Svilland Adventures

After being chained to an oar for so long, you have forgotten just how long, there is a glimmer of hope. All of the slaves sense a nervousness with the crew, even old Halfdan the Black has been yelling more than usual.

The weather has turned for the worse. The sailors and guards talk that Halfdan refused to give any more tribute to Aegir, God of the Sea. He was still angry that three of his other ships disappeared beneath the waves within view of the Island of Valg in the South Sea. Whatever else was on that ship was valuable enough for him to pay and or force people to dive down to look for wreckage. Those that did, came back up in pieces, a bad omen.

If the old slaver has angered a god, maybe Aegir would want his head as a sacrifice? This thought played out in many people's thoughts that day, Suddenly, the ship isn't moving, the slaves are ordered to stop rowing. And three of the five guards are called above, to the sounds of battle. This is the moment the slaves couldn't pass up. they manage to kill the two stupid guards, grab the keys, take weapons from the dead, and move to the stairs, the weaponless slaves help the ones who are still chained. All of the slaves are freed, a very brief search of the slave area reveals next to nothing besides the oars that could be used as a weapon. 

A man named Ragnus Hundr, along with Hjordis, Garl, and Teton Steppir, rush up the stairs hoping to take whatever crew there is by surprise. Teton takes it further, and rushes across the deck into the captain's quarters, hoping to find a weapon. Meanwhile, Ragnus, Hjordis and Garl clearly see the reason behind the crew's dismay. There are sea monsters, humanoid in shape, viciously attacking the crew, and the crew is not doing well. The slaves join in the attack on the crew, but soon realize that these creatures will soon consume the boat with their numbers. In the end, the slaves kill the captain. Poor Halfdan the Black loses his head. This is given to the sea as a sacrifice to Aegir. And once this is done, Aegir is satisfied, the montrous men sink back beneath the waves. Teton emerges with a shiny new dagger, maps, and various other objects. The crew of slaves, looking at their maps, decide to not go to the Vestri Stronghold in Svilland, but will attempt to make for Shield Island?. Which has been rumored to hold caves that smugglers once used ....

As some of the slaves rush the stairs, others are forced to deal with a big problem.

Kruldr, Roarik Eriksen, Spieg, Jarden, and others hear a loud crash at the rear of the ship. water begins to pour through a hole. Luckily, the giant tentacle is plugging the hole, keeping most of the water out. Many of the more valuable slaves were kept in cages here. And on this day, their fate is met, their deaths given out by calamari. These souls barely had the time to react, and would probably be going to Helheim for the rest of eternity.

Oars are grabbed, and swung at the vile tentacle, and the tentacle swings back, killing many of the unarmed slaves in the process. Or at least the slow and tired. It was a sad death for these folk. One of the many slaves manages to find a very nice blade, an begins to hack at the squid-like appendage. However, when Roarik Eriksen sees the blade, he enters into madness, the nameless slave with the sword now is fending off a lunatic screaming for the weapon, and a monster of the deep. The other slaves have noticed that that tentacle is the only plug keeping them above water. Kruldr and Jarden try their best to restrain the crazed Roarik.

Spieg is on a mission as well. He intends to find his runestone. This is not just any runestone, it is a Legendary Runestone. And if Halfdan had known half of its value, it would have been long gone. There is a small barrel, marked do not open, danger. Spieg can feel the runestone through the barrel planks. He grabs it and moves back towards the stairs. 

Eventually, that sword-wielding red shirt makes a miraculous swing, severing the tip of the tentacle. No one likes getting their tip snipped. it pulls out of the hole, and a great gush of liquid follows. The slaves scramble for the stairs, Well most of them. Roarik manages to stuff that poor slave into said hole, like a cork. He is frantically look for the sword.

The rest of the slaves are searching the belly of the boat, which is slowly filling up with water, for anything of use.

Eventually, all of the slaves are forced to the deck, and find out they are still quite a ways from shield island? and must swim. But, not before some slaves are sacrificed to various gods (Hel, Baldur, Aegir) for the gift of freedom and for an easy swim to shore.

A number of crates survive the sinking of the WaveGull, also known as the shithouse. Most will attest to the fact that the vessel held the title as the worst smelling, even amongst other slavers. The freemen grab to what debris there is and begin to swim.

Most awake on the beach, exhausted, not truly remembering how they finally made out of the water. There are 4 crates and one barrel that survived the shipwreck, made it to shore with the freemen. They are soon torn apart, the former slaves looking for clothing, weapons, food. All of them are barely covered in rags and are shivering on the cold, windy beach. One of the crates has wet wool, another contains dry dried meat, a meal for every man. After eating, and examining the captain's map,  they make their way on foot to Norhufa, the closest village.

However, there is a faction in the group that feels that the group is reading the map wrong. Maybe it in how you hold it. So, Kruldr, Teton, Roarik and Garl make their way east and north. 

Meanwhile, Ragnus, Hjordis, Spieg, and ??? clamber off toward the mountains to the west. Their story will be told in the next installment, A Hole in the Sand.

After many hours they finally see the wooden palisade of the village walls, and guards above the gate. Upon approaching, one of the guards excitedly welcomes the group to the village of Norhufa. It was once a busy burg, on its way to becoming a real destination spot. Well, it was! Until all those people started to disappear, that is. Svin, his fellow guard (no name, wearing a red shirt), and the few folks that managed to baracade themselves in the tavern, are all that is left of the thriving community.

Svin goes on the explain that a tavern is really the ideal place to hole-up in an emergency. Its familiar, its secure, it's got food and most importantly, drink. The freemen were just lucky they caught Svin. He had lit a signal fire, to let the stronghold to the north, and the Jarl there, know there was trouble. (The group doesn't see a raging fire anywhere, nor smoke to indicate one). And, then he was heading right back into the warm luxury of the tavern. 

He points out his and ol' red shirts houses, and tells the group to grab clothing, and head to the tavern. Just to leave coin or whatever they can in exchange for the threads(Maybe Svin can't see to well, or think too well. Thread bare travelers tend to have lots to trade...).

