July 11th
Continued from Arriving in Stavanger
The DM: You wake. The rain was heavy all day yesterday and it continues this morning when you wake up. The main storm has passed over, with black clouds and lightning in the afternoon on the 10th. This morning, it is just grey and steady rain. Despite the rain, the temperature is in fact pleasant, so that standing out in the rain is strangely comfortable (for natives) rather than chilling. It is 9 a.m. in the morning. There is a gentle breeze blowing from the southwest.
Vafrandir: You mentioned the fighters should add Military Engineering to our sage studies. Should we assign points or wait until you've addressed it?
- The DM: Assign points. I have only the one ability thus far; I don't have time to work on it at present. There's always something else. Let me know when you have amateur knowledge and you want to build a fort.
Marcule:in
Pandred: Out.
Vafrandir: How long will it take us to procure 5 sappers and 1 cook?
The DM: A roll says 3 days.
Vafrandir: Very good. That's acceptable to me to stay here for a few days. I've marked off food for the 2 hires back in Treborg. I'll put Nadia up in the public house as well if she'd like for the time we're here.
Lexent: Fine by me as well. If my skills aren't of particular use in the search, I can go assist the gnomes in the hospital here.
The DM: We can cut to the chase. Four men, two women, and the cook is a man. Looking for names.
- The DM: Randomly rolled from Norwegian names: Norwegian sappers named Arvid (male) & Helga (female). A Norwegian female sapper named Marit. A Norwegian cook named Ole. A Dane male sapper named Asger. And an Icelandic male sapper named Bjarni.
Lexent: I assume we deduct that first month cost now and keep track that it will be due again on the 11th of each month?
- The DM: Yes that's right.
- Lexent: Deducted.
Marcule: Sorry guys out for the rest see you tuesday
Lexent: Anything keeping us from accounting for these three days and moving to the morning of the 14th?
The DM: Regarding Arvid’s charisma: he proves impossible not to hire; it takes Vafrandir less than two minutes before he feels compelled to put out his hand. Arvid is fair, in that he would be recognized as attractive in a room full of people; he is a pleasure to be around, warm, receptive, interesting to listen to and says the sort of things that an employer wants to hear about a willingness to work and get things done. Adding his weight, you'll see that Arvid is irrepressibly jolly as well.
The DM: We can skip ahead; Pandred and Marcule are out, so if Lexent wishes to do nothing else, count your food and your room cost, then figure out if your boat will take your weight, your new purchases, your equipment and the six new people. I’ll add weight to the table.
Vafrandir: I'll figure the boat's load once we have the weights.
Lexent: How is the weather on the morning of the 14th, and how does Nadia feel about making the crossing?
Vafrandir: We should be at no more than 40-45% of the boat's capacity regardless of individual weights.
The DM: The morning of the 14th, the weather is clear, cool and with a fresh breeze blowing straight from the direction of Treborg.
Lexent: We set out for Treborg.
Nadia: "Are you sure, sir? It'll take us 24 hours to get there with this wind in our faces; you don't want to wait for a more prepitious day? Or hour? Might be longer, 36 or 48; I've not much sail to head directly into the wind."
Vafrandir: Is there any particular equipment our sappers think may be useful given what we've conveyed about the layout of the dungeon? I'll try to be as specific as possible.
Vafrandir: I'm fine with waiting today, or until the weather is better. May we retcon purchases from Lexent and Pandred?
- The DM: Shovels, picks, wood if you've got it, hooks to drag the wood, as much chain as you'll buy with a breakweight of a thousand or more, axes, as many spikes as you will, a hundred or more, wood axes ... those for sure. I'm good with a retcon if something else is wanted for those three days.
The DM: Things for underground, lanterns, torches, pottle jugs for water, a barrel of small beer if you’re willing
Lexent: Sorry, read that direction backwards. I am fine with waiting, although, if the winds change early enough today, we might still head out.
Vafrandir: That's a good list. I believe I'll take the days off to put it all together. I'm glad I asked.
Vafrandir: Out.
Lexent: Out.
The DM: By nine o’clock in the evening, the wind hasn’t changed an iota, though it has lessened to a moderate breeze. Simply isn’t working out for you.
July 15th
The DM: Out.
Vafrandir: I'm not sure which hooks they're referring to, I can't place them on the market sheet. A block and tackle?
Vafrandir: Marcule, I believe we'd best dip into your credit. How much do you have left?
The DM: I thought it was there. It is a log hook and in terms of metal used, is essentially the same price as a "boat hook" but with a shorter handle. Out.
Lexent: In.
Lexent: One of the items I purchased was 100 ft. of twine, which has a listed weight of 12 lbs., the same weight as 50 ft. of rope. Do you have an updated weight for twine?
Marcule: In. I have the full amount for us to use.
The DM: In.
The DM: 0.68 lb. for twine. Like I said, found lots of errors. Your rope is 7.5 lbs.
Lexent: Thank you. How is the weather on the morning of the 15th?
The DM: you’ll be happy to know the direction of the wind has changed. It is now WNW, so that you can tack effectively against it to get out of Stavanger; it is a good moderate breeze of 12 knots, so you can make 1.5 knots an hour against it; the distance to Treborg is 24 knots, so it will take 16 hours. The sky is crystal clear and the temperature is cool.
