Catching up, Running Away, & Lucky Rolls

 News

Sorry that it's been a while since I blogged, but my account had "issues" that now seem to be resolved - crossing fingers. Plus I was gone for nigh 3 weeks with VA hospital stuff (small surgeries went well & they probably won't do the big one), visiting friends, going to Enfilade, & escaping the abuse at home.

YAY with the aid of Daryl (Painting & Rules), William & John (Terrain), the Kalvan of Otherwhen game went wonderfully & we won "Best of Show- period 3" at Enfilade!  WOOT! My Polemos Mythic Armies game went very well other than my beautiful Red Dragon getting rocked to sleep by stones from 4 Frost Giants.

The new "Blackpowder - Pike & Shotte" rules from Warlord Games came out & I've heard lots of complements regarding my maps that were used. I'm rather proud of them myself & I've been asked for more cartographic help for their next book! Plus I also finished another 10 maps for GHQ & their reprint of Microsquad and was asked to do the maps for the reissue of Microarmour.

SAGA from Gripping Beast is a really great game & my latest gaming focus. I'm almost done with a 6 point  Viking Army & then will do an Anglo-Saxon army (with an Uthred of course! - YAY Bernard Cornwell & his Saxon Shores series of books). So let me encourage all of you to take a look at this Dark Ages Skirmish game with some really innovative mechanisms. Daryl & I played two games & both resolved in less than an hour even just learning the rules. Fast but with a lot of depth. Heck Kevin could even inveigle me to paint an army for him if he'd play.

Also from the same Designers comes "Musket & Tomahawk" for those into the "Last of the Mohicans" and uses some similar design motifs.

Well the Catch-up.

After regrouping & recouping at Skaldby the party decided to help Skolmr fufill his family quest & set sail across the Baltic & journey to Permia. They play tag with a large warship that appears to follow them & hide up a river. A nervous night is spent when they see the ship pull to shore near them & they hear wolves howling in the distance. The stress ruins everyone's sleep & due to fatigue & misfortune by Tyr they manage to twist the boat & jam it crosswise in the river. Fortunately Tyr falls in the river. With much grunting & groaning they clear the jam & the ship floats out into the bay leaving Siv stranded on it. Skolmr, Tyr, Mar, & Arvarodd try to swim for the boat but nearly drown. Just then the large black warship appears at the mouth of the bay - more panic ensues, then an embarrassed hush as the warship sails blithely along taking no notice of them. HeHe! I'm so evil.

Eventually they recover the boat & set sail across the Baltic toward what is now St Petersburg but then was just a miserable little trading post. As they reach the coast of Finland the exhausted sailors camp on the shore where they make friends with Perun, a wandering Sami hunter & shaman (also known as John who will now join our group). Perun has wild red hair & an even wilder history that will reveal itself at inconvenient times. At last they reach the Trading Post and engage an older man to guide them to Permia - far inland to the Northeast. While waiting Mar gets involved working with some Warriors who are planning an expedition to Kiev to conquer & start a new settlement a new settlement there. They are lead by a big red haired man (another one) named Rhus!

No roads lead across the mosquito infested marshes & bogs of the wilderness so the party trusts to their guide to lead them through the maze of groves, islands, lakes, swamps, & morasses. One night they set up camp near a small island that appears to have large standing figures of wood on it.

