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Post by Aileen on Sept 27, 2021 14:44:32 GMT -5
Rime of the Frost Maiden
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Post by kynigoskerata on Sept 27, 2021 15:02:07 GMT -5
Sergeant Oxho Nikt's Log, Day 1213
Letter to the General of Special Forces
I hereby retire from Her Majesty's service, including all ranks, responsibilities, and duties therein. It has been a unique pleasure to have served with the fine men and women of The Nation, one that I am glad to have completed, but now I must go my own way. Under the leadership of the captain, I have decided to strike out on my own, using the skills learned here in the service. With the mastery of magic taught by the Academy, I intend to find work as an Adventurer, though the term tweaks my bones something fierce.
I will be in Oslong for the next few weeks, in preparation for the trip north, where I may be out of touch for an unknown period. Should Her Majesty have need of me, Master Moscu should be able to contact me with ease, at which point, I will make a point of returning to the service as soon as I can.
With all consideration,
Sergeant Oxho Nikt, 23546
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Post by Aileen on Oct 4, 2021 8:36:37 GMT -5
I was fifteen years old when I found out my family wasn’t my real family and I wasn’t who I thought I was. I couldn’t be angry, I loved my life, I loved my adoptive parents and siblings… but my life went from carefree to running for my life in the span of seconds, and I’ve been on the move ever since.
I fell in with the Order of the Unicorn on accident, stumbling on a group of drunken knights having a party in the forest several miles outside Waterdeep. My inexperienced and young ass had been lost for days and I was starving, not even caring that they could be bad guys. Luckily for me they fed me, sheltered me, and three years later officially made me one of their own.
Now I’m in the great frozen north on my first quest, taken on a dare from one of our older and crazier members, Nyles the Nippleless. He once went to the Icewind Dale and lost a nipple to frostbite, a story I’ve heard far too many times and seen the remnants of. So, I’m here, seeking out adventure and hiding out from my destiny. If that awful Lord Neverember ever finds me, I’m a dead woman… but he never will.
One day I will take my crown and rule Neverwinter as is my birthright… but for now, I just want to spend the prime of my life adventuring, even if it’s freezing and miserable here. And hey- maple snow candy is in abundant supply! I think I might like it here.
❄️Eira Tarly
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Post by kynigoskerata on Oct 4, 2021 16:00:14 GMT -5
Day 1 with Group Alpha
New day, new mission. This will be my first time with a new group since I joined Fay Company almost 10 years ago. There is no stopping this now, and I plan to see this through to the end. Joining with adventurers can seem, excessive, but time and time again, it is shown that a small group of people, diversely skilled, can accomplish what large, trained groups cannot. All that said however, there are a few questionable members of the group.
First off, the two humans are not really dangers, one way or another. Humans in general seem to understand the need gor order, if only just in the beastly man's own way. The dwarf as well, is a nonissue. If you can't trust a dwarf to be steadfast in their word, who can you trust. No, the two most worrisome members are the dark-eared elf, and the cat. Both are untruatworthy by nature. The elf, because, well, he is an elf, and a drow at that. The tabaxi though, they are uncontrolled. Wild. To be honest, he reminds me of Malarkey. That weasal was good for a laugh. Unlike the good soldier though, this tabaxi almost certainly doesn't understand military discipline, nor that there is a time and place for everything, including flights of fancy.
Only time will tell though.
Ohxo Nikt, Member of Adventuring Group Alpha(To Be Named)
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Post by dragonforgotten on Oct 4, 2021 16:04:02 GMT -5
no money, no food. only shame and remorse i can carry with me for now. i return to my homelands with the only possession worth protecting and i have to leave them to the care of another. May the gods show them far more kindness then i. may the spirits of these lands sheild them from harm as i set forth back through the wilds to do what must be done. i have joined together with a clan of choatic wayward travlers, all desperate as i am for work and some purpose. we've been set on the path to hunt a savage white moose. not much luck as i find but we've had a chance encounter with childlke forest spirits. I've tried the storybook, the one they loved but i am not good in speaking them aloud. not in front of these strangers. i only succeed in making me apart of there games. the next day we find the moose along with cryptic elven runes. I begin to have second thoughts on the morality of our mission. This isnt a ordinary beast for it protects the weaker beasts from us. I don't get much say in its fate. I was too busy trying to stay alive to recall how it died but i do remember it stomping my limbs and goring my chest. Fearing we may have angered a ancient being who blessed the moose with thought i made him a prye and burned him with respect and blessings as we take the head. What done is done and we must cary on.
fritz
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Post by Aileen on Oct 11, 2021 10:52:33 GMT -5
I have a new favorite place in Ten Towns, and it is called The Blue Clam- the crown jewel of Termalaine! Really it’s just a bar with amazing chowder, but I love it. We load up on beer and chowder, fill the gnomes wine skin with extra chowder, and head to the mines to hunt some kobolds.
