Fimbulvinter

[Ghostman]

Would characters still be willing to look for the boy or would they strike off to find the "lost" characters?

It wouldn't matter who they'd go looking for, they'd end up finding whatever Steerpike wants them to find :P

[sparkletwist]

I was thinking Dagny, with her usual charm, would yell something like "We're going to look for a lost kid, any of you losers who can help, c'mon," and hopefully that would be enough to get the attention of Sjack and Egil, and probably Aeskil too.

Weave, where is Vidar? If you need an excuse for him to be hanging around town, he could have heard about the free food at Wulfheim and decided that sounded pretty good.

[Steerpike]

...Or maybe that brings up more questions than it solves. Would characters still be willing to look for the boy or would they strike off to find the "lost" characters? Would the storm have made it any more difficult to track the boy? Etc.

I feel like probably the boy primarily, since the lost characters would be adults presumably capable of taking care of themselves to a greater degree than a weird lost kid.

This may be a bit too on the nose for conveniently bringing in new characters, but could it be that the snows pick up and a brief storm separates the players who can't attend and in turn finds the existing players brought face to face with the newbies?

This isn't that crazy considering many of the characters are careening about the wilderness on horseback, and it's been established that snow is falling very heavily, in "vast white drifts" to be specific.

This will, of course, make tracking trickier, but that was always the "plan" (plan makes it sound more sadistic than it is: I usually decide the weather more or less at random each day from some combination of fog/freezing rain/high wind/heavy snow).

If you need an excuse for him to be hanging around town, he could have heard about the free food at Wulfheim and decided that sounded pretty good.

I was coming up with a new rumours table and Vanslind was one of them.  :D

I sent a message to Weave with a bunch of thoughts about how he might be introduced (not sure if he received it).

[Weave]

I sent a message to Weave with a bunch of thoughts about how he might be introduced (not sure if he received it).

Oh I got it, I've just been working on a game of mine as well that I'm running tonight for the first time on Roll20, so I figured I'd commit to it after tonight. Sorry!

[Steerpike]

Not a problem Weave, of course!

[Kindling]

Sorry I've not been able to post for a while. I agree with sparkle on this one, I think it would stretch things a bit to have Ragnvaldr (and to a lesser degree Kylfa) present but not wholly involved at the moment. Ragnvaldr a) loves a fight and b) cares quite a lot about finding Kauko so just having him passively tag along as an NPC would is... definitely weird.

I think the best solution is for Ragnvaldr to get seperated by the snows due to his haste, particularly as it might not just be this session I have to miss, depending on scheduling. Hopefully he'll manage to rejoin the party at a critical moment - I'm picturing him emerging from a white haze of snowfall, Dagnöskur in hand, a bloodythirsty snarl-grin on his lips, just as the others are about to be laid low by some fell enemy or another! :)

[Steerpike]

I should add, after some conversations with sparkletwist, that anyone interested in making an "Unchained" character or revising existing Barbarian, Rogue, or Summoner levels should feel free if they wish, though this conversion is not compulsory.

[Xathan]

...though this conversion is not compulsory.

Thank god for that. The unchained Summoner forces you to pick an outsider type, if I read it correctly - no more psuedo-linnorm for me if I convert, which is kinda a shame - really waters down a cool class.

[Steerpike]

Reposting due to display issues:

[Steerpike]

Excellent session today everyone.

Would people be up for the same bat time, same bat channel next week to finish off the Ironwood section? If we can get at least most of the participants back it's probably worth it.

[Weave]

Count me in!

[Steerpike]

Great!

1500 XP for everyone who participated in today's session.

Also, all characters can roll on the table below 3 times (1d10) to represent recent rumours. Some are "developments" of previous rumours. Re-roll any duplicate results.

[ic=Local Rumours][spoiler=1]Slavers: A large slave-caravan has been sighted moving south from the Hrafnlands towards Skrikborg, protected by Blóðbard warriors and Hrafnii mercenaries. Perhaps King Ivar the Perverse has something sinister planned for these thralls?[/spoiler]

[spoiler=2]Blizzard: Travelers from the north speak of truly terrible blizzard worse than any yet seen in Fimbulvinter moving down from Snӕrland and now ravaging the central Hrafnlands. There are said to be gigantic creatures glimpsed in swirling snows, which rumour has are terrible Frost Giants from Nilfheim![/spoiler]

[spoiler=3]Dragons Stirring: A great Dragon has been spotted in the Orm-Fells – a pale horror with vast wings and a barbed stinger at its tail. Dragonkind seem to be multiplying fast in the mountains, fighting with one another. While normally battles amongst Drakkar take place only after breeding-season – fall and winter, when brumating Dragons nest together and produce young that will hatch with the spring – now that Fimbulvinter is upon the world, Dragons may be reproducing at a much greater rate.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=4]Hrafnii Bandits: Due to the devastation of the Hrafnlands many of the Hrafnii have been found wandering further south and west, and Unkindnesses of these brigands are now preying on travelers and settlements. There are conflicting reports of such warriors working with the Blóðbards and fighting against them. A large group led by a woman named Fjotra, said to be an archer of tremendous skill seeking vengeance for her slain brother, have been spotted not far from Wulfheim.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=5]Cave-Dwellers: There are claims of strange, pale men with hairy pelts emerging from caverns deep in the Orm-Fells, descending into the hills to hunt beasts and any other living thing that they can find. Old stories tell of a lost folk who disappeared into the caves or interbred with Dark Elves or Dvergar, but most believed such tales were nothing more than legends told by mothers to frighten their children. [/spoiler]

[spoiler=6]March of the Dishonoured Dead: An army of Again-Walkers is making their way slowly east, slaying all in their wake and adding to their numbers. They are at least five hundred strong – perhaps more – and though slow-moving, they are inexorable. There may be yet more behind them.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=7]Dvergar Merchant: A trader from the north brings word that a Dvergar merchant has set up shop in Hrafnford and is selling marvelous objects forged in Svartálfaheim. Though his prices are steep, he is said to take curious trades. It is said that gangs in Hrafnford are fighting over the city's two halves, using these Dwarf-made weapons in their battle.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=8]Skræling Uprising: Reports from the west hold that a group of Skræling thralls being transported to the North along with goods from the distant lands across the ocean managed to kill the crew of their ship and have landed in the North.  Ruthless freedom-fighters, they are now roving the Northlands freeing any Skræling or Thule thralls they come across and killing their masters, taking their scalps for trophies.  It is said that some of their number are shamans capable of summoning a terrible flesh-eating spirit that possesses certain of their warriors, transforming them into something called "Wendigos." A group of these warriors is said to have entered the Blóðlands from the west.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=9]Plague Spreading: The sickness in Austragötaland is spreading throughout the North and is said to be afflicting the Gyllirlands. Refugees fleeing the plague - and, sometimes, carying it with them - may be soon be seeking the Blóðlands, especially given rumours of marvels and miracles being performed there.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=10]Rising Seas: Fisherfolk and others from the coasts claim that the seas are rising rapidly, and that huge tidal waves and sea-storms have swallowed entire settlements. Sea-serpents, as well, seem to be multiplying rapidly in the Sea of Skulls and in Gandvik.[/spoiler][/ic]

[Steerpike]

Also: some images to help visualize the "eldritch fairytale" quality of Ironwood.

[Xathan]

Excellent session today everyone.

Would people be up for the same bat time, same bat channel next week to finish off the Ironwood section? If we can get at least most of the participants back it's probably worth it.

Barring complications, I'm in!

[Polycarp]

How do we feel about mid-adventure leveling?  Kylfa just got enough XP for 6th.