Talk:Reaching the Surface

The DM: The image gives the appearance of the landscape that Høle occupies, looking west. Høle is real, in Norway. The forest cover would be denser, so if you will imagine a tiny village set about the center of the image, surrounded by a thick forest, that gives the appropriate scene.

The weather is yet cool, though the temperature is dropping, as it is just past 5 bells in the afternoon. A light breeze continues to blow from the northwest, rolling round the mountain on the pic's left. The sky has developed strato clouds but no rain has fallen since this morning. It is still May 22nd.

What can I do to help the party decide what they want to do next?

Provisions

Vafrandir: What a beautiful place! I would like some input from the party on our supplies and the Cargo page. I picked up some extra food in Stavanger for a total of 151 lbs, but with 6 people still on board that could go quickly. I doubt a small village like this has anything available. Speaking of availability, we are now without a competent sailor. It's a long shot, but what are our options in Høle? Can we hire anyone to come on board? A sloop like this is too valuable an asset to simply leave behind, especially given our amount of supplies.

The DM: Sorry. It was Engelhart's boat; he has taken it with him. So you and all your gear are on the shore here.

Vafrandir: That answers that! Hm. I'll need to mull that over.

Pandred: We have roughly ten days of food. Five if we fight a lot. Not too bad. Merc has a mule in Stavanger to carry this stuff, and maybe Embla does as well? I don't know who owned what. I don't know what else to grab at the moment without a party consensus on our destination.

Embla Strand I have two donkeys stabled in Stavanger.

The DM: It's actually Oddsdrakken's donkey; he collected it while he was temporarily employed by the workers around Mimmarudla.

Pandred: Is it really? I'll be happy to buy it off him if he wishes. It seems untoward to just assume I can use his things just because he's in my employ.

The DM: He did ask for ten more c.p. a month; which I don't believe you ever answered.

Pandred: I did not, as I had selfishly assumed he was kidding. On further reflection I'd be glad to dole out an additional full silver piece. "For your steadfast and hardy nature."

Marcule: (Please forgive my lateness(slept in)) “I am well suited for food for the next 14 days”

Character Skills

The DM: If you would like to retcon your application of Athletic skill to something else, Vafrandir, that would be acceptable, as it was my responsibility to make a change, not yours. I am sorry myself; the sailing skills are excellently constructed now and I am disappointed I'm not going to be able to use them.

Vafrandir: Thank you; I think I will leave it to Sailing, you never know how things will turn.

The Plan, Part Deux

Pandred: I begin asking around for someone willing to ship us and our goods back to Stavanger. I am prepared to pay out for a rush order, so to speak.

The DM: As of writing this, you hadn't actually seen anyone yet; but see below for your first contact.

Pandred Part Two: Here's the deal. Hog's Fjord is out. Not forever, but for now. I have an alternate plan. On the original map, just east of Treborg is a wilderness hex. It has a nearby trail leading straight to Treborg herself. We get transport for ourself and our animals, which I can lead as a teamster pretty easily. We make landfall in Treborg, and head for that lovely coastal wilderness hex and continue the plan without relying on someone else for sea transport, and with easy access to resupply if we need it. Any takers?

Vafrandir: I'm amenable to that. Let's see what we can deal with these villagers.

Embla Strand Do recall that our followers were planning on making their own way to our initial destination, so we should contact them asap to let them know the change of plan.

The DM: They had intended to make their way to Jorpeland; but it is unlikely they found a boat on a Sunday, and they had said they would meet you in a week there.

The Villagers

The DM: A gathering of four residents emerge from the trees surrounding the village, looking curious and interested in the newcomers. One will raise a hand in greeting and reassurance, and from a distance of 30 yards, another will ask, "What tide has brought you here, strangers?"

Pandred: I'll raise my own hand back to them. "I hope a glad one. We need passage to Stavanger. Is there anyone among you who can aid us?" I'll put my hands on my hips and survey our piled goods by the shore. "Can't exactly carry this up the coast."

Erik: "I'm Erik Nilsen. I'm the elder here. Our fishing boats went out this morning, after services; the earliest of them won't be back until Tuesday or Wednesday, at least. You were abandoned here?"

The DM: It's Sunday evening today.

Vafrandir: "Erik, I am Vafrandir. Yes, we were abandoned by our once-partner, who has set off back to Stavanger. May we seek lodging with you tonight? We will be glad to repay your hospitality with coin or work as you see fit."

Erik: "We can make room for you in a barn; it's dry and comfortable enough; and we can help you carry your load there. I shall have Grethe make a table for you; she makes a delicious fish pie."

Embla Strand Thank you kindly, Elder Erik.

Erik: "You're a half-orc, are you not?" he asks of Embla. "I've never met one before. Jorgen, Morten, Leif, let's gather these things up and bring them to the village. By your leave of course," he asks the party.

Vafrandir: "Thank you, Elder Erik. You have our leave and our gratitude." I will help gather and carry the supplies.

Embla Strand "Yes, Elder. Not many of my kind around." I help as well.

