Ironsworn RPG, Session 3

Start from the beginning

Previous Session

This one got a little out of hand, it’s closer to three sessions combined, but I just didn’t have a good ending point at the end of a session, and I wanted to keep going.  

Kori eyed both of them wearily as he searched them for more weapons. He pulled a rope out of his pack and said “Bind yourselves. And start talking.”

They looked towards Bevan’s still body, and the pooling blood below him, then each other.  The brute was the first one to speak: “Save Yuda, then we’ll talk.” Kori tried to sound gruff, saying “This wasn’t supposed to be a negotiation. Fine, walk.” They led him back to the other side of the inner sanctuary, where the man he had stabbed from behind laid. “Have either of you studied medicine?”, Kori asked. They shook their heads. “Sit, and don’t move,” he commanded and pointed his spear towards a section of ruin.  Kori slid his bag out and dug around for his herbs and needle. Kori hoped the man would stay unconscious, he wasn’t practiced at this, and could do without the screaming.

He cut away the clothes, and tried his best to wash away the blood to get a closer look at the wound. His carving knife had pierced between his ribs, going into the lungs but luckily missing anything vital. During his care, Kori got a better look at the person, he had to be still a teenager. It was unlikely the young lad had much experience fighting if he passed out quickly from a wound like this.  Kori mashed the herbs into a poultice and applied it into the puncture. It would help staunch any bleeding, and hopefully stave off infection. Kori did his best to stitch the flesh together with twisted threads of silk.  He kicked the kid’s axe well out of reach, and then splashed some water on his face. The young man winced and groaned until he remembered where he was. Kori was likely quite a sight, covered in blood from battle. The yelling startled everyone. Kori gently used the butt of his spear to push the boy back to the ground. “Take it easy, or you’ll start bleeding again,” Kori spoke, then turned to the other two. “Now it’s your turn.”

This time, the archer woman spoke up, “One year it was raiders, another it was a fire. Misfortune after misfortune tortured us. The winters came for us. Clawing into our homes, rending our stomachs. I lost my children to starvation. I considered eating them. Some of us weren’t as strong as I was. We had to leave. We came here, near the border of the Havens and the Flooded Lands. Kiah led us. She was driven like a beast. She said she had a plan. I occasionally heard her mumbling to herself; she spoke of dark things, but we were broken and we trusted her. She claims it came to her in a nightmare: a ritual that infuses the land within a handful of miles of this ruin. One sacrifice a year is worth it to never have to know that pain again.”

“And Shekhar? What purpose did his death serve?”, Kori demanded.  “Few know the truth. We are a hardened people, but they are not hard enough to do what needs to be done,” the larger man said defensively.

Kori took it all in, the silence only interrupted by the boy’s coughing. “This Kiah, it’s the other woman here today?” They nodded morosely.  “She may yet live, she fell through the ground into some cavern below, just over there,” Kori pointed. All three of their faces turned grave. Kori asked what was wrong, and the woman replied “We don’t burn the bodies.”

Kori cautiously called down the hole Kiah fell through, but got no response. “What did you do with the corpses?” “She handled the clean up, but there’s some entrance to the underground she used.”  Kori entered the inner sanctuary for the first time. Whatever uses they had for it, they maintained it well. The walls were scrubbed of moss and overgrowth to reveal the old carvings beneath. Kori resisted being taken by the beauty of it, knowing the foul purposes it was reserved for.  He searched the chamber, and discovered markings on the floor behind the altar. It could be drug across the floor. Kori threw his weight against it and was rewarded by the sound of stone grinding against stone. A ladder led below into darkness and sounds of movement. Kori wondered what kind of sanctuary would be built with a hidden passage in mind. He called down below again.

“Help me, I can’t see, they’re everywhere,” a panicked voice returned.  The groans echoed up the passage. Kori took a deep breath to steel himself. Was she really worth saving in these conditions?

Kori left the sanctuary and returned to where he had left the others. They had been working on removing their bindings.  “If you want to save Kiah, you’re going down there with me,” he said as he offered his knife.

“We won’t go down there without our weapons.”  Kori held their eyes each in turn, then finally nodded. He finished cutting them free, and returned their gear to them. The boy would need to stay on account of his wounds, but these two would be valuable to have, if he could trust them.  Kori made a few extra torches from his things, and handed them out, saying “You first then” and pointing down into the dark.

The ladder was sturdy enough, though there was a small drop at the end. It wasn’t something that would be troublesome for Kori to get to on the way back out.  In stark contrast to the building above, the only purpose for this chamber seemed to be a convenient hiding place for the people this group had sacrificed. The ground under the ladder was stained from gore and rot and covered in bloodmoss.  The pair of locals were already spreading out in the entrance room, squinting past their torches into the darkness. “What are your names?”  The large man identified himself as Morien, and the archer woman called herself Asha.  As their torchlight expanded to fill the room, it appeared there was only one path to go. It was wide enough for Kori and Morien to slowly progress side by side. The tunnel led swiftly to another chamber that had several more tunnels. Asha gasped behind him, and Kori turned to see the rotted corpse of an old man stand up. Asha fumbled, trying to put her torch in a sconce on the wall so she could use her bow, so Kori advanced to meet the dead man before he could stand.

Kori caught himself tripping over a root, so the bonewalker had ample opportunity to rise and lurch forward. Kori hoped his allies could bail him out, so he bashed the fiend with his shield, and tried to stab through it with spear.

The bonewalker paid no attention to the danger of Kori’s spear, and its momentum kept it barreling towards him. He lost his footing, and the bonewalker followed him to the ground. Kori’s torch flew out of his shield hand as he tried to block the flurry of claws and teeth. It sputtered and went out.

