Quests

Dzaan is Dead

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15 #DzaanIsDead An execution was taking place in the town square. Throngs of Easthaven residents were gathering near a wood pile just set ablaze, relishing in not just its heat but the death of the Red Wizard Dzaan, who the party caught sight of as he went up in flame. Dzaan's eyes frantically scanned through the crowd, glazing over his Arcane Brotherhood colleagues, Vellynne Harpell and another, soon to be introduced as Avarice, before locking on Azgul's. Perceptive party members saw Azgul's eyes widen and pupils dilate ever so slightly.
15 #DzaanIsDead #ToilAndTrouble The elvish Captain Imdra Arlaggath and human town speaker Danneth Waylen were overseeing Dzaan's execution. Waylen left soon after the fire was lit, but Imdra remained with her town guard. Azgul approached the captain with Hazel surreptitiously shadowing him. Azgul learned from Captain Arlaggath that Dzaan was executed, using wood no less, as a warning against evil in the realms. The red wizard had been convicted of murdering four Easthaven adventurers, who he had reportedly hired several weeks ago for expeditions into the tundra. His belonging were confiscated from his lodging at the White Lady Inn and taken to the Town Hall, though Arlaggath kept two magic items for herself as a prize for his arrest. Arlaggath was willing to part with an item as a reward for investigating the missing sailors of Lac Dinneshere.
15 #DzaanIsDead Azgul approached Vellynne and Avarice, searching for answers about his former tutor's death, and specifically, about the whereabouts of his books. How Dzaan had been arrested seemed to make Vellynne uneasy. She had come to town to parley for a mitigated sentencing and to speak with Dzaan about his findings, both of which attempts had been denied. Avarice laughed that the well-read illusionist must have been a fool for meeting such a fate, and seeing that the event had ended, took her leave. Azgul thought her an asshole, and Vellynne admitted she was a haughty but powerful prodigy. Vellynne was staying at the White Lady Inn
15 #DzaanIsDead Hanging in the back of the crowd, Oona, Crank, and Tetro minded their wallets. Crank did notice several black cloaked figures in the crowd with silver necklaces. He didn't recognize them.
15 #DzaanIsDead At the White Lady Inn, the party secured rooms and supper from the innkeeper Bartaban for 2gp a head. Dzaan's former room had been completely tossed and searched. Upon investigation, a note with four names was found under a dresser: Hank Berylbore, Meryl Diane, Gurth Miodal, and Faith. Fern believed the last name was typical of a tiefling. No, not Astrix.

The Black Swords

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12 #BlackSwords Wrapping up their lodging at the local inn, Buried Treasures, they took note of the distraught and nervous innkeeper, Cora Mulphoon. Cora beseeches the adventurers to bring news of her missing son, Huarwar Mulphoon. Huarwar went missing during a blizzard while searching for the town's doddering elderly speaker, Dorbulgruf. Huarwar returned days later, but was cold and distant. Cora found what looked like a shard of black ice in his room. Huarwar snatched it back and threatened her to never touch it again. The next day two tieflings with black amulets came to town and offered Huarwar sanctuary at their castle. He left with them two months ago.

Nature Spirits

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12 #NatureSpirits Tali introduced the party to Dannika Graysteel, another half-elf scholar who has been staying in Bremen for months searching for hints of Chwinga activity. Dannika's nose is more in her books than her legs are in the field, though. She gives the party a lantern of tracking that supposedly glows greenish-blue in the presence of the nature spirits.

The Dark Duchess

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12 #WhaleHunters #DarkDuchess The party banters with a group of thuggish seamen at the Black-Bearded Brother, the lot of whom are already soused before midday. They're conspiring to head north to the Sea of Moving Ice to capitalize on the whaling colonies' incompetence over hunting a particularly large whale. They also talked about the wreckage of the Dark Duchess, a Luskan merchant vessel.

The Whale Hunters and Angajuk's Bell

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12 #WhaleHunters #DarkDuchess The party banters with a group of thuggish seamen at the Black-Bearded Brother, the lot of whom are already soused before midday. They're conspiring to head north to the Sea of Moving Ice to capitalize on the whaling colonies' incompetence over hunting a particularly large whale. They also talked about the wreckage of the Dark Duchess, a Luskan merchant vessel.

The Signal and the Id

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12 #TheSignal Amidst talking about the Sea of Moving Ice, a ping rang out in Tetro's head. "Find us!" it said.
06 #ABeautifulMine #TheSignal An ancient illithid skull was found well-preserved at the base of the Termalaine gem mine. Inside the skull was a Psi Crystal, which Tetro took and began pondering, attuning to it.

The Ramshackle

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07 #TheRamshackle The party learned of the Ramshackle Inn, an inn whose owner DeGrootz Ramshackle died of an alleged hanging-suicide a year prior. The inn, unfortunately, has had its roof collapse since the relentless winter began.

Completed Quests

White Lady Seance

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15 #WhiteLadySeance A bard named Rinaldo was reciting a campy, spoopy poem about the White Lady, Lac Dinneshere's resident cryptid ghost. He was holding a seance this evening and invited the party to join, for the White Lady knows much. After haggling him down to 4gp a head, they accompanied three townsfolk to the back to watch the seance unfold.
15 #battle #WhiteLadySeance #ToilAndTrouble Rinaldo's seance could have gone better, but I guess it could have gone worse. The spirit of the White Lady attacked the crowd, its wails literally aging one poor commoner by forty years. The party fought it off, after which it answered questions pertaining to happenings around the lake. She noted that a hag lived in the south eastern cliffs bordering Lac Dinneshere and that she had a magic cauldron capable of feeding an entire town. When asked about the treasure of the lake, she said the hag knows best. When asked about Dzaan, it seemed her knowledge outside the lake was minimal.

