The Ageless Promise

The Winter Wolves continue their march towards Oprak on horseback, thanks to the gratitude of the Nidalese Horselords. On the way they come across a peculiar place: a small clearing on a cliff, with a small stone altar surrounded by five columns arranged like the fingers of a hand. Astrid reminds the group that they have already come across a similar place near Skarvik, and thinks the two places may be connected somehow. After a whole day spent studying the place, Freya manages to determine that it is some kind of extension of the Plane of Air, something like an embassy, but that is all she can draw from it.

Continuing on their way they reach a lowland surrounded by several low hills: these are the ancient remains of one of the Horselord cities, and the hills around it are where the ancient dead were buried. In the middle of the lowland stands a great statue shaped like a raven, with two rubies as big as a fist for eyes. They have reached the place known as Ravenscry.

And it is there that, after a long time, the group sees Vallemar again.

The fallen knight once again demands the candle, saying that the protection that kept him from taking it by force is now gone, and that if they decide to hand over the artefact he will reveal to Astrid what happened to her mother, and will be able to free the spirit of Bjorn, Sigurd’s father, who died in mysterious circumstances. But his speech is cut short and he prepares to fight.

That is when a creature appears with the body of a centipede, butterfly wings, the head of an old woman and two small, wrinkled arms sprouting from its neck. The creature appears coiled around Vallemar and whispers something to the knight. The group only manages to catch a few words: “Obsidian Order”, “they are coming” and “trouble”.

Vallemar then calls out the name “Bastianus”, and another knight, his face hidden by completely black armour, steps out from behind the statue.

Vallemar charges this knight with taking the candle by force, and leaves. Busy with the fight, the group cannot follow or stop him.

The fight with the knight and his servants is hard, but the Ulfar get the upper hand: Astrid deals the final blow to her opponent, finally earning her first glory point. Alrik also has his moment when, overcoming his doubts about himself and the life he is leading, he chooses to believe in his own stories: his Ategir glows and grows hot, and in a burst of white fire he annihilates one of the spectres with a single blow.

When the fight is over, several runes and magic seals appear on the knight’s armour and glow red for a moment, after which a thick smoke leaves the armour and disperses. There is no trace left of the knight; only his armour and his weapon remain. Realising that the horses have fled, frightened by the battle, Sigurd receives an omen and leads the group into one of the burial mounds to spend the night there.

The group identifies the remains of the defeated knight: all that is left of him is his armour and his weapon; the armour is cursed, though powerful.

That same night Sigurd is visited in his dream: an immense figure in the shape of a raven, which seems to be responsible for his omen and which says it is the spirit charged with watching over the peace and quiet of the dead of that place. Sigurd feels a certain affinity with the spirit, and in the conversation the spirit states that the Wolfmother whom Sigurd follows and serves is not, as he believed, Pharasma, the Pale Lady.

Astrid also has a dream, though a less prophetic and more personal one: Helga takes her to the “room below”, where she meets several Ulfar from the distant past and is challenged by one of them. The dream ends with Helga pointing at their indolent attitude and telling her that she can be better than them, and that at some point she will ask her a favour.

The next day the group can set off again, well aware that Vallemar is now actively on their trail, and that the defeat of Bastianus probably means the fallen paladin will now have to aim higher against them.

NPCs

Eaudrik Vallemar, Bastianus, Helga, The raven spirit of Ravenscry