Session 07: Disappointment and Decisions

General Summary

With the last of the Fossegrim slain, the party took stock of what prize the costly victory had wrought. Many of the companions were wounded and exhausted, and Aela Blood Kraken lay unconscious, but stable. Bjekmir’s mind was wandering in and out of lucidity.
The companions first engaged the strange young woman who had watched the fight from her nest of lilies, ferns, and wine bottles. The woman seemed to snap out of a trance as the last of the Fossegrim perished, and was confused and traumatized. Beyond stating that she was Taia of Strymsted, taken by the Fossegrim when they attacked her boat on the way to Midsommer, she was unable to piece together much in her fragile state. Worhana took the damaged woman into her care, and Arik said she would be welcome aboard the Blood Kraken. The Wolves of the Tide do not take thralls like the Clans of the Throat do, as they prize freedom above all else.
Next the companions investigated another possible exit from the cavern that was blocked by a small boulder. Taia warned that there was only “black hunger” beyond that boulder and not to open it. The companions, wounded and weary, heeded her advice and left the mystery behind the boulder a mystery.
A search of the cavern located the Fossegrim’s treasure horde. Kradar took a small fortune in strange coins of unknown origin without telling his companions, and Isulf acquired a magical token made of black feathers and tree bark which can turn into a massive tree. Meanwhile Mabd collected the claws and teeth of the dead Nacken, adding to her collection of bizarre sharp objects from various dead things.
Seeing no way deeper into the earth from this cavern, the three companions cursed with the legacy of the Eaters of Worms sensed for Wormborn, which was the sole reason for this perilous quest into the bowels of these half-flooded sea caves. To their disappointment, they all sensed nothing. The companions confronted Bjekmir as he drifted in and out of lucidity. The ancient Eater also reached out his senses, but felt nothing. The disappointment seemed to fracture Bjekmir’s mind further. He began mumbling over and over that the Wormborn are rising and he must stay here to sense them. Svagnir tried to bring Bjekmir to his senses for guidance, but the venerable warrior was too far gone at the moment, much to the young druid’s frustration.
Meanwhile, Isulf knelt over Aela and prepared to use his dark healing powers to return her to consciousness. Arik stopped the paladin, and made an offer to the companions. The bull-helmed brute said that Aela was no longer the Aela he knew. He said she had lost interest in raiding and living life free on the waves, as the Wolves of the Tide do. He said she was now obsessed with his curse and the Sleeping Queen of Lilladenau, and that her obsession was leading all the crew of the Blood Kraken into dark dangers none of them wanted any part of. Perhaps it was time the Blood Kraken had a new captain, one fit for the duty, postured the hulking barbarian. Arik then stated that the agreement with the party was now complete. The party had helped Arik recover his mother’s remains, and in return the party had been assisted to the depths of the sea caves. He and Aela were no longer of any concern to them. And with that, he let his giant axe fall toward Aela’s neck as she lay unconscious.
In a split decision, Isulf intervened and saved Aela from her disgruntled first mate. Terribly wounded and very fatigued, Arik knew he dare not challenge Isulf and his companions. So with disgust he took his mother’s head and started the climb back up the water shaft toward the Blood Kraken, no doubt to take command of the vessel and leave Aela to her fate. Isulf quickly healed Aela, who went after Arik once she came to her senses. She pleaded with the companions to prevent Arik from taking the head and her vessel. Once again faced with a difficult and immediate decision, the party sided with Aela and lurched into action. Arik was near the exit to the cavern and the closest companion was Svagnir, who was still trying to snap Bjekmir out of his mental confusion. In a rash move no doubt spurred by frustration and fatigue, Svagnir tricked Bjekmir into thinking that Arik was an enemy. The blind old Eater, still a very capable warrior despite his various conditions, easily slew Arik with his magical axe Storm Thief.
Svagnir quickly recovered the head as possible leverage against Aela. Aela went through a wave of mixed emotions: happy that the head was recovered yet wary that Svagnir took it, as well as torn over the fate of her once-beloved first mate Arik. The two had practically been raised together upon the deck of the Blood Kraken, like brother and sister, only to have curses and obsessions drive them apart as adults, leading to this dark moment and Arik’s death.
