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Moira's Diary

Chapter 2 (2 February, 2001 CE *)

We trumped from the halls of Amber to Helgrimm's longship, the Ehwaz (movement). Helgrimm's men greeted him as Odin the Red (the god) and us as the Aesir; Helgrimm says that he and the Aesir will assist rowing the ship. Erwin went to the drums and started the rowing beat. I headed to the prow (I wasn't about to lower myself to row some shadow boat). The others bent to the oars - Calamar, Helgrimm and Armand. Helgrimm said to his crew that the Seer (ie. me) would stand at the prow to See ahead for us ( nice save of face, Helgrimm). Helgrimm came forward to try to talk to me (interesting, still these overtures of friendliness, or at least not the caution shown by the others ... neat manoeuvring perhaps ...).

I sensed a power source ahead, that seemed somehow familiar although I couldn't quite figure out why. It didn't feel the same as the red jewel that Oberon had carried the day he banished us. The sea become increasingly choppy, and suddenly a fount of water spouted up near to the boat. A seawitch, complete with hag-nose ! I couldn't make mind contact with it, and couldn't get close enough to make physical contact to make sensing it easier. Things looked tricky for a little while, before Helgrimm's awesome spear thrust struck it squarely in the nostril. It subsided beneath the waves, and we sailed on towards the village of Nachtsteading.

Helgrimm spoke to us, asking if we thought we should do as Oberon has bid us. Armand said that he believed we should investigate (regardless of what Oberon wanted). I concurred, as did Erwin and Calamar. So we continued on our merry way.

Our pace slowed a little as the wind subsided some. A raven landed on Helgrimm's shoulder, and he talked to it briefly. It appeared that it bore him a message from his wife Frigga that she needed him urgently (how sweet). He bade us farewell and said he meet us at his steading (ie. Nachtsteading, 'his' village). He trumped out. Armand promptly ordered "the slaves" (ie. Helgrimm's crew) to row faster. They looked a bit put out, but obeyed nonetheless - we were supposed to be Aesir and kin to their god and master after all I suppose. Erwin obligingly sped up the drumbeat. After awhile one of us noticed they seemed to be tiring, and pointed out that they wouldn't be able to keep this pace up for the two days required to reach shore. On a whim (and hell, I wasn't going to be inconvenienced by a dead exhausted crew) I walked down the ship and whispered in Erwin's ear, asking him to slow his pace a little lest we be inconvenienced by that lack of rowers. He assented, and the beat slowed. At the same time the wind picked up (who was playing with the weather?) and the longship sped forward. After a while we were beset with strong winds and severe storms.

Not long after that Helgrimm reappeared in deck - apparently one of his sons has been killed by another son. Helgrimm's wife Frigga is grieving. He was apparently killed with an arrow dipped in a poison not of this shadow. Helgrimm said he believed it may be connected to the other incursions in his realms. We travelled to the shoreline near the boundary of his shadow and the other one that has developed there. It looks much like 20th century Paris on Shadow Earth, but with hovertanks, horseploughs and planes. Very odd. We agree to explore this shadow further, and to blend in dressed in suitable clothes that Helgrimm found in a spot he knew had to be there. We come under fire from a group of rebels who are using solid shot. Armand and I are hit and go down. (It turns out later that Helgrimm was trying to provision us with weapons and he 'provided' the firefight for that purpose - it just didn't quite work out the way he expected ...). Erwin dived past our location, trying to draw fire from Helgrimm who was knocking off the opposition quite well. Erwin's dive drew a hail of bullets ... and Armand was hit again, this time quite badly. I tore strips from my clothing to bind his wounds, though I was hampered by the wound in my side. There was some fireplay, and Helgrimm and Calamar linked up and worked their way over to where Armand and I are pinned down, and Trumps us back to his longship. Erwin was not to be seen, though, and Helgrimm said they'd been unable to contact him via Trump. He had made contact, but it had been blocked.

Once back on the ship I took Armand to a safe place out of the way and started poulticing his wounds with available materials. Helgrimm offers a healing rune (sowelu) and after some thought I accept it, with due caution, for Armand's sake. The treatments seem to work - Armand started to look better; functional at least, though not at his usual capacity. I pulled out the Trump of Erwin I had found in the Deck I had, and tried to contact him by Trump. He answered - he had been trying to retrieve a "big fuck-off bazookoid" - . I asked him if he wanted to come through to join us on the ship, and he said yes. I drew him through, but it was harder than I anticipated - some kind of power was holding him back, though I could not get a clear sense of what or who it was. As I brought him through, something administered a psychic 'slap', then contact with it was broken. Erwin confirmed that Helgrimm had tried to contact him and bring him through, but contact had suddenly broken off. At least the stories matched, so there was some possibility they were telling the truth .....
Armand picked up the bazookoid that Erwin had retrieved to examine it. He notices that I am also wounded, and swiftly bends to cradle me and move me to a comfortable position so I can attend to my injured side.

A woman appeared while I worked - Hel, the daughter of Helgrimm. She's apparently the healer in the family, and she took Erwin away to tend to his wounds (lucky him).

Helgrimm, Armand and I then discussed what to do from here. Helgrimm tried to sweep the offending Paris tech-world from his shadow; storms raged, the sea surged and chasms formed. He pushes against the barrier that is there, harder and harder - the waves crash further and further in past the barrier. Suddenly there is an explosion and the shockwave hurtles outward. A mountain rage rises up, shielding us from the worst of the shockwave but even so we are knocked down. All else is incinerated.

Helgrimm then took us to Asgard, his hall. It was a mess (presumably from the explosion). He brings back Hel and Erwin to Asgard. Erwin had many broken bones and bruises (hmmm .... some healing session, but then Helgrimm intimated that Hel exacted her own .. rewards for healing). Helgrimm was having his own problems though - he was having difficulty healing himself from the rebel fire-fight. I went over and stood behind him, and with his assent put my hands on his shoulders. I fed him gently the psychic power he needed, carefully though, so I didn't fry his brain. The healing worked. Calamar's wounds also healed ok.
We noticed too that pattern makes the encroachment stronger.

* Note: CE = Chronology of Earth

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