1. The Return of Ivar
2. Bone Hill 2
3. Gandalf in Winterland
4. Frost Keys A: Valley of the Dead Queens
5. Frost Keys B: Thorfinn the Three-Fingered
6. Frost Keys C: Signy
7. Thorgerd (a.k.a. Hommlet IV & V)
8. Thorfinn Olafson’s Hoard
9. L Series
10. Return to Telenet
11. Frost Keys D: Ice Ogres
12. Frost Keys E: Åsa’s Tomb
13. Harpies’ Den (Finding of the Gauntlet)
14. The Saga of Åsa the Fierce

Note: T, L, Y, Q, H, C = months of the year: Tuilë (spring), Lairë (summer), Yavië (autumn), Quellë (fading), Hrivë (winter), Coirë (stirring)

IV.1: The Return of Ivar (152 Quellë 36 - 38; 1983 June - July)

Background and summary: After defeating the Slavers Stockade, Bree and Astacoe learn from Valashi of a long-dead hero named Ivar the Great, a warrior priest of Heimdall. His body had recently been located in Barradine, a long-abandoned coastal city in Vridistan. Bringing him back to life would be a great boon for the war effort, so they round up Kaija and Blodgett and rush off to resurrect him.

Some history: 800 years ago, Dwarves and Krollanders were sacking Grimlon and Barradine during an offensive versus Vridistan. Ivar had led a heroic charge against the central Tower of Barradine, but met Bo the Wizard (MU17); they killed each other (and a lot of others). Ivar’s body was looted shortly after; the most valuable items eventually ended up in several sacophagi in the basement of the Tower. (Ivar’s history is the subject of a later adventure as well: see The Orb of Phaedra.)

The Party sneaks past some Orc troop camps into Barradine, which is inhabited only by undead, army deserters, and Gnolls. They find Ivar’s body, resurrect him, find his most significant belongings, and return to Krolland with him.

Meanwhile in the war, the Dwarves of Kharall-dûm are losing; Vridi troops are within 2 km of their city. As well, the Krollanders are losing; on Q38, 2 Balrogs and 8 other demons break through the front line.

Starting members (from Slavers Stockade): Bree (WrC6), Kaija (MU4/F4), Blodgett (T5/I3), Astacoe (F3)

Q27: Party quickly departs from Ikon
Q29: arrive at Maegenbald, sail across inland sea to avoid the war front, and sneak behind enemy lines
Q35: arrive at Barradine, avoiding Orc camps
enter the tower, defeat many undead, Bree loses a level; climb to top of tower, find Ivar’s body
Bree casts Resurrection from the special scroll; spell revives Ivar, but MU’s bones begin to twitch; Party smashes the MUs bones and throws skull out the tower window; Ivar (Cvr22/WrC7) joins
fight way to basement
Q36: find Ivar’s sword; with his +5 Holy Sword, Ivar utterly devastates a room full of undead
find rest of Ivar’s belongings: +4 Shield and other things (he’s already in +4 Plate)
Q37: exit tower, find the MUs skull still active; they crush skull
enter an Orc camp, kill 53 Orcs and an MU, take 5 horses, and ride home quickly
Q40: arrive at Maegenbald; Ivar arranges for Bree to receive a free Restoration

Training, Q40-H32: Kaija, Astacoe, Blodgett

meanwhile: Bree fights in the war for 25 days; almost dies

IV.2: Bone Hill 2 (152 Hrivë 30 - 48; 1983 July - 1984 January)

Background and summary: Bree knew that ‘Sheh’s Party had never completely cleaned out the Evil from Bone Hill. She leads the Party there, and they find undead and a dreaded Shoggoth in the lowest level, as well as plenty of riches.

Starting members (from Return of Ivar): Bree (WrC6), Kaija (MU4/F5), Astacoe (F4)

H11: Bree leaves for Ikon, while Kaija and Astacoe train in Maegenbald
H14: Bree arrives in Ikon and finds some reinforcements: Florelli (T4) and Eric (F2) join
H25: Kaija and Astacoe arrive in Ikon
H27: Party sails over to Restenford
H31: arrive at Bone Hill; grind way through new occupants
H32: Martin (R2) joins (new to the Party, but well known to ‘Sheh – see end of Moon Bog in Book II)
H37: Astacoe loses a level to a Wraith
H40: meet the Shoggoth; Kaija and Eric killed
H45: meet the spirit of Thorvald, a Norse MU (and ancestor of Bree) from Tel Qa who lived 4 centuries ago and was killed by the Shoggoth
H46: Kaija wished back by Bree, as a gift from Thorvald
H48: arrive back in Restenford.

Training: Martin, Florelli; Astacoe re-earned his lost level so did not have it restored.

IV.3: Gandalf in Winterland (152 Coirë 38 - 153 Tuilë 19; 1984 January)

Background and summary: Gandalf was adventuring with ’Sheh et alia, dealing with the Clergy of Ptah. After blowing up Sinetta, he flees by means of a teleport scroll. Unfortunately, the spell does not work properly, and he finds himself in a harsh winterland. After much freezing, he finds a strange refuge; a small manor which oversees an incredible nexus of Planes. The manor is governed by an immensely powerful Gnome, who helps Gandalf find his way back to Dafan.

Starting member: Gandalf (MU4)

C38: Gandalf blows up Sinetta with a Fireball
he Teleports away, but the spell fails and sends him to Winter World
somehow, he manages to find his way into the manor of Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged, a Gnome (Ba23/I8/C6, speaks 39 languages) who has been cursed to govern the planar crossroads for a very long time
Gandalf stays a while; Wowbagger prophetically tells Gandalf:

Look for a ruby chair embedded in a door, ringed about a blue diamond

T2: a Frost Giant passes through Wowbagger’s manor, on his way to find a Frost Key before Bree and Astacoe do (see Frost Keys A)
T3: Gandalf accidentally exits the manor at the wrong time and ends up in a new wintery world: Telenet!
he can eventually locate the magical Gate to Wowbagger, up in the sky now, but cannot get to it
T8: after days of attempts, Gandalf miraculously gets back to Wowbagger
T9-18: Gandalf watching doorways for a safe and/or familiar destination
T19: he exits Wowbagger’s manor, and finds Bree and company (see following adventure)

IV.4: Frost Keys A: Valley of the Dead Queens (152 Coirë 42 - 153 Tuilë 21; 1984 January - March)

Background and summary: Bree decides to go to hometown of Tel Qa, for it is also under attack by Vridi troops. She convinces her friends to accompany her on the difficult journey through enemy territory. They find Tel Qa under seige, as the Vridi Emperor had grown tired of the ruler of Tel Qa aiding Vridi’s foes. But for the past 2 weeks, the city has been secretly evacuating to a new location in Dwarven lands to the west. About 100 capable folk remain in the city, doing their best to hold off the Vridi army (by means of magic and traps) and hide the evacuation; one of the leaders turns out to be Elcarin, a foreign Vanyar Elf mage who wanted to have some fun at Vridistan’s expense and also happens to be a distant cousin of ’Sheh.

The Party is given the task of finding clues as to the whereabouts of a legendary artifact: the Axe of Åsa. It is hoped that its recovery could inspire great victories against Vridistan. They head to the nearby Valley of the Dead Queens, a long-abandoned region further west now overrun by a lot of nightmarish critters. They eventually find what they are looking for in an old library, but not before they encounter (and finally defeat) a Frost Giant who also has an interest in the Axe.

Starting members (from Bone Hill 2): Bree (WrC6), Kaija (MU4/F5), Astacoe (F4), Florelli (T5), Martin (R3)
                           (from retirement): Alcavron (F/T) (from Castle Amber), Rugor (F) (from Isle of Dread)

C20: ride on invisible horses through enemy territory, from Ikon to Tel Qa
During the trip, Florelli and Alcavron fall in love
C28: arrive near Tel Qa, which is under seige; Bree tries to communicate with cityfolk by means of Messenger spell, but Rugor eats the bird upon return
C29: Party sneaks invisibly into Tel Qa
C30: they join in evacuation of last citizens of Tel Qa to New Tel Qa, a new hidden city
C36: arrive in New Tel Qa; plan; Alcavron and Rugor leave, Swiness (MU6) joins (from Hommlet, now with weasel Familiar)
C43: leave
C44: arrive at the Valley of the Dead Queens
C45: skirt around edge of the valley; find many Ogres, Trolls, and Owlbears about
enter ruined city of Sabra’vig, find nothing of use
C50: enter Xinbaobai: battle Chimerai, find nothing of use
C55: enter Mnobda: battle Trolls, Gargoyles and a Purple Worm, find nothing of use
C59: enter Sophishka: meet and team up with a party of 3 Gnomes (F11, C8/I9, T9); battle undead
C60: celebrate New Year’s Eve, have fun, but then a hitherto unknown Scarab of Insanity is set off, and a mass brawl breaks out; amazingly, no one dies (Swiness keeps the Scarab for future use ...)
153T1: battle a demon; a nasty statue ages Astacoe by 10 years
enter the Library of Sophishka, find references to a mage named Ixthast who lived centuries ago
T2: work their way upstairs in the Library
meet Mary the Learned (a Medusa) and her pet Displacer Beasts: two Gnomes killed, Kaija poisoned; Gnome thief kills Mary
meanwhile, a very smart Frost Giant (see below) lurks on the roof, making noise so as to lure Party up: when Florelli climbs onto the roof, the Giant pounds her and then throws her off (her Ring of Feather Fall saves her, but she almost bleeds to death)
the rest of Party goes up, sees no giant but finds a magic Hole (a Gate) in the roof; Bree dangles some rope in; the Giant, waiting in Winter World on the other “side”, grabs rope and almost pulls Bree in; then bundles up the rope and throws it back through the Hole, nearly knocking Bree off the Library roof; the Party retreats
T3: Kaija remains alive only because of Slow Poison spells; Martin finally finds a Neutralise Poison and cures her
Astacoe, armed with all the Party’s magical goodies, climbs back onto roof and battles the Giant; the Giant clobbers Astacoe, who falls off roof: Astacoe killed; rest of the Party finishes off the Giant, who also ends up falling off the roof (and then bleeding to death)
T4: leave Valley
T6: arrive back in new Tel Qa
Astacoe fails raise attempt; a Commune with Forseti determines he has gone to Niflheim; Bree offers to perform a Quest for Forseti in exchange for help in getting Astacoe back (Forseti later takes up the offer - see Road to Hel).

Training, T8-18: Kaija, Martin

T11: Swiness puts on a cursed ring, and attacks the Party; no one dies
T12: Party puts up “help wanted” posters: two drunks apply: Lanefan Detustre (F3) and Eohyl Eriglif (MU2/F2) join
T13: while Kaija and Martin train, Party heads back to Sophishka
T15: get to Library; find that the Giant’s body has already been looted, and books by Ixthast are gone
battle Ogres; Swiness charms two: Karrrla joins and becomes a productive Party member
(Karrrla: S:29, I:6, W:5, D:6, C:14, Ch:7 – i.e. strong yet flimsy, smart and charismatic ... for an Ogre)
T16: search the rest of town
T18: find the magic Hole, somewhat unstable and dangerous; Party goes through to Winter World; Lanefan and Swiness determine via pendulum that it’s a different world with gravity that is 20% weaker
Eohyl and Bree begin to bicker
T19: meet Gandalf! (see Gandalf in Winterland, above) Gandalf (MU4) joins, but receives a mixed welcome (Bree says “Oh no!”, while Eohyl tries to seduce him)
a Red Dragon accidentally flies through the magic Hole; some charmed allies are killed
Party goes back through the Hole; Eohyl, Bree, and Gandalf bicker; but no one dies; Swiness rounds up Eohyl, and has Karrrla enforce peace
T20: Kaija and Martin catch up to Party
T21: temperature drops to -38; not a happy Party
T22: Eohyl steals a ring from Bree and flees back through Hole, and hides up a tree; the Party pursues, and then decides to return to the library; a new search finally reveals the Medusa’s hoard, which contains the first Frost Key and an old scroll addressed to Åsa; it says:

Radagast, once the Foolish, had a Key     then the Sneaky, finally the Eaten;
Thorfinn the 3-fingered now has a key,     and Signy the Horrible has the last

they go through Hole and meet Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (whom Gandalf had just recently met); discuss things with him

Who was that Frost Giant and what was he up to, anyway?

