Death Shrew

"Here is one like the shrew-mouse of the land; but this one always lives on the ice of the sea, and whenever it sees a man it darts at him, entering the toe of his boot and crawling all over him. If the man keeps perfectly quiet, it will leave him unharmed. But if he is a coward, and lifts so much as a finger to brush it away, it instantly burrows into his flesh going directly to his heart and causing death."

- Clara Kern Bayliss, A Treasury of Eskimo Tales

DEATH SHREW

No. appearing:1d6

AC: 14 (LotFP)

Move: 60'

Hit dice: 1

Attacks: 1

Damage: death

Special: burrow into heart

The Death Shrew is a creature that was made by the creator-god Raven as a way to punish humans for their cowardice. This monster has the ability to chew through cloth and leather, and uses this ability to burrow through the boots of its victims and crawl up their body. Once the Death Shrew is on the person's body, they must stand very still and not show any fear of the creature as it crawls all over them. If they move at all, the Death Shrew will burrow through their flesh into their heart. A successful saving throw (DEX or vs. death) will allow the character to pull the Death Shrew out before it reaches the heart, instead only taking 1d4 damage. However if the saving throw is failed the character will be killed instantly.

It is strange that although the Death Shrew was made to test one's bravery, it is knowledge and forewarning that is more likely to save the victim. Some say that Raven was mad when he made this and other monsters, for they do not do as he intended. Others claim that there are two Ravens, and the one who created these and other monsters is not the same as the one who created Man.

Grasstop Lurker

On the way they came to a dry lake bed in which tall grass was growing very thickly, and lying on the very tips of the grass was a large animal, yet the grass did not bend with the weight. It was a strange-looking animal with a long head and six legs, the two hind ones unusually large; the forelegs short; and a small pair under its belly. The hair around the feet was very long, but all over the body there was fine, thick hair. From the back of the head grew short, thick horns which extended forward and curved back at the tips. The animal had small eyes, and was of darkish color, almost black.
"These animals can sink right into the ground and disappear," said Raven. "When the people want to kill one of them, they have to put a log under it so it cannot sink. It takes many people to kill one, for when the animal falls on the lower log, other logs must be placed above it and held down, while two men take large clubs and beat it between the eyes till it is dead."

- Clara Kern Bayliss, A Treasury of Eskimo Tales

GRASSTOP LURKER

No. appearing:1d4

AC: 16 (LotFP)

Move: 80'

Hit dice: 3

Attacks: 3

Damage: 1d6/1d6 (claws) 1d8 (bite)

Special: balance, intangibility

 

The Grasstop Lurker is a monster found in the sky lands above the world, which are also inhabited by celestial dwarves and raven people. The Lurker is sometimes aggressive toward the sky people, but will always attack travelers from the world below. It is usually found lying on top of tall grass or sliding very slowly across the grass. 

 

The Lurker has an uncanny ability to balance on thin strips, points, unstable surfaces, etc., without putting any pressure or weight upon the surface. It usually uses this ability to remain atop the grass that is its hunting ground.

 

The Lurker also has the ability to become intangible at will and then to sink into the ground. In this state the Lurker can pass through anything except for wood. If it has grabbed an enemy, they will become intangible as well and it may carry them down beneath the earth to devour them at leisure.

The Lurker's preferred tactics are to ambush its victims, grab them and carry them underground, using its intangibility to escape retaliation. If pursuing a group of lowlanders, it will pick them off one at a time. However, one of this monster's weaknesses is its laziness - when it is not actively engaged in hunting, it can usually be found drowsing atop the grass, at which time it is vulnerable.

Dogtooth Reindeer

There are reindeer which came from the sky and which have teeth like dogs. They were once common and anyone could see them, but now only the priests can see them. They live on the plains, and have a large hole through the body back of the shoulders. If the people, who can see them, mistake them for common reindeer and shoot at them, the arrow falls harmless, for no ordinary weapon can kill them.

