D&D 5E (IC) Rise of the Dracolich

[gargoyleking]

"He's been spotted in Luskan Mi'lord!"

"Oh, just what I need... Please tell me he didn't cause any trouble this time..."

"Well, at least there were no bodies in the streets. Which is a miracle, considering the place in question."

"GOOD! Good... Wait, 'at least'?"

"Er, yeah... our spies report that he's with a group of adventurers who went for a visit to the Arcane Brotherhood there. He even went so far as to ride a Nightmare up to the place. Even the dwarves let them use their bridge without so much as asking for a toll."

"Sounds just like something he would do. Well, if that's the worst of it, I'll be happy to leave it at that for now..."

"If only it was so, mi'lord. Alas, he showed up in the shipyards later and tricked a merchant into selling several tons of copper sheeting to a trading company they were specifically barred from dealing with via contractual obligation...."

A moment's hesitation later. "...And he used his true face to do it, mi'lord."

"WHAT?!?! This is just what I need! The king is already breathing down my neck on this issue! Do we know their destination at least?"

"No mi'lord, we haven't been able to get a spy into the Arcane Brotherhood as of yet. And their wards make it impossible to scry upon. They did leave upon the galley 'Frostskimmr' they arrived on. The ship was heading north, at last report."

"I see. Damn that insolent little bastards eyes! Find him! I want a word with my son."

 

[Ancalagon]

Kalorn did not flinch from the cold, nor the rowing. Let them think it was because he was tough, or spell-bound... it was true wasn't it? No need to boast of the sword's protective magic. Still... He had to admit, this was a fierce environment. He checked on the others to make sure they were coping with the cold ok - particularly Lorenn, who he suspected would make jokes and freeze solid instead of admitting there was a problem. They were going to need that fool to scout ahead damn it.

He gladly accepted the northerner's hospitality. Food, this far north, and shelter? Goatmeat was a king's feast in this place. He hoped the others understood the gesture. So it was worth a tale.

"So a few years ago, I was ranging with this dwarf, Tarkol. The road north of Archendale had been plagued by trolls, and there was a hefty bounty. We had a routine - track it, kill it, burn it down. One of us would keep hacking at it while the other prepared a bonfire. This worked great until we found this big great one, a vicious bastard. He grabbed Tarkol and snapped his neck, he was so strong. But he was greedy - he leaned down to take a bite out of poor Tarkol, exposing his neck, and I lopped that troll's head clean off. Not sure I would have managed otherwise.

It wasn't bad enough that Tarkol was dead - a good companion *and* he owed me money. Now I had to make a fire to burn that troll and keep it down at the same time! I must have killed that thing 50 times before I finally managed to gather enough wood for a fire. By the time I was done my sword was notched and bent. I buried Tarkol and took the troll's skull back to Archendale. When they saw how big it was, they gave me a new sword.

So that's how I lost my dwarven friend and killed 3 trolls... or 53, depending how you count. And that's why I never leave home without alchemist's fire"

He emptied his cup to conclude the tale.

 

[gargoyleking]

"One should never be without a vial." Mord agreed. He had some squirreled away himself. He did spend some time in attempting to entertain their hosts by making small objects float around and creating small immobile illusions.

 

[Prickly Pear]

I heard that acid is also good for killing trolls, Sesto added. At least I hope so. I have not yet encountered such a beast.
I brought a couple of vials... should be enough, I think.

 

[Fradak]

"One should never be without his Kalorn. For the blanket and the Alchemist's fire.

And since you are evoking monster stories, I have a good one. Some of you remember SnorLoska. One day I told him what I've heard about Hydra meat, after we killed one.

