Colossus Part IV (Ironsworn: Starforged Rules)

 

Hi and welcome to my blog! Today I have published Part IV of Colossus with Ironsworn: Starforged rules. The adventures of Iris and Sora continue. I hope you enjoy it and it inspires your own Ironsworn sessions!

 

Colossus Part IV

The trail is peaceful and Iris asks Tulip and Hummingbird how they met. They explain that they met as children when they were paired together based on extensive personality tests, per the Psychic Elf tradition.

An aggressive grizzly bear suddenly blocks their path. Patches of its fur are gone and its skin is covered in sores. It is foaming at the mouth. Iris fires an arrow at it, hitting it shallowly in the shoulder. The bear charges and Iris dodges. Tulip blasts a force field of kinetic energy at the bear, knocking it over and stunning it. The bear wobbles to its paws and charges again, but Iris is ready. She shoots it in the eye with an arrow. It falls over, dead. They continue on.

They come to a river with no bridge in sight. It takes some time before they can find a way to cross. As they get closer to the Brier, they realize they are being followed. They ready their weapons and Sora growls. Arrows suddenly fall from the sky. The Scouts all suffer shallow arrow wounds. Iris fires back with her bow and a raider falls out of cover, dead. More arrows are fired at the Scouts. Iris tries to fire another arrow, but it breaks. She fumbles with another arrow and this one breaks, too. The Scouts and Sora try to find cover. Unfortunately, there is no useful cover. Tulip and Hummingbird both unleash kinetic blasts, pushing the ambushers back while Iris carefully readies an arrow. More ambushers, mutants, approach from behind them. Iris begins to feel scared. They may not make it out of this situation.

She fires arrows at the ambushers approaching from behind while Tulip and Hummingbird unleash another kinetic blast at them. The Scouts and Sora see an opening and take it; they flee the ambush.

Finally, a few hours later, they reach the Crowley Manor. The manor is a large plantation-style home with a large gate around it. The roof is missing shingles and some of the windows are broken. It’s clear no one has lived here for a long time. The gate is open and Sora and the Scouts cautiously enter. The manor is in disarray but the library is surprisingly pristine. They find books on biology and religion. There are a desk and filing cabinets in the back of the library. The Scouts search through it and find a picture of Crowley before he was scarred with a young man who looks like a young Sparrow. They also find a list of all the Scouts, with names of deceased Scouts crossed out. It seems Crowley is trying to hunt down Scouts to kill them.

The names are in no particular order, but Sparrow is crossed out. If Crowley is killing Scouts, why didn’t he kill Iris the same night he killed Sparrow? One thing is for certain: He’s back with the Blessed Martyrs, either leading them or working for them. He’s a murderer and must be stopped.

Iris decides her next step should be to return to Arid Acropolis and see what Goose has learned about the Blessed Martyrs. The Scouts and Sora leave the manor and make the return journey to Crystal Heights. On the journey back, they make camp and use up rations. Without further incident, they reach Crystal Heights. Iris and the Psychic Elves go their separate ways, as they have to return to the Soco Jungle to assist Alisa Stark. Iris resupplies in the market and heals up at an inn. She fletches some more arrows.

The next day she looks for Parrot in Headquarters. He is still on a mission, studying an artifact. She tells him what she learned about Crowley at his manor and that she is going to Arid Acropolis to learn more about the Blessed Martyrs. Parrot expresses regret that he cannot go with her, but tells her to keep him updated. He arranges an airship ride for her and Sora in First Class to Quiet City. Iris thanks him and hugs him. He hugs her back awkwardly. Even Sora licks his hand.

Iris and Sora board the airship and head to Quiet City. On the ride to Quiet City, Iris dreams of the fallen Tower of Eden. In her dreams she sees scavengers rifling through the debris, looking for something. She wakes up and shortly after they arrive at Quiet City. She and Sora join a caravan headed for Lyric. Iris vows to protect the caravan from raiders.

Another Scout, Lavender, a Red Rivers Native, offers to help. She has a wolf companion named Howler who follows her everywhere, much like Sora does with Iris. Almost as soon as their journey to Lyric starts, a farmer loses control of a horse pulling his carriage and it runs off. Iris pursues it and finally reins it in, but this event has slowed them down.