This mine is a mess, hastily abandoned and everything is a death trap. It seems the kobolds have been doing some renovations, and we even catch some in the act. I almost feel bad when the others kill them, but my bleeding heart quickly clots when we have to fight an awful flying evil squid thing in a cavern. It absolutely kicks our asses, and then escapes down a hole.
The barbarian, Fritz, suddenly runs off in a fit of blind rage. Leaving the others shooting spells down the hole, I run after him carrying the lantern he left behind. I find him in a narrow hallway fighting two kobolds, and I can do nothing to assist. He kills them and finally calms down and apologizes to me over and over, thanking me for coming back to him.
“Yeah, yeah… okay, Fritzy, you need to stop you’re starting to annoy me. Grab those daggers!”
We head back and find the others hanging around chatting and drinking chowder, squeezing out the chunks. We rally and go sweep the rest of the place, taking out kobolds and finding some cool things… for one, a skull of a mind flayer, something I never thought I would see in person!
We head back to town with one kobold kept alive as a prisoner, and go to the mayor who is not so happy to see us.
“Why do you have that?! Kill it, it’s a horrible monster!”
“We we’re going to have your men question it!” Announces Ronan, absently rubbing the piece of green cloth he claims is from the cloak of the famous Drizzt on his cheek.
“No! Kill it!”
So, we kill it. Almost immediately a horrible humanoid apparition appears above the corpse, and points at me.
“My satchel!” It whispers.
“Huh? I don’t have a satchel…”
It turns and points at Fritz.
“My satchel!”
There, much better.
🗡Eira
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Post by dragonforgotten on Oct 11, 2021 15:41:03 GMT -5
We have moved on to Termalaine for work concerning invading kobolds in the mines. A stop for some chowder, another to purchase a lantern but sadly no oil can be found. Thankfully mr cat has some after letting me sulk in my delemia. Immediately upon entering the caves there presence is soon obvious. They also broke all the miners lanterns inside which makes me feel less foolish for purchasing it. We track them through every corner of the caves under the dull yellow glow of the lantern. circling around under the bridge we find two trying to sabotage the bridge. they met a quick end. we discover a opening with a great black chasm inside, it yawns and beckons us closer as no light can pierce its darkness. Even Roans dancing lights fail to extend deep enough. The mayor did say there could have been pits that lead straight down to the underdark. Sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it. Suddenly i see a shadow shifts along the ceiling amongst the satellites. I bring forward a javelin. "there is something up there." this alerts everyone and the beast comes forward. a terrible creature with many tentacles on top a brain with a vicious snapping beak. It has no eyes but it glides towards us. Everyone unleash there spells and there weapons but it is unrelenting.It slashes out at Ronan and i begin to see the odds are looking grim against such a monstrosity. Something comes over me in a haze of red, of fear and anger. I set upon it forgoing the javelin for the war pick and pounce on it with a roar. Its all a blurr. Suddenly it begins fleeing for the pit and i'm left digging my nails into the wood of the gates. i want to throw myself at it and tear it apart but instinctual i know it is gone and the fact that i cant reach it is far too much. the rage is a storm inside me, i'm swept away and now theres nothing but savage fury baying for blood. I scream and roar and go through the caves blind and in the dark. Where are they!? Where are They!? Ill kill them! Kill them before they kill us! Kill them before they kill us! but why... I start to slow my pace starting to come back when the pain in my ankle fuels the fires of my anger. Light floods in and i see the kobolds. They barely put up a fight. When i come back to myself i can feel my hands tremble as the weight of what i did comes back to me with the mangled bodies of the kobolds. Im sorry. I look to the light to see Eira standing there and i can feel my face pale. "im sorry, i didnt-.. I-" "Its fine just dont run off." "Sorry. i wont. Thank you for coming back for me." “Yeah, yeah… okay, Fritzy, you need to stop you’re starting to annoy me. Grab those daggers!” i do and we return to the group. together we find the leader of the kobolds. He tries to tell us their tribe simply wants to live in peace with the village for they were chased out of there old homes by yetis. turns out Ronan says there laying and we finish what was started. the leader was holding some type of satchel with moss. Dont understand why but i hold onto it anyway as we explore the rest of the caves. Besides discovering the skull of a mindflayer we leave with a job done. The moment we find the mayor the group kills the Kobold and suddenly a ghostly image appears. “My satchel!” It whispers reaching for Eira “Huh? I don’t have a satchel…” It turns and points at me. “My satchel!” well s***. way to toss me to the wolves Eira
Fritz
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Post by Aileen on Oct 18, 2021 10:16:20 GMT -5
I thought we were going to have an altercation with the ghost, but instead it seems quite content to shack up inside Fritz’s body. Turns out she’s friendly, if not a massive nerd about flora and fauna, and we let her stay. Mainly because we lack a cleric and the ability to fight a ghost.
