012 - Pillar Matters
Well, Solana wasn’t able to get the help she was looking for regarding the iron pillar, but she got some great help anyway. Now she just needs a lead…
You know, thinking about it, who was that one guy she beat in a fight? Olafur? He’s a guard, right? But she hasn’t seen him at all since that fight. Anyway, this might be a big risk, but she should try heading back to the pillar, see if any clues show up. Or how the undead situation is going. She quietly hopes she doesn’t have to punch a skeleton.
The land is looking more and more barren: grass has disappeared around the pillar, leading to several meters of simple earth: a worrisome sight in an otherwise lush area. What could cause the undead to just appear? It would have to be…
…magic? She knows someone who knows about magic: Gautstafr, the mystic from so long ago! She had escorted him to town while settling the mystical duel incident. She could ask him what’s going on here! It’ll be a trek back to Timberhome, but this might be the best lead she has on this.
The journey to Timberhome is not so perilous. Getting to Gautstafr without drawing the town’s ire, however, is. They were not exactly pleased with her “help”. With great care, Solana tried the stealthy approach: picking up some new clothes at Olgar’s Stand to change up her look. Timberhome is looking a bit better these days: while the magically-induced disasters will leave scars for a few generations, life looks to be relatively back to normal. Here, she finds the mystic, and asks him: we have a magical problem. Is there something you can do about this?
Gautstafr is willing enough to impart either wisdom, or personally traveling to investigate. However, this is not exactly something he can do easily. If magic was so easy to understand, there’d be more of it, all over. He is going to need materials, and he can’t exactly leave this place. In the Havens, not far from Olgar’s Stand itself, is a stone formation. A ritual will need to be performed there. Do it properly, and Gautstafr can have a much better picture of what is happening in the Havens… which is to his own benefit as well as helping Solana.
He offers an iron coin. Solana makes a vow…
…and is armed with all sorts of unusual items. Strange ropes of a foreign fiber twisted in knots, a candle, a mirror, some kind of metal ring, too large to even be a bracelet… these, Gautstafr says, are important for the ritual. After confirming Solana is literate, he writes instructions. Don’t worry, he assures, even you can perform this: magic is no different than the work of a smith. There’s no innate secret to it, just the skill and knowledge to shape what you want.
Well, then. The journey is not going to be an easy one, but at least Solana is making headway here. Possibly. If magic’s involved, mystical backup would be just what she needs.
Mid-Story Commentary
I think it's safe to say at this point in play, I was fully into the game and willing to run this campaign until I got tired of it. Whatever self-consciousness I had about it was mostly gone, and I do remember at this point talking about my play and sharing exerpts with others.
I'm almost certain I rolled Face Danger +shadow for sneaking into Timberhome again.
I distinctly remember rolling a 50/50 oracle roll for "Can Solana Read?" As it turns out, she can. Though literacy is not a simple binary have-it-or-don't, this suggests something about the setting, doesn't it? I don't believe the default Ironlands assumes perfect literacy from everybody, but at least in Solana's world, if someone can read or not is very much up in the air.
Though, how well anyone can read is a bigger question. It's not unreasonable for someone to be literate enough for their immediate life and needs without being exceptionally literate to a high degree or anything. Presumably we can assume Solana is at least more-read and more educated than the average Joe, is all, especially if we're talking being able to read magical instructions.