Hunting the Beast

Run #1: Hunting the Beast

PCs: Valious Flex, Hrolf the Burning, Dimrodel

The party met with a group of Valkyries who transported them from Valor Hall to the plane of Mannheim in the Northern Jaanmark. The party was dropped off on the road to Rodel, the village responsible for the guarding of the chained Beast, Hralor. Rodel is also the village Dimrodel grew up in and saved several Ages in the past. The weather is very cold despite that fact that the sun’s path indicates it is late spring. Bandits on the road, threaten the party with violence but they do not take them seriously. When an eleven year old female Katterfolk named Tintam offers to lead them to the place she has seen The Beast chained they drop a turkey leg from Valor Hall and some other items for the bandits. The bandits fight over the things left for them. Dimrodel, a worshipper of Carrunos, just wants Tintam, the Katterfolk to start running, so he can hunt her for sport.

On the way, Tintam shows them a sketch she made from outside the grove of The Beast. It depicts Hralor chained with weapons embedded in his skin and fur. Upon arriving at the grove, they notice that the snow around is undisturbed and no natural occurring animals enter the odd-feeling grove. The also notice there are not any weapons in the 130 foot long form of Hralor. The group decides to summon a pig and commands it to enter. Nine skeletal condor-sized birds shuffle out from under the snow; eight of them descend on the pig and tear it to pieces. The birds with the emerald green glowing eyes burrow back under the snow. Suspecting an illusion, they sling a summoned rat at the Beast and it is skewered on the needle like fur.

Hralor’s voice rumbles out of his closed muzzle and when Tintam mentions that Dimrodel is three thousand years old (a fact he mentioned earlier), Hralor surmises he is one of the Valiant because he has heard the call of the roosters signifying The Final Battle of The Twilight of the Gods. He also surmises that they are there to see that he remains chained so that he cannot fulfil the prophecy of killing his grandfather, Hione.

The party decides that they need to get closer and they formulate a plan. They summon another pig and wait for the undead birds to attack it. Once the skeletal birds attack, the two mages coordinate their Fireball spells and decimate all within the radius. The one that held back and did not attack the pig flies off toward the village.

As they approached the hind quarters of Hralor, they heard hissing coming from one of the spots where a weapon should have been embedded in The Beast. As they prodded at the sealed opening, it opened and a large creature made entirely of air emerged. At its core was a small vortex of smoke. It was the smoke that spoke with Hralor’s voice. Another emerged from the belly area and flew over to battle the party. Hrolf cast a faerie fire to make the elementals easier to hit. A ward was cast against air elementals and it protected them against one of the creatures. When they all seemed doomed, Hralor’s voice cloud left the elemental and escaped down a hole expressing that he had wished that he could have fooled them longer but they would soon be dead anyway. No one would be warning Hione. With a bugbear and jubjub bird expertly summoned by Valorious Flex, they destroyed the two air creatures. Only a day earlier, these two creatures had been asked to keep Hralor’s discarded hide inflated while the majority of Hralor in his new gaseous form escaped down the hole. The party called back the Valkyries, returned to Valor Hall and reported Hralor’s escape.

Extra Information: If the party had decided to follow the smoke form of Hralor’s voice down the hole they would have followed a wide tunnel and emerged under the town bridge. Here they would have encountered the two trolls who had dug the tunnel and (if they survived) received some key items and much loot.

The undead birds were set to guard The Beast by a priest of Ronkel from the village of Rodel about fifty years ago. He had become mad with grief when people started to disbelieve in the gods and stopped guarding Hralor. He prayed for guidance from Ronkel and instead received instructions from a very young Thoki, the lord of Undeath, to create the birds. His instructions to his new creations were clear. Eight birds were to battle anyone who disturbed the grove and one was to fly back to the town and alert the priest and he would alert the militia. However, since those orders were instilled into the undead birds, the priest had died, the militia disbanded and the village of Rodel was all but deserted. Many of the citizens had already killed each other over food disputes. The starved residents all stared at the undead abomination perched on the head of the statue in the town square, directly outside the dilapidated church of Ronkel. The statue was carved to resemble a man named Dimrodel who had once saved the town but had died in the process long long ago. The bone and feather creation squawked and squawked. It stared at the gathering crowd with its emerald green glowing eyes and awaited further instructions that would never come.

