The ongoing playtest of Bodil’s Gap continues! In part fifteen the party got into a fight in the Songheim harbour and worked some sorcery to craft Hrafn's cloak of concealment. Now Hrafn prepares to visit the Hall of Riddles, the great school of skaldic learning on an island in Songheim's bay, where rumour has it the Grandmaster is hosting an unusual guest with some much sought after news...
The Cast
Ingvild Scoreslayer, Dýrsark - Ingvild is an old and bitter warrior, cunning but prone to the rage of a berserker. Having fallen in combat with the ancient ghost of a long-dead giant, Ingvild now lives only by the grace of his bargain with that giant's spectral kin, and his soul bears the giant's mark as evidence of the deal they struck.
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.
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 blessed by a drop of the Mead of Poetry. Left with neither trade goods nor coin by an accident on the road that destroyed his cart and belongings, Hrafn has joined the Laxbrynjung raiders to avenge their Þejn and enrich himself.
The Game
With the party's other business concluded for the moment, Mundr expresses his desire to visit the Hall of Riddles on the isle of Vískenna, where the skalds of the college have memorized vast troves of ancient lore. Mundr's hope is that if anyone can help him better understand his condition and the power of the giants, they can be found there.
Hearing his plan, Hrafn immediately proposes to go with him, urging Mundr to forge bravely ahead while Hrafn follows along—wrapped up in his enchanted cloak of concealment. Hrafn has his own motives for visiting the Hall of Riddles, it seems, which he has not shared with the rest of the party.
The truth of the matter is that Hrafn has a mystery to investigate. On their first night in Songheim, when the others were about their own business, Hrafn went carousing. During the night he fell in with two fellow skalds, who introduced themselves as veterans from the Hall of Riddles. Over the course of the night the two plied Hrafn with drinks—and then tried to catch him in a geas when his wits were at their most befuddled. Even in his drunken state Hrafn was not to be tricked, however, and managed to avoid their verbal snare and slip away—only to slink back through the crowd and eavesdrop on his two former drinking partners.
While keeping out of sight, Hrafn was able to hear the two speaking about the task they had tried to bind him into performing, learning that they wished to spy on the Grandmaster of their very own school, who has been closeted in private discussions with a guest who arrived bearing a message from someone named Tuve—and that the two had been paid by someone to find out what the Grandmaster and his guest were speaking about.
Though he avoided the entanglement, Hrafn's curiosity is aroused, and Mundr's visit gives him the perfect opportunity to snoop around. On the short boat trip over to the isle, he cautions Mundr to not verbally agree to anything nor answer any riddles posed to him, much to Mundr's confusion, and then follows along silently in the shadow of his larger companion when their rowboat arrives.
Climbing out of their boat, the two find themselves before the ornately carved and gilded hall, with skaldic students dotting the grounds practicing their lessons or speaking with one another. Marching to the door with Hrafn trailing along behind, Mundr pushes open the portals and steps inside—only to immediately be confronted with two students, one of whom rounds on him as he enters and belts out a riddle without provocation.
"I am horse of iron with a tail of flax; the faster I run, the shorter my tail grows."
Mundr is taken aback but rallies himself, and manages to respond that the answer is a needle and thread, despite Hrafn's warning. The two students are satisfied with his answer, however, and welcome him to the Hall, inviting him to accompany them to dinner and asking what the reason for his visit is. On the way Mundr describes his wish to hear tales of those who have been touched by the giants, and the students suggest that their master, is a veteran skald, is likely to know more.
As Mundr is led off to the dining hall, Hrafn takes advantage of his cloak to sneak off, hiding in plain sight and avoiding notice while seeking out the Grandmaster's chambers by following in others' shadows. Eventually he finds a servant bringing the Grandmaster his dinner, and is able to follow him to his destination and slip in the door behind him.
Inside he finds the Grandmaster sitting before a fire with a thrush perched on a small stand next to him, listening intently to as it speaks to him—it seems that the Grandmaster's guest is not a human being but a bird!
