The Ironsworn World Workbook is an integral part of defining the Ironlands in which your character lives. It contains 11 sections, each of which give you three choices to choose from.
These are only guidelines, you are quite free to create your own 'answers' for each section - Ironsworn has no rules police. Here are the choices that I have made and after some an explanation on how I view each choice in my IronlandsTHE OLD WORLD
2. The sickness moved like a horrible wave across the Old World, killing all in its path. Thousands fled aboard ships. However, the plague could not be outrun. On many ships, the disease was contained through ruthless measures—tossing overboard any who exhibited the slightest symptom. Other ships were forever lost. In the end, those who survived found the Ironlands and made it their new home. Some say we will forever be cursed by those we left behind.
The dead began to come back to life and spread the curse through their attacks. There were too many to fight and those that could boarded ships and fled ...
So, a zombie apocalypse ... burning a corpse will prevent it from rising; cremation is, as a result universal; ashes are kept in urns and can be used for the Communion ritual (for more see under Horrors below)
I don't envision Iron being a major factor in my game. Vows are sworn on iron and steel, but, given the importance of religion, holy objects (like a Priestess-of-Vanth's sword, or a Charun's Greathammer) are used
LEGACIES
2. Other humans sailed here from the Old World untold years ago, but all that is left of them is a savage, feral people we call the Broken. Is their fate to become our own?
3. Before the Ironlanders, before even the firstborn, another people lived here. Their ancient ruins are found throughout the Ironlands.
I want to include both 'The Broken' and the ancient ruins enabled by option 3
COMMUNITIES
3. We have forged the Ironlands into a home. Villages within the Havens are connected by well-trod roads. Trade caravans travel between settlements in the Havens and those in outlying regions. Even so, much of this land is untamed.
Communities in The Havens are islands in a sea of trees; these woods bewteen settlements get more treatening/forboding the further you are from a settlement; beasts and horrors (see below) dwell in those woods ...
LEADERS
1. Leadership is as varied as the people. Some communities are governed by the head of a powerful family. Or, they have a council of elders who make decisions and settle disputes. In others, the priests hold sway. For some, it is duels in the circle that decide.
DEFENCE
2. The wardens are our soldiers, guards, and militia. They serve their communities by standing sentry, patrolling surrounding lands, and organising defences in times of crisis. Most have strong ties to their community. Others, called free wardens, are wandering mercenaries who hire on to serve a community or protect caravans.
Outside of The Havens, Wardens swear Iron Vows to serve their communities. Free Wardens, however, are Ironsworn, wandering between communities trading service for sustenance
3. Our warbands are rallied to strike at our enemies or defend our holdings. Though not nearly as impressive as the armies that once marched across the Old World, these forces are as well-trained and equipped as their communities can manage. The banners of the warbands are adorned with depictions of their Old World history and Ironland victories.
In The Havens, strife between the nobles that rule communities is growing and almost commonplace ...
MYSTICISM
3. Magic courses through this land as the rivers flow through the hills. The power is there for those who choose to harness it, and even the common folk often know a helpful ritual or two.
Magic as it was in the Old World is gone, all that is left are Rituals. However, see under Horrors below; the magic of the Ironlands has changed the zombie plague so that the dead rise at the dusk of a new moon, at least that's the reason the Ironlanders believe the plague changedRELIGION
3. Our gods are many. They make themselves known through manifestations and miracles. Some say they even secretly walk among us. The priests convey the will of the gods and hold sway over many communities.
There is no question whether Gods are real - all believe and their Priests are able to manifest their God's power as minor magics, but only related to their God's 'portfolio'.FIRSTBORN
2. The firstborn live in isolation and are fiercely protective of their own lands.
Elves, Giants, Trolls, Varou, all the Firstborn wandered untrammelled across the Ironlands when we arrived, but have withdrawn as we have expanded. There has been no war - yet.BEASTS
Note: the plague that came with the Ironlanders does not affect the Firstborn - i.e. they do not automatically become Restless, although something else may cause them to rise (e.g. an elf as a Hollow)
3. Beasts of all sorts roam the Ironlands. They dwell primarily in the reaches, but range into the settled lands to hunt. There, they often prey on cattle, but attacks on travellers, caravans, or even settlements are not uncommon.
Although the population in the Ironlands has expanded (see communities) much of it is still unexplored and untamedHORRORS
3. The dead do not rest in the Ironlands. At night we light torches, scatter salt, and post sentries at the gate. It is not enough.
Unwittingly, the zombie plague came to the Ironlands with the survivors. However, the magic that flows through the Ironlands (see Magic above) has changed it. Now, whenever a human dies their body reanimates at the next new moon - they are called The Restless' - unless they are cremated before that; they cannot cross salt or iron; they can be dismembered, but will reassemble and reanimate at the next dusk; Charun (part of the priesthood of Vanth) can destroy a Bonewalker by smashing their skull with their blessed great-hammers; if something else smashes the skull it will reassemble; burning the skull alone results in the skull reforming back at the corpse it came from - it's magic after allOTHER NOTES: