Session 25: Isulf's Dark Dreams

General Summary

Far from the dangerous waters the Storm Eaters sailed in their quest to end the Wormborn Plague, what remained of the adventuring party known briefly as the Blood Krakens huddled in a dark chamber beneath the lost elven city of Lilladenau. They had come here following the visions of Aela on her quest to find power and immortality in her patron, the Sleeping Queen, but all had gone wrong...terribly wrong. Aela and the other followers of the Sleeping Queen were transformed into undead minions in the ritual to bring the Sleeping Queen back into the world of Valkheim. The Blood Krakens banded together and stopped the ritual before it could come to completion, foiling whatever dreams the Sleeping Queen sought. And now, without their leader or their purpose, they pondered what fate had in store for them.
A secret door leading out of the chamber beneath Lilladenau had been discovered when the horde of silver was devoured during the failed ritual, but the Huldetr, that tireless and terrible hunter, still waited outside. The Blood Krakens knew not how long that beast would wait for them to emerge. Tales of the Huldetr said it never gives up on prey once it has the scent of their blood. They decided the best chance for any of them to survive was to rest here in the underground chamber, and then split up when they departed. The Huldetr could only hunt one of them, giving the others a better chance of escaping its hunting grounds.
That night as the Blood Krakens took what rest they could in the bowels of Lilladenau, surrounded by the melted remains of Aela and the other warlocks of the Sleeping Queen, a dark dream came to Isulf. He saw a river plunge into the earth, freezing solid into a subterranean icy waterfall, with the mountains which held Lilladenau visible in the distance, nestled beneath Valdryssil beyond them. Before this frozen wall of ice stood a dark warrior with the head of a crow, riding a dark steed with the head of a crow. Isulf sensed a single emotion on this being's face: desperation.

The river plunges beneath the earth and freezes into a wall of ice

The Crow-Headed Warrior of Isulf's Dream

Isulf awoke and told the others about his dream. Based on where he spied Lilladenau and Valdryssil in his dream, he deduced that the location of this frozen underground waterfall had to be somewhere not far to the south, if it was real of course. Without any other clear purpose, aside from potentially returning to find his old companions, the Storm Eaters, Isulf decided to explore this dark and strange dream by finding this crow-headed warrior and the frozen waterfall. Obi offered to help the paladin, as the helpful tomte are wont to do. The rest of the Blood Krakens decided to stick to their original plan of splitting up to increase their chances of escaping the Huldetr, wishing Isulf the best on his quest.
As so, on the morn of the 21st day after Midsommar, one by one the Blood Krakens fled the lost chambers of the Sleeping Queen. The Shadythorns were bound back to the Two Lakes area, to resume their lucrative careers as muscle for hire. Kiadux planned to venture north to Giantsfall, to visit the ground holy to his god Ragnarr. And Kenard Greenwood left following the warmth in his heart, wherever it may take him in this dark and dying world. Did the Huldetr hunt one of them? Did they survive to escape its hunting grounds? Only Valdryssil knows. But what is known is that Isulf and Obi, along with the tomte's faithful Ruen Ruen mount Ori, fled Lilladenau southward, following a creek out of the mountains.
For eight days Isulf and Obi followed the creek, which became a river as other tributaries joined it. Each night Isulf had the same dream of the desperate crow-headed warrior standing before the icy waterfall. He knew not what the vision meant, but its recurring nature made him sure it wasn't some random dream.
On the 29th day after Midsommar, Isulf and Obi came upon a place where the rocky ground gave way and swallowed the river they followed into the earth, forming a massive natural bridge rimmed with hints of ice. Ice that should not be there, as it was not cold enough yet to have frozen so much moisture. Sorcery was afoot, no doubt. The river emerged from a cliff face not far away, cascading down in a slushy waterfall, nearly frozen solid in the unnatural chill. Could this be the place of Isulf's dreams? As they approached to investigate, they suddenly knew they were not alone. Obi, with his keen senses, spied a strange shard of ice hanging from a tree like a bee hive would. Something moved within its icy core. The tomte looked closer to discover a twitching fetus embedded within the shard of ice. Disgusted and a bit unnerved, Obi and Isulf decided not to disturb the frozen fetus.
They pressed on towards the natural bridge to investigate and discovered others were doing the same, but coming from the south. Cautiously the two groups exchanged greetings and questions. The first of the two strangers was a poised and well-spoken elf, garbed in blues and greens of ancient fashion and armed with a thin rapier. A snowy owl circled about him, never too far away. He introduced himself at Siverion.


The second newcomer was a Raate, one of the catfolk of the far south of Valkheim. His fur was shades of white, black, and gray. He wore armor of leather and carried a whip and a variety of musical instruments. He introduced himself as Winter Breath.


