As I mentioned in the last post, we’ve started our new campaign, The Lonely Coast. Our first session was taken up with character creation and then the actual start of the campaign. As we borrowed a bit from FATE, character creation took a bit longer than it would have otherwise but it gave a nice foundation for the characters as well as ties between the PCs.
Based on those ties, Thalimor and Osric had arrived in the port town of Hamwic together with both hoping to find passage on a ship bound for Wolverton, the largest town in the Barony of Stansig (aka The Lonely Coast). They had both heard that Frithgar, the captain of the Nydam, was looking for some hired swords to accompany his ship to Wolverton…how fortuitous! Thalimor had decided that they could go early to the tavern, The First and the Last, where Frithgar was planning on meeting the hopefuls later that night and the bard could practice his trade.
As the duo was heading to the dockside tavern, they were passing through something of a market area and their attention was caught by the sound of a crashing cart. Turning to look, they spotted a young woman dashing towards them, having just overturned a fish cart. Two fairly burly men were obviously in pursuit of her. The woman made a beeline straight for Osric and pleaded for his help.
Thalimor recognized that the pair were bounty hunters as they approached having had some small experience with others of the their ilk (and worse). The men demanded that Thalimor and Osric stand aside in the name of the King. Neither were eager to do so and as Osric stepped between them and the woman in a protective stance, Thalimor questioned the men. The bounty hunters had, essentially, the equivalent of a warrant for the woman’s arrest. She was accused of murdering six people in Wolverton and was a fugitive from the King’s justice. The pair reiterated the demand to step aside while the woman protested her innocence
Thalimor realized that there really wasn’t any choice but to let the woman be taken. Osric, however, was still reluctant. Before the situation could escalate, matters were largely taken out of the duo’s hands. Two additional bounty hunters had stealthily approached from behind and, as one struck the woman in the head with a sap, she fell unconscious. The quartet gathered up their prisoner and went on their way as Osric watched on quite unhappily. The pair spent the rest of the day at The First and Last with Thalimor earning their food and drink with his performance.
Isenthorne and Bay had met the prior day in Hamwic. Isenthorne had been looking for passage to Wolverton in the taverns near the docks and was propositioned by a couple of sailors with more than just the rocking of the waves. Bay, having something of a chivalrous streak, came to her defense even though it was not requested and, as became clear, was not really necessary. Isenthorne could take care of herself.
Although his gentlemanly “rescue” was both unnecessary and seen as patronizing by Isenthorne, the two struck up a conversation and learned that they were both bound for the Lonely Coast. Bay also had heard of Frithgar’s seeking hired swords for the trip and shared this information. The two decided to meet up at The First and Last the next day to see if they could get hired by Frithgar.
[I took a little liberty with the above. We didn’t really play this bit out; instead, it came out of the three phases we did with FATE during character creation. But it fits the general direction things went in the first session.
When they arrived at The First and the Last the following evening, they were a bit surprised to find that others were already there waiting for Frithgar. Even more surprising [although probably not to anyone reading this], those already waiting were known to Bay and Isenthorne. Thalimor and Isenthorne had crossed paths a couple of years prior when Isenthorne had guided the bard to safety and helped him evade some assassins seeking to kill him for information that he knew. Bay also knew Osric. The pair had met in a village that Osric was aiding to end the tyrannical rein of its evil lord and Bay assisted even though this meant defying his fey patron…for which he did suffer later.
Additionally, after Osric and Isenthorne were introduced, Osric realized that he had heard of Isenthorne. During his travels, he had met a merchant who had been ambushed by goblins. Isenthorne and her father, Leander, had saved the merchant and slew the goblins. The merchant had claimed that Leander had dropped a magical dagger and had forgotten to retrieve it before leaving. Although the merchant was not sure on the specifics of the dagger’s powers but claimed it was very powerful and sold it to Osric for pretty much his life savings.
