Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Saga of the Icelanders - Family Tree

Here is the family tree from our game.  It will help track some of the main characters introduced to date.  There are some people who exist but have not been named at the table yet.  There are also several supporting characters and one player character, Mohammad (Wanderer), who are not part of the family and are not shown below.


Saga of the Icelanders - Chapter 3

At the beginning of the session, Niall, Steinar's new wife, approaches Ragnhild to apologize for the way she had been acting.  She wants to make amends by making a bridal dress for Godney as a wedding gift.  Niall also confesses that she is now pregnant. Ragnhild doesn't trust her but gets a sense that she is being sincere about making a beautiful dress.  Niall agrees to let Ragnhild supervise the dress making. Niall turns out to be a very talented weaver and dressmaker. It is one of the best dresses Ragnhild has ever seen.

Steinar returns from his Viking raids with two handfuls of silver and a well paid crew. They get there just days before Brynjolf's wedding.

Mohammad continues to teach Snorri Arabic. This leads to trouble as the other children tease him for learning 'girl' stuff. Mohammad tries to teach the child to take the high road, which Snorri doesn't understand.  Snorri continues to call Mohammad a Dark Elf and wants him to work his magic against the kids. Brynjolf interjects that the boy should just punch the other children in the nose if they continue to tease him.  This makes Snorri happy.

Brynjolf, Ragnhild, Mohammad, Steinar, Niall, Snorri, and others from Brynjolf's household travel to Svenastadir, Ragnar's farmstead, for the wedding. They arrive a day before the rest of the guests who are coming from all over Iceland.  A few are coming from as far away as Norway. Among the guests are Orm Nogood, Ragnhild's ex-husband, and their daughter Bera. Ragnhild sees the wedding as an excellent opportunity to find a husband for Bera. The first hurtle is that Orm and Bera are designated to sit at a table of low standing at the wedding feast.  Ragnhild goads Ragnar into changing the seating to move Orm and Bera to a place of honor with Ragnhild and Steinar.  Orm is thus given great honor which he thinks is what he deserves.

That night Niall presents Steinar with a gift. It is a new outfit to wear at the wedding. It is a work of art that will far surpass all others at the wedding. It also has some of the same patterns that the wedding dress has in it, which Steinar has not seen. The next morning he wears it with great pride. Ragnhild sees his fancy apparel and realizes it would not be appropriate for him to wear it.  She goads him into wearing a vest to conceal the outfit. Steinar assesses the situation and realizes the most honorable thing for him to do would be to give the outfit to Brynjolf to wear at the wedding. Brynjolf is honored by such a handsome gift, but Niall is devastated. Brynjolf tries to console her and find out how to convince her to make another suit for Steinar.  She agrees to this if there is an Icelandic court formed (the Althing), and Brynjolf and Steinar attend. Then she will make a suit for Steinar to wear at the Althing if Brynjolf will pay a handful of silver for materials.

The wedding is about to start, when a child is heard crying. It is Snorri, and he has obviously been in a fight. He was being teased again about learning girlish magic from the Dark Elf, Mohammad. Following Brynjolf's advice, he punched the other kid. Snorri, however, is outnumbered and undersized. He gets the worse of the fight. Ragnhild and Mohammad comfort Snorri and as a special treat give him some mead to drink.  With the commotion settled down, the wedding commences.  The ceremony is beautiful.  Brynjolf presents Godney with a gold and silver pendent, and Godney gives Brynjolf Ragnar's sword to carry until they have a male son old enough to wield it.

The wedding feast starts, and things are going well until Orm decides that he needs to have Brynjolf serve him his drink like he did when he visited Orm's farm. Brynjolf tries to quiet Orm, but Orm's had too much to drink already and won't listen. Ragnar is not happy with Orm's behavior and starts to get mad at Brynjolf as well. Brynjolf recruits Steinar, and between the two of them physically carry Orm out of the hall and down to the river. They attempt to throw Orm in, but Brynjolf loses his footing and ends up falling in himself.  Unfortunately, the dyes in his outfit were not completely set, and the water ruins his splendid gift. Orm starts back toward the hall to get another drink. Brynjolf climbs out of the river and runs up to catch him. He draws his new sword and threatens Orm's life if he returns to the wedding. Orm agrees to leave but quietly insults Brynjolf as he leaves. Bera begins to escort Orm to his tent. Ragnhild still wants Bera available for looking for a husband. She convinces Steinar to get Orm to bed. Steinar dutifully agrees. Before he gets there though, Niall approaches.  She tries to convince Steinar to leave Orm to his own devices and join her in bed. He had been gone raiding all summer and she missed him. Steinar regretfully fulfills his duty to Orm and gets him to bed after having to regale him with stories of his summer raids which takes hours. When Brynjolf gets back to the feast, Ragnar scolds him that the main reason he allowed him to marry his daughter was because of his high honor. If Brynjolf allows a nobody like Orm to treat him that way on his wedding day, this marriage could have been a big mistake. Orm needs to be taken care of, and since the local godi is Ragnar's cousin, the consequences will be minor.

