The Twelve

Now that the player characters are in the Glacial rift it was time to go up against the twelve. They had heard of the twelve from a cultist of the White Worm in Phom Thult. The twelve most powerful magic users in the world. All under the sway of the White Worm. This made the party a little nervous. Lucky for them the White Worm consumes members of the twelve once per month to gain their powers. The Twelve are being continually replenished but right now only five of the twelve are in the Lair of the White Worm. As mentioned earlier this adventure is based on the Conqueror Worm written by Alphonso Warden and published by Expeditious Retreat Press. I changed the ice caves with a pillar of ice with similar chambers.

Session 120: The Pillar of Ice

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric NPC), Dusig (dwarf fighter NPC).

The adventurers have entered the Glacial Rift of the Frost Giants in the Frozen Lands. Expecting to find it deserted after they watched a troop of Frost Giants march south, they instead found ice caves full of Frost Giants. After a long battle, they are victorious but badly injured.

Domago goes from companion to companion tending to wounds and using his Staff of Healing. Once everyone has been healed of most of their wounds they retrace their steps heading back down the giant stairs to the huge ice cavern. Fenris takes the lead and soon picks up their trail where they had battled two yetis. The tracks in the snow head north into the dimly lit cavern.

They trudge along through the ankle-deep snow on a floor of ice. Huge pillars of ice loom up out of the floor. Suddenly, four yeti leap out of nearby snowbanks with hungry roars. The company is surrounded. Lakima points his wand of fireballs at two of the yetis and blasts them with a blaze of fire. Fenris slips away into the darkness nearly disappearing. Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and summons four berserkers to their defense. The berserkers rush up to the yeti providing an immediate line of defense while Aldus, Eathwund, and Dusig follow and attack with swords and axe. Alrix uses his Sword of Dancing to attack a yeti from a distance. During the battle, both Aldus and Eathwund are clawed badly but the group kills the four yeti leaving them in a heap in the snow. Domago casts cure light wounds on all three fighters.

Fenris takes the lead again and the group continues to follow the tracks. Up ahead Fenris stops and points at an enormous pillar of ice 90 feet across and hundreds of feet tall. Steps have been carved into the side of the ice pillar. The tracks lead directly to it.

Fenris suggests that Eathwund or Aldus take the lead now but Lakima shakes his head telling Fenris that the stairs are a perfect place for a trap. Fenris walks up to the steps and starts climbing them checking for traps as he goes. The stairs circle 80 feet up the ice pillar before they end at a tunnel carved into the ice. Peering around the corner Fenris sees an iron portcullis barring the tunnel. Another iron portcullis can be seen twenty feet past the first. He tells everyone what he sees. Eathwund and Aldus come forward to try to lift the portcullis. Before grabbing it, Eathwund activates the strength enchantment on his sword. He yanks the iron portcullis up with a scream of breaking metal. The portcullis is jammed up permanently. In the tunnel, he spots a Frost Giant walking up to the next portcullis to investigate the noise. The Frost giant shouts something at them in its language.

“He said who goes there!” Domago tells them.

Lakima tells Domago to claim that they are members of the twelve. Domago tries that but the Frost Giant curses at him.

“Quick!” Lakima yells and points at the iron bars urging Eathwund, Aldus, and Dusig forward. He casts Aztazibar's Acrid Finger and begins to burn through the bars with acid. Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and six summoned berserkers appear on the other side of the bars and launch themselves at the Frost Giant. At this point they see two more Frost giants enter the chamber on the other side of the bars. While the berserkers keep the three giants busy, Lakima burns a hole through the portcullis big enough for the fighters to slip through. Aldus and Eathwund slip through one after another and attack the nearest frost giant. They see that there is a ballista in the center of the chamber pointed right at them. Against two walls are wooden barred cages each holding four angry, growling, and barking winter wolves.

