07 - 1/12/24 : Hollow Pursuits

"Ragna is a towering mass of ice and blood, Melfina commands the arcane to do her bidding, and Alithkav literally fell out of the sky! I'm just a huntress from a small, frozen town. I'm not some sort of fated hero from the stories. I'm not built for this sort of struggle. I miss the simplicity of it all."  

Dahlia Kaltro

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  The Lonesome Few awoke the following morning and went to meet with Garret. They were surprised to see that Perilou was recovering, although a few of her fingers and toes had to be amputated by dwarven chirurgeons due to the onset of frostbite. Garret agreed to accompany the party on their trip back to Mirlake.   Returning to the throne room of Lord Blackhammer as promised, the party was given a private audience with Bellen and his son Barador. Lord Bellen explained that his eldest son Beren was missing, and was part of the expedition led by the wizard Dzaan that had also included Sephek Kaltro. He believed that Beren was still alive, and wanted the party to keep an eye out for him during their investigations into the Eternal Rime.   When asked how Lord Blackhammer was so sure that Beren yet lived, the Dwarf-Lord gave the party a brief history lesson about the origins of the people of Duhnbeyl. In the past, the Great Clan Duhnbeyl lived within Dol Gurhal, or The Hollow Mountain in the common tongue. Dol Gurhal, a grand mountain standing alone to the south of the present-day Duchy of Westmarch, was once the greatest of all the dwarven kingdoms. This made its eventual fall all the more tragic.   At the peak of a great age of prosperity for Dol Gurhal, the King's youngest son committed a great act of betrayal and swore his loyalty to a devil. This act resulted in the halls of Dol Gurhal being flooded with fiends, undead, and other monstrosities. The Traitor Prince, as he became solely known after his name was purposefully stricken from Duhnbeyl records, forever stained the bloodline of the King for his heinous act.   From the day Dol Gurhal fell onwards, the line of kings would bear a dark curse on their line that fell upon the shoulders of the designated heir of the Great Clan Duhnbeyl, said to both be a remnant of the devil's corruption and a punishment wrought by the Dwarven gods for their failure at stopping the Traitor Prince. At any point during their lives, usually during a moment of crisis or great importance, the cursed heir would be commanded to commit a great act of betrayal like the Traitor Prince before them. Should the heir obey the curse's command, they would live a prosperous life with the knowledge of their betrayal forever etched into their memory. Should the heir defy the curse and refuse to betray those near them, however, they would soon find death hounding them, and would not live into their venerable years.   Ashamed of the dishonor the Traitor Prince visited upon their once-noble line, the dwarves of Great Clan Duhnbeyl sent themselves into exile in the far north. They found themselves in a crack in the earth beneath Famrial Mountain, and from there founded the Grave of Duhnbeyl, which soon became known as Duhngrave.   As Lord Blackhammer spoke of the curse, the party realized that he had a hollow look in his eyes. He had reached his old age because he had chosen to go through with his prompted betrayal when the time came, though he did not speak of it with the party. As Beren was now the heir, he had become saddled with the curse, and because the younger Barador had not been afflicted with the curse in his stead, it meant that Barador was not Bellen's true heir yet; thus confirming that Beren was alive in some shape or form. With this knowledge, Lord Blackhammer asked the party to seek out his son in the wake of Dzaan's party, and to bring him or news of his whereabouts home to Duhngrave.   The party agreed to this proposition, although they noted that Sephek Kaltro's situation meant that Beren's status may not be so simple. In addition, they inferred that if Beren had survived, it meant that he possibly had been called to commit his betrayal against the rest of Dzaan's party; if this was the case, Ragna flatly stated that they would have to seek Beren's death. Lord Blackhammer agreed that it was a possibility, but was convinced that Beren, a very honorable dwarf, would likely choose death before becoming a traitor.   With this new directive on their minds, the Lonesome Few gathered Garret and a recovering Perilou and made their way back to Mirlake. While acting as the vanguard in the mountain ranges ahead of their escortees, the party encountered another wave of snow and heavy winds. Fearing Sephek had returned so soon, Ragna and Melfina observed their surroundings. In Sephek's place, however, there was a figure in the far distance, hardly visible against the flurries of snow.   This figure, keenly aware of the duo's observation, appeared as a bipedal owl that bore a pair of curved horns and wore a light blue shawl on its shoulders. The figure reached out towards the party wordlessly, its eyes glowing brightly and ominously, only for it to disappear as the snow obscured it entirely. When the flurries dissipated entirely, the figure was gone, leaving the party to continue onwards unnerved by the encounter.   Once back in Mirlake, the party saw Garret and Boy reunite with Keegan. Eternally thankful for the party's role in saving his husband, Keegan promised to put in a good word with Owen Tarsenel that would secure them free lodgings during their stays in Mirlake. Garret also agreed to their request of acting as their guide to the northern expanse when they would decide to make the trek to Hollowfaust.   After spending the night in Mirlake, the party made their way west to the small town of Icemeet to hunt down the lake monster that was targeting their fishermen. Their journey was an uneventful one, and they arrived in the late evening. A nearby sign indicated that the town had an attraction known as the 'Five Tavern Center'; excited by the prospect of copious alcohol, the Lonesome Few made their way there.   The Five Tavern Center was, true to its name, a collection of five taverns own by the five halfling Stumblestout brothers: the Even Keel, owned by youngest brother Stan Stumblestout; the Stones, owned by second-youngest brother Stallard Stumblestout; the Grumpy Moose, owned by middle brother Sturm Stumblestout; the River's Mouth, owned by second-oldest brother Storech Stumblestout; and the Bearded Brother, owned by eldest brother Stanford Stumblestout.   