The Prince and the Witch

Lisa Johansson is briefly brought back into this adventure, to remind the player characters of the main mystery of The Lost Mountain Saga campaign. If she is not tied already into one of the player characters’ backstories, the person with the highest Empathy will have encounters throughout the mystery where they can see her or feel her presence.

Background

Valborg. The return of spring. An ancient celebration that symbolizes reawakening and renewal. In English, the celebration would be translated to Walpurgis and it is celebrated on the last day of April every year. Bonfires are lit and people gather to listen to speeches and songs welcoming spring and a brighter future. In Upsala, the celebration is huge. People from all over the country flock to the student town to experience a night of booze and decadence.

Amongst those who celebrate, there’s Vanadisir, a secret order that claims to be the descendants of the Norse goddess Freja (page 5). Additionally, they claim that Valborg used to be the blót (sacrifice) for Freja and every year they hold their celebration next to the Royal Mounds of Old Upsala, where the Temple at Upsala used to be located. The Temple was considered the most important place of worship during the Viking age and the sacred ground still carries memories of the old gods.

The current leader of the Vanadisir, Eira, used to wear a golden necklace with a green gemstone. She told the order that it was the Brísingamen, an invaluable ancient artifact the Norse goddess Freja was said to have worn, crafted by dwarfs and imbued with magical powers. However, Eira claimed that it was stolen from her by a man in the beautiful forest close to the Royal Mounds. It is rumored that this man lives in an enchanted castle only the worthy can find, and there he hoards treasures upon treasures he has stolen from lost travelers.

What actually happened was that Eira, consumed by the idea of herself as a true sorceress for Freja, found out that a lindworm and his lair was rumored to be located in that forest. She set out to find it, kill it and eat its flesh so she could consume its magical powers and become a true völva (sorceress in Old Norse). The lindworm THE BRISINGAMEN Whether the necklace Eira carries is the actual artifact from the Norse goddess Freja (it’s not), Brisingamen was a brilliant golden necklace and similar to all the treasures of Norse mythology, it was created by the dwarves, the master craftsmen. Freja was instantly attracted to the necklace when the dwarves presented it to her and she offered both gold and silver to purchase it. However, the dwarves refused her money. Instead, they said that they would only give her the Brisingamen if she spent a night with each of them. Apparently, she agreed.

saw through her plan, however, and tricked her into giving up all of her possessions before banishing her from his realm.

Eira, with her pride heavily wounded, furiously told her version of the incident to her followers and led several of them to find the lindworm again, to retrieve the Brisingamen and put an end to his reign. Unfortunately, none of them returned because the angered lindworm manipulated them all into staying with him, virtually turning them into his slaves.

Mikaela Haraldsdottir, a devout member of the Vanadisir and very loyal to Eira, is starting to get worried. She turns to the player characters as she knows they will be

actual experts that could help

both the Vanadisir and also

bring back Eira and her missing followers.

Conflicts

The main conflict is between the missing members of Vanadisir and the lindworm. The secondary conflict is between Eira and Mikaela Haraldsdottir. Mikaela has started to realize that Eira might not always be telling the truth.

Invitation

The player characters find themselves at the great Valborg bonfire next to the Royal Mounds of Upsala. Intoxicated students are everywhere. It is, after all, the one day of the year where people completely let loose and embrace their inner chaos. The winter that just passed was particularly harsh and dark, not just for the player characters, and for many it felt like it lasted for years. So, when the warmth returned in late April, everyone decided that this year, the Valborg celebration should be extra special. But it ended exactly like it usually ends – drunk students everywhere, people making out with people they shouldn’t, and several messy fights.

ROYAL MOUNDS OF OLD UPSALA Dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries, the Royal Mounds of Old Upsala have been shrouded in mystery for generations. Confirmed to be the burial sites of legendary kings, they are located north of Upsala close to where the old Norse temple used to be – the most sacred and important religious site during the Viking age. The ground oozes of spirituality and memories of a great dynasty long gone. At a less intense part of the celebration, the player characters and other people have gathered around a dancing performance consisting of ten beautiful women. They move erratically but gracefully, their white flowing dresses creating an ethereal, magical and seductive show, enchanting the viewers. At the end of their performance, each woman walks up to a different audience member and starts whispering in their ear. Some of them are offering drinks of an unknown liquid. Many people play along, figuring that it’s just part of the performance. Others, especially single men, let themselves be led away by the beautiful women followed by cheering from their peers.

A short woman with long, dark hair and big beautiful brown eyes walks up to the player characters. “Come celebrate with us! The Lady is about to be reborn. It is a joyous occasion, indeed. Come!” The girl is quite charming an you should encourage player characters to just go along with it. They can roll for OBSERVATION to learn that she seems harmless.

