Tikvari's Journey Part I
SoloRPG Sidestory using Ironsworn
This is the first part of a SoloRPG session I’m running in the world that I’m building. In it, Tikvari, a young Eekraw (the avian species that is the primary species on the world) sets out on a journey to avenge his nestmate, Riv’Tal, who was killed by a predator reptile.
In this session:
Tikvari swears to Riv’Tal’s nestmothers that he will avenge Riv’Tal
Tikvari travels across the land to the swamps
He is attacked by an avian predator and manages to fight it off
He returns to the site of Riv’Tal’s death
Overview
I am doing a project of incremental worldbuilding. In other words, I’m taking aspects of worldbuilding and changing them slowly over time, in hope of creating a world that has the real weight of history behind it. In addition, I’m using randomness and ‘game-like’ mechanics, as well as assistance from ChatGPT, to help work my way through this process and ensure that I am sometimes surprised by the results.
The Eekraw are an avian species that has developed sentience. They’re slightly shorter than human height, and live around 80 years absent illness or injury. They can’t lift off vertically, requiring a cliff face or tree to jump off to successfully initiate flight. They have strong and dexterous foot talons, meaning their feet rather than wings are needed to work tools. They live in communal nests, with a nest of four-six adults raising their young together.
For the random event in the current turn (Turn 11), I rolled the event “Run a solo roleplaying session set in this particular region.”
I’m excited for this, since I’ll be able to get a ground-level view of this society and how it works, but I’m also a little bit unsure of how it’ll go.
I’m using the solo RPG Ironsworn, which is probably the most talked about RPG that is specifically designed for solo play. Ironsworn is a free game, available here, although there are additional materials, free and paid, that are available online as well. I haven’t used very many additional materials, but there is a list of additional resources here, and if I wasn’t trying to play in my own homebrewed and a bit idiosyncratic setting, I’d use some of those. I did end up using a few tables from Ironsmith, a Pay What You Want collection of additional rules.
I haven’t actually played Ironsworn before, so I’ll be figuring out how to do this as I go. Obviously, a lot of things in RPGs assume societies with roughly medieval technology and organization, while this society is in a very early hunter-gatherer state. I will certainly have to discard things from Ironsworn, and I may find that it just doesn’t work for my purposes at all and I’ll have to think about using a different system.
Still, the basic conceit of the world in which Ironsworn is set by default, “a rugged peninsula of isolated communities and untracked wilds on the frontier of the known world,” has more in common with the current state of the Eekraw than, for example, the Dungeons and Dragon default world. That is a good sign for being able to use it effectively for my purposes.
The Ironsworn rulebook suggests that figuring out at least part of your world may help better design your character. Luckily, I already have a world and setting available. In fact, that’s the whole point.
I’ll be playing in the society of Settled Region 1, which is in a river delta on the southwestern coast of the central continent. It’s the red circle on the following map:
Eekraw Society Information:
Settlement Location: High ground on the edge of a swampy river delta in a tropical deciduous forest biome. 10 miles from a lake fed by a major river, 50 miles from the ocean.
Local Population Carrying Capacity: 200
Population: 185
Society/Social Structure:
Multiple nests forming a single clan. Approximately 10 nests with younglings and nestlings, and 2 without children. 2 of the nests are specialized, with specific tasks.
Yira - the nest which is tasked with being priests and conducting rituals to try to drive the Varka (shadow spirits) away spiritually
Ekrat - the nest which is tasked with being lookouts/defenders for the rest of the clan
Semi-sedentary - in the summer, they remain in the Teer’tee, their summer settlement. In the winter, they leave and migrate to look for food in the area, when the food in the Teer’tee becomes scarcer.
The tribe picks a leader by acclaim, usually the most skilled flier and navigator in the tribe. He or she is acclaimed the “Vikre’ratir” (flight leader) and leads the tribe in migration in the winter. He is not directly leader during the rest of the year but is respected and trusted with resolving disputes and making decisions throughout the year.
