25 Eleint (September)
Bryn Shander

The circular wall of Bryn Shander lies just ahead, the first sight of civilization since leaving Hundelstone all those days ago, with a large stony mountain, Kelvin's Cairn looming in the distance. The twinkling of lights beyond the wall promise refuge from the lashing winds and rising hearth smoke here or there portends warmth and sustenance.

The city's walls are quite impressive, standing thirty feet high with a rampart above for defenders stationed along the walkway. A large stone gatehouse, the Southwest Gate, looms over the Caravan Trail. Here, the eager town guard awaits the caravan's arrival, portcullis and doors already swung open to receive them.

The long line of wagons and pack animals begin filing into the town along a wide mud-choked boulevard running through the town toward Market Square. Buildings flank either side of the boulevard. Immediately left of the Southwest Gate is a large stable and a few supporting outbuildings, the likely temporary home for the industrious pack animals that survived the journey from Luskan. To the right a cluster of buildings find shelter behind a low stone wall, their occupants leaning out of soot-covered windows to view the arriving procession.

A chorus of cheers burst out here or there as the town's residents eye the caravan, and more importantly its wares, with obvious interest. The caravan has arrived and this is cause to celebrate.

Just as the adventurers perhaps begin to feel a little relief after having made the arduous journey, a terrified shriek pierces the moment. Coming from somewhere near the rear of the caravan, still outside the walls, a guardsman calls out:

"Beasts at the gate! The gate! The gate! To arms!!!"

OOC: The caravan is spread out: a third of it within the walls, a third passing through the gate and a third still outside the gate. Need to know which third your characters are likely to be within the caravan and then I will set up the encounter information. Thanks!
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:12, Sun 01 Jan 2017.

"Beasts at the who now?" Morgrim grumbled from towards the rear of the sprawling caravan. "That's no way to talk about a simple dwarf," he continued as he turned to look for the source of the commotion. "Its hardly my fault if I smell like a mule and my beard has more brambles in it than a briar patch after the tenday we just lived through."

Morgrim is trailing towards the rear, still outside the gate

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 2):

Dalgura shook her head at her brother.  She had just about been about to step up to the gate when she heard the cry to arms.

"Arms?  I have two thank you but what is this about beasts?"

Dalgura looked around and readied her warhammer looking to help the caravan who had gotten them this far without too much incident.

Dalgura was just getting ready to step up to the gate.

Yeti, Remorhaz, Verbeeg, goblins...

Ellie's mind instinctively started listing the most common types of monsters found in Icewind Dale, according to the books she had read on it. Of course, they were a bit dated and she was a little fuzzy on the details, there had been something about that book...

It didn't matter. Ellie had been nearing the gate, having stuck near the middle of the caravan most of the way where she could bled in most easily. She took a deep breath as she turned around, ready to defend herself and help where she could.

---

^{(( OOC: Ellie would be near the middle of the caravan. ))}

Arnan had caught a whiff of the smoke from the hearth-fires of what he knew must be Bryn Shander well before he sighted the city's walls. The swirling winds had wisked the smell away again after an instant, but Arnan had been on the alert, hoping that they would make the city before having to hunker down for another cold night on the road.

Personally, he was more inured to the cold than were many who were with the caravan, and it helped that he knew what to expect from the winters up in the High North. He sniffed the wind again for the tell-tale smoke, but could catch no further hints of the city that he knew must be close, now.

Soon enough he caught a glimpse of Bryn Shander's circular wall through the swirling snow, and he felt a surge of relief that for tonight, at least, they would be safe from the dangers of the open road.

He took up a position just to the side of the main gate, and watched as the caravan moved through. Although the pace was not fast, the beasts of burden had quickened their step -- most likely in anticipation of finding shelter, and mayhaps an extra serving of food within the walls. The faces of the townsfolk who peeked around the timbers that lined the gate showed smiles and enthusiasm -- seemingly both the wagoneers and the townsfolk were looking forward to the caravan's arrival within the city with eager anticipation.

"Damn!" Arnan muttered when the panicked cry went up about beasts at the gate, and he cursed himself for having relaxed a little too early. His right hand instinctively reached behind his back for an arrow, even as he began to ready his bow with his left.

"Where are they??" he bellowed, scrunching up his eyes into slits as he peered into the wind-driven snow. "Give us a compass direction, you lunkhead!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:20, Mon 02 Jan 2017.

Chaos breaks out as a flurry of frenzied shouts and cries pierces through the howling wind and general din of the walled town. When the uproar begins, eight wagons have cleared the Southwest Gate and are filing into the wide boulevard near the stables, two are now passing under and through the open gate itself and another 14 wagons are still spread along the Caravan Trail leading into town.

Alerted by the cries of guardsmen, the party tenses and quickly scans the surrounding area to locate the cause for panic. It does not take long to hone in on the source. A chorus of windborne howl's rise up above the din, emanating from a low rise just southeast of gate. In response, eyes' train in that direction and fall upon a rush of hulking beasts of snow white fur, curved black horns, keen black eyes and vicious yawning mouths beneath shaggy fur. Yetis!

Though camoflauged in their surroundings, the terrible monsters' quick strides down the rise enable them to be seen against the background. The pack of yetis descends upon the caravan, some heading toward the rear of the procession and some toward the gate itself!

The pack and draft animals panic as the yeti's howls rent the air, causing them to bolt this way and that, nearly tearing apart their harnesses and causing the wagons to jostle and jerk violently in protest.

Caravan guards draw weapons in response and those town guards stationed atop the ramparts do likewise. The yetis will be upon the caravan and soon. The next few moments may well decide the outcome of this brazen and uncharacteristic attack on the walled town!

---

OOC: This encounter will begin at a distance of about 50 feet before the yetis draw near to the wagons, etc. There are several yetis along the procession, though for the purpose of this encounter we will initially focus on those assaulting the gate, 4 in total. The others will be handled by the caravan guards along the rear portion of the caravan. The assumption is the party is primarily clustered near the gate when the attack begins and their focus will be on defeating the yetis headed their way.

Four Young Yetis Assaulting the Gate
AC 12
HP:
#1: 10/10
#2: 10/10
#3: 10/10
#4: 10/10


PC        AC    HP    Insp  Spell Save  Conditions & Notes
Arnan     14   12/12    0      NA       AC 16 w/ shield
Dalgura   15   10/10    0      13
Ellie     12   11/11    0      13
Kira      14   09/09    0      NA
Morgrim   15   11/11    0      13
Thane     18   13/13    0      NA


OOC: PCs are UP!

This message was last edited by the GM at 17:21, Mon 02 Jan 2017.

Dalgura saw the Yeti's fast approaching the group and gulped.  She didn't know much about them for they didn't venture close enough to the temple she was at, but that didn't matter.  She trusted her Goddess so she grasped her holy symbol as she pointed at one of the Yeti's.  "Let Sharindlar's Holy Radiance shine through to protect the people."

Casting Cantrip - Sacred Flame: page 272 - range = 60', Target must succeed on a Dex saving throw or take 1d8 radiant damage.  Target gains no benefit from cover for this saving throw.

07:19, Today: DM Shard, on behalf of Dalgura Ironhammer, rolled 6 using 1d20 ((6)).
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:20, Mon 02 Jan 2017.

The wet snow caused Arnan's grip to slip a little when he nocked the arrow, but he quickly recovered and the shaft struck its target squarely -- the same Yeti that Dalgura had struck with her Dwarven magicks.

From the creature's reaction Arnan didn't think that his arrow had penetrated its thick fur all that well -- but then again, he didn't know how much the Yeti would be affected by Dalgura's magicks.

What in the hells are these Yetis doing, assaulting the gates of a city? They must either be very bold, or very desperate, Arnan thought to himself.

---

OOC:

Action: 10:53, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 8 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 1. Ranged Attack v. Yeti (AC 12).

10:54, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 23 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 16. Luck Re-Roll. Hit!

10:55, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 4 using 1d8+3 with rolls of 1. Damage.

Note: Arnan has used one of his three Luck points to erase the natural 1 on his original Attack roll.

I knew it Yetis!

For a brief moment all Ellie could think about is some great barbarian hero king some years ago who was finally killed by a pack of yetis in his old age. He had been somehwere around a hundred and twelve years supposedly, yet had taken down many of the monsters with him...

Kill them!

Ellie snapped out of her contemplation and brought her focus back to the attack. She knew what to do, the spell she had been granted not long ago she had only used it a few times. She bit her lip nervously underneath her scarf, but brought the spell to mind, gathering the eldritch power in one hand.

She brought the other over it to consolidate the power, then thrust both hands out, sending a bolt of pure otherworldly magic power out at the closest of the yetis. She jumped a little in surprise as it slammed hard into the monster, sending it flying back to collapse in the snow despite having no other injuries.

Ellie looked at her hand for a moment, surprised at the power she had managed to unleash. She snapped out of it a moment later though, thinking enough to backpedal a bit and put some distance between her and the monsters while she drew a dagger just in case.

---

^{Action: Eldritch blast hits for instant kill on closest yeti.
Object: Draw Dagger
Movement: Fall back behind warriors/melee combatants and keep distance from yetis; preferably around 60' away.
08:33, Today: Ellie Dovehand rolled 14 using 1d20+5.  Eldritch Blast Attack Vs. Young Yeti. HIT.
08:33, Today: Ellie Dovehand rolled 10 using 1d10.  Force Damage. KILL.}

"Marthamor's hammer! What are these mangy dogs!?!?" Morgrim yells as he sets his shield to receive the charge. "Get back!" he shouts, reaching his free hand high above his head and conjuring forth a ball of flame. Bringing his hand down aggressively he set the projectile hurtling towards the nearest of the creatures but in his haste the fire goes wide.

Action: Produce flame. Misses.

14:35, Today: Morgrim Ironhammer rolled 7 using 1d20+5.  Produce Flame.

The hue and cry of the gate and caravan under attack drew Thane's immediate attention.  He instinctively drew his flail as his eyes sought out the attackers.  The shaggy-furred Yeti's came as no surprise although he had never before fought any of their kind.

"To me, you beasts!" he yelled out a challenge and clomped through the snow as quickly as he could towards the nearest cluster, banging the wooden haft of his flail against his shield to gain one's attention.

Time to earn my keep, he thought grimly as he closed in on a yeti.

---

Action: Attack (melee, flail) if close enough.

21:14, Today: Thane Harkensen rolled 14 using 1d20+5.  Melee vs Yeti (AC 12).  Hit!
21:14, Today: Thane Harkensen rolled 11 using 1d8+3.  Flail damage vs Yeti. 11 damage - Kill!

We were so close! Kira screamed in her mind when the call to arms came, knowing the warmth of a fire with food and ale then a warm bed was just a short way past those gates.  Knocking an arrow, she stepped up next to Arnan and loosed it seconds behind him.  She knew she'd get one shot off and then it would be time for her sword so was glad to see her shot land in a nice tender spot.

---

14:53, Today: Kira rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  Attack Arnan's Yeti.
14:54, Today: Kira rolled 7 using 1d6+3.  Damage on Arnan's Yeti.

That should finish off yet another one so didn't bother to roll sneak attack.

A flurry of frenzied action breaks out all across the caravan as guards file out to protect the wagons from the incoming snow beasts. Several pack animals startle upon hearing the yeti's menacing howl, jerking wagons left and right as drovers do their best to avoid disaster. The wagons beneath the gate have the hardest go of it, one nearly turning over beneath the gatehouse as its draft horses do their best to rid themselves of their harness.

The band of maraduing yetis descend the low rise as arrows and bolts fly in their direction, striking several down before they ever reach any wagon, let alone defender. Arnan and Kira lend their talents to this effort, combining to take down an approaching yeti.

Thane bounds off through the snow, intercepting one of the beasts with a solid crack of his flail, sending the monster flying backward into drift of snow. The yeti lands unceremoniously and expires shortly thereafter. A second yeti bounds over an adjacent drift and come screaming down on Thane, its furry claws slashing at the Luskan warrior. Thane manages to parry aside the first and duck beneath the second with practiced skill.

Ellie directs an eldritch blast at another, stopping the yeti in its tracks with a thundrous clap.

Dalgura and Morgrim bring their own divine magic to the fore, lighting the snowy fields up with a ray of fire and light, but neither have the desired effect of hitting a target.

Further down the line, the caravan guards are doing their best to ward off more distant attacks and for the moment have the upper hand.

All the while, the unrelentless howling wind and swirling snow sweeps across the battlefield...

---

OOC: 3 Yetis near the PCs have been slain. 1 is engaged with Thane atop the low rise, about 30 feet distant from the other PCs.

Four Young Yetis Assaulting the Gate
AC 12
HP:
#1: 0/10
#2: 0/10
#3: 0/10
#4: 10/10, Engaged w/ Thane


PC        AC    HP    Insp  Spell Save  Conditions & Notes
Arnan     14   12/12    0      NA       AC 16 w/ shield
Dalgura   15   10/10    0      13
Ellie     12   11/11    0      13
Kira      14   09/09    0      NA
Morgrim   15   11/11    0      13
Thane     18   13/13    0      NA


OOC: PCs are UP!

Satisfaction was marred when a second arrow loosed, this time at the yeti attacking Thank, whizzed just past the creature.

---

07:29, Today: Kira rolled 11 using 1d20+5.  Attack Thane's Yeti.

Morgrim's second volley is on the mark, the ball of flame searing into the yeti's thick fur and finding flesh beneath. "Lets get these carts moving!" he hollers above the din. "Got to get inside the walls!"

Action: Produce Flame, hits AC 22 for 6 fire damage.
Move to keep pace with caravan.

10:36, Today: Morgrim Ironhammer rolled 22 using 1d20+5.  Produce Flame.
10:36, Today: Morgrim Ironhammer rolled 6 using 1d8.  Damage.

"Good shot!" Arnan called over his shoulder to Kira, as the Yeti that the two of them had targeted stumbled and fell, lying motionless in the snow after her arrow had finished it off.

The man-at-arms named Thane had already slain one of the creatures in close combat, but now a second one had closed with him. Kira and Morgrim reacted first, with Kira's second arrow flying a hair wide of the mark, but the Dwarf's flaming magicks solidly striking the Yeti that was engaged with the Human.

Arnan nocked an arrow and waited patiently for the Yeti to momentarily move clear of Thane so that he had an unobstructed shot. When his opportunity came he took it without hesitation, releasing the arrow without conscious thought. This time his arrow sunk up nearly to the fletching in the Yeti's chest and it toppled over backwards, smoke still rising from its singed fur.

"I'm headed down the line to see if the guards at the rear of the caravan need help," he announced, as he turned and moved off in that direction.

---

OOC:

Action: 11:37, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 26 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 19. Ranged Attack v. Yeti #4 (AC 12). Hit!

11:38, Today: Arnan Aldwynne rolled 10 using 1d8+3 with rolls of 7. Damage (Arrow).

Note: Added to the damage that Morgrim has already inflicted this round, this should finish off Yeti #4.

Move: Full move towards the rear of the caravan.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Wed 04 Jan 2017.

Ellie turned her head, hearing Arnan's shout that he was heading to the rear. She didn't know the man, assuming he was one of the caravan guards, but she had seen him hold with them against the yetis, and knew he was reliable. She nodded, her cloth-covered head bobbing as she moved to follow behind him. As she went she clenched her fist, gathering the power of the eldritch in it ready to be released.

---

<sup>I'll follow Arnan. If possible, I'd like to use my action this round to ready a reaction to hit the first Yeti that is in range with an Eldritch Blast.

12:32, Today: Ellie Dovehand rolled 17 using 1d20+5.  Eldritch Blast Attack.
12:33, Today: Ellie Dovehand rolled 6 using 1d10.  Force Damage.</sup>

The party makes quick work of the four yetis that rush in from the low rise to the southeast, preventing any of the beasts from getting at the caravan's precious cargo, or worse, through Bryn Shander's open gate!

Having dealt with the immediate threat, the party fans out to lend assistance to the caravan guards near the rear of the procession. The remaining yets, at least a half dozen or so, inexplicably withdraw from their attack, a raining salvo of arrows riddling their furry behinds as they slip off into the swirling snow.

Shouting is heard here or there for a few moments following the confrontation, but soon all becomes quiet again. The threat has seemingly passed. Or perhaps, the yetis have regrouped just outside of the effective range of sight in such poor visibility.

Guards stand at the ready, their weapons drawn in the event the yetis returns. The drovers at the gates attempt to sort of their draft animals after the sudden attack. Near the head of the caravan, within the town walls, Master Hugglesward storms to the gates and lends his assistance to the effort while looking after the fate of those wagons near the rear of the caravan.

Only one wagon appears to have been savaged in the attack, it being near the rear.

Dalgura looks over at her brother and nods in approval as he helps take on the last of the Yeti's.  "I'm going to lend my aid to those who are injured brother.  Find me when you can."

Dalgura knew she only had a couple of healing spells available so she would save those for the worst but she knew how to bandage and other more mundane healing methods also and if nothing else she had a strong back and willing arms and heart.

"Aye," Morgrim replied. "I will help get the last carter through the gates so we can close them behind us, and good riddance!"

Shouldering his shield the stocky dwarf approached the wagon in question and gave his arms and back to the communal cause.

Ellie sent one last blast of eldritch power at the back of one of the fleeing yetis, turning away before seeing if it actually hit the mark.

She cleared her throat a bit beneath the scarf and spoke aloud to the archer she had followed; one of the few times to had spoke during the trip at all.

"I am going to go and check on the ravaged wagon. Mayhaps there is more reason behind this assault than plain to the eye" she said to Arnan.

She then turned and headed that way, as if not expecting the man to actually respond.

---

^{(( OOC: I would like to investigate the one savaged wagon at the back. ))}

"I'm going to follow along behind those Yetis who retreated," Arnan said.

"I don't plan on crowding them, but if it looks like they are regrouping for another attack, I'll double back and give warning."

Kira had silently moved along with Arnan toward the end of the caravan, wincing at the destruction.  "I'll keep an arrow ready in case you need cover," she informed Arnan and walked with him partway, then stopped when she thought she would be about equally between him and those trying to get the last through the gates.  Drawing an arrow, she set it against bow and string but did not draw just yet.

As Thane was winding up to dispatch the Yeti that had been assaulting him, the beast fell to a combination of arrows and flame battle-magic.  The Yeti toppled and Thane twisted his torso to the side and raised his shield as a gesture of appreciation to those who had come to his aid.

The archers were quick to move towards the rear of the caravan, though, so Thane trudged through the snow to the gate.  He felt that was the best place for him to be so that he could help the wagons get into the safe confines of Bryn Shander.  He approached the pair of dwarves he had been listening to earlier in the journey, just as the female one was apparently heading away from the gate.

"Hail, stout folk!  Were you the ones that helped me out with those flaming battle magics?" he greeted them, then asked with polite enthusiasm.

"We did indeed," Morgrim announced from down low near the ground where he was laboring to straighten the cart's rear axle. "Bloody mess this is..." he grumbled.

"Not that you looked like you needed it," he said, briefly looking up at the armored caravan guard.

"Not hurt, are you? I'm no deft hand at healing magics but my sister can help. Hey, Dal? Dal?! Now where did that girl get off to..."

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 25):

Dalgura dimly heard her brother call her name so she turned around and ran back to him.

"Morgrim?  Why did you call me?  Are you hurt?  I thought you were all right."

Dalgura put her hands on her hips and looked at her brother in concern.  Finally she looked up at the tall human next to her brother.  "Oh sorry.  Perhaps it was you who is hurt sir?  I saw you in battle.  Did you get injured?  Do you need assistance?"

Dalgura walked up to Thane and started to look at him.  Not seeing any outside appearance of being injured, she arched her eyebrow at him.

In the immediate aftermath of the yetis' attack, Dalgura walks among the line to administer first aid and healing to anyone injured during the yeti's attack. One guardsman suffered a heavy gash across the arm and another tripped and sprained his ankle (of all things) during the attack, both of which are well within Dalgura's ability to heal. Both guards express their gratitude for the cleric's prompt ministrations, the one with the swollen ankle somewhat embarassed about his performance during the assault.

Morgrim and Thane aid the drovers attempting to bring order to the wagons beneath the gate. One of the wagons smashed into the wall, jarring its contents and putting stress on the axel. The other wagon being a victim of nothing other than tangled harness leaders due to some very spooked animals. Morgrim sees to the animals' welfare first then assists with an assessment of the axel. Thane lends his muscle to the task as well while chatting with the dwarves.

Ellie sprints off toward the savaged wagon near the rear of the procession. One of the yetis tore off the sidewall and disturbed its cargo, broken crates cast to the ground, jars of pickled fruit mixed partially submerged in the ground. Interestingly, one of the crates dislodged from the wagon does not appear to be of the pickled fruit variety, rather what appears to be a weapon crate. This crate was smashed, revealing a cache of silvered arrows within. A concerned guardsman approaches the crate and quietly orders another to secure "Dunavan's wares". This was meant to be outside of earshot of any others, but Ellie hears nonetheless, and the men quickly carry this crate back onto the wagon securing it under a roll of leather, where Ellie might spy a few other similarly sized crates.

