Icewind Dale (Main)

[Sherwood]

Mor'du lets out a sigh. I'll end up pulling this sled, I guarantee it. "I also say we help. I like having some good will directed at me instead of the insults of being a stupid minotaur all the time. Lets do this."

 

[Psychie]

Gurk nods. "It sounds like we are in agreement. Let us inform our new friends that we will help them." He turns to look at Hruna and says, "We will help you, because it is the right thing to do. Are you going to come with us, or shall we arrange to meet you somewhere here?"

 

[WlfSamurai]

"Oh no, no!" says Hruna holding up her hands. "We need to rest. And I don't think I have the heart to go back there. I'm sorry, we appreciate your help and will definitely pay you, but we can't come with. And we'll be staying at The Northlook. So, come find us when you have the sled. We'll need to get it to Garn and Elza at the Blackiron Blades. We'll pay you after that." At that, Hruna gives the directions again and the three of them head for the tavern to make their arrangements to stay.

 

[Sherwood]

Mor'du says, "You need not worry. We will succeed in bringing the sled with the supplies back. We just need to drop off our extra gear at our rooms and we'll be able to set out right after."

 

[Ilikepie]

Strawberri smiles at the trio. "We will be seeing us again soon with that shed." Strawberri thinks back to where Speaker Sane said the Gorunn House is and starts flying off in that direction since Mor'du wanted to drop off stuff first. Her mind starts wondering about what the old place is going to look like and if it will have a good place for making paintings and if it will have enough rooms for all of them.

 

[WlfSamurai]

Before the group leaves, Hruna passes out the spare snow shoes she and her companions carry. “You’ll need these to get out there, she says. Be careful.”

After parting with Hruna and her friends, The group finds the Gorunn house just where the Speaker Duvessa said it would be—across from the smithy, Blackiron Blades. The house is a small two-story home tucked between two larger buildings. The outside looks as one would expect: chipping paint, dingy windows, a wooden front door splintering at the edges from years of cold.

After several attempts to unlock the front door, the lock finally gives way and the door swings open. Inside, there are crates and barrels stack against several of the walls, taking up most of the space. A wooden table with four chairs is covered with dust in the center of the room. A sad iron stove huddles in the far left corner, cold and empty. On top, an unused kettle. There’s a small cabinet with a wash basin along one wall. Stairs ascend along the right wall to a cramped upstairs that manages to sport two separate bedrooms across a tight hall. Each bedroom has a dusty bed from with moldy straw in it. It’ll do for now.

Once the group drops their stuff off at the house, they lock-up and head out the North Gate to find the missing sled.

After an hour of walking with a few more miles to where Hruna said the sled was left, snow begins to fall again. Before long, a blizzard descends on the party, reducing visibility to twenty feet. Kelvin's Cairn vanishes from view as the blowing snow and howling wind engulfs the group.


(What do you do?)

 

[Sherwood]

As the visibility drops, Mor'du shouts out over the wind, "Stay close! You get lost in this, we may not be able to find you again. I am almost wondering it we shouldn't try lashing ourselves together with rope to keep from straying off from one another."

 

[The Dapper Mog]

As if the extreme cold wasn't bad enough, now Fret couldn't see anything! Being closer to the ground than many was always more of a hindrance than a boon, but being closer to the snow was absolutely awful. Even with the wonderful snow shoes that Hruna had given to them, the small goblin girl was having a great deal of trouble. Luckily, she was light, so sinking into the snow wasn't as much of a concern. But still...

Fret had to be sure to listen closely to Mor'du, his voice was booming, but still barely audible over the winds. Her ears perked up briefly when she listened, only to recoil at the cold. She shivered harshly, moving as close to the voice as she could without actually bumping into him.

"I-it's so cooold! All this snow is blinding! Has anyone seen my feet?!" Fret called out to her comrades, her eyes risking dropping from her ally's silhouettes to check for her feet again, still unable to see them through the flurry of snow and of course the abundance of the frigid frozen fluid beneath her.

