North by Northwest, Chapter 3: The Winter of Our Discontent

[Bloodweaver1]

Cole Braddock

With a stick, Cole plays with the warm coals of last night fire, hoping he can restart the blaze. Cole looks over to the large warrior when he mentions dreaming of a white tiger, but says nothing. Did we all of the same dream? He turns his attention back to the camp fire and tries to focus more on the dream That sword... Could it be? Could it br my fathers sword?... Finally the flames flicker to life and within a few moments Cole's has his hands out stretch over a warm fire.

 

[Scotley]

Cian

"Strange that a tiger should invade the dreams of many of us. Did everyone dream of a tiger? Perhaps this 'Tiger' is trying to tell us something?"

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Cian's question hangs in the air as you break camp and continue your ascent into the mountains. The paths get steeper and more treacherous, something amplified by the falling snow. Visibility is reduced to maybe a mile, if that, and the sky is a solid, immutable gray when you look up to find the sun. Sometime towards nightfall, you reach the base of the smaller mountains ringing the needle-like peak. Steep, although nowhere near as treacherous as the other, they present a formidable obstacle to even the most experienced mountain climbers.

The plateau you've stopped at is fairly secure (another decent camping site). It's not large, but large enough for your group. Looking around, you notice some small stunted plants and trees, and what appears to be a couple of odd snowdrifts. Closer inspection, however, reveals that these snowdrifts are actually something more sinister. Perhaps a half-dozen dead animals — some ravens, a pair of wolves, and a caribou — lie frozen on the ground, half covered by freshly fallen snow.

 

[Thanee]

Zeegra

“Yes, I also had a dream with a white tiger. It told me, that we were not yet ready, or not yet there. Whatever it means, we will hopefully find out sooner or later. But we should not just disregard these dreams. It surely was no coincidence, which means, that someone or something has sent these dreams with some purpose in mind.”

 

[Starman]

Cellan inspects the animal corpses trying to figure out what they died of.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Cellan: As you get closer to the animals, you feel very cold. Too cold, actually, for the weather and time of year. It is actually painful. [3 cold damage] And then, suddenly, you remember reading about snowflake lichens, a small plant that grows on rocky surfaces and ice and gives off a deadly cold aura. It generally resembles — ah, a quick look at the area, and you can see bits of it here and there — strange patterns of snow crystals. It's hard to spot with the current snowfall, but, once you know it's there, it's unmistakeable, and it clearly killed the animals. You step away from the lichens.

 

[Scotley]

Cian

With a shiver the Dark Elf keeps his distance from the frigid lichen. "Would the caribou make a nice suppliment to our food if we could get it away from the lichen and thaw it out? I fear food will be increasing hard to find in this environment."

 

[Starman]

The druid shivers and wraps his winter cloak tighter around himself. "I would...uh, stay away from lichens like those." He points them out. "They, uhm, can be deadly."

Cellan nods at Cian's suggestion. "It would, uhm, probably require, uh, magical protection, but we should be, uh, able to...do it."

 

[Bloodweaver1]

Cole Braddock

"What if we created some kind of fire? Would that not solve the Lichen problem?" Asks Cole as he looks between the Lichens and the group.

 

[Scotley]

Cian

Cian scratches his chin absently as he considers. "Perhaps I could manage to catch around a leg or horn with my whip without getting too close to the lichen? I would need some help dragging the beast though."
OOC: [sblock]How far from the caribou does the cold extend?[/sblock]