Technology/Tools
Shelter: Nests burrowed in dead trees, with glowing moss lining the inside
Tek’sheka (creatures with tusks) are semi-domesticated - the Eekraw leave fruits for them and they hang around nearby
Tal’rei — the Eekraw know how to make fire (Tal’rei) by knocking flint against rocks to make sparks
Rituals/Traditions:
Rauki E’yee (sunrise of the adult) - Coming of age ceremony for when a member of the tribe reaches full adulthood, around the age of 25. The new E’yee (adult) goes on a solo hunting trip to prove his or her ability to operate on their own and to contribute to the clan. (5)
Culture/Myth/Oral History:
Revere the sun. (5)
Varka - The Varka are evil shadow spirits (associated in some way with the Vari, the avian predators). They have to be driven away by rituals of the Yira. (5)
Kra’varik - Kra’varik was a prominent Yira. Generally, the Yira focus their efforts on protecting the clan spiritually, but Kra’varik decided to try and spread his knowledge as well. He learned the history of the clan, and of many other clans, and recited it to spread to others. His most prominent student was Kree’Veeka, a female Eekraw. She learned his knowledge and continued his goals by spreading it further herself. (5)
Riv’Tal and Tikvari - Riv’Tal and Tikvari were two males of the tribe. Soon after becoming adults, Riv’Tal convinced Tikvari to go with him to hunt a Jiltal’teik, the large predator reptile of the marsh. This reckless action, without planning or thought, did not go well. Riv’Tal was killed by the Jiltal’teik, and Tikvari was badly wounded, and had to return to the tribe to report Riv’Tal’s death. (5)
Biome:
Vari - Large avian creature, large light-sensitive eyes, hunts nocturnally. Will snatch a fully grown Eekraw if they are alone
Jiltal’teik - Large predator reptile, has strong, wide tail with spikes on it
Tikru’teik - Dog-sized insect, with green camoflauge skin and strong legs. Ambush predator
Taltik - Large semi-amphibious segmented worms that feed on dead plants and animals, as well as seaweed and other ocean plant-matter
Kratirski - Large herbivore with armored hide and two large horns
Ratir’skika - Medium-sized animal with hard exoskeletal shell, four legs and slightly webbed feet for swimming. Feeds on the star-shaped fruits and the funghi, travels in small family groups
Tek’sheka - A medium-sized creature with tough skin and sharp tusks, dangerous if provoked. Semi-domesticated - the Eekraw leave fruits for them and they hang around near their settlement
Riikeikka - Bioluminescent beetles that live in colonies and feed on tree sap, release a noxious gas when threatened. Has luminescence that alters based on the season.
Jilktra - Small, vibrantly colored fish which live in shallows and coastal pools, feeding on small insects and algae
Talreetara - A bioluminescent moss that exists in a symbiotic relationship with the trees of the biome and grows on their upper canopies
R’travar - Star-shaped fruit produced by one of the tree species
Tirtiryi - Floating fruit-bearing plants tethered to the ground by long vines. They drift in the canopy catching sunlight, held aloft by gas-filled sacs next to the fruit.
Language
Rather than reproducing their language entirely, it’s in this footnote: 1
The Game
Following along with the flow of starting a game, on page 28 of the Ironsworn rulebook, I should start by figuring out who I am playing as.
The story of Riv’Tal and Tikvari took place during this turn. I could roll between different options for a main character or something, but I’m just going to decide that Tikvari is the main character. That gives immediate weight and history to the character, which is exactly what I’m looking for. Thus, Tikvari, the reckless young adult of the tribe, whose friend died to a Jiltal’teik, is the main character.
I’m supposed to arrange the five stats (edge, heart, iron, shadow and wits) with numbers of 3, 2, 2, 1, 1.
Given the story of Riv’Tal and Tikvari, I think it’s clear that Tikvari has high Iron (physical strength, prowess in close combat) and low Shadow (sneakiness), so I’ll give those a 3 and a 1 respectively. Now, I need to decide which of the remaining three traits has a value of 1 — any of the three could fit with the character. I’ll roll between them (edge - 1, heart -2, wits - 3) and roll a 2. Therefore, Tikvari also has low Heart (courage, willpower, sociability).
Edge: 2
Heart: 1
Iron: 3
Shadow: 1
Wits: 2
After setting Health, Spirit and Supply to +5, and seting up the momentum tracker, the next step is to decide a Vow. Per the rulebook, Tikvari should start the first session with two vows - a long term goal (background vow) and an immediate situation.
I’ve decided to skip the background vow, and just have the immediate vow. I’m not trying to set up a long-term Solo campaign here, just do a short session to explore and further detail the world I’m creating.
Given what has already been established about the story, the vow obviously should have something to do with Riv’Tal’s death at the hands of a Jiltal’teik. The initial instinct I have is that the vow should be to avenge Riv’Tal’s death by killing the creature. I can think of a few other possibilities, but that’s the one that makes the most sense thematically, so I’ll stick with it.
Also, since this world doesn’t have swearing an iron vow the way the Ironsworn setting does, Tikvari just promised his friend’s nest that he would kill the Jiltal’teik who killed Riv’Tal.
I also should make up to three bonds for Eekraw or communities which Tikravi has a relationship with. Obviously, there’s a bond for the clan itself, the Ratrak. I’ll leave additional bonds for later, when it becomes appropriate during the story.
Next, I should pick Assets. Given that the setting of the Eekraw is quite different from the setting of the Ironlands, a number of the assets don’t really make sense. I discard all the ritual assets, as there is no magic in this world, and I’ll see what other ones might make sense.
