So my players killed Viglar

[Summerhawk]

So in our last session my players came upon a tense situation in which Viglar (son of Viglund) was attempting to recover his sister who has fled her arranged marriage and taken refuge in a Beorning homestead. They did try to do things nonviolently, but some spectacularly unkind rolling occurred and in the end the players refused to back down and attacked.
One player (a Ranger warden) stated she was trying to only disarm Viglar and acted accordingly. Unfortunately, the Dwarf Treasure Hunter brought Viglar to 0 and wounded him at the same time. I asked if he was trying to simply knock him out and he said no, not knowing the political danger between Viglundings and Beornings he would be fighting with deadly intent.
So, this was not the story I planned, but here we are, the session ended with the remaining Viglundings fleeing and the party staring at the corpse in horrified realization. I'm curious what you all would do next. How would you run a potential bloodfeud? I know much will be determined by what the players do now, but it seemed like a fun brainstorming opportunity for this very creative community

[thekingofkings]

I would say the reputation of the party could make a point. IF they are known and feared I would have Viglundings following them from afar and being a ever present threat looking for a time to attack,. but not openly opposing them. Maybe have the Viglundings threaten those they defend and care for, appealing for revenge directly from the Beornings. Basically they gave you plot gold to do whatever with this.

[farinal]

Really interesting to see how the Viglundings will develop their bloodfeud agaisnt the dwarves now. Especially to think there are several dwarves lurking in Mirkwood near them, trying to open the old trade road or find the old Dwarven holds in the north.

[Indur Dawndeath]

So in our last session my players came upon a tense situation in which Viglar (son of Viglund) was attempting to recover his sister who has fled her arranged marriage and taken refuge in a Beorning homestead. They did try to do things nonviolently, but some spectacularly unkind rolling occurred and in the end the players refused to back down and attacked.
One player (a Ranger warden) stated she was trying to only disarm Viglar and acted accordingly. Unfortunately, the Dwarf Treasure Hunter brought Viglar to 0 and wounded him at the same time. I asked if he was trying to simply knock him out and he said no, not knowing the political danger between Viglundings and Beornings he would be fighting with deadly intent.
So, this was not the story I planned, but here we are, the session ended with the remaining Viglundings fleeing and the party staring at the corpse in horrified realization. I'm curious what you all would do next. How would you run a potential bloodfeud? I know much will be determined by what the players do now, but it seemed like a fun brainstorming opportunity for this very creative community

I would kick start the Viglunding - Beorning wars now, since this happened in Beorning lands.
The players would then pursue either a great battle or mediate the conflict and set up some payment of wereguild.

Cheers

[zedturtle]

Yep. I don't see any way out of this other than a massive conflict, perhaps even open warfare. Exactly what Viglund does in retaliation is dependent on the exact particulars of your campaign (does he control the Sceadudene? will he destroy the Easterly Inn? Will he assault Beorn directly or just burn farmsteads?) but I imagine it will be disproportionate to his loss.

What can the heroes do to stop the bloodshed?

1. Defend the borders. There's no clearly demarcated border though, and they're too few to stop anything but the lightest of raiding parties.

2. Sacrifice themselves for the good of the Beornings. Somehow convince Viglund that they're responsible (shouldn't be too hard, since its true) and then face the consequences of doing so.

3. Invoke allies on behalf of Beorn. The Bear Lord is famously isolationist... what if the heroes can recruit the Ingomer/Mogdred/Thranduil/Ceawin/Hartfast/Amaleoda/Bard/Radagast/Gandalf to fight on behalf of Beorn?

[Corvo]

What a fine mess!
The same happened in my campaign. The only difference is that Viglar was murdered by Thunar in the confusion of the battle: everyone believes that it was the Beorning Slayer, though, so it's effectively the same

One of the interesting side effect in my campaign that can apply to yours is that gruff Beorn blames the Heroes for that terrible mess (them. And Aestid and her beloved). Beorn is isolationist, pacifist (the DoM campaign shows that he would go to great lengths to avoid open warfare with Viglund), and pretty ready to take umbrage to whoever brings him bad news... especially Dwarves (this I took from Tales from the Wilderlands).

