The Damnation And The Glory

Okay great and glorious /tg/ers, I've finally started the Norse Warband campaign with a group of my friends IRL. Seven players, playing the crew of a Warship - a little 13th Warrior, a little Firefly, a little OM NOM NOM NOM. Set back in 2290's, before the first Storm Of Chaos (Avasar Kul can suck MY nuts).

The Characters

• Buliwyf: The son of the warlord of Estwyk and heir to his throne, he is a noble and enduring warrior, eager to prove his worth to his father and his Gods.

• Kalan: A Dark Elf noble, booted off the the fucked end of the world for being such a fucking nonce, he's a power slave and allies himself to those he thinks has it, no real personality, just a drone. Very charismatic, however.

• Gudlauz: Buliwyf's pleasure slave. 'Nuf said.

• Hrothgar: Buliwyf's labor slave, part of Gudlauz village. Usually chained under the decks, been used by Skeld as a test subject for mutation experiments with magic. He is trusted by Buliwyf, but only barely. He longs for freedom and power, and prays regularly to Lanshor (Slaanesh) regularly. He's the youngest (rolled 16 for age).

• Wolfgar: A Kurgan mercenary, not as bloodthirsty as he is professional, he simply seeks to master the arts of war and take control of Buliwyf's warband when he realizes he is in a position to do so. He constantly wears a mask etched with the face of a Daemon.

• Skeld: Buliwyf's pet seer, he is a blind, bald and amoral monster. He is young but is already training an apprentice. He has the 'Chaos Organ' mutation.

• Eydis: A wild-eyed and wide-haired apprentice, she's the only one who is really Buliwyf's friend, though the friendship is far from understandable by anyone.

Character Traits

Even this early on, a few character traits have appeared amongst the players.

• Buliwyf really rules with an iron fist, even going so far as to ban the 'free' players from interacting with the 'slaves'.
• Wolfgar is acting with a weird glossy veneer, acting friendly to the players but revealing some deep seeded viciousness when he goes Bezerker on the innocent victims.
• Skeld is already taking a disliking to Buliwyf and his slaves, believing they are treated better than he is.
• Kalan is the only one who has really taking into the situation, realizing where everything is gonna go and has started to ally himself with Wolfgar and Skeld, fully anticipating a coup.

Session One

• Game started with the crew onboard the boat, slipping through Elf Raiders (losing some crew in the process) and raiding some Norsca homesteads (because they were too much of a bunch of pussies to risk the trip to the Empire). After nearly a month of raids (only 4 small homesteads raided) they end up losing 8 men, but gathering (after the trading posts) gear worth nearly 620 GC, plus a Magical Amulet.
• Wolfgar convinced Buliwyf to give up his share so that he can keep the amulet. His exact words were "All things are equal, so either we sell the amulet, or you give up your share. If you don't mind my saying."
• After the 50% share going to their warlord, minus costs for the trip, each of the survivors are looking at a 45 GC share for a months work. They are well pleased.
• Hrothgar is experimented on by Skeld and Eydis, with Buliwyf's reluctant approval. The end result is that Hrothgar's hands are now warped into distended claws. Still human, but his fingers are insanely long and razor sharp. Buliwyf was pleased.
• They arrive home to find it burnt down (Wee! Story begins!)
• Buliwyf, ever the delicate diplomat, declares that the warlords 50% share now belongs to him, as he was to be the next warlord after his fathers death. Wolfgar uses this to spread the first seeds of dissent, in secret. Kalan ends up allying to Buliwyf, while Skald and Eydis go to Wolfgar. Buliwyf is still ignorant that there is even any danger, as Kalan knows if he speaks he'll be taken cared of in a manner that is not worth mentioning.
• The slaves are 'freed'. They still wear their chains, but they aren't tied up to anything.
• Buliwyf, after some convincing from Kalan, ends up sharing the 50% to use as payment to the crew (including half-shares for the slaves) as payment to hunt down the rival warlord who they believe responsible and to find their revenge.
• Skeld experiments on Eydis. She grows suckers from her arms. He then experiments on himself, growing spines out of his back.
• For the next few weeks they live off the land and stalk the trail of the Warhost, following it eventually to a small town. They are facing off against approximately 40+ Norsemen, half of which are Marauders.
• Tension rises in the freed slaves as Skeld insinuates that they are still nothing more than excess meat. Hrothgar is strangely patient. Prays a lot.
• They plan to attack the small homestead. End up deciding to go in at night when the warhost returns from a succesful raid and lock them into their townhouse, right before they set it on fire. This plan is a lot better than their original idea to just run in there screaming.
• Plan goes off relatively well, but the Warlord batters down a wall with his axe. Him and half a dozen others survive and manage to make their way out. Hrothgar goes fucking NUTS. Insane rolls, just dove straight into them, claws wailing and chains whirlwinding. He should have died. He didn't. Though the others joined the fray, it was Hrothgar's show. After the fight Hrothgar runs into the burning townhouse to slaughter those who hadn't succumbed to the flames, despite the crews calls.
• Building burns down, they search the remains for any goods, end up finding a still breathing Hrothgar with a perfect metal Star Of Chaos melted into his skin, a clear symbol of their favor.
• Hrothgar assumes command of the warband, much to the surprise to all. But as loyal followers of the gods, they comply (though they hate it, in part). He is surprisingly kind as the new warleader.
• Hrothgar decides that they shall take the fight to the Elves that harass their shores.