Possible assets:
Kindred
Battle Scarred (if the injuries of the fight with the Jiltal’teik were bad enough to result in maiming)
Animal kin
Honorbound
Loyalist
Outcast (if banished for Riv’Tal’s death)
Slayer
Spirit-bound (maybe - rewrite to be less mystical and more mundane)
Storyweaver (probably not)
Veteran
Waterborn
Wayfinder
Wildblood
Berserker
Brawler
I’ll roll 3d15 to pick from these — if the ones I pick might make sense, I’ll go with them, or I might drop one of them or just pick a better one.
4, 9, 5 — Honorbound, Loyalist, Storyweaver.
Honorbound and Loyalist make sense, both individually and together — Tivkari is bound to avenge his dead friend, so his promise matters a lot to him. And after the death of his friend, he wants to protect any other friends he has. Storyweaver, though, doesn’t make a ton of sense. In addition, it leaves Tikvari without any specifically combat-based Assets. Therefore, I’ll just decide to add Berserker as a third asset instead of Storyweaver.
Thus, his assets are Honorbound, Loyalist, and Berserker.
Now, I’ll begin playing. The inciting incident is Tikvari and Riv’Tal’s failed attempt to hunt the Jiltal’teik, resulting in Riv’Tal’s death.
Tikvari wakes up in the Teer’tee (the settlement his tribe spends their summers in). He is in pain, with a large barely healed wound across his chest. He’s lying on the floor of a Krit’era (one of the nests in the settlement), a comfortable space burrowed into the upper part of a dead tree. The bed of moss he’s lying on glows faintly — it’s Talreetara, the bioluminescent moss of the upper tree canopies.
As he blearily comes back into consciousness, he looks up to see three Eekraw staring down at him. He recognizes all of them, and cringes unhappily from the looks in their eyes.
The oldest, a distinguished looking Eekraw with distinct though age-faded green feathers and a prominent scar across his beak, is the Vikre’ratir, the flight leader, Tarea’teik2. Though he cannot give orders and expect them to be obeyed now, in the settlement, his successful leadership during migrations these past seven winters give him an authority even during the summer. Tarea’teik’s puffed out chest feathers and direct stare showed his anger, and Tikvari avoided his fierce gaze.
Worse, though, are Jeela’Riv and Var’Tal, Riv’Tal’s nestmothers.3 Where Tarea’teik’s feathers were puffed, the nestmothers’ feathers looked bedraggled and distressed, as if they had not groomed in days. Their heads were slumped, and none of their usual energy was apparent.
“I’m useless,” Tikvari said. “Riv’Tal’s death was my fault.4”
“Yes,” Tarea’teik said, burning gaze unwavering. Tikvari looked up into the fierce eyes and then ducked his head again. “You took a hunter from the clan, just as we begin our migration.5”
Tikvari looking up to Tarea’teik’s fierce gaze and away again, saw the sadness in the eyes of Jeela’Riv and Var’Tal again, and felt even more wretched. His wings drooped and he lowered his head.
“I’m useless,” Tikvari repeated. Then he lifted his gaze again to Riv’Tal’s nestmothers. “Riv’Tal would have been my nestmate6. I should have died instead of him.” Then, his conviction firmed. “I will kill the Jiltal’Teik in Riv’Tal’s stead.”
“No,” Tarea’teik said firmly. “The clan cannot lose another hunter, it will mean some of the clan will starve.”
“You are Vikre’ratir,” Jeela’Riv said softly. “But it is not the time of the migration yet. I would see my nestling avenged.”
Var’Tal made a low keening sound of agreement, which pierced Tikvari’s heart, and seemed to affect Tarea’teik as well.
Tikvari straightened slightly. “I will kill the Jiltal’teik,” he promised. “I swear I will avenge Riv’Tal.”
Move: Swear an Iron Vow
Previously, when picking bonds, the only background bond I picked was the bond to the clan. However, given everything in the backstory, it makes sense that Tikvari also has a bond to Riv’Tal’s old nest — specifically Jeela’Riv, Var’Tal, and nestfathers and maybe a few nest-siblings. I’ll count this as swearing a vow to a community with which Tikvari has a bond, so I add +1 to the roll.
My action die I roll a 6+2 = 8, which is pretty great. I roll 1 and 6 on my challenge dice, so I get a strong hit.
It’s clear what Tikvari needs to do next, and I get +2 momentum to a total of +4.
The obvious thing for Tikvari do next would be to go and set out again, but that would also be potentially foolish considering they failed to kill the Jiltal’teik when they tried the first time.
So, I need to figure out why their first attempt was a failure, and what Tikvari needs to change in order to succeed.
Possible thoughts:
The Jiltal’teik snuck up on them
There were multiple Jiltal’teik around — children, mate?
The area was muddy or otherwise unforgiving
The Jiltal’teik was simply too strong
Riv’Tal made some kind of mistake
Tikvari made some kind of mistake
I roll a 3, so when trying to hunt the Jiltal’teik, it was in a muddy and hidden area, and it left the Eekraw at a disadvantage.
