iserith
Magic Wordsmith
Originally posted by iserith:
T H E S I T C H
After a long and perilous journey from the town of Grimfjord up the mountain through ice and snow, Ragnar, Hilda, Katla, and Zwerg cautiously approach Frigga's lament where the goddess' favored proxy Greta Elfanir is still frozen in a battle stance with the savage Jötnar. Her prized blade, Flame Tongue, is visible under many feet of ice.
Sometime in antiquity, Greta and Jötnar battled each other on a treacherous glacier. As Jötnar gained the upper hand and Greta saw her death before her, Frigga shed a single tear which fell upon them both, freezing them instantly while keeping them alive in stasis. In Frigga's wisdom, she knew that someday brave heroes of Midgard would come upon this struggle and help her proxy return to the goddess' hall of Fensalir.
In the years since Frigga's lament, remorhazes have claimed this glacier as their territory and lay in wait for prey to blindly tread upon the ice under which they sleep...
Will the adventurers free Greta Elfanir and claim the magic sword, Flame Tongue, as their prize? Will they be cooked by the remorhazes' fiery bite or - worse still - free Jötnar and fall to his icy wrath?
F E A T U R E S O F T H E A R E A
Frigga's Lament: This is a sphere of solid ice, a frozen tear fallen from the goddess' own cheek. Because of its particular structure and nature, any heat (e.g. fire damage) applied to it melts it evenly. The sphere has 100 hit points and AC 13 (if trying to hit/affect the thing is in doubt). When it has sustained 50 hit points of damage, Jötnar is freed. Upon sustaining 75 hit points of damage, Greta is freed. After all of its 100 hit points are gone, the tear is completely destroyed and Flame Tongue is released. This is due to the position of these creatures and objects in the ice and assumes a non-surgical approach to extracting them. Normal weapons are of little use in damaging the sphere - magic, magical weapons, or tools are a better option for this task.
If the characters try to carefully chip away at the ice and try to get at Greta or Flame Tongue without releasing Jötnar, call for an ability check based on their approach. It is moderately difficult (DC 15) to free Greta. It is hard (DC 20) to free Flame Tongue. Each of these tasks probably takes a long time and failing the check means Jötnar is accidentally freed. Three or four adventurers with appropriate tools and approaches can work together on this task which makes it a group check with a DC 5 less than the above. In any case, see Complications below.
Ice Tunnels: There are tunnels carved into the ice on either side of the sphere accessible after a 20-foot climb (or drop) down the icy cliffs. (There is no ability check necessary to climb unless the adventurers are under duress.) Both tunnels empty into a cave (not shown on these maps) where the bones and implements of dead adventurers are scattered over the ground or are partially frozen in the ice. Amid blackened bones can be found miner's picks, shovels, and weapons some of which look scorched and melted. Two glowing embers - remorhaz excrement - lay in puddles of warm water. Anyone holding one of these warm pellets has resistance to cold. The excrement has this benefit for about an hour before it is too cool to be of further use.
Careful examination of the contents of this ice cave and its construction may reveal to the adventurers that it is the lair of one or more remorhazes. Characters that make such deductions might recall some useful information about these creatures. They also cannot be surprised by the remorhazes when they make their move. This may or may not call for an Intelligence (Investigation) or Intelligence (Nature) check, if you think the outcome of this exploration is uncertain and you can imagine something interesting happening if they fail. If not, then simply give them the information as a reward for engaging with the exploration pillar.
Trees: These coniferous trees are twice as tall as they are wide and covered in ice and snow.
C O M P L I C A T I O N S
Two young remorhazes (MM page 258) are dormant under the ice and snow, relying upon their tremorsense to alert them to prey mucking about on the surface of the glacier. If the adventurers make noise or create vibrations in some fashion, including but not limited to (say) chipping away at big spheres of ice with metal tools, it draws their attention and they move in to attack.
Something about their odd insectoid brains causes them to prefer crawling over and around Frigga's tear when excited by battle and they do this if there is nothing preventing them and there is a target within their reach. The heat of their bodies can melt the ice. If a remorhaz starts its turn adjacent to Frigga's Lament, it takes 2d6 fire damage. Given enough damage, this may free one or more of the creatures or objects in the sphere. The remorhazes will attack anything within their reach - the adventurers, Greta, Jötnar - without much in the way of discretion.
If Jötnar - an abominable yeti (MM page 306) - is freed, his primary goal is to slay Greta Elfanir if he can. He does this to the exclusion of anything else, turning on others only if he can't get at her in a given turn or she is dead. Jötnar is frightened of fire and howls mightily if he feels the singe of flame. Every time he takes fire damage, he howls as a reaction and it echoes through the mountains like a clap of thunder, threatening to release an avalanche upon the town of Grimfjord far below. After six howls, the snow and ice breaks away from the peaks and swallows Grimfjord whole.
If Greta is freed, she can be of aid to the adventurers even though she is severely weakened. Though she appears as a half-elven warrior-woman, she is actually a deva (MM page 16). She has 34 hit points remaining, cannot move due to frigid limbs and atrophy, and is incapacitated except for being able to use her Healing Touch and Innate Spellcasting. If Greta is convinced that one of the adventurers is worthy due to his or her words or deeds, she can relinquish her connection to Flame Tongue and automatically attune it to the character so that it can be used in the fight.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
And... scene! In this scenario, there are a lot of different things that can happen depending on the players' approach to the situation. It can get hectic fast and there are a lot of things to take into consideration when making decisions about how to deal with complications. If you're a player in this scenario, how would you approach the situation? If you're the DM, how would you present it or what changes would you make?
Constructive feedback is always welcomed. Have fun!
