Ailmar looks to see if he can discern the nature of the wounds, notes the place where the man has fallen and his direction of travel, and makes haste for the group.
Hokkaido checks the man and notices that he is still barely breathing...
By the time Hokkaido and Ailmar manage to get the man back to town, it is already dark. The villagers appear to have all retired for the night.
Ailmar and Hokkaido suddenly remember that they had initially travelled to this town with a blue man who could make with some "natural healing." They rush the injured man to the tavern and gently settle him near the fireplace. Luckily, all of their companions (and their new acquaintance Catriona) are all there, having likely been considering going out to look for Ailmar and Hokkaido. Upon seeing the injured man, Himaballuka quickly applies a dose of healing magic.
The man immediately regains consciousness and blinks confusedly as he looks around the room. He speaks, his voice still seemingly not at full strength, "Wha...? Where am I?"
Seeing the man in the full light, it is clear that, in addition to his other injuries, his nose and fingers have suffered severe frostbite. Despite Himaballuka's healing skills, it will clearly be some time before this man is hale and hearty enough to travel again, much less wield a weapon.
Still in obvious pain, the man responds to Himaballuka, "It seems that most everyone has the number of fingers that they ought..." What an odd question from an odd blue man. He continues, "I suppose I have you lot to to thank for my current condition...? That condition being alive and quite not dead, I mean... I am Yuln Oerstag. I was serving as a bodyguard to Lady Malassene's caravan when we were ambushed. My ancestors would ridicule my lack of valor for fleeing rather than fighting to the end. But I faced enemies that even the greatest of the Linnorm Kingdoms have faltered against, though I think I slew at least one of them before they dragged Lady Argentea away."
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Kneeling besides the injured Yuln, Himaballuka addresses him in a measured, calm tone.
My name is Himaballuka, and while I have treated your lesser scrapes and abrasions, you have more serious injuries; frost bite, if I'm not mistaken.
(and how did that happen this far south?)
And you might have succumb to the combination had it not been for our feathered friend, Mr. Goto here, and the youthful Mr. Raithor over there.
Himaballuka points out the two men.
I'm fresh in town myself, and have very little knowledge of the local goings on and personages of import. I take it your Lady Malassene is a member of the Taldane nobility?
Though I strongly suspect she is not.
Ballu suspects Mr. Oerstag might not be from around these parts due to his injuries and reference to the Land of the Linnorm Kings. He surveys Yuln as they talk, trying to get a sense of his homeland via dress and speech.
Yuln replies, "Yes, she is, though I was only recently hired to supplement Lady Argentea Malassene's regular host of guards due to the strange happenings in the Border Wood near Heldren... Though it does not seem to have helped much as the lady was kidnapped anyway."
Vostok watches the Blue man heal and comfort the wounded man. Look at that. Useful magic. Lifting his hand to his mouth he mumbles Maybe someday we'll learn some of that, eh?
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Then the immediate concern would be your lady's safety. If she was taken, she may yet be alive.
Himaballuka stands
My fellow Pathfinders and I will make haste to her rescue.
This ought to endear us to the locals and garner their help.
No doubt some among those gathered here will volunteer for such a daring and worthy task.
Now, what exactly attacked your company, and where did they drag your ward?
"We thought they were just bandits at first--oulaws who hide like wolves in the forest. They were no match for us." Yuln shakes his head as a confused look crosses his face before continuing, "But then came the cold fey of the north. When they appeared, the battle turned quickly." Yuln let's out a sigh and adds wonderingly, "My people speak of the winter-touched, but I never expected them this far south."
As the group of companions speaks with Yuln about the fate of his charge, Catriona is nearby watching on, interested in what the commotion is about. Shocked at the mention of the winter-touched, she speaks up responding to the blue man's question, "Winter-touched are fey creatures who have sworn themselves to the White Witches of Irrisen."
Yuln nods his acknowledgement. He offers his weapon, a cold iron shortsword, saying, "If you are going to attempt to rescue the lady, you may borrow my weapons. It seemed to be a little more effective than the other's weapons against those creatures.
Concerned about the lady's safety and believing time to be of the essence, the group determines to set off that night. Catriona, having been lost in her thoughts up to this point, volunteers to assist in the rescue effort, not really fearing the cold and thinking it likely that there is some connection between the appearance of the winter-touched and her own inexplicable appearance in the area.
Ailmar stays behind at the tavern to see that Yuln is cared for in the short-term. He additionally plans to rally any support and gather any supplies he deems necessary if the group has not returned by the next morning.
Hustling to the lady's aid, the group arrives at the site of a massacre. They find a carriage with a spear wedged between the handles to hold the door closed. Hokkaido removes the spear and a pile of zombies falls on him. Hokkaido slashes at the zombie, smartly stepping back. Almost immediately thereafter, moving into Hokkaido's recently vacated position, Eiji steps up, allegedly saying, "Watch this brother; I got this." He promptly slays the first zombie, lending credence to his initial claim. Moments later, the pile of zombies have Eiji surrounded and commence attacking the target so kindly presented to them. As Eiji falls, he allegedly says, "I still got this."
