Whether by road, ship, or magic, you find yourselves in the town of Kalsgard, in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. Or rather, off the town's coast. You have been brought aboard the Grinning Pixie, the ship and mobile Pathfinder Lodge of Veture-Captain Calisro Benarry, to receive your briefing for your latest mission as agents of the Pathfinder Society.
The hull of the Grinning Pixie creaks and groans in the freezing waters of Kalsgard, at the mouth of the Rimeflow River. Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry, the half-orc captain of the vessel, shivers as she strides in to her well-furnished cabin and out of the bitter winds. A Varki woman clad in leathers and a snow leopard fur coat is already seated inside the cabin.
“Welcome to the Linnorm Kingdoms,” says Venture-Captain Calisro Benarry. She takes a long drag from a hip flask before continuing. “The North is no place for a free captain, but here we are. Oh, Kalsgard is fine—they’ve got stiff drink here—but you’ve got to head inland, where it’s even colder.” She pulls her mammoth-fur coat tighter across her body as she continues. “I hope you all weren’t planning to freeze to death and packed for the weather.
“You’ve all heard of Jormurdun? Well, that dwarven sky citadel contained an artifact called the Sky Key. King Gutheran broke it into five pieces and gave four of them to his heirs as they fled the invasion, keeping the fifth for himself. One of Gutheran’s heirs, Naldak, traveled into what is now southwestern Irrisen and established a small town called Naldak’s Point. That’s where the trail goes cold. Most likely, Baba Yaga wiped them out when she invaded. The piece of the Sky Key and the ruins of Naldak’s Point are probably buried under a millennium of ice and snow, just waiting for someone—you—to go dig them out. I’ve packed you ten blocks of blackfire clay to make the task more manageable,” the venture-captain says, handing over a backpack stuffed with black bricks. “Don’t forget to take these with you.
“You’re heading east, up the Rimeflow and Thundering Rivers, past the Grungir Forest, and into Irrisen. Desna smiles—the site is about half a day’s hike north of Dalun, a small trade city on the Irrisen border. Take a small river boat packed with supplies and a letter of trade, make nice with the city officials, and see if you can get permission to travel inland. Head to the site and find our missing Sky Key piece. You’ll know you’re on the right track if you recover signs that the royal family settled there.
"Watch yourselves in Irrisen. Antagonizing the locals is like poking a sleeping ice bear in the eye, except it won’t kill you as quickly. The Society is not especially welcome in Irrisen, so try to keep what friends we have, and if you can, make new ones. With that it mind, I’ve hired a local to bring you safely to Dalun.” Venture-Captain Benarry gestures toward the Varki woman. “This is Haltani, and she will guide you into and out of Irrisen alive.”
The Varki woman springs to her feet gracefully and addresses the party. “It is always a pleasure to meet travelers from faraway lands. It is true that Irrisen is a harsher land than most. Keep your wits about you, and your journey should be profitable.”
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With the group, stands a tall young man with a very lean build. He wears no armor but is carries a spear and has a crossbow hanging over his back. He seems to be completely at home in the cold weather, almost like it doesn't bother him at all. Oddly he is wearing light clothing.
He listens to the Venture-Captain and then greets their guide, "Well met. I look forward to travelling with you."
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There's a commotion aboard the ship and a slight woman with wild, unwashed hair, and glassy eyes, dressed in about three threadbare, once-brightly colored dresses comes bounding down the ramp in sandals holding a small spade and a steel bucket just-stolen from one of the men swabbing the Pixie's deck.
"Jalmeray at last!" she cries.
She blinks twice and then looks to a spot just to the left of the captain, and asks "Which way to the beach?"
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A strong half-elven woman steps forward and takes the bag of blackfire clay from the Venture-Captain. "I assume I should be careful with these?" she asks as she adjusts the straps of her own back to make room for this new bag. She seems to have no trouble accommodating the additional load.
"I'm Carini, and I'm lucky enough to have a little experience this far north. I can pack and help carry all we need, and I'll do all I can to make us safe. I've never been good at making or keeping friends, though, so let's hope someone else here has a better gift with words, if new contacts are something the Society wants."
