THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FIRSTBORN

Whether the Firstborn still stalk the Ironlands or left it to the latter races, they can have a distinct
impact on your own version of Ironsworn’s universe.

How to Use

This is a fan-made supplement to help you flesh out the Firstborn of your Ironsworn campaigns!
Now the elves can have just as much variety as the land they hail from. They act just like “Your
Truths” from the core book.

CULTURE

➢ Tribal: The Firstborn have always preferred to keep to themselves, and there is even
some distrust between different tribes of Elves. Matriarchal, secretive, and strongly
attuned to the seasons, of which they have identified eight distinct ones.
○ Quest Starter: The Firstborn taught you about this brief, intense upcoming
season. What is so special about this time? What is the season called?
➢ Fallen from Grace: The Elves used to rule in an epoch lost to legend. Some say they
had even learned how to construct castles in the air. Did they give up this grandeur
willingly, unwillingly, or was it so gradual they didn’t even realize their time was
over?
○ Quest Starter: Someone unreliable–the village idiot, an impressionable child–has
claimed they have seen a fantastic city amongst the clouds. When you investigate,
what will you discover about the Firstborn who was (or still do) live among you?
➢ Clandestine and Grandiose: There is no abode more graceful than a Firstborn’s; no
greater craftsmanship to be found; no sweeter song. But the Firstborn are wary of
the corruption of the latter races. They chose the Ironlands that they may heal some
of its corruption. The resettling of the Ironlanders is a thorn in their side, though
some Firstborn want to extend their ideas of Firstborn grandiosity their way.
○ Quest Starter: A desperate Firstborn needs help getting back to the greatest and
most hidden city of the Firstborn in the Ironlands. Will this be your opportunity to
see its marvels first-hand?
APPEARANCE

Size
➢ Smaller than humans: The Ironlanders usually tower over the Firstborn as though
they were no more than adolescents. They are light on their feet, lithe and athletic.
They say they can run without ever growing tired.
➢ Taller than humans: Tall and willowy, with long limbs and slightly extended necks.
Some of the men grow long beards. They say that just walking they can go as fast as
a man running.
➢ Comparable to humans: They vary in height but tend toward the human average.
They still have lithe builds and are incapable of growing beards. They have a
tradition of great athletic games which they stay in peak condition for.

○ Quest Starter: If you can beat the fastest runner amongst the Firstborn, you will
win “a priceless boon” from the Firstborn’s leader. How do you prepare for this
grueling gauntlet?

Ears
➢ Short: conservative, slightly pointed. Quite a bit like their usual demeanors. If it is
said that the Firstborn are closest in appearance to the Creator, so the Creator must
have ears like these.
➢ Long: protruding, sharply pointed. They have the hearing of a highly-trained hunting
dog, and can hear pitches that Ironlanders cannot.
➢ Scalloped: Ears vary in size but are scalloped around the edges. They have inspired a
frenzy for earrings amongst the more impressionable Ironlanders. The Firstborn are
known for their vanity.

○ Quest Starter: A traveling Firstborn has overheard something unbelievable. A

great betrayal. What do they have to gain by telling you? Do you believe them?
Special Features

➢ Diachromatic Eyes: The Firstborn take their lineage seriously, often pairing up to
keep desired bloodline combinations intact. Each member of this race will have an
eye color representing both their paternal and maternal lines. Those with
monochromatic eyes are looked upon with pity or even disdain.
➢ Regional: The Firstborn vary in appearance depending on which region of the
Ironlands they hail from, with each region tending towards rather homogenous
features. There are those with amber skin and white hair, those with ashy skin and
ruddy hair, and those with blue-black skin and hair to match.
➢ Ritualistic Tattoos: The few species that the Firstborn interact with have sometimes
been gifted a “symbol of the blood.” The Firstborn wear tattoos that serve as tactile
histories of their long lives. The color used is always blood-red. To receive a tattoo
from a Firstborn is to be considered part of their shared history and is an ultimate
sign of trust; sometimes, even affection.

○ Quest Starter: A half-elf that is close to you wants to prove themselves to their
Firstborn kin, and has agreed to undergo a harrowing test of their lineage. They
are liable to get themselves killed. Do you help them, or try to dissuade them?

