Due to strange happenings with my health we were had a shorter than usual & more sedentary game this week. I didn't do much die rolling because it actually hurt. I shot this one from the hip because stress earlier in the day had my ticker not ticking at peak performance. Thanks to all of my friends who were there because you lifted my spirits and gave me strength instead of me lying around & feeling miserable. Please be reassured that I'm still resting & feeling better today.
Since the definition of foul murder to the Norse was "secret killing" and exacts a horrible price in that culture the party decides to split up briefly. Skolmr heads south to the next village and proclaims in that village that they had been attacked & killed 5 of the 6 people that had attacked them. While he is proclaiming this He is approached by the one older man they know got away & someone else who claims to having been with them & a witness. Hmm where did he come from? The older man who had previously treated with Skolmr shows restraint and introduces himself as a Huskarl of the Gangermann Tribe. He also tries to persuade Skolmr to bring Starkadder to the Thing in June, with the warning that he is not chief of his tribe and that many of the younger more unruly types will hold the party equally guilty to Starkadder & exact vengeance unless they bring him to the Thing. Protestations that the beserker is his own man & that Skolmr can only encourage him to go fall on deaf ears as the huskarl lays warnings. Skolmr then scoffs at him & with ritual insults turns his back on the Gangermann who bristles in anger. The wandering Sami realizing things would not be conducive to profits at the moment decides to return north with Skolmr,
About the same time Arvarodd and Siv have gone north for two days to next most village beyond the one burnt out earlier. There pronouncements have little ripple in the community other than "Wow these people are foolish to cross the Gangermann". In a slight feat of Player knowledge triumphing over character knowledge the players figure the Gangermann tribe are werewolves. Well sort of, Viking Werewolves are not the same thing as Hollywood Werewolves. I'm waiting for someone to get the brilliant idea of silver-weapons.
To occupy the months until the Thing gathering the party starts to rebuild the village of Skaldby (There's a clue there Skolmr). Mar focuses on getting a forge up & running so that he can produce the tools, nails, etc that go into making a village, plus a few beyond that for selling. Tyr focuses on building a sexring (no NOT a SEX RING you gits - rather it's a small Six Oared ship) that can be used for carrying the small party on journeys such as to the Thingr or fishing locally, etc. Ulfar focuses on recapturing all the remaining livestock in the area and tending them aided by Arvarodd. Despite Arvarodd spending more time with his hands on the teats of cows & goats than on Siv's teats, he does manage to get Siv pregnant. (Don't blame me, but someone asked me if he could tell the difference). The few remaining survivors from the two burned out villages return to the area & re-establish themselves at Skalby. This helps relieve the burden of the chores from the party members and also establishes a base from which they may wander and have a safe haven to return to. At night they chain Tyr to his bed to prevent him from getting lost or stolen again. Can't you just feel the love? Over this time Starkadder would dissappear for days or weeks at a time & eventually return hauling the carcas of a slain deer or the like back to the village.
At last June arrives & as the party prepares the sexring (that's the boat you bloody twits) for the journey north, the wandering Sami prepares for the journey by making a spirit journey to ask about the voyage. He enters his laavvu (tent) and starts a ritual sweat and drumming. Journeying forth he has his guide take him to the spirit of the Dolphin and he seeks his guidance: To the question what is the journey? like he gets a nice reply about how there are lots of fish, calm waves & an ambiguous answer that relates more to the dolphin perspective than to the human one. To the question about are there any raiders (with the quick caveat of human or otherwise) on the sea he gets another ambiguous answer about there's killer whales, & longships, some that have already left & there's usually a lot more later on in the summer. I mean will a dolphin know what the purpose in mind of someone who is on board a ship?
The party sails north for a 3 hour tour - OOPS I mean a 3 day journey. Tyr handled the tiller, Arvarodd skippered the vessel, Siv was his "Little Buddy", while the rest of the group handled lines as necessary. Each night the would beach the craft and build camp. Tyr would be chained to the mast so he wouldn't get lost or stolen in the night. When Arvarodd attempted to darken Skolmr's eyes with charcoal while he was asleep, Skolmr waited in ambush & threw him overboard. YAY! After 3 days they reached Oslo & pulled their boat on the shore next to a large & magnificent longship. The owner of the longship made some sotte-voce derogatory comments about their boat and a flyting contest soon ensued. The entire group engaged in trading insults until Skolmr capped it all with such an insult that he caused the opposing warlord to go apoplectic and keel over dead in the finest Nordic Insult tradition.