END OF SESSION ONE.

Session 2

In our last, thrilling installment, Hrothgar The Enslaved had just one-shotted Enuffi the Warleader of Bartertown and absconded with his warband, determined to plan and mount an attack against the High Elf forces that were raiding the Norscan coasts. This is where we pick up from.

That night, after celebrations of a dumbening scale followed by an orgy my players insisted on acting out, the various characters slumped out, intent on sleeping off their drunken stupor. In the middle of the night, Hrothgar was visited with a vision. The Dark Prince Lanshor spoke to him. The Prince spoke to him of great powers waiting to be awoken, of the extent of his reach, and of a great storm on the horizon. The Prince told him his true name was Uh'iuv'u The Freed and that it was his task to recover the only tear the Dark Prince had ever shed. The Prince told him that he would come across the Elf Lordling who knew where to find it. Soon.

The next day, fueled by his visions, he set about organizing his Chaos Marauder Warband. Gudlauz was announced to be Uh'iuv'u's new champion, and told that the Prince Of Pleasure's Champion smiled upon her. The party was thrown in tumult, as the power base had effectively been reversed. Skeld took tutoring from a Witch and learnt the Dark Tongue, whilst Wolfgar trained Gudlauz to fill her new position.

It was this day that Uh'iuv'u noticed Buliwyf's amulet, recovered in that first gaming session. He demanded it to be given to him. Buliwyf refused. An argument ensued, and a crowd had gathered. Knowing that Buliwyf posed a threat to his new rule, Uh'iuv'u announced a Blood Circle, a battle to first blood to settle things in the old way. A fight ensued (I have this written down in more detail, if anyone is interested I'll type it up and post it) and Buliwyf lost. Cast down, he was chained in the place that Hrothgar The Enslaved had once lived. Uh'iuv'u continued preparing for the raid.

Time passes in montage mode summaries of this time are;

• Small raiding fleet is organized.
• Skeld advances on his path of darkness. His powers as a character actually surpass all others in the party at the moment.
• Gudlauz and Wolfgar both train greatly.
• Buliwyf is experimented upon, as Hrothgar was before him. His face is now a flaming skull (he rolled that. FUCK YEAH!) and he is making his first tentative steps towards the worship of the blood god.

Eventually they begin their attack, following reports from Norscan villages of an Elven fleet harassing their homesteads. We played it using a modified Man 'O War rule system. The battle was all kinds of fun, with each of the players controlling a ship, and me being their opponent. They end up winning, but here's the summary; - Kalan was killed after he boarded an enemy ship, going berserk upon seeing his hated kin. His player is now using the Gudlauz character, who used to be my NPC. Kalan was shishkababed. - Wolfgar narrowly avoided death via bolt thrower, but did lose an arm to the mammothonian bolt. - Uh'iuv'u slaughtered a High Elf Princeling, with the aid of his champion Gudlauz and 2 dozen Marauders. He discovers a map that he believes will lead him to the Tear Of Lanshor.

