The Perils of life in Rappakaljadalen

[Brimshack]

POST I: The setting.

The World

This world is in construction. I have not named my new world yet, but its central features are the following:

1) The world has no real continents, just a series of islands, many of which are comparable to the larger islands of Earth (Britain, Japan, Hawaii, etc.). The major regions of the world are divided into distinct archipelagos, separated by large stretches of water.
2) The majority of the ancient cultures of the known world are located in this world somewhere, though the relevant historical epoch of each region may vary from place to place.
3) As a result of magic and flight, contact between the different regions has already commenced during the European equivalent of the middle-ages.
4) A collection of 13 European-like Nations has banded together to form a Confederacy.
5) This Confederacy is beginning to establish colonial holdings in far off islands, and it is fighting a number of small bush wars with various local forces.

The Island


This is an island sitting on the Northern territories of the Uritopian Archipelago. To the West lies the island home of the kingdom of Rifelter. To the East lies the home island to the nation of Bjornriket. The Northern clash gets its name from the conflict between these two nations over control of the isle.

Whereas Rifelter and Bjornriket have fought over the Northern clash since time immemorial, they have not been entirely alone in the contest for control of this island. A number of Monsters live along the Northern coasts, and as the Scandinavian population grew and stretched ever northward, the Monsters became organised. Under the leadership of several Giants, the Monsters of the North have become involved in the contest. The Northern Alliance is inactive on the Eastern side of the Island, and it is not entirely clear if any vestiges of the old alliance still remain. On the Eastern side of the island, Rifelter and elements of the alliance have been fighting continuously for 6 generations.

Another player in the contest for the Northern clash is the kingdom of Strødenheim, which added a small chunk of the Eastern portion of the Island (just South of alliance territory and North of Bjornriket) to its own land holdings during the peak of its own territorial expansion (3 generations back). The primary effect of this invasion was to separate Bjornriket from the monsters of the North and settle the interracial violence on the Eastern portions of the island. Strødenheim never commanded much more than the village of Rappakaljadalen, and it appears to have lost that as well. Today, no-one quite knows where the loyalties of Rappakaljadalen lie, and the population of Monsters in the North-eastern side of the island has grown to frightening proportions.

The Community

This campaign will begin in the small Scandinavian port village, Rappakaljadalen. Rappakaljadalen is located in between 2 formerly warring nations (Bjornricket and Rifelter), having been for a time under the control of yet a third (Strødenheim). To the Northwest lies a stretch of Sami territory, whose inhabitants follow the Reindeer migrations. Due North of Rappakajadalen is a great dungeon which is itself surrounded by several orc villages and a number of frost giant settlements. These monsters are not presently at war with any of their human neighbors, though significant hostilities have occurred in the past, the sole exception being with the Sami. For some unknown reason, the monsters and the Sami have had essentially peaceful relations for as long as anyone can remember. To the South lies the ruins of another village, just off the only path connecting Rappakaljadalen to other established Scandinavian communities. Rumors that ghosts inhabit the ruins have effectively kept travellers from going overland between Rappakaljadalen and its closest human neighbors. The village maintains contact with the outside world primarily through sea travel. It is known that a pirate cove is located somewhere to the North, but no-one in Rappakaljadalen knows exactly where, at least no-one who is talking about it.
Rappakaljadalen is in no imminent danger of destruction, but its location gives it an uncertain political future. All 3 of the Scandinavian nations which could claim it are technically at peace with one another (each being part of the Confederacy), but each is to some degree interested in claiming the loyalty of Rappakaljadlen and its inhabitants. A small but vicious war in this region would not do much to disrupt the larger politics of the Confederacy, though it could prove devastating to the village and its residents. Moreover, the possibility of an all-out war with the Monsters to the North is never far from people’s minds, even after years of peaceful avoidance. There are no specific reasons to believe Rappakaljadalen is in immediate danger, no, but there is a lot to be nervous about.
As it is located along a major naval trade route, Rappakaljadalen will always have a few ships in port, and host a smattering of indigent sailors, at least some of whom may be pirates. Most anyone in Rappakaljadalen will be familiar with the sea and at least some useful sailing skills. Some characters wintering in Rappakaljadalen may come from a very great distance away indeed.

 

[Brimshack]

Game 1: Note that each player is allowed 2-5 characters. Each begins with 2. Coincidentally, each player rolls up 1 monster (most of them orcs) and one human or elven character (including 2 Drow).

