Soot Isbjorn
Soot Isbjorn
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Soot resembles a humanoid polar bear. He is tall and towering, with a strong frame and muscular limbs. He is in excellent shape and would make for a skilled warrior.
Body Features
Soot is covered in white fur which is singed and charred at the tips in many places across his body. These burns are self-inflicted, but never on purpose. Because he often plays with fire, he tends to occasionally singe his fur. He also has a few scars where fur does not grow, due to injuries sustained while hunting or defending his tribe.
Facial Features
Soot has a broad and long snout. His eyes are gray with fleck of orange, almost resembling kindling just beginning to burn. His ears are cut to points, as is traditional of warriors in his tribe. He also has some piercings adorning his ears to represent and honor his ancestral line.
Identifying Characteristics
His pointed ears, and his white fur which is charred and constantly covered in a layer of ash.
Physical quirks
He is almost always covered in a thin layer of soot or ash, as a result of his constant use of fire. This gives his fur an almost gray appearance at times, even though it is white. His cub name was chosen because of this quirk.
Special abilities
Soot is a druid and has great control over fire. He is able to manifest his inner wildfire spirit in the form of a physical bear cub comprised of roaring flam, which he calls Cinder.
Apparel & Accessories
Soot does not wear much in the way of armor, instead opting for the traditional garb of his tribe's warriors. He wears thin garments and lighter armor, such as pauldrons, gauntles, bracers, belts, boots, etc.
Mental characteristics
Accomplishments & Achievements
Soot was chosen by the nature spirits of the frozen north to be a druid of wildfire, and was imbued with the ability to harness fire magic. He seeks to use these powers to earn his adult status.
Failures & Embarrassments
Soot's biggest failure was his first attempt to earn his adult name. Being the rash and hardheaded ursan he is, he believed himself ready of earning the respect of an adult ursan at the age of 15. He decided he would venture out and slay the young Remorhaz which was nesting near his tribe. Little did he know how unprepared he was. He was burned and scarred from the fight, and had to flee to the safety of his people. He failed the task, and was taught a valuable lesson about strength and humility.
Mental Trauma
When Soot was very young, he once wandered away from his tribe and became lost. He stumbled into the den of a Winter Wolf and almost lost his life trying to flee. Luckily, great warriors from his tribe had been searching for him, and he was saved before the monster slayed him. He had never felt so cold or alone in his life, and ever since then he has had an obsession with the warmth of fire.
Intellectual Characteristics
Soot is a very wise ursan, and is well suited to one day lead his tribe. However, though he is wise, he is of average intelligence. He does not have a formal education, and tends to only be exceedingly knowledgeable on matters of either his tribe or of magic.
Morality & Philosophy
Having been raised on the outskirts of society, his morals are a bit different than common folk. He was taught to respect those around him, and to protect his people. However, he puts less importance on people outside his tribe and his friends, and tends to not worry too much about damages he may cause. Therefore he is lawful neutral, leaning lawful good.
Taboos
Soot believes that insulting the Isfugl is bad luck and is strictly prohibited. If he sees someone doing so, he will try his best to stop them out of fear of retribution.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Soot is motivated in his mission through three main facets. First, to protect his twin sister Luna at all costs. He would do anything for her, including sacrificing his life to keep her safe. Second, he seeks to discover why he and his sister were given their powers, and to prove himself worthy of earning his adult name. Third, he seeks to live up to the legends of his ancestors, and one day be handed the role of clan chieftain.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Soot has an incredible control over fire. He can create it and manipulate it magically, and even has been gifted powers from nature spirits to control his own wildfire spirit.
He also is a very wise ursan, and knows to respect nature. As such, he is very proficient when surviving off the land.
He is rash however, and is not the most skilled conversationalist. He loves talking to people, but due to his upbringing, he does not exactly understand the culture of common folk.
Likes & Dislikes
He absolutely loves fire and conversation with other. He thoroughly enjoys meeting knew people and exploring the untamed wilderness as well.
He is not a fan of the dark, and will make fire for light whenever he is exposed to darkness, even though he has darkvision.
Vices & Personality flaws
He has an almost unhealthy obsession with fire. He constantly wants to be around it, and to let his wildfire spirit rage outside of him. This causes him to occasionally do damage to the things around him, and leads him to be quite reckless at times.
Though he cares deeply for his sister, he also desires to one day be the clan chieftain, a position they are both vying for. So, at times he does not always reveal information to her which he thinks would help hear beat him out of the role.
Personality Quirks
Firm believer in the Isfugl, a mythical creature in Boreal Ursan folklore. They are tiny mischievous penguin people that live under the arctic ice.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Almost all of Soot's contacts are within the ursan community he was raised in, so whenever he meets new people he thinks of things in terms of the ursan people he knows.
Family Ties
Twin sister is Luna Isbjorn. They are very close and travel with one another, however they have a bit of a rivalry as they both desire to eventually be their clan's chieftain.
Religious Views
Being an ursan, Soot puts great respect in his ancestors, and often tries to commune with them and ask for their guidance. He hopes that one day they can help him become a great warrior and chieftain of his people.
Social Aptitude
Soot is very excited to meet new people and interact with the various races of the realm, but he grew up in a sequestered ursan community, so his social skills aren't great. He does not really understand other cultures, and is not entirely cognizant of how large he is compared to others, so he at times can come across as strange or scary.
Mannerisms
Soot has a bit of an obsession with fire, and because of this drifts off in thought in the presence of fire, or is at times too eager to start fires.
He also is a very excitable person and doesn't have a firm grasp on the languages and mannerisms of other races. But, he is eager to learn, so in an attempt to fit in he often acts in silly ways to mimic other people's actions.
Hobbies & Pets
Having a very strong connection with nature, Soot loves animals and has a familiar nature spirit he has named Aiviq. He can call upon Aiviq at times, and it can take many forms. Soot's favorite of its forms is a small seal.
He also has a strong connection with the renewing fire of nature, and can call upon his own wildfire spirit which manifests as a bear cub made of roaring flame. Soot adores his little wildfire cub and lovingly named it Cinder.
He also has a pet Axebeak he uses as a mount named Aumarak. It is ashen in color and not afraid of fire in the slightest bit. When Soot rides it, a bit of the ash from his body coats his bird too. He hopes that one day he can teach it how to breath fire.
Speech
Soot's native language is ursine, which is a language of grunts and growls. As such, he speaks with other people in broken common, which can at times lead to him not entirely understanding what people are trying to say to him.
Wealth & Financial state
Soot is not very wealthy in the eyes of most communities. He does not really understand the concept of the money used by the other races. However, he is the son of his clan's chieftain, so in his small community he is rather wealthy.
A headstrong Ursan cub with a fascination of fire. Children of their clain's chieftan, Soot and his twin sister Luna have been touched by nature spirits. They now travel together, seeking honor and the privilege to return home as true adult Ursan.
Current Location
Icewind Dale
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Age
17
Date of Birth
3rd of Ches 1495 DR
Birthplace
The Frozen Wilds
Children
Current Residence
Icewind Dale
Gender
Male
Eyes
Gray with flecks of orange
Hair
White
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Grey
Height
6 ft. 3 in.
Weight
290 lbs.
Quotes & Catchphrases
"Have you tried burning it?"
"I'm checking you out!"
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Soot's Journal: The Snowy Owlbears
6th of Alturiak, 1512 DR
5th of Alturiak, 1512 DR
After Mr. Madu came back to, he was filled with confusion! He had no memories at all of the past few days whenever we met him before the fight with Saxon. We sat him down and talked to him, and the news made him feel a bit glum, because he claimed his purpose no longer mattered...
Luckily, we managed to convince him otherwise a bit, and he agreed to accompany us to the Haunted House near the Termalaine. But first, we made our way around the Brynshander to stock up on supplies! I went back to the Black Iron Blades to complain about my broken hammer and managed to get store credit for the full price of the weapon. I told them to make me ball bearings, caltrops, ten feet of chain, a crowbar, and a pickaxe! They said they would have it by the time we were back in town.
Afterwards, we heading to a magic shop in town and I talked to them about what Sephik did to my Cloak of Protection. The shopkeep had sympathy for me, and actually gave me a replacement one for free! I gave her a bit of money as payment, and I also told her that I would recommend her shop to everyone. She also said that she would put my name on a list for any defensive or strength boosting items she may aquire!
With that, we headed off on our way to Termalaine. It was a bit of a long walk, because Mr. Madu did not have his axebeak. Along the way though, Electra started showing me a lot of cool fire magic and even enabled me temporarily to be able to breathe a dragon's fire breath! It was so incredible! I wish that I could cast magics like that... I started showing her a bit of techniques to help with her fighting too! It was nice, it feels like our friendship is finally going back to normal.
Along the way as we are practicing fire magic, I speak some command work that causes the hammer on my back to light aflame! I was so shocked and it was incredibly exciting! Eventually I figured out that the word was "Ignis", and that it improves the weapon even more than when I saw "Calor"! So exciting!
Eventually, we made it to the Termalaine, and we head off to the inn for a good night's rest.
6th of Alturiak, 1512 DR
The next morning we all awake to a letter under our doors from Electra! She decided she would host a fancy brunch for us at the tavern to celebrate getting Madu back! It was a nice meal, and she cooked everything for us. It was very kind of her indeed.
Afterwards, we hit the road again, eventually running into two Snowy Owlbears! I cast Speak with Animals to try and communicate with them, but sadly with no luck. They rushed forwards to attack but were no match for us. I easily injured one of them with a massive blow of hammer, and Electra finished it off with some fire. The rest of the group attacked the other one, and I smashed its head in with my hammer, killing it. I collected some tokens for my necklace: feathers, a beak, and a claw.
So far, the Haunted House is not yet in sight, but who knows what is to come!
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Melting the Tunnel
4th of Alturiak, 1512 DR
2nd of Alturiak, 1512 DR
I regret to inform you once again that I accidently burned another section of my journal with my fire magic... I am sure that future generations of chieftains will no doubt be greatly saddened by this lose of part of the account of my trials. But technically, I do still remember what happened, so to summarize: I entered the greatest frenzy of anger I have yet endured, but the spirits of our ancestors where with me! Flaming apparitions of past chieftains aided me in the fight, and the group was successful in slaying Saxon! However, despite searching the whole tower, we found no way to fix the petrification of poor Madu.
After all that searching, we decided to take a quick rest and collect our thoughts to make a plan. Inevitably, we ended up realizing that we would need to get Madu's heavy stone body out of this tower somehow. Electra and I went to the edge of the tower and began hurling fire at the icy slide tunnel that we used to enter the tower. Sadly, we did not make a lot of progress with out small fires, so Electra told us that she was going to try to use a new fire spell she had been learning. Everyone stepped back, except for me of course, and Electra let her spell rip. It was absolutely beautiful. The spell created a massive 40ft wide fireball, its heat blasting past me and blowing my fur back. I was absolutely stunned! Electra just became way cooler in my book!
Electra and I kept working on the tunnel until we heard large footsteps above. I summoned Aiviq in the form of a snowy owl and sent him up to investigate. While seeing through his eyes, I learned that there was a Snowy Owlbear walking around way above us! We all discussed what to do, I wanted to go up and talk to him, but nooooo, Luna said that I shouldn't be the one! Even though I was the only one with the magic prepared. Sadly, we bickered for too long and the Owlbear left... What an unfortunate missed opportunity!
With the Owlbear gone, we continued to burn our way through the ice, and it took a very long time. But, eventually we melted our way all the way to the top! With that, Electra took Madu's body and teleported to the top of the tunnel and through down a rope to the rest of us! Finally, after a quick climb, we all emerged into the icy landscape outside of Saxon's tower.
Once we emerged outside, Luna pulled out the amulet given to here a while ago and used it to summon the bears we met about two weeks ago! After about 10 minutes they managed to find us, and we left immediately for the Brynshander! It will be a long journey, about 2-3 days, so I will write once we arrive, assuming nothing interesting happens at least.
5th of Alturiak, 1512 DR
Well, it was an uneventful journey... but we arrived in the Brynshander! Finally in town, we say farewell to the bears and head with Madu's body to the Church of Lathander, as known as the House of the Morning Lord. We met with the lead priest of the church and made a deal with him to get Madu unpetrified, because the Scroll of Greater Restoration we would need costs over 1000gp... I gave the church all my gems, and we agreed that we would immediately go to help Copper with the Haunted House (which is lucky, because we were going there anyway!). With that, the priest got the scroll and successfully unpetrified Madu!
What great news after a long week of hard days. Though I lost some money, I at least got back one of my best friends. And, now we get to go to the haunted house!
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Petrified Stone
2nd of Alturiak, 1512 DR
2nd of Alturiak, 1512 DR
Aiviq and Ida made their way into the tower, with Luna and I perceiving through their senses. They explored the first few rooms of the tower, eventually finding a metal chest bolted to the ceiling and a matching key. The cute little Isfugl relayed this information to us, and we as a group decided to all make our way into the tower to meet them.
We got into the tower and met the Isfugl, collecting the key from Ida. As Electra and I made our way to the chest, she mentioned that she saw a floating eye in the darkness behind me, but as I turned around to see it, it was gone! Very strange indeed. But, we went over to the chest, and Electra used her magic to make a ghostly hand to put the key into the ceiling chest. As the chest swung open, four glass bottles dropped out of it down towards us. Electra managed to catch one with her magical hand, as well as one of her others. Though the other two bottles fell past her! I dove to the ground at her feet and managed to luckily catch both of them. We examined the bottles and determined that these were all potions. I took a small drop of each on my claw and tasted all of them. I determined that they were potions of Force, Fire, Cold, and Acid resistance! I kept the Potion of Force Resistance, but we distributed the rest amongst the group.
While this was happening, apparently Madu saw one of those floating eyes too! We all met up in the hallway again and decided that we would venture down to the next floor. As we reached the second floor, we discussed more on how to fight Saxon. Madu mentioned that he is not like the kind of ghost we fought with Janth Aluwah, and that we needed stronger and more magical attacks to fight him. So, I proposed that I cast my trademark spell, Soot's Fire Arms, on Madu! This would give him magical fire punches, so that all of us would be attacking with magical attacks!
After talking for some time and checking out the rest of the rooms, we made our way down to the third floor. Here, we once again noticed one of those strange eyes, and also found what appeared to be Saxon's office. Strangely, this room was not flipped upside down, perhaps it has been used recently? As we were looking around, Madu got concerned as he could not remember how to get down to the next floor again. He walked through a hallway and eventually just completely fell through the floor! As he fell, the floor began to dissipate and revealed that there was some sort of illusion.
As everyone was stunned by what happened, I jumped to action and pulled out my rope! I tied off the rope and through it down the hole, descending into the dark where Madu fell. I dropped down about fifteen feet before hitting the next floor. Here I found Madu on the group, and a large reptilians creature bearing down on him! It was a Basilisk, a creature which could turn people to stone! Unsure of how it turned people to stone, I kept it in my peripheral vision as I tried to help Madu up. As I reached down for him, the creature jumped and bit into my shoulder, ripping my flesh and seriously injuring me. Just after this, all of our companions began making their way down and joining the fight.
Madu began to reach for my hand and then met the gaze of the basilisk. He began to clench up and his eyes began to slowly fade away. It appeared that even though he was already a stone construct, the gaze of the basilisk began to petrify him and lock up his body! That is it! Looking at the basilisk is what turns you to stone! I averted my eyes, and as my little Isfugl companion Aiviq began to distract the lizard, I made a blind attack against it with my great hammer! The scalding hot metal made contact with its face, singeing off its scales! In rapid succession, Dyleth, Luna, and Electra all attacked the creature, killing it.
But, as its cold body hit the ground, Madu began to let out a small groan as the light of his eyes completely faded away. With that, I knew that Madu had been fully petrified and was gone... I went into a blind fury as I turned around and just started beating the body of the dead basilisk, hoping that it might end the petrification. The rest of the group started talking about how to help him, and I eventually stopped and told them that we cannot help him without magic like Greater Restoration.
We sat for a few moments, discussing how we could get him out of the tower, when we heard a small voice through the door say, "I could help him." A wizard walked into the room with some sort of undead companion, clearly it must be Saxon. He tried to make us come to some sort of agreement with us, but I was not having any of it. He was the reason Madu was this stone man, and he was the reason that Madu was now petrified! I snarled in his direction and said, "How about this deal? Fix Madu, and I will not walk out of this tower with your eyes on my necklace." I began to jingle my chieftain necklace which held the trophies I have pulled from my previous hunts. I took a step back and looked scared. He told me that despite all he has seen, I actually frighten him. He agreed to help.
He pulled out a piece of parchment that appeared to be a scroll and began reciting words. Though, I quickly remembered that the sort of magic we need is not the sort of magic that wizards and sorcerers know! Only those with holy magic or nature magic can use it! I rushed forwards and ripped the parchment from his hands, afraid that he was about to cast some strange magic on us. As I pulled it away from him and looked at it, I saw that the paper was completely blank. He smiled at me and finished his arcane words, and with that Madu stood up completely dazed, but not of his right mind.
This deception completely enraged me. I let out a bloodcurdling roar, and the tips of my fur began to produce small cinders as I started raging. The cinder flew into the air and ignited into roaring fire which took the shape of ursan warriors, ancestral spirits of our clan's previous chieftains! They surrounded Saxon, and I swung my hammer at him with as much force as I could muster, hitting him dead in his chest. With this, all of our group began to prepare themselves to attack, but Saxon pointed at at the wall and snapped his fingers, creating some strange magic and confusing most of the group. Only Luna and I were unaffected. She was attacked by the undead warrior that was with Saxon and attacked it right back, but the rest of the group was too dazed to help. Dyleth even accidently tried to attack me!
Madu was right to fear this wizard. I believe that we are up for quite the difficult fight ahead, but we must do whatever we can to help Madu...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: The Missing Madu
2nd of Alturiak, 1512 DR
1st of Alturiak, 1512 DR
It was a short jaunt through the large town of the Brynshander, and after a few minutes we arrived at the House of the Morning Lord. We walked inside and I asked the priest for the location of the gnome Copper. The priest was very friendly and she went to fetch him for us. He came out after a moment or two, and we began to ask him questions about the Abandoned Wizard Tower.
Copper led us into his bedroom and started to give us some information. He told us that the tower has only been abandoned for a short time, as the wizard was only burned at the stake about three weeks ago. He also mentioned that this evil wizard would kidnap people and use a strange creature to turn their bodies to stone, and he would then use his magic to bind souls into the bodies of stone! This sounds so much like how Madu looks, we all started to look at one another a bit concerned... Perhaps this is the wizard which constructed him?
As we kept listening, we learned that the tower was somewhere east of the Caer-Konig and that the "Haunted House" (which apparently isn't actually haunted...) is north-east of the Lonely Wood. Copper also explained that the house was once his, and that he stayed with a good wizard which was trying to find a way to turn off the cold... This also sounded super suspect! We began to wonder, perhaps Mr. Madu is in fact this wizard who was made into stone by the other wizard?
We discussed on what to do for a couple minutes before deciding to set out for the abandoned tower. After about five hours of riding our axebeaks, we arrived at the Caer-Konig and took a quick pit stop to rest. Luna was kind enough to make some of those delicious magical berries, and she even gave me three! I ate one immediately, forgetting that they fill your whole tummy. Whoops!
After our rest, we left and began traveling again. We searched for the tower for hours while no avail sadly.. As dusk turned to night, we decided to take a longer rest and get some sleep.
2nd of Alturiak, 1512 DR
As early morning came, we got up and continued our search. It took what felt like ages of searching the vast and endless icy landscape, but eventually we actually stumbled across Madu walking out in the middle of the tundra. He looked like he was in distress; he had never looked this way before. Luna ran up to him, and he looked as though he was about to hit her before he realized it was us.
He immediately began to tell us that we were in danger, and then he was completely open with us. He said the wizard was back, that he was a ghost, and was going to create more Madus'! Luna asked if it was the wizard ""Saxon", and that she had heard about him in a book. Madu cried out that is was "Saxon", that he had bodies and was going to make more Madu's, and that it was a bad thing. He was terrified and extremely distressed. Madu then said that all of the other Madus' are dead, Madu 1 through Madu 19, all gone. He was the only one left.
We discussed what to do for a while, and decided that we would head back to the tower and kill this "Saxon" wizard. We traveled for about an hour or so and eventually came across a twenty foot tall rock spire protruding from the snow at the base of a mountain. Madu explained that the tower was once connected to the top of the mountain, and eventually it broke off. It now is buried upside down in the snow.
We sat in front of the tower for a little while, Madu drawing out a map for us to see visually what he knew about the tower. He told us that "Saxon's" spirit resided on the third floor. After about twenty minutes of discussing, Luna and I decided to call upon the Isfugl and ask for their aid!
We kneeled on the ground and called out to the nature spirits, and the Isfugl spirits Aiviq and Ida, took the form of small penguins before us! They were so cute and so beautiful! It was the first time I have seen Aiviq in person, though I have spoken to him many times. Luna and I took a moment to say hello to the spirits, and as put our hands on them, I felt my eyes roll back, and after a moment I was looking at myself like a reflection. I was seeing through the eyes of Aiviq! After a moment of looking to us, the Isfugl made their way into the tower...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: A Sad Midwinter's Night
1st of Alturiak, 1512 DR
Midwinter, 1512 DR
After a nice long hibernation, we awoke to a beautiful snowy morning on Midwinter! As we were getting ready to head back to the Bremen, Electra mentioned that in her dreams last night she saw her "egg" in the ship that she keeps envisioning... At first I thought this was really weird, like, I didn't know that elves laid eggs... Well, it turns out that it wasn't that kind of egg, but instead it was a big gemstone egg that was a family heirloom!
She really wanted to go get the egg back, which I understand, but I definitely think that going to that ship would really be too dangerous. As a group, we decided that we would wait and see if I happened to see any heirlooms in my visions whenever I attuned to the crystal. So, we started traveling, and Luna wild shaped into the form of a riding horse and I rode her so that I could attune to the Psi Crystal while we were still traveling.
After an hour of intense focus on the crystal, my mind became so incredibly clear. I saw the briefest glimpse of a strange ship crashed out in the snowy wilds, it had tentacles sprouting off the sides of it, but the vision disappeared as soon as it came. It looked just like the ship that Electra had been describing for days, but the image was faint and blurry. As soon as the vision ended, it became very clear to me that we have been wasting time for days, and that the most important thing for us to focus on is to go and kill Auriel and to end the endless cold.
While I pondered all the thoughts raising through my mind, I stepped away for the group and just stared off into the frozen landscape. The group walked up to me to ask how I was feeling, and I truly felt like the urgency of our quest was so extreme, that we had to do things immediately. I did not turn around to address them, just speaking to them while staring away. With the dire mission before us, I told them we needed to immediately head off to find the whale, Angajuk, so that we could go to Auriel's island and slay her.
For whatever reason, the group was not as convinced as me, though this has been our mission for quite some time... They claimed that the crystal seemed to be changing my thoughts for some reason, which I found completely absurd, because I was not acting anything like how Electra acted under the influence of the crystal. However, luckily, she did mentioned that her mind was feeling more clear and that she no longer felt the effects of the crystal pulling her towards the ship. Though, she did still want to go to the ship in order to recover her missing egg.
The group decided that I needed to unattune from the crystal before we set out for the whale. I didn't really see why this was necessary, but I agreed to do it nonetheless so that we could set out to kill Auriel. When we arrived back in the Bremen, I headed over to the tavern and began unattuning from the crystal.
It was a good hour of concentration in order to remove my thoughts from the crystal. But, when I successfully did so, my mind began to return to normal and things truly became clear. I had not realized that the crystal was actually clouding my mind instead of clearing it up. I realized how incredibly dangerous it was to try and convince the group to go to kill Auriel, because we are no where near ready!
Once the rest of the group arrived at the tavern I informed them of the change in my mental condition and they all seemed relieved. We agreed we would hold onto the crystal, but that none of us would attune to it, so that no one's mind would be warped by the gem. After some long discussion, we decided that we would indeed follow after Electra's dream to find the egg, but that it was far too dangerous to do it right now. Since we aren't strong enough yet, we decided to investigate the Haunted House in the Brynshander, and that afterwards we would go to find the squid ship from the crystal visions.
We set out from the Bremen in the early evening, and arrived around 10pm in the Brynshander. Sadly, when we arrived, they were in the middle of another lottery and sent two old humans into the cold dark night, naked and alone. They also had put out all of the lights and fires in the town, to commemorate Midwinter. It is very sad to see this cold and dark village without the light and warmth of any fires. It really was upsetting and unsettling to see.
It cast Produce Flame and created a small fire in my hand in order to create a bit of light and warmth for myself. This apparently pissed off some villagers, and they confronted us. We argued back and forth for a bit, trying to get them to question their barbaric traditions, but sadly we made no progress towards convincing them, and I begrudgingly put out my flame.
With the ceremony coming to a close, we made our way back to the Northlook Inn for the first time in quite a while! It was very exciting to see Mr. Sax once again and he even confirmed to me that there is indeed a gnome named Copper in the Brynshander! One step closer to the Haunted House!
After some more conversation, I retired back to my room and slipped a bit of fabric in the crack of the door in order to block out any light, and I created a nice warm magical fire for myself. The quiet and gentle crackle calmed me as the room warmed up, the lights dancing on the walls. As I laid back, I called on the nature powers to summon Cinder, and I began to feal asleep to the nice crackle of flame, snuggled up next to my warm fire buddy.
After some time, Luna came to my door and I panicked, afraid that Mr. Sax had come to shut down my fire! Luckily it was just Luna, and she came by to show me this secret bag that she found at some point on the Dragon's ship. Apparently it was a magical Bag of Tricks and could be used to summon animals! It was so super duper cool! She summoned a boar, a badger, and a giant badger. After chatting for a bit, she left the badger with me to snuggle for the night; it was so nice of her! Also after a bit, Dyleth came to the room and we shared some Goodberries in the toasty room before finally hibernating until morning.
1st of Alturiak, 1512 DR
The next morning, after a nice long hibernation, we all met at the inn's bar for a nice breakfast. However, for some reason Madu did not come to meet us. This really concerned Luna and she started questioning the group as to where he went. Apparently Electra knew that he left to go take care of some things, and that he would be back in a four days. She said he did not tell her why he was leaving, but she thought he was leaving to go see the Abandoned Wizard's Tower.
Everyone got pretty concerned about him leaving, and I suggested that we skip over the Haunted House and that we instead immediately make way to the Abandoned Wizard's Tower. Electra did not really want to follow after him, but the rest of us decided that it would be best to track him down in case he got himself hurt while he was all alone.
We decided to head to the House of the Morning Lord in the Brynshander first. We would find Copper and leave him a message for Madu in the event that he somehow beat us back to the temple. After giving him the message we would ask if there was anyone who knew the location of this mysterious tower. What an interesting new development... hopefully we will find him soon...
~ Soot's Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Returning to the Dragon's Boat
30th of Hammer, 1512 DR
29th of Hammer, 1512 DR
After a nice long hibernation, I awake in the morning and head to the tavern with some guys for some breakfast and coffee. After some time, the girls came to join us at the tavern and we began to start discussing how we would spend the day.
Luna and Electra told us that they wanted to head back to the dragon's lair in order to retrieve her Psi Crystal that was taken by that dragon... I really did not think that this was a good idea, but sadly there was no convincing them from heading off in that direction, so I begrudgingly agreed and began discussing how we could proceed. We devised a plan to head back to the ship, and Luna and I would wild shape into small creatures in order to infiltrate the ship undetected and recover the crystal.