Tikvari needs to decide how he’s going to prevent that from being an issue this time. He comes up with two possibilities — either he can draw the Jiltal’teik out to firmer ground somehow, or he’s going to to do something to limit the Jiltal’teik’s advantage — maybe doing flying attacks rather than trying to meet it on the ground.
He’ll try both of these outcomes, actually.
Overall, the steps of Tikvari’s plan — per p.200, setting a ‘quest outline’ before hand:
Arrive at the swamp
Track the Jiltal’teik
Find a way to lure the Jiltal’teik onto higher ground
Wound or weaken the creature
Fight the Jiltal’teik
Now, Tikvari thinks about bringing someone else along, but after the death of his friend, he doesn’t want to set anyone else up to die, especially given the disapproval of the Vikre’ratir.
Back to the fiction:
The response to Tikvari’s promise was gratifying. Var’Tal and Jeela’Riv both made a keening sound of agreement and happiness. Tarea’teik, his straight back and piercing gaze unwavering, gave his head a short twist in agreement.
“Come back, then,” Tarea’teik said. “And bring back the Jiltal’teik’s head.”
Tikvari twisted his own head in matching agreement. He rose from the moss bed, and lurched forward a bit with his wounds.
The nestmothers gave sounds of alarm. “You don’t mean now?” Var’Tal asked, moving forward to drape a supporting wing over Tikvari’s shoulder.
Tikvari shrugged off her wing, and forced himself to straighten. “It’s fine,” he said. “I can fly, and my claws are sharp, so there’s no issue.”
“Are you sure?” Var’Tal asked again. “The Jiltal’Teik will still be there in a few weeks.”
“I need to do this before the migration starts,” Tikvari replied, seeing the look of approval from the Vikre’ratir. “So I must leave now.”
“Stay safe, nestchild,” Jeela’Riv said, using her beak to pat down a few unruly feathers on Tikvari’s chest. “Avenge Riv’Tal.”
Jeela’Riv’s reference to him as a child of her nest puffed up his chest and drove away the remaining pain. Despite him geting her nestson killed, she still thought of him as one of her nest as well? That filled his chest with warmth and he thought that he could kill a hundred Jiltal’teik at this moment.
Tikvari staggered to the opening of the Krit’era and looked out. Before him, the Teer’tee bustled with activity, as the clan members made their preparations to leave the settlement for the winter migration. Beyond the Teer’tee, the ground sloped down towards the swampy land below, and towards Trae’tal, the great lake.
Beyond Trae’tal, Tikvari knew, the massive Jiltal’teik lived. He could see in his minds eye the sight of the great tail, covered in spikes, swinging. He saw Riv’Tal there, standing tall one moment, and then the next moment flying through the air in a spray of blood. He remembered rushing forward, getting his feet talons stuck in the mud just like Riv’Tal, open for the beast to attack at his leisure.
Not this time, he swore. This time he’d be ready, and he would kill the beast, for Riv’Tal’s sake.
Tikvari looks towards his own nest’s Krit’era. He knew his nestmothers, nestfathers and siblings would be there. He knew that they would rush in to exclaim over his wounds and give him meals they had hunted. He desperately wanted to go thee, to have his nestmothers furl him in their strong wings, to have his nestfathers gruffly scold him for his recklessness, his siblings pick ticks from his feathers.
But he couldn’t let them stop him from accomplishing his goal. He needed to avenge Riv’Tal, and he couldn’t let his desire to be pampered stop him.
So, he ignored the call inside of him telling him to fly home, and instead launched himself out of the Krit’era, Riv’Tal’s Krit’era, and into the open sky.
I undertake a journey — it’s a pretty simple journey, just to the swamps south of the lake, so I’ll call it troublesome.
For my first roll, the action die is +2 for Tikvari’s wits and +1 for leaving from the Teer’tee which Tikvari has a bond with.
He rolls another 6 — which gives a total of 9. However, despite that, the challenge die rolled 10 and 8, so it was a weak hit. Tikvari marks progress on the journey, and reaches a waypoint, but also reduces his supplies by one.
Per the normal way to do Ironsworn, I’d use the oracle to find out what waypoint Tikvari reaches. However, the oracles in the Ironsworn rulebook are very much set up for the inhabited, cold, northern mountains of the default setting, and don’t fit with the swampy, tropical biome of the Ratrak.
I could make a new oracle, writing up a list of possible types of locations and descriptors like the oracle that’s already in the rulebook. Instead, though, I’m going to rule that Tikvari reaches the banks of the Trae’tal, the large lake. It’s about 10 or 15 miles away, and I’ll assume the Eekraw can fly that distance in around an hour.
