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After Teric puts up his short term buffs, Ulfric and Bolger unseal the door...
The inside of the room is frigid, a frozen block of slick ice.
As Haakon peers inside he hears an angry roar and a cloud of white, spiky icy cold billows out at the party
ROUND 1
Aralantryx
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Teric
Haakon
Ulfric
Bolger
Lucrezia
After breathing on the party, the dragon flies back a few feet, seeming to be waiting for something to happen.
ROUND 1
Aralantryx [HELD ACT]
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Teric
Haakon
Ulfric
Bolger
Lucrezia
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Ulfric reflexively ducks beneath his shield as the wave of frost washes over him, causing him to shudder. The Ulfen laughs and his eyes sparkle at the idea of facing a scaled foe.
"Perfect Practice for a real Linnorm My Jarl!" he booms as he makes his way into the room, starting up his Raging song.
Calling upon the spirits he urges them to strike.
for
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The Dragon deftly dodges most of the fire coming from Teric's hands
As Haakon closes on the dragon, it snaps and move swiftly to start attacking him, it apparently looking to lure the Jarl in the entire time.
The dragon lands 4 solid hits on the Jarl.
ROUND 1
Teric (-3 HP)
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Aralantryx (-6 HP)
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Haakon (-31 or -40 depending on if Shield of Faith/Rage is figured into his AC statblock)
Ulfric (- 6 HP)
Bolger (-13 HP)
Lucrezia (-13 or - 6 depending on result of save)
ROUND 2
Teric (-3 HP)
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Aralantryx (-6 HP)
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Haakon (-31 or -40 depending on if Shield of Faith is figured into statblock)
Ulfric (- 6 HP)
Bolger (-13 HP)
Lucrezia (-13 or - 6 depending on result of save)
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ROUND 2
Teric (-3 HP)
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Aralantryx (-6 HP)
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Haakon (-34)
Ulfric (- 6 HP)
Bolger (-13 HP)
Lucrezia (- 6)
The bite tears into Haakon, causing him to fall.
He then turns his attention to Ulfric, hitting him with a claw, but the rest of his attacks got deflected by Ulfric's armor.
Ulfric for his part attempts to heal his fallen jarl
successfully healing his jarl
And then attempts to keep attacking with his spirit arms
Just narrowly misses.
ROUND 2
Teric (-3 HP)
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Aralantryx (-6 HP)
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Haakon (-38, prone)
Ulfric (- 6 HP)
Bolger (-13 HP)
Lucrezia (- 6 depending on result of save)
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the Dragon roars in pain as the flaming sphere seems HIGHLY effective against him
And then it roars some more in pain as blood trails down his ears and he stops dead in his tracks and falls prone on the ground
Teric (-3 HP)
Haakon (-38, prone)
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Aralantryx (-43 HP, prone)
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Ulfric (- 6 HP)
Bolger (-13 HP)
Lucrezia (- 6 depending on result of save)
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Ulfric hoists the dead Dragon over his broad shoulders, the white scales complimenting his Frost wolf cloak. He makes his way out of the frozen room and then turns to his companions, a smile on his face.
"Well done friend Teric! This foul scaly foe has been felled and another great tale to add to our annals! Let us get the poor souls from this place and back to Trollheim, before we head to this Huscarl King's Keep!"
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The Ulfen have a saying: “No blade is as sharp, no demon as cruel as the winds that walk their way down the Icestair.” At the border of Irrisen and the untamed wilds of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, the meaning of those words becomes clear as the barren, snow-covered plains stretch to the horizon. Four days’ travel now lies between the eastern edge of Irrisen and the shattered remains of the Huscarl King’s keep.
To the east, sinuous snow drifts give way to rocky foothills from which pines and scrub brushes claw for life. In the distance, the massive creatures that give this land its name shuffle along at a ponderous speed, still impossibly huge even from far away.
Skagni’s map marks a clear and straightforward path, but the snow makes for slow travel. The Shadow Lodge agents have a head start, but persistence through the harsh environment and adherence to the strict map may yet make it possible to catch them before they reach the Keep of the Huscarl King and gain access to the mighty weapon held within.
