Wolf and Cat, log 20

     This is the 20th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break.  This session is particularly short.

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A villager who'd gone missing in the shatterwood. I thought I'd found and rescued him, but it seems like it was some sort of imposter who promptly stole the . 
  

Session Log 20:  8/20/2021

We drag the body of Muna to the water, and I clean the ash and paint from his skin. With that gone, and the wild-eyed tension now longer contorting his face, he doesn't seem Broken any more. Myrgun flips him face-down in the water, and gives his body a shove. It doesn't float far.

We wade over to the docks, and look to see if anyone's boat is still here.

Secure An Advantage - Wits - Weak Hit, +1 Momentum

None of the Despair villager's boats remain, but the crude dug-outs the Broken used to get here are about. They'll have to do.

Getting Sammutisel into the canoe is tricky. I give him commands, but all he does is prowl about the beach.

Test Your Bond - Heart - Weak Hit - Pay 1 Supply.

In the end, I have to tempt him out on the dock with food, and then put some in the canoe for him. He tries to just steal the food from the boat, but I grab him by the scruff of the neck, and put him in the dugout.  If I hadn't raised him from a cub, and just recently saved him from a Gloom, it's unlikely he'd let me handle him this way. It takes time, and doesn't exactly impress Myrgun. I squeeze into the boat with him, and Myrgun takes another canoe for herself.

Undertake a Journey - Troublesome - Miss

That's not good. I'll refer now to the Oracle details I rolled up for the island a few sessions back. What's on The Island? Coastal Waters Location: Fleet  Descriptors: Remote and Desolate.  Quick settlement name: Low Mark  Major Plot Twist: A more dangerous foe is revealed.  

Wolf and Cat, log 19

     This is the 19th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A villager who'd gone missing in the shatterwood. I thought I'd found and rescued him, but it seems like it was some sort of imposter who promptly stole the . 
  

Session Log 19:  8/19/2021

The mystical cleansing isn't enough, and I am unable to re-enchant my wolf-pelt this evening. I go to bed unhappy.

Advance A Threat - Roll Oracle - 85: The threat makes a dramatic and immediate move, or a major event reveals new complications. Mark Menace twice.

This is bad.  The Broken pack is at Menace 7 of 10, and we're at progress 6 of 10.

Oracle - Using the Ironsworn Dream Generator by FelMaloney at https://perchance.org/ironsworn-dream - I was just clicking on it to see another Ironsworn fan's creation and learn how perchance.org works, and when it rolled this one up which is so incredibly appropriate for my character, I just had to use it:

"You wake up as a child, under water. It is dark. You turn around and see a young boar. You look down, you are holding a hunter's bow. You suddenly appear next to the animal, they do not flee, nor do they attack. They speak in an ethereal voice: 'oppose disease'. They disappear in a bolt of lightning.  You wake up trying to understand the meaning of that vision."

I sit up straight, coughing up a small amount of water. My head is reeling with thoughts about what the Gloom showed me. There's a thing beneath the water, a thing that makes the lake bitter, and which tried to kill me as a child. Our father may have sacrificed me to it for power. Either way, it reinforces my need to help Myrgun on the island, and protect her from the Bloodsick Warrior. I can't let her do this alone. The dream boar may be out there in the dark, willing to give up its pelt. Maybe that's why the wolf-dance didn't work. I sit there in the pre-dawn, listening and peering for a sign of the boar. What comes into view is not a pig, but a man with a painted face and torso, standing stalk-still. A Broken, waiting for me to go back to sleep before he creeps up to murder us!

I whistle for my Cave Lion.

Enter the Fray w/ Edge + Sammutisel -  Troublesome foe - Strong Hit

Strike w/ Edge + Sammutisel - Weak Hit - 2 Harm, but lose Initiative

Sammutisel is suddenly near me, ripping apart one of the other Broken, one who had crept up behind me without my noticing and was seconds away from slitting my throat. I spring to my feet, but have to check over my shoulder to confirm, and at that moment the one I was aware of springs into motion. Three more ash-painted forms rush forward with ear-piercing screams and wails, and a fifth figure jumps and howls about the perimeter in uncoordinated madness. Myrgun sits up as one of the Broken leaps in her direction, and plunges his axe into the wadded cloak she'd been using as a pillow. I hurl one of Emelyn's daggers at him.

Clash w/ Edge - Weak Hit, but Burn Momentum for Strong Hit - Inflict Harm, gain Initiative, +1 Momentum

The knife buries itself to the hilt in his neck. He gurgles as he collapses. The one that lunged at me is on top of me now. We tumble, and I slip free of his grip and send him sailing away with his own momentum.

End the Fight - Progress Move - Strong Hit

He plows into the ground near Sammutisel, who is only too happy to sink dagger-like fangs into his thigh.

Myrgun steals the axe from the limp hand of the one I knifed, and plants it in the belly of the next one to close with her.

I wheel about and pull another knife from the collection Emelyn gave me. The last Broken in sight continues to hop and howl, declaring that he's going to drag me beneath the waves and feed me to his gods. The knife slices open his abdomen, and his mad dance spills out things that function better inside a human body. He stumbles to his knees, and it takes another dagger throw to silence him.


Reach a Milestone - I mark progress on my "Vengeance on the Broken" Vow - This brings us to 8 of 10.

The dawn slowly brightens the sky. We scan the camp for more madmen. Either there were only six in total, or the others scattered.  We appear to be unharmed, so we search the bodies.

Gather Information -  Miss - Reveals an unwelcome truth

Myrgun grimaces. One of these Broken is known to her. It's a man that accompanied her on her quest to the Bramblekeep. 3 days ago he was sane and loyal, this morning he was a murderous monster.

Ask the Oracle - Is this the real Amolfir?  Unlikely.  74: No, but if 2 higher it would have been yes.

The man's name is Muna, he was Amolfir's younger brother. I suggest we should bury him, so that his family isn't dishonored if family passes by. Myrgun is sterner and less forgiving than myself: she says a traitor should not be buried when so many good people were left for the crows in recent days.

I tell her the Grave Tale of the Masked Birth, which is about a human warrior in ages past, during the time when the Firstborn still had cities but humanity was primitive and cave-dwelling. Ezluk the Elf-Armored fought many Firstborn, and when they fell he kept their wooden masks as trophies, and dressed in armor made of the symbols of his hated foes. When he fell in battle, his tribe fled the field. The spirits of those dead Firstborn lingered in the mask-armor, and he arose as a revenant to plague the very people he had before defended.

Compell w/ Storyweaver and +1 from Bond -  Weak Hit

Myrgun shakes off my story. This is not the same, and she says I put too much faith in Kasju's magic tricks. She won't consent to letting a traitor be buried. However, she's surprisingly okay with me dragging him to the lake, and washing the Broken sigils from his flesh before leaving him adrift or weighting him down. I reflect on the hanged bodies in the Shatterwood. I wonder if my sister has a bit of a cruel or vindictive streak. For now, I decide she's just being acceptably pragmatic.

Mark Your Failure - 1 Tick

Wolf and Cat, log 18

      This is the 18th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A villager who'd gone missing in the shatterwood. I thought I'd found and rescued him, but it seems like it was some sort of imposter. 
  

Session Log 18:  8/18/2021

We find no further danger in the Shatterwood this day, and pass without additional harassment to the shores of Bitter Lake. It is twilight by the time we get there, so we decide to make a camp in the ruins of Despair. In the last rays of the sun, we pick through the ruins a bit to see if the Broken and the wildlife have left anything usable.

Resupply w/ Wits - Strong Hit +2 Supply

Our search turns up a sealed pot of pickled herring for dinner, and another of wheatberries that will make a good porridge for breakfast, and jar of mead that will help us pass the time between them. Scraps of torn cloth from loom the enemy destroyed allow us to change our bandages and pack more for the next battle.