T2: While Gandalf was visiting Wowbagger’s manor, a non-descript Frost Giant named Bekhuði (younger brother of Bertuði the Þuakker) passes through. The door he goes through brings him onto the roof of the Library at Sophishka, about 5 hours before the party enters the Library. Why? Eight days before, he had a dream that the holy Frost Keys (which keep Åsa the Butcher entombed) as well as Åsa’s grisly axe are in danger of being found. Horrors!

Bekhuði climbs down the outside of the building and sneaks in. 7 Ogres see his descent, and decide to investigate this troubling interloper. He begins searching for some books in the card catalogues, but hears the Ogres; he kills 4 of them, and the others flee. Bekhuði goes back to the cards and after about 4 hours (this is an old catalogue, not in the best of shape, and not at all designed for the fingers of a Giant), he finds the entries for the books he is looking for. Using a variety of spells and a potion of invisibility (indeed, this is no ordinary Frost Giant!), he sneaks by the Displacer Beast pets of Mary the Medusa who now lives in the Library and finds the books on the 3rd floor.

After reading for a while (and ignoring the quiet, off-key singing of the nearby Medusa), he hurriedly bundles up all the books of interest to him that are close at hand and runs upstairs ... for the books foretell of the search for these very books by the reincarnation of Åsa herself. As it turns out, the Party is but an hour away by now. In the attic, under cover of another Silence spell, he opens a hole in the ceiling and climbs onto the roof.

Twenty minutes later, the Party sneaks to the 3rd floor, in pursuit of the same books. They encounter the Medusa, and kill her. Bekhuði hears the fight, and suspects that he arrived just in time. He opens the hole in the roof a bit more, letting the sound lure the Party up. When Florelli climbs up onto the roof to investigate, the Giant pounds her one and flings her off the roof; the rest of the Party advances determinedly, and Bekhuði retreats through the magic Hole to Winter Land (where he would have better odds in a battle). But the Party does not pursue him.

T3: The next morning, Bekhuði sneaks back through the magic Hole and back to the 3rd floor. He discovers that the Party has also taken some books, and realises that he may need them as well; so he has to finish the Party off. He returns to Winter World and hopes that the Party figures out that he has books that they need, and come after him. That evening, having returned to the Library to spy, he finally hears the Party’s activities in the Library (they’re tearing it apart, looking for things). He makes some noise again, and sure enough, the Party comes up to confront him. Astacoe is armed with the best magic items the Party has, and battles the Giant. They both die.

IV.5: Frost Keys B: Thorfinn the Three-Fingered (153 Tuilë 31 - 43; 1984 April - May)

Background and summary: The Party finds out from Wowbagger where Thorfinn the 3-fingered is; or at least, which world they need to go to. They end up in the Norse lands of Dafan, far to the north of Tel Qa where they started. Walking into the first town, they find out that Thorfinn is a local Giant abomination, who just last week lost another finger (while crushing yet another local hero) and earned the nickname “Three-Fingered”. This surprises the Party, as the scroll mentioning him is very old.

After some difficulty, they Party finds Thorfinn’s complex in a mountainside. They work their way in, and kill all the Trolls and Giants living there, including Thorfinn. They also accidentally shatter the second Frost Key.

Starting members (from Frost A): Bree (WrC6), Swiness (MU6), Gandalf (MU4?), Kaija (MU5/F5), Florelli (T5), Martin (R4?), Lanefan (F3), Eohyl (F2/T2), Karrrla (Ogre)

T23: the Party returns to Winter World for some reason; balmy -10 to -18C temperatures
T24: for fun, Swiness has Karrrla grab Lanefan and Gandalf and carry them through the Gate; the rest off the Party begrudgingly follows; they find themselves in another wintery world, but with people
T25: they walk into first village, Hvammstangi, and find out they’re back on Dafan, far to the north
go to nearby town of Olafsvik, and find out from Karlsefni Skull-Splitter (the local Ranger) that their quarry is nearby: Thorfinn is a Giant that has been raiding in the valley
Party breaks up to accomplish various tasks in town:
• Swiness, Kaija, and Martin convince a local cleric to play backup to Bree: Harald the Clumsy (NrC3, dex 5) joins
• Gandalf and Lanefan round up a bored local fighter: Groa the Silent (F3) joins
• Gandalf then tries discreetly to charm Bree, but fails 7 times in a row
• Bree and Eohyl drink a lot, and then have a fist fight
• Bree then seduces Groa, while Lanefan seduces Eohyl
• Florelli drinks a lot, and just passes out; Harald joins her
• Karrrla finally notices that a fight had broken out without her, and decides to join in (better late than never); ends up carrying Eohyl around for a while, then gets bored and leaves her somewhere
T26: Gandalf tries 4 more times to charm Bree, and fails each time; Eohyl catches on, and tries twice on Groa (both fail) and then twice on Gandalf (both fail); Gandalf gets worried, and pays Groa 50sp to be his bodyguard
Party then heads out to find Thorfinn the Giant
that night, while camped out, the Party is attacked by 4 Trolls and 14 Orcs:

The Battle of Three Tents
• Swiness single-handledly kills 2 Orcs with her dagger
• Gandalf, up a tree, spends the entire combat trying to clobber enemy with rocks launched by his Ring of Telekinesis; while many enemy are made nervous, the only damage done is to the Party’s tents (3 destroyed), 8 points to the back of Martin’s head, and 6 points to Lanefan’s foot
• Harald killed
T27: Party returns to Olafsvik, and tries to recruit another cleric ("Harald died. Can we have another one?"); but instead, they’re run out of town
Party walks to the next town, Grenivik, and hire another local cleric: Alzain (NrC3) joins
Alzain fails to impress Lanefan with his curing prowess: 4 cures produce all of 4 points healing
T28-32: Party wanders up and down the valley, looking for Thorfinn, and drinking themselves silly
T33: Party finally thinks to ask their charmed Orc captives where Thorfinn lives – voila!
enters Thorfinn’s complex; defeat 29 Orcs
that night, Bree steals two cantrips (Colour and Tweak) from Gandalf’s spell book, and passes them to Swiness, who plants various pages of them under Eohyl, Lanefan, and Groa in their sleep
T34: defeat some Ice Trolls; Lanefan almost killed
the Party’s spelunking skills are severely tested when they try to lower everyone down a tight shaft; the rope breaks when Karrrla descends (why ever was she last?), and she squashes most of the party
T37: after resting for 2 days, boredom sets in ... so a spell fight breaks out, resulting in a White Gandalf, Red Alzain, Olive Bree, charmed Eohyl, Swiness with 5' long braids, and Karrrla resembling a humongous Ewok
T38: a floor collapses, sending Bree, Alzain, and Eohyl into a pool of water with Water Wyrds, which proceed to try and drown them; Martin soon joins them; they are finally rescued by Florelli and then Kaija, who dive in, and Lanefan, who descends by means of Spider Climb; everyone is rescued, but Kaija’s spell book suffers serious water damage and she loses 6 spells
Karrrla killed by a large tentacled monster
T39: defeat 4 Ice Trolls
5 Trolls come to investigate their missing comrades; Party kills them, but Martin and Groa killed
T40: meet Thorfinn and many more Trolls; Eohyl killed when she rushes first into Thorfinn’s throneroom, and is mushed by two huge logs swung from opposite directions; Kaija and Swiness almost killed
T42: find Thorfinn’s treasure room; when determine that it is occupied by 2 tentacled monsters, Gandalf lobs in a Lightning Bolt and kills them; it also shatters the second Frost Key – oops!
T43: finally find a watery exit from complex, and exit wet and cold
return to Grenivik
for some reason, the Party now decides to argue about the treasure found in the previous adventure
T44: Party heads for the coast
T46: arrive at Husavik; Lanefan screws (down) Bree in her bed
T47: Martin raised
Gandalf hires a henchling – Hobson Fairbairns (F1/T1) joins – but for some reason Gandalf has him sit out the next adventure

IV.6: Frost Keys C: Signy (153 Lairë 11 - 22; 1984 June)

Background and summary: The Party now has 2 Frost Keys (well, 1 plus the shattered remains of another), but is unsure what to do with them. But before they can get too bored (and into too much trouble), Swiness is kidnapped. The Party tracks the kidnappers, rescue Swiness, and determine that she was being taken to a strange and powerful being named Signy the Horrible, whom the Party knows has the last Key (and who also happens to be an ancestor of Åsa). They thus proceed to Signy, warily. Signy knows that the Party is fated to get the Key, and, as an ancestor of Åsa, has some interest in seeing they succeed; but sees no reason to simply give it to them without having some fun first. The Party eventually gets the Key, but do not realise it; for it is a verbal Key.

Starting members (from Frost B): Bree (WrC6), Swiness (MU6), Gandalf (MU5), Kaija (M5/F5), Florelli (T5), Martin (R4), Lanefan (F4), Alzain (NrC3)

T48: resting in Husavik, the Party finds some reinforcements: “Arlan” Mirusaki Shikibu (NtC3) and The Honourable Amaco.Ee (R3) join (having recently boated from Hestia) and Yvraleo (M2/T2) and Haldir Avatar (F1/MU1/T2) join.
(note: Arlan pretends to be a fighter, fools party for weeks; plays many tricks on Party with spells)
out of the blue, Swiness kidnapped off the town docks, together with 2 Dwarves and an Elf; 12 locals died as well
all but Lanefan, Gandalf, and Arlan pursue; Commune reveals that one kidnapper is an old human foe of Kaija named Vespasian (so old, he should have died of old age long ago ...)
somewhen around here, Gandalf charms Amaco
T56: trail leads to vicinity of Tingvoll, Signy’s home
T57: ambush the kidnappers (MU9/F4, F7, Mk7, A5, F5/MU4): Alzain and Florelli killed, as are 3 local guides; Kaija is Feebleminded; the mage and the assassin flee, but rest killed and Swiness rescued
L3: return to Husavik; Alzain and Florelli raised, Kaija healed
Yvraleo finds a Familiar: a crab
L5: Leave Husavik
L11: arrive at Tingvoll; meet a bloody, strung-up Giant who looks at Bree and mutters “. . . Åsa?” and dies.
meet Signy . . . so they think. Actually, the Giant they talk to, who’s munching on a Giant’s leg, is a pet Ogre wearing an illusion to make it look more ferocious; the real Signy is the 4' tall hunchback "servant"
"Signy" greets the Party: “Hellooo, key seekers. Hehehe. See that Giant outside? She wanted one, too. So did this fellow [waves food]. What’s it to you?”
L12: Party is at a loss what to do so retreats back to camp, and begins to squabble; Swiness’s weasel tries to eat Yvraleo’s crab.
Zombies attack, and Gandalf’s Fireball starts a major forest fire
Party sneaks into Signy’s temple; defeat the Ogre pet, some undead, and the two remaining kidnappers, although Vespasian escapes again. Lanefan finds a polymorph glyph the hard way, and turns into an earthworm for a while.
talk with the real Signy; find out Signy was Åsa’s grandmother; Signy fixes the Frost Key which was shattered in previous adventure with her bare hands; for some reason, Kaija vanishes
Signy ends conversation by cryptically saying:

See the ring point to the floor
say my name to open the door

(this is the third Frost Key, but the Party does not realise that)
then time progresses rapidly, night falls, and all the dead of the former town want into Signy’s temple
battle waves of undead; Bree prays to Sif, and Sif bestows Heroism on entire Party; Party escapes
L14: more undead; Amaco invents the “Arlan spear” (Gandalf commands him to throw Arlan at a ghoul)
Party bickers again; Kaija returns, having hunted down and killed Vespasian
L16: Party returns to Tingvoll: illusionary lightning doesn’t scare them off, and Gandalf jokes about smoke, so Signy fireballs the Party; Yvraleo killed
L18: Party leaves
L23: arrive in Husavik

Training, L24-45: Bree, Haldir, Alzain, Florelli, Arlan (trains secretly, as is still pretending to be a Fighter)

IV.7: Thorgerd (a.k.a. Hommlet IV+V) (153 Lairë 28 - 45; 1984 July)

Background and summary: While half of the Party takes a few weeks to do some training, the other half gets bored and decides to look for some local excitement. They hear of an old fortress (which bears an uncanny resemblance to one near the village of Hommlet, back near Tel Qa), and decide to clean it out. Unfortunately, the inhabitants crush the over-confident Party.

