Arnan has heard stories of yetis dwelling on the snowy crags of the Spine of the World (south through southeast of Ten Towns) and frequenting the Reghed Glacier (west of Ten Towns), but there are few reports of encountering them north of Ten Towns, along the trackless tundra that stretches out before eventually reaching the Sea of Moving Ice.

It is not unknown for yetis to be encountered in the tundras north of Ten Towns, but it is not common as yetis prefer to dwell in mountainous terrain. Of that, there are few proper hills north of Ten Towns, let alone mountains.

In reply to DM Shard (msg # 31):

Dalgura smiled up at the human.  "Well met Thane.  I am Dalgura Ironhammer, Priestess of Sharindlar, and this stubborn dwarf is my brother Morgrim.  He follows a different God but still it is a good Dwarven one so whom am I to complain too much?"

Dalgura looked over at the cart and Morgraim and shook her head.  "Is the axel actually broken dear brother?  If so I could perhaps just Mend it?  I believe one of my lower spells would work on it.  Would you like me to try?"

Dalgura walked over to the axel and looked at it to evaluate the damage.  She knew that she could only mend 1 foot of it but if it was placed in the right place it might work.  Of course she could try on another section after that if it worked.  She loved her cantrip that could mend things.  It had come in useful many times before for instances when the less fortunate needed things fixed and didn't have the coin to accomplish it.  Even though Sharindlar was the Goddess of Healing, she had graced Dalgura with the honor of being a conduit between Sharindlar and the citizenry so she could help whether it was healing or some other way.

In reply to Arnan Aldwynne (msg # 29):

Kira was still half-squinting toward the south when Arnan approached and she looked up with a lopsided grin.  "You're welcome," she said simply but sincerely, her head bobbing lightly.  "We did pretty well taking the one down, figured we'd do okay out here too," she added as they started heading back.

His observations brought a thoughtful look to her, glancing back and shaking her head.  "Might not be so odd if you saw what I did … or maybe it's even more odd.  I saw a woman in white with antlers of some sort of deer or elk, disappeared into the snowstorm toward south," she pointed in that direction.  "Figure she might have some power over them?"

In reply to Kira (msg # 33):

"Hunh," Arnan grunted -- but it was a thoughtful-sounding grunt -- when Kira spoke of the woman whom she had seen.

"That could be -- that she had something to do with the attack. Yetis generally prefer to stick to the more mountainous areas -- it's a little unusual for them to be spotted out on the tundra."

"The antlers that she was wearing make me think that she might be a druid. If that's the case, she might well have been behind the attack. Although as to why she would do such a thing, your guess is as good as mine."

"Hah! Stubborn! Like you're one to talk, Dalgura Ironhammer!" Morgrim snorted. "Aye, have a go at it. Its not a bad crack," he said, indicating the axle with his gloved hand before standing up and stomping his feet to get the life sustaining warmth back into them.

"Whats this about a druid in the snow?" he continued, having caught the later part of the conversation. "Ye sure the weather isn't playing tricks with your eyes?"

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 35):

Dalgura gave a delicate (for a dwarf) snort and looked at Morgrim with a grin on her face.

"I don't know what you mean about a Druid in the snow unless that is your new title as a Druid.  Now move aside and let me see if Sharindlar will grant my petition to help these people with fixing this axle."

Dalgura went to the Axle and looked at it and with one hand on her holy symbol and the other on the break, she started her petition.  "Oh most gracious Sharindlar, these people were attacked and need help with getting their equipment back in order.  If it pleases you, please grant me the ability to mend this so they will have more options and better chances of survival.  It wasn't their fault or neglect that caused the break but the unprovked attacked by Yeti's.  In your name I pray."

Dalgura is casting her cantrip "Mending".  I'm not sure if you would count this as a "break or tear".  Spell on page 259.

One of the drovers grumbles about the broken axel, complaining, "she's as sodded as a two-pence harlot..." and then catches himself using excessively colorful language in mixed company and finishes, "ah, my tongue! Apologies, ma'am." Continuing, "let's just say she's broke good." He gestures to the broken part with a grimace.

Dalgura steps in and uses a mending spell to repair the part, making it good as new in no time, earning the respect and admiration of the formerly grumbling drover. "My thanks, ma'am. Useful bit of magic to have on the road, that there."

With the axel repaired, the party easily maneuvers the wagon through the gate, allowing the rest of the procession to enter the town.