Alrix moves up to the iron bars and uses his Sword of Dancing to attack a Frost Giant. He sees the ballista and conjures up an obscuring mist to fill the chamber centered on the ballista. Lakima uses the wand of fireballs and blasts all three Frost Giants but the wand is unable to conjure up a powerful enough fireball to greatly hurt the Giants. Fenris slips unnoticed into the chamber and slams the door to a wolf cage shut just as a Frost Giant was starting to open it. The giant spots Fenris and smashes him against the bars of the cage. Lakima uses the wand to cast another fireball and Eathwund and Aldus kill two of the Frost Giants. The third giant flees into the obscuring mists and they hear a metal door screech open. The combat is over but the chamber is still filled with the barking and growling coming from the wolves in the cages.

Domago uses his Staff of Healing on Fenris, Eathwund, and Aldus. The adventurers decide to immediately follow the trail of blood left by the fleeing frost giant. They descend 40 feet down a spiral staircase and arrive in a long hallway. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the hallway are built from blocks of ice. A rug rests on the floor and wood doors are set into the walls. At the far end of the hallway, they see the wounded Frost Giant limp around a corner into a large chamber. Eathwund runs after the fleeing giant and triggers a frost trap that blasts him with a painful, freezing mist. Fenris yells for him to keep still and Eathwund stops. After a short search, Fenris finds the trigger for the traps in the hallway and switches it off.

Eathwund, Aldus, and Dusig rush forward into a large chamber. There is a staircase leading down on one side of the room. To either side of it is a stone pedestal with the stone statue of an ugly bipedal form atop it. The frost giant steps out from behind one statue and attacks Aldus. Aldus and Eathwund move to attack just as both stone statues step down from their pedestals and move to attack the fighters. Aldus slashes open the side of the Frost Giant and Lakima calls out that they need him alive for questioning. Then he turns to Domago and asks if he has the speak with dead prayer. A confused Domago tells him that he does.

“You can kill him; we will question him when he is dead!” Lakima shouts.

The Frost Giant is soon killed but the two stone guardians are a much tougher fight. They pound Aldus and Eathwund with their stone fists repeatedly. Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and summons five berserkers to aid them. Aldus and Eathwund manage to bring down one guardian which crumbles into pebbles when it falls. The second one punches Eathwund repeatedly. Domago taps Eathwund with the Staff of Healing twice during the fight to keep him trading blows with the guardian. Finally, the last foe falls. Domago has to do more healing with the Staff.

Once a weary Domago sets the last bandage, Lakima points at the dead Frost Giant and tells Domago that they need to know the White Worm’s location. Domago prays and the spirit of the Frost Giant rises up from its corpse. It looks sullenly down on Domago.

“Where is the White Worm,” Domago asks. The Frost Giant points down beneath their feet. He then asks something which causes the spirit to nod its head in agreement (I cannot remember what this question was). Finally, he asks where the 12 are located and the Frost giant again points down. His final question asked the Frost Giant spirit vanishes.

The adventurers make their way over to the staircase and find that it is made of small blocks of ice and that it spirals down into darkness. At the bottom of the staircase, they enter a large chamber. Again, the walls, floors, and ceilings are carved from ice. They check a small chamber with a hammock and find an unlocked footlocker full of human clothing. They also find magical leather armor and an elven cloak like the one that Fenris wears. Opening the main door from the chamber they see a hallway of ice lit by a single torch burning above a wooden bench. Everything here is human-sized. Fenris slips quietly down the hallway and listens at the doors. He comes back and reports that he can see light under one door at the end of the hall and can hear the sounds of movement.

Expecting that they might run into one of the fabled 12 mages Lakima tells everyone to rush through the door and attack without mercy. Eathwund shoves the door inward and rushes into the room. They see a library carved from the ice. Wood shelves line the walls, and wood tables and chairs rest on the icy floor. A single black-garbed man sits at a table reading a book by candlelight. He looks up in surprise as Eathwund stabs him in the side. Aldus comes around from the other side and slashes the man in the hand as he tries to defend himself, while Dusig hurls a hammer hitting him in the chest and Lakima flings 3 darts into his chest. Finally, Alrix slices right through the man’s throat with his sword. The surprised man tumbles forward dead before he has a chance to utter a word. The entire attack takes only moments and has been accomplished quietly.

