Expand all - Collapse all

Back

# Campaign: Draknir

## Act Synopsis

### Arrival in Stormvik

The Blue Marlin makes landfall in Stormvik, a hard coastal settlement shaped by winter, clan politics and old blood. The crew begins asking about the Waverider and its boatswain Ulfar Strongaxe. Their questions quickly draw attention. Word reaches the Frostvein family, one of the dominant clans in the region and long standing enemies of the Strongaxe.

The Frostveins confront the crew openly. The exchange does not turn violent, but it is hostile and charged. The Frostveins recount the feud without hesitation or doubt, presenting their version as settled history rather than accusation. They claim the Strongaxe were oath breakers and cowards. They speak of the Strongaxe as oath breakers and cowards, not as an insult but as settled fact. To them, Ulfar fled justice with a traitorous woman, and Gastved ran into the forest after murdering Skold Frostvein in a dishonorable ambush. They also make it clear that almost all Strongaxe are dead and that the feud is finished only when the last one is.

From these conversations the crew learns several key facts. There was a long and bitter feud. It began with an affair between a Strongaxe and a Frostvein woman. The Strongaxe clan has been wiped out. The Waverider was in Stormvik. Ulfar fought Horn Frostvein in a holmgång and won under controversial circumstances. Gastved Strongaxe is alive and is believed to be the only remaining source of information about the Waverider. He killed a Frostvein and is now being hunted. Time matters.

### The Hunt into the Winter Wilds

No one in Stormvik will guide the crew. Helping them would mean offending the Frostveins. The crew secures only a rough direction before setting out on their own.

The journey inland is punishing. Deep snow slows progress. The cold bites constantly. Supplies are strained and exhaustion builds. Any tracks Gastved may have left are long buried by recent snowfall. Instead the crew finds something else. Clear, deliberate tracks moving with patient confidence. The marks of a professional hunter.

These belong to Bjorn Skarvold, a Draknir bounty hunter known for endurance and restraint. The crew follows his trail for several days. He is not rushing. He is not hiding. He is simply moving toward his quarry with the certainty of someone who knows where this will end.

### Confrontation in the Snow

The crew finally catches up to Bjorn at the edge of a frozen ravine just as he is stuck in one of Gastved’s traps. The trap does not kill him but pins and injures him enough to force a standoff.

Gastved emerges shortly after. Tense but controlled. No one attacks. Words are exchanged. Bjorn listens. Gastved speaks. The truth of the feud comes out.

Gastved explains that he did kill Skold Frostvein, but not with intent. He was cutting tinder when Skold burst from the brush. Gastved dodged on instinct and struck once without knowing if the attacker was man or beast.

The Frostveins burned the Strongaxe longhouse with women and children inside. No duels. No honor. No survivors. Gastved was away hunting when it happened.

He explains that he has no intent to spill more blood. Enough blood has been spilled, and no amount of blood will bring back what is lost.

He confirms the real version of Ulfar’s holmgång with Horn Frostvein and Eira’s role in ending it when Horn broke the rules. He explains that he fled not out of cowardice but because open defiance would only lead to more dead kin and none left to avenge.

Bjorn listens to all of this. He asks careful questions. When he is satisfied he steps down from the contract. He states that his role is to uphold law, not to enforce feuds and certainly not to profit from the murder of innocents. He refuses the Frostvein silver.

### Encounter with Frostvein Party

On the return from the wilderness, the crew is intercepted by a Frostvein party that set out after them to ensure Gastved’s death once Bjorn Skarvold refused the bounty. The two groups meet in a narrow winter choke point, evenly matched and unwilling to back down. The Frostveins make it clear that if they return to Stormvik, a much larger and angrier force will be waiting, turning the situation into a fight the crew can not win. The encounter becomes a high pressure standoff where violence, diplomacy, or sacrifice are all possible outcomes, forcing the crew to decide whether to protect Gastved, attempt a costly settlement, or allow the feud to end at his life.

### Storm and Return

A storm is coming. Gastved offers to guide the crew back to the coast. He knows the land and the weather well enough to keep them alive where others would fail.

The return journey is slow and dangerous but controlled. Gastved proves his worth repeatedly through route choices, shelter, rationing and quiet competence. They survive conditions that would likely have killed them on the way in.

When they reach Stormvik they find the atmosphere tense. Bjorn has already returned empty handed. He has told the Frostveins only that he will not take their money. The Frostveins suspect the Blue Marlin crew interfered. Hostility rises quickly. Staying is no longer an option.

### Departure from Draknir

The crew withdraws from Stormvik under mounting pressure. From a distance they see the Blue Marlin put to sea to avoid armed conflict. The crew moves along the coast overland and reunites with the ship further south.

Gastved asks for passage. As the last living Strongaxe besides Ulfar, he claims the right to bind himself elsewhere. He offers his skills and loyalty without drama or bargaining. He also wish to find Ulfar, to tell him how the family was lost.

The Blue Marlin leaves Draknir behind as winter tightens its grip. Gastved joins the crew.

Bjorn Skarvold remains in the world, no longer an immediate threat but now aware of the ship and its people. Bjorn is established as a man of honor, but also a man of competence, and not a man to make your enemy.

The Waverider’s trail continues, marked by old blood, unfinished stories and the quiet weight of what was lost.