Make Camp - Strong Hit -  +2 Health for everyone at the cost of -1 Supply

We set up camp in the husk of the building that had been our childhood home. It seems a fitting place to make up for lost time and estranged kinship. I tell her of my recent experiences here, the death of Garl the Slayer and aiding Emelyn Firetop. Discussion of Emelyn leads to talking about childish things, shared memories and eventually the fates of friends now lost or feared so.

We sit around the hearth, with splintered pieces of the former walls crackling in its fire. After a few hours and all the jar, it finally starts to feel like we are siblings again. She asks about my life these past 10 and 2, and doesn't call Kasju an elf-bitch this time. I speak to her of travels in the hinterlands and further north beyond the Tempest Hills. Of delves in the ruins left from a foggy distant era when Kasju's people, not ours, were the dominant culture of this world. Of magic pried from the fuming vents in the Frozen Cave of Zhan, and mystic dances under the gloaming moon, drawing ritual energy from an Iron Pillar not unlike the one here in Despair.

Forge A Bond with Storyweaver - Strong Hit - +1 Spirit, +1 momentum and Mark a Bond Tick.

"Magic from the Village Pillar? Can you show me?"  Before long, I am dancing the binding of the moon into my Wolf Pelt.

Bind w/ Wits - MIss!

And I am surprised when the moon fails to plant its blessing in my furs.

Oracle - Did Myrgun just steal some portion of my magic? 50/50.  14: No

Myrgun is unimpressed. I'm not sure what went wrong. Perhaps it is a lingering affect of magic from the Shatterwood, or the influence of False-Amolfir. I decide to go to the lake and cleanse my pelt, both physically and spiritually. I wash it, then bring it back and hold it in the smoke of the hearth while calling upon the rites of Rokahast, the huntress of the [Hart of Coals]. This of course results in another tale being told, as I try to regain the respect and attention of Myrgun. Rokahast who first sought to catch and warp the war-magic of fire, and instead mastered the smoke-meditation. Sometimes when you labor for a thing, you find instead a greater truth when you learn to accept defeat.

Secure an Advantage w/ Storyweaver - Miss

Myrgun is having none of it. She sees Rokahast as a failure, who gave up too early, and watched her prize and pride vanish in a puff of smoke.

Myrgun decides that my magic is less powerful than Fluugs the Tree-Troll's, but doesn't say that directly. It may come back to bite me later. Probably her opinion of Kasju Frystgrotta has fallen even lower as well.

The cleansing isn't enough, and I am unable to enchant my wolf-pelt this evening. I go to bed unhappy.

Mark Failures - 2 ticks -

Advance A Threat - Roll Oracle - 85: The threat makes a dramatic and immediate move, or a major event reveals new complications. Mark Menace twice.

This is bad.  The Broken pack is a Menace 7 of 10, and we're at progress 6 of 10.

Wolf and Cat, log 17

     This is the 17th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A villager who'd gone missing in the shatterwood. I thought I'd found and rescued him, but it seems like it was some sort of imposter. 
  

Session Log 17:  8/14/2021

We stroll out the castle's open gate, and wonder aloud how and if they close. The gate is woven vines and roots and branches, with no hinge or mechanism to be seen. We have no choice but to leave it open behind us.

Escape the Depths - Wits - Miss      Reveal a Danger: 56 - You encounter a hostile denizen    Feature: A Rocky Outcrop    Denizen roll: 58 - that's a Gloom again! It's from the same entry on the Denizen chart as last time.  The chart for the Shatterwood is currently: 1-27: Broken, 28-55: Make up something new, 56-69: Gloom, 70-100: Make up something new.

We travel through the Shatterwood on a trail that has clearly been used by the Broken for quite some time. It is remarkably clear and easy, and I wish I'd followed it on the way in. We pass a rocky ridge with an inset cave. Myrgun is very cautious around it, because on the trip in, ridges like this one were used as sentry or ambush spots by the Broken she encountered. Not this specific one... which raises the question of why not. I stop and listen near the cave mouth. I hear a growl coming from within, and Myrgun says it may be a bear or something dangerous that the Broken avoided... but I know that sound. I've heard Sammutisel having a nightmare before, the strange mewling cries he gives out shortly before he wakes himself up. I call his name into the cave. "Hold on Myrgun, I have to check to see if that's my friend in there."

I step forward, and she moves to follow. "No. You wait outside. The spirit that inhabits this place will play tricks with our minds, and steal all the light within. I may need you outside to call to me toward the sun if I become lost or enchanted."

She accepts this answer, hopefully without gleaning the true reason: that I don't want to risk her seeing the fears and suspicions that linger in my head. Fears and suspicions about her.

Into the cave I go, and down into the darkening Gloom. The shadows twist and contort around me... before long, I am walking in my Cave Lion's nightmare. It's a strange thing, shadows and rock formations become slaughtered prey laying about, the bodies opened by powerful claws. I'm not a cat, so other's  kills have little scavenger allure for me... but neither do they repulse me enough to make me turn back. I step between the feline fever dreams, and press onward deeper into the cave.

Gloom - Troublesome Scene Challenge -

Face Danger w/ Wits - Miss -          Endure Stress - Weak Hit   - 1 Spirit damage

Too late do I realize they are watching me with eyes that only pretend to be dead.  Broken rib-cages are actually the giant teeth of imaginary monsters. An ancient ghostly evil, posing as a darkened cave posing as a half dozen ambush predators posing as a dozen slaughtered carcasses. It springs a trap that suddenly feels as real to me as it does to my cat.

I leap aside...

Face Danger w/ Edge -  Weak Hit  - Mark Progress, but -1 Supply

...rolling out of the grasp of someone else's memory of pain. There's a clatter as my bag is upturned. Whatever supplies have fallen out will probably but unrecoverable in the darkening cave.

I shout out Sammutisel's name, hoping to wake him from his nightmare, or at least get a response that lets me know where he is.

Secure An Advantage w/ Wits - Weak Hit +1 momentum

A snarl rises out of the back of the cave. He's deep back there. I need to wake him, and shouting's not going to do it. The nightmares snap and stab at me as I leap beyond them into utter identity-annhilating darkness.

Face Danger w/ Edge - Strong Hit - Mark Progress

I get my hands on him, and shake enough to wake him. Stirring anyone from a nightmare is dangerous, as you never know how they'll react in that moment between slumbering terror and wakeful comprehension.  All the more so when the dreamer has 6-inch sabreteeth and 4-inch claws. I prey that he recognizes his old friend before his killer instinct gets the better of him.

Face Danger w/ Heart -  Weak Hit - Mark Progress but Endure Harm - Miss  -1 Health, -1 Momentum

His eyes flicker green, reflecting the tiny bit of light that punctures the murky back of the cave. He leaps up, flips over me in the darkness, rakes me with his claws before bounding off into nothingness. I scream, at first in pain, but then force the sound into words. "Sammutisel! Down, boy! Down!"

Resolve the Scene Challenge - Progress Move - Strong Hit!

The Gloom's link to Sammutisel is shaken, and light floods into the cave. In the dusky light the shapes of doppleganger corpse-mouths dissolve back into rock formations. Sammutisel tries to make up for having clawed me, by rubbing up with a rumbling purr. I know what's coming if we stay here, though, for the Gloom will seek to latch on me, instead. If this happens, simply having Myrgun wait outside might not be enough to keep my fears from being broadcast before her eyes.

I grab Sammutisel by the scruff of his neck, and drag him in the direction of the light from the cave mouth. We burst forth into the afternoon.

Seeing us, Myrgun leaps up to her feet. "He's bigger than I'd realized. On the back of the bear he seemed much smaller."

We put another 30 feet between ourselves and the cave. I offer introductions, she puts out her hand for the cat to sniff. His nose twitches, and his lips curl back from alongside curved ivory daggers. Her hand slides to the hilt of one of the weapons she'd taken from the Broken.

I shake my head. "You want to be his friend? Feed him wax."