- Clara Kern Bayliss, A Treasury of Eskimo Tales

DOGTOOTH REINDEER

No. appearing:2d4

AC: 15 (LotFP)

Move: 120'

Hit dice: 4

Attacks: 1

Damage: 1d8 (bite) or 1d6 (horns)

Special: hit only by +1 or better weapons

Resembles an ordinary reindeer upon casual inspection. Only when you get close can you see the teeth. Extremely aggressive if attacked, even by nonmagical weapons which cannot harm it. Will pursue enemies and devour their corpses.

Kalopaling

KALOPALING

No. appearing: 1

AC: 18 (LotFP)

Move: 30', 120' swimming

Hit dice: 3

Attacks: 1

Damage: 1d8

Special: stuff into hood, death throes

Kalopaling is an ancient creature that dwells beneath the surface of the ice. He swims like a seal but looks like a human, except for his feet which are very large and unwieldy. He wears clothing made from black-and-white duck skins.

Kalopaling has a huge hood on his back. After he has grabbed a victim, he will stuff them into his hood where they will vanish forever if they are adults, or become his captives if they are children. The captives of Kalopaling live underwater with him and never grow old. They sometimes come up to breathe, but never want to be parted from Kalopaling or returned to their family. They have a seaweed rope tied around them for Kalopaling to pull them back in.

If a parent ever wishes for their child to be taken away from them, Kalopaling can come to claim the child. While claiming a child he can move very quickly even over land.

A harpoon made of walrus bone will slay Kalopaling instantly if it pierces him. The death throes of Kalopaling are so terrible to behold that no-one has ever described them. Those who see the death throes are cursed to die within one week. The flesh of Kalopaling is poisonous.

Kalopaling's preferred tactics are to attack small boats or people walking on thin ice. He will not leave the water if he can help it, except to claim a child or to sleep. Kalopaling has a small and secret island where he sleeps, but its location is unknown.

Source: Clara Kern Bayliss, A Treasury of Eskimo Tales.

Body-Paint Sutra

Before sundown the priest and his acolyte stripped Hoichi: then, with their writing-brushes, they traced upon his breast and back, head and face and neck, limbs and hands and feet,—even upon the soles of his feet, and upon all parts of his body,—the text of the holy sutra called Hannya-Shin-Kyo. When this had been done, the priest instructed Hoichi, saying:—
"To-night, as soon as I go away, you must seat yourself on the verandah, and wait. You will be called. But, whatever may happen, do not answer, and do not move. Say nothing and sit still—as if meditating. If you stir, or make any noise, you will be torn asunder. Do not get frightened; and do not think of calling for help—because no help could save you. If you do exactly as I tell you, the danger will pass, and you will have nothing more to fear."

- Lafcadio Hearn, Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things

The scripture of the Hannya-Shin-Kyo can be learned by certain clerics. It takes three hours and three vials of holy ink (similar to holy water) to paint the sutra on a person's body. When the sutra is complete, the painted one is invisible to all forms of undead, nor can they harm him or have any power over him. However, for the sutra to have effect the painted one must be completely naked and may carry nothing save for holy weapons and symbols. In addition, while in the presence of the undead he must not move or make any sound, or the spell will be broken.

The Treachery of Gods

 

The gods of Uruk, the strong-walled,
Assume the shape of flies and buzz about the streets.
The protecting deities of Uruk, the strong-walled,
take on the shape of mice and hurry into their holes.
Three years the enemy besieged the city of Uruk;
the city's gates were barred, the bolts were shot. 

- Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I

 

Even the mightiest can be humbled. Even a god can know fear.

When a city is doomed to destruction, the gods of the city are rarely willing to share its fate. Instead, they depart from their temples, shrines and idols to hide themselves in forgotten places. They take the forms of vermin and scuttle in the sewers, or seal themselves in sugar-pots, or bury themselves in the sand by the riverbank.

