Session 41: An Ending

General Summary

Late on the 45th day after Midsommar, the Storm Eaters (accompanied by the mage Olav Farwalker and the arch druid Bloodcrown) burned through the ice barricade separating them from Hrolf's lair. They had come here, to the very top of the world while hounded by the scheming mages of Lodge Eldritch, to put an end to the wormborn threat forever. They need but use Wrothgar's god trap to place the soul of Nydaugg in a god gash of Valdryssil to achieve their end. Simple to say. Not so simple to do. Especially since Hrolf, last of the Traitors Three, stood in their way.
As the last of the ice baricade melted before the Storm Eaters fiery assault, the pebble in Bjargi's mouth suddenly swelled and grew immensely heavy. The tomte spit it out and a moment later Synsk stood where the pebble had been spat, back from wherever his mysterious mistress occasionally takes him. In a flurry of words the companions brought the raate warrior up to speed on the situation. Calm and collected as always, Synsk simply asked Bjargi if he could have the broken sword Loretooth back, to which Bjargi complied.
Finally the ice barricade fell away and the Storm Eaters took in the chamber beyond, a massive towering space of three stories made entirely of ice. In the northern part of the chamber a portion of Valdryssil formed the wall, along with a god gash swirling with cosmic energy. Over the god gash shimmered a shield of arcane force, powered by four enchanted standing stones that were scattered across the chamber in the most challenging places to reach. Thanks to Velana, the traitor of traitors, the Storm Eaters knew the secret to destroying these standing stones and the arcance shield they powered was simply a touch and the word "hope". Also in the chamber was a teleportation circle carved into the ice and two other arcane circles made of iron shavings. Books, scrolls, and other arcane sundry were scattered about the chamber in a frantic mess, as if Hrolf where desperately trying to recreate the ritual to control wormborn on his own and in dire haste.
Hrolf stood upon a balcony of ice overlooking the main floor of the chamber, finishing the last words of a spell the Storm Eaters did not reconize. Between him and the Storm Eaters paced two giant beings made of burning pitch and iron, their half-cooled magma flesh barely containing the inferno raging within them.
As the Storm Eaters cautiously took in the chamber Hrolf spoke in a tired but commanding voice, monologuing about the righteousness of his cause. He shared his vision of saving Valkheim from the savagery and ignorance that consumed it by using the wormborn to end those that kept the world bathed in violence, namely the Lodge Eldritch and the Clans of the Throat. The Storm Eaters responded that they would not be turned from their cause, and Hrolf stated that it was not his intent to change their minds. It was far too late for that. He simply wanted the Storm Eaters to know that they fought for the side of slavery, tyranny, and chaos, and that they would die fighting for such base causes. The Storm Eaters responded with their own arguments on the righteousness of their cause, such as ending the wormborn and their devasting corruption once and for all. Interupting this exchange of conflicting moralities was Bjargi screaming at Hrolf about his cat Mons. Hrolf had no idea what the enraged tomte warrior was yelling about and tried to ignore him. But Bjargi would not be ignored. The daring tomte crossed the chamber, getting closer and closer to Hrolf. Eventually Hrolf told Bjargi to come no closer if he valued his life. Bjargi screamed once more "where is MONS?!?!" and came closer. And so did the last battle of the Storm Eaters begin.
