Episode 68

Through the shimmer of a Teleportation Circle, Collective Action emerged in the northern town of Kitaun, their boots meeting stone within the austere halls of the Order of the Shield. From there, their path led them to The Wilted Lotus, a quiet tavern of muted lanternlight and foreign spice, where Sonkai dishes warmed the travelers against the chill winds outside. It was here, after words with barkeep Lotti Freeman, that their contact revealed himself — a weary Half-Elf by the name of Thalen Corvis.   Once, Thalen had been a scout for a great expedition into The Great Ice Desert. But his duty carried him from camp, and when he returned, he found horror — his companions mauled by Yetis, their screams lost in the snow. Many died. The few who survived were too broken to move. Alone, Thalen trudged back to civilization, carrying a desperate plea for aid. Now, at last, he had found it.   Supplies gathered, the party set out across the barren wilds. For days they marched, the air growing colder with each passing mile, the heavens above still shuddering from the cosmic disturbance of nights past. Magic flickered strangely, as though the world itself were struggling to right its balance.   At the edge of the frozen expanse, they encountered a strange hermit — an old man bundled in furs, riding a sleigh pulled by huskies across the endless white. His words were half-riddles, half-warnings, urging them not to pry into the secrets buried beneath the ice. In exchange for Groban mending his enchanted torch, he pressed a gift into their hands: a vest woven with protective wards against the cold. His final request was simple, but heavy — end the Yeti scourge, which had only lately grown unnaturally aggressive.   Deeper into the desert they went, the days blurring into endless white. When the Yetis came, they struck like winter storms — hulking, fur-clad monstrosities whose very gaze threatened to freeze the blood. Yet the adventurers stood their ground. Steel clashed against claw, fire and lightning split the icy night, and the Yetis fell one by one.   At last, the ruined expedition camp came into view — a scar against the tundra. Thalen rushed ahead, his breath catching as he found survivors still clinging to life. Their leader, Captain Sigrun Halmar, a stocky Dwarf hardened by frost and grief, greeted Thalen with both relief and affection, calling him by another name — “Lira” — the name his parents had given him, a reminder of a past he did not share with strangers.   The camp itself bore the story of tragedy: shattered tents, bloodstained snow, the echoes of a savage battle still heavy in the air. Survivors nursed wounds both seen and unseen, their hope hanging by a thread.   Now, with Thalen’s people found and the truth of the Yetis’ wrath looming ever larger, Collective Action must press deeper into the frozen desert — to confront the beasts at the heart of the storm, and perhaps, uncover the secrets the hermit had warned them not to disturb.