Arnan stalks up the low rise to the south, using a stone plinth war memorial for cover and attemmpts to spot the retreating yetis in the distance, but quickly loses sight of them in the worsening snowstorm. While atop the rise, Arnan further notices that while the yetis fled away to the south, they must have originally approached from the north, given the tracks in the area.

Finally, while the others are attending to various tasks, Kira scans the distance to sound the alarm should she see a secondary wave of yetis, or anything else for that matter. Several tense moments pass, when the keen eyed rogue catches a brief glimpse of a woman dressed in white robes, crowned with the antlers of an elk, standing in the middle of the storm away to the south. The woman stares at Kira a moment and then turns and disappears into a violent swirl of snow.

Dunavan...

Elli repeats the name quietly to herself, committing it to memory. Silvered weapons, especially arrows, were no cheap or easily acquired wares; nor were they usual stock for most, including guardsmen. Was it only a coincidence that those were on the cart most heavily damaged by the yetis?

The hooded woman walked away, her eyes studying the concerned guardsman who had the crate confiscated, hoping to remember the face just in case. She slipped in behind a pair of dwarves who were talking with another who appeared to be a guardsman, attempting to blend in with them.

Arnan stopped behind the stone plinth that was situated atop a low rise off to the south, intending to use it as cover both against the prying eyes of any Yetis who might be looking back in his direction, and the wind-driven snow. He waited there long enough to satisfy himself that the Yetis were not gathering for another attack -- at least not from any indication that he could see.

He walked back to where Kira stood waiting for him. "Thanks for watching my back," he said to her. "Plus, if those Yetis had been of a mind to attack again, the more arrows that we could shoot off at them to try and slow them down, the better."

"I didn't see any indications that they were headed back for a follow-up attack, though. Maybe we were a bit tougher than what they expected to run into."

"I did notice something a little odd, though -- or at least it seemed that way to me," Arnan added, turning to stare back at the plinth atop the low hill.

"Based upon the tracks that I saw, the Yetis originally came from the north -- but instead of retreating in that direction, they moved off to the south."

---

OOC: Shane, based upon Arnan's "Wanderer" feature (which gives him an excellent memory for maps and geography, and he can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around him) would he remember anything off to either the north or the south that might explain the Yetis' movements? Thanks. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:35, Sun 08 Jan 2017.

Thane shook his head in the negative.  "No, I'm not hurt.  Those things were fierce but not very smart.  Brute force and speed, nothing good shield work can't block," he replied with an appraisal of the small Yeti's he had fought.  He graced Morgrim with a simple smile.  "I appreciate the help, though.  Fighting hand to hand in snow can get tricky fast.  If I had slipped and fallen down, that beast would have truly gotten the jump on me, shield or no!"

Thane helped the Dwarf to his feet (he had been inspecting an axle, after all) and assisted in getting the wagons at the gate sorted out.  When Dalgura joined them inside, he introduced himself to her.  "I am Thane," he said, "and I was just talking with your....friend?....here about how you helped me against that last yeti.  I wanted to thank you," he nodded down at her respectfully.  "Are you both servants of the Dwarven Gods, then?  I've worked with such Godders in the past, in Luskan, and found them to be very valuable companions."

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.

Thane chuckled and blew out a great gust of iced-steam breath in the process.  "I'm with her," he stated, jabbing a finger in her direction.  "She's got her priorities straight.  Getting out of this cold and putting warm food my belly seems more important than figuring out why and what somebody stoled from somebody else.  This town's got guards and such, crime and punishment is their job I'm thinking."

He looked down and smiled at Dalgura.  "If your brother don't want to take you right now, I'll accompany you until he can catch up," he offered in a friendly and non-disparaging way.  "I'm longing for a hot cider, fresh biscuits, and company that isn't trying to kill me or complain about how long the journey is taking!"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:47, Wed 11 Jan 2017.

Ellie shivered a bit, her layered clothes hardly moving however. "Yes, getting into the warmth sounds like a good idea."

"I've been chilled to the bone for a fortnight. I can make it an hour longer. I don't know that this other fellow can. There'll be no asking him in the morning."

The chill of early winter eventually convinces those freshly arrived from their journey northward to find shelter in a nearby inn or tavern, where they can arrange for lodging and perhaps a chat around a warm hearth. Most of Hugglesward's company begins filing through the snow and mud-choked streets in search of warmth, shelter and liquor.

Two prominent inns are found within Bryn Shander:

Geldenstag's Rest: one of the oldest establishments in town featuring small rooms and sparse furnishings, but perhaps the quietest and a good choice for those patrons not looking for much excitement during their stay in Bryn Shander. Most of Master Hugglesward's company are headed here.

The Northlook: the inn most frequented by mercenaries and adventurers, and as a result, the rowdiest and most dangerous place to stay in Bryn Shander. Some of the caravan guards are headed to this inn, to live it up a little bit.

Kevlin's Comfort: not an inn, but the most popular tavern in Bryn Shander, with an excellent selection of dwarven ales and brandies. Some of the more hard-drinking guards head here to get an early start on their revelries, before Master Hugglesward throws his little shindig later in the evening.

"Ok.  I'm going to let you talk to them out here then.  I'm going to head to Kevlin's Comfort.  I am going to start without you which means it will be up to you to carry me out if I pass out first.  Of course you might also have to catch up with me...if you can."

Dalgura knew that she wouldn't drink that much but also knew that Morgrim would take it as a challenge.

Dalgura looked up at the human who had offered to escort her.  "You still up for escorting me?  Anybody else coming?"

Kira just continued with the curious, if perhaps a bit simpleton expression.  Everything smacked of a mystery and when they said the barbarian had stolen money, she definitely felt like something was off in the biggest of ways.

When the guards weren't looking, she cocked an eyebrow in query to Arnan and Morgrim to see if they were interested in pursuing this.  She nodded in agreement when Morgrim told his sister he could wait another hour, she nodded.

"Aye, I'd like to talk to this barbarian that stole money instead of food or supplies," she said with a disbelieving tone.  "I can't help thinking the attack, the woman I saw, and this prisoner are connected.  Then again, I can be daft and seeing things that aren't there."


Edit:  My brain pooted and I used the name of a dwarf in a different game.  My sincere apologies Morgrim!
This message was last edited by the player at 14:42, Wed 11 Jan 2017.

Upon hearing mention of Kelvin's comfort, Ellie perks up a bit. "Yes, Kelvin's Comfort, known for their dwarven specialties. That nails it, I'm positive; there's a Dwarven clan in the foothills of Kelvin's Cairn, founded there after King Bruenor Battlehammer and the dwarves of Mithral Hall were displaced from their homeland many many years ago. The clan at Kelvin's Cairn has been shrinking since the reclamation of Mithral Hall, but it is still there I believe. the Silverstream family is prominent in the clan, leaders of what is left I do believe. Helda must be from that family."

She rambles on with her sudden realization for a moment, then snaps out of it, her scarfed head turning to Morgrim and Kira. "I suppose that I could wait before warming up first if it means someone is in need of help. Shall we go speak to this prisoner?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:30, Wed 11 Jan 2017.

In reply to Dalgura Ironhammer (msg # 60):

"Yes, I will go with you," Thane replied.  "I don't drink much.  I prefer to keep a clear head about me," he confessed.  "I will gladly break bread with you, though, and make sure no jerk tries to take advantage of you if you drink too much!"

Dalgura and Thane are indifferent to news of the barbarian thief chained to a post in Bryn Shander's market square and elect to warm up with a stein of spicy dwarven liquor at Kelvin's Comfort, with the other adventurers passing just beyond the tavern to see the man for themselves.

Scene: Kelvin's Comfort
Dalgura and Thane enter the bustling tavern and make their way to open seats on a long bench near a roaring hearth. The common room is bedecked with dwarven craft, a keen eye for such things perhaps noticing most to be of Battlehammer make. The clientel here are primarily human, though there are a significant number of alternatively dour and red-faced dwarves in their midst. The adventurers do not wait very long before the proprietor, Ogden Flamebeard, approaches and offers his suggestions for the uninitiated. Most of the liquors are of imported from Mirabar, perhaps offering a touch of home to Dalgura, though local specialties from Good Mead and Ogden's proprietary drink, Flamebeard's Firebrandy, comes highly recommended by none other than its brewer himself.

Some time after sitting down to drink their preferred brew, Helda arrives at the tavern looking quite refreshed and garbed in a fine but conservative overcoat lined with mink. Over drinks, she explains she has returned to Icewind Dale to visit her uncle, Stokely Silverstream, the clan elder of the dwarves of Kelvin's Cairn. She plans to reconstitute a few days at most here in Bryn Shander, during which time she will retain the services of mercenaries to ensure her safe arrival. "Of course, that may unnecessary should we decide to travel together a bit longer..." she says with the hint of a smile, before finishing her drink, Firebrandy. Slamming it to the table, she whispers conspiratorally, "tastes an awful lot, if not exactly like, Mirabaran rotgut, if you ask me. Only, more expensive...by a lot!" She casts a suspicious glance at the tavernkeep while he is turned away.

***

Scene: Bryn Shander Market Square
Just shortly beyond the amber glow of the smokey window-panes of Kelvin's Rest, the other party members emerge onto a large open market square, the heart of Bryn Shander. At other times of the year, the market place would be a cauldron of scrimshaw merchants hawking their wares, but today it is a lonely place with all but the fewest of meager merchant peddling various odds and ends. At the center of the square, the party sees a tall, muscular man lashed to a thick wooden post.

The man has fair skin and bright blue eyes typical of a northener, with light brown hair that hangs past his shoulders. He is stripped of all belongings except for a pendant on a thong around his neck, fashioned from two pieces of antler to look like the rack of an elk.

The people of Bryn Shander go about their business around him, alternatively avoiding eye contact or casting aspersions and/or spitting his way. He periodically calls out to them in a hoarse voice, protesting his innocence and begging to be released.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:01, Wed 11 Jan 2017.

At the market square...

Seeing the adventurers approach, the condemned Northerner cries out to them:

"Please! Help me, travelers!" the effort of forcing out these words causes him to cough and wheeze.

"I came here seeking aid...for my people, and I fear they will perish. If my trible fails, nothing will shield the people of Ten Towns from the wrath of Ice Witch!"

A guard standing watch near the market square eyes the condemned man with a look of equal parts disdain and shame.

"Take advantage of her? You be careful she doesn't take advantage of you, Mister Harkensen," Morgrim replied with a roar of a laugh.

"You just keep my mug cool and frothy and I'll catch you up never you mind, missy!" he continues with a wink for his sister. "Now some of us have work to do, so why don't you kids go run along and start the fun without us?"

* * *

Morgrim watched the scene unfold from the edge of the square with a frown before approaching the captive northerner and his guard. He met the barbarian's gaze but directed his question to the Ten Towner. "Can we speak to him?" he said, indicating the tied prisoner with a nod of his head.

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 66):

Dalgura just laughed at Morgrim's comment about her taking advantage of others.  She wouldn't do that...often. She had a couple of years yet before, by Dwarven standards, she was considered an adult so she could slip every once in a while.

She was still chuckling when she got to Kelvin's Comfort.  She walked in a stood off to the side for a moment drinking in the atmosphere.  Of course the proprietor, Ogden Flamebeard, lived up to his name with the red beard.  A handy color to have if one wanted to have attention brought to themselves Dalgura thought.

"Ahh.  Look at that.  A nice tribute to the clans."

Dalgura settled down and sat at a table where she could keep an eye on people coming in the door.  When Flamebeard approached and mentioned he had liquors from Mirabar Dalgura stopped him.  "No need to go further on your list.  If you have it, I'll have a Morgolo's Holy Wonder.  Keep a mug chilled please.  I'm expecting my brother to get be along shortly.  He wanted a frosty mug and plenty of froth.  Of course the sister in me says only serve him froth in that first mug but you know Dwarves and their ales."

When Helda arrived at the Inn, Dalgura waved her over.  She listened to Helda talk and nodded.  "My brother will be along shortly and I shall discuss it with him.  I'm not adverse to traveling with you but he's in charge of our jobs.  That's fine with me.  If it doesn't work out I can always blame him then.  A tidy arrangement I think."

Kira knew justice was harsh but this was something that made her burn inside with humiliation for the man who kept protesting his innocence.  When he called out to them, she didn't hesitate to stride forward while Morgrim took a moment to ask permission.  Drawing out the waterskin that was tucked up against her skin, she stood on tiptoes to offer him water to soothe his raw throat.  "I believe you and will help as much as I can.  The Ice Witch ... can you describe her?" Kira asked quickly as she offered the water.

Ellie looked to Morgrim, looking as if she was awaiting an answer as well. Her eyes, however, shifted over to look at the barbarian.

[Private to GM: You need not strain your voice to speak to me, son of Icewind Dale and follower of the caribou. Fear not, I am no witch and would like to hear what you fear of this one you spoke of.]

---

[Private to GM: ^{(( OOC: Using Awakened Mind to speak to the prisoner telepathically. ))}]
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Wed 11 Jan 2017.

Arnan snapped his fingers when Ellie spoke of the Silverstream family and its prominence in the clan that populated the Hold known as Kelvin's Cairn. "Of course!" he exclaimed, looking a little sheepish. "I knew that I had heard that name somewhere, but addle-pated as I sometimes am, I couldn't place it. Over the years I have traipsed all around Kelvin's Cairn in my wanderings, but have never had occasion to visit the place itself. Mistress Silverstream's offer sounds like the perfect opportunity to go there."

Like Kira, Arnan did not wait for permission to speak to the barbarian prisoner. He had long felt that Fortune favored the bold, instead of those who hung back and waited for the apples to fall from the tree directly into their lap. He glanced over at Kira when the man spoke of the threat posed by the Ice Witch, and she picked up on the same clue, asking the barbarian to describe her.

"Aye," Arnan said with a nod, "and after that, please tell us how it is that you find yourself in the mess that you are in, if you are an innocent man."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:50, Wed 11 Jan 2017.

A confused look flashes across the condemned barbarian face as Ellie's voice enter his mind. The barbarian has little experience with magic but recognizes the presense of an outsider in his head and finds is somewhat unsettling, despite Ellie's reassurances otherwise. Still, he needed help, and the voice was offering just that.

Then, Kira and Arnan break the inner turmoil by speaking directly and in a manner that is less terrifying.



The barbarian gratiously accepts the proffered waterskin and sips at it with controlled zeal. "My thanks," he says.

"A mirage she is, always, a pale reflection in the distance. Elusive as a white fox. She has turned beasts against our people and will stop at nothing to see the tribe eradicated!" he answers somewhat cryptically.



The muscled Northener quickly responds, "I came to your town seeking aid for my tribe, a wizard or another wise in the ways of magic, to combat the Ice Witch. To save my people from her predations!"

The guard nearby looks on skeptically, the man's countenance becoming more agitated with each passing second.

The barbarian continues, now speaking more quickly, "On the blood of my ancestors, I have done no wrong!" he vows loudly. "That woman, I don't even know her! I hadn't been in town for a day when your people spoke against me!" he protests.

The guard is now quite agitated and he cuts in loudly, "Alright, you already said your peace. You over there," referring to the adventurers, "Don't listen to 'em. His kind will say anything. Move along now."

"Please, help me," the barbarian says in a defeated tone while looking earnestly at the adventurers.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:36, Thu 12 Jan 2017.

Ellie turned away from the barbarian man, looking to the guard. "What are the charges levied against him good sir, and what evidence condemns him?"

The guard has been leaning against a nearby post, idly digging out a splinter in his thumb before the adventurers started getting chatty with the prisoner. Standing more erect now, he calls back to Ellie, "Caught thieving, or some such."

"If you have something to say on it, take it up with Sheriff Markham. But you're wasting your breath, if you ask me."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:34, Thu 12 Jan 2017.

Ellie smiled, though it was not evident with her face coverings. "That's the great thing about breathing, sir" she said, sucking in a big lungful of air made audible through the cloths over her mouth. She then breathed it out; "even if the last was wasted, this one still comes."

She cocks her head curiously to the side then. "I'd be delighted to speak to this Sheriff, won't you please escort me to him? This town seems so difficult to navigate, as it is only my first day here."

Her eyes briefly looked over to the other girl who had come along, Kira, and she tossed a wink her way.

[Private to Kira: Perhaps I can buy you and one of the other gentlemen here a moment to speak to the prisoner alone, without this guard's interruptions or ire. Answer not with your tongue, for none of the others can hear this.]

---

^{20:33, Today: Ellie Dovehand rolled 17 using 1d20+5.  Persuasion.}

The curt guard's demeanor softens and he begins walking toward Ellie with some degree of pomp.

"Right, right. You folks come in on the caravan, I guess," he says in a somewhat friendlier tone. "Long way you've come. Alright, yeah, I'll you around town, err...to Sheriff Markham."

"Come along now, we'll get to the bottom of this..." he says while leading Ellie away from the others, affording them an opportunity to talk to the prisoner out of earshot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:43, Thu 12 Jan 2017.

She dips her head in a small curtsy to the guard, her thanks and gestures for him to lead the way. Once he starts away she turns around towards Arnan, Kira, and Morgrim, looking directly at them for the first time she did so with anyone since leaving Luskan.

In between the folds of her scarf and shawl, one can see just a little bit of her skin around the eyes. It is pale, almost deathly so, with just a slight blue tint to it almost as if it is translucent over chilled blood. Her eyes are icy blue, unnaturally so, with the pupils being bottomless dark pits. The combined effect is something unnatural and perhaps chilling.

Despite that, the wide-eyed expression and beckoning motion she waves with her hand clearly communicates a desperate attempt to get one of them at least to come with her while the others stay and do what they will.

She turns back to face the guard and follow along before he can get suspicious. "Ooo, do you think you can show me a good scrimshaw trader along the way? I so want to get a little keepsake of my time in Icewind Dale..." she said in a soft, singsong voice from behind him as she wandered off after him.

Arnan caught Kira's eye and motioned towards Ellie with his head, indicating that they should accompany her.

For the time being, however, he kept silent, seeing as how Ellie was getting along so well with the guard who had been trying to run them all off only scant moments earlier.

Kira had gazed at Ellie longer than perhaps she should, her eyes slightly wide but then there was a slight tip of her head that was just enough to let the woman know she'd gotten the message.  Turning back, she caught Arnan's eye and gesture and bit her lip in frustration.  She had a few questions to ask so she glanced at Morgrim.  "_{Go with her?  Make sure she stays safe?}" she whispered to the dwarf.  If he didn't, she would go and hope the prisoner was able to answer her questions later.

Morgrim looked for a moment as though he might have more to say, but ultimately nodded. "Very well. Don't do anything fool headed like cut him down unless you've exonerated him first, elsewise they'll have you on the pole next."

Thane tromped wearily into the establishment known as Kelvin's Comfort.  He'd never been there before and, although he did take a moment to admire the interior and take note of it's distinctly dwarven decor, there was nothing there that spoke to his soul like it had done to his companion, Dalgura.  "Nice place," he observed as he followed Dalgura to a spot to sit.

While she sat with her back to a wall, he sat opposite her even though it meant he had his back to the entrance. "Aaaaaaaah!" he let out a groan of comfort as he sat down heavily and allowed the bench to bear his weight.  He leaned his shield and flail against a thick wooden table leg and basked in the warmth of the fire.  A smile of pleasure lit his cold-chapped face.  "Not complaining, mind you, but gosh it's nice to be able to just sit.  I walked most of the way here from Luskan and a proper seat in a proper tavern just plain beats sitting around a snowy camp fire any day," he effused while loosening the tops of his boots and massaging his lower legs.

When the proprietor came over and offered some drink suggestions, Thane smiled and let his wishes be known.  "I think I'll start slow until I get some food in my belly," he started, clearly more interested in food than drink at the moment.  "I'd like some hot cider and a platter of bread, meat, and cheese," he expressed.  "After that, I think I will try some of your Firebrandy, since you recommend it so highly."

With that out of the way, he gave his attention over to Dalgura.  "Now that we're here and done caravanning for the moment, why'd you decide to make the trip?" he asked with friendly curiosity.  "My reason is simple - my Ship-Boss gave me the assignment to guard the caravan.  Never gave much thought to what I'd do once I got here, though.  Makes me interested to hear more about that Helga Silver-lady's offer."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:54, Fri 13 Jan 2017.

The guard begins to lead Ellie toward the armory, located just southwest of Market Square, a squat two story stone building with tiled roof. Sheriff Markham, he says, may be found in one of the wings leading off the armory. When Ellie changes tact and inquires about carved scrimshaw, the guard say, "Sure...sure, but Sheriff Markhamm is just right there."

