On the Wonders of Ironpeak: Chapter 19

It is the first time in days that I get a quiet moment for myself to follow up on my previous journal chapter.
Unfortunately, I have this time because I got a cold on this forsaken Glassfrost expanse. It should really come as no surprise to me when we've been travelling back and forth surrounded only by ice and snow for days, yet it is distinctively unpleasant.
 
Luckily, there is much to write about. Shortly after entering the Expanse, we got caught by a mighty snow storm by surprise. Everyone could sense the danger, and especially our horses, too big for Orin's magical protective shelter, would certainly have perished. Luckily we got rescued by a friendly frost giant who took us to their village on the shore of the expanse. It's quite a sight to behold, too. There is a massive ship stuck in the ice right in front of it. It turned out to be older than the expanse itself, a remnant from when the lake was still liquid and navigable water.
 
Shortly after darkness, the mysterious creature known to us as "The Wolf" appeared in front of us and asked us to fetch the Cryoweavers Crown, an artifact located in the middle of the expanse. Bean revealed to us that it matches the description of a crown in one of her visions, related to a throne room on a ship fully made of ice. The vision involved one of the crystals that fate seems to have set out for us, so it was of urgency we complete the Wolf's wishes.
 
We explored the ship and indeed found the thrown room of Bean's visions. Yet, without the crown, it was little use to us.
 
Before venturing out we took the time to rest up and trade with the Frost Giants. While Kniv and myself accompanied the local smith (quite interesting techniques) and acquired blueprints for some of his more interesting concepts that may work out well on our adventures, the others met another traveller called Vexus, and together they helped solve a problem the village was having with some local demon (or was it a devil? I'll never memorize the difference...). Vexus then decided to join us on our travel towards the center of the expanse.
 
On our way towards the crown something remarkable happened. A contraption coming from my old master Lankas Tattledeedle (-->Appendix A "About the Author" Section 2) delivered a box for me, containing, among other things, a pillow sown together from what seems like leather from one-hundred different beasts together with instructions on how to handle it and the request to research its properties. I obliged, waking up the next day with a massive green left eye and the temporary ability to look into the deepest thoughts of others. In the following days it turned out that a different effect, in a wildly random manner, gets applied each night. Lankas could have warned me a bit more thoroughly.
 
 
Once we got close enough to the crown, itself revealed in a vision that it once belonged to a captain venturing across this sea. The crown was cursed by a devil (demon? whatever), froze solid and with it froze the whole expanse to what it is now.
 
As we reached the crown, Vexus showed us his real face. He was a (albeit tragic) servant of a demonic lord, and a devastating fight broke out. We managed to persevere and took him prisoner.
 
We departed back to the Frostgiant village. On the way we encountered a cave in the thick ice with a Dragons Lair. Obviously we left it alone and moved on quickly. We're not completely deranged, reckless idiots blinded by treasure, after all!
 
Beans behaviour started to worry me, her curse growing ever stronger. Shadow even tried to murder our prisoner. Half a day later, while most of us were distracted by a creature, Bean outright got overpowered by the curse and attacked Vexus. I tried to intervene and managed to save him by putting enough distance between them through magical means.
 
At that point perhaps the weirdest thing of our days on the expanse happened. A blinding, searing, divine flash enveloped Bean, clearing the curse and visibly relieving her of a heavy weight she carried with her for a long time.
 
Reaching the village and frozen ship, we gave Vexus to the Frost Giants, requesting he be delivered to a bigger settlement where a cleric might help his poor Soul.
Then we retrieved another crystal shard from the throneroom, exactly as it was fortold by Beans vision. At the same time however, we unfroze and re-animated the ancient captain and his first mate. A huge discussion about what should happen with the crown broke out. We, as foreign travellers, didn't find the courage to make a decision affecting so many people. Together with the Frost Giants, a compromise was reached, breaking the curse but giving everyone still on the ice of the expanse enough of a warning to bring themselves to safety. Overall, I'm still not sure if we've chosen correctly, but ridding this part of the Peaks from a otherworldly influence intuitively feels like the right call. Afterwards the crown may reach the Wolf, who is a high-ranking follower of the goddess Morrigan. Surely this is not the last time we meet him. The signs of a war between Morrigan and Tempus are increasingly obvious, I fear we might be caught in the crossfire soon.
 
After our departure from the village, we resumed our original travel northeast. The journey was a lot calmer than the first part, except for the fact I got this damn cold. Nonetheless it feels good to have (fully) solid ground under my feet again. My friends have found a bounty for some monsters that align with some of the materials Kniv wants to gather for new crafting projects. Very exciting where we may end up in the end of it all.