Narratives of the Cold Waste - Part IV

Climbing step after step of endless stairs upwards, Orgot could not help wondering was this really the reason Talos had sent him on this quest to North. He kept telling himself "Means to an end, means to an end", but still he could not shake the feeling that something was not right on this path. 

These thoughts were quickly ended when the group reached the end of the staircase, and exit from the grueling Underdark. Breath of fresh air was of no comfort, when Orgot soon found himself face to face alone with a huge frost giant on top of a cliff. Summoning every flaming spell Talos would grant him, Orgot hoped that the unforgiving Storm Lord had not heard his blasphemous thoughts of doubt in the tunnels bellow. Apparently not, since Orgot was able to scorch the giant with unforeseen infernous might, and with the help of his friends the frost giant was quickly defeated. But not without a cost. 

Thelon had fallen on the frost giants axe after heroic attempt to aid Orgot in battle. Seeing his friends battered body lying on the cliff, barely breathing, Orgot could not help but to wonder "How much more can this guy take? The elf sure has more courage than constitution..." Joy of his friend being alive was quickly diminished, as Orgot saw flame after flame lighting on the watchtowers around the vale bellow. And as he saw the unbelievably gigantic army of orcs, frost giants and other foul creatures of the North, Orgot truly hoped that Talos would not abandon him on this day...

Chapter Four: The Shadow of the Ironmaster

Session was held at the Cabin of Shadows 16th - 17th of August 

"The summer breeze that still at the continent felt somewhat warm, had now turned into a  much more biting variety. Such was it's bite that a man peering over the edge of the ship shriveled.The wind blowing from the distant shore brought a familiar smell, sweet yet stingy scent of a wild-pepper bush. It was rather surprising that such a plant had spread to such northern latitude. The scent also brought up memories.
It was a sunny summer day of course. He and his little sister Nin were up to go fishing with old bachelor Jaamakki Sammaltakki, although Jaamakki was widely considered as bad influence for the two young ones. And what a splendid day for fishing it was, as the river near the village was abundant of fine catch. As the sun began to descend, the two young ones decided to return to the village, while the old bachelor stayed for little longer. There as the siblings made their way back, a strong scent of wild-pepper bushes that grew near their home, tickled the noses of the two.
As they turned to the small paved road only a lep from their home, they saw mob of people buzzing around their home. Aunt-Berthe ran to the children and weeping and hugging the two who were oblivious for what had happened. None of the five river-perches they had catch was eaten, as the aunt took the two to her place, as there were no one left waiting for the siblings at their home.
The sorrow that followed as the children realized what had happened soon turned into anger, and it was fed by the constant sympathies and condolences that the villager poured on the two orphans. Only two weeks after the grievous incident, they left their aunts house, half-empty backpacks with only some food and stolen silverware of their aunts. And a bag of pepper."

The journey through the northern seas had finally begun. Captain Saltskin  and Enoch Crowgale had calculated that it would take them approximately one and a half week to reach the delta of River Shaengarne at the coast of the Icewind Dale.  The river would then take our fellowship all away up to the port of Targos at lake Maer Dauldon. But neither could the Captain or sage Crowgale foresee if the river was passable all the way up to the lake.

An albatross is always an omen.

Virgin Ingrid was a seaworthy ship mostly due it's skilled crew. When the captain attended other bussinesses, first mate Kolben was in charge. Bosun Hröngvid watched after the benefits of the crew, while old geezer Fisheye was at the lookout. As the crew functioned like a machine, there was little for our expedition members to do than plan for the future moves.
While Posco was gazing the ice-blue sea, Lord Haldurssens personal guard Gorim came to talk to him. It was clear that the only real flaw that this northern warrior really had was his constant urge for nonsense chit-chat. There talking, the pair spotted a bird flying around the mast, and Posco decided to drop it with his crossbow. Bulls-eye! But the triumphant shot took a grim turn as the crew started to curse for their fate, as the bird they shot was indeed a black albatross. It was generally considered as a ill omen, and killing one was a sincere death wish. Captain Saltskin himself was needed to spare the two from a vicious mugging, but the grudge kept living on.

Later that night, Posco was confronted while taking a leak. Brondir, a cautious crew-member had decided to settle the problem with his own knife. Three stabs-to-the-neck later Posco flushed Brondirs corpse down the ships head. Only possible witness for this self-defense turned to murder was Fisheye, but he was fast asleep in his lookout, so Posco decided to keep it all to himself. Brondir was longed the day after, but he was soon considered as drowned by accident.

Days passed by slowly. As they sailed further to the north, the coastline became more and more forlorn. As the climate shifted towards winters grip, Konrad Haldurssen decided to stay below the deck, where he was accompanied by Valkurs priestress Abigail Bousson. The two northerners Onarr and Gorim werein good terms with the crew, meanwhile Thyngall Pedersen stayed mainly by himself. Hornbori  had a long history as a sailor so he took part of daily dues with the crew. Faerhar Bogomoloff  befriended with another sturdy bearded fellow, Bolwyn. Nespil Crowgale hanged out with his old mercenary comradew Artyom, as old man Enoch Crowgale studied his maps and notes. Posco socialized with everyone, as the halflings often do, unlike Thelon whose presence was shunned by most men, except his old mates. But nobody wanted to talk to the half-orc, and the one who wanted the least was the orc himself, Orgots mind had been shattered by the grievous defeat by the Hellmaker and he was still struggling to reason this.

That night a great flock of glowing medusas illuminated the ship that steered trough the dark waters. An eerie sight was destinied to take more lethal turn as an aberration approached from the depths. The beast was known as Uchool by the marines, a slime-condensed crustacean with a paralyzing touch to life. It's corroding slime did terrible burns to few crewmembers, but together the heroes succeeded to fend the aberration off.

This was just the beginning of the all the bad luck that was going to be poured over them. When the ship had been at sea for a week, a fog entwined the vessel. Steering blind, it was only a matter of time that something happened. An small iceberg collided to ships keel, making a breach to the hull. With the aid of our heroes, the hole was mended shut and sailor Frode, who was injured badly, was saved. But there was no end for the mist. Two days already in the freezing curtain had turned the ship into a frosty ghost galleon.

