Two of the party vote to carefully kill off the three remaining humanoids.
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The stink isn’t as bad as one expects, several pathfinders have smelled a lot worse on other missions and it doesn’t seem to bother them. Miriel casually removes the attacking snow yeti’s head, watching it thunk into the crunchy snow. The body falls shortly afterwards. Bella keeps the other three calm even as their brother is brutally executed in front of them. Finally getting a good look at the Cairn, the group sees… The standing pillars are inscribed with ancient runes (old taldor faction mission). About three feet below the groups’ feet, through thick blue ice, lies the actual cairn. Everyone now recalls the shovels and picks given to you by the guide.
Round 2
Bold May Act!
Khellek sounds so dang confident, everyone else feels pretty darn good about their chances this fight. The old bard is probably not prepared for the wave of various stenches that slam into him though as he approaches the snow people. Ezren tries to overcome the difficult shot he is taking by aiming really hard, but just barely manages to miss his target. Darn jerk.
The three chill enemies move up and surround the bard, all giving him really good sniffs.
Round 2
Round 1
Bold May Act!
Bella keeps her mental pressure upon the calmed down Taers, and flies up a little bit to make it harder to become a pin cushion. Miriel dashes out to defend her teammate, slashing hard across the snowbeast’s chest. Dark red blood sprays upon the crunchy snow beneath. It responds by flailing punches at her, following those with a bite at her neck! for
She takes a strong slap to the head, rattling her brain around a bit.
Bold May Act!
Belladonna floats forward and her group coordinates following in tow. The foes peek out from cover and are about to attack when she brings the heavy hammer of calmness down upon three of them.
They seem almost confused as to why they are so chill right now and look around slowly at each other. The fourth one, moldy green lichen draped over his shoulders, rushes up as planned and hurls a spear at the flying cleric.
Well… over the flying cleric.
all at +2 mod
Bold May Act!
Unable to locate the parent of the eggs, Bella does at least notice the humanoids set up in an ambush position around and among the cairn. The hulking shaggy brutes have large sloping heads, icy blue eyes, and an ape-like appearance. Their bodies are covered in thick snow-white fur and their hands end in powerful fists.
Bella doesn’t see any sort of huge lizard creature, but she does notice tiny glimpses of medium sized humanoids hiding in an ambush position up by the cairn. The cairn and creatures and eggs are about sixty feet away from where the group just finished going up the slope.
The logical answer is that the footprints belong to the beastmen, but other than that guess they aren’t clear enough to identify. Ezren and Khellek very clearly recall the identity of the eggs. There aren’t that many species that lay eggs in freezing cold on top mountains and are that big. The eggs are layed by a Remorhaz, a Huge Magical Beast well suited to these climates. It is immune to both heat and cold effects and can burrow. It has a nasty bite, with grapple and swallow hole. And its worst ability is the fact that the body generates incredible heat. Heat Ability:
Heat (Su) An enraged remorhaz generates heat so intense that anything touching its body takes 8d6 points of fire damage. Creatures striking a remorhaz with natural attacks or unarmed strikes are subject to this damage, but creatures striking with melee weapons are not. The heat can melt or burn weapons; any weapon that strikes a remorhaz is allowed a DC 19 Fortitude save to avoid taking damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Belladonna locates dozens of footprints left by an oversized barefooted humanoid. There are possibly more than one, but less than favorable weather conditions make it too difficult to be certain.
The path continues along a broad plateau and ends at the edge of a snow-filled gorge. The gorge is named The Maw for the jagged spires of rock that jut through the drifts. Atop the plateau rests the cairn. Near the top of the slope, a broad plateau wraps around the mountain. Near the middle of the plateau rises a squat, 30-foot-square stone rostrum, upon which stand four columns of dark gray stone. One of the columns is broken and lies half-buried in the nearby drifts of snow. In the center of the rostrum rests a five-foot-tall beehive-shaped nest built of ice and cairn stones seemingly frozen around a clutch of eight massive bluish-gray speckled eggs, each the size of a brandy cask.
