Session 047

# The Prize is Lost

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

*Nygaar meets Wulf and Dreki, and together they find a way out of the labyrinth. Nygaar allows the boy to escape. The party battles some ice trolls, and encounters a strange shrine to Ymir and some massive reptilian beasts. Nygaar re-enters the labyrinth. Reunited, the party attempts to camp, but Jor nearly kills himself and Esbjorn by passing through a wall. Eventually the party finds a safe place to lick their wounds, hunkering down to sleep.*

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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

## Dreki is Lost

Nygaar, freed from the ice trap by Wulf, stood up and addressed the supposed Surtshellir turncoat warily. Using Freya's torc, he set out to determine Wulf's real intentions regarding the boy Dreki, and how they had been separated from Fang Li. It turned out that Wulf had only been playing the turncoat, and while Fang had descended into the lair of Isorm, he had taken the opportunity to flee with the boy. Trading veiled threats with the giant blooded warrior, Nygaar nonetheless saw the truth in what Wulf said, and agreed to aid Wulf in his attempt to flee the labyrinth. Nygaar attempted to inform the boy Dreki that his father had come to free him, but Dreki refused to believe that Jor was in fact his father. Giving up this attempt, Nygaar held off taking the boy for himself, perhaps due to Wulf's straight dealings and the recognition that Esbjorn's prodigal brother was in fact a potential ally.

Wulf led Nygaar back into a dead end passage, and Nygaar was surprised to see an ettin (a strange giant with two heads) bound and gagged. Following a bit of creative interrogation, Nygaar made a deal with the jotun-kin creature to show them the way out of the dungeon. He agreed to pay the creature for this information, and also learned about some vague "mistresses" of the ettin who would "avenge them" in the event Nygaar chose to kill the creature. Nygaar did spot a strange gem tied on a string around the creatures neck, and took it for himself. With little fanfare the ettin led the group to a secret passage nearby, that led into an ice tunnel to the surface.

Nygaar, Wulf and Dreki followed the ettin to the surface, where Nygaar (against the advice of Dreki of all people) allowed the giant to go free with a substantial amount of gold. Nygaar then attempted to encourage Wulf to stay and reenter the labyrinth, in order to track down the rest of the party and make their escape together. Wulf refused, saying that he must take the boy to Frisian lands and bargain with the Frisian jarl Crom the Crippler. Wulf said this had long been the plan; to take the boy to the Frisians in the expectation that the Umbrians would move against them, thus recruiting the Frisians to the cause of driving out the foreigners. Nygaar learned to his shock that Esbjorn's father was a party to this plan, and had allowed Esbjorn to believe that his brother was a traitor to their cause. After they were finished talking, Wulf took ahold of the boy and spoke a command word, altering the substance of their bodies into a cloudlike vapor. Rising up into the air, Nygaar watched as the goal of their descent into the labyrinth speedily rode the winds north and away. Shaking his head, he turned towards the cave mouth, some distance away. Moving stealthily, he eventually re-entered the labyrinth through the skeletal cave mouth, the cave mouth rebuking itself for keeping the back door open. The Umbrian troops watched Nygaar re-enter, hesitating long enough for him to slip inside unscathed.

## A Trap Sprung

Meanwhile, Heida found herself behind the revolving metal door, the walls covered in ice. She was surrounded by trolls, and made ready to defend herself as best she could. Luckily, Esbjorn used his boots to enter the fray, teleporting inside the closed room. Jor opened up a passageway between dimensions, allowing himself and Vindr to get inside the room as well. A ferocious battle ensued, in which Imra made her presence known, striking fear into the heart of one of the trolls. Meanwhile, Heida used her siedr ways to weaken the enemy, and two of the trolls retreated further into the closed room. Esbjorn, as always, wreaked havoc with his blade, but his pursuit of one of the trolls led him into an ice ray trap. It took the summoning skills of Heida to break him free, and the ogre zombie she summoned set off a trap as well after breaking Esbjorn free of the ice he was encased in. While battle was joined, Vindr had turned towards the silver chest in the room, and checked diligently for any traps that might preclude him opening it. Jor engulfed one of the trolls in a massive combust spell, burning it to a flaming cinder. The battle was soon over, and after a short time the trolls had been laid waste and the trap they had sprung ended. The ice upon the walls faded away, and Vindr was able to successfully open the chest, finding a number of gems and some stone to flesh scrolls that were dutifully doled out to Heida and Jor respectively. The party then continued onwards, still seeking both the boy Dreki and their companion Nygaar.

