Entry 1 - Light Fingers

Entry 1 - Light Fingers
Thanks for reading!

This entry's recommended listening includes "Priest" by William Crighton and "Old Time Religion" by Parker Millsap. Southern Gothic is a vibe.

Welcome back, Inciting incident time! Tips from the rulebook advise making it: personal, a problem that won't go away on it's own, have a ticking clock, making it impact people you care about, upping the stakes and limiting the scope. Keeping that in mind let's roll some oracles.

Starting in media res or not? 50/50 - 09 No
In a settlement? 50/50 - 93 Yes
Have we been here for long? Unlikely - 23 No
Settlement Trouble - 11 Important Object is lost
Action/Theme - 1/55 Scheme Disease

Ok so we got some ideas flowing now; we just arrived in a settlement that we've not been to before and the settlement has lost an important item related to a "Scheme of Disease." Let's find out more about this town.

Is it in the Deep Wilds? Small Chance - 9 No, so the Havens

Settlement Name - 85/71 Swordhall

Descriptors - Lush, Expansive and Protected

Lush and expansive makes me think agriculture and protected makes it an important center of some sort. So Swordhall is a farming town the feeds a major portion of the region. I think it's likely that this place is within Ormung territory so I won't even roll for it. I think I have it! 

Shortly after Al's arrival within the walls of Swordhall, maybe the next morning after a stay in an inn, the town of Swordhall has been locked down. No way in, no way out. In the night, someone broke into the Iron Chapel and stole the artifact believed to keep the surrounding lands fertile for farming- a pillar shard inscribed with the ironlandic rune for spring and birth. Now with no easy way out of town, Al needs to make a decision: try to escape before his fugitive status is found out or try and recover the artifact for the town. It won't go away on it's own, he could get found out if he moves too slow, he cares about the common people, he physically stuck, and is a small enough problem to handle quickly.

Like that's a hard decision for our good boy- let's get ready to swear our vow. In the early morning sun, Al made his way to the gate ready to move on from his pitstop but was rebuffed by the guard. The gruff man shoved him back and told him that "under order of the Jarl" no one other than the wardens were permitted out of the gates. When Alban asked why he was told that a thief struck in the night and if he wanted to leave anytime soon he could report to the square as an able-bodied Ironlander to assist in the search effort. Looking beyond to the lowered palisade gate guarded by yet more wardens, Al thought it best to seek out more information in the market-square. 

Standing on a raised platform to one side of the town's central Iron Pillar, a crier was yelling out to a crowd of irritated merchants and curious villagers. Al learned of the break-in and the item stolen and that people able to help could swear o vow on the pillar under the eye of the Jarl sitting further back on the same platform. Knowing that the longer he stayed in Ormung land the more likely he would be found, Al began to make his way forward through the crowd. 

The Jarl watched as Al placed his palm on the lightly humming surface of the pillar. Pillar oaths are different than oaths sworn over mundane iron- Al's hearing dimmed slightly as the energy pulsed within the Iron to meet his own heart's anxious beating. Whether this connection was divine or magic Al had no clue, but he knew that people that broke Pillar Vows faced consequences. Bouts of sickness, physical and mental weakness and in the most extreme cases a drastic spiritual shattering said to leave the oathbreaker catatonic have been known to occur. For a moment it was just him the pillar and the Jarl above that he was swearing to in a vast plane of nothing as Al spoke the words: "Until the culprit is found or the lockdown raises on Swordhall, I will seek the pillar shard thief."

Swear an Iron Vow - WEAK HIT, +1 momentum, and envision what you do to find a path forward.

Set vow as Troublesome

The Jarl points Al towards the chapel dismissively and turns his attention to the next man that was swearing a similar vow, some merchant wanting to get the gates open it seems. Cera bounds after Al as he walks up the slope thinking to himself, "I can't stick around much longer, news from Woodrock will get here eventually and then they'll be looking for a free warden of my description. It's a good thing I sent Gwen ahead to the south out of Ormung territory but that has unfortunately left me needing to restock my supplies before joining her. Now I'm stuck here. Let's just make the best of it and move on soon."

Pushing open the door open Al enters the sanctuary. The pews fill most of the floor space leading up to a raised platform with a lectern. Iconography and symbols in the same style as the writings on the Pillars decorate the stained glass of the back window above the altar, multicolored light streaming in through the room. 

Are there priests currently in the sanctuary? likely - 57 Yes

Are there other sworn people here questioning them? likely - 81 yes

Hushed and not so hushed conversations fill the room and Al sees that all the priest are currently speaking to various people, all likely here to seek the same thief. Trying to muscle his way into a conversation would probably cause more problems than not so Al moves towards the raised platform to inspect the altar instead. With the clergy distracted by the influx of "helping" hands no one stops his investigation.

