Recent Gaming (spring 2025)

Lots of gaming lately. Here's some highlights:

My Amber Diceless Roleplay campaign continues to go strong. It's rolling on 5 years now, roughly twice a month, so we've recently crossed our 100th session with the same characters. Dworkin/Oberon's universe was destroyed, and the action now takes place in Corwin's universe and another universe that Fiona created, plus the occasional scene in the tiny islands of primal matter in the Abyss that were left when the old universe imploded. Those are basically the only place where Brand can exist without the "immune system" of the other universes trying to destroy him.

I just wrapped up my Feng Shui 2nd Edition campaign about a week ago. The players foiled a really major push by the Ascended to conquer 2 of the 3 Junctures they didn't already control. This caused a Critical Shift (the second one of the campaign) and after a truly epic battle we ended with the PCs stepping into a portal to a future they don't know.

For the same group (as played Feng Shui), I'm now prepping a Cyberpunk Red campaign. Scroll down to my last post, from earlier this week, to read about that. 

It was a bit of a toss-up among the group whether we wanted to do Cyberpunk or Pendragon, so in the next few months I'll be reading The Great Pendragon Campaign and the Book of Uther and doing bits and pieces of light GM-prep for that, so that when Cyberpunk wraps up, I'll have that in my pocket and ready to go. But, given that the last two campaigns for this group ran multiple years each, I'm not too worried about getting Pendragon ready in a hurry.

I'm also now playing in an RPG as well. A friend of mine is running Night's Black Agents, aka spies vs vampires. In NBA designs their own vampires and determines whether vampirism is supernatural or superscience or literally infernal demon hell-powers. Our campaign is taking place in the 1980s, so in the two sessions we've played thus far, we've had to sneak across the Berlin Wall three times now. Our characters have rescued a journalist, and the goons who were holding her captive had weird mysterious creepy stuff going on, but we haven't really connected that they (or their leader) is a vampire yet. There's one of them that makes us instantly nauseous when we get near them, but we haven't really figured out why. A different one jumped on top of our car and ripped the roof open trying to kill the journalist, but the roof-rider burst into flames when we shot the heck out of her. We're not at all certain what to expect, or what we're up against. Unraveling the mystery is pretty fun, and the uncertainty makes it easy to tap in to the fear and bewilderment our characters are experiencing. 

This weekend I got together with some friends and played the card game Innovation and the board game Thunder Road.

Innovation is really good, but kind of overwhelming the first time you play.I had really good early turns, or so I thought, as I was in the lead in points and achievements.  Unfortunately, in the mid-game I just could not manage to draw cards with any synergy at all. Well, really the problem was that I had a great hand, but I foolishly commented on it, so someone Melded a card that they could then use via Dogma to steal my hand. I didn't even know that was a possibility... but, duh, I should have, it's not like this is the first game to ever let you steal cards from another player. I just never recovered. Good game, but boy does it have a ton going on.  It's sort of a civilization-builder, where every card is an invention or cultural breakthrough. You start in the stone age, and end in the far-future. Every card in the game is unique, and they all have multiple unique ways to play them. So while I liked it a lot, I imagine its' not going to be good match for everyone.

Thunder Road is much simpler. Just good chaotic Mad-Max style shenanigans. Sort of like if Gaslands or Car Wars was a streamlined racing boardgame. We played with the Chop Shop expansion, which adds cool asymmetric super-powers to your cars via a drafting mechanic at the start of the game. I enjoyed it a great deal, and may end up buying the game and that expansion. Based on just one play, it seems like the core game without that expansion is very light beer-and-pretzels without much depth, but that expansion made every turn interesting and unpredictable. 

I continue to play the occasional solitaire-RPG or solo-skirmish miniatures game when I have insomnia. For the solo-RPG I've been mostly running D&D, with one PC (a Satyr Circle of Stars Druid) and a rotating cast of lower-level NPC sidekicks. When I started I had to lean a lot on the Solo Adventurer's Toolbox and its sequel. I'm a little more freeform of late, but that book is great for getting you started and comfortable with solitaire play.  

And every once in a while I boot up Cyberpunk 2077 or Baldur's Gate 3, but I have to be careful with those because man can I ever lose an entire evening just rearranging my darned inventory. When that happens, I feel like I've wasted a resource (my life, my time) that I'll never get back... and yet, I love both those games so much.

Starforged Jam

 There's a game jam going on for Ironsworn: Starforged. I've been meaning to try a game jam one of these days for like... the last 5 years at least... so I dusted off a custom Oracle that I used in a session or two of Starforged, spent a night brainstorming another 20 entries or so, and trying to getting it formatted roughly along the lines of the official books, etc. I just put it up as a pdf on itch.io, and submitted it to the jam.

Starport Scuttlebutt

When I play Ironsworn: Starforged, I tend to be laser-focused on the plot and story. It's not uncommon for me to get 10 or 20 sessions into play before I get around to adding a single planet that wasn't part of my initial Sector Set-Up. By default, I find I pretty much only add those other worlds if the narrative brings my character directly to them. That sort of misses the point of sci-fi, though. Even if I'm spending most of my time on just a few worlds, I want the grand sense that there's a whole galaxy of adventure out there, and plots in motion beyond what my little ship is doing! So I created this Oracle, which incorporates ideas from various map-making games, to breathe a little life and activity into the background.

Here's how it works: A little less than once per session, you roll on this Oracle and add a world, settlement, faction, ship or NPC as directed by the prompt you rolled on the chart. The blank void of the map gets slowly filled in, fleets cruise between the stars, and political situations simmer behind the scenes. Your world-building gets kicked up a notch as a result, and your story fits into a larger context.

 The Oracle is triggered by situations where your character is in a position to hear rumors and news reports about what's happening in the sector, so it feels organic and is easy to fit in to your ongoing story. Step into the starport cantina, to catch the latest gossip from the old spacers sitting at the bar... have they got stories to tell you!

If you've ever played Starforged, please go check out my little creation: Starport Scuttlebutt.  It's available as Pay-What-You-Want, and $0 is just fine by me.

The link: https://rbbergstrom.itch.io/starport-scuttlebutt-oracle-for-starforged 

Timeless Undying Love

 As I mentioned the other day, I've now played 4 games of Thousand-Year-Old Vampire, a solitaire journaling RPG, where your character is a Vampire, and game play covers centuries at least. You come up with a brief sketch of a historical figure, and the vampire who converts them into undead, and then the game provides random events that bounce you forward in time. You create a big weirdly-sprawling timeline of experiences and memories, many of which get lost of mutated such that by the end of it your character is grappling with uncertainty or insanity.

Today I'm going to list my full game logs from the 2nd session I ever played of TYOV, which was probably more than a year ago, maybe even from the early parts of the pandemic. I didn't think to put a date on it.

This playthrough was a bit longer than one I posted this weekend, and as I recall it entertained me for several nights of play. As a result of the length, and how that interacts with experiential limits hardwired into the game,  the vampiric main character had a lot more memory issues. They kind of lost all sense of self before the end. Their fragmented timeline runs from pre-Roman Etruria up through an unspecified modern conflict that was probably World War 2. The usual Stoker-and-Hollywood vampire tropes are here, but supplemented by characters inspired by Etruscan Mythology, and some uniquely weird textile-arts and sutured-wings nonsense conjured from my own demented psyche (or, I guess, from the intersection of vampirism with an Etruscan goddess best known for her love of scissors).

Trigger Warning: Again, this is the play log from a horror game about weird vampires. This log will elude to violence, body-horror, sexual predation and literal carnivorous predation. While I don't go into a lot of detail, it does get kind of gory. If you've got a weak stomach, easily-offended sensibilities, or just horror's not your thing, you should turn around now. 

Full game log can be found beneath the fold:

Cyclopean Viking Vampire Horror

 What follows is the play log from an entire solitaire game of Thousand Year Old Vampire. Sort of a weird fragmented non-linear short story of the unlife of a vampire.

I have played three games of TYOV before this one.  This time, I began the game in pagan Scandinavia, with a young man named Torgny Hjalmerson who dreams of being a successful viking raider like his father was before him. He descends quickly into madness and villainy, and makes especially horrible relationship choices.

There's no default setting for TYOV, so I'm blending Norse Myth, a few standard vampiric themes from elsewhere in folklore and mythology, a bit of the trappings of sensationalized hollywood-style satanism, and some weird new stuff unique to this tale. (Not to mention anachronism and historical inaccuracy.) 

This was a ton of fun, and definitely a game I'd be happy to play again. It also works well as character-building exercise for Vampiric NPCs in other RPGs. (That's actually what I did with 2 of my 3 previous plays of the game.)

Trigger Warning: This is a log from a horror game. There's a good deal of violence in what follows, including mutilation, body-horror, blasphemous devilry, and violence against women. While I don't get overly lurid with the details and everything is kept kind of brief, there's some seriously awful stuff in what follows.  If you've got a queasy stomach or are easily offended, you may want to skip this post entirely. 

Full log follows below the fold:

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 11

   This is the 11th 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 11:  8/6/2021

Reminder: My ritual pelt is no longer charged, because I rolled a "1" on an Edge test.

It is several minutes before Sammutisel has had enough scritches behind the ears to allow our expedition to continue forward. Oddi presses through thick brambles, trying to find his way back to the trail they had been on before.

Secure an Advantage - Iron - Weak Hit +1momentum

The Gloom glowers overhead, but is no longer strong enough to start trouble anew just yet. Before long, Oddi's dogged determination has pressed through the thickets to get him beyond the Gloom's hunting grounds.

