Saralas: Session 63

8 Elient, early morning

• It's early morning, since we went to loot in the middle of the night
• I give Min her stuff back
• We debate what to do next?
  • Mind Flayer ship
  • Wolves threatening Dougan's Hole
  • Pirate treasure
  • Flying city
• As we talk, Wodna wanders in, eating an apple
• She pulls another one and tosses it to Resda
• She asks how it feel to be a victor. But we still need to deal with the winter, she mentions.
• She also says she has a job for us, if we're interested in it.
  • She thinks she still needs a book, but we may not get the spell book
  • She thinks she may have a lead on another book
  • The book is located in Ytherin, the lost city under the glacier, and she hears we are interested in going there
  • The cultists want the Black Ice machine that is located there as well that would be able to free Levistus
  • Auril claims the winter is to prevent this (I don't believe this)
• It's difficult to get to the city because it is in the glacier, but she thinks she has a plan
  • There's a spell that can melt a path through the ice to get thereNo
  • But the spell is written down on a scroll which Wodna does not have
  • Auril has the scroll
• Wodna proposes that we get the scroll from Auril, then we all go to the glacier using the scroll
• Auril's island is on the sea of moving ice
• Wodna can think of 2 ways to get there, a boat from Revel's end, or by Griffon, from the Goliaths
• I ask Korag about the Griffons
• The clan with the griffons is not the clan that Korag is from, the clan was feuding with Korag's clan
• Now we pivot to talking about dealing with the crashed mind flayer ship
• Then the pirate ship comes up
  • "Oh, do you mean the Dark Duchess?" Wodna asks. "I know that ship."
  • It's where the white dragon keeps its hoard of loot
• We decide to try to rent a boat from Revel's End
• "Make a circle, hold hands. This is very important, you all have to exhale at the same time. If you teleport with lungs full of air you will regret it."
• We gather around, Bun floats into Min's sack, exhale in unison, and at that moment we are suddenly tranported into the void for just an instant. We feel a hard vacuum and freezing cold, and are suddenly outside of Revel's End.
• We go with Wodna, who leads us over to the docks. We can't help notice that there is scaffolding on the prison, and bits of stone and brick scattered across the ice, burned black. There are workmen everywhere, but they are so busy they pay us no mind
• Moored at the dock we find a ship called the Ravenous, and are introduced to Sharlasta Stormwind. Wodna jokes she is a retired pirate, now working for the Lord's Alliance. "Your people," she says to Baerwin.
• She isn't keen on this journey at all, but seems willing to take it, since prison runs have stopped while they repair the prison.
• Wodna has a map showing the location of the island, and the captain is willing to do it for 1000 gold.
• She estimates that it will take about 5 days, and her scope is only to drop us off.
• We will need to find our way off the island when the time comes.
• It is a long journey, and we pass the time. We are rested along the way.
• After a long, cold journey, the captain pulls the ship up to a battered dock.

