Lopeck Campaign: The Frostmaiden
Session 1
​

“You’ve been travelling together for about a month now. You five, twelve wagons, a couple of merchants, a couple of other guards - but still, a small group, all told. After a month on the road, you’ve been getting weary. Your last stop was about two weeks back, in a small town. Since then there’s just been the slopes of cold mountains looming ahead of you. Up and up you travelled, further into the storms and clouds. The mood was getting worse - the winter storms hit early this year. But you finally made it through, and Icewind Dale lies in front of you…”

The people of the caravan are excited at the thought of finally reaching their destination, the town of Bryn Shander in the far northern region of Icewind Dale. It’s the morning of the trip’s final day, and the dwarf that leads the expedition - Beorne Steelstrike - declares that they can reach the town before it gets dark again, if they make haste. People grumble that the sun’s barely up yet, but they begrudgingly get ready for the final leg of the journey.

The party was hired as guards, so a few of them were up at night keeping watch, while others are just getting up. There’s Ash, a brown-skinned human who stands at about 5’10”, and is a fighter who likes to smash skulls in with his dual blades. There’s Jank, a human death cleric who’s a bit rusty on the whole ‘human interaction’ thing after years of being a hermit, and who is technically missing some limbs, so he’s probably not going to lug any heavy stuff around. Next there’s Naram, a half-elf with a thick head of brown hair and beard, who is probably the smartest person in the party, and will serve as the resident warlock. There’s also Valerion, a half-elf barbarian, who will be doing the heavy lifting in Jank’s stead, and finally there’s Orfantal, a red-skinned Tiefling who’s a bit new to this whole magic thing - but he’s got to live with his chaos sorcery. He’s in desperate need of a local equivalent of coffee.

It’s looking like a pretty fair day with only a few clouds in the sky, and nobody’s expecting much trouble, but the guards prepare for their duties anyway. A few of the party are on the road ahead of the caravan, while others are near the carts, with Valerion at the front, Jank, Ash, and Orfantal around the middle, and Naram bringing up the rear. As the sun starts dipping down again - only a few hours after it rose, since this is the far north and there’s not much daylight at this time of year - when something suddenly feels off.

Jank and Ash spot some movement off to the left, where a shape moves along in the snow. Before they can call out a warning, though, it jumps forward - it’s a big fuck-off cat! (Roll initiative! Jank and Ash get an extra action before the cat arrives.)

Spoiler: Combat 1: Big Fuck-Off Cat

Start of Combat!



Ash is more towards the front of the caravan while the attack is at the back, so he dashes towards the incoming beast as quickly as he can, closing in to within twenty feet. As the cat pounces out of the snow, Jank concentrates, grabbing the amulet of the Raven Queen around his neck and reaching out with his left hand. A ghostly blue-white apparition of a hand grabs the cat by the shoulder and the beast shudders at its Chill Touch.

Naram follows up these preemptive attacks with an Eldritch Blast, a dark purple glob of magic that hits the cat on its paw - it dodges away and manages to avoid the brunt of the attack, which mostly scorches the snow behind it.

The cat ignores the spell-slingers, jumping at a guard near Ash, brutally slicing and biting into him - the man screams as he goes down in a tangle of limbs and spurting blood. At the same time, the horses of a nearby cart panic, go wild, and trample everything as they flee into the snow, the cart bouncing along behind them. It tips over, and crates are strewn all over as guards yell and shout at the sudden pandemonium.

Jank ignores the mess, focusing on the guard that’s still trapped underneath the huge cat. He considers using his clerical healing skills to save the man, but decides that getting the big fuck-off cat out of the way is more of an immediate priority. Naram muses to himself that he was going to make a messed-up joke about the guard’s death, but here his ally the death cleric trying to save his life - go figure! Jank blasts the creature with another Chill Touch. CRIT! A second ghostly hand joins the first, grasping the cat by the throat and tearing it away from the poor guard. Ghastly burns are etched into the creature’s skin, in the shape of a skeletal hand, where the white fur coat is blackened and cracked.

Orfantal, a bit further up, only now realizes what’s going on, noticing the man down on the ground and the giant cat. He decides to pitch in with a Firebolt, but with the cat panicked by the critical blow it just took, and Orfantal’s own dodgy aim, all that really catches fire is some snow behind it.

Ash runs up to the cat, slashing at it with his first blade, then smoothly following that up with the blade in his other hand, which tears into its weakened shoulder, where a skeletal hand is still tearing into the creature’s skin. The cat’s wavering now, deeply hurt and beginning to falter. It’s looking like this fight will be over sooner rather than later...

Valerion, since he was all the way at the front of the caravan, is still between eighty and a hundred feet away. He dashes towards the action as soon as he realizes what’s going on - but it’s going to take a bit before he gets anywhere.