***

Once inside the gates, the adventurers overhear a pair of town guards mumbling about the attack, one of them saying "Damn barbarian led them straight to us, I'm sure of it!"

The other responding matter-of-factly, "No matter. He'll get what is coming to him by morning," causing the other to scowl and snort rudely.

"Still don't like it. Aint no use of trying to be nice with them. Nothing good come of it."

Despite the grumbling guards, the towns citizens appear genuinely relived to see the wagons rolling into town, yeti attack withstanding.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:39, Mon 09 Jan 2017.

In reply to DM Shard (msg # 37):

Dalgura barely contains herself from clapping her hands in joy as the spell worked.  It wouldn't seem right to be a giddy young dwarf when she is suppose to be a young Priestess that is a dwarf.  "I am but a conduit to the Blessing of Sharindlar so Thank you Mighty Sharindlar for the healing you did today."  Dalgura lowered her eyes in her quick note of thanks and then opened them up again to clasp the Drover on his arm.  "I am glad that it worked and that I could help.  If you will excuse me I must make sure the rest of my party is fine."

Dalgura looked to see if Morgrim had wandered off or if he was still by her side.  She still had her grin on her face for have done well.

The immobile wagon repaired, the other wagons continue to file into Bryn Shander, gathering just outside the stables where groomsman promptly begin attending to the cold and tired horses.

Master Hugglesward walks through the assembled wagons, a tattered logbook and stylus in hand, making notes in his ledger. The leather-faced man is quite pleased to have arrived at Bryn Shander with relatively few delays outside of the weather, which can't be helped in these parts, and but a single attack along the way. He offers his personal thanks to his coster guards and the additional help conscripted for this journey, to include the adventurers.

As the commotion settles down, he draws guards and drovers around him in a semi-circle and promises a night of revelry at Kelvin's Cairn once the wares are safely offloaded at Rendoril's Emporium, the largest trading house in Bryn Shander. "Private cargo excepting," he immediately calls out, directing his remarks at those private merchants within the caravan.

The adventurers having hired on as guard have fulfilled their end of the bargain however and are promptly paid, Master Hugglesward handing each a small sack filled with 50 gold pieces to spend as they wish. "You all are right in my book. Damn fine cloth you're cut of and I'd be glad to have to anytime. Maybe even in the spring, after all these blasted snows have let up! By then our wagons will be filled to the gills with scrimshaw! Ha!" he boasts.

Shortly after wages are paid, the party is approached by one of the independent merchants who came up from Luskan, one Helda Silverstream. Helda had exchanged a few words along the way with the adventurers, primarily Dalgura and Morgrim whom she regarded as something of an oddity in these far northern parts, but mostly kept to herself. She had been pleasant through the journey, if not somewhat aloof. But having seen how the adventurers acquitted themselves during the yeti attack, she looks at them in a whole new light.

Approaching the adventurers, she also thanks them for their efforts fighting off the yetis and continues, "I don't know what sort of employment prospects you have lined up now that we have arrived, but should you be interested in offering your services, I am in need of stout and reliable companions for my journey to Kelvin's Cairn."

"Thank you, Master Hugglesward," Arnan said to the man after he had been paid. "As you know, the opportunities to earn coin are few and far between once Old Man Winter has the North well and truly in his grip, and everyone hunkers down in a town and goes to ground until the weather lets up a bit."

Arnan pursed his lips thoughtfully when Helda Silverstream approached the group who were clustering around the Caravan Master, who was still passing out his sacks of coin. The scout waited until he had paid the group who were not the usual run of caravan guards, and he quietly called them to him.

Without being too obvious, he lowered his voice and quietly spoke to them all. "I do believe that all of you have spent some time in Luskan, some more so than others. I will tell you that I am somewhat tempted by this new offer from Mistress Silverstream, but before I decide I would lean all that I can about the woman."

"What is her reputation is Luskan -- that is to say, what have you heard about her? Please speak freely. I am not one to betray confidences."

Ellie smiled graciously and muttered a quiet "Thank you" to Hugglesward as he handed her the gold; quite an unexpected gift, and gracious at that. As he turned away she winced a little towards herself, realizing he couldn't see her grateful smile beneath the mask.

When she and the others who had gathered at Hugglesward's request were approached, she looked to the she-dwarf and nodded politely. When Arnan whispered his concerns, she shrugged. "I don't think it has to be so concerning necessarily. Luskan is a dangerous place and full of miscreants, yes, but everyone has to go through there to get here. Besides that, I think I've read about a small clan of Dwarves that live near Kelvin's Cairn... give me a moment to think on it..."

