Despite the mixed results of their brief assault on Asgard (G4 – Storming Asgard), the party were keen to resume their exploration of the great icy mountain that the Queen of Basi had called Denali – the Bones of the World. Having tired of flying around in the bitter cold, they decided to cut to the chase by having the magicians teleport them directly to the archway near the summit. This proved a little more difficult than anticipated but was achieved in the end. Jason being unavailable Grettir brought along Adhils, one of his top huscarles, for extra heft in the warrior department, along with Kolgrim. Once they were all assembled they took the path opposite the one that had led them to Bifrost.
They came upon a gate of gold and crystal. Beside it was a bell, set in a niche. Grettir rang it. As the bell tolled a figure emerged from the shadows beyond. It was large and skeletal and spoke with a sonorous voice.
“These are the Gates to Hell. You may pass by Word, Deed or Sign.”
The Word, it was explained, was to speak the name of the Entity; the Deed was to face it in combat; the Sign was to give three drops of blood. Luckily Paradoxides (perhaps he had been studying such lore after their visit to Asgard) knew the Entity’s name to be Modgud. Each of the companions spoke the name and was permitted to enter – though it seemed the Elf was not required so to do. The party followed Grettir’s shining spear down a long rock-hewn stairway. Though infused with the power of Osiris, the spear’s light was diminished – they were not in the Lands of Osiris.
At the end of the stairs they came to a mighty chasm and the burning bridge that spanned it. This was the Gjallr Bridge said Paradoxides.
The Gjallr Bridge
The flaming bridge was far too hot for mortal man to cross and hope to reach the other side alive. The cosmic fire protection spells available to the human magicians amongst them gave scant protection against the holy flames of the bridge. However, it seemed that elf’s druidic powers permitted him to withstand the intense heat and Grettir wore his helm, the Master of Fire. So it was that the two crossed the bridge together unharmed. While Grettir stood guard, the elf carried the Master of Fire back across the bridge. Thus each of the companions in turn wore the helm to cross the bridge in safety. Despite his protection, the elf was quite badly burnt after crossing the bridge eleven times in all, but the magicians were able to heal him of his hurts. The party marched onwards until they came to the cave mouth and found themselves looking out upon a dark forest, with the sun setting behind it and casting a red glow.
The Iron Forest
There were no living things in the forest, for the trees proved to be made of iron. As they moved through them, they cast their leaves down upon the travellers. These too were made of iron and were magically sharp, piercing all magical protections and cutting through armour. The warriors formed a testudo with their shields to protect Paradoxides and Girindor and thus the party shuffled through the eldritch wood. Despite their shields most of the party were struck at some point. Though their wounds stung, there was a silver lining. The leaves so collected in their flesh proved to be made of star iron and they found them much in demand from weaponsmiths when they returned to Chittagong who were prepared to offer a pretty penny for them. Eventually they passed through the wood and beyond the range of the deadly leaves.
Garm
The land beyond the Iron Forest was bleak and grey and to Grettir and Paradoxides it seemed much like the Lands of Dust. Recalling that the Dust was supposed to be inimical to elves, Grettir drew from his pouch an Ioun stone and offered it to Girindor, saying that if he tossed it in the air above his head it would save him the need to breathe.
They came to another set of gates. Before them stood a huge and hellish hound. This was Garm, the Guardian of Hell. Girindor surprised everyone by starting to sing to the beast. This departure from his normal strategy of blasting local fauna with fire and lightning was not a great success. It bounded forward and gave him a savage bite. Grettir struck it a mighty blow in return. The others joined in and Girindor reverted to type, blasting it with lightning. Meanwhile, Paradoxides examined the gate while its guardian was otherwise engaged. With a blast of sorcery he cast down one side of the gate and leapt through. Garm turned and swiftly followed, its tormentors in close pursuit. The battle resumed beyond the gate. Then Ubaron jumped back through the gate to retrieve a dropped shield, the hound followed and pounced upon him. Grettir gave chase, struck the beast once more and covered Ubaron as he took a potion. Eventually, after receiving many blows and a further blast of fire from the elf, Garm ran off howling.