Bjekmir momentarily came to his senses enough to realize he had been tricked into a killing a man in cold blood. He cried out in horror for a brief moment before the guilt pushed him back into his dementia, so deep this time that he went into a coma. Frustrated with Bjekmir beyond what his youthful patience could bear, Svagnir proclaimed that he was done with Bjekmir and would leave him to his fate, whatever that may be. None in the party immediately disagreed, as the old man had cursed them to become Eaters and then lead them to this dark place seemingly for nothing, even though his intentions may have been good.
Leaving Bjekmir in the depths of both his coma and the sea caves, the party made the difficult climb up the watery chute out of the lowest cavern. It was then that Worhana’s compassion could no longer be subdued. In her passive but oddly powerful way, she convinced the party that Bjekmir did not deserve the fate they were leaving him to. Without much argument the party agreed, and went back for Bjekmir. So with a traumatized Taia, a comatose Bjekmir, a blossoming Mabd, an exhausted and conflicted Aela, and Arik’s corpse, the companions returned to the surface, where Valdryssil’s dead boughs still swayed in the weak summer sun and uncertainty awaited.
Unsure of where their path led next, the companions considered their options. After a short discussion, it was decided they should take Bjekmir to the Lodge Eldritch. Perhaps the wizards there could help the comatose old man, and also maybe help the companions with their apparently pointless curse of being Eaters of Worms without worms to eat, so to speak. Aela offered them passage across the Throat to get closer to the Lodge, as she owed them her life and her vessel. She said she couldn’t take them directly to the Lodge, as it was protected from waterborne access by Blackwater Fjord, where the Lodge bred sea monsters to keep unwanted visitors from approaching by boat. Aela said they would have to land at Blackwater Watchtower, at the mouth of Blackwater Fjord, where the Lodge vetted any who wished to visit them.
As this conversation was unfolding, Isulf’s crows suddenly took to pecking a hole in Aela’s map while making a terrible ruckus. Once the crow’s where shooed away, the companions discovered that the crows had pecked a hole in the map where Coldlight Fjord lay. Was this a message to the paladin from the great cosmic Crows he served? Was he being summoned to this place?
Aela stated that Coldlight Fjord was a place of haunted waters where no one dared sail anymore. According to the tales she had heard, nearly twenty winters ago an infamous Tide Wolf captain named Haftan the Hungry, who commanded a fleet of ships and was feared for eating the flesh of his fallen foes, lost the ship that carried his true love, a woman named Ebbe, to a blizzard in Coldlight Fjord. Haftan swore that he would not rest until he found his love, and for years he searched those waters without success. Eventually he and his entire armada were sunk in another terrible blizzard, as he sailed like a mad man, heedless of any dangers, in his quest to find Ebbe. But being dead didn’t stop Haftan from searching. His ghostly fleet now prowls the waters of Coldlight Fjord whenever a storm brews, searching for Ebbe and looking to add more poor souls to their endless, haunted quest.
Aela added that Coldlight Fjord was not far from Blackwater Fjord, and it would be easy to investigate along the way. Aela also added that there was a small fishing village on the edge of Coldlight Fjord known as Draugr’s Run. It was a place where only the exiled and the terribly desperate went to fish the haunted, but extremely rich waters of Coldlight Fjord. Aela said if they were bound for Coldlight Fjord, then the villagers of Draugr’s Run would have the best information about the ghost and his deadly waters. She suggested raiding the small village, believing it would be an easy and poorly defended target (since no one dared raid that close to haunted waters), hopefully bearing both fruitful booty and information. The companions agreed that going to Draugr’s Run for information was a good idea, but were torn on raiding it.
Thus with a general plan in hand, still lacking several important details to be worked out along the way, the companions gathered Eiuin and Bjekmir’s warhorse 31 and set sail aboard the Blood Kraken.