The Mead Must Flow

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15 #TheMeadMustFlow As the party was preparing to leave town, a scuffle broke out at the Good Mead hall. Several thugs were running away, licking their wounds as Shandar Froth and his loggers hollered at them to get lost. Oona grappled a thug.Crank clotheslined another, picking him up with an arm for questioning. Crank recognized the Zhentarim flunky, and it was soon revealed that these thugs lost on purpose by the orders of Naerth Maxildannar to make Shandar look good. With onlookers watching the scene, Shandar was exposed. He admitted to the deception but said he did have the town's interest in heart and that, in truth, the Zhentarim had been blackmailing him to keep his past from catching up. He was a man wanted for murder in Mirabar. With Shandar outed, it seems Olivessa Untapoor will become speaker.
14 #battle #TheMeadMustFlow Fern had the charmed Duhg lead her to the interior of the cave, where he had kept Good Mead's casks. Unfortunately, an ogre, affectionately nicknamed Friend by Duhg because the lunk never remember his own name, was asleep back there and soon became roused. This led to battle and a beast war between wild-shaped great ape Tetro and the cave bear Yogobor that Duhg kept as a pet. Hazel developed a signature attack, boosting off of Crank's mitts to crack the ogre dead. He dubbed it the Hazel Nutcracker.
14 #TheMeadMustFlow The party recovered two full casks of Good Mead's honey mead alongside an assortment of loot from Duhg's belongings. They continued to explore the cave, though they had learned that Duhg had a date with a female verbeeg named Gahg later in the evening.
14 #TheMeadMustFlow The cave system hosted a burial chamber for an ancient indigenous tribal chieftain of Icewind Dale's past. Pictograms depicted the clan's journey across the Spine of the World, a clash with giants, and the powers of a lightning infused weapon. Opening the sarcophagus, the party found a Pearl of Power and Javelin of Lightning in the hands of the female chieftain's skeleton. Taking the items cursed Azgul, imposing a severe lethargy, though returning them to the skeleton recovered the condition. Eventually, Tetro and Crank picked up the two items respectively and sluggishly followed the party as they explored the final chamber of the cave.
14 #TheMeadMustFlow The last chamber featured a frozen pool. Under two feet of ice was a crystalline clear spring of water, and at the bottom was a stone statue of Silvanus, god of nature. After Fern detected abjuration magic, Azgul blasted through the ice, and Tetro shaped the waters so they could investigate, it was revealed that the pool's waters were blessed by Silvanus, providing the benefit of Greater Restoration. This relieved the cursed party members. Fern filled a waterskin, hoping the water would retain its properties away from the spring.
14 #battle #TheMeadMustFlow At dusk the party left the caves with a rickety wagon loaded up with good mead casks. Soon, they ran into Duhg's woman, the verbeeg Gahg. While they avoided her at first, she returned with a vengeance, nearly killing Hazel before falling in battle to Azgul's witchbolt and Oona's axe. Gahg carried a basket of strange metal shards, seemingly scavenged as gift for her lover. The party members deduced this metal was completely foreign in nature and perhaps valuable.
14 #TheMeadMustFlow Back in Good Mead with the casks in hand, the party received praise, lodging, and, of course, fresh drink from Olivessa Untapoor. The next morning the company awoke at noon to an argument between townsfolk about the election for speaker. News travels fast in small towns. With the returned casks, support had magnified to promoting the reluctant cask maker Olivessa. Gossips also noted that her opponent, the popular yet surly Shandar Froth, had left on urgent business immediately before dawn. Where did he go, and who is to become speaker?
13 #TheMeadMustFlow Good Mead's ever dwindling supply of honey ale just didn't sit right with the party. Between the righteousness of beer and a possible Zhentarim replacement for their Town Hall speaker, the party hoofed it to the town. On arrival, though small in stature, the village was literally buzzing from the ice bees in the main mead hall. Here they met Olivessa Untapoor, eldest cask-maker of the town's Chultan families. Oli woefully admitted that she was indeed running for speaker, ever since Kendrick Rielsbarrow had been speared to death when a verbeeg assaulted the town and stole three casks. Kendrick's corpse was laid down for mourning in the Shrine of the Flaming Sword, an aged local hall once dedicated to Tempus.
13 #TheMeadMustFlow The opposition to Olivessa Untapoor was a relative newcomer to the village, a brusque red-haired dwarf and logger named Shandar Froth. Shandar had relocated to Good Mead only a couple years back from Mirabar, a wealthy mining city south of the Spine of the World. The party found him near the logging lodges, and, while gruff, Shandar put his foot down that he is running because he needs to... and that the town needs a leader too, damnit. The insightful Tetro felt there was truth to his words, but that a bit more remained unsaid.
13 #TheMeadMustFlow The verbeeg was last sighted in the northern woods and a search party had gone missing. Heading to the forest, the party ran into Fef Morwyn, a terrified scout. Fef had found the search party: the lot of them clubbed to death in a grove. Following the large footsteps at the scene, the party found a cave network, part of which was connected to indigenous ruins and crypts.
13 #TheMeadMustFlow Stealthily moving through the cave, Fern managed to cast Charm Person on the verbeeg, who was named Duhg. "Fern is friend, right Duhg?" "Oh yeah, totally friend." "Fern can see the casks of mead, yes?" "Oh yes. Yes. I have casks, come partake!" "Duhg, I'm the only friend here, correct?" "Only Friend is here!" As Fern followed Duhg into the cave with the party a fair distance behind, several goats bleated. "Duhg took these from a farmer. He's dead now! Ha ha!"
12 #TheMeadMustFlow Naerth noted such immense grief over the loss of Good Mead's speaker. He said he was diligently working on providing a new speaker for the town.
02 #TheMeadMustFlow You learned that the mead from Good Mead is pretty darn good, except that supplies have shrunk ever since their speaker got himself killed by... a polar bear? A yeti? A barbarian? Word of mouth sucks.

