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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 8249284" data-attributes="member: 2209"><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/175365/The-Northlands-Saga-Complete-Swords-and-Wizardry-Edition?affiliate_id=17596" target="_blank">The Northlands Saga Complete Swords and Wizardry Edition</a>Swords & WizardryBaykok: Baykoks are flying corpses of hunters whose pursuit of game in the Northlands has tainted their souls to continue their passion long after death. Blood Eagle: A form of torture and execution known as the blood-eagle was long ago outlawed in the Northlands, according to legend at the time when the ancestors of the modern Northlanders first arrived in the Vale. The act was considered too barbarous and devoid of honor and mind’s-worth to be tolerated within Northlander culture, and when discovered its practice resulted in the execution by burning of the offender to completely remove such a twisted and darkened soul from further corrupting Northlander society. Nevertheless, there continue to exist a few individuals depraved or wicked enough to conduct this practice, and the combined animus of the Northlander conscience sometimes causes the victims to return to horrid unlife in outrage over the injustice done them. The act of the blood-eagle involves forcing the victim facedown on the ground or a sacrificial altar. The victim’s back is then opened with a blade to expose the ribcage beneath. The ribs are broken where they connect to the spinal column and the sides of the ribcage then opened in opposite directions out from the back to simulate bloodstained wings. The victim’s lungs were then likewise pulled out through these gaping wounds in his back. Sometimes the wounds were salted to add a further level of cruelty, but it normally didn’t matter as the victim had usually long-since expired from blood loss, shock, or suffocation. Execution in this manner was considered a coward’s death that consigned the victim to the shadowy realm of Hel rather than the warriors’ halls of Valhalla. As a result, when it is performed upon a Northlander there is a 10% chance that the victim’s troubled soul reanimates the corpse as a blood eagle 1d4 rounds later. A risen blood eagle usually seeks vengeance upon its executioner, but in these times after the practice was forbidden, the ceremony is usually not performed in the name of justice but by a necromancer or one with similar powers specifically in order to raise the blood eagle and gain command of it. Bog Hag: In ages past when the Andøvan ruled the region, those ancients would sacrifice to their gods by throwing bound captives into deep kettle ponds and letting them drown. Thus, the bog lands of the Northlands are often the home to bog mummies and, worse, the dreaded bog hag. Bog hags are wretched creatures, their hair and skin, as well as their clothes, corrupted by their own hatred as well as centuries in a stagnant pond. Their bodies have withered, except where the waters have grotesquely swollen them, and their skin is stretched taut or hangs in loose folds. These former sacrificial victims have come to hate all life, for to become a bog hag one must have been sacrificed unwillingly. Bog Horse: A bog horse is the animated corpse of an animal sacrificed by the Andøvan to their gods in ages past by being cast into a bog and allowed to slowly sink to its watery death. Most such beasts become rotting corpses in short time, eventually dissolving entirely in the fetid pools. Those that end up in bogs that create a bog hag find themselves brought back from death into a state of undeath, summoned from their stagnant graves to carry their bog hag mistresses across the dry world. Bog Hound: Much like the bog hag and bog horse, bog hounds were sacrificed by the ancient Andøvans by drowning them in fetid pools of water. The Andøvans seemed to either not know what undead horrors they were producing, or they simply didn’t care, for some of their victims rose from the dead with hearts full of vengeance. Even small dogs sacrificed in this way swelled with evil and corruption, so that all bog hounds are the size of a war dog. Winterwight: ?Witchfire: ?Kraki Haraldson, High Koenig, Wight: ?Folkmar: His downfall came as he was aging, his old wounds catching up to him and driving him to increasingly more desperate acts. His men began to drift away, for there was less and less reward for the increasing risk, and it is hard for an old man to recruit young warriors to his cause when all he has to offer is a lifetime of pillaging. Finally, Folkmar sailed his ship to Yrsa’s Rock and attempted to force the daughter of Skuld to extend his life and give back his youth. Needless to say, he was less than heroic in his endeavor, and instead of being rewarded, Folkmar was cursed for having the temerity to make demands of a child of the gods. For all eternity, he would live, but he would continue