The Fey, the Far, and the Ugly Space In Between

[Manbearcat]

During the hour of wait, the barbarian clan's slaves (including the refugee family) prepare for the hard journey to come. They each in turn try on the various boots and heavy cloaks to each find something relatively fitting. The mother helps the boy with the effort and ties his scarf lovingly around his neck, covering his mouth and nose. By the time Three Bird arrives, roughly an hour later, everyone is as ready to go as they're going to get.

When Three Bird arrives, he announces that he has communed with the Elder Spirits that bind the land, the air, the sea, and all the elements of this world. They sponsor your mission. He does two things:

1) He provides you with 1d8 (one of you roll the dice) magically enchanted Goodberries.

[sblock]Enchant 1d8 berries with life and growth until you next Commune. When consumed, each heals 1 hit point.[/sblock]

2) He anoints both of your foreheads with the same sacred earth that you used to perform the ritual to enter the Spirit Realm Saerie. An evocation later and you can both feel latent, primal power coursing through your very being.

[sblock]You both get 1 preparation, as per the Bolster move, to spend as you like.[/sblock]

Also, when Three Bird returns, I want to talk to him about possibly using the Spirit Realm as a means to access this tower pocket dimension without having to endure this ritual.

"I suppose it may be possible, but I am not equipped with the understanding of planar magic to say on way or the other. You remember the ritual that Wondering Wolf, showed you, yes? If you do decide to attempt this, seek out the elder spirit of the mountain. You must prove your worth to him for him to reveal himself to you."

Just FYI - logistically this would involve:

1) Time that you have precious little of. Recall that the journey here took from the break of dawn to the tail end of the morning. There wouldn't be any option of going there and coming back if it doesn't work out. Further...

2) It would involve Undertaking a Perilous Journey (without Three Bird). A complication on Trailblazing or Scout could prove costly.

I wonder if Three Bird could send one of his peregrine falcons to Averandox's lair with a dire message from me? I'm going to ask him about it and see what he says.

"If you write a message to the dragon, I could have one of my falcons bring it to him. It would take some time for the flight, especially in these harsh winds, but my falcon could make the trip. Whether or not The Frozen Wind of the North would heed your call is anyone's guess. He is a fickle master of these lands and does as he pleases."

FYI -

[sblock]If you go this route, you're looking at a world move. Roll 2d6 and I'll give you a + 1 for your alliance with him. Results would be:

10+ he shows up and in time
7-9 he shows up bit a bit late
6- he is angered by your impudence and seeks retribution at a later date...should you survive the encounter with the Blood Queen of course![/sblock]

Finally, just so it is also clear:

a) Going into the tower (not wilderness) means Lucky is dismissed back to the Spirit Realm.

b) All of your allies can go with you into the tower and the Spirit Realm.

 

[Binks]

I stare hard at nothing for a minute, looking inside myself, my fingers absent-mindedly stroking Lucky's barely substantial fur. I want Lucky by our side during this. My eyes snap back into focus and I turn to Otthor.

"If we get up the mountain as quickly as possible, we can prepare the battlefield in our favor. I can sweep the surrounding area for any animals that The Blood Queen might mutate and turn against us. It is very remote territory so there won't be much up there. Possibly a snow leopard den or a large avian predator's nest. We can trap them and displace them away from this area for the time being. If they don't cooperate, they will have to be slain unfortunately. It is a better fate than being turned into a mutated aberration and then being slain by us...or slaying us.

If the dragon comes to our aid, great. If not, so be it. I like our chances here, with Lucky aiding us. What do you think, Otthor?"


Before Three Bird takes all of the Coldland and World's End Refugees, I'm going to hand him a short letter that I worked up while I waited for Otthor's return. The letter is addressed to Master-At-Arms Kinsman. He is of Giliad's bloodline and is the primary authority figure of the settlement of Giliad's Rest. He sponsored our mission to investigate the absence of communication with World's End. The letter briefly describes what has happened here and why all of these refugees are pouring down from the Coldlands and into Giliad's Rest. It beseeches him to take these people in, fortify the settlement's defenses, dispatch a rider to warn all the settlements in the area, and prepare for conflict with aberrations from the Far Realm should Otthor and I fall.

"When you arrive at the gates, make sure the refugee family from World's End is front and center to remove any misperception that you are an invading force. They will be familiar faces to whatever guards greet you so you should face no hostilities. Give this letter to them and bid them to give it to Master-At-Arms Kinsman. Make sure to tell them it is from Saerie Woodwalker. That will confirm the urgency of the situation. I have sent missives to Master-At-Arms Kinsman so he is familiar with my hand."