With that figured out, we head out on the road, and I began navigating the group in a similar direction from where we traveled last time around. After about eight hours of travel we eventually encountered a group of Goliaths that were camping at the top of a hill. This like super duper excited me, because I had not seen a clan of Goliaths in a long time! The group and I ran up to the top of the hill and I asked them if we could camp with them. Not surprisingly, they were a bit hesitant, but I was able to persuade them into letting us camp with them by challenging them to some friendly competition! They decided that we would compete in a game of Tug of War. So, they got their three strongest men and faced off against myself, Madu, and Dyleth.
It was a fierce competition, but after a few minutes of tugging back and forth, we eventually came out victorious! The leader shook my hand and traded us some food for tomorrow, as well as allowing us to stay with them for the evening. We had a lot of nice conversation over the evening and learned a lot about them actually! They said they were from the Wyrmwood Crag, and they are apparently in the middle of an feud with another clan of Goliaths elsewhere in the Ten Towns. They also mentioned a particular goliath they knew named Oyaminartok, who is a goliath and is also a werebear. She apparently can take the form of a polar bear or that of a hulking bipedal, ursan-like appearance, surrounded by snow! That is like super cool, and I would love to meet her at some point. Eventually, after all the conversation died down, we all took a nice long rest before having to set out again in the morning.
30th of Hammer, 1512 DR
When I woke up the next morning, the Goliaths were unfortunately gone, apparently I slept in past them leaving. As we were prepping to start traveling again, Luna handed out these delicious berries that looked like boysenberries! I immediately ate one and it made my tummy feel nice a full. It was like really nice. But, Luna yelled at me because they were apparently magical berries called Goodberries that could heal my injuries if I ate them! Whoops! Well it was delicious regardless, and I now only have 9 of them...
Any who, after some time we eventually made it back to the coast line and found the ship again. Everyone started trying to hide, while Luna and I began to wild shape into some animals so that we could easily sneak on board. I took the form of a small snowy fox and Luna took the form of a small snowy weasel! We snuck our way onto the ship and cleared the whole thing, checked to ensure that there were no more Kobolds on the ship and that it was safe to start working. I returned back to my normal form and began to examine the chunk of ice that our belongings were enclosed within.
Seeing the massive layers of ice that house the Psi Crystal and our stolen gems, I grabbed a torch from my bag and used my magic to light the torch and increase the flame into a large fire. I propped it up against the ice and then also pulled by Emberling Greathammer out, ignited it, and also propped it up against the ice. Once the ice began to start melting I put my fingers together and formed a thin jet of flame that propelled out into the ice. After a bit of time, I eventually melted through the ice and managed to retrieve the crystal and our stolen gems!
With the goods safely back in our possession, I wild shaped back into the form of a snowy fox and with Luna, we made our way back to the group. Luckily we managed to get back with everyone else before the dragon returned, and we high-tailed it off the ice and back to safe land.
Once we arrived, I gave the gems back to Dyleth and began to give the crystal back to Electra. However, she started mentioning her dreams again as soon as I held the crystal out. She wanted to take the crystal and immediately head to this strange tentacled ship. We started arguing back and forth, and eventually the whole party got involved with the discussion. She revealed that there were strange squid-like men present in her dreams that were calling her, and she was even willing to go there even it it meant her simply dying when she arrived.
I believe that I made a compelling argument to the group, and Madu was in agreement with me. I told Electra I would not return the crystal to her until I was sure that it was not effecting her mind. We devised a solution to this problem... since I was completely against the idea of going to this boat, and because I thought the crystal was evil and warping Electra's mind I agreed to attune my mind to the crystal... We decided that if for whatever reason afterwards my mind changed about visiting the boat or towards the crystal, it was because of the crystal itself.
Everyone agreed to this, and though it weighed heavy on my mind for some time, we kept traveling until we were about halfway back to Bremen. In the middle of the night, I awoke to Electra tying to steal the crystal back from me, and I scared her off... I hope it does not effect my mind the same way...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Trapping Knucklehead Trout
28th of Hammer, 1512 DR
28th of Hammer, 1512 DR
After a long deserved hibernation, full of dreams of myself fighting with the best of my tribes ancestral warriors, I awoke and headed down to the entrance of the inn with Dyleth. The two of us met up with Madu in the lobby of the inn, and we were about to make our way out to the tavern for some breakfast! However, as we were getting ready to go, Luna began to walk downstairs, with me...
This freaked us out! We had just been talking about alternate realities and how there could like technically be multiple Soots running around through the dimensions. So, it was absolutely shocking to see another Soot! I grabbed by mace and immediately ran up to it and said, "Luna get away from him! That is an imposter Soot!" However, to me, she seemed confused as to who was the real Soot. So, I pushed her aside and whacked the other Soot over the head with my mace to try and knock him out and question him.
As the mace struck the other Soot, it let out a girlish shriek of pain, and then it became obvious what was going on here... Electra had used some strange magic to disguise herself as me and tried to turn Luna against me! This just made me so furious, and I stormed out of the inn towards the tavern. Dyleth and Madu followed me, and Luna came along shortly after.
I burst through the doors of the tavern, found a nice big table, and ordered coffee for us four and a nice big juicy salmon for myself. After all the madness and betrayal I have gone through the last few days, I most certainly deserved this. As I was about to take a big bite though, the group decided that we needed to have Electra present before we could make any decisions on what to do next. Luna looked at me with eyes of pleading, and I could tell immediately that she wanted me to go fetch Electra... We argued back and forth for a few moments, but I could tell that there was no winning for myself. I sighed, pushed back from my chair, and left the tavern.
Begrudgingly, I made my way back to the inn and walked up to Electra's door. As I got ready to knock, I could hear the sound of her crying from inside the room... I let out another long sigh, realizing that perhaps I have been to hard on her. I knocked on her door, part of me hoping that she would not answer. Between stifled tears called back, "Just give me a couple minutes Luna!" I had no words to say in response to that, so I knocked a few more times until she finally opened up the door. She was very surprised to see me standing there.
We chatted for a few moments about what was going on and how everyone wanted her to come back to the tavern. We spoke a bit about how she as healing, and I apologized for hitting her in the head with my mace. It was a very uncomfortable conversation, but we did start making out way back out of the inn and towards the tavern. Along the way, I couldn't stand being around her without knowing the truth anymore. I stopped her and asked her to honestly answer me about whether or not she actually betrayed me over to the dragon. She started explaining on and on about how things actually happened with the dragon, she started getting flustered and upset again, but not upset at me, more so just the situation. As much as I felt hurt, I could tell that she was being truthful with me. As she kept stumbling over her words, I reached out to stop her and gave her a big bear hug.
As we stepped apart I looked at her and told her that I believed her, and forgave her for what happened. I also apologized for being to cold to her over the past few days, and I pleaded with her to trust me since I am making the choice to trust her again. I told her that though she knows a lot about monsters, I know a lot about monsters and danger, so I asked her to have a bit more trust in my thoughts an opinions. She agreed, and I gave her the rest of my honey as a sign of good faith towards her. After another awkward moment, we smiled at one another, our friendship restored though a bit shaky, and we made our way to the tavern.
Once we arrived, I finally got to eat my delicious salmon and we discussed about what to do next! We talked for a bit about Electra's problem with the Psi Crystal and how we could handle that issue. I also told the group that since we were in the Bremmen, I really wanted to try and find the Knucklehead Trout in Maer Dundal Lake that ate my Papa's Signet Ring. As we discussed, the bartender came over and offered to rent me his boat for the day for only ten of the gold shiny pieces! Though, having had some experience with bartering in the Ten Towns, I told him to make it five shiny pieces! He agreed without any hesitation, and then Electra came up and offered to put one of her own gold shiny pieces towards the price. That was very kind of her, and it seemed like she was trying to make an effort to be friends with me again. With that, I rented the boat! I also agreed to follow the group to the Speaker's house to ask about Electra's problem.
We arrived at the Speaker's home not too long after, and we were surprised to find he was a gnome! Or rather, he actually was a dwarf... Apparently, all of the gnomes I have met so far are actually dwarves and I had no idea! Either way, we discussed with him for some time about what to do, and unfortunately he did not have much advice. He suggested we try to destroy the Psi Crystal, find a new one, or help Electra to complete whatever task the crystal was trying to get her to do... I did not really like that last option, her visions seem strange and misleading to me. For her safety, and the rest of ours, I think it would be best that we not chase after these dreams.
After speaking with the Speaker, we decided that it was about time we split up, I had some fishing to do and the rest of the group could go and try to help find more information about Electra's problem. To my surprise, Luna told me she wanted to come along with me! She said that she had prepared some new magic that could perhaps help me to find the ring. This was really encouraging to hear and I became very inspired on my mission to find the ring!
Luna and I got into the rented boat, and we head out onto the lake. I told her about the story I heard, about Papa fishing on an ice floe, so I recommended that we head all the way out until we hit the actual water. As we arrived, Luna cast her magics and she actually found the fish! She said it was nearby to the north west, so I rowed us in the direction until we were close. I started fishing when we arrived, and caught five fish without any luck. After some time, Luna cast her spell again and said that it was nearby. I convinced her to call on the nature powers to turn into a knucklehead trout and dive into the water after it! While she was under the waves, I waited above, my mouth wide open ready to catch the fish as it broke the surface.
A few minutes later, a fish breached from the surface and I was about to snap my jaws shut and bite it, but I noticed its purple glowing eyes, and realized it was my sister. Just a moment later, another larger trout broke the surface of the waves. I immediately reeled forwards, snapping my jaws shut, my sharp teeth penetrating the scales of the fish like daggers. As I pulled the dead fish from my mouth, Luna hoped out of the waves onto the boat, and turned back into her normal form. I cut open the fish, and to my greatest excitement, inside I found the bony remains of an ursan finger, as well as my Papa's Signet Ring! I cannot believe that I finally found it! Luna was so helpful in this too, I could not have done it without her. I think we will be great co-chieftains together.
We made our way back to the town, and on the way there Luna showed me this cool new magic she got from her new relationship with the goddess Selûne! It was this cool blast of magic that hit the ways and caused six fish to bubble up to the top, all dead! I rowed over and grabbed them all, a big feast for us to eat over the next few days.
About an hour later, we arrived back in town and went to meet our friends. As we approached, they called out and asked how we did with the fishing. I held up a rope with ten fish on it and shouted that we had food for days! I also presented my ring and told everyone proudly that us two managed to find our Papa's Signet Ring! Electra was kind and offered to clean the fish guts off the ring with some sort of magic, and as she handed it back, it looked its brilliance that I remembered from my youth as a little cub. The carved iron ring with the face of a bear, two small rubies encrusted as eyes. I proudly put it on my finger, the same finger which Papa used to wear the ring on. I felt so accomplished knowing that I finished the task Papa sent me on.
For the rest of the evening, I relaxed and did my best to recover from the last few days of work. Since we are probably going to spend the next few days or weeks try to help with Electra's magical curse, I figured it would be best to get some energy and prepare for some fights. I have a lot of people I care about here in Ten Towns, and I have to protect them. As I relaxed for the rest of the evening, I meditated and tried to commune with the ancestral warriors of our tribe's chieftain line. I felt them with me, I saw their spirits swirling around me and welcoming me, each of them wearing that same ring that I now wore on my finger. I could feel that they approved of me, and were watching to see what I would become. Just like I cannot let my friends down, I have a lot to live up to. I must make the warriors of our tribe proud if I am to lead them.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: A Dragon and Cold Betrayal
26th of Hammer, 1512 DR
26th of Hammer, 1512 DR
From within the boat, the sounds of the dragon above shook as all the core. Electra looked back to me, and said: "Let me handle the talking Soot. Don't do anything." This immediately worried me, I became so concerned that she was going to offer ourselves as minions to the dragon! She ran up the stairs and for a moment, there was nothing but silence.
After about a minute or so, stark white reptilian scales descended the hole in the middle of the ship. The horrifying visage of the dragon loomed over us, its cold breath slowly filling the entire room with chilling air, its pale, cold, and emotionless eyes stared us down. It spoke to us, threatening to eat us, and in a panic I began to start just mouthing off gibberish to convince it not to harm us.
Electra ran down the stairs of the upper deck and began speaking to the dragon in draconic. She told us that we needed to bow down to the dragon and offer it praise. This idea absolutely disgusted me. But, in order to save mine and Luna's lives, I listened and bowed. Then the dragon looked angry at us, and Electra translated, saying that we must give her tribute in the form of an offering of great value. Absolutely ridiculous. After losing my cloak to Sephek, she expects me to now give up all my money to her "great dragon lady"??
She offered up her jewels, Dyleth's jewels, and her dragon statue. She then tried to get me to give my hammer to the dragon! This enraged me. I clutched it so tightly in my paws, I could feel the pads of my fingers starting to tear a bit. I called out to the dragon and told her that Electa's statue was actually a dragon that was cursed and turned to stone, that it was the best offering she could get!
But, the dragon loomed in close to me, and said Electra lied to me. The statue was not a dragon, it was just a figurine... Then it stared at me, exhales a small of puff of cold air, and said: "She also told me I could freeze you and take your hammer." Rage began to flow through me as the dragon said that, but I somehow managed to keep from losing my cool. I looked over at Electra with a face of sheer anger, betrayal, and disgust. I straightened my back as tall as possible, putting on a brave façade despite me fear, and I told Electra the dragon could not have my hammer. I then leaned in front of Luna to protect her in any way that I could.
Electra looked shocked that I would not give up my hammer, and after taking a second, she offered up her Psi Crystal to the dragon. The dragon accepted it happily and then agreed to let us leave. Now this surprised me, I was starting to think we would not walk out of that boat...
Luckily, we all managed to get off the boat, and as we left, the dragon warned us never to return. It flew off to the North, and we traveled South to get away from it.
In our travels, Electra acted so surprised that the dragon was evil. She claimed that all other dragons are so nice. This just made me snap. I turned around and gave her a piece of my mind. I shouted at her and told that she needed to stop being so foolish, that the dragons she knows are exceptions to the rules, and that all other dragons are extremely evil. She seemed offended and confused. I just kept walking.
