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This episode was right on the border of being too long for a substack email, so I had to cut a few things, most notably, the suggestions readers provided for Anwen's horse!

Smoke and Storm were the most popular suggestions -- one-offs included Stardust, Ash, Spots, Wraith, Kirs, Sooty, and, a personal favorite, Trousers.

I think we'll hold Smoke and Storm in reserve and see if a fortuitous moment to name the steed arises. Right now, both of those names feel a bit emotionally fraught for Anwen, so perhaps she's still mulling it over.

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Continuing your fantastic depiction of the Hillfoot and our heroes actually manage some decent rolls!

Where to go? Choice, choices. On the one hand, we've had a lot of Hillfolk and magic recently, so going back to Stonetop to warn them and to recover/prepare for the next season seems more in keeping with the turn-of-the-seasons realism at the heart of the game.

Vahid's pursuit of the crown is great for the sketched out endgame, and would be interesting to use Delve for, but I feel they're just not ready for it.

Anwen's suggestion makes great in-game sense, but from a narrative perspective I think we need a break from the Hillfolk.

I vote Stonetop. This isn't a typical adventuring party. Their priority is to their community they've sworn to protect rather than wandering around spilling blood and hunting treasures.

Again, though, both Anwin's and Vahid's goals are important and worthy.

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author

Glad you feel that way! I was hoping this was a meaty choice where every option felt different and legitimate.

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Aug 11, 2022Liked by SGH

I voted for Stonetop. I'd like to see the home front again. Also, we had a dungeon crawl with Vahid under the cistern in Stonetop, and pursuing the White Arrows feels too much like simple revenge.

With Anwen and the Lady of Crows, at the table I would tread carefully. A player might say 'challenge my PC' but still be upset if the dice fell poorly and the PC dies with story left unfinished. That said, clearly Anwen is the sort of person to risk her life for her friends and beliefs, and wouldn't hesitate to jump into danger.

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OTOH I see further down the comments that you're considering Ironsworn: Delve for any dungeon crawl, and I'd love to see how that works in your hands.

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author

Nice -- well, the next time we get into a situation appropriate for Delve, it's comin' out, so I don't think we'll wrap up the campaign without at least trying it.

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Aug 11, 2022Liked by SGH

I'm 100% in with Myles' view.

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Aug 9, 2022Liked by SGH

Fetching that crown should give the Lady of Crows a few good shots at Anwen. 😈

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author

We certainly set it up as quite deadly -- even Stormcatcher's champions couldn't make it through!

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Aug 9, 2022Liked by SGH

Couple centuries later, maybe some traps have rusted, skeletons’ arms and armor rotted to dust, and a determined party can just win through. And inadvertently deliver it right to the hdour of course, but, A for effort! ;)

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"At the gaming table, if a player selected this move, I would ask the player if it was an invitation to try very hard to kill them. "

Interesting, I never actively thought about this. Yea, I mean players want their features to be tested? What's the fun if you spec in resilience and the enemy does not target you because it's needless, so to say.

"how hard should the Lady of Crows be gunning for Anwen?"

Go for it, she will rather die then let others down (at the moment). I assume you do not need to try to hard as Anwen seems to be quite capable of drawing enemies attention.

The sky burial was very cool and fitting. Overall, I really like the/your depiction of the hillfolk, their customs rituals and such.

Regarding the course of action. I noticed that all chars propose ideas that match their instinct, which is more or less not surprise but still nice to see. Regarding the options:

I think, a good rational for the players would be to go for the crown. I'm a little torn for the outlook of a dungeon crawl thou.

Personally (reader view) I would like to go back to stonetop. We spend quite a while in hillfolk company and I would like to see some interaction in stonetop again. The chars have quite some achievements to communicate and I would also like to see Anwens confrontation with Orwain. In the end, this is "stonetop" not "hill folk". This also gives the setting in the wild some time to breath with the players absent so to say. It's also not the worst rational, imo.

For Anwens approach, I have sympathy but if I had to chose between informing and preparing my folks (stonetopians) and rescuing some subjugated and manipulated hill folk raiders I would probably go with the first. Maybe Anwen has not the greatest attachment to the stonetopians anymore, which would make sense, overall, the hillfolk treated her with much more respect and such so it makes overall sense to be more empathetic towards them.

That said, I probably go with Stonetop or Crown with a leaning to Stonetop.

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author

Rationale makes sense! I agree I am itching to explore other parts of the setting, but it seemed like the thing Anwen would suggest -- especially with the Hillfolk Oathglass burning a hole in her pocket.

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It’s high time for a good, semi-old fashioned dungeon crawl.

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I was thinking of using Ironsworn: Delve to envision the dungeon -- seems like a really cool system and set of Oracles!

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In that case, I'm definitely excited for a dungeon crawl. I like Ironsworn: Delve, but I've had some trouble in the past getting it to "click" for me in play. I think a lot of the problem is on my end, but I'd be very interested in seeing someone else's good example.

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Aug 9, 2022·edited Aug 9, 2022Author

I've never run it successfully before, so if we go that route, we'll see what I can do with it!

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