Theoden looks to Akulayok, a bit surprised while also impressed. "I see you are catching on to the Varisian tongue, our long-ranged ally. Very good. As far as who the Frozen Shadows are, I believe I will let Pavel or Garand explain them; they have dealt with them on a far more personal level than I have." As a random thought instantly crosses his mind, "Speaking of long range: Would it be a burden to any of you if I were to collect that bow there?" He motions toward the shortbow found within the dragon's loot.
Daeron looks on the shattered eggs with sad eyes. The dragon thought we were responsible for this. Small wonder it attacked the Erutaki. It's a shame that we couldn't resolve this peacefully. The elf wizard clenches his fists tight as anger begins to take a hold on him. "That is my assessment as well, Pavel. The question is who. The hammer suggests an Erutaki party, but something about that seems off." Daeron continues in a tight, clipped tone, "You've hit at the heart of my thoughts as well, Theoden. Whoever did this was able to sneak into the dragon's lair and defeat this poor creature and then seemingly escape detection on the way out? I doubt they'd be so sloppy as to leave a hammer laying around. This reeks of a deliberate plant to throw either us or the dragon off. Who are these Frozen Shadows you're talking about?"
Taking a deep breath, Daeron performs a few mental exercises to calm himself. Looking curiously at Theoden, Daeron prepares to speak but Akulayok manages to ask his question fist. Surprised, the elf wizard sputters nonsensically for a moment before managing to ask, "You can speak Varisian?" Still surprised, Daeron waves absentmindedly to Theoden, "Yes, yes, help yourself to the bow as far as I'm concerned Theoden. I was never trained in their use anyway."
"Eggs broken before you arrive. Many days ago." Akulayok picks up the club and studies it. He looks for markings that might show who owned the club. Is it from his tribe?
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"The subtle deceptions of so-called civilized folk have poisoned my thinking on this matter." Garand says, shaking his head, as if to make the slippery thoughts of treachery and framing someone else for a crime fall from his head. "Someone not of your people may have left this club for the dragon to find, so that her wrath fell upon your village. This seems the least serpentine assumption. But someone *of* your people may have stolen a recognizable tool of a rival, and left it behind as 'proof' that their rival was instead responsible, knowing that there could never be peace between the dragon and the village, and that, eventually, the enraged dragon would have to fall, particularly if they sent a convenient group of adventurers to confront this beast, and this be discovered, causing the downfall of their rival."
"I hope this last idea is too subtle a treachery to be true, and that it is as 'simple' as the club being left by some other clever foe, such as a rival tribe, or some sort of local menace, such as a hag, if there are such this far north."
"Why outsider wish to kill Erutaki people? Maybe enemy tribe?"
He thinks, Who are our enemies?
"Well, the Fruh'Frozen Shadows were a gang in Kalsgard to the suh'south. They were sent by the ruler of Muh'Minkai to watch out for anyone that might challenge his theft of the throne. They killed one of our friends and who knows huh'how many other people. Wuh'we dealt with 'em there, but I wouldn't puh'put it past 'em to have stirred up trouble with the dragon just to make this route even muh'more impossible than it is.", Pavel explains, before loading fistfuls of coin into a sack.
As Theoden moves to pick up the shortbow, he continues to rummage through the other various items. "Pavel speaks accurately. They are a powerful group and will stop at nothing to put an end to any they see as a 'stone wall', if you will, that gets in their way. Oooo! Now this is quite fantastic looking!" He reaches down and picks up the fine longsword. "Do any of you have any objections to me acquiring this remarkable weapon?" He observes it keenly, looking down along the length of the blade from the back of the hilt.
Pavel shrugs.
"I got this guy.", he says, tapping the heirloom sword.
Theoden grins. "Fantastic!" He looks to the sword once again before putting it away. "While our stoic friend makes a valid point, I remain of the opinion the Shadows are behind this. I tend to believe they have far greater means to accomplish such a task, and their reach extends as far as they wish it to."
Daeron listens quietly to the whirlwind of opinions and speculation for a time. After some time, he breaks from his contemplation and says, "It seems that further speculation is probably useless. It could be these Shadows you speak of, a traitor in Akulayok's tribe or some other entity. I'm more concerned by the possibility that the caravan is in danger. It seems prudent to return as swiftly as is reasonable." He begins to assist in packing up the gear, sifting through the hoard for items of magical significance. "If no one objects, I'll give this wand to Manulani. He should be able to get some decent use out of it in combat."
Akulayok says, "This club comes from my tribe. Someone steal club or someone from tribe break dragon eggs. I ask if anyone missing when we return."
