Invasion

Story One: In the service of Aelfric

What is the story about? This initial story is simply to bring the players together and have them meet each other. As I find that the easiest way to determine character loyalties is in battle, there is a minor skirmish forming the centre of the story.

From here onwards, anything italicised is to be read to the players, everything else is for the storyteller only.

Scene One: The Night before the Morning After

"The day is New Years Eve in the year of our Lord One Thousand and Sixty Five. The local Thegn, Aelfric, has summoned all on his land to his hall at Adgefrin for the annual feast. The hall is nestled beneath the largest hill in the vale of Maelmin. While the snow here is difficult to walk through, up on the hill it is impossible to even see through, and the ancient fort atop it is completely hidden, its earthern ramparts and ditches now levelled with the flurrying snow. People shiver in the bitter cold as they make for the warmth of the hall, its open windows glowing like a beacon to all who are coming. Looking away from the hill, nothing is easily visible as a blizzard whips through the vale, giving everything another coat of snow.

Your small group hurries towards the hall, thanking God that you banded together for ease of travelling. As you close upon the door an unearthly howl chills you more than the ice and snow. Eadbert, Aelfric's Steward stands at the door and urges everyone in quicker. "There is things afoot tonight that no God-fearing man wishes to see, hurry yourselves into the hall"

Thankful for the warmth you all bustle into the hall, and remove snow caked cloaks. The inside of the hall is cosy, a large fire burns in the hearth and many people are already moving around to get everything ready. Eyes stinging from the smoke, you glance around in the pale gloom at the inside of the hall. The roof is high and from it hang bunches of herbs and joints to be dried by the fire. A large table runs down the centre of the hall, and at the end is Aelfric's chair, a magnificently carved piece of oak. Above it on the wall are weapons and armour, most are quite new and obviously still in use, though a few are certainly much older. The wassail cup stands in the centre of the table surrounded by the food of the feast. Large cold cuts of meat spill over their platters, and large frothing jugs of ale are passed around along with the mead and wine. At the opposite end of the table, above the fire, a large cauldron bubbles with hot vegetable stew and beside a half ox is being slowly roasted. The aroma of the slowly drying herbs and of the boiling soup and roasting meats mingle together to form a wonderful atmosphere within the smoky hall. All in all, the night is set to be excellent.

A little later, Aelfric opens the feast with a blessing and says a short prayer for those that cannot enjoy tonight as they have be taken by the fell winter, after a few minutes of silence, he then entreats everyone to have their fill. Soon bowls of steaming stew and soup are passed around, though not as frequently as the beer! Very quickly, everyone is happily devouring the products of a successful year. All around the table men and women alike are discussing local events and you catch snippets of conversation about such gossip as “that funny ail that Aethal’s cow had back in the spring” and “when will Gifu kick out her son to go and find his own life?”

Later into the evening Aelfric stands at his seat and calls for silence, “We cannot have a great feast such as this without games! Tonight there will be a pair of competitions, testing both physical and mental powers. The first is a wrestling match against my finest Huscarl – Edwin, the prize is one of honour, the winner will sit at my right hand side for the remainder of the celebrations. Please watch out for the fire as the fire irons are quite painful if you were to stumble onto them!” The rules for this fight are simple, any basic unarmed combat move may be used, but each hit can only do a maximum of 1 damage after soaking (they are not trying to kill each other). Once a winner for this contest has been found, continue. Once the cheering from the fight has died down, Aelfric stands again, “An excellent contest and good entertainment too! The second contest is a test of wits and the mind rather than the body. Eadberht here is a much renowned chess player in these parts. Any who can beat him will have the place of honour at my left for the feast. There are two ways to do this – either dice or for real. If dice, roll Wits + Subterfuge (diff opponents Intelligence + Subterfuge), this is an extended roll with the winner being the player to reach 15 success’s first. If playing for real, the rules are the same as for normal chess except the queen as the king does (i.e. 1 square in any direction) as the massive movement of the queen that we know is a medieval addition. As before, once a winner is found, continue. Laughing Aelfric beckons for the winner to be seated, “That is enough now of the entertainment, I think we now need uninterrupted feasting!”

The night draws on and the weather shows no sign of easing, the wind howls and whips at the roof and door, and driving snow and sleet slashes against the shutters. The door rattles and bangs in the wind. As the fire burns down and the wood pile diminishes, Aelfric motions to one of his bondsmen to get some more fuel. The bondsman, a man called Oswy, draws his cloak about and opens the door into the blizzard. The wind whistles in and snow banks up against the open door as Oswy fetches more fuel. Grumbling one of the men opposite the open door pushes it shut and sits down again. A few minutes later Oswy kicks the door open and dumps a large pile of logs next to the fire.

