The ongoing playtest of Bodil’s Gap continues! In part four the party raided the cramped and waterlogged warren of the monstrous crabs that destroyed the ship of their kinsmen, and recovered both its sail and figurehead from the warren's depths—at the cost of a grave injury to their steersman, Froda. Now they must deliver their prizes and return home with their cousins' newly constructed replacement ship in tow in time for the raid against Kettil Sea-Strider, killer of their clan's Þejn.
The Cast
Ingvild Scoreslayer, Dýrsark - Ingvild is an old and bitter warrior, cunning but prone to the rage of a berserker. He was brother-in-law to the murdered Þejn, Arnolf, and was once a close advisor to the Laxbrynjung clan's leadership. However, he has since had a falling out with the new Þejn, Trond—Arnolf's younger brother—over the execution of Arnolf's will.
Mundr Ivaldisson, Óttimaðr - Mundr is a promising but untested young man endowed with the strength of giants by a mysterious incident during his travels abroad. A Laxbrynjung by birth, Mundr is the only child of the late Ivaldi, the youngest of Arnolf's brothers. Since Arnolf's death, he has ingratiated himself to his uncle Trond in an effort to keep the family from splitting apart.
Ylva Blood-Cup, Seiðkona - Ylva is a sorceress endowed with the power to see and speak with spirits, and uses her magic to curse her enemies with great misfortune. Though dwelling apart from the clan in the woods, Ylva is an ally of the Laxbrynjungs, having been a close friend and confidant of Arnolf's murderd heir, Steinar.
Hrafn, Skald - Hrafn is a travelling merchant and irregular trading partner of the Laxbrynjung clan. Left with neither trade goods nor coin by an accident on the road that destroyed his cart and belongings, Hrafn was saved by a chance encounter with a single drop of the Mead of Poetry. Now endowed with the magic of galdr-song, he must find a way to recover his fortunes.
The Game
Returning from the nárikrabbir's mound, Ingvild, Mundr, and Ylva must first recover their shore party from the beach, where the shield-maiden Valdis commanded the defenders and used Ylva's cursed cup of overflowing whale's blood to draw the crabs away from their nest. The party have to pilot their rowboats through waters being churned to a froth by sharks drawn to the battle's bloodshed, but on the shore they find Valdis and her men alive and well despite their injuries. In a celebratory mood, the PCs collect their kin and prepare to row back to Askarfjord to return the sail and figurehead recovered from the mound to Valdis' mother, the local chieftain and sister-in-law to their self-declared new Þejn, Trond.
Meanwhile back in Askarfjord, Hrafn the travelling merchant stumbles into the local fields bereft of his cart, his goods, and his wealth after trekking through the woods for weeks. His possessions lost when a storm washed out his road and sent his cart careening off a cliff onto some rocks, Hrafn finds himself in need of a new fortune if a merchant he wishes to remain.
Fortunately, some of the local children are able to guide him to Skadi Battle-Brand, the chieftain of Askarfjord, who offers him hospitality—but only for a few days. When her nephew finishes constructing their replacement ship, most of the Askarfjorders will be sailing for Ymafjord to join the raid that will avenge the murder of Þejn Arnolf and his son, and Hrafn will have to move on. Recognizing an opportunity to find renewed fame and fortune, Hrafn settles in to wait for the returning Laxbrynjung contingent, so that he can offer his services and hopefully get in on the raid himself.
In short order, Ingvild, Mundr, and Ylva return to Askarfjord, and upon their arrival must answer the crew of their ship as to why Froda is not among them. Faced with a crisis of confidence in his leadership, Mundr must explain Froda's injuries and the intervention of the selkie they encountered, and can only relay her promise that Froda will be returned home when his wound has healed. Despite Mundr's speech some suspicion still lingers among the crew, but the imposing presence of his uncle Ingvild at least prevents it from turning into anything more.
