GURPS Vikings.

[Xsesiv]

Anybody interested is still welcome to join, by going to the OoC thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7339162) and stating interest, then posting a sheet.

Yule at Ormhall.

Yule-tide, and your Jarl, Thormod Ormsson the Strong, has arranged for a Yule feast for the upstanding members of his lands. These include Olaf Arnesson the Sober and Leif Hansson the Cunning. He has invited you and many other carls, as well as some of his family, to come and join him in his home, Ormhall, at sunset.

Ormhall is home not only to Thormod, but also to his wife Gerd, his (alive but retired) father, Orm the Viper-Tongued, and their 15-year-old son Gizur. The main hall seats around fifty and has huge, roaring fires. Gerd welcomes each of you at the boundary of the farmstead. She is in her late thirties and still very beautiful, slim, with blue-green eyes, and long, golden hair flowing to her mid-back and held back from her face by an intricate arrangement of looped braids woven into a headdress. She is also very richly dressed, with a silk gown, silver and gold brooches, and a string of glass and silver beads. Her sleeves, headdress and hair are patterned with arrangements of amber and gold beads.

As you enter the feasting hall, you pass Thormod, who is standing beside the door greeting everyone again. He is a muscular, tall man, well over six feet, with blue eyes, and a huge amount of thick, red hair and a long beard, both of which he has plaited. He makes polite conversation to each of you and slaps people heartily on the back as they go in.

The room is bedecked with branches of yew, pine and fir. Thormod's best platters, goblets and drinking-horns are laid out on the table and over the fires in the side of the room joints of juicy-looking meat roast and stews bubble in iron cauldrons. Preserved fruits, nuts and bread are laid out on the table, ready for dinner-time, and barrels of ale and mead are being brought in by the thralls.

Gizur, Thormod's son, is sitting by the fire. He shares his father's red hair and blue eyes though his beard is shorter and he is somewhat thinner, and he is currently being informed by old Orm Viper-Tongued that he is a charcoal-chewing lazy-bones. Thormod's neighbour, Eyjolf the Lawyer, is here too. As yet, nobody else seems to have arrived.

[4is111]

OOC: I didn't think that the laws of this time period were complex enought to require lawyers.
Rolling for lecherousness:[roll0]
edit- failed lecherousness: Lief's eye lingers on Gerd perhaps a moment longer than is proper, and he can not hold his tongue. "My lady, it is an honor. I had heard of your beauty, and I was very egar to see it with my own two eyes. Now that I have, I can say without a doubt that even the most hyperbolic account can not do your eyes justices. Although the Jarl cloths you in gold and silver most elegant, a thousand Jarls could not give you half the jewelery to suit one of such glamour. I can only pray to Odin that I may see such a beauty as yourself in Valhala."
With this Lief takes his seat.

[Tackyhillbillu]

OOC: Rolling for Alcoholism
[roll0]
(I believe I succeeded.)

Olef wets his lips at the sight of the drink, but shook his head. He knew what would happen if let himself go. He would have to restrain himself. He sighed at Lief's action, but shook his head. Standing up for her honor wasn't his job. He had other challenges.

I'll let myself go once I'm alone. For now, I must not let the drink get the best of me.

Olef took his seat as well.

[Xsesiv]

OoC: I'm using the term "lawyer" to mean he had some influence at the Thing. He wasn't what we would now call a lawyer.

Once he has finished this oratory, apparently bellowed from his seat in the middle of the feasting hall to the woman on the edge of the farmstead:smalltongue:, she beams at him, but Orm, who has sat down opposite, scowls. "You're that Leif fellow, are you not? The so-called Cunning? You are a slippery, deceitful villain, do you know that?"

Thormod sticks his head round the edge of the entrance. "Don't mind him, Leif. My father's always like this. Father! Stop insulting my guests, please."

Orm responds by swelling up and shouting in retaliation: "You haven't yet avenged your great-grandfather's death, you coward!" He sees Olef. "You are a troll-blooded, mead-drenched, good-for-nothing drunkard!" he thunders.

Gerd's brother, Ulf, markedly a Berserk by his long, unwashed brown hair and his wolfskin cloak, arrives and sits down. Orm wastes no time in telling him that he has scraped more intelligent things than him from the bottom of a longboat.

But it has long been agreed Orm is too old and feeble to be worth killing, and his father too rich, strong and powerful to risk angering.

[4is111]

Was he talking to me about the great grandfather?
"My lord, you wound me. It is true that I am not humble about my way with words, and none would fault you if you called me a flatterer, but a liar? I am nothing if not responcible and honest sure as I live. If you doubt this than pose any test of my virtue and I shall not hesitate to take it."

[Xsesiv]

No, Thormod.

Orm, apparently, doesn't hear you, and turns around to inform Eyjolf the Lawyer that he is so greedy that he uses false weights. At this point, a chattering stream of carls begin to wander in, wondering about the feast this year and the gifts the Jarl is likely to give after his excellent year's raiding.

[4is111]

Was I the he who supposedly uses false weights? Lief does not pursue the matter further, but now that the crowd is growing, he looks for someone to gamble with.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef turned toward to Orm, and shrugged, smiling.

"Better that then a worthless old man, greybeard."

Olef spoke clearly, giving evidence to the fact that he was Sober for the first time in a while. He usually managed to stay Sober when on the Boats, but other then that, the Old Man had spoken the truth. Olef didn't hide from that.

[Xsesiv]

The hall is now so crowded that it is not particularly wise nor easy to get up and look around for a gambling partner. People are sitting shoulder to shoulder on the two benches as the maidservants and Gerd (whom Orm accuses of being promiscuous) bustle around with white napkins and water, so everyone can wash their hands before eating.

[4is111]

Lief washes his hands appropraitly, even though he is probably dirting them given that at least a dosen other men have used the dish.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef accepts the Napkin and dips his hands in the bowl, giving the server (if it is Gerd) a respectful nod, or (if it is one of the Maidservants) a wide smile. It had been a while since he had the company of a woman without paying the coin for it.

Ah well, what is, is what is.

He wasn't sure that made sense, but frankly, he wasn't used to thinking so clearly without something to focus on, so it was a change no matter what.

[Xsesiv]

Just as the anticipation is rising, there is a knock on the door, and the last one of Thormod's smallholders arrive with a woman you all know to be the local shaman, Sif. Although she is an old lady with craggy, wrinkled features, she still bears the long blonde hair of her namesake. She wears a black dress under a blue cloak lined with white catskin, as well as catskin gloves with the fur on the inside. She carries a walking stick with a brass knob. Her granddaughter, Little Sif, is a teenager, but dressed the same way.

