White Tree was quiet at night, which was really not much of a surprise since it was pretty sleepy during the day.  The state of security, was as always, utterly appalling. There was a lone guard stationed in the tower and from the sound of the snoring, he was fast asleep.  There was no need to even feign stealth to reach the center of the village, though Branwhyn – as a matter of good practice – kept the shadows nevertheless.

Finding a darkened corner, with a view of the door to Elder Hugo’s longhouse, he crouched down to wait for someone in the household to make a night time journey to void their bowels.  The fox-fur mantle he wore was a helpful protection against the night’s chill air, even so he didn’t have long to wait. Snorri, Hugo’s son, snuck out of the front door. A lass from a nearby household was already waiting nearby.  The two embraced before stealing away together, hand-in-hand, into the night.

The sun had just begun to peak over the horizon and Branwhyn felt its warmth on his face even before opening his eyes.  His back rested against a broad tree at the very edge of the forest, he faced the small settlement of White Tree, and he had no idea how he’d come to be laying in that spot.  The last thing Branwhyn remembered was being drawn — unintentionally — into the shadow and the near encounter with the dark planet. What unsettled him was not the encounter or the memory of it, but that it seemed so terribly familiar to him.  After that, his memory was void. He had lost time, everything from reaching out to touch the planet to now. Though when now was, was unclear. It was perhaps the next morning, but then days or weeks might easily have passed if he were unlucky.  His gear was all present, weapons and supplies. Though, a twinned pair of black feathers had been tied to the head of his spear. Each black feather seemed overlaid with shifting ephemeral purples and greens. The feathers been tied to the metal with finely braided sinew, accented with bone beads.  The accoutrement was clearly intentional, but its meaning was, for the moment at least, utterly lost upon him. Using the spear to leverage himself up, Branwhyn found he felt surprisingly well rested. With a shake of his head, he began walking towards White Tree.

This should put us at White Tree unless we’re waylaid.  Undertake a Journey w/ Wits (7, 6, 6+3), Strong Hit.  We’ll make good use of our supplies again, and then Reach Your Destination (9, 7, [10]).  Strong Hit, good thing we pushed for 10 progress.  Our momentum is good, so we’ll take the +1 Forward on whatever the next roll is.  We are also using the Universal NPC Editor here. We have Elder Hugo: Prying ranger, Insane & Distrustful.  Motivations: compel allies, institute/establish secret, attempt military. I’m not really comfortable with him being insane, which is probably a good reason to leave it and learn how to play such a thing.  Compel allies suggests he wants allies, but also want to hold leverage over them so he can compel them. Institute secret I think will have something to do with the Witch. Attempt military sounds like he wants better martial protection for White Tree.

Nestled between the roots of a mountain with tracks of farmland stretching outward like short stubby fingers.  The ground must have been particularly rocky for there were low stone walls everywhere and the houses as well were made of stone with sod roofs.  Spring was well underway, the fields were already planted, and so only a few villagers noted their arrival. Strangely, there was no palisade. Only a vaguely intimidating fence of sturdy poles driven into the ground.  Perhaps they were unconcerned with raiders, but it was foolish to overlook such a basic defense. There was, however a watchtower and it was apparently manned since a quartet of armed villagers ventured out to meet them.  At their head was a man with ash brown hair, tanned leathery skin earned from a life spent out of doors, and a luxuriously drooping mustache that was just a shade lighter than his hair.

“Stop there, that is far enough, thank you.”  The elder had a lilting voice and his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.  “I am, of course, Elder Hugo. Who are you and why have you come?”

We will take a Sojourn move between chapters since we certainly need to heal up.  Sojourn w/ Heart + Bond (10, 5, 5+2+1), Weak Hit.  I was hoping for a strong hit, but given that everyone was very recently living the life of a Broken, it makes sense that things are in a bit of disarray and the time hasn’t been overly restful.  So a Weak Hit gives us one options and the Bond gives us a second. We will Mend to clear the Wounded condition and Recuperate to get our Health back up to +2. Because of the chaos in Crow’s Perch, it seems likely that some folk died and it is possible that Corinna’s parents (one or both) were among them.  So we’ll ask the Oracle, 1-33 Both are fine, 34-66 One is dead, 67-100 Both are dead. 71 – Corinna is an Orphan. Killing named NPCs off screen, I’m such a monster.

The pyres for the dead burned, raging against the dying light of the sun and warming the gathered mourners from Crow’s Perch.  It seemed that every family in the Ironhold had lost a relation when the Broken had seized the hold and enslaved the minds of its inhabitants.  What made it all the more terrible, is that they vividly remembered every moment of their time as mental slaves. Branwhyn had heard more than a few describe their experiences as looking out of the eyes of someone else’s body.  Seeing and knowing, but having no control over their actions.  

Undertake a Journey w/ Wits(4, 4, 5+3).  Strong Hit w/ a Twist. This move puts us at 10 progress on our Journey to Crow’s Perch and so we’ll take the +1 Momentum and sacrifice -1 Supply.  Now at +10 Momentum and +4 Supply. Finally, we’ll roll Reach Your Destination (7, 1, [10]).  Strong Hit, we have reached our destination.  Accordingly, we get a +1 Forward on our next roll, which we’ll make in a moment.  Now for the Twist, Theme Oracle says: 69 – Prize. The Prize we are after is technically the people of Crow’s Perch, but the Apostle is the road to that Prize.  Lets define it more with the Action Oracle: 59 – Rumor. Rumors are sometimes true, sometimes a lie, but more often a mix of both. I know what the answer it, but you’ll have to read to find out.  😀

The land around the Crow’s Perch had long ago been cleared for farming and the fields were still in the midst of being planted.  Accordingly there was very little in the way of terrain to cover an approach to the Ironhold, as was intended. No one knew if the Broken would post sentries on the walls and so Branwhyn, Cyne, and the other wardens from the hold had taken a circuitous path for their approach. One that would hopefully help to avoid detection.  They had also stopped a couple miles away in a shallow ravine to wait for nightfall before making their final approach. This had been a moment that Branwhyn would have normally been dreading, the wait before battle when his mind would invariably race down the many paths of what might yet go wrong. Yet, instead his mind’s eye looked back to the camp of refuges from Crow’s Perch they’d left behind. His mind’s eye turned to consider Corinna who he had left with her neighbors.  Perhaps with eyes outward looking for more Broken they would not notice the change in the girl. Perhaps they would not even recognize her. Who was to say that her eyes were the only change about her? Branwhyn had never seen Corinna before the Crone of the Bog had taken her. Much about her might have changed in a very short amount of time and the people he’d left her with were afraid. It wasn’t a good combination.