Thane nodded approvingly at both Dalgura and her brother Morgrim.  "Well met, both of you.  I like you stout folk very much as a people, there are some worthy members of your race in Luskan.  I even learned some of your language though some of your sounds are hard for me to make.  My friend Rurik said it sounds like I speak with pebbles in my mouth."

Thane smiled, reminiscing at the thought, then returned to the present.  The caravan master gave his speech and Thane patiently awaited his bag of gold, taking it with a simple smile and shake of hand.  After that he seemed a bit lost until Helda Silverstream came up and made what sounded like an offer of employment.  He was about to jump at the chance (after all, he really hadn't thought through what he would do once he arrived at Bryn Shander) but was a bit slow and she turned away and walked off.

Then the scout archer raised a question about the woman, and Thane wrinkled up his face, plumbing the limited depths of his brain for some insights or memories.

---

Skill Checks:
22:06, Today: Thane Harkensen rolled 0 using 1d20-1.  History Check: Knowledge of Helda in Luskan?
22:07, Today: Thane Harkensen rolled 19 using 1d20+3.  Perception: Observations of Helda during the Journey (personal character?)
This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Tue 10 Jan 2017.

In reply to Helda Silverstream (msg # 40):

"Thank you Mistress Silverstream.  After some good ale we will come and see you to talk more if you are willing."

Dalgura soon found herself with a bag of gold pieces and she blinked.  She tried to make it look like she usually got paid for stuff but this really was the first time that she had gotten paid for helping people.  It seemed both appropriate and yet also inappropriate.  She'd have to think on this new development.

"You know dwarves in Luskan?  Do you know Mistress Silverstream?  We must have a drink and talk then.  As for speaking our language with pebbles in your mouth, I believe you probably have been trying to speak it while you were wide awake and before drinking."

Dalgura put away her money and then looked at those who had seemed to form around them.  "Shall we all go find a place to drink and get better acquainted.'

"Hold on," Morgrim says, raising his hand and pausing before the grumbling guards. "What's this about a barbarian? And what's he getting come morning?"

Thane's observations of Helda Silverstream during the journey were that she was/is an independent minded dwarf who seems to have a bit of a worldly air about her. Though she spoke little during the journey, the few snippets of conversation Thane did overhear hinted at a life spent traveling to learn the arts of metalcraft and jewelry making. She mentioned she was originally from Icewind Dale but had spent some time in Mithril Hall and Mirabar, where she honed her skills. She came to Luskan to find a caravan traveling north, which is how she came to be in Master's Hugglesward's caravan, an independent merchant.

***

At some point, Morgrim stops to question one of the grumbling guards about the barbarian. One of the guards, Aldrik, tells Morgrim about "one of them damned Reghed tribesman again" caught stealing something earlier in the day, a serious offense apparently in these hard-scrabble lands where one has to fight for anything they can get their hands on. "Can't let stuff like that go unchecked," another adds in.

"If you ask me, nine to one is the cause of winter coming early and hard," another puts in, "them filthy barbarians out there on the ice, scheming. Them beast attacks too! They're working something, I tell you!"

The guards then claim the offender has been chained to a post in the marketplace at the center of town, where "Auril will have him come the morning, on that you can bet!"

A harsh penalty for thievery perhaps, but such are the strange ways of Icewind Dale where the value of cooperation is tantamount to survival. Thievery undermines that cooperation and  puts the entire society at risk.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:54, Tue 10 Jan 2017.

Before departing for a local inn, Gledenstag's Rest, which she recommends as a quiet, simple place where one can be assured a good night's sleep, Helda comments, "I would not think to force an answer just yet, when we are all weary from travel."

"Think on it tonight and perhaps visit me tomorrow if you are inclined." Turning to depart, she offers with a half smile, "but I am sure I will see you tonight, when Master Hugglesward will be footing a night of revelry! Maybe we can talk more then!"

"Well met and a warm hearth to you all," she says as she trudges through the snow toward Geldenstag's Rest.

Morgrim considered this for a moment and then raised a finger in question. "Wouldn't the tribesmen suffer just as much as the townsfolk from an early winter? Worse if they haven't got walls like yours to protect them from the winds, and drifting snows, no?"

The guardsman wrinkles his nose in disgust, seemingly incapable of viewing the situation with the same objective point of view as the otherlander. "If it were to them, they'd just as soon tear down these walls, or take 'em for their own, and let the rest of lot of us be claimed by the Frostmaiden, on that you can be sure."

