Tollund Man
I played this one maybe 6 months ago. Parts of it will make more sense if you have the game Tollund Man, but it's not necessary. I wrote up the final version without having my books on hand in fact. I changed the verb tenses and it also previously randomly switched from first to second person, I think I fixed all that.
NPC descriptions are at the end. They contain mild spoilers.
Not really sure how I should describe the content warnings on this. It's about human sacrifice, and the rituals leading up to it. It includes a loss of bodily autonomy and the protagonist deciding whether or not to submit to a violent death by strangulation and drowning.
The Beginning
Knud (knot). Artisan. A carpenter and metal worker. An ornate amulet is proof of my skill.
The crops have failed again. My people are starving. Sacrifice is required. An offering must be made. Runes have been cast. The council has chosen me.
It was a cold morning when they came. The fog lay heavy over the meadow, and I could barely see the trees. All five of them, grave and silent in grey robes, and I knew what it meant. They told me it would be in four days. I knew they were giving me the chance to flee. It would have to be my choice.
The First Day
Morning: Queen of clubs. Whispers of forbidden knowledge.
I returned to my house to think. I heard quiet voices outside. The augurs spoke about their divination process. A mention of wealth in exchange for something. Did someone pay for the omens to not fall on them? Do I have an enemy? Should I challenge them? Then they were gone. It is too late. Why were they outside my house? Did they want to warn me?
(move 2 to Huginn, rejection)
Midday: 8 of spades.
I walked out to get a simple meal. Everyone nervously avoided me. But when I got back, there was my name and the name of someone in the village inside a heart, scratched on the door. Astrid, skilled at growing crops and farming. I was angry. She should have said something earlier. One way or another it cannot be. I felt myself drifting from the affairs of the living.
(move 1 to Muninn, acceptance)
Night: King. Roll a 4.
The augur saw a towering dark cloud on the horizon. A brief flash of lighting could be seen. The gods were impatient. The augur had the voice I heard outside my window earlier. They seem troubled, or maybe regretful.
Jack of diamonds
The rest of the council came and they lead me to a circle of the other villagers. They took a hat, made of sheepskin and wool, dyed bright red. The sheepskin of a sacrificial lamb, perhaps, the red of blood, though I know real blood does not stain that beautifully. The leader fastened it on my head. People cheered, praising the gods, but would not meet my eyes.
I didn't really want to wear the hat, but to take it off would be a solid step in the direction of defying the gods. I realized I should have brought up what I had heard the augur say earlier. The hat was very bright red, and I realized how much it sets you apart from the others.
(move 2 to Huginn, acceptance)
I went home and took off the hat and placed it above my bed. Three more days, if the gods allow it.
Day 2
Morning: 6 of clubs.
I woke up having dreamed of a future of abundance. People walked through fields of ripe grain. I saw Astrid, oddly enough, her hands full of food, a child beside her but no man. I woke up to break my fast with a tiny piece of bread.
I told Knud the King - the other Knud - about my dream when he came to the door. He told me that I'll bless the fields, that the gods sent me a dream to reassure me. I thought of Astrid and the child, and a sunny day with life all around.
(move 1 to Huginn, rejection)
Midday: 10 of clubs
Ulfhilde came to me at midday as I went to fetch water from the stream. She was one of the augurs. She said that the sacrifice process was rigged and that the council made sure I'd be chosen, but wasn't sure why.
Her only evidence was her word. I trusted her because she was an augur, and because it lined up with what I heard earlier.
I asked her if someone has to be sacrificed and she shrugged. "The gods are fickle."
(move 1 to huginn, rejection)
Night: 8 of hearts
Sif, wife of Sten and weaver of clothing, came to me with Sten. Sten was a man of few words, but calm and reassuring. Sif was known for her wisdom and her loyalty to the gods. She cared for me when I was sick. She was my aunt, and one of the augurs.
I asked her point blank if the augury was rigged.
She paused for a long moment. "You were not the first name the runes told," she said. "You were the second. "
"Who was the first?"
"Astrid, the King's daughter. He could not bear it. It has to, perhaps, be one of royal blood. "
"I am not of royal blood. I am of no blood at all."
"But you took the name Knud to be under the king's protection. After your mother died..."
I did not know my father. I was, perhaps, more disposable. And that is why Astrid could not marry me.
"What if I fled?"
"Then Astrid would die in your stead. We cannot deny the gods twice."
"Are you sure this will cure the fields? Perhaps that is also a lie. Perhaps the king simply wants to get rid of me."
"That is very real." Her expression hardened. "You are not the first. Seven years seven times over, it happened before. I remember it."
"Did they die bravely?"
"That they did. They were a warrior, a prince, worthy of a king's name, and did not hesitate."
This shamed me.
(move 1 to muninn, acceptance.)
The Third Day
Morning: 8 of diamonds
Torsten came to me. I had not spoken to him much before: he had been rude and scornful of my ancestry. He said he received another message from the gods: a dream of an ancestor. He says that the gods have said I will die or the village will perish.
