Novgorod Log #12: Lair of the Ice Worm +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Of a trip through Germany, and the return of two old friends. Of a | | strange map brought by a Criamon, and the Seeker secrets that it | | contains. Finally, the legend of a hero, and the worm which he | | defeated long ago. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ Agripanilla of Jerbiton Maga (Chris van Horn) Andron of Bonisagus Magus (Eric Rowe) Auditor of Mercere Magus (Kevin Wong) Ballisto of Tytalus Magus (Bill Filios) Carmen of Bjornaer Maga (Donald Kubasak) Gorm the Hedge Wizard Magus (Matt Seidl) Nova of Criamon Maga (Dave Woo) Pacifer of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Una of Tytalus Maga (Clayton Springer) Hobble Blacksmith (Bill Filios) Turpis Merchant (Dave Pickering) Jarl Nordic Grog Little Claus Nordic Grog Skald Nordic Grog Anna Kitchen Girl Geirfinn Old Guy Ice Worm Shadow Ottar Great Hero +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "What's the Call to Slumber do?" -Chris | | "Call to Slumber? I think that's a fireball" -Woo | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 24, 1201 Our visit to Interritus has been a beneficial one, for it has again reminded me of my responsibilities. Looking over the familiar German landscape, I recalled last year's Tribunal. The beginning of the war. At my master's grave, I renewed my promise of vengeance. Coslen and Enervo shall both pay for what they have done. At Interritus, there too came an unexpected meeting. Nova was there, and, of all things, she had been travelling North, making for Nature's Teeth. Nova spoke cryptically of a map she had discovered, covered with Nordic runes, and of the deep secrets that she was sure it held. Of course, we agreed to help our old friend in her seeking. After leaving our prisoner with the magi of Interritus, we set off for Captus Agrippus, Agripinalla's home covenant. I hope to convince her to join us at Nature's Teeth. Ballisto's old friend, Anna, and Nova have both agreed to accompany us already. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus November 28, 1201 Life is good! Today, I managed to convince Agripanilla that we had done all the hard work in setting up Nature's Teeth, and thus she has agreed to join us in our return to the North. I dearly hope that Nature's Teeth meets all her expectations. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus December 12, 1201 Returning to Nature's Teeth today, I was met with a most unwelcome surprise. I found Decanter, which I had thrown far into the sea, hanging upon my wall. I yelled and raged at the dagger for a time, but it soon became clear that it was getting the better of the encounter. So, I have come up with a new solution. I have given Decanter to Gorm, whom it has shown an affinity to before. Hopefuly, he shall keep the damned blade away from me. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus December 14, 1201 It appears that I will never be free of this damned tool of the Order of Odin! Again, I found Decanter returned to me this morning. Now, my path is clear. I must rechristen Decanter in the blood of my enemies to free it of the taint of its history. Word has been sent to Turpis, requesting a prisoner of Odin. Soon, Decanter shall become Odinsbane. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus December 19, 1201 Today is a day that I have long looked forward to. This morning, Agripanilla emerged from the wilderness of our island and was welcomed into our covenant as a full member. I am ecstatic to see how well she has adapted to the environment. Everything has gone better than I could have hoped. As our first year at Nature's Teeth comes to an end, it is clear that our beginning has been a good one. Every day, we are gaining strength. Soon, nothing shall be able to stand against us. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 14, 1202 Finally, winter is drawing to end. It has been a time of rest, and strengthening. Very soon, we shall be ready to again burst forth from our island and continue our gathering of power. Although we have remained upon our island for several months, we have not been inactive during that time. I have spent the time training with the grogs, determined to be more prepared when next I meet Sven. The other magi have been training their skills as well, both physical and magical. Thanks to Andron, our vis has now all been weighed. We have twenty-eight pawns in our stores, an excellent start. We have also collected information during the Winter, and determined several new avenues that should be explored in the coming months. Little Claus has worked to translate Nova's map. It tells of a magical cave which appears upon a certain hill in Poland on the Summer Solstice. Both Andron and Nova seem quite excited about the discovery. Turpis, meanwhile, has brought interesting word of the oranges that we stumbled upon last year, aboard the pirate ship. He said that they grew year round in a village called Nystad, and that they were clearly magical. In the next week, we shall preparing to move again, freeing ourselves from our winter lethargy. With our new information, and our continued training, we are more prepared than ever. I feel quite ready, with the newly christened Odinsbane at my side, to face any enemy. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 20, 1202 Finally, the first council meeting of the year. We are now preparing to strike out once more. In just a few hours, we will be leaving, sailing for the North. Two goals lie before us. There is the mottled gem of blue and red, which Marcus told us of so long ago, and the magical oranges which Turpis recently informed us of. Hopefully, in these items we shall find more power, to aid us in the war. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 27, 1202 The last two days have been most interesting ones, and busy ones too. This is the first time since we landed in Finland that I have had the time to pick up vellum and ink. The trip to the cave of ice, where the red and blue gem was rumored to be, was a mostly uneventful one. We passed through Esbo, a small town, but the inhabitants were able to provide us with little useful information. So, we struck out North, towards the cave. Carmen scouted ahead as we went, and soon she brought back surprising news. I am sure that we had all imagined a huge cave with walls of shimmering ice. We were thus all surprised when Carmen reported that the cave itself was of stone and earth, while the ice in question was a near glacier, which filled the cave totally. When we arrived at the cave, it became clear that we had an awesome task ahead of ahead. Tons of solid ice needed to be removed. Somewhere in that frozen waste lay the gem which we had come looking for. It was fortunate that we brought the blacksmith along, for he was able to tell us how to best heat our weapons in order to melt the huge expanse of ice before us. Soon, the grogs and I were all attacking it. Una helped with occasional blasts of lightning. Very slowly, we moved into the cave, destroyed the ice before us. However, it was clear that many hours, perhaps days, of work lay before us. After we had been working about that ice for several hours, we were faced with a most welcome interuption. An insane old man named Geirfinn came upon and at once began to talk. He tried to convince us to abandon our quest, warning us of danger within the cave. I would have slain him where he stood, but Agripanilla refused to let me. So, instead, we sat for a while, and rested, and listened to the tale that Geirfinn told of the cave that lay before us. - * - Geirfinn's Tale of the Cave of Ice My tale begins long ago, in a time scarcely remembered by the men of the North. It was a fierce time, full of great warriors and even fiercer dangers. It was in this time that the great ice worm came from the far North. The ice worm was an unnatural beast, and when it came upon poor Esbo, the destruction that it wrought was terrible. It seemed as if the end had come for the quiet village. But then, the great hero Ottar came to Esbo, and he brought with him new hope. Bravely, he vowed to defeat the worm. Then, he set off to the fiend's northern lair. The battle between Ottar and the worm raged for three nights and two days. So great was the battle that even in Esbo, the blows could be felt. But, after three days, no end was in sight. Both foes stood, as strong as ever. Finally, Ottar fled, brave enough to understand that he could not beat his foe. For a year and a day afterwards, Ottar quested through the lands of the North, searching for a weapon to use against the great worm of ice. Finally, he came upon the tool which he had searched for, the legendary gem of fire and ice. With it in hand, he returned to Esbo, a land full of fear and death. Bravely, Ottar strode towards to the lair of the ice worm, his only weapon, a gem which flashed red and blue. Into the worm's cave, Ottar went, and he was prepared to die that day. In that cave, the worm came Ottar, but Ottar showed no fear. Instead, he concentrated upon the gem of fire and ice, the weapon that he had quested so long for. And ice began to fill the cave, and soon it covered all, encasing the two combatants. The worm of ice gave one last defiant roar, and then all was silent. The worm and the hero were both gone from the world. But, the story does not end there, for the beast and the man still live, deep within the ice. For ages, the cave has been avoided, for none wish to wake the the great ice worm. Ottar was a truly great man, for he knew when to fight and when to run. May we all learn from his example. Now, did someone say something about chicken? - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus April 27, 1202 Even after Geirfinn had completed his story, we were not concerned. We were sure that we could defeat the worm, for we were magi, not simple warriors. We put Geirfinn to sleep, so that he would not complain, and then we went on with our work. As we continued digging, we came across our first hint that Geirfinn's tale was true. In the magical ice were three white wolves, beautifully preserved. Carmen insisted that we carefully cut the ice about them, so that we did not harm the beasts. Reluctantly, we agreed. It was nearly evening when we came across a large pocket of air in the ice. I think we must of all wondered if once, long ago, the hero Otarr had dwelled there. We looked for a time in awe and wonder, and then we finally put up our tools for the night. And thus ended our first day in the ice cave. During that night, Geirfinn disappeared. Una mumbled something about him going to meet a man with a limp in Baxholm. I don't understand why she let him leave. He could have been a valuable source of information. This morning, we did not dig for long. Less than an hour had passed when we first saw the great shadow, still deeply buried in the ice. Not wanting to wake the creature, Auditor tried to divine the exact location of the gem. We hoped to dig around the creature in the ice. But, that was not to be. Auditor announced that the gem lay in the very belly of the beast. Then, as we were arguing over our next step, Skald yelled that the ice was cracking. And, as we all looked before us, we could see that he was telling the truth. Small cracks in the ice before us were spreading. And the shadow, deep within the ice, seemed to move. Before I could even react, my friends were fleeing. I had little choice but to follow. Soon, we were back upon our boat, the only reminder of our visit to the ice cave, three frozen wolves. For a long time, we watched the northern horizon, but the worm of ice never burst free. And then, we pulled up our anchor, and sailed away, leaving Esbo behind us. This is not, however, an ending. I will return to this place, and I will kill the worm, but I will do so intelligently, with Felix and Ivarr at my side. The great man knows when to run, and when to fight.