Session 13.5: Lost Causes

Anwen and Vahid prepare to strike. Padrig waits for a sign.

Last episode, Padrig descended into the prisoner’s pens and was confronted by Odo Thriceborn. Padrig learned a bit more about our wicked host and his twisted faith, and about his coming fate: To kill or be killed in the fighting pits at sunrise.

Meanwhile, Anwen and her party — Vahid, Baraz, Mutra, and Mutra’s two bravos, Ollem and Cerdic, are delving deeper into Odo’s Lair. They’ve learned a bit about the rhythm of Odo’s cult, with a religious service and meal at sunrise and dusk, mirroring the hunting patterns of crepuscular predators. They intend to strike at Odo during one of these services, planning to strike him down quickly so that his more savage followers will turn on one another while they escape with his body, so that they might prevent him rising from the grave again¹.

We’ll kick this episode off by triggering Delve the Depths for Vahid and Anwen’s party. Right now, they are in a disused upper level of the complex, near the holding cell for Odo’s Most-Blessed, monstrous half-beasts that are fully corrupted by the Howling Curse. They need to begin making their way towards the fighting pits, or discover whatever charnel hall Odo uses for his banquets to prepare to strike, so we’ll start to interpret the Delve rolls as moving us in that direction. Vahid is still leading they way, using his knowledge of the complex gained from looking into Brogan’s mind:

Vahid triggers Delve the Depths: 5+4+2 Intelligence = 11, Strong Hit

A strong hit means they progress to a new area, which we must envision, and they also uncover an opportunity, which is likewise randomly rolled for.

Feature: Tomb or Catacombs
Opportunity: A clue offers insight or direction

Since this upper level is the Ustrina quarters, we’ll imagine they find some catacombs that lead back down to the lower levels, which the Ustrina used to bury their dead. As for the clue offering direction, we’ll further envision that the catacombs are also used for a bit of a boneyard for the cult, revealing the dark deeds that Odo’s been up to, and pointing the way towards their larder.

Scene 9: The Ustrina Quarters

Vahid leads the party on, searching for a passage down to the chambers where Odo and his family reside. Nestled into an alcove in the final hallway of the Ustrina dormitories is a modest, low archway leading to a passageway spiraling back down into the depths. Vahid peers in, lighting the way with a lantern from his pack².

The dimly lit passage before Vahid and the party spirals downwards, its curvature adding an uneasy vertigo to the descent. Walls of weathered stone bear recessed alcoves, each holding a long-dead Ustrina. Time has been unkind; once-shining bronze is now eaten away by corrosion, and the delicate fabrics that had draped the remains are tattered remnants, swaying slightly in the warm, musty air that permeates the catacomb.

As the party reaches the bottom of the spiral, they step into a grander chamber of hand-hewn rock — no doubt carved by the Ustrina themselves, while their masters attended to greater tasks. In its center stands a raised tomb, a larger and more intricate burial than the rest, undoubtedly meant for some honored Ustrina. But reverence for the dead has been long forgotten: Heaped atop the tomb is a pile of bones and carrion, a grotesque mound nearly covering it, the sheer volume a testament to the many lives that had a grim end in Odo’s lair. Animal bones are discernable in the pile: Antlers and horns, sharp and pointed faces with flat teeth. But not all the bones are animals, Anwen notes with disgust.

Movement in the shadows of the tomb stops the party short — at first, it seems a trick of the lantern light, but quickly, they see it: Twisted and coiled, an enormous creature with the segmented body of a centipede lies resting. Each of its countless legs ends in a shining, black claw, and its chitinous body reflects the lanternlight in an eerie, iridescent display. The creature’s attention is elsewhere — grasped in its mandibles is a ribcage, still hanging with tattered meat scraps.

Foul creatures feast on Odo’s leavings. Source: Midjourney

Above the charnel mound, part of the ceiling has collapsed, revealing a gaping hole that hinted at another chamber beyond, lit by dim firelight and filled with a sickly, earthy smell of cooking. The rubble and debris from the collapse lay scattered below, evidence of some past upheaval deep in the earth.

