26 - 10/14/24 : Death Wish

"At the very least... is my blood warm?"

Sephek Kaltro

The Lonesome Few trudged through the unforgiving, frozen landscape of the Sapphire Isle, surviving its sheer cold solely through their cold-abating equipment and Ragna's Midwinter Blessing. As they ascended the giant steps up to the fortress of Grimskalle, they encountered the fortresses' first line of defense; two frost druids commanding an abominable yeti and two coldlight walkers.
After dispatching the defenders, the party entered the fortress itself, finding it eerily empty. Within one room, an elderly frost giant stood guard over a treasure room; despite his near blindness and deafness brought on by old age, the giant rose to his feet and greeted his potential death as a long-awaited friend.
Ragna decided to fight the giant one-on-one to give him an honorable final battle. Despite the giant's debilitating old age, he managed to put up a vicious fight, but was eventually struck down. As he lay dying, the giant told the party some of Grimskalle's history. The fortress was once a home for frost giants of Clan Vassavicken in ages past, but had long since been lost to La Saia's control. He also warned the party that La Saia was not at the fortress, but could return at any moment.
Exploring further, the party came across various rooms sculpted of ice, most of which were eerily empty or housing only traps and debris. It seemed that La Saia had a keen interest in preserving the old fortress as she had found it, as was fitting her love of stillness.
At the top of the fortress, the party found the empty nest of La Saia's pet roc. It contained various valuables and treasures gathered by the roc; most curious of them was a silver dragon egg, which Melfina excitedly gathered for herself and kept safe on a Tenser's floating disc.
The party then descended to the deepest levels of the fortress, finding themselves in a strange open room shaped like a large snowflake. Cold mist began to gather, and the last defenders of the Codicil of White presented themselves; the firbolg Orizana, and the armored frost-wraith Sephek Kaltro appeared to stop the party at any costs. Deadly combat soon broke out.
Orizana and Sephek proved to be deadly opponents. Orizana's control over ice and the deadly necrotic magics granted to her by her frozen goddess harried the Lonesome Few and made the battlefield a deadly maze, while Sephek's lethal lance Black Ice threatened his opponent's very lives, all whilst he leapt and soared through the air at incredible speeds.
Melfina and Veszaltyrr combined their magics together, with the latter creating a globe of invulnerability to protect himself and his student from Orizana's necrotic assault while the former loosed her most powerful fire spells. A particularly deadly fireball engulfed Orizana, ending the frost druid's threat.
Alithkav and Ragna engaged Sephek together, but even Alith's thick armor and Ragna's endless endurance were strained by Sephek's deadly lance and inhuman swiftness. Ragna was nearly struck down, but summoned the last of his will to endure and sent his chardalyn heart into overdrive to remain standing against Sephek's onslaught. Alith took advantage of Sephek's focus to land a critical flurry of slashes with Ashenglow, and sent Sephek down for good.
To the group's surprise, Sephek did not simply disappear, and began bleeding out on the ice. It seemed as though the last of his soul's energy had been used in this final summoning, and his final death freed him from the Frostmaiden's service. He begged the party to give Dahlia his final farewell, and asked if his blood, at least, was warm. Alith gave Sephek a comforting affirmative, allowing the frost wraith to breathe his last.
Orizana spoke her final regrets to the party, only expressing grief that she had not been successful in destroying the civilized folk of Frostgale Taiga whom she despised so deeply. As she succumbed to her wounds, her own ghostly spirit soon rose, and proceeded to reveal the nature of the room the Lonesome Few found themselves in.
The ghostly firbolg revealed that the Codicil of White awaited the party behind one final door, but four trials would have to be passed before they could open this last obstacle; the Tests of Cruelty, Endurance, Isolation, and Preservation. The party looked to each door, and decided to take a moment before subjecting themselves to the Frostmaiden's tests…

Portraits

LA SAIA, THE FROSTMAIDEN

Queen of the Ice and Snow and Mistress of Cold and Stillness, La Saia is a minor deity whose domain grants her a great deal of power over the freezing climes of the Frostgale Taiga. To unknown ends, she takes to the sky every night atop a roc and traces the auroras in the skies above, blocking out the warming rays of the sun and giving rise to the blight known as the Everlasting Rime.
The Lonesome Few has made an enemy of La Saia and the cult that worships her, for to oppose the Eternal Winter is to oppose the Frostmaiden. One thing is certain; La Saia will not loosen her glacial grip on the Taiga without a fight.

