The Northlands Saga, Part Four: Beyond the Wailing Mountains

The destruction of the Second Temple of Ice and Stone did not go unnoticed by the Children of Althunak, for the frozen corpse of Aluki's brother Kelvani was sent back to the village of Laquirv along with a monstrous raiding party around early spring. Thankfully our heroes were staying the winter while the Long Serpent headed back to pick them up in a few months, and the cult's assault failed thanks to their efforts. One of the faithful, a woman enhanced by the demon-god's magic and clad in illusory armor designed to make her look undead, was taken alive and enchanted by Syrasi to reveal that they came from a city on the other side of the Wailing Mountains.

After retrieving the sacred weapons from Hero's Rock again, Aluki volunteered to lead the party across the Far North given the danger of the terrain. Along the way, Vigbjorn challenged a woolly rhinoceros to a valiant battle, and in the mountains fought an over-eager frost giant guarding the pass for the cult. What lay ahead after these trials was a deathly cold wasteland where the sun never sets.

The City of the Lord of Winter was grand in size, yet entire sections of town lay abandon. The covering the south, west, and east sides had a mixture of humans (with endure elements) and demonic guards keeping watch. The party used their magical folding boat to traverse the lake at its north, upon which the First Temple of Ice and Stone proudly rose from the lakebed. Climbing up subtly, they overheard a conversation between Elvanti, the leader of the Children of Althunak, and Karnak Seven-Sorrows, a servitor demon.

Inuit Hunter by Death Metal Dan of deviantart

Elvanti welcomed the party, and being rather curious asked the party what promises the Ulnat gave that he couldn't possibly give. Syrasi's answer ("there are people among them who care for me and I care about") infuriated him, whereas Askeladden's answer was more practical ("you tried to have me killed several times"). At this point Karnak teleported into the room to aid his lord, and the battle just begun!

Althunak's Chosen proved more than a pushover, for in addition to being a strong warrior he also could turn nature itself against his enemies by summoning ice and lightning storms. Thanks to the many open skylights in the main temple area, he caught the heroes by surprise this way. Even in defeat he was unbowed, mocking Vigbjorn right before the trollkin cut him in half. The demon Karnak Seven-Sorrows, meanwhile, gave a mocking salute to the statue of Althunak in leaving his service right before he got dismembered.

The party looted the temple's treasure room, and freed a dozen Ulnat prisoners planned to be used as bargaining chips. But the rest of the cult was not idle, and six cultist warriors with a pair of ice demons came rushing in via the south. Thanks to some preparation of bear traps and a decoy unseen servant, the party broke their ranks with a well-timed glitterdust and good old-fashioned physical combat!

Once the cult's best forces were felled, the PCs fled the temple to notice the rest of their forces in disarray. Demons screamed and teleported away, while mortal faithful were fighting among themselves for leadership. Although the demon-god still exists, his reach in Midgard was shortened considerably. A victorious party ventured back across the Wailing Mountains to the Seal Coast, where grateful Ulnat awaited them along with the crew of the Long Serpent.

Awaiting them back at Silvermeade Hall was Inga, Henrikson's eldest daughter and now Jarl of the town. She apologized for her earlier arrogant ways back in Spring Rites, and brought up the old deal she had with Hallbjorn before his loss at sea. Hallbjorn promised to donate 10 percent of loot to the families of warriors who were injured and perished as a result of the war against the Children of Althunak. Although she didn't press the issue, Askeladden was less amenable to the deal. The rest of the party honored their comrade's promise and donated their share.

GM's Notes

In the original adventure, several of the Children of Althunak's minions were female prisoners transformed into monsters known as snow brides. One of the brides who attacks the village of Laquir is Klinqa, the woman who first rebuffed Elvanti's hand in marriage. Given that this had overtones of sexual assault a few of my players would not appreciate, I changed the "snow brides" into generic minions disguised as undead so as to get fighters to waste the wrong spells on them.

