Session 026

## Dark Choices

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Summer, Aerlun Toil 2 day 7-10**

*The party bids farewell to Vungar and Harald. They are pursued and are faced with a difficult decision. Heedi's noble bearing and loyalty become her undoing. The party discovers they are outlawed in Geat lands, and battles a pair of abhorrent undead encased in ice.*

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## Player Characters Involved

* Nygäär the Dark the Fey Blooded Rogue/Fighter 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/Incantatrix played by Jason

## The Aftermath of Battle

Immediately following their battle with the frost giant hunting party, Nygaar approached Heedi to gauge her reaction to his wielding of the axe Riftsplitter. Heedi was in the midst of a dilemma; she knew this axe, once the weapon of the famed dwarven hero from antiquity Tukod Chaosjaw, was highly sought after by her uncle king Grammar Oakspine. Nygaar knew full well that the king was looking for the weapon, and flaunted his possession of it. Attempting to keep her quiet concerning the weapon, or perhaps hoping to broker a possible trade, Nygaar attempted to charm the young dwarvish princess into keeping knowledge of the axe a secret, at least until the party was out of harm's way. Unfortunately Nygaar's harsh new outlook and bearing had an effect he wasn't intending, and he succeeded only in scaring the girl half to death. Heedi did agree to not mention the axe (at least for the short term) and intimated that her cousin Durin might be receptive to a trade or a duel for possession of the fabled weapon. She made it clear that the king would take the axe one way or another if he found out that Nygaar possessed it.

While Brydd attempted to do damage control and salvage their relationship with the girl, Esbjorn suspected Nygaar might slay the girl and took Vungar to "check the perimeter" of the camp, instructing his servant Droog to stay hidden and report back to him. Brydd succeeded in salvaging the relationship, at least to some extent. Meanwhile, Harald Greycloak, the ranger guardian of the Temple of Heimdall, turned his wrath upon Nygaar for his clumsy attempt to threaten the girl into silence. Badly wounded, Nygaar nevertheless threatened the ranger, and they nearly came to blows. Ultimately Harald and Nygaar make tentative amends, and settled down to drink. Feeling the camp was unsafe, the party traveled a short distance back to the mountain trail and made camp for the night. Brydd used his sandshaping skills to form the very mountainside around the camp, and with the party thus concealed the night passed uneventfully.

## Vungar and Harald Depart

Refreshed, the party awoke to Vungar and Harald making preparations to return to the Sky Cliffs to the north, where the priests of Heimdall kept their vigil. Vungar implored Esbjorn to make the trip to speak with the priests after they brought the head of the crag drake to the dwarven king, as he felt sure they were worthy allies and would help them in their fight with the giants. Meanwhile, Harald approached Brydd and gave him a battered scroll case, explaining that he might find what it contained useful. Brydd opened the case and found a local map of the area, with a number of locations previously unknown to the party etched upon it. After some discussion was made concerning the map, Vungar and Harald parted ways with the heroes, striking out across country rather than following the mountain trails. Before leaving, Nygaar appoligized for the heated exchange the prior day after battle. The two shook hands and considered the issue over. Brydd watched with interest as Harald cast a spell upon himself, Longstrider, which allowed the ranger to more readily keep up with the winter wolf on their march.

## No Good Choice

The party watched their friend Vungar and his companion Harald depart, and turned westward down the mountain trail towards the Firehand Clan stronghold. During their march westwards, Nygaar attempted once again to convince Heedi of the wisdom of maintaining her silence concerning the axe Riftsplitter, but his clumsy attempts only succeeded in alienating the girl further. After a day's travel, shortly after breaking camp once more, Droog and Nygaar heard something in the distance back the way they had come. Esbjorn instructed his demonic servant to scout out these noises, and he returned a few short hours later to report that they were being pursued by a large war band of Frost Giants! Accompanying the giants was a large pack of winter wolves and a number of red-cloaked humans on horseback. The party was faced with a choice:

*As you stand upon the precarious trail leading down the steep flank of a mountainside, you hear the bloodthirsty howls of savage wolves carried upon the wind growing ever nearer in the distance. Peering down at Harald Graycloak’s map, you realize you are at a crossroads of sorts. To the south is the relative safety of the impenetrable mountain stronghold of the Firehand Clan. To the southwest lies Kettel’s domain, the Freehold, a settlement teeming with vulnerable human freemen. In the distance to the northwest you can see the swirl of the perpetual blizzard that surrounds the lair of the dragon Cryocrax, Lord of the White. Back to the east, in the direction of Storm Hammer Keep, the low din of wolves snarling and howling, faint hoofbeats, and snatches of the low-pitched raucous laughter of the Jotun war party bounce and echo through the rugged pass you’re standing in. To turn back could mean certain death, but your other options fill you with dread. As you contemplate your path, a light snow begins to fall, and the wind tears at your clothing viciously. You estimate that your pursuers are a day or two behind you at most, and you realize that they are able to travel more quickly than you can. Only the treacherous terrain and the disciple the giants maintain over their winter wolf slaves have allowed you to maintain some separation up to this point. You glance at one another questioningly.*

 After some discussion, the party ruled out returning to the Freehold, as such a move would put Kettel and his people at risk. Wary of the white dragon Cryocrax, and unsure of the giant's relationship with that savage beast, the party ultimately decided that returning to the dwarven stronghold was their best option. Preparing themselves for a long and difficult march through the rugged mountain trails that had brought them here, the party set out, contemplating shedding their armor in a bid to move more quickly. Nygaar turned his grim visage towards Heedi and intimated that she would slow them down. Backing up towards a steep precipice, the girl looked at Nygaar in wide-eyed horror.

