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Kraken Game
Scrying on Azgul from afar, they saw the warlock in a wartorn Easthaven. He purchased a warding amulet, smirked, and disappeared from their vision. Arriving at Angajuk's Bell, the party reunited with Hazel who had formed a following. The Frozen Games were Hazel's reprieve from meditating about her past life, and the party was soon swept into competition against locals - as well as Huarwar and Thoob of the Black Swords. Crank, of course, was our victor. That night, the party was met by Mere. She confided in them that the Black Swords had been sent north by Lady Avarice to investigate Solstice Isle and a means to end the winter. The Frostmaiden's assault had impeded the wizard's expeditions. The kraken, though, put the fear of the gods in them. Their conversation cut short when a splash and scream was heard, leading to an underwater rescue of Dorbulgraf from grappling sweet seagrass. Reviving the old man, they found that this was the place he'd rather go, underneath the ice and snow. The grasses were a magical treat from his youth. Resting their shivering bodies, they prepared to fight the kraken the following day. Boarding Angajuk, they waged war on the titan. Crank's life began to slip before his eyes, until a peck from Finn and a jolt of Gadget's healing brought back from the brink of death. During this, Oona was a raging polymorphed shark.

Angajuk's Bell and the Sea of Moving Ice

#TheDevilYouKnow A dismal, darkening dawn approached the party as Vellynne's tiny hut spell began to wane. While attending to the dog sleds, the group began to wonder what happened to Azgul and realized they could scry on him with the Great Oak's Amulet. They saw a vision of the warlock eating a salted fish in a dingy homestay before stepping outside into a Ten Towns street. The rubble and ash and paved remnants of the Eastway told them this was Easthaven. Following Azgul from afar, they saw him meet a shady man with a silver tooth to buy a magical ward with an evil eye on it. Grasping it from the vendor, Azgul immediately cocked his head and their vision utterly vanished. Some discussion later and the party agreed. Azgul had acquired an amulet of proof against detection.
#TheFrozenGames As their sleds approached Angajuk's Bell several more tents than usual were set up. There was a small crowd of people gathering on the ice and at the center was Hazel. She pushed away her apparent followers to reunite with the party. During the past months she had first grown meditative, recalling fragment memories of her past life as Anga, and then had grown... bored. To pass the time, Hazel brought Monk University energy to practices of endurance, isolation, and preservation. In short, she created a winter game series. And as fishers, traders, and Reghed came to the seaside enclave, word quickly spread.
#TheDevilYouKnow #KrakenClimateArena Among the pilgrims and competitors at Hazel's Frozen Games were a set of familiar faces from the Black Swords: the brooding Levistus-sworn Huarwar Mulphoon, the gangly obsequious Thoob, and the lost servant girlMere. Thoob was stupidly enamored with the games, while Huarwar brooded by their camp. They didn't seem surprised to see the party at present. Hazel noted that the Levistus troupe had arrived recently led by Huarwar. He mostly kept his distance after exchanging a cut but civil greeting, while the others were only slightly more talkative. They all had occasionally left camp to trek up and down the coast. As she was describing this, Mere was stealing glances at the party.
#TheFrozenGames Hazel's entourage grew restless. A call to games was announced. Each member of the party competed in feats of strength and dexterity: the Ice Run, the Polar Plunge, the Mammoth Toss, the Snowball Duel, and the Ice Climb. These were clearly games designed by a Monk U alumni. Competitors included Huarwar, Thoob, and several Reghedfolk. In the distance Tinjong, the elderly fisherman who once housed them here at Angajuk's Bell, sighed and shook his head at the spectacle. Crank took first place while Fern and Tetro tied for second, just beating a sullen Huarwar Mulphoon. In the crowd clapping was an elderly dwarven man and his attendant. This was the former speaker of Bremen, Dorbulgruf Shalescar.
