As Bazikian moves past the snowman and steps to the ice, the snowman starts screaming in anger. The sound of his scream physically hurts those standing nearby
Grimgisli, Bazikian and Brominate each take 4 damage
Bazikian and Grim are stunned 1 round
Drawn by the sound, 2 creatures rise out of the ice of the river. It almost looks like some of the ice breaks off and becomes these two creatures. They have an almost humanoid shape, but their bodies are made of ice.
These are small ice elementals. They are immune to cold damage but will take extra damage from fire. While larger versions have damage resistance, these do not. They are able to move easily on ice, and can skip in and out of the ice like it was water.
"So much for the warm blooded - snowman relations" Easlis mentioned before drawing his sword and coming closer to the river, hoping to give a helping hand in the fight. He would finally get the chance of discharging all the anguish from all the snow and cold on something.
Bazikian pulls a large flask from his belt, fiddles with it for a moment, then hurls it at the nearest creature. As it strikes, the flask explodes into flame!
The gnome then retreats a few steps, taking cover behind some of his burlier companions.
After the creatures rise from the river, Nyalis rises to defend his companions. "Look out!" he yells, "More evil fey looking to cause us a problem. Stand back while I blast these creatures into the beyond!"
Splash damage (4 points of fire) to everything around the impact area.
Daily bombs left: 3/5
Daily extracts left: 2
Rations left: 4
Brominate's attention immediately diverts to the new enemy. He punches the head off the snowman and moves north and west until he's on the bank of the river, weapons drawn.
Hmm, maybe...just maybe I can slide across this thing...
The party responds to the appearance of the 2 ice creatures by spreading out and getting ready. Nyalis throws a bomb on to the ice which scorches both creatures. the fire seems quite effective against them.
Bazikian and Grim are both unable ot move or act as they hold their hands up to their ringing ears after the sonic attack by the snowman.
Brominate's attack smashes the snowman and it doesn't speak anymore.
the two creatures charge in, one going after Brominate and one after Nyalis.
Luckily, they are unable to connect with either character!
Global Condition: None |Global Condition:
Grimgisli HP: 5/12 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Bazikian HP: 7/12 - AC: 17/11/16 Status:
Easlis: HP: 10/11 - AC: 15/11/14 Status:
Brominate HP: 7/11 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
Nyalis HP: 8/9 - AC: 16/13/13 Status:NPCS:
Enemy 1: -4hp?
Enemy 2: -4hp?
They were freaky, but not too terribly fast. Dodging was simple enough. Brominate didn't hesitate. Using his momentum from his dodge, he swung with both of his daggers at the assailants.
However, everything was so monochrome, it was hard to judge how far away his target was.
Easlis gets as close to the frozen river as he can not daring to step on the ice just yet. "Nyalis, though these explosions seem to be quite effective effective against these critters, be careful not to burn us to a crisp, crack the ice or draw more enemies."
The half-elf draws his sword following the actions of his breathren and slashes at one of the frozen monsters enchanting his sword in mid air.
Easlis is blinded by the sun reflected on the ice and misses the target completely.
Grim stands nearly still, shaking his head and trying to get his bearings after that loud explosion of sound.
"Don't worry, Easlis. I'm not going to use my fire missiles while we are in close. That's what I have a sword for! Try to get in behind this one."
Nyalis lashes out with his longsword, trying to fell the ice creature closest to him.
Then 5' step to help present the creature's back to the rest of the party.
Bazikian, clearing his head of the ringing, steps up lightly behind Easlis and touches him gently on the back, murmuring, "Desna's luck be upon you."
the two ice monsters continue to press against the party, one swinging at Nyalis, the other backing up on to the ice and attacking Easlis.
hit!
easlis takes 8 damage, but knows things could have been worse...
Bold may act:
Grimgisli, Bazikian, Easlis, Brominate, Nyalis,
enemies
Global Condition: None |Global Condition:
Grimgisli HP: 5/12 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Bazikian HP: 7/12 - AC: 17/11/16 Status:
Easlis: HP: 2/11 - AC: 15/11/14 Status:
Brominate HP: 7/11 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
Nyalis HP: 8/9 - AC: 16/13/13 Status:NPCS:
Enemy 1: -4hp?
Enemy 2: -4hp?
Bazikian, seeing Easlis is severely wounded, sees no option but to heal his companion before he is dropped by the strange ice creature.
Brominate refuses to let a brother fall! He continues slashing with his daggers!
"That was a close one!" Nyalis exclaims.
Nyalis continues to circle around the creature, trying to present its back to his compainions.
Slashing with his cold iron longsword, Nyalis hopes he can put this creature down and move on to helping with the other.
"He's hurt, but he's got help. Go the other way."
As Grim recovers, he nocks, draws, and looses an arrow at the ice critter harassing Nyalis.
Bruised and bloodied by the previous attack Easlis syncronizes his attack with Brom and slashes at the ice creature with his scimitar holding the weapon with both hands.
Easlis slashes the closest ice monster. while it still didn't finish it off, it seems to really be hurting.
hit!
hit!