Half the characters start out as orcs (and one half giant) from various villages North of Rappakaljadalen. They are told that many of the villages in the area have been experiencing witchcraft, and that the source is rumoured to be humans living in Rappakaljadalen. The prospects of War are high, espcially as the War Chief of Pig Lover Village is known to be very interested in attacking Rappakaljadalen. Each of these characters travels by his own means to the Southern most orc community, Pig Lover village. There the official Peace Chief of Pig Lover village maintains that all out war with the humans will actually result in the destruction of all the orc villages, and that their only hope of survival at this point is to find a single enemy who can be dealt with as a personal vendetta. He instructs one of the orcs to find and/or produce evidence that the witchcraft has been caused by a single human, acting alone. The individual will then be killed and war will be avoided.

The orc characters are informed that some human tracks were seen going over the mountain, and that the tracks are believed to have been the witch. They are also informed that if they approach rappakaljadalen, they cannot expect to make it into the human community undetected. They are told it has a mysterious protector which has ALWAYS been able to warn its inhabitants of approaching visitors and attackers.

Half the characters (5) are human like characters who have been hired by a mysterious NPC (whom we have been calling "Bob") who tells them to meet him in a port city in the Northern Clash. The city is under the control of Bjornricket. Most are assigned to work for Bob as a means of working off debts for training. These arrangements are made by proxy just as they are finishing their training in various classes. Each character is given a means of securing passage to the port in question, and the players slowly work their way to the city by sea. Each ends up in a large port town only to find that Bob is North of them in Rappakaljadalen. They are told they can wait for a ship, or they can hook up with a half orc named Pig who happens to have walked overland from Rappakaljadalen just recently.

The characters seek out Pig and he says that he is going back overland (through a mountain pass that is slightly dangerous) the very next day. They elect to go with Pig, and he takes them up over the mouintain pass where they are attacked by a small band of orcs and one Hill Giant. Just before the attack a Snow Fox warns is seen darting out in front of them, and it turns out to be the animal form of Gnussette Isildotter, a character who has been travelling with Pig all along. After fighting off the Hill Giant and killing several orcs, the group attempts to travel further, only to be surrounded by orcs and more giants. They hunker down in a defensive position and wait for the inevitable.

Back to the orc characters: As they are about to leave for Rappakaljadalen, they are informed that several humans have been trapped in the mountain pass, and the human witch is believed to be among them. Young orcs from all the nearby villages are swarming to the offensive, eager to take part in the first bloodshed in teh area for several generations. The orc party decides to head out and investigate the situation.

On arriving at the mountain pass, the orc characters meet several other orcs who are planning the final assault against the foolish humans. Eager to know what is going on, the orc character party successfully talks various orc captains present into allowing them to meet to the humans first. On meeting the Human characters, Pig and Gnussette explain that they had actually travelled over the mountain pass in the hopes of finding a witch they believe to have been harrassing the town of Rappakaljadalen. Several characters are suspicious that Gnussette may be the Witch, but they continue to cooperate with her for the moment as she is too powerful to do without. The orc characters and the humans agree to cooperate with one another to find the Witch who appears to be calling bad luck down on all the communities in the region. One local orc captain responds by attacking the lot of them, resulting in the loss of a single character. The hybrid orc-human party then talks the ranking orc captain amongst the raiding bands to allow them passage out of the mountains. He forces the orc party members present to swear that they will find the witch, and threatens to kill them if they fail to do so.

The hybrid party proceeds out of the mountains with a rough sense of common purpose on at least a few points. Each goup is concerned about finding the witch that is responsible for all this conflict, but the orcs are far more interested in this than the humans. For their own part the humans present are more interested in finding their mysterious employer. For the present, they agree to work together.

As the game nears its end, a Dwarf and a Gnome join them. Each is a low-level Cleric of Skadi, a Frost Giant Goddess known to have had peaceful relations with the Norse Gods. A High Priestess of Skadi has trained them and cared for them since they were brought to her as prisoners years past. On hearing about the recent troubles in the region, she asks them to go South and seek out another Frost Giant who has reportedly been living on the Outskirts of Rappakaljadalen for years. She asks them to go find him and see what he has to say about the troubles that are pushing the region to war. With these 2 additions, the party moves Southeast toward the village of Rappakaljadalen. They reach a crossroads just South of Pig Lover Village and just North of Rappakaljadalen and bed down for the night.

End of game.