Lead by Mormeros, who was a surprisingly capable rider, the party fled through the Forest of Stone Tooth. As the wood blazed, they were separated by winding paths and burning branches. Before Tobias could react, a smoldering tree crackled, snapped, then popped, crushing him and Geronimo underneath. Marcus jumped off his horse to shoulder the burden, lifting the burning trunk just high enough for the two to escape. Mormeros corralled the fighter's fleeing mount and the group rode hard through the night, putting as much distance as possible between them and the flames.
They traveled for four days through the forest, slowly navigating through the winding hills and treelines. Though unaccosted by raider or predator, the group's dynamic was still anything but pleasant. "Momo"'s grandiosity and lack of empathy grated on the party, especially Ajuni. On her watch, a hungry young Owlbear attempted to sneak up and pull the tiefling into the forest. Against her better judgement, she prestidigitated a call of another owlbear in the distance. The creature paused, confused by the sound, then turned and lumbered away. Mormeros gave his thanks, though she offered little more back than a begrudging nod.
The forest gave way to the rolling Isilet Ranges, and the party rode on for three days toward the Crowncrests. The plain offered little shelter from its cold winds, but when the group made their way into the mountains, they found the weather even less forgiving. Geronimo required constant mending, as the party had to keep a bonfire lit inside of his hatch just to keep his joints from seizing. Unaccustomed to the cold and altitude, their mounts began to give out. When the horses could no longer carry them, the adventurers made a grim decision. They slaughtered the animals for food, though Mormeros, refusing to admit his lack of survival skills, set his horse ablaze with a fire spell instead of skinning it. These inedible remains were stuffed inside Geronimo, who now reeked of burning horsemeat.
The Crowncrests proved treacherous, and progress was slow across its steep terrain. The group was unfamiliar with mountain travel, and Ajuni struggled to navigate using Tybus' bare-bone maps. Eventually, she got them back on course and reached the "Great White Wall," a sheer, snowy cliff face leading into mountain fog. Tobias noticed signs of an impending avalanche and used Pixie Dust on Geronimo to fly above the fog. He quickly drilled a piton into the rock, securing a rope line that ended a hundred feet above the party below. Marcus climbed up first, hammering pitons into the rock as he was assaulted by cold, crystallizing wind. Mormeros, trying to follow, slipped and plummeted to the ground below.
Fearing for his safety, Marcus shouted "TOBIAS!" to alert the artificer of the problem. This shout echoed through the mountains, triggering the very avalanche the gnome had feared. Ajuni tried to misty step to safety, but the snow engulfed her, and Mormeros was quickly buried as well. Tobias, thinking fast, used another pinch of pixie dust on his Steel Defender and descended into the snow. He magically heated Geronimo's body melt a pathway to Ajuni, who was knocked unconscious when the hot metal beetle cannoned into her. Meanwhile, Mormeros managed to free himself using fire magic to melt his snowy prison, but the resulting deluge of icy water left him soaked and shivering. The party was battered but with the aid of a Potion of Heroism and healing magic, they regained their strength and climbed the wall.
At the stony plateau above, Tobias constructed a quinzhee for them to rest in the night, and they continued the next morning warm and ready. Marcus, ever vigilant, spotted a white Wolf pack in the distance attacking a mountain Goat with magical icy breath. However, a greater danger awaited them beneath the snow. They followed strange burrows that chewed the ice and earth for hundreds of meters, and at its terminus, decided to provoke the possible creature within. They waited atop a nearby cliff face as Mormeros produced a rhythmic thumping with his thaumaturgy next to the burrow, which drew out a vicious young Remorhaz.
The young monster quickly bounded for the party after being tricked by the spell, and Ajuni turned invisible and tried to run. However, the creature could sense tremors and struck her invisible form. As her blood spilled, Tobias and Marcus fought back the beast, endured the searing heat that blasting below its chitinous form. After enduring multiple strikes from longsword and war pick, the Remorhaz cried out and turned to run; the party began to chase it down the cliffside, not aware that it had summoned its mother from below the earth.
The monstrosity descended on Tobias, who valiantly fended off the creature's attacks as its child burrowed to safety. Ajuni disoriented the mother with lightning lures and misty steps as Mormeros, from the safety of the ledge, used illusions and darkness to direct it while mocking it mercilessly. Marcus managed to land several slashes, but drew the attention of the creature, who crunched through his armor with saber-like teeth. In a final, desperate move, the Remorhaz swallowed Marcus whole and began to burrow down through the stone.
Ajuni's quick thinking saved him. She used a magical facsimile of the young Remorhaz's cry to lure the mother back, and Mormeros created an illusion of the baby to seal the deception. The mother returned, thinking it was saving its child, only to be met by the full force of the party's attacks. With a final, circular swing, an acid-drenched Marcus cut his way out of the creature from the inside. With only a few seconds of consciousness left, the bisected mother attempted to curl protectively around its baby, but found it to be nothing more than a trick of the light.