Session 031

## Hel's Minions

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Summer, Laelun Toil 2, days 4-10**

*The heroes set out from Kazak's workshop, and track the Umbrian war party to the Mixin channel. They find two heavily fortified structures on either side of the channel and withdraw to head south. On their way through the mountains, they encounter a strange ceremony being conducted by a pair of priestesses adorned with the mark of Hel upon their brow.*

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## Player Characters Involved

* Nygäär the Dark the Fey Blooded Rogue/Fighter/Dualist played by Dana
* Esbjörn Sigvardson the Giant Blooded Barbarian/Cleric/Surtr's Chosen played by Greg
* Brydd Hjarta the Jörmung Human Sorcerer/Marshal/Sand Shaper/Incantator played by Jason

## Farewell to Kazak

With a new eye acquired, Nygaar was eager to depart the workshop, and the rest of the party agreed. Brydd used his familiarity with living off the land to his advantage and was able to follow the tracks of the Umbrians while Esbjorn sent Droog on ahead to scout. After a few hours, it became apparent that the Umbrians were headed northwest, away from Aarhus, and towards the Mixin Channel. Reconnaissance by Droog confirmed that there were no war parties ahead of them and that the foreign invaders had built heavily fortified strongholds (named the Twin Landings by the Umbrians) on both sides of the most narrow part of the channel. It seemed their enemies were strongly garrisoned in their continuing fight with the Mixin clan.

## The Twin Landings

Being cautious, the party moved through the hills and sparse forests near the coast to approach the fortress, staying well outside of the range of the Umbrian ballistae. Droog confirmed that the fortress was garrisoned with perhaps one hundred to one hundred and fifty men, a mix of knights, foot soldiers, and archers, along with ballistae positioned on all four walls. Just past the wall on the sea-side of the fortress was a small dock with two ships; one longship and one large Umbrian cog. The party also determined that the ballista spears were infused with magic (fire on the landward sides and lightning on the seaward side). The heroes discussed the possibility that Gunhild the Hag might still be inside, and whether Kazak's notebooks could be reclaimed given these odds even if she were. Ultimately the party decided to wait and see, sending the lazy and impetuous Droog to do continuous recon overnight.

The night passed uneventfully, until the wee hours of the morning when the party awoke to the sounds of alarm horns sounding and the bustle of troops being called to alert. Within a few moments, Droog returned, sheepishly reporting to his master that he had "accidentally" poisoned one of the foot soldiers who had then fallen off of the battlements. Esbjorn knew well the nature of his demon servant, but he raged and threatened the tiny quasit in any case. Droog wept and wheedled, swearing he would never misbehave or fail to follow orders again. Disgusted that their plans to possibly infiltrate the stronghold (or at the very least destroy some ships) was thwarted by the evil quasit, the party decided to withdraw and head south. Droog had not spotted Gunhild in any case, and they deduced that she had in all likelihood taken a ship and departed. The heroes gathered their belongings, mounted their Harii steeds, and headed south.

## An Unnatural Fog

The party worked their way southwards, skirting the mountains in order to make their way back to the Varde River. The next few days of travel were largely uneventful and the summer weather in the foothills was a welcome respite from the cold mountain terrain they had endured over the course of the last week. After a few day's time, they began to come into territory they recognized, as they neared the site of Ornolf's Cave and the mountain where the stone giant priestess Menja lived. Nearing the end of their fourth day heading south, the party ran into a natural phenomenon that gave them pause. A dense fog dropped visibility to near nil, and brought with it an unnatural and deathly cold upon the adventurers. The party recognized this as the Great Ice Fog, a strange occurrence that normally happened only in the coldest winters. The fog, also known as "white death" by Seron natives, did them physical harm, causing magical cold damage. Nygaar dug out his Cube of Frost Resistance from his pack, and the party huddled together as they ventured through the thick fog. Esbjörn seemed even more cold than the others as he shivered heavily, possible due to his Fire Giant traits becoming more evident. After perhaps an hour, and with night approaching, the fog seemed no closer to abating. Luckily, Nygaar's new eye was put to good use, as he reached up to touch the pupil and engaged the blindsight ability built into it. With his other senses heightened Nygaar was able to spot an end to the accursed fog. The party followed him thankfully towards the edge of the gloom.