A hush enters the building as the pair enter. Thormod ushers her into the centre seat on the bench opposite his, and asks her: "Cast your eyes, the eyes of the gods, over our homes and households and herds." She nods to him, and in a quiet but forceful voice replies, "Thank you. I will mount the platform after dinner."

This said dinner begins now. Roast veal and beef, mutton and lamb are heaped on the table, with boiled pork, bacon toasted on a fire, goat and horse, chicken, goose, grouse, ducks, puffins, many kinds of fish, seal, whale, bread, cheese and curds, salted and smoked meats, dried raw fish smeared with butter, hearty stews. Accompanying this is a great deal of peas, beans, cabbage, leeks, seaweed, other vegetables, and a great many other good things. Sif eats a special meal - goat's-milk gruel with a platter of hearts. The talk, meanwhile, turns to the year ahead and people's plans.

[4is111]

Lief isn't shy about the food and quickly eats his fill and then some. It isn't every day that he has food this well prepared. His is, however, shy about his plans for the next year. He'd gotten as far as he had by his wits, but for the first time in a long time, Lief wasn't sure what to do next.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef isn't slow, eating quite a bit more then those around him. With his height, he needed quite a bit to keep him going. He wasn't shy about his plans, admitting he simply planned to go out raiding the next time he could find a post aboard a boat as an Officer. A better share of loot. He was sure his skills could gain him such, if he waited long enough.

[Xsesiv]

Once everyone has eaten a certain amount, they feel too full to talk, so the depletion of food coincides with a certain comfortable quiet falling over the room. The pots and plates with what scraps remain are taken away, as Sif climbs onto a platform at the far end of the hall. Her granddaughter sits below and sings. Her voice is beautiful, but nobody can understand its words.

After a while, Sif cries out: "I see many spirits, and they can tell me many things. The weather for the year ahead will be good." A lot of the tenant farmers cheer and slap each other on the back in celebration. "There will be few shipwrecks and good harvests."

She turns to Thormod. "You shall bring home much silver and gold, people will welcome you less though."

Then, to Orm. "You shall have even fewer friends tomorrow than you do today." He scoffs and snorts.

Next, she stuns Eyjolf by telling him, "A shadow lays across your future."

She talks to everyone in the room, one cryptic sentence after another.

"You shall have a warm bed tonight, but a cold one tomorrow."

"No matter how far a man goes, he can die at home, killed by a horse."

To Leif: "Grass shall grow for you."

To Olef: "You shall recieve great wounds, count three, but no weapon will bite upon you."

[4is111]

I never fancied myself much of a farmer. I always figured I'd earn my fortune by giving some bit of critical advise to a general or through some new innovative enterprize. That singing was something else though. I may have to pay Sif's granddaughter a visit.
Lecherousness:[roll0]

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef listened to Sif, as all should. When the gods tried to tell you something, you were better off listeneing to it. Wouldn't change his Wyrd, if that was it. He cheered at the words of less shipwrecks. That was always good news. He laughed at Orm's fate. That seemed hard to believe. At her own, he felt a chill.

What does that mean? That I am doomed to fall else then in Battle?

[Xsesiv]

The women soon retire to the weaving room, the door to which is at the end of the feasting hall.

The somewhat worried men turn to serious drinking, and the evening devolves into a bragging-match and drinking-contest. Young Gizur soon gets drunk. "I was in the forest, last week," he boasts, "and a wolf attacked me. But I fought it off with only my bare hands, and it ran away." Orm tells him not to boast about being too weak to kill the beast.

Eyjolf brags that he's paying a whole ounce of silver for a lynx-fur, but only 5 pennyweights for a wolf-fur. Ulf the Berserk says "I'll bring you, uh, some lynx-furs next summer, then. D-did I ever tell you about the time I found that troll lurking and killed it with just my eating knife?" he asks, brandishing a silver-handled eating knife, and in fact, everyone has heard this story at least once, a point which Orm is quick to pick up on.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef drinks but lightly, visibly holding himself back. He would not fall to temptation now. While for a smaller man, it might have been a lot, he didn't even feel its effect.

"Shut up Orm. Even if Eyjolf has only one tale to tell, that is still one more then you."

Olef realized he was probably pushing it, but the old man was beginning to annoy him.

[Xsesiv]

Orm frowns at you. "Is that so? I once dropped a stone from a cliff straight onto a gull's head as it flew past! I sailed to England and fought the Anglo-Saxons for six days in a row without resting! I built this hall by my own hand!" He raises an eyebrow at you, expecting a boast in return.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef sighed, and shook his head.

"Old man, I challenged a bear to wrestling, and it was too scared to accept! I've drunken enough Mead to fill this Hall to the rafters, and battled the French the morning after. I've guided ships to the edge of the map and beyond."

Olef drank deeply from his horn, not willing to back down before some greybearded old fool.

[Xsesiv]

"So it's true then, the troll-blooded are strong, fearless, but incorrigibly stupid."

[Tackyhillbillu]

"Better stupid then too cowardly to find an honorable death."

[Xsesiv]

This argument is on the verge of spilling over when Orm takes a particularly deep draught from his mead horn and passes out. His son, the aptly named Thormod the Strong, lifts him up onto his shoulders and dumps him in his bed closet.

The drinking goes on for as long as you like, but sooner or later, the men either collapse or go to bed.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Soon after Orm collapses, Olef sighs and depart the hall as well, seeking a bed. He could have stayed out there and drank, but he would rather not deal with the headache in the morning. There were other times and places.

[4is111]

Lief takes this time to earn himself a bit of pocket money. There are enough drunks in here that he could go all night and still have suckers left.
Gambling rolling for 12:[roll0]

[Xsesiv]

What are you gambling over? What are you playing? There are no cards and a hnefatafl set wouldn't be appropriate to bring (too big).

The next morning, everyone is kicked awake by Thormod. "Look at this!" he shouts.

"This" happens to be Orm, who is dead in his bed-closet with Ulf the Berserk's silver-handled eating knife stuck in his ribs. "Who did this? Who has killed my father?" Thormod demands of the assembled crowd. Nobody sees fit to answer.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef sighed. He was sober in the morning now, and without a pounding headache. If this is what happened in the morning, he preferred being drunk.

"Tormod, you know whose knife that is. Question him about that."

