Session 009

## Aegir's Bounty

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Spring, Laelun Toil 2, day 3**

*After completing a hard-fought battle with a pair of undead cave bears, the party finds and frees their colleague Brydd. They find unexpected treasure and information in the sea cave beneath the Raendale Temple of the One God. More foes are dispatched, and they meet new companions in their fight against Seron's invaders. They spot a ship entering the Geatling Fjord.*

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## Player Characters Involved

* Vindr Skreevarson the Bastard Blooded Scout/Ranger played by Donnie
* Nygäär the Dark the Fey Blooded Rogue/Fighter played by Dana
* Heiða the Seer the Dökkálfar Blooded Dread Necromancer played by Justin
* Esbjörn Sigvardson the Giant Blooded Barbarian/Cleric played by Greg
* Brydd Hjarta the Jörmung Human Sorcerer played by Jason

## The Party is Reunited

Following the battle against Gunhild the Hag's undead cave bears, the party entered another chamber in the cave complex beneath the One God temple. They found their companion Brydd chained up, and Esbjörn used his prodigious strength to break the chains with his bare hands. Badly wounded and missing an eye, Brydd told the others of his ordeal, and that their enemies now knew all their names. Brydd collected his meager belongings and drank a draught of Heidrun's Milk given to him by Esbjörn. Meanwhile, the party explored the cave and found a number of disturbing things. It seems Gunhild was collecting bodies, as a pile of them filled the cave with a vile stench. In addition, Heiða found what appeared to be the witch's workshop and took some potions and a rough-cut quartz gem lying on the table. The party also found a large opening in the ceiling of the cave that appeared to lead to the outside fifty feet above their heads. While searching the cave, Nygäär's fey blood alerted him that there was something behind a massive boulder against the rough-cut wall of the cave. Nygäär asked Esbjörn for assistance, and the two of them rolled the boulder out of the way to reveal a hidden passage. Nygäär opened it, and it appeared the witch had overlooked it as it led to another chamber filled with stale air and with a thick layer of dust upon the floor.

## Aegir's Altar

Curious, the party decided to enter this smaller chamber. Unfortunately, as Esbjörn stepped into the round room a mechanical trap was sprung. The giant-blooded warrior plunged into a deep pit, badly injuring himself. Esbjörn realized he had been lucky - at the bottom of the pit were ancient spikes that crumbled to dust when he fell upon them. Using part of the chain that had bound Brydd, the party pulled Esbjörn back to the surface. Being cautious not to respring the trap, the party explored this new chamber. Upon one wall was an intricate mosaic, covered in ancient runes. Some study revealed that the mosaic was a map which contained a number of locations:

* Hlesey (an island)
* Raen's fortress (the site of the ruins where they claimed Raen's Arm Rings)
* The Fire Gate
* The Well of [*Script Unintelligible*]
* The Boar’s Wood

In addition, the party found what appeared to be a massive ten-foot stone head with pearls embedded within the eye sockets sitting inert upon the chamber floor, an ancient altar with the symbol of Aegir displayed above it prominently, and a strange silver oval standing upright upon a base (with an opening large enough to walk through) in which unidentified runes made of driftwood floated magically. Heiða examined the altar and found an ancient silver necklace with what looked to be a setting for a missing gem in the pendant. As the party contemplated what this meant, and some stood guard outside in the cave, Heiða decided to take a chance and hung the ancient necklace about her neck.

She felt a strange feeling as if her instinctive magical abilities had somehow improved instantaneously. At the same time, the massive head came to life and looked at Heiða piercingly. In a booming voice, the stone head revealed its name was Steinvordur, and subsequent conversation revealed that the chamber and Steinvordur were over a thousand years old. It seems someone called "the Exalted One" had created the massive head in order to test Steinvordur's sentience, and that he had been destined to be moved into a different body but for some unknown reason that had never happened. Realizing this may be its only chance to venture out into the world, Steinvordur asked the party to swear an oath that they would find a dwarf to create a more suitable body for it, in exchange for a secret. The party agreed, and the construct revealed that if the names of Raen and Aegir's nine daughters were read in order (the names were listed above the mosaic map upon the wall) the portal in the chamber would open into what the construct called "the Exalted One's Inner Sanctum." After Esbjörn moved the boulder back into place and shut the secret door, Heiða read the names:

Bloody-Hair, Billow, Comber, Wave, Riser, Transparent on Top, Breaker, Cool-Wave, and Ripple.

Upon doing so, the floating driftwood in the silver portal disappeared and the portal opened up in a flash of bright blue light. Steinvordur instructed Heiða to remove a gemstone from within its massive head - upon doing so, the volva realized the gem fit perfectly within the pendant she wore around her neck. Securing the gem within the pendant, she realized that Steinvordur could now speak to her telepathically - it seemed the massive construct's consciousness was held within the gem.