- Though Nadia your pilot will comment on there being a red sky this morning.
Lexent: And thus we should take warning. I worry that starting out now will only put us in a storm partway across, but we can't stay here forever just for the weather. What does everyone else think?
The DM: Nadia guesses it won't hit for at least 12 hours; by then you'll be most of the way across the bay and on the coasts of islands where you can shelter and wait it out, if need be.
Lexent: That's good information, but I would still like to let more of the party weigh in before committing to a course of action. We all know how much Pandred enjoys swimming, and if it comes to malady checks that's about a 20% chance that someone in the group will have a problem.
The DM: Maybe you should all learn how to swim.
Vafrandir: If Nadia thinks we can do it, we can't fear the sea forever.
Vafrandir: I do have an equipment list: I'll post it here soon. Marcule, what is the full amount?
Lexent: Well, I suppose we shall brave the sea once more. We board the ship and embark. Is Nadia able to impart sailing knowledge to any/all of us as we make these crossings, or is she to busy as the master of the ship to do so?
Marcule: 1500gp
The DM: Nadia has no instruction skill, so she doesn’t know how to teach you to sail. Someone else would also have to teach you how to swim. But many people in Norway know how to do these two things.
The DM: Marcule, you can take out any part of your total credit; it does not have to be the full amount. The lender, Raphael Goletti, can offer you 0.08% interest per week for 32 weeks, which you can pay back in full at any time; however, you cannot pay it “partially” back, so it isn’t a question of weekly payments. You must pay it back in a bulk sum, just as he lends it to you in a bulk sum. Goletti has “branches” in Stavanger, Aalborg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Groningen, Brugge, Trondheim and Bergen, so you may make your return payment in any of those market towns.
Vafrandir: I have 7 points of sailing - enough to understand what she's doing but probably not enough to help.
The DM: Actually, that enables you to put up the sail and move it under orders; as long as she has the tiller it helps; the rules state that you add your sailing skill to hers in a bad storm.
The DM: I can’t move ahead unless I hear from someone on the willingness to take the loan. It doesn’t have to be Marcule, because he has given his permission. I need to know how much is taken so we can establish it being done on the 14th (the day before leaving Stavanger). I also need a defacto yes to the loan.
Marcule: How much would we like to take?
Vafrandir: Let's take 700 gp. That will cover supplies that we need + extra food.
The DM: 700 compounded over 32 weeks would be 903 g.p., 4 s.p. and 11 c.p. due in 32 weeks from today, February 23rd, 1651.
Vafrandir: I expect probing the dungeon should yield the repayable amount. We'll see if that's justified
The DM: I’ll take that as a confirmation.
Vafrandir: Yes. Let's take it. We'll load the boat and head out; I'll assist Nadia.
The Journey from Stavanger to Treborg
The DM: Setting off at 9 am on the 15th, light, small clouds drift in from the west, as the wind slackens a little. However, it also spins more towards due west, and Nadia is able to maintain your speed. After noon, the wind swings entirely around to the southwest and a wall of clouds fill the sky. Nadia brings your speed up to 2½ knots an hour, so that you’re halfway to Treborg by three in the afternoon. The wind is a light breeze, and the rain that begins to fall is light. Nadia holds to the east side of Bokn island, that big blob of land southeast of Treborg, skipping your speed up to 3 knots an hour.
- At 6 pm, just 3 knots out of Treborg, the wind picks up to a moderate breeze and swings perfectly around to the southeast, driving you just where you want to go. It takes Nadia just 45 minutes to finish bringing the boat across those last three knots, though by then a moderate rain requires vigorous bailing of the boat. Drawing into Treborg, you’re wet but you’re there. It is just seven o’clock when you start to unload the boat on the shore.
Lexent: Is there anyone at the dock to enquire as to whether the ship from Glesvaer arrived yesterday?
Vafrandir: Our supplies: 3 spades, 3 lanterns, 100 spikes, 6 logger hooks, 80 feet of chain with appropriate breakweight, 3 wood axes, 20 torches, 3 pottle jugs, a keg of small beer, and 2 chests with 150 lbs of jerky and cheese just to round out our supplies. With the addition of our 129 existing gp, that leaves us with 3 gp, 1 sp, 12 cp change for Marcule to pocket for now.
- Lexent: So how much should I deduct from our current totals?
The DM: The 700 gold was added?
Lexent: My understanding is that the 700 was spent on supplies, along with 129 gp of what we had.
Vafrandir: That is correct, Lexent.
July 16th
The DM: It rains all night, though it is a light rain by 6 am before a moderate breeze that has swung back to the west; steadily you rise, get yourselves together and decide what to do for the day.
Lexent: "I would be interested to know if there is any word from Fraser. The ship from Glesvaer was due in the day before yesterday. Should we go ask if he sent any word?"
The DM: (literally managing this when you asked). A letter is delivered to you by a young boy who has brought it over from Father Arvid. The letter is from Fraser. It arrived just now by boat.
- “Father Arvid, my old friend. I regret that I am unable to place myself in your service, or the service of your friends, for at least a month; I am taken with matters that draw me north before the summer ends. I will recommend myself to you when I have returned to Bergen again. Yours, Giles.”
The DM: It is marked as arrived from Bergen.
