Trouble in Somerlisse is a Savage Worlds campaign using the Hellfrost setting. The Games Master is Mark Hamilton and play takes place every Friday night at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.
Thingol Chillblane - A Frostborne Paladin of Kenaz (Suresh)
Sister Athura Magnusdottir - A healer and member of the Sisters of Mercy (Tony)
Vigo - An engro rogue of various talents (Martin)
Vissarel Nerinen - A Taiga Elf and mistress of Elemental magics (Kat)
Alvina - A Hearth Elf and Lorekeeper (Esme)
Zigmursund - A human roadwarden (Alex)
Roderick - A Taiga Elf Bladedancer (Kat)
The Final Battle
The storm clouds darken above the ruins and a supernatural blizzard descends on the valley reducing vision to a mere 60ft. Our heroes begin to lose contact with each other and the woman in white dissapears into the falling snow.
"Fryggth" shouts Athura, "We mean you no harm but we have come for your son Valcoinan"
"Yeah Valcoinan, you brought your Mum to the fight" retorts Vigo although his words are somewhat lost in the howling winds of the snowstorm. The heroes continue their cautious approach through the snow towards the ruins.
Suddenly the white woman emerges from the snow and looks at the hulking man of steel that is Thingol and orders him to "Undress". Thingol's spirit is unbroken and he resists her magical charms. Alvina, looks up from her scrolls, her face filled with dread. This is no mortal woman, this is an Hvitrwyf, the spirit of a woman killed by her husband and hell bent on revenge against all menfolk. Valcoinan must have conjured the spirit of his dead mother to wreak a savage vengeance upon Penfrick Scalsuun the Ridder of Somerlisse and the townsfolk.
The white woman turns her attention to Zigursmund as he rushes out of the trees to engage her.Vigo, Vissarel and Roderick stealthily approach the ruins through the eastern treeline but only Vissarel notices the large jet black wolf emerging from the blizzard.
Thingol, Athura and Alvina spot other shadows moving on the edges of their vision. Suddenly they are engaged by mummified creatures encrusted with ice. Athura screams "Attaaaaaack!!" and smashes the skull of the one in front of her with her mace. Vissarel hurls three air bolts at the jet black wolf and it dissapears in a cloud of blood and viscera. Vigo carries on towards the right hand tower, which appears intact. Zigmursunds path is blocked by an ice mummy and he tries to attack, but the white woman's commanding voice is too tempting an offer and he succumbs to her charms dropping his shield, flail and hurriedly unbuckling his armour.
Three fire bolts leap from Thingol's hands and smash into the Hvitrwyf and she shrugs them off laughing haughtily. On the other side of the valley three large frenzied wolves rush out of the snow and attack Vigo and Roderick. A blood curdling howl comes from one which would have struck fear in lesser folk. Snarling jaws snap at Roderick's unarmoured throat but he parries them away. Another goes for Vigo's face but misses.
The white woman steps back and fires a frost bolt at Thingol but misses. Alvina disengages and shoots the mummy attacking her in the mouth, her arrow punching through the back of its skull and it drops to the ground.
The Engro escapes the attention of the wolf by hurling his grappling hook up onto the tower ramparts and leaping at the same time. Zigmursund desperately fumbles with buckles and straps continuing to remove his armour as the ice mummy claws at him. Athura rushes to the roadwarden's defence attacking the mummy but missing. Vissarel fires an air bolt at each of the wolves killing one and stunning another.
Pieces of Zigmursund's armour drop to the snow as the bitter wind begins to find small slivers of bare flesh to blister. Roderick dances through the wolves his blades whirling and slicing one to death.
The White Woman shoots frost bolts at Athura and Thingol wounding them both but the Paladin shrugs of the icy blasts.
WIth a shake of its head the wolf shrugs off Vissarel's blow and attacks.
"Not This day" shouts Vissarel and dextrously dodges aside at the last moment. She returns the favour smiting the beast with her newly acquired magical mace. With a squelch the wolf becomes one with the snow. "Impressive" she mutters to herself.
Suddenly a Frost Elemental bursts from the snow behind Athura who is busy fighting the ice mummy. She looks at Thingol and shouts
"Blast the Bitch"
Thingol grabs the white woman's head as Kenaz's magical gifts surge from his hands. She bursts into flames and is consumed to ash within seconds, Zigmursund's eyes blink as he is immediately released from her spell.
