Crudely Drawn Swords - A Dungeon World Actual Play Podcast

In spite of our spy networks and the careful thought of our best minds, it is hard to grasp why this is happening to us. We lived in peace with Sudec for centuries - they were our friends and rivals. Then the cold revolution happened and suddenly they are driven by this furious goddess of the ice to overwhelm us? Why won’t they negotiate? Why are they always forcing onward with military might and and this power that cuts winter into the very heart of summer? What does Ulumbraya want from us? It seems there is no way to find out, except perhaps to surrender and examine the effects of her terrible will as they are enacted and that would be a costly experiment indeed.

Well, I am back in old Merrowvale. The palace is very different now - it feels empty without our royal father and quiet in the absence of Jasmine and Wintergreen, and yet there are people coming and going constantly as it has become something of a command centre for the war effort. Mother is holding up well, trying to ensure that the retreat northwards is orderly and we do not lose our precious troops trying to hold indefensible positions, but it is hard to see what positions will prove defensible against these beasts of war. Our southern army, lead by my older sister and the Preceptor of the knights of Akone, are now completely cut off in the southern part of the mountains but they remain a valuable asset They have been striking from behind the enemy front line, keeping supplies and troops from reaching the front line. If it wasn’t for them and the support of Batmazgorod beneath, we would already have lost.

You do not give yourself enough credit - it was your work in deriving the shared principle between both pencil and eraser that made this possible. I suspect the alchemists and smith-enchanters who worked on Reaching Scrolls before never saw the value of the humble pencil, so you really showed those pen pushers. Travelling is a little tiresome, so I will tell you everything I know of the Sleidlar, and once this paragraph is done I will go back to watching Alberado pass slowly along our larboard. Of the five peoples of the plains, the Sleidlar are by all accounts the most constrained, living only along the edges of the ice. People who have heard of them at all usually regard them as rustic reindeer-herders, but accounts from those who have visited their lands suggest that they lead lives well adapted to travel along the borders of the ice. In particular they have taken to taming and breeding many types of beast to help them in their work, from tiny mice and ferrets who help find and protect food caches up to vast shaggy-haired creatures claimed to eat whole trees and haul their larger buildings across the ice. The stories are both sparse and somewhat outlandish - for some reason those most disposed to distant travel seem equally disposed to completely making up their accounts of the far world - but they are consistent in describing the Sliding People as shaping the creatures around them to their need, which leads me to suggest they have some art or mastery in that direction.. This journey is arduous in the extreme. A steady wind blows out of the south, bringing cold and relentless damp even at this time of the year, and forcing us to tack endlessly, so progress remains very slow. I hope that your travels are more interesting. -Saf

Hi Do you remember when we thought you couldn’t use the reaching scroll once you’d written on it. Before we knew your could rub the pencil out? Those were simple times. Your previous message would have been “beasts attack Farndale - possible connection to Sleidlar. Danger Danger Bambari Lutes”. Trust me when I explain it to the rest, this is how it will go. Are you bored on your journey? Coz that was a lot of descriptive stuff. I’m pretty busy here. I’m on a horse. No boats for me. I not ever getting on a ship again. The sea is a horrible place where horrible things happen. Since you’re feeling eloquent and informed give me some info on the Sleidlar. How do you even know about them? Also they are to the South. We’re not heading south. We’re heading to some ogres. Tristan’s got a gig. succinctly Bam

I’m writing from Asterope’s Dawnstar, a ship making south towards Merremouth. Among the passengers here is a knight who was present at the fall of Farndale, one of the first battles where the war beasts were used. She has given me some details of the beasts and how they were used. First there were vast bull-necked creatures three or four times the height of a horse, built more like an ox but far heavier and with hooked tusks in addition to their horns. The attack that broke the city began with huge grapples being fired from ballistas on the field, trailing long harpoon ropes. These were attached to a harness on three of these beasts, which set about attempting to pull the wall down. The defenders tried to cut the ropes but they were cunningly designed, built around smith-canted chains. The walls themselves proved too solid for the beasts attack, although my witness has heard reports of this tactic having brought down less solidly fortified towns, but before the ropes were cut, the handlers changed strategy, and had the beasts set off at speed around the city, the ropes sweeping along the walls, dragging the grapples behind them and causing mayhem among the defenders. As they came around the west side of the wall, a different kind of warbeast - something like a huge rhino with solid armour plates over its head and back and a blunt double-horn emerged from the enemy line and charged straight into the east gate like a living battering ram. It’s mass and power was such that the gate burst open and one of the gatehouse towers fell. The beast charged on into the town, followed by Icewatcher heavy troops and it’s own handlers. Most of the defenders were still trying to deal with the first attack and the town was quickly overrun. My witness was injured but managed to get herself out of the west gate with a handful of others fortunate enough to have fast mounts. She mentions that the dress of the beast’s handlers was quite different from the Icewatcher uniforms and armour - lighter, built of skins and beaded leather. She guesses that they came from further east - if they belong to the Sleidlar, then you might not be as distant from the war as we expected, perhaps the entire southern ice has mobilised. Be careful Bambari. -Saf

