Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Message

Stirling · #201 Post by **Stirling** » Wed Dec 14, 2022 10:08 pm

Ralfwin Edwinsen

This place is not so hospitable. While some of us prepare the bodies, can a couple scout for a more suitable place to rest or set about making a camp here.

I will help drag the bodies together. With Carr's help, he can be responsible for any personal belongings of the deceased group and as 'needs must' we can add any supplies, lanterns, oils to our combined gear.

If Carr is also a man of faith, covered in a garment hemmed in Odin runes I suspect so. Therefore he can help me with any rituals and prayers. Valdis might want further trophies like vargr fangs or claws. That is no problem to me.

Can we just agree on the concensus which seems to be leaving bodies here with a wolf each and taking one back plus the survivor, in order for Grey Boe to repatriate bodies as he deems fit.

Marullus · #202 Post by **Marullus** » Thu Dec 15, 2022 4:15 pm

Music and Ambiance: Avenge the Fallen

Valdis Insight

Skirfir Insight

Vakar hangs his lantern to illuminate their work as the group gathers the bodies of the deceased together, pairing them with the wolf-corpses. Each warrior with a defeated foe, suitable for entry into Valhalla. Ralfwin takes the proper time to conduct funerary rites on each of the fallen, no longer hopefuls but ended in their journey. The sky glows a pale gray by the time all four bodies are consecreated, protected by Odin's power against the will of Hel. Carr seems relieved that he is not asked to run back alone and does his best to work as Ralfwin's assistant, though not versed in the consecration rituals himself.

The others looks to dig four graves, each large enough for man and wolf. While the axes of Doshea and Stigandr can cut the frozen soil and roots below, there are no suitable digging tools among you and after an hour of hand-digging to arrive at a single, shallow half-grave, you give up and try to warm your fingers. With the bodies consecrated, you cover them with cut boughs, entrusting them to the God's mercies until Grey Eyed Boe and his men can return.

The group takes a short rest before their journey out of the forest, a quiet and nervous repast of dried fruits, bread, and water, none of you really trusting the clearing nor the ravens who returned to further-off branches as you worked, now visible in the early morning gloaming.

But at last, there is no more to be done. You fashion a litter that can be carried between Doshea and Skirfir, the women being the two strongest among you, that can bear the fifth wolf-corpse as you move. The dim light of the pre-dawn sky raises some of the gloom from the forest. After an hour, it has brightened enough to see normally. The pre-dawn light grows gradually for almost two hours before the sun actually breaks the horizon, a late dawn for winter bringing an ever-shorter day. It is passing noon when you depart the deep forests of Freya's Gift and are in the familar forests of the town, and it is about 1:30 when you reach the town's gates.

"You get lost out there, eh?" calls a guard in a friendly tone, "Usually back before dawn from the Trials."

The tone shifts from friendly chiding to deep concern as you arrive and Carr informs them of the death of the rest of his party. The Sergeant takes the report of your night with more guardsmen gathering to furrow brows and gasp in shock and concern at what you experienced. Birger takes charge and begins organizing a seasoned rescue party. "Let's go... nobody disturb Boe. Not with things as they are," he tells the others who nod and grunt their assent. Your dead warg is taken by two other men, who say they'll see it gets to Rudolf to look at the runes.

You see a group of men with a horse-sledge heading into the wood as you are all hustled to the Inn. Word has already spread faster than you all could walk and there are many somber eyes watching as you enter, the musicians quiet in the corner.

"Get some rest," comforts Sorli as he dries a mug. "There will be time for the rest tomorrow. Your rooms are on us. We're glad you're back."

Does Valdis or Skirfir claim any antecedents from the wolves for magic item creation? Together, you may claim up to 3.

Vakar, subtract a second flask of oil (two total for the expedition).

You are safe in town. You can narrate any details of your return to town, and meet together to talk over breakfast (please include how you relate to Carr when he joins you). You will have three days of downtime to recover from exhaustion and if you want them for downtime actions (like smithing/crafting a magic item).

Everyone please use your private forums to level up to Level 2 and then update your Rogues Gallery sheet.

Environment	Initiative Order	Effects in Play
Time: 7:10am (depart camp) 1:30pm (arrive at town) Date: Second Day of Winter (Nov. 2nd) Temperature is currently -1c. Clouds are 100%. Snow has stopped, winds died down and are now a light breeze. Several inches of snow cover the ground in the clearing.	None.	Night at 5:35pm (darkness) Pre-dawn at 5:56am (dim light) Almost Dawn at 6:51am (normal light) Sunrise at 7:43am

Enoch · #203 Post by **Enoch** » Thu Dec 15, 2022 5:20 pm

Valdís carefully carves out a pair of canines from one of the fallen wolves, wiping her bone-blade clean against its fur before resheathing it. Back in town, she finds a quiet spot and begins muttering to herself in Kun.

