Ragnarok: Age of Wolves Bonus Material - Krakenspawn!

To those who know the seas of the Mythic North, Kraken are legendary sea monsters - terrors known for stripping ships of men, and seas of vessels! Feared by all who know of them, they are rarely seen, and more rarely encountered. Yet as the Age of Wolves continues, this is likely to change - as Kraken and their spawn are driven to seek new regions and new prey away from the ever more active Jormungand!

Kraken

This many tentacled beast is among the largest and most dire of creatures, found only at sea because even its strength cannot support its body on land. Neither giant squid nor giant octopus, this monster has qualities of both, as well as other traits not known in the natural world, the birthright of its foul parent - the World Serpent Jormungand. Kraken lurk in the deepest parts of the northern seas, where they slowly poison the waters around them, like miniature versions of the greater corruption that is Jormungand. Unlike Jormungand, who is slothful and rarely stirs itself from the slumber of centuries as it awaits the sailing of the Naglfari, Kraken are active, moving in the depths, seeking out creatures to corrupt, or destroy, pulling down ships and men to make seafaring all the more risky, and amassing power over those that they twist and torment.

Each kraken has a “court” composed of those it has corrupted and bound to itself. It commands this court through its powerful magical faculties, that can enslave the strongest of wills in time. Its slaves are no more than tools however, and a kraken will spend them in abandon to accomplish its intent. Thus few kraken are ever seen, and even fewer confronted, unless the great beasts are surprised, or on hand to witness the attacks of their subordinates. Only rarely will a kraken take part directly, and usually only after its thralls have worn down the opposition. At other times, a kraken of sufficient power might attack an entire ship from below, hauling the vessel down to the depths, or overturning it to feed its minions.

Though they are progeny of the World Serpent, Kraken have not fondness for their sire, who eats them as they do lesser beings. Thus few kraken are to be found anywhere near the length of Jormungand.

Krakenspawn

Many in the Mythic North claim that krakenspawn are the creatures born of the unnatural procreation of true Kraken. Others say that kraken steal drowning men from the nets of Ran, wicked ogress of the Seas, and breathe foul life into them, changing them thereafter.

Drowned Men

These twisted man-things are dead or nearly so, bloated and sucker-marked, sometimes with growths of barnacle, even sporting octopoid features and tentacle limbs occasionally. Stories tell of even more horrific amalgams of man and cephalopod, squid-headed men, hunch-backed and sinuous of body and limb. Sometimes Nykkur use Drowned Men to as  a first wave in an assault to engage enemy or absorb long range attacks and spells, then move through or flank attack when the time is right.

Follower

Rank: Regular (1)
Race and Type: Drowned Medium Footman
Move: 6”/Charge:1d6+4”, Swim 4, Sea-Charge, 1d6"
Defense: 12+1
Health: 2
Attacks
• Thrown Axe: +1 to Hit up to 6”/-2 to Hit up to 12” OK 17
• Axe: Class 2, +1 to hit, OK 17
• Saex: Class 1, +1 to hit, OK 17

Special
• Shield: Drowned Men are incapable of working together well enough to benefit from the Shieldwall.

• A Drowned Man who throws its axe fights thereafter with saex and shield.
• Drowned Men that hurl their axes fight thereafter with saex and shield.

• Drowned Men are Fearless.

• Swim.: Drowned Men need not breathe, but they are slow swimmers. 

• Though Regulars, Drowned Men have two Health, reflecting their brined and waterlogged flesh and general lack of physical feeling.

 

Nykkur

Like the word “Troll”, this word signifies a particular creature in the lore of the North, and also is applied to a wider range of related beings. To make matters more confusing, in the Mythic North, many draw no distinction between the sea trolls and the Nykur generally. But the Nykkur are something else again, as distinct from Seatroll as a murderer or rapist is from a person of honor. Once, Nykkur were seatrolls, But something caused them to forsake their sense of honor, made them focus overwhelmingly on the need to sate their own twin hungers for flesh and destruction. That “something” is Jormungand, the World Serpent.

