Hi and welcome back to my blog! Today I’m going to post Part
I of my playthrough of Starforged/Colossus. That’s where I played Ironsworn: Starforged
with the Colossus setting. A few things to note before I begin:
I have written the playthrough on here much the same as I
wrote it by hand in my notebook when I originally played the game. It is
written in present tense and is not full of flowery language nor is it written
like I would write if I was writing a book. I wanted to present it as raw as
possible so that anyone interested in playing Ironsworn or Ironsworn:
Starforged could get one idea of how to possibly journal it.
I did not include dice rolls in the narrative. All mechanics
and actual gameplay take place behind the scenes. I also did not include any of
the character sheets or connection sheet or the map or the progress tracks. I
wanted to present just the narrative. Hopefully it forms a cohesive story. I
was actually quite surprised when I first started playing Ironsworn how
cohesive everything flowed together for me with a combination of my imagination
and the mechanics.
If you have not played Colossus, that’s okay! While it’s
free on itch.io and drivethrurpg, it’s not necessary to have played Colossus to
understand this story. I simply used the setting with Starforged’s mechanics.
I’ll explain a little bit of the setting and the characters below.
The Setting:
Long ago, the world as we know it was destroyed in a battle
between the people of Earth and an alien species known as the Yaun. The humans
used a toxic liquid called miasma to destroy the Yaun, but at a price. The
world ended. But then it was reborn. Now, in this post-apocalyptic land known
as the Spire, Scouts protect the weak. They are the few who survived being
dipped in the mysterious waters of the miasma and lived, and even gained powers
called Miracles to help them protect the wasteland.
Leftover from the Great War are robots, cyborgs, and androids.
Some even work as Scouts.
Scouts are given code names based on either birds (typically
for men), or flowers (typically for women). There are twenty-five Scouts of the
Spire, counting the main character of this story, Iris.
The Scouts work for an entity known as Lotus Inc., a
scientific corporation with its hands in everything that happens in the Spire.
While Lotus is known for certain shady practices, it is the anchor that keeps
the wasteland from descending into chaos.
Now, without further ado, here is Part I of Colossus!
Colossus Part I
Iris is a new Scout of the Spire. Her mentor, Sparrow, was
killed by a scarred one-eyed man with one ear wearing a black trench coat and
cowboy hat. As she protects the wastes of the Spire, she searches for this man
to enact her revenge. She is haunted by memories of Sparrow, who she loved as a
father. She is accompanied by a tamed cougar named Sora. He is her constant
companion.
She arrives in Quiet City to meet with her fellow Scout,
Cardinal. He had sent her a letter requesting help with a mission from Lotus.
Quiet City is an industrial, walled city. Two robot guards check her
identification at the gate and then let her pass through with Sora. She finds
Cardinal in his garage, working on a car. Cars are rare and valuable in the
Spire. Over a dozen house cats are in various states of repose around the
garage. They barely acknowledge Iris and Sora.
Cardinal does, though, and gives Iris and Sora both hugs.
Cardinal and Iris trained together at the Scout academy. He apologizes as he
had heard about the death of Sparrow. Iris asks him if he knows anything about
a man with one ear and one eye in a black trench coat and cowboy hat. Cardinal
says he’s never seen or heard of such a man, but he’ll keep an ear out.
He tells her he needs assistance on a mission to escort a
farming caravan from Quiet City to the Village of Nodd. He says it’s not
difficult and the distance isn’t far, he’s just concerned about a new group of
raiders who have made themselves known in the Smokeys recently. Iris says
she’ll be glad to help. Cardinal thanks her and they prepare for the journey.
There are three farmers’ wagons in the caravan. Cardinal
takes the rear and Iris and Sora take the front and start their journey out of
Quiet City. As they approach a shadowy cave, two figures jump out from inside.
They are raiders. Cardinal engages in combat with one, and Iris and Sora enter
the fray with the other.
Iris quickly fires her bow. She hits the raider with two
arrows. The raider gets in close with his machete and swings, despite blood
pouring from his wounds. Iris dodges. She pulls out her knife. She slashes his
throat, killing him. She hears a yell and realizes Cardinal is in trouble. She
joins his side in his battle against the other raider. She fires an arrow from
her bow. She hits the raider in the chest. The raider dies. However, Cardinal
is injured. Iris uses her first aid kit to clean and wrap the wound. Cardinal
thanks her.
Leaving the corpses of the raiders behind for the buzzards,
the Scouts and the caravan resume the journey. They pass a petrified forest.
Vultures lurk in the branches. Sora licks his lips hungrily at them. After a
while the farmers are tired and the caravan takes a break. Iris cleans her
knife. Cardinal plays with Sora. They continue on and find the giant bones of a
Dragon Squid. Iris wonders what killed it. Dragon Squids are rare but
dangerous, mutated, titanic land beasts. She recalls Sparrow telling her about
the time he had to flee a Dragon Squid. Sadness pangs in her heart at his
memory.
