Welcome to Vikings and Valkyries, an actual play podcast. We are playing When the Wolf
Comes, a role-playing game set amid tangled timelines where the Norse rule the seas and
stars with restless fleets. My name is Ian Stuart Sharpe and I will be your Raven Tester
for the ongoing campaign which we call the Thought and Memory Saga. Woven into the web
of fate this week are Becky, Bill, Steve, CJ and Sam. Welcome, Wolfdroppings.
Thank you.
Well that's new. Tasty.
I like to mix up the insults. Vargdropi, as you may know in Old Norse fans, is a term
for outlaws and you skirt on the edge of that each week. So I thought I'd throw that into
our proceedings. So let's start by introducing our new players. Becky, you are joining us
close to midnight, the chimes of midnight from the UK. Having just finished your usual
local D&D session, the question is why?
Because I'm a sucker for anything Norse, anything Viking-y, mythology, history, everything in
between. I just love all of it and I've read your book. I've supported the world of the
Viking-verse-Kickstarter. So when I thought, oh, I can actually play it with Ian Sharpe,
like, yeah, I'll do that. I'll push my bedtime past midnight to do this thing. So here I
am.
I'm sure most people would have run a mile. You also run Valhalla Conversations on YouTube.
Will you be inviting this lot when they kick the bucket?
Absolutely. Absolutely. I'd love to have any and all of you, of course, on my humble podcast,
Valhalla Conversations, where I just speak to all Norse creatives, whether they're game
designers, authors, poets, artists, such as yourself, Sam, who I would love to get onto
my channel. I just see people who like Norse stuff and then I have a way of venting all
this passion because no one in my immediate normal life circle has a clue or gives a damn
about this wonderful culture, history and mythology. And the stories that inspire so
much.
Welcome to our collective pain. And Sam, you run Fateful Signs, which is a collection
of your amazing artwork and illustrated books. But you've chosen to ignore all of the omens
and record with us today. Have you read something in the runes?
Oh, I have some runes over there. I could do it real quick. But no, I guess as far as
reading goes, I read your email earlier.
You're really bringing the right attitude. Welcome, welcome, welcome.
But you've gamed before, Sam. You've been a DM for many years and you happily grant
favors for pizza.
That's true. I've, gosh, been gaming since I was 15 and I'm way past that now. And yeah,
I played D&D for years in college. I actually ran a bunch of Vampire, the Masquerade LARPs,
the largest game I've ever run had 900 players in it at a convention.
Holy crap.
I don't know if that counts as street cred, but yeah, going back. And then I still run
a current D&D game that meets every other week or so. So yeah, been doing this a long
time. But this will be my first foray into your world and into the system, which is based
on Shadow of the Demon Lord. Am I remembering that right?
That's right. Shadow of the Demon Lord is Rob Schwalb.
He lived really close to me, actually. Yeah, yeah. He lives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee,
which is near Nashville. And I also live outside of Nashville. At least he used to four or
five years ago when I ran into him at a local game store. So there we go. It's not like
we're friends or anything, but we are from the same neck of the woods.
Wow, what a close-knit community we have forged here. Well, feel free to pop around to his
house afterwards and tell him you played When the Wolf Comes, which is based on his ruleset.
Everything that goes wrong is his fault, understood.
Exactly. Now, let's warm things up a little and get people's Norse thoughts into gear.
There's a concept in this game called inspiration points. You can use them to turn a failure
into success. And we're going to give them away on the basis of the correct answers to
the questions that I'm about to pose here. For an inspiration point, can you name me
three Valkyries attested to in the Old Norse poetic corpus?
Am I allowed to look at the Voluspa that have with me right here?
So if the question is, can I name three Valkyries, the answer is no. Do I win?
I think they can. I can name at least two, maybe three.
I spoke with somebody today who has a publishing company named Hildur, and I believe I remember
them saying, that is a Valkyrie, is Hildur. H-I-L-D-U-R. That is one. Yes, that means
battle. I thought CJ, you were going to say you were
speaking to a Valkyrie today. Well, does that count if they name themselves
after one? I would think so.
I would not actually want to talk to one because that would mean I were close to death. Let's
see how the episode goes, CJ. I think I know one more. May I?
Then I think Rebecca can finish us out. If you can't get it right, then Sam, having
illustrated the book on the subject, can presumably fill in. This will be the first inspiration
point that this group has ever won. So good.
Wonderful. CJ.
So I just was perusing through Jean Shinoda's The Ring Cycle book, and one of the Valkyries
in there is also associated with Oda. Brünnhilde. Brünnhilde.
You can have that. That means armor battle or bright battle. And Brünnhilde is one of
the more famous Valkyries drawn from the opera. Becky, let's give you a chance to earn these
points.
Skogul. S-K-O-G-U-L.
Skogul. Skogul is indeed one. And could you have a guess at what it actually means?
Oh, this is a thing. I don't know if it should be something with a spear or not. I could
be wrong because they've all got so many different meanings.
It's shaker. So it could apply to spears. Sam, do you want to just throw one in for
a bonus point since you've got the illustrated the book?
Skuld. S-K-U-L-D.
Yeah, that is another good one. Meaning debt or future is actually a mythic path in this
game that you can take later on. Very good. Now, Steve, I'm a little bit disappointed
in you because...
All right. You're not the only one.
What's your character's name, Steve?
Eir?
And how many Valkyries are called Eir, Steve?
Oh, a good dozen. Yeah, a good dozen.
So whilst in modern Icelandic, Eir does mean copper, the Old Norse Valkyrie, as attested
to in the Nafnaþulur, Eir translates as peace, clemency, or help and mercy, all of which
are things that you habitually go alongside your name.
I thought it was like a make of Eastern European car.
Is that similar to the goddess of healing? Is it spelled the same?
E-I-R. And as we know, there's a lot of kind of... because these things were all mish-mashed
together through all of these texts, there's no definitive source apart from, I don't know,
the Fiend Folio or something like that, back in the second edition.
Oh, I've got that right here.
There you go. Why didn't you flick through it, Bill? That would have sold everything.
I thought we were told not to cheat. I mean, I feel like I'm getting mixed signals. There
we go.
Now.
So I once owned a piece of clothing from a brand called Nafnaf, and I always thought
it was a French brand because I bought it in France, and I just thought, that's just
terrible branding. But now that you've mentioned Nafnaf folder, whatever that text is, I think
you might have been Scandinavian.
Wow. CJ, I don't want to frighten you, but that sounded like one of the Norse references
I might make. Nafnaf, or whatever you just said.
Remember, my expertise is in the Latin and Francophone world, not the Norse world.
I'm just worried that Steve and I are dragging you down. You're just becoming a blowhard
who doesn't know anything and tries to kill stuff. But I mean, there's nothing wrong with
that if that's your personal choice.
We've established that you two are the demons of death in the title Vikings and Valkyries.
And now we've got the nomenclature to back it up. Steve is officially in that camp. Now,
I will grant you that inspiration point. Well done. You can use that. That's in your collective
tank. Don't use it as has been the case in the past few episodes in the first five minutes.
That was exactly my plan. Damn.
Ian, I've got one for you. I've got a question for you. Who is, and I've been practicing
this, Puhusta Frudan Doudousta?
I have no idea. Do let me know.
Okay. The real name is about four times that long. That is the real name of the Swedish
chef who was named totally on improv by Danny K, who finished it off with, but we call him
Tom.
So if you would have gone the hoody, goody, goody, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, I might
have got it. Right. There's that guy.
I had no idea Steve was so scholarly. Look at him. Quoting the classics.
Thank you for bringing Muppet Show knowledge to this podcast.
You're welcome.
It's almost like you are one of either Statler or Waldorf.
So we have this veritable conclave of the wise assembled today and two scowls to scoff,
scold, jeer and rebuke them. So let's just hear a little bit about the new characters
that are joining us. Sam, let's hear about your character. Who will you be playing today?
Tell us a little bit about them.
Sure. I'm playing a folk, the fair. He's a handsome gentleman with a full blonde beard
and blonde hair. He is quite eye catching, but worry not. He is oath to one woman and
he's a family man. He's a bit of a gambler and he spent some time as a scout in the military
back against all those dirty trolls that were causing problems. He is a scold as well.
Very good. Well, we would doubtless find out more as the next couple of hours progresses.
And Becky, who will you be playing today?
