Dragons of Stormwreck Isle 2

May 6, 2024 ◇ 8 min read

dnd
campaign
actual play
ironsworn
Heroes preparing for a Journey by boat

Previously, the party successfully defended the residents of Dragon’s Rest and finished the day preparing for the journey to the Compass Rose shipwreck.

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Preparing for the Chapter

Besker Duskwinter
Insightful, Skilled, Stubborn human Paladin
Assets: Empowered, Loyalist, Shield-bearer
Edge: 1, Heart: 3, Iron: 2, Shadow: 1, Wits: 2
Health: 5, Spirit: 5, Momentum: 5

Nellandra Dalarandar
Powerful, Dependent, Selfish elf Wizard
Assets: Improviser, Slinger, Invoke
Edge: 2, Heart: 2, Iron: 1, Shadow: 1, Wits: 3
Health: 5, Spirit: 5, Momentum: 6, Essence: 6

Shared supply: 5

Current vow: Stop the plague of zombies (dangerous), 0/10

Before they embarked on the journey, I wanted to check the list of possible premade encounters and the distance between locations. The island is not particularly large, so I decided to rank each journey as troublesome.

Journey to Compass Rose

Besker and Nellandra sat down to plan their route. Nellandra is a better navigator, so she would take the lead during the journey. Besker borrowed and prepared the rowboat available to Dragon’s Rest residents from Runara. Equipped with a map and supplies, they began their journey.

Secure and Advantage: Aid Your Ally (Besker)
Challenge: 6, 3. Action: 6 (+wits, +1 loyalist), weak hit. +1 momentum each.

Besker took care of the rowing, allowing Nellandra to focus entirely on navigating and finding the right route between the rocks jutting out of the sea.

Undertake a Journey (Nellandra)
Challenge: 6, 5. Action: 8 (+wits), strong hit.
Waypoint: Cold, Beautiful Open Water
Progress 3/10

Undertake a Journey (Nellandra)
Challenge: 8, 7. Action: 9 (+wits), strong hit.
Waypoint: Broken, Wide Cove
Progress 6/10

The rowboat cut through the cold waters along the rugged coast of the island. As they rowed, the landscape shifted around them, from the cold, pristine beauty of the open water to the jagged cliffs and broken coves that lined the shore.

Undertake a Journey (Nellandra)
Challenge: 6, 6. Action: 4 (+wits), miss. Match event: Charge Deception.
Waypoint: Big, Isolated Mystical Site
Pay the Price: A surprising development complicates your quest.

Besker and Nellandra spotted steam rising in the distance. Curiosity piqued, they steered the rowboat toward the source.

Billowing clouds of steam emerge from the rocks ahead, and the air grows thicker with moisture. As you round a bend, you see a cove where a hot spring burbles up from the rocks and spills into a pool before draining into the ocean. The turquoise water is luminescent, and the gray basalt edges of the spring are lined with vibrantly colored mushrooms, which occasionally burst in a shower of rainbow spores.

Do they want to approach the hot spring?
Ask the Oracle (Unlikely): 79, Yes.

Besker did not care much about the colorful sprouts, but Nellandra wanted to examine them in case they proved to be a valuable magical component. They disembarked onto the rocky shore, and as they drew closer, the air grew thick with the scent of sulfur, mingling with the salty tang of the sea.

Face Danger (Nellandra)
Challenge: 1, 1. Action: 9 (+wits), strong hit. Match event: Hunt Portent. +1 momentum.

When Nellandra came closer to a group of mushrooms, she spotted a vague shape lurking in the steam above the spring out of the corner of her eye. Fume drakes. She slowed down with Besker at her side, watching the drakes carefully, and tried to reach one of the mushrooms.

Besker and Nellandra fighting with Fume Drakes in hot springs

Gather Information (Nellandra)
Challenge: 10, 6. Action: 5 (+wits), miss.
Pay the Price: Initiate combat.

