[Outpost II] PFS #10-03 Death on the Ice - Author Run (Inactive)

Game Master Scott Young

OK, your well-thought-out plan means we don't have to worry about a lot of details. Every three rounds, a new mummy claws its way out of the pit and attacks, which can be a problem, but you have a pretty good ability to swat them down while still working on repairing the ice rune. Similarly, you're able to avoid more of the poisonous blackfrost dust with the fly spells. So, I'm going to give this combat a narrative finish if no one minds. Post coming shortly.

Loxx dispatches the mummy in the pit while Bertha begins to repair the runes using the wand given her by the Erutaki elder. As she activates the wand for the first time, the rune seems to guide her thoughts, flowing into a shape that she dimly recognizes but can't quite place. Hovering above the poisonous blackfrost, she quickly works to repair the various areas where the ice has been dug away during the excavation.

Meanwhile, the others stay alert for more blackfrost mummies. You can hear the faint scrabbling sound of creatures digging up through the earth from around the pit; there may be hundreds of them. Every few moments a new one begins to claw its way out of the frozen earth, immediately howling at Bertha as she repairs the rune. The group easily dispatches these single undead before they can extricate themselves from the ground.

After a few minutes, Bertha repairs the final fracture in the ice. The entire rune quivers with power as it absorbs again the power of the land which it protects. The scrabbling sound stops suddenly, and from deep within the earth comes a mournful wail which is suddenly cut off. A fresh south wind springs up, and despite the pit's depth it seems to blow the blackfrost from the bottom of the pit out and off towards the north. In minutes, the earth and surface of the cie rune are clear of any further hazard.

Svala comes over to the pit, a very perturbed Kuokei sitting on her outstretched arm. "Thank you for coming to our aid," she begins. "I often smile at southerners who come unprepared into the Crown of the World, but it seems even I am guilty of underestimating the North."

"Sorry about the tent fire then the subsequent blindingly bright flash of fireworks. I hope that too much wasn't destroyed in the short time."

Svala comes over to the pit, a very perturbed Kuokei sitting on her outstretched arm. "Thank you for coming to our aid," she begins. "I often smile at southerners who come unprepared into the Crown of the World, but it seems even I am guilty of underestimating the North."

"The importance of proper preparation and thorough research is yet again proven. How are you and your companions? Any injuries, sickness or other issues?"

Lilybeth looks around.

"Also I think it's safe to say enough exploring has been done here. Let's add some extra warning signs to prevent the same thing happening in a thousand years or so and head home!"

Sickly just plops down in the snow, breathing raggedly, glad he did not have to go down in the blackfrost pit.

"Ancient rune sealing an undead army aside, did you find anything else at this site?" Mason questions as he sheaths his glaive to tend his wounds.

lay on hands x3: 2d6 + 2d6 + 2d6 ⇒ (2, 4) + (4, 5) + (1, 1) = 17
Two of his channels plus the miracle worker journal boon.

Did we ever manage to figure out the translation thing that we were trying to sort out?

You finish the healing, and Svala offers you a meal. She requests that you stay to help them fill in the pit, and follow Lilybeth's suggestions to post signs in various languages. After several days (during which you need not expend any resources for cold weather or food), the site is covered and marked. As you help the archaeologists pack their camp site, you spot a lone giant watching from the distance; it seems to be a saumen kar. When you spot it, they quickly disappear into the snowy background.

Svala sends a message via Kuokei, and you rendezvous with a longship at the edge of the ice pack. The weather is already turning warmer, causing the ice to recede for another year. As you sail back to Iceferry in relative comfort, you wonder what other secrets the ice has buried, and what may be revealed should it melt.