Rex · #204 Post by **Rex** » Thu Dec 15, 2022 10:17 pm

Skirfir

Skirfir will also claim a canine, from the largest wolf.

Skirfir will eat her breakfast, greet everyone and then go looking for Rudolf to see what he has learned of the runes.

sastaz · #205 Post by **sastaz** » Fri Dec 16, 2022 9:57 pm

If there is a decent, and not too damaged, wolf pelt to be had, Vakar tries to get a wolf skin to commission a wolf cloak for himself.

Will update sheet reflecting new level during Christmas holiday.

Enoch · #206 Post by **Enoch** » Sun Dec 18, 2022 6:48 pm

After spending several hours cross-legged before the great hearth, leaving only to fetch hunks of meat and bread to bring back before the fire, Valdís finally shrugs off her fur and rubs her upper arms vigorously. (I'm assuming that we're taking a Long Rest, so she'll lose her level of Exhaustion.)

Heaving a sigh, she fishes around in her pouch for a moment before producing a narrow shard of bone, no longer than her finger. This she sets dowon on one thigh before pulling a a leather roll from her pack, unbuckling it, and unrolling it to reveal a selection of tools each in their own pouch: a small hand-saw, a bone-drill in several parts, several rasps, a sturdy-looking short blade, and several chisels. Soon she is working on the length of bone, slowly filing it down to a point with a rough rasp and smoothing it out with a finer one as the floorboards before her gradually are covered in a fine layer of bone dust.

When she finally rolls her tools back up in their case, the bone resembles a tattoo needle, which she tucks back in her pouch. She pads up to Hungerd and asks, "Do you know where I might find Rudolf, the sage? I'm seeking information regarding certain herbs used for a special ink."

I'm looking for whatever components are needed for a Masquerade Tattoo in addition to the werevargr bone.

Rex · #207 Post by **Rex** » Fri Dec 30, 2022 5:26 pm

Skirfir

Skirfir heads to Hallkatla's shop to work on a hammer.

"Hi Hallkatla, if you don't mind I am going to work on a hammer for myself. When I am done I can help you out with some of the work for the village."

She sets to work, fanning the forge to as hot as possible and gathers the tools she will need. She also prepares the Hel Touched Wolf's fang to grind it into a powder to add to the molten metal for her new hammer. She works away, invoking The Smidr and her Ancestors to guide her and add power to the Hammer. Chanting as she works.

Finally after a long and busy day she completes the Hammer.

Do I need to roll anything?

Spearmint · #208 Post by **Spearmint** » Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:55 pm

Stigandr Yngvarsen

Is a bit annoyed that their victory and news is spread quicker. He has questions to ask but perhaps such is not his place. He journeyed here to join the War-party. He thinks they, he has done enough. While the dust settles and the village goes into whatever mourning it might, he just busies himself with helping any of the more veteran war-party members with basic tasks such as chopping wood, grooming horses.

He expects Grey-eyed Boe to call them at some point.

sastaz · #209 Post by **sastaz** » Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:51 pm

Vakar, after having tried to get himself a wolf pelt cloak, or maybe a wolf pelt rimmed cloak, plays around a bit and joke with the local children, trying to turn their minds away from the darkness and horror of which they surely have already been overwhelmed with. He will tell the tale of how they defeated the evil wolf ("it was thiiiiiis big") and he will lower his voice right before the wolf in the story pounces at them, trying to suddenly catch and tickle a few of the youngest kids as the worg is "tearing and biting at the warriors". Maybe he will also do some twig swordplay with them. After all, these are the warriors of tomorrow.

Unsungknot · #210 Post by **Unsungknot** » Mon Jan 02, 2023 5:19 pm

Doshea Ulfgar thanks Sorli and gathers a heaping plate and mug, she sits and listens to Vakar's tale, interjecting periodically to emphasize how they defeated the worg together and encouraging the children to also work together to defeat Vakar. As she watches the play her exhaustion, full belly, and empty mead mug, begin to weigh on her and her eyes begin to droop. A particularly high pitched giggle and squeal from one of the children rouse her from her light slumber and she moves to prepare her spells, asking Sorli through a yawn if he has any spare parchment or ink so she can write a few prayers.