She narrows her eyes at me, so I stick a finger in my ear to prove my words. Then the finger goes to his lips, and Sammutisel starts licking. "See, he's a big sweetheart once he knows your ears make the good stuff."

She shakes her head and laughs as she steps away. "Gross. Your elf-bitch teach you that?"

I catch her eye with stoney anger. "Don't ever call her that again. She's my-"

Myrgun's stone is coarser than mine. "The monster who stole my brother, and killed the love between my parents? I'll try to find a more fitting name for her in the future."

We walk in silence, all through the Shatterwood to its edge along the shore.

Mark Failures: 3 ticks

Next session will begin with a Make Camp, or searching for a boat at Despair's docks. 

Wolf and Cat, log 16

    This is the 16th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A villager who'd gone missing in the shatterwood. I thought I'd found and rescued him, but it seems like it was some sort of imposter. 
  

Session Log 16:  8/11/2021

Reminder: My wolf pelt is no longer charged by the Bind Ritual.

Myrgun Bitterblad and I talk for a while longer, each of us buying time to recover somewhat from recent exertions. I ask her to speculate where Fluugs the Tree-Troll and his Broken may have gone.

Oracle: Is it The Island? 50/50: 52: Yes

What's on The Island? Coastal Waters Location: Fleet  Descriptors: Remote and Desolate.  Quick settlement name: Low Mark  Major Plot Twist: A more dangerous foe is revealed.   These answers are great, but I'm going to keep them secret for now, and play like the characters don't know them.

The Broken have an entire fortress here, but they abandoned it without much of a fight. Is this just more madness on their part, or is their some other plan at play? Myrgun says that Fluugs said something about a boat when he was rounding up his cohort to leave with their prisoners. The Bitter Lake is quite large, and has a sizable island that can be seen from Despair. A tower on an island, or a tower in the water, appears all over the symbols that the Broken had painted and tattooed all over themselves, and their belongings. Maybe they have another fort out on that island? We probably need to go out to the island, and see if that's where they went.

This will, of course, meaning going out over The Thing Beneath The Lake. I consider asking Myrgun about the things the Gloom had shown me. Did Rygar Bitterblad really try to trade his firstborn sun for a magic sword (the Bitterblade) and worldly power? No, we're just starting to cooperate, and father's corpse is too recently in the ground. Making accusations right now may hinder the healing process... literally if I piss her off. Later, when we've fought together instead of fought each other, when we have something more to bond over, then I'll broach the subject of ancient sacrifices and personal betrayals.

I sort out Emelyn's throwing knives from the pile of weapons that Myrgun had gathered, and take a couple extra shiv-like Broken knives and a spear I can use as a walking stick. I call out to Sammutisel again, and when he doesn't respond, we head out without him. Getting to the island won't be easy without a boat, so we decide to retrace our steps back to Despair, and see if any of the village's fishing vessels survived the raid.

Before we go, I take one last walk around the courtyard of the Bramblekeep. I hate to leave such a place without truly exploring its mysteries, or making an effort of learning its stories, so I vow to return some day and learn the tale of its origins.

Swear An Iron Vow - Troublesome Rank -  Miss with Complication!

What Oddi doesn't realize is that there is some additional local mystery waiting here, and when he comes back he'll have a lot of trouble. It may have something to do with False-Amolfir. I will crank it up to Dangerous Rank, since it got complicated. 16 sessions, and I've only completed one vow and earned a single experience point. These dice just hate me.

Escape the Depths - Wits - Miss      Reveal a Danger: 56 - You encounter a hostile denizen    Feature: A Rocky Outcrop    Denizen roll: 58 - that's a Gloom again! It's from the same entry on the Denizen chart as last time.  The chart for the Shatterwood is currently: 1-27: Broken, 28-55: Make up something new, 56-69: Gloom, 70-100: Make up something new.

So, I'm probably starting next session with more Gloom!

Wolf and Cat, log 15

    This is the 15th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A villager I'd just rescued, who is currently helping my battle against the Shatterwood Broken. He's carrying the hexencollar that transforms the wearer into a bear, but it's evil magic, so he's promised to only put it on if that's the only way to save my life or his. 
  

Session Log 15:  8/10/2021

Darkness. 

I open a swollen eye. Everything aches, but nothing seems to be broken. I sit up slowly and look around the carnage of the courtyard.

Oracle: Is Myrgun still here? 50/50 - 75: Yes

Oracle: Is Amolfir still here?  Unlikely, if Myrgun's still around.   17: No

Oracle: What is her Disposition? 72: Demanding  -  What is her Goal? 9: Build a Relationship

She's sitting on a stump in the middle of the courtyard, where she can see me, and the open gate of the castle. She's got a stack of weapons nearby. Most of them are crude throwing weapons, hacked into shape by Broken, and tipped with shards of rock, or bone, or pitted rusted iron. A few of them are more professionally crafted, like the sword in her lap, or the bearded ax planted in the side of the stump. She's got more blood on her than when I saw her before, and not all of it is mine. A lot more bruises too, so probably some of that blood is her own.

Her first question is "Are you alive?"

"Don't flatter yourself." It's a dumb thing to say, but if I don't resist at least a little, she might get the idea that 10 years and 2 have made me weak or subservient.

She rolls her eyes. "Not because of now, dummy. You're not a ghost, obviously, but maybe some sort of revenant. Dad told me for 12 years you were dead, and that mom was mad for not accepting it. Then here you are, exactly when she said you'd be back."

"Where's my lion?" I stand up, and try not to let it show how much it hurts. "If you hurt Sammutisel, you and I will come to blows again."

"You're in no shape to make threats." She gestures with the sword. "Sit back down. I'm asking the questions. Are you really Oddi?"

"Of course I am.  Who else would I be?"

"Troll, maybe. Some sort of changeling, or shapeshifter. You were traveling with a pair of therianthropes. Maybe you're some sort of werewolf." Her sword points at my shoulders, or the wolf pelt on them.

"You're wrong about everything. The cat's not a shifter, just smart. Loyal, too, so you'd have better not hurt him." I then shout his name several times, "Sammutisel!", but he's either beyond earshot or in trouble.

She nods. "Your werebear companion got the jump on me, and the cat came to my aid. Last I saw them, the bear was running away, with the cat on top ripping up it's shoulders. Why would your cat choose me over your bear?"

"He's not my werebear. He's not really a werebear, either. Or, wasn't. Hopefully he's not damned now. That was literally his first time, and he'd promised he'd only use it if it was the only way to save his life or mine. I'm surprised he didn't try to stop you as a man, first, since he wasn't my companion, but yours."

"Explain." She's as pushy as I remember her from childhood.

"Amolfir. His name is Amolfir. He said rode with you out of Sword Hope."

Her face is ashen.

I wanted some sort of weird twist here, because the Amolfir situation had seemed pretty dubious even before he put on the hexen-collar. So I roll a couple Oracles to learn a bit about him:

Role: Thief   Goal: Collect a Debt.   Activity: Supporting.

That's interesting. Sounds like he was intentionally taking the hexen-collar, for someone else.

As follow-up I Ask the Oracle: Did she see the real Amolfir die?  It seems likely, given all the fighting and how none of her men are around, but I roll an 11, so that's a no.

Oracle: Major Plot Twist: 70 "The enemy gains new allies".   That's perfect.

She says: "Amolfir, and most of the men I came here with, were captured. Fluugs took most of them with him when he left. Amolfir was among them. I didn't get a good look at your man, because of the fighting, but I don't think he was Amolfir."

"Fluugs the Tree-Troll?" I ask, with too much excitement and not enough fear.

Gather Information - Weak Hit

"You know him?" She stands up, and gestures with a wide sweeping motion of her sword, both menacing and designed to distract my eyes and keep me from noticing that she was also wincing upon standing.

