| 23 |
#AngajuksBell Hazel, coming to from the deluge of memories, was split between her own memories and that of Anga, a monk who ventured to the Sea of Moving Ice and found harmony in some, but not all, of the frost druids' teachings. Hazel awakened and reconnected with Angajuk, the great sperm whale. Ultimately, Hazel decided to stay at Angajuk's Bell to dwell on these new and old memories. Gadget Gearspark, an gnomish artificer armorer who had been following the adventures of the party, caught up with the crew moments later. She was seeking knowledge to invent armors in an effort to advance people's conditions in the cold of Icewind Dale and had heard of the party from Copper. The party gladly invited her in on their travels as they said their goodbyes to their friend Hazel for now. |
| 22 |
#AngajuksBell Hours later, the party arrived at Angajuk's Bell, a druidic hermit's enclave turned fishing outpost in the middle of nowhere along the Sea of Moving Ice. Here they beseeched a local, Tinjong, to grant them shelter. This being the night of the full moon, Tinjong let the party know he would be putting the fire out soon, a sacrifice honoring the Frostmaiden. Azgul intimidated the fisher, who did not budge on this practice but relented that they could stay in Anga's cabin and use whatever wood they find if they wished to defy the gods. The party decided to stay the night at Tinjong's in the end. |
| 22 |
#AngajuksBell #WhaleHunters Tinjong told the party that a brusque group had arrived, determined to kill the sperm whale Angajuk. Angajuk was a local legend, known in Ten Towns for having bonded with the druid Anga. The whale, along with other regional animals, would come to Anga when she rang the copper bell in the frozen harbor. This was decades ago, though, when Anga was still alive. Now her stone hut lay dormant and the bell rimed over. The fishers of Angajuk's Bell, once a village reared on the philosophy of balance, were challenged by these newcomers. On one hand, slaughtering the whale would be sacrilege, but on the other, the whale oil and ambergris could sustain them, especially as the cold grew ever-challenged, almost hellbent on ending life on the coast. |
| 22 |
#AngajuksBell Anga's hut lay quiet. The locals had left it alone in honor of the druid. Or was it a monk? The party heard mixed stories. The hut itself was coated in frost from seawater spray. An old wool blanket lay iced and rigid on a bed, and firewood still remain in the hearth, usable but wormed over. Above the hearth, Oona noted exactly three runes: glyphs marking the tenets of Isolation, Preservation, and Endurance. |
| 22 |
#AngajuksBell Stepping out on the ice, Angajuk's Bell stood glimmering in the soft snow. Hazel felt compelled by it. The bell, when struck, rang solemnly. Keeling over but standing, Hazel's vision tunneled. She did not feel her companion Fern's hand brace her. She instead saw herself, not as herself but as another. A hundred years of history. A trek to the north but not her journey. Or was it her journey? Her hands but not her hands, young but weathered from the wilds. A blizzard. Exhaustion. A meeting. Frost laden druids. An island. Solace. Contemplation. Sitting in the snow, smiling at the beauty in each unique crystal. A great whale. A better friend. An unexpected community. Her hands, aged and aching. Her woolen blanket, a gift. |
| 18 |
#AngajuksBell Hazel also took a gander at the Easthaven Library collection, looking for histories about the Sea of Moving Ice. She learned of Anga, a wisened druid, who had journeyed from the south and took hermitage by the sea decades ago. Each dawn she would ring a bell that would call-in sea life. Whalers in the nearby settlements, who otherwise led a harsh life, came to recognize Anga and enjoy her presence as she set out on her daily meditations. Though she continued her hermitage, the whaling community in the area became known as Places/Angajuk's Bell. |