---

THE LONESOME FEW

Ragna Íssbur - A brusque, uncompromising human barbarian who is quick to anger and who is always eager to put an axe in the face of any problems. Ragna's heart was replaced with an orb of fire-infused chardalyn shortly afterr birth, which has resulted in Ragna's ability to control his own blood as a boiling weapon. Capable of transforming parts of their body to ice, Ragna is unaffected by the excruciating cold that holds all of Frostgale Taiga in its grasp, and is thus the perfect warrior to stand against the horrors that thrive in the ice and snow.
Ragna was once of the Broken Blade tribe, but became estranged from their people after their father, King Siegmar, tried to sacrfiice Ragna to La Saia to avert a prophecy. Still, Ragna has sworn to rebuild the Broken Blade from the ashes of King Siegmar's failures, and to honor the memory of her fallen siblings.

Melfina Eres - A mysterious drow wizard who draws magic from the air like paint across a canvas. Melfina has been stranded in Frostgale Taiga ever since the Everlasting Rime has begun, as she was left behind by her mentor who disappeared soon before it began. Inquisitive and well-read, her arcane knowledge may be key in ending the winter. Wielding the powerful artifact known as the Ring of Winter, Melfina is perhaps closer to La Saia the Frostmaiden than any mortal in the Taiga.
After years of searching, Melfina was finally reunited with her master, Veszaltyrr Oussndar, and her confidence has soared as a result. She is fully committed to plundering the depths of the lost city of Hollowfaust, whose secrets may be the key to ending the Eternal Winter.

Alithkav - A githyanki artificer and 'daughter' of the githyanki god-queen, the lich Vlaakiith. Alith was an engineer aboard the pirate spelljammer, Zerthimon's Arrow, before it crashed after being trapped in La Saia's domain. Stranded in the Snowdrift Flatlands in what might be the worst time to be so in Lloegyr's history, Alith now must put her might and mind to surviving the winter; all while looking over her shoulder for enemies seeking her demise.
Having slain her ceremorphosized captain, she is now truly the last survivor of Zerthimon's Arrow. After a brief time away from the party tracking the arrival of a githyanki spelljammer, she has rejoined the Lonesome Few, and intends to fight for her freedom from both her people and from La Saia's frozen gaze.

Veszaltyrr Oussndar - A dark elven sorcerer who wields powerful magics from the lawful plane of Mechanus. Veszaltyrr is a wandering philosopher and scholar who seeks powerful magical artifacts and lost spells in pursuit of his ultimate goal; the complete and utter destruction of the drow goddess Lolth. Having long been Melfina's mentor and master in the arcane arts, Veszaltyrr led Melfina to the Frostgale Taiga shortly before the onset of the Eternal Winter.
Two years ago, Veszaltyrr attempted to breach the defenses of the lost city of Hollowfaust, resulting in his trauamatic and sudden death, and it took the same amount of time for him to find and rejoin Melfina in his weakened cloned body. Having reunited with his student, Veszaltyrr has joined the party to seek Hollowfaust's secrets and the Winter's end.

Peanut & Blamo - Discovered in the downed nautiloid the Id Ascendant, Peanut is a miniature giant space hamster who has taken a liking to Alith and her inventions; in particular the mobile cannon Blamo. Despite all common knowledge leading most to believe that hamsters cannot handle complicated machinery, Peanut has settled into her role as the 'pilot' of Blamo, operating the powerful mini-cannon from a sealed cockpit within. Blamo, already a deadly armament when guided by Alith, is now more precise and mobile with Peanut at the helm.

---

NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS

Angajuk - An awakened sperm whale that calls the Valruua Sea home. He is an old friend of Oyaminartok, who summoned him by ringing an old bell on the seashore. He carries an old ship hull on his back, encased in a magical bubble, upon which the party rode as he swam through the sea to the Sapphire Isle.

Orizana - A firbolg frost druid who serves La Saia, the Frostmaiden. The daughter of the old druid Gleha, Orizana had a falling out with her mother after dedicating herself to the destruction of civilization in the Frostgale Taiga to avenge her fallen kinsfolk. She stood against the Lonesome Few for a final time in the fortress of Grimskalle, and was slain by Melfina's superior magics.

Sephek Kaltro - The father of Dahlia Kaltro, Sephek worked as a caravan guard based out of Whiteridge and spent many years out on the roads between the Ten Towns. He and several companions tried to seek an end to Eternal Winter, but Sephek was slain and his soul claimed by the Frostmaiden, and he was forever consigned to serve her by spilling the blood of her enemies as a deadly Frost Wraith.
In a third and final battle against the Lonesome Few, Sephek was finally and truly defeated. With the last of his soul spent, Sephek faded away for good, free from the Frostmaiden's control, his final words pleading for peace with his daughter and an assurance that he was still himself after all he had been forced to do.