Brazen Wolfe Tabletop

2024 Campaign Adventure 9

Plot:

Dawn at Snowtown

The dawn started on a different note. Tater finally having fallen asleep with his armour off spent 30 minutes checking the armour and donning it after a long time of wearing it on the road. Kai having wrapped himself up in blankets and forming a little nest in the rented room in which to keep warm and to block out the light.

Downstairs breakfast of nearly-stale bread and salted pork greeted them as Snowtown was a little short on supplies. After a short discussion about where to begin the party, Tater, promised to help fix the door he destroyed last night and they decided to go investigate the old witches hut as it wasn’t that far away. Pushing forward they were warned to stay out of the forest that borders the Gritch mountains.

Leaving the Tavern they ran into an older woman who told them the history of the snowmen. They were left as an offering, a recognition of the bargain and agreement that the town had made with the Goliaths that lived to the North. The deal was for the people to not trespass, not hunt the creatures in the mountains and in doing so the Goliaths will barter with them and protect the valley from threats to it and thus Snowtown. Due to this the town has experienced a mostly peaceful existence.

Approaching the crest of the hill that lay east of the town the party saw the forest that they were warned about. Hundreds of snowmen stood under the tress in different forms, appearances and dresses. But approaching them the sheer volume of them causes Kai to bring Tater back to the non-shadowed area and towards the witches cabin.

The cabin itself was ruined. A large hole in the roof let the weather through that had appeared to ruin most of the insides. The door out front lay off its hinges and old herbs, plants and even an long-dead creatures hunt from hooks and ropes attached to the roof. Inside a table had bowls of materials, an open book and a small cauldron of highly dense coal. A bed to the right of the cabin had more herbs hanging from the roof but the rest of the room lay in ruin.

Investigating the room, Tater found the coal and realised it was charcoal – but much harder and denser. Kai with Armaeth’s help read the page the book was open to and understood it to be guiding the reader to binding a recently lost spirit to an object. Meant as a way to preserve someone from dying the spell was a very advanced one at that.

Reading further into the book the coal was identified as a means to bind a small ritual to, a spell to create. Taking this info (the small cauldron of charcoal and the book), and the stocktake of crushed quarts and gypsum (that Kai threw away) they began to move back home after Tater set fire to some Willow they found by the fire. Preparing it to try and create charcoal to compare it with the one found in the cauldron.

Avalanche

As they waded through the knee high snow they, Kai and Groku, noticed a rumbling. Looking towards the mountain they spotted to large figures standing at the crest of the ridge – goliaths. However the snow between them was moving at a quick pace and the surface of the snow was rolling towards them in little balls.

As the party tried to flee to the town to avoid the avalanche of snowballs it became evident something wasn’t right. Tater and Kai were knocked down from the snow, Armaeth flew high above it all and Groku braced and weathered the avalanche. But, the snowballs began to race towards them and started to encompass them with icy psuedopods.

The battle was intense with each member in the group, except Armaeth, being grappled, restrained and then smothered by dozens of animated snowballs. But eventually the numbers dwindled and a lucky sleep spell (that removed a few from play) they made their escape.

Upon reaching the town they found out that a familiar name now, Penny Cartwright, was the last to see the Goliaths and would be the best person to talk to regarding their actions. They also learnt about another girl who had gone missing, Aster, who had moved in from Warrendeep a year or so ago. When they got to Cartwrights they purchased the required iron to mend the tavern door and enquired about the book, the hut and Aster.

Aster had been in love with Mark Kenderson, a handsome hunter who had been missing the last two weeks (the same amount of time as Aster). The two had been brief lovers with Aster preaching to the town that she had a way to make their lives easier, saving them time and making them more gold from their sales. However Mark and his friends had tricked Aster and she had been left heart broken and enraged. Penny also told the party how Aster had bought a great many books, and some materials from her regarding the casting of magic.

It was later revealed as they went to investigate Aster’s house that Marks friends had been assaulted by Aster when they had antagonised her and threaten her to leave Mark alone. She had bludgeoned them with, later revealed, a pestle which had left them bruised a month later. Since then she had withdrew and no one knew where she or Mark were now.

Investigating the house they found a ripped up dress or skirt with a few lengths of fabric torn off it and a secret compartment in the bedroom floor boards that once held a journal or notebook. After that they returned back to the tavern to prepare for the coming days.

Main NPCs:

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