Session 36: New Friends and Old Enemies

General Summary

On the 43rd day after Midsommar, the four remaining members of the Storm Eaters took some needed rest in B'Hul's temple-forge. Bloodroot spent much of the rest attuning to the powerful God Trap, and the magical device took its toll on the druid, sapping a tiny part of his soul away. Meanwhile Synsk dozed off and his mistress, the Lady of the Azure Cave, spoke to him in his dreams. When the Raate warrior awoke he told his companions what his mistress had shared with him.
Other agents serving the Lady of the Azure Cave have learned that the Lodge has captured a young she-dragon with scales of green and gold somewhere near Hafrsted. They are bringing the dragon northward to be thrown into a god gash should the Storm Eaters fail or take too long in their efforts to end the third wormborn plague. The Lady of the Azure Cave still believes that killing Nydaugg will have catastophic effects, but feels it is a lesser evil compared to all the dragons of Valkheim dying. She now supports the Storm Eaters' plan to capture the soul of the great devourer, who may resemble a dragon but is something far different and greater. The Lady of the Azure Cave said her other agents will attempt to free the she-dragon or at least slow the Lodge taking her to the god gash, but she implores the Storm Eaters to make all haste in their quest.
After Sysnsk recounted what had learned in his dream, Bloodroot asked the Raate why his mistress was so concerned about the race of dragonkind, to which Synsk replied, "She is a dragon."
Svagnir and Ottar quickly gathered that the captured she-dragon was most likely Mabd, which stoked a deep anger in Svagnir who vowed all his fury at the mages of the Lodge when this quest was complete.
More resolved than ever to continue their quest with haste, the Storm Eaters gathered themselves to be teleported by Wrothgar to a location where he believed Nydaugg to currently be feeding. The ancient dwarven mastersmith reminded the companions of their oath not to use his god trap on the dwarves or their god Hjellik, and then asked them to consider "losing it in an unfindable place" once their quest was done, as all the powerful factions of Valkheim would want to lay claim to such a weapon. With that last advice, Wrothgar opened a teleportation portal in an exposed root of Valdryssil, and with purpose the Storm Eaters entered the woodsy-smelling, swirling void.
A moment later they found themselves in a massive cavern somewhere deep underground completely covered in wormborn corruption. They could be anywhere beneath the surface of Valkheim now, without any idea how to get back to the world above. Whatever roots of Valdryssil that had once grown here were now nothing but ditch-like veins of fresh toxic sludge. Nydaugg had been here to feed, and not long ago. In the center of the cavern was a massive stalagmite, nearly 40 feet in diameter at its base, broken off long ago leaving a plateau of about 30 feet in height. Around the base of the broken stalagmite were the corpses of several dead wormborn, recently slain. At the top of the broken plateau were a trio of figures who were most likely responsible for the dead wormborn, standing behind makeshift defensive barriers they had made atop the plateau. These three were currently preparing to make another stand, as the Storm Eaters could see another pack of wormborn charging the broken stalagmite from the far side of the chamber.

The first figure was an imposing human woman with black face paint and roughly made attire. She weaved her hands in arcane patterns, the skin from her fingers sloughing off and filling the air before her. The floating dead skin then burst into a ball of flame which flew across the chamber to explode with fury upon the approaching wormborn. Burned but undeterred, the wormborn continued their charge. She bore no sign of the Lodge and its bone talismans, so she must be a heretic sorceress of some sort.

The next figure was a middle-aged human woman with a well-traveled face and garb. She drew divine power from a blue pendant worn around her neck to send bolts of radiant energy at the wormborn. No doubt a cleric, but to which god was yet to be determined.

