Chronicles of Hedda Bardinsdottir - Hunter or Hunted?

Lohner may not be any closer (so he says) to finding Hedda Bardinsdottir, but his search has turned up pages from her journal.

From the Rhunikron of Hedda Bardinsdottir

There is trouble brewin’, I can feel it from my toes to the tips of my plaits.

As we’re in dangerous waters, I ordered the Grungni’s Whisper to travel below the waves. We run a little little slower, sure, but a confrontation with corsairs would cost even more time.

Only we kept detectin’ something near. Three times we slowed, risin’ up to periscope depth, each time thinkin’ we’d spot a target. By my reckonin’ Gangplank Git’s fleet still has a half-day lead on us, so it’s too early to be them.

And when we rose...nothing! All three turned out to be false alarms. Could be trouble with our new detection system. Only I ain’t so sure ...

We’ve been using a new bit o’ engineering. In theory this particular gubbins works by makin’ a sound what travels ‘neath the waves, reflectin’ back if it hits something: like say an iceberg, or the hull of another ship, or mayhap some wicked big beastie. By measurin’ return vibrations, we get an estimate as to how big the unknown object is, as well as how far away. Is it accurate? Well... mostly, but the engineers keep fine-tunin’ it.

I probably already told ya about my woes with the Endrinkull. That lot is always adjustin’ this, or tweakin’ that. In this way, I reckon I am like me Uncle, the late Drakki Dagsson, for he was a dwarf that loved a new fangled device, and couldn’t ever stop tweaking a new design. Can almost hear me Da – Bardin– complainin’ about his ‘never leaving a device well enough alone!’.

But thems tales for another time. Back to this new device: when workin’ proper like, it detects craft at night, in fog, or, best yet, while the Grungni’s Whisper is running deep underwater.

The newest version uses clockwork clangers, an improvement on what the crew use to call the Bah-wonger, named after its distinctive sound that, unfortunately, seemed to imitate the mating cry of Black Leviathans. There’s a story I can tell about that, but ‘tisn’t for the faint o’ heart.

Back to today... could be the crew misread signals, or could be they got jumpy – it happens, even to brave warriors. As an aside – our crew is the bravest of the brave. Look at it this way, dawi ain’t, by nature, sea-going folk, we’re khazukan! ‘Tis regularly said only the mad volunteer for reg’lar naval duties. So what does mean for those what volunteer to sail aboard a Nautilus – the craft that go underwater a’purpose? That’s right, all are considered to be madder’n Slayers, and I’ve got stories that, if ya can believe it, have made a longbeard spit out his ale in amazement.

Anyhow, my crew is a seasoned lot, but even veterans get twitchy after all the action we’ve seen since leavin’ Barak Varr. But I trust ‘em, and I’ve got that tingle that makes me think this ain’t just a case of the jumps. Or a malfunction.

Can something be following us? How are they avoiding detection? Could it be sorcery? Aye, maybe... it has that stink about it.

I’d been so busy chasin’ after Gangplank Git, chasin’ after what is rightfully mine, that previously I hadn’t given much thought to the fact that something might be trailin’ me. If I had to guess right now, I’d say there is something out there, but just what I can’t say.