to age, as would his ship and his men, cursed to rot yet remain alive. Thus, he does to this day, an undead apparition of moldering bones leading a crew of rotted men. Rotted Man: His downfall came as he was aging, his old wounds catching up to him and driving him to increasingly more desperate acts. His men began to drift away, for there was less and less reward for the increasing risk, and it is hard for an old man to recruit young warriors to his cause when all he has to offer is a lifetime of pillaging. Finally, Folkmar sailed his ship to Yrsa’s Rock and attempted to force the daughter of Skuld to extend his life and give back his youth. Needless to say, he was less than heroic in his endeavor, and instead of being rewarded, Folkmar was cursed for having the temerity to make demands of a child of the gods. For all eternity, he would live, but he would continue to age, as would his ship and his men, cursed to rot yet remain alive. Thus, he does to this day, an undead apparition of moldering bones leading a crew of rotted men. Barrow King: ?Spirit of the Slave Master: During the fall of the prince, the slaves ran amok and broke in here to slay their cruel master. He was hacked apart in his bed, and his remains still lay there, frozen beneath the snow-dusted blankets. His spirit haunts this room. Frozen Acolyte of Althuank: ?Frozen Temple Guards: ?Ghastly High Priest of Althunak: During the chaos of the fall of the prince, these two loyalists were lured in here and quickly entombed by the locking of the sturdy storehouse doors. They died after consuming the last of the supplies but have been blessed by their demon lord with undeath. Ghastly Temple Guard Captain: During the chaos of the fall of the prince, these two loyalists were lured in here and quickly entombed by the locking of the sturdy storehouse doors. They died after consuming the last of the supplies but have been blessed by their demon lord with undeath. Ghastly Servant of Althunak: During the chaos of the fall of the prince, these two loyalists were lured in here and quickly entombed by the locking of the sturdy storehouse doors. They died after consuming the last of the supplies but have been blessed by their demon lord with undeath. Sea Ghoul: ?Wraith, Hvram Kalsong the Third: Anyone disturbing the skulls or boulders, or basically doing anything other than looking at the murals, awakens the sleeping souls of the deceased and causes them to rise as 3 wraiths. Wraith, She of the Fair Eyes: Anyone disturbing the skulls or boulders, or basically doing anything other than looking at the murals, awakens the sleeping souls of the deceased and causes them to rise as 3 wraiths. Wraith, Hvram the Half-Born: Anyone disturbing the skulls or boulders, or basically doing anything other than looking at the murals, awakens the sleeping souls of the deceased and causes them to rise as 3 wraiths. Kelvani, Fetch: Althunak chooses approximately this moment to unleash the rest of his curse. The ice encasing Kelvani cracks open, and he rises as a fetch. Kaliope, Glacial Haunt: Unfortunately of the many heroes of old who died here, not all sleep well, troubled by the wickedness of Althunak that stirs once again across these frozen plains. The woman Kaliope now exists as a special, and very powerful, glacial haunt. The Wight of Sven Oakenfist, the Jarl of the Seas, the Ravager of the Cymu Islands, Terror of Gatland, Estenfird, Hordaland, and the Vale, Slayer of a Thousand Men, He Who Broke the Back of Kathisizk the Great Serpent of the Sea, Reaver of the Dnipir River, The Bloody-Handed Horror of Seagestreland, Unique Wraith: Sixty years ago, a viking named Sven Oakenfist was famed as a great warrior and a man touched by otherworldly powers. His grandfather was none other than Wotan himself, and his grandmother was an uncommonly comely milkmaid of Gatland who unwittingly tempted the All Father with her beauty. While by no means an immortal scion or demigod in his own right, this lineage did give Sven a spark of divinity and an inhuman courage and ferocity in battle, even allowing him to turn himself into a man-wolf when in the throes of a consuming passion for bloodletting. He led a band of Ulfhandars, savage berserkers who laid their hearts at the feet of Wotan’s darker nature in return for martial prowess and spiritual fulfillment. Sven and his men pillaged and plundered their way across the Northlands in their longship, the Terror of the North, taking great pride in their divine patronage and “heroic” deeds.While raiding a fishing village along the coast of Estenfird, a peasant boy named Anud fatally stabbed Sven in the back. In his last moments, Sven cursed the boy with prosperity, with wealth, and with fame, for all of sixty-six years, so that in the end, Sven’s wight could come and take it away before Anud’s very eyes. Skeletal Housecarl: ?The Shadow of Death, Shadow Bear: In centuries past when the skraelings were more numerous