## Arrival in Stormvik

Approaching Stormvik

Story
The Blue Marlin slid into Stormvik on a gray morning, her hull whispering against ice edged water. The fjord lay narrow and dark, flanked by steep slopes where pine and stone wrestled with snow for dominance. Smoke rose from turf roofed halls along the shore, thick and oily, carrying the smell of peat and iron. Longships lay pulled up on the beach, their dragon heads scarred by weather and old battles.
Stormvik did not welcome strangers. It endured them.
Scarnax was the first ashore, boots crunching on frost stiff gravel. Skarnulf followed close behind, shoulders hunched against the cold more from habit than need. Amaxia came last, eyes moving constantly, measuring angles, distances, hands on sword haft without resting there.
They did not announce themselves. They asked simple questions. Who held this harbor. Who traded here. Who remembered a great ship with blue sails and a white wave.
That name traveled faster than coin.
Ulfar Strongaxe.
Faces closed. Conversations stopped mid breath. A fisherman turned his back without answering. A woman selling dried cod crossed her arms and stared at Scarnax until he moved on. A pair of men near the smithy watched Skarnulf with open hostility, eyes flicking to his scars and stance.
It did not take long.
They came as a group, twelve of them, broad shouldered and fur clad, iron rings braided into their beards. Their leader was a tall man with frost bitten ears and a heavy gold ring on his right hand. He stopped close enough that Scarnax could smell mead on his breath.
“You are asking about dead men,” the man said. His voice was calm, almost courteous. “That is a strange way to start a visit.”
Scarnax met his gaze without flinching. “We look for a ship. The Waverider. One of her crew was from here.”
The man nodded slowly. “Ulfar Strongaxe,” he said, as if naming a tool left out in the rain. “Then you should know what kind of man you are asking after.”
Another Frostvein stepped forward, younger, eyes sharp with something close to satisfaction. “An oath breaker,” he said. “A coward who fled justice.”
No one raised their voice. No one threatened. It was not needed.
They spoke of the feud as one might speak of weather. Something that happened because it had to.
“The Strongaxe broke faith first,” the leader said. “One of theirs took a Frostvein woman, bound by marriage. Words were spoken. Blood was spilled. They refused proper settlement. No holmgång when it was offered. Only excuses and knives in the dark.”
Amaxia snorted softly. Several hands twitched toward weapons, then stilled.
“Ulfar fought,” the leader continued. “Horn Frostvein challenged him. He should have died that day. Instead he fled with a whore at his side who struck down Horn from behind. That is how Strongaxe fight.”
Skarnulf’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
“And Gastved,” the younger Frostvein said, smiling thinly. “The little forest rat. Murdered Skold Frostvein and ran. No honor in it. No courage. A blade in the back and then snow and shadows.”
Scarnax listened, expression unreadable.
“Do not misunderstand,” the leader said. “This is not anger speaking. It is fact. The Strongaxe are gone. Their hall burned. Their line broken. Only two escaped justice, and one of them still runs.”
He leaned closer, eyes hard now. “The feud ends when the last Strongaxe ends. That is law. That is balance.”
There was a long silence. Wind hissed between the ships. Somewhere a hammer struck iron, slow and steady.
Scarnax inclined his head slightly. “We thank you for your honesty.”
The leader smiled, thin and humorless. “Be careful who you thank,” he said. “Stormvik remembers blood.”
The Frostveins turned as one and walked away, boots crunching in the snow.
Amaxia let out a breath through her teeth. “They are very certain,” she said.
Skarnulf stared after them, eyes dark. “Certainty kills faster than hate.”
Scarnax looked back toward the fjord, where the Blue Marlin lay quiet against the ice. “Then we are already late,” he said.

### Purpose of the Scene

This encounter establishes Draknir social pressure, introduces the Frostvein version of the Strongaxe feud, and creates urgency around Gastved and Bjorn Skarvold. The danger is political and cultural rather than immediate violence. The players should feel watched, judged, and measured.

The goal is not to deceive the players, but to give them a version of events that is coherent, emotionally convincing, and misleadingly incomplete.

### Tone and Mood

Stormvik is cold, insular, and governed by memory rather than law. Outsiders are tolerated, not welcomed. The Frostveins are confident because they believe history is already settled.

Keep the exchange controlled and restrained. No shouting. No threats. Certainty carries more weight than anger in Draknir culture.

### Initial Questions

The crew arrives in Stormvik and begins asking about the Waverider and Ulfar Strongaxe. These questions immediately draw attention. Conversations end abruptly. Answers become evasive or stop entirely. People watch and wait.

Within a short time, members of the Frostvein family arrive together and confront the crew openly in a public space. This is not an ambush. It is a social assertion of authority.

### The Frostvein Confrontation

The Frostveins speak calmly and with absolute conviction. They present their account as settled history, not accusation. They do not hedge, argue among themselves, or seek validation. They believe what they are saying.

They lay out the following as fact.

- There was a long and bitter feud between the Strongaxe and the Frostvein. It began when a Strongaxe man had an affair with a Frostvein woman who was already married.
- The Strongaxe escalated the conflict and refused proper settlement.
- Ulfar Strongaxe was challenged to holmgång by Horn Frostvein. Ulfar should have died, but instead fled justice when a woman struck Horn from behind.
- Gastved Strongaxe murdered Skold Frostvein in a cowardly ambush and ran into the forest.
- The Strongaxe hall was destroyed and their line broken.
- Only Ulfar and Gastved escaped justice.
- The feud ends only when the last Strongaxe is dealt with.
- A bounty hunter has been hired to hunt down Gastved, and is already on his trail.
- They also confirm that the Waverider was in Stormvik and that Ulfar removed himself from justice by sailing away before judgment was rendered.

### Key Conclusion the Crew Should Make

If anyone knows about the Waverider ports of call, it will be Gastved. He is being hunted, and time is critical.

### Handling Partial Truth and Doubt

The Frostvein account is biased but not obviously false. It should feel convincing on first hearing.

Small inconsistencies or omissions may become visible if the players question the story carefully.

If the players appear to accept the Frostvein version too fully, introduce quiet contradictions through other villagers.

- A villager might admit that the affair which started the feud was mutual, not coercive, and that her husband was a drunkard.
- Another might mention that Horn Frostvein broke holmgång rules by attacking after yielding.
- Someone else might hint that the Strongaxe hall burned with women and children inside.

These corrections should never come from Frostveins. They are offered reluctantly, quietly, and often with fear. They should feel dangerous to say.

### Bjorn Skarvold Foreshadowing

His name is well known by the villagers. Bjorn is not present in Stormvik during this scene, but his name carries weight.