One of the topics of conversation during the wedding feast is the possible formation of a island wide council of lawmakers and judges, the Althing. The population of Iceland is getting large enough that independent actions of godi in the separate areas is becoming ineffective. When people are outlawed in one district, it is too easy for them to move into the neighboring valley and cause problems. Also more and more disputes are coming up between areas of different godi.  Who rules on these cases is not clear. There is varying level of support for the Althing. Some larger landowners and godi, who basically rule their area, are against it as they will have to yield some of their power to the larger body politic. Some independent farmers feel that a larger system will lead to a central power or king. They left Norway to get away from the king and don't want that problem here. Many of the women support the Althing as a way to increase social networking and find better spouses for their children. Ragnar openly opposes the Althing. Brynjolf supports it when Ragnar is not around.

Mohammad meets a Norwegian Christian missionary at the wedding as well.  They talk religion and their experiences with the pagans in Iceland. The leave on friendly terms. Nothing else of note happens at the wedding.

Brynjolf and family make their way back to their farms. A couple nights later, Brynjolf sneaks off to Orm's farm. He sets his hall on fire by the main sleeping area, and then rides off into the night. The next day some refuges from Orm's farm show up seeking shelter and help for Orm and Bera who were injured in a fire last night. Brynolf says everyone can stay except for Orm who is not welcome here. They decide to move along to find help else where. A hours later they return on their way back to Orm's farm. Orm and Bera have both died. Brynjold feeds and shelters them before they finish their journey so they can bury the bodies. When Steinar learns of his father's death, he goes to the farm to check the condition of it, and to see if he can find out what really happened.

This ended the night.



Thursday, January 23, 2014

Sagas of the Icelanders - Chapter 2

Brynjolf continues to lose track of his sheep as the repairs to the fence are not possible due to a lack of wood.  Ragnhild's stories and goading are of no avail.  She decides she needs to be more active in helping her son.  She decides to go visit her ex-husband Orm Nogood and see if she can convince him to provide enough wood to fix the fence.  Steinar joins her on the trip so he can see his father.  On arriving, they see that Orm is still a lazy drunkard, who's farm only works because the works on the farm are very competent.  Orm thinks Ragnhild is there for a social visit.  Her charms are insufficient to get the wood without having to resume relations with him.  Afterwards, Orm gives Steinar a shield to take on Viking raids this summer and a load of wood for the farm.  Ragnhild also checks on her daughter Bera who is still living with Orm.  She feels the need to start looking for a husband for Bera.

With the wood, Brynjolf is finally able to fix the fence.  He then meets with Ingvar Shaggybritches to go collect the sheep that Ragnar the Broad owes them.  Ragnar greets them warmly and has a great meal prepared for them.  Ragnar again states how impressed he is with Brynjolf's honor and prowess.  He is so impressed that he offers his daughter Godney to Brynjolf to marry.  Brynjolf eagerly accepts despite the fact that he had been working on making a marriage proposal with a local widow Niall.  They celebrate the deal.  Ragnar gives Brynjolf a silver inlaid axe and two sheep that look suspiciously like the ones missing from Brynjolf's farm.  Brynjolf decides not to say anything about the sheep.

Brynjolf returns and tells everyone the good news.  The family is excited, but when Niall and her brother Grim hear the news, they confront the family.  Niall swears that Brynjolf said that he loved her and was going to marry her.  To rectify the situation, Steinar is offered up as a husband to Niall.  Grim and Niall agree to this.  Niall also insists that the wedding be held as soon as possible.  Steinar agrees to this so he can get married before leaving on Viking raids for the summer.

Steinar's and Niall's wedding goes off without a hitch, except for the fact that Niall has no interest in Steinar and tries to convince Brynjolf to run away with her.  He rejects her, and she warns that marrying Godney will be a dangerous mistake.  With no other option Niall marries Steinar. and with some effort, Steinar is even able to convince Niall to consummate the marriage that night.

Steinar then leaves with Mohammad and Alti, Ragnar's nephew, to raid Ireland.  They have a successful season and make it back with some silver for all involved.  The weather is rough on the return.  Only because they were not fated to die at that time did the ship not sink.

While they were away, Brynjolf personally went to invite Orm to his upcoming wedding.  Orm accepted the invitation but made Brynjolf serve him drinks to show Brynjolf that Orm was superior.  Brynjolf agreed to do this to honor his former stepfather.  When Brynjolf returned to his farm, Niall continued to try to seduce him.  Ragnhild caught her saying she knew her type that she better knock it off.  Niall responded by hoping that Steinar would die while out raiding.

This ended the session with Brynjolf and Godney's wedding on the horizon for our next session.

Sagas of the Icelanders - Chapter 1

So for Dungeon World, the game should start in the middle of the action - a fight scene.  Since Sagas of the Icelanders doesn't have the same type of action, I needed something else - a wedding!  Ragnhild, Brynjolf, and Steinar were invite to the wedding of Ingvar Shaggybritch's daughter Thurid to Kol Anundson.  Ingvar is a neighboring farmer.  He and Brynjolf are social equals.