After ransacking a number of houses, and barely finding anything,  Kruldr, Teton, Roarik and Garl decide to check out the bar. Maybe close out the bar. Maybe drink the bar dry. Svin is waiting for the band by the door, introduces them to his best pal, Kord, the bouncer, and sets them up with a table and drinks.

This is definitely a real tavern. Filled with real people. The inside smells like a tavern. Not that that is always eww like you are thinking. It could have been comforting...

Anyhow, It doesn't take long to figure out something is seriously wrong. Like, none of the people are really moving, and their conversations might as well be white noise.  And, it occurs to a few folk that if the people arent real, then maybe the food that they are serving isn't what it appears to be, or the alcohol!!!

The employees of this establishment sense a change in the groups demeaner, and begin to ruthlessly attack! Meanwhile, a shadowy figure hasbegun an assault with magic, and a magic weapon. It's some sort of blade that must return to its owner. but it doesnt fly back, it teleports.

The party is close to death, when Svin jumps into action. Svin finally is able to see through the illusion in this place and understands that he led most of the village, and quite a few travelers to the deaths here. he attacks with a spear and moves it as if it was made of air. With this extra help, the enemy is vanquished. 

Now, upon exploring the tavern more thoroughly, they find a cauldron, emitting a mist, that turns into the illusion of shiny happy people and tavern. they destroy that shit.  Svin is depressed he has failed so badly. He wishes to go further north, and report to his jarl of the happenings. Teton retrieves the dagger of returning, and can't help but notice the symbol of Hel on the hilt, and is happy. The four loot the room, finding weapons and armor and a bit of gold.

They leave the decrepit tavern, and make camp in some of less ruined houses of the villiage.

The next morning, Ragnus, Hjordis, Spieg, and ??? stumble into town, and a discussion begins on what should be done next.

Ragnus, Hjordis, Spieg, and ??? talk amongst themselves quietly, and realize that those other four might be forming some sort of click, a group within the group. Those other four, Kruldr, Teton, Roarik and Garl, might even take up big wave surfing, but only after a huge sacrifice to Aegir...

The four waterboys want to go to a small village, but Ragnus has heard that smugglers have been using the caves to the west near the giant mountain to hide out from do-gooders, and to stash loot. Loot that could be theirs instead. 

Half a days journey, and they see something out of the ordinary along the beach. a very well fed seagull is standing on the beach, not too far from the group, munching on a fish carcass, when a hole instantly forms, and the bird, unable to get away fast enough, is swallowed by sand. just as suddenly as the hole appears, it is gone.

Hmm. a quick huddle decides two things. First, everybody is getting tied togther. Second, they decide by drawing straws, that Spieg has been elected to lead the way across this area. Initially, Spieg protests the decision, but has his mind changed when he is literally thrown on the ground by the other three, who produce menacing weapons.

Spieg manages to tiptoe across the area with no issues. So does ??? and Ragnus. Hjordis gets lucky and a hole finds him. He is almost pulled under when the other three yank him out. While he doesn' remember seeing much, the thing that he does remember, is the numerous sharp teeth of the creaature. Hjordis is 90% sure that seagulll died a bad death. they start to run. almost making it when the thing pops out of the sand and attacks! The four stab, strike, magic, pierce, and slap this thing to death in a short amount of time. The damn thing looked like it could have been a shark, but on land. Weird

They huddle again, begin to guess that there could be more, and decide to use bait to entrap the things. they throw stuff at seagulls until one of them is knocked out of the sky. Then, they attach the seagull to their rope, and fling it ahead of them along the sand. They do this all the way to the edge of the beach and much rockier terrain. Once off the beach, they do find a cave almost straight away, that opens to a passage leading deeper under the mountain. Its quiet. Too quiet.

The tunnels of this cave system are interconnected, but none seem to lead to a great treasure horde. There is, however, a vast freshwater pool, that extends back into the caves beyond their sight.

They gladly drink up, and while looking in the water, see something sparkling. The shiny is fished out, turns out to be a gate hinge. and what is left of the a decorative piece of wood covered in gold foil(Maybe a gate?) The wood is remarkably well preserved, which is odd. The four decide to investigate in here a bit more, since they struck out finding another area that had anything in it besides rock.

More of the wood is found, and piled together. it seems to be all in one area. There is definitely gold leaf on the wood.

An hour more has them stopping, with what they think is the last sliver of the stuff from the water. Whatever the wood was doing to the water, it is no longer doing it. the water seems to change to  brackish mix, and things are seen moving in the water at the edge of the light.

Also, the wood has fused together, into a circular shape, almost like a shield. The four grab the circle, covered in gold leaf, and haul ass out of the cave. they use their seagull bait to avoid the sand sharks, and leave the are, back to where they washed up on the beach. They examine the wood closer in the morning light. the gold on the circle is not a rune, rather, it its almost like a picture, and is changing constantly, especially when they blink.

They rest, wake early, and head east to meet the others. 

After a brief reunion, Ragnus, Teton, Hjordis, Garl, and Spieg decide to make their way a bit further north to speak with the Jarl of this area. but, they want to really ransack this burg, after still being in need of equipment. So, they do so. Spieg manages to find a bundle, the outer covering is a soft cloth with the picture of a boob stitched on it, and holding a few stains. It is wrapped around a rune!

While this ransacking is happening, Kruldr, Roarik, and ??? see an opportunity to check on the local wise woman. If the Drauger left her alone, then maybe Roarik could get an answer about the location of his family sword, maybe find out what it would take to get it back. And, the others have burning questions. This is addressed in the next section, called Hunger vs. Common Sense.

Ragnus, Teton, Hjordis, Garl, and Spieg  head north, arriving at the fort in less than a days travel. They realize that this is not just a fort, but is a fortified town of some significant size. The gates are in tatters. As they approach, they have the feeling of being watched. This feeling intensifies as they go through the gates. The town is devoid of people.

