Waves Breaking, Chapter Six
Exploring a Ruin
The Deathwish sailed into unknown waters, Harrow pushing the crew and himself to stay vigilant.1
Days passed and the weather remained fair.
Perhaps that bit of luck Kaito mentioned.
“Captain!” the yell from below decks, taking Harrow’s attention away from the horizon.
A few of the crew came up, dragging someone with them, someone Harrow didn’t recognize.
“We got a stowaway ‘ere!” One of the crew pushed the man forward onto his knees in front of Harrow.
Harrow put his hands to the hilts of his blades as he assessed the one in front of him.
The man was of slender build, and though his eyes had a desperate look, his movements were graceful.
“You must have snuck aboard during our battle with the Sea Wolf. Why? Who are you?” Harrow asked.
“I am Junho Yoon and I am no pirate. I was captured weeks ago when they attacked my home. I’m just a butcher, please.”
“How did you escape?” Harrow asked, leaning forward.
“One of the cannons knocked the cage door loose. All the men were focused on the battle. In the chaos, I got aboard your ship and hid below.”
“If you’re no pirate, what are you, then?”
“A simple butcher, that is all.”
“And would you like to go back home? We cannot go out of our way but can drop you at the next settlement, if you wish.”
Junho shook his head, closing his eyes. “There’s nothing left…” His head sank down.
Harrow crossed his arms, thinking.
The crew watched.
Kaito stepped next to Harrow, and whispered. “Sir, some think it best we throw him overboard. He was on a pirate ship and could be lying. Stowaways are bad luck.”
“That is not the type of captain I wish to be,” Harrow whispered back. He stepped forward, closer to Junho and crouched down. “You were a butcher, can you cook?”
Junho looked up, blinking. “I-I can manage well enough, sir.”
“We could use a cook.” Harrow named a couple crew members. “Take him below, make sure he’s fed and given water. Show him the galley.”
The expedition to Hollow Verge continued.2
A fog drifted through early morning, reducing visibility. It dissipated as the sun rose higher, revealing two things of interest. Putting the spyglass to his eye, Harrow spotted a small partially submerged shipwreck, as well as a medium sized ship underway, sailing away from the Deathwish. The ship had large chase guns. The flag displayed a Gorgon holding a fish in it’s hands. He described it to Kaito.
“That’s a Pythian Alliance ship. Don’t know much about them,” Kaito said. “Do we give chase?”
“No,” Harrow said, looking long enough to ensure the ship wasn’t turning around, before focusing on the shipwreck. He noticed it had ironclad construction, which was unusual. “Let’s check out that shipwreck, however.”3
The wreck was in large broken pieces. Harrow leaped into the water and swam around, looking for anything of value. All he could find was debris, much of the ship having sunk far below, dragged down by its iron plating. He couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched as he swam, despite there being no land or other ships around as far as the eye could see.
He clambered back on board, trying to shake the feeling off but unable to. “Let us continue on,” he said to Kaito, going to his cabin to put on dry clothes.4
The next few days passed slowly, as the wind died, the sun blazed in the sky and the Deathwish moved little. The crew grew hot and upset, little fights and arguments escalating more than usual, with Harrow and Kaito having to intervene before things came to blows or worse, to injuries.
“Where’s that luck, Kaito?” Harrow said one night, sharing a bottle with his 2nd in command, standing at the railing, looking at the twin moons in the sky.
“It’s coming,” Kaito said, taking a swig. “I’m sure of it.”5
The wind did not pick up as a week passed and supplies started running short.
“Any day now,” Kaito said.
“As soon as we get wind, I want the Deathwish to fly as fast as she can go,” Harrow said, wiping his face with a wet cloth.6
The next day, the wind picked up, the sails billowed and the Deathwish surged across the sea. The crew took up a cheer and one man started singing a sea shanty. Harrow realized he knew the words and joined in. Soon, the whole crew was singing as they worked.
Afterwards, Kaito took Harrow down to the cargo hold, showing him the meager remains of their supplies. “We’re running real low, Captain. We need to resupply as soon as we’re able.”
Harrow nodded. “Understood.”7
“Captain, sorry to wake you, but you’re going to want to see this,” Esana said, knocking at the door to Harrow’s quarters.
“I’m up,” he said, throwing on his clothes and hurrying after her.
Wraith hung high up in the sky, full, it’s silver-blue color casting pale light onto the waters below. It’s twin moon, Cinder had already set.
Lanterns hung about the deck of the ship and the crew were quiet, at the railing, looking at something.
Kaito had his spyglass out, looking out over the calm sea.
