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ForCthulhuDarkAges
 Spirits and Dreams of the Viking Age
Written by Thomas B. de Mayo
Playtesting: Jamie Bergman, Dan Jasman, Sarah Krell, Scott Krell and James “I am the
Pope of France!” Nygren.
Special thanks to Tony Mullins.

“Wodan, id est furor.”

--Adam of Bremen

This supplement for Cthulhu Dark Ages focuses on magic and horror in the
Viking Age. The first part describes the Norse world and its magic. It examines
shamanistic traditions in Northern Europe, hypothesizes an Otherworld, its inhabitants,
and its connections to the Cthulhu Mythos, and provides a set of spells for Investigators
and their adversaries. The second part consists of several linked scenarios in which the
Investigators encounter the gods, spirits and sorcerers active in the Viking world. In
time, they will discover that even the gods of the Otherworlds offer only a thin shield
between humanity and vast uncaring universe. The book is a work of horror role-playing,
not history. Although I have tried to make clear at which points I describe our own
medieval world and where I have adapted and added to my sources, you are always safer
to assume that the material herein is invented or inaccurate. In particular, the Cthulhu
Mythos represents a gross intrusion of fiction into history. For respectable accounts of
the period and its religions, please refer to the recommended reading.

SPIRITS AND DREAMS is published by Chaosium, Inc.

SPIRITS AND DREAMS © 2010 Chaosium Inc. as a whole; all rights reserved.
Text for SPIRITS AND DREAMS is © 2010 Thomas B. de Mayo.
2 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Setting

1 The Viking Age

What was the Viking Age?
The period ca. 800 to 1100 AD in Northern Europe is sometimes called the
Viking Age. In these centuries, the Norse peoples ranged widely from Scandinavia,
trading settling and conquering anywhere they could reach with their ship technology.
The violence of the early raiders terrified Christian observers, who called them Northmen
and pagans. We today know the Norse adventurers by the name “Viking.” Yet despite
their terrifying reputation, the lasting legacy of the Vikings may be as much peaceful and
demographic as violent and confrontational. They founded cities along the coasts and
rivers where they traveled, settled among many peoples and colonized previously
unsettled lands such as Iceland. Even the word “Viking” itself may mean “trader.”
The Viking Age, with its rapid changes, closed when Scandinavia integrated itself fully
into the community of European Christian kingdoms.

People and Places

Scandinavia
The homelands of the Vikings lie in what are now the Scandinavian countries of
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Roughly, the Scandinavian countries correspond to
three geographic zones. Denmark occupies the peninsula of Jutland reaching northward
off the Continent and controlling the straits into the Baltic from the Atlantic. Its
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 3

favorable location has meant that it was often the region in greatest contact with southerly
cultural and political trends. Norway lies on the western coast of the Scandinavian
Peninsula, facing the North Atlantic upon whose islands, especially Iceland, its peoples
had a great influence. Sweden occupies the inner coast of the peninsula facing the
Baltic. In the Viking Age, Sweden was the most concerned with easterly trade into
what is now Finland, Russia and the Ukraine. The formation, relation, and histories of
each area overlap and each region has not always been independent politically of the
others.
The Norse speakers formed the dominant group in Scandinavia during the Viking
age, but other linguistic and cultural groups occupied the area as well. The Finns along
the eastern Baltic spoke Finnish an unrelated language. The Sámi, or Lapps, a
semi-nomadic people, occupied the northern parts of the peninsula.
By the time of the Roman Empire, there were sporadic contacts between
Scandinavia and the literate Mediterranean world. Because they lie so far north, the
Scandinavian areas did not immediately experience the Romanization or the Christian
conversions that affected more southerly-lying Germanic peoples such as the Goths and
Franks. At the point (ca. 800) in which its peoples enter the historical record as raiders
and traders, they remained politically-decentralized and heathen in contrast to the
Christian kingdom of the Franks.
For Scandinavia proper, the Viking Age was a time of state-formation and
conversion. In the early part of the period, local chieftains and petty kings vied for
power. Later works such as Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla vividly recall these
turbulent times. As emergent dynasties began to bring larger regions under their rule,
the new kings favored conversion to Christianity and normalization of relations with the
Christian countries to the south. By the end of the period, Scandinavian kings such a
Knut had become major players in European politics.
Developments in Scandinavia affected the greater diaspora of Norse peoples
during the Viking Age. Political opportunism and mobility provided a major impetus to
the Viking expeditions, which were often financed by chiefs looking to gain wealth and
power for their political conflicts. Chieftains and their followers who suffered from the
growth of royal power often emigrated permanently.
4 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

The North Atlantic

West of Norway and Denmark lies the Atlantic Ocean. In the Atlantic, the first
phase of the Viking Age (ca. 800) began with raids on the coasts of the Christian
kingdoms in France and the British Isles. Coastal villages and monasteries proved
tempting targets for an ambitious chieftain. A Viking crew could land, plunder, and
depart before the local population could muster and ride against them. Viking ships could
also travel up rivers, affording access to interior lands. Any wealth and slaves gained
would bolster the raiders back at home in Scandinavia. Such raids gave the Vikings much
of their bad reputation: coastal monasteries and churches held ready wealth in the form of
liturgical objects and gold, but the literate Christian priests and monks condemned in
vivid terms the violence of the heathens who would attack God’s sanctuaries.
These early raids proved merely prefatory to larger-scale ventures. The Norse
soon realized that they could conquer these lands. The coastal estuaries of northern and
southern France became occupied territories, and the so-called “Great Army” terrorized
England kingdoms in the mid-ninth century. It moved from area to area depending on
local resistance and other conditions. Formed in part from bands driven Frankia, it
conquered the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms one by one, leaving only Wessex. Swaths of the
Irish and Scottish coasts also came under Norse rule.
The Norse soon became a permanent part of many regions. They occupied coastal
or near-coastal cities. In England, York became a major Viking stronghold. In lands
that did not have cities, such as Ireland, they founded them. Dublin, for example, dates
from the Viking Age. Many rulers made treaties with the Norse. Charles the Simple
of West Frankia granted land to the settlers on his northern border. Their leader, Rollo
the Dane took baptism and became the first duke of Normandy in 911. The Norse in
England made peace with a resurgent Wessex in the 870s. The area that remained under
their control became known as the Danelaw, a place where Danish customs and leaders
ruled. Areas of Norse settlement experienced much cultural fusion, with the Norsemen
taking Christianity, learning the local language and marrying into the indigenous
population.
The North Atlantic also contains many smaller islands, which the Norse
discovered, conquered or settled. The Faroes, Orkney, and Shetland became Norse
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 5

colonies. Aside from the possible presence of Irish monks, Iceland had been uninhabited
before the arrival of the Norse. Their settlement (known in Norse as the landnám or
land-taking) saw chieftains and their followers settle in the country’s fjords. Icelanders
resisted the encroachment of kingship throughout the Viking Age, running their internal
relations via assemblies known as “Things.” Feuds among the ruling families proved
common. It is to Iceland that we owe much of our knowledge of Old Norse life,
customs and religion. In the thirteenth-century, long after Scandinavia had adopted
more fashionable continental forms of literature, the isolated Icelanders wrote poetry and
stories in Old Norse, preserving a unique literary corpus. From Iceland, explorers reached
Greenland, which became home to few small colonies that lasted into the later medieval
period. From Greenland, scouting voyages reached Newfoundland. The Greenlanders
made no serious attempts at colonization and largely abandoned their efforts following
Norse conflict with the Native Americans. Ruins of the Norse exploratory base at Lanse
Aux Meadows in Newfoundland now form the basis of a museum.
The Baltic and Eastern Europe
The Norse also traveled eastward from Scandinavia, across the Baltic and down
the rivers of Eastern Europe. Viking adventures in this region are considerably less
well-known to most English-speakers, but the Eastern trade was hugely important (and
lucrative) in its day. The Norse engaged in both violence and trade. Egil’s Saga, for
example, describes how Thorolf acted as an agent of the Norwegian king, extracting
tribute from the Finns before opening a trading fair. Unlike in the western countries,
where farmland and wealth formed the principle objects of their endeavors, along the
long rivers of Eastern Europe the Vikings primarily sought animal and human wealth.
Furs and slaves proved valuable trading commodities. The Norse collected these from the
Slavic tribes of the region and shipped them back to Sweden or south to Byzantium and
the Islamic caliphate. Many of the cities of western Russia and the Ukraine likely began
as fortified Viking trading posts, and Norse chieftains ruled such cites as Novgorod and
Kiev. The word “Rus” itself may mean “Scandinavian.”
From these centers, the Norse had contact with the great civilizations of the
eastern Mediterranean. We have accounts of Muslim writers, such as Ibn Fadlan, who
encountered Norse traders along the Volga, and Islamic coins appear in hoards
6 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

throughout the Viking world. The Norse made several attacks on Constantinople from
their bases, forcing open trade. The Byzantine Emperor had a bodyguard of Northman
called the Varangian guard, and the sagas speak of Christian Icelanders traveling to
Byzantium to visit or settle.

Living with the Vikings

Society and Economy
The average Norse man or woman lived a life similar to their Frankish
counterparts farther south. The mainstay of the Norse economy was settled
agriculture—growing food crops and raising domestic animals. Fishing was a
secondary activity. Despite their popular image as roving barbarians, the Vikings were
not nomadic by culture. Ships were expensive entrepreneurial and military tools.
Successful raiders and conquerors usually reinvested their proceeds from raiding and
trading into land.
Society was stratified. The most powerful class and one about which we have
the most abundant records are the upper-class, sometimes called chieftains. The
chieftains’ power derived from their economic and political influence. They sometimes
held a title such as earl, gothi, or thane but this tended to formalize their power rather
than create it. Many leading families held no title at all, but were no less respected for
it. Chieftains controlled the best land, and owned one or more farms worked by slaves
or hired labor in addition to their own families. They distributed wealth favors and food
to less-wealthy persons in their area and in turn received political support and the
manpower for military or entrepreneurial ventures. The sons of chieftains often spent
time in the courts and warrior-retinues of kings, developing the personal bonds and
contacts for later in life.
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 7

Most ordinary people were not chieftains. Free farmers formed the largest class.
The richest had the land to support themselves and their families, but lacked the
wherewithal to dominate others. Those too poor to own their own farms contracted as
seasonal laborers. Although they had to respect the authority of chieftains (for economic
reasons if no others), they were neither serfs nor slaves. In times of crisis, they could
and did fight as warriors.
Slavery existed. Many slaves were foreigners taken abroad. In early Iceland, for
example, many of the slaves were Irish or British. Icelandic DNA studies reveal a large
percentage of Celtic ancestry in Icelandic female lines, probably because Irish women
were taken as slaves and concubines. Slaves (or “thralls”) tended to get the worst work,
and free people stigmatized slaves as less than industrious and honorable. Nevertheless,
slaves and the descendants of slaves could and did integrate into the free population
through marriage or manumission.
Women and men performed different but mutually dependant economic activities.
As in most European societies, the men engaged in the heavy agricultural labor, while
women and children performed lighter agricultural work, produced cloth, and prepared
food. A household required the labor of both sexes to survive. In cases where the
farm owner was unmarried, they usually chose a housekeeper of the opposite sex to
manage the key economic tasks of a spouse.
Women occupied a somewhat higher station in Scandinavia than in societies
farther south. Marriage was an economic contract and a family alliance. A
prospective groom petitioned the bride’s father or other male kin. Often the woman had
a say in choosing or rejecting a spouse. Under paganism, the marriage bond was ideally
life-long, but in the case of difficulty, either partner could initiate divorce. As women
often married younger in life than men, many survived to become widows or marry
multiple times. Older women especially could have considerable economic and social
power. Norse society also seems to have accepted and encouraged in women an
independence of thought and action that more Christianized countries would have found
unacceptable. The Icelandic literature certainly depicts a number of Norse women who
do not suffer fools gladly – even if the fools in questions are their famous husbands.
8 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Christian and Pagan

The Viking Age witnessed the competition and coexistence of two religious
systems. The indigenous paganisms of the region only slowly gave ground to
Christianity. Between the two there existed a complex middle ground of compromise
and syncretism.
Paganism (often called heathenism) consisted of the polytheistic worship of a
variety of gods and spirits. The Norse pantheon is the best known today. The gods of
other Germanic religions differed mostly in name, but the Finns and Slavs had quite
different pantheons. For the Norse, the most important gods seem to have been Odin, a
god associated with death and kingship; Frey, a god associated with fertility and
kingship; Thor, a god associated with thunder and agriculture; Frigga, a goddess
associated with domestic activities and the family; and Freya, a goddess associated with
the hunt, fertility and war. Other gods and goddesses existed, as did giants and cosmic
adversaries such as the trickster god Loki. Veneration varied by region: the aristocracy
of Norway and Sweden favored Odin. In Iceland and the North Atlantic, Thor proved
more popular. Frey had a connection to the Swedish royal line.
Local and ancestral spirits played an important role in worship, perhaps even
more important than that of the major gods. In Eyrbyggja Saga, for example, the family
of Thórsnes consecrated the entire area about their home, and believed the mountain
contained the souls of their dead. A feud broke out when representatives of another
family defecated on the holy ground, an act believed to profane it and disturb the spirits.
Norse religion had no overall dogma organization, or priesthood. Most
worshiped at home or in nearby natural sites. Those who could do so sometimes built a
hof (a temple) containing images of the gods. Chieftains often built such a facility on
their family lands and also served as priests. Major religious festivals also served as
feasts at which to display the host’s largess.
By the Viking Age most of the more developed kingdoms south of Scandinavia
had already converted to Christianity. Together with Roman culture, Latin Christianity
formed the common bond among the many peoples of western Europe from Ireland to
Germany. Farther south and west, mighty Constantinople espoused the Greek Orthodox
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 9

version of Christianity. Christianity exercised a powerful pull on those Scandinavians

in contact with the wider world. Travelers brought the religion back with them, settlers
adopted it, and kings took baptism to cement alliances. Even in kingdoms where the
kings remained pagan, Christians could be found in increasing numbers. Syncretism
proved common – a man might worship both the ancestral gods and the new “White
Christ” of the southerners, depending on which seemed more propitious at any given
moment. Thor’s hammer and the Christian cross share a similar shape and some ritual
objects doubled as either as required.
Missionaries from Christian kingdoms aimed to convert society’s leaders. The
people would then follow, though it might take many decades for them to learn and
accept the new faith. Mass conversion, when it came, proved mostly peaceful (if not
entirely voluntary). Areas of Norse conquest and settlement in Britain, Normandy and
Ireland rapidly adopted the Christianity of the local peoples. The Norwegian kings
imposed Christianity as part of their consolidation of power. Kingless Iceland adopted
Christianity at their Althing (national parliament) in the year 1000. Sweden retained its
pagan ritual center at Old Uppsala until the late eleventh century.

2 Spirits, Shamans and Magic

What is Shamanism?
Odin could transform his shape: his body would lie as if dead, or asleep; but then
he would be in shape of a fish, or worm, or bird, or beast, and be off in a
twinkling to distant lands upon his own or other people's business.

-- Ynglinga Saga (Laing, trans.)

The word “shamanism” has several meanings in English. Most narrowly, it refers to the
religious practices of Mongol and Siberian peoples in which practitioners enter trance
states and interact with the spirit world. The word “shaman” itself is Turkic. In its
second sense, “shamanism” designates any one of many formally-similar religions
worldwide, whether or not they are connected to the Siberian form or not. Such usage
may be theoretically dubious, for it implies an essential continuity among differing
religious traditions which may or may not be present, but it is now engrained in
10 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

contemporary speech. In its third sense, some scholars have used “shamanism” to
designate the common heritage of a group of possibly-related northern Eurasian religions.
Although polytheism had largely replaced these religious forms by the beginning of the
Viking Age, older concepts remained, particularly in magical practice. Much of the
religion and folklore of Europe suggests an underlying body of beliefs about the soul and
its interaction with the spirit world. Because of its features of spirit projections,
alternate states of consciousness, and animal spirits, it too has been labeled “shamanism.”

Common Motifs
The religio-magical practices defined as “shamanism” typically involve the
manipulation of spirits, whether those spirits are human, animal, human or
personifications. Shamanistic themes appear in mythology, folklore and religion across
Europe: from Italy and France, to the Scandinavia, the Baltic and into Eastern Europe.
This monograph, centered on the Viking Age, focuses on Old Norse beliefs in particular.
Central to shamanism is the trance state, sometimes known as an ecstasy, in
which the shaman either perceives external spirits or in which his or her own spirit leaves
the body. Such spirits, including the shaman’s own soul, often appear in the form of
animals. In the Icelandic sagas, for example, the human soul, or hugr, can leave the
body in sleep, trance or in the performance of magic. When outside the body, the hugr
is said to take on a shape, or hamr, a word which also means skin, covering or even
“caul.” The hamr is typically an animal shape, perhaps invisible to most observers and
capable of travel over long distances. Icelandic sagas sometimes use the term fylgior to
designate the female guardian spirit of a person’s family. Those with special perceptive
abilities may see a person’s fylgior in their dreams or in waking visions. When a person
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 11

sees his own fylgior, it often indicates that his own death is near. The Germanic White
Ladies, the Irish Banshee and the Norse Valkyrie represent similar motifs of protection,
fate and death. The experience of ecstatic travel or flight forms another primary feature
of shamanism. For example, tenth-century Continental Christian text, the Canon
episcopi condemns women who believe that they fly through the air in the train of Diana.
Such belief in nocturnal flight contributed much to later European mythology of
witchcraft, such as the ride of witches to the Sabbath.

Traditions and Names?

There was in the settlement the woman whose name was Thorbjorg. She
was a prophetess (spae-queen), and was called Litilvolva (little sybil). She had
had nine sisters, and they were all spae-queens, and she was the only one now
living.
It was a custom of Thorbjorg, in the winter time, to make a circuit, and
people invited her to their houses, especially those who had any curiosity about
the season, or desired to know their fate; and inasmuch as Thorkell was chief
franklin thereabouts, he considered that it concerned him to know when the
scarcity which overhung the settlement should cease. He invited, therefore, the
spae-queen to his house, and prepared for her a hearty welcome, as was the
custom whereever a reception was accorded a woman of this kind. A high seat
was prepared for her, and a cushion laid thereon in which were poultry-feathers.
Now, when she came in the evening, accompanied by the man who had
been sent to meet her, she was dressed in such wise that she had a blue mantle
over her, with strings for the neck, and it was inlaid with gems quite down to the
skirt. On her neck she had glass beads. On her head she had a black hood of
lambskin, lined with ermine. A staff she had in her hand, with a knob thereon; it
was ornamented with brass, and inlaid with gems round about the knob. Around
her she wore a girdle of soft hair, and therein was a large skin-bag, in which she
kept the talismans needful to her in her wisdom. She wore hairy calf-skin shoes
on her feet, with long and strong-looking thongs to them, and great knobs of latten
at the ends. On her hands she had gloves of ermine-skin, and they were white and
12 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

hairy within.
Now, when she entered, all men thought it their bounden duty to offer her
becoming greetings, and these she received according as the men were agreeable
to her. The franklin Thorkell took the wise-woman by the hand, and led her to the
seat prepared for her. He requested her to cast her eyes over his herd, his
household, and his homestead. She remained silent altogether.
During the evening the tables were set; and now I must tell you what food
was made ready for the spae-queen. There was prepared for her porridge of kid's
milk, and hearts of all kinds of living creatures there found were cooked for her.
She had a brazen spoon, and a knife with a handle of walrus-tusk, which was
mounted with two rings of brass, and the point of it was broken off.
When the tables were removed, the franklin Thorkell advanced to
Thorbjorg and asked her how she liked his homestead, or the appearance of the
men; or how soon she would ascertain that which he had asked, and which the
men desired to know. She replied that she would not give answer before the
morning, after she had slept there for the night.
-- The Saga of Erik the Red 4 (Sephton, trans.)

Nobody in medieval Europe called themselves a shaman, as the word itself was
unknown. People might such magicians of themselves as priests, as seers, as magicians,
or as gifted with special inborn talents. The Icelandic sagas evidence a rich variety of
terms for supernatural powers and their wielders, and forms of magic were highly
gendered. Volva, or seeress, for instance, designated a woman with oracular powers.
Like Thorbjorg in the quote above, these women would travel among the farmsteads and
on request, make predictions for the community there. Seithr designated a form of
magic involving chanting, singing, and drumming (common ways of inducing religious
ecstasy). In Norse society, women who practiced seithr faced some distrust. If a Norse
man did so he brought even greater shame on himself – the taint of feminization or
homosexuality. An outsider’s role seems to have enhanced its power. The Saami were
considered particularly powerful magicians, and the male God Odin was considered its
master. Other attested categories of magic include galdr, which encompassed the
composition of magical verse and the carving of runes. Often galdr is associated with
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 13

cursing and healing. Because magicians sometimes used it for revenge against wrongs
done to their family, it had an ill reputation. The sagas portray the practitioners of galdr
as somewhat sinister, even if, like Egil Skallgrimsson, they are otherwise heroic. Some
abilities seem inborn or hereditary. Egil’s grandfather was named Kveldulf, or
evening-wolf, presumably for his ability to change shape. The wise and saintly
peace-maker, Njal, is just one of many characters reputed to see hidden spirits and omens
of the future.

3 The Otherworld
This monograph posits that in the fictional universe of Cthulhu Dark Ages, the
similarities among different shamanistic religions stem from a common source. Entities
from the Cthulhu Mythos have colonized a section of the human dreamscape called the
Otherworld. Human magicians, whatever they call themselves are have learned to enter,
and use this alternate dimension, and the similarities of their techniques for doing so
account for the similarities of the various shamanistic traditions. Such magicians are
hardly masters of the domains they enter, but only the wisest or maddest of them guess at
the extent to which the Mythos permeates the minds, souls, and expectations of humanity.

