The Adventures of the Big HELP, Session 36

General Summary

• The Big HELP recuperated for the night while dwelling on their escape from the Six Tenet Monastery. The following morning, Hest asked the party if they didn't mind visiting her parents' house. She had previously been tasked by Oten to reclaim a shield that had been given to her family on her birth. Oten said it contained a message from her father that he couldn't share in person. Hest was unsure if it would be safe, though. The monastery mages would be able to detect her if she came too close. The others convinced her to go anyway. They also talked Zirabelle into joining them out of concern for her safety and mental health.
• Petrichor used her Wild Shape ability to turn into a giant eagle and carry the others to Hest's parents. Part way through the journey, Hest began to glow. Larka and Bigwig realized that she was the subject of a Locate Person spell. Larka told Petrichor to fly higher until they were out of the spell's range.
• Landing at Hest's parents' house, Hest asked Larka to investigate and see whether anyone was home. Larka saw no lights inside and a clear entry to where the shield would be. Hest asked her to sneak in to avoid waking her parents. Larka broke in with no issue and examined the shield. She realized that the shield had a mosaic pattern on it and the pieces could be moved around like a puzzle. The shield was also warded to alarm if it was removed.
• Larka telepathically informed Hest about this. Hest decided to knock on the door and ask her parents for it directly. When she knocked, Larka ran to escape and heard a gruff male voice demand that no one answer the door. Hest went to knock again when she began to glow as before. She told Larka to steal the shield while they still had a chance. Larka tied a rope around the arm guard and moved to the window. She pulled the shield and it came right to her. The mantlepiece began to cry its alarm and Hest's father jumped out of bed to get it.
• Larka heard Hest's father curse her for stealing it and Hest's mother for not letting him sell it before. He fired a crossbow bolt at Larka but missed completely. The Big HELP escaped on a Wild Shaped Petrichor's wings. Hest's father fired off a few parting shots but none hit. In an impish mood, Larka telepathically reached out to him and said it was Hest taking it. Hest's father seemed to suggest it wasn't hers to take. Hest wondered what that meant when Larka relayed it to her and why Oten would have told her to take it. She, Larka, and Bigwig investigated the shield. Together, they got a general idea of how the puzzle shield worked but realized it would take some time to figure out its secrets.
• When they landed, The Big HELP debated where to go next. Larka reminded everyone that Petrichor was bound for Moonvale Grove and she needed to get to Mount Todamente. They decided to travel north around Lake Verdauga. Zirabelle warned the HELP this path would take them through Arctic Gnasher territory. When they wouldn't change their plans, Zirabelle offered to routes. They could travel over the frozen mountains, which would be faster but more likely to encounter Arctic Gnashers and their arcane engines. Beneath the mountains they would be less likely to encounter the Gnashers but the path had its own dangers. Zirabelle wasn't enthused by the idea of encountering her former friends post-banishment so the group decided to travel below ground.
• Larka and Zirabelle led the way. Three days into their journey, Larka picked up on the threat of something following them. The land was slowly giving way from green forests to snowy hills. Zirabelle mentioned that the Arctic Gnashers only recently took this land and whispered ghost stories of walkers in the woods. Larka wanted to howl to scare whatever was following them away. Zirabelle said this likely a good idea for the stories said the creatures feared the winter wolves further north. The HELP howled with Larka and scared off their follower, though Larka was a little peeved that Zirabelle howled better in the moment.
• As The Big HELP traversed further through the snow, they found a corpse with a gold pouch reaching through the snow dunes. Larka and Hest were suspicious but Zirabelle and Bigwig stepped closer. Larka asked if the Arctic Gnashers would place a trap like this. Zirabelle said there were much more fun ways of hunting down enemies than placing traps and that they shouldn't pass up on resources this far into the snow. Zirabelle eagerly grabbed the pouch but Bigwig was disturbed by the corpse once she realized it wore the robes of the Cult of Arazid. Larka confirmed the corpse was no more than two days old and Bigwig worried that they hadn't seen the last of the cult.