Captain Benarry looks on bemused as the team assembles. Looking to Haltani, she says, "Well, you should have an entertaining trip at the least."
The captain turns back to face you all and answers Aldran's questions about the blackfire bricks.
After explaining the alchemical devices to the group, she poses a quick challenge to you all. "Now I don't want you all wandering into this harsh country totally ignorant of what you'll find there, so who wants to tell me what they know about Irrisen? I'd love to hear all you know about its history, as well as the state of the place today."
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Carini nods her head, a bemused smile on her face as the nature of blackfire clay is explained. "Not what I was thinking it was, then."
She obviously can't add anything to what the others are saying about Irrisen. "I've been up this way for a while, but I guess I focused more on my blade than the local culture. These good folks have already said everything I know about the place: witches and cold!"
With all of your questions answered, Benarry provides you with a map of Irrisen. The rough location of Naldak’s Point is marked on the map. In addition, she gives you a letter of trade, which you can use to trade for goods in Dalun. Finally, Venture-Captain Benarry loans you the use of a small sailing boat to help bear you upriver toward Irrisen.
As you disembark from the Grinning Pixie onto the smaller vessel, Haltani asks you, "So, do any of you know how to sail? If not, I can do it. But maybe we could work together or take it shifts if one of you is able."
The wind carries the small sailing vessel upriver. On the banks, the occasional elk or deer dashes away at the sight of the ship. At night, the temperature drops dramatically while wolves howl in the distance (though you are well protected by your magic, gear, or cold-infused blood). The trip up the Rimeflow and Thundering Rivers takes several weeks, but passes in relative safety. Most of the landscape is comprised of rocky grassland and rough hills. The Land of the Linnorm Kings is a rugged land with rugged people. Occasionally the PCs pass fishing villages where grim people give them evaluating gazes, scowl at them, or ignore you completely.
When night falls, you run the boat up on shore so you can camp overnight before setting out again on the river the next day. It's during these overnight periods of rest that Haltani speaks to each of you, asking you about where you come from, the adventures you've had with the Pathfinder Society, and any strange or interesting treasures you've recovered and brought along with you.
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"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll be no use guiding the ship. If you had an oar for me to swing around, I could probably help, but it's muscle I provide, not skill." Carini speaks true, there, she is an impressively strong woman, and she certainly seems capable of rowing deep and long into a workday.
Sitting around the fire that night, she shares a bit of what she's experienced here in the far north. "I'm actually an honorary member of the Snowmask Clan, now--a Snowmask Sister, as it were. I don't take that lightly, neither. It weren't no easy task! We Pathfinders came all the way up here--spent time here in the Land of the Linnorm Kings, but also to Irrisen where we're headed. Ended up in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. We found and recovered Jedrek's Shard and then laid it to rest beside Ranulf's body himself. You know, since then the cold just hasn't bothered me. I'm getting to quite like it up here, in fact."
Though her tale is sincere and true, she never was much of a talker, and this story somehow still falls flat.
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"Since we are telling some stories about ourselves. There was one time, while I was on another ship, we had to sail past Hellknights patrolling the water way. We were spotted once but managed to 'trick' them thanks to a charming spell cast by our cleric. It was a good thing that happened, would've hated to have to fight all the way down the river to get to our destination to deliver the merchants we were assigned to escort."
As the days and nights of travel slowly march by, and as Haltani learns more about you all, you get a strong sensation that she is deeply curious--and remarkably ignorant--about the world outside of Irrisen. She listens with a thirst for understanding of your lives and adventures, almost like a child going out to see some strange new sight. As she listens, she sometimes removes a pale blue diamond necklace from under her furs and gazes longingly at it.
Of all the tales that you tell her, Hudor's seems to leave the greatest impression. "Wow! So you sailed on a river in Hell to trade with some merchants? You must have been trading for someone's soul to do something so dangerous, yes?"
