Road to Hyperborea, Chapter Six

Strategic Retreat
Monday, May 28th, 988 AD

We walk east, away from the Cyclops battle, for four hours to rest. We hope nothing comes for us in night so that Edward can memorize Raise Dead.

Anna
Tuesday, May 29th, 988 AD

Once resting is over, Reynaldo un-Items Anna's body and Edward calls upon his God to restore her life to her body. God acquiesces and Anna is brought back to life for the second time while running around with this group. She is, of course, weak from her journey back from the land of the dead, so we let her rest on the same sled carrying the Emerald Dragon hide.

We march all day set up camp. Reynaldo, Jean-Claude, and Shara scout in our wake in various bird forms. They see many snowy owls congregating and flying about together five miles back. Since they seem to just be hanging about, they head back to camp and rest.

Nature Duel and Moishe
Wednesday, May 30th, 988 AD

Early in the morning, the Spider-People we were warned about on numerous occasions surround our camp. They accuse of trespassing on their lands. We tell them this is all just a big misunderstanding and we'll be on our way out of their lands, but they tell us that we must wait for the judgment of Aylee.

We wait around rather nervously, more so still when bees start swarming the area. The Spider-People (called Hamalasia) say these are just Aylee's heralds. Jean-Claude gets jumpy and tells them to call off the bees, as he considers this a hostile action. Reynaldo tells Jean-Claude to shut up.

Through the forest, a huge spider comes lumbering through, and riding atop it is a woman wearing nothing but a great number of butterflies, always shifting on her body. She looks down at us and asks to have a contest with somebody attuned with nature. All but Shara take a step back.

The rules of the contest are such: no magic or magic weapons are allowed except a druid's natural transformation ability. No killing, and the first to lose consciousness or tap out, loses the contest. Aylee is also good enough to heal Shara up in order to make the contest fair. The two druids circle each other and strike at each other. Shara hits Aylee many more times than the reverse, until Aylee finally falls unconscious. Neither Druid felt a need to transform, so the battle was over pretty quickly (in fact, Shara came out ahead in that she felt better after the contest than before thanks to Aylee's healing).

The Hamalasia let us go and we bid farewell to Aylee. Edward summons some reindeer to help pull the sled with Anna and the dragon hide. He then tries to Raise Moishe, but the Jesus will apparently not suffer any non-believers, and Moishe remains dead. We decide to bury him in the Everbloom once we get there, if the Thorgrim and Thorgrima allow it. We put Ivan on the sled as well as Reynaldo, and we double time it back to the Everbloom. At some point, we realize the reindeer-pulled sled is going faster than it should be. We think it might be the Iron Hat we found off the coast of Kevel. At the end of the day, we make camp and rest.

Vera
Thursday, May 31st, 988 AD

We heal up, feed the reindeer, and Edward successfully Raises Vera. We force march all day and rest at the end of the day.

Conrad
Friday, June 1st, 988 AD

We heal up, feed the reindeer, and Edward successfully Raises Conrad. We force march all day and reach the Everbloom at the end of the day. The two Giants, Mengloth, and a still sleeping Orm are the only people around. Raheesh and his men left days earlier, and Thorgrim says that he sent Thorbjorn, Miaslav, and Agnia out to drive some unwelcome predators only a day earlier.

Also, Raheesh left a note in Arabic that he told Thorgrim to give to Reynaldo. Reynaldo translates it and it reads "If only this were cleared away, that would be grand." The outside of the note says 'For Orm,' which is really confusing. We decide to deal with it the next day and rest.

Bubs
Saturday, June 2nd, 988 AD

Mengloth gets worried about her missing compatriots and she asks us to go find them. We agree over Reynaldo’s protestations (he really wants to copy spells). We head towards the heart of the Everbloom, which is where they were last seen.

Thalia tracks Miaslav’s footprints for fifteen hours before finding a run-down shrine made out of obsidian flecked with micah. The floor is inlaid with gems, from east to west: a large geode, a destroyed gold filigree, a ruby, five fire opals arranged in a cross pattern, a covered pit with a three-foot silver model of a ship, a small drop of amber, a pearl, and a blue sapphire.

Reynaldo casts Detect Magic and sees that the pit is radiating faint Abjuration magic. He uncovers the pit over Edward’s warnings and sees that it is lined with black marble. Six inches down, he sees an emerald, which is radiating the magic.

We decide to ask the giants when next we see them and continued looking for Orm’s wayward party. Thalia continues to track Miaslav’s footprints until five large Wolverines attack us. They spray us with their musk, making Jean-Claude, Ivan, Malina, and Dorn much weaker and less dexterous. On top of that, Thalia gets blinded and feared. Jean-Claude Webs one of the Wolverines and Malina makes three others itch something fierce. Shara charms the last one as the other three stop itching. Thalia, now un-blinded and un-feared, Entangles one of the itchy ones while Reynaldo jumps into the body of another. Rey-Wolverine takes off and the final itching one follows him, as does Shara’s new friend.

