Session 39: The Flight to Valdryssil

General Summary

In the ancient dwarven ruins of Uthaarn, an abandoned city slowly sinking into a subterranean sea of lava, the Storm Eaters sought a teleportation circle to get them back to the surface of Valkheim. Unfortunately there was a catch. Somewhere in the ruins of Uthaarn lurked Surtira, and ancient wyrm of the deep that had been corrupted into a draconic Wormborn abomination!
The Storm Eaters used divination magic to locate a likely location for a teleportation circle on the lower level of the city, about 100 feet below them and just above the surface of the lava sea. Using magic to cloak their movement and leave no sign of their passing, the Storm Eaters made their way to a building that appeared from the outside to have stairs leading from upper city down to the lower city. Once inside this building they were pleased to discover a spiral staircase leading down, and not so pleased to discover a massive Wormborn abomination lurking nearby.
Before the Storm Eaters could get to the stairwell the giant Wormborn was upon them. Although the heroes attempted to battle it as quietly as possible, so as to not draw the attention of other Wormborn or Surtira, the sound of steel and pain echoed within the building and beyond. The din drew the attention of one of the smaller Wormborn that was wandering in the nearby market area, who drawn to the noise came into the building from behind the Storm Eaters. To make matters worse, in an act of desperation Yngvild used her sorcery to take a thunderous step carrying her free of the melee with the Wormborn, but which also sent a blast of sound across all of Uthaarn. A moment later the Storm Eaters heard an unnatural roar coming from somewhere in the distance. Surtira had heard them, and she was coming to see who had dared to invade her corrupted lair!
No longer concerned with stealth, the Storm Eaters fled the fight with the Wormborn and dashed for the stairwell. Unfortunately poor Golvieg hesitated, scared to her core, and was left exposed to the Wormborn. The abominations instantly tore her apart. The tragic young woman, first abducted from her home, then subjected to endless torment as part of a magic ritual, and now painfully slain, transformed into a wormborn herself. With no time to grieve the woman they meant to save, the Storm Eaters fled down the stairwell pursued by the growing pack of Wormborn. They could still hear Surtira as well, her roars growing closer and closer.
At the base of the stairs the Storm Eaters came upon a teleportation circle centered in a strange octagonal chamber. Unfortunately the circle was covered with debris that had fallen on it when part of the ceiling had collapsed long ago. Hearing the pursuit of both the Wormborn and Surtira coming down the stairwell, the heroes set to clearing the rubble as quickly as they could. As Synsk removed a hefty stone from the pile, a massive hand made of stone suddenly burst out of the debris to strike him. The blow was not only painful, but cursed with old dwarven magic which drained a bit of the warrior's life essence away. As Synsk reeled back from the blow, a powerful golem built long ago by the dwarves as a guardian of this arcane place emerged from the debris pile. The golem had been trapped under the debris since it had fallen centuries ago, and the construct was berserk with rage. With no time to fight the golem with Surtira and the Wormborn coming any second, Rowena used a powerful spell to trap the construct in a bubble of arcane force. The rest of the Storm Eaters frantically completed clearing the debris and then jumped into the teleportation circle yelling the command words "trakal uppsala".

And so did the Storm Eaters barely escape the doomed dwarven city of Uthaarn. They emerged from a teleportation circle in the center of a windowless chamber with a single closed door, surrounded by nearly a dozen powerful draugrs and two familiar faces. Skordal Skullbearer, their longtime point of contact with the Lodge Eldritch and a powerful mage in his own right, stood by the closed door. And Bjekmir, the Eater of Worms who first put this band of champions on the task of saving the world from the Third Wormborn Plague, stood by Skordal's side. But this was not the Bjekmir that Svagnir and Ottar remembered. His skin sagged and rotted. His eyes were no longer glimmering with that silver spark of an Eater. Svagnir greeted Bjekmir and asked what had happened to him. Bjekmir replied that Helka had done what she could to break him out of his coma, and he was now Bjekmir Twice-Dead (or more likely Bjekmir Undead, thought Svagnir).

