Post by Dead Greyhawk on Jan 26, 2007 13:21:27 GMT -5
The planning session is short, but intense. Recovering Otto from the base of the glacial rift is essential, and must be done first, even while Jasper is being brought back from the dead through the use of the dwarven rod. Oaklock, Dell, and Winthrop hatch a plan. Oaklock can open a dimensional portal down to the floor of the rift, transporting Winthrop and him there. He and Winthrop, warded, can find Otto. Then, Winthrop can use Foebiter to bring the three of them back to the cavern. Foebiter’s power is more than enough to teleport the three of them, but Oaklock’s magics can carry just one other. Winthrop agrees, but first gives a magical ring to Cedrus. “Two hours rest is as eight,” he confides. “Wear it well!”
They immediately set out, opening a shimmering portal to the snowy floor. The floor of the rift is covered waist high in snow, making passage difficult. No tracks or sign of Otto are visible. The two of them find the wall of the rift and orient themselves. They begin to hike to the left, keeping the wall on their left side, as they recall the ramp up to the ledges as being on that side. Visibility is almost zero, and the wind blows snow into their faces constantly, as if the wind swirls through the rift only in one direction.
As Winthrop and Oaklock struggle through the snow, searching for Otto’s body, they begin hearing a strange noise over the whistling of the wind and the occasional crashing of thunder. A high pitched howl, sounding perhaps like a wolf, resonates through the air, growing in strength as more voices join it. “I think we may be in trouble,” says Winthrop. Oaklock immediately summons more wards around him and moves to the front, copies of his form flitting into existence around him.
Out of the blizzard come white forms, a pack of huge, snow-covered, winter wolves, that race towards the two of them. Oaklock wastes no time and begins casting deadly magics into the midst of them. Greenish arrows, gouts of acid, fly from his outstretched hand, searing the wolves. The wolves return the favor by breathing hoarfrost onto Oaklock, but his wards shrug off the icy cold, sacrificing his duplicates to absorb the deadly cold breath. Winthrop joins Oaklock in fighting off the wolves, swinging Foebiter at the wolves with remarkable alacrity.
More and more of the pack arrive, assaulting the two of them and taking the place of the wolves that have fallen. More and more of Oaklock’s duplicates succumb to the deadly breath. Finally, one of the wolves breathes on Winthrop, rather than the spellcasting elf. Winthrop is coated in frost, chilling him horribly. Before his eyes, the steel of Foebiter, forged in a more tropical clime, buckles as it contracts from the unnatural cold and snaps, the blade of the falchion falling into shards. Winthrop gives out a cry of rage, shaking the hilt at the snarling white wolf, and pulls forth a wand, discharging a cone of steam into its face. The wolf, covered in scalding steam, falls over dead.
The two wizards are back to back, surrounded by four remaining wolves, when Otto suddenly appears through the snow, slogging through several inches of loose snow, but not sinking as deeply as the wizards. Otto flies into the nearest white wolf, chopping and hewing mightily. Otto’s blade tips the balance clearly in the Company’s favor, and the last of the wolf pack is quickly slain. “These pelts are worth quite a bit,” says Oaklock. “Too bad we don’t have the time.”
Winthrop scavenges around in the snow, looking for more pieces of Foebiter, cursing the day he ever came on this glacier. While he does so, Otto explains to Oaklock that he slowed his fall through minor magics, making him fall like a feather. The timing was very close, but his instincts and reactions were good. When he landed in the snow, he was unsure what way to go. The winds where he landed were capricious, howling through the rift at a huge speed, often changing direction suddenly, and he could barely see, thirty feet at best. With the winds so strong, no sane mage would attempt to fly down to him, and Otto doubted, even with Dell’s magical rope, that anyone besides himself would be strong enough to scale the side of the rift down to him. Otto was faced with the choice of making an igloo or snow lean-to or try to find his way out. He must have been turned around because he found himself in the clear area near the steaming dome, or igloo, as he puts it. The clear patch of snow around the hole seems to be a snow sinkhole of some sorts, one that he narrowly avoided. He had been heading back in this direction when he heard Winthrop’s cry of rage.
