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Oliver D. Bernuetz's Regions - The Border Marches - Here Comers the Bride Back to my home page Back to regions Back to The Border Marches
Here Comes the Bride
Well the Amberi have finally made it to their promised land and it hasn't quite lived up to their expectations. Must be all the Predark contamination. The Women's Circle, headed by Randella Ernaldestadaughter, has come up with a plan to help with this. Randella had the chance to speak with Age Swiftshanks, the Torkani scout, as he helped lead them to Sounder Vale. He mentioned to her that the Torkani have a young but very experienced follower of Belveren the Chaos Cleanser named Thorgunna Brynhildsdaughter living among them. Age spoke of her because she's his cousin and he's very proud of her. They're also of the same age and he knows her very well. Age also mentioned that Thorgunna is very ambitious and she wants to be the wife of a chief. Now, this plays in well with the women's ring's plans for the current Amberi chieftain, Blunt Ashbjorn, since they've had him under near constant pressure to "get himself a proper wife," i.e. an Ernaldi, rather than his present wife Skerri Brightspear. Blunt hates the pressure and just wants them to leave him alone, and well, it is only a year marriage, and...to make a long story short he's agreed. Skerri blew up at him when he broke the news to her. (Actually she was secretly relieved as marriage doesn't suit her at all. But it looks better and has a higher guilt factor for her to be angry). Now Blunt and Randella are sending young Dag to negotiate the bride price (just a bit awkward with the groom still married but hey, we can work around that). A group led by Dag Haukson will be travelling to Torkani lands to talk to Thorgunna Brynhildsdaughter and her bloodline to try and get her to come join the Amberi. This is who's going along : Ashart Bolison Someone of Thorgunna's status will have a brideprice somewhere around 50 cows in value. A normal cow is worth 15 wealth. Blunt is sending 10 fine cattle along plus some additional loot from Red Kare. Hopefully her relatives and the Torkani ring won't be such sticklers that they refuse any goods. Total Loot Being Sent 10 Fine Cattle 17 each (These are the very best of the cattle the
Amberi brought and Una wasn't thrilled at losing them). The total is the equivalent of 70 cattle. Blunt doesn't expect the cattle back of course but whatever can be brought back without looking too cheap... Blunt also gives them 20 cattles worth of trinkets and small gifts to lubricate the whole process. The Trip Blunt had asked them to do a bit of scouting along the way. Of course he doesn't want them to risk their lives but he's itching to learn more about the surrounding areas. To head to Torkani lands he asks them to retrace their steps back through the foothills. Skerri will inist on a stop at Old Wind (the fyrdmen will like that as well). The trip will take about two weeks due to the cattle and roughness of the terrain. On the way back he's asked them to travel east into Prax and then south until they reach the river. Then west along the river until they're home again. That should take two weeks as well. Blunt's allowing them four weeks for negotiations then another two weeks back or so. He expects them back by the end of Earth Season.
The Negotiations Even with this bit of filthy lucre it's not a sure thing as her relatives won't be thrilled about her going someplace as unsettled as the Sounder Vale. Anywhere that needs a chaos cleanser is just too damn dangerous to be in! Dag will have to convince her bloodline and the Torkani ring that Blunt is an acceptable partner and that the match is worthwhile. To negotiate such an important marriage Dag will have to :
Persuading Thorgunna Young Thorgunna is every bit as ambitious as Randella painted her. She really wants to be married to a clan chieftain and this seems to be a quick route to reach that goal. Persuading Thorgunna 17 Giving a good description of Blunt would help as she likes tall warriors (+5), impressing her with the value of the bride price will also help (+5), as will impressing her about the worth of Blunt's warriors. Skerri should be dissuaded from talking to her as she won't help matters much (-10). Once Thorgunna's persuaded using an appropriate skill her approval adds a +5 to negotiations. Her disapproval subtracts 10. Persuading Her Bloodline Thorgunna's bloodline, the Silver Alynx is not very interested in losing their golden girl. They see a lot of promise in her future and aren't very sure that the Amberi are worth the risk. Persuading the Silver Alynx Bloodline 5W2 This is actually the hardest stage of the negotiations. (Everyone outside of her bloodline wants to get rid of her frankly. Her continually throwing herself at all the Torkani chieftains is starting to get embarassing). Her bloodline wants quite a bit for her. Dag has brought wealth worth 70 cows (though Blunt will be annoyed if he has to give away that much). As stated above Thorgunna's approval is worth +5 and her disapproval is worth -10. Each five cattle worth over 50 is worth +5 for a maximum of +20. Booth the Hunchback is the spakeman for the Bloodline. He is a withered little gnome of a man with total power over the bloodline. If his approval cannot be obtained the marriage will not occur. Promises of wealth (as outlined above) and military might will help to persuade him. He has four grandsons who he will set to fight the Amberi to prove their military might. Each of the grandsons is a devotee of Yavor Lightning. The three youngest have Close Combat 10W, Ranged Combat 3W and 1W in all their affinities. The eldest has the same values with a +2 in each. They all wear armour worth 5^ and wield spears. They are honourable, though hot-headed. Deafeating each one of them is worth +5 to the negotiator, each lose is worth a -5. A good tie or a noble loss might result in a zero modifier for that fight. Persuading Her Clan If Booth is satisfied the clan is easy to persuade (and resigned to failure if he disapproves. They'll suggest that the Amberi wait until he's dead and try again). The can chieftain, Regin the Cottar likes the Amberi and will do anything he can to agree to the marriage. Persuading her Clan, the Strong Arm 14 Persuading the Tribe The Torkani chief Regin Maniskison, also known as the Crow would be thrilled to be rid of Thorgunna. He is also interested in a stronger alliance with the Amberi as the Torkani are starting to feel pressure. What he wants is a agreement for one cattle raid each year for six years with the Amberi getting the bulk of the goods. He also wants to call upon the Amberi once for a major battle as well in that period. If Dag agrees to these conditions he will agree to the marriage. Last updated January 24, 2017 Glorantha is a trademark of Chaosium, Inc. Gloranthan material on this page is copyright ©1997-2016 by Oliver D. Bernuetz or by the author specifically mentioned on an individual page. Glorantha is the creation of Greg Stafford, and is used with his permission. Email me at bernuetz@mymts.net
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