"Know of him, but I haven't met him. Kasju taught me all about him." I take a few moments to tell her the sorts of stories that I'd recently recounted to Emelyn Firetop and to our mother Grassa Bitterblad about Fluugs, and his jealous insecure love for Sursa Trade-Star. I explain the horrible decision he made to try to wrest a star from the heavens to win back her love, and how he destroyed a once-beautiful forest in the process, creating the Shatterwood as we know it. She listens along intently. "...but that was hundreds of years ago," I explain, "and I don't think trolls don't live that long. There's no tales of them living across multiple ages. Are you sure it's Fluugs?"

 "Nearly all of that is new to me," she admits. "I don't know if the creature I've seen is really him, or descendant, or just a Troll who stole the name to sound important. What I do know is, he wanted our father's sword, and he killed half of Despair to get it. He sent the Broken, who worship or follow him. They're mad, and hard to interrogate. They seem sharper though when he's around."

"So you've seen him?"

"Yes, and through him as well. He's hard to look at, and harder to describe. His skin is... like a giant eyeball. I'm not sure how he does it, but he talked most of the men I brought into the castle to lay down their arms and go with him. It's got to be some sort of magic. When he speaks, your head sweats and your eyes cross, and covering your ears doesn't keep the sound out. I tried to attack him, and he just... well, it didn't go as planned. Next time it will be different."

"Yes it will," I say, and stand up again. "We'll face him together."

"No we won't. I've sent enough men to their deaths. I've sworn a vow to destroy him, so I'll do it."

"I've also sworn to avenge father's death. We can either race each other, or be smart and work together."

Compel w/ Heart - Weak Hit

She agrees, but states it very bluntly, in case I have motives or plans that conflict with her own. "The Bitterblade is my birthright, not yours. Father promised his sword to me, for more than a decade. You were dead to him, so you're certainly not taking it from me."

She didn't have to be so mean about it. "Mother already made me promise as much. When we get the sword back, it goes to you. But I will be present when we get vengeance together."

We talk a bit further, and I ask her about the things Amolfir (or the changeling pretending to be him) had told me about the hanging tree and their night-time camps. She confirms that yes, some of the men were taken by the Broken, and some of them showed up again later, seeming to be Broken themselves. It seems False-Amolfir was telling at least some truths. I wonder again if he was maybe The Grey Wanderer, but don't yet voice it for fear of speaking Heresy before my sister's opinion of me is entirely solidified.

Mark Progress on my Troublesome Vow that I will give the sword to Myrgun. We're in agreement about that much for the moment. I also mark a single tick on my Epic prophecy vow about putting a mighty ruler on a pillar. The scope here has opened up more Epic than I'd initially thought, and Myrgun clearly has ambition.

Advance a Threat - 11 - "The threat readies its next step, or a new danger looms. If you are in a position to prevent this development, you may attempt to do so. If you succeed, Reach a Milestone. Otherwise, mark menace."  The Menace meter is up to 5, but we've also defeated a lot of the Broken, so I think we're going to be okay if we don't get bogged down in little stuff.

Wolf and Cat, log 14

    This is the 14th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A villager I'd just rescued, who is currently helping my battle against the Shatterwood Broken. He's carrying the hexencollar that transforms the wearer into a bear, but it's evil magic, so he's promised to only put it on if that's the only way to save my life or his. 
  

Session Log 14:  8/9/2021

I bubble-over with excitement. We've scattered the Broken, avenged our father, come out of it with only minor injuries, and I'm even reunited with my beloved sister who I haven't seen in 2 years and 10. It's easy to set aside the horrible visions the Gloom gave me. They can't be true, this is my kid sister, Myrgun. The great tragedy of my arrival at Despair has transformed into joyous reunion.

"You interfering idiot!" my sister Myrgun shouts as she stomps forward. Did I say joyous? Why is she so mad at me?

Oracles:   Theme: 42: Vengeance   Action: 7: Avenge

Her face is contorted with single-minded rage, and she shoves me hard. I give ground the first time. "Hey! Quit it! It's-" She hits me much harder. "Hey! It's Oddi!"

She's still got a Broken axe in her other hand, and while she hasn't struck with it yet, it's hard to ignore. The bite wound on her face makes her even more intimidating, and she's smeared with blood and war paint from the close-quarters struggle with the chieftess. She's better armored than a Broken, but otherwise, the image is complete. She strikes me a third time,

Face Danger - Heart - Miss!     Endure Harm: Weak Hit  -1 Harm

and knocks me on my ass. I'm dazed for a second. She kicks me while I'm down.Twice.

"Myrgun! Let up! It's Oddi Bitterblad! Your-"

She leans down suddenly, and grabs the empty scabbard at my belt. Father's scabbard. She hefts it in the air and I swear my back just about cracks in half.

"Oddi Bitterblad is dead! You are a changeling! A troll! You thought I wouldn't recognize you this time?"

Clash - Iron - Weak Hit -

I've had enough, and I sweep her leg. Unfortunately, she falls down on top of me, leading with her elbow. The wind is knocked out of me. The axe at least has slipped her hand and bounced a few feet away, so that's a success.

Time to reminder who is the older sibling. I grab a hold of her head, my fingers tangling in her dark brown hair.

Clash - Iron - Miss         Endure Harm:  1 Harm, + Complication from a Matched Miss (Wait for it)

And that's when she really beats the bloody hell out of me. She's damn good, I have to give her that. Fast, precise, stronger than I would have expected. "Where did you put my father's sword, you bloody troll? You lying, cheating, fish-faced monster! Give me my damn sword!" I try to squirm out from under her and slip away, but she keeps her weight on me, and a firm grip with one hand while she pummels me with the other. The gloves she wears are leather, set with rivets. I wonder if they are Emelyn's work.

Compel - Weak Hit  

She barrages me with fists as well as questions about the sword, and I try to prove who I am while I'm still conscious. I recite facts from childhood, but they come out throaty and gasping because of how she has me pinned. "You loved the taste of elderberries, but Grassa wouldn't let you eat them. Your favorite color is dark purple. You had a pet turtle named Kraken." She lets up on the onslaught for just a moment, and we lock eyes.

Her weight shifts, and I can breathe again. "You had a crush on Petri, the Miller's son." Something wet and salty falls on my eye and blurs my vision, and then the fist comes down again, harder than before. Again and again. He must have died this week.

"You killed him!" She shrieks. "You killed them all, Fluugs! The blood is on your hands, you lying murderer!" She slams my head against the hard ground. "Now I fulfill my vow!" Her free arm reaches in the direction where the axe had bounced.

And then she's sailing off me. Before I pass out, I catch a glimpse of the bear that threw her across the courtyard.

Darkness.

I Mark Progress on my Troublesome Vow to Grassa that I would give Myrgun the sword. I don't have it yet, obviously, but I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to leverage the beating she gave me in later conversations. So it's a form of progress. I just hope I won't be so angry at her by then that I forsake my vow.

I also Mark 2 Failures this session. I'm learning the hard way.

 

 

Wolf and Cat, log 13

   This is the 13th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.
• Amolfir: A missing villager from the town of Sword Hope, last seen riding into the Shatterwood with Myrgun. Emelyn and Tern are currently staying with Amolfir's wife. 
  

Session Log 13:  8/8/2021

Notes going in to the session: My wolf pelt is no longer charged by the Bind ritual. Early next session I should do Mark Progress - It's likely this is fortress of either the Shatterwood Broken, Fluugs the Tree-Troll, and/or the Bloodsick Warrior. Once I know whose castle it is, that will determine whether it gets a progress mark on vs Broken or vs Bloodsick.

Where we left off: After catching my breath, I look upward at the towering wall of brambles. It runs up near as high as the ridge I came over. Above it is a watchtower, giving the impression that the thicket is a castle wall. These are like the walls of Thyckete and Thorne, perhaps the most famous of the Firstborn castle-growers. Men in the Old World made castles of stone. Men in the Ironlands sometimes do the same, usually on a smaller scale, but more-often erect walls of dead logs, like Proud Hoarfrost or Jorgun Kin-Foe did. A living castle, on the other hand, means a Firstborn at least laid its foundations. This place is important. I have only seen castles illustrated in scrolls that Kasju shared with me in the Frozen Cave of Zhan.