With man and bird concentrated on their conversation, Hrafn is able to sneak closer and overhear their words, his own knowledge of the skald's arts sufficient to allow him to understand the language of animals as the Grandmaster does. Listening in on their conversation, he learns that the thrush is growing impatient and wishes to return to his mistress Tuve with the Grandmaster's response to his news—the Alþing is only a month away, after all, and Tuve wishes to know how the Grandmaster intents to act when Otso the Diver attends and makes his demand.
Though Hrafn does not know of anyone named of Otso the Diver in particular, he does recognize the name Otso—it is no Bodvi name, but a trollish one. A troll, it seems, will be attending the national assembly of the Gap, and making some kind of demand. Satisfied, he goes to draw back and begins investigating the Grandmaster's library of books, which are rare in the Gap—and then the thrush notices him, its attention drawn by the rustling of pages and cracking of spines.
The Grandmaster leaps to this feet, alerted by the thrush, and Hrafn takes the opportunity to snatch some books and slip under a table, hidden from sight once more. As he hides, however, the Grandmaster gestures, and his harp sounds from its stand in the corner, ringing out as though it were in his hands. The Grandmaster begins reciting the words of a saga of wrathful storms, and a wind fills the chamber, threatening to tear Hrafn's cloak from him and reveal him.
At risk of being found out, Hrafn runs for the window, but his cloak is snagged as he dives out, and he tumbles onto the grass below in plain view. Quickly he wraps his pilfered books in the garment and flees for the water, even as lightning strikes behind him, conjured by the Grandmaster's galdr as he shouts from his window.
Hrafn's escape is soaked and uncomfortable, forced as he is to swim back to the mainland through the cold waters of Songheim's bay. Meanwhile, Mundr enjoys his dinner and listens to the tale of a giant-touched hero of the south, who escaped from slavery in a giant's hall became a great chieftain in his tribe. Comforted by this tale of an óttimaðr who used his power for the betterment of his people, Mundr departs in peace and rows back dry and warm.
Returning to their comrades, Hrafn shares what he learned while Mundr merely contemplates. While the news about Otso the Diver is interesting, the Alþing is still a month away. Though the party is considering attending and will need to prepare for the presence of trolls when they do, more pressing matters distract them from such concerns in the present. It is nearly time to go after Kettil Sea-Strider, after all.
Before setting out, however, the party wishes to secure the services of a second mercenary company. Already the Jarl's son and his men have agreed to sail with them; now they wish to hire on Harun al-Azraq and his corsairs to their cause. The only issue is that they cannot afford to do so.
Instead, when they sit down with Harun the next day, it is with the exchange of a favour that they seek to sway him—surely there must be something that he needs help with that would be worth his assistance in their raid. As it transpires, there is.
Harun recounts how he and his men arrived in Bodil's Gap in the employ of a merchant who had hired them back in their own lands. They protected him and his ship on the voyage back to Bodil's Gap, and had been promised continued employment once they arrived. Except when they arrived, the merchant broke his contract with them and refused to pay them, leaving them short of coin and without work in a foreign land—it was for that reason that his band is currently available for hire to begin with.
Harun's teeth are bared when he explains that if a merchant dared such a thing back in his homeland, his corsairs would have made an example of the man. Here, however, they are foreigners who mostly do not speak the local language, and he thinks it ill-advised to take such retribution when he cannot be certain of the law's protection or the response of the city's rulers. If some locals took vengeance on his behalf, however, he would certainly be indebted to them.
The party is more than happy to make an example of an oathbreaker and swindler, and agree to teach the man a lesson on Harun's behalf. Investigating, they learn that the merchant—a man named Eirik the Swart—has been staying at a seedy inn on the waterfront with his new bodyguards, a group of local warriors hired far more cheaply than he agreed to pay the professional Azraqi Corsairs. Eager to fulfil their bargin with Harun, the party goes there to confront him.
Arriving at the inn, they find that it has as much in common with a brothel as with a traveler's guest house. The main hall is lit by a roaring firepit around which guests dine and cavort, while a balcony at the back overlooks the hall from the second story, where a number of private bed closets can be seen. An external stair opens off from the main hall and leads up to the second floor, where the hall's business appears to be in full swing.