My character is called Bryn Ivaldisdottir. She is quite young. She is a scientist, but
she is not a typical scientist. She is not entirely biologically human. She has a few
implants, bionics, cyborg parts to her. As anyone who knows, the Ivaldis are famous for
cloning their brains and mentality and psychology into man-made, hand-picked, kind of self-crafted
bodies of their choosing. Their family just never dies out. It just keeps growing.
In your search for immortality, the sons and daughters of Ivaldi upload their conscious
minds into these mechanical bodies. You're almost the Elon Musk of this world. So that
is the two new characters who will be joining us in due course. But we do need to hear from
our existing three heroes and understand where they got to after the exciting details of
the last episode. Question on everyone's lips is how did the wedding go?
The wedding went great. It was delightful. The air was nowhere near it, but I understand
it went great. There was a hall full of extremely drunk Norse people available, and so his solution
was to use Glamour Sight to make one of them look like him and then make sure that the
bride-to-be and an officiant found the drunk Viking before they found air.
More of your damned witchcraft.
Damned witchcraft? It's very helpful witchcraft at that moment. But yes, damned witchcraft
it is. So the Abomination headed to the hills and left some nameless Viking to enjoy married
life. I wish them well.
There is that famous myth about Thor posing as a bride with Loki as the bride's maid.
So did CJ, did you stand in? Did you wear something bridal?
No, he watched from afar. He couldn't take the smell, couldn't handle it.
Ljomi caught the bouquet.
I was assuming that Ljomi would actually just be the wedding arch.
As well, that's what made it so easy to catch.
Ljomi was the bouquet.
Yes, obviously I didn't think you would go through with the nuptials. I assumed that
you would jilt your poor Jotun lover and leave her at her Christian altar. I assume that
you also returned a full blob of pots to the grasping Gunnar and then barricaded yourself
into your trapper cabin for the past two weeks.
Yes, we had, well the two of us had determined a great way to get by. I continued to adopt
more of the local insect fauna and air stared at the wall as is his wonk.
CJ, you're rich enough to have got yourself a decent room at the cooking kettle or perhaps
you've checked into the local Raudrson Hotel.
Yeah, you know, Grjotgarth is not one for camping or staring at walls. He has places to be
and people to see and so he's taking care of himself quite well.
Now you've all leveled up to the heights of level two and that has involved adding a few
more spells to your craft repertoire, is that correct?
It is, yeah.
Indeed.
Some good ones. Wonderful. So we won't drill into them all now but just to make sure that
you are prepared, that you have your spell songs and your runes ready for the challenge
ahead.
I expect to be even more terrifying in combat than I was last time and those who were present
or have listened to the episode will understand the meaning of that.
I'm not sure that there are any more depths left to plumb. Let us begin proceedings and
introduce everyone to the scene. The adventure will begin today with an invitation to lunch
at the house of the local Lawspeaker, Krapti Thorfridsen. You last saw him officiating at
your holmgang that went entirely awry. His house itself is a modest dwelling that serves
both of his residence and his office. Becky and Sam, you are already inside when these
three are invited to lunch. You've been invited there also and this is the location in which
you will all first meet and be able to introduce yourselves to each other. So the building
is a red two-story rectangle with a saddle roof connected to a tower which rises above
the shoreline nearby. As you ratatat on the door responding to the invitation, the kind
invitation to lunch, Krapti opens the door wide. He is an unassuming fellow. He doesn't
have servants. He just has a reputation for working hard and doing the right thing. As
you knock on his door, he says, my dear fellows, do come in. It is such a pleasure to meet
you after the fracas that we had to endure the other week.
This guy has seen Eir's true form, right?
He has.
Okay, well, no need to disguise myself then. I'll just hang out as the abomination I am.
You do you.
May I say what a magnificent specimen. 14th century, is it? The headdress, the reign of
the Grand Prince, Danir of the Rus.
Well, you remember, yes. Thank you. I tried to model it accurately based on my memory.
And this must be the Hersir himself. Welcome, Drottin. I must say the Leda forest is looking
lovely on the sightbands. I would love to go there myself one day and frequent Asgard.
Alas, I am not of your noble lineage.
Does Gryotgarth sit through the door?
Everything but his ego.
Yeah, him or his ego.
Well, both.
Perhaps go in sideways. Gryotgarth, or Gigi to his friend, is a sizable gentleman, genetically
enhanced and you are reminiscent of Ganger Hrolf, that's what we said, right?
Something to that effect, yes.
Does he look like a jotunn?
He's a jofurr and he looks like, he looks very pretty, dresses like a peacock. So he's very
ostentatious, I think is the right word. So easy to spot, not someone you would want on your team
if you were trying to hide from someone.
I have laid a table and set out some chairs, but perhaps you might take the couch, dear
Hersir, and spread yourself upon it so as not to constrain your buttocks.
That sounds lovely.
And then by Ask and Embla, another Alfar. We were happily surprised that Oldunger has stayed
with us so long, but we're delighted to make room for another of the Scions of Yggdrasil.
Very kind indeed. I wonder if you have any water? I would like some water, please.
Well, I am.
A pot to stand in.
Can I tempt you with some lutefisk? Rehydrated cod, it's quite the delicacy.
I'll have simply the hydration. Without the cod would be delicious. It looks excellent,
I'm sure the menfolk will enjoy it. We need them to eat so they are more attractive to the bears.
Perhaps if I may avail you, kind Alfar, please do keep off the carpets. I don't want an infestation.
Fair enough, I'll stand in the corner.
Now, do excuse me for a moment. I must attend to the lunch. I shall be serving shortly and then I have some
very important matters that I wish to get your help with. Before I do so, if I might introduce the delightful
Bryn Blar, Ivaldisdottir from the Firefox Institute, and my own hireling Falk the Fair.
You may well have heard his latest drapa.
Falk standing there completely wide-mouthed.
We get that a lot.
Good morning, good morning.
When you address him, he hits the bottom of his chin with his hand and pushes his mouth back closed.
Ljomi addresses him and says, man, do you enjoy the company of bears? Big white thing.
I'm sorry, I'm married.
Then bring your wife. That would be excellent.
To the bears? Maybe this means something different where you're from.
Yes, yes, yes, it does.
I'm sorry, you are not making a euphemism. You speak to the rider of the icebergs.
Yes, well put. We have had several interesting encounters with them. I like this man.
The law speaker is fiddling with the Utvarp, this universe's equivalent of the radio.
He is scanning through the frequencies, twisting the dial, and then with a frustrated sigh,
he clicks the device off and returns to the table.
Uh, you'll excuse me a moment. I'm afraid the Utvarp appears to be broken.
I've been playing around with the dial and I just can't get a different signal.
Every single channel appears to be playing this infernal racket.
Something is wrong with the sound machine?
Exactly. It's driving me insane.
Is that what it's for?
Would you permit me to have a look at it?
By all means, by all means. Please, please, please.
I'll get back to saving the lunch and if you can have a tinker and solve whatever's going on,
I would be most appreciative.
Do I remember, Ljomi says, was someone here from the Institute?
That would be me from the Firefox Institute.
I'm very interested. I'm very interested in the Institute.
The Daggerfall, terrible thing. Damage to worthwhile beings and the worthless alike.
Terrible mess. I would very much like to help correct all of this horrible damage.
I'd very much like to meet the other members of the Institute and contribute in what small yet meaningful way I may be able to.
And we can bring the atrocity along as well, if that's useful.
Sir, where am I going now?
Not to worry. We'll have some men in front of us. It'll be fine.
Oh, these ones?
Yeah, you're talking there to Becky in order to try and get an invite into the Firefox Institute that she represents.
The Firefox Institute is the local bastion of the Winterwise,
the scientists who have gathered to try and solve the puzzle of the Fimbulvetr after the Swordfall has brought a world of Midgard to its knees.
Ian, I'm curious, hearing the angelic tones from the radio earlier, did it actually sound like a chorus singing or was it a single person holding the note that we heard?
I'm going to suggest that Becky makes a wits challenge roll based upon her scientific experience.
She only just got here, Ian.
I know. Gosh, best roll of the night, guys.
OK, a wits challenge roll.
And your wits is fairly high because you are an erudite individual.
I am. I am very curious. I try, I think, to be intelligent. I strive to be intelligent.
OK, that's 11 on the d20 and it's plus two from my wits, which makes it 30.
Very good. So we will allow you to surmise that there is a single frequency being played there.
It is something akin to Alfsongr. Alfsongr, the song of the elves.
Bill, it's unlike anything that Ljomi has ever heard.
It's like a bastardization of your sacred song.