Siverion and Winter Breath stated that they had come to investigate the area because something strange was happening to the water, making their people downstream sick. Isulf told them his reason for coming here was due to the dark recurring dreams he was having. Finding like purpose and a tenuous trust, the two pairs of adventurers decided to join forces to investigate the area.
The group of four cautiosuly proceeded towards the natural bridge and discovered the crow man of Isulf's dream perched upon it, seemingly waiting for them, quite impatiently. It lurched into a series of questions, asking why they had come here, why those reasons were important to them, and oddly enough, why they thought people kept cats as pets. The companions answered cautiously, if at all, and posed similar questions back to the crow man. He stated that there are teeth in the dark that are loud, and they told him there were answers here, deep in the earth. Answers to all their questions. Disconcerted by all this, yet not overtly threatened, the companions decided to accompany the crow man into the icy caves beneath the natural bridge.
The companions encountered the crow man's steed and companion waiting in the shadows beneath the natural bridge, right at the mouth of the icy caves. It was a cat-like beast the size of a warhorse, with crow wings and a crow's skull for a head. Silently it joined the party, and the companions gave it a wide berth without question. They then proceeded down into the cold darkness, the crow man and his steed leading the way. The air was filled with a strong metallic smell, which both Siverion and Winter Breath recognized as the smell and taste of the water downstream causing their people to be ill. The crow man was asking Isulf questions as they went, such as "have you ever ruined someone's dreams?" and "have you ever taken away someone's hope?". Isulf responded by saying dreams and hopes were things that did not exist in this world. The crow man begged to differ, and was sure Isulf was a man who had ruined many dreams and hopes.
As the companions proceeded deeper into the icy cavern suddenly a trio of yetis lept out of the darkness to ambush them. One of the yetis was tall and lanky compared to the other two, and wore a sabertooth skull pauldron, which Siverion was pretty sure he recognized. The yetis howled in unnatural and chilling voices, which paralyzed Obi and Ori with fear. A deadly battle ensued. Isulf brandished his terrible and magic blade Hunger and set to bloody work on the yetis. Siverion flowed across the battle like water, weaving a lethal dance of steel and spell. Winter Breath summoned the old magic of the fey song with his various musical instruments, bolstering his new friends and also harming his foes. Crow man and his steed aided with claw and wing. The battle was quick, but bloody. The yetis were defeated, but the companions took a terrible toll. Many of them were gravely wounded and exhausted. They decided to retreat back to the nearby surface to rest and gather their strength before proceeding. Before returning, Siverion took the sabertooth skull pauldron, stating that it most likely belonged to someone he knew from his people named Worleth. The sharp-minded elf wondered if Worleth had somehow been turned into a yeti, as he wore his armor and resembled him in height and build.
Back on the surface, nestled in the shadow of the natural bridge, the companions and the crow man took an hour or so of needed rest. Winter Breath played a tune in the fey song that helped everyone recover their strength. Siverion asked the crow man if he had a name, to which he responded that names were lies, as they were not who we really are. He called Isulf "frail bird", Obi "brittle rock", Siverion "spilled water", and Winter Breath "mouse eater". The crow man then asked what he should be called. Siverion muttered "I don't know" as he gathered his thoughts, and the crow man said that would do.
I Don't Know asked Isulf why he did what he did, why he did anything. Isulf responded to eat of the carrion that was this dying world and to find some purpose in it. I Don't Know pondered that answer for a bit, and then asked the companions why cats bring gifts, dead things they hunt and kill, to their masters. Winter Breath responded that they were sharing, as a form of companionship or gratitude. I Don't Know said he disagreed, but they would have to go deeper into the cave, where the teeth were louder, to find the answer to that and all their other questions.
With their rest complete, the companions returned to the depths of the icy caverns beneath the natural bridge. They went past the place where the yetis had ambushed them and discovered a massive chamber beyond filled with fragments of what was once an ancient elvish settlement that had been swallowed by the unstable earth here long, long ago. Only bits and pieces of stonework remained, and from what Siverion could discern it was very old, perhaps predating Aelvalla as a civilization, the work of the first primitive elves. Ice had unnaturally formed to cover holes in the floors and the walls, no doubt the work of some form of magic. Hundreds of strange, thorny white lily flowers grew here, completely encased in ice, and in the center of the chamber stood a massive red flower, nearly a dozen feet tall, the only thing not covered in ice. All of this plantlife somehow grew here in complete and utter darkness, once again clearly the work of magic. At the foot of the tall red flower were alchemy tools, apparently used recently to grind the pedals of the lilies, soem humaniod teeth, and excrement into a gray paste. The companions were giving everything as much distance as possible as they traversed the chamber, hoping to avoid any possible danger, when Winter Breath, perhaps out of disgust or feline curiousity, used his whip to disturb the alchemy tools.
Immediately the red flower was awakened to defend this bizarre garden. Its thorny roots shot up from the ground to lash at Winter Breath, their touch eating away his flesh. The companions attacked the red flower enmasse and made short work of the sentient plant. Without investigating much further, hoping to avoid any further surprises, the companions proceeded down the only tunnel leaving the chamber.
As the icy tunnel continued down into the earth, I Don't Know said he now knew the answer to his question earlier regarding why cats bring their masters the things they hunt and kill, their dead gifts. As the companions awaited his anwer they entered a chamber which appeared to be the bottom of these icy caverns. The floor was formed from remnants of anceint elvish stonework, broken and sloping down into a porton of the river as it flowed beneath the ground, slushy and near frozen, smelling strongly of metal. A handful of corpses littered the room, all smeared with a gray paste and missing their teeth. One of the corpses was half submerged in the subterrean river of slush, and it was in a horrid state of transformation somewhere between man and yeti. The companions stood shocked as they took in the horrors, and only I Don't Know continued to speak, "Cats bring dead gifts not out of gratitude or companionship, but to show others that they are weak, that they are bad hunters. And now I will show you my dead gifts. Show you that you are weak. That you are bad hunters."
And with those words I Don't Know revealed her true form, transforming into a hulking hag with skin of icy blue, hair of dirty snow white, a maw red with dried blood and a mantle just as red. Her steed also transformed, becoming a massive yeti, three times the height of a man, wearing armor and wielding an axe bigger than any of them. Perhaps this was a giant that had been turned into a massive yeti?


