Ulf was indeed not paying much attention to the machinations of casters. Nice chaps all right, but give me Jorund the Simple (and Bjarni0 to fight alongside every day!
He collects his weapons from Osvald, with thanks.
There’s no sense in sticking around, I think. A nice raid off in the West might be just the thing to let the Jarl cool off a little.
Maybe if we fetch the Jarl some nice shiny bit of treasure or something, he’ll relax and not want to hunt us down. Or maybe even promote us!
What do we know of such Viking customs?
It’s very common for relatives to demand wergild in such cases. If the demand is excessive it is customary to take the matter to the Jarl.
Meanwhile, you have two unconscious but basically unwounded prisoners who are just coming round from the Colour Spray, as are their horses. As they were the four creatures in the spell effect, and all legitimate targets, I would have randomly selected from them had the 1d6 result for “Number of creatures affected” been low. As it happened, the spell did affect all four.
Will Bjarni be notified of any wereguild demand?
Tie up the prisoners (and stable their horses), for the moment.
Ask them:
- what did Gautrek tell you about this mission?
- did Gautrek’s boss, Ketil, know about the mission?
- what do you think Gautrek will do now? Specifically, will he come back with even more men?
- what is the talk in your settlement about the Jarl’s attitude to Bjarni?
- have you got any Berserkers in your settlement? What can they do?
“We go away? We pack no pretend? . . . No like chased . . . tell them no chase.”
Jorund heads into the house to grab a keg of mead to quench the thirst that always comes over him after killing. Once he returns with the keg he knocks the top in and begins drinking out of it, stops, burps. “Any one share?”
In fact, there is a nice sturdy shed on the premises, ideal for holding a few prisoners in what passes for security by local standards; it’s certainly too tough to dig out of.
[ol]Gautrek said “We’re going to Bjarni’s Settlement to bring him in. The Jarl will be pleased, and there will be loot besides.”[li]Gautrek takes his orders from Ketil, and we take ours from Gautrek. Whatever Ketil and Gautrek said to each other, we weren’t there.[]He would have to get money from Ketil and hire more men; we were all there were.[]The Jarl’s going to have Bjarni’s guts for garters.[*]No - not unless Ketil keeps them hidden away[/ol][/li]
Another field-thrall comes in from the hoeing with more news: There is a ship entering the fjord - rather bigger than Black Snake. The thrall was able to see a man standing up in her bows, holding a harp over his head. This is the commonly-accepted sign of a skald requesting hospitality, and it is considered extremely poor form to refuse him; equally, it would be out of the question for any to use this custom as a mask for a sneak attack.
“Ohhh skald . . . music time” Burps again. Now that he has had several drinks the bodies and blood don’t seem to be bothering Jorund anymore.
Did we find anything when we searched the corpses and prisoners?
Popular Today aren’t we.
I think Osvald and I should greet our new guest. Bring mead and bread and meat.
Ulf and Jorund will keep the prisoners inline. I doubt they would be stupid enough to try anything with Ulf and Jorund watching them. Does Ivar need to continue healing Ulf?
Well, these are interesting times.
The prisoners don’t need watching unless you really feel it’s necessary. The security on your prison shed is low-tech, but it would take a big axe to get out of there in a hurry, barring magic.
Ulf is doing OK as long as you’re not expecting any more big battles in a hurry. If Ivar had to, he could burn a Cure Moderate Wounds to get Ulf back somewhere near prime condition in one shot.
A little later the strange ship grounds on the beach, near to where Black Snake is drawn up. The harper leaps nimbly for a man of his bulk into the boot-high water and splashes ashore. He is of well-to-do appearance, with some grey in his beard and the sort of flesh around his middle that speaks of a generous patron with money to spare. When he speaks, his voice is carrying and resonant even in the unhelpful acoustics of a seashore; it would fill a great hall splendidly with its deep timbre. Think James Earl Jones, Willard White, someone like that.
“I am called Kim,” he says, with a slightly foreign tone although it is easy to understand him. “Is Bjarni Thorstein present?”
What was the result of the first Cure Moderate on Ulf? (post 116)
…
Ivar, it is good practice to heal up the front rank Fighters right away, rather than hope to do it during the next combat
Ulf: By all means celebrate, Jorund, but don’t get drunk. The day is not over yet!
Heh, I read that as “Cure Minor Wounds”, so best not to abbreviate in future! OK, that spell gave you back 14 hit points, leaving you down 5.
I am Bjarni, chieftain of this settlement. Welcome friend. I will do my best to offer you our best hospitality. Unfortuantely, you arrive at dire times. I do not wish to trouble you with our problems; but you are welcome here nonetheless.
Osvald is fascinated by the Skald’s accent, and hopes to hear of his tales and adventures. But he will stand behind Bjarni who is the leader of this town, and defer to him. But Osvald’s eyes certainly do give away that he wants to learn more about the Skald. He also begins to gather the mead, food, and such to offer to the guests (or at least get the proper thralls to do that if such is the case).
He also starts to make Tea.
“Yes no more drink . . . go greet Skald” Jorund walks down the ship in a supprisingly straight line Aint a high constitution great “Kim from Dublin? . . . Me Jorund”
I hope Jorund is walking down to the ship!
Ulf also welcomes the harper, then mutters to Ivar “Just a small cure, please?”
“I am sorry for your dire times,” says Kim, apparently pleased by your courteous welcome, “and I would not add to your woes, but I have my duty to do here and I will not eat of your bread and salt before I have done it.”
He continues in a kind of professional detachment, as though rehearsing lines spoken to him and taking care not to deviate from them by a single word:
"This is the decree of Jarl Hrothgar concerning Bjarni Thorstein, Manslayer:
"To him shall be no place at feast, at council, or at the Thing.
"To him shall be no peace nor protection of law beyond his own holding; and against any whom he may meet by land or by sea shall he have no right of redress for any injury or loss.
"To him shall be no right of trade; and to any who shall sell, hire or gift aught to the accursed Manslayer, be it one measure of grain or oil, one brick of salt, one stick of wood, one nail of iron, one cup of ale or mead, or the like amount of any need or comfort - to any such, a sharing of Thorstein’s sentence.
"This doom shall inhere to all seed and issue of Bjarni Thorstein, Manslayer, to the last generation, save only that he remit man-gold to Jarl Hrothgar or his heirs by right of law; and by this decree I, Jarl Hrothgar, do set and establish the following measure by which the man-gold shall be held paid:
"- The weight of a prize ox in gold coin and hacksilver, the silver not to exceed the gold in weight; also
"- The weight of Ottar the Fat, man-at-arms of the household of Jarl Hrothgar, in precious stones or worked jewellery; also
"- A wondrous device agreed by the chief rune-priests of Odin, Thor and Tyr to be of legendary power and value.
“By the speaking of this decree is this doom established, and shall not be set aside for any plea or excuse.”
Skald Kim gives the words time to sink in to the listeners’ ears, and adds mildly “I was not forbidden to eat at your board, if you have not repented of your offer.”
Mmk, so one CLW and Ulf is back in good shape.
Ivar votes that we leave- there’s not a ton of sense opposing the Jarl unless we actually plan to depose him. It seems like nothing less than that will settle the matter.