River Crossing

The party had stumbled into an ambush from the undead Witchfire, Old Maguyu, and things were not going well. They’d gotten a bit cocky that their fire-based spells could easily handle anything they encountered here in the frozen north, but Nicki’s Fireball had done absolutely nothing against the hag, and his Scorching Rays had passed harmlessly through her summoned Will-o-the-Wisp. Meanwhile, Marie had taken some serious damage from witchflame, and both she and Bella were wreathed in the sickly green flames.

Marie called up a quick Channel Positive Energy, using it to heal herself and her nearby allies, and it was lucky she did. With a wickedly gleeful cackle, Old Maguyu unleashed another bolt of green flame at the cleric. The flames already surrounding Marie seemed to intensify the heat of the blast, and only her recent healing kept her on the right side of the grave. She dived behind a nearby rock, pressing herself flat against the snow and frozen earth, hoping for cover from the hag’s next blast.

Spivey was flitting overhead, channeling the power of Desna to smite the undead hag, but Maguyu kept deflecting most of her damage. Shinjiro, realizing there was nothing he could do against the incorporeal Maguyu, charged at one of the Wisps, but his flailing attacks missed badly. It responded by zapping him with a jolt of electricity, and its partner to the south did the same to Sawyer. Koya, standing nearby, offered the fighter a Bit of Luck as he whirled Suishen around his head. The ancestral sword slashed through the glowing wisp again and again, and it suddenly popped into a cloud of rapidly fading sparks.

Sandoval charged at Old Maguyu and delivered a devasting blow from his crystal echoblade; even though she was incorporeal, she felt that one, although it left the bard wreathed in sickening green flames. Nicki, embarrassed that his go-to spells had had no effect, decided to try a variation on an old favorite. He called up one of his Flaming Spheres, but twisted the spell’s elemental makeup to form a sphere of acid rather than fire. Old Maguyu shrieked with fury as the acid ate away at her otherworldly form, bringing a smile of satisfaction to Nicki’s face. Bella leaped in behind the hag, stabbed her in the back, and then leaped away, hoping to stay out of her reach. Sandru charged the remaining Wisp, and he and Shinjiro both injured it. Koya moved forward, invoking her own Channel Positive Energy against the undead hag, and it screeched again as its foes began to finally overpower her.

But she wasn’t done yet. She lunged forward, sinking her flaming claws into Sandoval. As with Marie, the witchflame already engulfing him amplified the damage of this new attack, and he staggered from the pain. But now it was Sawyer’s turn to charge the hag, and Suishen’s blade bit deep, although its flame power dealt no damage. Sandoval, gritting his teeth against the pain, struck back. Nicki fired a volley of Magic Missiles into her, and Zhustin did the same. With a hollow scream of pain and fury, Old Maguyu’s form faded out of sight. As the hag disappeared, her lone remaining summoned Will-o-the-Wisp did as well, and the green witchflame gradually flickered out.

Everyone gathered around Marie and Koya for healing. Once everyone was restored, they turned their attention to the old cabin. It was now dark and silent; apparently its former welcoming appearance had been an illusion to entice unwary travelers into Old Maguyu’s trap. However, Spivey could still detect some traces of magic from inside, so they moved in to investigate. Beneath the floorboards, Marie found an object wrapped in bearskin – it was a magical adamantine mace, liberally coated with bear fat to protect it while in hiding. They also found a supply of salmon and bear jerky, along with several casks of ale, which made the caravan crew happy. Health restored and bellies full, they moved on.

The next day, they rolled out of the Gaarjuk Hills and down into a broad river valley. “That’s the Taraska River”, Ulf told them when it came in sight. “Once across it, we’ll rejoin the main Path of Aganhei.” Crossing the river would not be trivial, however; while not overly wide, it was flowing swift and deep. Ulf had mentioned the upcoming river crossing the night before, and Marie had prepared several Water Walk spells. She considered casting them on the yaks that were pulling the wagons, but Ulf looked at her like she was crazy – he did not think it would be a good idea to try to teach the less-than-bright animals that they could walk on top of water. So she went with Plan B, and cast them on all the party members, just to be safe. Despite her precautions, some chose not to get their feet wet at all; Spivey flew across, Nicki cast Gaseous Form and let the breeze carry him across, and Sawyer used Suishen’s Air Walk to stroll across 5’ above the surface. He carried some sturdy ropes, which he affixed to boulders on the far side, while the rest of the crew did the same on the other end. With these safety ropes in place, the wagons began to roll across one by one.

