A narrative actual play series retold in storybook form.
Welcome to Iron Rising, a cinematic science fiction actual play series set in the Forge, a distant galaxy governed by the iron fist of the Law of Seven. In this society, a rigid, color-coded caste system dictates your worth from birth, and at its pinnacle rule the Golds.
This blog is the companion to our show, a play-by-post style recap of each episode, retold in prose. Here, you can read each chapter as a piece of serialized fiction, whether you’re following along with the podcast or diving into the story for the first time.
This serialized story follows two Gold siblings as they navigate a web of political intrigue, family duty, and simmering rebellion that threatens to shatter their world. Built using the Ironsworn: Starforged system, this campaign blends high-stakes moral choices, deep character drama, and the slow unraveling of a universe-shattering conspiracy.
THE PREMISE
In the Forge, order is everything. The Gold caste rules from gleaming spires, their power absolute, their history rewritten as myth. But this order is a lie, secretly managed by a godlike AI and maintained by the silent terror of assassins known as Sables. When a charismatic Red rebel (a member of the subjugated AI caste) begins to unite the oppressed, Selene Kelvarus, a formidable Gold enforcer, is given the mission to hunt him down. Her brother, Dorian, is assigned as her technical expert, his knowledge of AI deemed essential for the capture.
THE THEMES
- Caste and Control: The struggle against a system designed to define you.
- Family vs. Ideology: How blood ties are tested when beliefs diverge.
- The Cost of Truth: The personal and societal price of exposing a foundational lie.
- Dehumanization and AI Sentience: Exploring the line between person and property.
- Hope in the Dark: Finding reasons to fight in a seemingly broken galaxy.
THE CAST
- Maia Wilson as Selene Kelvarus — A loyal Gold enforcer known as "Monarch," who hunts rogue AI, unaware her next target will shatter her worldview.
- Michael Gilbert as Dorian Kelvarus — A cybernetically augmented technician called "Mainframe," who secretly champions the very machines his sister is sworn to destroy.
Together, they co-create the world through the Starforged mechanics — forging their own path across hostile stars, shaping their fate through triumph and failure alike.