Run #2: Seeking the Thief Lord

PCs: Krosp, Haldir, Pirata Fuerte, Kattero Hex, Ozymandias.

Back in Valor Hall, Daglir tells the next group that he intends on creating a new chain that is more subtle than the heavy chain forged by the Svartalfar masters two ages ago. He has many of the ingredients but needs at least three more rare items. The first is the Lock of the Thief Lord, known also as Calder Vel. However since the Thief Lord died he resides in Baenheim. The new lord of Baenheim, Thoki, will be obligated to meet with them and perhaps help them if they show him the ‘Good Token’.

The party is dropped off at the gates of Baenheim by the Valkyries who instruct them to blow the horn to call them back. They trek across the plane of Baenheim and enter through the gate of the city and are escorted through the city and into the stalagmite palace of Thoki. They meet Thoki who looks like a platinum-haired nine year old boy who has had his eyes replaced with faceted emeralds. His frigid aura of power leeches the life away from the living. He agrees to give them the location of Calder Vel in exchange for one game of Gobblet. One of them alone must play against him. If they win they get an escort to the resting place of Calder Vel and if he should win they get only the directions and they must bring him back something from the Thief Lord’s fortress. They agree and Kattero Hex begins playing. Thoki requests Samantha, a living woman, to watch over the game. The longer they play, the more she ages. Whether it was Thoki’s skill or his attempt at distraction Kattero Hex loses the game and Samantha is dismissed to regain her youth. Thoki explains that the item he wants from the fortress is a stone box with a clear front.

With Thoki’s instructions, the party arrives at a frozen lake. Situated at its center is a pile of Viking ships that were at one time lost at sea. After much reconnaissance, the party is still rather hesitant. So Calder Vel dressed in strange plate and a strange helm beacons to them to cross the ice and surprisingly they do. When they are half way across, The Thief Lord says that he will never go back and will not heed the call. He stomps his foot and six wet humanoid forms burst forth from holes in the ice. Combat begins and Ozymandias is shot multiple times with arrows and starts bleeding out. Kattero risks himself to feed a Valor Hall turkey leg to the bleeding Vatenari and saves his life. Meanwhile, Pirata Fuerte wrestles Calder Vel and eventually squeezes the life out of him floating in the water after the ice is broken. They then discover the lantern mark of Hione on each of their adversaries including Calder Vel. They were all Valiant who had escaped Valor Hall sometime in the Axe Age.

They are able to gather items at their leisure from the fortress known as Meidmar. They pick up the stone box and discover that it is filled partially with ashes and its base is made from a Fate Stone. On Calder’s body they discover that the Lock of the Thief Lord is actually a normal lock of blonde hair from Calder’s younger sister, Ratri Vel.

The party decides to not take the box back to Thoki. When they blow the horn and call the Valkyries to take them back to Valor hall, two flying skeletal giant serpents with green glowing eyes are sent from the city. Each serpent has three of Thoki’s private guards on it. Just as the party think they are doomed, the Valkyries arrive and whisk away our adventurers. But the serpents can also become incorporeal. Luckily, they do not move as fast as the Valkyries and they lose their pursuers before they reach Valor Hall.

Extra information: All undead created in this world are powered with the energy of Thoki which is why they always have glowing green eyes, similar to his emerald eyes.

Thoki is the youngest child of Ratri and Aru. And brother to The Beast and the World Serpent

Calder Vel was the mortal older brother of the mortal girl, Ratri before she was able to gain enough power to masquerade as a goddess. Calder’s death was the reason that she had no family when Hione the Hermit accepted her as his foster daughter.

Calder Vel was a great warrior from the Axe Age. When he died gloriously in combat, under orders from Hione, he was ferried up to Valor Hall by a Valkyrie. Calder grew tired of the monotony of Valor Hall and sought escape. He escaped to Baenheim along with six others knowing that the uneasy truce between Hione and Ronkel would prevent his capture. He set up the reliquary with ashes of his original body to keep the Baenfolk and Necromancers out. (see below). It is from his protected niche in Baenheim that he became the Thief Lord, stealing ships from the vast ocean. When the horn of the Final Battle was blown, he knew he would have to defend himself against any who would try to reclaim him for Hione’s grand army of Valiant. Early in the Axe Age, Hione realized that he needed Valiant who were heroic and not just simply skilled warriors and leaders (who were possibly selfish) to populate his army in the Final Battle.

