Session 7.1: The Sun-Spear

The party arrives at the Hillfolk encampment. Anwen's heart goes out to the nomads. Vahid and Padrig treat with the meistr.

Last episode, we concluded our journey through the Flats, as our heroes arrived at the hidden encampment of the Sun-Spear Band. On our journey, Padrig kept a low profile, hoping to avoid coming into contact with any old enemies from his past life as a bandit in these lands, while Anwen ‘befriended’ a skilled but arrogant young Hillfolk warrior named Kirs.

Most significant, however, was Vahid’s experience — in the night, the hdour contacted him in a vision and sent a raging wildfire to test our young scholar’s mastery of the Azure Hand. Vahid managed to unlock the secrets of the artifact and save Hillfolk and Stonetoppers alike from the flames and emerged with his hand burnt by the power he wielded.

Now, we’re kicking off Session 7 — the main story question in play is whether the party can establish some sort of alliance with the Hillfolk against the hdour, which will involve making a good showing at the upcoming spearmoot. There are also some other interesting sidequests we could explore as well while sojourning among the nomads — last week, we put those to a reader poll, with the intention of following the top 2-3 threads. Let’s take a look at the results:

The people have spoken: More coming-of-age for Anwen and more magic items for Vahid. We won’t be digging into Padrig’s side stories here, but he will play a key role in the main story of the session.

End-of-Session Move

Session 6 was a short one, but we still get to mark some XP based on what happened — Padrig and Vahid each missed once, leaving them with 11 and 14 respectively. Then, we ask the character end-of-session questions:

1. Did you demonstrate or struggle with your Instinct?

2. Did you change your relationship with a PC or NPC?

During a short session, there are fewer opportunities to do these things — in this case, I think only Vahid marks both, and Padrig and Anwen each mark one — Anwen for her moment with Vahid after his hand was burnt, and Padrig for laying low to avoid his bloody past, thereby expressing his Caution instinct.

And finally, the partywide questions:

1. Did we learn more about the world and its history?

2. Did we defeat a threat to Stonetop or the region?

3. Did we improve our standing with our neighbors?

4. Did we make a meaningful improvement to Stonetop, or make progress towards doing so?

I think we mark 2 here — ‘Learn more about the world and it’s history,’ and ‘improve our standing with our neighbors.’

That leaves our XP totals at:

• Vahid: 18

• Anwen: 13

• Padrig: 14

14 XP are required to level, which mean Vahid and Padrig are elligable for level 4, and Anwen will be with a single miss. Arguably, if they spend a couple of weeks among the Hillfolk, they’ll have enough downtime to trigger the Level Up move, so we may intersperse those level-up decisions throughout Session 7.

GM Prep

We’ll kick this session off right where the last one left off, with the party arriving at the Sun-Spear Band’s encampment. From the GM’s perspective, we want to take this expository opportunity to show how the hdour is threatening the campsite, creating opportunities for the PCs to be heroic and help out:

Scene 1: Approaching the Sun-Spear Encampment

The Sun-Spear encampment sits on the edge of a shallow bowl of cracked mud, once an island of water in the sea of tall grass, now it is dry and lifeless. Solnn and Kirs lead the way, still on horseback, and when they approach the tents, a crowd of a dozen young children comes out to meet them, calling out in the Steptongue, their faces flashing with joy and needfulness.

Anwen is grave as she takes in the children — their faces are drawn and their bodies are skin and bone. As they gather around the riders, Kirs and Solnn unwrap the remains of the trail rations the party shared with them and hand them out freely to the young, grasping hands.

Mutely, Anwen goes into her own pack, riffling through it for food. When setting out, they had little notion of how long it would take for the Hillfolk to respond to their signal, so their packs are heavy with extra supplies, and Anwen hurries forward to share them. The children are wary at first, but hunger quickly overcomes their caution. They surround her, and before she realizes it, her pack is empty.¹

Anwen looks up at Padrig, desperation and uncertainty plain on her face. “We have to help these people.”

“We will. But you can’t help them if you go hungry too.”

She shrugs helplessly. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

Padrig’s face softens with sympathy, and he nods. “We’ll speak to the meistr and find out what can be done.”

As they walk among the nomads, Padrig draws Ozbeg and Vahid close for a quiet conference. “What do you make of the camp, Oz? Vahid?”