Villagers describe him as steady, fair, and relentless. They emphasize that he prefers to take people alive. They make it clear that if Bjorn is hunting Gastved, the window to intervene is closing.

### Directions and Next Steps

If asked, villagers can point out the direction both Gastved and Bjorn went.

They describe a shallow inland valley that serves as the natural route into the interior. It is the obvious path. Easy to find. Provides some protection in winter.

This allows the crew to leave Stormvik without a guide. If they try to find a guide, everyone is too afraid of the Frostveins.

### Game Master Notes

Avoid escalation into violence. A fight here undermines Draknir social logic.

Let the Frostveins leave first. They believe the matter is settled.

End the scene with pressure, silence, and cold rather than action. The hunt inland should feel inevitable, not forced.

## The Hunt into the Winter Wilds

Story
The forest swallowed sound.
Two days inland, the river and the sea might as well have been another world. Snow lay knee deep in the hollows and crusted hard on the ridges, breaking underfoot with sharp cracks that echoed too far in the still air. Pines crowded close, their branches heavy with ice, needles shedding powder with every breath of wind. The sky was a dull white lid pressing down on everything beneath it.
They followed footprints.
Not one trail, but two. One lighter, cautious, sometimes vanishing entirely where snow had drifted or ground hardened. The other heavier, steady, never hurrying. Whoever made it walked like someone who knew winter well and had no reason to rush.
Scarnax stopped and straightened slowly, hands braced on his thighs. His breath steamed in slow, measured clouds. He scanned the treeline, then the sky, then the ground again, as if the answer might be written somewhere new if he looked hard enough.
“We turn back now,” he said, “we might make the coast before dark in two days. If the weather holds.”
Skarnulf snorted and stamped his feet, armor creaking softly. Ice clung to his beard and eyebrows, his breath coming harder than he liked. “And if it doesn’t, we freeze halfway and die politely.”
Amaxia pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders, jaw clenched. Her cheeks were red with cold, eyes sharp with irritation. “I am so tired of being cold,” she said. “This cold is unnatural, nothing is supposed to live like this.”
Skarnulf glanced at her and grinned, teeth white against his frost darkened face. “At least you have no balls to freeze off.”
She stopped dead and turned on him. “Say one more word,” she said calmly, “and neither will you.”
Skarnulf laughed, a rough bark of sound that cut through the trees, then winced as the cold stole it away. “Fair.”
They stood in silence again, listening to the forest breathe. Hunger gnawed low and constant. Their rations were light now, stretched thinner each day. Turning back meant guessing the weather. Going on meant trusting whoever was ahead.
Amaxia squinted suddenly, eyes narrowing. She stepped forward a pace, then another, head tilting.
“There,” she said.
Scarnax followed her gaze.
Far off, barely visible against the pale sky, a thin column of smoke rose straight and narrow in the still, crisp air. It was faint, easy to miss, the kind of thing that vanished if you looked away too long.
Skarnulf exhaled slowly. “Someone is alive.”
“Or someone was,” Amaxia said.
Scarnax adjusted the strap of his pack and set his shoulders. The weariness did not leave his face, but something else settled in its place. Decision.
“Well,” he said, stepping forward into the snow, “off we go then.”
He took the lead, boots finding the old tracks again, angling toward the smoke as the forest closed around them once more.

Cold is a dangerous enemy

### Purpose of the Scene

This section exists to grind the crew down rather than to challenge their competence. The hunt is not about navigation, cleverness, or problem solving. It is about endurance under prolonged cold and the creeping realization that every step forward commits them further. The trail is clear and easy to follow. What is difficult is accepting the cost of continuing when turning back is no longer clearly safer.

This scene should slowly sap optimism and replace it with calculation, irritation, and doubt. By the end of it, the players should feel that stopping is as dangerous as going on.

### Tone and Mood

The cold is constant and oppressive, not dramatic. There are no howling winds or sudden storms. The air is still, clear, and merciless. This is the kind of cold that settles into bone and thought alike. It does not announce itself. It simply never leaves.

The mood should sink gradually. Early confidence fades into clipped conversation. Humor turns sharp or crude. Silences stretch longer. The land feels indifferent rather than hostile, which makes it worse. Nothing is trying to kill them. The environment does not care whether they live or die.

### The Trail

The trail itself is straightforward. There are two distinct sets of tracks, both visible enough that no rolls or clever solutions are required to follow them. The land naturally funnels travel through shallow valleys and low ground, especially in winter. Anyone competent would choose this route.

One set of tracks is lighter and less consistent. It vanishes at times where snow has drifted or ground has hardened, then reappears somewhere smarter. It avoids ridges and exposed ground when possible. It reads as cautious, adaptive, and deeply familiar with winter travel. This is Gastved.

The other trail is heavier and unsettling in its consistency. The stride length rarely changes. Detours are minimal. It neither hides nor rushes. It is the trail of someone who knows exactly how far they can go each day and intends to reach that limit without drama. This is Bjorn Skarvold.

The important point is that the trail never challenges the crew’s ability to follow it. The challenge is the distance and the conditions required to keep doing so.

### Cold and Exhaustion

After two days inland, the effects of the cold should be impossible to ignore. Breath hangs in the air too long. Snow squeaks underfoot with that dry, high pitched sound that only comes in deep cold. Any exposed metal bites skin instantly. Fingers grow clumsy. Knees ache. Rest stops feel shorter than they should be, and starting again always feels worse than stopping did.

Food is eaten cold and hard. Rations are lighter than they were meant to be by this point. Sleep is shallow and broken, interrupted by the need to shift, to check extremities, to make sure nothing has gone numb beyond recovery.

Emphasize accumulation rather than catastrophe. Nothing breaks all at once. Everything wears down a little more each hour. Let the players talk about supplies, about distance, about whether turning back is even possible anymore. Let doubt exist without punishing it.