Karnak Seven-Sorrows was a character of my own creation, a babau demon. Replacing two snow brides in the final fight, I figured a teleporting demon would make for a good combination with Elvanti's weather control magic. Elvanti's appearance was also different. In the original adventure he was transformed fully into the Chosen of Althunak, appearing like a huge furred emaciated monster. I kept the same stats, but otherwise had Elvanti appear as a medium size human with a reach weapon. There wasn't much reason for this aside from aesthetics and wanting to give a "human face" to the major villain of the Far North adventure arc.

The folding boat helped the PCs bypass much of the encounters gained if one went through the ruined city via the front gate. I made up for that with cult reinforcements upon Elvanti's death.

I forgot to tell the PCs about the initial 15% agreement from Hallbjorn's voyage back in Vengeance of the Long Serpent. I figured introducing it here could be a good test of their character.

I'm sorry for the long-overdue update for Northlands, but I hope you enjoyed reading it. Our next adventure takes our heroes all around the region to end a death-curse from the legendary reaver Sven Oakenfist!

The Slumbering Tsar, Session 3

That day the rest of the party explored the mound, its last guardians a shadowy bear which was incorporeal but could not fly (thus making it susceptible to an extradimensional pit), a skeleton-bearing undead ooze filling up a tunnel, and a group of berserkers-turned-wights. The party discovered that this burial mound was for the great warlord Tark, who fought alongside the Army of Light and managed to turn the battle in their favor when the forces of Tsar sought to dig under the army encampment and burst up from the ground in the middle of the night. Digging up in the middle of the barbarians' tents, it was a terrible disaster...for the devotees of Orcus.

And so even though the mound was made to honor the fallen, even in death does the Desolation's taint spread. After securing some magic items and a ceremonial armor for Alexis, the party headed back to the Camp and sold off their wares for the local iron bits. While selling their wares, the party gathered some information. Arliden heard rumor of an unlucky cursed troupe of merchants wandering the Desolation to this day, as well as a sleeping army beneath the ground who will wake up one day to finish the job of cleansing Tsar. Alexis got word that the local hermit is in fact a vampire who came to town to take back the bar stolen from him by Lucky Bjorc. Finally, rumors of a mysterious midnight peddler, who seems undeterred by the land's many dangers, only sells to people he chooses and those who buy from him are blessed with good luck.

Deciding to pitch a tent and stay the night, the party was awoken when the corpse which hung from the gallows was now up and about, seeking fresh blood. A steady stream of magma and rock  from Nobu rent its soul from its flesh, and soon the party became known as the people who took out the "Hanged Man" who wandered the Camp at night.

Shortly after doing so did the party come to find Griswald, the town's literally ghoulish undertaker, who was oddly well-dressed and polite for a creature of his kind. Grateful for the party "taking care of that local inconvenience" he said that as adventurers they might be interested in a local druidic grove in the Ashen Waste of fellow folk seeking to cleanse the Desolation of its taint. He also mentions that unknown forces have taken an interest in Tsar and are defending its outer walls, the most obvious a huge dragon spotted near the sandpits on the outskirts.

Griswald

Thanking Griswald for this info, the party decides to visit this druidic grove, who found a way to blossom in the middle of a lifeless wasteland. While venturing in the Ashen Wastes the party found evidence of a struggle of a dwarf and human warrior who killed each other, while a third survivor's tracks led northeast, all the way to the grove.

The grove itself was a marvel, a miniature forest with pines as tall as 80 feet and thick undergrowth. After fighting off a pair of dire tigers, the party found a thorny hedge of demon skulls decorated around the entrance. Inside the party came face to face with Skeribar, the local ranger guide from the Camp. He at first claimed ignorance of any recent visitors, but when called on it explained that the woman would not recover and the only merciful option was a quick death. After some clever lies of omission, the party earned the rangers' trust, and he explained how the growth of the grove is supernatural in nature, but requires the blood of the living to flourish. He said that this was a necessary evil, for the grove does manage to hold back the supernatural taint of the Desolation.

