Session 048

# Loki's Demonic Cohorts

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Autumn, Aerlun Toil 3, Day 8-9**

*The party takes a brief respite in an ancient prison pit, but the attention they draw to themselves in doing so provokes an attack. Forging ahead, they encounter a life-like statue which proves to be an elf lord from the Age of the Alfr. The party then passes through an ajar door, and battles horrific creatures native to Svartalfheim. Attempting to chase down two of the beasts that fled, the party encounters a strange wall sacred to the demon lord Graz'zt, and Jor is ensorcelled under it's glamour, turning upon his own allies in his confusion.*

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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
* Heiða the Mother Fucking Veleda the Dökkálfar Blooded Dread Necromancer played by Justin
* Vindr Skreevarson the Bastard Blooded Human Scout/Ranger/Cleric played by Donnie
* Jor the Emberwrought the Giant Blooded Human Sorcerer/Dracolexi/Incantator played by Jason

## A Well Deserved Rest

Weary and sapped of their strength and spells, the party enjoyed the warm recesses of the ancient prison pit. Jor laid down a number of magical impediments, to include a thick snowy mist coupled with a furnace like area and a snare trap, and Heida stood guard. Sacrificing her rest for the greater good, the Harii volva tended to the parties many and various wounds throughout the night. The night passed uneventfully, with the exception of muffled jotun voices that carried to her ears from beyond the effect of Jor magical barriers, around a number of bends in the labyrinth. Everyone rose only partially refreshed, and the heroes debated whether to continue camping, but eventually decided to press on. After all, while the boy Dreki was gone, the sooner they found Fang Li or a way to escape the sooner they could put this nightmarish maze behind them once and for all.

Moving beyond Jor's dispelled magical protections, Nygaar stepped into a familiar passage. Unfortunately he was immediately ensnared by a wickedly hidden barbed net trap, and was wrapped up and poisoned with little fanfare. Further down the corridor, an ettin similar to the one he had encountered with Wulf stood ready to fire javelins into his exposed flesh. Leaping into action, Heida slashed Nygaar free, the wickedly sharp blade Byrmoor injuring him slightly in the process of freeing him. Esbjörn lumbered forward, momentarily forgetting the shrine to Loki nearby. Chaotic energy buffeted the lawful Surtr's Champion, sending rivulets of pain coursing through his body. As Vindr and Jor fired missile weapons at the two-headed jotun, Heida weakened him with a ray of exhaustion. The ettin's job of further weakening the heroes complete, he fingered a familiar looking gem hanging from a hempen rope around his neck, uttered a trollish command word, and stepped through a dimension door and away. The party shook their collective heads ruefully, as it seemed the time they took to camp had allowed the labyrinth's denizens to pinpoint their location. Nygaar moved sluggishly, the greenish poison of the barbs he had been stuck with coursing through his blood. He slowly assumed the lead once more, this time with the help of Jor who summoned some unseen servants to walk in front of Nygaar (and hopefully call the parties attention to any other traps they may encounter). These simple conjurations even pushed some of Esbjörn's boulders out in front of them, in an attempt to trigger any pressure plates.

## An Ancient Elf Lord

Eventually, the party came to sections of the labyrinth that were once more unfamiliar, and Nygaar slowly worked his way forward. Peering around one bend, he spotted a strange sight:

*At the end of yet another dead-end passage, you see an incredibly detailed statue of a young light elf, bearing a finely wrought stone crown and standing mute before you. Where its left eye should be, the socket is destroyed, and a large green gem has been placed within it. The base has a bronze plaque carved in ancient runes that reads ‘Hubris has its Price.’*