His voice changes now, less official and more personal, "Maybe after I get off shift, we can make a proper time of it. That way we won't be rushed." He hesitated slightly when saying 'we', as though he made a conscious decision to choose that pronoun as opposed to another. He also leaned in just a bit, enough for Ellie to catch a whiff of the man's body odor. He smells faintly of fish and smoke. Not altogether an unpleasant smell, but definitely a little on the musky side.

Fore once, Ellie was glad that her facial expressions were mostly covered by her wrappings. She cocked her head to the side, then answered in a sweet voice; "Not an unpleasant proposition, but is it safe for you to be seen casually with a girl who is about to question your boss's direct order? I could end up causing a lot of trouble, I won't lie."

In reply to Thane Harkensen (msg # 80):

Dalgura grinned and decided that Thane wasn't too bad for a human.  "I'm here because my Goddess sent me.  I know...I know.  That sounds like an escape clause or something doesn't it?  Like if things go wrong I can just say my Goddess needs me elsewhere.  Sometimes I wish it were so.  Morgrim probably wishes it were so sometimes too since my brother has an overly protective streak in him and thinks he has to go and protect me."

It was obvious that Dalgura didn't think that it was a bad thing that Morgrim had his protective streak and that it was somewhat amusing that he felt he needed to protect her.  She looked around for a bit and then leaned in as if conferring a secret to Thane and Helda.  "Don't tell him I told you this, but it's nice knowing that he has my back."  Dalgura sits up straight again and rubs her hands together as they warm up.

"My Goddess told me to come in this direction but not why.  It is best to just go along with her plans for me since she has been so good to me.  It lends a bit of a mystery and excitement to the whole thing.  I will admit I'd rather she had told me about this trip a tad earlier in the season when the weather was better but I come from good stock and will make the journey but if there is one thing that I have learned about the Gods...you do things on THEIR time schedule and not on yours.  Mistress Silverstream, you said you were coming to visit your uncle.  Isn't this a tad late in the season to just get up and come for a visit?  Are you planning on staying for the winter then?"

"Not in daylight I won't," Kira replied to Morgrim with a lopsided grin, though she wouldn't deny she'd thought of doing just that a moment before.  Once he was away with Ellie and the suddenly besotted guard, she turned back to the man with concern etched in her features.

"Did anyone come with you?  I saw a woman out there when the yeti were attacking.  She wore white robes and had elk antlers on her head," she asked while moving closer, knowing the bit of warmth wouldn't help much but couldn't stand there bundled in good conscience.

"Nonsense Ellie," Morgrim replied with good humour. "I'm sure the two of you will have a wonderful time. But for now let's have a word with the good sherrif." Approaching the doors of the armoury Morgrim laid his hand upon the door and tried to open it. If it did not budge he knocked and made application for a visitation with the sherrif.

Ellie smiled sheepishly and nodded in deference to Morgrim, waving bye to the guard. She then turned to follow the dwarf, rolling her eyes.

"Better luck next time," Arnan said to the guard, keeping a straight face.

"Too bad -- did you see how blue her eyes were? I'll bet that she's a real looker underneath all of those robes."

I'll try and keep this fellow busy. I'm not sure what Ellie and Morgrim have in mind -- or Kira either, for that matter. But taking a potentially troublesome playing piece off the board is never a bad idea.

Location: The Common Room of Kelvin's Comfort

Dalgura, Thane and Helda share drinks and fellowship at the tavern, their spirits warmed by both spirit and hearth. Helda listens with earnest as Dalgura relates her calling to these far northern realms, many miles between her and her native homelands in the warm lands to the south. Helda explains she is well traveled across the Sword Coast and North, but has never ventured further south than Waterdeep.

All this to say, meeting not only one, but two gold dwarves in Icewind Dale is quite a surprise. "A pleasant one," she quickly adds in.



Helda nods in assent to Dalgura's words, "Wise words indeed. Who can truly know the minds of the Gods?!" She goes on to say she is sure Dalgura's calling will be known soon.



"Indeed, quite late. Later than I would have liked!" She explains the cold doesn't bother her too much, she was born to it. But after spending 15 years away, she has grown accustomed to the comforts afforded elsewhere. "Icewind Dale is not a bad place," she reassures, "but it is a place where one must fight for survival. Life is not easy here, to be sure."

Helda further explains the dwarves of Kelvin's Cairn are a very small clan, the vast mineral resources nearly depleted, but still eager to delve deeper in hopes of striking rich veins beneath the mountain. Add to these challenges the struggle of hunting for food for survival, fending off orcs, giants and other creatures, leaves little time for study and other pursuits. It's a hand to mouth existence and she wanted more for herself than to merely survive. Had she not left Kelvin's Cairn, she would have not honed her craft at jewelry making, which is her true calling in life.

She further explains she came north expecting to arrive and depart before winter set in, but its unnaturally early onset may make departing before spring quite difficult. Unfortunately she had already made preparations to make the journey north and arrived in Luskan when the weather turned for the south. Additionally, she had already sent word to her uncle would be coming north, to see for herself rumors of a new ore discovered beneath the mountain. "Black Ice is what my kin are calling it. A new ore! This could be the spark that makes my clan's struggle worth the toil!" she says with gleaming gray eyes.

Helda is prepared to winter at Icewind Dale, perhaps working with the newly discovered ore, before returning to Mirabar with some new wares to offer discriminating clientel.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:45, Fri 13 Jan 2017.

Location: Bryn Shander Market Square



The barbarian shakes his head and says, "No. I came alone, with my King's blessing, to seek aid in defeating the Ice Witch. Some of our tribesmen spoke against it, but I was able to win over King Jarund despite our shaman's counsel to defeat her on our own."

Upon hearing Kira's description of the woman she saw after the yeti attack, the barbarian claims it must have been the Ice Witch she saw.

"Please, you must help me. Break me free or win my freedom. Don't let this injustice stand!" he implores.

"I give you my word, Hengar son of Dethgar Aensvaard, Warrior of the Elk Tribe. Everything I tell you is true, on the blood of my clan, it is." The barbarian looks into Kira's eyes, without blinking once, a long impassioned gaze.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:17, Sat 14 Jan 2017.

Location: Bryn Shander Armory

The enamored guardsman leads Ellie toward the armory, somewhat annoyed Arnan and Morgrim have decided to tag along. There is a word for men who get in the way of another man trying to work an angle and it came to the guard's mind as he led the trio into the armory.

The guard has the trio wait in a small antechamber near the entrance. Another guardsman is preoccupied with sharpening a knife while whiling away the hours, but he looks up when they enter and sizes each up in turn. The two guards exchange a brief greeting, before the market guard, Talan, tells the other the nature of the adventurers visit. The knife sharpener grunts, clears his throat and goes back to his task.

Excusing himself, Talan departs through a heavy door to retrieve the sheriff. The knife sharpener continues his task, the sound of whetstone on metal oddly punctuating the awkwardness of the scene.

The party hears loud but muffled conversation through the door before it is thrown open, Talan and another man appearing in the threshold--Sheriff Markhamm.

The sheriff is a tall, broadly built, rough-looking man. An angry scar runs from brow to cheek, narrowly avoiding the corner of his left eye. He booms, "I'm the Sheriff here. Talan says you wanted to talk about the savage outlander who brought trouble to Bryn Shander. Say your piece and be done with it."

The knife sharpener continues to sharpen, never looking up from his task.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:54, Sat 14 Jan 2017.

If only he'd had someone else with him, someone to stand with him when someone apparently framed him.  It was too easy to blame a lone outsider but Kira wasn't going to stand by and do nothing.  She looked into his eyes and held his gaze, her own just as fierce and promising.

"I have no intentions of letting injustice happen," she stated softly but almost a growl.  "_{I will appeal to the sheriff's logic first but if that does not work, I swear to you I will find a way to get you out of here,}" she whispered.  With a regretful step back, she nodded to him and then turned on her heel to rush to the building where it was said the sheriff could be found.

---

OOC:  If Morgrim has already gained entrance, Kira will simply go through the doors to catch up with him and Ellie.

Leaving Hengar at the market square, Kira glances back and sees him chained there, essentially naked, and knows time is of the essence. Native or not, no mortal will survive the night exposed to the elements. The Frostmaiden is not so kind as to allow it.

Kira hurries along and catches up with the others just as the Sheriff makes his entrance. The knife sharpener looks up when the door swings open, a swirl of flurries entering the antechamber. "Close the damn door," he grumbles before going back to his task.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:04, Sat 14 Jan 2017.

"Did he?" Morgrim mused, scratching his beard as he stared up at the ceiling in confusion. "No. That doesn't sound right. I wanted to ask you about the man tied to a post in the market. Could be he's a savage. Could be he's got himself mixed up in some sort of trouble. I don't rightly know these things. So far as I'm concerned you're all humans, and one of you looks quite nearly the same as the next at waist height. Here I almost confused you with Arnan."

"Not so the man in the market of course. His midriff is bare in the middle of a blizzard. We dwarves call that a 'tell'," Morgrim said tapping the side of his nose knowingly.

"You see, my tender hearted friends and I were just wondering what the case against him is if you'd be kind enough to indulge a road weary dwarf's curiosity. Weary from bringing much needed goods to your town and defending your gate against yetis of course. But I do digress! What was it I was saying again? Oh yes! We were just wondering out loud what sort of crime this fellow could have committed to see him strung up in the bitter cold so, when suddenly it occurred to me 'Hey, Morgrim, that Sheriff Markham fellow sounds like a decent chap. Very salt of the earth. Or ice. Or - well - whatever it is you folks like up here. Fish maybe?"

"Anyhoo! I'm sure he wouldn't mind telling you if ye' just asked him kindly on account of how very, very helpful you've already been for the town and wouldn't you know it, its not even supper time!"

Dalgura listened and nodded while she sipped her drink.  She knew how potent it was and she wanted to be awake when Morgrim came in.

"A new ore?  How exciting.  You mentioned jewelry too.  What else are you carrying?  I haven't bought any jewelry in a long time.  I am asking to we would have a better idea of what kind of security you would need.  Do you only have one wagon or more?"

Thane dug into his food with gusto.  A large and solid man, the cold of the travels and the limited rations surely put a strain on his body's reserves of energy.

Still, he ate quickly and efficiently, not at all making a mess or being disgusting in his manners.  He seemed content to let Dalgura do the bulk of the speaking, although he did interject now and again.  Like now.

"That new ore sounds interesting.  I wonder if it's dangerous?  Or if your clansmen might accidentally uncover something best left alone," he said a bit darkly.  Realizing that what he said probably didn't come out right, he clarified.  "You know, like busting open a drow tunnel or something.  I've fought against some drow before and frankly the thought of them gives me the jeebees."

Ellie eyed Morgrim curiously. He certainly had an odd way of speaking... still, she supposed that was the gist of what they wanted to start with, and she waited patiently before speaking her turn.

The sherrif listens to the dwarf ramble, clearly agitated to be disturbed from whatever he had been doing. When the topic turns to Hengar's crime and punisment, Sheriff Markhamm leans in a bit closer, his jaw visibly clenched. When Morgrim finishes, the sheriff responds in a slow and measured tone.

"Look, most of you aint from here. That much I get. This aint the southlands. Here, a man who will aint willing to work for what he gets is no man. He asked for what he got when he broke into Madame Alcott's store and tried to make off with her lockbox. Next thing you know, townsfolk are talking about it, how Bryn Shander is overrun with ruffians and thieves. And we're going into winter early. We can't stand for wanton thievery without doing nothing about it!" He's now worked up.

Taking a breath, he continues. "You have our thanks for protecting that caravan, but you just don't know how things are up here."

Markhamm further explains townsfolk are now complaining about some ruffians that came up from Luskan, running an extortion racket for 'protection'. Then the Reghed barbarian breaking into Brinna Alcott's store. And now the yeti attack. On top of all this, the onset of winter a full month and then some early!

"That barbarian's likely to have brought the damned yeti here if you ask me!" he seethes. "Aint been no yetis at the gates ever and now there are!"

When that has settled in, he adds, "I am more likely to take the word of Ten Towner than the word of a savage. Madam Alcott's got roots here. The savage doesn't!"

Meanwhile, back at Kelvin's Comfort



Clearly delighted that Dalgara seems amenable to the journey , Helda responds, "Oh, most of the wares in my cart are my tools. And a few pieces I haven't yet finished. Given my stay will be longer than I originally intended, I may have some work to occupy my time over the next few months." She finishes with a playful laugh.

She explains she has but a single cart, pulled by two sturdy draft horses, which she indicates should be sufficient to make the journey to Dwarven Valley.

Still back at Kelvin's Comfort..



"Oh I dare hope not," Helda responds. "If that were the case, I would expect my uncle would have sent word."

After a brief pause, "I asked several master smiths in Mirabar whether there were any known records detailing this new ore, but sadly yielded little in this area. Quite exciting!" she exclaims with a gleam in her eye.

As to the mention of drow, Helda says their domains are further south, but quickly adds in the fact there are numerous passages beneath the earth, most of them unmapped and quite dangerous, so anything is possible especially where drow are concerned.

"But dear me, I hope not," she continues. "A dark mind you have Thane. I think you either need more Firebrandy, or less!" she says with a chuckle.

"Of course, of course!" Morgrim nodded understandingly. "I know things must be very different up here. We southerners are soft folk," he added unironically.

"You did have a guard make note of the damage inflicted upon poor Miss Alcott's store during the break in of course? And no doubt you can confirm whether the stolen lockbox was recovered on the barbarian's person? Oh no, you did say tried to steal didn't you. So Miss Alcott must have fought him off? An impressive feat for a merchant. Miss Alcott is a very strong woman?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:10, Sat 14 Jan 2017.

A life was on the line and while Morgrim was doing his best, it was taking far too long in her book.  "I understand more than you think, like how things can get so busy that it's easy to blame an innocent person for something just because they are different.  That man came to ask for help and if you have a bunch of ruffians it would be all too easy for them to frame someone.  Did you bring in a holy person and use the truth spell or ritual or whatever it is they use?  In the name of justice, I respectfully request you bring that man inside and have him questioned with the truth spell.  I believe he is innocent of the crime and he is most assuredly innocent of bringing the yeti.  I saw, with my own eyes, a woman in white robes and antlers.  When I described her to him, she matched no description of anyone in his tribe.  And I will give that statement under the truth spell," she stated emphatically.  "Do you really want an innocent person's death on your conscience?" she asked, hoping to appeal to the man's goodness ... if he had any.

Morgrim tried to keep his face carefully blank and his gaze level with Markham's though an astute observer would notice a short intake of breath. Nonetheless he waited patiently to see the sheriff's response.

Morgrim and Kira had taken the lead in speaking with Sheriff Markham, which was fine with Arnan. The scout leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest, and silently studied the blowhard. The man seemed quite the bully, and no doubt intimidated many people with his blustering.

But not me, you puffed-up bag of wind, Arnan thought silently to himself. I'd love to drop you down about ten miles outside of town -- alone, with no one to pay attention to your rants -- and then we'd see what you're made of. I'd wager that you haven't got anywhere near the stones that barbarian out there has got. I'd much rather have him watching my back than you.

The sheriff looks away briefly when questioned about the particulars of the crime and subsequent investigation. Morgrim judges Markham's body language to be defensive, the man a bit uncertain himself about the details.

"There was no fight..." he concedes, then indicating that while Miss Alcott is a tough woman, she would be no match for the barbarian if it came down to it.

He then goes on to say there were some inconsistencies in Miss Alcott's story, heard from secondhand sources. Apparently she originally told some townspeople the barbarian stole some bolts of cloth. Later she claimed it was personal effects from her store. Then it was her lockbox, which held a sizable sum of money.

"The box was never recovered," he admits, his eyes cast down at the ground. "But Madam Alcott's a good woman of character. She has no reason to lie about it. It makes no sense for her to sot up her own good name just to see someone strung up."



The argument of the woman with elk antlers does little to sway the sheriff, since Hengar himself is a member of the Tribe of the Elk. This, if anything, further convinces the sheriff that Hengar is implied in the yeti attack. "Hard coincidence for a member of their tribe to show up at the gates," he says.

He then admits no priest was brought in to question the accused. The sheriff questioned Miss Alcott and Hengar and made his judgment, as these are his responsibilities. He claims there is a priestess in town, Mithann, who might be willing to help. He recommends the adventurers speak to her directly if they want to further chase down this rabbit hole. In his mind, the issue is settled. He also stormily suggests if the newcomers are not satisfied with his judgment they can, "take it up with Duvessa." This being the Town Speaker, Duvessa Shane.

"Thank you, Sheriff, you've been most kind," Morgrim says with a nod of his head. He turns to leave without further question, and only sparing a brief glance for his companions. It was clear the dwarf considered their present line of questioning closed, whether or not his companions agreed.

Morgrim will wait to see if anyone intends to leave with him, and then he will go find Brina Alcott directly.

Kira wanted to throttle the man but kept her voice respectful.  "Please, Sir.  There is enough doubt given the accuser changed her story multiple times and why would so called savages want money?  They deal in furs and other goods.  At least bring him inside to a cell where he won't freeze to death before we can figure out what really happened.  Or release him to my custody while I see to asking the priestess for her help and also speak with Duvessa Shane.  I helped take down the yetis and I can take him down too if necessary but he wants to prove his innocence ... please, Sir.  I beg for mercy." Kira tried once more.

With Kira intent on pressing her case, Morgrim nodded his farewell to the others and set off back to the market.

---> Brina Alcott's store

The sheriff shrugs as Kira brings up her final arguments, indicating he does not know the answer to any of her questions. She senses some hesitation in the man, as though these are all points he had thought of previously, but that perhaps there is some hidden weight preventing him from acting on a hunch.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. It's Miss Alcott's word versus his. Unless you come across anything refuting Miss Alcott's account, there's just nothing I can do. His sentence stands."

The sheriff then says he has other business to attend to and retreats through the locked door.

The knife sharpener looks up briefly, then goes back to his task. The other guard escorts the adventurers to the door and wishes them well, before asking Ellie when she wants to meet up later.

Exposed to the elements is a common punishment in these parts, though it is usually reserved for the most heinous crimes. Common thievery typically results in a fine, loss of a hand, or banishment.
This message was last updated by the player at 19:10, Sat 14 Jan 2017.

Ellie looked to the guard for a moment, chewing her lip beneath her scarf.

[Private to GM: I am flattered by your interest, but I am not sure how invested you wish to be with this path. You have not even seen my face; how do you know I am not horribly scarred and disfigured beneath this visage? I assure you that the sight would not be one of easy comfort to you. Oh, and then there is the matter that I am easily and without trouble speaking directly into your mind.]
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Sun 15 Jan 2017.

Thane tried to laugh off Helda's comments, and he mostly succeeded.  "I suppose you're right, Miss Helda," he agreed and took a long pull from his mug of hot cider.  "I've my reasons for letting my imagination run a bit wild but I ought to reign it in.  We are a very very long way from that place now, thank the gods."

Thane made a sandwich of the foods on his platter and continued eating.  "So how many days travel is it to your clan's holdings, anyway?  Are the roads kept open at all during the snowy season, or are you expecting to have to break your trail as you go?"

In reply to Ellie Dovehand (msg # 109):

"I think that he's smitten," Arnan said with a straight face after the guard who had been hitting on Ellie had seen them out the door. "A girl could do worse," he added.

Then again, she could do a hellsuva lot better, too.

The scout glanced around the cityscape and shrugged. "I feel about as useful in this undertaking as teats on a boar. Did you catch which tavern the others were headed to? I think I may just head over for a pint or two, myself."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:30, Sun 15 Jan 2017.

Helda finishes her second mug of ale, after having swore off the 'proprietary' brandy earlier. After wiping the froth from the corner of her mouth with a brilliantly colored handkerchief she reponds, "In good weather, about 6 hours along well worn path. If the snow doesn't let up," she says while peering out a sooty window, "it may take a bit longer and it might make my cart impractical."

Helda further explains she intends on setting out at latest, five days from now. She has a few loose ends to tie up in town before departing for the winter. She then adds she was unable to secure a room at Geldenstag's Rest meeting her specifications and ended up finding a reasonable room at Northlook instead. She claims Northlook is a bit on the rowdy side, but it will have to do for now. "Not like I am wintering there afterall!" she adds in cheerfully before another mug of ale arrives at the table.

A concerned look flashes across the smitten guard's face. Suddenly he begs himself back to duty. "Alright. Alright. You folks take care now," seemingly too happy to depart for his post elsewhere.

He glances back once in the party's direction before disappearing around a corner heading toward the East Gate.

Location: Brinna Alcott's Shop

Morgrim and perhaps Kira and Arnan make for Brinna Alcott's store located just off Market Square. The Madame Alcott's shop is little more than a rundown wood bungalow jammed full of wool, linen and sewing supplies. Inside the humble shop, a prune-faced woman with hawkish features bides her time in a knotty rocking chair, idly knitting a wool cap trimmed with fur.

As the door is thrown open, sounding a string of antlers and bells, the aged woman looks up from her work and exchanges brief greetings, "Well met, well met. Come. Come inside from the cold."

