In which
our heroes get what they came for Book Two, Chapter 3.3 (session 76, 19 th
February 2019) The Party: Naergon Harna, elven wizard (Diviner) Mads Rangle, human fighter/warlock (Fiend: Archdevil
Zariel) Jamna Gleamsilver, gnome rogue (Arcane Trickster) Tomaz Stormwind, human ranger (Hunter) Druscilla Oakenrock, dwarven cleric (Trickery: Mask) Talis Wintercrest, half-elven cleric (War: Bane) Druscilla, Tomaz, Mads and the unconscious body of Talis
arrive in the dragon’s lair, under the bell tower. Seconds later Naergon and
Jamna step out of a shimmering blue door to join them. Looking around they see
the temple remains abandoned, except for the somewhat chewed corpses of the two
frost giants, slain earlier. Thy make their way over to the frozen hoard pile, leaving
Talis sprawled on the floor. Clambering up onto the ice, they can see the mask lying
on top of a chest a few feet below the frozen surface. There’s a brief
discussion wherein they decide to use the many flasks of alchemists fire to
melt the frozen hoard pile. Mads starts pouring the flasks on top of the ice
pile, burning a hole through to the mask, Druscilla stands alongside, ready to
pull the molten ice and slush aside. It takes Mads about 10 minutes and some 24 flasks to burn
a big enough hole for Druscilla to reach in and grab the mask. Mads then leans
in and pulls the chest out as well revealing a long leather-wrapped pole which
Ringo grabs for him. They ignore the heaps of copper and silver coins scraped
out with the cold, slushy water. Naergon and Tomaz step forward and start congratulating
Mads and Druscilla “ We haven’t got time for patting backs”
growls the dwarf “we’re not out of here
yet”. Behind them Jamna turns and stares at the northern end of the hall,
the end with the broken wall where they previously gained entry. Waving her
hand she shushes the party “ what was
that, did you hear something? ” she asks peering into the far gloom. Everyone turns, sending waves of freezing slush and water
oozing across the floor as the ominous sound of heavy footsteps and loud gruff
voices comes from round the corner – they may not be able to understand the
language but they all recognise the sound of several frost giants making their
way into the temple. Mads drags the chest behind the large ice altar, out of
sight and slumps to the floor [stealth 11]. Naergon grabs the leather tube from
Ringo “ I think this is mine, thanks”
he says and casts greater invisibility on himself. Tomaz looks around for
somewhere to hide but hesitates between jumping into the icy hole, standing
behind a pillar or joining Mads behind the altar. Ringo turns invisible and
flies up above the altar. Jamna casts disguise self and once again assumes the
form of a young yeti. Druscilla, clutches the mask and activates her wings,
climbing towards the rafters above, muttering “ dammit we left Talis lying on the floor out there!” Mads hunkers behind the altar and looks across to Tomaz
and Jamna [yeti]. Naergon says “ we should
be leaving, I’m heading south ” [telepathic link] and invisibly glides into
the narthex. Tomaz finally stops dithering and moves to hide behind a pillar
[stealth 9]. From the north east four frost giants stoop in and start making
their way across the hall, they ignore Jamna [yeti] but quickly notice the body
of Talis and cautiously approach. Ringo flies up and towards the bell tower.
