IRON DM 2015 Tournament

[Imhotepthewise]

Faded Memory

Unasked Question

The End

Dangerous Knowledge

Rats

Brown Mold

Might As Well Be Walking On The Sun

[The sun is changing due to the machinations of the illithids]

The lands where the PCs live are getting hotter by the day. The days are unbearable, nearly impossible to be outside for any length of time. It almost slips the collective people’s minds that it is fall, and temperatures should be going down. Seeing the leaves change color was impossible, as the trees and most other plants have been burnt dead by the merciless heat of the sun.

One of the PCs henchmen’s grandfather calls his grandchild to his closed up home and shows him a diagram he has made on a parchment on the wall. A beam of sunlight shines in from a tiny hole in the wall, landing on the parchment. An inked circle lies well within the beam’s circle on the parchment. The grandfather learned of this method long ago, how to observe the sun when the eclipse happens, though, like many things these days, he cannot remember where.

The grandfather is not sure what is happening. He can only see the projected disk getting bigger and the heat getting hotter.

The grandfather says that the people cannot stay here much longer. Traveling in any direction will not allow hiding from the sun. The grandfather seems to remember there is an entrance to the underdark through the caves nearby. Long ago, he says there was a trading station deep in the underdark that he visited as a very young man, but it was later overrun by subterranean creatures and abandoned. He says the way is fraught with danger, but it may be the only place to be safe from the heat.

The grandchild is not comfortable relying on the grandfather’s memory. The grandchild knows of the caves, and many of the caves have collapsed over the years.

One cave has become popular recently because it is bathed in cool air flowing up from deep in the earth. People have stayed near its entrance, fearing to venture down into its depths. A constant stream of rodents has been flowing down into the darkness, fleeing the heat outside.

The PCs must get out of the heat or it will eventually kill them. They must flee the surface and settle in the underdark.

The henchman loves the grandfather, but knows to bring him along will probably kill him. The henchman tells the PC that he is hesitant to ask the grandfather to come. The PCs can support this silence, or encourage the henchman to bring him along. The grandfather, though stubborn, will relent and try, if successfully convinced by the henchman supported by the PCs. If they get the grandfather to the trading station alive, they should be well rewarded.

The PCs enter the cave and pass the people who sought shelter there. Some may be convinced to come along, but will turn back if things seem too difficult. The party is constantly brushed by the bodies of rats and other vermin taking the same path down into the darkness. The cave air gets colder and colder.

The PCs travel down and come upon a cave with a great sinkhole that nearly encompasses the entire floor. Cold air pumps up from the depth of this hole. The cave narrows and continues on the other side. The left path around is wide, but marked with dark stains. The path to the right is narrow and broken in many places. The rats moving down the left path die screeching when touching the dark stains, which causes the stains to grow as a result. The rats moving down the right path negotiate the narrow path, leaping from shattered piece to piece, some making it, some falling screeching into the darkness below.

If the PCs travel across the dark stains, they will suffer the cold attack of the stain, but may possibly make it around. If the PCs negotiate to narrow broken path, there are enough handholds to make it all the way around with difficulty.

On the other side of the sinkhole, the path winds deep into the underdark. The PCs come upon the trading station, heavily damaged by the attacks of long ago. The conquerors obviously took what they wanted and sank back down into the darkness. There is water flowing nearby, the air is nice and cool, and there are plenty of rats to kill and eat for a while.

 

[Rune]

That's where I thought the list of ingredients was aside from the word count. I didn't realize that it was purely a list with nothing added, since in the past, we've usually written a small line about where they were included. Just figured I'd show where the confusion may have stemmed from.

Oh, I'm not surprised. There's a reason it was the first thing I checked. But the relevant passage (for round 1) is the following:

Round 1:

All matches in the first round will have a 24 hour time-limit! All matches in the first round will have six ingredients, all of which are to be used in each entry. Entries in these matches will have a 750 word limit (not including the title and ingredients list--any descriptions or definitions of ingredients will count against the limit!). That may not seem like a lot, but I assure you, it's even less than you think! Contestants who win their Round 1 matches will proceed to Round 2.

That bit in the parentheses has been appearing in some form since 2011. And it's been in effect, as well. It just hasn't been so significant because of the higher word counts. But, hey, it was all a wash in the end.