[4is111]

Dice, or drinking, or dagger throwing. Anything can be gambled on really.
"It could have been anyone. Ulf made a huge deal about his troll slaying knife and then got hammered last night. I don't know who could have don't it. He always gave out generous amounts of silver and mead."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef shrugged at Leif's comment. They weren't going to figure this out standing here.

"Doesn't mean we shouldn't look at the obvious."

[Xsesiv]

Thormod grabs Ulf the Berserk and shakes him about, heedless of his groans as he cradles his aching head. "You killed my father!" he yells in Ulf's face.

"N-no," stammers Ulf, "It wasn't m-me!" He composes himself and adds; "I s-s-swear in Odin's name I did n-not do it. I'll hold a red-hot iron to p-prove it."

Thormod snarls. "A berserk could probably do that anyway." He spits on Ulf's face and solemnly challenges him to a duel.

[4is111]

"Far be it from me to challange your judgement, but you're understandably stressed over your father's death. Purhaps you are being hasty with your acuseation. Ulf, where did you leave your silver knife last night?"

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef turned to Leif, now growing annoyed. He had a point earlier, but now he was sticking his head where it didn't belong.

"Shut up Leif. If Ulf is innocent, the Gods will give him the strength to defeat Thormod. You have no place intruding."

[4is111]

"Of course, but there is no question that Thormod did not do it, and it would be a shame for him to die without avenging his father."
OOC: These duels are usually fatal, correct?

[Xsesiv]

Thormod would rather not listen to a lowly carl, and sends one of the thralls outside to set up some hazel stakes.

He walks around the feasting hall cursing, then is reminded by a bystander of the old myth that iron and fire cannot harm a berserk, so he picks up a wooden club instead. "I plan to kill this mad shield-eating villain." he announces, to ensure that everybody knows that this duel will be to the death.

Ulf then draws his sword and goes outside to wait for Thormod. Three shields are fetched for each combatant.

Thormod walks outside, and demands that everyone follow him to witness the duel. Four hazel stakes are stuck into the ground in a rough square with lines drawn between them. When Thormod picks up his shield and enters the square, the berserk fury comes upon Ulf and he charges Thormod, howling like an animal, sword raised high in the air to deliver a quick killing blow, but Thormod, grinning madly, punches him in the stomach with the end of his club, knocking the wind out of him. Ulf falters, but brings the sword down. Thormod blocks it with his shield and then swings his club at Ulf. Ulf moves out of the way and goes to stab Thormod, but the sword ends up lodged in Thormod's shield. Thormod snarls, twists the sword out of Ulf's hand and uses his club to knock it out of his shield and aside, and it skewers into the ground. With his return stroke, Thormod swings his club at Ulf's defenceless weapon arm, and with a sickly crack it seems Ulf has developed an extra elbow. Ulf yells in pain and goes to bash Thormod with his shield, but Thormod moves inside the shield and strikes Ulf on the elbow so that he drops the shield. Thormod makes a final swing, smashing in Ulf's skull, which pops like a berry.

Thormod stands over the corpse of Ulf. "The feast will go on, as a funeral feast of my father, Orm. Thrall, bury this man on an island. We don't want his afterganger coming for us. Then bury my father on that cliff he loved."

And as Thormod ordered, the feast goes on.

[4is111]

What's an afterganger?

[Xsesiv]

Please post questions in the OoC thread. An afterganger was the body of (usually) a great warrior or a berserk that had so much life force that once it had died it would refuse its new condition and rise from its grave and fight on, sometimes against everyone but its family, sometimes indiscriminately. Somewhat similar to a zombie.

[4is111]

I have nothing more to do for the time being.

[Xsesiv]

Well, why post at all, then?:smalltongue:

[4is111]

OOC: I've seen games die because the players were all waiting for the GM and the GM was waiting for the players. I'd hate for that to happen here.

[Tackyhillbillu]

[roll0] Alcoholism

Olef shook his head at watching the fight. It wasn't a fair one from the beginning. In Battle, the beserkers were impressive, but in one-on-one combat, they were nowhere near as fearsome.

"Agreed. Enough of this business."

Olef eats as heartily as he did last night, still restraining himself from overpartaking in drink.

[Xsesiv]

Thormod has a horn of mead filled for him and makes the sign of the hammer over it, before taking it himself and pledging a toast to the health of his guests and another to the memory of his dead father, which first is enthusiastically and which last is half-heartedly taken up by the crowd.

More food is piled onto the table to be eaten and as people talk, a thrall comes in and tells Thormod that his orders have been carried out. Thormod has the food cleared away and begins giving away presents - an ertog (10 pennyweights) of hacksilver to each person. Some get 15 English pennies instead, some get small silver brooches or half-brooches.

[Xsesiv]

At this point a few of the guests make polite excuses and leave for home. Once they have left, there is a short silence and then screams from outside. Gizur Thormodsson opens the door and looks out, then turns back inside, pale and shaking.

"They're dead! And grandfather's back!"

It is clearly obvious to anyone looking out that Orm is now stalking around the house brandishing the sword he was buried with.

[4is111]

You'd think that we wouldn't have a tradition of burying people with their weapons if this was liable to happen.
"I fear no man living or otherwise. To battle!"
Lief tries to move such that he has line of effect to Orm, but Orm does not have a clear path to Lief because of some funiture or similar.

[Xsesiv]

Orm comes rushing towards the door. "Are you mad, man?" Thormod shouts, as he kicks the door back shut. "He'll kill us all! Of course you are scared, what man would not be? And what good would it do to get ourselves killed?"

Orm, who has been hammering at the door, climbs up onto the roof using a barrel and begins tearing away the sod. Eyjolf the Lawyer screams in terror. "Thormod, this is all strictly illegal! I want someone to escort me home, right now!"

"We all know why!" comes a voice from the back of the room.

[4is111]

Lief turns to look at who spoke.

[Xsesiv]

He sees him.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef sighs. If he was going to die to day, he was going to do it good and liquored up. With that, he grabs a drinking horn and drains it down quickly, looking for another one.

"No need to worry about consequences, I suppose."

[4is111]

He sees him.

Who is it?
"Do you suppose he want's revenge? Ulf was killed in an honorable duel, he has been avenged. If Ulf wasn't the killer, he would have won."

[Xsesiv]

It's a small but heavily muscled sandy-haired and blue-eyed man with a very pale complexion. "Eyjolf the Lawyer really has been using false weights! I don't think he wanted Orm to let the secret out."

"Lies and slanders!" cries Eyjolf, looking at the rapidly-growing hole in the feasting-hall roof.

[4is111]

"I find it hard to swallow that even if your accusations are true, he'd come back from the dead over something like that."