 

[WlfSamurai]

[Blizzards are dangerous, especially up here. Those who wish to know more about blizzards and survival in them, make a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check with advantage for Mor'du's call to stick together. If you succeed, I'll drop some knowledge and mechanics on you that you can use. If you fail, you get separated from the group and they'll have to try and find you.]

Sherwood Psychie Ilikepie The Dapper Mog Firelie

 

[Sherwood]

Rolling Survival with +3 for Mor'du.

Best I got was a 12. Ah, well.

 

[Psychie]

Here is my roll for Gurk with a +4

I got a 16.

 

[The Dapper Mog]

Okie dokie. Here we go for Fret's survival roll at a -1.

So...natural 1 at a -1, so 0.

 

[Ilikepie]

Just for the lols I'll give it a try

9+1=10

 

[Firelie]

roll time

 

[WlfSamurai]

Gurk knows to well the danger of blizzards in the open. And he knows the best way to weather them is to stay put. But, of course, his companions do not have the same knowledge. Despite Mor'du's call to stick together, conditions make any distance between the party members potentially dangerous. It's that moment that it's proven true.

A fell wind kicks up and the snow blankets the group. Nothing can be seen for a few instances. Each of the party members has to cover their faces and eyes to keep snow from thrashing them. When the wind dies down, Carrie is no longer with the group.

Carrie finds themself in the white and grey of the blizzard, alone.

The wind and snow continue to buffet the party and Carrie. It doesn't seem to be letting up.


(What do you all do?)

[To find Carrie, you'll can spend the better part of an hour looking and then make a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) group check.]

Spoiler: Blizzard & Mechanics

Rolling a d4 on who is separated as such:

1. Mor'du
2. Fret
3. Strawberri
4. Carrie <====

Blizzard mechanics:

• Hearing is limited to 100 ft., visibility limited to 30 ft.
• Extinguishes open flames, erases tracks, and makes nonmagical flight nearly impossible.
• Disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks, Perception checks that relies on hearing, and – if not wearing goggles – Perception checks that rely on sight.
• A creature must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of its turn to maintain concentration.
• If they travel during a blizzard, the party must make DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) checks each hour to stay on course. If they fail by 5+, a party member becomes lost.

Group checks (just as a reminder):
When a number of individuals are trying to accomplish something as a group, the DM might ask for a group ability check. In such a situation, the characters who are skilled at a particular task help cover those who aren't.

To make a group ability check, everyone in the group makes the ability check. If at least half the group succeeds, the whole group succeeds. Otherwise, the group fails.

 

[Psychie]

As the group begins to stumble along in the snow, Gurk murmurs a quick prayer to Sune and raises up his hand, and his gauntlet begins to glow brightly with the casting of the Light spell he just cast. With as loud of a shout as he can manage, he yells out, "Quickly! Search the area for one another and try to find the light I am making! Don't let yourselves get separated!"

Another 16 on my Survival Check.

 

[Sherwood]

Mor'du reaches into his pack and grabs out the rope and ties one end to his waist, waiting for the moment that he runs into another member of the party.

Yikes. A 7 on my roll.

 

[The Dapper Mog]

Fret was on the verge of panic already, then it got worse. She managed a scream of fright as the sudden swirl of blinding snow enveloped her and the party. She reached around, frantically flailing to find one of her comrades. She heard the call of an ally in the roaring snow, something about a light? She tried to focus on that as she searched.

Roll: Also a 7

 

[Ilikepie]

Strawberri feels the air knowing it's too dangerous for her to fly at the moment which is annoying since she prefers flying over walking. "This blizzard is nothing we can't handle together!!" She does her best to search for the others.

10+1=11

 

[WlfSamurai]

The group presses through, looking for Carrie. After an hour of looking, they are all re-united. The find Carrie half-frozen, but still alive. Trudging through the snow in the blizzard has been grueling and the party is exhausted.

