Darren and Michelle: Background

[GM Craig]

Its also possible you have no idea who or why it happened. Hence the reason for your exile - no way to seek revenge without an enemy that shows himself.

[Valka]

Okay. How do we know one or both of us should be the ones to leave? That we are the specific reason whatever happened happened?

Also Craig, your post cut off at: Hearsay would not suffice. The Chied

[Valka]

A completely different thought. Too tired to go through the posts, but I think craig said that our King converted to Christianity and required the karls to as well? For both of us our religion is Odinism/Cult of Freya and I have no intention of converting (this generation at least). Is there a possibility that I'd be accused of sorcery for something? Christians accused people for all sorts of things. Even a high first aid/chirurgery is probably enough for suspicion. I don't really know or understand the conversion of the northmen so I'm throwing it out there.

[Arne]

Oooo, that's a nice angle.

[Valka]

Still holes in it though. Like where do the Saxons fit in and why we'd go to Britain. I don't think I know enough about them to figure these out.

[GM Craig]

There is potential there. As a tribal chieftain, Darren's father likely would have been ordered to convert. Darren could have faced an ultimatum - convert or be not welcome in this house. Being proud (a virtue in the Cult of Freya) he left.

But there are holes.

They can be resolved fairly easily I think.

1) The exile is self-imposed, and applies to Darren only (as the son of a tribal chief). Why would Michelle join him in exile?
2) Michelle is a Karl (free commoner), so was under no obligation to convert. But maybe the newly Christian chief wanted the whole tribe to convert? If she was fairly devout, that might drive her away as well. If the order were expanded, you might even gain some followers to come with you.
3) What happened to make the two of you hostile to Saxons? Maybe you made arrangements to find refuge with the Saxons, but were attacked and imprisoned instead? That suggests a hidden enemy in the Kingdom of Ostland, which has future story hook potential.

So the religious angle has potential.

It's a self-imposed exile (satisfies #1).
Pride prevents you from returning (strengthens the religious angle, and satisfies #2).

All you need a compelling reason to want work against the Saxons.

[Arne]

Hmmm . . . we could have gone to find refuge with the Saxons - assuming they're not trying to convert everyone to Christianity willy-nilly.  Thinking that other Nord tribes wouldn't take him because of his pagan faith - or because of his exile - Arne would have gone to the Saxons, then, since he would be with a people that would respect him and recognize his worth through his axe and sword-arm.

So, maybe he was given advice by someone that the Saxons would accept him, and gave Arne the name of a Saxon ship captain (or maybe a group pf Saxon mercenaries travelling overland) that would take them to Saxony.  Only it was a set-up.  For whatever reason (the hidden enemy), the so-called Saxon benefactors turned on him (and after he paid the dogs for safe passage in good faith!), and chucked him in prison.  Arne wouldn't know that he'd been set up; he'd only know that the Saxons took his money and betrayed him.  That craven and deceitful act went against everything he stood for, and now he dearly wishes to make all Saxons pay for their treacherous nature.

Now, is Michelle's character going to be Arne's sister after all? Or perhaps a cousin?  She could have joined him in exile if other people in her tribe were starting to threaten her and her family for her refusal to convert.  But . . . if we worked with that hook, wouldn't Michelle's character simply stick anyone threatening her with a dagger, as befitted a Nord?  Or maybe her own father had converted, and had cast Michelle's character away because she refused to convert?  Or . . . as Craig suggested, maybe the chieftain ordered his people to convert to Christianity, and she refused.  Anyway, just some suggestions there.

[Valka]

I think this sort of hinges on whether we want followers or to make our way alone. Having the chieftain (your father) ordering everyone to convert is a lot simpler and gives us reason to have followers.

OOC at least, Saxons aren't known for their hospitality. They don't even need to be paid to invite us in and then enslave or imprison or worse. If we want the hidden enemy story hook that'd work of course. I'm just saying the Saxons might have done it anyway.   As Craig said, the laws of Hospitality is without a doubt sacred to my character and their violation of something so sacrosanct is enough for me to 'hate' them. (and at 19 it'd be difficult for me to violate them even if I wanted to)

We could be from the same tribe but not necessarily related. If we're going it alone, we could have met while with the Saxons and helped one another escape. To me that would be a great reason to pledge loyalty to one another/blood-bond. And decide to travel and fight the Saxons together (and perhaps decide to settle there/knight/start families/etc).

[Arne]

See Altarka PM for response.

[Valka]

This led to a shift in the role of the Skald, allowing them to gain more prominent positions. Every king and chieftain needed a Skald to record their feats and ensure their legacy lived on, as well as becoming the main historians of their society. The written artifacts of that time come from Skalds, as they were the first from the time and place to record on paper. Some Skalds became clerical workers, recording laws and happenings of the government, some even being elected to the Thing and Althing, while others worked with churches to record the lives and miracles of Saints, along with passing on the ideals of Christianity. This last point is a very important point, as Skalds were the main agents of culture, when the Skalds began glorifying and passing on Christianity over the old pagan beliefs, the Viking culture shifted towards Christianity, as well.

While it's great that they rose in more prominent positions and were more than just entertainment, the last sentence makes me a bit sad.

[Arne]

Ahhhh, but remember that the skalds (as they're defined) really didn't come into being until around the 9th century.  The scops would be an earlier version of the bard/poet/storyteller.  So there's nothing forcing Valka to use her talents to spread the word of Christianity.  She could compose poems or stories of great battles that she witnessed/participated in, for example.  A knight would like nothing more than having his name lauded in a story told in the royal courts!

[Valka]

I'd certainly like to. We'll see how that works out

Can you post our current background thoughts and anything additional?

[Arne]

Sure thing.  It will take me a wee bit to compile it.

[GM Craig]

I like it. One minor change - Saxons use axes almost exclusively.

So, you guys free the others, rally the camp and defeat the slavers, to find yourselves no longer in Thule, but across the sea in Britain, now the leaders of a band of Northmen who hate Saxons?

[Arne]

Sounds good to me if Michelle will go for it.

What was that Norse king's name again?  I'll go back and edit the back story.