Session 13: Voyage of the Impertinent Serpent

General Summary

On 9th day after Midsommar Olav Farwalker arrived at Goat Eye Pointe, instructed by the Lodge Eldritch to take the companions to the Elvish Gardens aboard his small vessel, The Impertinent Serpent. Olav inquired about the changes in the group since they last met, acquainting himself with new faces and asking about those that had left. The wizard also saw the corpse of the Thursir not far away and asked if the group had killed the giant, to which Halstein said "she did" pointing to Janicka. Impressed and aroused, Olav (who apparently has a thing for strong women, especially ones that put him in his place) dubbed Janicka "Giant Slayer".

Olav likes it rough

While on the topic of names, Olav asked the companions if their group had one, as most famous bands of heroes do. The group decided on The Storm Eaters, as many of them are Eaters of Worms that came together seeking respite from a terrible storm. Speaking of storms, the rain from yesterday took only a small break before resuming, falling in near-constant waves throughout the next three days.
The Storm Eaters made ready for their voyage and chose a route. They decided to sail along the coast to Rjen, a small village about three days away on the western coast of the Throat of the World, and then proceed on foot up the Great Whale Road to the Elvish Gardens. Olav's small vessel barely had room for the Storm Eaters and Eiuin, so the warhorse 31 had to be released. Svagnir used his druidic magic to speak to 31, explaining why he was being left and giving him direction to a potential new rider.
Along the sea voyage Ottar and Olav struck up an intellectual kinship, bantering over all matter of minutia for hours on end. The Storm Eaters learned from the mage that the Thane of the Clans of the Throat had called the All-Thing, summoning his jarls and his warriors, and was building an army to come to the aid of the Lodge. Olav also revealed that his life goal was to rise in power and become the Master of the Fifth Circle. As a means toward this end, the mage was hoping to craft a magical artifact he called The Exposition Map; a talking map that didn't tell you where you were but rather all the historical and cultural information about your location instead. Despite raving constantly about himself and his goals, Olav still found time to pour a continual stream of suggestive comments toward Janicka, who did her best to ignore him.
By midday of the first day of the voyage The Storm Eaters sailed by the remnants of Blackwater Keep. The mountain side the fortress had been built into had been destroyed in a massive explosion or series of explosions. Rubble and debris were scattered for miles around. Hundreds, if not thousands of Wormborn corpses littered the ground and floated in the waters around the ruined keep. Olav explained that Blackwater's last line of defense was a self-destructive explosion of epic proportions, which would hinder and delay the Wormborn attack on the Lodge itself for some time as their numbers were decimated and would take time to reconstitute. The Storm Eaters investigated some of the Wormborn corpses in the water and came to the conclusion that some could be born of aquatic creatures and could most likely swim, meaning water could not be used as a barrier to stop them.
Not long after sailing past Blackwater a couple of the companions noticed a beautiful female creature with blue skin and coral hair swimming next to their boat. Soon everyone was looking at her, curious and on guard. The creature rose out of the water and began to dance across the waves, her body moving in hypnotic undulations. Some of the companions realized this was a Sjora, an aquatic fey entity known to be as capricious as they are beautiful. But the realization was too late as all but Svagnir and Janicka fell under the creature's hypnotic dancing enchantment!

Sjora like to dance

From the other side of the boat a pair of Trow, ravenous and cunning sea trolls, rose out of the water to attack the mostly enchanted crew. Mabd and Olav were pulled from the boat and into the water by the Sjora and Trow. Quick-thinking Svagnir used his magic to coat the surface of the water with spike-filled kelp, terribly wounding both of the Trow. He then shape-changed into a giant sea eel and leapt into the water to save Mabd from the Sjora. Meanwhile Janicka woke the rest of the companions from their stupor and led the attack on the wounded Trow in an effort to save Olav (the only person who knew how to sail the boat!). Mabd released a fan of lightning from her mouth, wounding and breaking free from the Sjora. Halstein jumped into the water atop his magic shield (which floated!) to selflessly put himself between the Sjora and Mabd, but he was burned by Mabd's lightning breath before the young sorceress could cease its blast. Janicka, Ottar, and Olav made quick work of the wounded Trow, and Olav was pulled back aboard the boat. The Sjora, wounded and now alone, sensed the fight was over and quickly fled. The remaining companions got back aboard The Impertinent Serpent to treat their wounds and continue their voyage, surviving a scary ambush at sea.