### Interpersonal Friction

This is a fertile moment for short exchanges and fraying tempers. Cold strips patience quickly. Jokes become cruder. Remarks that would normally be ignored land harder. Old habits and cultural differences surface under stress.

Allow gallows humor and irritation to breathe. Let players snap at each other or trade half joking threats. Do not escalate this into real conflict. The cold is the antagonist here, not the crew. Any tension should feel like pressure leaking out sideways rather than something about to explode.

### Bjorn’s Presence

Bjorn Skarvold should feel present even though he is not seen. His trail is steady. He is not making mistakes. He is not slowing down. That alone should be unsettling.

If the crew is moving faster, they risk exhaustion. If they slow down, they fall further behind. If they stop, they freeze. None of this needs to be stated outright. Let the players notice the implications themselves. Bjorn’s competence is communicated entirely through absence and consistency.

### The Smoke

The appearance of smoke is the first real break in the monotony of the hunt. It should be faint and easy to miss, rising straight into the still air before thinning and vanishing against the pale sky. It is not a promise of safety. It is a sign that something has happened or is happening.

Someone is alive. Or someone was, recently enough for smoke to linger. Either way, it removes the option of stopping to debate. The hunt shifts from endurance to consequence in that moment.

Let a player notice the smoke without a roll. This is not about perception but about commitment. Once it is seen, continuing is no longer a question.

### Game Master Notes

Do not rush this section. Let the cold do its work through repetition and restraint. Avoid sudden weather changes. Save storms and dramatic shifts for later.

The land is already applying pressure. Your role here is to maintain it, not to add spectacle.

End the scene when the crew commits to moving toward the smoke. That decision should feel inevitable, not forced. This is not a moment of heroism. It is the simple choice to keep walking.

## Confrontation in the Snow

Story
Bjorn did not hear them.
He was bent forward in the snow, breath coming in slow, controlled bursts. Two heavy logs lay crossed at an angle, their weight pinning his leg just above the ankle. The trap was simple and precise. Not meant to kill. Meant to stop.
Scarnax slowed first and raised a hand. The others halted behind him.
The tracks made sense now. The pauses. The careful line. Whoever had done this understood winter and men both.
Bjorn sensed them a moment later and turned his head. His axe came up smoothly, blade angled outward, grip steady despite the strain. He did not shout or curse. He simply measured distance and waited.
“Close enough,” he said. “Any closer and this becomes a mistake.”
Scarnax drew his blade halfway. Skarnulf shifted his stance. Amaxia moved to the side, sword clear, weight low.
Then the forest moved.
A man stepped out from the trees opposite them. Dark furs, hood low, knife in hand. He moved without hurry and stopped well within striking distance. He did not raise his weapon.
For a moment the valley held three directions of drawn steel.
Bjorn’s eyes went to the newcomer. “That trap yours.”
“Yes,” the man said.
“You meant to break my leg.”
“I meant to slow you,” the man replied. “If I wanted you dead you would be.”
Bjorn studied him. “Name.”
“Gastved.”
The name settled heavily in the cold air.
Bjorn nodded once. “Strongaxe.”
Gastved did not correct him.
Bjorn shifted his weight carefully, testing the pressure of the logs. “You killed Skold Frostvein.”
Gastved answered without hesitation. “Yes.”
Skarnulf tensed. Amaxia’s grip tightened.
Bjorn’s voice stayed even. “Explain.”
Gastved looked at the ground for a moment, then back up. “I was cutting tinder. He came out of the brush behind me. I did not know if it was man or bear. I moved and struck once. When he fell I saw who it was.”
Bjorn watched his face closely. “And after.”
“I left,” Gastved said. “Because if I stayed, more would die. And none of them would come back.”
Bjorn was silent for a long moment. Frost creaked softly as the logs shifted under his weight.
“And the hall,” Gastved said. “The Strongaxe hall.”
Gastved’s jaw tightened. “Barred doors. Fire. No survivors.”
Bjorn closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.
Before he could speak, Amaxia hissed sharply. “This is ridiculous.”
Everyone turned.
She was staring at her sword. Her fingers were locked around the hilt, knuckles white. She tugged once and winced.
“My hand is frozen to it,” she said. “I cannot let go.”
For a heartbeat no one reacted.
Then Skarnulf let out a short, incredulous laugh. It echoed too loudly in the still air and died quickly.
Gastved lowered his knife a fraction. “Do not pull,” he said to Amaxia. “You will tear skin.”
She glared at him. “I know that.”
The tension sagged, not gone but cracked, like ice under too much weight.
Bjorn exhaled slowly. He lowered his axe and rested it against the snow. “If what you say is true,” he said, “this is not a lawful bounty.”
He reached into his belt pouch and drew out the folded leather contract. He did not tear it yet.
“Clan feud,” he continued. “No Althing judgment. No lawful writ.”
He looked at Gastved again. “I will not hunt you under this.”
Only then did he tear the contract in half and let the pieces fall into the snow.
Gastved nodded once and knelt by the trap. He worked quickly, levering the upper log with a branch, easing the weight off Bjorn’s leg inch by inch.
Bjorn grunted as the pressure released and pulled free, sitting heavily in the snow.
Scarnax finally sheathed his blade and stepped forward. “We have things to discuss,” he said to Gastved.
Gastved stood, wiping his hands on the snow. “Yes,” he said. “We do.”

The confrontation

### Purpose of the Scene

This encounter is the moral and informational hinge of the Draknir arc. It reframes everything the crew has been told so far, establishes Gastved as a truthful but dangerous survivor, and defines Bjorn Skarvold’s code in action rather than description.

The goal is not tension through combat, but tension through restraint. Every participant is capable of violence, and everyone knows it. What matters is who chooses not to act, and why.

### Situation Overview

The crew catches up to Bjorn Skarvold at the edge of a frozen ravine or similar natural choke point. He has been caught in one of Gastved’s traps. Two heavy logs pin his leg, locking him in place. The trap is calibrated to immobilize without causing serious injury. It is meant to hold long enough for confrontation, not to cripple or kill.