It was a three day voyage to Draugr’s Run. During that time Aela and the crew committed Arik’s body to the sea, in the customary ways of the Wolves of the Tide. Worhana cared for the comatose Bjekmir, who showed no signs to recovering. Taia was taken in by a member of the crew named Gorn, who assumed the duties of first mate aboard the Blood Kraken. Svagnir discussed with Mabd the possibility of taking her to the Lodge Eldritch, to perhaps find people who could help her understand the magical powers she was manifesting. Mabd was open but wary of the idea, as her mother always warned her that the Lodge killed people like her (plus she seemed more interested in just staying near Svagnir).
Both Svagnir and Worhana used their healing powers to recover from their lingering eye injuries. Isulf helped Svagnir with the final bit of the healing magic on his eye. Although both are still scarred, their eyes are now fully functional. Svagnir’s eye bears the look of a crow’s, as the influence of Isulf’s magic left its mark. Worhana’s scars are discolored in shades of dark and light, as befitting the duality of the goddess she serves.
The companions continue to keep Arik’s mother’s head, which they discovered has the magical ability to allow the bearer to see and speak through it. Janicka carried it for a time, but then it eventually made its way to Kradar’s pack. Aela still seems very interested in the head, but has not openly asked for it, seemingly content that it is safe aboard her vessel. Svagnir suggested that they cut the tongue out of the head, so that it could be used during the winter solstice in the ritual to maintain their sentient undead state as Eaters of Worms. Aela wasn’t happy with the decision but did not protest, and the head no longer has the magical ability to be spoken through by the bearer.
In gratitude for saving her life multiple times, and for preventing Arik from stealing her ship and the head, Aela took Isulf into her bed. After some very passionate gratitude, the flame-haired captain told Isulf that ultimately she was bound for Lilladenau, as she must bring the head of Arik’s mother to the Sleeping Queen. Lilladenau is many days inland to the east of the Lodge Eldritch, where Aela’s ship cannot go and her crew will not follow. Aela tempted Isulf to accompany her there on a great adventure, implying that she would make him very happy during the quest, and that great power and riches awaited them in Lilladenau. Isulf listened intently, but made no promises.
The companions had one dangerous encounter on the second day of the voyage. A winged harpy flew alongside the Blood Kraken, at the far edge of bow range, and sang an enchanted song which ensorcelled Aela and two of her crew. The three charmed souls dove into the water, desperate to be as close to the harpy as possible. But the harpy did not hunt alone. A pair of giant blue-black eels, with ridged scales as sharp as daggers, rose out of the depths to feed upon the charmed sailors and Aela. The companions flung spells and missile weapons at the eels, but dared not get in the water to save Aela or her crew. Their efforts saved one of the crew members, as he broke out of the charmed harpy’s song and hastily climbed back aboard the Blood Kraken. Unfortunately the companions’ efforts didn’t stop one of the eels from wrapping Aela in its coils, which wickedly tore into her flesh, and pulling her beneath the water. Trying to help, Mabd fired off a new spell that was blossoming within her, but the bolt of arcane energy hit Aela instead of the eel, and sent the captain spiraling into unconsciousness near death.


Isulf once again found a way to save his lover and captain, this time by magically compelling the eel fight him instead of Aela. While Isulf, Janicka, and Kradar battled the giant eel that slithered up the side of the ship to get at Isulf, Worhana and Svagnir healed Aela, bringing her back to consciousness, and helped her back aboard. Meanwhile, the other eel killed the last crew member in the water, and began swimming away with the body. Content with their hunt, the harpy and remaining eel fled to join in the coming feast.
Shaken but happy to have survived the lethal encounter, the companions and the crew of the Blood Kraken sail on. As the third day of the voyage dawns, and the village of Draugr’s Run now lays only hours away, a dark storm consumes the horizon and hungrily devours the sky, making its way straight toward our heroes. What dangers await within this storm? If they survive, will the companions raid Draugr’s Run or peacefully dock there in search of information? What mysteries compel the Crows to send Isulf into the haunted waters of Coldlight Fjord? And beyond that, where will fate take our heroes? The Lodge Eldritch? Lilladenau? Or somewhere yet unknown?

Report Date

24 Jun 2022