Session Twentyfive 11th - 14th Larane 720

Where we follow the vicissitudes of a separate viking pHarn Down Under ...

Moderator: Neil

Session Twentyfive 11th - 14th Larane 720

Postby Neil » Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:30 pm

11th Larane 720

The rain falls on and off throughout the night. The clouds have closed in completely hiding the night sky from view the wind has blown hard all night.

Mablem huddling among the rocks wakes the warband as the first rays of light break from the east. The rain has begun to fall more steadily, the wind has subsided a little as the new day begins, the clouds have parted a little to allow some of the sky above to be seen.

The warband go about their usual morning routine before finishing off the rest of the salmon broth prepared last night.

With the rain still falling the morning remains cool with the sky almost completely hidden from view by low hanging clouds. A light wind blows in from the southwest.

While packing up their gear the warband decide that it is best to head back to Linon. Mablem lead the warband through the mountain terrain until he finds a small stream flowing down from the mountains. Mablem turns and leads the warband in the direction of the flowing stream.

The warband continue to follow the small stream for a some time and by mid morning the rain has stopped and the clouds have begun to break up revealing the sun to the ground below soon the temperature begins to climb, while the wind dies down to just a slight gust comin from the south.

By around midday the small stream that the warband had been following has joined a larger stream and has turned a bit more northerly in it’s direction. The warband now follow this larger stream.

With only a little food left the warband share a few stips of smoked meat while only resting for a short time.

Continuing on their journey the warband follows the stream. By mid afternoon the clouds have once again begun to gather and the wind has picked up again from the southwest and before long the first drops of rain are heard falling.

With last light approaching sooner than expected due to the weather and with no sign of the stream ending they decide to make camp for the night.

Mablem searches the surrounding area and finds a spot that should shelter the warband for the night. The warband share a meager meal with what remains of their rations.

With darkness upon them the warband set a watch and turn in for the night. The rain continues to fall as the warband huddle underneath blankets and cloaks for protection.

12th Larane 720

Just after midnight the rain stops falling and the wind drops off and swings around to south. The clouds soon begin to disperse to reveal some of the night sky.

With daylight beginning to break through the darkness, Mablem wakes the warband as they again go through their morning routine. After a quick rinse to wash the sleep away, Ashain turns his attention to his morning prayer while the others go about packing the camp equipment. Raan taking the warbands waterskins goes off and fills them at the nearby stream.

The warband sit around in a group discussing today actions. With little idea on their location and with only scraps left to eat, their position is dire. As they sit and ponder their options Raan catches the sound of something moving through the trees. Waving for the rest of the warband to be silent Raan turns his attention towards the direction of the noise, the other members of the warband turn their heads in the same direction.

The warband notice a lone male moving towards them and Tryne whispers insturctions to his companions. The lone figure stops and turns his head in the direction of the warband. Veering slighty towards the warband 4 males appear through the trees.

Soon the 4 men are near the warbands position. The 4 men are obviously Ivinians perhaps half breeds by their dress and the weapons they carry.Tryne and Raan stand and followed by the other members of the warband. There is a moment of tension between the two groups as they determine each others intentions. Raan offers the visitors to sit with them and this eases the tension immediately.

The new comers introduce themselves as Caris (the leader), Yanar, Urnal and Keljarri from the thran of Aselt. The warband introduce themselves in turn and Kalyn and Raan are immediately recognised while Ashain is known through his clan. Tryne and Mablem are greeted with handshakes.

The warband tell the newcomers of their plight and they are offered assistance. Caris says that he and his group are heading back to Aselt anyway and it would be no problem for them to direct the warband back to Linon.

The warband gratefully accept their help. Offering some food to the warband Caris and his companions share the morning meal.

Caris asks the warband what they are doing out here so poorly prepared. Tryne answers him with the story of their search for salvage from the wrecked vessel and of their search for the two headed beast still supposedly roaming around out here. Tryne tells them that they were unlucky in their search on both counts as they found neither salvage nor the two headed monster.

Caris nods his head once the story is told. “Unfortunate for you, that you wasted such time and have nothing to hold for your efforts.” Tryne and the others just nod in agreement.

With daylight upon them the group break camp and head off. Caris leads the warband off towards the southeast. The warband following in his trail.

Raan spends the morning walking with Keljarri they make small talk along the way until Raan ask him what they are were doing out here. Keljarri tells him that it is of no concern to him as they too were unsuccessful in their endeavours. The sunlight warms up the warband as they make their way through the trees.