Bjargi went straight for Hrolf while the rest of the Storm Eaters scattered to destroy the teleportation circle to prevent possible reinforcements, the arcane circles of iron shavings to presumably banish the pitch giants, and the standing stones to disable the force shield over the god gash. Hrolf commanded his pitch giants to get his soul spear, which Yngvild wore across her back. The combined might of the two giant pitches made quick work of Yngvild, bringing her near to death with devasting burns. One of the pitches took Hrolf's spear and moved to protect its master from Bjargi. Bloodcrown used his druidic magic to heal Yngvild and bring her back to consciousness, and then took on one of the giant pitches in single combat. Svagnir turned into a giant eagle and flew up to one of the standing stones that perched on an icy balcony far above. Ottar, with his uncanny and slightly disturbing speed for such a large man, dashed around the chamber destroying one of the arcane circles made of iron shavings. To his surprise, one of the giant pitches was not banished, but freed from its bindings to obey Hrolf, reverting to its natural state as a creature of pure chaos and destruction. This wasn't the result Ottar wanted, but at least the powerful being was no longer beholden to Hrolf. Rowena cast a spell to protect herself from harm and dashed as fast as her aging limbs could carry her up several ropes to another of the standing stones. Synsk summoned new psychic powers, no doubt a gift from his mistress, to reforge the blade of Loretooth into a weapon of mental energy before joining Bjargi in his fight against Hrolf and one of the giant pitches. Yngvild, still weak from the devasting blows that brought her close to death, used her innate magic to step through thunder to one of the standing stones. Bloodroot summoned his magical grove to both empower his allies and hinder his foes, controlling the center of the battlefield with a tangle of enchanted vegetation.
Meanwhile Hrolf wasn't attacking, but rather moving about the chamber to avoid direct attacks against him and occasionally summoning unstable wormborn-like spirits that could not keep their form for long, barely making attacks before falling apart into puddles of corrupted goo. These wormborn spirits were enough to keep Bjargi from getting close enough to attack Hrolf, bringing the fearless tomte low with their corrupting attacks. Rowena and Svagnir, both busy destroying standing stones, used healing powers to bring Bjargi back to consciousness and back into the fight.
Eventually the Storm Eaters destroyed the remaining circle of iron shavings, the teleportation circle, and all four of the standing stones. The magical force field over the god gash melted away. Now only a fresh corpse was required, a vessel to release Nydaugg's soul into from its prison within the god trap. If Hrolf was killed his soul would return to his soul spear and his body would dissolve into corrupted ooze, so no corpse to be found there. About this time one of the giant pitches was slain by the combined efforts of several of the Storm Eaters, and its body fizzled away into hot nothingness, so no corpse to be found there either. One of the Storm Eaters, or their companions Olav or Bloodcrown, would need to die in order for their plan to work. Perhaps fate would decide who it would be? Would one of them fall in battle to Hrolf and his remaining giant pitch?
Hrolf, knowing his grand plan was about to fail with the shield over the god gash gone, decided it was time to do something most drastic. The wizard dropped the illusion spell he had cast right before the Storm Eaters had entered the chamber, revealing that he had been invisible the entire time while an illusory version of himself had been distracting the heroes and wasting their time and energy. The true Hrolf took his soul spear from the dead giant pitch and then pulled a dragon scale carved with arcane runes from his robe. He read the runes and the dragon scale crumbled to dust as the magic took effect. Hrolf swelled to a massive size, then dark blue scales burst from his body, followed by wings and dozens of horns. Within moments he had transformed into a gigantic dragon with midnight blue scales, a haze of corrupting spores emenating from his body!
Ottar was closest to the god gash as Hrolf took on his draconic form. The clever rogue instantly assessed that whatever slim chance they had of defeating Hrolf vanished as he became a dragon. The great wyrm was devastating the Storm Eaters, nearly killing Bjargi, Synsk, and Yngvild with its terrible claws, horned tail, and poisonous spores in a matter of mere moments. Ottar knew that something decisive and drastic needed to be done now, and a fresh corpse was needed to do it. Ottar looked to Olav, who was the next closest person to him and the god gash, and then turned his magical sword Wither Blade to point between the ribs over his own heart. He gave the mage a look that said you know what must be done. Olav, normally overflowing with confidence, could only stutter and give Ottar a mortified look at the thought of doing what the rogue proposed.
But then Hrolf the dragon made the decision easy for Olav. The wizard-dragon exhaled a gout of poisonous mind-altering spores, covering half the chamber with deadly air. Many of the Storm Eaters choked themselves near to death, some were brought to a panic with the mind-altering effects of the spores, and Olav was down, unconscious, sputtering for perhaps his last breath! Ottar looked around to his other companions, for someone to take Olav's place in the dark deed he had planned. None were near. Hrolf then closed in on Bloodroot, threatening the bearer of the god trap, the one person who had the power to end the wormborn, and Ottar knew he could not wait any longer. He had to take matters into his own hands.
