Road to Kebnegard, Chapter Twenty-Five

Traveling
Monday, April 30th, 988 AD

Edward Divinates about whether or not we should go back to Hudic and check out those pyramids again. God says we probably shouldn't, as there are more important things to do. We buy some stuff quickly in Ketelheim and head north-northwest towards Kebnegard. We're trying to get to the Chalice River which flows from Kebnekaise to the Baltic Sea.

The day passes uneventfully and we camp for the night.

Bad Reindeer
Tuesday, May 1st, 988 AD

During the second watch, we are attacked by bipedal reindeer with no skin, so that their muscles are showing; two of them have no heads. There are about fifteen of them and they quickly surround us, beating us with their hooves. They prove to be very tough and fell Conrad, Shara, and Wong, but we are finally able to kill them all after much fighting.

During the battle, Vera, recently recovered from her sickness, heard a person off in the distance change into a bird and then fly away. We assume that this druid or mage sicced the zombie reindeer on us.

We finish resting after the battle and continue on our heading. We walk all day.

Lots of Traveling
Wednesday through Friday, May 2nd through 4th, 988 AD

We walk all three days with little excitement. The only things of note are that on Thursday morning, Jean-Claude Clairvoyances the land to make sure we're on the right track, and then later in the day, Vera hears jingling bells in the distance and Nicolae, in Wraithform, goes to investigate. It's only an old man and young woman riding in the snow, in a four reindeer open sleigh. On the sleigh, they had a metal, circular disc-like object with charms hanging off it.

We decide to let them be and continue on our way, and do so through Friday.

King of Snakes
Saturday, May 5th, 988 AD

Right after we break camp, Vera hears some hissing in the distance. Nicolae goes to investigate, once again in Wraithform, and sees about a dozen serpents, one of which is wearing a crown and tossing and catching a rock in his mouth. Anna casts Speak with Animals and speaks with the King Snake.

Anna: Hey, how you doing?
King Snake (with rock in mouth): What do you want? You'll never get the Red and White Sssssstone!
Anna: What the heck is that?
King Snake: Oh, uhhh.... nothing.
Anna: Where are you guys coming from?
King Snake: We come from Everbloom, in the north, and are in thisssssss Sssssnake Parade going sssssouth. Why do you want to know sssssso much about ussssss?
Anna: We really don't. We're just wondering. By the way, can you take the stone out of your mouth. It's hard to understand you. We really don't want your stone.

The King Snake drops the stone and coils around it.

Anna: Great. Hey, do you know of any kingdom of men up there that live in castles?
King Snake: Well, mossssst men in the north are nomadic peoplesssss and move from placcccce to placccccce in tentsssss. Nonethelesssssss, there isssss one cassssstle of men that hasssss been reccccccently overrun by giantsssssss.
Anna: Oh crap. Was this castle near a very large mountain?
King Snake: Yessssss, it issssss.
Anna: Thanks.

The snakes wait for us to leave first before they continue on their way south, the King Snake taking the stone in his mouth again. We then decide to head east towards the mouth of the River Chalice near the Baltic Sea because we think maybe King Orm and the rest have gone there after being defeated at Kebnegard.

Orm in the Distance and Giants
Sunday, May 6th, 988 AD

In the morning, Reynaldo Magic Mirrors King Orm and sees him crouching in a glen near mountainous terrain, speaking to a white-hooded male. Before the spell ends, Reynaldo sees a giant foot enter the frame and King Orm reacting to it. The party then talks about calling Hildegund to try and smooth things over so that she can take us to Orm and the others. Edward Divinates and God says that she's crazy and will not listen to reason because she thinks we've committed some kind of treason. We change direction and begin heading north-northwest again, and try to come up with a way to travel faster.

After the day's walk, during the first watch of our sleep cycle, four giants attack us. Ivan is ecstatic and quickly charges them, Toe Helmet on and ready to inspire fear. We quickly figure out that these giants are worse than normal, being able to hit two of us with one attack and kicking us as they run past to another target. We stick to two members per giant directly across from each other so that the giants' wide swings won't hit both of the members. Thalia kills two giants, and Anna and Ivan kill the other two after many Lightning Bolts, Magic Missiles, and a massive backstab from Reynaldo.

After their deaths, Ivan gleefully continues to stab the bodies and Edward explains that he can make his enchanted hammer more powerful against giants if he soaks it in their blood and medidates for twenty-four hours upon it. He collects a lot of blood in a wineskin for future use.

We move camp and the rest of the night passes uneventfully.

Traveling Faster
Monday, May 7th, 988 AD

Reynaldo Magic Mirrors King Orm again, and sees him sleeping under a tree while Thorbjorn keeps watch. Apparently, Thorbjorn detects the Magic Mirror because first he has Miaslav drop trou and moon us before Thorbjorn ends the spell.

Afterwards, we summon a bunch of horses using a combination of a Summon Animal spell, four Mount spells, and five Phantom Steed spells. We ride for eight hours until the Steeds and Mounts disappear. We march for another two hours and then stop to set up camp.

End Chapter Twenty-Five