This is where we ended the session.

END OF SESSION 2

Session 3

Welcome back, avid fans, to another thrilling installment of The Damnation And The Glory. Lets pick up where we left off.

After the assault on the Elf raiding force, Uh'iuv'u and his rag-tag collection of warriors and mongrels were left to lick their wounds, having lost a decent ¼ of their fighting force. Though the assault had been successful from the perspective of battle, it had left the collection of Norscan warriors little richer for the experience. In fact, they were down several hundred crowns by the end of the day, and the collection of Warleaders who had pledged themselves to Uh'iuv'u banner were more than a little miffed at this turn of events. Though they did have a few worse-for-wear High Elf ships to play with, after repairs. Still, Uh'iuv'u validity as Warchief was standing on rocky ground after this. To date he and his newly appointed champion, Gudlauz, have stood up to the single challenge to their rule, but it’s clear that his power hold is definitely shakier than he would like it to be.

Meanwhile our ever-loved Skeld has been establishing his own little coven, along with his loyal servant Eydis. Together the two have collected all those they believe have the touch of the Wyrd, intent on teaching them the ways of sorcery. This little faction has established a strong presence in the warband (of 150 or so members, they could safely call upon around 1/3 of that) and, if properly prepared, at this moment they could set themselves into a position to take control. Indeed, one of the few Warleaders already look to Skeld as the true leader of the warband. And given the fact that it is Skeld that Uh'iuv'u turns to for advice, he may indeed be leading this warband already.

Skeld too, it seems, has been blessed by Lanshor, replacing his pale left hand with a crab like claw. Though the rank-and-file members of the Warband see this as the sign of the god’s favor, the coven are not entirely sure if the mutation was self-induced or not. Certainly, his work in advancing so many in the art of the dark powers would surely merit a reward from his sweet master?

On the other side of the camp, the warrior Wolfgar Half-Hand has seen opportunity, and set himself up as Skeld’s personal champion, in direct rivalry to his pupil Gudlauz. Though ostensibly blessed by his god, Skeld has chosen to work with Uh'iuv'u, rather than against. It seems that the Uh'iuv'u’s path leads to both his and Skeld’s glory.

Uh'iuv'u, untroubled by the worries of his warband, has been studying the map extensively and come to the conclusion that the location it denotes as the resting place of the Tear Of Lanshor is in Kislev, and could even be the great city of Praag itself. Untroubled by this turn of events he has turned to the warband and selected an elite troupe to accompany him on this mission of retrieval.

Meanwhile, Buliwyf has been reduced to little more than a pit-fighter for this session, though Uh'iuv'u has chosen to bring him along for this expedition, seeing that his ‘pet’ could prove useful. The player is very pleased. Buliwyf has been fighting the dregs of Norsca, as well as the odd wild animal. His rage is growing. In the middle of the night, his face was slit by unseen razors, great bloody welts opening upon his visage. More disturbing still, his face seems now to resemble that of a Bloodletter, a beast of Khorne. Uh'iuv'u, quite egotistically, has seen this as a blessing from Lanshor, that he should have a pet of the enemy of his gods.

Organizing a small raiding party, the group ends the session here.

House Rules: I’m trialing a new home rule – all worshipers of Chaos may elect to have one roll on the Rewards Of Chaos table if they expend a fate-point, this may only be done once per session. It’s working fairly well, as only 1 player (Buliwyf) has taken up on this offer. I find the choice between progression in the powers and skirting with true death seems a fine balance.

END OF SESSION 3.

Session 4

In today’s update, I introduce you to the group. Mainly because Saturdays are spent variously hanging out, seeing movies or just partying. Only rarely do we spend our Saturdays gaming. After all, we do have lives.

Taking the role of the GM is, of course, myself. A 6’ Warhammer affiliate who works part-time at a pub and splits his free time either with his girlfriend or referring to himself in the third person. It helps to pass the time.

Gudlauz is played by the resident Emo, the only female housemate and probably the most violent of the lot of us. She cuts, she smokes and we have a sneaking suspicion that she takes illicit drugs on a regular basis. But she plays and mean game of Halo and likes to play. More a rollplayer, but I won’t complain about that. We play Battlefleet Gothic constantly, always the same forces, always the same scenario. Her character is just trying to become more powerful, but still makes for an entertaining personality.

