Post by Dead Greyhawk on Jun 3, 2007 18:28:30 GMT -5
The great hall of the frost giant Jarl Grugnir becomes the collection point for the valuable items found throughout the glacier. Olganni is willing to haul goods back to the hall, and Otto, who is now, again, hale, accompanies her, unwilling to let her roam without a guard or guardian. A wide variety of valuables form a massive pile, only a few becoming damaged or going missing along the way. The most notable of the damaged goods is a great tapestry showing a defeated purple-haired giant groveling at the feet of an over-sized frost giant, presumably Grugnir. Olganni was thrown into such a rage by the sight that she tore it from the wall and ripped it asunder. She also scooped up a great mace from the pile of Grugnir's trophy items, arming herself, much to Otto's unease. While she has done nothing to thwart the Company so far, she is giantkind and, to Otto's thoughts, inherently untrustworthy.
Adrienne goes through the trophy room and the rooms of the giant Jarl, searching for dweomers and traps through her holy sight. Many items appear to be enchanted, and some appear secured by dangerous traps. She marks them carefully for Otto and the others. Some of the enchantments seem equally to be traps, for several of the items cry out when touched. One of the trophies that Otto lifts, a great misshapen skull, begins screaming in some giantish language until Olganni's mace turns it into dust.
Olganni knows many of the creatures mounted as trophies on the wall. They are fell creatures, many supporters of the common weal, that Grugnir must have killed. Unfortunately, Olganni doesn't know the elvish or human words for their names, and no one, of course, speaks giantish. Based on Olganni's gesturing, a number of the creatures were bigger than a human, but smaller than a frost giant.
A collection of skulls, each with a single hole poked through the brainpan, are found. Hugh, Cedrus, and Otto pore over the skulls and deduce that they are mainly human with the occasional dwarf skull. The holes are very round and the skulls are pristine besides having holes in them. Cedrus posits that the holes were made in an unmoving skull, either when the head was being held or after the creature was dead. Olganni has no idea what the skulls are for or from, and when the Company asks if the giants have some sort of hole-poking-in-skull ritual, she looks at the Company like they're mad.
She explains that smallun skulls are so tiny, that she barely can see them. She marvels that you are able to walk, nevermind talk, with brains so small. She says that she'd increase your brain for you, if she knew how, just so she could have someone to talk to that isn't a fool. Oaklock becomes irritated with her at this point and storms off. Olganni points at Oaklock as if he proves her point.
Dell and Adrienne search the icy passage, looking for how the iron bar connects to some sort of mechanism. To Adrienne's sight, it is clear that a chain of dweomers connects the bar to something further down the crevasse, but she lacks the knowledge to understand them. Dell is equally flummoxed, a very irritating feeling for the mage-thief. Their search does uncover a cunningly crafted box, melded into the ice, hidden in the tunnel. Because of the series of wizardly and priestly enchantments laid on Adrienne and Dell's sight and their natural half-elven affinity to detail is the box discovered. Strange items, a hammer, several pots of paint, and others, are found within, and they, along with the other items found in the Jarl's room, are added to the ever-growing pile.
The dragon's horde is moved, piece by piece, into the great hall as well. Olgannni proves to be of great help, as she loads strange floating disks created by Oaklock, Dell, and Winthrop with piles of coins faster than the Company could shovel, and pulls vast masses of coin on the cloaks of the fallen frost giants. The white dragon seems to have had an affinity for those things white, bright, or shiny, and much silver, electrum, and platinum coin, as well as fine alabaster and marble statuary, are brought to the great hall. While the others move the horde, Diego and Cedrus watch over the still-weak former captives and pry gemstones from the great throne of the Jarl.
Once the pile is complete, the Company begins separating out items from the pile, and matching the like with each other. Al steadfastly counts the coins, separating them by kind and country, and bundles them into smaller packages, sacks, and cloths. "You know, this is good for the spirit," he remarks. "Nothing like counting your gold, or silver in this case, to ease a dwarven heart." The others look at his monotonous work and revel in the fact that they aren't dwarves.
Winthrop wanders off, away from Olganni, and begins the grisly process of collecting samples of the various giants lying dead in the glacial hall. With the essences of the giants found in these samples, he hopes to make powerful potions, unguents, and other sorcerous items. The rest of the Company sits and eats, resting and making plans.
So many valuable objects and items have been found that Raven despairs of bringing them back over the glacier. Perhaps if the sleighs abandoned at the edge of the glacier were brought to the rift and magical mounts summoned and used to drag the sleighs, the looted treasure might be brought to the glacier’s edge, but then a long transit through the mountains would be required, especially if Sterich is to be avoided. Raven and Dell enter into a discussion of magical storage, as Raven knows of Dell's special pouch and Winthrop's chest. Dell sketches some quick numbers in the ice, using the clotted blood of a giant as ink and his dagger as a pen. "One third," he pronounces. "We can carry about one third of that pile." Raven looks deflated.
