Aesirhamar

In session 101 the players in my Swords & Wizardry campaign tracked down the Hragnar the mountain giant in Jotunheim and slew him to claim the potent aesirhamar weapon. This was to be the epic clash to close out this cycle of adventures. Was it as epic as I had hoped? Not really. The party mages pummeled their opponent with area effect spells and I completely forgot (how?) that the aesirhamar should have absorbed those spells. After this encounter, I have taken to writing reminders to myself on the GM Layer of the Roll20 map screen. Things like the monster's hit points, armor class, and little reminders like "don't forget the hammer can absorb spells". We shall see if this helps.

Session 101: Aesirhamar

Lakima (human level 10 magic-user), Eathwund (human level 9 fighter), Alrix (couatl level zero sorcerer, Domago (human level 9 cleric), Flora (elven level 9 thief), Fenris (human level 9 thief NPC), Lantosh (human level 7 fighter NPC).

The party is searching the valleys of the Smoketop mountain range in Jotunheim for a mysterious dwarf to discover if he has sold a god-killing weapon to the giants. As night falls they knocked on the door of a large log cabin. The door was opened by a Hill Giant.

The Hill Giant woman at the door to the cabin proves to be unfriendly as she immediately makes a grab for Lakima. Lakima responds by casting an ice storm spell inside the log cabin. Shards of ice pelt the Hill giant. They also hear screams of anger from other rooms in the cabin. Eathwund has his two-handed sword Wormbane at the ready and also attacks. Followed by Alrix sending his Sword of Dancing into battle. Flora fires an arrow over her friend's head missing the hill giant and hitting a wall in the cabin. Domago tells everyone to get ready and he blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla. A dozen berserkers appear, far more than he can usually call forth. The berserkers push past the hill giant woman and into the cabin. A fight between the companions and three hill giants found in the cabin is over quickly with all three giants being killed. Their corpses are dragged into a supply room at the back of the cabin. A search of the cabin turns up a handful of gold coins and a lot of supplies. Lakima busies himself in the kitchen frying up bacon and baking bread. The hot stew that the giants were cooking is ignored. The group sleeps that night in the cabin and is not disturbed.

The next day they set out looking for the dwarf or the mountain giant Hragnar who is rumored to have a new war hammer. While walking along the trail they spot two mountain giants coming their way. The mountain giants carry simple clubs (one looks like an uprooted tree). With few options available to hide Lakima uses a pouch of dust of disappearance to hide the group. The mountain giants stop as they come upon the group's tracks. They sniff the air and comment that they can smell humans, elves, and dwarves. Not seeing anyone around, the mountain giants decide to keep walking and are soon out of sight. The party follows a trail up a mountainside and sees a large ice cave. Fenris is sent ahead to scout, he is still invisible and approaches the cave quietly. Looking inside he sees a white dragon and a pair of frost giants. Fenris returns to the group and reports. The companions discuss whether to enter the cave but decide to try going further north.

At a crossroads of trails, the group decides to circle a mountain looking for Hragnar’s cave which is reputed to be on the slopes of the mountain. Near noon they spot a trail winding up the mountainside to a cave. Thinking this might be the right cave the group leaves the main path and follows this new trail. The trail leads to a large cave on the side of the mountain. Piles of rocks, perfect for a giant to throw, are stacked outside the cave entrance. They can just see the body of a dead dwarf lying on the rock pile. Fenris and Flora scout ahead. They come back and report that there are trolls in the cave on watch. The group creeps closer.

The trolls spot them and two trolls come to the entrance of the cave. Lakima uses his wand of fireballs to hit them but it does not kill them. Then Alrix also tosses a fireball at the trolls killing them. As the group approaches the cave they come across a broken glass from what must have been a fancy glass container. The body of the dwarf is unrecognizable, having been caught in the blast radius of two fireball spells. All that remains is a few rags and bones. Inside the cave, they see the remains of a third troll they had not seen earlier but who must have been caught in the fireball blasts. Entering the cave they encounter six more trolls in a chamber full of garbage, mold, mushrooms, and mud. Lakima uses the wand of fireballs again and Alrix again also casts a magic missile. The trolls try hiding deep in the chamber to no avail after the first explosion of fire. The three survivors desperately try to escape by moving Eathwund and some of the remaining berserkers to one side. It does not work and they are all killed. One troll tries to ask for parlay before it is killed but no mercy is shown.