Hrothgar/Uh’iuv’u is played by the token Gay. Eccentric and friendly, he’s easily the best gamer of the lot of us. Only roleplays, but he is great at it. He also paints figurines with me, and has entered Golden Daemon more than a few times. Hell, maybe one of these days he’ll win it. His character is, to date, running the game, and is trying to become a Champion Of Slaanesh.

Wolfgar is played by my best friend, a computer technician and an artistic genius. If you’re a fan of Dream Theater, you can see a little of his work on the cover of Portnoy’s new DVD. He is more a /v/ gamer, but I got him interested enough in this game to take part. His character is looking to seize control of the warband, and he may even challenge Hrothgar to get it.

Skeld and Eydis are both played by my next closest friend, a great guy trying to join the police force. He plays a dash of Warhammer and /v/ games, but is far from being a true fa/tg/uy. Also a huge Firefly fan. His character is trying to become a Sorcerer of Slaanesh, and by all means he seems to be progressing faster than Hrothgar.

The last dancer in this little routine is the oldest of the housemates and a freelance video-game designer (if his words are to be believed). He plays Buliwyf and, after me, is the greatest one steeped in Warhammer lore, even owning a limited edition release of the Liber Chaotica. He also gets his OM NOM NOM on with a growing but strong ‘Nid army. Buliwyf now just seeks to slay Hrothgar.

Today we spent some time discussing the game, the story, where we’re going with it and any flaws that have popped up in the story-line. Hrothgar and Buliwyf’s players were who I discussed with, as of all of them they are the most immune to the lure of meta-gaming.

We worked our why the Elf Princeling had a map to the Tear of Lanshor, what exactly the Tear of Lanshor was, why Hrothgar needed to get it and what he would do with it once he had it, where it would be found and who else was searching for it, as well as working out the first ‘Boss’ of the game. I won’t release all this info just yet, in case people want to be surprised as the game progresses, but if asked I will post details.

Other topics discussed were character relations, and how strange it was that everyone blindly followed a 16 year old slave – even if he was blessed by the Gods, when a more powerful sorcerer was clearly the one leading the game. Then we remembered how luck he is. In spite of some lack luster stats, he has taken everything that has been thrown at him with excellent rolls and beautiful criticals.

His luck has seen him retain control more than his power or his charisma, and to this extent the player decided that next session he’ll relinquish one of his fate points for a roll on the Chaos Rewards table. However, we’ve agreed that, given the length of time he’ll be away from the warband for, Skeld’s little coven will no doubt take this opportunity to seize control of the warband.

Buliwyf also came up in conversation, as the next few sessions may see the group mingling in a city setting, and for the most part the mutations the group has are easy to hide. But Buliwyf’s face is a flaming skull with great rents in it that constantly bleed and grant him a strange visage similar to a bloodletter. Short of having a bag over his head, we’re not sure how we’ll get him into the city.

The last subject we discussed was Skeld and his power gaming. Of all the characters, he has progressed the fastest (thanks to some lucky starting rolls and clever selection of experience advancements). We’re working on how he might interact with the ‘Boss’ character, because depending on if he chooses to; a) Be his enemy b) Be his ally c) Be his minion or d) Be his master, it could conceivably change the course of the game. We can’t talk to him about this, as he is a meta-gamer in the first degree, and can use any knowledge so subtly and intelligently that you wouldn’t even realize he was doing it.

Any suggestions will be greatly welcomed.

Wolfgar: “Do you take salt in payment?” GM (as Trader): “No, but we accept gold, copper, silver and large bags of shit.” Wolfgar: “…hum-“ GM (as Trader):”Horse. You better be saying horse.”

Yes, you guessed it, it’s time for another harrowing installment of the adventures of Hrothgar The Freed and his miserable band of miscreants, marauders and murderers. Last time we left this lucky group, they had just left (along with a handful of their finest warriors) for the Kislev plains from Norsca in search of the alleged resting place of the chaotic artifact, the Tear of Lanshor – the reason for which they are retrieving it unknown, save to the daemon-dreams of Uh’iuv’u who isn’t feeling in the mood to share the information just as yet.