“What is it?” Harrow asked, joining him.
Kaito passed the spyglass over. “A ruin of some kind, coming out of the water. It appears vast.”
Harrow could see it, just, a dark, looming structure. “Hold anchor here. We approach in the morning.”
A few of the crew mumbled or whispered. A superstitious lot indeed.
In the morning, the ruin stood stark on the horizon, a vast white tower rising out of the ocean. Its stark white stone walls covered in ivy and plant life.
The Deathwish approached carefully, dropping anchor before hitting the shallow seabed.
Thick strands of webbing hung over the walls, windows and doorways.
“Esana and Jihun,” Harrow said, and pointed at a couple more. “Nadir, Bruna. You’ll accompany me inside.” Esana and Jihun had already proved capable. Nadir was missing his left arm but he did more without it than most men did with two and Bruna always seemed ready for a fight.
“You shouldn’t go, captain, not in your condition,” Kaito argued.
“Look after the ship,” Harrow said. “We’ll be back soon.”
They took a small transport boat to the edge of the tower. A huge structure, it was clear most of it was beneath the surface of the water, although a sizable portion jutted into the sky above them.
“Let us be wary,” Harrow said. “We know not what we will find.”
In the first room, a man lay dead. Harrow flipped him over, revealing his face. He hadn’t been dead long.
“That’s one of pirates we faced, from the Sea Wolf!” Nadir said.
“What did they want here?” Harrow asked, standing up.8 It was hard to tell what had killed the man.
“Sir, the water’s rising,” Esana said, pulling her foot out of it. “Tides coming in?”
“Let us move quickly then,” Harrow said, moving forward.9
The rooms were mostly barren as they moved through them.
In one room, sitting on a stone bench, a ragged, dog-eared journal. Harrow picked it up and flipped through it. It was from one of the crew members of the Sea Wolf. He read the last few pages.
i dont know why weve come here, aint nothing here at all. some whisper its to do with an ancient monster, a beast of the depths, sounds like grog talk to me. still, i aint going against grimshaw or the caps orders, thats for sure. im one of the few going in tomorrow, i dont like it.
Harrow pocketed the journal. An ancient monster, beast from the depths?
Sounds like the Kraken.
He felt an itch on his back, where he knew the tattoo of the tentacled beast was.
“Come look,” Jihun called out in the next room.
Moving into it, Harrow saw Jihun looking at a large carving in the wall, depicting a scene. A group of people kneeling, praying to one standing, holding a knife. Another one, small, a child perhaps, lying on an altar. A line down from the child below waves, down to a large tentacled beast, the Kraken.
“Come on, before the place floods completely,” Harrow said.10
The water level continued to rise.
They encountered a foul stench but could not determine its cause.11
They found stairs up as the water rose ever faster. In the upper chambers, Bruna found a skeleton smashed into pieces. A rusty sword lay by its hand, it’s skull partially crustacean, like some hybrid human-sea creature. “What the hell?”
A guardian of this place, perhaps?
“Leave it,” Harrow said, continuing on, higher up towards the top of the tower.12
Here, in a large central chamber, were statues. Statues of humans and sea creatures, and in the center, a large statue of a Kraken, many of its limbs broken off.
There were gaps in the floor here, leading to the floor below which was quickly filling with water. Even as they walked, sections of the floor gave way.
“Careful!” Harrow called out.
“Captain, should we not leave?” Esana said.
“I need to know,” Harrow said, looking at the statue of the kraken, getting closer.13 He reached out and touched it. Everything went black.
Underwater. Cold. Pressure. Can’t breathe. Open eyes. Darkness, all around except…hint of light above. Try to swim, try to get to it. Can’t. Something on his ankle. Wrapped tight. Pulling. Further down. Down, down down. The light above growing dimmer, dimmer, until it’s gone.
The pulling stops. Floating. Can’t breathe but…don’t need to. Two large eyes open in the deep. A voice in his head. Loud. Too loud. Painful. Searing pain.
***
The tower stands as it did centuries ago, bright and gleaming, on a small island. A ship comes, bringing a child. The men bring the child into the tower. Priests bring the child within. A sacrifice is made. “The waters shall be safe for you,” the priests say. The men return to their ship and leave. The child is gone.
Harrow came to with a gasp, falling to his knees.
“Cap, are you alright?” Nadir yelled from across the room.
Harrow went to stand when he felt a shift under him and the floor collapsed underneath him.14
Harrow woke up in a pile of rubble, his crew pulling him out. “I’m ok,” he said, as they brushed off dust and bits of rock. “We should go, I think we’ve seen enough.”15
They made for the nearest window hole out, jumping into the rising waters and swimming for their boat.