When they return, Akulayok will ask around about missing Erutaki. He will inform the leadership that an Erutaki club was found near broken dragon eggs in its home. He will ask Erutaki he thinks could have survived traveling to where they traveled if they broke the eggs looking for their reaction including Tunuaq.
"Let us know what you learn, Akulayok." Theoden then turns his attention to the treasure. "Okay, now to rummage through this and see what else may be of use to us all."
Akulayok says to the council, "I think you for listening. I pray that no more evil is stirred against our people."
Akulayok will take the club to Daeron, "Can your elf magic tell us who used this club to crush the dragon's eggs?"
After thinking a moment, Daeron replies to Akulayok, "Sadly I don't believe I have a spell to accomplish what you wish. Perhaps I can find someone in your tribe who has knowledge of a spell that could accomplish this. Give me some time and I'll see what I can do. My initial guess is that it will be fairly difficult without a more clear connection to the person." Daeron smiles back at their newfound companion before saying, "I assume that means you didn't find anything when you spoke with your tribe? Also, are there any other magic users in the tribe that you can think of?"
Akulayok hunts, practices with his bow, patrols as his tribe needs, and investigates around his tribe to find out who might have destroyed the eggs.
Akulayok will ask Garand, "Have you any magic to find out who's club this is?"
Pavel spends the weeks struggling to learn Tien and finishing Ogre's combat training- more to finally get it done than for any practical reason. Likewise, he hits up Shalelu for some tips on forest lore and guerrilla fighting under the trees, expecting that someday it may be important.
He spends a lot of the harsh winter getting better acquainted with the local spirits- the alcoholic kind, that is.
Noticing Pavel in training... an idea crosses Theoden's mind. "Pavel, I wish to partake of this combat training of yours. My defense is lacking, my offense needs sprucing up, and I tend to find myself upon the ground, bleeding out, far too often. But, on the whole, I do look quite good in battle." He smiles, a gleam of light bouncing off his teeth. "But that apparently does me little good if I wish to remain upright during combat. So teach me everything, please sir! I wish to learn it all. If that is okay, of course. Oh, and um, forgive me, but, I do not know the name of your teacher."
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Garand spends a day after the dragon's death by himself, communing with nature, or strengthening his connection to stag-spirit, or something, but is primarily attempting to find a productive outlet for his uncharacteristic anger at finding that, after an ill-advised mad dash into the worst of winter's fury, that they must now spend three months huddled in this village, that was only found by utter chance, that they could have spent in safer and warmer climes, had reason's call been heeded in the first place.
After setting aside his own unproductive feelings, letting them blow away upon the bitter wind, howling their way across the ice fields, he finds his mind turning to how to best serve the 'community' of both his fellow travelers, and their hosts-by-necessity, all thrust into this enforced co-habitation, and how to manage any friction that might arise.
He distracts himself over the months that come by using his magics and his Survival skills to provide food for himself and his companions, so that the lengthy stay does not impact the food reserves of the village (or deplete their own rations). Every day that the weather permits, he hunts, and uses as much of his magic as he can to conjure food, purify that already in storage, reduce his own need for fodder, etc.
His other talents will be shared as freely, with traveler or villager, particularly his gift for causing chilled or battered flesh to be re-invigorated.
On any given day where he knows there is to be major work done in the village, he'll attempt to aid by greatly increasing the effective strength of the working animals (ant haul) or to otherwise ease work (lighten objects or snow shape).
Otherwise, he'll be on the hunt, most days, with at least half of his available spell slots bent towards producing food or stretching food resources, with the occasional 'utility' effect like read weather.
He will try to accompany village hunters, if allowed, so that they learn to work together, but will make a point of not learning the local language, communicating silently by hand gesture, as hunters often do, even in climates where the mouth is not shrouded in layers of warming fur. As he will explain (via tongues, although he won't prepare that spell every day), he need not learn their language, because he and his companions are leaving when the winds and snows allow. He wants the villagers (through the hunters he works with) to be assured that he and his companions have no desire to remain and interfere in the ways of the village, and that only the will of the storm keeps them here, for this season. (Which might contradict what their local 'wind-speaker' is telling them, that 'the winds' don't want us here...) If there seems to be resistance, he'll devote a day or two towards 'public relations,' using spells like;
Cultural Adaptation
Enhanced Diplomacy
Tap Inner Beauty
Eagle's Splendor
to augment his logical arguments, reinforced by simple observation that the harsh winter is quite obviously the reason the company is stuck here for the winter, and that anyone able to see the weather out there can tell that the 'winds' aren't exactly encouraging us to leave, no matter what anyone says on the matter.