However, much to Ragna's fury, the first four taverns were serving up heavily watered down alcohol to cut down on costs and preserve supplies, and the fifth tavern charged exorbitant prices for un-watered mead. After threatening bodily harm to several of the Stumblestouts, Ragna eventually settled for Melfina covering the costs for two cups of mead for both Ragna and Alith at a staggering sum of 40 gold pieces in total. Alith, incensed by the affair, decided to apply her knowledge of artifice to finding a solution to the omnipresent lack-of-alcohol problem.   After their bad experience with the Stumblestouts, the party made their way to the Buried Treasure Inn to rest their heads for the night. They found themselves the sole guests of Cora Mulphoon, a middle-aged human woman who fussed over them like royalty despite her humble establishment. She soon revealed that her son Huarwar used to help around the inn, but had been 'seduced' by a pair of tieflings whom Cora described using derogatory terms and slurs.   According to Cora, Huarwar left with a search party to seek the elderly town speaker Dorbulgruf Shalescar on one of his semi-frequent bouts of incoherent wandering. Upon returning, Huarwar was in possession of a piece of 'black ice', which he yelled at his mother for handling. Ragna realized that this 'black ice' was a piece of chardalyn when Cora recognized their amulet after being shown it. Shortly after Huarwar's acquisition of the chardalyn, a pair of tieflings arrived at the inn and whisked Huarwar away to a 'cult' located in Vrath Keep, another of the Ten Towns far to the south near the Valura Sea.   The party agreed to seek Huarwar if they found themselves in the area of Vrath Keep and retired for the night. Alith stayed up late working on her newest creation; an alchemy jug, capable of dispensing life-sustaining liquids such as water, wine, and beer. As Melfina slept, she was visited by a dream; a vision in which she was following her lost master through the snowy plains, his cloak billowing in the frigid wind. As he turned about, however, Melfina saw that her master's face was not his own, but rather the face of the mysterious owl figure they had encountered near the Famrial. Melfina awoke in a cold sweat, the vision haunting her well after it had faded.   In the morn, Alith showed off her new creation to the party, and attempted to make the jug dispense mead, but to no avail. Although the spirits the jug dispensed were unremarkable, they were plentiful and, most importantly, free. Their access to alcohol secured, the Lonesome Few visited the town hall of Icemeet, which was in truth merely the residence of Speaker Dorbulgruf Shalescar.   The elderly dwarf speaker, in the midst of breakfast with his family, greeted the party warmly and with no seeming traces of the confusion that he had been known to suffer from. When asked about the whereabouts of the lake monster, Dorbulgruf pointed them towards Grynsk Berylbore, a dwarven boat-owner who made his living leasing his boats out to enterprising fishers. If anyone were to be able to get the party out on the water, it would be him.   It did not take long to locate Grynsk; upon spotting the party, the grumpy dwarf hurled obscenities at the party and took them to be the fishers he had hired. Melfina and Alith tried to play along with this assumption, even though Ragna didn't quite pick up on the subtlety. However, as they discussed the job with Grynsk, another voice joined the conversation; that of Tali, a green-haired half-elven researcher.   Tali scolded Grynsk for putting people in danger with the lake monster out-and-about and greeted the party, warning them about the dangers lurking within. Upon learning that the party (mostly Ragna) sought the creature's death, Tali asked for the party's assistance in their research. Handing them their notebook, Tali asked the party to observe the creature and try to uncover why it had only just begun attacking the local fishermen a few months ago. Melfina accepted the notebook, and the party shoved off to hunt for the creature.   After dragging their boat across the ice, the party got their craft in the water and rowed out to fishable depths, bumping against a few ice floes on the way. However, Alith and Melfina both knew the mending cantrip and were able to repair damage to the craft.   The hunt was a slow one, affording the party hours to fish, drink, and converse. Ragna was particularly successful in reeling in a few knucklehead trout. However, fearing the deadly effects of falling into the frigid waters below, Ragna decided to tie the party together using a rope. When trying to tie Dahlia as well, the young huntress snapped and yelled in frustration.   Dahlia loudly lamented her situation; stuck with a trio of remarkable individuals of remarkable origins, while she was a simple hunter who never wanted anything but a simple life in the wilderness. The encounter with her father had shaken her to her core, and she cursed the Eternal Winter for ruining the simple life she had once known. Despite the party's assurances of her skills and contributions to the cause, Dahlia remained cold, distant, and quite averse to being tied up.   As their search continued, the Lonesome Few encountered a few other fishing boats. One hailed from Whiteridge, captained by none other than Vernon Braig, owner of the Blue Clam. Vernon wished them luck in their search and quickly had his people row back to Whiteridge waters to avoid the rumored lake monster. Another hailed from Mirlake, crewed by a quartet of bullies that did not believe the lake monster existed, who tried to force the party away from their waters; however, the threat of bodily harm from Melfina and Ragna was enough to scare them off.   Although Dahlia remained silent, the rest of the party continued talking throughout the late hours. Ragna was reminded of fishing with her feisty younger sister, and her desire to become the King of the Broken Blade tribe by way of proving their might; their only way they knew how to prove their right to rule at that point.   Alith spoke about her family; her many sisters, few who survived and more still who were sacrificed to sustain the undeath of Vlaakith. Melfina related, reflecting about her many siblings during her life in the Underdark. She explained that life as a male drow (as she had been assigned at birth) in their society was very difficult, and she was forced to slay many of her family members before eventually escaping. When asked what pronouns were appropriate to refer to her, Melfina cheerfully admitted that any worked, and that she enjoyed confusing people that were unable to get a read on her.   As the auroras oscillated above, reflected off of the crystalline waters of the Mirrored Reservoir, the search for the Lake Monster of Icemeet continued on into the late night…