Travel is a common feature in many stories, none the least Ironsworn. Unless trouble comes to the Hero, a Hero needs to track it down, wrestle it to the ground and declare it trouble no more! Or something like that...
It is about time I work out how this particular leg of the journey fairs. I've got to give the journey (leaving Bildsfel and intercepting [bro].) a difficulty rank: I'll call it 'Dangerous', which yields 2 measures of progress per waypoint. Why is it "Dangerous'" Well the storm season has begun and they're travelling in a Longboat that's been fitted for speed. The crew are also being pushed beyond their normal limits, so they're increasingly fatigued.
With the sun ever so slowly rising behind them, the longboat powered out of Bildsfell, throwing freezing spray up from its bow as the oarsmen dug deep and true with their every stroke.
"Keep that pace up lads," shouted Captain Malik, "and we may end up ramming into Stienbitr's rear."
"That's one rear that I will gladly row for!" replied Sigrid Kollsveindottir to the raucous cheers of the crew.
"They're good men and women Gauk, you won't fail on their account," reassured Malik, "provided the weather holds".
"Enough of such talk," responded Gauk, spitting into the freezing sea. "You know better than to tempt our fates at a time like this". Gauk slapped [Captain's] back in a good-hearted fashion, conveying that he didn't take such things too seriously.
By mid-afternoon, the Longboat had exited the Lucent fjord and headed northward, keeping within sight of the coastline. [Captain Malik was well used to this stretch of water and before long the party had found the Saviour Current, which aided their advance no end.
So the way it works (I think) is this Journey is represented as a 10-stage Progress Bar. The more difficult the Journey, the more Waypoints you need to complete the Bar. This being a Dangerous Journey, I will make off 2-stages per Waypoint.
Okay, some more reading. The number of Progress stages I complete will be my defacto score against which I need resolve a 'Reach Your Destination' in due course - basically, the quicker I try to reach my destination, the more unlikely I will get there. I will need to complete 3 Waypoints to have a better than 50% chance of things going my way. I suppose I can work that out later. Onto my current challenge: how are things going during this initial leg of the journey - dice time:
[4] + 2 Wits + 1 Shared Bond = [7] Action vs Versus [7] and [1] Challenge Die
Ties always go to the challenge dice, so that's a Weak Hit. In this instance that means we progress (+2 Progress, now at [2]) but at a cost of Supply (-1 Supply, now at [4]).
The days passed in a blur of chilling salt spray, creaking timbers and groaning oarsmen. As the light waned, the crew took their boat into a cove, tended to necessary repairs and quickly fell asleep, exhausted from the day's exertions.
Mmm... feels like I should now make a further Move, this time to see if I make it to Brackwater Cove. This isn't a journey being undertaken from our settlement, so I won't get the same +1 Shared Bond bonus. Let's see what the dice give me:
[3] + 2 Wits = [5] Action vs Versus [8] and [3] Challenge Die
Another Weak Hit, so further progress (+2 Progress, now at [4]) as our supplies further diminish (Supply (-1 Supply, now at [3]). But at least we've made it to Brackwater Cove and from here Gauk can attempt to cross The Isthmus of Raynigan.
The longboat that pulled into Brackwater Cove was far from the sleek, stallion that had hurdled out of Bildsfell many days before. The fact that Captain Malik and his crew were able to make the time they had was a testament to the hamlet's shipwrights with the vessel in need of a multitude of spot repairs before it could venture to the open seas again.
"Careful there lads," cautioned the Captain as he guided the vessel to the beach, "gently does it." He could have saved his breath, the crew, for all their bravado, were spent and more than happy to let the tide wash them ashore.
Gauk was hardly conscious of the crew making ready for landfall as he took in the landscape before him, instinctively seeking a path through Springsevain to the Northern Straight.
"There's still enough light that I can put a league or two under my feet before sundown," reflected Gauk as he began fussing with his supplies.
It just occurred to me, presently Gauk is about to undertake this leg of his journey alone. I wonder if there's some Oracle that might suggest something else, like one of the sailors volunteering or something? Time to have a hunt in the rulebook and maybe sleep on it overnight.
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