Session 1.2: The Great Woods

Anwen picks up Blodwen's trail. Vahid sees signs of the Makers.

MARK BRENNAN / CC BY 2.0

Session 1 // Scene 3: The Stream

We open down by Stonetop’s stream. It’s a short walk from the village, a winding path down the cliff face to the east of the village, at the edge of the Great Wood. The stream is rushing quickly, swollen with the spring melt and waist-deep. The woods are bright green with new growth, and birdsong is just audible over the rush of water.

Anwen and Padrig¹ are here, with the Companions. Anwen balances on a rock in the stream while Shadow paces up and down the bank. Padrig is watching from up the trail, trying to get the lay of the land, while Anwen cups her hands and shouts Blodwen’s name.

Vahid comes clattering down the trail, laden with several packs, including a long, leather tube, no doubt containing the Azure Hand. Padrig frowns as Vahid rounds the curve in the path and they come face-to-face. “Your job was done when you passed on the message. Why did you follow us down here? It might be dangerous.”

Vahid smiles thinly. “I am accustomed to some danger, sir. The road from Lygos is not an easy one. And I wish to see Blodwen safely returned.” Padrig is about to send him packing when Shadow starts to bark.²

Anwen calls out. “Come, look over here! Shadow’s found something!” The three converge by a gyre of slow-moving water set off from the rapids. At the riverbank is a worn wooden bucket from the village, filled and resting on a flat river rock. Next to it are neatly folded clothes — light Spring wools and a bronze hairpin.

“Well, she was definitely here,” Anwen says.

Vahid looks at the clothes. “Maybe for a swim? Or a bath?”

Anwen shakes her head, her eyes narrowing. “Maybe. Our folk don’t often linger by the water. Bad things lurk in the depths, and the stream’s grown deeper than usual.”

Vahid nods, making note of this. “Then why shed her clothes?”

“It’s strange,” Anwen admits. “Doesn’t seem like there was a struggle. I think she left here on her own.”

Ozbeg strides up and takes in the belongings. “Seems obvious to me. She fancied a dip and was swept away. And Vahid, didn’t you say she was an odd one?”

“I said she sometimes did not care for the company of others. I don’t find that odd at all,” Vahid says, not looking back at Ozbeg.

Before Ozbeg can reply, Anwen snatches up the dress. “No need to stand around wondering like a pair of old gossips.” She puts the garment to Shadow’s nose, softly crooning. “Go on, old hound dog. Find her, lead the way.”³

Shadow paces up and down the bank, and then makes his way across the stream, picking up her trail on the other side, leading deeper into the wood. Anwen motions for the others to follow — “Come on! She can’t have gone too far!” The others follow. As they cross the stream, Padrig pulls Vahid aside. “Vahid, tell me truly. Have you been watching this woman closely? If so, can you think of any earthly reason why she would shed her clothes, cross deep water, and wander into the Great Wood?”

Vahid clears his throat. “I keep watch over her, yes. She was born with what your people call the Forest Eyes. Have you heard of them?”

“I know that some folk from the village are born with green eyes, yes,” Padrig replies curtly.

Vahid nods⁴. “Green eyes, yes, but not merely green eyes. In the village’s Chronicle, it is written that strange happenings sometimes follow them, and they can see hidden things. The 17th Chronicler of Stonetop, some three generations ago, was born with the Forest Eyes. In the entry he wrote before his death, he claimed he could see enormous swarms of butterflies, with colors unlike any he’d ever seen, flying over the high over the Great Wood in midsummer. When he told his wife of them, she told him she could not see them. He was afraid he was going mad. Another tale, a bit older, tells of nearly-identical twins, one with born with the Forest Eyes, the other with eyes of blue. When they were three, they disappeared into the Great Wood together while gathering rushes. The green-eyed sibling returned, the blue-eyed one did not. The survivor never spoke of what happened in the woods. I fear Blodwen may have been lured into the woods, much like those boys.”

Padrig’s eyes widen. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”

Vahid looks a bit stung. “If you recall, time was of the essence. You ordered me to pass on our message quickly, and so I did. And then, when I came back, you questioned why I followed you. I followed you because I know these things, and you may need to know them as well.”

Padrig holds up his hands placatingly and smiles: “Just so, scholar. Thank you for correcting me. Let’s catch up with the others. The sun will start to set in a few hours, we should find her before then.

GM’s Notes: Generating the next scene

The company is on Blodwen’s trail, heading deeper into the woods. We need a landmark that they come to, and this is a good place to use Shawn Tompkin’s Ironsworn “Oracles,” which provide randomized creative prompt to build from. I roll on the “Location” table and get three themes: Hidden, Occupied, and Rich. I also roll on the “Location Descriptor” table and get three more themes Abandoned, Protected, and Wide.

