Session 28: The Howling Barrens

General Summary

Ottar decided that Vlka's kiss tasted like nutmeg...no...cinnamon. Sweet, but with a hint of spice. The kiss was a symbol of the rewards of loyalty, for he was now a swornman of the Thane of the Clans of the Throat.
After the oathing ceremony (sealed with a kiss) was complete, Skordal elaborated on the Barak Tor, or Blood Path, the six Storm Eaters must complete to demonstrate their worthiness to possess Wrothgar's Godtrap. To follow the Barak Tor they must fill a ceremonial bowl with their blood and then float an enchanted lodestone upon it, which would point the way each day. Skordal reminded them of Wrothgar's other conditions along this quest. First, no dwarf or their god Hjellik would be harmed in getting or using the Godtrap. Second, an enchanted boat that can shrink to fit in the palm of one's hand, filled with magical items and treasure, must be delivered to Wrothgar unsullied and unused.
Skordal gave the boat full of untold treasures to Bloodroot, as he believed the old druid was beyond material greed. He gave the blood bowl to Svagnir, as the defacto leader of the Storm Eaters and the bearer of the dragon's soul. Skordal also took the sending stone Svagnir had and gave it to Maebha as his chosen point of contact, tasking her to report daily with their progess along the Barak Tor.
With the details of the quest complete, Juvyk offered any mundane supplies the party required, along with lodging and the service of one of his elven thralls (a middle aged woman named Fe' ala) during their stay in Thaneshall. The acting Thane and his entourage then dismissed the party from the Hall of Thunder.
And so came the time for Svagnir and Isulf, friends and trusted companions, to part ways once more. Isulf said he would catch up with Worhana and escort her to the Elvish Gardens, where he also would check in on Mabd and deal with the hag Maeldun, as he had a history with the daughters of Ravel. No doubt he would also gather his friends Siverion and Winter for this task, as they also had stock in the Elvish Gardens, the hag, and whatever intentions Velanna of the Traitor's Three had there. Perhaps even Signi of Arnsted could be convinced to go along, as a fellow agent of the Sed Hellen who knows the route well and has contacts in the area.
With the farewells complete, the Storm Eaters were shown to their quarters for the night and provided a meal. The new companions settled in uneasily, a group of strangers thrust together by fate. Maebha studied the spellbook she had recovered from Ana and discovered it was trapped with a vial of acid. With quick hands she was able to save a number of pages before the book was destroyed, burning her hands severely in the process. She then came to the hulking Einar hoping to drain his ample health to replenish her own, oblivious to his feelings on the matter. In a surprising act of acceptance, Einar was not angered by Maebha's intent to use him, and even healed her with his own middling magical skills. Ottar procured the services on a strong thrall to wash and treat his road-weary feet. The thrall informed Ottar with a whisper that Vlka requests he leave his door unlocked tonight. Ottar said he would oblige with a satisfied grin upon his ample jowls.
Meanwhile Svagnir was given access to the Thane's library. He discovered some information on animals he sought for his conjuration magic, but was interupted by Skordal. The old mage lost his temper with Svagnir, upset that the Storm Eaters were content to their own personal devices rather than using the Blood Bowl immediately to discover where the Barak Tor led. Clearly the situation at the Lodge must be dire for the normally composed mage to lose his control of his emotions.
Svagnir returned from the library, gathered the Storm Eaters, and floated the lodestone in the bowl with Einar's blood. It pointed northwest towards the Howling Barrens, a vast moor full nothing but wind and monsters. It was decided the Storm Eaters would leave at first light, and they asked if horses could be provided, which Juvyk's thrall arranged to be ready at dawn.
During the remainder of the evening the companions got to know each other a little better. Synsk asked Svagnir about the dragon soul he carried within him, and the druid explained that it was acquired from a mad dragon and was to be used to power the Godtrap once they have it. Maebha asked how he dealt with multiple voices in his head, and hinted that she may be dealing with a similair situation, revealing a strange arcane tattoo on her neck without explaining further. Einar asked how the other Eaters of Worms acquired their tongues. Svagnir displayed one he had acquired and was keeping for the winter solstice, a strange magic keeping it preserved. Bloodroot responded that the Lodge had provided him the tongues he needed over the centuries. Einar then shared that he had three tongues, all of them preserved in a way neither Svagnir nor Bloodroot were familar with. Bloodroot asked either of the other Eaters if they knew anything about potentially ending their condition. Svagnir said he witnessed Janicka being released from being an Eater when she was raised from death by the goddess Eika.
