Knotted for climbing, you'll need 250' of rope to make the 200' distance work. An extra 20'-30' so Snowball can anchor it (though if you have no grapple, it'll be tricky).
With the wind and slippery ice surface of the cliff face, you'll have a -2 circumstance bonus to climb... so a DC 7. Not too bad, but it is a several minute climb.
Snowball doesn't see anything in the mouth of the cave, but does she investigate further? Also, perception check for her if she does indeed fly up alone.
Mukluk is only somewhat pleased about his skinning. He's glad he succeeded to help the team, but also he's not sure that Moose will believe him. I think he'd prefer to *not* do that again but still, it was an accomplishment that he would add to his book of deeds, right next to 'the time I ate the entire pot of stew of sisters three'.
Mukluk doesn't have a good way to fly on his own, but does own a pair of snow shoes if that helps.
He will want to get to the cave if there is a way.
1 (5+1): Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Protection from Evil, Liberating Command, Endure Elements, Shield (D)
2 (4+1): Bull's Strength, Spiritual Weapon, Instant Weapon, Path of Glory, Barkskin (D)
3 (3+1): Invisibility Purge, Communal Resist Energy, Prayer, Fly (D)
4 (1+1): Air Walk, Dimension Door (D)
"Do we even have that much rope? If we don't, I can cast Fly and Air Walk."
"We have infinite twine! Er- rope!" Unk explains as he continues to produce unreasonable quantities of hemp.
"I just need to cut it when we have enough. it's maybe 200' up so 200' will do, right?" Unk asks thoughtfully.
Not wanting to risk any wards on or guardians in the lair itself without backup nearby, Snowball contents herself with hovering just off the cliff edge.
Snowball looks for a nice thicc thick looking stalagmite or outcropping near the edge of the cliff. Not having hands is sometimes annoying...
Failing that, a nook or cranny that might hold a grappling hook.
After her minute-and-a-half scouting trip, she returns to help Unk measure out the rope, reminding him that they'll need probably 300' worth and that splicing rope is harder than cutting off extra.
Mukluk will help get the ropes/hemp ready for climbing. He'll want to get up there, or have someone get up there to check things out and report back...or at least toss loot down so he can catch it with his face.
Between a metric ton of rope, flight, and air walk, you’re able to crest the icy cliff - though it does take some doing.
You reach the entrance of the ice-cave. It’s not vast, but it is large enough for a large dragon to get around, so it’s somewhat impressive. There are three ‘levels’ and a ravine some 100’ down at least. You search the upper levels and find a few things of note.
There a particularly long cave, the largest chamber, 20’ high which grows to 40’ high in the back. The more perceptive of you notice that the ‘ceiling’ in the back is actually a thin sheet of ice, easily broken through by a powerful dragon and a handy escape route in need.
The next layer down is a nest, filled with destroyed eggs, a stone hammer, and a tribal talisman of remorhaz scales like the one Ulf bears. No wonder the dragon was attacking the town - she was lead to believe someone from it destroyed her eggs! And she was probably right. There are five smashed eggs here.
The next layer down (below the nest) is hard to get to, and must have been a challenge for a large dragon, but you manage with flight and air walk - and are rewarded with Vegsundvaag’s hoard! Let me know if you investigate the ravine, as the hoard likely takes your attention for a time.
Short sword +2
Ring of feather falling
Horse terra-cotta talisman
Wand of ray of enfeeblement (30 charges)
Composite shortbow (+2 Strength, MW)
Amber piece (100gp), Bloodstones (75gp ea x4), Blue sapphire (500gp)
Leather quiver decorated with winter wolf fur and tooled with Snowcaster elf designs (efficient quiver)
Cash in the amount of 3,104cp, 2,521sp, 594gp, and 202pp
While the others start cataloguing the hoard, Snowball becomes a mist and flows down into the ravine to check it out.
"Ooooh, I like the quiver. And the wand. I wonder who is best served by the ring..." Unk comments
He places one hand on his temple and concentrates "I foresee that it is our least magically inclined comrade, Kisaiya." he foresees suggests.
Snowball continues to risk life and limb for Unk as she descends into the pit. She requires her darkvision to see, but the bottom isn’t far, just a few hundred feet down through the ice and into the bedrock. There she finds the remains of another white dragon, though it’s been too long to determine how it was killed. There is no apparent loot down here.
