Starday, Kuthona 22, 4712 noon
Storm Tower

“You never listen to me — you should have killed her!” Star fumed.

“I took the best action available given our situation, and the sylph was killed more quickly because of that,” I replied.

This argument had been going on for some time, and I was already weary of it. Sending Radella up to attack Katiyana had been the tactically wise thing to do. Radella was much better at melee than I, and we needed to take the sylph down as quickly as possible.

I would have joined Radella and Sparna in pressing the attack had Katiyana not died so soon after two of our primary fighters got their first real chance to engage her.

But Star was beyond reasoning with, and I noted from their silence that some of my other friends had taken her side. Only Huffy and McLovin tried to calm her down, but they had always been the most reasonable of my cadre. Something needed to be done or I’d never hear the end of it.

“How about this,” I offered as a compromise, “we’ll spend more time practicing and improving our fighting techniques from now on.”

There was a moment of silence followed by a reluctant, “As long as you really mean it” from Star. The others relaxed, sensing that the most bellicose of them was standing down.

It had really been a tough battle, and was a hair’s breadth away from ending in disaster (for us).

From the tower’s mid level Radella had experimented with the control panel, figuring out how to send a platform up to the top level with a covering to protect us from the terrific wind that howled down the center shaft.

Kali sent up an air elemental to scout up above, and it reported back that their was a great tumult of wind with lightening arcing out from large gems. Frozen undead were walking about.

By this time Radella was fairly confident she could summon the covered platform, and so Kali detonated a fireball and sent two earth elementals up to wreak as much havoc as possible. She was rewarded a few moments later when a pair of bodies fell down from above.

The rest of us prepared for combat with a Magic Circle Against Evil, Protection from Energy spells (for both cold and electrical damage), and Ivan cast Hide from Undead upon all of us. I then cast Fly upon myself and used a wand to confer the same on Kali, Radella, and Sparna.

We took the magical platform up.

Stepping off I could see six large blue glowing gemstones set high in the walls about us. Bolts of lightening zapped from them up and out a thirty foot hole in the ceiling, above which hovered the enormous swirling blue ball of energy. Beneath each gem was a small platform at least fifty feet above the floor.

Hoarfrost spirits were shambling about, and a winged blue skinned woman was leaning out from one of the platforms above. She released a spell in the midst of us, but I could not sense any affect, although some of my companions looked alarmed. This was obviously Katiyana, whom Tunuak had so idolized.

The plan seemed obvious: slay the sylph first and then mop up the undead.

Kali cast haste upon us as the woman hit us with another spell, and a sphere of color exploded about us.

Radella, Sparna and I began the arduous task of flying up to Katiyana, battling the hurricane force winds. Olmas had earlier asked Suishen for Airwalk, and he too began to climb up, but as soon as he stopped the winds slammed him against the wall near the sylph.

I assumed we would all fly up, but for some reason Kali and Ivan remained on the floor, trusting in the Hide From Undead spell. Surely they realized that the spell would end once we attacked. Ivan had to know, right? And Kali was smart, she must know. I returned my attention to Katiyana.

Olmas whacked at Katiyana as I moved in and bestowed Touch of Idiocy upon her. Radella landed nearby and hit her hard.

She was not a happy sylph.

With Hide from Undead now cancelled, the hoarfrost spirits shuffled towards Ivan and Kali. I saw them close in on Kali, but so had Sparna who swooped down to her aide, thus freeing the three of us next to Katiyana to focus on her.

Unfortunately for us she summoned a red daemon. Unfortunately for her Olmas had been the focus of the Magic Circle Against Evil spell, and as the daemon appeared it was forced off the platform, plunging fifty feet onto the hard stone floor.

Later I found that this was not as fortuitous as it could have been. Ivan was standing directly beneath us, and had been paralyzed by the touch of an undead. The daemon landed next to him, and while injured it was still alive, and seriously pissed off.

Sparna had faired no better, and he too was paralyzed, standing rock still next to Kali. Those of us above were oblivious to their plight.

Katiyana flew away from us, but whereas we had to struggle through the wind, she flitted about as if it were dead calm. In her place appeared a daemon made of pure force.

“Hurray! Pookie called out.

“No, Pookie, that one isn’t ours.”

I chased after the sylph and touched her with Bestow Curse, as Beorn cackled loudly (it being his favorite spell). Radella joined me, carving deep gashes in our foe.

Katiyana was even less happy now, and she dispelled Fly from Radella, who drifted dow to the floor.

Katiyana’s force daemon flew over to harass me, giving the sylph the perfect opportunity to use Hold Person.

“Move, move, move!” my friends chanted. But I was held firmly in place.

