* Totterings of War
The sound of the bell's call rang through the entire Norse valley. He didn't relish ringing it for such a benign purpose, but he had to balance the priorities of the Clan with the priorities of his wife. That morning, his daughter Erika had still not returned. He had to admit it was a bit unexpected. As thirty or so members of the town gathered around, he stopped yanking the town bell chain back and forth and considered carefully his words. "Thanks to all of you for heeding the call.
"The task at hand is a matter of family, and as such it is one each and every one of you can understand. As you know, my daughter Erika left two nights ago to carry out the vendorsvadencoff, the peacekeeping. It is with perplexing thoughts that I report she has not yet returned. We will need to organize a search party to look for her." A few in the crowd chuckled. The 'peacekeeping' was mostly a joke to the Norse Clan. They held no hatred for the humans and had bored of slaughtering the weak long ago. The sacrifice was put in place to remind each new human generation of the perils that would befall them if they bothered the Norse.
"Is there any report? Have the humans attacked our, warrior?" The man who had spoken up had to control his laughter referring to the teenage daughter of their Clan Lord as a 'warrior'. There was also an eagerness to his voice. He wasn't the only one that day hoping the humans would need a reminder of their Norse dominance.
The Lord of the clan bounced his hands, his gesture preemptively calming the crowd. "For their sake, we better find Erika unharmed." He saw his wife cringe even at the hint of danger to their daughter. "We will send a party to scout for signs and visit the human settlement if necessary. Tronam, you will take three of your best men and perform the search." He wondered if sending his warrior captain was a wise choice. There had been no fighting this year, and a bored warrior sometimes finds reason to quarrel. However, he needed this handled swiftly to calm his wife and leave himself free of her sorrowing. As soon as he gave the order, the crowd began to disperse. Except Tronam, who approached ready for whatever other details he would provide.
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Bray was huddling in the wrap which had formerly been Erika's shoulder pad. He had woke that day to the sound of a metal clang echoing through the valley. It had surprised him to awake alone, and he wondered how it was he could sleep through something, some-one, so large getting up and leaving now two mornings in a row. Still, he felt certain Erika would be back, as there was no reason for her to keep him alive and bring him all the way up north, just to leave him to freeze in the woods.
When he heard the rustling of trees in the distance, he thought for sure it would be her coming back his way. However, as the rustling grew closer, he heard male voices. The fear of being found by Norsemen shot adrenalin into him, making him forget how cold he was. He jumped up out of his blanket, turning his head about to look for some kind of shelter. He saw a large tree-nook and sprinted for it before realizing he'd left the blanket out in the open. Bray's feet almost came out from under him as he struggled to rush back, grab Erika's shoulder pad, and carry it with him into the tree nook.
He reached his cover in the nick of time, as the Norsemen came walking up into sight of the ridge. "The trail leads up here," one of the men said to another. A couple days ago Bray had hoped never to see a Norsemen. Now he found himself overcome with curiosity. He had braced the blanket into the tree nook to keep himself out of sight, and was peering over the top edge of it. When he finally caught sight of them, he realized the men were absolutely giant. They weren't necessarily much taller than Erika, but they were bulky, huge, muscled warriors.
"Hrmph," another warrior exclaimed. "I had Lina just where I wanted her when our glorious leader rang that bell. Now instead of conquering the finest young ass in our village, I'm out here to babysit another." He casually swung his massive axe into a nearby tree, sending chips of wood and bark to the ground. "He doesn't even have a male heir. Tronam, isn't it time we put an end to this ruse? I say we kill that little twat when we find her. If he doesn't war with the humans, the Clan will instantly support you. If he does, we'll come back from slaughtering them and make you the new Clan Lord immediately."
Bray felt another shudder run through him. As if it wasn't dangerous enough for him to be deep in the Norsewoods, now Erika and her father might both be in grave danger. Maybe his hopes of remaining alive were unrealistic. One of the Norse was on his knees, fingering the dirty ground. From the way the huge warrior with the axe was staring at him, Bray took this to be Tronam. The man was older, calmer, and even more imposing, and he certainly took his time responding. Was he ignoring the proposal? Demonstrating his superiority?
He finally stood, walking over to the great warrior. "You will do what I say, when I say it." He cracked him across the jaw with a punch that looked meant to do more than get his attention, and the huge man's feet came out from under him. The two Norse that had stood silently by let out a moment of haughty laughter before stares from Tronam quieted them down. When the third finally picked himself up from the ground, they all walked off, continuing along their path as if the entire exchange had meant nothing.
It was a quarter-hour later when Bray finally worked up the nerve to come out of his hiding place. The excitement of the moment wearing off, he whole body reacted to the cold, shivering from head to toe.
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option a) bray rushes to the norse camp to plea for them to save erika
option b) erika returns, bray is frozen cold. erika has to do something to warm him up. eventually bray tells her the story. erika takes him into the norse camp.
option c)
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scene: bray and Erika wake up
Bray wakes alone. Erika walks up from the ridge, setting down some berries.
Bray cracks some jokes about surviving the night.
scene: Erika is away when the scouts finds their camp
Bray hides, and overhears the scouts looking for her.
That they want to war, so they plan to kill Erika even if they find her. - but not before having some fun.
scene: Erika returns
Bray jumps out and is elated to see her, was worried about her.
Erika is confused but touched that he was worried about her when she was in no danger. Bray explains what he overheard.
THe situation is far worse than they thought. Erika feels she must return and explain what she has done. Though she doesn't know the outcome. She could be put to death for dishonoring the clan, or worse, they could challenge her father. He already doesn't have a male heir.
scene: norse confront the humans
two norse men arrive at the human camp. scare the crap out of Lind. (pees his pants)
demand an explanation for their missing Norse.
the humans explain their side of the story. point out how little they have to threaten the norse with.
?? any actual fighting?