Previously: Chapter 46: The Cold Embrace
The Duel
As the party emerges from the ring, Dandelion in direwolf-form, they see eight large winter wolves surrounding them. One of them appears to be larger, the alpha. Dandelion tries to be submissive and show that they mean no harm, but the alpha suddenly speaks common, telling her that she can stop her theatrics. They demand to know why this… thing is so far north. He’s referring to Master Elk disguised as The Cold. Penny quickly drops the spell disguising him, to show what he really is. They ask why she can’t come this far north, and they reply that they have to keep the balance, as two beings of such power cannot be allowed to congregate, lest they invite the potential for great chaos in nature. He’s referring to her, the dragon Rimechainthat the party has heard about already. Penny reads the thoughts of the wolves, and they seem to be anticipating what their leader will do going forward. The alpha, who introduces himself as Skoll, challenges Dandelion to a duel, wolf to wolf. She reluctantly agrees, although she doesn’t want to kill anyone, and doesn’t want to be killed.
The battle between Dandelion and Skoll is fierce, with her getting in a few good hits, but the large winter wolf easily bests her with his frost breath and vicious bites, taking Dandelions ear off in wolf form. Penny and Kal try to help, but the surrounding wolves take notice and stop Kal, with Penny managing to sneak in a booming voice to give Dandelion an edge. During the battle, Kal realizes that the best way to go forward is simply to fight honourably, you won’t always have to win to get what you want. As a final blow, Skoll takes a running start and jumps onto Dandelion, pushing her on her back, and biting into her neck, making her return to her firbolg form. In “retaliation” she grabs his face and casts cure wounds on him, healing him a bit from her attacks.
Skoll is pleased with the duel, and tells the party that they can move on, but if they find them here the next dusk, they will not be so forgiving. They leave the party, with a few young ones thinking that the duel was pretty cool. The party gathers themselves, and has Mr. Elk carry them a bit further north to a place where they can rest in the tiny hut.
First Sighting
The next morning, getting a long rest for the night, they continue their trek northwards to Darmurd. The storm is picking up, with the Owls feeling miserable, even with their thermal cubes. During the storm, they all hear something large flying overhead. Dandelion picks up the sound of metal against metal. They wonder what the sound is, and if a dragon might be wearing armor. Fie says it’s very unlikely that a dragon is wearing armor due to them being too prideful. Luckily, it doesn’t seem that the dragon noticed them, so they press on towards the city. At night, they summon Wolfsleigh from the bag of tricks, give him a thermal cube and jump into the ring.
The day after the storm has cleared, and they have clear visibility into the northern mountains. Far in the distance, just over a days' march away, they can see the city of Darmurd, or at least its borders; a massive wall protecting the valley within, with tents and huts littering the sides of the valley. They realize they cannot reach the city in one day, so they make camp some miles outside of its reach, and rest for the night in the hut. The night passes without any encounters, but in the morning, Kal can feel a presence, but cannot see where it is from. The others notice it as well when she points it out to the rest of the group.
Negotiations
As the party finally reaches the gates of the valley, they have been spotted. The cloaks they got from Throgal ensures that they are not shot on sight. After a short while, the gates open slightly, and an older looking orc comes out to greet them. He asks who they are, with Kal replying that they might have a common enemy, and wishes to speak with Murzol. The orc returns to the gates, which closes, without giving a response. While waiting, Kal casts tongues on herself, as the gates finally open, and they are let in. Entering, they see a vast valley filled with thousands of orcs, preparing in various ways of warfare. They are escorted by a group of guards surrounding them with spears. The long trek through the valley leads to a massive dwarven city, with a large doorway leading into it. It seems it once had doors, but they are long gone. Within they can see several layers of what once was the great dwarven capital of Krunbar, now repurposed to be the orcish capital.
In the city, they are told to wait, as one of the guards venture further into the city, returning shortly after with an orc woman. She looks incredibly strong, and could easily take anyone in the party in a one on one. She tells them in common to follow her, as she leads them up a long winding staircase to the chamber of the chieftain Murzol.
In the chambers, they see a large stone table beneath a massive gemstone hanging from what looks like a natural rock formation. They immediately recognize the glow and shine as it resembles their own Hearthstone.