Delve the Depths: Wits - Miss!

Danger - 9 from Theme - Imminent Collapse or Destruction    Feature - Dense Thicket

Unfortunately, Oddi is pushing his way through the brambles with a fair amount of speed, perhaps paying less attention to his surroundings than he should. What he doesn't notice until it's too late is that ground slopes downward into a ravine, but the brambles grow taller there. It appears level and even until you press forward too far, and your weight or momentum carries you plunging down into thickets above your head! As he starts sinking, Oddi struggles to grasp thorny branches and stop his sudden descent.

Face Danger - Iron - Miss.   Pay the Price - It is Harmful.   Endure Harm - Miss: 1 Harm, -1 Momentum

Oddi sinks from view, thornbushes rising above his head. He grabs at the tangled mass of branches trying to slow himself, but mostly they just tear up his hands. He continues to sink into the darkness. He calls out to his faithful Cave Lion Sammutisel. The great cat is quite clever, and good at following instruction. If I can work my rope free from my pack and manage to throw it upwards for the cat to bite. If that's not possible, maybe he can dig and tear out the mat of brambles at the top of the hidden slope. If we work it from both ends, we may be able to cut a path to the surface.

Secure an Advantage - Edge - Miss - Pay the Price: Now Sammutisel is also sinking in the thorns, and takes 1 Harm as well.

The cat misunderstood his calls, and leapt forward to try to find or drag him to safety. Instead, it comes crashing down into the spiked plants of the gully as well, and Oddi finds himself driven deeper by the weight of his Cave Lion. Sammutisel thrashes for a bit, then gives up and starts to whimper.

It must not have been a ravine, but a chasm. Not a slope, but a cliff. They're 20 feet down, with barely any light reaching them. Oddi reaches for his axe, but it's tangled in the branches and bodies, and he can't get it clear. Then he remembers the throwing knives Emelyn gave him. They are small blades, but easily reached. It will take time and bloody patience, but if he's careful he may still cut his way free eventually.  As he works, he tells Sammutisel stories of the Firstborn like Kasju, and how once they covered the continent with cities and civilization before the time of the Masks. In those days, the Firstborn treecrafters grew walls and fences of stuff not unlike this bramble. The cat probably can't understand half of what he's saying, but the sound of Oddi's voice, and occasional mention of Kasju, may serve to calm them both.

Secure an Advantage with Storyweaver - Weak Hit  is +2 momentum

Face Danger - Edge - Strong Hit

He works slowly, cutting tangling branches loose and clearing a path while he talks and sings and calms his feline friend. Oddi runs through the Tale of the Dawn Splitter, the Lay of the Ruined Mallet, the Ballad of the High Boundary, The Snake Who Ate The Moon, and even the Grave Tale of the Masked Birth. All these songs and stories are complete before they reach the opposite slope and eventual freedom from the cages grown around them. The emerge on a small hill, bloodied and tired, with the sun setting on the horizon. In the twilight they can't tell if the downslope on the other side of the hill is equally perilous, and so decide to spend the night here on this hill.

Make Camp - Supply - Weak Hit  - Recuperate: +1 health

Unwilling to risk a fire while in enemy territory, and surrounded by 20 foot deep flammable thickets, man and cat curl up together for warmth. While they slumber and recuperate, Feris Left-Tusk and the [Shatterwood Broken] consolidate their strength.

Advance A Threat - 38 - Danger escalates. Mark Menace. They are at 4 of 10 Menace, and I have not yet scored a single progress on my linked "Vengeance on the Broken Pack" vow. This is not good.

Oddi dreams of sinking beneath an ocean of thorns, then arising as a tower on a hill. It's a theme reminiscent of the sigil of the pack of Broken he currently hunts. Oddi awakes before dawn, and 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 re-charged.

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

Mark Your Failure  - 5 times in one short but painful session.

For next session: Given the dream metaphor, the Complication, and the Menace, I think it may be time for another vision. I'm not sure I want to do another Gloom encounter, but maybe he could have a vision of Feris Left-Tusk and/or Myrgun Bitterblad. Maybe Myrgun is in danger, or in danger of corruption. We'll see.

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 10

  This is the 10th 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 10: (8/4/2021)

Oddi moves on from the bodies. He takes it on faith that Myrgun is not in the two graves. Even if she is, that would mean that people she led into this place continued on without her, so he would now have a responsibility to see them to safety if he can. Eitherway, he has to keep going.

Delve the Depths: Wits - Miss!

Oddi walks deeper into the Shatterwood. Bones litter the forest floor and skulls rest upon the old shattered trees. It's disturbing, and makes him think of the graves he decided not to touch. If there's any chance Myrgun is in there, maybe he should dig them up. Is it worse to disturb the rest of the recently slain, or to leave them in this horrid place. Oddi thinks back to what stories he knew of the Shatterwood before Kasju pulled him out of the lake and away to the north. As he walks, the Shatterwood grows denser around him, the trail harder to follow, choked with brambles and bones. He remembers that he and his sister weren't supposed to play in or near the Shatterwood, because there were tales of baleful ghost lights and...

That sound on the wind. Did someone just cry for help? He cocks his head and listens harder. A cry for sure, but defiant. The voice somehow familiar. Myrgun? There it is again, and she's not calling for help, she's shouting in anger. She must be battling the Broken. Oddi leaves the trail, and rushes through the underbrush in search of his sister. A sinister shadow procedes him, but he cannot see it clearly for the Gloom.

Reveal a Danger - 28 - "Denizen restores what was lost".   Denizen - 66 - Common - Gloom

Site Feature - 56 - Overgrown Path
This is my first-ever Scene Challenge. It's Dangerous, so roughly that means I'm hoping to get 5 Strong Hits before 4 Misses, using only Secure An Advantage and Face Danger.

Face Danger - Edge - Weak Hit - Progress + a minor complication

Oddi smashes through the brambles, soon losing sight of the trail. Sammutisel follows, it's ears folded back. It does not hear the illusory cries, but the great cat has a bad feeling about this.

Myrgun is barely visible in the thicket. She's shorter than Oddi had imagined. She swings their father's black blade about, cleaving brambles. Some answering force strikes back, and she parries desperately. He can't see much, but the ferocity and speed of the assault is alarming. Myrgun gives ground, falling away. He cannot see what is attacking her.  "Myrgun! Help is on the way! It's your brother, Oddi! Hold out till I'm beside you, then we'll fight back to back!"

Secure an Advantage - Edge - Weak Hit, and it's a "1", so only +1 momentum and my Wolf Pelt loses its charge!

Seeking to reach her faster, Oddi scrambles atop on of the half-trees. He sees her parries, and while he still can't tell who she fights, he sees that they wield a staff. A heavy wooden rod swings at her head, but she barely parries in time. Father's sword rattles in her hand, and flies beyond her grasp. Oddi leaps from the half-tree in the direction where her sword, his father's sword, was knocked. He clears the thorniest bramble patch, rolls, grabs the ebony blade, and springs to his feet. As soon as he clutches the Bitterblade, his pelt howls as the wolf spirit returns to the moon.

He spins around, looking for assailants. All he finds in Myrgun. She's so young, barely changed in 10 years and 2. "Have they fled? I have father's sword..."

"No!" she shouts defiantly, waving and pointing a tree branch at him. "You don't get father's sword! It's mine. I'm Myrgun Bitterblad! I'm carrying the family name, and the family sword, and I'll be defender of Forgotten Despair! Everything is mine, Oddi!"

Secure an Advantage - Heart - Miss! - Countdown goes to 2. Oddi loses 1 spirit, and learns a bitter truth

Anger flares up, and he feels his face flush. "That's not fair!" escapes his lips. He waves the sword at her like she does the branch at him. He shakes his head hard, to clear it. "Yes! Of course, I promised mother..."

"Fair doesn't matter, Oddi Lake-Chosen! It's already been decided. Dad says he knew it before we were born. It doesn't matter that you're a boy. It doesn't help that you're first. Dad promised. His first born child goes to the Thing in the Lake. You're just a sacrifice! I'm the family future!"

He waves what used to be a sword, but now it's a branch in his hand. "Wait -- what? No, I'm a, I'm the first born..." water wells up in the corner of his eye. "They wouldn't do that! You're lying!" He charges at her, swinging his stick wildly like a unskilled child imagining himself a swordsman.

Face Danger - Iron - Strong Hit! (Didn't expect that)

Their sticks crash and crack together. Oddi is two years older, and Myrgun hasn't yet had the growth spurt that often makes girls taller than boys for a few awkward years. He leverages his greater size with experience beyond his 9 years. The branches smash together again and again, and Myrgun stumbles to one knee trying to block his frantic powerful swings.

"Quit lying! Take it back! You're a liar, Myrgun! Mom and dad wouldn't sacrifice me! They love me!" His sister's stick snaps in half, bark and old lichen flying away in chips. "They loved me! Mom could never move on from what happened!" Myrgun is defenseless, cowering now with her arms up to protect her face. Oddi winds up for a massive two-handed swing.  "She felt so awful when they gave me to the thing beneath the lake!"

Secure An Advantage - Wits - Strong Hit! +2 momentum

He squeezes his eyes shut, and doesn't take the swing. Something's not right, here. Think, Oddi. You're not 9 any more. He looks about for signs of what devilry is afoot. Myrgun is nowhere. Sammutisel is watching from behind a tree trunk. He blinks and she's back, cowering.

"I'm sorry. Here, this sword is yours." He hunkers down on the ground near his sister, and grabs one of the hands she's sheltering behind. "I promised Grassa that I'd give the sword to you." He puts the stick in his sister's tiny hand, and it becomes their father's sword again.

