Ironsworn Session 6: The Return to Wrennsfall Begins

Valryc's status: Momentum: 5; Health: 5; Spirit: 5; Supply: 3
Vow: Find the ruins, discover what the Shadiri are seeking and return to Wrennsfall: Progress:4

Valryc exits the ruin into the light of the late morning. He has spent some time there, though it felt as if he had spent far more time than seems to have passed. With all the newly acquired information making his head buzz, he took a deep breath and whistled up towards the trees. A few moments later, Strieg’s form flaps through the tree branches and comes to rest on Valryc’s outstretched arm. “We’re heading home now Strieg. I’ll need your eyes to be mine on this journey. There are definitely Shadiri between us and Wrennsfall. I need you to help me spot them before we stumble right into the back of an entire troop”  With that he makes a circular motion with his finger pointed towards the sky and then points in the direction he intends to travel. The direct route this time. No point in attempting to slow his return any longer when he knows there are Shadiri somewhere out there. His only hope is that he can avoid most of them and make the return quickly.

Undertake a Journey- Formidable: Return to Wrennsfall
Valryc will set off on the more direct route back to Wrennsfall, aiming for speed yet still not moving recklessly. The journey will  be a difficult trip and it is imperative that he survives to make his report.
Roll +1 For Strieg’s Far-seeing
Strong hit: Action die 6; Challenge die 5/3
Reach a waypoint; Mark progress

Oracle- Location/descriptor: 31/62; Ruined Tree

Valryc sets off with haste. He knows that his journey is long but the need to travel quickly offsets his cautious nature just slightly. He makes his way back down the path that he followed yesterday towards the chasm with the fallen rope bridge. It was a long shot, but he was hoping that he could save some time by finding a way across the chasm without having to lengthen his journey as he had previously. He plans to move along the chasm’s edge looking for a quicker way across. After half a mile he finds that fortune favors him. “Gods, how could I have missed that yesterday!” He exclaims as he spots a large tree that has fallen across the chasm. It looks as if the tree had died and finally given up its fight to hold itself upright. The wide sturdy tree lay across the expanse creating a perfect natural bridge. After a moment of examining his surroundings to make sure nothing is watching him, he quickly moves across the log. Though the bridge would have been faster, the log definitely has saved him hours of traversing the rim of the deep canyon. He makes his way along the edge of the chasm and finds where the path met the bridge. With one last look back towards the elven ruin, he turns and moves quickly up the path back towards the mountains ridge.

Undertake a Journey- He presses on from the chasm and hopes to make camp in the valley to the south of the mountain pass he crested the day before.
Roll +1 For Strieg’s Far-seeing
Miss: Action die 4; Challenge die 5/4
Waylaid by a perilous event and pay the price

Valryc quickly makes his way up the mountain path, scrambling up the rocks with all haste. He reaches the top and looks out to the south where just yesterday he saw Strieg flying towards him “Home. Its out there. A long ways, but if we keep a steady pace we’ll reach it in no time.” He looks down towards the valley below and notes that there are several lakes that would make suitable camps. He can move quickly, but he’ll need to rest if he intends to make it to Wrennsfall in one piece. He begins his descent down the mountain, following game trails as best he can to make the trek as easy as he can. As he pushes through some sparse brush, he misjudges the steepness of the slope on the other side! His foot slips on loose gravel and he begins to tumble down the decline. A trained scout, he uses one hand to cover his head and the other grasps out to stop his fall.

Endure Harm-  -1 Health; Roll +4 health
Weak hit: Action die 8; Challenge die 7/9
Press on

Valryc grabs at the loose gravel as he slides down the incline. His quick thinking spares him a grievous blow to the head, but he still feels the larger rocks underneath him as he collides into them on his unintended descent. Finally he is able to slow his slide enough that he releases his head and begins clawing with both hands at the side of the mountain. Feeling his fingers begin to bleed from the scraping of the rock on his hands, he slows. Coming to a stop, he takes a moment to slow his breathing and gather his wits. Looking back up the mountain, he has slide several hundred feet. He flips onto his back and lays against the rock, wincing as he feels the a shooting pain in his ankle. He must have twisted it on his initial fall. Cursing to himself loudly, he wipes the dirt from his face, squeezes his eyes shut tight and breathes heavily. “Damn fool! Thats what you get for your haste! You’ll do no good to Wrennsfall if you fall off a damned cliff…” After a moment of disdain for his mistake, he begins checking his gear. Luckily he did not lose any of his gear in the fall. The injured ankle will slow him down, but for now it appears to only be a sprained ankle. He’ll need to find a suitable camp soon to care for his ankle before pressing on through the rest of the southern reaches of the mountains. He slowly eases his way down the rest of the slope, finding that after another hundred feet there is a small drop into a copse of trees. He gingerly slips from the edge of the slope, favoring his uninjured ankle as he makes contact with the ground and rolls through the grass to ease his fall. Standing he looks around for a way forward and finds a game trail that would hopefully lead him towards water and a suitable camp for the night. He searches the ground for a sturdy fallen branch to use as a walking stick to ease the pressure on his injured ankle. From there he has no choice. He presses forward, hoping to find a camp before the darkness falls.  After the eagerness to make quick time lead him to such a close call, he changes tact, remembering his training as a scout. His going is slowed, but in the end he would make it back home all the same and hopefully in one piece. He glances up, ensuring that Strieg is still circling ahead and knows that the way is still safe for now.