"That reminds me," pipes up Otto. "We need to get the ivory from the snow beasts' lair and Naboth, Gitmo, and Pfiffwin's corpses, as well. Don't forget to factor them in as well." Raven and Dell assert that a much more thorough search of the upper levels needs to be done anyway. Once the Company has had another warm meal, the discovery of the kitchen heat source a great boon to them all, and Winthrop has returned, an expedition to the upper levels is assembled.
Raven, Dell, Otto, Oaklock, Hugh, and Winthrop gird themselves for the cold and head back up into the higher levels of the glacial rift. The others continue with the sorting and packaging of the great treasure pile. Adrienne, seeing the value of the dragon corpse, begins carving the bones of the slain white dragon, planning to make sets of runes to help her cast the future. Jasper runs up to find the dead thieves undisturbed in the toad temple. Nothing pleases Jasper more than carrying heavy burdens, so the transfer of their rigid corpses down to the Jarl's hall is a speedy process.
Oaklock leads the others through the passages he previously invisibly explored, reaching the room of frozen people. The battle at the base of the glacier has not destabilized the room any more since their prior visit. Ice shards and chunks lie along the floor, fallen from the ceiling above. Winthrop, Dell, and Oaklock huddle together, hatching a plan. Finally they agree. "The roof is supported by the pillars containing the corpses," says Winthrop. "If we extract the bodies, the pillars are broken, and the roof may collapse. Instead, we will first form walls of summoned ice to support the roof, and then we can remove the pillars without fear." Otto seems somewhat dubious, but the mages begin anyway.
The mages stretch forth their arms, chanting in unison. Large walls of ice extend upwards from the floor, reaching for the ceiling. The cavern creaks, and ice chips and icicles trickle to the floor. Finally, the rumbling stops and the mages announce they are finished; the ceiling is supported. Raven and Otto step forward to begin to knock the pillars apart, but Hugh stops them. "Ice is merely water, and what Trithereon can create, Trithereon can destroy." He chants mystical phrases and points at the ice pillar. The form within is revealed as the ice disappears, a thin film of dust left behind.
The cavern echoes with the report of the pillar cracking and collapsing. The destruction of the ice has suddenly cleaved the pillar in twain, and the roof settles with an ominous cracking sound. The Company stares up at the roof, but the magical walls of ice seems to take the additional weight. The roof remains intact.
Many items are retrieved from the pillars in this fashion: a long case, the shining platemail, the axe, the falling gems. Only the overflowing sack and the golden belt are left to be removed from the ice pillars when the Company's method fails them. Hugh destroys the pillar holding the golden belt, but no cracking echoes from above. Instead, with a vast rumbling sound, huge blocks of ice cascade down on the Company.
The Company runs for the exit, but Otto, never nimble, slips and falls. Oaklock stretches back to grab him and drag him to the mouth of the cavern, relying on his elven balance to see him across the icy floor. It is not to be. Winthrop and Dell, sliding to a halt in the corridor, see their peril and cast enchantments on the falling ice, slowing its fall, but this only saves Otto and Oaklock from being crushed to death inside the cavern. Both Otto and Oaklock make it into the exit, but are pinned under fallen ice, their life slowly being squeezed from them. Even Otto's great strength is insufficient to shift the weight piled upon him. In an oversight, no strengthening charms were laid on the warriors today. Winthrop begins the laborious enchantment process, hoping that those trapped under the ice will survive long enough to be pulled free by a strengthened warrior.
The sounds of wolf howls echo through the icy chambers behind the Company, responding perhaps to the clamor of the falling ice. Raven begins collecting and examining the items found in the icy pillars, fearing that the Company might have to flee and not wanting to leave anything behind. He is apparently deaf to both the shrieks of pain from those being now crushed by the ice and the grunts of Hugh and Dell heaving on the great ice blocks. Hugh, whose surname of Strongarm seems mocking now, doesn't shift the ice at all, and Oaklock and Otto's bones creak under the pressure. Oaklock turns a mottled purple color, his breathing a pained gasp.
Dell, whose strength seems to come in amazing spurts, lines up next to Hugh and hauls, heaving upwards. A great block of ice lifts upwards, Dell's tendons and ligaments jutting up against his skin from the effort. As Hugh darts under the upraised block to grab Otto and drag him free, Raven wanders over to Dell, having secured all of the items freed from the pillars. Holding the closed case pulled from one of the pillars up to Dell, Raven asks, "Do you think this is trapped? I don't want to fiddle with the lock if its trapped."
"Can't. Talk. Now," grunts Dell. "Holding. Up. A. Glacier!"
