There is no need for the grogs to act like something they are not when talking to your contacts Bernhard. The entourage is for meeting with the more prominent persons on the island, whether it is the lord or someone else. Let's send them all out to begin with to talk to fishermen, sailors, craftsmen, shepherds and whatever. I'll talk to crew on Baltrum and Hjalmar and Yulia to give them some directions.
The meeting soon breaks up and the trip east continues for the small cog. As the evening arrives, the captain directs his ship towards shore for the night, anchoring in a small bay with the Baltrum moving alongside. Using the rowing boat, the magi are able to consult with their mundanes travelling in the knarr. Bernhard informs you that the captain expect to arrive to the island in four more days of sailing, if the weather holds.
((Let me know when you fell that the magi have shared all they want to, and asked all the questions to Bernhard that they can think of. I will then move things along to the next scene. Questions do not have to be in character at this point.))
Ok, questions barrage:
I ask him about the fauna and flora of the island.
TREES: Are there many trees in the island? Are they healthy or stunted by the weather? Are they in small copses or spread all around? Any area that can be called "a forest"?
FIELDS: Is the place plowed a lot or is it mostly grass (or forest) as well as swampland?
ANIMALS: Are there large predators around? Foxes? Wolves? I suppose there are rabbits and hares as well as sheep, but to be sure, are they around?
WOOD: Where do the locals get the wood for their firest and construction? Local produce or imported from the continent?
SHIP BUILDING: is there a ship building industry (even if only knarrs or smaller vessels) or are they bought in the continent?
How many sheep are in the island, more or less. This is something that is easy to learn from locals.
How many people work in the mines? How many work as fishermen?
How many men does the lord of the island has? Does he have other knights (or thegns, or huscarls) under him ruling individual villages?
Do the people know anything about magicians? Do you know how they feel about magic?
Good questions. Here are a few more about geography. How does the coastline look on the north side close to the oak with vis? Is it steep cliffs? How high if so? Any way to land with a ship in that area? How far from the sea is the tree? How far is it to nearest settlement?
Fauna and flora:
- Trees: Very few trees on the Oberland, generally stunted and barely enough for the locals living there to cook their food. On the Unterland there is a little more, but in general trees are less than 30 feet high. Those are mostly deeper inland, sheltered from the winds by the rocky core of the island. Harvesting of the trees is thightly controlled, although Bernhard isn't sure if it's by the lord's men or if each village control its own lands.
- Fields: Parts of the island are cultivated, mostly on the inside where the fields are sheltered from the wind. But grain is imported, Bernhard says, so local production is certainly not enough to provide for the needs of the local population. He has mostly stayed in town, so he does not know the exact layout of the rest of the island, beyond what he saw from the Oberland.
- Predators: He doesn't know about predators, but he hasn't heard anything about wolves and such. He thinks there might be foxes, since there are certainly hares, but has no certainty on the matter.
- Sheep: Perhaps a hundred in Oberland. Some more in Unterland, but he does not know how many. The island's primary source of food seems to be sea-related (fish, birds, seals).
People:
- Mines: He doesn't know for sure, but thinks it is probably less than a hundred.
- Fishermen: Many. Certainly more than a hundred in town (not all in individual boats) and more in villages.
- The Lord: He doesn't know. There are certainly customs officials that visit the ships that stop at the island to pick up a pilot (tax on that), a few town guards, and a pair of ships patrolling the area against pirates.
- Magicians: He hasn't heard anything about this, beyond the usual dislike of seamen for the supernatural.
Site:
- Coastline: Near the oak, there is no way to land a ship. It is on Oberland, with a cliff about 200 feet high to the north and west. Lower on the east (still over 50 feet) as the red rock transitions to white rock. This rock formation extends to the northeast for a few miles, although some sand formations are adjunct to it along the way, but there are fewer villages on that shore.
- Oak: The oak is on Oberland, which is about 1 mile long. The closest village is at the southern part of Oberland, with the oak on the northern end. A few more villages are visible northeast along the rock-and-sand shore, and more are visible inland within the protection of the cliffs down in Unterland. There are a few peasant huts between the oak and the village, though, so the area is not completely isolated from other humans.
Any laws or rules or etiquette issues we should be aware of?
Any prominent individuals beyond the lord? Wealthy folk, clique rulers or such?
(I'm done with questions and revelations)
Nothing particular or exceptional in law or etiquette.
A few wealthy merchant houses have interests in the town, but these are mostly limited to some storehouses and staff.
Bernhard has limited information on the nobility. There are few of them (maybe a dozen) and they usually don't involve themselves in the life of the common folk. He doesn't even know the name of the Danish king's representative.
To sum up and correct me if I have understood something wrong.
We land in the main port/town on the island.
The sailors and crew of Baltrum perhaps together with some of the other grogs goes to check out the dockside area and talk to the people there, visiting taverns, brothels, inns and the like. They have got instructions to try to say as little about us as possible, we are merchants if they must say anything. They try to get as much information they can get about the general situation on the island. Who is important if you want things done, including such things as black market, smuggling and crime but also official power structure.
The grogs do the same basically but might be able to talk to other people than just those in the harbour area. Using Bernhard's contacts perhaps.
We, the magi and Bernhard tries to get ashore as inconspicuously as possible and go look at the oak tree and search the surroundings for covenant potential.
When we have gathered more inforamtion about the current situation on the island we will form a new plan how to make our grander plans happen.