Session 25 Part Two!
The cleric began creeping closer under the protection of the others as he began to prepare to turn or destroy these fiendish creatures of unlife.  Bursting out under cover of disguise and Apollo’s symbol uplifted for all to see the cleric uttered his defiant orders for the creatures to be summarily dismissed.  At once some of the horde was vanquished and others bedraggled and quailed under the new light and cleric’s prowess.  The black garbed leader was not amused and sent those with the enlarged bellies at the PC’s.  The barbarian and paladin entered the fray swinging viciously as ranger readied his arrows.  The ice lord, bard and the bard’s strange fiery companion attacked next.  The first blows slowed the charging horde.  Then a disgusting hideous spectacle occurred as the zombie-like things halted their movements and the wriggling mass that was their bellies burst forth sending gory intestines snaking about towards the necks of the PC’s!  The ranger and barbarian were ensnared and their air supply began to be choked off.  The pallid grim faced black garbed creature hurled some sort of explosive combustible liquid that burst into eerie purple flame-like snakes that lashed about the PC’s dealing stinging burns to all flesh they touched.  Then the cleric was able to slow some of the creatures which allowed the other PC’s to start attacking the intestinal blasting abominations and cut free their companions or new intestines that encircled their own bodies.  The paladin was undeterred and grimly hacked his way through the undead determined to get to the black garbed one.  A blast from the ice lord’s wand knocked the black garbed creature to the side as the bard’s flame-licked blade felled another of the undead.  His companion immolated another.  Newly freed, the ranger and barbarian raged back with renewed vigor striking down more of the creatures as the cleric moved into assist or heal as the situation developed.  The black garbed creature spread its hands in wild arcs unleashed an unfamiliar poisonous dust at the PC’s which caused some to cough and spasm violently.  The paladin began a righteous charge and with Apollo’s name on his lips smashed directly into the black garbed foe smiting down it in utter ruin!  The remaining PC’s felled the last of the intestine spewing undead as the cleric cured those affected by the putrid poison.  When the battlefield was quiet, the PC’s then recovered a second tile.  This one with a worn letter I engraved upon its surface.

After the PC’s brought back their recovered prize to the bridge, they quaffed some healing draughts and began the third of tracking the paths away from the stony place.  This time heading southwestward and made by some sort of burrowing creature.  Strangely, in places it seemed like the snowpack had melted as if intense heat had touched it and began to refreeze with a slick surface.  The ranger and barbarian had not encountered anything that would leave a trail in the snow and icy conditions like this.  Following along the wake of these marks upon the otherwise undisturbed snowy ground the PC’s marched.  Soon, the burrowing seemed to go underground.  To the surprise of the PC’s not far from the last of the holes into the ground lay a discarded tile similar to the others.  The PC’s gathered around this and it had a worn letter V upon it.  The PC’s began to bring this one back to the bridge when suddenly a spray of ice chunks and powdery snow exploded outward from a coiling creature of frost with bulbous eyes, antennae and horns and a pulsating underbelly that seemed to melt the snow instantly! Judging by its size the ranger discerned it was younger and not as full grown as it could possibly be but that was no comfort as its opening jaws revealed teeth upon teeth!  Then began an eerie trilling song that began to beguile some of the PC’s!

Open-eyed and slack-jawed about half of the party stood motionless as the large being who the ranger now discerned was a younger remorhaz with great speed gulped the upper torso of the ice lord and began violently chewing and tilting its head back in an attempt to swallow the hapless victim!  Wasting no time the paladin surged forward and cut a sizeable gash into the side of the creature. A shot to the underbelly revealed how terribly hot it was as the arrow began to melt and burn.  Being averse to a frontal assault then the PC’s assailed it from other positions.  Enraged the remorhaz spat out the ice lord and whirled its bite again and again at the other PC’s.  The cleric was able to slow it as the bard and his flaming companion scored it with fiery smites.  The barbarian used his short teleportation ring to appear on the head of the creature where he promptly thrust his sword again and again into the creature’s head!  He failed a difficult feat of dexterous maneuvering and was thrown off crashing into the snow.  After sustaining more bites, the PC’s were able to bring down the creature with the repeated skillful strikes.  After surveying the kill, the PC’s decided to mark the location to harvest parts of the slain creature that may be useful in alchemy or magic.  After binding wounds and having a hurried meal they got moving again with the last tile before the cold could seep in and slow them up.  They at last arrived at the bridge with the final tile in hand.  (As luck would have it) the PC’s placed the tiles in the order they found them.  The slabs read XIV.  The greenish glow around the middle of the bridge dissipated as a breach was made and the PC’s could cross.  Sensing evil, the paladin warned them that something was not right on the other side of the span.  The cleric and bard also had a foreboding sense about the bridge.  After consultation they informed the rest of the group that as they crossed the bridge they should take exactly fourteen steps in long stride.  This was attempted as the crossing went one by one and no adverse effects came upon the PC’s.  On the other side however laid an ominous sight!