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Cold Hearted Killer

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13 #ColdHeartedKiller Passing through Bryn Shander, Fern kept her hood up, perceiving a wanted poster describing a duo of tiefling and bugbear dog thieves. Seeking Hlin Trollbane, the bounty huntress who hired them weeks prior to find the killer, the party, less Fern, went to Town Hall. Here Sheriff Southwell greeted them. Trollbane had given the sheriff the bounty to dole out to the adventurers... which he would have granted if Hazel didn't let slip that she was friend with the dog thieves. Deception failed, the two parties agreed to let the payment slide and call it all water under the bridge.
12 #ColdHeartedKiller The party headed to Targos to investigate the string of murders that they were initially hired for by retired bounty hunter Hlin Trollbane. At the Luskan Arms, the depressed innkeeper Owenn Tarsenal discussed the lottery with them and, after remembering that this party were the ones who delivered the stolen armory goods, that Speaker Naerth may be worth speaking with.
12 #ColdHeartedKiller At the local tavern, Targos's Three Flags Sailing, the warm tavernkeeper Ethen Ma Tarbroul noted that the lotteries conducted by Naerth and Skath must be for the greater good of fending off winter's wrath. They tie up the lottery winners outside the walls for the cold to spirit away during the night. The last lottery winner ran away, though, and was found hewn nearly in half in the snowfields. This most recent winner also ran, but was caught by mercenaries working for Torg's merchant company.
12 #ColdHeartedKiller The party met Naerth Maxildannar in his lodging on the second floor of the Luskan Arms. Captain Skath stood guard and was about to turn the party away, but Naerth, who was feeding his pet flying snakes, heard Crank outside and let them in. Naerth was so pleased to see "his boy" Crank, though, perhaps, the feeling wasn't mutual. Naerth extolled the virtues of the current lottery, the strength and importance of Targos, and the dire straits that he believes Ten Towns is in with the current winter. He so warmly offered his services to the party. He and Skath were off to meet Torg over the lottery escapee, and the party decided to accompany them.
12 #ColdHeartedKiller Following Naerth to Torg's Targos warehouse, the adventurers saw the teenage girl fugitive. While Torg was negotiating with Naerth, a mercenary in his hire, Sephek Kaltro, demanded that the girl meet her immediate end for her crimes. This escalated quickly, culminating in Sephek's execution of the girl and Naerth's digust with Torg's enterprise. Torg, in a rage and panic, told his crew to clean up this mess.
12 #ColdHeartedKiller In Torg's Targos warehouse, the adventurers were able to discern that Sephek was a recent hire of Torg's. He was a former sailor from Luskan who served on the Dark Duchess. Sephek seemed to be a Midwinter Child from his lack of warm attire. He had ice blue eyes. Tetro and Hazel offered Torg assistance in removing and burying the nameless body and left the scene.
12 #battle #ColdHeartedKiller Torg's warehouse thinned out later in the evening. When asked about his time on the ship, Sephek attested that those days were in his past life. When asked about the girl, Sephek praised the winter goddess, and spoke of his valiance in honoring her quarry. Battle ensued, and Sephek's true nature was exposed, as he dueled with sword and dagger of ice. He tested the strengths of Crank, Oona, Azgul, and Fern, but was hopelessly outmatched when Hazel and Tetro arrived as reinforcements. Moments before his total demise, Sephek called for Auril to witness him. Sephek slit his throat and his curdling scream began to intertwine into of a woman. In the cold Targos night, Azgul picked up Sephek's now inert longsword, noting its etched runes: Isolation, Cruelty, Endurance, and Preservation.
04 #ColdHeartedKiller The murder in Targos appeared to be a man who fled the results of the lottery.
02 #ColdHeartedKiller A murder victim had been discovered on the steps of the Council Hall. The victim was a commoner, who had no business in the area. It seems someone is sending a message. But why target a commoner?
01 #ColdHeartedKiller Hlin Trollbane had entered the tavern. Observing the party for a while, the veteran bounty huntress approached the party with a warning and request: murders were occuring in IWD. One in Easthaven a month back, another here in Bryn Shander two weeks ago, and one recently reported in Targos.

Lake Monster

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12 #LakeMonster Having hauled the carcass of Maer Dualdon's awakened plesiosaur back to the Bremen docks, the party carved out a plesiosaur hide and 12 rations of meat. Tali was given the head of the beast to study and offered to introduce the party to a friend of hers who studies local fauna.
11 #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden #LakeMonster Re-cooperating in Lonelywood from the events at the Black Cabin, the party took stock that they lost their sled dogs and that the Summer Star was damaged, though perhaps not irredeemably. They decided to quest to Bremen to take care of the supposed lake monster in Maer Dualdon for now.
11 #LakeMonster At the docks in Bremen, the party met Grynsk Berylbore who mistook them for fishers he drunkenly hired the night before. After a heated exchange with the lout, a half-elf named Tali interjected that Berylbore was dooming the fishermen due to the lake monster. The party shocked them when they admitted they were seeking the beast. They convinced Tali, who is a researcher of the local fauna, to join them and for Berylbore to give up his two rowboat for the journey.
11 #LakeMonster After some hours navigating the ice floes on Maer Dualdon and fishing - Tetro caught a spotted eel and Hazel caught a 40 lb knucklehead! - the party encountered a plesiosaurus, the lake monster. Azgul had readied a blast, so he fired.
11 #battle #LakeMonster The party fought the plesiosaurus from their rowboats as well as from nearby ice floes after Crank netted it. They were surprised when the beast spoke! It had been awakened by Ravisin to terrorize Ten Towns and convinced by her that if it failed to kill in reverence of the the Frostmaiden, then she would revoke its new-found intelligence. The party, with mixed-feelings, decided it was best to neutralize the murderous beast.