Without Foebiter, the three of them will be forced to find the ramp up and possibly fight their way through any giants or ogres guarding the passage. Winthrop pulls out his wand and grimaces. After a few more minutes, the ramp is located coming down along the wall. The three of them carefully ascend, trying to not slip backwards down to the crevasse floor again. The ramp climbs a good two hundred and fifty feet before intersecting with the bloodstained ledge.
They hike back through the tunnels, marveling at the dead. The ogres and hill giants have been stripped of their belongings. Where Otto was thrown from the ledge, two more cave entrances can be seen further along the ledge. Winthrop thinks that any cave reached from those entrances would have to be above the cave they are currently hiding in.
Dell welcomes them back from his hiding place at the corner of the long tunnel. Everyone is shocked to hear of Foebiter’s loss, but is pleased to see Otto mainly hale. Myrick’s ring is working constantly for him. Raven has convinced the priests to use all of their remaining prayers to bring all of the unconscious back to consciousness. Then, the priests, and all those not standing watch, have curled up among the furs near the brazier. The brazier has been refilled with coal, and a constant stream of water flows down the floor of the cavern and out the opposite passage.
Raven and Otto head back out to the mouth of the tunnel. Neither was very content with being bombarded by rocks and ice with no cover, and the bend in the tunnel provides insufficient warning of an attack. Unlimbering the spade of the fire lizards, they switch off digging at the walls of the tunnel until they create two alcoves, one on either side of the tunnel, in which an armored man can stand and not be exposed to boulders. Raven and Jasper, newly brought back from the dead, stand watch in the alcoves, while Otto is tasked with watching the ledge leading to the crevasse.
Otto, not wanting to be bombarded from across the rift, sits in the cave, keeping a clear line of sight down the passage to the ledge. Warmly wrapped in his dwarvish mountaineering gear, he idly wonders how large the icicle must be under the ledge’s lip with all of the water runoff dripping from it. About three hours after the ogre attack, a change in the sound of the wind catches his ear, and he gets to his feet, shifting his bastardsword in his hand.
With a great thump, a white draconic lizard, twenty feet long if it is an inch, lands on the ice ledge, the ice audibly cracking beneath its weight. Otto stands there, dumbfounded, as the lizard looks maliciously at him and inhales deeply. “Sweet Joramy’s Kiss, that’s a dragon. I’m so glad I have this ring,” he thinks as the waves of ice coruscate over his body.
The sound of dragon’s breath is deafeningly loud and the whole Company rouses as Otto is covered in ice. Raven and Jasper look at each other, hearing the sound of heavy footfalls in the corridors outside their alcoves. What to do, what to do? Raven and Jasper leave their posts, running back towards the others. Jasper quickly outstrips Raven and is just in time to see the twenty-foot long dragon trundle by Otto, ignoring him to breath an icy cloud over the rest of the Company, who are all huddled in a cluster around the brazier. No one stirs after the dragon breath rolls off them.
Otto hews mightily at the flanks of the lizard that has foolishly passed him by. Jasper shouts a battle cry and charges forward with his halberd, striking the dragon a mighty blow on the snout. It rears up, its head whipping backwards like a striking snake, opening a perfect shot for Raven, who slides to a stop in the doorway of the cavern. Two arrows thunk into the dragon’s neck, and Jasper’s follow-up stroke ends the life of the dragon. It’s bulk settles to the floor, crushing Otto, who it climbed over to enter the cave, but not harming anyone else.
“Come on, we’ve got to get Cedrus awake,” orders Raven. He and Jasper begin quickly binding Cedrus’s wounds. “If that ring didn’t work, we’re doomed,” mutters Raven. As Cedrus stirs to consciousness, three minutes later, Raven motions Jasper over to the doorway, pointing at his ear. Jasper sticks his fingers in his ears and walks over. Raven sighs.
“Please tell me you have a couple of healing prayers,” says Raven to the confused priest. Cedrus nods. “Heal the mages. We need their firepower.” Cedrus quickly heals Winthrop, Dell, and Oaklock, as Jasper gestures towards Raven, pantomiming large people walking. “Lots of giants in the hallway out there. Dead dragon in here. You’re welcome. Kill the giants please,” commands Raven.
Winthrop looks at the others, questioningly. “Nothing here,” says Oaklock.
“I’m tapped,” confirms Dell. Winthrop gets to his feet and cracks his knuckles. He walks over towards the passageway where Jasper stands.
