The Saarii Strike - Chapter II

Having left Kalastaja in a hurry, the group had no resources; no weapons, no food and no drink. They started walking out of the village, towards the military base in Joki, Amal Cal, the priest who recovered them from the raging villagers was leading in front. Not much did he say at first, the rest were still discussing what had happened earlier. When the group arrived at the first fork in the path, Amal headed to the right, but Dean was not going to follow a stranger blindly. Having finally been asked where he was headed, Amal just said "we need supplies, do we not?" At a point, he walked into the shrubs at the side of the path. Hesitant, the group were still concerned about the direction this stranger was leading them in. Dan, feeling like the priest had helped him most, followed him, the rest following the dwarf as they all wanted to stay together as a group. Arriving at small clearing, they now found an ox and cart, Amal's travelling method.

"I cannot offer you much, as I only packed food for one," Amal said before anyone asked, "but I do have some weapons I am to take to Joki, you can borrow them until we arrive there." A shortsword each is what they acquired, much better than fighting with their bare hands if need be. Amal climbed onto the cart, and on they walked, back on the pathway, the four warriors tagging along. Unfortunate as they were, more trouble was to be found soon. A pack of wolves sprang out of the bushes onto the pathway, blocking their progress, fangs bared, Dan and Dean and Duryraen obliged by unsheathing their swords, Uuragan prepared himself to cast some spells, while Amal stayed behind them, ready to help them if any of them got hurt. The three warriors wielding swords, this not being the first time they dealt with danger face to face, charged forward and started killing, while Uuragan did not hesitate to start shooting icicles at the wolves. Amal was slightly surprised at the strength the men had, even after the ordeal of the storm at sea and the trouble in Kalastaja, maybe it was these events that fuelled their attacks. Only needing to heal a couple of scratches at the end of the fight, Amal did so and continued leading the group towards a forest, where they could take a schortcut towards Joki.

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Meeting a second pack of wolves deeper in the forest, the group fought again, defeating the animals and taking some time to catch their breath. This however, was not the last fight they had to go through that day, for heard, not too far off, the growl of a greater beast; Dean instantly recognising it as that of a bear. Amal healed again the few scratches and bruises that the team endured and they got ready to face the new beast, which emerged from the trees to the North. They fought the beast for what felt like hours, but fell it they did. Amal healed all their injuries once again, and knowing that bears like to stash away the carcasses of whatever they kill, the group decided to look for its cave and see what they find. Using his tracking skills, Dean lead the group to a small cave to the North of where they fought off the beast, finding multiple dead bodies inside, both animal and human. However, they found more than this, for there were the remains of a bonfire, a small weapon rack and a chest. It seemed like it was a camp site for travellers or bandits before the bear's hostile takeover. Dean was extremely happy, as he found a bow and some arrows, much better than the sword as he was more experienced as an archer. Duryraen was also pleased with a couple of fine daggers that are harder to find within a military institution. Checking out the chest, they found some gold and jewellery, Amal and Uuragan both noticing that some of them had magical properties. Having done this sort of work before, Amal scrutinised the rings and pendants found in the chest, finding two rings that fortified one's magical stamina, not a bad find for the two mages. Returning back at the area where the group left the ox and cart, they stashed away their unused loot and the swords that have been replaced by the new weapons found in the bear's cave. They now decided that it was time for some rest, Dan and Uuragan started gathering some fire wood while Dean and Duryraen started tearing meat off the dead animals for them to cook and leather to be sold once they reach Enligt. Amal went around the camp, consecrating the area to repel any unwanted visitors while they rest. After a good meal and a good night's rest, the team gathered all their belongings and prepared to continue their journey to Joki.

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The Saarii Strike - Chapter I

Refer to the previous two posts for background about the main characters of this tale, starting here.

Having conquered the entire region, Lord Runo of Enligt set his eyes across the sea, towards the island of Saarii; the last piece to the puzzle. Sending scouting parties simply did not work, the ships never returned. Deciding it was time to take the island by force without trying to find out what form of defenses he might find waiting, he ordered a fleet of ten longships, twenty-five men each, two hundred and fifty men of different disciplines; "surely, enough to invade a small island", he thought.

Half way through the voyage, however, a huge storm wrecked the entire fleet, leaving only a few survivors who managed to salvage enough materials to create a small raft, rowing back to the main land of Midgard. Landing at the small fishermen's village called Kalastaja, the survivors knew that they had to travel to Enligt to inform the Lord about what happened.