Ottar looked Bloodroot in the eye, a look that told the druid everything he needed to know. And then with the trained precision of a lifetime spent dealing death, Ottar drove Wither Blade deep into his own chest, neatly sliding the steel between the third and fourth ribs and skewering his dark, complex, unknowable heart.
Fighting through the onslaught of the dragon, Bloodroot came to Ottar's body as his last blood-choked breath escaped. Without hesitation Bloodroot released the soul of Nydaugg from the god trap and into Ottar's corpse. What once were Ottar's eyes fluttered open in bewilderment. Nydaugg's soul slithered around within the tiny, flabby, disgusting meat puppet it now inhabited, confused and shocked, slowly gathering its wits. But before it could rise on the bandy legs it now had (which was something quite foreign to the great wyrm), Svagnir, once again taking the form of a giant eagle, swooped down and snatched Ottar's body with mighty talons. With a heart-rending, soul-saddened shriek Svagnir the giant eagle tossed the body of his dear friend, now the vessel for Nydaugg, into the god gash.
The cosmic energy swirling within the god gash burst into a deafening roar! From across all of Valkheim the combined life force of tens of thousands of wormborn was instantly claimed by the great tree, sucked into the ravenous god gash in a blinding flash! Pain lanced through Hrolf, Bloodroot, and Bjargi, as all were touched in some way by the wormborn corruption, but what mortality remained in each of them resisted the pull of the hungry god gash. Nydaugg and all its children were no more. Never again would it gnaw at the roots of Valdryssil. Never again would its corruption plague the lands of Valkheim. The grand plot to rule Valkheim by the Traitors Three had been defeated, foiled by a ragtag band of indomitable heroes known as the Storm Eaters!
As the last of the wormborn souls were claimed by Valdryssil, the bark around the god gash began to turn a sickly black. And then that blackness began to spread, coursing up the great trunk of the world tree. Feeding the powerful and corrupted soul of Nydaugg to Valdryssil effected the great tree in an unexpected way. The massive amount of corrupted life force both healed and poisoned the Valdryssil! The sickly blackness spread like wild fire up the tree's bark while the god gash began to close like an old wound being magically healed.
Suddenly Bloodcrown was at Bloodroot's side before the closing god gash. Bloodcrown gave Bloodroot an uncharactistic, mischievous grin, and said in a voice that was not his, but a sly woman's voice (which Svagnir recognized at Skald's), "well done my little puppets," followed by a single word said in a commanding voice heavy with divine power, "DROP." Bloodroot reeled before the power of that single commanding word, to drop the god trap, but somehow, through unbelievable sheer willpower, he resisted. But the druid knew he could not do so again. This entity before him was not his old friend Bloodcrown. This was no doubt Keitel, the god of lies. There would be no resisting his command a second time. So without a second thought, Bloodroot threw the god trap into the closing gash. The artifact built by Wrothgar to end gods was gone, forever.
Keitel, still in Bloodcrown's form, gave a brief shriek of surprise, but quickly calmed and grinned his devil's grin. "Well, that was unexpected," he said almost cheerily. "Not what I had in mind, but I guess I should thank you all. Thank you for all that you have done for, or rather to, this wretched world. Such grand tricks we have woven together. But if all that we have done together bothers you, if it keeps you up at night, just blame me for everything. For I am the blamed one, always have been, always will be. Blamed so that all can live with their rotten selves. Every murderer claims I guided their bloody hand. Every rapist convinces themself that I spurred them to uncontrollable lust. Every villain blames me for tricking them into committing their evil deeds. Oh yes, I bear the sins of all in this world, for I am your scapegoat god. That is my gift to this world, to carry its blame, its shame. And I had plans to be so much more with that god trap, that terrible toy you just threw away. Ahhh...we could have had so much more fun together, but instead I will leave you with my sincere thanks. Until we meet again." And then Keitel transformed from Bloodcrown's form into that of a massive bird of prey which flew out one of the crack-like windows in the chamber of ice. The Storm Eaters came to realize that they had been the unwitting pawns of Keitel all along. It had been Keitel who had set them upon this path by tricking Bjekmir into making several of them into Eaters of Worms. It had been Keitel who had guided them to retrieve the god trap, manipulating them and others in a variety of faces and forms. It had been Keitel who had saved them not once but twice when things seemed all but impossible to survive. But in the end it was the Storm Eaters who played the last trick. They had foiled the god of lies himself when they threw the god trap in the gash, something Keitel was no doubt unaccustomed to!