Eventually we heard her suddenly faint, and Luna pulled me back to go help her. She tried to heal Electra, but with no success. She started crying that we needed to help her, and despite my current hatred for Electra, I knew that chieftains do not leave their tribe behind no matter what. I stooped down and picked her up, begrudgingly carrying her the remainder of the journey until we finally took a long rest.
27th of Hammer, 1512 DR
After a cold night sleeping in the tundra, we awake and try to wake Electra from whatever trance she might be in. It took a good bit of time, but eventually Luna woke her up. She seemed grateful to Luna, and even thanked me for carrying her. Though, I just couldn't look at her, I didn't even want to. I just shrugged at her thanks and walked to the other side of camp.
Eventually we began debating about what the do next, and Electra started spewing nonsense about how she need the Psi Crystal back to help these "bug people" that crash their strange boat somehow. For whatever reason, everyone started listening as if this were some vision she had. But I think it was complete garbage. I started encouraging my companions that it was nonsense, that she was delirious from passing out and to ignore it.
Luna just wouldn't stop though. She started saying we should go back and get the crystal, but I had to keep telling everyone that it was a death sentence. Electra didn't even want to go back, because she "couldn't steal from the dragon"! So absurd. I looked her straight in the face and told her to wake up, that the dragon didn't care about her, and that it would kill her if she went back. She backed off and started crying. I felt a tinge of guilt, but her nonsense almost got me and everyone else killed, so I didn't feel too bad about it.
Eventually we decided to take her to the House of the Morning Lord in the Brynshander to see if a priest could help her. It was a lot of work to convince everyone, but luckily we were all on the same page and we traveled back to the Bremmen. Myself, Dyleth, and Madu all immediately made way for the tavern. We bought big meals and got as drunk as we could to deal with the whiplash of the past couple days. It was nice to finally have some relaxation and a way to forget the horrors of my near death experience with both the trolls, and with the dragon.
During our conversations, eventually Dyleth reveals to Madu that he was blessed by Auriel and that he had just recently prayed to her in hopes of helping Electra... I don't like that he was praying to Auriel, but at least he was honest about it! However, I found it a bit surprising that Madu did not know about Dyleth's history!
After a bit of time, the girls finally come to the tavern. I let out a bit of a sigh as I saw Electra was with Luna though... I knew I would have to see her again soon, but I was hoping it wouldn't be during this nice relaxing night of drinking. Eventually the girls came to the table, and Luna overheard Dyleth talking about his blessing from Auriel. She was absolutely shocked and kind of upset whenever she found out. But, he tried to explain himself and everyone got kind of silent.
A bit of an awkward pause fell over the table, as Luna and Electra stood by the table with the next round of drinks in hand. I staggered to my feet and announced I was buying a second dinner, and left to the bar to order another plate of salmon. As I was waiting for the bartender, I heard a commotion behind me and saw that Madu had just punched Electra and Dyleth. As the two fell to the floor, he stormed out of the building.
I staggered back from the bar to help Dyleth up, and then walked out of the bar after Madu. Once I caught up to him he seemed very confused about whether or not to trust Dyleth. It took some time, but eventually I talked him down and he decided that the would quote: "not kill Dyleth". I chuckled at this statement, and the two of us made our way back to the inn.
When we arrived, we got there at the same time as the rest of group. Dyleth and I bunked up with each other, and as Luna and Electra went to bed I said good night to both of them. It felt a bit strange saying pleasantries to Electra, but after drinking so much, it made sense to not be so angry all the time.
I headed off to sleep for a finally long deserved rest in a comfy and warm bed. As I started to dream, I saw visions of the ancestral warriors of our tribe fighting alongside me, fighting terrible beasts and destroying everything in our wake. It was a nice dream.
~Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Burning Troll Fur
26th of Hammer, 1512 DR
26th of Hammer, 1512 DR
As we struggled back and forth with the Ice Trolls, I came to realize how I have become like super injured. My footwork was getting sloppy, and I was staggering whenever swinging my hammer. So, I called Cinder to aid me and commanded him to teleport myself and Electra out of range of the troll! In a fiery inferno, we blinked away like phoenixes being reborn in flame!
As we reappeared, the Ice Troll chased us down and towered over me. He cut into me with his claws and bit me with his massive fangs... My blood sprayed all over the ice, my chest slashed open and bleeding out. I collapsed to the ground, my hammer rolling out of my hand. As the troll towered over me and cut into my limp body again, I could see the spirit of my Grandpapa standing over me. He looked down smiling, and said: "Do not fret Soot. You have been so valiant and brave, but all great warriors must pass someday. Be glad that you got to go out in the blaze of glory that is the hunt."
But. A moment later, my surroundings started to focus a bit more and I could feel my deep wounds mending. I looked up to my Grandpapa's face, however it was fading from view quickly. He looked down at me smiling, and said: "It looks like your time is not yet, fight on my child, you have great things ahead of you." As he faded from view, I saw the image of my sister Luna calling down to me from above, leaning over the railing of the frozen pirate ship. As I came to and started to notice my surroundings, I could see the troll still towering over me.
Feeling revitalized, I jumped to my feet in one swift move. Grasping my burning hammer and swinging it at the head of the troll while shouting: "I am not yet joining the elder spirits today!". As my hammer make contact with his head I could feel his whole skull shatter from the impact, his body dropping to the ground with a massive thud, limp, dead.
The thrill of the hunt began to rush through me, rage coursing through my veins. I stared at the other troll and let those a bellowing roar. The other troll, seriously injured watched in terror as I slayed its companion, and it began to run in fear. I dashed forwards, launching a flask of oil with all my might, as Cinder shot forth a breath of fire at the same time. As my flask impacted with the back of troll, it shattered into slivers of glass that cut into his flesh, and his whole coat of fur became coated with oil. Within less than a second, Cinder's fire struck the troll, igniting the oil on his fur and erupting him into a burning inferno. He screamed in agony for a brief moment until his pitiful life was burned away along with his flesh.
As his limp body collapsed to the ground, I let out another roar, this time a roar of victory. I quickly moved between both of the bodies, cutting off their tusks as trophies of another completed hunt, storing them away to later add to my chieftain necklace. As my rage began to subside, I looked to my companions and took a brief moment of respite to heal ourselves and inspect the ship that sat before us.
We climbing up onto the ship and took a look around. A massive hole sat in the middle of the ship, dropping down each each until finally hitting the ice. Dyleth decided to throw some rope down and explore this path, however the rest of us decided to play it safe and take the stairs.
On the 1st deck, we found a hallway on the bow of the ship, with a number of abandoned bedrooms. However, it seemed as though someone had already come through this ship and looked at these rooms. That being said, there were still a number of curios present in the ship for us to find. Luna explored a bit and found a healer's kit, navigator's tools, and anti-toxen! She even was kind enough to share some vials of anti-toxen with the rest of us.
We continued to explore for a bit, until Madu came up from the stern of the ship, from the captain's quarters. He was holding some sort of journal and explained how the ship was attacked by a White Dragon sometime in the past. This was like super worrying to me, so I proclaimed to the group that we needed to get out of this place before the dragon came back. There was no cover anywhere near this ship, and we would be sitting ducks if the dragon came back while we were here.
Hearing me exclaim about the dragon, Dyleth ran up from the bottom deck, asking about dragons. He also explained that there was a goat on the bottom floor... how strange! He also mentioned that there was a Frozen Crag Cat at the bottom of the ship; this must be from whenever the dragon attack. As Luna and Electra ran off to collect the treasure which Madu found, I went to the bottom deck, found the goat, and began casting a ritual to speak with animals, so that I could learn from the goat.
After starting the ritual, Luna eventually came downstairs and started performing the same ritual. Upon finishing the ritual, I started talking to the goat, and he explained that he was captured by Kobolds and brought here by force. He also said that a White Dragon they served came by and visited daily, however the dragon already visited today. It seemed that there probably were kobolds hiding in the room which Madu was trying to break into...
I then asked the goat about the dragon's appearance, so that we can notice it in the future. He said it was a completely massive, female, white dragon. Apparently, mounted on the back of the dragon is also some sort of rider that never moves... Super duper spooky! I don't ever want to encounter an ancient dragon like this... Electra however is still not convinced. Absolutely crazy! I swear that Electra one day is going to get us into a fight with a dragon because she wants to be its friend or something...
As Luna and I were speaking with the goat, Madu broke down the door in the back and was immediately speared by 4 spears thrown by kobolds! However, Electra turned into a kobold and tried to make peace. As I was speaking with the goat, I overheard her mention "serving the dragon", so I rushed down to the room to find out what was going on. The kobolds mentioned that they served an Ancient White Dragon named Arvieaturace, who was bigger than the whole ship.
I looked Electra and Dyleth, saying: "I think it is time we leave..." But, the kobolds looked me dead in the eyes and said: "It is far too late for that, she is already here." Seconds later, the whole ship shook violently as a massive weight crashed down onto the main deck above, the air grew cold, and an ear shattering reptilian roar over powered all sounds. Arvieaturace had just landed on top of the ship.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: The Frozen Pirate Ship
25th of Hammer, 1512 DR
25th of Hammer, 1512 DR
It is with utmost disappointment that I must write about the loss of my previous entry... I do not know what has happened! For whatever reason, my last journal entry was just ripped out of my book, and it is gone... But, that is okay! The last couple days, we explored Kelvin's Cairn and learned more about the permanent cold! Many good memories... any who, time for today's entry!
After waking, I joined the rest of the group in the foyer of the inn we were staying at in the Caer Konig. We discussed for some time about where to go next, eventually deciding to head to the Bremmen to investigate the sunken pirate ship, and then we would check out the nearby Maer Dualdan Lake so that I could find Papa's ring! After a nice meal, we mounted our axebeaks and made our way out of town!
It was about a seven hour journey for us to travel to the Bremmen and it was mostly uneventful, however we did encounter a pack of glowing elk! It was such an incredible sight, Papa had always told us stories about how they are a good omen, and a great creature to encounter, though incredibly rare. I decided to cast Speak with Animals so I could talk with them, because I felt like I would be not getting a chance to talk to them again any time soon.
They were shocked to hear me speak! However, they were super duper friendly, and had lots of knowledge to share! They warned me about the "breathing" snow piles, the same kind that Luna tried to disturb! Apparently it was a Remorhaz waiting to ambush... thank goodness we did not disturb it... I never want to see one of those monsters ever again. They also warned me about White Dragons hunting in the area, but no surprise, Electra tried to tell me that they weren't dangerous... Any who, Luna and I named their leader Rudy because he had no name, and we became friends!
Upon leaving the elk, we arrived in the Bremmen shortly after. However, there was a large river of ice that separated us and the town. It was no problem for me, so I just crossed it easily with my ursan feet. Luna made it across easily too, and so did Dyleth and Electra, though they slipped slightly. Madu was terrified to cross the river though, and I had to summon Cinder to slowly teleport him all the way across the 50ft river!
Once we made it in town, we went to the tavern and met a woman named Elise. She told us that the pirate ship is frozen in the edge of the Sea of Moving Ice and that there is probably lots of good loot there! She also said that she would be interested in buying anything we find that we don't want. Then, super funny, she told us that the ice is like 20ft thick! Mr. Madu was so worried over nothing haha! However, sadly, she did not have any information about the fishy, but did tell us about fisherman who could take us out!
After finishing our conversation with the lady, I ordered a nice salmon and had lunch as we took a quick rest! Once rested, we made our way out into the wilderness! After hours of travelling, and getting a little turned around because of Madu's poor directional skills, I took the map began to lead the way. It took a few more hours, but eventually the Sea of Moving Ice became visible on the horizon, and made camp and rested until sunrise.
26th of Hammer, 1512 DR
In the morning, we made our way to the shoreline, and began to wander and look for the ship. We had no success for a number of hours, but eventually I had the idea to send Cinder up into the air and scout for us! We took a bit of a break and let him scout for the better part of an hour. When he finally return from the west, he was jumping for joy to inform me that the ship was not too far from us to the west! We travelled a bit longer, and eventually, it came into view and we rushed our way up to it!
We were super excited and wanted to board, but we could hear scratching and roaring from inside... After a quick discussion, we decided that we would lure out whatever was hiding within. Madu started punching the hull of ship, and then the sounds grew louder and louder until two massive Ice Trolls jumped off the side of the boat in front of Madu and attacked us! The ice began to crack slightly under their feet, and the air got colder as they approached.
Madu rushed forwards and grappled one of the trolls, holding it still for me to attack. I pulled out my Emberling Greathammer and shouted the command word, "Calour", over the howling wind. As the metal of the hammer head super heated and began to glow red hot, I dashed forwards and attempted to smash the troll, but it managed to wiggle out of my reach just in time... After whiffing my attack, the trolls roared at us and an aura of cold and ice bursted forth around us. I became frost bitten and badly damaged... I had to retreat, getting slashed from beyond by one of the trolls before managed to cast Soot's Fire Arms. I turned around, my arms alit with flame, and smash the closest troll, burning its flesh and bloodying the creature.
I worry that this fight may be more than we bargained for... perhaps the allure of treasure was too much for us this time around. The trolls turned on Madu and cut into him with their razor sharp claws, slashing through his rocky exterior and knocking him unconcious. Luckily, Luna rushed forward to heal him, and even called out to me with her healing voice and managed to give me a bit more strength, though I still fear walking forward towards the trolls' cold aura could kill me... Lunda pulled Madu out of the way, and stood over his body in a protective stance as the trolls began to turn towards me...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Honey for Bears
22th of Hammer, 1512 DR
22th of Hammer, 1512 DR
After a nice long hibernation, we decided to head out to Kelvin's Cairn at the request of Madu. As we were getting ready to depart, I made the suggestion that we stop by Good Mead for lunch, because I was starting to feel a bit of the tummy grumblies. Madu opposed, but I said everyone who is hungry and wants to go, raise your paw! In a four to one vote, we decided to go to meadery!
We mounted out axebeaks and made our way out of Dougan's Hole. On the way there, Electra and Luna rode up next to me and started to talk to me about dragons... They told me that the statue of a dragon that I gave to Electra was actually a blue dragon that got turned to stone! She then started to tell me about how there are way more dragon types than just white dragons, and most aren't actually evil! She even said there are red dragons that live in the mountains and breathe fire! That got me really excited, and I maybe even am interested in meeting one? I still think that white dragons are evil and scary though!
