The Adventures of The Big HELP, Session 38

General Summary

• After learning Arazid had returned to life and escaping his wrath, The Big HELP took a minute to recuperate. Petrichor took a look around the room they had spent the last night in and realized a corpse sat hidden in a corner. She was a little taken aback they hadn't noticed it earlier but that passed when she decided to root through the deceased's belongings. A quick look told Petrichor that the corpse had been a female dwarf who died quite a long time ago due to frostbite and burns. She then found a pouch that contained 600G, a magic ring, and a journal.

• Reading the journal, Petrichor learned that the dwarf had been a druid looking for a ancient artifact. Her journal mentioned a shield that would protect its bearer from ice and flame. It speculated that the shield had been claimed by one of the deep creatures and that the druid had purchased the magic ring to help defend against such creatures. The rest of the journal had been burned away.
• The shield caught Petrichor's kleptomania. She asked if anyone could cast Speak with Dead to question the corpse. Bigwig realized she had and, not wanting to miss another chance to use the spell, pulled out her Amulet of Speak with Dead. Petrichor asked the questions, wasting a couple by asking the corpse if she could answer questions rather than actually asking the questions. The HELP were at least able to learn that the shield was designed to protect its bearer from fire and ice and the dwarf was hoping to discover it for archaeological purposes. With their last question, the dwarf explained she died fighting a frost salamander, which had replaced one of its scales with the shield, when she realized that the magic ring she had purchased did not do as had been described.
• Despite concerns over the ring's effect, Bigwig decided to put it on. She immediately became clumsy and realized that the ring was cursed. It drained her of her Dexterity and could not be removed without someone casting Remove Curse. She briefly pondered cutting her own finger off to try to remove the curse. Zirabelle was ready to offer assistance, but Bigwig decided to wait it out and see if she could just deal with the curse instead.
• Moving south, Larka offered to carry Bigwig who could not see in the dark. Petrichor took the lead and saw that the cave ahead was damaged. Cracks in the sealing allowed snow to pour down like sand into piles on the floor. Petrichor didn't see anything unusual but urged caution. The others were far more cautious than her, though. Petrichor was trying to avoid stepping on any of the snow, but trod on one of the piles. She realized the snow was alive when it started to scream in pain. The volume of the scream caused the cave to shake and start to collapse. The HELP ran for cover and made it just in time.
• The Big HELP came to another crossroads. Moving east, Larka and Petrichor found another tunnel that had caved in. Petrichor summoned a Flaming Sphere and proceeded to melt the ice. Larka spent some time studying the collapsed ice and snow while Zirabelle and Bigwig checked out the other direction. Larka realized she and Petrichor could make a path through the collapsed section if they worked delicately over about six hours.
• Bigwig and Zirabelle checked out the room to the west. Bigwig cast Dancing Lights and realized they could go further west to return back to where they entered the cave system. To the south, she and Zirabelle heard the howling of wolves. Bigwig was cautious but Zirabelle was excited to tell Larka about them. The path north led to a small room. Dozens of hands made of solid ice reached up from the floor of this room. Before Bigwig noticed those, she first found a discarded bag of potions (including two Potions of Superior Healing, Potion of Flying, Potion of Invulnerability, and an Oil of Sharpness). The two then briefly mused on why potions didn't freeze.
• The north face of the room caught both of their attention. A mouth, fanged and made of solid ice, seemed to reach out from the wall. Bigwig urged caution while Zirabelle stepped forward, wondering what it could be or why it was here. She pressed her ear against the mouth and cast Detect Magic. She could tell there was some ancient magic imbued within the ice, but the source had either died or been cast into eternal sleep generations ago. She wondered aloud how deep they could be and what might be lurking so far under the mountain. Bigwig wasn't keen to find out and suggested they meet back up with Larka and Petrichor.
• The four decided not to take their time thawing the collapse and moved in the direction of the winter wolves Bigwig had heard. Petrichor now carried Bigwig. Larka dreamed up a plan to dominate them and make them part of her army. Moving with stealth, they were able to spy the wolves lurking around a large room. The floor was covered with a slick ice that gave off enough blue light for Bigwig to see. Larka stepped out and tried to reach the wolves' minds with her telepathy. She found the wolves already controlled by some ancient, eldritch force that she couldn't break. The wolves turned to look at her and the HELP were thrown into battle.
• Larka warned the others that the floor was slippery and that they risked sliding if they weren't careful. The wolves and Zirabelle were all fine on the ice, though. Zirabelle charged forward to slash at one wolf, but was knocked over when a second wolf sent Petrichor sliding in her direction. Larka and Bigwig fought two additional wolves at the entrance they came in. Larka used her Soulblade Knives to teleport around rather than risk sliding. She jumped onto one of the wolves and plunged her daggers into its haunches to keep a hold.