Layers of the Otherworld

The Otherworld is a vast realm, encompassing many environments. Closest to
the mortal world lies the Near Otherworld. Here only the thinnest of veils separates the
spiritual world from the physical, and mutual perception and transfer are possible. Such
is the realm most frequently visited by sorcerers and shamans. Farther inwards lie the
multiple, interconnected spaces of the Far Otherworld. Here sorcerers seek spirits for
initiation, combat or commerce, but only the most powerful travel here freely or for long.
The inmost depths of the Otherworld, suspected and feared only by the most powerful of
magicians, hide the caverns and glades of the Faceless Ones, beings who harvest and
collect unwary dreamers’ spirits to fuel the Otherworld. For the Otherworld is
ultimately a human realm, projected from captured and tended human minds.
14 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

The Near Otherworld

Travelers in the Near Otherworld find themselves amidst a distorted and wavering
version of the mundane environment. Sounds proceed as though from a great distance,
with the tinny quality of voice heard underwater. Objects remain solid, but ill-defined
and the sense of touch is numb. Even small objects resist the traveler’s grasp and can be
neither lifted nor manipulated. People in the waking world alternately glow with an
internal light or exist in shadow; faces and voices fade in and out of perception.
Concentration sometimes aids in resolving these details, sometimes not. Spirits and
other travelers within the Otherworld, by contrast, appear sharp and clear.
Entities in the Near Otherworld are mostly invisible to the normal world, but
sometimes the veil parts. The sensitive, the dying, or the unfortunate may sometimes
catch glimpses of spirits, or feel uncomfortable at their proximity or touch. Cats may hiss
at unseen entities, or horses shy away. Sleepers may perceive the Near Otherworld in
their own dreams. If the Keeper feels it appropriate, he may permit a POW roll to allow a
fleeting vision of the Otherworld. Persons with Second Sight active see the Near
Otherworld as a wavering, translucent overlay of the waking world, but are otherwise
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 15

unable to interact with it.

Many paths link the Near Otherworld to deeper realms. Travelers will sometimes
encounter objects with no parallel in the waking world –a menhir, a tree, a lake, a
gallows. These often mark the beginnings of paths or gates that lead away from the
mundane world and into the Far Otherworld.
The Far Otherworld
Travelers passing into the Far Otherworld enter into a place from which the
mortal world is no longer visible, and everything about them consists of spirit. The Far
Otherworld contains many realms, some easily accessible, and some hidden from all but
the most potent of spirits and sorcerers. These realms may take any shape the Keeper
pleases. Most prove naturalistic in appearance: deep caves, wide forests, endless tracts of
tundra. Not all such realms exist by the same laws as the mortal world. Time there may
pass faster or slower. Impossible things may become commonplace. Soul may lose
SAN by experiencing such an inhuman environment. The Far Otherworld contains a
more immersive and solid environment than the Near Otherworld. The Near Otherworld
exists as a fragile overlay on the material world, in which a traveler is constantly
reminded of his own nature as a spirit. By contrast, travelers in the Far Otherworld feel
fully embodied and in full contact with the objects and space around them.
The Heart of the Otherworld
Scattered across the Far Otherworld, lie a series of realms inhabited by the
Faceless Ones. In each realm lies a cave filled with sleeping forms, each of them a
mortal dreamer of great power. Here, their life-spans stretch into the centuries, and their
dreams radiate outwards, giving substance and power to the Otherworld. The Faceless
Ones are their servitors and jailors. Pale as corpses with only blank flesh where their
eyes, nose and mouth should be, these entities guard and tend to the Sleepers, and when
need be replenish their ranks by kidnapping mortal sorcerers and installing them in these
mounds.
Here is the secret of the Otherworld: it exists through the Sleepers, whose power
sustains and perpetuates it. Once, long ago when humankind’s ancestors had not yet
mastered fire, alien beings of great power settled in earth’s dreamscape and created the
Otherworld. These were the original Great Sleepers, and they created the first Faceless
16 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Ones from the local primitives. In time, the Great Sleepers began to sicken and die, and
they turned to human shamans to supplement their power. As the Great Sleepers died
one by one, they recruited ever greater numbers of humans to take their place. But
human minds were insufficient to sustain the Otherworld, and it began to fade. The last
Great Sleeper perished around 3500 BCE, and since that time, the Otherworld has begun
to unravel. Human shamans have grown fewer, even as the Faceless Ones require them
more desperately. The human mind has evolved to require the Otherworld to shield it
from the greater universe, and as the Otherworld’s power wains, humanity grows ever
more restless and distressed. Some time, perhaps not very long in the future, as gods
and immortals reckon these things, the Otherworld itself will collapse, with terrible
result. Investigators may think of the Faceless Ones as evil, and the Sleepers as
their victims – and surely they are – but without either, humanity’s mind and dreams
would lie open to the void beyond. In perhaps the cruelest irony, Investigators who
somehow manage to defeat even a single mound of Faceless Ones and free the Sleepers
there would bring madness to thousands and speed the doom of everyone.
The Otherworld, Limbo and the Dreamlands
Experienced Call of Cthulhu gamers may wonder at the relationship between the
Otherworld, Limbo and the Dreamlands. It may be that the three realms are different
manifestations of the same supernatural forces or the same space differently perceived.
Both Limbo and the Otherworld are spirit realms, but the Otherworld is more “human” in
its environment than Limbo. The Otherworld and the Dreamlands are each formed from
the substance of human dreams, but the Dreamlands are considerably more difficult to
access by any but the most accomplished dreamers. It is perhaps easiest for the Keeper
to treat them as completely distinct realms. Although there are often paths between
them, it is recommended that a campaign only explore one of them at a time to avoid
confusion
Visiting the Otherworld
Most human travelers visit the Otherworld as Projected Spirits. The traveler’s
body lies sleeping in the physical world, and his spirit goes wandering. Sorcerers
induce this state through the Project Spirit spell, but ordinary dreamers may leave their
dreams for the Otherworld via gate, path or happenstance. Humans may also enter the
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 17

Otherworld directly from the physical world. In these cases, their body is transmuted
into a spirit for the duration of their time in the Otherworld.
Travel in the Otherworld
The Otherworld is a spiritual realm; nothing there possesses true substance as we
understand it. Entities within the Otherworld may appear to have heft, size, and weight,
but these are largely illusory concepts imposed by the traveler on an alien realm.
The Traveler’s Form
A traveler’s spirit typically appears in the Otherworld in their own human form or
as an animal. Sorcerers chose their form when learning the Project Spirit spell; travelers
who wander into the Otherworld by other means must chose immediately upon entering
or have the Keeper chose for them. An animal form reflects their inner nature or soul.
The human form reflects the person’s self image. Thus it may appear taller, shorter,
better garbed or otherwise different than the waking human. It may be naked or clothed,
armed or unarmed, as best reflects the character. Delusions and other insanity often
strongly affect a traveler’s spirit image. For example, in play test, one mad Investigator
believed he was the pope. Although in waking life the character wore rags, his spirit in
the Otherworld appeared resplendent in full vestment.
In the Near Otherworld traveler’s spirit has no CON or Hit Points. It travels at
the normal MOV for its form unless the traveler knows some spell that lets it move more
rapidly. The spirit remains vulnerable to and capable of Spirit Combat, but lacks many
of the other natural abilities of spirits, such as possession or manifestation, which a
traveler must learn separately. A traveler may sometimes have to lift or push another
object or creature. Keepers may wish to use a traveler’s STR or SIZ to represent their
self-image’s lifting ability, or they may chose to use contested POW or the Dreaming
skill instead.
The Far Otherworld is a more immersive and solid environment. As such, the
Keeper should use the normal rules for physical skills, privation and combat for contests
that take place in this realm, assigning all spirits physical characteristics commensurate
with their appearance and POW.
If a Projected Spirit loses all its Magic Points or Hit Points, it normally returns to
the body. If it has just lost a Spirit Combat, it may find itself possessed, bound, or
18 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

destroyed instead. If it loses all its POW, it is permanently destroyed. If the traveler’s
body dies while his spirit is absent, then the Projected Spirit also dies. The Projected
Spirit must normally return to the body to awaken. If the body suffers damage or is
forcefully awoken; the traveler will instantly awaken and suffer 1D10 SAN damage. The
traveler may also voluntarily awaken with a successful Dreaming roll, taking 1D10 SAN
damage. If the traveler has entered the Otherworld bodily, they may not escape the
Otherworld by waking, as they have no waking body to which to flee. If such a traveler
loses all their HP, MP or POW while in the Otherworld, they die.
Mind and Sanity
A traveler retains their own mind and volition while journeying in the
Otherworld. All his or her knowledge remains. Make Idea, Know and Skill rolls as
normal. Experiences in the Otherworld may assault the traveler’s perceptions and
assumptions, causing discomfort, distress and madness. Neither the dreamlike nature of
the Otherworld nor the traveler’s sleeping state protect against such assaults. A traveler in
the Otherworld thus makes SAN checks and suffers SAN damage normally. Insanity does
not cause the traveler to awaken.
The Dreaming Skill
The Otherworld is a malleable environment that reflects the conscious and
unconscious mind of the traveler. Experienced visitors learn to shape the fabric of the
Otherworld to their desires. The otherworldly and dreamlike nature of the Otherworld
reflects the traveler’s perceptions and assumptions.
The Dreaming skill represents a traveler’s ability to bend the stuff of the
Otherworlds to their desire. All travelers begin with a skill equal to their POW.
Proficiency develops from there by the normal mechanism of experience checks. The
Dreaming skill has many uses:
• The Dreamer may create or remove small objects about their person. They must
make successful skill roll and pay 1D3 Magic Points.
• The Dreamer may create larger objects at a cost in Magic Points determined by
the Keeper.
• In the Near Otherworld, a Dreamer may use the skill to manipulate or ignore
mundane objects and barriers such as doors and walls. They must make
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 19

successful skill roll and pay 1D3 Magic Points. They do not affect the material
world, only move the obstruction or object’s “shadow” in the Otherworld.
The act of imposing one’s will on the Dreaming for the first time fundamentally alters a
traveler’s assumptions about the nature of reality. The Keeper may assess a cost of 0/1D6
SAN when the Dreaming skill is first used.
Spot Rules for Spirit Combat
The Spirit Combat rules presented in Cthulhu Dark Ages are sufficient for
occasional trips into the Otherworld, but lack variety for campaigns centered there. Here
are some optional rules to make Spirit Combat more interesting:
Breaking Off Combat
A spirit may try to flee a combat by rolling its Dreaming Skill during its action in
combat. Whether it succeeds or fails, it automatically loses that round of combat and
takes the appropriate loses. On a success and presuming it still lives, it spends 1D3
Magic Points and manages to break free from its adversary a short distance. The
adversary may then try to engage it in Spirit Combat again the next round.
Chases
Space in the Otherworld is strangely distorted; more powerful or subtle spirits
may be able to outdistance or outwit duller or clumsier adversaries. Have each spirit
roll their Dreaming skill. A success costs 1D3 Magic Points. If one spirit succeeds
and the other fails, it has manipulated the Otherworld to its advantage by interposing
obstacles, distorting space or time, or confusing the other spirit. Thus, it may open or
close the distance between them. The Keeper decides how many such successes are
required to escape or to close with a foe. If both spirits succeed, their efforts roil the
Otherworld, but gain neither an advantage. If both spirits fail, the environment is
unchanged.
Hiding
A spirit may try to hide in the Otherworld by rolling its Dreaming Skill. A
success costs 1D3 Magic Points and masks the spirit’s aura and power. Another spirit
must make both a Spot Hidden and a Dreaming roll to uncover its hidden adversary.
Multiple Combatants
A powerful entity may combat several smaller ones at the same time, yet even a
20 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

mighty spirit may be torn apart by a pack of foes. When a spirit faces many enemies,
roll multiple opposed resistance rolls, one against each foe. In each round, resolve the
contest against the foe with the greatest POW first. A spirit is less effective against
successive attackers. Its effective MP total or POW counts as one less for each extra foe
it must face.

4 Spells
Following Call of Cthulhu conventions, this book presents the powers of shamans
as a series of spells and refers to those using them as sorcerers. It treats the process of
obtaining them as learning a spell regardless of how these abilities are obtained as are
inborn talents, the product of long study, or gifts of the gods. Casting them counts as
spell use. Most spells have a SAN cost; sorcerers who employ them regularly
generally have 0 SAN. Even if such magicians are not actively malevolent, they have
long left ordinary human perceptions and assumptions behind.
The following lists are therefore rather than alphabetical and supplement the Old
Grimoire for characters trained in shamanistic traditions. The first list describes abilities
that primarily affect the waking world. The second list describes abilities that relate to the
spirit world. Both lists are commonly known (at least to sorcerers) and most shamanistic
sorcerers obtain a few selections from each category. The final list contains spells and
abilities known only to the potent and foolhardy of sorcerers – spells that reflect an
understanding of the Mythos forces behind magic and the Otherworld. The spells in each
section are presented in rough order of rarity and complexity.
Spells of the Physical World
Second Sight
Once on a time they two were out in the ‘town,’ Njal and Thord; a he-goat
was wont to go up and down in the ‘town,’ and no one was allowed to drive him
away. Then Thord spoke and said, ‘Well, this is a wondrous thing!’
‘What is it that thou see’st that seems after a wondrous fashion?’ says
Njal.
‘Methinks the goat lies here in the hollow, and he is all one gore of blood.’
Njal said that there was no goat there, nor anything else.
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 21

‘What is it then?’ says Thord.

‘Thou must be a “fey” man,’ says Njal, ‘and thou must have seen the fetch
that follows thee, and now be ware of thyself.’
‘That will stand me in no stead," says Thord, ‘if death is doomed for me.’
-- Njal’s Saga 41, (DaSent, Trans.)

Also Known As: Animal Guide, Death Sight, Sensitivity, True Seeing, The
Witch’s Gaze
Range: Sight
Cost: 4 MP
Sanity: 1D3
Duration: till sunset/sunrise
Resistance Table: no

This spell represents an ability to see normally invisible objects and entities, including
those within the Near Otherworld. The caster often lacks conscious control over this
spell. The Keeper rolls against the caster’s Luck whenever an invisible entity is nearby.
On a success, the spell casts spontaneously, costing the normal MP and SAN. (If
something horrible appears to the caster, additional SAN loss may also apply.) The
caster may also use the ability actively if he suspects a spirit might be nearby
Foretelling
Hauskuld wakes up that night at Hauskuldstede, and roused all his
household. ‘I will tell you my dream,’ he said. ‘I thought I saw a great bear go
out of this house, and I knew at once this beast's match was not to be found; two
cubs followed him, wishing well to the bear, and they all made for Hrutstede and
went into the house there. After that I woke. Now I wish to ask if any of you
saw aught about yon tall man.’
Then one man answered him, ‘I saw how a golden fringe and a bit of
scarlet cloth peeped out at his arm, and on his right arm he had a ring of gold.’
Hauskuld said, ‘This beast is no man's fetch, but Gunnar's of Lithend…’
22 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

-- Njal’s Saga 23, (DaSent, Trans.)

Also Known As: Augury, Death Sight, Farsight, Sensitivity, The Witch’s Gaze
Range: Indefinite
Cost: 4 MP
Sanity: 1D2
Duration: varies
Resistance Table: no

This spell represents the ability to sense omens about the future. The caster often lacks
conscious control over this spell. Whenever the Keeper feels that the caster will soon
confront a significant destiny, he or she rolls against the caster’s Luck. On a success,
the spell casts spontaneously, costing the normal MP and SAN. (If something horrible
appears to the caster, additional SAN loss may also apply.) The caster experiences a
short vision or dream that presents the future dilemma in a suitably opaque fashion. The
dream or vision may be delayed until the caster next rests.
Send Curse Object
“The autumn passed and but three weeks remained till the winter. The old
woman asked to be driven to the sea-shore. Thorbjorn asked what she was going
to do.
‘A small thing only,’ she said, ‘yet maybe the signal of greater things to
come.’
They did as she asked them. When they reached the shore she hobbled on
by the sea as if directed to a spot where lay a great stump of a tree as large as a
man could bear on his shoulder. She looked at it and bade them turn it over before
her; the other side looked as if it had been burned and smoothed. She had a small
flat surface cut on its smooth side; then she took a knife, cut runes upon it,
reddened them with her blood and muttered some spells over it. After that she
walked backwards against the sun round it, and spoke many potent words. Then
she made them push the tree into the sea, and said it should go to Drangey and
that Grettir should suffer hurt from it. Then she went back to Vidvik. Thorbjorn
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 23

said he did not know what would come of it. The woman said he would know
more clearly some day. The wind was towards the land up the fjord, but the
woman's stump drifted against the wind, and not more slowly than would have
been expected.
Grettir was sitting in Drangey with his companions very comfortably, as
has been told. On the day following that on which the old woman had cast her
spells upon the tree they went down from the hill to look for firewood. When they
got to the western side of the island they found a great stump stranded there.
‘Here is a fine log for fuel,’ cried Illugi, ‘let us carry it home.’ Grettir gave
it a kick with his foot and said: ‘An ill tree and ill sent. We must find other wood
for the fire.’
He pushed it out into the sea and told Illugi to beware of carrying it home,
for it was sent for their destruction. Then they returned to their hut and said
nothing about the tree to the thrall. The next day they found the tree again, nearer
to the ladder than on the day before. Grettir put it back into the sea and said he
would never carry it home. That night passed and dirty weather set in with rain, so
that they did not care to go out and told Glaum to fetch fuel. He grumbled very
much and declared it was cruel to make him plague himself to death in every kind
of weather. He descended the ladder and found there the woman's log. He thought
himself lucky, laboured home with it to the hut and threw it down with a great
noise which Grettir heard.
‘Glaum has got something; I must go out and see what it is,’ he said, and
went out, taking his wood-cutting axe with him. “

--- Grettir’s Saga 79 (Hight trans.)

Also Known As: Bewitchment, Curse, Death Wish, Rune-carving, Sending, The
Seeking Doom
Range: Indefinite
Cost: 10 MP, plus variable POW
Sanity: 1/1D10
24 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Duration: Permanent
Resistance Table: Yes

The sorcerer creates an object invested with a curse that will hound and destroy the
chosen victim. The curse resides in an animal or object crafted by the caster.
Preparation of the object takes at least one day and often longer. The caster then
permanently invests a variable number of POW points into the object. (If the caster is
reduced to 0 POW, he dies, but the object is empowered by his death-curse. Such
curses are considered particularly potent – add an additional 1D3 POW to the object.)
The curse object gains a POW score equal to the amount invested and a Luck score of
POW x 5. It will eventually find its way into the victim’s presence, but most sorcerers
prefer to hurry things along by placing the object into the victim’s path.
The object uses its POW to influence fate. To represent this, the Keeper rolls the
object’s Luck. Outside the victim’s immediate presence, the object may roll once a day.
Closer to the victim, it may roll whenever the Keeper feels it has a chance to harm to the
victim, up to once a round. People may react badly to the victim, chance blows may
strike him, his possession may break, his food spoil, etc. While near the object, the
victim’s own Luck rolls are reduced by the object’s score. The victim, his companions,
and any magically-sensitive persons will notice the aura of dread and ill-luck the object
exudes.
The curse continues until the curse itself dispelled or the victim suffers death,
maiming, major injury or deadly illness. The victim or his friends may attempt to
destroy the cursed object. Each time the object is destroyed, the victim must roll a
contest of POW against it. If he succeeds, the curse is dispelled. If he fails, the
object’s curse and POW will transfer to some other vessel, as deemed appropriate by the
Keeper. The curse resists counter-spells with its POW.
Example: Gudrun the witch conceives of a burning hatred for Bjorn the hapless.
She enchants a tree stump, investing it with 7 POW and casts it into the sea. It now has
a POW of 7 and Luck of 35%. The Keeper fails several Luck rolls, before finally
rolling a 12. Thus it is many days before the tree stump eventually washes up near
Bjorn’s homestead. The stump now in place, the Keeper makes several unsuccessful
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 25

daily rolls before finally rolling a 22. Bjorn careless slave sets fire to his barn. Bjorn
locates the stump as the source of his troubles. He chops it into small pieces and burns
it. He rolls his POW of 9 vs the object’s POW of 7; he needs a 60 or less to disenchant
the stump. Unfortunately, he rolls a 76. A goat eats the grass on which the ash from the
cremated object has fallen. The goat inherits the curse and the 7 POW. One day, it
jumps from the hedge and startles Bjorn as he is riding. The Keeper rolls a 30 for the
curse’s Luck. Bjorn breaks both legs, and they become infected. With Bjorn
permanently crippled, the Keeper considers the curse fulfilled. The goat loses its 7
POW and wanders off.
Berserking
Also Known As: The Bear-Shirt, The Curse of the Wolf, Fury, Girdle of Wrath.
Range: Object
Cost: 1 POW, 5 MP
Sanity: 1D10
Duration: permanent
Resistance Table: No

The caster imbues an object with a spell of berserking. Typical objects include helms,
cloaks or belts, usually with an animal motif that represents the animal spirit that
overwhelms the owner. At the beginning of any combat, the object casts the Fury spell
(CDA, pp. 87-88) on the wearer. The wearer pays 1D4 SAN.
Shape-Shifting
Also Known As: Berserking, Hamhleypa, Night Flight, Night Wolf,
Vessel-Leaping
Range: Self
Cost: 10 MP
Sanity: 2D6
Duration: One night
Resistance Table: no

The caster transforms bodily into an animal; typically a bear, boar, wolf, or bird. The
26 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

time needed for transformation is 1D3 rounds, during which the caster can do nothing
else. Returning to human form takes the same amount of time and suffers from the
same restriction. The transformation lasts until the caster ends it, or the next dawn or
dusk. Replace all physical stats with those of an appropriate animal; mental stats remain
the same. If the caster has chosen an animal form for the Project Spirit spell, then this
must be the same animal, and vice versa, as it represents their hugr. The Keeper has
final veto on forms he considers abusive or unplayable for an Investigator.
Spells of Spirit Projection
Sorcerers who wish to travel to the Otherworld almost always begin with the Project
Spirit spell. From there, they begin to develop the abilities of their Projected Spirit:
Rapid Travel, Enter Dreams, and the Spirit Combat spells. Other spells of this category
permit the sorcerer to contact entities resident in the Otherworld; they do not necessarily
require the Project Spirit spell.
Project Spirit
It was told of Ulf that he was a great householder; it was his wont to rise up early,
and then go round among his labourers or where his smiths were, and to overlook
his stalk and fields, and at times he would talk with such as needed his counsel,
and good counsel he could give in all things, for he was very wise. But everyday
as evening drew on he became sullen, so that few could come to speak with him.
He was an evening sleeper, and it was commonly said that he was very shape
strong. He was called Kveldulf.
-- Egil’s Saga 1, (Green, trans.)