Naturally, this leads to a discussion about needing better gear, so they go searching. even finding some. They traverse the streets until they reach another wall. this wall surrounds a tower. The square configuration of the wall is accented by a smaller tower at each corner of the square. Just as the group decides to bypass the locked gates by climbing the wall, purple smoke pours out of the windows of the corner wall towers, flooding the entire area with the substance. The group realizes that their seagull is dead as soon as it touches the mist, and runs for the outer wall. They barely make it out before they are cleared of the smoke. Also, this is a perfect opportunity to get something off their chests. There is a good chance the Jarl is dead, and Svin the Younger will escape the justice and judgement he rightly deserves. So, the warband gives summary judgement. Svin is guilty of feeding his fellow humans to monsters. His betrayal, while not ententual, is made worse by his ignorance. They promptly slay the poor man, an strip him of his valuables. 

They get beyond the walls, and breath a sigh of relief. They see their other companions approaching....

The trail to the wise woman stops at a rock wall, with a small crack at the bottom. the closer that they get, the more that they think the crack is changing sizes, getting bigger.

By the time Kruldr, Roarik, and Jarden reach the wall, the crack is big enough to walk through. They don't hesitate, walking in to the opening, and notice, that the crack is beginning to shrink with every step they take. they finally see an exit, but must crawl on hand and knees to reach it before the crack becomes so small that they would be crushed.

An old woman sits in front of a house, plain and drab. A bit rundown, even, with thatch in need of replacement, and stone fallen off the outer wall. This short woman sits next to her cauldron, stiring boiling liquid. She stops to examine the three on their hands and knees. Cackling, she introduces herself as wisewoman Mora. The three introduce themselves to her. Mora gestures for them to sit, and dips a bowl into the cauldron for each of them, hands them the bowls. The liquid, even though it came from the cauldron in front of them, looks different for each of them in each bowl. It smells so delicious, like all of their favorite foods, like a feast in a bowl! They are so hungry!!!!!

Mora cackles at the three, telling them if they wish to gain knowledge, they must drink. She produces a fourth bowl, dips it in the cauldron. and holds it to her lips, waiting for the men to do the same. With reluctance, they copy her movements, all of them swallowing the liquid in one go. 

Jarden sees his hand pulling the strings of people  across the land, gaining power from the knowledge, only to have it fall apart as his people are forced into endless fighting against a vast invincible army, ending in their deaths. The Army begins with a dead body being thrown into a cauldron.

Kruldr has a vision of an old woman, pulling the spirits out of the living, and into herself.  Their bodies still lie on the floor, but their spirits are swallowed by magic. The old woman grows younger and stronger with each one.

And Roarik's vision is of being lost in purple mist, unable to escape, coughing, and choking...

Roarik is absolutely sure that he sees a tower in the center of a walled fort. and that his sword is there...

Mora looks at all three, and shakes her head, 

"It seems there more to you lot than I originally figured. Not one of you died this time!" 

She admits that you will probably see her in the future, and to beware the mist! 

The three awaken in a dry gully, Mora, her house, the crack, and the rock wall are not there. On the plus side, they are full, as if they had feasted. They feel good for the first time in years. The trail is. They take it back to town, and then onward to meet up with their friends.

Upon regrouping, the warband makes a point of reexamining the area. They have already noticed that there was rune magic across the south gate, and even incomplete, it seems to be holding the purple smoke at bay, as well as anything in the smoke. 

Teton Steppir conducts a ritual to Baldur by wounding himself with a blade, then applying poison to his weapon for the Goddess Hel.

Ragnus hunts down a deer, and dedicates the kill to his god, Ullr, god of the hunt, and consecrates his weapons clothing and drum in the blood.

This gives Spieg, Hjordis, Kruldr, Garl, and Jarder the idea to anoint in the deer blood, their shields, armor, bodies and weapons with the runes of protection and binding from the walls.  

ᚨᚱᚢᚷᚨᛚᛞ

The hope is that this will give protection from the smoke and creatures within it.

Which, it does!

The Warband makes it to the Inner Keep, at its southern gate, just as the purple smoke begins to pour down the keep walls from the four corner towers. 

The runes of protection and sacrificial blood do offer protection from the smoke. But the gate cannot be breached by anyone. They see that the fates may have decided that today they die.

Until Garl steps forward, a roar thunders from his body, as he bashes his shield into the door of the gate. A great crack and a sound like a tree snapping can be seen and heard. Again, the powerful Garl raises his mighty shield once again, and brings it down upon the gate with such force, that the gate shatters, leaving splinters of wood, embedded in the walls and grounds of the inner keep. The noise from the blow continues to echo within the keep for minutes after.

Within the walls of the keep, there is a tower, and some small buildings.  The floor yard are of the inner keep is covered in dead bodies, hundreds, maybe thousands of them. The party helps Hjordis behead these bodies in the name of Hel.

From one of the towers, a creature resembling a frost giant emerges and begins to attack the party. The beast is strong, and blasts the party with magic and physical blows. It animates the dead bodies to attack the group.

But, the warband defeats the creature.  They continue to behead all of the dead bodies in this area.

Upon examining the thing, they realize that it was made of ice, and it is covered in runes. This might have been some sort of golem.

The party does take its gear, and heads to the first floor of the keep.

Upon entering the keep, the party splits in two.

 Kruldr and Jarden decide to investigate one of the smaller buildings off of the tower. This can be read about in the next session, "Chasing Visions".

Ragnus, Hjordis, Teton,  Roarik, Garl and Speig make their way to the main chamber, which consists of a formal greeting area, and a large table, with many chairs, a council chamber. There are many bodies, and they group beheads them all as the move about. 

On the table, is written 'We are grateful she has come'.

There is also a book, that registers as having a magical rune in it, but it wont open.

Next, the warband travels upward. They find themselves in a records room. most of the records deal with crop yields, ore mined, taxes collected, spending, money made from raids, and so on. the group finds information about what has happened to this town. 