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Faeria spends the trip talking about her travels "There was this one time that I went to this alternate plane where everyone seemed to have facial hair, and wore sashes with daggers in them, via magical wardrobe. Or it might have been a closet. Or an 'Free for public use police telephone' which is, I guess, what they call their wardrobes over there. Oh! And there was big chicken too."
"Oh. Hello?" she says to no one in particular. She does this with real people too and always seems surprised to see them when she does. She also only ever walks around her three threadbare but still bright summer dresses all at the same time with no apparent notice of the cold.
"But I thought that Wintercrux was in Irrisen?" she says to no one. "Hello? Hello?"
"Well, I guess that's why they call these the Impossible Kingdoms. Tell me Haltani, will we get to tour one of the Maharajah's palaces?"
Haltani seems enchanted by Faeria's tale as well, though she seems almost equally confused by it. "Oh, there were giant chickens on that plane too? Did the houses have chicken legs there too?"
When the sorcerer asks about the palaces, Haltani laughs, "I don't know what a Maharajah is, but if you want to see a palace, you may get the chance to see Baroness Nadya's palace in Dalun."
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You continue sailing up the river, further improving your relationship with Haltani as you go. Up ahead, a bend in the river and several large rocks cause white-water rapids across most of the water’s breadth; only a narrow channel with a swift current flows without obstruction near the southern bank. Tall trees grow on either shore, casting shadows with their large overhanging branches.
Haltani navigates the ship toward the channel near the southern bank and asks you to keep an eye out up ahead for any rocks she doesn't spot initially.
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Agon's dreams take him far. Magnimar, Absalom. Planes of fire, freezing ice, asteroids hurtling through strange skies. No matter how much he reads, he feels like a simple mercenary. Still running away.
Even on the ship full of Pathfinders, he's been extremely quiet. Maybe the others thought he was just a guide. Maybe Haltani's assistant. He finally snapped to attention as Hatlani laughed.
"Hatlani. How do you do? I am Agon Abstuss, fellow Pathfinder. I haven't been in a good mood recently, sorry." He pauses. "An... abomination tried to seek me out, claiming my mother wanted to see me. She- thinks elves are perfect, and will do anything to make them immortal. It's why I ran, fled from her. I can't believe she may be serious." He fiddles with his wayfinder.
"My apologies. I did not mean to distract you with such news."
Agon does as he's told and looks for rocks, but... he sees nothing interesting.
Haltani's gaze snaps around as Agon speaks. "You! You're alive? We thought you were dead, but feared to throw you overboard, lest we fall under some curse! And now you tell me this story...incredible! Tell me, did you tell this abomination that your mother was a tree? Then they would know how to lie better next time. At least, that's what I heard about elves. You ARE born from trees aren't you?"
As you draw nearer to the rapids and the current begins to flow more swiftly, you all keep an eye out for rocks. Many of you find yourselves distracted by Haltani's antics in response to the suddenly lively Agon, but Carini spots something unusual, despite this.
Haltani shouts in alarm as Carini and Faeria point out the net, "A trap! Everyone hold on!" With desperate strength, Haltani shoves the tiller to the side, hoping to avoid the netting just as shouts erupt from somewhere on shore and the net begins to rise.
The maneuver comes a moment too late, though, and the swift current carries the boat directly into the net, stopping the vessel dead in the water.
Just as the boat becomes entangled in the netting, a pair of men in heavy furs emerge from the foliage beside the river and approach the shore. Both men are armed, but do not have their weapons drawn. Seeing the variety of people aboard the vessel, one of the men calls out in heavily accented Common.
"Who are you, strangers? Don't you know that you sail toward a place of evil and death? What business do you have in Irrisen?"
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Hudor is knocked off his feet and grumbles as he goes *Ooompf* from falling. With the two men approaching them but talking, he slowly gets up and looks in there direction.
"We know we head toward a place of evil but it won't be the death of us for we are heroes." Hudor stands proud, ignoring that he just fell, while leaning on his spear.
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"Evil, eh? Death, you say?" Agon barely budges. "I know of many places filled with such trouble. Why, I was once sent to a land beyond the stars. Full of danger. Creatures of stone rose up and proclaimed their false god would kill us. But a gentle wind blew by and saved us all..."
