(IC) Quickleaf's Rime of the Frostmaiden

With an energetic flutter of his iridescent wings, Jack takes to the sky, darting over the heads his companions, each beat of his wings leaving a trace of iridescent stardust that glows faintly on the snow. "We can't have you leaving our frosty soiree just yet," Jack taunts, "consider this your personal invitation to chill with us for a bit longer!"

In pursuit of the fleeing crag cat, his tiny hands begin to weave an intricate pattern in the air, their movement synchronized with the beat of his wings. A cadence of fey-touched incantations tumbles from his lips, "Gyafael rhewlifol y gyaeaf!"

Suddenly, the air just ahead of the fleeing crag cat takes on an almost palpable stillness, as a profound rumble resonates from beneath the snow-covered earth. A whirlwind of snowflakes is thrust into the air as if disturbed by an invisible force, swirling in a chaotic dance before giving way to a colossal hand. A manifestation of tightly packed snow, the huge hand gleams under the pallid winter sun, icicles adorning its oversized fingers, hanging like stalactites in a frost-kissed cave. The magical snow-packed hand shows surprising agility as it attempts to enclose the beast in a chilling embrace.

DC12 roll-to-cast for "Winter’s Glacial Grasp" (Maximilian’s Earthen Grasp, reskinned), a level 2 spell = SUCCESS

The crag cat must make a DC15 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 2d6 (rolled 6 damage for this round, intended as NON-LETHAL) bludgeoning damage and is restrained for the spell’s duration (Concentration, up to 1 minute). On subsequent rounds, if still restrained, the cat may again try to break out by using its action to make another DC15 Strength check. On a success, the target escapes and is no longer restrained by the hand.
 
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GM POST

Winging the white-furred cat along its hindquarter with the bolt, Lumrolur can see Jack take off along the bolt's flight path trailing frost behind him.

Just as the whirlwind of snowflakes erupts around the crag cat, its fur instinctively rustles, creating a thin pocket of air just above the surface of its fur, causing the whirlwind to slipstream around it. Rising into the air, the whirlwind engulfs Jack, turning his spell back on him! The huge wintery hand passes through the crag cat as if the hand were made of vapor, before hurtling upward toward Jack!

GM: Crag Cat (AC 13, hp 22)

Lumrolur had 12 Stealth to hide from last round, but crag cat's passive Perception is 14, so no advantage & no sneak attack damage.

crag cat DC 15 Strength save vs winters glacial grasp: 2D20.HIGH(1)+3 = [15, 6]+3 = 18 succeeds, Spell Turning

@Aethmud You must make a DC 15 Strength save against your own spell! This is especially dangerous because, if you are restrained (which reduces speed to 0) you can no longer fly...

PHB p191: "If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or is being held aloft by magic, such as the fly spell."

...so you'd ALSO fall 30 feet if you were to fail the save!

If anyone who has not acted yet this round wishes to act, go ahead.
 

As the wintry hand misses the crag cat and starts to ascend towards him, Jack finds himself momentarily stunned. For a split second, he is engulfed by his own conjuration, the icy grip of the colossal hand threatening to swaddle him in its snowy grasp.


However, Jack is no stranger to magic's unpredictable whims. With a swift beat of his wings, he musters all his fairy strength, erupting from the icy grasp in a spectacle of glinting snowflakes and shimmering magic, the frosty air around him twinkling with the residual glow of his fairy dust. "Well, wasn't that a chilly turnaround?!" Jack chuckles. "Seems this cat fancies a game of freeze tag. Can't deny that was more refreshing than your usual snowball flight!"
 

GM POST

Catching your breaths, you watch the last of the crag cats bound down the slope, disappearing into the cold night. Two fresh crag cat corpses lay on the snow stained with small patches of blood.

Garrett.jpg
Rising to his feet with a grunt and an arm braced against the rock, Garret Velryn offers gruff thanks to Logrim and Jack for healing him, "I wouldn't have made it till morning without your aid. Thank you. Did you lead them to me, did you, Boy?" He pats the grey sled dog on the head, as Boy pushes up against Garret's legs like two long-lost friends reunited. "And thank you for trusting in Boy."

Nodding towards the faint trail ascending the mountain, he starts to take a step in that direction, but his leg gives out, and he leans back to brace against the rock, shivering. "My three charges – we were separated when the yeti attacked. I tried to lead it away, idiot that I am. But we can't leave them along. The goliath Mokingo Akannathi is sturdy enough, but the halfling Perilou Fishfinger and the tiefling Astrix weren't built for the hardships of the Cairn... I can't abandon them to their fate..."

"Do you have water?"
he asks with a strained voice.
 


Zeth nods to Garret.

"Your dog was definitely a good investment on your part. Loyalty can be worth as much as gold. Speaking of which-"

Zeth points at the crag cats with one hand while motioning to the rest of the party with the other.

"-do any of you know what those things are? Spells seemed not to affect them, but they died normally to weapons. Their fur will definitely fetch a good price, but if we can identify them we could determine if any of their other parts are valuable."

The Warlock considers further.

"At the very least we could have the fur made into a pair of coats to keep warm . Do any of you know how to skin animals, if we do it here we'll have less weight to carry back. I wonder if the spell-deflection magic is internal or would also be in the hide..."

Zeth trails off as Garret keeps speaking.