When the city falls, the conquering army rides through to claim its spoils. The people of the city are put to the sword or made slaves. Yet when the invaders return to their homelands, it is not only gold and slaves they bring back with them. In saddlebags and boot-heels and underneath fingernails, the fickle gods ride, their carriers unsuspecting. In the land of the conquerors, new shrines begin to appear, in darkened alleyways or on secluded hillsides, where the gods who already own this land will not notice.

Not all cities are destroyed by war, however. Sometimes, an entire population may be wiped out by flood or plague or earthquake, leaving their city silent and untouched. Eons later, you may arrive there to turn over flagstones and search for lost treasure. But be wary, for what you find may be no treasure at all, but something else - a tiny god in hibernation.

Dragons Are Not Born

1.

Dragons are not born; they grow from humans. When a human being is consumed by greed to the point that they wish for nothing else but to lie upon their hoard and possess it, then they will be transformed into a dragon.

Dragons hold no malice towards the human race, only fear and jealousy. When they terrorize the countryside they do so in order to strike fear into their enemies and secure the defenses of their hoard. Above all else they are afraid that a hero will come to take their gold away from them, yet this is the doom they bring upon themselves. They are compulsive; they cannot help themselves from committing violence even when they know it serves no purpose.

Some dragons are grown from dwarves, like Fafnir. Others are transformed not by their greed but their cowardice, becoming dragons after they flee into the distant wilderness. This was the fate of Val, Kott and Kisi, the princes of Gestrekaland who escaped from the wrath of Halfdan Eysteinsson. It is said that many dragons live in the far uncharted lands where men never go. Because there are no humans, they have nothing to fear, and so sleep soundly.

Dragons are pitiful creatures. They spend their time fretting, weeping, hating and counting their gold. If a single coin is lost after it has rolled under a rock, the dragon will fall into a black mood that lasts a year.

Dragons do not accumulate treasure after their transformation. They have forgotten the pleasures that gold can buy and care only for the gold itself. If anything is stolen from their hoard, however, they will pursue the thief to the ends of the earth.

There is one dragon with neither hoard nor lair; a monster called Nidhogg who gnaws at the roots of the World Tree. It is said that the world will come to an end when the tree dies. None can say who it was that became the Nidhogg, but to become such a beast he must have been guilty of the most terrible sin that the world has ever seen.

2.

The axolotl is a neotenous creature, meaning that it reaches sexual maturity without metamorphosing into its adult form, the salamander. Millions of years ago, the axolotl was only the juvenile form of the salamander, but in time evolutionary pressures meant that the species stopped undergoing metamorphosis altogether. Nevertheless, the genetic material of the salamander remained hidden inside the axolotl. Under certain unusual conditions, or when treated with hormones in the laboratory, the axolotl can still undergo metamorphosis to become a new species that is functionally extinct.

Some scientists speculate that man is also a neotenous creature. He no longer has any need of his adult form, but under certain circumstances it is still possible for him to undergo metamorphosis and become a dragon. The nature of the dragon race, and why they became extinct, remains unexplained. However, the theory is supported by recent findings that show human and dragon genomes to be identical.

A Baghdad Shopping List

A wealthy lady's shopping list in the markets of Baghdad in the 8th century, from One Thousand and One Nights:

Fruiterer's shop: 

• Syrian apples
• Uthmani quinces
• Omani peaches
• jasmine
• water lilies from Syria
• autumn cucumbers
• lemons
• sultani oranges
• scented myrtle
• privet flowers
• camomile blossoms
• red anemones
• violets
• pomegranate blooms
• eglantine 

 Butcher's:

•   ten ratls' worth of meat wrapped in banana leaves

 Grocer:

•  pistachio kernels
• Tihama raisins
• shelled almonds

Sweetmeat seller's shop:

• sugar cakes
• doughnuts stuffed with musk
• 'soap' cakes
• lemon tarts
• Maimuni tarts
• 'Zainab's combs'
• sugar fingers
• qadis' snacks 

Perfume seller's:

• rosewater
• orange-flower water
• water scented with water lilies
• water scented with willow flowers
• two sugar loaves
• bottle of musk-scented rosewater
• frankincense
• aloes
• ambergris
• musk
• Alexandrian candles

Wait, Wait, Don't Kill Me

When [the merchant] had finished [his poem], the 'ifrit said: 'Stop talking, for, by God, I am most certainly going to kill you.'
''Ifrit,' the merchant said, 'I am a wealthy man, with a wife and children; I have debts and I hold deposits, so let me go home and give everyone their due before returning to you at the start of the new year. I shall take a solemn oath and swear by God that I shall come back to you and you can then do what you want with me. God will be the guarantor of this.'

- One Thousand and One Nights

Here's a tip for anyone playing in a game I run: if you are at the mercy of any creature that's sufficiently supernatural, and you swear by your God that you'll come back and let them kill you later, I will probably let you get away with it. But be aware that Gods never like it when you swear on their name in vain.

The Golden Bough

"O goddess-born of great Anchises' line,
The gates of hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:
But to return, and view the cheerful skies,
In this the task and mighty labor lies.

...

If you so hard a toil will undertake,
As twice to pass th' innavigable lake;
Receive my counsel. In the neighb'ring grove
There stands a tree; the queen of Stygian Jove
Claims it her own; thick woods and gloomy night
Conceal the happy plant from human sight.
One bough it bears; but (wondrous to behold!)
The ductile rind and leaves of radiant gold:
This from the vulgar branches must be torn,
And to fair Proserpine the present borne,
Ere leave be giv'n to tempt the nether skies."

- Virgil, Aeneid

 When the soul is not long gone from the body, it may be recalled with the spell Raise Dead. Once the soul has passed across the river Styx, however, the only way for the dead to be brought back to life is to stage a rescue in the depths of Hades.

Fighting all the guardians of the underworld is an almost impossible task. Those brave few who would tread the darkened way are advised instead to seek the Golden Bough - a branch of gold that  grows in a secluded grove far from civilisation. The quest for the Bough itself is not without dangers, but once one has acquired it the passage into Hades becomes easier. The ferryman Charon is bound by duty to convey anyone who carries the Golden Bough, but only if they promise to present it as a gift to Proserpine, who is queen of the underworld. 

As for the return journey - Charon will not ferry the spirits of the dead back to the land of the living. The enterprising resurrectionists must find a different path back to the surface.

Armour of Valour

'You'll never been cold in it, either by sea or land. You'll never be tired when swimming, never hurt by fire, never troubled by hunger, and no iron will bite you. It will protect you against everything, with one exception.'
'What's that?' said Odd.
'Iron will bite you if you run away,' she said, 'even though you wear the shirt.'
'I've better things to do than run away from battles,' said Odd.

- Arrow-Odd, (Anon., 13th century AD)

The Armour of Valour is a chainmail shirt woven together by secret sorceries. It grants the wearer an immunity to hunger and exhaustion, gives a magical bonus of +4 to armour class, and also a +4 bonus to saving throws against fire-based attacks. However, all of these abilities (except the immunity to hunger) are negated whenever the wearer is fleeing from battle. In such a situation the armour becomes angered by its owner's cowardice - not only is the magical bonus lost, but the chainmail will allow attacks to penetrate as though the wearer had no armour at all. After such a flight, the armour will refuse to be removed as though it were cursed. The normal functions of the armour will only be restored when the wearer enters battle once again.

