The man who had once been Radulf of Templemount stared vacantly out of his window at the courtyard of the Citadel-Temple replaying the events of that horrible day many, many years ago. as he often found himself doing. With difficulty, he pulled his mind back from the day that Lili had died. She had been his first love he knew now, although it had taken him years (and other loves) to realise that ...
That day had been the single most formative experience of his life. He had been damaged in body and soul, his Faith challenged as it had never been before. But he had survived - unlike beautiful, heroic, Lili. And his friend, Runbjorn had never been the same - the Hound's spirit had been shattered by the experience. Instead of a brave, loyal, companion, Runbjorn had become a frightened, broken thing, whimpering and cowering at the slightest fear and lived out his short remaining life as Radulf's pet, unable to fulfil his duties as a Kadaverhund of the Faith.
He had been like Runbjorn at first - broken, useless and without purpose. His left arm had been crippled - barely able to lift it above shoulder height. That meant he could no longer wield the Hammer-of-Charun, the badge of office of the Charun, a Warrior-of-the-Faith - a role that he had trained to fill since he had been given to the Church. What would he be now? What could he do? How could he help the Faith that was the core of his life?
Then Lady Sibila had saved him. She had given him purpose and even given him a new name. That had been her greatest gift to him. A new name allowed him to separate the events of 'before' from those of 'after' in his mind, creating a measure of acceptance that had not been possible for him until that point.
So, Radulf or rather Brunvoldt as he was henceforth known, joined the library of the Citadel-Temple. As his body slowly mended, he studied under Gyda, Mistress-of-Lore. Lady Sibila wanted Brunvoldt to learn new skills and expand his knowledge so that he would continue to be of use to the Faith. Along with knowledge, Brunvoldt learnt new martial skills - the holy sword of Vanth became his weapon. Specifically, Lili's sword. That had been all that remained of Lili when Radulf had regained his senses and he had kept the sword ever since.
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| Magnus, the Vagthund |
When Runbjorn had finally been granted the gift of eternal rest, Lady Sibila had ordered Brunvoldt to attend the Temple-Kennels to gain a new companion. She believed that Brunvoldt would need the aid of a new Hound and, although Brunvoldt was reluctant, he came to learn that she was right. Temple-Houndmaster Gunnvor once more guided Brunvoldt, but this time it was to bond with a Vagthund* and Magnus became his new partner.
* - According to Google, Vagthund is Danish for wardog, Magnus' breed is Central Asian Shepherd dog
Brunvoldt's life was not all work, though. Whenever Ser Taylah, Priestess-of-Vanth in Portwater, came to Templemount, she visited Brunvoldt and their friendship grew, each appreciating the company of the other. In the summers he visited the settlements administered by the Faith and was pleased to see that the boy Sven, crippled by the Varou in Highfall, was growing to be a redoubtable young man. Sigrid and Odvir's love had blossomed to marriage although she had chosen to leave the Church (gossip fountained as to why, but Brunvoldt did not know).
Just over three years had passed since the day of Lili's death. His body was mended, although his left arm still pained him and it would never have full mobility or use. His mind had been educated and expanded and he felt ready for whatever Lady Sibila intended for him. He did not know it, but those around him agreed that Brunvoldt was ready to return to the world. Mistress-of-Lore Gyda said as much to Lady Sibila, 'He must be pushed now, or he'll stay in the Library for ever; I have no more to teach him.'
So Brunvoldt was summoned to the Lady Sibilia's office where he learnt that she had created a new role in the Faith for him ...
I'm using the 'opportunity' of the traumatic fight in Radulf 22 - Sacrifice, to change my game.
As Radulf had developed, I could see the game rapidly becoming a 'monster-of-the-week' series, something that I do not want. So, by using the Ironsworn asset 'Battle-Scarred', I'm changing the character's specialism away from combat to a more thought-first approach. Well, that's my intent.
I've been listening to a lot of Starforged actual plays, and am impressed by the changes between it and Ironsworn, and would like to try the new rules. As I have no inspiration for a Sci-Fi game at the moment, I'm going to use them for this game going forward, but am retaining some of the Ironsworn assets.
As a consequence of the change of rules, I'm changing the assets of Brunvoldt; the starting assets were:Those Ironsworn assets are exchanged for these Starforged assets:
- Devotant (Charun, Iron), Banner-sworn, Thunder-bringer
In the course of his adventures, Radulf earned 13xp - 4 of which were for completing the vow to destroy the Villain (shown as incomplete on his character sheet) - which Brunvoldt has spent as follows:
- Devotant (Vanth, Wits), Blademaster, Sleuth
Note: I've advanced the connection with Ser Taylor to represent the friendship in the fiction above to 6/10. Also, I have advanced his background vow to 1.5/10 as each years' service is a 'tick'
- Starforged Assets: 2xp Devotant 2nd ability, 5xp Firebrand & 3rd ability, 3xp Companion Combat Bot (reskinned as Magnus the Vagthund)
- Ironsworn Assets: 3xp Battle-scarred (1st ability, -1 Iron, +1 Heart, +1 Wits)
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