After some time, we eventually arrived at Good Mead and made our way to the Meadery. When we got outside, the sign mentioned that the sell honey mead. Luna called to me wide-eyed, and she said we could finally try the honey that our Uncle Pawson tried when he visited the Grizzled Ursans cousins down south! We rushed inside and saws bees flying everywhere! It was so crazy, I had never seen so many bees in my life! Well, I have never seen any bees before now... But! They were flying all around my head it was crazy. There was also some old guy at the back of the bar, but I paid him no mind.
So, Luna and I inspected the bees to see how they make honey, and I was convinced that we milked them like elk! But, as we finally caught one, the bartender came over and offered to actually sell us a pot of honey. But he wanted to charge me ten yellow shiny pieces!! Outrageous right? So, I convinced him to go down to eight... but then Electra showed up with her magical parchment of passing, and she convinced him that she was the "Bee Inspector".
After some arguing, we managed to get the honey for 7 yellow shiny pieces! I was so excited, I gave it a try and my eyes grew so wide, it was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten... I let Luna try some and she went ballistic! She attacked me and tried to take the honey, but after a lot of fighting Madu pulled her off of me and I managed to protect my honey.
After this, the old man in the back of the bar told us that he knew who we were. He said that we have become like folk heroes around the Ten Towns, and that people are really happy about all the work we have been doing! He then said that he knew about Sephek, and that he actually gave the letter to Speaker Masthieu to give to us! He then rewarded us 200 yellow shiny pieces for fighting Sephek!
After our encounter with the old man, the barkeeper came up and quickly just spat every single bit of gossip and rumor in all of Ten Towns at us!
- There is a gnome in the Brynshander named Copper that knows about this old black haunted building
- There is an abandoned wizard's tower somewhere out in the frozen wasters (Madu got upset when he heard about this one)
- Angajuk's Bell in Old Anchorage, he is a whale with a boat on his back that can take you underwater to catch Knucklehead Trout in the Sea of Moving Ice
- Pirate Ship frozen in the Bremmen no one knows where it came from, and it likely has a lot of gold and gems frozen in the ship.
- The Maer Dualdun lake, a huge bear guy (probably an Ursan!) was floating on an ice block and trying to fish, when a knucklehead trout bit his finger off and then swam away (My papa's ring!)
Soot's Journal: Kaltro Revealed!
21th of Hammer, 1512 DR
21th of Hammer, 1512 DR
While sitting around the fire and discussing about the mammoth, Madu points out that the wolves probably used those children as bait to have someone take out the mammoth. I think that is a very good point! I also was thinking, since I can't get the full benefit of the booties I got from the lady, so I gave the Boots of the Winterlands to Dyleth so that he could better protect himself from the cold.
After a bit of resting, I decided that since we had so much time to spare that I would go to town to see if there were any fisherman who knew about the fishy that stole Papa's ring. Luna decided to tag along with me to repair the docks too! We made it to the docks of Dougan's Hole, and I found a fisherman named Simon who after talking to revealed that there are tons of Knucklehead Trout, but he hasn't heard of the one I was referring to... No problem though! I convinced him to tell a bunch of people about the fishy so that word would spread, and I also made some fliers of the fish and left them around town. Then we headed back to camp to wait for the Kaltro guy.
After some time at the camp, suddenly it gets really colda wind blows out our fire, and Dyleth is pulled away from behind! Then, as I turn around, I see that Sephek the salesman was standing behind me with a dagger to Dyleth's throat! It hit me, Sephek is the Kaltro guy! His full name apparently is Sephek Kaltro... With a wave of his hand, my Cloak of Protection turned to water and so did the blades that Dyleth bought from him!
I looked back to Electra and Luna for confirmation before smashing in this loser's head, and Electra told me telepathically that Sephek wanted to take Madu and would killed Dyleth if we didn't comply. So, I summoned Cinder to help him escape and cast Soot's Fire Arms before warning him to back off! But, Sephek released Dyelth, and as he ran away, Sephek cut into him with blades made of ice!
As the party ran into action, Dyleth cut Sephek with his psi-blades, but Sephek called upon the cold to heal himself! So, I dragged my ash and soot covered hands over my face as warpaint, and let out a roar of anger. I screamed that Sephek scammed the wrong ursan, and threatened to wear his ears on my chieftain necklace. I rushed him, and bashed his head with my flaming hammer, letting out another roar on impact.
Sephek tried to heal himself again as Dyleth ran away, but the cold air could not heal him of my burns! He then disappeared in a cloud of snow and appeared again by Dyleth! He cut down Dyleth in a quick swipe, and Luna called upon her cosmic form to heal Dyleth. Madu rushed over to grab Sephek and I dashed towards him to whack him with my hammer again. As I dashed towards him, I called out the command word of my hammer, "Calour", to activate its fire and double the heat of my hammer!
As I reach him, I smash him over the head, burning him and preventing him from healing again. But, he teleports away again... It seems that it will be a long fight...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Manic Mammoth!
21th of Hammer, 1512 DR
21th of Hammer, 1512 DR
We followed the wolves back to the Frost Giant's home. Find a dead whale and snap off a rib for my chieftain necklace. We encounter the giant's mammoth who is mourning the death of the giant. The giant's body is in an icy coffin. The mammoth attacks us so I attack. I rage and ignite my hammer, and summon Cinder. The mammoth knocks Luna unconscious, but I teleport her away with Cinder and Electra heals her with a potion.
The mammoth reels back in front of me and gores me with its tusks. Its sharp ivory pierces my skin and coats my fur in warm red blood. The pain motivates me as I hear Luna start to wake up behind me. Bloodlust consumes me as I life my hammer to the sky and bring it down onto the head of the mammoth, swinging it back up again into its stomach and lifting it slightly off the ground. I hear crunching of ribs as my hammer impacts the mammoth, and it starts to cower before me. I lower myself and let out a massive roar of anger, nothing but desire to kill the creature overflowing within me. Behind me, I hear the echo of Luna shouting, and suddenly a blinding light shoots over me, impacting the mammoth and killing it.
With triumph finally upon us, I climb on top of the mammoth and let out another roar, as I start to break off one of its tusks as a trophy of our victory! But, as the bloodlust begins to wane, I see out the front door that Dyleth is unconscious in the snow! I had no idea that he had been following us, and panic started rushing through me as I realized all my friends are at risk of dying. As I start to dash out the window, I call upon my nature powers to heal my wounds and call Cinder to teleport us like a burning phoenix a bit closer. Getting closer, I could also see that Madu was knocked out in the snow too!
Knowing that I could not heal them from far away, the nature powers take control and reform my body into that of a large stallion! I gallop towards them and revert back whenever I get close. However, my panic seems to have been a bit unnecessary, as when I arrived Luna healed them all from a distance... However, when they stood up, I healed them with my paws, and told them we needed to find those children.
Madu started attacking strange and said that the wolves attacked him and then ran off. Make sense to me, we never should have trusted those evil and vile winter wolves. However, once we collected out senses, we entered the bottom section of the building and found the two children in a cage!
They seemed scared of me at first, but I told them my name, gave them some food, and held out fire to warm them as Madu broke upon the cage. Afterwards, they ran into my arms, and I carried them out and kept them warm. On the way out, Luna convinced us all the investigate the throne room now that the mammoth was dead, and we went back into to check things out.
Inside the throne room, Madu came to learn that on the throne there was a giant rune for "Ice" on the throne itself. However, as Dyleth went to touch it, it began to glow a chilling blue color. So, I scooped up the children and rushed out of the room with the party in case the rune did anything while we were alone. We walked into the next room and found a massive bedroom with a tunnel in the corner. The hole was massive and smelled of whale oil.
After a long journey, we make it back to the Dougan's Hole and find a carnival of tents outside of the town. The kids ask to go home immediately, so Electra and I take them back while the others approach the carnival... as much as I really really wanted to go. The little cubs lead us back to their home where we find their mother. She is very greatful, but she does not have any shiny pieces to pay us. She does however give me a pair of navy blue fur lined boots! They feel really warm whenever I hold them, so I was thinking maybe they are magical? She also gives us two greater healing potions, and agrees to let us stay there!
She does mention though, that her deceased husband, who last owned the boots, was actually her brother... It got very awkward for a moment, and then I realized that is probably why the kids look a little messed up... Anywho, Electra and I rush away to go back to the group! On the way back to the carnival, I started to investigate and analyze the booties. I could tell for sure that they were like super magical, and then after some deduction I realized that these are Boots of the Winterlands!
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: The Pranking Party
21th of Hammer, 1512 DR
21th of Hammer, 1512 DR
After the defeat of Janth Alowar we make our way back to the inn so that we can finally get some well deserved rest! At the inn, Luna runs off to her room, and Dyleth and I check into the place for the group. The lady behind the counter was singing some kind of historical song about the cold.
We question her about it, and she tells us about the innkeeper that came before her and how the cold produced by Auriel has affected them. She then also tells us about the ring she is wearing, it has the imagery of two polar bears like a ying-yang working in unison. Seeing it, I zone out a bit and stop paying attention to the woman, thinking only of my desire to give the ring to Luna and mend our hurt relationship. I also dwell for a moment on the idea I had previously, of us becoming chieftains together...
I ask the woman if I can purchase the ring, but she says it is sentimental for her. She says she could only give it to me if I promise to turn off the cold. So, obviously I agree! I also give her the flawless termalaine gem in exchange. She seems to be happy about this, and even offers us free lodging!
I rush off to Luna, and we have a tough conversation for a moment. I give her the ring and apologize, explaining myself. I also tell her I want to be co-chieftains with her. She forgives me and takes me up on my offer, putting on the ring before going to bed.
Afterwards, I tell Dyleth the good news and then head to bed for a much needed hibernation!
I wake up the next morning with sunlight in my eyes, and Dyleth standing by window telling me to wake up. I don't understand how he is such a morning person! Any who, we start talking about the letter from Mr. S. Kaltro, and I tell him my thoughts about how Kaltro may be the enemy of our enemy? Perhaps that would get Madu to help us investigate?
After some time talking, and bragging about my new hammer, we hear the girls making noise outside of our room. So we decide we are going to prank them, but Luna convinces me that she is danger and we run out the door. But, we both trip over a rope trap they left for us! So, I rushed over while they were laughing, and I sat on Luna and let loose one of my classic spicy tuna toots!
Then, after everyone calmed down, we stepped outside to talk about our future plans. It took a while, and we debated about splitting up. But eventually, we deiced to go the Dougan's Hole first to find Mr. Kaltro, and then tomorrow we will go find the light. Along the way, we pass a sign for a place called Good Mead and make places to eventually go back to and try! Dyleth and I also communicate telepathically and make plans about how we will get the girls back for pranking us.
As we approach the Dougan's Hole, we are flanked by two Winter Wolves and I am immediately put on edge remembering that horrible event from my childhood. They tried to demand we follow them to rescue some elven children being held captive by a giant or be eatten. Luna nd Electra agreed, and despite any attempts I could not convince them otherrwise... So, I regrettably agreed to follow the wolves. However, Dyleth and Madu decided to stay behind and wait for Mr. S. Kaltro...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: My Sister, Possessed
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
Sitting outside the building, I continue in my efforts to destroy the evil spirit bag! I swiftly drop a torch to my feet and set it aflame, wrapping the bag up in my winter blanket and setting the entire composition up in burning flames, freeing my hands to smash the bag with my hammer while it burns. It felt like a really brilliant idea for me to do!
After a moment, Dyleth rushes outside to try and help me, and then within seconds I hear the thunderous clap of magic shaking the entire building. I knew the horrible truth immediately... Janth had control of Luna's body, and there was nothing I could do about it except destroy this bag... I called out to Dyleth and told him to do everything he could to keep the doors shut, so that she couldn't get out of the building, and I took a swing at the bag with my new hammer.
He tried to jam the door, but ran back saying that it couldn't be done. For once, I am not entirely sure that I believe Dyleth, I think he got kinda confused... But, he ran back and started to stab into the bag. As he did so, Luna burst out of the building, calling out to me for help, that she was injured. It destroyed my heart to see her in pain, and knowing that I could not do a thing to help her. I called out to Dyleth and Masthew to restrain her but not hurt her, and I scooped up the burning bag and began to run away.
Once I got some distance and figured it was safe to attack again, I dropped the bag and smacked it with my new hammer once again. After hitting it, I picked it back up, and then to my left I heard Dyleth from the rooftop! He called down and said that Luna wild shaped into a Giant Badger and was burrowing underground after me! I continued to run around the building, damaging the bag as much as possible while keeping my distance from my poor possessed sister.
As I came to a stop on the other side of the building, Dyleth ran across the roof and began to throw daggers down towards me in an effort to cut the bag to shreds! He almost sliced me with the dagger! So I yelled at him to be more careful, and he successfully cut the bag on his second try. He also said he would keep an eye out for the others, so that I could safely keep attacking the bag. After smashing it over and over, eventually the fire tags control of it, the magic leaving the bag, and the entire thing incinerates into a pile of ash.
Quickly, thinking only of Luna, I rush back around the building to check on her, and find her okay and hugging Madu! I quickly freed her from her bindings and gave her a big hug, but she shoved me off and said that I ran away when she needed me, and she left when I tried to hug her... I tried to explain that I was only helping her, but she just wouldn't listen to me...
As we began to talk, Dyleth gave me a big acorn sized termalaine, suggesting that it could perhaps help me bridge the gap between myself and Luna. Speaker Masthew then also told me that the command word for my hammer is "Colur", but he is not sure what else is required to set the hammer ablaze.
Finally, he began to speak about the lottery murders. Apparently there has been a recent murder in a nearby town, and a letter was given to Speaker Masthew, which he gave off to Dyleth. The letter read:
"
My victims may escape the lottery with their life,
But I fix that by taking it with my knife
This game I play is fun,
being so popular, yet known by none
I may be winning, but I am getting bored
I wish to no longer be ignored
If you would like to challenge me and my glamour,
meet me at night near dougans hole on the 21st of Hammer
-S. Kaltro
P.S. 11pm. At the tent. I don't like to wait.