The rest of the party digs a tiger trap, tie up the two imprisoned Wolverines, throw them in, and Jean-Claude flies after Rey-Wolverine. He tells him to lead the remaining Wolverines back so they can trap them all. Rey-Wolverine does so. After all the Wolverines are trapped, Reynaldo jumps back into his own body and we send a note to Thorgrim and Thorgrima to come get these creatures now that we have defeated them without shedding any blood. We rest.

Search and Rescue
Sunday, June 3rd, 988 AD

The Giants come by and tell us the shrine is an old Elven shrine. Everybody looks at Reynaldo, who merely shrugs. They think the magical emerald is what sustains the Everbloom. They then grab the trapped Wolverines and take them out of the Everbloom.

We find Thorbjorn, Miaslav, and Agnia bathing in a pool and we all trek back to the cave.

Final Words of Moishe ben Shlomo and Housekeeping, Part 1
Monday, June 4th, 988 AD

We talk to Moishe’s head to find out what he wants us to do with his body. He says we should say a Kadish and sit Shiva. He also tells us that we should find the 50 names of God as soon as possible.

Edward does a ritual to sanctify his holy hammer against Cyclopes while Malina learns many new spells from Reynaldo and Jean-Claude. The three mages busily copy from each other and from scrolls.

Orm Wakes Up and Housekeeping, Part 2
Tuesday, June 5th, 988 AD

After many Dispel Magic spells from Edward, Orm finally wakes from his unnatural slumber. He tells us that the Moors cast Hold Person on him when he received Anna’s Thoughtwave about the destruction of Kebnekaise. They happened to be with him when he received it and when he made his decision to go back. They cast Hold Person and the Baqir sent his djinn to get a sleeping spell. We curse those assholes.

Edward sanctifies his hammer against Hill Giants while the three mages continue their copying.

Vera Leaves and Housekeeping, Part 3
Wednesday, June 6th, 988 AD

Vera, finally wholly recovered from death, decides this is all too much for her. She’s heading back to Kiev to be with her family, because as obnoxious as they all might be, they probably won’t kill her.

Edward sanctifies his hammer against Frost Giants and the three mages keep copying.

Consequences and Housekeeping, Part 4
Thursday, June 7th, 988 AD

Anna wakes up and feels fantastic. This is now the second time she has escaped death. She is now certain that Saint Michael will not let her die until the Octopuses have been defeated.

Edward makes a kiln and we make divining coins out of platinum so that Anna can cast Consequence. She does so immediately on our destruction of Kebnekaise. Saint Michael tells her that our enemies were trying to find two places, which they unfortunately found. However, by blowing up the mountain, they could explore no further. The two horse creatures we fought as we attempted to escape the rumbling mountain were also trying to escape. Had we killed them, they would have been trapped. We did succeed in sundering the Giants’ power in Kebnegard, so not a total loss.

Using the kiln, Edward made a basin and a font to carry the basin in to later make Holy Water with. He also made ten coils of silver wire and twelve silver cages for some of Anna’s more intriguing spells.

We rest, but during the night, Managarm shows up with Oddvar the Younger in tow. He brings a letter for Orm. It’s from Eorl and it basically asks for an alliance against the Octopuses as well as for Orm to send some people to Chrysopolis. Oddvar says he got it from a Russian guy. He says he also wants to join the Intrepid Heroes. Since he has the Identify spell, we tell him we’ll think about it. He is rather young and scrawny, but he seems to know a lot of things.

Spears and Housekeeping, Part 5
Friday, June 8th, 988 AD

We ask Oddvar and Mengloth about Gunther’s Spear, which Ivan is carrying. Oddvar doesn’t know anything about it, but Mengloth says that seven famous spears exist, and this is probably one of them. The seven spears are as follows:

Odin’s Spear- it’s called Ragnar
Cain’s Spear- was in Kebnekaise, probably lost forever
The Gae Bolga- this is Cu Chulaind’s spear, an Irish hero
The Spear of Porus- Prince Vselov of Polotsk has this; he showed it to us when we were in his castle
The Spear of Longinus- used by a Roman centurion to makes sure Christ was dead on the cross
Ashkelon- the spear that St. George used against the dragon
The Staff Spear of Ayesha- some African queen or something

Leaving the spears that we know aren’t this Spear (Cain’s and Porus’), we guess that Gunther’s Spear is most likely the Spear of Longinus and least likely the Staff Spear of Ayesha. However, the Spear was found in Scotland (we think; Gunther took the exact location to his grave, apparently), so it could really be any of these spears (except for Ayesha’s; we’ve never been to Africa).

End of Chapter Six