As the Storm Eaters processed what had just happened (the noble death of Ottar, the end of the wormborn, the loss of the god trap, the revelation of Keitel's meddling) the god gash was still healing shut. Rowena saw her chance to serve her goddess rapidly vanishing. She had been told by Hvisla the hag that she must throw Sila's Tear, the last source of Sila's waning power in Valkheim, into the god gash in order to return Sila's light to the world. After a brief moment of hesitation, hoping the hag wasn't lying to her, Rowena threw Sila's Tear in the god gash. As the artifact vanished into the gash Rowena froze for a mere instant, her eyes flaring hot white, her left arm outstretched toward the gash, frozen in place.
In that instant Rowena was somewhere else. She was lying atop a towering mountain peak, her left arm over the edge of a cliff. From that arm she held a young woman with long white hair that shone like sunlight off freshly fallen snow, her eyes calm and peaceful, yet her grip iron, a grip that silently screamed do not let me fall. Rowena could not lift the woman to safety. In fact, the woman was growing heavier and heavier. Impossibly heavier. Rowena strained with the effort, felt her shoulder start to dislocate. The pain was excruiating. Should she let the woman go? No, Rowena resolved. She must hang on. The woman grew even heavier and Rowena felt the sinew and flesh of her shoulder start to tear, to give way. Every instinct in her physical body screamed to let go, but the priestess would not. She would not let go. And then her left arm tore free from her shoulder and she snapped out of the vision!
The Storm Eaters watched in horror as Rowena's left arm was torn from her body and sucked into the god gash with Sila's Tear! A gout of blood sprayed from the wound and the priestess collapsed, rendered unconscious by the pain and trauma.
Meanwhile, the pain of many wounds from the Storm Eaters and the agony of having all the wormborn essence rendered from his body caused Hrolf to lose the concentration he was holding to maintain his draconic form. He shriveled back into his human body, wounded, defeated. His cause was lost, and he knew that his only victory today would be to survive to have revenge. The wizard snatched up his soul spear and dashed toward the nearest crack in the icy walls that led out of the chamber. But the Storm Eaters not done with him. While Bloodroot tended to the dying Rowena and Olav, the rest of the companions savagely attacked the fleeing Hrolf. Svagnir, still in the form of a giant eagle, made the killing blow. Hrolf's body melted away into corrupted ooze as his soul fled to the shelter of his soul spear. Svagnir kicked that spear to Bjargi, who hated Hrolf most of all.
And so the battle to end the Third Wormborn Plague concluded. The Traitors Three had been defeated. The mechinations of Keitel had been foiled, and the god trap lost forever. The god gash was healed shut, but the bark of Valdryssil was turning a poisonous black. Sila's Tear, the last vestige of Sila's power in Valkheim, was gone. And Ottar Balkisson had made the ultimate sacrifice, to save a world that did not care and would not remember.
Yet there was no time to celebrate. The Lodge Eldritch was coming, and soon. It would be best if the Storm Eaters were not here when the Lodge arrived atop their gigantic spider-like skeletal abomination. And so the champions gathered themselves to depart, many of them exhausted and barely clinging to life. As Rowena recovered from losing her arm, the wound magically healed by Bloodroot, she discovered a single sprig of what looked like bluebell growing from the stump of her shoulder. Yngvild made a quick search of the chamber and discovered another dragon scale etched with arcane symbols. It was another copy of the spell Hrolf had used to turn into a dragon. It could only be used once, and only by a mage of sufficient power. After briefly studying the details of the spell it was discovered that if one maintained the form of a dragon for a full hour without interuption, the transformation would become permanent. Svagnir asked if he could have the powerful spell-scale, and Yngvild graciously gave it to him, telling him to remember that although she served a daughter of Ravel, and hoped to become one herself, that not all the daughters are evil.