Also Known As: Deathwalk, Send Flygia, Hamrleytpa, Night Flight

Range: Self
Cost: 5 MP
Sanity: 1D4
Duration: One night
Resistance Table: No

The sorcerer sends his spirit out of his body, becoming a Projected Spirit. Upon casting,
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 27

the sorcerer’s projected soul immediately enters the Near Otherworld, where it can
perceive the physical world but cannot interact with it. The caster’s physical body falls
into a state resembling a deep sleep or death. It remains vulnerable to physical damage
and possession. If the sorcerer knows the Spirit Guardian spell, his Spirit Guardian may
appear near the body to protect it. In whatever from, the Projected Spirit retains the
powers of speech and reason.
The form that the Projected Spirit takes varies. When first learning this spell, the
sorcerer may chose whether their Projected Spirit appears as a specific normal animal or
as the caster’s natural form. On learning the spell a second time, the sorcerer may choose
another animal or human form. On learning the spell a third time, the sorcerer has
achieved sufficient mastery that they may vary their form to that of any normal animal or
human.
Rapid Travel
Also Known As: Ride with Diana, Night Flight, Sleeper’s Wings, Sleipner’s
Swiftness
Range: Self
Cost: 1 MP per 20 miles
Sanity: 1D4
Duration: 2D6 minutes per 20 miles.
Resistance Table: No

The sorcerer’s Projected Spirit must be in the Otherworld to cast this spell. The
sorcerer’s Projected Spirit travels faster than normal MOV. The caster often
experiences this motion as flight.
Manifest
Egil was there alone for the night. Arinbjorn went to his men, and they sate over
drink till midnight. Then Arinbjorn and his men went to the sleeping chambers,
but before undressing he went up to the room to Egil, and asked how he was
getting on with the poem.
Egil said that nothing was done. 'Here,' said he, 'has sate a swallow by the
window and twittered all night, so that I have never got rest for that same.'
28 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Whereupon Arinbjorn went away and out by the door leading up to the
house-roof, and he sate by the window of the upper room where the bird had
before sate. He saw that something of a shape witch-possest moved away from the
roof.”
-- Egil’s Saga 62, (Green, trans.)

Also Known As: Hamrleytpa, Send Fetch, Ghost Touch

Range: Self
Cost: 1 MP per round
Sanity: 1D4
Duration: 1 round per MP
Resistance Table: No

The sorcerer’s Projected Spirit must be in the Near Otherworld to cast this spell. The
sorcerer’s Projected Spirit becomes visible and tangible to the material world. It can
interact with material objects and will gain physical statistics appropriate for its current
form for the duration of the spell. If the manifested form is slain, the sorcerer
immediately awakens, suffers 1D10 SAN and loses the ability to ever again cast Project
Spirit.
Spirit Combat (Curse)
Also Known As: Tax Soul, Sicken Hugr, Destroy Luck
Range: Touch
Cost: 1 or more MPs
Sanity: 1D6
Duration: Indefinite
Resistance Table: No

The sorcerer’s Projected Spirit must be in the Otherworld to cast this spell. This spell
may only be cast in a round immediately after the sorcerer’s Projected Spirit has won a
Spirit Combat by reducing a foe to 0 Magic Points. It may affect either a victim with a
body (ie, another sorcerer, a sleeping person, etc) or a spirit such as a Stryx. The caster
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 29

curses his victim. For each MP invested, the victim will fail that number of subsequent
Luck rolls.
Spirit Combat (Kill)
Also Known As: Crush Soul, Destroy Hamr, Exorcise Demon, Hunt Spirit Animal
Range: Touch
Cost: 10 MP
Sanity: 1D6
Duration: Permanent
Resistance Table: Yes

The sorcerer’s Projected Spirit must be in the Otherworld to cast this spell. This spell
may only be cast in a round immediately after the sorcerer’s Projected Spirit has won a
Spirit Combat by reducing a foe to 0 Magic Points. It only affects a victim with a body
(ie, another sorcerer, a sleeping victim, etc). The caster inflicts death upon his defeated
rival. The victim resists with his CON vs. the caster’s POW. If the caster wins, the
victim dies instantly. If the victim wins, death is slower. The victim loses 2 CON per
day for 2D6 days. If his CON reaches 0, he perishes. The victim may not cast spells
in this interval, but his friends (if any) may search for a cure. If the victim survives, he
will recover 1D3 lost CON per month.
Spirit Combat (Possess)
Also Known As: Changeling, Ride Enemy, Steal Soul
Range: Touch
Cost: 10 MP
Sanity: 1D6 per day of possession
Duration: Indefinite
Resistance Table: No

The sorcerer’s Projected Spirit must be in the Otherworld to cast this spell. This spell
may only be cast in a round immediately after the sorcerer’s Projected Spirit has won a
Spirit Combat by reducing a foe to 0 Magic Points. The caster possesses his defeated
rival. His Projected Spirit can operate the victim’s body as though it was his own, but
30 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

he gains no access to the victim’s skills, spells or memories. The possession ends when
the caster’s projected spirit chooses to depart or when expelled by a spell such as Cast
Out the Devil (CDA, p 83). During possession, the caster’s original body will suffer the
normal effects of dehydration, etc, putting a natural limit to the duration of a possession.
Enter Dreams
Also Known As: David’s Lyre, Night’s Kingdom, Ship of Dark Waters, Steal
Thoughts
Range: Touch
Cost: 2 MP
Sanity: 1d3
Duration: Indefinite
Resistance Table: Yes

The sorcerer attempts to enter the dreams of the target. The sorcerer or his Projected
Spirit must be in proximity to the dreamer. The victim may resist with his POW. If
the caster succeeds, his projected spirit becomes a part of the victim’s dreams. Treat the
interior of a person’s dreams as a part of the Far Otherworld. The caster must
experience whatever lies in the dream; a particularly disturbing dream may cost
additional SAN. The caster may attempt to exit at any time, this is automatically
successful unless the dreamer tries to hold the visitor in place, in which case the caster
must overcome the dreamer’s POW on the resistance table. Some entities delight in
trapping visitors inside their terrible dreams.
Awaken Spirit Guardian
Also Known As: Awaken Fetch, Beg the Devil’s Familiar, Bind the
Genius of Socrates, Call Flygja, Embrace Guardian Angel, Supplicate Personal
Daimon
Range: Self
Cost: variable POW
Sanity: 1D6
Duration: Permanent
Resistance Table: Yes
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 31

The caster binds, befriends, creates or empowers a spirit to be his guardian. The SAN
and POW costs must be paid when this process is attempted. The caster enters a trance,
where his spirit is transported into the Otherworld. There he experiences an initiatory
dream, which culminates in combat against a spirit with POW 35. Depending on
circumstances, the sorcerer may perceive this spirit as the Brown Man, Diana, Odin,
Satan, the Wild Hunt, or whatever. If the caster survives 2D6 rounds of spirit combat,
he will gain a permanent Spirit Guardian of human or animal form with POW equal to
that invested at the time of casting. Otherwise, the POW invested is lost.
The spirit guardian is a spirit. It has 3D6 INT, POW equal to the initial
investment, and may cast any of the sorcerer’s spells. If manifested or in the Far
Otherworld, it has the physical characteristics of a normal creature of its type.
Perceptions of the relationship between the sorcerer and his spirit vary depending on
tradition. When the sorcerer enters the Otherworld the guardian may accompany him or
it may remain behind to guard his sleeping body. Regardless of any distance separating
them, the sorcerer may add the Guardian’s POW to his own; the reverse is not also true.
If the Spirit Guardian loses a spirit combat, the sorcerer is reduced to 0 Magic Points,
falls unconscious, and loses 2D6 SAN. If the Spirit Guardian dies, the sorcerer dies
also.
A sorcerer may only have one spirit guardian. Spirit guardians often gain POW
over their master’s careers. (See, “How Sorcerers Get that Way,” CDA p.79.)
Otherworld Mastery
Pierce the Veil
Also Known As: Dream Render, Climb Yggdrasil, Nythoggr’s Burrow, Odin’s
Leap, Ratatosk’s Tail
Range: Touch
Cost: 3 MP
Sanity: 1D3
Duration: One Minute
Resistance Table: No
32 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

This spell creates a temporary path that permits the caster’s Projected Spirit (and any
other spirits traveling with him) to pass from the Near Otherworld to the Far Otherworld
or vice versa. Each entity using the path must pay one Magic Point.
Otherworld Gate
Also Known As: Odin’s Spear, Sunder World, Tear the Veil, Wound Yggdrasil
Range: Touch
Cost: 3 POW
Sanity: 0
Duration: Permanent
Resistance Table: No

This spell enables the caster to create a permanent gateway between one part of the
Otherworld and another. He or she must be present in one location and have visited the
other. Creation of the gate requires at least three points of POW and maybe more,
depending on how distant or difficult to connect the Keeper deems the two locations.
Travel through the gate requires 1 MP.

5 The Campaign
Investigators
The Viking Age takes place within the time frame for Cthulhu Dark Ages.
Investigators from a game set in Frankia or Germany require only a little travel to meet
their Scandinavian compatriots – and vice versa. It would not be unusual to find a
Frank, a Celt, an Englishman or even a Muslim in the Viking north, nor for a Norseman
to reach any part of Europe. The main rulebook and The Abbey suggest a starting year
of c. 960. By this date, the Viking Age approaches its close. The monarchies of
Scandinavia are strongly-established, and Christianization well advanced.
The professions, skills and equipment found in the main Cthulhu Dark Ages
rulebook require little or no modification for Norse, Finnish, Saami or Slavic characters.
Farmers, Merchants, Sailors and Warriors have much the same skills and economic status
as the default setting. Scandinavian cultures had no pagan priesthood comparable to
Christian Monks and Priests. A Warrior or Scholar profession would make a better
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 33

starting point for such a character. Christian missionaries, of course, might be found
anywhere. Keepers will need to decide what spells to allow starting characters and
whether these come from the Old Grimoire, this book, or both.
Adversaries
Human Adversaries
Humans occupy, even dominate, the material world. Some have vast powers in
the Otherworld too. Mundane or magical, few humans on either plane tolerate inquiries
into their business or threats to their interests.
Ordinary Folk
Ordinary folk may hamper or oppose Investigators for perfectly mundane reasons.
Families, extended families and tribal groups dominate much of Dark Age Northern
Europe. In these lands of scattered populations, scant resources and weak states,
revenge and blood-feud control behavior by making relatives responsible for their
kinsmen’s misdeed. Local investigators may find themselves drawn into conflicts with
rivals not of their own making. Does one character have a troublesome and violent
uncle for whose misdeeds he must pay reparations? Does the Sámi character draw the
hostility of the Norse population? Wherever traveling Investigators go, they represent a
potential danger. They may arouse ethnic or religious rivalries, or they may simply be
feared for being well-armed, behaving unpredictably, or following strange customs.
Does a heathen character draw the ire of a chieftain who worships a rival god? Are the
local Christian churches rivals -- one Orthodox, the other Roman? Or, worst of all, do
the Investigators simply seem weak, vulnerable, and alone?
Encounters with ordinary folk can carry the hint of the uncanny, even if no one
involved has reliable magical power. Fate, providence, luck, destiny, magic--- whatever
words they use to indicate such things, the people of the Dark Ages know they live in a
world permeated by forces they cannot control. Even the most mundane and
unspiritual person has the potential to interact with the Otherworld. Spirits may appear
in an Investigator’s dream, pleading, threatening, dancing or dying. The symbolism of
their appearance may provide clues, or even foretell potential futures. Ordinary folk
sometimes gain a peek into the Near Otherworld, sensing a nearby spirit or object.
Curses spoken in earnest or jest may have unexpected efficacy, as may the names of
34 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

spirits or gods.
Sorcerers
Sorcerers vary greatly in motivation, in power, and even in hostility.
Low-powered sorcerers typically use their abilities to further mundane goals of family
wealth, revenge, or religious observance. Such sorcerers are not necessarily without
SAN (depending on how often they exercise their powers and to what ends) or bereft of
human morality.
The sagas describe many individuals and families with supernatural powers. For
example, Egil’s Saga tells the story of Kveldulf Bjalfason and his line. Kveldulf and
most of his male descendants have the prodigious strength, endurance and quick temper
characteristic of berserkers. Kveldulf himself (whose name means evening-wolf) seems
to have been a shape-shifter. His son Skallagrim and his grandson Egil both possessed
uncanny abilities, in Egil’s case, a command of poetic and runic magic. Egil employed
his gifts in a long feud with King Erik Bloodaxe of Norway and his sorceress queen
Gunnhildr. Other figures in the sagas appear to have undertaken extensive study and
practice of magic and gained fearful reputations as a result. Some remain enmeshed in
society and its struggles. The aforementioned Queen Gunnhildr sends forth her spirit in
many shapes and lays powerful curses. She seems generally more adept (if not
ultimately more powerful) than the male Egil.
Bloodlines and school of sorcerers may pass down the secrets of the Mythos from
generation to generation. Families of magicians could draw Investigators into its orbit
in any number of ways – as rivals, as allies, or even as members. The entire party of
Investigators might be scions of an extended bloodline with minor powers.
Alternatively, dedicated sorcerers might live alone, pursuing their art to the exclusion of
family and kin.
The more potent a sorcerer grows, and the greater their mastery of the
Otherworld, the more likely they are to learn of the Mythos and to gain access to its truly
inhuman powers. Dead sorcerers are more likely than ordinary folk to become draugar
or tomb-dwellers upon their demise. Some sorcerers even become immortal. Potent
sorcerers may claim a portion of the Otherworld as their own, slowly shaping it to their
will. Sorcerers who travel the Far Otherworld may stumble upon the Dreamlands or
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 35

Limbo. They may encounter a god, a great old one, or an avatar of either. Should they
not be obliterated, they may gain its favors. The wisest sorcerers begin to fear the
Faceless Ones, who seek out new recruits for the mounds. Some move constantly to
avoid attention or avoid entering the Otherworld at all. Others strike a bargain and
deliver a regular tithe of lesser magicians in exchange for their continued freedom.
Spirits
Spirits are the natural inhabitants of the Otherworld. Vastly diverse, spirits
greatly range in power: some are minor entities no smarter or potent than insects, others
are gods with intelligence and knowledge beyond human imagining. The environment
of the Near Otherworld is like a desert, whose scattered inhabitants must eek a living
from the thin resources of their environment. A traveler in the Near Otherworld who
remains in one place may eventually meet a fleeting wisp, a tattered ghost, or minor
genius loci pursuing its business. More potent and significant encounters are rare, but
not unheard of, as greater spirits may wander the Near Otherworld on their journies
between paths and places of power. If the Near Otherworld is a desert, the Far
Otherworld is a forest. Every creature encountered in the Near Otherworld, even the
plants and the animals, is made of spirit stuff and infused with animistic power. Large
entities, scavengers and predators abound, and the traveler must beware of them.
Landvaettir
The landvaettir ( in English “Land-Wights” or “Land-Spirits”) are beings
associated with a particular place and responsible for its fertility and friendliness (or lack
thereof) to humanity. Local peoples often venerate or propitiate such spirits.
Inauspicious action or hostile magic may harm or drive them away, with a resulting
degradation of the land. For this reason, Icelandic crews removed the carved
prow-ornaments from their ships before approaching friendly lands, so that their emblems
might not frighten away the landvaettir. A skilled sorcerer could deliberately set up a
nithing pole, a totem that would repel the spirits from an enemies’ land. In the
Otherworld, such Spirits may be of greater or lesser size and potency, most often
appearing in animal shape. The four great directional landvaettir of Iceland, a dragon, a
bird, a bull, and a giant, protected it from spiritual invaders.
LANDVAETTIR, Local Spirits
36 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Characteristic Averages
INT 3D6 10
POW 3D6+10 20
Move 8

Sanity Loss: 0/1D3

Note: Physical Stats vary widely by form. Used only in the Near Otherworld
or when manifested in the physical world.
Striges
The Latin stryx or strigia was a witch or female spirit believed to attack sleeping
infants. Latin writings attach the name to a variety of monsters, whose main shared
characteristic is that they vex sleepers, particularly infants and new mothers. The word
Strix also meant “owl,” and so Investigators may find that these spirits have a
combination of bird-like and womanly features. One such Stryx appears in the first
scenario. Stryges typically occupy the Near Otherworld and are visible only to their
victims in dreams or to the second-sighted.
STRIGES, Baby-eating Monsters
Characteristic Averages
STR* 3D6 10
CON* 3D6 10
SIZ* 2D6 +6 13
INT 2D6+6 13
POW 3D6+6 16
DEX* 2D6+6 13
Move 7 HP 11-18

Bonus Damage*: varies

Weapons*: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db, Grapple 60%, damage special. Bite
35%, drains 1D3 CON.
Abilities: If the Stryx has won Spirit Combat, it may drain 1D6 HP/round from
its victim.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 37

* Used only in the Far Otherworld or when manifested in the physical world.
The Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is but one name given to a ghostly army of horsemen that ride the
Otherworld. Some say that these spectral riders are damned souls undergoing torment.
Others think them huntsmen, chasing down particularly unlucky human victims as prey.
The Hunt can even materialize in the living world, drawing its victim into Otherworld
after it. Legend recounts that a man chased by the hunt may escape unarmed if he
rides with it. Sorcerers (and witches in particular) seek out the hunt to ride in its train.
A god or other great spirit often leads the Hunt, and this leader may be either male
or female. The god Odin sometimes leads the hunt, sometimes the horned Hern the
hunter, and sometimes the mysterious entity known as Herlequin. Just as often a
Goddess directs the riders; clerics writing in Latin call her Diana, but her vernacular
name may well be Holde.

RIDERS in the WILD HUNT

Characteristic Averages
STR* 3D6 10
CON* 3D6 10
SIZ* 2D6 +6 13
INT 2D6+6 13
POW 3D6 10
DEX* 3D6 10
Move 8/20 HP 11-18

Bonus Damage*: varies

Weapons*: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Spear or Sword, damage 1D6 + db.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6 for an individual rider. 1/2D6 for the entire Hunt
* Used only in the Far Otherworld or when manifested in the physical world.
Monsters
The material world also holds its terrors. Some monsters dwell entirely in the
38 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

mortal world. Othertimes spirits manifest in the physical realm. Trolls, draugrs, alfar
and other creatures lurk on the fringes of human society, threatening, observing, or
claiming.
Draugar
“It was not long before men became aware that Glam was not easy in his grave.
Many men suffered severe injuries; some who saw him were struck senseless and
some lost their wits. Soon after the festival was over, men began to think they saw
him about their houses. The panic was great and many left the neighbourhood.
Next he began to ride on the house-tops by night, and nearly broke them to pieces.
Almost night and day he walked, and people would scarcely venture up the
valley, however pressing their business. The district was in a grievous condition.”

-- Grettir’s Saga 33 (Hight, Trans)

The Old Norse word draugr (pl. draugar) means “ghost” or “revenant.” As described in
the sagas, draugar are corporeal undead – the actual body of a deceased person – but
with a significant number of uncanny traits, such as the ability to vanish quickly. The
typical draugr was an unruly, unpleasant or marginalized person in life who often died a
bad death away from the community. The corpse, once discovered, resists destruction
and ordinary burial. For example, it may refuse to burn or become too heavy to move.
Bad luck of various sorts intervenes. Some days later, the body reanimates, escapes
bonding or burial, and begins to haunt the local community. At first, it manifests in
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 39

minor ways, such lurking about the periphery of a settlement and harassing travelers and
workers who must leave the farmstead. As time passes, the draugar grows bolder and
more potent, and its physical changes accelerate. It undergoes an unnatural reflection of
the bloating and discoloration that accompany decomposition in northern climes; its
frame grows larger and stronger, its features distort, and it changes color to a blue-black.
Aggressive draugar attack the community directly, slaying people and animals and
climbing onto the buildings at night. Typically, in sagas and tales, a hero intervenes at
this stage, dispatching the draugr in combat and then dismembering, desecrating and
neutralizing the corpse. The classic Norse example is Grettir’s Saga, but draugr-like
entities can be found in other Germanic cultures such as Grendel in the Old English poem
Beowulf.
DRAUGAR, Undead Miscreants
Characteristic Averages
STR 2D6+20 27
CON 2D6+20 27
SIZ 2D6+12 19
INT 2D6+6 13
POW 3D6+6 16
DEX 3D6 10
Move 8 HP 22-32
Bonus Damage: varies
Weapons: Bite 30%, damage 1 + db. Fists 60%, damage 1D3+db. Grapple
60%, special.
Armor: 3 points of hide
Skills: Hide, 75%. Sneak, 60%. Sanity Loss: 0/1D6
Gods
The oldest, largest, and most potent spirits are rightly called gods. Whether they
differ in kind from lesser spirits or simply in power, who can say? But in dreams or in
waking, they cast long shadows over human life, and the bold Investigator may sooner or
later come to their attention. Norse, Sámi and Slavic gods all received worship in the
North Atlantic Baltic and western Russian regions covered by the source-book.
40 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Information on the Norse gods can be found almost anywhere. The Keeper should not
overlook the possibilities of Classical and Classicizing lore. The gods known and
worshiped by most humans may be avatars of Mythos beings. The main Cthulhu Dark
Ages book suggests that the Leviathan is Cthulhu and Odin is an avatar of Yog-Sothoth.
This book refrains from such firm identifications, leaving them to the whim of the
individual Keeper.
The Brown Man
Pre-historic European shamanism seems to have regarded the bear as a
particularly potent animal. Even its name may have been too sacred to pronounce in
ordinary circumstances. Instead ordinary speakers used circumlocutions referring to the
bear’s color, and eventually words for “brown” replaced the original word for “bear.”
The Brown Man embodies this reverence for the bear. He guards the boundaries
Otherworlds and sometimes manifests to initiate sorcerers. Sometimes, he shows himself
as a massive brown bear. At others, he appears as a huge man concealed by layered
cloaks of thick skins. His clawed and furred hands peek from the sleeves. If unmasked, he
is revealed as a terrifying bear-man.

THE BROWN MAN, God of the Otherworlds

STR 25 CON 35 SIZ 20 INT 20 POW 35
DEX 13 Move 16 HP 30

Bonus Damage: +2D6

Weapons: Fist 50%, 1D3+db. Grapple 90%, damage special
Armor: invulnerable to conventional attacks
Sanity Loss: None normally. 0/1D6 if closely examined in humanoid form.
1/1D10 if revealed uncloaked.
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 41

Diana
Some of the oldest sources on medieval religion mention the worship of deity
called “Diana.” Most Christian writers of the period presented northern paganism as an
extension of Roman paganism, using Greek and Roman names for the deities they
described. (Their Latin training didn’t help either – it was simply bad style to use a
Germanic or Celtic name instead of a Latin one.) Thus “Diana” might refer to any of
several female deities or spirits from different regions of Europe. Such stories may reflect
an underlying stratum of shamanism in European culture, and in particular the belief in
ecstatic flight. In Cthulhu Dark Ages, many sorcerers worship a goddess-figure, a deity
of the hunt and of the dead, who leads processions of spirits and witches. “Diana”
grants and destroy fertility and may thus be some aspect of Shub-Niggurath, or she might
equally be an independent spirit or an avatar for some other Mythos force. In a
42 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

campaign, Diana can serve as the patron deity of a sorcerer opposing the investigator or
as a terrible force of nature that threatens to destroy them. Any direct confrontation will
likely be brief and end badly for Investigators.
DIANA, Goddess of the Otherworlds
STR 15 CON 15 SIZ 12 INT 20 POW 40
DEX Move HP 15

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Armor: invulnerable to conventional attacks
Spells: any
Abilities: If attacked, summons the Wild Hunt or 4D6 hounds to defend herself.
Sanity Loss: 0 normally. 1D10/1D100 to see her true form.
Odin
“I know that I hung,
on a wind-rocked tree,
nine whole nights,
with a spear wounded,
and to Odin offered,
myself to myself;
on that tree,
of which no one knows
from what root it springs.”