So it wasn't instantly recognizable by you as the as the language of the spirits,
but it's someone trying to approximate that and it is echoing out whenever the radio, the Utvarp, is turned on.
And again, just for background, as the real world uses Wi-Fi and radio waves to transmit information,
in the Viking verse, the equivalent is the evergreen.
And in our world, whereas Hertz was the person who conclusively proved the existence of electromagnetic waves
and came up with the first unit of frequency, in this world, the Skald Heimrich Hjartz named it.
And if I also have the Alfar song language, is that enough to recognize what our Woodland friend recognized
as well as a human or would it sound too weird to me?
It's almost as if you as Manfolk had composed a poem or a drapa or some kind of Eddic verse and used this elf song.
Does it sound like it has any sort of magical backing, like a Galdr craft?
It's not magical. It's lacking in any artistic merit whatsoever.
As I see the daughter of Ivaldi messing with it and the sound kind of comes on and off again,
I kind of keep putting my ear towards it, trying to puzzle out exactly what I'm hearing.
And then I'll finally say, while it is of the Alfar, it's certainly not expertly put together.
Well, it may not be expertly put together, but it's coming through on a particular frequency
that is overstepping all the other ones.
It is slightly concerning if our hosts did indeed say it's happening all over town.
Look at these two already showing their mental muscle.
The best way to describe this thing in wearing the mantle of a dad myself is, oh, my God, it's all just noise.
So perhaps it is something that's cool for the kids.
But as far as the older and wiser people around this table are concerned, it's definitely newfangled and noisy.
Is this the Vikingverse equivalent of a faulty Wi-Fi router?
Am I understanding correctly?
It could well be. This is what you need to determine.
Krapti comes back from the kitchen carrying a whole bunch of plates that he puts down on the table in front of you
and says, please, please do help yourself have whatever you need.
I do want to talk to you about a matter of import.
And I do want to test your minds.
You see, I brought you all here today because you are such clever people.
You might not know this. I put together the local paper.
This is the front page of the most recent edition.
And if you would, I'd like to test your mental metal if you wouldn't mind indulging me for just a moment.
Perhaps look over the headlines and tell me if any of them tickles your fancy.
Gryotgarth is getting more and more irritated because that sound interrupted the introductions.
And he did not have time to introduce himself to the new people in the room.
And so he's going to say, hold on that sound interrupted introductions.
I must go say hello. So he goes over to her new characters, struts his stuff, holds out his hand and says,
I'm Gryotgarth, the magnificent. My friends called me Gigi for short.
He had to get that in. It's obligatory every time there's new people.
It's also part of the custom. He has to say it's a custom.
It's just like we say in French, on dit bonjour d'abord, we say hello first.
I'm so sorry for the hubbub and the confusion. Where are my manners?
I should have made sure that everyone was introduced, but the infernal noise was bamboozling my brain.
Please do talk amongst yourselves. I will get you some water, kind alfar.
Thank you. Thank you, sir. Above the table, could I get a description of the physical appearance of our son of Ivaldi?
Like, are there obvious cybernetic attachments and things or is it all pretty much internal?
I don't know. I will say, as you observe, the rather large man of the room approaching Brynn,
she will look quite small compared to him.
She is visibly young in the face, not even in her early 20s, you're going to say late teens.
But it's mainly her face, which is human. Her hair seems to be tied up in a ponytail,
but inside the hair is almost like a plait of wires and lights and cables,
and they wrap around at the back and go back into her neck.
She's wearing a long arctic waistcoat. It's padded, it's fur lined, but she clearly has no need for it
because her arms are bare, but her arms are clearly synthetic.
It's like a slightly translucent blue pale skin showing wiring and joints and mechanics and cables
and all those different panels on one side, particularly her left shoulder.
It's the same for her legs. It's just her torso that seems to be covered in a formal blouse under the vest.
On her ears, she's got three different studs in different colours.
Every now and then, if you look closely, one of them will flash just randomly in an interesting sequence.
But she will look up at... How do you pronounce your name again, CJ?
Zizi for short.
They'll say, well, my name is Bryn, Ivaldisdottir. I'm not a son, I'm a daughter of Ivaldi.
I am of the Firefox Institute here.
Well met.
Well met. I take Gigi's hand as he offers it and I'm probably about half your size.
And as I shake your hand, I'm not particularly strong. I don't know how strong your character is,
but I assume stronger. But I try to take it. And then I say, well met, feeder of ravens,
mighty of both hand and stature. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Falk, though my friends call me Fair.
Well met, Falk.
It's at this point that Bill normally mangles a name and Falk is a very dangerous one to play around with.
Anyway, I'm going to draw your attention back to the Weekly Runic.
Again, bear in mind, because this is an audio vehicle, if you would, as you discuss, read out the various headlines.
Bear in mind that what the slightly excited Krapti is doing, he's sitting one near the end of the table,
he's rubbing his hands and tapping his feet. He's hoping that he has met some kindred spirits
and he is hoping that you will be able to puzzle out the most compelling stories that are on that front page of his newspaper.
You said this gentleman we're speaking with is also the law speaker.
Correct.
OK, so would he have knowledge of some laws and customs that might be relevant?
He would. He has been the judge and administrator in Hjalpmakaar for many years now.
He is the eyes and ears of the town.
Several years ago, he decided to take over the voice as well and become the editor of this local newspaper.
He's slid it across to you. If you do have questions beyond this plethora of headlines,
then he'll happily answer them once you have satiated his curiosity.
Yomi is standing very close to Brynn, staring at her hairline and her arms and
tutting just a little under his breath.
Is there a reason for that? Are you just being inherently sexist or is it a tree thing?
No, it's a tree thing.
It's you. You seem.
Pardon me, man. You seem different than the other man.
There's you have something on you.
Oh, you mean my cybernetic.
Yes, it seems very odd. I am.
I am. No, no, not.
Well, consider this my nature companion.
Trees grow flowers.
I seem to happen to have nuts, bolts, and maybe the odd wire or two.
Did you have a collision with one of the wheeled ones?
Is that what happened?
No, no, this was all self designed.
OK.
And Ljomi tried.
All of these stories buzzing around us in this godforsaken spot.
Please do indulge me. Which is the most important?
And I must say the most pertinent that I see is the Evergreen Outage Network
experiencing major service disruptions.
We just heard that damned infernal noise that came from your receiver.
That seems quite pertinent.
And perhaps the fifth headline, Northern Lights that are not actually Northern Lights.
Could they be related? I don't know, but it looks suspicious to me.
I knew there was something about you, Hersir.
Whilst the Evergreen Outage is nothing much, coverage in Heimslit is always patchy at best.
I do think that there is something in these Northern Lights.
Anyway, please do give me any other thoughts that you might have.
I'm trying to tell which of you has the razor sharp wits required for the adventures ahead.
Well, I'm pleased to see that the Institute's manager, Bangsi,
is one of the headlines. Scientific discovery?
Most definitely.
He's always out and about looking for new discoveries and this worm that he claims to have found.
Well, who knows, it might be destroying infrastructure which supports the Evergreen.
There is no end to the Ivaldians vanity. Your present company accepted, of course.
We all strive to be great.
Grey Goose win. Havander wins the Cup in icy conditions. Was he competing alone? That man is rubbish.
The sports of the henbane of the masses, next.
Well, it seems people should be concerned about this temperature trend. How long has the temperature been going down?
It says here it's accelerating. Won't that freeze all the living people?
Not mine.
It seems like something that some...
Some of us are built with anti freeze.
Assume there's not been any other signs like wolves eating either the sun or the moon.
It's a fair question. The people who live in this town of Hjalpmakaar are afeard that Ragnarok is upon them ever since the Swordfall erupted.
It rained down radiation on large parts of the planet and tumbled the world into this new ice age.
So whilst no one has seen a literal wolf devouring the sun, there is the metaphorical equivalent that has already happened.
I'm also wondering about this artist. What is it called? The Experimental Alfsonger Band.
Is that what was coming out of the sound machine? Was it their noise?
If you were to put two and two together, then indeed it may be the case that this experimental Alfsonger Band has been bombarding the airwaves with their latest single.
Ljomi stares at the newspaper and puts forward a question. The woman who was killed in the accident with the Skidverg, did she also end up with pieces of equipment in her skull?
Is this a bit of an outbreak?
Quite possibly, my friend. But while the accident is tragic, the moral is do not rent Skidverg from Gunnar Weatherbag.
Perhaps Filck could make up a poem about her passing. The name is Filck. I remember names very well. Filck.
