After an interlude fighting a Lich, the party of heroes got back on track. Or rather they took a seemingly unrelated adventure on and it put them back on track. I used the Creations Edge Games mini-adventure King of Icefang Pass very loosely for this adventure. The published adventure involves Frost Giants finding a sword that makes them the king of the Frost giants and they block an important trade pass. In my campaign, I had a larger plot in the background from the Advanced Adventure, The Conqueror Worm which involved an otherworldly creature to the far north, and a weapon in a Frost Giant Jarl's tomb which could destroy the threat. The plots of the two adventures seemed to mesh well so I combined them. The Frost Giants are blocking the pass with help from a wizard and weather magic (causing a glacier to block the pass) while they try to get into the Frost Giant Jarl's tomb and secure the magical weapon that is a danger to the Conqueror Worm. They meshed together quite well.
Session 86: Icefang Pass
Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human cleric), Aashdoshan (human necromancer NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC).
The Company of the Black Dragon gathers in their Manor House and plans a trip to Ice Fang pass. They have accepted a mission for the Merchant Adventurers Guild. They await to see if Aashdoshan will allow the use of his Tower in a Book and if he will go along. Aashdoshan makes one last plea for the company to first enter the crypt beneath the Temple of the Dark Lady but Lakima argues doing the Merchant’s paid mission first. Aashdoshan does agree but lets the company know that they should remain on the first floor of the Tower for their own safety. Lakima waits a safe distance away as Aashdoshan draws Eathwund, Alrix, Domago, Lantosh, and Fenris into the Book. Then Lakima places the book in a saddlebag and flies east on the back of the Hippogriff.
Lakima follows the Dolm river for three days, stopping at night and when the weather is windy or rainy. At night Eathwund joins Lakima at the campsite. On one occasion Lakima switches to his Horse in a Bottle when the weather is too poor for the Hippogriff. Lakima flies down into the main dirt common of the village of Larm causing quite a stir. Three members of the local militia arrive quickly and question him. Once they learn of his mission, they send for the militia captain. While he waits, Lakima enters the Book and tells everyone else that they can exit now. All but Aashdoshan join Lakima in the common causing even more commotion amongst the locals.
In Larm they stay at the Borderland Tavern and pick up a few local rumors about Icefang pass. The Captain of the guard meets with them and then directs them to the Merchant Trademaster Osmund. Osmund tells them that the previously hired adventurers still have not returned. He suggests they hire a local guide named Durgam who knows the Icefang valley. The next day they fly north still following the Dolm river valley. Durgam has been transported into the tower. He tells Lakima to land on the east bank of the river when it climbs into the mountains and forks. From there he will take over on foot.
As the Hippogriff wings into the mountains, Lakima spots woodsmoke in the forest near the valley. Curious he flies over and circles a campfire. He can make out two figures about the fire near a tent. Lakima lands near the fire. He meets Eldric and Thamthuen a pair of adventurers from the group known as the Trollkillers. Eldric is cautious at first raising a bow, but soon he asks for help for injured companions. Lakima goes into the book and brings out the rest of the group with the exceptions of Fenris and Aashdoshan. Domago runs over to the tent and finds a Dwarf with broken ribs and internal bleeding who is dying. Nearby is a man who died a few days earlier. Domago is able to heal the dwarf enough so that he regains consciousness. Eldric’s disposition to the group improves immeasurably (though Thamthuen is still quiet and mysterious). Lakima suggests that they put the adventuring group into the tower and they continue to the glacier together. Eldric disagrees. He is concerned about what will become of them if the adventurers are killed. He thanks them but says he will guide his party south to Larm. Lakima argues that they should join the group and Durgam offers to take Thamthuen and the dwarf south. Eldric agrees and joins the group. He knows the way to the glacier as his group was ambushed by winter wolves and giants (he thinks) within sight of the glacier. The group enters the tower for a quick stay as Lakima flies over the river near the fork where the trail climbs into the mountains. They all get out of the tower (even Aashdoshan) and head north on foot.