Unfortunately, Fritz is now useless. After a night of drinking and chowder we head back to the mine in the morning to deal with the evil jellyfish. We kill it extremely fast and head back with its corpse to talk to the Speaker. He and his boys go to the mine to ensure we did our job, and come back later with payment.
We head out to the next town, chasing after rumors of a dangerous 9ft giant, and spend a night at a lovely inn run by a girl about my age. The next day on the way to seek adventure, we hear barking, and I am suddenly brutally attacked by a big sled dog slobbering me with kisses.
“Pupper! Hi!” I laugh, scratching the big sweet dog behind his ears as the others relax their grips on their weapons.
The dog gets off me, and stands barking behind his shoulder, as if asking us to follow him. So, we do. He leads us to a home, and we knock on the door. A handsome man opens the door and the dog runs right by him. His face, excited at seeing the dog, falls sullen.
“I’m sorry, I thought you might be my husband.”
We are invited in and told that the man’s husband went out with some adventurers as their guide through the mountains, and they haven’t returned. Boy, the sled dog, was with them. We agree to go find his husband, and are given Boy to take with us for tracking purposes.
We head out the next day and make it to Caer Konig after a full day of force marching through the snow. Upon arrival we find a half-orc in a snowbank, where he apparently passed out the night before. He brings us into the bar and we get settled in, having some ale and food. No chowder here, but it’s still good. We get wrapped in another investigation when the half orc tells us that the glowy orb thing that was on their sign got stolen, along with other thefts in the area.
So, bright and early the next day we follow some tracks and find ourselves outside some fortress, which Ivilios wants to go in but we all agree is too dangerous. Instead we keep after our originally quarry, and our guide brings us up into the mountain to find the missing adventurers.
We find a camp with some sled dogs still lashed up, and free them. They run back to town but Boy stays with us. Boy is alerted by something ahead, and following him we run into an avalanche, nearly losing some party members, but make it out alive and find a man lying wounded in the snow. It’s Keegan’s husband- Garret!
We’re attacked by wildcats, narrowly escaping a horrible clawed death, but Garret is undeterred. He’s not leaving here without the adventurers he brought into the mountain. So, on we go, searching for the missing crew.
❄️ Eira Tarly
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Post by kynigoskerata on Oct 18, 2021 13:49:31 GMT -5
Journal of Oxho Nikt,
There is a saying in the old country, which roughly translates to "insanity for some, is life for others". It loses something in the translation, if I am honest, nuances and such and so, but the general gist of the saying is that there are all the different ways to live a life, and not many people realize that no matter how you live, repsecting the 'insanity' that is a natural way of another's life is paramount to honest and good-willed conversation.
Now, I am not one for such a carefree lifestyle as others of my kind usually partake in. In the darkest parts of my life, it was discipline and structure that saved me. At the same time, against my own better judgement, I must also be willing to accept that not everyone can see the world as I do. That for those, like the cat fellow, order is anathema to his way of life, his nature.
All that means that I can't fight my own team, only try to understand their view, and work to arm ourselves with the abilities and knowledge that could be useful in our future ventures. The last bit of time spent away from the group has shown me how I can better help the party, what my role is, and so now I can show stronger initiative. I may have missed a battle or two, but hopefully this will help us win the war.
Oxho Nikt
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Post by Aileen on Oct 25, 2021 9:31:22 GMT -5
We follow our brave leader, Garret, further up the mountain in search of the crew he lead out here. I can tell the separation of their group is weighing heavy on his mind, and when we come to a yeti cave and find a baby yeti using a Halfling as a plaything further in, he is very upset.
We quickly dispatch the yeti mother and child, and I do admit I feel a little bad about killing a child like that… but it was a monster. Neither of these creatures thought anything of tearing us apart and using our bodies for food or decor for their cave.
The poor Halfling, Ms. Fishfingers, is grateful for her rescue and sadly tells us that her Goliath companion was savagely killed by the yeti. We get her out of the cave and head out in search of Astrix the tiefling, but don’t get far before we run into Mr. Yeti, coming home to the cave with a mountain goat on his back.
We take out Daddy Yeti, reuniting him with his family in whatever part of frozen hell horrid creatures like them go to. All of us tired and in desperate need of healing, we take the goat and head back into the cave to rest and eat.
A bit more rejuvenated we head out to look for Astrix. We find a campsite with a figure hunched over in front of a tent, but upon reaching it discover the person to be Astrix, frozen and dead. In the tent are a pair of blue boots sticking out, and we discover a corpse or a dwarf. Poor Garret is looking like he’s taking the loss of his companions very hard, but he steels his resolve and sets our goal to getting Fishfingers off the mountain and us back safe.