Without any further delay the Storm Eaters (and Olav!!!!) escaped from the icy fortress at the base of Valdryssil, fleeing back they way they came, using their allies the frost giants to cover their departure. As they emerged back onto the glacier outside the icy fortress they continued south with all due haste to avoid the minions of the Lodge Eldritch. Overhead the mighty Crows of Valdryssil were leaving their roost atop the great tree. Were they flying south to feast on the banquet of wormborn corpses that blanketed parts of Valkheim, or were they fleeing Valdryssil as the black poison spread up its boughs? Far to the south the champions could see something break away from the writhing and bloated sun. At this distance it looked like a fiery comet. The blazing object soon plunged below the horizon, no doubt crashing into Valkheim somewhere far, far to the south. A light snow began to fall between the boughs of Valdryssil that stretched overhead. Boughs that were turning black. Snow that was turning black. Valkheim was burning in the far south, poisoned in the far north, but was saved...for now. Saved at a dire price by an unlikely band of heroes that refused to quit and gave more than the world surely deserved. Valkheim was a different world now. Poisoned. Burning. But free of Nydaugg and the wormborn. Will new heroes rise to face the horrors of this new world?

Epilogue

As the weeks and months passed, and the Storm Eaters traveled south, the new world that Valkheim would become took shape. Valdryssil was reinvigorated by the primordial power of Nydaugg's soul, but also poisoned. Its bark was sickly black, but strangely healthy. In time the long dead boughs of Valdryssil (the last leaf fell over 400 years ago) began to sprout new buds. Black buds that would become black leaves. The great tree was now living poison. As winter came and the snows fell, the snows that touched the black leaves of Vladyrssil on their descent became black too and poisoned the land where they fell, mostly in the far north. For now.
In the far south Valkheim burned. The comet that had broken free of the sun was no comet, but Veorfolnir, a primordial five-headed dragon made of flame. It burned its way across the south, full of hate and fire. The folk that lived in the far south, mostly the nomadic Hundrkin tribes and the Raate folk, fled before Veorfolnir, seeking safety in different lands, coming into conflict with those already living there and spreading war ahead of the flames.
The Lodge Eldritch, brought nearly to destruction by the Traitors Three and their wormborn horde, recovered in time and reestablished themselves as the dominant magical power in Valkheim. Their closest allies, the Clans of the Throat and the Leaves of Blood Druids, maintained their alliances with the Lodge, and when they regained some measure of strength focused their efforts in the south, preparing to defend the vital agricultural lands around Ulfsted and Strymsted from the approaching fires of Veorfolnir and the refugee Hundrkin and Raate that feld before them.
With their great quest complete, the Storm Eaters eventually went their own ways, each with their own goals.
Bloodroot offered to destroy the soul spears of the Traitors Three, a dark deed that involved possessing and then slaying innocent children. Bjargi was hesitant to surrender Hrolf's spear, but eventually relented when Bloodroot promised Hrolf would die at his hands. And so Bloodroot took the soul spears of Hrolf, Germiir, and Ana (Velana and her soul spear escaped such a fate when she cut a deal with the Storm Eaters earlier) and parted ways with his companions. He traveled as rapidly as possible (hoping to complete the deed before the traitors three were reborn) to the nearest folk in the far north, the Rivermen of the Melt, and "acquired" three young children from them. After the children broke the spears and were possessed by the souls of the Traitors Three, Bloodroot cut them down, ending the unnatural ritual and the lives of the wizards. He then made the long trek back to his circle in the God Grove and sought the council of his friend and mentor Bloodcrown. As the Storm Eaters had not surrendered the god trap and soul spears to the Lodge Eldritch, Bloodroot found himself an enemy of the powerful guild of wizards. And since the Leaves of Blood were allies with the Lodge, he was not safe among his own circle. Bloodcrown would not betray his old friend, but could not welcome him back either for fear of endangering the alliance with the Lodge. The arch druid offered to hide Bloodroot deep in the God Grove, or secretly support him from afar as best as possible if Bloodroot wished to leave the circle. Bloodroot decided to leave, a fugitive from the Lodge and his own circle (at least in appearance). He was last known to be travelling in secret across the wild places of Valkheim, seeking allies and powerful magic on a new quest to slay the gods and return their stolen power to Valdryssil.