in the western forests, they came to be preyed upon by a beast of terrible savagery and power. It tore through entire villages in its bloodlust before the skraeling tribes managed to trap it within a cave in the Wolf Cairn Mountains where it slowly succumbed to starvation. The beast did not sleep well, though, and on some nights it slips out of its cavern tomb as a shadow of its former self to prey upon those it catches wandering its former woodland home. Ekimmu Icebound: The godi was killed when he was caught here by the flash freezing that the chamber underwent. Unfortunately, the horrific death and omnipresent taint of Althunak that Hengrid left upon the hall has caused the godi’s spirit to not rest easy.Brykolakes: Hengrid was heedless of the danger when she arrived here during a storm and drove her ship straight into the beach, causing its beam to snap and many of her crewman to be thrown overboard to drown in the lashing seas. These dead crewman now exist under the waves as 8 brykolakases. Winterwight, The First Winter King: The wendigo unleashes a single howl from a distance of 120ft, requiring those inside and outside the mound to make a save or be panicked for 1d4+4 rounds. It then swoops into the mound, past the startled characters, and sinks directly into the seated skeleton. This animates the headless First Winter King as a winterwight. Ghost, Bvalin the Ageless: Though Hengrid dragged the dying Bvalin into this chamber and tied his blade in hand before killing him by nailing him to the statue, the guardian’s duties did not end with his death. Bvalin’s oath to Gunnlöd to guard the Gates of Hell until Ragnarök prevents him from departing the mortal world. He remains here guarding the gate as a ghost. Death Naga, Hlundel: A great beast from the Ginnungagap called Hlundel challenged Wotan to battle for control of the mead hall of Valhalla. If Hlundel won, he would devour the souls of the warriors found within Valhalla like the serpent Nidhogg feasts on the corpses of adulterers, murders, and oath-breakers. Wotan defeated the beast in battle and cast it down to the Middle World where it was buried under a hill called Skirnyth Crull.Juju Zombie, Hróarr Skjálgr: These are the Skjálgr Brothers, the last-known victims of Hlundel.The Skjálgr Brothers were powerful warriors from deep in the Olf Mountains that lived generations ago. It was said that they had the blood of trolls and stood as giants among men. They sought the power that could be had at the testing upon Skirnyth Crull and climbed the hill to claim it. They were never seen again. A primordial creature known only as Hlundel was buried beneath Skirnyth Crull. The accursed creature longs to escape the prison imposed upon it by Wotan. A mortal who dares can ascend the hill to challenge Hlundel to a battle called the Test of Hlundel. Great glory awaits the victor. Those who are defeated join Hlundel in his cursed corpse-hall beneath the hill. With every victory over its challengers, Hlundel grows closer to breaking free from its earthly prison. The troll-kin brothers, Hróarr and Örn Skjálgr came to Skirnyth Crull to take the Test of Hlundel nearly two centuries ago. They climbed the hill at sunset and were never seen again. Juju Zombie, Örn Skjálgr: These are the Skjálgr Brothers, the last-known victims of Hlundel.The Skjálgr Brothers were powerful warriors from deep in the Olf Mountains that lived generations ago. It was said that they had the blood of trolls and stood as giants among men. They sought the power that could be had at the testing upon Skirnyth Crull and climbed the hill to claim it. They were never seen again. A primordial creature known only as Hlundel was buried beneath Skirnyth Crull. The accursed creature longs to escape the prison imposed upon it by Wotan. A mortal who dares can ascend the hill to challenge Hlundel to a battle called the Test of Hlundel. Great glory awaits the victor. Those who are defeated join Hlundel in his cursed corpse-hall beneath the hill. With every victory over its challengers, Hlundel grows closer to breaking free from its earthly prison. The troll-kin brothers, Hróarr and Örn Skjálgr came to Skirnyth Crull to take the Test of Hlundel nearly two centuries ago. They climbed the hill at sunset and were never seen again. Death Knight, Islaug the Breathless: He introduces himself and explains that after he was ousted as an old man from the Jomsking’s throne, he and his few loyal crewmen were set afloat from the Jomsburg in a leaky longship without sail, oar, food, or water. He tells how they drifted for 8 months upon the seas until their half-sunken boat came to rest in the swamps of Mulstabha. They should have long been dead but for the gift of the Dark God of the Jomsvikings who gave him and his officers the gift of immortality, and changed the strongest among his crew who were willing to do whatever was necessary to survive, including develop an appetite that could sustain