Welcome to the Everlasting Night

The sun hasn’t risen over Icewind Dale in two years. Many believe that the goddess of winter’s wrath -- Auril, the Frostmaiden -- is weaving a spell to lengthen winter and increase the suffering of Ten Towns. No one knows exactly why, but the people of Icewind Dale are hoping for heroes to step up and save them from the everlasting night.

On behalf of Sheriff Markham Southwell of Bryn Shander, bounty hunter Hiln Trollbane has hired a group of adventurers: Anatol, a human paladin of Amaunator; Harvan Stonebridge, a halfling cleric of Yondalla; Ligs, a dwarf fighter from the Dwarven Valley; Ratimir, a human bard; Ziff, a kobold rogue; Glim Peppadimmie, a gnome druid; and Lain Sorenstarr, a drow ranger. What began as a search for a serial killer has become a struggle for the survival of Icewind Dale, and perhaps the world itself.

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Session Recap Menu

Session 1: Bryn Shander and the Everlasting Night, November 27, 2021

The sun hasn’t risen in Icewind Dale in two years. Many believe that the goddess of winter’s wrath -- Auril, the Frostmaiden -- is weaving a spell to lengthen winter and increase the suffering of Ten Towns. No one exactly why, but the people of Icewind Dale are hoping for heroes to step up and save them from the everlasting night.

Sheriff Markham Southwell

Ratimir, Anatol, Harvan, Ziff, and Ligs were hired by Hiln Trollbane on behalf of Sheriff Markham Southwell to investigate a string of murders that occur just after the new moon when the towns of Easthaven, Targos, and Bryn Shander offer humanoid sacrifices to Auril the Frostmaiden. The party met Hiln and Southwell at the boarded-up House of the Morninglord in Bryn Shander. There, they were to the basement by Cleric of Amaunator Dawnbringer Mishann to see the corpse of Garvil, the latest victim of the murders.

Garvil, a merchant from Luskan, was found earlier that morning just outside the northern town gate of Bryn Shander. Just like the other murders, Garvil was killed by a dagger made of ice stabbed directly through his heart. Once the dagger was removed from the body the dagger melted. He was found frozen solid next to his merchant cart. Nothing had been taken from his cart and his coin purse was on him, though it had very little money in it for a successful merchant like himself.

Her cursorial investigation of Garvil’s death revealed that the merchant had been heard drunkenly bragging at the Northlook the night before about bribing his way out the sacrifice lottery back in Targos.

Bryn Shander is the largest -- and youngest -- settlement in Ten Towns, serving as the de facto seat of government where Speakers from each town meet.

Hiln suspects Torgga Icevein’s traveling merchant caravan -- locally known as “Torg’s” -- is involved with the murders. Southwell somewhat agrees, but wants the party to investigate the possible involvement of a shadowy and growing cult known as the Children of Auril.

“These three murders have two things in common. First, all three victims were in towns that hold lotteries to determine who to sacrifice to Auril: Bryn Shander, Targos, and Easthaven. I heard that this merchant Garvil ‘twas killed last night had been bragging about bribing officials to keep his name out of the lottery – may have something to do with it. Second, all three murders happened while the travelling merchant company Torg’s was in town. I know, because I make a habit of keeping track of where Torrga Icevein – the owner of Torg’s – goes. Always causing trouble, that one! I don’t know who’s doin’ them murders, but I’d bet me pa’s beard that it’s got something to do with those lotteries – and with that scoundrel Torrga and her thievin’ caravan!” Hiln Trollbane

Southwell, Mishann, and Hiln explain that the humanoid sacrifices were initiated by official town sanction after pressure from prominent citizens and merchants after a period of chaos when the citizenry were taking it upon themselves to offer sacrifices to Auril. People were using this as an excuse to take revenge for past grudges or eliminate busines rivals, so Bryn Shander Speaker Duvessa Shane made the difficult decision to regulate the practice.

“Before the town officially began sacrificing people to the Frostmaiden, it was happening in the shadows. The town lost dozens of people every week as the townsfolk took it upon themselves to make offerings. By taking control of the practice, it’s now just one person every New Moon. Not a perfect solution, I realize, but we’re losing fewer people. It’s just a bandage to stop the bleeding.” Sheriff Markham Southwell

At first they sought only volunteers, but after those ran out they moved to a lottery system. Now, two days before a new moon, names of people in the city are taken and put into a lottery. A name is pulled on the morning of the start of the moon and the unfortunate victim is stripped naked and turned out onto the tundra that night as Auril’s spell takes effect.

Dawnbringer Mishann, Cleric of Amaunator

Mishann explains that the Children of Auril’s numbers have grown fast in the last year as more and more people turn to the Frostmaiden in hopes of abating her wrath.

“They believe they’ll share some sort of power with Auril by supporting her. They don’t understand she’s a selfish god. She’ll take their adulation, demand more, and do whatever the hells she wants.” Dawnbringer Mishann

Southwell’s not sure who the members are, but he and Speaker Shane are getting significant pressure from the citizenry to ignore these murders, so he suspects the Children have begun to infiltrate all layers of society. He cautioned the party to be cautious about who they trust.

To that end, he mentions that Speaker Duvessa Shane of Bryn Shander, Capt. Imdra Arlaggath in Easthaven, and Speaker Trovus in Caer-Konig are three people he trusts.

The party interviewed Scramsax, the proprietor of the Northlook about Garvil and learned that he did indeed brag about bribing his way out of the lottery and that a group of rangy-looking merchants -- including one human who remarkably wasn’t wearing winter clothing -- seemed to take an interest in Garvil’s bragging.

Upon leaving the Northlook, the party was approached by Hrun Battlehammer of the Battlehammer Clan in the Dwarven Valley. She and her two companions were transporting a shipment of iron ingots across the tundra from Kelvin’s Cairn to Bryn Shander when they were attacked by a Yeti and one of their companions killed. They fled in fear, leaving the iron ingots behind. Hrun asks the party to find and deliver the ingots to Blackiron Blades in town, promising a 10gp gem to each person in the party.

The party set off across the tundra, tied to each other in the growing blizzard to prevent separation. After a couple of hours they come across the body of Oobok, Hrun’s dwarf companion that was decapitated and partially eaten by the yeti. However, the sled of ingots was missing. Following the tracks in the snow, the party came upon a group of goblins taking the iron for their own. After a short battle, the party defeated the goblins, secured the sled of iron and the goblin’s tundra wagon, complete with two polar bears yoked to it. After a successful Animal Handling check by Harvan (and learning the goblin word for “giddyup”) they group tied the ingot sled to the wagon and rolled back to Bryn Shander.

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Session 2: Return to Bryn Shander in the Bone Machine, December 4, 2021

Upon arrival, whatever magic the goblins had used to make the polar bears docile had worn off and the bears were restless to escape. Ziff took the initiative to maneuver underneath the bears and cut one free of the yoke. It immediately departed, but the other was now alerted and began to aggressively try to escape. Ratimir the bard played to distract the bear as Anatol and Ligs attacked it. Once Ratimir and members of the Bryn Shander militia joined in, the bear was rapidly killed.

Hrun Battlehammer paid the group as was promised. Elza and Garn of Blackiron Blades were amazed to see the wagon the party had captured.

The Bone Machine

“I haven’t seen one of these in years. It’s a Pram. Me and my pa used to build’em. This one’s in rough shape, though. The cabin has been replaced with a canvas tarp, and the wheels are all wrong. Where’d you get this? Is this the wagon the goblins were using to raid travellers?”

“This is a find! Yeah, back in the day, before Ten Towns built roads and predators were all over the tundra, these were the way to get around. Strap a few axe beaks to the front, stoke up the stove inside the cabin and you had a cozy house on wheels.”

(Now underneath the wagon)

“Whoa, this thing needs some work. I’m surprised you made it here without these wheels coming off. Man, in 4 or 5 days, my brother and I could have this thing in shape: new cabin walls, bearings for the axles, new suspension, wider wheels to float on the snowpack. I think I have an original wood stove for one of these in the shed in my backyard.”

“Well, we *could* do it *if* we had the materials. Iron’s not the problem, especially now that you’ve eliminated the goblin raiders. It’s the wood. We get all our lumber from Lonelywood up north, and word is they’re having a problem with some white moose terrorizing and killing their loggers. They haven’t shipped any lumber or firewood in months.”

“If you and your friends could get the lumber moving again, everyone in Ten Towns would benefit, and heck...I’d fix up your pram for free.” Elza of Blackiron Blades

The party's "Bone Machine" turned out to be an traditional Ten Towns conveyance known as a Pram.

Once the wagon was on its way to Blackiron Blades for storage and eventual repair, the group paid the Northlook Inn and Tavern a visit. There, Ratimir ran into Sven, another bard he had travelled with through the western expanse before arriving in Luskan. Sven had just performed an epic poem about the Companions of the Hall and their exploits in Icewind Dale a hundred years ago battling an evil mage for control over a dark crystal tower constructed by a powerful ancient artifact. Ratimir learned from Sven that the bard had passed Torg’s merchant caravan leaving Bryn Shander that morning on their way to Targos.

Battlehammer dwarves congratulated the party on defeating the goblin raiders that been disrupting their trade route across the tundra and bought rounds of drinks.

That night, the party slept at Geldenstag’s Rest where Anatol awakened Ligs by noisily vomiting up ice and snow. The party started early the next morning by shopping for supplies at Blackiron Blades and spell components at The Fancy Compass before departing for Targos.

Walking to Targos

The trek to Targos required two hours on snowshoes. Upon arrival, the party discovered the frozen body of a man stripped to the waist tied to two crossed posts in the town square. The man, a merchant by the name of Denbek Tommersen, was drawn in the last lottery and sacrificed (stripped bare and soaked in cold water in the freezing cold) to Auril a handful of days ago. The town Speaker, Naerth Maxildanarr, has left him hanging to keep the townsfolk properly intimidated.

Targos, a fishing village on the shore of Maer Dualdon

The party notices that the townfolk keep their distance and are reluctant to speak to them. Everyone seems to keep their heads down.