Running Away Oops I mean Tactical Retreat

The party wanders out to the island that is surrounded by ancient worn wooden figures that are almost unrecognizable. In the center lies an obvious sacrificial stone altar at the base of a 20 foot tall pillar of four faces - each face has a different deity carved into it. One face is a bold looking fellow with a hammer & lightning bolts, another a very fecund woman with grain sheaves, another a very phallic male and lastly a dark & grim foreboding looking man. Tyr decides his best bet is to offend the most dangerous looking deity. Instantly the party panics into action. Most fleeing, but Arvarodd tries to appease the Gods by words. When Words don't work he thinks he can appease the Gods by hacking the penis off the ipyphallic God-figure & using it as a club. When that doesn't cheer up the Gods he decides to calm the situation by plunging his sword into the altar stone (don't ask me why he chose to do that he just did) & there it stuck rather like another legend that will take place in a few years on an island to the west of here, LOL) The ground begins to shake and in the distance a hut on stilts appears to be approaching them. The group decides to get gone from here now that they've stirred the hornets but Arvarodd stays to guard the rear & prevent the attack of a dark hulking (he swears it was a giant - add 10 feet & it might be a small one) figure bearing a flaming club. Suddenly a thick fog blankets everything & everyone - no-one can see any one else. The panic thickens like the fog. Everyone is lost as Arvarodd battles the (ahem) giant & manages to just barely pull his sword from the stone. (A damn 1% chance but he manages to do it - the miserable Sassenauk). Between his dickhead club & his sword & a clumsy move on the part of the (ahem) giant that breaks the large statue in half Arvarodd is triumphant. Meanwhile everyone else is lost and hearing voices of their loved ones in the fog. Some are fooled & some are not. Tyr manages for the first time to rescue his wife by pulling on the chain that she drags him around by. Skolmr falls into the trap of a Leshy -water spirit & nearly drowns. Siv falls off her horse & lands on her butt that knocks some sense into her head. Perun blunders lost until he finds a friendly tree that picks him up & rescues him & helps him conjure a warm southerly wind that will eventually disperse the fog. After much struggle Siv manages with an assist by Arvarodd to rescue Skolmr.

Lucky Rolls
The next morning they notice that the guide is gone & one of the apprentices they had brought along is floating dead in a pool - obviously lost to a Leshy. Of the guide no sign (nor of his horse) is ever found. The party blunders on until they come across a very large party (5 score) of local hunters & merchants holding two chained giantesses near a ferry crossing a river that flows north (that's a clue boys & girls). They are very lovely & about 20 feet tall & chained to large mill stones & 20 men each hold them down with cruel chains. When the part y approaches the ferry & tries to get past the group they are belligerently told to wait. Arvarodd decides to challenge the leader! Cool, Lucky Pierre Oops I mean Lucky Arvarodd decapitates the fellow in one shot. (Heavy & long sigh - there goes another dramatic situation with out even a speed bump). The followers shoot arrows & attack the Party. Arvarodd takes several arrows to the leg & falls. Eventually luck favors the party & Perun manages to hit several of the guards holding the Giantesses who then manage to free themselves & assist in the slaughter of their former captors. Fortune favors them & all are rescued & the local Wends driven off. Before disappearing into the river, the two sisters take their grindstones & give council and promises of aid to the party that helped free them. What will the future bring?

Two long trips home

The party starts packing up for the return trip to Skaldby from the Haugrthing. Arvarodd buys a cart & pony to carry all their new possessions including Mars blacksmithing supplies, Tyrs wifes' dowry, and other assorted goods. Mar gives Tyr a spindly pony (the period equivalent of a KIA) as wedding gift so his bride may ride in Viking-Socker-Mom style. AS they are packing up a friendly skald approaches Skolmr and warns him of a rumor that the Gangermeinn intend to erect Nidthing poles (curse poles) somewhere hidden in the area. Ulfar enlists Skolmr's aid in finding a potential spouse and with luck two candidates are located. The challenge is that Ulfar has no great heroic name yet despite being acknowledged nor has he the means to pay a bride-price.  Alas though the two women have moderate dowries they are much to plain for Ulfar's taste.

They complete the first part of their journey back the boat & face a quandry. They need a bigger boat than the glorified rowboat that they own. So Arvarodd, Siv, Tyr & his wife, & the handful of retainers will go back by the faster boat while Skolmr will lead Ulfar and Mar back by land with the horse, both ponies, & the cart.