-- Odin, from the Hávamál, 140 (Thorpe, trans.)

The deity Odin is a sinister and paradoxical entity. Surviving Norse material
attests to Odin’s negative as well as positive aspects, and with only a little exaggeration
the Keeper can turn him into a truly horrific figure. Odin was a traditional god of
nobility from Norway and Sweden. Many elements of Odin’s mythology suggest a
shamanistic element. His sacrifice of himself to himself on the tree Yggdrasil for
magical knowledge may be seen as a form of initiation. His connection to seithr (often
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 43

seen as a women’s art) may reflect ritual gender transgression. Odin’s role as god of
war is closely related to his role as a god of the dead. He collects dead warriors to fight
beside him at Ragnarok. Odin can also be seen as a trickster god; his contests with
mortal and immortal rivals usually end in their destruction. In later portrayals from the
conversion era, he is depicted with as a demonic being who tries to prevent his
worshipers from converting to Christianity.
ODIN, God of the Otherworlds
STR 17 CON 15 SIZ 15 INT 20 POW 45
DEX 14 Move 8 HP 15

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Spear 75%, damage 1D6 + db
Armor: invulnerable to conventional attacks
Spells: any
Sanity Loss: 0 normally. 1D10/1D100 to see his true form.
Mythos Entities
Many Mythos entities make their homes in the Otherworld or travel across it on
their business. Ghouls get everywhere there are corpses, real or spiritual to devour.
The occasional Zoog or Moonbeast may find its way in from the Dreamlands. Shantaks
or Night-gaunts may join the Wild Hunt. Groves in the Far Otherworld may house
Shub-Niggurath’s Dark Young. As guardian of all boundaries, Yog-Sothoth takes
especial interest in the Otherworld, and one may find Tawil at’Umr or other avatars at
important gates and crossroads.

The Faceless Ones

The Faceless Ones are guardians of the Sleepers, and like their masters are formed
from the altered souls of living humans. Faceless Ones appear as short, wizened
humanoids with bald heads and only blank skin where a person would have eyes, nose,
mouth and ears. Desiccated and occasionally damaged, they appear equally dead and
alive. They automatically detect any Magic Points spent in their vicinity and may move
to attack the spender and drag him or her away to their Mound.
44 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

FACELESS ONES, Lesser Servitor Race

Characteristic Averages
STR* 2D6+6 13
CON* 3D6 10
SIZ* 2D6 +1 8
INT 2D6+6 13
POW 3D6 10
DEX* 3D6 10
Move 7 HP 11-18

Bonus Damage*: varies

Weapons*: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db, Grapple 40%, damage special
Abilities: Detect magic (see above), can move to and from the Otherworlds freely,
taking any grappled victims with them, can summon 1D3 more Faceless
Ones.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6
* Used only in the Far Otherworld or when manifested in the physical world.

Scenarios

1 Night Terrors
Synopsis
In this scenario, the Investigators confront a series of supernatural murders and
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 45

negotiate between rival English and Norse claimants to a village. Along the way, they
will learn of the existence of the Otherworlds and something of its inhabitants. The
story is set along the marches of the Viking kingdom of York, aka Jarvik, in the towns of
Swinefleet and Reedness. (I hope that present-day inhabitants of these locations will
forgive me any inaccuracies and liberties I have taken.) The Keeper may easily move it
to any other location where the Norse settled as overlords. It works best with new
Investigators who have not yet acquired the Project Spirit spell. Together with the other
scenarios in this section, it forms a small campaign.
Getting Started
If the party consists entirely of new Investigators, they should all be in the village
of Reedness on the night when the scenario opens. If the scenario starts a new
campaign, the Investigators are locals. Farmers or household warriors might hail be
from the village itself. A noble warrior can take the place of the NPC Loftur. A
clerical character can serve as the village priest. Characters who don’t fit into this small
setting are staying overnight as they travel to or from York.
Local Investigators know that the village of Swinefleet and its dependencies,
including Reedness, are under contention. An English family has long held the land.
Following the death of her father in battle some ten years ago, the English heiress
Walburga married a Norseman named Ketil. Things went well for several years until
Ketil died from the flux. Now Walburga claims the villages. The Norse king at York
wishes to bestow the properties on one of his men, Eirik. There is talk that Walburga
will marry Eirik, but they personally detest each other. The matter is currently before
the king’s court.

Everybody’s Dead
At midnight, every person sleeping in or around the village of Reedness dies as
Walburga and Guthrun perform their ritual to steal the Brown Man’s power. Only the
Investigators and (possibly) a few fortunate NPCs survive.
Each Investigator should for some reason be awake at midnight. The Keeper can
simply ask each player what is keeping their character awake. If the Keeper wishes to
46 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

run the scenario for existing Investigators, it may strain credulity for them all to be awake
through coincidence. Perhaps they found themselves out late dealing with some crisis
or were traveling late. Such outsiders should encounter a live villager, Athelstan, who
was using the privy at midnight. He can inform them of local information.

Exploring Reedness
Investigators out of doors may not notice anything amiss until sunrise, but most of
the Investigators are probably indoors in the small cottages or the main hall. Loftur
houses important guests in the main house; others may find lodging in the more humble
cottages. Thus they are in a position to notice that any nearby sleepers have stopped
breathing. (Make Spot Hidden or Idea rolls.) Keepers should play this for effect: the
Investigators realize that someone nearby else has gone still, then they checks for vital
signs. Their panic spreads as the Investigators encounter more and more corpses.
Investigators likely make a search of the town to find survivors – such a search
uncovers dead sleepers in every cottage. They may have to break down several doors.
Most buildings are barred from within. Finding the first few bodies costs 0/1D3 SAN
each, the realization that the whole village has perished in an instant, 0/1D6. Make a
Luck Roll for each searching Investigator. On a success, the party finds a single victim
who has not yet stopped breathing completely. A First Aid roll revives the victim.
Unfortunately, the victim’s sanity has already been destroyed. Immediately on waking,
he or she will begin to scream uncontrollably. Between fits, or with enough coaxing,
the person will tell them to beware of the “Brown Man.” Questioning will only reveal
that the Brown Man “flies” and “is angry.”

The Hall
Loftur’s hall consists of a large wooden building with raised platforms on either
side. One of the platforms is sub-divided into booths. The fire in the hall’s center has
burned down to its usual night embers. On the platforms lie various male and female
servants and warriors, all dead. Loftur’s booth has closeable doors and bolts from
inside. Investigators must overcome a STR of 15 to force it open or do 3 points of
damage to it with an axe, sword or club. Loftur and his wife lie locked in a dead
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 47

embrace within. If the Investigators look for valuables, Loftur has a pouch of 2D6
silver pennies, and high quality shield, sword, helm and mail. Some of the warriors
were also armed. The kitchen area contains some iron pots and the storage area some
foodstuffs.

The Church
Unless an Investigator serves as priest, the small wooden church has no resident
chaplain. (Aelfric visits once every few months from Sandhall.) It is unlocked, and
contains only a few church vessels of poor quality. No matter how thoroughly the
Investigators search, they find no evidence of nefarious supernatural activity. No one is
dead within.

The Witch’s Cottage

Investigators may suspect the local witch, Guthrun, who lives outside of town.
Local characters have met her many times and may have sought her services before.
Athelstan can inform strangers of her existence. Either remembers her as a sinister figure
held in suspicion by Loftur, who exiled her to a cottage outside town, but feared to expel
her altogether. She is known for her herb lore, love charms, and (it as rumored) expertise
at poison and curses.
Investigators will have to travel to her cottage, which stands in a clearing in the
woods about 15 minutes walk away. A vegetable and herb garden surrounds the
cottage. Investigators with Natural World can determine that many of the herbs are
medicinal in nature; some few are poisonous in the proper quantities. An Occult roll
indicates many uses for various herbs in spells. A stone fence protects the garden and
cottage from the lean goat that wanders freely.
When the Investigators arrive, they find the door barred from within. A Spot
Hidden roll detects a stench of burning through the wooden slats. As there is no lock.
Investigators must force the door to enter. This requires success against a STR of 15 or
damage to 3 points of damage with an axe, sword or club. Once the door is open, the
Investigators see that Guthrun is already dead. Her body has fallen into the open
fireplace – the stench of burnt flesh permeates the cottage. A secondary odor of herbs
48 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

(Spot Hidden) comes from the scattered leaves on the fireplace. Various ritual items
such as a rune-carved knife and beaded cords lie around Guthrun. Investigators may
thus correctly presume that Guthrun died while casting a spell. If any of the
Investigators have Second Sight or other means of perceiving the Near Otherworld, refer
to the section below for further supernatural clues.
Now What?
By the time the Investigators have finished searching the Reedness, it is likely be
late afternoon, moving towards evening. They probably won’t want to stay in Reedness
for the night. The nearest town is Swinefleet, where Walburga has her hall. Local
characters realize and Aethelstan will inform any outsiders, that they should report the
deaths to her. If the Investigators decide to stay, then in the morning one or more of
Walburgis’ warriors arrive with a message for Loftur. Finding him dead, they escort the
Investigators to Swinefleet (forcibly if necessary). If the Investigators flee for York or
some other location, then the warriors will track them down and try to apprehend them.
In any case, all but the most determined of Investigators will end up in Swinefleet.
Trouble at Swinefleet
Swinefleet is a village slightly larger than Reedness, lying a few hours away by
foot. More and larger houses indicate the presence of better-off farmers. The church
is of stone, the hall more spacious. People speak Norse as often as English.
Many Arrivals
Walburga is likely to be in her hall when the Investigators arrive. If the
Investigators approach her with a modicum of respect, she treats them well, listen
sympathetically to their story and offer them places to stay in Swinefleet. She grants
noble, warrior or clerical characters a place in the hall and arranges for others to stay in
local homes or in the large stables. Only if the Investigators insult or assault her will
she have her warriors seize them and lock them in the hall’s store room. Walburga
knows that Eirik will soon arrive, and she wants the Investigators, especially any of high
status, as her allies.
Eirik and his entourage enter Swinefleet towards noon on the day after the deaths
at Reedness. Eirik rides a large stallion with richly-decorated harness. His advisor, the
priest Jon, is mounted on an older palfrey. Two older servants follow on mules, and a
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 49

half-dozen mailed warriors guard the party. Eirik proceeds directly to the hall where he
confronts Walburga. Eirik informs her that the king at York now backs his claims to the
village. Jon presents a written charter to this effect, which Aelfric, her priest examine,
and declares genuine. Walburga nevertheless refuses to surrender the hall; by now her
warriors have entered. Although Eirik’s men are more numerous and better armored,
any confrontation will obviously be bloody.
Keepers should give Investigators a chance to intervene on behalf of one side or
the other. If they try to broker a temporary peace, they will likely succeed. Should
they start a combat, Walburga sues for peace once one or more of her warriors die. If
the Investigators do nothing, the two priests negotiate a compromise – Eirik will occupy
the hall as a guest while Walburga reconsiders his offer of marriage. She removes
herself to the church.
Intrigues and Investigations
Depending on the how the Investigators acted during the confrontation one or the
other party may seek their aid. Walburga may ask that warriors bolster her retinue or
request that priests or serve as her advisors. As a reward she can offer favors, money or
the (now vacant) holding of Reedness or the benefice of its church. Such grants are of
course conditional on her remaining in charge of them. She would also like to place a
friendly person into Eirik’s camp. Eirik in turn can also use allies, for much the same
purposes. He has more money at his disposal, but is less willing to offer land or
benefices, as he wishes his own followers to fill them. Neither party are above lying or
making false promises, but the Keeper should endeavor to make Walburga more
sympathetic than her rival. If the Keeper needs something else for the Investigators to
do, Eirik or Walburga ask that the Investigators return to Reedness. The bodies there
need burial and the facts of the deaths require confirmation. Lower status Investigators
may find themselves summarily ordered to work on the clean-up.
Investigators may also wish to see what information they can obtain about
Reedness, the Brown Man, or (if they know of her existence) the Stryx. The
Investigators know more about what happened at Reedness than anyone at Swinefleet.
(Except Walburga, of course.) People may suggest that the witch Guthrun was
responsible, either poisoning or using magic on the town. Strangers passing through
50 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

(such as the Investigators) might also be blamed. The more pious speculate that God
punished the town for some terrible sin.
Most people in Swinefleet have never heard of the Brown Man, but if the
Investigators go around asking about him, false rumors will start to spread. Soon
everyone will have a theory as to his nature. A Swede in Eirik’s retinue, a warrior
named Harkon, knows a little something about this obscure northern deity. He flinches
visibly if he hears the name but must be intimidated or bribed into speaking. Harkon
once encountered a shaman during his travels, who almost killed him with “evil magic.”
He knows that the Brown Man is the bear god of sorcerers and carries potential
supplicants through the air. The name is unlucky to speak, as it will attract the attention
of more “evil wizards.” Harkon knows nothing about masks or the deaths at Reedness.
He clutches his crucifix, claiming unconvincingly that he trusts the White Christ to
protect him.
Investigators find plenty of people who can respond to the description or name of
the Stryx. Everyone knows (and a successful Occult roll will reveal) that sometimes
spirits in the form of women enter houses at night. Such creatures are called Striges or
Nightmares. They attacks sleepers, particularly infants, and cause their victims to feel a
crushing weight on their chest. Sometimes the victim wakes, unable to move, as one
stalks about the house. Then she climbs onto them in the form of an old woman, an
owl, or a cat and (it is said) sucks out their breath through their mouth.
Mysterious Dreams
The first time that Investigators sleep they find themselves in the Far Otherworld.
Each Investigator’s Projected Spirit appears alone in a glade. Unless they have
previously visited the Otherworld or the Dreamlands, they may not even realize they are
asleep. From that glade there will extend a number of paths: one for each Investigator,
one for Guthrun’s house, one for Walburga, and one for any living NPC who was present
in Reedness at the moment when Gudrun and Walburga cast their spell. The paths of
those who are currently asleep will be clear, those of people awake will appear
overgrown. The path to Guthrun’s house (and thus the Brown Man) will always appear
clear.
The Dreaming skill has several uses in this environment. Each Investigator
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 51

immediately gains it at their POW level, if they do not have it already. (Keepers may
wish to conceal this fact for a while and ask for POW rolls or roll secretly instead.)
Investigators standing near a path can attempt to sense who is at the other end. If they
know the person, they get a feel of personality. If they do not know the person well,
they will only sense their gender. This feat requires a successful Dreaming roll and
costs 1 MP. They may also try to follow a closed path, which requires a successful roll,
2MP, and costs 1dD3 SAN.
If another person walks down an open path, he finds it closing behind him.
After a few minutes he emerges into his target’s clearing (or at Guthrun’s house). To
other observers the paths leading to both targets merge and become wider. In this way,
the Investigators will doubtless eventually gather together.
Looking In
Investigators may also notice a slight shimmering in the air in each person’s
clearing. If they stare at it, they eventually see a view of the sleeping body of the
clearing’s “owner.” This effect costs 0/1D3 SAN when first encountered. If
Investigators concentrate, they can step through this portal at a cost of 1 MP each. They
then find themselves in the Near Otherworld beside the sleeping body. A sleeping
Investigator can awaken by touching their own body with their Projected Spirit. The
shimmering effect remains with the sleeping body, permitting re-entry into the Far
Otherworld.
Meeting the Brown Man
Following the last path will lead to Near Otherworld near Guthrun’s house. Use
of the Dreaming skill will reveal that it feels “male” -- one end of it lies the Brown Man.
The Investigators emerge from the path into the Near Otherworld near the edge of
Gudrun’s clearing. The clearing here is filled with footprints: two sizes of human feet,
and one set of tracks large mammal tracks similar to a bear’s. If the door is closed,
Investigators may either open it or pass through it with a Dreaming roll. Inside, the
house looks much as it does in the waking world, but in one corner there stands a
shimmering portal. Through it can barely be seen a fire-lit cave interior.
The portal functions like the others seen so far: it costs 1 Magic Points to enter,
and 0/1D3 SAN if Investigator has not travelled in such a manner before. The portal
52 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

leads into the cave of the Brown Man, the bear deity. On the other side, the
Investigators exit from an alcove to one side of a large stone space. Two other
entrances lead out – one into the open air, the other farther into the cave. In the cave’s
center, the god waits.
The Brown Man sits wrapped in shaggy cloaks and blankets that obscure his face,
hands, and form. His wrapped hands huddle over a small, smoky fire that throws deep
shadows behind him but does little to illuminate him. Careful viewing (and a Spot
Hidden or Idea roll) reveal that the figure is taller and broader than a man, a revelation
worth 0/1D3 SAN. The wall behind him is adorned with masks: a stag, a fox, a wolf, a
horned man, and an eagle. Two empty pegs also hang there. One is for the bear’s
mask the Brown Man currently wears. The other normally holds the Stryx mask, which
Walburga and Guthrun stole.

If the Investigators approach or hail the Brown Man, he holds out a hand, palm
upwards, as though asking for something. He wants his mask returned, but Investigators
can place anything they want in his hand. He sniffs inspects or nibbles offerings before
setting it to one side. After several such silent exchanges, or if asked a question he will
speak. (If they place their own hand into his own, he assumes they offer themselves as
initiates and takes them on a nocturnal flight.) The sound of his gravely, inhuman voice
costs 0/1D6 SAN for each sentence he utters. First says: “Return that which was
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 53

stolen.” He tend to repeat this more often than any other response, but he can give other
clues if the Keeper wishes, such as, “They took it from me.” Or “She has it.” His
responses should be cryptic enough, and his voice unsettling enough, that the
Investigators eventually leave.
If the Investigators begin to move past him into the deeper cave, he shakes his
head as if warning them. Should they persist, he does not stop them. The hall leads to a
mound of the Faceless Ones. Investigators who go this way most likely they never return.
He does nothing if they leave the cave by its other entrance. They find themselves in a
forested wilderness in the Far Otherworld that bears no resemblance to any place around
Reedness.
The Brown Man is not a threat to the Investigators unless they provoke him. He
will not permit anyone to touch the masks on the wall, to strike him, or to remove his
coverings. If assaulted, the Brown Man grapples one of his chosen assailants, flings
him or her over his shoulder, and walks out into the open air. From there the two vanish
into the sky. Any blows struck on him perhaps slow him down, but do not harm him. An
attempt to rip off his concealing garments may succeed. If his form as a bear-man is
revealed, all witnesses must test for 1/1D10 SAN damage.
The chosen victim finds him or herself proceeding rapidly through the air over a
tree-filled wilderness. Somewhere over this vastness, the Brown Man lets go and sends
the Investigator plunging to the ground. If the Investigator has particularly annoyed the
Brown Man, or the Keeper is feeling especially sadistic, the chosen Investigator will
vanish forever. Otherwise, their sleeping from vanishes from their bed, to be transplanted
somewhere a day’s ride away. Waking, the Investigator find themselves to have suffered
1D3/2D6 SAN and 3D6 physical damage (If they die from this mistreatment, their corpse
will be found with its mouth locked in a rictus of horror).
The Stryx
The Keeper should keep track of Walburga’s location on each night and whether
she is sleeping. Looking into her “window,” reveals not her sleeping body, but her
Projected Spirit in the form of the Stryx moving through the Near Otherworld. While
sleeping, Walburga’s Projected Spirit always wears the mask she has taken from the
Brown Man. It completely alters her appearance to that of a thin woman in a white
54 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

garment. Her eyes are large and somewhat sunken, and her face is elongated into a long
snout like a mosquito’s. For the first few nights, Investigators see the Stryx moving
across the village, or, depending on timing, attacking someone in his sleep. (See
below.) Investigators who use her window find themselves in the Stryx’s presence in
the Near Otherworld; she attacks them immediately.

