"Attacked by agents from Saarbotten, you say? How alarming! Thank you for sharing this information with me. I can see that you are no such agents yourselves, and it seems your honeyed words have even tamed the bear of Whiterook. I thank you for this as well." The baroness pauses in thought for a moment, then summons her guards back to her side as she delivers her judgment of your request. "Very well. You may continue on your exploration for the Pathfinder Society. I give you leave to explore the lands within five miles of Dalun--close enough to explore the site of Naldak's Point, yet not too far to pose any threat to the territories of other cities. Safe travels, Pathfinders. You are dismissed."
With Baroness Nadya's permission granted, you leave her presence to go find Haltani, whom you eventually find heading toward the city's eastern gate. When you tell her of your success with the Baroness, she seems overjoyed and impressed. "And you did it without giving her my name," she asks, "I can see that you are brave as well as cunning. Your adventures with the Pathfinder Society must have prepared you for all sorts of things."
Haltani continues leading the way toward the eastern gate as she tells you of the upcoming journey. "Now, we are fully inside Irrisen now, which means it will be cold. I know that some of your have bought clothes suited for the cold. This is good. Now is the time to wear them. It is a three hour march to Naldak's Point, assuming we do not lose our way. If any of you are skilled navigators, I ask that you lead us, and I will do my part to help. Is everyone ready? Good. Let's go on."
Nodding to the guards he starts to place his war axe on the ground when he sees Faeria change into someone else.
” Whit urr ye daein', lassie?”
"Oh, um, 'woof?'" "Haltani" sniffs around the edges of the path and then herself. She makes a face.
"You say you are here to ask for my permission to explore these lands? It is right of you to seek me out. Tell me, though, how do I know that you do not mean to bring our enemies to our gates? Do not think we were blind to those who sailed alongside you on your way here." She smiles knowingly at you. "But I am not interested in starting wars. I would much ratehr help establish long-term diplomatic relationships. So, what sign can you give me that you are here in good faith on behalf of your Pathfinder Society?"
"Haltani" cuts a ☮ symbol in the frozen ground with the heel of her boot and then pants expectantly at the baroness like a hound. "Woof."
When acknowledged she spins in place three time and then lays down.
With Baroness Nadya's permission granted, you leave her presence to go find [the other] Haltani, whom you eventually find heading toward the city's eastern gate. When you tell her of your success with the Baroness, she seems overjoyed and impressed. "And you did it without giving her my name," she asks, "I can see that you are brave as well as cunning. Your adventures with the Pathfinder Society must have prepared you for all sorts of things."
"Woof! Woof!" barks the woman who looks like the woman they are talking to. Excitedly, she licks her likeness's face.
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"Thank you, Baroness." Agon bows again. "We shall take our leave."
If only I had more time here... best not to think about it, Agon.
Agon tries the cold weather gear he just bought- it's a good fit. He can reach his scabbard without trouble, as well. Haltani approaches him as he tightens the strings on his hood.
"I would not have mentioned you unless I needed to." He smiles and gives the village one last look. "These villages are too tense for my tastes- each village is looking for an excuse to go to war with their neighbor. Society can unite us, but it can also blind us. Mass hysteria can cause even the most rational communities to go insane." He trails off as a terrible memory surfaces.
"Let's go. I'm ready." Agon pauses, looks at Faeria. "Let's find you something a little warmer to wear, before the Baroness throws us out." Agon directs her to a salesman and purchases some cold weather gear for her.
"Thank you, Baroness." Agon bows again. "We shall take our leave."
If only I had more time here... best not to think about it, Agon.Agon tries the cold weather gear he just bought- it's a good fit. He can reach his scabbard without trouble, as well. Haltani approaches him as he tightens the strings on his hood.
"I would not have mentioned you unless I needed to." He smiles and gives the village one last look. "These villages are too tense for my tastes- each village is looking for an excuse to go to war with their neighbor. Society can unite us, but it can also blind us. Mass hysteria can cause even the most rational communities to go insane."
"Woof!" "Haltani" licks the side of Agon's face too.
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Carini does her best to simply stand and look the part of a guard. It having been her primary career, she's a natural fit for it, evidenced by the success of their negatiation with the Baroness.
Before they head out, she purchases a cold-weather outfit, out of an abundance of caution. The Snowmask Clan taught me about cold, but I'm not sure if Irrisini cold is the same thing.