The Golden Dawn

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10 #TheGoldenDawn The party mulled over their leads at the Lucky Liar. From atop Kelvin's Cairn, they had seen a burst of golden, warm light coming from the forests of Lonelywood. Nobody seemed to live out there. Perilou knew of a gnome named Copper who lived in the temple at Bryn Shander, though, and this Copper spoke of a former friend, a sage of sorts, who took to hermitage in the outskirts of Lonelywood. One ole crone hinted that the sage may live in a Black Cabin, a haunted place overlooking the forests.
10 #TheGoldenDawn Overhearing the conversation, ever-knowing tavernkeep of the Lucky Liar, Danae Xotal, said she knew of the sage who lived out there... and hinted that the old fool was probably dead out there anyway. The sage had used Arcane Brotherhood networks to get a #SpecialDelivery several weeks ago. Intimidated by Azgul, Danae relented and gave the party guidance to follow the ridge around Maer Dualdon to its western reaches, where the Black Cabin loomed over the forest.
10 #TheGoldenDawn The Black Cabin was a dilapidated, abandoned structure on 20 foot stilts, creaking and groaning in the wind. A soft, thick snow had blanketed the area, removing all sight of tracks, but some lush vegetation and greenery appeared to be present in a close radius to the cabin. Tetro and Fern assessed the integrity of the building, finding some weak stairs and flooring, so Fern shattered a window and Hazel led the way, light-footed, to secure a rope and passage to the interior for Crank. In the meantime, Oona and Tetro looked through what seemed to be a workshop with smith and tinkerer's tools. Oona entered the main area by hacking through a wall.
10 #TheGoldenDawn In the Black Cabin's main room all the furniture was blackened with ash. There were broken wine bottles, a charred book, a burnt skeleton of a human male, and a six inch diameter device: two concentric rings with a black stone inside. While Azgul used magic to look over some of the ancient Giant runes, Tetro picked up the device. He gazed into it as it illuminated. Looking steadfastly into the light, a radiant burst enveloped the party. All that left of poor Tetro afterwards was turtle dust.
10 #TheGoldenDawn The party, stunned by Tetro's demise, resolved to uncover the mysteries of the Black Cabin. Oona swept some turtle ash into a leather pouch as a remembrance. The party discovered blueprints of what is called a Summer Star, a reproduction of an ancient Netherese device to control the weather. The blueprints and runic scrawlings seemed to be the work of a madman obsessed with the Summer Star. They found a scroll sent to the sage by Copper. The scroll confirmed the man to be Macreadus, detailing his maddening obsession as well as Copper's opinion that the device required three of something for stability, not two.
10 #TheGoldenDawn As the party pieced together clues in the Black Cabin, strange occurrences occurred. Loud knocks, three in a row, would bang as characters interacted with the items of the house. Rugs and curtains would shift, tools would fall off tables, and Copper's letter, in the hands of Crank began to tug him in different directions, like a dowsing rod. A bottle of wine Fern found was nearly tugged from her grasp. Oona was fed up with this nonsense and smashed her axe into the cabin in a rage. Eventually, the party uncovered that they needed to forge a third ring, etch it with the appropriate runes, and reconstruct the Summer Star. With Crank smelting a new ring and Fern forging the runes under Azgul's guidance, they pieced it together.
10 #TheGoldenDawn Hazel picked up the Summer Star and attuned to the orb, as the same radiance began to fill the room. Some party members ran for cover. But the light's warmth healed their wounds, a vision of gold filled their hearts, and they felt an extra-planar voice admit, "Well Done." Tetro stood blinking and alive in the middle of the Black Cabin, and for a brief moment, the spirit of Macreadus could be seen laughing in celebration of the Summer Star's successful construction. The party received a Blessing of the Morninglord, 10 temporary hit points at dawn from Lathander. Outside, for a clear mile by sight, the winter had vanished and the hills had a verdant green, yet a chill wind seemed to follow the warm breezes. On the wind, sibilant whispers were heard, like the crackle of frost.
08 #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn A silvered elvish magic mirror was found adhered in the full moon chamber of the Elven Tomb. Each party member, as well as Old Huntsman Clive asked the mirror a question, after which they communed with avatars or aspects of various gods and received cryptic answers.
07 #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn Visiting Lucky Liar, the party learns little from boastful local hunters. The party does recruit Old Huntsman Clive to help them track the white moose, offering 15g for a job done. The innkeeper, Danae Xotal, seems to know a good lot of secrets. She apparently arrived in Lonelywood about ten years prior and set up the Lucky Liar that she has operated since. When pressed on the events of the golden light and of mages in the woods, she hinted that she certainly knew about magical meddlers, glaring pointedly at Azgul.
06 #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party returned from their mountain rescue with Garret Velryn and Perilou to Termalaine. Having a late supper at Termalaine#The Blue Clam, they overheard local miners as well as hunters from Lonelywood chattering about both the kobold infestation at the local tourmaline mine as well as the bright flash of light that filled the night sky. There are some old hunting cabins that Lonelywood trappers used in those woods, though few remain in service as outposts.
06 #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party lodged at Termalaine#The Eastlook. The next morning they bid Garret farewell as he made plans to find a convoy heading back to Targos so he could rejoin Keegan Velryn. Insightful party members noted his grim disposition, as he eyed the oncoming full moon that coincides with Targos's lottery. Perilou, on the other hand, made plans to return to the Bryn Shander#House of the Morninglord, where she engaged in religious discourse. Perilou thought she might have a lead on the cabin: her acquaintance at the House of the Morninglord, a gnome named Copper, had a wizarding friend who was said to be a recluse in the Lonelywood forests.
05 #TheGoldenDawn "The view from the mountaintop would have been crisp if the cloudcover hadn't taken hold," said Garret. He spoke a moment too soon, as a blinding light of gold burst from the forests to the west, ripped clouds and fog asunder. The blast echoed off Kelvin's Cain, shifting the snows below, and leaving a wide hole in the midnight sky. The party felt or perhaps imagined, a brief vision of Spring, as the crackle of magic pulsed through the air. Unshielding their eyes, the stillness of the night sky lit up by the Rime immediately removed all sense of heat, frost creeping into their marrow. In the distance, riding the aurora, was a great beast... perhaps the Frostmaiden herself.
05 #TheGoldenDawn The party took shelter in the yeti cave until dawn and made their way down the mountain, having grown exhausted from exposure. During that night, at least Tetro dreamt of the golden light they'd witnessed. He visioned the visage of an owl, and he felt no warmth from neither it nor the glow.

