"Fools! You will live to regret this. Rather, you will die wishing you'd never crossed the jarl!" Haldorr shouts at the men as he moves in next to Dvallar and Aðalbjörn. He brings his greataxe down hard on the man wielding the falchion.
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Haldorr draws his greataxe as he notices three shady-looking men approaching the girls with their prisoner in tow.
Haldorr sighs, dropping his guard as A∂abjörn reassures him. "Perhaps I overreacted with haste. I will stand nearby and remain attentive. As the huscarl said, I do not think a shield wall necessary to go about defending these three from wolves, Dvallar. That is, if that actually was a wolf..." He half shrugs and breaks from what was the beginning of a shield wall, moving into the clearing. He watches the girls as they move from field to bushel, collecting flowers.
Sorry Jereru, of course I'm happy with others joining us. Feel free.
Haldorr moves ahead and lines up with Dvallar, quickly reminded of the impenetrable wall he had formed so many times while at sea. "We do not wish to alarm you, we simply would like to keep you three safe," he says, looking back at the girls. I do not know how well three young girls will take this... Perhaps it really is only a harmless dog out there. Either way, I will let no harm come to them this day. He motions towards Aðalbjörn and O∂ørn to fall in line as well.
As the howl rings through the air, Haldorr perks up, a flutter of adrenaline being sent down his veins. Not wanting to alarm the jarl's daughters any more than they already might have been from hearing such a howl, he mutters lowly, "Just what was that?"
Haldorr walks near the girls, his greataxe hanging from his back, its iron blade recently sharpened. Although lighter than most armor, his chain shirt will offer sufficient protection should the need arise. "I know quite little about trivial things such as flowers, but please, if you need anything, do let me know," the ranger says to the girls, offering a smile. He peers into the distance and around, alert to whatever threats may arise, almost to a paranoid level.
Haldorr arrived promptly and eager to assist in what had been spoken about last night.
Ideally, I'd like to continue with Book 0, but I'm not against anything Norse in general. Same to you, Aðalbjörn. Lots of rain incoming where I am, and cooler temps to boot...
I should probably have mentioned that too. I'm GMT-4 (Toronto) and, at least currently, I've been checking on these forums way more frequently than I like to admit...
I'm glad to hear you're considering GMing for us. The time difference is fine with me!
I have the PDF, as I've seriously considered running it myself. The lore just sucked me in and I find those few gameplay posts were a bit of a tease.
I'm in. Perhaps we could go back to the recruitment thread and look for another character to fill Aella's spot?
I haven't messaged him either.
I'm doubtful that we'll see another gameplay post from our GM. I looked over a few pages of the Northlands Saga, and it's very wordy and lore heavy. I can imagine it's quite the daily undertaking to GM this AP...perhaps he just doesn't have the time.
@Helle I'm also rather new, and I've completed one game with 3 in progress and running smoothly. I think something like this happening is more the exception than the rule. I don't suppose anyone wants to pick up the Northlands PDF and take over GM? ;)
Haldorr also nods enthusiastically in agreement with the two. "As a huscarl, I cannot understate the importance of service to the Jarl." He raises his mug back at O∂ørn and takes a drink. Putting it down, he turns back to Helle. "You have spent some time in the woods, haven't you? Perhaps you have knowledge of what flowers would be the most suitable for them. Surely there are some that are more precious than others, or some that may even have healing properties."
It's a little upsetting to have spent a good few days on creating a backstory that fits the AP and the other characters perfectly, and then spending another few days hammering out relationships with the rest of the characters, only to have the GM disappear after the introductory post. There is always a risk that this will happen, but it's especially bad when it involves a non-generic character made specifically for the AP. I mean, how often do you see people running the Northlands Saga on Paizo? On the other hand, life gets busy, and I don't have the expectation that people can post as frequently as I do. I do, however, have the expectation that a GM will at least concede if he's unable to keep the game going. For now, I'll assume the best and I do plan on continuing to post once the GM returns.
Oh, GM, GM, where can ye be,
I thought you might have needed a Constitution check there for a second!
Haldorr turns to Helle, proud that she has taken interest in his sailing. "Sunlight would shine off of the mithral as if Freyr himself had been smiling down upon her sails. To the Godi on the ship, this was a blessing, and awakened the courage in them they later used to rush upon other ships during our raids." "It was magnificent." He nods at Dvallar and Helle. "Heavy, yes. Expensive, even more so. But I had never seen such resilient sails as long as I've lived, and perhaps the courage lent by the shine of the mithral meant we had more success in raids than we would have had otherwise."
Haldorr continues talking to Aðalbjörn. "I had not considered that," he admits, thinking back on his days as a thrall and how he had been treated back then. Surely his daughters cannot be strangers to the sight of combat and injury. A pragmatist in all ways, Haldorr found it difficult to empathize with the thought of a young girl seeing the horror of bloody combat. "Regardless, if they are put in danger, we must listen to the Jarl's requests. Perhaps we can," Haldorr sips from his mug, "Try to be a little diplomatic, if you will, with whatever threatens them, should that be the case." He swallows the beer and grins cockily. Overhearing the conversation Dvallar had been having with O∂ørn, Haldorr's expression changes. Ah, a sailor. And a follower of Rán. Perhaps he has changed his ways from years ago.
