(In parallel to the events of...)
- Grim Trophy - Zaknalimar, Sudon, Alyks Askaria, Aelar, and Agaric hunting up Kelvin's Cairn (as following the The Red Yeti quest)
- Hostage King (Zak, Sudon, and Alyks) - rescuing Spellix from the goblin fortress Karkolohk (and learning Spellix's Story)
Search for the Missing Gnoobz
(Also following from Grim Trophy, the story Dzaan told of the deaths of the beloved gnome heroes ...)
- A search (and maybe rescue?) expedition is launched where Phantom (as tracker) and Dex (as arcane muscle and potentially interrogator) join members of the Termalaine militia to learn what happened to the Gnoobz, resulting in Tales of the Dead.
- Out on the tundra, during the search there are three consequential encounters, aside from the awe-inspiring midnight sky-auras over the land.
- First, with frost orcs (like the ones who attacked in the mountain pass) ending very badly for the orcs.
- Second, with one of the fearsome Coldlight Walkers, said to be (undead) minions of wrath created by Auril, animated from those who died of exposure to cold and taking on the goddess' power with its face emitting an incredibly bright light.
- Third, a vicious battle (that killed two of the militia and severely wounded all others) against a group of psychotic berserker barbarians Phantom noted were armored and armed with the Chardalyn crystal shards (said to be found only in the Frozenfar and for which there are deep superstitions in the Reghed barbarian tribes.)
Kalteswetteruntergrund
(Translation: Cold Weather Underground - a secret group against Auril)
(And also-also following from Grim Trophy, the story of the Kalteswetteruntergrund ...)
- After completing the installation of the "enchanted weather instrument" high on Kelvin's Cairn, Aelar and Agaric accompany Perilou the halfling to meet with the weather-scholar who had hired the expedition that ran afoul the Red Yeti.
- She is a valley dwarf with a long white beard, wrinkled yet stout, residing in Targos. She is called Madouc Mac Donnagh, and is a wizard by training.
- She is part of a pact of scholars (The Kalteswetteruntergrund) devoted to studying the Rime of the Frostmaiden, the disruption of the seasons - the winter that will not end.
- They are forced to work in absolute secrecy, due to the acts of the Children of Auril and the White Inquisitor.
- (Thus she is unwilling to reveal any other members, only that they are in multiple towns of Icewind Dale, and correspond with Waterdeep).
- It was important to have the device installed prior to the first day of Spring, so this was just in time!! (And she pays 300gp for the completed mission).
- The Kalteswetteruntergrund have been gathering information about the causes and properties of the Rime, in hopes they can inform others on how it might be ended. She shares three things their studies have come to conclude:
- One, Auril herself is actively the cause of the Rime - the effect requires so much power, the goddess herself must ride across the sky before dawn each night, performing a potent ritual (which often results in an aurora borealis). How much of her divine power must be expended in the process, or exactly why she is doing this is pure speculation for the Kalteswetteruntergrund. Her flight is made possible by a glowing white Roc, which the new instruments have been able to spot - and with some work, perhaps even track.
- Two, Auril is not the only deity who seems to be acting up. Auril is one of the Gods of Fury - the others are Talos (Storms and Destruction), Umberlee (The Sea), and Malar (Beasts). Talos has been said to be manifesting and acting through a new Cult of Talos, in particular to the south around Neverwinter. Similarly, creatures from the depths have been seen, indicating Umberlee is active. Some of the Children of Auril have claimed that Talos and Umberlee tried to wrest Auril's power and importance from her, and she has chosen to defend what is hers.
- Three, there may be hidden forces at work as well since the imbalance extends beyond the seasons to realms of other deities, since the Rime impacts the domains of the deities Shar (Darkness) and Lathander (Dawn / Lightbringer) - Shar (and her associated minions) greatly benefitting from the environment and quite possibly planning to exploit the situation, while it is unknown whether Lathander is concerned, angry, distracted, or otherwise intending to act against the situation in some way.
Toast in Termalaine
Despite these efforts to learn the truth behind Dzaan's claims of innocence, his accusers led by the crazed shouting of ("trusted local fortune teller") Vedda Starsprit, form a mob and force a public execution of the wizard before the return of the groups. Dex and Phantom and the trackers arrive nearly the same time as Zak, Alyks, and Sudon (with Spellix), only to arrive at the scene too late to stop the madness.