22nd of Flamerule and the mist finally pulled back, only to reveal how bad the situation had actually gone. Virgin Ingrid was stuck between floes. Saltskin pondered the situation and came to a conclusion that the ship could be freed, but it would require a combined effort of everyone aboard. Picks and shovels in their hand, the crew and the expedition descended on to the ice raft and begun chopping the ice. Thyngal Pederesen and a shipmate Geirfast took a leave with captains permission, as a group of seals was spotted nearby. At dusk people realized that the two hunters had not come back and thus our heroes promised to go and take a look for the missing men. They managed to climb on the top of a nearest snowhill only to find  fatally injured Pedersen. Without divine magic, Thyngall would have been dead meat, but now life was restored in his thawed veins. He spoke about a monster that sprung from the ice, ripped Geirfast apart and wounded him with it's terrible claw. Thyngall was obviously struck with fear. But for Geirfasts soul, our band decided to push on. Following Thyngalls blood trail, they soon got to the scene of assault. Nearby, an entrance to a ice-cavern was discovered

Ice Troll

The cavern was vast. In fact, so vast that it hold an age old shipwreck inside. The path was clear to the wreck, as the beast had obviously had no intention of hiding the trail of gore that was left behind from poor Geirfast. Inside the old hull our adventurers finally found what they were searching for, a big troll with a ice-blue hide, enjoying it's human meal. Confronting the powerful creature with an ability to rend a man into pieces, was tricky, but with Bolwyns expertise defense techniques against giants like this, the heroes were able to battle against it with relative ease. It tried to out-maneuver them, but justice was dealt nevertheless. While catching their breath, a opportunity was taken to loot the old shipwreck, and they did indeed find some plunder.

When ascending from the caverns, they realized to be stranded by night and snowfall, that had all the manners of oncoming blizzard. Pushing their luck, the team decided to penetrate the night, even tough captain Saltskin had warned them about the night on a iceraft. Soon they were completely engulfed by the chilling darkness.

Frost Hag - Marzanna

From the snowfall a menace erupted. With a magic hail of ice and snow a creature attacked the party, numbing the men with it's cold magic. After a short moment of confusion, the attacker was identified as some sort of a witch or hag, that manipulated  the elements of winter with it's dread spells. It's mere gaze infused our heroes with terror, and it's horrific claws shred armor padding like a cleaver cuts meat. The Marzanna, as the sailors later identified the hag to be, struck down our mercenary champions one after another. Without the aid of an another search party led by Captain Saltskin himself, the four heroes would have been frozen to death by the winter-hag. As they finally regained their consciousness by the help and aid of Saltskins crew, it seemed that poor Orgot had taken the greatest punishment, once again.

The ship was finally freed from it's icy shackles a day after the battle. the others recovered quite well, even badly mutilated Thyngall Pedersen showed signs of recovery, but Orgot had been struck down once and for all. The half-orc cleric did some serious self-examination somewhere in the cargo-hold, before he finally returned to the deck. He recovered, but the wound would never fully heal.

The ship was finally inbound to it's destination. They sailed north along the Cold Run, steep and icy cliff that separated the Icewind Dale from the Sea of Moving Ice. As the river delta of Shaengarne was seen, crew sighed in relief, as the most perilous phase of their journey was presumable behind. Saltskin himself steered the ship through it, letting the cold breeze from the sea push Virgin Ingrid upriver.

Stranded by ice - Never again!

Cold Run's cliffs rose as high as the ships mast and the relief soon changed back to anxiety. Suspension was increasing exponentially, when like a flash in a night sky, a volley of arrows flew towards the vessel. Many took hits, especially Fisheye at the lookout. Following the sudden volley, fierce barbarian men assaulted the ship, jumping from the cracks and faults of the cliffside. The quiet waiting had turned into high-scale carnage. Men were struck down, impaled by keen arrows, cast overboard. But our heroes were trained to withstand even a attack of two dozen barbarian raiders, so eventually the scale shifted back to the sailors. Also, an unexpected aid arrived as someone smote and rushed the archers from atop the cliff. As the battle ceased, five dwarves , who had slain the archers, descended down to the ships deck.

The small troupe was known as the Ironwatch, elite soldiers, trained in guerrilla manner. The officer in charge, Burthon Steelshirt saluted the ships crew, but within the same sentence he told the captain that the ship was thus commandeered by the right of Ironwatch of the Ironmaster. Captain had his objections but turning against these five battle-machines would have certainly come with such a cost that it just wasn't worth the risk. So did Burthon Steelshirt steer Virgin Ingrid up the stream, all the way to their dwarven citadel, the Ironmaster. Enoch Crowgale knew some of the legends surrounding the colossal burrow, but he had not foreseen how it had spanned across the river, forming something like a steel barrage where no ship would sail without paying a toll.

Citadel Ironmaster

Such was the gargantuan scale of the fortress, that the ship was steered into a giant hangar, where hundreds of dwarven soldiers were waiting. When the ship was attached into a peer, a delegate marched in. Dwarf known as the First Master invited some of the more prominent individuals to attend a meeting deep within the fortress, and as our fellowship had no intentions to resist, they followed the dwarves. A counsil of six Masters greeted the captain and the expedition. They informed that due certain policies, a toll must be paid before the ship can pass the barrage. And as the ship was carrying cargo of zero value, a favors of some other sort must be made. The council asked, or frankly speaking, ordered the heroes to perform a small task to ensure the ships allowance to pass.

