Codename: Sleeping Alley, Report the Sixteenth

General Summary

We met the Alley Sleepers in the droning post of danger, about to undertake a ritual to bring forth an ancient sledgewain through the crust of The Icehost. Brightstep, the enigmatic one-time Bridgewalker, will be conducting this rite, but is expecting other things to come up through the ice, too, and so she needs the  protection of the Sleepers. All of this will happen at twilight, so the gang had some time to prepare themselves. Hama vu Farlight spent this time shaping a magnificent plinth of ice from which Brightstep will cast this spell. Aletha of the Flintclaw blessed all those in attendance, perhaps with the extra guidance of Xun. Rieta kept to herself, presumably documenting this area for future cartographic efforts. And Grex the Indomitable did what he does best, hype folks up for this epic event. Brightstep figured that this party needed bolstering, so she summoned forth one of her ancestors, Spiderflab the Mighty, who wields Dinglefang the Dread Sword. 

The Ritual 

At twilight, Brightstep's long, arduous undertaking finally commenced. She spoke in languages unfamiliar to most, with only Hama picking up bits of broken words. Soon, though, the Sleepers were forced to focus their attention elsewhere, as two giant winter wolves appeared out of the mist. These were quickly dispatched, with Grex mocking the wolves throughout. Just a real roast session.
Brightstep, however, got deeper into the rite, speaking not just in strange languages, but also bleeding a inky, thick, star-flecked fluid from her nose, ear, mouth, and eyes. The crew had little time to think about this as two remorhaz broke through the cracking ice. This fight was a bit more challenging, as these creatures spewed hot--like, fire hot--blood on any who attacked them. Still, though, the Sleepers were victorious. Any downtime they had between this phase of the ritual and the next was spent healing up.
Hama began to hear a repeated phrase in Brightstep's utterings, something along the lines of "break the sky." But, as he pondered what that might mean, a freezing wind heralded the arrive of a young white dragon! Each of our heroes took significant damage from this dragon's bitter breath and a brutal martial contest began. It was touch and go there for a minute--Spinderflab was on his last legs, but, apparently "thinkin' about spiders" brought him back--but, in the end, the Sleepers will live to see another twilight.
After the battle, it was time to see what they had done, which was raise a goddamn town through the ice. Brightstep--noticeably aged and more feeble--once again put aside her name, calling this ancient sledgewain Brightstep and dedicating the remainder of her life to its study, maintenance, and repair. Let this be a lesson to the Alerki Ascendency--the Icehost is not without powers beyond their comprehension. Hama, for his part, found an incredible suit of Anaxauroch Armor--bone armor--in the ruins that fit him like it was made for him. There was also an interesting Candle of Anti-Light hiding out there, too. Nice!

Back to the Bee

With those visions accomplished, it was time to head back to The Ivory Bee. The trip back was thankfully uneventful. Svo'Kool was waiting for the rest of the Sleepers upon their return and regaled them with his solo adventures vis a vis The Worm.
Svo's investigation did not uncover any major information, but it did lead him back to the place he knows well, that strange building he guarded at The Worm's behest. Turns out, The Worm has vacated those premises. A quick intimidation of the local clay farmers revealed that they just "headed south." Hmmm!
This joyous reunion was interrupted by the arrival of Boilmark, teamster and clandestine member of Silverwalk. She had news for the Sleepers--the Ascendency member--one Preceptor Osben-- that destroyed Copperfelling is serious bad news. He is ruthless even by Preceptor standards, and, worse yet, he has a new target--the Alley Sleepers. This could be very bad indeed. 
She also told them that "their friend who likes apples" ("Smallcastle") wants to meet them in Nineboons and handed the crew a scroll with a strange pictogram on it--the word INVERTEBRATE in the shape of a crescent, along with the words Hullmost's Home. Our heroes took a surprisingly long time deciphering what this meant, but finally arrived at this conclusion: Smallcastle has information both about The Worm and The Crescent. Are they interconnected? Who knows! Time to head to Nineboons to find out.

To Nineboons

Rieta used her watercraft prowess to navigate down the Pimeweld to Nineboons. A quick docking at Boon Harbor later, and they were in the city. Aletha, perhaps envious of Hama's new bony accruement, decided that she wanted some armor, too. So it was off to Pime Iron to see a blacksmith about some plate. The smith she met, however, was the irascible Fikrom Alehide, who almost kicked the crew out of her shop before revealing that she is either a member of, or a supporter of, the Brass Lamb, and thus, she cut Aletha a sweetheart deal on some plate armor. Nice! Being hunted by a indefatigable Ascendancy has its perks. 
Nineboons is famous for its titular boons, so the crew decided to check these out. First up, the Boonwell. Hama was deeply unimpressed with this place, deriding the tourist nature of its communicants. Nevertheless, after being assured by Svo'Kool that SOMETHING is happening with this water, he grabbed a flask of it. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
Hullmost Home is an inn and tavern over in the Woodside district of the city, but that will have to wait, as the Boonfire is calling. This conflagration is renowned for the visions it sometimes provides to those who stare into the flames. Our heroes, being heroes, stared long and deep. They, of course, saw visions.
And that's where we left it. We'll see what these visions hold during our next session.

Rewards Granted

Candle of Anti-Light
Anaxauroch Armor
Flask of Boonwell water

Missions/Quests Completed

Operation: IceRise

Character(s) interacted with

an erstwhile Bridgewalker, formally calling herself Brightstep
Clay farmers
Boilmark, member of Silverwalk 
Fikrom Alehide, blacksmith and proprietress of Pime Iron in Nineboons

Report Date

10 Jan 2021

Primary Location

The Icehost

Secondary Location

Nineboons