When you cut off a hydra's head, two heads grow, right? It seems it has some latent magical energy in it, even after the hydra dies. It tastes absolutely vile, but eating it grants a very small amount of health regeneration, and apparently, this is a permanent effect. Eating hydra meat more than once makes the regenerative effect more potent.
However, the magic is unstable. In some cases, someone who eats hydra meat will have a hydra grow inside them, which eventually bursts out in a tangle of ribs and gore, killing the host. The kicker is that, while eating more hydra meat gives you more regeneration, it also increases your chance of getting a live hydra in your guts- exponentially. Of course The smart guy would just eat all the hydra meat they could find. Hoping that with enough regen they can survive the hydra bursting through their chest.

I wish you were there to see an orc turn white while spitting out the meat!"

During the night, Lorenn warms people's hearts with one of his favorite song.

OOC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmZVQmxrwx0

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Every important person in the village was there for the feast. It wasn't a large population and they enjoyed the stories very much. They considered enjoyment of a story to be an activity in itself and they listened and reacted, even if the story was not particularly well-told.

The following morning as the Frostskimmr prepared to put to sea, the village turned out to wave them off and the Chief presented Imani's Agents with finely-made sealskin cloaks and a set of whalebone and driftwood framed snowshoes. The weather was warmer than it had been the day before and the wind was fair to travel north. Captain Lerustah Half-Face set the course for Oyaviggaton, and within a few hours, they were working their way through ice-floes and up cracks in the great ice-sheets that seemed like rivers, though they were still far out to sea.

An hour later, they came to what seemed to the southerner's to be an impossible obstacle: The two large icebergs that they had been moving between were frozen together, becoming one in a snow-filled valley. Scouts climbed one of the icy cliffs to have a look, and the sea could be seen again a mile away through the frozen valley. It was then that Captain Half-Face gave orders that the southerners found astonishing: the crew unloaded the stores onto sleds and dragged the Frostskimmr out of the water and onto the ice.

"It will be faster than going around," laughed Loklafd, "But it will take some time. As we are not needed for this task, I suggest we scout the way - and we can have a look around as we do."

 

[tglassy]

“Out of curiosity, how much does the boat weigh?” Primus asked, a curious look on his face.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

"Even with all of our stores and some of the ballast out, still she weighs seven or eight tons." answered Loklafd, "But she slides like a sled on her keel."

Twenty of the largest men formed two lines of ten and hauled large ropes in front of the bow. When the ship was fully free of the water, ten more of the crew (a few of these were women) pushed from behind and the ship slowly slid up the bank toward the frozen pass. The remaining crew hauled the cargo on sleds and the Frostkimmr was moving again, at a surprisingly reasonable pace.

 

[Ancalagon]

"Impressive" said Kalorn.

He looked around at the desolate, wintry surface of the glacier. He hoped the dragon couldn't hear the rumble of the ship on ice at a great distance - would the sound carry?

"Well, I suppose we should press on ahead and scout. I don't think my bat will fare well in this weather. Lorenn, what about your familiar?"

 

[Fradak]

"Mmh?" Comfortably seated in a pile of sealskin, Lorenn opened an eye. Still under the influence of local substances he consumed last night, he looked around to understand the situation then stood up. After some stretching, he said "Ok, I got this."

He whistle through his teeth and his board landed at his feet. He wrapped himself in a couple of skins and sat cross-legged on the board, with a cup of hot beverage in his hands.
*slurp*
"Be right back."
*slurp*

Slowly, to not spill the drink, the board rose up in the airs and left the Frostskimmr before taking some speed. At a hundred feet, without warning, Lorenn and his board vanished in the blue sky.

OOC: Lorenn speed is 50ft/round. He uses his bonus action to dash, that's 100 ft/round. He flights in straight line at 300 ft high, concentrating on a spherical illusion displaying blue sky from under and ice from the top. When he reaches the end of the iceberg, he circles back to the ship. Speed: 1000 ft/min 1 Mile = 5280 ft. Duration of the illusion: 10 minutes. He should be able do the trip with one spell, appearing only when approaching the ship. Silent Image:[..]You can use your action to cause the image to move to any spot in range. As the image changes location, you can alter its appearance so that its movements appear natural for the image.[..] Perception: 2D20.HIGH(1)+3 = [11, 13]+3 = 16