Ice In Their Veins

Continuing on from last semester, the group of adventurers recalled how they arrived in their current predicament.

They had initially found their way to Palebank Village and stumbled upon the funeral of one Urgon Wrenth. A village leader, Elro Aladataur, asked them to investigate the cause of his death - an affliction that caused him to move slowly and develop blue veins before eventually succumbing to death.

They unraveled the mystery, eventually discovering that Urgon had traveled to Eiselcross and come back with mysterious blue vials, which were stolen by Tulgi and Hulil Lutan, two sisters who had pilfered the vials and attempted to sell them. Tulgi has developed the same blue veins, and Hulil was found hiding in Croaker Cave, with the same affliction.

When confronted, Hulil fought the group and then decided to get their skin in the game to find a cure: she smashed one of the vials on the ground, kicking up a blue dust into the air which the party inhaled.

Two of the group failed their constitution saves and were afflicted with Frigid Woe: A’ron the Orc Barbarian, and Buff the Human Paladin.

The group headed back to the village and slept the night in the Jolly Dwarf Inn. The next morning, Elro entered and asked the team what they’d uncovered. The party explained the situation and their conclusion that the vials had come from somewhere in Eiselcross, as well as that some of their ranks had been afflicted themselves. Elro’s best guess was Salsvault, an experimental science laboratory that was part of the floating city of Aeor before it crashed into Eiselcross during the Calamity.

Overhearing this discussion, Irvin Liel, an Orc staying the evening asked what vials they were talking about. He produced from his jacket the other known vial, purchased from Tulgi days ago. When the party explained the significance of the vial, Irvin panicked. His entire family was staying with him and had handled the vials too. His daughters Honor and Magic both had tossed it like a toy, and his son Bob had practiced spinning it between his fingers.

Elro told the group to purchase warm winter coats, as Eiselcross would be extremely frigid. He’d secure passage to Syrinlya on Foren, Eiselcross’s largest island. The Remorhaz ship would arrive to take them the next morning. Bob volunteered to join the crew to find the cure for his father and sisters.

Now, the group is in a race against time to cure themselves as well as Bob’s family.

The group, having secured their winter coats, took the ship secured for them to Syrinlya on Eiselcross, a voyage that took 9 days much to the chagrin of the party members afflicted with Frigid Woe. They had little interest in speaking to the various adventurers and treasure hunters there, unwilling to so much as purchase a healing potion from the alchemist.

They quickly set out toward where they believed Salsvault to be, braving the ice and snow. After 5 days of travel, they came upon a traveling salesman whose wagon had been caught in the snow. He asked for help and A’ron gladly pulled his wagon from the snow. The dwarf (Blorf) explained he had been attacked by Dire Wolves and was trying to make his way back to Syrinlya but his wagon had gotten caught. He noticed he group’s warm-looking coats and offered to take them and sell them, splitting the profits 70/30. The group declined.

Just as A’ron realized the wagon was suspiciously easy to pull from the snow - almost as though it hadn’t been stuck at all - Blorf made a new offer. Either the group splits the profits… or he splits their skulls.

At that moment, 2 well-trained Dire Wolves began growling behind the group. It was an ambush.

The fight with Blorf started as soon as it became clear his wagon carried more than simple trade goods. Moonlit Shadow moved on the dire wolves right away and bloodied one early. Hunter dropped Blorf with a clean shot that left him unconscious but alive. Buff kept using what strength he had on healing to keep the party standing while the fight turned rough.

A’ron did most of the killing. He chose not to finish Blorf where he lay, but he gave the wolves no mercy. One he flung into the air with his axe, and the other he split in two as it tried to run. Buff paid for his front-line work when a wolf tore into him and dropped him before the fight was over.

Afterward, the wagon proved worth searching. Bob found a rope of mending, which went to Moonlit Shadow. The rest of the haul included a scroll of false life for A’ron, a cap of water breathing for Buff, a candle of the deep for Hunter, and a dread helm for Bob. The Wiz claimed a metal rod with a button at one end that was clearly magical, though nobody yet knew exactly what it did.

When Blorf started to come around, seeing his dead “babies” only made him look more suspicious. A’ron had not forgotten that Blorf claimed to know the area when he talked about trading the coats, and that claim now seemed more important than it had at first. Keeping the dwarf alive may matter more than the loot.

The group interrogated the wandering tradesman ‘Blorf’ (the Dwarf) and he drew a map of approximately where Salsvalt is. His loot was divvied up, and Hunter got the Candle of the Deep, a candle that stays alight even when wet, and can be used to see underwater.

A few days of travel later the group happened upon an injured Griffon. Moonlit Shadow was able to keep it calm as she pulled the arrow from its wing, and it offered the party a chance to ride on his back, greatly reducing the travel time from 12 days to 6 days. Once closer to Salsvalt, it landed and let you off, then flew away.

With Blorf’s map, Moonlit Shadow was able to quickly locate the entrance after only a day, which was frozen shut. Aaron used a torch to melt the ice and he and Bob together were able to open the door.

Inside, the party found 2 doors, one locked and one unlocked. Sound seems to travel through the crashed and partially buried laboratory very well, possibly alerting enemies to your presence.

Traveling through the unlocked door, the party found a room containing two treasure chests, surrounded by a smattering of sand. The chests were opened but discovered to be empty, aside from more of the same sand. Whatever had been stored in the chest had clearly been taken. In the sand, The Wiz found footprints - 2 dwarven sets, one of which belonged to Urgon. And 2 human-looking sets.

In the next room 2 large suits of armor stand in the center of the room, and a lone foot was sticking out of a pile of rubble. Bob and Aaron moved the rubble after The Wiz investigated to find that the foot was still moving. Underneath, a blacksmith who had been working in the area had been trapped and turned into a zombie, who now seeks to eat the party’s brains. Combat begins next session

Inside Salsvault, the party picked up exactly where they had left off: in a frozen room with two suits of armor, a cold furnace, and the half-buried body that turned out to be a zombie. The thing came up swinging and proved harder to put down than expected. A’ron flew into a rage and hacked its head off with his greataxe, but that still did not stop it. Moonlit Shadow kicked the head away from the group, Hunter shot an arrow that took off one of its legs, and A’ron finally finished it by cutting the rest of the body in half.

The fight got worse before it got better. With its last useful motion, the zombie hurled a rock into one of the suits of armor and brought both animated armors to life. The Wiz changed the fight by covering the floor in grease and sending both armors crashing down, giving the melee fighters a better opening. Buff tried to press the advantage with Thunderous Smite but slipped in the grease on the way in. Moonlit Shadow kept working one armor over with a flurry of blows while A’ron put a heavy dent in the other.

The armors hit back hard enough to drop The Wiz, but he turned the moment around with Portent, rolling a natural 20 on his death save and getting back to his feet with 1 hit point. Moonlit shadow finished off one of the suits of armor with a flurry of claw attacks, and Bob nearly killed the remaining suit. Buff used his Thunderous Smite to slice the armor with his greatsword and sent bolts of electricity coarsing through it, killing it.

The battle was won, the team earned a short rest, and contemplated what awaited in the next room…