Session 16: Toil and Trouble

General Summary

The party eventually decided on entering the easiest cave that required no climbing or much in the way of effort. Veld led the way along the slippery frozen river until the came to a frozen waterfall. As Veld prepared to boost himself up onto the top of the waterfall others noticed the river still flowed somewhat below the ice and had trapped a bag and pick behind the thin waterfall portion.   About this time Veld attempted what should have been an easy vault up onto the higher portion of the river, unfortunately overestimating the strength of the ice near the waterfall edge. It gave way beneath his weight and dislodged a sizeable wedge of ice, allowing ice cold water to flow freely, spraying Veld in the face. Unnoticed in the moment a tendril of what appeared to be water snaked out and wrapped itself around Veld's neck, quickly constricting and restraining him, pulling his head under the still flowing water.   Springing into action, the party managed to free Veld before he lost consciousness and drove off the serpentine water creature. Continuing the trend of shooting fleeing enemies in the back Bhur blindly fired in the general direction of the retreating creature and managed to kill it.   The party continued on, finding a room full of skeletons and bones, some scattered and some still intact, like the frost giant skeleton that took offense at their trespass. It began to break out of the ice it was partially trapped in, the party once again beating away until it stopped moving. The incessant wailing and howling of the wind blowing through the caves started to get the better of some of the party members. It instilled in them a bit of temporary madness, manifesting in various ways.   The wind brought the smell of a spicy delicious smell coming from further within the cave. Some of the party found the scent literally compelling them to seek it out. It led them to a gruesome chamber where the partially flayed and butchered remnants of several humans lay next to a large bubbling cauldron. Next to the cauldron was what appeared to be an old woman stirring her stew. Michael, ever the initiator, urged Veld to "get her". As a plan it lacked finesse, but it did force the creature to reveal it's horrifying visage. This stopped several party members in fear, while others took potshots from the safety of the back lines. Seeing herself overmatched the creature pleaded for parley, offering treasure in exchange for her life. She was promptly murdered, though not without a bit of party conflict.   After the fight the party determined the magical nature of the cauldron of plenty. They chose to secret it away in Bhur's hidey hole. They beheaded the woman and continued to explore the caves, finding them to be the site of ancient frost giant suicides by drowning. During their brief bout as anthropologists Veld got bored and wandered out of the cave to fish, promptly being set upon by the dire wolf who denned in one of the other cave entrances. Natali was also there but nobody noticed until the fight was underway. Bhur arrived just in time to finish off the direwolf.   Deciding to not risk further attacks the party set off in their boats back to Easthaven, deciding not to explore the final cave entrance the dire wolf had been hiding in. With the shifting ice and no good landmarks they would definitely never be able to find their way back here again.   Returning to town the party made straight for the town hall to claim their reward. With a head for proof of murder and knowledge of the missing boat they received the promised reward of a choice of two magical items. They chose the magical bag that was never hinted at being bigger on the inside, instead containing a number of fuzzy balls.   Veld oh so subtly hinted at the ability of the party to solve a significant hunger problem in the city. Captain Arlaggath seized on this and wheedled out more information from the party. The party was led to a private meeting with Speaker Waylen. After much beating around various bushes he offered up a total of ten finely cut topaz in exchange for the cauldron, with the caveat that it would take 48 hours to call in the debts and secure the gems during which time the cauldron must remain in the town hall under guard. Veld demanded the guard be the party which the speaker seemed more than willing to agree with.   Bhur, unable to actually life the cauldron to remove it from his secret sanctuary, chose to break open the seal and symbol of his pact. With a feeling of unease and foreboding the cauldron and all of the other furnishings and possessions that had been hoarded within were instantly disbursed amongst the free space in the room.