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Category: Ragnarok

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May 2, 2016 /

This is the Last Chronicle of Thorvald, the Undertaker.

Ragnarok was close at hand.  The party rushed from Dublin to the Baltic States on a quest to find the way to Musspielheim, to find the tree branch that would fuel the renewal of the mechanical sun.  We wasted no time crossing the marshes and forests of Samogitia, until we summoned that old mistress, Baba Yaga, and her hut.

The strange apparition, part chicken, part hut, came to us.  We were eventually invited in, and talked to the old lady.  That is Mrs. Yaga to youse guys.  *pause* .  Anyway, soon enough Mrs. Yaga gave us a quest to prove our worth.  We left down stream, until we came upon the wreckage of a forest area, and a recently roused troll with the village totem pole in his hand, wielded like a club.  The party acquitted itself well, and soon the troll was again sent to meet its maker.  We debated keeping the totem pole, but then settled upon returning it to the villagers, who were thankful and gave us a warm welcome.

Mrs.   Yaga soon returned, marveling at our steadfastness.  Without further debate, she delivered us just outside Dublin, where we rushed through the guardian tree, grabbed the tree branch that we needed, and ran as fast as we could.  Having obtained the tree branch, we quickly delivered it to the mechanical sun, to reignite the sun.  But the minions of Musspielheim would not let such an action occur without a fight, and fight they did.  The evil scourge poured through our defenses, slaying most of the party (but not all).  We defended just long enough, and killed enough of them however, to allow the sun to ignite.  Defeated, the evil spawn, what was left, withdrew to their ship. What remained was a mass of bodies, both there’s and ours. I had been knocked unconscious, and burrowed out of a mass of bodies only to see most of my comrades dead. A costly victory.

Regaining my senses, I drew up my wounded body, and again called to Baba Yaga to return to me.  Only moments passed, and the strange hut with giant chicken legs returned.  The door opened, and Mrs. Yaga herself asked what I could want.  I told her that she already knew, and she laughed an old, raspy laugh.  A pulse of the new sun struck the battlefield, and there, where my Ingrid’s coffin had been, there she stood, alive, and in her wedding vestments.

The ceremony took just a minute.  “In hardship and in plenty, until the final battle horn sounds…” Ingrid, my bride, smirked at that, and said “they got that right.” Then we kissed. At that moment, the three witches bellowed a mournful scream, a scream of defeat and hatred for all people. Baba Yaga flicked her withered left hand up, and dispelled the storm cloud that held the three witches. The crowd, that had gathered, relieved, began to cheer. Baba Yaga smiled, and Ingrid and I felt the warmth of the sun.

Here ends the last chronicle of Thorvald the Undertaker. A note.  It is said that the crowd who witnessed the marriage of Thorvald and Ingrid saw a last burst of the New Sun, and Thorvald and Ingrid (and Mrs. Yaga and her strange hut) were gone.  But the crowd remained for quite a while, and soon, the story went out all the way back to Gotland that the witches had been defeated, that they could not prevent Thorvald and Ingrid from marrying.  And more importantly, the crowd, and all who heard the story from that time forward knew that the witches had failed, and that hope had prevailed.  Because what importance is there of the sun shining high in the sky if there is no hope.

Ragnarok-Session 2 Destruction of Hel’s Needle

May 13, 2015 /
After much traveling, the party finds what they believe to be the source of the recent undead bear problem for Evingard.  It’s a tall bone spire surrounded by several smaller altar looking things in the middle of a large crater.  Several undead bears seem to be stuck in the crater and through some clever use of logs and boulders the part dispatches a few before they begin a crazy skiing attack.  All goes in there favor and they manage to kill the bears with little risk.  The bears being dealt with, the part is able to focus on the spire.
They determine the spire is belongs to Hel and know it must be removed.  The bone spire has several alcoves and each has an item in it.  Each altar has several items on it and the party decide that these items work like keys for the spire.  They conclude that the right combination could very well destroy or remove the altar and stop the problem.  However, the wrong combination could possibly lead to even worse troubles for the area.  Eventually, they find the right combo and barely escape the bit before the bone spire explodes.  Elated over their success, they head back to the hunting lodge to rub it in Grimm’s nose.
Arriving at the lodge, they are surprised to see that Grimm is very impressed and throws a large celebration of drinking, wenching, and dining.  A large bar fight breaks out in the middle of it, but no serious injuries were had and all were friends again the next morning.  Still drunk on success(and some ale), they rush off to speak with Volstag, the Einharjar that’s come to town.
Discovering he and the Son of Muspel are in Evingard looking for Fafnir’s Treasure, they agree to help in the hopes of preventing the inevitable confrontation that will occur between them.  If the two immortals were to cross paths and fight it out, little of Evingard would likely survive.  Through some good fortune and tactics, they find a short cut to the treasure and manage to defeat it’s guardians.  As promised, Volstag allows the party to keep some of the usable items from the treasure horde and then returns to Asgard.