Oh yes, it turns out that Hrothgar was gifted with more than just the name of a daemon, but the sleeping essence of a daemon itself. It’s far from being Exalted, but the sliver of daemonhood is in there, and at night he dreams of the realm of Chaos, where he speaks with Uh’iuv’u and learns of things that were, are and will be. Needless to say, Hrothgar wakes up foaming at the mouth most days. And not in a good way, either.

Deciding that it was safer, as well as saner, to travel by horse to their destination, as opposed to risking pirates, elves and the navies of men that would threaten them if they chose to go by sea. It was a dull and eventless journey, with a few weeks spent huddling around a sullen camp fire, fighting off the cold and praying that those on watch wouldn’t slip up and let a hungry wolf into the camp to have it’s wicked way with them.

Skeld decidedly hated the journey, being the main advocate of a ship-bound approach. For a Norscan, he didn’t take too kindly to the wilderness, constantly bitching about the lack of fine food and strong mead, to an extent that had even the loyal marauders fingering their weapons and looking edgily at the powerful sorcerer.

The most interesting event of the dour trip was an argument with a traveling trader, after which the warband ended up with a metric-dogfuck of extra supplies and the world with a few less traders and mercenaries in it.

Wolfgar was very happy. Buliwyf was let loose amongst those who chose to flee and were caught. We had gotten bored and wanted to bump the game rating from PG to R. If I were to draw this, I’d need at least 14 shades of red, and a minimum on 1 blue.

It was upon a night dark and dreary, with Morrslieb hanging low in the sky, bleeding it’s evil grin out across the wide, grassy plain, that this motley crew came upon their target. They brought their horses around and examined, with some depression and annoyance, at the sight that greeted them. They were swiftly thankful that they had approached the final destination in the depth of the night.

A fortified town, probably once a home for a military garrison (if it did not still house one) stood smack-fucking-bang on top of their prize. Everyone was, understandably, miffed at this turn of events, and some grumbles were heard through out the minion marauder community.

Only Hrothgar was comfortable with this turn of events, thanks to his inner daemon he had been forewarned that his prize lay under the feet of his enemy. After some annoyance, Hrothgar admitted that it was hidden in the mausoleum of Heinrich Tottengrotter. The fact that he had not shared this information earlier came as an annoyance to the rest of the cast.

Of course, a new problem had arisen. They had a mighty need to check out those graves and find the right one. And that would mean going down into the graveyard and passing by Kislev peasants without arousing suspicion.

Let’s look at the cast, shall we?

• Buliwyf – A giant of a man, whose head is a flaming, bleeding skull. He’s been spending the last month of travel with a bag over his head. Do you have any idea how funny it is to watch people trying to figure out how to flame-proof a bag?

• Hrothgar – A 16 year old who is just as tall as Buliwyf, with claws splitting his fingers and the symbol of Chaos melted into his flesh.

• Wolfgar – A one armed man who has never, to date, taken off his semi-broken daemon mask. People are actually starting to make bets about what’s actually under there.

• Skeld – A hunched mutant sorcerer who is only growing in power. The less said about him, the better.

• Eydis – See Skeld’s description, but make it a woman.

• Gudlauz – An 18 year old, formerly Kislevite pleasure-slave girl who is blissfully mutation free.

I wonder who the most qualified character is?

Gudlauz’s player was a littler worried concerned, as she has not played much character-development material to-date, but she’s looking forward to some one-on-one time with me and her, trying to find a mausoleum that may well be a secret shine to Chaos, hidden on the outskirts of Kislev. But, so far so good, and I’m currently working on the town’s details now. We didn’t play long this game, as I had some business to attend too, as did most of the other players.

Again, any comments are warmly welcomed.

Gudlauz: “I scream and leap at them, whirling my axe in an over-head arc, aiming to remove the soldiers head from his neck. I rolled a…72. Fuck.” GM: “How do you like your pwn’d? Medium or fucked over?”