 

[Iron Sky]

Don't have much more to add about Wicht and MortalPlague's entries, but will mention my favorite bits from each:

I love the luck + reversal mechanics in A Run of Luck, as well as the way, as Rune said, everything suddenly comes to a furious climax at once.

My favorites from Taking Fate are the Indiana Jones-style pressure plate (I can just hear the PC's groaning/laughing when it triggers) and the awful fate of poor Brogue.

I agree with Rune that that was super close - I had no idea which would take it until the end. Glad I didn't have to judge that one!

Nice work either way to both of you, and congrats to Wicht!

 

[Rune]

Round 1, Match 3: Gradine vs. Wik

[MENTION=57112]Gradine[/MENTION] and [MENTION=40177]Wik[/MENTION], you have 24 hours to post your entries to this thread. Please limit your entry to a title, a list of the ingredients used and 750 additional words. Be aware, also, that any description of those ingredients that you choose to include will count against your word total. Please include your list of ingredients at the beginning of the entry and please do not edit your post once it is submitted. Please refrain from reading your opponent's entry until after you have posted your own. You are on your honor to do so.

Your ingredients are:

Tear

Underground Passage

Hopeless Quest

Grave News

Traveling Entertainer

Charming Devil

 

[Wik]

Redemptions

Ingredients:
1. Tear
2. Underground Passage
3. Hopeless Quest
4. Grave News
5. Travelling Entertainer
6. Charming Devil

In the town of Aebrilloch, appearances matter. Talented folk go nowhere without looks. Gauge, a minstrel with a scribe’s face, only wanted to bring happiness to the downtrodden through song. But not in Aebrilloch. Doomed to wander the streets while lesser bards enthralled, he despairingly sought release.

He found himself at the gate of Helmine, a local “priestess”. Begging for guidance, he found himself enthralled, for she was the most bewitching woman he had ever met. Within hours, he spoke of his dearest wish – to be the greatest entertainer of the land.

But Helmine was no angel. Half Erinyes and half Tiefling, the cambion possessed infernal magics. She granted wishes, but always at the price of a compulsion that suited her vengeful whims. Many a wealthy nobleman began his career in Helmine’s Hall. Gauge was no exception.

He received the gifts of a glorious bard, but Helmine’s price was steep: to remain on the roads unless within cities, but to stay in no city (or town) for more than a week – no city could be revisited twice in any 666 day period.

Gauge took the offer, and became a celebrated bard. Then he fell in love, and all hell broke loose.

Her name is Sera, and she travelled with Gauge for a while as a singer. Before long, they married and she became pregnant. She gave birth to twins in Aebrilloch, forced to raise her children alone while Gauge’s curse compelled him to the road.

The Curse:

Helmine is a devil in disguise with a retinue of charmed townsfolk in her employ. They protect her from harm, and are found throughout Aebrilloch. Helmine has inherited an Erinyes drive for conquest over others. Those she cannot use magic to control, she controls with “other” charms. Those under her compulsion (which are many) all bear the same mark – a single tear in an eye, never-ending. She has been in Aberilloch for a long time… such that it is known as “the city of tears”.

Gauge’s Redemption:

Gauge is known as “The Weeping Bard” throughout the land for his depressing hymns. His goal, seemingly hopeless, is to be a good father, despite being only able to see his children one week every two years. Often, the tears in his eyes have little to do with his curse.

Undertaking:

Travelling after his most recent visit to Aebrilloch (the twins are now six and beginning to question their father’s constant absence), Gauge receives a terrible threat from Helmine: the graves of Sera and children. These graves have a death date a week hence – but the dates are in flux. Helmine is taunting Gauge.

Unable to get near Aebrilloch, he can accompany PCs to a nearby town he’s deliberately left unvisited for emergencies. Gauge begs PCs to be his proxies in town, and to kill Helmine to protect his family. He knows this will not end his compulsion, but at least they will be safe.

Before the PCs head into Aebrilloch, he teaches them a song that will protect them from Helmine’s charming power. He also mentions the one way to undo his compulsion – to get Helmine to repent. This goal, seemingly impossible, is one that Gauge dreams of every night, but he knows it is hopeless. Though, isn’t that what heroes do?

Graves:

As the PCs travel and take actions, the dates of death on the graves change. Used wisely, they can provide important news on the party’s progress.