## A Dark Ceremony

Reaching an end to the icy murk, the party came across something most unexpected:

*As you stumble out of the fog, you hear the sound of menacing chanting closeby. Peering through the gloom, you see a pair of black-robed women dancing rhythmically and chanting in the darkness, wicked-looking curved knives in their hands. Upon the brow of these dark priestesses, you can make out a bizarre tattoo, the symbol of the goddess Hel herself. Standing in a circle around this dark ceremony stand a number of hulking and rotted animated corpses that smell of the grave. Nearby you see some strangely shaped ruins, and an old and clearly disturbed burial mound. As you watch, one of the dark priestesses slashes the throat of a lovely young red-haired maiden, while seven other bound girls wail pitifully. Another captive female is wrapped in chains and bound to the huge dead ash tree in the center of the clearing. She appears as a strong and beautiful human woman, her long blonde hair in a thick braid, standing well over six feet tall. Her corded muscles ripple as she attempts to break free of her bonds. Lightning crackles around her, but so far her struggles are in vain. Dark magic begins to dance upon the bones of a massive draconic skeleton, partially unburied in the earth before them. As you watch, the dancing black flames begin to grow…*

As the heroes watched in horror, the hulking, greenish-skinned brutes lumbered towards them, reeking of death, their hideous claws reaching out to strike. Behind the undead abominations, the party saw one of the black-robed priestesses slash the throat of one of the peasant girls, tied and bound for sacrifice, and the black flames that adorned the draconic skeleton grew higher. The heroes sprang into action, attempting to cut down the draugr helspawn before them and reach the evil priestesses, for they sensed this was a ceremony they did not want to see completed. Esbjorn and Nygaar immediately ran into the thick of the undead and were shocked and appalled that they were unable to fend off many of their wicked and merciless claws. They both suffered grievous injuries almost immediately, and the party realized this would be a hard-fought battle indeed.

Fortunately, the powerful blonde woman chained to the ash tree would come to their aid. Straining mightily, the woman broke free of her bonds and began to call forth lightning and strike Hel's minions with massive blows from a spear made of living lightning. The party realized this woman could very well be one of the fabled Valkyrie. How such a creature could be captured by the likes of these enemies was unknown, but her aid was well met. The draugr fiends were frightfully strong and heavy, and the priestess that turned her attention towards the party attempted to unleash many dark spells against them, including an attempt at imbuing Esbjorn with a contagion, which the giant blooded cleric was able to shake off. Meanwhile, the other priestess continued the ceremony, killing one girl after another. In an attempt to short circuit the proceedings, Brydd cast an opaque and solid fog over the priestess slaying her victims near the draconic skeleton.

The party's recent alliance with the dwarves would prove valuable as Nygaar would use his newly forged ax, *Grimmreaver*, to trip one of the draugr, with Esbjorn then thrusting his *Kappi Hogg Brandr's* flaming blade through the chest of the prone creature. As they cleared the draugr ranks, Nygaar was able to close the distance to the dark priestess and moved to end her. The priestess nearly succeeded in sending Nygaar to the halls of Valhalla, as she reached out to touch him with her Slay Living spell. Using his skills as a dualist, Nygaar was somehow able to fend off her touch, escaping death once again by a fraction of an inch, then countering with a flurry of blows to drop the priestess. Meanwhile, Brydd had cast a fireball into his fog to stop the other priestess, but his attempt while burning the priestess, also burned many of the young female captives. This did not disrupt the ceremony, but hastened it, making the black flames upon the dragon's corpse grow higher. As the fanatical priestess continued the ritual, Brydd next created a wall of sand in order to trap her within it, and shifted his form to living sand in order to better sense those in the fog. The priestess was able, through some inexplicable effort of superhuman will, to summon the strength to pull herself free from the wall. Brydd did this all while shifting incorporeal to avoid two draugrs on him. It seemed they would have to dispatch this foe with a blade after all.

Finally, it came down to a precarious situation in which there was only one sacrifice left, and the priestess that stood before the helpless girl was poised to strike, although the battlefield was covered in an impenetrable fog and crossed with a twenty-foot tall wall of sand. Brydd summoned pillars of sand to lift the priestess away from her final sacrifice, which bought enough time for Nygaar to use his blindsight and make his way to the final priestess and into the fray once more. Brydd finally watched with dread as Nygaar once more moved in to strike, coming within range of the priestess and her dark magic. Not able to take the time to dispatch the sacrifice properly, as it would open her up to attack, the Hel priestess wounded the girl but did not kill her. As Nygaar moved forward into the fog, he used his close wounds ability to bring the peasant girl back from the brink of her descent into Hel's recesses. With Nygaar's final blow killing the priestess, the black flames of the dragon skeleton shrunk and winked out. Somehow, miraculously, the party had averted the horror that would have been unleashed had the massive undead dragon risen again. Nearly spent, the heroes grimly surveyed the battle scene.

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