Ami is able to vault the river on her first attempt.
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After listening to both Bitty's and Galvaka's descriptions of the creature, Ashun takes a quick glance at his notes and tries to remember which creature was it
During the next trial, the changeling observes the poles and the fast flowing water, and starts muttering to himself.
"Well, this one looks a tad harder. I may not be able to traverse them without some aid... Perhaps tying a rope would be--"
And he sees Ami running ahead and jumping through them with ease. Ashun sighs a chuckle and looks to the other two gnomes.
"Your kind is very spry, are you not? Impressive indeed."
With a smile, he gets up and goes for a running start.
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"Your kind is very spry, are you not? Impressive indeed."
Bee chuckles at that. "Helps quite a bit when having to run away from someone who didn't like a prank."
He grabs one of the poles and lines up his approach. "This may be the first time I have tossed myself using a stick. Should be interesting."
Ashun realizes that the creature sounds like a giant short-faced bear, a large artic bear well known for it’s ability to claw a victim, grab them, and then toss them up to twenty feet away.
Ashun stops when they realize they did not get enough speed up for the vault. Fortunately they realized this before leaping so they did not fall in the raging river.
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"Yes Ashun! That sounds right!" Galvaka declares as she mimics the beast. "Big teeth! Big claws!"
"We must have scared it off because our knives are even sharper than what it has!"
Presented with the challenge, Galvaka throws herself at the obstacle once she has the pole in hand. She pictures the story in her mind and likely is more reckless than her skill can account.
Still she manages to get good speed from the rush forward.
Corabee gets across the stream on their first try.
Sam let’s go of the pole before she would have gone into the river.
Galvaka makes it across on her first try.
Bitty makes it look easy as she vaults the stream and makes a perfect landing.
Overall the team has done very well, but Ashun and Sam are both still on the wrong side of the river.
While they are trying to get across, the rest of you could try talking to the race officials about the course ahead. You know it is going to be more difficult with the snow falling as it is.
On his second attempt, Ashun is able to get across the river.
When Corabee asks about odd occurrences, the race official says that it seems several caribou were killed back at that checkpoint. It was only noticed the next day after all the racers had left the camp site. The trail wardens are looking for signs of what might have attacked the caribou.
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Ashun tosses a sticky bomb into the river to give Sam a spot where the base will not slip.
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When Ashun lands, he lets out a tired sigh. He doesn't train his physique as much he should.
And he looks to Ami, a bit confused
"Was that a gnomish saying? 'Ahlon-Zi'."
When Sam starts to get ready, Ashun throws an adhesive grenade onto the base in the river and motions his hands preparing to draw an aiding glyph as soon as Sam starts running to jump.
Sam finally makes it across!
You start out through the heavy snow. It is much colder today than it was the previous days. Thankfully you all have proper clothing for the weather.
In spite of the snow, your group manages to make good time. Corabee and Ami are like two snow plows, making a path for the rest of you to follow.
You are the first to make it through the snow storm to the camp site. You find yourselves in a small valley between stands of trees.
Among the tall drifts and dunes of snow and ice, a small hollow 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. 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.
Once the group is ready, an official explains the trial. They recount 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 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.
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Bee listens to the description of the event. "Well, I could probably get out there on the ice without too much trouble. But once I got there, I'm not sure what I would do other than chop the ribbon out with my sword - and I don't think that would work very well if we want it in one piece."
"Maybe I can just help guide someone else who does know how to get the ribbon out."
Corabee waits and will give advice as someone else attempts the task.
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"If I may... I have an idea and would like to try something similar to the tales."
Ashun carefully walks through the frozen lake
Near the objective, he slowly gets on his knees to be able to get closer to the ribbon.
He pulls out a mud-green and white vial from his bag, shaking it a bit, making a glistening green-yellow-white gradient liquid, and drinking it.
Very slowly and steady he casts Prestidigitation to Warm the ice in a circle around the ribbon to thaw it, giving it light taps with the nails from the repair kit to mark its edges and make it easier to come off.
And using the tongs from the kit, he carefully picks the ice plate and puts it on top of the frozen sheet of water, warming its center to release the ribbon and avoiding it from falling into the water below.
Also, +9+1 instead of +8+1
Ashun nearly slips and falls, saved only by Corabee warning him to take smaller steps.
Then he gets out his crafting kit and slowly chips and melts away the ice around the ribbon. He is successful in retrieving the ribbon and getting back off the ice.
After he gets back, one of the judges inspects the ribbon and then hands it off to a kid. The kid goes out on the ice and replaces the ribbon, clearing the spot and adding slush that quickly freezes it back in place.
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Isn't one suppose to spread out their body weight and crawl along the ice Ami asks.
Somehow that volunteers her to be next so she carefully slides across the ice like a human ... err gnome toboggan.
It's really hard to mold my element when it's frozen she thinks as she examines the area around the ribbon. Still ... if I lie on it. I should be able to melt it out
She tries using her kinetic abilities to loosen the ice and make it easier to melt with Extract Element
Ami uses her knowledge of survival techniques in combination with her ability to manipulate small amounts of water to get the ribbon out.
The official inspects the ribbon and once again allows has someone replace it.
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"Oh no I can try! Not breaking ribbon makes this harder. It works be much easier if I could just patch it."
Galvaka first slides into the ice, but starts to go out of counter as she slides across the frozen lake. Her first instinct it to stab the ice but she thinks better of it.
With a desperate grip she managed to stop herself amid the aching ice. After a moment she lets out a breath and pushes toward the ribbon.
"This ice needs to be made stronger if it breaks like this. Only been used three or so times!" Studying the ribbon for a moment Galvaka conjures fire into her hand with produce flame. "I might not be able to just throw for, but flame is versatile. It will keep my hands warm as I sneak ribbon out!"
After a little uncertainty, Galvaka makes her way across the ice. Then she uses some flame to warm her fingers. Once her hands were warm, she carefully picks at the ice and delicately extracts the ribbon.
Once again, the official inspects it and confirms all is well.
Having completed the challenge, the officials recommend not proceeding as the snow is still falling.
The officials do confirm that your group is now in the lead, followed closely by Without Trace or Fail. They are not willing to volunteer any other information.
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Ashun approaches one of the officials before leaving
"Are we allowed to help The other parties?"
If it is allowed, the changeling will choose to leave behind his other tanglefoot bag near the frozen lake with a note saying "sticky, could be helpful, use with caution"
Then turning to the others
"Where are we off to now? More snow?"
Ashun approaches one of the officials before leaving
"Are we allowed to help The other parties?"[/b]
“I would not recommend it, as it is against the spirit of the competition. This race commemorates Balgird’s individual accomplishments, not those of him leading a group.”
The weather the next day takes a turn for the worse, the snowstorm turning into a blizzard. It is even colder today than it was the first few nights. Fortunately if you can finish the race today you will be able to stay at a nice warm inn.
In spite of the weather, Bitty is able to make good progress.
Perhaps it is in spite of the bad weather that your group moves forward. Although he started a little weak, Corabee continues plow through the snow. Ami and Ashun do their part to keep the group going through the bad weather.
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Galvaka poses with the praise declaring, "I didn't even burn the ribbon one bit!"
She goes forward with this confidence into the wilds as she tries to continue finding a clear path through the blinding weather.
That doesn't turn out well as loses track of the party at a point. She pushes herself, doubling her pace to backtrack and not slow the groups progress.
While pushing herself the limit, she is able to meet up with the party without major disaster.
Galvaka stuggles but manages to keep pace with the rest of the party.