Ironsworn RPG is a TTRPG developed by Shawn Tomkin. In this actual play, we follow Jaggar Kova on his adventures in the Ironlands. If you want to catch up with the story so far, you can find Session 1 here, and if you'd like to see how we built the character, you can check out Session 0 part 1 and part 2.
CONTENT WARNING
Dice Rolls
Jaggar peeked his head out of the chamber and peered into the tunnel. The light of the half-melted candle he held in his hand cast flickering shadows on the craggy cave walls. Not seeing any movement, he motioned Serene forward, and they left their prison behind.
“Which way?” Serene asked, looking to the right and left, both passages leading into shadow.
“Do you remember anything from when they brought you down here?”
Serene thought for a moment, then said, “Actually, I think we turned right into the cell. Left. We go left.”
Jaggar led them down the tunnel, walking cautiously lest they give away their presence to unseen guards. He couldn’t tell if they were making any real progress, as the candle only illuminated a few feet in front of him. They wandered through the twisting corridors of the cave for a long while. Jaggar’s unease built with each new unguarded tunnel. It was strange that there were no other people in the caves. The captive Stonetower raider he had interrogated suggested a whole contingent of warriors had been sent to the cave before the raid. He knew the man might have been lying, but this brought him no comfort.
They turned another corner, and he held up his hand to signal Serene, who was a few steps behind him, to stop. He handed her the candle and motioned for her to stay in the tunnel. Ahead, a strange, green glow illuminated the craggy walls of the tunnel. He crept forward to investigate and found that the passage opened into a large chamber.
What he saw inside made him, a veteran of many battles, gasp. Heaps of bodies formed a macabre triangle on the smooth ground. At the corners, bloody bodies were stacked three high. The chamber reeked with the metallic scent of blood, and soon Jaggar discovered why. The blood ran in a channel, moving between the stacks of bodies until it turned inward and pooled in a small circle in the center. The sickly green glow emanated from this central circle.
Jaggar drew the long knife from his belt and stepped into the room. There was no one in the chamber, but he remained cautious. As he neared the grotesque scene, he could see the bodies were wearing the same gear as the warriors who raided Olgar’s Stand. Whatever was going on here, Stonetower had sacrificed their own people in this dark ritual. He crept closer to the glowing circle, stepping over the channel of blood and into the symbol itself.
A burning sensation in his knife hand caused him to look down. The iron of the blade was quickly turning red, as though fresh from the forge. The iron of the knife’s tang blazed beneath the wrapped leather grip, scalding his hand. Jaggar dropped the blade and it clattered to the ground, the iron now so hot that it warped on impact.
“What the hell is this?” Jaggar whispered, fear clawing at his chest.
Dice Results
Dice Rolls
Jaggar stepped away from the knife, the warped blade now beginning to melt. A strange sizzling sensation crawled over his skin like dozens of tiny insects, causing him to shiver violently. He knew little of magic and nothing at all of the rituals used to conjure it, but he had no doubt that this macabre symbol was the focus of evil magic.
He inspected the hand of one of the dead Stonetower warriors and found it burned black, with some of the flesh completely melted, revealing charred bones. Jaggar crouched to look at a runnel of cooled iron on the floor beneath the charred hand. It was vaguely in the shape of an axe. He reached down to touch the scorched leather, but quickly drew his hand away. A shock of green energy arced from the iron and climbed his arm. It prickled his skin like a hundred stingers. Jaggar fled the cavern, and returned to Serene.
“We must leave this place quickly,” he said, breathless.
"What did you find?" Serene asked, concerned that Jaggar was visibly shaken.
"There’s some kind of ritual space ahead. I think I know why there are no more guards here.”
He led her into the chamber, and she gasped.
“What kind of sick ritual was this?”
“Whatever it is, it wasn’t good.” Jaggar pointed toward the still red-hot knife in the center of the triangle. “The blade I took from that guard melted when I stepped inside this strange shape."
“What could cause tempered iron to melt without fire?” Serene asked.
