Postmortem
A post-TPK, "Norsepunk" adventure
Ingredients
Window of Opportunity
Nameless Things
Weird Magic
Unlightable Lantern
Occupied Mine
Old Ways
Faster Car
And... TPK
The PCs are dead. As they teeter on the edge of oblivion, a trio of voices speaks: “We three the Norns of your births and namings. We three cast the runes, wove into your names the Wyrds pulling you ever towards this fate. We a single strand held unwoven that you might perform one task unbound by fate. Your doom may yet be unraveled, rewound, respun. Swear by your birth names to aid and it shall be so.”
If/when they agree, each voice makes a plea:
• “I am Hersker, Norn of the Wyrd Thing ruling the World Space from Møtehall-upon-Yggdrasil. Our Thing knits the Wyrds weaving history and future such that all destined to transpire does so. This duty we've performed since the Beginning; should you aid us, until the End shall we continue.”
• “I bear no name but represent a Thing that would replace the Wyrd Thing strangling the World Space with rails of iron, controlling everything touched by Yggdrasil's roots, and entrapping all named beings in their webs. With your aid shall we fill the Møtehall with a more enlightened Thing, the snarled, dark web they spin for their own ends re-knit as elegant tapestry.”
• “I and my Thing likewise bear no names, pursuing neither establishment nor replacement, but freedom. Aid us in breaking these Things seeking control from above. The Norn once again shall stand free, weaving the fates by their own wisdom. No Thing shall ever again grow so large that all futures and pasts lie upon a single loom.”
Brief
Whichever Thing the PC's choose, their spirits descend into vast space, the impossibly vast Yggdrasil dominating the center. Its upper branches hold up the starry heavens, its roots anchor in the depthless void, entire worlds and worldlets tangle in its roots. Whichever Norn they joined presents a highly skewed/propagandized version of this brief:
The Norn of the Wyrd Thing sought ever-more control and so commanded the Dvergr to build Stortlykt, the Great Lantern, hung from one of Yggdrasil's highest branches directly above the Møtehall where the Wyrd Thing assembles. They planned to shine its bright beam upon the stars, studying sidereal influences to uncover means of steering the fates of nameless creatures unaffected by Wyrd name magics.
The Norn's offspring – purposely left nameless to prevent rival Norn from using Wyrds to manipulate them – formed their own Thing and secretly built a fleet of airships. Using Stortlykt's light, they navigated the treacherous, misty expanses of the World Space, prepared to take Stortlykt for themselves and overthrow the Wyrd Thing. The ruling Møtehall Norn unearthed this betrayal with no time to spare, desperately weaving a Wyrd preventing any being called Norn, Dvergr, or Jotun from entering Stortlykt. Their cannon fire shattered the Lantern's windows and the howling, high-altitude winds snuffed its flames.
Their now-unguided fleet scattered and lost in the mists, the nameless Thing fractured in tween: one Thing seeking means to relight Stortlykt and relaunch the assault, the second seeking Stortlykt and Møtehall's complete destruction.
Unbeknownst to the PCs, whichever Things they didn't join foresaw their decision. Two of greatest foes the PCs have ever slain accepted similar offers...
Race
Each faction possesses unique transportation:
The Møtehall controls a vast, run-down network of railways built atop Yggdrasil's roots. The team (PCs or returned foes) working for them descend to a dilapidated train station at Yggdrasil's base. Given a locomotive engine plus coal and passenger cars, they're ordered to the Stålholder Mine to replenish stocks of golden thread depleted warding Stortlykt. Thread gold obtained, they must return, enter Stortlykt, and add the Møtehall Norn's names to the gilt runes to allow members of the Wyrd Thing entry and control of Stortlykt.
Rail perils: railways sabotaged by the other Things or worn by age, confusing tangles of rail junctures, attacks by airships/chariots(see below), coal spillage/depletion, overheated locomotives, hungry railway-bridge trolls, rebellious Dvergr/Jotun engineers/servants.
Those working for the “Enlightened Thing” materialize aboard a rugged airship, its single long car snugged tight against the balloon frame while many wing-mounted propellers jut from each side. They must fly to Stålholder, moor their ship, obtain a rare radioactive ore that glows far brighter than any bonfire, somehow contain it, navigate to Yggdrasil
, enter through the Lantern's broken windows, place the ore inside the mirrored chamber, and hold until the fleet arrives.
Air perils: ever-changing hurricane-force wind currents, thick mist banks crawling with nightmare creatures and beguiling illusions, sabotage/infiltration by rival Thing agents, balloon punctures, broken rigging, falls.