Padrig triggers Seek Insight, with Vahid’s aid: 6+3+1+2 Wisdom = 11, Strong Hit.

This gives Padrig and Vahid three questions from the Seek Insight list— they’ll choose:

1. What happened here recently? The Hillfolk are under siege by a deadly enemy, and as a result, they are starving.

2. Who or what is really in control here? Fear. These people believe their enemies are supernatural, and they feel defeated.

3. What here is useful or valuable to me? This is a particularly large Hillfolk band, and they would make strong allies, and their absence would create a dangerous power vacuum.

We’ll incorporate and expand on those answers in the fiction:

The old mountain man sucks air in through his teeth. “They’re drawn taut, no doubt about it. There are three groups of riders patrolling within sight of the camp, and more just hanging about around the campfires. They ought to be out on longer rides, making sure the camp isn’t taken by surprise.”

“I thought the same thing. And their herds are held close, even though the grasses here are picked clean. They’re not sending their herders out to graze. There must be more than what Solnn has told us — they are under siege.”

“Look at these,” Vahid says, quietly gesturing to a totem hung from a spear sunk into the earth at a tent entrance. Hanging from twine tied to the spear’s bronze shodding are the sharp-beaked skulls of crows and burnt bundles of fragrant grasses, with a sickly, woody smell. “Spirit-scare charms. Hillfolk merchants were selling them in Marshedge; they are meant to keep malevolent ghosts at bay. It’s more than raiders these folk fear.”

The column now passes near the center of the camp. Dozens more tents are hidden in the tall grass beyond the watering hole — squat, circular yurts roofed with cut grass, blending into the sea. At the edge of the dried-up watering hole, a trio of dung fires smolder low, and many folk are gathered around them, weaving horsehair rope, sharpening weapons and tools of bronze, and talking in hushed, subdued tones. Suspicious glances and hands on swordhilts and adze greet Anwen, Vahid and Padrig as they follow Solnn and Kirs through. Ozbeg lets out a low whistle. “This is a big camp. Maybe the biggest I’ve seen before². Two hundred folk, easily.”

“If we can help them, they’ll make strong allies,” Padrig muses. “If they fall, the band that takes their riding grounds next season will have no cause to love Stonetop.”

A Hillfolk encampment. Illustration by Lucie Arnoux // Source: Stonetop by Jeremy Strandberg

Solnn pulls her horse to a halt, while Kirs continues, he and his warriors riding on towards the pastures where the band’s horses are grazing.

She wheels her horse and addresses the party formally. “I bid you welcome to our home-among-the-grasses, sojourners. Juba would have me bid you pitch your tents alongside his, so the whole of the tu’d sees you are under his protection.” She gestures to a pair of spacious yurts, their wide entrances joined by a woven canopy of white and gold thread, shading a circle of silken pillows, the color of faded jewels.

Padrig pauses, uncertain of the formal words of thanks. Vahid smoothly interjects on his behalf. “Your band’s generosity is like Heol’s sun as it shines upon the unworthy. We cannot accept such kindness.”

“You must,” Solnn counters. “We could not face our ancestors beyond the Last Door if we did not at least shelter you from the wind and rain.”

Vahid bows low. “Surely we are beneath the Sun-Spear’s notice. Surely you have more worthy guests than we.”

“Heol blesses us, for we have enough for all,” Solnn says, without a trace of irony. “Please, make your camp with us.”

Vahid rises from his bow, and nods agreeably. “Very well, we cannot refuse so noble an offer.” Solnn’s gaze on Vahid is appreciative, and appraising.

Scene Breakdown

One of the dangers of interacting with the Hillfolk is running afoul of taboos and customs, and souring the relationship. Vahid has the strongest fictional positioning to avoid that danger — Padrig might know a bit about the Hillfolk, but primarily as enemies, and Vahid is established to be an expert on all sorts of cultures. At the table, we’d want to make this a moment for collaborative worldbuilding, by asking Vahid’s player something like “Vahid, you’ve observed and studied the Hillfolk — what’s the taboo that Padrig is about to run afoul of?” This gives Vahid an opportunity to trigger Defy Danger using Charisma — essentially, he’s helping the party avoid the danger of offending the Hillfolk using his learning.

