...but fool me twice, and you're a rotten Eski-ho bitch!
Having returned to Waterdeep and survived a murderous attempt on their lives, our intrepid heroes find themselves on the Frostskimmr, a northern sailing vessel, headed for the Sea of Moving Ice, home of the dragon Arauthator and hiding place of the Draakhorn - allegedly, as well as the last known place they could find Maccath the Crimson, the world's foremost sage on the Draakhorn - missing now for several years.
Starring, in order they sit around the table:
Sigurd, (played by Iain) a travelling swordsman, who hates a cheat.
Venmir, (played by Brett) an elven clergyman, who like to storm off in outrage.
Nyvan, (played by Jason) a elven knight, who prefers to fight with honour, but just give him an excuse not to...
Rodin Halfbeard, (played by Lorne) the dwarven axeman (absent this evening).
Nandrin the Naughty, (played by Hilton), the elven mage, prone to exaggeration and threats of genocide.
and The DM, (played by Alex), who loves to comment in blue. And writes this blog. He's also a bit of a git and likes to make life difficult for his players.
Once more the party are at less than full compliment - and this is likely to continue for at least a couple weeks due to various reasons. Anything more than two down and we don't play D&D that night. But we have enough, so it's hi-ho, off we go!
The ship travelled quickly. When the winds were light, out came the oars, so they made good time, despite the cramped quarters.
After a week, they reached the Sea of Moving Ice. It was an uneventful trip up to that point. They found the ships's captain, Lerustah, an engaging fellow, hard and uncompromising, but friendly in a gruff way. They never did mention his scarred face.
The Sea of Moving Ice was a huge place, filled with massive icebergs which moved around, crashing into one another. There were thousands of them. They knew what they were looking for - a massive iceberg, raised up from the sea, with peaks at one end. They began their search immediately.
During the course of the first day, they met two different groups of Ice Hunters, the natives who hunted in sealskin boats. The second group was chasing a group of seals across an ice floe, and Venmir suggested they follow them, or at least head in the same direction. They overtook the hunters and several hours later were rewarded with sight of their target.
They stayed offshore for the night, and prepared to head ashore first thing in the morning. As they collected their kit, they Venmir and Nandrin heard some weird noises, splashing of some sort over the side, but ignored it.
"It's just a kraken!" joked Nandrin. The heroes laughed, but the crew cringed.
His smiles turned upside-down when the first immense tentacle came over the side of the boat. On both sides of the boat, huge suckered tentacles lashed out at hero and crew alike, wrapping them tight, and squeezing the life out of them. By the time the heroes had extricated themselves from the deadly embraces, several of the crew had already been crushed and dragged off to their doom. Several rounds of intense combat later and the tentacles retreated into the sea. The party relaxed and the crew secretly cursed Nandrin for inviting doom upon them.
"Save me some squid!" said Nandrin, but everyone ignored him.
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They made their way to an ice shelf where a number of sealskin boats had been moored. The ground of the shelf was covered in bones, from small human-sized ones, to those of beasts bigger than anything the party had ever seen before. There were ribs ten foot long, but all it did was make Nyvan hungry.
At the far end, was a crevice with stairs carved into it, leading up to the plateau above. They made their way upstairs.
Once there, they found themselves in a rugged looking land, with drifts of snow and ice making it difficult to see very far in any direction. They headed off along a pathway.
Before long they could hear the sounds of many dogs barking, then they found themselves looking over a small valley with a village based in the middle. Standing between them and the village were several dozen Ice Hunters, armed and waiting for them.
By use of his bardic magic, Sigurd was able to converse with the villagers. He found them very difficult, rude even, and their every response to any question was to mislead, insult or scare them off. A squad of the villagers left on sleds, and the heroes worried they were about to be flanked, but the villagers disappeared back down the trail. Eventually the heroes grew frustrated.
Nandrin noticed one or two of the villagers heading into the largest building below and whispered a warning to his companions..."Loads of them are sneaking off - they're about to attack us!"
As the others prepared for an assault, and Sigurd suggested leaving, he realised he may have over-reacted and withdrew his previous comments. Still, the party talked for a little longer, then thought, "sod the lot of you....!" and went to camp elsewhere.
As they camped, they came up with a plan. Nandrin gave himself th power of flight, then made himself invisible. He flew off to investigate the village.