That night in the mountains they hear wolves howling nearby but it is hard to say if they are the howls of normal wolves or something more sinister. The next day they arrive near the glacier and observe the valley. They see broken carts, skeletons of horses, and broken crates and barrels. There is no sign of wolves or giants. Lakima uses the Arrow of Direction asking for the largest nearby collection of wolves. The arrow points towards a forest. Fenris is sent to investigate and when he returns, he reports seeing three enormous, blue-furred wolves. Lakima asks where he saw them and then throws a fireball spell into the trees at the spot. One winter wolf emerges on fire and races off yelping in pain. Fenris reports the corpses of two more wolves. The decision is made to approach the glacier at night. From the valley wall, they can see a stream emerging from the front of the glacier from a large crack that is big enough for a giant.
As evening arrives the group fans out and approaches the glacier. Fenris carefully wades along the stream into the opening into the glacier. He reports hearing the sound of a large creature breathing. Aashdoshan, who has brought four zombie minions, sends two of the zombies forward into the cleft in the ice following the stream. The rest of the group follows behind. The zombies enter a chamber with a pool and surprise a Frost Giant and its pet winter wolf. The giant grabs and a large chunk of ice from the wall. Meanwhile, Alrix casts Magic Missile striking the giant. Domago fires a rock from his sling but misses. The Frost giant hurls the chunk of ice at Domago and misses. But the Winter Wolf breaths out a cloud of freezing mist which envelops the two zombies destroying them. The Winter Wolf splashes through the water and bites Lantosh on the forearm before it is driven off and killed by Eathwund using his flaming sword. The Frost Giant is killed by another magic missile from Alrix. They check the body and find a magical Drinking Horn that is giant-sized.
Fenris moves ahead to scout and reports that the passage through the ice forks. In one direction he saw a cave full of crates and barrels and in the other direction, he saw that the tunnel ended in a wall of ice with a tunnel above it. At the mouth of the tunnel was a very large Winter Wolf. Fenris suggests that they check out the chamber full of stolen goods first. But Lakima rejects that idea. They head the other way. Domago casts Continual light on his mace and provides light for the entire group. As Lakima spots the growling Winter Wolf, he casts Charm Monster. The spell succeeds and the wolf stops growling and starts whining. It walks up to Lakima who pets the wolf. The head of the wolf is at Lakima’s shoulder height.
Fenris leads the way again and carefully steps into a chamber that while covered in ice and frost looks like it is made of stone. Apparently, they have left the glacier and entered the mountainside. Shortly after he enters, two hulking golems made of ice step out of hidden alcoves. They block a door at the end of the chamber. Fenris hurriedly retreats. Alrix tosses a fireball into the chamber and the flame and smoke roar and fills the room. As the flame clears away, they see that the melted stumps of the legs of the golems are all that remains. Fenris checks the door and opens it. Beyond is a chamber with bas-relief carvings covering the walls. At the far end of the chamber is an open hallway. Fenris is about to advance when Lakima tells him to wait. Lakima asks Aashdoshan to send one of his zombies into the chamber. The zombie is sent in and it strides across the chamber until it reaches the halfway point and two enormous spinning saws extend out from either wall and travel across the room at waist height. The zombie is sliced in two before anyone can react. They watch the two saws travel back and forth across the chamber for a minute before the saws finally retract into the walls. Fenris is sent into the chamber to look for a trap mechanism. He just spots the trigger as the trap starts up again, but this time Lakima quickly casts Wall of Iron smashing one of the saws. Fenris has to leap aside from the other blade and it clips him tearing open a wound in the side of his leg. Fenris hobbles out of the far end of the chamber. The rest of the company finds they can skirt the remaining blade by standing close to the Wall of Iron.
They make their way into the corridor. The corridor branches and ends in two iron doors. Fenris goes to check but Lakima asks him to wait while he uses his Wand of Secret Door Detection. He finds a door in the blank wall of the corridor. It is open and they find a short hallway leading to another chamber. In this stone chamber, they see the stone head of a Dragon mounted on the far wall. The dragon's head is sheathed in ice and frost. Lakima asks Aashdoshan to volunteer his last zombie. The zombie is sent forward into the chamber toward the dragon's head and nothing happens.
“Look out, we are under attack!” Lantosh yells from the rear of the group.
