Session 012

## Stig's Farmhouse

**Age of the Wolf, Year 5, Spring, Laelun Toil 2, days 4 - 5**

*The party continued north on their journey towards Ornolf's cave. They came upon a farmhouse under attack. They encountered a man they had met before and because of their actions, he is now an ally.*

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## Player Characters Involved

* 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/Marshal played by Jason

## A Horrifying Flock

After defeating the hunting party of flatheads, the party needed to camp to recover. They left the site of the battle and made camp near the river. Heiða took the first watch and noticed a massive unkindness of ravens flying north. She had the presence of mind to mask the party in magical darkness, and paid keen attention to the flock of birds. She recognized the flock as being undead and led by a familiar in the heart of the flock. Waking the party, she voiced her suspicion that the flock of ravens was controlled by Gunhild the Hag and actively searching for them. The party contemplated that suspicion and decided that it was, in all likelihood, true. Luckily, it seemed the undead ravens had failed to locate them. Heiða continued her watch and noticed that the boy, Arlow, was attempting to stay awake. Waiting over an hour, the volva eventually watched the boy attempt to sneak away. She stood and stuck him with an arrow as he attempted to escape. Arlow was wounded but remained unafraid - the party spared him due to Nygäär's intervention, but Esbjörn warned the boy that if he gave any other trouble that he would skin him alive and sacrifice his flesh to Surtr. The giant blooded warrior struck fear into the heart of the boy, who sensed he was outmatched and grudgingly gave up his attempts to escape. The rest of the night passed uneventfully.

## The Battle of the Farmstead

After Brydd made some repairs to the makeshift sleigh, the party resumed their journey north along the river. Eventually, they came upon the farmhouse that Heiða had foreseen in her visions. They came upon a horrific scene - a massive and hideous Ice Troll was attempting to shake some children out of an oak tree, the blood-soaked bodies of two warriors and a child strewn upon the earth around it. The party didn't hesitate, moving in to attack the hideous creature. Armed with prognostication about gaining an ally here, Heiða oddly seemed to care about a dying boy and directed Arlow to pull the child out of harm's way and aid him. As they fought, another troll stalked forward out of the wilderness and joined the fray. Nygäär was struck down by one of the beasts, and only his innate ability to heal himself saved him from death. Eventually, the party prevailed, winning the battle by the narrowest of margins. Immediately following the battle, a large warrior the party recognized charged onto the scene. It was Stig Witch-Breaker, the fearsome warrior that the party knew to be a servant of the Geatling prince, Elof. It became clear that this was his farm, and he rushed to the side of the boy who was wounded by one of the trolls. As "luck" would have it, the boy Arlow had tended to was Stig's son. Arlow had bound his wounds, halting the bleeding and allowing the boy to live long enough to imbibe a healing potion and survive. Stig was emotional and embraced Esbjörn in gratitude. After retrieving his other two young sons from the tree, he invited the party into his home. After seeing Arlow’s actions, Esbjörn spoke with Brydd and retrieved a steel long sword from the group treasure and brought it to Nygäär. Esbjörn stuck the sword in front of Nygäär and hinted at giving it to Arlow for his heroic actions, but ultimately let Nygäär make the call since the boy was his responsibility. Nygäär handed Arlow the blade, warning him this was his last chance to behave himself.

## The Party Gains an Ally

Stig was incredibly grateful to the party for their actions and stated that he owed each of them a blood debt. He embraced each of them warmly, and offered up both information and vows to the party. He revealed to Heiða that another Harii seer, Frida Shadow-Walker, had put out a bounty to have Heiða killed because Heiða was intentionally sending souls to Hel (and because Frida was jealous of Heiða's talents). Heiða asked that Stig kill Frida, which Stig readily agreed to. Brydd asked that Stig aid him in his oath to kill Gunhild the Hag - Stig was happy to agree to this request. Esbjörn at first said that he would collect his blood debt at a later time, but Stig offered him a powerful weapon. Stig revealed that he possessed a weapon augmentation called a Sacrificial Ignition Pommel, sacred to Surtr, which Esbjörn readily accepted. Nygäär was happy just to receive some wineskins of Heidrun's Milk. In addition, Stig revealed that Elof has promised him the hand of the Geatling princess Asleif in return for his loyalty. The party rested within Stig's home, healing their wounds. They decided they would travel at night for the time being, as Gunhild's ravens were a danger they felt would be better avoided after daylight. After eating a large meal the party rested, awakening shortly after nightfall. Feeling fortunate to have survived their latest fight, they made ready to continue their quest northwards.

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