I found that having Beorn as a problematic/insufferable patron makes for interesting games: the Heroes are encouraged to solve the problems on their own without asking his opinion first.

[Glorelendil]

What a fine mess!

Agreed!

The thing I would add to what the previous posters have offered is that don't leave out the Shadow! Maybe this was just Men and Dwarves being Men and Dwarves, but the Enemy has spies everywhere and will be quick to take advantage of rifts among the Free Folk.

Maybe an emissary will start whispering in Viglund's ear. "It was a Dwarf that did it, so Dain owes you weregild, and those diggers are just rolling in treasure. If they refuse...well, those trading caravans from Erebor that have been trespassing lately are ripe for the plucking. Don't worry, if Dain wants to fight my Master will be quick to come to your aid..."

Or maybe the Dwarf player-hero himself receives a "friendly" visit as word spreads that he is...volatile.

[Finrod Felagund]

How would you run a potential bloodfeud? I know much will be determined by what the players do now, but it seemed like a fun brainstorming opportunity for this very creative community

There was a Sherlock Holmes story where the person he tried to protect was sent a red hand by the people he had previously done wrong to (I think). Translated to Middle Earth, this could mean that the Adventurers are sent some kind of symbol (carcass of a Wolf pinned full of arrows nailed to their door kind of thing) that indicates that the Viglundings are in blood feud with them and will be coming after them constantly! This is different to the suggestions above in that it means that the war between the Viglundings and Beornings is delayed. However it might be quite fun to play because not only will the players constantly be having to watch out, but Viglunding assassins might turn up at inappropriate moments!

Your game sounds fun!

[Valarian]

Maybe an emissary will start whispering in Viglund's ear. "It was a Dwarf that did it, so Dain owes you weregild, and those diggers are just rolling in treasure. If they refuse...well, those trading caravans from Erebor that have been trespassing lately are ripe for the plucking. Don't worry, if Dain wants to fight my Master will be quick to come to your aid..."

I like this idea. Affecting the northern Dwarven trade route is the obvious consequence of this action. Dain could decide to pay the weregild, but then look to reclaim it from the adventurer in treasure or service. Or it could inflame the situation and bring Dain in to the conflict, in order to safeguard the merchants using the route.

[Summerhawk]

Some great ideas in this post. Here's where I am as I think toward the next session.
Viglund's Likely Responses:
- Demand weregild from anyone possible (Dain, Beorn, the Players): Essentially this plays into Viglund taking advantage of being 'in the right' (sort of) for once and using that to force the high and mighty around him to lose face by backing down.
- Begin making personal trouble for the players: Probably the occasional assassination attempt.
- Worry less about keeping orcs and evil men from crossing his lands on their way to trouble the Free People: Representing his increased receptiveness to the Shadow. This would particularly affect Dwarf caravans, but might also threaten the Easterly Inn. Perhaps he starts looking for allies among the wild men of the Gundabad Vale or sends emissaries to the tyrant lord of Toft?

Other Thoughts:
The players were on an errand for the Skin Changer when this happened, and Beorn has shown a willingness to avoid open conflict, even at cost. It might be that to avoid open conflict, Beorn banishes the players (none are Beornings or Woodmen, which is why I see this as possible) from his lands. Mostly this seems interesting as it could force the players to journey into other lands for a time. Then they could hear from afar about the continuing consequences of their actions and eventually return to make it right.

The big wildcard in all this of course is what they players do next, particularly since Viglund's daughter is in the house Viglar was besieging when the fight happened. How they play that will affect a lot.

Last thing. I ended immediately with the death of Viglar. How much shadow would you guys give for this? It isn't murder since it happened in battle, and the whole thing was caused by recklessness rather than malice, but at the same time it's a heavy thing with dire consequences. What do you think?