Unfortunately as we go along, we come across an ice troll. And, we engage it. Things are going great until it starts hitting us, and we realize just how icy it bite truly is. One second I’m in the thrill of battle, and then… blessed, warm darkness.
When I awaken I’m somewhere warm, with a mound of furs and blankets over me. Somewhere close by a fire crackles. I feel something wet on my cheek, and open my eyes to find my friend Boy the dog draped across my chest. The rest of my friends are huddled up close by, sleeping with the dogs all over us.
“Good, you’re awake. We didn’t think any of you would make it.” Garret says, handing me a steaming mug of tea.
“That’s great… what happened?”
“The ice troll nearly killed us all. We chased it off and rounded you lot up.”
Thanks to Garret and Fishfingers, we live. And it is now clear we are at the mercy of this frozen land, and we should probably not f*** with things we know nothing about.
❄️ Eira
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Post by dragonforgotten on Oct 25, 2021 16:25:54 GMT -5
It happened so fast i wasn't able to stop them. When the ghost appeared i tried to reach for the satchel to throw at its feet but it was over the moment the ghost touched me and i faded into darkness. When i came to i found myself amongst my friends but couldn't move, couldn't speak. i could hear and see everything but as my body speaks and moves without my control i feel like i'm falling. Powerless the ghost puppets my body and I'm the one left disembodied and feeble. The days carry on, my comrades tolerating the ghost for now due to the dangers of combating it. So the ghost, Janeth the sage cartographer who was decapitated by a yeti, has taken over my identity. the first few days she has been desperately trying to recreate the journals she lost but eventually grew frustrated with the lack of supplies she has access to. She follows the group all the same, to my releif, due to her desperate need for money. Seems in death everyone has money problems. She joined the group in finally slaying the grell once and for all but hides far from combat watching it all as my comrades finish the beast. Afte getting paid she proceeded to eat everything in the tavern with tears of joy till finally admitting defeat and crawling back to my room. Shes at my desk. Shes been writing for hours again. i make my move and try and regain control. "the flora of Timberlane, sparse and unuseful in my research. Must collect samples of soil to-" my hand shakes and i write. "get out! Release me!" "NO! Its mine now! Let me live!" she rips the page up and retires to bed. everything blurrs together as Janeth follows the group to our next quest. A drunk dragonborn one moment, a lone husky pulling a sled, a long and cold trek through the mountains. I manage to come back to myself as i find Janeth has managed to get me swept away in a avalanche then again in the thick of battle herring a craig cat. SHe seems to be warming up to the group but has she's just as selfish as she ever was. Sans gave her a very dangerous idea to possess a town speaker instead of me. That peeked her interest but thankfully shes too cautious to act on the plan. We find the dogs owner Garrot but he wants us to find his gang of adventures. We tracked them to a family of yetis, Janeth had a visible reaction to the hall of served heads linning the wall. I almost feel sorry for her. almost. Sadly the golith has died but the halfling still lives but is being treated like a large small then a living creature. The group slays them and we soon discover the tragic end to their teifling comrade. With the night falling swifty on us we decide to try and make way to the caves but instead have a chilling encounter with a ice troll. the humilation and frustration was agony. Watching my comrades, possibly my friends fall. I had enough. I wrestle just enough controll away ready to fight but its not enough. The ghost is interfering and making me clumsy and my attacks pathetic. I cant fight like this! "Janeth please!" i beg. "Help them! Were going to die out here!" "Whats that got to do with me?" she huffs. "I can just possess another group. That dwarf proably will survive. he'll make a good body." "You make me sick." is all i can mutter as the troll charges towards me. ....... ...
I snap awake, still trapped and powerless but somehow back in town, warped in furs and still alive. by the gods... "see, that worked out!" she smugly tells me while all i want to do is tear her out of my skin. I felt pitty for her and her friends plight, not anymore.
fritz
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Post by Aileen on Nov 1, 2021 12:40:34 GMT -5
Needing a break from certain danger after the incident on the mountain, we decide to leave Caer Konig and head to find the lady searching for Chwingas to see where that may take us. She gives us a fancy lamp that glows blue in the presence of Chwinga, and we head out to the next town, Caer Dineval.
This town is a bit disappointing, and we are all exhausted but have a whole day to kill. So, not finding any Chwinga presence, we head to the Caer, a big tower looking out over the city. Upon arrival we are stopped by guards who say the speaker is ill and we cannot come in.
“Does he need a cartographer?” Not Frisk asks.
“What?” One of the guards looks just as confused as the rest of us.
“I make maps! That’s what I’m here for. And what I died for!”
“For a f***ing map?!” I snap, annoyed with the ghost.
“No! Go away- the speaker does not want visitors!”
