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.
Dice Roll
Jaggar estimated it was mid-afternoon by the angle of the warm sun above. He wanted to get as far from the cave as possible before nightfall, but knew that a trek in the dark might be necessary.
“If we make good time, we might reach a safe place to camp before midnight,” he told Serene.
“Then let’s get started,” she replied, and took off from the cave entrance.
They kept to the trees as much as possible. He had to assume that the Magister would send more men to check on their prisoners. Once their escape was discovered, surely Stonetower would send warriors in search of them. Jaggar did not want to be caught unawares in the shrublands between the cave and the hills south of Stonetower. The trees would provide some cover and places to hide, should they need it.
They kept up a grueling pace, despite Jaggar’s caution. He could sense Serene’s exhaustion, and when he stopped to help her over a fallen log, he felt her body tremble. He considered stopping to let her rest, but his instincts drove him forward. The closer they could get to Olgar’s Stand before they stopped, the safer he would feel.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked Serene.
“Tired,” Serene answered, between deep breaths.
“Just a little further today, and then we can take a break.”
“Do you think they are following us?”
“We would be foolish to think they are not.”
They continued on in silence until breaking out of the last stand of thin conifers and onto the open fields. The low shrubs and stunted trees marched into the distance where they met the rough hill-country several miles away. Jaggar pointed to the hills.
“We must make it there by nightfall. There’s a grove there that we can camp by. Do you think you can make it that far?”
Serene looked hard into the distance. When she looked back at Jaggar, her face was resolute. “Yes, but I will need some food to keep going.”
Jaggar fished in his satchel and handed her some dried meat and a hunk of now-stale bread. She began to munch on the food as he led her down a low incline and into the most dangerous part of their journey.
Jaggar knew that a watchful lookout from the village of Stonetower could easily mark their passage through the open fields. But there was nothing he could do about that; they had no choice but to cross the open expanse if they were going to make it home. He led Serene from thicket to thicket, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was following.
Much to his surprise, they made the trek across the open lands in good time and without being spotted. Serene marched on with renewed vigor after devouring the meat and bread. Jaggar was pleased to see some of the color return to her face, and the light of determination to her dark eyes.
They climbed the first hill, and Jaggar stopped to look back. From his vantage, he could see the fields below, stretching to the marsh in the east, and the ragged cliffs near the sea on the west. North, Stonetower rose from the earth like an ominous sentry. But nothing stirred in the fields, and Jaggar realized they had not been followed. He could not believe their luck. Turning, he led Serene south toward the woods in the distance, confident now that they could make camp and get some rest after their arduous journey.
Dice Results
Dice Roll
Jaggar scrounged on the eaves of the grove for wood while Serene settled herself on the grass to rest. It did not take him long to gather enough wood to keep a small fire burning the night through. Getting a fire going was not difficult, as the wood was dry and ignited quickly. He removed his sword belt and settled himself beside Serene.
“Do you think it's safe to have a fire?” Serene asked.
“I do not think anyone knows we are missing,” Jaggar drew his sword and laid it across his thighs. “That probably doesn’t bode well for our people, but we can do nothing about that until we make it home.”
“I wish we understood why Stonetower is doing this. We would have traded with them if food was what they needed.”
“There’s more going on than we know. Do not forget they sacrificed their leader to that ritual.”
Serene shuddered, recalling the morbid sight of the dead bodies. “What do you think about this magister person?”
“Whoever they are, the raider we captured the night of the attack was terrified of the leadership. He radiated terror, and I think he was grateful to be kept prisoner.”
“What kind of person could instill such fear?”
“I suspect we will know soon enough,” Jaggar said, the knowledge unsettling him to the core.
They sat in silence for some time, gazing up at the night sky. Jaggar had often wondered what was up there in the dark expanse. He had once found a sliver of iron, encased in a strange black rock, in his youth. Sendra told him it was star-forged iron that fell from the sky. She crafted two amulets from the iron. She gave him one on the day he reached Journeyman status as a blacksmith, and he usually wore it around his neck as a reminder of the experience and of Sendra’s affection. The old blacksmith was tougher than the iron she shaped, but she had been there for him since his father vanished all those years ago. He knew she felt some kind of familial affection toward him, though she was difficult to read and he had doubted she cared at all many times. He felt absently for the amulet, forgetting for a moment that he left it in his home. It was too valuable to him to risk losing.
