Stabby goes flying across--
--and you are all happy for having succeeded.
As you congratulate one another, you see the officials muttering about the river.
Looking at it, you do see large chunks of ice to drifting through the crossing.
But now it seems the officials are saying that this is not normal.
Someone must have broken up a great deal of ice up-stream from the crossing.
I mean, that makes it more dangerous for you to cross, and had someone slipped you would hurt yourself badly..."
You all move back towards the campsite, set up among the standing stones.
These stones recall the deeds of Balgird Bluetongue and his heroic deeds.
When you arrive to pitch your tents, the Wyrding Wayfinders are there, and Sassa Ringbreaker sings the skaldic poem inscribed on the center stone as her team prepares for the crossing.
You Skald recognize the poem as an epic penned by Balgird himself describing his crossing of the river in pursuit of the tarn linnorm he would eventually slay.
You are tired and ready to spent the night.
The skald does not really look at Granitt, and keeps on singing the epic, as written on the stones.
Once this is over, all get ready for the night, and start cooking, and go to their tents to rest.
A good night's sleep will be welcome...
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"After last night's theft, we need to set a watch. We can't trust the others, at least one lot are thieves and cheats. Elsha take first watch, then Stabby, then me, before Hopper. All right guys."
With that Granitt pulls his furs over his head as he snuggles next to his axe. He listens to the singing, wondering if the words have any significance. The rhythm soon my his eyes close and the snores resume.
You get ready for the night, having eating a good meal of grilled meat--
--and set up some guard duty.
--Hopper, as, just before dawn...
Hopper has a nice quiet night, like all the others.
Then, the next morning, you all get ready, and set out for the last leg of the race-- the storm is gone, and the cold less harsh, only mild now.
But the fog has risen, and it is hard to see far... but you see better than in a snow storm.
And you start trekking--
Hopper follows his dog, who smells its way through the fog and you make good headway.
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As Granitt's bones feel the rise in temperature, his mood brightens more than than the weather. "Yep, I feel it in me bones, it's gonna be a good day." He tucks into his breakfast, smiling and braiding his beard. It's quite unsettling, seeing the normally grumpy dwarf be full of life and joyful. He even tries to sing, or to your ears fill the air with a deep gravel discordant rumbling.
"Feel the warmth of the fire"
"Feel the heat of the forge"
"Let the steel bend to your strength"
"Torag is blessing us, Torag is blessed."
Once he is up and ready, he takes up his position in front and ploughs on once more, taking the most direct route, through and round obstacles. "Last day to race, let's enjoy it and make haste."
Stabby gets a little lost in the fog--
--but is able to catch up as he hears Granitt calling out!
You sure feel the warmth of the Dwarf's voice!
And Elsha pushes hard--
--and you move along really well!
You have the impression that you are up ahead in the race.
Maybe you can win!
As you step out of the fog, at the end of the last day, your legs all weary, you see ahead, among the tall drifts and dunes of snow and ice, a small hollow, that reveals signs of life.
A large fire pit is encircled by tents and snow shelters as officials stand near the warmth of the blazing fire.
The campsite here is cold, but comfortable enough that the competitors can rest with relative ease, and you are out of the moist fog.
Beyond the camp, a large sheet of exposed ice is marked by race banners.
In the middle of the ice, a delicate ribbon lies partially frozen in the sheet.
The officials tell you that this trial recounts the tale of "Balgird’s brave survival on the open ice.
While camping in the tundra, Balgird lost some precious equipment to the wind in the night.
The following morning, he followed a trail of gear to discover one of his scrolls frozen in the ice.
With great care, he moved across the thin sheet to where his scroll lay trapped.
Balgird created a lens from a piece of the ice itself, focusing the sunlight on the ice to slowly melt it away from his scroll until he was able to free it."
The portly official is in the back, not very happy.
A tall teen-aged official is there, petting dogs and feeding them, mumbling about animals are nice, actually.
An old lady official explains:
"The goal of this trial is to make it across the ice to the center and free the ribbon from the ice without damaging it.
The water beneath the ice is 3 feet deep and does not pose a drowning risk but is treacherous nonetheless.
The challenge here is twofold as the ice itself is just thick enough to support the weight of an adventurer on it, but any violent or vigorous action while on it could cause you to fall through.
While on the ice, you must attempt to not fall through the ice."
Looking at the ice, you imagine you could attempt to crawl across the ice, which would be cold and maybe embarrassing, but would avoid needing to try to keep your balance.