The crossing was tricky. The water was deep enough that the yaks struggled to keep their noses above water, and despite their heavy loads, the wagons threatened to float downstream in the fast current. However, the crews were experienced with such crossings, and one by one the wagons safely rolled up onto the opposite bank, carrying Sandru, Shinjiro, Ameiko, Zhustin, Koya, and Marie to join those who had previously flown across.

Then it was Sandoval’s wagon’s turn. The yaks waded into the icy water, snorting and eyes wide. As the wagon reached mid-stream, a huge scaly creature surged up out of the river and snatched at Sandoval with long claws, narrowly missing him. It looked like one of the merrows they had faced back in Rimakak, but far larger and wilder looking. Seeing their beloved (well … tolerated) bard threatened, the rest of the party rushed to his aid. Shinjiro and Marie rushed out from the north bank, grateful for the Water Walk that let them treat the surface of the river as if it were dry land, while Ulf and Sawyer did the same from the south. Bella, seeing the merrow, went into a berserk rage, and began screaming some incoherent babble about the thing’s mother not really abandoning it as she slashed at it blindly with her blades. In a flash, the creature was surrounded, and its blood stained the water red. Nicki blasted it with a pair of Scorching Rays and Zhustin hit it with a Ray of Enfeeblement. It looked like the fight was all but over.

Then the second wave attacked. From both upstream and down, more of the creatures surfaced around the party, who suddenly found that they the ones who were surrounded. Sandoval had just begun to sing when one surfaced on the opposite side of his wagon, and sank its claws deep into him. He found himself hanging onto the wagon for dear life as the thing tried to drag him off into the rushing water. Another did the same to Shinjiro on the other side, while more came up all around the rest of the party, grabbing at them with dagger-like claws.

Seeing a momentary opening, Nicki used his metamagic rod to cast an Empowered Fireball that caught three on the downstream side in its intense blast. Despite being partially submerged, they were all badly burned. Zhustin, figuring what had worked once would work again, did the same, but despite their blackened and blistered skin, the dire merrows fought on. Shinjiro ignored the claws that were sunk into his skin, and assaulted the original dire merrow with another flurry of blows; it turned belly-up and its body was swept away by the current. But this maneuver gave the merrow holding him the opportunity to try to drag him off into deeper water. Luckily, he was able to twist out of its grasp. Sandoval was not so lucky; his inspiring song ended in a gurgle as the bard was pulled beneath the surface. He continued fighting against his captor, but it was dragging him rapidly downstream.

Marie cast a Prayer, and Koya a Bless. Then Koya turned to Ameiko and gave her a Bit of Luck. Taking advantage of the cleric’s blessing, Ameiko rushed to the riverside and laid into the nearest dire merrow with Whispering Shrike, neatly filleting it. Its death gave Marie a clear path to chase after the one that was trying to drown Sandoval. She slammed her mace down onto its skull, and Sandoval sputtered back to the surface, while its body floated downstream.

Bella was screaming like a madwoman, flecks of spittle flying from her lips, as she spun around the merrows, stabbing them viciously in the back before dashing away to attack another. In contrast, Shinjiro stood almost motionless, except for the occasional blur of a jabbing fist or thrusting foot. His grandfather had taught him the Way of the Stream, but he had never expected to use it while actually standing on the surface of a stream. Spivey hovered above his head, using her healing magic to ensure that the monk didn’t fall to the merrows’ attacks. Zhustin contributed a volley of Magic Missiles, while Nicki blasted another pair of Scorching Rays against the two fighting Ulf and Sawyer on the far bank.

That was enough for one of the dire merrows. It turned to flee downstream, but as it passed Sandoval, it couldn’t resist snatching at him, hoping to carry away at least one victim from this ambush. The bard was pulled under again, but surfaced a few moments later, with blood dripping from his echoblade. Shinjiro finished off the dire merrow facing him, and Bella turned to the lone remaining creature, facing off against Sawyer. She hit it from behind as Sawyer sank Suishen deep into its vitals. But it refused to fall, grabbing Sawyer’s wrist and pulling him towards its fang-filled mouth. Suddenly, the shaft of an arrow appeared in that mouth. A surprised expression crossed its face before its eyes rolled up into its head and it fell backwards into the water. On the far bank, Ameiko stood calmly, bow in hand. The empress-to-be had felled the last of the attackers.

