Wolves Upon the Coast - Session #2
So continues the journey of the Brimuxi and its crew as we play through Luke Gearing’s Wolves Upon the Coast! You can catch up on last week’s recap here. Our system of choice is T. Thomas Giant’s As Above, So Below, anOSR hack inspired primarily by Cairn and Into the Odd.
As an aside, I ordered a set of runestones on Amazon and did a very cursory study of how to best “interpret” them. I am not learned in this particular art, so any castings of rune stones by Padraig should be taken with several grains of salt. Roughly half the salt in the Dead Sea should suffice.
The Crew of the Brimuxi
Gripard the Near-Sighted - Hails from Faroe. He willingly signed on to Snori the Craven’s crew to avoid starvation. Understands some arcane secrets.
Gull the Wanderer - Hails from Ruislip, in the northwest. He is of humble stock, but his kin did not appreciate his talents. Their parting of ways was mutual, but it wasn’t long before he was captured by the Norse.
Haoelkbaeolker “Bulkor” the Foul - Hails from Littitie. Also called Bulkor, he was banished by his kin for being a general nuisance and ass. It is a wonder we haven’t killed him ourselves.
Lurg Who-Laughs-At-Death - Hails from Littitie, a faraway and distant land. A proud, barbarian warrior - he is slow to trust others, including members of the Brimuxi’s crew. He has earned a new title thanks to his courage in the face of a horde of reanimated skeleton warriors.
Pádraig the Skald - Hails from Mar, a coastal land to the east of the North Sea. He was betrayed by his mentor, who grew jealous of Pádraig's growing popularity amongst their kin, and sold to the Norse as a galley slave.
The Second Voyage
Embroiled in battle with skeletons, the gods were not in our favor as our undead foe quickly closed ranks to fill the gap that Gull ensorcelled with his powerful magicks. It was taught to us by Vegir that discretion is the better part of valor, so we bravely fell back to our ship - after all, the dead cannot go into battle again until the end of days when the gods summon their faithful warriors to once more do battle with the demonkin serpent who wishes to consume this world and birth a world anew. The retreat was costly, as Bulkor fell beneath a relentless assault, but thanks to my own bravery and that of Ermelandus of the Christian Court of King Roderik and Lurg the Littitian (who I have now granted the title of “Lurg Who-Laughs-At-Death”) a path back to the Brimuxi was cleared.
The Four Giants have spoken: the top rune indicates our destiny lies within our pasts, but our bonds forged in battle and the blood tying us to our kin will see us through to safety.
The dead were peerless in their pursuit of our raiding party, but we outran them and returned to the ship. Our crew were ready and we set off immediately, leaving the foul skeletons standing along the shores and gazing out to see as we evaded their cold grasp. As we moved further out to sea the dead resumed their march into the briny depths.
Once we believed we were safe I crossed the ship to stand by Lurg’s side, taking his wrist in my hand and proclaiming him Lurg Who-Laughs-At-Death. The title bestowed, Gripard asked me to cast my stones and interpret the wills of the gods. I did so, communing with the four giants to determine our next steps. The stones seemed to indicate that we should travel to Ruislip, as our destiny lied in our past, perchance amidst the blood of our kin. Given that Gull the Wanderer leads our crew, I recommended that we return to his home. The captain recommended that we continue south, hugging the coast, and then bear west toward his home.
Gripard the Near-Sighted wished to travel to his own homeland, the island of Faroe. This is notably the home of Snori the Craven, the bastard who enslaved each of us. This would take us north, putting Gripard in direct opposition to Gull. I became curious as to whose voice would resonate with the crew. Lurg became vocal about raiding along the southern coast, and so we traveled.
With our course charted we set sail. Vegir smiled upon us, granting us both the winds and waves on our journey. Lurg, bonded to Bulkor through shared blood, tended to our wounded companion, rescuing him from the brink of death and returning him to the realm of the living.
We sailed past a bay, which seemed to interest Gull the Wanderer. He proclaimed that it would be a great place for a settlement, although I must admit I was not certain if he meant a settlement ripe for plunder or a place for our crew to call our own. I was less interested in the latter - given my own quest to return to Mar and reclaim my rightful place as my people’s shaman - but for the time being I will follow our captain, so long as his desires do not bring unnecessary risk to the crew.
The day passed uneventfully, but we noticed the stores upon the Brimuxi were beginning to run low. I recommend to Gull that we move closer to shore so that the men can hunt and forage. Lurg Who-Laughs-At-Death doesn’t appear to be taken with the idea, proclaiming it as the work of lessers, but the captain reminds him that he can forage or he can starve. We landed and most of the crew decided to forage - fishing, digging for clams, and recovering kelp. Lurg Who-Laughs-At-Death sought out one of the many wild pigs that roam about the sandy beaches. We continued growing our debt with Vegir, the Son, for he provided a great bounty from the sea.
The location of our crew as the session ended, spying both a foreign tent and a magical tree for us to investigate.
With our ration situation resolved, we decided to set up camp. Lurg decided to carve some pig bones. Needing to replace some lost rune stones, I decide to join him, taking some knuckle bones and carving the runes of my gods so that I can properly cast and interpret the will of the gods again. I spoke to him at length about his home, which I have since learned in a hard and difficult land far to the north. Lurg confided in me that he doesn’t know if he would be able to find his way home. He also spoke of a betrayal by one named Angvar the Stoneless. We carved his named upon a pig’s jawbone to remember the grudge. I swore to aid my brother in the slaying of this spineless coward - I would not rest until Angvar’s blood was spilt upon the soil!
As the son rose we saw a galley upon the sea, so overladen that it barely remained above the waters. Fearing that this ship and its greater numbers would overwhelm and slaughter or enslave us, Gull the Wanderer ordered us to pack camp quickly and set out. Unfortunately chaos overcame our crew and we tripped over one another as we tried to set sail, entrapping us upon the shore as their ship closed the distance. Gambling on the winds being in our favor, Gull ordered our launch and we hugged the coast as we traveled south. I prayed to the gods that the men and women on the other ship did not possess the yew bows of the Mar. They smiled upon us and we slipped past the ship, once again in the embrace of open seas.
We sailed for a few hours until Lurg spied a tent along the shore. He described strange, dog-like figures to us. Lurg also pointed out a strange tree heavy with an unusual magic. Both held risk and reward, but the captain’s mind was set and he issued an order to sail toward the southwestern shore to speak with those who had set up the tent.
But what would happen next would be a story for another day!