Sigurd’s Account

Episode 2 is an exciting Saga of life after death, drinking to the point you wish you were dead and recovering a legendary treasure of “Farnir”
The Saga is split into 3 major sections….  Plus the usual “LIST” for the final section..
Bear Hunt, the Weapon of Hell and a Message from Beyond
Terrible undead bears must be destroyed, we wander for what seems like days to finally find a strange skull tower with 3 smaller alters with alcoves.  It is located in a deep valley and we see large undead bears around the massive tower.  We know in our bones this must be the unclean source of undead and decay…    We must destroy this weapon of hell!!!
In our Viking way, we get the idea to roll large boulders and logs down the massive snow slop to strike the 4 undead bears below.  We are able to damage or destroy 2 of the bears…  Next in true Viking form we decide to ski down to slay the undead that plague’s the land.  So we yell and ski down, its a race to the bottom the first Viking to hit a bear will have glory this day.. We ski down and destroy the undead bears..  Vikings 4 – BEARS 0….
The Vikings examine the strange massive object.   Sigurd communes with the object and enters “Hell’s domain”, while there he encounters Ingvar (Thorvald’s “The undertaker’s” wife).  She claims “There is hope”.  We realize this device is causing the country side to decay and the bears to arise from the dead.  It must be stopped.  There is a sequence of objects that must be placed in the alter/alcoves to create effects with the alter.  We realize these effects may be good or bad….

So the valiant Sigurd, who has lived a good long life, nobly stays behind to test and find a sequence to destroy this “weapon of Hell” – weapon of the gods.  As Sigurd succeeds with the right sequence calling on the power of the fire god.  Fire rains down and destroys the device, Sigurd barely escapes, running with his aged legsOnce at the top of the hill, Sigurd tells his friend Thorvold of the encounter with Ingvar and the hope she professes.

Sigurd vows to do everything in his power to help Thorvold and Ingvar to be together again.

Our adventures head back to town to tell the tail of the destruction of the weapon of hell and the defeate of NOT 1 Undead Bear but 6…  Vikings 6 – BEARS 0…  Go VIKINGS!!!
ǫlðr Ale-Party at “Grimm the Hunter”
Our adventures arrive back to party at the home of “Grimm” the Hunter in his langhús (Viking Longhouse).  He is a great host and offers his ale and fine stout drinks.  We play Viking party games and get to “Oath, Boast and Toast”.  As any good Viking Ale-Party does about 2 hours into the festivities breaks out a drunken brawl…  Sigurd takes this opportunity to exit, while the younger and more attractive men are fighting,  amidst the chaos this old wise man grabs a willing lovely young lass to feel the warmth of a woman….In the morning, one of our party is still dealing with the effects of the powerful drink we have consumed.  But as good Vikings we press on…
Farnir’s Treasure
Our group of sturdy Vikings agree to find out why this immortals are in the town.  We approach “Volstag” the immortal of the “Einherjar” (and not Aud the Son of Muspelheim)..   Volstag claims he has come to locate the “Farnir’s treasure” and specifically the ring of “Andvarinaui” if we help him there may not be a cataclysmic battle that could destroy the town between he and Aud.
He tells us of the treasure that a dwarf was swindled by the gods (Odin and Loki gave the ring to the King of the Dvergar “dwarves”)  Then it was taken from him and a great curse was placed on the ring by the dwarf.  Our adventures ventured to the location where “Volstag” told us..  We followed the river down the path near the barrows.  We faced vile water sprits to gain entry to the treasure chamber.   We uncovered the ring “Andvarinaui” and headed the warning of “Volstag” not to touch it our the curse we be on us as well..
We return to “Volstag” victorious and claimed two swords (Heart Seeker, Hrotti), the helm of terror and the golden chainmail.  Sigurd is honored to keep the helm of terror…
And so our adventures continue…   It also seems Sigurd now has a touch of fire in his soul..  It may have been granted by the fire god from his destruction of the hell weapon..  He also improved his knowledge of Arcana by studying these new magical objects.
THE FINAL/UPDATED LIST – END OF EPISODE 2:

LIST OBJECTIVE: WHO WE CAN FIGHT TO HAVE A HEROIC DEATHMERCHANT/MAGNUS & HIS GUARDS (Exploiting the Weak and harvesting wealth from their sorrow)
CANIBALL MINERS (For Eating People)Candidates for future consideration……  But NOT currently on the list…  BUT POSSIBLE!!!
Godi of Odin (Why is he lying..)
Immortals (Not ready to fight them yet, It might be less than a heroic death)…
Bola the confused (is she an agent of Loki?  What is she all about?  Intrigued, but not ready to add her to the list)

Removed from the list…
OUR NEW BEST FRIEND – GRIM THE HUNTER (Can throw one heck of an Ale Party)
DEFEATED- UNDEAD BEARS (Killing the Innocent, now destroyed by our heros)
WILLING TO GIVE THEM ANOTHER CHANCE –  PEI WEI (Late food order over 1 hour late, gave food to wrong people, nice wife had to wait, starving gamers)

Session 1 – “Arrival at Evingard”

December 23, 2014 /

The party met in Norway and found passage to Iceland with a brief stop at Evingard.  They
made some enemies…well, mostly enemies at this point and killed a few undead polar bears. Some of my players typed up an in character summary of what happened.  Here they are.

SIGURD’S ACCOUNT

Sigurd and Thorvald “The Undertaker” have been friends for some time now.  They both enjoy the dead more sometimes than the living.  They both enjoy speaking with the Angels of Death, revere their beauty and roles they play in this land…  Sigurd also sees some of Sigil in Thorvald, while he can be rough on the edges Thorvald is a good man..  Sigurd enjoys travelling with him, life is always an adventure and Sigurd would be honored to die beside Thorvald in a hero’s death.

So our story begins as Thorvald has received a contract to bury the dead (Inga) in a far away land.  So, Sigurd and Thorvald find themselves in need of transportation to Iceland.  They come across a ship’s captain in the port town.  Her name is Bola. Bola is a mercenary/captain who likes gold and calls her weapon “Vira”.  She has two companions Ragnar “the Free Spirited” and Grimnir “the Varangian” a seasoned traveler who has been across many lands and fought in many of them.

Sigurd seeks to negotiate passage on her ship and buys a round of drinks for the bar, then he begins the critical negotiations with Bola and after a short while she will allow Sigurd, Thorvald and Inga (the dead) on the longboat.

Very pleased we agree to meet in the morning to head out..

The next morning upon arrival to the ship, Thorvald and I are carrying Inga.  I have to say it’s more like Thorvald is carrying his end, but my old bones and having challenges carrying my side.  I am also thinking that Inga is VERY HEAVY for such a young and thin looking lass.  Anyway, I struggle, but don’t drop the dead woman….

Upon arrival to the ship we uncover that Bola is not the captain and a bit of a trickster (I think to my self, maybe she is a follower of Loki… She is an attractive girl, but she bears closer observation, I am not sure what motivates her)…

I then discuss with the captain, who finally after we import the criticality of the situation and I offer to help speed up his journey with my rune magics allows, Thorvald, Inga and myself on the ship.  We also have to lash Inga to the bow, Thorvald is always thinking of how to best handle the dead.  Then I freeze her a bit so keep the smell down…

We travel to the Faroe Islands, partially through our journey a Kraken attacks the vessel.  I saw an omen of the attack and realized that the thinner crew would be attacked last, so I sucked in my gut stayed near the center mast and got some of the thinner crew to stand with me…..  Saving a few lives..  Others were all fighting for their lives…  after what seemed like an eternity we fended off the Kraken and continued on our journey, we lost over 10 crew, our mast and had to row the vessel into the Faroe Islands….  A broken ship indeed…

Upon arrival, there was  Blood on the snow, death in the air (my kind of place)…. I started by speaking with Dead, how I enjoy these conversations as the dead do NOT lie, where the living, that is another matter..  I then find out about Undead Bears had attacked the town…

Then as we head toward the entrance to the city, we are attacked by rogues wanting food in the streets.  As Bola was carrying a large basket of fish to sell in the market.  During the fight we quickly defeated the rogues, but Bola lost her mind.  She started talking with another voice and said she did not know how we got here.  Both Ragnar “the Free Spirited” and Gimnir “the Varangian” acted is if nothing had happened.  I secretly thought she might be an agent of Loki the trickster.  I will keep my eye on this one…

As we approach, we see on the branches of a tree. a Black Owl and White Owl near the entrance – I see an Omen that the one that is suppose to be trustworthy may be lying…

When we arrive at the town, Thorvald and others, speak with Guard and find out about Cannibals in Mines, confirm that 12 polar bears attack the fisherman..  Thorvald complements the guard on his lack of intelligence.   We are soo good at making friends…

I start to make a LIST OF WHO WE CAN FIGHT TO HAVE A HEROIC DEATH!!! 