Confrontations
The Keeper should give the Investigators an opportunity to explore the situation
in the mundane world and the Otherworld, but before the scenario’s tempo begins to
slow, it is time to introduce new complications. Walburga plans to use the power she
stole from the Brown Man to eliminate her enemies and solidify her hold on her fiefs.
She hates Eirik and intends to savor his demise, but she will act swiftly and ruthlessly
against anyone else who seems likely to uncover her secret. Meanwhile, Eirik’s
followers are looking for someone to blame for the supernatural happenings. Incautious
Investigators likely run afoul of both factions.
Eirik Falls Ill
Walburga in the form of the Stryx attacks Eirik the first night he arrives in town
and every night thereafter that she is able. She enters the Near Otherworld when she
sleeps, puts on the mask she seized from the Brown Man and goes to his bedchamber
where she drains his CON. Investigators may witness her attacks during their
explorations of the Near Otherworld, or they may only become aware of it by deduction
when Eirik falls ill. Walburga deliberately takes only a little of his CON each night, so
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 55

that she can watch him sicken. Eirik’s condition progressively worsens. At first he
only feels a little ill. Then he is confined to bed, and finally to a coma. Walburga
pretends to consider his offer of marriage, and perhaps even accepts, so that she can
remain near him during waking hours. Her apparent change of attitude towards him
shocks Aelfric if no one else.
Walburga also drains other members of Eirik’s retinue. She kills these victims
swiftly; they may die in a single night or two at most. She starts with the warriors, until
she is confident of her abilities, then attacks the priest Jon. Some of her victims may
survive long enough to describe their dim perceptions of her attacks. (The moment of
death and draining sometimes allows them to perceive the Near Otherworld.)
Death and Blame
Walburga does not know that the deaths in Reedness have created a special space
in the Far Otherworld to which the Investigators may journey, nor that the Brown Man
now seeks her mask. She only becomes aware of the Investigator’s activities in the
Otherworld if they meet her in the Near Otherworld, or if they let slip some information.
Once realizes the threat they pose, she begins to attack them in their sleep. Investigators
can try to mount whatever defense they wish. The Stryx is more than a match for a single
Investigator, but several of them may be able to drive her away.
Walburga also has temporal resources to use against the Investigators. She can
accuse them of responsibility for the deaths at Reedness. After all, they were there and
survived. Any Investigators who are strangers come under especial suspicion. Eirik’s
followers may blame the Investigators as well – particularly if they show interest in
Eirik’s illness or show up at suspicious times (Which of course being Investigators, they
almost certainly will).
Depending on how the Investigators react to these accusations, they may face
anything from legal proceedings to a lynch mob. If the situation is relatively calm, and
the Investigators do not react violently to the charges, one of the priests may suggest a
trial by ordeal. Non-combatant investigators are asked to swear an oath that they are
innocent before plunging their hand into boiling water (They take 1D3 damage). The
priest then bandages the wound. After three days, the wound will either have healed
cleanly or have become infected (Make a Luck roll). If it heals cleanly, the Investigator is
56 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

cleared; otherwise he or she is condemned. Meanwhile, of course, the Investigators will

be watched and perhaps imprisoned. Warrior characters of status may clear their name by
trail by combat against their accuser or his or her proxy. One of the warriors in either
retinue will volunteer. On the other hand, if Investigators flee or resist arrest, the
townsfolk and warriors may try to seize or kill the Investigators.
Whether free or imprisoned, Investigators can continue to use the Otherworld, but
they face a dilemma – they can see the Stryx at work, but they do not know her identity.
They may discover it by deduction, or by watching the Stryx at the beginning and end of
her nightly journeys. Walburga removes the mask just before she wakes and just after she
enters the Otherworld.
The Brown Man Reclaims His Own
Once the Investigators have identified Walburga as the Stryx, they must somehow
recover the mask and return it to the Brown Man. This means confronting the Stryx. The
mask only exists in the Otherworld and remains on Walburga’s person at all times.
Should the Investigators try to seize her while she is awake, she requires only 1 round to
transition to sleep and don it. They may also try to kill Walburga in the waking world. If
she dies, her spirit passes into the Near Otherworld and continues its attacks. The Stryx is
a formidable opponent in the Otherworld, but the Investigators may nevertheless be able
to defeat her in spirit combat. Should they do so, the Stryx collapses into an unconscious
heap, and they can remove the mask. They may also try ruses such as luring the Stryx
into the Brown Man’s cave, where he can seize her directly.
Investigators who fail to solve the problem face an increasingly agitated Brown
Man. They may awaken in his cave, where he holds out his hand and repeats his
demands. He may take one of them on a nocturnal flight as encouragement. They may
begin to see a bear appear in the Otherworld, tracking them or the Stryx.
If the Investigators return the mask to the Brown Man, he places it into his robes
and simply nod. If the Brown Man and the Stryx encounter each other, he will grab hold
of her and pull the mask away before carrying her away into the night’s sky. Hearing her
terrible screams costs 0/1D6 SAN.
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 57

Aftermath
Depending on the circumstances in which they defeated Walburga, the
Investigators may be free or imprisoned, Eirik alive or dead. If Eirik has died, another
of his warriors takes over duties as lord. Whoever it is, the new lord of Swinefleet will
probably not welcome the Investigators. If they are strangers, the new lord asks or force
them to leave. If they are locals, their lives there have been ruined. If they have been
imprisoned, the lord confiscates their goods and perhaps brands them, before sending
them away. Alternatively, the Keeper may prefer to run a scenario in which they escape.
Whatever happens, they must take to the road.
The Investigators receive some spiritual recompense for their deeds, however. If
they defeat the Stryx, they each gain 1D10 SAN. They have met and overcome a devilish
obstacle. The strange matrix of paths disappears as soon as they leave the area, but they
have been marked by their experience. Each should receive a check to their Dreaming
skill. Magicians and shamans will recognize them as initiates, and react accordingly.
The Brown Man also rewards them, after his inscrutable fashion. Any Investigator who
wishes may learn the Project Spirit spell from him in their dreams, but his instruction
costs them 1D6 SAN. Investigators who already know the spell may chose another,
subject to the Brown Man’s (and Keeper’s) whim.
Dramatis Personae
AELFRIC, Walburga’s priest
STR 14 CON 10 SIZ 15 INT 11 POW 8
DEX 9 APP 13 EDU 9 SAN 40 HP 12

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db.
Skills: First Aid 50%, Insight 45%, Latin 35%, Norse 50%, Occult 10%, Own
Kingdom 50%, Status 35%, Write Latin 25%

EIRIK, Viking noble

58 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

STR 14 CON 12 SIZ 12 INT 16 POW 11

DEX 13 APP 10 EDU 13 SAN 55 HP 11

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 60%. Short Sword
60%, damage1D6+ db.
Armor: Chain, 7.
Skills: Bargain 60%, Insight 65%, Ride 60%, Own Kingdom 75%, Spot Hidden
55%, Status 65%

JON, Eirik’s priest

STR 9 CON 8 SIZ 14 INT 14 POW 10
DEX 7 APP 12 EDU 15 SAN 50 HP 9

Bonus Damage: 0
Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 40%. Short Sword 35%,
damage1D6+ db.
Skills: Bargain 70%, English 45%, First Aid 40%, Insight 60%, Latin 60%, Ride
30%, Occult 50%, Own Kingdom 75%, Spot Hidden 45%, Status 45%,
Write Latin 50%,
WALBURGA, troubled heiress
STR 13 CON 15 SIZ 12 INT 16 POW 13
DEX 12 APP 10 EDU 10 SAN 0 HP 14

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Knife 50%, damage 1D4 + db
Skills: Bargain 65%, First Aid 55%, Insight 55%, Norse 60%, Ride 45%, Occult
40%, Own Kingdom 55%, Spot Hidden 45%, Status 60%
Spells: Contact Diety (Brown Man)

WARRIOR GOONS, suitable for Eirik or Walburga’s retinues

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 59

STR 9 13 9 10 15 11
CON 10 11 17 11 14 13
SIZ 14 14 16 12 12 12
INT 15 14 13 9 11 13
POW 14 17 10 9 11 13
DEX 8 9 15 14 11 13
EDU 10 11 14 10 10 7
HP 10 12 14 11 15 12
Damage +0 +1D4 +1D4 +0 +1D4 +0
Bonus

Armor Chain 7 None None Leather, Chain 7 None

2

Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 40%. Short Sword 45%,
damage1D6+ db. Spear 30%, damage 1D6+db.

THE BROWN MAN, a god of the Otherworlds

STR 25 CON 35 SIZ 20 INT 20 POW 35
DEX 13 Move 16 HP 30

Bonus Damage: +2D6

Weapons: Fist 50%, 1D3+db. Grapple 90%, damage special
Armor: invulnerable to conventional attacks
Sanity Loss: None normally. 0/1D6 if closely examined in humanoid form.
1/1D10 if revealed uncloaked.
The STRYX, a night terror
STR* 13 CON* 15 SIZ* 12 INT 16 POW 18
DEX* 12 HP* 14

Bonus Damage*: +1D4

Weapons*: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db, Grapple 60%, damage special. Bite
35%, drains 1D3 CON.
60 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Abilities: If the Stryx has won Spirit Combat, it may drain 1D6 HP/round from
its victim.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6
* Used only in the Far Otherworld or when manifested in the physical world.

2 Prophecy of the Draugar

Synopsis
In this scenario, the investigators must defend a farmstead from two revenants
(called draugar). As guests at the family farm of Hrafnkellsstathir, they encounter the
unquiet body of a dead farmhand. The source of the unnatural happenings lies in a nearby
mound, where the founder of the farm lies in pagan burial. Activity in the Otherworld has
stirred him from his rest, and he pronounces the Investigators’ future doom.
Arriving at the Farm
The Keeper first creates a situation in which the Investigators arrive at
Hrafnkellsstathir and wish to stay there for some few days. This should not prove too
difficult. If the Investigators have played the previous scenario, they are likely on the
road, seeking shelter. New Investigators likewise need little excuse to be traveling: on a
mission from their lord, refugees from raids or war, wandering mercenaries or merchants,
etc. By default Hrafnkellsstathir lies on the road or coast near York, but the Keeper can
situate it anywhere else in the Norse world with little trouble. If the Investigators aren’t
so desperate that the simple promise of food, shelter and hospitality can entice them to
stay a while, poor weather, rumor of bandits, or lack of supplies may serve instead.
Hrafnkellsstathir sits not far from a main highway. From the road, travelers can
catch sight of its turfed roofs. Similarly, if traveling along the sea-coast or down the river,
they will see Hrafnkellsstathir sitting perhaps a mile inland. Hrafnkellsstathir consists of
a long house, a main storage outbuilding, several animal pens, and a corral. The house
and the outbuildings are constructed of earth and wood, with a sod roof. The outer walls
are of dried and stacked turf segments; the roof is a gentle grassy slope. Inside, the walls
are lined with wood panels under open beam rafters. The floors are set slightly below
ground level and are bare. Each building displays variations in size and purpose. The
main building consists of a long hall subdivided into an entrance way, a kitchen, and a
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 61

main chamber. Raised wooden platforms for sleeping lie along either wall, one of
which can be closed like a cabinet for Sturla and his wife. The storage building and the
animal pens are set into the side of the hill. Each has a single entrance. The storage
building features a reinforced door and a sturdy iron lock; in extreme trouble it can be
used as a refuge for fugitives or a prison cell. The corral consists of a series of simple
wooden fences. In the winter or at sheering season, it will be full of sheep. At all others,
empty. In the hills above the farm sits a low burial mound and several crosses.

A farmer named Sturla owns Hrafnkellsstathir. Grandson of the eponymous

Hrafnkell, he has held the farm for about a decade since his father died. He and his wife
Hildur are in their early forties. A grown son, Magnus, and a younger son and daughter
named Bjorn and Thora live with them. They employ two hirelings: an English maid
named Agnes and a rough man in his thirties named Thorkell.
If the Investigators arrive by day, they are likely to find the women and children
at home; the men are out tending the sheep and the farms. Unless they sneak into the
farm, though, Sturla and Magnus will spot them and hurry home. In the evening, they
will find the entire household present. If the Investigators present themselves politely,
they will be offered a place to stay as guests. Sturla believes strongly in the virtue of
hospitality, and will permit travelers to stay indefinitely. After a few days, however, he
expects them to being working for their keep. If he learns they are exiles, or in trouble
with distant authorities, he only shrugs (Although he will keep an extra eye on them).
Only if they assault or rob him or his neighbors (or he catches them performing magic in
his house) does he become angry. Investigators who abuse his hospitality will have to
deal not only with his household but also his neighbors. Should they occupy the
farmhouse by violence, the scenario changes drastically. Anyone they slay will become a
draugr, and the Keeper should play their undead depredations without mercy.
Death and Disturbance
Investigators find conditions at the farm good – at least by the standards of free
Norsemen. Sturla offers them places on the benches in the main hall, or if they prefer
more privacy for their group, in the storeroom or one of unused animal pens. Sturla’s
family is Christian. The farm contains several crucifixes, and Sturla brings his family to
62 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

mass every few months. The farm contains a small graveyard with stone crosses which
holds “everyone since my father’s time.” If asked Sturla will inform the Investigators that
the pagan graves are up in the hills, clustered around Hrafnkell’s mound. Sturla does not
object to pagans staying with him, but he insists that they not pray to their “heathen gods”
inside his house.
Thorkell is the household’s main source of tension. The hireling speaks rudely to
Sturla and his family. He sleeps later than he should and is lazy unless supervised; he
harasses the maid, Agnes, and he blasphemes against the Christian god and the heathen
gods alike. If the Investigators ask why Sturla puts up with the man, the farmer becomes
evasive and claims that Thorkell is the best help he can afford. This is only partly true, as
an Insight roll reveals. Other members of the household may offer the truth – the hills
around the farm are regarded as haunted. Ghost lights sometimes appear, and shepherds
hear noises at night that are neither wind nor animals. Some have even fallen ill or died.
The Christian Sturla does not like to admit that he believes in such things nor admit that
they take place on his family land, but the truth is that only Thorkell would work on a
haunted farm.
If the Investigators offer to help out on the farm (or stay long enough that Sturla
asks), Sturla requests that female investigators help Hildur and Thora with the spinning.
(This is a common task for women of all ages and stations.) Male investigators (or female
characters who insist on joining them) are asked to help Sturla, Magnus and Thorkell
tend the sheep. Any priests are be asked to perform Mass and give blessings, but
otherwise Sturla does not expect them to engage in labor.

Investigators who act as shepherds spend the day following Sturla, Magnus or
Thorkell around the hills, checking on sheep or doing other daily chores. They have
opportunity to see the ghost fires – small blue lights and hear the noises. Neither noises
nor lights long persist if approached. These uncanny lights cost 0/1D3SAN the first time
they are seen. Investigators who enter the Near Otherworld encounter half-seen shapes,
cold and hot spots and a general sense of unease worth 0/1D4 SAN per trip.
Any Investigators assigned to Thorkell should find him an annoying and impious
man. He swears often, insults his companions (not so much as to require a duel or
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 63

compensation but enough to be obnoxious), boasts and generally tries to get out of his
share of any work. He says he does not fear the lights or the ghosts, claiming they cannot
touch a brave man. At the same time he seems fascinated by them, trying for a better look
or yelling back at the voices. An Occult roll indicates that most people consider such
behavior dangerous and unlucky.
Once the Investigators seem bored chasing lights and staying on the farm, it’s
time for the Keeper to advance the plot. One day, Thorkell slips away. Tracking reveals
that he went into the rocky hills and vanished. That night, Sturla insists on beginning a
search for Thorkell. The lights and noises seem especially active (Worth another SAN
check). As the searchers near Hrafnkell’s burial mound, they see a glow. Thorkell lies
dead on the top of the mound. The ghost lights play about him, but these recede as the
party approachs. Thorkell does not appear to have been dead for more than a few hours.
A strange smile plays on his face, and a disturbing bloating and discoloration has already
begun to affect his features (A First Aid or Medicine roll reveals that such rapid decay is
not normal). The sight of his corpse costs 0/1D3 SAN.
The problem now becomes one of burial. Sturla insists that Thorkell be brought
down to the consecrated graveyard (“He was baptised, after all,” he says). Attempts to
carry the body encounter problems straight away. Although they were supple on first
handling, Thorkell’s limbs soon become set with rigor mortis and seem always to
inconvenience those carrying him by sticking at undergrowth or tripping the carriers.
This costs 0/1D3 SAN to witness. Sturla may send someone to the farm to fetch a
handcart. It takes at least an hour to haul it up the stony ground. Placing Thorkell on the
cart makes things easier for a while, but soon the body becomes unaccountably heavy.
Require higher and higher opposed STR contests just to move it, until finally, the cart
breaks. Eventually, the body becomes so heavy it cannot be moved any further, only
rolled into a ravine. This costs a further 0/1D6 SAN to witness.
Investigators may at this point wish to destroy the body in some way. Sturla at
first objects, but soon becomes frightened enough to try almost anything. Chopping
Thorkell up results only in a mostly human-shaped mess. Burning him requires the
Investigators haul a great deal of wood up the hill, and then the body proves too damp to
burn properly – it only becomes smelly and scorched. A blessing or exorcism seems not
64 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

to affect the body at all. Eventually, Sturla settles for burying the body where it lies and
pouring holy water on it the next day. Even this likely takes until next light as the party
must haul stones to the body. In any case, the next time the body is left alone, it
disappears – scattering or breaking anything used to hold it down.
Investigators may also wish to open Hrafnkell’s mound. They guess rightly, but
are acting too soon. Sturla strenuously resists any such plan and even threatens violence
(It’s his grandfather after all). If the Investigators do it anyway, they uncover nothing but
badly-decayed grave goods and earth. They do, however, perceive more blue lights
playing around the mound whenever no one is near. Only in the Near Otherworld will the
open mound reveal its secrets early: an opened mound shows an entrance to Hrafnkell’s
chamber in the Far Otherworld (See below). The Investigators can attack and possibly
defeat Hrafnkell now, but Thorkell will remain at large. In such an eventuality, Thorkell,
not Hrafnkell, reveals the final prophecy.

Thorkell Walks
The following night, Thorkell begins to walk. A draugr like Thorkell is a
revenant. His corpse moves in the physical world. He leaves tracks. He commits
physical violence. Weapons can harm him. At the same time, he is no zombie from a
modern horror movie. Retaining full intelligence and a malevolent personality, he
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 65

proves wily and hard to catch. He has also undergone supernatural changes: his body
bloats a bit more with each subsequent night, becoming a dark mottled color. He stands
taller than he did in life and develops great strength. Investigators who try to use
supernatural means to thwart him may find themselves unpleasantly surprised. Throkell
has second sight. His form is present in both the Near Otherworld as well as the waking
world – and he can initiate Spirit Combat there. He chooses the most opportune time to
reveal this fact, perhaps by attacking the Projected Spirit or the sleeping body of an
Investigator who tries to spy on him.
The damage Thorkell causes escalates the longer he continues to exist and
humans still dwell at Hrafnkellsstathir. At first, there are only be small signs of his
presence. Magnus catches a glimpse of him in the hills by day. Hildur sees him walking
along the strand. In each case, he vanishes before Investigators can apprehend him. At
night, he comes closer to the farmstead – destroying fences or markers. Again, he evades
encounters with parties of armed fighters. After a few days, or once the Keeper wants to
increase the pace, Thorkell attacks the farmstead himself. He begins by slaying animals –
the farm’s sheep and cattle and any horses the Investigators have brought with them. He
kills the animals by breaking their backs – a feat of prodigious strength that should give
Investigators pause. Finally, he begins attacking people and inhabited buildings.
He starts with individuals alone at night (Particularly Agnes, if he can stalk her).
If he cannot catch anyone alone, he rattles the walls and door, and climbs onto the roof,
thumping on the sides of the house (Such assaults may be worth 0/1D3 SAN). Only after
several nights of this does he make an attack on the house itself, smash his way in and try
to kill the inhabitants.
Formidable as he is, Thorkell remains vulnerable to a skilled and brave group of
warriors. Ultimately, his power comes from the “normal” supernatural of the earth, not
the cosmic forces of the Mythos. Keepers may have some difficulty keeping a vulnerable
monster alive in the face of a party of aggressive Investigators. Try to play Thorkell for
effect and remember that he is both patient and cunning. If seriously threatened, he tries
to “vanish” – he has a very high Stealth skill. He can also remain underwater indefinitely
– as such he often lairs in the sea.
Eventually, the Investigators will manage to slay Thorkell. If they do not dispose
66 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

of his corpse properly, he walks again the next night. The magic goes out of him in the
meantime, and he can be moved or burned normally. An Occult roll (or simple
viciousness) may suggest decapitation. Burial in consecrated ground, an exorcism, or
soaking in holy water will also serve now, even if they did not before.
The Mound-Dweller
Once they put down Thorkell, Invstigators find themselves faced with the older
and more powerful Hrafnkell. The mound-dweller has greater powers over the
Otherworld than Thorkell did; he walks the Near Otherworld and enters the dreams of
sleepers. A man of hale middle age, carrying a spear, he strides with purpose. If
approached, he can shift seeming to show the desiccated features of a corpse. He knows
the Spirit Combat (Curse) and Spirit Combat (Kill) spells and uses them freely. If the
Investigators describe him or his armaments, Sturla recognizes him as his grandfather and
wonders why he has become restless.
Investigators must confront Hrafnkell in his burial mound. If they dig into it now,
they uncover a stone archway. Even if they opened the mound earlier and found nothing,
a return trip reveals that the mound now sports an entrance. Stepping through this
gateway transports them bodily into the Far Otherworld. Likewise, the gate is visible in
the Near Otherworld; it will transport a Projected Spirit into the burial chamber. The trip
costs one MP. The chamber appears as an underground version of a typical Norse hall
crossed with a cave. The wooden beams drip with moisture, and the air has a clammy
feel. A blue witch-light burns weakly in the fire pit, throwing all into shadows.
Grave-goods glitter along the benches. Hrafnkell himself sits on the dais.
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 67

Should the Investigators hail him, Hrafnkell is willing to talk. Each time he speaks, it
costs the Investigators 0/1D3 SAN, so they must balance their desire for information
versus their mental resilience. Hrafnkell can impart the following pieces of information:
• If asked why he is now awake: “The corpse-god called me.” (An Occult roll
reveals this as one of the names of Odin.) He may elaborate: “I was loyal to him
in life and now in death.”
• Why did Odin wake him? “A wyrd (destiny) is unfolding, and he would test its
vessels.” Investigators may correctly take this to mean themselves, or incorrectly
assume it means Thorkell.
• What about Thorkell? “He had a suitable soul, and so I made him walk again.”
• Further questions about Odin: “Why don’t you ask him yourselves when you see
him?”
• His prophesy: “Odin is calling you to Uppsala. You will find no peace until you
arrive there and no good end once you do.”
Once the Investigators finish asking questions or the Keeper deems the moment
opportune, Hrafnkell attacks. Hrafnkell uses with his long sinewy arms, and his touch is
dry and cold on Investigator’s necks. Hrafnkell will not flee the chamber; neither will he
pursue fleeing Investigators (He waits to attack them in their dreams instead). As a result,
the combat is likely to be swift and brutal. Once Hrafnkell has taken a mortal wound he
pronounces his prophecy above. If he has already done so, he can add some additional
68 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

reminder, such as “the gallows god waits for you at Uppsala.”

Investigators may wish to loot the chamber and/or desecrate the body. Hrafnkell
will not walk again, as he has accomplished his purpose by pronouncing his prophecy,
but the Investigators have no way of knowing that. Nothing in the damp chamber burns,
but Investigators can hack it apart all they like. The grave goods contain whatever riches
the Keeper wants to describe, but all vanish if taken from the chamber. Indeed, the
chamber itself fades over several hours, merging back into the Near Otherworld.
Investigators who leave the chamber are returned to the waking world or the Near
Otherworld, depending on how they entered.

