Hollenvik

Hanur did some research in Jurva and learned the following about the village:

It's a village of about six hundred people in the the northern part of the barony of Udvjor in Sormark. It has fallen on hard times after their Thane, Aesa Juulbro, died and the deed to the village disappeared. The Juulbro family had a long running feud with the Lonning family who own the village in the next valley; Forngaror. Ottar Lonning was murdered 27 years ago, his daughter Dagny succeeded him.

As the party enters town it is clear the bridge that crosses stream is in disrepair. The corn fields look poorly, the squash and beans have hardly grown. There doesn’t seem to be an inn, most of the buildings are residential, usually with their own garden plot and/or chicken coop. On the outskirts there are some other structures; a watchtower, a mill, a forge, warehouses, and farm buildings. There is something of a village center where a large General Store can be found.

The party wants to learn more about the village and they are directed to the General Store. The owner, Ida Egnell, a brusque woman in her fifties, is happy to tell our friends about the village. In her opinion everything went to shit when the Thane died, almost three decades ago. Ever since the three largest families (Nergaard, Stahl, and Ternheim) in Hollenvik have been at odds and refuse to cooperate, trying to undercut each other at every opportunity. And this has lead to the current state of affairs where the watchtower is falling apart, the well is hardly bringing up any water, and so on.

She also explains that since the Thane didn't have any heirs, a deed had been written up, whoever holds the deed is in essence the new Thane. However, the deed went missing when Aesa died and was never found. When Reb asks about what would happen should anyone show up with said deed, the store owner tells him that that person would then be the new Thane, that's just how things work.

She's a shrewd one and tells the party that should this deed happen to surface that she would be willing to trade for it. She is in the possession of a map that leads to a Balturian gardyl in the nearby mountains. According to her these places are treasure troves for the adventurous kind and her map is the only one. She was planning on selling it to the Tipatshimun but she is more than happy to trade it for this hypothetical deed.

When asked about a place for them to stay the night she points them to Hegibjorht Sonddahl. His daughter Smilla is marrying Einar Nergaard, he will be more than willing to put them up and make a little coin. The party buys some candy when they see all the kids outside, it turns out the prices at the store are quite high! Still, they get enough sweetmeats to distribute to all children.

Then they go and see about boarding at Hegibjorht Sonddahl. He is more than happy to accommodate them, he is less happy answering questions about the three families, and definitely won't commit to putting one above the others, even if his daughter is marrying a Nergaard. With that the party retires to their room and starts to discuss what to do.

Outstanding Issues

There is no one to adjudicate as none of the three families will trust any of the others.

• Nergaards keep throwing rocks in the stream cause too much water is bad for their corn (“it’s not a gods-damned rice field”) but this way everyone else gets too little.
• Stahls run the only forge in town and deliver shoddy work at best to the others.
• Ternheims run the only mill and they deliver too little cornmeal for the amount of corn milled.
• Two members of the Stahl family have become very ill and no one has been able to cure them.
• Wolves have been getting close, snatching some chickens. (There used to be nightly patrols around the entire village, now the three families only guard their own dwellings, other families suffer.)
• Main well on village green is broken; something at the bottom stopping bucket and water level had been getting lower already, they lengthened rope.
• Old Fingal the hermit has taken little Sigrid Ternheim’s kite.
• Edvin Skarsgard has a problem; Silje, Fredrika, and Anna all want him.
• Fulbjorht Stahl and Thrand Ternheim have a secret relationship. "Some people like white wine others like red wine, you know?"
• Fjotra Ternheim has started worshiping Ancev She wants to be the new village cleric but knows that the other two families wouldn’t accept her.
• The bridge is only so-so.
• The watchtower is falling apart.
• Valter Nergaard has gotten Anja Westergren pregnant but isn’t taking responsibility. Mother Njorna comes to complain.
• Band of bugbears have set up camp not too far away about a year ago, so far they haven’t done anything but they can’t be trusted!