Voadam
Legend
Iskloft - Grim Viking 5E
5e
Aptrgangr, Again-Walker: The dead do not want to return. However, if they are wronged, if their barrows are desecrated, their possessions taken, some may return to mete out terrible vengeance. Alternatively, there are magics in the world that can force a soul to return to Iskloft. Charged with a mission, it must complete this task before it can return to Corpse Hall. This is the aptrgangr (literally again-walker), a soul that has returned to its body to exact some kind of vengeance or task.
The dead take with them what lies in their barrows. The reason a warrior is buried with their armour and weapons is so that when they get to the Corpse Hall, they have the things they need. The wealth and other items in their barrow belong to the dead. The barrow itself, or grave, must be tightly sealed. If it is broken, and items are taken, the aptrgangr rises, and will not rest until it has slain the thief, and taken back what it owns.
The aptrgangr only returns under two circumstances. The first is that something has been disturbed at its grave-site. The second however, is more insidious. With enough time and dark purpose, powerful seiðr can create such a creature and bind it to their will with oaths.
The presence of a draugr causes death to seep into Iskloft, to spread its icy tentacles all throughout the draugr’s domain. Surrounding itself with aptrgangr raised by its own hand, it rules as a king in its domain of death. Some say that a draugr can deny a soul entry to Valhalla, that having been ripped from that holy place, it instead binds the souls of those who die near it into undead servitude.
Any creature that dies within the draugr’s domain will rise again as a shambling, mindless thing, unquestioningly loyal to the draugr. They will attack any living creatures who dare to enter the domain.
Beckon Aptrgangr Seiðkona ritual.
Undead Servant: ?
Shambling Mindless Thing: Any creature that dies within the draugr’s domain will rise again as a shambling, mindless thing, unquestioningly loyal to the draugr. They will attack any living creatures who dare to enter the domain.
Draugr: No one is sure why the draugr return to Midgard, but when they do, they can devastate whole regions.
Zombie: ?
Skeleton: ?
Animated Dead: ?
Undead: ?
Shade: ?
Wraith: ?
Restless Spirit: ?
Ghost: ?
Restless Dead: ?
Beckon Aptrgangr
Casting Time: 10 days
Range: Self
Components: a dead body, blubber, a wolfskin, leather, coal,
mother’s milk, a loyal hound, a dead person’s name
Duration: Until the task is carried out
You try to create an undead servant, one of the most profane rituals known to humanity. Over ten days, you must find a dead body and dig it up using only your left hand. You must then lick the body clean, before filling the inside of the body with blubber or some other fat. If the body has no skin, you must apply it to the inside of the bones. Thereafter you must place the coal in the centre of the body, tightly wrap the bones in leather, then drop a mouthful of mother’s milk into the corpse’s mouth. Finally, you seal the body within the wolfskin, placing the loyal hound inside and sealing them both up.
You must spend three days and nights chanting over the body, beseeching the dead person by chanting their name, to return and complete a task for you. If the previous steps have been done carefully, at the end of the tenth day at midnight, the wolfskin will split open, and the corpse will rise.
The corpse is an aptrgangr and is bound to complete one task for you. The task can be anything that the aptrgangr could reasonably complete, but here are some suggestions:
Go to a specific place and deliver a message to a specific person
Kill a specific person
Fetch a thing from a specific location
The aptrgangr does not stop, does not sleep and does not rest. It will kill anything that gets in its way or tries to stop it. The sight of undead in Iskloft is one of the most horrifying things that people could imagine, so sending it on a long way to complete a task will likely create great chaos in the world.
Once the task is complete, the aptrgangr will cease to be animated and its soul will return to whence it came. However, this process is taxing on your soul, and once the aptrgangr completes its task, or is killed in the process, you suffer four levels of exhaustion and age 1d10 years.
5e
Aptrgangr, Again-Walker: The dead do not want to return. However, if they are wronged, if their barrows are desecrated, their possessions taken, some may return to mete out terrible vengeance. Alternatively, there are magics in the world that can force a soul to return to Iskloft. Charged with a mission, it must complete this task before it can return to Corpse Hall. This is the aptrgangr (literally again-walker), a soul that has returned to its body to exact some kind of vengeance or task.
The dead take with them what lies in their barrows. The reason a warrior is buried with their armour and weapons is so that when they get to the Corpse Hall, they have the things they need. The wealth and other items in their barrow belong to the dead. The barrow itself, or grave, must be tightly sealed. If it is broken, and items are taken, the aptrgangr rises, and will not rest until it has slain the thief, and taken back what it owns.
The aptrgangr only returns under two circumstances. The first is that something has been disturbed at its grave-site. The second however, is more insidious. With enough time and dark purpose, powerful seiðr can create such a creature and bind it to their will with oaths.
The presence of a draugr causes death to seep into Iskloft, to spread its icy tentacles all throughout the draugr’s domain. Surrounding itself with aptrgangr raised by its own hand, it rules as a king in its domain of death. Some say that a draugr can deny a soul entry to Valhalla, that having been ripped from that holy place, it instead binds the souls of those who die near it into undead servitude.
Any creature that dies within the draugr’s domain will rise again as a shambling, mindless thing, unquestioningly loyal to the draugr. They will attack any living creatures who dare to enter the domain.
Beckon Aptrgangr Seiðkona ritual.
Undead Servant: ?
Shambling Mindless Thing: Any creature that dies within the draugr’s domain will rise again as a shambling, mindless thing, unquestioningly loyal to the draugr. They will attack any living creatures who dare to enter the domain.
Draugr: No one is sure why the draugr return to Midgard, but when they do, they can devastate whole regions.
Zombie: ?
Skeleton: ?
Animated Dead: ?
Undead: ?
Shade: ?
Wraith: ?
Restless Spirit: ?
Ghost: ?
Restless Dead: ?
Beckon Aptrgangr
Casting Time: 10 days
Range: Self
Components: a dead body, blubber, a wolfskin, leather, coal,
mother’s milk, a loyal hound, a dead person’s name
Duration: Until the task is carried out
You try to create an undead servant, one of the most profane rituals known to humanity. Over ten days, you must find a dead body and dig it up using only your left hand. You must then lick the body clean, before filling the inside of the body with blubber or some other fat. If the body has no skin, you must apply it to the inside of the bones. Thereafter you must place the coal in the centre of the body, tightly wrap the bones in leather, then drop a mouthful of mother’s milk into the corpse’s mouth. Finally, you seal the body within the wolfskin, placing the loyal hound inside and sealing them both up.
You must spend three days and nights chanting over the body, beseeching the dead person by chanting their name, to return and complete a task for you. If the previous steps have been done carefully, at the end of the tenth day at midnight, the wolfskin will split open, and the corpse will rise.
The corpse is an aptrgangr and is bound to complete one task for you. The task can be anything that the aptrgangr could reasonably complete, but here are some suggestions:
Go to a specific place and deliver a message to a specific person
Kill a specific person
Fetch a thing from a specific location
The aptrgangr does not stop, does not sleep and does not rest. It will kill anything that gets in its way or tries to stop it. The sight of undead in Iskloft is one of the most horrifying things that people could imagine, so sending it on a long way to complete a task will likely create great chaos in the world.
Once the task is complete, the aptrgangr will cease to be animated and its soul will return to whence it came. However, this process is taxing on your soul, and once the aptrgangr completes its task, or is killed in the process, you suffer four levels of exhaustion and age 1d10 years.
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