The Frigid Woe (DW) - Act 1

The trapdoor to the lower deck of the Flying Remorhaz cracks as it opens, frost that accumulated along the edges breaking as Bonepipe opens it wide.

The stairs lead down to the dark underbelly of the ship, but, fortunately, it seems this area has not yet been flooded by seawater, though certainly the cargo hold of the ship, down one level further, is likely almost completely submerged.

Peering down, the group can see that this lower deck has two main areas, the captain's quarters - closed and locked - and the general crew area and oft-used supplies. Most things in this general storage area are thrown into disarray, likely from when the ship crashed, and the three can see that there is a cannon fallen on it's side among the boxes of rations. Quite a bit of firepower for such a small ship.

Falteo's falcon-sharp eyes scan the area, taking in the little details. The thing that catches his eye, immediately, is the ice-statue of a sailor nearly entirely hidden and partially crushed by the overturned cannon. Upon more focused examination, Teo is shocked to see that the face of the man is familiar!

It brings him back those 10 days ago, when he was purchasing food for his village. A man he hadn't seen in town before was selling frozen fruits and vegetables from islands at incredibly cheap prices - produce that ended up being contaminated with the disease! The druid knew he would never forget that man's face, and here it is again - frozen in ice like so many from his village.Teo realizes, also, that this ship and its crew might have been the first to come in contact with the Woe, and that there might be some record of it somewhere.As Byron and Bonepipe take any steps closer to the trapdoor, Teo can see and feel the slight shifts of the ship's balance on the sea-ice that could not be entirely attributed to the waves. He gets the feeling that the crashed ship is not so solidly entombed in this ice that reckless movement won't cause problems.

As Byron's hands heat up the cold metal, she misjudges the temperature and the whole doorknob and lock shatter an break into hot metal pieces that fly back into the supply area and also into the captain's quarters. The group hears the sound of glass breaking in the captain's quarters, but Byron's thoughts immediately go to the gunpower that must be somewhere near the cannon behind her.

The burning piece of metal clatters against the back of the ship, falling right beside the cannon, still red-hot.

The broken door to the captain's quarters swings open on its hinges, revealing the room beyond. The room reveals two more Woe-frozen corpses - two to be exact.

One stood at the desk - a large worn-leather book, open, is caught between his frozen hand and the hardwood of the desk. The man appeared to have succumbed to the illness in the middle of ripping out and burning several pages, though the lantern he was using for that purpose has long burned out, the page ashes scattered.

The other poor soul appeared to have lost his battle against the Woe while lifting a chest from under one of the shelves, still crouched down with his arms around it.

The room itself is a mess - books and broken pieces of ship models scattered in the crash - but gives off the impression of having been quite nicely organized before then. Along with the desk and chest, there is a bed, a few shelves which probably used to hold the books and ship models, and what appears to be a the jawbone of a large shark mounted on the wall.

Byron is able to carefully push the frozen man away from the desk using the shark jaw - the man's hand dragging across the pages until finally slipping free of the book. Getting a good look at the pages now, she sees that it does appear to be the ship's log and previous navigation notes, though several of the pages have been ripped out already.

While getting the log book was easy enough, the chest the other frozen crewman was holding was another story. It's held tight between his frozen arms and torso, so opening or removing the chest would require either breaking the box, or the frozen corpse itself.

Looking closely, you can see one of the pieces of metal from the exploded doorknob embedded in the side of the chest.

When Teo emerges to the top deck of the ship, the red bird is waiting for him, perched on the ships railing. The bird regards Teo with solemn black eyes, fathomless in their depths. It opens its beak, and a shrill note rings out, a discordant sounds that yet seems to make sense to the druid.

[Corruption. A dark mockery of nature. You must bring an end to it, or it will bring an end to us all.]

Byron begins heading up right after Teo, not waiting to see the results of Bonepipe's epic axe-kick - though she does hear it. The sound of breaking wood and... glass?

As Bonepipe's spiked boot splits easily though the chest, he notices too late the glass vials of glistening crystal stone within - that, and the ice, almost a living thing, lashing out in great furious spikes from where the chest used to be.The red-bird flies away without another word, and as Teo and Byron go over to the RAFT OF CHAMPINS to prepare to head back, they notice it has a new occupant. A large octopus has made a very comfortable nest out of the blankets and furs that lined the inside of the rowboat. It reaches out with one orange tentacles, and loosens the knot tying the small boat to the ship.Mance spies Teo and Byron coming back onto deck, but doesn't see Bonepipe. It does seem like they're taking an unusually long time to get back. What are they doing?