Session 02: A Long Road and a Long Rest

General Summary

The five unlikely companions made their way south along the Great Whale Road to Molde, where they seek the tongue of a witch that lives near the village in the Ytre Woods. The witch's tongue is needed by the solstice, which is now five days away, to save three of them from a fate they don't yet understand. A warm but heavy summer rain poured down upon them as morning gave way to afternoon.

Arvid of Bjorksted

The companions came upon another group of travelers that were having some trouble with their cart in the heavy rain as the road wound along the shores of the Throat. These travelers were on their way to the God Grove for Midsommer, traveling from the Clan of Bjorksted far to the south. Isulf immediately took issue with them for this reason. The Bjorksted group also had a couple of elven thralls with them, one of them beaten nearly to death in order to "motivate" the other one to unload the cart and try to get it out of the deep mud and fixed. After a few moments of discussion tense with dislike, posturing and mistrust, Isulf and Arvid, the apparent leader of the Bjorksted travelers, traded insults that finally resulted in steel being drawn. As a duel between the two men was about to begin, Svagnir took action without any of the courtesies of a "civilized" combatant and blasted one of the Bjorksted travelers with a gout of magical fire, which he barely survived. A rain-drenched, blood-soaked brawl of desperation and rage ensued along the muddy banks of the Throat.
The man Svagnir had wounded with fire immediately took his revenge, slashing Svagnir across the face with a longsword. Svagnir lay in the mud and blood, his left eye ruined, hanging to life by a thread. Meanwhile Isulf and Arvid engaged each other, with Isulf drawing first blood with an axe adorned with a copper handle. Enraged, Arvid attacked with a clumsy fury that was beyond what the slick mud and pouring rain would allow. Stumbling and crashing off of Isulf's stalwart shield, Arvid's short sword bounced back to bury itself in his own throat, killing him instantly. Suddenly arrows starting raining into the melee from the woods to the west, as two more of the travelers emerged from hiding; one a hulking brute with a great club, and the other a petite, cruel looking woman somehow wielding a longbow far larger than her slight frame should allow. Janicka and Eiuin charged off the road to meet this new threat. The Vaettir and her massive Ibex made quick work of the brute with the great club, sending him to the great tree before he even had a chance to swing his mammoth weapon. The woman with the bow, who the companions would later discover was a woman of some prominence from Arnsted named Signi, wounded Eiuin with an arrow to the haunch. Janicka and Signi then played a deadly game of trading arrows and javelins, until finally fed up, Janicka charged Signi and brutally tackled her into the mud.

Signi of Arnsted

Meanwhile, Kradar and Isulf were locked in deadly combat with the two remaining Bjorksted men. Worhana summoned the power of her dark goddess to curse the Bjorksted men before rushing to Svagnir's aid. With hands that are no strangers to pain and suffering, Worhana staunched Svagnir's wounds and pulled him away from Hrymm's nine greedy fingers. Kradar's reckless fighting style didn't agree well with the slick mud and heavy rain, and the giant of a man made an ill-aimed attack that resulted in part of his great axe breaking. His foe took advantage and after wounding him several times, brought the big bear of a man down. Kradar lay bleeding in the mud, his life slipping away with every pulse of his heart. Not far away, Isulf fought the remaining Bjorksted man, but lost his grip on the copper handled axe in the rain, causing it to fly off into the weeds. Undetered, Isulf drew his sword and finished off his foe.
Worhana set herself to the grim task of trying to save Kradar, and due to his many wounds she struggled to do so, but through persistence succeeded. The elven thrall who had been fixing the cart saw an opportunity for revenge, and picking up Kradar's broken great axe, attacked the last Bjorksted man, who was locked in a grim trade of steel and shield with Isulf. Not trained in combat, hobbled at the ankles, and wielding an off-balance axe far too large for him, the unfortunate elf slipped in the mud and fell upon the axe he meant to get revenge with, killing himself in a sad and tragic twist of fate. Regardless, Isulf was finally able to knock the last Bjorksted man unconscious.
Meanwhile, not far away, Signi escaped Janicka's grip, and seeing all her traveling companions dead or out of the fight, fled to the northwest, into the deep woods of the Ytre.
The five companions gathered themselves after the brutal scrap in the mud and blood of the Great Whale Road. Kradar, Svagnir, and the beaten elven woman were tended to. The loot of the Bjorksted travelers was gathered and taken. Isulf took the man he knocked unconscious down to the shore of the Throat and roughly awakened him. With less than subtle threats, Isulf asked the man about the copper handled axe and where it came from, and finally after promising the man he would die with a sword in his hand, Isulf got his answer: Liv the She-Bitch of Bjorksted was known to wield a copper handled axe. Isulf tossed the man his sword, and then split his face in twain with the copper handled axe.

When Svagnir regained consciousness, he was saddened to discover that the vision from his left eye was taken by the sword that had slashed his face. Swollen and scarred, the young druid made himself a temporary eyepatch. Soon after Kradar and the female elven thrall, named Hraana, recovered from their brushes with death. Hraana was heartbroken to discover that her mate, Svifr, had died in the fight. The companions helped her send Svifr to the Throat of the World and back to Valdryssil on a make-shift raft made from the still broken and stuck cart. The companions then graciously gave Hraana one of the horses, a sword and shield, and as much food as she could carry. She set off west into the Ytre woods, hoping to find free elves rumored to roam deep in the forest. Her odds are dire, as the Ytre is a dangerous place, but it was the best option the companions could offer the elven woman.

Among the loot taken from the Bjorksted travelers was a djorruk corpse sealed in a bottle. Svagnir was immediately engrossed with it. He opened the bottle and used his strange water skein to speak with the dead djorruk. He learned little of actionable information in his quest but was satisfied that he knows more now than he did before. He returned the djorruk corpse to the bottle, no doubt to ask more questions in the future.

