Chapter 9 - The Rush to Fenebach

General Summary

With their horses, the party traveled through the forests of Strynovo in a hurry, to return to Fenebach fast. As they traveled, a nasty thunderstorm came underway and the party decided to find shelter. They found a cave with a hibernating bear. They decided it was safe, and played cards to pass the time. Charles proposed the game "Go Fish". During the game, Charles tried to cheat several times, enraging the others. Their yelling nearly awoke the bear, but they managed to keep the bear calm. Eventually, Saphira won the game despite how much Charles tried to cheat.
As the thunderstorm subsided, Aldric finally attuned to a Winterstone. It injured him gravely, but he managed to gain it's power. His hair turned white as snow, and he soon gained the ability to lightly control the forces of winter. Afterwards, the party was given a message by the queen via the sending spell:

"It grows too late. My health slips further. I will certainly die within the next day, faster than I imagined. Hurry with the Princess, she will know what to do."

Princess Durkavna grew flustered, but Charles Mane had a solution: why not speed up their progress by sling-shotting across the forest? The party was uneasy about the solution, but Princess Durkavna felt it was worth the risk. Charles thus planted a bean, but it sprung up Shrieking Mushrooms again, much to the annoyance of the party. They tried again. This time, a giant bean stalk grew. They found the direction where to sling themselves, and then used their horses to pull the rope. The horses pulled, and they managed to get the bean stalk's top to reach the ground. The party then cut the rope, flinging them across the sky!

Over the forest of Strynovo by MrCrackerpants

The party flew across the sky, quickly making their way towards the town of Noke where they departed from.

In the air, Charles was struck by lightning, but survived the strike and kept falling. Aldric suddenly cast the spell Feather Fall to break their landing. They made it safely to Noke, where they would then buy a carriage and hurry toward Fenebach. Along the way, Saphira healed the wife of the store owner Eddard Wetwacher. She was inflicted with plague. Saphira's healing left Eddard to reward them with a ticket to a show in Fenebach, featuring the wizard Slytoff Han.
The Princess also began to transform into a dragonborn. Her disguise as a human was done via metamagic, and now that her mother's life was slipping, so was the power. The party thus bought a wagon and horses and hurried toward the city of Fenebach, hoping to avert the death of the queen. The party put on disguises and entered the city, wishing to get to the queen. Unfortunately, they found themselves in the midst of the busiest night of the year: The Winterball Festival.
With the princess (now visibly a dragonborn) in disguise, the party hurried to the queen's castle. The guards, however, would not let them through, as the queen was sick. As the party was trying to get inside, Aldric noticed a suspicious looking half-orc man through the crowds. Charles went to deal with him, and found a vial of poison on the man. The assassin stabbed Charles and tried to escape through the crowds. Eventually, Saphira located him and used the spell Hold Person before the assassin could take a shot at the princess. They killed the assassin and rushed to go find the queen.
Unfortunately, the queen had died mere minutes before the party could arrive. Looking over the queen's body, Saphira proposed that she could revive her. The guards warned Saphira that necromancy was illegal in the land, but Princess Durkavna told Saphira to ignore them. Saphira used a large crystal and returned the breath of life into Queen Natalia. The queen, now alive and well, thanked the party for preventing a national crisis. However, the guards realized her crown was missing. The queen realized Ungruld probably sent a thief to take it. The party, now calling themselves the Winter Tribunal, told the queen that perhaps they should contact a powerful wizard named Slytoff Han. Thus, the party went out of the castle, hoping the wizard could locate the missing crown.

Date (in world)

December 18th, 5699.

Report Date

19 Jul 2020

Lucien by Arthur Asa

Ungruld sent a Half-Orc assassin to take out the party and the princess, but he was ultimately stopped.

Player Characters

Charles Mane is a human fighter of noble birth, hailing from the Kingdom of Goth. However, because of his lazy lifestyle, his family hates him, including his scheming uncle. Now in his 50's, he is now on a quest for glory.

Saphira is a half-elf life cleric, devoted to the mercy of Cardia. She finds herself on a quest to help the people of Icenglav to extend care to those who seek it.

Aldric Gemcutter, a gnome artificer from Avenve, finds himself looking for new inventions and ideas. He now travels in Icenglav to discover new possibilities, and uncover the secrets hidden beneath the snow.