Their first stop was Triglio’s, a fishing supply store on the main town square. Inside, Ratimir adopted the guise of a Luskan merchant and interviewed the store’s proprietor Jestin Hunrae about the corpse in the town square and Garvil, the merchant murdered in Bryn Shander. Jestin knew Garvil and said he was a successful middleman merchant, always reliable in importing goods across the Spine mountains. Jestin directed Ratimir’s questions about the lottery to Speaker Naerth Maxildanarr at the Targos Town Hall.

The party then visited the Luskan Arms where Ratimir continued his Luskan merchant subterfuge with the inn proprietor Owenn Tarsenel. Owenn was far less accommodating than Jestin, echoing the latter’s advice to seek the town speaker with these questions.

The party walked to the town hall where they met a clerk. Ratimir, once again posing as a traveling merchant, claimed to seek a business deal with the town speaker in exchange for keeping their names off the sacrifice list. The clerk spurned Ratimir’s proposals, but eventually Speaker Maxildanarr emerged from his office and dismissed the clerk, taking the reins of the conversation.

Ratimir proposed delivering a load of hard-to-get produce from Luskan to Targos across the Spine mountains in return for protection from the sacrifice lottery. Maxildanarr seemed intrigued but required proof of Ratimir’s ability to deliver before making any promises. While these negotiations transpired, Ziff inspected the speaker and noticed a signet ring featuring snowflake, a possible sign of Children of Auril membership.

The group then walked to Three Flags Sailing Tavern where they noticed a table of human miners giving Ziff menacing glares. Once challenged, the miners revealed that they had recently been put out of work from their jobs at the mines in Termalaine because of an infestation of kobolds. A combination of intimidation by Ligs and a round of drinks bought by Ziff defused the situation, and the party learned more about the desperate situation developing in the north of Ten Towns.

Once they’d settled in at their own table over food and drinks, the party discussed their concerns about Speaker Maxildanarr’s apparent membership in the Children of Auril. They decided to sneak back into the Targos Town Hall after closing time and search for information that might shed light on the shadowy organization.

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Session 3: The Investigation Begins in Targos, December 11, 2021

The party waited until they were reasonably certain the town hall had closed for the day and then they set out on the Targos town streets. Ziff, Harvan, and Ligs split off and headed toward town hall while Anatol and Ratimir went searching for signs of Torg’s caravan in town.

A Mysterious Stalker

The search for Torg’s was cut short when Anatol and Ratimir realized they were being followed. After leading their tail on a circuitous path through town, they set a tripwire trap in an alley, captured their stalker, and took him back to their room at the Luskan Arms where they questioned him. They learned this tiefling was Capt. Skath of the Targos Town Militia. He’d been ordered by Speaker Maxildanarr to follow Ratimir and his friends after the bard’s attempted subterfuge at impersonating a merchant to the Speaker in the town hall.

Captain Skath of Targos proved a difficult interrogation, openly challenging Ratimir and Anatol as they beat him in their inn room.

Ratimir and Anatol conducted an “enhanced interrogation” of their prisoner to learn if he knew anything about the Children of Auril or the murders in town. Skath knew of the Children but had no usable information. He acknowledged the murders in Ten Towns as being “bad for business” and told them that Maxildanarr was no follower of Auril, but wore a snowflake ring to hedge his bets.

“Do you think that there’s a merchant in Luskan Maxildanarr doesn’t know? You idiots have no idea the pile of shit you’ve just stepped in. I figure you have eight, maybe ten minutes before this all gets very bad for you.” Captain Skath of the Targos Militia

Not satisfied with what they had learned and becoming frustrated at the tiefling captain’s open defiance of their intimidation tactics, Anatol delivered several punches to Skath in an unsuccessful attempt to render him unconscious, knocking him and the chair to which he was tied to the floor. Getting an angle on the Paladin, Skath used his Hellish Rebuke feature to deliver retribution damage just before Ratimir decided to put an end to this session with a critical sword strike to Skath’s throat. As the tiefling lay bleeding out and the sound of urgent voices and heavy footfalls rung out in the inn hall downstairs, Ratimir and Anatol decided to escape through the window to the alleyway two stories below.

A Little Light B&E&M at the Town Hall

Ziff, Harvan, and Ligs thoroughly inspected the exterior of the Targos Town Hall and chose the back door as their point of entry. Ziff easily picked the deadbolt and the three entered a hallway on the first floor.

The trio quickly investigated their way through several rooms of the administrative building, finding stacks of forms, permits, and licenses one would expect in a public government office. Additionally, they found several pieces of correspondence from Maxildanarr to town employees on Luskan Arms letterhead. Harvan spent time searching in the Records Room and discovered the following:

Town Halls Records Discoveries

Town Deeds dating back 200 years
Ash Quarter records
Estimates, building contracts, and plans to rebuild and resettle people displaced by the destruction of an area of town now known as the Ash Quarter 100 years ago.
Details of payments to families affected by the destruction, the last one of which occurred 15 years ago.
Estimates for repair to the docks and breakwater walls from ice damage over the last two years.
Tax ledgers for fishing operations in Targos, showing a steady decline in income since the beginning of Auril’s Rime.
Duty tax ledgers on merchant caravans passing through Targos also show those in steady decline. Garvil’s name is mentioned alongside an outsized payment just before the last new moon.

A trap on the road to Bryn Shander

While Harvan worked in the records room, Ligs pulled a signet ring made of a dark, silvery metal from the mouth of a mounted 5 foot Knucklehead trout named “Ol’ Bitey” on the wall of the reception area. The ring featured a crest showing a shield bisected diagonally by a black sword.

Satisfied that they had found everything of interest in the building, the trio carefully covered their tracks and Ziff relocked the backdoor from the outside. A few minutes later they met Ratimir and Anatol on the streets who urged that it was time for the party to flee Targos.

On the Road Back to Bryn Shander

About 45 minutes into their two-hour walk on the road back to Bryn Shander, the party heard a cry for help to the east. Ratimir cast Light on his sword and the party saw a humanoid shape lying in the snow between two ridges about 50-60 feet away. The bard approached the body and discovered that it was frozen to the ground. As he pulled back from the corpse, four large wolves with glowing blue eyes emerged from their hiding places, one of them saying:

“Ravisin was right – it’s amazing how well this ruse works.”

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Session 4: One Fell Stroke, December 18, 2021

The Ballad of Dildowolf

The party faced off and quickly defeated three of the Rime Wolves that had laid a trap for them. The fourth, apparently the leader, fled as soon as the tide turned against him. Anatol and Ziff dropped the wolf, the former with a timely use of Expeditious Retreat and the latter with two expertly placed arrows.

Cluster of dark chardalyn crystals

A search of the wolves turned up leather pouches slung around each of their necks. All were empty except for the leader’s which contained a small collection of hexagonal gemstones. The pieces ranged in clarity from clear as quartz to black as obsidian; neither crystal nor metal, but somewhere in between. Ratimir cast Detect Magic on the pieces and got a faint tickle of a magical aura.

Harvan searched the humanoid body the wolves used as bait and found 20gp, 10sp, a pair of daggers, and a Driftglobe (DMG 166).

Having sustained some injuries during their fight with the wolves, the party decided to walk another hour on to Bryn Shander. For most of the walk back a snowy owl paralleled the path with them, peeling off into the darkness just before reaching the town walls. They entered the north gate in full view of the guards and from there to the commercial district in the southwestern sector of town. There, Ziff kept an apartment in the attic of Flan Sugarberry’s bakery, "Sugarberry's".

One Fell Stroke

Early the next morning, the group was awakened by the arrival of Hiln Trollbane, who had troubling news. The killer had struck again, and apparently this time with help. Speaker Naerth Maxildanarr, his girlfriend, and four commanding officers of the Targos militia had all been murdered overnight. Captain Akmus Skath was missing and considered a "Person of Interest" in the crime. Trollbane demanded that the party go to the House of the Morninglord to meet with Sheriff Markham Southwell immediately.

The party traversed Bryn Shander, passing through the center of town. They noted that foot traffic looked higher than normal, and more travelers were coming through the north gate. Soon, they arrived at the House of the Morninglord and knocked on the side door. Copper Knobberknocker answered the door, wearing his familiar homemade teddy bear onesie. "Oh, I suppose you lot are gonna want some tea, eh?" He asked before battling off the kitchen without a reply.

Inside the same dressing area they’d met him before, the party found Sheriff Southwell, Dawnbringer Mishann, and Hiln Trollbane. Southwell repeated Trollbane’s news, asking the party for a full report on their activities in Targos.

The party returns to Bryn Shander after a night of harrowing pursuits in Targos

The party described what they’d found at the Town Hall, how they’d been followed by Captain Skath, what transpired back at the Luskan Arms under Ratimir and Anatol’s interrogation of the tiefling captain, and the trap that had been set for them by the four talking wolves on the road. Southwell considered the information, then replied.

“I don’t think anyone would be surprised to know that Maxildanarr and Skath were up to their necks in disreputable activities, nor do I think anyone will miss them. But the problem we have here is that Targos now lacks a government and an organized defense force. Consider yourselves deputized. Now get your butts back up to Targos and see what you can find out about these killings."

"But keep in mind that the situations in Termalaine and Lonelywood are getting worse, and now with Targos in turmoil, we are expecting a massive influx of people looking for jobs and shelter that Bryn Shander doesn’t have. Even if you don’t catch the killer right away, the people need to see that something is being done, otherwise we are gonna have a full blown panic on our hands. I’m sending Augrek Brighthelm and four of my best-trained militia with you to help stabilize the situation.” Sheriff Markham Southwell

He added that reports of animal attacks similar to the wolf attack the party experienced were on the rise and spreading south. When the party mentioned the wolves spoke the name "Ravisin", Southwell related that a pair of Frost Druids named Ravisin and Vurnis had passed through town months ago demanding sacrifices to Auril.

The Battle of Icewind Dale

A little over a hundred years ago, an evil mage named Akar Kessel came into possession of a powerful magical artifact known as Crenshinibon, or The Crystal Shard. Kessell used the shard to create an immense crystal tower near Targos from which he could rule Icewind Dale. In the ensuing Battle of Icewind Dale, the Companions of the Hall killed Kessell and destroyed the tower. The energy released from the tower's destruction incinerated an entire quarter of the town of Targos and transformed rivulets of ice throughout the Dale into a metallic-crystal substance called Chardalyn.