His rambling quickly stops when he notices the paladin looking down upon him further down the table.
Haldorr pulls up a chair next to Aðalbjörn, smiling politely at the huscarl. He sits in his chair with a relaxed posture, feeling right at home with the Jarl and the many other familiar faces surrounding him. He notices the large amount of liquid spirits that have been prepared, and looks over at O∂ørn as if passing judgment. Haldorr slowly sips at his beer, picking at the black morsels in his plate as he listens to the conversations around him. Excited with the possibility of defending the jarl's daughters, Haldorr turns to Aðalbjörn. "Ah, it's been quite some time. Have you -- and your fists," he grins as if he knows something no one else does, "been well?" He continues, remembering the tales of Aðalbjörn's skill in combat, "I think it would be of little task for a warrior such as yourself to stand guard in these fields, and I've no hesitation in helping."
Now, for what Haldorr thinks of all of you: @Aðalbjörn Although they're driven by different things, Haldorr and Aðalbjörn have similar personality traits - they are do-gooders, they are generous, and they've got similar duties as huscarls. Haldorr recognizes this and considers you a friend, even in awe of your somewhat unorthodox way of fighting that he thinks is both glorious and barbaric. @Helle Haldorr met you briefly when you traveled to Silvermeade Hall on the same longship he was sailing on. After hearing about your childhood and adolescence, Haldorr feels sympathetic. He, too, was shunned when he was younger, although he caused this himself, and it was objectively deserved. Either way, this commonality allows Haldorr to form a positive opinion about you, although he has no idea how magic works and is frightened by it. @Aella You and Haldorr only know each other from seeing each other in Halfstead. It's hard to pinpoint what age each of them were at the time they were in Halfstead, but Haldorr realizes Aella knows about his past and looks down on him for it. He doesn't care. He will treat her with respect just as he does with everyone else, although he hides his trues emotions and guilt - something he has done for years. @Dvallar: Haldorr's sister Erika would have purchased metals from you as you worked in Halfstead. She would return to the farm with these metals and tell Haldorr about the dwarven woman who had been granted what amounted to a mine. Haldorr mentioned to her that he thought you were a little crazy for choosing such barren, undesirable land. Other than that, the relationship between you two was never firmly established. @O∂ørn Haldorr met you aboard a longship and quickly realized all you like to do is drink. Unfortunately, this does not do well for his opinion of you, as he is sworn to serve the Jarl and to sit idly and drink is to waste away needlessly.
@Aella: Those are all great suggestions. Thank you. Having not played a ranger before, this is pretty new territory for me. Thinking over it now, it makes a lot more sense for Haldorr to be neutral rather than good, given his history. I have changed my feats, alignment, weapon, and agree with you regarding the background relationship.
@Helle I'd say Haldorr was excused from thralldom six years ago, and began to work on a longship shortly after. Would there be any point in time when Helle would be aboard a ship? If not, it's also possible that the two would have encountered each other at Silvermeade Hall. Haldorr was a huscarl first and a sailor second, and I think there was some flexibility in where he was stationed. @Aðalbjörn Huscarl for about five years. Perhaps he and Aðalbjörn would have been known each other well through serving the Jarl. Haldorr would return to Silvermeade Hall from time to time to break from the seas with tales of raids he would tell the other huscarls about.
@Dvallar: I think it makes sense if Dvallar had run into Haldorr's sister in Halfstead at some point, having both lived there. Maybe she traded metals for some of the farmed goods from Haldorr's parent's farm. As for Haldorr himself, I think Dvallar had heard of him from his sister but never knew him personally.
@Dvallar: Yes, Haldorr spent his adolescence in Halfstead and would become locally infamous as he had caused the death of his sister. Later on, I'd say he's been heard of by people in Halfstead as a local rags to riches story, that is, from thralldom to huscarl. Ah, it's bittersweet that my crunch is done, gotta love rolling new characters. My only regret is not making my name Haldør instead of Haldorr. :)
I've built most of Haldorr's profile now. I centered the character primarily around archery - a classic ranger - but with a melee weapon and perhaps a melee feat or two to add in versatility at later levels. I haven't settled on a long-term build yet. Since it tied in with Haldorr's background well, I chose the huscarl trait and Sailor background skill. @Nilihist, I chose the Guide archetype from the APG book - is this allowed? @Aella, that would definitely help us out. It doesn't make sense for a bow-user like myself, but perhaps for a few of the other melee characters could pick it up if they'd like to.
Thanks for choosing me! Just checking in to say I'll be working on my crunch and further fluff details this evening.
Yeah, I see what you mean. I think I was going for something epic and got a little carried away, so I've now updated my background with something a bit more realistic. Put simply, sneaking up on one stray Ulfhander who threatened to slaughter a Northlander child and her family, and backstabbing it to death.
On your advice, I'd like to remove Brayden Foxley's submission and replace it with this one. Some fluff here and there and the entire crunch is missing, but the main concept is there. |