I look up at the top of the wall. There are people on it, in two senses. Some sentry pacing the top of the wall, and two bodies a little further down the wall, dressed in black and somehow tangled in or tied to the wall. Sammutisel growls up at them, and their black cloaks alight and scatter. The bodies are naked save for tangling branches, the darkness was crows feasting upon them. Such barbarism does not bode well. Someone went to a lot of trouble to arrange that torture.

Anyone who has heard The Lay of the Ruined Mallet knows that Broken are as wild as beasts, as mad as the moon, and as splintered as the Shatterwood that I find myself in. They are known for their cruelty, not their cleverness. I do not doubt that they would wound a man and hang him bleeding for the crows, but my stories do not indicate how they would maintain a fortress of the Firstborn, nor have the skill and coordination necessary to lash a man to the outside of a wall. It's not impossible the tales could be embellishing their mindless savagery... Garl the Slayer had mind enough to speak sense and curse betrayal, after all. I had assumed him to be exceptional among his kind. Feris Left-Tusk's fatal lack of thinking before action seemed more in line with my understanding of such once-men.

The guard high above is painted like the Broken, and his pacing is more like the barely contained rage of a caged animal than the measured outward-facing procession of a professional sentry. The wall is tightly woven, grown in an intentional mesh. It's not like the loose tangles of the other ravine, punching through this would be hard work and noisy. The guard's pattern is erratic, his attention divided or wandering, so I resolve to try ascending the thicket.

Check Your Gear - Strong Hit

I reach in my satchel and produce the gloves I so often needed in the Frozen Cave. They are fur-thick, and will save my hands from being destroyed in my ascent. Some thorn-injuries will be unavoidable during this climb, but I need my hands to still be able to grasp my axe when I reach the top.

Face Danger - Weak Hit       Endure Harm - Miss, -1 Health and -1 momentum

Delve the Depths with Edge - Strong Hit

Find an Opportunity Oracle 78 - Get the drop on a denizen. That's the same result as last time I rolled on this chart. So I'll take out the Guard with a Battle, I guess, and hope it's not retroactively a chieftain that I'm slaying this time. :)

Battle - Strong Hit  - Momentum is now back at 10.

I want a little more interesting randomness here, so I roll some oracles

Combat Action - Create an Opportunity     Action/Theme - Seize Bond

I scale up the wall, slowly, trying not to cut myself too badly. It's delicate, painful work, but the gloves save my hands. Sammutisel follows after me, making more noise than I'd like, but proving a capable climber.

As we pass by the naked corpses tangled high on the wall, I am shocked to discover that one of them still breathes. Cutting him free and getting him safely off the wall will be a task and a half. Sensing my weight upon the thicket, he opens the one eye the crows have left him. I cover his mouth before he can cry out. With his eye open, something about him strikes me as familiar, maybe I knew him a decade ago, or maybe his age and haggardness reminds me of the tales of the Grey Wanderer.

I whisper to him "Quiet. I will try to rescue you, but there is a guard walking the wall. I might be able to cut you free the next time he's walking away towards the watch tower."  The man nods, and I look upward again. The guard paces near, muttering to himself bizarre half-sentences about murders and hoofprints. He turns away again, and I start to cut the vines that have grown around this prisoner's neck. As soon as his head is free from the position it's been held in, he turns and stretches his neck. That's when he spots Sammutisel below, and tries to warn me. "Lion!"

The madman guard on the wall rushes over and leans out with his spear. Whether he intends to stab the prisoners, or fight a lion, doesn't matter. I throw my knife into his neck, and he slumps forward. I catch the spear when it falls from his hand. Turning it around, I use it to poke and prod his body out over the edge. After he falls, we wait in silence for a few seconds, but no other guards appear.

"Do not fear the Lion," it is now safe to whisper to the man, "He is my friend. I am Oddi Ice-Chosen."

The man smiles. "Son of Rygar. Your sister is around here somewhere."

I immediately scan the wall in both directions, but don't see any more bodies than these two men.

"Inside, I think. I don't know if she yet lives, but she was not dead last night when I was placed here. I am Amolfir of Sword Hope. I rode here with your sister to avenge our friends who died in Despair."

Emelyn had told me that the village's name was shortened after they lost the struggle to forget. My mother's endless grief was a part of that, she'd said, but the Gloom's vision had complicated that narrative yesterday. I force my mind to refocus on the man.

"I'm going to cut you free," I tell him. "Getting down will not be easy, and then you'll need to travel half the Shatterwood before you can get home."

"Are you going over the wall to fight them?" He asks.

"I am."

"Then I will as well. I cannot walk naked into Sword Hope as the sole survivor."

"You can, and you will. You lost an eye. No one will doubt your courage."

Compel - Miss

"Listen, Oddi, I swore an iron vow that I would avenge your village."  It's suicide, but Amolfir refuses to let me got to my death alone. If I don't want to bring him with me into the jaws of death, I would have to leave him stranded on the wall. He says that if I send him to the ground, if he can still walk he will head to the gates and fight his way in. This is a really bad idea, but I respect his bravery.

The plan is thus: I will finish cutting him free, then we will go over the wall. If we are spotted, we take as many of them as we can, and look for opportunities to free any other captives. If we somehow get over the top unnoticed, we'll head for that watch-tower. It should provide enough privacy and security for me to get him bandages and clothing from my pack. I tell the plan a second time to Sammutisel, in the First-Tongue, and hope the cat understands.

Delve the Depths - Shadow because we're trying to be sneaky - Strong Hit!

Find an Opportunity - 56: You locate a secure area.

Things go much better than expected. Enough I wonder if Amolfir is the Grey Wanderer, or perhaps with his one-eye just a close-enough approximation for the Gods to take a guiding interest.  No one spots us down below, and we are three grey shadows moving to the watch-tower, which is wicker and wood construction, with just enough room for us.

Mark Progress - Not just on the Delve, but on my vow against The Shatterwood Broken. I killed one, freed one of the their prisoners, and have now snuck inside their castle.

Once within it, I give him my spare pants from my pack. I bandage as many of his cuts as I can, and pack his eye, and check my own wounds while I'm at it.

Heal - Weak Hit - +2 Health but -1 Momentum

My satchel's contents are poured out on the floor of the tower, and his one-eye is drawn to the hexen-belt. "I stole it from a monster," I tell him. "I am only carrying it to keep it away from creatures worse. I won't use it."

"Why not?" He asks incredulously, as if I were about to go into dire battle outnumbered, and refusing to wield the greatest weapon in my arsenal. Perhaps I am.

"It's a great weapon, but it's also evil. I fear what it might make of me."

Compel - Weak Hit - He wants something in return. Not sure what to make of that so I roll some oracles.

Disposition: Unfriendly.    Activity: Learning.    Goal: Seize Power.

That's not good. "Oddi Ice-Chosen, you may have the gifts of the Firstborn to speed your arm in battle, but I do not! We are outnumbered. You are sending me into battle half-naked and armed only with a crude spear captured from the enemy. I will not run away from this fight, but neither will I slit my own throat for them. It is all good for you to say that you fear this magic getting the best of you. I do not fear this. I am fighting for the honor and memory of my slain friends, and for my own honor which they tried to peel from me. My heart is just, and I have already suffered and remained strong. I cannot afford to just refuse to use such a weapon on general principle. Let us do this: You let me carry the collar. If all goes well, we fight and carry the day without it. But if we are not enough to defeat these monsters, then it is better if the collar is carried by one is willing to risk it if there is no other way to win. Let me carry it, and I promise you I will not use its power if there is any other way to succeed. It is only a last option, to be avoided if there is any other way."

I know it's a terrible idea, but I consent to this battleplan. I hope my trust is not misplaced.

