Wolves Upon the Coast - Session #9
Welcome once again, my friends, and lend your ear as I continue the tale of the Brimuxi’s crew! We still venture in the world of Luke Gearing’s Wolves Upon the Coast! If you you missed out on last session’s voyage check out the recap here. Our system of choice is T. Thomas Giant’s As Above, So Below, an OSR hack inspired primarily by Cairn and Into the Odd.
The Crew of the Brimuxi
Gripard the Near-Sighted - Hails from Faroe. He willingly signed on to Snori the Craven’s crew to avoid starvation. Understands some arcane secrets.
Gull the Wanderer - Hails from Ruislip, in the northwest. He is of humble stock, but his kin did not appreciate his talents. Their parting of ways was mutual, but it wasn’t long before he was captured by the Norse.
Haoelkbaeolker “Bulkor” the Foul - Hails from Littitie. Also called Bulkor, he was banished by his kin for being a general nuisance and ass. It is a wonder we haven’t killed him ourselves.
Lurg Who-Laughs-At-Death - Hails from Littitie, a faraway and distant land. A proud, barbarian warrior - he is slow to trust others, including members of the Brimuxi’s crew. He has earned a new title thanks to his courage in the face of a horde of reanimated skeleton warriors.
Pádraig the Skald - Hails from Mar, a coastal land to the east of the North Sea. He was betrayed by his mentor, who grew jealous of Pádraig's growing popularity amongst their kin, and sold to the Norse as a galley slave.
The Ninth Voyage
As we attempted to leave the City of Muru a guard with goals beyond his station approached us, demanding to know what it was that we were doing in the docks so late at night. Thinking quickly, Gripard the Near-Sighted explained that we were taking our “captain” back to the ship and departing before he drunkenly caused any trouble. This seemed to satisfy the foolish guard and he continued along on his way.
We gave the oarsmen orders to sail the Brimuxi out into the open sea while we planned our heist of with Gerlund’s ship - ‘twould be simple: we board the drunkard’s ship with him on it, set sail out to the open sea, and bind him before he sobers up. Any supplies still aboard his vessel would be ours and then we’d sink the damn thing!
We gave our oarsmen their new orders and carried the semi-conscious captain across the docks. The Faceless must be displeased, or perhaps testing us, for the same guard was waiting for us at Gerlund’s ship. He wore a smug face that reminded me of my old mentor. He began speaking, no doubt demanding more answers that he didn’t deserve. Tired of his yammering, I clubbed the man on the back of the head as he bent down to inspect Gerlund, but he refused to fall and called for more guards. Fortunately Gull the Wanderer unleashed a stone with lightning speed, striking down the guard and silencing his shouts for reinforcements.
The rest of the crew raced up the gangplank to ready the ship for its voyage. I grabbed the fallen guard and dragged him into the ship as Gull shouted orders to set sail. We moved as quickly as we could, but Gerlund’s ship was considerably larger than our own Brimuxi and the going was slow.
In the heat of the moment I spotted a considerable amount of blood on the deck, but the oncoming guards proved to be the more pressing concern. We left the dock before they were able to board the ship, but they quickly loosed a volley of javelins that clattered against the deck. Most of my companions avoided real harm, but Gripard took a javelin into his side. It didn’t dig too deeply into his flesh, but enough blood was added to that already spilt upon the deck to render him senseless.
We managed to escape the bay of Muru and set our course toward the camp of the Witch Edicia, rejoining our crew after only a few hours on the water. Bulkor the Foul tended to Gripard’s wounds as best he could as I tied up Gerlund and the guard and Lurg and Gull searched the captain’s bloody vessel. Hidden beneath burlap covers they found several rotting bodies of men not to dissimilar to ourselves. Among them we found several weapons (I myself took a sword to replace the rusted blade I carried) and several suits of mail. One such suit was made from golden coins from all across the Lands of the Northern Sea. I recognized it as a heretical artifact of the barbaric tribes from the far north. I recommended that Gull take it, but he said he would have Edicia inspect the coin-mail before donning it. With the armor was also a vial of unknown liquid - another item for the witch to identify.
Gull also found 100 coins, which he distributed amongst us evenly, though I gave 5 of mine to Gripard as penance for my impulsiveness. We left Gerlund’s ship and returned to the Brimuxi before setting fire to the second ship. Now the guards of Muru wouldn’t be able to track us. We watched the ship burn for a few minutes before Gull gave the order to set sail once more.
We moved cautiously, not wanting to be ambushed by pirates or sea serpents as we sailed in the darkness of the night. And so we continued until dawn, when the heat of the sun began pounding against us. A slight breeze came from the south, but it offered no relief. We checked on the prisoners and found that the guard perished in the night. As Gull had been the one to deal the killing blow he earned the right to first plunder, as was right.
He wore little more than guard’s mail, but we decided to plunder it in case we ever decided to complete the quest given to us by Ariadnh the Charmer and infiltrate the temple in Muru. With nothing more of value on his person, we dumped the body into the sea and continued our voyage, arriving on Edicia’s shores after only a few hours. As we brought the ship ashore we struggled to drag Gerlund up the beach and into the witch’s tent. He fought us as best he could, but it was to no avail. We brought him before the witch so she could work her magic and heal my jaw.
The witch’s excitement gave me pause, but the throbbing in my jaw steeled my resolve. If the life this pathetic man was the price for my relief I would gladly pay it.
It took her nearly an hour, but the Edicia was finally ready to conduct her ritual. She ordered us to place Gerlund’s body over a large brass bowl before handing me a dagger. I was to slice open the captain’s throat, which I did without question - to falter even a moment would have broken my resolve. The blood hit the bowl and hissed, as if the metal was red hot. Edicia tossed incense and all manner of items into the blood, stirring as she chanted. Finally she filled a tankard and handed it to me. I drank from it without waiting for Gripard to translate her words. The concoction was foul, but before I could even finish the drink I could feel my mouth healing.
What I did not expect was the sudden influx of strength. The witch’s brew thickened my muscles and bolstered my resistances to disease, poison, and fatigue. Truly a potent remedy!
My jaw fixed, we turned Edicia’s attention to the coin-mail and the vial of liquid. The mail wasn’t magical, although it did boast mighty protection. The vial contained something the witch couldn’t rightly identify, although she said it contained “a raw power.”
Bulkor drank this strange concoction and we watched as his body transformed before us. Muscles strained against his skin as the liquid flowed through his veins. The vial burst in his grip as he finished the last dregs of what was no doubt the blood of some mighty titan. Inspiration struck, and I declared him to be Bulkor Titanblooded!
We returned to the ship, with Bulkor stomping his feet all down the beach. It was clear that his new strength would destroy our ship. We had him throw himself to the ground, his strength half-burying him beneath the sand. I began digging him out as Lurg ran to the ship to find materials to fashion a makeshift gurney.
It would prove unnecessary, as the potion’s effects wore off before I even finished digging out my friend, leaving him in his natural, withered state. I asked if he wanted to keep his new title, but he refused, stating that he had not earned the epiteph. We carried him back to the Brimuxi so he could recover from the stress placed on his mortal coil by the powerful potion.
Our quest to heal my jaw had been completed, freeing us up to pursue our next venture. After a quick discussion we decided that perhaps it was time to hunt the Yisharu, but as you might suspect, that would be a story for another day!
