.gif)
Hammer 15, 1489
Dre'zel my love,
With the hag defeated, we began to explore the rest of the cave. To the north, we saw a large frozen pool. Far beneath the ice’s surface were the remains of more frost giants.
We returned to the bridge we had spotted. Tossing a rope over the bridge, I scrambled up. Climbing the walls, Saritu was tight behind me, and the others followed, climbing up the rope.
To the left, a tunnel led to one of the cave entrances after an intersection. To the right, a tunnel led to a small cave where someone had made camp.
The camp, which appeared to have been made by a dwarf, was now abandoned, with a thin layer of snow coating the floor and everything on it. We retrieved some rations and the remains of a journal.
Saritu read the dwarven writing out loud:
"These caves are sacred to the frost giants. The carvings on the wall suggest that the giants came here to drown themselves. Did they use the hot spring as a sacrificial pool?"
"The wind truly sounds like a wailing woman. It’s nice to be away from the Valley, but one could easily go mad in this place."
"I think there's someone living in these caves. Shortly after discovering the hot spring, I heard what sounded like an old woman singing. When the song ended with a shrill laugh, dread sunk its teeth in me. Ye gods, that horrible cackle! I shall leave these caves at once!"
Crossing the bridge, we turned right at the intersection and found two more caverns. The first was empty except for a few ice-covered pillars. The walls of the second were covered by stick-figure drawings. Saritu explained that they depicted the giants using the cave as a burial site. This cave led to another entrance.
Both of the newly discovered cave entrances were thirty feet above the surface, leaving just one cave unexplored, ten feet below.
Scaling the icy cliffs, I swung inside the last cave. For some reason, Steve used his magic to try to get there first and fell twenty feet to the surface below.
Further inside the cave was a lone dire wolf. Casting Speak with Animals, I asked it if it was hungry and tossed it some food. Grateful, it introduced itself as Grrreta Thunberg and told me of the hags’ and harpies' arrival and how hard things have been since the endless winter. It considered joining us, but I explained how perilous our journey was, and it decided to remain in the caves it now had all to itself.
We were finally ready to leave the caves, and Easthaven was just hours away following the southern shores of Lac Dinneshere. JoJo agreed to row the boat with Steve and the cauldron as the rest of us walked along the shore.
JoJo was quite exhausted when we reached the outskirts of Easthaven, but he showed his determination and resilience, never complaining or requesting a break.
We docked the boat near The Wet Trout, where we found refugees from Bremen had made camp.
Many of the Awakened of Lathander were there to help feed the refugees, which seemed to offend Steve for a reason I could not comprehend. I decided to slip into the shadows and watch my companions from the comfort of the darkness.
Apparently, Ambrose had sired children with one of the Awakened, a woman named Aurata. Their children, Spori and Chanterelle, were distressed at the sight of their father, or more specifically, his absence for the past few months. This, too, was hard to comprehend. It seems that these children expect their fathers to be present throughout their youths, and there is some shame in their fathers leaving.
Steve offered Aurata our cauldron, though he later rescinded the offer, and Ambrose gave her his magical jug.
Spori recognized Talyth from Bryn Shander, but agreed to keep her identity as an Aurilite secret.
Throughout the chaos of Steve arguing with Aurata over who should be feeding the refugees, and Aurata casting dispersions at Ambrose for abandoning his children, the refugees were fed, and Ambrose was eventually approached by a half-elf woman, Prudence Tarkwold, Speaker Danneth Waylen’s clerk. She summoned us to the Town Hall to see the speaker.
Leaving the rowboat, we gathered our things, including the cauldron, and followed Prudence into town toward the Town Hall. I followed from a distance, keeping an eye on my companions.
As they passed The Wet Trout, they were hailed by the inn’s barmaid, a silver dragonborn named Nymetra. She said she was from the same clan as Taimen, having left 80 years ago, and now serves Auril.
Talyth, disguised as De’nice the bard, accepted an invitation to perform at The Wet Trout that evening.
