“Hadley’s Beast” is the first of what I hope to be a series of adventures for the Ironsworn RPG. I have also endeavored to make these adventures compatible, with minimal to no alterations, with the new Ironsworn: Starforged expansion, Sundered Isles. You can get your copy of the adventure on my itch.io store for free (PWYW).
Vidar’s journey north from his current residence in Springfields, a small farming village near the eaves of the Grimwood, to the benighted hamlet of Hadley’s Grove was uneventful. The fiend-hunter was accustomed to being summoned to villages from the hill-country to the north, all the way west to jagged cliffs of the Ragged Coast, but this was the first task he’d taken at the behest of his mentor, Danr, who called Springfields home in her retirement. Danr, who trusted very few and had even fewer close companions, had requested he look into the murder of a friend and the rumors of a beast terrorizing the small forest town. Alistair, whom Vidar had met once during his apprenticeship 0ver two decades earlier, was a fur trapper Danr had grown up with and, Vidar suspected, loved. The old hunter, who seldom showed emotion, was clearly saddened by the news of the trapper’s death. Vidar agreed, and immediately swore up0n the iron cap adorning one end of his fighting staff.
Though Vidar was accustomed to starting out a hunt with limited information, something about this one seemed different. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what felt off about it, but something nagged at him, just out of reach. The hunter spent the entire two-day journey north struggling to identify the cause of this unease, to no avail.
Swear an Iron Vow: 6 (+2 heart, +1 bond) vs 6 | 9 = miss (-2 momentum)
Momentum = +0/10Action: 74, hide
Theme: 50, obstacleSolve the Murder of Alistair (Dangerous): +0/10 progressBeast Event Track (Dangerous): +2/10 progressIn “Hadley’s Beast,” when you score a miss on a move (or a weak hit, if you want to increase it faster), you tick progress on the Beast Event track. This track works similar to the Threat track introduced in Ironsworn: Delve, when its full you roll on the Beast Event table to see what the Beast does while your character has been otherwise occupied.
The village of Hadley’s Grove came into view late on the second day of travel, just as the summer sun was making its way down the western sky. From atop his horse, Cazan, Vidar gazed down upon the idyllic village. The river Serene bisected the small hamlet on its slow and winding way from the northern hill country to the eastern sea. From his vantage, he could see three large fields on the south side of the river, bordered by small huts of thatch and mud. Across the river, a large structure dominated the clearing, its roof slate and timber walls a stark contrast to the modest dwellings of the villagers. A crowd of people huddled in the midst of a green sward between the forest and the slate-roofed building. Scattered around the small field were grave markers of wood or stone.
“Shit,” he grumbled to himself, realizing the village had just buried the body of the murder victim. He put his heels to Cazan’s sides, and the gray gelding leapt forward, closing the distance between the hillock and the village in a few minutes.
By the time he arrived in the small village square, the gathering of mourners had begun to file back to their homes for the evening. Some of the folk looked up at him, towering above them on Cazan, but most ignored him or hurried their small ones into homes and out of the stranger’s sight. Vidar rode across the wide stone bridge in the center of the village and dismounted before the large timber hall.
“Who are you?” a woman with gray streaks in her dark hair asked as he started up the stone stairs to the door of the hall.
“They call me Vidar. My mentor, Danr, sent me to investigate the murder of her friend, Alistair.”
“Danr is known to me. I half expected her to come when we sent word that Alistair was taken.”
“Taken? Do you believe it was, indeed, a murder?”
“Does being slaughtered by an unknown monster count as a murder?”
“If the monster was sent to target him, then yes. But otherwise, I suppose not.”
“I cannot speak to whether the beast was sent here with an agenda, but I can assure you it was no person that killed Alistair.”
“Then it is good that Danr sent me. I assume this is the ealdorman’s hall?”
“You assume right, and I am the ealdorman.”
“Excellent, then we can get to work immediately. I saw the burial from the hill on my way in,” the hunter said. “I will need you to tell me everything you can recall about the wounds on the body, where he was found, and anything else you know about the beast that slew him.”
“Come inside,” Emelyn said, stepping around Vidal and opening the door to her home.
Hadley’s Beast Name Oracle: 5, Emelyn
Ask the Oracle: Is Emelyn helpful? Likely (26+) = 98, yesThe inside of the ealdorman’s hall was expansive. The first room was huge, stretching across most of the width of the building. Three long, wooden tables sat in parallel to a large stone fire pit, which burned low, sending deep shadows into the rafters and corners. She led him past the communal feasting hall and into her personal chambers in the rear of the building.
“There’s not much to tell,” Emelyn said, as she took a seat in a high-backed chair shrouded in furs. She gestured to a smaller chair across from a rugged, low table, and Vidar took it. “Alistair was found in the forest a week ago, with multiple claw marks deep in his abdomen and across his chest.”
“Did anyone see the beast?”
“No, Alistair was alone. It wasn’t until Alys, his daughter and our fur trader, ventured out to look for him that he was found. It's not unusual for Alistair, or any of the trappers, to be away for three or four days while checking and resetting their traps. Sometimes longer if they have a big haul. Alys was worried and took their hound out to search for him.”
