Autumn 988 - Ragnar's Adventure in a Goblin-Filled Land

Ragnar stood in the ruins of Alwinton. The Goblin horde had torn through here like a hot knife through butter, if one wished to use a tired cliche. Where once the church had stood, there was now a ruin with a blood-spattered altar raised at its centre. Rotting remnants of the villagers that Ragnar had once thought to protect lay around and on that altar. These were the ones that had failed to get away. Fortunately, Ragnar had been able to lead many to safety in Treyine. There they could rebuild their shattered lives. Meanwhile, Ragnar was looking for revenge but all he could find was this one Goblin, who styled himself King Rech. He was not much of a king to look at for he had only three followers, even if he did have a chariot and driver too.



Ragnar stepped forward and approached the Goblin leader. He would speak to the creature first before killing it. King Rech was obviously calculating his chances here and coming up short, so he too drove forward, eying the Mirholmen archers that stood behind Ragnar warily.

"Speak, monster," yelled Ragnar, "Why should I and my warband not kill you where you stand?"
"Your miserable curs are nothing to me. I do not fear you." The Goblin was determined to put a brave face on a poor situation, but the whites around his eyes gave away the fear he really felt. " You should not kill me for I know where those villagers that live have been taken. I shall guide you there and grant you free passage through my lands."
"Very well. You may live. Show me to my friends and we shall have a truce for the time being."

Muttering from behind Ragnar indicated that some members of his group were unhappy about this, and Ragnar was not particularly happy either. An alliance with a Goblin was not really a good thing, but it might well speed up the process of rescuing those that had been under his protection. Then he could escort them to Treyine where they might make new lives for themselves.

This was a Talk the Talk encounter in a village. With the Border Kingdoms being overrun by the Goblins, we decided to have Ragnar returning to his village to see what had happened. Here he encountered a small Goblin warband and succeeding in sweeping the enemy leader off his feet. As a result, the enemy joined him for the adventure, which will be a quest to rescue some of the captured villagers. Ragnar also received an additional advancement roll. Upon rolling for advancement, his Rep went up 1 to 8, while his Social Status went down one to 4. I used the extra advancement roll to try again and it succeeded at increasing it back up to 5. Clearly recruiting Goblins is a social faux pas. Rolling for the other characters, Gunnvora the Winged, Grim Redshirt and Drogo all decreased in Rep, while Ulf and Richard increased their Rep. Ulf, one of the lowliest of my starting characters now has a stellar Rep of 7! Gunnvora, one of the better starting characters, now has a Rep of 3! Clearly Gunnvora, Grim and Drogo are discouraged by the inclusion of a Goblin in the warband, even temporarily.

Full details of the Ragnar's warband may be found on the Wargods of Valhalla wiki.