Our Tale So Far

## And So It Begins

Our story begins in the Tempest Hills, a land of stunted trees, constant cold winds and mist shrouded waterfalls. Miners, nomads and caravans make up most of the population. Mammoths wander the valley floors and rumours of giants haunting the mountain peaks can be heard in any Circle.
We find ourselves just outside the Circle of Kinheim, on a forest trail with Amala and Gihr.

## Episode One

In the wake of a near attack by wolves, Amala, apprenticed to the shaman of Kinheim, introduces herself to the large stranger named Gihr. He saved her life from the wolves as she had been focusing on that morning's augury with the crows. He says he was hired by a farmer whose livestock is being eaten by wolves, an unusual occurrence for the area, and that now he must wait for the wolves to reemerge. Amala takes the gruff, beast of a man back to her circle and introduces him to the Headman Berengar. Gihr is looking for a "man made of metal with molten metal in his eyes". While Berengar brushes him off, he does offer Gihr a place to stay for the night by the fire. At the same time, Amala goes to speak with her master, a prim and proper woman named Wina, and tell her of the attack and the arrival of the unusual visitor. Wina is dismissive of Gihr and instead chastises Amala for her lack of focus and attention before dismissing her apprentice for the day.

Entering the village around the time Amala is leaving the shaman round house, Bill Hardinge enters Kinheim with his cockroach companion Feet. He recognizes Gihr, who is pushing through the people of Kinheim, and decides it is best to avoid him for the time being as he and Feet instead meet Amala and is welcomed to the circle.

Gihr had smelled, and found, Ceridwen, a woman walking into the circle with a horse who not only knows Gihr from a previous encounter that has seemed to have left their relationship a bit strained, but also knows Amala. She recounts that she is looking for her brother and the few clues she had had been stolen from her. Amala takes her to speak with Wina where the shaman performs a ritual and gives Ceridwen a vague hint of a lead towards fulfilling her vow.

## Episode Two

Amala's augury with the crows revealed a new problem in the Kinheim Valley; something in the water is driving animals away from the area, something dangerous. Our Ironsworn head out to figure out what is going on and how it's connected to the wolves. Something has tainted the water, something dangerous that could destroy the whole valley. Bill and Gihr have sworn to stop it, both with different reasons but aiming for the same goal. But the waters and taint are not the only dangers they face. The taint is not only in the water, an acidic ichor has befallen the nearby flora and fauna and the sickly wolves have been following close by.

The crows warn of more and more danger as the group travel, pointing in every direction as Amala tries to gain some form of guidance. The source of the taint was not within the waterfall, so the group must move farther up the river.

## Episode Three

While searching for the source of the taint, the Ironsworn come across bioluminescent mushrooms. They spread unnaturally on surfaces and, as Bill soon discovered, when lit aflame they burst and can cause temporary blindness. While Bill, Ceridwen, and Gihr continue their investigations, Amala tries to reach out into the woods for an answer. While doing so, she comes across something completely beyond her ken. The Shadow is vast and all consuming, dangerous and angry in ways she was never prepared for. Her spirit and her bonds are tested with this new information.

Gihr is the first to stumble across a circle of the mushrooms, foreboding and cloaked in shadow. Within the faerie circle lay a 2 centimeter long cylinder of perfectly smooth iron. Iron that not only connects with one of his vows, but has attracted a creature the likes of which the group have never seen. It could only be described as an anti-dryad, a horrible but beautiful forest spirit with spores covering their face and pupils rimmed in luminescent blue. The trees wither in their presence and shadow seems to seep from them. They seek the iron and the Ironsworn must fight to stay alive.

After the fight, won by many amounts of luck, the Ironsworn set up camp. Bill is tended to, a vow is unintentionally broken, and a bond is formed between Ceridwen and Amala as Ceridwen promises to help protect Amala and stay tethered to her as she explores more of the shadows that her master has been hiding from her.