The party showed the crystals they collected from the wolves to Mishann. She identified them as pieces of Chardalyn, a metallic-crystalline substance that was created by the destruction of Akar Kessel’s crystal tower during the Battle of Icewind Dale a hundred years ago. Chardalyn, she said, is prized for its arcane properties and its ability to absorb a spell cast into it. The pieces were very valuable, she continued, and should be guarded carefully.

After quick stops to pick up vials of poison for Ziff and Ligs to use on their weapons, the party was back on the road to Targos.

Allies in Termalaine

On the road the party encountered many groups of travelers heading south away from Targos, Termalaine, and Lonelywood. They recognized the group of human miners they had spoken with at Three Flags Sailing in Targos the night before. Speaking with a miner named Krynt Donoghan, Ratimir successfully persuaded the miners to head back to Termalaine and tell the town that help was on the way from Sheriff Southwell and Bryn Shander.

Upon arrival in Targos the party found a mob scene in the town square. Scores of Targos citizens were shouting at the new acting captain of the militia Brenir Yldgwen, who clearly looked out of his depth. Augrek Brighthelm stepped in to help Yldgwen calm the crowd, then she introduced him to the party.

Yldgwen provided the party with a list of murder victims and their locations in Targos. Because of the chaos that ensued after news of the murders swept through town, he reported that nothing had been done to investigate the crimes beyond securing the scenes.

"I build boats for a living and only carry a sword part-time for the militia. We welcome any help Sheriff Southwell sends us. Please take over the investigation and let us know what we can do to help." Acting Captain of the Targos Militia Brenir Yldgwen

Targos Murder Victims

Gawain Dramercy - killed while with his prostitute, Kes Pilar. She witnessed the killing and was unharmed, though was left unresponsive from the fear of the encounter. She has returned to her home.
Ilden Fylden - only victim with a wife and kids, but they are separated and live in Bryn Shander.
Stohl Gresham
Kraneth Nylgard
Speaker Naerth Maxildanarr was with his girlfriend Dana Helwyn at her house when they were both killed with ice daggers through the heart.

Naerth Maxildanarr and Akmus Skath enjoying happier times in his suite at the Luskan Arms

Return to the Luskan Arms

Anatol and Ratimir returned to the Luskan Arms to interview Owenn Tarsenal about his involvement with Speaker Maxildanarr while Harvan, Ziff, and Ligs went to Kes Pilar’s house to question her about the death of Gawain Dramercy.

At the Luskan Arms, Tarsenal denied any involvement with Maxildanarr other than being his landlord. He also apologized to the pair for not cleaning their room and asked them if they needed anything. Anatol and Ratimir realized they’d not checked out and apparently Tarsenal was unaware that the party had left Targos the night before.

Anatol and Ratimir obtained the key to the speaker’s suite and began the search. Aside from a cage of flying snakes, their efforts turned up little of interest until the door to a wardrobe mysteriously opened and a secret panel in the back was revealed. Inside was a travel bag packed with clothing, a purse of money, and a Potion of Speed (DMG 188). Under the travel bag was a stack of documents and a leather bound book. Inside the nightstand by the bed they found a Dagger of Venom (DMG 161).

Eyewitness

Ziff, Harvan, and Ligs walked to the northwest sector of town to the home of Kes Pilar, a prostitute who was with town militia commander Gawain Dramercy when he was killed. A woman named Trish opened the door and led them to a darkened sitting room where Kes was balled up on a sofa, staring off into the distance.

Harwan took the lead and appealed to Kes, persuading her to open up about the murder.

What Kes Knew

A hooded figure with a bright light where their face should be slipped into the house and attacked Gawain. He tried in vain to fight it off, but the figure blinded Gawain with its light then hit him with some sort of beam. Before Gawain could fall to the floor, he froze solid where he stood.
The attacker then turned and left, ignoring Pilar altogether.
Kes was friends with the woman who was killed with Maxildanarr, Dana Hellwyn.

“That son of a dog threatened Dana with the lottery to get her into bed, just like he did with the Tarsenal widow. At least Tarsenal refused, but now Dana is dead AND she had to sleep with that bag of shit.” Kes Pilar

The Interrogation Room

Satisfied they had thoroughly searched Maxildanarr’s suite, Anatol and Ratimir returned to their room where they found the window still open, the temperature below freezing, and nothing but a pool of frozen blood on the floor where they’d left the unconscious Captain Skath the previous night. The body was gone.

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Session 5: The Miracle on Ice, January 9, 2022

The Missing Tiefling

Ratimir and Anatol were shocked to find the body of Captain Skath missing from their room at the Luskan Arms. A quick search of the room revealed nothing save for the frozen blood on the floor (which Anatol sampled and collected) and a good bit of snow that had drifted in through the open window. The two shut the window and left for Dana Hellwyn's house.

The Frozen Commanders

Harvan, Ziff, and Ligs arrived at Ilden Fylden’s house and immediately noticed footprints heading out of the house and across frozen surface of Maer Dualdon. Ligs followed the tracks while Ziff and Harvan entered the house to investigate the crime scene. Inside, they found the frozen corpse of Fylden, standing in his bedroom doorway, his arms held out in a defensive position and his eyes locked in a look of surprise. His entire body was covered in a solid inch of ice.

Ligs followed a set of barefoot humanoid prints across the frozen surface of Maer Dualdon and encountered something he hadn't bargained for

Ligs on Ice

Ligs followed the tracks out of town, past the breakwater gate, and north onto the frozen surface of Maer Dualdon. He used his Boots of False Tracks to mimic the stride and appearance of the prints he followed. He caught sight of a figure, apparently holding a bright light in front of them, a few hundred yards out of Targos. Ligs closed the distance and followed the figure east onto the lakeshore, picking his way through the fractured rime ice as quietly as he could.

As he approached closer, the cracking of the lakeshore rime ice under his footfalls was almost impossible to mitigate and the figure turned to focus its attention on the trailing dwarf. Ligs launched a crossbow bolt that found home in the figure's brightly-lit face, but that wasn't enough to stop its advance.

Ligs turned to flee, springing from one oddly-angled plate of lake ice to another as a bright bluish-white beam of energy flashed over his shoulders. He began to pull away from the creature when another beam flashed out and struck him square in the back, bringing him within inches of death.

The Speaker and his Companion

Anatol and Ratimir searched the home of Dana Hellwyn, companion of Naerth Maxildanarr and the location of their deaths. They found the pair still in bed, assumedly caught in the act. Hellwyn was on the bottom, Maxildanarr on top. His body had fallen face down to Hellwyn's right side. Ice daggers were driven through their hearts, Dana's embedded in the front and Naerth's driven through his back and protruding through his chest.

A search of Dana's house revealed a small amount of coin and a collection of letters from her father Stanis Hellwyn in Good Mead. The letters, in summary, said that it didn't matter what Dana had done, he just wanted her to come home.

Anatol and Ratimir took the opportunity to review the trove of documents they uncovered at Maxildanarr's suite at the Luskan Arms. In the collection was a journal, a leather bound book, and a stack of correspondence.

Maxildanarr's Journal

The first several pages contained details on various people in Ten Towns on whom Maxildanarr had collected incriminating information, assumedly to use for blackmail.

Luther Stonebridge of Easthaven has been dealing in stolen merchandise sourced from Luskan.
Speaker Crannoc Siever of Caer-Dineval has been selling sacrificed food on the black market.
Shandar Froth in Good Mead is wanted by the Mirabar authorities for the murder of another dwarf.
Torsten Windriver paid Maxildanarr to keep his name out of the lottery months ago.

The next section of the journal was devoted to reports from various informants working for Maxildanarr in a number of locations in Ten Towns. No names were mentioned, only the places where they were stationed.

Bryn Shander reports a human woman named Davris Fain has taken up at the House of the Triad and is organizing ceremonies of Auril worship.
Easthaven reports a halfling woman named Teagan is organizing citizens to demand more sacrifices of Speaker Danneth Waylen. She claims to be a follower of Auril and carries a snowflake-adorned staff.
Good Mead reports a half-elf woman going by the name Kalla Vindar has taken over the Shrine of the Flaming Sword and is calling citizens to worship Auril, demanding the town turn to human sacrifice.
Lonelywood reports that one of a pair of Frost Druids that passed through Ten Towns months ago has been seen in the surrounding forest.

Maxildanarr's Ledger and the Correspondence

The ledger detailed amounts garnered from tariffs on passing merchant caravans, gouged fishing licenses, and bribes collected from the various guilds operating in Targos. All of these numbers had been steadily declining over the last two years.

The letters were all postmarked from Luskan and, in summary, were sent from someone named "J" demanding that Maxildanarr do more to tighten his control over trade and commerce in Ten Towns.

On the Waterfront

Harvan and Ziff continued to the waterfront to visit the next house on the list, the home of Stohl Gresham. Inside, they found Gresham in a similar condition to Fylden: frozen underneath an inch of ice in a defensive position with his eyes locked in surprise. A search of his house revealed unfinished letters to the Dockworker's Guild demanding they step up efforts to sabotage the fishing fleets from other towns or their names would get "moved up the list."

Tracking Down a Comrade

Ratimir, Ziff, Harvan, and Anatol reunited at the front of Stohl Gresham's house and realized that Ligs had been gone far too long, so they backtracked to Fylden's home and picked up the trail he followed. Passing through the breakwater gate, the party noticed three more sets of barefoot tracks setting out in different directions across the lake, but only the set heading north appeared fresh enough to follow. Before long, they saw a light across the ice on the lakeshore and heard Ligs shouting for aid in the distance. The party quickened their pace in time to see Ligs deliver a pair of blows to a cloaked creature with a bright light shining from its face. The creature responded with a double slam attack with its arms, knocking Ligs unconscious and sending him sliding down the shore slope onto the ice.

