The World of San'Dora

Saturday February 28th, 2004, San Diego, CA

Clutching Nine Arrows
Who	What	When	Where
Why	How	Disadvantages	Post Game Analysis

WHO

PCs: (Master Summary)

Name	XP	DEX	SPD	SPD Chart
$ Ayden Hrdaled	0	15	5	12	3		5		8		10
Good night for Ayden. He was very active during parts and started showing signs of being a major asset to the group.
$ Fyrclian Bergansen	1	17	3	12		4			8
Not as strong tonight in my opinion, but the rest of the group when I put it to a vote indicated that Fyrclian deserved a point but not Ayden. I went with the majority on this, but personally felt the opposite. Had some good dialougue with Kaenha, but was easily trapped by him into admitting her guilt in the attacking of the outlanders last session.
@ Hrani "Refskegg" Thrarinnsson	.5	17	4	12	3			6		9
Pretty good night of play. Had some really good bits. Unfortunately, he always seems to loose out to Thrymri in the players attentions.
/ Kjar Kvaransen	1	11	3	12		4			8
Good stuff tonight, had some good interaction. The player was very active in following up on opportunities to play up several of his Disadvantages, even though the character was "quiet" most of the time.
- Rogate Turvoldsen	1	17	4	12	3			6		9
Solid work tonight. This is the players best character to date in the 2 or 3 years he's been gaming in my group. I'm really happy with the direction the player is taking with this character and am very interested in seeing where it goes. Was very active in this session, and helped shape events by his actions.
/ Saemund Magnussun	2	11	3	12		4			8
A major player in this session, Saemund is definitely the "strongest" character in the group so far IMO, slightly edging out Thrymri. Though Saemund says little, his bearing and mannerisms are very overt. The character is very conducive to versimilitude for the other players, and also an asset to the party in a bigger picture. I often have a vote for an extra point to be awarded to a player via secret ballot on a "low-XP" session. This is an MVP type situation, and includes any NPC's a player might have picked up or handled during the session. Jay, Saemund's player, took the majority of votes this session, IMO for his portrayal of Saemund, and appropriately allocated the point to Saemund.
# Sonnenwende Mondfeuer	1	15	3	12		4			8
In retrospect, I think I should have given a point to Spatzenjager, but not Sonnenwende. Initially I gave a point to Sonny because he piped up with some amusing snippets, particularly at the end before the Druidic Ritual kicked off, and because he demonstrated the practical nature of his character at the end by questioning the Grand Druid a little more closely about supplies and provisions when everyone else was content with a pat on the back and a pointed finger towards the north. All good bits, but other than the practical attention to details nothing was "new" for the character or defining. Overall, my understanding/perception of the character wasn't braodened. Maybe a half point like Hrani got would have been better.
# Spatzenjager	0	11	4	12	3			6		9
Spatzenwere		20	4	12	3			6		9
Spatzenwolf		17	4	12	3			6		9
Spatz on the other hand had very few speaking lines, but his scene with Ayden and handling of the guards with nothing more than about 3 words and a lot of body language was a lot more definitive. For the first time I got the impression that lurking behind Spatz's feral features is a real willingness/urge to take violent action if necessary. The player tends towards passive characters who react rather than proact, so this was a welcome indication that the barbaric Rage-prone werewolf character will get-in-your-face if interfered with.
Originally I granted 0 points for this character. The player was only able to make the later half of the session (in truth, the 1st half was mostly stalling until he got there so that the Druidic ritual could be conducted with all the players here). In retrospect the above mentioned scene was probably worth a point, as it is new ground for the character and an indication of growth for the player.
@ Vmundr "Thrymri" Finnvarsson	1	12	2	12				6
Huge growth for this character. Started off the first half of the session kind of bumbling around though with some good flavor bits, but after a talking to and "moto" speach by the Hoher Skalding Hundi, the player seemed to find some direction for the character and became much more coherent and focused. Hopefully this focus will be maintained between sessions...

NPCs:

At the Laird's Hall Environs

* Kaenha Kennering: (Clan Laird of Pargori and Oberlaird): Will not be pleased by this turn of events and will be in something of a bind. He knows the Druids will be angered if he interferes with the Nine, but on the other hand he can't let Thegns go around attacking Outlander merchants unpunished.

* Brand Jormundreksson: Pargori Reeve of Alarsvik; middle aged man, greying at the temples. In town for politicing during the Midsummers Festival. Rival to Kaenha, too powerful for Kaenha to dismiss, but not powerful enough to wrest power from him (yet).

There is a rumor going around (STARTED BY RESEREI) that with the death of the Reeve of Feihaus, Thorfid Arnvidsson, that Kaenha is contemplating merging the Reeve-halten of Feihaus with the Reeve-halten of Rollenhurst (his own former Reeve-halten), which is of course held by his son-in-law and heir apparent Earak Beransen.

Brand is overheard by Thrymri while in the Lairds Hall saying to his Gefolgsman and Ward Gudmund Yngvisson that if this is true he will rally support and challenge Kaenha.

Later, Brand steps up and defends Saemund when Kaenha fines him 50 gc for the slaying of Aleth Farthenssen.

- Athenra, Clan Skald of Pargori

@ Tennric, Druid representative to the Oberlaird. Kind of an incompetant, doesnt like arcane spell casters

* Theron Allorssen: Huscarl captain leading detail that arrives at the scene after the altercation. Will take the lot of them involved into custody

Escorted PCs to Laird's Hall for the Oberlaird's judgement. Gave brief testimony (in Kaenha's chambers as to what he saw when he arrived). Later escorted PC's out of Laird's Hall to the Guest Hall while Kaenha retired to speak with the newly-arrived Doran.