• On their journey, the HELP asked Zirabelle about the Arctic Gnashers. They realized that Zirabelle and her former tribe were a little too enthusiastic about killing and hunting others. Larka tried to convince Zirabelle that there were kinder alternatives to such barbarism, knowing full well the reputation of her own tribe as savage raiders. When Zirabelle fretted about her former tribe seeing her post-banishment, Larka offered her own cape to hid her identity. Zirabelle ripped the cape off of Larka while she was still wearing it and eagerly put it on. Hest suggested Zirabelle came from a culture that didn't understand sharing due to limited resources and constant fighting. Larka tried to explain and hoped the idea got through to Zirabelle. Bigwig said she'd wear the cape after Zirabelle gave it back to Larka, simultaneously teasing Larka and driving the point home to Zirabelle.
• After six days of travel, the Big HELP reached the cave entrance Zirabelle told them about. She offered to scout ahead but the others joined her. They were still cautious about Zirabelle's motives and her savagery. The reconnaissance revealed that a group of Arctic Gnashers and ice trolls were camped out at the cave mouth. Zirabelle was relieved that they didn't have an arcane engine until Larka pointed something out at the bottom of the hill. Zirabelle explained that these engines were devices the Arctic Gnashers built from ancient magical technology deep beneath the ice or washed up on shore. The Gnashers would ride around the snow drifts on them, attacking each other other territories with gruesome weapons and arcane missiles. Looking back at the ice trolls, Zirabelle said that some worked with the Arctic Gnashers willingly while others were mind controlled by a magical device. Larka picked up on magic fluctuations that suggested these trolls were mind controlled.
• The HELP decided to try sneaking by the camp and into the cave mouth. They had some success until Larka decided to teleport with psionic daggers. She arrived up the side of the cliff only to find no shelter from the eyes of the camp. She laid flat in the snow to give herself a moment to think. She tried reaching out to the nearest ice troll, hoping to break free of the mind control and convince it to attack the others. The mind control was too great and shut out any attempts. One of the Arctic Gnashers approached to investigate. Larka leapt from the snow, slicing the throat of the approaching man and telepathically commanding the others to attack.
• Hest and Bigwig found themselves cornered by ice trolls. Bigwig put up a good fight but was knew she wouldn't be able to take on more than one at a time, especially once she realized these creatures had the ability to regenerate. Hest held another back using Chromatic Orb spells and realized that the fire could prevent the ice trolls from healing. Larka used her psionic daggers to attack and teleport, climbing up to the top of the hill.
• Zirabelle fought off one of her former tribes people and realized that another was going for the arcane engine. She shouted to the others that they couldn't let him get there. There would be no way for the HELP to fight off an arcane engine on foot. She tried to chase him down but was blocked by the Gnasher she was fighting. With a Shocking Grasp cantrip, she defeated him and saw a stone drop from his hand. Zirabelle picked it up, recognized the glyphs on it, and said she'd found the magical device controlling the ice trolls. She contemplated using it to kill the trolls instantly. The others convinced her to let them live. She smashed the stone on the ground, hoping that the shock of freedom would knock the trolls out for a moment rather than sending them on a rampage.
• The ice trolls slumped down, unconscious. The remaining Arctic Gnashers ran for the arcane engine, hoping to escape before the trolls got their revenge. The Big HELP ran for the cave. They arrived just as the Gnashers made it to the engine. The Gnashers fired off missiles of arcane energy at the HELP. The HELP dove into the cave and heard the missiles impact above the cave mouth. Bigwig moved down the main path but Zirabelle warned the impact may cause a cave-in. They could already tell the cave mouth was about to collapse.
• With no time to explain, Zirabelle told them to jump down a side tunnel in the cave. The side tunnel looked to be a natural ice slide that would take them deeper into the mountain. They heard a brief echo of Zirabelle's voice, warning them this trip would be more perilous than they realized, before jumping down after her.

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43 Days after the Crash of the Raziel

Report Date

26 Jan 2025