They shut the door to the library and Lakima casts Detect Magic. A staff leaning against the table glows as magical, as does the man’s dagger. Also glowing are all of the shelves. Lakima deduces that the shelves have some sort of protection magic on them to preserve the books. On the shelves are ancient tomes, scrolls, and even clay tablets. But there are also more recent items and even some scrolls that appear new. Lakima tips over a bookshelf with a loud crash and finds two scrolls with magic spells on them. Possibly, the noise attracts attention because Fenris, who is watching the door, calls for quiet and tells everyone he can hear voices. Fenris continues to listen and hears a door open and close. He motions with 2 fingers indicating two men talking. The voices cross the hall and then he hears a door open and close again. After a quiet pause, Fenris opens the door a crack and finds that the hallway is empty and quiet. He sneaks out into the hallway and soon reports back that he can hear two men talking behind one of the doors in the hallway.

Lakima tells everyone that they need to use the same quick, brutal strategy. They cannot afford to give these wizards a chance to cast a spell. Eathwund again shoves open a door that flies inward and slams against a bed. They see a room lit by a lantern that contains two more doors, several beds, and a table. An elf in the center of the room whirls about to confront them and levels a staff. He is wearing chainmail armor. At the far side of the room, in front of an open door, is a well-dressed man in bright clothes wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Before Eathwund can take three steps, that man casts a spell and everyone feels time seems to slow and their view go hazy. But all of the adventurers shake off the enchantment. The elf casts a spell and three identical elves appear and face the adventurers. Domago blows his horn and four berserkers appear and move to attack the elf. Both Lakima and Alrix strike the elf with magic missiles. Lakima’s missiles strike first and two illusionary elves vanish. Then Alrix’s magic missiles strike the elf. The elf moves forward and attacks Aldus who parries with the great sword. Lakima yells at Fenris to get into the chamber and the thief nimbly jumps up onto a table. He fires a crossbow bolt into the human mage. Alrix jumps up onto the beds and gets close enough to attack the mage with his Sword of Dancing. The mage then points at Aldus and speaks a single word. Aldus stops fighting the elf and his sword drops from his hand as he is stunned. Eathwund concentrates on his sword and casts Confusion on the mage to knock him senseless. He stands dumbly and does not move as the Sword of Dancing plunges into his chest killing him. Eathwund, Dusig, and several berserkers attack the elf. Seeing that he is surrounded and badly injured, the elf casts a fireball. This is a high-level fireball that explodes through the chamber and out into the hallway. Everyone is caught in the blast and badly burned.

As the fires subside, they find that most of the furniture in the chamber is badly burned. The elf lies in a blackened heap on the floor, a victim of his own spell. Lakima calls for Fenris to start searching the chamber. He finds two rings on the elf, a magic staff, and a magic dagger. Lakima tells Fenris to search a small bed chamber located off of the room. Domago uses his staff of healing on Eathwund who has been injured. As they are doing this, they hear footsteps, and a human guard in platemail appears at the door to the chamber. He attacks Eathwund. Another man, a mage in dark blue robes appears and casts a web spell. The sticky webs fall down over most of the adventurers, trapping Eathwund, Dusig, Lakima, and an unmoving Aldus. Alrix shouts in anger when he spots the wizard Ud Lux, his captor, and tormentor.

“You!”. Alrix yells. Then rolls the Figurine of Wondrous Power out into the hallway. It transforms into an enormous wholly mammoth. Ud Lux manages to take one step backward and scream before the mammoth tramples him to a pulp. Meanwhile, Lakima takes out the scroll he found in the library and uses it to summon a manticore. The manticore tears into the human guard. The guard turns from attacking the adventurers and tries to defend himself from the enraged manticore. He manages to injure it but it pierces him multiple times with tail spikes and savages him with its claws. A third man, another mage is injured by the manticore and vanishes through a dimension door. The guard fights back feebly before being crushed under the feet of the mammoth. The manticore vanishes.