Olmas then tried to Airwalk into combat, but the winds threw him across the room into another wall. Realizing the futility of trying to move about in this fashion he climbed up to the nearest gem stone and began to smash it.

Clearly this had been the right thing to do, because Katiyana sent her force daemon to stop Olmas. Katiyana flew to another platform, and Sparna, who had since recovered from his paralysis, flew up and bashed the crap out of her.

“Bitch!” shouted Badger.

Down on the floor Radella wasted no time in pulverizing the daemon, which vanished with a pop! and a cloud of greasy black smoke.

Kali had not been idle all of this time, and suddenly the wind in the room ceased. She had flown up to the ceiling and used a spell to summon a structure of force, which blocked the wind.

I broke free from the Hold Person effect and briefly pondered my course of action. “Kill her! Kill her!” screamed Star. Yes, this clearly needed to be done, but how to do so as quickly as possible?

I flew down toward Radella, with Star screaming shrilly all of the way, and touched her with the wand of Fly. “Go, kill her!” I yelled, pointing up at Katiyana.

And as quickly as that it was over. Radella grievous wounded Katiyana, and when the sylph tried to flee Sparna and Radella put an end to her.

We next focused on the undead (with Star spouting obscenities the whole time), and once they were gone we flew up to the gem stones and smashed them all.

The lightening stopped and the glowing maelstrom above soon dissipated. The winds stopped.

It was dead calm, and some of us flew out the hole in the roof to gaze at the silent star lit landscape surrounding the tower.

Down below we stripped Katiyana’s corpse and flung her into a bag of holding.

We descended to the base of the tower via another magical platform, and wondered if there might be a basement level and began to search. We moved into the previously unexplored mushroom side of the tower.

Mixed in with the small edible mushrooms were much larger, invisible fungi that wanted to eat us. They would appear briefly just before biting, and then vanish.

Suishen had granted Olmas the ability to See Invisible, and with his direction we were able to kill the fungi. My inability to consistently hit the creatures did nothing to improve Star’s mood.

Image by Jeff Deuchler

We collected bits of the aggressive dead fungi, which turned visible shortly after perishing, and I harvested a good number of the mushrooms for cooking.

We have rested a short while, and I have taken this opportunity to write a journal entry and sooth an irate battle mouse.

Toilday, Lamashan 17, 4712 evening
Iqaliat

The village shaman, Tunuak, lay dead upon the frozen floor of his secret underground lair. Hundreds of human bones and dozens of skulls, each marked with rune in the shape of a three fingered claw, were strewn about the lower level.

Kali and I conferred over the rune and realized it was the holy symbol of Sithud, a powerful demon lord who was rumored to have at one time been a god. How could a god cease to be divine without actually perishing? My guess is that he did not take this demotion well.

No matter, we searched Tunuak’s body and recovered the following.

Five pictograms had been painted upon the walls around the altar depicting scenes of the frigid waste to the north. Standing stones, blue towers of a frozen city, a single tower beneath alabaster peaks, a storm of clearly supernatural origin with spiral arms devouring towns, and last of all a blue skinned woman.

There was writing beneath the woman, which Kali translated as, “Katiyana, who speaks to me on her winds from the tower in the Storms.”

We made our way up the ramp and arranged ourselves to open the door at the top. There had been a guard, a villager, posted on the other side when Radella passed through (invisibly) earlier, and we did not wish to kill any more villagers.

The guard attacked — almost mindlessly so. Charm spells and Hold Person had no affect on him, but his eyes were those of one who was being controlled. We had no choice but to fight, and Olmas did his best to knock him down after first disarming him.

As the guard fell and small bat like creature leaped from the back of his head. A quasit! Sparna and Olmas wasted no time in slaying it.

The guard came to a short time later, and he looked frightened. “Who are you? What are you doing here? Do you serve the traitor Tunuak?” he demanded.

“Tunuak is dead,” Olmas said. “Good!” spat the guard.

He then told us how Tunuak had been a faithful shaman to the village for many years, but some time ago he went on a vision quest into the frozen wastes. When he returned he seemed different: less helpful and more angry. Not long ago he had asked the guard to accompany him into the tunnel that led up to the village altars on the high ice above, and there Tunuak has summoned the small bat winged beast that had taken over the guard.

Little did he realize that however unpleasant his captivity, it had saved his life. All of the other experienced village guards had perished in the quest to defeat the dragon.

The guard trotted off to inform the village elders of Tunuak’s treachery, and bring back the hearth-mistress and chief.

They were clearly in shock as we led them into Tunuak’s hideout, and had little to offer in the way of explanation of the pictographs or their shaman’s behavior.

We would have to seek answers directly from Tunuak himself.