A couple of notes about the framing of the scene here: I’m trying to incorporate a few elements — a passageway that leads the party from the less-trafficked part of the complex above to the more crowded area below. I also wanted a reason why these catacombs connect to the cult living space, and furthermore why the cultists don’t patrol this area. The resulting scene above tries to thread the needle of all those narrative needs — the catacombs lead down to a primary tomb, which, in the many centuries of abandonment, saw a partial collapse of its roof, connecting it to the area above. This area, in turn, became the cult’s kitchen and larder, and they throw their bones and offal down the convenient hole in the floor, which in turn attracted this denizen, who cleans up their messes. They don’t bother it down there, and it stays where the food is. Unfortunately, our party’s way forward lays past this thing, and so Anwen is going to try to sneak past it and make her way to the far wall, where she might be able to climb up the rock wall and reach the chamber above.

Anwen triggers Defy Danger: 1+2+0 Dexterity = 3, Miss

Rough. We don't want to make Anwen look like a clown here, so slipping and falling on the bone pile is right out. Instead, the creature is just far more alert than they anticipate, and it charges for her, getting a free attack on her. For this critter, I used the old-school D&D Carrion Crawler as inspiration. and built a quick-and-dirty monster with 10 HP, 1d10 damage, and the move paralyze prey with grasping claws. Back to the action:

Anwen approaches cautiously, but quickly it is clear that the thing will defend its claim. It turns on them, rearing up, waving its many claws, its mandibles opening wide, dropping the bones, and dripping with foulness. It lunges at Anwen, and though she fends off its snapping jaws, each one as long as a scimitar blade, its grasping claws scratch against her, and where they touch, the flesh goes numb and senseless.

Anwen tries to push through the paralytic: 

Defy Danger: 3+2+2 Constitution = 7, Weak Hit

We hit her with the 'weak' debility, and the fight continues, with her taking Disadvantage whenever she rolls Strength. My intention here is to make this a short-lasting debility -- long enough to make the fight and its aftermath tricky, but not something that'll hold her back if and when they confront Odo. Then she moves to fight back:

Anwen triggers Clash: 6+5+4+2 Strength = 11, Strong Hit

Anwen deals 6 Damage to the creature, and takes none in return — she wants to avoid further complications from the thing’s touch.

Anwen grits her teeth, straining to move her stiffening limbs, scuttling back down the bone pile to open space between her and the thing -- space to bring her blade to bear. Despite the heaviness in her legs, she finds her footing and strikes, dealing the thing a wound across its soft underbelly. It drops to the floor and skitters back up the bone pile, clacking its mandibles together menacingly.

Anwen triggers Clash: 6+4+4+2 Strength = 10, Strong Hit

Anwen deals 8 Damage, enough to down the creature.

Anwen charges up the pile of bones in hot pursuit and drives Bearkiller’s blade between the thing’s jaws, opening a yawning split in its chitinous skull. The thing shudders, its many legs still grasping at Anwen before it twists around itself and lays still.

Mutra nods to Anwen in quiet respect, but before she can speak, they hear voices from above.

“That thing is stirred up down there again!” one calls out.

“So what? Where’s that pack we took off that woodsman last week? It had Stonetop potatoes in it!”

“Go check if that thing is trying to crawl out of the hole!”

“Why would it leave? It has all the rot it can eat down there!”

“Just fucking do it!”

Quickly and quietly, the party scatters. Vahid douses his lantern and falls back into the shadows, while Mutra and her men fall back into the corridor from whence they came. Anwen, her legs still leaden and stiff, collapses into the charnel pile, still amidst the carcasses, the bones, and scraps of picked-apart leather and linen.

This is not a great roll for anyone -- Vahid opts to lead, since Proof Against Detection gives him advantage, at least. 

Vahid triggers Defy Danger: 6+3+0 Dexterity = 9, Weak Hit

As a cost, we'll require Vahid to expend one of his Safety First holds. Recall that Proof Against Detection only functions if Vahid has Safety First hold, so if he expends it again, to counter a magical effect, Odo will become aware of his presence.