Those aiding the “Freedom Thing” form on a remote worldlet, there given chariots like those used by the Norn before the Møtehall built the railways. Train tracks cover the tops every root strong enough to support them, forcing adaptation. Yggdrasil's wood contains dense quantities of iron for strength so the chariots now utilize strongly magnetic ores for horseshoes and chariot-wheel rims, allowing them to ride any side of the highly-ferric roots. Magnetic hobnails keep riders stuck to the chariot cars' iron floors.
Their team must race to the Stålholder, obtain rare rivestål ore whose metal – seversteel – is capable of cutting anything, forge an ax, then push on to Yggdrasil to sever the branch supporting Stortlykt. When it falls, it should also crush the Møtehall and break the Wyrd Thing.
Charioteering perils: weak/narrow roots, misleading shortcuts, exhausted horses, lost wheels/horseshoes/hobnails (especially while riding upside-down), attacks by airships, Jotun soldiers, armored tank-trains.
Mechanics
Each Thing's team needs 20 progress to travel from Start→Stålholder then 20 more for Stålholder→Yggdrasil/Stortlykt.
Each roll, players may select a speed from d4(slow/careful) to d12(fast/reckless). On even rolls, they make that much progress. On odds, they
instead face a peril with higher numbers being more dangerous/depleting.
Whenever the PCs roll, the GM makes a roll for both other Things' teams. Instead of facing an encounter/difficulty on odd numbers, rival teams add odd roll results to their strain. When strain passes 20, that team must recuperate, skipping the next roll to recover 10 strain.
Leaked glimpses and rumors of other teams' progress will increase tension and urgency.
Stålholder
The Stålholder's worldlet hangs tangled in the Yggdrasil's roots. Rich in strange, valuable ores, it forms a critical component of the World Space's economy. When PCs arrive, they find entire clans of Jotun worked half-to-death by the oppressive Møtehall gathered from all across the World Space to occupy Stålholder in protest, convincing the Dvergr miners to strike and join them. They swear they won't leave until Møtehall listens to their demands for wealth redistribution, fairer economic and political policies, and accountability for Wyrd abuses. To enter/exit/navigate Stålholder's works, PCs must negotiate with, fight, sneak past, enlisted the help of, or otherwise bypass them.
Once inside, what they search for depends on their Thing.
Wyrd Thing: extract golden ore then mold it to threads. Optionally, also procure red coal to boost their train's speed.
“Radioactive Thing”: find the radioactive ore, extract and contain it safely. An occupying Dvergr miner suggests they rig it into the airship's turbine for a faster, if far more volatile, means of propulsion.
“Seversteel Thing”: obtain rivestål ore, forge a seversteel ax. Optionally, also collect a more-highly magnetized ore to reshoe horses and re-rim the worn chariot metals to speed future progress.
Stålholder perils: gas pockets, angry Jotun vandals/looters/saboteurs/rioters, hostile Dvergr miners, cave trolls, draugar, crumbling tunnels, agents from both other Thing's teams racing through the mine on their own missions and/or sabotaging PC efforts.
Once they've obtained what they came for, the race is on to Stortlykt. Teams taking one roll's-worth of time to upgrade their transportation (red coal/nuclear turbine/re-shoeing and -rimming) may roll d20(faster/crazy) on the leg to Yggdrasil.
Stortlykt
Statistically, the PCs will likely arrive with the other teams a few race rolls behind, giving them a short span to work at their goals before the others arrive.
If rival teams arrive first, roll d10 per PC race roll and, on evens, complete one task (below). PCs splitting up to interfere with other team(s) plans might halt or delay them, giving the PCs an opportunity to complete their own tasks.
Whenever PCs invest significant time in a task while at Yggdrasil, make a race roll for the other teams. Upon arrival, rival teams split between hindering PCs and completing their own tasks.
Wyrd Thing Tasks
• ascend Yggdrasill via cramped tunnels, malfunctioning elevators, rickety, windblown, exposed stairways
• descend the massive chain supporting Stortlykt
• ritually inlay golden runes into the lantern chamber
“
Airship Thing” Tasks
• evade defensive flak from Yggdrasil
• enter a broken window in extreme wind
• install the radioactive stone and hold until the fleet arrives
“
Chariot Thing” Tasks
• breakneck ride up Yggdrasill amid fire from platforms/branches
• reach Stortlykt's branch, find the weakest point, begin chopping
• hold position until it's severed
On success, PCs are returned to several minutes before their TPK.
If another team succeeds first, the PC's Thing demands another task...