The storm has finally subsided. Of the dozen or so crewmen only six remain. The rest, including your aged captain, were swept away by the waves. As the second-in-command, and moreover, as the brother of the deceased captain, the men now naturally look to you for leadership. Though it is something you have dreamt about all your life, the loss of your brother leaves a bitter aftertaste. He was a hard, taciturn man, slow to laughter, but of cool temper and always fair-dealing with his crew. You hope to live up to his example.Speaking of the crew, it is clear they are in poor spirits. The suddenness of the storm and the magnitude of the destruction left in its wake have rendered them mute and listless. The karve, at least, is still yare and true. There was a small rent in the sail, which you will need to fix or replace the next time you're ashore, but the spare is working beautifully. The clouds have torn apart to distant clumps and there is a fair wind blowing from the east.Most important, the cargo and provisions are still fully intact. One of the morbid advantages of a reduced crew is that you can go quite a ways before needing to resupply.\ooD==/ship diagram key:`D` is the sail`o` is a full barrel of provisions, which feeds a dozen crew for 2 TURNS (double that for <8 crew)`=` is other trade goods (TBD next post)Your orders, captain?>"To Langholmen, to rest and recover awhile." Langholmen is close by [2 LEGS] and returning home for repose is sure to improve the crew morale [SHAKEN->>CONFIDENT]. Though it does mean delaying the unloading of your cargo, which comes with its own troubles.>"To Fjordheim, to dispose of the cargo." Fjordheim is your brother's former port of call. It is a large and populous town where anything can be bought and sold for the right price, though it is a bit distant [3 LEGS]. >"To the nearest shore, to perform the ceremonies due to the dead." Land has already been sighted [1 LEG]. A chance to mourn the fallen may alleviate some of the crew's tension [SHAKEN->STEADY], but no telling what you might find in the uncharted wilderness. >write-in
>>6422788>"To the nearest shore, to perform the ceremonies due to the dead." Land has already been sighted [1 LEG]. A chance to mourn the fallen may alleviate some of the crew's tension [SHAKEN->STEADY], but no telling what you might find in the uncharted wilderness.
>>6422788>>"To the nearest shore, to perform the ceremonies due to the dead." Land has already been sighted [1 LEG]. A chance to mourn the fallen may alleviate some of the crew's tension [SHAKEN->STEADY], but no telling what you might find in the uncharted wilderness.ON WE SWEEPWITH THRESHING OAROUR ONLY GOAL WILL BE THE WESTERN SHORE
>>6422788>>"To the nearest shore, to perform the ceremonies due to the dead." Land has already been sighted [1 LEG]. A chance to mourn the fallen may alleviate some of the crew's tension [SHAKEN->STEADY], but no telling what you might find in the uncharted wilderness.
>>6422788>"To the nearest shore, to perform the ceremonies due to the dead." Land has already been sighted [1 LEG]. A chance to mourn the fallen may alleviate some of the crew's tension [SHAKEN->STEADY], but no telling what you might find in the uncharted wilderness.Should pay our respects to our brother.
Your brother probably would have pressed on to his port of call, Fjordheim, for it was never his way to delay what was necessary. The crew, on the other hand, would like nothing more than to return home and hold their families close. But to face your mother with news of your brother's death, and worse, to face his wife, is not something you have the stomach for just now. Therefore you compromise, you opt to drop anchor as soon as possible and give the men a chance to mourn the dead on solid earth. Luckily land has already been spotted: a small, likely uninhabited island whose coastline rises dense with trees. As the wind is favorable you allow the men to pull in the oars and get some rest, with yourself manning the steerboard. A few of them nap peacefully beneath the gentle sun, while others murmur in low voices and munch on salted fish, licking their fingers, tossing the fishbones behind them into the sea. The pebbled beach soon grows to fill the horizon and once you are close enough, you order the men to go down and pull the karve ashore, which they do in short order. A pair of them then break off to gather some firewood from the forest, while the rest begin unloading vittles and other supplies for the ceremony tonight. You decide to include among these some special mead from your brother's stash (courtesy of his wife) which you intend to be passed around during the sumbel. At last the sun sinks beneath the sea and the pyre is lit. The men take turns telling stories of the deceased. These are inconsequential trifles or accounts of ribald escapades of which your brother would definitely not have approved, but which get roars of laughter all the same. When the mug finally comes around to you, you merely sip it, and rather than talk about the past, you say a few words regarding the present and then a few more about the future. The chests in the karve are filled with relics from the cross-men, whose strange god seems to demand his tokens be cast in silver--the more to your benefit. Others are filled with the iron of the ones who had tried to take it from them and had failed. Your brother called it a stroke of luck, one likely never to be repeated in his life (and how right he was!).You, however, call it ørlog, the kunckle-bones reckoned at the beginning of time. You know that some of them will take their share of the spoils and retreat into the quiet life, as is their right. But you have no such intentions. This is for you a beginning, not a conclusion. And though you do not expect them to follow you in the pursuit of your ambitions, ambitions which even your brother dared not dream of, those who do will forever have a place at your table. In this life, and the next. With that, you pass the mug to the next man, but there is nothing more to say, and the men, suddenly contemplative, soon retire for the night.
>>6422890\ooD==/Your orders, captain?>"Take another day to explore the island." You might discover wildlife to replenish your provisions or the remnants of civilization, though the delay will bring you no closer to your final destination.>"Set sail for Fjordheim." It is best to return home laden with goods your people can use, not luxuries they can ill afford. At Fjordheim you can trade one for the other, and the wind still favors that journey [3 LEGS].>"Set sail for Langholmen." There you can replenish the crew without having to pay for it and recruit those more amenable to your stated ambitions, though it lies now the opposite direction [3 LEGS].>write-in
>>6422892>"Take another day to explore the island." You might discover wildlife to replenish your provisions or the remnants of civilization, though the delay will bring you no closer to your final destination.Then Fjordheim, assuming we don't discover something worth delaying even further.
>>6422892>>"Set sail for Fjordheim." It is best to return home laden with goods your people can use, not luxuries they can ill afford. At Fjordheim you can trade one for the other, and the wind still favors that journey [3 LEGS].
>>6422892>"Set sail for Fjordheim." It is best to return home laden with goods your people can use, not luxuries they can ill afford. At Fjordheim you can trade one for the other, and the wind still favors that journey [3 LEGS].Time to put our brother's haul to good use.
>>6422892>"Set sail for Fjordheim." It is best to return home laden with goods your people can use, not luxuries they can ill afford. At Fjordheim you can trade one for the other, and the wind still favors that journey [3 LEGS].