She leads the party through the forest along a torch-lit path. They walk far, until the player characters suddenly find themselves surrounded by several beautiful men and women who are walking alongside them, humming. It feels good, it feels magical. Not threatening. Eventually, there’s a clearing where more men and women are waiting. A fire in the middle is surrounded by beautiful flower arrangements, various luxury items such as chocolates, perfumes, fresh fruits, jewelry. A white horse stands there in the clearing, munching on apples. A half-naked man appears and offers the player characters some wine and a pipe.

A successful LEARNING and they would all know that it’s just regular tobacco. The players can continue to roll OBSERVATION, but nothing will suggest that they are in any danger. However, the longer they stay, the more the player characters will be drawn into the proceedings. There’s a force pulling them in, spiritual in nature, that’s very hard to resist. Eventually, the short dark-haired woman starts to chant. “Lady of fire. Lady of love. We welcome your strength. We welcome your courage. Bless us with renewal! Bless us with spring! Let us join you in Sessrúmnir, In the mountains of Folkvangr… When it is our time! Our lady, Our Vanadis. We are the Vanadisir. Accept our sacrifices. Grant us your love!” It’s hypnotizing and everyone loses their sense of time. The chanting continues, creating a vibration in the ground and it’s almost as if the forest starts whispering it as well, amplifying it. Everyone should roll FORCE. Those who fail fall into a peaceful sleep and wake up the next morning, rested and happy. Those who succeed manage to stay awake. They will witness the sacrifice of the horse. Despite the brutal nature of the killing, it seems relatively peaceful. People fall to their knees, tears streaming down their faces as they enter some sort of trance. “Thank you! Thank you!” they shout to the gods.

The player character with the highest Empathy will notice a shadow observing them in the forest but as they turn to look, the shadow is gone. It’s completely up to the group how they want to continue to engage with the ritualistic celebration of Freja. Eventually, they will all fall asleep.

The next morning, despite sleeping on the ground, everyone will feel energetic and rested. The young woman who brought them there in the first place is sitting next to them, waiting for them to wake up. “Good morning! I’m Mikaela,” she says cheerfully, offering all of them coffee, water and fresh fruit. “I immediately recognized you, when I saw you in the crowd. You’re from Castle Gyllencreutz!”

Mikaela’s eyes are full of admiration and excitement. She tells the player characters that her father had always spoken well of the helpful people of the Society. “I know of… well, you know,” she says in a low voice, referring to the Sight. “I need your help. You see, a few months ago, our leader Eira was attacked by an evil man in this forest. He stole from her. Then, she and several members of our group went out to find him, to get justice. However, they have not returned and I worry something terrible has happened.”

Preparations

After their meeting with Mikaela, the player characters can return to Castle Gyllencreutz and prepare. As usual, they can gain an Advantage. Clues they can gather at Gyllencreutz are:

• The part of the forest that the incident would have happened at has never been a kingdom, and is definitely not one currently. That the man refers to himself as Prince would mean something else, possibly a vaesen that can enchant its surroundings or that it refers to its lair as a kingdom.
• A LEARNING roll can let the player characters deduce that when Mikaela referred to the Prince as a “snake,” there might have been a more literal meaning behind that. Several vaesen can resemble or even be snakes, such as the sea serpent, the lindworm, and the dragon.
• Studying the area they are going to, they know that it used to be an ancient spiritual ground during the Viking Age. It would make sense that vaesen activity might be more prevalent there. Several people have gone missing in that forest over the years, and it would be wise to bring a map or even an experienced guide.

Journey and Arrival

Once again, the party will return to Old Upsala and pass the Royal Mounds as they enter the deep, dark forest to the north.

It’s early in the morning, mist is rising from the moss-covered ground and everything’s absolutely still. The forest is inviting but haunting at the same time as the mist playfully dances around the player characters.

Mikaela Haraldsdottir meets them by the mounds, insisting that she should come with them. It’s up to the player characters to decide whether they want to bring her along, however, they get the distinct feeling that if they don’t bring her with them she’ll go alone and potentially put herself in danger.

If the player characters proceed without Mikaela, they need to roll INVESTIGATION to find each location.

On a failed roll, they still get there but get lost along the way and must each roll for FORCE or suffer a physical condition as they stumble through the deep woods.

Countdown and Catastrophe

Use the below Countdown events to increase the tension as the player characters make their way through the old forest toward the castle of the lindworm.