Sam, one of the things you'll find, since you might not have followed too closely, is that he will mangle your name at every available opportunity.
Yeah, it's fine. I'm just excited that one of the Alfar is speaking to me.
I try and use small words when talking to men. You're welcome.
As you do acknowledge me, both the Alfar and the Dokkalfar will notice that I've taken a portion of my lutefisk and have placed it in front of each of them as an offering.
I did this while other things were happening, making no grandstanding.
But much like in modern society, you see people praying before their dinner, even out at restaurants, my character would engage in that religious notion of leaving a portion of his food for the ancestors.
Ljomi looks down at the fish and says, thank you to Filck, and then quietly passes it to Eir and says, you can have mine.
Eir acknowledges the now two pieces of fish. Thank you for this, and thank you for your respect for the ancestors. He will decline to eat it because he can't.
Yeah, that's often what happens to the ancestor plate.
And now you know why.
We have no mouths, and we must scream.
The giant man wants to speak.
Just a point of order, shouldn't Bill roll for trauma looking at that newspaper?
Oh, what a paper. Oh my God.
Wow, good one.
Damn, that's a good one.
The law speaker again clasped me in his hand. He's been delighted by the conversation, the camaraderie, and the offerings of fish to his ancestors.
He says to you, I feel you are close to something.
Gigi, if I may call you that, you did notice the northern lights, and one of the reasons why I have brought out distinguished Ivaldi's daughter here is,
while there are plenty who believe the northern lights are reflections of the Valkyries and their armor, or the breath of brave soldiers who died in combat,
or the Bifrost Bridge itself, its utter horse shit, of course, the northern lights are a natural light show caused by disturbances on Sol.
And these cosmic undulations launch electrons at high speeds into Mother Eir's atmosphere, where they create these aurora.
But here is the crucial thing, my friends.
You cannot see them in daylight, at least not with the naked eye.
So if the scar in the sky that hovers above our heads is not the njodrlos, then the question is, what is it?
And that's what I want you to find out.
The Institute itself, people who are employed to measure this kind of phenomena have not batted an iron end.
Why is that? We need to get to the bottom of this.
Well, just to clarify, I cannot speak for my other brothers and sisters, but I personally have had a very fascinating project of late.
I was returning to the Institute only, was it a week ago?
Yes, and I came across a pole with three fish heads on, three fish heads and the fish, they were still mouthing.
It was very serious. I've never seen such animated dead life before.
And I've been studying them all this week, trying to work out why they are what they are.
And if we can use their abilities, whatever energy gives them their energy, literally to keep going.
And what Becky is talking about, presumably, is the very same curse pole that was hammered into the ground outside your trapper hut by the delightful jilted jotunn bride.
So even after you left with the teeth chattering and clattering and gnawing at the air,
presumably the electrical impulses continued or something else is afoot.
My good law speaker, is there a means to track the alfar song to its source?
Do you have a machine or something that would allow us to point to a direction, a path to follow?
I think your best bet is to ask the delightful Brynn here.
Perhaps she may take you into the Firefox Institute and they may be able to help you.
If anyone has the scientific equipment in order to trace this signal, then they will have.
I'm willing to pay you for your trouble, of course.
Three crowns if you can find out the truth about that glowing red cross.
And I am somewhat skilled in the nature of spacecraft.
I have the ability to divine from the runes to use the broad span, the sacrificial chip.
If you wish, I may augur on your behalf.
I'll just clarify. So the Northern Lights are in fact not the last breaths of dead warriors?
No, absolutely not.
I know that may be disappointing to you as a dead warrior, but no, there's some kind of...
Yet another lie I was told.
Your science is about seven centuries behind Becky's science, for example.
What other heresies will I learn?
I like to think that both are true.
Thank you.
That's very skaldic of you.
Well, we Ivaldias like to look forward into the future and what lies beyond and what we can further achieve.
But yes, the Institute may well have some equipment and tools that we could use to try and monitor and proximate the origination of the lights.
Because, as the newspaper says, they are not the Northern Lights.
They are in daytime.
And if they're not the Northern Lights, then it is a perfectly good question to ask what made them.
And I think it would please my brothers and sisters and indeed my elder father himself if we were to deduce what they were.
And if they're of benefit, maybe seek out ways we can monetize it.
I'm sure someone will be signing up for a subscription to this, scouring the sky sometime soon, if you do want to monetize it.
You are, if you wish, able to use the law speaker's offer of a casting of the sacrificial chip spell to ask me one question to which I must answer yes or no.
And just as a reminder, Sam, I think you have a similar ability in terms of Udal Rite.
You can at some point ask me a similar question to which I must answer yes or no.
And that represents the divinatory spirits of the land that flock to Norse heroes.
And your ability to cast the runes and ask of the landvaettir and get the benefit of their wisdom.
So the question now with the law speaker, you must ask now.
Sam, you can keep your one for a little bit later on.
If you wish to formulate that question, then please do so.
And in the meantime, while you're thinking about that, CJ, do you want to just give me a wits roll, please?
Good luck.
Do it magnificently.
Yeah, that's not that's not too bad.
Ten.
Just enough.
Where you were staying in the past few weeks, you actually remember that there was a huge commotion as some kind of dignitary,
some kind of rock star, some kind of some kind of nuisance was interrupting you one night.
You did see what this universe is called the sight bands, the equivalent of a television was hurled out of a window,
causing all kinds of mayhem in the middle of the night glass everywhere.
And it really did disturb your sleep.
Now that I think of it and looking at the newspaper, I do believe the hotel I was staying in was also housing the potentially producer of this strange noise
coming out of our that machine over there.
She doesn't know how to say any of these things.
We could the grant was also staying at your hotel.
Just come to think of it, since it's a song that relates to what they do, it could be them.
They could help point us.
We can go to the Institute.
It's a backup plan.
Go back to my hotel and find these artists with air quotes.
If they're creating songs, replicating the songs of the Alfar, do they not do they not risk angering the Alfar spirits?
Krapti speaks up.
Uh, we can ask the spirits directly using my spacecraft.
OK, uh, so she says, well, if if you don't have anything to ask now, I do have something I want to ask him, but it's private.
Oh, so I would be using it for myself only, which is all right with me.
How mysterious.
And none of your business is private.
That's not understood.
Understood.
Yeah, no, that's what private means.
Yes, I'm intrigued as to how you're going to ask a private question.
You're just going to ask everyone to like, plug their ears, mute you.
What's what's what you're going to do?
No, I'm going to send them off to the hotel ahead of me and I'll stay behind for a couple of minutes or as you will stay behind for a couple of minutes and and ask the question.
You know, me, Leans in close to Brynn and says, when will your hair and arms get better?
Oh, they already are better.
Trust me, they can do a lot more than my arms and head could do before.
Very.
This hair doesn't need washing, it doesn't get greasy.
These arms, these can do that.
They can type a lot faster than before, which is really helpful with my scientific research.
I was just getting used to the marble atrocity and the wheeled thing exploded.
No fault of ours.
So that was good.
I didn't have to deal with that anymore.
And the men are useful for certain things.
But no, I think it's the men have real I've recognized their severe limitations and are trying to do something about it.
I think it's admirable.
It says it seems unnatural.
That's unnatural.
You're unnatural.
Yes, I've had quite enough of you.
I've noticed.
I'll tell you that.
And on that bombshell.
CJ, do you want to ask your question?
Yes, in private.
So if everyone could start the quest, meet me at my hotel room.
Don't look under the bed.
We will go to the institute and I will recruit some equipment for us.
Because that's the most logical.
Oh, the institute.
Yes.
Approach.
Yes.
I'll come with you and hopefully they will know how to make you better.
Well, I have air has a.
They made me.
They made me, darling.
They made me.
They made me, darling, they made me.
Literally.
Eir has a legal question for the law speaker.
So he would like to hang somewhere out of earshot.
Oh, another private question.
Okay.
Before we exit, he walks up to the alfar and says,
Mighty is the sea.
Mighty so that Skidverg carried Frasvin into arms.
Arms of she who chooses the slain.
Long will her kin remember never to follow in her rental practice.
And then I walk away.
Oh, most, most excellent.
Most excellent.
I have a question for Filck as well.
Do you think the her name Filck?
Yes, Filck.
Do you think Brownie, whatever.
Whatever Brownie, the young one.
Do you think she'll get that soon?
I'm quite concerned.
I'm going to shimmer dissolve to the outside having this conversation.
