Rurik hopes that fire does the trick here and brings down a flame strike on the pair of ursikka.
(DC 20 half)
Talsune strikes at the creature before stepping back so that Crasius can fire his bow. Crasius continues his chant, "...to save their intended prey..."
Talsune's attacks
Crasius' Attacks
Ursikka 1:
Ursikka 2:
Rurik's magic strikes off center and the beasts avoid some of the damage. Although the flames did not kill the two monsters, the one that was already badly wounded is nearly defeated.
In fact, it is so weakened, Talsune lops its head off with a swipe of his glaive.
Crasius hits the other one with three arrows, seriously wounding it.
Confident in her shooting, Ingrit holds off on Wapiti's charge, instead delivering a deadly volley, with her first pair of arrows unerringly finding the monster's bulbous eyes.
Ingrit's arrows finish off the last standing ursikka. It collapses and the snow around it turns crimson. The adlet pokes her spear into the abdomen of each stricken monster as insurance and then stands to face her saviors.
When approached, she has many wounds from her fight with the ursikkas, but she seems unconcerned. "Hail great warriors of prophecy! I am Baknarla. Thank you for saving me. I am honored that the Destined Ones have judged me worthy. Welcome to the realm of the Adlets. We have much to discuss."
Crasius dismounts and waves to the adlet as he says, "Hello, you referred to us as the Destined Ones? What do you mean by that."
As they talk, Crasius will recover his arrows.
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Baknarla explains. She speaks Triaxian and one of the dragonkins translates. "the stars have spoken about the coming of ones from beyond the sky who will give our people, the Vahara Glacier adlets, back our lands."
She explains that Yrax has harshly oppressed her people and driven them out of their traditional tribal territory. Baknarla believes that the the Golarian natives, as aliens to Triaxus, are destined to defeat Yrax, allowing the adlets to reclaim their ancestral domain.
Unfortunately, most of the other shamans in Baknarla’s tribe do not share her beliefs, and her tribe has
shunned her, so she went seeking “the destined ones” on her own. Believing she has finally found them, Baknarla has a plan that can both help the visitors defeat Yrax and aid her own people. One of her people’s most holy sites is a place called the Rimekeening Crevasse, located in lands that the dragon has driven the adlets from and forbidden them from returning. Although it is taboo for outsiders to set foot in the crevasse, Baknarla is willing to guide the group there, hoping
they will help her find the last resting place of a legendary adlet hero named Sarnok.
Sarnok was a mighty warrior-shaman who lived long ago and slew more than one dragon with his magic spear. He was also renowned for his wisdom, bringing about peace treaties between the adlet tribes and several Drakelands realms. The old tales say that one day Sarnok set out to explore the depths of the Rimekeening Crevasse and was never seen again, but that he will return some day to guide his people to glory once more.
If Baknarla and the group can locate Sarnok’s grave, the adlet hopes to find a holy relic of the hero that she can bring back to her people to restore their hope and her own position in the tribe. At the same time, Baknarla believes they will find Sarnok’s legendary spear, which they can use to slay Yrax. Furthermore, Baknarla believes there is a hidden way from the crevasse into Ivoryglass. Once the group has the spear, it can then approach Ivoryglass through the crevasse, thereby avoiding the soldiers that patrol the glacier surrounding the palace.
"A mighty spear would be good to have. I am happy to assist you in going to get it as long as you are sure you would not face greater issues for taking outsiders to this crevasse. I would not wish to see you harmed for helping us." Crasius says.
A dragon is a mighty foe, and we are happy to have allies. Such a relic would be a further boon for this undertaking."
The Dragon Legion dragonkin help transport all to the edge of the place near the entrance to the crevasse as directed by Baknarla. After seeing the carriers of the Mantle of Mantle of the Riders of Baba Yaga safely to the location, they depart after wishing the heroes good fortune.
The Rimekeening Crevasse cuts deeply into the Vahara Glacier, and runs from the edge of the glacier to Ivoryglass. The crevasse is a holy place to the adlets; they believe the sound of the wind whistling through the crevasse to be the howls of their ancestors, and only during rare sacred rituals do they approach close enough to hear these wails. It is forbidden for outsiders to even set foot inside the crevasse, but Baknarla is willing to break the taboo to find Sarnok’s grave and help her people.
She guides the heroes to the edge of the vast fracture, which stretches off into the distance in both directions. The rift is about 500 feet wide at this point, but it narrows sharply as it descends into the glacier. Freezing winds whistle through the crevasse, producing an eerie wailing that at times seems to sound like the lonely cry of a grieving woman.
The crevasse drops almost 200 feet below the surface of the glacier.