Wealday, Lamashan 18, 4712 evening
Iqaliat

We had three questions to ask Tunuak, and Kali and I performed out usual pas de deux with Owl’s Wisdom to give us our best chance for answers. I then bent over the body and began.

“Why is the dragon attacking the village?”

“So that Sithud’s will may be done.”

“What is Sithud’s will?”

“Return to his rightful place.”

“Why did you trick the dragon into attacking the village?”

“I did what must be done.”

While not as helpful as they could have been, his answers did confirm that the dragon was tricked into attacking Iqaliat, and that Tunuak was serving Sithud.

The villagers wished to burn Tunuak’s body, but we removed and kept his head for our pending encounter with the dragon.

We spent the rest of the day discussing how to reach the dragon’s cave, which was several days journey north. Ulf would act as our guide and Skygni would accompany us as well, although neither Ulf nor the winter wolf go with us to meet the dragon itself.

Oathday, Lamashan 19, 4712 evening
road north to the white dragon’s lair

We made reasonable progress, but as we were setting up camp we saw streaks of blue green lights racing across the horizon, then curving around and returning. We asked Ulf what they were, but it was Skygni who replied.

“I have seen those lights. Sometimes they are just light, but sometimes lizard birds fall from the sky from the light. The birds do not taste good.”

Sunday, Lamashan 21, 4712 afternoon
road north to the white dragon’s lair

We have been once again waylaid by severe winter weather. But this time we are without the comforts of a caravan. We have gathered together in a snow cave Ulf taught us how to make. But there is no fire and it is still cold, although not nearly as cold as outside. The night will be colder still.

Moonday, Lamashan 22, 4712 evening
the white dragon’s lair

To be honest I had expected a cave set high in the side of a mountain.

There were no mountains: after the road scaled the cliff face leading up to the crown the landscape had flattened away to gently undulating snow covered hills. I kept expecting the hills to lead up to peaks of staggering heights, but instead they levelled out into a stark empty plain of nothingness.

By noon we stood on the edge of an enormous black tear in the white snow. After our eyes adjusted to the gloom we good see ridges and rock spires reaching up from the distant and invisible depths below.

We prepared for the descent with spells that granted us protection from cold, vision in the dark, sending messages among us, and of course the ability to fly. Ulf waved as we jumped over the side and drifted down.

Perhaps sixty feet down was a cave entrance in the vertical wall of rock, but it was sealed by a plug of clear ice.

Further down was another entrance, which with Pookie’s encouragement I followed to a nest of broken dragon eggs. Amidst the egg shell fragments was a hammer and the talisman from the village. I relayed my findings to the others.

At the same time Olmas had gone lower down where the glint of something shiny indicated he had discovered the dragon’s horde.

Across the chasm, halfway between Olmas’ and my tunnels was a much larger cavern that led straight back into the rock. Kali landed here and moved in, while the rest of the group played catch up.

“Oh great and powerful white dragon, we wish to speak with you!” Kali called out.

A moment later there was a tremendous roar as a blast of icy breath engulfed Kali. As the ice cleared the form of a large white dragon appeared mere yards before her.

“Treacherous hairy apes!” it snarled, “You destroyed my eggs, and so I have sworn that all of your kind shall die!”

Kali and I tried to reason with it — even Pookie threw in a clever suggestion or two — and most of our companions stood by without taking any aggressive action against the beast at great personal risk. But the dragon was blinded by rage and beyond all reason.

It continued to attack and threaten not only our deaths, but the deaths of everyone in Iqaliat, and in so doing it brought about its own destruction.

It was truly a mighty and powerful foe, but we were many and not without our own formidable abilities. I did little during combat but aid my friends with special abilities and healing. Presently the dragon became aware of its own mortality, and it created a bank of freezing fog through which it fled deeper into the cavern.

We pursued it and my friends continued to rain blows and spells upon it. Ivan cleverly blocked off its attempt to escape down another fissure in the earth with a well placed illusion of a wall of fire.

You cannot imagine just how fast a dragon can move until you encounter one. The creature took flight and raced back through the cavern and up and into the main rift.

We were only able to follow it to the cavern’s mouth and watch it sail up and away.

It was going to escape.

I sighed as Star grumbled, “Just do it!” I summoned an ally of pure force in the shape of a barbed devil. The devil struck the dragon twice, and the dragon plummeted the full four hundred feet down to the rift floor, hitting it with a loud crack and an explosion of snow and ice fragments.

We flew down and confirmed that it was dead. Another needless death of yet another creature that refused to listen to reason. I am still depressed by this outcome, although there was nothing else we could have done.

We collected the dragon’s body (it made no sense for it to go to waste), and rose up to the treasure chamber and gathered everything from its horde.