Bjorn is armed, alert, and dangerous even while trapped. He is not panicking. He is conserving strength and watching his surroundings.

Shortly after the crew arrives, Gastved emerges from the opposite side. This is the crew’s first encounter with him. He is tense but controlled, armed but not aggressive, and clearly responsible for the trap.

At this point, all sides have weapons drawn. No one attacks. This is a standoff defined by proximity, exhaustion, and cold rather than shouted threats.

### Managing the Standoff

This moment should feel fragile. A single aggressive move could trigger violence, but everyone present understands that doing so would have lasting consequences.

Bjorn demands explanation rather than surrender. He is lightly injured and stuck, but his authority comes from his role and reputation, not physical dominance. He asks direct questions and expects direct answers.

Gastved answers calmly and without embellishment. He does not argue emotionally or plead. He states facts as he understands them and allows Bjorn to judge.

If the players interrupt or attempt to escalate, Bjorn should make it clear that any attempt to resolve this by force will result in blood, and that such blood will not serve justice.

### Gastved’s Account

Gastved explains the following points clearly and consistently.

Gastved’s use of the trap is deliberate restraint. He could have built something lethal. He chose not to.

He did kill Skold Frostvein, but not intentionally. He was cutting tinder when Skold burst from the brush behind him. Gastved reacted on instinct, dodging and striking once without knowing whether the attacker was man or animal. Only afterward did he realize who he had killed.

Earlier, the Frostveins destroyed the Strongaxe longhouse by barring the doors and setting it on fire. Women, elders, and children were inside. There were no duels, no warnings, and no survivors. Gastved was away hunting when it happened.

He confirms that Ulfar Strongaxe was challenged to holmgång by Horn Frostvein and fought honorably. Horn broke the rules after being defeated, and Eira intervened to end the duel. This was not betrayal but enforcement of Draknir custom. Bjorn already knows this, making him more likely to trust the word of Gastved.

Gastved fled not because he feared judgment, but because open defiance would only have led to more deaths. With his clan destroyed, there was no one left to protect or avenge. Continuing the feud would have meant meaningless bloodshed.

He states plainly that he does not seek revenge and does not believe further killing will restore anything of value. Survival, to him, is not cowardice but refusal.

### Bjorn’s Judgment

Bjorn listens carefully. He asks follow up questions to clarify details and test consistency. He is not looking for eloquence or emotion, only plausibility and adherence to law.

Once satisfied, Bjorn reaches a conclusion.

He declares that the bounty on Gastved is unlawful. It is a clan feud presented as a contract, without Althing judgment or legal authority. He states that his role is to uphold law, not to enforce vendettas, and certainly not to profit from the murder of innocents.

He formally steps down from the contract and refuses the Frostvein silver.

This decision should feel deliberate and final. Bjorn does not apologize. He does not justify himself beyond stating his principles.

### Resolution of the Trap

Only after Bjorn has stepped down does Gastved release him from the trap. This reinforces that Gastved was never seeking to kill Bjorn, only to survive long enough to be heard.

Bjorn is lightly injured but mobile. He does not ask for help beyond what is necessary and does not linger.

At this point, the immediate conflict ends, but the situation is not resolved. Bjorn’s refusal creates a vacuum that others will act on.

### Game Master Guidance

Do not rush this scene. Allow pauses. Let the cold, exhaustion, and proximity do the work.

Avoid turning this into a persuasion check. The outcome should be driven by what Gastved says and how consistently it aligns with Draknir law and Bjorn’s code.

Make it clear that Bjorn’s decision is based on principle, not sympathy. This preserves his integrity as a recurring figure.

This scene is about truth spoken under threat, and law upheld when it would be easier to look away.

## Encounter with Frostvein Party

Story
The snow had been trampled here.
Not scattered tracks, not the careful marks of hunters moving with purpose, but churned ground where boots had stopped, shifted, waited. The valley narrowed into a shallow bowl, flanked by low ridges where scrub pine clawed through crusted drifts. A frozen stream cut through the center, its ice cracked and gray.
Gastved raised a fist.
They stopped as one.
Across the valley, shapes moved. Six of them at first, then more as they stepped fully into view. Frostveins. Fur cloaks rimed white, shields slung low, axes and spears carried openly rather than raised. They did not rush. They did not spread out. They came forward just far enough to block the path and no farther.
Their leader stepped ahead. Broad, scarred, with frost bitten ears and a braid threaded with bone beads. His eyes went to Gastved first, then to Scarnax, then to Skarnulf and Amaxia in turn. He nodded once, as if confirming a count.
“So,” he said. “You found him.”
Gastved stood slightly behind the others, hood low, hands empty and visible. His breath steamed steadily. He did not look at the Frostveins.
Skarnulf shifted his weight, boots crunching softly. Amaxia’s fingers flexed near her sword hilt, slow and deliberate.
Scarnax took a step forward. “Bjorn Skarvold refused your silver.”
The Frostvein leader’s mouth twitched. Not quite a smile. “We know.”
“Then this is over,” Scarnax said.
“For him,” the man replied. “Yes.”
A younger Frostvein barked a short laugh. “Law does not end blood.”
The leader lifted a hand and the younger man fell silent.
“This is not a warband,” the leader said calmly. “We did not come to fight you. But the feud is unfinished. Strongaxe blood remains unpaid.”
He looked directly at Gastved now. “You should have died with the rest.”
Gastved finally raised his head. His voice was quiet, flat. “You burned children.”
The Frostvein leader did not deny it. “They would have grown.”
The air seemed to tighten around them.
Amaxia took one step forward. “Choose your next words carefully,” she said softly.
The Frostveins shifted, shields angling, feet spreading just enough to matter.
Scarnax lifted a hand without looking back. Amaxia stopped.
“If you return to Stormvik,” Scarnax said, “others will follow.”
“Yes,” the Frostvein leader agreed. “That is why we are here. To finish it cleanly.”
“And if we do not let you pass,” Scarnax said.
“Then you have chosen sides,” the man said, without heat.
Silence stretched. Somewhere ice cracked under its own weight. A raven called once from the ridge and fell quiet.
Skarnulf leaned forward slightly, eyes on the Frostvein line. “You know this does not end the way you think.”
The leader met his gaze. “It ends the only way it can.”
Gastved stepped forward before anyone could stop him. He stood beside Scarnax now, shoulders squared, face pale but steady.
“I will not run,” he said. “But I will not die to make you feel clean.”
The Frostvein leader studied him for a long moment. Snow creaked softly as men shifted their footing.
“Then choose,” he said, and glanced back at Scarnax. “Which side to put your life on.”
No one moved.
The cold pressed in, heavy and absolute, as the space between them waited to be filled with blood or words.