In the meantime, I'm going to first of all, let CJ ask his question.
And then Steve, I will return to you for an aside with Krapti.
I think it's a good idea to have your legal questions answered.
CJ, if you want your question to be really private,
I think you might be able to message Ian individually in chat.
I think that that would defeat the object of having an audience.
I see what you're saying, but we just might have to be a little creative.
I have to answer it.
I think in the essence of creating a narrative podcast where we tell a story,
and your characters are going to have to pretend they haven't heard.
What if you both use sign language?
Just a thought.
See, Bill, the thing with a podcast is it's mostly verbal.
I almost entirely.
That's the pod part.
OK, I'm going to make Ian do separate crew, so I'm going to stop.
Well, let's play it out and have Gigi get close to the last speaker and lean into his ear.
And ask a question to the effect of understand he understands that Bill and Steve had been part of
a home gang with a droid, Dvergar, right?
And ask, does he know what happened to the carcass or the remains of it?
Oh, shit.
Yes.
And.
Because it's a yes, no answer.
It's a yes.
He knows where it is.
Good.
And wait, that's.
Two different questions there, buddy.
And once more, the genie fools the poor.
Right.
And then would he have the goodwill to tell Grjotgarth
above and beyond this one yes, no question where that might be?
Well, I do feel that you have rather inexpertly and
inadvisably used the casting of the runes.
But I will tell you that it is common knowledge that the dverger who was cleaved in two
in the home gang was taken as a trophy by the victor, Finnbogi Asbjornsson himself,
a fellow jöfurr and the Jarl of the town.
Rumor has it.
All right, that's it.
Rumor has it as he hangs on his mantelpiece.
Lovely.
You know, I am still baffled by the display of your dverg friend between you and me.
They only needed to prove the Jarl's bear killed two freemen and he would have been paying them.
All right, that piece of detective work done, Steve, we will now go to you so that you can
entertain all of our listeners with your legal analysis.
Are we back to mining law, Steve?
Are we going because we spent a little bit of time on that in episode two mining law.
Property law.
We're going to start to think.
Yes.
Yeah, it's at the core of the adventure.
It is totally the core of it.
When we were in the South, last speaker, we met a gentleman named Daniel, who claims that
he is the rightful heir of the entire North.
I have heard these rather whimsical tales of flights of fancy.
Both him and Bjarnie Bjarnason would always tell such things.
You ply them with enough ale and they would tell you that they were the king of the bears.
They claimed that Bjarnie had a deed on his person, which would prove it.
Is such a document even possible?
It is possible.
It is possible, whether the story as I understand it is that when their forebear,
Vilhelm Bjarnasson, first discovered the archipelago, that he signed the deed with the local
Skraeling.
They assigned him the whole land in return for, I don't know, a handful of beads.
And they proffered him a vellum parchment inscribed in their local language that
allegedly gave him the land in perpetuity.
Of course, the land would come with all of the mineral rights.
And as you know from your dealings with the denizens of darkness, the dökkálfar of Kongstein,
there are many minerals beneath the ground that are of great value.
Yeah, my people may have questions about anyone who claims to own what's below the ground,
but that's a separate thing.
So if someone, if a person were to physically possess this deed, is that what is the custom
of today?
Is that sufficiently legal to grant them ownership?
Is it enough to merely pound claim stakes into the ground and claim whatever is encompassed
within them?
If someone can claim a deed and that deed is proved legitimate and accurate, then there
is no reason why the courts of the empire would not give it to whoever owned the deed,
whoever had titles, so to speak.
So whoever physically possesses the deed?
It's not a case of possession.
Possession is not nine-tenths of the law, no matter what the dvergar will tell you.
If the deed is legitimate and assigned by the original, Skraeling owners of the land,
then if we can ascertain its legitimacy, then the person to whom the deed is assigned and
their heirs would indeed own the mineral wealth of this region.
Of course, I have yet to lay hands on such a legal document.
Bjarnie Bjarnardson would always talk about it when he was in his cups, but no one ever
saw it.
I think it's just one of those urban legends that sweeps the tundra from time to time.
Okay.
I appreciate your time on the matter.
I shall take what you have said under advisement.
Thank you again for their hospitality.
One last thing, as the two of you leave the building, Gigi, you sidling out in order to
duck under the doorframe, you pass by two gentlemen who are trying to enter in at the
same time.
And there is this awkward dance, this little tussle as you try and pass each other in the
corridor to the law speaker's house.
And as the two of you leave, you notice that both of the gentlemen who are well-dressed
in rather pristine suits, their suits are emblazoned with the insignia of the Nóatún
launch sites.
Now, the Nóatún launch sites in this universe are the equivalent of NASA.
If ever there was a Viking equivalent of the X-Files with Scully and Mulder, you have just
passed them by in the hallway, trying to squeeze past your immense girth.
Good day.
Excuse me, pardon me.
They...
So sorry.
Yes, it's real.
They simply scowl at you and make their way into the dining room where the law speaker
is clattering plates and tidying up.
We won't split the party because that's a recipe for disaster.
So you can choose one of two locations that you have identified.
The first is the Firefox Institute.
And the second is the kettle where you took lodgings and where some of the party have
been before having talked to the proprietor Solveig Cooking Kettle, for whom the place is
named.
Would I remember what room they were in?
You wouldn't have to remember the room because there'd be this time in the afternoon
propping up the bar.
So that's where you want to go first.
You want to go to the Cooking Kettle as a collective.
But she'll be busy making notes kind of like on an electric notepad about what she thinks
she can request from the Institute to go for.
I don't believe this and that'll be good.
And yes, definitely this and that.
Oh, and more of those.
She'll just kind of follow along at the back.
We won't leave you hanging for too long as we will get to the Institute in due course.
So the Cooking Kettle, as you know, is a fine establishment.
It is teeming with life.
All of the townsfolk pass through there.
I've referred to it in previous episodes as the Cheers Bar of Hjalpmakaar.
Low and behold, as you do enter, you see the Jarl, Finnbog, Finnbogi Asbjörnsson.
And he is drinking at a table with his two bodyguards, who you know as Thorbjorn and Thorodd.
And he's also talking with a third and more distinguished gentleman who wears the robes
of office, who you imagine is the Governor Eldring, the ultimate authority in this town.
Now, none of them look in your direction.
They look like they are in heated debate about something.
Also to your right, you notice the Dverg Miners, Wetkret and Rockpulse,
who you had spoken to in a previous encounter as well.
And obviously at the bar bustling around is Solveig herself, serving the many people who
are hammering on the bar, trying to attract her attention.
There is a new figure who is also slumped over the bar.
Perhaps it is the errant rock star who has been causing so much commotion.
It's up to you to engage with any and all of them.
Ian, I'd like to use Second Sight to scan the room to see if there's any invisible or
sort of supernatural qualities in the room.
I'm impressed with both your inherent skepticism and attention to detail.
And no, this is a normal hostelry where there is nothing of ill repute or harmful intent.
All right.
Ljomi steps forward and walks towards Solveig and announces to the group,
I shall greet her in the manner of her people.
He walks up to Solveig and says, hello, Lather.
Oh, hello, my darling.
You're back already.
Yes.
Do you have water?
Yes, I do.
I have a great thirst.
Are you still happy to pay for it, my darling?
Certainly.
She beams from ear to ear as she fleeces you a second time for a simple glass of water.
Meanwhile, behind you, Eir, the Dverg miners, wander up to you,
bristling with electronic rage.
And they say, ahead the jotnar called you a pilchard, a proper plonker.
They said you landed right in the oopsie-ploopsie.
And now we know you have all of our sums added up.
You have been winking the hood at us.
And so we rotate our rear ends at you.
Thank you for that.
Obviously done something to offend them, because if they had arms to cross,
they would be very firmly folded.
Could you help me clarify, who have I offended now by existing?
And yes, what could I do about it?
We should.
Well, there's a couple of things that are going on.
First of all, you've been asking lots of questions about mining.
Number two is, you also now have a fairly high shame score.
Is your shame score five now?
Yeah.
I can do better than that.
You have established something of a reputation in town.
You are mocked and despised wherever you go.
Now, there's something to be said for being a dökkálfar. .
You are a benighted race.
You're uncommon.
You've certainly caused, or rather your folk have caused,
all kinds of problems for this region in the past.
But you also carry with you the whiff of deviancy,
the stench of ergi from being a sorcerer.
Eir will ask them, could I have your names again?
No, you may not have our names.
We have given them to you already.
