Norse Campaign Journal

[L. Marcus]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

You say it like it's a bad thing.

[Gnaskar]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

And just to add to the fun, the Norwegian Parliament is still called "Storting" which, directly translated, means Big Thing. This was from when Norway (briefly) was a single nation (controlling much of Scandinavia) they needed a meta-thing to gather the leaders of all the other Things (so they could discuss the really important things).

 

Unsurprisingly, the Norwegian Empire (never actually called that) collapsed within a few decades.

 

Fun fact: the Russian equvilant to a norse Thing is a Soviet. Hence the name.

 

Edit: How is this being geeky?!

[L. Marcus]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

. . . Excuse me? Norway an empire?

 

Norway hasn't been an international power since the 10th century. Rather, they've been the victims of the ambitions of Denmark and Sweden, and became their own truly sovereign nation at the start of the 1900s.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

My God..... I´d always thought I´d detected an undercurrent of Scandanavian tensions on these boards... everytime something like this comes up......

 

How many of you were obscure history majors of one sort of another? (Not that it´s a bad thing... it´s just there seems to be an expert in every era here....)

[L. Marcus]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

. . . I'm a Swede. I learned that in fourth grade.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Well played, sir. Well played.

[Lucius]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Oh Saints help us.... Please, just post another session log or notes of what´s going on or something.....

 

They´re really getting their geek on.

 

We're just doing our own Thing!

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Doing the palindromedary thing

 

PPS (post palindromedary stuff) - actually, I should know all this stuff better than I do. I've been reading Gwynn Jones' History of the Vikings. I've been disappointed to learn that he claims there may not have been a Sigurd the Haughty, bemused to learn that Vikings and Eskimos could have met at a Disco (just imagine the visual on that,) and delighted to learn all about Valdemar the Great, who had concubines stashed away in every town and village in his domains totaling 800, and not only managed to add a purple born Byzantine princess as the crown jewel of his collection of women but got canonized as Saint Vladimir! So there's your saint, Manic Typist, I hope he helps!

[Casper]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

 

How many of you were obscure history majors of one sort of another? (Not that it´s a bad thing... it´s just there seems to be an expert in every era here....)

 

Well I enjoy it as a history major....especailly since I know little of that region its always good to expand my knowledge

 

Rag should have the notes posted somepoint soon we just finished a long session today.

[Gnaskar]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

. . . I'm a Swede. I learned that in fourth grade.

I'm Norwegian. Ditto.

 

And we were doing just fine 'til we were told about Christianity (in 1030)... After that our country was sold between Denmark and Sweden for a millennium, even being french at one point (damn Napoleon...).

 

We did kick your arses in 1905 though, and at least we actually fought the Nazis. The Swedish Neutrality kept you out of that war. (Of course, we tried being neutral as well, but after what Quisling did...)

[L. Marcus]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

A Brother Scandinavian! Welcome aboard!

[Manic Typist]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

How do you pronounce Quisling anyway?

 

And you probably would be horrified to hear how I first learned that name...

[L. Marcus]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

. . . I think it has the emphasis on the last syllable. Quis-LING.

 

And, by the way, do tell!

[Manic Typist]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Vampire Earth Chronicles, by Something Something Valentine.

 

Gist is the Earth has been more of less taken over by vampiric creatures called Kurians. The human forces who collude with them (that´s such a great word, actually. Don´t get to use it that often) are called Quislings. At some point in the novels a brief explanation is given, but I think it mostly amounts to ¨Quisling was a guy who betrayed his people and ruled on behalf of invaders.¨ So I went and Wikipediaed him.

[Markdoc]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Yep, and I'm not Scandinavian, but have had an interest in vikings since I was a kid. Now, more or less by coincidence I live in Copenhagen and work there and in Norway (for about 11 years now). One of the people in our old gaming group (don't see her much since she had kids) is a lecturer in early scandinavian history and used to work for the national museum, so we got to see/do some cool stuff.

 

So we have a shared interest in vendel/viking times.

 

cheers, Mark

[L. Marcus]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

I like to think of you as Scandinavian by adoption.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Greetings all. Before I begin, I would like to point out that I am largely Norwegian by heritage. Go Scandinavia!