Face Danger - Heart - Burns Momentum for a Strong Hit

"Stand up. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just scared. What you said, it sounded like you really meant that. Did Dad really tell you that they are going to sacrifice me?"

She sniffles a few times. "On the spring moon." Her little eyes are bloodshot. "That's the cost of the sword. The Bitterblade will make him the greatest warrior in both Worlds, and he will lead the expedition to reclaim the Old World. He'll be king, and only for the small cost of his firstborn child. Rygar jumped at the chance."

Face Danger - Wits - Weak Hit - Progress, but also the third Countdown box

It stabs deep, because on some level he knows it's true. Oddi's legs go out, and he tumbles forward onto his knees. He can't stop shivering, and his wet clothes stick to his tiny body. A new linen shirt, his mother had just embroidered the cuffs and collar with fancy runes his child mind had not yet learned. His adult eyes see them now, and know them to be the signs of a gift to the gods. Could this be real? Did his parents truly give him to some monster beneath Bitter Lake? Trade him for a sword and a kingdom?

No, his father was never king. He looks around the empty shatterwood, only brambles and dead branches, and a flock of crows circling above. Come for some delicious eyeballs of a raving madman who thinks he's a child. Oddi covers his dripping face, covers the eyes that can never unsee.

The Gloom, circling as a murder,  feeds on his anguish, and tries to tease out more half-known truths and painful intuitions. This little one was meant for the lake, but somehow it survived. Could the Gloom and the Thing Beneath The Lake now come to some agreement? Surely, the Lake Monster must want to reclaim the sacrifice that was offered by Forgotten Despair.

Oddi tries to come to terms with what he's learned, and figure out what could be causing these visions. He thinks back on monsters from his childhood stories.

Face Danger - Wits - Weak Hit +Progress, + Countdown Complete,

The Glooms of the Deep Wilds.  This would fit with tales he had heard of such creatures. A sinister shadow roaming near graves and places where men go to die, feeding off their pain and misery. Oddi wracks his brain trying to remember how to break free of a Gloom's influence.

Beside him, 7-year-old Myrgun raises her night-black stick-sword in two hands above her head, like an executioner. "Father wanted you dead!"

Progress Roll - Strong Hit -

He recalled that a Gloom could fool you with illusions, but they always started somewhere potent and real. If couldn't feed you just any image, it had to be something you'd feared, or suspected, that which your conscious mind strives to deny. He remembered the tale of Harald the Helpful. In that saga, a Gloom trying to feed on the misery of a Prince's life in exile, brought to light a treachery near 30 years old. Instead of driving Jorgun Kin-Foe into despair, what it revealed lead to an injustice being redressed, and two estranged siblings finally finding peace. This could be a Gloom feeding these thoughts to me, Oddi realized. If so, I must be like Prince Harald the Helpful, and his brother Jorgun Kin-Foe.

Myrgun now stood above him, a warrior-woman of 9 and 10, ready to swing the ebon iron of the Bitterblade across his neck. Beside her stood Rygar and Grassa Bitterblad with blood on their hands.

"It's not your fault, Myrgun. You were a child. Grassa will have some explaining to do, but Myrgun you are blameless. The true fault was our father, and his ambition."

Reach a Milestone - I mark off 1 box of my "Save my family from the Bloodsick Warrior" Formidable Vow, and the first tick of my "Prophecy: I will place the mighty ruler on their pillar" Epic Vow.

I also fill in the undefined Background Bond that I had not filled in during Character Creation. Oddi has a previously unknown Bond to The Thing Beneath The Lake, whatever that is. This is probably not a healthy bond.

As the vision vanished, and the Gloom-cloud dissipated, Sammutisel skulked forward to make sure Oddi was okay. Oddi gives the loyal lion a vigorous scritch behind the ear. "You know who else isn't to blame for this mess, old friend?"

His relationship with Kasju Frystgrotta has always been fraught with complication and mixed emotion. Though his world view lacks an understanding of the phenomena we call Stockholm Syndrome, he could never be sure to what extent his feelings for her were genuine, and to what extent they were the function of some enchantment or glamour Kasju may have placed upon him. For most of his life the Firstborn Witch was his only friend that wasn't a Cave Lion. She was his instructor, his confidant, his guru, his role-model, his mistress and his master. She was also the cold-blooded bitch who'd taken him from his family, and made him her slave for 2 years and 10. When Emelyn expressed an interest in him, Oddi began to dream of what it would be to truly escape Kasju's influence. Now, he has to re-evaluate everything he knows about her. This cast all her actions in a new light... but it also raised so many more questions. What had she saved him from? What god or creature was he nearly sacrificed to? And why did she never tell him the truth about his parents? Surely the she-elf must have known that truth of their treachery would only strengthen the bond he had formed with his lone familial surrogate.

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 9

 This is the 9th 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.
• 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.
• Fluugs the Tree-Troll: A mythical creature who, legend says, cursed the Shatterwood
• The Twisty Man: a malevolent entity that was manipulating young Tern.
  

 Log of Session 9: (8/3/2021)

As Oddi is heading towards the Shatterwood, he wishes that he had asked Tern what he did with Oddi's satchel. Oddi'd dropped it so that his food might distract the bear, but, assuming he didn't just eat the entire bag, it'd be nice to have access to the medines, maps, etc there. It's worth a quick search in the part of the Loneliwood where Tern had been chasing him.

Secure an Advantage:  Strong Hit, make another move at +1.

Resupply at +1: Strong Hit. Supply back up to 5.

I decide that though he found his bag, and most his equipment is still there (though some of it obviously messed with) one thing that's missing is the map to the Frozen Cave of Zhan. Oddi can probably get back easily enough, but this hand-drawn route map might prove problematic later, if it ended up in the hands of the twisty man or Fluugs the tree-troll. We'll just leave that dangling as potential follow-up for later. I do decide to roll a Goal for whoever may have ended up with it...

Ask The Oracle - Character Goal:  Cure an ill

So maybe that means that Tern's got it. But it could also be Twisty or Fluugs trying to overcome something, or some beneficial spirit or other actor Tern didn't mention who is trying to help him.  Or - and this is cool - maybe Tern has the map, but give it to Emelyn, and she decides to achieve 2 goals at once. Heal her brother, and confront Kasju. That's got potential.

I'm at Health 4, Spirit 4, Supply 5. Enough to go adventuring.

Discover a Site: The Shatterwood is a Dangerous Ravaged Tanglewood.

Oddi prowls through the Shatterwood. The trees are broken, jagged, and mostly swordbelt-height. For every live tree rising tall and dotted with new green or blossoms, there are three old ones, splintered and dead for decades. The miniature half-trees are wringed with a dark red stain around their roots. Brambles and itching weeds grow among the wreckage, but never atop the shattered wood or the red soil. The dead old corpse-trees bear Fluugs' curse, the seven damnable syllables Fluugs the tree-troll uttered when Sursa Trade-Star forsook him.

Sammutisel curls his nose and sticks out his tongue at the scent of the corrupted soil. He skulks between the dead trees and marks many of them, but quickly runs dry.

Delve the Depths: Wits: I roll 4, 4, and 4. So that's either a complication w/ reveal a Danger, or I can burn Momentum to both Mark Progress and Find an Opportunity. Momentum spent.

Feature: ill-fated victims

We come upon the signs of a struggle. The bodies of several have Broken left to rot. There's also two fresh graves. Could they have been two of the men that rode out with Myrgun Bitterblad? Or is my sister herself in one of those graves?

Gather Information: Wits (+1 from Find An Opportunity)   Weak Hit, +2 momentum (1 via Opportunity)

A rocky bluff rises out from the shatterwood, the near side is a cliff 8 to 15 feet high, the back side is a slope. The signs of the fight are clear. A pack of Broken waited quietly in defillade, bellies pressed against the slope until Myrgun's party passed the cliff. Then they sprung up, and leapt into ambush from above. So the Broken aren't the thoughtless madmen I'd been told they are. They have tactics, and patience. You wouldn't guess it from the looks of them. Teeth filed to points, hair dyed and spiked with blood, skin painted pierced and scarred. Oddi looks closely at the bodies. Among the painted, tattooed and scarred sigils, there's a common recurring theme. One symbol that shows up again and again, some sort of tower surrounded in water. The waves around it are fierce, giving the impression that the structure was either sinking into the water, being swamped by a sudden flood, or maybe rising up out of the water suddenly. It strikes him as clearly the most important icon of their belief system. He wonders for a moment that they probably have phenomenal stories about it, and then reminds himself these are the same foe that slew his father. Their stories will die with them.

Oddi contemplates digging up the two graves to make sure Myrgun isn't in them, but doesn't want to disrespect the dead, or prevent them reaching their rewards. Someone cared enough to bury them, but left the Broken for the bugs and the birds.


 

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 8

 This is the 8th 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.
  

Log 8 (Date: 8/1/2021.)

Reminders: Don't forget my wolf-pelt is charged, so +1 on Edge. I've gotten really lucky so far, never rolling a "1" on Edge.  

I've also adjusted the character sheet again, trying to make it better match my ideas of who Oddi is, and not leave him incapable of doing the sorts of heroics I'd like the game to be about. I built him really poorly at first, with stats spread all over the place, and his best stats not at all synced with the Assets I'd taken at character generation, or the likely Moves he's going to rely on in conflicts. 

Stats had initially been: Edge 2, Heart 1, Iron 3, Shadow 1,  Wits 2. Mostly because didn't yet understand how anything works in the game.

