Chapter 1: The Arrival, The Goal, The Hunt

Frostfall 12 1463:

Four foreigners arrived at the docks of Twin Peaks and meet together at a tavern. They are Xorin from BreyxPor, Balthasar from Arak, Bratmael from parts unknown and Harrow from KulKaThul. At the tavern they are greeted by an individual clad in white leather armor covering his entire body called The Stranger.
The Stranger has been sent to give them a mission, to bring peace to the region. To do this the party needs to convince 5/7 members of the Frostholme Council of Elders to vote for peace in the next council meeting scheduled in 1466.
The party quickly discusses the various locations and where or how to start with their mission. Eventually, they come to the decision that they should head towards Glacial Falls and start by questioning the mayor. But before they do that, they need to find a place to sleep for the night.
A party member suggests that perhaps they could also gain a reputation for themselves that may help them gain audience with Elders, and so also agree with each other to assist the townsfolk in the places they visit to bolster their reputation. At the Twin Peaks message board they see that there is an upcoming hunting competition and Cook the chef at the local tavern is looking for some help. They travel to the tavern and discover that there is a thief that has been breaking in and stealing bits and pieces from the inn each night.
The party camps in the inn with flour on the floor to track the thief and members stationed in different rooms. Eventually, they discover a small lizard like creature has created trap doors to get in to the inn undetected, Harrow, Xorin and Balthasar chase him in to the tunnels underneath the inn but are beaten bloody by the Kobolds traps and eventually retreat. Bratmael, who decided to wait outside the inn, sees the creature making a run for it and chases after it. He makes multiple attempts to capture the slippery lizard but fails each time, then with a look of desperation on his face he draws his bow and fires a shot at the Kobolds leg to try and pin it to the ground.
Unfortunately, his aim wasn't perfect and he instead pierces the Kobold through the chest, killing him. He retrieves its dead body and returns to his comrades and insists he did the right thing. Eventually, everyone agrees and helps him close up the holes. They go to bed that night feeling satisfied that they solved the crime.

Frostfall 13 1463:

The party awakes after their previous nights adventures and meets in the common room. There they meet with Cook and give him the good news, they caught the thief.....dead! Cook is pleased to hear this, and tells the party not to worry about the tunnels, he'll send some people down there later in the day. Balthazar speaks more to Sylvie Ironsoul about a notice that he found on the towns message board, she tells him that shes had trouble with an order of ale that she needed for upcoming hunt festival. Kron Graik, a member of the nearby Graik Hill Tribe and a local brewer hasn't delivered her order at all. She offers Balthazar 10 gold to bring her the ale and tells him where he can find Kron, Balthazar agrees to help.
The party meanwhile come to the conclusion that the towns mayor still needs to be told about the tunnels under the inn and so agree that after Harrow visits the nearby church they should go to the town hall, at the church Harrow is told the story of creation from a Frostwarden of the Temple of the Frostwyrm.
Balthazar meets Kylie Griegan, the lead of The Hunters Lodge in town who discusses the upcoming hunt with her. She mentions that there are bonus points for anyone that kills The Great White Beast during the hunt, though also grimly mentions that many have died in the past attempting to do just that. The favourite to win the hunt is Quillathe Darkstar. Merric, a halfling warrior who is also sitting at the table with Kylie takes an immediate disliking to Balthazar, though not for any particular reason that Balthazar can ascertain. After his chat Balthazar attempts to find the party but is confused about their location so instead of finding them he preaches another sermon to the people of Twin Peaks...again no one bites.
The rest of the party meets the Mayor of the town, Ingrid White. They discuss the previous evenings events with her and she seems to genuinely have no idea about the tunnels and the kobold, she offers to send people down the tunnels to investigate what is going on there. She also mentions that there is a bandit camp nearby that has been causing issues and attacking local caravans, they could possibly get more information from Kreen at the Roughbone General Store.
The party goes to the general store and meets the 7"8 Kreen Roughbone who says the mercenary he hired was from The Iron Vanguard and can be considered reliable. The mercernary reported 5 members in total, 2 with crossbows, 2 with swords and 1 wielding 2 swords who was clearly the leader. Bratmael offers to retrieve Kreens stolen spears in return for some compensation but Kreen rebuts with an offer to have all Roughbone Trade Family stores across Frostholme refuse his service if he finds the spears and does not return them. Crestfallen, Brat leaves the establishment. Balthazar, recognising that this man is a trader first and foremost, offers to purchase some items and broker a deal for future business with the promise to return the spears if they are found. Kreen agrees to these terms and sells Balthazar a map, some ale, some wine and some jerky as well as giving him a loyalty card giving him 15% off at all Roughbone stores.
Now armed with directions and information on the bandits the party sets off in to The Wilderness. They attempt to follow the directions given to them by Mayor White as best as they can but the trail is hard to follow and they find themselves lost for a small portion of their journey, eventually finding the bandit camp. The party comes up with the plan of having Harrow and Balthazar enter the camp posing as religious priests with Xorin and Bratmael hidden in the bushes behind them, if trouble arises Balthazar has a code word to bring the other 2 into the fight.
Harrow and Balthazar enter the camp and, to Harrows confusion, Balthazar asks them if they are the Graik clan to which they reply yes then mentions that they have 2 members hidden outside the camp as guards. He then begins negotiations with them for the ale that Sylvie has been expecting but are told Kron is currently sick. The 2 are then led to a large tent where they are confronted with the realisation that these folk are indeed NOT the Graik clan and are instead the bandits that they are searching for! Brat and Xorin sneak their way in to camp but the crossbow men hidden in the trees have been keeping an eye out for them ever since Balthazar mentioned they were nearby. The bandits attack and a chaotic fight breaks out.
Brat takes an arrow to the shoulder while Harrow is beaten bloody by the bandits and their leader but not before letting off a curse that weakens 2 of them, Xorin attempts to leap into the tree to take out one of the archers but the branch gives out beneath him and he falls to the ground. Balthazar, realising they are in trouble, heals Harrows wounds and shields himself with Elenions blessings of protection. Bratmael, sensing that the situation has turned dire, uses his combat expertise to quickly devise a plan, dashing forward he slashes at the ropes holding the tent up, destroying them then leaps on to the tent bringing it to ground. From under the cover of the collapsed tent Harrow uses his mimicking abilities to confuse the bandits into helping him and Balthazar out of the tent while the leader crawls out another side. Xorin finally makes his way to the top of the tree and grapples with the bandit in the tree who attempts to shove him off, he laughs at the bandits attempt then promptly tosses him to his death on the floor below.
Harrow begs one of the bandits to give up but he refuses and takes a sickle to the skull for his insolence. Balthazar finally emerging from the tent gives a speech to the bandit leader and hits him with his mace. The leader, stubborn as an ox, refuses to go down until Bratmael charges at him, tripping him then pulverizing his face in with the end of his halberd.
The party now victorious, search the camp for any useful bits and pieces, recovering the stolen spears in the process. Then sleep for the night.

Frostfall 14 1463

The party awakes in the bandit camp and as they prepare to leave the camp and head back to the city they are approached by a pair of twin Goliaths, Brihk Slowweaver and Bhaldr Slowweaver, who are scouts from the nearby Trisk Military Outpost. They have been sent to clear out the bandit camp as a trader who visited their camp recently was killed. The party declares their innocence and let the twins know that they have taken care of the bandits, but Bhaldr isn't 100% sure and insists they accompany him to their outpost to be questioned by their commander. The party agrees to follow the twins and they make their way to the Trisk Outpost and meet with Commander Trisk Slowweaver. He is quickly convinced that they are not bandits and requests that they deliver a message to his brother in Glacial Falls. The party agrees and Bratmael asks if the Commander has seen his friend who has his Elf ears cut to look like Human ears, Trisk mentions that he has heard tales of a person matching that description fighting around The Last Stand and suggests they look there.
The party then takes the time to explore the camp with Harrow visiting a shrine to auroth that has effigies around it, he finds a person that gives him the end of the White Wolfs Story that he had partially read on some runestones the night before. Brat and Xorin go to the training grounds and have a sparring session with Brihk who quickly dispatches of them despite their best efforts.
Balthasar meanwhile has a conversation with Trisk offering the aid of Arak to the outpost, the commander responds by saying he doesn't have diplomatic authority or sway to agree to any of Balthasars offerings but offers to write him a recommendation to get an audience with a member of The Six in The Last Stand. Balthasar then decides to try his hand against Brihk and is promptly taken down by the large warrior.
The party then gathers their belongings and makes their way to the Graik Village to find out what is happening with Sylvies ale, there they meet with Kron Graik. Kron appears to be upset and tells the party that the ale was delivered this morning, by himself personally, to Sylvie. The ale shipment was held up by the death of one of their traders, Balar, who was killed by bandits yesterday. Balthasar attempts to get Kron to sign this in writing but Kron, clearly fed up with the questioning, closes the door in his face.
The party then returns to Twin Peaks where Bratmael briefly picked up his cloak from Finn, then quickly gave it back to him in return for a Hunting Tunic that he will wear during the hunt as advertisement for Finns shop. Balthasar and Xorin returned the spears to Kreen who was happy to have his merchandise returned and Harrow picked up payment for clearing the bandit camp as well as a diary from the creature they had killed under the Tavern. The party also signed up for the hunt then took their rest for the night.

