Almost every Immortal, at some time or another, has reincarnated a worshipper or two in a new form; some of these are reborn to fulfill a prophecy, some to complete a task which their previous incarnation could not, some merely to serve as playthings for particularly callous or capricious Immortals. Two Immortals, however, have taken this practice to the level of both high artistry and obsession: the Northern Reaches Immortals Odin and Hel.

Hel has long since established the practice of reincarnating particularly evil worshippers to serve her again, first as Beastmen (the original stock from which Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orcs, Bugbears, Kobolds, and others evolved), then later as the children of prominent nobles or leaders, in order to gain influence over new territories and races. Odin, on the other hand, is wont to similarly bring back good-aligned folk in new forms - who may be worshippers of himself, or of any of his allies among the Immortals - in order to block or foil Hel’s plots, or simply to advance his own projects.

What few Immortals know, however, is that Hel and Odin have, for the last two and a half millennia, been playing a deep and involved game - dubbed "the Eternal Game" by Freyja, who learnt of it by accident (and silently disapproves) - involving three souls, bound by their past actions to clash again and again, eternally.

The Eternal Game began circa 1400 BC, in Gelundsholm, a largish settlement in the Antalian Wastes of the Hollow World. This village had, for a number of years, been subject to raids from a nearby Beastman encampment, but the town militia -augmented substantially by forces from the Temple of Wotan (actually a small fortress and garrison), which lay in its Northern Quarter - had usually managed to repel the raiders with little or no loss of life. On the day in question, the Temple was mostly deserted; the majority of its inhabitants were attending Wotan’s Holy Day celebrations, having first made very sure that the Beastmen were not within scouting range. The only people left were a small handful of guards and two young clerics, Ranulf Oktassen and Brianna Volgasdottir. The pair were in love, and had volunteered to remain in order to be together. Partway through the day, Brianna shyly suggested that she and Ranulf go somewhere and practice a very personal form of "worship"; since everything was quiet, Ranulf readily agreed.

But things were not quite as they seemed. A small Beastman raiding party, led by the infamous Captain Araug, had concealed themselves near the Temple days before and impatiently awaited a signal from within - a signal received when Brianna rose from her bed, left the "sleeping" (in fact, surreptitiously drugged) Ranulf behind, and opened the great Temple doors to admit Araug’s raiders. In a dream, Hel had promised Brianna that she would become Leader of the Temple by helping the Beastmen get in, for they would slay the Patriarch and install her in his place; she had only to get Ranulf out of the way, and her dreams would be fulfilled.

Things did not go as she had planned, however; Araug’s Beastmen proceeded to slay the guards, loot the vault, and set fire to the Temple. Ranulf awoke to the sound of screams and the smell of smoke, and reached the Great Hall just in time to see the last guardsman downed - and to see Brianna’s guilt written on her face, just before Araug snapped her neck. Ranulf put up a good fight against Araug but, alone and lightly armed, he really had no chance. Within moments, he felt the Beastman’s sword penetrate his belly, and knew he had but seconds to live - and in those seconds, he cried out silently to Wotan for revenge, for the chance to face his foe again in some other life. As he slipped away, the last thing he heard was a deep, resonant voice at the back of his mind say, "Granted."

*****

Since that day, the souls of Ranulf, Brianna and Araug (who was slain by an Antalian arrow through the eye, hours later, when the rest of the clergy returned) have been reborn again and again, in different bodies and different lands. These three souls - known by their manipulators as The Champion, The Beast, and The Traitor Beloved - serve as game-pieces for the two Immortals, whose game board is the whole of Mystara. While Odin and Hel cannot directly control their agents, they can steer them subtly through dreams, and each one is born with certain indelible character traits which influence their decisions and actions. Most rounds of the Game are completed without any of the participants being aware of their part in it.

The Champion, formerly Ranulf Oktassen, is Odin’s playing-piece. By the rules of the Game, he is always reborn in a land which openly worships Odin in some manner, be it the Northern Reaches or the Hinterlands on the outer world, or Antalia in the Hollow World. The Champion is always a Lawful male, a follower of Odin/Wotan/Viuden etc, and either a Cleric or a Fighter. His task is simple: to slay the Beast, which will win the round for Odin.

The Beast, formerly Araug, is Hel’s pawn. The rules grant Hel more leeway than her opponent, allowing her to reincarnate her agent in any land, as any class or race, and of either sex, although the incarnation is always Chaotic, and always a worshipper of Hel in some form. To win a round, the Beast must not only slay the Champion, but also destroy or corrupt whatever is held dearest to his heart; indeed, if this is accomplished, then the Champion need not be killed at all, for the round is already won for Hel’s side.

