Agder is a petty-kingdom on the extreme southern tip of Norway, not marked on these maps.
We just hit a castle that's on the west coast of England (in the south), as I understand it, judging by the place-names. We're currently in a port city on the English Channel, that is to say on the south coast. Anyone we have who wants a ride to the Danelaw, we would be dropping off on the east coast.
Given the location of Agder, we would need to sail two sides of a nearly square-ish rectangle to get home. Either we can go to the west coast of Denmark and then north along the coast to the narrow crossing over to Agder, or we can go north along the coast of Britain and then cross some hundreds of miles of the North Sea to hit the Norwegian coast somewhere and then pick our way south along the coast to Agder.
It's not at all clear to me that one of these options is much better or worse than the other, unless the places we're dropping off our Danelaw friends are very far north along the coast of the Danelaw.
Well, they started on our boat, and our boat didn't touch British soil except at ports in Alfred's kingdom. The first place we stopped was probably not a friendly neighborhood for a few Norsemen who wanted to make their way to the Danelaw. The second place we stopped was Winchester proper and what were they gonna do, go sit in a tavern like wimps while we went and did some badass raiding shit? Of course they came along, it was the dreng thing to do.
Well, they started on our boat, and our boat didn't touch British soil except at ports in Alfred's kingdom. The first place we stopped was probably not a friendly neighborhood for a few Norsemen who wanted to make their way to the Danelaw. The second place we stopped was Winchester proper and what were they gonna do, go sit in a tavern like wimps while we went and did some badass raiding shit? Of course they came along, it was the dreng thing to do.
Okay, fair. Still, all the same issues apply- guys who want to emigrate to the Danelaw aren't going to want to just fuck off from our camp in the middle of English territory in the middle of the night and cross ??? miles of English soil to get TO the Danelaw.
Come to think of it, this point is a minor argument in favor of following the coast back home, which involves going up the west coast of Denmark, though it also involves following the coast of the Carolingian territories by the Low Countries, which could be a bit hazardous.
I'm from Danmark, and if we all are going to Danmark, than I would say Ribe is our best bet. It was one of the important place for trading in the viking age, and was know as the gate way to westing Europa and more for Scandinavia. They got a lots of things trading with like glas, metal, whetstone, clothes, jewellery, furs, amber, foods, seeds, marble and other kind of things. Ribe is on the west coast of Danmark, so it's on the way home, if we go to Danmark.
Okay, fair. Still, all the same issues apply- guys who want to emigrate to the Danelaw aren't going to want to just fuck off from our camp in the middle of English territory in the middle of the night and cross ??? miles of English soil to get TO the Danelaw.
Come to think of it, this point is a minor argument in favor of following the coast back home, which involves going up the west coast of Denmark, though it also involves following the coast of the Carolingian territories by the Low Countries, which could be a bit hazardous.
Farbjorn and his crew are still with us, and live in the Danelaw. Anyone who wants to go there will just swap over to their ships, leaving us free to go wherever.
I'm from Danmark, and if we all are going to Danmark, than I would say Ribe is our best bet. It was one of the important place for trading in the viking age, and was know as the gate way to westing Europa and more for Scandinavia. They got a lots of things trading with like glas, metal, whetstone, clothes, jewellery, furs, amber, foods, seeds, marble and other kind of things. Ribe is on the west coast of Danmark, so it's on the way home, if we go to Danmark.
Ribe was also a part of Frisian trading network, and was the last stop for that trading road. It was also an important trading centre for a 1000 years. From the ealy 700's to 1700.
You decided to depart from Winchester in the morning, so you've got the rest of the day to kill. It's not a lot of time, but it's more then enough to dig into this shiny new trick of yours.
Crimson-colored links of interlocking rings coat your forearm as you focus your orthstirr to a resplendent shine. The pattern Fortify leaves across your skin reminds you of needlebinded cloth. Each 'knot' of strength loops into all the surrounding knots, increasing the trick's robustness manifold! Even if one knot fails, the rest stay firm!
Not only does it strengthen your defense, but it also actually weakens incoming damage!
Quite the ingenious little trick, if you do say so yourself.
Unfortunately, Fortify isn't all sunshine and daisies. Just like its counterpart Sharpen, Fortify has its own downsides to consider. Primarily, when you've got your hand and forearm Fortified like this, you can't move either. Sure, you can still use your shoulder to rotate, but your elbow and wrist are locked—and don't forget about your fingers, either!
If you want to adjust anything, then you need to drop Fortify, reposition, and then bring it back up—all while actively defending against incoming attacks. It clearly isn't a trick you use once and then you're good to go for the rest of the fight.
Fortunately, unlike with Hone and Sharpen, it seems that you can use Fortify and Reinforce at the same time—though you can't seem to layer Fortify on top of itself as it just combines with the already-present collection of knots.
Tapering off the flow of power, you watch as the knots unravel and fall away from your arm. The breeze picks up the dissolving orthstirr and carries the strands away on the back of a gust of winged wind. It'll take some practice before it's anything more then a vague idea in your head—the orthstirr isn't nearly solid enough to have any true strength—but you've gotten the basic framework done. All that's left to do now is practice, practice, and, believe it or not, more practice!