Frostfall 15 1463:

The hunt is on! The party awakens and has breakfast in the tavern and discusses their plans for the hunt. Bratmael leaves the tavern to organize an advantage for himself for the hunt by visiting a local sheep farmer and renting an old sheep from him. He pays the farmer 5 gold with the understanding that 3 gold will be returned to him if he brings the sheep back alive. Balthasar voices his concerns over the hunting of the animals but decides to join the hunt regardless. Harrow, having no useful skills for a hunt, opts to sit this one out.
Kylie Griegan welcomes everyone to the hunt and sets out the rules, every contestant has their weapons enchanted so that the final blow will automatically award points to the one making it. No attacking other contestants. No helping other contestants. And with the rules explained and the story of The Bloodseeker told the hunt began.
Xorin found himself in a dense forest unable to find anything but baboons, nabbing one as a quick easy kill before setting some masterful traps down to catch more creatures while he moved through the forest in search of a larger prey. Eventually, he found himself in a clearing and with a mighty leap took a bear down, sustaining a minor wound in the process. The thrill of the hunt overtook him and he began slaughtering animals throughout the clearing netting himself 5 kills in total for second place.
Bratmael meanwhile, took his sheep bait into a clearing, set a bunch of traps and sliced its legs to get blood out of it. he then ran through the forests smearing the scent of the sheep all over the place in an attempt to attract animals. His plan worked out as he managed to trap 2 baboons and the baboons attracted 2 panthers which he killed before shooting a stray arrow into the forest which took out an ape netting him enough points to get 3rd place.
Balthasar found himself surrounded by animal tracks but couldn't decide where to go and eventually found himself face to face with a bear, upon wounding the bear and taking a wound himself, he prayed to Elion for guidance and realised that he is here to heal not harm and thus spent his time healing and feeding the bear, giving up on the hunt and instead enjoying his time in nature.
Quillathe, the legendary hunter, bagged himself 2 large bears and gained enough points to take out the entire competition.
Randall, meanwhile, cleverly caught a tiger with a well made pitfall trap that he baited the tiger into using tactical brilliance before finding himself in an open field slaughtering everything in sight. Eventually, Merric, another hunter who had slept with Randalls wife made his way into the clearing and Randall (with the aid of his sons) attacked Merric and beat him unconcious, causing himself to be disqualified.
Following the hunt the party returned to the Tavern to celebrate alongside the villagers. Many people have gathered in the Tavern and a bard plays the Lyre to everyones delight. The party meets a man introducing himself as Brogar Axehandle, who tells them that he has travelled from Lylthanair to visit his brother Braine. Harrow notices that Brogar is wearing rather fine clothing, indicating that he may be of some higher nobility despite his claims that he is merely a brother of a local villager. Xorin makes some small conversation with Kreen Roughbone who introduces him to Mara Shyheart and he promptly ignores her. He then discusses the possibility of purchasing some plate armour from Braine who tells him he can come to his shop in the morning if he wishes. Balthasar, Bratmael and Harrow all play games of chess with each other with BratMael losing every game. Merric discusses Randals attack on him with Harrow and claims he has no idea why he was attacked but it seemed rather clear to Harrow that Merric was not being truthful.
The bard then approached the table and asked if he could have a discussion with Xorin after his performance had ended. The party continues socializing with the other patrons and eats some bear stew and awaits the end of the bards performance. After his performance is done the Bard introduces himself to the party as Vaelstrun the Bard, a man who has travelled across the globe in search of tales. He has travelled to Twin Peaks from The Last Stand by himself and was attacked on the road and had his flute stolen by a group of bandits who took it to a nearby cave.
He doesn't have much to offer the party except 2.4 gold that he has made in tips but did offer to sing songs of their achievements if they wished. Balthasar wanted him to sing of Arak and handed him some lyrics but the bard refused citing that he did not wish to spread propaganda. Vaelstrun then offered to sing a different song about Arak that didn't involve attempting to co-erce people into joining the city but Balthasar was less enthusiastic about it. Vaelstrun also pointed out that he has the Mark of The Starfallen Sickness and so cannot be touched, nor should his items be touched by others for fear of the disease spreading. The party eventually agrees to help, though not without some hostility towards Vaelstrun from BratMael, before finally going to bed to rest.