Anwen holds her breath, striving to be as still as the dead around her. As her eyes adjust to the dark, she begins to see slow, sinuous movement in the charnel pile -- tiny, many-legged crawlers -- the beast Anwen felled, in miniature -- begin to crawl out from the rot. Her heart begins to pound, and she shuts her eyes tightly.

Vahid watches from the dark, having opened his third eye. He sees the minds of the men above trembling with wariness as they peer down into the ragged hole in the stone. He feels their attention pressing against his spirit-shield, the tamed, invisible air sprites distracting them from seeing what is before their eyes.

Soon, their auras still, their wariness fading back into the drudgery of routine. “Look’t him.” one of the men says, chuckling crudely. “So full he can barely move. He’ll eat well again at sunrise, I’d wager.” He turns and disappears from view, returning to his labors above.

Anwen rises and crawls from the pile, shaking little crawlers from her armor and rejoining Vahid in the darkness, waiting in silence for a time before whispering for Mutra.

Quietly, they conference about the men above. “They are alone,”³ Vahid supplies. “The rest of Odo’s family must still be at rest.”

“Then we’ll take them. Cerdic is a quick and quiet knife, aren’t you?” Mutra says.

“Just so, boss.”

“You first, then, Snake-Eye,” Anwen says. “I’ll follow, then Ollem and Baraz.”

I wanted to keep the action moving fast here, so I decided to trigger a single move here to see whether the crew could dispatch these cultists without any trouble. Mechanically, I decided on Order Followers, with Anwen Aiding the roll -- but rather than gaining advantage, she uses the other effect of the move, which is they can accomplish more than they could alone -- that feels fair, given how we're expanding the scope of the move. As for the roll: 

Anwen triggers Order Followers: 2+1+1+1 Quality = 4, Miss

An absolutely terrible time for a Miss. Rather than swallowing it, Anwen will trigger Impetuous Youth to upgrade the result to a Weak Hit. As her consequence, she chooses "You cause collateral damage, endanger others, or otherwise escalate the situation." For this result, we'll envision that Mutra's people catch one cultist but the other slips their grasp, and Anwen pursues him -- she'll catch up to him quickly, but he'll lead her deeper into the complex.

Moving with slow, silent steps, Ollem boosts Cerdic first, while Baraz lifts Anwen. The chamber above is a kitchen and Larder -- a low-burning fire smolders beneath a great iron cauldron full of bubbling, perpetual stew, with the corners of the oblong chamber cluttered with bags of Marshedge rice and other scavenged foodstuff -- piles of potatoes and dirt-covered tubers and roots. In the center of the room are three stonework benches, one tall for a Forge Lord, the others short and squat for their Ustrina servants. The low benches are caked with blood, and their stone surfaces are scored with blade marks. Two men are here -- Odo’s family, by the look of them, in dirty linen robes, busying themselves with kitchen work.

Anwen watches as the Snake-Eye steals up behind the first of Odo’s family, curved dagger in hand. Like a striking serpent, Mutra’s bravo covers the man’s mouth and swiftly draws the blade across his throat, casting him aside to silently bleed his life onto the stone.

As Ollem and Mutra emerge from the pit, Cerdic steals towards the other man, who mutters to himself as he roots through a burlap sack. As the first unfortunate cultist gasps his last, a low, haunting rattle escapes his throat, and his fellow turns, his face first annoyed, then shocked. Cerdic raises his dagger to strike, but driven by fear, the man lowers his shoulder and charges through, knocking Cerdic aside and fleeing headlong through a curtained archway, deeper into Odo’s lair.

Awen goes after him immediately, of course:

Anwen triggers Defy Danger: 5+2+0 Dexterity= 7, Weak Hit

She catches up to him, but not before he moves into the next area of the complex. We'll trigger Delve the Depths to see what awaits her here. 

Anwen triggers Delve the Depths: 6+6+0 Dexterity = 12, Strong Hit

Outstanding result -- in the early hours before dawn, Odo's people are still resting, so Anwen doesn't run into any new dangers, and in fact, she discovers an opportunity. Since we're coming from the larder, it makes sense that the next area is the mess hall, so we won't roll for surroundings -- just the opportunity: 

Anwen discovers an opportunity: A useful item. 