I thank him for his primal evocations and bid him good luck in his difficult journey down the mountain. I do not envy him. I fear their road may prove more difficult than our own.

 

[Tecklenburg]

My eyes snap back into focus and I turn to Otthor.

"If we get up the mountain as quickly as possible, we can prepare the battlefield in our favor. I can sweep the surrounding area for any animals that The Blood Queen might mutate and turn against us. It is very remote territory so there won't be much up there. Possibly a snow leopard den or a large avian predator's nest. We can trap them and displace them away from this area for the time being. If they don't cooperate, they will have to be slain unfortunately. It is a better fate than being turned into a mutated aberration and then being slain by us...or slaying us.

If the dragon comes to our aid, great. If not, so be it. I like our chances here, with Lucky aiding us. What do you think, Otthor?"

[sblock]Full disclosure here and this is not a joke. I was initially going to type..."I stuff the Bundle of Arrows into Saerie's quiver"...errrr...[/sblock]

From my quiver, I remove the Bundle of Arrows I retrieved from the other cave. With an agreeing nod, I hand them to Saerie and say "I like our chances here as well."

[sblock]3 Ammo to Saerie[/sblock]

I work quickly to scrawl a message to Averandox on some parchment telling him of The Blood Queen's imminent arrival at the tower and her threat to his domain. I ask Saerie for her almost-empty coin-purse as I lost mine right before the fall into the crevasse. I empty her few coins and hand them to her. I then place the message in the sack along with the magical monocle that he gave me, thus proving that the message is from me. I pull the strings to close the purse and hand it to Three Bird so he can give it to one of his falcon's and send it southward toward the dragon's lair.

I thank the men who helped make this possible, Three Bird and the hunters, and complement them on their bravery. Finally, I turn to Saerie, Exel, Xanob, Rawr, and Lucky. "If I am to die today, it could be in no better company. Let us go to our victory or our doom my friends." I turn to go, stop, and then turn back to them with a wry smile. "But why don't we just go ahead and make it victory, yes?"

 

[Manbearcat]

The cold, the wind, the snow, and the twilight gloom authored by the sun-obscuring clouds makes for a miserable, treacherous trek up the otherwise hospitable trail. But an hour into your efforts up the winding trail, that "otherwise hospitable trail" ends abruptly. When the earlier avalanches were triggered, it must have loosed massive snow, rock, and ice-deposits all over the mountain. Before you lies a similar hazard that you left at the pass into this highland realm at the beginning of your journey. Huge, towering chunks of the frozen mountain render the way forward a possibility only for the most committed, the most proficient climbers...and then only those of a reckless disposition. A 60 foot vertical ascent of shifting ice, snow and earth.

But the mountains shaking revealed the same as it obscured. Not far from where the trail ends, an ancient cavern, walls of hewn ice, greets the open sky for the first time in perhaps centuries. Rather than downward into the bowels, its path pitches upward toward the peak of the mountain...and out of the freezing, oppressive cold...

EDIT - Oh forgot to include the below move. Roll it at the beginning of the encounter with the Blood Queen:

[sblock]When you send an urgent missive to Averandox about the Far Realm apocalypse about to come down upon his domain, roll + 1. On a:

10+ he shows up and in time
7-9 he shows up but a bit late
6- he is angered by your impudence and seeks retribution at a later date...should you survive the encounter with the Blood Queen of course![/sblock]

 

[Binks]

The cold, the wind, the snow, and the twilight gloom authored by the sun-obscuring clouds makes for a miserable, treacherous trek up the otherwise hospitable trail. But an hour into your efforts up the winding trail, that "otherwise hospitable trail" ends abruptly. When the earlier avalanches were triggered, it must have loosed massive snow, rock, and ice-deposits all over the mountain. Before you lies a similar hazard that you left at the pass into this highland realm at the beginning of your journey. Huge, towering chunks of the frozen mountain render the way forward a possibility only for the most committed, the most proficient climbers...and then only those of a reckless disposition. A 60 foot vertical ascent of shifting ice, snow and earth.

But the mountains shaking revealed the same as it obscured. Not far from where the trail ends, an ancient cavern, walls of hewn ice, greets the open sky for the first time in perhaps centuries. Rather than downward into the bowels, its path pitches upward toward the peak of the mountain...and out of the freezing, oppressive cold...