Marcule: "Happy to help"

The DM: As you walk towards the village, Erik will remark upon your weapons and armour rather casually, noting that you're not men of the king, nor would it make much sense for you to be raiders carrying these particular goods and equipment. He notes the sacks, the rope, the tools and such, and wonders what plans you have as persons.

Embla Strand "We were intending to explore inland, but with the loss of our companion and boat, we need to reconsider our plans."

Erik: "Why so? There is good work to do inland."

Pandred: "Aye, we know! Gave the froglings a good thrashing for their trouble."

Erik: "I heard something about that. But I had meant in Byglefeld."

The DM: For reference, the country around the peninsula that includes Høle, is called "Dalerne." And the country to the east of here, between the edge of the forest and the frigid mountains (grey on the map), is called "Byglefeld."

Marcule: "I am unfamiliar, what can you tell us of Byglefeld?"

Erik: "It is a bald country, filled with hummock meadows and, in some of the dales there are springs. Most who dwell out there raise sheep in the dells."

Marcule: "That sounds like a good place to start"

Pandred: It sounds a lovely bit of countryside, but what lives there that needs a good axe-ing? You'll pardon my bluntness when I say our skills are very particular in that regard."

Vafrandir: "What kind of work?"

[please keep conversations chronological]

Morten: "Tell them about the hounds."

Erik: "I'm getting to it."

The DM: You arrive at Erik's home; it is a small two-room house, with a single-room hall comprising about three quarters of the building and a workroom at the back. Erik is a carver who makes parts for sailing boats. Erik calls out to his wife Grethe and warns her that there's company for dinner.

Grethe: "Lord save us, so many! I'll have Janna come over to help."

Erik: "I'll get them settled in the barn.

[The DM: Vafrandir, I'm going to take your first dialogue and not your second. Please give me a chance to answer. And, as I say, Please keep conversations chronological. Don't pop back and insert dialogue into the past].

[Vafrandir: Apologies. I thought his comment about the shepherds was a response to my question but I misunderstood.]

The DM: That's okay; but in group conversations, if we don't stay chronological, we'll all get mixed up. He was answering Marcule's question about Byglefeld.

The DM: While food is being prepared, Erik gets you settled in the barn. It is a two-floor structure, but there are no animals in it at present. The hay is fresh and green-smelling, which would mean that it has been cut off the fields in the last two weeks; but that makes no sense, as it's May.

The DM: Your stuff is sorted and laid out, and Erik takes his leave, promising that there should be food to eat in an hour. Grethe appears with two jugs of small beer and cups to drink it, and the party is left alone.

Vafrandir: "I wonder if there's more to our new friend than meets the eye. I assume you all noticed the hay?"

Pandred: "Maybe so, but it's no concern of mine. We're on a mission lads and lasses, let's keep to it."

Marcule: : "I suppose. have we a mission?."

Pandred: "We're headed home. If these people want something for their hospitality, they're free to ask. I don't intend to stick around longer than necessary."

The DM: Pandred, do you feel that I'm manipulating you somehow? If so, we can step back from this, I will put you on a cart tonight, back to Stavanger, and the party can deliberate what it wants to do there. Unless it is your intention to start ordering around the other party members.

Pandred: Ha, I was literally in the middle of typing to explain myself. In as much as anything you present is "manipulating us", sure, but that doesn't bother me. If the party wants to help these people, I'll say a grumbly thing and then jump in full force, and with gusto. My preference is the plan I outlined above, and I am reiterating that here in a roleplay sense, but I'd never want to bully anyone else here into doing things my way.

Vafrandir: For what it's worth, I don't feel as though Pandred's ordering me either. We may have a potential disagreement about our immediate next steps, that's all. Nothing that can't be worked out.

The DM: Okay. I suppose I'm a bit touchy. All that is going to happen is that they're going to give you a nice dinner like good Christians. There's no give and take here. It is just the normal situation of people seeing that you're a capable group, and wondering if you're willing to help them solve their problem.

Marcule: "I am open to heading back. should we make way in the morning?"

Vafrandir: While I understand they might not expect any return, I think it would be the good thing to do to inquire about this problem. Then we can be on our way. Pandred, I understand you're itching to get into the wild, as am I. Is this not itself exploration?

Pandred: "Maybe so, friend. But consider this: we have no access to our animals, nor to resupply. They have given us food and shelter, and for that I am grateful, but no healers stepped forward to inquire. Perhaps they do not have them, which means that we will be stranded in the event of injury. They have my sympathies, but we're not in a position to risk all that we have gained for charity." I'll nestle into a niche in the hay here and add "Do as you will, I've said my piece."

Marcule *To Vafrandir* "I would also like to delve deeper into this, we could calculate the risk of time and supplies but if we are stable to be here for the next week, i cant imagine hounds would be long as much as dangerous. treasure maybe not but experience yes; and we could always leave if necessary."

The Dinner

The DM: For the moment, I'll wait until there's a consensus that you're ready to sit down to dinner.

Vafrandir: I am ready.

Pandred: Ready!