I'll open this and make an establishing post around noon, my time (Pacific US).

But a few things to know here where you can find it if needed:

Most of you came with tools. Precious instruments of your life's chosen profession that will be needed in the new colony, if you're to make a living. So precious you keep your bag of tools at your belt, never out of your sight.

In some cases "tools' means a book or something else easily water damaged. In such cases the pouch containing them is leather, ties tightly closed at the top, and should keep water out. Mostly.

The ship has a crew of 40, and 100 colonists with manufactured supplies for the colony, as well. Metal goods mostly. Some colonists may form a second shift on oars.

The journey has taken a few weeks, with stops at colony ports in Greenland and Iceland for resupply of food. No shore leaves, and over night stops only. You've met some of your fellow colonists and have formed first impressions, but not much else.

The voyage was rather uneventful, for the most part. Resupply stops in Iceland and Greenland where you weren't allowed ashore. It was the conventional wisdom that the folks arranging you transport were afraid you might jump ship hoping to make a new life at a more established colony.

And then that final longest leg: Greenland to Vinland. Several weeks at sea in the chilly northern waters. Crew whispered about an unmarked area of the empty ocean that was haunted. A wives' tale? Apparently not. You spent several days fighting back fear as eyes stared at you from the walls, the mast, the oars themselves, everywhere. And ... other, less definable things happened as well. But then you were through it and it ended.

And then, a week after that, mere days form Vinland, one of those New World storms struck. Farther north than the expected, apparently, but no less fierce. Viking longships are just not built for hurricanes, and yours was no exception. The shi was tossed, the mast splintered, the hull caved in...basically the ship was destroyed little by little by the storm, but you weren't there for the end. You'd long since been tossed overboard by the storm's violence, clinging to what ever bit of ship's hull or deck had preceded you.

And that is the last thing you remember until you wake up on a beach, a lump on your head and wave sloshing around your waist. As you sit up and look around, you spot a few other survivors. All too few.

"What did we do to piss off the gods so?" Eyvindir asks aloud to no one in particular. "I had thought such storms were things of legends, but Thor must have rode into a mighty battle around us to create such chaos."

The young, lithe man lays out the few belongings he managed to hold onto: a flute, a drum, a horn, a pouch and a sheath. "If anyone requires aid, do not be too stubborn to ask; we will need all of us at full health if we are to survive." Eyvindir says as he looks around at the other survivors. After a pause to see if anyone answers he offers, "I could blow my horn to alert any other survivors, however that could also alert others to our presence."

A deep breath after another brought Bjarne back into the consciousness. One look at his shriveled skin on his hands was enough to figure out that his involuntary time in the water was not that short, still Odin wanted Bjarne to live, and it must have been for a reason. Bizarrely enough, washing up on the beach didn't tamper Bjarne's mood that much, and seeing and hearing the lithe man calling out for remaining survivors woke his optimism back up even more.

"We haven't pissed off the gods, this was destined for us before we left the shores of our home, we should be thankful for it" The scholar, weighed down by his wet robes made his way along the beach toward the skald. "Let's help other people come back to their senses, we can think about blowing the horn, once we know how many hands we are working with." Bjarne started approaching the nearest washed up survivor, who seemed to show some signs of life, shaking them a bit in hopes of waking them up.

Eyvindir shakes his head and rolls his eyes at the mention of destiny, but doesn't press the issue. He continues moving along the beach and helping the survivors, offering aid to any who might need it.

Ingvar opened his eyes, looking directly up at the sky. He was lying down, and he could feel the ground beneath him, the water gently washing over him as he tried to remember how he got there. The storm. He remembered the storm, remembered holding on to the side of the boat, shouting into the wind, then nothing. He sat up, gripping his head as a flash of vertigo and nausea washed over him, "Arghh...". He waited for it to subside, looking over his limbs, no pain at least. Swallowing hard, he tried to get the taste of brine out of his mouth as he gingerly looked around. A bit farther down the beach he could see others moving, so he wasn't the only survivor it seemed.

Pulling his feet in beneath him he slowly rose, coughing a bit as he readjusted and took a stumbling first step towards the others. Gaining confidence he began stretching his shoulders and arms, "Well met. It is good to see that I was not the only one left", he knelt down beside Eyvindir, "Does anyone know where we are? Is this Vinland, or did the storm blow us to another shore?".

Stig shakes off the sand from his bulky body and just looks around, shaking his head.
Can he see any other survivor, maybe in trouble? any other ship in the sea? Any animal, or fish? What time of the day is it? anything that his carpenter's tool can turn into a makeshift hut?

"Eyvindir," He says as he places a comforting hand on the man kneeling beside him. "In case we haven't met; I must admit I'm feeling a bit out of it still. Anyways take your time to recover, we shall live to complete deeds worthy of an epic ballad yet."

He continues on in search of anyone else in need of help.

Stig, internal questions and knowledge checks and what not are best done in the private thread. That way the answer are private, too. Better for you to tell folks what you know than for me to. Check there for your answers.


As to weather. We will use Newfoundland as our base (Part of the joy of the setting, I can look up actual facts to start from) and June simply because current info came up first.

It is around 40 degrees (fahrenheit) with a light off shore breeze, but no precipitation. It's also late afternoon.

Folks, given the chill in the air before dusk you can expect a chilly night. and you have no food. You have no time to forage, but might be able to do something about shelter. Foraging would probably be your first concern come tomorrow, however.

The only folks on this chunk of beach are you six. Searching for more requires a trek either North or South along the shoreline. Potentially a big one.

The wet robes hanging off of Bjarne's body, made the cold caused by the fresh breeze even more severe. Some type of shelter was a priority, that was obvious, but trying to construct it in an foreign environment, yet to be surveyed, adds another layer of difficulty. "I am Bjarne" He raised the hand with a faint smile before going back to what occupied his mind. "We should start gathering some supplies, before the night creeps up on us, it is already starting to get chilly, and we don't have much time left before it becomes even less bearable. It would be a great if we could find a big enough cave that could protect us from the winds, at least for tonight. ". Bjarne for the first time turned his attention towards the land facing away from the sea to survey the nature and overall geographical features of the foreign area.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:54, Tue 12 July 2022.

Eyvindir nods in agreement with Bjarne's words. He takes off his shirt and rings it out, hoping it will dry better. "Short of finding shelter, we had best at least make a fire before night is upon us. We can go a night without food if we must."

He too turns to look inland and sees if any direction seems especially promising.

Let's assume there s a bit of a height distance between the surf (low point) and where the sand quits being beach and turns into...whatever else is up there.

You might see a tree op or two, but not much else right now. Again, you're basically at the surf line...or in it, depending.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:47, Wed 13 July 2022.

"Is anyone interested in seeing what can be found beyond the higher point?" Bjarne posed a question not particularly intended for anyone special before heading higher, not really waiting for the response. Having more information to work with will definitely aid the group's current efforts.