First Master explained that the citadel was led by  Grandmaster Thadaragin. But the Grandmaster had grown old, and after he turned 500 years, he became almost a like a mummy. And the council believes that this is due that he is missing one of the four artifacts, forged by his great-great-grandfather, the original Ironmaster. The item in question was a platinum beard-buckle, that was buried in mistake to Grandmasters fathers tomb. And now the council ask politely for the heroes to retrieve it in most delicate manner, as it is forbidden for the dwarves living in the citadel to enter into the tombs of the old Grandmasters. Our mercenaries thought the plan was ridiculous but agreed to perform it nevertheless. Armed only with crowbars and torches, as the dwarves had confiscated and forbidden their usual weapons

The catacombic dungeons were an unhallowed site at least. Bolwyn had tremendous difficulties perform the task in hand, due his own dwarven lineage, and what they were up to, was certainly an heinous act indeed. After hall after hall of dwarven statues and reliquary, they finally saw mithral doors that opened into the the Chamber of the Grandmasters. A murky hall with tomb entrances on it's sides, had a great iron statue depicting the original Ironmaster. But something else was there too. A bunch of vile subterranean dwellers were chopping pieces of metal off of the statue. As our heroes confronted them, the creatures charged against them. Someone later identified the beings as Derro, a mutated dwarven subrace dwelling deep within the Underdark, tormented by madness. The derro had dug themselves into one of the tombs, where they had spotted the iron statue in the main hall, but whatever were their intentions, everyone was struck down, except for a single individual that was carried for the dwarves for questioning. The platinum buckle was also recovered from the old grandmasters tomb, although it was protected with vicious traps.

The Council of Six Masters was glad for the recovery and they were convinced that this would help them the regain touch with the old grandmaster. But the expedition would not see this happen, as they were quickly escorted back to their ship, that was granted a permit to pass the barrage. The visit at the Ironmaster was probably one of the most efficient ever.

Virgin Ingrid was back in line, and Saltskin calculated that they would reach the port of Targos in two days. Such was the merry mood for the rest of the voyage, that they even picked up two peasant fishermen along the way. Mathias and Ingred were their names and they were first to introduce the northern moonshine called Vyrymborouh to our heroes.

As the journey was almost over, Orgots depression peaked. During a stormy night he climbed into the mast in order to contact his deity Talos. He spoke every single chant he knew, trying to call forth his god to answer him. He was certain that the thundergod would strike him down instantly, and thus release him from the misery, but instead the wicked stormlord sent it's harbinger instead. From the clouds a elemental of pure storm nature descended, raining lighting and terror upon the ship. A bolt struck Orgot, thrusting him down to the deck. As the others joined in to the battle, Orgot knew that his god had not abandoned him. Defeating the storm elemental was quite a task, resulting even in some deaths of the crewmembers. Despite the general state of misery, the ship reached it's destination. Dockworkers at the Targosian harbor were amazed how a ship of such size and condition had managed to come up to the lake Maer Dauldon.

As the sailors prized the firm land under their feet maybe more than ever before, many within the expedition had certain doubts about the upcoming journey. 
If the prequel had already been such a chain of disasters, how would they ever survive the full adventure.  

And the journey continues...

Chapter Three: Wretches Who Stride Towards Their Doom - Part II

Session was held 25th of May at the Skyhouse of Slumber

Fifth of Flamerule. We're once again stationed at the Seven Sails Inn. I do not overstate that is truly a miracle that we're still here. Our operation for saving Captain Agmuind Saltskin from the bowels of Underkeel took a direct hit, as a group of scaly gate-guards assaulted our backs. Never have likes of those creatures walked on the golden sands of Evermeet, my gratitude for the Lords for that! Luckily our companionship proved to be more hard-woven than the scaly hides of those lurking swamp beasts. Nevertheless, we were blown out from fatigue and injuries, and pushing deeper into the rectory of evil seemed like a suicide. So we reverted, a decision that brought us shame.

"Yeah, we're alright!"

 Now as I am writing this from the warmth of my bed, I am confident that next morning will be ours, and Captain Saltskin will be freed. On the wider scale, I suspect that our leave for the Expedition will be near. Enoch Crowgale has pushed his preparations and he's almost done. As long as we have a proven captain to sail us to the shores of the Icewind Dale. I believe that the journey will be unforgettable. I also believe in Posco, but I must question Bolwyns motives, as I do question the orc, whose name I refuse to utter. My dear brother would never endorsed such a company. And what comes to my search.. I am still alone.
-Thelon

Return to the Source

As the dawn broke from the shackles of mother night, our adventurers ate a quick fix of nourishing breakfast, and headed back to the forgotten sewers of Luskan. As the chance to save Saltskins life grew weaker by every passing hour, the fellows proceeded with haste. Quick descend through the reeking tunnels of decay brought them back to the gates of Underkeel. The door that  was guarded by vicious lizardmen a day before, now supported new guardsmen. Three human scoundrels now manned the post and while doing so they were cleaning up the deceased scalykind, throwing the corpses to the same filthy current from where they launched their surprise assault on our braves. A goblin named Shadlarg was giving them orders, a queer choice to be a lieutenant in Hellmakers private army.

Shadlarg - Barghest

Our rescuers proceeded to storm the gate, again. This time Posco opened the fire with his keen crossbow, wounding the scoundrels with several volleys of sharp halfling-sized toothpicks that they call crossbow bolts. In the mean time, the rest charged on the gateguards, swords blazing. As suspected, the goblin had a reason to hold the rank of a lieutenant, as it shapeshifted into the form a giant wolf. It was a creature called Barghest. And it was quickly killed.

With Shadlargs key, the sturdy iron door into Hellmakers underground lair was easily opened. Our heroes raided few chambers, beating down Hellmakers bouncers and his another officer, Regortass Blackscale, a huge black scaled man-lizard. Finally they stroke down a door that lead into inner chambers. There, at the edge of a great chasm, a group of prisoners was held. To free them, our saviors had to battle with two entities of malevolent, god-hating evil. These gargoyle-like creatures are known as Kir-Lanan originating from some outer plane of existence, brought to the face of Toril by the Time of Troubles. Their powerful connection to negative energy proved challenging, but the steel of the blades didn't mind, it ate their flesh just as eagerly. With the monsters smit down, the heroes checked the condition of the prisoners. Most of them were dead or dying, but one persistent prick of a captain was still breathing. Although he was alive, he was clinging at the end. Happy to see familiar faces, Captain Saltskin thanked our heroes and swore that he would keep the fees for the upcoming voyage at minimum.