First he checked the large building, and found nothing but a wooden floor made of the planks of ships crushed by the moving ice and a pulley system, seemingly out of place, above a wooden floor. He went to check the Chieftain's hut, sure he would find Maccath there, if not in the main building.
Sadly, the Chief's hut ws barred by a huge local warrior, dressed in nothing but a loincloth, despite the cold. Nandrin came up with a plan, and dropped a large snowball near enough that the man might hear it. As he did so, the village shaman, a female, came to talk to the warrior. Nandrin quickly flew around the back of the large tent. He heard a sing-song sound coming from the shaman, but ignored it, cutting a small hole in the tent, so he could peer inside.
He pressed his face up against the cloth, and waited for his eyes to adjust.
"What are you looking for, flying man?" said a voice from below him.
With a start, Nandrin looked down to see the shaman woman standing beneath him, looking straight at him.
"Ummmmm, just looking for a friend." he replied.
"And you thought that sneaking around, out of our sight, was the best way to find them, or that vandalising my chieftain's tent was appropriate?" she asked, curious.
"Uhh, yes."
"Why not just ask?" she enquired.
"Well you people are so unhelpful! And rude!" he said indignantly.
"You have come to our home, and acted self-importantly, and now you are sneaking around like a thief, spying on our chief! I think our concerns are being validated."
"It was either sneak around or kill everyone in the village...." said Nandrin, defensively.
"So you are considering killing everyone in my village?!" she asked, outraged.
"No, it was just an option!" squealed Nandrin.
"So you are still thinking about it?!"
"No, not at all, we just really want to find out friend!" said the mage.
"I think it best you leave, immediately" said the woman,.
At that moment the mage decided to cut his losses and flee. He flew back to the others as quickly as he could.
As he shared his experience with the others, Venmir noticed a dozen Ice Hunters surrounding them - he warned the others. They turned to find the shaman and a further half dozen warriors stood just outside of the camp. She spoke in perfect common.
"Chief Barking Seal would meet with you. Since it seems you are not prepared to leave of your own accord, he wishes to strike a deal. Come with me."
The party followed her down in to the camp, where the Chieftain made a deal with them - one of them would meet their champion, Orcaheart, in one on one combat, with no magical assistance. Nyvan agreed. If Nyvan won, then the shaman, Bonecarver would help them with whatever information they sought. If Nyvan lost, then the party would leave the island forever, never to return. Nyvan agreed again.
Combat began with the combatants circling one another. Sigurd called out some insults and the massive native stumbled backwards in confusion, blinking his eyes. Nyvan leapt forward, and the pair swapped mighty blows, with Nyvan driving his sword into the massively-built Ice Hunter, while Orcaheart stabbed his mighty spear into Nyvan, time after time.
Orcaheart stumbled first, and Bonecarver helped him to his feet.
Nandrin whispered in outrage, "I'm pretty sure she just healed him..."
At that Sigurd exploded in outrage, cursing the woman and her antics. The two warriors continued their fight for a moment, before everyone paused to watch Sigurd.
"This is unfair! You filthy cheat! You say no magic, and yet you clearly healed your champion!"
"I did not!" she replied, innocently.
The fight continued for a moment, but paused as the argument developed. Nyvan took the opportunity to heal himself.
"Yes, you did! This is impossible! You are a liar and a cheat. You have lost this fight, and should forfeit! I demand that you tell us everything that you know!"
"I will do no such thing until the fight is over. I have not cheated, and neither warrior is defeated. The fight should continue."
Sigurd pulled out his sword, waving it towards the shaman. At that, the entire ring of natives jumped to their feet, pulling out their bows made of horn, and nocked arrows.
"You have no idea what you have unleashed here, woman! See that man there?" he pointed at Nandrin, who looked around, confused. "He could level your village with a word - and kill you all!"
"Ahhh, now your threats start again! We were right not to trust you, outlanders! Let him speak his word - if he can - before 40 arrows drive into his heart!" as she pointed at the mage, and shouted a command in her own language.
Nandrin looked distinctly uncomfortable and tried to make himself as small as possible - the harder to hit his heart with any number of arrows.
"Outrageous!" cried Sigurd, as he stomped off into the night. "Screw you all!" he screamed.
The others followed a short distance back.
As they walked off, Nyvan felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He turned to find the Ice Hunter Champion, looking mightily unhappy and gesturing back towards the fighting circle. Taking this for an invitation to finish the duel, Nyvan returned to the circle with the massive warrior.