For this, we'll envision she finds some spare clothes -- cultist robes that can be used to effect a disguise. We also mark progress, putting us at 7/10 ticks on the Site progress track, per the Ironsworn: Delve rules we’re using. I won’t reproduce that chart here (this episode is already a doozy in terms of length) but I’m still tracking it!

Without hesitation, Anwen is on his heels. He runs through a short corridor and another archway into a grand feasting hall, with long tables arranged in lines, lit by globes of cold, red flames hanging from the ceiling on chains of bronze. He pauses momentarily, frantically shouting for aid, but Anwen is close behind and hurls herself towards him, tackling him to the stone floor.

Anwen triggers Clash: 5+3+2 Strength = 10, Strong Hit

Anwen opts to suffer his damage in exchange for an extra +1d6 damage. Since she's not using Bearkiller, she wants to be sure she'll put him down: 

Anwen deals 10 damage, knocking him unconscious, though being bludgeoned into unconsciousness is usually not very healthy.  

Anwen takes 4 damage, leaving her with 9 HP remaining. Not great, since the big fight has yet to come!

The man tries to throw her off and rise to his feet, slamming his head back into her chin, but Anwen deals him a few quick, sharp blows and he slumps forward and lays still on the stone, breathing raggedly. Ollem arrives behind her, huffing and puffing, and together, they haul his unconscious body back into the Larder. As they go, a flash of white catches Anwen’s eye -- stained linen robes are piled unceremoniously in the corner of the feasting hall. She leaves the cultist with Ollem and snatches them up before following behind him.

Mutra, Vahid, Baraz, and Cerdic await them in the Larder. There is a dark pool of blood where the first cultist fell, but no body remains — he has been cast down into the charnel pit with his victims. 

Ollem lifts the unconscious man and prepares to send him to the same fate. Anwen is about to stop him, her hand reaching out, but she puts it back at her side and balls her hand into a tight fist. She thinks of Dawa’s story and the few of the cult she might bring to her side and help escape -- the few they can save. And Padrig, imprisoned somewhere in these grim halls.

Ollem’s dark, bullish eyes watch her, waiting for whatever she’s about to say. She only nods, and the man is stripped of his robe and cast into the darkness. She turns to Vahid. “Where next, Seeker?”

Vahid looks abstracted, remembering the visions that Odo’s patron showed him, leading him deeper into the depths. “The Preta-Raj showed me these places in my vision, but I wasn’t sure if they were real or some twisted mockery. I see now that it showed me only the truth: Odo has led these people into depravity. Beyond here — which you must have seen, Anwen — is their feasting hall, where Odo presides over his flesh-eating rites. From there, the fighting pits. If Dawa speaks true -- and I have seen with my mind’s eye that she does. That is where the cult will hold sunrise service, and that is where they will bring Padrig.”

Mutra looks to Anwen. “It’s time to take stock. Odo has many more blades than we thought. Even if attacking from surprise, we may stand no chance. It might be best to withdraw -- call on Jahalim and the others.”

“Odo knows we are moving against him,” Vahid says, his voice calm and even. “So far, he seems to have the curse under control, but if he believes a final confrontation is coming, he may do something... drastic.”

“And he has Padrig,” Anwen says simply.

“I leave the decision to you, Anwen,” Vahid says. “You have seen what the Azure Hand and the storm-spirit I command are capable of. And you know yourself.”

Anwen gives a sidelong glance at Baraz. “What do you think, my friend?”

Baraz wags his head from side to side -- a quintessentially Lygosi gesture of uncertainty. “I think it fruitless to tell Anwen of Stonetop to leave a man behind,” he rumbles.

Anwen nods, only to herself, and begins to shrug on a cultist’s robe. “I’m going. We can blend in with the family when they gather for this ‘sunrise service.’ I plan to get as close to Odo as I can and strike when I have the opening. If Dawa frees Pad, we’ll see what chance he can make for us. Anyone willing to follow my lead — forward.”