We flew about the rest of the underground complex, and after finding only empty interconnecting passageways we returned to the surface. Ulf had seen the dragon briefly soar up and out from the rift before plunging back down, and was relieved that we had survived our encounter. Skygni seemed impressed with us for having slain the dragon.

We secured a rope to the lip of the crevasse for Ulf, and descended down to the first chamber where we have made camp.

Fireday, Lamashan 26, 4712 evening
Iqaliat

The trip back to the village passed without event. The sameness of the landscape and weather (the only variation on the latter being more snow and cold) made for a tedious trek. The villagers were ecstatic with the news of the dragon’s death, and created an impromptu party to celebrate.

Few of us felt inclined to attend, and the words passed from Kali and I to the chief and hearth mistress that made it perfectly clear that it was one of their own that brought the wrath of the dragon down upon the village, and it was because him that the dragon had to be killed.

Despite this bleak pronouncement of guilt, the villagers were delighted with us and we were welcomed as trusted friends. How fickle are simple folk who so readily let fear and sweet lies sway their reason. Less than a week before these same people wanted us banished or dead.

Idiots. I have no plans to go back inside the village between now and when we leave.

We have much planning to do before we take the caravan onto “the ice,” and more provisions to purchase. Sparna is crafting armor from the dragon’s hide, which will take some time. We have tried to use as much of the dragon’s body as possible, and have even given some of the meat to Skygni as a reward for his companionship.

The hearth-mistress and chief visited us for dinner, but they brought disturbing news. They village elders had visited the pictograms and feared they bode evil for all those who lived near the ice. Worse (for us) what they found indicated that it would be impossible for anyone to travel across the crown until this evil were dealt with.

It came as no surprise that it was Sithud’s doing. As I suspected he was not content being just a demon lord, and was actively working toward becoming a god once again. And “actively working” meant an increase in supernatural storms among other equally unpleasant (and deadly) things.

We have no choice but to find the mysterious lost city at the north pole and stop Sithud’s threat. Either that or abandon Ameiko’s quest and return to Sandpoint. Well, that’s not going to happen.

In appreciation for what we had done (and were about to do) for the village the hearth-mistress gave us a magical Tien silk blanket. Any creature within thirty feet of the blanket would be comfortable in the cold.

Our oxen and horse will appreciate that after the caravan reaches the ice during the heart of winter.

Toilday, Lamashan 9, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

Thanks to the warning from the silver dragon we had a chance to prepare well before we reached the trolls. Kali sent Nihali out to reconnoiter, and she reported back that there was a camp of about eight large blue skinned creates some distance ahead, and a little off of the main route.

The caravan continued on until we were within a mile or so from the ice trolls, and Sandru arranged the wagons in defensive positions “just in case.”

Our group (minus Anna, who kept to her word of sticking with the caravan) walked off in the direction Nihali reported the troll camp lay. Maybe a mile later we saw a cluster of ice trolls. They had clearly seen us, and one walked towards us, hands out as if in greeting, and said (in very broken common), “Friends! Come to help you. Lost? It be fine. We assist.”

My personal philosophy is to leave other creatures alone if they leave you alone. And as unlikely as a friendly troll (blue skin or not) might seem, I would have been perfectly happy to send a cheery greeting and then after a brief social call been on my way.

Unfortunately several of the other trolls were moving out in an obviously flanking maneuver, and our would be friend then gloated (in giant) to his companions, “My brothers, we don’t have to look for dinner tonight. It comes to us!”

Sigh.

After a short skirmish the ice trolls all lay dead and burning. Somehow I could not feel bad about killing these foes as I did the giant we had encountered a fortnight ago, but I cannot explain the difference. He seemed sad and pathetic, while these creatures seemed vile and calculating. I guess feelings are seldom logical.

We searched their camp and amidst a pile of bodies found some coins and a ring.

We returned to the caravan. Later that night after dinner we recounted our encounter with the ice trolls. Ulf then told a story of when he came across a chimera composed of a walrus, a polar bear, and a white dragon. He led the creature away from the caravan, and then crept back and his party made good their escape. There was no telling if this tale was true or not, but the fact that it involved sneaking about rather than fighting the beast made me believe him.

Oathday, Lamashan 11, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

It was much colder this morning than it had been, and only seemed to get colder still as the day advanced. Before we had even set out a strong wind had picked up, and snow began to fall, or more precisely it was whipped around by the wind and blown into our faces. It became difficult to see more than a few yards ahead, forcing our scouts to pull in and lead the way. It was slow going, and by late afternoon drifts of snow had piled up deep enough to slow our progress even more.

At dinner everyone crowded closely around our small cooking fires, glad for the orange glow and a hint of warmth.

