1 Sviftmont 1000 AC - In Search of a Dragon

 Broneslav awoke early and packed his gear. He thought about what was happening back in Karameikos. It would be autumn there, but here it still felt warmer than high summer. He also worried about his ship. Would the captain return for him? He knew that he had stayed out in the jungle longer than planned, but he had also given the captain instructions on what to do. If he was lucky, the captain had been canny enough to trade on his behalf and earn him a good bit of silver into the bargain. It was really too late to worry about that now though.

Bidding goodbye to the villagers, he set out on his next adventure. It would involve a circuitous route round the plateau, unless he got lucky and found a way down the huge cliffs on the north-east side. He had rope and climbing gear with him, so it would be possible to do so. He mused on the problem as he followed the guide from the village using a much easier route out than the one he had climbed to get in.

Saying farewell to his guide, Broneslav set out across the plateau, glad of the relatively easy going for now. Ahead he could see mountains and he knew that the going would be slower and tougher in a day or so.

Cresting a low rise, he stopped suddenly and ducked back. A huge lizard was grazing on scrubby bushes about 100 metres ahead of him. The beast was about half the size of the ship he had sailed here in and stood twice as high as Broneslav himself. It had three massive horns on its head and a huge bony frill protecting the back of its head. It was intent on its meal and did not appear to have noticed him. He skirted the area warily in case it spotted him, but the triceratops was too intent on its food.

By the end of the day, the young warrior had reached the edge of the plateau. He found shelter and made camp in a concealed spot. Tomorrow would involve climbing and he intended to be well-rested for that.

Cartaventura Vinland: The Queen of VInland

 Following on from my last adventure, Freydis Eiriksdottir chose to do what her wimpy, Christian brother did not. Despite Freydis refusing to accept prima signatio, her mother Thjodhild gave Freydis her blessing and told her to be careful and to change her underwear regularly while she was travelling. It would not do to be killed by monstrous sea beasts while wearing dirty underwear.

Freydis gathered a crew including the carpenter Helgi, whose brother she had saved from a slavering Jotun, and set out for Vinland. She also added Thorbjorg the seer to her retinue and saved her younger brother's life from some type of pestilence thanks to an elixir she gained from the light elves.

The journey was largely uneventful, if only because the crew steered clear of the large sea serpent they saw on the way. Every time Freydis sought to close with it and attack it, the ship seemed to get pushed away by the waves. How ever did that happen?

Landing in Vinland, Freydis and her crew gathered supplies, only for one of their number to be eaten by a uniped. Freydis drove the beast off by yelling and pounding her naked breast with her sword. Then she singlehandedly drove off a Kraken that sought to drag her ship under. And finally, Freydis and her crew landed in Vinland, where they set up serious wine production, only for Freydis to get a rotten taste in her mouth when Thorfinn karlsefni turned up with his simpering, Christian bride Gudrid. As a strong, viking woman with no liking for the white Christ, Freydis drove them off.

Unfortunately, the livestock started getting stolen at this point. Freydis did not have enough men to take on the locals who were enjoying this food, so she was forced to return to Brattahlid in Greenland, where she told me this tale that I have relayed in her own words with no embellishment or adornment.

Skål for Queen Freydis of Vinland!

Our story will return to Leif next time I pick up this game.

N.B. Freydis does not come off well in the Vinland sagas. She is murderous and inclined to do nasty things to people she does not like. Most people remember her driving off indigenous people by baring her breast and beating on it with a sword she had picked up, and admire her for that bravery. However, the treachery towards Helgi and Finnbogi and the instigation of their murder is often forgotten. Fortunately, in this game she did not have them killed yet. Maybe next time?