Before she could grab and identify it, the drakes bolted and attacked them.

Challenge track (dangerous): Fight against fume drakes.
Progress: 0/10

Enter the Fray (Besker)
Challenge: 9, 1. Action: 9 (+heart), weak hit. Prepare to act: Take initiative.

Enter the Fray (Nellandra)
Challenge: 2, 10. Action: 3 (+heart), weak hit. Prepare to act: Take initiative.

Besker and Nellandra were prepared for the possibility of an attack and anticipated it, with their weapons and spells at the ready.

Strike (Besker)
Challenge: 10, 7. Action: 5 (+iron), miss.
Pay the Price: -2 health.
Endure Harm (Besker)
Challenge: 2, 2. Action: 9, strong hit. Match event: Acquire Language. +1 health.

Besker swung his sword at the rushing drake with as much might as he could muster. The fume drake dodged at the last moment, turned around, and breathed a cone of scalding steam at Besker, who was exposed by the momentum of his swing. He tried to jump away and managed to avoid some of the damage.

Strike (Nellandra)
Challenge: 7, 4. Action: 5 (+edge), weak hit. +2 harm.
Challenge track (dangerous): Fight against fume drakes.
Progress: 4/10

Nellandra concentrated and blasted one of the drakes with a ray of frost, the air suddenly growing cold for a second in stark contrast to the hot steam of the spring. The drake shrieked and instantly withdrew from combat.

Secure and Advantage (Besker): Aid Your Ally
Challenge: 8, 8. Action: 9 (+heart, +1 loyalist), strong hit. Match event: Surrender Advantage. +1 momentum.

Besker taunted the drakes with a loud shout, giving Nellandra the opportunity to attack freely without being threatened.

Strike (Nellandra)
Challenge: 5, 8. Action: 6 (+edge, +1 advantage), weak hit. +2 harm.
Challenge track (dangerous): Fight against fume drakes.
Progress: 9/10

Trying her best not to waste this opportunity, she unleashed a barrage of spells. Ice shards sliced through the air. The fume drakes dodged and weaved, but the explosion of ice erupted, taking most of them out.

End the Fight (Besker)
Fight against fume drakes resolved. Challenge: 7, 7. Action: 8, strong hit. Match event: Serve Duty. +1 momentum.

With a swift and precise thrust, Besker finished the last drake, ending the combat. They grabbed a few colorful mushrooms and moved on to the shipwreck.

Undertake a Journey (Nellandra)
Challenge: 1, 10. Action: 8 (+wits), weak hit.
Progress: 9/10
Waypoint: Foul, Corrupted Wreck.

Reach Your Destination (Nellandra)
Journey to Compass Rose resolved. Challenge: 1, 6. Action: 9, strong hit. +1 momentum.
Reach a Milestone: Stop the plague of zombies. Milestone: Journey to the shipwreck.
Progress 2/10

As the rowboat glided through the turbulent waters, the salty breeze hitting their faces, the adventurers' eyes fell upon the eerie silhouette of an old shipwreck looming in the distance.

Cursed Shipwreck

Waves lap against a derelict ship lodged against a ridge of rocks and enormous dragon bones. A faint odor of rot wafts on the sea air, along with the sound of screeching seagulls and the roar of the surf. A tangled mess of tattered sails and rigging hangs off the starboard side of the main deck, offering one possible way to climb aboard. At the stern, you can make out a gaping hole in the hull beneath the water line.

I will be using Ironsworn: Delve to navigate through the shipwreck. To do that, I need a list of key locations and to decide on the rank of this delve and its theme and domain. I will not roll for my first waypoint, instead, I have decided that it will be Compass Rose's first location: the Main Deck.

