Arrival in Icewind Dale Report

General Summary

25 Eleint 1485   Five grueling days after beginning their descent into Icewind Dale, there is finally a sense of liveliness as Beorne Steelstrike indicates that the caravan might be able to make its destination of Bryn Shandar before nightfall. After breaking camp, the caravan rumbles forward under Steelstrike's reins.   Continuing on, they reach a range of rock, scrub-covered low hills, upon one of which Bryn Shander sits. As they leave the tundra, a gentle snow begins to fall. Steelstrike warns of crag cats in the area. Barnabas asks what those are, and Steelstrike describes the beasts to him. Barnabas asks him to point them out if he sees one. Robin comments that ey would be able to draw one if ey see one.   As the caravan steers around the base of one hill, the group suddenly hears screams from the rear of the caravan. A crag cat stands looming over a caravan guard pinned to the ground. The panicked horses of the rear wagon pull wildly at their harnesses and attempt to flee, overturning it in their frenzy.   The crag cat rips the caravan guard's throat out and two more crag cats appear on the nearby stone outcropping, leaping for another two caravan guards. Barnabas jumps down from the wagon, yelling, "To arms, companions! Let's give them a what-for!" He rushes the crag cat at the front of the caravan and swings, missing with the first but striking true with his second swing. Sorren saunters over and unloads his pistol into the crag cat at the rear of the caravan. A split second later, his second pistol barks two more rounds into the crag cat. Mr. BiG swings at the crag cat in the middle of the caravan ranks with his mace and bashes it upside the skull, then moves to stand between the crag cat and the injured guard. Robin attempts to swing at the crag cat at the front of the caravan, but misses with eir swing. Ey yell out to distract the crag cat from the guard it had previously wounded.   Two of the cats leap at Mr. Big and Barnabus, taking a chunk of flesh out of both of them. The third cat at the rear of the caravan swipes twice at Sorren, but misses with both paws as Sorren casually leans out of the way. The crag cat roars in rage at the miss. Saiph steps forward from the wagon and her figure shimmers as her joints glimmer like stars with glowing lines connecting them, like a star chart. She attacks the nearby cat, but just misses. The group continues their attacks on the cats, whittling down health while trying to protect the caravan.   After one of the cats sunk its teeth into Mr. Big's shoulder, Mr. Big swings his mace up into the cat's stomach, lifting it off the ground before slamming it back down to the ground, a divine aura emitting from the mace. The cat, severely wounded, turns to run from the fight. Mr. BiG's swing at its fleeing figure but fails to find purchase. Barnabas clocks the second fleeing cat in the back of the skull and drops it to the ground. The third cat also turns to run, snatching up the dead guard's body as it flees while dodging a bullet from Sorren. Saiph's guiding bolt beams out from between the wagons and pierces the fleeing cat, followed by a radiant arrow, but the cat manages to remain upright.   Barnabas jumps up on top of the wagon, and raises his forearm. From a tiny hatch in his arm, a weirdly shaped tube rises and fires a fireball toward the fleeing cat, but it goes wide. "Oh, dash it all," he mutters, "I've got to get this thing calibrated!" Sorren passes behind one of the wagons, and comes out with a scoped rifle. He takes a knee and raises it to his shoulder. With a cacophonous boom, a chunk of the crag cat flies off and it crumples to the ground. As he stands, he drops the rifle from his shoulder. When he turns back to the rest of the group, the rifle is nowhere to be seen.   With the beasts gone, the group takes stock of the aftermath. Steelstrike yells at Aldo Fetcher, the driver of the overturned wagon, to leave his goods or else they'll be snowed in by nightfall if they don't move on. Aldo refuses to leave his cargo to be ransacked. Steelstrike tells him if he can right the wagon, to follow; otherwise, they'll send a rescue party once the weather clears. He and the rest of the caravan move out, taking the wounded guard with them. The rest of the party stays behind to help Aldo.   Robin uses eir magic to speak with the horses, calming them down and then ey move to untangle the reins. Saiph casts a spell on Mr. BiG to enhance his strength, and, brimming with magic, Mr. BiG flips the wagon upright with ease. Barnabas inspects the wagon and quickly fixes any damage. Saiph and Sorren look around to gather as many overturned goods as they can and place them in the wagon. It takes longer than they'd like, as they can see the rest of the caravan disappearing into the distance, but they're able to get everything loaded and hitched up quick enough to catch up to the caravan as it approaches Bryn Shandar.