    For an age before the coming of the Great Winter, Jormugand has girded the earth round, lying in the muck and slime of the deepest seas, corrupting anything it did not utterly consume. Thus arose the terrors known to mortal sailors as the kraken and the sae-orm; and thus arose the Nykkur from Saetrolls that surrendered to the World Serpent or one of its creatures rather than be destroyed.

    What they have become is abhorrent to Seatrolls and men alike:  monsters more foul that the worst beast. Now they lurk i deep seas, shallow bays, even haunting the shores of coastal villages for prey.

    Nykkur sorcerers are are common, though rarely of great power. They are skilled at controlling water and ice, and often band together to “sail” icebergs as men sail ships, preying upon anything less powerful than themselves.

Nykr Iceberg

A Nykkur Iceberg is not greatly dissimilar from any other iceberg afloat, save only that is moves with unnatural speed, and often across or against the current - directed by the sorcerers that power it. Though not terribly maneuverable, it heed the winds not at all, and is all but impossible to sink or break up. Because of the size and mass of it, a Nykkur Iceberg is deadly on contact with another ship. The area of the berg also allows for the possibility of many Nykkur aboard. Indeed, some of the largest Nykkur bergs are floating islands of ice, occassionally with independent bands of Nykkur who may even dislike each other.

Health: 20

Damage: 7

Defense: 18

Speed: 10

Seafaring TN: 13

Crew: At least 4 Nykkur sorcerers to control and power the raft, and as many others as can fit.

 

Nykkur

Follower (Allegiances: Jormungand, Sea Giants, Frost Giants)

Rank: Veteran (1)

Race and Type: Troll Medium Infantry: Size Large

Move 6”/Charge 1d6+4”

Defense: 15

Health: 2

Attacks :

• Pair of rending claws: Class 2, +2 to Hit, OK 15

• Ice Chunk: +1 up to 8”, OK 16.

Special

• Swim: A Nykkur can spend an entire turn to move any distance along a river, stream, or shore, or within a marsh or any other body of water, and it ignores terrain modifiers to Defense and Movement. At sea, a Nykkurl can Swim 8, Sea Charge 1d6+6”. A Nykkur automatically Evades if fighting non-swimmers, simply by diving below the surface.

• When in water, Nykkur gain +1 Defense against attacks that do not originate in or from the water.

Nykkur leaders are usually Sorcerers, commanding Water and Ice especially. These will be Rank: Elite or rarely: Hero. Among the best known is Hafnrig, a Sea Witch Nykkur Elite Mage with exceptional magical skill (Rank 3) who has her own iceberg ship. She is often accompanied by a coven of lesser witches, most nykkur, but occasionally debased humans or more rarely still - Dokkalfar. Hafnrig rarely leaves her iceberg and prefers to stay far from land, driving it constantly in search of men and whales to hunt and eat. Her Berg is sometimes found near shore however, and occasionally she has led her nykkur and drowned men in raids to claim young human witches as well as prey. 

Hafnrig - Named Character

Rank: Elite (2), Mage Rank: Hero (3)
Race and Type: Medium Nykkur Mage
Move: 6”/Charge:1d6+4”, Swim (See below)
Defense: 16
Health: 2
Attacks: (Mage Rank 3)
• Shark-Tooth Maul: Class 3, +4 to hit, OK 14
• Steal Life, +3 to HIt, Range 12": Deal 1 Damage and regenerate 1 Damage to Hafnrig.

Special

Spells: Summon Ice Elemental,  Summon Water Elemental, and Steal Life.• Hafnrig used the Water Elemental to propel her Iceberg. As long as it does nothing else, Hafnrig can summon her Ice Elemental to fight for her. If it is destroyed, she may then call up her water elemental to fight, allowing her iceberg to float uncontrolled.
• Swim: A Nykkur can spend an entire turn to move any distance along a river, stream, or shore, or within a marsh or any other body of water, and it ignores terrain modifiers to Defense and Movement. At sea, a Nykkurl can Swim 8, Sea Charge 1d6+6”. A Nykkur automatically Evades if fighting non-swimmers, simply by diving below the surface.

• When in water, Nykkur gain +1 Defense against attacks that do not originate in or from the water.