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Mukluk was about to climb down into the ravine, but stops when the brave BigFur goes down to explore, leaving its familiar with the party.
"Well okay, that's one way to do it."
Mukluk will help identify the magics, and also pack it up for the return trip.
"Ain't nothing more to do here, I don't think."
Gathering the loot into various packs and satchels, some magical, you then descend carefully down the icy cliff face and head back toward Iqaliat. You spend most of the day trudging back through the snow, glad there hasn’t been been much fresh precipitation so you can follow the trail you left coming here. After all, you’ve lost your tracker. You should have brought Ulf, just in case. Everything out here is white - it would be very easy to get lost...
You reach the village of Iqaliat just before supper that same day. The whole town seems to turn out to greet you as you come through the gates. ”Where’s Naquun?” someone calls out when its clear he's not trailing you. The crowd grows hushed and listens for your reply.
"I foresee that this will be helpful for explaining." Unk says as he pulls out the unholy symbol.
He doesn't think to actually explain where he got it or how it's related.
Snowball does her floating-voice-of-the-wind-spirits-impression again and clears her throat.
"We're sad to report that neither Tunuak nor Naquun made it back from the trip north. After vanguishing Vegsundvaag, we were attacked by evil frost spirits. Tunuak appeared with them. Tunuak and Naquun sided with the evil frost spirits. We believe this happened because they abandoned the wind-spirits and were worshiping the evil god Sithhud whose unholy symbol we found on Tunuak."
I wonder when we should ask if the wind spirits changed their message during Tunuak's tenure or if it was from the start...
Mukluk keeps his mouth shut as those with diplomatic skills explains what happened. He doesn't want to make things worse, and then possibly getting the party murdert.
"The celestial cat speaks the truth. We do not know why Tunuak and Naquun allied with the evil spirits and attacked us, but it was unprovoked. We defeated the dragon as we said we would."
Kisaiya nods gravely. ”I can attest that the Empress of Heaven let me call upon Her powers to fight against them, and She would not do so if they had not been deeply corrupted by evil.”
"We're sad to report that neither Tunuak nor Naquun made it back from the trip north. After vanguishing Vegsundvaag, we were attacked by evil frost spirits. Tunuak appeared with them. Tunuak and Naquun sided with the evil frost spirits. We believe this happened because they abandoned the wind-spirits and were worshiping the evil god Sithhud whose unholy symbol we found on Tunuak."
”Tunuak too?!” cries out one of the villagers, confused and not quite understanding as yet you mean. Others soon wail at what the loss of their shaman, and his apprentice, will do to the small community. They have no shaman! They don’t seem to blame you for the loss though so that’s something.
"The celestial cat speaks the truth. We do not know why Tunuak and Naquun allied with the evil spirits and attacked us, but it was unprovoked. We defeated the dragon as we said we would."
”The dragon is dead!” one of the villagers cries out, possibly to help those in the back hear. There’s a general thrum of relief, though the undercurrent of ‘dead shaman’ still rumbles among the crowd.
Kisaiya nods gravely. ”I can attest that the Empress of Heaven let me call upon Her powers to fight against them, and She would not do so if they had not been deeply corrupted by evil.”
There’s a general murmur that maybe the party did the right thing, but there’s still some gnashing about how they will fare without their own divine aid.
Still, Chief Nalvanaq steps forward and she quiets the mob with her presence. They wait and listen to what she may proclaim… ”The dragon is dead and that is what is important here! You have done as you promised, and we shall hold a feast in your honor! Tomorrow shall be a holiday for the people, and we shall celebrate the dragon’s demise into the night!”
The people are cheered by this, and begin to break up in groups to head back to their homes for late suppers - but a holiday! The mood has shifted and Sandru is comfortable with just a watch, instead of a double watch, tonight as you sleep.
Feel free to chat among yourselves, or other villagers that night - though most of the village scampers pretty quickly once the Chief has made her proclamation.
The night passes uneventfully, and in the morning you wake rested and ready for a holiday! It is Erastus 22, a Starday. What do you do during the day prior to the celebration? As Sandru quickly discovers, since it is a holiday - there is no trade to be had.
Kisaiya offers to help cook food for the celebration. As much as a rest sounds nice, she’ll be able to rest plenty on the road in the wagons. This is an opportunity to share cooking knowledge, and she is happy to take the opportunity.
Mukluk follows Kisaiya around, trying to help her cook food for the celebration. Whether he is truly being helpful, or just wants to be close for when the next inevitable bout of 'trying to make the party murdert' comes about is uncertain.
