DM-Camris' REIGN of WINTER Part 2: The Shackled Hut (Inactive)

Game Master Camris

[Yuln Oerstag]:
I don't know. But if one of the White Witches took her, no good shall come of it. The winter-touched do nothing without the leave of those who placed the ice in their hearts. If they're here, its because a White Witch sent them. .... and much worse will follow.

You mean those Baba Yaga worshippers?

Gondork blurts out with a face of disbelief.

Winter touched? Ice sprites? The Witches of Irrisen? Arwyn wondered, and tried to recall the stories her mother had told of them.
Knowledge:Arcana: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

she definitely mentioned them. your mind's just all aflutter with the cold, billy in the ice water, an ulfen barbarian at your doorstep reminding you of your father, you probably just need to calm down. all you can remember right now is a hut with chicken legs. and dolls, you think you remember pretty dolls.

[Yuln Oerstag]:
Yep, those blasted witches.

You'll get her back, won't you? Would that I could go with you. My ancestors would ridicule my lack of valor for fleeing rather than fighting to the end. But I faced enemies that even the greatest warriors in the Linnorm Kingdoms have faltered against, though I slew at least one of them before they dragged Lady Argentea away.

Elder Safander removed his armor as best he could, and left it bundled, in need of a bit of repair but still good, next to the cot. Yuln gestures at the longsword in the bundle.

Cold smithed ore. It burns them like fire. Both burn them, and both are weapons they fear.

[Councilor Ionnia]:
I think Isker, the smith, has some cold iron sling bullets. They're yours if you think it will help you save the Lady. In an ideal world, you'd rescue her, save our town, and stop this eldritch cold before worse things emerge from the woods.

Dryden, let the other hunters know of the danger, and report back any other strange occurrences.

You four, get yourselves ready, and then go see if you can pick up a trail from the site where the Lady Argentea's caravan was attacked. Vivialla might have some supplies in the general store that you can use. Bill me fore it later.

Gondorks eyes widen as he hears mention of the possibility of a tab at the local store, but he keeps any remarks for himself.

Arwyn snapped her fingers.
"Yes! Cold iron! I remembered something of that from Mother's stories. A special weapon material that could pierce a fey creature when nothing else would.
"A blade of cold iron would be better, but I may be able to adapt sling bullets to my arrows." She thought aloud.
She bowed to the Councillor.
"With your permission, I will fetch them and meet you in the village square."
She smiled.
"If there is a trail, I can find it!" She said.
And with that, she scampered off to find Isker the smith.

scampering off to find Isker at the smithy, he's repairing some old tools. You're familiar with Isker, you remember the militia days, one weekend a month, he drills the village's militia. Your eyes light on the fine etched metal of a suit of banded mail, and there they are, a velvet bag , in the back near the forge.

Xanthippe, beauty she may be, apple of the village boys eyes, you grew up with her, and while you'd enjoy hunting and game trails, she'd wile away time with her father, as apprentice in the smithy. You remember two summers ago, when Ester's oldest tried to kiss her. Socked him right in the mouth so hard he lost a tooth and ran home crying to his mother. Isker laughed so hard when he found out, but still grounded her and forbade her passing by the Stoat for a month.

Tall and middle aged, Isker's got blacksmiths arms and hands, he stops his hammering when he realizes you're there, and turns, his face cleanshaven, and his head shorn bald, easier to work around the fire he says, a little ginger stubble by end of day though.

What can I do for you Snowflake? Need some more arrowheads again?

Gondork or others may decide to check out the General Store. it seems well stocked. You can find any mundane adventuring gear from the Core Rulebook in stock, including five cold-weather outfits that have seen better days, leftovers from a harsh winter a few years back. Vivialla doesn't carry much in the way of weapons ( some daggers, maybe a long dagger that would fall into the short sword category ). She does have two interesting things. She keeps an Arrow Magnet (UE) [600gp] in her belt pouch, though its for sale, and wears a Ring of Force Shield [8,500gp]. Interesting wares, though not quite in your price range at the moment. But available for sale at the asking.

Good day to you, master smith. One cold-forged greataxe, two daggers, one battleaxe, two spears and a heavy crossbow please. Oh, and some cold iron tipped bolts.

All without blinking one eye.

sorry for late posting, module on sunday and yesterday some competition sports

He followed the rest silently and just frowned at times, when they made their way towards the smithy and Gondork listed his shopping items he raised a brow and under his breath whispered.

"Preparing for war?"

Then going over the items of the smith he pondered for a moment.

"If possible, I would like to aquire a cold-iron sickle and a cold iron morningstar, if such things are in your inventory master Smith"

[Isker]:
I'm helping the lady

You have a nostalgic interaction. He explains the bullets are magical, but understands Councilor Ionnia's promise of them for payment, so he'll take it up with her. He doesn't have much else made of cold iron made already in the shop. Not usually much call for it.