“Jasper, you’ll want to move back,” says Winthrop quietly. Jasper moves, and Winthrop looks not the least bit confused. Concentrating, he summons a wall of fire through the corridor beyond, causing it to burn hot and long. Again, screams erupt as the giants and perhaps ogres in the corridor are burnt. Raven shoots a burning ice giant who runs forward into the cave, tripping over the dead white dragon.
Again, the horrible sounds of the ice cracking are heard, and the Company prays to those gods they hold dear. The wall of fire is clearly burning downwards through the ice, settling and dragging the corpses of the giants with it, and the ceiling over the wall of fire collapses in on it. The floor of the ice cavern cracks and a foot-wide fissure appears, running the length of the room. Chips of ice and icy dust cascade from the ceiling. After several minutes of rumbling, the cracking stops. The cavern doesn’t collapse on the Company. Many donations are owed at temple.
Cedrus, who had used Winthrop’s ring, prays for healing and brings people to consciousness. Otto is dragged out from under the white dragon and eventually returned to consciousness as well. He and Raven discuss options, and they realize that Otto is still carrying the chalices and magical water from the Davish headwaters. The water has actually frozen, but placing the sacking by the re-lit brazier soon melts it through. One of the chalices is used in restoring everyone to consciousness. As the last gems pop from their settings on the chalice, it darkens and oxidizes, turning black and then crumpling, the gems sifting into dust.
The Company consults about what to do. The magical and healing reserves of the Company are depleted. Al is concerned about being trapped within the rift with no way out, but can’t think of a better place to hide or retreat towards. If the Company retreats out to the glacier, Winthrop won’t be able to summon a magical house, and they might all freeze in the wind and snow. Cedrus points out that the attacks are designed to keep the Company from regaining their magical and priestly powers. The attacks are consistently more frequent than four hours. Oaklock argues that the Company must move from this cavern at least, since all of the fire magic on this side of the rift has likely made the glacier here unsafe. If the glacier calves with the Company in it, only Otto will eventually survive. Otto suggests that the Company somehow gets to the other side of the rift, where the unoccupied ledge is.
Otto and Raven clamber over the dead white dragon and look out over the faintly green-lit landscape. The storm overhead is breaking up, but it is deep night. The only source of light is the strange luminescence of the glacial ice. Even with that light, the steaming dome is plain to see, as is the hole, the sinkhole as Otto describes it, at the end of the rift. On what was the smooth plain of snow surrounding the hole is a long sinuous track marring the surface. It appears the dragon came out from the sinkhole.
They immediately set out, opening a shimmering portal to the snowy floor. The floor of the rift is covered waist high in snow, making passage difficult. No tracks or sign of Otto are visible. The two of them find the wall of the rift and orient themselves. They begin to hike to the left, keeping the wall on their left side, as they recall the ramp up to the ledges as being on that side. Visibility is almost zero, and the wind blows snow into their faces constantly, as if the wind swirls through the rift only in one direction.
As Winthrop and Oaklock struggle through the snow, searching for Otto’s body, they begin hearing a strange noise over the whistling of the wind and the occasional crashing of thunder. A high pitched howl, sounding perhaps like a wolf, resonates through the air, growing in strength as more voices join it. “I think we may be in trouble,” says Winthrop. Oaklock immediately summons more wards around him and moves to the front, copies of his form flitting into existence around him.
Out of the blizzard come white forms, a pack of huge, snow-covered, winter wolves, that race towards the two of them. Oaklock wastes no time and begins casting deadly magics into the midst of them. Greenish arrows, gouts of acid, fly from his outstretched hand, searing the wolves. The wolves return the favor by breathing hoarfrost onto Oaklock, but his wards shrug off the icy cold, sacrificing his duplicates to absorb the deadly cold breath. Winthrop joins Oaklock in fighting off the wolves, swinging Foebiter at the wolves with remarkable alacrity.
More and more of the pack arrive, assaulting the two of them and taking the place of the wolves that have fallen. More and more of Oaklock’s duplicates succumb to the deadly breath. Finally, one of the wolves breathes on Winthrop, rather than the spellcasting elf. Winthrop is coated in frost, chilling him horribly. Before his eyes, the steel of Foebiter, forged in a more tropical clime, buckles as it contracts from the unnatural cold and snaps, the blade of the falchion falling into shards. Winthrop gives out a cry of rage, shaking the hilt at the snarling white wolf, and pulls forth a wand, discharging a cone of steam into its face. The wolf, covered in scalding steam, falls over dead.
