Wolves Upon the Coast - Session #8
Welcome, my friends, and lend your ear as I tell you once more about the crew of the Brimuxi! Our search of wealth and glory carries on in Luke Gearing’s Wolves Upon the Coast! If you you missed out on last session’s voyage check out the 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 Eighth Voyage
We arrived at the boarding house in the City of Muru’s foreigner’s district. Gripard the Near-Sighted spoke with the bartender, who seemed a friendly enough sort. There was an exchanging of coin and we found ourselves with a room, hot stew, and a small cask of mead. Gull the Wanderer asked Gripard to inquire about potential sacrifices to the Witch Edicia, although I assume Gripard was more… subtle. As we sat down for a drink and meal a drunkard stumbled down the stairs. We all exchanged looks - we might have our man. Gripard invited the Brithonic man over to our table with promises of free drink and companionship. He refused Gripard’s advances and sat at the bar, so myself, Bulkor, and Gripard sat around him while Lurg and Gull snuck upstairs to the man’s chambers to see if there was anything of value to be found.
Gripard continued plying the sailor, named Gerlund, with mead and talk, keeping him distracted. With Gripard’s help I asked about his ship and the lack of crew, a piece of information we gleaned from the gossiping bartender. We weren’t able to convey much with our lack of shared language, so I told Gripard to pass along that we wanted to work as his crew. That seemed to make sense to him, but he stated that there would be no wages. Given that we were hoping to steal his ship that seemed fine by me. We asked his ship’s name and he said something bothersomely long and syllabic. I could not pronounce it again if I tried.
After a painfully long series of backs and forths, Gerlund told us he’d take us on if we could provide him with a bold opportunity. Gripard told him about our quest bestowed upon us by Ariadnh the Charmer, who promised us a way into Muru’s Great Temple if we could bring her the blood of the monstrous Yisharu. This sparked an interest and we began discussing our new venture. The sailor remained cautious, so Gripard shared what information we knew about the Yisharu, as well as many, many lies to sooth the man’s concerns.
Lurg and Gull’s scouting mission uncovered a journal in a strange tongue, some coins, a deck of cards, and a few other odds and ends. Not much in the way of plunder, admittedly. Lurg later confessed to a crisis of morality, but he ultimately decided that a dead man would have no use for such earthly possessions. We spotted Gull coming back downstairs, but he continued out the front door without a word - from the corner of my eye I watched him catch a sack dropped from above, no doubt their ill-gotten gains.
We wrapped up our conversation with Gerlund, who agreed to take us on. He planned on having a few more drinks, but instructed us to take it easy for the night. He also told us that as his crew we would have to drink separately from our new “captain.” I thought this was very rude, but in the end it just made it easier for us to commit to handing him over to the Witch Edicia.
It took a depressingly short amount of time for Gerlund to get too drunk to stand. Lurg and I each took an arm and followed the others through the Foreigner’s District back to the Brimuxi. We were nearly free of this stinking city, Gerlund was almost aboard the ship and my mouth was on its way to being healed when an unfamiliar voice cried out “Hold on there!”
But you will have to wait until next time to learn what happened next!