Naram attempts another eldritch blast, but he’s a bit panicked and misses entirely…

The cat, enraged at Ash’s vicious attack, leaps at him with jaws wide open! It tears into his arm, but not very deep. He’ll be alright.

Jank concentrates, reaching out with both hands and closing two skeletal apparitions around the cat’s throat again, strangling it. CRIT! The ghostly hands actually bury into the creature, which can’t seem to catch a breath, and black blood spurts from the wounds. ‘Jesus fucking Christ’, someone mutters. ‘I’d go to a priest, but he’s the one doing this.’

Orfantal tries for another firebolt, but because of the horrific sight in front of him, or the general panic of the rushing horses and upturned carts, the magic splashes harmlessly into the ice.

Ash decides to take revenge for the earlier bite, hacking at the creature’s paw. It tries to whimper backwards, but the glowing hands of Jank’s spell keep it firmly in place, so that the follow-up blow slashes it neatly across the throat. It’s surely dead now!

Valerion rushes in at last, probably screaming at the top of his lungs, eager to get a blow in. He kicks into the cat’s side and lunges down with his two-handed longsword, cutting into the dying beast’s side, exposing its ribs and finishing it off! ‘I think we all know who gets credit for this one,’ Jank says. ‘Congrats, Valerion!’

End of Combat!

As the battle winds down, the party takes in the general mayhem left behind by the event - panicked horses, panicked people, overturned carts, overturned people. Jank takes a moment to check up on the poor guy who was mauled by the big fuck-off cat, using his talent to Spare the Dying, which should keep him alive until the party reaches Bryn Shander, where he can get more extensive medical help. A couple other party members consider the dead cat, and discuss taking it along for its pelt. Priorities!

Aldo Fetcher, one of the merchants, is shouting about his cart - the wheel broke and his property is strewn around on the ground. The caravan’s leader, Beorne, shakes his head and says that he can’t help - it’ll soon be dark, and staying out after the sun goes down is not safe for anyone. He orders the rest of the guards to get everyone else ready to move on, but tells the party, who are still debating the merits of taking along a dead cat, that they are free to help Aldo if they want - but he has other people to worry about.

‘Do you know how to de-pelt a cat?’ A party member inquires. Beorne just says he’s got no clue, but people in Bryn Shander probably know - it’s just a couple hours away. ‘Sweet!’

The party decides to help out a bit. Valerion pulls the cart back out of the snow in a show of his athletic prowess, putting it back onto the street. One of the horses gets dragged back along, but the other has escaped from its leash. The party tries to convince Aldo that a couple goods aren’t worth his life, but the merchant won’t budge, since he doesn’t actually have anything else. Naram wonders if they’ll get any pay for helping - nope.

The party decides to split up the tasks. Valerion has some issues trying to calm down the free horse since his blade’s still dripping with the blood of the cat he killed. But since Jank wasn’t as close to the death directly, he is able to calm the animal down enough to lead it back to the cart. ‘The advantages of remote murder!’ he opines. While the others stack the boxes back in the cart, they have some trouble getting the wheel repaired, but eventually manage to do it - though they do lose a bit of time there. Thankfully the caravan isn’t very far ahead yet, and the party manages to catch up within the hour. Jank chooses to stay far away from the dead cat all the while. ‘Not a big fan of rotting things,’ he explains. ‘It’s dead - it’s definitely rotting.’

Helda Silverstream, another dwarf who’s been travelling with them for a while, compliments the party for getting Aldo back on the road. The sun is dipping below the hills when the caravan finally reaches the palisade and stone gates of Bryn Shander. There’s a release of tension at the sight. Twin doors open up, and shouts come in from the battlement as the carts try to fit through the gate and get inside. The people behind are shouting people to move on, while the ones in front greet people they know… and then the shouts from behind turn. Panic. Screams. Well, shit.

‘Yetis!’ someone shouts. Hulking figures suddenly loom out of the snow, hidden by the inclement weather until this very moment, white on white. They roar as they sprint towards the party… ‘I was too specific when I asked for no more cats!’ someone complains. Naram, at least, is excited by this development!

The party spreads itself around the clearing just inside Bryn Shander’s gates, readying for combat. The area is still filled with a bunch of the caravan’s carts, which provide cover and blocking sight lines. There’s three guards from the town on the walls - one is on top of the battlements, one on top of a tower, and one on the other side. There’s also four guards on the ground with the party. Four yetis crash into town. (Roll initiative!)

Spoiler: Combat 2: Young Yetis & Yeti

Start of Combat!



Naram decides to close in on the gates, where the Yetis have just broken through, and targets two of them with his Burning Hands. As the monsters charge in, a rolling wave of flame meets them, and they scream as their fur lights on fire. They’re not happy with this.