Then in Session 3 I changed it to Edge 2, Heart 1, Iron 2, Shadow 1, Wits 3, because I figured out that Iron isn't Constitution, it's more like both Strength and Melee To-Hit. This array better represented my head-canon of the character, but unfortunately made him useless in a fight. Wits only helps in fights when you use it to Enter The Fray, but I'd chosen and Asset that gives me a bonus if you use Edge to Enter The Fray. Also, his Heart 1 was crippling his ability to use his Storyweaver Asset. This stat-line had worse than zero synergy with my Assets.

So now I'm changing it to  Edge 3, Heart 2, Iron 1, Shadow 1, Wits 2. This will hurt his spellcasting a bit, but I can only do that at Camp, anyway. The change will require me to seek out situations where I can roll Edge in a fight, but overall I'll battle better if I work at narrating combats carefully, and I think it might be fun to roleplay/describe the maneuvering this will require. Most importantly, I will no longer be rolling Heart 1 on all my fun Storyweaver attempts. I'm a lot less likely to get run out of town, or kicked off the caravan, again. Having two low a "charisma" to Sojourn is really punishing.

Back to the story:

Oddi picks up the collar, a piece of worked hide, with runes burnt into it. It is clearly sized for a child, and would strangle an adult who tried to fasten it around their neck. But it thrums with dark magic, that no child should be able to make. Oddi interrupts their tearful reunion with some pressing questions. "You have a hexen-collar. Where did you get this magic?"

As he asks, Sammutisel stalks and paces, thinking it can slice the small boy before he becomes a bear again. Oddi has to tell his cat to behave to behave.

"Tell us where you learned this? Did you make it yourself?"

Gather Information - Wits - Weak - On a weak hit, the information complicates your quest or introduces a new danger. Envision what you discover (Ask the Oracle if unsure), and take +1 momentum.
Tern tells him that it was given to him by "the twisty man". Oddi barrages him with questions, trying to learn what that means. Apparently "the twisty man" has been showing up in Tern's dreams for years, whenever he gets sick. Tern says he's disfigured and monstrous, "like me", but can't seem to provide details. The twisty man promised to make Tern stronger, and healthier. He gave Tern this collar, and said it would make him stronger. It does, but when he's wearing it, he can't think straight, and he can't remember how to take it off. A few minutes ago, when looking at Oddi, Tern was filled with bloody rage, and he doesn't know why.

Oddi is of course troubled by this, and reflects on the very tales he was telling just recently of Zhan the Twisted, and how his blood transformed Proud Hoarfrost into a bear. "Why did the 'twisty man' give you this? Was there any other part of the deal?"

Tern says "I had to promise him."

"Promise him what?"

"That I would use it to kill someone."

Emelyn's eyes are filled with panic. "What? Tern, why would you say that? You don't want to kill anyone!"

Tern: "I know. I don't want to. It just, it just hurts so much, all the time. I can hardly breathe, and it hurts if I run, or try to play with the other kids. When I'm a bear, it's all better. I'm tall and strong, and don't feel any pain. Plus, it's not like I killed her, anyway. I tried, twice, but she was too strong."

Grassa hears this, and grabs him. Oddi has to pull his mother's hands off the child. "Myrgun!" she says, her voice cracking. "Twice last winter, Myrgun was attacked by a bear, barely escaped with her life. After the second time, she and Rygar organized a hunting party, and searched the Loneliwood and even the Shatterwood for it, but never found its den. You tried to kill my daughter!  Why are you trying to kill my daughter?"

Tern says, he doesn't really know, but the twisty man wants her dead. He made Tern vow on the village pillar to slay all the children of Rygar Bitterblad, and then he'll never be sick again.

There's an uncomfortable silence, and the three adults share horrified looks. Tern doesn't seem to know that Oddi is Myrgun's brother. He's a child, who has been manipulated by some sort of spirit or firstborn. The future will be hard for him. The best thing he could do right now is forsake his vow, but in this culture that's not really the lesson you want a child to learn. Damned either way.

Test Your Bond - Strong Hit - +1 Spirit

For a heartbeat, Emelyn is terrified that Oddi might take up arms against Tern... but the thought never crossed my mind. Instead, I kneel down before the boy, and look him in his eyes. "You have been sorely used by this twisty monster. It is cruel and unfair. I promise you, Tern, I will find a way to free you from this burden you bear, to free you from your curse and collar. You will have a bright future, safe from the meddling of demons. Be strong. Do not kill anyone. Killing will only strengthen the trap the twisty man has set for you. You are not a monster. Just hold out a few days longer, while I work to solve this."

Then he stands and looks at Emelyn. "Tern needs a community, to help him be strong. I am kicked out of Sword Hope, but you didn't have to come with me.  Go back to the town, and do what you can to give him a normal life. My sister is in danger, the family sword captured, and Forgotten Despair has yet to be avenged. When these immediate dangers have been answered, I will seek out a way to break this spell on him. The answer may be in the  Frozen Cave of Zhan, as Kasju knows many secrets of the Firstborn."

Emelyn smiles, but does not voice her hope that such a trip might involve two days of apprenticeship, to solve other problems they share. Nor does Oddi voice his fear that he may have to bring Tern to Kasju to save him.

"Take these," she says, unbuckling the strap of scabbards that holds her throwing knives. Oddi gives her a quizzical look, and starts to shake his head. "Listen to me, Oddi Ice-Chosen. I've seen you fight. You are fast, and skilled, and your are strong. But you are not so strong as the Broken men." He begins to protest, but she puts a hand to his mouth. "No one is. They have the rage of madness. You're going in to danger, and I can't go with you because Tern needs me.  Don't let them get their hands on you. You're good with these at a distance. Sink them deep in the madmen before they reach you. Kill them beyond arms length whenever you can, and don't try to wrestle people who are bigger than you. Your cunning is stronger than their rage. Pick your fights. There's no shame in running when the odds are against you. Come back to me in one piece." She moves her hand, and kisses him hard. Human lips are so much warmer and softer than those of Kasju.
"I will keep the collar for now," Oddi says before they part, "so that he's not tempted to use it again."

Then Emelyn picks up her brother and carries him towards Sword Hope.


"You should go with them," I say to Grassa. "Your arm is still in that sling."

Compel - Heart - Weak Hit, +1 momentum, asks a favor in return.

"Lose my son a second time? I'd rather not. Besides, you are bleeding. That little boy hurt my little boy."

I give her a very stern look. "I should have let you fight 'that little boy' again, mother. Then you'd have both arms in slings."

"You talk to your mother like that? Let me tend your wounds before I go. And I'll need you to do something for me, too."

I nod.

"Things aren't good between your sister and I. She, Myrgun, I, well..." She rummages through the sack of supplies she'd swiped from the Healer's house for bandaging cloths. "Rygar said I was too focused on the one we'd lost. Myrgun took his side. I don't know how she'll respond to you riding in to save her. Maybe she'll be happy to see you, like I am. If so, you could put in a good word on my behalf." She emerges with

"Of course I will. You didn't have to ask."

"Oh, that's not the ask. You mentioned the Bitterblade. It was your father's sword, and you're right to want it back in the family. But it's not yours."

I scowl at her. "Nonsense."

"He raised her. Myrgun. While I obsessed over you, dreamt of your return, he focused on the child that was still with us. He raised your sister as he would have you, taught her everything he learned in the war. She's a shield-maiden and a mistress of the blade. The best in the village, better than any in Sword Hope, better even than your father, Rygar was always so proud to say. Now she's headed into the Shatterwood, with a 2 day head-start on you. It might be she needs saving, or you'll fight side-by-side as equals, or might be she'll save you. Regardless, that sword has been promised to her. Rygar said it many times, vowed it in Iron even before he and I divorced. If you try to take it from her, she will hate you, more than she hates me. Please, I lost everything but you, and I'm too old to have more children. I can't have you and your sister at each other's throats."

"If you're so estranged, she might not even-"

"Promise me." Silence. "Promise."

"Fine"

"Swear it, on one of those knives that beautiful blacksmith just gave you."

I did so. When I was done:

"She's obviously smitten with you, that Emelyn. She's got good hips, by the way, labor will be easy for her, she can give you a family of your own. She's skilled as well, a good earner. You like her, right?"

Mothers.

Heal - Strong Opportunity!  (This was a heck of a lucky roll. All three dice rolled 1's, so despite my action total being just a "2" I actually score big.) +2 Health, and I'm going to allow and an immediate Make Camp roll without it costing me a night, to represent the bonus.

Make Camp - Strong Hit - +1 Health and +1 Spirit.  I'm on a streak!

Oddi sees them safely to within sight of Sword Hope, and then he doubles-back toward the Shatterwood.

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 7

 This is the 7th 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. Currently missing, and in werebear form.
  

Log 7 (Date: 8/1/2021.)

Reminders: Don't forget my wolf-pelt is charged, so +1 on Edge. I've gotten really lucky so far, never rolling a "1" on Edge.  They're partly healed, so at first light the characters will probably all head into the Loneliwood in search of Tern. We're pretty close to completion of this Vow.

At first light, we break camp. Not that there's much to break, with Emelyn and Grassa's homes destroyed by raiders, and Oddi's pack having been stolen by Tern. We camped on the beach, so we pour water and sand on the fire, secure our few belongings, and head into the Loneliwood.

