LogIronsworn: The Would-Be King-Jason-7

Game log for the 2021/11/14 session of Ironsworn: The Would-Be King, as taken by Jason

So, Aeddon and Kanno were both in favor of an assault on the Black Vanguard line as an attempt to end their siege. Lio wants to resupply, break out, meet up with Brunhilde and Kato, and leave. Template:Npcred rather likes Aeddon's idea. They refine the details of the raid, and then Aeddon sends a raven to let Brunhilde and Kato know to attack from the outside at the same time. The raven returns with a wound. There are lots of crows coming and going due to all the carrion on the field, but maybe someone saw this one leave from the Keep. The party members outside the lines never get the message, and they end up making camp in the woodlands. Kato tries to divine some insight into what Kragath said about "the Witch, not the King," and after many casts of the runes, concludes that he has to go home.

Kanno makes himself some more arrows, and Lio lightens up his armor load so he can move quickly and quietly in the dark. Aeddon, who's craftier than either of them, leads them of the Keep toward the enemy lines. The plan is to go out at the point where it will be easiest for Aeddon to continue on and lead Kato and Brunhilde into the camp. Garrick and one other Keep soldier go with them. At one point he has to make them freeze in place as an enemy patrol passes, but once they're gone the infiltration continues. That gets them to the point where Aeddon splits off.

Brunhilde wakes up to the sound of footsteps approaching their camp. Have the Black Vanguard found them? She rushes to find someplace to hide.

Kanno and the soldier count it down together and kill both Black Vanguard sentries with bow shots, and then Lio and Garrick begin killing the enemy in their tents. In short order, the Vanguard start running, allowing Lio and Garrick to move in and kill with impunity. One foe manages to get his bow out, though, and working by sound, feathers Kanno. That keeps him distracted while Lio kills him too. In short order, this entire enemy company has been killed or scattered, at the cost of one wounded Kanno.

Aeddon's stumbling through the woods and eventually trips over Kato. Kato awakes terrified and bashes him with his staff. The sound of an upset raven makes him realize he has just clobbered Aeddon. The interplay between them clues Brunhilde about what's going on. Aeddon then lets them know that now is the time to sneak in, and they do.

The party regroups while Aeddon heals Kanno, except that Lio spends his time with Adley instead. He, erm, forges a bond with her, and agrees to pass word to the nearby bandits off to the west about what's going on at the Keep. Aeddon and Kanno exchange news with Brunhilde and Kato. Kato, for his part, swears to take the Runestone to the Witch (not the King).

In the morning, Lio seems to be of very good cheer, and Kanno, taking his turn on the walk, discovers that the Black Vanguard are gone. They're out there somewhere, most like, but they've stopped trying to maintain a cordon of the Keep.

In the morning, the group leaves to see the bandits. Progress is swift, though Kato suspects that maybe they're being watched. They while away the hours on the road by hearing Lio talk about his exploits and Kato talk about giants. Brunhilde starts scouting ahead as they think they're approaching the camp, and arrive in one day's fast hiking. The bandits challenge them, and Kato tells them what happened at Ash Keep, then asks to see their leader. This is important news, and the bandits are willing to take them in. They're really interested in hearing what's happening at the keep, and one of them says, "Korwin will want to hear about this."

The bandit camp includes men, women, and children, all of whom seem starved for news. It's inside a cave, that seems to be partially natural. They're taken to a man who wears a crown of bark. Kato greets him respectfully and conveys the message from Adley. More people come to listen as the conversation goes on. Kanno tries to point out that if they just stay here and ignore what's going on, they may find out the next news too late. Lio implies that if they visit the keep, they may be able to get some of the spoil from the battle. That persuades Korwin to go parley with Adley. He picks out a travelling party and says they'll set out in the morning. The band settles in, Kato preaching the word of the Green Man, which given that Korwin wears a crown of bark, reaches a very receptive audience. Korwin was born in the bowl of a hollow tree, which sounds like a sacred blessing now. Kato performs the initiation ceremony of the Green Man for Korwin, drawing an tree on his forehead in ash. These people are naturally somewhat clannish and suspicious, but once they welcome the travellers, the accept them wholeheartedly.

The next day, the party heads out, and makes their way through snow to Ash Keep. A lot of the bandits come along, men, women, and children. Korwin's eager to hear more about the Green Man, and Kato's happy to tell him. It takes up a lot of the day they spend on the road. Once they arrive, Adley and Korwin talk, and they agree to trade weapons for help watching the approaches and harassing any small bands of Black Vanguard. At one point, Kato gets to overhear Korwin talking to Adley about the Green Man. This new alliance in the north will make things more difficult for the Witch King.

Kanno sneak off with Kato to seek spiritual counseling. He feels like something has gone wrong in his soul and left him fey and death-crazed. Kato counsels him to seek like instead.

Lio paints a cave lion with a red eye on his shield.

Kanno swears to help Kato deliver the Runestone to the Witch, but his thoughts are still bent on death. He's not really feeling it, but at least it gets him to Kazera. Brunhilde swears the same vow, while Lio and Aeddon swear to escort Kato to Kazera. They set out the next day, in snow. Aeddon suggests passing through the next proper settlement to the south and letting them know of recent events.

They arrive at the next settlement south after a day or so, and tell them the latest news. They don't stay, and head south thereafter. During this leg, Brunhilde continues scouting ahead, but doesn't appear at the appointed rendezvous. Aeddon asks the crows where she is. They seem nervous and unsettled, and leave very quickly. They came from all over but they leave in one direction, and begin circling over a spot a few miles ahead. Aeddon directs the group yonder. Trouble ahead!

The crows are circling a small settlement. There's at least one dead body visible. The group searches and finds that everyone is dead, and died violently. The wooden pallisade's gate is open and doesn't look to have been broken. There are varou tracks everywhere. Kanno goes looking for varou sign, to make sure nobody was stupid enough to found a settlement on garou turf, but finds nothing. Lio finds tracks showing the garou went thataway, toward the rocky outcrop where they know Brunhilde isn't. Well, it's a direction.

Brunhilde wakes up in a cage, made of sticks and rawhide, deprived of gear. She's in a varou settlement, in case that wasn't obvious. She tries to figure out what's going on. Well, she can't tell what's up with the varou, but she does determine that they overlooked a small knife when they deprived her of her good stuff. She starts trying to work her way free, using the knife to open the cage, and then feels something bite her hand. It's a varou pup, chomping her and forcing her to give up her knife.

Outside, daylight is fading fast. The varou aren't worrying about being tracked, so finding their settlement isn't hard. Of course, then they find a varou village. Lio adjusts his armor for maximum defense against their usual fighting style, and remembers that if he approaches while whistling, they'll be goaded into an attack. That will give him an advantage.