Tomb Serpent

Scarce had he finish'd, when, with speckled pride,
A serpent from the tomb began to glide;
His hugy bulk on sev'n high volumes roll'd;
Blue was his breadth of back, but streak'd with scaly gold:
Thus riding on his curls, he seem'd to pass
A rolling fire along, and singe the grass.
More various colors thro' his body run,
Than Iris when her bow imbibes the sun.
Betwixt the rising altars, and around,
The sacred monster shot along the ground;
With harmless play amidst the bowls he pass'd,
And with his lolling tongue assay'd the taste:
Thus fed with holy food, the wondrous guest
Within the hollow tomb retir'd to rest.

- Virgil, Aeneid

like this but bigger

 The Tomb Serpent resembles an enormous snake, covered in blue scales streaked with gold. When the serpent moves, it creates flames from the friction of its body against the ground. If disturbed or attacked, its thrashings can quickly build up a large blaze. As the name implies, the Tomb Serpent is usually found in the tombs of great heroes, and many believe that it is sent there by the gods to protect the heroes' legacy.

Offering holy sacrifices of food and wine outside the tomb will lure the Tomb Serpent from its lair and distract it for a short period of time. However, one must be careful to learn the religious traditions associated with the tomb; if the wrong rituals are observed, the Tomb Serpent will be thrown into a vengeful rage.

Pointing-Men

"And another thing," said Odd, "while I can scythe my way right up to Alf's banner, still I can't see the man himself."
Then one of the local men who had been with Vidgrip said to Odd, "I don't know what's up with you that you can't see him, because he's marching just behind his banner and never moves away from it. If you want any proof, he's the one shooting an arrow from each of his fingers who kills a man with every one of them."
"I still can't see him," said Odd.
Then the man raised his hand above Odd's head and said, "Now have a look, under my hand."
At once Odd could see Alf and all the other things he had been told about him. Odd said, "Keep your hand like that for a while."

- Arrow-Odd, (Anon., 13th century AD)

Certain people are born with a natural talent for seeing through illusions. If this talent is painstakingly trained over the course of many years, then they may join the illustrious ranks of the Pointing-Men. It is their power not only to see things that are magically concealed and discern the falsity of all sorcerous illusions, but to confer this ability on their allies. All the Pointing-Man must do is point and all deceptions will fall away as long as the finger remains pointing.

Unfortunately, this life of constant mental discipline means that the Pointing-Men have no time for even the most basic of martial training, and thus must always remain 0-level hirelings with 1d4 hitpoints. As a result, most Pointing-Men are cowards and it is often difficult to get them pointing at anything for very long before they flee in terror.

The Flooded Forest

'Listen, to go outside this wall is quite dangerous, for the surrounding woods are full of wild animals. I'll never understand how you got here without being eaten alive. But if you wait for the day when there's a storm at sea, you will see the water rise to the top of the wall and moor to those spires up there on the roof. If you are patient, you will be able to sail away on one of those ships.'

- Italo Calvino, Italian Folktales

Via The Shoulders of Atlas

Thus arm'd, the god [Hermes] begins his airy race,
And drives the racking clouds along the liquid space;
Now sees the tops of Atlas, as he flies,
Whose brawny back supports the starry skies;
Atlas, whose head, with piny forests crown'd,
Is beaten by the winds, with foggy vapors bound.
Snows hide his shoulders; from beneath his chin
The founts of rolling streams their race begin;
A beard of ice on his large breast depends.
Here, pois'd upon his wings, the god descends:
Then, rested thus, he from the tow'ring height
Plung'd downward, with precipitated flight.

- Virgil, Aeneid

   

 For those who know of such things, the shoulders of Atlas the Titan are not only a destination in themselves but also a gateway to all other possible destinations in the world.

Standing at the western edge of creation, Atlas leans in over the world so that his upper reaches can be reached from anywhere at all. Most flying creatures are able to travel high enough to land on his shoulders or his head, though few have the courage or determination to do so. From this vantage point, it is possible to look down on the entire world at once, and then plummet towards any destination one chooses. Though the philosophers are baffled by how this occurs, it is clear that for long journeys, a trip via the shoulders of Atlas is much quicker and easier than travelling straight from A to B.