Jank uses his chill touch against one of the burning Yetis, sending a ghostly hand at the creature and leaving a deep black wound on its shoulder.

The Yetis charge - one of them charges at Jank, but as he does so, he passes by Ash. Taking the opportunity, he takes the creature by surprise and effortlessly cleaves the Yeti’s head off its body. CRIT! One of the other Yeti is harassing a guard but misses, while another jumps onto one of the carts and is causing mayhem, smashing crates and panicking the horses. The last flaming Yeti runs at Naram, raking its claws across the warlock as it does so.

Valerion enters a barbarian rage, unleashing a vicious attack with his longsword, stabbing a yeti into something vital and rendering it pretty dead. Nice!

Ash charges the Yeti next to Naram, making two strikes against the smoldering creature, but the Yeti mostly avoids taking serious damage, deflecting the blows with its claws.

The guards fire over the walls at some of the Yetis outside the walls, while others rush towards the gates to check for any further threats since the party seems to have things under control - they’re not much help…

Orfantal also strikes at the Yeti near Naram with a firebolt, and it turns out that adding fire to fire is a great recipe - with a hole scorched into its back the creature falls to the ground, dead. ‘Finally!’ Orfantal declares. ‘Oh no, not the pelt!’

As the panic is going on, the party can hear shouting from outside the gates, and Beorne enters town on the next wagon. ‘Hold them off!’ he shouts as he heads out to get the next wagon and bring it inside.

Naram can’t really make out what’s happening outside the gates - just vague shapes, larger than men, but nothing specific. ‘Let’s just assume there’s Yetis.’ Without any obvious target that’s not behind full cover, he elects to retreat a bit, then demands that Jank heals up the damage he took in the encounter with the Yeti.

Jank acquiesces, moving closer to Naram and speaking a Healing Word which closes up the warlock’s wounds and knitting his flesh back together.

The last of the Yeti rampages through the cart it climbed, swiping madly at one of the horses and killing it before rushing towards the town. Valerion rushes after the creature and takes a two-handed slash to its back. Unfortunately the beast hears the attack coming and manages to avoid the worst of the attack, glaring at Valerion angrily for the assault.

Ash, without viable targets, elects to stay at the ready near the gates in case something new arrives to ruin everyone’s day. He tries and look out the gates again, but a chilling wind blows into his face and prevents him from seeing anything. ‘You perceive… snow.’

The guards rush around, the one on top of the walls firing down with their bow at yetis outside the gates. Another few guards wildly miss their blows at various Yetis, and are forced to block with their shields. One guard heads towards the cart and moves it further inwards, calming the horse enough to make some room. Another guard heads towards a tower and heads inside.

Orfantal considered casting a Blade Ward on himself, but reconsiders, and shoots a firebolt at a Yeti that’s right next to Valerion. ‘Almost took my head off!’ The Yeti, with spittle scattering from its mouth, is about to take a bite out of the Barbarian when the bolt of flame lodges itself into creature’s throat. It coughs acrid smoke, grasps at its neck, and collapses dead to the ground. ‘Exactly as intended!’ Orfantal cheers.

The caravan moves further into the village, with more carts making their way through the gate, crushing dead Yetis under the heavy wheels as they move in. Guards suddenly raise the alarm - they’re climbing the walls! ‘To the walls, quick!’ A bunch of Yetis have indeed made their way on top of the walls. Thankfully there’s two towers which have stairs inside, so there’s a way to get up there without clambering up. ‘I could snipe them from below,’ Jank offers. ‘Not everyone has that option,’ someone else replies. ‘That’s not my problem.”

Naram attacks one of the Yetis with an Eldritch Blast, but the shot goes wild into the night, doing a whole lot of nothing. ‘Naram - slayer of snowflakes,’ he complains to himself.

Jank attempts to do better, aiming for the same Yeti and reaches out with a grasping motion and forming a fist. A spectral hand attempts to grab the Yeti from behind, digging into its flesh. He tries to drag it off the wall, but no dice…

One of the Yeti clambers up the wall like an ape, and goes after the guard on top, but he’s too far away to actually get there. Another Yeti jumps down from the wall and tackles a guard to the ground, tearing into him viciously. ‘At least Valerion now has a target,’ Jank adds optimistically. ‘Can’t save everyone,’ Naram adds. ‘...Just because he’s dead, doesn’t mean he can’t be saved.’ Another Yeti scales the wall, taking the place of the one that just jumped down.

