"Baron von Heatmiser at your service, ladies and gentlemen! I trust you find the fire quite inviting?"
Our heroes are not close enough to the flames that they would feel its warmth (though they wouldn't anyway under the current spell effect). But Caledon and Vetalia in particular notice that their animal companions are comfortable.
On the way over, poor Meno had to ride panther-back in fear of his frosted wings snapping off. Now he buzzes about like the cold spell never even happened!
Caledon also noticed that his dogs wagged their tails happily just after they set foot on the Baron's property.
"Can I get you anything?" the Baron offers, "Hot yak's milk?"
Mavrin stays outside the manger watching the young couple. Wondering if this was an appropriate spot to have a child (Father would certainly say it was not), he looks at the vial in his hand, calculations fly across his mind. With a sigh of defeat, he slips the vial into his coat. He then looks up and takes careful note of his surroundings.
Cashara talks to the young mother for a moment, then stands at the door, keeping watch
Caledon indeed recognizes the name Heatmiser and the legend around it.
...
Baron von Heatmiser is rather tall for an old dwarf, so much so that he passes for human. He may add just a few inches from his Boots of the Cat, which he mostly wears to protect himself from great falls. The boots have saved him from more than one deadly fall in his ice climbing adventures.
He was once married to a priestess of Sarenrae. She was human, and petite enough that she and the tall dwarf looked like the perfect couple. But due to the shorter human lifespan, half the marriage was more like a close friendship, and in the final decade, the husband was mostly a caretaker. His love never died for his beloved Clara.
The Baron carries a torch for his wife to this day, and is quite generous with his fortune. To him, death is the path to reunion with his wife. He is not suicidal or broken by the loss, but simply faithful to his bride and her goddess.
It is believed that the blessings on the Baron's home are from Sarenrae's answers to Clara von Heatmiser's prayers. She is surely in her goddess' paradise watching over her husband.
"I'll have a shot of Yak's milk" She says after a bit.
"Why certainly! Back in two shakes of a lamb's tail!"
The Baron heads to his house and is out so quickly a lamb might have shook its tail once-and-a-half at most.
He approaches Cashara with a tray. On it is a steaming pitcher, some mugs, and several cookies.
He pours a cup of yak's milk, and also offers a cookie. "This is my wife's recipe, may the Dawnflower rest her soul. I still bake 'em every Crystalhue. Please, take one—"
The cookies resemble a reindeer face with pretzel antlers and chocolate eyes. The noses are made of a candy-coated nut. Some noses are red. Others are orange, yellow, green, blue and chocolatey brown.
"—any color you like!"
Cashara takes a re one, and a cup of milk
"thank you"
The yak's milk has a peculiar taste, but it feels soothing as it goes down. You will heal slowly (10HP per minute) until fully healed.
When you eat the cookie, a pleasant childhood memory flashes in your mind. You feel as if you are reliving it for a full hour. But at the end of the hour, you're crunching a delicious cookie a mere instant after the first bite. For the next hour, your CHA mod is increased by 1.
A red streak appears along Cashara's long hair. Her cheeks flush and her lips redden. She looks quite pretty and festive.
She gives a please sigh.
The Baron laughs. "I thought you might like that!" He says to all the other newcomers, "Any more takers? I'd offer seconds, but my dear Clara, rest her soul, always warned me one a day's the limit. A second cookie will go straight to the hips!"
Only half paying attention to the conversation, the doctor's eyes narrow at the direction of the sound. His senses begin to completely focus when... Sweets were offered!
Forgetting about his terrible appearance, Mavrin emerges from the shadows quickly and silently. He snatches up a mug without hesitation, but his hand hovers over the tray as he decided on whether he should pick blue or green. With a large grin on his already stretched out face, he grabs a green one, dips it in milk, and places it on his tongue, savoring the flavor. He would have grabbed another, if not for the dwarf's warning.
Who cares about a little noise? There are sweets to be had!
The cookie is absolutely delicious, and not only that—the minty-green nose is refreshing. Dr. Marvin's beastly maw has breath as minty-fresh as a candy cane. When he steps, he feels light as the wind.