Needing a safe place to recover from their wounds and exhaustion, the companions pressed on to Molde. On the outskirts of the village they encountered some of the women of Molde singing in their modest potato and barley fields. One of the women, the matronly and friendly Ingrid, wife of Sven the village elder, recognized Svagnir from his recent visit to Molde and welcomed the group. Ingrid then told the companions the women were singing to a wood tomte and said they must see the rare sight. The small tomte was very excited to see the companions and said that it could feel great destiny swirling around and offered to read the bones for them. All of the companions spit into a brass cup, which the tomte swirled the bones in, before casting them on the ground to read. The tomte said "One of you will give birth but not be a mother, yet a mother without giving birth shall be another. One shall beg to become what they most hate, while another shall decide upon a lost god’s fate. And while the last of you is doomed to fail, together upon a far different quest you all shall prevail, but only if you choose true, for not one, but two, storms of death will call upon you.” After reading the bones, the whimsical tomte said, "good to see you again, old friend," to Eiuin and then vanished as it put its thumb to its nose.

Unsure of what to make of the strange encounter, the companions decided to continue on to Molde. Before they left the women of the field, a small girl bearing two dolls, one handmade and cute, the other a creepy figure of lashed branches, approached Janicka completely fascinated. Janicka kindly answered the sweet yet bold girl's many questions and entertained her with a bit of Vaettir magic.

Sven Urnsson, village elder of Molde

Finally arriving in Molde after a long and dangerous trek, the companions met Sven Urnsson, the stern village elder who puts his people and their safety above all else. Sven and the companions traded a variety of questions and concerns. Sven recognized the loot the companions had taken from the Bjorksted travelers and was concerned that Signi could bring trouble to his village if discovered that the companions were given shelter here. The companions did their best to ease Sven's concerns and asked about the witch in the Ytre Woods. Sven and Ingrid told strange tales about a witch called Gretch that has plagued this area for generations, a beauty with the skin of a serpent who rides upon massive wolfhounds the size of horses. Occasionally men go missing while hunting in the Ytre, and Gretch is often blamed by the villagers. The last man to go missing was Sigurth, gone three years now. Not counting a puffed-up hero name Svarki Hornblower, who came to Molde last spring seeking to kill Gretch to make a name for himself. Svarki claimed to have a magic horn called Resounding, that was fed by smearing the blood of fallen foes upon it. Despite the hospitality that Sven and Ingrid granted the humans, offering them a bed in their long hall in exchange for the weapons and armor taken off the Bjorksted travelers, Janicka was met with some less than subtle mistrust and racism, and was told to "stay in the stables with the other beasts." Worhana, disguising her elven heritage, decided Janicka and the beasts offered better company than the folk of Molde, and stayed in the stables with Janicka.

The companions also overheard that the ship of the "Blood Kraken", a feared raider from the Wolves of the Tide people (a nomadic seafaring band) was seen in deep waters not far from Molde. The Blood Kraken's first mate, known as "The Bull of the Throat", is potentially even more feared than the Blood Kraken herself.

Ranvi, the bold young girl with the dolls, visited Janicka and Worhana in the stables that night. She asked Janicka to rescue her big brother Sigurth if she was going to kill the witch. Ranvi also asked Janicka not to hurt Mabd. When asked about Mabd, Ranvi said she ran away to rescue her brother three years ago and got lost in the woods. Mabd found her. Mabd is a girl a few years older than Ranvi, with eyes that shine with golden green. Madb made Ranvi a doll out of twigs and wicker, and played with her for hours, before returning her safely to Molde, telling her that her brother is fine and to stay out of the woods. Ranvi then gave Janicka her homemade cloth doll named Heidi and told the Vaettir it would keep her safe. Worhana detected faint magic on the creepy twig doll Ranvi carried, and Janicka made the girl promise to stay out of the woods and not follow.

Meanwhile in the main longhall, the three human companions enjoyed a meal with Sven and his family. But then Kradar grew painfully ill and ran outside to vomit. His companions followed out of concern. When the big bear man vomited he spit up a piece of blue steel that gave off wisps of blue mist, and then passed out. Worhana tucked the piece of steel into Kradar's bear cloak and then with help drug him into the stables. Not long after, when Worhana was trying to sleep, a familiar presence came to her in the gloom of twilight and granted her power and a secret vision. Later that night Svagnir awoke to a familiar whisper on the wind and followed it to a creek where he was shown pain and wisdom. Before dawn broke, Janicka awoke to hearing words hidden in the wind and leaves, discovering new strength in repeating them. And finally, Isulf awoke to the overpowering and sweet smell of carrion. He followed his nose to the shoreline where a murder of crows swirled above a woman's hand that had washed ashore. Conflicted and tortured, Isulf called out to the crows before hurling the copper handled axe into the Throat and taking a bite of the hand. Dark power swirled in his belly and spread throughout him as he swallowed the flesh.

Still wounded and weary from their near fatal trek on the Great Whale Road, the companions decided to rest for the remainder of the day in Molde. Worhana discovered that the wolf cloak Kradar took from the Daunntrolls earlier was magical, making its bearer fight like a ferocious wolf at the potential cost of great fatigue. Kradar and Svagnir attempted to unlock the secret of Storm Thief, the axe Bjekmir had left them as a sign of good faith that he will return to meet them in Molde, but failed to discern its strong and strange magics. Worhana finally procured some proper clothing with the help of her human companions.

As evening fell the companions felt recovered and ready to face danger once more. It is now three days and one night until the Solstice. Do they dare enter the dark and forbidding Ytre woods at night to hunt a witch, or wait for the meager comfort of the next sunrise and lose yet more time they may not have?

Report Date

06 Feb 2022