Ultimately, he doesn't want to turn any of the locals against their spiritual leader, but will seize any opportunity to talk with the shaman, and attempt to reason with him, and get him to see the advantage of allowing his people to benefit from our temporary visit, before speeding us on our way, so that things can get back to normal. If, by example, using his own abilities to provide for and heal and make life less harsh for both traveler and villager alike, he can provoke the shaman into 'stepping up his game' and also proving his value to his people, by offering similar guidance and support, all the better. He'd rather leave this place with a religious leader (or whatever faith) who is pulling with the community, and helping his followers to thrive in this harsh climate, and not one who is keeping people scared and hungry to prop up his own sad little kingdom of skin huts in an arctic wasteland.
But, that falls upon said shaman to be reasonable. Nine times out of ten, men will embrace reason only when all other options are exhausted, and so Garand will continue to purify our food supplies daily, for when the fool tries to poison us or, more likely, poison his own people's stored food and blame us for it, or whatever scorpion-in-the-fable self-defeating nonsense the dude tries to use to turn folk against us and secure his own cushy job.
Garand wants to leave things better than he found them, but is not naïve, and is prepared to leave this village with a new shaman, who sees their role as a responsibility to the people, and not an opportunity to exploit and manipulate them, if the old one's nature proves resistant to reason.
Theoden grows bored with being unable to leave for such a time, yet remains patient until it's time to explore on.
Finding himself lacking a peer, Daeron feels somewhat adrift and aimless over the course of the winter. The months he normally would have spent searching out fellow arcanists and negotiating the sharing of knowledge seems doomed to be spent on more mundane activities.
Spending a few days collecting his thoughts and beginning to learn the rudiments of the Erutaki language from Akulayok (), Daeron eventually decides to focus on mastering the languages of the elemental planes and then of Tien itself. Some time going over his resources also leads him to think his time would be well spent crafting scrolls and perhaps improving the protection provided by his cloak.
During the time his Tien speaking companions are available, Daeron constantly seeks to learn the language. When they're otherwise occupied, Daeron spends his time poring over his parent's workbook. Finding a brief primer on the Ignan and Aquan languages, Daeron expends his lower level spells to summon fire and water elementals with his metamagic rod and converse with them for a few brief moments. Over the ensuing months, with his sharp mind, he's able to become fluent in a host of new languages.
When he's otherwise unable to work on master language, Daeron spends significant amounts of time reading and learning what he can from his parent's workbook. When his parent's workbook fails him, Daeron turns to Garand, Koya and Akulayok to expand his understanding of the nature of the gods and of nature. Despite a few attempts, Daeron fails to improve his ability to perform with his flute and eventually resigns himself to not bothering.
In addition, in between mastering languages and refining his knowledge of the world, Daeron will work to craft a number of scrolls for utility. He also takes the time to ensure he has backed up all of his important spells in the spellbook he keeps locked in his chest. He also assists the villagers by allowing leaving hunters to endure the fierce cold of the northern ice fields (). While studying, he makes a point of staying near any artisan's and enhancing their ability to create with his magic ().
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At Akulayok's request, Garand will attempt a divination, to determine the results of the investigation into the provenance (which may or may not be the owner...) of the club found in the dragon's lair.
He will tell Théoden, Akulayok, Pavel and Daeron (and Koya and Shalelu, of our NPC retinue), and perform the spell the same day he tells the others about it (the day after Akulayok requests further information), so as to pre-empt word getting out and steps being taken to prevent it or 'poison the well' of tribal opinion by spreading naysaying words about 'outlander magic' or whatever.
"I alone will learn whatever I learn, by the will of the spirits and gods, and so there will be no reason for your people to trust whatever information I provide, as I could say anything, or cast no true magic at all, for all they know for certain." Garand says, cautioning Akulayok not to rely on the spell to 'prove' anything in the eyes of his people.
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"The future is ours alone to make, the outcome of our investigation uncertain. Either our quarry has shielded himself against such magics, or the Horned Hunter thinks that we are more than capable of ferreting out such information independently, and should do so. So, let us investigate without the insight of the divine, and trust to our own skills, to discover through observation and questions who might be your villages betrayer. Surely, at least *someone* in this village must be concerned that one among them has attempted to stir up the dragon's wrath and risked all of their lives..." Garand says, not seeming overly concerned that his attempt at divination failed.
Garand will make daily Gather Information checks, during the course of the five days, to glean information from various villagers, such as the hunters (who might notice if one among them is missing a weapon) or the crafters who make the clubs or the warriors who were on watch in the previous week, and might have noticed someone slipping out to rile up the dragon.
He'll also use Sense Motive and / or Appraise, as mentioned above.