VALUES

➢ Preservation and Cultivation: Their most important cultural values are sound logic,
the artful recording of history, and natural architecture and engineering that works
with the land instead of against it. The Firstborn seek to understand the natural
world and to do as little as possible to change it. As long-lived people who have to
live with the grief of ages past, and who are witnesses to the butterfly effect of even
the smallest changes, this is understandable.
○ Quest Starter: One of the Firstborn is deadset on stopping the settlement of a
village in your starting region. They warn of unforeseen consequences. Do you
mediate, or take a side?
➢ Wisdom and Mysticism: The Firstborn value esoteric knowledge and the silence and
relative isolation needed to cultivate it.. Out of this has produced a remarkably
 spiritual people that does not take things at face value and values the “patterns” of
the world and the origin of them.
○ Quest Starter: You meet a fellow Ironlander who is seeking a wizened and
possibly dangerous hermit amongst the Firstborn where Ironlanders aren’t
typically welcome. But this mystic holds information of grave importance to you
and/or your fellow Ironlanders. What is it? A cure to a grave malady, the answer
to a deadly riddle?
➢ Elementalism: The Firstborn are in tune with the elements, the constituents of
which vary with the rumor. Some say they’ve discovered more than the ones the
Ironlanders know of. They have immense respect for both the beauty and danger
that each element has in its rawest form, to the point that their long calendars are
marked with rituals and festivals celebrating fire, water, wind, earth, and
as-of-yet-undisclosed elements.
○ Quest Starter: You learn the rune for one of the Firstborn’s undisclosed elements,
and a sage amongst them offers to teach you the ways of this element. What is
this element? What are the consequences of learning it?

LONG LIFE

➢ Sixth Sense: Elves, though not immortal, are the longest-lived of any race and have
developed a keen sixth sense.They are more likely to sense when something is
amiss, and have a knack for sniffing out evil or noticing preternatural forces. They
can also be overwhelmed by too much stimuli and are more susceptible to sudden
narcolepsy.
○ Quest Starter: You come upon a beautiful Firstborn, fast asleep. They are in
danger if you don’t do something. What threatens them? Why did they fall asleep
in the wilds? How long have they been here?
➢ Several Deaths: The Elves are not so much immortal as they are gifted with several
deaths: they can die up to 3 times, with the 4th death being the final death. When
you hear of a Firstborn approaching their Final Death, you know they have lived a
long time indeed.
○ Quest Starter: A strange thing happens. You come upon a dying Firstborn, and he
imparts his “Final Death” to you. The Firstborn dies and a strange mark is left on
your hand. You are soon haunted by strange memories and dreams. You must
go…beyond the sea? What does that mean? Do you go?
➢ Resistance: The Firstborn long ago lost their immortality, but they did not lose their
resistance to most harsh effects. They can withstand fire and freezing temperatures
 up to an inhuman degree, with their skin taking on an almost bark-like quality. The
longer they have lived (for they still live much longer than average man–longer by
centuries), the tougher this “bark” is, almost like a tree will grow more and more
layers as it grows older.
○ Quest Starter: You are approached one night by a self-immolating FIrstborn. It’s
unnerving, to say the least. He has come to impart a strange message, wrought of
fire. What is it?

WHY DO THEY WEAR WOODEN MASKS?

➢ Memorial for the First Tree: As remembrance of the great primordial tree which first
fed their people the fruit of immortality, even now that that immortality is lost.
○ Quest Starter: You stumble upon a map with untranslated elvish. It depicts the
most beautiful tree you’ve ever seen. Do you attempt to translate it, or perhaps
barter it for something valuable?
➢ In Honor Of Ginnade: In honor of the two-faced god Ginnade, god of doorways and
mirrors. The masks are not always made of wood nor do they need to be, but they
are often the most convenient material.
○ Quest Starter: You find the remnants of a mirror that shows you other places in
space and time across the Ironlanders. What do you see?
➢ Honor: It would be most shameful if someone you did not know saw you, faceless.
○ Quest Starter: You come upon a strange Firstborn without their mask. You are
immediately thrown into a duel of honor! Will you make a friend or foe out of this
encounter?
➢ No Wooden Masks: They don’t. Some of the first Ironlanders only thought that, just
as they once mistook manatees for mermaids.

ORACLE: FIRSTBORN NAMES

Choose a set or use all four for elemental name inspirations.

Set One: The Firstborn have names that mimic both the warm and harsh aspects of fire.

Achizr, Chonne, Cavtha, Feronia, Rath, Kenestra, Hakan, Edan, Kalfar, Talfar, Rhys, Sambre
Set Two: The Firstborn have names that mimic the soft touch of the wind.

Ilithiia, Sevene, Aminth, Mione, Ceth, Siroç, Oreas, Glyf, Idero, Elid, Geal, Luic

Set Three: The Firstborn have names with watery qualities.

Naus, Selda, Alun, Llŷr, Yarow, Ulanwe, Salka, Orual, Roa, Glichan, Olan, Geal

Set Four: The Firstborn have names that feel heavy with history, like the earth.

Gen, Rhun, Iguvina, Idres, Begoë, Cerca, Tallus, Ginya, Deuel, Soudelka, Chardin, Valek

THINGS THE FIRSTBORN SAY

salt from the hand, water be my roof, may we meet at the innermost ring, *whistling
amongst the trees*, that is a place deep with time, hale latterborn!, blacker than iron, has it
been that long already?, ours is a fallen existence, tread carefully, take what time you have,
we have seen it all before, I’ve told you what’s coming, in a time when it was still of use to
cast a spell…, this is an old story, get lost in the roots; not the weeds, more beautiful than
the sun