The two wizards are back to back, surrounded by four remaining wolves, when Otto suddenly appears through the snow, slogging through several inches of loose snow, but not sinking as deeply as the wizards. Otto flies into the nearest white wolf, chopping and hewing mightily. Otto’s blade tips the balance clearly in the Company’s favor, and the last of the wolf pack is quickly slain. “These pelts are worth quite a bit,” says Oaklock. “Too bad we don’t have the time.”
Winthrop scavenges around in the snow, looking for more pieces of Foebiter, cursing the day he ever came on this glacier. While he does so, Otto explains to Oaklock that he slowed his fall through minor magics, making him fall like a feather. The timing was very close, but his instincts and reactions were good. When he landed in the snow, he was unsure what way to go. The winds where he landed were capricious, howling through the rift at a huge speed, often changing direction suddenly, and he could barely see, thirty feet at best. With the winds so strong, no sane mage would attempt to fly down to him, and Otto doubted, even with Dell’s magical rope, that anyone besides himself would be strong enough to scale the side of the rift down to him. Otto was faced with the choice of making an igloo or snow lean-to or try to find his way out. He must have been turned around because he found himself in the clear area near the steaming dome, or igloo, as he puts it. The clear patch of snow around the hole seems to be a snow sinkhole of some sorts, one that he narrowly avoided. He had been heading back in this direction when he heard Winthrop’s cry of rage.
Without Foebiter, the three of them will be forced to find the ramp up and possibly fight their way through any giants or ogres guarding the passage. Winthrop pulls out his wand and grimaces. After a few more minutes, the ramp is located coming down along the wall. The three of them carefully ascend, trying to not slip backwards down to the crevasse floor again. The ramp climbs a good two hundred and fifty feet before intersecting with the bloodstained ledge.
They hike back through the tunnels, marveling at the dead. The ogres and hill giants have been stripped of their belongings. Where Otto was thrown from the ledge, two more cave entrances can be seen further along the ledge. Winthrop thinks that any cave reached from those entrances would have to be above the cave they are currently hiding in.
Dell welcomes them back from his hiding place at the corner of the long tunnel. Everyone is shocked to hear of Foebiter’s loss, but is pleased to see Otto mainly hale. Myrick’s ring is working constantly for him. Raven has convinced the priests to use all of their remaining prayers to bring all of the unconscious back to consciousness. Then, the priests, and all those not standing watch, have curled up among the furs near the brazier. The brazier has been refilled with coal, and a constant stream of water flows down the floor of the cavern and out the opposite passage.
Raven and Otto head back out to the mouth of the tunnel. Neither was very content with being bombarded by rocks and ice with no cover, and the bend in the tunnel provides insufficient warning of an attack. Unlimbering the spade of the fire lizards, they switch off digging at the walls of the tunnel until they create two alcoves, one on either side of the tunnel, in which an armored man can stand and not be exposed to boulders. Raven and Jasper, newly brought back from the dead, stand watch in the alcoves, while Otto is tasked with watching the ledge leading to the crevasse.
Otto, not wanting to be bombarded from across the rift, sits in the cave, keeping a clear line of sight down the passage to the ledge. Warmly wrapped in his dwarvish mountaineering gear, he idly wonders how large the icicle must be under the ledge’s lip with all of the water runoff dripping from it. About three hours after the ogre attack, a change in the sound of the wind catches his ear, and he gets to his feet, shifting his bastardsword in his hand.
With a great thump, a white draconic lizard, twenty feet long if it is an inch, lands on the ice ledge, the ice audibly cracking beneath its weight. Otto stands there, dumbfounded, as the lizard looks maliciously at him and inhales deeply. “Sweet Joramy’s Kiss, that’s a dragon. I’m so glad I have this ring,” he thinks as the waves of ice coruscate over his body.
The sound of dragon’s breath is deafeningly loud and the whole Company rouses as Otto is covered in ice. Raven and Jasper look at each other, hearing the sound of heavy footfalls in the corridors outside their alcoves. What to do, what to do? Raven and Jasper leave their posts, running back towards the others. Jasper quickly outstrips Raven and is just in time to see the twenty-foot long dragon trundle by Otto, ignoring him to breath an icy cloud over the rest of the Company, who are all huddled in a cluster around the brazier. No one stirs after the dragon breath rolls off them.