The Reclaimers

Skeribar and the newly-arrived druids came out to show the party the specifics of their ritual, which apparently involved gathering the tears from a nearby wooden shrine in the shape of a humanoid face. Nobu recognized the "face" as the head of a stick giant, a symbiotic plant/giant hybrid whose sappy tears where being used to magically accelerate plant growth in even the most barren of environs. Reddish spots on the ground lead to another nearby grove, where Alexis' faerie dragon familiar flew off covertly to investigate.

Warned of the shrine's true nature telepathically, Arliden at first offered and then forced his way into the giants' minds. The creature was capable of sapient thought, but decades of imprisonment and torturous pain rendered him full of hatred and vengeance, uncaring of whether or not his powers were being used for any greater good. "Desolation or no, there will always be wickedness," he said.

As for the other grove, an elven maiden was inside the hollow oak of a large tree, kept in place by a rootlike cage. As the draconic familiar attempted to speak to her, she warned it not to come any closer, for the tree was a trap. At this point the tree came to life with a loud moan, alerting the druids that their grove has been sabotaged, and being none too trusting of the newcomer PCs.

And so our session ended on a cliffhanger.

The Northlands Saga, Part Two: Wyrd of the Winter King

Six months since the PCs rescued the jarl's daughters from the witch Sibbe, a new threat emerged from unknown shores. A messenger came to Silvermeade Hall, speaking of a series of attacks. Each time, a mysterious "Winter King" came to the coasts of towns and villages, making unreasonable demands and slaughtering when the fighting broke out. A few times his iceberg retreated, only to leave an unnatural winter in its wake, bringing famine and subjecting survivors to a slow death. His next route is the domain of Halfstead. In discussion with the war council, the jarl and the PCs and his advisors figure out the iceberg's likely route (thanks to Armund) and seek to attack him first in the middle of the ocean before he gets too close. Several longships are outfitted for war, and the jarl and the PCs set out for battle. Syrasi, a Nuklander elf recently hired to be the jarl's magical expert, tagged along as did the troll-kin warrior Vigbjorn.

Eventually after several days of sailing they come to a thick mist and strong storm, with a massive iceberg 3 miles in diameter adrift at sea. Misfortune occurs as soon as the ships set shore, for the Winter King's fell magic sends out giant icicles as siege weapons, forcing the ships to pull back as the PCs and One-Eyed Sven's team leaps to dry land. Weathering storms, undead warriors, and ice mephits, the party later finds Sven unconscious, as well as a giant bridge leading to a mysterious palace. Deciding not to leave him to die, the party does their best to tend to Sven's wounds and keep him warm as they continued exploring.

The western gates were heavily guarded by some surprisingly tenacious skeleton warriors, forcing the party to get their bearings and rest for a few hours. Around that time the jarl's main force circled around to the north side of the iceberg, ascended the cliffs, and assaulted the north side of the palace. After resting up and looting a nearby accounting house, the PCs saw some vikings engaged in combat around the plaza. The PCs helped them out, and got an update of the jarl's progress. The northeast section of the palace is being cleared out, but the undead warriors were very tough and so not much progress was made. The PCs decided to clear out the rest of the south side, finding a treasury with a magical shrunken boat, a lot of loot, and an old shrine to Althunak, an obscure demon god of frost who absorbed the souls of vanquished foes via cannibalism.

The PCs ascended the eastern spire to get a better vantage point. From below, peering down into the courtyard, the jarl's forces were matched up against equally fearsome zombie soldiers. Spotting a giant block of ice hanging by fragile chains, Askeladden relayed a message spell to the jarl of their plan while Syrasi got ready to loose a crossbow bolt at the chains.