Starting members (from Frost C): Gandalf (MU5), Martin (R4), Lanefan (F4), Amaco (R3); Haldir (F2/MU1/T2) joins partway
                           (from Frost B): Hobson (F1/T1)
                           (new member): Frodi (NtC3)

L24: Boat to Uvdal
L25: arrive in Uvdal, walk to fort
L27: arrive at fort; defeat giant frogs, giant lizards, and 9 brigands
L28: descend into basement, and are slaughtered by 4 ghouls: Martin, Lanefan, and Frodi killed
only Hobson remains unparalysed; when Gandalf and Amaco recover, Gandalf gives to Hobson Lanefan’s Ring of Invisibility (an act of near unparalleled generosity for Gandalf); unfortunately, Hobson finds out the hard way that Lanefan had a Glyph of Warding put on it, to deter thieves: Hobson killed
Gandalf and Amaco retreat
L35: Martin, Lanefan, Hobson raised
Lanefan leaves; Halbera (NrC4) and Kess (P3) join; Haldir (F2/MU1/T2) rejoins (just finished training)
L39: return to fort, enter basement again
One ghoul almost defeats Party: paralyses Amaco (-9 hp), Kess, Haldir (-6 hp), and Hobson (-8 hp)
L40: retreat; Halbera almost killed
L42: go back in, clobber gnolls, ogres, and bugbears (although Amaco almost killed by a bugbear)
L43: Party defeats all remaining occupants
L48: return to Husavik; Amaco, Halbera, and Kess leave

Training, to Y7: Haldir

IV.8: Thorfinn Olafson’s Hoard (153 Lairë 41 - 44; 1984 July)

Background and summary: Lanefan returns from a disasterous expedition (Thorgerd). Rather than go back with the others, he decides he just wants some easy money, and learns of a lost hoard of money rumoured to have been abandoned in a dangerous swamp 12 years ago by a local miser named Thorfinn Olafson. Rounding up Bree, who had just finished training (10 days before Arlan, Alzain, and Florelli do) and idle Swiness and Kaija, and a new henchling thief, they head off and find the loot.

Starting members (from Frost C): Bree (WrC7), Swiness (MU6), Kaija (MU5/F5)
                           (from Thorgerd): Lanefan (F4)

L37: hear stories about Thorfinn Olafson and his lost hoard of money
L39: Bree and Lanefan hire henchlings, Elina and Helga; Helga Groasdattir (T3) joins, but Elina paid to stay put
L42: arrive at Thorfinn’s abandoned farm; enter swamp
L43: defeat some Orcs
L45: defeat some Ogres and Orcs, and then a Shambling Mound
find the hoard
L48: return to Husavik

IV.9: L Series (L1-L5): Five Quickies in the Snow (153 Lairë 60 - Coirë 16; 1984 November)

Background: Lanefan still wants money, and can’t stand Alzain. He convinces Kaija, Florelli, and Halbera to leave the Party with Helga and him. They simply wander about, looking for and finding small adventures.

Starting members: (from Thorfinn Olafson): Kaija (MU5/F5), Lanefan (F4), Helga (T3)
                            (from Frost C): Florelli (T6)
                            (from Thorgerd): Halbera (NrC4)

L60 - Y34: first adventure; Chaque (NrC2) the Gnome joins; Kaija and Chaque leave; Florelli begins training as a Fighter
Q12 - Q22: second adventure; Ylna (MU4) the Elf joins
Q29 - Q42: third adventure; Lanefan trains to F5
H13 - H23: fourth adventure, for Goodly causes; get mashed
H31 - C16: fifth adventure; Ylna leaves, Nodnol (I1/C2) and Stelba (F3) join
C16: Party splits up; Nodnol and Stelba leave and go back home
Lanefan, Florelli, and Helga meet up with their old Party in Siffjord, who have just finished the Frost Keys adventures; Gandalf takes Lanefan to court over the death of Hobson (see Thorgerd)
C25: Lanefan, Florelli, and Helga sail away to Ikon one morning, before the court date

IV.10: Return to Telenet (153 Quellë 5 - 154 Tuilë 16; 1984 September - 1987 August)

Background: Amaco learns from Gandalf of Dumystor’s death two years ago. Amaco had been sent to bring Dumystor home to Neidra (where Dumystor is crown prince), so he sets off for Ikon. Using Gandalf’s notes, he locates Dumystor’s grave, digs up the bones, brings them to a powerful cleric, and has him resurrected.

The two then travel to New Tel Qa and find Rugor and Alcavron; and then go to Nakki-Nakk’s complex (where Dumystor arrived in Dafan with Rugor). There, they carry a partially disassembled boat underground to the lake, reassemble the boat; and Dumystor and Amaco sail through the Teleport on the lake back to Telenet, and ultimately to Neidra. Rugor and Alcavron, meanwhile, go on their separate ways.

Starting members: (from Thorgerd): Amaco (R3)
                            (from Frost A): Rugor (F5?), Alcavron (F/T) (join in part way)

Y5: Amaco sails south
Y47: arrives in Ikon
Q25: locates Dumystor’s body
Q40: arranges to have Dumystor (R2) resurrected
H13: Amaco and Dumystor leave Ikon
H19: encounter Gnolls; Amaco captured!
H22: Dumystor, having rounded up some capable Humans, rescues Amaco
H35: arrive in Gnomeland, and learn about natural teleport sites; sends them to Dwarves near New Tel Qa
H56: arrive in New Tel Qa, and find Rugor; Rugor (F5?) and Alcavron (F/T) join
H57: inquiries with local Dwarves leads them to the underground lake beneath Nakki-Nakk’s complex; purchase an old boat, and plenty of parts
C38: get to the lake, and assemble the boat; find out that they just missed the right “window” to Neidra
C40: Rugor leaves
C54: return to New Tel Qa (having left boat at the lake)
T11: return to complex; have to fight many more local monsters
T25: Alcavron leaves
set sail, catch the right tide, and sail through the Gate, hopefully to Telenet
L26: land on some shore, meet locals, find out they’re not anywhere near Neidra; consult with local sages, and find they’re in some place called Hraven (country? continent? world? can’t tell)
pick up two locals who like the idea of sailing blindly to the end of the universe: Moclassi (Mk4) and Berkta (C4) join
Party sails several times to find the Gate out at sea; takes them months to find it
H9: finally find the Gate out at sea and teleport to a new world
C34: land on a new shore; that evening, see unfamiliar stars and realise they’re on yet another new world (MIddle Earth, this time)
C37: set sail again, and this time quickly find the Gate
C38: land on another new shore; again deduce they were on a new world (Long Beach, Earth); meet local Haida, find out about this new world
C48: set sail again
C49: find the Gate, go through, and find themselves in a roaring gale; boat wrecked on a rocky shore;
C54: explore shore, eventually find a tunnel which takes them to a brick wall; chistle through to sunlight, and find out they’re in Andante, the ruined city east of Neidra – finally the right world!
a few weeks later, they make it over the mountains, meet Elves, and then finally arrive home

