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.
| [399] | 2 potions of Barkskin |
| [400] | +2 cloak of resistance |
| [401] | ring of shielding |
| [402] | staff of journeys [5 charges] |
| [403] | cold weather outfit |
| [404] | unholy symbol of Sithud |
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.
| [405] | arrow of lesser dragon slaying |
| [406] | +2 short sword |
| [407] | 2 potions protection from arrows |
| [408] | ring of featherfall |
| [409] | terracotta horse:
|
| [410] | wand of Ray of Enfeeblement [15 charges] |
| [411] | master-work cold iron shield |
| [412] | master-work spiked gantlet |
| [413] | master-work composite short bow |
| [414] | 11 arrows |
| [415] | master-work spear |
| [416] | climber’s kit |
| [417] | 200 feet of silk rope |
| [418] | 2 pieces of amber (100gp each) |
| [419] | 6 blood stones (50gp each) |
| [420] | 2 sapphires (500gp each) |
| [421] | leather quiver elaborately worked (500gp) |
| Coins: 8208cp 5642sp 1188gp 404pp |
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.