Resolution
Investigators gain 1D6 SAN for defeating Thorkell and 1D6 for defeating
Hrafnkell. They lose 1D4 SAN from their reward for each member of Sturla’s household
that either draugar killed. They gain none at all if they themselves murder Sturla, any
member of his family, or Agnes. Presuming that the Investigators treated him and his
family with respect and defeated the draugar, Sturla will be grateful. He is prosperous by
the standards of free farmers, and can gift them in silver (2D6x10 deniers) or help arrange
supplies or transport.
Investigators find that after Hrafnkell pronounces his curse, they sleep uneasily.
They dream of a large wooden building, before which stand many trees hung with the
corpses of man and beast. Even waking, they begin to feel which way they should travel.
Should they resist, the feeling becomes overwhelming (Cruel Keepers can assess a 0/1D6
SAN penalty when Investigators figure out they are cursed. More kindly Keepers may
assume that they are used to such things by now). For each week that they do not travel
towards Uppsala, they lose 1 CON. Should they reach 0 CON, they die. Magical cures
have no effect, unless they can overcome Odin’s POW of 45 on the resistance table.
Dramatis Personae
AGNES, a maid-servant
STR 10 CON 8 SIZ 16 INT 9 POW 9
DEX 9 APP 16 EDU 13 SAN 45 HP 9
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 69

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Knife 30%, damage 1D4 + db
Skills: Craft Cloth 45%, First Aid 35%, Insight 35%, Natural World 45%

BJORN, Sturla’s young son

STR 9 CON 9 SIZ 8 INT 13 POW 8
DEX 10 APP 10 EDU 10 SAN 40 HP 9

Bonus Damage: 0
Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db.
Skills: Charm 40%, Wheedle 55%, Spot Hidden 45%, Status 25%

HILDUR, Sturla’s wife

STR 6 CON 10 SIZ 14 INT 13 POW 9
DEX 7 APP 12 EDU 8 SAN 45 HP 8

Bonus Damage: +0
Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Knife 30%, damage 1D4 + db
Skills: Accounting 40%, Bargain 65%, Craft Cloth60%, First Aid 50%, Insight
55%, Natural World 60%, Occult 10%, Status 35%

MAGNUS, Sturla’s grown son

STR 16 CON 11 SIZ 12 INT 12 POW 7
DEX 12 APP 10 EDU 7 SAN 35 HP 14

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Axe 50%, damage 1D6 + db Medium
Shield 40%.
Skills: Craft Woodworking 50%, Natural World 50%, Ride 30%, Occult 10%,
Own Kingdom 45%, Status 40%
Spells: Contact Diety (Brown Man)
70 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

STURLA, Farmer
STR 13 CON 15 SIZ 12 INT 16 POW 13
DEX 12 APP 10 EDU 10 SAN 0 HP 14

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Knife 50%, damage 1D4 + db
Skills: Accounting 45%, Bargain 55%, Craft Blacksmithing 60%, First Aid 45%,
Insight 65%, Natural World 60%, Occult 10%, Status 55%

THORA, Sturla’s young daughter

STR 13 CON 15 SIZ 12 INT 16 POW 13
DEX 12 APP 10 EDU 10 SAN 0 HP 14

Bonus Damage: 0
Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db
Skills: Charm 60%, Craft Cloth 20%, Spot Hidden 50%, Status 20%, Wheedle
35%,
THORKELL, Doomed farm-hand
STR 17 CON 15 SIZ 16 INT 13 POW 8
DEX 13 APP 12 EDU 11 SAN 11 HP 17

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db. Knife 50%, damage 1D4 + db
Skills: Bargain 65%, Insight 55%, Norse 60%, Ride 45%, Occult 15%, Own
Kingdom 55%, Spot Hidden 45%, Status 45%
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 71

THORKELL, Draugr
STR 31 CON 29 SIZ 22 INT 13 POW 14
DEX 13 HP 30
Bonus Damage: +2D6
Weapons: Bite 30%, damage 1 + db. Fists 60%, damage 1D3+db. Grapple
60%, special.
Armor: 3 points of hide
Skills: Hide, 75%. Sneak, 60%.
Spells: Second Sight
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6

HRAFNKELL, the Mound-Dweller

STR* 28 CON* 30 SIZ* 19 INT 16 POW 17
DEX* 14 HP* 29

Weapons:* Bite 30%, damage 1 + db. Fists 60%, damage 1D3+db. Medium
Shield 60%. Grapple 60%, special. Short Sword 70%, damage 1D6 +
db.
Armor:* 3 points of hide
72 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Skills: Hide, 55%, Occult 65%, Sneak, 65%.

Spells: Foretelling, Enter Dreams, Project Spirit, Second Sight, Spirit Combat
(Curse), Spirit Combat (Kill), Spirit Combat (Possess), Rapid Travel
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6
* Used only in the Far Otherworld or when manifested in the physical world.

3 Odin’s Call
Synopsis
Under the influence of Odin’s curse, the Investigators must travel to Uppsala,
Sweden to meet the god’s mysterious summons. En route, they will find they are not the
only ones so called. Odin has singled out at five other sorcerers, most of whom want to
be the sole claimant of his favor. Jorund is an old and wary man, who does not trust
Odin and prefers to die than to serve him. Ketil is a bear-shirt, a berserker and a
shape-shifter. Aud is a powerful sorceress and master of weather-magic. Last and
most powerful is Einar, to whom Odin has promised great reward if he slays the others.
Another sorcerer, Leif, perishes before the Investigators can encounter him. Odin is
playing a double game. He aims to hand the “winners” over to the Faceless Ones to
imprison. Only the most powerful of sorcerers are fit to join the captive Sleepers whose
dreams uphold the Otherworld.

Taking Ship
This scenario assumes that the Investigators arrive from points west. Ships
provide the most convenient manner of reaching Uppsala quickly. Investigators must
travel from the Atlantic to the Baltic before sailing up the coast of Sweden to Birka near
present-day Stockholm. Other routes are possible; particularly if the Investigators are
traveling from Finland or Russia, but here Keepers will have to do their own research and
possibly shift the location of various actions to better fit the needs of their campaign.
Not all Investigators may have played the previous scenario. New Investigators can be
brought into the adventure by falling under Odin’s curse in some other way. Odin may
pick an Investigator for no discernable reason, but it is better if some plausible excuse
exists. If the Investigator has the Dreaming skill, any spells or has previously encountered
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 73

the supernatural and survived, Odin may deem that he or she has talent enough to interest
the Faceless Ones. They fall under the curse as described in the previous scenario. Such
chosen victims begin to dream of Uppsala and feel its pull. Once they are so motivated to
travel, it should not strain credibility overmuch if they happen to take the same ship as
the rest of the party.
Hedeby
The Investigators travel by ship from England to the Frankish/Danish border,
where they must make a portage over the Jutland peninsula to the town of Hebeby (ON
Heithabýr). Their ship sails up the rivers Eider and Treene. At a landing on the Treene,
the sailors completely unload the vessel and place it on rollers. Hired workers then drag it
overland to Hedeby on the Baltic side of the peninsula. Goods (and passengers) move
ahead by cart or foot as this arduous process takes place. A major trans-shipment point,
Hedeby is a large town by Dark Age standards. Adjacent lies the Danevirke, a huge wall
that protects Denmark from the Franks to the south. In Hedeby, Investigators must
change ship, as their original captain intends to remain in Hedeby for some few weeks.
Keepers may play out the uncertainty and bargaining in Hedeby, perhaps delaying
the arrival of a suitable vessel long enough for the Investigators to feel the pinch of the
curse. Eventually, a ship arrives heading for Birka, the port nearest Uppsala. Its captain,
Grettir, will accept the Investigators as passengers. His ship, the Proudkeel, is a smallish
longship (drakkar) good for trading or raiding. A single mast rises form the ship’s center;
sailors also man the eight pairs of oars or either side. It has no below-decks. The
Investigators learn than he has booked two other passengers, a Ketil and a Leif. Only
Ketil shows up for departure.
74 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Ketil the Bear-Shirt

A boisterous, loud, quick-tempered man, Ketil dresses richly in an embroidered
purple tunic and wears a red-lined bear-pelt as a cape. He carries an axe, but boasts that
he prefers to use his hands. Those who look upon him with Second Sight or in dreams see
a bear spirit superimposed on him. If the bear or man sees the Investigator in turn, it (or
he) will wink at them. While in Lund, he met and befriended Leif, a sorcerer who had
also heard Odin’s call. One night after drinking, Ketil slew Leif and cast his body into the
sound. Investigators may guess this, or Ketil may admit it before the end, but in the
meantime, they have no proof. Grettir makes a desultory search of the town (which turns
up nothing), and so the ship sails without Leif.
On the journey, Ketil aims to evaluate the Investigators. As long as they seem
unaware of his nature as a sorcerer, he will play dumb, but if they display supernatural
powers or speak of Odin, his call or his curse, Ketil shares information. He tries to appear
helpful, without revealing anything he doesn’t think the Investigators already know or
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 75

guess. He does not want to share Odin’s prize with anyone, and so he will begin
formulating a plan to kill the Investigators eventually. If he can make an alliance with
some Investigators against the others, he gladly does so, but he intends to slay them all.
In the meantime, he tries soothes suspicions by being friendly. His idea of friendly proves
somewhat violent and involves lots of drink.
Dreams of Power
As the Investigators journey, Odin evaluates them. Investigators may notice a
raven or a wolf in their dreams. With a successful Dreaming roll, they realize the animal
is an intruder. Keepers should present a dream scenario designed to reveal each
Investigator’s level of ambition and ruthlessness. Perhaps the dream posits a moral
dilemma or replays some critical moment from the Investigator’s past. If the Investigator
displays disregard for moral conventions and a desire for power, Odin reveals himself
openly on following nights. Odin promises that if the Investigator can reach Uppsala and
“prove themselves worthy,” he will grant them their desire. Odin also mentions that
rewards will be greater, the less they are shared. He willingly grants small favors, such as
a new spell or 1D3 points of POW, if it encourages competition and betrayal among the
travelers. He wants only the strongest to reach him. Odin also tests the NPC sorcerers.
Ketil, Aud and Einar each want to be the sole person to reach the prize. Only Jorund
refuses. This provides the motivation for their resulting rivalries.
The Ship-Wreck
The Proudkeel travels north and east along the Baltic coast of Sweden towards its
eventual destination of Birka. Grettir does not risk sailing the ship at night. Each evening
it pulls into shore. Typically, the crew sleeps on the beach. The sailors have a few tents
that they share in foul weather, otherwise they sleep under the open air. On some nights,
the ship stops at one of the farmsteads that dot the coast. Grettir knows which ones are
well-disposed to travelers and avoids the others. The farmers with whom Grettir has an
arrangement invite him and any noteworthy passengers (Make a Status roll) to stay in the
main building. Everyone else must find places in outlying shelters. The evening meals
involve an exchange of gifts – those Grettir gives are usually of slightly greater worth
than those he receives. Some are rarities or luxuries from foreign lands. In this way, he
repays hospitality shown him and builds good relations. Ketil behaves well enough on the
76 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

ship but once in the presence of a farmer’s food and maidservants, he threatens to get out
of hand. Unless the Investigators or Grettir keep a close check on him, he may seriously
damage relations between the shipmaster and the householders.
Seal and Storm
As the Investigators sail, they may observe that a seal begins to follow them in the
Near Otherworld. Those looking with Second Sight see it automatically; others may be
alerted to its presence by a Dreaming roll. Anyone who gets a good look at the seal’s eyes
sees that they are human eyes with light blue iris and the spark of intelligence behind
them (Make an Idea roll). The natural flux of the Otherworld sometimes reveals the seal
to normal eyes, and before long the sailors begin discussing it. At first they consider it a
good omen, but after it disappears and reappears uncannily, they begin to think otherwise.
Grettir cannot be persuaded to beach the ship, however.
The seal represents the Projected Spirit of Aud. Her own vessel is several days
behind the Investigators. She does not want them to reach Uppsala before her and so she
is using Rapid Travel to locate the ship. Now that she has found it, she plans to cast a
powerful weather spell to stop its northward journey. Investigators versed in sorcery may
attempt to follow the seal or attack it. If at all possible, the Keeper should preserve her for
the rest of the scenario. Remember, the sea is just as wet in the Near Otherworld as in the
waking world, and only those Investigators with an aquatic or avian spirit are likely to be
able to catch her.
Some hours after spotting the seal, the storm she has summoned begins. First seen
as a dark smudge on the horizon, it arises with unnatural rapidity. Despite the crew’s
attempt to furl the sail, the ship is blown onto the rocky shore. Keepers should play this
scene for maximum drama. Whatever the Investigators do, they cannot prevent the
Proudkeel from breaking apart. The Investigators are each driven separately ashore.
Each must make three Swim rolls. For each failure the Investigator takes 1D6 damage
from the wind, waves, rocks and wreckage.
If an Investigator reaches 0 or fewer HP, he or she may receive a dream from
Odin. The god appears standing on a beach, hat low over his eye, warming his hands by
a driftwood fire. The investigator feels all the pain of their wounds and the cold of the
ocean. Odin offers them a bargain – if they work against their comrades, he will spare
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 77

their life. Investigators who agree revive with 1D6 HP remaining; those who refuse
him, perish. If more than one Investigator is slain in the shipwreck, Odin begins with the
most promising (from his perspective) candidate and proceeds to another only if the first
declines.
Regrouping and Making Plans
Investigators who make it to the beach alive need to locate each other and other
survivors. Ketil’s inhuman strength and endurance permit him to escape with only a few
scratches on his face and a light cut along one leg. 1D10+2 sailors also survive, although
Grettir the captain is lost with his ship. Of these 1D3 suffer from serious injuries that
prevent them from traveling far. Some will die unless tended. Others die anyway.
The remaining crew and passengers need fire, shelter and food. Some stunted
trees grow inland, and driftwood lies on the beach. A small river empties into the Baltic a
few miles north of the area of the wreck. A successful Natural World roll results in a
meager find of edible plants (Ketil can hunt for food as a bear. He does not share and will
always be better fed than others).
Investigators must help decide whether to remain with the dying or press on. If
they leave anyone to die, uncomforted or alone, their callousness costs them 0/1D3 SAN.
Ketil argues for a land journey to Birka along the coast. If they object to leaving the
injured behind, he suggests mercy-killing anyone unable to walk. He does not understand
any Investigator’s moral qualms (He has 0 SAN after all). If the Investigators do not
continue towards Uppsala, Odin’s curse sickens them. Perhaps the best course, and the
one on which they will likely settle, is to leave some sailors behind with the wounded
while the others look for help.
The Investigators find that the area in which they have landed is relatively
uninhabited. A few small settlements exist along the coast and inland. None have ships
suitable for the long journey to Birka, but the famers and fisher-folk are willing to travel
far enough to pick up any wounded sailors and shelter them. If Ketil or the more ruthless
Investigators try to steal one of their small boats, they likely succeed – only to be
wrecked again by Aud’s mastery of storms.
The Road to Uppsala
Presuming the Investigators press on towards Birka by land, they soon encounter
78 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

greater problems. Aud wrecked their ship because her own was a few days behind.
Now that she has delayed the Investigators, she intends to land, kill any survivors and
gain the favor of Odin.
The Following Spirit

Investigators in the Near Otherworld soon notice that they are being watched. In
the Otherworld they see different animal forms observing them – sometimes a hawk,
sometimes a deer, sometimes a seal. In every case, the animal is marked by Aud’s pale
blue eyes. In any form, Aud proves difficult to corner. She slips in and out of the Far
Otherworld, vanishes suddenly, and seems always to be one step ahead of the
Investigators. If they do corner her, she quickly wakes. Aud has traveled the Otherworld
for nearly sixty years and knows many tricks. Even if the Investigators cannot see the
Otherworld, sometimes Aud’s spirit briefly becomes visible in the waking world. Ketil’s
Second Sight also alerts him to an enemy, but he only shares this information with the
Investigators if it seems to his advantage.
Aud intends to further delay the Investigators and cause them as much harm as
possible. She may call a storm upon them, but she is reluctant to use this power unless
they take to sea because any storm she brews might grow out of hand and damage her
ship too. Instead, her favorite plan is to use the Curse (Characteristic) and Curse (Skill)
spells. By materializing near a person, she can bring ill luck upon them. If for example, a
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 79

character is chopping firewood, the axe might slip and injure him. A sailor might stumble
and break a limb, an Investigator might become lost and bewildered in the woods. If the
Investigators try to catch her, she uses the hunt to delay their northward progress. Aud
hopes that when she lands, the Investigators and their companions will already be injured,
worn and disoriented.
A Ship!
After a few days of this, or after the Keeper feels the Investigators have suffered
enough supernatural harassment, proceed to the next scene. Aud catches up to the
Investigators, bringing ashore a party of hirelings to find and execute her rivals.
Any Investigators near the coast spot the sail of a large ship approaching from the
south. They may decide to try to signal the ship, either to catch a ride or to warn its crew.
Keepers should remind them that a ship offers the easiest and fastest way to reach Birka.
Investigators who have run afoul of Aud’s weather magic may not want sailor’s deaths on
their conscience. Paranoid Investigators may assume the crew to be hostile, and attempt
to hide or flee inland. Whatever they do, the ship draws unerringly towards them before
bearing slightly north and landing at a long sandy beach.
Investigators who pass a Spot Hidden roll discern a number of armed sailors
disembarking. A pair of them helps a small woman ashore. She is dressed all in dark blue
and has long white braids. A few more unload two riding horses from the ship. The
sailors seem unusually wary, keeping their weapons close to hand or drawn. Unless
interrupted by the Investigators, some form into scouting parties and set up a camp.
Eventually the woman lies down to sleep near the fire.
Investigators who wish to remain in the area unhidden must make Hide or Sneak
to avoid the parties of sailors. The sailors apprehend anyone who approaches and bring
them to see Aud. Aud appraises them. If all captives are unknown to her, she lies and tells
them that she is looking for survivors of a ship wreck. Otherwise she gloats for a while.
“Now you will never reach Uppsala. I will sacrifice you to Odin, and he will reward me
greatly.” She recognizes anyone her animal form has seen, and anyone who knows
spells stands out in her sight. She ruthlessly interrogates her captives; the sailors carry out
the actual torture. She orders a gallows strung from on the ship’s mast. Once she has
located all her rivals she will hang them in sacrifice.
80 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Aud’s sailors begin a search of the surrounding area, perhaps using captives as
guides back to the Investigator’s camp (If they have one). Aud herself lies down to sleep
near the ship. As the sailors guard her body, she uses her Projected Spirit to locate the
Investigators and lead the sailors to them. Meanwhile, the Investigators will doubtless
have plans of their own, and try to capture the ship, kill Aud or rescue party members.
Ketil may help the Investigators, but he is direct and violent. He likely ruins any plan that
involves stealth, perhaps charging into combat as berserker or bear.
The Keeper should endeavor to make Aud and her sailors appear as formidable as
possible, while not destroying the Investigators outright. The shock of Einar’s attack will
then seem all the more formidable.
Einar Strikes
A more skilled sorcerer than Aud has watched events from the north. Einar stands
high in the favor of Odin, and he also has some knowledge of the greater forces of the
Mythos. He now uses that knowledge to eliminate his rivals and secure his reward. He
sends 1D3+1 Byakhees south with orders to capture Aud, Ketil and the Investigators.
They arrive after the hour of dusk, after Aud and the Investigators have struggled for a
few hours. At first they appear as dark specs against the clouded sky. As cloud rides over
the moon and the darkness become more complete, they become more terrifying still,
blending into the shadows and darkness.
They first attack Aud’s camp, scattering the sailors. Some they carry off into the
night, letting them fall onto the rocks inland. Others they slay with their mouths and
claws. Then they seek out Aud, who defends herself with blasts of magic that light the
night unexpectedly. Unless other events intervene, she manages to temporarily escape
them. Next they try to carry off any Investigators held captive in Aud’s camp. If they
manage to catch any sorcerers or Investigators, the Byakhees carry them away north to
Einar’s house.
Then, the Byakhees seek out Ketil and the remaining Investigators. Investigators
hiding or plotting inland first hear screaming from the beach, then some minutes later
they see Aud fleeing towards them accompanied by 1D3+1 of her warriors. She appears
tear-streaked and panicked. The sailors look around them and to the sky with wide eyes.
Aud wants the Investigators help against the “demons” that have attacked them all. First
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 81

she bargains, and finally pleads. Investigators may simply kill her out of hand or they
may listen seriously (Ketil and any of Grettir’s surviving crew favor killing). Then the
Byakhees arrive, stalking and seizing Investigators, sorcerers, and sailors. In the ensuing
combat, the Byakhees should grab Aud and possibly a few Investigators or Ketil.
The Byakhees are perhaps the first true Mythos entities the Investigators have
encountered in the course of this campaign (Certainly, they are the first Aud or Ketil have
seen). Unlike the draugar, the Brown-Man or Odin, these creatures are fundamentally
alien to humanity and its dreams. Keepers should emphasize their inhuman proportions,
and their aura of unearthly wrongness. Ruthlessly assess SAN costs and checks.
The Svartalfar
A third force now enters this battle, hopefully to the great confusion of the
Investigators and their players. The Faceless Ones arrive, attracted to the magic in the
area. Investigators engaged in combat must make a Spot Hidden roll to notice them;
other Investigators automatically spot the humanoid figures. Lanky, nude, and somewhat
smaller than a human, and lacking all facial features and marks of age or sex, they seem
content to observe -- at least for the moment. Nevertheless, they exude an aura of power.
Their mission is to capture and process human sorcerers in maintenance of the
Otherworld. Odin intends to give them the “winning” sorcerers to placate them, but
they have come early when they sensed the play of magical forces in the area.
The next being to use a magical power immediately attracts their attention. Their
sightless heads turn towards the offender, and each takes a step forward. The second use
of a magical spell or ability excites them to attack. They try to grapple the offender and
vanish with him, her or it bodily into the Near Otherworld. The Byakhees remain only a
further 1D3 rounds before they decide to take any captives they have seized and flee.
They take to the air and vanish northwards, carrying Aud and any other captives to
Einar’s farm.
If no other magical powers are used, the Faceless Ones depart into the Near
Otherworld. Intrepid Investigators may try to follow either group of monsters. Any others
are left alone and bewildered.
Birka
The Investigators will now most likely travel on towards Birka, the port nearest
82 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

the royal pagan temple complex at Uppsala. Aud’s ship remains undamaged at the shore,
and between the survivors of all parties, there are enough sailors to crew it. Birka is now
only a few days sailing away, depending on the winds. Keepers can expand or contract
this time as needed. Kindly Keepers may permit the Investigators to heal on the ship.
Birka lies on the island of Björkö, near modern-day Stockholm. One of the largest
towns in Viking Age Scandinavia, it acts as a transshipment point between Sweden,
Finnland and Russia. Investigators thus sight the smoke of its cook-fires from a
considerable distance. Wooden warehouses and dwellings cluster about the shore.
Wooden planking covers the mud and offal of the streets, and many smells, of food, of
flesh, and of waste fill the air. Norse predominates, but most other tongues of Europe also
can be heard here. From Birka, the Investigators have only a short journey to Uppsala.
Ferry boats run north to the shore, from where the temple complex is less than a day’s
ride north.