When Aleth Farthenssen popped up and asked Rogate, Refskegg and Saemund to be his Kampfernamer (with Thrymri witnessing), Theron tried to put a stop to it, but was talked over. After Aleth challenged Saemund, Theron tried to stop it. Theron even asked Saemund to go easy on the lad, but of course Saemund rejected that idea out of hand. After Aleth is slain brutally by Saemund, Theron is very angry, but control his rage, and has the PCs sent to the Guest Hall while he takes care of the boys remains with a couple of other Huscarl and goes to inform the Kaenha of this newest slaying by Saemund.

* Aleth Farthenssen: Son of the Huscarl that Saemund slew in episode 1. 15 or 16 years old, smallish by Machtig standards, but athletic. Blue eyes, dirty blonde hair, ~160 lbs. Seems eager.

See Saemund and the Huscarl below.

* Hundi Idmundsson: Herodi Hoher Skalding, has been chasing information about the Prophesy of the Nine because he senses that there is something the Druids are hiding.

* Geirrod Thorsteinsson: Herodi Zauberer (Obermancer), travelling companion of Hundi. Spoke w/ Kjar and traded spells with him. Kjar showed him how to cast Living Monolith in return for Blistering Skybolts. Geirrod mentioned that his mentor was Skar Ofeigsson. He also indicated that he knew higher level spells than Kjar does.

* Doran Murfon : From Ieshali originally. See Character Sheet. Doran is a major opposing villain for the PC's during the first story arc, but what his motivations are will remain a mystery for now. He will show up late into the meeting with Kaenha if it seems like a good play and act the wounded innocent to good effect.

*Thoneth-Gar & Kirano-Tynson: Outsider: Mostly work as a caravan guard for the Black Shields Mercenary Company. Kirano-Tynson and Thoneth-Gar are captive. Neither speak Machtig.

* Hlothver Skorrisson: Wainright. Pargori Merchant. Witnessed event. To his eyes, Fyrclian and Rogate ran over to attack the newly arriving Outlanders without provocation.

* Harek Idmundson: (no relation to Hundi; Idmund is a common name); Pargori Clan Skald that speaks Vargaanese and has been to Shidaal before. Brought in to translate for Thoneth-Gar & Kirano-Tynson before Kaenha. Relates 1) that they are from Shidaal, work for the Black Shields Mercenary Company, and were hired to guard Doran and 2) Doran is a spellcaster.

At Caer Broinig

* Carus Feredsol (FAIR-odd-SALL; "Iron Arrow"): (Jagrling) Grand Druid, mid 60's, emits a strong presense, and to those with magic detection, he is surrounded by swirling energies at all times. Wears a simple darkbrown woolen robe with a mantle of thick dark green cloth and a heavy golden amulet that marks his station. Speaks in a measured deep tone.

* Skalla Baugorsson and Haeming Ormsson: Druids that assist/direct the PCs at the Druid ritual, instructing them and putting them where they needed to be.

* = played by GM

- = played by Ron Darbee

/ = played by Jason Roche

@ = played by Jonathan Bristow

# = played by Jake Ellena

$ = played by Kristin Molle

WHAT

Backdrop

At this point, Kaenha will be wheeling and dealing, entertaining important guests & visitors at his hall and the staff at the hall will be preparing for an extensive evenings feast. The Lairds hall will be a very confused place to be around.

Aftermath of Fyrclian and the Beaten Horses

Last episode Fyrclian's Enraged lead to a bloody altercation with a group of five outsiders, resulting in two of the outsiders being dead afterwards. Here's the thing of it: technically the outsiders have no rights and are completely and literally outside of the Machtig caste system and therefore their legal system. So, technically any Thegn could slay any outsider that lacks status. Now on the otherhand the Pargori actively encourage trade and want Outlanders to come into the Vold to do business and having Machtig running around killing them is not conducive to engendering a spirit of free trade. To accomodate having outsiders run around the Vold, particularly in the Fallenheim environs, in the past half a century the Pargori Lairds have made a practice out of allowing outsiders a tacit Thralldom so long as they agree to honor the traditional rules of the Merchants Code and pay sufficient "besterung", which amounts to a trade tariff. Since the Pargori Lairds have been the Oberlairds for the past century, other Clans have had to grudgingly respect this accomodation.

But Doran had never been in the Vold prior and had never sworn before the Pargori Laird, and nor had his guardsmen. Therefore they are all "non-people" technically and Kaenha doesn't have much of a leg to stand on legally. The only thing Kaenha could do is claim the outsiders as Slaves and then permit them to do as they wish, but that is real borderline and the outlanders generally wouldn't have it regardless. So, Kaenha will be infuriated, but on the other hand not be able to do much. Plus, he knows that the Grand Druid is in the area and very interested in the Nine being available at some ceremony that evening, and he certainly doesn't want to irritate the Grand Druid.

However, Doran will arrive after Kaenha has had the opportunity to shout a bit, will swear to uphold the Merchant's Code, give a besterung of 50 gold, and then insist reperation for the loss of his two guards. Kaenha, stuck between the proverbial rock will give him back his 50 gold as weregild. Doran will insist that Rogate be punished (following up on the previous episodes bit that the chauvinistic Doran ignores Fyrclian as a threat/opponent), but Kaenha will have to refuse as this is not permitted under Machtig laws. Doran will eventually leave in a huff, and Kaenha will angrily dismiss the PC's.