After the battle, Domago gets out his staff and starts healing everyone. All of the adventurers are badly injured. Fenris returns to searching and finds a spellbook and some treasure in a chest. Lakima puts everything in the bag of holding.

The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giants

I have fallen a few weeks behind on these recaps of Swords & Wizardry sessions. Three sessions to be exact. These sessions were to be the culmination of the campaign with the face-off against the big bad enemy the White Worm. But the players have never really felt a strong connection with this enemy and they want to keep playing. I certainly have learned a lot about how to work a plot into a campaign. Next time I will lay the hooks much earlier. These were an uneven group of sessions for me as a game master. I had a couple of players leave the sessions (one temporarily) which felt like a comment on my ability as a game master. The players did not indicate that but that is what a game master feels when players leave. In this session, a fairly new player left because he felt he was not a match for this group. This is not something you experience in face-to-face play with friends. But with online play with people, you have just "met" this can be common.

Session 119: Glacial Rift of the Frost Giants

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric NPC), Dusig (dwarf fighter NPC).

The adventurers are in the trading post of Phom Thult having freed the locals from the charm enchantment of the agents of the White Worm.

Now that the adventurers have a lead on the location of the White Worm they make plans. Lakima suggests that they leave after darkness falls so that they are not spotted approaching the glacial rift of the frost giants. The sun sets early this far north so they board the skyship and set out just over four hours after noon. The ship rises and sets out to the north-north-east over the Great wood. Below they can see a forest of conifers buried under feet of snow. Occasionally they see caribou or reindeer. In the distance, they see a plume of wood smoke but decide to ignore it.

After several hours they see the open snow fields of the Frozen Lands in the distance. An open expanse of snow leads north to the Wall of Ice. The wall of ice is the leading edge of an enormous glacier. As they get nearer they can tell this wall is at least 200 feet high. On the snowfields, they spot a column of dark dots moving south. As they get nearer they realize that this is a band of 40 or more frost giants and about double that number of enormous winter wolves. All headed south. Lakima casts phantasmal force to disguise the ship under the illusion of a white dragon.

“It looks like the forces of the white worm are headed south to raise the barbarian tribes and attack,” Lakima muses.

Domago asks if they shouldn’t turn around and warn the trading post or even Winterhaven. Lakima argues that killing the White Worm is more important and will put an end to the danger posed by the frost giants. Joe argues that they need to turn around immediately and head for Winterhaven. Dusig reasons that the gnomes have high walls and a protected High City that can withstand a band of frost giants. Joe argues that they must turn back.

Lakima calls for a vote of all members of the company. Only Joe and Domago vote to turn about. Domago accepts the will of the group reasoning that they can do best by killing the White Worm. Joe cannot be shaken from his belief that they must turn back even when Lakima argues that the White Worm’s lair might be unguarded with the frost giants leaving.

Joe insists on being allowed to leave and head south so the skyship (disguised as a dragon) drops down close to the snow to let him off. They wave goodbye as Joe runs south without looking back. The ship then ascends again and heads north leaving the frost giants behind.

As they approach the Ice Wall Lakima tells everyone to look for a safe ledge where the skyship can be moored. They see an enormous crack in the wall of ice almost big enough to park the skyship but decide it would not be safe. Instead, they descend the skyship down to park a few feet above the glacier. The adventurers scramble down to the ice and Fenris moves to the edge of the wall.

“It looks to be about 250 feet to the bottom!” Fenris yells.

Ropes are prepared and Fenris is the first to descend. The ropes quickly freeze and become stiff with ice making it more treacherous but Fenris makes it to the bottom. Lakima casts fly on himself and assures those looking nervously over the edge that he will help them get down. Alrix transforms into a serpent despite his hatred of the cold and flies down to also help if someone struggles.