IV.11: Frost Keys D: Ice Ogres (153 Yavië 27 - Quellë 27; 1984 August - September)

Background and summary: The Party regroups. It has 2 Frost Keys, but doesn’t know what to do with them. They learn that the 3rd Key, of a less tangible nature, reputedly lies in the abandoned lair of a mage named Hella, now inhabited by Ice Ogres. But before they can set off, a squabble breaks out and they end up being exiled from Freyvall, their current base of operations. During a training break, they have another squabble, and are exiled from their next base town; Siffjord becomes their final base town. They do have time, in amongst all the squabbling, to clean out Hella’s complex. And they then learn that they already have the 3rd Frost Key – Signy’s last words – and acquire directions to Åsa’s tomb.

Starting members: (from Thorfinn Olafson): Bree (WrC7), Swiness (MU6)
                           (from Thorgerd): Gandalf (MU5), Martin (R4), Haldir (F2/MU2/T3), Hobson (F1/T1)
                           (from Frost C): Alzain (NrC4), Arlan (NtC4)

L48: Bree and Swiness, and Gandalf, Martin, Haldir, and Hobson, return to Husavik; Haldir trains to Y7
L52: Bree rounds up her henchling Elina; Elina (T1) joins; also, Dio (F3) joins
Y8: Party hires a boat to take them to Freyvall
Y12: arrive in Freyvall
Y13: a squabble breaks out on the docks between Alzain and Hobson; Gandalf tries to help Hobson, but Alzain stops him with a Hold Person; Arlan throws eggs and other things at Alzain; Swiness manacles Hobson; Martin is knocked into the water; Gandalf revives and then Charms Alzain
During this, Swiness pulls out her pipe, settles down in her portable chair, and holds up scores cards. This enrages Alzain, who gets Baranfindel to cast Hold Person on Swiness, and takes her to the Thor Temple for some Lawful treatment; she retaliates by using her Scarab of Insanity (see Frost A) on everyone about, frees herself, and then blasts her way out with a Lightning Bolt, Sleep, Web, and Monster Summoning I (gets 3 Hobgoblins who had been in the neighbourhood, spying for the soon-to-be invading army; pity no one paid much attention to them); the Scarab prompts the following mass brawling as an excellent diversion:
Alzain attacks a local Thor cleric, Arlan tackles Alzain, Alzain, Bree and Hobson attack Martin, Martin attacks Bree; many are taken to below 0 hp.
Thor Temple sends a posse of 44 locals (including 2 F9s and a C7) to hunt down Swiness; the entire Party is officially exiled for desecrating a Thor temple
when safely away from the Temple, Swiness uses a scroll of Teleportation to leave town; unfortunately, the spell fails and dumps her in the ocean where she drowns! Thus Swiness killed (but not lost . . .)
when all has settled down, Arlan and Hobson have another fight
Y14: Party leaves town (... and there is much rejoicing by the locals)
Y26: they get to the vicinity of complex, start battling Yeti and Ice Ogres
Y28: have a battle, in which three more tents die
Y29: Dio boldly struts into a cavern, and is hit by a single piercer for 64 points damage; Dio killed
Y30: Knottwoor Thmutch (NtC2/T2) joins
Y31: enter Hella’s complex, battle lots of Ice Ogres; Arlan’s true class (Cleric) finally discovered
Y34: Hobson killed; exit complex and bury Hobson
Y38: Haldir leaves for training
Y42: go back into complex; Elina killed; leave complex
Y51: Alzain takes Elina’s body to Freyvall, in order to have Elina raised

Training and other town activities:
Martin, Alzain, Haldir, Elina, Knottwoor
While those members are off training, the rest of the Party kills time (and a local): Gandalf bickers with Alzain and Bree, and fires a Lightning Bolt at them; misses, but kills the 14yr old son of a rich merchant
Penalties: Gandalf gives a Long Boat, pays for Raise, pays for clerical training for the boy, and pay for a new temple to Freyr (to pay for all this, Gandalf sells his Ring of Telekinesis); Alzain is stripped of Protection from Lightning spell (what he had used in squabble); Bree stripped of Command spell (what she used in squabble) and contributes towards the new temple. As well, these three plus Kaija and Haldir are exiled for one year from this village.

Q16: Bree uses Exorcise spell to remove Feebleminded mage in Gandalf’s head (see Castle Amber)
Party leaves for Hella’s complex again; Knottwoor still in Noranglia training (returns Q45)
Q25: find secret archives of Hella and learn some more Frost Key lore; Martin killed (and his main magic items destroyed); exit complex
Q39: arrive in Siffjord (a town which naively still accepts the Party); Martin raised

IV.12: Frost Keys E: Åsa’s Tomb (153 Hrivë 25 - 45; 1984 October - 1985 January)

Background and summary: The Party now has all three Frost Keys, and journeys to Åsa’s Tomb, the entrance of which is up a remote mountainside. By means of the Keys (and Gandalf’s surprising intuitive knowledge as to their useage) they enter the tomb, defeat a maze and various traps, and find Åsa’s body. The curse on her Axe is removed, and Bree remembers her former life.