We opened to find the Brynjolf's farm is struggling as he has lost some sheep due to a fence that collapsed at the end of winter.  Despite the loss, he takes one of the remaining sheep as a wedding gift. Ragnhild brings a woven blanket she made.  They are received with great welcome and honor their hosts with the gifts.  Also attending the wedding is Ragnar the Broad.  He is the grandson of Sveni, the original settler of this valley.  As such he is the wealthiest farmer in the area, and all others owe their allotment of land to his family.  Ragnar also brought a sheep for Ingvar as a gift.  Brynjolf can't help but notice that Ragnar's sheep is on the sickly side.  Brynjolf's criticism of the gift is overheard by Rennveig, Ingvar's youngest daughter.  Rennveig approaches Ragnar assumedly to tell on Brynjolf.  While she is waiting for a chance to address Ragnar, Brynjolf openly calls into question the quality of the gift sheep.  Ragnar takes offense and challenges Brynjolf to a duel.  Brynjolf agrees to unarmed combat.  Ragnhild, however, knows Ragnar has a reputation of being dishonorable.  The duel begins.  Brynjolf begins to get the best of Ragnar, who being a sore loser, draws a knife.  Brynjolf is able to subdue Ragnar with only a scratch across his chest.  The Fates had written a different ending for Brynjolf.

At this time Thorvard, Ingvar's foster brother, arrives on his trading vessel with  a load of lumber from Norway.  He also has an unusual passenger, Mohammad ibn Al-Hazrad.  Mohommad is invited to join the wedding guests after he sings a beautiful song as a gift to the wedding couple.  Feasting and drinking ensue.

Ragnar is impressed with the honor and capability that Brynjolf displayed.  He drinks with him, and offers to make amends for his poor gift.  Brynjolf and Ingvar are to come to Ragnar's home in a couple weeks and will each be given two sheep.  Ragnar also asks if Steinar will take Ragnar's nephew Atli on Viking raids in the summer.  Steinar agrees to this.  Everyone drinks to celebrate except for Mohammad who will not drink alcohol.  The Icelanders are offended by this and give Mohammad the name Man-Child.  The send him from the feasting hall to go be with the other children who do not drink.  Mohammad tries to explain his religion and why he does not drink.  Steinar acts to show how strong Thor makes Icelanders.  He decides to wrestle a cow to show his strength.  He gets the cow to the ground, but manages to get caught underneath it cracking some ribs.  People get the cow off Steinar, and the celebration continues into the night.  Nothing else of note happens.  In the morning the families part ways the closest of friends.

Saga of the Icelanders

So I started running a game of Saga of the Icelanders this month.  It was not my choice of games. Others in the group wanted to play, but no one stepped up right away to run it.  I thought since it is built on the Apocalypse World engine, how hard could it be. The game is played to find out what happens.  It should be a low prep game, which is what I need.

Then I started reading the rules.  The characters are settlers on island with no natives to contend with, no dangerous animals, and no rival countries vying for the land.  The biggest resource is free land, so there won't be a gold rush.  They have laws and courts.  So what the heck is this game going to be about?  It's all about relationships - an archaic Icelandic soap opera.

So here is our starting cast of characters:
Ragnhild (The Matriach)
Brynjolf the Tall (The Man)
Steinar Blood-Axe (The Huscarl)
Mohammad ibn Al-Hazrad (The Wanderer)

Ragnhild is one of the early settlers of Iceland.  She now lives with her two sons on their family farmstead.  Brynjolf, her eldest son from her first husband, runs the farm. Steinar is her son from her ex-husband Orm Nogood.  Mohammad is working on the farm as he learns about the Iceland culture.

Coming up next the first session.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Introduction

I've been playing role-playing games since 1979.  I was introduced to them by my friend in 4th grade.  He taught me a mash up of Melee and Dungeons & Dragons. It was a blend of the two games only because that was how he remembered being taught by his cousin in California.  It took a long time before we took the time to actually read the rules and figure out how the game was supposed to be played.  Regardless, I was instantly hooked.  I spent most of my free time from then until after college playing various role-playing games: D&D, AD&D (1e), Gamma World, Traveler, Chivalry & Sorcery, Villains & Vigilantes, Marvel Superheroes (FASERIP), Star Frontiers, Champions, Rolemaster, Runequest, Aftermath, Top Secret, Call of Cthulhu, and others.

Until recently I had taken a long hiatus of actually playing.  I've spent a lot of time with collectable card games with Shadowfist being my favorite. Now I'm getting back into it.  My kids are old enough that I can get some games in with them, and I've hooked up with a gaming group through one of the local Shadowfist players.  This blog is going to be about my games and game musings.  The one game that I will not discuss on this blog is Shadowfist.  For that, go see my other blog Roar of the Beast