Jamna [yeti] starts to play with the slush and ice, throwing snowballs in the
air like a baby yeti at play [performance 14]. Druscilla flies through the
doorway into the narthex, following Naergon as best as possible. Mads stays put as Naergon moves towards the big frost
rimed and heavily engraved doors at the back of the ruined narthex. Naergon
takes a long look at the intricate anthropomorphic decoration on the doors but can’t
place what society or culture might have been responsible [history 19]. Tomaz
leans against the pillar and casts pass without trace and steps out to follow
Naergon. The frost giants look up at the sound of Tomaz casting and now
standing in plain sight. One of them bellows, points and moves forward and
throws a rock, the ball of ice is deflected by an intervening pillar and
narrowly misses both Tomaz and Jamna and splatters into the half frozen slush
around the treasure hoard. The next giant moves up and also throws a rock at
Tomaz, this time it catches the ranger in his chest, hurling his broken and
unconscious body against the wall behind him, bow and spear clattering to the
floor as once again Tomaz is taken down. The other giants move suspiciously and
cautiously across the hall, drawn to the same south western corner of the
temple, all continue to ignore Jamna [yeti]. Ringo, invisibly flies past the
giant [stealth 6], the giant detects the movement and instinctively swats out
with a huge hand, slapping the imp out of the air and sending him fluttering
across the hall into one of the walls. Jamna [yeti] continues the masquerade
and throws a snowball and then chases it towards the narthex. Druscilla drops
to the floor, takes a shot with her crossbow from the corner of the narthex
wall, the bolt slams into the giant’s shoulder who barely seems to register the
attack. Druscilla then steps back and once out of sight climbs up again to the
ceiling. Mads, aware of Ringo’s screams, stares across the hall at
the crumpled body of Tomaz and the sight of Jamna [yeti] frolicking after
snowballs, considers the possibility of escaping via Isendraug’s underwater
tunnel but is daunted by his estimation of it being probably 200’ or more long
[investigation 13] and underwater, still he crawls to the east along the wall
of the altar. Naergon, very aware of the giants in the main hall, sneaks across
the narthex [stealth 22] heading south. Tomaz groans quietly, one arm twitching
[death save 10] as one of the giants moves around the altar. Mads swings his
glaive and slices the giant across the face [AOO], the next moves south until
he spots Druscilla in the ceiling and throws a rock at her, it hits the corner
of the narthex wall and shatters with the impact. Pieces of rock and ice as
well as more roof timbers and splinters shower over the dwarf as she beats her
wings to stay aloft. The third giant advances through the narthex, ignoring
Naergon and ending up almost beneath Druscilla. The final giant advances
towards the western end of the altar. Ringo shouts and screams at the giants,
trying to distract them before flying to the north. Jamna [yeti] gives the
giants a wide berth and continues to move south, against the wall. Druscilla,
almost face to face with the giant below her casts dimension door and flies
through to end up looking down at the inert body of Talis. Mads continues to attack the giant, slicing into its fur
clad chest, again and again as he circles around to the south east. Naergon,
aware that he has lost telepathic contact with Tomaz, remains still. On the far
side of the hall, Tomaz ceases to twitch [death save 5], The frost giant
fighting Mads, swings its great axe, carving through the dragon armour and deep
into Mads’s shoulder. The giant in the narthex stumbles around confused,
searching for where Druscilla has gone. The giant in the hall turns towards
Ringo and moves towards the imp. The fourth giant moves around the altar
towards mads, who swings his glaive and stabs it [critical AOO]. Ringo flies
across the hall and again screams at the giants. Jamna can see the giant
stumbling about to the north and Druscilla hovering over Talis’s body “Naergon
where are you?” [telepathic link] she asks searching for the elf [perception 25
v Naergon stealth 5] and finding him eventually. Druscilla casts healing word [6HP]
on Talis “ play dead” [telepathic
link] and then flies up 80 feet into the bell tower. Mads attacks again, swirling his glaive in an intricate
but fruitless attack that fails to connect. Naergon passes a small pouch [dust
of disappearance] to Jamna [yeti]. Tomaz lies motionless [death save 16],
Talis’s eyes flutter open “ where the hell
am I?” [telepathic link]. The first giant swings at Mads with its great axe
but misses, the second giant swings and slams Mads into the floor with a
sickening thud as its axe bursts through the warrior’s armour. Ringo instantly
disappears as the glaive falls. The third giant continues to search pointlessly
for Druscilla in the south west whilst the fourth advances towards the bell
tower, looking up to find the dwarf. Jamna [yeti] runs across the narthex and