Given the lack of good oracle aspects, and the fact that this is still quite close to the Teer’tee, I’ll say that I’m not going to try to figure out anything special about the waypoint either. Instead, I’ll just describe it.
Tikvari landed with a splash in the shallows of the Trae’tal. The lake stretched nearly as far as he could see, crowded with life and movement. A nest of Ratir’skika was swimming near him. The nestfather looked up as Tikvari landed, but then returned to looking for algae in the water when it became clear that the Eekraw wasn’t a threat7.
Further afield, a Taltik swayed through the shoreline, looking for carcasses to consume. It moved a little bit too close to a Kratirski, which bellowed a warning and scared the worm away.
In the water, Jilktra darted and weaved, their colorful streaks through the water making Tikvari hungry. However, much though he wanted to, he couldn’t stop to fish, he needed to keep moving, or he’d stop and lose his nerve. Instead of stopping to fish, he bent down to drink from the clear waters of the lake, and quickly gobbled down one of the cooked Jilktra that he’d brought along with him in his talons.
Then he spread his wings and jumped, making it to a branch halfway up one of the trees near the lake. With a kick of his powerful legs, he launched himself into the air, his wings catching the air and propelling him in flight when he was around a single Eekraw’s height from the ground.
He set off over the Trae’tal, heading further towards his confrontation with the Jiltal’teik.
And, I roll for undertake a journey again. Roll + wits, this time without the additional bonus of leaving a settlement.
1d6+2 = 3, 2d10 = 3, 4 —> Miss.
However, I have 4 momentum, which I can use to cancel dice which are less than that number. Therefore, I can cancel the 3, turning it from a miss to a weak hit.
Therefore, I again reach a waypoint and mark progress, but take -1 supply. Also, by burning momentum, momentum goes back down to +2.
This time, I don’t have an obvious idea of what the waypoint should be. Tikvari definitely makes it over the lake, but as to what he finds on the other side?
This time, I’ll try to roll on the Ironsworn oracle tables — there’s a lot that won’t make sense, but some of it might.
Roll 2d100 - 84, 66 gives me ‘Hill’ and ‘Cold’ on the location and location theme tables. Hill makes sense, but ‘cold’ doesn’t, in this biome. I reroll on the theme table and this time get 31 - ‘perilous.’
So, Tikvari reaches a hill, and it is perilous in some way.
I think the possible reasons it could be perilous:
Slippery/muddy ground
Unstable ground
Predator (probably a Tikru’teik - dog-sized predator insect)
Poisonous plants
Thorny bushes
I rolled a 5, so the hill is covered in really thorny bushes, making landing really difficult.
Since Jiltal’teik is a reptile with spiked tail, and ‘teik’ means predator while ‘tiirah’ means plant, I’ll say by analogy that the bushes with thorns are called Jiltal’tiirah, and I’ll add that to the Lexicon.
The hill is a point that is slightly higher than the surrounding swamp, and Tikvari is planning on using it to rest for a while and plan out the rest of his journey. However, as he approaches, it becomes clear that the hill is entirely covered with an outgrowth of Jiltal’tiirah, a bush with long, pointy thorns.
Therefore, he Faces Danger to land on the hill. He tries to use his observation to find an area with less thorns that he can squeeze through, so he rolls +wits.
1d6+2 = 8.
2d10 = 4,5
Strong hit!
The swamp stretched out below Tikvari as he continued flying through the air. The thick canopy of trees was broken every few hundred feet by shallow pools of water, crowded with the animals of the swamp.
He was getting closer to the Jiltal’teik’s hunting grounds, so now was a good time to take a break and think through his plans going forward.
There were other Jiltal’teik in the swamp, of course, but this particular one was a mean, huge creature. It had killed at least five of the tribe that Tikvari could remember, which was why he and Riv’Tal had decided to go after it. And, of course, that had ended with yet one more hunter of the tribe dead, and the Jiltal’teik still alive.8
Tikvari shook the thoughts out of his feathers, looking for a good spot to land. Below, a few small patches of higher ground stuck out of the swamp, areas where the muddy ground gave way to dry soil.
One hill rose further above the surrounding ground than the rest, offering a larger area to wait. However, it is covered in Jiltal’tiirah, their thorns a threat of pain if he stumbled into them by accident.
Tikvari approached anyway, his keen eyes picking out an area choked by fewer thorns. He swooped down, ducking through the thorns, and making it to land with only a few scratches.
The advantage of this growth of Jiltal’tiirah was that no predators would purposely scratch their way through the thorns to get at Tikvari. Neither Vari, nor Jiltal’teik, nor Tikru’teik would be likely to get at him here among the thorns.
Tikvari decided that this would make a great spot to return to if he needed to shelter for the night or withdraw from a predator, so he noted it for later.
Then, he set out again, further into the swamp.