 

Session #7:

 

Ah yes, the long awaited raid on the Raven Clan outpost. The PC's opt to approach the outpost in two groups, one to surveil the east side and one to surveil the west. After a bit of a tense moment trying to cross the trading path unseen, they manage to set up their observation on hills overlooking the outpost. During the night, three trolls approach the outpost from the ravine below one of their hills. They do not notice the PCs, and continue on. A well-armored man with a sword comes from the longhouse to greet these trolls. This is the Hersir in charge of the outpost. The PCs manage to catch some random words and phrases, such as "payment" and "shipment" and "courier." Also to the PCs' surprise is the fact that the troll in charge can speak the Hersir's language. Apparently, the the shipment has been delayed for a day. The trolls leave for the night, and the PCs continue to surveil the outpost, noting the number of men they saw, and the size and frequency of patrols. Jax tries to stealth over to the other side and inform the PCs on the other side of what the plan is, but he botches his stealth rolls and gets caught. The Hersir and his men spot the ring of Alric's clan on his finger, and they treat him rather unkindly as they drag him inside the longhouse. The plan just got wayyy more complicated. The PCs debate on what to do, and eventually, with some suggestion from Alric's men, they decide to ambush the trolls and get the shipment first, then save their friend once they had the item. The Hersir didn't kill him on the spot, so he is likely to survive for a little while longer. They witness the trolls come again, pick up the shipment, and start to leave. The PCs venture further down the ravine, picking an ambush spot. They ambush the Troll Warlord and his minions without alerting the outpost, and finish them off to discover the Troll is carrying a scroll on him, as well as more gold with the mark of the Raven. The next morning, they manage to stealth up to the longhouse bust down the door, and engage the surprised enemies while Felnor goes to free Jax. After a fierce fight which leaves about half the raiding party pretty beat up, and one of Alric's men stabbed in the gut by the Hersir, the PC's and Alric's men gain the upper hand, and manage to subdue the Hersir. They search the area, finding more strange black weapons in the blacksmith, and Jax's gear in the tower. They decide to torch the entire place, and get the hell out of Dodge. They hurry back to Carrock, and rest up while Alric is left to deal with his fallen warrior and the Hersir.

 

Reactions:

 

Decent combat session. I feel the group has backslid a bit on the decisiveness issue. There was also a big issue of failing stealth rolls. Fate would have it that the mission they needed it the most, the worst the rolled. I tried to be lenient, but at a certain point I just had to enact the consequences. All in all, it didn't go as badly as it could have gone. I just hope they sharpen up for the next session, which will require them to be alert and involved. Sometimes my inner player screams in agony at things I would view as painfully obvious, but perhaps that's just because I know exactly what's going on. Still....I have hope.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Just to confirm- Jax was in the tender care of the enemy all night (since the trolls left for the night but returned for the shipment... the next night?).

 

What WAS the plan he was going to tell them about anyway? And the way I heard it told... he tried to sneak THROUGH the camp rather than around it.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

He did indeed spend the night in captivity. The Hersir wouldn't have any of his tricks, however, and ended up cutting up his face pretty bad and throwing salt on it. Then, he came in, covered him in blood, and set down a cage of hungry rats he caught in the storehouse, telling Jax that if he didn't disclose who he was and what he was doing there, he would loose the rats.

 

And yes, he tried to sneak through the camp.

[Markdoc]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

I like to think of you as Scandinavian by adoption.

 

How nice!

 

cheers, Mark

[Ragnarok]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Session #8:

 