Aebrilloch:

Aebrilloch is filled with teary-eyed citizens. Assaults on Helmine’s Hall are suicidal. If the PCs find a way into secret underground passages that link the houses, they could find a way to the devil. With entrances in the cemetery, these passages were constructed by ghouls to move about town in search of food. The stench is horrid; eyes water constantly, which may cause suspicion amongst the paranoid!

Wrong turns in the passages can be detected through the graves (the dates will change), which can be used as a map to the Hall. If PCs sing Gauge’s song, they keep dungeon denizens away.

Helmine’s Hall:
Helmine’s Hall is exactly the type of home a devilish seducer would desire – red silks, garish statues, and ensorcelled servants with terrified eyes. PCs will have to fight through compelled defenders to seek an audience with Helmine. Naturally, she offers deals. The PCs have one chance to get her to repent and so free Gauge; otherwise, they’ll have to settle for killing her and freeing Sera and the twins.

 

[Gradine]

Tearin' It Up

Tearin' It Up
A Supernatural adventure

Ingredients:
Tear
Underground Passage
Hopeless Quest
Grave News
Traveling Entertainer
Charming Devil

Hook
“Zombies? S#!*.”
“Been following the papers for days, hoping it weren't true, but you know the signs sure as shootin'. Cemetery vandalism. Strange flu. Unexplained deaths. The CDC's involvement all but confirms it. The dead are rising from their graves.”

Research
“Weren't she that chick from 'Merican Idol?”
Macon was the first town hit, before heading up to Marietta, Reseca and Dalton. Atlanta was somehow spared, plus all the other podunk towns along the 75. A cross-reference comes up with the locations for Shells Fausey's “Tearin' It Up” tour. Zombies rise the day after she blows through. She'd been playing mostly dive bars, but she's been stirring up some buzz something fierce, and recently booked the show of a lifetime: Nashville, Tennessee.

Nashville
“I might have talked about waking the dead? I don't know, Wild Turkey makes me all poetical.”
Shells Fausey was a semi-finalist on The Voice, but as a black female country artist never made headway in the business. When Blake Shelton stopped returning her calls she returned home to Roberta, just trying to make ends meet. That's when she met the gentleman at the crossroads.

Now, the FBI may be ignorant but they ain't idjits. Well, some of 'em ain't idjits. They can put two and two together and get something relatively close to four sometimes, and they've connected the dots on Shells too. They'll pick her up for questioning before her show, if our Hunters don't get to her first. They probably won't believe that she sold her soul to the devil for one last shot. Our Hunters know better. Will these washed up numbskulls never learn? Stealing her out from under the FBI's nose won't be easy.

Something feels off about her, and any sort of supernatural detection will reveal a strange aura about her. She'll register as neither living nor dead, as if she represents some sort of tear in the fabric between life and death. It's damn freaky. She'll spill that she might have maybe sort of made a reference to waking the dead when making her deal? Apparently Wild Turkey makes her dumber than two sacks of hair. Our Hunters better take Shells back to her crossroads to see if they can't get her contract tore up.

Underground Railroad
“My ancestors would be rolling in their graves, having some white folks smuggle me INTO Georgia. If they're still in 'em, anyway.”

The FBI has the 75 locked down. Shells is wanted, so disguises might be a risky play. It's the most direct route, though swarming with agents and zombies. There's safer passage down the backroads. Plenty of re-purposed hideaways from the old slave-freeing days. Keep an eye out for stray zombies. Shells'll ask for a gun to protect herself. She's plenty handy with a pistol, if our Hunters'll spare one. She won't let up if they decline. It'll be a long trip.

Crossroads
“She is intoxicating. And she is mine.”

The dead start rising faster as Shells approaches Roberta. By the time they reach the crossroads they will be swarming. They stop their advance only as long as the crossroads demon is summoned.

Montgomery is a marvelous dandy of a demon with a stylish white suit and only the finest southern airs. He is taken with Shells; nothing the Hunters have to offer will be worth more to him than her. He will, however, promise to tell the Hunters how to stop the zombies, so long as they offer him an unspecified favor at some future juncture. No souls, nothing life-threatening, just a friendly quid-pro-quo. If they agree, Monty'll tell them what Shells already suspects: the only thing that'll stop the zombies for good is Shells' death. Whether they agree or decline, Montgomery will return to Hell at the nearest opportunity, unleashing the horde.

