Novgorod Log #5: The Travels of Felix and Adriana +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Of a search conducted along the coast of Sweden, and the many wonders | | encountered in the journey. How a blacksmith may be declared an | | outlaw. The enigma of a rune-covered wall. A first meeting with | | nearby Hermetic neighbors. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Dramatis Personae: Adriana of Ex Miscellanea Maga (Matt Seidl) Auditor of Mercere Magus (Kevin Wong) Ballisto of Tytalus Magus (Bill Filios) Carmen of Bjornaer Maga (Donald Kubasak) Felix of Flambeau Magus (Dave Pickering) Pacifer of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Boris Mink (Donald Kubasak) Flora Damsel Hobble Outlaw Blacksmith (Bill Filios) Selje Carpenter Adrian German Grog Jarl Nordic Grog (Kevin Wong) Skald Nordic Grog Slim Wolf Hadd Grog Herjolf Warrior Hovod Bully Lord Elgan Lord of Harnosand Sven Order of Odin Grog Walter Big Guy Weris of Flambeau Magus Looking out over the dark, storm-tossed waters of the Baltic sea, Weris of Flambeau was lost in thought. It had been eight years since he had come to the North. Eight years under of the thumb of three madmen. He had been a fool, fresh out of apprenticeship when Pugil had lured him, speaking his sly tales of glorious battles against infidels, of carrying on the noble work of Flambeau himself. Now, those glorious battles had become tarnished reality. Standing on the rocking deck of the Griffon, Weris looked about him and saw nothing but the dregs of these frozen lands. Looking ahead, past the horizon, Weris saw another boring battle, fought against cowering peasants, more likely to soil their pants than raise a weapon against him. These were not the great battles that Weris had dreamed of. Still, perhaps this trip was different. Pugil had sent the Griffon far east, this time, much further than was warranted, for raiding had still been good closer to home. Was a new plan afoot, a new battle being planned? Did new secrets lie in this eastern lands? Weris smiled as he considered the possibilities, and began once more to scan the horizon, more vigilant than he had been in years. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus March 30, 1201 By the time we arrived in Keppelscar today, the warrior of Odin that we had captured had regained his wits. So, we set at once to questioning him. Although we did eventually encourage Sven to talk, he was not the treasure trove of information that I had hoped. Sven told us that the six worshippers of Odin had been travelling to Norrtalje to honor their dead. He said that a great battle had been fought there, where members of the Order of Odin had killed many Hermetic wizards. In addition, Sven warned us that the black bird which had been set free during our battle, would bring every warrior of the North down upon us. Considering the fact that Sven constantly told of us how the worshippers of Odin would slay us all, I suspect that everything he told us was a lie, designed to frighten us into fleeing the North. When we finally realized that Sven would be no help, and that the time had come to kill him, Ballisto was quite kind. He gave Sven an axe, and allowed him to fight for life against Jarl. Sven died within moments, but when he died, he was sure that he would pass on to Valhalla. After we were done with Sven, we divided, as we had earlier decided we would. Felix and Adriana have headed off in the Salire, along with Skald, Jarl and Adrian. A curious group. Felix hopes to find a blacksmith and a carpenter in his journey, for our covenant could use both. In addition, he plans to continue to ask of magical places in this area. I am sure that there is still much that we do not know. I envy Felix his coming adventure, for the most adventurous thing that awaits me is the Vim book that even now sits in my lab. - * - From Adrian's Report to Uniso Of March the 30th, 1201 After we left the others behind, we began to sail down the coast of Sweden. Once more, we came to Baxholm, and for a short time, we stopped there, this time to ask what tales they might know of the supernatural. It seemed a most Mundane town, no doubt due to the protection offered by the Order of Odin. They could tell us nothing. And so we continued on, roving southwards. It was in a small nameless villa, just an hour south of Baxholm, that we first found what we were looking for. When Felix asked for tales of arcana there, the villagers spoke of a strange cave, filled with runes, just up the coast. Felix seemed pleased; it was just what he had been looking for. Soon, we had landed upon a beach, near that cave. As we landed upon the beach, we began to hear a howling in the distance. The coward, Jarl, began to worry about demon dogs. While he and that other norseman, Skald, both fretted, I stood my ground, protecting my magus as I should. As we waited, the howls came closer and closer. It was clear that the beasts would soon be upon us. The first things that burst through the brush, on to the beach, was a man, broad and dark haired. The overzealous norsemen nearly filled the poor fellow with arrows. Barely, they waited, holding their fire until second later, two dogs burst from the woods. Flame, dart, javelin, arrow and quarrel enveloped the dogs. They fell to the ground, noiselessly. Still, we heard crashing in the brush. It was clear