The PCs show the evidence to Alric. Unfortunately, no one can read the Troll Runes, so Alric tells the PCs he needs an Eredar Artifact to read it: a magical crystal that has the power to imbue the reader with the knowledge of what is written and viewed through the crystal. Unfortunately it's not handy. It's on top of a mountain. A sacred Eredar mountain. Guarded by the Eredar. They ride up to the mountain and start climbing the side. The heavy snowfall and steep sides make for an interesting climb, but fortunately the PCs had the sense to tie themselves and have the strongest folks anchor those who might slip. They make their way up to the top of the mountain, after nearly alerting the guardians, who happen to be large, hulking masses of shadow with burning eyes. Harald's Champion arrives and confers with the three guardians, a distraction that the PCs take advantage of. Bjorn sneaks over while Jax sets up his snow cloak. Bjorn is nearly spotted, but ducks behind the altar in time, reaches up, snags the crystal, and gets the hell out. The stones on top of the mountain pulse with red energy after the theft, and the guardians are alerted. Alric stays behind to buy the PCs enough time to start their descent. In a frantic descent/controlled fall, the PCs race toward the bottom while Alric jumps off the peak, and starts to roll downhill (fortunately, out of all of them, he can take it). They reach the bottom, and the team rides hurriedly off to Carrock. Alric translates the scroll, which is quite incriminating. He calls a special meeting of the Thing, and the PCs accompany him. The site of the Thing is a large longhouse on an island in the middle of a lake, that is equidistant from the respective seats of power of the 5 clans. They arrive, Alric and Harald argue, but Alric produces the damning evidence. Then, while their is much angry debate in the hall, a shadowy, cloaked figure sits next to Jax. Once the newcomer confirms that this is indeed the meeting of the leaders of the 5 clans, he calmly thanks Jax for the information, and walks out the door. Moments later, the PC's hear "Burn it!" and 5 assassins burst in the hall, while flaming arrows thud against the walls. Harald and his champion are quite startled, and Harald quickly ports them out, leaving his retinue and the rest of the hall to fend for themselves. The PCs leap into action, but all of the remaining leaders except Alric are killed. The guy who walked in before the attack reappears, and starts blasting away. Felnor bravely rushes him, but gets picked up and flung across the hall into the wall. The defenders are slowly butchered, except for one clansman who not only survives, but fights exceedingly well, even killing an assassin! Lucky bastard.

 

The PCs fight on, taking some pretty heavy damage. With Alric's help, they manage to kill of all of the assassins except the boss, whom they nearly kill, but he transforms into a mist and escapes through the hole in the roof for the fire, swearing his undying revenge. Yep, they were vampires. Alfar Vampires, of the coastal variety. Tons of interesting information in that little detail, but we'll see if they catch it. The PCs try the door, but it quickly becomes a pincushion from all the arrows shot at them from outside. Alric opens a trapdoor in the middle of the longhouse, a secret escape route that leads them through an underground/underwater tunnel into the lake. They escape, pop up into the lake, and watch as the burning fury of the longhouse fades into the stifling dark of the Winter night.....

 

Reactions:

 

A pretty good session. The PCs managed to steal the artifact without completely failing. There were lots of failed rolls, but that seems to be the trend here. The PCs fought pretty well at the Thing. They're doing better with tactics, though I had to subtly urge them more than once not to take cover behind the flaming walls/columns. I don't think they were quite as intrigued with the plot twist as I had hoped, but time will tell. It will be a while until the next session, so perhaps they will have some time to develop some renewed interest in the events.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Powerful cloaked vampire assassin asking a PC if the large gathering of intimidating, powerful looking men holding court in the biggest (if not only) building in a geographically isolated/secure/important location is in fact the Big Thing (pun intended).

 

Particularly obtuse/foreign assassin who really does need that sort of confirmation (maybe he had limited intel going in.... or he´s a cocky son of a bat....).....

 

Or a GM Clue Bat ?

 

 

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

 

 

And you know that random clansman has to have a name and a history now! He´s become a semi-important NPC by virtue of action/blind luck! The ¨reward¨ of doing far better than you should...

[Casper]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Yes I look forward to actually learning that minions name...a field promotion is definatly instore for him I believe (unless I'm mistaken..which is often). Alfar Vamps...something over break for me to ponder over, expecially since I'll have time on my hands.

[Ragnarok]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Oh, you can count on seeing him again....

[Ragnarok]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

After a rather long hiatus, we played another session today. The guy who plays Bjorn was gone so I had him stay at Carrock while the three others ventured on.

 

Session #9:

 

