We ended a three session cycle (you can see my material, fronts and a summary of all the characters appeared).
In three session we got the Goði killing his own son, becuase he converted to Christianity and, more important, put himself over the community. Grieviously injured, he had a coup to his life attempted from his three servants.
Connor, the Thrall, tried to be a loyal and dignified servant, but the ruthless son, Frodi, punished him harshly for a jug of milk versed, and that filled him with rage and frustration. He joined the Finn and the Saxon slaves in dark and dangerous rites and ended up discovered and tied to the pyre of the Shield Maiden.
The Shield Maiden organized the defence of the farm against a party of outlaw raiders, but died protecting her lord from poison and treachery and, ultimately, felt for a slash of the Woman’s scissors.
Her funeral was an old thing, a pyre, not a tomb, and a mysterious traveler who asked gestur to the Goði revealed himself to be th Shield Maiden uncle, sung the song of her family and revealed the Thrall to be of their blood, son of his sister,
The Woman betrayed her husband, the Goði, and got pregnant from the Thrall. When she saw the head of her first born tied to her husband horse she lost her mind and tried to kill her husband but could not dissuade the Shield Maiden. She then turned her weapon against herself, but the Shield Maiden sacrificed her life to protect her.
Useless, because, pregnant, she could not bear the shame, and threw herself from a cliff.
This was Ðorolf saga Myrdàlsáss.
The players loved it, the game was intense and even if it degenerated quite often in a worshop it helped shaping ideas and creating the right rythm, solemn and slow followed by quick and frantic action scenes. The Thrall player, in particular, was really unbalanced by the absolute injustice of her situation. She tried to be a good person, coherent, but the inevitable injustice of her situation make impossible to her to be like that. I threw a big bang introducing the other two slaves making a dark ritual (and that’s why we had a Finn slave) and she gulped and joined the rite.
The last scene was between the Goði and her wife and it was strong. She was about to throw herself from the cliff and the Goði spent a bond and asked what could make her desist.
He told, he did, but was not enough, the phrasing, the timing, was slightly off. The player bent the head and the Woman threw herself from the cliff.
We will skip a decade, and will play from there, with new characters: the last sons of the Goði, another mysterious stranger and maybe the Christian fianceé of the first son.
Now, in this family, Christianity is saw like poison. How the powerful House of Thorolf Goði will influence the rest of the Island?
The Shield Maiden died a poweful hero. How will this will better the women position?
Thorolf Goði killed his son because the welfare of the community was more important than his own welfare. How will this change the concept of justice and community in the island?
A wonderful, powerful game.