cowers against the wall. Druscilla swoops down from the bell tower and across
the hall towards the northern entrance, whooping and hollering to attract the
giants’ attention. “ Stay here, I’ll lead
them on a goose chase” [telepathic link] Mads groans [death save 15] as Naergon continues to cross
the narthex. Tomaz takes a shuddering breath and his eyes flutter open [death
save 20 – stabilises on 1HP] as Talis slowly slides a potion off her belt and
gulps it down [superior healing 29HP]. The giants turn and give chase to
Druscilla, vaulting the altar, swinging axes and roaring in triumph. Jamna
[yeti] moves north towards Tomaz as Druscilla continues to fly across the hall. Mads continues to groan incoherently [death save 17]
whilst Naergon turns and runs north after Jamna [yeti] “ everyone who is down, stay down, no one move, we’ll get you out, just
stay down” [telepathic link]. Tomaz stays down, drawing shuddering breathes
through his shattered ribcage “ Naergon
where are you?” Talis also remains motionless “ what happened, where are we, where is everybody?” The giants
continue to race across the hall, luckily avoiding stepping on Talis as they
chase the mocking dwarf. Jamna [yeti] glances at Tomaz and continues on around
the altar to find Mads but comes to a halt as she spies the treasure chest,
eyes flicking from the chest to Mads lying in a pool of blood and back to the
chest again. Druscilla continues her wild flight through the door and out onto
the berg. Mads sighs and lies motionless [death save 19 –
stabilises], Naergon runs north and around the altar to see Jamna [yeti]
standing over the treasure chest whilst mads lies unmoving beyond. Tomaz groans
and peers groggily around, wondering why a small yeti has just run past. Talis also
stays still as the giants thunder past her on their way north after Druscilla.
Jamna [yeti] slides her fingers over the chest and pops it open, finding it
full of heaps of wooden coins, her face droops in disappointment. Druscilla
flies out across the berg, leading the giants north and away from the temple “ I’m taking them north, the easy route. You
get yourselves out of there and I’ll come find you. Hurry up!” [telepathic
link] Talis drags herself off the floor and makes her wat to
the unconscious body of Mads and casts cure wounds on him [12 HP] “ On your feet soldier, we’re not done yet.”
She looks across at Tomaz and says “ you
can heal yourself, I’m done wasting spells on you ”. Tomaz grunts and sits
up, back against the pillar and casts cure wounds on himself [16 HP]. Naergon says “ right
we should be leaving, which way are we going to go?” [telepathic link]
Tomaz grunts “ we should head for the
overhang we sheltered under earlier ” [telepathic link]. “ Or” says Mads “ we could head for that wooden outhouse and hole up there? Wherever we
go though we’re going to be moving slow, we’ll probably have to carry Tomaz
across the cliff face if we head south ” [telepathic link]. From somewhere
in the room Naergon says “ is there
anything we can use as a sledge?” [telepathic link] “ I don’t think we have time for such things” says Talis “ we need to leave and leave now!” [telepathic
link]. “ You’re right ” says the disembodied
Naergon [telepathic link]. Naergon leads Jamna out of the temple lodge, behind him
Tomaz sits on his spear an arm around Mads and Talis’s shoulders as they carry
the exhausted ranger out. “ We’ll never
get him across that cliff Mads ” says Naergon “ we’ll have to head north and find a place to hide ” [telepathic link].
“Or we could just leave him here”
grumbles Talis [telepathic link]. “ Wherever
you’re going, go soon” comes the concerned voice of Druscilla “ I can see a handy little peninsula at the far
north of the berg, which looks like a good place for Naergon’s shelter ”
[telepathic link]. Tomaz says “ we
could just put the shelter over there against the lodge wall and cover it with
snow ” [telepathic link]. Talis spits “ when
those giants have done chasing the flying dwarf, they’re going to come back
here. This is the last place I’d choose to camp . . . but you can stay if you
want, no need to carry him further, eh Mads?” [telepathic link]. Naergon
stands staring at the obvious boot prints left by the four giants as they
chased Druscilla “ agreed, we’re not
staying here. Nor can we rappel across that cliff in Tomaz’s current state. So
we head north, in the footsteps of giants it seems. Let’s see if we can find
that peninsular Druscilla mentioned, then dig a hole, I’ll cast my magic hut
and you lot can shovel snow over the top of it. Then I might get some peace and
quiet” [telepathic link]. “I agree ”
pipes up Jamna “they’ll search for us
here and with luck they’ll find our repelling rope and waste time and energy
searching in that direction. Let’s head north. Druscilla can you keep them away
from us for that long?” [telepathic link] “ Not a problem, just don’t take forever” the dwarf replies [telepathic
link]. After a hard slog north, Naergon ritually casts Leomund’s
Tiny Hut in the shallow pit that Mads and Talis scrape out of the snow and ice.
