Session 039

## Swan Isle

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Autumn, Aerlun Toil 2, days 8-9**

*The party makes camp but is interrupted by Gunhild the Hag's abhorrent flock of undead ravens. The Brisingamen ruins are unearthed and identified, and the party finds the Swan Spire. The Harii sorcerer Brydd Hjarta falls, and the sentient weapon Byrmoor finds a new host.*

PREVIOUS --- NEXT
## 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
* Heiða the Seer the Dökkálfar Blooded Dread Necromancer played by Justin
* Vindr Skreevarson the Bastard Blooded Human Scout/Ranger played by Donnie

## A Dark Night

The party rested wearily at camp, trying to come to grips with their unexpected detour in Folkvangr and Nygaar's death and rebirth. Strangely, no one sought the seer's counsel on what had happened. With weariness, all settled down to rest on the lakeshore, setting up a watch as was their custom. The night was quiet near the serene waters until Vindr's turn on watch came. As the waning white moon Aerlun hung in the sky, the sharp-eyed scout noticed a strange flock of birds approaching. As Vindr watched in horror, a screeching, cawing, whirlwind of buffeting wings, clawing talons, and pecking beaks swooped towards him and his sleeping companions. The teeming mass of sinister, rotting, disease-ridden birds, with dead eyes that flashed with unearthly malice, was identified as a murder of undead ravens, thousands of them.

Vindr called out and awakened the camp, with all but Brydd coming hastily awake. The Harii sorcerer was safely ensconced beneath the waters, using his new ability to breathe underwater, and covered in an earthen shell of his own devising. Meanwhile, the foul undead ravens attacked, swarming Vindr, Esbjorn, and the goat Johan in a mass of tearing claws and pecking beaks. The scent of the undead creatures filled Esbjorn and Vindr with disgust, and the creatures targeted their eyes leaving them temporarily blinded.

Meanwhile, as Asleif fled, Aada Goldenbow made ready to fight with Johan by her side. As the flock had split into two groups, Nygaar dove under the water to alert Brydd to the danger. One group followed him and swirled above the lake's waters menacingly as the dualist pounded upon Brydd's earthen shell, and the sorcerer rose quickly and peered above him through the water. Deciding he must act, Brydd rose up out of the waters and cast a spell that created a thick haze of swirling dust and sand to buffet the undead fiends circling him. Nygaar, careful to avoid this swirling maelstrom, rose from the waters onto shore, and made ready to attack.

As Esbjorn and Vindr struggled to see, Heida sprung into action to harness her necromantic powers. Standing over the campfire to be within reach of all those around her, she cast a spell to hide most of her companions (with the exception of Nygaar and Brydd who were out of reach, and Asleif who had fled) to mask their collective presence. Aada Goldenbow turned invisible, while the others moved out of range of the swirling mass. Vindr stumbled from the swarm, blindly seeking out the lakeshore to salve his swollen eyes. Plunging his face into the water, he was able to see once more. Esbjorn too staggered away and waited wearily to engage his now unseen enemies. Luckily, Aada moved in to aid the champion of Surtr, rubbing a healing balm upon his eyes which cleared them. Heida, confident of her power over these creatures, next attempted to rebuke them. It worked, at least partially, as the swarm that had harassed those onshore landed and hopped about in awe of the Harii Veleda.

The other group of undead ravens, led by the large familiar of Gunhild the Hag which sported glowing red eyes, finally rose above the area of effect of Brydd's spell and swirled some forty feet above the lake. Brydd, who had taken some damage from his own spell, slowly moved towards shore underwater. Nygaar, unable to strike the birds high above him, moved to aid Esbjorn, who was hacking the rebuked and defenseless birds that hopped before him. As half of the flock was slowly hacked apart, the other flock finally departed, in no small part due to an amazing display of archery by Vindr. Seeing the strange leader of the flock with glowing red eyes, Vindr targeted that particular bird with his magical bow and amazingly struck it soundly in the wing. While the flock cawed menacingly, it clearly had had enough of the party and retreated back across the lake.