Everyone turns to where Lantosh stands and they see an old-looking Frost Giant standing fifteen feet tall. The giant has a sheathed sword at its side and it picks up a block of stone and hurls it at Lantosh knocking him down. Eathwund rushes the giant setting off the saw trap again but he ducks by it. He is joined by Eldric. Alrix casts Magic Missile striking the giant. Aashdoshan also casts Magic Missile. Eathwund then stabs the giant in the chest killing it. The giant crashes to the ground groaning about being brought low by puny humans.
“We should never have come south”, it says with its last words. Eathwund searches the body and finds a pouch full of gold coins.
The party returns to the chamber with the stone dragon head. As they approach, they examine it more closely. Eathwund notices writing carved into the stone floor but no one is able to read the language. Domago suggests melting the ice covering the dragon's head. A torch is pulled from the Bag of Holding and lit. It is held to the dragon's head but the ice does not melt. Lakima casts Detect Magic and tells everyone that the dragon head is enchanted. He casts Dispel Magic at the stone dragon head and nothing seems to happen. But he tells Domago to try and melt the ice again. This time the torch melts the ice covering the stone head. As the ice melts away, a section of the wall beneath the dragon's head begins to slide to one side. They see a short hallway ending in another iron door. Fenris goes up to the door and carefully checks it. He quickly notices that the door is false and is trapped. He asks Lakima to try his Wand again. The wand is used and another secret door is found. This is opened and they see a horrifying sight in the next chamber.
“Undead Giants!” Fenris shouts and pushes to the back of the group. Looking into the chamber they see two undead Frost Giants standing before an iron door. Judging by their long sharp claws they appear to be ghouls. Domago presents his Holy Symbol to them and demands that the undead creatures be gone in St. Aleena’s name. They ignore him. Aashdoshan moves to confront the creatures next. Using his necromancy, he attempts to banish the undead and he gets one of the creatures to obey his command! He directs the creature out of the chamber and they close the door behind it. The remaining giant ghoul continues to wait before the door watching them with cold, dead eyes.
Before the fight begins, Domago casts Cure Wounds on Lantosh. Then Lantosh, Eathwund, and Eldric rush the ghoul spreading out around it. As soon as they come close it springs into action, lashing out with claws and teeth. Lantosh is slashed by a claw and paralyzed. Turning its attention from the helpless Lantosh, the ghoul bites Eldric on his shoulder. Eldric is also paralyzed. But this gives Eathwund an opportunity to strike and hit the ghoul twice and it begins bleeding black blood onto the chamber floor. Lakima throws darts at the ghoul and Domago strikes it with a flung sling stone then Eathwund shoves his sword deep into its chest and it gurgles and collapses in a heap.
Domago immediately checks on Lantosh and Eldric and tells everyone that the two will be paralyzed for at least an hour. He casts Cure Wounds on Lantosh while they wait. Lakima and Fenris continue on to scout the next chamber. Here they find a large pool of water surrounded by a low lip of stone. The stone is covered with magical writing. Lakima busies himself trying to read the magic runes. An hour later, Eldric and Lantosh recover. Everyone enters the room with a pool. They can see that the water in the pool must be warm, as steam rises from it. On the bottom of the pool, they can see a scattering of gold and silver coins. They also spot a tunnel headed from the bottom of the pool out of the room. Lakima casts Detect Magic and Read Magic but is only able to decipher that the runes near the pool power an enchantment. Eathwund decides to toss a gold coin into the pool. As soon as the coin touches the water, Lakima notices the runes flash as something has been triggered. It looks like an enchantment has been momentarily disabled.
Lakima asks Aashdoshan to have his last zombie minion investigate the pool. Reluctantly, Aashdoshan directs the zombie into the pool. The zombie enters the water and slowly sinks to the bottom, apparently unharmed. Lakima decides to try his luck and he strips out of his clothes and enters the water. He jumps into the pool and surfaces telling everyone that the water is fairly warm. He then swims down through the tunnel and surfaces when the light of his staff reveals an opening above. He emerges in a similar room with a similar-looking pool. There are no exits from the room but right near the pool lies an enormous white-furred wolf. The wolf is easily twenty feet long. The wolf appears to be alive and sleeping. Lakima heads back to the previous room to rejoin his companions and gets dressed.
