Óndskapur

Dread Possibility: Doom of the Óndskapur

History tells that Lars Viggsen, renowned discoverer of Todstein, and his crew perished in 644 BC, when their knarr, the Óndskapur, collided with an iceberg. This is only half right. Viggsen's crew actually survived the impact, but their vessel was inextricably lodged in the gigantic floe's flank. Unwilling to desert his beloved ship, Viggsen drove his men to try to free the Óndskapur even after their efforts had plainly proven futile.

Food supplies dwindled and their limited stockpile of firewood ran out, yet Viggsen kept them chipping away at the entrapping ice with tools, daggers, or bare, frostbitten hands. Realizing that the captain's fanaticism was consigning them to a frozen death, the desperate crew mutinied and hurled Viggsen overboard. Only then did they discover he had chopped holes in the lifeboats, and cast all the carpentry tools into the sea, making repairs impossible. As their captain's body drifted away, already frozen solid, the crew could have sworn his stiff features were smirking.

Today the Óndskapur is still lodged within its iceberg, which has grown to encase the entire knarr in a perfect, crystalline state of preservation. Most of the vessel is ice-locked, but interior spaces like the cabins and holds remain as open pockets within the berg. It is haunted by Lars Viggsen and his crew of eighteen. The crewmen have become wraiths, hungry for the warmth and vitality of life, while the captain himself is a powerful spectre. The incorporeal sailors act out their old shipboard duties in perpetuity, unhindered by the ice and seemingly oblivious to what they have become; they will "defend their ship" with relentless determination. Viggsen is the only man not to have died on board, and hence is the only spirit free to leave the iceberg. He is fully aware of the truth, but will stop at nothing to keep knowledge of his misdeeds from his crew … or from the living Grabenites, who still laud him as a hero.

The Óndskapur's iceberg drifts in circles around Todstein, and never seems to melt. Having little interest in incorporeal types of undead, Meredoth simply lets it float free as a trap for trespassers.

References

Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer, p. 202.