After fording the river, the caravan rejoined the Path of Aganhei, and the terrain leveled out somewhat, as the road followed the valley of the Taraska. For the next week, the group fell back into the easy routine of overland travel. However as the days passed, Ulf grew unusually quiet and grim-faced, even for the taciturn guide. On the distant horizon ahead, towering storm clouds were piled up, and at night, distant flashes of lightning could be seen. After several days travel, he called a halt. “I don’t like the looks of that weather ahead. This ain’t the season for storms, and those clouds have an evil look. There’s a village a few days to the north of here – Iqualiat. I did the hearthmistress a favor once, and she gave me an amulet making me an honorary member of their tribe.” He pulled out a talisman made of remorhaz scales from beneath his shirt. “It’s out of our way, but I’d like to get a better idea of the conditions ahead from someone I trust.”

Since no one had any better ideas (although not for lack of trying), the caravan diverted to the north. As if as a sign that their recent good luck had changed, the next morning one of the wagon’s axle’s broke, and they lost over a day making makeshift repairs.

Several days later, the high cliffs of the Alasek Ridge loomed up before them – the southern edge of the polar plateau known as the High Ice. Built into the base of the cliffs was a small village. The buildings were made of stone and clay brick fired in kilns during the warm season. Their outer faces were clad in harder rock cleaved from the schist, fitted with mortar or sculpted with stone shape cast by generations of shamans. The outer walls of the buildings joined with one another, forming an unbroken exterior that served as a protective wall. Near the main gate, a tall tower rose from the jumble of buildings; on its top, a half-dozen Erutaki stood watch, armed with extremely long spears, almost like harpoons. They paid the party’s approaching wagons little heed, keeping their eyes skyward.

The caravan halted before the gate, and Ulf dismounted, motioning the party to come with him. The exterior gate was unlocked, and led into a tall, covered gatehouse in the shadow of the tower, but the interior door was bolted from the other side. Frowning, Ulf began pounding on the door. Soon a voice challenged him from inside, and there was a short exchange in Erutaki. The door opened a crack, and Ulf displayed his talisman. That apparently wasn’t sufficient, for the door was closed again, and they heard a bar drop into place on the other side. Ulf waited impatiently, his expression concerned. “This used to be a friendly enough place, but now … Well, they’ve gone to get Sonavut, the hearthmistress. Maybe she can sort this all out.”

Sure enough, within moments, the door opened again, and a middle-aged Erutaki woman embraced Ulf warmly. They exchanged a few words in Erutaki, and then she turned to the party. “Welcome to Iqualiat. I am Sonavut – please, let me take you to my home.” She led the group out of the gatehouse and into a large open space. The village’s homes surrounded the space, nestled into a natural depression in the cliffs. A large goat pen was on the far side, although there were few goats to be seen. Next to that were dog kennels, but there were more dogs running loose in the town than were in the kennels.

People went about their business in the town square, but they eyed the newcomers with expressions of distrust, or even open hostility. Ulf offered friendly greetings in Erutaki, but most simply turned and hurried away; one spat at Ulf’s feet. Sonavut seemed embarrassed by their actions, but said nothing until they were inside her home, a small stone structure near the goat pen.

Once inside, she offered the party cups of tea liberally dosed with goat’s milk. After the requisite pleasantries, Ulf asked about conditions on the Path of Aganhei ahead. After expressing the normal shock that anyone would be trying to cross the Crown during this season, Sonavut shook her head. “I’m afraid the Path is blocked. The morozkos have come. They swept in from the sea and down from the High Ice three weeks ago. The village of Unaimo was wiped out, and the Koumssa gap is blocked. In all our people’s time, the hungry storms have never come this far inland or this far south, but now all travel along the Path of Aganhei is impossible. Have you seen the black pillars, guarded by walking frozen dead?” The party nodded. “Some people have said these pillars have called the storms, but Tunuak says they are wrong. He says that our people have lost faith in the wind spirits that have always protected our village.”

“Who’s this Tunuak?” Nicki asked, and Sonavut explained. “He is our shaman. He tends the altars to the wind spirits and treats our people’s sickness and wounds. He has been shaman since my father’s time, but a few years ago he went on a vision quest to the Nameless Spires, and returned … changed. He said that Iqualiat had neglected our devotion to the wind spirits and unless we proved our devotion, they would turn against us. He even accused me of leading the people astray. He says that first the wind spirits called the dragon to punish us, and now they are bringing the morozkos to wipe us out.” Everyone looked at each other. Had she just said 'dragon'?!?

The PCs earned 4,343 XP for the night, putting them at 49,034 XP, with 51,000 required for level 8. At the rate you’re earning XP, you could reach level 8 after our next session so start looking at your next level-up. We won’t meet next week, but will resume on Jan. 4 at Leo’s.