By late morning the clouds are once again closing in and turning a light grey. Raan looks to the sky and says “More rain I think!” several of the others turn their heads skyward and nod in agreement.

After midday the rain begins to fall as the temperature drops a little with the wind picking up so that a strong breeze blows in from the southwest.

Travelling cross country the group makes their way steadily towards the southeast, with Caris stopping on occassion to confirm his location before once again heading off. By late afternoon with the rain still falling the group have arrived at ‘Bjern’s crossing’. Sensing that they are nearly home the warband quicken their step, soon the countryside has transformed into the open fields now freshly reaped by the Jarin farmers, cattle can been seen grazing on the fallen husks of the newly reaped fields, walking along the edges of the fields the warband soon arrive in Linon.

On arriving they bid farewell to their guides as they continue on towards Aselt. The warband make a brief appearance at the thranaal to let the Valhakar know they have returned and will make their way back later today once they have washed and eaten.

The warband then make their way to the inn “The Falcon’s Rest” in Tirdatr. They soon arrive and arrange lodgings and food for the night.

They quickly wash up outside and return to order their their meals. Rabbit stew with beans and barely is served. While the warband are eating Kalyn enters the inn. With a quick greeting she sits herself down with her companions, she declines the offer of food saying she has already eaten.

Finishing their meal the warband depart with Kalyn to the thranaal in Linon. There they meet with Ardin Dellakar and tell him of their journey. Ardin thanks them for their efforts and the warband are soon heading back towards the “Falcon’s Rest”

With darkness nearly upon them the warband arrive back at the inn. Hanging up their rain soaked cloaks near the fire the warband once again take up a seat at a table and order ales.

With the days travelling complete the warband sit down to enjoy an ale or two. The warband tell Kalyn of their findings amongst the ships wreckage and their travellings through the mountains. She reveals little of what has happened to her the last few days.

The warband notice after their second ale that their is a stranger in their midst. He sits at a bench by himself, his lean frame, he would be around 60” tall and appearsto be in his late 20’s, his brown hair and green eyes give him the appearance of a Jarin/Ivinian mix while his dress and bearing make him Ivinian.

Raan ever the good host stands and moves towards this stranger. Nearing him Raan offers “Well met, stranger. Would you care to join us and share an ale and perhaps a story?” The stranger nods his approval and after taking a seat with the warband introduces himself as Malarl Valstric, a scholar in search of a group of warriors that found a cave entrance and fought a two headed beast some 15’ tall.

The warband laugh and inform he that his search is at an end for they are the warriors he is looking for. A smile beams across his face. He asks if they would be so good as to tell him their story first hand. The warband never needing a second invitation to tell a story start. Tryne does most of the telling with the others interjecting as needed to clarify or add more infomation. Malarl keeps the ales coming as the warband tells their tale.

Malarl listens intently as they go on with the story. He asks few questions as the story is told. Soon the story is complete. Malarl asks a few questions concering the two headed monster before adding that the beast may indeed by a ‘Formos’ a creature of Ilvir and certainly a great threat and you did well to defeat it.

Leaning forward Malarl says “Would you be interested in going back to the cave, I need someone to show me the way so thtat I might explore them.”

“Let us think on this for now, how did you hear of this?” asks Tryne. Malarl replies “I was in Tandir when a vessel arrived and the sailors told us of the story, I had to find out for myself if the story is true and have a look at this cave. I arrived in Sherwyn yesterday and after some questioning found out that you were around here, someone said that you were currently out in the woods, so I thought I would wait for you, luckily there are no others here to explore for themselves.”

Raan nods his head “We accept your offer, we would be glad to show you the cave, we are not certain of it’s location, we have a good idea of where it is. We will be happy to show you the way if you are still interested.” Malarl nods his head “Indeed,I am still interested”

Tryne says “What is in it for us?” I will give you credit in any papers that I write. Little more I cannot add.” Tryne adds “What about a split in the findings of 50-50?” Malarl replies “Let me think on it.”

As the conversation continues for a litte while longer the inn staff go about packing up the benches and tables and preparing the inn for it’s overnight guests.

Soon the warband are resting on wooden pallets with a straw matteress. Malarl has arrange to stay the night as well.

The warband are soon asleep resting well as the rain continues to fall outside.

13th Larane 720

The inn staff awake the warband early in the morning as they prepare to make the inn ready for the morning trade.

