Category: Sagas of the Icelanders: Actual Play

The Shame of Gisli

Trigger Warning: Real nasty stuff, veiled. Children, Abuse, adult rape.

I ran a convention game with 5 stout-hearted players yesterday and the epic bought tears to many of an eye. I realized that creating the Man as an NPC during a one-shot makes for an excellent dynamic in play. This is reconstructed from fuzzy memory, but is generally in line.

The Woman failed her roll on running the house, and I rolled a mixed success of the Man for context. It emerged that the woman has been the one keeping the household together, as her lazy husband Gisli was doing the bare minimum in order to get by. While he had a reputation of keeping a strong house, it was entirely due to Mjoll’s hard work. When misfortune strikes, Gisli raises his voice in anger at Mjoll’s irresponsibility for not keeping ale in ready supply. He leaves her in the kitchen, walks off, and encounters young Bjarni in the other room.  Mjoll hears a raised voice, a sound of flesh striking flesh and they cry of a child. The Woman takes her knife in hand and runs into the other room with the intent of protecting her Bjarni from Gisli’s rage.  She got snake-eyes on her she-wolf move, and the scene faded to black.

Meanwhile, Unn and Illugi are at his longboat, doing a foretelling before the coming season a Viking. She sees a vision in the runes of young Bjarni standing in the woods, crying and soaked in blood, being approached by a dark figure wielding Illugi’s Dane Axe. Unn asks Illugi to vow to always remember the love of Bjarni in his heart, and the two of them head to the steading to find Bjarni putting in a noble attempt to cook dinner for the family as his father ordered. Mjoll was not there, and Gisli explains that she was off to trade with the other steading and would be back soon. Unn went to salvage the burnt fish and goat-cheese soup while the rest got to worrying.

We had a short scene were Vermund the Shieldmaiden was “spending time” with Brigid the Thrall in the barn, discovering she was a follower of the White Christ, which led to some concern.

Illugi discovers Gisli in his boat, drinking fine ale and offering hospitality to the older brother in law. The Huscarl was honor-bound to drink with him rather than search for his sister. After time passes, Brigid directs Illugi to where he can find Mjoll, and warns him that her shoulder is broken. He runs off finds a frail looking woman, with her hair cut short by a knife and her clavicle broken. She explains Gisli traded her to the other steading in exchange for ale, to “teach her a lesson”.  Poor Mjoll ties to goad Illugi into slaying Gisli, but a failed roll led Illugi to realize that his little sister needs tender care and protection more than bloody vengeance this evening.

Unn, Brigid, Bjarni and Velgerd spend the evening hiding in the barn, expecting terrible bloody vengeance. The only one who sleeps well is Gisli, who takes his fishing boat out at dawn. The group decide to send Illugi Hagridson, Mjoll Hagridottir and young Bjarni Mjollson away from the steading and on a journey to Hagrid the Godi. They seek justice and judgement, and Hagrid is filled with ancient rage at this monster of a man. They set out to the steading for the divorce, so that Illugi may slay Gisli without becoming a kinslayer.

During all this, we had a crisis of faith as Brigid threatened Unn with the promise of hope and absolution for even one as sinful as Gisli. We had young Bjarni bring joy to all the weary hearts, eagerly seeking to wield an axe and become a proud man. Unn even admitted that she loved and was proud of Valgerd, despite her daughter’s failure to continue her line with a good husband.

This was the most amazingly tragic game of the convention and we had a blast. Eager for more Sagas.