Ratimir healed the unconscious dwarf, Anatol took up a defensive position, Harvan delivered a Guiding Bolt, and Ziff landed a pair of crossbow bolts. Ligs fired a crossbow bolt into the creature's face and Harvan finished it off with another Guiding Bolt. The light from the creature's face was extinguished and the body tumbled down the slope onto the lake ice.

The party inspected the corpse and discovered the body of a woman, frozen stiff and appearing to have been dead and exposed to the elements for some time. She was wearing no clothes save for the tattered cloak fastened around her neck, below which, etched into her chest, was the symbol of a snowflake.

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Session 6: Fate of the Sacrificed, January 15, 2022

It’s Time to Go

As the party stood around the corpse of the Coldlight Walker at their feet, Anatol sensed the slightest tingle on his fading Divine Sense telling him that undead were nearby. Looking across the flat lake ice, the party discerned two pairs of Walkers in the distance: one set coming from the north, and another set from the west. Both sets appeared to be closing on the party’s position. Ligs shouldered the corpse and the party set off south, retracing their path back to the Targos breakwater.

After several minutes on a dead run across the ice, they realized their stalkers were gaining ground. They dressed their illuminated driftglobe in the tattered cloak of the Walker they’d killed and sent it out across the lake between the two sets of pursuers, hoping it would pose a more interesting target. Their ploy seemed to have no effect and Anatol decided to run ahead of the group using Expeditious Retreat to warn the guards posted at the breakwater.

Battle at the Breakwater

As the walls of the Targos breakwater came into view, bluish-white beams of light began flashing above the party's heads as the Walkers from the north closed the distance. Targos guardsmen were now alert to the incoming threat, but could not discern friend from foe in the darkness and fired a couple of crossbow bolts at the party. Ratimir cast Light on himself to illuminate the scene and help the guards on the breakwater parapets better find their targets.

Once the Walkers has closed to within 30 feet, Harvan used his Channel Divinity ability to Turn Undead, sending one of the pair of Walkers scurrying away to the north. The remaining Walker squared off for a fight. The party and several Targos guardsmen landed blows on the Walker, quickly bringing it down. Once the fight was over and the corpse of the creature was splayed across the lake ice, the party recognized it as the body of the man they had seen tied to the sacrificial platform in the middle of Targos when they'd first arrived. Augrec Brighthelm and Brenir Yldgwen arrived and ordered the bodies to be taken to the town hall for further examination.

The Fate of the Sacrificed

Once the bodies of the two slain Coldlight Walkers were laid out on the floor of the Targos Town Hall, guards recognized the female body as that of Sabil Jeney, a local seamstress and a sacrifice from several months ago. Closer examination of the body revealed a necklace still fastened around her neck holding a charm depicting a shaft of wheat, a symbol typically worn by initiates to the worship of Amaunator.

"If this is the fate of the sacrificed, then it must be stopped. Put an end to it. Please inform Sheriff Southwell of your discoveries." Acting Speaker Torsten Windriver

Within minutes, Acting Speaker Torsten Windriver and his clerk arrived, the former clothed in his long underwear and heavy winter coat. He looked troubled and overwhelmed. Augrec and Brenir explained the scene laid out before him and they exchanged some inaudible dialogue. After a thoughtful silence, the Speaker told them, "I see no other option. If this is the fate of the sacrificed, then it must be stopped. Put an end to it. Please inform Sheriff Southwell of your discoveries."

The Home of Gawain Dramercy

Before moving on, the party decided to visit the home of Gawain Dramercy, Capt. Skath's Second-in-Command and murder victim from the previous evening. Dramercy's house was in the rebuilt Ash Quarter, the section of town where people of wealth typically lived. The homes here were in much better condition than the rest of the settement.

Ziff thoroughly searched the desk in Dramercy's study and found a trapped wooden box containing a large amount of platinum and a list of names to target for sacrifice list extortion. Inside a drawer with a false bottom, Ziff found a couple pages of correspondence written in Thieves Cant. They said, in sum, "for the time being, we have complete confidence in Maxildanarr" and "we will address the Skath situation."

The Collector

Upstairs, the party discovered Dramercy, sitting on the edge of his bed dressed in a sleeping gown, frozen solid in an inch of ice. His body was facing away, but his head was turned over his shoulder toward the door with a look of horror upon his face.

Ziff rolled the room and discovered another stash of coin inside the mattress, a bag of gems inside the drawers of his dresser, and a closet containing an eclectic collection of highly decorative cermonial weapons. Among them were two notable finds, each examined by Ratimir.

A cartoonishly ornate scimitar with a beautifully carved scrimshaw hilt depicting Angajuk, an awakened whale that lives near the coast of the Sea of Moving Ice. As the story goes, the whale can be summoned and will provide transport across the waters if given an appropriate offering.
A pair of ceremonial daggers that, at first glance, appear to depict a series of lurid sexual scenes, but upon deeper examination actually depict the forgotten tale The Betrayal of Kresselack.

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Session 7: The Secrets of a Blade, January 22, 2022

The Betrayal of Kresselack

Holding the pair of ornamental daggers before him in the bedroom of Gawain Dramercy, Ratimir the Bard recounted what he knew of the infamous Kresselack.

Few in Icewind Dale remember the name Kresselack, but some know the stories of “The Black Wolf.” By either name, the half-giant barbarian is a controversial and polarizing figure of dread and ruin among the common peoples of the Frozenfar. The usual story details a brutal warlord bent on the conquest of Icewind Dale, ruling everything from the Sea of Moving Ice to the south side of the Spine of the World Mountains near Mirabar. His legions sacked villages, demanded tribute, and unscrupulously ruled the peoples of the Dale. His ruthless nature and ability to stealthily navigate the mountains of the Dale earned him the “The Black Wolf” moniker, which he adopted as his symbol. The pair of daggers feature wolf avatars and paw prints prominently in their carvings.

Ratimir first heard the story of Kresselack from a bard performing in Silverymoon and something about the simplicity of the story piqued his interest. It had all the ingredients of an epic song – fierce battles, overwhelming odds, dramatic sacrifices – except the motivations of the anti-hero Kresselack were extremely one-dimensional. What drove him? Where did this thirst for conquest come from? There was something missing from this story. Ratimir began to wonder if the story of The Black Wolf was a complete fiction, the work of a bard from antiquity who had created an incomplete but archetypal bogeyman.

While researching obscure languages at the library Herald’s Holdfast near Silverymoon, Ratimir stumbled upon a decaying volume written in an old dialect of the Frozenfar titled The Betrayal of Kresselack. Inside those pages he discovered a different version of the tale.

This volume seemed to agree that Kresselack was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Dalefolk. However, according to this older account, those he fought were followers of Damien Morienus, a powerful necromancer that was using the barbarian tribes of the Dale for horrific experiments. Kresselack united the barbarian tribes against Morienus and was successful in defeating the powerful mage.

The Kresselack portrayed in this book was a man of learning who studied astronomy, agriculture, and the arcane arts. He united the nomadic tribes of the Dale into a single group, building settlements into the mountainsides of the Spine of the World and the permanent ice of the Reghed Glacier. As leader of this civilization, he instituted a system of justice, built schools, and a rudimentary postal system connecting the Frozenfar with the kingdoms south of the Spine.

Using his influence, he banned humanoid sacrifice and worship of the old gods that demanded it. This angered Auril, who sent her high priestess Lysan to infiltrate his inner circle and seduce him. Once she’d gained his trust as his favored mistress, she killed Kresselack and his men, entombing them in his mountain stronghold in the Vale of Shadows.

The Last Victim

The party visited the home of Kraneth Nylgard, the last murder victim and one of the commanders of the Targos militia. His home was far more modest than that of Dramercy's and not very well kept. He'd adapted wooden crates and scraps into ersatz furniture and slept on a straw mattress on the floor. The party found a stash of money and a couple of bundled letters under a loose floorboard in this bedroom. The letters, written in Thieves Cant echoed messages the party had found at Dramercy's house:

"Maxildanarr's actions of late have grown more concerning."
"The situation with Skath demands more attention."

Unlike the other victims, Nylgard was caught by his attacker at the door, still dressed in his militia uniform as if he'd just returned home from work. Like the other militia commander victims, he was frozen solid beneath a solid inch of ice. Ratimir's Detect Magic registered an arcane aura coming from the bracers Nylgard wore, but the ice resisted thawing despite the party's efforts.

After ordering the militia to gather all of the victims together with the bodies of the two Coldlight Walkers at the Town Hall, the party returned to the Luskan Arms to rest for the evening.

In their room that evening, Ziff and Harvan experimented casting spells into pieces of chardalyn they had recovered from the Rime Wolves. Harvan cast Inflict Wounds into a piece of dark chardalyn and Cure Wounds into a clear piece.

Early the next morning, Harvan built a fire in the room Anatol and Ratimir used to interrogate Skath. Once the snow had melted off, Anatol easily found a tooth he'd knocked from Skath's mouth. They also discovered that the flying snakes in Maxildanarr's room were gone.

The party then visited the town hall to inspect all the victims and decided on a risky plan to use Ratimir's Shatter spell to see if that would remove the ice from the frozen victims. The spell fractured the body of Nylgard into several pieces. Anatol gathered the two forearms in hopes of retrieving the magical bracers on them.

Old Friends

Ziff wanted to do a little shopping, so the party visited Graendel's Fine Dwarvencraft in the northwestern sector of the town. Upon entering, a middle-aged looking dwarf with flecks of gray in his beard looked up from the counter and recognized his old friend Ligs.

"It is good to see you, Vanyali gyz Khazâd. When I saw you venture out alone on the ice beyond the breakwater yesterday, I feared the worst. I am pleased to see you survived. Before I forget, I have completed the modifications you requested on your longbow." Graendel went into the back of his shop and returned with a yew bow of elven make reinforced with strips of mithril along both limbs.

"This will more closely match your strength."

Ziff purchased a set of studded leather armor that Graendel needed to modify to fit him. Graendel told him he could have it ready in a couple of days.

"Great, but we are not staying in town long. Can you have it sent to me?"

"Of course, Master Kobold. I will send it on to Termalaine as soon as I'm done."