It seems that the sea people were quite vicious in their raiding, and had almost stopped any trade with the city from ships. Their sacrifices to Aegir and Ran have been in vain. So, they hear of a powerful witchwoman, who has moved onto the western end of the island. They send emissaries to approach her about helping the city.

The warband was unable to find anything else on this floor, so moved to the third floor of the tower. Here, they find a hallway with four doors. the first is a bunk room with multiple beds for the help. The second door contains storage room for unused furniture, cleaning supplies, a spinal not in use, and various other mundane items. The third door leads to a overly large kitchen, that shouldn't fit inside of this tower. It is as if the tower is magical. The fourth is food storage. The room seems unnaturally cool, and has fresh food ready to eat and cook. this must be magic, because the city has been decimated for weeks...

Speig realizes that these rooms have a few active runes supplying the spells that make the rooms do what they do. But that disturbing them could cause issues within the tower. There are two runes that he is able to identify here. The first is at the kitchen door, creating an extra-dimensional space. The second is in the food storage room, keeping it cool and preserving the food from rot.

The 4th floor opens up into an area with open sky, and an ancient tree. Beneath these massive branches is a huge garden, filled with plants of just about any species that one could name. this enormous area extends out a large distance, on every side of the tree. The group does find an end to the area, a stone wall surrounds the lands, and no one is able to climb or move past this wall. There also is no gate. The warband follows the wall around the whole of the area, taking a few hours. There must be a square mile of land being farmed. They even see bee hives located around the area. The bees are at work pollinating. 

They realize that this spell is even more massive than the one for the kitchen. there is a rune by the door, similar to the one at the kitchen, but Speig can feel the power behind this one is much stronger.

The group heads up again to the 5th floor, and finds eleven doors. these rooms are bedrooms, each benefiting from the same rune as the kitchen. They must be the rooms of the important folk living at the tower, like the Jarl. They find a beautiful silver ring with a perfect sapphire, a journal belonging to one of the Jarl's council, Svil Marklsson. They also find gold, a second journal with no name, a super shiny helmet, a bone comb and razor, and finally, a secret door. There is a hidden latch to open a door from the stone on the tower wall. But, behind that, is a metal panel. The group guesses that it is a door, but cannot budge it at all.

The first journal's last few entries, which are set from a month ago, talk of her coming. She is here, she is quite intimidating, Yav, and her companion might have been a mistake.

The second journal talks about how the Jarl actually sought her out three months back, and that their emissaries sent after her on the mainland were killed off, except one. that he died days after her arrival, of some wasting illness.

The last floor of the tower, is a large throne room. The desiccated body of the Jarl sits on the throne. The party finds a gold armband, a copper ring and a gold ring. Upon close examination of the throne, they find an odd ball made of some sort of mineral, perfectly round, and about the size of a small chicken egg. They notice that it sticks to metal.

Thinking about the metal plate on the floor below, they rush down to the sixth floor, and attach the ball to the plate. using the ball, they are able to slide to plate upwards, where it locks in place.  

inside, a blood trail leads to the edge of a platform that extends on to a scene of madness. There are platforms, and stairs in all directions, in wrong directions, sideways even. It is disturbing. Ragnus steps off the side of the platform, to follow the blood trail, and realizes that gravity is relative here. He is upside down from the group. They join him, and continue to follow the blood trail to a door.

The door has a particular knob on it. one that looks like it has a face. when the knob is touched, it flinches, and 'looks' at the group. Then tells them, "That tickled, stop it!!!"

The group begins a conversation with the door knob, who calls itself Knobby. Knobby's master is named Vrn, and the witch had dragged his Master into the next room, and preformed a ritual on him. But, with his last ounce of strength, Vrn knocked a potion filled goblet to the floor, and skewed the magic. The woman screamed in anger,  and gutted Vrn anyway, finishing him off, and left.

Meanwhile, Vrn, not quite dead, grabs the knife out of his stomach, and hurls it at a glass sphere on a shelf near by, shattering it. A small fire spirit pops free, and Vrn commands it to burn the room. It is still in the process of doing so right now. 

The group heads inside, and also sees a short message on a parchment near Vrn's still hand. 

She might be back, so I have destroyed everything I could in the room, destroy those damned cauldrons.

the only untouched objects left in the room are on a small shelf. A potion of healing, 5 gp, a silver dagger, and another magnetic mineral orb.

The party figures out that there is a cauldron in each of the four watchtowers of the inner wall, so they go up in each tower, beheading dead bodies as they go, and throw each of the cauldrons rom the tops of these towers. they cauldrons, are severely damaged by these falls, making them inert. the party then drags the cauldrons back into the mage chamber, and throw them in the fire that is slowly eating this room. 

With the cauldrons gone, the part begins to discuss their next move.  The general thought is that they wish to take over this island for themselves. They definitely wish to rebuild the city and walls, and maybe even work on rebuilding Norhufa. 

The warband finds one ship in dry dock, that hasn't been smashed to nothing. They realize that they ae going to need sailors who know what to do with a boat like this to get to the mainland easily. They will eventually need food, They will eventually need soldiers.

So, they devise a plan to search the island to see if any folk managed to live through this mess.

Kruldr and Jarden split off from the party, both are thinking that there could be some clues in the attached buildings adjacent to the tower. 

They begin with a building on the south side of the tower. As they approach, Kruldr stops Jarden, and tells him of his vision, Jarden is surprised, and mentions that he had a similar one to this. They both agree that they need more answers.

But, this first building looks like it was for livestock, though they only see dead horses. A thorough search in this muck proves futile. Next, they move to the west building. Jarden mentions that these people really like their symmetry, and Kruldr laughs, he look's at Jarden and says it was designed this way on purpose. Keldr agrees, saying that planning went into the city layout.

The western building housed what looked to be the soldier barracks, here the two find a cache of weapons and armor to outfit men and women in. 

The northern building was a mead hall, it was connected to the tower by a locked door, something to check in to. The hall is in shambles, but there are two small casks of mead that survived whatever fight happened here.

