The players come out in Rhohgnah, from an Under road gateway. Sort of like a subway terminal they have them in most Shevorth cities of and repute and longevity. Some are public, some are hidden. Rhohgnah is big enough they have a public entrance but by the time all of you come out of it no one is nearby. You come out in the middle of the afternoon and it is still dark outside. It is absolutely freezing outside. It feels like the middle of winter. Thokoli sits up in the stretcher they made for him and insists on walking the last few miles. “I’m your guide gods damnit it. I’m not without my pride.” And he forces himself out of the stretcher. While Alaise may have rested, he has a level of exhaustion that won’t go away. Alaise doesn’t try to use the noose to scry. All about them, the city has changed. Once an orderly and bustling, city, it seems a little deserted on the streets right now. The party go to the keep, Thokoli’s family’s home. There they meet with Lonsli, his aunt. Thokoli and Alaise go to sleep, Gillia talks with Helios. Gillia said: “I had a calling. Its hard to explain. But you’ve seen me. You know I’m a natural caster, although that’s never been my path. I’m from Dree, well. I’m not just from Dree but I’m a person in Dree. After playing with the Children in the Inn I was identified. I asked Nikon for his cap of disguise, he gave it to me. She holds it in her hand. I’d heard you talking about this hermit fire mage dwarf. I was trying to get out of the city anyways so I took the cap and I left. I found him and his wife. It was weird. Anyways, I explained that I was there for a friend who wielded the power of the phoenix. That I wanted to know more about it, to relay to my friend. He looked at me and said ‘You don’t have to lie to me. I know it’s you.’ Which is weird because I wasn’t lying and I’m an amazing lier. If I had been lying, I would have known it. Then he looked at me again and said, ‘What does your friend want?’ I didn’t really know. You hadn’t talked about that. I said, ‘Do you have any books, scrolls or tomes that talk about what this is and why my friend has it?’ He laughed and brought out some old dusty tomes from his night stand’s drawers. What he had dusty tomes doing in his nightstand I don’t understand. If you never look at them, why the hell are they there? So I brushed them off, and then he grabbed my hand. As he did, he said ‘Trust the beauty of the flame. Not the beauty others.’ And a searing fire entered my arm. I felt something, always within me, surge. Ever since then I’ve had issues both controlling my magic and stopping the flame from happening around me.” Reeta and Asher went and had a drink. Bardman went to the hall of heroes and prayed to Bahamut. The next day the party are put to work. Bardman, with Reeta’s help then Chuchalain, helps the mercenaries even though they are sort of assholes. After Reeta threatens to slit a few throats and Chuchalain shows up, people are more respectful. Helios and Gillia start/bolster fires, melt snow, and the like. Alaise performs an occasional fine rites or marriage in the name of Helm, bust mostly does laundry. Asher stands guard. While working, they hear of what has happened in Shevorth since the coming of Auril. Because the center of the storm happened underneath Rhohgnah, it seems to be the epicenter on the storms, so things are not good anywhere nearby but especially poor in Rhohgnah itself. Fortunately, the Shuror are a hearty people, and they’ve managed to weather the surprise winter relatively well. Ice giants and some of the hairy orcs have begun amassing in the contested zone by Corrive. There are rumors that this was all a plan by the Ice Giants themselves. Girkchar (at least the summer parts) has become encased in winter. Nikon, some ice elementals, and some recruits from the nearby area attacked the Fire Giant and killed, as well as surrounding creatures. The small army then went southeast, laying land frozen in their wake. While Verrogh was spared, they went through the port city of East Toussa on their way into Corrive, causing some damage. Instead of attacking the front lines, Nikon and his allies moved southeast through the sea to the innards of Corrive. Meanwhile troops still amass on the Girkchar side, facing Corrive. Shevorth armies have gone into a defensive position on the border, while they have begun requesting troops. They are unsure what to do with them. Mercenaries are a bit stranded at the moment. Unused to the winters, crime has fallen, death to exposure has increased. There have been 9 deaths in a week from mercenaries wandering off or not taking precautions and dying from hypothermia. Mercenaries normally only arrive in the summer months. At lunch on the third day, Firdulin and Garffon Lighthorn talk to the party. They talk to the party about everything that has happened, and Thokoli reveals that Nikon might be headed to Dravens after finishing up in Corrive. He seems to be in some measure of trouble. The party then talked to Thokoli and they brainstormed ideas of what to do next. Some options included: Learn how to reverse the ritual (Find Chra) Fight Nikon Diplomacy Find worshippers of Kossuth, Order of the Phoenix Go to the seelie court of the Feywild (Lonslie pointed out the Seelie court might not be real happy about this) The party decided to go find the Order of the Phoenix. Lonslie pointed out that research for finding this order would be better in a larger city, Rhoghnah being a “medium-small” sized city of Shevorth with 6-7 thousand people. The part left to go find Holyar, the capital of East Shevorth. The travel took them a week overland. Reeta and Nuggle stayed behind, with Reeta making mercenary contacts and Nuggle studying the spellbook he got underground. Thokoli is with them. The party split the treasure getting 9539 gold each. NOTE: Don’t forget Bardman has the Cloak of the Bat (gives advantage on stealth saves, can fly in dim or no light). NOTE 2: Jendra Faine follows Helm.