The Investigation of Ogonelloe

08 Nov, 2023

This is the chat log of a session between my character Lirann and the GM at that time Canyon. This is several months in the past after Lirann had become Lord of Dorbogh after rescuing hundreds of people from the Screaming Rock. It was an amazing solo session for a high level PC. Lirann was seeking to unify much of Ruislip under his banner this was his reaching out to the village of Ogonelloe. Toward the end you will see some numbers referenced from Echo Resounding the domaine game rules we where experimenting with at the time.

[10:58 AM] Adam (just listening): Oh do you have time to do the Lirann village stuff today?

[10:58 AM] Adam (just listening): Or some other time?

[11:12 AM] Der PigDog: Sure! I think I’ll be free in a little under 2 hours

[11:12 AM] Adam (just listening): Cool beans!

[1:37 PM] Adam (just listening): You good to do this?

[1:40 PM] Der PigDog: I will be in5 minutes

[1:40 PM] Der PigDog: Making a bagel

[1:40 PM] Adam (just listening): Okay

[1:46 PM] Der PigDog: ok

[1:46 PM] Adam (just listening): You wanna do text or voice chat for this?

[1:46 PM] Der PigDog: Let’s do text, I might need to think a bit about some responses

[1:46 PM] Der PigDog: So Lirann is going to the village southeast of Dorbog

[1:47 PM] Der PigDog: Ogonelloe

[1:47 PM] Adam (just listening): Yeah with one retainer probably

[1:47 PM] Der PigDog: Is he going alone or bringing a retinue?

[1:47 PM] Der PigDog: Ok cool

[1:47 PM] Der PigDog: Wearing the oathbreaker’s maille, or some other armor>

[1:47 PM] Adam (just listening): I think he would just go in some fulllength maile

[1:48 PM] Adam (just listening): The Oathbreaker’s Mail makes people uncomfortable

[1:48 PM] Der PigDog: Yeah, a good call, that’s what I was considering

[1:50 PM] Der PigDog: Following the narrow path he comes across a ruined fort piercing the treeline. Behind it squats a small village of round wooden houses. Smoke curls out of chimneys and people mill about the center of town, somewhat subdued

[1:50 PM] Der PigDog: Lirann can see plenty of stacks of good timber as well as tanning racks and hunters returning from the forest carrying game of all sizes

[1:50 PM] Der PigDog: How does he announce his presence?

[1:51 PM] Adam (just listening): Lirann would approach someone who is working and ask to see the towns elderman or someone else who is in charge (he is a native to Ruislip and would probably know the title of small villages like this)

[1:52 PM] Der PigDog: I have generally been calling the leader of these small settlements “big men” or “head men”

[1:53 PM] Adam (just listening): yeah The head men. He will make it known he is from Dorbogh and wishes to speak to the defense of the people.

[1:53 PM] Der PigDog: The woodcutter stiffens and says slowly, “Ailín’s… out… right now.”

[1:54 PM] Der PigDog: “Hunting. No point waiting for him. Do you have a message to relay?”

[1:54 PM] Adam (just listening): “I am willing to wait a bit to see them. How long are they usually out hunting?”

[1:55 PM] Der PigDog: “No doubt he’ll be back by dark, but you’ll want to run home before then. Why not come back later?”

[1:56 PM] Adam (just listening): “Is there something out here beyond the Orcneas to be worried about? I have no problem with a couple of Orcneas.” 1

[1:59 PM] Der PigDog: The man looks uncomfortable, and he decides to shrug off responsibility. He offers to lead Lirann to Fionola, who would be a better host and guide. As he explains the situation to her, he tells her that he said Ailín was out hunting, and would return at night, but that Lirann had wanted to wait.

[2:00 PM] Der PigDog: Fionola is a middle-aged woman. She was once beautiful, and still a looker. At her side is a younger woman whom she does not introduce.

[2:00 PM] Der PigDog: “And what’s your business here?”

[2:03 PM] Adam (just listening): “I am Lirann. I have come to see to the safety of the people of Ruislip. I have come here to see if the people of Ogonelloe where in need of help. We in Dorbogh and the survivors of Culmenwarden have faced a great many threats from the Orcneas and other transient threats and while we have stone walls to help protect our people we know the people of the forests fields and marshes often do not have that same safety. I have come to offer aid and partnership in these trying times.”