It is very rude and insulting for you to be ignoring us.
Living people are so dear.
What and what should I be doing?
Are you asking them that?
Yes, I'm asking.
God is just going to set them off again.
Quite.
Their lips are now very firmly sealed and they go back to drinking whale oil back.
Thanks to God for that.
Maybe they'll choke.
The Jarl Finnbogi does beckon to you, CJ, and call out.
What are you doing here, Hersir,
cavorting with these miscreants and malcontents?
I'm happy you should ask.
I'm looking for something and it's none of your business.
Never break the peace which good men and true make between thee and others.
Bear in mind a good friend here, a true friend like Governor Eldring,
is like a shining star on a bright night.
I'm glad you think so highly of him.
I should say a shining star on a dark night,
because a bright night wouldn't make any sense.
Well, the map, given the unusual light.
Gryotgarth walks over to Finnbogi and gets a little bit closer to him,
and there's presumably a lot of noise around.
Yes?
There is.
Lots of cluttering.
There is chatter and clutter and arguing and bickering,
the bickering between the dökkálfar and the Dverg that you just heard.
Yeah, and he's going to address Finnbogi and say,
there is a matter I would like to address with you in private, if you could.
It's all about-
My bodyguards attend me everywhere I go.
You may make an appointment and visit me at my manor in due course.
With whom will I make this appointment?
You, directly?
Or do you have an assistant who could write it down so you don't miss it?
I have often heard that no one is a total fool if he can be silent.
Away with you.
Oh, lovely.
All right.
Is this what you get for associating with us?
So, Gryotgarth is going to just nod and walk away because that's fine.
And he's going to walk over to the bar and sit next to our washed up rock star.
And he's hunched over the bar, correct?
Passed out, drunk?
He's not passed out, but he is definitely leaning heavily on the bar,
propping it up as if he has had one tankard of ale too many.
And you may all engage with him.
His name is Rognvalder Oss.
And he is the lead singer referred to in the newspaper that you've just read
of the Alfsonger band Svarta Sunnadagr.
And I will give bonus points for anyone who can translate that from the book.
I will give bonus points for anyone who can translate that from the Old Norse.
Is it going to be something recognizable?
Yeah.
Well, Svartar is dark.
Or black, yes, close.
And so what's the second word?
Svarta Sunnadagr.
Is it Black Sabbath?
It's Black Sabbath.
You've got it right.
Well done.
Finally, my deep knowledge of Norse comes to an end.
Well done, well done, Ljomi.
And you can...
I wish there was a little bit of yes from me.
And you can have bonus points, Bill, then, if you can translate
the name of the lead singer, Rognvaldr Oss.
Not a heavy metal guy.
No, that helps you with that one.
Thinking.
I can hear the typing.
Thinking.
Rognvalder Oss.
Oss meaning God.
Any help?
Is it Dio?
Is Ronnie James Dio in the Vikingverse?
That I know from my Tenacious D.
So, you know.
Every character in the Vikingverse does have their parallel universe,
their Norse-fied version, and Ronnie James Dio, or his Norse equivalent.
Instead of being a heavy metal performer, he is an Alfsonger performer.
The rest of his band are nowhere to be seen.
But as the headlines in the article said, his recent release, his chart-topping single,
did not do very well.
And he is obviously drowning his sorrows at the bar.
But he has rocked for a long, long time.
As you all come over and CJ sits next to him, he does see you, Bill,
and he looks up and he says,
Al-far-out, man.
I'm sorry, could you repeat that?
Small words.
Small, yes.
I'll use small words and you use small words.
You know, that's just like your opinion, man.
Oh, Jesus.
I had a rough night and I hate the fucking dökkálfar, man.
Well, yes, I think, man, we could be friends.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, this is a private master.
Brynn will just tap on the alfars shoulder and say, I think he's asking you to leave him be.
Why don't you just let Gigi handle it?
Yes, yes.
As I pass Brynn again, I say, are you feeling better now?
Is it getting better?
Is the healing just started?
I have healing songs.
He has a problem with cybernetics.
Yeah.
Not the only problem, I think.
Feel free to engage with Rognvalder as you wish.
If you do not talk to him or poke him or prod him, he will simply dare into his ale.
Brin will just tap him on the shoulder.
Brin will just tap Gigi and say, it's your turn.
Then Gigi will say, ah, well met, Rockstar.
Someone finally at my level.
You may recognize me.
I won the silver medal for Toga Honk at the All Asgard Games.
I was recognized in this town quite frequently, just recently.
I can't be worrying about that shit, man.
Life goes on.
You don't watch the Asgard Games, the All Asgard Games.
What's wrong with you?
All I can say, man, is don't write in starlight because the words may come out real.
Aha.
Then Gigi is going to step away, look back at everyone and say, it's almost like he's trying to speak to me, but I can't understand what he's saying.
I'll walk up to him and in alfsongr, it sucks when they don't understand the art.
Yeah, man, you know what I'm saying.
I dig you.
It's like these people riding minor keys and when you do that, you just scare people, right?
You got me?
Yeah, I think I got you.
It's easy to repeat the poems of the past.
It's far harder to create something of any lasting value, something that your ancestors' ancestors might sing or praise.
Yeah, man, that's right.
You see, I have rediscovered sound healing, solfeggio frequencies, Benedictine monks,
long before the fall of Rome, brother.
I could demonstrate to you, but every time I turn on the Utvarp, they turn it off again.
But I tell you, all of my songs are exactly the frequency 1111 Hjartz
And you know why?
No, why?
Because you can tune in to the energy of the Englar, man. You can feel the angels on your shoulder, man.
Ain't that a wonderful thing?
You mean angels like the Christ ones?
That's right, man. This world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams. It's heaven and hell.
Interesting.
And so you're saying that you've taken the language of the alfar and combined it with the chants of the ancient Christian monks from Rome.
You're a true gentleman. That's exactly it. Solfeggio, baby.
But is there not some dissonance created when you combine these opposing cultures?
I mean, one is our ancestors and the other is a fallen culture. Where do you find the commonality?
In beauty. In beauty, my friend. You bet your sweet ass in beauty.
Well, I must admit, I do often see the value in things that at first seem disparate, much like, and I gesture at both the wooden guy and the stone guy.
Uh-oh.
We've been treated them.
Have you tried any of the other languages with this Gregorian chant?
This latest albums be a disaster. I do not know where I'm going to go next.
The band they have deserted me, Solveig, used to be my roadie, but now, now she's moved on and everyone's abandoned. I think it's time that I get to my bed.
Well, wise is he who knows when to take rest. Drink with your brothers when they drink, but know when fast one should go to bed.
I should have written that down. Could have used that in my next song.
I say it's from the Havamal.
My darlings, us here is no choir boy, but I don't want him to get lynched. He's caused a bit of commotion around town with that infernal racket.
Wherever you go, it's on the Utvarp, and no one can get a moment's peace. Would you mind just taking him to his bed?
Which is here in this hotel?
He has a room upstairs, my lover.
I look back to everyone else.
We will happily escort him.
He looks up from his, putting his face on the bar, his tongue lolling all over the place, and he looks up at air and says,
Sooner or later, man, you're going to have to face the fact you're a moron.
I hope you die in your sleep.
Shall we help him to his room?
Bryn will suggest that the Dökkálfar and the Alfar stay here, and we of more humanoid types take the human man up to his room.
And smother him.
Okay, so Bryn, you escort upstairs. Anyone else going with?
I'll go with her.
Okay, two brave and conscientious people taking this bedraggled star to his bed to sleep off whatever he's under the influence of.
As you tuck him into his sheets, he does turn to you and say, They're here, man. They're here.
And then he passes out completely comatose.
I'll activate second sight and look around to see if anyone's here that I can't see, or if he was just drunk.
Again, impressive use of the spells. That's your second casting of that for today.
So you're going to need to rest before you can use it again.
But looking around using the second sight, again, you detect nothing in the room.
Bryn would like to see if he's got any equipment that enables him to hack into the radio frequencies of the Evergreen third speak in the room.
Good detective work. You do look around and you find a variety of recording equipment.
There is stuff that could have been used to hack a signal to hack the Evergreen third speak the Wi Fi signal.
And unfortunately, it has been smashed up beyond repair as if in a drunken range.
That saves me a job then. That is fine. She'll note it down to inform the Law Speaker that hopefully after tonight the noise won't disturb anyone else.
But that is still not the mission he sent us on. So we return downstairs.
