Play Session 11-7-22 - The Village of Oyaviggaton

The party figured that they were a couple hundred yards north of the ice hunter’s village though they couldn’t see it when they arrived at the top of the iceberg. They began to pick their way south through the crevasses thanks to Jilfaen and Gojira’s careful guidance. The group topped a rise and observed a cluster of igloos and sealskin covered yurts. Six or seven ice hunters were milling around the village until one spotted the party on the hill above the village. The group decided to send Robin, Jill, and Andhero while Onyx, Gojira, and Markarth stayed behind so that the group wouldn’t feel as threatening as they approached.
The three walked slowly toward the village with hands out and weapons sheathed. As they approached, the whole village stirred to life. All adults formed a line between the igloos and the approaching delegation. When Jill reached about 15 feet from the greeting line, an older man spoke in Uluik, his native tongue, and held his hand up as if to tell the group to come no further. The two groups eyed each other warily as the village elder and Jill attempted to communicate. The extent of the exchange was that Jill learned the Uluik word for snow, the name of the village, Oyaviggaton, and that the village elder’s name was roughly translated Barking Seal. Progress was painfully slow though, and Barking Seal decided to bring out a translator. He turned to another villager who promptly retreaved a prisoner out of a nearby yurt and brought her bound toward the party.
The prisoner turned out to be a half-elf bard named @Eltherys who had arrived a few days ago. She wouldn’t quite reveal to the group why she was here in the first place but asked the party to help her escape. Barking Seal asked how many were in the party and what they were doing on the iceberg. Robin lied and was promptly called out by the chief since the other three had already been spotted on the ridge. He called the whole party down to the meeting and the three remaining on the hillside obliged. While Onyx and Gojira carefully picked their path to the village, Markarth got the bright idea to throw down his shield and slalom down. To his horror he hit a crevasse and plummeted down into it. He instantly cast a dimension door spell and popped back up while dextrously clutching his shield.
The chief communicated through Ellie that he wanted to trade with the group for weapons, and then they needed to leave. Robin laid out several daggers, a short sword and a hand axe from a couple party members onto a bedroll. The chief had several ivory tusks and pelts placed nearby asking the group if they agreed to the trade. Gojira suggested they attempt to trade for the release of Ellie to which she heartily agreed. Barking Seal did not think it a good trade until Ellie persuaded the chief that she’d ensure the party left if he’d agree to her freedom for all the weapons they’d offered. He agreed to the deal and a large warrior quickly picked up the weapons and took them to a storage tent while another ice hunter cut Ellie’s bonds.
The party didn’t waste any time sticking around when they heard Ellie’s tale of being poisoned and captured, and her party likely being killed by a dragon. At some point the group realized that they were being trailed by three ice hunters. Gojira, frustrated, roared at the three causing them to make a hasty retreat back to their village. The group continued north back the way they had approached the village. And again, Markarth almost plummeted to his death in exactly the same way while trying to use his shield to snowboard down a hill. He used spells to save him once again from a nasty fall. While the group discussed next steps, the three ice hunters were seen peering over the hillside watching the group's movements. Markarth was beside himself in frustration and decided to burn though two dimension door spells to appear directly beside the group. The rest of his party could only watch and wonder what in the world he hoped to accomplish by this show. The hunters backed away to their village and whatever Markarth hoped to gain by the show was history at this point.
The group continued to the northern end of the iceburg and made camp. They set up watches and tried their best to hide their presence from any potential eyes that night. During the first watch, the heavy beat of wings could be heard coming from overhead. Those awake during that watch held their breath knowing that the noise was the drumbeat of the dragon's leathery wings. After an eternity, the dragon landed about 50 feet from the camp with a heavy crash...