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Provided we have carrying capacity, Raimdol will also buy a tent and plenty of food and water for the trip. He casts endure elements on himself and Malachite Stoneheart using his newly acquired wand. Not sure if anyone else needs it.
Raimdol suffers through the rough travel from the alien beast, trusting in his teammate's estimation of its ability. Having grown up on and around the sea, the movement is not totally unfamiliar, but the bruises certainly will be. He tries to take it stoically, but it is clear his nerves are fraying the more they travel.
"Travel, they said. See the world, they said. Life's a big adventure they said." he speaks, to nobody in particular. "Whomever 'they' are can suck an egg." he mutters under his breath.
The entirety of the Tail is flat, with rocky sections every now and then. By taking your time, you avoid damaging your sleighs. After the Tail, you arrive to steep hills - slowing down when going uphill, and with your sleighs speeding up and almost overcoming the dogs on declining sections.
As you come to the end of the Haunches, passing through the fog suddenly reveals a 200 ft cliff.
As the cliff appears, both mushers manage to turn and stop in time. Thunder instinctively stops to mirror Yarricki's movement, and Raimdol barely manages to stay on the axe beak. You walk over to the snow-covered edge, and see a 200 foot fall (At least 200 ft. The bottom is covered in fog). That would surely hurt any of you, and very likely trash the sleigh. not even mentioning the poor dogs. They don't mind, however, and only seem to happy to be on the road again. Looking at you, some of them sit and wait until you jump back on the sleigh and carry on.
You follow the cliff towards east, as instructed by your map, and appear on another flat area, though the fog is getting more and more dense. Large boulders pepper this area, and you need to turn your sleighs frequently to dodge when they come out of the fog.
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Startled by the near miss on the drop off in the fog, Malachite pats Odo on the shoulder. "Well done, partner. That fall would've been a serious problem for all of us. That fog is deadly."
As they move up into the flat area with boulders, Malachite tries to keep a sharp eye out, calling to Odo to turn when he sees an oncoming obstacle. Whether that's a help or any annoyance remains to be determined.
The sleighs move through the Spine with great speed, and both Odo and Yarricki seem to maneuver around the boulders just fine; though Odo did receive some help in the form of an early warning. They both have one hiccup, but BARELY manage to dodge the stone emerging from the fog just ahead of them.
After passing the Spine, you start going uphill and gain altitude fast. Soon enough, as if with a snap of a finger, you come out of the fog to reveal the sun-lit hills up ahead. All of them covered in snow. Another problem arises, however. As the air density lowers, breathing becomes harder and harder.
You find yourself on the edge of a cliff. On the bottom of it, a fledgling river formed by melting ice cuts its path through the mountains. Following your map, you find yourself on the spot mentioned by Rysam. In this location, a dangerously narrow bridge of solid ice spans a 15-foot-wide ravine that splits the pass. A weathered chain, secured to large boulders at either end of the bridge, hangs suspended about three feet above its surface.
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Yarricki's breath comes out in plumes of fog, but the gnome seems not fazed by the altitude. At the bridge she stops the sleigh and starts unchaining the dogs "Time to stretch your legs! As Rhysam said, we will walk over slowly, one at a time. I will push the sleigh across"
She looks at the split in the path beyond the bridge "We also need to decide what path to take, the higher, quicker and probably more dangerous route or the lower, slower and safer route"
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Raimdol Fort Save:
Unfortunately, the excitement, the rough ride, and the jostling of the strange animal he's clinging onto for dear life is beginning to take its toll. Raimdol's head is spinning as he tries desperately to catch his breath.
"I'm not feeling so hot..." he yammers to nobody in particular.
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"The Dawnflower has seen fit to give me to the power to aid any of you against the drag of fatigue, but even so my power is limited and, at this altitude, probably temporary. I will provide what help I can, but I may need your advice on when it is necessary."
Meanwhile, Odo also unhitches his team. "We could break out some ropes for additional security while crossing the bridge." He also gets some crampons out of his pack and puts them on for better purchase on the ice.
You bust out the ropes, tie them securely on nearby stones, untie the dogs and move the animals and equipment one by one across the bridge of ice. Both sleighs are a bit problematic due to their size, but with a little maneuvering and a person on both ends, you manage to get to the other side without larger issues. The stream underneath is not deep, but the ice and bits of snow moving along the surface indicate that it is in fact not a warm bath.
You all let out a collective sigh of relief once you are on the northern side, and start reassembling your means of transportation. A few dozen minutes later, the 'caravan' is ready to go.
You take the iced-over, 10 ft wide higher path to save time. The path is tricky, however, and the thin snow layer hides solid ice underneath.
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Raimdol gets down from his borrowed mount to stretch his legs and back as well as breath a sigh of temporary relief. While rubbing his aching muscles, the half-elf moves about, surveying the area they are in.
He nods in affirmation at the plan to use the quicker route as well as the idea to keep everyone together. It is risky, but less risk than staking out individually.
He looks at Yarricki, as she beckons everyone over. "What did you find?" he asks curiously, looking at her discovery.
Perception roll:
Fort check:
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Malachite also notices the blood trail but as the others have pointed it out, he remains silent, watching to see if there is any tracker in the group. He puts a steadying hand on Yarricki's shoulder trying to reassure the sick gnome. Malachite tries to backtrack the blood trail to see if there is anything interesting at the other end.
