The Necklace of Brisingamen

A Thrilling AD&D Scenario for 6-8 Characters of Levels 7-10

By Graeme Drysdale

The village of Stonehelm, although more of a hamlet than a village, grew up around a church dedicated to the Goddess Freya. Small at first, pilgrims journeyed from miles around to worship at the shrine and its popularity soon became immense. As a result, the high priest’s power also became very great and before long he was continually surrounded by apprentice acolytes, yearning to serve Freya. As a result of this, a small village sprouted up around the temple, which flourished and prospered. A retired warrior constructed a small keep on a hill that had a perfect view of the surrounding countryside to protect the burgeoning village from neighbouring provinces. The hill was shaped like a helm, so the building was called Stonehelm Keep, and hence the village acquired its name.

It was a midsummer’s night when the first signs of trouble became evident. While the high priest sat in meditation, he received a vision. He beheld a horde of giants, captained by a beautiful man with golden hair, assailing a castle. In his vision he saw it was a fierce and bloody battle where even great warriors were slain fighting against such wild and savage opponents. But standing alone, in a mystical pale yellow light, was one figure. The figure moved with extreme grace and beauty, and intermittently great balls of fire would shoot from the beings outstretched palms and explode amongst the giants below. However, opposing this being was another of great power: the golden-haired one, clad in red and black, who was creating illusions of such accuracy that they terrified the enemy to little more than a quaking mass. Soon the giants began to overpower the defenders, and the battle edged their way. It was at this point that the perceived the true identity of the two leaders. The attacker was Loki, God of mischief, fire and strife; the other, whom the high priest now recognised, was his own Goddess Freya.

The conflict was quickly over. Few of Freya’s warriors remained and the goddess was severely spent. The high priest could see the necklace of Brisingamen glowing bright blue around her neck; as she released her last spells, it glowed brighter and brighter until, in a blinding flash, she was gone, taking the form of a hawk as her last warriors were slain.

In the priest’s dream Freya came to him, pale and weak. She gave him the necklace of Brisingamen and told him to hide it well and guard it with his soul, for this was the item that Loki desired and with its power his might would become terrible. Then, in great haste, she was gone, taking the form of the hawk again. When the priest awoke he found that in his right hand he clasped a beautiful blue gem and that his dream had been reality.

So the priest set about his task and hid the gem deep, deep in the ground, where only he could reach it and few knew it existed.

Three years of peace reigned, and the other villagers knew little og the high priest's meeting with Freya. But Loki had not been idle. He quickly traced the gem to the village, and knowing its whereabouts, mustered a massive army of humanoids and marched them against Stonehelm. Although the village received prior warning of the attack, the had very little time to gather arms. And so the Battle of Stonehelm Keep commenced, and it was a short and evil battle, the villagers being severely outnumbered. But just before the high priest fell, he summoned a huge earthquake, totally destroying both forces and the village. It seemed that the necklace was lost forever, buried deep beneath the earth with its allies and enemies.

Years later, people once again began to settle on the site of the original village. Rumour had also spread that its former wealth had been buried in the earthquakes ages before. So small groups of treasure seekers and miners also joined the village. Despite their efforts, they found nothing. They came in groups and left in hordes, less wealthy than before. It seemed that the earthquake had destroyed everything.

It was fifty years later that a pair of adventurers had the first stroke of luck. They discovered a flight of steps leading down from the original position of the temple of Freya. At this point a new shrine had been built also dedicated to the goddess. The adventurers informed the village of their find and the following day descended the steps - never to return. To make matters worse, villagers and livestock began to disappear shortly afterwards, figures were seen at night and weird noises were sometimes heard. Villagers soon began to leave; the entrance to the dungeon was closed and a watch organised. The number of disappearances lessened, but nevertheless still occurred. Finally, the temple of Freya was knocked down, the entrance magically sealed, and the area blessed and sprinkled with holy water. This seemed to rid the village of its curse.

Two decades later, the villagers have seen fit to erect another temple. However, because of the village's notorious past, it is now sparsely populated, most people having migrated to less perilous regions. It seems that the curse that lay on the village not only affected the area around it, but the inhabitants as well. The village of Stonehelm is like a ghost town, The villagers are strangely dour and ill-disposed towards visitors; none are unaffected by the village's past. Of those who dare to venture into the hamlet, few return, There is a rumour that the god Loki now controls the village, but nothing is known for certain. What is know, however, is that somewhere, deep down within the earth, lies the Necklace of Brisingamen, still untouched and still unfound. If Loki were to possess the gem he could rule the universe and all would be chaos; if it could be retrieved and returned to Freya, he would surely be defeated and peace again would reign.