Fireday, Lamashan 12, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

The snow, wind and intense cold continued and we struggled to cover only a few miles. When asked about it, Ulf shrugged and grumbled about an unseasonable blizzard. It is miserable, but I am lucky that I travel in a wagon. Our scouts and their mounts bear the brunt of the weather.

Starday, Lamashan 13, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

The blizzard intensified and the snow drifts completely blocked our way. Ulf decided we would not even try to move today, and spirits plunged lower than the temperature.

Taking advantage of having a kitchen all day long I decided to make bread. Ameiko looked amusingly on as I made the dough, and then stripped naked and pulled the mixing bowl into my bedroll with me as she piled on extra blankets and furs. There was no way the yeast was going to grow in the cold, and body heat was the only source of warmth we could afford for the hours it would take for the bread to rise. And it worked! We surprised the camp with a hearty stew of salted meat and warm fresh baked bread for dinner.

For desert I splurged and used some of our precious honey along with some butter, nuts and cardamom to make a wonderfully sweet flaky pastry that everyone enjoyed.

“How do you feel about Ameiko being the heir to the royal house of Minkai?” I asked Shalelu.

It was late and we were both on watch. The weather had calmed considerably, and the camp itself was glowing with magical light that extended out a good distance in all directions. The cold was still intense and each of us wandered about with our own private miniature snow storm as our breath froze and fell as ice flurries before us.

Shalelu paused for a moment, and replied, “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it? Who would have thought? Sometimes I wonder how she’ll adjust to the change, although Minkai would be in good hands with her on the throne. She may shake things up a bit — you know how she likes conforming to rules… I think it’s a good thing, though, and I’m glad to be part of this adventure to get her there in one piece.”

I knew Shalelu had been on numerous journeys in the past. She had gone all of the way to Kaer Maga to rescue me; and although she never brought it up, it was well known that she had accompanied the Sandpoint heroes for part of their quest.

“Have you ever journeyed as far as we plan to go?”

“No, this is a longer journey than I’d ever have imagined myself making.” she said softly, almost to herself.

That was food for thought. Here we were on an epic voyage of enormous scope, and who knew if we would all arrive at our journey’s end, or what we would do once it was all over.

“If we make it to Tien and manage to restore Ameiko to her rightful place, will you remain there with her, or return back to Sandpoint?”

“Hmm,” she pondered, “I will stay for a while, at least. I’d like to see what the forests of Minkai are like. Perhaps I’ll find a new place to roam, or perhaps I’ll feel the call of my old woods again.”

It was hard to imagine Sandpoint without Shalelu, but I could see her point. Why hurry back on another arduous voyage when you have a whole new continent to explore? I thought of my own return trip and who might accompany me. This brought to mind our unexpected companion.

“What do you think of Skygni? Isn’t he great? Have you ever had a wolf for a companion?”

There was a long pause before she answered, “I… yeah, you know winter wolves don’t have the greatest reputation… But I reckon we haven’t been harmed by the creature, and maybe he will turn out to be a worthwhile companion. I do like the thought of a supposedly-evil creature showing his nature to be good, that we need to look at every animal with intelligence as a person and not just say, ”Wolf! Kill it!” So for that I’m glad.”

Yeah, I knew Shalelu would be happy having Skygni around.

We continued our watch in silence, and my mind wandered over our more recent encounters, and about the uneasy truce that stood between between Olmas (and Suishen) and Ameiko concerning her participation in combat.

“So, what do you think about trying to keep Ameiko safe? Olmas (and his sword) seems to hover about and treat her like she is fragile. I could not help but notice that you stayed back guarding the caravan when Ameiko insisted on coming along with us to fight — I guess you trust her ability to take care of herself in combat more than… others.”

Shalelu snorted, “Ameiko is an accomplished adventurer who has survived battle before, and I had a job to do guarding the caravan. Besides, my young friend, you and your companions are getting quite good at this battle stuff by now. I think you don’t need all of us at your side anymore just to stay alive. Who knows,” and here she looked at me with a grin, “maybe I’ll need you to defend me before long!”

I laughed at that. The time was was a long way off indeed for Shalelu to need me to defend her!

Sunday, Lamashan 14, 4712 evening
northern caravan route

While still overcast with heavy grey clouds, the wind and snow had stopped completely, and even the extreme cold seemed to have relented. Skygni stopped by to check on us after the storm, which appeared to have caused him no trouble at all. “Get used to it,” was all he had to say about it, although he did add “Such storms are unusual for this early and this far south.”

We broke camp and the caravan pushed on through the drifts. The clouds thinned as the day wore on, and a breeze picked up toward sunset, shredding the remaining clouds and blowing them away as welcome beams from the setting sun painted the snow pink.

Ulf said that tomorrow we will branch off the caravan route and make for the village of Iqaliat, nestled beneath the plateau upon which perched the Crown of the World.