Aldus volunteers to climb down next and he makes it. He is followed by Eathwund who also makes it without much trouble. By now the ropes are frozen solid. Dusig the dwarf goes next and he struggles to keep a grip on the ropes, falling when he is 30 feet down. Lakima is unable to help but Alrix lashes out and grabs Dusig with his tail constricting about the helpless dwarf. He sets Dusig down at the bottom in the snow a little worse for wear. Domago climbs down last and almost makes it but he loses his grip with 50 feet to go to the bottom. Alrix has to react quickly and he catches Domago but crushes his chest spraining some of Domago’s chest muscles. He sets Domago down on his face in the snow.

“Sorry, are you alright?” Alrix asks Domago.

The cleric nods and grimaces in pain as he gets to his feet and looks at the ominous crack in the ice wall.

Fenris lights and shutters his lantern to project just a narrow beam of light that he aims at the snow and ice. He takes the lead into the ice tunnel. The tunnel is huge but gradually begins to lower. The ceiling above is covered with icicles that tinkle like chimes as they pass. As he moves forward, he sees further progress blocked by a 30-foot-tall wall of smooth ice.

The full company of adventurers comes forward and looks at the wall. Lakima looks at Fenris and points to the top of the wall. Fenris examines the ice wall for a moment then begins scaling straight up the ice. Just as he reaches the top a Frost Giant appears above him looking down. Fenris slides down the ice to the bottom in surprise as the giant picks up an ice boulder and throws it at Fenris. The ice boulder slams into the stunned thief. Lakima immediately casts a lightning bolt spell at the frost giant which hits the giant but only injures it. Then an opening suddenly appears in the ice and two more frost giants advance through it to attack Eathwund and Aldus. Alrix launches his sword of dancing at the frost giant on top of the wall and also casts a magic missile hitting the giant. The giant retreats off the top of the wall and disappears. Domago runs forward and uses healing magic on Fenris. Lakima uses his pearl of power to recover his lightning bolt spell and then casts it again striking both frost giants in the doorway. Aldus is hit once with a giant wood hammer in the melee. Domago now steps back and blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla summoning eight berserkers who join the fight.

With the berserkers in the fight, the combat moves to the favor of the adventurers and soon one falls. Lakima casts passwall opening a passage through the wall and the berserkers flank the two remaining frost giants who try to retreat. Their retreat cut off the frost giants both fall under the rain of blows from swords.

The adventurers pause to take stock. Fenris searches the area and finds a giant horn resting on a table. Eathwund finds some giant-sized sandals in a sack on one giant. Nothing valuable is found.

The group presses forward until they emerge into an enormous rift in the ice. The ceiling is at least 200 feet above and shimmers with faint moonlight. Enormous stalagmites of ice thrust up through the snow. Eathwund checks around and notices giant-sized tracks heading off in all directions – but most head north. They decide to follow the tracks with Fenris in the lead.

Suddenly, there is a huge eruption from the snow, and two yeti roar challenges and leap to attack Eathwund and Fenris. Fenris is slashed open by a claw attack and is forced to defend himself with his longsword. Aldus and Eathwund attack the yeti killing one quickly. The second proves tougher and takes longer to take down. Aldus and Eathwund are aided by Alrix using his Sword of Dancing. Blood is splattered all over the snow after the fight.

Fenris now notices a giant stair carved into the wall of ice on one side of the cavern. He points at it and Lakima suggests they investigate. As they approach the stair, they see a trail of giant-sized footprints leading from the stair to the entrance to the cavern. Fenris takes the lead up the stair that leads up forty feet and then enters an ice cave. Fenris shutters his lantern and sneaks forward. He returns almost immediately to report that he can hear at least two frost giants talking up ahead.

“We should rush them,” Lakima says.

