Ever Further We Must Venture

In the last forty days since we defeated the decapus, we've all been hard at work training, crafting, and expanding our knowledge.
 
After a bit more training, I've finally got down how to use a shield, and Jormund and Svenya joined me in learning how to make a shield wall. Orvar, Hjalmer and Ærinmund beat us pretty good in what I had hoped was a friendly sparring match, but it seems Ærinmund isn't too fond of me and Carmilla... "Horned beasts and fanged fiends" indeed!
 
Ingrid has been helping me to control and expand my powers, though I don't seem to be having much luck with the whole lightning-in-a-bottle thing. Oh yeah, remember when Gorm fell into the river as we crossed that first bridge? Well, I didn't think anything of it at the time, but apparently more happened there than a little dip in the water. It was black as night under there, and the only thing he could see was some withered, ghoulish looking man, telling him that he was "unworthy to be chosen" or something. Gorm asked Ingrid what that might mean, and she said that since it was the day after the full moon, that may have been Aleson the Arisen. He is the jarl of Nyonem, chosen by Aegir, but he was banished to the seas and can only return to the surface during the full moon. Once all the moons are full at once, he'll be able to return indefinitely and lead his people, and could cause some real problems for us then. I went with her and Gorm when they went to make a sacrifice to the sea, hoping that the gods would tell Gorm what they wanted of him, and what he should do. In doing so, Gorm received some sort of vision, with a stormy sky and a fleet of ships with Aleson at it's front. A massive figure of Aegir pointed over Aleson at him, and told him he was chosen.
 
Gorm told the Jarl Niklas about his visions, but he didn't seem very concerned, as we are not particularly wealthy, and he knows of no grudges they hold against us. This does little to assuage our own fears however, as we remain wealthier than them, and Aleson may well hold a grudge against Gorm for being "the chosen one."
 
While Ulfhild has been sparring with bears, Gorm has been working on a longboat, which I hope will take us on many a voyage someday soon, and Mikkil and Jormund made some better armor for themselves. Svenya offered to clean for Ingrid's family, and got us each an extra healing potion, and Carmilla offered her chimerabbit to Skadi, hoping she might influence Odin in our favor.
 
I asked Nylmyr about the strange yellow-green rocks we found, and she said it looked like an infection, perhaps caused by many people dying in that area recently. She'll show that rock to the jarl, and we'll soon go back to the place we found them to see if there's anything else we can glean. She also gave me a small Mjölnir pendant she and Sven forged, and said that she could get my friends some if they wanted.
 
Of course, the rocks aren't the only thing we'd like to leave town for - we're excited to venture further from our home than last time! We've heard of draugr in the graveyard, just south of the place where we found the rocks. After going to exterminate them and investigate the rocks, we'll cross the bridge and go north to the area Ulfhild thinks she was fighting the bear, and see if we can't take it down together. We'll then go further north to that primitive bothy we've heard about, and perhaps from there take a detour to the dancing grove, faerie throne, and hot springs. Detour or no, we'll then go to the sylvan temple, and finally reach the old dwarven door, where we suspect that "The Underhill King" - some self-important racist dwarf that's been going around killing elves and humans - may reside. Finally we'll go south again, passing by the obelisk before we reach the treehouses, which can take us right back home - thanks, Mimyr! We'll set out tommorow and ought not be gone even a month, unless we take it especially slow.