Backing off of Bryn, I would see her looking around the room.
I'm going to see, does he have any like music or notes or instruments that he has left around? Sheets of paper?
He does. There's a range of paraphernalia that you can peruse.
Yeah, since she's having a look and he's asleep, I'll have a look.
Artistically, you find it without merit. It's the scribblings of an amateur.
You're certainly nothing to compare with the skaldic verse that you and Gigi are able to come up with.
I don't think he'll be making music of that kind for anyone anytime soon. Shall we read on the others and see if they haven't caused any more commotion?
I'm not entirely sure he made music to begin with.
Oh. Indeed, some could call it that. But art is always in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?
I think Sam might be hinting at something more sinister.
But we will find out if you wander your way over to the Firefox Institute, a large copper domed building on the other side of town.
The Firefox Institute is a privately financed facility, focused, as I said previously, on kind of boreal geophysics and technology,
which explains why Brynn is quite so adept in these scientific fields.
Inside, it feels very much like a university. There's open, pine clad spaces that form warm gathering spots.
Brynn, you know your way around and you're probably best to speak to Blain Ivaldison, a young clone like yourself recently birthed.
Before we go in, can I ask, Aire would like to ask Brynn, will the people of the Institute get worked up about seeing dokklar in here?
Good question.
If not, I can not look like myself. Maybe that would be nice.
Out of character, Ian, what would Brynn say in response to that question?
Fair question. So bear in mind that the Elder Ivaldi, the patriarch of your lineage,
was actually inspired by the rise of the dokkalfar to enhance your race cybernetically.
In that case, we'll say no, not at all. If anything, they might consider it an honour.
After all, we meet your people so rarely these days.
And she'll turn to the Alfar and say, I want you to understand that all my brothers and sisters are very much like me.
And she'll just have to do a whole kind of form. So please do not be alarmed. We are not all hurt. We are all absolutely fine.
We have good medics, good health care. Sick days are a rarity these days. So please just try not to freak out.
So this strange condition will resolve, is what you're saying. You will look more like the other men. I understand. Thank you.
You come to the reception desk where and behind it is a small office where Blaine Ivaldison sits like you.
He has cranial implants and a couple of rotator arms that are reminiscent of a Dvergs.
He is beaming as you enter. He is a very smiley person. And he looks at the assembled group and simply says,
Oh, hello. How are you? How are you all? How are you, sir? And how are you, sir? And how are you, sir?
Quite well, thank you.
There, Ljomi offers, you should go first. It seems they may like you here.
Ah, yes. Hello, sir. Pining for the fjords, was it, sir?
Yes, yes, I am.
Just a little antecedent joke, sir. We must respect our elders, of course.
After all, I am intrigued by the sleep of the sword, sir. We sons and daughters of the greater Ivaldi would not be here were it not for you.
Would you allow me to call you Grandfather?
I would be honored. Thank you for your hospitality.
Then Grandfather, Grandfather, please do. Take a pew, rest your weary feet. I am not sure if that's exactly how you work,
but you must have aeons of baggage weighing upon you and benighting your soul.
Oh, very true.
And you, sir, Alfar, sir?
Yes.
What can we do for you, sir?
Were you in the accident with the Skidverg? I have healing spells. Oh, also, also, I am very interested in working with you,
how to put this delicately, unusual men. The Sword fall, the damage, the suffering, I would very much like to help with correcting this.
Very kind of you, sir. We can certainly take an application form. Is this radiant young lady vouch for you, sir? If so, Form Eiwaz Seven.
Excellent. Yes.
And of course, fieldwork. Fieldwork would be most indispensable. We don't let just any Thomas, Rickard or Heinrich into the Firefox Institute.
I understand. What is your name? For future reference, what is your name?
Blaine, sir. Mark it well. We wouldn't want you to get tongue-tied and mispronounce it, lest it affect Form Eiwaz Seven.
Yes, yes, no blame. Yes. OK. Thank you. I will fill out the form. Thank you very much.
And you, Sirah, don't I know you from somewhere, sir?
I think that's... I think he's looking at you.
Oh, me, yes. Hi. Hello. I am Gryotgarth the Magnificent. My friends call me Gigi for short.
Is an Institute of Science not your liking, sir? You appear to be distracted. Not the kind of thing that you're interested in as the all Asgard toga honk champion.
Oh, you recognize me. Now I am interested. Thank you. Prefer pulling ropes, do we, sir?
I'm more of a physical person, yes. Yes, I can see that, sir. And whom else might we have? I just look around.
Lay in, brother. We are requiring certain equipment on a special expedition we have been set by the Law Speaker.
And what is that? There'll be another form. We are certain. I fully aware of that and I'm quite a depth of field.
Form Thurisaz Two, if you would please annotate it appropriately.
What do you think of these shoes? They're an interesting design. What material are they made from?
Walrus Hide. High rebuttons. Now, sorry, equipment. Why are you... what are you investigating?
The unusual light that pretend to be the aurora borealis, but are not in the daytime. That is what the Law Speaker would like to solve.
Every freshman can tell you that. Doesn't take a Skirrlock Holmr. Fair enough. But the Law Speaker needs proof, so we need to provide it to him, do we not?
Very well, very well, very well. I am personally of the opinion it is light pillars. Sun reflecting off ice crystals falling through the air, you know, that kind of thing.
But anyway, we cannot get an accurate reading until such time as we get fuel station operational.
There is a jamming signal and the weather station being remotely managed must be fixed manually.
I'm about to send a maintenance crew. Field work. Form Eiwaz Seven.
Very well, we will fill in the form as requested. And if we can help get the weather station fixed sooner, then we will do so.
I have two men leaving shortly, hopping in a speedboat to fix the problem at source.
Brynn will turn to the others and say, would you like to join me on an expedition trip?
There it just as as you ask that question, they hear a commotion, some thumping down the stairs above you and the facility director who you recognize as Bangsi Ivaldisson and makes an appearance.
He has a flurry of whirling drones around him and he's dressed all in the white overhauls of an overseer.
And he descends a few steps and then yells out, I cannot hear myself think, get it fixed.
And then stops immediately back upstairs. The embarrassed Blaine mumbles his excuses and shuffles some papers.
I haven't played the frequency 1111 again, in case it drives you all insane.
But you can imagine the light music that might be playing in the elevators of this institute. It's everywhere and it's appalling.
Well, seems these two things are connected somehow.
Well, we need to stop the sound in order to relieve my much older brother, the founder Bangsi of his headache.
And then we can actually do some productive scientific research. What say you all?
Yes, sounds good, says Ljomi.
I'm game.
We'll take that as unanimous since the rousing enthusiasm that exuded from the rest of the team there about getting in a speedboat and sailing off into the Arctic ice was almost palpable.
He's thinking about his droid.
There's no way for this plan to go wrong.
We've never had problems on the sea before, let us assure you.
Perfectly safe.
Did you say a speedboat?
Correct.
Will I fit?
Let us find out.
Your body may.
It is a high-
Officers, we shall put it to the test.
I had to use two sleds for the record.
They'll provide you with extra inflatables, just in case.
Certainly when you step into the boat, it lurches in an alarming way, but it will just aid the aerodynamics or the hydrodynamics, I should say.
You are escorted by two technicians who are from the Institute.
They will help you when you get to a fuel station.
That's T-H-U-L-E. It is an old weather station, research outpost and meteorological facility.
It hasn't been used for some time, at least hasn't been manned for some time.
It was automated and depopulated during the war and operations are normally run from Hjálpmakaar, which is why its hijack signal needs to be fixed at source.
So, if you're all happy to board the boat, then you will leave the sheltered harbor of Hjálpmakaar.
The wind picks up.
The ride is a bumpy one.
Birds keep pace all around you with the frantic flapping of their wings,
flying over the icy ocean surface until they get bored and veer back off to their perches on the coastal mountains.
Can everyone just give me an awareness roll?
Oh, can do.
I rolled a 35. Oh, wait.
Oh, wait. You sure you did that right?
Gigi ruled a 4.
Oh.
I don't have...
He was busy admiring his own form. I got a 19, 17.
I got a 17. Also, I'm wearing a life jacket.
Very good.
And I have tree sight.
Life jackets always work for beings made of stone.
Yep.
You're the only one that routinely doesn't notice.
Perhaps you're navel gazing or flexing your biceps or perhaps you're doing a power pose or something like that.
Anyway, everyone...
Thinking about the droid.
The sex droid.
Everyone else...
Everyone else notices a slinky serpentine form glide through the icy waves with a slow hiss.