Incidentally, I met the Blessed Pelwar yesterday and she mentioned that two days ago the last three members of the crew from The Ghost finally got home, along with the captain, who had made what sounded like a profoundly arduous journey along the Salt Coast, before reaching Maresca, where they persuaded some fishermen to bring them along to Aru-Sha. They were all in bad shape, as you might expect, but they were able to confirm that you departed into the salt flats, which was the main thing the Blessed cared about as it finally got the Quesitors off her back regarding your friend Percy. We will be taking a ship south for Vale soon, when we arrive I will tell you what I can of the situation in Caris. Good luck, Bambari!

Well Bambari, this is quite an audacious plan! From what I understand of the weapon in question it is very hard to predict what the outcome will be. I think it depends on the nature of the sword, which we know to be a shard of Ulumbraya’s power significant enough that it had to be taken from her before she could be trapped by the old powers. The question is whether the sword is the power or whether it is a form that the power has been shaped into - in the former case, destroying it would significantly weaken Ulumbraya, but if it is only an embodiment of her power in the physical realm then destroying it may release that power back to her, in which case she could become significantly stronger. I suspect this knowledge lies beyond the mortal realm, so I fear you have little more than your intuition to go on but I have come to believe your intuition is very sound. Even if the lady of the ice is empowered by it’s destruction, it seems she is only one part of the Icewatcher plan so whatever happens would have the potential to destabilise their strategy. Not to mention that you have been tracked half way across the known world in part because you possess the weapon, it might make you far less important in the eyes of our enemy should you relinquish it and much harder to find.

Morning, Please let me know if they do encroach on the Woodmarch. My mother lives in the woods and I want to make sure she’s safe. Not that I could do much from here. But I sure as hell would try and fly back. I don't think I can make it that far, certainly not by myself. I think I said before there's a big ol curse affecting this entire land. I’ve been reading up on curses and I think I may be able to tap into it. But only on a small scale. Curses tend to be very specific in their nature. So you only need to change a small aspect of it and it’ll snap back in a different direction. But I need to find an opening, maybe the origin of the curse, maybe a fundamental item or place to it. If I could find a way of amplifying it I might be able to do something on a bigger scale and have more of an effect. Magic’s got a flow to it. If I set off a ripple in the middle I might be able to cause a chain reaction. If I could then get all the power which was suddenly tearing itself out of the land and make it reverb back into one place I could do something huge. Or destroy something with it. I cant send the energy far enough away to hurt the army but maybe I could send it into something that might hurt the army. I don't know if destroying the sword will be a good thing, or even if I can get this plan to work. But at least it's a plan. All we seem to be doing is running away and the others haven't even mentioned the war recently. I’m sure they’re thinking about it but maybe they don't want to talk out loud incase it makes them realise how little we are helping. I dont think I’m going to tell Percy about my plan to destroy the sword. I think he may try and talk me out of it. We don't know what will happen. But I’d rather take a chance and do something then not do anything in fear of making it worse. Bam

Along the mountains they seem to be skirting Woodmarch, perhaps there is nothing there to interest them, but every time our armies have tried to hold them on the north road, it has proved both costly and ineffective. I am lead me to wonder whether the presence of the artifact the Paladin carries was somehow slowing them down or making them more careful and now they are evidently aware he is far away, they see no further limit to their opportunities for conquest. . We have, at least, managed to find and eliminate some of the cold seeds that were so instrumental in the revolution down in Sudec. By helping us to identify that strategy you and your companions have already slowed their progress and saved many lives. I will try to keep you up to date, but as I have said, I may not have access to the resources of the library for much longer, so if there is anything you need to know, ask now! Saf