So we head to the tavern while Sands sneaks off to see if there’s a way in. Upon arrival in the tavern I am sickened to discover they have no beer or spirits due to supply chain issues. This place is horrible, but on the plus side they do have chowder. We also learn that the guards we spoke to are Black Swords, the speaker’s troops. The speaker is clearly holed up in there with his guards running the show while he is ill. It seems a bit sus.
At midnight, after a report from Sands that the only way in is the front gate, we head back to the Caer. Sands sneaks up the wall and lowers a rope, and with me connected to him via psychic mind link, we go one by one to climb up. Unfortunately the clumsy cleric alerts the guards to our presence, but smart Ronan sends dancing lights into the far woods making them look like torches. We all make it up and in!
The first door we go to is a bust, as we hear many barking dogs inside, but the second set of doors leads us into a fancy yet dirty hall. A young tiefling girl is cleaning up tables, and tells us to go speak to the chef if we want food. So, even though we’ve been engorging on chowder the past several hours, we go in the kitchen and meet the chef. He’s grumpy but eager to feed us, bringing us plate after plate of sampling’s. It’s the best damn seafood I’ve ever had.
“Are you a Yardley?” I ask.
He spits.
“No! I make good fish, not that fried batter s***!”
“Yeah, I was gonna say, this is much better than Yard Yardley’s.” I quickly backtrack.
He tells us that a Captain Cadroth is in charge during the speaker’s illness, so we go off to speak to him. We go into a sitting room only to find a man standing at a door.
“Who the hell are you?” He asks.
“Who the hell are you?” Sands asks.
“I asked you first.”
“I’m Shifting-“
“Thoob. My name is Thoob.”
“Shifting Sands, as I was trying to say. Now, we need to speak to Captain Cadroth.”
“I’ve been told nobody enters this room or disturbs him!”
“Thoob, you’re needed outside!” I butt in. “It’s all hands on deck out there, there’s intruders in the woods.”
“That’s not my job!”
Impatient, our resident cat tries to rush Thoob, but the guard is faster. Thoob raises his hand to knock, and I spring forward. I grab him in a bear hug, pinning his arms to his side as his eyes widen in surprise. He opens his mouth to shout, and I panic. Needing to shut him up before he can alert Cadroth, I smash my lips into his, kissing him. Sands pushes past us, slamming the door open, and Ronan pushes me and the guard into the corner.
Thoob is way too into it. I guess that’s a success, although I am taking one for the team. Thoob gets a bit hands and all but shoved his tongue down my throat, as I use all my willpower to not throw up. Luckily the Ghost that was once Fritz jumps in with sword drawn, and Thoob pulls away. He reluctantly escapes my grasp, pushing me behind him as he attacks Fritz. I back away, hearing a commotion in the room behind me.
“Wait! Stay with me!” Thoob calls, giving me lovey dovey eyes.
“Hm… You’re needy.” I shrug, rushing into the room with his scimitar barely missing my retreating back. Guess we were never meant to be.
I go and hit the paunchy tiefling, and Thoob comes running in behind me. Before they can get any hits on me, Ivilios puts them to sleep. I tie up Cadroth as Fritz gets Thoob. They both wake up after we search them, and just as I’m gagging Thoob.
“Tighter!” He mumbles through the fabric. I comply, disgusted at his man moaning.
Sands beats up Cadroth until we get information. The guards are actually the Knights of the Black Sword, a cult dedicated to the devil Levistus. They are gearing up to take on the duergar who are in league with Asmodeus. The speaker Cranoff is being held in his room upstairs while Cadroth runs things, and there is also an albino tiefling wizard who is the brains of the operation. Cadroth wants us to join them and take on the duergar, which if they weren’t a bunch of devil worshipping evil f***s would be enticing.
“Let us speak on it,” Ronan says. “We’re going to step into the other room.”
“I’ll stay and watch these two. Keep me looped in.” I say in Ronan’s mind.
They go in the other room and shut the door, and I listen in on Ronan as I watch the two devil worshippers. Thoob keeps making suggestive looks at me, but I roll my eyes.
“Eira, is it?” Cadroth says. “How about you come over here and cut my ropes.”
I can feel a spell trying to work at the corners of my mind. I resist.
“I think not, and get my name out of your mouth you devil worshipping jackass!”
“Seems you had more than a name in your mouth with Thoob, here. Now really, dear, I think you ought to cut my ropes!”
I report in to Ronan that the tiefling is trying to use mind control magic on me, and he comes back saying that Ivilios wants to come in. The door opens, and the cleric comes in and slits Cadroth’s throat.
“So much for that discussion!” I snap.
“Devil worshippers,” Ivilios snarls. “We don’t make deals with them!”
Sands kills Thoob, and we leave the room only to run into the tiefling girls again. When told the devil worshippers are dead, she becomes stoic.
“I want to see them.”
“You sure? It’s pretty bloody in there,” I say.