Marullus · #211 Post by **Marullus** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 2:36 am

Stig heads back to the inn, his work complete. They've done well in the forest, and by the bodies of the fallen as well, and the warband has set forth to recover the victorious dead. He nurses his ale as the whispers of their night go through the tavern, a bit annoyed that the tale got ahead of him. But this doesn't last long. He marks himself as a leader and it is not long before other townsfolk approach to hear more details first hand. What happened out there? What is it they are saying about evil... it is Freya's Mercy, the blessed forest. Were the wargs really glowing with Hel-fire? Did you really find the lost boy, Robart Paulsen? The afternoon fades into evening, the evening to night's rest, and he tells the group's truths.

In the morning, the younger party joins you for breakfast. With the mixed emotions of the night they had stayed away, hoping to avoid questions. Over cooked oats, they confide that they didn't finish the challenge. Having left your burning pyre, they searched hours but the squirrel never got them to the wolves... eventually they realized it was simply digging at nut caches, but the forest's evil was so palpable and they knew there were werevargrs. They gave up, returning to the town before dawn without a wolf hide prize. At first they went home to their families to hide their shame but once the word spread that even Getrud and Hilda died, not to mention the rest of Carr's band... the dark-haired bookish boy admits he is glad they lived, to try again next year.

With the new day, Vakar engages the curious children who now emerge after breakfast, titilating them with daring details of the night's adventures and engaging their wooden swords in play fighting. He is a warband member now - even though they are children, they are treating him as a respected warrior and not a thrall. He smiles to himself. Hroar, the famed local baker, approaches Vakar, a mound of grey-black furs draped over his arm. "I, uh... well my boy told me of what you said to them, before they turned back to town. You did well and I think I owe you for his safety." Hroar extends the bundle out - a cloak stitched of three grey-black wolf pelts with a deep hood, a padded black cloth lining within. It is not armor for a warrior, but does seem like it would offer warmth and protection to the unarmored former thrall. "Now... you need anything, anything at all, you know where the badger knocks, eh? There's cookies at the bakery." Hroar meets Vakar's eyes solemnly for a pointed moment, his fingers tapping on his arm, then he smiles warmly. "Come by any time."

The blue-skinned dwarf Skirfir is possessed of a new idea, burning within her, waiting to be crafted into reality by the works of her hands. It is the way of the Dvergr, the creation burning in her soul. She returns to Hallkatla's smithy, where she worked the recent weeks. The smith is glad to see the dwarf returned safely and is glad to provide materials and the forge if she is allowed to watch the dwarf at work. Skirfir pumps the bellows as she contemplates the magic of the Hel-runes, the forge glowing white-hot as she begins to pound the iron and reform the concepts in her mind, flaking away impurities as she folds the metal again, and again. The iron takes shape, a powerful warhammer, fit for strong dwarven arms. She watches the ebb and flow of magic, of heat, of energy as she works. She recalls the runes of Hel from the hides of each wolf and working their nature into the weapon itself. She powders and works the essence of the canine tooth into the knotwork enameling. She works this singular task from before the sun rises until long after the sun has faded to darkness - at last she quenches it and examines her work. Hallkatla inhales in awe... it is the finest thing to come from this smithy. Certainly, it is a worthy work for any human smith. Skirfir, however, is not satisfied. It is a suitable work for men, but she is driven by the legacy of her ancestors, to only accept the truly masterful, truly exceptional. Another whole day she works - fine-tuning the balance of the weapon, polishing and engraving the wolfs-head designs into its surface. By the light of the forge on the second evening, Skirfir and Hallkatla stand together, looking in awe on a true masterpiece. The hammer is perfectly balanced for both one- and two-handed use, so keen it can even be thrown. The workings upon it are out of legend. They hold it up in the night outside the smithy and it shines in the moonlight. Then it not only shines, but it glows. The pair stand illuminated in a pale, moon-like glow coming from the hammer itself... but to the surprise of the dwarf, the light does not fade.