The warband take their place at a bench and are joined by Malarl for their morning meal. They are served bowls of oatmeal with a dozen sweet rolls and a jug of ale.

Tryne imforms the warband that he will remain behind to complete some further study he is attempting.

Malarl asks the warband what they have organised for the day. They answer that they must travel to Aselt today as they have business to attend to there. Malarl says that he will spend the day trying to organise the necessary supplies for their journey.

They agree to meet back here tonight.

Tryne spends the day in solitude in the common room of the inn, he informs the innkeeper that he does not wish to be disturbed at all. He is left in peace during the day but draws some strange looks from other inn patrons.

The warband depart the inn after donning travelling cloaks. The day is cool with the clouds concealing most of the sky, a slight breeze blows in from south but no rain is falling. As they head off towards Aselt, Raan looks skyward and informs the warband that they should expect rain later today.

Skirting Zoen the warband soon arrive in Aselt, where they find directions to the master locksmith. Making their way towards the thranaal they find the locksmiths workshop. On entering they find a male in his early 20’s he introduces himself as Buraas journeyman locksmith and asks if he may be of assistance to the warband.

Raan producing his locked chest asks if it might be possible to have this chest unlocked as he has lost the key. Taking the chest Buraas moves over to a bench at the rear of the workshop where he takes a set of keys from a hook. He spends several minutes trying out a few keys until finally a key opens the lock.

He returns to the warband and offers Raan his now unlocked chest back. “How much for the key?” asks Raan. Turning the key in his fingers Buraas answers “12d and the key is yours.” Raan sensing the price is a little high suggests that perhaps a lower price might find him in the buying mood. “I know of you, your efforts at Bjarri’s feast and at the battle of Fornin and if I let this item go for anything less my master would beat me to within an inch of my life, I cannot go any lower than 12d.”

Raan puffs up his chest and immediately pays the 12d saying “We cannot have that then can we.”

Standing in the shop Raan opens the lid to the chest and peers inside for the first time. There are several items in the chest the first is a now waterstained parchment, Kalyn takes the parchment a carefully unwraps it but it is completely illegable due to the water damage.

The next item is a linen wrapped object which when viewed shows itself to be a jade amulet, a buckram pouch contains 36d, while anouther pouch contains 4oz of gold and lastly a further linen wrapped object reveals itself to be a brass ring set with a bloodstone, a sapphire, a agate and lastly a piece of amber. All the stones are cut and look valuable.

Burass eyes off each item silently.

Placing each item back in the chest as found, Raan locks the chest and places it back into his backpack.

The return journey is spent with the warband discussing the value of each item. They come to the following conclusions the jade amulet is worth around 400d, the 4oz of gold around 1000d and the ring is worth in the vicinity of 50,000d.

Returning to Tirdatr and the inn the warband just beat the first drops of rain. There they find Tryne seated at a table alone, his head firmly planted in a book, with quill and inkpot at the ready. Taking a seat away from Tryne they order several ales for themselves, on hearing his companions voices Tryne looks up and nods towards his companions.

As the warband consume their ale the first boom of thunder can be heard echoing through the thran. Although the rain continues to fall the day remains warm.

As the warband order their evening meal they are joined by Tryne who also orders a meal. The warband are served a bowl of vegetable stew with a loaf of bread each. During the meal the warband tell Tryne of the days events including the items inside the locked chest.

Just as they finish their meal and the table cleared they are joined by Malarl. He is beaming with excitement. He informs the warband that he has been able to obtain 3 Jarin to take care of the mules and tend the camp while they are on expedition. With the harvesting still being done it was good luck that we were able to get them.

Later in the evening the inn is once again cleared and the bedding prepared for the nights guests.

With the warband and Malarl the only guests this night there is plenty of room on the floor. Tryne and Raan are still awake as Mablem, Kalyn and Ashain are nearly asleep. Tryne turns to Raan and says “Can I have a look at these items of yours, they may indeed be more valuable than you know, they may hold some esoteric value as well.” Raan looks on with bewildering look and says “Not now, maybe tomorrow.” Tryne nods his head and lays down and drifts off to sleep. Leaving Raan to keep watch for now.

Not long after Raan starts his watch, Malarl wakes and rises, he leaves the inn via the backdoor and reappears a few minutes later, instead of returning to his sleeping pallet he takes a spot next to Raan and says “I could not help but overhear your companion talking of an esoteric item, I am familiar with such items also, would I be able to have a look at it?” Raan nods his head, peers into his pack unlocks the chest and removes the jade amulet. Raan hands the amulet to Malarl, who takes it gently, closing his eyes he gently stokes the item between his hands.

