Wood creaks as it gently drifts ashore, the dragon-prow stowed away in accordance with the local laws. The groaning of oarsmen fills the air as the Wavedancer comes to a rest. Salty shore-wind kisses cheeks as it plays through hair of red and along eyes of shining steel.
Halla Sunshine, mistress of the Wavedancer and much more besides, steps ashore with an unsteady stride. Dangling from her neck is a weight heavier than any she had borne before, heavier still than the children she brought into this world; the weight of half her heritage she has yet to explore—the weight of her late mother, Asveig Rovisdottir, and the necklace bequeathed to her.
The necklace—an amulet, really—glimmers as the sun catches it just so. Runes painted in white decorate the side of the coin-like shape. No man had ever been able to decipher their meaning, least of all thanks to their aberrant nature. Never have the runes lingered in one form, always changing, shifting, and rearranging with every blink of the eye.
Now that Halla stands on Vestfold land, however, the runes almost seem to shiver as if with excitement. A strange tug drifts at the limits of her mind, her senses struggling to make sense of its shape or form. The faintest taste of honey touches upon her tongue, the flavor all-too familiar to Halla's mind; for it was the honey of Asveig's youth, that which she had imported to her home in the Hading whenever available.
A massive, plate-sized hand falls on Halla's shoulder, the weight and warmth a familiar comfort in trying times. The dark eyes of her husband, Abjorn Bearbreaker, greet her steel as he offers her a reassuring smile and comforting words, "I am with you, always, and will be there every step of the way."
Halla takes a deep breath as her hand wraps around Abjorn's, the frown on her face slipping into a warm smile, "I never doubted for a second."
'There's word of trouble in Vestfold, don't forget,' the gruff voice of Halla's grandfather, namesake, and mental roommate, Hallr Blackhand, pulls Halla from her marital bliss, 'Civil wars are prime opportunities for vikings and highwaymen to ply their trade. I would not want your ship to fall victim to some wretched rot-spawn's predations.'
Halla nods as she lets her husband go. Turning to her men, she lifts her voice and calls, "Men, put the ship in hiding. Abjorn and I will head inland and scope out the place. At nightfall, we shall return to this beach."
A chorus of affirmations answers her orders as her men set about the task. Pushing the Wavedancer back to sea, the men take to their oars as they begin to row.
"So," Abjorn says as the Wavedancer soon disappears from view, "where to first?"
[ ] Search for settlement inland and along the shore
[ ] Follow the tugging, where ever it may lead
0~0~0
AN: And so our journey begins its end.