The Frostvein party

### Purpose of the Scene

This encounter is the decisive conflict of the Draknir arc. It forces the crew to act rather than observe. The goal is not to produce a correct outcome but to force a choice with visible consequences.

The Frostveins are here to finish the feud by killing Gastved. They are not acting under law, nor are they berserkers seeking glory. This is deliberate clan justice. The crew stands between inevitability and escalation.

This scene should feel tight, quiet, and one wrong word away from violence.

### Situation Overview

The encounter takes place late in the evening the same day, in a constrained area such as a shallow valley, frozen stream crossing, or snowbound choke point. Movement is limited. Visibility is clear. Retreat is possible but costly.

The Frostvein party consists of a small but capable group. They are experienced, disciplined, and prepared for violence, but not eager for it. They are not here to die. They are here to make sure Gastved does.

Gastved is present and aware that this is likely his last chance to escape or force an end.

The crew has already encountered Bjorn Skarvold and knows he has refused the bounty. That refusal has removed law from the equation. This is now a matter of blood and consequence.

### Balance of Power

The two sides are roughly evenly matched.

The Frostveins are confident but cautious. They do not outnumber the crew decisively and they understand that a fight would cost them lives. They are willing to fight if needed, but they would prefer not to.

The crew should be made aware through posture, spacing, and tone that this is not a bluff. Shields angle. Feet spread. Weapons are ready but not raised.

No side can win cleanly.

This balance is important. It keeps diplomacy on the table and makes any violent outcome feel costly rather than triumphant.

### The Frostvein Position

The Frostveins speak calmly and directly. They do not insult unnecessarily and they do not threaten overtly. Their position is simple and consistent.

Bjorn Skarvold refused the contract. That is his right. The feud is not resolved. Gastved Strongaxe is blood owed. If they return to Stormvik without finishing this, the matter will end in blood there. A larger party will gather. The situation will escalate. More people will die.

They are offering the crew a chance to step aside, not because of mercy, but because this is not their feud.

They believe that ending it now is the least destructive option.

Make it clear that this is not an empty claim. If the Frostveins leave alive and unimpeded, Stormvik will not forget this interference.

### Gastved’s Position

Gastved does not beg and does not posture. He does not deny what he has done and does not seek revenge.

He believes the feud should end without more blood, but he does not expect the Frostveins to agree.

If pressed, he will accept exile, binding oaths, or permanent separation from Draknir.

He will not volunteer for execution, but if the crew explicitly considers sacrificing him, he will not resist. This should feel heavy and wrong, not noble.

Gastved’s restraint should contrast sharply with Frostvein certainty.

### Diplomacy Options

Diplomacy is possible, but it is not free.

Possible angles include:

- Invoking Bjorn’s refusal as precedent. If law has stepped away, clan justice risks becoming murder rather than balance.
- Offering compensation. Silver, goods, or favors. The Frostveins will accept this only if it is significant and humiliating enough to count as payment rather than bribe.
- Demanding an alternative resolution. A symbolic holmgång substitute, an oath binding Gastved to never return to Draknir, or a public admission later at the Althing.
- Leveraging consequences. Making it clear that killing Gastved here will draw attention, witnesses, and retaliation beyond Draknir.

Any successful diplomatic outcome should impose a lasting cost on the crew or Gastved. Peace should feel purchased, not granted.

### Failure or Escalation

If diplomacy fails or the crew chooses violence, the fight should be brutal, fast, and decisive. No prolonged heroics. The Frostveins fight to disable and kill Gastved first if possible, not to win honor.

Survivors will return to Stormvik.

This guarantees future consequences. Frostvein hostility becomes active rather than latent. Draknir will remember this.

If the crew allows the Frostveins to take Gastved, the feud ends. Stormvik stands down. The cost is moral and permanent. Gastved’s death should echo later, not be forgotten.

### Game Master Guidance

Do not rush this scene.

Let silence stretch. Let players talk among themselves. Let them feel the weight of the choice.

Be explicit about consequences. Do not hide outcomes behind rolls or surprise reveals. This is a conscious decision point.

Avoid turning this into a test of persuasion mechanics alone. Arguments matter more than numbers here.

This encounter is not about winning. It is about what the crew is willing to stand behind when forced to choose.

## Storm and Return

This phase shifts the arc from confrontation to consequence. The danger is no longer immediate violence but exposure, exhaustion, and time pressure. Gastved’s value to the crew is proven not through combat but through competence, judgment, and restraint. At the same time, the political situation in Stormvik worsens offscreen, ensuring that the return does not feel like a victory lap.

This section should feel tense but controlled. Survival replaces pursuit as the primary concern.

### The Coming Storm

Signs of the storm should be clear before it fully arrives. Pressure drops. The cold deepens. Snow begins to behave differently, finer and drier, drifting where it should not. Sound dulls. Smoke no longer rises straight.

Gastved recognizes these signs immediately. He does not dramatize them. He simply states that a storm is coming and that staying on the current route will be fatal. He offers to guide the crew back to the coast, making it clear that without local knowledge the odds are poor.

This is not presented as heroism. It is practical necessity.

### The Return Journey

The return is slower and harder than the approach, but safer.

