Ice Sceptre returned to Winter King, PCs return home, ice melts.
Messoria Account:
Into the Heart of Winter
Our initial forays into the Cairn of the Winter King had met with stiff resistance from his followers, so once Mirabelle had discovered the Teleportation Circle beyond the room guarded by the wraiths, we took the decision to return to Fallcrest for reinforcements.
A couple of days later we returned the same way, accompanied by three Kinghts of Fallcrest: Sir Arren, Sir Berend and Lady Cristin. In case we encounter creatures vulnerable only to magic I loaned Sir Berend the magical Turathi Flail as I was currently carrying the Sword of Thunder.
Together we move deeper into the Cairn. From a room on the right we hear a cry for help and are immediately suspicious, having earlier been tricked by a gnome illusionist. We cautiously enter a cellblock holding corpses, an owlbear and two finely dressed human women, one of whom begged for our help. Seeing the device on my shield she reiterated her plea invoking Sehanine’s aid.
As she spoke the name of the Goddess, I knew immediately she was false and warned the rest of the party who had already reached a similar conclusion. Seeing their ply had failed, the illusion was dropped revealing two gnomes, one of whom we had seen earlier. Four of the corpses scrambled to their feet and, beckoned by one of the gnomes, the owlbear burst from its pen.
Aelar, Leleth and Andraste concentrated on fighting the gnomes, the knights took the battle to the owlbear while Mirabelle and I concentrated on the undead. One of the gnomes soon fell victim to Aelar’s marksmanship, but the other, Zanna, was able to use her magic to bedazzle her attackers. The knights were able to defeat the owlbear although Lady Cristin was badly wounded by its claws. Zanna too was killed and the undead were blasted by Sehanine’s radiance.
We take a few minutes to catch our breath and then proceed futher down the long corridor. In a frozen alchemist’s laboratory we find three healing potions that defrost quickly when removed from the bench. The next room is a huge, high-ceilinged hall filled with frozen warriors in serried ranks. Above them is a frozen white dragon, a similarly frozen key hanging from its neck.
Having earlier in our explorations come upon a massive double door sealed with locks of fire and ice we decide we need the key so Mirabelle uses Mage Hand to remove it from the dragon’s neck. Immediately the dragon awakens.
Recalling her dealings with Szatharax, the white dragon of Fallcrest, Leleth speaks to the dragon in its own tongue using the mixture of bluff and flattery she had learned in her dealings with Szatharax. The dragon, Thrimzan, is soon convinced that the Winter King has played it false and the hoard it was promised will be nothing of the sort.
Enraged it pushes past us and heads down a nearby stairway, shouting that it will see what the Winter King is doing for itself. We quickly decide that an angry white dragon will make an excellent battering ram so follow after it. Before long it is halted by an ettin guard and four barbarian warriors. The dragon’s impatience gets the better of it and it attacks so we join in. Ettin and barbarians prove insufficient to stop Thrimzan and the dragon continues into a vast chamber, at the end of which is the Winter King on a frozen throne.
Thrimzan stops, confused by what he’s seeing, and at the same time we notice the hole in the ice covering the Winter King where his sceptre had been. Hoping that returning the sceptre will assuage the Winter King’s curse of an Always Winter, Mirabelle hurries forward and puts it back in place. Moments later the layers of ice in the room start to thicken. The Winter King’s dire wolf guardians are soon encased and when we turn around we can see that Thrimzan too is covered by a thick layer of ice.
Not wanting to be trapped by the encroaching ice, we speed back to the Teleportation Circle, but when we get there it is below 12’’ of ice. Mirabelle summons a Fountain of Flame to melt the ice and concentrates on activating the Circle. To our relief she is successful and we find ourselves back in Nimozaran’s Tower in Fallcrest.
In just those few minutes the unnatural winter had started retreating from the Nentir Vale and by the end of the day the Vale as far as the eye could see was clear of snow and ice. As a reward for our success Lord Markelhay presented Mirabelle with a Crystal Orb of Insurmountable Force, Aelar was given a suit of Sylvan Leather Armour, while Andraste, Messoria and Leleth received Amulets of Protection.
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