The company makes plans on how they can traverse the pool and tunnel. Eathwund activates his armor and slips into the ethereal plane. The rest of the group begins deciding how much equipment they need to remove to avoid drowning. Then Lantosh asks Domago if he still has pages in his Book of Drowning Protection. Domago does and the group gathers near as he reads the page. Everyone gains water breathing. One by one they drop into the pool and sink to the bottom. Each walks the length of the pool and down the hallway before using a rope to climb out into the room beyond. Lakima tells everyone to spread out so the wolf cannot get them all in one breath attack. Eathwund emerges from the ethereal plane.
Lakima whistles at the giant wolf.
Session 87: Icefang Pass continued
Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human cleric), Aashdoshan (human necromancer NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC).
Lakima waits for everyone in the group to exit the pool. He then takes his Staff of Striking and gently pokes the side of the giant Wolf (not expending a charge). The Wolf stirs and growls. Its eyes open and it regards the adventurers surrounding it.
Lakima tries talking to it, “So, ahh, can you understand me?”
The Wolf responds by getting to its feet and growling. As it prepares to strike Eathwund swings his sword wildly at it and misses. Lantosh strikes it in the side with his war hammer, and Lakima hits it with his Staff of Striking. Other members of the group try to attack but find their blows bouncing off its think fur. The wolf breathes out a cloud of freezing mist which engulfs Eathwund and Eldric. Eathwund is able to scramble out of much of the mist but Eldric takes a full blast. The fight goes on for a few rounds with the giant beast standing up revealing that it was lying on a metal lever. The beast is almost too big for the chamber and has difficulty moving to allow the adventurers to strike it several times. Eldric gets the killing blow with his flaming sword and the creature dies.
During the fight, Aashdoshan casts clairvoyance to look about for an exit. As the beast falls, he tells everyone that there is a passage behind the wall leading to another chamber. Fenris pulls the lever opening a secret door that leads into a dark passage. Lakima casts Glow Minion and sends the minion of light ahead into the passage. The passageway leads to an iron door that proves to be unlocked. Fenris opens it and the Glow minion is sent into an ice-covered chamber. On the far wall, they see a stone face carved to look like a frost giant. After a brief discussion, some of the adventurers enter the room. They see no exits but Aashdoshan declares that there is an opening in one wall hidden by several feet of ice. As Lakima and Aashdoshan check the ice Fenris investigates the stone face.
"Brave warriors and good steel possess it, humans lack it!”, the face calls out in a deep voice. The statement is followed by a loud bang as the door to the chamber slams shut and locks. Alrix, Lantosh, and Domago are still out in the hallway and are cut off from the rest of the group. Able to hear the riddle through the doorway, Alrix calls out “Strength?”
"What can be as cloudy as a winter day or as clear as glass, yet fragile like a human's offer of truce?", the stone face saws in reply. Lakima then notices that the ceiling is growing closer. It is not descending, but ice is forming on the ceiling in effect lowering it. The group discusses possible answers to the second riddle. Fenris busies himself at the door but he is unable to unlock it. The ceiling continues to lower. Eathwund looks at the ice-covered chamber and at the ice on the ceiling, “Ice!”, he says triumphantly. As he says ice, the iron door to the chamber unlocks. Ice begins to rapidly melt on one wall revealing the doorway Aashdoshan had seen earlier. The group waits for a minute until the doorway is clear of ice.
Fenris peaks through the doorway and sees another chamber without doors. Enormous iron braziers sit in each corner of the room. In the center of the room rests a 6x4 foot chest big enough for a Frost Giant. An iron padlock hangs on its front. Fenris moves quickly to the chest and begins carefully checking for obvious traps. Once he is certain it is safe, Fenris inserts a lockpick in the key opening. A needle darts out and strikes him in the finger. Fenris feels his throat tightening and he struggles to cry for help. Domago rushes to his side and uses his Book to cast Neutralize poison, saving the thief. Unwilling to try again, Fenris backs away from the chest. Lakima suggests using the Cursed Helm again looking about for volunteers. However, Aashdoshan steps out of the shadows and casts knock on the lock, and the chest swings open. Inside, Fenris finds 4 large clay pots full of oil, and a giant-sized flint and steel. He locks about puzzled.