“I want to see them.”
We let her in, and she turns around with a smile on her face as she throws herself into Sands’ arms. Turns out she was forced to work for them and they were horrible to her, and now she’s going to be our guide through this place. First stop is the speaker’s room. Up the stairs we go, and Sands kicks the door open. There’s a Yelp from the guard on the other side as the door hits him. Idiot.
I attack the guard as who I assume is the speaker lays peeking out from below his blankets on the cushy bed. The guard draws his scimitar and attacks me back. I scream as he slices into the back of my knee, right into a tendon. Ivilios knocks the guard out, and when I can finally put weight on my leg I limp away from the corpse and sit in an armchair. The speaker is glad to see us, and be rescued, but we order him to stay here and guard the guard. He’s given a weapon and told to kill him if he must, a task he does not seem to be up to. I hope he will be alright.
We head down to the cistern in search of the wizard lady, the girl guiding us, and come to a room with three guards standing around a blazing brazier. We very quickly dispatch them, and then I get the signal to mind link with Sands.
‘Eira, let’s rush Fritz! We can throw the satchel in the brazier! Tell Ronan and Ivilios!’
‘You got it!’
We rush Fritz, Ronan grabs his bag, and Ivilios tosses the satchel into the fire of the brazier. It goes up in flame.
“Nooo!” Fritz yells. “Wait, yes! I see the light!”
The ghost dissipates from Fritz, and he slumps in our arms, blinking in confusion.
“She’s gone!” He grins. “I’m me again! Thank you!”
“You were a pain in the ass,” Ronan mutters, letting him go.
“Good to have you back, Fritzy!”
Our barbarian back, we head down into the cistern, and get on a boat. Let’s hope this wizard lady doesn’t completely kick our collective asses.
❄️ Eira
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Post by dragonforgotten on Nov 1, 2021 15:47:10 GMT -5
I feel so hopeless. Trapped in my own body stewing in my own frustration and rage… I haven’t felt this way since her… no we are not going there again. It’s done. Janeth is once again complaining about our accommodations when we stay at an inn. She orders the fish for dinner. In a moment of blind rage I manage to get control of my arm and lash out. I stab my own hand with a fork. She hollars and grabs my hand cursing me out. “Stupid fool! Stay quiet!” She growls to me but chuckles as the group watches us. “Pardon. This one is just getting uppity again.” She tells them shoving me back into my disembodied cage as I snap and snarl like a feral animal. “Someday! You will have my body back! I’ll tear you apart!” “Hush now.” She snarls back. Trying to suppress me. I pace my cage, falling into a deep meditation. It’s then he comes to me. A great bear approaches me huffing and snarling as I find him the perfect mirror to my frustration. “Soon. We sleep. We wait. Then we attack.” When I come to again I find myself in front of a half elf woman. Apparently I’m the morning. We met with an expert on spirits. She wishes us to try and catch one for her to study. That they could be the key to stopping this endless winter. We then track to a nearby town with its speaker mysteriously indisposed. Through the use of wit and magic we manage to breach its defenses as Janeth acts haute and noble to a timid teifling servant. Her lie ends up working and we learn more of this place, the black swords and this new ruler of this keep. I don’t believe for a second the speaker is ill. It seems more like his own guards the black swords have been turned against him. This will be tricky. Looking to avoid a drawn out scuffle and use our element of surprise we barrage right into the new speakers room as Eira has the unfortunate encounter with a guard, being forced to kiss him as I cringe inside. “Oh? Are we shy sir barbarian?” Janeth teases me as I growl. “Leave it.” The group subdues both men and we discover they are a group of demon worshipers. This one worships ivistus run by a white teifling wizard while another worships asmodeus. Demon worshiping scum. They want us to work with them so we can take down the asmodeus worshiping duagar. We take a moment to discuss this. “We should take there offer. Better to fight one demon cult then two at once.” Janeth voices but the group is already in agreement that they won’t bloody there souls by choosing the lesser evil. When the teifling leader of the black swords tries to cast a spell on Eira he Mets a very mess end while we charge the room containing the real speaker. This leads to a series of battles and the knowledge of the teiflings location. Upon securing the speaker and the tower containing the entrance to the cellar Janeth manages to find a secret door. Then all hell breaks loose. Janeth is taken off guard as everyone jumps on me, pinning my arms. Roan steals the satchel from my person, walking it towards the blazer. My heart jumps in my chest, one in exhilaration, the other in horror as Janeth realizes what is happening. “Noo! Please!” She cries out but it’s too late. The satchel burns and I feel the ghost leave my body and I greedily snatch it back. …. …… … I gasp, breathing and seeing as myself for the first time in four days. Then I roar in a rage and destroy one of the beds. “Four days! Four days of my life gone! For gods sake!” I pat myself down and a smile spreads on my face as the anger is replaced by joy. “She’s gone!” I take Ronan up into a bone crushing hug. “I’m me again! Thank you!” “You were a pain in the ass,” Ronan mutters, patting my back. I release the elf, letting him breaths. “Good to have you back, Fritzy!” I smile and look around. “Sooo… what are we doing here?”
