Fjord Linnorm

The Norsemen have given us some great watery threats, including the kraken and the maelstrom.  Add to that list the fjord linnorm.  Fjord linnorms are excellent threats for higher-level parties because fighting underwater uses up precious spell slots and magical resources…and the linnorm’s death curse might finish off the rare attacker mighty enough to kill it.  And because they haunt fjords, one of these linnorms can easily bottle up shipping, cutting off whole inlets from aid.

Merfolk are beaching themselves on the rocky shoals of Kallgard, refusing to return to the water but unable to exist on land.  A monstrosity of an aboleth has found a way to spread a fjord linnorm’s curse of drowning without killing the dragon (though it does take substantial Constitution damage).

A seaside town sits at the base of craggy alpine cliffs.  It also sits at the border of two linnorms’ domains, paying tributes of fish, seal meat, carvings, and the occasional southern visitor to each.  The dragons were heretofore unaware of each other—the fjord linnorm typically migrated east to warmer waters just as the ice linnorm grew active with the arrival of winter—but this year the fjord linnorm tarried and scented his rival.  Now both dragons want to kill each other and blame the town for the other’s presence.

A shipbuilder wants to test a new kind of studded hull, meant to defeat kraken and sea serpents.  But fjord linnorms don’t entrap or capsize ships; they just breathe on and smash them…

—Pathfinder Bestiary 3 183

Apparently over the weekend Paizo’s own Todd Stewart caught my review of Horsemen of the Apocalypse and was nice enough to reply.  I’d thank him for taking the time, but I’m too busy fanboy-squeeing over here to do so with any dignity.

Squeeeeeeeeeee!