The White Moose

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09 #TheWhiteMoose A dying Ravisin seemed pleased with her fate. She explained her malcontent with the Dalefolk for the mistreatment of her sister Vurnis, which Old Huntsman Clive later expressed was most likely her rape. Vurnis was a Midwinter Child, a blessed girl and the fairer of the two sisters. She had left Lonelywood months ago to seek her destiny only to meet mistreatment. She turned to the cult of Auril, becoming a frost druid. Ravisin in her youth was the less fortunate of the sisters: lesser in wits, achievement, and charms. She followed Vurnis everywhere, and thus followed her sister into a radicalized worship of the Frostmaiden.
09 #TheWhiteMoose Vurnis's body laid peacefully atop a closed Elven Tomb sarcophagus, surrounded by four druidic rune stones and clutching a crystal of raw ice. On investigation, Fern noticed Vurnis's throat had been cut and deduced it to be the cause of death, seeing no other markings. The wound must have occurred within the past two moons. While there were ligature marks along the bottom of the body, there was no frost nor evidence of the cold affecting her vitreous humors. Looking at the runes, Hazel recognized them from markings on local shrines of offering she had passed by in Ten Towns. Azgul recalled from his studies that the runes stood for Auril's four tenets: Isolation, Cruelty, Endurance, and Preservation.
09 #TheWhiteMoose The northern half moon tomb also contained a rack of drying herbs and charcoal the druid had been utilizing, from which Fern took enough samples to use for a future Find Familiar summoning. There was also an awakened shrub that the party named Joey the Shrub. It was terrified, both of Ravisin and of being sentient, and it had some tasty berries. The shrub told of how Ravisin had traveled around the lakes and forest of Ten Towns awakening animals to do her bidding. The white moose is one of these creatures, though it eventually took a far more frightening form. Ravisin blamed the powers of the Elven Tomb or the elvish banshees of the forest for this. Tetro tried to convince Shrub Joey to climb on his back, but the shrub was too overwhelmed to accept.
09 #TheWhiteMoose When queried, Sahnar suggested they bury any new dead and return any other dead to their crypts. Hazel accompanied Old Huntsman Clive and put the two sisters to rest with her trusty halfling shovel. Some time later, Joey the Shrub was planted near them to stay in the light of the forest.
09 #TheWhiteMoose The southern half moon tomb contained an opened sarcophagus with two elven skeletons inside. Inside were a hunting horn and a silvered arrowheads. Azgul picked up the horn, discerning it to be magical, while Tetro objected but ultimately let Azgul proceed. After a short rest, Azgul realized the wondrous object was a Horn of Silent Alarm, though he refrained from using it yet.
09 #battle #TheWhiteMoose A thick fog began to blanket the area, and sounds of a moose were heard in the distance. The party bunkered in the tomb for a quick rest, but then heard the pwah! noise of Chwinga. Slowly scouting the perimeter with Hazel keeping watching from atop the gnomon and Azgul stepping towards the southern forest, more voices began appearing: those of hunters in need for instance. Sensing a presence behind one of the tall elvish statues, Azgul Eldritch Blasted through it revealing a wendigo horror. The battle was one of light and shadow with the wendigo suddenly shifting between trees and behind bodies in the dimness of the fog as Tetro and Hazel lit up the grounds with spellfire and Fern cloaking herself in the occlusion of the twilight to strike. The party wrecked the distorted moose, which shriveled to its former form.
09 #TheWhiteMoose The party made their way back to Lonelywood, parting ways for Old Huntsman Clive and lodging at Nimsy Huddle's residence well past midnight. Each party member earned 13 gold for their efforts in the end, as well as a sled full of moose flesh.
08 #TheWhiteMoose The party explored the Elven Tomb found in Lonelywood Forest. Several tall elven status surrounded the berm and central moon dial, and they buzzed with magic as Azgul investigated them.
08 #TheWhiteMoose A puzzle at the Elven Tomb involving a brazier, magical glyphs, and a sealed sarcophagus was solved - with minimal injury to Fern's scorched hand. A mummified priestess of Selune, goddess of the moon, arose from the granite and marble crypt. The mummy did not appear hostile and spoke ancient Elvish, but Tetro managed to communicate with her using telepathy granted by the psi crystal. Her name was Sahnar, and she is a guardian entity of the shrine. Her decayed form lacks much memory and cognition, but she seemed amenable to following the party's commands. Sahnar noted that the site has been descrated, but she sensed not why. Sahnar was wearing an ornate cloak in pristine condition, a magical contrast to her otherwise decayed wrappings.
08 #TheWhiteMoose The moon dial's gnomon was illuminated by the full moon and was refracting a moonbeam onto a full moon glyph, which was actively glowing. Out of the other glyphs on the dial, the two half moons displayed elvish script on them. Tetro deduced that his moonbeam spell could activate these glyphs, and the party later found that the illuminated moon glyphs unsealed chambers inside the elven tomb.
