Wolves Upon the Coast - Session #4
The winds of fortune howl once more my friends as the intrepid crew of the Brimuxi prepares for their latest adventure in Luke Gearing’s Wolves Upon the Coast! You can catch up on our previous session’s recap here. Our system of choice is T. Thomas Giant’s As Above, So Below, an OSR hack inspired primarily by Cairn and Into the Odd.
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 Fourth Voyage
The Brimuxi cut through the iron grey waters of the North Sea as we made our way to the not-so-distant shore to recover the five idols Edicia the Witch spoke of during our stay in her camp of painted soldiers. She told tale of undead monstrosities guarding the wreckage wherein the desired idols rest and warned us to take great care. We dropped anchor in the shallows, ordering the oarsmen to be ready to move at a moment’s notice if need be. The sun crested the eastern horizon behind the wreckage - a sign of good fortune from the Faceless One!
Lurg Who-Laughs-At-Death - being well-armored - and I took point, staying low to the ground as we crossed the barren sands of the shore and began circling the ship in search of ingress or signs of life and movement. Finding only one suitable entrance we ventured closer, dropping to our bellies to peer inside with the aid of our lantern. What we saw within turned our blood cold - living dead with their heads replaced with those of foul beasts and claws instead of hands. Truly cursed creatures - abominations! We returned to the crew and I made my way to the ship to collect Fiskr the Dogman, who I believed could be used as bait.
I returned to find Ermelandus of the Christian Court of King Roderik addressing the rest of our warband. He seemed to believe that we should not recover the idols for the witch, but when we asked if his Christians would pay us for the idols he could not promise any such reward. We were not impressed by his words and decided to investigate the wreckage and clambered aboard the aft end, Lurg and I assisting those of our crew who lacked the strength to scale the hull themselves. Together we crept across the deck of the ship until we arrived at the prow. Further investigation uncovered a hole leading below decks. Lurg lowered his lantern to find two dozen and two of these abominations, which recoiled in the light. He also spotted five ironbound crates - our idols?
Lurg proposed a stealthy solution, although I could not say that I was sold on this idea. Gripard pointed out that the dead did react to the light. Recalling that Gripard the Near-Sighted said water would aid in the spreading of an oil or grease fire and that the witch told us that only fire would truly kill these creatures, I suggested we pour some oil and grease down, light in, and then pour water on to it to help it spread. After further discussion we decided to break a hole in the rotting hull to get at the dead. Lurg readied his axe and I borrowed Bulkor the Foul’s mace, taking a moment to release the dogman back into the wild (he would serve no further purpose and I had grown bored trying to speak with him). With the little creature gone, I returned to Lurg’s side and we got to work chopping and bashing the side of the ship while Gripard and the others mixed the oil and grease together into a viscous “slop.”
It took little time to break through the rotten timbers. Through our breach came the rattling moans of the dead - a mix of humanish wails and the hellish lowing of livestock. Lurg called for the pouring of the slop, but Gull the Wanderer called for patience and took up my spear, readying it to strike at one of the dead should it reveal its face. Within three more strikes of our axe and mace the first of the foul creatures rushed toward the breach, clawing at the air near us. Gull acted quickly, thrusting forward with the spear, grinning like an excited child as the point punched through the sodden flesh like so much paper.
The dead began to push against the hole we created, getting in our way and making our continued work more difficult. Lurg and I persevered, breaking wood and undead limbs alike as we toiled away. A few of the dead crawled through the breach, clawing at myself and Lurg. We acted quickly, hacking and bashing them to pieces before falling back to let Gripard and Bulkor splash the “slop” upon the first ranks of the death. Once the dead were coated, Ermelandus tossed a lit candle on them and the rotting flesh was soon consumed by hungry flames. As a group we stepped back, keeping our distance from the now burning monstrosities.
The flames leapt one from one undead to another, causing many of them to cower, seemingly in fear at the sight of the fire. Gripard seized the advantage, stepping forward and hurling a jar of grease and oil, splashing them with more of the “slop” and allowing our fiery ally to spread even further. The damp wood of the wrecked ship finally caught, a meager flame slowly crawling along the weathered timbers. Gull, still desiring more glory in battle returned my spear and took up his sling, hurling a stone. We watched with great satisfaction as our enemy continued to burn.
But the gods did not favor us for long as the rains continued pouring and the fires sputtered out. We waited a few minutes before Gripard and I approached the wrecked hull, stopping when we saw the unharmed dead - numbering perhaps a half-dozen - assembling inside the wreckage of the hold. Gull proposed that we strike them down and remove their limbs so that, should they somehow rise again, they would not be able to pursue us. Lurg and I took up positions protecting our allies while Gull let fly stones from his sling.
I drove my spear through the shoulder of an encroaching undead, who continued pushing forward and raked my shoulder. At my side Lurg bashed in the skull of his foe and Gull drilled a stone betwixt the eyes of another one of the shambling dead.
Join me at the fire next week to hear the rest of this tale!