As steel jumped to hand and spell crawled to tongue for battle, the hag screamed at Isulf. "And you...you who have ruined my dreams and hopes of escaping this hell of a world...you will pay for what you did to Mother!!!" Isulf realized that this entire ruse and ambush was revenge for his involvement in foiling the ritual that was to return to the Sleeping Queen to Valkheim. But the paladin of carrion had little time to ponder the details as now was a time for killing and dying.
The massive yeti howled and once again Obi and Ori were paralyzed with fear. The hag used a magic wand of ice to also paralyze Isulf. Siverion and Winter Breath took the fight to their foes, slinging spells and brandishing steel, trying to give their companions a chance to recover. Isulf fought off the magical paralysis and joined the fray. The massive yeti belched forth a stream of icy death, which Siverion was able to deflect almost completely with a magical spell of absorbtion. Obi was finally able to shake the fear that paralyzed him, just in time to watch the hag feast on the still paralyzed Ori. The sight was maddening to behold as the hag ate with such horrid relish that it tested the sanity of any who beheld it. Obi went mad with pure shock, helplessly careening around the chamber without purpose or logic. Siverion and Winter Breath continued to carve away at the massive yeti, with the Raate finding his magical song to heat the metal armor the yeti wore to be quite effective.
With her feast upon Ori complete, the hag turned her attention back to the source of her rage: Isulf. She paralyzed him again with her wand, and then fed upon him, bringing the paladin close to death. At about the same time, Siverion and Winter Breath finally brought the massive yeti down, its body landing upon the still mad with horror Obi. The elf and raate came to Isulf's aid. Siverion stood protectively over the body of the unconscious Isulf, taunting the hag to do her worst. Enraged, the hag attacked the elf bladedancer, buying time for Isulf to be healed and returned to the fight. Additionally, Obi finally shook off his maddening horror and was able to join the fray.
Wounded and now hopelessly outnumbered, the hag decided it was time to flee and live to fight another day. She turned invisible and dashed out of the chamber. Several blades swung and found nothing but empty air. Winter Breath flung a sleep spell in the direction he thought he saw a flicker of shadow move, and with a bit of luck and a bunch of quick thinking, his efforts paid off! The fleeing hag fell to the ground, sound asleep, her spell of invisibility broken. The companions quickly moved to surround her and then simultaneously attack. Isulf struck the killing blow, taking off the hag's head and kicking down the icy tunnel!
The companions, exhausted and wounded, took stock of what had just happened. Obi immediately came to Ori, and using the magic of the beast and the wilds, was able to restore the ruen ruen to life just before the last bit of warmth left its dying body. Siverion set to piling up the corpses that were being transformed into yetis and burned them. Immediately the slushy water began to thaw, the metallic smell began to lift, and the icy walls began to weep. Isulf said it was probably best to leave, and quickly, before the entire cave melted down upon them. Quickly looting the hag's corpse, the companions fled to the surface. Winter Breath took the hag's icy wand of paralysis and Isulf was awarded the hag's red mantle, which has the ability to protect its wearer from spells.
Siverion thanked Isulf and Obi in helping him end the curse upon the water that was causing his people downstream to become ill. The elf offered safe harbor to the paladin and tomte with his people for their deeds, and the offer was accepted.
In the days that followed, as the new companions made their way to Siverion and Winter Breath's people, they discussed what had happened. They came to the conclusion that the hag was most likely one of the eight daughters of the Sleeping Queen, also known as Ravel, and that they could probably expect threats from the remaining seven daughters in the future. Siverion also disclosed that he was a member of an ancient order of elvish wizard-warriors known as the Eren Nen, and that he and Winter Breath worked for an enclave of the Sed Hellen that operated nearby.
What adventures await this newly formed band as they seek refuge among the Sed Hellen? Will any of the other daughters of Ravel seek revenge? Will the effects of the Third Plague, currently focused on destroying the Lodge Eldritch, have any effect on them? Perhaps only the dead and watchful boughs of Valdryssil know...

Report Date

04 Aug 2023