Vladim

Thanks! It seems that a consensus is slowly forming to observe the rock (and fortress) from another location. Someone in the group of the PCs that will move should give me an Explore check (TN 14) for staying at the same distance but trying to circle the hill to observe it from different angles, or a Stealth check (TN will depend; remember Radagast's bonus) for approaching the hill to get a closer look. Whatever your choice, you may add Awareness checks if you successfully perform either check (Explore or Stealth, depending on your action). I suggest the PC with the highest skill take the lead, but you are free to choose! sorry, the Awareness TN is high for observing from where Dahr-Ol is, so Curious only lowers the TN by -2... which is still not enough to beat it. So no new info gained, but you can try it again from a new location (and with a new roll).

The others seem to take well to the new ship. It is undeniable that the vessel appears in good condition, sea-worthy and with no apparent damage. Still surprising, given its previous owners, but there is no denying facts. The recovered journal is of great interest to one as Iphigenia, but first there is the matter of her companion. "What would you like to know?" she asks Karadoon as she approaches him on the bow.

I posted a very short backstory, keeping things vague so as to make it easier to fit them into the setting. If it doesn't work, or if you need me to edit anything, just let me know.

Short backstory ideas: When Hallbjorn was a spry youngling, he was amongst the first wave of colonists: warriors from beyond the sea who pacified the locals and settled in one of the islands. That was many years ago. After this first conquest, Hallbjorn retired with what wealth he had managed to gather for himself. He took a local girl for a wife, and some land as reward for his deeds, and he settled down and raised a family. He is a grey man now. For many years, he thought his adventuring days behind him. But fate had something else in store. Last year, his son-a sailor-went missing in one of the unexplored islands. As no-one has proved capable of finding his ship, Hallbjorn has taken up the task. One last adventure... not for gold or renown this time, but to recover him, if he can.

that Awareness check is higher than TN 14, so Gram can save the Hope.

Happy birthday!

As the company crossed through the gates, Segrid asked Tarric and Bróin and Idunn to step forth. "Time to speak to master Beorn." she explained. "The Thane will come presently." And so it was. Their arrival had not gone unnoticed, and before long Beornings came to greet them and lead them on, towards Beorn's great hall. On the way, they encountered more of his hardy folk, but also hounds and horses, sheep and cows, and bee-hives buzzing with activity. For Beorn was as fond of these creatures as he was of his own followers. At the entrance to the long-house, they found Grimbold, Beorn's Thane. He had been waiting for Segrid, and the two spoke briefly before he addressed them. He told the tale of the Easterly Inn and its sad demise. It was one well-known to the three companions, but perhaps less so to their followers. The Thane concluded with a few words: "We have gathered men and women to aid you in your endeavour. Warriors, too: in case the orcs seek to attack again from the forest. I see that you brought your own. So far, so good. But come! My lord awaits." Those who had come here before remembered the hall: a high-roofed building of strong timber, taller than any of the Woodmen houses. Beorn was at the table, holding council with some of his folk. Even sat in his chair, his huge frame exceeded that of even the tallest of the travelers, but he was in a good mood today, and he expected their coming. After a brief introduction by Segrid, and the customary exchange of tidings, matters soon turned to the necessary plans for building. It was already late in the summer, and so they did not have many months to raise the settlement before the coming of winter. Through Segrid, the Beornings had promised to provide workers and warriors and materials. This was again reaffirmed by the chieftain, who inspected them carefully. Luckily, Woodmen were seen as friends and kin, and thus the bear-lord's usual mistrust of strangers was somewhat tempered. The mead, consumed in copious amounts, also seemed to help. OOC I left things a little vague and purposely sketched out only poorly, as I don't think it's necessary to RP this scene in great detail. Here's a bunch of things we can do here: We can exchange tidings and gifts; these can be accompanied by a Secure an Advantage move. At some point, one of us should attempt to Swear an Iron Vow to help build a settlement near the ruins of the Easterly Inn (Dangerous). This can be flavoured any way we want; it can be as casual or as formal as we want it. Feel free to keep introducing NPCs. Some of the Beornings sat with Beorn could also be allies that will help us. The ideas you mentioned sound good ! I'll see if I can introduce some more NPCs too. We can probably move on after a post or two!