[2:04 PM] Adam (just listening): “Please let me know if there is anything I or my people can do to help you. I promise you this is no trick. My reputation should speak for me. I have silenced the Screaming Rock helping the people of Culmenwarden even though no payment was offered.”

[2:05 PM] Der PigDog: Oh man absolute trash reaction roll

[2:06 PM] Adam (just listening): Am I gonna need my axe?

[2:07 PM] Der PigDog: No, I think they wouldn’t attack

[2:07 PM] Der PigDog: Plus I have been using boasts and visible wealth as a substitute for charisma modifiers informally

[2:08 PM] Der PigDog: So you get a substantial bonus, though she’s still unfavorably inclined towards you

[2:10 PM] Der PigDog: As they talk, she’s been walking to the second-largest hut in the village. A smithy. The forge is cold and no blacksmith is in sight. Next door is the largest hut. No smoke comes from its chimney either

[2:10 PM] Der PigDog: “What kind of aid, and what do you want in return? There’s always a catch.”

[2:13 PM] Adam (just listening): “I am a pretty capable commander and have faced a great many threats that have destroyed villages and towns. I am a friend of the Druids and have the friendship of Echo the Spirit who can heal with a touch. I offer these boons to your village in exchange for mutual aid in defending against the very dangerous threats that do live in this land.”

[2:14 PM]Adam (just listening): “I see you don’t even have an active smithy at this time which likely means you will struggle to keep your axes and saws sharp for felling trees. I have smiths in Dorbogh that can provide that aid and I likely could organize a new smith to come here to help”

[2:15 PM]Adam (just listening): Can I ask what happened to your prior smith? Did he leave for some reason?

[2:19 PM]Der PigDog: She has a sour look on her face. “My husband missing, likely dead. Will your fancy Dorbog smiths support me in my dotage? Or will our menfolk keep vanishing from our beds?”

[2:19 PM]Der PigDog: The young woman with her starts. She immediately regrets this line.

[2:20 PM]Adam (just listening): I am sorry for your loss. Is there any help me or my men can provide in a search?

[2:20 PM]Der PigDog: It’s a mystery, OOOOooooOOhhh

[2:21 PM]Adam (just listening): If I am able to pay for Lirann’s upkeep cost for a week of adventuring do I lose my Domaine actions to try investigating this personally?

[2:22 PM]Adam (just listening): Otherwise I can use my Thegn for it.

[2:22 PM]Der PigDog: I’m not particularly thrilled with how I’m running this, is it interesting or frustrating?

[2:22 PM]Adam (just listening): I am enjoying it.

[2:24 PM]Der PigDog: “Be my guest,” she says, pointing to the woods around the village. “Search to your heart’s content.”

[2:24 PM]Adam (just listening): “Do you know where he was last seen?”

[2:25 PM]Der PigDog: “He’s been gone a month, but you might still find bits of Ailín… It’s only been a few days.”

[2:26 PM]Adam (just listening): “Have any others beside these two gone missing?”

[2:26 PM]Adam (just listening): “and may I ask your husband’s name?”

[2:27 PM]Der PigDog: “I was the last one to see Caoimhe. And surely no one will accuse me.”

[2:27 PM]Der PigDog: “Just them. Is that not enough for you?”

[2:28 PM]Der PigDog: (There’s only like 80 people in this village)

[2:29 PM]Adam (just listening): “it is more then enough to deserve our full attention ma’am, and I would never wish for you to feel as though you where being accused of anything, may I ask where Caoimhe was the last you saw him?”

[2:30 PM]Der PigDog: “Chopping wood. Outside. At night.”

[2:31 PM]Adam (just listening): Did he have anything he would regularly carry that was meaningful to him? I know some druidic arts that may help me locate him using that. So long as he is on Ruislip still.

[2:36 PM]Der PigDog: She pauses and looks off into the middle distance for a while before saying, quickly, snappily, “No. Ask anyone. He wasn’t one for possessions.”

[2:36 PM]Der PigDog: “What’s it to you, anyway, prying and bothering. This should be left to a man’s family, and that’s me.”

[2:39 PM]Adam (just listening): “Ma’am, I am here to help. If there is something dangerous out there I would like to know about it before people begin disappearing from my home too. Also I am likely the most capable person on Ruislip at finding something lost. I have traveled to the highlands of Fortu to find a flower capable of killing a dragon and travelled to Castle to find a subtle spirit hiding in a hidden cave with nothing but a basic description to guide me.”

