Session 070

# Ascending Odin's Heart

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Autumn, Laelun Toil 2, Day 3**

*The heroes travel north to the base camp of their fledgling army. At the foot of Odin's Heart, they learn that twenty of their elven allies have been captured by a war band of fire giants. Traveling quickly, the party ascends a steep trail up the mountainside, and encounters a pair of colossal birds of prey.*

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## Player Characters Involved

* King Nygäär the Fey Blooded Rogue/Fighter/Crusader played by Dana
* Esbjörn Fireforge the Fire Giant Blooded Barbarian/Cleric/Surtr's Chosen played by Greg
* Heiða the Mother Fucking Veleda the Dökkálfar Blooded Dread Necromancer played by Justin
* Vindr Skreevarson the Mongrel Blooded Human Scout/Ranger/Cleric played by Donnie
* Jor the Emberwrought the Giant Blooded Human Transmuter/Beguiler/Human Paragon/Ultimate Magus played by Jason

## Into the Mountains Once More

The party made ready to depart, with Nygaar dispatching their new companion Irrian to Raendale. There, Irrian was tasked with putting a sending stone into Stig Witch-Breaker's hands, so that the heroes could communicate with their allies to the south. Meanwhile, Nygaar and Heida conferred with Egil Gislason, and they pondered where the Harii cavalry should be dispatched. Ultimately, Heida told Egil to assure her father Grim that Aarhus would be the new Harii stronghold, and Nygaar sent Egil and his horsemen to the west to watch the coast for the eminent Umbrian reinforcements due to arrive by ship sometime around the winter solstice. Egil took a sending stone with him as well, and the heroes took comfort in the fact that they could now communicate with their allies in the west and south. That settled, Jor conferred with Harald Greycloak and the goat-maiden Laerad on where they were to meet up with the northern army. Learning that the combined forces of the priests of Heimdall, the light elves, and the goat men had a base camp at the foot of Odin's Heart, Jor made ready to open up the shadow path once more.

Knowing the dangers that lied in wait for them in the dark realm, Jor struck upon a new idea. After ushering the party and their guides into the shadows, Jor immediately wove his seidr to change their appearance. Now instead of a band of heroes, they resembled great, dark serpents covered in non-reflective black scales and measuring some forty long and nearly five feet thick in their midsections. The party slithered north at a breakneck pace, and after a few short hours, Jor dismissed his spell as they reached the camp they sought:

*You stand at the base of a massive volcano. The bottom of the mountain is wreathed in a thick pine forest. High above, a thick cloud of black smoke rises from the crest of the mountaintop, and blue lightning seems to intermingle and crackle within the plume. A wide path leads east around the base of the mountain through the forest. A steep and narrow pass through thinner trees leads northwest up towards the peak. The mountain is covered in hot pools at higher elevations. There is little snow anywhere. The wind whips violently around you, but it is strangely warm. The smell of ash and sulfur lies heavy in the air.  A number of tattered tents are arrayed nearby, and you hear the moans and cries of a number of wounded men. The camp is mostly made up of human warriors wearing the symbol of Heimdall upon their chests and shields; a small contingent of goat people and elves sit sullenly around some campfires nearby. All heads turn towards the party as they see you appear from the shadows.*

Esbjorn suddenly felt a strange weakness, and the god rune at his waist briefly pulsed with red light. As Harald and Laerad rejoined their companions, the heroes realized that the volcano above them was sacred to Surtr, and that Esbjorn's possession of the god rune in this place would leave him weak as long as he possessed it here. As Esbjorn gained his bearings, a new face emerged from the rag tag camp. An elf with a regal bearing calling himself Lucien Blodskald introduced himself to the party. Arrayed in intricately forged elven chain, and wearing a wicked looking curved sword upon his belt, Lucien had a shorn head and intricate tattoos of esoteric origin covering his face. It seemed the northern army was under his command, as Yarborus Diamondshard had been forced to return to Alfheim to attempt to solve the mystery of Freya's transformation.

The party spoke to Freya's bewitchment, informing Lucien that the Trickster was to blame, and that they knew how to free her of the charm Loki had placed upon her. The charismatic elf nodded with relief, and let them know he would send word to Yarborus immediately. In the meantime, Lucien and the heroes discussed the war, and the party found out that their allies were hard pressed. It seemed that the fire and frost giants were operating under a truce orchestrated by the dark dwarves. To make matters worse, the dragon Cryocrax and it's serpentine spawn had agreed to act as scouts for the frost giants. Yet the worst news was yet to come; Lucien revealed that twenty of his elvish troops had been captured by a large band of fire giants, and were even now being taken to the summit of Odin's Heart to be cast in as a sacrifice to Surtr. The heroes agreed to attempt a rescue, and after quickly healing the wounded in camp, the party decided to trek up the steep path to the summit. Lucien led Harald Greycloak, Laerad, and the remains of his men east, to rendezvous with Vungar, Gryfh, and the rest of the northern contingent who were attempting to find a way to breach the defenses of the Rime Citadel.