The bottom of the crevasse is narrow and cluttered with sharp rocks and jumbled, snow-covered boulders. Several hundred feet along the crevasse is the jagged maw of an ice cave in the cliff wall.
Inside the cave, the sound of the howling wind quickly dies down. The roughly circular passage is just over 50 feet in diameter. It slopes downward at a steep angle to the west, and all surfaces inside the cave are rimed with icy frost, making the terrain slippery.
Baknarla helps the group get down the ice covered slope by summoning a greater ice elemental, which she orders to help Wapiti down the passage. The dragonkin riders can fly everyone else down.
About 200 feet down the tunnel, a large, cracked recess opens in the southern wall, about 20 feet above the floor of the main passage and about 20 feet wide at the opening.
"I think we should explore this passage. It seems less then prudent to leave potential foes behind us." Crasius says as he looks around at the light reflecting off the glacial ice.
"Wouldn't be the first dragon we've killed." Ingrit mutters quietly.
------------------------
Taking in the details of the environment as Baknarla leads them across the Vahara Glacier, Ingrit studies everything she can, looking for possible tracks or other signs of a dracon, or any recent activity by anyone or anything that might populate or hunt in the area.
Ingrit notices an ancient pictogram carved above initial cave entrance. According to Baknarla, the pictogram is the personal sigil of Sarnok, and it is a sign that he went this way.
Glaciers are normally sparsely inhabited, although some animals may cross glaciers en route to other places more hospitable. One such creature is a dire ram. This giant, feral ram is nearly as long as two humans are tall. Its coat is whitish-brown and its horns are dark brown.
Ingrit spots the corpse of such a creature that was apparently bitten in two, with the head and one forward haunch left behind after it fell into a crack in the ice. Ingrit also notices fur singed as if by high heat, possibly by electricity.
The group then comes upon a side cave and decides to investigate.
Thorizmond prods what's left of the ram's corpse with his lance. "Well. That's...troubling. Do those look like electrical burns to anyone else?"
"That is a good sized maw, assuming one bite took the rest of the ram with it." Crasius says as he gives the remains an appraising look.
"If it's lightning burns then... blue dragon? Assuming it's not a tricky spellcaster using lighting bolts to disguise its identity," suggests Rurik.
Baknarla
Crasius:
FC1:
FC2:
Ingrit:
Rurik:
Thorizmond:
Baknarla
AC = 23 this turn
Initiative
Baknarla
Crasius
Thorizmond
Ingrit
Wapiti
Rurik
FC1 (9 lethal)
FC2
As everyone gets into the mouth of the cave, they see it only extends back about 50 feet, with the back 20 feet occupied by two huge creatures. At first glance, they appear as white scaled dragons, but they have no wings and many legs, a large head full of sharp teeth with two horns that curl back like ram's horns.
Baknarla reacts first, calling out something in Triaxian as she advances with her spear. Talsune quickly translates, "She says they are frost crawlers protecting an egg. Expect fierce resistance." Her spear drives into the chest of the nearest frost crawler, staining the ice near by bright red.
Crasius:
Rurik:
Thorizmond:
Only Crasius recognizes something about these creatures. He may read the general information spoiler and one other.
Temperamental and avaricious, the behir spends most of its time slithering through the sandy hills and desert cliffs that make up its territory, preying upon all creatures who dare to enter its hunting grounds. The creature’s six pairs of powerful, clawed legs remain folded against its sides most of the time, only extending in combat to grapple foes or carry the behir forward in a terrifying, low-slung gallop, or else when climbing the sheer cliff faces common to behir lairs.
The average behir is 40 feet long and weighs 4,000 pounds. In addition to the two prominent horns on its head, many have additional decorative spines at regular intervals along the central ridges of their backs.
While territorial and bestial in its fury, the behir is neither stupid nor necessarily evil, though its self-centeredness and tendency to lay claim to everything visible from its high lairs frequently bring it into conflict with other races. As such, a behir can often be bought off or reasoned with by those brave negotiators willing to get close enough to make their pitch. In these cases, a behir’s tendency to attack first and ask questions later (or not at all) means that anyone seeking to strike a deal must bring powerful incentives and impress the behir immediately with his offer.
Crasius begins his chant by saying, "A breath of crackling lightning, a monster that seeks to eat it's foe..." Hearing they have a breath weapon, Talsune just moves to make it harder to hit everyone at once.
Round 1
Buff: Inspire Courage: +2 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +2 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Thorizmond
Ingrit
Wapiti
Rurik
FC1 (9 lethal)
FC2
Round 2
Baknarla
Crasius
Rurik catches the hint and, as has been the usual cadence, throws his reach communal resist energy (electricity this time) to defend the team against the incoming expected breath weapon.