Valdis sits upon a braided rug before the fireplace in her room above the tavern, the accoutrements of her ancestral witchcraft and bone-carving tools arranged around her in a pattern whose significance is known only to her. She hisses in the glow of the firelight, turning over the boneshard of the werewolf, later known as Robart Paulsen, in her fingers. At her summons, a pale green apparition coallesces next to her, her ancestor providing her guidance in their Kun language. The magic of change, the power of changing shape... it is potent within the werewolf. But it is a power that can be taken. The witch whittles and shapes the bone, the ghosts around her emitting a sibilant chanting only she can hear. She focuses her will upon the boneshard needle, consuming the power of the werewolf, taking it into herself. She presses the needle to the flesh on the back of her left hand. Inky blackness pours from it into her flesh. The needle itself melts, its power absorbed by her will. The ancestor spirits clamor over her, each vying to to use the darkness on her hand as a conduit, Valdis' body and face morphing violently as each spirit manifests its own face, its own body, its own memory upon her flesh in a bid to be manifest in the world again. Finally Valdis asserts herself, bringing her hands together in a violent clap, dispelling the ancestral whisps around her. She asserts herself, her body and form swelling and growing. She is a foot taller. She is a man. She/he is a blond Mithal, no longer shunned as Kun. She shrinks back to herself once more, the slight Kun witch viewed with suspicion. She smiles as she holds up her hand, watching the ink reform itself to her whim; she now is whomever she wishes to be. The power has been taken and it is hers.

An evening of rest, drink, and food restores Doshea Ulfgar, who enjoys playing with and encouraging the children along with Vakar. It is good, for the day, to feel common... though the Aura of Gods is ever upon her. Rising on subsequent days, she goes to the Shrine. She feels the attention of Thor upon her now that she has proven herself in battle. She meditates and focuses herself in prayer and she feels the tingling in her skin, the nearness of the Asgardian's presence. It grows within her, palpable, as she kneels in the small open-air shrine of the marketplace... where before she felt Thor in a thunderstorm or swelling in her at the sight of injustice now it is everpresent. Inescapable. She takes up her battleaxe in her hand, looking at it thoughtfully, and... then it happens. Lightning arcs across her flesh. It courses down her arms, collesces upon the axe blade, glows within her eyes. Runes are burned into the stone beneath her by the sheer power of Asgard coursing through her, across her, around her. She feels it - she is worthy of the power of Thor. It is hers to call.

A pair of wide-eyed children -- two of those who she encouraged in Sorli's tavern and who seem to have been spying on her since -- squeal and run, fleeing the marketplace to tell what they saw.

Post any additional wrap-up for the three days downtime. I hope the above highlights character growths. The call from Grey Eyed Boe will begin Chapter 2 shortly.

Rex · #212 Post by **Rex** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:36 am

Skirfir

Skirfir holds her new hammer high, "I name thee Hamarrtunglskin!"

Turning to Hallkatla, "My friend, thank you for everything, your help was indispensable. Lets walk the village walls, I am curious of something."

She will walk the perimeter of the village inside the walls and note where Hamarrtunglskin glows and does not glow.

Unsungknot · #213 Post by **Unsungknot** » Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:45 pm

Doshea Ulfgar

Doshea laughs at the feeling of lightning running through her and over her axe and then lets out a yell of jubilation, knowing she is on the right path and has proven herself to Thor brings a light to her heart. She kneels once more, thinking of the hel hounds and those who lost their lives, promising to protect those she can and destroy these undead enemies. When her prayer is done she stands and finds an open area to practice her fighting skills for a few hours, walks through the village to help wherever needed, before joining others in the tavern for food and drink and some jubilation.

sastaz · #214 Post by **sastaz** » Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:52 pm

Vakar will tinker around with herbs and concoctions with no great result. He's either unused with the tools or does not remember exactly how exactly everything needed to be prepared. To administer help is one thing - he's done that a lot over the years - but to prepare the remedies turns out to be another thing.

He also takes Hroar's invitations seriously and pays him a few visits during these days. Friends are rare and hard to come by! Vakar makes sure to thank him again for the cloak.

"It will keep me warm during the long winter and remind me of this fatal night. Through what took place, the strands of destiny runs in it. I am no sage, but I think my companions might be able to let their powers flow through it and grant me some of the strength I felt that evening. They have the gift to weave the strands of the All into things, much like the Norns. I have seen it."

If he can get some "village hero" discount, and get a healer's kit for less than 5 gp, he'll get one.

Marullus · #215 Post by **Marullus** » Sat Jan 07, 2023 1:16 pm

Vakar works his knowledge faithfully, gathering herbs from the near-forest and grinding them, decocting essence with water, extracting essence with alcohol, or mixing with ungents for salves and pastes. Something about it is wrong, however. The herbs are wilting faster than expected, even rotting right on his workbench. Some have no seeds, others appear healthy but lack any efficacy. The forest is not as it should be and for his three day's efforts he only is able to gain marginal benefit in restocking his bag. (+10 uses, total 20 uses)

Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness

Re: Chapter 1: Into the Wilderness