"You bastard! I'll remember this! I swear!" gasps Oaklock at Raven, with the last of his air. Oaklock turns deep blue and succumbs to unconsciousness. Hugh finally pulls Otto out from under the ice, and Dell releases the ice block and staggers over to Oaklock. Otto, gathering himself to his feet, joins Hugh and Dell to haul on the ice crushing Oaklock. The three of them are able to shift the block enough that Winthrop, abandoning his enchantment can drag the crushed Oaklock free.
Oaklock's wounds are grievous, and Hugh feverishly prays over the elf's battered frame. The others glare at Raven, who is examining the various gemstones they removed from the ice pillars, but he seems blissfully unaware of any opprobrium directed at him. "Cedrus can bring him back from death's door," says Hugh, "but I can do no more for him. We'll have to carry him until then." They sling Oaklock between them, carrying him back through the glacier, Raven carrying their accumulated finds.
The others are shocked at Oaklock's state, but Hugh has spoken true: Cedrus can bring Oaklock back from death's door. Soon Oaklock walks amid the others again. Little of what the Company set out to do was accomplished, but, unsurprisingly, Oaklock no longer wishes to head back up above. Jasper takes his place, leaving Oaklock behind to guard the others.
Raven pulls forth a scrap a paper, on which he's made a short list. He makes a jagged mark by the first entry, then reads aloud. "Treasure from the ice pillars, check! Next we search the ledge where Otto was pitched off into the ravine. Then we go visit the igloo!" Raven seems cheery, almost too cheery, as he tries to find the last possible, most hidden bit of treasure.
"Don't forget the deep hole in the fog-filled room," chimes Winthrop, catching Raven's enthusiasm. Off the Company hikes, exiting the chasm through waist-deep snow and reaching the surface of the glacier again. With the passing of the blizzard, the surface of the glacier is laid deep with powder, the rises and dips of the ice temporarily hidden from view. The Company struggles to reach the other path, to re-enter the glacial rift.
This side of the glacial rift, where Dell and Winthrop blazed with their walls of flame, has not fared well. Great cracks, crevices, and crazed ice fill the caverns and ledges. The ramp to the base of the crevasse is still intact, though frightfully cracked. The fog-filled cave is no longer filled with fog, revealing a one-foot diameter hole in its middle. The hole goes deep into the ice, but nothing can be made out in its depths. Frustrated, the Company works its way to the ledge where Otto was thrown to his near-death.
The ledge is shattered, the wall of flame snapping and melting thick blocks of ice, and only the nimble Jasper is able to cross to the caves beyond. Jasper clings tightly to the chasm's wall and peers into the caves. The first seems to be the spartan, former lodgings of a group of large creatures, presumably giants. Light clothing is laid out on the floor, possibly tossed or dropped in haste. The floor and ceiling seem no more dangerous than the other caves, so Jasper enters. An ominous cracking occurs as he walks through the room, searching the giant bedrolls. A crown set with red gemstones is carefully packed in a furred bag. Jasper takes this and quickly departs.
The other cave extending off this broken ledge leads to a much less stable cavern. Huge chunks of ice fill half the room, and a fissure runs through the room and two of its walls. An overturned brazier has ignited and burnt one set of thick furs, while the other four sets are arranged like bedding. Whoever lived here, they did not like the cold. Despite Jasper's best efforts, his search is fruitless. Fortunately, the ceiling and floor do not collapse during his passage, and Jasper returns to the Company safely.
Raven inspects the crown and is stunned by its value. Made of precious metal and inset with flawless gems, it is the work of a master craftsman. He carefully repacks it in its bag and stows it in his backpack.
Backtracking to the ramp leading down to the floor of the rift, the Company gingerly works their way down its somewhat treacherous slope. The corpses of the white wolves slain near the base of the ramp are missing, though whether they were dragged away by some other creature or are merely buried under the fallen snow is unknown. The Company wades across the snowy floor towards the igloo, all but Otto, who daintily walks on the surface of the snow, struggling in the deep powder. The igloo, covered with more snow than before, but looking fundamentally the same, looms in front of them.
Ice and snow coat the igloo's stony base, but a large cavern, steaming slightly, provides easy entry. Here, the dead giant claimed, was an entry to the Jarl's hall, but no access has been found below. Perhaps a secret passage or cavern has been missed in their search? With caution and trepidation, the Company quietly enters.
The stone igloo is eerily lit. Patches of green light spurt forth from below, occluded by irregular snow and stone. A variegated expanse lies before them, rock and ice poking up through blown snow. Steam rises out of the back of the igloo, from a great pit sloping down into the icy floor. The Company cautiously spreads out and strides forward.
The pit opens in a great expanse before them, ranging from twenty to fifty feet deep. As the Company gathers at the precipice, a gout of steam erupts from the pit. A mound of snow evaporates, as the irked creature beneath it stirs. A great polar worm uncoils, the snow turning to water and boiling off its back as it uncoils in agitation. Raven wastes no time in shooting an arrow at it, and watches in disbelief as it ignites while ricocheting from the worm's now-glowing carapace. The worm slithers toward them on its myriad legs before rearing up and flailing at the stunned Company.