Osric asked Isenthorne about this powerful magical dagger and hoped she could tell him of its powers given that it had belonged to her father. The dagger, of course, was not magical at all as Isenthorne well knew. As gently and diplomatically as possible, Isenthorne broke this news to Osric.
Meanwhile, Magnus was also in Hamwic and, by complete and pure coincidence I’m sure, was also looking passage to Wolverton and had also heard of Frithgar seeking hired swords for the trip. So he too was heading to the First and Last that evening. On the way, however, he noticed that a bedraggled man was following him. Magnus quickly turned a corner and waited for the man to follow which, of course, he did, almost running into Magnus. The man had a knife but did not attack. Instead he started to rant insanely, saying things like, “A house divided will fall,” “He is watching you,” and “Feel his wrath!” The man had numerous scars visible on his arms.
He then turned the knife on himself and began to carve a pattern into his abdomen! The pattern was some sort of spiral. The self-inflicted wound took its toll on the man and he collapsed, blood spilling freely. It was obvious to Magnus that the man would die without aid. Kicking the lunatic’s knife into the nearby bay, the priest healed the man. Magnus then moved into a nearby crowd so the man could not follow him. Successful, Magnus arrived last at the First and Last.
He too recognized some of the others waiting. Bay had been the sole survivor after the ship he had been sailing on was attacked and sunk. Magnus provided medical aid after Bay was retrieved from the open ocean. He had also meet Osric and Thalimor during his travels with the warrior cooking him a tasty meal and having provided shelter to the bard one night from both elements and killers chasing him.
A bit later Captain Frithgar came in and explained the situation to the hopefuls. He was looking for guards to travel on his ship to Wolverton, some five days away by ship. It would be their duty to protect the ship from raiders but also potentially from his crew as well. There would be some unusual aspects to this trip, including him having a female companion on the trip. [Yes, having a woman aboard ship is bad mojo in this setting. No, it isn’t all women (if it was, then Isenthorne on board would be a problem). The Thaeden Goddess of the Sea, Ealaz, is quite jealous and vengeful. The captain of the ship (along with pretty much all sailors…even female sailors) are considered married to the sea by Ealaz. So while sailing, they are expected to be faithful to her. Bringing a “companion” on the journey would be blasphemous.]
Frithgar offered both Osric and Magnus 30sp for the trip as both looked pretty capable (and armored). Isenthorne was offered 25sp and Thalimor 35sp [for reasons that came clear in the next session]. Bay was only offered 20sp as he looked more like a sailor and less like a hired guard. All agreed and Frithgar told them to report to the Nydam later that night and where she was docked and left for his ship. The party noticed a young boy follow Frithgar out of the tavern.
The party headed to the ship and met Hereric the 1st Mate. The young boy, Deornoth but indicated that must just called him Dirt, was also on the ship. He was to be a cabin boy. The party were given a visual inspection by Hereric with varying looks of approval and were shown their quarters for the trip. The crew, busy loading cargo, did not appear to be very happy with the presence of the “guards” for the trip. They looked even less pleased when they saw the captain’s companion brought aboard and quickly ushered to the captain’s quarters. The party spent the night in their new quarters.
Before the Nydam set sail the next morning, the bounty hunters showed up carrying a chained and hooded woman onboard. Although they couldn’t see her face due to the hood, Osric and Thalimor could tell that it was the same woman from the day before. She was carried by members of the crew to the brig…essentially a closet with a barred window and a pot to piss in.
With that, the Nydam set sail. As it pulled away from the docks, Magnus caught sight of his “friend” from the day before. He lifted his arms, holding a new knife. As he made eye contact with Magnus, the lunatic began carving the same spiral symbol into his abdomen. This time, however, there was no one to save him as the dock was empty with the ship’s departure. The man tumbled into the bay as blood again flowed freely from his wounds.
And that is where we ended the session with that very fortuitous omen at the start of what should be a five hour, er, day tour.