Standing proud and tall, imposing and hateful stood a being with the upper body of a muscled frost giant and the lower body of a massive eight legged horse!  The son of Ymir from legend gazed down on them and blew a long solemn note on a massive horn and slowly summoned humanoid fighters of an aeon of past materialized with malicious intent leveled at the PC’s! After spitting out insults and mocking them the hooves began to pound the snowpack as son of Ymir charged with his summoned warriors close behind.  The barbarian summoned a meteor with his magical weapon and unlike most times in the past it struck the galloping monstrosity bearing down on them.  Thrown off course, the son regrouped as his warriors smashed into the line of the PC’s dealing deadly strikes with their ancient blades.  The paladin, ranger, bard and the fiery ally fought back as the ice lord and cleric began to cast spells.  Not wanting the ensorcelled summoned warriors here they both dispelled the magic that brought them here.  Howling in impotence, the summoned warriors were banished back to whatever far flung realm and time they were originally called from.  There was no time to react though as the son of Ymir was upon them and with massive thrusts of his spear wounded the ranger and paladin and then he trampled the barbarian underfoot as the eight legged creature continued its onslaught.  The ice lord sent ice darts flying as he waited out the next move and the cleric struck the son with a glancing shot as the son strode by.  The bard sent a color spray but the massive son of Ymir laughed it off in battle rage.  Then it whirled around striking the cleric, ice lord and trampled the bard.  The ranger nailed the son of Ymir with magical arrows that had a vicious effect.  The paladin laid hands on the unconscious barbarian to heal him and the revived companion quickly gulped down the contents of a healing potion.  Angered that her bardic friend was injured the flying fiery companion of his scorched the flank of the son of Ymir.  The ice lord managed to slow the creature as the repeated icy darts punctured the flesh of the son.  The paladin, rejuvenated barbarian and ranger entered the fray after the cleric was hit and knocked unconscious by the son’s last attacks.  The combined final assault of the PC’s in a wearying last stand smote down the son with the bipedal companion of fire burning portions of the son.  At long last, the air was still apart from their heavy breathing.  The cleric was administered healing to be brought back from the brink of death much as the barbarian was earlier.  Then the greenish fog-like dome of death and entrapment began to dissipate and break apart and what was a normal night in this darkened time of winter showed itself to this area of Hyperborea again.  The PC’s collected much metals and trophies in their exultation taking the same fourteen steps back across the bridge.  As they made their way back to Helios looking behind them they saw frost giants beginning to gather and winter wolves crossing the terrain.  The battle would not be long for Helios depending on when the giants chose to attack.  Testing their hearty constitution with all that befell them, the PC’s made it back to the warmth and relative safety of the town.  Would its defenses hold?  That question will be answered in the future!
End Session 25!

Last edited by MrManowar (7/08/2022 9:09 pm)

Session 26 Part Two!

