# 004 - The Burden of the Red Worm tags: #play/the-solofull-fane ![[The Red Worm.jpg]] [[003|When last we spoke]], [[Masias]] was looping around behind the [[Red Cave Worm]] that had come downriver to make a nest on the riverside and [[Brynn the Con|Brynn]] was taking a deep breath before things kicked off but good. I know that one of the things you're probably wondering about is why is this thing *Dangerous* as its challenge rating? After all, it's up against two men, one of which is still wounded and the other is a pretty well-traveled free warden. Shouldn't that reduce the difficulty? In many circumstances, it would, but it's a particularly large example of the Red Worm because it's been feeding in the river, and it is ready to nest and reproduce. Plus, this isn't an enclosed area. It's not particularly adept in and of itself. Ergo, Brynn and Masias aren't going to have that terrible a time with it. In other circumstances, it could be much worse, and we will probably see those terrible circumstances in the not too distant future.[^1] There is something else fairly significant that I forgot to set up last time. Either that or I simply didn't push the appropriate buttons, but I didn't actually set up a Journey in PocketForge. Easy enough to put in the track and tick it up. I just can't believe I forgot or accidentally deleted it at some point. > [!faq] **Clear the Riverside** > Rank: Troublesome > Progress: 9/10 We did get three progress on that before we got to the worm, and once the beast is disposed of, I think that we're just going to consider that worth rolling to see if the journey is truly complete. But first, there's a nasty to handle. ## Lair of the Red Worm Brynn saw Masias moving into position on the other side of the crushed reed clearing, his sickles barely seen, posed to strike forward. The worm lay between them, but rather than simply closing in from both sides, the part-time warden wanted to put it in a position to have trouble fleeing, so began to shift to his left, putting the river itself on the creature's other side, giving it no easy way out. On the way, he muttered to himself, working the words and ways that would slip him with one foot into the the shadow world, an unpleasant place for sure but the worm would have more trouble sensing him. Hopefully. > [!info] Commentary > Jumping straight into combat isn't necessary right now. Instead, let's take the opportunity to try and boost up momentum a little bit, as well as give ourselves a little narrative advantage. > > While we're going for that advantage, we might as well take everything we can, and the asset Shadow Walk is definitely appropriate here, though it could end up awkwardly, as it usually does. Any old advantage. > > Literally, in this case, we're setting up for *Secure an Advantage* by maneuvering for a slightly better position. > > Now, given how the dice have treated us so far, this might end poorly, but that's okay. We know how to deal with failure, right? > [!faq] Shadow Walk > **Strong hit**: 5 + 3 (shadow) = **8** vs **6**, **4**. The fading sunlight shimmered and lost its golden hue as Brynn pressed further into the reeds. He heard the cold, dead whispering wind of that other place and felt the heat of the day go clammy against him. Masias raised a brow, seeing the man become hazy, indistinct, and shivered a moment despite his present warmth. "He is a sorcerer," he whispered then spat despite the moment's need for silence. Brynn's shadowed form flowed through the reeds until the worm was between him and the river before slowly drawing his staff from his back, soundlessly. It was time. He knew Masias would follow on. > [!faq] **Enter the Fray** > > **Weak hit**: 4 + 3 (shadow) = **7** vs **1**, **7**. > Reroll. **Weak hit**: 4 + 3 (shadow) = **7** vs **1**, **10**. > [!info] Commentary > Well, that went about as well as one could expect, didn't it? We used the reroll that we had available on the 7, as any sensible person would, especially with an action roll of 4, and it turned into a 10. Great. > > This means that we are not getting exactly what we wanted. We can bolster our position, or we can take initiative, but we can't do both. > > In this case, I think we're just going to *take the initiative* and hope for the best because things could go poorly very quickly. Brynn slid smoothly forward, shadows trailing back like tendrils clinging to the reeds, the worm unsuspecting, flailing away from the men on the riverbank. Masias, seeing the rippling form, lunged forward as well with the intent of taking the thing from the side. > [!faq] **Strike** > > **Weak hit**: 2 + 2 (iron) = **4** vs **10**, **1**. > [!info] Commentary > Despite not being a great roll, this could have been much worse. > > Sure, we're losing the initiative, but since Brynn has Long Arm, he inflicts 2 harm rather than one. That brings us to 4 boxes full in progress, so not bad. Now we just need to get back on top. The first strike on the red worm caught it right on the back of its head, or at least what Brynn thought was the back of its head. Red flesh cracked and a white ooze splattered as the iron shod staff hit. The squealing which followed sounded as if it should be coming from a much smaller animal, twisting in the ears like a swarm of piglets. It took little for the thing to decide on a response, if it even had something that could pass for a brain. The tail whipped around in a slashing arc, putting corded musculature that had previously