She ceases knitting and waits before all have entered and then tells them to feel free to look around, but if there is something special they need, let her know and she will find it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:22, Sun 15 Jan 2017.

"Kelvin's Comfort," Morgrim replies. "But if ye're not in a terrible hurry I wouldn't say no to another set of ears. We already know what Sheriff Markham thinks of 'he said, she said' when it comes to outsiders. But she said, he said, he corroborates is another story altogether."

"Wouldn't hold it against you if you were thirsty though," Morgrim said with a wink.

Finding Brinna Alcott's shop did not prove to be a difficulty. Morgrim brushed through the doors, shook off his cloak and stamped his boots to remove the worst of the winter snow.

"Ms. Alcott?" he said warmly, with a friendly smile for their hostess. "I got your name at the gate. I'm Morgrim, Morgrim Ironhammer."

Morgrim took a few steps into the store and looked around, ostensibly with an eye towards the goods but also towards the integrity of the hovel itself. "I came up with the caravan. We had some linens and silks on board to barter and sell, only I'd heard a rumour that you'd lost your whole inventory to some wretched thief!"

Does it look like there has been a breakin or altercation in the store? Are any of the entrances damaged? Does it look like any of the stock was overturned?

Miss Alcott narrows listens amenably as Morgrim exchanges greetings but her eyes narrow and her body posture becomes defensive when the crime is mentioned. She clutches her knitwork tightly to her bossom and responds, "...Yes. Well, no. No. Not my whole inventory, as you can plainly see." She gestures to the sagging shelves jam packed with wool and cloth.

Morgrim sees no sign of break in. The windows appear intact and the door does not appear to have been forced open. Judging from the orderly clutter and thin layer of dust coating everything, the shop does not appear to have been rifled through. There is also no evidence of any confrontation taking place in the shop. Glancing around, Morgrim also notes a sigil of Auril, a snowflake set in a diamond, carved into the lintel of the doorframe. The sigil appears to be a relatively recent addition, as the score marks have not aged like the rest of the wood around it.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she finally asks. Her tone and demeanor is very guarded.

"I'm glad to hear you weren't too hardly done by," Morgrim said. "Me dear ol' Da' ran a shop all his life and thieves nearly brought him low more than once. I have the utmost sympathy for a merchant's plight."

"No, I simply wanted to give you a first look before we unloaded at Rendoril's. We've come with fine silks all the way from Calimport and warm wools from the dale lands. Linens and more besides. Before I went to the trouble of dragging the inventory up I just wanted to make sure you still had coin on hand."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:19, Mon 16 Jan 2017.

"Fine silks you say, all the way from Calimport?" the old woman's eyes twinkle with delight. "Oh, I would love to see some of those. Not much of that finery makes it this way up here." Her defensive posture becomes more relaxed now as she leans forward in her rocking chair, placing the wool garment in her lap while she rubs her hands together eagerly.

Finally, she asks if she can see a few of the finer silks before they are unloaded at Rendaril's, to perhaps make an offer before they reach the warehouse.

"As long as coin isn't a problem, and it sounds like it is not!" Morgrim said with a hearty laugh. Of course it wasn't. The old bat hadn't lost her lockbox to begin with. "I could probably do a good price for a devotee of Auril, too," Morgrim mused, nodding towards the sign on the lintel.

"Serves that sticky fingered savage right, the Frostmaiden take him," he growled.

Ellie let out a long sigh after the guard departed.

"Perhaps some day..." she told herself, somewhat forlornly. She then hurried after Morgrim, having lost him for a bit.

She caught up, entering the store a little after he did. Seeing that Morgrim was already heavy into conversation with him, she waited patiently.

Miss Alcott's posture becomes sudued when Morgrim mentions the savage. "Yes. Well, that. It's quite...unfortunate. But maybe what Davrick has been saying isn't all a bunch of hooey afterall. It probably would be best for all concerned for the Frostmaiden's fury to be diverted away from the hardworking people of Ten-Towns. Those glacier savages have done enough ill deeds to have it coming," she claims. Her speech here sounds rote, almost as if she heard the words elsewhere and recited them from memory.

Assuming one of the party members asks her about Davrick, Miss Alcott says Davrick Fain is an annointed Priest of Auril that has been warning of this winter for months now, but his warnings have fallen on deaf ears. Davrick Fain runs a resale shop in Bremen, a village north of Bryn Shander along Maer Dualdon.

Ellie steps forward a bit, looking into the woman's eyes with her own deep, dark orbs. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. Truly then, that young man deserves to freeze to death, slowly from exposure. He wronged you, personally, and there is still justice in this world if he dies for it, right?" she says, pressing her with the questions to get her to speak directly about the boy.

---

^{20:42, Today: Ellie Dovehand rolled 15 using 1d20+5.  Persuasion.}

Miss Alcott recoils backward slightly, biting her lower lip while her eyes dart from side. "If that satisfies the Frostmaiden, yes, yes, it will be so. Only she knows."

"He wouldn't be the first or last to know Auril's embrace. We all will in time," she says with conviction.

OOC: Not sure I understand the last in-character sentence in relation to the Persuasion roll.

Ellie nodded slightly at the woman's words, then abruptly turned and walked out of the shop. She stopped outside, leaning against the building next to the door as she waited for Morgrim.

You should just burn down this shop with her in it. She deserves no less than to choke on the fumes, sticking to a lie like that in the face of an innocent young man dying slowly.

Ellie pouted within her own thoughts for a moment longer, then took a deep breath and tried to shake them away.

---

^{(( OOC: That's exactly what I wanted, I was trying to see if I could break her by making her face the consequences of this line of accusations, but she stuck to it instead. ))}

"Truly," Mogrim acknowledged, watching the woman leave before directing his attention once more to Ms. Alcott.

"So I must know what happened! My father always enjoys a good story and he will love to hear of this when I venture South in the spring. The savage broke in yesterday morning and tried to make off with your cloth? How did you outfox him?" he asked with seemingly keen interest.

Arnan had followed Morgrim and Ellie to the shop where the barbarian had supposedly attempted his thievery. The scout had decided that he had really rather be in a tavern drinking some stout Dwarven ale, but Morgrim's comment about having another pair of ears along had made sense -- Arnan knew how these little towns were, and knew that it might well take more than one outsider's word to contradict someone who lived in Bryn Shander.

He nodded to Ellie as she left the shop, but for his part he maintained his silent vigil from his spot next to the door, where he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed across his chest. By his estimation the clever Dwarf was shepherding the hawk-faced Miss Alcott in the direction that he wanted her to go, and the scout waited for the shop-keeper to trip herself up . . .

After all, patience in one of the virtues that a hunter's life teaches one. It takes a little while sometimes, but if a hunter is patient enough, the prey will usually fall to his arrow.

"Carts CAN be hard to make it through deep snow.  I would imagine it would extend the trip out by a couple of hours at least plus make you more vulnerable for attacks from those who use the elements to their nefarious advantage.  But you said that Geldenstag's Rest did not meet your specifications.  May one inquire as to what they lacked?  I am not sure if Grim has lodging for us or what but if he doesn't get here soon it will be hard for even him to catch up with us on the ale count.  Can you also tell me which temples there are in town? I would like to see if Sharindlar is represented, or has at least an alcove, etc."

Dalgura put in a call for some food, so she wouldn't be tempted any more to steal some off the plate of her companion, and changed her drink to match it.

"<blue>Now Thane, you mentioned you have learned a bit of our language.  Let's hear you speak it.  Let's see if those pebbles are still in your mouth.>"

The old woman's eyes narrow and she responds, "Yes. That's right. A bolt of finely combed wool...and a few other things as well." She then claims she knows everything in her shop, where she put it and how many of each item. "Mind's like a steel trap," she boasts. She shifts uncomfortably in her chair. She has remained seated throughout.

"If something isn't right, I'm sure to know it just as quick as an eastern gale!"

She begins rocking again, this time more rapidly. The floorboards creak with each motion.

"What a fool trying to pull one over you! What does a savage like that need with a bolt of wool anyway?" Morgrim roared in laughter. It begged an obvious question of course. What did a barbarian need with fine textiles? "So what happened then? Was there a struggle? How did you stop him?" The dwarven druid rubbed his hands together gleefully.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Mon 16 Jan 2017.

Meanwhile, back at Kelvin's Comfort, Dalgura and Thane are getting along quite well. Several empty mugs litter their table and a ruin of bowls, trays and a few stray bits of uneaten scrap.

Master Hugglesward eventually makes his entrance, a sizable posse of his employees in tow. The merchant caravan swarms into the tavern and the mood becomes quite boisterous. It is all Ogden Flamebeard can do to keep the mobs' mugs filled, but fill he does. Master Hugglesward gives a short speech, a toast to the men and women who came up north with him, asking for Waukeen to look on kindly after each member. His toast complete, Master Hugglesward settles in to enjoy the evening.

The caravan master has purchased an entire keg of dwarven ale for his troupe, which should last through the evening.

During the evening, Dalgura learns that there are several shrines in Bryn Shander, the largest of which is devoted to Waukeen. If Bryn Shander can claim a patron deity, the Goddess of Commerce would claim that honor. Other public shrines include those dedicated to Gond, Ilmater, Kelemvor, Malar, Talos and curiously Amaunator. Amaunator is an ancient sun god, more commonly venerated in lands far to the south. Even there, his worshippers are few. A priestess, Mithann, has come to establish a small shrine near Market Square, where she has brings a message of hope and rebirth to Icewind Dale. Mithann is known to take a great interest in adventurers, herself a former adventurer hailing from Cormyr.

Miss Alcott begins rocking more furiously, the floorboards creaking louder. "W...well, maybe, I don't know. Oh dear heavens. It's become quite warm. Quite warm indeed. Now where was I?"

She wipes her forehead with a handkerchief. "Well, maybe I'm remembering wrong. Maybe he just took my lockbox? Yes. Yes. Let me go check if that bolt is still where is should be..." She gets up and makes a show of searching one of the groaning shelves.

"Yes. It's here. What do you know, I was mistaken!"

Changing the subject, "Now, weren't you going to bring some Calimshan silks for me to look at?" she asks hopefully. "I will be retiring for the evening soon. Oh my, where has the time gone!?"

"But Madam, your lock-box is gone!" Morgrim replied, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye before suddenly turning sombre. "How could you possibly bid on my silks when that thief and scoundrel made off with your money? But then of course you would know that, because you have a mind like a steel-trap."

"Do you know what I think, Ms. Alcott?" Mogrim asked after he'd let a few seconds of silence pass for that thought to sink in.

"I think there was no break in yesterday morning, first, because nothing in your shop has been broken, and second, because that lad out there wasn't even in Bryn Shander at the time which I'm sure the Gate guards will corroborate. He's been here less than a day."

"Your shop has been undisturbed. Your lock-box is wherever you leave it every night. And no one, least of all a Reghed outlander, made off with your cloth."

Morgrim paused to clear his throat, but was quick to raise his hand to still any protest before continuing.

"Do you know what else I think, Ms. Alcott? I think you're a good woman with a good heart, and that you were put up to this. And how could a poor merchant such as yourself say no? A terrible winter come early this year. Some thugs up from Luskan hitting up honest people such as yourself for 'protection' money. Yetis at the very gates of Bryn Shander no less! I'll bet its everything you can do just to survive from one cold night to the next! And of course, who would miss one 'glacier savage' if it would appease Auril. He probably had it coming anyway!"

"But not like this, Brinna. Not like this."

Morgim cleared his throat again.

"Sheriff Markham knows there are holes in the story, holes big enough you could push a yeti through. He knows because I just came from the barracks. But he seems like a compassionate man, Brinna. I bet if you came clean, he'd be very understanding. And then we could all go to sleep in our own beds tonight and forget this ever happened."

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 132):

What little color she has remaining in her face is flushed pale as Morgrim casts his accusation at Miss Alcott. The old lady's hands begin to tremble and she says, "Oh dear me, I must sit down..."

The old woman begins to tear up when she is seated, her lower lip trembling while she shifts her jaw uncomfortably.

"It's true," she finally admits lowly. She then claims she only hatched this scheme because she had hoped the sacrifice of a barbarian would appease Auril's wrath and spare the town of a lot of suffering and death come the depths of winter. "She's a harsh mistress. I was just trying to...help..."

Miss Alcott reluctantly agrees to recant her story to Sheriff Markhamm, but needs help making the short walk to the armory. All strength and vigor seem to have left the old woman now, the weight of her actions hanging heavily over her.

The party proceeds to the armory and relates their findings to Sheriff Markhamm, who becomes visibily angry at this whole affair. "If I didn't have enough to worry about already..." he chides irritably.

The sheriff then sends for the barbarian's possessions and orders him freed from bondage!

OOC: Well done!

"I'm sure you were, Brinna," Morgrim says kindly as he offers the old woman his arm. "I'm sure you were."

Allowing Brinna to lean against him on route to the armoury, he gently patted her hand and reminded her that she was doing the right thing.

* * * * *

When all was said and done Morgrim exchanged a respectful nod with the Sheriff and then followed the guardsmen out to the market to make sure the barbarian was cut down where he watched from the edge of the square with an air of quiet satisfaction.

"Well? Who's hungry? I could eat an ox, and I'm sure my poor, dear sister is worried half sick about me by now. Hah!"

OOC: I'm glad that worked. My next play if she stayed stubborn was a bit shakey ;)

Previously, the moment Hengar is freed. The barbarian expresses his gratitude toward Morgrim, Kira, Ellie and Arnan, for having faith in him where no other had. "I know I have already asked much of you honorable people. But, I come to you again, asking for your help..."

Hengar then all bet begs the adventurers to return with him to his tribe's camp, out on the tundra. He had hoped to secure magical help to fight against the Ice Witch, a skill not found among his people, but his trip to Bryn Shander has yielded no fruit. He longs to return to his tribe at once and aid them against the Ice Witch's campaign to destroy his people. He says he has no coin to pay for their services, but, "you would forever be heralded among the long tradition and song of the Tribe of the Elk."

Hengar would like to leave immediately, even though daylight is but a sliver of cerulean on the horizon, but is willing to wait until morning if the party has other business to attend to.

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 134):

"That was well done," Arnan said to Morgrim as they stood in the market square and watched the town guards cut down the barbarian who had been tied to a post. He stood ready to step over and help the man, in case his legs were weak after his ordeal -- he figured that the barbarian would be too proud to ask for aid.

"I could see you leading the old lady down the garden path, but until there at the end I wasn't sure whether she would come right out and admit that her accusations were false. That was a good thing -- I'm not sure whether Markhamm would have done anything if she had stuck to her story. It was easier from his point of view to just leave things as they were, and let Nature finish what She had started."

When Hengar asked for their aid against the Ice Witch, Arnan turned to his companions who were present. "I'll admit that I am inclined to help. Better to stop this Ice Witch now than to risk having her defeat the barbarians, then turn against the other rangers and scouts in this area whom I count as friends, or even the towns hereabouts."

"Plus, being welcome among the Tribe of the Elk would be no small thing for a man such as me."

"I just opened my ears and told a foolish old woman what she wanted to hear," Morgrim said with a wink. "She was quite capable of talking herself in knots all on her own."

"As for you, Mister Aensvaard, as much as I was happy to help I'll not be going anywhere without my sister. I can make no promises in either regard, but I dare say we most assuredly wouldn't leave before the dawn. Let us talk it over."

"How far is it to your tribe's camp?"

Ellie was glad to see that Morgrim got the woman to admit her fault; she had been mulling over possibilities of getting the others to help with breaking him out secretly, but that was a risky path and the path she walked was slippery enough already. When the barbarian was released, it was all Ellie could do to bite her tongue; wanting to suggest that the lady Alcott be put in his place.

But, she had been raised to show more mercy and forgiveness than that. She whispered and unheard prayer for a moment over the stockade, then continued on with the others.

Listening to Hengar's pleads, Ellie chewed her lip beneath he scarf. "Lady Silverstream wanted our help in getting to Kelvin's Cairn, and she was willing to pay, but this does sound ever so much more urgent. I'd be inclined to help the Tribe, but is there any chance at all we could do both?" she asked, her tone line and hopeful.

Hengar quickly throws furs over his naked form to combat the biting cold spasms wracking his considerable frame.

"Thank you for giving it your consideration," he humbly says. Hengar says his tribe's winter camp is 20 miles north of Kelvin's Cairn, and that it should take 2 to 3 days to reach his camp, depending on weather and other hazards along the way.

"I will be staying at the Hooked Knucklehead and you can reach me there, should you decide before morning. If not, I will be at the markey square at dawn. I would be honored to see you and your company there, but if not, may all your nights be warm and your days healthful."

With this, he offers a handshake in parting. The manner of handshake is quite different among his people, but each manages well enough to cause no great amount of social discomfort.

Arnan noted that Hengar did not directly answer whether it would be feasible for the group of adventurers to travel first to Kelvin's Cairn in the company of Mistress Silverstream, and then to proceed onward to the Tribe of the Elk's winter camp.

"Mayhaps Mistress Silverstream would have some thoughts on your question, Ellie," Arnan said after he had shaken hands with Helgar.

"That's one of several good reasons that I can think of for us to head over to Kelvin's Comfort," he said with a smile.

"Here, take this," Morgim says, stooping down to lift up a handful of snow and packing it between his fingers. When he opens his hands again between his fingers is a heap of blood red berries.

He hands them to Hengar.

"They only last a day, but you shouldn't worry for hunger."

Saw this snow ball turned goodberry in another game and it was too good to pass up.

Casting Goodberry.

Ellie stretched out a bit, letting out a sigh as she did. She reached up to straighten her face coverings afterwards, "I could certainly use a hot meal and a soft bed myself. It sounds like no matter what, we'll likely be leaving early in the morning."

"We'll see," Morgrim said noncommittally. "But I can't argue with the first part. Come, lets go join the others."

---> Kelvin's Comfort

Thane had been content with finishing off his platter and his first mug of hot cider while listening to the dwarven ladies speak back and forth, so Dalgura's request caught him off guard.  He swallowed the last of his cider a bit hard and looked a tad uncomfortable.

"Uh, what should I speak about?" he wondered out loud.  He drummed the fingers of his right hand on the table for maybe a five count before making up his mind.

"Okay, I can do that," he said, sticking to the common tongue for the moment.  "Since you dwarves like to hear about people's lineages, I think I'll tell you something about mine.  So, here we go..."  He swallowed hard again and reached reflexively for his now-empty mug and his hand fell short as he realized it was indeed empty.  He stowed the offending hand in his lap for safekeeping.

"I am Thane of the tall and showy Harkensen family line," he began.  His pronunciation seemed fine, for a human, anyway.  "My family line is filled with proud busy men!  We humans don't look backwards so far as dwarves into family lines, so I will speaking of my Grand Pa and my Pa only," he continued, a little nervously.  Perhaps he hadn't spoken Dwarven very recently.

"My Grand Pa was quite big known Sheep Whittler," he began to describe his Grandfather's profession.  "He had most large Sheep Whittling house in all Luskan, and sold many kinds of wool, skins, and clothings made from Sheep Whittling.  His name and treasure was so great he sented my Pa to big school to learn how to draw words and make books.  Grand Pa is now dead, but I have a blanket of Sheep Whittlings with me even to this day, nice blanket and heavy, very good against cold night chillings."

Thane paused and dared to quickly look in the eyes of his dwarven companions to judge whether they were following him or not.  It seemed that they were, judging by the smiles on their faces, which he interpreted as him telling them a good tale of lineage.  Encouraged, he got a little more bold and sped up the pace of his delivery.

"My Pa, back when, he was made of many big brains!  That's why Grand Pa sented him to study.  And study he did, long and chewy he studied.  My Pa works with book, you see.  He works with them so hard that they falls out of their bindings!  Which is okay because Pa also knows how to make words and colory drawings and so he writes the fallen apart books like new and binds them up himself.  Pa gets much treasure from this book working and is able to make and keep a big family.  I am middle-most of nine rocklings, but unlike most of them, Pa said I have few brains and so I do not work with words or books."

Thane pursed his lips and looked both pouty and peevish at this for a second or two, then his neutral mask settled again and he wound up his tale of lineage.

"So this brings talkings to me.  I may have few brains and not be able to work with words and books like Pa or my chipstones, but I am strong and tough like horse or ox.  So I make my treasures by trading my arms for weapons, my skin for armors, and beating up foes of Luskan for my boat boss.  But boat boss sent me here with train of wagons to beat up foes that want to steals wagon treasures, and I get to stays here until train of wagons go back when sun melts snows.  This is okay with me.  Luskan was not always happy place for me to make my treasures anyway."

Thane had an almost happy expression on his face.  He made it through his tale of lineage!  And, he thought to himself, he even managed to throw some embellishments in there to make the tale more interesting for Dalgura and Ladysmith Helda, too.

He leaned forward on the bench and eyed them with anxious curiosity.  "Well, what do you think?  Do I really speak with stones in my mouth?" he asked, reverting to the Common tongue.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:34, Wed 18 Jan 2017.

