The walk back to the caravan is mercifully quiet, if chilly. The villagers of Iqaliat appear to have retreated to their homes for the time being, leaving the party free to return to the caravan beyond the walls.
Ameiko waves to the party as they approach. "How'd things go in there? You've been in there a while now."
"Definitely interesting." Kasha replies as they return. "Apparently the intense dangerous weather happening here is due to an aggravation of the nature spirits, brought on by an alliance of an Iqaliat shaman, who has betrayed his people, and an Oni of the Five Storms."
"There's also a white dragon who has been plunged into a blind rage, after the same shaman destroyed her eggs."
Ameiko blinks.
"...oh, is that all? No night hags preying on small children? No undead warlords raising an army to storm the lands of men?" She quips, her demeanour turning uncomfortable.
"Not so far but we're keeping an eye out. My money's on Runelord Sorshen turning up again but I think we're a bit too far north for that."
"I dont know if its a light matter, a dragons eggs were destroyed by a shamen... she will want renumeration."
He paused and nodded to the newcomer.
We do have a guest though who might be able to help us cross."
Mei brushes off a stray bit of snow from her furs before making herself comfortable in the caravan.
"Right... what you're going up against is no laughing matter." The archivist begins. "For months, the Frozen Shadows have had me stationed in the vicinity of Iqaliat, keeping watch over the village and reporting any strange bits of arcane, extraplanar or spiritual activity."
"During one of my vigils, I found a strange blue obelisk. It was definitely not of Erutaki make--it looked like it was carved of a mix of glass and ice, and Erutaki prefer to work with sturdier materials like stone--and it had these weird-looking spirals and symbols running up and down it."
"When I took a closer look at it, it let out a beam of bright blue arcane energy that shot towards what looked like the interior of the High Ice: that would be close to the North Pole. After I reported back to the Grandmaster, that's when misfortune began to wrack Iqaliat..." Mei sniffs and tugs on a stray bit of her furs.
"...the air elementals across the Ice began to gather where that beam travelled. And then the white dragon, Vegsundvaag, began to harass the village. I trekked back to the obelisk and took another look at its symbols, trying to puzzle out what they mean." The archivist's face pales.
"I take it you either did indeed figure out what they meant and it was bad...or it was puzzling enough that you are afraid it means something bad... Im hoping what ever teh problem is it does not invovled fighting the dragon... but I've little hope in that to be honest."
"Unless we can appease the dragon, fighting it sounds likely." Kasha replies.
"How much of this obelisk's symbols do you remember? Or is it nearby? Might be able to figure out something from it."