## A Treacherous Ascent

Esbjorn set Gullinbursti's harness upon the ground, and made ready to make a lightning fast ascent up the mountain with this relic of Frey at their disposal. Unfortunately, the harness failed to activate; it seemed that on these grounds holy to Surtr, his mortal enemy Frey's relics sometimes failed to work. The party looked at one another in frustration, knowing that the fierce winds and patrolling dragons meant they must needs stay on or near the ground as they traveled to the summit. Vindr took a few moments to plan their climb, and his keen eyes spotted a number of shortcuts that would allow them to make haste as best they could. Setting off, the party trudged ever upwards, reaching the treeline after perhaps two hours. Night had fallen, and the winds whipped viciously, cutting through their thick cloaks and necessitating magical protection from the elements. They journeyed onward, knowing they had a full day's march to reach the top of the mountain and attempt to rescue the captured elves. After two more torturous hours, a few of the heroes spotted a terrifying sight.

Swooping down out of the clouds, the party saw a massive bird of prey the likes of which they had never seen. It was a creature known as a roc, but those knowledgeable of the natural creatures of Seron were shocked at its size. The bird was sixty feet long from the beak to the base of the tail, with a wingspan some one hundred and fifty feet wide. Fighting along a narrow path, with a cliff to their east, the party attempted to take cover as best they could, or at least get out of the path of the bird's attack. Jor's magic allowed him to step upon the empty space over the cliff edge, where he hoped to avoid the swooping creature. He peered down only to see another bird two hundred feet below his feet. Meanwhile, the attacking bird had moved in for the kill, and right before it hit her Heida whispered dark words of pain. As it clutched her in his claws, the Roc took some grevious wounds. Esbjorn's reforged servant Droog had concealed himself and his master in a cloud of poisonous smoke, while Nygaar hid behind some rubble and Vindr rode Glaer clear of the bird's path of attack. Heida groaned in pain at being squeezed in the horrid creature's clutches, and realizing she had no chance of escape, she released another burst of negative energy. As she wracked her brain trying to figure out a way to break free, she was shocked at how she had unleashed so much damage and yet the roc still barely looked injured. As the roc began to fly away, the tell tale signs that Heida's amulet became apparent; black runes adorned her wounded body.

Meanwhile, Vindr peppered the bird with arrows, while Jor attempted to ground the other bird with his seidr. Unfortunately, the second bird shook off his magic, and began the long flight some two hundred feet up to join it's mate. Realizing he must rescue Heida, Jor changed tactics. Acting quickly, he made Heida vanish, with only a cloud of motes left in the empty talon of the attacking bird. Heida reappeared nearby, and the creature called out in frustration at its stolen meal. As the party peered up at the terrifying creature, it suddenly changed direction, and attacked them one after another with its talons and razor sharp beak. In a flash, after feeling the sting of six arrows bite into its flesh, the bird had snatched up Vindr, hoping to fly off with the scout and eat a meal in peace. Fortunately for Vindr, Heida made use of her seidr, and created a billowing mass of misty vapors dripping with acid that immediately halted the roc's flight. The party closed in, eager to strike down the massive beast and free Vindr.

Once again, Droog's new-forged powers came in handy for the party. Quickly gulping down a potion of benign transposition, Esbjorn's tiny servant switched places with Vindr, and immediately turned ethereal and returned to Esbjorn's waiting shoulder. Trapped and cheated of another meal, the roc squawked in outrage, and snatched up Esbjorn in its beak and talons, pulling him into Heida's acid fog. Even enraged, Esbjorn had no hope of escape, and the two struggled mightily in the midst of the dense fog. Vindr continued to fire arrows at the beast, and Heida moved forward and executed an astounding feat of martial prowess, directing and inspiring Nygaar, and together they moved in as they had drilled all these months working together. While Nygaar and Heida slashed at the bird, Esbjorn activated his boots and slipped free of the roc's clutches. Three heroes had been trapped in it's avian grip, and all three had escaped. In a fury that frightened and astounded even his colleagues, Esbjorn set to work, hacking the creature limb from limb and setting it ablaze with his magical fire-infused blows. Finally the creature collapsed, just as its mate reached the ledge and came into view. The second bird swooped away, sensing when to flee something it deemed dangerous enough to kill it's companion. The heroes breathed a sigh of relief, yet the sudden quiet was short-lived. They still had some four hours left to climb, with their mortal enemies the fire giants waiting for them if or when they reached the mountain's peak. With that in mind, Vindr and Jor quickly searched the bird's nest, while Heida attempted to determine if she could animate the roc by eating it's raw heart.

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