Lastly, the eastern buildings look to be a smithy. Most of the tools are in ruins, but there is a solid, undamaged anvil.

While not the most exciting journey, they did manage to score mead, and they finish beheading all of the dead within the inner walls.

They find their companions deep in discussion about what to do in the future, sitting at the council table.

 The Warband, after deciding to search for survivors out in the countryside, Also decides to split up into three groups. The first group, consisting of Hjordis, Teton, Ragnus, and Speig head south to scout out some locals.

 Garl, Roarik, and Kruldr have volunteered to start working on the defenses of the city, and have chosen to welcome any people that travel in to Wavebreaker. Their tale can be read in Brick by Brick.

And, last, but not least, Jarden choses to investigate the chapterhouse of an organization called the Frost Arrows. While, it does takes some time to get through the rubble sown streets, he eventually finds the chapterhouse in pristine condition, just completely empty, except for a empty potato sack on the floor. Realizing that there is nothing else to discover at this time, he proceeds south to catch up to his companions traversing the island.

The first group is heading south, trying to find any signs of folk still alive in the area. they do manage to find one lone farm to the south of Wavebreaker, and find two folk hiding amongst hay bales. An old man emerges along with a small girl. They introduce themselves as Vil and Astrid. they are the only living folk in the area. There used to be a number of other small farmers in the area, but most were enticed to go visit Norhufa, and died to the evil within those walls. They mention that there were small hamlets to the west of the area at one time, though neither of them have seen these places with their own eyes. Lastly, both Vil and Astrid pledge their loyalty to the new Jarl, Garl. And, just in time, Jarden catches up to the band to join in the searching.

Heading west across the wild country, the warband does find abandoned farms, or the remains of them. They finally stumble upon a small hamlet, where a blacksmith ply's his trade.  The few folk here al pledge to the new Jarl. Those that have nothing, and wish to live behind a wall, are told that they are welcomed at Wavebreaker, and in exchange for labor there, they will be fed and housed. One drunk young man tells the band that their is another village  on the northern coast. They are out of sight of the channel, are situated on a peninsula. The berg is called Havenhearth. supposedly a real sea captain lives there.

The group travels north for 5 hours, finally arriving at the outskirts of a town situated on the topside of a cliff face. A series of stairs carved in the cliff lead down the wall to the town docks. The whole town is walled by thick stone, and the land entrance to the south has a solid looking gate. Figures poke their heads above the wall, getting a better look at you.

Once they see your guide, Sergi, they open the gates and the band sees a midsized village, that is thriving. There are sounds of trade, hard labor and merryment. They are led to a tavern, where the unofficial mayor is spit shining a glass behind the bar. The warband  gets directions to the whore's location, but not before getting a pladge from the folk here.

They find the whore's house, with a line around the back. six youngsters explain that they are apprentices to a master carpenter, and are looking for fun after a long day. The problem, is that the captain won't leave. The group bursts in, see that she is doing quality work. They offer her a chance to have a brothel in Wavebreaker, explaining that they have removed the evil from that place. 

She agrees.

The captian, seeing his favorite pasttime about to leave, decides to sigh up with the new Jarl, for a chance to see his favorite lady again. He needs to grab some things and people, so he agrees to be at the city in two days.

They group stays for the night, Ragnus plays out a show, telling the full tavern of the Jarl's adventures and deeds. Not a soul has dry eyes when the "truth comes out about how the fishmen killed the jarl's lady love".

The cheers for the exploits of the Jarl Garl and his men go on late into the night. Tales of adventure slavery, and battle fill the tavern. Most decide that they can pledge to the Jarl and his men, and do so on the spot. By morning, the whole of the town has given their oaths. This includes the Master Carpenter, the Tanner, Svin,  and a Merchant, named Iver the Shrewd.

After hearing rumors of a small village at the base of the western mountains, the Warband heads out to find more folk for the cause.

They arrive at a town mostly covered in dirt, rocks, and rubble. It looks like a rockslide buried most of the folk here. They are greeted by the 6 folk who do live here. All of them swear to the new jarl, except for an old man. He gives lip to the group, and is beaten for it. later, he admits his mistake, and drinks with the band. He eventually agrees to help with training young warriors who were once farmers. They also meet a married couple, whos trade is that of merchants they are looking for a way to make that coin, working for a Jarl seems like it might turn a profit. They tell the Warband that there might be a few more folk on this island at the western end, fair to say, that there are a few smugglers trading their ill gotten coin for goods here. The party, excitedly chases after this newest lead, and finds 5 smugglers with considerable blue water experience. They even have a small boat in a hidden cove. For a cut of the profit, they agree to become privateers for the Jarl. 

Folk from all over the island have been pouring in to the city, wanting to hear what this new Jarl promises, what he intends to do. 

The warband returns to Wavebreaker, Spieg calls a companion to his side, a small barn owl, named HootHoot.

Jarden sees the folk who have come to town, and is pleased. he sees the beginnings of a network of information. 

Ragnus feels the savage nature of this warband. on the hunt for people, he swears he keeps hearing a wolf howl, even though there are none on the island. His prayers of hunting human prey under a bright moon are answered by a darker voice, a more feral voice. Ragnus begins to make sacrifice to Fenrir.

In total, 78 folk travel from all corners of the island to hear the word of this Jarl. While most are farmers, some have trades:

1 Blacksmith

1 Tanner

1 Arms Master

1 Sea Captain

1 Brothel Madam

1 Trail Guide

1 Master Carpenter

3 Merchants

6 Apprentice Carpenters

1 Tavern Keeper/Mayor

6 sailors

1 Smuggler Captain

4 Smugglers

50 farmers

This list of folk is promising, the new Jarl will have his hands busy to figure out what will happen next.

As folk begin to trickle into Wavebreaker, The newly elected Jarl must see to this city and it people quickly. Realizing that they have few raw resources, Garl begins to look at the interior of the city itself for materials. the southmost section of the city was burned out. this might be an excellent place to have a pyre for the dead. 

