| 48 |
#TrialsOfTheFrostmaiden #TheChosen The heroes ste- pped into the Trial of Cruelty and soon were transported to a white, nearly featureless area. There was one doorway, and on it was the face of the Cold Crone. One eye was missing. Along the walls were some objects, and on approach Oona saw them to be daggers of ice. Gadget held a grim expression on her face. Tetro glanced at her and nodded. The passage seemed to require a sacrifice, and he offered for them to use his own. Crank shook his head. That wouldn't be cruel of him to offer up his own, now would it? He looked over at Vellynne, who was standing further back from him than he remembered. There was no way in hell she would give hers up without a fight. Fern grew pensive. Oona said fuck all that and took out the heart of The Endurance from their bag of holding. The group startled when they saw her arm drenched with humours, the heart grizzly with newly regrown vascular structure. She shoved it into the socket anyway, but it didn't take. It had to be an eye. Tetro held out stones for the heroes to draw lots. Crank came up short. Oona held him down as Tetro approached with the knife, the others drawing on their skills to aid Tetro's hand or still those of Crank. Oona spoke to soothe the bugbear as he suffered his lot. With the eye removed, Tetro placed it within the door, and they were brought back to Grimskalle. All but Oona received the glyph of cruelty. |
| 48 |
#TrialsOfTheFrostmaiden For the Trial of Endurance, the party appeared in the middle of a snowstorm. The spellcasters quickly noted that some antimagic presence was at hand. In the near distance, the Tribe of the Elk was hurried to dismantle their camp and move from the surroundings. Jarund Elkheart, their chief, called out to the party, to Auril's emissaries, with caution. He claimed their tribe was being persecuted with impossible conditions and a lack of game. Auril's winter, he said, was out to kill them. But they must endure. The party aided the Elk on a grueling march with the Elk to seek better conditions. While all the party members made it through, only a handful received the glyph of endurance upon reappearing in Grimskalle. |
| 47 |
#TheRimeoftheFrostmaiden Outside the walls of Grimskalle, Sopo grew reluctant to proceed. He talked about the restless spirits of Vassavicken's once proud giants. When pressed about Auril, he noted that the Cold Crone would fly on Iskra the Roc at night, conjuring during the aurora. Though night neared, she may still be on the upper floors of the fortress. |
| 47 |
#battle #TrialsOfTheFrostmaiden Tetro and Gadget were ready to push towards Grimskalle. The journey up icy steps took the party through the remnants of a frost giant walled city. Here, they witnessed signs of a sharp and sudden battle, and deaths due to perhaps poisoning. The skeletal remains reanimated as they party repelled and then fled from frostmourn giants, who groaned their wishes for a true death. Dashing inside the doors of Grimskalle fortress, Vellynne sealed the enormous passage with an arcane lock. |
| 47 |
#TrialsOfTheFrostmaiden Ukuma the Walrus was scooting about on the smooth icy floors of the basement of Grimskalle, at the center of the passageways known as the Gateway to the Four Winds. She wanted fish, but there was no fish to be had. The passageways led to four trials, one after each tenet of the Frostmaiden. A north passage led to the tomb of Vassavicken, said the walrus. The southern passage was magically sealed shut. Only frost druids who truly embodied the cold could open those doors. |
| 46 |
#Solstice #TheDevilYouKnow The "ice mephet" and "definitely not an imp with a hat and fake nose" Sopo awaited the travelers atop giant steps hewn of ice. He provided a map to the region, discussing such wonders as the yeti caves and ice gardens, as well as Auril's current lair within Grimskalle, the remnants of a city state fortress of an ancient frost giant queen Vassavicken. |
| 46 |
#Solstice Observing a second ice garden, Gadget and a couple members suddenly froze in fear. A grimacing sea hag was eyeing them from behind a statue. Overcoming their repulsion, they recognized the fey as Anise Chiselbone from the cauldron caves. Crank shooed her away, but the party prodded him to seek a deal to cure his lycanthropy. After a stoic minute, Crank did barter a deal. But it was to control his curse -- at the cost of "his last breath" and "an hour of his time". The grimacing hag scurried away to brew a potion. She said to meet outside Grimskalle. |