Esbjorn, furious at both the fey goddesses' interference and the battle with the repulsive undead birds, glanced about in a hot rage. Finding a likely victim in the goat Johan, Esbjorn asked if it was true Johan couldn't die. As Johan began to explain once more about the origins of his curse, Esbjorn smiled maniacally and snatched Johan in his fiery embrace. Using his magic to rise high above the party, the now flaming goat was unceremoniously torn in half by Surtr's champion, two flaming chunks of goat sailing off into the night. When Esbjorn floated back to earth, Aada looked at him in horror and spoke some choice words about clan Surtshellir. Sensing this could be an issue, as the girl was betrothed to a Surtshellir warrior, Nygaar went to console the girl, and through clever diplomacy was able to smooth over the disagreement. Aada and Esbjorn made their respective apologies, and the two halves of Johan were placed back together and knitted once more into a whole, alive, and very frightened goat.

The party breathed a sigh of relief, and Heida confirmed that the undead flock was the same one she had seen long ago that had been hunting them on the Varde River. Unsure whether Gunhild the Hag had always known where they were, or had somehow stumbled upon them once more, the party fitfully settled down to rest once more, as their spellcasters needed uninterrupted sleep to recuperate. Fortunately, no further incidents occurred, and the party rose rejuvenated at perhaps ten in the morning.

## Brisingamen Ruins

With their vigor renewed, the party departed inland. Heida was strangely quiet, almost aloof as if she was contemplating what the trials the day before had meant and if the party was on the right path. Aada, Asleif, and Johan found a safe place to camp, and the party made their way to the ruins on the southeast of the small island after a quick scouting foray by Vindr showed no signs of danger there:

*You approach a site of strange ruins, long forgotten and heavily covered in undergrowth. There are the ancient remains of four towers, and in the center of these is what looks to be a half-buried torc made of rusted metal.  The torc, if that is what it is, is massive, with a diameter of at least twenty feet. The hint of magic hangs in the air; it seems clear this was once a place of worship for a long-forgotten people. The breeze blows gently upon your face, and the scent of honeysuckle assails your senses.*

Using their collective knowledge of religion and magic, it soon became clear to the party that this was a sacred site similar to the site of Raen's Arm Rings. In fact, it seemed likely that this was the fabled torc of Freya herself, called Brisingamen, which could imbue the wearer with the ability to discern lies among other things. A hasty search by Nygaar and Vindr revealed nothing else of interest at the site of the ancient ruins, and the party knew that a specific scroll was needed to claim the torc for themselves. Heida again seemed uninterested, not examining the ruins too closely and reading a book while Nygaar and Vindr searched. Moving back the way they had come, the party went to investigate the tower they had seen closer to the center of Swan Isle. They sensed they would find the Swan Maiden there, and hastily made their approach.

## The Swan Spire

With their goal of finding Swanhilde pushing them forward, in order to fulfill their pledge to the dwarven king Grammar Oakspine to close the rift between Midgard and Svartalfheim and gain dwarven troops to defeat the Umbrians (and the permanent ownership of Esbjorn's borrowed adamantium sword), the party hastily approached the tower:

*You search the small island, and before long you warily approach an ancient and slender spire located in a small pool within the island’s interior. Spaced haphazardly within this pool are a number of weather-worn sky-poles, etched to represent highly stylized foliage and topped with carven bird-like figures. Surrounding the pool are large granite blocks, their origin and one time use unknown. The tower is perhaps one hundred feet tall, with a partially collapsed roof. It is covered in ivy, and the ancient doors look like they have not been opened in many a long and wearisome age.  A bevy of swans floats serenely upon the waters, which reflect the bright autumn hues of the colorful flora that surrounds the pool. The waters of the pool are clear and shallow, perhaps two feet at their deepest from what you can tell. The birds, who had produced a cacophony of calls upon the exterior lake, are strangely subdued and quiet here. It is as if this place is sacred in the untold ways of the ancient and eternal.*

Esbjorn, Brydd, and Nygaar approached the tower first, in order to examine the stone door and get a closer look at the tower exterior. Brydd saw that the tower structure was partially collapsed and that the door had been wedged permanently shut as a result. In addition, Brydd made out that a faint aura of abjuration magic imbued the door with some kind of protection. As Heida and Vindr warily observed, with the volva going so far as to inform Vindr that it was "their quest, not hers", Nygaar easily scampered up the one hundred foot tall tower, using a rope with a grappling hook which he had flung up to the top. Nygaar called out to the party, explaining that he could see some kind of cave below the floor of the tower, and that they should all climb up and descend that way. For some reason, perhaps due to impatience or some doubt that the tower itself could accommodate his massive weight, Esbjorn decided to simply break down the door, knowing that his adamantine sword coupled with his prodigious strength could easily complete such a task. As Brydd stood nearby looking slightly perplexed, Esbjorn struck the stone door with his sword.