them beyond the grave (here he gestures and the ghouls step from their side passages).Undead: ?Banshee: ?Ghost: ?Ghoul: The first chamber is where the thralls most loyal to the Jarl of the Seas brought the grave goods that would see him through a long afterlife. Their reward was to be strangled and placed here, perpetual servants of a madman. He introduces himself and explains that after he was ousted as an old man from the Jomsking’s throne, he and his few loyal crewmen were set afloat from the Jomsburg in a leaky longship without sail, oar, food, or water. He tells how they drifted for 8 months upon the seas until their half-sunken boat came to rest in the swamps of Mulstabha. They should have long been dead but for the gift of the Dark God of the Jomsvikings who gave him and his officers the gift of immortality, and changed the strongest among his crew who were willing to do whatever was necessary to survive, including develop an appetite that could sustain them beyond the grave (here he gestures and the ghouls step from their side passages).Ghast: ?Shadow: ?Skeleton: However, the statuette is mounted on a vertical ice rod that can be broken if the skull is not lifted directly upward (and even then, a delicate tasks roll must be made successfully). If the ice rod breaks, it sets off a magical alarm that can be heard ringing throughout this level of the palace. This also immediately animates 6 skeletons that spring from the bas-reliefs to attack.Spectre: ?Vampire: ?Wight: All that remains of the former sealing camp are the bones of several seals and fifteen cairns of stone carefully mounded facing the sea. It would be a great sacrilege to disturb these stones, especially if the intention is to loot them. If some foolish character should attempt this, any Northlander NPCs become not only hostile but violently so. Furthermore, any disturbed dead have a 50% chance to rise as wights within 1d2 days, seeking out those who committed the sacrilege. Wraith: Anyone disturbing the skulls or boulders, or basically doing anything other than looking at the murals, awakens the sleeping souls of the deceased and causes them to rise as 3 wraiths. Zombie: Six slaves who died here during the punishment of Uth’ilopiq have risen as 6 zombies and still shuffle around in the debris. Apparition: Apparitions are undead spirits of creatures that died as the result of an accident. The twist of fate that ended their life prematurely has driven them totally and completely to the side of evil. When the palace was abandoned, the prisoners were left here. In a few days, they were themselves forced into cannibalism to eke out one more day. This pleased Althunak, and he “blessed” them with undeath and eternal hunger. Less than a quarter mile into the pass, the characters come upon the decayed bodies of 3 skraeling warriors and 12 women and children. They appear to have been left to the elements for some time, and are little more than bones covered in places with flesh cracking with dry rot. Strangely, they appear to have been left unmolested by scavengers; their bodies remain whole and their equipment remains with them. Examining the corpses can discern no cause of death. They were actually killed by a release of gas from the lake after a landslide over a year ago. Since the gas that killed them was carbon dioxide, it did not leave any residue to be detected as poison. The skraelings superstitiously avoid the corpses — they do not know the cause but these are not the first they have found over the years — and local scavengers tend to avoid the pass as well out of instinct. The arrival of Half-Face in the valley has disturbed the peace of these skraelings, and the warriors have arisen as 3 apparitions Shadow Bear: ?Crucifixion Spirit: The Jomsvikings used this as a torture chamber where they could question prisoners before the Jomsking Ût had these activities moved into the tower for his personal amusement. Since then, the room has fallen into disuse and its last victim left hanging where he died. This victim has now risen as a crucifixion spirit, an incorporeal image of the prisoner as he appeared in death that suddenly steps from the wall and attacks interlopers. Bog Mummy: Humanoids killed by a bog mummy rise as bog mummies themselves in 1d4 days unless their bodies are removed from the swamp or a cure disease spell is cast on the corpse. In ages past when the Andøvan ruled the region, those ancients would sacrifice to their gods by throwing bound captives into deep kettle ponds and letting them drown. Thus, the bog lands of the Northlands are often the home to bog mummies and, worse, the dreaded bog hag. Long ago, before the Beast Cult took over this site, the original builders placed their honored dead in this bog as sacrifices to their own fell gods. These dead remain, and are now thralls of the cult, rising up as 2 bog mummies every 60ft that the characters travel to kill and drag down trespassers. Glacial