Journal - The Lands of the Gods
Asgard, or How Visiting the Gods is Never Simple
Entering the ethereal greyness caused us to hallucinate and see visions, something that I was more used to than the others. These were particularly vivid, though, and again we saw visions of the White Council and how the monk Hintzu in particular was in danger in the old Dwarven halls of the far east. We also gained an insight into how we might deal with the particular predicament we found ourselves in, namely not knowing where the fuck to go or how to get there. Apparently the old songs that Baldir, with his Elven heritage and faith in Odin, had sung to memorise legends also had some power in places between worlds. Of those he knew, he most wanted to journey to Asgard to meet his Gods, and Odin in particular. This was unsettling, but at least I knew he wouldn't intend to stay as only those killed in battle could stay in the halls of Valhalla (which is why he is so keen to die all the time).
As he was the only one who could sing the right ballad, we roped ourselves together so that we would not get separated. It was a good job we did, as the pace of travel picked up rapidly and we would have soon been lost if left to our own devices. Takeda beat a tempo for Baldir to follow and his voice was surprisingly musical in the way that only Elves and the fey folk seem to be capable of. As the song progressed we travelled rapidly but without any wind in our hair, visions of strange places flashing past, not from our world. Some were brilliant and others terrifying, and then we passed through a great tube and suddenly stopped as if we had never started moving in the first place.
It was clear that we were no longer in the same place, though, as huge clumps of earth smashed into each other far above our heads and magma rained down in gouts around us. We descended, again with no feeling of movement, to land softly on a world in the depths of winter, with snow all around us. Sensations returned as I felt the earth beneath our feet and a biting cold wind whipping at my exposed skin. A fierce, thunderous noise echoed above us, although the sky was now obscured with grey cloud and snow was blown into our eyes with the wind. We quickly pulled out the furs we had set out in from Fontainver, wrapping up as best we could against the elements.
Squinting against the snow we started to make sense of the landscape. We stood on a snow-covered path running across a steep slope, with rocky outcrops on one side and a drop to an ice covered lake on the other. Baldir called on Odin to protect us, and we were at once warmed as if standing in a brisk summer breeze, relaxing a little and removing the rope we had depended on to get here as one party. We set off along the path, with no other obvious way to travel.
After a short while we saw, to our left, the head and shoulders of a huge humanoid, ape-like, giant cresting the rise. He saw us at about the same time and started to run towards us. He was wearing furs and a backpack, and carrying a large battleaxe that he obviously intended to put to use. I quickly conjured some magic missiles, sending two into his bulk and then moving to put the fighters between him and me. I need not have worried, as Rhion and Takeda killed the thing with arrow fire before he could reach us. They rolled the corpse over to look in the backpack, finding swords, gems and a cloak. The brief encounter over, we continued our journey along the single path, first moving up the slope and then zig-zagging steeply down. Despite the constantly falling snow, we were not impeded by it as long as we kept to the path, which I found curious and suggested that a kind of dweomer was in place.
An ice river, flowing down towards the lake, crossed our path ahead. Spanning this was a beautifully carved gemstone bridge, about twenty feet or so in length. Looking up there seemed to be a glacier far above us, making this the only sound crossing point. Unfortunately a massive dog, as tall as a human at the shoulder, stood in the centre of the bridge, and as we approached a howling of wolves arose from around us. This was all very symbolic, with a 'wolf' (Fenrir?) and a bridge (Bifrost?) on the path to Asgard!
Baldir, without hesitation, sprinted forward shouting "for Odin!" The rest of us were left standing, preparing to meet our enemies together. For his efforts Baldir was chased down by a giant wolf and bitten. Twat. Other wolves emerged from the dead ground around us and advanced more cautiously. Rhion reacted first, hitting one with an arrow, and Takeda followed his mark, killing it with an arrow of his own. I conjured a web, hoping to trap one of them, but it leapt free; this brought it into Takeda's line of fire, though, and it was soon dead beside its pack mate. Baldir approached the massive dog on the bridge, ordering it to "stay" with a word echoing with power, and ran past to reach the other side. The wolves had closed with us now, and both Takeda and Rhion were bitten. Takeda responded decisively, killing the wolf that had attacked him. I smacked the one attacking Rhion, causing a yelp of pain, then Rhion and Takeda in turn landed hits that finished it off.
Baldir was still going along the path, and I called for him to hold. I warily made my way past the dog on the bridge, not threatening it in any way and it let me pass without harm. The others followed, and Baldir offered a prayer of thanks to Odin as we caught up with him. This journey felt like a test, and I was sure we could expect more challenges before we reached our goal. Sure enough, as we continued on the path, undead mummified Norse warriors rose from the ground around us; their eyes burned with a cold fire and they wore white and black capes. They appeared so close to us that one of their grasping hands closed on Takeda before we could react. He seemed to visibly drain of energy and weaken at its touch, and I quickly used my mental powers to levitate out of reach of the accursed things. Takeda responded with a well-aimed shot, but his arrow passed straight through the foe without effect! Baldir called on Odin to banish the undead abominations, lifting his holy symbol where all could see it, and in a moment they had vanished as if they had never been there.
Despite this affirmation of his faith, Baldir started to have doubts. He questioned why his Gods would put such obstacles in the path of one of Odin's faithful, wondering whether we had taken the wrong route. "Is this the path of wisdom?" Although I could not know for sure, my reading of his holy texts made me believe that these tests had so far represented Thor (might), Loki (the wolf), and Hel (death, black and white). Symmetry would demand one more test - from Odin himself - to judge whether we were worthy. I urged Baldir to continue, despite his doubts.