No Other Way
“Shoulda listened to them dumb stories. Maybe next time, right?”

If armed, Shells will turn her gun on herself. If not, Shells will demand they kill her. All zombies stop on her death. It would take the devil's own luck for our Hunters to escape the horde with Shells, and then what? Nashville and every other town they've passed will be doomed while they search for some leverage against Montgomery. Shells wont have that on her conscience. It would take extreme lengths to confine and protect Shells. How many lives will be lost in that search, if it even bears fruit? Can our Hunters live with that?

 

[Rune]

[MENTION=34958]Deuce Traveler[/MENTION] and [MENTION=6762606]LucasC[/MENTION], you have 24 hours to post your entries to this thread. Please limit your entry to a title, a list of the ingredients used and 750 additional words. Be aware, also, that any description of those ingredients that you choose to include will count against your word total. Please include your list of ingredients at the beginning of the entry and please do not edit your post once it is submitted. Please refrain from reading your opponent's entry until after you have posted your own. You are on your honor to do so.

Your ingredients are:

New Graves

Jovial Innkeeper

Desperate Gnoll

Painful Pun

Death from Above

Half Measure

 

[LucasC]

The Game

• New Graves
• Jovial Innkeeper
• Desperate Gnoll
• Painful Pun
• Death from Above
• Half Measure

---

Wherein the PCs become entangled in a demon’s game.

Background
Magnus Elicosh was born to a life of wealth and decadence. Years ago, while attending a party, he played a game involving demonic dealings. He lost. The demon demanded his most prized possession and Magnus handed over his daughter. Enraged, the demon took her and departed, swearing to return. It knew the truth: the child was not his most valued possession, money was.

The demon’s threat terrified Magnus. His friends urged him to seek out Draalis Nightspear, the greatest wizard in the land, but Magnus knew great wizards cost gold, so he found a local hedge wizard to exorcise the demon, saved some coin, and slept soundly.

Time passed.

A year ago, Magnus learned a secret. In the Barony of Doud, in the shadow of the great mountain Kingshill, lay the tiny village of Rundible, and beneath it vast untapped veins of gold, gold enough to quadruple his wealth. Through intermediaries, he began buying up property to seize control of the village. He is almost fully extended, his wealth tapped. Luckily, only a few key properties remain, among them the bar Fiendish Brews.

When a pack of gnolls learned of the gold, Magnus hired a mercenary to kill them. This mercenary, Olivia, did as instructed, but her true instructions came from the demon, for she is the child given over years earlier. All but one was killed, their corpses left high above Rundible, at the waterfall’s mouth. The survivor was imprisoned in an oubliette hidden in the town’s cemetery.

Aided by demonic magic, the rotting carcasses have poisoned Rundible’s water causing a wasting sickness to strike the village. Half the town has already died and the cemetery overflows with recently dug graves. Fearing for the safety of the realm, Baron Doud sent help, but when they succumbed to the sickness, he decided Rundible and its residents must be burned.

As the adventure begins, Rundible is a shambles, its people in mourning; Magnus is panicking, on the verge of losing everything; and the baron’s army has begun a days-long march from their high mountain stronghold, fully intent on putting the entire town to the torch.

Rundible
Rundible is a quiet town built at the base of a mountain with a magnificent waterfall cascading hundreds of feet, to form a lake around which the village sprawls. Its cemetery, now bursting with fresh graves, is at the base of this waterfall.

Actors
Emit: The barkeep Emit acquired Fiendish Brews two years ago. He always has a sparkle in his eyes and a smile on his lips, as if he knows something. And he does, for Emit is the demon come to make Magnus pay. He cannot hide his glee, a fact that should unsettle the PCs, given the state of Rundible.

Olivia: Magnus’ daughter and mercenary. The only thing Olivia hates more than the demon is her father. She wants to see him pay and will let the entire town die if needed, but she’s not evil and can be brought around. Her continued presence in town is unusual since it’s ravaged by disease.

Declan: Once a rich man, Declan was beggared by Magnus’ move into Rundible. He attended the party years ago and can recount the entire tale. Emit encourages this by reminding him it’s “time for Magnus to pay his debt.” Declan blames everything on Magnus.