 - Hellmaker -
Artists impression from
Poscos vague remembrance

Saltskin was left to regain some of his vitality for the return through the tunnels as our braves decided to open the last and the most menacing door at the Underkeel. As the heavy iron door swung open, they saw a powerful looking "man" sitting by a table, back towards them. The man was painting some dark and devious painting on a canvas that might as well be one made of human skin. With a deep voice from the Abyss, the thing spoke:

”Do you, or do you not, wish to slay me? Well, will you, or will you not force me to lift my flail? Do you even know, WHO exactly calls me the Hellmaker? The Sinners, the sinners call me Hellmaker. And that is for I am an Angel of Retribution. And by the Right of my lord, Asmodeus, I will smite you down!

And after a ponderous monologue, the demon-spawn launched a devastating attack upon our braves. It swung its heavy flail, crushing the bone and sinew of everything that tried to make a stand against it. The Hellmaker proved to be worth of its name. Crushing Thelon, mangling Bolwyn and decimating Orgot, only Posco managed to escape from sure doom. Wounded captain Saltskin by his side, they ascended back to Luskans streets, grieving for the terrible outcome of the supposed-to-be triumph.

At the Seven Sails Inn, Posco wept for his fallen comrades, as did Agmuind Saltskin, although he was still glad to be among the living. The small halfling drowned his sorrow into a jug of beer, as fell into nightmare infested slumber. Hours later, Posco woke up as he heard screams from the streets. He followed the innkeeper and several patrons to the streets to investigate the source of this cry that was filled with terror. There, hanging head down from a top beams of a nearby house, was the rest of the adventurers. As they

were lowered, the rescuers saw that Bolwyn and Thelon were both grievously injured , but Orgot had sustained an injury with far more serious consequences. His will had been shattered. As the rest regained their strength and vigor back in a week or two, Orgot never became the same wretch of an orc again. To top this, they all had a text "Hellmaker" carved to their chests.

There was no apparent reason why Hellmaker had spared their lives, except to show his power over life and death. And also now he had three walking signs of his victory.

Preparations

Next week was full of errands for the upcoming expedition. Dwarven merchant Jando Karakas was the one to deliver all the items and equipment, rations and supplies for the voyage, and a long hours were spent planning for the delivery lists. By the initiative of Enoch Crowgale, the expedition members also met each other for the first time. And here is the full list of men who boarded Saltskins ship and headed to north to search for glory:

• Enoch Crowgale - The Expedition Leader, scribe and mastermind.
• Konrad Haldurssen - the financer, according to his own words, wishes to experience adventure one more time.
• Nespil Crowgale - Head of Security
• Artyom - Mercenary muscle from the Red Dogs
• Gorim - Haldurssens personal bodyguard
• Onarr - Also Haldurssens man, able smith too.
• Thyngall Pedersen - Tracker/ranger, head of navigation
• Hornbori - Paid muscle
• Faerhar Bogomoloff - Beast of burden and a workman
• Abigail Bousson - Priestess of Valkur that Haldurssen personally requested to take part.

And of course our heroes, Bolwyn, Thelon, Orgot and Posco who were hired by Crowgale to provide muscle, security, dirty jobs and general adventuring. This group of fourteen was to defy the dangers of the uncharted north. 

Few days later our laborers paid a visit to the office of merchant Jando. Final arrangements for the delivery were agreed upon and while they were idle, Karakas offered a small task at the wharves. His warehouse number four had been apparently overrun by "ghosts" or so the dockers and teamsters say. As they had nothing better in their hands, the adventurers promised to investigate this dilemma. Jando hinted that the dockworkers had been spending awful a lot of time at the Cutlass recently.  

Above mentioned group of slackers were at the Cutlass as Karakas had foretold. They were reluctant to come with the heroes but one of them finally gave up and agreed to show them the fourth warehouse. The wharves were a gloomy place even during a day, and the perimeter around the warehouse in question was exceptionally bad. The dockworker refused to go nearer so the lads had to continue alone for the door. But an eerie and ghastly sound interrupted them. This wailing seemed to originate from a nearby crate, and inside this wooden hideout, a small wretch of a man was found. The little thug sobbed that his boss, Mantor had forced him to mimic ghosts and spooks to scare off unwanted visitors.

Encouraged by this earthly explanation for ghostly sounds, they stormed in and found out that gang of

Artists careful demonstration how two bears, uniting their strenght
could easily best a damsel (who now on is in serious distress) 

criminals had turned the building into a animal cage fight center. At the time being, there were two ferocious bears battling against each other, with two dozen men cheering and placing bets outside the cage. Mantor, the organizer and kingpin behind the show tried his best to fend off the intruders, but ended up being eaten alive by his own pet-ursidae, and boy did those two battle bears feast on his meat. The warehouse was quickly purified from gamblers and hostile animals, although those two bears were dangerous to calm.

Jando Karakas was glad that the issue with the warehouse was solved once and for all, and promised a small surprise bonus among the goods he was to deliver for Saltskins ship later during the passing week. And so the time passed and finally the day of departure arrived. Luskan bathed in the light of dawn as last crates, barrels and sacks of supplies were hauled into the cargo hold of the Virgin Ingrid, Captain Saltskins trusty ship.

Few numbered group of family and relatives were waving their goodbyes to the sailors and expedition members, sobbing farewells as everyone knew that death was waiting for some, if not everyone, and the hope for loved ones safe return was thin at best. It was 12th of Flamerule, when Virgin Ingrid departed from the relative safety of Luskans harbor. All the necessary preparations were done, and the men let their lives in the hands of their faith or fate. As the seagulls sung their farewells, the ship float to the open.

Even captain Saltskin doubted on what he had agreed upon
There was not a single soul that didn't have a seed of doubt in it, because from now on, they all would be on a collision course with the unknown, whatever it would be. 

Their destinies were out there, where even the gods wouldn't serve as witnesses. 

To the North - teaser

Chapter One: Compass to the North - Encounters in the City of Sails Part II

Session was still held 24th-26th of August at the Shadowy Cabin of the Hidden Lands.