Wealday, Lamashan 17, 4712 after noon
Iqaliat

The morning broke with a sky of deep cobalt blue and the sun peeking over the horizon to the southeast. Around us were hills and ridges covered in snow, but to the north we could see a dark band that stretched across the horizon, like low storm clouds.

As we made our way north the dark band became a glowering face of rock and ice. This was our first glimpse of the great ice cap over which we would soon be traveling, and it looked every bit as forbidding as Ulf had warned it would.

Half a mile from the cliff we saw a tall stone wall extending out from its base, with a large gate on the left, and a smaller door to the right. Within a hundred yards of the wall Ulf called for a halt.

He summoned the six of us and described what lay in wait for us in Iqaliat. “They are an isolated inward people, and do not expect to make any friends while here. Let me lead and do the talking until we are within the walls.” He then pulled out a talisman and said, “This was given to me by the village hearth-mistress on an earlier visit, and should grant us entry.”

With those encouraging words we came to the small door. We could see guards glaring at us from over the wall, but Ulf called out words of welcome and held up the talisman. The door opened and we entered.

“Unfriendly,” Ulf had said of the townfolk of Iqaliat. Hostile seemed more closer to the mark. The hearth-mistress, Sonavut, arrived and welcomed us to her village, and surprised us with an invitation to accompany her to her lodge where we could talk in comfort.

As we passed through the village Ulf questioned her about our cold reception. Apparently the degree of animosity expressed by the guards and inhabitants had surprised even him.

Iqaliat, it seemed, was going through a difficult time. The winter storms had started early this year and now a white dragon was periodically attacking the town, killing people for no reason.

The village shaman, it seems, had a reason. The bad weather and dragon attacks were the result of the town turning its back on their traditional ways. Specifically there was not enough suffering and sacrifice to the local gods.

We got a look at the shaman on the way to Sonavut’s house. A throng of people surrounded him as he railed against them and their leaders for being unfaithful and bringing the wrath of their former allies against them. And (of course) only he had the answer. Yeah. Sure.

Once inside with Sonavut we discovered that the normal caravan route to the high ice was impassible. Incredibly fierce storms had come down from the Crown, and the only way up onto the ice was the steep pass beyond Iqaliat. But the white dragon lived in the pass, making it unsafe as well.

This seemed like a no brainer, and I suggested that we could take care of the dragon, thus solving the town’s current problem as well as clearing the way for our caravan to travel north. Sonavut agreed to take us to the chief to find out more about the dragon.

We left he house and upon seeing us again the shaman shrieked, “There they are, the cursed outsiders. One of them must be sacrificed to appease the gods!” Angry shouts from the crowd rose up in support of this demand.

That his ravings were turning the villagers violently against us was obvious (and Detect Magic indicated he was using more than just words to do so), but why he was doing so was puzzling.

Olmas tried to reason with the shaman and villagers, and while his arguments would have swayed rational men, this was a mob. Mobs were irrational and driven by fear and anger. And being a servant of Groetus I could do fear and anger.

I stepped in to the verbal fray and flung the shaman’s words back at him. The verbal battle lasted but a few moments, and in the end the shaman stood leaning on his staff, silent for now, but breathing heavily.

“There will be no sacrifice today!” The chief had arrived and ended the debate. The shaman glared at us with such loathing and hatred that I could almost physically feel it. He then stomped off away from the crowd.

Seriously? He could not have made himself more suspicious if he had painted himself purple and danced about the village square naked yelling, “Look at me!” Radella began to casually saunter off after the shaman, and Kali quickly cast Invisibility on her. The rest of us were pulled into the chief’s office to discuss the dragon, but Kali had also cast a Message spell to keep in touch with Radella.

The dragon, we learned, was not exceptionally large, but still big enough to rip a human in half and fly away with the remains. The chief had sent the town’s best warriors up to where the dragon lived, but never returned. We once again offered to take care of the town’s dragon problem, for which the chief was grateful.

But the chief was also mindful of the town’s mood. He warned us that while we could spend the evening here, we had best be gone the next day. We had planned on staying with the caravan anyway.

All of this time Radella had followed the shaman through a secret doorway in the wall, which opened onto a tunnel. At the end of the tunnel was a guard, and another secret door. She followed the shaman through into a vast ice chamber. A large crevice in the ceiling lead up to the sky, and a ramp spiraled around and down to an icy floor below. The shaman had gone down below, but a pale figure stood on the ramp staring at Radella, despite her invisibility.

She wisely decided it was a good time to return back to us with news of what she had found. A few minutes later she had discretely joined us as we made our way back to the caravan.

Ulf listened to Radella’s description of the pale humanoid and declared it was probably a frost spirit — a type of undead creature formed when people died from the cold. Undead? I looked steadily at Kali and she nodded back. I cannot abide undead.