Ragaesh: The gnoll Ragaesh grows increasingly desperate in his oubliette, which is hidden beneath a fresh grave covered with mushrooms. It’s easily overlooked because of all the mist kicked up by the nearby waterfall. He’ll do anything to live, and holds the key to Magnus’ downfall.

The Game
The demon is still playing the game, and does not act openly. When interacting with the PCs in his tavern, for example, he might point them towards the gnoll using jokes such as:

A mushroom walked in here to order a drink but I told it we don’t serve mushrooms. He says, “Why not? I’m a fun guy!”
​

or

I tried to catch some fog but I mist.
​

Objectives

• Stop Magnus from swindling the locals
• Save Rundible from the baron’s army
• Cure the disease
• Unmask the demon

Involving the PCs

• As locals, they must solve the problem to save their friends, family, and themselves.
• They’ve been hired by Magnus to double-check Olivia’s work.
• They’re the baron’s last-ditch effort and must cure the disease before the army arrives.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

The Inn of the Tarnished Mirror

Ingredients:
New Graves
Jovial Innkeeper
Desperate Gnoll
Painful Pun
Death from Above
Half Measure

Hook: A patron hears that the heroes are leaving town. The patron asks for them to be on the lookout for a hired messenger that went missing.

Adventure: The road between the two settlements is not highly populated, and a popular stop along the way is the Inn of the Tarnished Mirror, known for its lively common area, its eponymous mirror, and its jovial innkeeper, Raol. If questioned about the messenger, Raol admits that he has had so many folks pass through that it's hard for him to remember anyone.

Most visitors present at the establishment are local or well-known traders who frequent the inn. The other patrons admit that Raol seems stressed lately as his wife and lovely daughter have not been at the inn recently, gone to tend to a sick relative, resulting in a loss of quality in the food.

Another odd thing about Raol lately is that his famously ribald humor and joke telling has been dropped for a darker tone of late, usually focused on people suffering horrible personal injury. These painful puns even pass into side comments to patrons, such as "let me take up your plate and dinner knife. Wouldn't want to see you slice yourself up and bleed all over the place." The rooms of the inn are still excellent, with comfortable beds and walls lined with tasteful art.

If the heroes talk to the patrons about the missing messenger, they are told that they had seen him or her passing through. No one can recall seeing when the messenger left. They also had spotted a gnoll near the road, though the creature fled upon being seen. This being the only lead the characters have, they may try to go to the area the gnoll was discovered near and track the creature down. They find the desperate gnoll eating decayed fresh from bodies placed in newly packed, unmarked graves. The bodies inside the graves are only a few days old, but they are all human. The bodies were skinned, flesh removed, and the remaining parts tossed into sacks (along with bloodied clothing and blankets) and buried here, only a few hours walk from the inn. There are at least four bodies here: Raol, his wife, his daughter, and the messenger.

If the heroes question the gnoll, they find him half-crazed but with a strange story. He was in a small pack of other gnolls that depended upon each other for safety and survival. The pack was killed off one by one, creating paranoia among the group until they eventually began turning upon one another. He was one of two survivors, but when he went to confront his last companion, the other changed shape into some sort of demon. Terrified, the gnoll fled and believed anyone approaching him could change shape at any time to the monster that he saw that day, so he has has survived by eating smaller animals and the decayed meat from fresh graves he has been inexplicably finding of late. The gnoll is willing to show the party further grave sites. All the graves are within a few hours from the inn.

If the party decides that the innkeeper is culpable, they may immediately attack the innkeeper. This may lead to confusion and reprisals from the surprised patrons. If the heroes take time to try and apprehend Raol and search the premises, they'll find the evidence they need to incriminate him. In the cellar, there are bloody clothing from the latest victim, questionable meat near a meat grinder, and a half-full measuring cup of human blood. The bedrooms reveal small holes cut out behind paintings, just above helpless people would be murdered. Although the party might demand vigilante justice, the crowd would expect the fake Raol to be tried.

This might lead to further complications unless Raol is watched carefully, for he is really a doppleganger and will not show his true form unless he has no other choice left. The doppleganger killed Raol's daughter one day, and impersonating her killed off Raol and his wife before taking up Raol's identity. The doppleganger has been living comfortably since, killing off single travelers, stealing their wealth and serving their remains back to the other patrons.

