(IC) Quickleaf's Rime of the Frostmaiden

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Logrim assists those searching through the wrecked sleds. As they find supplies the gnome speaks up.

"Extra supplies are always good I can keep them in my pack if no one objects."

He inventories the supplies and then stows them into his pack. When he gets to the snowglobe he frowns.

"I can fix this right up."

Logrim pulls some tools from his pack along with a strange device with a crystal in the center and what can only be described as five arms around the outer edge. Logrim places this device on the ground next to the snowglobe. He turns a couple screws on the back of the device then flicks a small switch. The item begins to glow with a faint purple light. It reaches out and picks up the snowglobe and examines it. When it gets to the crack the light focuses on it. The focused light runs over the length of the crack then places the snowglobe back on the ground.

Logrim flicks the switch again and the device powers down. He packs the tools and insect like device away and picks up the snowglobe again. He examines the now repaired surface.

"Perfect!" He looks up to the others. "Are we going to look for Miss Astrix? That is if they are not among the dead in the other room."

 

[Steve Gorak]

Aric sighs. He was hoping for a different outcome but what is done is done. There is no point wasting any ressources in this barren place, so he gets close to the pelts and inspects them

“I’ll take care of the adults, and we can split what we get for them, same as for the snow cats. I’ll keep the youngling for myself if you don’t mind.”

He then expertly works the pelts, as he did for the snow cats earlier.

OOC: Aric is proficient in craft leather working. Skill check (wisdom) : 22, 23 if dexterity should have been used

 

[Neurotic]

OOC: Can mending help with males fur?

 

[Quickleaf]

OOC: Can mending help with males fur?

GM: Probably too many sources of damage / multiple wounds from the fight with the male yeti to make much difference.

 

[Necropolitan]

Zeth calculates the gold to be made in his head.

"We can sell the claws and teeth for about 76 gold pieces depending on the buyer. Barter if need to. 75 to 150 for the pelts. Personally I'd prefer to have the pelts turned into clothing for us to wear, as much as I hate to say it warmth is worth more than gold currently."

A small extremely battered locked treasure chest made of strange dark purple wood marked with chain-like rune on the lid (see attached image).

He spots the chest.

"What's this?"

Zeth wracks his brain to see if he knows the rune from anywhere.

(OOC: History check: 1D20+6 = [15]+6 = 21)

"Nobody touch this until I figure this out, no telling what it is."

Blood-splattered heavy clothing that could be assembled to make 2 cold-weather outfits.

Using the Prestidigitation cantrip Zeth cleans the blood off the clothing a bit at a time.

"At the very least I can get these clean enough to wear."

A frozen reddish potion held in a wicker carrying sling with a shoulder strap.

"I might be able to identify this..."

(OOC: Arcana check 1D20+6 = [19]+6 = 25)

With Corse and the rescued halfling Perilou Fishfinger returning to the cave, the halfling stares wide-eyed at the bodies. Corse has bundled her in the bear skin taken from the yeti's horde, and the halfling stammers, "I've little magic left in me, but if any of you brave travelers need healing, I've a bit left in my fingers... Are- are you going to search for Astrix too? The tiefling?" She motions her head toward the mouth of the cavern and further up the cairn where you'd spotted boot prints.

"Perfect!" He looks up to the others. "Are we going to look for Miss Astrix? That is if they are not among the dead in the other room."

Zeth considers the question.

"Honestly all this has gone far better than I expected considering how my trip started. We make an excellent team, even if the formation of our party was due to random chance. I'm not usually one for risks, but assuming we take the same precautions we could try looking for Astrix. Although given our current track record it's a coin flip whether we find her alive or dead."

 

[Quickleaf]

GM: @Necropolitan History 21, chest symbol: While Zeth's family never had personal interaction with the duergar, he has done business with a few dwarves who refused to trade in any goods marked with this symbol of the "gray dwarves." Arcana 25, the frozen potion: While normally identifying potions requires a bit of taste-testing, the coloration matches what you've seen in other healing potions and in its frozen state you can see the faint glimmering – typical when a healing potion is agitated – trapped in the ice as you pivot the potion to get a better look at it in your light source.

 

[Necropolitan]

GM: @Necropolitan History 21, chest symbol: While Zeth's family never had personal interaction with the duergar, he has done business with a few dwarves who refused to trade in any goods marked with this symbol of the "gray dwarves." Arcana 25, the frozen potion: While normally identifying potions requires a bit of taste-testing, the coloration matches what you've seen in other healing potions and in its frozen state you can see the faint glimmering – typical when a healing potion is agitated – trapped in the ice as you pivot the potion to get a better look at it in your light source.