Knowing full well the Tricksters ways, the party warily approached the statue. Racking his brain, Jor eventually concluded that this was a member of the fabled Diamondshard dynasty, long fled to Alfheim thousands of years ago. The intricate detail inherent in the statue led the party to believe this might in fact be not a rendering but an actual elvish lord. Esbjörn scoffed in disgust, and the party was barely able to stop him from slicing the statue to pieces with his inhumanly sharp vorpal blade. Nygaar took the opportunity to pocket the large green gem, which he recognized as very valuable. After grasping the gem, he noticed a sticky residue upon it that was no doubt another poison of some kind. Fortunately even in his weakened state, Nygaar was able to shrug off the poisons effects, and hastily wiped the gem clean before tucking it away in a pouch. Taking a closer look at the stone crown, it seemed likely that the gem was wrought to fit in it, but neither stone crown nor gem radiated magic. After a time and a flurry of discussion, the party decided to make use of one of the stone to flesh scrolls they had found the day before, and Jor intoned the mystical words to transform the statue back to life. Slowly, the statue before them came to life, and a proud and noble elf peered at them in confusion.

After some discussion, the party learned that the elf lord before them was none other than Yarborus Diamondshard, a famous elvish prince who had lived in the Age of the Alfr. The prince recounted the story of his imprisonment; long ago he had set out on a journey to Hel itself with the intent to slay the dragon Nidhoggr. Unfortunately, Loki had apprehended him, as Diamondshard was an old foe of the Trickster who had made a tactical error in entering the Hoarfrost Labyrinth. As powerful as he was, Yarborus was at a disadvantage in his enemies lair, and Loki was able to trap and petrify the elf lord. There he had remained, entombed for untold thousands of years, but not before the Web-Weaver removed the gem from his crown and placed it in his empty eye socket in a gesture of mockery. Greeting each party member in turn, Diamondshard slowly learned the extent of the time that had passed, and openly wept at the news that Baldr had been slain. Thanking the party for setting him free, and learning of the foul Linnorm who now ruled the labyrinth, Diamondshard offered Vindr three arrow heads of dragon slaying. After learning of the Umbrian threat, and the connection these foreigners had to his hated foe, he promised to meet Nygaar with one hundred chosen elvish troops at the temple of Heimdall. Nygaar took this opportunity to return the gem, and the prince gratefully placed it back within its setting on his crown. Swearing a blood oath to all present, which was roundly rejected in Esbjörn's case, Diamondshard nodded his regal head in farewell. Waving his hands, a circular gate appeared before him, and he stepped through it and walked across worlds, instantly returning to Alfheim. Jor and Heida recognized the power this entailed; only a master of the arcane could weave such a powerful spell.

## Howling Chaos and Insanity

Moving forward, Jor cautious use of his powers paid off. The boulders being laboriously pushed forward by his invisible servants suddenly plunged into a hidden pit, some ten feet across. Nygaar nodded gratefully, more than happy to avoid the fifty foot deep fall. Spotting what looked to be an ajar door, cut to perfectly blend in with the cavern wall, the heroes felt it worth their while to investigate the far side. Backing up, Nygaar easily leaped across the chasm, and searched the far side with quick efficiency. His careful study of the small area proved wise; as he spotted the faded runes of some kind of magical trap upon the labyrinth floor. Using their athleticism and magic, the party made their way to the far side and Nygaar opened the door. As soon as the door was fully opened, the party heard strange and unsettling howls in the passageways ahead.

Creeping forward, Nygaar soon found yet another trap, this one looking to be a large section of floor that was set to electrify any who dared tread upon it. Turning back from this danger, and remembering with dread the electrical power that had nearly cost Jor and Esbjörn their lives, Nygaar sought out a new path. Meanwhile, Vindr's sharp eyes spotted the door they had passed through slowly beginning to close; moving quickly he jammed his club into the door to keep it ajar. While this was unfolding Nygaar found a passage to the north that was covered in yellow mold, and the party recognized it immediately as the same mold they had encountered in Storm Hammer keep, that when disturbed released deadly spores. After some experimentation, they were able to destroy the mold with fire; Nygaar used Marlowe Payne's captured mithral blade to fire a ray and engulf the fungus in a burst of flame.