Valerion wonders what exactly is drawing all these Yeti to town - whether there’s something in the carts they’re after. Putting it aside for the moment, he heads for the fresh target that has just arrived and goes in for a two-handed hit. Unfortunately the swing goes wide, and the Yeti takes the opportunity to take another bite out of the guard. ‘Well, he’s already dead, so that can’t really hurt anymore…’ ‘That’s one way to look at it!’

Ash heads towards the tower, intent on rushing up to the roof to take out the Yeti that’s attacking a guard there. As he enters, however, he spots a large wooden beam propped up against the wall - he’s not sure what the hell it’s for, but it’s definitely big and made of wood, that’s for sure!

The Yeti on top of the tower takes a blow from one of the guards and goes down on one knee, while the guards on the walls keep firing down at something outside the gates - there’s more Yetis coming, clearly. Another guard barely draws blood from a Yeti on the ground, not being terrible helpful…

Orfantal elects to climb up on one of the city’s roofs, clambering up despite the icy surface with surprising ease. From that vantage point he throws another firebolt at the Yeti on the ramparts, but the wind is driving the snow in his face and not only did the bolt miss - but now he can’t even see the Yeti anymore! ‘Maybe you begin wondering if you even had magic to begin with!’

Naram moves some distance away from the walls to try and get a better angle on the Yeti at the top of the tower. Just as it raises its arm to take out a guard, his Eldritch Blast takes the limb off entirely, and the creature collapses right in front of Ash’s eyes, just as he reaches the top of the tower.

Jank aims a Chill Touch towards the Yeti near Valerion, a fair distance away, but he’s at a disadvantage due to the horses and carts that are strewn in the way of his shot. Still, the shot manages to hit despite this, grasping the yeti and attempting to squeeze the life out of it. It’s still alive and roaring despite the cut in its back and the ghostly hand, however…

That same Yeti, enraged, goes to take a big bite out of Valerion and gores viciously into his biceps. Another Yeti throws stones from the wall, squashing a guard’s helmet from convex to concave - he’s definitely a goner! Another Yeti climbs up the ramparts and growls at Ash…

Valerion stabs his blade into the Yeti’s belly and cleaves it in half - it looks down, then collapses on top of his sword. He decides to head into the nearby tower, noticing another big wooden beam there. ‘You’re pretty sure it’s made of wood, and it’s big, and two bits are worn away… but you’re not sure what it’s for.’ Sure showing sheer intellect here, folks!

Ash slides in on one knee, hacking at the newly arrived Yeti and wounding it, but it gets its arm in the way to take the brunt of the damage from the second sword. It’s pretty dead - but not quite.

One guard on top of the tower tries to help Ash and valiantly misses entirely. Another looks out from the battlements and shouts: ‘There’s a big one coming! A big one! Hold the gate!’ Others try to rapidly fire down and hit something…

Orfantal lobs another firebolt, and this time he manages to actually hit something other than stonework and snow… probably. Something burns and screeches over there. Nice. Jank, meanwhile, worries about getting some distance from the gate - he doesn’t care for being there when the ‘big one’ arrives...

Another cart makes its way through the gates - this one has Helda Silverstream on it. ‘Close the door!’ she shouts as she makes her way through. Behind her comes a growling sound, and a Yeti twice the size of all the others makes its way inside. There’s some deep cuts along its shoulders and one along its face, but it doesn’t seem to realize it’s been hit. ‘...This is going to be fun.’

Naram, evidently realizing everyone is extremely distracted right now, decides to sneak around the various carts - he wants to see if he can steal something in the chaos. He ducks between the panicked horses and tries to look for anything nice that he might want to nab, discovering a bunch of opened crates. Inside, something glints silver - a short sword that’s been coated with something interesting. Yoink! He hides it away and moves to another cart. ‘Maybe there’s more stuff to steal there!’

Jank moves so he can hit the big one, preparing a Guiding Bolt. He mumbles a bit and grabs his amulet, which begins to shine with golden light. Then he opens his eyes and points with his left hand, shooting out a blinding radiance that impacts center-mass. The creature screeches as the spell burns away at it, illuminating the whole Yeti even in the low-visibility snowy landscape. ‘It’s a shiny!’ That hurt it pretty well.

One of the Yetis jumps down from the walls and goes for the horses, while another tries to hit Ash - it claws at him, but it can’t get any purchase on the fighter. A smaller yeti runs up towards the gate, while the big Yeti takes a swipe at a nearby cart, ripping it to shreds. ‘Nice, new stuff!’ Naram declares. It says there, near the gate.

Valerion heads back out of the tower, reconsidering climbing it now that the Yeti has made his way down. The beast glances up from eating a chunk of horse, just in time to see the angry Barbarian rush in and run it through. Done there, he moves towards the biggest threat.

