001 - The Mystics
Solana has stayed in Timberhome for some weeks, an unusually long stay by her standards. It has been a good opportunity to refresh physically and mentally. However, the tiny settlement is in danger. While magic is incredibly uncommon, here it has proven all too real: rumor has it that two spellcasters are in the midst of a conflict, and the effects of their spells and their mystic backlashes on the town are noticeable. The orchards mutate, sand and ash blast through the woods for hours at a time, and the sky darkens and brightens independent of any sun. Should this continue for much longer, the settlement is in danger of wiping out. To make matters worse, this vulnerability has not gone unnoticed, and reports of bandit activity are on the rise.
Solana, partially out of fondness of the town, and partially out of excitement at the possibility of magic, swears to investigate and end the dueling mystics. But why here? Why would magic users - two of them in fact - come here of all places? There must be something important about either the surrounding area, or Timberhome itself. Solana asks some more pointed questions around town, trying to pry skeletons out of closets.
Solana discovers what could be the reason the two are fighting: one of the iron pillars that speckle the landscape is a journey away from Timberhome, in one of the less-traveled regions of the Deep Wilds. For as long as anyone has known, these pillars haven’t actually done anything but stand there and be ominous. Is there more to be found at Timberhome’s pillar? It is time to find out.
Mid-Story Commentary
Welcome to the commentary/player's notes text for the campaign. Whether this your first readthrough or your one hundredth, whether you find it enjoyable on its own merits, as something to cringe and laugh at, or something more nuanced, I hope you enjoy your stay.
This text strives to be relatively spoiler-free and only talk about the section itself and things that happened before. For more campaign-wide stuff, check the Campaign Commentary below.
This campaign was one of my first experiences roleplaying in any capacity. That, plus the solo nature of the game, made it feel more than a little awkward. This entire first session, I was thinking to myself that this is ridiculous and nearly just gave up entirely. My advice for anyone: don't worry about it, just break the ice and get to playing. I found my groove with the game eventually.
I originally conceived Solana as more of a stereotypical honorable martial artist sort, which is why she has 3 Heart and started with the Honorbound asset. I didn't exactly have a particular reason for any of the character or setting things I chose here, I just went through the book and followed its instructions to things that sounded nice enough to play. While the session doesn't say it specifically, Timberhome is on the east edge of the Deep Wilds, and we're using the vanilla Ironlands setting for the most part.
This starting session was simply some flavor writing, the Swear an Iron Vow move (weak hit, as I recall), and Gather Information (also a weak hit, as I also recall). Since most of the playtime I spent here was just getting myself situated with my playing tools, making the character, reading the book and picking truths and such, the actual "playtime" was short (yes, I know, prep is play blah blah blah, forgive me if I hold actually throwing dice to a slightly higher pedestal than empty daydreaming).
Full Retrospective Commentary
Welcome to the commentary/player's notes text for the campaign. Whether this your first readthrough or your one hundredth, whether you find it enjoyable on its own merits, as something to cringe and laugh at, or something more nuanced, I hope you enjoy your stay.
This text will talk about sections in the context of the entire campaign, and assumes you've read the campaign as a whole. For less spoiler-y commentary that sticks purely to the current section, check the In-Story Commentary above.
I do have to say that the name Solana has taken a rather bitter turn after learning about Solana, the blockchain/cryptocurrency thing. It can't be helped, I guess. Also, my Solana is way cooler.
I originally conceived Solana as more of a stereotypical honorable martial artist sort, which is why she has 3 Heart and started with the Honorbound asset (until I houseruled it out because I never used it). Apparently she's also prone to wandering and it's a big deal that she's been here for a while, which is weird. Given the timeline of her life, it'd be reasonable to believe coming to Timberhome was one of the first things she did after becoming Ironsworn. If I were the kind to rewrite these things and edit it into a more cohesive story, I'd definitely reapproach a lot of this first vow.
All this magical backlash stuff seem like cool ideas I never majorly revisited past one or two moments, and in fact almost I think I almost entirely forgot about. Oh well.