As they passed The White Lady Inn, the halfling Rinaldo invited them to see his séance. Recalling his attempt to steal Talyth’s scroll, I discreetly removed 10 gold coins and a crumpled note from his pocket as I passed him.
When we arrived at the Town Hall, we told Speaker Waylen about the hags and the fisherfolk. He called upon Captain Arlaggath to award us the red wizard’s spellbook, a fireball scroll, and a grey bag of tricks. They were taken by Saritu, Steve, and Taimen, respectively. Then he offered us 2500 gold coins for the cauldron, which we accepted. He also gave us a red ribbon that he said would prevent thieves from bothering us, and he explained that the Frozen Ferry belonged to Captain Scython. He mentioned that there had been chardalyn thefts, and we shared that we would be engaging the duergar the next morning.
Before we left, I read the crumpled note I had taken from Rinaldo. It said: “Rinaldo, as I instructed, bring her to The White Lady inn, or else I shall do what I said. —M”
As we left the Town Hall, the usually crowding townsfolk parted before us, seeing our red ribbons.
We visited some merchants, and Saritu purchased a special vial.
When we arrived at The Wet Trout, Nymetra welcomed Talyth to the stage, where she cast Thaumaturgy, Guidance, and Dancing Lights to add some flair to her flute performance. This was completely unnecessary, as her musical performance was a huge hit, bringing tears to many an eye, and loud applause when she was done.
As she was carried, mostly by dwarven refugees, back to her table, one human patron came to offer his praise, Captain Scython. He also warned us of various dangers in Icewind Dale and confirmed that the Frozen Ferry had been abandoned for weeks.
I disguised myself as a half-elf woman as we headed to The White Lady Inn.
I entered shortly after my companions and saw that Vellynne was there, being groomed as usual. Rinaldo had just invited my companions into a side room, and I noticed his gaze linger on Saritu. As he closed the door behind Steve, he uttered, “Sorry,” and collapsed in tears.
Bolting over, I grabbed Rinaldo and demanded answers. Rinaldo insisted his family was being held hostage, and someone named Mirena had orchestrated a trap. Opening the door, I saw that the small room was empty save one candle and the smell of foul magics.
I grabbed Rinaldo and mounted a confused Princess Skullcrusher. With the halfling on my lap, I rode to his house, where I saw a cultist taunting a small child in a dark room. Losing two arrows, I put the cultist down and kicked Rinaldo toward his door.
After searching the cultist and finding no clues, I mounted Princess Skullcrusher and quickly rode back to The White Lady Inn, where I had seen Vellynne.
Running in and dropping the cultists’ belongings on the table, along with my disguise, I demanded Vellynne’s help. She cast a Sending to Saritu and then paled and said there was nothing she could do to help.
I was about to go back into the small side room to snuff the candle when I heard a commotion outside. There were my companions, all except Saritu.
A moment later, a duergar woman appeared, holding Saritu’s gem in her hands. Saritu’s clothes hung low on her while the sides were oddly snug.
They explained that they had been transported to an acidic island, surrounded by Saritu’s nemesis, Mirena, and her cultists. Taimen jumped across the acid and slew Mirena while those on the island were attacked by a roper hanging from a stalactite fifty feet above them. Talyth was reeled to the roper’s maw when Saritu shattered its stalactite. Ambrose stunned the roper, and Saritu killed it with Toll the Dead.
Before long, Captain Arlaggath appeared with a contingent of guards to apprehend the duergar. My companions began to object, but I intervened, urging them to quickly bring this duergar into custody, grabbing her myself and leading her after the guards.
Once we were all in the privacy of the Town Hall, I explained to the guards that this ‘duergar’ was actually Saritu in disguise.
Convinced, Captain Arlaggath released us all, and we prepared to rest for the night. Steve and Taimen went to The Wet Trout while the rest of us returned to The White Last Inn.
No comments:
Post a Comment