Tales from The Land of the Linnorm Kings

Session 1 6-21-11 (A text record of the first adventure as best I can remember it, for when we pick up this scenario again.)

Aagnar and Aleksander, two Ulfen adventurers/wanderers, ride into the semi-fortified city of Lost Home (pop. 4000). They immediately proceed to the local watering hole and amidst much merriment they take note of one quiet and forlorn citizen. They discover that his daughter was abducted, with only her finger left behind in her bed, adorned with a ring signifying she was to be married. Their curiousity piqued, both by the maiming and the fact that the girl was too young to be betrothed, they approach the sad fellow and offer their services. He provides as much information as he can, most notably the fact that this was the fourth girl to go missing in eight days, and that some say the abductions are due to the "White Walker" a creature of myth. He directs them to a local leader, Elif, if they have any additional questions. Aagnar is unable to locate any unusual tracks around the house.

Elif tells the two heroes a bit more about that White Walker- that it could be a fey creature or a demon spirit, and that it cannot be tracked. The beast has take one child each of the past two nights, and the town guards are under orders to shoot a flaming arrow anytime they see it. Lacking any better ideas (after discounting the idea of using a child as bait) the the duo decide to patrol the town at night as well.

Shortly after midnight they see a flaming arrow launched. Aagnar sprints to the scene, while Aleksander, hobbled by his lame leg, follows more deliberately. A crowd of guards has assembled around the one who shot the arrow, who claims he saw something, but nothing is evident now. Aagnar peers around and spots a creature on a rooftop in the distance, that matches the description of the White Walker. From that point on the two heroes chase the beast through the city, always at least a step behind. At times the creature appears to play with them, generating false leads that has them kicking downs doors and scaring townsfolk. Finally through a combination of mystical means and good eyesight, they track it to a one particular home that was filled with mist. Aagnar rescues a little girl from the home, while Aleksander pursues the creature which kidnapped the girl's mother. He follows it up into a guard tower where he find's the mother's body, but no creature. They follow the sound a scream to yet another house to find their efforts in vain: another girl was taken, and a grisly memento left behind.

But through the chase Aleksander discovered that although the creature left no physical trail, it did leave a faint but trackable magical trail. The pair grabbed their horess, yelled for the gate to be lowered, and took out into the night after it. When they hit a major river, they were forced to leave the horses behind and swim for the other shore (one of the pair nearly drowning during the effort). They followed the trail on foot for two days and two nights, never stopping, and eating on the move.

Finally, they arrived at a deserted village ringed by a number of small tentlike structures. The discovered each was filled with the skeletal remains of children, all missing the ring finger. Aagnar's rage had become volcanic and when they spotted the creature they had been tracking at the mouth of a cave, he charged. Aleksander bought time by bouncing a rock of the thing's head, as Aagnar charged up the stairs and assailed it with his massive hammer. The creature threw up a fog again, leaving Aleksander to make his way slowly to the melee. The creature tried to knock Aagnar off the cliff, but he held firm. Aagnar's rage proved too much for the vile thing, and soon it's skull was crushed (while Aleksander separated the head for good measure).

The found one child alive within the cave, and Aagnar wasted no time breaking apart the cage holding her. The creature had a wall of ears as some kind of macabre trophy wall, and though it had already taken the girl's ear, Alexsander was able to reattach it and heal the wound. He then started taking all the ears down as Aagnar came down from the battle rage. It was then that the duo was joined by Gilgesh, a hardy dwarf who had heard the commotion and came to investigate. He approved of the execution of the vile thing, and mentioned in conversation that he had encountered a satyr out in one of tents that the duo had bypassed. Upon hearing this Aagnar asked him where the satyr was and charged out, followed by the slower Aleksander and Gilgesh.

The satyr, a vile looking creature, led Aagnar off into the woods where he quickly fell down a very deep hole, into an unnaturally cold ice labyrinth. The other two, mistaken as to the depth of the hole, attempted to climb down a rope to help bring him up, but both fell down the very slick passage. The three wandered throughout the passage for some time, the dwarf insisting on sticking to one wall until it reached a dead end, in order to investigate every passage (which seemed reasonable enough to Alekander, as they were underground). The maze was littered with pit traps, ray traps, and summoning traps, and they dispatched almost a dozen ice elementals. Eventually they realized some of the walls were illusions, and were hiding both traps and magical tokens, of which they began a collection.