Zeth's eyes shine with greed as he thinks on what treasure the chest must contain.

"Can any of you get this open? Best to find out whatever is in this rather than lug the whole thing around."

If the chest was trapped it would have been set off when it had been battered, so hopefully it would be safe to pick or break the lock. Whatever within must be valuable to warrant such protection. It would be a pity to share it, but the group had more than earned their share.

"I think this potion's a healing one, but don't bet your life on it. If anyone's better suited to identify it, feel free to try. I'd suggest we keep it rather than sell it, it's dangerous out here and I don't think we'd get enough gold to justify losing a source of healing."

 

[Aethmud]

Zeth: "Honestly all this has gone far better than I expected considering how my trip started. We make an excellent team, even if the formation of our party was due to random chance. I'm not usually one for risks, but assuming we take the same precautions we could try looking for Astrix. Although given our current track record it's a coin flip whether we find her alive or dead."

Jack nods vigorously in agreement. "Let's go find Astrix. After all, hope is the last thing to lose, and I've got a few pocketfuls left, plenty to spare in fact."

"I'm sure Astrix is still out there. You know, it kind of reminds me of an adventure back in the Feywild, when we had to rescue a group of pixies who'd trapped themselves in a bubble of their own making. They were determined to create the biggest soap bubble the Feywild had ever seen. It was a marvelous, shimmering thing, like a giant iridescent pearl. But their ambition got the better of them, and before they knew it, they were floating inside their own creation, heading skyward with no control!"

His laughter grows as he continues, "The bubble, carried by a mischievous wind, drifted right into the frostiest, most snow-capped mountaintops. When we finally found them, they were frozen stiff, mid-argument, suspended like insects in amber. Their faces were twisted in the most comical expressions of surprise and indignation. And the best part? They were still bickering in frozen whispers, completely oblivious to the absurdity of their situation. We had to chisel the bubble in two just to free them and, even then, the pixies still only cared to squabble about who had the biggest bubble wand."

Zeth: "I think this potion's a healing one, but don't bet your life on it. If anyone's better suited to identify it, feel free to try. I'd suggest we keep it rather than sell it, it's dangerous out here and I don't think we'd get enough gold to justify losing a source of healing."

Jack twirls a lock of his hair around his finger. "You know, Zeth, I'm all for gambling, but betting my life on an unknown potion?"

He hesitates while pondering the frozen potion, then slowly nods, "After all, what's a bit of adventure without a gamble or two? The riskier, the better, I say. Worst case, we learn what not to drink next time. Best case, it's not just some healing potion but an elixir of Polar Bear Strength. Imagine the arm-wrestling matches you'd win against the toughest warriors in the Dale!"

 

[Quickleaf]

Giant's Gate and Astrix's Fate

GM POST

Gathering the yeti skins and the unopened treasure chest with duergar markings, you make sure the rescued halfling Perilou is well-bundled for the last leg of your journey. Lashing rope about your waists, you let your guide Corse take the lead hammering pitons. Fortunately, the last 100 foot ascent follows a saddle and is nowhere near as perilous. It is the dead of night, so quiet that even the crunch of snow underfoot and heavy breaths are deafening. A faint nimbus of purple shifts to the eastern sky as the fading lights of the aurora illuminate your steps, along with the magical red light issuing from Alma's hand and the flickering flame of your guide.

Aric notices a few deep wells in the snow where someone human-sized may have once stumbled, their leg sinking deeper and leaving behind the well now mostly refilled with snow. Someone came this way within the last few days.

After a fifteen minute climb, you come to the edge of a vast and deep crevasse pressed up against a cyclopean rock-carved structure whose entrance is covered in perfectly smooth ice. A collapsed tent lies half-buried in the snow near the precipice. A grim figure in cold weather clothes is huddled in the snow, completely unmoving and covered in frost. Horns protrude from underneath the figure’s fur-lined hood.

Your rescued halfling Perilou peers around the legs of the larger party members, inquiring in a shivering voice, "A-Astrix?"

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Logrim gasps and moves quickly over to the hooded figure. From this distance he knows there is not much he can do but he had to make sure. He examines Astrix trying to see if there was any hope for them and beyond that to figure out if something more than the cold had killed them.

OOC: Medicine check on Astrix: 1d20+3 15 Investigation check on the body and surrondings: 1d20+3 17