As we walk, Oddi tells tales of the Loneliwood, and the ancient beings who once dwelled there. Much of the tale is of Sursa Trade-Star, a Firstborn who traveled the world in the early days. Sursa fancied shiny objects, and loved to barter and haggle. In the days when there was just one forest on the shore of the Lake was not yet Bitter, Sursa would come here as a regular part of her circuit, a pattern as dependable as the seasons. Here she would trade with Fluugs the tree-troll, who shared her love of shiny things. Sursa and Fluugs would meet once a year, and spend a few nights haggling over river-rocks and polished heartwood sculptures. As few elves and none of the men of that age would trust a troll, in most years Sursa's visit was Fluugs only conversation. Fluggs fell further and further in love with Sursa, and they became lovers.

Sursa's travels, however, caused her to find ever-greater treasures, polished gems, worked metal instruments and adornments, navigational sunstones and spyglasses, bones of rock mummified before the earth was cooled, etc. So over time, she traded for fewer of Fluugs treasures, and stayed ever fewer nights to trade. As elven hearts are famously fickle, Fluugs feared that a day would come where Sursa would not love him any more, or would just decide that the treasures of this land are not worth Sursa Trade-Star's time.

So Fluugs learned powerful sorcery, and called down a light of the heavens, a star itself, that Fluugs might gather this star, and polish it, and trade it to Sursa that she would know how special he was. Fluugs was, however, not a great sorceror. Raw power he had, but little finesse nor control. The star he pulled from the sky descended upon the Woods too fast and too firey. Half the woods exploded and shattered under its explosive weight. Fluugs was devastated, but did not want this to be for naught. He gathered up the sky-iron he had summoned, and set about polishing it. When Sursa came, she too was devastated at the shattered wreckage. "My poor Fluugs, what destroyed half your home?" "I did, Sursa. I sacrificed half of what I am, to bring you this that I tore from the heavens! Look upon what I have done for you, how I have proven my singular devotion, and love me forever!" But Sursa could not. All she could see was the wreckage of the Shatterwood, and the hole in the sky where a star once hung. She stayed one final night, made a few half-hearted trades with barely a haggle worth mentioning, and was never seen in these parts again.

Compel w/ Story Weaver +1 for Bond:  Miss.     Pay the Price: Unintended effect

Emelyn seems troubled by the story, she seems to get something out of it other than what Oddi was trying to convey. She now thinks very poorly of Firstborn like Sursa Trade-Star and Kasju Frystgrotta. She and Oddi have their first argument. "The forest in your tale, is the bond between us. You're willing to sacrifice it, at the command of a Firstborn whose heart is so fickle she literally only wants you for two more days! You tell this parable, but you don't know the obvious meaning of it to me?"  They argue for a bit, until Grassa suggests maybe Oddi and Sammutisel should go off alone for a while and catch us some lunch.

Resupply - Strong Hit +2 supply

While he's out there, hunting rabbits in the Loneliwood underbrush, Oddi is himself being hunted. Tern is back, having heard Emelyn's voice raised in anger. The bear again opens by throwing a big log. Tern is still a kid at heart, and is very pleased of the strength his bearform gives him.

Face Danger - Wits - Miss

Oddi is too caught up in thinking about the argument they just had, he doesn't hear Tern until it's too late.

Endure Harm - Miss - upped to Weak Hit by burning Momentum

Oddi rolls with the blow, gets back on his feet.  He calls out Emelyn's name, hoping that she'll come to calm down her brother.

Secure Advantage - Wits - Weak +1mo

She hears him, but is too far away. Oddi runs in the direction where he left Grassa and Emelyn, weaving between trees to make it harder for the large bear to follow. Tern rampages at him, knocking aside trees as it goes. Sammutisel chases behind them, ready to attack the bear's haunches if given permission by Oddi.

Face Danger - Edge - Strong Hit

Emelyn is up ahead, running toward them. When she's no longer obscured by trees, two things happen. One, she pauses, her eyes wide, as she truly understands what her brother has become.  Two, Oddi turns around and shouts at the rampaging werebear. "Here is your sister! I have seen her safely from the village, and tended her wounds. I promised on the village pillar that I would reunite your family."

Fulfill your vow - Progress - Strong Hit

The bear plows into the clearing, trying to cancel it's incredible momentum. Oddi stands fast before it, but collision seem guaranteed. At the last moment, Sammutisel pounces and pushes Oddi aside, out of the path. The decelerating bear fumbles like an awkward child, tumbling throught the space where Oddi just was. It falls on its snout in front of Emelyn and cries out in Tern's voice. She puts her arms around the crumpled bear, now awash in tears and quickly becoming human again. While they hug, she gingerly unfastens the collar from around the boys throat, and drops it on the ground.

(I mark 1 XP for a supposedly just "Troublesome" Vow.  I probably made that all way harder on myself than I needed to. )

Oddi picks up the collar, a piece of worked hide, with runes burnt into it. It is clearly sized for a child, would strangle an adult who tried to wear it. But it thrums with dark magic, that no child should be able to make. Oddi interrupts their tearful reunion with some pressing questions. "You have a hexen-collar. Where did you get this magic?"

As he asks, Sammutisel stalks and paces, thinking it can slice the small boy before he becomes a bear again. Oddi has to tell his cat to behave.

"Tell us where you learned this? Did you make it yourself?"

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 6

    This is the 6th 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 occassional spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn (elf) sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Grassa Bitterloss: Oddi's mother.
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Currently missing.
• Feris Left-Tusk: Leader of the Broken who torched the village.
  

Log 6 (Date: 7/30/2021.)

Memo to self: Don't forget my wolf-pelt is charged, so +1 on Edge.


Oddi Ice-Chosen and his Cave Lion Companion Sammutisel head into the Loneliwood as that's where Grassa Bitterloss last saw Tern (brother of Emelyn Firetop). Grassa said that Tern had run off, and she tried to follow and fetch him to safety, but there was a bear that attacked them. Grassa wounded the bear, but couldn't defeat it, and was badly hurt herself, so she withdrew to Sword Hope for healing. Now it falls on Oddi to find and save the boy. He starts stalking through the Loneliwood, looking for signs of a struggle or passage.

Gather Information - Tracking and Searching - Weak Hit - New danger, and +1 moment

He finds a trail, and blood. Not just Grassa's, either. There's signs that some of the other people from Forgotten Despair tried to flee into the Loneliwood to escape The Shatterwood Broken, but at least some of them were pursued, and killed or captured. The lucky ones are probably the dead. Broken do not treat captives humanely. There are also 2 Broken corpses in the woods as well. All the bodies have been disturbed by scavengers.

The new danger could just mean there's still Broken about, but it's been two days so that seems unlikely. Maybe there's something special about the bear?

Ask the Oracle "What is the Bear's special ability?"  - The bear has "Vocalization". It just growling or roaring is kind of obvious. That's just normal for a bear, right. What if it's voice is like a man's, which it uses to lure in human prey? It may have once been human! Oddi has never heard Tern's voice before, so I don't realize this is even an option. Perhaps the bear calls out that it's caught under a log, and attempts to lures me in.

Face Danger - Wits: Do I fall for the Lure? - Strong Hit - +1 Momentum, I'm not falling for it.

Oddi realizes that there's something unnatural afoot. He senses magic, not unlike his own Binding Rituals. Stronger, older, but not entirely unfamiliar. He signals for Sammutisel to sneak around while Oddi himself moves toward the sound as a distraction.  "Are you Tern? I'm friends with Emelyn. Do you need help?"

An Ash Bear is a Formidable Foe. My previous Dangerous fight was plenty challenging, this could wreck me if I roll poorly.

Enter the Fray with Cave Lion Companion - Edge - Miss!

The bear is too clever for Sammutisel to creep up on. As my Cave Lion goes in for the strike, the Bear hurls the log in my direction and brings its arm around to smash Sammutisel.  (I didn't roll a 1, so my Pelt is still in effect, and more importantly Sammutisel doesn't necessarily take the hit. I was doing that wrong in the other fight. Companions aren't quite as squishy as I feared.)

The log flies at me. I was prepared to fight a bear, even a talking bear, but one that uses fallen trees as weapons is unexpected.

Endure Harm - Weak Hit - Health goes to 3.

Getting back to my feet, I see the bear and my cat dancing about and trading missed blows, neither yet sure enough of the other to risk trying to pin the other.It's attention mostly on Sammutisel, I risk a wild lunge with my axe.

Clash - Iron - Strong Hit,  +1 harm (3 total), regain the Inititiative

The blade slices through shaggy fur and hide. Now we've got it between us.

I circle about, trying to keep my axe on one side of the bear, and my cat on the other. We hunt as a team.

Secure an Advantage - Wits - Weak, +1 momentum

I feint, and Sammutisel strikes. I see a glint of something at the creature's chest, but we're moving to fast to tell what it is. Maybe my mother left a dagger buried in its ribs.

Strike with Cave Lion - Strong Hit - +1 Harm (3 total), +2 Momentum

My cat leaps across the bears back, and our claws come away covered in crimson. The bear chases after him, providing an opening for my own strike.

Strike - Miss, burn Momentum for a weak hit - 2 Harm, lose initiative.

The bear is fast, and ferocious. As soon as my axe bites it, it lashes out at me. I backpedal quickly enough to avoid being ripped open by claws, but it locks eyes on me and storms forward. It shakes the earth with an unnatural bellow that begins as growl and ends as a curse.

Face Danger - Heart - Miss!

Endure Stress - Heart - Weak Hit - I suffer 3 stress, but press on.

The words it curses me with are old and powerful, but poorly shaped. If Kasju was here, she'd be offering a cold critique of the beast's delivery.

It rushes me then, all jaws and paws and ferocity.