that more foes were headed our way. In the brief seconds that we had, the norsemen shouted questions to the man the dogs had chased. He said that the men chasing him wanted to kill him, and that was all we could get from him before again enemies were upon us. A tall, blond haired man burst from the woods, shouting that he had come for the "Outlaw Blacksmith of Harnosand." If we had given him the man, the conflict surely would have been at an end. However, Felix refused, and suddenly javelins were arcing from out of the woods. Clearly, the blond giant had allies with him. I saw the danger, but I stood my ground, for I had been tasked with protecting the magi. The javelin that struck me, nearly piercing me through, would have hit Felix if I had not been there. My wound was so grave that I though myself upon the verge of death. It would have been a good death, though, for I had saved the life of a magus. - * - From Skald's Report to Little Claus Of the 10th day of Spring, 1201 As the idiot dropped, the battle began. I continued firing my bow. Jarl and Slim leaped to attack. The battle would have been a quick one, but Felix insisted upon healing the albino while the rest of us fought. A waste. Fortunately, the four who the giant had brought with him were cowards. After they threw their javelins, only one attacked us hand to hand. My wolf easily faced him. As we fought, the fay girl threw spells destroying the armor of the blond giant. My arrows and Jarl's axe quickly took him down. When Felix finished healing the albino, he turned to the battle. I steeled myself as he began to chant, determined not to flee when the flames burst forth from his fingers. Soon, the giant's ally had dropped too, now smouldering ash. Afterwards, Felix, Jarl and my wolf ran off after the giant's other allies. They had all fled. They were gone but a short time. When they returned, theyreported that only one of those who had fled lived. Herjolf was the name of the survivor. Felix said that that Herjolf had sworn an oath of allegiance to us, and would be a valuable informant. - * - From Adrian's Report to Uniso Of March the 30th, 1201 When I regained my senses, I was once more upon the Salire. The first thing that I heard was the gloating voice of Jarl, boasting of his deeds in the recent battle. I winced, finding his attitude nearly as painful as my own wounds. As I lay upon the rocking deck of the boat, Adriana began to question the man that we had saved. He said that his name was Hobble, and that he had been a blacksmith for a Lord Elgan. Hobble had been unhappy, for Elgan had made him make pretty items of silver, such as a tree, covered with metal bells, rather than the weapons that he wished to smith. And so, Hobble he had left the lord. Thus, the Lord Elgan named Hoblle an outlaw, and sent the blond giant, Walter, after him, to bring him back. And that was the battle that we had become embroiled in. I should note that Hobble had a strange ally, a talking mink. I suspect that there may be more to this blacksmith then meets the eye. You may wish to investigate him. When Felix returned from hunting Walter's allies, he was pleased to hear that Hobble was a blacksmith, for we had been searching for one. After seeing Hobble's work, Felix was quick to offer him a job at the covenant. When Hobble worried about the Lord Elgan sending more men against him, Felix just smiled, saying that one of Walter's men was now in our pay. As ever, Felix had been planning ahead. - * - From Skald's Report to Little Claus Of the 10th day of Spring, 1201 After sorting out Hobble, we set out once more for the cave. It was just as described. The cave had a long wall at the end that was covered with runes. The magi copied the runes, which I believe will be given to you to decipher. Then, they hid the wall of runes under earth. It was late by the time, and so we returned to the boat and slept for the night. - * - From Adrian's Report to Uniso Of April the 1st, 1201 After the battle at the beach, we spent an entire day travelling down the coast of Sweden. It was a wasted day. We heard no tales of magic, and we did not find the carpenter that we still sought. On the next day, the first of April, we finally chanced upon some success. In another nameless village, we came across a carpenter who did not shy away from the magi. His name is Selje, and he has offered to join us if we can aid him in another matter. There is a girl named Flora, who he loves deeply. Unfortunately, there too is a rival for her affection, a man named Hovod. Selje has sworn that he will join our covenant if the magi can help him to embarass Hovod, by making it seem as if Selje had defeated him in battle. Unfortunately, Selje is a coward, unwilling to face Hovod alone. For a time, the magi spoke of deceptive spells to help Selje win his fight. Ultimately, they decided to return home and ask for aid. When we left Selje's village, we were headed once more for Baxholm. Felix wanted to steal an anvil for our new blacksmith. It was on our way to Baxholm, that we faced our final encounter. - * - From the Chronicles of Weris Second of April, 1201 When I first saw the ship, I thought little of it. It seemed a merchant ship, surely ripe for plunder. As I approached, planning to ram it with the Griffon, I saw a sight that surprised me greatly. A pilum of flame flew from the ship I