From the very first fall they were shadowed through the maze by a hulking creature that was visible through the thick ice walls. Eventually, the found a wall that led them to confront a grizzled minotaur. Through the rage of Aagnar and some wolves summoned by Gilgesh, they were able to best the creature. Finally, having exhausted many of the potential passages, they used one of the tokens they found to summon a boat leading down a river of acid. At the end they found a room where the satyr lay in wait with a buzzard headed beast. Aagnar, his hatred blazing, went after the satyr. Gilgesh, having warned the duo ahead of time, transformed into a huge, wooly creature and attacked the demon beast. Aleksander, finding the beast almost impervious to his flail, assisted Gilgesh in attacking it. Aagnar slew the satyr after it issued a few threats about what its master would do, and Gilgesh destroyed the beast, whereupon it turned into a troll (and was promptly relocated to the acid river). The trio found a portal to the surface and found the girl who they had left behind. They were able to return her without incident to lost home, and Elif rewarded them with some gold and declared they would drink for free whenever they were in the city, even the dwarf, who was met with some suspicion by the residents. Left unanswered was the motivation for the abduction of the children and the significance of the rings left on the fingers.

First off, Matt B., thanks much for this awesome summary! You did a fantastic job with it, and this will be most helpful should we be able to continue this story down the road!

I have one addendum to what Matt wrote above:
- The Torag rings are a placed on the finger of a bride when wed, not betrothal (or
one to be married, as you wrote it).

Below, I will also put down the descriptions of all the bas reliefs you all found in the labyrinth to help remembering them, too.

1) A black horse depicted with its pale skeleton standing out clearly beneath its flesh and hooves carved to portray them as bone. Upon its back is a rider pale as death, with ghost-white skin shrunken tight to his skull and displaying a lipless grin. A thick staff of white bone adorns the rider's back, giving off a pale luminescence.

2) The pale rider with skin withered and shrunken tight to his bones and a grotesque lipless smile rides upon a black horse with skeleton shining visibly through its dark coat and holds a long staff of bone high over his head. People run in terror before this rider, while those he has passed by have shriveled to skeletons instantaneously and fallen (or are falling) dead on the field.

3) A thick-limbed, vulture-headed humanoid pierced with a dozen different weapons through its flesh as though they were intentionally sheathed there stands almost nine feet tall. Heavily armored and splattered with gore, it thrusts out a barrel chest with arms and legs flared wide in a roar of victory. An impaled body resides upon the massive halberd wielded in its right fist. (this is a description of the "buzzard headed beast" talked of in the post above)

4) A disturbing figure shrouded in dark silhouette wears a wide-brimmed hat and holds a pole by its upper third section. The forearm of the hand grasping the pole is skeletal, though the hand is hidden beneath a glove. Narrow eyes aglow with red-orange hellfire peer at any viewing it with a unique hatred.

5) A short man with a shaved pate and gangly limbs bears a large tattoo of his skull and skeletal system wherever his skin can be seen on his body. He dons the hide of a mammoth and carries a leg bone of such a creature as a staff. His eyes are bloodshot but keen, his face stoic but frightening. Fetishes of human bone dangle all over his body.

These last two were in the final room:

on the floor: A large, high-sided boat dominates the floor, its framework the inverted ribcage of a horse five times longer and three times wider than any normal such creature. Black wood planks run lengthwise within the bone frame and show signs of intricate runes carved lightly into their surface. The bow curves upward at the behest of a strong equine neckbone and ends with a figurehead that appears as a half-horse, half-human skull polished so thoroughly as to virtually illuminate the way.

6) Many walls held a series of reliefs depicting images of Ulfen warriors battling first the mighty linnorms, then other Ulfen tribes. Amidst these warriors stands a massive warrior in plate armor, weapons of all kinds sheathed within its body, helping them to defeat all enemies. The large warrior as the head of a vulture and malicious, red eyes, and it fights with the bodies of the slain impaled upon a wicked halberd. The final relief shows a dozen of the Ulfen warriors from the other reliefs with crowns on their heads.

Also, it should be noted that in the final chamber where the "dryad" and troll were fought, there were twelve human male skeletons hanging by icy chains on the northern walls of the chamber. Each of these had white, wispy beards grown down to their ankles.

There was something I was curious about... Don't know if it was plot we missed, or if it was something that was going to be brought up in a future game...

We chased the White Walker three days straight to his lair... but the kids were disappearing as close as 2 days apart... Was there more than one Wikkiwokka running in shifts? Think that's what they were called... Awesome name... Some kind of magic involved? Or did the timeline change unexpectedly... and it should have been 4-5 eays between kidnappings?