been put to felling reeds to more serious work. Both Brynn and Masias fell back to try and evade the swipe. > [!faq] **Face Danger** > > **Weak hit**: 5 + 1 (edge) = **6** vs **2**, **10**. > [!faq] **Endure Stress** > > **Weak hit**: 1 + 3 (spirit) = **4** vs **4**, **1**. > [!info] Commentary > I was hoping to fish out a little momentum by facing danger, but instead we ended up with another weak hit, which we will take on health and see what shakes out. On the positive side, we mostly evaded it. On the negative side: we ended up a little more winded. The enormous tail swipe passed within inches of both men, falling back off their feet into the rushes, but Masias landed poorly with a grunt; his knee had given out under the strain, too quickly back in the fight after facing the hobgoblins days before. He gritted his teeth and clambered to his feet as the worm rolled toward the warden. > [!faq] **Clash** > > **Miss**: 1 + 2 (iron) = **3** vs **8**, **6**. > **Mark Your Failure.** > [!faq] **Pay the Price** > > D100: **77**. A surprising development complicates your quest. > [!info] Commentary > You know, I shouldn't be surprised by this at all. On the positive side, at least we get to mark our failure so that track goes up by a tick. > > On the other hand, we have to pay the price, and I didn't want to just take more damage, so it made more sense to let the dice fall where they may. > > A surprising development complicates our quest. Oh dear. I don't want to just add more creatures or anything like that. Let's have something narrative. Masias screamed out as the worm rolled toward Brynn and leapt forward, sinking both sickles into the thick, rubbery hide and was jerked forward by the mass, thrown across the clearing with a sickening crunch and an agonized cry. "M'leg!" There was little question in Brynn's mind that the leg was crushed, putting Masias even more in harm's way as the bloodied monster thrashed around trying to get the sickles out of it's weeping flesh. The cold calculation on Brynn's was probably best for Masias to never see but after a beat the course forward was obvious. It wouldn't do for a villager to go down under a worm on his watch; Brynn had to drag him out of there. He had a moment, bought with Masias' pain, to consider the agonized thrashing and choose the best time to dip in and snag the back of the man's jerkin. > [!faq] **Face Danger** > > **Miss**: 2 + 2 (wits) = **4** vs **4**, **7**. > On a **miss**, you fail, or a momentary success is undermined by a dire turn of events. *Pay the Price*. > [!faq] **Pay the Price** > D100: **31**. > Something of value is lost or destroyed. > [!info] Commentary > At this point, are we even surprised? Even a little bit? No, we are not. > > On the positive side, we did get to mark failure on that track, bringing us closer to some free XP the hard way. On the negative side, a complete miss the fiction has set us up for an obvious problem here. I hate to do it, but … Brynn dragged the screaming man away from the red worm as it continued to flail but the screaming stopped by the time he reached the reeds. He had no idea of the man was dead or just unconscious, but at least he was quiet so there was that. The problem was that Masias no longer could walk, possibly breathe, and worst of all would no longer be a decent distraction. There was only one thing to do, really. Well, two things but running seemed a little premature. Slightly. Instead he rolled forward into the clearing intending to catch the thing in its agony, which he did, but unfortunately its blind flailing put it in just the wrong place; Brynn could just trust to his staff for a bulwark. > [!faq] **Clash** > > **Weak hit**: 4 + 2 (iron) = **6** vs **9**, **2**. > [!faq] **Endure Harm** > > **Weak hit**: 4 + 3 (health) = **7** vs **6**, **8**. It wasn't *quite* enough. The worm threw its bulk at the man and even the weight of his staff was insufficient to turn it. He was thrown back into the reeds and landed badly, bleeding from a broken shaft's spear-like point. Then the worm had turned on him properly and for the first time Brynn noticed the ring of beady, red eyes around the pulsating, fleshy mouth full of teeth. It was time for fast action. The thing was already lunging for him, the staff was in his hand, and he needed to move away from it. He threw his weight on the staff, digging it into the damp soil. It appeared he was going to move right but he threw his hips left; it was an old move, deceptive as a snake, but it had saved him before in life. He hoped to get to use it again some day. > [!faq] **Face Danger** > > **Strong hit**: 5 + 3 (shadow) = **8** vs **1**, **2**. > [!info] Commentary > +1 momentum is really quite huge for us right now. Perhaps more importantly, it's a **strong hit**. We are back in the driver's seat with initiative, rather important because we only have six boxes on the progress track of the River Worm, and I'm not feeling quite secure enough in my dice to finish the fight yet. On the positive side (which I know I'm saying a lot because someone needs to), the initiative is going to let us *Clash*, but possibly not get exactly what we want. Still, I will take doing some extra harm. Even Brynn was momentarily surprised by the ease with which he slipped the worm's attack. The sucking sound the staff wade as it came free of the dirt was wet and sickly but he barely noticed it over the piggish squealing the worm made. It was, again, looking away from