Chapter 4: Descent into Svartalfheimr
Battle ensued against the multi-headed giantess and her white dragon wyrmlings. As Jawhara and Kelthar approached, the wyrmlings flew up to Jawhara and unleashed their icy breath against her. Badly wounded by the assault, she was granted respite by Jolkottr's magical healing. As the two frontline fighters engaged the wyrmlings, the giantess screamed in fury and charged at them. She swung her greataxe around and struck Jawhara several times, but Kelthar joined the fray along with Jolkottr's conjured fey spirit and the changeling unleashed a lightning bolt against their foes. Though they struck several blows against the giantess, they soon learned that her wounds would suddenly heal like a troll's and surmised she must be some hybrid creature of giant mischief. Using the same tactic used against the trolls the previous day, Kelthar charged his martial arts attacks with draconic flames to prevent her regeneration. As Jawhara slew the wyrmlings with her massive crystalline axe, the changeling known as "them" conjured magical grease beneath the giantess and forced her to the ground as she slipped on the slick surface. This caused her attacks against Kelthar to miss, and allowed Jawhara, Kelthar, and the fey spirit to assault the prone giantess with ease. Eventually, the badly wounded creature stood back up only to be cut down by Jawhara's axe and beheaded.
With the giantess and her wyrmlings dead, the party continued down into the pit. They discovered a ritual chamber where the storm giant performed sacrifices and communed with his storm gods. Finally, they reached the bottom of the pit where they found the massive broken chains and the corpse of the storm giant. A war room of sorts, they found another sacrificial site where a giant had communed with beings from another plane, along with a table covered in giant runestones and a map of the cave systems beneath the north (labeled "Svartalfheimr." The map had two locations circled, with the words "allies?" next to one and "surtr's sword" next to the other. The changeling used their magic to commune with the gods and ask if the giants had succeeded in their goal here, to which the gods (namely Odin) answered "yes." After touching one of the runestones, a large spectral image of the Frost Giant they had encountered in the woods appeared before them and repeated a message to his giant kin:
The group decided to return to Hogasun to report their findings to Jarl Jorunson. They gathered the map and the runestones and left the pit, returning to Hogasun later that evening. The Jarl was pleased to see them return, but their report greatly lessened his mirth. When asked to send men and supplies with them into Svartalfheimr, he promised to send them with supplies but refused to send his warriors to their deaths. After some discussion that involved several insults against the Jarl and his people, Victavia ("them") was able to diffuse the situation and persuade the Jarl to send some of his men. Though he feared they would certainly die, he promised that they would soon find themselves in the halls of Valhalla drinking among their kin and the gods themselves. Four warriors accepted the call, and joined the group in their expedition (Arvid, Sigurd, Haldor and Adalbjorg). The group feasted and drank with the Jarl's men that evening, and Victavia spoke with them to assess their character and bravery. The Jarl promised to shore up the town's defenses, and explained that the place where "the hammer blow of thor drove them back" was Hogasun, the site of a great battle against the giants in ancient times.
The next day, the group gathered their supplies and left for the Jotun pit along with the four warriors. When they arrived, the warriors were impressed to find the bodies of the giants they had slain along the way. They descended into the depths, through winding tunnels and steep caverns barely wide enough for them to squeeze through. Peril soon found them, as two of the warriors lost their grip and were badly wounded falling down the side of a tunnel. Before long, a rock side took the life of Haldor and badly wounded Arvid and Victavia. But they pushed through and soon found themselves in flatter country, but populated by oversized fungi and glowing crystals. As they passed one such fungus, it erupted with poisonous spores that took the lives of Arvid and Adalbjorg and nearly killed Victavia. After four hours of spelunking, they found their way to an opening that led into a vast underground valley populated by massive tree-like mushrooms and glowing crystals. With only one remaining Vikingr warrior and evening coming on, they found a spot to camp for the night and found some rest there after Victavia placed a magical trap at its entrance.
The next day, Victavia communed with the gods again and asked if Birgir had found his allies in this place and received a positive answer once more. They picked up Birgir's trail leading south towards the settlement where Birgir sought allies and soon left to follow the trail. A few hours into their first day in Svartalfheimr, they began to feel strange as if someone was watching them. Soon after, they heard the "click" of several crossbows as bolts flew out from the darkness at them. The bolts felt poisoned, and most of the group was affected by them. Invisible creatures revealed themselves before them as they attacked. They were dwarves, but with dark ashen skin, white eyes and mostly bald heads (with white and gray beards). They fought with a mixture of traditional weapons and psionic energy blades, and were accompanied by large brains that walked on four clawed legs. The group fought the dwarves as more crossbow bolts were fired from the darkness, most aimed at Kelthar after he proved highly resistant to their toxins. Voices from the dark attempted to probe their minds as they fought, and the walking brains also attempted to ensnare them. As they fought, their limbs began to feel heavy and their eyes difficult to keep open. They felt drowsy and unnaturally tired. Though they resisted as much as possible, they soon succumbed to the dwarves' assault. As they faded into darkness, they saw the image of a massive brain floating in a pool of liquid.
They awoke sometime later in a strange place with concave, metallic walls that looked perpetually wet. There were strange specimen jars scattered around as they lay on stone slabs, unable to move their bodies. A tall, slender creature with a bulbous head, small beady black eyes and a mouth of tentacles entered and gathered metal instruments from a cabinet. As they began to panic, the creature touched them on the forehead and they instantly felt a great wave of calm and reassurance as the creature began its work and they passed into darkness again.
The group awakened together in holding cells in another room of the facility, clothed in mere rags with none of their equipment. The changeling and Jolkottr found themselves unable to tap into their magical sources, with the changeling unable to assume any form but their native one and Jolkottr unable to change his shape as well. Kelthar found himself completely disconnected from his inner self, unable to harness his ki. Jawhara likewise found herself in a state of perfect calm, unable to tap into her magical rage. They looked around in panic as they found themselves in this strange, alien place in the dark depths of the world...
Rise, brothers. It is time for man to answer for the sins of their fathers. The slaying of Ymir has too long gone unrevenged. I am Birgir, son of the legendary sorcerer Grimir. Though my father failed to claim the lands of the dead from the Aesir, I will not fail in my quest to eradicate mankind. Join me, on Midsomnar’s eve, where the hammer blow of Thor drove us away back into the frostwastes so long ago. We will march upon the world of men and show them the fury of the Jotunn.They also discovered a chest of loot taken from the tribesmen of the north, along with a bag filled with dirt and 5 magical beans. A tunnel led further down into the dark depths, and they were able to discover giant tracks leading down (though the same tracks seemed to shrink the further down they went). This "Birgir" had clearly gone into the depths of the Great Below, known as Svartalfheimr in the north, to find allies among the dark elves or other creatures who reside there.
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