## Heedi is Silenced Permanently

With little fanfare, Nygaar made his mind up and made ready to kill the girl. Sensing the attack was coming, Heedi quickly drank a potion and dropped off the cliff face. Looking down, the party saw her running down the cliff like a spider, and realized the potion was infused with the Spider Climb spell. Brydd felt sorry for the girl and tried to give her an advantage by secretly casting Nerveskitter upon her. Esbjorn peered down the cliff face impassively; he knew that the dwarven alliance was at risk as long as the girl lived. Nygaar, meanwhile, sprang into action. The Grimmlyor warrior boldly flung himself from the cliff face, intending to tackle the girl during his fall and knock her off the side of the mountain. Incredibly, this attempt succeeded, and Nygaar was able to dislodge the girl. What happened next surprised the onlookers; Heedi slowly began to float through the air, scrambling in vain to try to re-establish contact with the cliff face. Nygaar, meanwhile, had teleported using Riftsplitter and tumbled to his feet below the girl at the bottom of the ravine.

Inevitably the girl's slow descent came to an end, and she landed shortly thereafter and faced Nygaar with grim determination. Wielding her dwarven axe, the girl was able to wound Nygaar terribly, as he returned her attacks with lightning-fast sword and axe blows. Esbjorn took advantage of his demon servant Droog, who hovered around the girl, and drank a potion of benign transposition to swap positions with the quasit and enter the fray. Burning brightly with Surtr's flames, Esbjorn enfolded Heedi in his massive arms and within seconds the sickening crunch of her spine breaking echoed through the ravine. Esbjorn laid her burned and broken body down almost gently and voiced his regrets for such a sad turn of events. Esbjorn and Nygaar buried Heedi in a shallow grave, making sure to loot any magical items she had beforehand. The party then returned to the trail and traveled onward, confident that their possession of the magical dwarven axe would remain a secret.

## Outlawed

With heavy hearts, the party continued their march towards the Firehand Clan stronghold, fighting off fatigue as they pushed themselves in an attempt to stay ahead of their pursuers. After perhaps ten hours, they came upon a strange sight:

*You reach an old stone bridge spanning a precipice. You crossed this bridge on your way to Storm Hammer Keep. The bridge is narrow and allows just enough room for Esbjorn to pass comfortably. The sounds of your pursuers have grown gradually louder in perhaps the last hour. The bridge is carved from the very mountain itself; no doubt it is of ancient dwarven make, although the scattered runes and symbology that once adorned it are nearly worn away. The air hangs heavy and still, and a thick fog has risen from the rushing water far below you. The far side of the bridge is obscured in a dense and nearly impenetrable mist.*

 Cautiously making their way forward through the fog, the party stumbled upon the corpse of a young woman lying face down on the bridge, wearing the remains of a tattered white robe. A hasty search uncovered little of value, other than some detailed drawings of Esbjorn, Nygaar, Brydd, Heida and even Vungar stuffed in a battered scroll case.  The drawings were signed by the Geat Chieftain Orri Karsson and adorned with a wax seal pressed with the falcon symbol of the Geat clan. Each parchment branded those pictured as outlaws, and a reward of five hundred gold pieces was offered for their capture dead or alive, to be collected in Aarhus. The party wasn't surprised, but such a lofty treasure offered for their respective deaths gave them pause. Moving forward, after perhaps another two hours, the party was met with yet another unexpected circumstance.

## The Entombed

Walking briskly down the mountain path, their destination nearly in reach, the party was suddenly ambushed! Two hideous undead beings burst forth from the snow along the cliff face. A thick shell of clear green-tinged ice completely encased the desiccated human corpses, their yellowed teeth bared in a rictus of death. The huge mantle of icy armor made these fearsome apparitions the size of ogres. Their faces were frozen in a rictus of fear or sorrow as if they had died a horrible death not of their own choosing.

The party immediately met their attack, but the blows of the horrific undead creatures took a heavy toll. Fortunately for Esbjorn and Nygaar, Brydd recognized these creatures from his studies and knew that fire would damage them severely. Brydd had mastered the spell combust and set to work, moving close enough to touch the fiends and set them ablaze. The power of the spell surprised Esbjorn and Nygaar; in short order Brydd destroyed both creatures, scattering their sickly green ice and undead flesh in fiery explosions that blew them apart and laid them to rest. The party caught their breath and made ready to finish the grueling march they had begun some eleven hours earlier. They had only a few hours march left to reach the safety of the dwarven stronghold.

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