Skordal interupted the brief reunion by congratulating the Storm Eaters for acquiring the godtrap and using it to trap Nydaugg's soul. He lauded them all as heroes that will live forever in history! He then asked for details on Maebha's death and if any personal effects could be returned to her family. Bloodroot, a man of direct means and little patience for ceremony, broke into the conversation and said that the Lodge needed to provide four children to them immediately. Skordal seemed confused but before he could ask for clarification, the other Storm Eaters told him to disregard Bloodroot's request (hoping of keep information about destroying the souls of the Traitors Three from the Lodge Eldritch until it was necessary they know). Skordal then asked what was being kept secret, to which Bloodroot responded angrily that the Lodge kept things from them first, which directly resulted in Maebha's death. Skordal calmly responded that although Maehba's passing was tragic, it was important to keep certain things from her and her companions, as Maebha was plotting a coup within the Lodge's 7th circle. Keeping Maebha in the dark on certain aspects of the quest was integral to its success argued Skordal, and it was his intent that she and the magical bones in her hand joined Wrothgar in exchange for the godtrap, not be slain for it.
With emotions running high and trust running thin in the room, Skordal returned to the topic of the Storm Eaters being the heroes who won the godtrap and who used it to slay Nydaugg. He said they would be handsomely rewarded for their great deeds. All they needed to do now was hand over the godtrap to Skordal and enjoy their well-deserved rest and rewards. He assured them the Lodge could handle it from here. The Storm Eaters, for whatever reasons they may have (a sense of duty, a lack of trust in the Lodge, perhaps their own dark agendas?) refused to hand over the godtrap. They said they would be happy to continue to work with the Lodge to end the Wormborn Plague. Skordal replied that unfortunately the Lodge didn't trust them anymore than they trusted the Lodge, and so he made clear his ultimatum: hand over the godtrap now and be handsomely rewarded, or never leave this teleportation chamber deep within the bowels of the Lodge Eldritch.
A moment of tense silence, and then Bloodroot strode forward demanding to be let out of the chamber. Bjekmir stopped Bloodroot with a firm, but calm hand, while Skordal said perhaps it would mean more to the druid to hear the ultimatum from someone he trusted. With a quick rub of one of the many sending stones around his neck, Skordal summoned a newcomer into the chamber: Bloodcrown, arch druid of the Circle of the Leaves of Blood.

The meeting between Bloodroot and Bloodcrown was tense, with few words shared. Perhaps there was a deeper conversation going on between the two ancient druids that others could not hear or understand. Bloodroot explained that he could not willingly give up the godtrap. Bloodcrown nodded that he understood and said that you must now come with us and leave your companions behind. Another long moment of tense silence. Before Bloodroot could respond one way or the other, the teleportation circle suddenly flared open in the center of the chamber. An arctic cold wind rushed out of the portal, along with the sound of a woman's voice. Svagnir recognized the woman's voice as Skald, the wandering meddler the party believed to be a disguised Keitel, god of lies and trickery! Skald's voice was saying she would be happy to accompany Jhurlik back to the Lodge in order to report on the changing situation at the base of Valdryssil. Skordal cursed his bad luck, as the Storm Eaters now had a way out of the chamber, if they dared enter the teleportation portal and into the unknown.
Synsk, without hesitation, dared. The raate warrior lept into the portal and vanished. Skordal commanded his draugrs to attack and tried to restrain Bloodroot with a lash of necrotic energy. Bjekmir lunged forward at Bloodroot in an attempt to grab the druid, but accidentally (or maybe not?) pushed him closer to the portal. Bloodcrown cast a spell to change Bloodroot into a turtle, but the spell failed (also perhaps on purpose?). Ottar then grabbed Bloodroot from behind and leapt backward into the portal, taking the druid and the godtrap with him. As Bloodroot disappeared into the portal he looked at Bloodcrown and said, "You know where to find me." The rest of the Storm Eaters followed, dodging the blades of the draugrs, one after another disappearing into the portal!

The Storm Eaters emerged from the portal inside a fur-lined tent set atop the surface of a glacier. For a split second Svagnir caught a glimpse of Skald entering the portal, going to the Lodge where they had just escaped. The meddler/god-in-disguise winked at the druid and simply said, "You're welcome," before she vanished into the portal. The portal then closed, leaving only a dormant teleportation circle carved into the icy floor. Before the Lodge could reopen it from the far side, a quick thinking Bjargi grabbed a brazier of hot coals and dumped it onto the teleportation circle, melting away the arcane symbols and rendering it useless.
Unsure if the Lodge had other means to pursue them, the Storm Eaters dashed out of the partition of the tent they were in to enter a larger partition with a doorflap out into the bitter cold beyond. This partition was filled with sleeping arrangements and a large table covered with books and maps. Unfortunately it was also filled with three mages of the Lodge, one of whom Svagnir and Ottar recognized: Olav Farwalker, renowned mage of the 5th circle!