The Traitor Beloved, formerly Brianna Volgasdottir, is the wild card of the piece, inserted to make the Game more challenging. This being may, like the Beast, be of any sex, race, class, or origin; the only constant is that the character is of a self-serving, Neutral (or Neutral-based) alignment. The loser of the previous round is permitted to reincarnate the Traitor Beloved and insert him/her where they will, usually ensuring that he/she will become attached to one or other of the opponents. Odin receives a point if the TB sacrifices his/her life, or something else of value, to help or save the Champion; Hel receives one if the TB helps to bring the Champion down. These scores are added to the grand totals, but a side-tally is also kept to determine the final fate (redemption or destruction) of the Traitor Beloved’s soul when the Eternal Game eventually concludes.

The relative scores of the players cannot be guessed, although some rather drastic moves on the part of Hel’s piece in recent centuries might lead the casual observer to believe she is near to losing (or perhaps, near to winning, and anxious to complete her victory).

Presented below are statistics for both the original bodies of the three souls (from a time just before their deaths), and also for their current incarnations.

Ranulf Oktassen: Human Male C5 (of Wotan). AC5 (chain mail), hp 25, STR 12, DEX 13, CON 15, INT 11, WIS 14, CHA 12. AL L (LG). Dmg 1d6 (mace) or by spell. Skills: Bravery, Ceremony (Wotan), Craft (carving), Healing, Music (flute), Leadership. Languages: Antalian, Neathar.

Magic Items: none.

Spells:

1st Level: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil.

2nd Level: Bless, Know Alignment.

Appearance: Ranulf is a young man of Antalian origin, with red-blond hair, and clean-shaven (at the age of 19, he is still too young to grow the full beard common among men of his race) Of merely average physique, he is an indifferent fighter, but his devotion to Wotan has allowed him to progress quickly in the Church.

Ranulf became a novice in the Temple at the age of five, when it became obvious that was where his vocation lay - the infant had already run away from home in the village below twice, and both times had been discovered playing happily in front of Wotan’s altar in the Temple. Because of his early Clerical education, he can read and write - a rarity among Antalian youths.

Due to his sequestered upbringing, Ranulf is still quite an innocent in the ways of the world - although fighting Beastmen has ensured that he knows a fair bit about warfare. He has recently discovered the charms of the opposite sex in the form of a fellow Cleric, Brianna Volgasdottir. She has shown him something of the pleasures a man and a woman can share, and for the first time his mind is not utterly devoted to Temple teachings. Although Wotan does not require his clergy to take a vow of chastity - indeed, many Priests of the Temple live in married quarters with their families - Ranulf cannot help but feel guilty about his actions, and secretly believes he will be punished somehow for his carnal lust...

Araug: Male Beastman Warrior lvl 8. AC5 (chain mail), hp 68, STR 18, DEX 10, CON 17, INT 13, WIS 12, CHA 9. AL C (CN). Dmg 1d6+4 (Club +1, Strength bonus). Skills: Intimidation, Military Tactics, Nature Lore, Signalling, Survival (Arctic), Tracking. Languages: Beastman, Antalian, Neathar.

Magic Items: Club +1.

Appearance: A giant (8’10") among his deviant kind, Araug has shiny black hair and tough, knobbly skin which is coloured the deep crimson of congealing blood. His eyes are yellow, and seem to glow in the dark, while his teeth and nails are as black as polished ebony. In short, he is the living representation of every demon-haunted tale a mother tells her children to scare them into being good.

Still young, as Beastmen measure such things, Araug seized the captaincy of his band from the previous leader in a tremendous one-on-one challenge-match, slaying his foe bare-handed - and taking his magical club as the spoils. Since that time, he has led his warriors to victory after victory; the seizing and destruction of the formerly-impregnable Temple of Wotan will be only the latest of a long line of successes.

Although worship of Hel is on the wane among Beastmen - other Immortals, or a self-sufficient atheist streak, have begun to supplant her in the minds and hearts of her creations - Araug has been her devoted servant all his life, and attributes his success to her guidance; he claims that she comes to him in dreams and tells him things that ensure victory. Rumours circulate among his warband that he is an "old soul", born again to serve Hel, as their ancestors were a long time ago. Araug is cruel and pitiless to others, but treats his underlings well - not from any form of sentiment, but from the pragmatic realisation that his band will be far more efficient if they don’t waste energy trying to get rid of him.