Further Adventures: If the doppleganger should escape, the party is likely to have the animosity of a psychotic monster, who will continue to patiently stalk them and make their lives horrid in retaliation for ending its good time.

 

[Rune]

Judgement for Round 1, Match 2: Iron Sky vs. Imhotepthewise

Let me start by saying that I considered this to be the hardest of the first-round sets of ingredients. In particular, The End is a very vague and very big concept to deal with in such a limited number of words. And Unasked Question?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I was so often (but not universally!) disappointed by how both of these entries used ingredients. In addition, both adventures are fairly linear, which, as I've said in the past, is not necessarily bad, but is necessarily limiting for the players and for the DM.

We'll get back to that later.

In Iron Sky's "The Last Act" (henceforth, "Act"), Faded Memory is what the fallen town(s) has become. It is completely removed from record. Redacted. This is a compelling backdrop and central to the adventure. Not so, unfortunately, in Imhotepthewise's "Might As Well Be Walking On The Sun" (which we'll call "Sun"--and, by the way, kudos for really taking advantage of the word-limit exemption with this title!). Herein, the faded memory is the origin of grandpa's knowledge of how to gain plot-relevant knowledge. Is that even going to get mentioned in passing? The ingredient may as well be non-existent.

Moving on. I should not be surprised that I had such a difficult time identifying the Unasked Question in both of these entries. Both entries produce several questions I want to ask. But, as both entries should probably have explicitly done (especially with such a low word-limit), I'll narrow it down to one unasked question per entry. For "Act," the question is "What's going on?" And the answering of it is the adventure itself. So that works.

In "Sun," the question would be the same, but for the aside about illithids at the beginning. The question then becomes "Why?" And the answer is not there--so, what could be a great hook for an ongoing campaign instead isn't. Worse, there is no way for the PCs to learn the answer to either question (or even know to ask the second).

Both entries handle The End in much the same way. There are a lot of things that could apply and no lone thing that explicitly does. This is not generally a good practice in IRON DM. Even if you're going for a thematic approach (which both entries did) by having the ingredient resurface throughout the entry, you still should have one that is central to the adventure. Because otherwise, you don't.

"Sun" gives us knowledge, but no Dangerous Knowledge. Nothing in the knowledge grandpa has is, in itself, dangerous; it merely is about dangerous things. In contrast, "Act" makes knowledge of (some of) what is going on actually physically dangerous in a fairly clever way: in the process of gaining that knowledge (and curiosity should ensure that it is likely), they become infected with the mold-rot. As long as they have a means of seeing that crazy-moldy-guy is diseased this hook ought to be both rat bastardly and effective. (Although it wouldn't work if ported over to D&D, because: paladins.)

Rats and Brown Mold both play a prominent role in "Act" and are both pretty much just scenery in "Sun." In the one entry, everything plays out differently if the disease-carriers aren't (sentient) vermin and the mold is something different. In the other, nothing fundamentally changes if either is removed entirely. And why is it only rodents seeking to escape the sun? Wouldn't all animals be doing that? Why specifically call out rats?

Okay. Let's get to the adventures. I said before that they were both linear. The difference, though is that, in "Act," the PCs have things to do. In "Sun," they don't even really need to be there. The events of the adventure would play out more or less the same way without them.

Which is a shame. Because I really like the scenario. Exodus from an unstoppable and wide-ranging threat is a compelling change of pace from the typical fare. It has real potential to be remembered forever. Unfortunately, the work involved in getting it there is a real barrier.

Especially when set beside "Act," which, while also linear, manages to be a solid adventure with a lot of great flavor (and I want to point out that the method of conveying a lot of that flavor and a great deal of background through the poetic introduction is both efficient and compelling).

Imhotepthewise, you are very good at concocting unique and interesting scenarios. And you know how to set up an evocative scene. These are strengths that you can and should build on in future tournaments. I've sounded pretty harsh throughout this entire judgement, but I think you're actually not very far from potentially becoming a feared competitor. Here are the two things I think you would want to work on to make that happen:

1: Make sure those ingredients are central to the adventure and irreplaceable.

2: Make sure of the same thing for the PCs.

If you can do those things, everything else should follow naturally. Above all, keep building on your strengths! I look forward to seeing what kinds of out-of-the box scenarios you'll come up with.

All that said, it's pretty clear that Iron Sky advances to Round 2.