"I don't know what it is," he says "but there is a large glow to the east, like a fire or something." He reaches for his drink and sits himself down. "Whatever it may be, there is nothing we can do in this weather." replies Aelfric "in the morning we can investigate, but for now we drink!"

The revelry continues late into the night and it is almost light when you all roll up in cloaks and blankets and finally go to sleep. With the fire and your bellies well stoked, the entire hall sleeps soundly.

Scene Two: The Vikings are Here!

A frantic crashing at the door awakens everyone and a large man covered in snow bursts into the hall. You recognise him as Edwy, one of Aelfric’s most loyal Huscarls. "Arm yourselves! Danes landed last night and are burning and looting their way here!" Aelfric looks briefly out of the door and you can see that the blizzard has abated, though a thick covering of snow blankets everything. Seeing nothing he then looks to Edwy, "How many? How far away are they?" he barks as he pulls his baldrick on and tightens the straps. "They arrived in two longships I think, and they are delayed by the weather and their looting so they are still a few miles away." replies Edwy.

Aelfric looks at his gathered people in the hall, most of the men look angered and many of the women are scared and angered. "We shall go and meet these Danes and defeat them, any man without his weapons is free to take leave of mine, they are only Fyrd weapons, but better than nothing." He looks to his wife, " When we leave bar the door and do not open it until we return." Most players will probably require weaponry and the following is what Aelfric keeps in his hall, they may borrow anything from the list but must return it after the fight is over. There are; 6 round shields, 3 conical helmets, 3 axes, 8 spears, and 1 bow with a quiver of 15 arrows.

Once equipped everyone troops out of the building and gathers around Aelfric and his Huscarls. “Its no use” says a sneering voice from one of the huts. Turning to face the speaker you see without surprise that it is Godwine, a potter supposedly, but better known as a lazy and surly layabout who spends as much time as possible in the hills to the east ‘looking for clays’ and not actually doing anything. He is only tolerated in the settlement because he is a very good craftsman and occasionally he does make his pots and they are a very fine quality. “the Danes are attacking there and they will be attacking here next” he continues “they will see you all marching over there and run as fast they can over here and attack.” He steps out from his doorway and stands looking at you all with arms folded and legs braced apart “They will come here and all of you little men playing at warriors will be miles away and the village will have to be defended by a bunch of women and me as we are the only ones with the sense enough not to go and interfere.” Edwin walks forward to Godwine and looks him squarely in the eye, he has a good few inches extra height and looks very menacing. “You are no man to talk like that, I cannot remember the last time you did anything. I know you cannot be forced to go and fight when it is not your life at stake, but any man who valued his honour would. Utter another word about the honour and loyalty of these good warriors and I will lay you flat.” Edwin then turns and walks back to the group. Godwine shakes his head and walks back into his house.

Edwy hoists his shield over his shoulder and makes out towards the North “Come, they are only at Maelmin. It is not far and would be a good walk after last nights feast!” The morning is crisp and cool, the smell of freshly fallen snow is the most notable scent, though as the wind gusts smoke is also noticeable of the breeze from the north. In the distance you can make out the burgh at Maelmin, it’s thick wooden palisades are strong and as no smoke or flames rise up, you presume that the Danes have not ravaged it yet, but judging from the faint scent of wood smoke, other places during the past night have not been so lucky. The ground is covered in light powdery snow and the going is tough. Quickly Aelfric leads you all over the burn and north towards Maelmin. Mail clinks and the Huscarls grumble as they wade through the unyielding snow weighted down by their armour and weapons. Coldside hill rises up on your left as you move as quickly as possible towards the burgh. As you approach Maelmin, the glint of the sun on helmets and weapons becomes apparent. The Danes are attacking the burgh, though the palisades are holding them out for the moment. Shouts and screams drift over to you though it does not sound like battle noise, more like the jeering and taunting before a battle.

Aelfric leads his small band of warriors along the side of the hill until you reach the road going east into Maelmin and then turns and advances towards the western gate. As you troop up the track you can see that the Danes are attacking the eastern gate of the burgh, and there appears to be anywhere up to 100 of the raiders. The defenders are loosing hails of arrows into the attackers but their great round shields absorb most of the missiles and only occasionally does a Dane fall. In the centre of the attacking shield wall is a paired line of men carrying a tree trunk. As you watch, the rest of the men cover them and with a roar they charge at the gates. The Danes retreat under the cover of their shields and ready for another charge.