[Xsesiv]

"He would if Eyjolf had killed him, and made it look as though someone else did it!"

Meanwhile, Orm has torn away a large strip of sod from the roof and is able to poke his head inside and look around. Men panic and rush around for weapons.

[4is111]

"How could Eyjolf have killed him? That duel proved that Ulf was the murderer."
Lief turns to Orm, and throws a pair of knives at him.
Fast Draw vs 13[roll0]
Throw Knife at Face vs 8[roll1]
Fast Draw vs 13[roll2]
Throw Knife at Face vs 8[roll3]
edit-"I must still be hung over; my aim is rubish."

[Xsesiv]

Both the knives thud into beams supporting the roof. Orm pulls his head back out and begins tearing at the next strip.

"Maybe Thormod was simply not fated to die this day!" The man has now got a hatchet in each hand.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef sighed, looking up, and just shrugging. It appeared to be time to stop drinking, and start doing something. He removed his bow from his back, lining up the shot and realeasing it.

All Out Attack: Determined
[roll0] vs. 14

"The drink hasn't taken my aim yet, evidently."

[Tackyhillbillu]

[roll0] Damage from the attack

[Xsesiv]

The arrow slams into Orm's shoulder, ripping the muscle with a horrible shearing noise and spinning him around. He slips over his own leg and falls backwards with a bump onto another part of the turf roof. Where he fell, a lump appears in the ceiling where it has dented in. He gets back up and tears again at the sod.

[4is111]

"I won't miss again!"
All out Strong attack:
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll0]
Knife vs 13: [roll1]
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll2]
Knife vs 13: [roll3]

[4is111]

The first knife hits for [roll0], but the second sticks in its sheath, and Lief can't throw it this second.

[Xsesiv]

The first knife thuds into Orm's chest, knocking him reeling for a few seconds, but he get back to ripping the turf from the roof, with a knife sticking out of his chest.

Thormod is holding the door open letting as many people as possible get away, because the hole is now easily big enough for Orm to get through.

The second knife seems to jam in a supporting beam, but then falls free, landing back on Leif's shoulder, stabbing him for [roll0] damage. wasn't thrown.

Orm falls into the room and begins running in the crowd's general direction waving his sword.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef reaches back for another arrow, nocking it and releasing it if he can get to it in time.


[roll0] Fast Draw: Arrow 14
[roll1] Attack 13
[roll2] Damage

"Perhaps I should try staying sober more often."

[4is111]

How far is he from me?
If he can reach me next turn:
Lief slips over, under and through the tables to put more distance between him and Orm.
Acrobatics vs 11: [roll0]
Else If he can't:
Lief keeps throwing knives to try to stop him
All out attack determained to the eyes
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll1]
Knife vs 8: [roll2]
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll3]
Knife vs 8: [roll4]

[Xsesiv]

Well, it depends where you are in the room. He's at the right of the back of the hall.

Orm carries on towards the escaping crowd brandishing his sword, knocking aside chairs and other things in the way. Leif's knives fly past and strike the wall, one sticking into it and one falling down to the ground. Olef's arrow whizzes through Orm's forearm between the bones with such force that it comes out the other side to hit the opposite wall and clatter to the floor, but it seems he doesn't even feel it as he stabs a woman in the stomach with his sword. Her husband rushes up to Orm and hits him in the neck with his axe, but Orm chops his arm from his body and carries on towards the crowd as the man falls to the ground yelling and cradling his stump.

[4is111]

"Curse him, I have to do this carefully."
Fast-Draw Knife: [roll0]
Fast-Draw another Knife: [roll1]
Aim at Orm

[Xsesiv]

While this is going on, Orm is forcing his way through the crowd, who are raining sword-, axe-, and club-blows on him, but he only seems concerned with people directly blocking his path, who he stabs, slashes, or strikes with his sword, and indeed, he seems to be making a beeline for Eyjolf the Lawyer.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef sighed, and shook his head. It didn't appear the Arrows were stopping the man. And frankly, he didn't trust Sif's prediction to charge at a man who wouldn't die.

"Grab Eyjolf, everyone, and get out of Orm's way. If Orm has come back from the dead for him, let him have him. I won't stand in the way of Orm's vengance."

Olef puts away the bow, and runs toward Eyjolf, intending to take the Lawyer to the ground if he could reach him.

[roll0] Grappling if Olef can reach him. Target 12

[4is111]

All-Out Determained to the eyes
Knife vs 8: [roll0]
Knife vs 8: [roll1]
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll2]
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll3]

[Xsesiv]

Leif flings two daggers which hit innocent bystanders.

Olef rushes at Eyjolf and leaps at him meaning to tackle him but the Lawyer makes a swift and surprisingly high jump over his grasping arms, dodges another grab from a bystander, squeals and runs away around the room, pursued by the afterganger. The rest of the people move to block Eyjolf, probably soon to be known as the Coward, from escaping. At the far end of the room, Eyjolf turns and climbs onto the benches, running along them to escape the afterganger and the crowd. He is three-quarters of the way towards the front of the hall, and will soon reach the door.

[4is111]

"Well this isn't working, and I'm running out of knives. I wonder how many stab wounds he can endure."
Move and attack from behind.
Acrobatics vs 11 in needed: [roll0]
Knife vs 13: [roll1]
Knife vs 13: [roll2]

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef turned to Leif, unhappy with the idiot. Throwing Daggers into a packed hall? What could he be thinking?

"Leif you idiot, stop throwing those things. Just grab Eyjolf!"

Olef turned, and ran after Eyjolf, determined not to let the Lawyer escape twice.

[roll0] Grapple, target 12

[4is111]

"You can handle him. I've got an afterganger to slay."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef grunted as he threw himself forward.

"How are you planning to slay something that has already breathed its last, you fool?"

[4is111]

Forgot damage
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Xsesiv]

Olef makes it to the far end of the table and waits for the Lawyer to approach, then leaps up and catches his legs as he jumps from the end of the table. The afterganger, now with two new stab wounds in the back, soon arrives and thrusts his sword through the screaming Eyjolf's belly. He yells in pain until the afterganger has cleaved his head from his shoulders, and you are sure you see the mouth working in a feeble last effort to scream. Orm then walks out of the front door and away.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef sighed, watching the Afterganger walk away, before shaking his head. There was little enough time. Worrying about the dead served no purpose. Some of those here might yet live.

"Is Old Sif still around? Some ofthose hurt might still live if they are treated."