This alarmed the kobold rogue. How did Graendel know where they were going?

"Relax, Master Kobold. Hiln told me to expect you and all about your mission. She's an old, trusted friend. Now...are you sure you know what you're getting into?"

And with that, the party opened up and asked Graendel everything he knew about Maxildanarr and his men in Targos. He told them:

Maxildanarr extorts a number of important people in Targos to keep their names out of the lottery.
Maxildanarr is probably Zhentarim, but doesn't seem like the one in charge.
Torg's was in town during the murders but left in the middle of the night.
Skath wasn't Zhentarim, but Graendel doesn't know where his loyalties lied.
The militia in Termalaine is loyal to Maxildanarr and not to Speaker Masthew.

Kraneth Nylgard was wearing a set of Bracers of Defense, but they were frozen to his body with the rest of his gear.

Before leaving, Anatol asked Graendel to inspect the bracers on the severed forearms of Kraneth Nylgard. Graendel raised his eyebrows at the grisly sight, but unflinchingly identified the frozen accessories as Bracers of Defense.

The Wolf Pelt Inn

On the way out of town, the party stopped by The Wolf Pelt Inn, the place Torgga Icevein's caravan stayed the night before. Ratimir bought a round of drinks for the morning day drinkers to see if they were around the previous evening.

"Oh sure, I was here last night and so was Icevein and her crew. They come through about once a month, and it's always a good time. They stayed up drinking for a good bit of the night, running up a respectable bar tab. All except for one, a strange bloke. Oh, he's a fun fella...quick with a laugh or a wink. Good lookin', snappy dresser. He ate a spot of dinner, had a shot of whiskey, played a couple songs on his squeezebox, paid the tab, and then he was out the door without a coat or nothin'." Day Drinker at the Wolf Pelt Inn

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Session 8: The Unsettling Absence of Being, January 29, 2022

Editor's Note: I've added a brief description of Ligs receiving his newly-modified longbow from Graendel to the previous recap above, as well as a short segment describing Harvan and Ziff experimenting with storing spells inside the chardalyn crystals recovered from the Awakened Rime Wolves.

You Went to Ilden Fylden's House First? Seriously?

Before leaving Targos, the party decided on one final errand and visited the home of Captain Akmus Skath. The missing tiefling's home was located just north of the Targos Town Hall on the waterfront. The party discovered a plain rowhouse with trapped rear and front doors. A third trap was discovered on an inside stairway that, had it been tripped, would have cracked a mysterious piece of chardalyn. The party carefully collected the piece of chardalyn, hoping that it would come in handy later.

A thorough search of the house turned up nothing. In fact, the house was effectively empty: very little furniture and hardly any evidence of recent habitation. It appeared as though Skath didn't really live there. If not here, then where?

Investigation of the kitchen floor revealed a hidden trapdoor leading downward to a basement hand-hewn out of the permafrost. Descending a short ladder, the party examined the room and discovered a series of recessed shelves cut into the frozen walls, upon which were flat, circular indentations indicating that items were recently stored there.

Satisfied they had uncovered everything they could at Skath's house, the party departed for Termalaine, but not before asking Augrec Brighthelm to investigate Skath's habits in Targos.

Neve, Moss, and Glik smelled through Ziff's disguise and pulled him into an alleyway to assess his intentions in the town of Termalaine.

A Prudent Approach

The party decided it might be smarter for Ratimir and Ziff to enter the east side of Termalaine in disguise while the remainder of the party hid in a copse of trees outside of the town borders. Using his disguise kit, Ratimir put together an outfit to roughly approximate a miner. Ziff cast Disguise Self to make himself look like a halfling.

The bard and the rogue made their way through the streets of Termalaine, marveling at the town's renowned Calishite-inspired architecture. As they grew closer to their goal, a tavern named The Frosty Hoar, pedestrian activity increased. A pair of hands grabbed Ziff, covered his mouth, and dragged him into a nearby alleyway. Once hidden behind a stack of trash cans, Ziff's abductor opened his coat and pulled the kobold inside. There, Ziff saw three blue kobolds stacked on each other's shoulders. The one on the bottom (which had been the one that grabbed Ziff) began to scold Ziff in a voice that was half whisper and half yell.

"Wait a minute. You're not one of us. You're from a different brood. I smell... human... dwarf... halfling... something else I don't know... and... BREAD. You have bread! Where did you get this? We have not had bread in a long time!" Glik the Termalaine Kobold

"What are you doing in town without a disguise?! Trex told us we are not to leave the mine without one, and especially not alone!"

Pulling back Ziff's hood, the scolding kobold saw Ziff's illusory halfling form and recoiled in surprise.

"Wait a minute. You're not one of us," the kobold said, hurriedly sniffing Ziff's body. "You're from a different brood. I smell...human...dwarf... halfling...something else I don't know...and...BREAD. You have bread! Where did you get this? We have not had bread in a long time!"

Ziff had a brief conversation with the three kobolds named Neve, Moss, and Glik. He learned they came from a cavern on the north slope of the Spine of the World mountains and they had been without a dragon to serve for over six months. In that time, a kobold named Trex had served as their leader and had brought them to the Termalaine mine in search of food and work. But, they were scared of something in the mine, something that came, "from way down deep." Before he could ascertain any additional details from the kobolds, Ratimir had tracked Ziff down and the three mysterious kobolds disappeared into the night.

Snowy Owlbear

Inside The Frosty Hoar, Ratimir and Ziff learned that Speaker Oarus Masthew had not been seen for over three days. With the speaker missing and the town militia refusing to get involved with the mine situation, morale among the miners was getting worse. Ratimir searched in vain for Krynt Donoghan, the miner they had befriended on the road to Targos, but was told he'd probably show up at the tavern sooner or later.

Attacked on the Tundra

Harvan heard the sound of something heavy running toward them. Turning toward the sound, he saw a Snowy Owlbear charging their position. Ligs sank an arrow into its shoulder, Anatol delivered a damaging blow, and Harvan finished it off with a volley of Guiding Bolts that exploded the starving owlbear.

Back in town, Ratimir and Ziff were already on their way back to retrieve their friends when they heard the first of Harvan's attacks connect with the bear. Ziff sent Jghearriex, his owl familiar, wheeling into the sky above to get a better look and quickly spotted the battle. Once the party was reunited, Ziff used Jghearriex to locate the three kobolds that had buttonholed him in town.

Ziff took off at a run to intercept the kobolds and quickly closed the ground. He offered them the owlbear meat in return for setting up a meeting with their leader, Trex. The kobolds, reluctant at first, agreed after hearing about the freshly butchered owlbear.

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Session 9: The Executive Special

February 5, 2022

A Veri Tense Situation

Ligs, Anatol, Harvan, and Ziff joined Ratimir at The Frosty Hoar in Termalaine. The debate about the situation with the mine continued as a lavendar-colored tiefling named Verisimilitude led the disgruntled miners in expressing their rage.

"Where the hell is Masthew? He's not cut out for this job. He’s alcoholic, he’s a coward, he’s shirking his duty. Why hasn’t the mine been sorted out, does he expect the miners to go in and fight the kobolds? Why is he hiding?” Veri the Tiefling Miner

Krynt Donaghan, the miner that Ratimir befriended on the road between Targos and Bryn Shander, had arrived and was watching the scene with Veri from the back of the tavern. The party invited him to the table and asked him some questions about the current situation in Termalaine. Krynt explained that the kobolds had moved into the mine about 2 weeks ago.

"The mine has an unclosable passage to the Underdark and from time to time, something threatening makes its way up from the depths. We've tried to close it up -- we hired engineers, arcanists -- but nothing has worked. In the past, Speaker Shaelen Masthew, or more recently her son Oarus, would hire some mercenaries to go in and take care of the problem. No one's seen Oarus for over three days and the militia is refusing to step in and address the problem." Krynt Donaghan

Termalaine Speaker Oarus Masthew

On the other side of the tavern, near the doors, two of the Termalaine militia were keeping an eye on the situation with Veri and the miners. Captain Conrae Vilniat and Lieutenant Camit Foxwarden stood with their arms crossed, solemnly scanning the crowd for signs of burgeoning violence. The party approached to question them about the missing Speaker and the situation in town. Vilniat agreed to give the party access to the Speaker's House to search for clues to his whereabouts and sent Foxwarden to accompany them.

An Impeccable Home

Camit Foxwarden escorted the party to the home of Speaker Masthew, an opulent residence with echoes of Calimshite architecture attached to the Termalaine town hall. The house was in impeccable condition and was well kept. While Anatol and Ligs inspected Masthew's collection of books (finding a copy of the romance novel Tusk Love on a desk in the study), Harvan investigated the bedroom upstairs, finding a receipt from a spa named Sune's Comfort in a pants pocket on Masthew's dressing table.

While the search unfolded upstairs, Anatol chatted with Foxwarden in the foyer. Foxwarden related to him the desperate situation in Termalaine and the wild rumors that have been passed around. "Do you know that some folks think the kobolds came from that pirate ship that's frozen just off the coast on the Sea of Moving Ice? It's been there for months, and no one's said shit about it but now that the mine's shutdown it's become an issue. Who's ever heard of kobolds on a pirate ship? It's insanity."

The hour was getting late, so the party repaired to their modest rooms at a bed and breakfast Ratimir had secured for them on the south side of town.

Deep Tissue Elvish Massage

Early the next morning, the party set out for Termalaine Town Hall. Ziff rode in Ratimir's backpack to conceal his kobold appearance without wasting spell slots casting Disguise Self. Inside the town hall, they met clerk Elka Verryt who did not have any useful information on Masthew's location. Before leaving, she recommended the party ask for The Executive Special at Sune's Comfort located on the northern outskirts of town.

Arriving at Sune's Comfort, the party met proprietor Ellienne, a half-elven woman with silver hair and a pair of glasses perched low upon her nose. After offering a menu of available services, Harvan requested The Executive Special. Ellienne escorted him to a dressing room where she requested Harvan store all his gear and weapons and change into a bathrobe. After changing, she escorted Harvan (with Jghearriex, Ziff's owl familiar on his shoulder) down a long hallway, emerging onto a stone veranda with three geothermal soaking tubs. Steam poured from the waters and the faint smell of sulphur pervaded the veranda. Beyond the pools, Harvan could see a stone fence that guarded a 60 foot drop to the frozen lake surface below. Ellienne departed and Harvan was left alone on the veranda.

