Dead Hearts, Broken Men (Steelshod 50)
Hey there!
As the name implies, this is part of an ongoing saga. See below for previous installments:
Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 || Part 10
[Part 11] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDGreentext/comments/69fzi4/the_reveal_steelshod_part_11/) || Part 12 || Part 13 || Part 14 || Part 15 || Part 16 || Part 17 || Part 18 || Part 19 || Part 20
Part 21 || Part 22 || Part 23 || Part 24 || Part 25 || Part 26 || [Part 27] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDGreentext/comments/6chy6n/remember_sigrun_steelshod_27/) || Part 28 || Part 29 || [Part 30] (https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDGreentext/comments/6d4ap5/killing_the_party_steelshod_30/)
Part 31 || Part 32 || Part 33 || Part 34 || Part 35 || Part 36 || Part 37 || Part 38 || Part 39 || Part 40
Part 41 || Part 42 || Part 43 || Part 44 || Part 45 || Part 46 || Part 47 || Part 48 || Part 49
Sporadically updated Lore Document.
Comments are open, so feel free to leave one if you have any questions or requests for more content of a particular variety.
—MAPS—
World (Shitty scan of the original world map… if you zoom in it’s semi-legible though!)
The big Five-Oh! Not much of an anniversary post, really. Sorry I’m so late posting.
This section takes us from dark to darker, guys. This section has some nasty stuff in it, so be warned.
True to Taerbjornsen’s claim, the Cassalines have an answer in the morning
Praetor Livinius has assumed emergency powers, taking control of the city
Enacting a sort of martial law
This sort of thing has not happened since the previous line of Emperors first seized power
Publicly, he states that they are not prepared to withstand a war with the army at their doorstep
And he will not sacrifice the capital, or its citizens, on behalf of Torathia.
Taerbjornsen’s demands will be met
… For the most part.
Free passage and supply lines, they will have
But only a single Legion will be dispatched to escort them through the Empire
Taerbjornsen accepts the terms readily, giving the order for the army to move out.
Cyril finds this whole business fascinating
Clearly, Livinius had some forewarning that Taerbjornsen was coming
But rather than prepare a defense, he seems to have pretended ignorance
And is now using the emergency to secure his own power
It seems likely he will seek to turn this “temporary” seizure of power into a permanent position
When Livinius sends out a thousand men to join the Svards, their Legate is a man named Federico Auditore
Auditore seems unconcerned about joining forces with a foreign power
And he openly refers to Livinius, not as Praetor, but as Emperor.
Taerbjornsen orders the fleet to be burned
Or at least, those ships that have not been cannibalized into rams and ladders and other siege equipment
There will be no retreating
They will take Nahash, and Torathia, or they will die.
In addition to Auditore’s legion, a single elderly Cassaline rides out to join them.
Abelo Sacapus, master strategist, is immediately brought into Taerbjornsen’s inner circle.
He is ancient, bald, withered
But by all accounts his intellect remains as sharp as ever
And he seems to know Taerbjornsen well.
Cyril asks Unferth about this
How, exactly, is a bersark Jarl so well traveled?
Unferth has no answer, save what he himself knows of Taerbjornsen’s past.
What all of the upper echelons of the bersark’s social structure know.
One day, many years ago
Hrafn the Sage, the oldest and wisest of the bersarks, was out hunting seals and frost bears
When he saw a peculiar sight.
A man – frostbitten, windblown, starving – wandered the frozen wastes of the far north.
Hrafn watched from afar as this strange man walked, aimlessly
Despite his poor health, he was tall, strong
Clearly in another life he had been a warrior.
But now, he was little more than a walking dead man.
Hrafn watched as out of the snows rose a frost bear
The largest he had ever seen
A great monster of a bear, its snout stained with the blood of a recent kill.
The bear roared at the man
Who seemed not to react at all
Not flinching, nor shouting, nor moving an inch
And then the bear attacked.
