Mira has travelled to the city of Abon in search of knowledge about the Iron Pillars and their mysterious powers. On arrival she has discovered that the city is suffering from an outbreak of disease and is under lockdown conditions. The affliction causes fever and madness, turning people against their friends and loved ones. Mira has sworn a vow to help the city, though she does not know how. However, a trader returning from the Warden outpost of Foxhollow has brought hope in the form of medicine to calm the madness of those suffering and a suggestion that a similar outbreak was eradicated from the city many years ago. We pick up with Mira as she enters the dwelling of Torgen, the city overseer, who seems to have some kind of task in mind for her.

Mira’s confusion must be showing on her face, as Torgan’s smile grows wider and he gives a quick belly laugh. “Sorry, that sounded very ominous. It wasn’t supposed to. Please come forward and introduce yourself.” Mira does so, and Torgen gets straight to the point, the smile fading from his face as the conversation turns back to business.

The line about Mira being the answer to a prayer was mostly a way to end the previous entry on a cliffhanger, but Ironsworn is all about diving straight into the action so let’s find out what Torgen needs from Mira.

Action / Theme: 46 = Mourn / 40 = Opinion
Not sure what to do with this so I’m going to supplement with a Descriptor and see if inspiration strikes.
Descriptor: 24 = Fragile
Still nothing jumps out at me. So I’m going to take the ‘Theme’ result of 40 and see what would have happened if I’d rolled that on the ‘Focus’ oracle table.
Action / Focus: 46 = Mourn / 40 = Ritual
That’s much more like it. ‘Mourn Ritual Fragile’ - I can work with that.

“I am no mystic, but I have lived long enough and spoken to enough wise men and women to feel when the strings of fate are being pulled. I have such a feeling with you. Tell me, what brought you to Abon?”

Mira hesitates a second, but these people already know she is Ironsworn and she sees no reason to hide her calling, although she does not share all the details of her visit to the pillar. “I think you would consider me a member of the Iron Priesthood, though I do not know if I can claim that title yet. I was called by the Iron pillars. I attended the pillar a day’s travel north of Springtide village and it spoke to me, and now I seek knowledge. I know Abon has a library, and that many pass through here. I hoped that I might find information. On the pillars, on the history of the Ironlands, anything that will help me to understand why I have been called and what I must do.”

Torgan is nodding as she speaks. “I have heard of such things. As it happens we can use a priest right now, it does not matter what kind. Four have died of this disease. Three from fever and exhaustion, but one was killed in self-defense when he attacked another. The one who slew him is wracked with guilt, but it is not his fault. I would ask you to go to the Longhouse and give funeral rights to the dead.” He holds up his hand to forestall Mira’s objection, “I know, ‘you have never done this before’, ‘you are not a real priest’, ‘you do not know the proper ceremonies’. It doesn’t matter. You will soothe the minds of the families. The city will see that the forms are still being followed. People will see that if they die they will be given a civilised funeral rite. It will help more than you know. Keeping the peace will help the city to survive.”

Mira doesn’t like it, but she can see the wisdom in what Torgen says and she has vowed to help the city. The Ironlands are harsh and she has seen the rights performed in her own village, she thinks she knows how it should go. She nods in assent and Torgen asks the senior warden to show her to the Longhouse.

When she gets there, a small crowd are standing around the bodies laid out on the floor. She straightens her back and tries to look as official as she can as she walks up to them and asks for the names of the deceased. The people are a little unsure, but times are desperate.

Unfortunately I think the framing of this challenge leads us toward rolling with Heart, which isn’t our strongest stat, but we’re definitely trying to reassure and capture the trust of this crowd of people. We could try to secure an advantage with wits by taking a minute to remember the details of previous ceremonies we’ve observed, or learning something about each of the dead that we can use to bolster our performance for these people - that would be perfectly valid play and would fit well with the narrative - but it’s a big risk for just a +1 on the dice roll so I’m going to dive straight into the face danger move and cross my fingers.

Face Danger: Heart
Roll: 3 + 1 (Heart) = 4 vs 5 and 5 (Miss with a match)
You fail or your progress is undermined by a dramatic and costly turn of events

The fail is painful, but the match is icing on that particular cake. A match should trigger an ‘extreme result or narrative twist’. By convention the twist is an opportunity on a hit and a complication on a miss. Since we’re performing a ritual of sorts, I’m going to roll on the Mystic Backlash table. Mira’s connection to the Ironlands means her words tap into the hidden power of the spirit world, and perhaps these ancient funeral rituals have forgotten power behind them.