08 #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn A silvered elvish magic mirror was found adhered in the full moon chamber of the Elven Tomb. Each party member, as well as Old Huntsman Clive asked the mirror a question, after which they communed with avatars or aspects of various gods and received cryptic answers.
08 #TheWhiteMoose The half moon chambers of the Elven Tomb contained sarcophagi. In the southern room, the sarcophagus was opened and disheveled. In the north room, Crank saw a drying rack of herbs, druidic implements, and a nude, intact body of a recently dead woman lying atop the sarcophogus. A berry bush in the corner of the room seemed to move as well, but before Crank could react, Ravisin, a frost druid who was skulking in this room could no longer stay hidden. An altercation erupted between her and Crank, leading to battle.
08 #TheWhiteMoose Old Huntsman Clive called out to his granddaughter, but Ravisin responded only in derision. Clive gasped at the body of Vurnis, who had long gone missing and was presumed dead. Ravisin blamed the Ten Towners for Vurnis's death, cursing the moral failings of humankind and seething about the need to return the world to nature. Worshiping Auril breathed new life into her, Ravisin said, and it was Vurnis who showed her this faith. Vurnis, who was abused by the men of Ten Towns, was more alive in her death than the party could imagine, Ravisin raved. When the party asked about the moose, Ravisin jeered at them. The so-called moose, she said, was doing a splendid job ridding the Dale of the blight of its human occupants.
08 #battle #TheWhiteMoose Ravisin conjured a dozen wolves to attack the party. The party managed to fend for themselves while they broke the frost druid's concentration, dispelling the wolves. Ravisin wild shaped into an owl and attempted to flee, but was caught by ranged attacks and came crashing into the moon dial. Calling out to her dead sister Vurnis and beseeching Auril to witness her, she cast a maelstrom of ice onto the party and herself, ending her own life.
07 #TheWhiteMoose The party arrives in Lonelywood for the first time, a small hunting, logging, and fishing settlement of once-scoundrels and assassins and, as the town speaker Nimsy Huddle put it, bastards. The speaker gave the party lodging in her attic alongside her four halfling children. She recruits the party to hunt the killer moose that's killed only two actually like six hunters. It's eluded hunters since. The pay is 90g plus any earnings from meat brought to local butchers.
07 #TheWhiteMoose #TheGoldenDawn Visiting Lucky Liar, the party learns little from boastful local hunters. The party does recruit Old Huntsman Clive to help them track the white moose, offering 15g for a job done. The innkeeper, Danae Xotal, seems to know a good lot of secrets. She apparently arrived in Lonelywood about ten years prior and set up the Lucky Liar that she has operated since. When pressed on the events of the golden light and of mages in the woods, she hinted that she certainly knew about magical meddlers, glaring pointedly at Azgul.
07 #TheWhiteMoose Visiting The morning prior to heading out into the Lonelywood forests, the party stopped at The Happy Scrimshander, whose owner is the doughy spinster Iriskree Harrowhill. The shop sold scrimshaw tool kits, which Oona and Fern picked up for a 2g a piece. Iriskree mentioned that her last lover, dead now and having bequeathed her a nice sum, was hell bent on hunting the white moose, saying that he could speak to animals and that listening to the forest would guide his path.
07 #battle #TheWhiteMoose Three banshees, spectral female elves, surprised the party in the thick of the misty woods. The less-than-corporeal banshee resisted the party's physical onslaught. Old Huntsman Clive fell first, a banshee's phantasmal grasp bringing blood to pool in his mouth. After repeatedly being afflicted by the banshees' wails, Fern collapsed and Oona all but fell, relying on her orcish ancestry to keep her afoot. The party was able to thwart them in the long run, dragging their battered selves further into the wood.
07 #TheWhiteMoose Chwinga appeared by the dozen and began playing around the party's sled, playfully pelting Azgul with snowballs while Crank and Hazel watched over the recuperating party. The chwinga tugged at the party's cloaks and led them to a clearing. Time seemed to ebb a bit differently for the next couple hours. Almost as quickly as the clearing came into focus, the chwinga disappeared. The party had arrived at Elvish ruins. A row of six statues faced a 10 ft berm, over which a massive crystalline gnomon sat in a wide circular depression. They had came across a massive moon dial. Upon further scouting, they noted a sarcaphogus flanked by blue heiroglyphic pillars, a marble gazebo on the other end of the berm, and a hole broken into the nearby cliffside, tunneling into darkness.
06 #ABeautifulMine #TheWhiteMoose Upon return to Termalaine, Oarus Masthew assuaged the party to rest up for the next day on the house while he inspected the mines. In the meantime, the party heard that both Garret Velryn and Perilou had departed with a passing merchant caravan - one named belonging to a Torg. The party also overheard of troubles in Lonelywood, a white moose that seems bent of slaying men.