The party explores the rest of the caves and finds a crude kitchen and bed chamber for a single giant. They do not find any sign of Hragnar or the hammer. They decide to occupy the caves until the owner returns. Early that evening while on watch, Flora notices that one cave passage has a wall of stacked stones hiding an alcove. Before she can search the wall, two trolls approach the cave from outside. One of the trolls calls out to the cave. Lakima and Alrix emerge and confront the trolls. Domago puts on his helm of comprehending languages and translates. The trolls are only able to tell them that Hragnar has been gone for 2 or possibly 3 days. They came to the cave at the invitation of the trolls that serve Hragnar. They do not know anything else. Alrix expresses concern that the trolls might tell other giants that they are squatting in a giant’s cave but Lakima tells him that they will be gone long before the trolls return.

Now that the trolls are gone, Flora explores the suspicious wall of rocks. After removing some rocks she finds a hidden alcove behind. In the small space is a locked wooden chest. A few copper coins lie on the floor. Flora checks the chest and unlocks it. Inside are a few thousand copper coins and a simple spellbook that she gives to Lakima.

Not long after sunrise the next day, the giant Hargnar Left-Hand returned to his cave. Flora and Alrix are on watch when they spot a 20-foot-tall giant making his way up the long zig-zagging trail toward the cave. The alarm is sounded and most of the heroes take up positions just inside the cave mouth (Fenris having decided to hide further in the caves). As the mountain giant looms into view they can see that he is clad in simple furs but carries a shiny, silver war hammer in his right hand that is 8 feet long. The heroes slink back into the darkness of the cave hoping to surprise him, but the mountain giant sniffs the air.

“I can smell you, trespassers! Humans and elves! I will eat all of you!”

Hargnar runs toward the cave readying his hammer. As soon as he spots the heroes he hurls the enormous hammer which flies into the cave, knocks Lantosh prone, and then flies back out to return to his hand. Lakima and Alrix both cast fireball spells that explode around the giant but do not appear to do much damage. Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and a dozen berserkers appear and swarm around the giant. Flora fires a pair of arrows, one striking the giant in the shoulder. The giant casts a spell of its own, eight magic missiles flash out of the hammer and strike the berserkers that are besieging him. But none of them fall. Alrix and Lakima both cast magic missiles sending more bolts of magic into the giant. All of this time the berserkers are hacking away at the giant without regard for their safety. The giant swings his hammer in an arc killing a half-dozen of the berserkers but the rest continue to attack, landing multiple blows on the bloodied giant. Eathwund and Domago hold back as the giant goes down amidst a horde of berserkers.

Once the battle is over, the party cautiously advances and checks on the giant. He is dead and the hammer, which is made of shiny, silver metal, lies on the ground. The hammer proves difficult to move. Fenris estimates that it weighs 500 lbs. It proves to be too big for the bag of holding. Alrix uses his figurine of wondrous power to summon a wooly mammoth and the hammer is hauled up onto a table they have made into a crude sled. A harness is attached to the table and the mammoth. It is clumsy but it does seem to work. The group immediately sets out west for the desolation at the foot of the mountains. Taking a new route to the plains they make it without encountering any trouble. The rest before entering the desolation, one last night in the Jotunheim. Above them, in the mountain pass, they see some strange bursts of flames.

The next day the party sets out across the cold, dry desolation. They encounter nothing on the plains. No life at all. That night, while on watch, Eathwund and Domago are startled by a dwarf that appears out of nowhere and approaches the camp. He appears unarmed and advances with his hands open.

“Do you have any water,” he asks.

Eathwund wakes the other members of the group while Domago approaches the dwarf and hands him a waterskin. The dwarf greedily gulps down the entire waterskin and then asks for more. By this time the rest of the company has risen and approached the dwarf.

“Hang on,” Lakima says as he prevents Domago from handing over another waterskin. “Who are you, and what are you doing out here?”

The dwarf claims to be a simple traveler lost in the desolation. Lakima scoffs at his claim and accuses him of being the weaponsmith who produced a god-killing weapon for the giants. The dwarf tells him this is all wrong. Lakima tells the dwarf that that will be taking him to explain himself to the gods. At that point, the dwarf tries to get away, he casts power word stun at Lakima who manages to resist the spell. Eathwund thumps the dwarf over the head with the flat of his sword while Domago tries to wrestle him to the ground. The dwarf manages to break free and back away. The dwarf offers them 10,000 gold in gems to get him secretly to Asgard. Lakima refuses the offer and then casts confusion on the dwarf before the dwarf can get off another spell. The confused dwarf is tied up, gagged, and slung on the back of the mammoth.

As the sun rises the group sets out once more for the River Iving and Asgard.