#TrialsOfTheFrostmaiden Retiring to Hazel's hut for the evening, the group awaited a meal around a fire as Tinjong prepared a thin broth. The party asked Hazel about her past life as Anga and whether she recalled anything about Auril's trials. Through hazy memories she retold going to a frigid island with several ambitious druids and a grand hall in a bone white building with ornate statues of ice. In a room with four doorways, she and the others were pushed well beyond their limits. She had never felt such exhaustion, she had never felt so alone, and she had never seen such beauty in a single snowflake. She spent weeks behind those doors, she imagined, but when she emerged her guide looked up from the book she had been reading mere minutes ago. At the final door, that of cruelty, she hesitated. Looking at her feet she saw frozen blood in the snowswept floor. Anga froze and ran.
#TheDevilYouKnow #KrakenClimateArena A noise at the doorway turned everyone's heads. It was Mere. She had come to wish the party well, for being so kind to her. She told them how Caer Dineval's town had been razed, and how Kadroth had died, falling from the caer's ramparts during the dragon attack. The keep was now led by Lady Avarice. Mere admitted the lady had been good to her, even teaching her some cantrips, but went on to note that Avarice was most keenly focused on mounting an expedition across the tundra in search of the Netherese ruins of Ythryn. She had sent Huarwar to lead a company to the Solstice Isle to investigate a means to gain audience with or perhaps deter the Frostmaiden. At this point, Mere paused, and then curiously asked the party whether they had seen any griffons in flight. She had been told to keep her eyes out for one, but she confessed she didn't know why. In any case, she did know that Avarice was displeased with this endless winter and wished it over. Unfortunately, the kraken had left Huarwar's group with no way forward. "It's true," admitted an eavesdropping Huarwar. "That kraken... is a colossus." The beast lurked a mile north, they said, roosting in a natural harbor under thundercloud covered skies.
#TheFrozenGames A splash followed by a scream interrupted the gathering. Racing out to the ice, they saw Dorbulgraf's attendent but not the dwarf himself. Instead they saw a hole into the dark waters. Oona, Crank, and Tetro dove in. The cold shock was overwhelming. Casting a daylight, Tetro spotted Dorbulgraf entangled in seagrasses 60 feet down. He and Crank swam to rescue the dwarf, but soon were grappled by the grasses and kelps. With effort - and Tetro's incredible breath capacity - they rescued the dwarf. Reviving the poor man, they saw clarity in Dorbulgraf's aged eyes. "This was the place I liked to go, underneath the frost and snow!" After chewing out the old man, they came to understand him. The grappling sweet grasses, he said, were a staple of his youth. Fetching some pieces, a joyful Dorbulgraf created a tea. Exhaling a calming blue mist, they realized this grass was a mildly magical sedative.
#KrakenClimateArena #battle The kraken is a primeval force that obliterates the greatest achievements of civilization as if they were castles in the sand, said Vellynne. Given that the coastal village appeared intact, she surmised this must be an adolescent leviathan at worst. Still, it would be a highly resilient foe, and one they should not take lightly. Hesitant, Crank wrapped his starlight cloak about him and divined a prediction. The fight would be worth it, but perhaps at a great cost. "Let's do it." Tetro prepared the party with the ability to water walk, and boarding Angajuk through the reefs and shallows of the Sea of Moving Ice, they apporached the titan. Polymorphing Oona into a barbaric shark, a great battle was fought. Tentacle whipped across the frozen waters and latent magical abilities to shift space and call lightning demanded the entirety of our heroes' concentration. Crank was pulled straight into the beast's maw, his jubilant warcry turning into a quiet murmur. He was on death's door, feeling the bile surround him, unable to strike the beast from within. His comrades did not relent. A slain kraken began to drift into the water as Crank shut his eyes. They sprang open when Finn delivered a healing surge from Gadget standing on the pack ice outside.

XP

Total XP: 26801

1000 ~ #KrakenClimateArena complete!
200 ~ #FrozenGames complete!

Loot

0 ~ tbd ~ blank