Locate Your Objective - Progress Move - Strong Hit - Make a new move at +1

We look down into the Firstborn castle. The courtyard has huts, cages, weapon racks, a horse on a spit roasting over a large fire-pit, a table where a man has been butchered. Like the outer walls, all of it seems to have grown into the current shape, woven and as twisted as the men who walk around it. I witness acts of brutality, madness, torture, cannibalism, fornication, the Broken have no mores nor taboos. It's painful to look at. They outnumber us 15 to 3 at least, and maybe worse if there are more inside the huts, or in the large low knot of trees that have been shaped by magic into something like an inner Keep.

Endure Stress just for looking down at that mess - Weak Hit - 1 Spirit.

I scan the landscape for anything we can leverage to our advantage. The wood is too green to burn well, but it would produce a lot of smoke that might provide the cover we need. That is assuming that the magic that's making the thickets grow into high castle walls isn't also protecting them from fire. I need a better understanding of what's going on in this place.

Gather Information - Weak Hit

I ask Amolfir to fill me in on everything that happened the past few days, and what we're up against here. His tale is troubling. Some of the Broken are the mindless savages we expect, but a few had greater cunning. They attacked in ambushes, with diversion or bait. They dragged people away, taking captives even if it cost them lives and battles to do so. On the second day, they waved a white flag, and wanted to talk. The negotiations were pure bedlam: the Broken spoke over each other, and leadership seemed to change from moment to moment. But the most nonsensical thing of it all were who was with them. Three dozen Broken, plus two missing members of the Despair community and one of our own number who'd been dragged away in the fighting the day before. All three were marked with a symbol on their foreheads, the same tower-and-wave motif you'll see on many of them down there. Instead of behaving like prisoners in need of rescue, all three were as rabid and crazed as any of them."

I'm aghast at this news. There are of course tales of civilized men going Broken, that's basically the crux of the Lay of the Ruined Mallet... but these are transformations that take place over years of hardship, not overnight.

"While all the Broken shouted over each other, there were two of the Broken who seemed to be competing for who was in charge. One of them had your father's sword belt, and a single jutting tooth. The other was a woman with a hundred iron hooks piercing every inch of her painted flesh.  Myrgun asked about Rygar's sword. The man with the tooth got very agitated about this, and the woman said that their leader had it now. The man screamed at her "Floogs is not my leader!"

"Fluugs the Tree-Troll?" I asked, from my vantage point peering down through the wicker weave of the tower.

"I'm sure some Broken just named for the legend, but yes. They came to blows over that leadership squabble, and Myrgun chose that moment to act. We killed several, captured 3, and scattered the rest. One of the 3 was from the town of Despair. We tried to reason with him, snap him out of it, but he bit Myrgun. Not a little bite, he was trying to murder or at least disfigure your sister, and left an open wound on her face. After that, she ordered all three hung until dead, and left there for the traitors to humanity they..."

Down in the courtyard there is now some greater commotion afoot than the general cacophony of Broken antics thus far. A painted woman comes flying out of the tree-Keep, hits the ground hard, rolls, and springs up on her feet, drawing knives in either hand. Another woman comes stomping out after her, clad in mail and a respectable but blood-stained tunic, but wielding a big jagged axe of Broken design. The two women have eyes locked on each other, looking for an opening. The armored woman...

"Amolfir, look! Is that-"

"Myrgun!"

Enter the Fray - Edge - Strong + Opportunity!  - We're going to call this something between Dangerous and Formidable. Only 1 progress per harm like Formidable, but only inflicts 2 harm like Dangerous. For the Opportunity, I'm going to say that if I manage to score a Secure An Advantage at any point in this fight, it will allow me to score +1 on Clash, Battle, or Face Danger for the rest of the scene. I'm basing that on the "Companion: Kindred: Shield-Kin" asset ability.

I leap down from the tower, and run across the planking at the top of the wall, which has bark not boards. The random thought fires through my head about how amazing this place is, and how much I want to study it, learn its history, sing its praises, meet its maker.

Below, the two women circle each other, and the other Broken creep closer to them both, staring intently as their duel begins.

Strike with Cave Lion Edge - Miss - Spend my 10 momentum for a: Strong Hit!  3 Harm + 2 Momentum

I drop down behind the ring that's watching them, but at just that moment one of the maddened throng watching the fight turns around. I don't know if he heard me, or saw movement out of the corner of his eye, or was chasing a hallucination. All that matters is he sees me and is drawing a dagger. Then Sammutisel bounds past me, and knocks the Broken over in a bloody mess. The next one over turns around as well, and I throw one of Emelyn's daggers into him.

Strike with Cave Lion Edge - Strong Hit - 3 Harm +2 Momentum

Total chaos erupts in the courtyard. The scent of blood is thick in the air, strong enough to mask the scent of everything else foul the Broken have done in this space. I throw blades in any others that turn towards me, and heft my axe when Emelyn's knives run out. Sammutisel tears at them as well, and Amolfir thrusts down with the spear from a position on the walls.

We've thinned the opposition enough that I can spare a glance in Myrgun's direction.

Secure an Advantage - Heart - Miss!   - Pay The Price: 07: A person or community you care about is exposed to danger.

The ferocious Broken chieftess she was dueling has fallen, and much of her arm has fallen a few feet further away. Myrgun is moving in for a killing blow that is most redundant.  Excited, I call out to her. "Myrgun, it's Oddi!" Like I'm a stupid little kid.

Myrgun looks in my direction, and the chieftess picks that moment to hurl a dagger with her good hand. My sister's instincts are quick, and even distracted by my idiocy, she still twists her body and tries to parry. If she was wielding our father's sword, she would have been fast enough, but this Broken axe is heavy and off-balance. She screams out in pain, and then moves for that killing blow anyway. After pulling the knife out of her arm, she give the chiefess two more hacks.

I focus far too long on her struggle and my responsibility for it. A foe comes charging up on my right side and dives at me.

Clash w/ Iron - Weak Hit, burn Momentum to make it a Strong Hit  - Find an opening: Harm 3

The Broken who leaps atop me is a snarling barely-human beast, with teeth sharpened to points, and an elaborate facial scar. He's atop me, snapping and spraying spittle, and trying to stab with the broken head of a shattered spear. The facial scar is deliberate and intricate -  a stylized tower on the left side of the face, surrounding the eye, and in turn surrounded by ripples carved in the tissues everywhere else. The same motiff I've seen painted on others of this group, but clearly the best, most dedicated application of the design that I've seen. It makes a perfect target for the punch I use to knock them off of me. Then I roll on to my side and push up onto my knees. They roll as well, and then spring back at me. I bring my axe up to block their counter-attack, and catch them on the chin with the butt of my weapon. This connects hard enough to daze them, and I follow up by swinging the axe around to destroy that amazing scar.

End The Fight - Strong Hit

Back on my feet, I search for anyone left to kill.  Hardly anyone. A hamstring to stop an escape, a few  hacks, and then it's mostly recovering Emelyn's knives.

Mark Progress - the third progress on my Dangerous vow to avenge my father's murder by the Broken

Glancing over, I see little sister Myrgun, my closest playmate in childhood, who absolutely worshipped me, and followed me everywhere I went. Only now she's staring daggers at me, while tying a strip of tunic around a dagger wound on her arm. "Sister! I am so happy to see you again. These 2 and 10 years, I have often thought of you. I missed you dearly."  No response.  "Mother is alive and well, I saw her to Sword Hope. Speaking of which, I saw you using an axe, do you know where father's sword is?"

"You interfering idiot!" she shouts at me.  That's not exactly the greeting I had hoped for.

 

 

Wolf and Cat, Log 12

   This is the 12th log of my Ironsworn solitaire campaign about Oddi Ice-Chosen. Character background and start of the narrative can be found at: Wolf and Cat, Log 1. 

Session length varies wildly. Some are multi-hour sessions in open evenings, others are 20-minute diversions over a lunch-break. 