Raven avoids its deadly mandibles, but Jasper is brushed by the white-hot flanges along its side and tail. Seared, Jasper careens down the icy slope, landing in a heap at the worm's feet. Winthrop takes no chances and impales the beast on a long lance of lightning, while Raven tosses his bow aside and slides down into the pit, struggling to free his longsword as he does so. Otto leaps into the pit, murmuring a minor incantation, and floats to the ground, ready to attack.
The polar worm snaps at Winthrop, who miraculously dodges aside, and flails at Otto, who also avoids its touch. The mighty polar worm is frustrated by these tiny morsels that have injured it and so easily evade its attacks. When Raven rams his enchanted blade between two pieces of chitin armor, the polar worm is even more aggrieved. So is Raven when Brunnel's longsword softens from the polar worm's great internal heat and snaps. Raven is dumbfounded at the sudden destruction of his weapon and stands slack-jawed, the hilt in one hand.
The great heat of the polar worm causes Otto's bastard sword to ignite in cold, blue flame as he deals the polar worm mighty blows. With the polar worm staggered by Otto's battering, Winthrop launches a fleet of magical bolts arrowing into its side. The polar worm makes a horrendous screech as its carapace cracks and breaks. A wave of heat explodes into the air, its internal furnace quenching, and the polar worm keels over and collapses onto the icy floor. A gout of steam accompanies its collapse, as nearby ice sublimates from the heat.
Jasper, though burnt and battered, still lives. While Otto and Hugh bind Jasper's burns, Winthrop and Raven search the igloo. Visible in the icy floor, near unrecognizably burnt hunks of armor and meat, are two items of note: an oddly hilted longsword and a bright ring, still on a charred hand. They summon Hugh over and show him the location. Hugh, fresh from his experience with the pillars, is well prepared. After some time in prayer to Trithereon, he waves his hands and intones some words, and the surrounding ice is destroyed. The longsword and ring, removed from their grisly environs, are collected.
The Company slowly retreats, bearing Jasper between them, returning to the chambers below, where heat and healing await. Al, Diego, and the others have been busy sorting and binding the coins and valuables. The great heap of coins is slowly being converted into a collection of bundles and sacks. Raven's checklist is complete, and the Company begins to seriously consider how to escape the glacier.
Many suggestions are made and considered. Unlike in the Pomarj, no horde of freed prisoners are available to haul the hoard back to safety. Indeed the four freed prisoners seem more of a burden than a help currently, as they are weak and at least one of them seems to have lost his mind. "We could give them food and clothes and let them walk off the glacier," suggests Otto. The whole Company looks and stares at him. Otto's conscience squirms under the suggestion that popped out of his mouth, and he final concedes that this isn't the right thing to do. "Ok, bad idea," he mutters.
The conversation returns to the great sleighs, recovering them and out-racing any pursuit back across the glacier. Such a plan involves three dangerous trips over the glacier, two to get the sleighs and return, a third laden with valuables. The delay involved seems perilous, but nothing seems more likely to succeed. Dell suddenly straightens. "Teleportation," says Dell, eyeing Winthrop. "The way out is teleportation."
It is an audacious plan with definite risk, but Winthrop is not opposed to the idea. With his enchanted chest and Dell's magical pouch, several trips would be necessary, but no additional transits of the glacier need be made. Winthrop's largest fear is that no good location exists to receive him. A slight error in visualization would leave him buried in rock, quite dead. While only Winthrop is powerful enough to bend space over long distances, the advice and input of the other mages may be helpful. He, Oaklock, and Dell retire to discuss possible locales. Eventually, they agree upon the Hall of the Blue Sun as the most optimal location. Because of the construction sponsored there by Dell, the inside of the Hall may be significantly different, but the environs outside of the Hall should be mainly unchanged. Once agreed on, Winthrop summons his chest and then begins memorizing a return space here in the Jarl's stronghold.
Olganni is very interested in these odd human magics and follows Winthrop's moves with heavy footsteps. The others pack Winthrop's chest and Dell's pouch full of corpses and treasures. Pfiffwin and the brothers are sealed into the chest and coins piled on and around them. The chest veritably bulges from the weight.
By morning, both Winthrop and the chest are prepared. Hugh volunteers to travel with Winthrop, to ensure his health and eventual return. Raven lends Winthrop his lucky stone, taken from the slave merchant's guardswoman deep below the Temple of Gruumsh in Highport. Winthrop wards himself and Hugh, while Cedrus and Adrienne cast protective magics upon them. Once the chest has been sent into another plane, and Dell's pouch carefully placed in Hugh's backpack, Winthrop utters remarkably few words. He and Hugh vanish from sight.