But, just as suddenly as the blizzard started, it begins to soften. The winds begin to die down to small gusts. The snow eases over the next half-hour. Now, large flakes of snow fall lazily to the ground and the group can once again see Kelvin's Cairn in the distance.

It’s clear that, in the storm and then searching for Carrie, the party has veered off their course to the West. Yet, no so much as to lose time to find the sled if they continue.

However, before they can decide their next move, they see another small figure 20 yards from them. Whoever this is, they must have been caught in the blizzard as well.

###

Ran shakes off the snow after doing the right thing—staying put—in such a heavy storm. She knows such storms here in Icewind Dale are becoming more and more frequent.

To her right, about 20 yards away, she sees a group of snow-covered travelers, half-frozen from the blizzard.


(Everyone by Ran takes 1 level of exhaustion. What do you all do?)

Sherwood Psychie Ilikepie noleraii The Dapper Mog Firelie D. Rex

 

[Sherwood]

As the heavy snow starts to fade away, Mor'du calls out, "We need to find some sort of shelter to rest and get warmed up at least a little bit. If we can't find a cave, we could try to make an igloo or something like that to get out of the driving snow and wind." He then looks over at the snow covered lump off to their side and says, "I see we are not the only ones stuck out here. Hello, stranger! Are you lost and in need of some assistance?"

 

[Ilikepie]

Since the figure hasn't tried to attack them Strawberri is able to confirm that the unknown figure is not the yeti. "Hello, I'm Strawberri and what's your name and what are you doing out here?" Strawberri repeats the sentence in Sylvan in the off chance that the unknown person doesn't understand common and can speak Sylvan. Strawberri also heard Mor'du's call for taking a rest and is unsure if they should rest or continue on with the mission, but for now she has to wait to see if the unknown figure is dangerous or not.

 

[D. Rex]

Cold. Cold cold cold. But thankfully thick fur clothing helped make her warm warm warm. Warm enough to get through this blizzard at least. Warm enough to lloutlast it. Warm enough, but not really all that warm... she was still cold. Yes. She had expected blizzards like this, but she was still surprised by how intense they were.

The lump of snow broke apart as she stood upright, shaking the snow and ice off her body, and kicking away the snow around her so could move more freely.

Looking around she saw others. Well that was a bit confusing as she didn't remember others being around when it started. Did she move? No, they must have wandered through.

They spotted her and called out to her. Yet it wasn't until she heard Sylvan that her eyes went as wide as dinner plates and she had half a mind to dive back under the snow. She had to swing her head around, checking the land to make sure the blizzard hadn't carted off to another world.

No. No. Aside from a bigger layer of snow, it seemed to be the same place she remembered before the blizzard. Just a fairy, and a minotaur, and a goblin, and human, and a thing. Well, that was certainly a mix.

She raised and waved a thickly gloved hand, "Hello!" She called, "[Hello but in sylvan!]"

"No, I am not lost, as that would imply that I know where I am going. I am Rain, but you can call me Ran if you want. I was trying to find my shelter when the blizzard hit. I wasn't able to get there in time."

 

[Psychie]

The masked cleric looks over at the new person and says, "Greetings, Rain or Ran, whichever you prefer. I am Gurwin, but people generally call me Gurk." He looks over at Mor'du, saying, "We may not need to make a full-on shelter, if we can just make a quick fire and warm ourselves and get a hot meal in our bellies. Ran, I believe that no one would complain if you joined us for a bit in front of the fire and broke a layer of that snow off of you."

 

[WlfSamurai]

Before long, Ran—now able to get her bearings—leads the group eastward, toward a small hill. As they approach, the party sees several ice and snow covered stones near the base of the hill. Upon closer inspection, it's clear the stones block view of the cave entrance making it a great place to hide or find shelter.

Inside, a sharp decline leads into a naturally hollowed out room, the back of which has a small pool of fresh water that continues under the back wall a ways. Ran has made a temporary home out of this place.