Okay, don’t be fooled.
The “tor” in “tor linnorm” is only accurate if you realize that
particular tor is perched on the lip of a lava-spewing volcano. That’s like calling a blue dragon a
shocker lizard—it’s kinda true in the
very strictest sense, but try pointing that out to the survivors. (They should be called caldera linnorms
or tephra linnorms instead.)
Tor linnorms are the most powerful of the non-unique
linnorms, outmatching even tarn linnorms.
As always with linnorms, be ready for the multistage breath weapon, the
poison bite, and of course, the death curse—boiling blood in this case. If there’s one saving grace, it’s that
tor linnorms are so hungry for adoration (or at least displays of fear) that
you can actually keep it from killing you if you talk well enough…for a little
while at least.
The tradition of
hurling virgins into volcanoes had its genesis with certain tor linnorms,
who liked to keep the maidens as servants and worshippers until they died of
fright or succumbed to the heat. A
brijidine has made ending virgin sacrifice her bailiwick, and she seeks mortals
who will slay a tor linnorm that has come out of hibernation and resumed the
ancient practice.
The Annals of the Antler Champions have been
stolen! The theft is part of a
pattern: Someone has been robbing libraries and abducting bards in the shadow
of the Smoking Peaks. The culprit
is a slag giant matron. Long ago
she became the thrall of a tor linnorm, and now it is her whole village’s job
to keep the beast entertained. Her
tribesmen etch the tales she recovers on sheets of burnished brash, which she
then reads to the voracious (in more ways than one) dragon.
The conversion of
Eisland to the faith of the Dove has the priests of the Northern Host up in
arms. But as both sides argue
around the hearth and aboard their longships, an older faith sees the
opportunity to take back the icy island.
Dark druids ally with moulder dwarves to rouse the tor linnorm Scyldrak,
spurring him to attack the Althing in the hopes of wiping out Eisland’s
leadership in one fell swoop, pantheists and monotheists alike.
—Pathfinder Bestiary 3
185
Dark Ages/medieval Iceland is crazy interesting, and its
late conversion to Christianity means we have a lot of records from that time,
as well as great surviving sagas. Njal’s Saga was assigned in my ninth
grade history class, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in a
Norse-style campaign, even if the first part does read like Viking stereo
instructions. If you’re the least
bit patient, it’s so worth it. (And
it’s a Penguin Classic!)
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