Regarding AC/HPs/etc, I am good with knowing nothing, as I think the uncertainty makes for a more fun game. Plus, I don't think we move slowly, so I don't need to know AC for increasing the pace. But-I am good to defer to majority opinion, as always. It's basically not a big deal for me!

From the ashes: (Content pending) Benefits, ungrades and undertakings (All in the Ironsworn system) (pending)

Adventure 14: From the ashes (2950 T.A.) Amalric Eranbar Eirnwyn Thorismund Cilderic the wanderer Beran the watchful Evoric the hunter Olwinne, Tarric's wife Fareth swiftfoot Asfrid of Lake-Town Wulfnoth the wood-goer

how about Rathdan, whom we met in the early parts of Words of the Wise? If memory serves, he was related to Olwinne-I think? I need to look it up... This guy:

as much as I am eager to see what happens next, I'd prefer it if could get a chance to communicate Cecil's observation. Not necessarily because I am a fan of PCs withholding information (I am not :) ) but more because it creates an RP opportunity that Modest Proposal may be interested in engaging with. I'll leave the matter between you and Modest Proposal, but if M. P. prefers it, I think it's fine if they want to ask you to slightly edit your post. I guess I could also help avoiding this issue by using private tags, but I am not a heavy user of them and prefer if folks enjoy all the story, even if some of it is OOC info (which shouldn't be engaged with IC). I don't think we're too slow right now so I am good with letting Modest Proposal make the call! If they can't post for several days, then agreed-we can just make assumptions about Cecil sharing the info and move forwards! But I am open to other alternatives!

Iphigenia sits quietly for a few minutes after the skirmish, processing what she has witnessed. She could have sworn that the Philadelphia had become ghost-like moments before it had sank beneath the waves. Does this mean that the spirits of this land can turn things ethereal like that? The experience of canon-fire by the enemy ship-and the very real damage to their now vanished gunboat-proves that these ghosts have some power over the nature of reality. At length, she turns to the others. "You need rest." she says to Karadoon, whose wounds testify to his greater contributions in the fight. She checks the others as well-it will be a few moments of taking stock of it all before she can get excited about this new ship.

Idunn of Firienseld [Mom: 2 (10/2) | Health: 5 | Spirit: 3 | Supply: 5 | Uthred: 3 | Band strength: 4 | Fails: 13] Sixty leagues. It was a long journey through tracks and ancient paths along the eaves of the great forest, and then onwards into the green vales and wide plains of the Anduin. A journey that would have benefited greatly from a mount, for riding would have cut the time in half. But she was not alone, and there were not enough steeds to go around: and so, on foot it was. Many came with her. Beran and Evoric and Cilderic remained by her side, but there were others too: Asfrid, the sell-sword from Lake-Town, who had come from the north years ago to aid Bofri, and had remained in Rhosgobel ever since. Fareth, ever the wizard's trusty scout, who thought to come with her to speak directly to the Beornings. The hunters from Rhosgobel, whom Idunn and Tarric had aided in spring, and who owed their lives to the companions. A strange and quiet Woodman called Wulfnoth who spoke of relatives amongst Beorn's folk. And others yet who would join them in the land of the Beornings. Nine days later, she found herself outside the gates of Beorn's Hall, led by Segrid. She wondered if the bear-lord himself would get involved, or if this whole business had been the idea of a Thane. Either way, she entered apprehensively, for she had clashed with Beorn before... OOC I've started adding a few NPCs since I don't think we would be undertaking this unaided, but please feel free to include (or make up) your own. I didn't mention Olwinne since I though it best to leave that to BlueTrillium. I'll probably add a few more from the Beorning side later (in a future post), and update the NPC codex in the Setting sub-forum. I'll wait for Tarric's POV and then move us towards a scene where someone can Swear an Iron vow for this "quest". Probably dangerous, to keep it short...