Mystic Backlash oracle: 19 = you inadvertently summon a horror
Oh gods. That is not what I expected at all. But I think this ties in amazingly with Nakura’s tale about the origins of this plague. That decides it, we’re definitely getting a Blighthound.

Mira starts to speak, beginning with the usual offering of thanks to all in attendance as the gentle noise of gossip fades into silence. She is aware the everyone is now listening to her, which is why she puts it down to nerves when she moves onto the funeral rite and starts to have trouble speaking the words. The air feels thick around her mouth and she begins to slur and stumble over syllables, and when she reaches the point where she commends the souls of the dead to the gods she finds herself unable to make any kind of sound.

Her confusion turns to panic as she realises that the air has grown too thick to breathe and she drops to her knees, her head starting to swim and the edges of her vision growing dark. She is aware of the sounds of panic beginning in the crowd around her and is suddenly thrown to the floor as someone barges past. This seems to be enough to disrupt whatever magic was holding her still, and she takes a big gasping breath as she looks up and sees that the senior warden has pushed her way to the front of the crowd and planted herself firmly between Mira and some kind of manifestation that is mostly hidden by the Warden’s frame.

I think it’s only fair that we endure some stress here.

Endure Stress: Spirit
-2 spirit (1)
Roll: 6 + 1 (Spirit) vs 9 and 1 = Weak Hit
Press on

Mira scrambles to pull herself upright breathing heavily, freeing up her staff and using it to help her balance. She stumbles forward and sees a lean, hound-like form crouched defensively in front of the dead, growling fiercely and baring its teeth at the Warden. Its eyes glow red, and there are two curved horns growing from the sides of its head. It looks insubstantial, as though only partially here, but its growl awakes a primal terror in her heart. She glances across at the warden and sees her teeth are also bared as she stands her ground. “Blighthound” she says through gritted teeth. “I’ve heard tales, but never in the Havens.”

Mira pushes down her own fear and utters a short prayer of strength to the gods of the Ironlands as she adopts a fighting stance and begins to circle to the left, attempting to flank the hound.

A Blighthound is a formidable foe, but Mira has help and I think the objective is to chase it off rather than a fight to the death. So we’re going to do two things. First, the Blighthound only seems to be partially manifested and Mira is fighting it with a stick, so I want to see if the stick can actually damage it. I’ll handle that with a secure an advantage move to see if her prayer imbues her with any potency against spirits. Sadly I think we’ll be doing this with Heart again, as we’re definitely acting with courage. Second, we’ll be entering the fray. I intend to do that with a Dangerous track unless something goes badly wrong with the secure an advantage roll. The upside is that this fight will be a little shorter and easier. The downside is that, narratively, the best we can hope for is to temporarily drive this thing away.

Secure an advantage: Heart
Roll: 4 + 1 (Heart) vs 8 and 3 = Weak Hit
Take +1 momentum (3)
The move says that ‘on a weak hit the advantage is short-lived’. We’ll see how the scene progresses, but my initial thought is that whatever power infuses our staff will only last for this fight. If I roll a bad miss, or a miss with a match, the option of losing that potency is a nice potential consequence.

Mira feels her connection to the Iron strengthen and harden her resolve. The Longhouse has a high ceiling and once she is far enough away from the others she starts swinging the staff in tight circles, drawing the hound’s attention toward her. The background noise of the townspeople panicking or running for their own weapons fades away as she focuses in on the creature in front of her. She casts a quick glance at the Warden who sees what she is doing and nods, moving quietly behind the Blighthound and preparing to strike.

Mira’s plan is to draw the creature’s attention from the bigger threat and give the warden the opportunity to strike from behind. I’d love to use Mira’s wits for this, but the description for the move is very clear - wits is for when you’re ambushed. We’ll Enter the Fray using Shadow and pray to the dice gods.

Enter the Fray (Blighthound: Dangerous): Shadow
Roll: 5 + 1 (Shadow) vs 1 and 7 = Weak hit
Take initiative

Mira darts in to quickly strike, timing her attack so that the warden closes in at the same time.