13 Elient

• The island is grim and barren, made mostly of ice.
• There are huge stone stairs, frost giant sized, leading up away from the dock. From the dock we can see an ice mephit perched at the top of the stairs, watching the party with interest.
• We head toward the stairs. The mephit makes no hostile moves. As we approach, it speaks to us. Unfortunately it is a language we don't understand.
• Resda moves forward and touches the creature, and as soon as she does she can understand its speech. It introduces itself as Sopo.
• He tells us where the keep is where Auril resides, which is probably our target.
• Sopo mentions there are a bunch of things to see on the island,
  • Shipwrecks, one was recent, a woman made it up out of the wreck but died on the ice
  • Auril has been creating beautiful frozen tableaus throughout the island
• Karthos is interested in the shipwreck. The mephit mentions that it is across the island, and is a bit of a walk
• We travel towards this location. Though wary of the mephit, he proves to be helpful, warning of hazards and such, and guides us across the island.
• Half-buried in the snow near the edge of a bluff is a humanoid corpse clad is leather clothing. Clutched in one hand is a smoky orb. A white weasel pops out of the snow. A voice rings out, "ye gods, I thought no one would find us.". The sound comes from the orb.
• "Who is this body?" resda asks. Lass Nadomere, it says. It doesn't have a name, so Resda calls it smokey.
• The orb relays that Lass Nadomere was searching for a scroll that contained a spell that would grant her access to Ytherin.
• She commissioned a ship to bring her to this island, but a winter gale erupted. She made it to shore, but froze to death.
• "She brought me," the orb says, "because I am the world's foremost expert on Ytherin and the Netherese"
• Resda wants to pick up the orb. It's clutched in Lass's frozen hand, so Resda tries to pry her hand open to take it.
• As soon as she tries, one of the fingers snaps off and falls in the snow, and the ghost of the woman appears and tries to grasp Resda.
• Resda resists being possessed by the ghost. "Leave my orb and leave this place," she demands.
• Karthos tries to loot the body, and the ghost attacks. Resda destroys the ghost.
• Resda takes the orb. The weasel runs up Resda's leg and sits on her shoulder. It chitters, and then vanishes.
• The orb doesn't remember the journey. Karthos suggests looking at the shipwreck, which seems to delight the mephit. "There are so many shipwrecks" he says, and doesn't know which is hers. But he can lead us to the nearest one.
• The mephit says the closest shipwreck is just to the north and it would be happy to take us over there
• We head that way, and as the mephit said we find a shipwreck frozen in some ice. We make our way out to the boat, but it's clearly quite a bit older.
• In the hold we find a giant chest with a rusty iron lock.
• Min picks the lock. After that she checks for traps.
• She opens it. Inside is 3000 gold as well as a +2 Trident. We split the gold. Baerwin takes the trident
• The mephit offers to take us to other shipwrecks
• We head to a second ship. On the foredeck is a huge walrus. There is a potion tied around its neck. When it sees us clamber onto the vessel it greets us in accentless common.
• I ask how the walrus learned to speak. A woman named Ravesin woke it, and tried to turn it against the humans. But there was a fisherman who always gave him scraps. He didn't see why humans were so evil, and he didn't help Ravesin.
• I mention that we met other animals Ravesin woke. He mentions that she also created a whale name Andejuk. He's a nice guy who likes to give people rides too. He even has a diving bell people can ride in.
• He says we can have the potion which protects from the cold. He goes over to Resda. She takes the potion. He then swims off
• The mephit wishes more people would come to see Auril's beauty.
• He offers to take us to another shipwreck. On the way he tells us there is something we simply must see. It is entirely made of ice, but must be some kind of construction of magical means. A 10-foot tall wall of ice has broken, and through it appears to be a huge garden of ice sculptures.
• But it's actually a graveyard, where creatures that have died on the island are displayed. Posed and frozen in thick blocks of ice. There are people, animals, and even an ice troll frozen in ice. The mephit's eyes gleam in adoration.
• "isn't it wonderful?" it asks.
• Auril has been gathering these figures for months. She gets them from the shipwrecks, from around the island.
• The mephit takes us to another shipwreck. From the shore we can see a frost giant skeleton pacing endlessly back and forth on the deck.
• Sopo says it's been doing that for as long as he can remember.
• We head to the next wreck. It looks to be deserted from the shore
• We search the ship and find that it contains 9 giant oysters. Min opens the oysters, and two contain giant pears in exquisite condition, worth 2500 gold each. Min pockets them
• We head to the next ship. This one when seen from the shore clearly looks inhabited. The portholes have been covered up, a chimney has been built through the deck, and it is emitting smoke. "This is where the hags live" the mephit says excitedly. They have a coven of 3. We move on.
• The mephit says it could take us to other wrecks, or to the yetis, or up to the keep
• We find the next shipwreck. This wreck shows no sign of being inhabited. We make our way across the ice and board the vessel. The hull is smashed through, and through icy but clear water we can see three great white sharks swimming in the hold.