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Ulfric throws back his head and breathes in the fine cold air, his breath misting as the snow-haired Ulfen smiled. He felt right at home in this land. Swathed in his heavy Wolfskin cloak, he hooks his fingers into his new belt, crafted from the hide of the White Dragon they had just felled, marvelling at the new strength in his arms.
"Well my friends! This has turned out to be a fine journey and now an Ancient Keep with a powerful weapon! Let us be on!"
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"See THIS is normal weather. Not like that horrid jungle place we ended up in, eh Ulfric!" says Haakon as he takes a deep breath of the brisk cold air.
"If we're trecking through the snow i wonder if taking some snow shoes could be useful. If anyone here has more book smarts than me then now is the time to shout up."
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Teric thinks hard on the region before the group sets out
The denizens of the Realm of the Mammoth lords are Kellids, considered primitive by many in the Inner Sea, but respected for their hardiness.
Your route goes through the domain of a Kellid tribe called the Snowmask Clan. Unlike many of the other migratory Kellid tribes, this clan has never abandoned its territory.
and also that
An Ulfen warrior once carved out a small “kingdom” for himself in the western regions of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, earning loyalty from local Kellid tribes.
The Ulfen warrior Ranulf was known as the Huscarl King, as he had once served as one of the Emperor of Taldor’s personal guards. After he established his keep, it was attacked by a powerful white dragon who the Huscarl defeated in a battle so fierce that legends claim Ranulf’s beard was frozen during the fight. Despite ruling for almost 30 years after the battle, Ranulf died with no heir.
Ranulf was known for his flaming greataxe, Jedrek’s Shard. Rumors persist that it was buried with him at his death when his Kellid followers caused an avalanche to cover the keep under a mountain of ice, rock, and snow, but the retreat of a glacier has now made the tomb accessible again for those brave enough to venture through Snowmask territory.
While most assume that Ranulf ’s decision to collapse the keep atop his grave was an egotistical plan to keep his fabled weapon out of the hands of others, some sages whisper that Ranulf ’s reign was also a vigil.
The great Ulfen’s keep was meant to protect not only his land, but all of the north from something that once dwelt deep beneath his castle; the avalanche that buried him and Jedrek’s Shard was also meant to stop others from exploring what lies beneath.
Given that these are mountains going through the Realms of the Mammoth Lords, that is still lived in, he is reasonably certain you won't need to walk through any deep snow, but that those boots might be worth owning if you want to go off the beaten path.
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Teric finishes telling the tale of Ranulf, known as the Huscarl King. The Ulfen king lies buried under his broken keep with his flaming axe, Jedrek’s Shard. "The Shadow Lodge must be trying to get to the axe...or worse. You never know what could be buried down below the keep. But if they want it, we need to stop them, and hopefully claim it for ourselves." He grins at his Ulfen friends.
"What do you say?"
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Ulfric grins as Teric tells the tale of the Huscarl King, it matches with what he knew about the ancient Ulfen legend and he grins broadly.
"An ancient King, a powerful weapon and a hidden dark secret! Sounds exactly like our kind of trial my friends! Let us Master the Keep of the Huscarl King and stop the fiends of the Shadow Lodge!"
The white haired Ulfen flexes his muscles in anticipation and runs his finger of the blade of his axe to check the weapons sharpness. Satisfied he starts to head off in the direction of the Keep of the Huscarl King.
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So the group, snazzy new footwear in tow, heads into the Realms of the Mammoth Lords hot on the trail of the Shadow Lodge.
Along the way you encounter a pack of giant woolly mammoths stampeding across the open plains, the forest covered in giant sloth and enormous elks.
As you work your way through the forest, the thick cluster of pine trees ends abruptly at the top of a low hill. At the bottom, the snow is littered with the aftermath of battle. Broken shields and spears jut from the snow like fractured bones, and blood colors the ground around a sprawl of bodies, many still seemingly locked in combat.
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Teric makes his way through the cold seemingly unaffected. His thin linen shirt sleeves are rolled up and his clothing seems not to have changed much from a hot Varisian night.
Looking down the hill, he points to the battlefield. "Ulfen tribes warring? Anyone know who might be dying down there?" He looks down to see if he can spot one of the warrior and whether they seem human or not. He also looks for any battle standards to show him who might be fighting.