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Uuragan Oakwale, Dean Dalgaard, Dan Scott and Duryraen dar'Vuzmur; four members of the Army of Joki, four people who could not have been more different. A human, two dark elves and a dwarf, these are the only survivors of the storm which wrecked five longships and destroyed an entire army.

Upon landing in Kalastaja, the odd group, with tattered clothes and no real boat, drew quite some attention, it was not everyday that an unknown person landed at Kalastaja, let alone five on a raft that could barely fit two. Drenched and exhausted, this kind of attention was not what they needed, they needed food and help, not suspicious looks. One woman did approach them and offered them food and a free night at her inn, the Sleeping Dragon, greatly appreciated by the survivors. Rudely awoken early in the morning, the four were dragged out of bed and out onto the gravel, vaguely realising that they were being accused of something they did not yet understand. Dan Scott felt extremely uneasy as most of the people in the open space in front of the inn were looking directly at him, anger in their eyes, if not hate. Amid the angered shouts were the screams of a woman, crying that "the dwarf, he's the assailant"; breaking down to sobs, her voice dissappearing in the fresh roars of anger from the rest of the villagers. The situation still not clear to the group in the middle, the poor dwarf feeling useless without his usual warhammer in hand, looked to his fellow warriors for support; none coming as they were just as confused. "Let them leave," a voice reached from the back of the crowd, "let them leave and never come back." A middle-aged man came forward, looking at the powerless group as if he knew exactly what had happened during the night. Draped in a fine robe, lined with gold, and a staff in hand; clearly not a warrior in the eyes of the accused. The crowd did not calm down, however, they ordered the the cleric to leave along with the scum that landed the previous day. Amal Cal was the one man who tried to help, the one who joined the team on their journey to Enligt.

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The History of Midgard

Disclaimer: this is my own version of Midgard, not the actual Midgard found in Norse Mythology.

The main land of Midgard, the land of man, created from the body of the giant Ymir when killed by Odin, the All-father. A map of the land can be found below.

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Enligt, home to the richest people of the continent, is the seat of power in Midgard. Lord Runo rules over the main land with brute force, taking over one city at a time. The capital city started off as a small town; its leader convinced his townsfolk to take up arms and attack its neighbouring villages, taking them over easily as they did not put up much of a fight. Resources, monetary and otherwise, forced from the smaller villages enabled the town to grow into a huge city, housing open markets, shops, blacksmiths, inns, a brothel, a temple, barracks and the famed Lord’s castle. Dark-Elves and Dwarves are commonplace in Enligt, working at local businesses as equals alongside men. Often covered in snowstorms descending from the White Mountains, the citizens of Enligt have grown a natural resistance to the bitter winters of the North.

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Portti, the harbour city of Midgard, home to all of the continent’s naval force and birth of all naval missions; the starting point of the Saarii Strike. The citizens of Midgard conduct all their commerce with other continents through Portti, ships leaving and anchoring in the harbor every week. The people of Portti are natural merchants and hagglers.

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The fishermen’s village of Kalastaja is one of the main sources of food for the main land, fish being sold all across Midgard. A small village by the sea housing only a few villagers and a pair of shops. The villagers make do by helping each other out like one big family. They travel to Joki for supplies and sell off some of their fish there, the majority of it being sold in Eligt. Their daily trips out to sea has given the citizens of Kalastaja a heightened sense of navigation and they are also renowned carpenters, maintaining their own boats even after the worst of storms.

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Joki, a ring fortress built by the army of Enligt after raiding the river town present before Lord Runo decided to take over, is found between Kalastaja and Enligt. The city now hosts the largest military base of Midgard. Children of Joki are all trained in the arts of combat from an early age, making the people of Joki the best warriors in the continent. Being at a central location, the army can be quickly mobilised to reach any part of the kingdom of Lord Runo to defend its reach.

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The White Mountains, home of the fiercest snow storms and the fabled frost trolls, are the the mystery of Midgard. Nobody knows much about the snowy heights; many adventurers who try to climb the mountains never come back. Rumors are spread that they are eaten by frost trolls. Other sensible stories involve them freezing to death, starving, or falling of the side of the mountain due to poor visibility during frequent snowstorms. A nomadic group of dark-elves are known to have lived on the lowest plateaus of the mountains, relying on hunting for food. These people never seem to stay in a city or town for too long and keep to themselves.

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The island of Saarii, a small island to the South East of the main land, the target of Lord Runo for years, sits south of Kalastaja. The last expedition sent to besiege the island resulted in a disaster, ten longships being destroyed in a massive storm, only a few survivors making it back to shore. Both Dwarves and Dark-Elves are known to have joined the Human rebels stationed on the island who do not approve of Lord Runo’s leadership style.

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