Gastved repeatedly demonstrates quiet expertise. He chooses routes that trade distance for shelter. He avoids open ground that will become lethal once the storm fully breaks. He finds windbreaks where none seem obvious and knows when to stop rather than push on.

Shelter is improvised rather than found. Snow walls, low fires, buried embers, careful use of fuel. Rations are stretched without discussion or complaint. No one eats well, but no one starves.

If the crew struggled on the way in, contrast that here. Where they pushed and paid for it before, Gastved waits and preserves strength. Make it clear that without him, survival would have depended on luck.

Do not turn this into repeated survival rolls. Emphasize decision making over mechanics. The danger is constant, not spiking.

Gastved's shelter

### Gastved’s Role

Gastved does not take command formally. He offers recommendations. He explains consequences when questioned. He does not argue.

He proves his worth through results. When he says they will survive the night, they do. When he says they must move now, delaying has visible cost.

This section is where the crew should understand why he has stayed alive this long.

### Return to Stormvik

When the crew reaches Stormvik, the atmosphere has changed.

Bjorn Skarvold has already returned. He did not make a scene. He did not accuse anyone. He simply stated that he would not take Frostvein silver and that the contract was void.

That was enough.

The Frostveins have drawn their own conclusions. The crew is watched openly. Conversations stop when they approach. Armed men linger near the docks longer than necessary. No one offers help.

The Frostveins do not confront the crew immediately. That restraint should feel more dangerous than shouting. They are deciding how to respond, not whether.

It should be clear that the situation is deteriorating rapidly. Frostvein fighters begin gathering openly along the harbor approaches, cutting off access to the docks. Reaching the ship becomes impossible without provoking immediate violence. At the same time, the growing concentration of armed Frostveins makes remaining in harbor too dangerous for the Blue Marlin. Faced with the risk of being trapped or boarded, the ship casts off while it still can.

### Withdrawal

Make it clear that leaving Stormvik now is not cowardice but prudence.

The crew is forced to withdraw inland or along the shore as the Blue Marlin leaves without them. They should see the ship casting off from a distance, sails rising while Frostvein presence hardens around the harbor.

This reinforces that time is no longer theirs to control.

### Closing Notes for the Game Master

This section should end with momentum, not resolution. The storm has passed, but the political weather has worsened.

Gastved has proven himself indispensable. Bjorn has chosen principle over profit. The Frostveins are not finished.

Do not resolve the Frostvein response here. Let it hang. The arc should end with departure under pressure, not with closure.

## Departure from Draknir

This phase is about motion, pressure, and narrowing options. What was political tension becomes pursuit. The crew is no longer deciding what to do. They are executing a decision under pursuit.

This section should feel fast without becoming chaotic. The Frostveins are not reckless. They are determined. Gastved’s skill turns what could be a hopeless chase into a dangerous but survivable race.

### The Frostvein Pursuit

Once it becomes clear that Gastved has left Stormvik with the crew, the Frostveins act quickly. As far as they are concerned, the crew has chosen sides, and are to be seen as Strongaxe in the feud. Small pursuit groups fan out along the inland routes and the coast. They do not shout. They do not signal openly. This is a hunt, not a challenge.

Make it clear that the Frostveins know the land, but not as well as Gastved. They rely on numbers and persistence rather than subtlety. Left unchecked, they would eventually catch up.

The crew should feel watched even when no one is visible. Fresh tracks appear briefly and vanish again. Distant shapes resolve into nothing when the snow thickens.

### Weather Turns in Their Favor

As the pursuit begins, the weather breaks hard.

Heavy snowfall reduces visibility within minutes. Strong winds scour tracks almost as quickly as they are made. Sound is swallowed. Distance becomes hard to judge. Direction becomes uncertain.

Gastved immediately adapts. He moves the group off obvious routes, doubles back through rocky ground, crosses frozen streams where tracks vanish, and uses terrain that breaks silhouettes against the snow.

This is where his expertise matters most. Without him, the crew would leave a clear trail. With him, pursuit becomes uncertain and costly.

Do not resolve this with a single check. Treat it as a sequence of smart decisions that deny the Frostveins clean opportunities. The danger is constant, but the crew is staying ahead.

### The Race Tightens

A few times, let the Frostveins come close.

The crew hears voices carried by the wind. A figure appears briefly on a ridge. An abandoned shelter shows signs of recent use. This reinforces that the pursuit is real and persistent.

Gastved should explain risks plainly. Every delay increases the chance of being boxed in. Every shortcut carries exposure. There is no safe option, only better ones.

Here is also an opportunity to bring in the help of Samden, without actually putting the crew in jeopardy. Have the Frostveins approach the hiding spot, when, suddenly, a sound in the distance draws them away. That's enough. Don't linger, don't explain, until later when Meyrha approaches the crew.

This section should feel like borrowed time.

Hiding from pursuit

### Sight of the Ship

Eventually, the coast reappears through the storm.

The Blue Marlin lies in a bay half a day south of Stormvik. Her presence should feel like relief mixed with urgency.

Reaching the ship is still dangerous. Frostvein pursuit groups may be nearby. Visibility is poor, but noise carries oddly over snow and water.

Once aboard, there should be no delay. Lines are cast off quickly. Sails go up as soon as they can be managed. The ship leaves Draknir waters under pressure, not triumph.