Both monsters slash at the party, scoring deep wounds on both Nyalis and Easlis.
Easlis is unable to keep fighting after the previous damage and falls unconscious. Nyalis is injured, and feels an unnatural cold seep into his blood from the touch of the creature, making him feel sluggish and almost unable to move. Nyalis is staggered for one round
Bold may act:
Grimgisli, Bazikian, Easlis, Brominate, Nyalis,
enemies
Global Condition: None |
Global Condition:
Grimgisli HP: 5/12 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Bazikian HP: 7/12 - AC: 17/11/16 Status:
Easlis: HP: -1/11 - AC: 15/11/14 Status: unconscious and dying
Brominate HP: 7/11 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
Nyalis HP: 2/9 - AC: 16/13/13 Status: staggered
NPCS:
Enemy 1: -4hp?
Enemy 2: -10hp? / AC = 16
"Not the way this is supposed to go . . .. Time to fix that." Grim attempts to feather the ice creature to his left again.
Easlis collapses beside, and Brom suspects he the battle will soon e over, one way or another. Better make sure it’s a way that doesn’t lead to his own downfall.
He steps up (south) and attacks!
Nyalis grits his teeth as a cold wave from the ice creature washes over him. I better make this one count or we will be done for, he thinks.
It's all Nyalis can do to swing his sword but he tries to finish the fight with the last ice creature. "For Yulin!" he hells as he drives the sword home.
Bazikian lines up the nearest enemy with his crossbow, and lets fly, aiming for its head.
The first ice creature takes an arrow in the back from Grim, but is not destroyed.
However, Nyalis is able to connect with a solid blow from his borrowed longsword, shattering the ice creature. the ice chunks fall on the frozen river and seem to dissolve into the ice.
The creature standing above an unconcsious Easlis turns just in time to be hit by a crossbow bolt from Bazikian and likewise shatters.
End of Combat!
"Right you lot," Bazikian announces, "come close if you're wounded!" Once the party is gathered around near him and Easlis, he holds his holy symbol of Desna and projects waves of positive energy that radiate out from himself.
After the ice creature he was fighting drops, Nyalis keeps looking around to see if any other dangers lurk in or around the river.
Assuming he sees nothing, Nyalis moves toward where Easlis fell keeping vigilant while the rest of the team revives the fallen elf. "Can we help him?" asks Nyalis.
Brominate thanks his friend for the healing. He then quickly crosses the frozen river to scout and check the immediate surroundings for any oncoming danger or threat.
"Welcome back to the land of the upright, Easlis, " says Nyalis with a smile. "We've both been on the wrong side of that line a few too many times."
"How are things looking, Brominate? " he asks from across the river.
Brominate is able to spot several weak points in the ice, but with careful and slow movement it holds as you make your way across. Brominate is able to see a thin line of smoke rising above the trees not far from your current position
"Oh, not again! " Easlis protests while checking the state of his limbs and clothing. When he got assured that everything was more or less intact he let a sigh of relief. "Yes, our enemies seem particularly attracted to the arcane users in the front lines. I would suggest we leave out the story of how we fought the snowman and his minions when we'll have to tell our adventure to the town folk. "
The half-elf bows slightly at the gnome while waiting for the others to pass the frozen river ."It seams I have acquired another life debt or was it two? "
”Everyone, while we should make haste, steady does it as you cross this ice. Take your time. There are serious weak points here, here, here, over there, and here. But if you step here then here then straight until here, then here, slowly the whole way, you should be just fine.
Oh, there’s also a pillar of smoke not too far from us. Just over that way. “
The woodsman holds his position on the starting side, waiting for the others to clear the ice before he begins his crossing. As he skitters across, he nods at the comments. "Smoke seems contrary to the icy theme of problems we're seeing. Could be a cry for help. Could be somebody's already fighting back pretty well."
Nyalis takes the guidance from Brominate as he makes his way carefully across the frozen river. He nods his head as Grimgisli puts some of the observations about their situation together. "Agreed, Grim. Either somebody or something is burning a fire to keep warm or bandits are putting a homestead to the torch. Either way, we should keep going. You never know what we might find."
Bazikian just grins at Easlis's slight bow and mention of life debts. "Don't be silly - it's my job! Just make sure you leave me some of the good rations."
As Grim and Nyalis discuss the smoke, Bazikian just listens. As Nyalis mentions pushing on, he nods. "Whatever it is, we should find out what's going on." He shoulders his pack and readies himself to march on.
As the group starts towards the smoke that Brominate spotted, Grimgisli spots something on the side of the trail.
A partially-frozen corpse is laying on the side of the road, half buried in snow. it looks like he was killed by the ice creatures, or something else with sharp claws.
taking a closer look, you recognize the man as Old Man Dansby, a farmer from Heldren.
Bazikian's face is sorrowful as the party approaches the corpse, and that sorrow deepens when he recognises the farmer. "Poor Old Man Dansby. I knew him from the goods he'd bring to market. He wasn't particularly nice to me - called me a strange little freak - but I'm sure he was nice to somebody, and someone will miss him." Bazikian makes the sign of Desna's benediction in the air over him, and silently prays for a smooth journey into the hereafter for Dansby.