"This is stupid!" interjected Venmir, "they're a bunch of rotten cheats. Don't fight him, Nyvan!"
"I must, brother, this is a matter of honour, responded the paladin, bowing to the native.
"You're as impossible as they are!" replied the cleric, having a little tantrum. That said, he and Nandrin returned to the village.
Sigurd returned to the camp and stomped from one end to the other, waiting for his companions. When none arrived, he went back to the village, to find Orcaheart, on his knees before Nyvan, offering his spear in surrender. Nyvan bowed, then put both hands on Orcaheart's mighty spear and lifted it in victory. Then he lifted the man to his feet, and bowed to him.
The shaman spoke, just as Sigurd returned to the light of the fire.
"The duel is finished. Chief Barking Seal has announced the outlander victorious, and so I must offer all of my assistance. First, we eat together."
She lead the heroes to a storeroom of sorts, and sat them down. Village women brought the heroes plates of pickled fish. Most of the heroes ate with gusto, apart from Venmir, who ate only at the outraged glare of the shaman at refusing the village's hospitality. The shaman spoke...
"The woman you seek, is under our village. In the lair of the dragon, Old White Death, in the ice caves below. It is protected not just by the dragon, but many vile beasts who serve the dragon. She has been there for a long time - and no-one has seen her alive for some time. I apologise for the way we have treated you. The dragon punishes us with death if anyone makes it past us - I'm sure you can appreciate that we do what we must to stay alive. I am also sorry for having poisoned your fish. I can assure you, it is not personal."
The heroes tried to stand, but found their legs wooden and their breath short - before they could even hope to cast a spell, or repair any damage, they faded to black.
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They awoke, some time later, in amongst a pile of old smelly furs. One by one, they returned to consciousness, and Nyvan, the first awake, frightened an odd ice toad creature so savagely that it jumped head first into a wall, knocking itself out. They found all of their gear nearby, and a note, signed Bonecarver, which apologised for the way that events had unfurled, but also added that she had not left them defenceless (by leaving their weapons near to hand) but also aided their escape (by partially cutting their bindings).
They were in ice caverns, similar to those under Castle Skyreach, but the cold was far greater. They left the room they were in, where they could see the ice chute they had been unceremoniously thrown down, and found themselves in a hallway. The first room they walked into was, to Sigurd's horror and joy, a kobold barracks. A quick melee ensued, but the kobolds were not match for the heroes and a handful of them fled, despite Venmir trying to swat them ineffectually with his bow. They moved on quickly. Sigurd lagged behind, sad that there was no furniture for him to destroy (see HotDQ 2-3 for more details on Sigurd's love of kobolds).
They passed through another room, full of equipment, before finding themselves in a strange room dominated by a pit with a large hook in the ceiling above it. Many theories were passed between the heroes, before they all realised it was pointless guessing and decided to walk on. After Sigurd started walking around the pit, Venmir flew into an unexpected flurry of cowardliness and refused to walk around the pit (blaming the twin gods Health and Safety). The party eventually had to walk all the way back to where they started to appease the chicken-hearted cleric.
They next found what could only be described as a trophy room of some sort. There were hordes of frozen enemies, including a massive squid ("Can someone get me some squid please?" asked Nandrin, but he was ignored again), ogres, trolls, yeti and others. At the far end, a massive longship sat - with no visible means of entry into the cave! Its upper masts touched the ceilingand the sails were unfurled. A chest full of gold sat on the deck.
The heroes decided to leave without touching a thing, no matter how tempting the gold.
They walked to another room, empty, but it had a ramp up on one end. As they got to the top, a huge ice troll leapt out, slashing at them with it's claws. The heroes leapt forward to the attack, and while the beast laid about it with wild abandon, it's unfocused rage could not make the cold fury of our adventuring pals and it soon died.
They gazed about the room in wonder.
The far side of the room was dominated by a huge red tent and the floor was covered in rugs and carpet. There were several braziers about the room, keeping it reasonably warm, and inside the tent at the far side they could see a desk, bookcases, chairs and a bed. Sat at the desk, was a tiefling, in red robes, reading a massive spellbook, while two kobolds stood behind her, eyeing the heroes fearfully.
As they got closer, the woman lifted her head, and they were shocked to see the sadness in her eyes, expecting only joy at a rescue attempt.
"Ahh, heroes. Have you come to save me, or to kill me? Either way is much the same to me..."
The party looked at one another in confusion briefly, before they started to answer...
(session end)
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