An arrow lodged in the ribcage of the creature but it didn’t slow its attacks. Over the din, Kori heard Morien’s voice, “Leave him, Asha. Let’s find Kiah.” Kori shoved the bonewalker, barely holding it at arm’s length and looked at Asha. “Please.”

She could not meet his eyes, and gathered her torch from the wall. They left Kori struggling with the bonewalker in darkness. Its glowing red eyes burned fear into Kori’s soul.

Kori dropped his spear, it was all he could do to keep breathing.  Without worrying any more about holding on to it though, he hoped to get more leverage to get the bonewalker off of him.

With a heave, Kori threw the ghoul to the side and managed to stand up in the darkness. He felt around with his foot, looking for his spear while watching the pair of red eyes. Just as he found the spear, the bonewalker leapt for him, and Kori was forced to dive to the side.

Kori landed blindly on his shoulder, sharp pain roared through him. He growled and drew his carving knife again. With his eyes adjusting to the darkness, the remnant glow of Kori’s torch became a third point of light in the room. Kori rushed towards it before the eyes turned to face him again.

Kori made it and slid on his knee, scooping up the expired torch. He held it to his side and struck his flint with his knife. Sparks illuminated the bonewalker turning and preparing another pounce.  The second strike rekindled the flame, and Kori’s eyes had just enough time to readjust and face down the horror.  He met it’s jump with his knife plunging for soft tissue.

The glow in the bonewalker’s eyes dimmed. Kori knew iron can not kill the undead, but it would likely be stunned for a few hours. Kori did not plan to be in here that long.  He was turned around from the scuffle, and couldn’t identify which direction to go.

Kori tried to slow his heart rate and center himself, listening to the gift inside of him. He felt the corrupt energies of this place, and heard the sounds of movement coming from his left. He recovered his spear, and dug through his pack. Kori ground up more healing poultice to disinfect the scratches from the bonewalker, and his wounds from the fight above before proceeding.

He looked disapprovingly at his supplies, and re-secured his gear before heading deeper into the underground complex.  The winding path led Kori to another chamber, but he was ambushed by another bonewalker.  He dodged around it, using his spear to keep it at bay.

Kori quickly scanned the room and saw no other threats, he tried to create some distance.

He backed up towards one of the wall, but heard shambling coming out behind him. Kori had to keep sidestepping to avoid being surrounded.

Kori couldn’t allow them to both attack at once. Reluctantly, he drew his carving knife and threw it at the one on his right while they both advanced.

As he released the knife, they both rushed in. The knife struck true, but the other one was on top of him. It’s claw raked across Kori’s chest.

Kori tried to wrestle it to the ground.

It’s bones crunched when it hit the ground, he followed it up with a stab from his spear.

The bonewalker’s eyes dimmed and Kori analyzed the room again. The one with his knife sticking from its head was not moving either. He retrieved his knife and held the torch high.

His gift told him there were more bonewalkers in another room, but he noticed the crumpled body of Kiah in the corner. Moving quickly, he tried to assess her wounds. Her pulse was shaky. Kori gently set his torch somewhere safe and grinding up some more of his herbs. He applied them the best he could, but she had to be moved.

He made to heave her over his shoulder when she came to consciousness for a moment. Kiah tried to speak something unintelligible, and pointed behind Kori. She slumped back down, and Kori turned to see Morien and Asha’s faces lit by their torches. “I guess we took a bad turn.” Kori removed his fingers from her wrist as he stood and said, “and now she’s dead for it.”

Kori held his shield and his spear defensively. “Are we getting out of here or are we going to add more corpses to this accursed place?”

They looked to her form in his shadow. Asha spoke first, “Carry her body Morien.” He resigned and sheathed his axe. Kori gave a wide berth around the room. “Get moving Asha, he can follow,” he commanded.

Thanks to Kori’s tracking skills and gift, they safely made it to the entrance chamber. With Asha in the lead, she grew curious about Kori’s sense of direction, especially after returning without encountering any more bonewalkers.  Kori insisted on being the first up the ladder. “What was that?” Asha called after him.  “I don’t think you deserve answers after what you tried down there,” Kori responded while helping her up, and grabbing for the remaining arrows in her quiver.

With her ammunition in hand, Kori said, “Help him up. You can get these back at your circle when you face them for what happens here.” He whistled for Rythane and turned to jog back towards the village. He could not keep his pace, as the day’s toils wore on him.  Kori arrived back in the circle, and didn’t see the others behind him. They would likely be slowed by Yuda as well.  The task before him intimidated Kori: he had to convince the greater circle of the crimes of Kiah without any immediate evidence.  He first went to the house of Shekhar and his wife, where he spent the night, and knocked. She answered the door with a smile, “You rushed out this morning, did you sleep well?” Kori replied without answering, “Who is the leader of your circle?”

“That would be Abram, why?”
“What of Kiah? Is her group influential? How many followers does she have?”
“She’s been hunting for the position for years, but…what’s going on? Where is Shekhar?”  Kori didn’t have the right words for this. He shook his head, “He was killed. Kiah has been sacrificing people each year and performing ritual magic to grow  your crops. They thought I found out, and we became loose ends. They blindsided me, I’m sorry.” She didn’t reply, so he continued, “It got dicey, Kiah and Bevan are dead now. I have to go find Abram before the rest of them return and spin a tale to avoid justice.”

With her still stunned, Kori turned to leave in search of the circle’s leader.

Next Session

Blue text is my thoughts or meta commentary

Red text is backfilled, added after the fact some time in the future, and was not present when originally written