It's not clear-cut what move to trigger here. It could be Persuade, but Anwen's not really trying to persuade Mutra -- she genuinely doesn't care if Mutra stays or goes, and will go forward regardless. We could use Defy Danger, with the stakes being Mutra's people leave, but again, Anwen will go forward regardless, so the stakes aren't really high, and Defy Danger's trigger states the stakes must be high. 

So, we'll just use an Oracle -- given that Mutra's never seen Vahid and his storm-spirit in action, I rate it as Unlikely that she stays. 

Ask the Oracle: Does Mutra Stay? Yes.

 Surprising, but fun! Mutra isn’t going to let Anwen win all the glory here.

Mutra frowns, grinding her teeth against her black iron jaw. “You’re mad. Just maybe mad enough to win this fight. Hand me one of those.”

Anwen obliges, and Ollem and Cerdic follow suit. “Let us pray the Thunderhead is watching us,” Cerdic mutters. “Tor loves lost causes.”

Scene 10: The Prisoner’s Pits

The whole prison watches Odo rise up and depart. There is a long, cold silence. Then, the old man in the corner breaks it with a bitter tone: “Who are you, then, that demands the Thriceborn’s personal attention?”

“Just a man who crossed him once before.”

“You survived. You were a fool to cross him again.”

“I mean to survive again. What about you?”

Every soul around them has their rapt attention on Pad, now. Odo made a mistake coming down here to see me. They know I’m different.

“It is a lost cause. No one survives down here. Most starve -- that is how I mean to go. I will not eat what Odo offers. After that, you must survive in the fighting pit, and please him with your savagery. But even that is not survival, for the people who leave this place alive do so without their souls.”

Padrig approaches the old man. Around him are gathered a knot of folk taken from the tenements — haggard, afraid. Not much fight in them. But not nothing.

Next to the old man is a strong-looking youth with a soft, smooth face. Pad meets his gaze. “I’m looking for folk who aren’t ready to go gentle. That you?”

Pad triggers Persuade: 3+3+1 Charisma = 7, Weak Hit

The kid is ready to listen, but he needs a plan first.

The young man tries his best to harden his face. “Might be. You have a plan?”

“For just me and Jens, here? No. But with your help, and a few of your friends here, I might. What’s your name?”

“Axel. I’m from Ruddenthorpe, in the north marches.” 

“Hold fast, Axel. Let me speak with my man, and then we’ll have ourselves a council-of-war.”

“What are you thinking, chief?” Jens whispers, aside. 

“Right now? We wait until Anwen and Vahid make their move, and when the alarm sounds, hope the guards leave their posts. Not much of a plan, but we won’t be able to do much if the sentries are watching above.”

“The Gasper said they’ll come to collect folk for the fighting pits before long.”

“Aye, and belike I’ll be first on the list. If the Rainmaker is kind, and the Thunderhead guides her, Anwen and the others will move soon.”

Pad turns back to Axel and calls the young man over. He lays a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Are you a fighter, lad?” 

“I thought I would be, once. M’father was. I watched him fight in the circle, and practiced what he showed me. But he’s long dead now. Ten winters at least.”

“Clanstrife?” Pad asks. Axel only nods. 

“I’ve seen it before. I’m sorry for your troubles — you carry them well. Are you ready to carry them a little way farther?” 

“Have I choice?” he asks bitterly. 

“Smart lad. Listen here: I came with allies. We are moving against Odo -- I was caught, but they are free, and they’re here. When they strike, an alarm will sound, and belike the sentries won’t keep their posts. They’re not warriors, like your father -- they’re just killers. When that happens, we are going to climb out of here.”

“What about the prisoners above? They’ve all killed to earn their places.” 

“Leave them to me. I know how to talk to them -- some will be ready to join us, and the rest can stand aside or we’ll throw them back down to the bottom.” 

Axel looks uncertain. “What do you need me to do?” 

“Speak with the others. Gather whoever can follow -- every hand will help.”

The youth steels himself. “Right.” As Axel spreads the word among his more able-bodied fellows, Padrig slumps against the wall and rests a moment.

Time is passing here, and as part of showing the passage of time, we check in on Padrig’s open wound. Conditions are not great down here, and all he can do is grit his teeth and bear it.