And so the companions eventually drifted off to their rest, ending the 36th day after Midsommar. In the wee hours of the morning Vlka crept into Ottar's room. Ottar prepared himself to please the daughter of the Thane, but she instead began a conversation he was not expecting. She said he was not what she expected, a dragon slayer, a giant killer, yet only interested in a quiet life among books. She said he was a man of vision, and asked him to imagine a particular future...a future after her father has passed and her brother Juvyk takes the throne...Juvyk, brave but incapable of thinking beyond the tip of his axe...who would be the real power behind the throne, she asked Ottar to imagine. And then she asked Ottar to imagine what should happen to the Godtrap after it is used to end the Wormborn Plague...it would be a powerful force to shape the future of the world, possessing the power to trap gods and end plagues. Vlka said only people of great vision should possess such a thing.  And with that Vlka gave Ottar another kiss, asked him to ponder what she had said, and wished him well upon his quest. As she departed his chambers she crushed a spider in her hand and used its life force to summon magical energy to tuck Ottar in his bed, revealing both a secret and demonstrating hidden power to him at the same time. Was she a heretic mage, hiding from the Lodge Eldritch in plain sight in the shadow of the Thane's throne?
And with the rising of the sun on the 37th day after Midsommar the Storm Eaters departed Thaneshall on the horses Juvyk had provided, off to prove their worth on the Barak Tor. They decided to proceed along the Great Whale Road to the village of Bodo and then use the Blood Bowl again to pinpoint where they needed to go. The day passed uneventfully, and they found lodging at a meadhall in Bodo, where most of the locals avoided the strange looking band as much as possible. Filling the Blood Bowl once again, this time sharing the burden of supplying it blood, the lodestone pointed directly into the heart of the Howling Barrens. Cross referencing the information gained from its use the previous day, the band was able to pinpoint exactly where they needed to go within that sprawling, windy wasteland.
Ottar then shared a sizable amount of knowledge about the Howling Barrens he had gained during his travels and his time as a jarl's librarian. The Howling Barrens were desolate moors where the wind had eroded a web of ravines and ruts that cause them to sound like they are howling when the wind cuts through them. They are supposedly home to terrible beast men, creations of Keitel, the god of lies and trickery, made for his sheer twisted amusement. These half-men, half-beasts were said to be endlessly hungry and only dined on fresh flesh, sometimes their own. They perhaps had magic that could cause bones and blood to burn within the body. 
Ottar also knew a bit of lore about the spot the Blood Bowl directly pointed to within the Howling Barrens. He believed it was where the barrow of Sultfir Elf-lover lay. Sultfir was the son of the Thane nigh on 180 years ago, shortly after the War of Iron and Water. It was said that he either fell in love or was ensorcelled by five beautiful elven thralls that he kept as trophies from that war. Regardless of why, Sultfir became passionate about ending the enslavement of elves, so much so that he murdered his father and claimed the throne. He decreed all elves to be free, and certain land to be returned to them so that the Clans of the Throat could live in peace with them. This did not sit well with the Jarls and Huscarls, and they rebelled against Sultfir. The battle for power was short-lived, and in the end Sultfir and his five elven thralls were slain. As punishment and a warning to others, Sultfir Elf-lover and Kin-slayer was buried in a barrow in the center of the Howling Barrens, along with his five elven thralls. This barrow is said to be filled with a maze so that the souls held within can never find their way to Valdryssil.
Armed with this knowledge the Storm Eaters departed Bodo on the morn of the 38th day after Midsommar, heading directly into the heart of the Howling Barrens, seeking the barrow of Sultfir. Terrible howling winds, filled with gritty sand, blasted their eyes and flesh, but other than that the day passed without incident. They decided to press on past dark, hoping to find the barrow in the night and then rest once their destination is in hand. As the sun set and the wasteland about them grew dark, then encountered a strange creature, half-man and half-bull, eating another of his kind...eating him alive, as the companions watched the dying creature twitch while it was being devoured.
Seeing a horrid act of apparent cannibalism, and armed with Ottar's knowledge of the beast men, Einar didn't hesitate. He hurled a javelin, striking the bull-man in the shoulder. The wounded creature pleaded for mercy in a broken accent of the common tongue, and the Storm Eaters asked Einar to pause his attack until more could be learned. The bull-man said his name was Broke Face, and that he was eating his father as part of a rite to become an adult among his people. He was now to return to his tribe, which he called The Brood, to lay with his mother or one of his sisters to complete the rite. Upon further questioning, Broke Face revealed that his tribe was currently at the barrow of Sultfir, which they believed was a holy hill in the midst of the wastes. Broke Face offered them safe passage if they let him live, and that perhaps "Mother", the leader of The Brood, would have more information about the barrow.