"Considering the state we found you in are you sure they're alive? How far were they from here? With the beasts around here it's unlikely that-wait, you said a yeti? Those are big, humanoid, horned things, right? I think I saw one before the avalanche."

So there's at least one crag cat and one yeti nearby, and likely far more in the wider area.

There's no good option here. If they take Garret and the crag cats back now Garret's companions will definitely be dead. But if they go after Garret's companions now they'll be lugging the half-dead man and two large bodies with them and risk losing both the man they'd already rescued and all potential for profit from this venture.

And they still had to hunt down and kill the serial killing Auril cultist.

This was all going to get worse before it got better, wasn't it? At least there'd be gold at the end of it if they survived.
 

Zeth nods to Garret.

"Your dog was definitely a good investment on your part. Loyalty can be worth as much as gold. Speaking of which-"

Zeth points at the crag cats with one hand while motioning to the rest of the party with the other.

"-do any of you know what those things are? Spells seemed not to affect them, but they died normally to weapons. Their fur will definitely fetch a good price, but if we can identify them we could determine if any of their other parts are valuable."

The Warlock considers further.

"At the very least we could have the fur made into a pair of coats to keep warm . Do any of you know how to skin animals, if we do it here we'll have less weight to carry back. I wonder if the spell-deflection magic is internal or would also be in the hide..."

Zeth trails off as Garret keeps speaking.

"Considering the state we found you in are you sure they're alive? How far were they from here? With the beasts around here it's unlikely that-wait, you said a yeti? Those are big, humanoid, horned things, right? I think I saw one before the avalanche."

So there's at least one crag cat and one yeti nearby, and likely far more in the wider area.

There's no good option here. If they take Garret and the crag cats back now Garret's companions will definitely be dead. But if they go after Garret's companions now they'll be lugging the half-dead man and two large bodies with them and risk losing both the man they'd already rescued and all potential for profit from this venture.

And they still had to hunt down and kill the serial killing Auril cultist.

This was all going to get worse before it got better, wasn't it? At least there'd be gold at the end of it if they survived.
Garrett.jpg
Gratefully taking two swigs of the firebrandy, Garret hands it back to Russet with a wince. "Ufff, strong."

Nodding to Zeth, the exhausted mountain guide slaps his gloved hands together, trying to warm up, "You didn't leave me for dead. I can't leave them for dead." He states matter of factly, a hardened look to his jaw - the kind of man who'd push himself to exhaustion, potentially endangering your expedition having to look after him as well. "There's a cliff a little ways to the west, with an ice slope just beyond it. We were attacked by the yeti at the top of the ice slope, and I led it away while they ascended..." Grimacing with one hand over the partially healed wound, no longer bleeding, he offers a dry joke, "...seemed like a smart idea at the time. Aye, that's a yeti alright."

Squinting at the dead white great cats, he nods in recognition, "Crag cats. Their yowling fools newer guides. Sound like travelers in distress. Usually they're found further east, but with the Everlasting Rime, they've migrated westward following the elk herds."
 

Aric reverts to goblin form. “Hi Garret, I’m Aric. Nice to meet you. I can skin the cats, it shouldn’t take too long if I have some help. I would’t mind a coat myself, but I’ll need to do that another time. Before I start, let me warm the place up a bit, it’s chilly, and it’ll help with predators .”

Once done he takes a breather to warm his hands.

OOC: Aric casts create bond fire for some warmth and light. He then proceeds to do a rough skin job on the cats, and bundles the pelts for easy transport. Someone other than Aric will need to carry them.

I’m assuming a 10 minute rest after for Aric
 

Garrett.jpg
Gratefully taking two swigs of the firebrandy, Garret hands it back to Russet with a wince. "Ufff, strong."

Nodding to Zeth, the exhausted mountain guide slaps his gloved hands together, trying to warm up, "You didn't leave me for dead. I can't leave them for dead." He states matter of factly, a hardened look to his jaw - the kind of man who'd push himself to exhaustion, potentially endangering your expedition having to look after him as well. "There's a cliff a little ways to the west, with an ice slope just beyond it. We were attacked by the yeti at the top of the ice slope, and I led it away while they ascended..." Grimacing with one hand over the partially healed wound, no longer bleeding, he offers a dry joke, "...seemed like a smart idea at the time. Aye, that's a yeti alright."

Squinting at the dead white great cats, he nods in recognition, "Crag cats. Their yowling fools newer guides. Sound like travelers in distress. Usually they're found further east, but with the Everlasting Rime, they've migrated westward following the elk herds."

Alma rubs her forehead, pushing hair out of her face as she follows Garret's line of sight to the ice shelf in the distance. Her eyes narrow, trying to mentally calculate the distance. "How long ago was the attack? How long have you been separated from them?"

(survival check to try and gauge the distance/how long it would take to get there?)
 

Alma rubs her forehead, pushing hair out of her face as she follows Garret's line of sight to the ice shelf in the distance. Her eyes narrow, trying to mentally calculate the distance. "How long ago was the attack? How long have you been separated from them?"

(survival check to try and gauge the distance/how long it would take to get there?)
Garrett.jpg
Thin streams of air fog around his beard as Garret speaks with difficulty, "Yesterday... I... it's hard to say when exactly... the days and nights blur together in this endless winter."

GM: Judging from what you can see of the nighttime terrain, the ice shelf/cliff is probably no more than a half-mile, 10 or 15 minutes away.
 

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