Somehow, the man reacted at the last possible moment.
He ducked around the lightning fast strike of the huge bear
Maneuvered behind it
Leapt up onto its back
The bear batted at him, clawing awkwardly
As he wrapped his wiry arms around the beast’s throat
He strangled the life out of the frost bear
A sight Hrafn had never seen
Never dreamed possible
When it was done, the man simply dropped down into the snow and leaned against the dead bear
His flesh was slashed to ribbons, but he seemed indifferent.
Hrafn came to him, then.
Wordlessly drew his dagger
The man looked up into his eyes, his broken body tensed, ready for another fight.
But Hrafn handed the dagger to the strange man
Showed him how to open up the bear
Strip off the hide
And there, in the snow, they performed the rites of a bersark
Marking the hide with Taerric runes, forever connecting the bear’s soul to the one that had slain it.
None knew his name
Nor what clan he came from
But in a single stroke he had slain the biggest, most fearsome frost bear in the north
And killed it cleanly, without leaving a scratch
The connection was immense, and immediate
Within a year of donning the bearskin, he had grown to monstrous size
It was Hrafn that first called him Taerbjornsen.
Swore to follow him
Named him Jarl of Jarls.
So, what was Taerbjornsen before he became Taerbjornsen?
It’s anyone’s guess.
Olaf One-Eye, Hakon, and a few of the other southern Svards seemed to remember him
And now, these Cassalines.
So whoever he had been, he was well-traveled.
A fascinating, if not particularly productive, diversion
The army moves swiftly north along the main Cassaline roads
They pick clean the Legion outposts that they pass
And Taerbjornsen does little to rein in the excesses of the Svardic reavers as they pass unprotected farmsteads
So long as the Svards do not commit any outrageous atrocities, Legate Auditore and his legion do not raise any issues
On the road, Taerbjornsen gives Unferth and Cyril a job
He wants the Serpentes they captured from the Library interrogated
To give up everything they know about Torathia’s defenses
Cyril recognizes this is a test
Of his usefulness, and his willingness to get his hands dirty for his current employers.
These Serpentes may have been, first and foremost, librarians
But they are still Knights Serpentes
They resist torture
And they seem resigned to death
They had been comrades
So Cyril tries the tactic of torturing one in front of the other
Withstanding your own pain is a different sort of torture than withstanding the pain of your friend, when it is in your power to end it.
It’s moderately effective.
The Serpentes confirm that the hard points to consider, from the south, are three.
Fort Tanniyn, a hilltop stronghold on the southern border
Garrisoned with Serpentes knights
Fortified stone walls and towers
Famed for the huge dragon-skull that hangs over the southern gate.
The second, not strictly on the way to Nahash, is nonetheless a keep no army wants at its back
Castle Saraf, the headquarters and training ground for the Penitent Fellowship of the Most Devout, also called the Knights Serpentes
Castle Saraf will be garrisoned with hundreds, thousands of Serpentes
Commanded by Brother Enoch
A living legend, perhaps even better known than Brother Darius Khashar
Saraf is a mountain stronghold, carved into the cliffs, and virtually impregnable
And Nahash itself
The greatest city on earth
Garrisoned by thousands of troops
With layered walls, watchtowers, and enough food stores to withstand a year of siege.
This all sounds very intimidating
But includes little intelligence that will help Cyril overcome these apparently vast defenses.
He continues to question the knights
But Unferth has grown impatient.
Unferth tells the Svardic reavers to bring him a child from a nearby farm.
Soon enough, they do as he asks
Ushering in a lad of perhaps ten.
Unferth looks at the Serpentes with cold, dead eyes
He tells them to tell Cyril everything they know
Says that when they do, he will stop.
And he begins torturing the boy.
Truth be told, Cyril feels a little ill at this sight.
But he stays focused
Does his job.
And he can’t deny that it works
The Serpentes begin singing like birds.
Of Tanniyn, they learn that it is not just well defended
But serves as an early warning system.
If taken unawares, there’s no question that an army of this size could wash over it
But Tanniyn is well built and would take time to batter down.
And the fort has a tall beacon, as well as skilled riders with fresh mounts
So it is impossible to take without the word of impending attack spreading to the rest of Torathia
It’s true that Castle Saraf has a garrison of some thousand or more Serpentes
But the vast majority of them are teachers and students
Serpentes often serve for life, after all, and are often inducted as orphans
At least three quarters of the inhabitants are likely below the age of 15 or over the age of 50.
Further, a fact little known outside the Serpentes fellowship, there is a narrow mountain pass that leads from Castle Saraf into a neighboring nation to the south-east
A kingdom on the border of Al-Hassad, called Saadia.
One of the Serpentes raises a mangled, blood-soaked hand
Weeping, he points out the pass on a map for Cyril
While Unferth flays the skin from the screaming child’s hands.
As for Nahash… what can be said.
Most of the defenders probably left with Khashar’s army
The tiered city is porous, the outermost circle lacking any real walls
The Council at Nahash is slow to react, slow to act
Will likely drag their feet until the invasion is well underway.
Cyril milks the men for all he can.
When he is done, he gives them the pitiful mercy of a quick finish.
The child is too badly maimed and disfigured to release
It could draw the ire of the Cassalines
And besides, what kind of farmer will he be, without hands, eyes, or a tongue?
Cyril gives him a small mercy as well.
And resolves to tread very, very carefully around Unferth going forward.
The strange man was rather enjoyable to converse with on the ship
Cyril found his nihilistic philosophy rather quaint and amusing
Now, it’s just… sickening.
They make their report to Taerbjornsen’s war council.
The Jarl, the frost bear jarls, Olaf One-Eye and Jorg Spear-Breaker, Halvar the Peacekeeper, an ulfskennar called Wodan Two-Souls, the list is long.
Discussions and arguments erupt about how best to strike at Torathia
Taerbjornsen stares at the map in silence for a long time.
Sacapus, sitting at the Jarl’s right hand, quietly murmurs his thoughts.
“Stop,” Taerbjornsen finally says, not raising his voice.
Silence falls.
“Surprise will serve us well,” he says.
“A small force will split off.
“Break through Saadia, and cross the mountains.
“Strike at Saraf unexpectedly.
“Slaughter the Serpentes.
“Let no man, horse, or messenger bird leave alive.”
“The rest of the army will move into position a day out of Tanniyn, taking cover in the foothills here,” he stabs a spot on the map.
“We will wait to hear you howl your victory.
“Come down the road to cover the other side of Tanniyn
“We attack together, from all sides, preventing any messenger from escaping.
“Then we ransack Torathia at our leisure, and take Nahash.”
The plan is a good one.
The various war leaders exchange looks, considering what part they might play.
It is Gjul the Hungry, ever bold, that breaks the silence
“Who will go?” he asks.
Taerbjornsen surveys the room.
“Loranettes,” he says.
Cyril’s commander, Marchand, speaks up. “Yes, my lord?”
“The time has come to prove yourselves. You will go.”
Marchand swallows, nods.
Taerbjornsen’s gaze sweeps across the room again.
“Olaf,” he says.
“Jarl?” the grizzled old warrior speaks.
“You will take the command
“Take any men you choose, as many as you think can cross the mountains in stealth.
“A great deal hinges on your success.”
His voice, typically bored, betrays a small glimmer of warmth.
“I would trust it to none other, old friend.”
Olaf One-Eye nods solemnly.
“It will be done, Ragnar.”
Okay, that’ll do for now. Sorry again for the late post.
Not sure how many of you will be surprised by this reveal at this point, as it’s been hinted at numerous times. I know the players had it pretty much figured out back when they interrogated Hakon in Caedia, if not sooner.
Edit: Next!
Posted Jun 15, 2017, 12:31 AM UTC · edited