The old lady snaps her fingers so you concentrate on her and not the ice:
"Once you have made it to the center of the ice without breaking through the surface, you must free the ribbon from the ice-- .
I sewed that ribbon, so I'll tear you a new one if you rip it up!
HEAR ME?!"
"NOT damaging my ribbon! I worked hard to make it all pretty!", yells the official.
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Elsha approaches the ice and looks very nervously at it. First he puts his foot out and taps on it. Then crouches down and pushes on it with his fingers. He stretches his arm out further and pushes again. This time he puts his knees out on the ice. So it goes, he keeps stretching and testing the ice, standing up never becomes comfortable. Before he knows it he's crawled to the center...
He looks back at the onlookers and laughs sheepishly.
Stabby carefully slips out onto the ice-- and simply pulls the ribbon out delicately, not even disturbing the surroundings in the slightest bit.
The old official lady ice-skates onto the lake and uncovers another ribbon-- winking at Stabby: "Well done, Goblin!"
Then Elsha lies down on the ice and scoots along on his stomach.
The onlookers cheer him on: "Don't be ashamed at playing it safe!
Better a cold stomach than a dive in ice-water!"
He too gently pulls the - second - ribbon!
The official ice-skates out again, unveiling two more ribbons.
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Granitt knows his limitations, having watched his companions scoot across the ice and pull out the ribbon. He puts one foot on the edge of the ice, quickly retracting it and shaking his head. "Nope, like I said before, I like earth beneath me feet. This ain't for me. No, Stabby's skill shows how to be successful, as has Elsha. I hold me hands up and congratulate you both on a job well done!"
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Hopper follow the lead of Elsha and also take a sip of quicksilver mutagen. With him being more agile he steps on the ice
And keeps safely on its surface.
"The water is 3 feet deep, it is safe." then he yells
Then he lowers over the ribbon and takes out his alchemist fire bomb.
"I just only need to apply enough to melt the ice..."
Hopper's fire is a bit of overkill, and the ribbon disappears into the ice, and is carried away by the cold water underneath!
You see another team approaching, the Two Houses.
They are as fast as you, pretty much.
You know that you passed another team before-- the Bluetongue Brawlers.
All the other teams are ahead of you.
"That means nothing," says the official. "You can still win if you got good points in your trials, like today!
HURRY UP! Go reach the finish line!"
And he points over the hill, to the east--
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As Granitt helps Hopper back off the ice, he suddenly realises that the race is on, "Well, C'mon The Gorget's Gang, time to get our feet in motion once more." He ties his red braids tidily, picks up Stabby and starts to run towards finish line. With Stabby under his arm, the goblin can just touch the ground with his feet, as they both plough forward. But the speed they made earlier in the day seems to have taken it's toll, he struggles to keep fast enough, Stabby even seems to be carrying him forward some of the time.
You rush along, following Granitt - who never let go of Hopper and is dragging the poor Goblin along... while carrying another Goblin under his arm!
Crazy Pathfinders!
You crest the hill, thinking you have two teams ahead of you, the Fangs of the Remorhaz, and Without Trace or Fail and--
--wait?!
As you come down the other side of the hill, a broken sled lies in the snow at the edge of the path beside an old bridge.
And, to the side of the sled, cloth and bits of a banner bearing the mark of-- Without Trace or Fail!... hang from branches of the trees to the north of the bridge.
Did something...?
Oh, yes! There--
--Fresh blood marks are clearly visible against the white snow as large, crimson swaths.
Equipment is scattered across the snow and onto the frozen surface of the lake.
Around the broken sled you spot signs of a fight.
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Wwwaaaiiitt stabby says.
He hops down out of the dwarfs arms "Something has happened here to the other racers. It looks like we will have 2 options, move to the finish line cautiously or look for the other racers. What do you guys think"
Waiting for their response he gets a small grin or we could tie the tree hugger to a precious tree and lay this big one down in front like a roast pig. Then we goblins can for sure win.
After a few moments his smile fades and he let's out a small sigh as he knows to be a good goblin and play with others
Stabby jumps out of the Dwarf's arms, and moves ahead a little bit, not yet choosing whether to keep on going towards the finish line-- or check out what happened here.
He spots where most of the fight occurred, and even spots a couple vials with red liquid laying, scattered, in the snow.
The others carefully started to move along behind.
Elsha sees that something attacked the other team, where the sled is broken and all--
--and he sees that one of the team members fled the attack across the ice, over to a little island with some trees, just to the north east.