I place the Undead Bears on the LIST….The List

The Cannibal Miners are……..  ADDED to the LIST!!!!

We meet a Godi of
Odin, finally a good person.  During the discussion, we find out there are two immortals in town and the one that represents the Gods, is actually not trustworthy and the other representing the Giants can be trusted. Bola or whoever she says she is now, whispers to me that the Godi knows more than he is telling and may be lying to me..   I directly confront the Godi (as I plan to die a heroic death any day know and don’t have time for pleasantries).    He seems offended, I wonder who is working for Loki here either the Godi or Bola (or who ever she is now)..  I will most likely die soon, so I may not have time to unravel this mystery..

Then we see a very wealthy man, and meet the Merchant Magnus and his guards  We start a conversation with Magnus and realize he is just exploiting these people.  We don’t like him and let him know that..  Then he walks away.. I think HOW RUDE……. So……  I add him MAGNUS THE MERCHANT and his Guards to the LIST!!!

Next we decide to save the town from the Brutality of the Undead Bears (secretly I check the list and believe this might be my glorious death, I am so excited, I may see my fathers and mother soon)….

Meet Hunter Grim (on the List) – He is a skilled and boastful hunter….  (he seems powerful and is maybe deserving to be on the list).  As we speak to him, he is boastful and powerful as a hunter.  But as Thorvald points out, he spends his time boasting versus saving the town from other bears… He claims to have killed one…  For his pride, boastfulness and power he Grim is…………   Added to the LIST!!!!!  We then tell Grim we are heading to get at least two bears pelts to show him we are greater.  I also secretly want to kill all the bears and free this town from the icy grip of BEAR DEATH and BLOOD, hopefully one of the Skald will write an epic saga of our salvation of this town….  I will then get entry into Valhalla.

So we head off west, per the instructions of the Hunter Grim

<OUT OF GAME – MY Loving Wife head to pick up a food order for 6 starving gamers to have dinner…., It takes over 1 hour because PEI WEI gives our food to the wrong people and they have to re-make the order….  FOR THIS!!!!!

PEI WEI is …………………..  Added to the LIST!!!!!

So back to our adventurersBattle with bears as they sleep on the white snow, approx. 2 am in the night two undead bears attack the camp..  During the conflict we have a glorious fight, blood is spilled on our side and we vanquish the 2 giant Undead Bears….  For more details… Read the “Heroic Poem of Sigurd, the Bears of Undeath and Saving Bola the confused”  (Coming soon)…..

At the end my entrails are being stuffed back into my body, I was moments from death, but this is NOT my time… But hopefully soon…….   We have more Undead Bears to track and kill and I need some rest…..

Please read more as coming soon, Episode 2: The Adventures of Sigurd – Rune Master

 

RAGNAR’S ACCOUNT

The Return of Ragnar
After the battle, I wondered to myself, why am I here anyway?  I thought back to when I met my companions. I had arranged for a voyage here because I heard that this place suffered great misfortunes and needed someone to help. I went to the tavern to socialize for the last time before we left, and I met four people and a dead body who were also coming. There was a little trouble when we got to the ship and one of my companions tried to usurp the title of captain. I now know she’s not quite right in the head. After that was settled, we left. A few days into the voyage, we were attacked by a kraken. When it had its fill it left, leaving only 5 or 10 people alive. The ship made it to our destination intact. Noticing that the other ships here had been frozen in and stripped of their goods, we decided to make sure nobody would steal from our ship by burying the goods near the shore. The only thing we didn’t bury was a basket of fish that my multi-named friend brought to sell at the market. At the gate we talked to the guard and heard about the many troubles that beset this town. We started making a list to keep track. On our way to the market we were attacked by thieves who wanted our fish. Then we spoke to a deceitful godi and a selfish merchant/king. Then we went to a famous hunter for advice. He was full of himself, boasting that he had the skin of one of the undead bears plaguing the town. We told him we could get two if he told us where to find them. He told us, and we went. In the night we were attacked by two undead bears. they nearly killed two of us, and after our victory, we
noticed one of them was the one that the hunter had skinned. That put us into overkill mode, and we chopped everything but the heads into tiny pieces and then burnt the pieces. It was a great victory, but our time on this island is long from over.

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