Colossus Part I (Ironsworn: Starforged Rules)

 

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!