“Nothing,” Jaggar said, from experience. “Nothing except magic, maybe.”
Serene wandered closer to the morbid site, and Jaggar followed, though he remained as close to the wall and as far from the symbol, as he could.
"Jaggar!" Serene called out.
He moved to her side reluctantly and looked at the body she was examining. He saw an old man, wearing the traditional cloak of leadership. He knew exactly why this corpse was of interest to his chieftain.
"You think this is their chieftain,” he stated more than asked.
Serene didn't answer at first, her brow creased in concentration. Jaggar knew that was what she was thinking, but he did not press her for an answer. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet. "He was. But why would Stonetower sacrifice their leader?"
"I do not know, but it does not bode well for us."
"We've got to get out of here," Serene said, her voice trembling. "We must get home and prepare our people for whatever madness Stonetower is planning."
Jaggar agreed, and grunted in acknowledgment. They turned away from the grotesque scene and searched for a way out of the ritual chamber.
Dice Rolls
They managed to find another tunnel on the far side of the chamber. Along this new passage, Jaggar noticed odd symbols painted on the rock walls. He stopped to look at them, running his finger over the crumbling red paints. He recognized some of the symbols from his youth, sailing Sendra’s wares up river to sell at inland markets. He’d seen them on many crates and barrels at the various ports up the River Lowbridge.
“Serene, look at this,” he whispered, holding the candle up so Serene could see the markings.
“I’ve never seen these before. Are they runes?” Serene leaned close to the wall, trying to decipher the odd shapes in the paint.
“These are smugglers' marks. This cave system must have been used by smugglers before Stonetower took over.”
Smugglers' marks were a type of code used by less-than-aboveboard merchants to communicate with those of the trade. Jaggar didn’t know what these meant specifically, but their presence suggested to him that this cavern system had once been a smuggler's base of operations. The cave was far enough inland that it would not have been the first place those who might be hunting smugglers would look, but close enough to the sea to move between ship and cavern in a day’s journey.
Dice Results
“If I’m correct, there will be hidden passages throughout this cave system.” Jaggar said, moving the guttering candle along the walls of the passage.
Dice Rolls
Serene joined him in searching for the hidden routes and yelped when she pressed her hands against the wall, only to find the wall was no longer there. She stumbled forward and managed to catch herself on the dead vines covering a narrow crevice.
“I think I’ve found something,” Serene called. Jaggar approached, and she reached out of the vines to motion him inside.
Dice Rolls
In the light of Jaggar’s candle, they could see that the secret passage stretched on for some way. The way was narrow, barely wide enough for Jaggar’s broad shoulders to pass. They walked through the tight space for a while, climbing over fallen stones and wooden debris, mostly rotten from age.
The tunnel opened suddenly, causing Jaggar to halt abruptly and Serene to collide into his back. He looked over his shoulder and down at the chieftain. In the low light, there were dark shadows beneath her eyes, giving her a weary look that he had never seen on her before. Jaggar checked the chamber before stepping inside fully.
He turned to Serene and asked, “Are you alright?”
“I am tired and hungry,” Serene answered. “I am worried for our people. But I am alright.”
“We will get out of this place, Serene. We will make it back to Olgar’s Stand, and we will stand together against whatever madness Stonetower is preparing for us. You have my word.”
“From a lesser man, I would have required a vow on iron,” Serene replied, placing her hand on Jaggar’s forearm. “But your word is as trustworthy as iron.”
“Lucky for you, Chieftain, I have already sworn on iron to rescue you,” Jaggar smiled down at her.
“Ah yes, your uncharacteristic rashness.” Serene smiled back at him.
They settled into a slightly awkward silence as they explored the long room. It was clearly once used to store crates and barrels, as there were several moldering away along the walls and on dilapidated shelves. Jaggar reached the end of the room and was surprised to see a wide passage leading off into the shadows. The iron bars of the door were rusted through in several places, and the frame lay at an odd angle against the wall, its top hinge completely broken free from its mooring.
“Looks like this is the way,” Jaggar called to Serene.
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