(Following: Grimskalle in pursuit of Auril's Abode)
The Unknown princess Geluvicken leads the party into the lower levels of the icy keep of Grimskalle on the floating snowflake-shaped iceberg in the Sea of Moving Ice. At the foot of these stairs, a soft cyan glow and twinkling of crystals open into a dazzling 6-wise symmetry of hallways mimicking the shape of the iceberg, which itself mimicked a snow flake. The large central area opened as a great patch of perfectly smooth ice, on which Geluvicken's pet (a giant walrus named Ukuma) frolicked and skated merrily.
At the entry to the vault, runes glowed with symbols of the trials, and words translated by the young giant.
Cruelty. "Compassion makes you vulnerable.
Let cruelty be the knife that keeps your enemies at bay."
Preservation. "Every flake of snow is unique,
and that which is unique must be preserved."
Endurance. "Exist as long as you can, by whatever means you can.
Only by enduring can you outlast your enemies."
Isolation. "In solitude you can understand and harness your full potential.
Depending on others makes you weak."
Geluvicken proved true to her word and capable of passing the doorways to Cruelty and Preservation, leaving the two remaining trials to the party. And so thrust forward to meet these challenges the stalwart party of Aelar the Sea Elf ranger, Agaric the Gnome druid, Zaknalimar the swashbuckling Drow bard, and Ziggy the Dwarf member of the Knights of the Black Sword.
Trial of Endurance
The party finds the hallway to the Trial of Endurance leads to the floor of a kitchen, where they are proportionately only an inch or two in height. After great effort to clamber up three slightly-opened drawers arranged like steps, the four reached the top and realize the challenge ahead. They must drive their way across the long countertop while defying exhaustion from the bitter cold and obstacles along the way.
To their tiny forms, these obstacles include house-sized bread, ham, cheese, soup, and pie. (Oh, the pie - could Ziggy simply die happy in a pool of pie!) Along the way, they become aware of recipes to aid in their quest if they take the time to collect and combine certain ingredients - such as sweet and sour fruits (from head-sized cranberries to apples the size of an oxcart) or a sandwich made of morsels of bread, ham, and cheese. These concoctions prove to reduce their exhaustion and offer some protections.
Along the way, ice-creatures - kin to the mephits launch attacks from perches. Some are countered with crossbow shots and a guided spirit-hawk from Aelar, some by way of Ziggy as stubbornly persistent heavy infantry, but most spectacularly by Agaric-turned bear (Wild Shape) who climbed to a perch on a shelf, hurling each from their place of ambush to a shattering death below. Unfortunately, following such triumphant deeds, the same bear fell into a clay jar, freed only by a well-placed shot from Zak's pistol, the sound temporarily dazing and deafening.
As a castle-sized boiling hot pot of soup sizzled, the party gathered herbs and spices, following the odd recipes coming to mind (vaguely in the voice of Geluvicken) and made up a cutting-board ramp to utensils hung on the wall. Upon cresting the edge of the pot, a form emerged, sending a glop of fluid their way, delivering searing heat and acid damage. Aelar called to his spirit bird, which grasped the collected salt and herb-leaves, dropping them into the pot and removing the threat (but itself vanquished in the delivery). The "soup elemental" overcome, the party attempted to leap from tool to tool, but the sea elf alone made the great leap from potato-masher to ladle.
Below, a pile of bear-druid, drow, and dwarf were forced to run through the heat, emerging behind a few man-sized eggs and two building-sized vessels (one a pail and one a sack). The instructions urged to become covered in dough. A heavy metal ball-shaped creature menaced and in the distance more snipers from behind a giant rolling pin. Zak climbed to the top of the sack, discovering the flour - then leapt into the air bringing his Moon Scimitar down to cut the sack wide open with the momentum of his fall. At the foot, the cascade of flour surrounded and trapped the ball-construct and mixed with freshly-cracked eggs from the handiwork of the Knight of the Black Sword, now coated in the egg's thick goo.
Not to be outmatched, Agaric-bear climbed atop a teapot, discovering the pail filled with water and leaned in to tip this over to wash over and mix with flour and egg. The exertion proved too much, alas, and the bear found himself (once more) tumbling into a vessel, now swimming to the far edge and drenched. The damage in falling to the countertop proved sufficient to end the Wild Shape, and Agaric-gnome found himself now lying in a pool of all the water carried in the fur of his bear-sized form.
Combining water, flour and egg - the party advanced upon the hostiles behind the rolling pin. Agaric dropped one with a poisoned dart while the second was crushed after the charge of the armored dwarf pushed the pin to the side of the pie. Scrambling up into the pan, the four crossed along the lines of dough atop a sea of delightful-smelling sugared fruit. Each made their way across, but for long moments the uncertainty of Ziggy, having slipped and coated in goodness, seriously considered this to be an afterlife for which he might never find better. But urged to continue on, the four moved to what now appeared to be the end - a hazy window behind a basket of flowers like a palace.
Last among the scattered ingredients, and voiced as "mushrooms make mighty" - Agaric and Aelar grabbed bits of these and only vaguely noted lightning-quick movements of a great form stealing away the dwarf, and then the drow. Resigned to share their fate, the gnome and sea elf were then also gobbled by a titanic turtle.
Trial of Isolation
Wrapped in a confining darkness, upon squishy tissue to each side, above, and below, each of the party found itself in the gullet of the turtle-titan. The only way out being onward, each shuddered at the nature of the challenge. While occupying a location of the same shape and perhaps somewhat shared in that muffled sound could be heard from the others, each was alone and confronting escape. If none did so, this would be a most tragic end to the party. But one must pass through, surely! Absent the other three - each began their journey down the digestive tract...
(Next: TBD)