Murzol the Usurper, sitting on his throne, gestures to the woman, whom he refers to as "Shargra", to retreat. She heads to the back of the room, into the shadows. He gestures for the party to approach, and to say their piece, before they have to depart. Kal takes charge, explaining that they have met with the warchief Thorgal, and that they are looking for missing diplomats. He tells the party that he met with the missing people, and told them the same thing he is going to tell the party, that he and his orcs are not responsible for the attacks on the southern lands, his brother is. He retells the tale they have already heard, that his brother was exiled for his beliefs, that the orcs should change to be more docile, but in his exile he found something. He returned more feral, dangerous and violent. Murzol wanted to unite the tribes against the south, to be independent, exclaiming that he doesn’t need the southern interference, and he knows that they send spies and rangers to observe, which he despises. Grommok is trying to upend the status quo, by attacking the southern lands, trying to force the south to go to war against the Thax’ning Tribes. Murzol reluctantly tells the party that he could be convinced to discuss a peace with the south, as long as they take out Grommok, and end his insurrection. He looks to Kal, sees in her eyes that she knows war and killings, and that she knows what sometimes must be done.
He tells the party that the emissaries from the south was sent to the fortress of Grommok along with a squad of orcish warriors. Sadly, only one survivor returned, all others having perished on the journey there or during their encounter with Grommok. He told them that Grommok has something embedded in his chest, a small red glowing crystal. One he did not have before. The party originally suspected that Grommok might be under the influence of an evil god, but now realize that he might have encountered one of the divine shards, specifically the Shard of the Warrior. Murzol requests that they bring the shard back to him, saying it belongs to the orcish people. Kal counters by saying with him talking about the strongest thrives, and the weak perish, it’s only fair that they get to keep it, if they manage to defeat him. Surprisingly, Murzol sees the logic in her thinking, and agrees, as long as the shard isn’t used against his people, to which the party promises.
The party asks if Grommok has any strong allies, to which Murzol replies that his trusted lieutenant Zugor, is a powerful magic wielder. He describes him as a shaman, but the southern word would be druid. They both worship Gruumsh, and Murzol knows that his brother doesn’t easily abandon his beliefs.
Finally, the party asks about any corrupted shrines, with Penny pointing out they have already helped vanquish the corruption from one shrine already, belonging to Fau'Nok. Shargra is impressed to hear this, and tells the party they indeed suspect that one of the shrines of Uduk might be corrupted, causing the storms to be more fierce and dangerous in recent times. They all seem to be impressed with Kal being a follower of Uduk, but even more impressed by the fact that she talks to him. They don’t know where the corrupted shrine is, but as Kal told them he led her to the last corrupted shrine of his, then he probably will do it again when they get closer.
Before leaving, the party asks if they can rely on help from the orcish clans for rest and help, to which Murzol replies that although they answer his call when he demands it, they are mostly self-sufficient. If they want to ask for their help, they have to do so themselves, either by impressing them, or by forcing them. The party thanks for the audience, and take their leave. Murzol tells them he will give them a giant goat that will ease their travels to the north. As they walk past the giant gemstone in the center of the room, it flares, as it has already done once before during their talk. They ask about it, with Kal asking to examine it. Muzol tells them it is forbidden, it is a relic of the long lost dwarven kingdom, and is holy. They know not it’s purpose, only that it flares randomly, sometimes several times with seconds apart, other times it goes days without it flaring. Kal suggests that they could help discover its secrets, but Murzol tells them they have to deal with Grommok before such negotiations can take place.
As the party descends the winding staircase into the city proper, and into the valley beyond, they can see Argus and Ira desperately try to dodge out of the way of a few orcs trying to shoot them down with arrows. Dandelion pleas with them, telling them that they’re her owls, and not to be harmed. Shargra walks over to the orcs, and slaps one of them on the side of their face, yelling at them in orcish. In anger, the orc kicks one of his companions, and walks away. Dandelion thanks her for her help. By the city gate, there is a large pen of giant goats. Shargra talks to the keeper, and they are given one giant goat each, which the party inevitably must give a name. Before departing, Dandelion greets Shargra with a blessing of Fau’Nok, much to her pleasure. She tells Dandelion that perhaps not all of the south are savages as they originally thought.