That done and with Tomaz to guide and advise they spend several minutes
covering it with snow and camouflaging it as just another icy outcrop. Then
several more minutes are spent covering their trail back to the giant’s boot
prints. That done the heroes collapse into the shelter. Druscilla flies across the southern edge of the berg and
out to sea, leaving the giants shaking their axes after her in fury and rage.
Then with a long swing round across the icy sea she approaches the small
peninsula from the north and lands, exhausted inside the shelter to join the rest
of the party. Once settled Mads turns to Naergon and asks “can you
identify some of these items?” “ Yes,
absolutely, I’ve nothing better to do right now, let’s take a look at them ”
the wizard replies huffily. Checking the contents of the chest and leather tube
he identifies a pouch of silvered sling stones (20), a pair of Boots of the Winterlands
[Talis], a Potion of Superior Healing [Tomaz], a Potion of Heroism [Mads], a
Potion of Invulnerability [Druscilla] and a Staff of the Magi [Naergon]
(Naergon passes his Ring of Cold resistance to Tomaz). “Talis ” asks Mads “ did
you spend most of your life around snow, because you know you’re ‘the white’
and your gear seems to concentrate on cold damage and stuff. So I was just
wondering do you come from the far north or something.” “No” replies Talis.
Mads waits for a bit but nothing more is forthcoming “ ok then, just asking ” he mumbles. Talis looks up sharply “ I’m called ‘the white’ because I was destined
to be Wyrmspeaker for the White Dragon arm of the cult, not for any artic predilection.”
“And would that involve you having to live in a cold climate or something?”
asks Mads. “ Well hopefully not no, I was
rather imagining it would mean I got to live in the lap of luxury whilst the
dragons terrorized and ate other people but, well, you know. I hadn’t really
thought about it that deeply.” Talis replies, adding as an afterthought “ of course that was back in my misguided
days. I’ve now learnt that, you know, I was wrong and you were right. And now I’m
on the side of Righteousness and Justice and not dying.” With the pale, watery dawn Druscilla slaps her helmet and
everyone is immediately teleported back to Waterdeep, arriving in the residential
area of the palace near their chambers. They are immediately aware that there
is some kind of flap happening. Lackeys and underlings are running around like
headless chickens and there is an air of panic and alarm apparent amongst the
staff, guards are tense and drawn, looking like they’ve had little sleep. “This doesn’t
look good” says Naergon as Leosin
approaches at a run “ oh, oh, you’re back,
that’s good I hope. Oh yes I hope yes, now, there’s an emergency meeting in an
hour I suggest you be there. Yes definitely be there. I’ll let Remi know. On
my, this isn’t good no. Hope you did better. Err . . . you’d probably best have
a bath first, you’re a touch ripe old chap.” “What, what are you on about what’s
happened?” snaps Naergon, grabbing at his arm. “ Terrible, not good. Be at the meeting, they’ll want explanations. Can’t
stop I’ve got errands to run. Good luck – and get a bath that’s my advice,
better with a bath, yes definitely. ” Calls Leosin as he ashes off down the
hallway. Next
time: Crisis what crisis, anyway it was his fault? Levels
were gained this session:
Naergon
16 th
level
Mads
15 th
level
Jamna
15 th
level
Tomaz
15 th
level
Druscilla
15 th
level
Talis
12 th
level
XP
earnt is now irrelevant as the rest of TOD is based on milestone XP In-Game
the session ended at 10:30 on 23 rd Elesias 1485 DR [The last LONG REST was completed
at 04:30 on 23 rd Elesias] Next
session Tuesday 26 th February at 19:15