Session 6: On the Road Again

General Summary

After catching their breath and tending to their wounded the party continued west towards Lonelywood. With luck finally returning to them they managed to traverse the remainder of the forest without any violent encounters, only having a brief encounter with a hare which Natali befriended. Immediately upon entering town the adventurers made a beeline for Nimsy Huddle's house to collect their reward. With proof of their kill presented Nimsy made short work of paying out the agreed upon bounty of 100gp. The party stayed a while and discussed the encounter and the strange site they had found at the end. Nimsy seemed to have no knowledge of such a place within the forest, but worried this Druid that remained could well be the force behind the attacks on her town. With what the party had told her she believed this druid might have caused the white moose to attack her people and with the druid still alive she feared another beast might well be in their future. She requested the party deal with the larger root of the problem. The party was a bit apprehensive about their chances against this druid, the near death of Veld and Peh'Tar seemingly shaking their confidence. They made no promises but decided to stay in Nimsy's house another night. The rest of the day was spent turning their spoils into coin and supplies. They sold the head to the local tavern, The Lucky Liar, managing to haggle up from 10 gp to 20, then back down to 14. Grimsby paid to have the moose hide prepared and preserved into two bolts for future conversion into hide products. Though they would have to return in a few days to retrieve them. Veld managed to find a shop specializing in scrimshaw, The Happy Scrimshander, and purchased enough tools and supplies to get him started in the trade. They were also able to unload their geodes mined in Termalaine. Natali bought a dog and sled. She changed the dog's name to Otto. The following morning, after gathering up their various supplies and dog, the party set off for Bryn Shander. Only briefly did they stop in Termalaine and Targos to ask if there was any news pertaining to their various people of interest. After a long 8 hours of travel along the roads they finally arrived at the hilltop city of Bryn Shander. By far the largest city in Icewind Dale, the party only made it a few hundred feet into town before stopping into a tavern, The Northlook. The density of the crowd seemed too much for Galanodel, who remained outside. Inside Bhur and Natali investigated the various public postings on the board while Veld managed to nearly get into a fight with a taxidermized fish. While acquiring various job postings Bhur and Natalie were approached by a trio of stocky dwarves who seemed desperate and were looking for someone willing to help. Hruna and her companions Korux and Storn were tasked with delivering a sled of iron ingots to Bryn Shander. Along the way they were attacked by a Yeti, who slew their comrade Oobok while they fled. They offered the six bloodstones they carried as payment for delivery of the ingots and sled. They also offered the loan of their pack animals, with collateral to ensure their return. Having travelled much already this day the party agrees to meet the dwarves in the morning by the north gate. Taking the remainder of the evening to find food, settle into their lodgings, and take a brief tour of the city the party eventually found their rest. Early the next morning the party gathered at the north gate, taking possession of two axebeaks to help haul the sled back. They travelled out into the tundra, on a beeline for Kelvin's Cairn, looking for the abandoned sled. Part way through their journey a blizzard swept down from the Cairn and delayed the party. The party chose to dig in and wait out the storm, huddling together and enduring hours of howling winds and biting cold. With no good sense of time they waited, hoping the blizzard would pass before they did. Eventually the blizzard moved on and the stars came out. Digging themselves out of their shelter the party continued on towards the cairn. Eventually they found the sight of the ambush, with the dismembered and disembowled corpse of Oobok frozen in place. They did not find the sled but instead found fresh tracks of a half dozen small humanoids wearing snowshoes, and the telltale lines of a sled being pulled away. With the tracks fresh and their quarry weighed down by a sled of ingots the chase was on.