Every man, woman, and child is asked to help with the clean up. Many farmers bring in what food they could take from the ground, and what livestock remained. The livestock on the island is scarce, Garl fears they are going to have to breed the hell out of the ones they have for food. They will also be forced to scavange, forage, and hunt. 

By the end of the third day, the dead have been completely removed from the inner city. As the sun sets that night, the funeral pyre is lit, the dead are put to rest. The outer walls are manned, but there are not enough warriors to defend them. the farmers who have volunteered for this task are instructed to send a runner if trouble should come to the gate, to stay out of the way.

The people are given a day of rest, to drink what small bit of mead and ale is left, to eat of the meager food supply. Starving the population is a good way to incite rebellion. 

The folk are in good spirits come the fourth day. Garl assigns Roark to lead a group in the remnants of the southeast quadrant of the city, to inspect any unburnt buildings, and to make sure no monster or unwanted creature lurks there.

Garl's main group follows closely. First they inspect the cleared building, to see if the building is intact and structurally sound enough to be livable. If it is, they make a chalk mark on the door in the shape of an O. These buildings and houses are ones that can be claimed by folk, should they wish to live in the city. Buildings or houses that have been cleared, but are in bad condition, are marked with an X. All objects and building materials in these buildings are reclaimed for the city. Materials and goods are taken to the inner city courtyard, where a group of folk led by Kruldr sort through the materials, setting raw goods aside, and making household items available to the people for free. Things like furniture haven't gone quickly, but cooking gear, blankets, sheets, clothes have. Kruldr makes sure that all cloth objects are washed thoroughly before being given out.

Yet one more group, run by a man named Erik, who is a master carpenter, and his six apprentices take the usable materials and begin the process of patching the walls and the gates of the city, to keep the folk left here safe.  

Five more days pass, the southern half of the city has been cleared by the work crews. city has been Garl the Jarl declares another rest day, for which the people are grateful. As there are now houses and shops available, people make a claim on a building, and the piled-up furniture soon is gone.  One farmer is a brewer of ale, and provides a drink for all out of his last barrel. 

The rest of the Warband returns. they have brought more folk to the city, and food and drink. there is another day of celebration.

While most folk celebrate Garl is brought up to speed on villages, food stores, boats and the number of people on the island. Garl consults with some of the older farmers he can find. They all agree that the growing season and summers have grown shorter. Many farms should be close to harvest time, and then winter will be upon us. At the moment, Garl sees food being an issue for his people. with the current harvest out in untended fields, there might be enough food left to get through Winter, but it would be hard. Perhaps a group needs to be sent out to harvest food before it rots in the fields?

The southern half of the city has a few houses that are still intact, usable. The fire there claimed many houses. Most of the cleanup until now has been clearing away the charred remains of these buildings.  Perhaps the northern half will prove better. 

A new week starts. Half of the people are sent out with half of the Warband to try and harvest as much as they can from the abandoned fields. They go, taking whatever livestock they can use to haul wagons. All in all, thanks to Erik the Master Carpenter, there are ten wagons in good shape. 

The rest of the people continue to clean and clear out the city, they are half way done with the northern half at the end of another five days. The farm crews return with more crops, livestock, and other items of value. 

Another week starts, the same cycle is repeated, with the city finally cleaned up, and another round of goods brought back from the country. This trip out, there were sightings of slaver ships, and fishmen on the southern shore. Scouting, most likely. Most of the farms at the southern end of the island have been cleared, The Warband was alerted, and observed the ships and fishmen leaving empty-handed. A group of young men training in the Martial Arts in the evening are eager to fight. They will be led on patrol around the island by members of the Warband.

The dawn of the sixth day brings a surprise to the western gates. A woman and a man sit atop of a wagon, patiently waiting for the gate guards to open up the city to them. Garl, Kruldr, and Roark, follow the gate runner back to the western gate, climbing on top of the wall and peering down at the Kuning couple. They introduce themselves as Ingir and Doavi.

Ingir is a practicing Seidr, but also a healer, and her husband Doavi is a ranger. After a misunderstanding with their own people, they have been shunned from their wandering tribe.  And, a greedy merchant ship captain promised them passage to the Southern Isles, but when they were out to sea, the captain demanded a steady stream of their meager wealth. Once that was gone, the greedy captain and crew decidied to take payment in the flesh trade. The couple objected. Doavi  began to put arrows through the skulls of the men, giving Ingir a breath to summon a spirit for aid. They jumped from the boat in to the sea and awoke on this island three days ago. 

After spending the night outside of the village of Norhufa, They both realized something was terribly wrong on this island. Another spirit guided them north, to an abandoned farmstead, there was a full and well preserved silo of grain, as well as honey, mead, root vegetables, and even a few pigs that had gone ferral. They brought all of this with them on this wagon , being pulled by two of the pigs. The spirits pushed them here, to aid the  people and the Jarl as they can.

These two begin to heal any sick or injured they find.

Another week and the warband is supervising patrols, a large group of farmers, and considering having a raid. They gather up those folk who know how to work a vessel, And begin plotting to take a trade shipment with a regular route. They intercept a shipment out of Selvagar, heading to Enkleistra, killing the two "warriors" on board, and capturing the crew.

The boat is laden with 2 tons of Iron Ore, 2 tons of Timber, 200lbs of copper ingots. 

The boat is brought to dock, giving the Warband a third boat to work with.  Erik the Carpenter is volunteered to rework the mast head, giving the boat a bit of disguise. The 15 sailors all agree to serve the warband, worship their gods, and sail for them. They spill their collective guts on what they know of regular trade routes, which is theirs and one other.  The second leg of the route is where the ship picks up wool, foodstuffs, finished goods, like cloth, or worked metal, and ships it back to Selvagar

The second route, made by a smaller vessel, travels from Strjarnavik to Enkleistra with a shipment of plants and herbs, as well as furs. The return leg is similar to the 1st vessel, finished goods, worked metal, oil and tar. the second leg varies, based on need.