[Xsesiv]

"Sif?" Beautiful Gerd steps forward. "She left the weaving room last night, at about midnight. She wouldn't say where she was going. I'd like to be able to tell you where she went, but I can't..."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef nodded at Gerd, unhappy with the words. They could try to track her down, but that would take to long for some.

"Do you know of any other healers hereabouts?"

[Xsesiv]

"I can do it," says a wizened-looking old man who is tearing napkins up. He binds up the newly-crippled man's stump of an arm to staunch the bleeding, but it is too late for his wife, who has already passed on.

"Never mind," he counsels the man who has had his arm lopped off. "As they say,

A lame man can still ride a horse

A man without arms can still herd his sheep
A deaf man can still kill.

It is better to be blind
than be burnt on a pyre.

The dead can do nothing at all."

A very angry Thormod responds. "I think we have seen living proof to the contrary this very day!"

[4is111]

"I know some of the basic stuff."
First-Aid vs 13: [roll0]
Lecherousness vs 6: [roll1]
edit- Think, something smooth that doesn't draw attention to the fact that here husband is running around killing people... I'm drawing a blank. No, don't just stare at her, that is not allowed. Don't let her see you don't let her see you!

[Xsesiv]

The old man is glad of the help but the injured men less so, as Leif roughly prods at the wounds of the others as he tries to keep his mind off Gerd's beauty, they shout out in pain and the old man becomes more and more frustrated. "Just leave it to me," he says in the end.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef looked over at Leif, still not forgiving the man. However, he focuses his attention on the Old man.

"Good. Do you know anything about Afterganger's, old man? Is Orm's spirit satisfied, or must we destroy his body?"

[Xsesiv]

"If the afterganger has gone back to its grave mound, I think we can safely assume it has been placated. But if it comes back later, I think we'd better burn the body and throw the ashes out to sea. At least then he won't bother people any more." The man is surprisingly softly-spoken for one so old...or maybe that is because most experience of old people locally has been Orm.

[4is111]

Today is not my day.
Observation vs 12 to avoid obviosusly ougling Gerd: [roll0]
Lief retrieves his knives.
Climbing vs 12 to get the ones in the ceiling: [roll1]
edit- What did I do to annoy the random number gods so!?:smalleek:

[Xsesiv]

Thormod frowns at you - he does not take particularly kindly to guests who scale his walls, but when he realises you are getting your knives back his face softens.

But he sees where your gaze is drawn and frowns again. He mutters to himself and sits down to finish the feast. Maybe he just thinks he's paranoid after the day. He has every right to be.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef nodded. He sighed, sitting down at one of the Tables of the hall. He doesn't mind battle, but the dead should remain that way.

"That's enough for today."

Olef shook his head. He reached over for a Horn of drink. He wasn't hungry, but he could definitely use something to calm his nerves.

[4is111]

"Now, if I recall correctly, Orm listed off a bunch of people he disliked last night, including Eyjolf'. I've got a hunch he might go after the rest of them. Olef, as I recall, he had no kind words for either of us. We should try to find him before he finds us."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef sighed, shaking his head. Leif might be right. He sighed, draining the Horn of Drink.

"You may be right."

[4is111]

"Watch my back, if it catches us off guard we're dead."
Lief peers out the front gate. Is the afterganger anywhere to be seen?

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef laughed, but stood up, taking his Bow out at once more.

"I'll try. I can think of things I'd rather watch however."

[Xsesiv]

The afterganger seems quite content to remain in its grave.

[4is111]

"Well, there's a puzzler. We could let it rest and risk it rising again to kill more of us, or we could try to destroy us and risk it rising again to kill more of us. I prepose we seal the grave more solidly incase he wakes back up."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef shrugged, heading back to sit down again.

"Go ahead and find a Shovel, if you like. Orm's gone to his final rest, and I have no intention of waking him up."

[Xsesiv]

Unknown to you, though that could easily change if you looked up through the hole in the roof made by the afterganger, as happens every Yule, a bearded, one-eyed man soars overhead, riding an eight-legged steed so fast that it, and the cart it draws, leave the ground. Following it are beautiful, universally blonde maidens with shields, and in the cart are smoky forms of men who have died in honourable combat that year, still wearing armour, bearing weapons, and in some cases injured. And up from a distant island rises the smoky form of Ulf the Berserk, silently laughing at Thormod, Orm and Eyjolf as he joins the parade to Valhalla...

The Vulture Sets Sail

Egg Time month, and at the local Landthing Thormod Ormsson the Strong was exiled for three years for the unlawful killing of his own brother-in-law, Ulf the Berserk. He explained that it was an accident due to the confusion of his father's death, and immediately paid the 200 aur of silver in wer-gild to the Ulfssons, as well as a gift of some land from the estate of Eyjolf the Coward.

He has decided to spend at least some of this time a-viking, and has come to you, offering you the chance to take part in a raid in his new ship the Vulture.

[4is111]

Is it really a good idea to go sailling with a guy who is so quick to kill his own kin? And his old man stole my knife. I should have dug that up, and I would have if I weren't terrified of being torn limb from limb. Shame I never hit off with the shaman's cute granddaugter. Also, everyone thinks I'm a wuss for not being able to save the lawyer. I guess I should go, do a little R&P, maybe kill a troll if we come across one. Chicks dig troll killers.
"Alright Thormod, you've got yourself a navigator."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef stepped up, swinging his Greataxe, and smiling wildly.

"Leif, you aren't fit to navigate a puddle. The Vulture requires a real man to guide her. If I'm wrong, you'll just have to prove it."

Olef smiled, swinging his Axe ominously. Either Leif would show his true colors and back down, or Olef would get to knock him around. Either way, today was shaping up to be a good day.

[4is111]

"I'd hate to have to shame you, friend. If you want to navigate, you may. I can direct her in combat instead."

[Xsesiv]

The Jarl, his hersir, and a Roman boy (Marcus) you have never met before are among the people going. Thormod sacrifices a goat in the name of Thor for good luck at sea, and then cuts it up and stews it, serving it with horns of ale. This will be your last hot food for quite some time.

[4is111]

I hope we don't spend longer than normal at see. I'm not good without women for extended periods of time. Purhaps I should ask Sif if she has any insight into the raid. Get one last look at little Sif before leaving.
Lief looks for Sif.

[Tackyhillbillu]

[roll0] Target 10

Olef restrains himself from overindulging in the drink, though he does take on quite a bit of of both food and drink. While he would not let himself be unable to perform his duties, he would enjoy himself.

[4is111]

What was that roll for?