Executed more or less as planned.

The session resumed where the last left off, with the arrival of a contingent of Huscarl who gather up all involved and escort them to the Laird's Hall. While in the Laird's Hall waiting for Kaenha to make an appearance, Thrymri listens in on the conversations of some of the Reeves and wealthy merchants in the Hall pending the planned festivities of the afternoon/evening. Fyrclian and Saemund talk about Otrygg, Rogate and Refskegg dawdle, Kjar falls asleep next to the fire, and Ayden looks for a way out if it should be needed. Towards the end a teenaged boy (Aleth) kind of sneaks/saunters in and tucks himself away out of sight; Ayden and Refskegg notice him, but make little of it.

Kaenha essentially deposes the witnesses after exerting his authority and working the PC's over a bit. He traps Fyrclian neatly into admitting that she moved over with intent to attack the outsiders. Only a timely speech by Thrymri (with 65 Presense and a massive Oratory roll made by 14 (due to his boosted PRE and Overall Levels), which swayed all those in attendence) prevented Kaenha from steamrolling Fyrclian and Rogate into the ground.

Just as Kaenha is about to dismiss the matter as an unfortunate occurance however, Doran arrives and demands that Rogate be punished (again, he dismisses Fyrclian as a woman and focuses on Rogate as the instigator). He and Rogate trade heated words, threats, and sneers.

Doran talks up his ties to important men is Shidaal, Kasaad, and Zorlaaga and the money that will be lost in trade once he has used his influence with them to the detriment of the Machtig. Kaenha quickly calls for a pause in the proceeding so that he might have a private conversation with Doran.

The PCs are escorted to the Guest Hall in the interim. During this interim the Aleth Farthensen encounter (detailed in the Saemund & the Huscarl section) occurs. After that encounter, several interactions between PCs and NPCs also occured (as detailed in the Waiting for Judgement section).

Saemund & the Huscarl

The Huscarl are busy policing the city and maintaining an honor guard around the Lairds Hall at this point. They just dont have the time for playing practical jokes or messing around w/ Saemund at this point. The man Saemund killed was one of the Huscarls best swordsmen, and the casual, basically contemptuous way in which he disarmed the Huscarl and pinned him to the ground with his own sword was sufficiently impressive to ensure that none of the Huscarl are in a hurry to get into an actual direct confrontation with the intimidating mountain warrior.

However, in a devlish twist, I think Ill kill two birds w/ one stone. I've been trying to work in the roles of the different social castes in the setting and wanted to have a young warrior request three of the Thegns in the party and Thrymri as a Skalding to bear witness to his weapon skills, so that he may be named a Thegn.

So if I can work it in, young Aleth Farthenssen will approach the group after the Oberlaird sees them -- maybe even do it in the Lairds Hall. After the 3 Thegns name him Thegn, he will then challenge Saemund on the spot -- he is of course the son of the man Saemund killed. I want to see if Saemund will take the challenge and kill the kid in accordance with his background, or seek some other way out of it.

Went off exactly as planned.

Aleth slips into the Lairds Hall while the PCs are waiting to be questioned by Kaenha regarding the attack in the corral. He tucks himself away in a corner where he wont be noticed by Kaenha before Kaenha arrives, but is noticed by Refskegg and Ayden

After the first session w/ Kaenha ends, he pops out as the PCs are being escorted from the hall and names Rogate, Refskegg and Saemund as his Kampfernamers. The Huscarl captain Theron tries to put a stop to it, but can't interfere with the highly traditionalized naming of Thegnship, and is shouted down by others in the Hall.

Saemund tests the lad's blade (AND BLOWS HIS PER CHECK TO RECOGNIZE IT AS THE SAME BLADE HE SLEW THE LADS FATHER WITH THE DAY BEFORE BY 5 OR 6), and then deliberately dulls the blade and hands it back, telling the lad to sharpen it. The lad of course doesn't have a whetstone (this is a highly unusual request BTW), but Saemund lends him his. The boy sharpens the blade back up.

Then Rogate has the lad try to imitate an attack pattern which he demonstrates, and the kid does an ok job at it, though he doesn't know that style already (ROGATE HAS A LOT OF LEVELS WITH LONGSWORD, WHICH JUST TRANSLATES OUT TO HE KNOW SEVERAL DIFFERENT ATTACK PATTERNS WITH IT). Then the lad, feeling like he isn't doing well so far, asks if he might demonstrate the style he knows, and executes it well, though his style is different from the Herodi's.

Then Refskegg hands him his Battle Axe and has the lad do a turn with that; the boy professes he's never used one before, but manages to handle it well enough after a few practice swings, though he weilds it more like a sword than as an axe -- he has Common Melee Weapons proficiency, so suffers no penalties.

Finally Saemund hands him his Hammer and asks him to demonstrate with that weapon. The boy seems put off by the weapon, and some interesting back and forth occurs between the three Thegns (ROGATE AND REFSKEGG QUESTION THE CHOICE OF HAMMER, SAEMUND BASICALLY QUIRKS AN EYEBROW, AND THEY BOTH HASTILY AGREE IT"S A GOOD WEAPON). The lad is clumsy with it (THE HAMMER IMPOSES A -1 OCV PENALTY) but manages.