Ingrit quickly urges Wapiti into a charge, firing off a quick volley of shots before settling into the saddle and bracing for impact.
+
Lowering his head, Wapiti thunders forward, charging the massive beast, but misjudging due to the fearsome beast's sinuous movement.
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Slow on the draw, Thorizmond instead pulls his bow and looses a volley of arrows.
Crit?
DC 22
Ingrit Takes 21, absorbed by Resist Energy
Thorizmond Takes 10, absorbed by Resist Energy
Wapiti Takes 21, absorbed by Resist Energy
Absorbed by Resist Energy.
FC1:
FC2:
Ingrit's first 2 arrows strike the nearest frostcrawler.
Wapiti's horns don't penetrate the thick scales of the monster.
Thorizmond's first two arrows also strike true.
The cave crackles with electricity as both frostcrawlers send bolts of lightning toward the front line of attackers. Although the sparks play over Ingrit, Wapiti, and Thorizmond, Rurik's magical energy resistance absorbs it all, keeping everyone safe.
Baknarla makes many attacks with her spear and even tries to bite the frostcrawler in front of her, but she seems to be experiencing a strong case of nerves as all her attacks get blocked by the thick skin of the creature.
Round 2
Crasius
Thorizmond
Ingrit
Wapiti
Rurik
FC1 (49 lethal)
FC2
Round 3
Baknarla
Rurik throws down a prayer spell to nudge the combat slightly in the team's favor.
"...after squeezing them so hard...." Crastor continues his chant as he sends a barrage of arrows at the injured monster.
With Rurik's blessing, Crasius' first and last arrows draw blood. The nearest frostcrawler is seriously wounded.
Thorizmond's first two arrows also strike true.
Thorizmond looses another volley of arrows.
Wapiti drives his antlers deep into the creature's chest, before kicking out with both hooves, attempting to bring the strange beast down.
Ingrit unleashes another volley, seeking to bring the beats down.
Crasius sends two more arrows into the monsters body, killing it.
Thorizmond wounds the mate of the dying frostcrawler.
AC 29
Baknarla
Ingrit's arrows and then Wapiti's gore attack has the remaining frostcrawler reeling, at least as much as a many-legged abomination can reel.
Unable to breath again and in any case aware that it's lightning breath did not seem to harm the intruders, the remaining frost crawler attacks Ingrit and Wapiti. Its normal strategy is the bite an opponent and hold onto it with his mouth while constricting and raking the victim in preparation for swallowing it.
It sinks its teeth into Wapiti's shoulder and draws him into a coil of its sinuous body, constricting him.
Baknarla moves surprisingly fast, climbing over the striken frostcrawler and stabbing the other with her spear.
Ingrit tries to warn Wapiti, guiding him clear of the incoming bite, and is only partially successful, her guidance allowing the mighty megaloceros to brace for the attack, deflecting some of the worst of the vicious bite.
Somersaulting off his back, Ingrit lands on her feet, already drawing another arrow and aiming for the creature's body as it coils around her companion, and unleashing a volley of deadly shots, the last zipping past Wapiti's shoulder directly into the beast's eye.
"...That only through swift intervention will they be saved..." Crasius says as Talsune flies forward and Crasius shoots an arrow at the creature.
Wapiti springs free, lashing out with his antlers as he does.
Ingrit's arrows puncture the frostcrawler and put an end to it.
After treating the wounded, and resting a bit, everyone continues through the crevasse.
There are 3 more encounters in the book. The first two have the potential to be pretty challenging with one of them having some treasure. Then there is one more in the last room before exiting the crevasse. How much more fighting are you interested in doing in this section?
Two of the monsters would, I think, be relatively straightforward, given the amount of damage you can give out with your archery. The third is not so easily dispatched and may be a fun challenge, but I'll leave it up to the group how much more to do in this section.
Thorizmond moves up, treading carefully on the downed creature, to strike its mate.
Thorizmond moves up, treading carefully on the downed creature, to strike its mate.
[dice=Attack, +1 Impact Lance]1d20+14+2+1
[dice=Damage, Magical/Piercing]2d6+15
After the frostcrawlers are dead, Baknarla stabs them a few more times to be sure and then smashes the egg, not wishing these megavermin to reproduce.
The cave turns out be be a safe place to rest, so the group sets watches and sleeps, but nothing disturbs the rest. Although no direct sunlight illuminates the tunnels under the ice, a faint glow in the ice above suggests it is once again daytime.
Moving on, the tunnel branches but a little exploring reveals both directions come back together. The tunnel continues on for 250 feet, and is quite wide, about 60 feet across. Then this stretch ends except for two smaller passages that run in opposite directions.