If they traveled to Birka in Aud’s ship, they can realize a great deal of money by
selling it. The sailors also claim shares, but even so there should be plenty of silver left
for each Investigator. The Investigators may wish to take their ship directly to the north
shore, but the sailors object. Thus, the Investigators need to stay at least one night in
Birka. This gives them the opportunity to meet Jorund.
The Problem with Magic
Having been roused to watchfulness, Faceless Ones may become alerted any time
the Investigators use a spell. Multiply the number of Magic Points spent by 5. This
represents the percentage chance that Faceless Ones will notice the use of magic. A few
minutes later 1D3 Faceless Ones arrive in the local Near Otherworld. If anyone spends
more Magic Points in their presence, they materialize and drag him or her bodily into the
Otherworld to their mound. If the Investigators don’t use magic, the Keepers should have
the Faceless Ones appear once or twice anyway, just so that they know they are being
watched.
Jorund
While they are in Birka, the Investigators find themselves approached by a boy of
about twelve winters. He tells them his name is Michael, and he has been sent by his
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 83

master Jorund to lead the strangers to him. Michael says Jorund is ill, but that he knows
things “needful for them to know.” If pressed, he says that his master knows they struggle
under a curse and would help them before he dies. Michael believes Jorund to be a holy
man, almost a saint, and is distraught over the way his master has grown ill over the last
few months. Investigators may fear a trap, but Michael is sincere.

Jorund lies on his bed in rented quarters in Birka. A brass cross adorns one wall; a
water jug sits at his bedside. There are few other furnishings. Jorund seems in his
mid-fifties, and extremely ill. In his youth, he learned the ways of siethr and glaudr and
journeyed widely. While traveling in Russia, he met an Orthodox monk and converted to
Christianity. He retired to Denmark and became a farmer. Thus matters lasted for many
years. Some few months ago, he felt the call north. As he journeyed and the dreams
became clearer, he realized that it was Odin calling him. Jorund wanted nothing to do
with “the one-eyed demon’s blandishments,” and when his ship reached Birka, he
decided to travel no further. He hired Michael as a servant from a local Christian family,
and waited for the curse to overtake him. He considers this his penance for earlier sins
and a last act of defiance against paganism.
Jorund can help the Investigators understand their predicament. Foremost, he
warns them against Odin. “The corpse-demon never keeps his bargains,” he says. “Trust
nothing he says, for he turns all oaths against mortal men.” Investigators who have made
deals with Odin may feel uncomfortable at these words, or they may scoff at the
prejudices of a follower of the White Christ.
Jorund then begins to speak of “the svartalfar.” “I have seen them in my dreams.
They are the Devil’s servants, engaged in some terrible work.” If the Investigators ask
more, he says, “They chain damned souls to the ground in Hell. You have dreamers
among you, have you not seen their mound?”
If asked about the Byakhees, he starts. “You have seen the demons of Einar and
survived? That is rare indeed.” He tells them that Einar is a sorcerer and devotee of
Odin who lives on a farm not far from the royal center at Uppsala. A terrible sorcerer,
Einar employs magic “the like of which no one else has ever seen.” Particularly feared
are his demon-horses that appear to carry off his rivals. Sometimes the corpses of his
84 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

victims appear at his farm, hung from his Ash tree in sacrifice to Odin, their bodies
gnawed upon by some monster. “I saw them in my youth, when Einar seemed no older
than I am now.” He also knows Aud. “A sorceress from Norway, I believe. She is a
great shape changer and dreamer. She has a strong hugr.” He will not be sorry to hear
that Einar now has her captive. “May she die swiftly and Christ have mercy on her soul.”
The Investigators cannot persuade Einar to come with them or to use his powers
to help them further. In truth, he is now too weak, and will die of the curse shortly after
their meeting.
The Mound
Investigators with access to the Otherworld may attempt to follow the Faceless
Ones into the Near Otherworld. This requires that the Investigator’s Projected Spirit be in
visual range and make a Dreaming roll and 1D3 Magic Points. If the roll succeeds, the
Investigators manage to keep pace with them; otherwise, the creatures mysteriously
vanish from sight after a few yards. The Faceless Ones may notice they are being
followed, if the Investigators make no attempt to hide, or if the Faceless Ones detect the
expenditure of magic near them. Otherwise, the Faceless Ones seem only minimally
aware of their environment, never looking about themselves as they walk.
The Faceless Ones proceed by path into the deeps of the Far Otherworld until they
come to a large hill. The hill’s exterior seems much like the nearby landscape: stony and
covered in grass or short, windblown shrubs. The side of it gapes open in deep zig-zag
cleft. The interior is dark, but seems to show occasional fire-lit glows or more ominous
flashes of purple or blue, like after-images on a closed eyelid. The unearthly sight of the
hill alone is enough to unhinge the sensitive and costs 0/1D3 SAN. The Faceless Ones
shuffle inside, unperturbed.
If the Investigators follow they find themselves in a hollow space greater than any
mortal hall or cathedral. The hill stretches above them like a dome, honey-combed with
hollow spaces and arches. Architecture of all ages and styles jumble together like an ant’s
nest. A hundred torches burn in the hollows but shed no more than a few flickers of light
in the great space. The floor slides down into a concavity piled with human bodies and
bones. The mound of apparent cadavers reaches up towards the ceiling. Occasionally a
flash of colored light emanates from a body’s head or face or from within the mound
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 85

itself. The air is filled with a sweet, dry smell, like cinnamon. The totality of the cavern is
worth 0/1D6 SAN to experience.
Groups of Faceless Ones move about the place in groups of one to a dozen, but
averaging about three each. Some tend to various tasks, lighting the torches, climbing the
pile of bodies, marching in what might be patrols. Other stand aimlessly, facing in any
direction, even the walls. Occasionally, one of the purposeless ones raises its head and
begins to work or a moving one ceases and stands still.
Investigators who examine the bodies will find that most of them are dead and
decayed. The pile itself consists mostly of bones. Only on the periphery of the mound can
living Sleepers be found, perhaps some hundred in all. Some are more awake than others.
Lips move, eyes roll. Some mutter words in a foreign tongue. All are completely nude,
though many races and sexes can be found. All seem deeply asleep. None can be woken,
except perhaps to mad screaming. Their flesh has melded together, like wax in a fire, and
veins and fibers and horns of bone hold them together, interlocked. The corpses around
them are similarly fused. Skin dry and hard as leather runs taut from one body to another,
and femurs, ribs and ulnae can be seen, grown twisted into cages and branches. Close
sight of these horrors costs another 0/1D6 SAN. If Investigators wait long enough, they
see a Faceless One picking at the corpses in the pile and checking others for life.
The Investigators must each make a Dreaming roll every 2D3 minutes they spend
in the cavern. So long as they succeed, they may wander about the cavern freely. If they
fail, they attract the Faceless Ones’attention. If they spend any Magic Points here, the
Faceless Ones notice immediately. If they attract the attention, the Investigators must flee
or face capture.
Any captured Investigators end up in the pile, installed somewhere along its
periphery. It takes several days for them to fall fully asleep, never to wake again.
Strange waking visions pass in their minds, and they see all corners of the world, at once
or at random, and perceive the dreams of sleepers the world over. Each hour they spend
connected to the pile reduces their SAN by 0/1D6. Investigators may attempt to escape
with a roll of their POW vs. 35. They may boost their chances by 5% per Magic Point
they are willing to spend, but such an action attracts the attention of nearby Faceless
Ones. They may also be rescued, cut or pulled from the pile by friends. In either case,
86 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

they suffer 1D6 permanent POW damage and 2D6 HP from being pulled free. Escaping
Investigators may also retain some of their insight. Increase their Cthulhu Mythos
permanently by 1D6. Anyone rescued remembers from their dreams that this cavern is
only one of many, scattered across the world, and the Faceless One seek endlessly for
new dreamers to imprison. They also know that the complex is dying.
Returning from the mound to the Near Otherworld is relatively easy. Many
well-beaten paths lead away, emerging in various places in Scandinavia. Only a
successful Dreaming roll and the expenditure of 1D3 Magic Points lets the Investigators
find one that returns to their starting point, however.
Einar’s Farm
The climax of the scenario is a confrontation between the Investigators and Einar.
Einar’s Byakhees carry their prisoners back to the master. Einar imprisons them, giving
them an opportunity to escape or perhaps meet their ultimate fate as his sacrifices. Any
free Investigators eventually reach Einar’s farm, either in spirit or body.
Prisoners of Einar
The Byakhees deliver Gudrun and any Investigator prisoners to Einar’s farm. Its
layout is essentially the same as that of Hrafnkellastadir except that Einar has added an
underground chamber beneath the main house. This stone-lined space is barred from
above with an iron grill. After some telepathic communion with the Einar, the Byakhees
cast the prisoners into it.
Investigators may rightly wonder what Einar intends. If they do not ask him,
Gudrun does. Einar respnds politely and calmly, despite being utterly mad, informing
them that he cannot let them reach Uppsala. Odin has promised him great reward for
slaying them. He tells them that he will sacrifice them to Odin, when the time is right. If
the Investigators claim that Odin has spoken to them or that they have formed some sort
of bargain, he says that “this is how Odin secures his own sacrifices.” A successful
Insight roll, however, will determine that he is secretly discomforted by such information.

Einar then leaves the Investigators and Gudrun in the pit. A single Byakhee stays
to guard them. Its presence requires a SAN check every day. Gudrun falls into despair,
cursing Einar and the Investigators alternately. They may decide to slay her, but such a
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 87

deed, done in cold blood, costs 1D6 SAN. They may try to escape. The pit has a heavy
iron lock they may try to pick. They may also attempt to bend or break the bars with a
contested STR roll vs a STR of 50. The Byakhee will try stop them from leaving the pit.
If it can it subdues them, but if it thinks they might escape successfully, it uses deadly
force. If they try to cast a spell, it interrupts them violently. It also sees any intruders’
presence in the Otherworld, although it does not react unless the interloper threatens to
open the cage or attack. After 1D3 days or whenever the Keeper feels it to be
dramatically appropriate, Einar begins to sacrifice his prisoners. Unless a particular
Investigator has vexed him, he starts with an NPC. His farm-hands drag the offender to
the massive ash before the farm house . There Einar hangs them and pierces their body
with a spear. Such a procedure should be considered fatal without the necessity of rolls
and costs 1D3 SAN to witness. Thereafter, he makes another sacrifice every day, or
whenever the Keeper thinks interesting. Some Investigators should probably remain alive
for rescue. Have each sacrificed Investigator make a Luck roll. Those who succeed find
the gallows-god offering them one last bargain. At the moment of death, they have a
vision of the god looking up at him. “It is possible to survive this,” he says. “I should
know. I have done it.” He offers them a bargain. “I will show you how to live but you
must bring me another in your place. One of your friends perhaps -- or an enemy? Do
you agree?” If the Investigator refuses, he or she dies. If he or she agrees, then the
Investigator awakens on the tree later than night with 1D6 HP remaining and having lost
1D6 SAN. The noose has loosened and no longer chokes. A STR vs STR 10 roll is
required to pull free of the tree. No one is around, so unless the Investigator makes
excessive noise, he or she should be able to sneak away. Odin will only rescue one
person, and those whom he has already rescued once are ineligible.
Scouting the Farm
Investigators with the Project Spirit and Rapid Travel spells may scout ahead to
the farm. They may follow the Byakhees by shadowing them in the Near Otherworld.
The Byakhees have Second Sight, but cannot affect the Otherworld. Investigators who
guess this may make a Dreaming roll to avoid detection. Those who do not are in for a
surprise when the Byakhees inform their master of the interlopers. Following the
Byakhees eventually leads to Einar’s farm. Investigators who hear about the farm from
88 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Jorund may also decide to seek it out in spirit form. Einar’s farm presents special hazards
for those who approach it via the Near Otherworld. The Faceless Ones have gathered
around its perimeter. There they wander, sometimes cocking their head as if sniffing or
listening for something. Einar’s magics attract them, but his warding spells are
sufficiently powerful that they cannot find him. Einar himself is a master of the
Otherworld. He has laid wards around the farm. To enter the farm by the Near
Otherworld, one must make a contested POW vs 15. Futhermore, Einar knows when
anyone overcomes his wards. Under normal circumstances he would enter the
Otherworld himself to attack any intruders. The Faceless Ones have unnerved him,
however, and he fears to cast spells lest they find him. He only enters the Otherworld as a
last resort, although he is willing to risk using the Second Sight. Only in the event of a
spiritual or physical confrontation will he draw on his formidable arsenal of spells.
The Inevitable Farm
Investigators leaving Birka wind up at Einar’s farm whether they wish to go there
or not. He has cast a mighty spell that places it in the path of rival trying to reach
Uppsala. Characters seeking his farm will not notice, but those who aim to bypass it
and head for the temple find their path mysteriously veering to the east. Each must make
a contested POW roll vs Einar’s every hour. If they fail, no matter how they try to adjust
their steps, they will always end up nearer Einar’s farm. This effect only occurs in the
physical world.
Einar becomes aware of them as soon as they cross the boundaries of his farm,
marked with rune-stones. At the time when they arrive, he has two Byakhees summoned.
One of them is guarding the prisoners. The other remains near him. The others he has
dismissed and he dares not summon any more because of the presence of the Faceless
Ones. Once the Investigators come to his attention he sends a Byakhee to capture one. If
they seem a large party, or manage too much trouble, he calls the second one away from
the pit. Einar also has several farm-hands present, all devotees of Odin, who can assist the
creatures. Should his minions encounter serious difficulties, he will abandon his caution
and begin to cast his own spells. Roll to see if the Faceless Ones notice any Magic Points
spent by either side. If they do, they attempt to capture any sorcerers, starting with the
one who spends the most Magic Points in their presence, and carry them away bodily into
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 89

the Otherworld to the Mound.

The Investigators are unlikely to defeat Einar, his monsters, and his assistants in
open combat. Even if Ketil is present (and not slain in the previous encounters) his
formidable presence is probably also insufficient. He even may be an active hindrance,
since he always favors immediate combat, regardless of the odds. Some or all of the
Investigators may be captured and thrown into prison. Alternatively, a clever party may
be able to distract Einar, enter his farm and rescue the prisoners, or slay the sorcerer.
The Investigators have another option at their disposal – they may try to lure the
Faceless Ones to Einar. Either free or imprisoned Investigators may attempt such a move.
They may use their Projected Spirit to find a Faceless One in the Otherworld and lead it
through Einar’s wards. Einar and his minions try to prevent any such move – so prisoners
will probably not have a chance unless the guarding Byakhee is distracted or slain.
After that, the Investigators had better hope the Faceless Ones are more interested in
Einar than in them. Einar helps matters by panicking if any Faceless Ones appear. His
calm breaks, and he can be goaded into trying to protect himself with magic. Should the
Investigators correctly perform their gambit, the Faceless Ones will drag Einar away to
the mound. If they are unfortunate, the Faceless Ones may carry away some Investigators
too.
To Uppsala
Investigators have only a short rest after this scenario. Odin continues to call and
they must leave soon for Uppsala however worn and injured they may be. Still, there are
some consolations for victory. Defeating Einar bolsters their confidence. Grant each
Investigator 1D10 SAN. Einar’s farm also contains several sets of weapons and mail,
many farm animals, and 1D10x10 silver pennies.
Dramatis Personae
AUD, weather-witch
STR 8 CON 10 SIZ 14 INT 15 POW 17
DEX 14 APP 11 EDU 14 SAN 0 HP 12

Bonus Damage: + 0
Weapons: Fist 50%, 1D4 + db
90 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Armor: none
Skills: Bargain 65%, Dodge 50%, Insight 60%, Occult 65%, Own Kingdom 65%,
Spot Hidden 55%, Status 60%
Spells: Foretelling, Enter Dreams, Manifest, Project Spirit (any form), Second
Sight, Send Curse Object, Spirit Combat (Curse), Rapid Travel,
Shriveling, Winds of Desolation

EINAR, sinister sorcerer

STR 10 CON 9 SIZ 13 INT 16 POW 20
DEX 7 APP 15 EDU 18 SAN 0 HP 11

Bonus Damage: +0
Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 50%. Short Sword 35%,
damage1D6+ db. Spear 60%, damage 1D6+db.
Armor: Mail, 7 points.
Skills: Accounting 45%, Bargain 65%, Cthulhu Mythos 45%, Dodge 50%, First
Aid 55%, Insight 65%, Natural World 60%, Occult 70%, Own Kingdom
70%, Status 65%
Spells: Blindness, Compel, Foretelling, Enter Dreams, Manifest, Pierce the Veil,
Project Spirit (any form), Second Sight, Spirit Combat (Curse),
Summon/Bind Byakhee, Rapid Travel

JORUND, tormented Christian

STR 8 CON 1 SIZ 8 INT 12 POW 15
DEX 10 APP 12 EDU 13 SAN 35 HP 29

Bonus Damage: 0
Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 60%. Short Sword 55%,
damage1D6+ db.
Armor: none
Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Insight 45%, Occult 55%, Own Kingdom 60%,
Status 25%
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 91

Spells: He has renounced his magic, but may still use Foretelling and Second
Sight involuntarily.

GRETTIR, hapless ship-owner

STR 12 CON 12 SIZ 15 INT 13 POW 8
DEX 16 APP 7 EDU 9 SAN 40 HP 13

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 30%. Short Sword 45%,
damage1D6+ db.
Skills: Navigate 65%, Pilot Boat 65%
Armor: Mail, 7 points.
Skills: Accounting 50%, Bargain 70%, Dodge 40%, First Aid 35%, Insight 55%,
Natural World 40%, Own Kingdom 55%, Status 45%

KETIL the bear-shirt

STR 16 CON 14 SIZ 17 INT 14 POW 13
DEX 14 APP 13 EDU 13 SAN 0 HP 29

Bonus Damage: +1D6

Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Axe 55%, damage1D6+ db.
Skills: Natural World 80%, Occult 30%, Own Kingdom 55%, Track 55%
Spells: Berserking, Second Sight, Shape-Shifting
Armor: none
KETIL in bear form
STR 21 CON 14 SIZ 22 INT POW 13
DEX 13 HP

Bonus Damage:+2D6
Weapons: Bite 25%, damage 1D10. Claws 50%, damage 1D6+ db.
Armor: 3 points of fur
Skills: Track 80%
92 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

MICHAEL, Christian child

STR 9 CON 10 SIZ 8 INT 14 POW 11
DEX 8 APP 9 EDU 9 SAN 55 HP 9

Bonus Damage: +0
Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4 + db.
Armor: none
Skills: Bargain 35%

ODIN, a god of the Otherworlds

STR 17 CON 15 SIZ 15 INT 20 POW 45
DEX 14 Move 8 HP 15

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Spear 75%, damage 1D6 + db
Armor: invulnerable to conventional attacks
Spells: any
Sanity Loss: 0 normally. 1D10/1D100 to see his true form.

BYAKHEES, Lesser Servitor Race

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
STR 16 22 15 20 20 17
CON 9 12 14 10 7 11
SIZ 19 16 24 18 22 20
INT 15 8 10 10 13 9
POW 7 10 15 11 12 11
DEX 10 13 13 12 19 17
HP 14 14 19 14 15 16
Damage +1D6 +1D6 +1D4 +1D4 +2D6 +1D6
Bonus
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 93

Move:5 (20 while flying)

Weapons: Claw 35%
Armor: 2 points of hide
Abilities: Listen 50%, Spot hidden 50%
Sanity Loss: 1/1D6

FACELESS ONES, lesser servitor race

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
STR* 14 13 12 11 16 12
CON* 10 7 10 9 13 13
SIZ* 10 9 9 7 5 9
INT 14 14 12 11 13 12
POW 7 9 16 12 14 10
DEX* 6 8 9 9 10 8
HP* 15 8 10 8 6 11
Damage 0 0 0 0 +1D4 +1D4
Bonus*

Move: 7
Weapons*: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db, Grapple 40%, damage special
Abilities: Detect magic (see above), can move to and from the Otherworlds freely,
taking any grappled victims with them, can summon 1D3 more Faceless
Ones.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6
* Used only in the Far Otherworld or when manifested in the physical world.

SAILORS or WARRIORS, do they wear red shirts?

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
STR 9 13 9 10 15 11
CON 10 11 17 11 14 13
SIZ 14 14 16 12 12 12
94 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

INT 15 14 13 9 11 13
POW 14 17 10 9 11 13
DEX 8 9 15 14 11 13
EDU 10 11 14 10 10 7
HP 10 12 14 11 15 12
Damage +0 +1D4 +1D4 +0 +1D4 +0
Bonus

Armor Chain 7 None None Leather, Chain 7 None

2

Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 40%. Short Sword 45%,
damage1D6+ db. Spear 30%, damage 1D6+db.
Skills: Navigate 30%, Pilot Boat 55%

4 The Trickster’s Feast

“Geri and Freki the war-mighty glutteth,
The glorious God of Hosts;
But on wine alone the weapon-glorious
Odin aye liveth.”

Prose Edda 38, (Brodeur Translation)

Synopsis
The Investigators arrive at what they believe to be the royal complex at Uppsala,
but instead find themselves in Odin’s hall in the Otherworld. Odin offers to reward them
for their perseverance, but his gifts are barbed. Bound by the strict letter of hospitality,
Odin will not harm the Investigators directly, but he maliciously interprets any request.
He wants to hand all of them over to the Faceless Ones, and his offers of “reward” all
further his goal.
Arrival at Uppsala
Kings and their subjects, collectively and individually, send their gifts to Upsala; -
and – a thing more cruel than any punishment – those who have already adopted
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 95

Christianity buy themselves off from these ceremonies. The sacrifice is as

follows; of every kind of male creature, nine victims are offered. By the blood of
these creatures it is the custom to appease the gods. Their bodies, moreover, are
hanged in a grove which is adjacent to the temple. This grove is so sacred to the
people that the separate trees init are believed to be holy because of the death or
putrefaction of the sacrificial victims. There even dogs and horses hang beside
human beings. (A certain Christian told me that he had seen seventy-two of their
bodies hanging up together.) The incantations, however, which are usually sung in
the performance of a libation of this kind are numerous and disgraceful, and it is
better not to speak of them.

Adam of Bremen, ca. 1070, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum 4 26-7

(trans unknown, from Northvegr)

With Einar dead or gone, the Investigators now find their way to Uppsala clear.
Indeed, so close to their goal, Odin’s call becomes stronger. If they wish to delay, they
must now test every hour that they tarry. The journey from Einar’s farm to the cultic
center takes less than a day on foot. A side track leads from the farm to the main road
from the lake Lagoda to Uppsala. The highway shows signs of heavy use – deep ruts
along its length, cast-off items, and axe and machete marks on the plants. They encounter
no other travelers.
At a point about halfway along this road, the Investigators leave the mortal world
and enter the Far Otherworld; they are no longer on the road to the earthly Uppsala, but to
a version of Valhalla itself. Investigators who succeed in a Dreaming roll may notice that
they are entering some sort of enchantment, but will not perceive its nature. Investigators
who were already in the Near Otherworld suddenly find themselves fully visible to the
other party members, and shape-shifted sorcerers are forcibly returned to human shape.
Ketil, if he is still present and alive, gives a deep growl and a shiver.
While in this realm, Investigators may use Dreaming, cast spells, and spend MPs
normally for the Far Otherworld. Casting spells no longer runs the risk of attracting the
Faceless Ones. The environment is such that although they are spirits, the Investigators
96 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

retain and use physical statistics. If any of them should suffer death here, they have no
waking bodies to return to. Their corpses fade 1D3 minutes after death, and their souls
become subject to Odin’s whim.