Undertake a journey again - roll +wits
1d6+2 = 3
2d10 = 8, 6
Miss - You are waylaid by a perilous event. Pay the Price
To try to learn how to use the combat rules, and because it’s one of the consequences that makes the most sense to me, I’ll say that Tikvari is attacked by a predator.
These are the major predators in the biome:
Vari - Large avian creature, large light-sensitive eyes, hunts nocturnally. Will snatch a fully grown Eekraw if they are alone
Jiltal’teik - Large predator reptile, has strong, wide tail with spikes on it
Tikru’teik - Dog-sized insect, with green camoflauge skin and strong legs. Ambush predator
It doesn’t make sense for it to be the Jiltal’teik he’s hunting, since that would kind of ruin the overall session. However, it could be a younger Jiltal’teik. It also seems like a Vari is less likely, since it’s not at night.
I’ll say I’ll roll a 1d6 - a 1 is a Vari, 2,3,4 are a Tikru’teik, and a 5 or 6 is a young Jiltal’teik. 1d6 —> I roll a 1
So, as Tikvari is flying through the swamp, he’s attacked by a Vari. Vari are usually nocturnal, so this one is probably very hungry or possibly was just waken up by Tikvari’s passage.
I’ll call the Vari a Troublesome foe — it’s weakened by hunger, and it’s attacking during the day when it is not as effective.
Tikvari flew on, looking over the swamp below. This part of the swamp, the haunt of the ancient Jiltal’teik, was normally avoided by the hunters of the clan, and Tikvari was no exception. Before his excursion with Riv’Tal, he’d not traveled this area before, so he did not have the landmarks that he would use to find his way in more familiar land.
Still, he had been this way before once before, and he was paying close attention to the ground to try and find his way to the Jiltal’teik’s lair. That was no doubt why he was surprised when a sudden blur of winds took him sideways, falling out of the sky at a rapid pace.
Roll +wits (ambushed) - 1d6+2 = 4
2d10 = 2, 7
Weak Hit - choose one, take +2 momentum or take initiative
I take +2 momentum.
Tikvari takes a moment of shock. Vari, the avian predators, were about the size of an Eekraw, and it was far from uncommon for one to attack an Eekraw, particularly one on their own. But it was the midle of the day, and Tikvari was in the air. Vari were nocturanl hunters, and they would almost always attack creatures on the grond, not in the sky.
He didn’t have a lot of time for shock, however. Some instinct had made him shift his body as the Vari came in, so the claws that went for his throat instead gripped him on the upper shoulder, drawing blood but not doing much real damage.
Both of them fell downwards, the Vari shifting its grip to try and bring its wicked beak to bear on Tikvari’s throat.
Roll +iron - 1d6+3 = 9. 2d10 = 1,2
Strong Hit. I take +1 momentum and inflict 1 harm
Tikvari twisted in the Vari’s grasp. Feeling the air rushing past them as they plummeted towards the ground, he brought his wing talons around and tore at the Vari’s grip, trying to pull its talons away from him.
He then attempted to unfold his own wings, trying to turn himself around and get on top of the other flyer as they plummeted. With a great wrench of his body, he managed to get on top, staring down at the other creature as they both plummeted.
Tikvari slashes at the animals’ wings with his own talons.
Roll +iron —> 1d6+3 = 7. 2d10 = 3,3
Strong hit with positive twist.
Deal +1 harm, so 2 harm. That means a total of three, which since the Vari is a troublesome foe makes a total of 9 boxes filled.
Tikvari will then attempt to End the Fight, and I’ll say that the positive twist is Tikvari getting into a good position and adding +1 to his attempt to End the Fight.
Tikvari feels his talons make rents in the Vari’s wings, leaving the other creature desperate. No longer is it trying to kill Tikvari, now it is trying only to survive. Tikvari considered just letting the creature escape, but the Vari’s corpse could make a useful bait for the Jiltal’teik.
Tikvari stole a quick glance below, judging how far from the ground they were. Then he spread his wings, pulling him up from his fall, but holding on to the Vari’s wings to prevent it from taking flight itself. Then, when he judged the distance from the ground to be right, he let go, letting the animal plummet to the ground, then followed up with his foot talons outstretched.
With three progress on a troublesome fight, there are 9 boxes filled in. With the additional +1 from the positive twist, that means that it’s basically an automatic success. 2d10 = 9,10.
Well, I spoke too soon, even with a target of 10 I can still roll a 10 and miss. So instead of the strong hit I expected, I get a weak hit.
Tikvari can’t quite break the Vari’s talons free of him as they approach the ground, so he is still entangled with the creature when they both slam into the ground at speed.
Endure Harm:
Take 1 health damage, so now down to 4 health. Then roll + health
1d6+4 = 6. 2d10 = 4,1 —> Strong Hit
Tikvari embraces the pain and takes +1 momentum.