Ash strikes at his target Yeti and cuts open it leg - the wound proves too much, and it collapses to the ground, dead. He then elects to jump down from the tower to the walls, slipping and almost falling down as he does so, but narrowly staying on his feet.

The caravan drives further in, while Beorne tries to get the carts and horses away from the threat. Helda yells: ‘Close the gates! Close the damn gates!’ and charges the big Yeti, taking a swing at it. She hacks into the creature, guided by the shining light that’s still suffusing it, and the creature howls in agony - it’s taking a hell of a beating! A pair of guards on the walls manage to take down of the smaller yeti with their bows, while the final guard takes aim at the big guy…

Orfantal goes for a firebolt at the big Yeti. It’s big, so it’s easy to hit - but whatever fire he managed to light was basically instantly extinguished by the snow and ice that’s coming down.

A bunch of the horses lie dead around the party, their innards painting the grisly scene alongside the corpses of several dead guards. There’s shouting form deeper in the village, and more guards are rushing in to help, coming in from the North. More Yetis are coming towards the gates, and it’s become a priority to close the gates.

Jank considers how to close the doors, and comes up with a plan to use his skill at Thaumaturgy to cause them to slam closed. Naram waylays this, planning to use his own skill at Command to send the big Yeti out of the gate first. Unfortunately Command must understand the language you’re speaking, so they decide to go with the former plan.

Naram uses his Eldritch Blast to distract the big Yeti, and the purple-grey energy corrodes away the creature’s biceps, completely mangling its arm. It’s roaring and in pain, but not quite dead yet… ‘Naram is getting revenge for the loot that the Yeti damaged…’

Jank tries to close the door with his mind, but with all the snow piling up, the heavy wind, and the heavy door, he just can’t get much done with this minor bit of magic.

One of the Yetis charges the door, keeping it open, while another rushes through to find a new target. The big one, finally, swipes at Helda and gets a nasty hit in - she partially blocks the hit with an axe, and is still in fighting shape, but she’s taken some serious damage.

Valerion rushes in to take on the big Yeti, which tries to defend itself with its mangled arm. Without much fuss the Barbarian cleaves the limb from the monster’s chest, and with that it’s done - it crumples to the ground, dying in front of his eyes. ‘It figures Valerion would take the final hit again,’ Jank mutters.

Ash jumps down towards the ground from the walls, landing safely on his feet in front of the gates. He goes to close one of the doors, and manages to do so, but the other’s still open. Jank, in a moment of insight, realizes that the big wooden beams can be used to close the gate - Eureka! - and almost immediately realizes this means he’ll have to carry heavy things. Balls.

The guards takes a few shots at the remaining Yetis, and manage to kill one. The guards behind are mostly concerned with keeping the horses and carts in order, while the final one tries to shoot a Yeti at the gate, but he whiffs the shot entirely.

Orfantal comes down from the roof, and considers using Thaumaturgy on the remaining open door. ‘Everyone’s trying to close doors at a distance today…’ Unfortunately he’s out of range. He figures he’ll just go for a firebolt instead to hit the Yeti that’s holding open the gate, but he only manages a glancing blow.

Yet more Yetis charge in from outside, adding some urgency to closing the doors…

Jank moves to try and hit the remaining Yeti that’s at the gate. ‘I’ll just close the door with its corpse,’ he declares, but the creature manages to defy the chill touch that accosts him.

One of the Yetis charges at the closed door, attempting to push it open again - Ash is still there and tries to hold it back, but the charging creature proves too strong for him, and now both doors are open again… ‘I can’t do this by myself - there’s two doors!’ he cries.

Valerion runs for the door across from Ash, kicks the Yeti’s foot out of the way, and pushes the door closed - but it’s not a permanent solution.

Ash attempts to push the door back closed, but the door is jammed open now, and it’ll take more than just his strength to get it properly shut. Jank asks whether the guards can do anything to help, and Helda takes the hint - she calls for some of the city’s defenders to fetch one of the heavy wooden beams that are kept within the towers, then goes to help personally. She rushes in to assist Ash, and with their combined might the two of them manage to get the second door shut as well. Yetis are still howling outside, scrabbling against the door - it’s only a matter of time before they charge again, undoing all this hard work.

The guards on top of the gate take potshots at the Yetis outside the gate, and manage to kill one of them. Two more guards take shots at the Yeti inside the walls, and manage to clip it - it’s limping from the arrows stuck in its legs and not looking too great. More guards stream in from inside the town, running towards the tower.

Orfantal flings another firebolt, and after the fire sputtered out the last few times he tried this, he focuses a bit more and feels his skin heating up, the very air shimmering a bit before unleashing a searing ball of fire that sends a Yeti screaming to the ground with burning fur. ‘That’s another ruined pelt, then…’

Naram decides that now is a great time to sneak away for some more pilfering for fun and profit, ducking between the wagons and pretty sure he’s unwatched. He takes a quick look inside one of the carts, noticing only some food and provisions, and given up on finding any good loot. He then heads towards the gates, figuring he might be useful there.