The Company waits. Winthrop's plan was two-fold. If they arrived safely, Winthrop would send a message to the Company telling them so. If some danger lurked, Winthrop would return, post-haste, by teleportation. Neither occurs. The Company fears the worst: Winthrop and Hugh melded with stone.
Several hours go by, with the Company's spirits increasingly sinking. Finally, Dell, with his keen half-elven hearing, hears Winthrop's voice. "Safe at Hall. Strange armored men occupy it. More tomorrow." Dell grimaces in disgust at the thought of the lost profits if his inn has been taken over!
Adrienne goes through the trophy room and the rooms of the giant Jarl, searching for dweomers and traps through her holy sight. Many items appear to be enchanted, and some appear secured by dangerous traps. She marks them carefully for Otto and the others. Some of the enchantments seem equally to be traps, for several of the items cry out when touched. One of the trophies that Otto lifts, a great misshapen skull, begins screaming in some giantish language until Olganni's mace turns it into dust.
Olganni knows many of the creatures mounted as trophies on the wall. They are fell creatures, many supporters of the common weal, that Grugnir must have killed. Unfortunately, Olganni doesn't know the elvish or human words for their names, and no one, of course, speaks giantish. Based on Olganni's gesturing, a number of the creatures were bigger than a human, but smaller than a frost giant.
A collection of skulls, each with a single hole poked through the brainpan, are found. Hugh, Cedrus, and Otto pore over the skulls and deduce that they are mainly human with the occasional dwarf skull. The holes are very round and the skulls are pristine besides having holes in them. Cedrus posits that the holes were made in an unmoving skull, either when the head was being held or after the creature was dead. Olganni has no idea what the skulls are for or from, and when the Company asks if the giants have some sort of hole-poking-in-skull ritual, she looks at the Company like they're mad.
She explains that smallun skulls are so tiny, that she barely can see them. She marvels that you are able to walk, nevermind talk, with brains so small. She says that she'd increase your brain for you, if she knew how, just so she could have someone to talk to that isn't a fool. Oaklock becomes irritated with her at this point and storms off. Olganni points at Oaklock as if he proves her point.
Dell and Adrienne search the icy passage, looking for how the iron bar connects to some sort of mechanism. To Adrienne's sight, it is clear that a chain of dweomers connects the bar to something further down the crevasse, but she lacks the knowledge to understand them. Dell is equally flummoxed, a very irritating feeling for the mage-thief. Their search does uncover a cunningly crafted box, melded into the ice, hidden in the tunnel. Because of the series of wizardly and priestly enchantments laid on Adrienne and Dell's sight and their natural half-elven affinity to detail is the box discovered. Strange items, a hammer, several pots of paint, and others, are found within, and they, along with the other items found in the Jarl's room, are added to the ever-growing pile.
The dragon's horde is moved, piece by piece, into the great hall as well. Olgannni proves to be of great help, as she loads strange floating disks created by Oaklock, Dell, and Winthrop with piles of coins faster than the Company could shovel, and pulls vast masses of coin on the cloaks of the fallen frost giants. The white dragon seems to have had an affinity for those things white, bright, or shiny, and much silver, electrum, and platinum coin, as well as fine alabaster and marble statuary, are brought to the great hall. While the others move the horde, Diego and Cedrus watch over the still-weak former captives and pry gemstones from the great throne of the Jarl.
Once the pile is complete, the Company begins separating out items from the pile, and matching the like with each other. Al steadfastly counts the coins, separating them by kind and country, and bundles them into smaller packages, sacks, and cloths. "You know, this is good for the spirit," he remarks. "Nothing like counting your gold, or silver in this case, to ease a dwarven heart." The others look at his monotonous work and revel in the fact that they aren't dwarves.
Winthrop wanders off, away from Olganni, and begins the grisly process of collecting samples of the various giants lying dead in the glacial hall. With the essences of the giants found in these samples, he hopes to make powerful potions, unguents, and other sorcerous items. The rest of the Company sits and eats, resting and making plans.
So many valuable objects and items have been found that Raven despairs of bringing them back over the glacier. Perhaps if the sleighs abandoned at the edge of the glacier were brought to the rift and magical mounts summoned and used to drag the sleighs, the looted treasure might be brought to the glacier’s edge, but then a long transit through the mountains would be required, especially if Sterich is to be avoided. Raven and Dell enter into a discussion of magical storage, as Raven knows of Dell's special pouch and Winthrop's chest. Dell sketches some quick numbers in the ice, using the clotted blood of a giant as ink and his dagger as a pen. "One third," he pronounces. "We can carry about one third of that pile." Raven looks deflated.
"That reminds me," pipes up Otto. "We need to get the ivory from the snow beasts' lair and Naboth, Gitmo, and Pfiffwin's corpses, as well. Don't forget to factor them in as well." Raven and Dell assert that a much more thorough search of the upper levels needs to be done anyway. Once the Company has had another warm meal, the discovery of the kitchen heat source a great boon to them all, and Winthrop has returned, an expedition to the upper levels is assembled.