And so the Storm Eaters followed Broke Face (Bloodroot even healed his wound as a sign of good faith) to his tribe and the barrow, reaching the destination near midnight. The Brood was currently conducting a ritual feast upon a live Duantroll tied to a stone atop the barrow hill. They were a motly band of beast men, mixed from a variety of creatures such as bulls, dogs, horses, and even birds. Mother, the leader of the band, was a mix of several creatures and man, and for unknown reasons all of her limbs were gone, perhaps lost to battle, disease, or even the hunger within her and her kin. She was pregnant and rode upon the back of a gigantic bull-man, tied there into a high postion of authority.
Svagnir parlayed with Mother, and after the Brood's feast upon the screaming Duantroll, she allowed Svagnir and Ottar to approach the stone at the pinnacle of the hill to see if it was an entrance into the barrow beneath. After a quick investigation, Ottar discovered that the stone did cover some sort of opening into the hill. Svagnir transformed into a horse and with the help of the gigantic bull-man was able to move the stone and reveal a 30 foot shaft lined with stacked rocks and cobwebs leading down to a trapdoor.
Mother would not allow any other interlopers atop their sacred hill, so it was decided that Ottar would explore the shaft alone, with Svagnir at the top of the hill and the rest of the party looking on from a distance.  Ottar descended on a rope to the bottom of the shaft and the trap door. He found an inscription on the trapdoor's handle that said, "Here lies Sultfir Elf-Lover and Kin-Slayer. Enter if you wish to join him." Ottar investigated the trapdoor and found no signs of a trap, so he cautiously opened it. As he pulled up the door he was horrified to see that it was a false entrance with only stone beneath...stone and a series of interconnected ropes that he could not see from the top of the door which were now triggered and lurching into motion as the door was opened. These ropes connected to a network of ropes hidden behind all the stacked stones that lined the shaft, pulling the stones loose to bury Ottar alive! The quick thinking and surprisingly nimble rogue shielded himself under the half open trap door, and then started moving what rocks he could to bear the weight of the landslide above him, rather than crushing him directly. Despite all his actions he was still being crushed to death, albeit more slowly. Was he to join Sultfir, buried beneath 30 feet of stones, his soul never to find Valdryssil?
Atop the hill, Mother decided it was time for action as she watched Ottar disappear in the collapsed shaft. She had been patiently waiting for this moment, when she sensed these interlopers would be in a position of weakness. No longer hiding her true intentions, she bellowed for her Brood to attack! A wild melee broke out across the hill as Ottar was hopelessly buried beneath it, slowly being crushed to death.
Svagnir summoned two giant octopi along with his deathly whispers, hoping to control the battlefiend with their long tentacles and his dark magic. Einar and Synsk rushed into the heart of the fight with great sword and great maul raised high. Bloodroot summoned druidic magic against his foes before eventually taking his giant tree form and sowing his magical grove about him. Maebha and her band of skeletons fell victim to a blast of fear-inducing magic from a horse-woman who wielded a wicked looking staff topped with the skull of some great-toothed beast. They eventually broke free of the enchantment and joined the battle with spell and steel. The battle raged back and forth, both sides claiming short-lived advantages. Synsk fell, near death, his armor ruined by the flail of the gigantic bull-man and his sword dropped and lost in the growth of Bloodroot's grove. Einar healed him between swings of his maul, but Synsk only fell again to the barrage of attacks from the Brood, once again teetering on death's door. Meanwhile Ottar was buried 30 feet below, desperately moving and stacking stones to alleviate the crushing weight above him.
One by one the members of the Brood fell, including Mother. Synsk was once again plucked back to consciousness from near death. Svagnir used his druidic magic to summon a small horde of giant badgers who began digging to rescure Ottar. The companions waited, bloodied, tired, and breathlessly, hoping against hope that their resident chef, scout, librarian, and barber-surgeon was somehow still alive under all that rock. And then, looking deep down into the widened hole the giant badgers had dug around the collapsed shaft, they saw the half open trapdoor, now reinforced with a multitude of stones to relieve the weight upon it. And then from beneath it they spied the girthy, dirty, bloody hand of Ottar protruding from the stones.  A hand which moved, giving a very tired and relieved thumbs up!
And so, as the night passes into the wee hours of the 39th day after Midsommar, the Storm Eaters find themselves atop the barrow of Sultfir Elf-Lover, the beginning of the Barak Tor somewhere below them in the earth. They have survived a vicious battle with the cannibalistic and savage Brood, with Synsk and Ottar bearing the worst of it. Where is the real entrance to the barrow, as the first way they discovered was false and trapped? And what horrors wait beyond?

Report Date

16 Nov 2023