I stare up at the towering, trail-obscuring remains of the avalanche. Over my shoulder, I say to Otthor "...hand me that ice-axe and those crampons that you retrieved from the cave - 1 AG. I'm going to explore this and see if I can find a relatively safe way around or over this for us. Take Exel and Xanob with you to investigate the cave. See what is in the immediate surroundings and if there is any evidence of air-flow leading deeper in. That would mean that there is a point of egress somewhere up top."

Once Otthor hands me the mountaineering gear, I'm going to stoop down to Lucky and speak so he can understand me. "Do you see anything that I don't see, boy?"

I'm looking for any evidence that this is unstable and ready to go at any time. I'm looking for loose areas of debris that indicate trying to transit that area is foolhardy. I'm looking for any navigable areas that are well-packed and aren't too terribly steep.

[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
3, 4 + 2 (+1 for Lucky) = 10

3 questions and + 1 forward when acting on their answers.

* What is about to happen?
* What should I be on the lookout for?
* What here is useful or valuable to me?[/sblock]

As a bear, Rawr is a natural climber. If we can find a way forward, I'll likely have him lead the climb, using him as the anchor with rope tying each of us to his huge mass.

 

[Tecklenburg]

I stare up at the towering, trail-obscuring remains of the avalanche. Over my shoulder, I say to Otthor "...hand me that ice-axe and those crampons that you retrieved from the cave - 1 AG. I'm going to explore this and see if I can find a relatively safe way around or over this for us. Take Exel and Xanob with you to investigate the cave. See what is in the immediate surroundings and if there is any evidence of air-flow leading deeper in. That would mean that there is a point of egress somewhere up top."

I reach in my pack for the mountaineering supplies that Saerie has requested and hand them over to her. "Be careful."

[sblock]- 1 AG. 2 AG left.[/sblock]

I then dutifully go about the task that she has set before me. I grab Exel and Xanob and we head to the opening of the ancient cavern with the walls of hewn ice. As I do so, I thumb through my pack for a tendertwig, not striking it yet but having it ready to go should I need it.

Per Manbearcat
When you arrive at the entrance, the musty smell of "old" assails your olfactory sense. The ice that shattered from the mighty shaking of the mountain was clearly not the design of nature. The edges were far too perfect. The thickness of the barrier far too uniform.

Someone sealed this place up.

Immediately inside are bones of a period long ago. Small bones. With a skull the same shape of Exel and Xanob. This goblin is still clutching the implement of his own demise; a nasty looking curved blade. The nasty pock mark into his upper spinal column tells a grisly tale. He must have jabbed at his own jugular and bled out quickly after losing consciousness.

His adornments are spartan. The only thing of note is a satchel. Its contents have half-spilled out onto the floor; two glorious pieces of the same ice-blue crystalline ore that the Braelani's staff and the Fey Knight's sword were smithed from.

Someone closed this place from the outside and this trapped goblin took his own life. And in a big, damn hurry it looks like. That doesn't bode well.

I look at Exel and Xanob with a raised eyebrow. I reach down, grab the two pieces of ore and put them in my pack. "Be on your guard" as I step over the dead. The light of my sword leads us down the tunnel. I'm looking for branching where one tunnel ascends versus the other, light, or the whistling sound of the wind. We step lightly and keep our eyes and ears peeled.

Per Manbearcat
The tunnel bends and ascends subtly and the same scene plays itself several paces in. Another dead goblin, life snuffed by his own hand. Another few pieces of ore.

Not far from that spot, the tunnel forks. The right fork inclines sharply, leading skyward but into the deep dark. The left stays at the same subtle ascension that you've been traveling. However, you can see a small glowing mote on the stone floor, the result of light beaming down from above as the horizontal tunnel opens up into a vertical shaft. A ramp spirals up the vertical shaft beyond your sight-line.

Something unseen in the vertical shaft moves in front of the source of the mote, blotting it out momentarily...

Lets pick this up tomorrow.

 

[Tecklenburg]

I look back at Exel and Xanob and give them the palm of the hand and finger to my lips signal indicating stay here and keep quiet. I sheathe my blade to momentarily douse the light it produces and slink forward against the wall like a shadow. I need to get a look up that shaft and see what is producing that light…and what it obscuring it…without being noticed…

[sblock]Defy Danger (Dex)
1, 5 + 2 = 8

Success but a worse outcome, hard bargain, or ugly choice.[/sblock]

Per Manbearcat
You stealthily move forward in the pitch dark, carefully feeling with your feet for any loose bones or debris that would give you away. You find some but you do not disturb them. As you draw near the edge of the vertical shaft so you can get a peak skyward, the very minor illumination of the mote of light on the ground returns. As it does, it reveals to you a scant few fresh snowflakes. However, simultaneously, your ears pick up the sound of tap, tap, tap on the stone floor of the gloom-bound ascending fork in the tunnel that is now behind you. Something is coming. Quickly. And it is not small.