The stone box reliquary is what maintained the ward that kept the spirits and necromancers out of the Lake of Iss surrounding the fortress of Meidmar. As long as the stone box remained in the ward, only the seven escaped Valiant (or other Valiant) could cross onto the lake. Thoki’s grand plan was to have the box removed from the lake so that he could come in and claim Meidmar as his own. The larger mass of Meidmar extended down to the bottom of the lake and could be reconfigured to provide transportation along the roots of the World Tree. By using Meidmar, Thoki could help get the Giants in Stoneheim to the Final Battle in Godsheim as per his mother’s wishes.

Run #3: Trouble with Gllalena

PC’s: JAru Fyen, Stentos, Thune, Ragnar Vang, Virgil Redwood, Dwizar, Ozymandias

The group pf Valiants’ goal was to find the ‘Brightness and the Love of a Sun’, the next component to the chain that Daglir was forging to confine Hralor, The Beast. After discussion with Daglir and the severed and reanimated head of Mimir, a former Alfar king from the early Wind Age, the party concluded that the strange item could be found in the forests of Alfheim. Mimir explained that right before he was executed, the newest high Priestess of Danu was born. Her name was Gllalena (pronounced Gal-a-lay-na) which translated into Alfarish meant Brightness. She was cursed and blessed with an innate connection with the sun and had difficulty controlling her power.

They met with many colorful characters who told them that Gllalena was rarely seen because she was contained in a sphere composed of twisted of ironwood vines that was suspended between the ground foliage and the high tree canopies. The population, including Danu and Carrunos feared she would burn down all of Alfheim. But ‘The Brightness’ was a bitter woman who was devoid of love until recently. As a long standing tradition, she would not meet with anyone unless they brought her a Reethee flower. And if the party could find a Reethee flower they would be in for a treat because she had recently found love and was finally happy with an Alphar by the name of Ulifar who was somehow able to resist her fires.

The party needed a Reethee flower and they found that they were all but extinct for the Alphar revered Gllalena and had picked them all over the last two Ages I order to meet with her. After alienating the dancing and playing Alphar (otherwise known as Mimir’s Children, though they didn’t like being called that) they were told to go to a place called the Weeping Tree where a few Reethee grew at its base. After a skirmish with the fairies living among the bladed leaves of the weeping willow-like tree, they were successful in getting three Reethee flowers.

They heard crying coming from the flowers and found that the Reethee flowers contain the tiny offspring of the Fairies they had fought and killed. After climbing to the entrance of the ironwood sphere and exploring the strange fireproof sphere, they met with a few inexpertly designed traps including a Carrunos mirror corrupted with glass lace to change the party into prey animals. Fortunately, the party’s only Katterfolk, JAru Fyen, was unaffected by the magic as it originally was designed to be a beneficial prayer item.

When they arrived in the upper floor which was designed to look like a garden although a fireproof one, they met Gllalena, Ulifar and his two servants. Even though they delivered the Reethee flowers to “the Brightness” (who promptly roasted and ate the flowers and tiny offspring), she and Ulifar would not listen to Stentos, the party’s nature priest, no matter how much he implored them. She seemed happy but always agreed with Ulifar’s guidance and when she started to get upset and lost control of her fire powers he held her and extinguished her flames with some sort of cold powers. In desperation, the party’s talker consulted a magical set of Runic tiles they had picked up on a previous adventure. In response, the twenty five tiles fell in this pattern (see attached image) (Translation: CONVINCE HER HES NOT WHAT HE IS)

They entered into combat and successfully killed a servant. When he died, the illusion that was veiling him melted into mist and revealed a large creature with sixteen teeth that was obviously related to Giant kind. A few moments later, his body hardened and it crumbled into a pile of loose stones. Ozymandias was eventually able to dispel the illusion surrounding Ulifar and revealed his true form to Gllalena, who began to cough up a golden viscous liquid. It was the potion used to make her fall in love with Ulifar and that also clouded her mind with happy obedient thoughts. The axe-wielding Thune gathered up the liquid known as The Love of the Sun. Ulifar commented that his plan was to keep the person connected with the sun calm and literally cool so that she would never flare up and thereby keep the sun that warmed Mannheim from ever truly giving heat. Ulifar and his servants were responsible for the three year long winter known as Fimbulwinter. Now devoid of love once again and capable of bursting into flame she demonstrated her anger by grasping Ulifar’s head and reducing it to ash. The party quickly left the ironwood sphere as the temperature started to increase. They called for the Valkyries and returned to Valor Hall with the newest component in the chain that was needed to rebind The Beast.

Extra information:

The actions of the characters in this run ended the Fimbulwinter. The sun began to warm Mannheim and things began to thaw. In the days following what was supposed to be The Final Battle, the mortal world experienced its first Spring in three years.

The giants in the final encounter of this run were the runts of the Giant kind and relied on their innate illusion abilities and sneakiness to survive. They are called the Jotnar and are ruled over by the primordial Giant, Sjinnar.

When Gllalena, the High Priestess of Danu, was able to speak with her followers in Alfheim, she relayed what had occurred with the Giants who were able to infiltrate their forest. And realizing it should never occur again, she instructed the Children of Mimir to cease their play and prepare for The Final Battle against the Giants.

Run #4: Return to Grumgard

PC’s: Pirata Fuerte, Kattero Hex

Pirata Fuerte and Kattero Hex were talking with a frustrated Daglir who could not understand the final ingredient of the chain that he was trying to forge to bind Hralor, The Beast. Magus, the Master of Magic, appeared mysteriously to translate it. Speaking telepathically, he informed them it was something called the Last Tear of the Last Grumgard Giant. Magus opened a transportation portal so that the pair of Katterfolk could enter the Valley of Grumgard located in Godsheim.

Run #4- Grumgard Giant TearThey saw the stone ruin of the villages of each of the five Giant kinds; The Innauga, the Tetrakh, the Ettin, the Trolls and finally the Jotnar. In each location, Magus shared the stories that were at one time told by Hione as a wandering hermit of how each Primordial Giant was banished to Stoneheim for trying to betray or trick the gods. By weaving grand illusion, Magus showed that each time a Primordial Giant was cast down to the mortal realm or lost in the mists between worlds, some gods and their followers, led by Hione himself, slaughtered all the living creations of that particular Primordial Giant. Eventually, there were no more Giants left in the Grumgard Valley. Even Giant children were murdered such that the valley contained only the stone remains of Giant corpses mixed among the stone shells of the vine covered buildings.

In the final village, the party of two saw a lone Jotnar sifting through the rubble. Magus turned invisible and let them deal directly with him. When they approached him, he ran and behind a boulder and hid but a young Alfar maiden ran away screaming. When they realized that there was no where the large creature could have hidden they surmised that the Alfar was the Giant in disguise. When they caught up to him he did not attack and instead sought sympathy. The Jotnar found common ground in the Katterfolk’s hatred for Carrunos. The Jotnar continued to tell them that he was there looking for a lost artifact to help his lord, Sjinnar, the primordial Giant but he did not know what it looked like. As he explained he kept on shifting his illusional disguises. Once the pair of Katterfolk realized they couldn’t help, they allowed him continue searching.

Once out of view of the Jotnar, Magus made himself visible again. He explained that what he showed them was true because he was there in all instances hidden from view. As the last Grumgard -born Giant died, who happened to be a Jotnar child, he had caught its final tear and carried in his liquid body until he could release the burden of holding it to those who had seen what he had seen and could feel what he feels.

But his time was over. The Wyrd sisters had prophesized his death saving many in Mannheim and although his fate may no longer be locked, knowing ones fate and following it was a comforting thought. But before he left to fulfil his destiny, he gave Kattero Hex a feather from his truly magnificent hat for the laws of magic were about to change. He gave Pirata Fuerte a Valkyrie horn to summon a ride back to Valor Hall and Magus left through a magical portal to do what he could do against the volcanoes in Mannheim.