Read Part I here to keep up with the plot.

The Withering Wench had high south winds on her sails, plunging the vessel towards the island of Icepeak, where the harbor of Aurilsbarg awaited for our new heroes. Bolwyn and Orgot were experiencing the joys of marine travel for the first time, although Posco was also quite a greenhorn at the seas. Only Thelon had experience from the seas, but the human ships felt much cruder to him than the elven vessels that floated through the waves with no rocking.
Their peaceful naval travel came to a quick halt, when a loud shout was heard "THAR SHE BLOWS!". Men on the Wench exploded into action, pulling ropes and preparing one of the whaleboats for it's purpose. Captain Herrod asked if the passengers would like to take part of a whale hunt, and with the guidance of Otkell, ships most experienced harpooner, they agreed to come.
The boat was soon on the waves, men rowing furiously to gain with the whale. The crew had identified it as a minke whale, a perfect size of a whale for our newcomer harpooners. Although the art of the harpoon throwing proved to be quite an obstacle, the whale was eventually catched.

Rest of the journey went without notable encounters. Captain decided to process the whale at the harbor, so the Withering Wench towed the carcass alongside it. After two days of successful seafaring, the ship reached the frozen harbor of Aurilsbarg. Walruses greeted the ship with their great bellowing. It was clear that summer was yet to come to this northern island that was the last island with permanent settlements before the Sea of Moving Ice. Small city of Aurilsbarg was the trade nexus for the fishing villages around the island, and only one to support a open harbor through the harsh winter. The town center was small with only two dozen buildings and it was hard to believe that it actually had population of almost 3000. But there was no city wall and most of the buildings were widely spread along the coastline and the hillsides. There in the shadow of the gigantic mountain the Icepeak the city of Aurilsbarg had stood for centuries, frozen for ten months in a year.

Small city of Aurilsbarg

From the center of the city our adventurers found a comfy inn called Pint & Tusk. The innkeeper, Eilif Ekkilson greeted the newcomers warmly and every patron there gathered around them to hear about news from the continent. Enoch Crowgale explained their ambitions to investigate Valgaerd the Whitefarers final resting place, and although the audience that they shouldn't tamper with the past, they wished luck for the heroes on their deed.

Servant of the Flames
After the peaceful night of rest on the firm ground, the team left to the Church of the Frozen Waves, a temple of goddesses Auril and Umberlee. The Church was just outside the city and it was the only one that was full stone-craft  as the others were mainly wood with stone foundation. The Church was covered with frost, but unlike the inn and all the other buildings of the city, the Church was also frozen from the inside. As our mercenaries stepped in, Atledan, the priest in charge, received them. As he understood that the heroes hadn't come to seek mercy from the wrath of the goddesses, he became reluctant to cooperate.

Perfect example of the
brave nature of Kobolds

Valgaerd did have a small mausoleum inside the church, but Atledan declared further investigation blasphemous. But just as the disappointed investigators were bout to leave, the priest came up with a proposition. If they would bring him the head of Vasiljus the Dookian, the sacrifice might be adequate for the goddesses to consent to the excavation of the tomb.

Quick round of information gathering around the city provided the adventurers with all the details they needed. Vasiljus the Dookian had come to the Icepeak from somewhere south. He was a devoted servant of Kossuth, the deity of fire. His plan was to awaken the slumbering volcano inside the Icepeak. The Aurilsbargians weren't quite fond with his plan, and he soon retreated to his cabin at the mountainside. Locals have tried to forgot him, but recently local hunters have heard strange barking and yapping from his isolated mountain cabin.

With the information they needed, Thelon, Posco, Bolwyn and Orgot headed towards the Icepeak. Crowgale stayed behind as he felt that the headhunt wasn't for him. The ascend to the cabin was a harsh one, and late that night they finally reached the desolate cabin. Little warm light flickered through it's small windowpanes and Posco took the privilege of little scouting. He positioned himself behind the window, as he saw Vasiljus talking to someone/something that yapped back to him. The others took position behind the door and from Poscos mark, Bolwyn kicked the door in. Posco himself launched a bolt through the windowpane, but failed to bring the worshipper of Kossuth down.

For everyone's surprise, the cabin was full of kobolds, wretched pawns in Vasiljus's fiery plans. The charge inside the cabin was rapid, but Vasiljus escaped into inner cavern that was dug from inside the cabin into the mountainside. There were more kobolds that had organized themselves into defensive positions. Thelon almost killed himself as he charged against the defensive wall, but the rest of our headhunters followed quickly, and the small lizardfolk were soon defeated. Only Vasiljus himself proved to be bit challenging as he swung his tendrils of flame (the preferred weapon of Kossuth, spiked chains), but eventually our brave firefighters extinguished the fire of life from his eyes.

Because of the nightfall, the journey back to Aurilsbarg could have been perilous, so our heroes decided to stay in the cabin until the morning. While staying there, they had good time for some looting, and with an appraise done hastily, they counted treasure worth of almost 2000 gold pieces.
After the uneasy night at the scene of a bloodbath, our mercenaries wandered back to the coastal city. Quick trip to fetch mister Crowgale from the inn, and the headhunters began to approach the church.

Priest Atledan was really pleased when he learned that his rival
Vasiljus the Doorian had met his end. 

Priest Atledan was pleased to receive Vasiljus's head, and he began to perform the sacrificial rites immediately. Whims of the two goddesses were at our heroes side, as they were granted the opportunity to explore the tomb of Valgaerd.

The Tomb of the Whitefarer
The cubic mausoleum of Valgaerd was quite easy to open. But a surprise occurred to our grave robbers as the tomb was empty. There was a big hole in the middle of the tomb and it looked like it had collapsed years ago. A rope was tied around Bolwyn and the dwarf was lowered down into a cramped tunnel that ran beneath the crypt. As the others descended also, they began to investigate the strange complex of these low tunnels that forced Thelon and Orgot to cower really uncomfortably. It was soon obvious that some grave-robbers had dug all these tunnels, as many ceilings had holes to other tombs and crypts that lied in the church, and the tunnels had bones scattered everywhere.