As they approach, the Investigators catch sight of Uppsala in the distance. A copse of
trees surrounds a complex of wooden and turf buildings. Behind the complex stand a
number of tall mounds. From the trees hang the corpses of all kinds of animals: dogs,
cattle, horses, and men. The scent of decay comes from all but the oldest bodies. Terror
agony and resignation variously mark the human faces. Passage through the corpses costs
0/1D3 SAN.
The complex itself resembles a large and well-kept farmstead. The courtyard and
the side buildings all seem deserted. No slaves or warriors or priests move about on their
business. No animals low from their stalls. The caw of ravens is the only bird-song.
Centrally, there stands a peak-roofed hall, from whose louvers rise columns of smoke
redolent with the scents of roasted meats and sweet incense. A golden chain hangs from
its perimeter. The sound of music and voices comes from within, but faintly, as if from
underground. On the steps of the hall stands a man in a broad-brimmed hat, leaning on
his staff. This, of course, is Odin.
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 97

Odin’s Bargain
The investigators now presumably approach the god who has called them here.
Odin greets them. He explains that he has called them to him, seeking those “worthy
enough in magic.” As they have now proven themselves, Odin offers to reward them. He
may answer any other questions the Keeper deems do not try his patience too far. Of the
Faceless Ones, he says only that, “The svartalfar are strange creatures, and their affairs
are a great mystery.” When he tires of the Investigator’s interrogation, he tells them, “All
else will doubtless become clear in time, but this is not the place to speak. When it comes
time to chose your reward, you may chose answers to these questions and more.”
Eventually Odin says: “You will be guests this night in my hall. I promise that I will
cause no harm to come to you there. If at any time you decide what you wish your reward
to be, you need only speak it, and I will hear. For now: Feast. Eat. Drink. Be
welcome among my Einherjar, and enjoy the smile of the cup-maiden that sits at your
elbow.”
He then leads them inside the building.
Annoying the Divine
Investigators may try to avoid this scene. If they flee Odin, they find the curse still
draws them back or slays them. When and if they return to the hall, Odin still stands in
the same position. He looks up from under his hat brim at any latecomers and asks “Are
you ready now?”
98 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Suicidal Investigators may decide to attack Odin. Odin permits the first blow to
land on him, then he vanishes. Give the Investigators a few moments to savor their
seeming triumph. Then Odin’s voice rumbles through the air: “Those who reject my
hospitality face my vengeance.” The hall collapses into flame, the sky splits open to
reveal a field of swirling stars, and the music of Azathoth plays from the revealed void. In
its wake, a horde of 1D3 x 100 Faceless Ones emerges from the rent to carry the
offending Investigators away. All witnesses take 1d10/1d100 SAN damage.
The Hall
The hall’s interior contains a space far vaster than its exterior could hold. The
door that closes behind the Investigators towers many yards into the air, and is now too
heavy to move with human hands. Benches stretch into the distance until the haze of
smoke obscures sight of the far walls. The aisle between them contains a series of
fire-pits piled with the logs of trees whose trunks are as thick across as a man is tall.
Servants move among the revelers, bearing food, and drink. The sound of speech,
laughter and music is deafening but he voices sound hollow, and the echoes come as if
from deep underground or underwater. The proportions of the hall and its distortion of
normal space cost 0/1D6 SAN to experience.

The drinkers are Odin’s Einherjar, warriors gathered by his Valkyries for an
eternal reward of feasting and fighting. At any given table sit men of all ages, richly
dressed and armored. They welcome “Odin’s guests” to sit among them. There they tell
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 99

tales of their lives. Each ends in their death. Male investigators who sit and eat find a
beautiful Valkyrie sitting beside them, quite solicitous and as amorous as the Investigator
seems to desire. (Female investigators who desire a Valkyrie must ask one to sit with
them.) Actual trysts, however, should take place in one of the many alcoves. Investigators
who look too closely at the Einherjar or valkyries must make a Dreaming roll. If they
succeed, they perceive the Einherjar as corpses, the blood of wounds upon them, their
armor and bodies rent and decayed. The Valkyries’ pale faces shine with a cruel light,
and the touch of their flesh is chill. Assess a SAN cost of 0/1D3, or 0/1D6 if the
revelation comes at a more intimate moment. Keepers should time the revelation for
maximum effect.
As the day passes into night, the Einherjar will begin to sleep (or drink themselves
into stupor). Not all succumb to rest, but enough doze so that the hall grows quieter.
The fires burn down, and the shadows lengthen. The servants continue to bring food and
drink to those who want them, but their bustle lessens.
Following any wall will eventually reveal smaller doors that lead into larger or
smaller side chambers – some are eating halls, much like the first, others are kitchens or
storerooms tended by human-seeming servants. These too are spirits of the dead, as can
be revealed by Dreaming rolls. Investigators will find no open exits from the hall – save
several sets of enormous doors that they have not the strength to open.
There are also cavern openings along the bases of some of the walls and in some
of the smaller storerooms. These lead down into the center of the Faceless Ones’ mound,
as described in the previous scenario. The Faceless Ones actively patrol the tunnels and
the mound and are alert to the use of magic therein. Odin’s hospitality does not apply
here, and the Faceless Ones seize any intruders. Investigators will be disappointed by any
attempt to use the mound as a passage back to the Near Otherworld and waking world.
All of the paths that seem to lead to the surface instead return back to the interior of
Odin’s hall.
The far end of the hall contains a raised dais on which figures sit, seemingly
enormous in the distance, but only human-sized if approached. Odin sits in his high seat,
a raven on each shoulder, and two wolves at his feet. He holds a single cup in his hand,
and touches neither meat nor bread. At the table nearby sit richly-dressed Einherjar. Each
100 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

was a king or lord in life. Odin invites investigators to sit. He conveys the same
information he did at the entrance – that the Investigators are his guests, and they may
ask for a reward. They may name it at any time during the night, and he will gift it to
them as they depart his hall in the morning. An Investigator need only speak Odin’s name
and he will appear, either publically or privately, as the Investigator desires.
Rivals and Enemies
There are other guests besides the Investigators in the hall. Any sorcerers who
died in the course of the adventure sit at one of the hall’s many tables or wander in search
of Investigators. Odin has promised them one night of reprieve before they meet their
ultimate fate. They appear living and in full health, but again, a successful Dreaming roll
pierces the illusion, revealing their death-wounds and decay, at a cost of 0/1D3 SAN. The
dead retain only half their original POW and can no longer cast spells. Reduce their SAN
to zero. Odin has promised each of them that if they eliminate an Investigator, they can
claim the Investigator’s reward. If they cannot, then he will give them over to an
unpleasant afterlife. The Keeper should arrange whatever meetings or confrontations
seem dramatically appropriate. Some suggestions follow.
Lief
Lief, the sorcerer whom Ketil murdered in Hedeby, wanders the room seeking the
Investigators. Having himself explored the Faceless One’s mound and barely escaped, he
plans to trick one or more of the Investigators into their caverns. He will then claim his
reward from Odin. He does not know the Investigators’ names or appearances, but he can
tell living people from the dead men and spirits in the hall. He does recognize Ketil and
burns with anger at his murderer.
Lief approaches the Investigator or Investigators with his lies prepared. He claims
to be another of Odin’s victims drawn here “just like you.” He admits to being dead, but
says, “I have no desire to be Odin’s slave for eternity.” He warns them that Odin means
to trick them and that he has important information to reveal. “In the tunnels under this
place, Odin keeps the rune-stones he won on Yggdrasil. There are guardians, but if we
can seize the runes, we can use them against their master.” An Occult roll will remind
characters that Odin gained much of his power by hanging himself on the World Ash; in
return he received the secrets of magic, including the runes. If no Investigators recall this
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 101

lore, Leif explains it to them.

Should the Investigators agree to accompany him, Lief leads them down into the
tunnels until they encounter the first patrol of Faceless Ones, then flee back to the hall.
There are no rune-stones to be found, only passage to the Faceless One’s mound.
Jorund
Jorund expired as the Investigators were traveling. Now his spirit sits near one of
the fire pits, shunning the company of the dead Einherjar and the lovely Valkyries.
Rumor has already begun to spread among the tables of the “stranger who will touch no
mead.” If the Investigators seek this stranger out, they will find the old Christian in some
trouble. A group of 1D3 Einherjar have taken offense at Jorund’s behavior and called him
out to a fist-fight. Investigators may intervene. If the Investigators win, the other
Einherjar cheer and leave the “worthy strangers” and their odd friend alone. If they fail,
they awake in an alcove, nursing bruises with Jorund nowhere to be seen.
Jorund himself seems alternately defiant and tremulous. He hopes this to be one
final trial before passing to the Christian heaven. Although he loudly insists that the
White Christ will protect him even in Odin’s hall, he fears he is already in Hell. He can
warn Investigators of the bargain Odin has offered him, and tell them to beware of the
“old demon.” He will not leave his seat by the fire, however, nor touch the meat or drink
on the boards.
Einar, Aud and Ketil
Einar, Aud and Ketil may also be present as ghosts. They appear only if they have
died. If they were carried away by the Faceless Ones, their spirits remain trapped in the
mound. Their attitudes and approaches towards the Investigators will vary depending on
previous events, but all desire to displace the Investigators and seize their reward. If the
Keeper desires a simpler scenario, they may simply attack the Investigators or work with
Leif on his plot. Or they can engage in some more complex trickery of the Keeper’s
design.
Investigators
If any Investigators made bargains with Odin previously, he appears to them
separately, and tell them that to receive their reward, they must kill one of their fellows.
As Odin is master of this realm, he can draw an Investigator away at any time, without
102 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

the others being aware that he has gone or that any time has passed. If any Investigators
died in the course of the adventures, the Keeper may bring them back for this final scene.
If a players would enjoy running their dead character and the Keeper deems they can do
so constructively, run a short scene privately, in which Odin offers a bargain to the dead
Investigators – their life in exchange for another’s. If this sub-plot would cause more
complications than seems enjoyable, then the Keeper can simply assume that they refused
Odin’s bargain and omit their presence entirely.

Dubious Rewards
Morning comes whenever the Keeper deems the plots of evening have grown
stale. A pale light begins to creep in through the louvers and under the doors. Odin’s
Valkyries seek out the Investigators and successful ghosts and summon them to the dais.
There he asks if they are ready to name their rewards.
Odin intends to twist any wishes into requests to join the Faceless One’s stable of
captive and sleeping sorcerers. Granting each wish as soon as it was made would let the
game away. Thus he tries to get each candidate to name his or her desire before he
interprets or grants any of them. He skips those who have already made their requests,
and bargainers who have failed to deliver another Investigator to him. If any say they are
not yet ready to decide, Odin nods, but say, “Soon you must chose.”
He then leads them to an opening in the wall behind his throne, and down a
twisted path to the Faceless One’s cavern. There they see the pile of sleeping humans and
their silent tenders. The vision costs 0/1D6 SAN, and may reduce some Investigators to
madness all by itself. Odin then says, “In this place I will grant your wishes.” He starts
with any “bad guys” still alive – victorious sorcerers, traitors, and so forth – resorting
them to life, if necessary. He then proceeds to the faithful Investigators.
Odin’s interpretations of common wishes follow:
• “I want great riches.” Odin can easily arrange for the Investigators to be
imprisoned in the Faceless One’s cave next to a mound of gold, a long-ship, a
harem of beautiful women, or whatever else they request.

• “I want to live forever.” Or “I don’t want to die.” Or “I want long life.” In the
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 103

Faceless One’s cave, the Investigator will live for hundreds of years, if not
indefinitely.

• “I want knowledge” Or “I want power.” Or “I want magic. Or “I want

strength.” Or even “I want to be a god.” In the Faceless One’s cave, the
Investigator will perceive all of time and space and have a greatly increased
POW.

• “I want happiness.” Who wouldn’t be happy to live forever and be a god?

• “I want you to leave me alone” In the Faceless One’s cave, Odin will never bother
the Investigator again.

• “I want you to bring so-and-so back to life” If a sorcerer, the chosen person or
persons will find eternal life among the Faceless Ones’ sleepers. Otherwise, it
pleases Odin to bring them back as a draugr.
When Odin pronounces each doom, the Faceless Ones seize and install the victim
into the mound. If the Investigators attempt to resist, the Faceless Ones grapple everyone
present and holds them still. Perhaps a great melee takes place, with the Faceless Ones
rolling to grapple and the Investigators struggling to break free. No matter how many
Faceless Ones the Investigators slay, more take their place.
The Investigators may have already guessed the nature of this game, and tried to
find safe wishes that Odin cannot twist. In this they may have been more or less
successful, as the Keeper deems. Others may have (wisely) delayed wishing and may
now wish to use their wishes to free some or all of their victims. Some suggestions:

• “I want you to kill so-and-so.” This wish is safe enough. If the wisher names an
acceptable target, Odin says, “ You’re the vicious one, aren’t you. Very well, he
shall not live out the day.” When the scenario ends, Odin will pay a visit to the
unfortunate and strike him dead with his spear. If the Investigator kills an
innocent in this manner, the realization may be worth 0/1d6 SAN. Odin will not
104 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

(and cannot) immediately slay anyone who is his guest. “ I cannot break my
hospitality.” If asked, he will admit that he can slay the person tomorrow.

• “I want you to free my friends.” Odin will free anyone named who has been
imprisoned by the Faceless Ones. The Faceless Ones shuffle restlessly as he
removes the bodies from the mound and breathes life into their mouths.
Depending on how long they have been “installed” the victims may have lost
some or all of their sanity. The process of removal itself costs the victim1D6
POW and 2D6 HP. Increase their Cthulhu Mythos permanently by 1D6.

• “I want you to free everyone in the mound.” Odin looks horrified at this request.
He explains (as below) that these sleeping mortals sustain the Otherworld itself.
Should they all be freed, the Otherworld in the area will collapse, bringing
madness or death to people for hundreds of miles around. If the wisher insists,
Odin will strike his staff on the ground as the Faceless Ones cower. The sleepers
will wake, and then the mound itself will collapse. Everyone present takes
1d10/1d100 SAN and 4d6 HP damage. All humans within a radius covering most
of the British Isles, Scandinavia , the Baltic, and northern Frankia will likewise
take 1d10/1d100 SAN damage. Any surviving Investigators will themselves in the
ruins of the earthly Uppsala surrounded by maddened priests and worshipers.
Realization that they have driven thousands of people insane and destroyed large
portions of civilization is worth another 1d10/1d100 SAN. Oops.
Heroism, the Final Temptation
Ultimately, the safest wish may be to refuse a reward at all, but this of course
must be done carefully. “I wish for nothing,” can be so easily misinterpreted…. The
players will doubtless try in other ways to confound Odin. The Keeper should permit
them a reasonable chance of success.
If the Investigators successfully evade Odin’s ploys, he has one last trick to try: he
appeals to the Investigators’ sense of responsibility. He says:“You are wiser than I
thought. As you have guessed, it was my purpose all along to lure you here and find the
strongest souls for the svartalfar. I do not ask for your pardon. In my plan, I sought the
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 105

best for mankind. Know that the world of dreams is not sustained by itself but has a
deep hunger. These souls you see before you feed it by their efforts, and as they grow
weak, must always need new companions to replace them. Otherwise, the world of
dreams will falter, and without it, who can say what madness will afflict all mortals,
sorcerers and lesser men alike? Yours dreams shield you from deeper terrors.” He pauses
to let the Investigators consider this and ask questions. His answers always emphasize the
immediate danger to the Otherworld and to the sanity of humankind. Particularly
altruistic or foolish investigators may volunteer themselves at this point. If not, Odin begs
them, “For the sake of the world and the mortals on it, I ask, will you not bear this
burden?”
Investigators may accept or refuse. Those who accept discover that among the
cosmic truths they learn, one is that the Otherworld is doomed to fail regardless of how
many humans sustain it. No such realm can hold back chaos, madness and extinction for
ever. Those who refuse, Odin directs to another cavern entrance. He says, “Beyond lies
the mortal world, not far from where you left it. Go, I lift my doom from you.” Those
who walk through will find themselves transported bodily to the earthly temple complex
in Uppsala.

Resolution
Investigators find themselves in the courtyard of the royal temple complex at
Uppsala. Superficially it resembles its counterpart in the Otherworld – outbuildings
surround a courtyard and hall. A nearby grove holds the bodies of previous sacrifices.
The buildings bustle with activity, priests, visitors, and worshipers of all classes. A priest
will approach the Investigators, asking if they require anything for their stay. He can
direct them to an inn which serves food, or to the main hall where statues of the Norse
pantheon receive sacrifices. The priests here are used to dealing with the fanatical, the
deranged, and the god-touched. If the Investigators tell their tale, the priests listen.
Some of them can offer aid to the mad, nursing them back to sanity for a fee (Treat this as
normal SAN recovery). The priests will not tolerate desecration or blasphemy of the
temple, and there are plenty of nobles about to defend the place.
106 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Investigators who survive this scenario without betraying their friends or

destroying the local Otherworld receive 1d10 SAN. Those who have survived the entire
campaign sequence receive a further 1D6 SAN. Odin’s curse is lifted from them all.
A Parting Gift
In each of their backpacks, pouches or other places on their person, they find a
golden arm-ring weighing several pounds. An Idea or Spot Hidden roll recognizes it as
exactly matching the one Odin was wearing. An Occult roll or consultation with the
priests reveals that Odin is said to have a magical arm ring named Draupnir that produces
eight similar golden rings every nine days. The Keeper may decide whether and what
curses or powers these rings carry, but Odin might be especially amused if the players
discard perfectly ordinary and useful gold in their terror of him.
Dramatis Personae
Ghost of AUD
STR 8 CON 10 SIZ 14 INT 15 POW 9
DEX 14 APP 11 EDU 14 SAN 0 HP 12

Bonus Damage: + 0
Weapons: Fist 25%, 1D4 + db
Armor: none
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 107

Skills: Bargain 65%, Dodge 50%, Insight 60%, Occult 65%, Own Kingdom 65%,
Spot Hidden 55%

Ghost of EINAR
STR 10 CON 9 SIZ 13 INT 16 POW 10
DEX 7 APP 15 EDU 18 SAN 0 HP 11

Bonus Damage: +0
Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 50%. Short Sword 35%,
damage1D6+ db. Spear 60%, damage 1D6+db.
Armor: none
Skills: Accounting 45%, Bargain 65%, Cthulhu Mythos 45%, Dodge 50%, First
Aid 55%, Insight 65%, Natural World 60%, Occult 70%, Own Kingdom
70%

Ghost of LIEF
STR 10 CON 7 SIZ 11 INT 14 POW 9
DEX 12 APP 7 EDU 13 SAN 0 HP 9

Bonus Damage: + 0
Weapons: Fist 50%, 1D4 + db
Armor: none
Skills: Bargain 45%, Dodge 50%, Insight 60%, Occult 55%, Own Kingdom 55%,
Spot Hidden 55

JORUND, tormented Christian

STR 8 CON 10 SIZ 8 INT 12 POW 8
DEX 10 APP 12 EDU 13 SAN 35 HP 9

Bonus Damage: 0
Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 60%. Short Sword 55%,
108 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

damage1D6+ db.
Armor: none
Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Insight 45%, Occult 55%, Own Kingdom 60%,

ODIN, a god of the Otherworlds

STR 17 CON 15 SIZ 15 INT 20 POW 45
DEX 14 Move 8 HP 15

Bonus Damage: +1D4

Weapons: Spear 75%, damage 1D6 + db
Armor: invulnerable to conventional attacks
Spells: any
Sanity Loss: 0 normally. 1D10/1D100 to see his true form.

FACELESS ONES, lesser servitor race

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
STR 14 13 12 11 16 12
CON 10 7 10 9 13 13
SIZ 10 9 9 7 5 9
INT 14 14 12 11 13 12
POW 7 9 16 12 14 10
DEX 6 8 9 9 10 8
HP 15 8 10 8 6 11
Damage 0 0 0 0 +1D4 +1D4
Bonus

Move: 7
Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1D4+db, Grapple 40%, damage special
Abilities: Detect magic (see above), can move to and from the Otherworlds freely,
taking any grappled victims with them, can summon 1D3 more Faceless
Ones.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6
Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams 109

EINHERJAHR or VALKYRIES
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
STR 9 13 9 10 15 11
CON 10 11 17 11 14 13
SIZ 14 14 16 12 12 12
INT 15 14 13 9 11 13
POW 14 17 10 9 11 13
DEX 8 9 15 14 11 13
EDU 10 11 14 10 10 7
HP 10 12 14 11 15 12
Damage +0 +1D4 +1D4 +0 +1D4 +0
Bonus

Armor Chain 7 None None Leather, Chain 7 None

2

Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1D4+db. Medium Shield, 40%. Short Sword 45%,
damage1D6+ db. Spear 30%, damage 1D6+db.
Skills: Navigate 30%, Pilot Boat 55%

Recommended Reading
For those Keepers who want to learn more about the Viking Age, I suggest the following
reading list. Many other sagas and sources are readily available online in older
translations. The collection at www.northvegr.org is particularly noteworthy.
Primary
Egil’s Saga. Trans. Svanhildur Oskarsdottir. (Penguin, 2005).
The Saga of Grettir the Strong. Trans. Ornolfur Thorsson. (Penguin, 2005).
Sturlusson, Snorri. The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology. Trans. Jesse L. Byock.
(Penguin, 2006).
The Poetic Edda. Trans. Carolyne Larrington. (Oxford University Press, 1996).
110 Cthulhu Dark Ages: Spirits and Dreams

Secondary
H. R. Ellis Davidson. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. (Penguin, 1965).
Dubois, Thomas A. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age. (University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1997).
Jochens, Jenny. Women in Old Norse Society. (Cornell University Press, 1998.)
Raudvere, Catharina. “Trolldómr in Early Medieval Scandinavia”. In Witchcraft and
Magic in Europe: The Middle Ages. Ed. Bengt Ankarloo and Stuart Clark.
(University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001).
Sawyer, Peter, ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings. (Oxford University
Press, 2001).
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