All three Thegns agree that the lad is skilled enough to be a Thegn, and Thrymri witnesses it rather grandiosely. As soon as the words pass Thrymri's lips the lad turns and says "I CHALLENGE YOU!" to Saemund, to much suprise all around. "I told you not to name him Thegn!", says Theron bitterly. It is then revealed that this is the son of the man Saemund killed.

Saemund gives a speech which for him was quite lengthy, essentially saying Ill give you a chance to back out of this kid, and if you dont take it I wont maim you, I will kill you. The lad insists. Refskegg then tries to talk the lad out of it saying "Boy, this man will KILL you. Spend a few years getting better and THEN try to kill him!", even offering to send the boy letters telling him of where they are on their faring so that he will know where Saemund is. The lad dismisses this saying "I dont know how to read", to which Refskegg had to admit, "Oh, well truthfully I dont know how to write either."

Finally even Rogate, the Herodi tried to discourage the boy saying "If a Thegn is slain today, that will be one fewer shieldbrother tomorrow when you might need one most."

Several of the onlookers also voiced platitudes to the child asking him to reconsider. But the boys youthful pride would have none of it, and as the duel began Thrymri wrote under the passage in his logs naming the boy Thegn, "And so the lad Aleth son of Farthen was slain by his own Kampfernamer, Saemund, son of Magnus, son Farbjorn, son of Gunnbjorn, son of Rolfyr, son of Hirger, son of Arngis, son of Ungor after challenging him, Midsummers Day VY 2000, before the doors of the Laird's Hall at Fallenheim." before the fight had even truly started. Before he had finished listing Saemund's anceastry the boy had been mercilously slain.

The lad struck at Saemund's head, but Saemund cooly blocked it with his battleboard (shield) and with a quick pivot deflected the lad's blade aside creating a perfect opening for a return across-the-chest strike at the lads chest with his battlehammer, sending the boy flying back on his heels 20 or so feet with the sound of breaking ribs. Wasting no time Saemund surged after the now-prone boy and landed a brutal overhand smash into his chest again knocking the lad into unconsciousness and near-death. Seeing breath still bubbling from the boy in the bloody spittle around his nose and mouth, the stern mountain warrior Saeumund reversed his hammer and kneeling low drove the head straight down, crushing the boy's skull like a melon and drawing murmurs of suprise from most onlookers and growls of anger from several of the Huscarl.

As the towering Wundvolding calously ripped the boys cloak off to clean his weapon and spectacularly expensive armor with, even the Herodi Rogate was heard to say, "You could have let the boy live.". Saemund's reply was, "To face me is to face death. No mercy, no exceptions. I'll not have an enemy at my back."

There were many witnesses to the entire event, including the Reeve Brand. Though many thought killing the boy once he was unconscious was unecessary, Saemund was within his rights to do so and had been heard clearly warning the boy that he would slay him if he persisted in his challenge.

Saemund's reputation as a slayer will grow in the telling, though the group's departure will ensure that it wont mean anything in the midterm. If Saemund survives to return to the Vold he will find that he will be called the Pargor-bane.

Waiting for Judgement

After a bit, while Saemund tidies up his precious armor, Hundi Idmundsson the Hoher Skalding shows up. He is a tad put out with Thrymri and retires with him to another room to basically berate him a bit for withholding information from him. He then basically gives Thrymri a motivational/inspiration speech about what the Hoher Skalding are supposed to be all about and a request that in the future Thrymri remember that they are supposed to working towards the same goal. The Hoher Skalding are meant to help keep the Machtig together as a single people. He tells Thrymri that he must guide the Nine and help accentuate their similarities rather than allow them to fall apart or seperate along Clan lines.

While this is occuring, Kjar is trying to draw out Geirrod, Hundi's traveling companion who remained in the common area while the two Skalds talk Skalding business. Kjar manages to negotiate a spell trade with Geirrod and teaches him Living Monolith in return for Blistering Skybolts. {Kjar made his skill roll dead on and had the 2 pts to spend. Normally it would take ~3 hrs to learn a 3rd level spell, but I figured that they could copy the spells into each other's spell books in the time available, and Kjar could find 3 hrs to learn it on his own time before it became an issue so let it fly in the interests of moving the story along).

Blistering Skybolts: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6-1 (vs. ED), Lingering up to 1 Turn (+1/2) (60 Active Points); Spell (Cannot be Spread or Bounced, etc) (-1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Extra Time (Delayed Phase, -1/4), 6 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Turn each (-1/4)

While the more brainy characters were engaged, Rogate and Hrani decided to pass the time with a little arm wrestling. Hrani initially slams Rogate straight out of the gate, but in the second round Rogate resists an initial surge from Hrani and manages to fight back to top, where the two then struggled back and forth, until eventually Hrani overexerted himself and had to concede the match. {Rogate has 1/2 END on his STR, so was fine, but Hrani did not and actually burned himself down into his STUN}

Sonnenwende was finally awakened by all of this commotion {his player, Jake, arrived late after taking care of some unavoidable school things}, but was a bit out of it while waking up and being brought up to speed on events that had transpired. Rogate tried to get him to go take care of buying supplies, but Sonny was hesitant to take on that responsibility unassisted.

After time for Rogate to get his wind back, Saemund stepped up and took Rogate in the first round though Rogate managed to fight back after his initial surge. Some smack-talking ensued. Incensed, Rogate slammed Saemund cold in the second round. In the final round it looked like Rogate was going to win initially after a opening push, but Saemund held on, his rock-like muscles halting the Herodi's progress, and then BAM! brought the Herodi's fist over the top and into the boards with a single mighty flex.