The first day out of Oslo along the trail is quiet and the trio spend a very relaxing evening at a friendly hearthstead. Skolmr learns some history of this unpretentious pile of rocks. After a nice rest, they party up with others traveling south & midday into their travels are passed by some toughs on horses traveling fast. By good fortune blesses Skolmr and he recognizes them as part of the Gangermeinn contingent. Expecting trouble the party barely manages to spot a clever ambush. Skolmr alerts the caravan of travellers and Mar & Ulfar in the nick of time. At his command he creates a lager to block the road & rides forth to parlay. When he demands for the "Bandits" to send forth their envoys - he receives 5 of them, and he parries all but two of them. With the aid of brave Mar he retreats back to the lager of wagons. Ulfar attempts to sneak around behind the ambush & runs into a pair of guards who he handily defeats. While closing in behind the ambushers he in turn is attacked from behind by a large wolf who bites his head near off. Ulfar rolls down the hill and falls on the road. Skolmr courageously rescues his unconscious body and after more arrows a standoff develops and as the day dims the ambushers retreat leaving the party on the road to make camp.

The next 3 days are marked by slow progress and a large wolf paralleling the travelers. A days journey north of Skaldby the party camps at the old burned out village and their Ulfar is overtaken by strange dreams. He has visions of flying at a great height and looking down across forests and cold swampy plains towards a large gold encrusted temple. As he approaches terrifying pale white hands reach up out of the ground and grasp toward him. He is not the only one to suffer visions though; as the next day, Mar stumbles and falls. While unconscious he flashes on large women striding across the landscape. Finally they reach home to find the boat still hasn't returned and a swift raid by horsemen has hit Skaldby! Plus a curse has been carved into the door of the main hall which they set about replacing & preparing to reconsecrate.

Meanwhile the boat party has hit a bit of a snag on their second day of travel. The Gods of chance have snitted Siv and a whale surfaces underneath the boat. Tyr attempts to hold onto the rudder but the boat is thrown sideways and everyone save Siv is thrown overboard. The mast breaks & sweeps Tyr over the side. Tyr is caught between the whale & the boat and knocked around a bit which probably leads to his silly decision to swim the long way around to the other side to find his wife rather than climbing on back on board & throwing a line to her. Siv being much more practical rights the boat & flings lines out to Arvarodd & the other people. Finally a desperate drowning Tyr is hauled out of the water by his own wife who had swam back to the boat immediately & had been waiting for him to get his head together. Siv manages to guide Tyr into patching the leaking and mastless boat & she steers it back to a lonesome beach where they will spend the next 6 days making repairs and re-stepping a jury mast. The unconcious Arvarodd is kept warm while Siv assumes command. While hunting Siv comes across a lonely farmstead and receives grave council and glimpses of the future. At last they are able to complete their journey home.

The first order of business after re-uniting the friends is to reconsecrate the hall to Odhinn. A sickly and blind old man even offers to give up his life in sacrifice. (All due to some incredibly lucky rolls Damn-it!, thus derailing a whole plot line I had prepared, LOL!)

The nights business done most everyone departed while Kevin (Skolmr) & Larry (Tyr) helped me with an experiment in the Mythic Russia variant of HeroQuest2. They wrote their 100 word description and we converted them to character sheets. Thanks guys. I've gotten them typed up now.

Strange Thing! or how to make a GM cry!

Saturdays adventure was almost rained out. Gale Force winds, power outages, Flooding rivers bursting their banks were braved by me to drive the 40+ miles down to host the game.

After refreshing the players memories about previous events the party was ready to face judgment & drama at the Haugrthing (Hold your horses right there! The Althing is the one in Iceland) in Vestfold. Two major murder trials, two inheritance issues, land rights all involving members of the party were on the docket. It was a promising start; Starkaddr (the npc who was befriended by the party & has linked them to all sorts of enemies now) was antagonizing pretty much everyone at the Thing. In an effort to win friends & influence people, Arvarodd decides to emulate Starkaddr's charm & endearing qualities by insulting the Gangrmann tribe by having a drinking contest instead of a weregeld or a trial. Fortunately Skolmr the Bard intercedes before things get really ugly. In a quest worthy of "Sex & the City" Mar goes shopping - admittedly for things a bit sturdier than any of those New Yorkers would consider attractive, but they'll work just fine at his forge.