The tree trunk strikes the gate with a deafening crash, and even from you position nearly half a mile away you can hear the gates splinter. Suddenly a fusillade of burning arrows streak over the palisade and land inside the burgh, igniting the thatch on the roofs. Screams and shouts carry over to you and plumes of smoke and flames begin to rise. Aelfric and his Huscarls begin to run towards the gate and as the defenders see you all coming they open the huge wooden doors. The gates slam behind you as everyone piles into the Burgh. Men and women are running around shouting as they try and put out the fires starting in the buildings. Near the eastern gate is a line of dead Saxons, and spread out throughout the settlement are bodies with arrows jutting from them. Children are crying and over everything you can here the Danish warriors shouting orders and threats.
“Edwy saw the Danes attacking and we thought we would come and help.“ Aelfric pants “No one wants them ravaging the land.” A tall dark haired man wearing blood spattered mail walks forward and clasps Aelfric’s hand “Thank you Brother, twice they have broken in and twice we have thrown them out, but not without loss of life. I don’t think we can take many more attacks. The eastern gate is braced and has been repaired as best we could, but their ram is demolishing anything we put there. After the next attack we are going to form up and strike back at them.” Looking around the village Aelfric nods “That would be a good idea. We should catch them off guard and massacre them.”

A defender on the wall turns to shout “RAM! Get rea—“ and is cut off in mid sentence as an arrow pierces his throat and he falls over the palisade with a gurgled scream. Aelfric checks his line of men “Close order, on my word I want a tight shield wall, and skirmishers forward.” He looks to the archers, “Keep left and right of the gate in case they get through and go for the line as it advances, once we clash go after the stragglers.” Along with Edwy, Edwin and the other Huscarls Aelfric readies himself and stands in the middle of the line. The men of Maelmin rank up alongside and behind you. An almighty strike on the gate sends a shower of wood and splinters over you and Aelfric orders the advance. As one the shield wall moves towards the splintered gate and the defenders atop the wall pull them open. Your wall blocks the entire entrance and as they see you the leading Danes grin and draw wickedly sharp looking axes and swords. The tree trunk is readied again and with horrible realisation you see that they mean to charge straight through your thin line. The Danes form a short but compact wall in front of you and slowly advance. Some run forward wielding their huge axes and charge towards the Saxon line bellowing insults and warcries. As the warriors advance with their axes, other men run outbehind them holding javelins and hurl them at the defending Saxons. Many of the javelins thud home into shields and the wooden palisade. A few however find their targets, an Adgefrin man goes down screaming as one pierces his shield and passes through his chest in a shower of blood, and from the top of the palisade two more men of Maelmin fall as the missiles strike hard. Roll a single D10 for each player to see if they are hit, they are hit on a ‘10’ and must soak 5 dice of damage. Once their supply is spent the men draw hand weapons and retreat back into the Danish line.

From inside the burgh you can hear “Archers! Kill those axemen!” and a fresh sheet of arrows whistles towards the advancing Danes. Some fall, but others still stand and continue towards your line. The Danes own archers now move to the sides of their shield wall and loose their arrows high into the air to fall upon your static defence. Someone behind you lets out a groan and collapses as an arrow takes him through the leg, and in the front row a man grits his teeth against the pain and dropping his shield, breaks of the shaft of the arrow that has penetrated his left shoulder. Grimacing he hefts his axe and awaits the fight proper. Again, roll for player damage, they are hit on a ‘10’ and must soak 5 dice damage. Anyone who states they are raising their shield only takes 3 dice damage if hit.

“Dane Axes forward!” shouts Aelfric and the men with the long handled axes pull out from your line and move forward of the shield wall. Edwy grips his axe with both hands and charges at the Danes with animal ferocity. With a single blow he cleaves through both a Danish axeman and his parrying axe, blood sprays in a sheet from the severed body and Edwy continues his rampage into another axeman. Note: any players with Dane Axes will be told to do the same, as they cannot fight with them in the wall. The lone Danes are quickly engaged and the Danish line advances to help their struggling men.

When the Viking line is only 50 yards from the gate, Aelfric orders the attack “Charge!” The entire wall hurtles towards the opposing wall and smashes into the Viking defence. Within seconds men are screaming and bellowing at each other, weapons ring out as they are blocked and parried, and slowly the Vikings are pushed back. Blood and gore spills on to the floor turning the pure white snow into a churned and muddy mess. Warriors on both sides fall in the treacherous conditions and are swiftly slain.

At this point the players fight in loose formation until they have managed to kill 10 Vikings between them. The Vikings have average stats (Attack pool, Damage pool 5, Soak pool 3) and wear conical helmets. They are armed with swords, hand axes and spears. Once the players have killed about 10 Vikings, read on.