Morgrim, Ellie, Kira and Arnan enter the now bustling common room of Kelvin's Comfort. Dalgura, Thane and Helda are seated at a table near the hearth, getting along swimminglt. Most of Hugglesward's crew is here as well, the men and women of his company growing more spirited by the second. The dwarven proprietor does his best to keep his customer satisfied, albeit with a touch of vinegar in his tone as he good heartedly chides overly zealous patrons.

In the short span of perhaps 6 hours, the party has warded off a yeti attack, secured the release of the condemned barbarian, and received two separate offers of employment. Well, at least they won't be idle this winter!

At some point during the evening, a few locals approach the adventurers and congratulate them on their role in defeating the yetis at the gate. This naturally leads to the adventurers hearing about similar attacks plagueing Icewind Dale for weeks, since soon after the early winter storm that swept across the region. But this is the first time a monstrous attack has been so close to any of the Ten Towns. Normally yetis do not venture south of Kelvin's Cairn and the wolves and bears of the region stay well clear of Ten Towns and human travelers. Not so lately.

A few late arriving patrons also mention the fact the babarian is no longer chained to the post in the Market Square and this causes a bit of a stir as the locals form wild theories about what it might mean.

Numerous side conversations about all sorts of local gossip permeate the tavern, though these hushed conversations are nearly drowned out by the roar of Hugglesward's company, who are more interested in tying one on than putting their ear to the street to get a sense of the town.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:10, Wed 18 Jan 2017.

Ellie marches right up to Thane and Dalgura, taking a seat at their table without prompt. She looks to the dwarven woman; "Your brother managed to talk the wits and confession out of the stupidest and worst shopkeeper lady in all of Ten Towns. It was really quite inspired, I was going to take a far less subtle approach myself" she said, a bit of admiration in her voice.

"Miss Dovehand is being kind," Morgrim said as he came up behind his sister and placed his hands upon her shoulders. "I don't hardly deserve the credit."

"Keeping out of trouble with your new drinking buddies I hope, Dal?" he said with a wink.

Arnan came into the tavern with Ellie and Morgrim, but saw no need to add any comments to what the two had already related.

He nodded a greeting to those of Hugglesward's people who were sober enough to recognize him, and amused himself by listening to the tales that had grown around the fact that the barbarian was no longer tied to the pole  in Market Square.

Dalgura could barely contain her laughter at the words that were coming out of the human.  She knew that they were Dwarven words but it took her a bit to recognize them.  Thane didn't really have any pebbles in his mouth but she wasn't sure he had the Dwarven vocabulary in his brain either.

She coughed and took a drink while trying to figure out how to answer Thane's question.  "Oh my!  Well you didn't sound like you had TOO many pebbles in your mouth.  That is an interesting lineage you recited.  You might want to double check some of the words though before you repeat it to too many people.  Do you really have a blanket of Sheep Whittlings?  May I see it?  I think that you had rocks on your mind.  Did you mean to say that you were the middle-most of nine rocklings, but unlike most of them, your Pa said said you had few brains and so you do not work with words or books.  It also sounded painful when you mentioned you traded your arms for weapons, your skin for armors and beat up foes of Luskan for your boat boss.  Did you really use your skin for armor?  What kind of healing was used after that do you know?  Did it leave any scars?

Dalgura would have kept up with her line of reasoning (in her mind anyway) but Morgrim showed up and Ellie had sat down.  "Oh my brother can indeed talk!  Sometimes I think he just talks until people give up and submit to his reasoning.  Oh!  Hi Grim!  Barkeep!  A cold mug of foam for my brother please.  The one that you've been chilling!"

Dalgura made room for the others to sit down.  "Me?  Trouble?  Really Morgrim.  You'll give these people a totally inaccurate representation of me."  She grinned while she said it and winked at the group.

Morgrim laughed and then signaled one of the servers for an ale and something hearty before taking the seat next to Dalgura.

"I'm glad you're playing nice," he said.

"But if I can interrupt your moment of levity there's something that bears discussion."

Morgrim proceeded to inform his sister, and any others who happened to be present and listening of Hengar's request. He listened in turn while Helda Silverstream's offer was relayed in turn.

"Well? What do you think, Dal?" he said once everything was explained to everyone's mutual content. "Hengar wants to set out tonight, and Helda wants to set out in five. With the tribe's camp two to three days away with fair weather it doesn't seem likely we can do both."

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 150):

Dal thought for a moment and then closed her eyes as if she was listening to an inner voice.  Finally she opened her eyes, took a bite of her food and then pushed a sandwich over to Morgrim, and smiled.

"Eat brother.  It sounds like you have had quite the adventure also.  Mistress Helda here (nods to Helda) has an opportunity to check out perhaps a new ore.  That would indeed be a good thing to help and be on the discovery of something like that.  Helping out the Tribe of the Elk, however, would help out a whole tribe as well as the town.  If we went on that adventure it would, in one way, also be helping out Helda since it is a known fact that people buy more if they aren't under attack and have to use their coins for repairs etc.  Oh by the way, I need to make a trip to a new shrine and I'd like to talk to the Priestess there.  After you get food and ale in your belly will you join me?  AND did you make arrangement for a place for us to sleep tonight?"

Morgrim happily sunk his teeth into the sandwich while he listened to his sister speak. "O'course I'll come with you, Gura," Morgrim replied between mouthfuls. "And no. I've not been anywhere near an inn."

He continued chewing thoughtfully for a few moments.

"Do you think this is what mother intended for us then? To help the Reghed tribe? I'd thought it would turn out to be something more properly... you know... dwarven."

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 152):

"Since when have we both been THAT proper?  If you want something more proper than go with Helda and look into her black ice.  That would probably involve mines and other typical dwarven things.  On the other hand, a Dwarven DRUID might want to investigate things about Elk and stuff.  MY Goddess will be happy with either because wherever we go there will be healing needed."

"I'm just sayin', Dal!" Morgrim replied, putting up his hands defensively but grinning from ear to ear. "You're the one she chose to confide in! If I had my druthers she'd have sent us some place warmer altogether!"

Ellie tried to follow the back-and-forth of the dwarves for a bit, then gave up understanding the siblings. She instead turned deliberately to her food. Quietly, she began taking bites, bringing the fork up to her scarf when she would bring a gloved hand up to, momentarily, pull the covering down just low enough to slip a bite into her mouth. She would then pull the scarf back up while she chewed, and continued along like this.

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 154):

Dalgura chuckled at Morgrims hand throwing and grinned.  "While I won't question the dictates of my faith I also wish it had been a little warmer.  We will get to adventure in warmer climates eventually.  We are Dwarves afterall.  We can take it AND we won't look as silly as some of the humans do picking up their gangly legs in the snow.....Oh...."

Dalgura looked over at who was at the table and put her hand to her mouth.  "Oops.  I didn't mean those at this table of course.  But speaking of those at this table, why don't you just take your scarf off Ellie?  It would make eating so much easier wouldn't it?"

If Dal had jumped from one fire and landed into another with her unfiltered thoughts, she wasn't aware of it.  She was pretty much an open book and if she thought to ask a question she usually asked it or perhaps it would have been more accurate to say the questions popped out of her mouth in whatever order they assembled.  Her Priest always said she would outgrow that which usually made Dal burst out in laughter since she KNEW she had already gone through all her growth spurts.

Ellie freezes for a moment like a deer in the headlights. She chews slowly a few times and swallows what she had in her mouth before responding.

"People... tend to look at me funny when the see me without my coverings. Besides that... I came from a religious family myself. And I see that you follow your god quite closely. You might... take some exception, to my condition. My mother did too."

In reply to Ellie Dovehand (msg # 157):

"Your condition?  Is it something that I can help with?  My goodness Grim and I have had some "looks" thrown our way a time or two ourselves so I wouldn't let it bother you."

Ellie smiles, though the action cannot be seen beneath the scarf. "Thank you, but no sweetie I don't believe it is something you can help with. Still, though..."

Ellie takes a look around the tavern carefully. She judged how many were looking her way, and considered that many of the patrons were members of Hugglesward's caravan, among who she had fought and defended. Deeming it was safe, she turned back to Dalgura.

Ellie brought her hands unfurling her scarf and pulling it off before pushing the shawl off her head as well. She also pulled her leather gloves off, revealing her hands as well as her face and head.

Beneath it all, the sight is hauntingly beautiful, yet disturbing. She has no horns or any other indication of a tiefling or one with any devil lineage, and the natural, graceful beauty instead implies celestial heritage. However, there is something terribly wrong there.

Her hair is black; strangely black, too black, like a raven's wings in the darkest depths of the deepest caverns; it doesn't seem to reflect any light as hair normally would. Her skin is an ashy gray in color, as if all the blood beneath is absent, and her lips are dark crimson, though they seem to have no makeup applied. Her eyes, which could only be nominally seen before are now revealed in full; they still have the same shining icy blue with deepest blackest depths in the middle, and the eyes themselves seem to be lined in the deepest shadows, with 'wings' that trail off the far corners. The 'wings' trail downward then end in sharp points like strange shadow-tattoo tears.

Her hands are the same ashy skin color, but her nails are pitch black like her hair, and though she seems to keep them filed down short, they seem to come to natural, yet unnatural, points.

Laid bare, Ellie does her best to give off a disarming smile, though the look may still be unsettling.

In reply to Ellie Dovehand (msg # 159):

Dalgura looked at Ellie and then thought about what had transpired recently.  Ellie had been an asset in the fight and her brother hadn't given Dal any indication that she should be careful around her.  She once again closed her eyes and concentrated for a little bit, giving a brief internal prayer up to her Goddess to say that Dal was going to trust Ellie for now.  A minute later Dal opened her eyes and looked at Ellie again with a smile and pushed a sandwich toward her.

"You are right.  I can understand people staring at you.  They stare at beautiful women all the time.  Your hair is fantastic! Of course they could be staring at you because you're too skinny.  Hardly any meat on you.  Have a sandwich."

Dalgura might be considered plump or curvaceous by other races but a dwarf she was on the borderline of being skinny.  Once again the Priest said she would outgrow that as she aged and grew up.  That was another speech that caused Dalgura to chuckle at and be put on kitchen duty for a week.  It probably would have been longer but the other priests were tired of casting purify food and water in order to eat her cooking.

Ellie smiles, and obediently takes a bite from her plate. She was fairly certain Dalgura was being overly kind and perhaps harbored reservations she didn't speak of, but Ellie was happy simply not to be met with open hostility. Part of her warned that perhaps the dwarf was being dishonest, and would take the first opportunity to betray her or at least abandon her. But Ellie pushed those thoughts away, attempting to shut them out.

In between bites, she reached up and took a strand of her hair, looking at it in her hand. "I hate it. It used to be white-blonde, like snow on a field of wheat. Same as my mom's..."

"Have a sandwich. Have a sandwich. That's your answer to everything, Dalgura! Have a sandwich!" Morgrim muttered around his sandwich.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:35, Wed 18 Jan 2017.

Arnan found Ellie's uncovered appearance to be striking, and for about a five-count, he simply stared at her. His expression held no hostility, but did hint at his surprise.

Dalgura and Ellie continued their conversation, and Arnan turned a hard stare on the others at the table -- and at nearby tables, for that matter -- as if daring them to make any derogatory comments.

This could mean trouble, he thought to himself. Lots of these people have never beeen outside the walls of Bryn Shander in their entire life, and as a result they are small-minded and ignorant, and unaccepting of those who are different from them. Howsomever, I already know that Morgrim can sell snow in Ten Towns in the dead of winter, and mayhaps Dalgura and some of the others have the same skills.

Worst comes to worst, I'll wager that Thane and I can bust a few heads, maybe knock some sense into them . . .

Dalgura rolled her eyes at Morgrim's statement.  "You're starting to sound like a broken wheel Morgrim.  That is not ALL I say."  Dal paused for a bit and then finished her sentence.  "Sometimes I tell you to have a drink instead!"  Dal giggled and winked at Ellie.

"Snow on a field of wheat.  Nice turn of a phrase.  No offense to your mother but I think that the dark hair looks better.  Gives you more character and talk about goes with that shade of blue eyes!"

Dal took another bite of her sandwich and urged everybody to eat and drink.  After she was satisfied that they were, she gave each of them an expectant look.  "Well.  What's the verdict.  What do the rest of you want to do?  We worked pretty good together and that was without planning or anything.  Want to stick together and go for one of the jobs?  Just wondering so I know how much time I will have to go visit one of the shrines.  Speaking of which.  I heard there is a new shrine to Armaunator around.  Anybody have any idea about that?  I know it is an ancient sun God but that is about all."

Regarding Dalgura's Response to His Dwarf-Speak Thane cocked his head to the side and shook it as if not hearing Dalgura properly.  "I said what?" he asked incredulously.  His brows furrowed so narrowly they looked like a unibrow and Thane appeared both consternated and embarrassed.  "Why...Rurik and Oskar must have been playing me for a fool!  Them's the ones that taught me, by mainsail!"  Thane put a palm to forehead and looked down at the table, muttering under his breath.  After a deep draught from his freshly-filled cider mug, he bravely looked Dalgura in the eyes.  "I'll have a few things to say to them after the winter is over!  In the meantime, maybe you and your brother, here, can help me learn the right ways of saying what I meant to tell you?"


Regarding Ellie's Unveiling Very shortly after his response to Dalgura, the one calling herself Ellie unwrapped her head coverings and took off her gloves.  Poor Thane dropped his latest sandwich onto his platter and stared for a moment too long before coughing into a closed fist and averting his eyes.  Knowing full well he was likely caught staring, he again summoned the courage to look up and into Ellie's eyes directly once some of the others had commented on her appearance.  "Well, you certainly look different from most ladyfolk I've ever seen.  Not in a bad way, though," he added quickly.  "Exotic and pretty at the same time, makes me wonder what country or Kingdom you are from?" he asked innocently, a sure indicator that he has likely never seen an Outsider before.

Regarding Hengar the Barbarian and the Question of What to do Next "So the man chained to the post in the market was innocent?" he asked in a rhetorical tone.  "Being froze to death is a cruel way to die, but not the cruelest I have seen.  Luskan can be downright cruel in their punishments, too.  Especially when a Ship's Captain gets to say what the punishment's gonna be," he informed his fellows.  His tone indicated he didn't like it very much but had accepted it as the way things were.  "Lucky day for him that you all intervened.  Certainly a good deed you should be proud of.  Maybe the justice here isn't much better than it was back in Luskan," he added, dropping his voice low enough so that his words wouldn't carry very far.

As for what course to take next, Thane seemed ambivalent.  "I'm not sure I have a preference.  Honestly, I'm used to being told what to do next by my ship boss, being a soldier and all.  I've heard many tales about the barbarian tribes, some good and some frightening, so there is a bit of curiosity about them.  But then again I've always been curious about Kelvin's Cairn, too.  I guess I'm okay with either path, really.  I'll be here all winter at any rate!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:25, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

Ellie noticed Arnan's rather protective demeanor since her unveiling, and that brought a genuine smile back to the strange girl's face. Then Dalgura and Morgrim started going off on one another again and Ellie just shook her head and laughed.

When Thane asked about her origin though, Ellie perked up a bit. "Oh, I'm from the Snowflake Mountains. Carradoon? Not sure if you've ever heard of it, it's far to the south, and mostly landlocked. But it's not about where I'm from, but who I'm from; I'm an Aasimar, same as my mother; humans born with the blood of celestials. My mother told me that our bloodline started long ago, with my five-times great grandmother. She was an adventurer you see, and left home when she was young. She came back decades later, because she was with child. She swore to her family that the father was an angel, a real angel, and had died protecting her from a great fiend. None of them believed her and thought she was just making excuses for traveling around and being a harlot... well, then her son had wings. It's all history after that, really" she said, smiling fondling while telling the tall tale of her family's history.

Her smile faded a moment later however, before she finished. "My mother thinks that I'll be the last of our line, though."

She trailed off after that, and hearing something about Helda made her perk back up again; "I still wonder if we can't do both. I bet I could convince Helda to leave first thing in the morn."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

Helda mingles throughout the room during the evening, though she primarily spends her time trading good-natures jabs with the proprietor. At some point during the evening, she relates that she intends to leave no later than five days' time.

While Dalgura and Morgrim are engaged in the sort of banter common only in siblings or couples who have spent many years in each others' company, and the others try to get a word in edgewise, Arnan turns his attention to the other patrons.

Master Hugglesward's company comprise the vast majority of revellers, though he spots more than a few obvious locals in the tavern as well. Most of those present Arnan would characterize as hard-working folk: laborers, shopkeeps, and the like. Added to these numbers are a few trappers and hunters, in from the cold like all the rest.

Then Arnan notices a group of locals nearby casting suspicious glances at the adventurers' table every now and again, their glances always seeming to linger anytime Thane speaks. Arnan overhears one of them say to his companion, "Another damn Luskan thug. We more of them like we need another hole in our head!" This was meant to be shared only with those at his table, but it was loud enough for Arnan to hear it over the din of numerous loud voices competing for audio space.

A second man at the nearby table responds, "Keep your voice down, lest we end up on the wrong side of Slim's new recruits. Caravan guards my eye!"

A third puts in, "Yeah. I heard those folks hired on in Luskan, so you're probably right. Aint good enough to screw their own city up, they now exporting that up here!"

The first says, "The Speaker's gotta do something about this! Those bastards are bleeding me dry..."

Elsewhere in the tavern, a roar of cheers erupts as an inebriated man stumbles up onto a small stage with a fiddle in hand. The man wears brightly colored clothing that is at odds with the neutral colors common to the tavern. In short order, the man is fiddling intensely, singing raucous crowd-pleasing songs. The tone in the tavern becomes even more festive as he tears into a bawdy ballad.

Morgrim ignores the rumour mongering patrons for the time being and pushes back his chair. From his pack he produces a battered penny whistle and joins the fiddler on the floor. For a few moments he merely listens, tapping his foot to the rhythm and learning the melody. Then he places his instrument to his lips and begins to play, boots tapping along in time.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:07, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

Arnan smiled thinly as he overheard the comments from the nearby tables, but there was no humor in his expression. He used the noise generated by the fiddler, who was soon joined my Morgrim -- and the tavern-goers who noisily voiced their approval of the music -- to drown out his own comments, except for those at his table.

"Looks like the locals have you pegged as just another tough up from Luskan, Thane. Well, actually, they think that we all are new recruits of some sod named 'Slim' -- apparently Slim and his bully-boys have been strong-arming the locals for 'protection money'."

"No wonder the powers-that-be were so quick to make an example of Hengar. They can't -- or won't -- deal with the real problem, and were eager to use a throw-away barbarian to try and convince the locals that they really are stand-up law-and-order men, after all."

Arnan turned to Ellie. "A moment ago I heard you suggest that we travel with Mistress Silverstream to Kelvin's Cairn, and then travel onward to the Tribe of the Elk's winter camp, which apparently lies only some 20 miles to the north. That's a very reasonable suggestion if you don't know the lay of the land hereabouts."

"I do, and I'm afraid that I have to speak up strongly against doing that. You see, there is a big mountain that lies between Kelvin's Cairn and the area where the barbarians' camp is located. That trek would be difficult even in mid-summer, and will be impossible -- or very nearly so -- this time of year. The mountains hereabouts are littered with the bones of those who took the dangers posed by the mountains themselves and the weather too lightly. I do not plan to join them -- at least, not yet."

"I can think of several feasible ways to reach the barbarians' camp, but I won't go into those sorts of details unless someone is especially interested in them -- it probably wouldn't mean much to anyone any way, if they don't know the areas that I am talking about. And it doesn't really matter, because Hengar stands ready to guide us to his camp. He will be in town until early tomorrow morning, and I know how to contact him -- or where to meet him, if we want to just show up, trail-ready, early in the morning."

"So, then . . . I think that we have to chose between going to Kelvin's Cairn and aiding Hengar and his people. And as much as I would like to visit the Hold that is home to the famed Battlehammer Clan in the company of Mistress Silverstream . . ." here Arnan nodded politely to Helda Silverstream, then continued " . . . I judge the threat posed by this Ice Witch who threatens Hengar's people to be much more important."

"I judge her to be a potential threat to the entire North, if she is able to overcome those opposed to her, one tribe or settlement at a time. Surely all of you have heard the locals' comments about the dirty, thieving barbarians. We are the only ones in this town who would even consider going to the aid of the Tribe of the Elk."

Arnan glanced around the tavern. "Is Kira here? She glimpsed a person whom I believe to have been the Ice Witch urging the Yetis forward to attack the caravan. I would prefer that she tell what she saw, if she is here."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:33, Thu 19 Jan 2017.

Ellie blushes a bit when Arnan suggested that she didn't know what she was talking about, dipping her head down towards her plate for a while as he continued on. It was a fair enough of an accusation, she supposed, since she obviously didn't know where the Elk Tribe was. There was only a single mountain in all the Dales; of course it would be opposite of that.