When Bjargi gave Hrolf's soul spear to Bloodroot it was more than just giving up an item, more than giving up his quest to find his friend Mons or avenge him. It was an acceptance. A moving on. A new beginning. The strange little tomte warrior realized there was more to life than what once was. He had a new friend in Synsk, and a new chance at happiness. Bjargi asked if he could come with Synsk, wherever he may be bound, and the Raate warrior gladly accepted his company. Before departing the group Synsk revealed to his companions that his mistress, the mysterious Lady of the Azure Cave, was actually Greyja, the goddess of magic and knowledge. She had sent Sysnk as her trusted agent to aid the Storm Eaters and to ensure that her children, the dragons, were not sacrificed to the god gash. He then revealed that his mistress had told him that she was not the mother of Nydaugg and Veorfulnir as the tales said, but raither their jailor. Long ago when she had been born of a god gash, she discovered two primordial beings of destruction, Nydaugg and Veorfulnir, destroying Valdryssil. She was not powerful enough to defeat them, but was able to imprison them, trapping Nydaugg in the depths of the earth and Veorfulnir within the sun. When Nydaugg's soul had been destroyed it undid her magic and Veorfulnir was set free to rampage across the lands once again. After sharing that knowledge, Synsk and Bjargi departed and traveled for months to the far south of Valkheim. Synsk returned to his mistress and asked to be released from her service in order to help his people in their flight from Veorfulnir, a request which she reluctantly granted. Synsk and Bjargi were last seen amongst the raate tribes fleeing north from their southern forests ahead of the flames of Veorfulnir.
Yngvild set off on her own with all haste to find the ruins of Lilladenau in the mountains northeast of the Splintered Folk lands. There she was promised by her "mother", Hvisla the Exiled Kvinna, to become one of Ravel's eight daughters as a reward for her efforts on this quest. Velana said she would meet Vngvild in Lilladenau after she made her deal with the Storm Eaters to regain her soul spear. Velana warned Yngvild to beware the Huldetr, a monster of pure hunger and cold that haunted the forests around Lilladenau. It is unknown if Yngvild ever found Lilladenau, and if Hvisla and Velana kept their promise to make Yngvild their "sister". Perhaps the only trace of what became of Yngvild comes from tales told by a band of raiders from Hafrsted who crossed paths with what they called a "a fetching maid of fire" when a storm shipwrecked them on a lonely island in the waters north of their lands. The tales these raider tell of the maid of fire vary widely among each man, but all agree that they were saved from that remote island by the magic of the fire maid, but at a terrible cost that would haunt them forever. 
Rowena left the Storm Eaters to return to her small and secretive order, the artifact she carried gone along with the last vestige of Sila's power it had granted her. As she traveled southward the sprig that grew from the stump of her shoulder eventually became a vibrant patch of bluebell flowers. These flowers germinated and their seeds constantly away in the same direction, even against the strongest of winds. Rowena followed the seeds on the air, and after several weeks they led her to Sila's Hearth, the tallest mountain in all of Valkheim. Alone and with a single arm she climbed the daunting mountain. She nearly died a dozen times from falls and bitter cold, but after weeks of battling the mountain she came to its summit. There she found a meadow of bluebell flowers growing against all odds, blooming while surrounded by deep snows and lethally cold temperatures. From the bluebells were born tiny, winged creatures made of pure light...Djorruk. These shining, happy beings tended to the meadow of bluebells, flitting about like glowing bees and singing songs of joy. Rowena, exhausted and battered to her very limits from her pilgrimage up the formidable mountain, sat amongst the bluebells and smiled. She felt the light and warmth and peace of this place and knew Sila had returned to Valkheim. 
