Session 6: First to enter, last to leave (3/1/22)

Pulyana 19, 1423.

Though a combination of spell debuffs and ranged attacks, like heat metal and the circle of spores, the PCs manage to stave off the giant brute, but for a time, it gives as good as it gets, meting out large amounts of damage, and at one point knocking out Bjork before he can be healed. As the battle rolls on, however, the creature's swings begin to falter, and it manages only to strike Rucia who can take the pain. They eventually kill it with the bard's mocking cantrip, and Rucia beheads it into its own pit of bones and refuse. Aldren considers filing off its large molars and does so, and then they search the cold cavern to find a soaked gnome corpse with a fancy studded leather vest (which Nebel'shoy claims), a coppery bracelet with a bat-like design and two small opal eyes, and a quality grappling hook which has been left in the icy ladder leading to the surface. After their ordeal, the group decides to use the cavern's natural shelter for a long rest. On an early watch, it's noted that a large snow-cat of some species is prowling about above the icy ladder, and it puts its paws down but can't find purchase on the slippery surface.

Pulyana 20, 1423.

Our heroes awaken and attempt to scale the icy ladder, which they only do after a few fall on their rears and take some minor damage. Through some careful use of the grappling hook and rope, they do manage to make it up to a hillside above the hunter's lodge, and several of them notice there is a nearby, wider pit just to the west. At this elevation, they can also see the chimney smoke rising comfortable from Svodnikha some miles away. They decide to circle back to the basement of the lodge and re-enter the caverns, and this time they decide to break through the entrance to the icicle-blocked corridor. This takes some strain and effort, Bjork proving almost entirely useless, and the noise seems to attract a chittering from the previously web-filled tunnel. As they proceed down this new tunnel, they discover a wet, icy cavern in which a bearded man is trapped with a lyre behind a wall of ice.

They note that the man seems to be wearing centuries-old armor from a nearby kingdom of Carpezce, and then set to work trying to chip the instrument out of the ice. It's hard going, Bjork breaks one of the party's two pickaxes, and Rucia manages to sever the frozen man's wrist. Eventually, they switch to using torches to melt the ice away, and after 8 torches and 2 hours, they succeed. The lyre isn't entirely free of the ice, and they decide to stow it up in the Lodge while they finish exploring. Nebel'shoy decides to wield the creepy wooden shield they found above. The PCs next explore the webbed tunnel fully, and arrive at a cavern that is totally choked with the stuff. They decide to set it all on fire, and retreat back from the smoke. After a short time, once the fumes die down, they find that there was one more giant spider in resident, and also a pouch with a few melted gold coins and a stubby iron key that looks like its for someone with short, stubby fingers.

The PCs then cautiously slide back down the chute towards the giant's lair, to explore the branching tunnel en route. Nebel'shoy loses grip on the rope-slack and plummets back into the lair, smacking against a wall, but eventually the four of them make it into the tunnel. It leads to what must be the large pit they saw from the hillside, a circular open cavern with uneven, broken ground at the base, and a series of ledges. There are corpses of game such as hares, foxes, deer and goats strewn about, and the large cat spotted earlier is sunning up on one of the ledges. It decides not to attack once the party has fully entered the cavern, although it eyed the gnome for a snack. They find a leather strap with a single bangle on it, and a slightly damaged goat-fur coat, and then retreat back down the corridor and chute to the giant's lair, where they once again climb up the ice ladder, this time more successfully...

And again, they can see Svodnikha's hearth-fires, only this time there is an additional column of darker smoke rising up in the center of the distant village! Rucia begins a direct march towards back, while the others scramble to retreat the frozen lyre from the lodge. After a couple hours, they encounter a man with a broken down, single-person carriage, rather fancy. He introduces himself as 'Mockleg the Magician', and claims his horse was murdered by desperate, rabid wolves (similar to the ones the PCs had encountered earlier). He implores the PCs to help him drag the carriage back, and seems quite a likeable fellow, but the going is slow, and eventually the abandon the idea since they're in a rush to return. They tell the magician they can come back for it later, and he agrees, joining them as they march to Svodnikha.