Unfortunately for Esbjorn, upon his first strike, he was struck with a massive sonic blast that sounded like a piercing swan call. Unfazed, Esbjorn struck again, and the door blew apart before him. As Nygaar watched from high above, and Vindr and Heida watched from afar, both Esbjorn and Brydd were suddenly struck with massive lightning strikes. The origin of this magical attack became immediately apparent with the sudden appearance of two large creatures, some strange and abhorrent cross between a fox and a swan. Perhaps fourteen feet long and over three hundred pounds, these beasts immediately followed their magical strike by striking out with blinding speed, their swan-like beaks filled with sharp teeth. Both Esbjorn and Brydd felt a horrific poison begin to course through their veins, sapping their strength. While Esbjorn was able to withstand this bite, Brydd was not so lucky. Crying out in agony, his body withering to a grotesque husk, Brydd fell face-first into the water and moved no more.

Meanwhile, Nygaar attempted to clamber down the inside of the tower, but his haste made him slip and fall. Only his acrobatic tumbling ability, gained by many a long and weary hour in the practice yards of the Wulfling clan, saved him from serious injury. Heida moved towards one of the beasts, heroically attempting to draw it away from Esbjorn. While Nygaar recovered and burst out of the broken doorway, Esbjorn hacked away at the beast in front of him. Meanwhile, with Vindr peppering one of the creatures with arrows, Heida was bitten by a beast as well and felt her health quickly suffer as a result. With Nygaar able to join the fray, the two guardians of the tower were eventually dispatched, but none except Vindr walked away unscathed from the terrible battle. The landscape suddenly quiet once more, all eyes turned towards Brydd's floating corpse.

## Byrmoor Odin's Bane

Esbjorn looked to his frequent companion Brydd, and felt remorse that the sorcerer was no more. Strangely, the corpse has begun to float above the water, perhaps two or three inches, and magical energy had begun to swirl around it. Esbjorn approached to gather up his companion's remains, when the weapon (in the shape of Brydd's chosen weapon a spear) known as Byrmoor spoke aloud, telling the jotun-kin warrior that his master wasn't dead and to stand clear. Nygaar and Heida watched with dismay as the weapon conversed with Esbjorn, and Nygaar worried as he watched the fear and dismay on Heida's normally impassive face grow with the revelation that Esbjorn and Byrmoor had spoken before. It seemed Brydd, Esbjorn, and the slayer of Odin's followers had come to some sort of arrangement the other members of the party were not privy to.

As Nygaar watched Heida fret, it soon became clear the seer could take it no more, as Byrmoor tempted Esbjorn to take up the weapon himself. As no one left alive could determine what magic was flowing about Brydd's corpse, Heida finally called out to Esbjorn, reminding him of Raen's Arm Rings and their former hold over him. This gave Esbjorn pause, and he backed warily away at least momentarily. Heida took this opportunity to move in and snatch up the weapon. The others watched dumbfounded as Brydd's corpse splashed back into the water, the unknown magic around him slowly dissipating. Nygaar, using his keen observation skills in order to sense her motives, speculated that the volva was acting to protect the rest of the party from the wiles of the evil weapon. As she attempted to throw the blade, blood began to flow from Heida's eyes, ears, and mouth. With a pained guttural cry as she attempted to resist the blade it slowly transformed into a wicked-looking short sword before the eyes of all those watching. A moment ensued as the two wrested control for dominance and finally for the moment Heida appeared to retain control. Esbjorn and Heida stood facing one another while Vindr and Nygaar dragged Brydd's desiccated body to shore.

PREVIOUS --- NEXT