I asked him about Astrid, about a second drawing.
His eyes narrowed. He asked me who told me this. I stayed silent.
He told me to follow him, and he lead me to the shore. A small raft smoldered.
He told me, last night they wrote your name down and committed it to the gods. Whatever may have happened, it is too late now. The gods expect you.
I was filled with anger. I was not sure I cared about the fate of this place.
(move 1 to huginn, rejection.)
Noon: Ace of hearts
I walked through the woods. Not running away, just to clear my thoughts. I went to a clearing I had often gone to and I sat as the sun warmed the stones.
I realized this was a village in ruins, very old. I could see the outline of storehouses, though most of the village was gone. I brushed away some leaves and saw a child's toy. I thought of Astrid and the child I saw. I thought of time and the many years this village stood and how it all was gone. I thought about how I will die one day, one way or another.
(Move 2 to munin, acceptance)
Night: 6 of spades
The council came to me. Torsten, Knud the king, Sif, Gertrud (who once killed a wolf with her spear on her own). Ulfhilde was missing.
They told me it is time for a ceremonial bath in perfumed water, to clean my body and my spirit. I didn't want to. I said so, no, I can't do it. Sif looked at me and told me that I can. I felt afraid and vulnerable, things were happening too fast, they took off my clothes and started to bathe me and I tried not to panic or protest but things are starting to feel like they are moving outside of my control. Could I really deny the fate that had been chosen for me in front of all these people? The gods may have demanded a sacrifice but these people here, even kind Sif and brave Gertrud had chosen me and arranged things so that I will die. I am becoming a thing that belongs to the gods.
(move 1 to muninn, acceptance. )
The Fourth Day
Morning: The last day.
They came to my door. Four of the council, minus Ulfhilde, but Sten was there now, kind strong Sten. I asked in a panic if it is already time. They say no, but it is time to prepare you to understand your fate. They blindfolded me and lead me to the bog. I knew where I was only because I could smell the water and hear the birds. Suddenly I was shocked with the cold as they plunge me under. I struggled, but all five of them held me fast: my arms, my legs and my head. I panicked, I could think of nothing. I thought, this is it, they will not let me out, and only as my lungs were about to burst did they pull me out. I breathed in some water, choking and coughing. They took off my wet clothes and wrapped me in furs. They told me that so will the gods welcome me into their palaces. A brief moment of fear, and then it will be over.
Torsten looked at me, for the first time with something like respect. He was the one who lead me back to my home. He said he didn't expect to see me there in the morning after the conversation beforehand, much less come with them, but that my courage has impressed him. He asked if I love Astrid, as she loves you, and I say yes. He nods and says, you are saving the village, but you are also saving Astrid.
(move 1 to muninn, acceptance)
Noon 9 of spades
I came back to see a stone with the name of the Trickster of the West Wind written on it. One who escaped a sacrifice. The message was clear. The writing was like that of the love note.
I took the stone and went to see Astrid.
She told me we should run away together. She lead me to a secret place she knows - under the sacred oak - a hidden bower. And said we should at least spend the afternoon here, before the end. We are both frailer than a year ago, we could have counted each other's ribs, but she said, there is another life beyond this place.
The King found us as we walked back to town. He noticed me clutching my hand and reached out and gently but firmly opened it, showing the rock, the sign of resistance. There was anger in his face, but also sadness.
"You would take my daughter and my town both? And leave us all to die?"
(move 1 to huginn)
Evening: 2 of clubs
I hadn't been sleeping well, but the exhaustion caught up to me after many days. In my dream Astrid and I were with the child I saw earlier. We were in an unfamiliar town and I looked out the window and the crops were meager but they were enough to survive the winter. There were chickens, too. And other villagers, with unfamiliar faces, and someone waved at me.
(move 1 to hugin)
Epilogue
I wake with a start to quiet noises outside. The council is there, and the village behind them. Astrid is not, nor is Ulfhilde, but the remaining four Augurs are there, as well as Sten. They ask if I am ready, and I'm not sure I am, but it's too late now. I straighten my hat and they place the shoes in front of me and I put them on, and the village surrounds me outside. The sun is rising and it's still cold. I feel the silence of the crowd all around me. They murmur a prayer of thanks as I pass by the oak but otherwise are silent. I stand by the bog as they place the noose around my neck. They place a cloak around me and it is warm for one moment and suddenly I feel myself plunge into the cold darkness. Four sets of hands hold me down and a fifth tightens the noose. My mouth fills with bog water as the noose seals off my lungs. It is very cold, and very dark.
Characters
Knud, sharing a name with the protagonist, the King of a village of about 100 people.
Astrid, the King's daughter, in love with Knud.
Sif, an Augur, wife of Sten, aunt of Knud (the main character).
Ufhilde, an Augur, with unknown sinister plans.
Torsten, an Augur and council member, nephew of the king, seeking power.
Sten, wife of Sif, quiet and kind.
Gertrud, a hunter.