Ironsworn Duo Play Summary, Episode 1: The Beginning of the Iron Plague
- awildchicken77
- May 2, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: May 8, 2020
We ran our first session of Ironsworn this last week, and I wanted to do a quick synopsis of what happened to make it easier to catch up for anyone who missed it!
Iron Plague
Rumors are that there is a disease spreading in the Ironlands. From what we can tell, the survivors of the Old Plague, called the Broken, have started spreading a new disease. Many people think that it is the land itself that is cursing us, or perhaps the mysterious iron pillars that are through the land.
Stages of the plague:
Stage 1: Hallucinations (1 month)
Stage 2: Lose memories (1 week)
Stage 3: Catatonic state (2 days)
Stage 4: Death
Stage 5: They arise as zombies.
Our story begins
Our two main characters, Arni and Drexar meet their younger, friend Deshi for dinner. Deshi has prepared the meal, and upon meeting him it seems like there is something on his mind. While he is normally a quiet, reserved boy, Deshi seems more withdrawn than normal. With some prodding, our adventuring duo discovers that Deshi believes he is showing signs of the new plague that is rumored to have begun spreading. Arni does not believe this is possible because no zombies have come nearby and there have been no visitors for weeks. Drexar, however, trusts his friend and knows that he would not be joking about such a serious matter. Drexar looks at Arni and tells him that it is time to head into the forest to find the firstborn to see if they have some information that can help them cure the plague. Drexar also hopes to be able to find an Elder Mystic so that he can begin training in magic that he has spent his whole life hiding.
Deshi gets stern while the two adventurers discuss their plans, and demands that the two swear a vow that they will find a cure. Taken aback, Arni draws his magic sword, and Drexar grips it and then looks at Deshi. Drexar, on behalf of the duo, swears so they do saying that they will head into the woods to locate the firstborn and plead for information on a cure, as well as to receive training before their friend dies. Without knowing where the firstborn are located, they plan to leave in the morning and will travel 4-5 days as deep into the forest as they can at which point they will see what information they can gather. Based on when Deshi began to see visions, the two have less 3 weeks to retrieve and return with the information that they need.
Drexar begins immediately making preparations to leave and decides to make a potion that will help either himself or Arni to guide them through the woods quickly and surely. However, his worry for his friend Deshi prevents him from doing so and he overheats and burns the contents. Arni leaves at this point, informing other town guards that he will be gone for some time because he needs time off.
Traveling
With Drexar leading the way traveling through the morning begun uneventfully. While birds tried to snatch their food, on the morning of the first day, they made good time and approached the edge to the deeper woods. Somewhere within lies the location of the firstborn, or at least the duo hope, for humans have had very little contact with the firstborn.
As the first day of travel comes to close, Drexar spots a human figure ahead. The figure seems to be standing oddly, not moving, head cocked to the side. With tattered clothes and this weird stance, the duo realize that this creature is not alive, and slowly begin backing away keeping their eyes on the creature. Then they bump into something behind them. Both Drexar and Arni turn around quickly, Drexar gripping his ax and stepping away from the creature behind him and Arni drawing his sword to meet the creature in battle.
Arni swings his sword but trips on a tree root falling to his knees. The second zombie that is before him swipes downwards with nasty claws. While Drexar is not a fighter, he knows his friend is in trouble. Without a moment to glance to find the first zombie, Drexar runs at the second zombie brandishing his ax. With his first swing, he focusing on pushing the zombie back to create space for his friend to get up, with the second swing he fells the creature. He turns to Arni telling him to get up and to quickly dispatch the creature, which Arni does so, but takes another wound in the process.
Drexar pulls out herbs and bandages his friend's wounds, and the two quickly leave the area. Losing food and getting into a fight has left them low on supplies already, so while Arni begins making camp Drexar heads out to find supplies.
With a night's rest and wounds bandaged, Arni is feeling much better. And though he hides it well, Drexar is watching his friend closely to see if he begins showing signs of having the Iron Plague.
The next three days the adventurers travel quickly, quietly, staying deep in their own thoughts. They are more careful again. Drexar has tried twice now to create a potion to help guide them, but both times he has failed. With each increasing failure his faith in himself falters. At the end of the fourth day, the duo is running quite low on supply, both Arni and Drexar focus their attention to looking for supply, but aren't able to find much as the fog grows thicker the deeper into the forest they go.
On the fifth day, Arni and Drexar cross a small river, and then head deep into the woods, potentially deeper than any human has ever traveled. As they mark the end of their allotted travel time, they spend their focus to see if they can find any sign of humanoid creatures. While they aren't able to find much, the large figure of a troll appears from the fog.
Find out Arni and Drexar handle this unknown encounter next week in Episode 2!
Head on over to ironswornrpg.com if you want more information on the game, and if you want to watch the full episode head on over to YouTube or Twitch!
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