They finally make some progress but a carriage loses a wheel. It can’t be fixed and the provisions on the carriage are moved to the other wagons, burdening the horses and slowing the caravan down.

A large wasp attacks a farmer, stinging him. Iris kills it and uses special medicine on the farmer’s wound. They find a shortcut a little while later that cuts their journey time in half.

As they enter the Sable Lands, they find evidence that a Dragon Squid has been here. They also encounter an old campsite with runes dug into the ground. Iris suspects they are from the Blessed Martyrs. A rockslide ahead forces the caravan to leave the road and go around it. They later notice footprints in the dirt and suspect an ambush up ahead. Iris and Lavender fire arrows ahead and scare the ambushers off.

They arrive at Lyric that evening. The farmers are thankful and give each Scout sixty credits. Lavender and Iris meet up with Hydrangea and the three women share a drink and tell stories. Hydrangea mentions an increase in cult activity in the Sable Lands. She says she’s received letters from Goose in Arid Acropolis to be on the lookout for it. Lavender receives a mission from Lotus by courier bot to go to Scarlet City in Red Rivers. She and Howler depart.

Hydrangea asks Iris if she and Sora will be okay traveling to Arid Acropolis alone with all the raiders and cultists about. Iris is confident she can get to the city safely.

In the morning, Iris and Sora leave Lyric and head for Arid Acropolis. When she arrives at Arid Acropolis, she is forced to find cover. A battle is taking place outside the city gates between a raider faction called Shattered Skulls and the mercenaries of Arid Acropolis. She sees Goose fighting with the mercenaries. Iris sees they need help and she enters the fray with arrows flying. She strikes several raiders, drawing enemy attention to herself. Goose notices her too and in the midst of his distraction he is stabbed by a knife. He falters but keep fighting.

Iris unleashes arrows at the oncoming raiders. She takes them down. She picks off a raider who was sneaking up behind Goose. She lets loose more arrows and takes out a significant number of raiders. The remaining raiders flee.

Iris hurries to Goose’s side. She takes out her first aid kit and tends to Goose’s stab wound. He thanks her and they leave the battlefield and enter the city. She helps him to his apartment and she asks him about the Blessed Martyrs. He tells her that the Blessed Martyrs are trying to create their own soldiers by baptizing their members in miasma. So far it’s not been working very well. He also tells her the Blessed Martyrs travel to the ruins of the Tower of Eden a lot to scavenge and baptize members in the large miasma lake there. Iris recalls her dream on the airship about the scavengers at the Tower of Eden’s ruins. Iris warns Goose that Crowley is trying to kill Scouts. He says he’s more worried about Shattered Skulls and Blessed Martyrs.

That night Iris receives an urgent message from Posey by way of a courier bot. It says a man with one eye and one ear has been spotted around Revolt, an island on the gigantic Lake Achak. Iris spends one hundred credits to resupply her stores of rations and meds in her satchel. She bids farewell to Goose, who must remain in Arid Acropolis to defend it from Shattered Skulls and Blessed Martyrs.

Then Iris and Sora leave for Port Providence, on the shore of Lake Achak. From there they’ll need to rent a boat to Zebulon on Revolt. Along the way they get directions to a shortcut by some wandering traders. As they travel along the shortcut, the weather is sunny and mild. They come across an old bridge over a large chasm. Iris crosses easily but as Sora crosses a board snaps and he almost plummets down the chasm. Iris helps pull him up. Iris loses some of her arrows in the process of helping him. They fall down the chasm from her quiver.

Finally they reach Port Providence. It is a small fishing and boating town built on the shores of Lake Achak. It is the only way to Revolt from the Sable Lands. Iris searches for a ship captain who will sail her and Sora to Zebulon. She finds a gruff-looking captain who says he will. He says he’ll do it for free because he supports the Scouts. Sora and Iris ride the boat to the Zebulon docks.

They disembark and start searching the nightclubs for Posey. A man crosses Iris’s path. He introduces himself as Seagull’s butler and says Seagull would like a word with her at the nightclub Lush, which Seagull owns. Iris and Sora follow the man to Lush’s VIP room, as patrons move of the way of the cougar. In the VIP room, Seagull and Posey are waiting for Iris. Posey hugs Iris and Sora. Seagull shakes Iris’s hand

Seagull apologizes for fetching her like that, but this is a private matter about a former Scout that should only be discussed between Scouts. Seagull says some homeless people from around the island have gone missing. He fears the worst. He brought his concern to the Diez Family but they couldn’t care less about the homeless of Revolt. He suggests the three of them (“Four” he corrects himself with a smile, petting Sora) go to Novo, a homeless colony, and ask around about the missing people. He suspects they are Jay’s, or Crowley’s, latest victims, but he wants to be certain. If it is Crowley or the Blessed Martyrs killing them, Seagull vows to pour as many credits as necessary into helping stop them.