Cautiously peering around the next corner, Nygaar was suddenly fallen upon by a massive beast, some eight feet long and weighing at least a ton. This hideous beast, with a gaunt and sickly appearance, bristled with sharp quills, and a demonic howl escaped its lips as it lunged in to bite Nygaar viciously. Within a few seconds, Nygaar was surrounding by a group of the nightmarish creatures, and nearly succumbed to their attacks. The would-be king of Seron let out a painful grunt as the numerous quills struck deep into his body. Even though Esbjörn was at the back of the single file cautious procession and stood around a corner,  he could still hear Nygaar’s excruciating grunts. Esbjörn had battled enough times with the ambitious warrior to know that those guttural painful sounds meant the wannabe King was in dire trouble.  Esbjörn briefly eyed the wide hallway and knew Nygaar had only checked to make a small narrow walk way safe for traps, a safe path that was far too narrow to allow for Esbjörn to move with any type of effectiveness to aid Nygaar quickly. So instead Esbjörn called out to Jor asking him to describe what was happening around the corner. Jor expeditiously sent a magical whisper describing the grim events unfolding.

Esbjörn, knowing he had to act fast or Nygaar might perish, decided to use his magic boots and teleport through the wall into the nearby unseen room of carnage.  With a puff of dark Muspelheim-like smoke Esjborn appeared, the demonic quilled beast before him covered in a mix of both Nygaar's and its own blood. It barely had a chance to turn and hiss at Esjborn before the Champion of Surtr brought down Kappi Högg Brandr swiftly onto the unholy monsters neck. The flaming sword passed through the creature’s flesh, muscle, and bone easier than a longship passing through a still sea with a full sail.  The cauterized demonic head barely had time to hit the ground and roll before Esjborn ripped out and chugged a potion of benign transposition from his bandoleer in an effort to save Nygaar’s life.  Now instead of a badly wounded Nygaar, the beasts faced Esbjörn. Without giving the creatures any time to react, Surtr’s Champion hastily let out a holy war cry and roared into the faces of the demonic creatures as the divine power of Surtr washed the large man in divine flames and filled his veins with lava-like blood.  The intense fervent howl caused one of the creatures to recoil and cower from the ferocity of one of Surtr’s chosen. After that, the party was able to make short work of a number of the beasts. Yet even Esbjörn,  heavily armored as he was, was bitten a number of times, and as two more of the creatures approached Jor raised a wall of force to fend them off. After a time, the beasts sped off into the labyrinth, and the party caught their collective breath. Deciding that they must continue and lay the remaining creatures to rest, Jor dismissed his invisible wall. Immediately the howls of the remaining creatures could be heard once more, echoing down to them somewhere from a corridor to their north.

The party followed the beasts, whose howls put them all ill at ease and threatened their very sanity. After a short time Nygaar spotted strange carvings upon a far wall, and the more studied among them recognized the cursed markings of the demon lord Graz'zt. A long wall was adorned in these carvings, and portrayed the horrors of Svartalfheim. The party warily approached the wall, their feeling of unease rapidly increasing. All those except Heida felt a strange compulsion to approach the wall, but they were (for the most part) able to shake off this dark coercion and continue. Unfortunately, Jor could not resist the pull of the demon lord, and he uncharacteristically walked boldly closer to the odious carvings. Esbjörn stood closest to him, and immediately sensed something was wrong. He attempted to stop Jor as he reached out to touch the wall, but acted just a moment too late. Touching the wall, Jor suddenly turned on Esbjörn, shrugging off the iron grip upon him. Wild eyed, Jor snarled in insane fury and made ready to attack his erstwhile ally. Taken aback, the party tried to communicate with Jor, but the grip of a demonic insanity was upon him. Heida was struck with an orb of force, and Esbjörn and Nygaar moved quickly to attempt to incapacitate Jor. Using his permeable form and turning invisible, the party was somehow able to strike him with the flat of their blades, as Nygaar used his blindsight to pinpoint him and struck the telling blow that rendered him unconscious. That one such as Jor, with such an iron and indomitable will, was able to succumb to the demon lords call troubled them all, and they wondered what to do. As Jor invisible body lay prone upon the ground, it seemed the demonic howling ahead of them only increased in fury and intensity. The gods alone knew what awaited them around the next corner of the accursed labyrinth.

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