## Journey to the Sea Floor

Walking through the portal, the party found themselves at the bottom of the ocean floor, surrounded by an invisible wall of force. Beyond this circular area, the party saw nine giant, vaguely female faces (made of water a slightly different color than the sea) surrounding them. The nine daughters of Raen and Aegir watched the party in ominous silence. After conducting a search, the party found a number of treasures: a magical drinking horn, a scroll carved upon a wooden rune stick, a pair of magical boots, a magical long sword, a chest of silver, a bag containing nine identical black pearls, and a bag of holding. It seemed this was where the ancient priests of Aegir from a long-ago age kept their most valuable treasures. Securing these items, the party returned through the portal. Unfortunately, upon arriving back in the secret chamber, they heard the sounds of local Seron men speaking, along with strange sniffing noises indicating a massive animal. The party quickly realized that there were others within the sea cave beyond the secret passage. The party quietly opened the passage, and Heiða slipped out into the cavern.

## Heiða the Deceiver

Creeping back into the cave, Heiða encountered a small group of local warriors. One warrior led a massive owlbear upon a chain. Finding her undead bears destroyed, it seemed the Hag had sent some men down to dispatch the heroes. Heiða convinced the men that she was Gunhild's apprentice and that the party had let her go and escaped through the passage in the ceiling. While Gunhild's servants were peering up into the ceiling passage, the remainder of the party burst out from the secret door, waiting until the owlbear had been sent up to the surface. A fierce battle ensued, but the party was ultimately victorious. Wounded and realizing time was short, the party made the fifty-foot climb up the rocky vent and to the surface. They found themselves on a small ledge thirty feet above the seashore. As they looked up the coast, they spotted two men walking up the shore below them, gazing unflinchingly in their direction.

## An Unlooked for Ally

While the party was engaged in battle, another hero chosen by the gods was destined to cross paths with them and join their cause. Vindr Skreevarson, a bastard-blooded slave of the Mixin clan, had been sent on an important mission by his clan chieftain Ighvall Lifison. Just a boy of sixteen, Vindr hoped to earn his freedom (and win the hand of his sweetheart, the Frisian blacksmith's daughter Asta the Fair) by performing great deeds for his clan. Vindr was a master woodsman and scout, trained by a respected and renowned Mixin elder named Kol Thorstarrson (known in his youth as Kol the Courser).

Jarl Lifison had sent the boy to find an ally in the Mixin's fight against the Umbrian invaders, a Ruegian mage name Yric the Sly. Following Yric down the coast to Aarhus, Vindr eventually learned that Yric was a friend of a young One God priestess in Raendale named Leofee. He made his way to Raendale and sought out this priestess, noticing as he entered the village that the Umbrian troops stationed there were on high alert. Finding the priestess, whose beauty nearly (but not quite) surpassed that of his love Asta's, Vindr learned that the village was under attack and that Leofee and Yric were enemies of the Umbrians. Leofee told the boy to seek out Yric at his camp on the coast south of town - the mage had learned that a party of heroes was somewhere under town in a cave complex, and he had calculated that the most likely place for them to emerge was somewhere along the rocky cliffs of the coastline that were riddled with old natural sea caverns.

Vindr located Yric and told him he was summoned by the Mixin chieftain to fulfill his vow and aid the Mixin in their fight with the Umbrians. Yric told Vindr that the enemy was all around them and that he must fight the battle in front of him first. As they spoke, they spotted a massive beast emerge upon the cliffside, as if it had emerged from a hole. Excitedly Yric told Vindr to come with him and made his way towards the beast, who turned in confusion and then disappeared back into the hole from which it had emerged. As they were walking, Vindr could hear the muffled sounds of battle. A short time later, Vindr and Yric watched as a group of adventurers emerged from the hole and stood above them on the ledge.

The two parties made their introductions, and Yric proclaimed he was a friend of Leofee and an enemy of the Umbrians. They realized they had a common cause and the party descended the ledge and made their way back down to the shore to Yric's camp. Yric told them he was a Ruegian wizard, part of the wizards guild known as the Cunning Folk (the *Galder Ettin* in the northern tongue) who were tasked with opposing their enemies the Umbrians in an effort to safeguard their homeland of Ruegia. Yric revealed that he had watched the party battle the sea snake in the ruins, and looked meaningfully at the artifact wrapped about Esbjörn's massive upper arm. Yric told the party that he was looking for allies to fight the Umbrians, and bade Brydd go and speak with his master Arch Magus Halldor who had a camp west of Odin's Heart. While the others warmed themselves around the fire and tended their wounds, Yric handed Brydd a small yellow diamond and told him it would lead him to the Arch Magus.

While the party interacted with the new additions to their ranks, the keen fey eyes of Nygäär spotted something out on the water. It was a ship, and the size and black star upon the sail meant only one thing. The ship the party had been waiting for (carrying Umbrian gold, arms, and troops) had entered the fjord. They estimated the ship was approximately 6-8 hours from making landfall. It was midday and the party was now faced with a decision. Where would they go from here? It seemed another battle, this one with unfavorable odds, may soon be upon them...

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