Raven, Dell, Otto, Oaklock, Hugh, and Winthrop gird themselves for the cold and head back up into the higher levels of the glacial rift. The others continue with the sorting and packaging of the great treasure pile. Adrienne, seeing the value of the dragon corpse, begins carving the bones of the slain white dragon, planning to make sets of runes to help her cast the future. Jasper runs up to find the dead thieves undisturbed in the toad temple. Nothing pleases Jasper more than carrying heavy burdens, so the transfer of their rigid corpses down to the Jarl's hall is a speedy process.
Oaklock leads the others through the passages he previously invisibly explored, reaching the room of frozen people. The battle at the base of the glacier has not destabilized the room any more since their prior visit. Ice shards and chunks lie along the floor, fallen from the ceiling above. Winthrop, Dell, and Oaklock huddle together, hatching a plan. Finally they agree. "The roof is supported by the pillars containing the corpses," says Winthrop. "If we extract the bodies, the pillars are broken, and the roof may collapse. Instead, we will first form walls of summoned ice to support the roof, and then we can remove the pillars without fear." Otto seems somewhat dubious, but the mages begin anyway.
The mages stretch forth their arms, chanting in unison. Large walls of ice extend upwards from the floor, reaching for the ceiling. The cavern creaks, and ice chips and icicles trickle to the floor. Finally, the rumbling stops and the mages announce they are finished; the ceiling is supported. Raven and Otto step forward to begin to knock the pillars apart, but Hugh stops them. "Ice is merely water, and what Trithereon can create, Trithereon can destroy." He chants mystical phrases and points at the ice pillar. The form within is revealed as the ice disappears, a thin film of dust left behind.
The cavern echoes with the report of the pillar cracking and collapsing. The destruction of the ice has suddenly cleaved the pillar in twain, and the roof settles with an ominous cracking sound. The Company stares up at the roof, but the magical walls of ice seems to take the additional weight. The roof remains intact.
Many items are retrieved from the pillars in this fashion: a long case, the shining platemail, the axe, the falling gems. Only the overflowing sack and the golden belt are left to be removed from the ice pillars when the Company's method fails them. Hugh destroys the pillar holding the golden belt, but no cracking echoes from above. Instead, with a vast rumbling sound, huge blocks of ice cascade down on the Company.
The Company runs for the exit, but Otto, never nimble, slips and falls. Oaklock stretches back to grab him and drag him to the mouth of the cavern, relying on his elven balance to see him across the icy floor. It is not to be. Winthrop and Dell, sliding to a halt in the corridor, see their peril and cast enchantments on the falling ice, slowing its fall, but this only saves Otto and Oaklock from being crushed to death inside the cavern. Both Otto and Oaklock make it into the exit, but are pinned under fallen ice, their life slowly being squeezed from them. Even Otto's great strength is insufficient to shift the weight piled upon him. In an oversight, no strengthening charms were laid on the warriors today. Winthrop begins the laborious enchantment process, hoping that those trapped under the ice will survive long enough to be pulled free by a strengthened warrior.
The sounds of wolf howls echo through the icy chambers behind the Company, responding perhaps to the clamor of the falling ice. Raven begins collecting and examining the items found in the icy pillars, fearing that the Company might have to flee and not wanting to leave anything behind. He is apparently deaf to both the shrieks of pain from those being now crushed by the ice and the grunts of Hugh and Dell heaving on the great ice blocks. Hugh, whose surname of Strongarm seems mocking now, doesn't shift the ice at all, and Oaklock and Otto's bones creak under the pressure. Oaklock turns a mottled purple color, his breathing a pained gasp.
Dell, whose strength seems to come in amazing spurts, lines up next to Hugh and hauls, heaving upwards. A great block of ice lifts upwards, Dell's tendons and ligaments jutting up against his skin from the effort. As Hugh darts under the upraised block to grab Otto and drag him free, Raven wanders over to Dell, having secured all of the items freed from the pillars. Holding the closed case pulled from one of the pillars up to Dell, Raven asks, "Do you think this is trapped? I don't want to fiddle with the lock if its trapped."
"Can't. Talk. Now," grunts Dell. "Holding. Up. A. Glacier!"
"You bastard! I'll remember this! I swear!" gasps Oaklock at Raven, with the last of his air. Oaklock turns deep blue and succumbs to unconsciousness. Hugh finally pulls Otto out from under the ice, and Dell releases the ice block and staggers over to Oaklock. Otto, gathering himself to his feet, joins Hugh and Dell to haul on the ice crushing Oaklock. The three of them are able to shift the block enough that Winthrop, abandoning his enchantment can drag the crushed Oaklock free.
