Session 13: Encounters in the Snow

General Summary

The party set out in the morning with a few extra days rations to cover their estimated six day round-trip journey to the Cackling Chasm. The first days journey went by surprisingly pleasantly. Fair weather and an air of adventure had them making good time. As they set up camp for the evening however they all realized the tundra provided little in the way of shelter. Adding camping tents to their shopping list upon returning to town the continued on towards the southeast. During their second day of travel the party noticed a looming blizzard approaching from the Reghed Glacier during the brief hours of light. The party managed to get a full day's travel in before the blizzard finally hit. They dug into the snow and built up what cover they could before settling in to weather the storm. After some time they began to notice a blueish light coming from within the storm and the more curious members sought out what the source might be. Veld, Natali, and Bhur through Snowball investigated the source of the strange light. They found a pair of reindeer with glowing antlers some distance away from the camp. Michael Snowfield was able to make contact telepathically with the reindeer and found to his surprise that he could communicate with them. When asked of their intelligence and glowing antlers they could not remember a time before, but they did speak of eating from a magic tree. As Veld and Natali approached the reindeer unaware of this conversation Michael was having they saw a large coniferous tree around which the two reindeer were standing. The rest of the party set forth to join them and they all saw this sight, as well as a snow owl perched high up in the tree branches. They approached this woodland party question as they went. The owl was the least helpful, only replying to their questions with various "hoo"s. At a final "Hoo!" from the owl the situation changed violently. The two reindeer attacked as well as the tree itself. The owl darted up into the tree out of sight as the party began to do battle with the tree and reindeer in the blizzard. Suddenly a magical beam of moonlight shone down on the party, a telltale sign of a druid nearby. Veld and Grimsby went to work dispatching the reindeer while Bhur chased up into the tree in search of the owl, finding a frost druid instead. As an enlarged Veld toppled the tree and Michael went to work burning it with magic the rest of the party made short work of the survivors. Baffled by the reindeer's betrayal the party harvested them for meat, heading back to their camp and getting temporarily lost along the way. Settling in for the night with a fresh meal of reindeer meat the party tried to not think about how they were conversing with them a few hours earlier. The next day only afforded them a few hours of travel before the blizzard once again engulfed them. Not wanting to risk separation or wandering off course the party immediately dug in to wait. After several hours the party noticed a band of goliath warriors plodding through the blizzard nearby. Veld went to hail the group and found them to be members of the Thuunlakalaga clan from Wyrmdoom Crag. They seemed not to be hostile despite recognizing him as coming from Skytower Shelter, instead challenging the group to a friendly competition of athletics. After much debate a game was finally chosen at random to be boulder rolling. The goliath party set out to find suitable boulders as the party followed, finding the path they carved to be easy enough to follow and traverse. Big Veld, Galanodel, Natali in ox form, and Grimsby squared off against the four goliath warriors. It was a close competition, the goliaths winning out by only a few inches. Appreciative of the relatively fair competition they agreed to travel with the party for the rest of the day, allowing them to travel during the blizzard. They travelled for several more hours before the lead goliath halted the party, turning to the rest of the party and warning them with a single word, "Giant".

Campaign

Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frost Maiden

Protagonists