List of key locations:

  • Captain's Quarters
  • Crew quarters
  • Lower deck
  • Hold

Other locations I will fill in the blanks with, if needed:

  • Forecastle
  • Quarterdeck
  • Galley
  • Mess Hall

With four important locations and another four skippable locations, either Dangerous or Formidable rank is fine. It depends on how much time you want to spend there or how large you want the ship to be. I do not want it to be too long, so I settled on Dangerous rank. The shipwreck is old, flooded, and infested with zombies. Infested seems like a perfect theme. For a domain, I picked Stronghold, as its set of features best fits a ship.

Discover a Site
Delve Compass Rose
Theme: Infested
Domain: Stronghold
Rank: Dangerous
Aspect focus: Unstable Power

With a mixture of curiosity and caution, Besker and Nellandra clambered aboard the shipwreck, their footsteps echoing hollowly on the rotting deck.

The moldering wood of the deck is slick with algae and seawater. Amid the tangle of rigging, splintered railings, and stray seaweed, you spot boots, bones, and bits of gore that seem considerably more recent than the wreck of this ship. Stairs lead to upper decks at fore and aft, and doors lead into cabins under those decks. The mainmast remains intact and mostly upright, topped with a crow's nest overflowing with debris. A staircase near the mast and a large hatch on the port side both lead down into the hold.

Does one of them climb the crow's nest to check the accumulated debris?
Ask the Oracle (Likely): 66, Yes. Event: Distract History.

Besker climbed the mainmast?
Ask the Oracle (50/50): 73, Yes.

Besker began his ascent up the rope ladder hanging from the mainmast. The wood groaned beneath his weight, and with each step, the mast swayed slightly. He reached the nest, stuffed with bits of bone, wood shavings, dry grass, and shredded canvas from the ship's sails. Among the trash, he spotted shiny baubles and gemstones.

Gather Information (Besker)
Challenge: 4, 4. Action: 3 (+wits), miss. Match event: Release Superstition.
Pay the Price: -1 spirit.
Endure Stress
Challenge: 3, 3. Action: 6 (+spirit), strong hit. Match event: Overwhelm Risk. +1 spirit, -1 momentum.

While he stuffed his pouch with anything worth taking, a realization came to him: this nest was far too large for a regular bird, and he was unable to determine what kind of creature had settled there. He was hanging on an unstable mast, exposed and vulnerable to any attack should the resident of the nest return. Panic threatened to consume him, but he pushed the fear aside and, with his thoughts focused on survival, climbed down as quickly as he could.

Delve the Depths
Challenge: 3, 4. Action: 8 (+wits), strong hit.
Delve progress: 2/10
Area #1
Feature: Command center or leadership
Find an Opportunity
Opportunity: A clue offers insight or direction. Take action now.
Aspect focus: Forgotten Route

Once down, they glanced at the sky, looking for any imminent danger, and quickly moved towards one of the cabins. The door was closed or barricaded.

Face Danger (Besker)
Challenge: 6, 5. Action: 8 (+iron, +1 shield-bearer, +1 opportunity), strong hit. +1 momentum.

Besker charged at the door with his shield up and rammed the entrance open.

The door crashes open to reveal two drowned sailors in a cabin that must once have been luxurious. A bookcase, half collapsed, holds waterlogged and disintegrating books and scrolls. The polished wood desk leans awkwardly on three legs; it has an ornate compass set in its center. The bed is covered in rotting bedding and sags in the middle. A jagged hole gapes in the floor beside the bed.

Two zombies aimlessly shuffled around the cabin. They slowly turned towards the party, their milky white eyes focused somewhere past them. With a moan, they moved to attack.

As this is a non-critical, filler encounter with only two zombies, instead of setting up a full combat challenge, I used the Battle move to quickly determine the outcome.

Battle (Besker)
Challenge: 4, 1. Action: 9 (+heart), strong hit. +2 momentum.

Besker, with Nellandra and her offensive prowess, quickly dispatched both decomposing sailors. They searched the room for anything useful and checked the hole in the floor. Whatever made it had penetrated the lower deck too, and two levels down, there was only darkness. Jumping blindly into the unknown would be unwise.