As the left flank crumbles and is defeated the remaining raiders drop the ram and turn to face you. Glancing round there are maybe 30 dead Danes and only a handful of slain Saxons. Aelfric and the Viking Jarl scream the order to charge simultaneously and both walls crash together in front on the palisade. The Jarl carves his way through the line towards where Aelfric stands. He is a large bearded man covered in mail and wielding a pair of heavy swords. Huge sweeps of the blades cut down men left and right, and with a roar of rage he speeds his advance towards your Thegn. Busy with a small knot of raiders, Aelfric doesn’t appear to notice the Jarl butchering his way towards him. Here the players can shout a warning to Aelfric, go and help him or ignore the Jarl. If they decide to fight him his stats are: Attack pool: 8 dice, Damage pool 9 dice, Soak pool 8 dice, Initiative pool 7 dice. If anything else is needed make it up. Aelfric thanks them if they kill him and then urges them back into the fight. If they ignore the Jarl Aelfric defeats him but is seriously injured.

When the Jarl is killed, continue. As they see their leader fall the Danes let out a stricken cry and turn tail. Seeing the raiders flee, more men pour out from the shattered gate of Maelmin and with their help you cut down every last one of the Vikings. Looking around, not a Viking remains standing. Quickly the dying and wounded are dispatched and the bodies stripped for burning. Men split in groups and begin collecting wood for the fire.

As the funeral pyre is made, Aelfric and the men of Maelmin sort out the loot from the dead. The bodies are thrown on the pyre and it is lit.

The flames lick at the corpses and Aelfric summons his men. “Well done, you are all worthy warriors and not one man failed in his duty! Alas some of us will not be returning to our families and friends, though we did not take so many dead as did the cursed Danes” as he speaks he motions towards a line of 8 dead Saxons, they lie on biers awaiting carrying home, among them are Edwy and Oswy both sporting grievous wounds, all are on the front and their backs are undamaged. He then looks back to the survivors “Bravery such as yours shall not go unrewarded, you are but simple men, few of you trained for battle. Unfortunately as this is the spoils from fighting, I can offer nothing but arms and armour.” Aelfric then begins to hand out the Vikings equipment amongst you all.

The players are awarded equipment on the basis of how many Danes they killed. The following table will help, the rewards are cumulative.

If any characters fought the Jarl read the following.

Aelfric looks at you, “My life was in your hands today, but for you that Jarl would have cut me down and we would most likely have been defeated. When we return to Adgefrin stop by my hall before going on your way.”

Scene Three: The Survivors Return

Regardless of whether or not the players killed the Jarl continue here.

The people of Maelmin come out from the burgh and thank you profusely. Ale and food is freely handed around and you suddenly realise you had no breakfast before leaving for battle. Once everyone has eaten and drunk their fill you all move the shattered gate from the road and leaving the pyre with its smell of burning flesh and cloth, begin the walk back to Adgefrin. The journey home is not as tense as the journey out, though the mood is depressed as you now carry the bodies of 8 comrades and friends with you.

Soon the hall of Adgefrin comes into view and it is possible to see all the worried womenfolk and children waiting for the return of their men. At the sight of the biers they look shocked and a few hurry forward. They look intently at the line and you see Edwy’s wife run up to you sobbing as she realises he is not among the walking.

Upon reaching the hall the biers are gently placed on the ground and the waiting group either falls on them weeping or runs up to the living smiling and laughing.

Read this next part only if the players killed the Jarl.

Aelfrics walks over the your small group and looks apologetically at your partners “I am sure they haven’t said anything yet, but between them they saved my life and slew the Danish Jarl.” He turns to you “If you will follow me back into the hall I have you own rewards.” He leads you into the hall and sits at the head of his table. “As you know Edwy was slain today and now lies outside my hall. However, he was a Thegn in his own right and as such had his own land. His wife has told me that she will be leaving Adgefrin and returning to Bebbanburgh to live with her sister. She has told me to keep Edwy’s land and divide it as I see fit. In light of what you all did I will divide the land between you all. You are each to have two hides of the land on the hill above this hall. This is not instead of the lands you already own, but in addition. Also, I owe each of you my life and shall always remember that. Now go home and be with your families.” With that he stands and leaves the hall.

In game terms each player gains +1 resources to a maximum of 3, and +1 Allies.

Read this regardless of what happened above. Outside the hall Aelfric stands before his men, “You have all done me a great service and I thank you, but it is the beginning of a new year so hurry away back to your homes and see that everything is right! However, I doubt that we have seen the last of those Danes so always keep your weapons sharp and your eyes and ears open.” With that everyone begins to disperse and Aelfric goes into the hall with his wife.

Everyone leaves the hall and makes their way back to their own farmsteads and homes.

This is the end of the first Story, xp should be awarded and advances made.
Additional xp is; +1 per Dane killed, +3 if character helped kill the Jarl.