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.