The Land of Dust and Three Rivers
If the terrain before the Gates reminded Grettir and Paradoxides of the Lands of Dust, that beyond the Gate was most definitely the real thing. Somewhat reluctantly (he knew from experience that he would be unable to recuperate his magical powers in this place) Paradoxides bore Girindor aloft to see what they could see. The only thing of note in that broken land was a distant light that seemed to emanate from a small hall. They headed in that direction. Along the way they were forced to cross three broad streams. The first one ran with acid; the second with blood; the last with quicksilver. Luckily Grettir had a ring that allowed him to walk on water and Paradoxides was able to retrieve from his coat of many pockets a ladder. By this method they crossed each stream in turn without incident. At length they came to the dwelling Girindor had seen from afar. It seemed to be a small hall – of the sort that a headman in a small northern village might inhabit. They called but received no answer and so entered.
Hella – the Queen of the Night
Though they entered together, each encountered Hella alone. To each she showed a different aspect. Ubaron met a woman in her prime: he returned with new spells and the reek of fornication about him. Paradoxides – though he had a track record of pursuing sexual intercourse with powerful female entities, spoke of interesting and stimulating philosophical conversation. Girindor spoke of Hella’s lone vigil here at the edge of the world and marvelled at her personal sacrifice. For Grettir the encounter was with an old woman stirring a huge cauldron. She offfered him a bowl of soup. He recalled tales of a goddess who made soup from the flesh and bones of dead warriors, and he declined the offer. After his third refusal, she said to him: “Grettir Strongarm, you are a strange man to to have come all this way, through all those perils, and yet refuse to accept your reward.” Neither Adhils nor Kolgrim entered the hall.
Homewards through the Astral Realms
It was the view of Paradoxides that they had entered a plane of existence which was severed from Middle-Earth. It would not be possible to simply teleport from here back to Sequarl. Yet none fancied returning the way they had come. Though he explained that it had its own risks, he proposed to use magic that he knew to walk the party through the astral realms back to Middle-Earth. The chief risk was that someone would become separated from the magician and be fated to wander forever in the astral void. To minimise this risk they all bound themselves together and to Paradoxides with Grettir’s elven rope. This proved not to be ideal when made an unscheduled crash-landing upon a large rock, spinning in the void. It made the initial encounter with the giant demonic lizard that lived there all the more difficult. The creature suppressed all light, cast unnatural terror and had a nasty bite. To make matters worse, Paradoxides had knocked himself unconscious in the crash. However, Grettir’s spear of light pierced the gloom and his sword struck the lizard a mighty blow. Only Adhils succumbed to the wave of horror that emanated from the demon. Unbound from his friends he ran off into the gloom and was seen to spin away from the rock into the void. Grettir knelt in prayer to Osiris and drew on his personal store of power to conjure a miracle. At first nothing seemed to happen but then they could all hear a voice calling up from what seemed to be the underneath of the rock and Adhils climbed up into view. As far as he could remember, that was where he had fled under the influence of the demon’s sorcery. However, Grettir explained to him that he owed his life to the intervention of Osiris (and his champion) and Adhils made it his policy always to believe what Grettir told him.
Rummaging around in what seemed to be the ruins of an ancient tower from which the demon lizard emerged, they found a couple of interesting artefacts. The first was a sword, later found to be the blade of a Githyinki Assassin. It would sever the “lifeline” of a void traveller – the invisible cord that allowed him to find his way home. The second was another demon, this one bound into the shape of a magical mirror. There was also a bag of diamonds.
They decided to head to Basi and arrived 50,000 feet in the air. Luckily the elf was able to summon a wind to convoy them safely down to the gates of the city. However, the incident served to confirm the perilous nature of astral travel. The Queen of Basi bought the mirror for 100 talents in gold. Paradoxides retained the Githyinki sword.
G-5
OE Date: November 694
Characters: Grettir, Ubaron, Paradoxides, Girindor NPCs: Kolgrim, Adhils
Real World: April 2005; Where: Surbiton
See also Ubaron’s Diaries