Mine near lost home ran out of silver. Relations with tribe of Lost Home still somewhat strained. Decision made to check out the mountains to the north.

Met up with human child on the tundra. She liked the look of me and followed me up north. Said it wasn't safe. Nice to have someone to talk to.

Found a couple stiffs. Looked like Yeti Work. Seemed like they were from the nearby town. Figured we should take 'em back. Dragged them there.

Let us in. Gave us ale. Told us about another stiff. Seemed like Yeti work again. Went to stiff's house. Turned out to be a thief. Stole a god from the Yeti village. Found a map. Decided to take it back.

Followed tracks outside of town. Met a Yeti. Took the god and attacked us. Poor Yeti.

Cut off its head and took it back to town. Girl told them how it happened. Gave us more ale. Decided to leave in the morning.

Continued toward village. Found another Yeti who attacked the girl. Poor Yeti.

Met up with old friend Agnar. Talked him into helping out. Must have been bored.

Found cave where the map told us the village was, but there was a split in the path. Didn't know if Yetis lived in caves or not, so went in.

Ran into a trap right off, but got over it. After that was a big ole wolf. Poor wolf. Saw a shrine in there, it was for that same demon guy we saw earlier. We ended up messing it up a bit. No loss there.

Saw a creepy fae chick like the one we seen before. Attacked us. Hid behind a bigger wolf. Poor wolf. Poor fae chick.

Went out of the cave, found the Yeti village. Lobbed the idol back to them. Good deed done.

The four heroes- the human Oracle, the human Barbarian, the dwarven Summoner, and the kitsune Paladin, made their way south to the city of _______. It was a fairly large and sturdily built city, built to withstand assaults from the threats that lay not far from its walls.

Stopping first at a local tavern, Aagnar and Gilgesh drank the night away, cementing a bond with their newfound friends with a spirited brawl, as the paladin slept off her imbibements. Aleksander procured the group a set of rooms at nearby inn and made sure everyone was settled in for the night.

Several hours later the group was awoken by a series of load screams. They went forth to investigate and found a local Ulfen yelling that fey were about. He stood outside his house and was quite frantic, and made it known that they had been attacked. All but Aleksander (who went to cover any rear exits) made their way into the house to find a decapitated body, and what looked like the body of a young girl. Investigation quickly demonstrated that it was not a girl at all but a type of demon ___________. It initially attacked, but turned invisible after being injured, and tried to escape. Gilgesh rendered it visible and the group made sure it did not get far out the door.

As a crowd gathered the group tried to gather information with little success. The paladin _______________ found some writing in blood in the house, reading "Daughters for Kingships" in draconal. They noted the head was missing and surmised that it must have been taken, by a third party other than the demon they killed, and they followed a very fine blood trail to a nearby bridge, where the trail was lost.

They took some time scouting both sides of the bank but were unable to pick up a trail. They decided to check at a nearby semi-isolated homestead to see if the homeowner had heard anything. The disgruntled man had not, but did give permission for them to check out his the ruins of his recently collapsed barn, one of the last places they could check before abandoning the hunt. They were quickly confronted by a centipede swarm, against which they had virtually no defense apart from a few elementals summoned by Gilgesh.

A trapdoor was discovered in the barn leading to a very old cavern, one which did not look to be in use by the homeowner himself. Following the caverns passage Aagnar hastily lept in to battle a demonic creature guarding a door, which lead to a fairly long fight as the creature's incredible reach temporarily felled multiple members of the party. Finally overcoming it, they scryed into the next room and saw 3 fey waiting to ambush them.

With time to prepare, the group healed themselves and Gilgesh summoned his yeti aspect. The party then entered the room and joined the battle. The fey were fearsome opponents, using efficient tactics and focused on Aagnar, taking him down at least twice__________. Finally the tide turned and the fey were dispatched. Aside from the formidable equipment that was salvaged, the following messages were also found on the walls (apparently not written by the fey themselves).
Draconic-Daughters for Kingships
Infernal- The tormented decieved
Abyssal-The wound reopened
Celestial-Royal blood awakens
Unique Common-The Herald returns

Whilst relaxing in a local tavern after their latest triumph over the fey and their allies, the group was approached by a older man. He apparently had followed their path down into the cave where the fey were and found some wall writings that the group had missed. He provided a rough translation of the writings that indicated an ancient power was going to arise in a nearby mountain range. The fey that the group had killed had apparently been examining these writings. The group set off to try to disrupt and put a halt to whatever rituals were taking place up in the troll-infested mountains.