Over the course of the remaining battle, webs were slung, acid was splashed, and Hokkaido literally split a zombie in two.
As the battle subsides, Catriona promptly says a few words over Eiji, returning him to consciousness.
Urging haste, Himaballuka leads the group along the tracks deeper into the wood. After some time, they notice a large chest half-buried in the snow, apparently dropped or discarded by those who hastily passed this way. Entirely not motivated by greed, and purportedly looking for anything that might shed light on the abduction or help in the rescue, everyone decides that they must have what is in the chest. Upon a close inspection, Hokkaido notices a mechanism that would likely spring a trap. Full of confidence and not greed at all, Hokkaido attempts to disarm the trap using only his clawed hands.
Unfortunately, his entirely appropriate efforts are not enough, and the trap is sprung. A spiked log swings out of the trees and along the trail, knocking out Eiji, Copper, and Hokkaido himself. Just before losing consciousness, Hokkaido purportedly says, "oh no, not again." Catriona, stepping somewhat out of the way at the last minute, was dealt a glancing blow.
Himaballuka, realizing that it is the middle of the night and half his party is knocked out, changes tone and now urges caution. He, along with Catriona, make sure that Hokkaido and Copper are kept warm-ish in a makeshift igloo. At the same time, Vostok claims his bother is totally fine alledgedly saying, "He's got this."
The next morning, Catriona casts an unbelievable number of spells to bring the party back into the realm of consciousness. Afterwards, displaying a measure of probably entirely warranted confidence, the party moves forward into the snowy wood. Within the hour, a dragon-headed worm bursts from the snow attacking Catriona. The beast is small for a dragon, but actually quite large for a worm, landing at about size medium. The worm wraps itself around an unconscious Catriona as a much larger dragon-headed worm appears. This one is still a bit small for a dragon, but is sized unbelievably large for a worm. As worm junior is considering whether worm senior is friend or foe, Copper drops him with a magic missile.
Meanwhile, back in the village of Heldren, Ailmar explains what has transpired to the village council and assists in moving Yuln to the apothecary for long-term care. The leader of the council, Ionnia Teppen, expresses surprise that such an ambush could take place along the road through the wood saying, "The High Sentinels usually keep bandit activity curbed. They're doing a poor job if brigands could attack a well-armed caravan and abduct Lady Argentea!"
Elder Natharen Safander offers his small temple's only emergency wand of cure light wounds saying, "There may be other injured that survived the ambush. Take this with you when you leave to follow after your friends." ( )
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Catriona, surprised and slightly terrified by the beastly sight, turned to face the wyrm, but not fast enough. Her last thought before losing consciousness: I've never seen one so big before.
The group of intrepid travelers spends some not inconsiderable time considering their options. After Himaballuka's narrowly failed attempt at field surgery, Catriona is still unconscious and the rest of the group is not much better off.
(See: Catriona and the worm that raked her)
Then, lo, who should appear but Ailmar the ranger, the brave and well-prepared, arriving with a stick full of magic make-you-feel-betters!
The party plows ahead with greatly renewed confidence (and health), when... a seemingly magical beast appears! A talking stag greets the group, inquiring as to how they came to be in these woods and what, pray tell, was their purpose? Himaballuka shushes Catriona's forthcoming answers to these questions, suspecting some sort of foul trickery. Perceiving that the stag itself is, in fact, just a stag, and that someone else is talking, the party accuses the "stag" of its deceit. His cover blown, the invisible fey turns down the "honestly" offered applejack Himaballuka had tried to sway him with and instead plays a naughty trick, shrinking Eiji's "great"-sword to the size of a toothpick.
Rather than simply tossing the now useless item aside (which incidentally would have ended the enchantment) Eiji attempts to vigorously rub the size back into it. Meanwhile, his steadfast brother Vostok, always ready to come to his brother's aid, runs forwards and with a vivid cone of clashing colors springing forth from his hand... knocks Eiji out. As an added bonus, the burst also takes down the stag and the fey.
The group quickly moves to squash the itty-bitty atomie and binds the stag, though they later determine that the frightened animal would cause no further harm and set it free.
As the party continues on through the now actively falling snow (-4 perception/-4 ranged attacks/very difficult terrain), they come across a fairly friendly looking man of snow holding a sign that reads, "Trespassers Turn Back."
Ignoring the sign, the party forges ahead when suddenly, the snow man animates, saying, "Can't you read? The sign says turn back! Now get lost!" As the others hold back, Himaballuka, continuing to ignore the warning, moves ahead and pokes the man of snow who promptly explodes in a screeching burst.
