making itself a new nest in the shallows because it's used to extremely damp environments, and while the river is nice, it doesn't actually live in water. Given a month or so, it'd probably die or wander its way downstream further into the village proper, but right now, it's right here, and things are about to get very, very spicy. The noises from the north started up again within an hour and became clearer if not more comprehensible. Thrashing, wet crushed reeds and brush, and a persistent wheezing as if by an old man on his deathbed trying to tell you his great life secret. Plenty of warning unless you were deaf. Brynn and Masias crept up on the thing, though it wasn't hard given the ruckus it was raising. Brynn was solemn, "Not a bear." Masias replied in kind, "I preferred the elk." "Well, we can't let this thing just flop around all night, though I should thank it properly for doing our work out here today." Masias just pulled his sickle and it's backup from his belt, one in each hand. Brynn raised a brow. "You look like this isn't entirely unfamiliar a pose for you, my friend. Maybe you know more than a thing or two about raiding yourself." "Sometimes there are hard winters. I'll go around." Brynn expected nothing more than that as the hollow-eyed man moved around the wallowing worm. He readied his staff and glanced at the sky to read the time. Too much longer and it'd be dark, and he didn't fancy this tussle in the gloaming. Masias' hand waved through the brush on the other side of the worm and he took it as the sign. As good a time as ever. ## Exunt > [!info] Commentary > Somewhat more of an eventful trip than perhaps was expected. Certainly more rations were eaten, but I didn't start out thinking there would be a giant red worm trying to set up a nest on the side of the river not far up from the village. Probably best to deal with it. > > But that's going to be excitement for another day. Our first fight. How wonderful! > > Sure, Brynn has an extra hand, but that's probably not going to be particularly useful, at least given the current conditions. It does change fictional positioning, and that alone can give us opportunities. > > Next time on SoloFane: > > Blood and souls for my Lord Arioch, or Vexitorius, however it shakes out. [^1]: Look, one of the things I hate about dungeons is that they normally don't have a really good excuse for being there and haven't really affected the surrounding area. We're not going to do that here. There's a good reason that some of these buildings are made out of stone, there's some remaining draconic decoration, and that it's so relatively close. I promise there's a reason. I'm not entirely sure what it is yet, but we'll put it together as we go. [^2]: Oh boy, will they find out later? You better believe it. Did I mention I love foreshadowing? [^3]: What? More foreshadowing? Yes, because I love foreshadowing. Don't look at me that way.