"His son will. This fella accused Easlis of thieving from his farm just this morning, but his son was wise beyond his years. He must have insulted the wrong magic-wielder."
A former soldier of Taldor, Dansby kept his possessions in good repair, and they remain with his body.
They include a composite longbow (+1 Str) with 12 arrows;
a dagger;
a masterwork handaxe;
and a pouch containing 14 gp, 25 sp
He is quite dead, and does not jump up or start attacking.
Brominate takes a knee next to Dansby.
"Well, let's see what he's got 'cause he won't be needing it anymore. I especially don't want him to have it if he decides to not be dead later. Still... we might want to consider returning these to the kid once this is all said and done. Looks like he has a bow here with some arrows and a nice looking handaxe. There's a dagger here I'd like to hold on to if it's all the same to the rest of you."
Brominate neglects to mention the meager coins. Something about this cold is bringing to the surface his older, darker demons from a life he was running away from, and running towards.
Once everyone has passed the frozen river, Easlis walks along the mule taking the carriage over the water. When he sees the corpse of the old man sorrow takes over him. He was not close to Old Danby, but he liked his boy and grimissed at the thought that he would have to break the news to him. "I'm putting the rest of his belongings in the mule sack. If anyone wants to borrow them until we return be my guest. How had the old man get all this far? Maybe he was following someone or something that was stealing from his farm. And I guess he finally cought up to him. Grim, do you see some extra tracks? "
After it seems reasonably certain that Old Man Dansby won't get up and try to eat anybody, Nyalis approaches the body and looks at the wounds.
Who or what do we have to blame for Old Man Dansby's demise? Nyalis thinks. Based on what we have seen over the past several days, he could have been the victim of a dragon or killed by bandits.
After Brominate and Easlis discover the man's possessions, Nyalis declines any of the items. "I don't think I can use any of Dansby's things, at least not better than any of you. Feel free to grab anything if you can make use of it."
"Unless there's something special about the gear, there's not much point."
Grim gives the man a once-over, expecting to find more tiny needle arrows.
Once they are done checking the corpse, he takes the recommendation and looks for relevant tracks.
The gear on the old farmer is gathered up. Grim and Nyalis look at the body, which does not seem to have been killed by the little sprites. his wounds look like claw slashes, either from a wild animal or maybe the ice creatures in the river.
Grim is able to find his tracks, and it looks like he was crossing the river, and dragged himself here after being injured. there is a lot of blood on the ground.
the party is able to pick the trail of the bandits up again, heading in the direction of the fire.
______________
After half an hour of walking, the group is close enough to see that there is indeed a fire ahead, just off of the trail. You are not yet close enough to see what is burning or who is causing it.
Brominate signals silently for the group to halt and get low. He himself takes an extreme roundabout path to check for bandits, survivors, creatures, etc. He won't even take a single step toward the fire until he is convinced no one is lying in ambush.
"Looks like those ice guardian things got him. He dragged himself over here after being gutted. Couldn't have been pretty. Or easy, really."
The hunter waits for the eager man to tromp around the frozen forest.
Nyalis nods and speaks quietly. "Agreed, Grim. That wasn't a good way to go. Maybe better than getting needled to death by those flying evil fey but not a good way at all."
Nyalis offers a prayer to aid the farmer in the afterlife before they leave the body.
_________________
On seeing Brominate's signal Nyalis stops and crouches, trying not to make a noise. He waits as patiently as possible, fidgeting occasionally but trying not to break the silence or otherwise give away their position. I wonder what Brominate will find. I do hope that it is a friendly face trying to stay warm.
You are able to move quietly through the woods in a large circuit around the fire. the woods are extremely still and quiet with all of the snow cover.
on one rise you spot a fairly large stag with pure white fur. it is standing in a spot where it can see the party. It seems to be standing still, watching your companions, but does not seem to see you.
Once you see that nothing seems to be lying in wait, you slowly creep towards the smoke.
It is a campfire, just off of the trail. there are three humans warming themselves around the fire, talking together in low tones. they seem to be arguing about something, but you can't make out more than a few words. you gather that they are complaining about the cold, and talking about splitting something.
All three humans look to be from Taldor, though you don't recognize any of them from Heldren. they are dressed in layers but their clothes are not really designed for the cold weather. you can tell they are wearing simple armor and carrying swords and bows.
The group stands around trying to keep themselves warm while Brominate slips into the woods. After a short time, Brominate returns to the trail having scouted out the area.
Brominate makes sure to approach the party from someone's line of sight so they'll know it's a friendly.
In hushed tones, he relays the fruit of his labor.
"It's a campfire. Three humans trying to keep warm. It was hard to hear them over the cracking of the fire, but they were discussing splitting something. Either loot or meat or a reward, I figure. They don't seem dressed for this kind of weather, but they got some simple armor, and are armed with swords and bows. ...
...Also, I don't know if it matters, but there's a large stag with fur as white as this snow standing on a rise over yonder. It didn't see me, but it was staring at all of you, standing completely still. Thoughts?"