Session 14 Report
General Summary
[session 14: 06.05.2024]
26th of Hammermoon / Deepwinter, 1489, Year of the warrior princess
the moon is waxing gibbous.
Another night passes in the wilderness. You’ve all headed to bed, wrapped up in your bedrolls and the little warmth you can cozy up while the fire is still going is almost enough to not make you freeze down to the bone. Each day spent outdoors feels colder than the last, and each night sleeping well and waking up rested feels more like a distant dream.
Vilu dreams of a recurring.. not necessarily a nightmare, but the dream is unsettling and never quite peaceful. They’re walking down a tunnel made of ice or black glass. It’s hard to tell, as the light keeps getting further and further away as the path follows a downward spiral into the darkness. They can see their own reflection on the surface of the ice, slowly warping to something almost unrecognisable. A voice calls out, coming somewhere from beyond the ice, behind the walls of the tunnel.
You promised to free me. Why are you stalling?
They wake up with a start before they see who has been talking. Next to Vilu, Viridian is sleeping soundly, the only one of the lot to seemingly have a good night’s sleep. If she sees nightmares, she does not remember them as she wakes.
Primrose’s dream leaves her with an uneasy feeling. It may be nothing, or it may be something - a warning, perhaps? She is, after all, a cleric of Selûne’s. In her dream, they’re still in the hut that they left not long ago, the one that seemed both uninhabited and occupied at the same time. But the dream is not a memory - this time, behind the windows a blizzard rages on, and the fire struggling in the hearth is suddenly extinguished as the front door to the building gets blasted wide open. You all stand still and watch as a hulking creature with piercing, ice-cold eyes stares at you from the doorframe. She remains there, unblinking, but Primrose feels ice spreading through her veins before she wakes. The moon is still up, but her light is not strong enough to warm.
Annie also dreams. Her dream is silent, dust gathering under her boots as she walks in the shadows of the ancient, forgotten city. Every sound echoes, every drop of water from the rooftops. The air is still, dead. And although the city slumbers, the need to stay hidden remains - and for a good reason. Just before Annie wakes up, she sees a creature, hunched over something, turn its head and staring at her with eyes that do not see, for there are only empty eyesockets that remain, everything else long since withered away.
The next day dawns as much as a dawn still exists - cold and bleary. Viridian warms breakfast under the coals of the fire’s remnants, and as everyone’s getting ready for the day in their own manner, Annie asks Dannika for some paper and something to draw her dream, or what she recalls of it, at least. Salvia is off to the side for some privacy to once more do his own morning rituals. The man seems to often wake up before the hypothetical sunrise, and it’s likely that his morning practices are related to his faith. Vilu ponders the connection between the notes on the prayers you found in the temple of the Amaunator and the spell scripts you saw at the abandoned hut, and whether there might be a connection. While both could likely be used for summoning or calling forth something, it seems unlikely their functions would be exactly the same. Before you leave, you also send a message to Morven, telling about your plans to go to Easthaven and possibly of eating a peryton heart. Morven does not seem entirely too surprised by either of these pieces of information, but advices you to first cook the heart and be mindful of the creature’s last meal. He mentions they are nutritious and magical in nature, but does not voice a personal opinion on the matter.
You walk for the better part of the day, and eventually, as it’s starting to be dinner time, you finally come upon a fork in the road. A large stone obelisk stands in the middle, a sharp corner facing each pathway. Viridian is quick to draw out the map you received from Rowan, and realizes you’ve finally come upon the crossing that could take you either to the Northern Caers, Easthaven or down south to Goodmead and Dougan’s Hole. Annie and Primrose notice what seems to be old inscription carved into the stone. It looks ancient, much older than the pathway carvings in common that denote directions to the towns. Annie points out it’s Lokharic script, the same as the mysterious writing on Rowan’s map. You take a short break so that Annie can copy the text and perhaps decode it at a later time. During the break, you talk about Rowan’s sister residing in Caer Dineval, and the possibility of going to a different town instead of Easthaven. Despite some joking around, you decide against that.
Viridian thinks there’s still a slight possibility you might arrive in Easthaven before night, if you keep up the pace that you’ve had until now - and you do, technically. When the night settles, you come upon a view of Lac Dinneshare spreading out below you, and on its shores shines the hundreds of little lights of Easthaven, the oldest city in the entire Icewind Dale. Unlike Bryn Shander and Targos, Easthaven sprawls out in every direction, even the lake itself as piers continue well into the somewhat frozen lake itself. While Targos boasts having one of the largest fishing fleets of all of the towns, it’s clear even to the untrained eye that in Easthaven there are simply more seafaring vessels, although most of them seem to be docked. A forest of wooden masts rises from the lake.
You contemplate the possibility of trekking down to the town this late in the evening, but considering the city’s history of being founded by actual thieves and the honoured custom of petty crime being legal, you decide against dragging the peryton carcasses to an inn with you - not only would you chance spoiling them in the warmth, but someone might consider stealing them in the night, and you’d have to keep watch, anyway. And so you decide one more night in the wild won’t hurt. It’s quite bittersweet, actually - you’ve come to the end of a journey of sorts, tomorrow you might no longer be traveling with Salvia and Dannika. And so you decide to eat well and celebrate with them, trading spooky stories around the campfire. Annie also asks her new augury bones - vertebrae from the perytons - if it’s a good idea to stall one more night in the wilds. The tentative answer from whatever - or whoever- is answering her is a resounding yes.
You set up your camp once more, Viridian calling forth the chwinga to help with the task. They’re of the more feral variety than their Targosian friends, shabbier in fur and wearing silvery fish skins. As Vilu offers them almonds, you notice their claws are sharp. They speak of the hunger, and how it’s grown. These are tough times, even for the chwinga. Viridian takes a moment to track down some herbs and finds some nettle and winterberries under the snow, perfect for a hot drink as you enjoy your rations and the campfire warming your weary bones. She takes the time to cheer everyone up by playing a tune or two with her simple flute, its head carved to resemble a bear.
Salvia shares an origin myth of the perytons being creatures cursed by several gods for the sins they’ve committed, and now they’re left to haunt the realms with hunger for human hearts and a shadow to match. Vilu offers a tale of a maiden who joins her own funeral, not knowing she’s been killed by the winter’s fury. Viridian shares a somewhat tall tale of how they’ve come to meet the chwinga for the first time, and how she finally got her ability to merge with the nature and learn her shape as a wolf - which she shows off, much to Salvia’s chagrin. He doesn’t seem to be too fond of the creatures, unlike Dannika, who is delighted.
Salvia teaches Vilu some new words in infernal, as they have learned some words here and there before. Vilu also shares with the tieflings that they hail from Dougan’s Hole, and have been aware of the human sacrifices that have been committed in the name of Auril.
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