Episode Two: Against the Frost and through the Fire

Prelude:

#Sitrep

Thora: Lv1 (175 XP), Tiefling Rogue, 165 GP.

Oswald: Lv1 (175 XP), Human Scholar, 11 GP.

Dekar: Lv1 (175 XP), Wood Elf Monk, 11 GP.

Angel: Lv1 (175 XP), Human Paladin, 25 GP.

Bran: Lv1 (175 XP), Human Druid, 110 GP.

The Gnome Ranger: Lv1 (175 XP), Gnome Ranger, 63 GP.

Dekar leaves the group after being rendered unconscious three times in two dungeons. Citing quality of companions as a concern. He has been replaced by 'The Avenging Angel' or Angel for short a remarkably confident and brash Paladin with rather set world views. In their downtime, Oswald gets a teaching job, Thora robs a local merchant and Angel works as a bouncer getting the ire of the local Militia Captain Neville Guisgart.

Mission One: "Against the Frost."

Set List

• Angel
• Thora
• Oswald

#The Secret Entrance#

Veradda Stoor’s notes led the party to a narrow path up a mountain in the northern Greypeaks. They could see a cliff to the right and the sheer wall of the mountain to the left. They could see no obvious opening in the wall but having been pre-warned searched for thirty minutes until eventually Angel found the door. Inside the caverns were pitch black, the tunnels made of unworked stone which split into a labyrinth of tunnels. Oswald lit his lantern, covering the rear with Angel whilst Thora who has dark-vision scouted out ahead in a stealthy fashion. After each round Oswald and Angel would catch up, before sending out Thora to scout out the next corridor. Sadly stealth was ruined somewhat when the party regrouped over a large pit trap that Angel and Thora fell into. Oswald was too far to the rear and thus escaped. Thora was badly bruised but Angel managed to land on his feet. Four giant rats were lurking in the pit trap. Bravely drawing his blade, Angel managed to roll a natural one on a D20 and fumble. Thus dropping his bastard sword. Oswald used his magic to roast one of the giant rats and set up a firing line with Thora who employed her short bow to deadly effect. Just as well in fact as Angel managed to drop his sword three times in a row (rolled 1 on a D20 three actions in row).

<< Insert game achievement for Angel: Cackhanded: Once per map, the player may choose to replace any of his dice rolls with a 1. This lasts until he rolls a natural 20 on a D20 in an attack. >>

The party emerged into a large chamber, the floor was covered with thick ice. Two large humanoid figures, frost giants by their appearance, lie dead in the centre of the room. Each clutches a bloody great axe in its hands, and each seems to have died from slashing wounded created by large bladed weapons.

#The Diamond of Mammon#

On the far side of the room lay a three foot pedestal, and atop the pedestal rested a giant diamond. The diamond gleamed with an inner light that was definitely supernatural. Thora went to loot the corpses whilst Oswald walked around to the side of the diamond to examine it's mystical properties. As Thora approached the body the diamond rose from the pedestal under some magical compulsion. Beams of dazzling green light erupted from it bathing the cavern in a sickly green glow. An overwhelming wave of avarice struck the party who all resisted (Thora because she was already looting, Oswald because he was geeking out over magic diamond) except for Angel who was filled with an covetous urge to possess the diamond. He fell to his knees in awe at it's wealth. 

<< Insert game achievement for Angel: Victim of Greed: You were stung by greed, and your soul has been infected by the deadly sin. When you're in the presence of great wealth (in the form of coins or jewelry worth over 1k gp), you are stunned until the end of your first turn, as your mind reels at such great wealth. This can be removed with a remove curse. >>

Around the room two masses of translucent green energy emerged. These masses pulse in rhythm with the light of the diamond, as if they were all connected by energy. The masses moved towards the party, lashing out with barb-tipped tentacles. With each lash, the synchronised pulsing of the creatures and the diamond grew brighter.

The party leapt into action, engaging the masses of energy, they managed to kill one of them before Thora was knocked out. The dispersed mass of energy was hit by a beam from the diamond and immediately reformed to attack the remaining party members. Oswald and Angel managed to destroy the diamond at which point the resurrected mass of energy dispersed by were knocked out by the removing mass in a close battle.

#Sitrep

Thora: Lv2 (300 XP), Tiefling Rogue, 56 GP, diamond (50 GP).

Oswald: Lv2 (300 XP), Human Scholar, 11 GP.

Dekar: Lv2 (300 XP), Wood Elf Monk, 11 GP.

Angel: Lv2 (300 XP), Human Paladin, 25 GP.

Bran: Lv2 (300 XP), Human Druid, 110 GP.

The Gnome Ranger: Lv2 (300 XP), Gnome Ranger, 63 GP.