No.
Are you just refusing to accept that?
No, no, I just don't notice.
You asked, does anyone notice? No.
Brynn will turn to Fair and say, did you see that large shadow through that wave just over there?
She'll point somewhere over the boat, simply, in the direction of it.
Jörmungandrs kin is afar afield and hopefully will not grow closer.
Brynn will just point out to the technicians, saying, I'm not entirely sure what that was, but we should try not to crash into it.
Ljomi checks to see if air is determining the depth of the water beneath the boat.
Eir is now wearing two life preservers like water wings.
One of the technicians who goes by the name of Magnus says to you, oh, did you see something out there?
Or what did you see, lovely old tree?
A great serpent. We have seen them before.
Are you sure about that, alfar?
Yes, we've seen them before. It was not good.
Are my words all right or should I make them smaller?
Well, I don't know.
He's stammering and clearly afraid, but he guns the engine steers closer to shore in case it was indeed the stall worm that you tangled with that may well be lurking off the coast of Hjálpmakaar.
Your warning to the technicians is enough to ensure that you glide safely to your destination after a couple of hours and the boat glides onto the dark, sandy shore.
Fog hangs mournfully over the tip of this peninsula.
There is an eerie silence.
You can see the coastal facility, the meteorological station in the near distance.
Power is still on.
The antenna that sits atop the building are glowing and clearly the signal is emanating from here.
Magnus is joined by another colleague called Heimrich.
Magnus and Heimrich drag out a drone.
They plug it in with a motion tracker and a camera, and they begin to explore the site from the shoreline whilst you all sit comfortably on the beach.
And Magnus says, completely empty it is.
Nobody here.
Is there, is the beach a significant enough feature or is there one to work as a natural landmark for a warden stone?
What you can use is your Udal Eight in order to get asked a yes no question that I must answer truthfully.
Then my question would be, is there danger of violence within the station?
Yes.
Okay.
I would let everyone know.
A round of applause for someone who's for the first time ever.
Udal right.
And also I'd like to point out that at this moment in time, not a single member of the playing party has landed a melee blow at any point in the preceding episodes.
So were you to affect a palpable hit, a whopping strike, then you would be the first to do so.
So it's all up for grabs.
Five episodes. Five episodes.
And whose fault is that?
As a group, we are not so much about the military.
We're more about social engineering.
I think the way we've interacted with the locals has gone perfectly well.
Very few people have died.
There's only been a few court judgments against us.
All in all, stunningly effective.
Even the miners loved us briefly.
That's all very true.
Heimrich is a chain smoker, and when you refer to the danger within, he is puffing suddenly through these packs of squealing tobacco.
And he looks up at the blood red streaks in the sky, the cross that has been streaming across the heavens for the past few weeks.
And he says, told you Magnus, it's an omen.
I can't understand a few words, but that's all he says beyond.
The spirits of the dead playing games with a worrisome skull.
Something ain't right.
Is it possible to use my military background of scout to look around for any like tracks or markings?
You see nothing on the beach or the immediate shoreline.
There's no one has no one has arrived at this facility on the coastal route.
You can take a broad perusal of the circumference of this area if you wish and look at the outskirts of the installation.
Or you can go into the installation itself and I can give you a description of that.
I don't want to go by myself.
What kind of shirts are Heinrich and Magnus wearing?
They're wearing wearing simple technician overalls.
Magnus says to you, come on, let's be a way.
Chin up now.
Anyone tell you you look like you've seen a ghost.
There's a perfectly good explanation for everything.
Before we enter the facility, Eir will use black sight to look through the walls.
You'd have to go considerably closer if you go to the walls and I can give you a description.
What's the range on that?
Short range.
Oh, okay. Doesn't say.
Basically, you have to press your nose up to a wall in order to be able to see through it.
So range is nasal is what I'm hearing.
I'll give you a brief description of the facility, the station to the north.
The very top at your 12 o'clock is a meteorological laboratory to your 10 o'clock is a storage building.
In the center of the clock is the main control station.
And on top of that is some kind of observational deck.
You are close to the boathouse. The boathouse is at maybe five o'clock.
There is a path that leads around the main control station that links up all of those various buildings.
Brynn would turn to Magnus and ask, is the weather usually this dark?
It is foggy. It is a fog-strewn peninsula.
So you can see the glinting of the lights. You can see the powered antenna.
You can see the electric lights. Power is clearly on.
But there's no one to be seen, no one to be heard.
And just the oppressive damp of that fog.
Does Blaine mention how it became automated? Did he not?
This station. So then there shouldn't be anyone here, technically, if it was automated?
Or should there be people here?
No, there shouldn't be anyone. That's why you've had to bring in the technicians.
It is not like the local Jotnar have raided and hijacked this place and used it for their own nefarious means.
Those would be the trolls that folk is not so fond of.
So you may wander up to any of those buildings as a group or individually.
Magnus is happy to stomp ahead.
Again, he has the motion tracker and he's looking around.
There's nothing here at all. What's your step, Thor?
Thanks for that. Is Heinrich always so suspicious of phenomena that we do not yet understand?
He's not someone that you know well, but he says to you,
it ain't no tobacco you can smell.
Sure, I can have like four heads of Magnus. Which building do we go to?
Come on, lovely, let's go straight to the control center. I can't be messing around now.
Old Bangsi will have his knickers in a twist.
Because I am generous as a raven feeder, I'm going to say that on the boat,
on the journey, the four hour journey on the speedboat, you were able to rest and therefore meditate and replenish your spells.
Oh, OK. So let me just clarify. There's the boat house, there's the storage area, and then there's the tower.
The control room has the observation area on top of it, like a deck.
There are stairs that lead up past the main entrance to a kind of roof area, which is enclosed,
but would enable you from that lofty vantage point to look out at the sweeping and desolate tundra.
Insofar as you could see, were there not lots of fog.
Learning that I just now feel quite a lot more rested than I did after that boat ride,
I will activate second sight and start looking around.
You got to get a winner one day.
There is an odd scene to you all as you walk up, and I'm going to describe various different things to various different people.
Fulk, using your second sight, you get hints of something, black shadows flitting between the doorways.
Just the vaguest hint.
And because you're attuned to the spirit world, you can feel that they're not true spirits.
They're not the spirits of the land. They're not the spirits of the sea. They're not spirits of nature that you would be familiar with.
Ljomi, using your tree sight, which is you naturally do, you don't detect anything invisible or hidden or illusory,
but you do detect something unearthly.
There is something here knotted into the warp and weft of existence itself.
Becky, what's your trauma?
Trauma is two.
Not a worrying question.
CJ, yours is one.
The pair of you notice these black, crawling masses.
Hmm.
They drift completely silently between the buildings.
You can smell this stench, a cloying tobacco smell.
Steve, your trauma is seven.
Seven.
Oh, God.
You see something entirely different that I'm not going to reveal to everyone at this stage,
but let's just say that you recoil in horror and shock.
Can you make a will challenge for me, please?
A will? Okay, sure.
Nine.
Whatever you do detect with your maddened, traumatized, shocked psyche is beyond the ability of the others to sense, but it permeates into your stony core
and causes you to freeze as an icy chill tingles down your spine.
You can almost taste the emotion.
The whole area is redolent with grief and loss.
Meanwhile, Magnus, who appears to be entirely immune to whatever is going on, to whatever you can sense, to whatever you can see,
is striding straight towards the observation room and saying,
Come on then, boyo, we haven't got a day, have we?
I think Fulk's military training would take over a little bit, and he'd give like a hand signal to stop thinking he's back with his unit
and then realizing that they may not realize what that is, he would turn and say,
With the second sight, I see that here ahead, not of land or of sea, but spirits nonetheless.
Also, do you smell that strange smoke? Something is not right ahead, and there is violence waiting for us within that tower.
Of that, the spirits are also sure.
Oh, Ballyhoo and nonsense. I'm just going to knock on the door here. I've got the key code. Hang on a moment.
And then suddenly there is an explosion of scintillating light, a coruscating cloud, a kaleidoscopic fracture in the universe itself,
and Magnus is ripped from existence and vanishes into an eldritch dimension beyond your ken.
And on that, we will leave things for this episode.
Wait, we also got...
Always the engineers. Always the engineers.
Good news, we only lost one man, not to a bear, and an NPC as well. This is like high point.
The sea serpent didn't kill anybody. I mean, I thought that's where I was dying. I was like, oh, this serpent is here to kill me for sure.
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