Brianna Volgasdottir: Human Female C2 (of Wotan). AC3 (chain mail/Dex bonus/Ring of Protection), hp 12, STR 10, DEX 14, CON 10, INT 15, WIS 14, CHA 12. AL N (N). Dmg 1d6 (mace) or by spell. Skills: Ceremony (Wotan), Craft (Weaving), Healing, Lip Reading, Riding (Horse), Singing. Languages: Neathar, Antalian, Beastman.

Magic Items: Ring of Protection +1 (a family heirloom).

Spells:

1st Level: Cure Light Wounds.

Appearance: Born into a fairly well-to-do Antalian family, Brianna is the sixth-born of seven children, all of them girls. Like her sisters, she has long, honey-blonde hair, worn in a thick braid down her back, although her features are sharper and harder than theirs. Her parents, seeing that she was both uncommonly intelligent and far from beautiful, decided to send her to the Temple for training as a priestess when she turned ten (since otherwise they would have to pay a large bride-price to get a man willing to take a wife with more brains than beauty). Brianna was an indifferent novice at best; by her 19th birthday she had only just attained a sufficient level of skill to let her call on Wotan for magical aid.

Brianna was self-absorbed, and considered herself far brighter than the other youngsters at the Temple. She convinced herself that her slow advancement was the result of a conspiracy by her superiors to "keep her in her place," rather than a lack of application on her part. Her frustration created a dark, bitter place in her heart - exactly the sort of opening the Immortal Hel was looking for.

Hel came to her in dreams, encouraging her to use her feminine wiles on the pious young priest who was currently allocated to work with her. This she did, with gratifying results; Ranulf fell head over heels for her almost immediately, and she heartlessly used his good nature to gain as much prestige as she could.

With Hel’s encouragement, Brianna has decided that she deserves to be elevated to the highest echelons of the Temple; if she becomes Matriarch, she will have access to all the lore she needs to become a truly powerful Cleric - lore, she is convinced, that her so-called superiors are keeping from her out of spite. Hel has assured her that, if she allows the Temple to be overrun by Beastmen, both she and Ranulf will be spared, and those same Beastmen will serve her as personal retainers. To minimise possible deaths, she intends to put the plan (which she believes to be of her own devising) into effect as soon as she can ensure that she and Ranulf are the only ones in the Temple; the next High Holy Day will be perfect for her plans.

Eobard Ketilson: Male Human F8. AC4, hp 62, STR 17, DEX 12, CON 16, INT 12, WIS 9, CHA 14. AL L (LN). Dmg 1d8+2 (Sword +1, strength bonus). Skills: Danger Sense, Muscle, Mysticism, Sailing, Survival (mountains), Tracking. Languages: Ostlander, Frost Giant, Thyatian.

Magic Items: Chain Mail, Sword +1, Flames on Command; Cloak of Protection +2; Healing Potion (3 doses).

Appearance: Eobard is a large, imposing-looking Ostlander, 6’3" tall, with dark hair and thick corded muscles on his arms and legs - almost the archetypal "barbarian hero" in appearance. Stereotypes notwithstanding, he is considerably more intelligent than he looks (which, as his companion Voric says, isn’t hard to do). Originally from the village of Oskareinen, on Kalslo Island, he left as soon as he reached manhood in order to see something of the world, selling his services as a caravan-guard when necessary to fund his travels. About a year after leaving home, he hooked up with a quick-witted Skald from Soderfjord called Voric Songmaker, and the pair have been inseparable ever since; Voric has even accompanied Eobard home from time to time, over the years.

Now 27, Eobard is beginning to think about settling down, perhaps to open a training school for young warriors or even to raise a family of his own. He has yet to meet a girl he wants to marry - although both he and Voric have had many casual liaisons over the years, with occasionally problematic results - and has decided to head back to his home village and see if his family know of any good prospects. As he draws near to home, however, disturbing rumours are reaching his ears - tales of a mighty witch and her inhuman hordes, who have taken over a domain in his homeland. As yet, he knows no more than this, and has no idea of the horror awaiting his return...

Lovar "the Darkeyed": Female Human M12. AC8 (Dex bonus), hp 31, STR 10, DEX 14, CON 11, INT 17, WIS 16, CHA 18. AL C (CE). Dmg 1d4+2 (Dagger +2) or by spell. Skills: Alchemy, Alternate Magics, Ceremony (Hel), Deceiving, Detect Deception, Disguise, Intimidation, Knowledge (use of animal parts in magic), Persuasion. Languages: Alphatian, Ostlander, Goblin-Speak, Orcish.

Magic Items: Dagger +2; Ring of Spell Storing (Sleep, Detect Magic, Levitate); Boots of Travel*; Wand of Vertigo (17 charges)**.

Spells:

1st Level: Charm Person, Detect Magic, Shield, Sleep.