Visitors to this cloudy realm may also visit the pine forests atop the Titan's head, where a strange race of mammalian humanoids dwell; the tangled ice caverns of his beard, where the remorhaz make their nests; and his snowcapped shoulders, where the meltwater collects into streams and flows down to waterfalls that end in the west where Atlas plants his feet.

It is not too unusual to meet other airborne travellers in the skies around Atlas's crown. Dragons, air spirits and hippogriff riders are the most common. Generally they prefer to ignore passersby, though there are a few sky pirates who like to lie in wait within the crook of the Titan's armpit.

(Note: It seems like the iconic image of Atlas holding up the globe is a later invention. In the original Greek myths, his job was to hold up the sky, which is more exciting in my opinion.)

(Note II: and yeah did you know that the reason he holds up the sky is because if he didn't then the sky and the earth would just be screwing each other all the time? What an apocalypse that would make!)

Thorstein's Marble

The dwarf took this bit of marble from his purse and with it a steel point. The marble was triangular in shape, white in the centre and one of the sides was red, with a yellow ring around it.
The dwarf said, 'If you prick the white part with the point, a hail-storm will come, so fierce no one will be able to face it. When you want to thaw out the snow, you only have to prick the yellow part and the sun will shine and melt it away. But when you prick the red part, fire and flames and a shower of sparks will come flying out that no one will be able to bear. Besides that, you can hit anything you aim at with the point and the marble, and they'll both come back into your hands when you call for them.'

- Thorstein Mansion-Might, (Anon.,14th century AD)

Well, so I don't really need to expand on this quote at all for it to be clear that this is an awesome magic item. But there are two things to take away from this as general principles of magic item design:

1. There are very specific ways to activate the item's powers, which are tied into the physical properties of the artefact. This instantly makes it much more interesting than just "control weather 1/day, burning hands 1/hour, +5 bonus to hit". It's also more gameable because, for example, the item requires two hands to activate, and requires you not to lose the needle. Now, you can summon the needle or the marble back to your hands, but only if you can speak... thus, there are weaknesses to be protected if you own the item, or exploited if your enemy has it.

AD&D had some things like this, with trigger words to activate magic items, playing music on Heward's Mystical Organ, etc. However, it does open the gateway to DM dickery where the players have to fumble around for ages to work out what a magic item does (or worse, discard it without realising that it's magical). This could be mostly remedied by making sure that Identify spells/sages/skills/whatever are affordable and comprehensive.

2. The marble has a lot of different powers - three separate spells and one combat function. In AD&D terms, it's reaching the border between Magic Item and Artifact. I think it's possibly more flavourful to have a bunch of powers tied up in one item, and it could reduce the dreaded 'Christmas tree effect'. The only problem would be if this made magic items proportionally rarer, so the PCs might spend ages searching for even one worthwhile item, and then whoever gets to use the item will be much more powerful than everyone else.

Grim the Good, Sapient Mead-Horn

'He'll have his great drinking horn brought into the hall, called Grim the Good, a magnificent treasure, ornamented with gold, and with magical powers. There's a man's head on the narrow point, with flesh and a mouth, and it can talk to people and tell them what the future holds for them and warn them when there's trouble ahead. It will be the death of us all if the king finds out that we've a Christian with us. We'll have to be very generous to Grim.'

- Thorstein Mansion-Might, (Anon., 14th century AD)

Grim the Good is an enormous drinking horn, taller than a man, owned by the giant king Geirrod. It has a face that speaks and predicts the future, making it a potent tool for Geirrod to ensure his safety and power. However, Grim is somewhat capricious and open to being flattered by others. Some men give gifts to Grim in order to gain his allegiance, but the greatest honour one can do to Grim is to empty him of mead in one draft. So far, none but King Geirrod have managed to do this.