[2:40 PM]Adam (just listening): (Do I get a sense she is hiding something?)

[2:41 PM]Der PigDog: She’s certainly not pleased to be talking to you about all this. Do you get the sense that she’s hiding something?

[2:41 PM]Adam (just listening): Lirann is the biggest badass on the island. If I had been looking for my spouse and someone offered to find them for me for free I would be ecstatic.

[2:42 PM]Adam (just listening): I am suspicious of her just because Lirann is such a well known figure and she doesn’t want help

[2:42 PM]Der PigDog: “Use your little skills to find Ailin. I’ve given up on Caoimhe.”

[2:43 PM]Adam (just listening): Can you describe her (him?)and what she was last seen in? So I may recognize her when I find her (him?) ?

[2:44 PM]Der PigDog: She describes both men, Ailin and Caoimhe, briefly. I’m not going to repeat it here because I don’t love describing people, but you’d probably recognize them if you saw them.

[2:46 PM]Adam (just listening): Alright and Ailín was last seen going for a hunt? Does the village have a bowyer who likely spent days or weeks working on his bow that could give me a very detailed description. Meanwhile I would send my Thegn back to Dorbogh to collect the components for locate objects

[2:47 PM]Adam (just listening): I can deduct the cost of it too.

[2:47 PM]Der PigDog: Tbh most normal items should be free to Lirann now

[2:48 PM]Der PigDog: (Also I’ve been thinking of a rule where if an item is less than say 5% of your upkeep it’s free)

[2:48 PM]Der PigDog: They def have a bowyer

[2:48 PM]Adam (just listening): Alright. I also figure with Slánn in town Lirann would keep components for Locate Objects on hand (and Hold Monster if those are not ridiculous for Slánn)

[2:49 PM]Der PigDog: As night falls, people draw close, clutch swords, and shutter their windows

[2:50 PM]Der PigDog: The hold monster components are pretty rare, I think she’s got like 2 casts left

[2:51 PM]Der PigDog: Where would you try to sleep the night?

[2:51 PM]Adam (just listening): Alright. Lirann would likely stay up the first night and ask that a local stay with him to keep him above suspicion if anything happens and help with any misunderstandings.

[2:52 PM]Adam (just listening): Then he would settle in and see what the night activities in the village are like. Do people all just shutter up for the night? Do people patrol? Is there anyone who works at night?

[2:52 PM]Adam (just listening): Maybe the other girl. She seems important enough that she could vouch for Lirann if need be.

[2:54 PM]Der PigDog: Fionola sneers when you ask for the girl to keep you company but does not object. The girl is her niece, Clodagh.

[2:55 PM]Der PigDog: Nobody works, nor patrols. All windows are shut up. Clodagh is very quiet and nervous, and soon asks to leave.

[2:57 PM]Der PigDog: Are you just standing in the middle of town, or hanging out in a house?

[2:57 PM]Adam (just listening): Yeah. Lirann would ask her questions about the town and it’s people first. Mostly general info. And we would probably be hanging out by the forge which would likely be pretty central in town.

[2:59 PM]Adam (just listening): In actuality letting her leave is a terrible idea but I don’t want to seem like a creep.

[3:00 PM]Der PigDog: Let’s flash back to dusk, as this conversation is occurring. Later she’ll ask to leave. She’s a ward of her aunt, and seems positively inclined towards the town, speaking of it lovingly. Her brief references to her aunt are negative. She asks if Lirann has ever been to Albann.

[3:06 PM]Adam (just listening): Lirann would answer that he has been to Albann. And would tell her of seeing the highlands of Fortu where the tongueless men are and the city of Caernfon with it’s half built Cathedral and of Guthrem with it’s Pirate Queen.

[3:07 PM]Adam (just listening): He would also try to get a sense why she doesn’t like her aunt much

[3:07 PM]Der PigDog: She listens to the descriptions of magic especially eagerly, thinking hard about everything Lirann says

[3:08 PM]Der PigDog: The aunt is cruel to her and suspicious of her activities

[3:10 PM]Adam (just listening): Has Lirann in his day here seen any Druids, christians or decated soldiers in the village?

[3:11 PM]Der PigDog: No dedicated soldiers. Signs of casual druid and christian worship but no strong presence of either faction

[3:11 PM]Adam (just listening): I am wondering how the village has remained safe when so many others have fallen.