Clash - Iron - Weak Hit - Inflict 2 harm, but then pay the price

It's too fast and large for me to get entirely out of the way, but at least get my axeblade in the way to make sure the pain is mutual. My axe fouls its attempt to bite my face off, and wounds it grievously in the process, but both paws rake me and my chest feels afire.

Endure Harm - Miss!  I've filled the bears progress bar, but I'm also Wounded.  If i can land a Strong hit, I can finish this.

As it is pressed so close to me for a moment, I grope for whatever that shiny object was buried in the fur of its chest.

Secure Advantage - Wits - Weak Hit - +1 Momentum

Not sure exactly what I've grasped, I pull hard as I try to slip out from under the rampaging beasts blows.

Face Danger - Edge - Miss!   -  I can't really afford to take more Harm, so I roll on the "Pay The Price" Oracle. A 79: "A Surprising Development Complicates Your Quest". Oh, boy!

The clasp on his hexen-collar comes loose for a moment, and the bear transforms briefly back in to a small red-haired boy I can only conclude is Tern! His frail blood-soaked hand darts to the clasp, and the mighty paw of a bear closes it.

Emelyn's brother is werebear! She said he was always sickly, troubled, quiet and withdrawn, somewhat foolish, spent time in the Loneliwood. This region has always been the realm of Firstborn and stranger creatures. Perhaps Tern struck a deal with some eldritch entity. No wonder Grassa's story was so scattered and confused, such a transformation right in front of her would have been terrifying. Had Tern killed those Broken whose bodies I'd passed? I and the boy I came here to rescue were just about to murder each-other!

Seeing a small boy for a moment, Sammutisel rushes back into the fray, but I order him off. This is no longer a fight I want to win. I can't bring Tern's dead body back to Emelyn, his blood on my hands. The only sensible option is flee before one of us slays the other.

Face Danger - Edge - Weak Hit -  You succeed but face a cost. I choose -1 supply.

I turn and run, a trail of blood dripping behind me. Tern the Bear chases after me, and sinks his teeth deep... into my satchel. I pop the buckle free, and leave my bag for him to ravage. All my food and medicine, my map of the route to the Frozen Cave of Zhan, everything I own but the clothes on my back, my axe and knife, my cat and my life, are left behind to be devoured by the ursanthrope Tern.

Sammutisel follows me, though I have to call him repeatedly in the first half-mile. He really wanted to go back and solve the problem the violent way.

By the time we make it to Sword Hope, I'm feeling weak and bleary from blood-loss. Covered head to tow in blood, I stumble into the house of the healer where Grassa and Emelyn are recovering. Both gasp in horror at the sight of me, but I manage to tell them "Tern is alive and safe" before I collapse.

Sojourn - Heart +1 for Bond to Emelyn and Grassa -  COMPLICATION!  A matched miss!

Bloodied and exhausted as I am, I sleep for most of a day. Grassa and Emelyn are by my side, and try to ask me what happened, where Tern is, etc. I don't remember answering them, but in my fog I mumble something about werebears and evil magic. The local healer becomes alarmed. They think that I may have brought the evil, that I may be an agent of calamity, not the being who is trying to fix things. The healer refuses to treat my wounds any further, and kicks me out of the town of Sword Hope.

I'm fit enough to walk, but Emelyn and Grassa are going with me anyway. I'm a bit nervous about this: Emelyn and I are both limping, and Grassa's arm is in a sling. As we hobble out of town, we see that the men who rode off with Mygrun still haven't returned, and the cowards left behind in Sword Hope are building a wall around their community.

The four of us (Emelyn, Grassa, Sammutisel and myself) make camp on the beach of Bitter Lake, at the edge of the Loneliwood. The first order of business is getting some food. I fish the way that Kasju Frystgrotta taught me, though it terrifies my mother to see me walking in to the water that once nearly took my life. That was the spring following the worst winter in memory. Today the water is still quite cold, but it does not threaten to seal me in a tomb of ice. In fact, the brisk submersion wakes me up and makes me feel alive.

Resupply - Wits - Strong Hit +2 Supply.

(Technically, per the rules I can't resupply because when I hit 0 supply I should have gained the Unprepared Debility, and the only way to get rid of that is to Sojourn at a town. So I would now have to Undertake a Journey at Health +0, Supply +0, Spirit +1, Wounded and Unprepared, so as to envision a new Town, then successfully Sojourn. That's probably a death spiral. When I chose -1 Supply in the last round with Tern, I didn't realize Unprepared would auto-trigger. When I chose to interpret the complication as they kick me out of Sword Hope, I didn't realize I was Unprepared and thus couldn't Resupply and thus couldn't Make Camp. I only discovered all of this when I opened up the fancy Roll20 character sheet to turn off my Wounded, and noticed that the Unprepared condition directly below it had turned-on automatically.  Rather than roll back several paragraphs, I'm just going to rule the Complication kicked me out of town but waived the Unprepared. Maybe mom packed a sandwich or some healing herbs or something. I think I can cut myself some slack here, since the whole situation was caused when I voluntarily added a level-3 Formidable foe to my only level-1 Troublesome vow. This will be the hardest-earned 1 XP ever.)

Heal - Iron, because I'm the target - Weak Hit -  Clear wounded, take +2 Health, then -1 Supply.

Make Camp - Despite a Supply of only 1, I manage to roll a Strong Hit. I choose Recuperate and Relax. +1 Health, +1 Spirit.

Now, the hard part: Explaining the Tern situation to Emelyn Firetop. I'm going to lean in to my Storyweaver to make it work. I tell her tales of mischievous Changelings, of the Keth-rites of the Varou, and of Firstborn sorcerers who delight in teaching mankind truths so powerful that it breaks us.

I tell her of Proud Hoarfrost, a great white bear who once was a King in the Time Before. He was so full of pride in his Kingdom, that he insisted even the Gods must bow in his court should they deign to walk the earth. Zhan the Twisted heard this on the autumn wind, and headed there immediately, expressly for the purpose of refusing to bend.  Hoarfrost became offended, and they began to wrestle. The match went on for months, and winter set in. Hoarfrost broke Zhan's bones and twisted his limbs in knots, but Zhan refused to show the king respect or acknowledge death. His rage uncontrolled, Proud Hoarfrost bit the God he'd Twisted, and as he tasted the godling's blood, he was transformed forever into a massive white bear. The knots he had tied had bound the seasons in their place, and that's how the Shattered Wastes became the Kingdom of eternal winter. Trying to break free of the knots he'd tied, Proud Hoarfrost plucked the second moon from the sky, and shattered it upon the Winter, but all it broke was his own kingdom.

The tale is entertaining. Neither Emelyn nor Grassa have heard of Proud Hoarfrost before. So Oddi shares more facts. Proud Hoarfrost is real.  In the Frozen Cave of Zhan were Oddi lived these 2 years and 10, there is a passage to the Shattered Wastes.  The cave where I lived 10 years and 2 was the hidden route that Zhan would use to infiltrate Hoarfrost's realm.  Proud Hoarfrost hunted those caverns for a hundred hundred years, trying to find Zhan to get his vengeance, but Kasju Frystgrotta drove Proud Hoarfrost out of that cave, and took it for herself. I've seen it, Kasju took me to retrace Zhan's steps. Beneath the perpetual snow in the great northern wastes there are ancient cities and long-dead forests. Upon first seeing these old ruins, they had immediately reminded Oddi of the Shatterwood hear near Bitter Lake. Perhaps this visual similarity is meaningful. Perhaps Zhan the Twisted is involved in what happened to Tern as well. The Ice Chose Oddi, perhaps the Bear chose Tern.  To know for certain, we will have to head into the Loneliwood, and try to talk with your brother. This situation is most likely not Tern's fault, but he may not want to give it up, either. We will need to keep an eye open for signs of Firstborn or Gods working their magic on your brother. That sort of power isn't given lightly, nor is it easy to surrender once you have it. They may have strings and hooks in him.

Secure an Advantage w/ Story Weaver: Opportunity: A Strong Matched Hit! - Well, my crazy story is clearly true then. Neat!

The story greatly impresses both women. Mother is proud of her son. Emelyn is happy to have someone so knowledgeable and brave working to save her brother.

Emelyn is also that much more smitten with Oddi. Serious feelings are brewing, and it's obvious to everyone. Grassa turns in early, to give "you kids" some time alone. They take their conversation to where the edge of the beach meets the edge of the woods, and talk all night while throwing knives and axes at an old stump.  Eventually, while handing off a throwing blade, their hands touch and they share a moment.

Compel - Heart - Weak Hit - +1 momentum, possible exchange of favors

Oddi and Emelyn acknowledge the feelings developing between them, but Emelyn wants to be in a relationship with Oddi, not just a hook-up. Oddi explains that Kasju still owns him for two days, because of him leaving before the contract was up. Two days that could come without warning, and may not be consecutive or consensual. He can't promise monogamy, given the control Kasju could exert on him. For now, that's a non-starter. They end their game of knives and axes, and go to sleep on opposite sides of the campfire.

Advance a Threat - 91 - All this time spent healing and talking means that Feris Left-Tusk has had a chance to enact his evil plans a bit. His Menace goes from 1 to 3. Yikes!

Next Session: They're partly healed, so at first light the characters will probably all head into the Loneliwood in search of Tern. We're pretty close to completion of this Vow.

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 5

   This is the 5th 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 occassional spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn (elf) sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.
• Emelyn Firetop: Blacksmith. Survivor of the destruction of Oddi's hometown. 
• Grassa: Oddi's mother. Currently missing in the wake of the raid.
• Tern: Emelyn's younger brother. Currently missing.
• Feris Left-Tusk: Leader of the Broken who torched the village.
  