You can stick your head out and take a quick peak above, but if you do, whatever it is that is coming will be upon you...

My hands knit a symbol and a hushed word later...

[sblock]Cast a Spell (Int) Invisibility on me
6, 3 + 3 = 12

Nobody can see you. You're invisible! The spell persists until the target attacks or you dismiss the effect. While the spell is ongoing, you can't cast another spell.[/sblock]

I flatten myself against the wall, doing my best to avoid the thing that is coming...

Per Manbearcat
You pull a Bilbo in the Mirkwood.

A huge, blue-white spider, filling most of the proportions of the cavern, skitters down the stone pathway with wrapped prey in its pedipalps. You disappear right as it comes into view. The cold coming off the thing is extremely intense. As it passes within arms reach you momentarily feel like you're naked, after you've been doused with water, freezing in the snow landscape outside.

With typical spider agility, it navigates the abrupt shift from horizontal to vertical.

If you want to attack it, you can certainly pull out your glowing sword and automatically deal your damage.

Negative. I'm just going to watch it go by, wait for it to ascend into the shaft and then see what I might see. Obviously with the snowflakes on the ground it opens up to the sky at the top of the shaft. Let me know what I see.

Per Manbearcat
Very well.

The shaft is a perfect cylinder, perhaps 20 ft diameter. The ramp spirals at a gentle grade all the way to the top.

The webs begin within arms reach and continue upward, zigging and zagging in a beautiful pattern, all the way to the top, some 150 feet above, where it opens up into the artificial twilight brought on by the overcast sky.

You count three of the huge "ice-spiders" lairing together in these webs. Amongst them is a brood of small hatchlings, perhaps a dozen or so.

The source of the illumination is plain to see. Perhaps halfway up, there is figure that was cocooned and sucked dry long, long ago. Its cocoon has fallen away and the fine elven chain armor that once housed the body is still in pristine condition. On the belt is a stoppered potion. Next to the remains, forever trapped in the webbing, lies a beautiful elven sword looking strikingly similar to the Fey Knight's that you dispatched in the frozen peat bog. The blade is blue and emits an eerie, luminescence of like color. The webbing has refracted the light and finally focused it in the middle circle of the lower webs, emptying it out in the mote that you see on the ground.

The huge spider hefts its fresh, fully woven kill onto the webbing far up in the shaft. The spiderlings ravenously descend upon it...

...yeah...

I ever so quietly slink out of their, invisibility still intact. When I get near the entrance where Exel and Xanob are, I speak to them and tell them not to be afraid. We need to report back to Saerie immediately with our findings. Beyond the way up and treasure that we've found, that many large predators up here must mean that there is more life around here than we initially thought. Our task of clearing out the wildlife in the immediate area around the tower, so they can't be mutated by the Blood Queen, might be more intensive than we had originally thought.

 

[Manbearcat]

I'm looking for any evidence that this is unstable and ready to go at any time. I'm looking for loose areas of debris that indicate trying to transit that area is foolhardy. I'm looking for any navigable areas that are well-packed and aren't too terribly steep.

[sblock]Discern Realities (Wis)
3, 4 + 2 (+1 for Lucky) = 10

3 questions and + 1 forward when acting on their answers.

* What is about to happen?
* What should I be on the lookout for?
* What here is useful or valuable to me?[/sblock]

As a bear, Rawr is a natural climber. If we can find a way forward, I'll likely have him lead the climb, using him as the anchor with rope tying each of us to his huge mass.

1) A series of boulders are chaotically strewn about near the terminating point of the avalanche's leading edge (not far from you). These hold up a mass of heavy snowpack that would all but love to continue its onward march down the mountain. Perturbing even one of these boulders would trigger a continuance of this mass, thus leaving the trail above you a mess, but a passable one.

2) A dark shape cuts an ominous figure against the overcast sky. Wings unfurled with a span of some 20-30 feet. Draconic body terminating in a tail with a massive stinger. The hunting wyvern banks left and out of your sight-line, obviously hunting the upper peak territory or perhaps making a go for the lower slopes on the opposite side where wild goat are sure to congregate.