Trow like to eat things...alive

The next day was uneventful, save for the persistent rain. Mabd, growing bolder in her affections for Svagnir, took his hand often and spoke of her concerns regarding her draconic curse. She told Svagnir how amazing she thought he was, and emphasized that he always did what was right, no matter how difficult. She implored that he always do what is right for her, no matter how difficult, should her curse take a turn for the worse.
That night as the group made landfall to camp (Olav needed rest and was the only one who knew how to sail the boat) a beautiful flame-haired woman, dressed in nothing but a translucent scarf, approached the camp out of the pouring rain and darkness. Halstein, who was on guard, spotted her and took no chances. He began banging on his shield, raising the alarm and awakening his companions. The woman giggled, an alluring and intoxicating sound, which enchanted the brave tomte. Trapped in his mind by the enchantment, Halstein hallucinated about chasing the beautiful woman through a terrible storm. His small legs couldn't keep up with her, and he felt his health and vitality start to flow from him. He knew that if he didn't catch her, he was going to die.

Harlots o' the Gale like to get busy

Meanwhile the rest of the companions awoke to this woman enchanting Halstein with an alluring giggle. Many of them instantly recognized her as a Harlot o' the Gale, a fey creature obsessed with mating, but only with champions worthy of surviving her tests. The companions attacked and discovered that the Harlot was not alone. A massive dire wolf came to her defense and a battle ensued. Janicka called forth her leaf-touched magic to entangle the Harlot in a patch of groping vegetation while the rest of the companions made quick work of the dire wolf. Halstein was awakened from the Harlot's enchantment no worse for wear.
Hopelessly entangled and now without her guardian dire wolf, the Harlot submitted to Janicka. She offered to mate with the Vaettir as a worthy champion that had bested her. Janicka, in her calm stoicism, refused the offer. Svagnir asked the Harlot if she had seen any Wormborn about, to which she said she had not. The Harlot then offered any of the other companions the chance to best her enchantment, with the reward being a night of pleasurable mating. All refused the fey, who, now defeated and humiliated, was released, disappearing back into the rainy night. Afterwards Ottar made dire wolf jerky and it was delicious.
The remainder of the voyage to Rjen was wet with rain but uneventful. Upon arriving at the small fishing village Olav used his rank as a member of the Lodge Eldritch to gain the party lodging for the night. The Storm Eaters were gracious guests and quickly earned the trust of the villagers, who were more accommodating than other villagers the party had encountered so far. Perhaps it was the influence of being with a Lodge mage, or perhaps it was the presence of a tomte, which many folk consider a good omen. Regardless of why, the Storm Eaters used the good faith and traded with the villagers to resupply their stock of javelins and arrows. Svagnir also used his druidic magic to cure a village boy who was suffering from a severe illness.
The Storm Eaters also asked the villagers if they knew anything about the dragon, Scalding Rain, to their north in the Elvish Gardens. The village elder had heard tales from farmers to the north having seen it, with scales of midnight black and fire red. The stories were inconsistent however, with some saying the dragon attacked farms, melting them to nothing beneath a torrent of hot acidic breath like scalding rain, while others tell of the dragon saving a farm that was under attack by a band of Ogn Trolls (the northern term for Orcs). The group asked for more information about the farm that was aided by the dragon. They were told it belongs to Hrothgar, a known drunkard, who claims the dragon spoke to him after saving him from the Ogn Trolls, asking if he knew if the Ogn Trolls had Grim, or where they were hiding it.
Several of the Storm Eaters recognized the name Grim, the magical battle axe of the legendary hero Cyuli of the Rivers. Cyuli was a figure of mythic proportions who slayed giants, tricked gods, fought in the First Plague, and could dig rivers simply by dragging her axe Grim in the ground behind her as she walked. Not sure what to make of the tale, the companions decided that visiting the Hrothgar farmstead along the way to the Elvish Gardens was a good idea. The village elder warned them to watch out for Ogn Trolls, as they seemed to be thick upon the lands to the north lately, perhaps working for or being driven south by the dragon?

Cyuli of the Rivers likes her axe, Grim.

The next day the rain finally gave way to a pleasant summer day for Valkheim. Having completed his tasking to sail the party across the Throat, Olav parted ways with the Storm Eaters. Before going he slapped Janicka across the face, hoping for some rough love in return. He was surprised when the protective Halstein jumped up to punch him in the leg. Emotions flared for a moment but then calmed, as Janicka (very, very reluctantly) gave the mage what he wanted by slapping him back.
The Storm Eaters proceeded on foot north up the Great Whale Road, looking at about a week's worth of travel to reach the southern end of the Elvish Gardens. At midday they came upon a bridge and a local spectacle of sorts. A Grey Ear barbarian woman had apparently been captured by a group of farmers and they were preparing to stone her to death atop the bridge. The Grey Ears were known to raid these lands often, stealing and killing, and it was no surprise to the party that this woman was being put to death. What was surprising however was a face a couple of the Storm Eaters recognized in the crowd of onlookers: Signi of Arnsted!

Signi likes to shoot things with arrows...lots and lots of arrows

The last time the companions had crossed paths with Signi was north of Molde, where she escaped a battle in the rain as her traveling companions from Bjorksted were slain by the Storm Eaters for mistreating their elven thralls. Signi had then stalked the party to Molde where she threatened to kill livestock and more if the possessions the Storm Eaters had taken from her cart (a djorruk corpse in a bottle and an ancient elven arrowhead that supposedly belonged to her mother) were not returned. The possessions were returned, and Signi had left a message for the Storm Eaters saying she had need of honorable killers such as them, and if they ever wanted work to meet her at the Blushing Giant Inn in Thaneshall.
Wanting to talk to Signi, Svagnir asked Ottar to create a distraction. Ottar did just that, confusing the local brutes who were about to administer justice via stones with a barrage of fancy pontifications. As Svagnir made his way to Signi, the petite and cruel looking woman decided to use the distraction for her own purposes, whatever they may be. She ducked against the siderail of the bridge and snuck to where the barbarian woman was tied. She then yelled to the crowd that the Storm Eaters were with the Grey Ear woman, that she saw them helping steal livestock. A tense moment of confusion ensued. The lead brute was trying to figure out what was happening as two strangers mucked up his stoning ceremony, one by pontificating about the intricacies of the Rule of Law and the role of government, and another by yelling that the wandering strangers (including a Vaettir on a giant goat and a tomte no less!) were somehow involved with the Grey Ear woman. Used to solving more problems with steel than wit, the brute prepared to draw his blade. Ottar didn't wait to see if the brute intended to use it or not and went on the attack.

Will the Storm Eaters survive the battle on the bridge, outnumbered by a dozen farmers of varying armament and martial skill? And what is Signi's agenda? Why would she wish to turn the locals against the Storm Eaters? Does she still hold ill feelings toward them for killing her companions from Bjorksted, or is there more to this mysterious woman who can expertly use a mighty bow that should be far too big for her to draw? And what of the dragon Scalding Rain and the tales of its strange behavior, sparing farmers and asking about a weapon out of legend and myth? Are the ramblings of a drunk farmer to be believed?

Report Date

17 Nov 2022