Having said his bot, he adds in, "Just you mind trying to give 'em the benefit of it, you'll end up on the wrong side, let me tell you."

Kira had accepted her sack of gold with a bright smile and cheery thanks, quickly tucking it out of sight.  She'd thought of talking more to Arnan but hearing Morgrim ask about the barbarian turned her feet to linger in their vicinity.  So there was a barbarian in the big yard and something about the Frostmaiden.  She knew they likely meant death but it made her think of the woman she'd seen.

"Excuse me," she gently interrupted, her face alight with curiosity.  "You spoke of the Frostmaiden.  She wouldn't happen to wear white robes and big antlers on her head would she?" she asked, going so far as to stick her thumbs on the side of her head and splaying her fingers out like antlers.  It all seemed too much to be a coincidence for the half-elven lass.

Arnan nodded at the response to his whispered questions about Mistress Silverstream. It mattered a great deal to him that she was a true daughter of the North, as opposed to one of those lately-arriving merchants who knew little of the local conditions or people, and was in the area solely in pursuit of profits.

He overhead Morgrim and Kira talking to the town guards about the barbarian who had apparently gotten crosswise with the local powers-that-be. As a man who tended to value personal independence more so than adhering to the letter of the local laws and regulations -- which needed to be bent sometimes in order to truly achieve justice, in Arnan's opinion -- the scout's ears perked up.

Sidling over, he nudged his way into the conversation. "And what was this fellow trying to steal, any how?" he asked. His tone was not confrontational, 'twas more that of an interested spectator who was curious as to the facts of the matter.

---

OOC: Shane, what does Arnan (IC) know of this particular tribe of barbarians? Are any rolls needed? Thanks!

PS. I just read up on the "Reghed Tribes" in "The Icewind Dale Primer" thread. Presumably Arnan would be familiar with this information. If he knows (or would need to roll to see if he knows) anything in addition to what is listed in this thread, please let me know. Thanks!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:57, Tue 10 Jan 2017.

Morgrim shook his head. "The Frostmaiden is one of the many names Auril goes by, lass," he explained. "Mother Winter."

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 52):

Dalgura stomped her foot but it was hard to tell whether it was to get circulation back or just impatience.

"Brother.  I know what you are talking about is important but is it so important that we have to talk about it out here?  What about getting out of the elements where we can have a fire and some ale?  I'm sure the others would like that too."

Dalgura looked at those who were around them and talking with hopeful eyes.

One of the guards regards Kira with a curious expression and responds, "Whose to know what the Frostmaiden might look like? At one moment a blinding blizzard, the next a man's dying breath! Could be anything she wanted, I suppose."

Another cuts in quietly, "not a power to be treated lightly, nonetheless. Mind your tongue," he says in admonishment of his peer.

When further questioned on the matter, the guards explain Auril the Frostmaiden has few true followers, but she is venerated nonetheless out of fear of her wrath. One of the men also says there is a crazy man in the town of Bremen, who has recently traveled across Ten Towns warning of Auril's wrath, trying to drum up followers. "Claims he is a priest of the Frostmaiden, but if you ask me, he's little more than a con-man." The supposed priest's name is Davrick Fain of Bremen.

A native of Icewind Dale, Arnan is familiar with the Reghed Tribes, and knows that the barbarians have indeed been responsible for the occasional raid against Ten Towns for slaves and supplies, but can this has happened perhaps only once or twice in his lifetime. Both of these attacks were pereptrated by the Tribe of the Bear. There are however countless old tales, dating back a century ago or so, when the barbarians and Ten Towners were viciously at odds.

In recent years, many Reghed tribes have begun trading with Ten Towners, primarily in Bremen and Caer Koenig, where many of their distant kin now dwell.

Arnan also knows the Tribe of the Elk is the most renowned and most populous of the tribes and for the most part the tribe lives in eave with the Ten Towners. The appearance of an elk antlered woman not withstanding.

***

Finally, the guard says the condemned barbarian had stolen a merchant's lock box, with a sizeable sum of money. The guard says the merchant is named Brinna Alcott and she deals in wools, linens and sewing supplies.

In response to Arnan's query about whether the stolen goods were recovered, none of the guards present know and don't seem to really care. Sheriff Markhamm pronounced the sentence and that was good enough for them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:19, Wed 11 Jan 2017.