[center][color=00CED1][h3]The Iceborn[/h3][/color][/center]
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[b]G) Prospect the Land[/b]

Praise flowed from the High Chieftain's mouth like water from the river. He witnessed the tribe's growing stores and was filled with pride. He offered his praise to the fishers, the hunters, the lumberjacks! Aye, and praise to the Gods for leaving such a bounty, even Father Frost for 'twas he who ultimately delivered them to this rich new homeland.

It was then that Gunnar approached the chieftain, leading two of the goats that he and some others had captured in the mountains. Dag began to praise Gunnar and his fellows, but the man cut him off.

"Dag, there is something else. We felt watched when we were in the mountains. A few men thought that they saw things moving on the clefts above, and sure enough, later on something disturbed the rocks and sent them rolling down."

There was utter silence from Dag and the other men around. In that tense moment everyone was still, and then there was an explosion of words and action.

"Cursed," proclaimed one elderly man, "that mountain be cursed!"

"What, are you afraid of a little stone rolling the mountain? You lot are mad," a more skeptical one offered.

Somewhere mixed within the outbursts there was uttered a single word, posed as a question: [i]"Skraelings?"[/i]

Once again they all froze and considered that daunting possibility. Skraelings were mythical creatures mentioned in the legends of the tribe, creatures that could walk, talk, and think like men, and yet were something other than men. They came in various shapes and sizes and demeanor, but in the tales an encounter with skraelings ended with blood, more often than not. There had been no skraelings on the Fatherland, simply tribes of other men. Even on the other desolate islands they had passed in their flight from the Fatherland, they had encountered no skraelings. But the possibility was real, nonetheless. Those islands had been desolate, but this was a green and fertile land. It made sense that there would be some sort of skraelings native to the land. But would they be numerous? Hostile? A threat to the Iceborn?

All of those questions flashed through Dag's mind but there were no answers. Nonetheless, he was on edge. After some time, he finally spoke in a low voice, "Gather more men. Send them to the mountains in large groups. Have them explore. Prospect the area for ores, while you are at it, but always be on the watch for skraelings."


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-The Iceborn still await the return of some people to complete the herd of goats

-The strange encounters reported by the scouts and hunters have aroused suspicion among the Iceborn. They suspect that 'skraelings' might be present.

-Dag sends more men out to the mountains, this time in larger groups. They are to prospect for ores and look for signs of skraelings.
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