Oaklock's wounds are grievous, and Hugh feverishly prays over the elf's battered frame. The others glare at Raven, who is examining the various gemstones they removed from the ice pillars, but he seems blissfully unaware of any opprobrium directed at him. "Cedrus can bring him back from death's door," says Hugh, "but I can do no more for him. We'll have to carry him until then." They sling Oaklock between them, carrying him back through the glacier, Raven carrying their accumulated finds.
The others are shocked at Oaklock's state, but Hugh has spoken true: Cedrus can bring Oaklock back from death's door. Soon Oaklock walks amid the others again. Little of what the Company set out to do was accomplished, but, unsurprisingly, Oaklock no longer wishes to head back up above. Jasper takes his place, leaving Oaklock behind to guard the others.
Raven pulls forth a scrap a paper, on which he's made a short list. He makes a jagged mark by the first entry, then reads aloud. "Treasure from the ice pillars, check! Next we search the ledge where Otto was pitched off into the ravine. Then we go visit the igloo!" Raven seems cheery, almost too cheery, as he tries to find the last possible, most hidden bit of treasure.
"Don't forget the deep hole in the fog-filled room," chimes Winthrop, catching Raven's enthusiasm. Off the Company hikes, exiting the chasm through waist-deep snow and reaching the surface of the glacier again. With the passing of the blizzard, the surface of the glacier is laid deep with powder, the rises and dips of the ice temporarily hidden from view. The Company struggles to reach the other path, to re-enter the glacial rift.
This side of the glacial rift, where Dell and Winthrop blazed with their walls of flame, has not fared well. Great cracks, crevices, and crazed ice fill the caverns and ledges. The ramp to the base of the crevasse is still intact, though frightfully cracked. The fog-filled cave is no longer filled with fog, revealing a one-foot diameter hole in its middle. The hole goes deep into the ice, but nothing can be made out in its depths. Frustrated, the Company works its way to the ledge where Otto was thrown to his near-death.
The ledge is shattered, the wall of flame snapping and melting thick blocks of ice, and only the nimble Jasper is able to cross to the caves beyond. Jasper clings tightly to the chasm's wall and peers into the caves. The first seems to be the spartan, former lodgings of a group of large creatures, presumably giants. Light clothing is laid out on the floor, possibly tossed or dropped in haste. The floor and ceiling seem no more dangerous than the other caves, so Jasper enters. An ominous cracking occurs as he walks through the room, searching the giant bedrolls. A crown set with red gemstones is carefully packed in a furred bag. Jasper takes this and quickly departs.
The other cave extending off this broken ledge leads to a much less stable cavern. Huge chunks of ice fill half the room, and a fissure runs through the room and two of its walls. An overturned brazier has ignited and burnt one set of thick furs, while the other four sets are arranged like bedding. Whoever lived here, they did not like the cold. Despite Jasper's best efforts, his search is fruitless. Fortunately, the ceiling and floor do not collapse during his passage, and Jasper returns to the Company safely.
Raven inspects the crown and is stunned by its value. Made of precious metal and inset with flawless gems, it is the work of a master craftsman. He carefully repacks it in its bag and stows it in his backpack.
Backtracking to the ramp leading down to the floor of the rift, the Company gingerly works their way down its somewhat treacherous slope. The corpses of the white wolves slain near the base of the ramp are missing, though whether they were dragged away by some other creature or are merely buried under the fallen snow is unknown. The Company wades across the snowy floor towards the igloo, all but Otto, who daintily walks on the surface of the snow, struggling in the deep powder. The igloo, covered with more snow than before, but looking fundamentally the same, looms in front of them.
Ice and snow coat the igloo's stony base, but a large cavern, steaming slightly, provides easy entry. Here, the dead giant claimed, was an entry to the Jarl's hall, but no access has been found below. Perhaps a secret passage or cavern has been missed in their search? With caution and trepidation, the Company quietly enters.
The stone igloo is eerily lit. Patches of green light spurt forth from below, occluded by irregular snow and stone. A variegated expanse lies before them, rock and ice poking up through blown snow. Steam rises out of the back of the igloo, from a great pit sloping down into the icy floor. The Company cautiously spreads out and strides forward.
The pit opens in a great expanse before them, ranging from twenty to fifty feet deep. As the Company gathers at the precipice, a gout of steam erupts from the pit. A mound of snow evaporates, as the irked creature beneath it stirs. A great polar worm uncoils, the snow turning to water and boiling off its back as it uncoils in agitation. Raven wastes no time in shooting an arrow at it, and watches in disbelief as it ignites while ricocheting from the worm's now-glowing carapace. The worm slithers toward them on its myriad legs before rearing up and flailing at the stunned Company.
Raven avoids its deadly mandibles, but Jasper is brushed by the white-hot flanges along its side and tail. Seared, Jasper careens down the icy slope, landing in a heap at the worm's feet. Winthrop takes no chances and impales the beast on a long lance of lightning, while Raven tosses his bow aside and slides down into the pit, struggling to free his longsword as he does so. Otto leaps into the pit, murmuring a minor incantation, and floats to the ground, ready to attack.