An Old "Friend"
Traveling with the giant goats makes the journey go much faster, allowing them to reach the pathway leading to the mountains in a little over just four days. During the night, as Fie keeps watch, he notices the same presence they noticed the day before. Looking around, he can see the hooded figure in the darkness. He waves at it, thinking to himself “long time no see”. Fie casts message at the being, asking who it is. He doesn’t get words in response, but more a feeling that the being is… not quite friends, not quite an ally, but not an opposing force. While staring at it, he blinks, and the figure is gone. He tells the others about the experience when they wake up, before setting out on goatback again.
During the next day's travel, Kal notices something to the side, between some boulders. A black shape, but she can’t quite make it out.
The Obelisk
As the party enters the chasm, they can see a 15 feet tall obelisk, made of what appears to be shining obsidian at first, but as they get closer, they see that the stone is jet black, covered in a layer of ice. When they step on the stone circle it stands on, they see glowing runes beginning to move around on its surface, as if projected onto it. Fie casts discern languages on it, and notice that three of the runes that float around on it has meaning, the rest being just imagery. The three runes make up the sentences “Warmth lies within”, “Fear the cold” and “Frozen hearts”. Noticing that the runes can be manipulated by holding their hands near them, they have to put them in the correct order. Penny tries to touch the obelisk directly, as she notice it emanates cold, pushing away snow, but it just causes her to take a serious amount of cold damage if she didn’t have resistance. They try a few combinations of the runes, before they come across the correct solution: “Fear the cold, frozen hearts, warmth lies within”. The runes lock into place, glowing a bit brighter. Nothing happens though. They realize they have to solve the riddle, so Kal tries to cast destroy water on the ice, but nothing happens. Dandelion finds an old tree branch, warps some cloth around the end, and lights the torch. As soon as she gets close enough to the obelisk, it absorbs the fire, extinguishing it, causing the whole obelisk to melt. The party moves back, as to not be drenched by the water, which then returns to the center, forming a chest. Within the chest, they find a bunch of old useless maps, a chest of old dwarven coins, worth double of what regular coins would cost, a 1000gp diamond that looks like a piece of ice, a chain that grants resistance to cold and can cast fire from, as well as a Wand of Wonder. They pocket the items, and head onwards towards the pathway.
Second Sighting
During the night, both Penny and Argus sees the silhouette against the night sky of a dragon, flying a few miles south of them before veering north/north west, before passing over them. They tell Dandelion about it, before going to sleep. Dandelion and Ira have a heart to heart about dragons, with Ira wanting to go back home again, and that he appreciates Penny having made such a good connection with Argus. Ira has begun to realize that everyone in the party have their own flaws, and appreciates that they have each other.
During Fie’s watch, he can suddenly hear loud footsteps approaching. He sees a frost giant checking out the goats, and as it goes to pick one of them up, he casts a message at the giant, telling him to not dare touch his goats, in a menacing and threatening way. The giant freezes mid reach, and simply apologizes to the unseen voice, before running away. This wakes the party, but Fie just tells them to go back to sleep. He then wakes up Kal when his shift is over, and she begins making breakfast. During the cooking, she can hear a dragon's roar coming from deep within the mountains, sending a chill down her spine.
In the morning, Kal has solved the problem of naming the goats, as they all want to be called Horn. This is too confusing, so they name them Bolthorn, Glitterhorn, Smolderhorn and Hornhorn. The goats wonder now since they have gotten names if they are to be coming with them south when they are done in the north. Fie cannot bring himself to tell them that he would be surprised if they survived the whole journey. Penny spends the morning making snow-aasimars.
The following evening, after another days travel, Kal tries to convince the Horns that they have to be quiet during the night. Most of the night goes fairly uneventful, until Kal’s watch, where another frost giant tries to grab one of the goats. A younger one, looking very unsure of himself, so Kal casts a message at him to intimidate him. She does so well that he becomes scared, and tries to run away, but Kal invites him to stay for breakfast instead. He stops in his tracks. looking at the tiny humanoid that appeared from a bubble, but doesn’t run away. She gives him a large bowl of stew, which he scoffs down, but still looking suspicious. The rest of the party emerges, and he introduces himself as Iskaldur. They talk a bit with him about his tribe, and how he knows common. He tells them his father taught him common, as it’s important for “diplomatic relations”, but as Iskaldur describes these diplomatic relations the party realize that it just means raiding and pillaging southerners. Fie convinces him not to tell his father about them, with Iskaldur suddenly realizes that he cannot let his father know that he met with people, so he quickly throws up the stew and hides it beneath some snow, complimenting the taste as it came up. As Iskaldur leaves, the party quickly gathers their things, realizing they might have overstayed their welcome.