Tomb Mote from book Libris Mortis

Crowgale managed to dig up old burial shield that, according the runes engraved into it's surface, belonged Valgaerd the Whitefarer, but no sign of any kind of journal or logbook that Crowgale believed to be buried alongside the corpse. Eventually they stumbled upon a slightly wider "room" that had served as a resting room for the tunnelers. There they found lot's of mining equipment, alongside a sack of loot robbed from the graves. A tunnel leading out of the room had collapsed and three maimed corpses of the grave-robbers lied in front of the cave-in.
While the heroes examined the wounds of the mummified tunnelers, Enoch Crowgale searched around the room and managed to find a old withered and worn book that he quickly identified to be Valgaerds logbook! His joy ended fast, as something approached them with great speed. Two tiny,vaguely humanoid,creatures attacked our fellowship, clawing and biting with unnatural haste, not so often attributed to undead creatures. These tomb motes  challenged our heroes, but once again they prevailed. As they began to ascend from the grave, all the loot obtained from the perished grave-tunnelers, were hidden so that the priest wouldn't notice them. As Atledan heard about the tunnels underneath, he was shocked not to notice them before. And using his shock to their advance, our mercenaries left the church with sacks full of gold.

The Dead Haverigg

Later that night, our mercenaries were raising their pints for success at the church. Captain Herrod was there too with his men, and he told that ship called Shivering Nordman would leave towards Luskan within a week, but its captain Randvir Unnarrson hasn't yet returned from his home village, so the heroes couldn't ask for a ride just yet. Thought of boredom while waiting for the captain bothered our heroes, but a old man overheard their conversation and approached them with a bet. Kell was his name and he dared that our heroes would not have the courage to spend a night in the village of Daud-Haverigg. Of course they swallowed the bait and promised to venture there as soon as possible, meaning the next morning.

Village of Daud-Haverigg

At the break of next dawn, the party gathered for their journey. Crowgale stayed at the inn to began his studies with the logbook that seemed to be written with some sort of a secret code that he hadn't yet been able to break. Crowgale promised also to look after their ride back to Luskan, if only Captain Unnarrson would return first.
Journey to east, towards Daud-Haverigg took the whole day, and at dusk they finally reached the old fishing village. It looked abandoned with all it's buildings were more or less ramshackle. Village road was still covered by thick snow, with no sign of trails or human footsteps. But in the middle of the village, faint light gleamed from small windows of a inn named "Blue Burial-Inn". Our four heroes walked inside and the innkeeper Dalfarr welcomed them in. He acknowledged that the village had drifted into decay, as did few nodding patrons, sipping their pints in the corner. But no signs of terror painted by old man Kell was found, and our heroes took a room as they were to stay for the night to win the bet.

Shortly after midnight Thelon woke up feeling cold. All the warmth had disappeared from the inn and the room they were had turned into dark abandoned nightmare. As he tried to awaken the others, low growling and muffled stumping was heard behind the door. Just as they had taken up their arms, the door was forced in and a pack of bloodthirsty zombies charged in!
Defeating the small group was relatively easy task, but soon our daredevils understood that the living dead were swarming in with constantly increasing rate. The biggest and the ugliest of them was Dalfarr, the innkeeper himself, who instead of serving pints, served our heroes with terrible zombie assaults. The others positioned themselves into the high end of a staircase in order to defend efficiently against the horde, but Posco was left to trouble as the undead managed to force themselves up the stairs, bringing part of the first floor ceiling down, and opening a new route for attack. As the others hacked the zombies to pieces, Posco tried to escape from the claws of the innkeeper, who had taken the small halfling as it's target. But that night was not their last, and they managed slay every last one of the undead. Closer examination of the wretched inn after the battle revealed some horrible secrets, and some modest loot too! Dalfarrs account book had it's last note dated to 12.2.1342,  which was thirty years ago. Also, a hidden room was found from the basement, and there lied a corpse of a shackled woman. Apparently she was a sorceress of some sort, and from his basement cell wall a short written curse was found: "Cursed be thine village, may thee walk eternally, as dead and restless"

The Red Claw
After a restless night in the village of Haverigg, our adventurers began their journey back. It was shadowed by Orgots illness that was diagnosed to be originating from the tombs beneath the Church of Frozen Waves. By the end of the day Thelon succumbed too for this dread disease, but lucky for them, they arrived back to Aurilsbarg in time. Priest Atledan removed the disease with his divine magic, but they were still quite weakened as it had ravished their bodies greatly. Later that night at the inn, old man Kell admitted his defeat, and the mercenaries were acknowledged as brave lads!

Next morning, Orgot and Thelon stayed at bed in order to recover, but Posco and Bolwyn went to the piers to book themselves to Shivering Nordman. Captain Unnarrson was favorable to take them as passengers, and our shorties planned to return back to the inn. But a local huntsman, the Master Huntsman of Aurilsbarg to be exact, Mordr, intercepted them and asked them to give their opinion about something. After a short walk to the seaside rocks where the walruses had been earlier, Mordr showed them a scene of murder. Almost a dozen dead walruses lied there ripped and gutted, with no clear sign by whom or what. As the island had no natural predators, Mordr was quite puzzled by this massacre. Posco and Bolwyn promised to help and after closer investigation, Posco found tuft of fur from a tusk of a great bull. Mordr couldn't identify the coarse, dark grey fur and the investigators returned to inn to show it to Crowgale. He was almost certain that it belonged to a wolf, but their absence from the island aroused even more questions. Query around the city came up with nothing, but Bolwyn and Posco already had their own theories for the suspect. They believed that the bloodbath was a work of a werewolf, as the moon was currently full too! Mainly because of this theory, they stayed up late, circling around the town, watching out for any wandering wolfmen.