Gather Information - MISS, reveal a dire threat or unwelcome truth, pay the price

Pay the Price - It forces you to act against your best intentions

Mark Your Failure - 1 tick

So what would Al's best intentions be in this moment: he wants to help the priests get their relic back and he wants to help return the town of Swordhall back to its normal state. Acting against that would be learning something that makes him act against either the priests or the town's status quo. Let's get a action theme oracle.

Action/Theme - 16/79 Evade Revenge

Evading revenge. Revenge of who? I think that this relic wasn't the town's in the first place. Maybe the thief was enacting a evasive revenge of sorts by stealing back what was theirs to begin with. But how does Al learn this? And who is the injured party? 

Were the original owners human? 50/50 - 37 No

Were they elves? If not then Varou 50/50 - 2 No, they are Varou

Kneeling behind the altar to investigate the empty stand the relic once laid in, Al is unnoticed by two priest that dismiss their informal inquest and move closer to the lectern and within earshot of Alban. They begin speaking about how they should have put up more protections and that they should have know something would come for it eventually. One priest, the younger of the two, laments on how this will affect the sustainability of the region and lives of the villagers while the other dismisses worry in exchange for anger at the savagery needed to break into a holy sanctum. As they head out of eavesdropping range Al hears one last thing from the elder priest, "It doesn't matter if it was taken from those woodland beasts, this holy object is our right to hold as Iron Priests."

"Well shit," Al thinks, "What do I do now?"

Waiting for a moment before leaving his place behind the altar, Al quickly heads back out of the chapel and sits with Cera to think it over. On one hand, this object should never have belonged to the Ironlanders seeing as it apparently belonged to the Varou of the Deep Wilds considering they called them "woodland beasts." On the other hand, this community has been built around this object and this region depends on it to sustain a commercial level of agriculture. Agricultural trade would fizzle out if this object wasn't returned to the Ironlanders. The people would survive; Ironlanders are tough, Al knows that. So what he is really balancing here is doing the right thing or returning things to the status quo. With his decisions at Stonewick and with Gwen, it seems the status quo could use a little shaking up.

"Alright Cera," Al speaks standing up and Cera cocks her head to the side on hearing her name, "If you were a non-human hiding in a Ironlander settlement, where would you hide?" Looking out to the expansive settlement from the top of the hill outside the chapel, Al takes in the layout of the town.

(Quick mechanics note- I use the Starforged version of Secure an Advantage even in Ironsworn because otherwise I don't think I would ever use SaA with the rules as written. If that bothers some rules lawyer-y types out there, sorry but its more fun this way.)

Secure an Advantage Wits - STRONG HIT, +2 momentum and +1 forward

The simple wheel and spoke design on the settlement seems easy enough to understand, with the center being the Pillar and the main market square. So if I was a Varou, I'd want to escape to the west since it's closer to the Deep Wilds and I'd want to stay away from the center of population. Western edge of town it is. 

Al decides to stop by the center of town to see if there was a city planning or land lending office that he could ask about abandoned property at. 

Is there an available center for land rights in town? Likely (Lush town) - 54 yes

He quickly finds an office under the authority of the Jarl in the town square and steps in, leaving Cera sitting outside. The smell of lamp oil and vellum fills his nose as Al steps up to the simple inquiry desk. 

Male 50/50 - Yes

Descriptors - 81/75/74 Cooperative Wise Friendly

(damn that is a great set of traits for what we need)

An elder man sits hunched over a parchment scribbling away as Al walks in but quickly looks up with a smile and waves towards the visitor's chair in front of him.

Al doesn't want to explain the whole situation as that could lead to someone finding the assumed Varou thief before him but he doesn't want to lie either. Hoping for the best Al explains that he needs to know about abandoned properties on the west side of town and that he doesn't intend to purchase them but that he needs information even if it isn't for official business.

Compel Heart +1 SaA - STRONG HIT, +1 momentum and +1 to gather information

Gather Info +1 - WEAK HIT, +1 Momentum and introduce a complication or new danger

Action/Theme - 30/28 Focus Decay

The happy man's smile dropped a bit, but he quickly explained that he would help as much as he could. Unfortunately the west side of town has been quarantined almost completely. No one in or out but the wardens. A sickness ripped through that quarter of town recently and if anyone is seen going in they cannot come out until the quarantine is over. Al nods his head in thanks and takes his leave. 

Reach a Milestone - solved a mystery, mark progress

With flashes and sounds of coughing and screaming from a different quarantine passing through his head mixed with the feelings of guilt and determination, Alban begins walking towards the west side.

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Ok that is where we will wrap things up for this entry. Thanks so much for reading and for leaving any feedback or thoughts if you do! Next time we will be Delving. Very excited for that and it will be a Troublesome Ravaged Stronghold. Ravaged works pretty well for our situation but Stronghold will need some reinterpretation to fit the exact setting in the QZ. 

Story is really starting to shape up and we can really get rolling some dice next time. See ya later Ironlanders!