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.