[3:11 PM]Adam (just listening): Lirann will even comment this to them and ask if no clear answer is apparent.

[3:11 PM]Der PigDog: A good question. By your estimates it should be very near to the orc fort

[3:14 PM]Adam (just listening): “Have you had any Orcneas raids here? The rest of the island has been plagued by them. It seems odd to me such a small village has gone relatively unharmed when walled cities fall to them”

[3:17 PM]Der PigDog: She smiles slightly and shrugs. “I suppose we’re just charmed. Everyone knows Ogonelloe is said to have powerful protectors.” A frown. “Well, we’ll see…”

[3:22 PM]Adam (just listening): “I have seen some great and secretive protectors in my time. People should be careful with them, if care is not taken they can turn on the people they are meant to protect. I lost my home to such an event. Stamullen was where I grew up. A man thought he knew the magics of the land and called the bees to protect the village. Macullen was his name. He was a friend of mine. You would see these bees frolicking pollinating flowers and they where so tame the children could play with them. Unfortunately Macullen had failed to listen to the advise of the druids and his magic turned the bees against him. They swarmed the village killing him and the others. The children that had played with the bees where killed by them. He may have been able to avert this tragedy if he had friends that he would have spoken to. I could have helped him, but instead I returned to a dead village one day. If you know anything about what is plagueing your village. Even if it is a great protector. Please tell me. I may be able to help.”

[3:25 PM]Der PigDog: She’ll suddenly tell you that Caoimhe was supposed to meet her in the woods the night he went missing, but that he never arrived. “He helped us. All of us. And now it’s on me, and I can’t…” She trails off tearfully. The 3-quarter moon has started to rise above the treeline. She asks to leave.

[3:28 PM]Adam (just listening): “of course. I didn’t mean to upset you. If you are willing I would ask that you show me this meeting place in the morning.”

[3:28 PM]Der PigDog: She runs away from the circle of your torchlight towards the edge of the village

[3:29 PM] Adam (just listening): (also would Lirann know what a werewolf is? You suspiciously mentioned the moon.)

[3:29 PM] Der PigDog: It’s not suspicious! I keep track of the phase of the moon via the calendar

[3:29 PM] Adam (just listening): Anytime a GM mentions the moon I think werewolf instantly

[3:31 PM] Adam (just listening): Lirann would stay up the rest of the night waiting for his thegn to return.

[3:31 PM] Der PigDog: I have always thought that anything you know, your character does too, or at least they suspect

[3:32 PM] Der PigDog: Except for details of modern chemistry

[3:32 PM] Adam (just listening): Alright. I am like 80% sure this girl is a werewolf, her aunt is mean to her because she suspects the girl ate her husband, and the village leader was also a werewolf but he up and died.

[3:33 PM] Adam (just listening): So now they have a single young werewolf in the village who wants to protect the village but can’t

[3:34 PM] Der PigDog: Hmmm, intriguing!

[3:34 PM] Adam (just listening): if Lirann can confirm his suspicions he would offer to send a squad of soldiers down to Ogonelloe to protect the village and she could come to Dorbogh where Slann can act as a guarantee that she won’t go on a rampage due to their hold monster spell.(edited)

[3:34 PM] Adam (just listening): There she could safely learn to control her powers under the tutiledge of a druid and Lirann can earn a powerful ally

[3:35 PM] Der PigDog: To be clear, Slann can only cast hold monster twice more, and then who knows how long until she gets another chance? The component is really, really rare

[3:35 PM] Adam (just listening): I would probably make her a room at the keep with reinforced doors or something too.

[3:36 PM] Der PigDog: The girl slinks back to the village square before dawn. She looks like she spent the night in a ditch

[3:36 PM] Adam (just listening): What was her name?

[3:37 PM] Der PigDog: Clodagh

[3:40 PM] Adam (just listening): ALright once day breaks Lirann will pass out for a chunk of the day and ask that in the afternoon she takes him to the meeting place to see if there is any sign of the remains of these people.

[3:40 PM] Adam (just listening): Even though she probably just spent the night destroying evidence

[3:40 PM] Der PigDog: Lmao

[3:41 PM] Der PigDog: The meeting place is a stump in a clearing a half-mile from town. There’s a small game trail leading back to town

[3:42 PM] Adam (just listening): Does anyone else comewith? Like her aunt or anything when we leave the village?