Enroute they were approached by a strange woman who asked for a story. Wefeyana told her a story which apparently pleased the strange woman greatly, as she gave her a kiss. She also warned of some strange and dark happenings in a very small settlement nearby.

The group detoured to see what was happening in this settlement. It appeared deserted, but after triggering an elaborate trap in one of the settlement huts, the group was set upon by a small horde of the villagers who were infected and controlled by some kind of mind mold. The group was forced to kill a number of the "possessed" villagers before they attackers were reduced to numbers that allowed for more precise methods of mold removal. In all 7 villagers were saved. The survivors bestowed several pieces of valuable equipment to the group in gratitude for saving them.

The group continued on to the Kodar mountains. While traveling along a small stream they were ambushed by a pair of drakes that seemed equally at ease underwater and on land. Wefeyana and Aleksander dealt with one, while Agnar charged into the water after the other. Finding aquatic combat not to his liking, he wrestled the drake to shore and the group was able to dispatch both drakes, but not after they and the horses had suffered significant wounds.

While Agnar dissected parts of a drake for keepsakes, the horses were unsuccessfully tended to. During the fight noises of combat could be heard in the distance, and after healing a bit they continued on to investigate.

They were confronted by a large Winter Wolf that focused intensely on Agnar. The beast was doing significant damage when a dwarf appeared on the scene and began launching crossbow bolts at it. After it fell, the dwarf explained he was from a very small settlement that had been under seige from trolls, yeti, wolves, an ice creature, and some fey-type woman.

The group went with the dwarf (who had been caught outside the walls) to help the settlement. A sizable camp of trolls was on the north side, so the group went to the south side where only 2 trolls were keeping watch. Weyefana was able to command one and turn it to our side for a lengthy period of time, and the other fell quickly. As the dwarf called for a the south bridge to be lowered over the defensive trench, the troll force began assaulting the north side. The fey-witch flew to attach those crossing the south side bridge, along with an ice mephit that protected her.

The battle lasted for quite awhile- Weyefana and the charmed troll went to help the defenders hold the north gate against a gang of trolls, while the lone dwarf and the rest of the heroes attempted to take down the leader. Her flight made her exceptionally hard to hit, and she shrugged off most of Aleksander's curses quite easily. After using elementals, crossbows, rocks, and assorted other methods the witch and her mephit finally fell, and the attacking trolls were dispatched. A minor diplomatic incident that occurred when Agnar attempted to use one of the settlement's defenders as a projectile against the fey was dealt with.

The dwarf who solicited the heroes' help turned out to be the settlement leader. "Crass" was blamed for the attacks as he had taken in the Sylph woman. The mass of trolls came from where she had come from. The woman came forth, incredibly gorgeous, with hair like a waterfall of ice and snow like skin. (Aleksander detected an aura of illusion about her, and recognized her as a Forlorn). She spoke to the assembled group. " It is my fault they came, they came to destroy me. In trying to escape death, I brought its choking manacles with me. My name is Styrxise. They believed me a traitor to the cause, to the collection of souls. I am not from this place, though I heard of it for thousands of years. My life was spent in Abaddon. My mother perished in torment giving birth to me. I understand there are hatreds in this land that run deep, I understand them. I hope you will hear me out after you see what I am about to show you."

With that she dropped the illusion and appeared as a Forlorn.

"This land has close ties to the 1sst world. Linnorms settled and ruled here in the Age of Darkness. In the most desperate hours an Oathbinder called the Deathknell Herald promised Kingships to chieftains. ....It was common for chieftains to take fey as brides....Part of the pact was to relinquish their 1st born daughters...Linnorms were vanquished, and there was emnity between fey and man for so long the reasons were forgotten. Kings turned their backs on death. Their daughters were given to daemons, their offspring living in torment until the Herald came again. Those in this land were to be punished. The forlorn are to collect souls descended from the 12. I have taken 1 soul and the taking crushed me, worse than any torment of Abaddon, and I cannot continue.

The caller (a daemon) sensed this weakness. He is the one chose to perform this ritual and bring back the Herald. They have all the souls they need. I want to tell you all I know."

At that point a Dark Rider came screaming through the air. The Cold Rider, of the Eternal Winter Fey, swooped down upon her and beheaded her before any could react. He then disappeared through the wall and was gone, leaving only her silent corpse and a stunned group of open mouthed heroes.