T H E S I T C H
After a long and perilous journey from the town of Grimfjord up the mountain through ice and snow, Ragnar, Hilda, Katla, and Zwerg cautiously approach Frigga's lament where the goddess' favored proxy Greta Elfanir is still frozen in a battle stance with the savage Jötnar. Her prized blade, Flame Tongue, is visible under many feet of ice.
Sometime in antiquity, Greta and Jötnar battled each other on a treacherous glacier. As Jötnar gained the upper hand and Greta saw her death before her, Frigga shed a single tear which fell upon them both, freezing them instantly while keeping them alive in stasis. In Frigga's wisdom, she knew that someday brave heroes of Midgard would come upon this struggle and help her proxy return to the goddess' hall of Fensalir.
In the years since Frigga's lament, remorhazes have claimed this glacier as their territory and lay in wait for prey to blindly tread upon the ice under which they sleep...
Will the adventurers free Greta Elfanir and claim the magic sword, Flame Tongue, as their prize? Will they be cooked by the remorhazes' fiery bite or - worse still - free Jötnar and fall to his icy wrath?
F E A T U R E S O F T H E A R E A
Frigga's Lament: This is a sphere of solid ice, a frozen tear fallen from the goddess' own cheek. Because of its particular structure and nature, any heat (e.g. fire damage) applied to it melts it evenly. The sphere has 100 hit points and AC 13 (if trying to hit/affect the thing is in doubt). When it has sustained 50 hit points of damage, Jötnar is freed. Upon sustaining 75 hit points of damage, Greta is freed. After all of its 100 hit points are gone, the tear is completely destroyed and Flame Tongue is released. This is due to the position of these creatures and objects in the ice and assumes a non-surgical approach to extracting them. Normal weapons are of little use in damaging the sphere - magic, magical weapons, or tools are a better option for this task.
If the characters try to carefully chip away at the ice and try to get at Greta or Flame Tongue without releasing Jötnar, call for an ability check based on their approach. It is moderately difficult (DC 15) to free Greta. It is hard (DC 20) to free Flame Tongue. Each of these tasks probably takes a long time and failing the check means Jötnar is accidentally freed. Three or four adventurers with appropriate tools and approaches can work together on this task which makes it a group check with a DC 5 less than the above. In any case, see Complications below.
Ice Tunnels: There are tunnels carved into the ice on either side of the sphere accessible after a 20-foot climb (or drop) down the icy cliffs. (There is no ability check necessary to climb unless the adventurers are under duress.) Both tunnels empty into a cave (not shown on these maps) where the bones and implements of dead adventurers are scattered over the ground or are partially frozen in the ice. Amid blackened bones can be found miner's picks, shovels, and weapons some of which look scorched and melted. Two glowing embers - remorhaz excrement - lay in puddles of warm water. Anyone holding one of these warm pellets has resistance to cold. The excrement has this benefit for about an hour before it is too cool to be of further use.
Careful examination of the contents of this ice cave and its construction may reveal to the adventurers that it is the lair of one or more remorhazes. Characters that make such deductions might recall some useful information about these creatures. They also cannot be surprised by the remorhazes when they make their move. This may or may not call for an Intelligence (Investigation) or Intelligence (Nature) check, if you think the outcome of this exploration is uncertain and you can imagine something interesting happening if they fail. If not, then simply give them the information as a reward for engaging with the exploration pillar.
Trees: These coniferous trees are twice as tall as they are wide and covered in ice and snow.
C O M P L I C A T I O N S
Two young remorhazes (MM page 258) are dormant under the ice and snow, relying upon their tremorsense to alert them to prey mucking about on the surface of the glacier. If the adventurers make noise or create vibrations in some fashion, including but not limited to (say) chipping away at big spheres of ice with metal tools, it draws their attention and they move in to attack.
Something about their odd insectoid brains causes them to prefer crawling over and around Frigga's tear when excited by battle and they do this if there is nothing preventing them and there is a target within their reach. The heat of their bodies can melt the ice. If a remorhaz starts its turn adjacent to Frigga's Lament, it takes 2d6 fire damage. Given enough damage, this may free one or more of the creatures or objects in the sphere. The remorhazes will attack anything within their reach - the adventurers, Greta, Jötnar - without much in the way of discretion.
If Jötnar - an abominable yeti (MM page 306) - is freed, his primary goal is to slay Greta Elfanir if he can. He does this to the exclusion of anything else, turning on others only if he can't get at her in a given turn or she is dead. Jötnar is frightened of fire and howls mightily if he feels the singe of flame. Every time he takes fire damage, he howls as a reaction and it echoes through the mountains like a clap of thunder, threatening to release an avalanche upon the town of Grimfjord far below. After six howls, the snow and ice breaks away from the peaks and swallows Grimfjord whole.
If Greta is freed, she can be of aid to the adventurers even though she is severely weakened. Though she appears as a half-elven warrior-woman, she is actually a deva (MM page 16). She has 34 hit points remaining, cannot move due to frigid limbs and atrophy, and is incapacitated except for being able to use her Healing Touch and Innate Spellcasting. If Greta is convinced that one of the adventurers is worthy due to his or her words or deeds, she can relinquish her connection to Flame Tongue and automatically attune it to the character so that it can be used in the fight.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
And... scene! In this scenario, there are a lot of different things that can happen depending on the players' approach to the situation. It can get hectic fast and there are a lot of things to take into consideration when making decisions about how to deal with complications. If you're a player in this scenario, how would you approach the situation? If you're the DM, how would you present it or what changes would you make?
Constructive feedback is always welcomed. Have fun!
Last edited by a moderator:
