Session 067

# The Wood is Purged of Evil

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Autumn, Laelun Toil 1, Day 9-10**

*The party enters the bowels of the earth, and faces off with Spindel Drottning. Jor and Valindr speak to the Trickster, who tempts Jor and transforms Valindr into Vindr once more. The evil of the wood finally purged, the party seeks out and finds the palace Vidblainn, and makes ready to negotiate with Alvar the Half Elven to obtain Gullinbursti's Harness.*

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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

## The Party Descends

As the party made ready to descend into the earthen hole, the stranger Irrian bid farewell and stepped into the shadows. The heroes nodded their goodbyes, grateful for his assistance in their battle with the vilderaven. Nygaar, Esbjorn, and Heida were badly injured, and turned to Runganir to seek any assistance they could. Urging them to hurry, Runganir bathed the heroes in his own blood, and the green demigod blood healed a portion of their wounds. While they patched themselves up, Valindr heard an unearthly scream, and asked the half troll what it could be. Runganir's face darkened, and he told them it could only be a wendigo, a being of ancient evil in the hideous shape of a feral elk with jagged teeth and sharp antlers with humanoid legs that ended in blackened, burnt stumps. Jor's eyes widened in recognition, and he joined in the call to descend into the pit and face the spider at once. Runganir stood guard, and nodded his massive head in thanks when Esbjorn presented him with a potion to enhance his natural attacks. The heroes strode below, entering into a strange cavern:

*You descend down into a steep pit at a forty five degree angle, the footing muddy and treacherous, the way twisting and turning, at times narrowing enough to make it difficult for the largest amongst you to pass. You emerge into a earthen cavern some one hundred feet below ground. The cave is awash in a hazy white light, the source seemingly coming from nowhere, and as you peer around you see the ceiling of the cave is covered in thick and tangled tree roots that extend down to the floor.  Those amongst the party with the keenest eyesight notice that one collection of large roots nearby looks gnawed upon, and the cavern is deathly cold. Piles of bones, a mixture of human and animal, lay moldering on the earthen floor.  Strangely, some of the roots you can see seem to fade in and out of view, as if they are vanishing and reappearing at random.*

Surveying the pile of bones nearby, Heida found a dusty old skull, and using her seidr asked it what had befallen it's owner. The skull replied that the vilderraven had fed him to the spider. The heroes peered about the strange cavern, waiting with bated breath to face their foe. In the meantime, Esbjorn explored the roots of one massive tree with his sword, chopping at it and trying to determine why the gnawed parts seem to appear and disappear. Jor soon realized that the tree limbs were not invisible at all, but were instead passing in and out of the ethereal plane, a borderland between worlds close to the world of Midgard yet set apart. As the party explored the cave further, a large spider-like monster with an eerie, humanoid face surrounded by a shaggy mane of black hair suddenly appeared some seventy five feet on the ceiling above them. With a body thirty five feet long, and weighing some five thousand pounds, the face of Spindel Drottning contorted in a confused and murderous rage.

Wasting little time, Esbjorn flew up to attack the spider, still ensorcelled by Jor's seidr. Striking the spider a mighty blow, the creature returned the attack in kind, biting Esbjorn and grappling him tightly. The party watched amazed as Esbjorn's mighty strength was easily overcome by the creature, and he hung helpless in the massive arachnid's jaws. Thankfully, Spindel decided to release Esbjorn, flinging him thirty feet across the cavern and narrowly avoiding smashing him into an adjacent cavern wall. Then, strangely, the spider seemed to grow confused, and she looked around as if just becoming aware of her surroundings. Heida recognized the spider's confusion, but knew that it was best to end this creature and the evil influence she had on the Boar's Wood. Drawing upon her reserves of strength, the volva created a billowing mass of misty and acidic vapors, hoping to pin the large creature into position. For a few tense moments, the party awaited further attacks, but none were forthcoming. Jor, knowing that this creature no doubt could pass into the ethereal realm, cast a spell to peer across planes. He called out in shock and retreated when he saw the massive creature standing silently directly in front of him in the ethereal plane. None of the other heroes could detect its presence, yet Jor's warning call alerted them to the approximate location of the crafty creature. As the heroes stood poised to strike, Jor watched the creature look away, as if seeing something he could not. Then, inexplicably, the creature seemed to bow her four front legs in subjugation, putting her head down.

## The Trickster Makes an Offer

With seemingly no time passing, Jor and Valindr found themselves in the ethereal realm, their companions nowhere to be found. Appearing before them, a massive swarm of wasps approached, taking on a vaguely humanoid shape. With quiet dread, both Jor and Valindr knew with a certainty that they were in the presence of the Trickster himself, the god Loki! Referring to Jor as grandson, and boasting of his ever-growing power, Loki made Jor a proposal. If Jor agreed to steal the god rune from Esbjorn and hand it over to the frost giant king Ístr Icesjel, Loki would reward him with a cubic gate. Holding out his insect-made hand, the god showed Jor the item in question:

*This item is fashioned from silver and steel, and is adorned with intricate designs of blue worked magically into the metal. Each of the six sides of the cube is keyed to one of the nine worlds.  This particular cube is adorned with the symbols of Midgard, Nidarvellir, Svartalfheim, Jotunheim, Alfheim, and Niflheim (Hel). If a side of the cubic gate is pressed once, it opens a gate to a random point on the plane keyed to that side. Pressing the side a second time closes the gate. It is impossible to open more than one gate at a time. If a side is pressed twice in quick succession, the character doing so is transported to a random point on the other plane, along with all creatures in adjacent squares.*

