Day Three of the Odinsleep (The Plains of Vígríðr) Part One

DAY ONE (Day Three of the Odinsleep), 9:30 am

 

Baldur departs, leaving the adventurers in the care of Oddvar Ødegaard but does not make any actual introductions.  As the group spreads out to check-out the area in preparation for the coming battle, Desmond and Raven, with Hansuke riding upon his shoulder in cat-form, seek out this Oddvar person.  They find a knot a fur-clad warriors armed with spears, axes, and hammers a short distance away.  Among the group, there is a figure dressed in long furred robes who carries a rune-carved staff.

 

Desmond clears his throat and calls out, “Oddvar?  We have questions for you.”  The staff-bearer turns and the sergeant and the elf fighter get their first good look at him.  The man is tall and broad-shouldered with a long beard tied in braids.  The feature that stands out most glaringly is that the left side of his face is gone, sheared away, leaving exposed bone and brain.  “Und I have answers for your questions!  Ask, son!  We ‘aven’t got all day to sit about jawing when there’ll soon be enemies to slay!”

 

The men around him, with the exception of the armor they wear are cut from the same cloth and all look to be related somehow, either brothers or cousins and all bear what should be fatal wounds – an arrow through the throat here, a crushed face there, one man pierced through with four shortspears.  None of these men should be up and walking, yet here they stand, preparing for a battle and laughing and joking with each other.

 

All of Desmond’s questions fly out the window and his mouth works soundlessly while his brain struggles to catch up with this new information.  Between him and Raven, all they manage to utter is a single word…”How?”

 

A chorus of laughter erupts from the dead men and several turn and head off to whatever tasks they were tending before our arrival or take long, deep pulls of mead or ale from horns hanging at their belts.  Oddvar shakes his head and approaches, “We are Einherjar – brave warriors killed in battle and granted the honor of defending Asgard against her enemies in the afterlife!  We serve from now until the coming of Ragnarok, destined to fight and die on the Plains of Vígríðr again and again if needed to preserve the sanctity our gods’ glorious home from the Halls of Valhalla!”

 

Having shaken off the initial surprise after seeing a walking, talking dead man who wasn’t trying to eat their brains, control their minds, feed on their blood, or otherwise possessed with a hatred of life only the undead can possess, Desmond and Raven get down to the task to asking questions.  Grotto walks over, the unbridled joy inspired by the impending battle and giant-killing on his face is undiminished by the sight of the dead men and he claps Raven hard on the shoulder, “We will slaughter these giants or die doing so!  Hanseath will be pleased!  Carousing and fighting at the same time!  This place has surely been blessed by Hanseath!”  The scarred dwarf looks at Oddvar’s wounds and around at the other dead men, shrugs, laughs and pulls forth his axes, “How long ‘til the fighting starts?  Daylight’s a-wasting!”

 

Meanwhile, a short distance away, Shadow casts a long-lasting flight spell upon himself and lifts just an inch or two off of the ground with his hood pulled low and remains near the center of the group, his hood still pulled low to hide his dark elven features.

 

Korbin flies around, thinking to seek out other birds like himself and while he does see ravens and crows gathering in the distance, they are too far away to make approaching them before the battle a practical option.

 

While Kysek and Ra’ziir check their gear, Drax looks out across the plain stretching out before the city.  The ground rises and falls in low hills or perhaps earthen berms would be a more apt description and are covered with what look like some sort of barley.  Bushes dot the field here and there but these are few and relatively far between so as not to provide cover for oncoming enemies.  The fields have been cleared out for miles in both directions and the only trees the assassin can see appear as a thin green line along the ground where the wall of Asgard begins to turn away from the field.  Many of the berms are lined with sharpened stakes facing the most obvious approaches and every 150’, there are knots of men (and possibly women) tending weapons and watching the fields. 

Morn and Arthur stand nearby, eyes agog at the vastness of the plain and the gathering of Gods and warriors.  Niklas joins them and begins to speak, "I wonder why they haven't taken out this Loki character? It seems that he is behind all of the attacks on this city. If this "all-knowing" Odin truly is "all-knowing", why wouldn't he have taken him out while he was still awake?"  The woodsman barely spares them any attention as he makes his last-minute preparations, checking his weapons and stringing his bow while Cedron makes the rounds amongst his friends, looking for opportunities to assist them as he is able.

After several minutes, there is the sound of a horn blowing off in the distance from somewhere to the left.  One long blast followed by three short ring out, echoing across the battlefield.  The attention of the Einherjar turns in that direction and a sense of anticipation hangs heavily over the field.  Suddenly, there is a crash of lightning followed by booming rolls of thunder and a cheer goes up among the dead warriors.  A flying chariot pulled by a pair of goats streaks by overhead, a red-maned driver who holds a warhammer in one hand is at the reins.  Cries of “Odinson!” and “Thor!” rise in a chorus as the driver pulls the chariot around and races back the way he came, lightning boiling forth from his weapon to smite enemies too far away for us to see.

Suddenly, another horn sounds, then a third, and a fourth.  Oddvar’s men bang their weapons against their shields, jumping up and down, hooting and hollering as they whip themselves into a frenzy while their leader crouches, drawing a mystic symbol in the earth.  Stones rise up from the ground and begin to spin around him in an orbit, moving so quickly they become a blur.  With one final yell and the warriors charge forth onto the field to meet a band of approaching foes.

Raven prepares to give chase but Shadow signals for him to hold back, having spotted another company of foes swiftly approaching our position along the base of the wall.  A towering giant, standing at least 50’ tall walks at the center of a knot of smaller foes – ogres the size of hill giants and swift-moving green-skinned trolls, numbering at least a dozen race toward us.

= = = = = =

• Arthur: 100% health (153 of 153);

• Bubo: 100% health (17 of 17);

• Cedron: 100% health (107 of 107);

• Desmond 100% health (147 of 147);

• Drax: 100% health (173 of 173);

• Grotto: 100% health (93 of 93);

• Hansuke: 100% health (136 of 136);

• Korbin: 100% health (82 of 82);

• Kysek: 100% health (184 of 184);

• Morn: 100% health (147 of 147);

• Niklas: 100% health (91 of 91);

• Raven: 100% health (339 of 339);

• Ra’ziir: 100% health (284 of 284);

• Shadow: 100% health (170 of 170); Overland Flight (14 hours, 49 minutes, 9 rounds remaining)

• Spewer: 100 % health (20 of 20);