This tomb belongs to Siln Morgenstjernen.
This tomb belongs to Siln, who according to her marker was the chief alchemist of the clan. This tomb appears to have been broken into at some point in the past. There is a secret alcove under the sarcophagus but it is empty.
.jpg "Viking Wolf (2022)")
Viking Wolf (2022)
Originally called "Vikingulven." This one starts out great with a Viking raid on a monastery in Normandy in 1050 AD. The Vikings kill all the priests, and they rescue a wolf pup.
Fast forward to today, where we meet Thale, a 17 year-old girl who just moved to Nybo, Norway with her mom from Sweden. Thale (Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne) is a moody teen; no shock. She doesn't like this town, she doesn't like her mom (the new deputy Liv played by Liv Mjönes), and she really doesn't like her stepdad.
She sneaks out to a party and witnesses two other students get attacked by something. A girl is killed and the boy she is with is mauled.
Liv, with the help of a local animal expert, identifies the claw and bite marks as a wolf, a really large wolf. The wolf attacks continue, and while Liv is focused on the killer she completely misses the fact that her oldest daughter is changing.
They manage to kill the first wolf after it kills many people. Everyone thinks it is over until Thale begins to wolf out.
The movie is a touch slow and a bit predictable. I won't spoil the ending, but it was fun. More importantly, it gave me some fun ideas.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 26
First Time Views: 17
This tomb is a bit different than the others. The plaque on the door claims this is the tomb of Sharis Val, son of Ferner Morgenstjernen.
Inside the tomb is largely unadorned.
The sarcophagus for Sharis Val is larger than the previous ones. Opening it, the party can see why. Sharis Val is not a Dwarf, but rather a Dark Elf.
In is hand he holds the head of a morningstar.
If a Chaotic (any Evil) character touches it they must Save vs. Spells or take 6d6 hp electrical damage. Save for half.
If a Neutral character touches it they take 2d6 points of damage, save vs. Spells for half.
If a Lawful (Lawful Good) character touches it an illusion of Sharis Val appears. He is tall dark elf. He has a damaged leg that causes him to lean to one side. It appears to be some sort of birth defect.
He explains to the adventurers who he is. He was born to a Drow matron, but his deformity caused his mother shame. She tried to hide it and instead was merciless to him, making sure that whatever he lacked in physicality he would make up for in intelligence. But it was never enough and he was cast out to die. He was discovered by Ferner Morgenstjernen a high priest of the Forge Father. Ferner took him in and together they discovered the secret of Necromium.
He will continue and tell them they had just survived the second attack by the Vampire Queen and know she will strike again. To that end they have forged a new weapon of Necromium in the style of their house emblem. If the party is seeing this illusion it means the dwarves did not stop the Vampire Queen, but they now can. Combine the two pieces, if Ferner has finished the shaft, and they will bond to make a weapon capable of destroying the Vampire Queen once and for all. The illusion fades. There is no other treasure here.
The Black Morningstar is a +3 weapon, +4 vs Undead, and +5 vs Vampires. When near undead it has a black fire aura that does an additional 1d8 to undead and 2d8 to vampires. When encountering the Vampire Queen herself this aura is increased to 2d12. Only a cleric of a Lawful (Good) god can wield it for the added aura.
GMs Note: If no member of the party is a Lawful Cleric then decide who is the most worthy to wield it.
.jpg "Becky (2020)")
Becky (2020)
Becky (Lulu Wilson, Kestra from Season 1 of Picard) is a 13-year old girl whose mother just died from cancer and she is not dealing with it well. Her father, Jeff (Joel McHale), plans a weekend at their lake house, but also invites his new girlfriend, Kayla (Amanda Brugel), and her son, Ty (Isaiah Rockcliffe).
Near the same place, four neo-Nazi escaped prisoners (the leader played by Kevin James) kill their guards and make their way to the lake house. They attack Ty, Kayla, and Jeff. They are looking for a key with a Valknot on it.
They find out that Becky is still out in the woods and they torture Jeff to get Beck to give them the key. When Jeff tries to run, they kill him. Becky then stabs Dominick (James) in the eye with it.
The others go looking for Becky. She runs to her fort and the dude chasing her follows until he sees her dog and freaks out. He tries to make a deal with her for the key, but she recognizes him as the one who killed her other dog. She tosses a coin out to make it sound like she threw the key. He goes to get and she slides down a zip line and stabs him with a broken ruler.
Becky then proceeds to draw the others out and she kills them as well.
My wife called it Home Alone meets I Spit on Your Grave. Thankfully without having to torture Becky to get there.
Actually kind of a fun, if violent flick.
There is a sequel, Wrath of Becky, that looks rather fun too.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 25
First Time Views: 16
This grand tomb appears to be the tomb of Ferner Morgenstjernen, the clan leader.
There are seven statues of dwarves around his tomb. Approaching the tomb the seven statues come to life to defend it. If the party keeps going to the tomb they will be attacked.
The six statues on the ground level attack as Bone Golems. The one on the tomb dias attacks as an Amber Golem.
The total treasure here is Type H x7, plus 1,000 gp, 500 pp, and 700 gp in gems.
The tomb has the body of Ferner Morgenstjernen, in his hand is the handle of a morning star treated with necronium.