Jank runs inside the tower, figuring that nobody has actually gotten to the wooden beams yet, and he’s closest out of everyone. It’s pretty heavy, but he manages to drag it by throwing his entire body into the motion, although he’s too exhausted to get it further than the door.

The Yetis slam at the door that Ash and Helda are holding closed, but the combined strength of the two proves too great for the monstrous beast to find any purchase. This door is not moving. Another Yeti charges and impacts the other door, and while Valerion doesn’t really get his full strength into the counterpush, it proves enough - the corpse on the other side is preventing the newly arrived Yeti from getting good leverage. ‘I did say the door could be closed with a corpse!’ Jank declares triumphantly.

Valerion decides to stick with his door, keeping it closed against the assault from the other side - if he leaves, the Yetis are just going to burst through again. The other door has two protectors though, so he proposes that perhaps one of them could achieve this task.

Ash agrees readily, running over to Jank, who is stumbling out of the door with the heavy wooden beam dragging behind him. He takes the beam from the cleric, easily hoisting the object onto his shoulder like a badass, then rushing back towards the gate and throwing it against the door, where it slots into place on two iron hooks.

‘Is one enough, or do we need another one?’ Jank asks, concerned, but one proves enough for the moment - the Yetis are attempting to break through but don’t manage to make any progress while the guards above call out: ‘they’re retreating!’ Ash, meanwhile, observes that he’s finally figured out what those mysterious wooden poles were meant for. ‘You learn something new every day!’ The guards come over with the other beam eventually, just in case, but the fight is over.

End of Combat!

Everyone calms down a little after the fighting dies down, catching their breath and taking stock of the situation. ‘...Hey, what happened to my cat corpse?’ Ash wonders.

The lull after combat slowly ends as the party realizes that there’s still commotion from further in the town, and all around them are the grisly remains of what just happened - the gutted remains of guards and horses, and the smashed contents of several carts that were destroyed in the melee.



Villagers come out of their huts and look around at the chaos, while Helda gathers her breath.

She then turns to Jank: “Hey, you’re a priest, right?”

Jank nods. “What do you need?”

She turns and presents her side, where the big Yeti tore into her side with one of its final blows. “Could you help with that?” she asks rhetorically.

As her wounds are tended to, Helda looks out over the battlefield and shakes her head. “What a shitshow. Look around… half the carts are smashed, the horses are dead… How am I supposed to get my goods?”

“...Well, a couple of us could probably carry some of the stuff along, but I can’t really bring back the horses,” Jank says. ‘Not yet…’

“I know. What you’re doing is more than enough.” Jank, the day’s spells spent, relies on his non-magical knowledge of medicine to bandage Helda’s wounds, ensuring she’s no longer bleeding or at risk of infection. “A good night's rest should do the rest.”

A man approaches then, with close-cropped hair and a bushy mustache, clothed in leathers with a longsword at his side. His left arm is bandaged with some blood seeping through, and he just ignores most of the destruction as he strides towards the gate. He notes that it’s closed, the situation under control, and after a brief chat with one of the guards he makes his way over to the party.

“Thank you for your help with this,” he begins. “My name is Markham, Markham Southwell. I am the sheriff of this town. Clearly the guards weren’t up to the task.”

“No problemo! By the way, have you seen the corpse of a big cat around here?”

Markham gets a little confused at the inquiry, wondering if the cat attacked with the Yetis - he knows that the Yeti attacks are getting more frequent, but he hasn’t heard anything about them working together with beasts.

“...Nah, I really just wanted to get it pelted to make a sweet coat.”

Markham stares. “No, I have not seen a dead cat.” He then determinedly walks away, probably to find someone more worthwhile to talk to.

Jank isn’t sure what he can add for the moment, and it’s suggested that he could give last rites - but he’s not sure he’s familiar enough with any of the local religions, and the local priest probably handles that sort of thing, not someone who just wandered into town.

“Well, first the bodies have to be sorted - including those outside the gates. Nobody’s willing to open the gates again at this time, however, so that will probably have to wait until morning.”

Naram wonders whether attacks like this are a normal occurrence around here - it’s quite an introduction to Icewind Dale!

“We’ve heard of them attacking wandering groups, but it’s been years since I’ve heard any of them attacking a town. It’s probably that damn barbarian’s fault.” Markham spits to the ground. “Good thing he’s already sentenced to die.”

“A damn what now?”

“They caught a barbarian sneaking around here, stealing from good honest folk,” Markham explained. ‘Actually, that was Naram…’ Jank adds under his breath.