In epic negotiations Skolmr works with the Skald representing Jarl Jaugr enemy of Tyrwald (the slain Hersir of Skaldby - uncle of Arvarodd, father of the Ulfar, foster-father of Siv etc). Jaugr is reminded that the quarrel was with Tyrwald who is now most horridly dead & not Arvarodd. He brokers a deal where the cursed amulet is given as weregeld to an unwitting Jaugr, who in return sends some excess tradesmen and population to Skaldby to resettle there & rebuild the village. He also sends along some cattle, goats, sheep, etc to aid the process. Along with the cattle a wife is found for Tyr the shipwright who is warned to keep him chained up at night. She's a regular Iron-Range type woman as broad as she is fair (those from Minnesota will get that one) & she can pick up Tyr one handed. During the course of the Haugrthing she will repeated deliver a cuff to the back of Tyr's head to keep him in line. This crisis has been settled to everyone's benefit.

Next Ulfar steps forward & claims his rights at Tyrwald's son. Mar stands as witness and likewise does Tyr after an impassioned speech! There is almost trouble when Ulfar claims the right of Hersir by inheritance, but no one stands for him. The party stands for Arvarodd & the very popular Siv as Hersir & Fro. Jaugr wanting to keep stability and the deal also speaks for Arvarodd. The Law council sides for Arvarodd who then as a compromise makes Ulfar his heir if he falls suddenly until his replacement can be settled by acclamation. This suits everyone just fine and leaves just one final crisis to be dealt with...

The trial of Starkaddr! The Gangrmann accuse Starkaddr and the party of "Secret Killing" - that is Murder. Arvarodd and Skolmr ackowledge that some Gangrmann were slain and witnesses from other villages are called forth to testify that Skolmr, Arvarodd, & Siv had publicly announced the killings and thus they were not secret and the party can not be charged with murder. Starkaddr, indifferently acknowledges that he killed the Gangrmann Godhi some 40 years before though he looks but in his early twenties. The Gangrmann claim foul magic and demand a huge sum of weregeld for their fallen kinsman that would ruin Skaldby. Finally after much back and forth, impassioned speeches (especially by Tyr who is repeatedly cuffed in the back of his head by his new bride) the Lawspeaker agrees to arbitrate by judicial duel. Though Starkaddr and his foe select the highly ritual Holmgang, Arvarodd elects for an all out, no holds barred Einvigi (as opposed to Ein Veggie - which is part of a well balanced diet). Starkaddrs duel is prolonged with much blood spilled on both sides. When his foes is finally knocked down unconscious, his kinsmen quickly cover him with blankets & scurry him off to "recover". To preserve the peace Starkaddr will still be sentenced to a 3 year banishment. Next come the duel to first blood between Arvarodd and a Gangrmann. Due to amazingly lucky rolls by Nate (Arvarodd), the clever application of a hero point, & amazingly bad rolls by me, the duel is quickly over with the Gangrmann thrown to the ground. This was truly disappointing to me as I had hoped for a nice protracted battle. Arvarodd quickly takes the magic dog-collar & puts it around the Gangrmann's throat, who then of course turns into a wolf. Surprise surprise! Since the dark magic nature of the Gangrmann is now revealed in full court, other interested tribes with longstanding feuds against them are quick to anger. The Gangrmann call foul & try to blame the change on Arvarodd & call him an evil wizard full of dark magics. Arvarodd releases his opponent & puts the collar on another (Ulfar) who does not change which then gives the judicial victory to the party but earns him the undying enmity of the Gangrmann. Such fun to come from this! Because of the weather we called it an early night and headed for snug, warm beds.