stalked. Clearly, it was a sign from another Flambeau. For a moment, I was still tempted to attack. Unfortunately, reason got the better of me. The person who had thrown the pilum was a fellow named Felix of Flambeau. He is the leader of a new covenant, recently founded in the area East of Sweden. Felix seemed a good fellow, although his woman was a bit uppity. I had to defeat her at Certamen before Felix and I could truly converse. I was eager to test the mettle of Felix. So, when he spoke of stealing an anvil from Baxholm, I suggested that perhaps we could join forces in a full scale raid upon the town. I am happy to say that he quickly agreed. The raid was a good one. Baxholm was a rich town, no doubt because it is so far from the lands that we usually raid. We took what we could carry, and left the villagers enough to rebuild with, so that we may harvest from them again next year, if need be. Felix said that he had killed the blacksmith of Baxholm, and taken nearly his entire shop, so I belive the raid was a good one for him as well. There were one incident of note during the raid. Felix's woman again caused problems. At first, she acted as if she had learned her place, saying that she would stay behind while we raided, as a woman should. Then, after we were gone, she charged off on her own, determined, for some reason, to burn down the temple to Odin in Baxholm. The man who I had assigned to guard the woman while we raided was unable to restrain her. So, Felix's woman charged through town, and then tried to burn to the temple of Odin to the ground. Not surprisingly, she and Hadd were captured, beaten and nearly killed by defenders of the temple. Felix managed to arrive to save her, just in time. Felix also captured the priest of the temple, who we were forced to kill, lest he tell others of Odin that we had defiled his temple. When we had all regrouped to our boats, I spoke with Felix for a time. I think I have convinced him that he should better control his woman, and that attacking temples of Odin is a bad thing, lest it bring the wrath of that entire Order upon us. Again, the raid was a good one. I think Pugil and the others shall be pleased by the goods we return with. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 3, 1201 Felix and Adriana returned to the covenant just a few days after we did, but they had been very busy in that short time. They brought with them a blacksmith, an anvil, the story of a cave and the tale of a wonderful battle. They also said that we could gain a carpenter with just a little work. All we needed to do was assure he win a battle with some Mundane. It seemed a task barely worthy of us. A carpenter will make us more comfortable though, and, as Ballisto continues to point out, he will be able to help us make chairs. So, I am willing to take a bit of time to help win this man for us. I believe that five us shall be returning to his village, myself, Carmen, Felix, Auditor and Ballisto. We plan to use our magical talents to be sure that he wins against the man named Hovod. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 5, 1201 It is done. We have won ourself a carpenter. I must say, I am not quite sure what to make of this Selje. When first we told him that it would be him fighting, not one of us in disguise, he nearly fainted. Yet, when he finally fought Hovod, it was clear that he was quite skilled with his short spear. I helped him, by making Hovod's axe soft, while Carmen made Selje more impressive looking, and Auditor made Hovod quiver as he fought. I am not sure that Selje needed all of the help that we provided however. I think that he could have won the battle on his own. In any case, Selje beat Hovod, embarassing him as he did. And thus, he won the hand of Flora, a rather overweight girl. Tonight shall be the wedding, and then we shall be off again, our new carpenter in tow. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 9, 1201 Finally, we are returned to Nature's Teeth. Our trip back was much extended by travelling about a bit to harvest good wood, for Selje's use. I suspect that he indeed is quite a good carpenter, for he was very particular about the woods that we use. Felix and Adriana have finally settled down for a bit, learning spells to strengthen themselves. They did do well while they were out though. Thanks to their travels, we have a ship captain, a blacksmith, a carpenter, and even a new warrior, to replace our deceased grog. In addition, there is that cave they discovered, an enigma which Little Claus and the blacksmith's mink are trying even now to decipher. I think both Felix and Adriana understand that we need a good base of power, from which to conduct the war. They have done much to help us achieve it. - * - Across the Sea, near Denmark, three magi sat in their darkened chambers. It was the oldest, named Pugil, who spoke. "By now, Weris will have encountered the new magi of the East," he said. "Soon, we shall know whether they are the strong, or the weak, and then we shall be able to take the appropriate action." The Criamon and the Tytalus both nodded in agreement. For over a decade, they had been comfortable in their luxurious home. Now, that luxury was threatened by newcomers. Soon, they would know whether the new magi of the east where threat or ally. And then, as Pugil said, the appropriate actions would be taken.