“Fucking barbarians,” Naram agrees happily.

“These barbarians are all cultists, living out there on the ice - they come to town, bringing this weather with them, these storms - it’s all their fault! These beast attacks…”

“Cultists?” Jank inquires, zeroing in on the word. “Of what god?”

“Do they actually perform magic?” Ash wonders.

“They have their own kind of weird magic stuff, and shamans. These damn barbarian tribes out there…”

Naram doesn’t really knows much about the local tribes, but he knows they’re indigenous people, who farm reindeer and otherwise live off the land, hunt various sorts of whales. Usually they stay out of the Ten Towns, since their lives are rather different and aren’t very welcome here. Occasionally they come in to trade. Why this barbarian is in town is unknown. Jank doesn’t really know much about local cults either, despite his interest - it’s a reason he came here, actually. As far as he knows they worship the same gods here as they do in the South, so that doesn’t really help. If there are any black magic cults here, he hasn’t heard of them. It’s just too obscure…

Markham, getting a bit tired about these questions, points out that the party can just head for the market square to ask the barbarian these questions himself, then heads off to do other things. Helda, meanwhile, is cursing under her breath, worrying how she’s going to continue her journey without her guards. Hmmm….

A little ways down the road the party hears shouting. It’s something about merchants, and goods, and not protecting stuff… It’s all a bit muddled from this far away. Apparently the Yetis didn’t just climb over the walls here, but also in other spots along the walls, and they left general chaos and mayhem behind them.

Jank is interested in heading over to hear what the shouting person has to say, and wonders if he can persuade someone sociable to come along and talk to the guy - someone has to be capable of human interaction, since he’s not. Others consider heading for the market square to talk to the barbarian. ‘...Probably whoever might actually get information out of the guy should head over there,’ Jank points out. ‘I’m pretty sure the shouting person will just give us the information without prodding.’

Beorne walks up to the party, putting a hand on someone’s shoulder, and tells them that in all the mess he’s lost track of his goods. There’s an Inn here in town - Kelvin’s Comfort - and if they meet there the next morning, he should be able to pay the party for all their trouble.

After the man leaves, the party goes back to bickering about what to do - a few want to head for the Inn to get some rest, while others vote for the shouting merchant down the road, and the barbarian locked up at the market square. They wonder briefly when the man is slated to be executed, and ask one of the nearby guards. “So, we heard about this man that’s getting executed. When is this exactly?”

The guard looks at the group a bit strangely. “...Outsiders. We don’t execute people by cutting something off - we execute by exposure. He’s basically naked in the marketplace - he won’t survive the night.”

“Well, best visit him before going to the Inn, then,” Jank observes dryly.

Jank, Ash and Valerion head towards the shouting guy, while Orfantal and Naram head towards the center of town. The group of three heads along the wall, towards a ransacked shop that looks pretty destroyed by some Yeti that somehow managed to get inside. The owner’s shouting at the guards around him. “What the fuck am I going to do? You should have protected me! I know, I know I paid this other guy, but then he should have protected me! My god, how am I going to do business like this?”

“I don’t really see why this is any of our business,” Valerion observes.

“Can’t really do anything about just being upset,” Jank agrees.

“I paid the guy 150 gold and he still didn’t do shit!” the merchant declares. “Look at this, I need this stuff to do business - everything’s destroyed. Everything!”

“...What guy?” Jank inquires out loud.

“What… What do you want?” the merchant wonders, confused at the new arrivals.

“Someone betrayed you?” Jank follows up.

“...That’s maybe too harsh a word,” the merchant says. “He’s probably off drinking in some tavern. The gold that I paid him, I’m sure!”

“See, that’s why you don’t go for cheap mercenaries!” Valerion declares. “If you want quality, you gotta pay for it! From us you can get the real deal. How much were you paying this guy?”

The merchant looks over Ash and Valerion, taking in their size. They’re basically as broad in their shoulders as they are tall - real brutes. They cut a mean figure. “...Yeah, I probably should have hired you guys, but you weren’t there. Anyway, his name is Slim. I paid him 150 gold to protect me, and he didn’t.”

“150 gold for one guy? Damn.”

“You know what,” Valerion declares. “How about we visit this Slim guy and get the money back? If you let us keep 50, we’ll give you the other 100 back - and we all leave a little happier!”

“Yes, of course! If you can get the gold back, I’ll let you keep 50 - and I’ll even give you a discount on my wares!” Jank recognizes various herbs and spices in the nearby crates that could serve well as healing mixtures. The shop is probably an apothecary, so there’s surely something to use for patching wounds and the like. “Anyway, Slim is probably drinking at the Northlook tavern, near the North gate. You might find him today - in this weather he’s not going to be out somewhere. If he was, he’d probably have protected my fucking shop!”