A plan is made to scout for this ship, to split the captured, then converted sailors between the three vessels, and to have the two current captains recommend an appointment to be the third captain for the new vessel.

The last run into the countryside yields what most of the farmers believe to be the last of this years harvest. 

Should the Warband order everyone to stay in the city over the winter? Should they continue raids? There is barely enough food for the populace to make it through the cold months...

Should they attempt to find out more information about the trading routes of different ships? Will they head to a port and spy out the information?

And, what does the party think of Yav? What is Yav attempting with these cauldrons? How did she create a golem out of black ice?

Here is a link to the NPC's of Wavebreaker. 

With the acquisition of ships and crew, thoughts of raiding spring through the minds of the Warband. The group holds council to discuss options, which went something like this:

Hjordis: Lets go to the biggest city we see, and kill them all in the name of Hel.

Teton: Maybe we need to look at a smaller place, Enkleistra has thousands of folk, a huge amount of warriors sit around that city waiting for a fight.

Ragnus: Ask Jarden for a good place to raid, he has contacts everywhere, right?

Hjordis: But we are still gonna kill them all, right?

Garl: We need more people come summer. We are really only going to be able to defend the inner wall of Wavebreaker. I've been thinking of sending out a group to make a second picking over of  Norhufa and ???? for any supplies that we missed, raw material we can scavange, and to possibly destroy any remenants of the towns.  I don't want an enemy using either location as a base. And, Norhufa has a taint about it since the cauldron thing.

Speig: Oh, yes your grace.

Roarik: Of Course great Jarl

Garl: shut up.

[small fist fight played out to the sounds of cheering an leering in the background]

Jardin: I'm Here!

Kruldr: Dammit! stop sneaking up on us!

Jardin: [ignoring crazy sorcerer] There is a place to the east called Bruskagar, its not a good point to raid for valuables, but might be good for allies and information on the rest of the world to the north. Its a town full of criminals and thieves. When ??? siezed power in Enkleistra, all of the criminals in the city prison were set free. Most escaped, made it to this town, which was already a town of thieves, bandits, mercenaries and assassins. the three groups that are there, the Frost Arrows, the Light Fingers, and the Brothers of Hode run the place. 

Garl: We might be able to make that work.

Ragnus: Feel them out, see if those groups will join us.

Jardin: The old sea captain wanted to warn us that there will be issues about us claiming this island, and proclaiming our own Jarl, AND raiding without the consent of a noble they recognize. We could see a raiding party hit us in the near future.  It might be wise to split our efforts, have one group stay, the other investigate these potential allies.

Hjordis: A new town to convert. I'm for traveling

Teton: Hmm... they might have craftsmen we could convince to join us. I'm in

Ragnus: Trade, allies, information. Sounds like we could use it. I'm in to travel.

Garl: So be it! The rest of the band shall remain, and deal with this new possible threat.

With the meeting finished, the group bound for Bruskagar head off to pack.

The next dawn is subdued and cold, the sunless morning greets the crew. Five warriors join the six sailors, the captain, Hjordis, Teton and Ragnus on the boat. The crew shoves off from the dock, rowing into the sea fog as they head to the east. A few days pass in fair weather, with no sign of fish men. The third day puts the ship in view of a small town on the shore. In sight of the town, two oddly shaped boats sit off shore, a small boat rowing out from the boat to the docks, which are in ruins. The Captain speculates that perhaps the docks are in a ruined state, and ships have been sunk in the close proximity to discourage legitimate trade ships from getting too close. Men at the dock area are signaling each other, probably about the warbands vessel.

The group decides to land the boat on a rocky beach less than a mile from to town, to the south. As they unload gear, they feel eyes upon them, and decide to leave men to protect the boat. 10 men stay with the ship, the Band and two other warriors head out to get a drink.

They find a fair-looking establishment, called The Helping Hand. 

The group talks to the locals, mostly about the weather, crops, life, trade. They let slip out a story about a local armor-smith, named Hilde. She had finished a special order for a customer, expecting a pretty penny for her work. The customer tried to short pay her, and ended up with an empty purse themselves and no armor. She also gave the poor soul a warning not to cheat her in the form of a verbal and physical bump on the head. She was vocal enough that half the town heard her, so her point was made. No one cheats the owner of the Stone Bowl.

The party decides to see if they can locate one of the three groups in town, and shop a bit. The bartender, feeling pity, perhaps, quietly warns the team to be gentle when approaching the groups. 

He lets them know that the tavern singer is a member of the Frost Arrows, and might be able to help them make contact with that group. He suggests coming back after sundown to meet her.

He also mentions that there is a house up the street with a red door that has gambling, and at the docks, in the only standing warehouse, is a fighting arena, and bets on fighters can be made there.

But, first the Stone Bowl.

The shop is named after the shape of the building, which looks like an upside-down, gray stone bowl.  

Once they find and enter the shop, the group sees much in the way of tools, materials, and workspace. There is a grizzled woman at counter, cqrefully brushing a furry chest piece of armor. "This is one of my better works, but as it is a commission that was never paid, I would offer it at a discounted rate.  500 gold pieces.

The group convinces her that they want to make a better offer, to leave this town, and go to Wavebreaker with them. She agrees, begins to pack her stuff. She warns them that the groups in this town will be reluctant to let her just leave, especially Craw the Ferrier, the head of the Brothers of Hode in this town. From the Frost Arrows, Lor is their leader. From the Lightfingers, Dane is the leader the Lightfingers

The group insists that they will take care of it.

The group sends one of the warriors to check out Craw, the other heads back to the tavern to continue eavesdropping for gossip.

Hjordis heads to a general store, buys to small kegs of oil, Has the tavern keeper watch them for her.

The three head to the docks, where they are looking for the only warehouse, which just happens to be the headquarters of the Brothers of Hode.