“What happened in there?” Kaito asked, seeing to Harrow’s wounds.16 “Despite your stupidity, your wounds are actually looking good.”
“We’re alone, yes?” Harrow asked.
Kaito nodded.
Harrow let out a breath. “That temple, centuries ago, was in worship of the Kraken. Captains brought children as sacrifices to ensure safe sailing. We found one of the Sea Wolf’s men there, dead, as well as a journal. What Grimshaw wanted there, I could not find out.”
“We should leave soon, then. It’s possible the Sacred Harbingers know of this place and may be sailing these waters,” Kaito said.
Harrow nodded. “Tell the crew to make sail while I rest.” He made his way to his quarters, locking the door behind him. He laid on his bed but could not sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the kraken’s eyes in the dark, staring at him.
Thanks for reading! I have to say I was getting a little down about all of the misses I was getting. Sometimes, the dice just don’t play nice and you’ve got to roll with the punches.
I have to say I had a hard time with the ruins at first. Imagining ruins in the open sea was difficult for me, so I went to the Ironsworn discord and asked for ideas, and very quickly I received many helpful responses! One great thing about solo gaming is if you get stuck, it’s likely there’s somewhere you can ask for help and/or inspiration, whether that’s a subreddit, a discord or some forum. I will just note the Ironsworn discord is an especially helpful and friendly place.
One thing that made it hard with the ruins is the oracle tables are quite open and vague, which they have to be, but that left me with a vague sense of the place itself. Only after I made the decision to choose what type of structure the place would be, was it easier for me to imagine the details and setting of it. That’s one trick I would say to keep in mind when solo gaming. The more detailed and specific you can get, the better the oracle results become, and the easier it is to figure out what comes next. If you don’t establish the scene very well, it can leave you with a difficult time imagining the features, opportunities, etc.
I’m happy to get this out on a wednesday instead of a friday! Hurrah!
Let me know what you thought of this chapter in the comments.
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Check out the Table of Contents for previous games I’ve played as well as other stuff I’ve written.
Undertake Expedition + Wits: 3 vs 6,1 → Weak Hit. Reach a waypoint and mark progress (2/10), but it costs you. Choose: Suffer(-2) or two Suffer(-1) moves, OR face a Peril at the waypoint.
Undertake Expedition + Wits: 7 vs 8,1 → Weak Hit. Mark Progress (3/10). Waypoint: 96 → Roll Twice = Shipwreck + Ship
Explore a Waypoint + Wits: 5 vs 7,10 → Miss. Shipwreck Peril.
Undertake Expedition + Wits: 5 vs 7,8 → Miss. Pay the Price. Delayed or put at disadvantage. Lose Momentum (-2) (0).
Undertake Expedition + Wits: 4 vs 7,8 → Miss. Pay the Price. You waste resources. Sacrifice Resources (-2). -2 Supply (3).
Undertake Expedition + Edge: 6 vs 9,2 → Weak Hit. Mark Progress (4/10) but Suffer or Face a Peril. Sacrifice Resources(-2). -2 Supply (1).
Undertake Expedition + Edge: 8 vs 3,2 → Strong Hit. Mark Progress (5/10). Waypoint: Ruins
Gather Information + Wits: 6 vs 6,7 → Miss. Unearths a dire threat or reveals an unwelcome truth. Pay the Price. The environment or terrain introduces a new hazard.
Undertake Expedition = Name: Explore Sea Ruins. Rank: Dangerous. Roll + Edge: 7 vs 3,9 → Weak Hit. Mark Progress (2/10), reach waypoint, but Suffer or Face a Peril.
Undertake Expedition + Edge: 5 vs 6,5 → Miss. Pay the Price. Start Countdown Clock: “Ruins flood” 1/4
Undertake Expedition + Edge: 8 vs 1,9 → Weak Hit. Mark Progress (4/10). Ruins flood (2/4)
Undertake Expedition + Edge: 5 vs 4,5 → Weak Hit. Mark Progress (6/10). Ruins flood (3/4).
Explore a Waypoint + Wits: 8 vs 1,10 → Weak Hit. Encounter something interesting but it is bound up in a peril or reveals an ominous aspect of this place. +1 Momentum. (1)
Face Danger + Iron: 6 vs 8,1 → Weak Hit. Suffer(-1). Health (3).
Finish Expedition: 6 vs 8,9 → Miss. Abandon the Expedition. Pay the Price.
Heal + Iron: 9 vs 2,4 → Strong Hit. Health (5)
Very much enjoyed this whirlpool of adventure.