Near Dark (1987)
Again. This is one of those movies I assume anyone reading this blog has seen. A group of vampires is terrorizing a town with the B-Team from Aliens (Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein) with new recruit Mae (Jenny Wright). Mae turns Caleb (a very young-looking Adrian Pasdar) and convinces her vampire family not to kill him. Their leader Jesse (Henriksen) agrees to give him a week.
Things seem ok until they expect Caleb to kill, which he won't. Mae feeds him from her own wrists, which isn't helping either of them. Caleb escapes and get back home where his father performs a blood transfusion on him which cures him (I admit, I never liked this part at all).
The vampire family goes searching for them with Homer, an ancient vampire in a child's body, runs into Caleb's sister Sarah. A fight ensues between Caleb and vampires with them getting picked off one by one. Their death scenes due to burning and sunlight are still just as gruesome today.
At the end of the movie they give Mae the transfusion and it cures her.
Ok so the transfusion thing still bugs me. A lot. This whole thing was one of the main reasons why I made curing a vampire so difficult in my games. Hell, I only in 2017 relented to allow it to be done via a ritual. In fact, it was a vampire character I made at the very tail end of 1987 that I would later revive as a human in 2017.
Both Lost Boys and Near Dark played with the vampire legend. At the time it was revolutionary feeling, but now it is what is expected. These movies set that ground.
October Horror Movie Challenge 2023
Viewed: 24
First Time Views: 15
Scandinavian women had far more freedoms than Roman women, who could not even leave their homes unescorted. So how do these fierce women warriors get reclassified in my Black Forest mythology? By combining similar creatures from both Roman and Germanic myths.
One of the first things that struck me when I first read the Deities & Demigods was how similar many creatures were across the myths and times. For example, take the Norse Valkeries and the Finnish Air Maidens. One of the things I looked into was were they related. Rereading the Kalevala leads me to believe there is a connection, that the Air Maidens were the Valkeries for the Finns and Lapps. I also investigated the notion of the anthropomorphic representations of the various Scandinavian countries, ie Lady of the Mountains (Iceland). Ola Nordmann (Norway), Holger the Dane (Denmark), and Mother Svea (Sweden). This anthropomorphism reminds me of the Genus Loci we also see in Greek and Roman myths.
Romans had psychopomps, which is the type of gods/goddess the Valkeries were. These include Hermes/Mercury, Charon, and even Hecate. But I have other plans for these sorts of creatures. Instead I want to look to other spirits that exist between the realms of mortals and gods. The Roman Nymphs and the Germanic Idis.
These creatures are often depicted as lesser Goddesses. Linguistics have tried tying idis/ides to Deus for example with no real success. Nymphs are also depicted as the offspring of some god, goddess, or titan. Ides have also been described as the offspring of or the mothers of the jötunn.
There is just enough blurring of lines here between all of these creatures that they could, through many nights of campfire tales and bedtime stories, to get them to blend into one creature.
The Ides of these myths are Demigoddesses. Their task is to protect and guide heroes under the will of Unser Vater. They combine aspects of the nymphs, Idis, Valkeries and other local female divinities.
IDES (Demi-Goddess of Protection and War)
Demigoddess
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 18" / 36" (with winged steed)
HIT POINTS: 90
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d8/1d8 (sword)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Healing touch, Radiance
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Radiant aura
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%
SIZE: M (5'10")
ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral (Good)
WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: All
SYMBOL: Glowing Sword
PLANE: Erde (Prime Material)
CLERIC/DRUID: 8th Level Cleric
FIGHTER: 10th Level Paladin
MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: Nil
THIEF/ASSASSIN: Nil
MONK/BARD: Nil
WITCH/WARLOCK: Nil
PSIONIC ABILITY: II
S: 15 I:15 W: 16 D: 18 C: 18 CH: 20
Ides appear as warrior women in the peak of health. Looking upon them, they radiate power, strength, and divinity. There is no doubt of their divine lineage. Some sages claim they are the spirits of the brave who died in battle; others say they are the offspring of Jäger or Jägerin. Others still claim they are the spirits of the land, given life and purpose by the humans and gods around them.
The ides are good fighters who can attack twice per round with their long swords. Their radiant aura (which is why men say they are the daughters of Jäger) does damage to undead creatures and constructs at the rate of 1d8 per round to any within 30 ft.
They are also healers, able to cast spells as an 8th-level cleric and they have the lay on hands abilities. They can heal with a touch for 2d6 hp of damage three (3) times per day.
Their task is to aid heroes. They can help them in battles or heal them. The hero must enter the area where the ides resides. Each one is tied to a particular area that usually (but not always) is related to some natural feature of the land. So a valley, or the area near a lake. The ides also bring the spirits of the dead back to Himmel. It is rumored that an ides will help a brave warrior three times in their lifetime. When the third time is complete the next time they see the ides will be when they are taken to Himmel.
They are nominally under the control of Unser Vater, but they can be summoned by the Goddesses Siege and Glücke. Under times of war, they can also be called by Jägerin.
When summoned by Jägerin, they become known as Die Kriegerin, the Goddess of War. At this time they can leave their areas and ride off on winged steeds to join in whatever battle they are needed.
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