The plan worked, the undead forces were tricked under the block as the jarl's party gave a false retreat. The party's efforts did not go unnoticed, as a series of long, slow claps emanated from across the bridge to the north. An armored man astride a skeletal steed was there, and his voice carried over clearly as though he were right next to them. Unusually talkative, the Winter King introduced himself as Prince Uth'ilopiq, of a long-dead civilization, and how he went by many names for his terrible deeds in service to his abyssal lord. He challenged the party to battle, but not before the tower on the far end blocked off the stairwell entrances with giant icicles, preventing any reinforcements in helping the PCs.

A pitched battle was held on the bridge. Two of the vikings with the party went down, Syrasi's glitterdust blinded his steed, and the Winter King's summoned winds nearly knocked Vigbjorn and Askeladden off the bridge. Heavily exhausted and wounded, with allies and summoned monsters falling alike, it was unclear who the victor would be. The tower was about to launch another icicle, this time at the docked northern ships, but not before the rest of Sven's team disabled it by killing the mages and jumping to the bridge to join the battle below (albeit a bit late).

But Askeladden struck the killing blow, and the Winter King, laughing, pulled himself deeper onto the blade, speaking in a whisper of how they struck the killing blow, but not before he tore open a "wound that will never heal." The iceberg was tied to his essence, and mere seconds later cracks in the earth and tremors threatened to rend the castle apart. Chaos descended around the party as the Winter King laughed moments before he was beheaded.

The party rushed as fast as they could, using the magical shrunken boat when it seemed that all was lost. The palace and its unholy legacy sank beneath the waves, as the party rejoined the jarl's ship, the Long Serpent, and set off back to Silvermeade Hall.

It was a joyous yet somber occasion. As people were thankful that the Winter King's reign of terror was brought to an end, so too did they mourn the many warriors who died that day to spare them his wrath. Bodies which were recovered were placed in ships set out to sea, lit by burning arrows as is custom. And a long, dark winter set in.

DM's Notes

I will admit that I made some minor alterations to the adventure, although the crux of it is more or less the same. Originally the Winter King's iceberg was but an unknown factor, and the party got there by going a-viking in exploring unknown waters. I decided to make Prince Uth'ilopiq a more immediate threat and played up the angle of Jarl Henrikson leading a raiding party to make war. I felt that this gave more of a "push" for the characters, both to act first before the iceberg got to Halfstead. The icicle siege weapons were originally just strong winds which blown the ships back, but this more obvious threat would better connect things as an obstacle to disable to help the longships safely approach and dock.

The Winter King was also originally intended to be fought in his throne room, but since it seemed that the party was wandering elsewhere and happened to be exploring next to a grand bridge I had their fateful encounter there instead.

The Slumbering Tsar Saga, Session 1

Welcome to the Edge of Oblivion

The party arrived at the Camp, just in time to notice a maddened hill giant rampaging through town, with the PCs right in the way. After dispatching him, Thorgrim used his knowledge of the environment to track down his last movements, along with Arliden's brief mental connection to get a sense of the giant's fate. It turns out that the giant was the leader of a mercenary band of ogres, offering to escort representatives from Bard's Gate to a fissure in the Chaos Rift, only to be ambushed by gargoyles. The giant said some things in his native tongue, a language none of the party knew but could remember a few choice words for later reference.

Following the trail, the party set sight on the Chaos Rift, a deep series of trenches seemingly slashed into the land itself. Although their attempt at sneaking into the gargoyle aerie failed, the party's fast reflexes got the drop on several of the winged monsters. After wiping out 8 of their number without suffering any casualties, the gargoyles offered a truce. They not only will stop fighting and give their only prisoner (an elf from Bard's Gate named Holcolm), they would give one piece of hidden treasure to the party if they can find their lost leader. The party accepted, venturing deeper into the cave, only to find the gargoyle leader's fate at the hands of a fungal slime colony. After readily dispatching it and a close call with an infestation of said fungus, the party returned. Alexis conjured up a wild tale of heroism to the assembled gargoyles, explaining how after valiantly dying in battle, the gargoyle passed on leadership of the tribe was granted to him. Amazingly the gargoyles fell for it, and from then on became loyal minions. The party decided to use their knowledge of the Rift first, deciding to call upon them for battle only when the time is right.