Unaccustomed to the heights, both Yarricki and Thunder feel the lack of oxygen take a toll on their stamina. Even as she tracks the blood trail, she takes a few stops to breathe slowly and regain her drive. Raimdol, on the other hand, seems to have a less difficult time holding on, as Thunder's movement becomes steadier, though a bit slower.
Following the trail of blood drops gets you sidetracked for a few minutes, brings results. After several hundred feet of tracking, you find three piles of fresh snow that are clearly out of place.
Digging through them, you find one human male, and two bodies of white-furred, hideous simian beastmen burried underneath.
The two simians have multiple stab wounds, and the human has had his neck torn open by tooth or claw. The bloodied claws of one of the simians would indicate the latter.
The human was stripped of any gear he had, but his clothing remained. Pilfering through reveals a bronze coin depicting an ouroboros on a shield, a known emblem of the Aspis Consortium.
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Malachite is concerned about the Aspis token present in the grave site. "I fear that means our enemies are already ahead of us, treating the locals poorly. We need to make haste but carefully, for the snakes may be laying an ambush for us."
He continues looking about for any signs of the Aspis agents or their presence.
Following the trickle of blood, Raman also start to succumb to the unusual height.
You do find something that might have resembled tracks at some point, however.It leads back to your main trail, and ends next to several parrallel lines, not unlike those left by your sleighs. Fortunately for you, these seem to be heading in the same direction as you, but via the lower path. With that said, you follow the high path and occasionally keep checking trail on the bottom one, but it disappears in the distance. When both trails reconnect to enter a valley, the trails are nowhere to be seen.
With no other tracks to follow, you continue in your assigned path, throgh the valley in front of you. Steep hills are on both sides of
this passage, and the narrow section bewteen is barely enough to make two- maybe three sleighs pass trough at the same time.
Exiting the valley, you find yourself heading towards a steep incline, to what you assume - based on both Rysam's description and the map - is the 'Eye' of the Dragon. The dogs pull and move along a trail snaking along the mountain to reach it's peak.
With the avalanche spotted in time, you urge the dogs to dart away from its path. The mushers speed up the dogs and turn them towards east, hoping to get out of the way and even if not, that the trees will reduce most of the avalanches impact. With only a few seconds left, you enter the forest and navigate between the trunks.
The avalanche outright shaves off a few of the tree on the outer section of the trees behind you, and snaps treetrunks trunks several feet beyond. You, however, are only affected by a slightly stronger breeze as the avalanche passes by.
Once the availanche has passed, you slowly move across the swept area and continue towards the peak. Near the top of the pass, the angle of the slope increases. It bisects a small glen near the base of a steep butte on the mountainside. Atop the butte, a wide ledge climbs slowly back up the mountain. The pass continues until it reaches a high ridge atop a staggeringly sheer scarp that spills down into the lowlands. The breathtaking view provides a panorama of most of the lower peaks, and - since the fog has disappeared under the warmth of the sun - pretty much the entire valley.
This includes yor destination - the Maw. You should be there within an hour or two. On the edge, at least.
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When they are between the trees Yarricki stops the sledge to be able to talk to the others "I saw some taer run away just before that avalanche started. I am pretty sure they started it. They don't want us here and we should be on our guard. Once you have loosened your muscles we should get going again, it is another few hours to the Maw"
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"I suppose we are interlopers in what they probably consider their territory. While we should defend ourselves as necessary, we should try to minimize our provocation. I ask that no one make the first hostile move if we come into closer quarters with them. Perhaps we can avoid an unnecessary tragedy," Odo advises as he takes the sleighs reins back up.
Continuing in the intended path, you trail down towards the Maw. As you do so, fog descends on the area once more, and visibility is hampered sigifficantly. After passing a frozen-over stream, you arrive at a path carved by the water in the now snow-covered rock. it seems you will have to leave the sleigh here, since slope and width of the path are very limiting. Some climbing will be necessary.
After you ascend the frozen stream, you find yourselves on what seems to be a permanently frozen lake. The ice seems stable enough not to crack underneath your feet, however.
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Worried about the crossing of the frozen lake, Malachite spies something in the snow. Moving over, he shows the group dozens of barefoot humanoid footprints along the path. Many are quickly being filled with fresh snowfall, but Mal believes they are evidence of the Taer ahead of them.
"We should be quite careful for an ambush, especially on the ice of the lake," he tells the others over the whistling sound of the wind.
Malachite will be especially wary, looking for likely ambush sites or traps, at least as much as the cold fog allows.
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Odo takes his crampons out of his climbing kit first to help get up the slope, but leaves them on to help negotiate the ice of the lake as well.
"It's hard to believe there are creatures who make their homes this high up and amid such a frozen expanse. They are welcome to it. I'd rather spend my time in the warmth of the sun in lower lands."
You press on into the fog. As you do so, a stone platform emerges from the mist. The platform goes underneath the ice, and probably conects to the bottom of the lake here.
Near the middle of the ice-covered platform rises a squat, 30-foot-square stone rostrum, upon which stand four columns of dark gray stone. One of the columns is broken and lies half-buried in the nearby drifts of snow. In the center of the rostrum rests a five-foot-tall beehive-shaped nest built of ice and cairn stones seemingly frozen around a clutch of eight massive bluish-gray speckled eggs, each the size of a brandy cask.
However - you quickly find out that you are not alone here. Four of the simian creatures you saw earlier (taer) are standing near the rostrum, humming. They stop as they see you, however, and start grunting and yelling in your direction.
Turn 1 - Go if bolded
Odo
Thunder
Raman
Raimdol
Yarricki
Malachite
Taer