Svagnir and the dragon scale inscribed with the powerful spell capable of transforming him into a dragon travelled south in search of Mabd. The druid asked Olav if the mage would accompany him, as he needed a wizard to cast the spell of transformation. Olav, now a fugutive of the Lodge Eldritch for his actions with the Storm Eaters, agreed if Svagnir promised to protect him from those that would be hunting him. Together the odd pair discovered that Mabd had escaped her Lodge captors a few days' travel south of Valdryssil. Svagnir assumed she would return to her lair and horde in the Elvish Gardens, and aimed their path in that direction. After weeks of travel Svagnir and Olav finally came to the Elvish Gardens and found the young she-dragon in a new secret lair, hidden from where the Lodge Eldritch had previously captured her. The long overdue reunion was joyous between the druid and young young sorceress-turned-dragon. Svagnir asked how the Lodge had captured Mabd, as Maeldun was supposed to be protect her as part of the deal Svagnir had made with the hag. Mabd relayed that Maeldun found a loophole in Svagnir's deal, as the druid was not specific on how long Maeldun was sworn to protect Mabd. Eventually Olav was asked to cast the spell to transform Svagnir into a dragon. The pompous mage revealed that the powerful spell was possibly beyond his ability (as impressive as it was, according to him), but there was a slight chance if everything went just right. Svagnir was willing to take that chance, as he knew no other mages he trusted. As if the world itself wished the star-crossed lovers to be together, the spell worked when Olav cast it. Svagnir was transformed into a dragon of midnight blue scales, with ghost-like white markings across his draconic face. His work complete, Olav left the lovers, and is rumored to have joined the Sed Hellen faction hidden in the Elvish Gardens, seeking refuge as a heretic of the Lodge Eldritch. As for Svagnir and Mabd, little is known after this. There are scattered tales over the years, mostly from daring or desperate travelers who trek too near the dangerous Elvish Gardens. Tales of two dragons flying together across the night skies, wing to wing, never apart.
Others who came and went from the ranks of the Storm Eaters also turn up in tales over the following years. The Sed Hellen in the Elvish Gardens are said to have a new champion, an elven warrior who dances death with magic and steel, has greatly increased their influence and power in the region. He is often seen with a slight elven woman with a scarred face who weilds a terrible magic hammer full of storms. In the far south, there are tales of a raate trickster who summons magic with music who continually confounds the warriors of Ulfsted, spoiling their attempts to kill the raate refugees fleeing Veorfulnir who infest their lands. It is said amongst the dwarves of Svarthalla that whenever Wrothgar the legendary craftsman leaves his reclusive forge to trade his creations every few years, he is always accompanied by a strange being made of mismatched bones. It is also said that Wrothgar seems to be of unusual cheer during these rare appearances, and some wonder if the bone being has anything to do with the oddly jovial Wrothgar. And finally, the nomadic People of the Bear that roam north of Giantsfall have tales of a dark and gaunt creature, half man-half crow, that haunts the cold forests there. It is said the mighty Crows of Valdryssil now roost deep in those forbidding forests, as they have left the poisonous boughs of Valdryssil, and this guant half-man is their guardian, keeping away any who would dare bother the primordial carrion birds.
There is one last tale regarding the Storm Eaters, and perhaps it is the strangest of all. It comes from a young druid amongst the Death Speakers of Ghostfalls. This young druid claims that when he heard his first deathly whisper in the waters of Ghostfalls (a rite of passage toward full membership into the circle) he heard a voice of unusual eloquence and rambling verbiage. What this voice had to say is a secret known only to that druid and the handful of mentors he shared it with, but there are rumors the voice claimed it shared a body with Nydaugg. That and something do to with perfectly cooked sausage...

Report Date

18 Nov 2024