Extra information:

Magus is also known as Godspittle as he was created from the combined saliva of all the Gods. Magus acts as the filter to the wild magic in the world. His godly aura of power is the ability to tame and control magic. Without him magic would be more difficult to control. The situation would get worse and worse the longer the world is without its magical governor.

Ratri was asked in many different points in history to erase certain memories in individuals. The first time she was asked to do it to a god was when Storm Lion came to her shortly after the death of his wife in childbirth. He grieved so much every time he saw his children, Janda and Mavors, that he could no longer function as the warrior the world expected him to be. When she made the mother’s identity a secret and it remain permanent she knew she could alter other deep rooted memories. For instance, she no longer wanted to be mortal foster child of Hione. Instead she wanted to be remembered as a goddess who true father was Hione and who was sister to Storm Lion and Aru. And perhaps that was her greatest secret. That she truly was not a goddess at all but only a powerful mortal who had deceived the mortals and gods.

But when the burden of what had been done in the Grumgard Valley became too much for many of the members of Hione’s raiding parties, he commanded his ‘daughter’ to eliminate the knowledge of the Valley entirely from the minds of the gods. No one would know exactly where on the plane of Godsheim the ruins of the true homelands of the Giants rested. But since Magus never revealed himself, Ratri didn’t realize he knew it all.

Once the party left, the Jotnar found what he was looking for. The stone Egg of Arrow Attracting was exactly what Sjinnar needed to destroy Carrunos. It was used in Blues’ final run much to the woe to the players.

Run #5: Grandfather’s Fate

PC’s: Markus, Thunder, Noly, Thornflower, Black Sun, Haldir, Hrolfson Steadyhands

The party received the ironsilk bag of specially forged chain from Daglir and was instructed to not open it until they were in close proximity to Hralor.

After a lengthy discussion about the morality of the gods and what plan needed to be followed, the party decided to direct the Valkyries to the cottage of Hetta Rauthur, the girl in the red cloak. Run #5 - rows of golden chains

But before they could leave Ratri appeared and traded secrets with them. They learned that Thoki was the offspring of Ratri and Aru, and that the way to make Hralor solid permanently was to find and remove her Ratri’s dagger from his belly. Hrolfson Steady hands asked her how to become a god and she told him to become a woman and become impregnated by a god, carry a god child within him and take some of the power for himself. That was the first step. In exchange for that information they told her that Kellintar, the Primordial Ettin was in possession of a magic spear that was powerful enough to kill a god.

When they finally went to the cottage of Hetta they found it was located on the edge of a glacier and once the Valkyries left, the party was shot upon by three fur wearing individuals. The party quickly killed them and discovered they had different kinds of fur on their bodies. Hetta came out and after a brief exchange they realized her memory was severely compromised. After stressing her out, she changed into a smaller version of The Beast, Hralor and a fight ensued. They tried to dewere her but the creature she had become told them the story in anger. When she was a young priestess of Danu, she was charged with killing the creature that was born between Ratri and Carrunos, but he had scratched her. After Danu tried to remove the curse and failed, Hetta sought solitude because of the things she would tend to do in her bestial form. But over time her mind broke. She wore the small fate stone around her neck, the one that prophesized Hione’s death in the embrace of The Beast. The party almost killed her but because of primarily Noly’s protests, they left her alive but unconscious. They took the small Fatestone and the Valkyries flew them directly to The Final Battle.

Hrolfson Steadyhands felt his connection to Daglir severed and he knew that Daglir had been killed.

