The party now assembled, and teleported to their destination, things start to gather pace…
The firelit interior of the cave fades from view, giving way to dimly lit surroundings. The party is within another cave – light filters in through an entrance nearby, with a tunnel leading off at the rear of the cave into further darkness. The floor is uneven and icy, and the ceiling low and irregular, studded with stalactites.
As the party are finding their bearings and shaking their post-teleport disorientation out of their skulls, someone notices that there are many freshly gnawed bones scattered on the floor, thinly coated with ice. Ugrat hears something moving, slithering, along the tunnel that opened into the rear of the cave….the scratching of claws…..
“Look out, people! We’ve got company!”
A reptilian head swims into dim view. The party scatters towards the sides of the cave as the jaws of the beast open and a cloud of icy frost erupts in their direction. Some are caught in the fringes of the chilly blast, lightly coating them with icy frost and blueing their skin, but nobody suffers fatal injury. Then the beast charges forwards into the cave, its folded wings becoming evident. The party rushed forwards to the attack.
It is a white dragon, not a huge specimen and only a juvenile in dragon years. It quickly finds that it has bitten off more than it can chew here. The party attack, Albrigon striking it about the head and neck with the flat of his blade, seeking to subdue the creature. He shouts at others to do the same. It claws at him, beating its wings to the sides to fend off other attackers, and directs a vicious bite at Mia. Taarna and Valaina however simply stand back and observe the spectacle with amusement, as if watching gladiators sporting with a captive beast.
The beast is soon cowed by the repeated buffeting of the party’s weapons. Mia employs her powers of telepathy to communicate with the creature, projecting reassurance that it will not be harmed, urging it to submit. Albrigon ropes its jaws for good measure.
“This beast might be handy for getting around in these mountains, eh? Now that we don’t have that flying carpet of Snakes’ with us anymore.” Albrigon enthuses. He frowns in puzzlement for a few seconds, then smiles as an idea strikes him. “I shall call him…Chillwind!”
(There is a titter from somewhere near the back of the party)
The party spends a while resting in the cave whilst Albrigon and Mia between them assert their authority on the captive beast. Mia does a hypnotic dance before it which mesmerises the creature, allowing her to telepathically implant images of friendship and suggestions of compliance in its savage brain. Albrigon straddles the creature’s neck, having made some reins and a harness from rope. He has some prior experience with flying mounts that will serve him in good stead here.
Taarna is keen to hurry the party along. Venturing out of the cave the party find themselves on the freezing upper slopes of a mountain. Snow and ice surround them, and a blanket of clouds hovers a thousand feet or more below their level.
Albrigon takes the newly-dubbed Chillwind for a test flight and finds that he has not lost his touch at the art of aerial riding, despite a scary moment when the young dragon emerges from the cave and plummets several hundred feet before its wings catch the air and pull it into a horizontal glide.
Chillwind is not a large enough mount to carry more than a couple of armed warriors. Valaina takes the lead amongst the land-bound travellers, first warning members of the party to tread softly and keep silence where possible to avoid the possibility of an avalanche. She appears to know where the trail lies. She is very sure-footed and makes light work of navigating the trail. Other party members find the path slippery and uncertain. Sorrel says a prayer to Aegir and calms the winds to reduce the danger. Taarna demonstrates that she possesses powers of telekinesis – laughing as she dangles a frightened Ugrat over the edge of the precipice for a few moments before drawing him back onto the path. Nevertheless there is still risk, Taarna would not be able to arrest the fall of more than one person at a time.
After around half an hour’s difficult progress around the mountainside, Taarna becomes impatient and asks Valaina how much longer this journey will take. Valaina indicates that at the party’s current rate of progress, it will be many more hours’ journey, and explains that it was necessary to use her old cave hideaway as a stable, known destination for the teleport. Nearer to the stronghold the terrain is too changeable and dependant on the vagaries of the weather. She had expected these people who had ventured into the mountains to be more competent at mountain travel.
Taarna discusses with Valaina and the other party members any possible means of reaching their destination more swiftly and with less risk. A plan is suggested by the party for Taarna and Valaina to fly ahead with Albrigon on Chillwind. On reaching the destination Taarna can teleport back to the party and then transport them there having familiarised herself with the locale.
The plan is put into action. Taarna and Valaina, both fairly lightweight, are able to mount the dragon fore and aft of Albrigon (which rather pleases him!) and together they fly off ahead.
To cut a long story short, the party in time successfully relocate to a sheltered pit in the ice of a glacial spar neighbouring to the location of the ice-elves’ retreat, covered by hallucinatory terrain to better hide their presence. People are cautioned to speak in hushed tones while here and only when necessary, lest they are overheard by Rakeskia patrols or hunting parties passing nearby.
Jarin is sent forwards to investigate. He advances cautiously, climbing up and over a rocky spur and then descending into the corrie beyond. There is a crevasse (a ‘bergschrund’) towards the rear of the bowl-shaped mountain formation, where he has been told the entrance lies to the Rakeskia stronghold. Descending into the crevasse he finds a tunnel leading into the glacial ice. He advances slowly and carefully down the tunnel, listening for signs of movement but hearing nothing. The place is completely silent. He sees bas-relief ice sculptures of remarkable beauty adorning the sides of the tunnel. These seem to have been recently defaced in places.
He reaches a point where the ice tunnel passes into rock, becoming a rocky cave. A sinkhole leads downwards; there is an arrangement of ropes, pulleys and harnesses here suspended from the ceiling. All is silent.
Jarin decides to return to the party. He gets back and relays what he has seen. Valaina is surprised that Jarin penetrated so far without challenge or without spying or hearing signs of occupation. She suspects that the place has recently been vacated but if this were the case they would normally seal the ice tunnel entrance.
The party moves forwards en masse now, approaching the crevasse. An easier way down is discovered – a slope leading down from the edge of the crevasse to the tunnel entrance. Chillwind is given some more hypnotic coercion by Mia, to encourage him to remain outside and await the party’s return.
There are still no signs of life as the party moves deeper into the ice-elf retreat. In a cavern below the entrance sinkhole there is a gnome body, feathered with arrows. There is something oddly familiar about the gnome. Its beard and hair are matted and unkempt-looking and it has a distinctive cast to its features that imparts a sense of déjà vu to some members of the party. Mia uses her sensitivity to psychic impressions and gets a brief vision….several such gnomes grouped in this cave, weapons ready, waiting to mount an attack….arrows flying from a side-tunnel….
There are two exits from the cave, one being a set of natural terraced steps leading downwards, another being a side tunnel. The party divides into two groups to explore these two directions. Eventually, both groups arrive at the same destination, and the same scene of horror.
A large cavern…strewn with the now-frozen bodies of a multitude of recently deceased ice elves, their flesh tinged with green and their stiffened hands still clutching at their throats in their death throes…
Quest For The Hanging Glacier - Part 1
Quest For The Hanging Glacier - Character Sketch: Snake
Quest For The Hanging Glacier - Part 2
Quest For The Hanging Glacier - Character Sketch: Albrigon