For the next hour, anyone within 20 ft of Dr. Marvin feels a refreshing breeze that smells like a candy cane. If talking from within 5 ft, his breath smells good, as if he just brushed his teeth with an entire bushel of mint leaves.
Caledon accepts a blue cookie, and a glass of Yak milk. " My Lord, think you for your hospitality. We are on a mission for Brother Seamus to investigate this unnatural cold. Sisters Bellum, Sockhop and Jitterbug honored us with blessings of Sheylin snd Serenrae to ward us against the cold. However, those wonderful ladies were unable to extend the goddesses' protection to our animal companions. Would it be too much of an imposition to stable our friends here while we travel to the peak?"
He points to each of his animals naming them in turn. "This is loyal Charlabu, brave Thunder and mighty Arangin."
Cashara nods in agreement with Cal
"No trouble at all," says the Baron. "I'm afraid the woman in labor might need space from the animals, but they seem well-trained. Are you comfortable with them roaming the property?"
He then thrusts his tray of cups and cookies toward Caledon and Vetalia. "If you intend to do something dangerous, have a snack first! I'll warm a second glass of yak's milk when you return."
Cashara and Dr. Marvin feel their wounds close up. The once-visible wounds are now pinkish lines on the skin. In a minute, they will barely be noticeable. In two, there will be no evidence Cashara and Dr. Marvin were ever harmed in the battle at the O'Myras'.
Caledon accepts a blue cookie, and a glass of Yak milk.
"If you're comfortable with them roaming the property, then I am"
The Baron replies, "I don't mind them at all. I'm no druidic beast-speaker like my neighbor Anna, but I do alright managing my yaks and my dogs.
"Speaking of dogs..." The Baron pats Charlabu on the head, ruffling his fur a little. "My Clara would have appreciated a name like that. Is there a story behind the name, if you don't mind my prying?"
Once our heroes have safely given the animals refuge, and are fully healed, they say goodbye to the Heatmiser, Anna and the couple, and head to the peak. Distant churchbells and clocktowers chime midnight during the long trudge up the snowy hillside. Our less agile heroes need to grasp tree limbs and other holds to climb the slipperiest slope. The wind wildly whips about Dr. Marvin's scarf and Cashara needs to hang onto her hat! Luckily, our heroes are immune to the deadly chill.
Finally, they reach the top! At first, they are blinded by a snowdrift. Then, while the world is nothing but white shadow, the ground shakes violently—
She gets down on one knee and draws her gun
"Son of a-" Mavrin doesn't get to finish his sentence before the wind drowns out his words. Instinctively he flips his coat open, ready to grab whatever he needs. His eyes squint through his iced up goggles, struggling to see ahead.
Make that very sure, and more than one.
A lot more.
What both Cashara and Dr. Marvin can't help but notice is three red-hot orbs rising before them.
The creature lets out a deafening ROAR! leaving our heroes too stunned to act as it emerges from the Snow-Cano! The roar blows the surrounding snow away, leaving the area clear enough that our heroes get a good look at The First—
—The abomination towers above our heroes! It is a gargantuan beast made of snow!
Its glowing eyes fix their gaze on our heroes. It points a tree-like hand at them and roars something that mortal ears cannot understand as language.
There is a sound like shards of ice raining down from the limbs of thousands of surrounding trees, but our heroes are not attacked... yet!
Cashara, getting her wits back, quickly aims and shoots at the monster before her.
[ooc]the +1 is from point blank shot, only if within 30FT[/dice]
Vetalia loads her light cross bow and fires at the glowing eyes. She immediately looks for a place to hide.
"If you are in forty feet of that monster fifteen seconds from now you will probably die."
Caledon wips out a scroll, and shouting into the wind activates it.
With a growl of "Gods dammit Wizard!" Dr. Mavrin grabs his crossbow and aims at the monster's middle eye.
All of our heroes hit the Snowball from Hell—
—and Caledon's rocks hit our heroes as well!
The snowman is unfazed by the rocky ground. As his lower body rolls over the magically-altered land, he absorbs the rocks in his path.