3) The mass of earthen debris, snow, and ice is funneled exclusively through the winding depression of the pass. Flanking either side is a hard climb, meandering between 50 to 75 degrees of slick slope. The left flank of the escarpment is mostly bereft of good handholds. The right-side is strewn with random boulders jutting out from the face. Speaking of "anchoring with a rope", one boulder in particular, near the top where things level out, is like a pointed like a dull spike on a stegasaur's tail. It would readily accept a tied rope.

 

[Binks]

The mass of earthen debris, snow, and ice is funneled exclusively through the winding depression of the pass. Flanking either side is a hard climb, meandering between 50 to 75 degrees of slick slope. The left flank of the escarpment is mostly bereft of good handholds. The right-side is strewn with random boulders jutting out from the face. Speaking of "anchoring with a rope", one boulder in particular, near the top where things level out, is like a pointed like a dull spike on a stegasaur's tail. It would readily accept a tied rope.

I pat Lucky on the head and stand up. A walk over to the climb that awaits on me on the right flank of the overrun trail. Just out of habit, I rub my hands together and give them a clap. Even though I know this will mostly be hand-climbing, I put the ice-axe on my belt nonetheless...in case things go wobbly on me. I sit on a rock and tie both crampons to the bottom of my boots. I rise and test my spiked feet on the icy wall. They stick firmly. Good. One deep breath later, I look up at the icy, rock-covered slope and say "...here we go."

[sblock]To expedite things, let us just say that Otthor gave me the rope that was secured in the barbarian settlement. I'm sure he would have turned that over to me as well.That will be 2 AG to me.[/sblock]

[sblock]Defy Danger (Str)
6, 4 + 0 (+ 1 AG and + 1 DR) = 12[/sblock]

The climb is arduous and taxing, but I'm more than up to the task. When I reach the very large, pointed boulder near the top, I pull myself up and sit atop it. I pull the rope out of my pack and fashion a knot sufficient to hold the weight of a grown man. When finished, I loop it around the end of the stone and pull it back to a point where the stone breaks inward, which will serve to anchor it. I then yank the slack tight, securing it in place. I then drop the rope the 60 feet to the landing below.

[sblock]Spending that second AG so everyone can safely climb up without any danger. Rawr can climb on his own and Lucky can be tied via the rope, harness-style, and hand-hauled up. How much can a spirit-dog weigh![/sblock]

I suspect Otthor and the goblins will be arriving soon if he hasn't arrived already. Obviously I won't be able to see him so I'll wait for him to spot me up top and call to me. When he does, I'll tell him of the Wyvern I saw hunting the peak of the mountain.

 

[Tecklenburg]

When Three Bird arrives, he announces that he has communed with the Elder Spirits that bind the land, the air, the sea, and all the elements of this world. They sponsor your mission. He does two things:

1) He provides you with 1d8 (one of you roll the dice) magically enchanted Goodberries.

[sblock]Enchant 1d8 berries with life and growth until you next Commune. When consumed, each heals 1 hit point.[/sblock]

We forgot to do this before so I'll take care of it now.

[sblock]1d8 Goodberries. Rolled 4.[/sblock]

Saerie can have all of the Goodberries.

I suspect Otthor and the goblins will be arriving soon if he hasn't arrived already. Obviously I won't be able to see him so I'll wait for him to spot me up top and call to me. When he does, I'll tell him of the Wyvern I saw hunting the peak of the mountain.

When I return with Exel and Xanob, Saerie will be sitting on the boulder up top, knotting the rope to anchor it to the large rock for our climb up to her. I'll walk to the base of the severely pitched slope and greet her. I'll tell her what I've found down below. Once I do so, I'll say "I get the impression that this site may have been a mine where the Winter Fey harvested the ores for their weapons. The goblin slaves. The framing made of ice. The long dead Fey Knight.

Something calamitous happened here in a hurry to change that. The goblins took their own lives rather than face whatever peril befell them. Perhaps that was the grizzly fate of being eaten alive by the giant spiders?"

Then I'll go into my hypothesis that the giant ice-spiders likely mean that there is more wildlife up here than we had initially guessed at. When she relays her tale of the Wyvern I'll point that out as a second bit of evidence. "Tracking down all of the creatures in these upper reaches may be futile. However, if we're going to try at all, cleaning out this den of spiders is the place to start. The shaft must empty somewhere up top. If you could find it, we could bottle them in, attacking on two fronts."

If Saerie wants to steer clear of a likely dangerous encounter with these giant ice-spiders, I'll relent without any protest. If that is what she wishes, then I'll hold the rope for everyone to climb up top and head up when the others are finished.