Cast of Characters:

• Oddi Ice-Chosen, my main PC. Abducted by a Firstborn sorceress as a child, only recently returning to the world of men, motivated by a terrible prophetic vision. Wears an enchanted wolf-skin. Storyweaver and occasional ritual spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother. Recently reunited after 12 years.
  
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Werebear.
• Myrgun Bitterblad: Oddi's sister. Currently missing in the Shatterwood.
• Rygar Bitterblad: Oddi and Myrgun's recently deceased father. Grassa's ex-husband.

Session Log 12:  8/7/2021

Reminder: My wolf pelt is no longer charged by the Bind ritual.

Oddi awakes from bad dreams before dawn, and since the moon is out, so he clears a bit of brush from the top of the hill to create the smallest space necessary to dance his ritual vestment of his wolf-pelt.

Ritual: Bind - Wits - MISS! I rolled a 5 for my action die, but unfortunately, both of the Challenge Dice came up 10's.  So thats a Complication, and my pelt is not charged.

Reveal a danger - 79 You confront a harrowing situation or sensation.

Action: Threaten   Theme: Portent

Oddi does the dance, and the chant, and calls down the moon. But instead of her rays investing my wolf pelt, the energies enter into the Hexen-Collar instead. It becomes much stronger. Oddi feels a desire to put it on, and actually gets it out of his satchel. He knows it's wrong. A voiceless snarl rides outward upon the wind. If Tern were to see it right now, the boy would be unable to resist putting it on. He picks it up, and winds up to throw it out into the brambles. That too would be reckless. It would be what the collar wants, what the twisty man wants. If he throws it out there, some evil will find it in short order, and be made all the stronger for it. A Bear-Broken could tear Sword Hope to the ground. His hands shaking, Oddi carefully puts the collar back in his bag, and latches the bag closed.

The sun rises over a sea of thorns. He hopes that those same evils won't be drawn directly to him and his satchel.

Elsewhere, in the village of Sword Hope, Emelyn Firetop and Tern are staying in the home of family friends, Fregertha Four-Horse and her husband Amolfir. They are frequent customers who would travel into Forgotten Despair while it stood, and do business with Emelyn, or her father when he was alive. Amolfir is not home, having been convinced by Myrgun Bitterblad to follow her into the Shatterwood. Fregertha is very worried about him, as they've been gone a few days now, and Amolfir is no longer a young man. He's between Emelyn and her father in age, old enough that running off to war is a bad idea, but yet young enough that his pride would not let him refuse to help a friend in need. Fregertha was so happy yesterday when Emelyn and Tern showed up, and she invited them into her home. But when evening fell and Amolfir and their party still hadn't returned, Fregertha found she couldn't sleep. Emelyn stays up half the night talking with her, before climbing up into the loft she and Tern are using as a bedroom.

Some time later, Emelyn is awoken by her brother shouting downstairs. Emelyn rushes to protect him. By the time she's in kitchen, it's clear that Tern is the aggressor, not the victim. He's snarling and gnashing his teeth like a wild animal. Fregertha is holding a chair like a shield. "Tern!? What are you doing?" Just then, the first rays of the rising sun come fall through the window, and Tern stops growling. "What'd you say Emy?" He rubs his eyes. "How'd I get down here?" They decide he was sleepwalking, but Fregertha makes sure not to be alone in a room with him the rest of the day, just in case.

 

Oddi packs up his meagre camp, and surveys the Shatterwood from the hill in the pale light of dawn. The East side of the hill is a mass of brambles that he knows to be deceptively deep. The west slope has visible ground, fewer vines and thorns but more of the broken petrified trees felled in ages past by Fluug's Curse. He looks for signs indicating what route may lead to Myrgun or The Broken.

Gather Information: Weak Hit +1 Momentum

There's a whisp of smoke rising above the Shatterwood to the SouthWest. Small enough to be a campfire or a cookstove, not a raging conflagration. "Come, Sammutisel."

Delve the Depths - Weak Hit - Roll On Table: 42 (Mark Progress)  Feature: Elder Tree

In this portion of the half-height Shatterwood, there's one large full-sized tree, that's clearly been growing for a long time. Oddi passes near it, intended to speak hushed terms of reverence for a spirit of nature strong enough to thrive and prosper in such a difficult setting. As he approaches, he sees there are three people hanging from the branches, their life choked out of them by nooses. Two are Broken men with bodies painted and scarred. The third, however, is a man clad in furs and leathers, the way a civilized man would dress for war if he were not wealthy enough to afford a suit of mail. No paints, tattoos or the like, except a smear of white ash on his forehead that could be nothing. He has several wounds, mostly bruises but also bloodied bandages wound around his left shoulder and arm. He fought, survived, was treated, and then later hung until dead.  Oddi pauses for a few minutes to envision what sort of stories might explain what crimes this man must have committed within this forest for him to be hung at the same time as two of the foes he came here to revenge himself against. Could he have betrayed Myrgun's group? Why would they have slain him, and why wouldn't they bury him as they did the others? There's no answers here, so Oddi moves on rather than bury them. Dangling is a traitor fate.

Cautiously, Oddi walks on for a few more hours, the broken ground and shattered trees make it slow going.

Delve the Depths - Weak Hit - Roll On Table: 74 (Find Opportunity) 77: You get the drop on a denizen. -  Feature: Clearing  Action: Clash  Theme: Problem

Voices and the ringing of stone and metal come from the spaces ahead.  Oddi carefully wends his way through the underbrush to get a closer look.

Two snarling Broken circle around each other with axes drawn, one holding a hand to his gut where he's clearly been stabbed since morning. They are completely focused on each other, hatred in their eyes. Three more Broken lay bloodied on the clearing between shattered trees. The unwounded one is threatening an attack, forcing the other to react and strain his pained abdomen. It's clear who will win if they are left to be, but Oddi swore vengeance. He and Sammutisel creep into position, and then spring out!

Enter the Fray w/ Cave Lion Edge - Weak Hit (Take the Initiative), +3 momentum from Cave Lion and the Opportunity.

Battle - Strong Hit and an Opportunity -   Oracle: Combat Actions: Attack with Precision

Sammutisel streaks past the wounded one, and comes away dragging the mans intestines. The man who was a moment ago his assailant turns to face my cat, and I slip up right behind him, and rest the cold iron of my knife against his throat.

Does he talk, or is he stubborn and makes me slit his throat? Ask the Oracle: 50/50 - 71

The madman lacks the good sense to surrender or even freeze up. Instead, he tries to escape my grasp, and ends up with his neck opened and bleeding. He staggers two steps, gestures with his primitive axe, and then falls over.  The battle is over in an instant, the only sounds a soft purr and throaty squish.

Ask Oracle - Then what's the Opportunity here, if I can't interrogate them?

Plot Twist - True Identity is Revealed      Theme - Fear    

I look at the face of the man whose neck I slit. He's an ugly, nasty looking fellow, more scars and tattoos than the other guy, and more than Garl or any of the other Broken I've seen before. He has a jutting lower jaw, and a terrible old scar down the left side of his face that puckers and splits his lip, leaving leaves one large mishapen tooth protruding up through the gap like the tusk of a boar. Is this Feris Left-Tusk? Has there been a second betrayal in the Broken camp already?

I search the body. His hands are still locked around the haft of an axe and the hilt of a dagger, both of crude Broken manufacture, jagged bits of beaten and pocked metal, bound to bone handles. His belt, though, is treated leather, hand tooled and decorated with greater style and refinement. Hanging from it is scabbard: equally as fancy, long enough for a proper sword, but currently empty. I search about the clearing, the bodies, and the underbrush further than I think a man could hurl it. Sammutisel sniffs about in widening circles, understanding that I'm hunting for something, but possibly unsure what we seek. My father's sword is not present at this battle, despite his scabbard being on Feris Left-Tusk's body.