Aldus, Eathwund, and Dusig move to the front of the group and run forward. Followed by Fenris who unshutters his lantern revealing three Frost Giants sitting on wooden chairs in an ice cave. Behind them are another cave and the orange light of a fire. Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and six berserkers appear directly in front of the frost giants. There is a long fight with Aldus taking one dangerous blow from a frost giant war hammer. Alrix uses his last magic missile in the fight. Eathwund and Aldus take the brunt of the attacks before the frost giants are killed. As the last one begins to falter, three female frost giants rush into the chamber and attack. Alrix and then Lakima both hurl fireballs over the heads of the giants to explode behind them. The frost giants are heaved forward and burned by the flames. The fight begins in earnest. The frost giant fighting Aldus strikes the knight twice with mighty blows but leaves himself open to attacks. Lakima finds he has to use two charges from the wand of fireballs on the giants. Domago stops fighting and uses his staff of healing to rescue Aldus who was losing out to a giant. Finally, all of the giants are killed. Lakima rushes ahead to the next ice cave, while Domago bandages wounds. As Lakima enters the chamber he sees three more frost giants. Two were standing, blocking the entrance to their chief’s chamber, and the chief standing behind. Lakima casts Mirror image and three Lakima’s are standing in the cavern facing the giants. One giant reaches down and picks up a block of ice that he hurls at Lakima, striking the real Lakima and knocking him back into the cavern wall. Domago blows the horn again and four berserkers appear pushing the frost giants back and allowing a delay while Aldus and Eathwund rush up to join the fight. After a desperate, bloody exchange, all three frost giants are killed.

Looking about the wrecked, blood-strewn caves Lakima immediately spots a large wooden chest with a padlock on it. He points at it and nods to Fenris. Eathwund rummages about in a pile of furs with his sword finding only small, useless items. Fenris disarms a trap on the chest and unlocks it revealing a fortune in coins of all types – platinum, gold, silver, and copper. The adventurers take a breather while Domago mends wounds and Fenris transfers gold and platinum coins to the bag of holding.

Mystery at Phom Thult

Many years ago I used a Dungeon Magazine adventure in my B/X D&D campaign. The adventure was called Blood on the Snow written by Thomas M. Kane for Dungeon Magazine 03 (1987).  My D&D players were passing through the village of Pergen during the adventure and were not interested in the mystery so they left without solving the adventure.

Now a few weeks ago I used the adventure again. This time re-written for Swords & Wizardry I used it for my Conqueror Worm adventure and changed the maps but kept the rough outline. This time it went much better. At first, the players came and left but then they came back and solved the mystery. It was a different sort of adventure for this campaign but the players still seemed to enjoy it. It was also a good stretch for me as a gamemaster.

Session 118: Mystery at Phom Thult

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Aldus (human cavalier), Joe Boxer (human monk), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Domago (human cleric NPC).

The company of the Black Dragon is in Winterhaven trying to follow clues to the location of the White Worm. The wizard Erwin Truecase has suggested they talk to a barbarian wise woman who lives to the north in Phom Thult.

The group flies north into bitterly cold headwinds and they arrive at Phom Thult shortly after noon. The small trading post consists of a little more than a dozen wood buildings resting in a field of snow. The post is surrounded by a palisade but all of the gates are wide open and buried deep in snow. Though they see no one out in the cold they do see woodsmoke rising from chimneys above every building. The ship descends to a short distance above the snow outside the palisade. Rope ladders are tossed over the side and the party descends to the ground. They walk unchallenged into the village seeing only a single individual chopping wood. They head directly toward the largest building that Dusig tells them is the Guild Hall.

Inside they meet a pair of guards, Helm and Anja. Anja is the first Nahrok tribal warrior they have encountered. Anja tells them that the wise woman is not in the trading post. She says that she left a week ago for the great wood to the north.

“We are the Company of the Black Dragon and we are here to kill the great White Worm.” Lakima announces.

Garth suggests that they should speak with the Guild Master Baldwin. He leaves to get the guild master. Lakima asks Anja about problems in the area and she says she is not aware of any. She has never heard of this White Worm. Baldwin arrives and asks about the group and their mission. He also has never heard of the White Worm. But he suggests it might have something to do with a large White Dragon reputed to roam the Great Wood to the northwest. When Lakima mentions they will fly there to check, Baldwin learns of the skyship and is incredulous. Lakima bets the guild master that it does exist. Lakima suggests a bet of 500 gold but Baldwin counters with a free meal and a round of drinks. The group returns to the skyship with Baldwin and the two guards. Baldwin is amazed by the skyship and asks to buy it. He is disappointed when he is told it is not for sale. But Lakima suggests that he may make more ships in the future and Baldwin asks that the Merchant Adventurers Guild of Edgerton be allowed to corner the market on these wondrous ships.

