Scars

An Ironclaw Novel

Scars is the first (and so far, only) novel set in the Ironclaw game universe. It follows a bitter, red fox bounty-hunter named Danica as she struggles to catch the most valuable and dangerous bounty of her career. There's a huge purse being offered for the retrieval of a renegade gray fox... accused of impersonating Fabrizio di Rinaldi, the missing son of the Don of Triskellian.

It's written by Ted MacKinnon and illustrated by Trent Halverson. 128 pages, softcover. It's mostly text with a full-color wraparound cover and about a half-dozen black and white illustrations scattered throughout that show you important scenes. If you're unfamiliar with Ironclaw, you may be wondering why the main character is a red fox and why she's socializing with raccoons, weasels, wolves and skunks, all in medieval garb. Well, that's just the way it is. Almost all of the sentient races in Calabria are humanoid animals; there aren't any humans or elves here. If “furry” stuff sometimes bothers you, I wouldn't worry about it too much; the art style is decidedly not “cutesy” and neither is the storyline.

It's common for game fiction to follow a standardized plot. Just a couple of chapters in, I could see it all coming... the bitter, afraid-to-love heroine teams up with the wisecracking young thief who has fallen for her, they save each other's lives during their dramatic struggles against villainous ne'er-do-wells and just when it seems like everything is turning to dust, she is forced to acknowledge her hidden feelings for him and true love saves the day. Cue sappy music, cut to credits. If possible, have an epilogue where the villain of the next book cackles evilly while plotting against the couple.

So... Scars didn't do that. Oh, it's not completely without cliches. There's the villain whose desire to gloat gets the better of him, the big-and-tough innkeeper with a heart of gold (or at least well-polished bronze), the heroine who eventually confesses the dark secret that's twisted her heart for so long, and the inexperienced thief who does indeed end up following her into danger despite her attempts to leave him behind. And the supposed mystery of her quarry is obvious to the reader from early on... but that's okay, because for once the main character was bright enough to work it out quickly, too.

But mixed in with that are some plot twists that I didn't expect. The background characters, for the most part, behave realistically. Even some of the practically faceless city guard end up being more than they appeared to be in the end. There's only a little killing, and then only when necessary. It's treated realistically; for example, Danica is very reluctant to “finish off” a defeated foe out on the road between Triskellian and Chalon su Saldre, knowing that an accusation of banditry could get her hanged no matter how noble her motives were. And her motives, as a bounty hunter, are not particularly noble. It's not a particularly “nice” plotline. While not a grim and defeatist story, it's definitely not a light-and-airy tale.

It also had some interesting tidbits about the setting that I hadn't picked up from reading the Ironclaw RPG. For example, the noble Rinaldi family consists entirely of gray foxes, with the reds being considered commoners. There's almost no intermarriage, for fear of diluting that oh-so-important fur-color that marks one as a nobleman instead of a lowly peasant. While the church has healing magic available, it's pretty much unavailable to the very poor or to anyone whose lifestyle the church happens to disapprove of. While the likelihood that there aren't any white mages in Triskellian who believe in healing anyone in need is debatable, the lack of healing magic definitely adds to the “grittiness” of the storyline. Danica has to seriously worry about the possibility of death by infection, while noting that the upper classes (Oh, the bitterness!) can get crippling injuries wiped away completely.

I also really liked the scene where the author tries to describe how Danica can build up a picture of her surroundings from just the sounds and scents in the air around her. In fact, I think I'll quote from it.

Slowly, circling out from around her and more to the upward side of where she lay, an unseen picture began to form in her mind, painted with sweeps of her ears and nose. First the fire; though she deliberately slept upwind from it, it was close enough that the scent shone out like a beacon, the sharp tang of ashe poplar mixing smoothly with the darker, richer taste of roasted hardwood garnished by Tucker from a farmer's woodpile. Watered and near death, its coals still hissed to her ears clearly, boiling air and seething steadily beneath a thin layer of ash. Near her feet lay Tucker, his breathing light and soft. No snores from this one. Smelling strongly of heavy city food, the sharp sting of cold steel, and his own rather pungent Raccoon aroma, the young thief was a bright spot in the image her senses were forming.

That sort of thing adds a lot of flavor to the text, by emphasizing that the main character isn't human... she's a fox, with a fox's senses.