Iris, Posey, Seagull, and Sora leave Zebulon. They start their journey towards Novo. They pass by a trader on the way, and Iris resupplies her rations and quiver. They find some fresh water near the road and refill their canteens. They get close enough to Novo they can see smoke rising from the campfires.

They arrive in Novo, a small colony of about sixteen huts and a dozen or so tents. It smells of garbage and smoke. It is an inland colony so there’s no fishing but plenty of hunting and scavenging. They start questioning the residents about those that went missing. The Scouts are shown to a tent of one of the missing men. The tent smells bad, but otherwise nothing seems out of the ordinary.

As they search, however, they find a letter with the Blessed Martyr’s sigil on it. It seems the Blessed Martyrs are trying to recruit the homeless on the island. If that’s the case, perhaps the missing homeless weren’t killed by Crowley; they were recruited. Seagull says this means the Blessed Martyrs are going to strike hard and strike soon. They need to return to Zebulon posthaste; besides, he has a party to attend.

On the way back he offers to show Iris the “other side” of Zebulon, if she would like to be his date for the party. She says yes, but what about Sora? Posey says she’ll hang out with Sora at her place during the party.

The party takes place in Seagull’s mansion in Zebulon. There are over one hundred and fifty people there, including the Diez Family, the biggest crime family in the Spire, and several notable mayors. Iris is wearing a long purple gown she borrowed from Posey and white heels. Seagull is handsome in his suit and attentive as a date. Iris meets with two Scouts, Penguin and Heather, who work for both Lotus and the Diez Family. Even some officials from Lotus are there.

Lotus is put on notice about the Blessed Martyrs and the Diez Family says they’ll kick out any cultists they see from the city. Iris and Seagull dance a few times. Iris loves to dance, especially with so good a partner.

Suddenly a courier bot cuts through the dance floor with a private message for Iris. Seagull allows her to take the message in the study, away from prying eyes and ears.

It is a voice message from Parrot, and he sounds anxious and out of breath. He says he was just attacked by an assassin in his office at Lotus Headquarters. He killed the assassin, but he’s worried more assassins are looking for Scouts. He recommends they stick together to be safe. He asks Iris to meet him at Gate Town and once there they can plan their next steps.

Suddenly a loud explosion shakes the mansion. Iris ducks under a desk as a bookshelf and a piece of the ceiling falls down. After, she hurries into the ballroom and sees the front wall has been blown up. No one appears to be dead, though some are injured and being tended to. Seagull is enraged. He says it had to have been the Blessed Martyrs who planted the bomb.

The Scouts help the injured, and afterwards meet up in Posey’s apartment. Iris tells Seagull and Posey about the assassin sent after Parrot and says Seagull must be a target for his good works with the homeless. Seagull says he’s not afraid. He’ll protect Revolt from freaks just like he’s always done. Posey agrees. Iris wants to stay and help but she and Sora must meet Parrot in Gate Town. He’s a target too, and he’s all alone.

Seagull and Posey hug Iris (and Sora, too) and wish her luck and to be careful. Seagull arranges for a boat in the port village of Exant to take her into the Red Rivers by way of Rouge Port. Iris thanks Seagull and Posey for everything. The Diez Family escorts Iris and Sora by car to Exant, where she and Sora then take a boat to Rouge Port. There she buys a motorcycle with a side car for Sora. She and Sora head out on their new motorcycle for Gate Town.

She parks at the top of a high ridge and can see the crimson rivers ahead of her. She sees a shortcut. She pulls over at an old farmstead that’s been abandoned. She decides to scavenge. As she finds canned food and medicine, a horribly mutated farmer enters the room. His skin is glowing green/ He smells of miasma. He must have fallen into a pit of it. Mindlessly, he tries to bite her. She dodges. Sora tackles the monster and rips his throat out. Iris can hear more shuffling around the house now. She grabs the canned food and meds and she and Sora run back to the motorcycle, hop on, and take off.