2nd Level: ESP, Invisibility, Levitate, Mirror Image.

3rd Level: Broken Wings***, Create Air, Dispel Magic, Lightning Bolt.

4th Level: Hyperborean Blast****, Polymorph Self, Wizard Eye.

5th Level: Conjure Elemental, Telekinesis.

6th Level: Anti-Magic Shell.

Appearance: A "common" Alphatian, Lovar is a stunningly beautiful woman, with glossy black hair, a coppery complexion, and eyes so large and dark they look like onyx (giving her the nickname "Darkeyed"). Add to this a slender, petite frame and perfect bone structure, and you have a woman who could gain anything she wanted by looks alone. Lovar has a keen intellect, too, and has advanced rapidly in Magecraft for one so young (she’s 25). However, concealed behind that facade of beauty and intelligence is a heart as cold and black as an Entropic Fiend’s.

Born to a middle-class human family in Floating Ar, Lovar was orphaned shortly after birth; she was raised by her wealthy maternal Grandmother, the cleric Rowena, who dwelt on one of the Floating Islands. Rowena was believed to be a cleric of Koralla, a little-known Immortal whose main interest was in the weather. In fact, she was a high-ranking Priestess of the Immortal Hel, and taught her grand-daughter to worship and obey her Dark Mistress.

Rowena was disappointed when she discovered that Lovar’s talent was for Magecraft, rather than religion, but she bowed to the inevitable; at age seven, Lovar was apprenticed to an Air Mage called Kosqualen the Bald. He taught her a great deal about air magics, including certain spells known only to the Followers of Air, although she also received a comprehensive education in the "common" magics known to every Mage. When Lovar turned seventeen, her childish prettiness blossomed into true beauty; Kosqualen noticed this, and started making suggestive comments to her. Secretly repulsed by the elderly Mage - and deciding that she had learnt enough from him - Lovar drugged the old man, slit his throat while he slept, and claimed her master’s tower and effects for herself.

Lovar had little time to enjoy the fruit of her labours, however; less than a year later, Sundsvall was devastated by a Doomsday Weapon, and subsequently all magic ceased to function for a week. Badly shaken by this, Lovar came to the decision that the Alphatian mainland was not the safest place to be, and relocated with whatever she could carry to the Isle of Ne’er-Do-Well, selling the rest to pay for her passage. She was just in time, for scant days after she left, Alphatia sank beneath the waves forever.

From Ne’er-Do-Well, Lovar decided to travel to the nearby continent of Brun, reasoning (with a touch of smug superiority) that an Alphatian Mage of her calibre might do very well there, among the magic-less peasants - avoiding Thyatis completely, of course. She booked passage to Karameikos, and from there travelled North, eventually arriving in Ostland - a land, she decided, which was suitably primitive and cut off from the rest of the world for her to consider setting up a power-base there. On her travels, she had attracted a goodly number of followers, including a group of Orcs, a tribe of Goblins and Hobgoblins, and a company of mercenary fighters from Soderfjord; with these troops augmenting her own magic she took over a Lord’s holding, and destroyed several villages in his domain - including the village of Oskareinen, home of the adventurer Eobard Ketilson’s family - to cow the populace with her power.

Lovar believes herself secure now, ruling her chattels with the lash of fear; she is unaware that a confrontation is brewing on the horizon, a battle which her soul has played out, many times before.

Voric Songmaker: Male Human Skald (Cleric of Odin) 7. AC 3 (chain mail, Dex bonus), hp, STR 10, DEX 17, CON 10, INT 15, WIS 10, CHA 14. AL N (NG). Dmg 1d6+1 (Short Sword +1) or by spell. Skills: Ceremony (Odin), Deceiving, Music (Harp), Profession (poet), Read Runes, Singing. Languages: Soderfjord, Ostlander, Trollish.

Magic Items: Mace +1; Circlet of Empathy*****; Elven Boots.

Spells:

1st Level: Light, Protection from Evil, Resist Cold.

2nd Level: Bless, Find Traps.

3rd Level: Locate Object, Striking.

Appearance: Voric is a native of Soderfjord, albeit an atypical example of the breed, with pale yellow hair, a slender - some might say scrawny - physique and sharp features, including a long, pointed nose. A quick-witted boy, he proved to have an excellent memory, and was trained from an early age to be a Skald - a combination of Priest, storyteller, and oral historian. Voric absorbed the teachings readily, but was heartily sick of his parochial village, so he left without saying good-bye one night - and the village, who had put up with his pranks and petty theft for years, heaved a collective sigh of relief when they found him gone.