Vahid triggers Defy Danger with Charisma: 6+3+1 Charisma = 10, Strong Hit.

Vahid steps in for Padrig and engages in a ritual of gift-refusal, satisfying the Hillfolk customs and keeping things friendly.

Padrig breathes a sigh, relieved that the decencies have been satisfied. “When can we speak with Juba?”

Solnn holds up a placating hand. “Soon, eager traveler. It is near noon. Raise your camp, make your ablutions, give your thanks to Heol above, and you will see the meistr.” With that, she spurs her horse on, leading the way towards their meistr’s encampment.

To set up the next few scenes, we’ll zoom out a bit and split the party up to pursue the plot threads the selected by the reader poll. First, Padrig and Vahid will meet with the meistr and attempt some diplomacy, and then assuming nothing goes terribly wrong, over the next few weeks Vahid will meet with the spirit talker and learn what he can about Stonetop, about the hdour, and about his magic cloak, and Anwen will spend some time with Kirs. At the same time, emissaries from the other Hillfolk band’s are arriving for Juba’s spearmoot, so absent any major twists, we’ll find out what happens at the moot to close out the session.

We’ll start with Pad, since it’s the most immediate item.

NPC Breakdown: Juba, meistr of the Sun-Spear Band

We don’t need to roll to envision Juba’s goals and motivations here — he wants to get his people fed and protected from whatever enemy is attacking them. To flesh out his personality, we fire up the Ironsworn chracter oracles and roll some descriptors, and we get: Proud, Hot-Tempered, Agreeable.

Sounds like a fun guy — friendly, but quick to anger, and proud of his people and his position. From those traits, we can also glean that he’s likely motivated by not losing face — in front of his Heoling allies, among his rivals, and certainly not in front of a stren like Padrig.

Scene 2: A meadow, not far from the camp

“I consulted the Chronicle of Stonetop before we departed,” Vahid’s extensive counsel rings in Padrig’s ears as they and Solnn ride out of camp to meet with the meistr. “Juba’s father visited Stonetop 22 years ago at the Feast of Danu’s Bounty. He and three of his warriors feasted at the Elders’ table. They came to celebrate a shared victory over a bandit lord who had taken up residence in the Ruined Tower. Juba and Owain’s father, Llewelyn, fought side by side in the battle, and Llewelyn gave his life.”

“What should we tell him of the sorcerer?” Padrig had asked.

“We will tell him what Adm said about a hundred riders under the hdour’s banner³, and that the sorcerer perhaps has the khrun’zhon — the crown-greed — and, if unchecked, that he will force the tu’d into servitude.”

“You said that Adm was just telling tales.”

“Remember what he said: ‘Tales can come true, if the faithful fight for them.’ If Juba does not wish the hdour’s tale to come true, he should rally his own faithful to oppose him.”

Padrig shivers in the autumn chill. He shakes his head free of the glimpses of Adm’s bloody grin as he spat his last curses, and attends. Solnn has been speaking to he and Vahid in the Steptongue, all this time. Vahid, riding a placid brown mare, listens intently and nods along.

“…expects the deference and honor due a warrior of his distinction,” she says, her neck bent at a most solicitous angle. “I know among your folk, slights are forgiven as the aurochs forgives the fly who bites — with but a gentle rebuke — but among the tu’d we guard our honor as we guard our lives.”

Padrig shifts uncomfortably in the saddle of the borrowed brown gelding, who dances beneath him in irritation. He would have preferred to walk, but Vahid told him that one does not treat with a meistr of the nomads on foot.

In this flashback, Vahid is looking to obtain some information about the Sun-Spear Band to Padrig and to trigger his Sage Advice move, giving Padrig advantage if he acts on what Vahid tells him.

Vahid triggers Know Things: 5+1+2 Intelligence = 9, Weak Hit.

We provide some interesting (but not immediately useful) information about Juba’s history with Stonetop, and for a follow-up question (thanks to Vahid’s Well-Versed move), Vahid asks “What might help align Juba with Stonetop against the sorcerer?” and learns about the crown-greed, a taboo in the Heoling faith against kings and kingship.

Juba awaits them in a meadow blanketed with waist-high grass, dry and golden, and scratching against the horses’ bellies and making them twitch and nicker. Solnn motions for him to wait as she approaches Juba for a quiet conference.