Hidden is easy — this place is relatively close to the village, but it hasn’t been found by accident because it’s hidden. Blodwen’s trail will lead our heroes there and reveal the location.

Protected: It’s some sort of fort or fortified location.

Occupied and Abandoned together are tricky. Maybe it was occupied by intruders once, and is now abandoned by both the builders and the occupiers. We’ll say it’s an ancient ruin associated with wealth or splendor (that also covers off on the Rich theme). The Forest Folk occupied it, and built fortifications there, but they have since disappeared from the Woods.

Wide: This one is tricky. I’ll just incorporate it into the description of something important, or discard it altogether.

Session 1 // Scene 4: A Ruin in the Woods

They are still following Blodwen’s trail in the waning hours of the day. Shadow leads at first, but soon Blodwen’s path is unmistakable: a trail of muddy, bare footprints over the carpet of dead leaves. The trail leads down into a deep ravine, its rock walls overgrown with thorny brambles, forcing the company into a slow, deliberate pace. Here and there, the thorns are spotted with blood, not all of it dried.

Anwen is leading when the ravine narrows to a gap only wide enough for her to pass through alone, so she is the first to lay eyes on the ruin in the canyon beyond. It is a squat, domed stone roundhouse, rising from the forest floor, larger than any building in the village. Growing atop it is a spreading oak tree, its canopy looming overhead, with only a few shafts of bright sunlight piercing the shade.

Anwen slowly approaches it, almost in a trance. As she gets closer, she can make out the fine details in the stonework; hundreds of rows of intricate runes inscribed onto its surface. She can see that the roots of the great oak intertwine with the massive stone blocks, holding them together in place of mortar. And she can see the arched entryway, dark and shrouded by a curtain of vines, Blodwen’s muddy footfalls leading the way in.

Ozbeg’s voice echos on the canyon’s walls: “What is this place?” Anwen snaps back from her reverie, turning back to the company.

“This must be the work of the Green Lords,” Vahid breathes reverently. “The ancients that ruled this place long before humans dwelled here. They commanded the living things of the forest as their servants, and sculpted them like clay⁵.” He looks to Anwen. “Did you know there were ruins of the ancients so close to Stonetop?”

“Everyone tells stories about strange things in the woods, but I’ve never heard a story about this place,” she replies.

“Someone knew it was here. Look.” Padrig points to the bough of the oak tree. In the high branches, camouflaged by vine and moss, are four timber hunting blinds, commanding a deadly overwatch of the approach to the roundhouse.⁶ “Built by the Forest Folk and abandoned, most like. If they were occupied, we’d know it by now.” ⁷

Padrig makes a slow circuit of the canyon floor.⁸ The oak’s leaves blanket the ground, and beneath them, the spring melt has made the earth muddy. Twisting, thorny brambles line the canyon walls, and the oak’s canopy hides the roundhouse from anyone on the ridge above. “This is a hard place to find while merely wandering,” Padrig says. He brushes the carpet of leaves off a curious mound of earth and grimaces. “Anwen, come take a look here.”

Anwen pulls herself away from the roundhouse, eager to continue the search for Blodwen. She joins Padrig with Vahid following behind her, his face lit with undisguised curiosity.

Beneath the leaves are bones: cracked and pitted, fed on by scavengers. Two uneven dark pits look up at Anwen, eyes in a human-like skull. But not human. The mouth is thrust into a twisted overbite, the sharp teeth elongated and pressing into and between one another. The brow is uneven, bulging on one side and collapsed on the other. Piercing through one eye is a broken arrow shaft, the fletching and head long-lost. Anwen shudders at the sight of it. “Crinwin.”

Padrig nods. “I didn’t think they came this close to Stonetop.”

“They didn’t, back in your day,” Anwen says. “The Forest Folk used to keep their numbers in check. But the Forest Folk have been gone since I was a little girl. And the crinwin are still here.”

Padrig kneels down, brushing leaves aside, uncovering more bones and more skulls — one, two, three. Many. “Let’s find out what happened to her and get out of here. Quickly.”

Ozbeg regards Padrig curiously. “Alright, chief. We know where the village girl went, and it’s nowhere good. Might be time to report back, eh? Not much to be gained if we push on?”⁹

Anwen’s face darkens with anger. “Nothing to be gained? Blodwen is in there, plain as day. She’s one of us.”

Ozbeg scowls. “She’s one of you. I don’t think your folk would go too far out of their way if it was old Ozbeg who wandered in the woods like a lost lamb. This place isn’t safe. Old magic lives here, and old magic is dangerous to the likes of us.”

Padrig frowns and looks down. “As you say, Oz. Take the Companions and head back to the village. Anwen and I will see about Blodwen. If I don’t come back, do as you think best. And leave me half your quiver, if you can spare it.”