Interlude: "Zephyros, The Cloud Giant"

Set List

• Angel
• Thora
• Oswald

The party woke in silk sheets, the three of them dwarfed by a massive bed. Their wounds bound, they looked up to see a massive humanoid watching over them. Introducing himself as Zephyros he is an 

eccentric cloud giant with a bald head and a long whispy beard. He confides in the adventurers that all is not well with giant kind. He has been casting numerous Contact Other Plane spells which have on occasion driven him quite mad. He claiming to be fine now, albeit twitching as he made that claim. The results of his investigation led him to conclude that giants are too caught up in the current civil war and the cause can only be found by a neutral third party. The small folk. Upon scyring that your party were his best bet, he flew to find you only to find you unconscious with a greed mote feeding on your life force. He rescued you and bound your wounds. Healing you to full health with his magic. When the party rose from their shared bed they found they were on the ground floor of a large tower. They had freedom to explore but were warned that the top floor was an aerie for Zephyros pet griffins. He is convinced that you can restore the ordning. He can't take direct intervention as that would risk the intervention of the other giants however he is willing to transport the party to a destination of their choice. Looking out the windows they see that the tower is built on top of a large cloud and floats across the land high above the Frozen North. He informs the party that something untoward is occurring at the fortress of Nightstone. A group of cloud giants assaulted it and he took great pains to distance himself from them. He is horrified by their actions and is looking to offer reparations where possible. Flying the party to the next location on Veradda Stoors list. A dwarf outpost which he happily mentions he visited and feasted with a few centuries ago. His tower arrived and a long set of steps made out of cloud led the party to the surface. Then the tower floated off.

#Sitrep

Thora: Lv2 (300 XP), Tiefling Rogue, 56 GP, diamond (50 GP).

Oswald: Lv2 (300 XP), Human Scholar, 11 GP.

Dekar: Lv2 (300 XP), Wood Elf Monk, 61 GP.

Angel: Lv2 (300 XP), Human Paladin, 25 GP.

Bran: Lv2 (300 XP), Human Druid, 110 GP.

The Gnome Ranger: Lv2 (300 XP), Gnome Ranger, 63 GP.

Mission Two: "Through the Fire"

Set List

• Angel
• Thora
• Oswald

Walking from where Zephyrus left to them to the entrance of the old Dwarven outpost, the party sees the entrance has been demolished. They walk into a dusty, cobwebbed hallway. The dust and cobwebs are littered with many footprints, too many to easily discern the type of creature who made them.

The stone work in the hallway is centuries old and definitely dwarven work. Oswald is able to confirm dwarven runes on the stone work. As the hallway turned a corner the party saw four kobolds. They were resting, crouching behind barricades blocking a passage leading south. The barricades are made of broken wooden furniture, and the creatures were on the parties side of the barricade. 

A small guard house occupied the centre of the room with no obvious entrances. Holes dot the structure though clearly denoting a defensive bastion of some kind. The party easily slew the four kobolds by the barricades, then Angel forced the kobolds in the central guard post to surrender by intimidation. 

The remaining kobolds were bound, gagged and interrogated and revealed the following:

• With the defeat and retreat of so many dragons in the area, the kobold tribes in the region have been recruited to serve giant masters instead of draconic ones. Some sort of trouble has been brewing between the different types of giants, these kobolds serve the fire giants.
• Their fire giant masters sent the kobolds into this old dwarven outpost to find the treasure supposedly hidden here by dragon cultists. The giants claimed that they refused to enter the outpost because it was to small for the giants to navigate, but one of the kobolds heard the giants talking about the place being cursed.
• When the kobolds tried to enter the room of forges to the south, fire creatures exploded out of the magma and attacked. The creatures exploded when attacked, burning many kobolds. The rest of the kobolds retreated and sealed off the passageway. 
• There is a large lump of silver in the corner of the southern room, as well as a glowing fire symbol on the southern wall that is definitely magical. There is also a river of lava running through the room.
• One of the kobolds in the guard room carries a Spell Scroll of Disguise Self, and the other offers up a topaz worth 50 gp. They offered this in exchange for being released alive.

The party argued about whether to honour the agreement to let the kobolds live until a magmin attacked the barricade. When he was destroyed by concentrated fire he exploded taking out the barricade and slaying the captured kobolds ending the argument to everyone's satisfaction.

Passing the charred ruins of the barricade into the forge room, the players attempted to peer through the smoke with difficulty. They could hear the crackling of large fires, and glowing from deeper in the room provided more evidence of further fires. An even brighter glow splits the centre of the of the room, giving the party the impression of a river of fire. Every so often fire would burst forth from a runic symbol etched onto the wall in the south-east corner of the room. The party could make out the forms of charred kobolds throughout the room.

As they entered, two magmin attacked them. The magmin emerged from the lava river, but were taken down from range before getting into melee distance. As the magmin were slain, the fires died down allowing Oswald to identify the rune as the Mark of Immix. He informed the party that Immix was the Prince of Elemental Evil Fire. The large pits appear to have been dug to allow the dwarves to work with the more exotic ores. Unfortunately, they also let in the magmin which led to the end of the dwarven outpost. Angel leapt the lava river - thankfully not rolling 1 this time and was able to destroy the rune with his blade. The rune stopped spawning magmin when it was defaced. He stole the large lump silver for later sale and the party left the room.

#Sitrep

Thora: Lv2 (400 XP), Tiefling Rogue, 106 GP, Silk Hankerchief, 2 x Potions of Healing, spell scroll of disguise self.

Oswald: Lv2 (400 XP), Human Scholar, 94 GP.

Dekar: Lv2 (400 XP), Wood Elf Monk, 110 GP (Left the party).

Angel: Lv2 (400 XP), Human Paladin, 237 GP, splint mail armour.

Bran: Lv2 (400 XP), Human Druid, 210 GP. (Absent)

The Gnome Ranger: Lv2 (400 XP), Gnome Ranger, 164 GP (Absent)