They pass by an ancient building that is now mostly rubble.
It has already been scavenged. Cardinal notices Iris’s sadness and makes jokes
to get her to laugh. The moment is interrupted by a giant flying wasp buzzing
around the wagons. Iris fires an arrow at it. She kills it in one shot.
Cardinal and the farmers are impressed.
In short time, they reach the Village of Nodd. The elder of
the village personally thanks the Scouts with thirty credits each. He also
feeds them and lets them stay at the inn for free that night. Iris takes the
time to ask around about the cowboy with one eye and one ear. One person in the
village says a man was here about a year ago who matched that description. But
he left into the wastes without telling anyone where he was going. Iris at
least knows the one place the cowboy isn’t is the Village of Nodd. That night
Cardinal writes to Lotus that the mission is complete. He sends the message to
Crystal Heights by way of a courier bot.
The next morning Cardinal and Iris and Sora head back to
Quiet City. They reach it just before nightfall with no issues. As soon as they
pass through Quiet City’s gates, a courier bot approaches Iris with a message
from Lotus. She is to retrieve an important package from Fury Town and deliver
it to the courier in Quiet City. The details of the package are classified.
Cardinal also receives a mission to work on an airship engine. The two friends
go their separate ways.
Because of the raiders she encountered on her last mission,
Iris thinks it would be wise to check the saloon to see if any Scouts are in
town to aid her in the mission. She goes to the saloon. She sees Wren there,
drinking by himself. She pulls up a chair next to him and introduces herself.
He says he knows who she is. She’s “Sparrow’s whelp”. Iris perseveres past his
rude behavior and asks for his assistance with her mission. He agrees, but only
because of the risk of raiders. He says he enjoys shooting raiders with his
crossbow.
The two gear up and leave Quiet City. They come to a bridge
over a chasm. The bridge is rickety. They carefully cross one at a time. This
slows them down and some rations fall out of Iris’s satchel over the side of
the bridge.
Just as they cross the bridge an ambush is sprung and five
raiders jump out from the shadows. Wren and Iris quickly take cover. A raider
manages to get a shot to graze Iris’s arm. Iris jumps out of cover momentarily
to fire her bow. She hits a raider but doesn’t kill him. A raider takes
advantage of her being in the open and throws a knife, stabbing her in the
shoulder. Iris fires again and this time kills a raider. She feels emboldened
and fires again, killing another raider, but she has left herself exposed.
A raider shoots at her. She ducks, but feels her heart
racing. She realizes she is scared. Wren fires his crossbow and kills a raider.
He ducks back down behind cover. There are two raiders left. Wren and Iris look
at each other and nod. Then they both fire their weapons and kill the remaining
raiders.
Wren uses a first aid kit on Iris’s wounds and staunches the
bleeding. They move on, wary of any more ambushes. As they continue on their
journey, they get the sense they are being watched. They keep their weapons
ready.
As they continue on, they share a close moment where Wren
apologizes for calling her “Sparrow’s whelp”. He says she really proved herself
in that last battle. Shortly after, they reach Fury Town, a small town built
both near and on top of a lake. They receive a small brown wrapped package from
the mayor with strict instructions to keep it safe and not open it.
They set a course back to Quiet City and reach it without
any incidents. They find the courier’s office and hand over the package. The
courier gives them each fifty credits. Wren and Iris go their separate ways.
Iris visits Cardinal. They spend time together and
Cardinal’s jokes amuse Iris. Iris then goes to the market and barters to
resupply. She then asks around the market about a one-eyed, one-eared cowboy.
Someone says they heard about someone like that passing through the city about
a week ago, but knows no more than that. At least she knows he’s not in the
city. She runs into Jasmine at the market. Jasmine requests Iris’s help with a
mission.
A small settlement to the south of Quiet City needs help
fending off a pack of raiders. She asks for Iris’s help in standing with the
villagers against the threat. The village is called Enigma. Iris has never been
there before, but agrees to help.
As they leave Quiet City, Sora growls and Iris senses they
are being watched. She believes there is an ambush up ahead. Iris fires a
volley of arrows and a raider falls out from behind cover, dead. Jasmine and
Iris both fire their weapons. They each kill two more raiders. The rest of the
raiders run away. Iris realizes she has likely been marked for vengeance.
They settle in a ways away and make camp for an hour. Sora
doesn’t seem to sense anymore raiders or enemies. After they get moving again,
the path becomes less rugged. They make good time. They reach Enigma. However,
the village has just been raided and spirits are down. People want to leave
instead of fighting back.