Valcoinan Reveals Himself
A brief lull in the storm reveals Valcoinan flanked by 3 orcs and a berserker emerging from the ruins.
An arrow from Roderick narrowly misses the berzerker. Vigo triumphantly reaches the top of the tower but finds nothing but stairs leading down. His teeth chattering, Zigmursund grabs his flail from the snow and smashes at the ice mummy. Masterless, the Elemental searches for someone strong of character and picks Athura, she urges it to attack the mummy and it does so killing it instantly. The berzerker orc charges at Roderick it's eyes filled with rage. His great axe sweeps across his chest leaving a wound which although not fatal will leave an impressive scar.
Alvina picks her moment and steps aside for a clear shot at the Thrympriest Valcoinan. Her arrow, guided by the Gods, streaks across the gap and for a second she imagines it piercing his eye socket and exploding through his brain. However, the frost king Thrym is also a powerful God and the arrow is fated to pass harmlessly over Valcoinan's right shoulder.
Athura kills the orc attacking Thingol as Vissarel's air bolts slam into the bezerker shaking it. Zigmursund hurls a javelin impaling it through the chest of another orc. It dies a gurgling death pointlessly flailing at the shaft as it slides to its knees.
Valcoinan hurls a ball of frost magic at Thingol and Athura wounding them both. Thingol is made of strong stuff and shakes off the effects with a vigorous roar. The fires of kenaz burn brightly in his soul hearth and bolts leap from his hands in response killing the frostborn. Before Valcoinan's body hits the floor the elemental evaporates in a cloud of steam and the blizzsrd ceases.
The fight is over when the remaining orcs are slain and the heroes gather their breath.
Among the ruins the heroes find a horde of treasure; 882 gold shields, 2 vials of hedge magic potion and an impressive magic axe is prized from Valcoinan's hand. The ruins also contains a cold fire forge, ice wood and a plentiful supply of Thrymstone.
Returning to Somerlisse
Several days later our heroes return to the town and are met with smiling faces and miraculous stories of how the sick have suddenly returned from near death.
The crowds gather five deep outside the Copper Kettle Inn and strain to hear every word of the little Engro's glorious tale. He spares no detail in the retelling of the heroic final battle against Valcoinan at the Anari Ruins and how this could have all been avoided if it were not for...
... the Ridder's folly.
Epilogue (by DM Mark)
The Copper Kettle was bustling; most of Somerlisse had heard the heroes had defeated the orcs who plagued the steads of late and slew the Thrympriest who masterminded the attacks.
Vigo regaled the patrons with the heroes’ tale over several nights, describing with finesse how they defeated orcs, goblins, hagbui, a polar bear and many other creatures from the Frost, and how they rescued many Finnar and the folk of Brynja. But it was the final night that the townsfolk found most shocking: the revelation that the Thrympriest was the child of
Penfric’s late wife Frigyfe, and that she had been cast out into the wild to die all those years ago! She had risen as a hvitrwyf and, with her returned son Valkoinen, orchestrated the attacks and curse.
Oswulf was in the tavern - he explained how he hadn’t the heart to leave the newborn child to die, as per the ridder’s orders, but handed him into the care of a passing Finnar
family. He had carried the weight of that secret for far too long.
A group of angry townsfolk dragged the ridder from his home demanding an explanation. Penfric gave his account of what happened all those years ago: on returning from a visit to
Hellfrost Keep, Frigyfe went into labour and they were forced to take shelter. Penfric hadn’t known she was pregnant and between her screams of pain, she laughed at him and admitted the child was not his. Angry at her betrayal, Penfric cast Frigyfe out into the night and lived with the guilt ever since.
Ausluf defended Penfric, reminding the townsfolk of all the good that he did for Somerlisse. She also explained that Frigyfe was not a kind step-mother in life and that it was her who had cut Ausluf at the Somerhlaw tomb.
Unsatisfied, the townsfolk bound Penfric and locked him up until the morning when they would discuss at length his fate. A fierce blizzard blew in from the north during the night; it was as if the Hellfrost itself swept over Somerlisse. In the morning it was found that Penfric was gone, having walked out into the blizzard.
Despite a search, he was not found and the townsfolk conceded that, surely, in such a winter blizzard, he could not have survived...