A Beautiful Mine

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06 #ABeautifulMine Talking to speaker Oarus Masthew, the party agreed on a 60g reward (fair splittings!) to tackle the mine problem. The Termalaine mine descended deep into the Dale and glittered with gemdust. The place was filled with kobold tracks and signs of struggle were seen.
06 #battle #ABeautifulMine Several encounters unfolded in the gem mines, mostly against easily dispatched kobolds, but also against a set of grells that had preyed on weaker beings and caused significant tension in the mine. The party eventually encountered a well-spoken kobold leader with fake dragon wings named T-Rex, who was found out to have been possessed by the Ghost of Janth, a sage who had succumbed to exposure on the iceplains. The kobolds had been seeking refuge and a better life, though through a lot of skullduggery. The ghost wished to infiltrate society and, while rational, had less-than-good aspirations. The ghost was exorcised. The party, tired of shenanigans, told T-Rex and two surviving kobolds to take a hike.
06 #ABeautifulMine #TheSignal An ancient illithid skull was found well-preserved at the base of the Termalaine gem mine. Inside the skull was a Psi Crystal, which Tetro took and began pondering, attuning to it.
06 #ABeautifulMine At the very base of the mine was a large vein of tourmaline! The aprty set to work with pickaxes, raking in 480 gp total worth of gems, which they later traded in town.
06 #ABeautifulMine #TheWhiteMoose Upon return to Termalaine, Oarus Masthew assuaged the party to rest up for the next day on the house while he inspected the mines. In the meantime, the party heard that both Garret Velryn and Perilou had departed with a passing merchant caravan - one named belonging to a Torg. The party also overheard of troubles in Lonelywood, a white moose that seems bent of slaying men.
04 #ABeautifulMine Miners had been returning back from work in Termalaine. A boy on a soapbox was announcing that a monster infestation in a gem mine, and that the town speaker, a half-orc named Oarus Masthew, had posted a 50g reward.
04 #ABeautifulMine Speaker Oarus Masthew is a gregarious, seemingly liked half-orc. He detailed the troubles with the tourmaline mine. Since the mines eventually connect to the Underdark, occasionally some denizens of the deep creep on upwards. Currently, a population of kobold seem to have taken root in the mine. There have been hosilities, but no deaths. The reward for clearing the mine is 50g, and he'd turn a blind eye to any gems the party picks up while in the mine itself.

Mountain Climb

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06 #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party returned from their mountain rescue with Garret Velryn and Perilou to Termalaine. Having a late supper at Termalaine#The Blue Clam, they overheard local miners as well as hunters from Lonelywood chattering about both the kobold infestation at the local tourmaline mine as well as the bright flash of light that filled the night sky. There are some old hunting cabins that Lonelywood trappers used in those woods, though few remain in service as outposts.
06 #MountainClimb #TheGoldenDawn The party lodged at Termalaine#The Eastlook. The next morning they bid Garret farewell as he made plans to find a convoy heading back to Targos so he could rejoin Keegan Velryn. Insightful party members noted his grim disposition, as he eyed the oncoming full moon that coincides with Targos's lottery. Perilou, on the other hand, made plans to return to the Bryn Shander#House of the Morninglord, where she engaged in religious discourse. Perilou thought she might have a lead on the cabin: her acquaintance at the House of the Morninglord, a gnome named Copper, had a wizarding friend who was said to be a recluse in the Lonelywood forests.
05 #MountainClimb Having rescued Garret Velryn the party continued up Kelvin's Cairn seeking the remaining three members of the climbing expedition: a male goliath named Mokingo Growling Bear who was in search of the legendary Winter Walker Oyaminatorok, a female halfling acolyte named Perilou, and a brooding, reticent female Tiefling named Astrix.
05 #MountainClimb Approaching a yeti den, the party sought the adult male yeti that attacked Garret Velryn and company. Finding blood and several large but muddled footprints, they snuck into a cave, where they found the eviscerated torso of Mokingo Growling Bear in a crude trophy room. Two other severed heads could be well-discerned, one belonging to Oobok and the other belonging to an unknown red-haired shield dwarf.
05 #battle #MountainClimb In the darkness, they found a yeti and two smaller indistinct forms. The party took the opportunity to attack the beast and lure it out. In the following confusion, they realize a yeti tyke had been batting around Perilou, who exhausted but unharmed, in the corner and that they were fighting the mother. As the party and Garret dispatched the monstrosity, the father approached with a slewn goat. Putting the yetis to rest, the party decided to push for the mountain-top to look for Astrix.
05 #MountainClimb Atop Kelvin's Cairn was a ruined astronomers hut from times well before the present. It was a common destination for climbers, and in its fallen walls the party found the frozen body of Astrix hunched and forlorn. She had been gazing at a frozen, headless and red-haired dwarven corpse - the poor bastard whose head they had seen in the trophy room. Astrix had a Potion of Invisibility and a leather-bound spellbook in her posession.
05 #battle #MountainClimb Before they could lash up the dogs and leave, an avalanched swept through the hillside, ensnaring Garret Velryn. Soon after, a chill wind summoned three Cold Light Walkers, who the party and Perilou dispatched.
04 #MountainClimb A dog, Boy, got the attention of the party and dragged them to the house of Keegan Velryn, a schrimshander and former mountaineer. His husband Garret was a mountain guide and had led a small expedition to Kelvin's Cairn. Boy never leaves his master's side unless there is trouble. At Keegan's request (and a promise of free rooms at the Luskan Arms through his friend Owenn Tarsenal), the party decided they would go on a rescue mission for Garret and company, traveling up through Termalaine.
04 #MountainClimb Arriving at Kelvin's Cairn the next morning, the party found Garret Velryn's dog sled and hungry dogs. Having fed them, they traveresed the icy cliffside, saw mountain goat, and eventually found Garret, knocked unconscious after a fall. He had lured a violent yeti away from the group of four he was guiding. Garret is a scout by training, and while exhausted and wounded, is still able-bodied.
04 #battle #MountainClimb Three crag cats pounced on the party. Garret fought alongside them. These were big, mean kitties.