Once Arnan was finished, Ellie shrugged. "It sounds like the barbarian's tribe is far and that will likely be a long trip. His plight does indeed seem to be the most urgent, but with so many problems so much closer I wonder if we shouldn't look into them first. The 'Slim' for example; perhaps we should look into that problem. It would certainly ingratiate us with the locals better."

Thane was thoroughly engrossed in the conversation at his own table and was ignorant of the goings-on elsewhere in the Tavern.  "Well, Ellie, I, ah, don't think I've ever met anyone with Celestial blood in them.  That makes you a first!  I haven't ever been very far from home, either, unless you count being on board a ship once for training for about three weeks.  Have no clue where we really went, all I know is that was a miserable three weeks," he conversed. "Your family and lineage sounds really interesting, though," he added in friendly tones.

Then Arnan got his attention and whispered things about a Slim and some locals not being happy about Luskan's being in the town.  Thane frowned.  "What the hell did I ever do to these folks?" he retorted with innocent indignation.  At least he had the wisdom to not look accusingly at the table of locals in question.  "And Slim..I'm not sure I even know a Luskan who goes by that name."

Thane sat there and stared at his plate, trying to remember anything connected to a Luskan thug named Slim.

18:34, Today: Thane Harkensen rolled 18 using 1d20-1.  Intelligence Check:  Who the devil is Slim?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:21, Fri 20 Jan 2017.

Thane vaguely recalling heard stories about a fellow member of Ship Rethnor who goes by the name of "Slim", but the two do not run in the same circles and Thane does not know him personally. But soldiers occasionally talk and Thane has heard other soldiers gripe about being swindled by a Slim back in Luskan. Coincidence? How many Ship Rethnor Slim's (if that's even his real name) could there possibly be?

Arnan grunted in amusement at Thane's complaint that he had done nothing wrong to deserve the ire of the locals. "Well, you are an outsider, and your accent marks you as being from Luskan. Guilty! To the post with you!"

The scout turned to Ellie and regarded her thoughtfully before he replied to her comments. "Aye, I daresay that the trip to the winter camp of the Tribe of the Elk will not be a summer's walk in the park, especially if the Ice Witch has eyes and ears out, and she becomes aware of our effort to aid Hengar's people."

"And I daresay that the locals here in this town -- and especially Sheriff Markhamm --  would be appreciative of our doing the sheriff's job for him. But if we dither about here, dealing with local toughs, we run the risk of the Tribe of the Elk losing its battle before we can reach them. And if that happens, they will then no longer be available as allies, and the Ice Witch will be free to disappear into the wilds  -- whereas now, we know her general whereabouts, and can strike at her whilst she is engaged with the Elks."

Arnan stared down at the table and shook his head. "The Elks are a proud people. They must be in dire straits, indeed, for Hengar to lower himself to come to this place to beg for aid from those who treat his people like dirt. Were I in his boots, I would rather eat hot coals than undertake what he did on behalf of his tribe."

The scout raised his eyes to glance at those around the table. "Aiding the Elks is plainly the most difficult of the tasks that have been presented to us, and it probably will reward us least in terms of coin for our services. But I believe that it is the task that, if ignored, presents the most danger to the most people. Hence, it seems clear to me that 'tis the task that we should undertake."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:37, Fri 20 Jan 2017.

After dealing with the sheriff, Kira had gone silent and mostly lurked in the shadows while Morgrim played the old woman so well.  She wanted to slit the woman's throat for going along with some scheme to frame an innocent man, knowing the irony of her desires.  There were many times in life Kira wasn't innocent but she'd done what she had to survive and when she'd gotten enough to stand on her own, she'd decided to use her less than lawful skills for good.

Hengar was free and she'd given him five of her gold pieces, asking him to stay the night and make sure he was warm and had plenty of food.  She'd also told him she wasn't much, but even if the others decided not to help that she would.  There was something that drew her to the man of Elk, something mystical though she didn't know what it could be as she fingered the ivory pendant about her neck.

In the tavern she'd gotten a mug of ale and bowl full of hot stew with bread, then sat near the others but sort of out of sight of them and everyone.  She wasn't sulking per se but she wasn't happy with what she'd witnessed and then was overhearing.  Calling Thane a Luskan thug made her want to laugh and punch the fools for their stupidity.  She knew some real thugs and still had a few scars as a result.

Arnan brougth her out of her reverie, asking if she were about and they would hear the front legs of her chair thunk down on the floor as she leaned back into the more lighted section.  "I'm here and don't have much to report on the woman.  I could just tell it was a woman in white robes with antlers on her head before she disappeared into the snow toward the south.  Could have been a druid, an ice witch, or Auril herself," she stated baldly.

Ellie's appearance didn't seem to bother her, but then the rogue had seen a lot in her young life.  "As for what to do next, I've decided to go to the Elk Tribe to help.  Whether the foo---folks here think it a good thing or not, I agree with Dalgura that it would benefit the tribe as well as the town and Lady Silverstream's endeavors."  Then they might also be able to help the town rid themselves of the true trouble makers, if they decided to go ahead and truly step on the sheriff's toes.

Dal nudged Morgrim with her food.  "Eat and drink quickly brother.  I still have the priestess to see.  As for which way I vote, I vote for helping The Tribe of Elk first and if we make it back then look up Helda and see how she fares.  Who knows.  Perhaps by that time she might actually have a sample of black ice.  That would be something to see.  I would be ready to set out first thing in the morning.  It would be foolish to start out before then.  The Barbarian should, if he thinks so or not, rest tonight also.  It might not be a bad idea for some "friends" of his to stay in that room too.  Just in case some of the villagers decide to come and visit."

Morgrim wrapped up his playing after a couple of songs and joined Dalura as she was preparing to finish her dinner. "Ready when you are, Gura," he replied.

Ellie finished her food as well, and then carefully began to wrap her face back up. "If you don't mind too much, could I come along with you? Father Bonaduce always said that the key to an enlightened mind was understanding the faith of others" she asked Dalgura.

OOC: Thane is keeping his voice low throughout since he is talking about sensitive things.

"Maybe so, maybe so," Thane grudgingly agreed with Arnan's assessment of why he as a Luskan would be viewed poorly by the Shanderites.  "I'm of a mind to go talk to them about it, change their minds about me, but maybe that's not a good idea."

After pondering the question of Slim a little more, Thane hmmphed to himself and looked up from his contemplations.  "Maybe I do know who them locals are talking about," he said cautiously.  "Not personnally, but I recall some upset talk from some of my ship-mates about one of our own called Slim.  Not kind words, either, apparently he's a swindler back home, too.  There can't be too many thugs from Luskan going by that name."

Thane shook his head and seemed frustrated.  "This is gonna make it harder on me to winter here, 'specially if Slim figures out where I'm and who I am.  He'd likely take me for an ally, but there I'd have to disappoint him."  Thane sighed and looked over at his newfound companions.  "Makes me think getting clear of this place - soon - is in my best interests.  Locals don't seem to like me none, and I got townies of my own stinkin' the place up to boot.  Why can't these Shanderites deal with an outsider thug on their own?  Seems to me just about everybody knows what a lout this Slim fellow is that he couldn't be hard to find or confront."

Thane pressed his lips together in a show of dismay and then swallowed a generous gulp of cider.  "Heading off with this barbarian fellow to see about helping his tribe seems a mighty fine thing to do about now.  Maybe I should go meet him when we're done here.  If he had been exposed too long to the cold, he might be hurt in ways that he doesn't even know about yet.  Lucky for him, my pa paid for me to be taught the ways of medicine, and that's been my soldier's role ever since.  Sergeant Harkensen, Combat Medic.  Heh."  Thane took another draught of cider and then pushed his plate and cup aside, clearly having had enough to eat and drink.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:14, Sat 21 Jan 2017.

"Very good," Arnan said with a nod. "It sounds like we are all of a mind to go and offer our aid to the Tribe of the Elks. I'm certain that Hengar will be very happy to hear the news, especially since he would have been going home with nothing to show for his efforts, otherwise."

Turning to Thane, he remarked "It sounds like this Slim is a real troublemaker, seeing as how he had that kind of a reputation in Luskan, too. It doesn't sound as if the locals have the stones to deal with him and his bully-boys. I suspect that we may well have an opportunity to confront him and to clean things up here in Bryn Shander, if and when we decide that we want to do something about the situation."

Glancing around at all of the companions whom he had gotten to know whilst traveling with the caravan, Arnan smiled. "As was the case with Kira, I most likely would have aided Hengar regardless of everyone else's decision. But I believe that all of you deciding to aid the Elks shows that you have hearts of warriors, whether or not you realize it, and I also believe that the fact that we are all working together on this task will increase our odds of success. I look forward to further adventuring with you all."

After a short pause, Arnan added, "I am going to speak to Hengar, and tell him the good news. Thane, I believe that you mentioned looking him over to make certain that he suffered no ill effects from his exposure to the elements. I would welcome your company, as well as that of any others who would like to come along."

OOC: As is the case with  Thane, Arnan has been keeping his voice low throughout this conversation.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:11, Sat 21 Jan 2017.

Kira asked for a skin full of hot stew and a chunk of bread to take with her, intent to make sure Hengar had some hot food in his stomach.  She fished out coin to pay for it along with a little extra to make sure they didn't scrimp on the portions.  Even if he had eaten, he would likely be hungry again later and this way she knew he had some sustenance for the trip back at the very least.

"I gave him a few coins and asked him to stay at least the night to be sure he warmed up and had enough to eat before leaving in the morning, figuring some might need a little more time than others to decide whether or not to help him," she stated.  Like the others, she'd been keeping her voice down for just their group.  "I had also planned to stick close and make sure no one tried to hurt him again," she added.

"Please come along with Thane and me, and any of the others who wish to meet with Hengar," Arnan replied to Kira.

"I feel certain that he will remember your earlier kindness, and will be happy to see you. Plus, a pretty face does much to warm a man's heart on a cold evening."

"As to . . . ah, protecting Hengar . . . I do not dispute the wisdom of your decision, given the way that the locals feel about him. But his pride might not allow such a thing, if we were to speak directly to him about it . . . mayhaps . . . mayhaps 'twould be best if we simply took rooms near to his in the same inn. That way we could listen out for trouble, and Hengar need not be any the wiser."

Having come to a consensus about helping Hengar's people in their fight against the Ice Witch, the adventurers decide to take their leave of festivities at Kelvin's Comfort, their bellies and spirit full of warm food and good drink. Helda seems to have disappeared from the tavern, perhaps having retired for the evening. Afterall, it has been a long day, most of it spent out in the elements driving a caravan across the tundra leading into Bryn Shander: Gateway to Ten Towns.

Still, this newly formed adventuring party has a few bits of business to attend to before turning in themselves. Dalgura, Ellie and Morgrimm would like to pay the cleric, Mithann, a visit and Arnan, Kira and Thane have decided to deliver their message to Hengar at the Hooked Knucklehead. Fortunately both locations are relatively close to another and the party departs together toward their destinations. Both are located along the northeast perimeter of the Market Square.

Darkness has fallen over Bryn Shander, the mud and ice choked streets illuminated by an occasional lantern post and flickering light behind soot-covered windows. The Market Square stalls are now abandoned, the mongerers and merchants departed for home and the wooden penance post unoccupied. A few locals shift through the streets, but the bustle of earlier today is no longer in evidence.

The Shrine of Amaunator
PCs present: Dalgura, Ellie and Morgrim

The shrine of Amaunator is a converted house and serves as a modest gathering place for worshippers of the god of sun, Considering that the sun vanishes for two months at a time every winter in Icewind Dale, it's a wonder that the god has any adherents at all!

Knocking at the front door, the party is warmly received by a dark-haired woman in maroon vestments. She introduces herself as Mithann, Radian Servant of the Morninglord, and invites the adventurers into the converted parlor that now houses the shrine of the sun god.  Stepping into the antechamber, the adventurers are immediately comforted by the warmth of the shrine. An altar occupies the far wall, consisting of a bronze disk situated atop a stone dais. A stylized face appears on a solar disk, etched into the bronze. Four braziers sit at each of the dais' corners, casting the room in rich, golden hues. Several prayer mats are placed on the floor in front of the altar and a few benches are located near the rear of the shrine, a benefit for those unable to kneel due to malady or failing knees.

Once the adventurers have entered, Mithann draws her hands in front of her humbly and says, "Well met and welcome to Bryn Shander and our humble shrine. I am so pleased to meet you. You are more than welcome to pay your devotions here, but something about your appearance tells me you have come for other purposes. Please, have a seat if you wish. How may I help you this evening?"

Mithann seems genuinely interested in hearing the adventurers out.

The Hooked Knucklehead
PCs present: Arnan, Kira and Thane

Just northeast of the Market Square stands the modest inn known as The Hooked Knucklehead. It is a simple two-story building, the first floor occupied by a small dining hall, a large heart, a kitchen, a spacious common room and and few private chambers beyond; while the second floor consists of a storage loft.

Entering the dimly lit inn, the adventurers are greeting to a subdued atmosphere in relation to the raucous energy of Kelvin's Comfort. Here, a few tradesfolk and scrimshanders are seated at long tables eating the last of their dinners, their tables not littered with empty flagons and mugs and the room completely devoid of the frolicking and gaiety found at the Comfort. This is a no frills inn and the sparse decor, consisting of a few uncarved pieces of scrimshaw and a couple of mounted trout, clearly expresses this point.

The adventurers are promptly met by the inn's proprietor, a middle-aged man with wisps of salt-and-pepper flecked hair on either side of his crown, wire-frame spectacles and a glorious spectacle of a handlebar mustache. The man introduces himself simply as Barton and hastily says, "A bit late for supper. But I can have Meg serve you up something in a hurry if you're lookin' to get fed." He then suggests the inn's doors will be closing soon, but he has space in the common room if they looking for a "place to crash for the night. Nothin' fancy, but clean and you won't get cold at night, that much is sure as can be." Otherwise, he suggests he has a few private rooms, but he leans in and says, "bit drafty in there though, not much to be done 'bout that." Barton's mannerisms are casual and unpretentious.

Glancing about the assembled diners, the adventurers see no sign of Hengar in the dining hall.

The Shrine of Amaunator
PCs present: Dalgura, Ellie and Morgrim

Dalgura was interested in the small shrine.  One day she hoped to have one set up for Sharindlar so she was interested in how it was set up.  Once the Priestess approached them, Dalgura smiled.  "Well met Mithann.  I am Dalgura, Priestess of Sharindlar, and heard that you have recently set up a shrine.  I hope to set one up one day but for now Sharindlar has told me to be elsewhere.  Might I say that your shrine is lovely.  The warmth is most welcoming."

In reply to DM Shard (msg # 184):

Arnan was accustomed to spending a good deal of his time alone, and as a result he wasn't usually nearly as talkative as he had been thus far this evening.

Hells, I prob'ly yammered more tonight than I have in the whole last week -- and that was with me being with  the caravan an' other people, too. I s'pose that it might be 'cause I felt strongly 'bout what we should be doing, an' I didn't want the chance to slip away. Well, any way . . . enough's enough. Time to let somebody else take over. She's prettier'n me any way, an' that'll oft-times make things to easier when talking to a man.

Arnan silently nudged Kira forward with his elbow. Clearly, he wanted her to take the lead in conversing with the fellow who looked to be the inn-keeper.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:03, Sat 21 Jan 2017.

Kira was looking around and not too surprised she didn't see Hengar in the dining area, given he'd been tied up to a pole outside by these townsfolk.  The nudge from Arnan made her take that last step so she was right up to the bar and she placed her hands on it in an unconscious gesture of showing she had nothing to hide.

"Thank you, Sir, but we've already eaten and I'm sure Meg deserves her rest," she stated respectfully then turned to Arnan and Thane.  "You guys want a private room or hunker down here near the fire?" she asked of them and once they made their decision she turned back to the innkeeper with a curious expression.

"I was lookin' for that big fella that'd been tied up outside," she stated softly, concern creeping into her expression.  "Did he get one of the rooms?" she asked with a look like a child who'd lost a toy, hopeful it'd been found but fearing it was still missing.  The skin full of stew at least was keeping her tummy warm.

Barton loops his fingers in the suspenders of his overalls and responds, "Suit yourself. No trouble at all though." Whether this is the case or not, he pursues the issue no further.



"Look, we don't want no trouble here," he pleads. "The Sheriff saw fit to set him free," he adds in, a tone of surety in his voice. Sensing the adventurers mean Hengar no harm he leans and whispers, "He's already turned in and is sawin' logs in the common. He'll be off before first light."

He further explains he has some relations up in Targos with Reghed blood and he holds no ill will toward those people. "They have as much right as the next, perhaps more in these parts."

"If you keep these braziers burning I just might move in!" Morgrim said with a laugh as he took a seat on one of the prayer mats and gladly warmed his hands. "Its nice to meet another warm blooded southerner such as yourself!"

"Morgrim Ironhammer. Dalgura's minder. This here is Ellie," he said, hooking his thumb towards the last member of their immediate trio.

Mithann humbly accepts Dalgura's praise and smiles upon hearing Morgrim's jest, "Well met Priestess Dalgura, Minder Morgrim and Ellie. It is wonderful to meet you all."

On the subject of her shrine, she says she been in Icewind Dale for four years and came here from the Kingdom of Cormyr after retiring from adventuring. She came here with the specific purpose of establishing a shrine, a life-long pursuit made possible from her adventuring exploits. She specifically came to Icewind Dale because she wanted to bring a message of hope and rebirth to a people who endure much in an icy land.

"I suspect you have not come for tips on how to set up your own though," she admits.

At the Shrine:

"On the contrary, I am indeed interested in some of the problems you encountered in setting up your shrine.  The High Priests always say go forth and spread the word and perhaps one day you too shall have your temple.  I know that they usually start with shrines but the Priests also have a tendency to leave out the details of how does one actually go about setting one up.  Of course that might not be the ONLY reason I stopped.  I heard that you were an adventurer once yourself and since we shall be going out on an adventure in the morrow, wondered if you could tell us a bit about this area.  Things like have you or the town have any run ins with the Ice Maiden, Yeti's or the Tribe of the Elk since you have been here?"

Knowing that there wasn't any Shrine to her own Goddess near, Dal took out a couple of her gold pieces she had been given and put them in the box kept for donations to the shrine.  She admired this Priestess for setting up a Shrine in this frozen city.

"When I heard that you were fighting against the cold and wanted to bring light to this area I knew I wanted to contribute.  It is indeed a worthy goal.  If for no other reason than that I would have looked you up."

"Aye, Dalgura has the right of it," Morgrim confided. "We didn't only disturb your evening to speak about your good works at the ends of the earth."

"We've been in your town less than a half-day and already we've seen no shortage of trouble. Monsters beat upon your gates, mercenaries from Luskan have evidently taken to turning out the townsfolks' pockets, the Reghed tribes beg for assistance in the face of an implacable foe, and neighbors turn upon neighbors. To put it bluntly, Mithann, its hard to know whom to trust. But you, you I trust, having just met ye' no less."

Morgrim winked.

"Sleeping here near the hearth will be fine for me," Thane agreed.  He wasn't sure if Master Hagglesward had bought a room for him or not, but if so Thane would seek him out in the morning to clarify the situation and let the caravan master know that he would be departing for a while to go visit the Tribe of the Elk.

"I'd like to lay eyes on this elksman before I start to settle in for the evening," he announced.  "Where did you say the man was sleeping?" he asked the innkeeper.

Kira shook her head when the man said he didn't want trouble and waited until Thane said his peace.  "I promise we aren't looking for trouble.  We're actually here to tell him we want to help him and will be leaving in the morning with him," she said quietly.  "I know he's sleeping but he asked us to let him know as soon as possible."

Leaning in a little closer, she whispered something to the barkeep.  [Private to GM: "I was also hoping to pass the night with him ... you know ... it's a bit drafty and he was already out in the cold too long ..."]

When she leaned back, she smiled sweetly.  "So instead of me going door to door and disturbing folks, maybe just tell which one and we can let him know the good news?"

Ellie bowed when she was introduced. She remained silent however, not having any actual business here but rather simply taking in the experience. Like Dalgura, Ellie likewise pulled out a pair of her own gold coins and dropped them in the offering.

In reply to Kira (msg # 194):

Arnan was more than a little surprised to hear someone in Bryn Shander admit that they held no ill will towards those of Reghed blood.

He held up his hands, palms facing the innkeeper, and nodded towards Kira, saying, "Aye, what she said -- no trouble."

He thought for a moment, then reached into his belt-pouch and pulled out a golder. He palmed it so that no one other than the innkeeper, Kira, and Thane could see it, then put it down on the counter underneath his hand.

"For doin' the right thing by that man, when no one else in this piss-ant town would."

Arnan showed the innkeeper a tight, thin-lipped expression -- some might have construed it as a smile, and some not.

---

OOC: One golder to the innkeeper.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:26, Sun 22 Jan 2017.