Barging in, Mundr wastes no time on subtlety and immediately calls out Eirik as a wretch and and a liar. Up on the balcony, three burly men stand from their seats and come to the railing to look down at the commotion below. One calls out that no such person can be found here, but his deception is entirely perfunctory, relying on his size to intimidate rather than sincerely hoping to fool anyone. Having faced far worse, the party is not in fact intimidated, and Mundr insists that Eirik come down and redress his dishonourable behaviour. A brief staring match stretches between Mundr and the bodyguard—and then Hrafn snatches a plate from a nearby table and hurls it into the crowd of diners while shouting "Eirik, how could you!"
The brawl that everyone in the party was expecting immediately kicks off far sooner than they had anticipated. An angry and food-spattered man starts pushing his way through the throng to try and find whoever's plate caught him from behind, while up on the balcony Eirik's bodyguards begin making their way for the stairs down while one of their number goes to fetch their employer.
While Ingvild and Ylva guard the hall's door to prevent Eirik from escaping, Mundr pushes through the crowd towards the stairs with Hrafn on his heels. As they forge ahead, Eirik the Swart emerged onto the balcony and makes his own way to the stairs down, where his bodyguards have run up against Mundr.
Blows are exchanged as the bodyguards draw knives and axes from their belts, and while Mundr works to force his way past his opponents, one of Eirik's men jumps down from the external staircase to help his employer escape without having to pass through the main hall. As Eirik prepares to drop down into the waiting arms of his guard, Hrafn catches sight of him, and goads him to stand and fight or be branded a coward forever. Incensed, Eirik wheels around to push forward towards Hrafn, and his bodyguard is forced to run back around to the front of the hall in order to rejoin those inside—only to be intercepted at the door by Ingvild, who lays him out.
Ylva, meanwhile, works her seiðr against one of the men assailing Mundr, turning his bones to the rubbery flesh of a squid. The man drops limp to writhe on the floor, and then screams out when one of his fellows steps on him in the fray. Aided by this distraction, Mundr is able to dispatch the other bodyguard facing him—but Eirik has drawn his own knife, and is prepared to fight like a cornered rat. Ylva curses him as well, clouding his sense with a waking dream that turns all around him into dripping corpses. Suddenly surrounded by draugar, Eirik's courage fails, and in the throes of his terror, Mundr manages to seize him.
As they drag him from out of the brawl, he clutches at one of the serving girls trying to escape the fighting, pleading with her to rescue him from the living dead, and his fevered grip is so strong that the woman is dragged along with him until Hrafn is able to wrestle her away.
Out in the street, Ylva tells the party to carry Eirik to the nearest shrine of the Goddess of Law, where she should be able to find a spirit to work with in ensuring Eirik's punishment is a lasting one. Running through the streets while hauling a frantic Eirik still in the grip of his vision, they finally find a small roadside shrine. There, Ylva bargains with the spirit watching over the place to turn Eirik's hands into crab claws—a seeming favourite of hers—not until she releases the spell, but until he publicly apologizes to Harun and repays his debt. Glad to punish an oathbreaker, the spirit agrees, and the magic is done. The party abandon Eirik in the street, now a literal penny-pincher with his hands transformed into crustacean pincers, and return to Harun—but not before rifling through Eirik's belongings and taking all the coin he had on him.
Harun is pleased by the news of their success and welcomes the gift of Eirik's money; though it isn't nearly what he was owed, it is symbolic restitution enough. Glad of the party's help, he agrees to accompany them when they sail to find Kettil Sea-Strider and bring their feud to an end.
And sail they will, the very next morning.
Behind the Scenes
I think the bar brawl with Eirik's bodyguards is the most traditionally dnd-like this campaign has ever gotten, and it was a lot of fun to have a somewhat un-serious diversion from the regular tone and plot. I'm looking forward to getting to the raid on Kettil, however—it's the culmination of everything we've done up to now, and could easily serve as the conclusion to the campaign if the players are satisfied to leave things there. If we do continue the campaign, it will involve attending the Alþing, so I'm glad to be able to foreshadow events there ahead of time.
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