Harvan selected the most secluded tub and soon after he was joined by Masthew. The halfling cleric briefly questioned Masthew, learning that he was poisoned three days ago and would have perished if not for an antidote kept in his mother's adventuring collection. Harvan noted that the experience had left the half-orc speaker in a weakened state. His next question was interrupted by a crossbow bolt that sailed over his head and struck Masthew in his left shoulder.

Masthew sprang from the tub, trying unsuccessfully to haul Harvan along with him, and dashed down the long hallway back to the dressing room. Harvan could just make out the silouette of a humanoid crouched behind the ornamental shrubs shielding their secluded soaking tub. Jghearriex the owl, from his perch atop of the stone shelter overlooking the veranda, could see two assasins: one near Harvan in the shrubs, and another climbing the cliff face. Ziff, monitoring the situation through the owl, sounded the alarm and the remainder of the party dashed to Harvan's aid.

The assasins wielded poisoned shortswords and proved difficult opponents, but soon the party got the upper hand and dispatched both attackers. Ligs delivered the final blow, sending one floating face down in the largest soaking tub, a cloud of crimson billowing into the waters below.

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Session 10: You Might Be a Termalainian If...

February 12, 2022

The Spassassination Attempt

The cold breeze from the lake briefly broke through the bubble of steam and heat billowing off the geothermal pools as the party looked down upon the bodies of the assassins. Oarus Masthew thanked Harvan for saving his life and apologized for running away.

“I just thought it best to arm myself instead of facing those killers bare handed. My apologies, Master Harvan. Now, I recommend you get dressed. I fear this is not over.”

Moments after Elliene left, Captain Conrae Vilniat arrived, accompanied by Lt. Andor Ryla and Termalaine guardsmen Thell, Jarllsen, and Vath. He looked surprised to see Masthew, saying, “Speaker Masthew! It’s, uh, a relief to see you. What’s happened here?”

“Captain Vilniat, in light of this information, I think it’s best if you step aside until we’ve conducted a proper investigation,” Speaker Oarus Masthew

Masthew related the entire encounter. Once he’d finished, Vilniat ordered his men to gather up the bodies and get them back to the Town Hall. The party quickly interjected and an argument over jurisdiction ensued. Just as tensions rose to a crescendo, Lt. Camit Foxwarden arrived.

“Speaker Masthew, sorry for the delay. There’s a fire in the southern part of town and that’s kept us busy for the last hour. It’s under control now. What’s going on here?”

Masthew related the story a second time and Foxwarden inspected the bodies of the assassins. She recognized them and said to Vilniat, “Captain, I’ve seen you speaking to these men.”

Vilniat, looking nonplussed, responded, “Well, it’s possible. I get a lot of applicants looking for work in the militia. And yes, looking closer, these two do bear a resemblance to a pair that stopped by the office a couple of weeks ago. I turned them down and that was the end of it.”

“No,” replied Foxwarden, “I’ve seen you with these two outside of your office…on the street and at the Frosty Hoar.”

“Well, they were persistent. Didn’t take ‘No’ for an answer. That’s all. Now then, Ryla, Thell -- let’s get these bodies back to the office.”

Masthew spoke up, “Captain Vilniat, in light of this information, I think it’s best if you step aside until we’ve conducted a proper investigation,” and he nodded at Foxwarden.

She added, “That would be proper. Captain, please surrender your weapon and stand down.”

A heavy silence ensued, with only the sound of leather armor creaking as the two sides squared off. Vilniat looked down and then back up at Foxwarden. Chewing on his words, he ultimately shouted, “You’re not gonna send me to Revel’s End!” and drew his sword.

Ratimir instantly hit one of the guards with Bane and Ligs launched a Bursting Arrow at Vilniat. The embattled captain lunged at Foxwarden, connecting with his longsword. Foxwarden responded with two devastating blows before Anatol dropped the militia captain to the floor. Once Vilniat was unconscious, the other guardsmen quickly surrendered. Notably, Andor Ryla had stood apart from the fight, apparently not wanting to get involved.

Harvan cast Spare the Dying on Vilniat to keep him alive and began a search, but found nothing of material interest on him. A search of the two assassins turned up 4 unopened vials of poison and an ornate skeleton key.

Ziff picked Andor Ryla’s pockets and turned up a set of keys, a few gold pieces, and a piece of paper that said, “Get over to Sune’s Comfort immediately.”

Ratimir and Ziff had investigated the path the assassins had used to enter the pool veranda, but their search for footprints came up dry. Then Ratimir, incredulous the conspiracy didn't run deeper, made runs at Ryla and Masthew with physical force and intimidation demanding answers and the location of Skath. He was dissatisfied when his methods turned up naught.

Foxwarden assumed control of the town militia, put the guards accompanying Vilniat on suspension pending an investigation, and asked the party to escort her and Vilniat back to the Town Hall.

Five Kobolds in a Trenchcoat

On the way over, Ziff was buttonholed once again by the kobolds Neve, Moss, and Glik into a side alley. This time, they’d brought along Carl, Trex’ Majordomo. The three kobolds had taken Ziff’s request for a meeting back to Trex, but the brood leader was suspicious and wanted Carl to interview Ziff first.

Carl opened up to Ziff, telling him the story of abandoning their former master, the blue dragon Soldondremn. Always cruel, the dragon’s malice had plumbed new depths as it became obsessed with collecting chardalyn. Trex and many other kobolds had had enough, so they escaped into the depths of the Underdark where they traveled for several weeks. At one point, they ventured close to Menzoberranzan and came across a Drow party that was holding a trio of surface dwellers captive. Neve, Moss, and Glik freed the adventurers who then accompanied the brood for several weeks as they made their way through the Underdark, always looking over their shoulders for signs of Soldondremn’s search parties.

Ranger, Rogue, Fighter, Brood

Along the way, the adventurers they’d freed – a golden dragonborn fighter, an eladrin ranger, and a goblin rogue – mentored Neve, Moss, and Glik, passing along skills they’d need to help the brood survive. Ziff noticed that there were patches of golden scales appearing in various places on Glik's body.

Over a month ago, they emerged from the Underdark on the north slope of the Spine mountains and bid farewell to the fighter, ranger, and rogue. Strangely, though, Trex demanded the brood return underground and press farther north, promising that a suitable home awaited the kobolds there. Reluctantly, the brood agreed as they had no reason to question Trex’ leadership. Two weeks ago, they emerged at the bottom of the Termalaine mine, causing the humans to flee. Since then, Trex has secluded himself at the bottom of the mine, beyond the normal reach of the tunnels the humans had excavated.

Ziff took all of this in, and suggested that he come alone to the mine to assess Trex for himself. Carl agreed, and a plan was set. Early the next morning, the four kobolds in the trenchcoat would accompany Trex into the mine while Ziff’s companions would wait in the forest topside in case things went wrong.

Ingeloakastimizilian, or "Icingdeath, the Frost Tyrant"

Tragically, Icingdeath Did Not Die of Diabetes

That evening, the party spent the night at Speaker Masthew’s home to ensure his safety. Before bed, Ziff and Ligs talked about the dwarf's history in the Dale. Ligs revealed to the kobold his true nature: that he was once an elf from the Silver Marches south of the Spine and that he had died fighting the ancient white dragon Ingeloakastimizilian with the Companions of the Hall at Evermelt. Ligs reminded Ziff that the party had heard the tale of the battle with Icingdeath, the Frost Tyrant sung by Sven the bard back in Bryn Shander.

After his death as an elf, Ligs was reincarnated by an unknown druid. In the hundred or so years since his return to the mortal plane, he’s lived as a dwarf with Clan Battlehammer in the Dwarven Valley.

Quick, Harvan -- To the Mancave!

Early the next morning, Masthew took Harvan into a secret cellar, hidden behind a portrait of his adventuring mother tucked in behind the central spiral staircase in the entryway of the Speaker's House.

The rooms below showed much more signs of life than the formal reception chambers above. There was a study, a den, a sleeping area, and a library with a more more eclectic collection of tomes. Masthew led Harvan to a display area where he kept the mementos from his mother’s adventures, including her weapons and armor. He reached into a wooden box, withdrew a metallic medallion, and held it out to Harvan.

"My mother was a far-ranging adventurer. She traveled all over this continent and even ventured into some of the other planes. One of the companions she often traveled with was one of your people. She was cleric of Arvoreen, which I believe your folk call 'The Defender' or 'The Wary Sword'. She carried this symbol on her shield and used its power to protect her friends. It saved my mother's life more than once."

Masthew handed the Guardian Emblem of Arvoveen to Harvan. On its face was etched a stylized sword-wielding and helmeted halfling.

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Session 11: Grab the Tiefling by the Horns

February 19, 2022

Trouble in the Depths

Before leaving Oarus Masthew’s house, the party showed him the key they found on the bodies of the assassins at Sune’s Comfort. Masthew examined the key and, based on the ornate scrollwork in the handle, surmised that it belonged to something in the Schamedar quarter of Termalaine.

Then, Harvan, Anatol, Ligs, Ratimir, and Ziff set out for the mine to meet with three kobolds Neve, Moss, and Glik as planned. On the way, Ratimir sang a song to his comrades about Mirabar the Mighty and of a deal that was forged to secure the fortunes of dwarves in that region. As he finished his song a few minutes walk from the mine entrance, the group noticed that Neve, Moss, and Glik had fallen into step behind them. This afforded the party their first look at Ziff’s mysterious kobold acquaintances, and Ziff’s first outside of their trench coat.

Glik was large for a kobold, his head coming up to Lig’s neck. Behind his wide shoulders and ropy muscles, he carried a large katana and shield strapped to his back and appeared, at first glance, to be wearing half plate armor. Upon closer inspection, the armor was actually a menagerie of pots and pans that had been carefully cut and shaped into a breastplate, pauldrons, cuisses, greaves, and gauntlets. All of the kobolds of this brood were blue, but a twin ridge of golden scales had begun to emerge starting from behind Glik’s eyes, across to the back of his head, and disappeared into his neckline.

