Raiders of the Serpent Sea is an adventure module for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, published by Modiphius Entertainment and written by Arcanum Worlds of Odyssey of the Dragonlords fame. It is set in the world of Grimnir, a setting inspired by Norse Mythology. The main campaign events are set against a backdrop leading to what the powerful clans fear will be another Ragnarök—a previous cataclysm having already destroyed the world of their ancestors. Grimnir is embedded firmly in these myths and stories.
Raiders of the Serpent Sea has a primary epic narrative and numerous opportunities for players to build longships, conquer settlements, and even assemble their own clan to stand against their foes at the end of the world. At the heart of the campaign—both events long past and the sagas new heroes shall create—is the raider's quest for glory and the consequences of stubbornness and pride. The gods and heroes are not necessarily good, nor do they always make the right decision. But nevertheless they persevere—at least until Ragnarök.
This game contains examples of:
- Dismantled MacGuffin: The Rainbow Spear, which opened the original portal from the Lost Lands to Grimnir, was sundered into many pieces in the fight between Thonir and Boða. The pieces have been scattered, hidden and protected by the raider clans since then. The völv have prophesied that if the spear were ever to be made whole again, it shall signal Grimnir's violent end. This has not deterred some from attempting the feat.
- Enchanted Forest: On only the clearest of days, along the northern coast of Turnfjall, a great forest of iron leafed trees, called the Ironwood Forest, can be seen many miles inland, rising along the steep rock walls of the near impenetrable mountain ranges. This forest of ironheart trees has long been avoided by raiders, with stories of strange creatures moving through its deep, dark woods, for it is home to the Witchking and his red robed cohort of witches.
- Enemy Mine: In times of trouble even rival clans must come together. When needed, a group will swear fellowship to one another and promise to defend each other, share glory and spoils, and to never act against the others, at least while the terms of the fellowship are valid.
- Exact Words: For both mortal and immortal, the bending of words, the outwitting of a rival through a cleverly worded oath, is respected and anticipated.
- Flat World: Both Grimnir and its moon are flat worlds.
- Heaven: To die with a weapon in hand is the zealous goal of every proud raider. It is known that those that are slain in battle and then offered to the night sky with the burning of a pyre will be taken to the Halls of the Slain. It is said that the valkry themselves see the column of corpse smoke and they rush from the heavens to latch upon the dead hero and ascend with them. All raiders dream of this moment, and of their afterlife in the halls, where they feast and battle one another till the day Ragnarök arrives and they return to fight alongside their living descendants against the forces of ruin.
- Land of Faerie: Among all peoples of Grimnir there is a belief in a magical world that exists just out of sight. Fey creatures are thought to occupy this parallel world and some spellcasters insist they draw their power from it.
- Made a Slave: Thralls are the prisoners the raiders capture after a battle, either from other clans or the Baendur. They become part of an individual warrior's household and are never permitted to touch a weapon unless the family adopts them formally.
- Magically-Binding Contract: Though most oaths are only judged by other mortals, some catch the ears of the gods or primal powers and become ever more binding.
- Non-Indicative Name: The name ironwood is a misnomer, for it is actually harvested from the leaves of the mysterious ironheart trees that grow in the deep woods of the inner continent.
- North Is Cold, South Is Hot: Northern Grimnir is home to islands covered by ice and snow, battered continuously by frigid winds, whereas the south is inundated with volcanoes and jagged plains of lava rock.
- Outlaw: A raider afflicted by the curse of the exile becomes marked by all other raiders, who must now ignore them. The cursed will be treated as if they have already died and no one will shelter, feed or defend them. This curse guarantees exile or a slow death.
- Trapped in Another World: Not all who walk the lands of Grimnir arrived during the Exodus from the Lost Lands. Over the centuries, many newcomers have arrived, telling a tale of being drawn from their home in a flash of light only to find themselves alone on a coast of jagged black rock, or stuck waist-deep in a snow dune, or suddenly fighting for their life in the waters of the frigid Serpent Sea.
- The Underworld: Raiders that die of natural causes are buried in the earth. It is believed that the Lady of the Dead claims those departed. Nightly she climbs atop a three-legged undead horse called a helhest, and rides the world, in search of these unworthy dead. Once found, she grasps the corpse and rides hard into the earth, to the secret caverns deep within Grimnir that make up the Underworld.