Agon begins rambling on and approaching the two guards. He doesn't want to explain he's a Pathfinder, but he does want to give his allies a chance to recover.
Once the party recovers he switches to a more diplomatic track. "Tell me, did you know of this net? It's quite a coincidence you were here to warn us of danger and death!"
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Carini, halfway between an attempt to gain control of the tiller, and a separate and opposite attempt to brace herself, finds herself off balance; she faceplants into the gunwale, landing hard on her side.
Groaning, she starts picking herself up with one hand while she holds her nose with her other, checking it for blood. That hurt!
Once she's sure that she's not broken, she takes a moment to listen and examine the men that have waylaid them. She motions to the others to keep their weapons down. "These seem like reasonable folk; I don't think they intend us harm. Well intentioned, if poorly planned."
While one of the guards nods along with keen interest as Agon tells the tale of his adventures...IN SPAAAACCCEEE...the other seems to resist the elf's beguiling words. He looks over and sees his companion entranced by the story and punches him hard in the arm before turning to Agon and reaching for one of the javelins at his back.
"Hey! Cut that out, elf! Or we're going to take you to Halvor in chains! And of course we knew about the net. We put it there so we could stop dangerous folk from traveling freely through our lands. Now put down your anchor. We need to inspect your ship."
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Figuring any turbulence in the waters around Jalmeray to be mere illusions of the mind, she ignores them.
"Oh? Hello." Faeria says in greeting.
".... What business do you have in Irrisen?"
"None. That's why we are here." Faeria says brightly. She sticks out her hand about a foot to the left of the nearest man and mimes shaking it.
"I am Faeria. Heh." she says to the air in front of her.
The men begin approaching the boat as Agon leaves space for the Ulfen men to board the boat. "There's no telling what the white witches and their foul minions might smuggle aboard a vessel like yours," they reply, "But if there is something worth noting, we will know it when we see it."
The men both give Faeria a bemused glance without replying to her odd comments, but when Aldran steps up and demands to know what right they have to inspect the boat, their expressions turn dark. "The right to defend our lands, that's what right we claim, dwarf! Now sit down. Either you allow us to do our work, or you go no further on whatever errand you are on."
After bringing your boat to shore and doing a thorough sweep of its contents, the men seem almost disappointed not to have found anything. For a long while, the men mutter to one another in low tones, apparently trying to decide whether they should let you go. One of the men eventually raises his voice loud enough for you to overhear a snippet of the exchange.
"...need to take them to Halvor! He will know if they can be trusted."
The other warrior thinks over his companions argument and finally nods his agreement. They turn to you and tell you of their decision.
"Right. Well we found nothing that marked you out as obvious agents of the witches, but it would not do for us to allow a group of well-armed and," one of the guards glares at Aldran, "possibly hostile strangers to sail straight through our lands and into the hands of the enemy. So you'll need to come with us to Whiterook so our battle leader can decide whether you can go on. Are you all ready then? Good. Let's move." The warriors move toward you and direct for you to head further from shore along a path they point out to you off to the east.
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"No. That's too much. The search was a minor interruption; fine, whatever. But now you ask us to go to another location, adding further delay to our travel?" Carini plants the end of her guisarme firmly in the dirt at the edge of the river.
"You worry that we might be agents of the witches. How are we to know that you are anything other than simple brigands, set to rob us in ambush? No, we'll be on our way now."
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"Finally Carini, someone wha understands mah point. Whit authority dae thay hae 'ere. All ah see is a pair o' pushy folk that trap boats oan th' water tae "check" th' cargo.
Ye two ne'er identified yourselfs 'n' ah hae seen goblins look lik' they're mair official than ye two. Dae ye hae any proof that yer not juist brigands.
If ye kin prove that ye dae have th' authority, ah wull fallow th' laws here, bit if not, git aff this boat.
Aldran does not raise a weapon, but he does have a good grip on his axe and slips his shield onto his arm.