• The wolf under Larka began to run deeper into the caves. At this point, Larka realized they were trying to guide the HELP to a specific point. Though the four managed to wound the wolves without much difficulty, they still kept finding themselves slid around by the wolves. Deeper in the cave, Bigwig and Petrichor began to hear warm, wet slithering and whispers. Larka jumped off the wolf she was riding before slaying it. The HELP managed to hold their ground and defeated the wolves without being forced back any further.
• With the wolves defeat, the ice floor fractured and the whispering dispersed. The HELP debated going forward seeing where the wolves were guiding them. Larka took a moment to telepathically seek out the mind she had felt controlling the wolves. She had a hard time focusing after the battle and just felt something old and powerful miles beneath where they stood.
• They eventually decided not to risk it and moved east of where they first encountered the wolves. Again, they found themselves at a fork in the road. One way was a tunnel that looked similar to the cave with the living snow. From the south, they heard a snoring his. Petrichor suggested this could be the direction of the frost salamander the druid's corpse had spoken about. She convinced the others to investigate after a short rest. Larka took another opportunity to telepathically scout ahead. This time, she was able to feel the mind of a frost giant. She could tell it was old and been charmed in some way, though it seemed to be a less eldritch possession than what was controlling the wolves.
• Moving south, they found the long dead skeleton of a frost giant. The Big HELP were able to look around the cavern and saw the frost salamander sleeping, the shield set like a scale on its neck. To its side was the frost giant, stroking the back of the salamander's head and calling it his beloved. A thin layer of ice had formed over his legs, suggesting he had been sitting there for a very long time. Larka realized that the giant was being charmed, likely by the frost salamander as protection.
• Petrichor devised a plan where she would use her Slippers of Spider Climb to walk unseen across the ceiling, drop to the salamander's side, and steal the shield before Wild Shaping into a giant eagle and escaping. Bigwig also suggested they use her Fog Cloud spell as cover. Larka wanted to sneak across but couldn't see where there would be cover to avoid the giant's line of sight once she got too close. They decided to go with Petrichor's plan, adding in a modified version of Bigwig's idea where she would cast Fog Cloud over the salamander when Petrichor leaped for the shield.
• Petrichor enacted her plan and stealthily climbed across the ceiling. When she stood over the salamander, she studied the shield and the best way to remove it stealthily. She realized that the shield was embedded in the frost salamander's neck like a scale and that she wouldn't be able to remove it without waking the salamander. Her keen eyes helped her see how it the frost salamander had replaced an old scale with the shield, allowing her to intuit the easiest way of pulling the shield free while maximizing damage to the salamander.
• Petrichor gave the signal and dropped from the ceiling. Bigwig cast Fog Cloud as Petrichor Wild Shaped. She grabbed the shield as blue blood sprayed from the frost salamander's neck and soared off back to the others. The frost giant stood up and blew his horn, raising several frost giant skeletons to aid him. The salamander buried underground to avoid the fog. The frost giant remained lost in the fog for the battle. After Petrichor grabbed the shield, she felt it start to float around her and realized that it had automatically attuned itself to her.
• Zirabelle and Larka, carrying Bigwig, moved for the exit. Petrichor followed them in flight, but was paralyzed by the Freezing Stare of one of the skeletons. She crashed to the ground, unable to move. Zirabelle kept running, unaware of Petrichor's fall. Larka and Bigwig looked back to see a frost giant skeleton slash Petrichor with its greataxe, breaking through her Wild Shape. Petrichor shook off the paralysis but was unable to move before succumbing to another skeleton's stare. Larka and Bigwig moved to her defense, Larka telepathically allowing Bigwig to see through her eyes.
• Just as the two helped Petrichor up, the salamander rose up from the earth to attack them. The three retreated at this point, Petrichor being in much worse shape than the others. Fortunately, the cave was too narrow for any of the attackers to follow.
• As she ran forward, Zirabelle telepathically shouted directions on where to go back to Larka. She soon found herself in a cavern. On the far end, sunbeams shone through a collapsed wall. Petrichor, Larka, and Bigwig joined her as soon as they could. They quickly cleared most of the rubble in their way with some effort.
• Before they could finish, a rumble came from behind them. The frost salamander burrowed up behind them. The HELP were ready for a difficult battle. Petrichor cast Flame Blade and, with a lucky strike, managed to slice through the salamander's belly with her first blow. The frost salamander writhed in its death throes. The remaining rubble slid away and the HELP fled through their passage out before the cavern collapsed.

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52 Days after the Crash of the Raziel

Report Date

09 Mar 2025