Khellek makes it up the slick slope.
Miriel and Bella make it up the slick slope. The dogs whine as their friends leave them.
Miriel takes care of the puppies. Mostly. They seem pretty happy so it should be fine. The sleds are righted, the reins and harnesses untangled, the items knocked loose are repacked and the pathfinders set back off heading up the mountain. 8) The Maw: Just past the scarp the path becomes impassable by sled. Here a tiny footpath winds up a steep slop covered with boulders (Climb DC 10).
Red Reverend begins digging near the sound of the voice and unearths Miriel from the snow prison. Belladonna finds one of the good puppies who gives her a happy lick on the face! The other two puppies are crushed to death.
Though their deaths may be greatly exaggerated. The two tires old men show up and help dig the remaining two dogs out.
Everyone injured feels better now. Which was only three dogs and Miriel, but at least it is something. Belladonna and Red Reverend hear a muffled prayer from the snow, that’s probably a good place to dig! They also are pretty sure where the dogs are located.
Khellek and Ezren have some trouble getting moving, but eventually the dogs get the message and start pulling the sled slowly.
Belladonna hollers where she is, but Miriel so far stays quiet in her icy tomb. Maybe she didn’t make it?!?
I did some light digging and there aren’t any posts by Yoshi’s player on any of their PCs since June 17th. I hope they are ok.
Belladonna notices movement up the slope. Waaaay up the slope, like from where the avalanche originated. Several white furred humanoid creatures scurrying away. She and Red Reverend have a decent idea where to start digging, but aren’t exactly sure where Miriel has gone. The snow is deathly quiet where she may have fallen. Three of the eight dogs also appear to be under the snow as well, but their locations are easy to find as they are still attached to the sled ropes. They are also yipping for help.
The avalanche hits. Hard. It’s amazing how heavy snow can feel. Red Reverend sees the ground. Then the sky. Then the ground. Then the sky. He just holds on for dear life after that until… he unclenches and looks around, realizing the sled he is sitting on has gently come to rest on top of the snow. Bella is tossed from the sled instantly when the snow hits. She lands hard and rolls instinctively to lessen the blow. The snow drags her a bit farther, but she feels a hard surface below her and attempts to stand. Her head bursts through the snow and sky is seen! Miriel is also tossed, but doesn’t manage to roll when she lands. Mainly because her head hits something really hard and she blacks out for a second. When she wakes a moment later, a sticky substance is dripping down her forehead and everything is a lot darker than it should be.
From the back, the only thing that Khellek and Ezren sees is a white wall wiping out their team.
Dog Rolls:
Bella manages to spur her dogs just a little more than Miriel, and as the avalanche approaches the two sleds pull even. But even with the increased speed, it’s obvious they won’t make it completely unscathed.
Ezren, with some good help from Khellek, manages to literally reign in the dogs and pull their sled to a stop. Miriel and Belladonna chose the other option, trying to outrace the rushing storm of snow falling down the mountain. They have a little success, mainly because the dogs seem fairly concerned about their own lives.
Ezren executes excellent erudition related to his handling of the dog commands. The sled slows down, almost to a stop but still barely moving (one more successful brake command will stop Ezren’s sled). The avalanche thunders down the slope, still quite a risk for the lead two sleds and maybe still threatening a dusting for the rear sled. Round Two: all are up!
Miriel fails to adjust her speed and continues heading towards the middle of the avalanche. Red Reverend attempts to help Bella, but his whistle is ignored by the dogs. Belladonna’s commands are similarly ignored. Khellek uses his almost magical inspiration and then also aids his driver’s next attempt.
Ezren is up!
GM Screen:
The beautiful vista is quite a thing to behold. Even so much so that only one of the party members even realizes danger is rushing towards them. Miriel glances to her right, up the slope and sees the telltale signs of shifting snow which indicates an...
