Determined but bereft in the absence of Falcon, most of the group headed to the Mountain's Toe Gold Mine, where they found that Tokk, the half-ogre they had met earlier on their journey, had made himself at home and had been mining the gold since they had directed him there. He was friendly enough and soon Idris built up a rapport with him while the rest group waited for news from Axeholm. During this time Zenari tried to gain mastery over her powers and after a few hours of triggering small surges she thought she could somewhat control the next burst of chaos. Siax was quietly fuming, anger at Falcon's foolhardiness making him irritable. However he did not rest and instead created a suit of armor by reinforcing the leather Abbathor leather with the magically imbued leather he had taken from the boar. Idris, now well into bantering with Tokk was able to mind some golden ingots while learning about Tokk's motivation to be an adventurer, namely his sixteen children.
At the same time, Pine rode on Barolt southwards setting an incredible pace. He intended on helping relieve them of the food issues at least temporarily, and meeting up with Factoré. However things did not go according to plan, as Pine stumbled into an ambush on the road by a lone figure, whose clever preparation, an invisible rope trap, left both Barolt and Pine strewn on the road. The man questioned Pine about the location of Zenari in a cold almost mocking tone, revealing that not only he was the assassin send by the Quori but that he had somehow gained the sending stone entrusted to Factoré and imitated her voice to lure them into a trap. Not seeming too put out at catching one of them, he warned Pine that if he did not give him information he would be...sorry. Pine stated, truthfully, that he did not know where she was. The assassin had not asked where Zenari had been heading to, only where she was so he was telling the truth.
The assasin did not seem satisfied with that answer and battle ensued. Showcasing martial and magical skill that he had built in the last two months Pine dodged the assassins odd dagger, evading his attempt to paralyze him aswell. It seemed the Assassin had similar powers to Zenari but more controlled, precise. A scalpel compared to Zenari's cannon.
Alas, the man was highly skilled and quickly slayed Barolt and incapacitated Pine. Questioning him again the assassin cut through the Tabaxi's hand which fell limp and dead. Seeing that no answer was forthcoming the Assassin took his knife and slowly plunged it into Pine's eye, killing the cleric.
But death...is not always the end. Unbeknownst to all, the tabaxi had sworn an oath to one of the spirits that haunted him, the one who he thought was Myrkul, former god of the dead. In death, the spirits tried to approach him perhaps to make good on that offer only to be swept away from a fourth, different power.
Pine found himself, not with the Three, but with another entity entirely, one who called himself Jergal. The god who had once given his power to the Three explained that he had given his power away to the three but they had been killed sending that same power spiraling into the world. The fragment that Pine had found was one such piece. The three, now shades of their former existence were desperate to find and claim any such fragments which was why they encircled Pine so. Jergal explained that his malaise had grown lessened with the millennia and he had some interest in the world of mortals. He offered to bring Pine back, without his obligation to the three but the cleric, having a strong sense of honor insisted that he wanted to carry out his allotted task, that of capturing the essence of the dragon Cryovain. Interested at the small mortal refusing his will, Jergal returned Pine back to life. Or perhaps a version of it. As the Tabaxi was now changed. His fur had lost all color apart from around his face, giving him the look of a skull. His eyes had turned a ruby red and while the cleric now seemed to move slower than before, he did not seem to need to breath or sleep. His presence now had a sense of dread imbued within it.
Pine awoke near the mine and entered, finding his friends sleeping. The group were both surprised and unsettled by the return of Pine in that state, especially Siax, but after hearing his tale seemed satisfied if a bit confused. They became worried for Factoré, since the assassin had shown Pine the sending stone that she had been using. Not long after, a message came through the sending stone, with the voice of Pine on the other side. It seemed as though the assassin could emulate the voice of the fallen. The group decided to respond, and Zenari replied as if she were going to meet 'Pine' in Phandalin, hoping that it would at least delay the assassin if he chose to wait there to ambush her.
Sending Stone: Hey it is Pine. I have arrived in Axeholm. Things are not great, I need magical power. Send Zenari. The rest go up the mountain.
Zenari's message: I will start making my way. But it will take time, so meet me in Phandalin to save time. Is all good in axeholm?
The group decided to spend some time preparing, and then head up the mountain. Pine, now able to fully rest in only four hours, spend the time doing so in order to prepare different spells so he could send a message to Axeholm in order to see about Factoré's fate, and that of Axeholm at large. The rest of the group helped Siax make some climbers kits and improvised weapons to help take down the dragon. Siax seemed a man possessed and produced wicked looking harpoons for Tokk to wield and a slew of climbing kits for every member in the party.
When that was done, Pine sent a message to Nundro Rockseekerr, and found out that Factoré was fine, apart from feeling devastated over losing the sending stone. The food situation in Axeholm was also actually surprisingly good too, as they had somehow figured out how to restart the vast mushrooms fields located in Axeholm. Relieved, the group made their way out of the mine and towards the mountain, and when they reach the start of the assent, Pine activates the pendant of weather control, altering the weather to be cloudy, to hinder the dragon from seeing them coming from afar.
Between Pine and Siax, the group manage to make it up the first leg of their journey without problem, avoiding some goats, and helping each other up the steep and somewhat treacherous inclines. They found a place to camp before it got too dark, one that had been clearly used before as the body of the occupant was still there, along with the ghost. As the rest of the group set up camp, Pine talked to the tiefling ghost, who told him that it had been a fast storm that had taken him unawares that led to his death. Pine spent the time putting him to rest, and there was a deep feeling of relief and satisfaction in once more doing what he had been drawn to do all his adult life. He had missed it a lot since he had first come to Phandalin, and had not known how much until then.
The next day they started out early, and while things went quite well initially, Siax soon spotted three white cats that were waiting in ambush for them. However after long moments the cats were scattered and the group beheld the winter wolf and its pup that they had come into contact with at Umbridge Hill at the start of their time together. The two were friendly towards the group, and told them that the dragon had not been hunting as much on the mountain any more and so they had returned. After some questioning, the wolves told the group that the dragon had taken over a keep at the top of the mountain, and that there was a cave and entrance on a sheer cliff face. There was no path to it, but it might be used to sneak in from below, instead of using the front gate. With good will between them, the two wolves headed off, leaving the group to continue their journey up the hill.
All had been going well thus far, but the group came to a chasm with only a relatively thin ledge of ice between them and a sheer drop. After checking for enemies around, Pine tied off a rope on one side and, with unusual agility, sped across the ledge and secured the rope to the other side. Siax travelled across it next, and while he managed with the help of the rope, the ice showed some signs of cracking; the first signs of instability. Worried that both Idris, who was in heavy armor, and Tokk, who was by all accounts large, would not make it across without accident, Zenari, after consulting the others, teleported Tokk and herself to the other side, intending on doing the same for Idris should he need it, but luck was not on her side. In that moment the chaos her magic was crafted of, went out of control in the most devastating ways possible. Immediately Zenari started to freeze to death, frostbite appearing on her limbs.
With shaking hands she dispelled the cold from herself before she would perish but as luck would have it another surge was triggered. A choir of spectral figures appeared, their voices joining to form a pure note of indescribable beauty. The mountain answered in a cracking thunder. Avalanche.