“I’ll need to speak with Alys,” Vidar said. “And if someone could show me where he was found, maybe I can find tracks or something to lead me to the beast’s lair.”
“Alys said there were no tracks, but she’s not an expert. I’ll send Soren, one of our hunters, to show you the way in the morning. With the beast about, it's too dangerous to send anyone into the woods at night.”
Vidar didn’t fear the dark or the beast, but agreed with the ealdorman’s plan. “Where can I find Alys? I’d like to talk to her tonight.”
“She’s likely to be at the Wheat and Rye, the inn. I’ll send along a message with you to give Alban, the innkeeper, for room and board on the house.”
“That’s much appreciated, Ealdorman. If you hear anything else about the beast, please inform me immediately. With any luck, I can find it and put a stop to these attacks before anyone else is harmed.”
Emelyn nodded and stood, moving to a small desk in the corner and scratching out a short missive on a scrap piece of parchment. “I am glad Danr sent you, though I wish she had come herself.”
“Danr doesn’t travel much these days, but I know she wishes she could be here as well.”
Hadley’s Beast Location Oracle: 3, Forest
Hadley’s Beast Evidence Oracle: 5, Deep claw marks
Hadley’s Beast Name Oracle: 6, Alys
Hadley’s Beast Role Oracle: 3, Trader
Ask the Oracle: Did anyone see the beast? 50/50 = 49, no
Ask the Oracle: Did the beast leave tracks? 50/50 = 19, no
Hadley’s Beast Name Oracle: 4, Soren
Hadley’s Beast Name Oracle: 1, AlbanVidar took his leave of the ealdorman and led Cazan across the bridge and to the inn, which looked almost like every other building in the village, except marginally larger and with a small stable on the side. There were very few people moving about the town now that the sun had almost completely dipped beneath the horizon, nor were there many people in the inn. Two elderly men sat in rocking chairs in front of a happily flickering fire, smoking long-stemmed pipes and talking quietly. A stout, bearded man stood behind the counter cleaning classes with an impossibly clean cloth, while a young woman draped in furs sat at the end of the counter, sipping something from a clay mug.
“Alban?” Vidar asked as he approached the innkeeper.
“Aye, and you are?”
“Vidar, fiend-hunter. The ealdorman sent me here with a note. Have you seen Alys?” He handed over the note and waited, noticing the fur-clad woman shift in her seat as he spoke.
“If you can find and stop this beast before things get worse around here, you can have room and board on the house for as long as I run the Wheat and Rye.” He offered a tight smile before turning toward the woman at the end of the bar. “Alys, someone to see you.”
Vidar gazed at the woman as she turned to face him. She was young, perhaps five years his junior, with striking steel-blue eyes and dark hair hanging in waves. Her eyes were rimmed in red, and tears stained her cheeks. The monster hunter moved down the counter and slid onto a bench near her.
“I was told you found your father?” Vidar said, trying but not really succeeding at projecting compassion and calm. “I need to know anything you can remember.”
The woman did not answer at first. Instead, she stared at him with a mixture of anger, pain, and fear in her eyes. When she finally spoke, it was in a hoarse whisper. “There is nothing to tell. Besides the…wounds…there was nothing to see. No tracks, no sign of struggle, and the wood was eerily silent.”
“There’s nothing else you can recall? No smell? Nothing missing or out of place?”
“No, nothing,” Alys coughed into her elbow. “Wait. Hundir, my hound, was acting strange. At first he pranced around, as a hound will when it finds what it's tracking. But he soon stopped and began cowering, whimpering as if he’d been kicked. It was strange, to be sure, but I assumed he just realized da was…gone.”
“Dogs, and cats too, can often sense things. Perhaps Hundir detected something you could not. Would he follow me? I am going out to the woods tomorrow morning with one of the village hunters.”
“He has stuck to my heels since we found da. I had to lock him in the house to go to the funeral. But I’ll come with you, if you think Hundir might be of help.”
“I don’t wish to put you through more pain,” Vidar said, and he meant it. “But it is possible that the dog’s reactions might aid me in the hunt.”
“Then we will go along. I’ll meet you here at sunrise.”
“Very well,” Vidar replied. “My mentor was a good friend of your father’s. She sends her condolences.”
“Leave it to mother to not come back even now,” Alys said, her pained expression turning angry. She stood and stalked out of the inn, leaving Vidar to stare after her in surprise.
Gather Information: 9 (+4 wits) vs 3 | 10 = weak hit (+1 Momentum)
Momentum = +1/10Ask the Oracle: Did Alys see footprints afterall? 50/50 = 11, no
Ask the Oracle: Was there someone else in the woods? Likely (26+) = 16, noSolve the Murder of Alistair (Dangerous): +2/10 progressThanks for reading! Iron Short #4 drops this Thursday at 10am EST. In this one we change focus, while continuing to build the overarching narrative. Its definitely a change of pace, but I think it might be my favorite thus far.
You're welcome.
Great write up. This village doesn't seem like the friendliest place.