Neve was small, even for a kobold. She wore a dark gray cloak over black leather armor that looked as though it had been skillfully cut down from a much larger set. She carried a shortbow over one shoulder and a pair of daggers on her belt.

Moss was about Ziff’s size and wore a dark green cloak and gray-green tunic and pants. On his chest was strapped an iridescent green carapace of a large insect that had been shaped into an unusual but effective breastplate. He wore two sickle-like shortswords on his belt while shouldering a longbow diagonally across his body.

“You’re on time. That’s appreciated,” said Glik. “Are you ready to go?”

Ziff was to accompany Neve and Glik into the mine below to meet with Trex. Moss would stay topside with Ratimir, Anatol, Harvan, and Ligs to ensure their safety and lead them into the mine if necessary. The party had brought two candles of identical length from Masthew’s house. Each group one keep one candle burning. If the candle burned out and Ziff had not returned, the topside party would venture into the mine. If things went sideways before then, Ziff would send Jghearriex out to alert the others.

Ziff, Neve, and Glik started down the mine and Ziff immediately noticed how quiet Neve was, her small feet hardly making a sound as she walked. She hurried ahead of the group to disable the numerous alarm traps the kobolds had set. While she worked, Ziff talked about his former master Saryndalaghlothtor and Ithlis, the kobold shaman that had turned the crystal dragon against Ziff. Ziff knew his old master was becoming obsessed with collecting chardalyn and wondered aloud to Glik if Trex had been similarly obsessed with the mysterious crystals. The way Karl had described Trex’ transformation after they emerged from the Underdark in Icewind Dale reminded Ziff of Ithlis, who had undergone a similar metamorphosis from the brood’s healer and sage to having truly arcane abilities.

You May Have Heard About What Went Down at the Bathhouse

Back outside, Ratimir took up a position in a tree to keep watch while Ligs and Moss held an impromptu archery contest. Afterward, the two chatted about their histories while Moss carved a figure out of a piece of wood. When he was done he gave the figure – a bearded elf with a bow – to Ligs. Moss then seemed to pick up a scent and set out into the woods to scan the perimeter.

Seconds later, Ratimir heard voices and footsteps coming up the path. Soon he saw the lavender tiefling Verisimilitude with eight miners carrying a collection of improvised weapons approaching via the path from town.

Veri challenged the party, focusing his ire on Ratimir, shouting that deputies of Markham Southwell shouldn’t interfere with the town’s business. Ligs grappled the tiefling by his horns and hauled him away from the miners just as Ratimir cast Silence on the two of them, preventing Veri from responding to Ratimir’s speech. The bard then implored the miners to not risk their lives by invading the mine.

"Some of you may not know me, but those that do know that I'm here to fight for the common man. I'm on your side. You may have heard what happened at the bathhouse last night, how I stood up to your guild-busting Speaker Masthew. I'm not going to let anyone push you around, but I'm also not going to let you risk your lives by going into this mine. We have plan in motion. All I ask is that you give us time to work this out." Ratimir to the Miners of Termalaine

As Long As I Draw Breath

Down below, the three kobolds descended to the bottom level of the mine in a bucket lift. On the way down, they smelled something strange in the mine: something old, acrid, and musty. Ziff asked what would happen to him if things didn't go well with Trex. Glik, while working the ropes to lower the three kobolds to the bottom of the mine, assured Ziff, “As long as I draw breath, you will walk out of this mine.”

After the bucket lift reached the bottom, they disembarked and followed a circuitous passage to the largest cavern on the level. Inside, they found the kobolds of the brood all digging frantically at the walls. Karl approached the three and told them that after Neve, Moss, and Glik left Trex ordered them all down here to search for something.

Trex noticed Ziff and approached. He told him that they were very close to finding something important, something that could change their lives and set them free from serving dragons or the Many Hands ever again.

"Please, Glik, Neve -- help your brothers and sisters find their freedom!" Trex, the Soldondremn Brood Leader

Neve whispered to Glik. "Look -- up near the ceiling! There is something there!" then she quickly dashed away to cover. Ziff, Glik, and Karl were visibly disconcerted by Trex' request and refused to help. Trex quickly lost patience and called out, "Take them!"

With Trex' rapid change in demeanor, Ziff sent Jghearriex to alert the others topside.

Some sort of tentacled monstrosity descended from the shadows of the cavern ceiling and Ziff took cover. Glik drew his katana from the sheath on his back and steeled himself for the attack. Once it was within range, he raised his sword, yelled, "GLIK!" and jumped to meet the tentacled horror.

Race to the Bottom

Topside, the situation with the miners was tense. Ligs held Veri inside Ratimir's Silence spell while the miners reckoned with the situation. They were split: more than half of them were moved by the bard's words, but a few of them were uneasy with Veri being wrestled into submission by Ligs. Just then, Jghearriex shot from the mine entrance and landed on Harvan's shoulder. Seeing this, Ligs called out for Moss. The kobold ranger appeared from the top of the mine entrance, dropped to the ground, then turned and sped down into the mine. Ligs, Harvan, Ratimir, and Anatol followed and reached the bucket lift within seconds. Due to capacity restraints, they had to descend in groups.

The Grell in the Room

The three kobolds fought bravely against the Grell, but were overmatched. Glik waded in and swapped blows with the denizen of the Underdark, getting tangled in its rasping tentacles. Before long, Ligs, Moss, and Harvan arrived to even the odds. Ziff fired his arrow affixed with the piece of dark chardalyn that Harvan had cast Inflict Wounds into. The arrow hit the Grell and the necrotic energy severely damaged the creature. But that wasn't the end of it.

Trex' body burst open, revealing something horrible inside

Dark rivulets of energy spiraled off its body and hit two places on the floor of the cavern, and from those destinations two rifts in reality opened. From one an Ice Mephit sprang forth. From the other an Evistro. Both stood nearly motionless, looking at Ziff as if waiting for something. Harvan finger-gunned a Guiding Bolt at the Grell, finishing it off.

When Trex could see that the tide of battle had turned, he became unhinged. He shrieked as his body started pulling itself apart. His arms sprouted tentacles and his rib cage burst open, revealing a much larger creature inside.

Ziff took a chance and shouted at the two demonic beings that had emerged from the portals to attack the Trex creature, and they seemed to obey. Glik waded back in and landed a damaging blow before being grappled by the tentacles of the beast. A piercing voice shot through the minds of all the kobolds in the room:

If only you had participated we could have avoided all of this.

Ratimir arrived and immediately cast Bane while Ligs, Moss, and Neve shot arrows at the creature that was Trex, levitating above them all.

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Session 12: Petra Incognita

February 26, 2022

Trex Defeated, and a Conspiracy Revealed

The Evistro that was summoned after Ziff fired his Inflict Wounds-charged piece of chardalyn at the grell then appeared to shake off whatever tenuous control Ziff had over the creature, and it turned to attack him. The kobold disengaged and slipped out of the creature's range, causing the flayed demon to turn its attention on Harvan.

The party battled Trex for a a few more rounds, racking up the damage on the levitating, tentacled creature. Anatol sliced off two of its tentacles and Ligs delivered a pair of hammer blows before it cast Hold Person on him. Finally, the summoned Ice Mephit exhaled its Frost Breath and froze the creature that was Trex, dropping him to the cavern floor in an ooze-covered heap.

Camit Foxwarden arrived with Krynt Donaghan and a shackled Verisimilitude in tow to see the end of the fight with Trex. When things had settled, she approached the party and updated them on her investigation.

Side view of the mysterious chamber in the bottom of the Termalaine Mine.

“Once we dangled the possibility of Revel’s End to him, Vilniat sang like a bird. He says that shithead down in Targos – Maxildanarr – had been paying him to help this shithead (jerking a thumb at Veri behind her) stir up dissent against Masthew. We found this note on Veri when we got here a few minutes ago” Acting Captain Camit Foxwarden

Foxwarden handed the note to Ratimir. It said:

“Do not allow Southwell’s deputies to interfere with the mine situation. Pull them into a public altercation. Target the musician. He is easily provoked.”

An Uncertain Future

Ziff spoke with Neve, Moss, and Glik about the future of the kobolds. They had no desire to return to the Underdark for fear of Soldondremn’s search parties and expressed an interest in integrating with the people of Termalaine. Ziff remarked on their skill in the mine and Glik mentioned how they were willing and eager to make themselves useful while simultaneously maintaining their independence.

“We are eager to work, but we will no longer be anyone’s servants. We must live as we please.” Glik the Kobold

The skulls of Trex and the humanoid strapped to the table shared a number of interesting characteristics.

Unraveling Motives

Meanwhile Ratimir and Ligs dissected the corpse of Trex, looking for clues as to what could have caused this transformation. Ratimir's experience with the arcane world suggested to him that this was a monstrosity: a creature created via magical means. They found that his skull was in the middle of a metamorphosis: the teeth were falling out and the mandible had all but disappeared. The eye sockets were enlarged and two prominent brow ridges swept across the top of the skull to the back. Inside the brain case was a bluish-gray gelatinous goo.

The party then focused on the cavern wall where Trex had ordered the brood to excavate. Using his Stone Cunning, Ligs inspected the wall and uncovered an unusually smooth stone surface, something that could not have been shaped with traditional methods. Ligs determined that this material could have only been made with magic. He carefully excavated along the surface until he came upon an opening in the smooth stone, releasing a rush of very old, stale air.

Peering through this opening, Ligs’ and Ziff’s darkvision could make out an interior space approximately 50-60 feet directly across from the opening they had found. It appeared to be a room turned on its side about 75-80° and the magically-created stone of the room was seamlessly mixed with the natural rock of the mine walls, as if the two things had passed through each other like ghosts and then solidified. The left “wall” of this space was the room’s original floor; the right its ceiling.