On the night after what should have been the first day of Spring (19-Ches-1492) the temperatures once more have plummeted beneath frigid. A crowd has gathered in front of the Termalaine Town Hall to watch the public execution of Dzaan, the Thayan wizard who, despite efforts to disguise himself, was recognized and arrested for the reckless endangerment if not the murder of the Gnoobz. He has been bound to a stake and gagged. Members of the militia use torches to light the straw tucked around his feet. Fanned by the wind, the fire catches quickly. Dzaan does not struggle or scream as he is quickly engulfed in flames. Bundled-up spectators move closer to the human bonfire, eager to feel its warmth in the harsh cold.
Termalaine’s resident Seer and Fortune Teller, Vedda Starsrpit is shouting to the point of her voice becoming hoarse in calling out Dzaan’s crimes/ Vedda is a thin 30-year old woman with severe extropia (opposite of crossed eyes).
“We need not wait on the fates of our friends, for this man is black of heart, a true deceiver, a liar, a seeker of his own selfish power. I seen this villain be but a scallywag an a foul-hearted madman, likes all thems Red Wizards wot be of Thayyyyy. May the fire cleanse the world of another creature of darkness and deliver us all from the freezing curse, and with his body turned to ash the screaming in my mind and those of the Sight be quieted!”
The town officials are not happy with this result at all, but seem helpless as one of the Children of Auril, a so-called Frostwarden, chants a prayer to Auril to accept the burning flesh as a worthy sacrifice and offer blessings on the righteous of have brought this to be. She is accompanied by two others in the white furs of the Children of Auril.
There are dozens of townspeople strongly supporting the Frostwarden and the Seer, while most watch on with a grim expression - it is clear there are many who wonder if they would end up chosen as easily for sacrifice… When Vedda mentions Those of the Sight, she looks toward her home and fortune-telling shop. Lit by the fire, you see two men and two woman stand waiting near the door. One of the women is the barkeep from Lonelywood's Lucky Liar (Danae Xotal) - who speaks quietly with one of the men, then slips off into the shadows of the alleys.
None in the party are very pleased with this turn of events. Zaknalimar instigates the opposing citizens into a brawl, while Dex employs a Suggestion to force the Seer Vedda to scoop snow in a futile attempt at putting out the raging fire. The group begins a conversation with one of the men near the fortune teller's door, Telvaster Hangingbell, who they recognize from their brief visit to Lonelywood. Telvaster was a well-off merchant from Neverwinter, who decided to retire to a quiet place - he seemed a reasonable person before, so was selected to help understand this current madness.
Telvaster explains that Vedda called the group to Termalaine to stop the recurring nightmares and pulsing psychic waves that have been driving this group nutty for many days. He explains each of these four have "The Sight" - himself, Vedda, Kaska Lang of Bremen (a thin woman taking careful notes of everything going on with the witch-burning - said to be a murder-mystery novelist), and the heavy-set Nars Beldrun of Targos (who seems a master in his ability to complain about everything - weather, food, cold, delays, other people...). They learned to share information over the past couple years, to help make sense of visions and the events after the Rime of the Frostmaiden began.
Since the night of the Fallen Star (1st of Ches), they have had these terrifying visions and periodic throbbing headaches, which when they compared notes seem to come from the direction of where the meteor would have hit the ground - to the north and east of Revel's End. Each of them have been pushed to the edge of sanity, and Vedda seems to have decided the cause related to Dzaan and the cure being his sacrifice. This is soon found to not at all be the case, but the psychics do pledge 300gp reward if the group can find a way to stop these maladies! (Asked about the visions, Telvaster says he sees great darkness and points of light, and impossibly ugly creatures and symbols that mean nothing, and a sense of hunger for power).
After Dex turns the charred bones of Dzaan into a skeleton, the group sets off, with Sudon's urging, to investigate the fallen star and hopefully to return and claim the reward.
(Also in parallel to these events, see Dwarven Aspirations)
(Next: one group: Brain Freeze leading to Horrifying Halls, merging in: Jarlmoot: Circle of Thrones)