leads out of town, near the mouth of the fjord.

There,
(Town) a berk'll find a big swirling maelstrom, an arch of
sorts. To get to Ysgard, all a cutter's got to do is sail
his ship right down its maw. Twice a day the Water-
CHARACTER. Life's all blood and thunder here, glory or gate (as the locals call it) reverses itself and a cutter
death. What else is a berk supposed to try for in the can then come through from the other side. Glorium's
shadow of Ysgard, after all? Here's a burg where a other gate is one of Yggdrasil's roots. This path's
cutter's word's his honor, and folks don't take insults found in the mountains behind the town. There, a
lightly. cutter'll find the arching gap of a cave mouth, and
somewhere inside the cavern is one of Yggdrasil's
RuiIK. Flatnose Grim (Pl/c?h/Rl5/FL/CG) is the plane-spanning roots. The problem is there's lots of
chieftain of Glorium. Nicknamed for his spreading side passages, some of which lead to unpleasant
nose that's been broken in far too many fights, places like Ilsensine's realm or Gzemnid's Maze.
Grim's a short, bear-chested warrior of fiery moods. Most sods in Glorium spend their lives fishing
His strength is legendary, and he takes great sport in and hunting. Some farming gets thrown in, but it's
showing it off by bending horseshoes, staging throw- not enough to stake a living on. They conduct only a
ing contests (with a 50-pound boulder as the ball), little business with the dwarf realm, mostly because
and wrestling with guests. His capriciousness is leg- the track leading to the mountains is too difficult to
endary, too. He might take a liking to one cutter, just traverse and carry much in the way of trade. In gen-
based on his duds, or mark another one down for a eral, the local petitioners are a proud lot, touchy
careless word. For those who are his friends, Flatnose about things like courtesy and respect. While they're
is a staunch ally, but his enemies find it wise to leave not as battle-crazed as the bashers on Ysgard (their
town quickly. resurrection's not a possibility), they'll not eagerly
turn the other cheek either. Most of the time in Glo-
BEHIND THE THRONE. Only a addle-cove'd dare hint rium, a sod gets challenged to duel until first blood is
that Flatnose Grim ain't running things here; he drawn or unconsciousness occurs — it does make for
doesn't care for that sort of insulting. On the other lively visits.
hand, he'll listen to good advice, and he's got a few Folks in Glorium know their town's drifting
folks round who are willing to give it. First off, toward Ysgard as they pick up more and more of the
there's his wife Kostbera (Pl/$he/W7/FL/CG), though habits of that plane. Still, knowing that doesn't seem
some bashers figure she's a bit of a nag. Another pair to matter to them. In fact, Ysgard looks appealing to
of importance is Thoric Foolsgold (Pr/Jg/T8/Os/NG) most of the Glorium petitioners.
and Harry Farwalker (Pr/c?ha/F6/0s/N). This unlikely
little pair showed up in Glorium one day, and they MILITIA. Every petitioner in Glorium's part of the
won Grim's confidence with a quick jest and a good local hird, a militia of freemen. Flatnose Grim is the
tale. It seems they took a liking to the town and have leader, of course. When a war-horn is sounded, the
stayed ever since. hird assembles as quickly as possible, while one
member of the hird stands in the town's sole fortifi-
DESCRIPTION. Glorium's nestled on the shore of a cation, a wooden tower, and watches for incoming
great fjord, with its back to the craggy peaks that lead ships on the fjord. Other than this, every man's ex-
to the Dwarven Mountain. All told, the burg's pretty pected to fend for himself, with the help of his neigh-
small - j u s t a collection of longhouses, smokehouses, bors if needed. About the only times the hird is sum-
workshops, and shipsheds of the 300 or so folks that moned in full are those rare occasions when Ilsen-
live here. Glorium doesn't bother with walls or stock- sine's or Gzemnid's petitioners decide to stage a raid.
ades, as nature forms a natural defense in the walls of
the fjord. There's only one road out, a rough track SERVICES.Planars from Glorium are pretty eager
that leads into the mountains. That trail crosses gla- to go out and make a name for themselves, so a cut-
ciers and skirts cliffs to get to a back door of the ter can usually pick up a willing hireling or hench-
dwarf realm, and it doesn't see much traffic. The only man here. Most of the lot are fighters, though it's
other way into Glorium is by sailing a ship up a little- possible to persuade some youthful cleric of the
known tributary of the River Oceanus. Norse gods to come along. There's a small temple to
Glorium's gate situation is a bit more unusual Odin and the Norns on the edge of town, and a blood
than most. First off, it's got two. The best known one might get the local godi (priest) to give aid in the

• 40 •
form of spells. Unlike a lot of other
towns, Glorium's got no inns or tav-
erns. Anyone planning on staying here's
got to prevail upon the hospitality of the
locals.
Glorium is noted for its ship- &? JM
builders, the Freki twins &r pkj
(Pe/cJh/O/N, both). The pair * />
makes longships in the Norse
fashion, with twice the sea-
worthiness rating of a
normal ship. The
cost of each craft
reflects their
skills, which -»"' '
is half-again
the cost of a
normal long-
ship.

LOCAL '
Ni:ws. What's
got people rat-
tling theirs bone-
boxes here are
rumors that
Gzemnid the
beholder-god is
trying to
annex their
burg. Strange
things have
been happening in
the mountain cav-
erns. Fyri the Char-
coal-burner claims
he's seen un-
wholesome crea-
tures near
Yggdrasil's roots,
and a few sods
have found marks
carved in the
rocks that could
be the secret
signs of Gzem-
nid's priests. The
threat's put
everyone in
town on edge.