Undertake a Journey- He continues down the mountains into the valley below, searching for a camp where he might properly rest his ankle and resupply before continuing on.
Roll +1 For Strieg’s Far-seeing
Strong Hit: Action die 9; Challenge die 8/6
Reach a waypoint; Mark progress
Waypoint: Valryc finds a safe place to camp and tend to his ankle

Valryc’s moves become methodical. Slowly he moves forward, keen eyes searching the ground ahead as well as his surroundings. His fall and outburst would have made quite the scene to anyone watching. He did not want to fall into an ambush, especially now with an injury to slow him down. Though he remained vigilant, he saw no sign of Shadiri forces as he made his way down into the valley below. This both eased his worries and deepened them “Those bastards must be far ahead by now if I neither saw them on my way into the ruins or my way out. A good sign for me at least for now, but…” His thoughts go to his home. To his sister, his fellow guardsmen and scouts, the high council. “Would they be so bold as to attack such a heavily fortified city? Will they terrorize the villages on the outskirts? Or will they press on for these pieces of sword. Too many questions. And I have none of the answers. For now I must rest and tend to this ankle.” He thinks to himself as he continues slowly descending. Finally he reaches the bottom of the valley. The game trail he had found brings him to a wide shallow river with good footing for crossing. Though he is hesitant to cross at first, the forest is much thicker on the other side and there is a large boulder that would provide good shelter for the night. He braves the crossing with his injured ankle. Slowly and steadily with his impromptu walking stick placed firmly with every step, he makes it across. He places his pack down beside the large boulder and stretches his arms over his head. The light in the valley is beginning to fade. “Well, there will likely not be a better spot before I lose the light. This will be home for the evening.”  He sets about making a sparse camp, not willing to risk a fire in case there are still Shadiri that might spot the smoke rising from the forest. After putting together a quick lean-to covered in some of his sleeping furs, he sets about rubbing some ointment on his ankle and bandaging it to reduce the swelling. Digging into his pack, he produces some jerky and hard tack from his rations for his meal. As the light fades, with a full belly and a warm place to sleep, Valryc closes his eyes with hope that tomorrow will bring better fortunes for his journey.

Make Camp- Valryc prepares a camp for himself, hoping a good nights rest will get him back in shape to press forward
Strong Hit: Action die 9; Challenge die 6/5
+1 Momentum; +1 Health

Valryc wakes in the morning feeling refreshed. More than refreshed, his stiff ankle seemed a bit less tender. A smile streaked across his face “Well, I’ll have to thank Kyara for the ointment… Seems they do the trick in a pinch!” Smiling at the thought of his sister with a big grin on her face when he returns and tells her that her little salves came in quite handy after all brightens his spirits even further as he set about breaking down his small little camp. He packs up his gear and prepares to leave. Looking back at the river he quickly thinks about his limited food. “Well, before I get moving I’d best see if there’s anything worth taking with me.”

Resupply-Searching for food along the riverbank
Weak Hit: Action die 6; Challenge die 7/4
+2 Supply; -2 momentum

Valryc sighs in frustration as the sun begins to rise higher into the sky and yet he still hadn’t found anything that might suffice as proper food. Finally he spots something. Berry bushes that look to be full to the brim. “Damn..” Another heavy sigh. The bushes are on the other side of the river. He knows that he’ll need to spend even more time collecting them. This little errand was going to cost him some good travel time, but the thought of finding more food along the way before he ran out worried him. He quickly collects the berries, wrapping them gingerly in his food stores, before picking up his walking stick and setting off for another day of his long walk.

Valryc's status: Momentum: 4; Health: 5; Spirit: 5; Supply: 5
Undertake a Journey: Return to Wrennsfall: Progress:2
Vow: Find the ruins, discover what the Shadiri are seeking and return to Wrennsfall: Progress:4

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