Voric wandered through Soderfjord for a couple of years, paying his way as a travelling entertainer (supplemented by a spot of pilfering, when he could get away with it). He met up with Eobard Ketilson in a tavern one night, and the pair hit it off immediately - Voric liked the big Ostlander, and couldn’t shake the feeling they had met before somewhere...

The adventures Voric and Eobard shared over the next few years would take far too long to tell, but a common theme running through most of them was that Voric often took advantage of Eobard’s good nature, while Eobard in turn would often have to bail Voric out of whatever trouble he had gotten himself into. Their friendship is a little one-sided; Voric has never had a reason to betray Eobard, but he is quite capable of doing so if it will save his own neck.

Presently, Voric is accompanying Eobard to his home village; he is looking forward to spending a relaxing time in the bosom of Eobard’s family (and perhaps a little fun with Eobard’s younger female relations, while he’s there). A loving family is something that Voric envies Eobard for, since his own kin couldn’t wait to get rid of him by apprenticing him off. Unaware of the situation awaiting them in Ostland, Voric has no idea that his preordained moment of testing - to stand by his friend, or to betray him to the Dark - is fast approaching...

[Note: Those who know Voric well often wonder why Odin - an Immortal so concerned with law and truth - continues to grant spells to him, when he is known to have bent or broken the Immortal's laws so often. The truth is simple; Odin was the player who reincarnated the Traitor Beloved this time around, and hopes - by keeping faith with the Skald - he can influence Voric into helping Eobard in this round of the Game, rather than turning against him.]

Other Immortals and the Eternal Game

As noted above, a few Immortals have managed to learn of the Eternal Game over the centuries, despite Odin and Hel's attempts to keep it private. Of those few, some disapprove (Freyja in particular) and some couldn't care less. A small handful, however, have seen potential in the continual rebirth of chosen souls, and have quietly begun experimenting with this procedure for their own ends.

Ixion

The first "outsider" to start experimenting with reborn souls. His interest is natural, since in many cultures the Sun is a symbol of rebirth. Ixion has been reincarnating particularly powerful or devout followers - especially priests - for a few centuries, hoping to eventually refine those souls to a hitherto-unseen level of purity. His arena for these experiments have been (naturally) Sind, and (more interestingly) the Empire of Selhomarr, in the Hollow World, where he is worshipped under the name of Xeron. Ixion hopes to eventually produce superior candidates for Immortality via this process - or at least souls which are ideally suited to become Exalted servants.

Valerias

Having picked up the idea from Ixion (her lover can deny her nothing, after all), Valerias decided that the thought of couples who meet and fall in love, through life after life, was too exciting to resist. She, too, has had several centuries of practice at this by now. Her reborn souls, drawn originally from the most ardent lovers among her followers, are often placed very far apart in their new lives - after two or three reincarnations, the various couples are born with a connection to each other, and from puberty onwards will feel their lifemate's soul calling to them. Valerias' tests grow harder and more convoluted with each new incarnation in order to prove, once and for all, the veracity of the maxim "love conquers all."

Gorm, Madarua, and Usamigaras

The three Immortals of Cynidicea - the "Cynidicean Clique," as they are known in Pandius - have watched their follower-base dwindle to a bare handful, over the centuries. All three have tried other means of garnering followers (Madarua is now a minor Patroness of women warriors, Usamigaras has made attempts to acquire Halfling followers in the Five Shires, while Gorm has picked up a handful of mercenaries who at least pay lip-service to his worship), but the majority of their time is spent in thinking of ways to increase the population of Cynidicea - a hard task, since the occupants of the Lost City are severely inbred by now, and live births are a rarity. Discovery of the Eternal Game, however, has given the Clique a new opportunity; by reincarnating the souls of their followers in the bodies of outlanders, they have been able to place a form of Geas on them, a soul-deep yearning for the Lost City. This will cause them to relocate to Cynidicea upon reaching adulthood, settling there and bringing fresh blood to the decadent, static populace. This project is still very new; the eldest "reborn" Cynidicean is barely twenty, and just beginning to feel the call on his soul to pack up and travel to the Alasiyan Desert...

[DM Note: You might want to consider making an important NPC - or even a PC, if your players are willing - a reincarnated Cynidicean. In the former case, the PCs might be hired to bring back a missing heir, or perhaps the NPC is a friend or relation of a PC; in the latter, of course, the remaining PCs will be tracking their errant Party member. This is a good opportunity to set up module B4: The Lost City, and could lead to many future adventures involving the slowly-recovering civilisation.]

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Copyright @ 2000, Carl Quaif, based on material copyright TSR/WotC, Inc. All rights reserved. Webmastered by Jennifer Guerra.