A Werewolf

But their efforts were in vain, as the mysterious killer stroke before they could witness it. Niklaus Domarsson was a local craftsman living his life as everyone else in Aurilsbarg but now he was dead, shredded in the same way that the walruses night before. Posco and Bolwyn executed series of investigations although they couldn't get far with the mystery. But during the day, a word reached their ears that Dagstyrr the Locksmith was found naked and unconscious earlier that morning. Our Sherlocks proceeded to Dagstyrr's residence immediately, to question him. The locksmith stated that he had drank heavily last night, and couldn't recall anything from the last night.
Something wasn't alright about Dagstyrr, but as our heroes had no real evidence about their shapeshifting werewolf, another night of vigilance was needed. That night was also the last of three-night-phase of the fullmoon, so if the werewolf would present itself, this was the last change. Orgot and Thelon, who had finally gained some of their strenght back, joined also for the nightwatch.

After uncountable hours of patient waiting, a loud shout broke the anticipating silence. Posco arrived to the scene first and he witnessed a great beast, half a man, half a wolf, shredding one member of townguard apart. Posco pulled the wolfmans attention to himself, and the maimed townguard managed to escape his doom. Soon the rest of our heroes arrived, and although the shapeshifter was resilient, repelling most of the strokes with it's supernatural resistance of mundane weapons. But eventually the load of damage was too great for the wolfman, and the beast collapsed. It turned out that Dagstyrr the Locksmith was after all the one behind the menace. Later on it was speculated that Dagstyrr had contacted the lycanthrophy on his journeys on the continent. The Master Huntsman Mordr thanked the heroes for solving the mystery behind the murders. He also granted a small reward for their job by the behalf of Oddnar Alrek, the Jarl of Aurilsbarg.

Return to Luskan
After a quick nap during the forenoon, our heroes packed the gear and stepped to the Shivering Nordman, their ticket back to the continent. The voyage was a success and our mercenaries managed to rest for few days. During their rest, Crowgale engrossed in to the logbook even more, but the key to the secret code was still waiting for him to unveil it.
One encounter occured during the voyage, as Posco was awakened during the night by some shady sneaking just in front of him. The sneaking sailor, Chale, claimed that he was just walking by, but Posco accused him to be a thief. The ships bosun Oleg interrupted the quarrel before it escalated any further. But the seed of suspicion stayed was left behind, and Posco kept his eyes open.

Windmill-Hágo

Rest of the journey went well and it was a beautiful morning when the ship arrived to the Piers of Luskan. While they were unloading their gear and themselves from the Shivering Nordman, Posco spotted that Chale the sneaky sailor was whispering suspiciously to some crooks at the pier and pointing out the heroes direction. Our observant rogue informed the rest about his suspicions and they proceed to the piers with great caution.

The halfling guessed it right, as soon they were surrounded with thugs asking for their purses. The leader of the band (who called themselves as The Amazing Luskan Lads) was a flamboyant swordfighter named Windmill-Hágo, who presented himself in exquisite manner. As our heroes declined to hand over their possessions, the Lads tried to subdue them. Our veteran mercenaries responded in lethal fashion, wounding few severely. Finally Thelon charged against Hágo himself, who had previously abstained himself from the battle. Our brave elf learned a quick lesson about mastery of blades, as Hágo slapped him with his swords flat several times. Disappointed by his unskilled adversary, Hágo left the scene only to challenge our mercenaries again one day, when they would be ready for it.

As Thelon regained his consciousness, and the rest had finished beating the Lads till pulp, our awesome quartet ( plus Crowgale) took a small breather and stepped towards the alleyways.

And by the way they were just greeted at the piers, they knew they were back in the City of Sails!

Chapter One: Compass to the North-Encounters at the City of Sails - Part I

Session was held 24th - 26th of August at the Hidden Cabin of Shadowlands

"I am the last,

so may the Gods hear my testimony.

It really does exist,

the legends are true.

Oh how I wish they would not be."

Sword Coast North

The day was Fourth of June 1372 after the Dale Reckoning. Summers first breaths were spreading across the north, and the spring drizzle was reviving the flora in this harsh land that is known as the Sword Coast North. There, in the independent port city of Luskan, two companions walked through the muddy streets filled with cutthroats that were ready to loot the last remaining coins from the cold corpse of the unwary. The two found their way into notorious tavern known as the Cutlass. There with fresh pints in their hands,  the weary travelers had the opportunity to witness a curious performance. The whole tavern ceased it's ever-continuing brawl only to hear the story told by man known as Enoch Crowgale. 

That will be me, my dear reader.

"For those who I haven't met before, may I present myself, the name is Enoch Crowgale. I came here tonight to tell you about a myth that I reckon to be the myth of Ultima Thule, but which many know as the Land of Eternal Light. This place of legend has been called since the Dawn of Toril as Thaczil Di Ro Kear by the Great Ancient Wyrms, while the elves who once strolled these northern lands knew it as Myth Cor'Cirith. So did the dwarves in their deep mines beneath the majestic mountains, Ankor A Bryngrom was the name of the myth and Migdhal Wyrdrazh was the great outpost that stood there. Even the foul creatures who lurked in the mountains above the dwarven strongholds had the name Uzg ob Gith-Drautas reappearing time after time in their crude orc sagas.You known that you have heard from it in the disguise of the familiar medley sung by skalds from the campfires to Halls of the Kings:

Enoch Crowgale 

North - From the Kingdoms of Men,
North- From the Great Dwarven Halls.
North - From where the Elves have strode,
North- From the Last Giant Throne.

Beyond - The Gods and their might,
Beyond - The Great  White Glacier.
There lies the Land of Eternal Light,
Now, always and never.

As I have hastily proven, this miraculous land walks with us regardless the race or culture. It's ethereal promises of power and riches untold have aroused many for searches in vain, and thus it has been said that no one has ever seen nor witnessed it's glory. They say it is only a myth. But I am to prove them wrong as I know what they didn't know. I know the man who saw it and returned and I have the compass to guide me there, and few of you may reach it in my company. So those intrigued by my words, join me later this evening at the third booth for wine and chatter, and maybe we are able to negotiate the terms for our journey together!"

