— • —
Okay, so let's work out some scene-ideas for the farmstead
- Challenging Viglar:
Whether the heroes have just met him, or have been travelling with him for some time, there is little chance that they can sway Viglar's mind unless they impress him. Their best bet is to engage Viglar in a contest of strength, preferably after he's been drinking. Only a single character can challenge Viglar at a time, and he's likely to only entertain one such challenge each day. Usually such challenges will take the form of something that can done inside the stead (like arm-wrestling) but a clever hero might convince Viglar to go outside for a challenge.
In order to soundly defeat Viglar and make him willing to listen, the hero must make three rolls of Athletics and achieve at least five total successes (with a Great Success counting as two, and an Extraordinary as three). As long as he has been drinking, the first test is at TN 12. The next two are at TN 14 and then TN 16 as he becomes more serious about the contest. If, for some reason, the heroes ensure that he is sober, then the tests are TN 14, TN 16 and the final one is TN 18.
Once the hero has won the respect of Viglar, then that hero may start an Encounter with Viglar, with themselves as spokesperson for the company. Viglar is impressed most by Valour and is prejudiced against both Beornings and Dwarves. If the heroes attempt to start an Encounter without impressing Viglar, the Tolerance is instead set at zero.
Meeting with Alchred
If the heroes have played through Theft of the Moon, they might have met Alchred, a thrall of Viglund, before. Perhaps they were able to help him (if they saved the thralls and their families, then Alchred is not one of the thralls from the earlier adventure, but has heard of the characters and their generosity), or perhaps they are responsible for his family being punished. In either case, Alchred will be willing to meet with the heroes, but must be discrete. If Alchred is favourable to the heroes, he will tell them of Trahearn's plan. If he hates the heroes instead, he will instead threaten and brag about what is to come, perhaps (with a successful Riddle roll) revealing too much.
Meeting with Trahearn
The heroes may wish to meet with Trahearn directly. In almost all cases, he will demur, saying that he is only an advisor to Viglar, and not worth talking to. If the heroes have been to see Mab already, they might know (or be able to guess) the origin of the Heart of the Mountain. Mentioning the artefact is one way to force Trahearn to treat with the company. However, he will still be very resistant to giving anything away. Tolerance is equal to the lowers Wisdom of the company and the TN for all skills other than Riddle is TN 20. Trahearn always judges himself to be smarter than any other, so riddling talk and puzzles might cause him to open up.