Doing a quick bit of math in his head, Khellek and Ezren quickly advise that the avalanche is almost perfectly headed towards where the dogsleds will be in thirty seconds. This very suspicious fact that it is perfectly aimed at the group is quite quickly overwhelmed by the fact that avalanches can be incredibly deadly. Khellek also knows more. An avalanche consists of two distinct areas: the bury zone (in the direct path of the falling debris) and the slide zone (the area the debris spreads out to encompass). Characters in the bury zone always take at least some damage from the avalanche and are buried; characters in the slide zone might be able to get out of the way and avoid being buried. Being buried leads to its own set of problems, of course.
Note for Spellcasters:
Riding in the dogsled gives you the Vigorous Motion condition.
Vigorous Motion: If you are riding on a moving mount, taking a bouncy ride in a wagon, on a small boat in rough water, belowdecks in a storm-tossed ship, or simply being jostled in a similar fashion, you must make a concentration check (DC 10 + the level of the spell you’re casting) or lose the spell. "Initiative"
The group resumes sled dogging it up the mountain to Khellek’s dismay. Fortunately though, keeping a safer pace makes it easy to avoid slipping off the high path and they move on to the next section. 6) The Wings: The pass drops into a small valley between two small hills. The path becomes extremely narrow and turn maneuvers are near impossible.
7) The Eye: Near the top of the pass, the angle of the slope increases. It bisects a small glen near the base of a steep butte on the mountainside. Atop the butte, a wide ledge climbs slowly back up the mountain. The pass continues until it reaches a high ridge atop a staggeringly sheer scarp that spills down into the lowlands. The breathtaking view provides a panorama of most of the lower peaks.
Even though in a hurry, the group does a quick check through pockets and finds a small bronze coin held tight in the Chelaxian’s grip. They don’t disturb it, but do recognize it as an Aspis Membership coin. Back to the sleds then. And now they know someone is ahead of them.
The body sized piles seem less to be ‘burials’ and more to be ‘covering up the bodies’. There are no grave markers or other indicators of it being a proper burial. With that in mind, the pathfinders investigate the bodies a bit. Two of the piles hide the bodies of hideous beastmen, white-furred simians native to the peaks (taer). The third holds a human, perhaps of Chelish descent, killed by a gaping bite wound between his neck and shoulder. No magic emanates from any of the bodies.
The group takes the high road, even if it is a little stressful on the tighter path. About an eight of a mile in, almost everyone notices an unusual dark patch on a snow bank. Braking to check it out, they see a blood trail leading off into a patch of boulders. Bella and Ezren manage to follow the faint path and find three body sized snow mounds.
Bella wraps her rope around her waist, then slings a loop around the chain and leaves the tail end in a teammate’s hands. She warily walks across the bridge. No one attacks. The bridge doesn’t collapse. And she doesn’t fall off. Seems pretty safe, so everyone manages to make it over in a similar fashion. Even the dogs walking the sleds across make it safely. —————— 5) The Talons (no map note): Here the pass splits into adjacent routes, a higher path with a slow incline, and a wider steep path that plunges below it across a series of ice dunes. The upper path sits between 10 to 40 feet above the lower path. The higher path is only 10 feet wide.
Taking the lead as expected by herself, Miriel flies solo with no passengers. In the second dogsled, The Red Reverend and Belladonna probably spend a large portion of it in deep theological discussion about their various churches. Ah, those clerics. Yakking it up again. The two old humans take up the final sled and probably talk about prunes or the weather or something. With a yell and a twitch of the reigns, the three sets of dogs start pulling. Slowly at first but ramping up to a somewhat decent pace. The trail at the start is really easy, which may help calm the nerves of the drivers. Plenty of open space to practice turns, slows and speedups. After a bit, it becomes... not second nature, but not awkward at least. Then the beauty of the land becomes more apparent. Clear blue skies with just a few thin clouds allow copious sun to shine down, making everything a glistening landscape. Snow and ice cover everything, but the mountainous view is breathtaking. Along with, of course, the lack of oxygen. Fortunately it only takes about two and a half hours to get to the harder parts shown on the map. After a short rest of water and food for dogs and peoples, the group digs into "The Dragon" portion of the path. 1) The Tail (map note - take it easy here): This section of the pass is flat, but rocky. Basically just really bumpy and jarring. But the slower speed of the group prevents any issues. 2) The Haunches (map note - ready to turn at bottom of hill): This section of the pass has a steep incline that slows the sleds up. But what goes up must come down, and after that is the expected steep decline. Picking up speed as you come down the hill, each musher receives a dose of adrenaline as they frantically try to make two small turns to avoid drifting off the side of the trail down a steep embankment. Fortunately, your earlier training paid off and this is easily accomplished (take 10 works here fine). 3) The Spine (map note - slalom): In this section, large boulders block a straight line path through. But just as before, gentle turns work well enough to get through.