Watching the sun menace the horizon from a sea-facing hillside, you can't help but taste melancholy in the air. As wind knocks the dying leaves of late summer trees from branches, the crunch of footsteps approaches from your rear. Judging by the loping gait, it's Stigr.
"Afternoon, Halla!" Stigr opens with a cheery wave and a wide grin as he drops in next to you.
"Hey, Stigr," you reply as you turn towards him, only for your smile to fade and your brows to crease as you lay eyes on his face. With the way his eyes stay evasive and how his grin doesn't reach his eyes, it couldn't be clearer that something's wrong. "Are you feeling okay?"
He blinks, "What are you... well," the half-hearted attempt at deflection fails as he laughs and shakes his head, "Not much point in hiding anything from Owl-Eyes, is there?"
"Owl-Eyes?" You tilt your head to the side as you arch a brow. It plays across your tongue like a familiar kenning, but the owner of it evades you.
"Just something that some of the lads have taken to calling you, on account of all the times you've used your fylgja as your eyes," he wiggles a finger in the general direction of his eyes.
"Halla Owl-Eyes," you try the name out and find it acceptable, "Rolls off the tongue."
"It does," Stigr trails off in a low hiss, unintentionally drawing the 's' out. "But, um, I have a thing I need to tell you."
'That'd explain the melancholy,' Blackhand mutters as you sigh and nod for Stigr to continue.
"I," Stigr pauses as a frown creases the corners of his lips, "I think, no, I am going to stay here in England with Stigulf."
Your lips thin as you stare at the sun setting over the waves lapping at the shore. You swallow, "I understand."
It's not like he's made his intent to leave one day a secret or anything, after all.
"You're not mad or anything?" Stigr asks after a moment's beat, a little surprised.
The absurdity of the question knocks you from your gloom, "No? Why would I be?"
"Well, I dunno," he snorts while running fingers through his hair—which had gotten pretty damn long over the course of the adventure. "I guess I just got it in my head that you'd be mad at me for some reason," he says before adding as an almost afterthought, "sorry."
"It's fine," you wave it off with a laugh. "I've known this was coming since forever, but I just wish that, well, that we had more time."
"Still, sorry for springing this on you so suddenly," you narrow your eyes as he says 'sorry' once again. That's not much like the Stigr you know and love.
"You sure are saying 'sorry' a lot," a wry grin plays across your face as you needle him.
He snorts and scoffs, "And you can't help yourself from saying 'yeah'!"
"Yeah, well—" You blink and curse as you realize what just left your mouth. "Shit!"
You spend the rest of the evening bantering with Stigr. It's nice.
(Owl-Eyes has been added to your kenning list, it adds additional dice to your tactics and scouting rolls when using your fylgja.)
(Stigr has left your crew, he now lives in the Danelaw)
0~0~0
Destination (Pick 1)
[ ] Home the Northern Way (15 Days) (Chance to get lost)
-[ ] (Optional Write-In) Stop somewhere along the way
[ ] Home the Continental Way (10 Days) (Chance to get attacked)
-[ ] (Optional Write-In) Stop somewhere along the way
Personal (Pick 1 for each Day spent traveling, to a minimum of 1)
[ ] Talk to a Crewmember
-[ ] Write in who and about what
[ ] Pay Close Attention to a Crewmember
-[ ] Write in
[ ] Talk to the Seeress
-[ ] Write in one thing
[ ] Craft or Repair
-[ ] Write in
Training (You get 17 Training Dice per day spent travelling)
[ ] Training
-[ ] Write in
0~0~0
AN: Not much to say here other then that I feel like I've gotten my feet under me again after a long week full of anxiety, at least when it comes to writing.
As a rough idea, go home the Continental Way as theres stuff there and you can stab getting attacked, and you can't stab getting lost. Maybe stop in Ribe, see if theres some shiny things there, and then go back home. And with regards to Training Dice and talking to crew/Solrun, I leave it to Deadman for the Arcane Math and people who care more to figure out who to talk to.
If you want to adjust anything, then you need to drop Fortify, reposition, and then bring it back up—all while actively defending against incoming attacks. It clearly isn't a trick you use once and then you're good to go for the rest of the fight.
@Imperial Fister When Fortify says "cannot be moved" does this mean that it is staying in the same place no matter what, or that it can move around but is not going to change shape
Looks like if we take the Northern route, our logical layovers would be islands - either the Orkneys, Shetlands, or maybe the Faroes.
If we take the continental/coastal route, then it's Ribe.
If the two, I think the Northern route sounds fun? It's different than the way we came down, means our total time away will be about a month, and seems generally exciting. Plus if we get blown off course... we get to visit Iceland!
@Imperial Fister When Fortify says "cannot be moved" does this mean that it is staying in the same place no matter what, or that it can move around but is not going to change shape
Looks like if we take the Northern route, our logical layovers would be islands - either the Orkneys, Shetlands, or maybe the Faroes.
If we take the continental/coastal route, then it's Ribe.
If the two, I think the Northern route sounds fun? It's different than the way we came down, means our total time away will be about a month, and seems generally exciting. Plus if we get blown off course... we get to visit Iceland!