The Vari is now dead, lying in the swampy ground beneath Tikvari’s body. Tikvari stands up a little shakily, and shakes out his wings. Then he looks around. The brief struggle badly scrambled his sense of direction, so he wasn’t sure exactly where he was.
I roll a die to see what direction he went - 1d8, going North, northeast, east, southeast, etc. I roll a 6, so he was sent southwest from where he intended to be.
See the below map. Point 4 is not a waypoint, but where he landed after hitting the ground with the battle with the Vari.
Tivkari finds a nearby high point, this time
I do the move Undertake a Journey again, and roll +wits
1d6+2 = 5
2d10 = 5,6
This would be a miss, then, with neither challenge die below the action die. However, I’ve built up my momentum over the last moves, so I can burn it to turn the miss into a strong hit by canceling both of those die. I do that, so my momentum resets to 2, and I have a strong hit instead of a miss.
The results of that strong hit are that I reach a waypoint. Then, I either just take progress, or mark progress and trade 1 supply for one momentum. I’ll do that, and lose one supply, and my momentum goes to 3.
Before I roll to see what waypoint I reach, I’m going to roll Reach your Destination. I’m doing this based on advice I saw in a Reddit comment, that for the finishing moves (i.e., Reach Your Destination, End the Fight and Fulfill Your Vow), you should roll the move before you determine the results of the last move, because if you roll a miss, then it’ll seem really weird that you described the place you were trying to get to, while if you roll a strong hit, then it doesn’t make sense to describe another waypoint before suddenly being at your destination.
Like with the fight with the Vari, since it’s a only a Troublesome journey, the 3 progress I’ve made makes it almost certain I’ll get at least a weak hit. The number to beat is 9.
2d10 = 4,4
Not only do I get a Strong Hit, but it’s also a match, which means there’s a positive twist.
Per the rulebook, if I get a match on a strong hit, “the match should represent a twist in the narrative, something interesting, or a new opportunity.”
So, I complete the journey, and I get one progress to the “Avenge Riv’Tal” vow. I also change that vow from Formidable down to Dangerous — I want to finish this session, and I also don’t know how many other major milestones there would be for the journey.
I think that there should be at least a possibility that this interesting thing or new opportunity is interesting to the entire tribe, not just Tikvari and his hunt, so I’ll try to think of things for both categories.
Possible outcomes:
Area with a massive amount of Tirtiryi (floating fruit-bearing plants)
Strange looking rock formation
New plant or animal
Something Tikvari can use as a weapon (maybe will be adopted by the tribe)
Assistance from another Eekraw (one of Riv’Tal’s nestsiblings?)
Evidence of a weakness of the Jiltal’teik
I roll 1d6 - 6. So there’s some weakness of the Jiltal’Teik, and Tikvari finds evidence of it.
Possibilities:
Weak underbelly
Sensitive eyes
Limited range of motion
Fear of fire
Slow on land
Slow on water
Limited Stamina
Unable to use tail in tight quarters
This Jilal’teik was injured
This Jiltal’teik is unable to swim
I don’t know why the Eekraw wouldn’t already know of these weaknesses, but I’ll allow it — I’ll say that generally they avoid the reptiles, since they’re so dangerous, so they didn’t know the weaknesses.
I roll a 1d10 — 8, so the Jiltal’teik have difficulty using their tails in tight quarters.
Tikvari finds himself in a familiar location. This was where he and Riv’Tal made their stand, where Riv’Tal had been killed and Tikvari had been wounded. He froze in memory, feeling again the mud suck at his feet talons as he tried to surge forward to save his nestmate. His feathers drooped at the thought. As he looked around, the scale of the challenge dawned on him. Up til now he had been focused on getting here, on keeping moving to avoid thinking to heavily of what he had lost. However, now he wondered to himself what he was doing.
He and Riv’Tal, two of the best hunters of the tribe, had been unable to defeat the Jiltal’teik, with both of them working together. Now here he was, alone, trying to kill the beast by himself? Why did he think that he would be able to do this?
Tikvari forced himself to return to his task. He was here to avenge Riv’Tal, not get caught up in his own inadequacy. If he was unable to kill the Jiltal’Teik, then the sun would take him9. But he wouldn’t let his doubts overcome him.
He looked around the site of the battle, hoping to find something that would aid him in his attempt to kill the creature. The image of the battle was clear in his mind, the way he and Riv’Tal had been caught by the mud and were unable to use their flight or mobility. If only he could stay in the air for the entire flight — but unlike a Vari, his wings would not allow him to stay airborne as he swooped over and over again.
His eyes sharpened as he noticed something. He had forgotten, but there was a place on the battlefield where a large boulder stood very near to a tree, and the jiltal’teik had squeezed through between the two. The tree had great marks on it from the creature’s tail, and it made Tikvari remember. It was after Riv’Tal had been killed, and Tikvari was desperately retreating, trying to use his mud-covered wings to lift but unable to rise more than a Eekraw’s height from the ground before sinking back to the mud.