"Hrm, a vision striking so long after your divination was made. Unusual to say the least, but useful if it can be trusted." Daeron strokes his chin, thinking for a moment. "It would be risky, probably more risk then we'd desire given the circumstances, but if we have a few suspects, then we could for the aforementioned memento. I can shield any searcher from sight and perhaps Garand has a means of muffling noise available to him? As mentioned, this bears significant risk for the group should we be wrong and be discovered. I'm also concerned that we haven't enough evidence to excuse the trespass. Have any of you thoughts on the subject?" Daeron waits a moment to allow the others to answer.
"One other thought, we could appeal to the Hearthmistress. If the murderer is still in our midst, then there's a not insignificant risk to the village as well. This murderer goaded the Icy Scourge for his or her own ends and there's little reason to think they'd not stoop to even more base actions." Daeron shrugs and looks to Garand and Theoden, "I'm not a sufficient judge of character to judge the risk of this second option. Ameiko may have some insight, based on her conversation earlier."
Akulayok listens intently to Garand' words. He ponders, "This killer of dragon young kept a trophy. We should search Tunuaq's places. I do not trust him."
"Wuh'well, lemme see- has Tunuaq been a truh'troublemaker in the past? Our only in'interaction with him was whuh'when he suggested human sacrifice. Suh'so far, he's left us alone. Honestly, I think interference from Muh'Minkai's current ruler seems most likely. Nuh'now that we got the family seal, they luh'likely know we're comin' right? So they rile up the dragon and leave the hammer to cuh'cover their tracks."
The ranger shrugs.
"Nuh'no evidence of that, but not so much puh'pointing to the shaman either."
"This club is evidence that Erutaki involved in dragon killing. Carpenter Erutaki not make it to dragon lair. It take strong Erutaki to make it to dragon lair. Tunuaq have strong magic."
"Erutaki do not sacrifice men. Tunuaq suggest foolishness. Why he suggest such foolishness? He has not done so before."
"Why would Minkai use Erutaki club? Why would Minkai want Erutaki dead? Rile dragon against Erutaki no guarantee that strangers die. Only guarantee that Erutaki die. Or that Erutaki frightened of dying. Frightened Erutaki easier for Tunauaq to urge to evil."
"Tunuaq make strange suggestions at coming of strangers. I do not like his talk. He will not turn Erutaki to evil or destroy them. Minkai will not either. We will find who kill dragon eggs calling dragon's wrath upon Erutaki."
"Suh'someone can't walk in with a disguise, pick up a hammer and leave it in the cave whuh'when they're done? Seems like a pruh'pretty obvious mistake to make, leaving yer tools behind doesn't it?"
"Tunuaq is likely scruh'screwy. Maybe he's involved, muh'maybe he's just nuts. Why would he rile up the dragon against his own puh'people? Could be he wants more power in the truh'tribe, but even then he'd have to deal with the druh'dragon... or else he runs the risk of not having a tribe to rule. Assuming he's the cuh'culprit, he'd have to be one very puh'powerful, two sluh'sloppy and three b+%&$!! crazy. Could be he puh'pushed hard when we came to town just to get us to duh'deal with the dragon so he wouldn't have to fuh'find his own solution."
"Now the man that usurped Minkai's thrown has a fuh'far reach; we dealt with his agents in Kalsgard. So he's fuh'familiar with the route we would have to take. And since we killed his men down south, he likely knows we may be coming this route. Your home is the only muh'major settlement on the way, he has shape-shifting henchmen AND the cuh'cunning to take an empire for himself. Making this route as duh'difficult as possible suits his plans: he doesn't want anyone making the trek. The Erutaki may just be collateral to the plan- or he's hoping they'll turn against travellers."
"What it buh'boils down to me is- the hammer is tuh'too obvious for my taste. If yer smart enough to smash a dragon's eggs and kill their mate, yer smart enough to remember yer hammer unless you want to pluh'plant evidence."
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"Logically, if the hammer was deliberately left behind, which fits the narrative of the vision I received, which described the killer as making *a* mistake, by taking a trophy, and not *multiple mistakes* as accidentally leaving his own hammer behind would suggest, then it would follow that the hammer should be one that belongs to a rival of the perpetrator, and would be identifiable as such." Garand ponders aloud. "As the hammer clearly is *not* easily identifiable, then the theory that it was left behind to frame a rival seems to be weakened, since a bit of evidence left behind as part of a frame up that no one can connect to the person you want framed is a complete waste of time..."
"If it was a frame, and Tunuaq was involved, then it would have already been identified as belonging to someone who threatens his position, such as the chief, a relative of the chief, or someone who strongly supports the chief. Even if the chief was cleared of knowledge of the treachery, her position would be weakened, and Tunuaq's strengthened."