[Xsesiv]

Sif is there, casting the runes for Thormod, but unfortunately Little Sif is not. Sif is forecasting "good weather, and a good raid, but little burning, and beware the father of the meat from the bag".

[4is111]

Lief buys 10 shiny new knives. He has nothing else to do before the voyage.

[Xsesiv]

Once the crew have staggered aboard ship and gone to sleep, the ship, so named for the vulture in flight figurehead, rows out of the shallows at dawn, and picks up such speed that most of the crew members, including many of the more experienced sailors, are seasick. "A good, fresh breeze," says Thormod, and refuses to drop sail. "So, my navigator, we're going to southern England again. What do you think?"

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef shrugged. The speed didn't bother him, and he wasn't dealing with the pounding headche he normally was.

"Whatever you say."

Olef looked forward.

"Good loot there."

[roll0] Target 16 (Bonuses from Astronomy)

[Xsesiv]

The way towards southern England is fairly straightforward, southwest for a while and then west by southwest. It becomes much harder when, around noon, you sail into a bank of fog so thick that you cannot even see the sun to estimate position.

[4is111]

"I hope there nothing unnatural about this fog. We could be attacked and they would be upon us before we knew what was happening."

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef cursed at the fog, but there was little he could do about it. They would just have to wait for it to blow off. They'd just waste their strength otherwise.

"Thormod, pull in oars, and let us drift. Until the Wind returns, or this fog breaks, there is no way for us to be sure where we are going."

[Xsesiv]

The wind has been going throughout. For four days you sail at an unbelievably rapid speed, until finally there's a dawn with a blue sky, and you can see land in the east. Thormod has no idea where you are, but orders the steersman to head landward. As you do, a longship rows out from the forested headland, with a black dragon at the prow.

A man dressed in bright red and waving a large axe bids you welcome in good Norse and tells you that he'll land you safe and sound ashore - all you have to do is give him your ship.

"Never!" cries Thormod.

"Think again. I'm Odd Grimmsson, and this is the Black Dragon."

"I couldn't care less who you are," cries Thormod, "I'll never surrender."

[4is111]

Stratagy vs 11 to manuverous into a favorable posission: [roll0]
I could say what that posision might be seeing as naval combat isn't my OOC forte, but I imagin it would be on their flank heading towards them to ram.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef looked over at Thormod, pulling free his Longbow.

"Captain, do we have any Fire Arrows aboard?"

Wasn't much a Navigator could do, so it appeared it was time to grab his Bow and do what he could do.

[Xsesiv]

There's not much by way of a favourable position to be had when you are floating in open water facing a foe near the shore.

Thormod draws his sword and waits for the pirates to approach."Fire arrows? I don't think so, wouldn't do much good, they'd just put them out. You can look, if you want, but I think it's probably best just to shoot the crew when they get close enough."

The pirates' ship sails out, meaning to ram the Vulture.

[4is111]

"That isn't going to end well. Hard to starboard! We Turn and pass them before they can correct their course!"

[Xsesiv]

The Vulture turns hard to starboard, putting everyone off-balance and presenting the length of the port side as a lovely ramming target for the Dragon

[4is111]

Here I though our starboard was already facing them as ramming would be foolish head on. "Keep at it! If they hit us now we're done for."

[Xsesiv]

The Vulture turns back, the Dragon misses the ram and the Vulture ends up side to side with the Dragon, port to starboard. The Dragon turns hard to port and tries to ram the Vulture, as arrows are launched from the Dragon, hitting a couple of your crew members. The Vulture crew retaliates and hits a few of theirs.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef lined up the shot, staying in the midships so the boats turning wouldn't throw him overboard. He aims at the helmsman.

[roll0] Target 14 All out Attack

[Xsesiv]

Here I though our starboard was already facing them as ramming would be foolish head on. "Keep at it! If they hit us now we're done for."

Ha, well their plan, is to go for the ram head on, and as the victim goes to turn away, they get the brunt of the impact on the side, you're PCs though, so you don't. :P

The helmsman is hit in the throat, loses his balance and topples off the ship.

[4is111]

"Slow up! Let them pass so they give us their port and we can counter ram!"

[4is111]

"Ach! Someone take the helm! Someone must know how to steer!"

[Xsesiv]

Unfortunately, being as close as you are, the pirates hear your plan and slow up with you, then carry on firing arrows but also begin throwing caltrops, axes and grapnels. Men are being struck down on both sides.

[Xsesiv]

"Ach! Someone take the helm! Someone must know how to steer!"

The pirate helmsman, whom Olef had shot at.

[4is111]

"Hey! That's cheating. Bring her to a stand still and draw your shields. Be ready for the next volly!"
edit- That's good. We're using our helmsman.

[Xsesiv]

Shields are raised, so the pirates clamber aboard and begin attacking hand-to-hand. The pirate captain is fighting three at once, back to back with his bare chested, giant friend, who is fighting two. Each of you is charged by two pirates.

The arrow hits the captain in the weapon arm, pinning it to his side, so that he cannot defend himself from a thrust from Thormod that enters his guts and exits his back. Seconds later, the gigantic friend is mowed down when he is hit in the back by a stray throwing-hatchet.

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef continues lines up another shot, trying to figure out which one of the men was Captain. Targeting the one with the most finery, he releases.

[roll0] Target 14 All Out Attack

[4is111]

Charging over the ship? How many have they left on board?"I assure you, this isn't what it looks like!"
Lief jumps overboard and swims under the enemy ship.
Swimming vs 11: [roll0]
edit- wait, that roll was uncalled for. I just need to roll to avoid fatigue and win races.

[Xsesiv]

Leif doesn't catch enough breath and swallows a mouthful of seawater instead. Roll v. HT.

[4is111]

HT vs 10: [roll0]

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef puts away the bow, pulling free his Greataxe.

"So you would like to take me on? You have made a mistake my friends."

Olef smiles, swinging the Axe at one of the men charging him.

[roll0] Target 13

[Xsesiv]

Leif coughs and splutters with no air in his lungs at all, panics and flails for safety. When he reaches the surface he is very banged and scraped from the barnacles on the bottom of the Dragon and attempts to surface under her. He takes 1 hit.

Olef swings his axe at the man, hitting him hard in the ribs and knocking him over backwards, to fall into the sea.

[4is111]

Roll with it.
Swim vs 11 to recover: [roll0]
Stealth vs 12 to avoid notice: [roll1]

[Tackyhillbillu]

Olef turns toward the other man, aiming to get rid of them both.

