The cliffs faded away and dipped down to a wide grey sand beach, a deeply cut ravine gaped open and its edges gripped the sandy shore.

Large stones and earth had been piled up across the deep channel that cut the beach in two......though from the looks of things it had been a while since any real work was done on it and there were no boats afloat behind its dubious protection from the grey waves.  They sat, a dozen in all, dragged well up the beach almost to the scrubby gorse and samphire dotted cliffs.

A number of figures watched from the top of the breakwater and some of the companions tensed but the soon resolved into the forms of children waving.

" Hold oars! Stow and away! Ready to over!", Greylock boomed.

" You'll want to hold on."

As the men stowed their oars the ship was picked up onto the back of a dappled wave, Greylock swept the steering oar away and right and the end of the breakwater flashed past them an armspans away as the ship hurtled towards the beach.

The wave broke, Greylock thrust the steering oar away right once more and the ship came down on the sand with an audible thump before sliding effortlessly into the still, if more than a little fragrant, waters pooled before the river-mouth.

The crew cheered, Greylock wiped the sweat from his brow, " Tides a little further out than I realised.......that could have been embarrassing......"

The outer most men jumped overboard and began securing lines and heaving the ship over to a truly ancient looking wood and stone platform; beyond it steps lead upwards, carved into the face of the cliff.

" Welcome to Lacklaw!", he said as the children raced across the sand towards the ship.

Bael made his way to the beach, waving to the children, smiling.

"The children of Lacklaw!  A proper greeting for once!"

In reply to Bael Haywardson (msg # 2):

Kores slowly moves to the edge of the ship.  He glimpses at what is before him briefly before pulling his hood over his face.  In case of a sudden combat arising, he will remain near the back when they disembark.

Dann slowly disembarks, not knowing what to think of this sudden flock of children coming at him and his companions.

Yamousou stood up and waved at the approaching children. Younglings were strange creatures - some would welcome him with open arms, others would run from his strange looks and dark skin.

Rabbie's ears prick up when he hears the children. A ship! And not reavers (probably). Rabbie is almost as excited as the children. A ship means news, trade, visitors, and maybe even... something more exciting. Rabbie grabs his kit bag and races towards the cliff edge to see. He stands next to one of the boys at the top of the stairs and looks down to take in the scene. Definitely not reavers, it looks like one of the traders from Glissom City. Whats more interesting though are the passengers.

He ruffles the hair of the boy. "Have y'ever seen such a strange group? That one looks like his skin is burnt to a cinder, eh lad!"

Rabbie will wait at the top of the stairs to greet the strangers.

The children crowded around the Albishman,

" Yer a braa' gurt fella!"
" Aye, Wha Name ya ha?"
" Got anyting fer me?"
" Ware dra ye from?"



The children started moving towards Kores then stopped suddenly and quickly went back towards Bael.




One of the boys saw Dann and the Clansman could see the boy take in the plaid he wore, he ran up towards Dann and drew a fish knife from his belt, and put on his gravest face " Ye'll nae harm me ma, ya scunner guts.", he snarled.




When Yamousou appeared there was a sudden and utter silence.

The children stared with their mouths wide open, suddenly they started picking up pebbles from the ground and casting them towards him. He noted immediately that they weren't trying to hit him, rather the pebbles were purposefully dropping well short and the children all had the fingers on their left hands crossed.

Rabbie watched the children below with the strangers, then raised an eyebrow at the childrens behaviour towards the char-skinned man.

Yamousou raised an eyebrow. He had had stones hurled at him before, but last time they were intended to do him some damage. This seemed to be some local ritual to ward away evil spirits. He smiled, taking care not to expose his sharpened teeth, and held his palms open to show that he came in peace.

In reply to Yamousou (msg # 9):

Bael smiled at the children, and fairly sure he had understood them, said "My name is Bael!"

When he saw their reaction to Yamousou he quickly made his way over and put his hand on Yamousou's shoulder and smiled to the children - "And this is my friend Yamousou!  Can you say Yamousou?"

Rabbie hollered out as he started to descend the steps. "Stop with the stones, ye rascals!"

He spoke to Bael as he approached. "Bairns will be bairns. You've come a long way m'lord. Yer friend's come even longer. What brings you to Lacklaw?"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:01, Thu 14 Nov 2013.

The children stopped what they were doing at Rabbies call and ran away yelling and laughing towards the breakwall, happy to leave any possible ancient supernatural threats to be dealt with by an adult.

Dann stays impassible at first, then softly answers: "No, my friends and I did not come for that..." Looking at the boy's face, he feels compelled to add: "And I ususally don't harm women."

The back of his neck reddens.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:53, Thu 14 Nov 2013.

" Aye? Ye may pass.", the boy said gravely.  As he looked around he saw all his friends were gone and ran off across the sand after them.

Hugh nodded to Dann and jumped down off the boat.

In reply to GM (msg # 14):

Rabbie nods towards Dann and Hugh and continues talking to Bael.  "Yer House Carls might like to watch themselves here, we donnae see their type other than when they come a raiding."

He continues to watch Bael with a neutral expression.

"These two are good men, you can trust them," Bael said smiling as he gestured to Dann and Hugh.

"We've come to your town to speak to your elders or whoever might be the bearer of oldest knowledge here.  One of our group, Kores Varias, is something of a scholar and is trying to learn the ancient history of these lands."

He moves in closer to Rabbie and whispers "You might want to keep the children away from him though - he's a little bit...  ...  ugly... from a disaster with fire.  A little strange, but a good man."

*Cough!**Cough!**Cough!*

*Wheezes!*

*Cough!**Cough!**Cough!*

*Spits*





*Chokes*
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:01, Fri 15 Nov 2013.

Rabbie recoils a little from Kores.  "You'd better speak to Lord Hulmer.  Come."

Yamousou nodded towards Rabbie. "Please, take us to him."

As the proceeded he couldn't help flash a smile at the children, revealing his sharpened teeth.

Dann follows the flow, a little ashamed to rely on Bael to give him a good name, but at the same time remembering the villages he plundered with his clan too many times.

He starts to grin at the kids, though, engaging with them and playing small games.

Rabbie lead the companions up the carved steps as Greylock and his crew tied up and prepared the ship to take on cargo and offload the wares they had brought in trade from Glissom City.

Heavily cloaked and shrouded figures began to descend the stairs to assist with the offloading.

As they topped the rise they spotted a number of structures beside the river before it disappeared down into the gorge and the tidal lake below.

http://ancientweb.org/images/e...n_Viking_Village.jpg