Lakima tells Baldwin that they are going to head back to Winterhaven. Baldwin insists that they stay so he can honor their bet with a free drink. Lakima declines. The adventurers get back into the skyship and quickly fly back to Winterhaven with the wind at their back. They head immediately to Erwin Truecase’s wobbly shack. The magic user is surprised that the people in Phom Thult have not heard of the White Worm or the threat to the north. He agrees to review the information more.

The adventurers head to the Quiettop Inn and get rooms for the night. Over supper they listen to some conversation from the only other guests, a pair of merchants. The merchants talk about heading north to Phom Thult to investigate why the trading post has not been sending shipments of furs or sending messages. Lakima goes over to introduce himself and tells the merchants that they just came from Phom Thult this very day. The merchants are shocked to learn that they met Baldwin and were told there were no issues. Lakima offers to fly the merchants to Phom Thult the next morning, for an unspecified fee. The merchants learn that the company is the owner of the skyship that the entire town is talking about and they ask a lot of questions.

The next morning the two merchants, Toss Gloam and Hayden Brook arrive at the skyship accompanied by a guard (Tanil). They climb aboard and the ship sets out for Phom Thult. They arrive and settle the ship down in the same spot as before. The group heads directly for the Guild Hall. Alrix turns himself invisible and tells everyone he will follow along unseen. Once inside they meet the guard Anja, Garth, and the paymaster Domhnall. Domhnall is taken aback when he learns that Toss and Hayden represent their bosses back in Edgerton. He tells them that Baldwin is out on a trip to meet with a tribe to trade for furs. Toss questions Domhnall about what has been going on in Phom Thult and the paymaster makes a lot of excuses. Lakima loses patience with him and casts a charm person spell on him. The paymaster then agrees to tell his new friend about the cult of the White Worm which has taken over Phom Thult and will soon take over the north. Anja then stabs Domhnall in the back killing him. Anja and Garth draw swords and move to attack the party. Aldus blocks Anja from getting to Lakima and Eathwund kills Garth. A third guard arrives and moves to attack. Lakima casts charm person on Anja and she stops fighting to call for everyone to stop. This does not stop the guard who is killed by Aldus.

Now that the fighting has stopped, Toss, Hayden, and Tanil come out of hiding. They question Anja and learn about her fervent belief in the power of the White Worm. She tells them that soon all of the north will freeze. She also tells them that the cult in Phom Thult is led by Ale Pukki and offers to take them to see him at the Lost Shepherd Inn. Anja admits that she was told to lie to them about the wise woman. The woman is in Phom Thult but is not a member of the cult.

Most of the company heads out to go to the Inn. Dusig stays behind with the merchants to protect them. At the Inn, they meet the Innkeeper and his wife. Anja cheerfully tells the Innkeeper that her friends want to see Ale Pukki. The Innkeeper is further confused when they openly talk of killing the White Worm. The innkeeper tries to run for the stairs to warn Ale Pukki.

“Fenris, stop him!” Lakima shouts.

Fenris calmly turns and shoots the innkeeper in the back with his crossbow. The man falls unconscious to the floor. The innkeeper’s wife runs to her husband and starts wailing. Another woman comes down the stair and starts screaming. Alrix runs for the stairs (still invisible) and brushes past the woman. The innkeeper’s wife gets up and draws a knife and moves to attack. Fenris moves to draw his sword but Domago and Lakima both shout for him to stop. Joe steps forward and knocks the woman unconscious. He then does the same for the woman on the stairs. Just as it appears that things have settled down, a cook wielding a meat cleaver appears in the doorway to the kitchen and has to be knocked out by Joe.