Starting members: (from Frost D): Bree (WrC7), Gandalf (MU5), Martin (R5), Alzain (NrC5), Arlan (NtC4), Haldir (F3/MU2/T3), Elina (T2), Knottwoor (NtC3/T3)
                           (from L Series): Kaija (MU5/F5)

Q40: Gandalf leaves Siffjord for southlands, but the boat he is travelling on is sunk by pirates; he sneaks on board the pirates’ vessel, and travels to their base on a small island; there, he spends 5 days in hiding, before he can escape; he then helps some Goodly folk track down the pirates
Q60: Haldir leaves in order to pick up a magic Ring (of Invisibility?) he has had commissioned
H3: Gandalf returns to Siffjord
H4: Party leaves Siffjord, not willing to wait any longer for Haldir; long journey by foot into the mountains
H8: Knottwoor charms Gandalf, and abuses him
Haldir arrives in Siffjord; sets off after party (at first by horse); soon he is discretely followed by a party of Frost Giants
H10: charm wears off Gandalf, and he charms Knottwoor in retaliation (and has Knottwoor pay him 1000 gp)
H23: presuming that Haldir must be near by and trying to find the Party, Gandalf unleashes a Lightning Bolt; this sets off an avalanche that almost kills Gandalf and Arlan; Haldir finds Party
H25: reach a cave which they know somehow leads them to Åsa’s Tomb; wait for something to happen
H26: the back wall of the cave suddenly vanishes, exposing a tunnel; Party goes through, but Gandalf doesn’t trust it and stays put, and the wall reappears, cutting him off
exiting the tunnel, the Party sees a set of small islands, surrounded by water that falls off the edge of the world all around (Roger Dean's fabulous painting for Close to the Edge)
H27: fight many Trolls which have infested the first islands; only Kaija remains above 0 hit points
H28: Gandalf finally enters the tunnel and rejoins the Party
H29: the Party finds a boat and makes its way towards the central island; fight headless giants’ skeletons as well as one living being, an Evil Dwarf who is certain that Bree/Åsa will fail, again, for she has not brought a descendant of Fljar with her; fortunately for the Party (not that they know it yet), the Dwarf is wrong, for Gandalf is present
H30: Yule: party time!
H32: land on main island, enter the one building
to H35: deal with many traps in building; Gandalf seems to intuitively know what to do with the 2 physical Keys; Elina secretly beginning to train Arlan in thievery
H36: find a lower level, with a misty maze
find Åsa’s Axe lying about; Bree and Kaija find out the hard way that the Axe has a curse on it (it lowers the wielder’s charisma, to begin with)
H37: Elina killed by a trap;
H39: when the 3rd Key is incorrectly used, Gandalf, Haldir, Martin and Kaija are Teleported to random places on the surface; Gandalf and Martin almost swept over the edge of the world
this happens twice more, as Party tries to figure out what to do
Gandalf finally remembers the 3rd Key from Signy; Party finds Åsa’s body, and Bree remembers who she was; when axe meets Åsa’s body, its curse is removed
9 Frost Giants arrive (having followed Haldir), too late to prevent the Party from finding the tomb, but not too late to bash some heads; big battle, Party survives
H40: leave islands, but have to wait for tunnel to reappear
H45: return to real world; find that Signy was about outside, killing a giant or two that had been waiting
C7: return to Siffjord; Elina resurrected a few days later; Elina leaves, and retires
Bree leaves the Axe with a Sif Temple

Training for everyone but Bree, thoughout Coire:
Kaija, Gandalf, Martin, Alzain, Arlan, Haldir, Elina, Knottwoor

Some court proceedings:
C18: Gandalf finds Lanefan (despite Arlan’s warning to Lanefan), and demands 4,000sp in order to Raise Hobson; Lanefan believes that Gandalf will simply pocket the money, and refuses to pay, so Gandalf takes Lanefan to court for being the (deceased) owner of the ring that killed Hobson; this leads to much plotting within the Party, and Gandalf going about town with bodyguards
C25: Lanefan, with Helga and Florelli, sail away to Ikon one morning, just before the court date; but he leaves 4,000sp with Kaija, to be given to Hobson if he returns to life
C33: Gandalf’s connections in town are good enough such that a bounty is put out for Lanefan
C35: Kaija intervenes and settles matter between Gandalf and Lanefan

Coincidentally, on C24, Abbatoir arrives in Freyvall; sees Gandalf about, with bodyguards ... and recalls what he did to Sinetta

C42: Hobson apparently resurrected; Hobson rejoins
C44: Bree, Martin, Kaija, Haldir, Gandalf and Hobson sail for Boda
C55 arrive Boda; Gandalf leaves for Noranglia (see below)
C56: The Party leaves for Signy’s place
154T7: shortly after arriving, they battle a demon; when two more demons arrive, so does Signy in bear form; she manages to destroy them while all but Hobson go through a blue Gate (thus Hobson leaves); they end up inside a temple in Astarah, and soon end up at the Tomb of the Lizard King.

Hobson finds himself alone with Signy; she turns him into a Hawk and he flies to Boda (T10), reforms into a Hobbit (T13), sails to Dunburgh (T18), trains to T2 (T32); joins Gandalf

Meanwhile:
C60: Gandalf arrives in Noranglia; soon begins Cleric training
T9: mentor finds something wrong with Gandalf, namely his murder of Sinetta; continues the training, but has additional tasks to do as repentance
T53: finishes training, now = C0 (as well as M6)
L8: with Hobson, he does some adventuring
Y14: meets Lanefan again; together, they set off for what could have been a crucial encounter (see end of Lizard Tomb)

IV.13: Harpies Den (Finding of the Gauntlet) (153 Coirë 49 - 154 Tuilë 13; 1985 January - March)

Background and summary: Alzain is inspired by Thor to go south, and visit a cave known to Kess. There he aquires a magical Gauntlet associated with the Keep of Alderweg (in southwestern Noranglia). But when they arrive at the Keep, most of the Party is killed, and the Party disbands. The keep is dealt with later on by a different party (see The Gauntlet in Book VI).

Starting members (from Frost E): Alzain (NrC6); Arlan (NtC5/T1) and Knottwoor (NtC4/T4) join up later
                           (from Thorgerd): Kess (WrC3/F4)
                           (from Moon Bog): Abbotoir (F)
                           new members: Feagil (MU/R), Lara (T)

C27: leave Siffjord, without Arlan and Knottwoor
C49: get to the caves; meet Paxper; Paxper (MU2/NrC2) joins
C50: defeat 3 Harpies
C51: leave for Glanby Lake
154T1: Arlan and Knottwoor finally catch up to Party, sneak in, and remove some weapons; Kess blames Lara; then Arlan (NtC5/T1) and Knottwoor (NtC4/T4) rejoin
T2: a drunk Noynek Mik (R3) joins; but Feagil and Lara leave, fed up with being accused of thievery
T3: Noynek sobers up
T5: Party arrives at Gannaway
T9: arrive at the Keep; Alzain, Knottwoor, Abbotoir, and Kess killed
T13: Party returns to Gannaway

Training: Paxper (or was she C3 from the start?)