Weathering the cold relatively well, Carini tries to focus on helping the group stay on track, using Haltani's guidance to hone her own skills.
Thanks to the wonders of a well-applied Endure Elements spell from Faeria and Hudor, as well as Carini's allies from colder climates, the party is able to move comfortably through the frozen forests of Irrisen without too much difficulty. Furthermore, you are able to work together to capably navigate through the forests and find your way to Naldak's Point within a few hours!
As the vast plains give way to rugged hills, the ground becomes hard and icy. An enormous rocky mound protrudes from the ground, covered in ice and snow. On the northeast side of the mound, thick walls of ice cascade down the side of the hill like a miniature glacier. Two shapeless stone monoliths stand near the base of the mound.
Hudor doesn't see any signs of enemies nearby, but keeps a wary eye out just in case.
Aldran tries to recall knowledge developed as part of his dwarven upbringing, but can't seem to recall how best to go about it.
While Agon doesn't see any other entrances around, aside from the large one ahead that is frozen over, he does have a bit of a revelation as he thinks about how cold it is here. A fire would certainly help warm things up, and Agon recalls that Venture-Captain Benarry gave the party several bricks of blackfire clay! Perhaps using the clay to start a fire at the base of the ice wall would melt it enough for you to gain entrance!
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"Hmmm... that seems like it would work, I guess." Carini, perhaps a bit too vocally proud of her induction to the Snowmask Clan throughout the travel to get here, shuts up as she realizes the winter knowledge passed on to her isn't quite as complete as she might have wished. She appears to have no ideas for how to get through the ice.
Haltani watches the flames from the blackfire clay lick up the side of the ice wall and smiles, "How ingenious! I never would have thought to stack them on their ends rather than flat on the ground, Aldran! I have so much I could learn from you Pathfinders. It's wonderful how you all come from so many different places and such different experiences. If only that same kind of openness could come to Irrisen too." The young woman takes a seat by the fire and warms her hands while the ice wall gradually melts.
Nearly an hour later, a widening opening has been melted in the ice, with just a few inches between the interior of Naldak's Point and the open air. Just as the ice is about to melt away, a loud rustling in the snow to your north precedes the sound of a howling wolf exploding from a snowdrift.
"Stand down, outsiders," the wolf snarls. "I am here on the order of Baroness Urgalaena to retrieve Uliyara--the woman you know as Haltani!"
"No, my aunt only wants to abduct me and use me as political leverage; that's why her raiders attacked our trade caravan and killed those guards from Whiterook," exclaims the woman. She turns to you and pulls off the winter hat she had worn throughout your journey with her, though you only seem to notice it just now. "My friends, forgive me for deceiving you. I had to stay in disguise so that my aunt, Baroness Urgalaena of Saarbotten, wouldn't know where I was. It seems that I've failed in that respect, despite my best efforts, and I am sorry for the danger I've put you in. Please, help me to build relationships between my people and the other nations of the Inner Sea. Don't let me be taken!"
"Enough talk," snaps the wolf, "Will you release the girl to me, or will I have to tear out your throats first? You may have your magic to protect you from the cold, but I am Rigrory, wolf of Saarbotten. You will not survive my icy breath and piercing bite!"
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Agon thinks carefully and tries to asses everyone's mood.
Haltani was quick to help them to calm tensions between the towns. And Saarboten seems to be behind it all. "So quick to violence." Agon muses. "So, what's in it for me? Besides my life? Baroness Urgalaena could use more allies within the Pathfinder Society." He gives a wink to Haltani and steps forward.
Get behind me, I'll stall for time.
What kind of talking wolf is this? And what is its weaknesses?
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Aldran step forward and looks up to the wolf
Noo haud oan fluffy. By all rights thae lands ur controld by Baroness Nadya, not by Baroness Urgalaena. So howfur ah see it's that ye dae nae hae athority 'ere. So if yi'll waant tae be tak' her with ye, ye wull need tae speek with Baroness Nadya, 'n' she is that wey. pointing back the way they came.
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"Stand down, outsiders," the wolf snarls. "I am here on the order of Baroness Urgalaena to retrieve Uliyara--the woman you know as Haltani!"