While the others discussed matters at length, Cecil sat and watched the half-ruined fortress from afar. The distance was great, and the task difficult, but one thing was clear: there was no sign of flame or smoke, not from the tall buildings and not from anywhere else. The ruin seemed as dead as the grave, abandoned fully to the ravages of time. Half-hidden in the mists, it had an eerie, haunting look and feel. Time passed, and the hobbit watched on. There was little of note to report. But as noon-time approached, a bit of light penetrated cloud and fog, and the hobbit thought he caught a short-lived gleam shining from the fortress. It seemed like the kind of thing one could see reflected off of polished metal: a spear-head, or a sword, or ring-mail maybe. Perhaps the place was not entirely unoccupied after all? Or had it been simply a trick of the light, or one played by the hobbit's own eyes? OOC Let's say that some time passed with the PCs observing and doing what you rolled for. Now it is almost noon. You are free to proceed in any way you wish, and roll the skills that make the most sense. At some point, night will come, which will make some tasks harder (e.g. climbing, perception skills) but for now you still have time.

Welcome aboard! Most games here work by having an application phase first. There's currently an Ironsworn game accepting applications: Ironsworn remains still a little niche (despite my efforts to advertise the system and sing its praises), so the application phase will most likely not be too competitive. On the other hand, D&D 5e, PF and WoD games can get a bit competitive so... basically I want to encourage you to apply!

She presses her advantage, knowing that victory is at hand (even if the Philadelphia may be lost, which makes such a victory pointless).

Just a quick post to keep the momentum...

Iphigenia keeps on fighting, despite not finding success yet. The tide may be turning, but the Philadelphia could go under any moment now.

Iphigenia shook her head, and looked ahead of her. How long had she been out of it? Time had seemed to stand still, but as soon as she came to, she instantly noticed that the hideous undead that had assailed her was no longer standing before her. The sound of clashing weapons filled her ears, and she realized that it could not have been long-but the possibility of an ally injured while she was thus ensorcelled filled her with doubt. Not far from her, Karadoon was still struggling against two. Without much thought, she charged his enemies, not realizing that one of them was the dreaded captain. OOC Trying to charge and attack the ghost attacking Karadoon (not the captain, the other one). +2 Attack, -2 AC for the rest of the round. Edit: That's probably a miss, so I won't roll for damage.

Cool, thanks! I'll try to add something next week!

Time continued to pass. Dahr-Ol spied the fortress. He could see no signs of enemies present within-but perhaps his were not the keenest eyes in the company. What he could, however, evaluate, were the defenses of the fortress. For one, the narrow path that led up the hill terminated in a gate, and despite its half-ruined state, the Beorning still expected it to be a strongpoint. No doubt arrow-slits and murder-holes decorated this place, and any enemies could easily rain death down on the intruders. Approaching it seemed folly. On the other hand, the surrounding walls were not too tall-rising as high as eight feet in places where they remained unruined, or so the Beorning estimated. They did not need to be too high, for they sat upon the sheer edge of the cliff. The main obstacle here was the difficult climb; but if a climber were noticed, they would prove easy target against the fortress' defenders, who could simply hurl down rocks that would make any approach incredibly dangerous. OOC since that Battle check was successful, I gave some strategic information about the main dangers of this fortification. Determining the presence or absence of enemies requires an Awareness check, so I have not provided that info. I think it's ok to remove Elfwyn's pic from your posts for now, since Dahr-Ol managed to convince her to remain in Stonyford to recover.

Cool cool! Another question: what do you need, fluff-wise? Just a short backstory?

The two dwarves observed the fortress from afar. They knew mountains well. Especially Barin, whose folk once called the Grey Mountains home. This hill was small and insignificant compared to the mighty slopes of Ered Mithrin, but it still presented a formidable obstacle-especially given the fort atop it. As Barin studied the rock, he considered the wisdom of a climb. Such a feat would be a daunting endeavour, and perhaps even deadly: for he could not find a place or path that would offer an advantage. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to move, and observe the hill of the Dwimmerhorn from another angle. With some luck, it might reveal a better path for any companions brave enough to attempt the climb. OOC Given Barin's auto-success with his Mountaineer trait, he can identify that the climb is a daunting one (Athletics TN 20). Failure could result in injury (lost endurance) or even outright death! Perhaps observing the black hill from a different location would reveal a more approachable path-if you are willing to risk being spotted by any potential enemies.

Sure!