At the battle, they saw the fortress of Meidmar floating in the Well of Aetla, having transported the mass of the Stoneheim army. They also saw Storm Lion battling the World Serpent on the horizon. And finally they saw Hione and the skinless Hralor locked in their epic fight. Since the Valkyries had been previously commanded to never enter the area of a battle where Hione was fighting they dropped off the party on the side. They saw Hione leap up to deliver killing blow to the back and when it didn’t work Hralor turned into smoke and Hione fell to the ground without his spear, Spakveita. As he struggled to his feet the party realized he was suddenly acting very old and that his spear contained much of his youthful vigor and fighting ability. Hralor coalesced and knocked Hione to the ground holding him there with his fanged paws. The party went under The Beast to look for the Ratri’s magical dagger and tried to pull it out. As The Beast started to pull his grandfather to his chest to impale him on the broken spear hafts embedded there, Thunder ran up screaming the incantation to destroy a Fatestone and as he broke it he held its explosion against The Beast. Thunder sacrificed himself in the explosion and as the magic of predestination faded and The Beast turned to see what had harmed him, Hione rolled out of the way. At that same moment, Noly with help from others pulled the dagger free. Waiting on the side for his opportunity, Haldir saw that The Beast’s abilities to become smoke were taken away opened the ironsilk bag and Daglir’s chain erupted outward. Its fine shining golden links shot out like rays of light striking The Beast. It snaked through his exposed muscle while he howled in agony, laced itself into the hard packed earth and started to pull him down. Both Marcus and Noly ran from under the thrashing creature but Thornflower missed her chance to escape as the mystical chains began to wrap the body further. She would have been crushed under Hralor’s weight but Hrolfson redefined her fate and she saw a narrow space between the lines of chains just as the beast god came thundering to the ground. Thornflower lay on the ground panting.

Hrolfson climbed to the top of Hralor’s bound form and withdrew Hione’s spear and yelled that he would kill Hione and become a god himself. Hione was just rising and was still on one knee as Hrolfson charged down the shoulder of the whimpering Beast. Marcus tried to slow down the Ridarri’s charge by trying to tangle up his legs with his staff. It was enough and Hione was prepared. Hione grabbed one of the embedded spears from the chest of Hralor and he and Hrolfson fought in single combat. The light cast by Hione’s spear seemed to return some of his strength and as he tried to wrestle it from Hrolfson’s hands all of his strength returned. He pulled Spakveita free from the traitor’s grip even as Hrolfson tried to alter his form to a wolf and bite Hione’s neck. The Sovereign god pulled him free and threw him to the ground. Hione said, “Hrolfson Steadyhands, I hereby banish to Mannheim until the end of your days. Specifically to Stoneheim, because that is where I throw my garbage!” The rest of the party exchanged glances and seemed to secretly wonder if they did the right thing in putting Hione back on the throne. Hione thanked everyone and told them they would no longer be confined to Valor Hall and that could wander all of Godsheim for all eternity and see its wonders or they could return to Mannheim, but they were now free. He then took Spakveita up to the top of the gold laced mass of predator and said he was sorry but it was Hralor’s limitless hunger that forced his hand in this. He then plunged his spear deeply into the neck of the bound beast. And it was Hralor that died that day…

Extra information:

The people, who were guarding Hetta, were lycanthropes who had to remain hidden even from Hetta.

With so many people on the fence about the morality of Hione and the gods in general, I strongly believe if Hrolfson Steadyhands had approached things differently by starting a speech instead of a charge, they could have overthrown Hione. If they had used Spakveita to injure or kill him, it would have worked on him.

Here is big secret…Only a god or god-like being like a primordial Giant could kill another god or god-like being. If the killing blow was delivered by a mortal, it would not be successful. But the spear would have worked because it contained the essence of Hione’s youth. Also, if a character had tried to push Hione’s spear deeper into the Beast it also would have been successful in killing Hralor. But the spear that Kellintar had made also would work (See Bob West’s runs). This is why Ratri wanted it so badly. As a mortal, she could never be successful at killing a god.

If Hione had died all of the Lantern marks on every Valiant would have faded away, and everyone would have had their freedom anyway.

Long Results from my runs.

Fimbulwinter is over and the natural seasons have returned, now that the sun is giving warmth to the world again. However, Gllalena, the Danu High priestess becomes very lonely with no one to talk with. The party had stolen the protective items from Ulifar. If they had given them to the Alfar in Alfheim, the citizens could have been her companions as Ulifar had been. They could have prevented her depression, but instead Gllalena left her ironwood vine home and burned down a sizable portion of Alfheim before Danu was able to stop her and return her home. Danu visited her High priestess more often and they became very close friends.

Meidmar is floating in the Well of Aetla. Anyone with a sailing background could take it travelling to any place the World Tree touches.

Since the Fatestones predicted the end of the world as we knew it and the Twilight of The Gods, there are no Fatestones that predict events after the Wolf Age. The future is unwritten and the people of these worlds can make their own destiny with nothing written in stone.