Arm Wrestling: We decided that Arm Wrestling would be handled by opposed STR rolls, 3d6 under 9 + STR/5. Overall Levels (and in the unlikely chance that a character had them Skill Rolls with STR based Skills, but not All Skill Levels) may be used to modify this roll.

Starting at the "top" there are 10 "steps" to the board, which corresponds in a 1:1 ratio to the amount by which a character makes their STR roll. Character's with higher SPD are assumed to hold their action until their opponent's Phases where possible, taking extra Phases when this is not possible due to the two characters already going on the same Phase.

When a character has an extra action to take the opponent may only resist on their roll, not gaining any benefit if they win the opposed roll. A character must spend END each time they use their STR as normal.

Example: Rogate has 20 STR, a 13- STR Roll, 4 SPD, +1 Overall Level, and 1/2 END on his STR. Saemund has 23 STR, a 14- STR Roll, 3 SPD, and +2 Overall Levels. Starting off the arm wrestling bout at "top position" on Phase 12 Rogate and Saemund make an opposed STR Check. Rogate rolls 10 and Saemund rolls 11; Rogate made his roll by 4, but Saemund with his 16- roll made his by 5 and therefore wins, moving 1 step (5-4) from top towards the board; Saemund spends 2 END, Rogate spends 1. Neither gets a Post Segment 12 Recovery because they are considered to be exerting continuously.

Rogate would go in Phase 3, but is considered to be holding until 4 to match up with Saemund. In Phase 4 the pair make another opposed STR roll. Rogate makes his by 5 by rolling a 9, while Saemund makes his by 3 by rolling a 13. Rogate beat Saemund by 2 (5-3), so struggles back to top and then 1 step towards the boards on his side. Saemund spends 2 END, Rogate spends 1.

Rogate would go in Phase 6, but again holds until Phase 8 to match Saemund. Again they roll off and this time Rogate makes his roll by 4 with another roll of 10, and Saemund makes his roll by 2 with a 14. Rogate moves two steps closer to the board on his side and needs 7 more steps to win. Saemund spends 2 END, Rogate spends 1.

Rogate goes in Phase 9, and since he cant match up with Saemund in Phase 12 (since they both go in Phase 12 already), he gets an action which Saemund can only resist. Another opposed STR roll occurs. Rogate makes his roll by 1 with a 13, but Saemund makes his roll by 12 with a roll of a 4! However, since Saemund can only resist he does not push Rogate back over the top, merely managing to maintain the previous position. Saemund spends 2 END, Rogate spends 1.

Both Rogate and Saemund go in Phase 12, and another opposed STR Roll occurs. Rogate blows his roll, failing by 3 with a 17, but Saemund makes his by 10 with a 6. This is a difference of 13, so Saemund takes Rogate back up to the top and slams him all 10 steps to the board on his side, winning the match in a mighty heave. Saemund spends 2 END, Rogate spends 1 (all total, Saemund spent 10 END to Rogate's 5 END).

While everyone was distracted by the goings-on, Ayden went invisible and slipped out a window unnoticed. Walking down the hill from the Lairds Hall with the intention of seeking out the Druids for aid, he passes Spatzenjager coming up the hill to check in after spending the day romping around in the forest {Jake also plays Spatzenjager}. The werewolf smells the invisible Ayden {good PER check} and Ayden becomes visible when Spatz hails him. Ayden tried to catch Spatz up on events, but his excited chirping irritated the iracible Ulthferen, and he left Ayden behind, walking straight up the hill and to the Guest Hall as Ayden ducked out of sight again. The four Huscarl gaurding the door initially refuse Spatz entry, but the towering 6'10" feral-looking monstrocity glowered menacingly with a growl or two for counterpoint and the guards changed their mind.

Ayden decided to continue with his plan and ventured off with the intention of finding his way out of Fallenheim and up to Caer Broinig, but quickly got lost, twited around, and disoriented in the party-filled streets. {Ayden has a Disadvantage: Easily Lost In Non-Forests}.

Hundi wraps up with Thrymri telling him he will go loiter about the Laird's Hall, and will make his appearance known if it looks like the Oberlaird's judgement is going against the group. As a former Ehren Meister, Hundi is an expert on Machtig traditions and rulings of justice. Hundi and Geirrod depart.

Another 45 minutes or so pass and the group is summoned again to the Laird's Hall. Sonny and Spatz tag along.

Judgement

After the intermission the PCs come before Kaenha again. He reveals that Doran has reached an accomodation with him and Kaenha is extending Thrall status to him (as the Pargori often do for outsiders to facilitate trade) and that he, Kaenha, has settled the matter of the dead guards and the attack out of his own pocket, but sternly makes it clear that he will heavily punish any similar occurances in the future.

Then he turns to the matter of Saemund slaying Aleth in the interim of the 1st and 2nd sessions. Of course, the Huscarl witnesses have given a highly slanted account of the occurance, and Kaenha is predisposed to dislike Saemund as it is. Kaenha lets his anger show and declares the weregild for the lad at a staggering 50 gold, an insane amount of money.