Handing the item back Malarl says that the item is in fact non esoteric in value although appears to be quite valuable.

Raan nods his head and places the item back in the chest and locks it, Then closes up his pack while Malarl wishes him good night before returning to his pallet.

Raan hands over his watch to Tryne.

14th Larane 720

Tryne takes his turn on watch and soon wakes Kalyn for her turn on watch.

During her watch, a door opens and a stream of light shines from within, the innkeeper appears through the a doorway casting a long shadow along the floor in front of him. He holds a lantern in his hand, as he enters the common room he looks towards Kalyn and asks if she has heard anything strange. Kalyn shakes her head.

The innkeeper turns and exits the inn via the backdoor, several minutes pass as Kalyn sitting by the hearth fire ember light waits for some sign of the innkeeper. Reaching over she wakes Mablem from his slumber and informs him of what has happened. Mablem no sooner raises from the pallet to check on what is happening than the innkeeper returns inside through the backdoor.

The innkeeper returns back inside his quarters before shutting the door returning the common room back to near darkness.

Mablem offers to finish off Kalyn watch as he has the next watch anyway, Kalyn accepts his offer and is soon asleep along with her other companions.

The new day dawns with the weather warm, no breeze and not a cloud in the sky, soon the warband are awoken by the inn staff and after a quick wash, their bedding is put away and their morning routines complete. The warband are served more porridge for their morning meal with another dozen sweet cakes. The meal is soon eaten and washed down with a tankard of ale.

After eating the warband decide on what they should do for the days activities. Tryne says he has more study to do and that he should be left alone to finish it. Raan suggests that he should spend some time studying the route to the cave from his map. Kalyn spends several hours of the day teaching a few first aid tricks to Mablem and Ashain.

The day warms up with the temperature soon becoming hot, the warband finds themselves stripping off their heavier outlayers of clothing and are down to the shirts sleeves.

By midday Tryne has still got his head stuck inside his books with quill and inkpot still ready to hand. Raan is still studying his map but his attention is beginning to wane, meanwhile the others have given up and taken a table and have begun to consume several ales.

They are soon joined by Raan.

By midafternoon the warband are joined by Malarl and 3 Jarin the first named Hallian,a young man of perhaps 16 years of age, stands no more than 52” tall with a lean frame, a medium complexion with black hair and brown eyes. The second appears to be a little older is introduced as Merekin he stands around 56” tall with a medium complexion, a medium frame with brown hair and green eyes. The third an oldest man is introduced as Mynas he is in his mid 20’s he stands around 58” tall, with a lean medium frame with the same complexion as his companions, he too has black hair and brown eyes.

The warband are also told that 3 mules have also been acquired and are currently outside with the stores. The warband are informed that the Jarin will be in charge of the mules and the running of the camp once they leave Linon.

Soon after the arrival of their new companions the first drops of rain can be heard hitting the ground outside.

Malarl informs the warband that all the preparations are complete and that if they are ready they could leave tomorrow. The warband agrees.

Just before the evening meal Tryne joins the warband and their new companions. He is told that they will be leaving first thing tomorrow. Tyrne voices his concerns he still has several days of study left to complete before he is ready to leave. Malarl replies “That is unacceptable, you promised me that you would be ready to leave once my preparations were complete for the journey, well I am ready, now you live up to your end of the bargain, I have gone to great expense to get things ready and I cannot have you....” Raan cuts him off from further talking by saying “We will take you as promised.” throwing Tyrne a dirty look as he says this.

Tyrne and his companions decide that he will spend the next few days here in Tirdatr completing his studies and then follow on and catch up to his companions when he is ready. Mablem and Tryne decide on a system of blazing a trail so that Tryne should be able to follow in the warbands footsteps.

The warband sit down to their last evening meal at Tirdatr for some time and are served a nicely spiced mutton stew with some rye bread.

Midway through their meal the first flash of lightening is seen through the windows of the inn, several seconds later a boom of thunder is heard to add to the already falling rain.

The evening is still quite warm with just a slight breeze blowing in from the southwest. The rain is still falling as those that enter the inn are wet and shake off their cloaks as they enter.

Before long the inn has cleared and once again the pallets are laid out and the warband are once again. Before long they are asleep.
User avatar
Neil
AtW GM
 
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:57 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Return to From Across the Water

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests

cron