Log 5 (Date: 7/29/2021.)

Memo to self: Don't forget my wolf-pelt is charged, so +1 on Edge.

Oddi Ice-Chosen and Emelyn Firetop stay up most of the night catching up. The really connect. If they weren't both so worried about missing family members, they may have acknowledged the chemistry between them.

Ask the Oracle -  Does Grassa show up? - In a typical trope-y tale, they'd be fridging the mom or the sister. While I'm okay with Oddi having to rescue Grassa, I don't want to kill her off, and I think Myrgun is definitely in the "Princess who saves herself category". So let's subvert a bit of the usual, and call this Likely that Grassa shows up as expected. Roll 1d100. On a 1-25 she doesn't arrive and Oddi has to feel all sorts of worry and guilt about not having headed back to Sword Hope himself since he could walk. On a 26-100 Grassa shows up with the next plot coupon. Roll: 02. NO!

While this does save Oddi the embarassment of having his mom show up while he's trying to impress a girl, it's definitely a bad turn of events that he will worry about. We'll probably start the session 5 with Oddi heading to Sword Hope to find out what's going on. Tern may have run away, which would mean Grassa doesn't need saving, but does Grassa and Emelyn both need Oddi's help finding him.


By Morning, Emelyn is really worried about Tern. Oddi is likewise worried about his mom, Grassa Bitterblad, but is trying to seem strong. Nobody has come from Sword Hope. They may be in danger.

To calm Emelyn, Oddi makes two vows at the town's Pillar. He promises her that he will find Tern, and get him to safety. Then he vows vengeance upon Feris Left-Tusk and the Shatterwood Broken.

Swear a Vow - Save Tern - Troublesome - Weak Hit. Where to begin? What's going on?

Swear a Vow - Avenge Forgotten Despair - Dangerous - Strong Hit.

Chasing the Broken into the Shatterwood is clear, and I would do so without delay, if not for the promise to help Tern. There may be Broken still about, so I can't leave Emelyn here with an injured ankle. So I build a draggable cart to put her on, and haul her to Sword Hope.


This is a short established route that takes less than a day, so I'm not going to use the full Undertake A Journey mechanic... but it is burdened by having to haul a wounded person, so I will make a single Journey roll, and assume that the town of Sword Hope is a single Waypoint away.

Undertake A Journey (Limited Roll) -  Strong Hit

We reach Sword Hope without incident. Now to find out what's happened.

Gather Information - Weak Hit - Spend Momentum for a Strong Hit, then +2 momentum

Apparently, Myrgun Bitterblad, my sister, came through here shortly after the Broken attack. She beseeched Sword Hope for help avenging our Father's death, and got all the brave young men with something to prove to follow her into the Shatterwood. They have not yet returned.

My mother, Grassa Bitterblad arrived in Sword Hope yesterday, looking for Tern. The sickly boy had gotten scared by a Bear as they made their way into the forest. They got separated, as Grassa battled the bear. She was hurt, and is currently in the hut of the healer. She tried to talk the people of Sword Hope into going to look for Tern, or going to help Emelyn, but all the brave ones had left the day before with Myrgun.

So Tern is out there, possibly being hunted by a wounded bear. Grassa is alive, but wounded. Myrgun is with allies, but now 2 days absent.

This is good news overall. Oddi and Grassa have a tearful reunion. Grassa doesn't want to let him out of her sight, but she's in no shape to tackle the bear again.

Sojourn - I try to get help from Sword Hope - Weak Hit, but because I have Bond with Grassa and Emelyn, I'm going to take the second option (basically getting the results as if it were a Bonded town, but not the bonus on the roll for such). My two choices are:

Recuperate (+2 Health for me and Sammutisel), Consort (+2 Spirit). This is a good result, so I'm not going to push my luck with the allowed follow-up roll.

Seeing Grassa alive bolsters my spirits. There's not much time to talk, as I need her to just tell me where she last saw Tern, and where she saw the bear.

Advance A Threat - 37 - As I'm about to go chase a bear and Tern, not immediately follow my sister's vengeance path, that delay means I need to roll to see if Feris Left-Tusk scores any Menace, which he does.

I head out into the woods, following Grassa's instructions, looking for signs of Tern, the bear, blood, etc.

Gather Information - Tracking and Searching - Weak Hit - New danger, and +1 moment

Ask the Oracle "What is the Bear's special ability?"  - The bear has "Vocalization". It's voice is like a man's, which it uses to lure in human prey. It may have once been human! I've never heard Tern's voice before, so I don't realize this is even an option. It calls out that it's caught under a log, and attempts to lures me in.

Face Danger - Wits: Do I fall for the Lure? - Strong Hit - +1 Momentum, I'm not falling for it.

We will start Session 6 with "Enter the Fray" using my Cave Lion and Wolf Pelt.  Edge+2.  On a Hit I get +2 Momentum (I'm at 6 before the roll).  Probably set this bear to Dangerous. Originally, I was going to just have it Troublesome since mom injured it, but now that it's a talking bear, possibly a man turned into a bear, it needs a bit more bite.

Ironsworn: Wolf and Cat, Log 4

  This is the 4th 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 occassional spellcaster.
  
• Sammutisel: Oddi's pet Cave Lion. 150 pounds, 4-inch fangs. 
• Kasju Frystgrotta: The Firstborn (elf) sorceress that abducted Oddi and taught him magic.

Log 4 (Date: 7/28/2021.)

Don't forget my wolf-pelt is charged, so +1 on Edge.

Brain-storm Oracle of the Survivor:  Role: Leader  /  Goal: Obtain an Object  / Descriptor: Charming / Disposition: Suspicious /  Activity: Suffering  - There's enough there for two characters. Hmm...

Feeling entirely devastated, Oddi walks through the wreckage of the town he grew up in. Everything's burnt and broken, and fairly recently. Long enough for the fires to be out, but nothing growing back yet. A few days, maybe. Most everything is destroyed, but the village Pillar remains in town square, bloody but still standing.

He hears someone moaning from within the ash-grey third that remains of the house of Oddi's childhood. What remains of the doorstoop is clotted with blood. Oddi steps across the threshold, and sees a strange man. A dying enemy.

It's a broken Broken, with a freshly missing eye, and a wide gut wound festering in foulness. The man is covered in bugs and blood, but the signs of his Broken culture are there as well, body paint and piercings, crudely fashioned axe, and a mad look in his eye. Oddi knows the most common Broken tongue, a mishmash of the worst Firstborn and Ironlander words, snarling and brutal. This Oddi was taught by Kasju, who said "you must always strive to understand your enemy, else you will become their next victim".

Gather Information: Weak   +1momentum.

Getting an answer from him is difficult. He's still defiant, and was probably at best half-sane before he lay in the wreckage for two days with a wound that will surely prove fatal. If his words are to be believed, this man was the leader of his Broken pack. They came here seeking an object, a black sky-iron sword, which their shaman had prophecied would cleave the world.  This Broken man, once the mighty Chieftain Garl the Slayer, claims to have fought with the man who wielded the sword. Garl and the swordsman murdered each other, and the blade was carried away by Garl's main rival for control of his pack, Feris Left-Tusk. After putting the village to the torch, Feris carried his prize back into the Shatterwood.

Oddi knows the sword and man that Garl speaks of, for his own father's blade matches this physical description, and the prophecy correlates well with Oddi's own vision of a few nights ago.

Filled with pain, Oddi insults Garl the Slayer. "There is nothing I can do to you that is a more fitting fate than for you to lay here, slowly consumed by the carrion beetles and scavenger crows! When the dark day comes at the end of the world, and the Gods battle the ancient evils, you will not be in either camp, Garl! You did not fight to the death, you death will come with the slow exposure of the elements, and the pecking of the smallest of animals. You will lay in the cold dark of eternity, missing your parts and the strength you no longer have."

A woman's voice calls out from elsewhere in the wreckage. "Hello? Help! Are you from Sword Hope? I'm injured, and need your help!" Leaving Garl for the insects, Oddi heads across the rubble.

The ruins of the Blacksmith's shop have been methodically stripped by the raiders, but it is not as badly burnt as most of the other houses. A house so close to the forge is built of rock to protect against accidents. The workspace and stores have been emptied of their tools, but someone still lives. She limps and hops to the door jam. A red-headed woman with a bandaged and splinted leg.

The woman's name is Emelyn Firetop. A lifetime ago, she was Oddi and Myrgun's playmate, the daughter of the smith. It takes Oddi some time to recognize and remember her.

Test Your Bond - Strong Hit +1spirit

Emelyn recognizes him immediately, despite all his changes. Perhaps she had a crush on him as children, but that's not how she explains it. "Ever since the harvest, your mother keeps talking about how this is the year. This spring, her Oddi will return. I didn't believe it, but your mother never doubted. She will be so incredibly happy when she sees you all grown up and handsome!" This is the first good news of this entire trip.

Mechanical Note about Bonds: When you make a character in Ironsworn, they begin with 3 Bonds to NPCs or Communities. So I marked down Kasju Frystgrotta (his Firstborn mistress, teacher, and kidnapper) and Forgotten Despair (the community he was born in). But by session 3 I'd discovered that Forgotten Despair is destroyed. That doesn't completely invalidate the Bond, but let's just say I had a lot riding on this first Test Your Bond roll of the campaign.

