"I've never heard of cultists to a dragon here;" says Gjetost.
"This is Asgardr religion though."
Hnoss looks at him sharply, but doesn't reply for a second.
Then;
"that's not entirely true."
"...and?" Altai looks quizzically at Hnoss.
"...and?" Altai looks quizzically at Hnoss.
"Long. Ago." she replied;
"It changed...."then;
"9 days on the worldash......a sacrifice to myself...."
"So... You hung yourself on Yggdrasil for nine days in order to curse this forest?"
“There’s a lot of ravens in this place, aren’t there?” comments Beldan nervously, who doesn’t know much about Asgard and is starting to find the beautiful Hnoss a bit weird ... so trying to change the topic.
"So... You hung yourself on Yggdrasil for nine days in order to curse this forest?"
It never posted.
She smirks nervously; "No, not me! Odin!" and she laughs.
"At the end of it....he gained the secret to runes."
then she's serious;
"As to whether they are a curse or gift, well.....it all depends. Well, you know that, runebinder. Wiseard...they were Odin's gift to men such as yourself."
“There’s a lot of ravens in this place, aren’t there?” comments Beldan nervously, who doesn’t know much about Asgard and is starting to find the beautiful Hnoss a bit weird ... so trying to change the topic.
"I think....too many for comfort, these....choosers of the slain." she says, staring, smiling somewhat eerily. "Good thing we bring good dwarven steel here."
"So how is the condition of this land connected to the wisdom gained by Odin and the process through which he obtained it? You have me confused, I'm afraid."
"It's not, directly.
The tree hanging, the deathhorse...an angel of death; these were the old ways of Wootan.
He was the first; the ancient...Odin subsumed his position.
Odin goes as a traveler, disguised, to see how people truly are; here, Midgard, elsewhere.
On one of his travels to Midgard, he was captured as a stranger, and sacrificed to Odin. It represented.....his dieing, rising, rebecoming. It represented his usurpation of Wootan, and the old ways.
This forest, is where Wootan went to die after they strove against eachother. It's complicated. I think I only somewhat understand it.
After the runes, though, the tree gifts ended. Odin didn't call for them."
"Ah." Altai nods sagely. "That clears it up. Through his own sacrifice to himself, Wotan became Odin, gaining new powers and assuming new portfolios while leaving some old ones behind. Whoever left these guys here are clinging to the old ways, then; very old ways indeed."
“Aaah ... I don’t get it. Anyway, should we be worried?”
"Yes and no...it was a different being after a fashion...it's not exactly how things work in your world. Parts of him became Odin; parts of him always were Odin. I don't understand it, but....much of what you say is true. The transfigurement represented something going on at the same time. Something bigger than the mere event of an old one eyed man being hung from a tree. There's more angles to this than just that."
“Aaah ... I don’t get it. Anyway, should we be worried?”
"Not overly much."
she smiles;"I'll protect you..."
"No need to worry about the dead guys. However, we should be aware that someone or something around here is both fine with human sacrifice and old-fashioned enough to perform such ceremonies to please a god that not only no longer exists but is also, in his new incarnation, the strongest power in this plane of existence. It shows an astonishing level of spite and stubbornness, not to mention bloodlust. I mean, how dumb do you have to be to spill blood to a god that now rejects such offerings and has done so since prehistory? After all, Odin's hardly obscure here in Asgard."
"Wootan....that which was Wootan, is here though, in these woods.
He's lost much of his former greatness.
All things come to an end. Even Gods."
"Indeed. We should be alert. Even the shades of deities can be potent and dangerous."
Beldan is worried anyway, with this talk of human sacrifice and not-quite dead gods hanging about. Plus the birds. He keeps his eyes open and his crossbow to hand.
A cool wind blows up as if summoned by Altai's last pronouncement, and snow blows about.
Beldan is worried anyway, with this talk of human sacrifice and not-quite dead gods hanging about. Plus the birds. He keeps his eyes open and his crossbow to hand.
He sees an otter, almost as big as a hobbit but not quite. Standing on his hind legs; now waddling off in another direction.
Beldan is worried anyway, with this talk of human sacrifice and not-quite dead gods hanging about. Plus the birds. He keeps his eyes open and his crossbow to hand.
He sees an otter, almost as big as a hobbit but not quite. Standing on his hind legs; now waddling off in another direction.
"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
Elgan looks around as they enter the forest, not in curiosity as usual, but with a look of trepidation.
"Dis,... Dis place ain't raight!" He murmurs.
"Altee, deh woods, dey's dyin! Mebbe not dyin', more lahk,..." The flustered cajunelf waves his hands in frustration as he searches for the right words.
"Even in deh wintur, dese' heah woods should be teemin' wit' lahf! Wit' all o' inturconected energiez makin' a web o' lahf! Dis heah iz more lahk,... each treez hangin' on wit' iz last breath. Iz lahf force is all, tattered an' torn!" The druid explains, despair clear in his face.
"Oh, absolutely. This place is... iffy."
The group heads on a ways.
Reaches a break in the woods that represents an iced over river.
a-u top;
1-20 down the side.
rows 1-3 and 16-20 are difficult terrain; they represent where the woods are....plenty of cover available
and a-u 4-15 is a frozen river. You guys are at e-1 16-20; as you reach the edge of the woods, about to ford the frozen river; a windy buffeting of snow kicks up, and when it clears, you see 7 men in chainmail, with shields and bastards or axe; at e4,f4,g4,h4,i4,j4, and one out in front at g6, with a dwarven urgrosh;
they seem somewhat....crusty.
They see you; you see them;.....
It's all good; I can dig it.
huzzah!!!
"ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
Muuuuuuuuuh
Initiative roll
Straight 18; can anybody beat it?
Hnoss does; Beldan does;
Yeah; I'm running her.
She looks back;
"do you want to live forever?!?"
charges to f7, hewing the champion axeman with her sword.
The ice is snowed over; not too slippery from the looks of it.
She hits past his shield, and into his torso. No blood flows, but he groans......
"pretty....sooooo...pretty..."
Beldan's up to bat.
"Wait! We sh.... Dammit!" Altai grimaces in disgust as Hnoss charges across the ice. "I have a uneasy feeling about how she'll deal with the dragon", he mutters to nobody in particular. "Looks like we'll need to go save her, folks."
lolollol...
Hnoss:
"what are you coalmunchers waiting for!!! ATTACK! DO YOU WANT TO DIE THE STRAWDEATH?!?!"
"Oh well. When in Asgard, do as the Asgardians do or something like that."
<After being plopped on the snowy ground by Claw, Stig stirs, looks around, and pulls himself up by rolling over his huge girth and first pushing himself up onto all fours.>
<Scowling at Claw, snorting at Hnoss.>
"Whaur in th' nam ay Moradin am Ah an' whaur did ye pit mah mug, abomination?"
"Muuuurh?"
Tenser whinges nervously; licks Stiggy's face until his beard is gobbed with dog slobber slowly crystallizing in the icy air.
"Damn zombies took your brew, Stig. Go get 'em!"