Though it be the beginning of the coldest year, there should have been at least a diminution of the winter snows by the end of February. However, Sequarl finds itself in the grip of an unprecedented cold snap and the wise pronounce it a Fimbulwinter born of the curses of the Jotun. Grettir summons his friends and allies as a mighty winter storm closes in upon Sequarl castle and its town. Girindor exerts his druidic powers to divert the worst of this uncanny storm, but nevertheless the shadow gathers as deep snow falls, piling up on every roof. The howls of Winter Wolves are heard and the shapes of Frost Giants can be seen through the snow outside the walls of the castle.
Unwilling to leave the townsfolk to their fates Grettir hurriedly gathers his companions upon three sledges and sallies forth to do battle with the giants while his huscarles ready more sledges. There, by the gates, Grettir and his comrades slay four Frost Giants – frost-rimed and powerful in their icy element – and seven very large wolves. Joined by more of his huscarles, they ride their sledges down to the town square. There they find the Temple of Osiris under siege by no less than a dozen Frost Giants led by a Frost Giant Shaman. They are also assailed by a Great White Bear and a conjured elemental spirit of the ice.
The Frost Giants charge and the Sequarl forces meet that charge head on. Girindor destroys the elemental spirit while Grettir, his friends and his huscarles engage the Giants in a savage battle. The Shaman wields a runestaff bearing a crystal skull. Grettir’s Holy Power saves him from a Death Spell emanating from the skull, but the same arcane device possesses Girindar and Wilfred who join the Jotun as enslaved combatants and attack Grettir and his companions. Grettir invokes a Miracle of Sacrifice, drawing upon his own life-force, to smash the skull. As the pieces of living ice melt, the Jotun-thralls beak free of their enchantment and Grettir slays the Shaman. As it dies the last frost upon its breath whispers ‘The World Shall Hear From me Again,’ but the Fimbulwinter disperses in the warmth of the Sun, as it shines once again over the Castle and Town of Sequarl.
The Giants were no paupers and loot worth over a hundred talents is gathered from the battlefield. Many of Grettir’s huscarles and companions had sustained severe wounds in the struggle but all lived to fight again another day.
F-19
OE Date: Late February 694
Characters: Grettir, Paradoxides, Wilfred, Jason, Ubaron and Girindar NPCs: Sequarl Huscarles including Adhils, Gamric, Tulkan
Real World: 2002? ; Where: Nottingham?