[roll0] 3d6 target 13

[Xsesiv]

Leif manages to avoid any really serious harm but comes up sucking in for air, instead taking in another lungful of water, he coughs and splutters for quite a while. Some pirates fire arrows at him.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

They all miss.

Olef's second man's arm muscle is severed to the bone, and this is then broken. The pirate falls to his knees clutching his mangled limb.

[4is111]

Not good!
Dodge vs 8: [roll0]
Dodge vs 8: [roll1]
Dodge vs 8: [roll2]
edit- I guess that was unneeded. Back under water then. This didn't work out.

[4is111]

Lief climbs back onto the ship and draw his knives.
Climbing vs 12: [roll0]
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll1]
Fast-Draw vs 12: [roll2]

[Xsesiv]

Leif ends up on the deck of the pirate ship brandishing two long knives. Several pirates move in and surround him, and two of them go to slash him with their swords.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

The first swing hits Leif, but the second misses. An arrow soars past and cuts down the second man.

[4is111]

I ment our ship since I'd lost the element of surprize, but I can roll with this.
Parry vs 9: [roll0]

[Xsesiv]

Leif misses the parry and gets chopped in the thigh-muscle by the scything sword.

[4is111]

"Two against one? What cowards you are."
What armor are they wearing?

[Xsesiv]

Please post questions in OoC. They are not wearing any armour at all.

[4is111]

Wait-
If (neither of the enemies I'm fighting me roll an active defence)
{
All out attack (determained to the vitals) on the guy who hit me last turn
}
If (either does make me roll active defence)
{
All out defence.
}

[Xsesiv]

One of the men attacks you with his sword (hitting)

[roll0]
[roll1]

while the other tries to run around to blind side you from the back.

[4is111]

One of the men attacks you with his sword (hitting)

[roll0]
[roll1]

while the other tries to run around to blind side you from the back.

So does he run off the boat then? My back is against the sea.
Full defencive action triggers.
Parry 1 vs 9: [roll0]
Parry 2 vs 9: [roll1]

[Gecks]

Having missed his change to throw his spear in the chaos, Harek drop's his throwing spear to the deck and attemts to quickdraw his sword

Opps, no one in my face, so...

Harek pulls his throwing spear back, aiming at the nearest pirate who is not too close to a friendly.

[nerd-7i+e]

OoC: Given Marcus Cornelius Celerrimus's age, he would just be called Cornelius, not Marcus, under Roman tradition (although most Vikings would call him Marcus anyway).

Seeing that Leif is outnumbered, Cornelius shoots an arrow at whichever pirate seems more powerful (his skill is higher than his bow's snap shot, so he doesn't bother aiming). If both pirates seem equally powerful, he picks a random pirate.

Target: 15. Roll: [roll0].

[Xsesiv]

Leif blocks the sword-thrust and the man is promptly cut down by an arrow in the head from Cornelius. The second one takes his swing at Leif as soon as he possibly can.

[roll0]
[roll1]

The pirates' morale is sinking rapidly. Some of them are surrendering, and some are leaping overboard and swimming a mile to shore. Meanwhile the fourteen or fifteen that are left are fighting the vikings.

[Gecks]

"Why do you look so scared, noble pirates? You'll be dining with the gods in Valhalla tonight, and we poor victors will have to make do with whatever victuals and valuables you have on your ship!"

With that Harek lets his spear fly at his chosen target-

Target 17: [roll0]

[Xsesiv]

The spear skewers a pirate in the shoulder, spinning him around in a curious fashion to smash his head on a barrel and crumple to the floor.

[4is111]

Lief turn to face his second attack and curves out of the way while superimposin his other knife in the blade's path.
Dodge vs 8: [roll0]
Parry vs 9: [roll1]
edit- he is, unfortunately, to slow, and he falls back overboard bleeding.

[4is111]

HT vs 10 to stay contious: [roll0]
edit- just my luck. Lief starts to sink.

[Gecks]

Seeing the brave man with the knives fall from the pirate ship, Harek silently curses the fact that he has never learned how to properly swim.
Perhaps I can reach him before he sinks too far, but not with that filthy water-rat in the way.
Leif quick draws his francisca
Target 13: [roll0]
And the takes a step forward and hurls it at the pirate who just sent Leif into the drink
Target 14: [roll1]

[nerd-7i+e]

Cornelius jumps into the water and tries to save Leif.

Target: 9. Roll: [roll0].

[Xsesiv]

The francisca catches the pirate in the spine and he tumbles forward into the water. You have killed him, but you have lost your francisca.

Marcus reaches Leif, but is having trouble getting him to the surface.

[Gecks]

After taking a glance at the main melee and satisfying himself that the Vikings are still carrying the day, Harek is going to grab a coil of rope, or a long stick or pole (whatever is close and could be used to help the two men out of the water), and start running for the opposite deck where Leif fell in, keeping a lookout for any stray pirates who might wish get in his way.

[Xsesiv]

A coil of rope is soon found, but the pirates don't seem to be to worried about you; they are more concerned with leaping off the boat and swimming to safety or else begging for mercy or else fighting for their lives.

[nerd-7i+e]

Cornelius gives rescuing Leif another try.

OoC: Would praying to Neptune boost Cornelius's chances? Well, he does that anyway.

Target: 9. Roll: [roll0].

[Gecks]

Since it looks like the battle is all but over, Harek puts all of his effort getting to the place Leif fell in, dropping his sheild on the deck so that he can move faster. If Cornelius has managed to get them close enough to the surface to catch it, he will throw him one end of the rope; if they are too deep, he will pull a large stone out of his leather pouch, and tie the end of the rope around it, using it's weight to lower the rope to them through the water.

Some rolls that might be relevent:

Seamanship (for tieing the rope around the rock) target 13:
Throwing (to get the rope/rock to them) target 14: [roll]3d6

Edit- typo messed the second roll, will post it below

[Xsesiv]

Praying to Neptune, apparently, does very little. Leif is now dragging Cornelius under.

[Gecks]

Throwing roll, if you need it:

[roll0]

[Xsesiv]

The rock reaches the thrashing pair, and the rope can easily be grabbed although the rock hit Cornelius on the head.:smalltongue:

[nerd-7i+e]

Cornelius ties the rope around Leif's waste.

OoC: If Cornelius is trying to rescue Leif, and Harek's trying to pull him in, does that effectively combine both of our target rolls? (In other words, because Harek would need a roll of 13 or less to rescue Leif, and I would need a roll of 9 or less to rescue Leif, do we together need a roll of 25 to rescue Leif?) Assuming that's the case, here's the roll:

Target: 25. Roll: [roll0].