The Hooked Knucklehead
PCs present: Arnan, Kira and Thane

Barton nods in understanding and jabs his stubby thumb toward a door at the rear of the dining hall. "Common room's through there. Just mind your manners. A few folk, like the tribesman, are already asleep."



Barton nods more vigorously now, a mischievous smile forming. "Ah yes. I suspect he'll be wanting to see you straight-away."



"Right through that way. In with the others that is." A common room being little more than a large open dormitory with a few cots for the early arrivers and a spot on the floor before the hearth for those turning in later.



"Think nothin' of it. Every man deserves a fair shake. All be damned if the world isn't already out to get you as it is!"

"But much obliged good man. Much obliged," Barton says while pocketing the coin.

Having paid Barton, the party passes through the dining hall into the common room. Opening the door reveals a spacious room dominated by a large hearth. The room is cast in the orangish glow provided from the hearth's coals, faintly illuminating a few cots along the wall and several bedrolls and sleeping mats cast in front of the hearth. A few are already occupied by guests in various states of sleep, their stuff either haphazardedly cast at their side or zealously guarded beneath their mats and bedrolls. A few patrons stir as the door is thrown open, but none take undue notice of the three adventurers.

Hengar is laid out in front of the hearth, a bear's pelt thrown over his sleeping form. By all accounts he is fast asleep.

Location: The Shrine of Amaunator
PCs present: Dalgura, Ellie and Morgrim


Mithann relays she simply saved the proceeds from her adventures and let Amaunator dictate when it was time for her to establish a permanent shrine. She spent some time wandering before finally coming to Icewind Dale, on a divine mission to bring warmth and hope where it was needed most. "You will know when it is time," she adds reassuringly.



Mithann says she was once a member of two separate adventuring companies, The Knights of the Unicorn and The Mantle of Dawn. Most of her former companions are either retired, or sadly, deceased. Upon saying these words, she offers blessings to each.

On the second point, she tells you she knows nothing of the Ice Witch, though she seems genuinely concerned if/when the adventurers relate what they know so far. She has heard of no ill relations with any of the tribes and there have been no yeti attacks against any of the towns, though she says it is not unknown for beast attacks to occur away from the towns.

She confesses that she has lately been preoccupied with more homespun problems in Bryn Shander, namely that she has heard whispers claiming the Ship Rethnor thugs that have recently multiplied in the town are actually lycanthropes. For this reason, a Harper contact sent word south to have silvered weapons brought north, in the event action need be taken to thwart Rethnor's influence over the region.

"I had perhaps thought you were the couriers who brought the silvered weapons, as I had heard of your actions at the wall and had assumed you were Aarun's companions." Aarun, being her Harper contact.

Finally, she says the town speaker, Duvessa Shane, is supposed to hold a public audience soon to address grievances against Luskan thugs by several prominent merchants, the delayed caravan, empty animal traps on the tundra and above all, the early winter and Auril's evident wrath. Put simply, Bryn Shander is a powderkeg right now. "I have never seen times so grim," she relates, though not in a defeatist tone.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:29, Sun 22 Jan 2017.

Morgrim listened along in grim silence. "More bad news," he muttered once Mithann had come to a close.

"We saw the silvered weapons being unloaded. I believe they've been received by someone named Dunavan. Tell me, Mithann, where can we find this Aarun individual? And when is Speaker Shane planning to hold this public audience?"

Mithann says Aarun the Harper is likely laying low somewhere within Bryn Shander working with allies, trying to gather more information on Slim and his gang, to better prepare for if and when action muct be taken.

On the second point, "Speaker Duvessa has decreed Highharvestide the date of her public audience. "Five days from tonight, at Council Hall, she will hear the public's complaints and hopefully put forth a plan for action to assuage their concerns."

Tonight is the eve of 25 Eleint. Highharvestide occurs on the day between the months of Eleint and Marpenoth. It is a special calendar day and in warmer and more moderate climes  heralds the coming of fall and the harvest. It is a feast that often continues for the length of the harvest, so that there is always food for those coming in from the fields. There is much traveling about on the heels of he feast, as merchants, court emissaries, and pilgrims make speed ere the worst of the mud arrives and the rain freezes into snow.

"I shall be hosting a feast that eve. I would be delighted if should attend," she says warmly.

"That is most gracious of you," Morgrim replied before exchanging a look of concern with his sister and Ellie. "Five days hence. The Reghed camp is two to three days away in good weather. Even if we were to leave tonight and do nothing but make the journey and return we would be hard pressed to reach Bryn Shander before the audience has closed."

"It would seem we are being pulled in three directions at once, and unless we divide our efforts we can only tackle one concern at a time. I know the intention had been to set out with Hengar in the morning, but I'm not sure the threat to Bryn Shander from lycanthropes is any less grave. Perhaps of all, Helda's concern seems the least pressing - a simple mercantile contract, although with everything else that has gone on it would not surprise me in the least if there was something more to that story as well."

Morgrim fell silent, staring at the low dancing flames within the braziers as he pondered the future.

Kira beamed at the barkeep and gave him a little wave as the three headed in to the common sleeping area, her eyes quickly falling on the large man in front of the fire.  "I'd hoped he'd get a room but can certainly understand getting the premium spot by the fire," she whispered and tread lightly to where Hengar lay.  She didn't go anywhere near his upper body but instead stretched out her leg so her booted foot could tap at Hengar's feet.  "Pssst!  Hengar ..." she said as quietly as possible, trying not to disturb those around.

Location: Hooked Knucklehead Inn
PCs present: Kira, Thane and Arnan

Hengar startles when Kira nudges his leg with her foot and throws aside the bear pelt and has a short sword at the ready. Struggling to see her in the dim light he poctures himself as best he can for defense while prone.

Still he does not lurch forward for an attack, rather he squints and tries to make out detail in the shadow.

"And that's why you don't go tapping someone's shoulder," Kira whispered back to Arnana and Thane, though they likely already knew the protocol for awakening someone.  "Hengar, it's me ... Kira," she said and eased forward so he could see her better, ignoring the blade and smiling at him.  "I told you I'd come and brought a couple of friends ... and a bit more warm food if you want," she said as she eased out the full warm skin and held it out to him..

Hengar grunts his approval while acknowledging the others in the shadows. A few patrons trying to sleep nearby shift restlessly under their blankets but otherwise seem intent on ignoring the intrusion, while those still awake impassively watch and listen.

"Thank you, friend, friends" he whispers, his voice still hoarse and rattling. It sounds as though he may be falling ill from his recent exposure to the elements. He gratiously accepts Kira's offering, and makes a show of eating some out of courtesy.

"Have you had time to come to a decision?" he whispers while sliding the blade beneath the bear pelt.

Arnan nudged Thane in the ribs as he watched Kira -- very cautiously -- working to awaken Hengar.

""Now there's a good use for a 10-foot pole that I've never yet heard mentioned by  a shop-keeper who was counting off all the many uses of one, and explaining why I was a complete lack-wit if I did not buy one before I left the shop -- carefully waking a sleeping barbarian, I mean."

Once he heard Hengar speak, Arnan added, "He doesn't sound too good, to my ear. I'm thinking that your coming along was a good idea, Thane, given your training as a saw-bones -- or herbalist, or whatever it is -- that you use to deal with the ailments that bedevil folks."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:59, Sun 22 Jan 2017.

Thane listened with a critical ear when Kira conversed with Hengar.  The girl seemed to have a sweet way with her words.  Thane responded to Arnan, mild concern creeping into his voice.  "He sure sounds like the chill has got inside 'im," he admitted.  Thane set down his pack and fished out a small, cloth-wrapped package.  He spoke to Hengar while he unwrapped the bundle and searched through the contents in the firelight.

"Hengar, my name is Thane.  I am a healer among my people," he introduced himself quietly.  "I heard how you spent your day and thought you might need something to help fight off the chill of bein' exposed like that," he continued.  He held up a small pouch made of cheesecloth.   "Dried elderberry, cone flower, rose hips, and ginger root.  No magic, just the things that the gods, or nature herself, provides us.  I use it when I get the winter sniffles or hacking cough and it always helps."

Thane gestured back towards the bar area.  "If you're willing to take it, I'll fetch hot water and a mug and make it ready for you.  By morning you ought to be feeling a bit better."

[Private to GM: I'd like to make a small change to Thane's tool proficiency.  He gained proficiency with a Gaming Set as a Soldier, but given his role as a healer, I'd rather take proficiency with Herbalist Tools instead.  Unless one of the other PCs happens to have that Tool profiency, then we can RP through anything that as a Medic Thane would want from an Herbalist.  Thoughts?]
This message was last edited by the player at 02:02, Mon 23 Jan 2017.

Hengar nods in agreement and whispers, "Thank you. Yes. Fetch the hot water. I will drink."

[Private to Thane Harkensen: Go ahead and switch the proficiency if you'd like.]

Kira slipped off her pack and set it down at the foot of Hengar's sleeping space while Arnan and Thane spoke to Hengar, then plopped down on the hearth close by so she could keep her voice down.  "While he's getting the water, the answer to your request is yes we will help you.  We're just a small group but we were successful against the yeti that attacked when we arrived with the caravan."

She was heartened to see him take in part of the stew and then pulled out the chunk of bread from the small sack to give to him.  "You might want to keep some of that to chase down the medicine.  Dunno about you, but most of the herbal stuff I've had tasted awful," she said with a scrunching of her nose.

Mithann bows her head solemnly and waits in silence for a moment and them comments, "Trust in the gods. They will guide your actions, if you listen for their voice. May The Dawnbringer provide light to you as you contemplate your call."

She then adds she is happy to have met the three adventurers and says they are welcome to pray at the shrine anytime.

Location: Hooked Knucklehead Inn
PCs present: Kira, Thane and Arnan

Thane steeps some herbs in a bowl of hot water and offers the medicinal tea to Hengar, which he gratefully accepts with a simple thanks. The barbarian then lies back down, content to have gained some companions for his return trek home. His mission had not been a complete failure and he would have good news for his people. Perhaps these adventurers might help turn the tide in their struggles against the Ice Witch's machinations.

The barbarian drifts back to sleep shortly thereafter, saying they should all get some rest because, "morning will come soon and we will need all the vigor we can muster."

***

Location: The Shrine of Amaunator
PCs present: Dalgura, Ellie and Morgrim

Unless the adventurers have any other questions for Mithann, she thanks them for paying a visit and invites them to stay at the shrine as long as needed, claiming "the shrine is open to all of good heart." She then excuses herself to prepare to turn in for the evening herself.

***

At some point later that evening, the adventurers meet up briefly in the shelter of an awning along Market Square to relate what they have learned. Having each secured accommodations for the evening, the party relocates to Kelvin's Comfort to discuss their plans.

***

Location: Kelvin's Comfort
PCs present: Perhaps all (?)

Entering Kelvin's Comfort later that night, most of Hugglesward's company has retired for the evening and only a few of the hardest drinking folk nurse warm mugs while engaging in the sort of talk only possible through the lens of drunkenness. There are still a decent number of folk present, but the tavern is much quieter now and the party secures a secluded table off to the side to discuss their plans.

Much is happening in Icewind Dale and the newly formed party is seemingly being pulled into incongruent paths by the whims of fate.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:38, Mon 23 Jan 2017.

"So that's what we learned..." Morgrim said, coming to a close.

"Lycanthropes in Bryn Shander. You'd think the weather would keep anything but polar bears away! Suppose it explains the silver arrows however." The dwarf paused and picked at a deep scar in the table.

"Well? What shall we do then? Stick to the plan and hope for the best? Split off the group? Or do we help the townsfolk here and now and follow Hengar in another day or so?"

Ellie chewed her lip for a moment. "There is certainly a lot of need around here. I'm incline to help with the townsfolk, but Hengar came here for magic and that is the one thing I can supply."

"I suppose the question also arises, 'could we follow behind if we wished'?" Morgrim asked. "I don't pretend to know my way around these parts, but Arnan, you seem to have some sense of things. If we gave Hengar a head-start could we still find the camp a couple of days hence?"

Kira had been reluctant to leave Hengar but given the barkeep was favorable for him, she had to trust that the Elk man would be okay.  Trudging along with her pack over one shoulder, she was starting to feel the effects of travel and battle and then the adrenaline was finally gone from trying to help save an innocent life.  "I'm thinking I shoulda stayed there by that fire," she muttered to Arnan and Thane, a hand coming up to cover a yawn.

Once they were sitting with the others, she listened to what had gone on with the priestess and her expression grew more and more like she'd swallowed a bitter tea.  "As much as I don't like the sounds of things going on here, I've already told Hengar we'd help him," she stated.  "I gave him our word and even going a day or two later it's sorta like going back on that word," she pointed out a tad bluntly then took a sip of the warm cider.

Thane went back to Kelvin's Rest with his two companions, in an amiable enough mood.  His belly was full, he had the promise of a night's sleep near a warm indoor fire, and there seemed to be promise of adventures ahead that would chase away any notion of spending a long and boring winter in Bryn Shander.

Thus he listened closely to the news from the dwarven siblings and Ellie and waited for a good moment to speak his thoughts.  Which was now.

"I'm inclined to agree with her," he said, tipping his head towards Kira.  "But not just because of the promise she made to help Hengar.  I may not be the brightest candle in the room, but seems to me that matters of life and death should count more than matters of stolen coin and hurt feelings," he pronounced almost as bluntly as Kira's statement.

Seeing that some of his companions were perhaps a bit confused, he attempted to lay out his logic.  "You say that Slim's gang is thought to be were-beasts?  Does anyone have any proof?  Has Slim's gang killed anyone?  I'd think that'd be a stupid thing for a protection racketeer to do.  They'd rather leave their herd alive so that they can continue to harvest from them.  From my view, this is still something for the townies to handle.  I just don't think the Elk Tribe can wait.  And I am not sure Hengar will make it back alone.  He's taken sick and I doubt he'd do well against a pack of yeti by himself."

Thane shrugged and rolled his shoulders, which were a bit sore from bearing his pack all day for days on end.  "Maybe I'm just a simple mind, but the situation seems clear to me.  Help Hengar and his people, which are under direct and mortal threat, and then see what can be done in town later."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:29, Mon 23 Jan 2017.

"That is indeed a dilemma.  I say that we are already obligated to Hengar.  By now he would have gotten word that we would accompany him.  One shouldn't just back out of commitments like that.  And who is to say that they all aren't related some how?"

Morgrim nodded along as he listened but refrained from offering further counsel until the others had a chance to speak. He looked to Arnan next, that last to voice an opinion.

"I think that you have hit upon a good point, Dalgura," Arnan replied to the Dwarven cleric. "We should not forget what Ellie told us earlier -- that she observed that the wagon that was targeted during the attack on the caravan was the one that was carrying crates of silvered weapons."

"And if the woman whom Kira glimpsed during the attack was the Ice-Witch herself, or even one of her minions . . . well, these may well be deep waters, indeed."

Arnan thought for a moment, then turned to Morgrim. "To answer your question, aye, 'tis possible that I could find the Tribe of the Elks' winter camp if we were to follow along behind Hengar. But I believe that Kira and Thane have the right of it, and that we should stick to the original plan of aiding Hengar -- especially since, as Dalgura has just now concluded, and based upon what Ellie saw yesterday, these events may well be linked."

Continuing to speak to Morgrim, who had related their conversation with the cleric of Amaunator, Arnan said, "You mentioned that Mithann said that the Harper and some of his allies were working behind the scenes to decide how to best deal with this Slim and his toughs -- who, admittedly, may be much more than that. What do you think of getting word to Mithann to pass along word to the Harper that we are heading out to aid Hengar and his people, but that if they can delay taking action until we return, we will aid him and his allies in their efforts?"

OOC: Sorry for the delay in posting, but our cat claimed the computer chair as his bed du jour. And in our house, the admonition not to rudely awaken sleeping dogs applies equally to the kitty-cat. :)

Morgrim nodded. "I can surely ask," the dwarf stated. "Mithann has more than likely turned in for the evening but I can pass along our intentions in the morning. It certainly sounds to me like we're committed to this course for better or for worse, and I can't argue with peoples' thinking."

"Its a right mess we've found ourselves smack in the middle of, and the winter has only just begun."

There was a very faint but definite sound of a raspberry being blown when Thane alluded that Kira, and only Kira, had promised aid to Hengar.  They had all discussed the matter and it was agreed that they would help Hengar, so she had truly been speaking for all of them.  If he looked at her, though, he would see a bright smile and no offense had actually been taken and she was nodding agreement to his arguments.

It was clear she thought it was all connected as well, which was rather irksome.  "If the woman I saw and the yeti did specifically try to prevent the silver arrows from making it here, then I'd say someone here in town is connected with her as well as someone in the caravan so she would know specifically which wagon to hit," she suggested.

She was also rather glad Morgrim hadn't taken offense to her blunt statement, knowing dwarves were sticklers about their word.  She liked these two in particular, having enjoyed their banter throughout the trip.  With a lopsided smile and shrug of a shoulder, she commiserated with him.  "Gonna be a really long winter I'm thinkin'," she sighed.

Morgrim placed his knuckles firmly against the surface of the table and pushed himself upright. "We've a long day ahead of us if we're to be traveling again tomorrow. May as well get some rest while we can."

DM, you mentioned we individually secured accommodations for the evening. Where are Morgrim and Dalugura staying (since it goes without saying that they'll be together)?

Ellie shrugged. "It it an untenable situation indeed. We did agree to help Hengar and have told him as much, but there is a potentially dark consequence to following through. We could return in a tenday hence and find lack of action against these thugs have allowed them a chance to gain a foothold to take over the town."

Ellie took a breath, hangling her face downward as she closed her eyes. When she spoke again it sounded not like herself, as if she was almost speaking from a different point of view; "Slim could kill Mithann and this Harper contract; neither are going to be profitable extortion targets and will cause only trouble. Sheriff Markhamm won't do anything because there won't be any evidence, and he won't want to find more because he'll be bribed by the gang; maybe even turned into another Rat. Odgen Flamebeard and Master Hugglesward might be part of a militia against Slim, only to find their lives or the lives of their loved ones threatened until they are forced to cowe and pay tribute to the criminals. Barton may pay his finds for some time, but if his sympathy for the Reghed Tribe is revealed and there is indeed a connection between the Wererats and the witch, he'll disappear. Duvessa Shane will acquiesce to the Wererats or be replaced in short order, perhaps the position will be absorbed by the sheriff and Bryn Shandar will be considered under martial law. With things going so poorly, Brina Alcott will likely snap under the pressure and end up killing herself or someone else in some feverish sacrifice to the god of winter. Helda Silverstream, without our help, will be forced to lower her standards and hire more unscrupulous sellswords; they may very well turn out to be plants by Slim sent to steal the new ore the dwarves of Kelvin's Cairn have found. If it truly is as valuable or powerful as they hope, it would be the last Black Ice nail in the coffin of the center of the Ten Towns."

Ellie's voice had raised into a crescendo until the very end, when she stopped very suddenly. She was silent for a moment before she looked up, and took a steadying breath. "Of course, that is all the worst case scenario. The alternative is that Hengar's entire tribe, a historical and wonderful people, could be wiped out entirely once and for all. I am not saying towards one way or the other, only mentioning the potential consequences because we have to be prepared to live with them."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:36, Tue 24 Jan 2017.

Morgrim listens with mouth increasingly agape as Ellie describes the demise of Bryn Shander in graphic detail. When the aasimar falls quiet he stands in absolute silence trying to collect his jaw from the table.

Arnan grunted after Ellie had finished describing the horrible things that could happen. "Well, now -- aren't you just a ray of sunshine?"

"I think that you missed one, though. We could get caught in a white-out blizzard five miles outside the walls of Bryn Shander, and all die of exposure."

"They'll find our frozen bodies when the spring thaw comes, and the snow-drifts start to melt."

Arnan shrugged. "Happens to somebody every year. Might be us this time."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:35, Tue 24 Jan 2017.

Ellie actually grinned a bit at Arnan's additional prediction. "Certainly we are destined for more than that, good archer."

In reply to Ellie Dovehand (msg # 226):

Arnan kept a straight face, but a hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"That was kinda my point. Bad thing've been happenin' to folks all over for a long time -- an' last time I looked, the sky hadn't fallen quite yet."

The scout stretched his arms up above his head, and covered up a yawn with the back of his hand. "'Bout all folks of good intentions can do is make the best choice they can, an' then give it their best shot."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Tue 24 Jan 2017.

Ellie nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Father Bonaduce always said that when you doubt that your actions will have the effect you wish, there is only one thing you can do. Do good, and hope that good comes of it."

She nodded once again; "All that really leaves us with is where we think the most good we can do lies. I want to help Hengar and I think that we can, but I'm of a notion that the worst threat lies closest to where we are; we should kill the goblin in the home before we worry about the ogre terrorizing the countryside, so to say. The barbarians I think can hold out a little bit longer; they've braved and survived in the wilds of Icewind Dale for generations beyond count, after all. But Bryn Shander seems on the brink of total disaster; if we can do something now, then rush to the Elk's aid afterwards then we might be able to do the most good, and I am sure Hengar will understand that we have closer problems to worry about."