And I am back, after a disgusting plunge into realms of insanity that would make the most dedicated Slaaneshi cultist squirm with discomfort. Seriously you guys, why did you ask me to join? Why? Years of therapy to kill that side of me, and you go and drag it back up. Now the world around me is fucked over until I can convince myself that there isn’t a Slaaneshi-esque daemon watching over me and that I really should be keeping it in my pants.

So, without further mind-raping adieu, I bring to you the latest update for your perusal and reflection.

In our last thrilling installment, we reveal that the artifact that the players are seeking is hidden in the mausoleum of a man named Heinrich Tottengrotter. Hrothgar had known this, but conveniently chosen NOT to tell the rest of the group, a fact that has everyone more than a little miffed and has only served to encourage players thoughts of mutiny and revolution. Wolfgar has been toying with the thought particularly, but it’s in Buliwyf that the real problem is had, as the Player has made it painfully clear that if anyone but his character struck down Hrothgar, Buliwyf would definitely seek revenge against those who took away his chance of Khorne-fueled pain dealing.

Skeld is none too pleased with the possibility of a mutiny, as it would mean he’d have to exert his dominance over a new player, a change he is not at all relishing given his current situation of his magic not being as powerful as it would be further north. The player came to the sudden realization that relying on the eddies of the Winds Of Chaos is all well and good when you’re up to your next in it, but when you start traveling towards the Old World, that magic? Not so readily available. Eydis is just being his magic-bitch, and the Player is planning on sacrificing her to boost his powers. Whilst I allowed him to play 2 characters for the sake of character development, I am not going to let him use it as a power boost.

Of course, I’m not going to tell him that until AFTER he sacrifices her.

Now we skip back to the main focus of this session, Gudlauz, who after a quick costume change is now posing as a Kislevite peasant, after getting a crash course in basic Kislev so she knows roughly what to say if/when she gets caught snooping around the grave yard. Lucky that bastard Skeld took Kislev as an additional language.

After a particularly harrowing moment trying to get into the town, when it was revealed clearly that she could not speak Kislev by the town-guards, she managed to get in only by handing a hastily scrawled note that detailed that she was visiting the grave of her father. Fucking Plan B. Not only did she get in without a hitch, the fucking helpful towns-guardmen leads her right to the fucking grave.

It’s at this point that they executed their cunning plan, which I was not privy to. It’s best if I just put it in dot points.

• Gudlauz drops her guise and makes it very, very obvious that she’s a worshiper of Chaos. The town-guard obviously cries for help. Hearing the cry, a few locals rush to the man’s aid, including the remaining gate-keeper (rolled vs. intelligence to think against this, failed, he rushed to his aid)
• Seeing the sign, the fucking warband which had been kept ready attacks. A few rolls of Leadership later and Hrothgar’s command for the entire warband to stay as silent as possible is followed almost to the letter.
• Gudlauz virtually rapes the first towns-guardsman, then proceeds to play "Follow the Leader" in the cemetery, screaming her longs out and making damn sure that anyone who is in a position to defend the town is following her, rather than manning the walls. She runs like buggery through-out the town, before losing them and donning her disguise once more.
• Buliwyf hits the town first, actually running faster than Chaos Steeds. He proceeds to fuck up everything that gets in his way.
• Wolfgar and Hrothgar move to the cemetery to give Gudlauz back up.
• The Chaos Marauders follow Buliwyf and proceed to make a giant shit-fuck out of the entire town.
• The meager town defenses are easily overcome by the Chaos Warriors. I could go on in gore inducing detail over how many they killed (Buliwyf personally tallied over 3 dozen) and in the explosive ways that it was done (Wolfgar crushed a fucking peasant woman with a grave stone) but I think I should leave that to your imaginations.
• Wolfgar, Hrothgar and Gudlauz made a stand against the bulk of the defenders at the cemetery, and proceeded to show them why they were the Chosen Of Chaos. It was nice to get back to good, healthy gore after last-nights…episode.

The session ended when the players, sans Buliwyf, entered the mausoleum. Buliwyf blacked out rather cinematically from a blow he never saw coming. More on that in coming installments. As usual, I will answer any questions, and if you want more detail on exactly what happened, then just ask. No-one lost any limbs, though Gudlauz got more than a lil’ cut up. So, comments?

END O’ SESSION 5