{"id":48421,"date":"2020-03-05T21:27:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T04:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/randomaverage.com\/?p=48421"},"modified":"2020-03-07T09:23:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T16:23:14","slug":"ravenloft-ironsworn-part-12-the-icon-and-the-flail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/ravenloft-ironsworn-part-12-the-icon-and-the-flail\/","title":{"rendered":"Ravenloft Ironsworn, part 12, The Icon and the Flail"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHEW it\u2019s been awhile since I\u2019ve been able to play.<\/p>\n

Okay, when we last saw our heroes, Brig was kneeling over the body of her mentor, Reinhardt, who seems to have died while fighting some berobed figure in the shadows of a long-abandoned chapel in Castle Ravenloft. Rather than his great hammer and mighty shield, she finds him with a silvery-headed flail in hand, and that plus the silver figurine on the altar reminds of Brig of an old, old legend among the farwardens – one of the stories Reinhardt used to tell her when she was too young to even dream of joining him in his adventures.<\/p>\n

If she\u2019s right, the figurine is one of the greatest – perhaps THE greatest – relics of the farwardens, the Icon of Ahmeshki. So old it predates the farwardens arrival in these cold lands. If it is the Icon, the weapon in her mentor\u2019s grip is the Flail of the Heavens, always associated with the prophecies that tell of the Icon\u2019s return.<\/p>\n

Ismark nods as I retrieve the weapon, feeding the chain of the flail back into hollowed handle, then twisting and locking the head into the end, to form a mace – it\u2019s a familiar weapon design among the farwardens, though she never guessed why.<\/p>\n

[So what I\u2019m initially doing with the Flail is introducing it as an Artifact, which just means it\u2019s \u201cthis thing that narratively allows a thing, or makes a thing happen.\u201d In this case, it basically \u201csteps down\u201d Strahd as an opponent from Epic to \u2018merely\u2019 Extreme. As Brig continues and becomes accustomed to the thing (and if I ever get any XP), I\u2019ll \u2018unlock\u2019 the weapon as an Asset or maybe Rarity. For now, it\u2019s just a cool mace\/flail thing.]<\/p>\n

Ismark gestures to the slim silver figure on the altar. “I’m not much for churches, but it seems an important thing.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is,\u201d Brigitte reaches across Reinhard, laying him flat on the flagstones and arranging his arms in peace. She stands, then approaches the altar. \u201cI\u2019ll need to get it out of this place, and soon, but not immediately.\u201d She reaches out, then hesitates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will return this Icon to hallowed ground, and from that bastion, bring it to the Wardens.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Troublesome vow: get the Icon to the hallowed ground of the chapel of Barovia.]<\/p>\n

\"|347x231\"\"|213x125\"<\/p>\n

I could burn Momentum on this for a Strong hit, but I\u2019d rather not. A weak hit still gives me +1 momentum, taking me to 10, and I think Brig\u2019s plan of \u201ctake it with me, but don\u2019t head straight out of here\u201d seems aimless enough for \u201cnot sure what to do next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay, I also want some kind of test of worthiness, here, not least because I think that\u2019s going to be the first step in getting this thing out of here – if Brig\u2019s not worthy enough, she\u2019s going to need Ismark or, more like, Ireena, to carry the thing.<\/p>\n

Brig reaches to pick up the thing, her expression tight, as if she expects a shock at the touch.<\/p>\n

[The most amusing thing about is it marks the first time I\u2019ve actually used the Face Danger move, which in many PbTA games is one of the most commonly hit.]\"|222x118\"<\/p>\n

Again, I could burn momentum on this for a strong hit, but I kind of like the \u201c-1 momentum\u201d cost of a weak hit.<\/p>\n

Brigitte doesn\u2019t flinch, and there is no sign touching the Icon cost her, but her expression is still troubled. Thoughtful. Her life has become much more complicated in a very short time. She tucks the Icon carefully in her pack. \u201cLet\u2019s move. We\u2019ve more to do here.\u201d<\/p>\n

[-1 momentum, but marking progress on the quest to get the Icon out of here]<\/p>\n

When she looks up from her pack, Ireena is looking down solemnly at Reinhardt, her eyes lowered. Brigitte wonders if she should say something, but Ismark interrupts her train of thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s the robed fellow with the dent in his head, do you think?\u201d He nudges the remains of Reinhardt\u2019s opponent with a toe.<\/p>\n

[I don\u2019t know what Brigitte might know here, so I\u2019m going to use a move to see what\u2019s up.]<\/p>\n

\"|375x422\"\"|221x168\"<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s the first time having the higher stat array on Brig would have made a difference.<\/p>\n

Okay, that\u2019s a dire threat or unwelcome truth.<\/p>\n

\"|221x62\"<\/p>\n

Brigitte seems to actually see the figure for the first time. Her expression goes slack. \u201cThe Qashida?\u201d She reached down, tugging aside the hood, exposing a strange, broken-glass patterned tattoo on the man\u2019s neck. \u201cThey\u2019re\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA terrifying bedtime story, suddenly all to real?\u201d Ismark finishes. He looks meaningfully around the chapel. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of that going around.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m adding the Qashida as a Threat to the epic Vow to get answers about\/avenge the disappearance of the farwardens, and Advancing the Threat by one, right away.<\/p>\n

\"|228x97\"<\/p>\n

Somehow, somewhere, the Qashida know what\u2019s going on, and they\u2019re coming. Suuuuper.<\/p>\n

[Also, in reading up on threats for the first time in the actual Delve rulebook, I realize I\u2019ve assigned the Threat of Strahd to a vow that\u2019s \u201ctoo high\u201d for a threat. I need to think about how to address that, but for now I\u2019m leaving it.]<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s get out of here:<\/p>\n

EXITS: The center of the western wall has a great double door that leads into the rest of the ground floor of the castle. On either side of the great door are smaller, arched openings that lead into smaller shadowed alcoves and stairwells.\"\"<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHEW it\u2019s been awhile since I\u2019ve been able to play. Okay, when we last saw our heroes, Brig was kneeling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,128,6],"tags":[150,307,269,308],"class_list":["post-48421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-actual-play","category-online-table-top","category-table-top","tag-actual-play","tag-ironsworn","tag-pbta","tag-ravenloft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48421"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48521,"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48421\/revisions\/48521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}