The third and final figure atop the broken stalagmite was the strangest of the group, by far. A bent and wiry rock tomte with cracked skin, unusually large tusks, and a sparkle of crazy in the eyes. He carved into his own hard hide, drawing blood, which he used to form a small blade out of thin air (and fresh blood).
The Storm Eaters knew not if this trio were potential friends or foes, but they seemed to have common cause against the wormborn that were charging across the cavern, so the heroes joined the fight against the abominations of corruption. The three newcomers seemed no strangers to battle, and held their own beside the Storm Eaters. The sorceress continued to slough skin that burst into bolts of fire that slew one wormborn after the other. The cleric summoned forth divine power to protect and heal her allies. And the tomte fought with his blood blade like a fearless lunatic, which took a toll on him as one of the gigantic wormborn smashed him with heavy tentacles. The Storm Eaters added their own skills to the fight. Svagnir summoned his fey wolf companions to slow the wormborn charge. Ottar fired lethal arrows from the shadowy fringes of the cavern. Synsk used his mind-magic to fly to the top of the broken stalagmite and face the brunt of the wormborn attack side-by-side with the newcomers. And Bloodroot flung sprays of freezing magic at the corrupted abominations.
The battle around the broken stalagmite was brutal but quickly over. The pack of wormborn were defeated, and the Storm Eaters finally had a chance to talk to the trio of newcomers. The sorcereress introduced herself as Yngvild, daughter of mother, but said little else. The tomte called himself Bjargi and kept asking the Storm Eaters if they had seen his cat Mons, much to their confusion. The cleric introduced herself as Rowena Lofgren, the torchbearer of the Veiled Light. Ottar had once read something about the Veiled Light, an obscure sect devouted to the long-absent Sila, goddess of Light and Peace. Ottar whispered this bit of information to Svagnir, along with a reminder that they had learned some time ago from a deciphered secret message between the Druids of Ghostfalls and the Lodge Eldritch that Sila was dead, sacrificing herself to end the first wormborn plague. Ottar wondered how a cleric of a dead goddess drew upon divine power that shouldn't exist.
When the Storm Eaters questioned what the three newcomers where doing here in the bowels of the earth so close to Nydaugg, Rowena answered that they were on a quest to find something to stop the Traitors Three and their ability to control the wormborn. When pressed for more details, Yngvild told Rowena to say no more until trust could be fully established. Bjargi added they he was helping them because Hrolf of the Traitors Three had stolen his cat, Mons. After getting to know each other a little better, the two groups decided to join forces as they seemed to have mutually aligned goals, for now.
In the not-to-far distance, beyond the glow of the meager light given off by Rowena's spell, the companions could hearing something like trees being torn apart, as if they were being chewed to pieces very, very slowly. Nydaugg, no doubt. The great devourer was close. It was time to proceed. The two groups became one, at least for the time being, and traveled in the direction of the chewing noise. The cavern sloped down to an area where a gaping chasm yawned open, great clouds of filth wafting up from its depths. The sound of the great chewing came from the bottom of that chasm. Surrounding the chasm were the remains of an ancient dwarven sacrificial area once dedicated to Nydaugg, before the dwarves learned that the devourer could not be appeased, only avoided. Not far from the chasm was an ancient dwarven temple, its thick portcullis now torn open and useless as a barrier. Another pack of wormborn milled about the lip of the chasm, feeding upon what remained of a root of Valdyrssil, emulating their creator not far below.
The companions had a choice to make: fight through the wormborn to climb down the chasm walls, potentially also thick with more wormborn, or investigate the temple to see if there was another route to Nydaugg not so fraught with threats. After a quick discussion it was decided to investigate the temple. Bloodroot cast a spell that shrouded the Storm Eaters from sight and hearing, and they crept around the pack of wormborn and into the entryway of the temple.
Beyond the portcullis the Storm Eaters discovered a long hall lined with arrow slits which ended in a stout double-doored gate. Ottar invested the area, discovering not traps, and fiding a pair of levers in the bulwark area beyond the arrow slits in the walls. Yngvild pulled a pinch of dust from a pouch and threw it in the air in the gap of the broken portcullis. It hung there unnaturally, threateningly. She said, "Do not touch the dust, and fear not that anything follows us." She then summoned a spectral hand on the other side of the arrow slit to pull the lever closest to the closed gate.
The double doors creaked open to reveal a large chamber beyond with an arcane pentagram of pure energy glowing in the center of the floor. At each point of the pentagram was a sturdy clay bowl filled with some elemental ingredient (water, smoky incense, burning phosphorous, stones, and blood). Beside each bowl was an elemental guardian, all of which attacked the intruders the moment the gate opened.
As the elementals attacked the Storm Eaters in the bottleneck of the gate, Ottar called out to destroy the bowls, hoping they were the arcane link needed to bind the elementals to guard this place. Yngvild was able to pull herself loose of the raging melee to target the bowls with her magic missiles. As each bowl broke from the magical damage, the associated elemental was banished from Valkheim. Soon the Storm Eaters stood triumphant in the chamber, all the bowls broken and all the elemental guardians gone.
The wear and tear of two tough fights had taken its toll on the Storm Eaters and they decided to take some well-deserved rest in this chamber, which was free of the corruption that was thick outside. After investigating the area to make sure it was safe, and securing all the entrances and exits, to include another set of double doors on the far side of the room, they began tending to their wounds and resting. But their rest was to be short-lived. About halfway through the time needed to recover, a familiar voice came through the double doors that led deeper into the dwarven temple. Ana, of the Traitors Three!
"You are not welcome in our home. Leave or die," is all she said. The Storm Eaters instantly roused to defend themselves. Had they stumbled upon the "home" of the Traitors Three, the place where the treacherous wizards had somehow learned to control the wormborn?!? 
Another familiar voice followed Ana's from the far side of the closed double doors: Germiir. "You have a ten count to leave, or you die." And the dwarven wizard started counting.
The Storm Eaters needed to make a snap decision. Stay and fight Germiir, Ana, and who knows what else, or flee back out into the cavern to potentially fight wormborn as they descended down the chasm to Nydaugg. Both were terrible options, especially since the Storm Eaters were still weary from their two fights earlier in the day. After a few seconds of discussion it was decided to stay and fight. The Storm Eaters prepared for a hell of a fight, summoning magical lions and a dog from the figurine gifts B'Hul had given them, spreading more of Yngvild's magical dust before the doors, and taking defensive positions.
And then Germiir counted "ten" and the double doors burst open. Svagnir summoned his fey wolves who attacked Ana, biting her and tossing her to the ground. She rose and responded with a lightning bolt, searing one of the wolves and Bloodroot who stood in an unfortunate place. Ottar, Yngvild, and Rowena tried various attacks that had little effect. Germiir summoned a cloud of poisonous gas that wounded many of the Storm Eaters, but especially Synsk. The Raate stumbled out of the cloud of killing gas, choking and coughing, tried to attack Germiir and slipped to hit himself with his own blade. He fell to the ground, near death.
The weary and wounded Storm Eaters are in for one hell of a fight! Will they overcome Germiir and Ana to discover what secrets the Traitors Three have in the place where they learned their power over wormborn? Will they find a safe way down to confront Nydaugg? Or will they fall to their old enemies and their wormborn-fueled magicks? The fate of Valkheim could rest in the outcome of this battle!

Report Date

24 Jun 2024