Strike: Edge
Roll: 5 + 2 (Edge) + 1 (Longarm) vs 2 and 6 = Strong Hit
Inflict 1 + 1 harm
Take +1 momentum (4) (Longarm)
Retain initiative
Progress: 4/10

She lands a solid blow, and notes with satisfaction that the Warden manages to sink her own blade into the beast’s flank. It lets out a piercing howl and spins to face the forgotten enemy. Mira sees her opportunity and dances in, aiming at the wounded leg.

Strike: Edge
Roll: 4 + 2 (Edge) + 1 (Longarm) vs 3 and 9 = Weak Hit
Inflict 1 harm
Take 1 momentum (5)
Lose initiative
Progress: 6/10

The hound, realising its position, pivots so it is no longer presenting its rear legs to either attacker and draws a deep breath, giving voice to an unearthly howl that shakes Mira to her core and almost drives her back down to her knees. The red eyes seem to blaze more brightly and in the split seconds that Mira and her warden companion are recovering, it darts forward and bites at Mira, sensing that she is the weaker of the two combatants. She brings up her staff and tries to counter.

Clash: Edge
Roll: 4 + 2 (Edge) + 1 (Longarm) vs 6 and 9 = Weak Hit
Inflict 1 harm
Take 1 momentum (6)
Pay the Price: 62, It is Harmful
Progress: 8/10

Endure Harm: Health
-2 Health (2)
Roll: 4 + 2 (Health) vs 1 and 10 = Weak Hit
Press on

The Blighthound snaps at Mira’s legs. She catches it around the flank again with a strike from her staff, but its teeth sink in and she feels the blood run down her calf as it shakes and pulls at her. Struggling to keep her feet Mira drops the staff, useless with the fight this close quarters, and pulls her iron dagger .

I really want to end the fight here, but I need that strong hit. I think I’m going to try a high-risk face danger to try and get the position.

She sees the warden closing the distance, does a quick calculation and grabs hold of one of its horns trying to hold its head down, hoping she’s right and that her companion can get to the Blighthound before the animal can do serious damage to her leg.

Face Danger: Wits
Roll: 5 + 3 (Wits) vs 8 and 9 (Miss)
Pay the Price: 29, Something of value is lost or destroyed.
Mira doesn’t have much equipment to lose, and she’s in close quarters combat with a horror. I think we’re constrained by the narrative here, but I also think its right that she pays a personal cost for this decision.

She underestimates the creature’s strength. Even partially manifested, it twists its neck to break her grip and Mira doesn’t let go in time. She hears sickening snap as her wrist bone breaks and twists and her entire arm explodes into pain. She pulls her useless right arm in close to her body, gasping for breath and half-blinded by tears, and watches those glowing red eyes as the beast’s face swings up towards hers.

We’re going to use the move Turn the Tide. Once per fight this allows us to steal initiative and make a move (not a progress move) with initiative - it’s meant to represent a desperate all-or-nothing attempt to put the opponent on the back foot, and I think that suits the current situation quite well. But if you fail, the price needs to be dire. I already know a failure here means we lose our last two points of health. And so I am going to unashamedly play to Mira’s strengths and stack this roll as much in our favour as I legally can.

In a flash of insight Mira realises that she’s been fighting this battle in the wrong arena. She may not be a match for this foe on the physical plane, but on the spiritual plane she has the strength of the Ironlands on her side. Mira clutches her Iron knife in her good hand and thrusts it toward the Blighthound, opening herself to the Iron and no longer holding anything back. She is aware of her voice shouting words she doesn’t understand as she sees the hound’s jaws open wide.

Turn the Tide
Face Danger: Wits
Roll: 6 + 3 (Wits) + 1 (Turn the Tide) vs 3 and 3 = Strong Hit with a Match!
+2 momentum (Strong Hit + Turn the Tide) (8)

End the Fight: 8/10 progress
Roll: 8 vs 4 and 6 = Strong Hit
This foe is no longer in the fight

Time slows down. The jaws freeze in place inches from her face, and again the air grows thick. This time though it happens on her terms. With each syllable a physical wave seems to blow forth and the partially manifested spirit of the Blighthound seems to dissipate until nothing remains. The Warden, approaching the creature from behind, looks on in fear and wonder as Mira banishes the horror and the atmosphere suddenly snaps back to normal.

Mira is vaguely aware of the sounds of tears and shouting coming from the room around her, and of the Warden rushing toward her as she collapses toward the ground. The world goes black before she hits the floor.