Jank turns to his musclebound colleagues. “So, should we just head in that direction? Between the three of us we should be able to handle one guy, right? Then afterwards we can head towards the Market Square - the other two can probably handle that for the moment.”

Belatedly, Valerion remembers to ask the Merchant’s name - it’s Rierdon.

Naram and Orfantal, meanwhile, head up the main street and take in the chaos that the Yetis brought about. Even halfway across town they see the corpse of a Yeti being dragged away. There’s deep furrows in the ground and blood against the wall - this wasn’t just the front gates, they actually got in pretty far. Which probably explains all the shouting that could be heard earlier. All around people are muttering, cursing, not in a good mood.

Still, within five to ten minutes they arrive at the square - there’s a few small market stalls, but most of them are closed. In the middle, chained up, with his head in an iron ring that’s chained to a mast, is a 6’2” muscled guy in a loincloth with a talisman around his neck. A couple guards are keeping a close eye on the two as they approach the prisoner to ask some questions. The man raises his head.

“Oh thank god, I’m innocent!” the man declares immediately. “You’ve got to believe me! I didn’t do it!”

“...Why do they think you did?” Orfantal wonders.

“Well, I’m an outsider, obviously! They don’t listen to us, ever! It was foolish to come here, but we needed the help… You’ve got to help me! Please!”

“You needed help? What with?”

“I’m from the Elk tribe,” the man explains. “We’re being attacked! These bandits, and these roving clans of Yetis and beasts keep attacking us. It’s getting out of hand. We tried to come to town to warn the Ten Towns and ask for help.”

“You said ‘We?’” Naram wonders.

“Yes, yes - my tribe. We’re getting attacked. The other tribes are probably also facing this, but I haven’t heard from them… Look, you gotta believe me - I didn’t steal from them, I just came to talk - and as soon as I was here, I was captured and put in irons. I couldn’t even have done it!”

“Literally as you walked into the gate…?” Orfantal asks.

“Well, not literally, but before I even got the town hall I was jumped!”

“What are they claiming you stole?” Naram asks.

“Just… some cloth or something. I don’t know. They said I stole from some merchant!”

“Well, that was not me,” Naram mutters to himself.

“What’s the amulet you’ve got there?” Orfantal asks.

“This?” He looks down to his chest. “It’s a sign of my tribe.” It’s made of some sort of elk bone, in the shape of a pair of antlers, bound together with a strap of leather. Naram has actually heard of this sort of thing in his studies - it’s more or less a sign of adulthood.

“Who sentenced you?” Naram wonders. “Who charged you for this crime?”

“The sheriff - but the merchant claimed I stole from me. Alcott was her name.”

At this point a few of the guards step closer and ask what the two of them are doing with the prisoner. Orfantal recognizes an opportunity, introducing himself as a former member of the Mercenary Company ‘Red Riders’ - they might have heard of them - and asking for information on the case. The guard just points him to the sheriff.

“Let’s talk to that merchant first…” Naram proposes.

It’s right around then that Ash, Valerion and Jank come into the town square on their way towards the Northlook inn. Orfantal and Naram fills in what the barbarian talked about, while Jank wonders whether the Yetis were really here to attack the town, or if they were here for this member of the Elk tribe… Maybe both…? Maybe something that’s pushing the Yetis?

“Yea, yea!” the barbarian suddenly pipes up. “The Ice Witch is leading them!”

“...Ice Witch?” the party wonders in stereo. “Tell us about this.”

“Yes, well, I don’t know much about her, but she’s clearly leading them! We saw her. You probably saw her as well, didn’t you?”

“What’s she look like? ...Like an icy witch, I’m guessing.”

The barbarian describes her: “She’s got these huge antlers on the top of her head, and she’s pale as snow.”

“...We haven’t seen anything like that.”

“Every time the Yetis attacked us, we saw her leading the troops,” the Barbarian says.

“But not this time,” Jan muses. “Hmmm…”

“Is her name Elsa, by chance…?”

The party is pretty sure the Barbarian is telling the truth about everything so far - he’s pretty desperate, sentenced to a pretty certain death, and seems intent on warning people about the threat. He’s probably still hiding specifics, but nothing relevant to his guilt or innocence. Of course, any secrets will probably be gone with him in the morning…

“The threat is probably not gonna go away if this guy dies,” Jank observes. “We should get as much information as we can.”

The party discusses what they’re going to do next - they want to talk to the sheriff some more about the barbarian’s story, to the merchant who accused him of theft, and Slim at the Northlook tavern. Another option is to talk to the local Speaker - the mayor - who might know a few more things...

End of session!

​