Frostfall 16 1463:

The party awakens in the tavern and are approached by Mara Shyheart who introduces herself and lets them know that she is a Battle Master for The Iron Vanguard and suggests that should they find themselves in Glacial Fall they might want to swing by The Iron Vanguard and undergo the recruitment test to join the guild, the guild offers a steady income and a steady stream of jobs. The party tells her they will consider this if/when they make their way to Glacial Falls. In the mean time, Xorin and Harrow visit Finn and Khreen, and learn more about The Iron Vanguard and their presence in the region. They also learn a small bit more about The Maddening Frost and Starfall Sicknesses. Balthasar and Bratmael went to the town board to perform their daily preaching, where Balthasar finally had some people approach himto whom he gave some bread and jerky before creating a minor shrine to Elion.
They find the cave and come across the well that Vaelstrun had described to the party. After some thinking, Bratmael jumped into the well and placed his hand into the gauntlet. The gauntlet closed itself around his arm and the well started sinking and filling with water. He quickly pointed towards the door which unlocked it and stopped the flooding.
In the next room they found themselves with a pile of rubble and some pedestals. When the pedestals were stood on they caused the rocks to float and reveal different words depending on which pedestal the person was on. Eventually, the party realised that all 4 words formed a category that could be used to get through the door to the next area.
They make their way through a hallway shaped like a letter then enter into a room where 2 BratMaels appear and claim they are the real one. Through rigorous questioning and observation the party soon realises that one is a mirror doppleganger and the other is the real. Balthasar points out that BratMaels coat has a red slash on the right side. The party then uses the ceremonial knife to stab the other BratMael before proceeding down a dark hall way that eventually leads them to the lair of a mad scientist.
The gnome scientist has built himself a wooden-golemn like creature that instantly springs to life and attacks the party. The gnome uses a combination of science and magic to grow the nearby mushrooms releasing their poisonous cloud before igniting it to create explosions to damage the party. Xorin bee-lined for the gnome while the tree golemn kept the rest of the party busy. Xorin beat into the gnome while the tree grabbed mushrooms and slammed the other party members. After missing a myriad of attacks BratMael finally landed the coup de grâce on Fizzrock. Balthasar meanwhile inflicted some grievous wounds on the tree monster but it perservered and hit the party back hard. Eventually in a moment of desperation Harrow climbed the tree-monster with a mushroom in his hand and slammed it in to the molten core of the monster, Xorin seeing the monster about to explode from the mixture of the mushrooms gas summoned an impressive amount of strength and shoved the gigantic being to the other side of the room where it promptly exploded.
The party made their way back to Twin Peaks and gave the flute over to Vaelstrun. Harrow discussed with him the origins of his songs and discovered that Vaelstrun had made friends with some Pathfinders of KKT, in fact, he often tries to make friends with any and all guilds in order to extract as many stories as possible. He then asks if the group would like their stories told, to which Harrow agrees and informs him that for now they are happy to be known as The Other Guys. Vaelstrun gives the Harrow a small preview of the song he has started constructing for them then pays Harrow 5g instead of the original 2.4g.
The party then finds a table and discusses their next move. Balthasar reminds them all that they seem to have business in The Last Stand), though based on what The Stranger had previously told them, the path to The Last Stand has the most resistance. They agree to stick to their plan of heading to Glacial Falls and plot their journey then enjoy a night of merriment and celebration in the tavern they planned out their journey to Glacial Falls. Xorin and Bratmael discussed their respective homelands while drinking some rather hearty drink that Bratmael had concocted.
The party collectively purchased gear for the road then set off finally departing Twin Peaks into the wider region of Frostholme with the idea of following the river until they reached the Haunted Village.

Parent Plot

The World As We Know It...The Journey So Far

Related Characters

• Balthasar
• Brat`mael
• Harrow
• Xorin

Related Locations

• Twin Peaks