Waterdeep (again)
Maria knew that the others were relieved to be ‘home’ , but the stench of the place, and sheer size and endless writhing movement of humanity, like so many scurrying ants, left her cold.
The whole place reminded her of the remains of a great cave bear that she had once found in the forest. The sheer majesty and strength of the great creature self-evident, its six inch iron hard claws and huge teeth a visible reminder of the inherent power, and its size, (fully 15’ high and several tonnes in weight), made it seem almost invincible. But this bear was old, and it had lost its last fight, and the natural process of rot had set in. And the maggots had come, feeding on the decaying open wounds, moving like a sea of scurrying… humanity urghhh!
The image of the bear and the maggots superimposed on Maria’s view of the streets. She had tried to get high above the city, to avoid the stench, but it hadn’t worked. Even the joy of seeing Jebido again, particularly with his new-found intensity and directness, didn’t make up for having to live with this place… Maria was almost scared by this intensity. The small gnome was quite obviously afraid, and was doing everything in his power to address that fear. He also brought with him knowledge. He had found intelligence on the Drakhorn, an ancient device used to summon and control dragons. It was this device that had caused the unnatural feeling some weeks before. Jebido was in no doubt that the group needed to find and destroy the horn. But where was it?
The meetings with the ruling council didn’t help either. Maria couldn’t help seeing them as a nest of competing vipers. For all the honeyed words, it was clear that the factions disagreed and were continually shifting political positions. Even her own countrymen, the elves of Misty Wood, did not seem immune. The council ultimately decided more information was needed.
Following the council meeting, the Harper representative had approached the group (or more particularly Flint), and asked that they consider finding a missing Mage from the Order of the Arcane Brotherhood. The mage, a Tiefling called Makath apparently had information on the location of the Drachorn. Spells of tracing had failed to find the mage, but she was assumed to be in the location known as the fields of moving ice, north of Neverwinter. The Harper also noted that the lair of a dragon was also alleged to be present, and that Makath may have been seeking the dragon, its knowledge, or more probably, a number of spell books known to be in possession of the dragon, known as (unpronounceable?) White Death.
Maria reflected that she would have agreed to a trip to Hades itself simply to leave the city, the Harper’s offer was therefore considered a blessing. Particularly when he also offered to provide supplies and transportation.
The prospect of leaving the city galvanized her. Suddenly action and preparation for a new climate became an exciting prospect. Maria had of course lived in the wilderness during winter, and understood the skills necessary to survive, but to live in artic climates would be stimulating! Meeting a white dragon on the other hand…
The sea of moving ice
Dawn came none too soon for Maria, the air in the city was fetid and she longed to get out. The docks were already busy and the hastily arranged supplies already on board their ship, an unusual design, built for speed and rapid portage. The skipper, a disfigured man called Laroose Half face, was ready to shove off, he and his crew were ready to venture north and had been to the moving ice fields previously.
Maria spread her arms wide and assumed an eagles form… rising into the sky she soared above the boat, catching thermals and revelling in the freedom of the skies. She noted the boat below and tracked it casually watching out for signs of pursuit, (overt or covert), and/or danger. She was impressed by the speed of the slight craft. The entire journey north, some 150 leagues, took only 3 days! Maria’s keen eyes spotting numerous sea creatures but no immediate threats and no signs of pursuit.
The air had turned colder, Jebido’s new magical huts kept everyone warm as the air grew colder. Maria was the first to spot the ice fields. Huge bergs of ice drifting aimlessly across their path. Some the size of trees, others big enough to be small islands in the midst of the ocean.
“We have arrived!” The captain’s unnecessary announcement indicated he needed an indication of a new course. With no response forthcoming, he mentioned possibly finding the native peoples, the Ice Hunters. It was agreed to rest up pulling the boat onto a larger berg and secure for the night.
Screams!
Maria’s eagle sharp sight immediately located the Trolls. Strange pale looking creatures of immense size had boarded the ship undetected. Already 3 crew were lying immobile and a chorus of screams resounded.
Most of the crew were safe inside the magical shelter provided by Jebido, but those outside were still at risk.
The shouts of the crew had alerted the heroes.
‘Twang’; a distinctive sound of an arrow being released chorused with a roar of pain from one of the trolls, followed immediately by a sizzle as magical lightning arced into the attackers, causing two of them to halt in their tracks howling.
Even Maria’s sharp sight didn’t pick out what happened next, one of the trolls seemed to explode in foul black ichor as huge rents appeared in its bowels, consistent with sword blows. The stricken creature swung wildly at an unseen foe, but was felled by another unseen blow. More magic assailed the invaders, but not before the largest troll struck at Captain Laroose. Maria dove into the melee in time to strike with both claws and beak felling the beast, and was just in time to see the final troll dive into the ocean trailing black ichor on the virgin ice.
“6 of em dead Nar, now that aint right!” Dave was amazed. “how come them trolls surprised ‘em? Wasn’t that what Maria was doing? Providing a watch?”
“Yes Dave.” The narrator sounded bored.
“And her eagle eyes can spot movement from miles away?”
“Yes Dave.”
“Sooooo…. What the hell happened, how did she miss them? They are bloody huge!”
“They obviously hid.” The Narrator was trying to head off the inevitable.
“Hid? So you are telling me. 3 huge monstrosities, climbed out of the ocean over there, ran 100’ up the slope of the berg in deathly silence, and completely under cover, and attacked the unsuspecting crew before, the eagle, (that can see a gnat’s fart at half a mile), spotted them and raised the alarm?”
“err yes Dave.”
“So they don’t then.”
“Don’t what?, the Narrator was suddenly on edge.
“See a gnat’s fart at half a mile.”
“Apparently not Dave.”
“and Passive perception? That don’t work either then? You know, that native ability to see things and notice things based on enhanced senses… like me immediately spotting worms!”
“Apparently not Dave.”
“Ok, just wanted to clear that up… Good result though. Look at that, they are raising some of the dead crew. Shows real character that.”
Dave always tried to look on the bright side. His team had once again triumphed, and with some ease. The loss of life was regrettable, but hey… death and destruction was just meat for the crows… and Dave reflected, he was after all, a crow!
“Dave, what about you make it up to them?” The Narrator had had an idea.
“How?”
“You could use the force…”
“How’s that?” it was Dave’s turn to feel confused.
“Right… well focus on that Captain… you got him… now… try this… ‘these aren’t the bergs you are looking for…”
“How does that help?” Dave had tried it… and all that had happened was the boat moved away from the local bergs, heading north…
“Land Ahoy!” Maria’s eagle form materialised on deck, “its there, 2 points starboard, a huge berg with a plateau.”
Dave noted that even in silence, the Narrator could be a smug git…
“That’s the place, yes… the Ice Hunters live there!”
In quick order, the Ice Skimmer was landed. And the heroes started the long uneventful walk up the slope to the plateau.
Maria was the first to spot the huts. Signs of a village, well maintained but apparently empty. Nothing moved on the ice (according to her passive active and sensory perceptions, which of course was no guarantee of anything...). She landed and transformed to her human self, in time to see Flint tapping against a transparent frozen wall. The bodies of many humans seemed encased in ice almost like burials.
A discussion about what to do next halted when humans emerged from their hiding places, weapons raised.
They had found the ice hunters!