Arliden offered to take Holcolm back to the relative safety of the Camp, while the rest of the party followed up on rumors of a monster named Old Death who managed to do in a few of the gargoyles. They also heard word of two stony pillars where green lightning pulses from on a plateau in the middle of the canyon, but first came the monster.

The party hardly entered Old Death's canyon before coming into view of legions of petrified adventures, and was promptly attacked by an abyssal basilisk. Using spell-conjured mud and fog to blind it they kept the fiend's foul gaze at bay while they slowly worn down its defenses. Afterwards the group came into contact with a giant spider corpse made to look like a living being in the middle of a giant web and killed its two ettercap architects. But at this point the day was growing late, and so the party decided to retreat and make camp.

The Slumbering Tsar Saga, Cast of Characters

Aside from Northlands, my other weekly game is Slumbering Tsar with an entirely different group. It started about a month earlier than Northlands, and the adventure has a very different feel to it which keeps things interesting. A dark fantasy vibe in a desolate region scarred by the lingering taint of evil, where the only major center of civilization is a tent-city of outcasts and refugees. The central feature is the city of Tsar, once a grand and evil temple-city of the demon god Orcus now dusty ruins from a long-ago battle.

This post focuses on the PCs, our possibly-doomed, possibly-victorious heroes who dare to set foot in Orcus' once-greatest domain!

Meet the Cast

Nobu Itoma: An ascetic exile who trained in a Stoneheart Mountains monastery, his wanderings brought him to Tsar, driven by both personal motivation to master his elemental talents and to rid the world of the Desolation's spreading vileness.

Mechanical Information: Kineticist from Occult Adventures.  Calls upon the powers of stone and fire to barrage enemies in a hail of elemental fury.

Alexis Karamazov: An exile from the Wizarding Academy of Endholme no longer welcome due to his participation in conspiring to overthrow a noble dynasty (thus violating Endholme's policy of political neutrality). Aside from his fellow PCs, his other steadfast companion is his faerie dragon familiar who oddly seems to be as magically powerful as its master.

Mechanical Information: Sorcerer specializing in area of effect and debuffing spells. Fond of creating pits, summoning monkey swarms, and using telekinetic water-filled barrels as cover and the occasional siege weapon.

Arliden (Arl) Penthe: an Orange-ranked cleric of Solanus (god of healing), Arliden was dissatisfied with his higher-ranking peers' reactive measures against plague, maladies, and other causes of suffering. Hearing of the Desolation's reputation, he sought to travel to this region to stem the tide of foul magics and cleanse the hapless souls trapped there. But unlike many healers of the cloth, is more than willing to turn an enemy's own life force against them in a near-vampiric fashion.

Mechanical Information: a psychic Vitalist, Arliden is the primary provider of the silent telepathic network the group uses to communicate with each other. He is fond of delving into the minds of enemies and aiding the party with healing and morale boosts. Can fire off a bolt of energy in a cinch.

Thorgrim Stoneborn: a duergar veteran of the deep realms of the earth, Thorgrim's original reason for coming to the Camp was rumors of a Silverhelm Clan war party searching for the bones of their former king who fell during the Battle of Tsar. His frosty demeanor makes him a peculiar ally, but such a mindset has served the party well in this dreadful land.

Mechanical Information: Hunter with a penchant for physical combat and a mighty giant lizard animal companion. Is the most physically-inclined member of the party, Nobu coming in second. Use of teamwork feats and Eternal Guardian maneuvers (Path of War Expanded) allows him to exploit enemy movements and attacks by turning threatened squares into difficult terrain and provoking attacks of opportunity for those who try to fight him or his trusty lizard.