KALAT

Puppetteer

DISCLAIMER. This post features horror elements, violence, and body horror.

Zachery is asked by his coworker at the dispensary, his day job, to investigate the haunting at Raven Chateau.

S01 Green Bean Dispensary

? Where do we start
-> Warm/Protection

? Who is my initial contact
-> Playful/Protecting

The guard at the dispensary, Felicia, asks me to investigate an abandoned estate. I say yes. We’re at the “green room” together. I ask her, “What happened?”

? Does she know all the details
-> Yes -> Curiously/Artificial

We talk for almost half an hour. She tells me that the estate was the owner of a puppeteer, a well-established one, some time ago. Apparently, the home-owner was robbed and killed by one of his jealous ex-wives, who also happened to be in competition with him. His ex-wife made dolls too.

Their names were George and Jan Tariel.

I rest for the night.

S02 Raven Chateau Playroom

@ Delve the Paranormal
d: 5 (d10) -> Playroom
d: 2 (d6) -> Smell of Rot
d: 8 (d10) -> 5 (2+Wits) > 5,8 -> Miss

@ Reveal a Danger
d: 20 -> Terrifying Sensation -> Speaking in Tongues

Toys littered everywhere; in the baby crib, a toy doll with a pink dress on. It reeks. I step closer to it, pointing the flashlight to see.

Whispers. The stench aggravates, and a whisper underneath. Continual sound. Words spilling out. I step back.

? Does it hurt to hear
-> Yes

@ Endure 
[Spirit|5->4]
d: 6 > 7,1 -> Weak Hit 
[Momentum|+2->+1] 
[Spirit|4->5]

Words ache my head; I stumble onto the far wall, hands pressed against my temples. Whispering a prayer, hand on my rosary, I endure.

The voice getting louder now, I reach down for my double-barrel. I step forward. The front sight hovers over my target.

@ Engage
d: 8 > 3,3 -> Strong Hit and Match -> Desecrate/Lies 
[Exorcise the Shadows|03/10]

The words, somehow, become clear to me in the instant moment I squeeze. “He deserved it. He deserved it! HE DES—”

Eviscerated.

The crib now has a hole where the baby was, its legs spindled and splintered. The sound of shells discharging from the barrel fills the empty space, then the reloading of a shell.

“Not here,” I say. The far door opens by hand, and I exit through it.

S03 Cold Attic

@ Delve the Paranormal
d: 2 -> Attic
d: 1 -> Sudden Chill
d: 5 > 2,1 -> Strong Hit 
[Exorcise the Shadows|3->6/10]

@ EMF
d: 55 > 76 -> "NO"

Lighting the lanterns, I enter the attic. Gusts of wind or perhaps supernatural spirits present themselves; I feel sudden cold breezes rush past me, the hairs on my arms and back stand.

The device in my hand lights up in red to yellow to green colors, as I ask, “Are you here?”

The EMF reads red. This is good — I know definitely now that the creature isn’t here.

@ Engage
d: 6 > 3,6 -> Weak Hit
[Momentum|+1->+2]

As I continue scanning around for clues, I discover that the place the toymaker most worked was out in a shed, in the backyard. Several photographs show him and his children happily and joyfully playing and spending time together.

I look out the attic window at the backyard.

? Is something standing there
d: 12 -> Exceptional Yes
[Entity|0->1/5]

“What the f—”

A door loudly shuts. The shed door, I could’ve sworn, was swinging open just then. The window itself stops wafting the air in, I stumble backwards, and the shutter closes.

I shuffle backwards, and get up to open the attic door.

[Exorcise the Shadows|6->9/10]
@ Reveal a Danger
-> A terrifying event. 
-> Objects are possessed. 
-> Trapped.

It doesn’t budge. I snap my head around.

The silence is interrupted.

Wooden toys of little boys and girls. Dolls composed of rotting rags. They start to whisper and shuffle toward me; I am surrounded by walking creatures.

The EMF transmitter wails. I take out a thick leather Bible, and the shotgun in the other hand.

[Dolls|0/10]
@ Engage
d: 4 > 6,9 -> Miss

@ Pay the Price
-> Someone is watching you

The dolls, over a dozen of them, stumble and reach my ankles. They grip tight and start crawling up my legs, into the pants, and they’re rough, aggressive, strong. Then I feel them tug strongly.

@ Endure
d: 3 > 2,6 -> Weak Hit

I get tugged toward the ground, and feel my ankles sink into the dark shadow of the floor.

“NO!” I let out a shot at point blank toward one of the dolls; they jump back as I kick some of the others off. My ears ring as I start to kick at the attic door, trying to bash in the wood.

@ Engage
d: 6 > 7,7 -> Miss and Match -> Unearth/Beauty
[Health|5->2]

The dolls overpower me. I feel my knees buckle underneath me. My ankle bores through the wood, as I am thrust one leg down through the attic door and one leg still on the floor above. The dolls reengage, and grasp for my head. My neck snaps back, as their whispers roar, and roar. “He deserved it!” they say, over and over. “He deserved it! He deserved it! He—”

Something grabs the ankle through the attic door. It wrenches me through and down into the hallway beneath.

She’s beautiful.

Something wet splotches onto my shirt, in the abdomen area. I can’t tell what just happened.

I look up. The stairs are above. My back stings a little. I’m prone on the floor in the hallway. Something is standing above me. Shadow. Long black hair. A woman? Something’s on my gut.

Her hand. Her arm is in there.

I gasp for air.

@ Endure
d: 4 > 4,10 -> Miss
[Health|2->1]

I gasp again. Blackness. Then dim light. The woman’s face over me. “He deserved it,” she says.

Latin words escape from her shadowy figure; dolls dressed in beautiful attire climb down the stairs, and crawl into my stomach. They keep crawling in. One by one, they bloat me.

Blackness.

Reflection

Hi again! It's been a minute — I'm excited to share that I have succesfully read through the core rules of Ironsworn, after so many attempts over the years to wrap my head around it. Quite a fantastic system! It's something that makes me consider the usage of clocks in systems other than this or PbtA, or FitD. I can understand how the moves can be limited for some other kinds of players, however. This practice of trying something I thought I wouldn't like — and I thought I wouldn't like this — has led me to hypothesize that this might be workable and fun to roleplay, given thought and practice.

Regarding the prose, I started this thinking I wouldn't post it or anything — so the prose in the first scene is very introductory. I was trying out the moves and reading through the moves for this Ironsworn expansion whilst playing it. I think it came out quite alright in the end. A little more horrific and body horror than usual.

Thanks once again for reading. Looking forward to the next one!