Scars is based heavily on the events described in the now out-of-print Rinaldi supplement for Ironclaw. It's very closely related to The Adventure in that book (no, really, the actual title of the adventure in the supplement is just“The Adventure”). To whit, the Don of Triskellian and his family have been foully murdered. Though fallen on hard times, the Don is still basically the king of Calabria (if only a figurehead) and a politically important person. Only one member of the family, Fabrizio di Rinaldi, is believed to have survived, and he's missing. The Adventure revolves around the PCs trying to find the missing heir. While Scars is related to that scenario, it doesn't follow it exactly... in fact, it basically starts after it, and continues from there. Some of the NPCs from that supplement put in an appearance as well, notably the scheming sorcerer Lystragones and the enigmatic fire-mage Recondite.

Danica teams up with two raccoons at first (the massive innkeeper Delaney and the young and impulsive thief named Tucker) but soon splits off on her own. The pretender has already fled Triskellian, in the company of several warriors and a woman rumored to be a mage. Danica sets out alone to ambush them, pursued by an old enemy and her personal demons. Naturally, Tucker manages to follow her too, and Danica is forced to put him in danger's way in order to complete her mission. There's a fair bit of bloodshed and a little magic before they manage to retrieve their quarry and return to Triskellian, which is when things start to get really complicated.

The version of Calabria in Scars is very light on magic. There are only a couple of mages in the novel, and it seems likely that none of the characters have ever even heard of Thaumaturgy, the rarest of the magical careers in the Ironclaw book. That's good, because the presence of even one publicly known thaumaturge in Triskellian would have blown the plot of Scars out of the water. In fact, that goes for The Adventure, too. Even an apprentice thaumaturge can solve any “missing person” plot with casual ease, one of the main reasons why I didn't use that adventure in my campaign. My PC group started with 3 mages (one of whom was determined to acquire a second magical career as soon as he had enough XP), so even before play began I had already ended up with a much more magic-heavy setting than the Rinaldi supplement described.

Still, it's nifty to see an alternative version of the setting; or rather, the “correct” version, since it's my game that diverged. And the way the book ended surprised me. In fact, I wondered at first if the author was trying to imply that Danica had just traded one obsession in for another, but when I thought about the last bit of dialogue from Magistrate Umberto, her decision made sense. That's one of the frustrating things about book reviews; can't go into much detail without spoiling the plot.

So, all in all... did I like it? Yes. It's quite good for game fiction. It managed to surprise me in places and added character development to folks that I thought would be just nameless background filler. The plot was well crafted and the heroine's conflict between her conscience and her contract is well depicted. The illustrations are well done and add a lot to it, too, in my opinion. Overall, I give it a 4 in substance and a 4 in style (mostly for the art, I'll get to that in a second).

Why do I say “mostly for the art?” Well, it's because I could quite legitimately give it a 2 (Needs Work) for the editing. There are a number of typos and layout mistakes. In fact, even before I started reading it, the author warned me that all of the italics had gotten dropped, so all of the “inner dialogue” that was supposed to be marked out clearly was now jumbled in with the rest.

So where you were supposed to see

Glancing around and looking for familiar faces, Danica felt her face split into a grin at the sight of a harried Squirrel slipping between the patrons, sporting a tray of cups. I see Delaney's got a new girl; I wonder how long she'll last.

you get:

Glancing around and looking for familiar faces, Danica felt her face split into a grin at the sight of a harried Squirrel slipping between the patrons, sporting a tray of cups. I see Delaney's got a new girl; I wonder how long she'll last.

Not a big deal, of course, but still... it's a pity that the presentation didn't come out as nicely as it could have.

Anyway, I liked Scars. If the author writes a sequel, I'll definitely pick it up. It's a good read and a good introduction to the setting, especially if you intend to keep mages rare. Knowledge of the game would enhance your enjoyment of the plot (“Ah, that must be a Lazarus Heart spell!”), but it's not really necessary. Good book- a little slow in the beginning, but it picked up as the plot got going.

You can still buy copies at the company's website, so if your local gameshop doesn't have a copy, you can order Scars for $9.95. A little bit pricier than a mass-market paperback, but that's understandable given the interior art and limited audience.