Kuldahar

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Kuldahar was a settlement that sprung up around the gargantuan ancient oak tree, holy to the Church of Silvanus in the northern reaches of the Spine of the World mountains.
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Happenings

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39 #TheChosen The singers moved up the northern streets of Bryn Shander, away from the main crowds of the market. Fern and Crank quickly and quietly worked through the crowd, the rest of the party in tow, to catch up with Vurnis. They found her brushing snow off a child's face, near a small family's shrine to Auril. At first they beat around the bush, but then Oona had enough. "Aren't you dead!?" It seemed that Vurnis believes that some things are miracles. "Those of us who believe, persevere. I hear there are many stranded here in the cold of winter, some wishing to journey to the mountains for Kuldahar. Indeed, they are suffering as they are. It is a cruel world. Remember to endure." Gadget remembered stories the parties told of their first encounter with the dead Vurnis: how she was laid nude and surrounded by runestones on a dais by her sister Ravisin, how her throat had been slit in what was believed to be suicide, and how in their encounter with Sephek Kaltro the possessed sailor also slit his throat yelling in a mixed voice "Witness me!" before turning into slush. Vurnis was a midwinter child, but here she was swaddled in scarf and robe. Whatever this woman before them was, she was certainly alive in service of Auril. Still, in the busy street of a wounded city, without a good idea of her plans, the party had little choice but to let her walk away. Vurnis assured them they would meet again.
39 #Kulduhar Several refugees came by the Hooked Knucklehead with a proposal. Many fed-up, homeless, or otherwise desperate Dalefolk were considering a pilgrimage to Kuldahar, a druidic settlement in the Spine of the World whose massive tree, the Great Oak, spreads warmth to the small village. Around a hundred people were looking to make the journey and wished the heroes to serve as guides and protection. They had little to offer, but perhaps the druids or Great Oak itself may provide resources to the heroes.
39 #TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden #Kulduhar Azgul, accompanied by Oona and Fern, sought out Vellynne Harpell. The necromancer was seen packing her sled with the help of a zombie Bartaban. She was heading to the tundra to investigate a nagging thought. Something felt wrong with the Weave, she admitted. The cold was colder and the Dawn did not stir in her magical equipment as it should. The party recognized a similar passing, as their Boon of Lathander had diminished with time. In a previous travel, she and Azgul II, who had since turned into black ooze, encountered a frost salamander. Such a creature was native to the Plane of Ice, not of the Prime Material Plane. The party too had fought one of these, back in the Lost Spire. They had also been thrown briefly into the Plane of Ice itself, when Varrin Axebreaker attempted to use a Cubic Gate. When asked about Kuldahar, Vellynne encouraged them to go. The Great Oak was known to be a wellspring of divination magic. Perhaps its druids could see what was wrong with the Weave in Icewind Dale. Sharing now between them that the Reghed Glacier held the entrance to Ythryn, she revealed that the key to crack the rimed waterfall, whatever that key exactly was, was likely held on Solstice Isle. Vellynne would like to band together to head to retrieve this key.
39 #battle #Kulduhar The party left with a caravan of a hundred refugees to Kuldahar. On the fourth day, guiding people through the ravines and foothills of the Spine of the World, they realized they were literally on thin ice. Moving carefully to prevent cracking and soaking in icy waters, they took their time. Problems arose when two coldlight walkers and a pair of crag cats attacked from the cliffs on either flank. The treacherous terrain made for a difficult fight, several Dalefolk not making it. Still they pushed on. The valley of Kuldahar was not much further ahead.