Session 72: Beneath the Snow Report

General Summary

The session began in Wikrum, where the party had arrived late the day before, during a raging blizzard. After waking and eating breakfast, they searched the town for Aliya Sloan, the governor of the town that might have something for them to do and could offer information about the valley. Aliya told them about a research team of theirs, led by their head of research that had found a large metal door at a dig site to the south of the town. The party also inquired if anyone in town had witnessed a dragon in the region, but Aliya responded that she had not heard about any dragon. The group then purchased some snowshoes and began heading toward the dig site.
During the morning, the blizzard from the day before remained, but nearing midday, the weather cleared and became a light snowfall. During this time, the more perceptive members of the party noticed a figure had begun following them, keeping its distance and staying out of view. Nitt attempted to get a view of the figure using an Arcane Eye, but was unable to spot anything.
After half a day of travel, they spotted something jutting out of the snowdrifts, the top of a crenelated tower. In the tower was a dwarven warrior that had been frozen in a block of ice in the middle of running toward the now snow-covered staircase. Baradin Godchosen cast a Speak with Dead spell on the dwarf, pulling its spirit from the ice to ask it questions about its fate.

First, they asked its name: "Gurdan".

Second, they asked what year the warrior died and was told "647 of Domell?".

Third, they asked how the dwarf died, and it responded "The Storm on the Horizon".

Fourth, they asked if there was a town below the tower, but there was not.

Finally, they asked the spirit what the building was and learned it belonged to an old dwarven fort.

With their questions answered, yet still some questions remaining, the party used the Cube of Thávma to melt the snow covering the staircase of the tower and began descending. The staircase led down into a long mess hall containing two long tables with benches. Near the doorway to the tower in the mess hall was a group of four armor-clad dwarves similarly frozen in ice, backing off towards the staircase. Going a bit deeper into the mess hall, a group of a dozen orc warriors wielding greatswords frozen in ice in a doorway leading out of the mess hall into a corridor.
Using the same technique as removing the snow in the staircase, they melted through the ice in the doorway and some of the orcs. To the right, the corridor led to a collapsed ceiling and 40 feet to the left was a single door on the opposite side of the corridor before ending in a sconced wall. The metal door had been frozen and stuck, but using the cube again, they melted the ice around it and managed to push it open. On the other side, was a powered-up arcane cannon, which swiftly struck much of the party. Maro Rei 'Sky' and Nitt were hit hard by the blast, knocking Nitt out, while Baradin, Arten Veronica Lagurdo, and Eldon Caufield managed to dodge most of the impact. Checking inside the room, it seemed to be an armory, and from inside, the party took a set of Dwarven Plate and a Direstone Dwarven Pick. Having searched through the fort, they decided to continue heading toward the dig site.
As they continued, the figure from before was still stalking them, even as they reached a cave with a brazier in it as the sun had set. Next to the brazier was a hole, with a hovering plate over it, that could be lowered by speaking a command word. The party decided to rest in the cave, using a Tiny Hut. During the rest, some of them noticed that the figure that was stalking them had placed totems facing away from the cave during their rest.
The following day, as the blizzard had once again reappeared, they decided not to venture into the hole, because Baradin was asked to cast a Control Weather spell to combat the storm, and going indoors would end the spell early, the party headed an abandoned quarry marked on their map. On the way, they were attacked by two flying wyverns, a Legiana and its variant, the Shrieking Legiana, that almost managed to snatch Eldon away but was stopped thanks to Maro. The figure that had been following them had gotten quite close at this point, almost running to their aid, but as they could deal with it on their own, it began walking off and as the party attempted to approach it, the figure turned into a raven and flew off.
As they approached the quarry, the weather had cleared and the bird returned and transformed back to the figure that had been following them and told them to stop, big people there. It introduced itself by saying others called in Naaldoshi and gave Nitt a blanket from its tooth because Nitt has blue skin and was therefore cold. The party then headed back to the cave once again with Naaldoshi who said it had a cave near the river to the north, and a big monster lived near it.
When they reached the cave again and talked amongst themselves for a while, a voice yelled at them from below the platform asking if they were planning on descending into the dig site. With this, Naaldoshi made off, fearing interaction with townsfolk as the party descended into the massive dig site, inside a giant cave underground, half of it being ice. Built into the stone wall was a massive metal door, covered in a mural consisting of three parts. At the top of the mural were two dwarves in profile, pushing against each other as if holding the door shut. Below them was a large number of barred, square-shaped rooms, giving a prison-like look to them. At each corner at the bottom was a room where a spirit, or at least an ethereal-looking figure was siphoned into a sort of construct. This construct then walked towards the center of the two doors, with chains attached to one leg, wielding a pickaxe, and began hitting rocks. The session ended with their arrival at the dig site.

Campaign

The Excursionists

Protagonists

Nitt

Neutral Vedalkan ()
Wizard 17
Rouge 2

92 / 92 HP

STR
8

DEX
16

CON
10

INT
20

WIS
14

CHA
14

Maro Rei 'Sky'

Chaotic Good Air Genasi (Aspirant)
Fighter 8
Monk 4

92 / 92 HP

STR
12

DEX
18

CON
16

INT
13

WIS
12

CHA
10

Omen ei' Taure

Chaotic Good Tabaxi (Temple Guard)
Monk 16
Cleric 2

172 / 172 HP

STR
23

DEX
20

CON
18

INT
8

WIS
20

CHA
8

Arten Veronica Lagurdo

Lawful Neutral Fallen Aasimar (Mercenary Veteran)
Paladin 14

113 / 113 HP

STR
8

DEX
18

CON
16

INT
10

WIS
14

CHA
20

Eldon Caufield

Neutral good Halfling (Fisherman)
Bard 15

77 / 77 HP

STR
9

DEX
16

CON
10

INT
10

WIS
16

CHA
20

Baradin Godchosen

Neutral Good Hill Dwarf (Far traveler)
Cleric 14

150 / 150 HP

STR
8

DEX
14

CON
20

INT
10

WIS
20

CHA
8

Report Date

14 Jun 2023