Ozbeg, prepared with counterarguments, stops short. He blows out his breath, and replies “Right then. Half my quiver—”

But one of the crew breaks in. “Hold fast, chief. I’ll stay, if it’s all the same to you.” It’s Hartig, a young, black-haired exile from Manmarch.

Next Aled, a scarred-up Marshedger, spits on the earth and pipes up. “I’m with Oz.” He points his bare knife at the door to the roundhouse. “Ain’t no way I’m setting foot in there unless someone stacks some shiny silver in front of me.”

Another chimes in. “If Hartig is staying, I’m staying too, Oz. Besides, think how we’ll look to the villagers if we come back empty-handed, and leave the chief behind. Craven.” It’s Harri. She and Hartig are brother and sister, though don’t look anything alike, and never knew their parents.

Ozbeg glances between them, at the bone mound, then back to Padrig, thoughtfully. “On second thought, maybe it’s best we keep the crew together, chief.”

“I think you might be right,” Padrig replies, deadpan. “Have them find the way up to those blinds, and set up there for a bit of a wait. I’ll see what we can find with Anwen and Vahid.”

“Right, chief.” Ozbeg nods and begins to hand out orders to the Companions, who fan out, searching for pathways to the top of the roundhouse.

Vahid pipes up. “The crinwin are afraid of fire, as many creatures of the forest are. Perhaps your men could build a fire while we search the ruin?”¹⁰

Padrig nods, and barks more orders. “Hartig, you heard the scholar. Gather up some of these leaves and deadfall and build us a fire, big as you can.”

As Hartig goes about his work, the trio light torches¹¹ from the growing bonfire, and prepare to enter the ruin.

GM Notes

These are pretty straightforward ‘first expedition’ scenes for a new campaign. The challenge isn’t intended to be “Can the party find Blodwen?” but rather “What risks will the party undertake to find her?” and “What will they discover along the way?” As a result, we’re not requiring too many rolls to follow Blodwen’s trail, and when we need to have an obstacle crop up, we make it about something other than the trail going cold, which could get boring (unless coupled with some other interesting obstacle).

An important question the GM has to answer in this session is: Do the crinwin attack? This early in the campaign, my instinct is to leave it up to the dice. If the player characters get a Miss at a moment of high tension, that’s a perfect time for the crinwin to attack en mass. If not, they can just keep wondering when the attack will come.

In the next installment, we’ll look at Vahid’s Session Zero, and learn more about the Lygosi scholar. Then we’ll take the party down into the ruin and see what we find down there.

1. We’re leaving the village on an Expedition, so upfront each player character has to choose their Outfit — i.e., how much stuff they’re carrying. We don’t have to know exactly what stuff they have, just roughly how prepared they are for different eventualities. Both Anwen and Padrig choose “Light” — they left without a lot of preparation, so they just grabbed what they could and went. Vahid, who will show up in a moment, is going to choose “Heavy.” He overthinks things and overprepares.

2. Anwen and Shadow use the Seek Insight move and score a 10. This strong hit means Anwen can get a clue as to what happened here, and it also means she’s starting to grow in confidence as a hero and she gets to increase one of her abilities by 1. She’ll choose strength — if the crinwin show up, she’ll need to be strong.

3. Anwen’s continuing to make use of the strong hit on Seek Insight.

4. Vahid uses the Know Things move and gets a 10. He learns something interesting and useful about the situation at hand.

5. Vahid rolls Know Things about the ruins and gets an 8 — something interesting, but nothing immediately useful.

6. Here Padrig uses his Read the Land move to ask the question “Where’s the most defensible position?” No roll needed, and he gets advantage when acting on that information.

7. Next, Vahid rolls Know Things again to assess the hunting blinds, and rolls a Miss, with a 6. This means he doesn’t know anything, and the situation worsens somehow. We’ll re-introduce the Mutiny threat with Ozbeg. This is a pretty ‘soft’ GM move; a small complication rather than a big one.

8. Padrig rolls Seek Insight again, getting a 7, getting a bit more insight about the area and what’s happened here.

9. We take an opportunity here to make a soft move against Padrig on behalf of the crew. Ozbeg doesn’t want to be here, and he makes that known. Padrig then uses Persuade to get him back into line, rolling an 11 and scoring a Hit. We narrate it not as him debating with Ozbeg, but rather maneuvering him into changing his mind by dividing the crew.

10. Vahid suspects the crinwin are afraid of fire, but doesn’t know this to be true (and didn’t make a roll to find out). He is, however, interested in having a source of elemental power that he can command with The Azure Hand if things go south.

11. Since Vahid chose a Heavy load at the outset, he can declare that he came prepared with torches and a lantern. Anwen and Padrig have to rely on him here, since they both chose a lighter load.