Aghast at the sight of icy boulders smashing into the defenses and gouts of flames spurting up from walled stations and hearing the cries of the wounded, the PC’s hurriedly went towards Helios from another front vantage point hoping to draw off some of the frost giants.  From a high windswept ridge, a large frost giant’s silhouetted form alongside a mammoth could be discerned surveying the battlefield chaos below.  The aliens maneuvered with the PC’s as they cut down a smaller frost giant en route to a gap in the city’s walls.  Shouting to alert the remaining sentries of who they were, the PC’s were then informed of what had transpired in the raiding assault and where Helios stood.  As stratagems were devised, one of the PC’s recalled the cylindrical tubes as well as some of the strange metals from a different crash site the PC’s unearthed a while ago.  Struck with inspiration, the PC’s then showed the alien’s the tubes as well as brought some of the foreign metallic substances.  The aliens then grew frantically delirious with excitement and the telepathic communication bursting across synapses revealed talks about symbiotic relations and melding of organic and metallic substances to create a seemingly homogenous mixture of the two in the form of the alien creatures.  The PC’s allowed the creatures to interact with the metallic tubes and what they brought back from the other crash site.  The aliens began a swift transmogrification into one being, something that looked like a living metallic colossus as all the metals, aliens and substances were merged into one functioning being that was the same height as the tallest of the frost giants the PC’s ever faced!  Now, the communication was strong and forceful as the colossus turned to the breaches in the walls where some frost giants were clambering in from and took off at a loping run towards the invaders.

The PC’s took courage at their new ally’s actions and they too went out down the streets towards where the giants were moving in and engaging the defenders and entered the fray!  The barbarian teleported himself up with deadly effect lashing in quickly as the ranger went alongside the houses to get a side vantage point to launch arrows at the giants coming in without a fear of striking a friend with an errant shot.  The ice lord slowed one giant magically as the paladin rushed in to assail the invader.  The bard, Ember and cleric unleashed more magics such as a wonderful display of color that effectively blinded one giant as the cleric slowed another.  The colossal amalgamation of alien flesh and metal singlehandedly struck down a frost giant with its massive blade like appendage that formed alongside energy blasts that fired out from it.  The ranger then dipped one of his magical arrows into a glass bottle that he had stored the liquids from the remorhaz gland and unleashed the arrow and the cries of agony from a frost giant who in death throes managed to smash the side of a building and send what few persons who hadn’t either taken up arms or fled to safety into immediate action.  The bard and his flaming scimitar alongside Ember’s blazing attacks allowed them to corner one as the cleric was able to heal the PC’s who’d taken hits from the various blows of the giants.  The paladin and barbarian and ice lord brought low another with their weaponry and magic.  The colossus was proving to be quite the ally as it smashed the skull of another giant.  The tide inside the town was turning but with it still being darkness outside the town and flames and ash filling the air it was hard to behold where things were at in the defense of Helios. 

A group of men at arms were able to ignite some barrels of oil that were subsequently tipped to create lines and gouts or columns of flame that would slow the oncoming invaders from destroying more of the walls or taking more lives from those who sought to defend their homes.  The PC’s were able to bring down another frost giant as the gains forced a few frost giants back only then the hoary giants discerned they were trapped on the inside by the PC’s and their weaponry and sorcery on one front and the fiery obstacles from what was lit by the men at arms.  Guttural roars from the giants were answered with a long horn blast from the ridge above.  Now wolves white as the unspoiled snow slavered and howled as they began a run for Helios.  An apparent second wave of frost giants with the massive specimen of their kind mounted the large mammoth and inexorably moved to Helios with a massive spear outstretched as if signaling a doom to all who saw it.  The PC’s redoubled their efforts and hacked and unleashed spells on the remnant of frost giants were able to gain access into the town and soon the streets of stone, snow and ice were slick with the steaming blood of felled frost giant.  Part of the standing army of the town led by brother Antonius cautiously made their way to converse with the PC’s as they knew not what to make of the towering alien colossus that seemingly was their ally.  The runegraver then was able to return to his comrades with healing potions to distribute as he exclaimed that all those who couldn’t aid in the defense of Helios were sent to safety.  More oil was poured and the lines of flames soon became walls of conflagration whose heat could be felt from a distance as snow melted fast around.  The final stratagems of defense were gone over with the PC’s and other leaders of Helios taking up various positions so communication could be easily spread.  Ember flew up in the air to watch the frost giants and wolves as they approached.  The paladin began a prayer to Apollo beseeching his aid in this upcoming, surely final battle with these hated enemies.  The cleric also joined in as the other watched, made weapons ready, heightened alert for the next wave of violence to arrive at the threshold of Helios!

End Session 26.