The Dead of Winter - Chronicle Part 9

Mordane - The Shard Plane and Carsis.

The players leave the rift and head towards the Blood Peaks to the south. Neraty casts a number of Air Walk spells to ease the journey and they make good progress. They cross the mountains and see another frost giant assaulting a strange 'ice ship'. The party wade in and kill the giant but they are unable to help the crew. After resting they repair parts of the ship and use it to sail across the ice towards Carsis. After several days travelling, they reach a huge chasm in the Shard Plane. They circumnavigate the chasm's end, fighting off several dragon-like creatures on the way. After another few days they reach the coast and finally Carsis.

Carsis is a trading post on the coast of an icy ocean. The place teems with planar travellers, demons and undead all eking out an existence on the plane. After several negotiations with sea-captains and the local demonic mafia they secure passsage on a trip to Icerazer and after several more days at sea they arrive at the iceberg city.

They are carried from the ship in giant lifts to the top of the iceberg and they spend several hours exploring the strange city. After registering at the town hall they find themselves a room in a tavern. They find the denizens of the city will not talk to them so the next day they return to the docks to find the help of fellow travellers. As luck would have it they find three planar travellers who tell them that their best chance is to speak to Azediel herself. This they decide to do and they head off to Icerazer Palace.


Mordane - Azediel's Bargain and the Return to Gwelith.

They gain access to Azediel and ask about Viki and a passage back to Gwelith. Azediel tells them that she has Viki in her dungeons and that she can get them back home - if they complete a task for her in return. She asks them to either root out a nest of rebels or kill the city's High Priest of Mallister. They agree to the latter.

They return to their lodgings to discuss possible plans but are disturbed by a visit from a priest of Mallister. He tells the party that his master, Narlael, wishes to speak with them about a business offer. The party refuse to Teleport away with the priest so he leaves them. The next morning they decide to travel to the Cathedral to speak with him. They enter and are taken before the High Priest and his Inner Circle. As they approach, Boris quietly suggests that they take him out now, why he is unprepared.

Callan agress and launches an attack at Narlael, closely followed by Wyvern and Boris. Neraty stalls the attack by animating objects in the room and sending them to attack Narlael, but they are unable to attack him. A general melee ensues with Callan fighting Narlael while the others deal with the lesser priests and Narlael's guards. Neraty moves his ceations to attack the lesser priests, allowing Boris to launch an attack against Narlael, taking him down. After finishing off Narlael's henchmen they remove Narlael's head as proof of their deed. Then they open the doors and begin to fight their way out of the cathedral, fighting through groups of monks and clerics until they each the outside. There then follows a mad dash across the city to Icerazer Palace, dogged by flights of Abishai and clerics all the way.

They enter the palace and seek an audience with Azediel. After handing over Narlael's head she completes her part of the bargain and hands over the batterd, tortured body of Viki. Her aide then leads them to a locked and sealed door that leads to the caverns that wind through the heart of the iceberg. Ignoring the obvious signs of life in the caverns they rush to the portal in the cavern's centre and pass through.


The Wyrmsdown, August 1043TA - Return to Midwinter

The party re-appear far to the east of Midwinter, deep within the expanse of the Wyrmsdown. Wyvern tells the others that they just need to head west and they will reach civilisation. Using Neraty's 'Wind Walk' spells they make very good time and believe they will make it back in just a few days.

Early on their third day, Callan hears strange flapping noises during his watch. Thinking it might be dragons, the planes gains it's name from their numbers, he wakes Wyvern and Boris. Before he can wake others they are assaulted by a strange winged humanoid. He hovers a way away, casting spells on the three wariors. Boris and Callan run forward to engage it while Wyvern fires arrows from it at a distance. Unable to cause it serious harm, Callan decides to use his 'Dimension Slide' power to attempt to grapple the monster in the air. On his third attempt he manages to keep hold of the creature and drags it to earth. Wyvern and Boris wade in and soon reduce the creature to a bloody pulp. Upon examination of the creature, Wyvern and Callan recognise it as one of the Orc warlords loyal to Vettori.

Concerned that Vettori knows exactly where they are, they decide to vary their route back to the west. Two days later as they skirt the Stonelands, they see a strange group of humanoids standing in a group. Boris, Callan, Viki and Wyvern go off to investigate and discover they are a group of Vettori's Frostfell Zombies standing in rows. After a brief preparation the four wade in to the zombies. Unfortunately another of Vettori's seven, Zletun Grorn, has been lying in wait and takes the opportunity to attack the party from behind. Viki finishes off the zombies while the others try to kill Grorn, who has the ability to turn himself invisible. They finally manage to bunch him up between them and finish him off. After a brief pause to search his belongings they set of for Midwinter.


On to Part 9 of the Chronicle.

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