10x +1 cold iron sling bullets

After helping her...

[Isker]:
And how will you be paying for all that ser? The daggers, spears and heavy crossbow i've got in stock. The cold forged greataxe I can start on with a down payment. I've a blade i can haft for a battleaxe in a day or so. The greataxe will take three days. he nods at Arwyn Bolts Arwyn can usually put together, i can have Xanthippe make some cold iron tips for you, and you can ask the lady politely to affix them for you. he smiles at Arwyn and winks.

2 daggers

2 spears
heavy crossbow

check your post-as name ;)

[Isker]: (to Caladan)
I'm afraid i can't make all this cold forged gear at once. I've got a small supply of it. I can make a greataxe, and some arrowheads and bolt tips, and maybe a sickle. Or I can make a morningstar, a sickle, and maybe two blades or four spear heads until i get more in.

Tapping his chin for a brief moment before then nodding to Isker.

"I will settle for the sickle then, that should do it for now, I hope..."

Craft what you can. We are going to wage war on winter witches! The payment should go through councellor Ionnia. And Arwyn, if you'd be so kind as to fix them bolt heads I would be in your debt. I have no time to help, I must hone my greataxe-swing! It's been a while since I wielded one of those, but my blood boils already, if my grandfather wasn't an orc! I'd have to fix a training dummy somewhere...

He grins widely, as if he's proud to do the smith a favor.

[Isker]:
Sickle and tips i'll do first they'll be ready tomorrow. The greataxe will be ready on Starday four days from now

Aye, I'll take payment out of Ionnia's hide...

Oh, before I forget, do you have a whetstone I could borrow?

i can have Xanthippe make some cold iron tips for you, and you can ask the lady politely to affix them for you. he smiles at Arwyn and winks.

"Yes! Cold iron tips, as many as you can spare! Thank you!" She said excitedly.

And Arwyn, if you'd be so kind as to fix them bolt heads I would be in your debt.

"Of course. It is a simple enough task." She said, thinking first and nodding.

She jumped up to kiss the blacksmith on the cheek then scampered off to the general store. Looking for something against the unnatural cold.

you definitely dig up the cold weather outfits. a little stitchwork tonight around camp, and you think they'll be more than serviceable. You ponder whether you'd like to lay out bedrolls in a four man tent, or bedrolls in the snow, just in case you're out all night. some rations might be useful. and Oh! Mother has a potion, in case it gets DANGEROUSLY cold. Even plenty of alchemist fire...

You gather in the square, handing out cold weather outfits to the other three, your bundle tightly packed and evenly distributed, some smaller bundles packed for them that you hand out

The clock shows its just past two

"Huh, if you think these veils are somehow important to me, I'd better keep them close."

Seshiro ties the veils around his waist, as if it's a belt. The voice in his head starts purring approvingly.

[At the smith:]
"Good day, sir sssmith. I'd be much obliged if you could also make me a cold iron longspear and a cold iron morningstar. Also on Ionnia's tab, of course. If it proves too much work, I'll be happy with just the morningstar."

I should have 67 gp left. The cold-weather outfits aren't free, I suppose. I'd like to buy an Alchemist's Fire and an Acid Flask, if possible.

you can save the gold, and just run up a tab on Ionnia, or you can pay for it yourself and let her know how much you spent later.

[Isker]:
Whats with everyone clamoring for cold forged iron today!? you know its a slow process, right? I'll see what I can do about a longspear. Morningstar will take more ore. Worst case you wait a week until I can get some more ore in stock.

see itemized equipment list in the discussion thread
Everyone ready to go?

oops, and nearly missed the last bit. Alchemist fire and Acid flask no problem. there are plenty of alchemist fire at Arwyn's mom's place, the Willowbark Apothecary. She has one or two acid flasks too.

Gondork is doing pushups and other exercises, in full plate, in the middle of the town square.

Arwyn got some camp gear and bundled them to share out the load.
She also went to her mom's apothecary shop to tell her the news and grab a couple of alchemist's fire flasks.

Ready!

Tasks completed, she checked on the others to see if they needed any help.

He gave a brief nod to the smith and then went out, grabbing the gear that he needed from his humble house before arriving back at the town centre and then watching Gondork showing off. He shook his head briefly at the show of strength. It would be usefull.

"I am ready, once the others are here, time to move I would say?"

Oh, such a good daughter. Your mother is distraught at you heading into some danger, and makes sure you've got at least 2 alchemist flasks each, in case of trolls.

