Mulder dwarves are reputed to have made Freyja's ship (flies, always finds a favourable wind, and folds up into a handkerchief), Majollnai (Thor's hammer), and various other powerful items.

We leave notes inside the door, indicating what information we're interested in.

Whilst leaving the area, we get attacked by a swarm of stirges (over two dozen). Whilst annoying, they pose no significant threat.

We return to the dwarf on the morrow.

The dwarf has chiselled answers in the rock.

The dwarf: The ring was crafted by the masters Brokk and Sindri for a great giant. It is an item of life-binding which means it is likely there are creatures inside who can be called forth somehow.

He also indicates that he would be interested in making interesting magic items.

We leave a message asking where to find said individuals, and I leave a message asking about three magic items (one like Lord Garan's mirror, one that stops time in a small area for a time, and one that sheds light much like sunlight such that undead are harmed - fat chance he can do any of these really).

The dwarf has left more messages. He will answer our question for a further 500 gold.

He would be willing to make the item to stop time, for half a million gold. He is not willing to make the other items. To set up traps at my palace, he charges an additional 10000gp for house calls.

We come back tomorrow.

We start ding other stuff at the same time.

I receive an update from the North Pole workers. They have discovered solid walls made of granite, and are continuing work. I guess a quarter of a million man hours is starting to pay off.

The dwarf has left another message. I do not know where the great giant clan was; however, I think they may have been on the island which is now known as Kalslo.

Kalslo is where the ancient kings of Ostland of old are. Unfortunately, the clans there are not particularly loyal. It may be best to go by ourselves. They have rebelled several times in the last century.

Azgrimm tries to get us to loot tombs of the ancient kings and queens for him. I'd prefer to speak to the Queen on this subject, since it is the ancestors of King Hord whose treasure we'd be looting.

We see the Queen. She wishes us luck. We shall leave Thora and Remus behind to guard the Ring. She also indicates we should trust no-one, as many would prefer her to not be ruling, being a woman, after all.

We catch up with Finn, her eldest son. We tell him a tale. Or I should say, Lani tells him a tale, and boy, does she tell him a tale!

We arrange passage on a ship.

Later, Azgrimm calls us to a meeting. We inform him that we wish to tread a neutral course.

On the way out, someone in an alley calls to us. He, being very subtle and all, offers us 50 gold to deliver a package to one Rurik Flatnose.

We agree, mostly out of curiosity. What is this message?

We do a commune via Leo:
The message vaguely came from the Queens camp. Thorgrimm would prefer the Queen to not be on the throne. The Queen does not believe Thorgrimm works in her best interests.
The message is such that its content will be marred or erased should we try to open it.
It is unknown if Rurik Flatnose is a supporter of the Queen.

Anyway, we hop on the ship. The journey is uneventful, aside from Thorhilde getting chummy with one of the crew.

News from Serraine researchers: Confirmation of events. Some of the people of the time went over to the enemy (due to magic?), some scattered. Some farmers organised people by way of resistance (Frey and Freyja). They assembled people, and marched on the Dark Elves. However, they were losing, until something (unclear) happened, at which time the Dark Elves lost heart, at which point they were overrun and defeated.

We arrive at the island. It is very forbidding.

The town is fairly large, populated by at least thousands of people. There are extensive docks, and most construction is wooden.

We follow off after various members of the crew. As it turns out, the person Thorhilde was chatting to is the prince, he who will be king. Tut tut, naughty prince. He's going by the name Bardi.

We rock up to a pub, drink, and listen to a Skuld. More beer!

We gather information. This area is primarily advised by priests of Frey and Freyja, unlike most other places in Ostland (who go for Thor and that). This is likely the source of many troubles.

Interestingly, they have trained giant rats: they hunt the smaller rats.

Moreover, the people of this island do not fear sorcery. Indeed, they have had rulers that were mages, and some rulers-to-be are being trained as mages in the School of Magic in Vestland.

Sometimes kings wanted to abolish monasteries, a source of some friction, but this has not yet been successful.

The monasteries are guarded by monks dedicated to Frey and Freyja. They guard the tombs of the ancient kings.

Fascinating. Well, we now know where to find the monasteries.

We convince (mostly due to our clumsiness) to get "Bardi" to come along.

We head to the monastery.

(later)

We arrive at the monastery. Lani flies up as an eagle, and a monk sketches her. He does quite a good sketch, as Lani attests, since she, as a hawk, starts looking at it, and flicking pages. sigh

After some kafuffle, Lani changes shape to her normal form. Now she's gone and made them think she's some sort of angelic messenger.

Anyway..

We chat with the monks, and deliver the package to Rurik Flatnose, who is a mage. We were probably delivering a spellbook. All that suspicion wasted.

It does not sound as though looting these tombs would have been a very nice thing to do. sigh

We ask of giants, but there have been no giants in the region for many years. However, there is a hill nearby known as the Giants Skull.

We wander over to the hill.

There seems to be nothing special about it. I polymorph into an Umber Hulk, and start burrowing. I break into an open area. A small tunnel, which seems to head seawards.

There seems to be an exit somewhere, but we don't find it.

Well, we should have a dungeon crawl soon.