Fritz
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Post by Aileen on Nov 8, 2021 13:08:07 GMT -5
Our trip into the cisterns was a failure, but we won out in the end. The albino tiefling wizard was far beyond our skill level, absolutely kicking our asses with cones of cold. Luckily she was nice enough to let us go, but stupid me I still whacked her with my sword.
“Go! Just go!” She screams at me.
“I’m going!” I yell, trying to leave but getting stuck behind my friends.
Before I can make it out, a giant ethereal hand appears behind me and whacks me right on the ass. I just manage not to get slammed into the line of people, and turn around and wink at the lady.
“Again!” I laugh. She rolls her eyes and turns her attention back to the crazy gnome.
I make it out but have to wait for Sands to come back with the boat, and the tiefling follows.
“You guys are okay,” she motions to us standing by the boat. She points at me. “You’re a little less okay.”
“What? I’m leaving, aren’t I?”
“You hit me with your sword!”
“I twitched! I have a neurological problem!”
“You have a lot of problems! But right now I need to deal with this little s***!”
The hand comes out and grabs Oxho, squishing him.
“Stop! I have a slaad egg inside me! It’s going to pop out and kill us all!” He screams.
“What?! Ewwww ew ew!!!”
She un-summons the hand, and the gnome lifts his shirt and shows her something I can’t see. She gags, backing away, and shoos us with her hand.
“Please, just leave me alone, disgusting people!”
We all make it out and head upstairs to the speaker’s room. He advises us to clear out the rest of this place and worry about the tiefling later. So we do, going tower to tower, some of the guard surrendering and the rest killed by us. That taken care of we return to the cistern, and find the tiefling has fled. I’m sure we’ll run into her later. In the mean time, Sands pulls a lever he found which opens up a stone door on the far end of the river.
I go in with Fritz right behind me, and suddenly several people jump out to attack. They all stumble, falling all over each-other and then look up at me in embarrassment. They’re all civilians, looking pretty dehydrated and hungry, a couple of them quite elderly.
“You guys okay?” I ask, trying not to laugh at them.
“You’re not them?!” An old man cries. “Have you come to save us?!”
“Yes, we’re liberating the keep. I’m Eira, this is Fritz.”
“Oh, bless you children!” The man kisses me on the cheek and roughly shakes my hand, before going to Fritz. The others celebrate and shake our hands, and are even more excited when the others join us.
The trapped people freed, we go back upstairs and speak to the speaker. He lets us stay here and rest, and we are welcome back any time. We rest up, sleeping well until noon, and then head out to the next place after getting ourselves together. The next evening brings us to Brynn Shander, and we hit the tavern. It’s cozy and nice in here, and we are fascinated by a huge knucklehead trout on a plaque. As Ronan and I check it out we’re absolutely delighted by it singing a song. After laughing our asses off we go to the bar to speak to the barkeep and get some drinks. Ronan asks about the trout and I mention the singing. I get a weird look from the barkeep.
“Singing?”
“Yeah, the fish! It just sang!”
“You alright, miss? It’s a dead fish, it don’t sing.”
“Really?” I frown, wondering if the past few days have caught up to me.
“Yeah, really. You can pet it if you like!” He grins.
“Okay!”
I go over and stroke the fish’s smooth, shellacked scales, but it whips around and snaps at my hand. I pull back just in time to not have my fingers snatched off, and return to the bar to everyone laughing. Luckily I can take a joke.
“A shot for the lady!” The barkeep laughs. “And welcome to Bryn Shander!”
That evening when we retire to our rooms, a very nervous Fritz tells us he is being hunted and he’s worried he’ll be found here.
“You see, I fell in love. She was beautiful… but she was the sultan’s favorite concubine!”
“Wait… did you f*** her?” I ask, a little tipsy and not monitoring anything coming out of my mouth.
“… yeah.” He shrugs, sheepishly. We all burst into laughter.
“Right… and I’m the rightful queen of Neverwinter!” I laugh.
“Really?” Ronan asks, fondling his scrap of cloth.
“No, I’m screwing with you. Like Fritz screws royal prostitutes!”
“Eira! I’m serious!” Fritz groans.
—-
❄️ Eira
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Post by Aileen on Nov 15, 2021 12:39:54 GMT -5
We nearly die every day in the cold frozen north, and yet I feel much safer here than I could ever be in Neverwinter. At least I don’t have to worry about that nasty Lord Neverember. No, just goblins and raging polar bears. I’ll take that any day.