"
We go back to the tavern and take a nice long rest. What mysteries might await us tomorrow! I will write again soon!
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Fake Kobolds, Real Ghosts
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
After some questioning, we learn that Trex was human in a past life. He apparently was decapitated by a Yeti while climbing Kelvin's Cairn. He was trying to document all the flora and fauna of Icewind Dale. We chat with him for a while and learn that he indeed wants to make an alliance with the humans, and that he is looking to recover his human form.
We make our way out of the tunnel and use Cinder to teleport out of the hole. Trex tries to escape, but I quickly recover him and we all get to the top level and start walking to the exit. As we begin to leave, I tie my rope around the hands of the kobold to ensure he cannot easily escape.
We call over our Axebeaks, and we send Trex on board with Electra. We begin to make our way back to the Termalaine to deliver the kobold to the Speaker of the town.
We meet with the Speaker in the dead of night and start the diplomacy. I inform him of the Grell in the tunnels and he is shocked. As proof, I give him the tongue of the Grell which I was holding onto. Speaker Masthew and Trex talk for a while and finally come to a conclusion in their deal. As I am starting to remove the kobold's bindings, Electra tries to steal his bag. However he does notice, and manages to wrestle it back. After diffusing the situation, I get my brand new Greathammer! It is beautiful, and as I spin it in my hands, embers begin to flick off the hammer head.
As Masthew provides the remainder of the fifty shiny piece reward, Madu learns that the Speaker only knew that killing Auril would end the cold. Madu gets furious and rushes out, and we finish collecting the reward and leave.
As we are walking out, Luna freaks out and mimes to look through the window! She claimed that Speak Masthew and Trex body-swapped! We rushed back in and find that the kobold is dazed on the ground and Masthew is looking very cocky. I started to question him about things that only he should know... He was able to answer all of my questions unfortunately. However, then Madu called him Trex and told him that if he could answer his questions that he would leave. Speaker Masthew looked at us and said: "Trex? I am Janth Alowar."
In fury, I rushed forwards drawing my Greathammer and began to attack Speaker Masthew. Electra immediately calls out to me to wait, but I was unsure of whether or not to attack. I had a moment of serious internal strife, as I really wanted to smash him with my new hammer. Electra questions him and learns that Janth is a spirit possessing the Speaker, and then Luna uses her magic to paralyze him!
Madu and I take advantage of the situation, and bind his arms and legs. Then we grapple him and start to question him again as the paralysis ends. After some rough deduction, we learn that he is possessing Speaker Masthew and that Janth's spirit is tied to the bag Electra tried to steal previously. We get ahold of it and learn that if we destroy the bag, we destroy Janth.
I cast produce flame and hold it under the bag. In a fit of rage, I look at Janth dead in the eyes and tell him, that just like his restrictive and cocky questioning, he has three chances to convince me not to kill him. I enlarge the flame and give him a chance to speak. However, his answers did not impress Electra, and she drops the bag into my fiery hand. Honestly, this was the coolest thing she has ever done! Janth screamed out in agony as I began to burn his spirit, and he looked to us with his cocky expression, saying "Bring it on."
Everyone piled onto Janth to ensure that he could not do anything to stop us, and I leaned over and told Electra that I needed to leave the room with the bag because Janth's spirit can change bodies whenever he has line of sight. She told me she would keep him from breaking free, and I ran just out of the room, waiting and burning the bag. I got outside the building, and I dropped a torch to the ground to that I could create a prolonged burn while also using my new hammer to smash the bag...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Soot's Spidy Senses
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
As we continue to make our way towards the ladies, we reenter the room with the dead rats. On a table, my eye catches a stone figurine of a doggy! It was shaped like a husky and had two small termalaine eyes, it could be worth a few shiny pieces for sure!
As I was taking a look at the figurine, Madu noticed a faint scream in the distance and called out that our friends are in danger. We rushed out of the room and encountered two kobolds blocking the wooden bridge over a chasm. We threatened to kill them and scared them off so that we could pass.
After getting the kobolds to run off, we find a small hole that drops about fifteen feet. But, the rope was attached to a bucket, and would take to long to raise and lower for all of us. As far as I could tell, Luna was in mortal danger, so I channeled my nature powers to wild shape into a Giant Wolf Spider! With my nasty little spider legs, I made my way down the wall with haste. When I reached the bottom I could see the danger at last... a big brain monster, with tentacles and a big bird-like beak was attacking Luna and Electra! Apparently, this creature is called a Grell.
Dyleth jumped down the hole after me, then Madu, and together we rushed at the Grell! I get angry seeing the monster attack my sister, and while entering a rage I clacked my spider mandibles together and bite the Grell! My companions continue to attack into the monster, hoping to slay it before it hurts anyone too badly. As we continue to cut into it, Madu crushed its brain with a mighty punch, killing it on impact.
We cut out its tongue, and I removed its beak in order to add it to my necklace. I also heal Luna's injuries, and started to collect the loose gems in the room while we discussed what to do next. Eventually we find three Kobolds who get ready to attack. I intimidate them, but they being to run away, so we give chase, following and scaling the walls deeper into the cavern.
Eventually we reach a dead end with nothing but gems on the walls. I smash one of the them and pick up the shards of geodes. With a dead-end, and nothing but a massive gap in front of us, I summon Cinder to help! He appears in a beautiful inferno, and with a flash of fire we all evaporate to ash and reappear on the other side of the gap like a pheonix being reborn! We open the door, and find a massive line of Kobolds ready to attack us...
Apparently they have a leader named Trex. He is slightly larger, and has fake wings made of sticks and leather. We argue back and forth for some time, I could barely keep my cool. I almost lost it and attacked at least five times! But, eventually we reached a mild conclusion and decided to take Trex back to the town, but he seems to have something up his sleeve. On the way out of the cave, with some deductive reasoning and interrogation we learn that Trex serves a dragon, but he won't tell us who... He claimed to serve the same dragon as Electra, which honestly I find terrifying! I had no idea she served a dragon before now... But, if Electra serves a dragon, maybe he isn't too scary?
Madu gets pissed off at Trex and lifts him into the air, choking him as he dangled. I finally got fed up with the lies, so I opened the kobold's mouth and put my blade against his tongue, demanding the truth or he loses his tongue. Finally, he gave in and revealed himself to be no a kobold, and that his true name was Janth Alowar...
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Mine, oh mine
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
We finally make it to the Termalaine! Run into some town crier boy who is preaching about the kobolds in the mine. The Town's Speaker, Masthew, is offering a reward of 50gp for killing the monsters.
We learn that the Speaker is at the Blue Clam tavern, and that there is no blacksmith in Termalaine either. We go and speak with him and learn that he is a half-orc. After some discussion, we agreed that we will be paid 50gp + 1gp per confirmed kobold kill per person. Instead the kill commission, I will be receiving a great hammer with beautiful fire embellishments.
After deliberation, with Electra and Luna not wanting to kill Kobolds, we make our way out to the cavern. Outside the cavern, we debate again about killing the kobolds, and agree to take a more diplomatic approach. Electra disguises herself as a kobold, and herself, Luna, and Dyleth enter into the cave.
Myself and Madu wait outside for about twenty minutes before deciding to go in after them.. We unfortunately make a bit of noise, and get attacked by three giant rats! I cast Soot's Fire Arms, and with the help of Madu we easily kill all the rats. After they are dead, Dyleth shows up and we cut the tongues out of the rats and start to look for the girls.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Controlling My Anger
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
20th of Hammer, 1512 DR
We leave Garret's home, and he asks me about our conversation from yesterday... but I don't recall talking to him.
I start to realize that I don't need my armor, and begin to wonder why I ever wore it to begin with... I also follow Luna and Madu to the library.
There are so many Ten Towns! Learned of new ones called Bremman, Dougan's Hole, Good Mead, Lonely Wood.
Dougan's Hole is guarded by two Winter Wolves. There are Kobolds in a mine in Termalaine.
Learned my paper is a Parchment of Passing, Electra convinced me to give it to her.
We bought Axebeaks, mine I named Aumarak because it is ashy in color like me and is not afraid of fire. It kind of reminds of a charcoal birdy.
We travel down the road, and eventually find some snow piles. They emerge as snow golems after Dyleth investigates. I get to test my new spell, Soot's Fire Arms, and I get so angry that I rage! Attacking the golem until it melts, and then calling my birdy Aumarak over to me.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: The Boulder Man
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
We get in the cart and prepare to leave. Take a short rest on the way to Caer Conig
There is another 10 Town called Easthaven. Iccicle murders happening - 2 recently in Easthaven, they had engravings, S in the head, K in the chest. People who game the system are being killed.
We talk for a while before finally running into a stone construct named Madu. I give him a ration and flaming torch after learning that he wants to warm the world and get rid of the cold. I like him! We take him with us to Caer Conig.
Speaker Trovus. Frozen Far Expeditions, ranger runs the place. Northlight Inn and Hook Line Sinker Tavern. No walls on the town.
We go inside and buy coffee. We meet a creepy guy named Sephek who wears fancy clothes and no cold weather gear. His eyes are a chilling blue. He is apparently blessed by Auril because he was born on the coldest day of the year. Said that Auril is like a big Owl, but that you can't find or speak to her.
Speak with Dyleth rest of the night about random things, and then we go back to the inn. Argue for a while with the lady at the front, getting angry, until I manage to get us all rooms at a seemingly fair price. 5sp for all the rooms.
The next morning I wake up in time to go see Sephek. There are a number of gnomes packing up things. Trade the potion of invisibility for a cloak of protection, two fine daggers and a cloak for Dyleth, and bust of a dragon head for Electra.
Make our way back to the tavern and wait for the girls to wake up. Decide to take Garrett back to the Targos. On the way there, give the gift to Electra who forgives me, and learns of Dyleth's past with the snow elf Berr.
Caer Dineval is another ten town we pass on the way back to the Targos. Once we arrive we bring Garrett home, and Eleanor gives us thanks and a reward in the form of artwork. Luna gets a start painting and wooden walrus figurine. Dyleth gets the fox, I get the whale, and Electra gets the hares.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Yeti Food
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
We fight the Crag Cats, Dyleth is knocked unconcious but Electra revives him with a potion. I beat up one of the Crag Cats, killing it with my hammer, and my allies kill the other.
I pull the fang out of the mouth of the cat I kill, and find that the Crag Cat had a collar on. Garrett said it might have belonged to the Yetis on the mountain. I also notice that my druidic focus on the ground... It appears to have fallen out of my hammer... Very disappointing... I get really angry, but Luna calms me down and fixes it for me. I use the collar I found to ensure the focus does not fall out, by wrapping it around the hammer head.
After talking for a while, we begin travelling again to find the Garrett's missing friends. We make our way to the summit of Kelvin's Kairn and find a large cave opening with bloody tracks leading in. The Garrett told us this is where he was attacked by the Yetis.
We enter the cave and find bloody tracks. Luna and I split off from the group and go down a narrow passageway, leading to a 10 foot wall. We scale it, she makes it up first because she tries to pull me down, and when we reach the top we see that we are in the heart of the Yeti's lair. Inside is a Momma Yeti, her cub, and the halfling lady Perilou. Luna runs away, but I stay behind to try and safe her. I try to communicate and feed the Yeti with no luck.
I light some fire and scare the Yeti. We devise a plan to try and scare the Yeti out of the cave so that we can save the Perilou. However, it does not quite work how we plan, and instead the Yeti grabs Perilou and runs. But, our allies sneak up from behind and keep it from running. By putting away the fire, I convince it to give me Perilou, and I help her escape. At the entrance, the rest of the group informs us that the goliath died. I go to his body and light a torch to protect his bones, and take his great axe.
As we leave the cave, we see the Papa Yeti arriving home with a dead goat. It drops the goat, and immediately charges at me. Dyleth shot an arrow at the Yeti, piercing its side. Electra throws an icicle knife at it, but it seems unphased. Cinder and I simultaneously throw fire at the Yeti, and then I prepare my hammer so I can stand the line and protect my friends. The Yeti freezes my poor little Cinder, and then charges me, cutting into me with its claws and knocking me unconscious.
The next thing I know, I wake up on the ground with the Garrett pouring a potion down my throat, and my allies are attacking the Yeti. As I being to sit up, Electra throws a big bolt of fire at the Yeti and kills it. I cut out a fang of the Yeti after it dies, and it is a perfect fang.
We debate over whether to kill the other Yetis. I convince the people we saved, but no one in the group. We argue for a bit, but then head up to the peak of the mountain after sending the injured down the mountain. At the top of the mountain is a damage camp with blue leather boots sticking out of the snow. A tiefling sits alone in the snow, it is Astrix. We find that she is frozen and dead. Dyleth searches her tent and finds a magical glowing pink gem. I search her body and find potion of invisibility, and a blank piece of paper.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Avalanche!
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
Triglio's General Store in Targos -- sold my snow shoes for 5 sp and a signal whistle, bought 10 flasks of oil for 1 gp. We sell the bloodstones for 300 gp, and buy 3 potions of healing for 125 gp. I give mine to Luna, Dyleth and Electra take the other two.
We travel with Bolt back to Brynshander with no problems! I rush back to Black Iron Blades to get my hammer. I get my hammer with the druidic focus built into the handle. I was so happy I swung it around widely until it was time for us to leave for the Kelvin's Cairn.
We encounter a man wearing dark clothes, with a bright white shining light emanating from beneath their hood. Cold Night Walker. Created by the naked lap people.
Eventually we reach the dwarven valley. Get recognized by a gnome.
We reach Kelvin's Cairn, find overturned cart with five dogs still harnessed up, the broken harness of Boy is still there. Doggies are whimpering. Under the sled are two small crates, one is broken and empty was probably rations, other is untouched, 12 things of rations. Cast Speak with Animals to talk to the dogs, they seemed nice. Distribute rations, tell Bolt's dogs to not leave until we get back, and I will give them rations if they stay.