My stomach is churning. I'm deep in enemy territory, and the one lead I had to my father's weapon is now dead beneath me. I wonder if the Bloodsick Warrior from my vision in the Cave is not a metaphor, but an actual person who may have seized control of the Broken Clan. I leave their bodies for the crows, and make haste in the direction of that smoke I saw to the SouthWest.

Delve the Depths w/ Edge - Miss

Reveal a Danger - Environmental or Architectural Hazard    Feature: 23 - Dense Thicket -

I race forward through the shatterwood, the ground growing more broken and uneven as I go. As I crest a ridge, I wonder if maybe I should be slowing down. The thought comes a moment too late, and the ground on the backside of the ridge gives way. I slide uncontrolled down the hill and crash into a huge thicket at the bottom of it.

Face Danger with Edge - Weak Hit  - Success but take 1 Harm  - Endure Harm - Weak Hit

Much like the other place, the ravine at the bottom is overgrown with brambles. Before I vanish into the stabbing dark, Sammutisel grabs my belt in his saberteeth, and pulls me back out. Grinning, the cat tosses me onto the steep slope, and plants a heavy paw on my chest to pin me in place. Good boy.

After catching his breath, Oddi looks upward at the towering wall of brambles. It runs up near as high as the ridge I came over. Above it is a watchtower, giving the impression that the thicket is a castle wall. Oddi has only seen castles illustrated in books that Kasju shared with me in the Frozen Cave of Zhan. These are like the walls of Thyckete and Thorne, perhaps the most famous of the Firstborn castle-growers. Men in the Old World made castles of stone. Men in the Ironlands sometimes do the same, but more-often erect walls of dead logs, like Proud Hoarfrost or Jorgun Kin-Foe did. A living castle, on the other hand, means a Firstborn at least laid its foundations. This place is important.

Mark Your Failures - 1 mark for this session

Bound by Bind

Played Ironsworn again this weekend, after nearly a month break. Hadn't intended for the gap to be as long as it was, but October was really damn busy.  

So the other day I break out my notes from the Ironsworn campaign, and see that part of my character's status was that my "Bind" ritual was inactive. Bind, for those not in the know, is a seemingly very powerful Asset for a character, as it potentially gives you +1 to any (or every) Stat while active, and the range on the five Stats is just from 1 to 3. There's not a lot of granularity there, so +1 is potentially quite significant. Don't believe it: Bind is a trap for new players, and you don't want to get suckered into taking it as one of your three starting Assets. 

There's plenty of restrictions in place to keep the Bind from living up to its potential. You need to acquire various animal hides to use it: the rules don't say if you start with any, and you may discover that Boars and Bears are shockingly difficult for a starting character (especially a wits-based Ritualist type) to defeat. Once you have the needed pelts, you still need to make a Wits roll to activate it in the first place. If that succeeds, it has a roughly 17% chance to deactivate whenever you use it. Reactivating it again requires not just another Wits check but also you have to be outdoors at night. If your plot is chugging along during daylight hours, or your character is exploring an underground dungeon, once it turns off you're potentially stuck without it for a few sessions. I can unhappily report that suddenly losing a point in a valuable stat in the middle of a battle or delve is a recipe for disaster. What's more, if you fail the roll to reactivate it, you have to then roll on the Mystic Backlash Table that can complicate life further. 

In session 10 of the game, my Bind ritual deactivated. Because of where and when my character was located, it wasn't possible for him to try to reactivate it until session 12. Unfortunately, I failed the roll to activate it... and this began a long, long string of failed activations and narrative reasons why I couldn't try again for a while. The Mystic Backlash Table literally told me that I couldn't try again until I'd acquired a rare component to augment the magic. The session I just played this weekend was session 28, and my Bind has been inactive every consecutive session since session 10. So I really want Bind to be usable again at this point. In my last few sessions before the break, I'd undergone a quest to get those components (a quest that was made all the more difficulty by being down a stat point at its outset). At the start of this 28th session, I do all I can to set-up the Bind activation roll, Sojourning to raise my Momentum, doing the Secure An Advantage move to get +1 bonus on the following roll, and engineering a situation where my Demeanor (from the excellent 3rd-party Ironsworn Demeanor Deck that I picked up on DriveThruRPG) is applying to the roll as well, giving me a +2 bonus total beyond my normal activation roll (so a +4 total since Wits is my second-highest stat). 

So, of course, I fail it again, and get another nasty Mystic Backlash result to go with it. The Sojourn and Secure An Advantage were both Strong Hits. If I'd used either of those rolls on my actual Bind Ritual roll, it would have been a great success. So damn frustrating. 

Anyhow, I guess I'm whining to the internet as a warning to others who are browsing the Ironsworn Starting Asset choices and considering picking up the Bind Ritual. Don't do it. I mean, maybe, MAYBE, if your Wits is your best Stat and you are also taking the Ritualist Path Asset for the +1 bonus that gives, and you choose to start your character off with a free Boar Pelt and always lead with Bind Boar for Wits before trying the others... With all that lined up, maybe it's okay. Maybe. But then you've spent 2/3rds of your starting Assets trying to keep Bind from backfiring on you, and you've also saddled yourself with Wits as your main stat which means you're no good in a fight and have to take some other Wits-based Ritual in order for the character to be able to do anything interesting. It just doesn't seem worth it, building a one-trick pony whose single trick can backfire for multiple sessions in a row.

 Right now, with my Wits 2 character who started with just a Wolf Pelt, I'm feeling pretty raw about this completely useless Asset. 18 consecutive sessions, more than half my total campaign thus far, without being able to use the thing. It'd be like playing D&D, and your GM only lets you have 1 spell, and then for 18 sessions in a row he says "sorry, you can't take a long rest this session either, so no spell for your first-level wizard". I know it's self-inflicted, my bad character creation choice, but I have to say that on paper Bind looks hella strong. I was actually a little worried at character creation that it was going to be too strong, and that I might be playing the game on easy-mode. Boy was I wrong.

Weirdly enough, Bind is probably NOT an awful choice for an XP spend if you've already got a Wits-based Ritualist PC. You'll still hit long dry-spells where you can't use it, but if you've already got lots of cool things to do with your Wits (specifically starting with 2 other Rituals as Starting Assets and not getting Bind till later after you're more established) then Bind being streaky and unreliable is far less of an issue. When it's fully 1/3rd of what makes your character unique, that's when it's inherent fussiness is problematic.  

I love my Ironsworn character, and I love the game, and my weird plotlines and the worldbuilding I've done. Ironsworn is so good... but I also know I'd love it that much more if one of my main powers wasn't consistently borked for more than 50% of the campaign.

That 3rd-party Demeanor Deck that I mentioned is pretty cool, and so is the Motivation Deck by the same author. They both reduce the overall difficulty of the game by just a smidge by each giving you an extra power, nearly as good as another Starting Asset, but with a distinct feel and MO that's different from any of the existing Assets. I probably wouldn't have started using those decks if it weren't for this feeling that a full third of my character creation choices were a trap. The same goes for the option rule for "learning from your mistakes" that objectively makes the game easier by taking some of the sting out of a series of failed rolls. I like a good challenge, and especially want solitaire games to be difficult so I have to play sharp and clever to "win". So it's really rare for me to adopt something that specifically makes a solo game easier, but with a third of my eggs bound in one unreliable basket, I eventually felt like I had to dial the difficulty down a notch or three.

In solitaire play you are your own GM, so of course you can also "fix" the "problem" by just going easy on yourself narratively, taking care to describe situations where trying again feels reasonable and/or your plot deadlines are always significantly after sunset, etc. If you really want you can even just arbitrarily fudge a die roll without any other players at your table complaining about fairness. Those sorts of gimmicks just aren't my style, though, and I want to have to work for my victories. In fact, the feeling that the game's structure itself provides conflict, surprise and challenge is a big part of why Ironsworn feels so engaging and rewarding to me, when most other solitaire RPGs I've tried have failed to keep my interest beyond one or two initial sessions.