Cluster of purple crystals

Ziff and Neve entered to check for traps and inspect the room’s contents. Directly across they found a humanoid body strapped to table on the left wall and what appeared to be a metallic and stone circle embedded in the middle of the room’s floor (the left wall). A 2-foot diameter crystal sphere was set in the center of this circle and it had been bisected by the rock of the mine passing through it.

Ratimir entered behind the two kobold rogues and made his way to the bottom of the space. There, he noticed a door on the lower opposite wall underneath the body on the table. On top of the door (or to its left, in the room's original orientation) was a recessed panel in the wall, approximately the size of a humanoid hand. At his feet, he found a humanoid skeleton halfway encased in the natural mine rock. The dried and crumbling body looked as though it had died ages ago. Although its clothing was aged beyond recognition, a leather-like strap that seemed to have withstood the weathering of time was draped over its shoulder and disappeared into the rock.

Ligs entered to inspect the body of the humanoid strapped to the table. The body appeared mostly human, except that the skull was missing a mandible and featured large eye sockets and prominent brow ridges, like the transformed skull of Trex back in the main cavern. A metal circlet was fastened around the top of the head and two wires led from this to the base of the table below, which were surrounded by runes. Looking closer, Ligs caught the glint of a faint purple light showing through the skull sutures and used his Mason’s Tools to gently crack open the skull. Inside, he found a cluster of glowing, irregular hexagonal purple crystals. He used his knife to pry it out into a bag held by Ziff’s Mage Hand. Ratimir's Detect Magic revealed strong Evocation magic coming from the cluster.

The party then inspected the door and found a recessed panel to the left the door in the approximate shape of a hand. Efforts to interact with the panel or force the door were unsuccessful until they waved the bag containing the purple crystals near it. As the bag grew closer, a faint, glimmering light appeared in the panel. Ziff placed his hand there, but nothing happened. Ligs chopped off the hand of the body on the table and placed it in the receptacle, but again nothing happened.

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Session 13: I’m Taking This Head With Me

March 5, 2022

Abberant Experimentation

After failing to activate the door with the hand from the table, Ziff and Ligs decided to carefully excavate the body halfway encased in rock at the bottom of the room. After a painstaking 30 minutes of chiseling away rock, the two unearthed a shoulder bag that emanated strong conjuration magic and a silver ring on the left hand.

Ligs continued chipping away rock behind the body to be certain they weren’t missing anything. After another 20 minutes of hammering, he struck another wall of the room and unearthed a pile of debris that had been wrested free from other parts of the chamber, including a bronze doorknob and a pile of broken glass.

Ratimir examined the body strapped to the table and was reminded of some research he ran across back at Herald’s Holdfast near Silverymoon. The skeletal structure of this creature – the overall humanoid shape, lack of a mandible, two outsized ocular sockets, the enlarged brain case – told him that this creature was an Illithid, commonly known as a Mind Flayer.

Side view of the mysterious chamber in the bottom of the Termalaine Mine.

Ziff held the bag containing the purple crystals near the door once again, illuminating the hand-shaped panel on the wall next to it. Ligs placed the skeletal hand wearing the ring on the panel and they heard “whir……clunk” come from the wall near the door. The door jolted ajar by about an inch and stopped. Using his warhammer as a pry bar, Ligs wedged the door open large enough to pass through the passage.

Guard Duty

Meanwhile, Anatol stood guard back in the main mine cavern with Moss, Glik, and Neve. Glik bided his time making his biceps talk to each other, Neve threw pebbles at larger pebbles for target practice, and Moss was seated near the entrance carving a piece of wood.

"You are the one called 'Anatol', ya? I'm a collector -- a collector of scents. Ligs smells of fires, hot iron, and the dwarves under the mountain. Ratimir smells of taverns and fancy clothing. You smell a little like him and other things, like the oil soldiers use to clean their weapons...also incense, candles like one would find in a temple...and something else I've not smelled before. Tell me, Anatol, do you know what this might be? If I know, I can file it away and know what it is if I come across it again." Moss the Soldondremn Kobold

Anatol did not know what Moss was talking about.

"Ah, no matter. I'm sure I will figure it out. Neve! Let's go see what ze idiots are up to."

Moss jumped to his feet and set the figurine he had carved -- a human with wings -- in front of Anatol.

I’m Taking This Head With Me

In the next room, Ligs saw a pair of ward runes on the floor, similar in shape and construction to the first, larger one they’d seen. Arising from one of the circles was a ring of metal and stone that enclosed the bottom of a cylindrical glass tank that stretched to the ceiling. The tank glass on the right was completely broken and the space empty, save for debris. The tank on the left was partially intact and contained the skeleton of an Illithid similar to the one strapped to the examination table in the previous room.

Ligs climbed to the top of the room, passing another door halfway up, and found two more cylindrical tanks: one broken and empty, and another intact containing a thick, oily green liquid surrounding the body of a Mind Flayer. It appeared to have been dead for a long time: the skin was coming off in large flakes and bones protruded from several places. Ratimir examined the corpse and noticed that the skin was covered in carefully-made lacerations that had been sutured closed. The left arm was missing, the wound carefully stitched up, and in the creature's head was a metallic object that had been sutured in place.

Ziff entered and, using his Mage Hand, held the purple crystal bag next to each tank. When in close proximity, each circle of runes would gently illuminate. When placed next to the creature in the intact tank, two minute gems embedded in either side of the metallic device illuminated.

The party returned to the unopened door and opened it using the skeletal hand wearing the ring and the purple crystals. The door unlocked and Ligs forced it open to allow passage. It opened onto a hallway that proceeded approximately 20 feet before abruptly ending in a dark, open space. Ratimir cast Light on a pebble and dropped it into the darkness. The pebble fell, shining light on a wide, deep chasm that led down past ledges and cave openings until coming to a stop in the dark waters of deep river below.

Ligs returned to the intact tank and struck it with his warhammer. The first two hits deflected off, but the third shattered the glass and the body inside slumped against the ground in a wet mass. He attempted to pick it up, but it came apart in his hands. He cracked open the skull to see if there was another cluster of purple crystals inside and, finding nothing, placed the head in a leather wrap inside his backpack.

The party decided against further exploration of this space until after they had rested, so they exited and Glik rolled a boulder in front of the entrance to keep anyone or anything else out. Once satisfied that things were secure, the party and four kobolds of the brood – Karl, Neve, Moss, and Glik – returned to the town of Termalaine.

Connecting the Dots

Back in town, Ligs split off to bathe at Sune's Comfort while the rest of the party paid a visit to Acting Captain Camit Foxwarden at the Termalaine Town Hall. There, Foxwarden filled them in on Vilniat's confession of being paid by Maxildanarr to help Verisimilitude undermine Speaker Oarus Masthew. She gave the party a key to Veri's apartment in the Schamedar Quarter of town, asking them to search it for evidence.

The party then presented the proposal from the Soldondremn brood to Speaker Masthew, asking that the kobolds remain in Termalaine to live and work. Masthew vowed to call an emergency town meeting that evening with representatives of the Town Elders, Mining Guild, and Merchants Guild in attendance.

Thieves Cant, But Perhaps They Should

It was a short walk to the Schamedar Quarter, the same section of town where the assassins at Sune's Comfort were apparently keeping a room. The party found Veri's apartment locked, but not trapped. Inside was a basic one bedroom studio -- bedroom, kichen area, and a den with a desk. On top of the desk was a cage with one flying snake inside. On the desk were a pile of papers ranging from Mining Guild business (payouts to injured miners, policy discussions on how to handle mine closures) to customer orders for gems. One one of these orders, the party noticed pen scratches in between the lines and from experience recognized this as Thieves Cant. Ziff examined the papers and deciphered the following:

"Continue your efforts to undermine Masthew. Spare no expense. -P"

Finding nothing else of interest in the apartment, the party left.

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Welcome to the Everlasting Night

Session Recap Menu

Session 1: Bryn Shander and the Everlasting Night, November 27, 2021

Session 2: Return to Bryn Shander in the Bone Machine, December 4, 2021

The Bone Machine

Walking to Targos

Session 3: The Investigation Begins in Targos, December 11, 2021

A Mysterious Stalker

A Little Light B&E&M at the Town Hall

Town Halls Records Discoveries

On the Road Back to Bryn Shander

Session 4: One Fell Stroke, December 18, 2021

The Ballad of Dildowolf

One Fell Stroke

The Battle of Icewind Dale

Allies in Termalaine

Targos Murder Victims

Return to the Luskan Arms

Eyewitness

What Kes Knew

The Interrogation Room

Session 5: The Miracle on Ice, January 9, 2022

The Missing Tiefling

The Frozen Commanders

Ligs on Ice

The Speaker and his Companion

Maxildanarr's Journal

Maxildanarr's Ledger and the Correspondence

On the Waterfront

Tracking Down a Comrade

Session 6: Fate of the Sacrificed, January 15, 2022

It’s Time to Go

Battle at the Breakwater

The Fate of the Sacrificed

The Home of Gawain Dramercy

The Collector

Session 7: The Secrets of a Blade, January 22, 2022

The Betrayal of Kresselack

The Last Victim

Old Friends

The Wolf Pelt Inn

Session 8: The Unsettling Absence of Being, January 29, 2022

You Went to Ilden Fylden's House First? Seriously?

A Prudent Approach

Attacked on the Tundra

Session 9: The Executive Special

A Veri Tense Situation

An Impeccable Home

Deep Tissue Elvish Massage

Session 10: You Might Be a Termalainian If...

The Spassassination Attempt

Five Kobolds in a Trenchcoat

Ranger, Rogue, Fighter, Brood

Tragically, Icingdeath Did Not Die of Diabetes

Quick, Harvan -- To the Mancave!

Session 11: Grab the Tiefling by the Horns

Trouble in the Depths

You May Have Heard About What Went Down at the Bathhouse

As Long As I Draw Breath

Race to the Bottom

The Grell in the Room

Session 12: Petra Incognita

Trex Defeated, and a Conspiracy Revealed

An Uncertain Future

Unraveling Motives

Session 13: I’m Taking This Head With Me

Abberant Experimentation

Guard Duty

I’m Taking This Head With Me

Connecting the Dots

Thieves Cant, But Perhaps They Should

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