We start climbing the mountain and encounter three mountains goats, but my spell was over! So Luna cast Speak with Animals as a ritual, and learned the goats are named Goat, Ghoat, and Goaht. She learned there are yetis out here, and that another human went up recently.
We leave the goats, and then encounter an avalanche. I easily evade it, but my friends are not as lucky. I summon Cinder to create a fiery teleportation to bring them closer, but it was not close enough. To my shock, Luna told them to leave and transformed into a Giant Badger and buried under the snow! Dyleth and Electra kept running, she was able to escape, but Dyleth and Cinder were not as lucky. I stand there shocked and scared for my sister and friend, but within a few moments, I see Badger Luna and Dyleth emerge from the snow! Cinder also melts his way out of the snow and flys back over to me.
I warm Luna up with the heat of Cinder, and after a bit she turns back to normal and tells me she will teach me how to do it too!
We find the Garrett in shambles up the mountain. I heal him. We need to save a Goliath named Mokingo who was determined to find a "Yemnartok", there is also a female halfling named Perilou who was a follower of Yondala the halfling god, there is also a tiefling girl named Astrix.
We hear a few rocks fall from above us, I am concerned there are Yetis afoot! Flying from the rocks above towards Luna and Electra are two Crag Cats!
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Journey to the Targos
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
19th of Hammer, 1512 DR
I awake in the morning well rested after a nice long hibernation, however it seems that Luna did not sleep as well as me. We got out of bed and went to the bar, and enjoyed some breakfast! I had a great big meal with Dyleth, and Luna drank plenty of grape juice. I am starting to get used to the luxuries of these 'towns', I wonder how hard it will be to adjust to going back home? Once Electra woke up we started discussing how we would spend our day while waiting for my hammer. After some deliberation, we decide to head to the Targos to investigate the search party, with the caveat that we return to the Brynshander by the end of the day to collect my hammer.
Mr. Sax told us it would only be a thirty minute to the Targos, so we figured it would be smooth sailing, bear were we wrong! We leave the Brynshander and begin to follow the path to the Targos, Luna tying herself to me to avoid getting lost again. I joked around at her expense, but I was honestly very glad she was taking her safety seriously. After some time on the road chatting and singing Jaja Dingdong, I noticed a strange movement on a wall of rocks just off the path. Together sneak a bit closer only for me to notice this big crazy dog man on the wall! Dyleth said it was a gnoll... it sort of reminded me of an ursan with a "powdered snow" problem, if you catch my drift. Any who, I really wanted to get the drop on it and throw some fire, but the group wanted to sneak up from behind. But, Luna steps on a loud bit of crunching snow and alerts it! Then, within seconds, three more emerge and begin to attack!
Super fast, Luna shoots this new bright magic at the gnolls, Electra creates a magical icicle she throws at them, shattering and melted after cutting them up, and Dyleth dashes forwards to begin slashing with his swords! For a second, I almost thought that Electra might be the icicle heart stabber lady, but she it too nice to be a killer, and she has been with us this whole time. However, I kinda don't like that she used ice magic instead of fire magic....
Once all my friends attacked, the gnolls struck back, shooting Luna with arrows and stabbing Dyleth until he fell to the ground bleeding out. This made me so upset and angry... Filled with fury as the gnolls attacked my friends, I called out, filled with my new strength, to my old spirit friend Cinder, asking for his help. To my suprise, this time he actually appeared! He manifested as the fiery bear cub I have seen in my dreams, and he began to help us! He flew through the air, spitting fire at the gnolls, and killing two of the them! Cinder caught them on fire, lighting them up like a log on a pyre. It was an incredibly exciting moment for me, and he told me that me powers were finally strong enpuigh to help him take physical form. I was so happy to see my lifelong friend finally! However, my other friends were hurt and needed help, so I run over and manage to cast Cure Wounds to heal Dyleth and help him wake up. He almost died, I was very worried about him...
After the fight, once everyone took a moment to catch their breath, we began to loot the bodies of the gnolls for any goodies. I found a few shiny pieces and an old spear! Luna found a human arm which she cooked in the fires of Cinder and then buried; it was honestly really strange. After about another thirty minutes of travel, we finally arrived at the Targos! Mr. Sax's estimation was very inaccurate, it took us almost two hours. As we approached, we noticed there were no guards at the gate of this town, just a big door emblazoned with the emblem of a blue shield with a single sailed black ship facing to the right. It was a pretty neat little symbol, and it appeared that the Targos is a fishing town! I love little fishies, so tasty!
Once we get inside, we find the first person we see and ask for directions. He tells us the inn in the Targos is called the Luskan Arms, and the tavern is called the Three Flag Sailing Tavern. However, he had no information regarding the missing climber. So we make our way toward the tavern, only to run into a dog who wanted us to follow him. As we chase after him, I cast speak with animals, and he tells me his name is Boy and we need to follow him home. So we chase him, and as we arrive at the house, we meet a woman named Eleanor Velryn. She was surprised to see the dog, and told us said her husband Garret was with Boy the dog, but interestingly, there was no Garret whenever we found Boy. So, she invited us in to speak whenever I told her I could talk to Boy for a few more minutes. He told us that their sled went over the mountain of Kelvin's Cairn , and of Garret and the other five dogs, he was the only one to get away and wants help finding the Garret. This was two days ago.Eleanor also asks that we find her husband, and that she could get us really cheap, maybe even free, lodging at the Luskan Arms inn!
We agree to help the lady, and she gives us as much info about the mountain as possible. She tells us about another town, which makes like four towns now that we know about in the Ten Towns, it is crazy how many there are! Any who, it is called the Caer-Konig, and it is at the base of Kelvin's Cairn. Apparently it acts like a basecamp for climbers, and there is a place called Frozenfar Expeditions there that could help us climb the mountain.
After speaking for some time, we had to the tavern for a short rest, and to try to get more info about the missing climber and the expedition. We order drinks and salmon, and chat with fisherman who really don't have any information for us. Electra tries to convince me that dragons are not scary, but she is wrong, they are terrifying. Also, Luna gets freaked out because she thinks spending time with fishermen makes you get wrinkles! It was so funny, I just had to mess with her, and she ran out of the tavern like a scared little cub. To our surprise though, we she returned, she had Mr. Bolt with her! We talk with him for a bit, and he agrees to take us to Kelvin's Cairn since he had no other work to do, but he will not travel up the mountain with us.
Well, it has been an interesting morning for sure, but I have a lot of salmon to eat, so I will write again soon!
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Bears and the Brynshander
18th of Hammer, 1512 DR
18th of Hammer, 1512 DR
It has been quite the day! After a rage induced stupor, I finally am able to take the time to write a journal entry. A lot happened, so I have to run over some of the events quickly... After the events with Luna and the snowstorm, we found the body of the dead gnome. It was decapitated, their cart was destroyed, and all the ingots were gone. But, we did see some bear tracks which we chose to follow. After some time, we reached a caravan of goblins which stole the iron ignots from the gnomes, and we did a little sneaky attack to kill them all and get the ingots! They also had polar bears enslaved, which they were hurting. Seeing their suffering enraged me like never before, and I went off like a crazy person... Anywho! After the fight, we captured their super cool cart, and Luna spoke with the bears via magic! I was super jealous that I hadn't thought to prepare the animal speaking magic, so sad! But, thanks to her help, we made friends with the bears, Yura and Sakari, and they agreed to take us back to the Brynshander, and then we could evaluate their future friendship! I really really want to keep them so badly! I always get so attached to animals...
We continued on our journey back to the Brynshander, when Luna found an icy sign which she needed me to melt the ice from! I ran over quickly and created a large fire under the sign and melted down the ice, and we could see the text of the sign. The sign read "Termalaine", and pointed off to a small, less traveled path on the side of the road. Luna made a point to record this in her encyclopedia so that we would investigate at a later time.
After a quick trip stop at the sign, we continued along the road but soon after our wheel broke! Luckily we have my dear sister Luna, and she was able to fix it fast with her mending magic! She really is a boon to our group, and if not for our shared bloodline, I would gladly support her as chieftain.
Once we make it back to the Brynshander, the guards don't want to let our bears into the town! Outrageous! We try to talk with Dirk, but he really isn't happy about it. Electra flashes out this fancy scroll she calls "pedigree", but Dirk doesn't really understand why the piece of paper helps the situation. Honestly, I really don't know why that would help either.... But, Luna, using all her magic powers, casts the Charm Person on the Dirk, and he finally lets our bears into the room.
Once we manage to get in, Luna and Dyleth went into the inn to find the gnomes and let them know of our success, and Electra went to tell the Black Iron Blades about the ingots we have! I sit outside for a while, playing with the bears and waiting for my friends. It certainly takes them a while to talk to everyone. After some time, Electra returns, and the gnomes come out of the tavern with the rest of our friends. They thanks us for our troubles, and award us with a pouch of 4 bloodstones, worth 50gp each as payment for the ingots. They also give us a yeti-fur lined leather pouch containing 15 of the silvery shiny pieces as a thank you for burying their friend. Very generous indeed, or at least I think so!
On our way to the Black Iron Blades shop, one of the gnomes talks about white dragons, which was so silly I had thought.. until everyone confirmed they were real! I cannot believe this... who would ever think that a creature like a dragon could be real! I thought they were just old mama-bear tales to scare the little cubs. Honestly, I am quite scared to leave the town now... what if I get gobbled up!
After a little while, we arrive at the Black Iron Blades, where we met Garn the Hammer and Elza the Hammer. With the gnomes, we inform them of the arrival of the iron shipment. They become overjoyed and Garn offers us a permanent 10% discount at their store as payment for the shipment! With that in mind, and in light of the recent goblin crushing I had to do, I decided to request the warhammer I have been dreaming of for years. They agreed to make me a warhammer with my druidic focus nestled inside it, so that I could cast spells and hit things without having to have a free handle to hold my focus! They asked for 8gp + tip, so I give all of my shiny pieces to the blacksmiths in order to pay for it. I am extremely excited for my new weapon! It should be ready by tomorrow evening, so we need to stay in the Brynshander for another night. Dyleth also requested some daggers from them as well!
We then spend about an hour unloading the iron ingots from our cart, into the store, and while we are there I show off my fire powers to them in the form of a hammer hitting an anvil, and they offered me a job! I am truly honored, as it is the first job I have ever been given outside of lighting the fire for the stew and torches. I wonder if they will pay me shiny pieces if I help them for a few hours?
Around 10pm, a bright blue hazy light began to shine across the sky. It was like a shooting star, running from the top of Kelvin's Cairn. It was only there for about 30 seconds, and as the wind howled, the light exploded and covered the sky. Then, just as quickly as it arrived, it disappeared and the sky went back to normal.
As we finished the unloading, Luna spoke with the bears and they give her an amulet. It looked really pretty and honestly started to make me a bit jealous. The bears show me some love and then, to my dismay, they sadly began to leave... Apparently Sakari is next in line to be his clan's chieftain too. Understanding the struggle of leaving the things one loves for their duty, I gave them a ton of love, and some rations to east. Then, once they leave and I cried like a little cub; I have a soft spot for so little, except Luna and animals, it had been a long time since I had last cried like this.
After some moments out in the col, we go back into tavern, and began drinking and singing all night to raise our spirits. My friends clearly could tell I could use a couple Jaja Dingdongs! Dyleth was very kind and kept buying his drinks to share, and even taught me about the toasts. Luna, Dyleth, and I all got a bit tipsy, though Electra seemed to be doing okay. We had some fun conversation, and even learned from Mr. Sax that this "Termalaine" we found earlier was another of the Ten Towns! Gosh, how many of these towns could there be? As we are learning this though, Dyleth started talking about the fishy on the wall, and he almost let my secret slip to Luna! I got very nervous, as it was clear she heard and wanted to learn more. He tried to cover for me, but she knew something was up... She got up and in turned in early, but I don't really think she was tired. Dyleth told me I should be honest with her... maybe he is right.
Once Luna went to bed, we then overheard the two townsfolk Aidan and Liam talking about an icicle stabbing people in the heart, as well as something about the contest being rigged! So, after doing the eavesdropping for a bit, I loudly repeat some of the words they were saying to Dyleth until they came to talk with us. Aidan agreed to tell us the information after we claimed to have no idea what he was talking about regarding the dropping of eaves... He confirmed our suspicion that the lottery is rigged, and that some people don't get chosen, which makes others very angry. Apparently, there is someone who is so angry that they have been hunting those who have never been picked, and are being murdering them with icicles stabbed into the heart and the forehead! I convince him to also share the information that this is happening in numerous of the towns! The most recent murder was in the town of the Termalaine, so that gives us even more reasons to check it out. But apparently, according to Aidan, not all towns are have the lottery, some make animal sacrifices, while others turn off their fires at night time. I cannot even imagine how horrible a town without fire must be... I never want to go to that town.
Aidan left after a bit, and I decided to turn in and talk to Luna about the ring. I also tried to check the singing fishy for the ring, but Mr. Sax was not happy about it as my hands are too big to fit down the gullet. When I got back to the room, I found it empty, with no Luna in sight! I run around the tavern searching for Luna, and cannot find her anywhere. I started getting really nervous, as I had already lost her once today, and could not bear to do it again. However, eventually I found little Luna prints leading back to the room. Very relieved, I talk to her, and she tells me she was not felling well and just had to go make her insides her outsides. With many nerves, I decided to tell her the truth about the Knucklehead Trout, and she seemed hurt by the truth, telling me that clearly the ring was not meant for her to find since Papa did not trust her with the task... It was honestly heart breaking to hear that, but I was honest and did the right thing by my sister.
It is time for bed now, it has indeed been a very long day. Will write again soon, after a well deserved hibernation.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Yeti Hunters
18th of Hammer, 1512 DR
18th of Hammer, 1512 DR
I woke up from an extremely deep hibernation in the most comfy bed, with no idea how I got there... Luna was laying to my right and quickly rolled out of bed, and with a flick of her wrist she cast magic that appeared the repair the broken posts of the bed. I guess we broke the bed with our combined ursan weight last night.