Armored Corps

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04 #ArmoredCorps Knocking on the rear entrance of Bryn Shander#The Hooked Knucklehead caught the half-orc and Zhentarim ruffian Zarruk off-guard. Surrounded by the six party members, he fessed up that some stolen crates of shortsword, daggers, and light crossbows from Bryn Shander#Armory were still in his custody and due to head to Targos. The party wanted in on their transport. Intimidated by Fern and company and tithout another option, Zarruk complied, telling them to drop it off at the Targos#Luskan Arms for the usual remunerations.
04 #ArmoredCorps Half the stolen goods were restored to Markham Southwell's control. Hazel managed to persuide the sheriff to let them take the other half to the Zhentarim in Targos and act as double agents.
04 #ArmoredCorps The party dropped off the crate for Zhentarim pickup in the shed at the rear of the Luskan Arms. The tavernkeeper, Owenn Tarsenal, seems to turn a blind eye to these dealings. He paid the usual sum he is instructed to give, 60sp, alongside an evening's swill and meal, some fish sausage.
03 #battle #ArmoredCorps The party fought four Zhentarim thugs in a Bryn Shander alley. They got one to talk after they discovered a Bryn Shander#The Hooked Knucklehead tavern flyer on him with a note ...-.-.. on the back. It was a knocking passcode for the backdoor of the tavern, where the Zhentarim have been fencing stolen goods from the armory.
02 #ArmoredCorps Met Markham Southwell at Bryn's Armory. Supplies have gone missing and the sheriff is suspicious of Zhentarim in his ranks. He agreed to help you out if you recover supplies.
02 #ArmoredCorps After asking around town, you deduced that a tavern, The Hooked Knucklehead, was a Zhentarim hangout. Fern overheard the half-orc tavernkeeper and a cloaked figure speak in Thieves Cant regarding moving supplies from the armory. She acknowledged their speech and asked for "work." They considered the request warily.

Frosted Mugs

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03 #FrostedMugs Dogs and sleds were rented from Bryn Shander#Stables for 30 gp to set out towards the tundra towards the Dwarven Valley to find the missing iron ingots belonging to Hruna and the remaining Foamings Mugs dwarves.
03 #battle #FrostedMugs Six goblins, a goblin boss, his pet hawk, and two wagon-laden polar bear were encountered. Two potions of animal friendship, a bone whistle, and 60 sp were found afterwards. The polar bears were set free by Tetro. The hawk was charmed by Crank and later sold to Hruna for 5 gp.
03 #FrostedMugs Continuing their long rest, Fern fell asleep during her watch and was startled awake after a mysterious visitor stole a couple ingots, their boots growing in size as they fled. On the third watch Oona saw a chwinga!
03 #FrostedMugs The ingots were successfully returned to Hruna et al who paid them each a 50 gp bloodstone - quickly converted to gold. The hounds and sleds were returned, the job finished.
02 #FrostedMugs A sad, dazed dwarf was nursing a morning ale at Kelvin's Comfort. He was part of a mining caravan that was ambushed in the night. The dwarves were forced to flee, and lost their cargo of iron and ingot.
02 #FrostedMugs Blackiron Blades. They had no medium armor, but could make you some if you help their supply chain along. They were expecting iron ingots, but the dwarves were ambushed. The dwarves are lodging at The Northlook.
02 #FrostedMugs The remaining dwarves from the mining caravan were here at the The Northlook. They are Hruna, Korux, and Storn of the Dwarven Valley. It turns out they weren't simply ambushed: a rogue yeti plowed through camp and ripped a dwarf in twain. They fled and when returning for their supplies, saw only blood and goblin tracks. They need help recovering their goods.

Special Delivery

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10 #TheGoldenDawn Overhearing the conversation, ever-knowing tavernkeep of the Lucky Liar, Danae Xotal, said she knew of the sage who lived out there... and hinted that the old fool was probably dead out there anyway. The sage had used Arcane Brotherhood networks to get a #SpecialDelivery several weeks ago. Intimidated by Azgul, Danae relented and gave the party guidance to follow the ridge around Maer Dualdon to its western reaches, where the Black Cabin loomed over the forest.
01 #SpecialDelivery Oona and Crank have been working gigs for the Luskan Deliverers, a merchant and courier guild. The were tasked with delivering a small parcel - an unmarked, unhinged metal box - to a Ragammel in the town of Bryn Shander. The commissioner was reportedly an Arcane Brotherhood member named Maccath.
01 #SpecialDelivery Azgul, Tetro, Hazel, and Fern were all either being guided to Icewind Dale or happened across the traveling party.
01 #SpecialDelivery Ragammel, who had lodging at the tavern, eventually made his way downstairs for a meal. The package was delivered, a magical sigil illuminating after interacting with Ragammel's dragontooth necklace. The Luskan Deliverers were paid 60g for its receipt.

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