Saemund questions the Oberlairds judgement saying "Dont you think fifty is too much for a mere boy? He was not of your Huscarl." {referring to Kaenha's threat to charge him 50 gold should he slay another of the Huscarl in session 1}. Kaenha starts to get high handed, and Hundi steps out of a side hall and makes his presense (literally, his high Skalding-assisted PRE} felt. He cites a precedence almost five centuries old {older is better among the Machtig -- they are very traditionalist for the most part} of a lad challenging the killer of his father and being slain despite urgings for the boy to reconsider; the weregild was set as nothing -- the lad brought it on himself.

Kaenha persisted, and was going to charge Saemund regardless, when Brand, the Reeve of Alarsvik stood up and protested the matter. He stepped up and related his version of the deed based upon being a witness. Presented with protest from one of his most powerful (and dangerously competitive) Reeves, Kaenha got cagey and traded words with Brand. Finally, Brand was able to win out, and Kaenha took the tact that he was misinformed by members of his Huscarl who described the event to him. However, he left the matter settled with a parting shot threatening to raise Brands besterung (taxes) in a later meeting.

Tenneric stepped forth at this point and facilitated getting the PC's out of the Laird's Hall before any other altercation could occur, and escorts them to Caer Broinig. Doran and Rogate trade parting threats/promises as the PCs depart. As the lot gather their things and leave the Laird's Hall area, Ayden manages to stumble out onto the road before them and rejoin their company.

The Prophesy

The day of the Prophesy kicks in. This is for all intents and purposes the first day of the Age of Power. It should be a portentious day, with lots of omens and symbology falling off the trees. Big time "Window of Opportunity" type day -- the begining of a new Age.

In the evening the Nine are required at Caer Broinig to take part in the Druidic ritual.

The Ritual

This will be the location of a major "Window of Opportunity" and "Ritual" Spell cast by the Grand Druid himself in the evening, supported by all Nine Great Druids, who are each supported by Nine Elder Druids. In all 90 other Druids are backing up the Grand Druid in the working of a spell intended to break through the "mists" that have been increasingly occluding the future the past hundred years and seek out the direction that the Nine Arrows must be aimed and loosed.

The nine player characters are required for this ritual, and their blood must be mingled at one point in the ritual into a silver bowl. As the ritual progresses, the enviroment will get very surreal; hairs will raise up on the back of necks, the air will smell like ozone, and most significantly a white mist will roll across the sky and fill the area around the circle but not enter into a very distinct invisible dome around the stones.

After several hours, each of the Nine Greate Druids will let the PC's with ceremonial silver knives, and then the Grand Druid will take the bowl and finish the ritual. Lifting the bowl high towards the full moon, he'll "push" the bowl at the sky, and an almost-visible force will gush forth from the bowl to pierce the mists, pushing them back in a rough circle directly over the stone circle.

Past the mists, across the night sky, a scene takes from, showing the Nine PC's standing on the hill in a "V" pointed towards the north arrayed from shortest to tallest back. Then the POV rotates and shows them set forth towards the north

The POV leaves the PC's trekking nortward, and then zooms out, panorama style, over the Vold straight towards the north, crossing the Wundvolding mountains and pushing into the lands of the Landrothi to the north, where it zooms back in as the POV "nose cams" into a well appointed room in a rough "palace" located in the capital of Landroth at Zerlaaga (the PC's dont know the location, but one of the Druids will).

The POV stops in a top-down ceiling cam view of a small man with the pale, almost pearlly skin, and inky black hair typical of many Undari hunched over a complicated prayer wheel he is detailing upon the floor, with two barely clad north-women dancing around in a circle as he finishes the circle. A palpable feeling of evil is projected to the Machtig observing this scene, and a feeling of vast foreboding.

Visual

As the man finishes the ritual, the two women look suprised and terrified as they begin to fade from the feet up, sucked into the prayer wheel in their entirety with nothing but howls of terror. As the two women die a dark formless mass comes into being before him, oozing up from the pattern on the floor. The man begins another long incantation, gesturing to form and shape the darkness into a black inky ball and finally into a hard black pearl which he takes into his hand and places onto his brow.

To this point the observers have not seen this man's face, seeing him from the top down. As he places the stone upon his brow, his entire body jerks and stiffens, and then looks slightly up towards the POV of the observers giving a small glimpse of his features, including one of his piercing black eyes. He seems to be aware of the observers and with a discernable smirk he projects an inky black beam through the POV, which streaks through the sky and slams into the invisible dome over the standing stones, driving several of the Elder Druids to the ground as they fight to maintain the shield.

The man says, and is clearly heard by all those observing, several words in Vorgaanese in a powerful, seductive voice. Translated into Machtig, he says: "Fools, your magic is as nothing against the might of Tzoruul! The Undari will have their revenge!"

With the Druids maintaining the mystic sheild overhead flagging under the continued assault, the Grand Druid ends the ritual.

The Meaning

The rede of the Druids will be that the Nine Arrows are meant for the heart of this evil death magicker, and that they should make for Zerlaaga in the lands of the Landrothi. The Grand Druid will also indicate that this man is trafficing with powerful "demons", and that just as the Druids chose this auspicious night for their ritual, so too did the enemy work a great ritual, pulling great power from his dark master through the boundaries of this world and the greater cosmos. His power is finite, but fearsome.

If the idea of just sending a Machtig horde in that direction comes up, the Grand Druid will merely shrug and say that the auspices indicate that such an attempt would fail, or cause other dangers. The omens are clear; the path most likely to see the Machtig survive starts with the Nine and only the Nine going forth.

Went off exactly as planned.