Otto hews mightily at the flanks of the lizard that has foolishly passed him by. Jasper shouts a battle cry and charges forward with his halberd, striking the dragon a mighty blow on the snout. It rears up, its head whipping backwards like a striking snake, opening a perfect shot for Raven, who slides to a stop in the doorway of the cavern. Two arrows thunk into the dragon’s neck, and Jasper’s follow-up stroke ends the life of the dragon. It’s bulk settles to the floor, crushing Otto, who it climbed over to enter the cave, but not harming anyone else.
“Come on, we’ve got to get Cedrus awake,” orders Raven. He and Jasper begin quickly binding Cedrus’s wounds. “If that ring didn’t work, we’re doomed,” mutters Raven. As Cedrus stirs to consciousness, three minutes later, Raven motions Jasper over to the doorway, pointing at his ear. Jasper sticks his fingers in his ears and walks over. Raven sighs.
“Please tell me you have a couple of healing prayers,” says Raven to the confused priest. Cedrus nods. “Heal the mages. We need their firepower.” Cedrus quickly heals Winthrop, Dell, and Oaklock, as Jasper gestures towards Raven, pantomiming large people walking. “Lots of giants in the hallway out there. Dead dragon in here. You’re welcome. Kill the giants please,” commands Raven.
Winthrop looks at the others, questioningly. “Nothing here,” says Oaklock.
“I’m tapped,” confirms Dell. Winthrop gets to his feet and cracks his knuckles. He walks over towards the passageway where Jasper stands.
“Jasper, you’ll want to move back,” says Winthrop quietly. Jasper moves, and Winthrop looks not the least bit confused. Concentrating, he summons a wall of fire through the corridor beyond, causing it to burn hot and long. Again, screams erupt as the giants and perhaps ogres in the corridor are burnt. Raven shoots a burning ice giant who runs forward into the cave, tripping over the dead white dragon.
Again, the horrible sounds of the ice cracking are heard, and the Company prays to those gods they hold dear. The wall of fire is clearly burning downwards through the ice, settling and dragging the corpses of the giants with it, and the ceiling over the wall of fire collapses in on it. The floor of the ice cavern cracks and a foot-wide fissure appears, running the length of the room. Chips of ice and icy dust cascade from the ceiling. After several minutes of rumbling, the cracking stops. The cavern doesn’t collapse on the Company. Many donations are owed at temple.
Cedrus, who had used Winthrop’s ring, prays for healing and brings people to consciousness. Otto is dragged out from under the white dragon and eventually returned to consciousness as well. He and Raven discuss options, and they realize that Otto is still carrying the chalices and magical water from the Davish headwaters. The water has actually frozen, but placing the sacking by the re-lit brazier soon melts it through. One of the chalices is used in restoring everyone to consciousness. As the last gems pop from their settings on the chalice, it darkens and oxidizes, turning black and then crumpling, the gems sifting into dust.
The Company consults about what to do. The magical and healing reserves of the Company are depleted. Al is concerned about being trapped within the rift with no way out, but can’t think of a better place to hide or retreat towards. If the Company retreats out to the glacier, Winthrop won’t be able to summon a magical house, and they might all freeze in the wind and snow. Cedrus points out that the attacks are designed to keep the Company from regaining their magical and priestly powers. The attacks are consistently more frequent than four hours. Oaklock argues that the Company must move from this cavern at least, since all of the fire magic on this side of the rift has likely made the glacier here unsafe. If the glacier calves with the Company in it, only Otto will eventually survive. Otto suggests that the Company somehow gets to the other side of the rift, where the unoccupied ledge is.
Otto and Raven clamber over the dead white dragon and look out over the faintly green-lit landscape. The storm overhead is breaking up, but it is deep night. The only source of light is the strange luminescence of the glacial ice. Even with that light, the steaming dome is plain to see, as is the hole, the sinkhole as Otto describes it, at the end of the rift. On what was the smooth plain of snow surrounding the hole is a long sinuous track marring the surface. It appears the dragon came out from the sinkhole.