Baknarla is unsure which way to go but the walls to the SW widen and glisten with something intriguing. The passageway in was five feet wide at the narrowest, making Thorizmond and Wapiti squeeze a bit, but it widened after that to a breathtaking sight.
Mineral deposits glowed faintly, making it possible to the chamber without added light The chamber was about fifty feet at its widest and about twice as long. Near the far end, it branched off into three narrow fissures. Baknarla suggested seeing whether these led anywhere.
Baknarla:
Crasius:
Ingrit:
Rurik:
Talsune:
Thorizmond:
CC:
Baknarla:
Crasius:
Ingrit:
Rurik:
Talsune:
Thorizmond:
Wapiti:
Moving past impressive columns of ice stalagmites/stalactites, the group proceeds through the cavern. Near the far end, it branches off into three narrow fissures. Baknarla suggests seeing whether these led anywhere. Just then, Ingrit notices a large purple crystal like amethyst lodged near the floor of the cavern at the point where the cavern splits into two fissures.
As she tells the others what she sees, the area throbs with a near infrasonic hum at appears to be coming from the crystal. Crasius, Ingrit, Rurik, Talsune, and Thorizmond are stunned and stand still, unable to act immediately.
Round 1
Barknarla
Crasius (stunned)
Talsune Stunned
Ingrit (stunned)
Wapiti
Thorizmond (stunned)
Crystal
Baknarla moves closer but does not want to hurl her spear at the rock as she has no back-up weapon. She readies an attack should anything come in poking range of her spear. "Pulara, what IS that?" Then she notices no one else is moving. "What are you all afraid of? It's just a humming rock!" Then more quietly to herself, ... that I've never seen or heard stories of.
DC 21
Crasius:
Seke:
No one present knows what this humming rock is.
Ooze traits: Oozes are immune to critical hits, flanking, precision damage, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms), paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, stun, and visual effects. See weaknesses for an exception to the immunity to critical hits.
Brittle (Ex) Bludgeoning and sonic attacks can inflict critical hits on a carnivorous crystal. A successful critical hit from such attacks causes the carnivorous crystal to split, even if the attack causes no damage. The crystal remains immune to precision-based damage, such as damage from sneak attacks.
Entrap (DC 22, 1d10 rounds, hardness 10, hp 10): The creature has an ability that restricts another creature’s movement, usually with a physical attack such as ice, lava, mud, or webs. The target of an entrap attack must succeed at a Fortitude save or become entangled for the listed duration. If a target is already entangled by this ability, a second entrap attack means the target must succeed at a Fortitude save or become helpless for the listed duration. The save DCs are Constitution-based. A target made helpless by this ability is conscious but can take no physical actions (except attempting to break free) until the entrapping material is removed. The target can use spells with only verbal components or spell-like abilities if it succeeds at a DC 20 concentration check. An entangled creature can attempt a Strength check (at the same DC as the entrap saving throw DC) as a full-round action to break free; the DC for a helpless creature is 5 greater. Destroying the entrapping material frees the creature.
Razor sharp: A carnivorous crystal’s slam attack deals devastating piercing and slashing damage, and threatens a critical hit on a roll of 18, 19, or 20.
Split (Ex): The creature splits into two identical copies of itself if subject to certain attacks or effects. Each copy has half the original’s current hit points (rounded down). A creature reduced below the listed hit points cannot be further split and can be killed normally.
Seke sits quietly in the dim ice cave, knees pulled tight to her chest, letting the cold settle around her. The quiet gives her no comfort and there is so much space for the memories to resurface.
I came so far… from Minata, from the dreams, from the shadow rider who pushed me across continents… and for what? My companions died one after another. I survived only because fate is cruel.
She touches the faintly glowing Sign of Cold beneath her sleeve.
The mantle never released me. Even in Artrosa, even under Jadrenka’s protection, it waited. When the riders began to fall, something inside me stirred again. Too late… always too late. I thought Jadrenka needed me. I thought I had earned a place at her side after my failures. She saved me… gave me purpose. But when the geas pulled at my soul, she saw the truth first.
Seke grips her material component bag.
She found them. She sent me to them. Near enough for fate to finish pulling me back.
Her eyes move toward the cavern and she sees the pale crystal light flicker across the frost.
I tried to explore, but … something dangerous waits out there. Something that would end me before I even reached the others. Better to stay hidden… to gather myself… to trust that they would come close enough for me to find them.
Then she hears it, the voices echoing faintly through the cavern. Familiar voices and her heart tightens.
They’re here. The ones who continued the quest I failed. The ones I met in Artrosa before turning back. The mantle has brought me to them again… whether I am ready or not.
Seke rises slowly and prepares her gear. But before she can step out, movement stirs in the cavern.