This was a big exposition bit, which I normally try to avoid. I hate just talking at the players, particularly when they aren't allowed to interact. So, though this event took a lot of text to describe, I actually blew through the core of it in under 10 minutes. Leading up to the meat of the exposition I used in-character direction by the Druid Skalla, moving each PC into position in turn and giving each essentially the same direction with a little bit of humorous personalization for each character to get the players/characters involved in the main event, giving them a chance to project how their character was handling/reacting to this turn of events. This involved each character in the "ritual" directly and gave the impression that they had an important, though passive, role to play in this part.

I wanted to accentuate the idea that the PCs are the focus of the action, not the NPC's and get them used to thinking in self-reliant terms.. So I genericized the 90 Elder and Greater Druids, not giving them much description (even the Druids the party knows weren't singled out), and had all of them positioned "behind" the characters in a circle, with only the Grand Druid in the middle described in detail. This, I think, helped focus the players on the idea that of the 100 odd people involved in this ritual, they were the most important people there aside from the Grand Druid himself.

The Gifting

The Druids are not going to send the poor schleps out completely unpreparred however. They intend to give each of the Nine a Gift indicated by their nature and by the guidance of the nature spirits. As part of the previous Ritual, each was infused with a special gift.

Ayden recieves the Gift of Spring Breezes.

Druidic Gift of Spring Breezes: Gliding 10", combat acceleration/deceleration (+1/4) (12 Active Points); May Not Gain Altitude (-1/4); Real Cost: 9 Points

Saemund recieves the Gift of Mountain Winters.

Druidic Gift of Mountain Winters: +8 CON (16 Active Points); Only When In Contact With The Ground (natural earth, stone, and soil only; -1/2); Real Cost: 11 points

Thrymri recieves the Gift of Summer Glories.

Druidic Gift of Summer Glories: PowD (10 points); Real Cost: 10 Points

Spatzenjager recieves the Gift of Autumn Twilights: +3 with Stealth, Shadowing, Tracking (9 RC); Applies to all three forms (+1 point into Multiform).

Druidic Gift of Autumn Twilights: (Total: 15 Active Cost, 9 Real Cost) Stealth 12- (5 Active Points); Costs END (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3) plus Tracking 12- (5 Active Points); Costs END (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3) plus Shadowing 12- (5 Active Points); Costs END (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3); Real Cost: 9 points

Fyrclian recieves the Gift of Spring Fortunes.

Druidic Gift of Spring Fortunes: Luck 2d6; Real Cost: 10 points.

Rogate recieves the Gift of Summer Winds.

Druidic Gift of Summer Winds: Defensive Manuever I-IV; Real Cost: 10 points

Hrani recieves the Gift of Autumn Storms.

Druidic Gift of Autumn Storms: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% (30 Active Points); BODY Only (-1/2), Costs END (-1/2), Restrainable (Must Be Able To Move; -1/2), Nonpersistent (-1/4); Real Cost: 10 points

Sonnenwende recieves the Gift of Winter Winds.

Druidic Gift of Winter Winds: +3 with DCV (15 Active Points); Only When Outdoors (-1/2); Real Cost: 10 points

Kjar recieves the Gift of Elemental Bounty.

Druidic Gift of Elemental Bounty: Healing (Regeneration) 2 BODY, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (40 Active Points); Extra Time (Regeneration-Only) 1 Hour (-2 1/4), Self Only (-1/2), Only When In Contact With An Element (Natural Element Only; -1/2); Real Cost: 9 points

This Gifting is paid for with the following Distinctive Feature which is visible to Detect Magic and other esoteric Detects, including Danger Sense for folk which the Druids are inimical to -- it will show up as a "potential danger" to them.

Druid-touched: DF: Druid-touched (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable Only By Unusual Senses); Real Cost: -10 points

I was real hesitant to do the Druidic Gift bit. I hate just handing things out to the players. Thats a slippery slope, and I tend to be a "stingy" GM, keeping the PCs relatively poor and making them work for what they get. However, in this case it seemed warranted. The Druids are basically saying "The future of our people hinges on you!"; to have them then say "See you later kids, and have fun storming the castle!" just feels kind of flat. The Druidic Gift bit basically communicates the idea that a) the characters are actually special and valued and b) the Druidic magic of the Machtig is a real and palpable thing in the setting and therefore by extention their prophesies and omens have actual weight. Subtle, but I think it helped set the tone.

The players all seemed to take to the idea well, actually excited by it. The cynical old GM in me says, no kidding -- players always like getting more free stuff. But the idiotic idealist in me that keeps me running these games says that they were excited because the intended subliminal message was communicated to them. We will see.....

The session ended with the PC's setting off to the north towards Feihaus as the son rose, unwearied despite the all-night ritual they took part in.

WHEN

Midsummers Day Age of Power Year 1 Day 1. There is a full moon out.

WHERE

Main Locality

Fallenheim, Vold, in a longhall near the Laird's Hall

Two Net Hook Tavern

Run by Aornic Yargenson, a middle aged Pargori merchant.

Tavern at the bottom of the hill which the Lairds Hall sits upon. Basic Longhall, but coin is charged for food and lodging. Houses more well-to-do guests, often those in town to do business at the Laird's Hall.

There is always the opportunity for a bar fight here, though it is a pretty sedate place by Machtig standards. Throw together a couple of average Clansmen

Didnt get used this session.

Pargori Clan Skalding Hall

Agni Heimirsson & Galag Gorbinssen are currently "on duty".