We take out several goblins and their wagon pulling polar bears, and return the shipment of iron back to the dwarves. Poor Fritz is absolutely beat and torn to s*** by the bears, but in good spirits being back to himself. We don’t miss the ghost at all. Back at the tavern we drink and eat chowder with the dwarves and have a grand ol time.
The next morning I accompany Oxho to the temple out of sheer curiosity of how he’s going to get the slaad egg out of him. We meet a nice priest and a rather crude rock gnome named Copper. Copper tells us about his friend McCreetus who lives in a cabin near the Rhegged Glacier who is making a device to end the perpetual winter. He hasn’t heard from him in a while so asks us to check in on him. We agree to keep an eye out if we’re ever in the area.
Back at the bar consuming more beer and chowder, we learn more info from drunk locals. There’s a wizard who killed some adventurers, so we decide to add that to our list as we head out. Our bellies full and feeling warm, we leave and head out for adventure. Along the way we come to a cabin with an old lady yelling at the wind. She tells us the spirits have been stealing her cutlery. Ronan lights the lamp and sure enough there’s Chwinga nearby!
“Ma’am, do you have any syrup?”
“Strange request, but yes.”
She pours me a cup of maple syrup, and looks on in horror as I slather it all over my armor. I go outside and start jogging laps around the cabin, banging my sword against my shield in hopes to draw the Chwinga to me. I nearly bowl over poor Oxho as he steps in my path, but I do not deter from my task.
“Eira! Stop running around like a crazy person!” Ronan calls. “We’re going to a thicket!”
A thicket? What does that have to do with anything? I stop running and follow my party, heading into the woods. Fritz follows some tracks until he stops and points out something ahead- three little creatures seemingly making a charcuterie board out of sticks and pine cones. They get excited as we approach, and make motions at us to eat. We take a seat and I help myself to a pine cone, dipping it in my armor syrup.
Unfortunately things go south when Ronan tries to grab one of the Chwinga, and they all escape us. Maybe we will have better luck another time, they are tricksy little buggers. So we move on, heading to Easthaven. When we arrive in town everyone is watching an execution. The wizard Dezan, who killed the adventurers. They set him aflame and he is roasted to death, not even uttering a scream.
As we watch the horror we are approached by a woman in a fur hat, the half elven captain of the guard, Imdra. She tells us the wizard was a Red Wizard of Thay, and we have to prove that Oxho is not one of them.
“He doesn’t meet the minimum height requirement, and is neither bald nor tattooed,” I tel Imdra. “He just thinks the title is cool.”
“I can assure you there is nothing ‘cool’ about the Red Wizards, sir gnome. Anyway… I have a task for you fine adventurers, should you chose to accept.”
We of course accept, and are tasked with finding some missing fishers. We borrow a boat and sail out, finding a bobbing rowboat near some cliffs. It’s filled with fishing equipment and empty ale bottles! The fishers must have gone to the caves for shelter… and are also drunk.
We tie up the boat and start heading for the cliffs. Suddenly I am overwhelmed by the most beautiful song I have ever heard in my life. I look up, seeing two beautiful naked, winged women harmonizing in the winter air. They must be angels! I start walking to them, and they dive down at us!
I snap out of whatever trance they have me in and realize they are not beautiful angels, but nasty harpies! We fight them, Fritz killing one and the other flying away. I manage to hit her with a fire bolt, and she crashes down into the icy water in a fiery death.
Crisis averted, we head into the caves. We follow some tracks into the lower entrance, and come to a frozen waterfall. Fritz goes to climb it but some of the ice breaks and he is pulled inside by watery hands. Something unseen is whirling around and trapping him inside! Ivilios lights whatever the thing is up with fairie fire, and we fight it while he heals Fritz. Fritz gets the ending blow, but now he is dripping wet and his lips rapidly turning blue.
“Take your clothes off!” I order him.
“At least buy me dinner?” He winks.
“Sorry, do I look like a concubine? Take your wet clothes off! And someone needs to share body heat with him, but it’s not going to be me!”
“Here, take these,” Ivilios says, taking off his furs and winter clothes. “I don’t actually need them.”
“Of course you do, it’s freezing!” Ronan says.
“No, I assure you I’ll be fine,” the cleric smiles. “I was born in midwinter, the cold never bothered me anyway.”
Huh. Must be f***ing nice! Here I am with frozen syrup and freezing my tits off every day… he’s been perfectly warm this whole time!
Further into the cave we go, heading up some stairs and coming to a cave with fresh blood on the floor. The cave floor is absolutely littered with bones of knucklehead trout spines, humanoid skulls, weapons and other junk. Sitting in the middle of all the bones is a huge skeleton encases in ice, a huge axe next to him. We proceed on in, and I hope the skeleton doesn’t suddenly burst out and attack.
❄️ Eira
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