And thus the sage ended his short performance and the crowd was left pondering his words. But soon the patrons burst into laughter, trying to outwit each other with mocking rants about Crowgale and his ill-famed journey of regulating  food rations from Luskan to Neverwinter. As the troubadour resumed to his play, the two companions began to peer for the third booth, and soon mister Crowgale appeared there with a full jug of wine. Quickly after he had sat down, four men approached the booth. These four were the men that we would soon learn to known as the Adventurers.

First sat the two companions.
First one was a young shield dwarf fighter Bolwyn Flameblade from the Citadel of Adbarr,
and his companion was a orc cleric Orgot Shatargat-thrak from Clan Ironjaws of eastern Spine of the World mountains. An odd couple indeed.
After them came a small man from the Western Heartlands, Posco Pepper, a halfling.
And after him came his friend, an elf from the distant realms that still possesses the splendor of yesterday, Thelon Celtharion of Evermeet.
These four quite different men were the only ones to show genuine interest for Crowgales speech, and thus they were just a glimpse away from the begin of the greatest adventure of their lifetime.

Bolwyn Flamblade, Thelon Celtharion, Orgot Shatargat-thrak, Posco Pepper

Crowgale explained his plans briefly, not giving away too much information just yet, as he could not be sure about the motives of the four. He had planned recruiting some sort of mercenaries for the solid core of his expedition to the Ultima Thule, and the four men interested about his speech would suite just well, if only they'd be willing. He promised them great adventures and possibly great wealth split in fifth-shares, but only after good night of sleep, as tomorrow he would reveal more.
The four mercenaries were quite enthusiastic about Crowgales expedition plans, and they promised to escort him to his apartment, while he would show them the Seven Sails-inn on the way.

But Luskan showed it's danger just outside the Cutlass, as two thugs were to mug Crowgale and his new companions. Rat-Zim and Spikefist demanded Enoch to hand over his compass that he had shown earlier at the tavern. Crowgale was willing to cope, but the four mercenaries prepared a show-off of their skills. After a split second of high speed action, Spikefist sat crying for his shattered guts, and Rat-Zim lied on the muddy street with his left eye punctured, shaking in a neurological shock. The adventurers had a promising start.

Later that evening the heroes arrived to Seven Sails inn, where the innkeeper Vegar Rosolov offered his quality, although ridiculously overpriced, services. After the good night of sleep granted with exclusive right of Arcane Brotherhood, the heroes gathered around a marine breakfast which was plentiful. For the record, that was the first time Bolwyn and Orgot tasted seafood.

Valgaerd Last Poem
(slightly modified
Dream-Land by
Edgar Allan Poe)

As the morning grew to forenoon, four men who had slowly found a common tongue among themselves, gathered at Crowgales apartment. It was filled with books and strange gadgets with geography and measurement importance. He also had a full shelf of compasses, a curious wit of a somewhat possessed mind. Now as everyone was still interested about his great expedition after a night of sleep, he began adding details.

Crowgale explained that he believed that man known as Valgaerd the Whitefarer managed to reach the Ultima Thule and return from it. As a partial evidence he presented the adventurers a short poem penned on the death bed of no one else than the Whitefarer himself. In addition to this he had confirmed from several sources that Valgaerd had kept a journal or log about his adventure beyond the glaciers. None had ever witnessed it so it was merely a legend as the whole Thule adventure itself. But Crowgale had a hunch about the log, as he had managed to dig up information that Valgaerd had been buried with some sorts of documents. And thus, our newly formed adventure team received their first quest for plundering the tomb of Valgaerd.
Crowgale reckoned that the nordman was buried on the island of Icepeak, that was few hundred miles northwest from Luskan. Crowgale administrated the heroes to acquire a vessel of transportation from the piers of Luskan, and he preferred to depart tomorrow morning. And so they left to the Luskan Piers in search for a suitable ship to Icepeak island.

Old man Martinus - the tanner

The harbor of Luskan was known as the Piers and it was located on the Dragon Beach, southern one of the many sand strands of the mouth of River Mirar.   The piers were full of sailors and lowlifes seeking to gain advantage from one's misery, but with determination our four sell-swords tracked down a harbor clerk called Garald Karenin, who was able to pinpoint a suitable ship for their desires. Withering Wench was the name of the ship and Herrod the Herring was its captain. Walking past ships macabre figurehead (mummified old woman in a red dress) sure gave them shrivels but the old caravel seemed otherwise quite seaworthy. Captain Herring (who got his epithet from being successful on fishing the northern Sword Sea herrings into extinction) accepted the travelers into his ship that would depart next morning, but he asked them to perform a small task in favor.

Ships First Mate Jónsi explained that he would need the four braves to help him carry some leathers and hides from a local tannery. The four companions agreed to help although they felt their skills weren't in a good use doing such dull labor. Later that evening after spending the day goofing at the marketplace, our heroes returned to the piers, where Jónsi had just launched a small whaleboat from Wenches stern. Rowing they went towards the sunset and after mile or two of following the coastline to south, when they docked into a old pier that belonged to the tannery of Martinus. Stench was foul as they struggled out of the boat, while Jónsi sneaked closer to the tannery waving a small but fierce club in his hand. At this point the mercenaries understood they were heading towards a brawl. And with a quick move, Jónsi stormed inside the tannery, shouting Captains greetings for the treacherous tanner Martinus.

The scuffle was bloody, leaving Martinus incapacitated, maiming his wife and killing their son. Martinus had positioned a local mercenary on his front door, but the backdoor assault forced the sell-sword to surrender quickly. The hides were quickly carried back to the launch, and our mercenaries rowed into the nightly mist.

Later on, as they returned to Luskan with all the leathery plunder, Jónsi explained that brutal actions were necessary as Martinus had declined to pay up his debts earlier this day. And so our newly weds returned to the Seven Sails Inn and slept few hours only to return to the piers at the dawn with mister Crowgale, who was excited to see his age-old dream finally coming into life. Their success at the icepeak would determine whether or not the expedition would be formed.  And so  the Withering Wench departed towards Aurilsbarg, the "capital" of the Icepeak, and our new heroes began their first real quest together.

The Withering Wench leaving Luskan at dawn.

End of Part One

Mercenary portrait

From left to right: Bolwyn, Thelon, Orgot and Posco