We decided to search for the crevice and confront the shaman in his secret lair that very day. Depending upon what we found, we would then move on to find the white dragon. I would have preferred to have had access to some spells to protect us from the cold, but Ivan was able to provide these and so we prepared to leave.

I found Shalelu and informed her of what had happened and what we were up to.

“We’re off to find out what the local shaman has been up to. Oh, and we might go looking for a white dragon too. What do you think of dragons? Have you ever encountered one before? That silver dragon we saw last week was great. I wonder is Skygni would get along with a white dragon. They both like the cold.”

Shalelu exclaimed, “Dragons! By the gods, there is a world of difference between a white and a silv- yes, I know what I said about the wolf, but this is dragons we’re talking about! If you go after it, be careful as if your very lives hang in the balance of every move you make, because they surely do!”

Thankful for the advice, I rejoined my companions. Nihali had been sent out to find the crevice and had just returned. We would use Fly spells from the wand I had created and follow Nihali to the entrance.

A short while later we were hovering above the shaman’s hideout. Bones littered the floor below. Frost spirits stood on the ramp leading down and on the floor. The shaman stood before an altar made from skulls and more bones.

We dropped down toward the floor and Sparna confronted the shaman. He sputtered and stammered the expected drivel about “survival of the village,”and “you don’t understand… the spirits…” Right. The usual hollow justifications made by petty tyrants everywhere.

Seeing we were unconvinced, the shaman went on the offensive, calling on the wind god’s protection. A powerful river of wind knocked Sparna to the floor, and the undead minions began to clamber towards him.

The shaman vanished, but Kali used Glitter Dust to show he was still there.

We began to carve our way through the horde of undead, but the shaman possessed more power than we had thought, and used spells such as Unholy Blight against us. I lessened his abilities with Touch of Idiocy.

When the last of his undead had fallen, the shaman turned into a gaseous vapor, but before he could flit away, we killed him. He resumed solid form and landed with a soft thud onto the floor.

We were about to sift through his belongings when Radella pointed at the altar and cried out, “Look!”

A broken white dragon egg lay there.

Prick! It looks like he intentionally brought the ire of the dragon against the village.

Wealday, Arodus 15, 4712 evening
Ravenscraeg

Wealday, Arodus 15, 4712 afternoon
Ravenscraeg

Radella and Ivan led the way down the stairs, and the rest of us followed into the dim light below. Ivan paused and pointed down at the last step where a barely visible wire stretched across, waiting to grab our feet.

We stepped over it. Well, almost all of us did. Olmas stumbled and a bell rang from down the hall.

A score of zombies moved up from some alcove to the left. We began to hack our way through when we heard a shout from the far end of the corridor and a crossbow bolt sunk deep into Sparna’s shoulder.

Some sort of troll… or mini-troll had joined the fray, but it was using magic and ranged attacks in a very un-troll like way.

Kali summoned an archon lantern to keep the troll (trolling? trollete? trunchkin?) occupied as we mopped up the zombie horde and pressed our attack forward.

It didn’t like that, and quickly retreated after magically delving a formidable sized hole between him and us.

We each began to use whatever means at our disposal to cross the gap. Olmas walked across the air carrying Ivan. Etayne flew across and cast Burning Gaze. With Beorn screaming in my ears, “Don’t let it get away,” I flew into the air, grabbing Kali along the way.

The trollkin was both injured and a coward, and so it fled down a flight of stairs. It would not do for the damned thing to escape and heal itself or call in reinforcements, and so I flew after it, clubbing it to death with my flail as it slumped against a closed door.

That’s when I noticed the statues: four of them, each fashioned into the form of a Samurai warrior. Two sprang to life and attacked me, but when I brandished the raven figurine before them they stood down and retreated to their alcoves.

I searched the corpse and took several useful things.

I rejoined the others up the stairs. The pit had vanished, and there were a pair of doors we had ignored in the heat of battle.

Radella quickly unlocked one, which was for a store room with a wide variety of stores and provisions, ranging from exquisite to disgusting. I took a few bottles of fine wine while Etayne snooped around for the sort of gross goo that appeals to her.

Meanwhile Radella was busy at the other door, muttering to herself as she fiddled with the lock. After nearly half an hour there was a soft snick as the final tumbler fell and the lock was defeated. But Radella raised her hand, holding us back, as she squinted suspiciously at the latch. “Trapped,” she said, and after minute or so of additional fiddling she opened the door.

We had found the treasury, which explained the very complex lock and trap. Coins and bars of precious metals gleamed in the torch light. Counting would have to wait until later, but Detect Magic directed my attention to a wooden chest.