Eventually she and Sora make it to the first red river, which is actually River Number Two in the territory. It is red because of the dust that falls into it from the Crimson Mountains to the east. She was born around here. She briefly wonders what her parents are doing now.

She crosses the river by a wooden bridge. She eventually rides past Scarlet City with its big walls and little technology. Before Sparrow found her she used to scavenge the dumpsters in the city for food.

She hurries past River Number Three and the wastes of the Red Rivers to Gate Town. It takes some convincing to get the cyborg guards to let Sora into the town. She tells them she’s on official Scout business. Finally they let her and her cougar in. She and Sora head to the saloon.

They find Parrot there, eyes wide and wary. He smiles bigger than Iris has ever seen him smile when he sees her. He runs up to her and gives her a hug. He even pats Sora on the head. She tells him about the bomb at Seagull’s mansion. She also tells him the Blessed Martyrs are recruiting more cultists. Parrot says they should stick together for now. Iris agrees. The assassin who attacked him was from the Umbral Cloaks Assassin’s League. The Blessed Martyrs must have a pretty wealthy benefactor to hire them. Parrot suggests the Diez Family may be in on it, but Iris immediately says it’s not possible. Members of the Diez Family were harmed when Seagull’s mansion was bombed.

She suggests the Fury Town Furys. They are an old family with deep roots in the wastes. One of them is even the mayor of Quiet City. They are wealthy and mostly unassuming, but are currently in a tiff with the Diez Family as the Diez Family is trying to muscle in on Quiet City. Would the Furys join forces with the Blessed Martyrs to help them fight back against the Diez Family? Parrot says they should sneak into Quiet City’s mayor’s mansion and find out.

When Parrot sees Iris’s motorcycle, he says there’s no way he’s riding one of those, but Iris convinces him she’s a good driver. Sora sits in his side car and Parrot holds onto Iris tightly as they drive out of Gate Town into the wasteland.

They haven’t been riding long when someone flags them down from the side of the road, asking for help. The woman says she’s from the nearby village of Ravan and they are currently being raided by feral mutants. She begs them to fight off the mutants.

Iris drives to Ravan, though Parrot tells her they don’t have time for this. When they reach Ravan, buildings and fields are on fire. Mutants are chasing people through the village. Iris gets to work. She fires arrows at the mutants. She hits one, and he goes down. Sora tackles another mutant. Parrot starts evacuating villagers from the burning buildings. Iris fires at more mutants, hitting them. She climbs on top of a house that is not on fire and picks more feral mutants off with her arrows. The feral mutants can’t find where the arrows are coming from and flee. The villagers start to put out the fires. After that Iris and Parrot help them sort through the dead.

The village chief thanks them by offering to let them stay the night there for free, as well as free drinks and free meals. They accept. At dinner Parrot asks Iris why she feels the need to help everyone. She says because that’s her job as a Scout. It’s why she decided to become a Scout in the first place. Her mentor, Sparrow, never neglected to help someone who needed it. Parrot tells her it’s time she forges her own legacy instead of trying to live up to Sparrow’s legacy. Iris thinks about it and quietly agrees.

In the morning they leave Ravan and continue their journey. However, feral mutants shoot at them from the ridges, damaging the motorcycle. They park the motorcycle a few miles away. It will need to be fixed in Quiet City. It will run, for now.

They are being tracked by feral mutants so they get back on the motorcycle and hurry on. They come across an old stone that marks a boundary line, from when the Red Rivers Natives were dozens of tribes instead of one. They make camp there as night is beginning to fall.

Iris says she’ll keep watch, but Parrot insists he do it since she’s the one driving the motorcycle during the day. Before she goes to bed, she tells Parrot some old stories her parents, Red Rivers Natives, once told her about the land’s spirits. Parrot says he doesn’t believe in that stuff, just cold, hard logic and science. Sora stays up with Parrot and keeps watch for feral mutants and raiders while Iris sleeps.

Iris dreams of vengeance, but she’s not certain if it’s her own or someone else’s. In the morning they continue on. They drive across one of the Red Rivers. Iris finds it both beautiful and comforting. They cross over into the Smokeys a few hours later. The path flattens and they start to make good time. After a few hours they reach Quiet City.