There is a small cutter sailing along the shore in your direction. Peering carefully at the craft you can see two people aboard.
You ignore the cutter.
You wave to the people aboard.
The cutter goes past. Soon, all that remains to be seen is its sail on the horizon.
They wave back excitedly, and the cutter soon changes course and heads toward you.
You get out of here.
You wait.
The cutter is faster than you are, obviously, and lands on the beach in front of you.
do you
Stop?
Go on?
The people on board are gesturing, but you have no idea, what they are trying to tell you. After a while, the ship sets sail again and returns to its old course.
soon, all you can see is its sail on the horizon.
When you reach the ship, a woman comes up to you
“What’s the matter with you? First you wave, then you run away - ah well, who cares. We were going to ask if you want to come along for a while?”
“Thank you very much, but we can manage.”
“Why, sure, if you are going in our direction!”
The woman looks a bit rankled.
“Well, the shoe leather you will waste is your own… have a nice walk!”
she turns around and goes back to the ship. As soon as she is aboard, the cutter sets sail and takes up its old course.
The ship lands right in front of you on the beach. A thorwalian woman jumps out and meets you.
“Efferd be with you, travelers, do you want to come along for a while?”
“We are on our way to Ljasdahl, but if you wish, we can let you off at Ottarje.”
“To Ljasdahl! That’s great!”
“If it’s no detour, we have to go to Ottarje.”
“That’s no use to us, unfortunately.”
“What a pity, we would have liked to help you. Go with our best wishes, though!”
after you say good bye, she returns to the ship and jumps on board with one mighty leap. Soon the cutter is back on course and disappears over the horizon.
“We are on our way to Varnhome. You wouldn’t have to go by that hellhole Daspota!”
“To Varnhome! What luck!”
“Well, get on board then. Oh, before I forget again: I’m Ronja Avelljasdotter.”
you introduce yourselves and go on board. Shortly afterwards, the ship sets sail.
“Detour, shmetour! I wouldn’t have offered it, if it were! Come on board then. Tsk, I never remember: ronja avelljasdotter’s my name.”
she offers her hand and you introduce yourselves. After you are aboard, the ship sets sail.
Some hours later, you reach your destination.
“There we are,” calls captain Ronja. “Good luck, and Efferd be with you!”
you return her good wishes and leave ship.
Gryphon
On almost silent wings five strange creatures approach, looking somewhat like lions, but at the same time like giant birds of prey as well. They set down in a distant meadow and seem to be waiting for you there.
You stop and wait.
You go on.
Nothing happens. You wait almost one quarter of an hour, but the beasts remain as if waiting for you.
You keep waiting as well.
Another fifteen minutes pass without anything happening.
When you approach, the largest creature moves toward you with a majestic air. You hear a booming voice:
“This is gryphon’s meadow, strangers. Puny humans are not welcome here! Turn back and find another path!”
You do as the gryphon says.
You try to negotiate.
You have no choice but to detour around the meadow. How many hours are you prepared to invest?
You take a fairly large detour around the gryphon’s territory. After [N] hours you are back on your original road.
You don’t hear the beating of the gryphon wings until they are already landing right in front of you.
“I told you already, strangers, this is gryphon’s meadow and puny humans are not welcome here. Begone!”
You avoid the gryphon’s territory by a wide margin. Four hours later you once again reach the path you were on originally.
The gryphon slowly beats its mighty wings just once. A sign of impatience, maybe?
“We could leave a security!”
“We are traveling on the hetman’s orders!”
“We are searching for the sword of Hyggelik!”
The gryphon’s roar is probably a sign of ridicule, but to you it sounds more like a threat.
“Puny human problems! That is of no concern to us. Go and find another road!!”
Suddenly, the gryphon flaps its wings and throws [NAME] to the ground. You hear an almost bone shattering roar. The other gryphons surround your party and one look into the gryphon’s maw is enough to scare you away.
The gryphon points with 0ne wing at [NAME].
“Right! That one shall stay here.”
You look at each other aghast.
“But you shall have a chance to recover your security. I shall charge you with a simple riddle…”
“Unbroken it moves all things, but take away half and it becomes their end.”
“As I thought: your security is mine to keep, but do try again, you will not find the answer.”
“You poor creatures tax my patience. Do you really have to waste every thought out loud instead of concentrating on the essence of things? All right, I shall offer you one last chance, but if you fail, your security is mine for good!”
“Forget it, our exchange is made. You have the right to pass and I shall keep the security.”
Beating its giant wings just twice, the gryphon rises up and snatches [NAME]. Despite frantic efforts, [NAME] has no chance to escape the monster’s clutches. The gryphons rise higher and higher. They carry [NAME] away. You all watch in despair, stunned at the thought that you’re not likely to see [NAME] ever again!
“The right of way for the security, the security for the wheel!”
The gryphon jumps into the air, followed by its four companions.
“Should you meet the unicorn, be patient but alert. Don’t ever trust it!”
With these words, the gryphons rise up and fly away.
You discover a narrow path leading straight up the mountain. This could be the spot Yasma was telling you about.
do you
Explore the path?
Continue on your way?
Turn back?
The path runs at an angle up the slope at first and then - about halfway to the top - it goes around the mountain without leading any further up.
On the other side of the mountain, the path leads towards a small forest. As you approach, you notice the partial remains of some ancient walls.
The path ends soon after that and you reach the ruins of what must have been a mighty fortress. Now only a few shattered walls remain, and even they will fall prey to the elements soon. It is almost impossible to work out how the castle looked when it was whole. The only a discernable area must have been the keep as is still suggested by some stones piled up knee high.
do you
Search the ruins?
Return to the main road in the valley?
You are back outside the ruins.
do you
Enter it again?
Use the second entrance to enter the cellars?
This exit is somewhat below the path you entered on.
do you
Return to the cellars?
Walk up the mountain to the path?
You walk back along the path. Soon you have left the forest and reached the other side of the mountain.
The descent is tough going, more so than going up, but fortunately, everybody reaches the valley floor without injury.
Suddenly during the descent, [NAME] stumbles and slides down quite a way. Cursing loudly, [NAME] limps back up to the path. Obviously, [NAME]’s ankle was hurt in the fall. Fortunately, that was the only mishap on your way down.
You are back on the valley road. A narrow path leads straight up the mountain - back the way you just came.