He will also tend to Moose, explaining that it was his pick that dealt the final blow to the creature and that Mukluk couldn't have done it without Moose's help.
Other than avoiding doing anything that might antagonize the populace, Mukluk keeps to himself.
Durgan will work on his set of armor during the day.
Unk starts making armor out of what's left of Vegsundvaag.
Without Snowball's guidance, he makes no progress...
Snowball gets sent out to try and find out if there are any wizards in town.
Especially anyone that can cast Crafter's Fortune.
Int to aid Unk
Mukluk admires that Snowball has trained his familiar to do manual labor, and comes over to both help, and see if there are any training tricks that he might use to train Moose to do something useful.
When Snowball returns to help, Mukluk finds that she just magics Unk to be slightly better with Guidance and isn't nearly as good as manual labor as he hoped.
The cooking does indeed start early, and in houses throughout the village. There is no common kitchen per se, but Kisaiya does manage to get into the tavern kitchen and help out. It doesn’t take long before she’s running the place, and experienced, but not as skilled, chefs are scurrying to do her bidding. When the feast begins in earnest, it’s the tavern cooking that everyone must have a taste of.
Spivey spends the day, when she’s not on guard duty, with the villagers, flitting here and there, clearly excited. So as usual pretty much. Your other crew members enjoy themselves and spend the day largely relaxing. A break from the cold and hardship of the road. The campfire beads get heavy use!
Unk and Mukluk work on the dragon leather, but find the work to be extremely difficult - more so than they expected perhaps. Durgan too works on his suit, but his crafting skill is more than up for the task and he makes another day’s headway. Getting close now!
Ulf asks Unk, "So what are you making? That's some fine dragon skin, and those scales are mighty pretty. Do you already have a buyer?"
The day passes uneventfully and peacefully, but with an energy that builds up until the feast itself, which starts at 3pm! Sure, it takes some time to sort out all the finger food, and the main dishes don’t start appearing until closer to five - but it’s a LOT of food and festivity!
The villagers, while still uncertain about their future, are still very pleased you killed the dragon which had been picking them apart - and they aim to show it. It’s cold of course, but the warmth of their hearts makes it seem like summertime. Everyone is having fun!
At Ulf's visit, Unk gets his beard caught in the any-tool and works on extricating himself while he answers.
"Oh- uh- ehem. I had foreseen that the dragon would make a good suit of armor, so we're making some. Though Snowball scolded me and we're pulling a few bits back apart now."
"You should follow your own designs." Snowball retorts with a heavy sigh and a roll of her eyes.
"Ah- but I foresaw someone would actually want a breatplate instead of a full-plate of dragonhide. Obviously the plans for a fuller heavier suit wouldn't do." Unk explains boastfully as Snowball lets out a small groan of annoyance.
"We- ah- we don't have a buyer yet, but I foresee that someone shall be wanting a breastplate. You wouldn't happen to know anyone who might like it, would you?" Unk asks Ulf.
"It's too small for meeee, who exactly is going to buy that?" Snowball whines.
"I foresee that Kisaiya will help me with the necessary enchantments." Unk explains (poorly).
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"BAH! I wish you would have foreseen me wasting my day here," Mukluk rues the time spent on the work. "I coulda been brushing Moose, and now I gotta go explain why I don't have any good skinned gourds for him." Mukluk tromps away, disappointed.
Though annoyed, by the time the party starts, he will be in a better mood and try to enjoy himself. He will sneak away treats for Moose when he thinks he can get away with it.
Ulf, somewhat confused, does his best to interject into the exchange, "How about some, er, breastplate? That would be most excellent! I'd be happy to pay for it, even though I didn't directly aid in the fight. It would do much for my reputation."
"Oh, I suppose I could make a regular sized breastplate." Unk replies while Snowball sighs loudly again.
"Consider the cold-dragon breastplate commissioned." Unk adds with a nod, finally pulling his beard out of the any-tool.
Then he begins rambling.
"I just need to gather the rest of the materials. We'll need some buttons and rivets and loops and things..."
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At the end of the meal as the dancing begins, Chief Nalvanaq and Hearthmistress Sonavut take the party aside for a moment. The elders have searched Tunuak’s residence and found some notes. Well, a lot of notes really. He used to take notes all the time lately, as his memory was getting a little iffy. Not bad, just iffy. Anyway, they have discovered more of the shaman’s troubling plans in some of them.