Gamestorm 14 Report - a journey to sort of civilization

Let's skip all the VA hospital nonsense & get to the fun stuff:
First of all let me commend the Game Matrix as a wonderful well supplied gaming store & haven. I make sure I frequent it on every northern trip I make. Also let me tell you about a new store I visited - the Dtwenty Games Diner. If you are heading up toward Seattle I recommend you visit there. The food is excellent & the ambiance is probably the best gaming store I've seen. The merchandise is not the largest or most diverse yet, but it attractively displayed in wooden cases & is kept neat as a pin. The selection is centered around Pathfinder, D&D, Steve Jackson games, & other board games, but they do have other games as well. The gaming tables are fine wood that would grace a very "Tone" dining room. The lighting is conducive to a relaxed game atmosphere. You can order a full meal - in my case it was chicken fried steak that was lean & the sauce was not doughy. the vegetables were crisp & tasty. It was brought right to our gaming table. They have a good beer selection & the deserts were ever so tempting. Full marks for this store.

Gamestorm 14 is what most gamers in my area would look for in a convention. A wide variety of panels for those so inclined. A whole floor of CCG's. The RPG's took up several rooms. There were a couple of LAN rooms, a sizable dealer room, 4 large board game rooms, a hospitality center, an Indie game room, LARPS out the ying-yang, & of course my favorite: a miniatures gaming room with a dozen or so tables. The miniatures was first being added this year & it will grow over time. I was only there for 3 out of the 4 days but it was jammed through. Played in a couple Savage Worlds games, a Never-When demo, etc. for RPG's. Attended several good panels including one with the insightful & very knowledgable Anthony Pryer about "How many versions does D&D need" where the history & politics of the D&D versions were discussed along with current complaints, strategies, & plans by WOTC. After asking Anthony a question he chagrined me slightly by pointing out that I've been a gamer since 2 years before he was born. Heavy SIGH!

The bloodbath of Reds I left behind!

My first miniatures game I played in was a scenario from the Russian Civil War. Daryl played the Red Communist forces & I played a force of White Russians aided by Chinese coolies & troops, plus two squads of Yanks. My job was to take my odd collection of forces & guard the roadway (on the left side) so that the two carts could make it to the flat car, load up & make it off the board again. I was out-numbered. Oddly enough my Grandfather served in the American Expeditionary force to Russia after the end of WW1. I think he must have been present & manipulating the dice because I absolutely ate my opponent alive. I couldn't seem to fail most of the time. One hill towards the center earned the name "Red Hill" because of all the Red Communists dying there. His troops almost made it onto the flat car before the last of them died. My tactics were to focus on one unit at a time when possible & pour as much fire into it as I could until it was rendered ineffective. Then I would move onto the next unit. The rules were Triumph & Tragedy & the game was hosted by Frank Durovchic. He will run a similar game at Enfilade.

After massacring the "Commies" during the morning & early afternoon. Daryl & I set up our test "Kalvan of Otherwhen" game & debuted the upcoming Blackpoder Pike & Shotte rules from Warlord Games.

Kalvan of Otherwhen - the initial setup!

Since many people at the Gamestorm convention have not attended an Enfilade convention they were not used to the high standards of terrain one so often sees at Enfilade. With what would have been nice average for Enfilade, we wowed them! They were blown away by the miniatures as well. If I may humbly say so, Daryl & I did a good job painting them.

Prince Ptosthes encourages his troops forward!

Sadly I played on the Nostori side (Boo-Hiss! - they're the bad guys in the book) Frank joined us for the game along with several other gamers. The Hostigi troops did rather well on the infantry side & managed through good tactics (& the Nostori bad luck rolls by one of my co-commanders) to limit the advance on the Nostori right & center. However the Hostigi peasants did run & hide in the pigpen.

Yes these are period correct pigs!

On my side of the table a great cavalry battle developed supported by my dismounted dragoons. Admittedly my heavy Curassiers (the toughest troops on the field supposedly) screamed like little girls after a blunder roll & ran back & hid on the edge of the table. It culminated in a furious 54 figure brawl that left both sides mauled from a bloody mixed up fray!

What a fluster-cluck!

