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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 8053925" data-attributes="member: 7015827">Hidden PeakThe company made their way from the citadel’s entry gates up the winding trail to the ridgeline, where they roped their way up to the plateau without incident. They had been expected by Helrud to be at his camp at dawn, but the adventurers hoped the dwarf scout would still be around after their unavoidable delay. By his tent they found a note in dwarven runes, which Darrow read: “Had to leave at dawn. Track me if you can. Seek the crystal.” As the designated tracker, Dermot thought that the message was less than helpful, although the snow – the subject of earlier complaints by Shanni – was on their side.Despite the wind having largely filled in Helrud’s footprints, Dermot was able to find enough depressions in the snow to follow the dwarf’s trail toward a large crystal protrusion on a hill. On the way, the group had to pause briefly, as some snow cats took an interest in Aerikoth after the small wizard had fallen behind the others. Darrow frightened the animals off by clashing his axe and shield together. They observed that sunlight striking the crystal pointed towards a particular area, which led Darrow to surmise that Helrud had needed to be there at dawn, to see where the light was directed. (An intelligent observation. In such a difficult wilderness area, some sort of reference point would indeed be useful or even necessary to find otherwise hidden terrain features. I wonder if the crystal's placement was accidental in that regard, or if it was originally intended to serve as a signpost by whoever - or whatever - occupied the mountains in the past. --C) Some searching then turned up a narrow passage through the rock wall leading further into the mountains. Navigating the passage led them to the bank of a broad and deep mountain stream, where the tracks ended. Remnants of a broken bridge provided no help in crossing, but an overturned rowboat was visible on the other side, apparently having been used by Helrud to cross. Darrow and Dermot located a small tree nearby and, after some effort, chopped it down and placed it across the bridge foundations. Its narrow and slippery bole would make it challenging to traverse, however.Shanni went first, her dexterity allowing her to cross the makeshift bridge while carrying a rope, with only a minor wobble or two. Dermot had trouble mounting the tree bole, however, and it was decided that Shanni should tie the rope to the boat and then use it to cross back over the stream. The diminutive rogue struggled mightily to turn over the boat and then leverage it back across the stream using its oar, succeeding eventually with much effort. An exhausted Shanni then let the others rig up the boat, Dermot acting as ferryman to get everyone to the other side.By this point it was late morning and there were no more tracks to be seen, so the party spent some time investigating the area. More ruins were in evidence, as was a collapsed mining cave and an overgrown oubliette, whose circular entrance in the ground was big enough for an elf or perhaps a human without armor. Eventually they encountered Helrud near a large statue of a dragon, as the dwarf was standing there admiring it. He greeted them and showed them more red dragon scales, while Shanni noticed and collected a few white dragon scales. The group speculated that a nearby skeleton could be that of the losing dragon, while the winner could have occupied whatever lair was nearby. Helrud then showed them an iced-over, jammed trap door, which he excitedly thought could lead to a dragon hoard. Shanni’s eyes lit up at the mention of a hoard and she suddenly became more enthusiastic about the venture.</blockquote>

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