"Still, I personally know little of these people. It's entirely possible that Tunuaq is merely an unpleasant insecure little troll of a man, and that *he* is the one being framed here, by someone who has shown us a far more pleasant face... It would not be the first time we have seen someone present to us a friendly or familiar visage, only to conceal a monstrous heart full of wickedness."
"A brilliant and bold plan, we have before us. And yet one that appears to have been executed incompetently. That paradox suggests to me magical enchantment, that someone clever and determined, but not nearly bold enough to stir a dragon's wrath themselves, sent a bespelled pawn to perform this task, and the deed was therefore not completed to their exacting specifications, but only to the limited capacity of whomever they cast their spell upon."
"Else, a creature of chaos, clever enough to conceive such a plan, but utterly incapable of the patience and self-discipline necessary to see it through. These oni, from what little I have seen of them, could indeed fit such a description, filled with the outsized and uncontrollable passions of their giant kin, jerking them hither and yon."
"And that's assuming the hammer was fuh'for us or whomever killed the dragon. What if it was luh'left for the dragon in the first place, to make her luh'lash out at the Erutaki?"
"I'm inclined to agree that it makes sense that the hammer was left as specific evidence for the dragon. She was obviously incredibly cunning, given the ambushes and tactical acumen she displayed, but at the same time she would have been beside herself with grief. It seems entirely reasonable she wouldn't have suspected foul play in that situation."
"My thoughts on the hammer parallel yours, Pavel. I'm inclined to think that Tunuaq wouldn't stand to gain from the dragon's wrath. A dragon of that power could likely have laid waste to the village with impunity, leaving him without a people to rule. The exception is, of course, if he's far more formidable than he seems otherwise. Hrm, Akulayok, has Tunuaq been behaving differently in the past few months? Your mention, Pavel, of 'shape-shifting henchmen' has me wondering if one of the villagers has been replaced. That sort of deceit is in keeping with what you've told me of these Frozen Shadows. In planting the hammer, the demon could be sufficiently powerful as to defeat the dragon. Of course, the rest of the leadership would tragically have fallen, leaving the remaining leader the only obvious choice to lead. Thus the Erutaki would be repurposed as a weapon aimed at us. Alternatively, allowing the Erutaki to be destroyed by the dragon removes the only safe location to stop for the winter."
"Think we uh'oughtta get opinions fruh'from Ameiko, Shuh'Shalelu, Sandru and Koya 'fore we proceed with a plan of action. Wuh'worst comes to worse, gettin' caught could have cuh'consequences for them; and Ameiko's gonna have to muh'make decisions like this for a living soon enough."
"I told you. Erutaki don't sacrifice men. Tunuaq suggest this. He has not done so before. What part you missing when I tell you that?"
"Hammer Erutaki. Someone want to turn dragon onto Erutaki. If he wish you strangers to die, then he use one of your weapons. Dragon come after strangers. Erutaki give you over if you kill dragon eggs."
"How hard it be to steal carpenter hammer from your caravan? How hard it be to steal weapon from amongst your people? Not hard. You have quite a few wagons and people. If this act of treachery directed at your people, traitor take weapon from your people. Break dragon eggs. Dragon attack your people."
"What if you not here when dragon eggs broken? Dragon still come after Erutaki. Dragon been killing Erutaki. Dragon might not even know about strangers like you. How would leaving Erutaki hammer lead to death of strangers if strangers never come and dragon still killing Erutaki?"
What I'm thinking is that this tribe has an infiltrator, possibly an Oni or some long standing association with Minkai.
"I told you. Erutaki don't sacrifice men. Tunuaq suggest this. He has not done so before. What part you missing when I tell you that?"
"That's certainly something, but I was simply curious if there were other similar instances before that day. I'm hoping to establish some form of pattern or corroborating evidence. It's highly risky for us to attempt to sneak about the camp and as Pavel's says, it will be partially the caravan's decision. If we have nothing but speculation, I doubt they will want to investigate. And I'd be inclined to agree with them. The risk of losing our spot here is simply too great." Daeron pauses and listens as Akulayok continues, "You raise a good point though, I doubt the purpose was to incite the dragon to attack us directly. That makes my idea of a power play more likely. In turning the Erutaki against us, by planting an agent in their midst, our caravan would be denied a place to stop for the winter."
Daeron shrugs apologetically and says, "My mind is not generally suited to this sort of deception and feinting. Perhaps there is some means to detect the presence of an extraplanar being?"
"Ah, and to clarify, I was referring to any odd behavior, not necessarily the sacrifice he attempted with us. My wording left something to be desired."