Alrix is the first to suggest that they pour one pot of oil into each brazier. Nothing happens so Lakima tells Fenris to light each one using the Firestarter. Each brazier in turn bursts into flame. As the last one is lit, a door opens in a wall revealing a new passage. This new passage is rougher hewn than the others. It leads a short distance to a large oval chamber. They stand on a ledge on the wall of the chamber. Another ledge can be seen, 50 feet away. The bottom of the chamber is too dark to see. Stone Stalagmites rise up out of the depths and are carved off into small 2-foot platforms. They can see a difficult route across by jumping from stone to stone. Alrix suggests that he transform and fly across the chamber but Lakima tells him to wait and he casts Luminous Bridge. The light from the spell forms an arched bridge right across the chamber to the other ledge.
“Quickly, run!” Lakima urges.
“How long will it last?” Alrix asks.
The group rushes across and then Lakima tells them that it will last for an hour.
The passage on the other side leads a short distance before turning. Ahead they see an iron door. Aashdoshan tells them that the next room looks like a crypt. There are no exits from it. Fenris opens the door to the chamber and they behold a crypt for a Frost Giant Jarl. Six stone statues each at least 15 feet tall stand to either side of the door. The statues depict the same Frost Giant in the same pose. At the far end of the room is a stone sarcophagus more than 20 feet long. Giantish runes are carved into the front of the crypt.
Fenris is the first to cross the chamber. Several of the adventurers check the runes but none are able to read them. Finally, Fenris examines them closely and says that they say that this is the resting place of a Frost Giant leader named Harald Hardrada. He died fighting the Great White Worm.
Eathwund tries opening the lid of the tomb but it does not budge. Alrix, Lantosh, and Domago also try without success. Eldric manages to budge it slightly. He asks Eathwund for help and the two are able to slide the lid back by working together. They look inside and see a mummified frost giant holding a twelve-foot-long two-handed sword. The giant corpse is shrouded in ice. His skin is marked with red-brown runes.
A moment after the tomb is opened, the giants’ eyes open revealing that they are burning with a blue flame. The giant rises in the tomb and steps out onto the floor in the midst of the scattering adventurers.
“Humans! Humans cannot be my champion!” it rasps with a voice like the grave.
Alrix immediately strikes the dead giant with his battleax, Eathwund hits the giant with his sword and he invokes his flame strike ring to engulf his sword in flames. Domago smashes the giant in the knee with his mace. Meanwhile, Aashdoshan scrambles for cover, and Lakima casts Mirror Image, producing a single duplicate. The Giant is barely affected by their attacks and he laughs and swings his enormous sword. He flies over most of the adventurers’ heads but strikes Alrix with a glancing blow.
Alrix transforms into his true form of a giant flying snake and moves to bite and coil about the frost giant. Domago hits the giant again in the knee. The giant strikes again this time solidly hitting Eathwund knocking him back against the stone tomb. Domago hits the giant again in the knee and it stumbles forward but it strikes Eathwund again. Alrix wraps about the giant’s other leg and bites into his side injecting poison (to no effect). Eldric strikes with his sword and the killing blow goes to Eathwund. The giant collapses to the floor. Everyone steps back from the giant. Aashdoshan looks over the chamber with his magical sight and proclaims that there is a hollow space beneath the tomb. Fenris steps into the tomb and begins checking.
At this moment the giant steps to its feet again. As everyone turns to face it, they watch as it steps forward, goes to one knee, and offers its enormous sword to Eathwund.
“You are chosen as my champion!”
Eathwund accepts the enormous sword with difficulty. For a moment he is almost overwhelmed by its weight but then the sword shrinks down to fit him. Eathwund bows briefly to the giant but the light again leaves the giant’s eyes and it falls back to the floor.
Eathwund examines the sword and feels it calling out to him from deep inside. Meanwhile, Fenris discovers a secret compartment in the tomb. Inside he finds a battered, cloth-covered book, a figurine of a strange animal, a pair of horns (one silver and one gold), and a chest full of coins and gems. He eagerly starts handing the items out of the tomb. Domago takes the book and carefully opens it. But he finds he cannot read anything. Using the newfound power of his sword Eathwund declares that he can feel that the book is magical. Lakima looks at it and casts Read magic. But the writing is not magical. It is just in giantish. Fenris looks over Lakima’s shoulder and tells him that he thinks it is a training manual that is supposed to improve your mind. He scoffs derisively, but Lakima’s eyes light up and he carefully puts the book in the Bag of Holding. Alrix looks at the figurine and tells them that it looks like a creature from his homeland called an elephant. Accept the figure is strangely covered in fur. The rest of the treasure is put in the Bag of Holding.