Whoever breathes a word of this will turn to stone

'Do you remember,' Peel asked, 'when we stopped at an inn?'
'Of course I do.'
'Well, while you and your husband were sleeping, three fairies came in and said the wizard had placed three curses on his daughter: to come upon three horses and leap on the white horse, which would be her undoing. But, they added, should somebody quickly cut off the horse's head, nothing would happen. And whoever breathed a word of this would turn to stone.'
As he said those words, poor Peel's feet and legs turned to marble.
The young woman understood. 'That's enough, please!' she screamed. 'Don't tell me any more!'
But he went on: 'Doomed whether I speak or keep silent, I choose to speak.'

- Italo Calvino, Italian Folktales, 'Pome and Peel'

 

The exact nature of the curse doesn't matter, as long as it's suitably terrible - it doesn't even have to be death or petrification, perhaps just the loss of items or something else valuable will be enough to motivate the player. So, the player hears something or reads something with a curse on it (make sure it's something they actually seek out for themselves, not just foisted upon them at random). At the time you say "No, there's nothing interesting about it." After the session, you secretly tell the player what they've learned and what the dire consequences are if they repeat it to anyone else.

Now, the player can still act upon what they've learned i.e. cut off the horse's head. But when questioned about it, they can't really say anything except "I can't tell you." (For extra cruelty, you could make it that even saying that you can't say will trigger the curse - so the player has to explain their actions with "I just felt like it," or some other improbable reason). Unless your players are slow-witted or really into PvP, they'll probably catch on to what's happening pretty quickly, but the tension it creates will still be fun.

Alternate, less devious option: the entire party hears about the curse, but they can't repeat a word of it to any NPCs. Insert your own hijinks here.

The Ball Dripping Fat Seal's Head Game

'Go and fetch my gold ball, and bring it here,' he told them.
Off they went, and came back with a seal's head weighing two hundred pounds. It was red-hot, with sparks flashing from it like a forge-fire and fat dripping from it like burning tar.
The king said 'Take the ball now and throw it to each other. Anyone who drops it will be made an outlaw and forfeit all his property: and anyone afraid to throw the ball will be thought a coward.'

- Thorstein Mansion-Might, (Anon., 14th century AD)

It is said the giants of the north play a ball game with the burning head of an enormous seal. The game is to throw the ball from one team to the other, and the fun is in the damage it inflicts upon those who catch it. Usually, burnt skin and singed beards are the only dangers, but broken bones and even fatalities are not unheard of. The reward for playing the game is to receive the property of the outlawed cowards who drop the ball.

Humans cannot normally play in this game; the burning ball will tear through their weak bodies like a knife through butter. However, it is the only way for an outsider to gain prestige in the giant's court; thus, several travellers have come up with their own schemes to play the ball-game passably well despite their natural handicaps.

(Thorstein Mansion-Might is full of surreal non-sequiturs like this. Plot threads arise suddenly and then vanish without a trace. Characters die and come back to life, or act for wholly incomprehensible reasons. All the sagas have the feel of oral literature, of being recited out loud by someone, but only Thorstein Mansion-Might has the feel of being recited by someone who is really drunk.)

From the Classics: Glammad's Halberd

At Svia Skerries they fought a berserker called Glammad. He had one excellent weapon, a halberd, which could pick out any opponent as soon as the bearer knew his name.

Egil and Asmund, (Anon., 14th century AD)

Glammad's Halberd is a magical weapon that gains in martial prowess by knowing its enemy's name. The wielder must speak the name of the enemy he wishes to attack. The halberd will then gain a +3 bonus to hit and damage rolls against that enemy. Only unique, given names can be used in this way, so the halberd's power is useless against most animals.

Glammad's Halberd can also be introduced to the name of the opponent's weapon, if such a name exists. This grants the wielder a +3 defense bonus against the weapon's attacks, as the halberd moves with uncanny swiftness to block the enemy's blows.