him, leaving it's already open wound in plain sight. Brynn couldn't resist taking another hard swing at it. > [!faq] **Strike** > > **Weak hit**: 2 + 2 (iron) = **4** vs **2**, **4**. > Inflict harm, but lose initiative. > [!faq] **Endure Stress** > > **Weak hit**: 1 + 2 (spirit) = **3** vs **6**, **1**. > [!info] Commentary > I suppose I should have expected that outcome, but here we are. On the positive side, that brings us up to ten boxes in the Red Worm track, so we can reasonably have a strong chance of ending the fight. Sadly, I needed to pay the price, and we went back to *Enduring Stress*, which didn't do us much good, but it could have been worse. > > We are not in a great position to end the fight, but we can use the alternative end-the-fight mechanics from *[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Starforged]]*, which are listed in *Lodestar*, and go ahead and take this as the decisive action to resolve the outcome. It's just that we'll have to read a strong hit as a weak hit and a weak hit as a miss. How could that possibly go wrong? > [!faq] **End the Fight** > > River Worm resolved. **Strong hit**: 10 vs **4**, **7**. > (Read as weak hit.) You suffer collateral damage. The short, sharp thrust of the staff owed more to spear-work than staves but it landed deep in the fleshy meat of the worm's head, dropping it instantly. More than the cessation of movement, it was the sudden silence slowly filled in by the chirruping of frogs and the splashing of fish that had been entirely absent during the previous few minutes that caught Brynn's attention. There was no moaning from the rushes he dragged Masias into. As the adrenaline high of combat faded, Brynn felt not just the weight of his wounds but the annoyance of having to clean up this mess. Explaining it would be bad enough but he'd have to drag the man back to town by himself. > [!faq] **Reach Your Destination** > > Clear the Riverside resolved. **Weak hit**: 9 vs **6**, **9**. > On a weak hit, you arrive but face an unforeseen hazard or complication. Envision what you find (Ask the Oracle if unsure). > [!info] Commentary > You know, I probably should have expected that too. With a completion of nine boxes, we still managed to get a weak hit. Only a 20% chance for that to happen. In this case, guaranteed. Have I mentioned how much randomizers hate me? I should probably bring that up more often. > > In this case, I think it means that we're just going to have to use the *Follow a Path* move in order to find out if there are any complications along the way of dragging Masias's body back to town. We can do that with one roll. It'll be fine. > [!faq] **Follow a Path** > > **Weak hit**: 4 + 2 (supply) = **6** vs **5**, **9**. > You suffered under the burden of foul weather, worries, or fearful locations: *Endure Stress*. > [!faq] **Endure Stress** > > **Miss**: 3 + 1 (spirit) = **4** vs **6**, **6**. Match event: **Abandon Labor**. > [!info] Commentary > What could the worst possible result be on that? Not just a failure, but a failure we can't actually do anything with our current level of momentum, and it's a match on that miss. The random thing that comes up, abandon labor, and also it drops our momentum by one, which just makes everything worse. > > We make it back to town, but we don't do it dragging a body. It was about three-quarters of the way back to Stagkirk that Brynn understood that he wasn't going to make it. Twilight was already hard on him, the path was rough and what had been a breezy stroll earlier in the day was backbreaking labor. He still hadn't seen to his shoulder properly and blood was slowly oozing down his arm as he dragged the body behind him. Ultimately, it was him or Masias, and since the latter wasn't going to be complaining about any ill-treatment, he figured it would be best to see to his own needs first. "Sorry, friend. I'm sure your family'll be along shortly. You know, you could have been more help there. At least fatter so you rolled better." So it was Brynn dragged himself back into Stagkirk to deal with the aftermath. ## Exunt Well, *that* was unexpected. I knew Masias was potentially a narrative target, but I didn't expect him to die outright or the dice to be so insistent on it. I was kind of looking forward to having him be Brynn's bond with the town, but here we are. Perhaps not the best situation to be in, and not even able to finish dragging the body back to town. He did make a good go of it. You've probably noticed that **Ironsworn** is ridiculously lethal, even when you're not trying to be. What you *haven't* seen is how hard it is to recover. But I think it's safe to say that we aren't going to be treating our own wounds this time. In fact, since we're not under a huge amount of time pressure, we'll probably spend some time recovering. But that could lead to some other complications. We'll deal with all of the stuff hanging over our head in the next session. Then we might actually get to set out on the adventure proper! Don't worry, there won't be as much metacommentary in sessions going forward since we've established the basics of the mechanics. I'll focus on the fiction, its connection with the mechanics, and closing the loop directly in future sessions. Of course, if something unexpected comes up or we need to talk about how something is integrated, we're going to. Alas, poor Masias, he won't be with us. [^1]: Not intended as foreshadowing, I just know how the dice generally work for me.