Lakima tells everyone that if they hurry the Luminous Bridge will still be present. The group races back to the cave crossing. Alrix is the last to leave the chamber. He pauses to look about at the statues of the Frost Giant Jarl. As he turns to leave, he sees the dead giant get to its feet and clamber into the tomb. He turns to run and he hears the sound of stone closing on stone.
The group makes it back across the chasm and through the open doors of the ice chamber. In the chamber with the pool, they pause and again make offerings of a gold coin before entering the water. The water-breathing spell is still active and they walk underwater to the next chamber. They emerge and find the winter wolf Lakima charmed still waiting for them. From this chamber, they head down passages until they come to the chamber where the corpse of the giant ghoul still lies. The door to the chamber is still closed. Fenris swings it open and he is immediately attacked by a second giant ghoul waiting on the other side. In the tight space, the adventurers attack the undead giant ghoul. Domago and Aashdoshan try to turn it without success. Lantosh, who was in the lead, is struck and paralyzed. Domago pulls him to safety. Eathwund leaps into the gap to attack the ghoul and he also is struck and paralyzed. While Eldric works to pull Eathwund to safety, Lakima orders the Winter Wolf to attack. It breathes frost on the ghoul and bites it savagely. The ghoul bites the wolf back paralyzing it. Finally, Eldric is able to kill the ghoul with his flaming sword.
Three of the group are now paralyzed. Domago grabs and carries Eathwund, Eldric grabs Lantosh, and Aashdoshan has his one zombie carry the winter wolf.
The group makes their way down the passage and finds a blank stone wall where they previously passed through a secret door. It takes Fenris a while but he finds the trigger and they continue on. In the room with the buzz-saw trap, they find that the Wall of Iron spell is still active. Keeping to the wall they pass the trap as the buzz saw activates and moves back and forth. In the next chamber of ice, they find a pool of blood where they killed the Frost Giant but no sign of the dead giant. They continue carefully down into the glacier. Fenris is scouting ahead and when he reaches the branch in the tunnel, he spots winter wolves and another Frost Giant in the direction they had not yet gone. He comes back to the group and tells them of the ambush waiting for them.
Lakima gets a packet of Dust of Disappearance out of his pack and tells everyone to step closer to him. He empties the dust over everyone. They then try to quietly sneak out of the glacier. However, once they are passing the entrance leading further into the glacier, they hear a human voice shout.
“They are getting away! Get them!”
The group runs for it making it to the exit with the howls of winter wolves coming up behind them. The group runs out of the glacier into the sunlight. They spread out expecting a pitched battle. As Lakima emerges, he fires a Lightning Bolt spell back behind him. It strikes three Winter Wolves. One of wolf dies and the remaining two flee into the glacier.
Lakima points at the nearby treeline and yells for everyone to flee into the trees. They run up the side of the valley some members dragging their paralyzed friends until they reach the cover of the trees. Once there Eldric and Alrix take up defensive positions and Domago examines the paralyzed heroes. He declares that it should wear off in a few hours. Lakima suggests that they hide the book in a hollow in a tree and retreat into the Tower in a Book. Fenris points out what happened last time when they tried to hide the book. However, he is convinced to go in the book. All of the heroes enter the book to rest.
The Company of the Black Dragon (and Eldric) rest in the book for the next three days. Domago administers healing to those that need it. Eathwund, Lantosh, and the wolf recover from the paralysis. Aashdoshan disappears into the upper floors. Lakima checks the area around where they hid the book in the forest with his Crystal Ball.
Once everyone has mended most of their wounds, they start making plans to deal with the remaining Frost Giants and fulfill their contract. Offensive spells are memorized and Eathwund familiarizes himself with his new magical sword. Eathwund does experience one, strange suffocating dream in which an enormous mass of white flesh is smothering him. He does not tell the others about the strange dream.