After a brief recovery, the party moves on, following the bandits tracks through the snow. The tracks come to and cross a frozen creek. While the ice is generally strong enough to support weight, Himaballuka identifies a few weak spots to avoid.
As everyone carefully navigates the ice (excepting Catriona, who seems to oddly glide as though on skates), a few small ice elementals emerge from the solid ice. In a matter of moments, the ice creatures were shattered and gnome-melted, and the group moved forward. Just on the other side of the frozen creek lies the body of old man Dansby, who likely had an unfortunate encounter with the ice elemental while chasing down some crop-stealing sprites.
Shortly after looting the dead townsman's corpse, the party overhears a few bandits quarreling over their share of "the loot" (which is, incidentally, not with them at all, but back that their hideout). The bandits, distracted by their petty argument, were quite thoroughly kidney-stabbed and arrowed by Hokkaido and Ailmar respectively.
After stripping the bandits down to their smallcloths, likely as punishment for their banditry, the party, now somehow not slowed by hauling around a few extra people's worth of mundane adventuring gear, comes to a wooden lodge.
"Halt!" demands Himaballuka as the snowy trail levels off at the top of the hill, spotting a tripwire across the path leading to the nearby lodge. Hokkaido deftly disarms the crossbow trap and alarm.
Ailmar now recalls that the townsfolk in Heldren had expressed some shock at the recent increase of banditry and ambushes, stating that the High Sentinels, who had a lodge in the Border Wood, typically kept such incidents in check.
Thinking that this lodge was perhaps the High Sentinel Lodge, the group approached and knocked on the door, hoping to ask for aid or information, or to rebuke the group for their purported failings. They were instead confronted with more of the same bandits that they had earlier vanquished.
Eiji, his preferred weapon still very, very tiny, presumably uses something else to fight the bandits, purportedly saying, "I got this!"
At the same time, Ailmar fires arrows from behind. Meanwhile, Himaballuka and Vostok enter through a side window, slaying a few clearly very ill men. Making their fortitude saves while in the room, the two avoid contracting the illness themselves.
Shortly thereafter, the party enters the kitchen where a frightened lady half orc, dressed in suitably covering leathers, shouted for help.
Over the protests of the others, Himaballuka and Hokkaido promptly beat her into unconsciousness. Leaving the trussed-up half orc at the bottom of the stairs, with the blue-haired gnome and the pun-loving mastadon watching over her, the party moves up the stairs.
Just after the group enters the first room upstairs, they are surprised by the appearance of a number of ice-encrusted skeletons that move menacingly forward...
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We immediately set about flailing at the icy skeletons, but our efforts were ineffective until Vostok sprayed a very slippery substance below the bone-men's feet at which time Hokkaido started working through them with ease.
Nigh simultaneously, Copper shrilly yelled something about more skeletons downstairs. This was followed by a large *thump* as if a fully equipped, but unconscious person had hit the ground.
Most of the party rushed down the stairs to confront the small army of undead risen from our recently fallen foes. Wading through the skin piles left over from the just completed reanimation process, 'Ballu used enlarge person[i] to attempt to control the area. Ailmar took up a position in the rear to offer ranged support while the various casters (except Catriona who was busy perusing a closet on the second floor) slung spells from the cover of the stairway. Hokkaido and Eiji waded through re-[i]greaseed skeletons.
The necromancer responsible for these abominations was likewise greased and reduced to channeling negative energy from his seat on the floor. Unfortunately, his efforts were sufficient to knock out and nearly kill every person on the main floor. With his final breath Eiji ended his villainous machinations by falling atop him, sword first.
After a quick round of healing, we explored the cellar and found our missing Lady!
We quickly swept the refuse of battle into what appeared to be the disease room and set ourselves up in the nicer, cleaner rooms for the night. The next day, using a pair of horses the bandits had stolen from our ward, 'Ballu escorted the Lady back to town while the rest of the party continued following the tracks of the fey that were involved in the various deaths and kidnappings recently brought to light.
Along the way the party avoided evil trees and encountered a creepy doll in an isolated hut amidst a haunted field of ice blocks. Once the doll made obvious its poorly veiled malevolence, Eiji broke it open like a piñata amidst Ailmar's fain of alchemist fire.
The tracks continued out the other side of the creepy clearing.
A page from the diary of Ten-penny Tacey
(Dated the day before your arrival)
Things are different now that Rohkar has taken charge here. I'd like to leave, but I'm not sure he'd let me... besides, I'm unsure anyone would remember to feed that lady if I did go.
(End)
The trail continues through a narrow pass, descending south and east into an icy valley. An unusual pattern of lines is scratched into the fresh snow covering the trail at the edge of the clearing.
Upon closer inspection, the pattern of lines in the snow is revealed to be a warning that reads, "Turn back before the winter devours you."
Vostok scoffs at the warning...besides being devoured could be fun, he thinks to himself. "Press on!" he yells while nudging Eiji forward.