Onto The High Ice

The party’s relief at having survived their encounter with the white dragon was tempered by Zhustin’s death, and their mood was somber as they climbed out of the glacial rift, bringing the boy wizard’s body with them. They wrapped it in a shroud of furs, counting on the extreme cold to preserve the body, and began the long, cold trek back to Iqualiat.

Death in the Dragon's Lair

After defeating the Erutaki shaman, Tunuak, and his thrall, Naquun, the group discovered that Naquun had been possessed by a quasit. The tiny demon wriggled out of Naquun’s mouth, and began desperately trying to flitter away. Marie smacked it with her adamantine mace, but the blow bounced off, and Sawyer dealt a similar glancing blow with Suishen. Finally Sandoval swept his echoblade at the creature, and it fell lifeless to the ground.

Hostile Reception

Ulf had taken a detour to the village of Iqualiat, concerned about what looked like bad weather on the horizon ahead. Upon arriving at the village, they found the locals less than welcoming, although Ulf’s old friend, the hearthmistress Sonavut, took them into her home. There she gave them the bad news: the Path of Aganhei was blocked by the morozkos, the “hungry storms” that normally never came this far inland or south off the High Ice. She said that their shaman, Tunuak, blamed the storms’ presence on the villagers' lack of devotion to the wind spirits they worshipped. “He says that first the wind spirits called the dragon to punish us, and now they are bringing the morozkos to wipe us out.”