Haunt: Humans who freeze to death in the icy wastes may rise as undead glacial haunts, resembling zombies. Brine Zombie: Zombies of those who have drowned, with a certain resistance to fire. Brine zombies are the remnants of a ship’s crew that has perished at sea. Storms are swift and sudden on the North Sea, and these gales have left the wrack of many a longship of doughty warriors upon some desolate shore or at the bottom of Rán’s domain. As a result, ghost ships crewed by draug and worse haunt the campfire tales of many a stalwart sword brother, and it is not unknown for brine zombies to rise from the surf on a foggy coastal night. Manning the ship are the common crew of the Jarl of the Seas, a group of wretched men caught in the death curse and fated to continue their existence long after they should have passed to whatever afterlife awaited them. Juju Zombie: Unfortunately, these are actually all Mulstabhin prisoners that have already been sacrificed and now exist as 48 juju zombies created by the devouring mist that lurks within the barrel marked with an asterisk on the map. If the characters manage to destroy Mulstabha’s Black Heart, all of the juju zombies and the devouring mist are instantly destroyed as undead that were created using the stone. Draug: Storms are swift and sudden on the North Sea, and these gales have left the wrack of many a longship of doughty warriors upon some desolate shore or at the bottom of Rán’s domain. As a result, ghost ships crewed by draug and worse haunt the campfire tales of many a stalwart sword brother, and it is not unknown for brine zombies to rise from the surf on a foggy coastal night. Fetch Horde: Loptr sent agents to slay every inhabitant of Mir and set up a special reception for the characters. Fetch: If the fetch horde is broken up (reduced to 0hp), 2d6 fetch survive and attack the characters until destroyed. Greater Shadow: ?Lacedon, Aquatic Ghoul: Brykolakes's Create Spawn power.Eyeless Filcher: ?Spider Lich: ?Devouring Mist: A stretch of road that leads more or less toward Jem Karteis — at least for a short way — has been used by the Mulstabhins to dispose of and make an example out of many Northlander prisoners that they were able to take in the fighting over the many months of Njal’s invasion. The first hint that the characters will have of this abominable sight will be what appears to be rows of thin, dead, branchless trees growing along either side of the dirt track. As the characters get closer, they see that it is actually ranks of wooden poles ranging in height from 8ft to just over 15ft, and atop each of them is a single skull or the desiccated remains of a bearded Northlander head. Upon getting closer still, the characters see that at the base of each of these poles is the skeletal or desiccated corpse of a Northlander warrior, spread eagle on the ground and held in place by stakes before being ritually disemboweled. Afterward, each of the sacrificed corpses was beheaded and its head mounted on the pole that stands where the corpse’s head should actually be. There are several hundred of these corpses lining either side of this road for almost a mile, fresher corpses lying closer to the city and older corpses lying farther away. Anyone seeing this foul desecration can recall that this is similar to how the murdered citizens of Hrolfsberg were found. The staking to the ground and ritual disemboweling is a form of human sacrifice, likely to some evil deity or power (if the characters identified the footprints found at The Killing Fields above, then they may be starting to get some inkling of the true situation in Mulstabha). However, the beheading and mounting of the warriors’ heads is something different entirely — like some sort of second religious tradition tacked onto the first. Some of Mulstabha’s legendary diviners use the heads of their slain enemies as a sort of divinatory power. But the ritual sacrifice of the sort displayed here and previously in Hrolfsberg is not something typical of the Mulstabhins’ religious practices. The fact of the matter is that, like the citizens of Hrolfsberg, the reason and method of the sacrifice of these many Northlander prisoners is a part of the obeisance practiced by the vile Huun for their dark deity Nergal in order to bring them further victory in their conquest, though the characters do not yet have any way of knowing this. The decapitation and head mounting is a part of the Mulstabhin tradition of diviners known as deathspeakers, oracles who claim to receive divine revelation through consorting with the dead. The Grand Necromancer (see Area E in Chapter 1) is ostensibly the head of this tradition, though in truth the one who holds that position is often not a diviner at all (as in the case of Shith Kalhe) and holds only an honorary title as such with the deathspeakers. Like the astrology-based ephemerides, the deathspeakers use their divinatory powers for the masters