In addition, the Trickster made the following promises to Jor:

* Loki’s servant Phaegun the Magus would serve Jor, and his uncle Demonaxe would be his to control along with the Umbrian wizards guild
* When Loki returns from Hel to rule Asgard with his queen Freya, Dreki would be installed as the ruler of Midgard
* The Harii would be honored as the chosen people of Loki in Midgard, and rule over the other clans in Seron
* the spellbook of Iggwilv the Dream Witch in Heida's possession would be Jor's as well - in fact Loki seemed irritated that Jor did not take his "gift"

Jor stood in confusion and awe, and attempted to be non-committal in response to the Trickster's proposal. The wasps buzzed furiously, and Loki told him to make his decision soon. Jor swore that he would consider it, and glanced at Valindr in trepidation. Loki finally noticed the scout, and spoke to her in puzzlement. Clearly Valindr was not supposed to be privy to this conversation. Asking her some questions about loyalty and the gods, Loki nodded his buzzing head, and suddenly Valindr was Vindr once more. A moment later, the two heroes found themselves back in the material plane, and watched as the spider appeared and viciously bit Nygaar. It seemed the battle was not over, although no time had passed for Heida, Nygaar, or Esbjorn.

## The Spider is Slain

Jor shook off his encounter with his deity ancestor, and surveyed the battle scene quickly. Seeing his companions spread out and in disarray, he moved quickly to turn the tide of the combat. Evoking yet more sorcerous power, a slight blue shimmer of energy surrounded his companions, and with an audible pop they disappeared, reappearing in new positions flanking and surrounding Spindel. Nygaar stood poised to strike, and shook off the arachnid poison that threatened to drain him of his vitality. Swinging his two long swords in a deadly blur, Nygaar chopped relentlessly into the spider, covering all around him in the black blood of the creature and hacking large chunks out of her legs and carapace. Next it was Esbjorn's turn, and he wielded his deadly vorpal blade to maximum effect, hacking away while screaming in rage and exhaustion. The spider stumbled, yet refused to fall. Finally, the newly formed Vindr peppered the creature with arrows, and the deadly beast slumped over in death, releasing a deadly cloud of gas as it expired.

Heida and Nygaar were standing the closest, and were unable to avoid breathing in some of the deadly toxin. Nygaar was poisoned, but was able to keep his feet with difficulty. Heida, however, was not as lucky. Her face turned black with poison, and she fell stone dead upon the cavern floor. Calling on the last of his seidr reserves, Jor made a single utterance, and created a momentary distortion that engulfed the fallen Harii volva. Changing the weave itself, Jor was able to allow Heida's body one more chance to resist the poison, and Odin was with her. She stood sickened but alive, and the companions breathed a collective sigh of relief. The spider dead, Nygaar claimed the large ruby embedded in the human head of her corpse, while Heida devoured her heart. Esbjorn then proceeded to burn her to cinders.

The battle over, the party wondered what was happening on the surface. Nygaar sprinted up through the tunnel, and to his relief found Runganir still standing. The half troll nodded respectfully to Nygaar, and informed him that the evil had fled the wood with the death of Spindel. The danger passed, Runganir vowed to guard the party as they recovered, and Nygaar returned to the cavern to inform his companions. Meanwhile, Esbjorn drew out the god rune, and touched the roots of what the party realized was an extension of Yggdrasil itself. He asked the world tree if the party was forging the correct path, and all the companions were given a boon to their power in response. Jor watched Esbjorn handle the rune with interest, thinking about the Trickster's offer mere moments before. The evil infecting the forest vanquished, the party laid down wearily, as all had stretched themselves near the limits of their endurance.

Waking refreshed, the party emerged into the quiet morning air the following day. Runganir was waiting, and told them it was time to seek out the palace of Vidblainn and speak to the lord of the Boar's Wood. Pointing west, he told them that the forest itself would lead them where they needed to go. After a long walk, the party approached the domain of Alvar the Half-Elven:

*As you wander (seemingly) aimlessly through the forest, you reach an area filled with massive oak and ash trees. In the distance, you see a collection of stately halls and towers that seem to be built and intertwined within the ancient trees of the forest. High walkways connect buildings and fire flickers from bronze sconces. Behind an imposing wall in the distance a high and shimmering hall rises high into the treetops. This must surely be Vidblainn, the palace of Alvar the Half-Elven you have been seeking. Towering spires of granite are wrapped in lush topiary, and you hear the grunting of the massive beasts that give this forest its name. You see the underbrush and small trees nearby move and sway under the weight of massive boars, who appear around you, shimmering faintly with a strange inner light. Upon the battlements of the palace, perhaps half a dozen elegantly arrayed archers look down their elvish noses imperiously at you. Moving with supernatural grace, each archer fires three arrows in what seems like the blink of a eye; the arrows fly unerringly and strike the ground before you in a nearly straight line, the ground crackling in an icy frost where each missile stands quivering. You hear a striking and charismatic voice rise above the din of the beasts, laughing and calling out to you. The direction from which the voice originates is hard to pinpoint, seeming to come from all around you.  “You look like you’re lost, friends! Perhaps you should turn back now while you have the chance! My boars grow unruly!”*

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