Outside, a dozen young hooligans are loitering by the door of the warehouse. They immediately start to question the three about their business, and they get an answer, the band wishes to purchase a small boat. They are allowed to pass, and head inside. there is a smell of blood, sweat, spit, and dust that permeates the walls of this place. many folk in the building are lifting heavy iron bars with weights attached. so perform various calastinics. The center of the building is where a fenced off area is marked out, two individuals pause as the group slides in. They see  a small shop in a corner, and proceed to it. The shop keeper does deal in boats. Unfortunately, things get out of hand, Somebody talks smack, then somebody pulls a weapon, then everyone in the building wants a piece of the warband. 

Then the warband ends up killing everyone in the place. 

They make it outside and realize that the punk kids that were there, are no longer there, they probably went to tell the boss, so trouble is coming. 

Inside, they collect 2 suits of leather armor, 10 daggers, 10 shortswords, 92gp, 1 gold ring, claimed by Hjordis, 1 gold torc claimed by Ragnus, and one silver bracelet, claimed by Teton. 

They indulge in a short rest before things get crazy again.

Back in Wavebreaker, the rest of he Warband, and the whole population of the city are racing against time.  There has been no reprisal for the raids on the ship. Most of the Band is of the opinion that the boat taken in the sea raids, the Leid Leita,  will be considered lost at sea by the owners. However, they don't want to pick a fight with the neighbors to the north just yet. Or risk losing one of their three vessels. Garl orders the master carpenter and his apprentices to alter to captured ship 'cosmetically'. This is done over the course of two weeks time. During this time, It is decided by the Warband, to send the other ship, the Vindr Ras, north to Enkleistra. This voyage is necessary for three reasons. The first being that Jarden wishes to continue to build his network of information gathering. to this end, he is enlisting the aid of the three merchants on the island, Ivar the Shrewd, Kasark and Irena. The initial plan is to have them reestablish communication with old contacts, and to keep an eye out for possible recruiting opportunities. This, of course, is in addition to very carefully snooping about what the people think about the 'missing' ship, and maybe even using the captured goods to establish some regular trade. AND, trying to recruit folk to come to the island as residents. This prompts Jarden, Roarik and Spieg to consider going along in order to aid with these goals. They collect their gear, and head for the docks to begin prepping the boat. There is much debate over the next three days on what should take priority. an agreement is still not reached at the dawn of the fourth day.

The water off of the small inlet bay is flat and lifeless, and the fog is thick.  There is total surprise when the large Drakkkor-class ship pushes through the water, rowing silently, and coming to a halt with great precision. Armed Vikingr immediately leap off the ship, shields and swords at the ready. the ten men move as a well trained unit, forming a moving shield wall, finally stopping at the beginning of the dock. They sit in silence, waiting. the gang plank is lowered, and a richly dressed man descends. He is older, with more than a bit of gray in his hair and beard. his cloths have the look of fine wool and he is draped in furs, from the look of them, wolf. He walks the the back of the armed men, looks at the crew of the Vindr Ras, and huffs. 

He orders, in a loud, clear voice, "Stand Down, Sea Dogs! We are not here for war. Not yet.."

He looks at the Band on the smaller vessel, still somewhat shocked at the appearence of the huge boat. Jarden, Roarik and Speig all notice that there is many, many more men still on the boat, that this is one of the largest vessels they have ever seen, that there are two small flags at the top of the mast, both with different emblems. The first, is for the Kingdom of Alsvartr, the middle kingdom of Svilland. The second emblem is for the Sundfoerr Sveit, a group founded by the three kingdoms to stamp out piracy, and unsanctioned raids by bandits, non-nobles. They enforce a law known as the Right of Waves, which states that nobles are the only ones who can authorize a raid. the authorized vessels are marked with a special glyph. This group also has been imbued to enforce limits on how many war ships any one noble can own. They are usually backed by the three kingdoms and Tyr's Judges.

The older noble speaks to the group," I am known as Grimwuld the Ashen. I have come at the behest of the Alsvatr crown to speak with the leader of this settlement."

He waits.

In the mean time, Our friends across the waters, in the town of Bruskagar, things are heating up for Hjordis, Ragnus, and Teton. The former warehouse they were in is on fire. There are a large number of folk skulking in the shadows, armed with bows. What remains of the Brothers of Hode have formed a loose ring around the group. More people are moving toward the Band, including the man called  Craw the Ferrier, the head of the Brothers of Hode in this town. Next to him, a woman who looks like the singer from the tavern, armed with a bow. and last, a man on the opposite side of Craw, stands tall. He is a plain faced man with brown hair, and has been toying with a dagger, moving it from finger to finger. They could be Lor of the Frost Arrows and  Dane of the Lightfingers.  

The knife-flipper speaks at the band," You three have hurt Craw's feelings. killing so many. And you burned down his building. That wasn't very nice, more naughty."

The woman with the bow calmly says," I am inclined to act as Craw would, in honor of our pact. "

Knife-flipper agrees.

Craw stands to his full height. He is a scarecrow of a man. "I had no quarrel with you three. I would ask what brought on this fighting."

He stares at you three. Waiting.

[So, right now we are at a talkie-talkie part. there are two seperate groups at the moment, in Wavebreaker, at the docks, we have Daniel, Robbie, and Jose. One, or alll three have a chance to converse with Grimwuld, either by one person, the speaker, rolling a persuasion check, supported by the other two players, or by writing out a response and sending it to me. 

For Orlando, Cliff and Mitch, it is the same thing. One of you is a speaker, the others can make rolls to support that main persuasion roll, or yall can write out dialogue.

If a group chooses to roll, we will do it through D&D Beyond, using their virtual dice for the checks. Just let me know if/when you have rolled. Don't worry Darren and Jared, your time is coming!]

With quick thinking from Ragnus, and a bit of deception, he convinces the group of hostiles that the fight was a huge misunderstanding, the people wouldn't pay the bet and attacked us! This mighty deception (19) convinced the locals that they were innocent, the Brotherhood of Hodr and Craw were embarrassed, The rest of the people are a bit confused, still a bit mistrustful, when a youngling points to the horizon. Three Drakkor ships appear, blowing horns.