Iris and Jasmine manage to compel people to stay and fight,
but a few people choose to remain hidden during the next raid, including the
village elder. Jasmine and Iris help the villagers get equipped with weapons
and set up barricades for cover. That night everyone gets into position as the
raiders arrive.
Iris unleashes a volley of arrows at the raiders, striking
several down. Iris is then forced back behind cover as the raiders unleash
bullets. During a lull in the gunfire, Iris fires some more arrows, picking off
a few more raiders. Jasmine and the villagers do the same with their guns. Soon
the raiders are outnumbered. The dozen or so remaining raiders flee into the
night.
The villagers and Scouts cheer. They are victorious. The
village holds a huge celebration that night. Iris uses the time to question
about the cowboy in black. Unfortunately, no one has seen or heard of such a
man in Enigma. Jasmine tells Iris to relax and just have fun, so Iris does.
Children pet and play with Sora. Iris dances and tells stories while Jasmine
drinks.
The village elder apologizes for not standing with them
against the raiders and steps down, allowing his son, who did fight, to become
village elder. The celebration continues into the morning, but Iris is asleep
long before then.
The next morning Iris and Jasmine set a course for Quiet
City. They make it there without incident. Jasmine says Iris impressed her, as
she wasn’t expecting much with Iris being a new Scout. She promises to ask
around about the cowboy who killed Sparrow for Iris, and then the two women go
their separate ways.
Later that afternoon, the mayor of Quiet City calls Iris to
her office and says something is scaring the denizens of the city’s
underground. The reason the mayor is upset about this is because those
“denizens” are homeless or are defective robots and cyborgs causing a stir on
the surface because they can’t return to their home in the “underground”, or
the sewers. Iris vows to investigate.
She decides to check the saloon first to see if any Scouts
are there and willing to help. Surprisingly, Posey is there. Posey rarely
leaves the city of Zebulon. Iris asks Posey if she will help, and Posey says
yes, but only if she can pet Sora. Iris laughs and says of course.
They make their way to the entrance of the “underground”, or
the sewers. They descend into the depths. Posey holds a flashlight in one hand
and a barbed whip in the other. Iris has her bow at the ready. Immediately they
are confronted by a giant flying roach. Iris and Posey both attack. They kill
it. The two women high five, but Sora growls as another roach flies past. It’s
going towards the exit. Iris fires an arrow at it before it can escape. She
kills it.
Posey says it almost seems like the roaches were running
from something. As they move on they encounter an injured mutant lying in a
pool of his own green blood. Iris uses up almost all of her first aid kit
equipment healing him. She wraps his wounds and gives him some painkillers. The
man is terrified. Iris asks him what did this to him. He says it was a mad
android who somehow slipped into the underground through a hidden back way. The
android was mumbling something about purity and kill all humans. It attacked
him with a giant sword.
Iris helps the mutant to his feet and directs him to wait at
the surface. Posey and Iris exchange a glance. A mad android finding its way
under the city was dangerous. If a mad android could find a secret route under
Quiet City, so could the city’s enemies. They needed to kill this mad android
and tell the mayor about this development.
They continue on and come across corpses of cyborgs and
mutants and debris from dead robots. Small shacks that were once homes have
been destroyed. The two women and Sora search for survivors, but there aren’t
any. As they search, Sora growls. Iris looks up in time to see the mad android
approaching slowly with his giant sword. Iris unleashes a volley of arrows at
the android. He dodges most of them with inhuman speed and is only hit once. A
small trickle of gold blood pours from the wound.
Iris and Posey attack together. Posey binds him with her
whip while Iris hits him with another arrow. He growls at them in frustration.
Posey keeps him bound and Iris hits him with yet another arrow. The android
falls to his knees, bleeding out but still alive. Iris draws her knife and
stabs the android in the forehead, killing him. Posey unwraps her whip from
around the android. Iris cleans off her knife.
They make their way back to the surface and to the mayor’s
office, and tell the mayor of the android, the deaths, and the secret entrance
the android found. Of all of these, the mayor is most concerned with the secret
entrance. She gives each Scout one hundred credits and thanks them for their
service.
Back at the saloon, Posey and Iris celebrate with a drink
and a meal and Posey invites Iris to come party with her in Zebulon sometime.
Iris asks Posey to keep an eye out for the cowboy in black, and Posey vows she
will. They go their separate ways.
Iris spends that night at an inn thinking back to the day
Sparrow was murdered. Sparrow seemed to know the man in the black trench coat
and cowboy hat from sometime before. Sparrow even said his name, though she
can’t remember what it was. She racks her brain and finally sits up in bed. His
name was Kaito Crowley. Now she has a name with a face and her investigation
should go easier.
Well, that’s it for Colossus Part I. Check back soon for
Colossus Part II, as Iris’s search for the man in the black trench coat, now
known to be Kaito Crowley, continues!
