The storm rages through the rest of the afternoon and evening, probably the worst thunderstorm any of you have ever seen. As night falls, the rain begins to freeze, coating the deck and sails with ice. Despite the danger, Gravan and his crew remain at their posts, keeping the ship afloat. Occassionally you can make out Gravan's shouted orders over the noise of the storm.
Luckily, you don't have too much to worry about. The storm is severe, indeed, but the Carcass is a heavy, powerfully built ship, designed to survive through harsh weather conditions. You're forced to admit that the bumbling Voddlegrok chose well--it may have a misfit crew and a disreputable captain, but the Whale's Carcass is certainly one of the few ships that could have made the rough passage to Frostfell.
The prisoners are surprisingly cooperative but aggravatingly ignorant. They tell you about helping Miyris to steal a ship from an Aundairian noble, which they used to catch up to you. They had two objectives: get the book, and capture the Shifter. The only thing the soldiers knew about the book was that they would recognize it by its metal covers. The only thing they knew about the Shifter was that some of the leaders of the Emerald Claw wanted to recruit her for some reason.
Norderil cleverly spots some omissions in the prisoner's stories, and after another hour of careful questioning, he manages to pry out a couple of interesting facts. First of all, It seems that Miyris had a weather-controlling gem that she used to summon the opressive fog which had allowed them to sneak up on your ship. One of the smarter soldiers is worried that the current storm may have arrived because Miyris' gem was broken or destroyed when she was thrown overboard in the explosion. And secondly, all of the soldiers bear some bitterness toward the Warforged, because it had attacked them during their theft of the soarwood ship. Even though the Warforged became a lot more docile after Miyris had talked to it for a little while, the soldiers had never quite felt comforable with it.
Deadweight presents an intriguing mystery. The sled dogs begin barking and whining furiously whenever the construct is brought near them, forcing you to secure the Warforged in one of your personal cabins in order to keep the dogs placated. Norderil isn't able to figure out any way to release the Warforged's death grip on its shield, but after examining the clenched fist for a few seconds, the clever gnome comes up with an idea: applying some butter, he manages to loosen the shield enough to pull it free.
The large metal shield is quite different from the shields that the Emerald Claw soldiers were carrying. For one thing, its design is quite different, almost exotic: it is painted with an abstract red and silver design, and seems to be made primarily from flame-touched iron. Unlike the other shields, it bears no green claw insignia.
Every so often, one of the crew will pop belowdecks for a brief warm-up before heading back out to face the chill of the storm once again. Throughout the night, they keep you informed of the worsening conditions of the storm. As the crew grows wearier, their stories of the thunderstorm's malevolence grow more and more bizarre. The bone-tired sailors claim to have seen shapes in the lighting: dragons, ghosts, and monsters made of ice. One swears he saw an island, briefly illuminated by a lightning flash, where dozens of goat-legged men danced, playing songs that called down the rain.
But by morning, all the nightmares and fancies have passed. The storm turns to a brief drizzle, and eventually gives way before the onslaught of morning. The terrible cold, however, remains, forcing you all to equip your full winter gear to protect yourselves. The sun is dazzlingly bright, but the sky is oddly grey, although cloudless. Huge blocks of ice fill the ocean as far as you can see, many looming several yards above the ship.
Around noon, you take a moment to speak with Gravan as he carefully pilots the ship through the fields of ice. "Few of my men had any rest this night, so we're at half-sail for the moment while my crew gets some sleep. I can handle that much by myself, and we'll need to be going slow anyways while we get through this ice. By the looks of it, I'd say you folks are due for some rest as well. Don't worry about fallin' behind schedule--judging by the cold and the ice, that storm must've pushed us pretty far north. Almost impossibly far north, I'd say--we shouldn't have been seeing ice like this for another two, two and half weeks. Bad news, though, is that it may also have pushed off course to either the east or the west. I'm not sure by how much. Haven't had a chance to get my bearings just yet, but it shouldn't be long now. Soon as night falls and the moons come up."
The ship seems to be well-insulated against the cold. Belowdecks, you're almost comfortable, as long as you keep plenty of fur on. Abovedeck, however, the cold is painfully terrible to deal with, and when the wind rises up, it cuts you to the bone. It's now cold enough to kill an unprotected man, were he to stay out overnight.
Everything seems odd. It shouldn't be this cold--somehow you instinctively know this for a fact. And all throughout the day, as the ice field grows thicker and the increasingly larger blocks of ice threaten to obliterate the sun alltogether, you can't help but feel as though you are all being watched. As though curious eyes spy upon your vessel's movement through these alien waters.
Norderil had an easy time of things with the prisoners (Diplomacy roll: 17 +9=26) and not much trouble finding a way to get the shield free (Disable Device roll: 12 +7=19). "Cold" conditions are now in effect--from here on your characters will need to wear heavy winter gear or have some other protection from the cold's effects. It's roughly right at freezing (0 degrees farinheit), but the wind can make that much worse.
One important question: Who will volunteer to allow the Warforged to be put in their cabin?
Oh, here are your experience point awards up to this point in the story:
Barkey:
350 [300 (combat) + 50 (roleplaying)]
Krug:
400 [300 (combat) + 50 (roleplaying) + 50 (interview)]
Doomhawk:
350 [300 (combat) + 50 (roleplaying)]
Sorrow:
365 [300 (combat) + 50 (roleplaying) + 15 (interrogation sucess)]
Speed-Stick:
400 [450 (combat) + 50 (roleplaying)]
Karthak earned a bit of extra experience for the combat because of his risky fireball gambit which ended up paying off well. Good roleplaying so far, everyone--please keep going, and don't be afriad to kick it up a notch! Bam!