## An Ancient Shrine and Rutting Beasts

Moving forward, Heida took the lead, taking flight and slowly exploring the passageways. She witnessed a strange sight:

Y*ou see a number of strange creatures, seemingly consisting of air in a vaguely humanoid shape, genuflected before an ancient statue shrine. The shrine is a representation of the Ice Titan Ymir.*

Retreating rapidly, she informed the party of her find. They recognized that Ymir was the original giant, and wondered at the air elementals who paid fealty to such a statue. Byrmoor, the sentient weapon in Heida's possession, suggested they go and pay fealty to this ancient being, but Heida successfully ignored this request. Seeking out an alternate path, she next found two large beasts:

*Ahead, you hear the shuffling of enormous beasts, and the strange and guttural sounds of bestial coupling. Two massive reptilian creatures, over twenty feet long and covered in purplish scales, and each possessing seven snapping and snarling heads, are rutting enthusiastically. A number of heads turn in your direction, their vacant and alien eyes sullen and hateful.*

The party eventually identified these creatures as cryohydras, strange creatures that grew two heads for every one that was cut off. While they contemplated what to do, they heard the familiar horn that had once summoned frost giants, and was now in Nygaar's possession. Nygaar had made his painstaking way through the labyrinth, looking for his companions, and had finally decided to sound this horn in an attempt to draw them to him. While he had fallen victim to the ancient chaos magic of the shrine to Loki, he was still on his feet. His plan worked, and he was able to draw Vindr into the passageway. The party finally back together, they returned to the sight of the rutting monsters, and made ready to kill them. Despite Vindr's reservations, the party soon closed for battle, in the hopes that perhaps the beasts were guarding something or that there was a passageway beyond them that would lead them to their goal.

The creatures put up a fearsome fight, even with the weakening of one by Heida's magic. Esbjorn bore the brunt of their icy breath weapons, as both seven headed beasts caught him in their icy attacks. Fortunately, the party survived, weakened and depleted but still standing. Finding nothing in the passageways beyond the beasts but dead ends, they shook their heads at the futility of such a taxing combat for no reward. Nygaar filled the rest of the heroes in on his encounter with Wulf, and argued that they should retreat immediately as the boy was gone. He also asked Heida to identify the gem he had taken from the ettin, and Heida peered through the quartz to see that the gem was actually a strange eye peering at her. She tossed it down a passageway, and Nygaar's tale about the unknown "mistresses" of the ettin seemed to have some merit with the discovery. Esbjorn took the news of his brother's subterfuge with difficulty, feeling betrayed by his father, brother, and clan. Heida attempted to commune with the spirits in an effort to plan a path forward, but she found to her surprise that the god Loki himself answered her divinations. Unable to trust the Trickster, the party was somewhat at a loss, and decided to press forward in the hopes of obtaining the Rime Topaz or at least keeping Fang alive long enough to enable her to meet betrayal at the hands of Jungo. Part of this decision was influenced by Esbjorn's eagerness in recovering a Surtshellir relic from that wily old warlock, and the party had misgivings but determined they may not be able to leave the labyrinth in any case even if they wished to.

Nearly overcome with weariness, and with their spellcasting and healing abilities depleted, the party sought a place to rest. Unfortunately, the appeal of a closed door behind them led them back into the former lair of the ice trolls, where Jor entered and was immediately trapped inside once more. Smiley ruefully, Jor took permeable form and passed back through the wall from which he had come. While he successfully passed through, he was unprepared for the Web-Weaver's tricks, and had seemingly forgotten about the metal surfaces dancing with electricity that made up the dungeon. A shocking burst of electricity engulfed him, and shot off in multiple directions striking the other heroes as well. Both Jor and Esbjorn fell, and only Heida and Nygaar's quick reaction in using their healing abilities saved the two from death. Retreating back the way they came, the party decided to descend into the heated pit where they had recovered the mithral shield, and clambered down into the cells that had once served as prisons long ago. Relatively secure below ground in the small stone enclosures, they settled down for a fitful rest, Heida taking first watch as was her wont. Time would tell if they would be allowed to sleep unmolested, or if the labyrinth would have more in store for them while they attempted to get some much needed sleep.

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