Emelyn fills Oddi in on recent events. The Broken attack was two days ago. Even if Oddi had left Kasju a night earlier like he'd wanted, he couldn't have gotten here fast enough to prevent it. The Broken attacked in daylight, went house-to-house killing and searching. Emelyn wanted to fight, but she had to get her brother Tern to safety. Tern was born the year Oddi was taken, in that cruelest of winters, and he was always sickly and small, unable to care for himself. Emelyn and Tern and Grassa (Oddi's mother) fled into the Loneliwood.  Your father and sister were here, fighting the Broken, as we fled.

Oddi can't believe that his mother would have fled and left his father there. My mother is a shieldmaiden. Her place would be at father's side in such a time.

Emelyn explains that after Oddi was taken, things were strained between Grassa and Rygar. Grassa was always focused on Oddi's eventual return. Rygar instead mourned his only son for a time, then moved on emotionally. Eventually they split. Myrgun took Rygar's side. The family fell apart, and Rygar remarried.

Back to Emelyn's story: The Broken killed most everyone, and hunted through the woods for survivors all day. Your mother and I and my brother holed up in the Loneliwood until the Broken thinned out and went back West to the Shatterwood.

After dark, Emelyn and Grassa and Tern snuck back in to the remains of the village, also looking for other survivors, but to help or save instead. They buried many of their loved ones and neighbors, including Rygar. As they were moving about in the dark, Garl the slayer found them. Garl could barely walk at that point, but still capable of short burst of activity and ambush. He broke Emelyn's ankle in the melee, but she took out his eye and left him to die a second time.

Grassa helped her to the least damaged house, and bandaged and braced her leg. Tern was freaking out, so Emelyn made Grassa promise to take him to Sword Hope. She said she would get a cart there, and come back tonight under darkness, or maybe sooner if she could get enough help for it to feel safe.

Oddi curses his luck, because he left Sword Hope as soon as he heard news of the attack. Chances are good he and Grassa were in town at the same time, and just didn't see each other.

At this point, Garl the Slayer has again found strength enough to move, and cunning enough to ambush. Holding in his guts with one hand, he creeps out of the wreckage of the Bitterblad home, intending to murder Oddi and earn his place in the Broken afterlife.

Challenge - As a chieftain, Garl the Slayer would normally be Formidable. However, he is badly wounded, so let's just call him Garl the Gutted, and downgrade him to Dangerous.

Enter the Fray w/ Cave Lion Companion  - Weak Hit - Take Initiative - Because of using Cave Lion  also gain +2mo.

Oddi may be distracted by pretty girl and news of his family, but Sammutisel is still on guard. As the diseased and broken man stalks towards Oddi, the Cave Lion stalks towards him.

Strike w/ Cave Lion - Miss!

The scent of blood, and lumbering gait of Garl the Gutted causes Sammutisel to misjudge his prey. As the cat goes in for what it judges an easy kill, the Broken snaps into motion, swinging his jagged axe at the cat. Hunter has become hunted has become hunter again!  Sammutisel takes 2 Harm!

Companion Endure Harm - Weak Hit!

Because he's at 2 Health still, Sammutisel is still okay, but i realize that maybe Companions are more fragile than I expected.

Clash - Miss!

Hearing the snarl and scream, Oddi loosens his own axe and rushes to his cat's defense. With the speed of death, Garl the Gutted spins and strikes at Oddi! Blood flies! 2 Harm to Oddi!

Turn The Tide -  Take back the Initiative, add +1 (and +1mo if I Hit)

Strike w/ Cave Lion - Strong Hit!  Inflict 3 harm, +3mo

Garl may well be better than either of us, but with both Wolf and Cat fighting from opposite sides, it's too much for him.

Strike - Iron - Spend mo for Weak Hit - Inflict 2 harm

We hit him hard, and now I start to get a little too confident. I press my advantage, and my axe bites into him again, but he grabs my arm. We end up in a tumble where my Cat cannot help, and my axe slips from my grasp to land in the dirt just out of reach.

Clash - Iron - Miss - I take 2 harm, health to 1

In such a tight tangle the Broken bites me! I claw at his good eye, and force him to release his bite. Spitting blood he screams in the old Broken tongue: "You taste like your father!"

Secure an Advantage - Wits - Strong!  - take a move with +1

We are so close and tangled, neither can strike an effective blow. But I remember that he has an open wound on his gut, so I wrestle him closer and try to drag his torso across my gear. The buckle of my baldric snags at his guts and he yowls in pain. It's the opening I need to push him away for a moment, hold him where Sammutisel can strike.

Strike w/ Cave Lion - Edge+1 - Weak - +2mo

The cat rakes his back, but the mighty Garl continues to scream mad murder in my face.

Clash - Iron - Strong Hit - +1mo

I free my hand, and strike again at his good eye. It's enough to break him free and push him away. I roll onto my knees, and look about frantically for my axe. Garl the Gutted, his namesake spilling out into his hands, also struggles to gain his footing.

"Oddi!" Emelyn shouts my name. I glance towards the doorframe, but she's no longer there. She'd made it several paces away before her ankle gave out. She went down hard in the dirt, next to where my axe had landed. Our eyes meet. Laying on her side, she tosses my axe to me. Blood-wet hands barely manage to catch it, and I twist into a cross-body swing.

End the Fight - Weak Hit!  (Holy crap this fight is so frustrating! In a good way. To win this fight I needed to inflict 5 harm, then score a Strong Hit. I inflicted 9 harm before I got the strong hit I needed. Then on the roll to end it, since I'd done the maximum progress, all I needed to do was not roll a 10 on either of two d10s. So of course I roll a 10! It's terrifying to think that this is the second-lowest difficulty a fight can be.)

The axe bites deep, enough to kill. The look on Garl's face though is one of rapture and glory. He's earned the place in the Broken afterlife that I'd hoped to deny him. This makes me very angry, and for a second I glimpse the madness that Breaks such men.

Endure Stress - Spirit to 0 then -1 momentum.  Weak hit.

Seething with rage, I strike again and again at his body. Chunks come off at weird angles, and I am covered in viscera. I collapse, sobbing.

I get my wits back a few seconds later, when Sammutisel starts licking the gore off my face.

This is not how I imagined my return to the village.

"Are you hurt?" Emelyn is crawling towards me.

"I'll live. Will you?"

"Don't be stupid, it's just my ankle."

I manage a self-conscious half-laugh. The great cat resumes cleaning my face. His breath is hot, and his tongue only a bit softer than a briar patch. I close my eyes and start to protest, but don't really have the strength left in me to make him stop. I lay there for a moment, annoyed, but thankful to be alive.

Before I have opened my eyes again, Emelyn pulls herself up beside us, and drapes her arm across me. It's the first time I've touched human skin in 10 years and 2.  I'd almost forgotten that other humans are warm, not icy like the Firstborn. I'm suddenly very self-aware, and can barely breathe.

"Let me get those wounds wrapped up before your big friend here starts chewing on you." She wasn't trying to initiate something romantic, but was just checking my wounds. That's when the adrenalin wears off, and suddenly I'm aware of a throbbing cut on my arm, a bite on shoulder, and about a hundred bruises.

Make Camp - Weak

We decide that Feris and the Broken had abandoned Garl to his fate, so it's safe enough to stay here and catch our breath. We expect Grassa and help from Sword Hope will likely come by nightfall. So the best thing to do is wait for help from the next town over. We make a fire. We relax a bit, and my spirits are lifted.

Heal Oddi - Weak - Health up to 3, supply down to 1.

Heal Sammutisel - Strong -  Companion Health up to 4

Heal Emelyn - Strong

We spend some time patching up each other's wounds. I break into my satchel for a warming poultice taught to me by Kasju, which that plus a better brace gets Emelyn's ankle mending better. Sammutisel knows the smell of the medicines, and starts to purr.

Forge A Bond w/ Story Weaver - Strong Hit

Emelyn asks questions about the Firstborn, and my many years of absence. I tell her tales of the Frozen Cave of Zhan. Zhan the Twisted was the being who taught Kasju the ways of magic. He was a trickster figure, a deceitful liar who stole magic from the Gods and buried it beneath the earth. Zhan brings the storms of winter, which harden the soul of the earth. Zhan brings the floods of spring, which flay the flesh of the earth.

These stories significantly impress Emelyn. A friendship is starting to form. If we both didn't have so much to worry about, maybe it would be something more romantic. Two people, alone in the dark, having just been through hell, things could happen. But we're sore and injured, and our families are in peril, so nothing happens.


Ask the Oracle -  Does Grassa show up? - In a typical trope-y tale, they'd be fridging the mom or the sister. While I'm okay with Oddi having to rescue Grassa, I don't want to kill her off, and I think Myrgun is definitely in the "Princess who saves herself category". So let's subvert a bit of the usual, and call this Likely that Grassa shows up as expected. Roll 1d100. On a 1-25 she doesn't arrive and Oddi has to feel all sorts of worry and guilt about not having headed back to Sword Hope himself since he could walk. On a 26-100 Grassa shows up with the next plot coupon. Roll: 02. NO!  We'll probably start the session 5 with Oddi heading to Sword Hope to find out what's going on.


Another Mechanical Note about Bonds: Still contemplating my third Bond. I could gave just put Emelyn on the list for that instead of rolling now (or I could have just assumed she was already covered by "Forgotten Despair").  I wrote up a little backstory on his father's sword, the Bitter Blade, but that may be a waste of a Bond unless the sword is a conscious and active NPC. Likewise, a Bond to Sammutisel his cat is mechanically redundant. So the other option would be to pick up some other Firstborn that Kasju may have introduced him to. Or maybe, this Zhan the Twisted fellow, who may be an interesting and dangerous Trickster figure. I'm leaving my options open for now.