You track back down the road together, and follow Yuln's trail and Dryden's markers as you veer off the road. Near the firest, the temperature grows noticeably colder. The summer sun doesn't seem to warm as much, the breeze brisles against your skin and you put on your winter outfits. Past a few canopies, you see where the wagons were driven off the road at great speed. The trail in the forest littered with debris and the corpses of slain humans and horses. A carriage stands in the trail, its team of horses missing or cut free, while another overturned carriage lies sprawled and broken next to the tree line. To the south, more bodies have fallen around what appears to be a statue of ice. A snowy trail leads deeper into the forest.

the big picture courtesy of some dunjini hunting. i've put your tokens up in the upper right section of the map. Feel free to move yourselves next to stuff as you narrate your actions.

Arwyn tries her best to reassure her mom.
"I'll be with a couple of real armored musclebound guys if we run into trouble!"
"We're just a little way outside town!"
"People need our help!"

Arwyn cautiously approached the first wagon, looking around for tracks that could tell the story of what happened here.
Survival (Track): 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 4 + 1 = 17
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
She'll check the wagon for clues next.
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Gondork tries to keep a perimeter, scanning the environment for movement.

Cast Detect Magic

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22

He remained quit during the walk down the trail, seemingly lost in thought as he contemplated on the rest of the group. When they arrived at the carnage he frowned for a moment, before moving towards one of the nearest corpses he did a quick look around to see if there was something out of the ordinary. Once getting close to one of the corpses he would lower himself to one knee and then do a quick check on the corpse [Detect Magic]

No perception so just a quick glance and pretending to be oblivious :)

from where your markers are currently on the map, here's a description of the scene.

Carefully approaching the first carriage (carriage A), its decorative chasings mark it an expensive carriage, and of Taldan heraldry. Many arrows protrude from the carriage, and a spear has been wedged between the handles of the carriage doors to hold them closed.

As Gondork approaches, Arwyn and he can both hear muffled sounds from inside the carriage, and then a creaking from the door and spear.

Bodies of men, some with cuts frozen over, all with tiny needles and icicles protruding from their bodies, as well as the horses, litter the ground. Indeed, all of the guards seem to have been stripped of armor and weapons You spot a clear trail in the back, tracks run all over the area, its clear soem are from the eight bodies of guards littering the site, but more seem to be others.

Standing frozen, encased in ice, stands what seems to be a soldier, his breastplate the only one not looted, encased in ice as he is. He'd be whole, but chunks of ice at his feet contain his arm, still clutching his longsword, and his head, frozen still, staring skyward.

At the back of the area, a clear trail leads Southwest, a dozen or so men, and a horse, lead off away from the area.

The snow is deeper further in. Its only about two inches out here, but further in its six inches or more in areas, and there's no mix of summer sun and winter's snow. the sun barely seems to warm anything. overland movement is difficult because of the snow. the effect is that it takes longer to cover a lot of ground. and most areas with snow can basically be considered difficult terrain. The cold is worse ahead, and in an hour you'll be rolling vs taking some nonlethal cold damage from the chill.

Nothing in the area detects as magical.

As she traveled through the battlefield, Arwyn grimaced, her eyes unable to look away. The men, stripped of armor and weapons, were clearly pierced by icecicles and ice needles. The reality of what her mother told her over the long winter nights seemed more gruesome than she had imagined.

Then she heard the muffled sounds from the Carriage.
Arwyn holds her hand up to the others, waiving for their attention. She pointed at her ear, then at the Carriage.
Waiting a round for the others to get set, she suddenly draws the spear from the handles of the carriage doors and flings them wide open!
"Don't move! Heldren army!" She called out.

moving seshiro a little closer on the map. Caladan and Gondork, if you can post your short stat block like Arwyn has in your level/classes line of your profile that'd be great =)

You yank the spear out, and fling the doors wide open shouting for whoever is in there to halt. You're utterly surprised by the frozen skin of two nearly naked men as they lurch out of the cart at you.

[i]The frozen creature lurches forward at you and swats at you, just missing. the other one stumbles out past you before you can react.

[init: round 1]
[13: Arwyn], [12: seshiro], [5: gondork], [2: caladan]

[init: round 2]
[14: frozen],

a little blurb. on init, i'll do rolls for you unless you'd like to do them yourself. saves time. if you do an attack that requires a save from the monster, feel free to just roll a d20 w/ no modifier and i'll take that as the roll. likewise for AoO. if its high, you can generally guess the outcome. you can act whenever in your init slot, i'll delay or ready you based on what you say, but i do adjust the numbers and keep a sequence after it. you don't really need to worry about that though. once you act, i slide you over to the next round's "on deck" area.

I've hidden my stats like behind a spoiler tag.