Before anyone could respond though, she held up her hand and sighed. "Of course, I could be totally wrong and Hengar's people could be closer to collapse. Which is why I am not willing to argue the point; I have simply had my say, and I will follow the group's consensus now. If we leave for the north at first light, so be it."

Dal looked over at everybody and shook her head.  "And to think that some people think that Dwarves are dour and dark.  That certainly is a bad scenario.  No matter what we do, there is the chance that bad things will happen to others.  We cannot be every where all the time. It is up to the Gods on whether we will be triumphant or not.  We see things in this time and space but the Gods see things in ALL times and Spaces.  We are but a cog in their grand scheme but it is the cogs that make things happen.  Of course, if we take after Morgrim, us cogs will be squeaky and loud but we will get results."

Dalgura chuckled and then settled down.  "In other words, there is no perfect solution.  Make your plan, stick to it, and adjust when necessary."

Thane looked like he had swallowed a slimy worm when Ellie had her speaking episode.  He looked covertly to his left and right to judge the others' reactions and held his tongue until pretty much everyone had spoken up.  When he spoke, he did so in a slow Luskan drawl.

"Girl, is there something you be wantin' to tell us about, concerning you?" he asked, suspicion or anxiety creeping into his voice.  "What you just did there was downright creepy and makes me wonder if you're not hearing strange voices or somesuch..."

His voice trailed off when he realized that nobody else was acting quite so weirded out as he had been, except perhaps for Morgrim, whose jaw had hit the table like a 5-stone hammer.

"I mean," he adjusted, "you spoke but it sure didn't seem like you, you know?" he asked hesitatingly.

[Private to GM: On the topic of Slim and were-beasts.  What would Thane likely know about the prevalence of lycanthropes among the ship houses or criminal elements of Luskan?  I don't want to poo-poo the threat of lycanthrope thugs unless Thane really doesn't know it's a 'thing' in Luskan.]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Tue 24 Jan 2017.

Once Thane had mentioned it, Arnan realized that Eillie had sounded more than a little odd for at least part of the time that she had been speaking.

Well, what can you expect? She's a magicker, right? A good portion of those people don't seem right in the head to begin with -- or at least, not normal. Mayhaps it comes from bein' too smart for their own good. Has 'em thinkin' about things that don't even come to mind for normal folks.

That said, they can be very damned handy in a battle. I can put up with Ellie bein' a little off-kilter as long as she puts her magicks to good use when the time is right.

Ellie's face scrunched up for a moment at Thane's words and the insinuation behind them, as if she had to think about it for a second. It did seem strange, she thought; it wasn't like her normally to be so ominous. Or atleast it didn't used to be.

Finally it seemed as if she had come to some sort of answer; "It's what... I would do?" she said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. Then she suddenly spoke up again, as if from that other perspective again; "It is not so difficult, after all, to subjugate a people so removed from the rest of civilization when you have access to magicks and afflictions to temper the resolve of key individuals. Turning the right ones into Wererats, or vampires or undead or charmed thralls it does not matter, would ensure a swift and decisive victory after all. There is little they could do when they are so terribly isolated and must wait seasons for any sort of help; and when that time does come there will be no one left to cry for aid; only the subjugated and the dead."

Ellie ended rather abruptly once again, and shook her head suddenly, standing up from the table and nearly knocking over her drink as she did. "You know, theoretically I mean. We must think like the enemy if we have any chance to best them, right? Anyways, I'm feeling rather tired all of a sudden so like I am going to turn in; like I said before, I'll trust any judgement that is made and join you all in the morn."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:30, Tue 24 Jan 2017.

Dal looked at the others and shrugged.  SHE heard her goddess voice in her head all the time and knew that sometimes the Gods spoke through their vessels.  "Don't forget that there are clerics here and for those of higher rank they do have some abilities that can affect undead, etc.  We all do what we can to stop the tide of evil but like all things, you cannot eliminate all evil just as you cannot eliminate all good.  You can just do what you can WHEN you can and continue the fight.  I do it with my goddess help as well as with friends <looks around the table> who fight by my side.  NOW which way are we going to go or are we going to spin our wheels a bit more?"

Dalgura smiled when she said spinning wheels but she really did think that everybody had given their viewpoint and now it was time to make a decision.

Kira's attention on Ellie was much like a cat watching a mouse hole, though instead of expecting a mouse to come out something much worse.  She'd encountered a few people growing up in Luskan who demonstrated more than one personality and usually one of them was rather violent.

Unconsciously she rubbed her arm, remembering how it had hurt when Old Matt had grabbed her and broke it in one of his fits.  Yet Ellie had fought with them and had even trusted them to show that she was different so she was inclined to think the woman was in control of the other part, whatever that part might be.

"My vote's still with Hengar and I'll be heading out with him in the morning.  Thane if you got more of that tea stuff for him ... or maybe I'll see if he'll go to that priestess ..." she muttered the last phrase.  "Guess we'll need to see how he's feeling in the morning," she said as she polished off the warm cider and hefted her bag, preparing to go back to the Hooked Knucklehead.

"I think, Gura, the prevailing sentiment is that while the townsfolk's needs may be legitimate, the Reghed tribe's concerns are more pressing. Its time like this I wish there were two of me. Sadly the world will only ever be graced by one," Morgrim said with a wink.

"Lets put this issue to rest and get some sleep. I'm sure it will all look much more muddled in the morning."

"Maybe after a good night's sleep, going to help the Elksmen will seem like a better idea," Thane replied to the wearied Ellie.  He still had reservations about her concerning the two-voices thing but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt as a potential trustworthy companion.  He smiled weakly at her.  "Rest well!"

Giving his attention over to the others at the table, he nodded with the finality of a decision made.  "I am going to leave, too.  I have a...patient?...to watch over.  And my gear needs some care.  'People and equipment before rest!', my bo'sun always told me.  Good advice, methinks."

Thane stood up and gave the gathered adventurers a slight bow at the waist as a gesture of farewell, then he took his leave and returned to the Hooked Knucklehead.

OOC: Thane will check on Hengar (make sure he is resting soundly) then will clean his flail, oil his armor, check his herbalist's supplies to make sure he can make more of the immune-boosting tea, and then will go to sleep.

In reply to Thane Harkensen (msg # 236):

Arnan wished Ellie and the two Dwarves a good night's rest, and made ready to leave with Thane and Kira to walk over to the Hooked Knucklehead. He was mindful of Dalgura's suggestion that Helgar's safety was still in question, and Arnan supposed that was true.

After all, we have no idea how organized those who are working against the Elks and the Ten Towners might be, nor how bold they might be willing to be in order to accomplish their goals. Or, mayhaps 'tis little more than smoke and shadows, and tales told in the dark to frighten the weak-minded amongst us. Time will tell.

Addressing Thane and Kira as they slogged through the snow and mud that passed for streets in Bryn Shander, Arnan remarked "In the morning, help me remember to ask Hengar about the hunting during his journey to this place. I am certain that some amongst our party are not especially trail-wise. So, before we leave we will need to decide whether it seems likely that Hengar and I will be able to keep the party provided with sufficient game to meet our needs, or whether our group will need to lay in a supply of trail rations before we depart."

"Mayhaps all amongst our group maintain a supply of trail rations when they travel -- I know that I do this time of year, in case I find myself snowed in at some point and am unable to hunt. But I do not know everyone else's situation. "
This message was last edited by the player at 19:21, Thu 26 Jan 2017.

Kira had it in mind to sleep between Hengar and the fire, his large bulk likely hiding her presence from a distance.  She was typically a light sleeper and anyone approaching to try to hurt him might find themselves peeling the urchin off their head and shoulders.  Some people had guard dogs but guard cats were better, quiet until all nails were dug into cheeks and jowls.  The imagery in her mind brought a half-smile as she trudged along with Arnan and Thane.

Arnan's voice broke her out of her reverie and she nodded in acknowledgement.  "I was planning on some rations as well as maybe some dried fruit.  Maybe you strong guys can lug a few potatoes and carrots around too.  We could roast 'em with some fresh meat if there's any to be had," she suggested.  Even though she usually kept some scraps here and there in various pockets, she knew it wouldn't be enough for the trip.

Ellie had left the table first, and wandered off to the Hooked Knucklehead. She needed a private room because of her 'condition' and it was the only place to offer such. She had originally meant to ask Kira if the girl would like to share a room, since it was safer for two young girls like them to stay together and the archer hadn't reacted poorly to Ellie's revealed appearance... but after Ellie's performance during their talks, she felt absolutely mortified and figured nobody would want to be alone with her for quite some time.

It was a fair enough of a conclusion, and one the newfound warlock was becoming used to.

So, she secured a room to herself and asked the keep to bring her breakfast that she could partake in her room early in the morning. Once alone she did away with all the coverings once more, glad to be free again, though the chill in her room had her thinking otherwise momentarily. The drafty room had her wishing for a moment that she knew some sort of spell to warm her; but she didn't. Not anymore. All of her new magic was cold and... discomforting.

So instead she settled for burying herself in layer after layer upon the bed; adding her own travel blankets to those provided with the room.

It was going to be a long, cold, and lonely night.

But not entirely alone. She was never entirely alone.

The party retires for the evening and agrees to meet up in the morning at Market Square before departing Bryn Shander with Hengar. The dwarves find accommodations at Geldenstag's Rest and the others remain at the Hooked Knucklehead.

Thoughts racing through their minds, each member eventually drifts off to sleep. It has been quite a day to cap off what proved to be a long, hard journey to even arrive at this remote corner of the Realms.

For those staying at the Hooked Knucklehead, the night proves uneventful. The common room remains quite warm, however the private rooms live up to their reputation as being quite drafty and cold. Miserable conditions really, but a roof is better than none by a hair.

Dalgura and Morgrim are startled from sleep later that evening, perhaps just before midnight by the cries outside their window. Moving to the window to get a better look at what is causing the commotion, the pair see a nearby warehouse engulfed in a strange green alchemical fire. Several concerned citizens do their best to fight the fire, but it is too far gone to do much but watch in amazement at the spectacle. Fortunately none of the surrounding buildings are in any danger of catching fire, as the flames seem entirely concentrated on that one building.

Perhaps Dalgura and Morgrim go out into the night to lend their aid, or gather information, but even if they take no action, the inn is abuzz by morning with talk of the fire. Apparently it was Dunavan's warehouse that burned to the ground overnight, the contents of which lie in a smoking ruin for charred timber and ash by morning's first light.

And morning comes quite early, a thin band of light on the horizon that rises only slightly this time of year. Soon, light will not come at all to Icewind Dale, but for now, the region still had a shard of fleeting light.

At the Hooked Knucklhead, Hengar is up early and seems to be in good health and eager to head out. He thanks Thane for the medicinal tea and the others for agreeing to accompany him.

OOC: If you guys want to do any roleplay without Hengar's presence, we can arrange for that as well. I just don't want to force action without giving you an opportunity to share the warehouse information. Otherwise, we can assume you share the information and decide to depart Bryn Shander with Hengar.

In reply to DM Shard (msg # 240):

Arnan was generally a light sleeper, and it had served him well on more than one occasion. And the fact that their foes -- whoever that might be -- might still try to disrupt the Elksman's mission by attacking him led to an especially fitful night's sleep for the scout.

And so it was that Hengar had not been up and moving for too long when Arnan became aware of it, and the scout was soon up and preparing for the day's march. Pretty soon he moved over next to Hengar and quietly asked the man the question that he had thought of last night.

"Hengar, how was the hunting during your trip to this place? Do you suppose that you and I will be able to keep the others supplied with game, or should I advise everyone to stock up on field rations before we leave Bryn Shander?"

"That might delay our departure a little, since, if anyone needs to buy rations, they will have to wait for the shops to open. But that would be better than running short of food on the march."

"Gura! Fire!" Morgrim cried in the middle of the night, shaking his sister awake. Throwing his direwolf cloak across his shoulders the dwarven druid raced outside to see what aid he could offer. When it became apparent that there was little he could do to quell the flames Morgrim instead directed his attention to the crowd, scanning their faces with care to see if any of the onlookers were acting out of sorts for the situation at hand.

15:41, Today: Morgrim Ironhammer rolled 20 using 1d20+5.  Perception.

* * * * *

Morgrim had slept fitfully upon his return to the Northlook and he picked at his breakfast with disinterest while he listened to the rampant speculation on the common room floor.

Dunavan's warehouse. That couldn't have been a coincidence.

Rising from the table he tugged his cowl down over his head to protect himself against the cold and headed out into the early morning light, what little there was.

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 242):

"Wha?  Fire?  Whe!  Dalgura jumped up and ran to the window after noticing that they weren't on fire."

She was silent as she watched it burn.  She knew that there wasn't anything she could do except offer up any prayers in case lives had been lost in the fire.  It took her a bit to fall back to sleep.

Morning came all too soon and after her morning prayers, she wrapped up as warmly as she could and set out to see where her brother was headed.

Seeing Dalgura rise to follow, Morgrim smiled and held the door open. "We should pay a visit to Mithann and then quickly find the others," he explained.

Hengar says he brought enough dried food with him to last one week and never had to hunt while making the journey from the Elk Tribe Camp to Bryn Shander. "Hopefully we won't need to hunt along the way. If we do, it means our journey has been badly delayed."

Hengar says each man and woman should carry enough food to last one week. "That should be enough," he says with conviction.

Mithann's shrine is a short walk from the Hooked Knucklehead or Market Square and the party easily sees her outside the shrine at first light, paying her morning devotionals to the rising sun. She stands with palms faced outward, soaking in the first rays, while chanting a beautiful hymn. Finishing her prayer, she turns to face those whom approach her.

"Good morning and well met again," she offers in greeting. Despite last night's events, her face still retains an element of bright eyed optimism. Like the rest of the town, she is aware of the warehouse fire and concerned about its portents, but her faith is strong enough to ward away any doubts she might have that good and righteousness will prevail.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:09, Tue 31 Jan 2017.

"I wish I could say it was a good morning, but I'm not so certain," Morgrim confided. "Dunavan's Wares burned to the ground last night, and it weren't no natural fire either. I can't help but fear that Slim and the other Luskan rats are moving against your Harper friend. Has he made contact with you at all?" the dwarf asked worriedly.

Kira was up as soon as Hengar and the others started to stir, taking her belongings and finding a place for a quick bath and change of clothes.  She would then catch up with anyone eating breakfast and tuck away as much as she possibly could, listening to the conversation around and shaking her head when she heard Dunavan's burned down.  While she was determined to help Hengar and his people, there was still a twinge of worry for the good people in town.

Pieces of meat were tucked away as was a few small fruits, things that could stay against her body and not freeze on the trip.  When she met up with Hengar and Arnan again, she inquired about food as they had talked about the night before.  Finding out Hengar's thoughts on the matter, she chewed her lip pensively for a moment.  "Should be try to get a pack mule or something to carry food?" she asked.  "Or would that just slow us down or probably bring beasties to us?"

In reply to Kira (msg # 248):

Arnan nodded at Hengar's reply to his question. "That makes sense. I'll pass that message along to the others. It may delay our departure a little if anyone needs to wait for the shops to open in order to stock up on rations. The caravan-master took care of feeding everyone on the trip up from Luskan, and I'm not sure that everyone who is planning on accompanying you has a ready supply of rations available."

When Kira spoke of a pack animal, Arnan nodded again. "That's a good idea," he said. "I carry my rations with me, but a week's supply can be a little heavy for some. Plus, it gives us considerable carrying capacity, for whatever happens betwixt the leaving and the returning."

Turning to Hengar, he asked, "Any objections? I suspect that if you are by yourself you would prefer to travel light and fast, but with a group we will be moving at the speed of our slowest person, any way."

OOC: I haven't had Arnan (IC) comment on the fire at the warehouse, since I had the impression that Dalgura and Morgrim are with Mithann at the moment. :)

Dal watched and listened to Mithann's morning ritual, unconsciously comparing how she did her rituals to how Dal did hers. She did enjoy listening to her voice and smiled.  "My brother might not consider it a good morning but I shall wish one to you anyway.  I was sorry I couldn't help more with the fire but I trust that you will help with the healing.  Your service this morning was indeed beautiful and much needed after the darkness of the night.  When did you say your friend was to contact with you again?"

Mithann's cheery demeanor darkens and she whispers, "It is true this morning has been darkened by last night's happenings..." She then relates the fact Dunavan came to her late last night and said the Harper contact, Aarun, is supposed to meet Dunavan tonight to take possession of the weapons."Last night's fire was no coincidence," Mithann adds.

She then says Dunavan is looking to hire adventurers to protect his other warehouse until such time as Aarun comes for the silver weapons later tonight. Apparently Dunavan has asked Mithann to seek trustworthy mercenaries to stand guard at the warehouse tonight to ensure Aarun gets the precious cargo. Dunavan is offering 50 gold pieces as payment.

"I know you folks are about to set out, but the people of Bryn Shander could use your help if you are able to delay."

"Pack animals such as mules are ill-suited to journeys across the tundra in the event the weather is not favorable. They may end up slaughtered on the trail for meat, or worse, draw predators to us."

Hengar says he will not object if the party wishes to bring their pack animals on the trail, but he wants to set out for the camp as soon as possible. "Already I have tarried here longer than I had hoped. Each moment spent here, my clan is at the Ice Witch's mercy."

"Should you need time to secure supplies, perhaps I can go ahead without you and you can follow behind," he suggests.

"I sent word to him yesterday, after your caravan pulled into town, and asked Aarun to meet with a hunter, Algonell," she responds. She further explains she believes the hunter had encountered the same thugs Aarun had been seeking and thought the meeting would provide good leads. She also sent word ahead that the caravan had arrived and the cargo was secure in Dunavan's warehouse.

In reply to Hengar Aensvaard (msg # 252):

Kira nodded when he mentioned the possibility of having to slaughter the pack animal, or that it would lure things to them which she had already stated.  It seemed Hengar was determined to leave sooner rather than later so she set her pack down and scrounged through it quickly, finally giving a bob of her head.  "I've got enough trail bars to last a week and I'm pretty used to going without," she stated.  "I can head out with him now if you and the others need to wait.  Maybe we can mark the trail and you can catch up to us, maybe even by tonight if we stop and make camp a little early," she suggested.

In reply to Kira (msg # 254):

Thane had been silent up until this point.  It appeared he had not slept very well, if the hint of dark half-circles under his eyes were any indication.  "I have enough rations to last a week for me in my pack," he said.  Looking at Hengar, he shifted the topic of the conversation.
"How many is your Tribe?  More than the number of folk in this village, or less?"

"Very well," Arnan replied when Hengar voiced his opinion that bringing along a pack animal on the harsh journey to his tribe's winter camp would be a bad idea.

The scout was pleased to hear that both Kira and Thane had planned well and already had a sufficient supply of trail rations, but he was uncertain about Ellie, Dalgura, and Morgrim -- whom he had not seen as of yet this morning.

When Hengar spoke of the dangers facing his tribe and his intent to leave Bryn Shander early if any of the group needed time to purchase supplies (and Kira spoke of her own readiness to depart), Arnan nodded. "I understand your concern. If any of our group needs rations, I will remain behind and lead them to your tribe's camp. I should be able to follow your trail easily enough, unless a blizzard blows through and wipes out any sign that you leave. Just in case, tell me the route that you will follow, in case I need to make my way to you with no signs to follow."


Arnan listened with interest as Thane -- who looked as if he had not slept at all well -- asked his question to the Elksman about the number of people in his tribe, as compared to Bryn Shander.

"I suspect the others are set in their ways, but I will bring your offer to them," Morgrim replied. "This hunter, Algonell, could he lead us to the Reghed encampment if we had to follow along after the fact?"

In reply to Morgrim Ironhammer (msg # 257):

Dal nodded and had to agree with Morgrim.  If anybody knew about people being set in their ways, it was Dwarves!

"Still we can ask and keep an eye out for your friend.  We should get some food for the trip Morgrim before we meet up with the others.  Perhaps a few extra too in case we meet up with her friends?"

"Far less than those huddled behind the safety of these walls," Hengar responds. He estimates his tribe numbers perhaps 300 men, women and children.

Mithann simply nods, though Morgrim detects disappointment in Mithann's body language. "I understand," she says, her voice almost a whisper. "Yes. Algonell knows the land well and can be counted on as a guide, should you need one."

Hengar provides directions to his camp, relating the route by waypoints. Arnan feels reasonably confident he can lead the party to the Elk Tribe's camp, should they decide to follow along behind Hengar.

In reply to Hengar Aensvaard (msg # 261):

Arnan nodded. "Got it. I believe that I can lead any laggards there, if it comes to that. But hopefully everyone already has a goodly supply of rations on hand. 'Tis foolish to travel in the far north at this time of year without preparing for ill luck."