1. The player character with the highest Empathy

will once again get the distinct feeling that someone or something is watching them. A shadow

moves in the corner of their eye but when they

turn to look, it’s gone. 2. The same player character will hear a whispering voice, in a strange ancient tongue. The

character must make a Fear test against Fear

value 1. On a successful OBSERVATION roll, the

character realizes that the voice is that of Lisa

Johansson, saying the same thing as during

their encounter in the mine at Falun. If they

don’t already know what it means, the character can roll LEARNING to understand the Old

Norse: “The stones are for the gods, not for men. The

Vanadisir must die!” 3. During the visit to the lindworm’s castle, the

lindworm speaks directly to this character, whispering in their ear without the others hearing

it. This is an ENTHRALL Curse (page 119 in the

core rulebook). If the character is enthralled, it

becomes a servant of the lindworm (page 62).

Catastrophe

Each day the characters stay with the lindworm without resolving the situation, they will all be subjected to an ENTHRALL Curse. If all of the characters are Enthralled, they become the servants of the lindworm indefinitely. Unless Mikaela or someone from the Vanadisir or the Society saves them, they will be lost in the forest forever.

The situation will most likely escalate into a violent confrontation with the lindworm in his true form. This can be triggered in several ways:

• The player characters free one of his enchanted servants using a piece of silver.
• The player characters attempt to steal Eira’s necklace (the purported Brisingamen).
• The player characters or Mikaela attack the lindworm’s human form physically.
• Eira is somehow released from her enchantment. She then immediately attacks the lindworm with a knife, and urges Mikaela and the player characters to help her. If none of the above happens, the player characters can leave the lindworm peacefully and the Mystery ends. Mikaela will not accept leaving without Eira, however, even attacking the lindworm to prevent it.

The Illusion Falls

When the Confrontation is triggered, the lindworm’s illusion falls. First, the castle starts to collapse, its walls turning to ash and the floor starting to crack, the treasure is swallowed by the ground, and soon the player characters find themselves in a glade in the woods. The spell over the servants is broken, and all of them flee screaming into the forest (except Eira). Finally, the lindworm morphs into his true shape – a scaly, terrifying snake – and attacks. For statistics, see page 136 in the Vaesen core rulebook. EIRA: Once free of the lindworm’s spell, Eira curses the beast and urges Mikaela and the player characters to kill it. “The beast must die, so that we can eat its flesh and gain its powers, for the Vanadisir!” She draws a silver knife and attacks the beast.

Three Fires

As mentioned in the Vaesen core rulebook, a lindworm can be destroyed by tricking it into slithering through three different fires. If the players ask about ways to kill a lindworm and make a successful LEARNING roll, one of them will come to think of this. There are no (real) fires in the castle, but the player characters could set fires in the forest or even perform the ritual by burning the lindworm with three separate torches. This turns the lindworm to ash, not leaving any flesh behind for Eira to consume.

The Final Bargain

If the lindworm is Wounded, it will bargain for its life (page 136 in the core rulebook), offering its enemies a taste of its flesh to one person, yielding magical powers, in return for keeping one other person as its servant.

Eira immediately steps forward to receive the gift. “We must accept this gift of the lindworm. Mikaela, you must make this sacrifice, for the Vanadisir.” Mikaela hesitates as the lindworm hungrily observes her. Let the players react to this. If they don’t interfere, Mikaela will accept becoming the lindworm’s servant, and Eira is offered a drink of its blood, gaining all of the powers listed on page 137 of the core rulebook.

The player characters can interfere at any point. One of them might even want to claim the lindworm’s gift for themselves! If stopped for any reason, Eira will attack them with her knife. If the bargain is interrupted, the lindworm will also attack and fight until it’s Broken.

Victory

If the lindworm is Broken in combat, it hisses and makes a final attack against Eira, as it blames her for its defeat. It picks her up like a piece of meat and then snaps her neck, throwing the body to the side. Then, the lindworm bites its own tail, forming a wheel that rolls quickly into the forest and disappears. Mikaela breaks down in tears.

Defeat

If the player characters lose the fight, the lindworm leaves them Broken on the ground. If Eira did not make a deal with the lindworm, it then kills her as per above. Then the lindworm slithers away into the forest, accompanied by Mikaela if she has agreed to become its servant. If Eira did make a deal with the lindworm and fought the player characters, she warns them not to get in her way again, and leaves this story for good.

The player characters return to Castle Gyllencreutz with or without the Brisingamen, accompanied by Mikaela. The Vanadisir is disbanded, as the captured members return to Upsala and reveal the horrors they have experienced. If Eira survived, she will reform the order in a future Mystery.