The ongoing playtest of Bodil’s Gap continues! In the previous installment, the party returned home from their long voyage in to the northern coast just in time for their ally Odd to call a þing. Now, the assembled folk of Ymafjord and the surrounding farms will gather at the Laxbrynjung holdings in two days' time to choose a new þejn for their clan—and everyone has an opinion.
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 young man endowed with the strength of giants by a mysterious incident during his travels abroad. A Laxbrynjung by birth, Mundr now finds himself betrothed to Gudrun Arvidsdottir of Songheim, illegitimate child of the city's Jarl.
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. Since the voyage of revenge against Kettil Sea-Strider, Ylva has gained a taste for command, and now plans to acquire a ship and crew of her own.
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
Arriving at the Ymafjord shore, the party are quick to separate and go their own way after being greeted by their kinsmen.
Mundr seeks out his mother, Signy Sea-Breeze, and the two go for a walk while Mundr shares the news of his betrothal—without mentioning any hint of giantish involvement. Signy is pleased for her son but a little melancholic; Mundr has grown since leaving to avenge the death of his uncle Arnolf, and more and more he reminds his mother of Ivaldi, her dead husband.
Signy also cautions Mundr, however. With the fame won by defeating Kettil Sea-Strider and avenging Arnolf added to his burgeoning familial connection to the Jarl of Songheim, Mundr has become a strong contender for the title of Þejn, should he choose to pursue it—stronger, perhaps, than Rurik, Arnolf's son and the party's ally. There is a real risk of creating further division in the clan even despite the death of Trond, if Mundr becomes a figurehead for those dissatisfied by Rurik leadership. Mundr comes away from his conversation shaken and afraid for the future of his clan.
While Mundr goes to speak to his mother, Ylva retreats to her cabin in the woods to meditate on the ways of seiðr, ranging abroad in spirit form and contemplating how to save Ingvild's soul from the clutches of the phantom giants should he fall in battle a second time. Her contemplation is interrupted, however, by someone shaking the shoulder of her physical body. Returning to her her cabin, she finds Rurik crouched over her, waiting for her to rouse.
Upon seeing that Ylva is awake once more, Rurik begins asking her for advice—she was close friends with Rurik's elder half-brother Steinar, who would have been þejn after Arnolf if he had not also been killed at the same time. Rurik knows that he must be the next þejn, and wants to know what Steinar would have done, and how he would have handled it.
Speaking with Rurik about his brother, Ylva begins to ferret out more of Rurik's mental and emotional state, and quickly realizes that Rurik doesn't truly wish to be þejn—though he's convinced himself that he does. For Rurik, becoming þejn is all about regaining what was stripped from him by Trond's handling of Arnolf's legacy—he wants to be acknowledged as the legitimate son of his father, for his mother and sister's status to be restored, and to win those things Arnolf left to him. The þejnship is the symbol of all of that, and so Rurik pursues it without quite realizing what it is he truly wants.
Recognizing that she must tread carefully, Ylva encourages Rurik to speak to Hrafn, who is both wise and clever, and to return to her later that night to speak again when she will have something to show him. Rurik agrees to her advice and departs.
Meanwhile, Hrafn has lingered aboard the party's ship to read his stolen book of law in preparation for the coming þing and the Alþing after that, but finds himself somewhat stymied by the incompleteness of the record, which contains only one third of the Gap's laws. The sound of someone boarding the ship draws him from his reading, and he turns to find Finnar approaching him. Trond' son sits down unceremoniously on the rowing bench across from Hrafn and bluntly addresses him. Finnar knows that as his father Trond's only surviving heir, the þejnship must fall to him, but he is not a clever man—if he is to be þejn as is only right and proper, he must have a good advisor, and Hrafn is known to be clever and learned. With the wealth of his father devolved to him, Finnar offers to pay Hrafn a princely sum to become one of his counselors.
Hrafn forbears from accepting payment or becoming Finnar's counselor, but agrees to offer him some advice. While they're speaking, however, Rurik arrives following the advice of Ylva to seek Hrafn out. Seeing him in conversation with Finnar, Rurik turns on his heel and leaves again without uttering a word, and Finnar leaves shortly afterward to prepare for the coming þing.
Finally, Ingvild set out from the clan seat headed for his own small farm an hour away, seeking solitude. He's barely been home for an hour, however, before one of his farmhands comes to tell him that a rider has been seen approaching. Going out to investigate, Ingvild recognizes Þruðr, Trond's widow and the mother of Finnar. She greets him and asks if he will speak with her privately. Frustrated by the interruption to his solitude, Ingvild refuses to invite her in, telling her to speak in the yard or not at all. When she insists on privacy, he sends his farmhands away, and she dismounts from her horse to approach him.
Coming up to the grizzled veteran, Þruðr informs Ingvild that she know of his and his allies' support for Rurik as þejn, just as they must know of her support for Finnar. With Trond's wealth and contacts under her control, Þruðr boasts a great deal of influence which she is prepared to wield against Rurik if the need arises to secure her son's position—but she's come to offer Ingvild an alternative. If he agrees to marry her and adopt Finnar as his son and heir, Þruðr will instead throw her influence behind Ingvild as the prospective þejn. As a famous warrior party to the killing of Kettil Sea-Strider, and the brother-in-law of the fallen Arnolf, Ingvild would be in a very good position to win the support of the clan at large—far better than Rurik, who is still tarred with the brush of illegitimacy, and who was here in Ymafjord when others took Arnolf's revenge.
Ingvild is shocked and dismayed by Þruðr's ploy and has no idea of what his response should be, fearing the consequences if he declines but concerned that Þruðr will simply arrange his death in the near future if he agrees, once the current succession crisis has died down and Finnar's status as Ingvild's heir has made his ascension straightforward. Seeing Ingvild's unwillingness to give an answer, Þruðr offers to make things easy for him; if by the time of the þing he hasn't come to her, she'll know what his reply is and act accordingly. With that she rides off, saying she must return to the clan seat to greet her cousin, Skadi Battle-Brand—for it seems she too survived the kraken's attack, and his recently returned to her own home of Askarfjord in time to be called to attend the þing.
Ingvild recalls that Skadi was no friend of Trond's, but came to join the raiding fleet merely for the sake of her cousin Þruðr. With little way of knowing where Skadi's support will lie but concerned that it will only reinforce Þruðr's position, Ingvild hastens to travel back to the clan seat himself, where it has suddenly become very pressing that he reconvene with is allies.
Only a day remains before the coming þing, when all plots must come to a head and the new þejn will be chosen.
Behind the Scenes
This session was light on adventure but heavy on character interaction, which makes a nice change of pace. I had a lot of fun running this and giving each character their own little vignette, and I look forward to seeing how the party will resolve their problems.
A session of this kind wouldn't have been possible without the complex web of family relationships we've been laying the groundwork for all campaign, and I think the game has really benefitted from some planning in that regard. Actually mapping out a family tree before we even sat down for session one was maybe the best decision I made in regards to the campaign, and it's been paying dividends ever since.
Next time, Ylva will take Rurik on a journey through dreams and the party will reconvened to discuss what they've learned.
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