Up ahead though, everyone sees a dangerous looking icebridge and after some frantic braking action, the group pulls over to check it out. 4) The Heart (map note - TIE OFF AND WALK IT): A dangerously narrow bridge of solid ice spans a fifteen foot wide ravine that splits the pass. A weathered chain, secured to large boulders at either end of the bridge, hands suspended about three feet above its surface.
Letting you all know I am still here. Had a rough stretch at work this last week and then the holiday weekend and today I caught up on a lot of house stuff. Tomorrow I should be able to carve out some time to progress the story.
With the drivers chosen, the group sets off with a happy wave. Everything is gonna be alright!
The handler/contact/narrative foil looks at the group, holding the reins given up by Belladonna, ”Alright, two drivers so far. You all need a third. And then whoever is left pick a passenger spot.”
Khellek has no issues. Belladonna fortunately (or unfortunately for the mission) doesn’t even get her sled to move. The dogs seem to howl in laughter.
Rysam hands the reigns over to Khellek and hops onto the passenger part for the lesson, ”Alright, the commands are ‘mush’, ‘break’, ‘right’ and ‘left’. Mush is speed up and you snap the reigns, break is to slow down and you pull back. You can also do a hard break, that’s just pulling back super hard. But the dogs don’t like that one. Then right you pull on the right side and left you pull on the left. The reigns and voice commands are both necessary too. Ready to try?” He guides each of you through the process, having everyone who drives practice a little, until comfortable with the basics. ”Ready to go?”
Everyone has a pretty bad adaptation to the high altitude and feel a step slower than they should be.
Muriel offers two prepared endure elements to the group. Khellek advises he has been blessed by a shaman and should be fine. He goes into great detail about the ceremony. Way too much detail for the time you all have. :P Your contact waiting outside has three sleds hooked up with six yipping/singing dogs each. He holds the reins of one sled out, ”Aight, which driver wants the first lesson?”
Khellek is right. It will be up to you who is picked for the drivers and passengers. Dog sled rules on how to use them are also on the slides pgs 2-3 for easy reference.
The oldest human wakes up, hoping to feel rested. And he does, sortove. The headache forming the prior evening has faded. But the air he breathes just doesn’t seem to be enough and anything physical just seems harder to do. Red Reverend may be feeing the same way but is certainly hiding it better.
Your host seems to be happy you are leaving at daybreak and excuses himself early from breakfast to go get the dogs hooked up. He also has a pack of supplies set out for you.
”They use weapons so I’d guess are more man than beast, but I know nothing more of their culture or tactics.” He turns to Belladonna, ”Sure, go ahead and take some firewood. It’s wise to be prepared. As for stopping points, you will just have to make good choices with your own senses of survival. I assume as seasoned pathfinders you should have at least some of those skills by this point.”
Your contact waves you to go ahead with the tea, ”Well, as I mentioned before, you may run across beast men. They’ll try to kill you. Other than that, you already mentioned most of the risks. So will you be leaving at daybreak?”
The cook eyes the group, furtively glancing at each person who comes in, ”Yeah no, I ain’t going out there.” The other two shrug, ”No thanks, ain’t our job.” Rysum gives a tiny frown and then adds, ”See? No one really wants to go up the mountain. But if you do go, the dogs are the fastest and thus safest way to do it.”
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