I began to pull items out of the chest as we identified them. Based on what was there, we were confident that we had found Ulf’s possessions.

But there was more.

As I continued to bring items out I could see Kali reacting with alarm, and only some moments later did I realize the cause. We had found Ameiko’s stuff.

But Ameiko was supposed to be back at the caravan, safely guarded by Shalelu and the others. She must have been taken shortly after we left and brought here overnight. I was worried about Shalelu, because there is no way she would have let them take Ameiko while she was still standing.

There was only one place left to find her: down the stairs and through the door.

Helgarval detected a number of evil creatures beyond the door, including one with a much stronger aura than the others. Likewise I detected a primary source of magic on the other side.

We used the Ring of the Ram to blast the the door into splinters and swiftly swarmed in. The large room beyond had a pyramidical ceiling and multiple levels, with a waterfall cascading down a far wall.

Silverscor quickly ducked behind a decorative screen as a squad of ninjas advanced upon us. The ninjas proved no more difficult than before, but now they were supported by a powerful spell caster. Whenever we could we focused our primary attacks on Silverscor, who had a nasty habit of vanishing and appearing elsewhere.

Never the less, we were taking a heavy toll on her, and her ninjas were crumbling like dust. She appeared on a platform, changed into her true form of a purple ogre, and I managed to fly up and cast Touch of Idiocy on her, but it was a feeble attempt. She then flew up to the top of the ceiling.

We followed, and despite some nasty attacks and area effect spells, we were inflicting great damage upon her when she vanished.

Apparently Suishen granted Olmas the ability to see our invisible foe, and with his direction we brought her crashing to the ground with a dull thud.

We made extra sure she would stay down by removing her head, and then pawed through her belongings.

Radella discovered a secret door by the ogre’s body, which opened onto a passage with a locked door on the immediate left and another further down on the right.

We could feel intense cold radiating out from the first door, and we heard a soft menacing growl. Helgarval said something evil lurked behind the door, but not inherently evil. We left it for later.

A large dark cell lay beyond the next door with a pool of murky water spreading out from a corner. Two figures were slumped on the floor nearby, and one of them was Ameiko!

Helgarval announced that there was evil in the water, and weird, giant frog-like creatures clambered out from the pool.

Olmas ran in with Ivan, the latter quickly and grabbing Ameiko, carrying her out to the corridor, while the former slashed at the frog-beasts. I followed and grabbed the other figure, a man we assumed to be Ulf.

Ameiko cried out, “Don’t look them in the eyes!” and we soon discovered what she meant. Lurid yellow green rays of sprang out from the frog things’ eyes, striking us. We later learned that these had the power to blind, but we killed them quickly before anyone suffered ill effects.

I channeled to lend some much needed healing to Ameiko and Ulf, as Ameiko told of her capture. She had left the safety of the caravan. Alone. Without telling anyone where she was going. And of course she was quickly captured and brought here.

Seriously? That seemed more than a little careless and a lot foolish to me, but I held my tongue. Perhaps she learned a lesson from all of this.

The blindness that the frogs inflicted upon Ameiko and Ulf slowly lifted while we discussed our next steps.

We have found a lot of loot, not even including what was in the treasure room, and this should help us on the long and difficult journey ahead.

But get this, some of the others thought the treasure and loot we found needed to be returned to the Rhyme Runners Guild, because “It was theirs and they legally owned it.”

Others said the same thing about Ravenscraeg when I suggested we sell it to raise cash.

Kali was among the latter group, and she looked pityingly at me as if I did not understand the concept of property, legal rights and the realities of the world.

I am much more familiar with legal “property rights” than she imagines. I was — and in fact still am — the legal property of another. Should I be returned to them because “they have a legal right to me?”

Fortunately Suishen itself spoke up, clearly disgusted with the turn in the conversation. It could not believe we would risk our mission by throwing away the hard earned treasure we found here.

As far as I am concerned the Rhyme Runner’s Guild gets jack shit. It has no moral or ethical claims to what we have recovered from Ravenscraeg or from fortress itself.

In fact I think we should march into their office with Lute and Ulf in tow, and explain to them what we found at Ravenscraeg: all of the illegal and immoral activities we discovered with evidence linking all of it back to the guild itself.

Let them know that this evidence was ready to be sent to the King and Kalsgard’s leaders, along with announcements to be posted on the city walls denouncing the guild if we did not leave their office happy with the outcome of our discussion.

I suspect with their precious leader gone they will not have the will, fortitude, or courage to argue with us.

And speaking of Lute, we need to find him before he tries to head back to Kalsgard on his own.

And there is the not small matter of the treasure we have yet to count or collect. It looks heavy, and I wonder if we currently have the means to haul it away.

And something very cold and very unhappy is locked down here.