The snowman lashes out at Cashara with his stick hand!
The creature strikes true, but it seems Cashara has been blessed by the Heatmiser. For all the power behind the icy limb, Cashara resists a bulk of the damage.
The creature uses his other hand to pull a rock out of his fat body and whip it at Caledon!
The magic protection Caledon cast around himself deflects the stone!
From the woods, demons made of ice rush the party from the Northeast, Northwest, and two more groups close behind from the South! They charge!
Caledon tries to put distance between himself and the monster.
.
Caledon snaps open one of the spring loaded scroll cases on his harness. A faint glow from the ink illuminates his face as he reads, and over the howling wind his draconic incantaion sounds like something hardly ment for a human tounge.
Dropping the spent parchment to the ground, the wizard lifts 30 feet into the air.
Cashara takes a 5 foot step back diagonally
and takes another shot
Cahsara attempts to get out of reach, firing another shot
She checks the derringer
Anyone looking in Cashara's general direction sees a very small toy (~6" tall) sitting cross-legged on the small gun in Cashara's left hand. The doll is wearing a tiny hat, boots and a frilly dress. Over the howling wind, her voice can faintly be heard by Dr. Marvin and Vetalia as a series of rapid, giddy chirps. From the air, Caledon hear the doll at all.
"Howdy," she says to Cashara. Her voice is high-pitched and she speaks very quickly. "I thought you were CB. Did you beat him in a quick-draw? I ask 'cause he said not to sleep in the holster 'cause he wants to find a real live human to outdraw him and you look kinda humanny and you got his derringer." Without skipping a beat, the diminutive clockwork says, "I'm Derringer Dolly by the way. What's your name?"
"ya, I beat him." she says before shaking her head, a little confused
"what are you doing in the holster?"
She whips out a super-tiny shiny thing, which Cashara can tell is an action-figure-sized derringer. The doll turns and looks way, way up at the Snowball From Hell. "WHOAH! That ain't right!"
She fires her derringer. A stick protrudes and a flag unfurls. The flag says "BANG!" on it.
Dolly asks, "Are we shooting HIM? Or THEM?" She points her bang flag at a group of ice Men for emphasis.
Cashara's allies may notice the tiny doll is pointing a flag at enemies. The flag depicts a yellow starburst with four or five red letters on it.
Boss Music
The Snowball From Hell attacks Vetalia and Dr. Marvin!
...a stick hand whiffs over Marvin's head, and a large snowball misses Vetalia by mere inches! It bursts behind her, showering the back of her neck with snow—which doesn't even inflict mild discomfort, thanks to the magic protections cast on her.
The Snowball From Hell is grazed by Cashara, but his fiery gaze is now focused on the wizard who, in flight, is safe from the icy minions.
The icy minions are getting closer. Out heroes desperately need to figure out how to stop several of them at once or slow their charge—and of course, while battling a gargantuan enemy!
Cashara shoots at the ice giant with her derringer and an iceman with her revolver while taking a step back
A flag that says BANG sticks out of Cashara's derringer.
The doll tells her, "You gotta pull the trigger twice to launch the missile. The flag is just so CB can outdraw a human without blowing him to bits."
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Feeling something tug at her bag, Vetalia searches the snow for signs of an invisible creature then investigates her pack.
Inside Vetalia's pack, among her wands of Color Spray and Glitter Dust, is a very small doll. She is identical to the doll sitting on Cashara's wrist, but wearing a little tiara instead of a cowgirl hat.
"Ha. Ha," the fast-talking toy giggles. "I didn't mean to stow away. The elf with his head in his hand was scary! Say! You have magic wands! Are you a magician?"
The doctor steps off the rocks and backs away a bit before sliding his crossbow away. He then grabs two bottles of liquid, one full of white liquid the other bright red, and pours both into a metal cylinder the size of a fist. The process is a bit clumsy due to the claws but it is still done quickly and efficiently. He then raises it above his head and lets out a growl before fastballing it at the snowman from hell. He then grabs his crossbow as he glances around the rest of the battle field.