There are many Skalds in and out of here at any given time. The Clan Skalds trade off "meet & greet" duties every 3 Zwieblechs (36 days), with two Clan Skalds being "on duty", meaning that one of them is expected to be in the Meet Hall, or public area of the Skalding Hall at all times during daylight hours.

Didnt get used this session.

The Golden Hoof Smithy and Farrier

Wereg Radgarssen, Waffshmeid, Pargori

Dael Weregsen, Smith, Pargori

Uriel Weregsen, Smith, Pargori

Io-Zoru, Waffshmeid, Shidaalman

Wereg is a bluff but generally friendly man. He has made a good living since his family smithy had the good fortune to be located near the South gate of Fallenheim, now generally called the Shidaalarch. He has made good money from Outlander merchants plying the Shidaalweg, getting most of the business from those coming in off the road or about to set out.

His smithy is large, with 5 full size anvils, three forge fires, and two half-anvils for shoeing horse. His two twin sons Dael and Uriel assist him, each having an anvil of their own and sharing a forge. They both are large men and look much like their father, though they have green eyes like their deceased mother, who was a Huarthmunn from the Baelish lands. Uriel does all the talking of the two, but Dael is really the brains of the operation. The two communicate subtly through body language and shrugs, and both generally know what the other is thinking.

A number of years ago Wereg hired a smallish (by Machtig standards), swarthy Shidaalman man named Io-Zoru (EE-OH ZOAR-RUE). Io, as he's called around the smithy, is a very skilled smith, able to make all manner of metal goods in both steel and finer metals. His job is to turn out common and uncommon items focused to sell towards the Vorgaanese traders traveling the Shidaalweg. Not that they are any better than the Machtig equivalents of the same items, but many of the merchants are more comfortable buying items made in the fashion of their homelands even at a premium. Io has learned the Machtig language very well, though he speaks with an odd accent to Machtig ears, and is a smiling, jovial man who is much liked by the Machtig that know him. He wears an elaborately detailed "sheild-brooch" (a brooch styled to look like the round metal-rimmed and bossed sheilds favored by the Machtig) featuring a Pargori fish crafted in several fine metals and featuring an emerald for an eye a leaping over an upright sword, marking his status as a member of the Clan and a Waffshmied, when outside of the smithy. He has become something of an Uncle figure to Wareg's two sons, and lets a room in their home.

Didnt get used this session.

Caer Broinig

Many Druids

This is the site of the most powerful Druid Circle in the Pargori Hold, which stands among the ruins of the Pargori's original steading in this region on a rocky hill about a half mile away to the west of Fallenheim, visible on the horizon above the city, particularly at sunset, with the sun behind the stones.

The entire area is considered Druid-space and given a respectful berth by Clansmen. Many Druid reside here, in chambers carved out beneath the surface of the hill.

The Laird, his chosen companions, and Clan Skalds are sometimes invited to witness Druidic ceremonies on the hill at various times of the year if they so wish, but generally non-Druids do not frequent the area.

Zerlaaga

Seen in the Druidic vision, this is the capital of the Undari nation of Landroth due north of the Vold.

WHY

Time to get the show on the road. The goal here is to have the send off before th end of the session.

HOW

Essentially the Druids give them the big kick into the storyline. The PC's should have no doubt that they are in a bit over their heads or where they are supposed to be going.

DISADVANTAGES

Make sure the players keep up with their Disadvantages.

This session the Disadvantages were less crucial than other sessions, since such a short in-game period of time was involved and there was no real conflict or combat either. Overall, Kjar played up his DFs and new-magic-fetish well, Ayden got lost, Saemund played up his background story, and overall everyone did a good job. So, I'm not going to stress over the minor Disads for this session.

POST GAME ANALYSIS

Excellent session overall. Very happy with the outcome. Good roleplaying overall, despite a slow start initially. Some real standout character defining moments this time around, particularly for Saemund, Ayden, Spatzenjager, Rogate, and Thrymri. Personally, I can picture all of the characters now and have a pretty good bead on how each should react to most situations, but I think everyone has a strong idea what Saemund and Thrymri in particular are all about.

Sonnenwende and Fyrclian need to be accentuated a bit more and be given more of a spotlight. I want to make a point of devising something particular for both to help the players show of their character's strengths and strongly define their personalities before the other players.

Rogate is making a strong bid to be the leader of the group, though Saemund has been by far the "strongest" -- as in most extreme -- character, and Thrymri has been the flashiest/loudest. Saemund does not seem interested in leading, prefering self reliance. He just does things when he wants to do them regardless of whether others decide to back him up. Rogate has so far tried to rally support and get people to move together.

Should be interesting. Rogate has tried several tacts to draw out the bluff, stoic Wundvolder, and I think if Saemund openly backed Rogate most everyone else would fall in line too. Currently there is simply a respectful tolerance from Saemund. In game, Saemund is the wealthiest, best equipped, best armed member of the group, with the best lineage, and has shown both his martial prowess and relentlessness not once but twice, with a total willingness to live with the consequences of his drastic actions. Most of the other PCs are at least a little intimidated by him. Like when he sat down to arm wrestle Rogate in this session after Saemund slew his second Thegn in a challenge in as many days, Hrani warns "Careful Herodi; if you win he'll have to kill you -- it would be a matter of honor!"; Rogate looked uncertainly at Saemund to see if it were true (it wasn't by the way, just a little lockerroom humor).

All that aside, I think the point has finally been driven home that the group has no one to count upon in the clinch other than each other, and they've started to show vestigial signs of pulling together as a team....