The Hillfolk leader is old but fierce-looking, his head shaven and tattooed with a faded sunburst atop his pate, his long mustache streaked with grey and braided in a thick, heavy bronze ring. He sits upon a tall, rust-red stallion, looking impassively out across the sea of grass as Solnn speaks to him, occasionally glancing back towards Padrig. Juba’s white deel robe is layered under a leather vest sewn with scrap-iron plates, and on his left hand he wears a heavy leather gauntlet, held up as though waiting to accept a gift. On his back is a bow of sinew and horn, and at his side is a short bronze-tipped spear.

After a few minutes of discussion, Juba dismisses Solnn with an irritated wave of his gauntleted hand. She wheels her horse and returns to Padrig and Vahid with a strained smile. “He is ready.”

Pad nods, and carefully urges his horse forward at a slow trot, pulling to a halt before Juba, with Vahid following slightly behind. The meistr continues his vigil over the grass, unperturbed by their arrival.

“Meistr Juba, I bring greetings from the folk of Stonetop, old friends of the Sun-Spear Band. Our elders sent me to renew the bonds between our kin and yours, and to treat with you on grave matters that face us all,” Padrig says, loudly and clearly.

There is a long silence as they wait for Juba’s reply. The nomad holds fast, his hand outstretched. Beneath him, his mount slowly shifts, twitching its red flanks and settling in for a long stint.

Then, from the grass, there is a flash of movement — a blur of blue-black feathers and a long, sinuous tail — spreading its wings and leaping into the air, taking flight towards Juba. Padrig starts, making ready to draw an arrow from his quiver, but Juba’s stillness gives him pause. The meistr catches the creature out of its flight with his gloved hand, the curved talons of its lower wings clinging to his armored wrist and its azure-feathered tail wrapping around his forearm. Juba smiles at his hunting companion — a blackfeather drake with a limp, bloody rodent dangling from its sharp-toothed maw.

A blackfeather drake, aka Microraptor. Image credit: Mick Ellison/AMNH

“Finally found a meal, eh my little butcher-of-rats? It seems these stren have brought you some long-awaited good fortune. Perhaps it will be so for Juba!” He chuckles as he strokes the drake’s throat. It grabs its meal in its clawed forewings and hiss-chirps amiably, seizing his finger in its bloody jaws and worrying the glove leather furiously before returning to tear into the rat’s belly.

Juba laughs heartily, and lowers the blackfeather to his shoulder, where it stays only for a moment before taking its meal in its jaws and skittering nimbly down his side to perch on his saddle to feast. Only then does the meistr turn his attention to Padrig and Vahid.

“Grave matters, you say? Feh. My saddlebags are overflowing with them. First, tell me of what transpired last night. We saw the lightning strike, the thunder awoke our babes from their sleep. Then we saw the glow of wildfire in the night sky, and the smoke rise, but it was gone as soon as it had come. Solnn says she and her men were saved by the work of a magi. What do you say, stren?” Juba’s steel-grey gaze falls on Vahid, who shifts uncomfortably — his burnt hand is concealed under his dusty linen robes.

Vahid clears his throat. “It was my work. I am a student of the power of the Makers, and I used that power to protect your people and mine from the flames. But last night’s storm was sent by a hdour. This sorcerer desires an artifact of great power, which I keep and protect. He is gathering riders to his banner, as one afflicted with crown-greed might. He has threatened Stonetop, and I believe he may be the author of your band’s woes. Perhaps together, we can stand against him, and put an end to his menace.”

Juba’s face flashes with eager curiosity, but as quickly as it comes, it is gone, replaced with suspicion and doubt. “Tch. And so we should throw in our fates with you? Many a tale of woe has begun thus for my people — lured into cursed servitude to a magi with fear and promises, placing their hands willingly into the shackles.”

“I am not a magi,” Vahid replies, his voice a bit strained.

“Solnn says you are. Kirs says you are. I would sooner doubt my right and left hands. Do they lie to me, stren? Should I have them brought before us and horsewhipped for their insolent slander of a guest in my tent?” Juba laughs, his voice fierce and jovial at once. The drake’s temper rises with its master’s, and it lets out a screeching cry. The rat in its talons is now nothing but bloody bones and scraps of fur.