Padrig triggers Defy Danger: 1+2+0 Constitution = 3, Miss

Not ideal for the old man, but there are perhaps worse places for a full-on miss. We’ll give him the Debility Weakened, which gives him disadvantage on all Strength and Dexterity rolls, until the wound is seen to. The party is looking pretty beat up, and so the stage is set for something drastic to potentially happen during the confrontation with Odo.

The cuts Odo left on his shoulder burn fiercely, stiffening the joint and making every movement agony. “Are you all right?” Jens asks, his face pale and worried.

“I will be when it’s time to move.” He peers up into the darkness of the upper tiers, and strains to see or hear a sign from above. Then, a voice from the prisoners above: “Lo, here comes Odo's lady to pick the goats for the slaughter!”

The lift creaks and groans once again, as it descends into the darkness. Pad remembers Dawa from the bad old days, but the woman who descends looks different than the one he remembers — leaner, stronger, and with eyes that have seen far too much. Those yellow eyes lock with his as she descends. The prisoners at the lowest tier shrink away when she arrives, clinging to the edges of the pit and keeping to the shadows.

“Dawa. I can understand why you threw in with Odo all those years ago. But why follow him into this madness?”

She draws close, pitching her voice so only he can hear her. “Padrig. I would’ve loved to see you suffer for what you and Brennan did to us. But things are different now.”

“Oh?”

“Your blue-eyed friend is very… persuasive.”

Pad cracks a smile, even in this dark place. He thinks of all the times Vahid had persuaded him, against his better judgment, to do what was right. Or at least, to do what Vahid suggested. “Yes. He is.”

“I’m here to help you. Anwen and her crew intend to strike at Odo during sunrise service — that is the time he is most vulnerable when he walks freely among the family.”

“How many men will Odo have there?”

“Nearly all of them. At least 15, maybe 20.”

Pad spits. “Long odds. What would they have of me?”

“They bid me fetch you and whatever allies you have to sunrise service. Odo’s attention will be on you, and they hope you can divert him long enough for them to get close and strike him unawares.”

“That still leaves us surrounded by twenty knives.”

“The fighting pits are where the whispers are strongest. Odo holds their curse in check — without him, they may turn against one another. And only his voice can cow the most-blessed⁴. If we unleash them after Odo is gone, they will not know friend from foe.”

Padrig glances back at Axel and those he has gathered. They watch him in conference with Dawa with edged eagerness and curiosity. “It’ll be a bloodbath out there. If we take these folk with us, might be none of them walks out.”

“They weren’t going to walk out of here before we arrived,” Jens says desperately. “You said it yourself, every hand can help.”

“This is different. I’d be leading them into the belly of the beast.”

“So instead we go alone?”

“Not much time,” Dawa urges. “Soon, Odo will be waiting for us. Who are you bringing?”

We’ll close out the episode here. Padrig needs to decide how willing he is to lead these folk into danger. He can ask Dawa to bring Axel and as many of his friends along as can be taken. This will provide some extra muscle, but mostly as cannon fodder, drawing the attention of Odo’s people while the party tries to take him down.

Alternately, Pad can go alone, or just with Jens (depending on how some Order Followers rolls unfold!) and only put himself in danger. If they are successful, perhaps every one of these folk might be rescued and returned to whoever misses them up in the Delve. But, as Pad said: it’s long odds.

We’ll leave his choice up to you all — prison break or go it alone? Hit the button below to make your choice known, and I’ll see you in your inboxes next week!

1. And presumably becoming Odo Four-Times-Born.

2. Vahid marks a box on his inventory — recall that each character has a Light load (with three available boxes) because they wanted to prioritize stealth and speed. The Azure Hand takes two boxes, and we’ve stipulated he has it, so this lantern is the last item he can produce using Have What You Need.

3. With his third eye open, Vahid can ask the question, “What thinking creatures are present here?” and get an honest answer — he knows there are no other minds up in the chamber above.

4. These are the monstrous beast-men who have fully been taken by the curse, also known as the Howlers and the Kyaakara in the tongue of the Barrier Peaks.