The thought of his home, the house his father and mother had built when they came to Olgar’s Stand as a young married couple, filled him with trepidation. He could not know if Stonetower had already put their dastardly plan in motion. He couldn’t know whether his mother and Sendra were safe, or the rest of his people. He feared both the possibility that they would return to a ruin and that they might make it in time to meet whatever Stonetower threw their way. Neither would be easy.
“Jaggar,” Serene spoke quietly, shaking him from his reverie.
Jaggar turned to her with a grunt. “Oh, sorry.”
“Do you think our people are alive? Mattick, Padma and Vereena, I mean.”
“I hope so. They did not appear to be in dire straits when we found them. Battered, bruised, and exhausted, but not dying.”
“You will go back for them, won’t you?”
“I swore a vow, Serene.”
“I know, I’m sorry. Your word is true, no matter the vow. I have always appreciated that about you.”
“I understand why you asked me to swear the vow. It wasn’t for you, it was for them. To boost their spirits.”
“It was, I’m sorry if you thought my opinion of you shifted so quickly.”
“I have known you for many years, Serene, and I have never known you to change your mind without great evidence.”
“Are you calling me stubborn, Jaggar Kova?”
“Oh yes, chieftain. And many who knew you as a girl would say the same.”
“And now you insult me again? I am stricken.”
Jaggar looked at her for a moment, afraid he had gone too far. Serene was smiling brightly, more herself than he’d seen her since waking up in the cell. He returned her smile and bumped her shoulder with his.
“It has been too long since we spent any time together,” she said after a quiet moment. “Remember when we were inseparable?”
“I do,” Jaggar laughed quietly at the memories.
“What happened to us?”
“Life, I reckon,” he replied in a whisper. “My father vanishing, my mother’s illness, and my need to provide for her forced me to grow up much faster than I perhaps would have.”
“And my father’s passing forced me into leadership sooner than anyone expected.”
“You are doing well, Serene. No matter what you might feel.”
“Thank you for saying that, Jaggar. The life of a chieftain is lonely, and I often have no one to truly confide in.”
“Surely you have friends among the people,” Jaggar said, though he’d never really considered that she might be lonely.
“No one I’m truly close to. Advisors, the guild heads, but no friends.”
“You could have come to me for support. We were friends once.”
“And more, unless you’ve forgotten.”
“I could never forget,” Jaggar said, his voice full of emotion. He reached over and patted her knee in an attempt to comfort her. He had no idea how to play the role of comforter, and wasn’t at all sure his attempt was successful.
“Then where were you? Why did you stop courting me? My father approved of the match.”
“Did you?” Jaggar had never approved of the arranged marriage tradition and refused to wed without mutual willingness. He did not consider love all that much, and it was not a requirement for him to bond himself to someone. He did refuse, however, to bind with someone who did not wish to bind themselves.
Serene did not immediately answer. Jaggar suspected he knew her answer, but waited patiently until she spoke. “I was not ready for the responsibility then.”
“I knew that, which is why I did not pursue you further. And then your father died, and you assumed the mantle of leadership. I did not wish to make your life more difficult.”
“It was never you I did not want, Jaggar.”
“I know,” Jaggar replied, looking into the fire. “I am sorry.”
Serene yawned and stretched. She wanted to say more. Jaggar heard her begin to speak but she cut herself off.
“You should try to rest,” he suggested. “We will start early tomorrow and hopefully make it home before sunfall.”
“Won’t you sleep as well?”
“No, I will keep watch.”
Serene moved to the bedroll and shook it out. After she had crawled under the ragged blanket, Jaggar returned his gaze to the fire, old emotions boiling to the surface afresh. He knew he should have been there for Serene all these years. She should not have had to face leading the village alone with no support. Even if they had not wed, he could have been her friend and confidante. He mulled over these thoughts throughout his nighttime vigil. By morning, he was tired both physically and emotionally.
Dice Results
Jaggar and Serene have a heart-to-heart talk, leaving Jagger to ponder his past decisions. What will become of our hero and the Chieftain? Come back next time for Session 9 - Into the Wood.
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