They arrive when the sun is setting, and find that one of the Soverat barracks has been burned down with Kaptain Krykba inside! The fire even caught half of the neighboring barracks. Rucia and his friends are shocked, and they ask the locals, including a Soverat Private what had happened. They are referred to speak with a young Eskryn Obylensky who supposedly witnessed the murder of the captain. The PCs search around to see if they can find any evidence, and one finds a note scrawled in blood near the barracks, reading "RUCIA...THEY KNOW ABOUT IT". They also find that there are strange sets of crimson hoof-prints, three of them, leading southwest out of the village. The prints are quite well formed, unlike usual blood spatter. Bjork takes Mockleg to the Meek & Marrow where they confer with Lubomir, and the magician is introduced to the esoteric innkeeper, while the others go to the Obylensky farm to speak with the boy.

As it turns out, one set of the hoof-prints leads straight to the boarded up well, and it has been smashed through with what seems to be a single blow! Eskryn describes the dark, armored riders and their steeds, and feels it is his fault as he pointed them out to Kapitan Kryba as the 'man in charge' of the village, who they interrogated and later killed before setting fire to his barracks. The PCs reassure him and Zilya Obylensky, and then head back to the barrack ruin and tavern. Aldren buys a bottle of milk and leaves it for Suchy at the St. Acre's Shrine. Nebel'shoy makes a deal with one of Ulbrek Anvilfoot's sons to studify the rest of his leather armor to match his new vest, and then uses locate object to see if any more of Suchy's stillettos are around. He does eventually take a walk and detect that there must be some left at the Shrine, if the ounce himself is not present. Rucia heads to the church to offer more healing, and has a conversation with Elisabetta, who offers him a place under Miraglee if he should so choose. He cures a pauper who seems to have chills and convulsions, who dances off half-naked into the village in joy!

Then the whole party convenes at the Meek & Marrow, where they play some games of chance with the magician, who seems exceedingly lucky with the dice, and seems quite inquisitive about the party after casting detect magic on them, especially Aldren who is not so forthcoming about the relic he carries in secrecy. Mockleg wins Rucia's 'everlasting friendship' in one round of dice, and also shows the PCs how he can use his prosthetic wooden leg to grow tricks or illusions, gifting a young girl some carnations which Bjork can't seem to smell or feel. They learn that the magician is also capable of using the identify spell, and has one pearl component which he can gift them for their assistance escorting him to safety from his broken carriage. The party decides which item to identify, and they head out quietly to St. Acre's shrine. The bottle of milk left for Suchy appears to have been half-drained and knocked over, but no one is present.

As Mockleg begins his spell, he is overtaken by unsettling feelings, and as the nature of the spectral lantern is revealed to him, he gazes at the PCs with horror...

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebel'shoy, Rucia

NPCs:

Benzyk Anvilfoot (dwarf male): A young dwarf male with a wedge-shaped head, well-kept and oiled black goatee and matching hair kept up in a manbun. He wears a soot-stained apron over a wool coat and breeches, and carries several tools of his trade about.

Eskryn Obylensky (human male): A boy of around a dozen summers, with sandy, messy hair and round cheeks covered in freckles. He wears clothing normal for local farmers, and a hooded overcoat that must have been cut from a vegetable sack.

Mockleg the Magician (human male): A young man with smooth, handsome features, including a wispy moustache that matches his dirty, shoulder-length hair. He wears thick, burgundy-colored robes stitched with stars, suns and moons of copper, silver and bronze. A fur cap is fastened beneath his chin, with a few cards and feathers tucked into it, and he has a large, seal-skin satchel slung over his left shoulder. He leans upon a quarterstaff of stained birch, and several colored ribbons are fastened upon it, flapping in the breeze. He seems to heavily favor his left leg, and limp slightly as he strides confidently in your direction.