Gondork moves 10 feet southward, then takes out his new greataxe.

I knew it! Time ta test this baby!

lol. read more carefully. the blacksmith won't be able to finish your greataxe for a few days. you got the spears, daggers, and a battleaxe.but yes you move and take it out. gotcha.

Whops. Battleaxe is fine though!

Sorry for the silence, had deadlines to meet and sort of forgot about this.
The blue squares are enemies, right? And no difficult terrain as of yet, right? If it is, place me two squares back.

Time to test your mettle, child....

Seeing his companions in danger, Seshiro leaps into action. He grabs his longspear and waves it menacingly at the forms in front of him.

"Halt, people! We've come here to sssave you! No need to attack us!"

Moved 20 feet, drawn my longspear. I should currently be threatening both.

yup. no difficult terrain yet.

[init: round 1]
[13: Arwyn], [2: caladan]

[init: round 2]
[14: frozen], [12: seshiro], [5: gondork],

With an undignified yip, Arwyn skipped back a step then shot the closest one to her.
longbow shot: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19 for a possible 1d8 ⇒ 7 piercing damage.

Master Seshiro! Let's flank these damned corpses!

the arrow sinks in way too easily, even after bursting through frozen flesh. with little noticeable effect on the guy. he doesn't even really wince in pain. You can tell your arrows will be less than optimal in stopping him.

Seeing the creatures stumble forward he pulled his morning star and his shield before taking a swing at one of the creatures threatening him.

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

The blunt force of the spiked morningstar smacks into the frozen flesh, and the spikes protruding sink into its frozen flesh easily, and release just as easily. You can also tell that the morningstar isn't as effective as it should be.

It occurs to you why. The rancid breath and smell of decay is missing because of the cold, but these things are zombies. Slashing weapons will be most effective.

The grey one lurches toward seshiro, slamming into him hard, while the blue one flails its arms at Caladan, who brings his shield up to block in time

6 dmg to Seshiro
you guys are up again.

[init: round 2]
[12: seshiro], [5: gondork], [5: Arwyn], [2: caladan]

[init: round 1] [14: frozen],

Seeing the fact his sickle wasn't ready when they left the town he used his morningstar again, knowing fully well that the damage might be horrid. "Use a sword or something like it, these are zombies!"

Attack, morningstar: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Gondork walks 10ft through the snow towards the nearest zombie while taking out his tower shield, then readies an attack for when flanking with Seshiro.

Attack, flank: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 2 = 17
Damage, battleaxe: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

its not difficult terrain in this snow yet. (i think). it is deeper in the forest after this encounter. but i moved you up 10 ft on the map. if you want to adjust your position to the other zombie, you can. seshiro is wielding a longspear. if you want to take an AoO you can flank with Caladan.

[init: round 2]
[12: seshiro], [5: Arwyn],

[init: round 3] [14: frozen], [5: gondork (ready)], [2: caladan]

Ouch, 6 damage noted. Currently 8/14.
I presume Grey five-foot stepped so he wouldn't provoke, right?

"Oh, these guys are dead, then? Then it doesn't matter if I hurt them, right?"

Five-foot step, draw dagger (which does piercing or slashing), attack Blue with flank.

Attack roll with flank: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 131d4 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Aaand now I'm in position to be flanked by them. Whelp.

Throwing himself into the thick of things, Sehsiro draws his blade, dropping his longspear in the snow, and vehemently returns the pain and ire the zombie inflicted on him, as Gondork hacks into the zombie with his battleaxe, and Seshiro comes in slashing open another huge gash, the creature tumbles to the ground, its undead tether to the world of the living destroyed.

[init: round 2]
[5: Arwyn],

[init: round 3] [14: frozen], [2: caladan] [2: gondork ], [2: seshiro],

Arwyn dropped her bow behind her and drew her shortsword. She attacked the same one in front of her.
short sword: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 for a possible 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 slashing damage.

The remaining zombie tries again to slam Arwyn, swinging wildly with its club like frozen arms as it tries to rake at her and eat her warm flesh, opening a nasty gouge and she hears a sickening crunch within her as the blow lands. her breathing starts coming in ragged gasps.

slam: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 201d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

sorry!

[init: round 3]: [2: caladan] [2: gondork ], [2: seshiro], [2: Arwyn],

[init: round 4]: [14: frozen],

Moving around Seshiro the Inquisitor made his way and stepped next to the fallen Arwyn as he swung his morningstar once more

Attack: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (12) + 3 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Going after the weak ones, eh!? THIS'LL TEACH YA!

5ft step to flank with Arwyn, drop tower shield as free action, free action to hold battleaxe with hands

Attack roll: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 2 = 15
Damage: 1d8 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13