I am the son of the wind and rain,
Thunder beckons and I heed the call!
If I die upon this day,
In battle I will fall.
Hear me brothers, gather up the wolves!
To battle, we will ride!
War drums echo the beating heart,
Pounding from inside!
Swiftly and brutally did the fight in Votar Venak Aghmat begin. Hortog strode forward with his lackeys in tow, but a well-placed fireball from Melfina and bolts of lightning called by Thokgrim were able to wipe most of them out early into the conflict.
Hortog stood alone and fought the party with shocking levels of fortitude and endurance, shrugging off vicious attacks with little fanfare. In his massive hands he wielded Ashenglow, a large rectangular broadsword that glowed like a piece of metal fresh from the forge-fire, and with it he attacked in wide, searing arcs of pain. The orc chieftain's hatred of elvenkind shined through as well, as he attempted to strike fear into the hearts of Melfina and Tali through sheer ferocity.
The party, with Thokgrim's aid and thunderous valor, managed to injure Hortog to the point of enragement. With the wrath of Grotaag behind his eyes and sword swings, Hortog fought even harder, rupturing the very earth beneath the feet of his foes with his strikes. The Lonesome Few held fast, however, and fought on, chipping away little by little at the monolithic orc chieftain's defenses.
Finally, when an opening presented itself, Thokgrim lunged forward with his maul, struck Hortog soundly, and then called down a final blast of furious lightning from above. Hortog died on his feet, his broadsword falling to the snow below. Thokgrim looked to the gathered orcs and raised his maul to the sky, proclaiming the settlement's new name: Storm's Call.
Thokgrim declared a new era for Storm's Call according to the ethos of the Code of Our Fathers, but stated that the orcs would first need to weather the oncoming battle with the barbarians; a battle in which they would fight against the Broken Blade to defend their place in the Taiga.
Alith claimed Ashenglow as her own blade. The Lonesome Few then met with Thokgrim back in the settlement proper, and he thanked them once more for risking their lives to save his people from themselves. As promised, he took them up the mountain path to show them to the site of the legendary Anvil of Storms, upon which a boon would be forged as a token of Storm's Call's gratitude.
High Shaman Urgan communed with the spirits of the anvil and divined the shape and forms of three possible items;
- A single-bladed axe that flew through the air, light as a feather yet deadly as a wolf's bite.
- A suit of heavy armor that resounded with the roar of a storm when struck.
- A staff that parted the storm clouds above, like a rock in crashing waves.
Urgan also decreed that an exotic metal and an offering of wealth would be needed to appease the spirits into guiding the Forgemaster's hand in the forging of one of the items. The party offered a chunk of chardalyn they had taken from Ulfur's fortress earlier, as well as a heap of gold coins as an offering. They decided on forging the suit of heavy armor for Alith, intending to return at a later date with more chardalyn and gold to forge the other two.
Channeling the spirits to guide Forgemaster Fel'gra's hands, Urgan gave a nod to Thokgrim, who called bolts of lightning from above to power the anvil. Upon the anvil, forged from a combination of chardalyn, steel, and condensed lightning, was forged a suit of adamantine plate mail that was dubbed the Eye of the Storm. Alith fitted herself in the armor and doffed her cold weather gear, as thanks to Ashenglow's strong aura of warmth, she was granted a measure of cold resistance.
The party was welcomed to sleep the night at the newly dubbed Storm's Call, with each of them partaking in celebrations with the orcs. With their business in Storm's Call concluded, the party departed, promising to visit again. Following Thorkgrim's advice on approaching the nautiloid crashed to the north, the party stuck to the mountain passes, which would be more easily passable than snow-laden fields exposed to the biting winds.
While traveling, the party discovered remains of a Broken Blade party that were making the same trip as they were, a few hours ahead. As there was but one path ahead, they decided to continue on after making camp for the night.
The following day, the party came across a gruesome sight; the stripped-clean remains of a peryton, laid outside of the bloodstained mouth of a cave. Although the scene was grim, the party agreed that it needed to be investigated. Following a strange bluish light inside, the party made ready to encounter whatever lurked within.
Notably, a pair of sleeping white wyrmlings were found, which the party decided to leave alone for the time being. They found a few bloodstained mats, and detected that the magical aura of their surroundings felt 'off' in a way that Melfina couldn't quite describe. They also realized that the cave was lined with veins of chardalyn, and it had absorbed some fiendish energies. Most notable, however, was a brazier containing a blue flame that emitted a freezing aura and wisps of smoke that took the vague shape of La Saia, the Frostmaiden.
As they searched further, they happened upon a gruesome sight; a Broken Blade barbarian in the midst of hanging meat on hooks, his face marred by frostbite and his nose missing from the onset of necrosis.
This chardalyn mace-wielding barbarian, stark raving mad and shouting praise for a 'gift', was set upon by the party. Although he proved an easy opponent, the party was shocked to find that he was able to heal from every inflicted fatal wound. The barbarian taunted them as they tried everything, and soon they came to realize that the madman's mortality was somehow linked to the fire in the other chamber. With the barbarian restrained by Ragna, they took him to the chamber containing the fire. Along the way, the berserker let slip the name 'Orizana' in his ramblings, thanking her for the gift of the brazier and definitively linking the brazier to the Cult of La Saia, led by the mysterious masked firbolg.
Exposure to the frigid blue flame was still not enough to slay the barbarian, so the party decided to act on a whim and attack the fire itself with magic fire of their own. Exposure to heat was enough to temporarily douse the flame, and once it was out, the barbarian was made mortal once again. Taking the opportunity, Ragna smashed the man's head in with the Battlebrew Maul, and he did not rise again.
The party was left in silence with the brazier, which soon sparked back to life. They wondered what involvement that La Saia might have with a cave filled with demonically-infused chardalyn. To their shock, the flame reacted to the uttering of the goddesses' name; the temperature of the cave dropped dramatically, and the smoke began to coalesce into a more defined depiction of La Saia herself.
La Saia, through the brazier, spoke to the party in cryptic, almost broken phrases, as if she were not wholly lucid. However, one thing was made clear; her desire for stasis and stillness in the Taiga, and she could not fathom why the party would oppose her in this. Before fading away, the Frostmaiden looked directly at Melfina and asked her a simple question; "What are you?".
Melfina's answer was a similarly brief reply; "I am Order.".
As she faded, La Saia stated an ominous portent; "Then Order shall die a second death." before entirely disappearing. The party was left with more questions than answers, and decided to leave to avoid staying in the vicinity of the corrupted chardalyn for too long.
As they made their way to the entrance, Melfina's ears picked up the sound of victory songs sung in the Giant language in the near distance. They realized that the remaining occupants of the cave were returning, and would be upon them soon. They also came across the now-awakened wyrmlings; Melfina spoke to them in Draconic, learning that they were named Tyzar and Gelym. The two wyrmlings demanded that they be fed, and the party managed to convince them to ally with them against their returning 'food bringers', intent to let the wyrmlings eat their soon-to-arrive enemies instead.
The remaining 3 occupants of the cave soon returned while the party hid; Ragna was surprised to see the face of Gunnar Sieggson, another of her siblings. A towering, barrel-chested half-orc man, Gunnar looked nonetheless similarly crazed. His face was streaked by frostbite, blood stained his skin and clothing, and his eyes glowed a menacing red.
Once the three barbarians were in sight, the party got the drop on them and attacked, kicking off a fierce battle to the death with their new dragonling companions in the wings.
Comments