The party emerges from the book and Aashdoshan takes it from its hiding place and puts it in his duffel bag. The group descends once more to the glacier. Lakima has scouted ahead using the Crystal ball and they all note that everything looks just like it looked when they first arrived here a week ago. Fenris is the first one to enter the water and move upriver into the glacier. Despite traveling through the stream, Fenris barely breaks a ripple in the water. Then Eldric and Eathwund follow stomping through the water in their heavy armor making a lot of noise. Aashdoshan sends four zombies behind them.
In the first chamber, they find no one waiting for them. They killed a giant and a winter wolf here a week ago but nothing remains other than a dry puddle of blood. Fenris leads the way to where the tunnel divides. One direction heading to the Jarl’s tomb and the other direction further into the glacier. Fenris scouts ahead and tells them he can see two giants sleeping in a chamber ahead. This puts everyone on alert and Lakima directs who should move up first, Eathwund, Eldric, and Lantosh followed by the zombies. Aashdoshan agrees to send two zombies ahead. As they enter the chamber, they see the two giants. But they are dead. The two giants appear to be the Frost Giants they killed on their last foray into the glacier. Someone has clearly dragged their bodies here.
They advance again and Fenris signals that he sees more giants. They look into the next chamber and see a Frost Giant advancing toward them. Two winter wolves leap ahead of the giant towards them.
The two zombies block the charge of the winter wolves in the narrow tunnel. The frost giant steps over them and into the midst of the fighters. The wolves breathe out frost and both zombies are frozen over and collapse. Domago pulls out the Horn of Valhalla and blasts a note on it. Seven berserkers appear. Domago orders the berserkers to attack. The Frost Giant finds itself surrounded. Berserkers attack it with swords, Eathwund draws Wormbane and attacks, and Alrix, Aashdoshan, and Lakima each hit it with magic missiles. Realizing that he is being overwhelmed, the Frost Giant tries to leap back into the chamber but he is pulled down by berserkers and killed. The berserkers then move to attack the two wolves. Two berserkers are killed but the rest kill the wolves. The group carefully moves into the large chamber beyond. The fight over, the berserkers vanish to wherever they arrived from.
Behind an ice stalagmite, Fenris finds a dead human mage. Another victim of the berserkers. Fenris and Lakima move to the end of the ice cave and find a covered wagon with steps leading up to a door in its back. Near the wagon are a small fire burning in a brazier and human foodstuffs. Against the wall, Lakima spots a glowing crystal or chunk of ice sitting on a stone plinth. He moves toward it but finds it is putting out waves of cold. Lakima casts Detect Magic and discovers that it is highly magical and connected with the glacier in some way. He casts Dispel magic on it and it shatters. Immediately, the temperature in the chamber starts to rise.
Fenris and Lakima enter the wooden home on the back of the wagon. Inside, is a bed, desk, and chair. Parchment covers the desk. Fenris checks them but finds he cannot read them. Lakima searches and finds a hidden panel beneath the bed. Under the bed, they find a small chest and a book in a leather pouch. The book looks like a mages’ spellbook. Lakima eagerly opens the book and beholds the runes on the first page. The book explodes into flames in his hands. Outside the other adventurers hear a loud bang and the door of the wagon flies open. The windows blow off and flames and smoke pour out of the wagon. Fenris and Lakima emerge from the wagon coughing and choking. The spellbook Lakima was holding is gone, reduced to ash. All of the contents of the wagon are destroyed except for the small chest Fenris liberated. He opens it and finds a large collection of gold, silver, and copper coins.
Lakima laments that all of the documents were destroyed so they will never learn who the wizard was and why he was working with the giants. Lakima points at the mages’ corpse and tells Aashdoshan he has another body for his collection. Aashdoshan looks at the corpse and remarks that they could question the corpse.
Aashdoshan asks the group to give him three questions and then he casts Speak with Dead. A ghostly image of the mage rises up out of the corpse. Aashdoshan asks for the mage’s name.
“I was the wizard Vermis”
Then he asks who Vermis works for.
“I follow the wishes and desires of the Great White Worm, my master”.
Finally, he asks why Vermis was here.
“At my master’s orders. I was to aid the Frost Giant Ulric in finding Wormbane. The sword is a threat to my master”.
With that, the group packs up the treasure and heads out of the glacier. As they are leaving, they note that the glacier is melting. It may take weeks, but the pass will be open to merchants again.