Images of the previous evening began to sift through my head as I groggily slumped out of bed, it was far earlier in the morning than I am used to waking up. I vaguely remembered walking with Luna up the guard Dirk. She cast some magic on him to make him friendly, then suddenly I started seeing multiple of him... I'm not sure if that was Luna's magic or just the alcohol Dyleth bought me. She convinced him to show her the letter from the ceremony, and also told us it just arrives each day. He also mentioned Speaker Duvessa Shane, the chieftain of the Brynshander, and Sheriff Markham Southwell, the elder warrior of the Brynshander. Drik said that Speaker Shane's family had never been chosen for the lottery.
The rest is all a blur, but based on the beautiful room I am in, I imagine that I was able to successfully pick the best of Mr. Sax's rooms! There was a lovely, big, private fire for us, as well as a comfy bed and bathtub. The true height of luxury! After fixing the bed, Luna decided to take a bath, so I hung out by the fire and made the little fire bear I like to play with. It's a fun little trick. I know it is just fire, but I think I will name the little guy Cinder; he makes me very happy whenever I get to practice my fire tricks.
Once we were ready, we went out into the lobby to meet up with the gnomes that tasked us with the quest. We spoke with them for a while and chitchatted with patrons of the inn and Mr. Sax. Hruna informed us that if we kill the yeti that gobbled up his friend, that he would award us with more the shiny pieces. He also gave us snow shoes, but I don't think he knows that Luna and I have special feet that help with the snow. We also spoke with him about the iron ingots they left behind, and he told us that they were meant to be delivered to the Black Iron Blades store, and they might be able to give us even better discounts if we deliver them! That means I might be able to get even more leverage in acquiring a warhammer!
While we were talking, I began to overhear the conversation of some tavern patrons. They spoke of another town, called the Targos. An expedition from that town headed to Kelvin's Cairn but they never returned. Apparently they are sending a search party out for them, and after speaking with these townsfolk, Liam and Aiden, it seems that if we help out, we could make some useful connections in the Targos. Very helpful knowledge indeed! Who would have thought there were so many towns in Ten Towns? I wonder if they all are as big as the Brynshander? The dwarves seemed upset whenever I mentioned the idea of helping though, and said that we need to aid them first. However, they said that if we help them first, they will help us with the search party. Sounds like a good deal to me!
After leaving the tavern, Luna tried to claim that Volcano Man is not real! I still cannot even believe she said that, but it is okay, I forgive her, she is just being silly. Even Dyleth had my back though about Volcano Man! I really think we are starting to become fast friends. We made our way towards the edge of town, arguing the whole way, when Luna pointed out a stables full of Axebeak!
We made our way inside and got to finally meet the incredible giant chickens that Mr. Bolt had told us about yesterday. It was amazing, they were so gentle and nice to us. However, the stable keeper was a big meanie, and wanted us to pay fifty of the shiny yellow pieces to rent just one of the birdies! Absolutely ridiculous, highway robbery... hopefully one day we can afford it. But, when we were inside we met another elf! Her name is Electra Leidon, and she seems really cool. She is a noble elf, and can make magic with fire just like me! We invited her to join us, and she said she would come along! So very exciting to have another member of our new little clan.
We being walking the long way to the Dwarf valley, chatting with Dyleth and Electra the whole time. However, eventually we get to a clearing, hear faintly hear growls over the howling wind. I briefly notice the flash of a white furry arm behind a tree, and the suddenly we get attacked by two Yetis! Myself Electra begin to throw flames at the yetis to try and defend our friends. I was very impressed by her fire! Perhaps I am not as rash and obsessed with fire as Momma always said! Though, to our shock, Solana called the Yetis off though, and revealed she was raised by the Yetis. She then started talking about some more important missions she had, honestly we had no idea what she was talking about... then just as quickly as the yetis arrived, she left with them.
We felt a bit betrayed, but continued to explore and move along the path, eventually encountering a blizzard. It came on so suddenly, and within minutes Luna and Electra got lost in the snow, and we were separated. I throw fire out into the air, crying out for Luna, but she did not respond. I start panicking and looking for her, it was my job to protect her and I lost her. I felt so scared and guilty; I was worried I was going to lose her for good... Dyleth tried to calm me down as I frantically searched for my sister. He tied a rope between us so that we could not get separated, and we both continued to call out into the void for our friends. I start to smell the area for Luna or the pastries Electra had, and with luck, I managed to find Electra because of the food crumbs on her clothes.
Once the three of use were together, we tied her onto our rope, and we all cried out for Luna. Electra sent her magical messages, and I burned some of Electra's pastries in order to make a strong smell for Luna to follow. I continued to cry for her, and I could faintly hear "yoo-hoo" in the distance, so I started chasing after the sounds of Luna. After what felt like hours, we eventually found her after the storm had lessened a bit. I ran at her and tackled her with the biggest bear-hug I have ever given her.
Never in my life did I feel as scared as I did today, not even when I was alone against the winter wolf or the remorhaz. I can't ever let her get in such a dangerous situation alone again. I have to protect her... I am too tired to keep writing for now, I will update after a brief rest. Hopefully we will reach the wagon soon. It seems as though today will be a very long day.
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: Arrival at the Brynshander
17th of Hammer, 1512 DR
17th of Hammer, 1512 DR
We've made it to Brynshander, hurray! After much travel we arrived at the massive gates of the town, it is quite the sight to behold. As I approached, the guards began to question us about what business we had in at the town, so obviously I told them about how we need to be heading to the Northlook Inn so we can get nice beds and sing Jaja Dingdong. They seemed confused that I was excited to be there, perhaps I did not communicate my intentions as I thought? I really need to learn how to better speak with the different peoples of the world...
Any who, they let us in the Brynshander, and my goodness it was massive! I had no clue they made communities so large! Luna was very shocked too, I could tell. She even started walking up to houses and peering inside to see what it was like to live in a town. Hopefully she got a lot of good material for her encyclopedia. But, I was more interested in this massive fire Bolt told me about, so I made a flame in my hand to light the road, and I chased after Dyleth to find the inn. Of course, I smiled and waved at everyone who passed by, as future chieftain, I have to make sure I am very friendly and bring honor to the tribe. Shortly after, we reached the town square and found a big billboard with locations written on it: to the north-east is the House of the Morning Lord, to the south is the Townhall, to the east is the Eastern Gate, and to the north is the Northern Gate and the Northlook Inn.
I was filled with such excitement when I saw that sign, and I immediately started rushing to the north. On the way there, we noticed a sign for "Black Iron Blades", and they said they have the cheapest prices in town! I wonder if I can find any sort of great-hammer there? I really want to learn to wield one, like the great ancestor warriors of our tribe. I knocked on the door, but a man called out and said they were closed until tomorrow. I guess I will be going back in the morning!
Eventually, we made it to the end of town and the Northlook Inn awaited us. I was shocked by how huge it was! I rushed into the building and was blown away by the nice wooden walls, and I immediately took a seat. It was then that Dyleth pointed out we were only in an "entry-room", and he led the way into a beautiful chamber! It was so warm, with people inside chatting, a roaring fire, and a loaded bar in the back. I ran inside and took a seat in front of the fire immediately, and it was then that I noticed a fish on the mantle, a Knucklehead Trout... the exact fish I have been looking for. Then, the fish lifted its head off the wall and began singing to me! It sang the following: "There's a place I like to go, farther up the rivers flow, where it is I do not know, must be under all that snow". Something tells me that this fish is the one which stole the signet ring from father, and I need to get to the bottom of it, but secretly, so as to not let Luna know.
As I stared at the fish, I noticed that Luna was speaking with the barkeeper. He said his name was Scram-sax, or Mr. Sax as Luna had been calling him. She asked him about the singing fish, and Mr. Sax said a druid named Maverick enchanted it and gave it to him about 15 years ago. That is a long time ago, and I wonder if this is indeed the same fish? I will need to speak with him about it later at an opportune time.
Luna then began to talk to him about renting rooms, and she called me over to help negotiate with Mr. Sax. After some time, we convinced him to let us have a room at 1gp per night, but we had to choose the room at random! A good enough deal I suppose, I don't really know how much rooms cost to be honest.
After discussing the rooms, Luna asked Mr. Sax about Jaja Dingdong, and though he didn't know, the bars patrons did! So, we broke out into song and it was such a fun time! It really felt like we were home for a couple of minutes. Dyleth also started warming up to me, he bought me a drink, and I cooked onions for him. I think we are starting to be good friends! My first elf-friend, so exciting.
Later on, when I was chatting with some townsfolk, I noticed a group of gnomes walk up and start talking to Luna! It was incredible, I had never seen them before. But, it turns out I over-estimated how large gnomes are, because these were actually dwarves! Gnomes must be really tiny it seems, like as small as the Isfugl perhaps? Any who, these dwarves where named Hruna, Korux, and Storn. They were apparently the only survivors of a group tasked to deliver iron ingots to Brynshander. They were attacked by a Yeti, and also succombed to frostbite! Their friend Oobuk was torn apart by the yeti, Hrun lost his right ear, Korux lost three fingers and a toe, and Storn has a terrible cold. They requested we retrieve their sled and supplies, and slay the yeti, in exchange for payment in the form of gems! Now, that is a payment that I can understand!
The dwarves told us that the Yeti is located somewhere in Kelvin's Cairn, a mountain to the north east which is normally visible during the day. If we follow the path out of the town, we will find a valley called Dwarven Valley, and the cart will be there. We plan to leave on this mission in the morning, and the dwarves will give us more information then. This is really exciting, it will Luna and I's first real adventure, and I am so eager to prove myself to my warrior ancestors!
Once the dwarves left, Mr. Sax told use about a "ceremony" which happens in the town square every night that would be occurring in the next few minutes. Luna led the group and rushed out of the tavern, so I took the opportunity to speak with Mr. Sax about the fish. However, he claimed there was nothing special about it and knew nothing about the ring. I believe him, but he also says he never reached down its gullet before... Perhaps I can sneak a peek down its throat later.
We headed outside and found that the ceremony was not happy or exciting. It turns out that every night, they sacrifice a town member to the goddess Auriel in hopes she brigs back the stars and lets the night come to a close. Tonight a man was chosen. The guards read a passage out and then the sacrifice began. The man stripped naked and began to walk out of the town, presumably to freeze to death in the cold. After the ceremony, an angry man started talking to Luna about how we did not treat the ceremony with respect, but the whole ordeal did not seem to be very respectful at all... He thinks they are doing a good thing for Auriel, and that they have been doing it for ten years. He also mentioned it is a lottery system, but they don't know who runs it. Apparently, there are some families who have never had to do a sacrifice. I think there could be a much better way for getting Auriel to remove the cold, perhaps giving her fire? There also seems to be some corruption in the town's leadership...
Our moods were certainty diminished after the ceremony, so we returned back the tavern to head to bed for the night. I am very much looking forward to picking a room and sleeping in a bed! This is enough writing for today, I'm sure I will have plenty to add tomorrow!
~ Soot Isbjorn
Soot's Journal: New Beginnings
17th of Hammer, 1512 DR
17th of Hammer, 1512 DR
Today my sister and I Luna began our greatest adventure to date! We are planning to discover the reason why the Isfugl decided to give us the nature powers, and why they led us to the temple in the mysterious arctic storm. We heard rumor that the people of the Icewind Dale would be able to lead us in the right direction, so we found a human man named Bolt, who could lead us in his carriage to the Icewind Dale. However, we were almost late to the carriage because silly Luna decided she needed to curl her fur before we left! Luckily, we made it before anyone noticed we were late, thank goodness!
In the cart there were elves! Luna and I were so shocked, I didn't honestly think they were real. They even have the pointy little ears! The two we met, Solana Lustina and Dyleth Galadon seem like really nice people, even if they have never seen ursans before. I think that we are going to be great friends, and maybe they can even help us find the temple!
On the trip, Mr. Bolt told us a lot about the Icewind Dale. He said that the people call it Ten Towns, because there are ten towns. Human people seem to be really lazy at naming their villages! Solana mentioned that she has spent a lot of time in the Ten Towns, but she doesn't like talking about it. She said that she is the daughter of her clan's chieftain, so she is lot like Luna and I, even if she is a lot smaller, and prettier.
We spent a lot of time talking with our new friends, and they wanted to know what sort of skills we had, so needless to say I obviously began to show them my super cool fires. But, it really scared the doggies, so we had to take a small break. It was when we were stopped that Luna noticed there are no stars here, which is strange because there are so many out in the wilds we are from! Bolt said that there are no stars here, because the goddess of cold Auriel. Not really sure why she took the stars away, but maybe if I can meet this Auriel I can use my fire to warm her up and she will put the stars back! I think that would make Luna very happy for sure.
After a short while, we continued our journey and kept chatting. As we were talking, there began to be a lot of rumbling... Luna and I could tell immediately because of our experience in the wild, that there was about to be an avalanche! The doggies pulling our cart began sprinting, and we could barely keep pace with the collapsing snow drifts, and we were almost entirely covered! Luckily, Bolt is a very good driver, and he kept us from becoming little popsicles. Then he starting getting nervous about his career, but I reassured him that though he can't leave, neither can we, so he could easily keep driving us when we need transport! I wouldn't mind giving him some of the shiny coins in exchange for the extra trips, but he said that if we couldn't find him, we could rent "Axebeaks" to ride. Apparently they are huge birds, but they can't fly for some strange reason, doesn't really sound like a normal bird to me but okay.
Once Bolt calmed down, he started telling us more about the Ten Towns, apparently he is taking us to huge town called Brynshander. He said they have this huge tavern called Northlook with a massive fire! I can't wait to see it, oh and he also said that we can have our own beds at this tavern! It must be a very wealthy place; I hope Luna and I have enough of the shiny coins to cover the payments.
It looks like we are coming up on the Brynshander here soon, so I need to put away my journal, but I will update it soon will all my new adventures!
~ Soot Isbjorn
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