[Gecks]

OoC: pretty sure we don't combine skills like that, so I'll roll a separate strength check just in case

After first taking one quick, last wary look behind his shoulder- a habit formed of years of improbable ambushes and unexpected, nasty surprises- Harek braces one boot against the side of the pirate vessel and hauls with all his strength, trying to drag Leif out of the water and onto the deck, before offering a hand to Cornelius if he is successful.


Strength roll (target 13): [roll0]

Edit: Oh-oh, lefts hope Cornelius' successful swim check grants Harek a bonus, or we may all get wet today...

[Xsesiv]

No, don't combine rolls. You can do that to simultaneously lift a heavy object for example, but when one of you is trying to manoeuvre someone in the water and the other is trying to haul them on board using a rope, the actions are different enough that you shouldn't.

At any rate, with supreme effort both men are dragged on board, just in time to see the last of the pirates fleeing.

[Gecks]

Harek shakes the hand of roman vigorously, grinning from ear to ear

“Well done, sir, well done! Any man willing to try a plan involving diving into the icy water, swimming under and enemy ship, and emerging on the other side to try and take the vessel armed only with a few knives is a brave man indeed, and a man well worthy of saving, if only to see what he is going to do next! Without you, he would surely have been lost to the depths, but now he will live, to tell his children of your courageous rescue-“

Harek’s brow furrows as he examines Leif’s wounds, pressing the end of his cloak against the most grievous cuts

"-that is, of course, if he does not bleed to death on this deck. These wounds are not trivial; we should get this man help as soon as possible. Please friend, help me bind this man’s wounds as best we may, and then we’ll carry him to someone who can tend him better than we can, lest all our hard work today goes for nothing.”

With that, Harek draws his knife and cuts off a strip of his linen undershirt, and bandages the wounds to the best of his ability, doing his best to staunch the worst of the bleeding.

[nerd-7i+e]

Cornelius helps Leif cough up any salt water he's swallowed and bandages the Viking (simple bandaging, so there's no need for a roll). After that he simply prays to both Mars (for winning the battle without any major losses) and Neptune (for helping him rescue Leif – sort of). He promises to sacrifice something to them upon his first opportunity. Perhaps he'll dedicate more of his sacrifice to Mars than to Neptune, though...

[Gecks]

Harek does his best to get Leif to a healer (or closest available equivalent) so he can get some real doctoring, then goes about the deck collecting his shield and throwing spear.

[nerd-7i+e]

Cornelius goes to the dead pirates (or if there are any, dead Vikings:smallfrown:) and puts silver coins under their tongues. They may be pirates, but they still deserve to be able to go to the underworld. If any pirates have any money on them, I place those beneath their tongues. If looting works on a "first come, first serve" basis, I also use this opportunity to loot.

[Xsesiv]

*snip*

Money, at this time, was not coins, but chunks of hacksilver. I'm not saying they wouldn't have raided coins, it just wouldn't be commonplace.

As for loot, everything that was useful from the pirates is divided among the twenty remaining men - 60 pennyweights of silver's worth to the crew, 90 for the officers (Olef), 120 for Thormod. (This can be in any good it is reasonable for the pirates to have - items, for the purposes of looting, are worth one quarter normal value, silver full value.) Thormod also strips the leader of a particularly fine axe.

Of course, there is still the pirates' boat to plunder. This done, provides 5000 pennyweights of silver (200 for crew, 300 for officers), several barrels of wool, a jewelled book nobody can read (or understand even when they can read), and a massive quantity of sweet wine.

[Xsesiv]

The land turned out to be England. The ships float towards Scarborough, a coastal trade mart.

"Everybody," calls Thormod, "I want a decision. Do we raid Scarborough, stop to trade, or carry on?"

[Gecks]

Harek pauses for a moment in thought, fingering the silver raven pendant hanging around his neck absentmindedly, before speaking:

“I will be honest gentleman, though my sword hand aches for some exercise, I fear raiding the first town we come across may be a bad idea. A trading center like this, there will be many vessels large and small in dock, and they would fly to the four winds in a heartbeat were we to attack. Scarborough would not stand against us long, but every other port and town in a hundred miles will know that a raiding party is plying this coast, and every other place we come to, we will find spears arrayed against us, so that any further profit would be bought dearly indeed.”

“I say the wise thing is to make like peaceful traders- stow some of our weapons and most of our steel armor, play the part as well as we are able, so that rumor does not spread against us- and make a bit hard silver for the pirate loot we’ve secured, and make room in our hold for other plunder, or perhaps fill it with goods that would fetch a good price at home. We can then range along the coast until we find a more profitable target. However, if the general consensuses runs otherwise, I am happy to fight or sail as necessary.”

[4is111]

Has Lief recovered?

[Xsesiv]

For the third time, post questions in OoC. He's been chopped with a sword twice, knocked unconscious and nearly drowned. He can speak, but strenuous physical activity is currently beyond him.

[4is111]

"I doubt I'd be much use in a raid, and Harek speaks wisely. I agree, we should try and train what loot we got from the pirates, then maybe see about repairing the ship."

[nerd-7i+e]

"Agreed. We have much more merchandise than we could possibly make use of on this trip, so a merchant to sell to is welcome in my mind. There's no point in gaining more of what we already have at such a risk as raiding Scarborough presents, and we certainly should avoid stringing two battles close together. Additionally, having merchants nearby will help to divide our loot more fairly. Perhaps we can raid this town on the way back to Scandinavia should we pass it again, but now is not the time."

[Xsesiv]

The ship docks at Scarborough, which seems mostly Christian - at least there is a church nearby. In front of this lies a huge market.

[nerd-7i+e]

"I think you will all agree that our first order of business is to divide up the loot. Perhaps we should go to some merchant and have the value of our merchandise estimated?"

[4is111]

"I am more than willing to help negotiate the price. I like to think I have a way with words."

[Gecks]

"It may be better for you to stay on the boat and in the care of the healers, so that you are on your feet the sooner, but if you do wish to speak for the crew in this matter- and, of course, if Thormod agrees- I would be happy to assist you about town, and make sure none of the locals see your fat coin purse and think to take advantage of your injuries. While I am in town I wish to purchase a decent metal helm, if one is available, and perhaps a spare sheild, but other than that, I am fully at your disposal."

[nerd-7i+e]

"I think you misunderstood me. I meant that we should have our goods evaluated for being divided up, not sold. We have yet to decide upon shares in the loot, so we may as well take advantage of the merchants here to find out just how much each item is worth, to ensure the divisions are fair. We don't need to negotiate yet."