Still, despite the ambiguity of Froda's fate, the monstrous crabs plaguing the local waters have been almost wiped out, the sail and figurehead have been recovered, and the warriors have returned alive from battle—all causes for revelry. While Skadi's nephew and his carpenters go to work finishing their longship, everyone else begins preparing to throw a feast in the evening, to celebrate before tomorrow's departure. The fighters, meanwhile, avail themselves of a luxurious bath in an artificial pond warmed by hot stones.
Ylva helps the carpenters with their work, applying tar to the underside of the ship as it rests in the water to allow the boards to swell tight, and advising them what kind of offering to leave under the figurehead when they mount it in its socket.
Meanwhile, Mundr speaks with his cousin Valdis as both cleanse themselves of crab blood, and learns that her mother Skadi doesn't actually have as good an opinion of her brother-in-law Trond as Trond might hope She and her kin will sail to Ymafjord for the sake of Skadi's sister—Trond's wife Þruðr—but the family loyalty doesn't extend much beyond that. Mundr is pleased to hear that Trond's expected allies are not about to help him rule with an iron fist, but fears that his family is continuing to fracture and split apart.
Lastly, Hrafn finds himself drinking with Ingvild and Skadi, and makes his introduction to the grizzled warrior, as well as his offer to join the raid. Little is decided as the descend deeper and deeper into their cups, and come morning Hrafn finds himself waking bleary-eye in Skadi's bed, while Ingvild appears to have slept on the beach. Slipping away before the chieftain wakes, Hrafn makes his escape.
Gathering in the morning for their departure, the Laxbrynjungs and their allies are pleased to launch their ship alongside the new ship of the Askarfjorders, commanded by Skadi and her kin. Sailing home to Ymafjord, all is well—until what can only be the very last of the nárikrabbir in local waters begin tearing the strakes of their ship apart and swarming into the deck.
The crabs are few but vicious, and their tearing pincers are a threat not only to the PCs and their crew, but to the ship itself. Battle is swiftly joined while members of the crew attempt to prevent more crabs from entering the ship, get a patch into the existing hole, and bail water from the hold to prevent everyone from sinking to a briney grave.
Mundr and Ingvild both lay about with their weapons, cracking through crab shells with somewhat greater ease than previously. Hrafn demonstrates his worth by lacing his voice with the magic of galdr and commanding several crabs to leap off the ship. Ylva, meanwhile, fresh from mastering a new form of her seiðr, works a spell of transformation and deprives one of the beasts of its pincers by turning its body into that of a pig. Everyone on board is horrified when the newly-made chimera scuttles away on its clattering crab legs, squealing piggy squeals the whole way.
Ultimately the creatures are defeated, but the ship must be beached for repairs, delaying the trip home by an extra day. When the PCs and the Askarfjorders finally arrive back in Ymafjord, it is to discover two unwelcome truths:
First, though it is now three days since they entrusted him to the selkie's care, Froda has not yet returned.
And second, because of their delays, they have arrived right on the eve of the raid. There is no longer any time to prepare or to or negate Trond's influence in favour of Arnolf's son Rurik. In a few short hours, everyone assembled must set sail again, and bring their revenge down on Kettil Sea-Strider.
Behind the Scenes
Most of this session was downtime for the PCs, and offered a few new opportunities. Having reached a good in-between spot in which to introduce a new PC, we were able to bring in a fourth player who had been waiting in the wings. This also provided the first opportunity of the campaign to Carouse, which perfectly suited the party's new Skald.
After a fair bit of roleplaying without much action, the trip home turned out to be far more exciting than I had planned for. Scoring a partial success on the roll to Ride the Whale Road, the players chose to be ambushed by an encounter—and then rolled yet more crabs on the random encounter table.
The last battle against the things was a fitting end for this mini-arc, and with it concluded, we now move into the crux of the campaign: finding revenge for the murder of the party's friend and kinsman. Next time, they'll cross the sea to the northern shore where Kettil Sea-Strider is said to lurk, and prepare to hunt down their foe.
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