It is towards the end of winter in a cold year and the party consider it an auspicious time to return to the ruined swamp city of Yarr. Some five years previously they had broken open a mound of rubble to find an underground complex where they had been repulsed by large numbers of lizardmen, led by a Naga demon (D12 – Toad in the Hole). It was exactly the same party that returned, only supplemented by the gnome, Filir, who they thought would be an excellent resource for poking around a mound of rubble. They arrive at their destination by a combination of teleport and flying. Hilda is not present so Paradoxides does the magical heavy-lifting alone. They are not long upon the mound when they are interrupted by the arrival of a longship full of Vikings from Telemark.
The Vikings beach their craft and demand that the party surrender. Under normal circumstances with just six facing a crew of three dozen, that would be considered the prudent course. However, Grettir hails them saying them exactly who he is and bids them stand off. Unfortunately, (for the Vikings) they chose either not to believe him or to attack anyway. “I’m the Queen of Sheba,” cries their leader as they form their shieldwall.
The accuracy of the arrows that greet them, the incendiary from Jason’s crossbow and the fireball from Paradoxides should have given pause for thought. Their magician tries to disrupt their barrage of missiles with an air elemental, but Paradoxides seizes control and sends it to play upon the viking shieldwall, breaking its cohesion. Then Grettir, Salrod, Wilf and Jason are in amongst them with their lethal blades. Fully half of the Vikings are slain before the remainder see which way the wind is blowing and cast down their weapons. Their leader is slain by Salrod, and his soul is sucked by his black sword, much to Grettir’s disgust. Their magician Gudelm the Sailor is likewise dead upon the field.
There is a pile of loot from the Vikings and the party consider their expedition to be a success. They break off their exploration of Yarr to sail the longship, a 28 bencher called the Sea Raven, back to Sequarl. Most of the surviving crew swear oaths to Grettir rather than be marooned in Yarr, and two of their number, Ari and Gron, take service with him as huscarles. Grettir regretted the death of their leader, a notable warrior called Gunnar Halfdanson, who did not deserve the destruction of his immortal soul. Judging from his bag of runesticks, the magician, Gudelm the Sailor, would also have been a useful man. They were unlucky.
This was the last time that Grettir expeditioned with Salrod. On their return Salrod announced his intention to leave the North forever. Hilda re-appeared and they teleported to Tabor, where they had prepared a new home. Grettir was sorry to say goodbye to his old friend. However, he and Hilda had plainly sold their souls and their futures to this obscure chaos god from Zongar. Truth be told, he was relieved to have that evil blade out of his presence.
He was mildly surprised that Hilda should be so content to be a large fish in such a small pond as Yarma offered. Did she truly believe that with their support their god could become a Power once more? Or was this just a price she was willing to pay to separate Salrod from the influence of his old friends? He hoped they would be happy with their choices, but Yarma did not strike him as a god overmuch concerned for the happiness of its acolytes.
F-11
OE Date: Late Winter 692
Characters: Paradoxides, Grettir, Salrod, Wilf, Jason, Filir NPCs:
Real World: January 2000 ; Where: Surbiton?
See also Salrod’s Diaries