[3:42 PM] Der PigDog: I don’t think so, Lirann is a lord after all

[3:42 PM] Der PigDog: The aunt probably mutters something under her breath

[3:43 PM] Der PigDog: But it’s more aimed at the Clodagh than Lirann

[3:45 PM] Der PigDog: What exactly are you looking for in terms of clues? Their meeting was supposed to be a month ago

[3:45 PM] Adam (just listening): I think Lirann would just ask her straight up out here if she is a werewolf.

[3:45 PM] Der PigDog: : 0

[3:46 PM] Der PigDog: I think she would probably break down sobbing and say she was

[3:46 PM] Der PigDog: So was Caoimhe, and he sired her and he was supposed to teach her, but he vanished one day

[3:46 PM] Der PigDog: And now Ailin is dead

[3:47 PM] Der PigDog: Caoimhe told Clodagh that there were other werewolves on Albann, but that’s all she knows

[3:49 PM] Der PigDog: Rather than write up discrete clues, I tried to just imagine what the town would be like and how these people might react. Hopefully coming to a conclusion was interesting

[3:50 PM] Adam (just listening): “People die. It is terrible. I have lost men due to my mistakes to. What we need is to learn from them. I wouldn’t trust the people of Albann for this. They follow false druids who lead them to worship terrible things. Even if there are werewolves there they may not offer any real help. I can offer you a safe place to practice and train at the keep in Dorbogh. We can reinforce a room with iron bars to keep you from harming others on full moons and my druid Slann is a capable druid who can help you learn and help control you when you do shift. I can provide men to protect Ogonelloe while you train as well. The people here don’t even need to know the truth. You can come as an apprentice to my city.”

[3:50 PM] Adam (just listening): I think this was wonderfully done. Better then any investigation I have run at least.

[3:50 PM] Der PigDog: Yeah, fuck the people of Albann! All my homies hate the people of Albann

[3:50 PM] Adam (just listening): Had an eureka moment when it all clicked and I scoured through the previous stuff to verify it too.

[3:51 PM] Der PigDog: Oh man I’m really glad!

[3:51 PM] Der PigDog: There’s still the question of what happened to Caoimhe, but it isn’t essential

[3:51 PM] Adam (just listening): Just channeling my deep inset American disdain for the Brtsh

[3:52 PM] Der PigDog: She would absolutely take you up on your offer

[3:52 PM] Adam (just listening): Oh I assumed she killed him. But yeah if she knows of anything he carried I would cast locate objects to try to find him.

[3:53 PM] Der PigDog: She’ll maintain that she really was going to meet up with him but that he never showed. She remembers enough from the turning to claim that she wouldn’t kill him

[3:54 PM] Der PigDog: But it’s totally ok to not believe her, if you’d already made up your mind that she probably killed him and i only accidentally tipped my hand(edited)

[3:55 PM] Adam (just listening): I assume he ran into Orcneas or the Gargoyles or something in other cases.

[3:56 PM] Adam (just listening): Does Ogonelloe join with Dorbogh in this instance? If they agree to garrisoning Dorbogh troops here and I remove the threat to the village (and the pain in the town elderman’s side of her delinquent niece).

[3:56 PM] Adam (just listening): Or do I still have to convince her?

[3:58 PM] Der PigDog: I think that they won’t join immediately but in a month without their anonymous werewolf protector (there’s a legend but the town doesn’t really believe in it) they’ll suffer a few tentative orc raids and be willing to join

[4:00 PM] Adam (just listening): Alright. Cool. That means that after the village joins me and I complete the school the tower comes back online.

[4:01 PM] Der PigDog: I think that’s right. Also this town has a militia of 20 skirmishers

[4:02 PM] Adam (just listening): I thought that just meant it had a militia muster tbh 4:02 PM] Adam (just listening): And don’t villages automatically give 2 social and 2 wealth?

[4:03 PM] Der PigDog: Yeah

[4:06 PM] Adam (just listening): So with +2 wealth from the village joining me and +2 wealth from the school I have the 4 wealth for the tower.

[4:06 PM] Der PigDog: Nice!

[4:11 PM] Adam (just listening): Thanks for running this I had fun.

[4:11 PM] Der PigDog: I’m glad! I did too

#Session-Report #Wolves-Upon-the-Coast