of Mulstabha to further the interests of their city-state. In regards to this particular display of the deathspeakers’ practice, the Nergal-worshipping priests of the Huun didn’t care where the sacrifices were carried out so long as they were conducted to honor their foul god. It was the prophecy of a deathspeaker who stated that if the Northlander prisoners were sacrificed along this particular road and their spirits made accessible to the death oracles of the city, then once the road of corpses had reached a certain length the war against the Northlanders would be won. Unfortunately, the deathspeakers and ephemerides couldn’t agree on exactly what length the “Road of Souls” — as they called it — had to be to fulfill the oracle’s prophecy, so for nearly a year a deathspeaker has remained at this site daily consulting the spirits of the dead to find the answer and the means to finally defeat the Northlanders. A deathspeaker remains at the site even now, walking among the poles and using a hooked staff to carefully bring down one skull after another to seek to gain its secret knowledge. It just so happens that the deathspeaker here today is the most powerful member of the order and second only to the Grand Necromancer in rank, so important are the current portents believed to be. When the characters arrive, he spots them unless they are particularly stealthy and attempts to hide among the ranks of poles. If spotted and attacked, he taps upon the necromantic power inherent to this site and calls forth the host of cursed spirits that have been trapped here by the foul work of the Huun and the deathspeakers. These spirits rise as a devouring mist composed of motes of negative energy that are equal parts necromancy and malice that fight for the deathspeaker. At the Road of Souls, Deathspeaker Artrais can call forth the spirits of the sacrificed Northlander dead. This takes a full round but cannot be disrupted by attacks or damage. On the following round, the spirits of the dead Northlanders rise as a devouring mist under the control of the deathspeaker. Victims of a devouring mist turn into devouring mist in 1d4 rounds.If the characters manage to destroy Mulstabha’s Black Heart, all of the juju zombies and the devouring mist are instantly destroyed as undead that were created using the stone. Mohrg: ?Flenser Huntmaster: ?Ghoul Dire Wolf: ?Hanged Man: ?Cadaver Lord: ?Skeleton Warrior: He introduces himself and explains that after he was ousted as an old man from the Jomsking’s throne, he and his few loyal crewmen were set afloat from the Jomsburg in a leaky longship without sail, oar, food, or water. He tells how they drifted for 8 months upon the seas until their half-sunken boat came to rest in the swamps of Mulstabha. They should have long been dead but for the gift of the Dark God of the Jomsvikings who gave him and his officers the gift of immortality, and changed the strongest among his crew who were willing to do whatever was necessary to survive, including develop an appetite that could sustain them beyond the grave (here he gestures and the ghouls step from their side passages). Crimson Ghoul: He introduces himself and explains that after he was ousted as an old man from the Jomsking’s throne, he and his few loyal crewmen were set afloat from the Jomsburg in a leaky longship without sail, oar, food, or water. He tells how they drifted for 8 months upon the seas until their half-sunken boat came to rest in the swamps of Mulstabha. They should have long been dead but for the gift of the Dark God of the Jomsvikings who gave him and his officers the gift of immortality, and changed the strongest among his crew who were willing to do whatever was necessary to survive, including develop an appetite that could sustain them beyond the grave (here he gestures and the ghouls step from their side passages).Skeleton Horde: This is the army brought forth by Islaug the Breathless from the now-exposed tunnels of the bitumen mines that ran underneath the field of battle. It is composed primarily of skeletons and zombies, all of which are stained black with long exposure to the bitumen mines, and more than a few of which are actually still on fire from the explosion. Assorted ghouls and more intelligent undead are mixed among these hordes, but not enough to constitute an army of their own or change the overall complexion of these armies. Zombie Horde: This is the army brought forth by Islaug the Breathless from the now-exposed tunnels of the bitumen mines that ran underneath the field of battle. It is composed primarily of skeletons and zombies, all of which are stained black with long exposure to the bitumen mines, and more than a few of which are actually still on fire from the explosion. Assorted ghouls and more intelligent undead are mixed among these hordes, but not enough to constitute an army of their own or change the overall complexion of these armies.</blockquote>

Verification