When the Jiltal’teik had squeezed through the obstacles, its tail had been slamming aginst both sides wildly, and the creature hadn’t ben able to bring it to bear on Tikvari, he remembered.
That made Tikvari raise his crest in happiness. Of course! The creature’s tail was it’s primary weapon — the teeth were scary as well, but they weren’t quick enough to strike a moving Eekraw. Tikvari merely had to lure the Jiltal’teik into a confined area and then he could attack the creature with impunity.
He just needed to do two things — find the creature, and find a good spot to lure him.
Continued in Part II:
Basics (1):
Ku’u - me
Yee - you
Eru - them
Ehwa - us
Kee - yes
Ruh - no
Culture (2):
Yira - priest/shaman nest
Ekrat - defense/lookout nest
Ekiek - youngling
Ekiek’tee - nestlings
E’yee (you of the clan) - adult
Leraw - nest group
Ratrak - clan
Varka - evil force of darkness
Traki - life
Era - home
Krit - temporary shelter
Ekratera - family heritage
Teer’Tee - The summer settlement
Krit’era - permanent home/shelter in the settlement
Vikre’ratir - leader
Descriptor (3):
Yiga - traitor
Tikara - hidden/camouflaged
Skigka - totally useless
Jeela - tasty/good-tasting
Jikera - delicious
Tarea - challenging
Verbs (4):
Riv - to fly
Rivaer - to succeed/excel
Rizhi - to use
Jilter - to forage
Skikteer - to hunt
Talva - to land on a tree
Raltal - to land on the ground
Ratir - to defend/protect
Rekit’tee - to care for/nurture
Rekit - to teach
Talril - to light/illuminate
Other (5):
‘tee - suffix for small
E’ - prefix for near/related to the clan
‘tal - suffix for ‘place of’
Environment (6):
Rei - sun
Tal - ground/soil
Trae - freshwater
Trae’kre - saltwater
Traevaree - tide
Trak’kretal - coastline/beach
Var - air/above
Ray’kre - day
Ra’eku - night
Rauki - sunset/sunrise
Vikre - flight
Teerr - something that is reflective (metal or water, for example)
Tal’rei (ground-sun) - fire
Locations (7):
Teer’Tee - The summer settlement
Trae’tal - the large lake ten miles south of their summer settlement
Vikre’trae - the large river leading to the lake
Creatures (8):
Teik - dangerous creature
Shikka - small harmless creature
Vari - Large avian creature, large light-sensitive eyes, hunts nocturnally. Will snatch a fully grown Eekraw if they are alone
Jiltal’teik - Large predator reptile, has strong, wide tail with spikes on it
Tikru’teik - Dog-sized insect, with green camoflauge skin and strong legs. Ambush predator
Taltik - Large semi-amphibious segmented worms that feed on dead plants and animals, as well as seaweed and other ocean plant-matter
Kratirski - Large herbivore with armored hide and two large horns
Ratir’skika - Medium-sized animal with hard exoskeletal shell, four legs and slightly webbed feet for swimming. Feeds on the star-shaped fruits and the funghi, travels in small family groups
Tek’sheka - A medium-sized creature with tough skin and sharp tusks, dangerous if provoked. Semi-domesticated - the Eekraw leave fruits for them and they hang around near their settlement
Riikeikka - Bioluminescent beetles that live in colonies and feed on tree sap, release a noxious gas when threatened. Has luminescence that alters based on the season.
Jilktra - Small, vibrantly colored fish which live in shallows and coastal pools, feeding on small insects and algae
Plants (9):
Tiirah - plant
Vaskeet - trees that are too short to jump off of
Tavek - tall tree that can be jumped off
Talreetara - A bioluminescent moss that exists in a symbiotic relationship with the trees of the biome and grows on their upper canopies
R’travar - Star-shaped fruit produced by one of the tree species
Tirtiryi - Floating fruit-bearing plants tethered to the ground by long vines. They drift in the canopy catching sunlight, held aloft by gas-filled sacs next to the fruit.
Tarea’teik means ‘challenging predator’
The names mean ‘Good-tasting flight’ (maybe delicious flier, roughly), and ‘above the ground’
“Ku’u Skigka. Riv’Tal Traki ruh ku’u.” Literally ‘me useless. Riv’tal life not me.”
“Kee. Yee skikteer ruh ratrak, teer’tee riv.” Literally ‘yes. You hunt no clan, fly settlement.’
Slight change from what I originally set up — Riv’Tal wasn’t just his friend, but they were planning on building a nest together.
Obviously the Ratir’skika don’t have ‘nests’ as such, but that’s how Tikvari sees the world.
This is a bit of a retcon, making this particular beast a specifically large and dangerous one, but it doesn’t require much change to make it fit.
Euphemism for die