IV.14: The Saga of Åsa the Fierce

Åsa was destined to become a minion of Sif, if not a Valkyrie. But her death at the hands of a frost giant prisoner was a dishonour, and so she was barred from an honourable afterlife. Instead, she is reincarnated into new people, in order to try again. The latest incarnate is Bree Elinasdottir.

Chronology leading up to the Frost Keys adventures

846 BP: Åsa the Fierce, mighty slayer of frost giants, is killed by a captured frost giant
her body is sent to Sif, and buried in special tomb in an isolated part of Asgard
Sif’s brother leads an assault versus the frost giants, with Åsa’s axe
Brother dies and axe buried

739: the Axe found by Njall the Bold

a cleric of Thrym (God of the Frost Giants) finds and kills Njall, and lays a horrible curse upon the axe; in doing so, however, they link the axe to Åsa such that it becomes the means for her eventual return

to 634: 15 more wielders of the axe; all cursed and die because of the axe

634: Fljar (human, M14/Smith) quested by a Thrym cleric to build 2 Frost Keys; it takes 6 months; they are sacrificed to Thrym upon completion, who in turn sends the keys to one of his clerics, together with a 3rd Key (a verbal spell) made by Thrym personally

633: Njora the Short, 17th wielder of the axe, dies while attempting to bring the axe to Åsa’s tomb; Thrym’s giants follow Njora, destroy all tomb guards and Njora, and quickly lock the tomb with the 3 keys; imposition of such Evil in Asgard results in earthquakes in Asgard and the sinking of the tomb road

Sif arrives moments later, personally smites remaining giants, and throws the two physical Keys to Midgard (i.e. Dafan); She cannot, however, break the magical veil of undetectability that Thrym (through Fljar) wove into them, nor can she send the third Key to Midgard

Sif also throws to Midgard all the giants’ heads; this is the origin of the special status of Frost Giant skulls to followers of Sif; as well, she turns all the tomb guards into Skeleton Warriors to resume their task, albeit rather brainlessly

the axe remains where Njora fell

631: Fljar dies by his own hand; he rests in peace, having been foretold that a descendant of his will help repair the Evil he has unwillingly aided

580: Ixthast (Vanyar/Human), a Sage/Illusionist in Sophishka, learns of a strange white object in the possession of a collector; having extensively researched Åsa, he deduces that it must be a Frost Key; he quietly buys the Key, and becomes obsessed with it

561: Ixthast’s obsession with the Key leads to divine inspiration, and he composes the prophecy of the axe

446: Ixthast “dies” and becomes a Lich

430: Ixthast the Lich is killed and “collected” by Åsa’s grandmother, Signy (an Earth Spirit or “Forest Troll”); Signy learns the prophecy from Ixthast, just before his death, but is unable to find the Frost Key (Fljar’s magic makes it virtually undetectable)

219: Radagast the Foolish chances upon the second Frost Key, and treats it as a very nice gemstone

166: while adventuring, Radagast (the Sneaky, now) is eaten by Throlgha, mother of Thorfinn

95: Thorfinn eats Throlgha and inherits the Frost Key; treats it as a very nice gemstone

85: Mary, the learned Medusa, moves into the abandoned library of Sophishka (incidentally, she was the author of most of the recent books in the library)

80: Mary finds the first Frost Key, stashed away; she is intrigued and researches Ixthast; she becomes inspired by Ixthast’s prophecy, and writes a short letter to Åsa concerning the other two keys:

Radagast, once the Foolish, had a Key then the Sneaky, finally the Eaten;
Thorfinn the 3-fingered now has a key, and Signy the Horrible has the last

37: Oba Grimmsdottir (WrC14 to Sif), while clobbering some frost giants, learns of the third Frost Key’s existence; she quests a reluctant but driven follower, Hella (Vanyar, M23, distant cousin of Ixthast), to magically steal the Key from the mind of a powerful Thrym cleric (in effect, tapping into the mind of Thrym himself)

32: Hella steals the third Frost Key from the Thrym cleric’s mind

28: Signy, ever keen to find more parts of the puzzle, learns of Hella’s action and worms the Key from her

6: Hella’s familiar (a Dragon) hunted down and killed by King Rollex the Lucky, an Ice Ogre pawn of Thrym; this kills Hella

and so . . .

152 Coirë 54: Bekhuði, a shrewd frost giant and cleric to Thrym, awakes from a nightmare in which Åsa the Butcher had come back to life; he attempts to round up a few buddies in order to forstall such a calamity, but no one believes him; so he goes alone

153 Tuilë 2: eight days later, Bekhuði arrives to Sophishka, having divined that a long-dead mage named Ixthast who lived there once had a Key

Bree, Swiness, Kaija, Astacoe, Florelli, and Martin meet Mary the Medusa, and kill her; they then meet Bekhuði and kill him, not knowing his mission; days later, they stumble upon the first Frost Key

After this, other frost giants gradually become worried; they sense a return of an ancient foe. Later that month, Bree and company kills Thorfinn the 3-Fingered; they find the second Frost Key, but only after they accidentally shatter it. They then meet Signy, who recognises Bree for what she is (via the prophecy). She repairs the broken Key (for she’s no mere mortal), but rather than simply “give” the Party the third Key (as Sif wanted her to do), she told them how to find Hella’s abode where they can also learn of the Tomb.

Meanwhile, the frost giants have mistakenly deduced that Vespasian (Kaija’s foe from years ago) has the Keys. Crucial circumstantial evidence is that over a century ago he had been working for Signy, he was recently resurrected far to the south, and he immediately went straight to Signy. They are quite confused when they find Vespasian dead (killed by Kaija).

This confusion buys the Party some more giant-free time. They find Hella’s workshop, and in it the third Key (again) and, most importantly, directions to Åsa’s tomb. They arrive, not knowing that a party of Frost Giants have been following Haldir’s trail. The giants arrive too late to prevent the Party from finding the axe and Åsa’s body, and die battling the Party.

Some relationships (coincidental or otherwise):
Åsa = Bree’s former life
Signy = grandmother of Åsa
Fljar = ancestor of Gandalf (who is inspired as to how Keys are used, once in the tomb)
Ixthast = ancestor of Martin
Hella = distant cousin of Ixthast