As they journey inland the group overhears rumors of doom, & intrigues. Hmm what awaits them at the Thingr?
Since the definition of foul murder to the Norse was "secret killing" and exacts a horrible price in that culture the party decides to split up briefly. Skolmr heads south to the next village and proclaims in that village that they had been attacked & killed 5 of the 6 people that had attacked them. While he is proclaiming this He is approached by the one older man they know got away & someone else who claims to having been with them & a witness. Hmm where did he come from? The older man who had previously treated with Skolmr shows restraint and introduces himself as a Huskarl of the Gangermann Tribe. He also tries to persuade Skolmr to bring Starkadder to the Thing in June, with the warning that he is not chief of his tribe and that many of the younger more unruly types will hold the party equally guilty to Starkadder & exact vengeance unless they bring him to the Thing. Protestations that the beserker is his own man & that Skolmr can only encourage him to go fall on deaf ears as the huskarl lays warnings. Skolmr then scoffs at him & with ritual insults turns his back on the Gangermann who bristles in anger. The wandering Sami realizing things would not be conducive to profits at the moment decides to return north with Skolmr,
About the same time Arvarodd and Siv have gone north for two days to next most village beyond the one burnt out earlier. There pronouncements have little ripple in the community other than "Wow these people are foolish to cross the Gangermann". In a slight feat of Player knowledge triumphing over character knowledge the players figure the Gangermann tribe are werewolves. Well sort of, Viking Werewolves are not the same thing as Hollywood Werewolves. I'm waiting for someone to get the brilliant idea of silver-weapons.
To occupy the months until the Thing gathering the party starts to rebuild the village of Skaldby (There's a clue there Skolmr). Mar focuses on getting a forge up & running so that he can produce the tools, nails, etc that go into making a village, plus a few beyond that for selling. Tyr focuses on building a sexring (no NOT a SEX RING you gits - rather it's a small Six Oared ship) that can be used for carrying the small party on journeys such as to the Thingr or fishing locally, etc. Ulfar focuses on recapturing all the remaining livestock in the area and tending them aided by Arvarodd. Despite Arvarodd spending more time with his hands on the teats of cows & goats than on Siv's teats, he does manage to get Siv pregnant. (Don't blame me, but someone asked me if he could tell the difference). The few remaining survivors from the two burned out villages return to the area & re-establish themselves at Skalby. This helps relieve the burden of the chores from the party members and also establishes a base from which they may wander and have a safe haven to return to. At night they chain Tyr to his bed to prevent him from getting lost or stolen again. Can't you just feel the love? Over this time Starkadder would dissappear for days or weeks at a time & eventually return hauling the carcas of a slain deer or the like back to the village.
At last June arrives & as the party prepares the sexring (that's the boat you bloody twits) for the journey north, the wandering Sami prepares for the journey by making a spirit journey to ask about the voyage. He enters his laavvu (tent) and starts a ritual sweat and drumming. Journeying forth he has his guide take him to the spirit of the Dolphin and he seeks his guidance: To the question what is the journey? like he gets a nice reply about how there are lots of fish, calm waves & an ambiguous answer that relates more to the dolphin perspective than to the human one. To the question about are there any raiders (with the quick caveat of human or otherwise) on the sea he gets another ambiguous answer about there's killer whales, & longships, some that have already left & there's usually a lot more later on in the summer. I mean will a dolphin know what the purpose in mind of someone who is on board a ship?
The party sails north for a 3 hour tour - OOPS I mean a 3 day journey. Tyr handled the tiller, Arvarodd skippered the vessel, Siv was his "Little Buddy", while the rest of the group handled lines as necessary. Each night the would beach the craft and build camp. Tyr would be chained to the mast so he wouldn't get lost or stolen in the night. When Arvarodd attempted to darken Skolmr's eyes with charcoal while he was asleep, Skolmr waited in ambush & threw him overboard. YAY! After 3 days they reached Oslo & pulled their boat on the shore next to a large & magnificent longship. The owner of the longship made some sotte-voce derogatory comments about their boat and a flyting contest soon ensued. The entire group engaged in trading insults until Skolmr capped it all with such an insult that he caused the opposing warlord to go apoplectic and keel over dead in the finest Nordic Insult tradition.
As they journey inland the group overhears rumors of doom, & intrigues. Hmm what awaits them at the Thingr?
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