 My limited force held for the longest time before finally dissolving & my dragoon infantry were there to shoot up the Hostigi survivors. However back amongst the infantry things had heated up. The Nostori guard in their black uniforms managed to split the Hostigi line & create a wedge. That hole kept widening & widening until the Hostigi were forced to concede the field. A mixed emotion for me because I favored the Hostigi side because of the book, but was playing the Nostori bad-guys.

I hope all of this encourages you to attend next year!

All that are lost are not wandering!

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?

Faces from the past

As the Party begins to clear up the village they remembered to build a pyre for the bodies & make the sacraments to give them a proper send off to Valhol or Hella's realm as befits their final choice. They decide that they will head back to their home village & do the same since they had no luck finding survivors. Arvarodd announces to Tyr that Odhinn had sent him a vision that if Tyr will gain the gift of prophetic vision if he cuts out his tongue. Larry (Tyr) decides not to take up Nate's suggestion. Tyr discovers the corpse of his promised spiked upon a half burnt beam in a building & goes into grieving, curled before the pyre & weeping (properly played Larry!)

However during the nightly watch, the camp guard falls asleep & they wake to find Tyr missing. After some major hemming & hawing along one side of the table, ahem, a search is made for Tyr by Ulfar. After diligent searching they find Tyr tied to a tree overhanging a pond in front of a waterfall. Ulfar has difficulty trying to rescue Tyr so Siv, Arvarodd, & Skolmar elect to give him a hand. As they drop Tyr from the tree the Draugr leaps out from his hiding place behind the waterfall. The monster's warlike bellow is heard all the way back in the village and Starkaddr & Mar race to the scene passing a frightened Tyr heading in the opposite direction. The fighters torches have no effect as the fiend is in the water. Skolmar is knocked silly as he tries to catch the unconcious & flying Siv who the monster has flung at him. Arvarodd & Ulfar gamely tackle this monster as shortly Starkaddr & Mar show on the scene. Recovering his "senses" & "courage" upon returning to the village Tyr decides to invoke the power of Surtr into the campfire to burn the Draugr so that it can't reheal. - Well it almost was a good idea, because Surtr grants what he asked for but not what he desires. A flame leaps up from the campfire & sets the woods alight. The Fire burns a 100 meter swath that races towards the draugr & the party members who are fighting it. Hmmm. Just in time they slay the monster & they race to hide in the cave behind the waterfall!

Safe from the fire & draugr at last Arvarodd decides to reward Tyr by erecting an upright pole in the cart and tying him naked to it with all their reclaimed goods. A pair of shocked & somewhat drunken beer-merchants pass by this sight & make mistaken offerings to Freyr in their stupor.

Upon returning to their home village they honor & bury their friends & relatives. Then they start to minimally rebuild their village & finally decide to free Tyr. As they work a half dozen hunters approach the town in a friendly manner until they spot Starkaddr where upon they become angry & demand that he be turned over to them to be tried for murder. They claim that Starkaddr had murdered the leaders grandfather some 30 years ago, which strikes Skolmar as odd because Starkaddr apparently looks in his early 20's. As things get heated, demands are made that the party must bring Starkaddr to the Thing or else be charged with aiding a murderer. Larry decides to storm off & throw curses at the strangers which serves to inflame things into open combat. In the ensuing brawl & chase the party manages to kill all but two of the strangers. Their tracks can't be covered so the party decides that the next installment will start by them sending messengers to towns North & South announcing the killings so that they can't be accused of "Secret Killing" which is how the Vikings defined murder as opposed to homicide.

Today's my Birthday

Not only did I treat myself to a nice walk along the coast from Cape Ferrelo to Arch Rock & back but I've been listening to music. Here's some You tubes of some to share. Please crank the volume so you can hear these soft, subtle pastoral pieces. They also fit the current Viking campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaP1wDvkA6E&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgXlUxDGFvU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn1ct1xomoY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpiFmZLICgM&feature=related

 I also treated myself to ordering online a SAGA Warband as a present to myself. Hopefully someone down at the shop will also get interested in the ruleset. And yes it was the Viking Warband I got!

Skol,

Sven