Ancient tales say that the morozkos (hungry storms) were the roaring scourge wielded by the demon lord Sithhud, whose unholy symbol you found around Tunuak’s neck. Sithhud ate the flesh of the dead and bound their bones to serve him in ages past. The three-fingered skeletal claw is Sithhud’s mark (image). The notes say that a dark-winged woman, whom he doesn’t name, may have found some way to reclaim the demon lord’s ancient power, perhaps using the strange black monoliths. He’s been working for her and has plans to plant one of the monoliths in the village itself!
The elders say the notes mention a place they call the Storm Tower as the focal point of this power. So named because of the storms that always seem to swirl above its pinnacle. This spire is similar to those found in the Nameless Spires, but it stands alone near the Alabastrine Peaks just on the western side.
The morozkos have already been awakened, out of season. If this mystery woman gains full control over the hungry storms, the High Ice will be impassible to caravans, and extremely dangerous. If she’s already blocked the Path of Aganhei, you’ll be close to the Storm Tower anyway if you’re still going to Minkai this season.
”Ulf knows where the Storm Tower is, I’m sure.” says Sonavut. ”And we can resupply you. I don’t think you’ll make it unless you confront her and end these storms.”
Chief Nalvanaq nods in agreement adding, ”If you will do this, what little we have is yours.”
"Aha, as I had foreseen! Those monoliths are no good! We'd be happy to help." Unk cuts in before there's time for debate.
"I agree to confront this demonic cultist in her Storm Tower. We should find out all we can beforehand, so that we may be prepared."
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Mukluk goes through the things to be sold and spends some time to see if he can learn more about the valuable Horse terra-cotta talisman.
"Yeah, I can ask Moose to see if he knows anything about it too," he grumbles as he casts Detect Magic and examines it more closely.
Spellcraft
Otherwise, Mukluk has examined the treasure sheet and has just taken the +2 cloak.
* * *
"I agree to confront this demonic cultist in her Storm Tower."
Mukluk nods agreement with his dwarf brother. "Me and Moose feel the same way. Only way to be sure to be safer. Yeah, we're gunna hafta do that."
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The Chief and Hearthmistress are relieved! ”That’s so kind of you, really. Thank you.” They produce simple necklaces with Remorhaz scales for each of you - much like what Ulf bears. Hearthmistress Sonavut chuckles, ”We’re going to have to kill another of those beasts soon. We’re running out of scales!” She also bequeaths your caravan a gift - a Sashimono of Comfort (link)!
At Durgan’s request, they hand over the notes they found. It’ll take some time to go through (an hour or so evening’s reading). Most cover mundane issues, but more than a few are damning. The notes of course support what the Chief and hearthmistress said, and show a truly troubled man in Tunuak. He’s been slipping into evil for some time, feeling much as though he should be the driving force in the village, and resentful of the other elders.
Tunuak prayed and sacrificed and developed the spirits’ gift of wind sight, using it to eavesdrop on the conversations of others, but this only increased his bitterness and frustration, for to his dismay, he found that others in the village thought that he was too old and infirm, and no longer served the people as he once did.
His heart darkened once more, especially when he heard Iqaliat’s chief and hearthmistress joking about their aged shaman with visitors from another village. He met this winged woman on a vision quest in the north - hopping to find some sign as to what he should do. He nearly died, alone on the high ice, but she found him and nursed him back to health. A sign!
It all went downhill from there… Aside from her unearthly beauty, he does not speak much of his savior. Only of her plans to ‘revitalize’ the icy north to the greater power of Sithhud! He wanted the villagers to be punished, and needed to clear them out anyway so the monolith could be placed, so he destroyed the dragon’s eggs, leaving a sign behind that it was the villagers who had done it. Then he watched as the villagers were attacked, and slaughtered.
- - -
Chief Nalvanaq adds, ”I’ve been approached by your Spivey. Seems she’s interested in being our spiritual guide and protector. I must admit, it has taken me quite by surprise. Still, a priestess of Desna could help us considerably now that our shaman is gone.” She tries not to look uncomfortable about the topic, and presses on. ”I did not accept her offer though as I wasn’t sure what her relationship to you was. If she’s a trusted guide and worker, I would not take her from you.”
”There are those here who might be hired by your caravan, if you liked, to replace some of what she does for you. I understand she’s a scout?”