It seems the competitor’s weapons and broken skis lie in a snow bank here at the far side of the island...
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All huffin and puffin Hopper says
"We should investigate this. I don't care about the stupid contest! A rare beast can be ingredients to some powerful potions. Tails, bones, guts all delicious on their own, but they can also be useful."
Says when observing the surroundings
"Elsha! what do your half-elf eyes see?"
As you make your way carefully across the ice - which is slippery, and hard terrain to negotiate - you arrive where the weapons and broken skis are--
--and you spot more blood leading over the ice and-- the collapsed form of a wounded team member on a little snow covered island!
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"Look!" says Granitt as he points to the injured competitor, "He needs help, he's injured. C'mon no point waiting around" The dwarf starts his march across the ice, though he is not fast as his feet feel a little unsteady, as he starts moaning about the northlands and their ground being covered by slippery ice and snow.
"Do you know which team he's from, can you recognise him?" the dwarf shouts as he makes his way there. Stopping halfway to wait for his companions, "Wel let's get a hurry on then.... well as much as we can with this damn slippery ice underfoot."
You recognized the banner bearing the mark of Without Trace or Fail just before.
And, as you approach, you see that the person in the snow is Ostog’s adopted daughter, Signe.
It is obvious that most of the fighting happened here at the small spit of ground.
The ice is soaked with blood.
Signe lies here, conscious yet badly wounded.
She looks up at Granitt, through feverish eyes, and warns: "The beast attacked...”
She points to a bigger island.
"My teammates were dragged into the creature’s lair after being incapacitated..."
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Seeing the woman badly hurt, Granitt takes pity on her and kneels at her side. With one hand he strokes her hair back, feeling her brow and nodding sagely as he notes the fever. In a kindly voice he says, "Here, take this, it might help your recovery and ease your pain." The dwarf recovers a glass vial from his backpack and offers the potion to Signe's lips.
The dwarf then rises up and pointing across to the other side he says, "Stabby, see if you can get into position, Elsha, Hopper do your stuff, whatever it is with them chemiacles! Let's go."
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Elsha kneels down across the woman from Granitt and applies his minor elixirs of life.
Once she is stable he stands and peers over at the cave. He absent-mindedly consumes his last quicksilver mutagen.
He offers his other eagle-eye elixir to Granitt.
So, should we venture in and see what horror awaits?
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Hopper pulls out his Alchemist Fire and poisoned dagger.
"We will head for the beast, it would be better for you to go over the hill towards the finish line and stay there. You might not be safe here if there is more predators in this area."
Says Hopper, and then turns to Elsha
"Ready! Let's move forwards."
The woman is well healed-- and falls asleep, totally exhausted.
Granitt approaches, followed by his three comrades-- and calls out to the Bear.
You are standing on ice.
You hear a growl, and the bear comes rushing out of the cave--
--and tries to bite Granitt's head off!
Sadly for him, though Granitt moved up in a defensive mode, and thus had his shield raised, his feet do not hold well on the uneven and icy ground and he is flat footed--
--thus jaws get a great grip over the dwarf's skull and nearly take his head off--
--nearly, because Granitt slams his shield upward, deflecting the bite at the last second, saving his life.
But Granitt goes down, his blood splattering the snow with crimson...
--but the bear still clamps down on the dwarf, biting into his skin quite hard!
Then the bear's right paw swings out, slashing and clawing at a distance--
--badly ripping into Elsha!
But Elsha slips on the ice, and rolls with the blow, that does not rip his arm off as he thought...
Yes, you do feel this is a "big one"-- after all, it just took out an entire Ulfen team, and seems to not be wounded at all.
Avoid Notice
Avoid Notice
Hopper thinks how much he hates when combats start like that, and throws his alchemist fire potion--
--as he tosses the potion, making a ranged attack, the bear reacts, seizing the opportunity to attack the Goblin.
The bear's left paw slashes out at Hopper-- and it manages to claw the alchemist, who is not too stable on the ice and thus flat footed.
One would imagine that Hopper tossed his vial somewhere or somehow to not damage his comrade--
--but, by doing so the vial breaks in the snow and only singes the bear's fur.
Hit by the bear, Hopper tries to not fall down on the ice as the blow makes him reel--
--but Hopper remains standing and throws his poisoned dagger.
Luckily he is still standing, since he has enough power to make the dagger hit under the paw, where it is soft--
--and the blade digs deep into the beast.
The fur seems to have soaked most of the venom, and it does not seem to be hurting the bear...
Hopper then steps away without slipping on the ice--