I’m afraid the news from the south is not all good - we were hoping that with winter turning, the Icewatchers would have less power to draw on, and to a degree that is true: Our troops are suffering less under the force of their magic, but they seem to have spent the winter training their forces and where they were previously ill-trained peasants, they are now much more effective on the field. I am in contact with our royal mother and she assures me that our older sister is doing alright, but they keep being pushed back. Now we are getting reports of huge beasts marching with their armies, they already hold the Farn river and Farmouth is under siege. I don’t know that they will be able to hold out for long. Throughout the western kingdoms the talk is of conscription and throwing everything into the war effort and I will probably be called to serve, although what help a scholar can be against these odds I couldn’t say. At least I shall be able to bring Tartasha along with me, I doubt the sturdiest of their warriors could stand against her scimitar.

Bambari, good to hear from you! Did you have a bound scrying mirror, by any chance? I have seen some of those, and they always seem to have some quirk or limitation. I once saw one that only showed images as though reflected in turbulent water, another that could dictate exactly what it perceived but at a very great length so picking out the relevant information was extraordinarily hard work. I even heard of one that manifested a ghostly arm with a paintbrush, capable of depicting what had been witnessed in watercolours with a degree of abstraction somehow dependent on the skill of the invoker. Of course I am not a smith-enchanter and this kind of binding magic is not usually the province of the church, but there is a relationship to an interesting piece of history here. It seems that at one time there was a very large mirror here in Aru-sha that was built specifically for a magical use. The histories of the city agree that it existed and that at some point it broke, or was broken, very unlucky, and what became of it after that is unclear except that my research suggests that the best scrying mirrors are made from fragments of that mirror. So it is possible that he did not have a part of your magic mirror, but instead he carried one that was made from a different fragment of the same original. If it was a good quality scrying mirror from the Western Kingdoms, the odds of that are fairly high.

Your sister appears to be doing ok. She's anti stealing some gem we’ve been set up with. Before we pulled into your city we were on a boat. Someone stole my stuff and evidently sent a part of my magic mirror to a guy calling himself Death, bit much, and he’s set us up as revenge for killing his insane brother. I guess the mirror part was small enough to send on a well trained bird. It’s all been a bit much these last few weeks. I don't like the sea, I don't like the desert and I wish I was at home. I dont think the Lunzideren have cats : ( Bam

Hi Saf, Yeah we’ve met them. After our ship crashed we walked in the desert for ages. Then they picked us up. It was pretty fortuitous, if they hadn't rolled past we definitely would have died. A few of them speak our language a little, which is weird because there is such a disconnect between the kingdoms. The sea is obviously not well travelled but it turns out after the harsh desert there's also a cursed ground. So I doubt many people that attempt to travel between the two places make it. The curse means that anyone that stays too long in one place turns into an abomination. They don't have any real records of when it began, just some old fable about hunting and tricksters.

WANTED FOR THEFT AND HIGH TREASON Four very dangerous individuals have been reportedly involved in serious crimes against several hemu and against our entire people. They are all foreigners, pale skinned and sinister of demeanour, with untrustworthy expressions and clear ill intent. One is male, small, appearing as though a very young man, but do not be mislead- he is a notorious criminal famous for malice, violence and exceedingly bad manners. The second is female ( sources suggest she may be married to the first ) with complex hair and a suave manner. Do not be fooled by her demeanour she is a confidence trickster, scammer and has shown a terrible propensity for violence against those who displease her. Third we have a thin and unprepossessing individual bearing some kind of musical instrument and claiming to be a famous musician from the west. Although little more than a petty thief and no kind of warrior at all, this man is dangerous for the company he keeps as well as displaying unseemly propensity for public nudity. Finally there is a heavyset man with very pale hair and an impressive moustache combined with the bearing of an old fashioned strongman. This individual is the "muscle" of the group and should not be approached as he is both powerful and relentless in his violent appetites, showing neither mercy nor discretion in his choice of victims. These people are highly dangerous, they show know allegiance to house and can consequently hold neither honour nor moral integrity. If you encounter any of these four miscreants, report them immediately to your superior, so that they may apprehended and our people made safe once more.

Well, I hope this is helpful at any rate. That is the overview of what I was able to learn about the bloodlines. If you need any more detail on anything I found, I would be happy to provide it. You have been out in the plains for a while now, how are things going? Did you end up encountering the Lunzideren?