Meanwhile, upstairs Alrix climbs up a ladder to the attic. Looking about he sees nothing interesting but hears some squeaking mice. He climbs back down just as Lakima, Eathwund and Aldus arrive. Lakima asks Aldus to check the bedrooms. The first bedroom proves to be empty. As Aldus moves to check the second room, two tribal warriors open the door and attack the group in the narrow hallway. There is a quick exchange of slashes and all combatants are cut badly. The door at the end of the hallway opens and a third tribesman emerges and casts a web spell. The web engulfs, Aldus, Eathwund, and Lakima. Alrix manages to remain clear. Aldus defends himself with difficulty while stuck in the webs while Eathwund steps into the ethereal plane and walks through the webs and the barbarians and returns to the material plane behind the combatants. Attacking from behind he kills one of the warriors. Lakima casts feeblemind successfully on the mage. Aldus, Eathwund, and Alrix (using the Dancing sword) gang up on the remaining warrior. He proves to be very tough and it takes several rounds to kill him. Lakima searches the body of the man he assumes must be Ale Pukki. He finds a magic dagger and a Staff of Striking. Joe arrives just as the fight is over. The entire group moves downstairs. They find that Domago has managed to heal and stabilize the innkeeper. All of the inn staff are tied up. The group then returns to the guild hall.

In the guild hall, they decide to seek out the wise woman. Anja (still under a charm) takes them to the wise woman’s home. On the way, they are attacked by more charmed locals. Joe knocks them out with quick attacks. He then tells them to go on while he drags the unconscious men into a building so they do not freeze to death. He pulls the men into a building that turns out to be a dog kennel. Lakima knocks on the door of the wise woman’s home. He sees a young woman peer out a window at them. With some urging, she opens the door. She examines the group on the doorstep and tells them that only Alrix, Lakima, and Eathwund can enter. She leads them into a central room where the wise woman sits on a wooden chair before a large fire. The wise woman turns out to be only in her early thirties. When Lakima asks how she came to the position she tells them that it is tradition to pick an orphan girl to train. The previous wise woman only passed away a few years ago.

She immediately understands why they have come. She has seen the strange things entering the great wood from the lands of ice to the north – yeti, frost giants, and remorhaz. She had a dream about the White Worm and can point them in the right direction. She draws a map on the sand floor. Lakima looks at the puzzling drawing and then pulls out the map of the north they bought in Winterhaven and asks her to mark the location. She tells them to head to the rift in the ice wall.

The wise woman, who tells them her name is Elsi Whitedrift asks if they will stay in Phom Thult long enough to remove the enchantments on the locals. Lakima shakes his head and tells her this will be very difficult. She tells him they can ask the local priest of Law for help. She is sure he is not part of the cult. Elsi leads the group to the local chapel where they find that Torsti, a cleric of Vikil, is not enchanted. But his assistant is and Lakima has to use deep freeze on the acolyte. Torsti is incredulous at first, not believing any cult could exist in the trading post, but eventually agrees to help. He can remove evil enchantments.

The adventurers remove the staff of the inn to the guildhall and take over possession of the Inn. They keep a watch that night but are not disturbed. The next day Lakima, Domago, and Torsti work at removing enchantments from townsfolk who have been charmed. In the guild hall, Lakima also removes the feeblemind spell on Ale Pukki. The man refuses to talk to them. Lakima casts charm person on him. Ale Pukki then tells them the story of how he learned of the legend of the White Worm and went to seek this legend out. He traveled to the frost giant rift and was captured. He managed to convince the giants that he was a true believer in the White Worm and he was taken before the twelve. To his disappointment, only the twelve were allowed to meet with the White Worm. He could feel its presence but could not come before it. The twelve told him that only they were able to behold the magnificent worm without being driven mad.

“Who are the twelve?” Lakima asked.

“The twelve, are the most powerful magic users in the world.”

Ale Pukki also tells them that the glacier rift is home to a small army of frost giants, yeti, and white dragons.

Lakima looks about at his companions with concern.

"Well, this is going to be difficult."