Ascension
As they reach the pathway leading into the mountains, they all see the dragon flying above them in the distance. As it is daytime, they see the white skin, signifying that this is indeed a white dragon, but it seems to be wrapped in what looks like chains or something. Suddenly, the name Rimechain makes a lot more sense. Heading into the path, the owls scout ahead, causing the party to avoid many dangers, and during one night, Kal finally has a vision from Udall about his shrine. She is dreaming of a crossroad with a stone that has been impacted by several lightning strikes, and her vision is taken to the left, up and down winding roads, through caves and beneath vast valleys, before she reaches a platform, containing a standing stone with the symbol of udall on it. It is glowing, but she senses that the glow has been diminished. Suddenly, the wind picks up, twirling around the stone, causing her to drift along with it, before something grabs her and pulls her away, out of the dream, waking her up. They have their heading.
During one of the days travel, they are forced to walk into a narrow mountain pass, and as they reach the middle of it, both Argus and Ira suddenly flies away. Dandelion notices the danger just in time, but the rest aren’t as perceptive. Two ropers suddenly make themselves known, grabbing a hold of the party, and their goats. The ropers seem to be of a different species, with longer reach, and a paralyzing essence on their tentacles which inhibits the parties ability to escape. The battle is fierce, and the party manage to get a few good hits in, with Dandelion casting blight, Penny casting steel wind strike, releasing herself and Fie from their grasp, with Kal summoning a storm of lightning to help defeat them. Before they manage to take them down however, Smoulderhorn is eaten by one of the ropers, and Fie, his rider, is also taken down as well. He manages to dimension door out of their reach, and stabs himself with Caduceus to heal himself. With a final lightning bolt, both of the ropers are defeated. Smoulderhorn lies dead on the ground with a large part of his chest missing. Dandelion pleads to resurrect him, but the party cannot spare the diamonds. Penny leads the goats away, as Kal harvests what she can from the goat, using her experience as a cook. She also harvests the horns, to be used for later. Dandelion decides to fly with her owls in wild shape, letting Fie ride on her goat, as to not slow them down.
On the way, Kal asks if Penny could use the jewelers kit they found to embed some gemstones into the horn, so that she can use it as a spell component for clairvoyance. Penny rises to the challenge, managing to craft a beautiful pattern of the symbol of Udall using a few gems they have acquired during their travels.
Third Sighting
When the storm finally picks up, Kal uses her vision of the storm to scout ahead, trying to find a safe way going forward. A big obstacle is readily apparent. Rimechain, clad in chains, is feasting on a fresh mammoth kill, just half a mile up the road from their location. Kal finally gets a clear view of the dragon, and can see that she is adult, going on ancient, so she would be a mighty challenge if they want to take her on. She does however also notice that the chains must be a remnant of a capture that the dragon has experienced before. The chains have begun to grow into her flesh, like a fish tangled in a fishing line. Kal emerges from the vision, and tells the party about this. Fie doesn’t like it, as chromatic dragons in general are evil. There are of course outliers, but in general, if it is chromatic, just assume it will try to eat you. Hearing about the chains, Penny wants to help her, but everyone tries their best to convince her that it is folly. Penny uses the sending stone she got from Morgan, asking him if she should help. He tells her an immediate no, and casts a sending to Kal to ask what the hell Penny is up to. She explains the situation, and Morgan casts a new sending to Penny, begging her to leave it be, as it would be dangerous. She already lost him once, he doesn’t want to lose her now. This convinces Penny to not pursue the matter further, although the thought of Rimechain being in the situation pains Penny. They decide to wait a bit to see if Rimechain will move on, and after an hour, Kal uses clairvoyance on the spot, now hearing the dragon snore. They realize that the best thing to do might be to take the long way around.
As the party continues their trek, they still haven’t reached the crossroads, but realize they must be close, as they are nearing the peak. In a valley, as the storm rages above them, with howling winds and snowflakes pestering them, Fie can make out a few shapes on the road up ahead of them. A couple of griffons, and they look agitated…