### Gastved’s Request

Story
Gastved stood near the rail, hands resting on the wood, eyes on the water rather than the people watching him. The Blue Marlin rolled gently beneath his boots, a living thing settling after strain. He waited until the deck noise faded on its own, then spoke without raising his voice.
“I owe you my life,” he said. “That kind of debt should be paid, not thanked away. I would rather work it off than carry it.”
A few heads turned. No one interrupted.
“I have no clan left,” he continued. “Only one blood tie remains. Ulfar Strongaxe. He is my cousin. The last of us besides me.” He paused, then added, “I would ask to bind myself to this crew, if you will have me.”
Scarnax studied him for a long moment, eyes moving from Gastved’s face to his hands, to the knife at his belt, to the way he stood without shifting his weight.
“And what would you bring aboard,” Scarnax asked, “besides a debt and a name.”
“You have already seen what I do on land,” Gastved replied. “Traps. Hunting. Staying alive when it would be easier not to.” He tapped two fingers lightly against his belt. “But I am also a smith. I feel steel.”
Galenor’s head snapped up as if struck by lightning. His face split into a wide grin.
“A smith,” he repeated happily.
Scarnax glanced sideways at him. “We already have one.”
Galenor did not even try to look offended. “I bend iron,” he said cheerfully. “That does not make me good at it. Half the cracked fittings on this ship are my fault, and the other half have just not failed yet. I'm a great carpenter, and a bad smith.”
Nasheem leaned in, smiling. “There is a reason no one here carries a blade Galenor made,” he said lightly. “We like our weapons to stay in one piece.”
Galenor spread his hands. “Fair.”
Scarnax looked down at the knife on his own belt, fingers brushing the hilt as if he might make a point. He opened his mouth.
Before he could speak, Galenor barked a laugh. “Careful, Captain. If that knife is mine, I would advise against testing it. Unless you are fighting with the fork it came with in the other hand.”
Laughter rippled across the deck. Even Scarnax shook his head.
He looked back at Gastved, saw the faintest hint of amusement in his eyes, and exhaled.
“Well,” Scarnax said, extending his hand, “it seems the ship has already voted, Captain included.”
Gastved took his hand. His grip was firm, steady, without bravado.
“Welcome aboard,” Scarnax said. “You can start by telling us about Ulfar. And after that,” he added, tapping his knife, “you can make me a new blade.”
The deck erupted in cheers, clapping, and shouted welcomes. Someone thumped Gastved on the shoulder. Someone else offered him a cup.
Gastved nodded once, accepting it all without ceremony, already turning the weight of the ship, the iron aboard her, and the work ahead over in his mind.

Only after the ship is underway does Gastved speak.

He does not dramatize it. He does not bargain. He states that he cannot return to Draknir and that the Frostveins will not stop while he is alive. He offers his skills and his loyalty in exchange for passage and purpose.

This should not feel like a recruitment pitch. It should feel like a fact.

Let the crew respond. Acceptance should feel earned. Refusal should feel consequential.

Joining the crew

### What Gastved Knows

Gastved can confirm that the Waverider left Stormvik and he knows the next major destination. Gastved can also confirm several earlier ports of call for the Waverider, places she visited before reaching Draknir, helping solidify the trail the crew has already been following.

He can recount the holmgång between Ulfar Strongaxe and Horn Frostvein exactly as it happened, having witnessed it himself, including how Horn broke the rules and how Eira intervened to enforce Draknir custom. He makes it clear that the feud was never truly about the affair that supposedly started it. That story was convenient. The real cause was Frostvein ambition and their attempt to seize full control over Stormvik by eliminating a rival clan.

### Departure

The coast of Draknir fades behind snow and distance.

The Frostveins have not been defeated. They have been evaded. Bjorn remains in the world, aware of the crew and bound by his code. Gastved is now part of the ship, carrying the weight of a feud that is not truly finished.

End this section with movement forward. The ship sails on, and the world does not reset behind it.

## Act Summary

This arc was about truth under pressure and the cost of inherited violence. The crew entered Draknir looking for information about the Waverider and instead walked into the aftermath of a clan feud that had already burned itself hollow. They were forced to navigate a culture where certainty matters more than innocence and where law exists but steps aside when blood claims precedence.

The danger here was rarely immediate violence. It was escalation. Every choice risked turning a contained feud into a wider conflict.

### What the Crew Learned

The crew learned that the story presented by those in power is often coherent, emotionally convincing, and incomplete rather than openly false. The Frostvein version of events was not a lie so much as a narrative shaped to justify dominance. Through Gastved and Bjorn, the crew saw how easily law can be bent to serve ambition and how difficult it is to pull it back once blood has been spilled.

They also learned that the feud had little to do with the affair that supposedly started it. That story was a pretext. The real motive was control. The Strongaxe stood in the way of Frostvein dominance in Stormvik, and once the feud escalated far enough, extermination became expedient.

### Gastved Strongaxe

Gastved joins the Blue Marlin as a result of action rather than persuasion. He proves his value through survival, judgment, and restraint, not heroics. He is established as a man who refuses vengeance without being weak and who understands violence deeply enough to avoid it when possible.

He brings concrete knowledge of the Waverider’s route and confirms the next destination. He also provides firsthand confirmation of the holmgång between Ulfar and Horn Frostvein, correcting earlier accounts and reinforcing that Draknir custom was broken by the Frostveins, not the Strongaxe.

Gastved carries the weight of a feud that is not truly resolved. His presence on the ship has consequences beyond this arc.

### Bjorn Skarvold

Bjorn is established as a recurring figure defined by principle rather than allegiance. He listens before acting and refuses contracts that violate law even when doing so isolates him. His decision to step down from the bounty is deliberate and costly. It removes legal restraint from the situation and allows clan violence to fill the gap.

Bjorn leaves aware of the crew and their choices. He is neither ally nor enemy, but he will remember how they acted when law failed.

### The Frostveins and Draknir

The Frostveins are not defeated. They are delayed and denied. Their ambition remains intact, and their hostility toward the crew is established. Stormvik is left behind in a state of tension, with control contested rather than resolved.

The arc makes it clear that Draknir does not forget interference. Feuds end slowly, if at all. Avoidance buys time, not absolution.

### Lasting Effects

The crew leaves Draknir under pressure, not triumph. They gain a valuable ally in Gastved and critical information about the Waverider’s path. In exchange, they inherit a lingering political shadow. Frostvein hostility, Bjorn’s watchful neutrality, and Gastved’s unresolved past all remain in play.

This arc reinforces that survival and justice are not the same thing, and that choosing restraint can be as dangerous as choosing violence.

Back