"No, my aunt only wants to abduct me and use me as political leverage; that's why her raiders attacked our trade caravan and killed those guards from Whiterook," exclaims the woman. She turns to you and pulls off the winter hat she had worn throughout your journey with her, though you only seem to notice it just now. "My friends, forgive me for deceiving you. I had to stay in disguise so that my aunt, Baroness Urgalaena of Saarbotten, wouldn't know where I was. It seems that I've failed in that respect, despite my best efforts, and I am sorry for the danger I've put you in. Please, help me to build relationships between my people and the other nations of the Inner Sea. Don't let me be taken!"
"OH! Is this live action role-playing!?" Faeria shouts excitedly. "I've always wanted to try this!"
"Enough talk," snaps the wolf, "Will you release the girl to me, or will I have to tear out your throats first? You may have your magic to protect you from the cold, but I am Rigrory, wolf of Saarbotten. You will not survive my icy breath and piercing bite!"
"Listen here Wolf of Stare-at-bottoms! We won't let you have Haltani or Uliyara! They're our friends." she says indicating Uliyara and the space next to her.
"Go bother some talking pig landowners or something! By the way, you are both very good in there." she says with a wink to the wolf.
With a murderous growl, Rigrory snaps at Agon and Aldran, and especially at Faeria, "I don't have the time or the patience to waste on a bunch of outsiders like you! If you will not give Uliyara to me, then you will DIE!"
Faeria knows that winter wolves are usually fierce beasts touched by winter magic that gives them remarkable power and intelligence. Rigrory appears to be a young specimen of the species, and his powers are probably not fully developed. She knows winter wolves possess an icy breath attack that releases a cone of icy air, and that they themselves are immune to the effects of cold. They are vulnerable to fire, however, as she quickly proves with her own blast of elemental magic!
Meanwhile, Carini moves into a more tactically advantageous position, and Agon inspires his allies as the battle begins in earnest.
Rigrory's lip curls up in what Aldran could swear was a smirk as he snarls back, "Good." With that, the wolf huffs, puffs, and blows a cone of wintry air straight in the dwarf's face!
He then leaps back a pace to create more distance between himself and the quickly approaching crowd of Pathfinders.
Hudor steps forward and fires off a strength-sapping ray toward Rigrory, but the nimble wolf dodges it!
Between Agon and Aldran's attacks, Rigrory finds himself bloody and beaten. He yelps in surprise and fright then, when Carini steps out from behind her rock and trips him! People aren't supposed to trip wolves, that's the wolves' thing!
With all of this happening at once, Rigrory leaps back up to get out of there as quick as possible. Unfortunately, he doesn't get the opportunity, as Carini is ready with a strike from her deadly guisarme that completely obliterates the young winter wolf.
As the wolf falls, Uliyara emerges from behind the plinths near the entrance to Naldak's Point and sighs. "I am sorry, my friends. It seems I have caused you trouble after all. You proved mightier than the trouble I brought, though, thankfully. Thank you for helping me. After I deceived you, you had every right to abandon me to my aunt's whims. You truly are heroes!"
Just then, the last of the ice crumbles away from the entrance, and fresh air rushes into Naldak's Point for the first time in centuries! The foyer lies open to you at last!
Intricate gilded stonework adorns the entrance, and a complex marble mosaic paves the floor. Arrow slits flank the north and south sides of the hall, but the north side has collapsed and is choked with rubble. On the eastern end, two 10-foot-tall marble statues of armored dwarves flank a fresco depicting an opulent throne room. The faces of the statues have been broken off.
Snow appears to have melted and dripped into the once sealed cavern, creating large pools of water. Since then, everything has frozen solid, creating large sheets of ice that coat every surface in the
common areas.
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"Brrr. Predators must learn when they are prey, my friend." Agon watches Carini knock him down and finish him off in an instant.
Agon pulls out a wand. "Time to Cure these Light Wounds."
"Much better. Is everyone else alright?"
"As soon as he mentioned Saarboten I was on edge." Agon bows to Haltani. No, to Uliyara. "I've lied my way into -and out of- trouble plenty of times, so I understood your predicament. It's best you stay with us for as long as you can- I have no idea what Baroness Urgalaena wants, but it's no good."
"Wait." Agon looks behind one of the statues. "There's a switch here. Do you see the door-shaped outline, in the northern rock? I bet they are related." Agon cannot resist and hits the button.