The polar worm snaps at Winthrop, who miraculously dodges aside, and flails at Otto, who also avoids its touch. The mighty polar worm is frustrated by these tiny morsels that have injured it and so easily evade its attacks. When Raven rams his enchanted blade between two pieces of chitin armor, the polar worm is even more aggrieved. So is Raven when Brunnel's longsword softens from the polar worm's great internal heat and snaps. Raven is dumbfounded at the sudden destruction of his weapon and stands slack-jawed, the hilt in one hand.
The great heat of the polar worm causes Otto's bastard sword to ignite in cold, blue flame as he deals the polar worm mighty blows. With the polar worm staggered by Otto's battering, Winthrop launches a fleet of magical bolts arrowing into its side. The polar worm makes a horrendous screech as its carapace cracks and breaks. A wave of heat explodes into the air, its internal furnace quenching, and the polar worm keels over and collapses onto the icy floor. A gout of steam accompanies its collapse, as nearby ice sublimates from the heat.
Jasper, though burnt and battered, still lives. While Otto and Hugh bind Jasper's burns, Winthrop and Raven search the igloo. Visible in the icy floor, near unrecognizably burnt hunks of armor and meat, are two items of note: an oddly hilted longsword and a bright ring, still on a charred hand. They summon Hugh over and show him the location. Hugh, fresh from his experience with the pillars, is well prepared. After some time in prayer to Trithereon, he waves his hands and intones some words, and the surrounding ice is destroyed. The longsword and ring, removed from their grisly environs, are collected.
The Company slowly retreats, bearing Jasper between them, returning to the chambers below, where heat and healing await. Al, Diego, and the others have been busy sorting and binding the coins and valuables. The great heap of coins is slowly being converted into a collection of bundles and sacks. Raven's checklist is complete, and the Company begins to seriously consider how to escape the glacier.
Many suggestions are made and considered. Unlike in the Pomarj, no horde of freed prisoners are available to haul the hoard back to safety. Indeed the four freed prisoners seem more of a burden than a help currently, as they are weak and at least one of them seems to have lost his mind. "We could give them food and clothes and let them walk off the glacier," suggests Otto. The whole Company looks and stares at him. Otto's conscience squirms under the suggestion that popped out of his mouth, and he final concedes that this isn't the right thing to do. "Ok, bad idea," he mutters.
The conversation returns to the great sleighs, recovering them and out-racing any pursuit back across the glacier. Such a plan involves three dangerous trips over the glacier, two to get the sleighs and return, a third laden with valuables. The delay involved seems perilous, but nothing seems more likely to succeed. Dell suddenly straightens. "Teleportation," says Dell, eyeing Winthrop. "The way out is teleportation."
It is an audacious plan with definite risk, but Winthrop is not opposed to the idea. With his enchanted chest and Dell's magical pouch, several trips would be necessary, but no additional transits of the glacier need be made. Winthrop's largest fear is that no good location exists to receive him. A slight error in visualization would leave him buried in rock, quite dead. While only Winthrop is powerful enough to bend space over long distances, the advice and input of the other mages may be helpful. He, Oaklock, and Dell retire to discuss possible locales. Eventually, they agree upon the Hall of the Blue Sun as the most optimal location. Because of the construction sponsored there by Dell, the inside of the Hall may be significantly different, but the environs outside of the Hall should be mainly unchanged. Once agreed on, Winthrop summons his chest and then begins memorizing a return space here in the Jarl's stronghold.
Olganni is very interested in these odd human magics and follows Winthrop's moves with heavy footsteps. The others pack Winthrop's chest and Dell's pouch full of corpses and treasures. Pfiffwin and the brothers are sealed into the chest and coins piled on and around them. The chest veritably bulges from the weight.
By morning, both Winthrop and the chest are prepared. Hugh volunteers to travel with Winthrop, to ensure his health and eventual return. Raven lends Winthrop his lucky stone, taken from the slave merchant's guardswoman deep below the Temple of Gruumsh in Highport. Winthrop wards himself and Hugh, while Cedrus and Adrienne cast protective magics upon them. Once the chest has been sent into another plane, and Dell's pouch carefully placed in Hugh's backpack, Winthrop utters remarkably few words. He and Hugh vanish from sight.
The Company waits. Winthrop's plan was two-fold. If they arrived safely, Winthrop would send a message to the Company telling them so. If some danger lurked, Winthrop would return, post-haste, by teleportation. Neither occurs. The Company fears the worst: Winthrop and Hugh melded with stone.
Several hours go by, with the Company's spirits increasingly sinking. Finally, Dell, with his keen half-elven hearing, hears Winthrop's voice. "Safe at Hall. Strange armored men occupy it. More tomorrow." Dell grimaces in disgust at the thought of the lost profits if his inn has been taken over!