The players indicated a desire for a more compact-unit style session. A definite beginning, a definite ending, and a reward. The session began with the PCs beating a hasty retreat back to Carrock. There, they healed up, refitted, and rested. Alric then approached them in the meadhall, informing them that reports from one of the clan's outpost villages near the mountains and elven woods named Alfgard. It's a two week journey there from Carrock, so they needed to hunt about halfway there. They found some slashed tree trunks and bear tracks, and followed them to a cave. They went inside, found the bear (which was aware of them since they weren't stealthing), and decided not to fight the bear in the cave, so they ran like hell out of the cave with the bear close on their heels. They managed to bring it down without much trouble (PCs with plate armor and high DCVs tend to make claws obsolete...). They skinned it, cooked it, and took the claws, camped, and set out the following day. They reached Alfgard, where they were informed by Hrothgar, the leader of the village, that 18 villagers were taken from the village. They don't know exactly who did it, where they took them, or to what purpose, but they did find tracks. The PCs manage to track them back (with great difficulty since their best tracker wasn't there.) Two guard stand watch at the base of some rocky outcroppings. The PCs fail stealth rolls, bringing the guards away from their post. The PCs try to hide, but the guards spread themselves out and eventually discover Hadhood. Short combat ensues, and the PCs take special care to shatter the signal horns the guards had first. They deal with the guards without much difficulty, killing one and keeping one as a captive. The surviving guard answers their questions, confidant that the PCs outgun him and the rest of his group, and the fact that the pay isn't good enough to risk it. He tells them he and a few others are mercenaries hired to capture people from the village and bring it back to this cavern. All he knows about specifics is that a Dark Elf (Svartalfar) woman hired them to do this, and that they were supposed to guard the cavern until she completed her task. The PCs cut his bonds and warn him that they'd better not see him again. He gets the hint and takes off. The PCs enter the cave, and hear a distant scream. They try to stealth along to the next chamber, but they had torches up so the remaining 4 mercs storm in and fight the PCs. The mercs initially land some good hits on the PCs, but then the PCs fight back with a vengeance, and absolutely rip them apart (literally). The PCs make haste further in the cavern, hearing a scream every time they enter a new room. They notice old ruined columns, and the cavern chambers are less natural and more crafted and manmade. They reach a heavy stone door which they must force open. They open it, and they see the cave floor narrow to a point in the middle of a large cavern, and standing on this point is a female Dark Elf caster, swirling dark energy around her hands, facing toward a very large portal in the back of the cavern wall. To the sides of the rock protrusion, there is a bottomless, black abyss. Between the PCs and the caster, there is a circle of 18 captives from the village, bound and naked, with magical red runes glowing on them. The PCs glimpse at one of the captives, who, with a gesture from the caster, arches his back in agony as the red runes glow viciously, and his soul is visibly ripped from his body, flying towards the gate then swirling around it. The PCs' gaze follows the soul, then shifts to the portal. Imagine the surface of water, with the portal being the surface, dividing two different worlds. Imagine something emerging from the depth, becoming clearer as it reaches the surface, reaching outwards from the "water." The PCs. see the head and hands of a truly giant demon emerge from the portal. It seems that the demon progresses further with every sacrifice. Then the PCs notice that 4 Dark Elf bodyguards have formed in defensive position around the caster, blocking any access. Arrows from the bodyguards fly towards the PCs, who are now sprinting across toward the caster. They plink off of armor and skid off of the cave floor, as the PCs slam into the defenders, who quickly drop their bows and whip out two swords each. A furious melee ensues, in which the PCs get cut up pretty badly. After a tense struggle, the PCs gain the upper hand, punch through the line, and take out the caster with the Alfar-Bane axe they had acquired from the troll shrine. The summoning magic dissipates, pulling the demon back to his home. The PCs free the captives, loot the fallen Alfar, and escort the villagers back to Alfgard. They are rewarded, and invited to the celebration (albeit somber) of the return of the surviving villagers. A detachment from Alfgard goes to deal with the rest of the bodies, and the PCs make for Carrock. About halfway there, during one of the night watches, they spot a large figure watching them from just out of the firelight. It is not hostile. As they approach, it fades into the night, but they catch a glimpse of two pointed ears and glinting eyes, and they barely catch its outline dropping to four legs as it fades into the black.

 

Reactions:

 

Decent session overall. Horrendous backslide as far as player specificity goes, but understandable considering we had not played for a couple weeks at least. Example: When the PCs encountered the bear in its cave, Hadhood's player said "I throw my torch at the bear and run as fast as I can in the opposite direction." He did so, and consequently faceplanted a short time later because he couldn't see where he was going. Generally, a lot of instances toward the beginning of the session where they were very unclear about what their character wanted to do.

 

However, they fought very well, and started to regain some momentum toward the end. The mercs and the Alfar fought very well too, slicing up the PCs more than they were used to I think. Felnor got the last laugh though, by hitting one of the Mercs for almost full dualwielding weapon damage on a hit location of 13, doing over 30 body. Two words: Red Mist.

 

I intend to build upon this session and show them how it ties into the local events. I think I need to be working on being more colorful with my descriptive language though. Something to work on....

[Manic Typist]

Re: Norse Campaign Journal

 

Huh. Did I not build the dwarf with some form of night vision? Perhaps I chose not to observe that particular trope... or you told me not to...