Olav instantly greeted his old companions with glee, but then started to wonder why they were here and why they came through the teleportation portal not meant for them. The two other mages (one of them the promising Fucknar Stormgrin, a bright young mage with an adventurous heart) were starting to suspect something wrong was afoot and investigated the teleportation circle in the next partition of the tent, discovering it melting beneath the hot coals spilled on it. The ruse was up, and the two mages moved to attack the Storm Eaters. As Olav hesitated with indecision, Ottar looked him in the eye and said now was his chance to be a part of something immortal, to be one of the hinges of history! Olav, a pompous and unashamed glory-seeker, needed no other convincing. He instantly joined Ottar and the Storm Eaters, and together made quick work of Fucknar and his unnamed peer.
The Storm Eaters and Olav then quickly brought each other up to speed on the situation. The Storm Eaters revealed their urgent mission to end the Wormborn Plague with the godtrap (leaving out that they had the soul-spears which possessed the souls of the Traitors Three). Olav revealed that he was part of a mission, under Jhurlik Bluecloak, master of the 5th circle, to secure the god gash so that the Lodge could use it in the future. He said that when they arrived here a few days ago they found the god gash surrounded by at least a thousand Wormborn, who under the command of Hrolf of the Traitors Three, had built a fortress of ice at the base of Valdryssil to cover and defend the god gash against anyone else using it. Olav said that he and his peers had been looking for a way to get into the ice fortress without having to fight through the thousand wormborn around it. In their search they recently discovered a tunnel through the glacier that surrounded the base of Valdryssil. A tunnel which should lead to the ice fortress and past the wormborn, but there was some unknown danger in it that kept killing the familiar scouts they had sent in, so it was possibly just as dangerous as fighting through the Wormborn.
The Storm Eaters decided to risk the tunnel in the glacier, rather than sneak (or worse fight) through a thousand wormborn. Olav had a map and could lead them to the ice tunnel's entrance. The Storm Eaters asked Olav how long until the Lodge mages could get here, and if they had time to rest here after their harrowing escapes from both Uthaarn and the Lodge. Olav answered one or two days, with an unusual hint of uncertainty in his normally bombastic voice. The Storm Eaters decided to risk it and rested in the tent.
Early on the morning of the 45th day after Midsommar the Storm Eaters (and Olav) departed the tent for the tunnel through the glacier which should lead them past the Wormborn horde and to the ice fortress defending the god gash. As they traveled across the glacier for the tunnel's entrance the sun briefly peeked through the mass of Valdryssil's dead boughs overhead, boughs which normally cast this part of the world in near perpetual twilight during the day. They noticed something strange with the sun in the few seconds they glanced it. It was deformed, bulging, almost writhing upon itself. The Storm Eaters shared what each of them knew from history, religion, and even folk tales regarding the sun. The only thing that possibly made sense was that Nydaugg was one of two of the first dragons, the other being Veorfolnir, who lived in the sun and skies. They wondered if Veorfolnir, and the sun, had been effected somehow when they had captured Nydaugg's soul in the godtrap? This conjecture was built completely on the foundation of folk tales and old myths of course, so the Storm Eaters didn't know what to make of it.
Before they could give much more thought to the sun, the Storm Eaters came to the entrance to the tunnel in the glacier. Lighting a torch they proceeded into the icy darkness. For hours they followed the icy tunnel northward toward Valdryssil. Along the way they discovered the tracks of several giants, and even a place where the giants had laid out some sort of ritualistic area, with a pile of filthy and crusty old animal furs surrounded by a ring of black and white rocks. Something about the white and black rocks felt familiar to Svagnir, and he wondered if it had anything to do with Shif, the goddess of twilight and change, whom Worhana had been a follower of?
Unable to learn more from the strange ritualistic area, the Storm Eaters proceeded deeper into the icy tunnel. Eventually they came upon a pair of frost giants, one the most massive giant any of them had ever seen or heard of, and the other a female giant carrying what looked like a dead sabertooth tiger in a netted bag. The giantess said that she was Sigdag, and the brute beside her was her son Hulgar the Bleeding (which seemed on point, as he was bleeding from several wounds where he had left weapons from previous battles protruding in his flesh). She said Hulgar was her son with Ragnarr, the god of war and temptest, and he was fated to slay his divine father and avenge all of giantkin. According to prophecy he only needed Svipul, a powerful weapon of destiny born in blood from the belly of a storm, to be delivered to him in order to kill Ragnarr. Svagnir remembered that the magical hammer born out of Kradar's corpse back in Coldlight Fjord was called Svipul. To his knowledge Worhana still had it (at least she did when they last saw her on the docks of Thaneshall). Both Svagnir and Ottar tried to convince the giants that they knew of Svipul and could led them to it later, if only they would be allowed to proceed to Valdryssil now. It quickly became apparent that both Sigdag and Hulgar were fanatics who completely believed in the prophecies Shif had fed them, and there would be no reasoning with them. Hulgar gave an accounting of all the great named weapons that now resided as trophies in his constantly bleeding flesh, and told Ottar his magical blade would soon be added to his glory.

And so the Storm Eaters find themselves facing the half-giant/half-god son of Ragnarr and his fanatical mother, a mad giantess devoted to the prophecies of Shif. Will they survive to find a way past the giants and into the ice fortress which guards the god gash? Will they have to use the godtrap again to do so? And what other secrets and dangers await them within the walls of the ice fortress, where Hrolf once guarded the god gash before losing control of the wormborn? And does the Lodge Eldritch pursue them to the rooftop of the world, desperate to control the godtrap and maintain their shadowy hegemony over much of Valkheim?

Report Date

01 Oct 2024