"Thank you for your understanding," Uliyara replies to Agon. "I suppose if I'm going to be staying with you all, I should properly introduce myself. My name is Uliyara, daughter of Baroness Nadya of Dalun and jadwiga emissary to the Linnorm Kingdom of Southmoor. As I mentioned before, I was on my way to Whiterook to begin my duties as trade envoy when my aunt's forces ambushed us. After I escaped, I made my way north and eventually found your venture-captain. Now, I've had the chance to meet all of you, and I think together we can help expand Dalun's interaction with the world outside of Irrisen far greater than I could have done myself!"
A few moments later, as Agon explores the statues and presses the unfamiliar switch, a stone door to the north slides open. The guards of Naldak’s Point seem to have kept weapons and armor in reserve here, hidden behind a secret door. The residents cleared out most of the cache, but did not have time to claim everything. A masterwork
heavy steel shield and an ivory-handled heavy crossbow lie discarded
on the floor.
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Looking at the dead wolf then up to Carini "Crakin' move Carini, ah micht hae tae try that sometime."
Aldran cleans off his blade and turns to see what the fuss is about with Agon.
"Now aren't they some pretty toys." Looking over the equipment.
[ooc]I will take a 2 hits with you wand please[ooc]
Stepping up to Uliyara and looking at her in her eye. "Whin yer mither finds oot that yer ur oot 'ere, this cuid cause trauchle fur us young lass."
Stepping up to Uliyara and looking at her in her eye. "Whin yer mither finds oot that yer ur oot 'ere, this cuid cause trauchle fur us young lass."
Uliyara bows her head, convicted by Aldran's words. "I apologize again for the trouble I've caused. But I hope my mother will not blame you, since you spoke with her before. Now that agents from Saarbotten are after me, though, she may become suspicious. I hope we have the chance to explain before something awful happens."
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After collecting whatever you can from the hidden cache of weapons, you round the corner heading south to explore more of Naldak's Point. At the end of the hall, you enter a huge open chamber.
Thousands of icicles cover the ceiling of this cylindrical chamber. The outside edge forms a perfect circular curve, cutting into stone without mark of chisel or tool, impossibly smooth. Only places where ice flows over the stone, or where the structures have collapsed, mar the perfect precision of the cylinder. The remains of workshops and living spaces, still furnished, peak through holes in the cylindrical void. At the southern and western edges of the cavern, large portions of the stone and ice have collapsed, cutting into the immense void with piles of rubble.
Ahead of you, the floor of the chamber drops off precipitously to another level 20ft below.
On your level to the east, you see three doors, one opening to the north, one opening to the east, and one opening to south. You can tell the southern door leads to one of the structures sheared off by the cylindrical chamber, but the other two structures appear to be intact still.
Agon peers around and doesn't find anything suspicious about the area--aside from the giant mysterious hole that's been seemingly carved out of the world right in front of him. He also sees a lot of ice.
Checking the northern door, Agon finds what he suspects to be the settlement's abandoned guard post. Desks sit empty, a few scraps of meaningless paper littering the drawers. A weapon rack in the southeastern corner of the room contained the town’s arsenal during their heyday, though it now stands empty. The door to the iron cage in
the northeastern corner of the room is locked, but as far as Agon can tell from outside the cage, only the tattered remains of an old cot and manacles remain in the room.
The door to the north within the guard post leads to the other set of murder holes and arrow slits that lined the entry to Naldak's point, while the cage in the southwest lies open, unlocked, and devoid of anything of value.
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”Look at that stone wirk, true masters hae bin 'ere. “
Walking over to the rock pile Aldran takes a look to make sure on more will fall. He also looks up to see if any of the icicles look loose and might fall.
Once he feels that is safe he hooks his grappling hook on the rubble at an anchor while holding on to the rope he takes a look into the hole.
”Laddies keep ye eyes up, don’t want the ice spears to fall on ye.”
From what Aldran can see, the icicles look perfectly secure, though some of the stonework of the remaining structures does look like it has continued to deteriorate since the site was abandoned. Despite this, however, he doesn't feel that the party should be in any immanent danger of the buildings collapsing on them.
As he descends into the pit, Aldran confirms that the stone cylinder is perfectly smooth, without even any sign of a tool being used to cut away the rock. This was no work of dwarven design!
Hudor moves toward the eastern door and opens it. The frozen corpse of a dwarf slumps against the wall in this fully intact apartment, perfectly preserved in a block of ice. He wears a hexagonal beard clasp with a single dwarven rune inscribed on the face.
Lying on the table is a dwarven waraxe of remarkable quality, along with a pack.