Padrig cuts in, sensing the ground shifting beneath them. “Your band’s long friendship is not with Vahid, it is with Stonetop, and he is our guest and ally. Our people have been allies before — you fought alongside our champion and feasted your victory at our elders’ table.”

Juba waves a dismissive hand. “That was long ago. How can I be certain you are not merely the eager bootlicks of a would-be sorcerer-king?”

Padrig’s jaw sets. “Take my measure however you choose, meistr Juba. But do it quickly. My people are in danger, and yours are in want. We can help each other, but first, we must put aside our distrust.”

Padrig’s trying to win Juba’s trust here, and that’s sufficient to trigger a Persuade move. We want to draw out this challenge a bit, so success here won’t mean that an alliance is forged, it just means that Juba is willing to listen, and perhaps to allow them to participate in the spearmoot.

Padrig triggers Persuade with advantage from Sage Advice: 4+2+1+1 Charisma, Weak Hit.

Juba’s warming up, but will need a bit more convincing. He wants to really get a sense for Padrig, if that’s who Stonetop has sent to bargain with him, so before he opens up, he’ll propose something to help take Pad’s measure.

Juba’s eyes narrow appraisingly at Padrig. “You are right, Padrig of Stonetop. My people are in want. Come hunting with me; we’ll feed at least a few of them. Are you an able hunter? Do you know the Flats well?”

Padrig is taken aback for just a moment, while Vahid shifts nervously in his saddle. “Able enough, and well enough, meistr Juba,” Padrig replies.

“You choose your words cautiously, stren, like a nervous father sending his children into battle, praying to Heol they come home alive and unspoiled. Come, then. Tell your magi you will be back before sunset.” He spurs his horse to a canter, leaving Padrig to say his farewells to Vahid before following along.

Stonetop has a move that neatly fits into this fiction: Forage.

Source: Jeremy Strandberg // Stonetop

It’s not winter, but thanks to the particularly harsh autumn weather, we’re going to give disadvantage anyway — Juba isn’t doing this primarily to feed his people, he’s doing it to size up Pad and see if he can trust him, man-to-man.

Padrig triggers Forage: 6+4+4+2 Wisdom = 10, Strong Hit.

So, Padrig gets to pick two choices from the list. There are two ways we could play this on Padrig’s behalf:

The routine hunt: We choose the first and last options — Padrig acquits himself well, collecting some food for the band and avoiding danger, and winning a modicum of trust from Juba.

The dangerous hunt: We choose the first and third options. Padrig finds a small amount of provisions, but with an opportunity to find substantially more — perhaps enough to make a real difference to the Sun-Spears — if he and Juba face danger.

We’ll close out today’s episode here and put this question to the reader poll. If we choose the first one, Padrig will successfully win Juba’s trust, and we’ll be able to quickly move on to Anwen and Vahid’s plot threads. If we choose the second, we gamble a bit — facing danger together could lead to a much stronger bond between the two men, or it could end in disaster. If y’all choose that option, we’ll play to find out!

If we asked Padrig, I suspect he would be torn. He is generally a pretty cautious fellow, but the stakes are high here — the Sun-Spears are starving, and they represent Stonetop’s best chance at a strong alliance against the hdour (and who knows, maybe Brennan, down the road). And perhaps Padrig has been growing bolder since he’s been embracing his role as a leader, making him more ready to go into danger on the village’s behalf.

Choose what fate has in store for Padrig by clicking below. Next week, we’ll find out the results of the hunt, and see how Vahid and Anwen fare among the nomads. As always, thanks for reading!

1. This may or may not have implications for Anwen down the road. Recall that inventory in Stonetop is abstracted — players choose roughly how much load they’re carrying (a light, medium or heavy load), and then declare what they’re carrying as it becomes relevant, as long as it’s reasonable they could’ve had the item in question all along and it fits in the load they’ve declared. So, mechanically, we would have Anwen mark a few of her inventory slots off as “extra supplies” and then have her give away those supplies. That means she’ll have less equipment available during these adventures, and no food to speak of.

2. This is going back to our earlier dice rolls in defining the Sun-Spear back in Session 6.2 — one of our fate table results included ‘especially large,’ so it seemed like a worthwhile element to incorporate here.

3. This is referencing Padrig’s deathbed interrogation of Adm in Session 3.4.