Session 5: Trek to Ten-Towns

The night is long and cold. Specially for Adaia who is facing to the extreme cold of the Spine of the World for the first time. Even as she manages to catch some sleep, she is frequently wakes half-frozen and no magic flame or mundane blanket seems to be enough to keep her safe from the extreme temperatures. In the morning, the night storm has abated but the temperature is still dropping, and the wind causes exposed skin to ice over. Thunder rattles overhead as snow, sky, and land blend in whiteout conditions. Lightning in the clouds overhead cause irregular bursts of light that make seeing harder still. In the distance, you can make out the dark shape of a mountain peak looming overhead. Beorne catches up with Agna, rubbing his hands to warm up as he waits for Helda to finish brewing some warm herbal infusion to warm up everyone "Maybe there be some better shelter in there, what ye think?" he points to the mountains. The pass winds through rocky peaks, narrow paths, and wide saddles, but is made far more treacherous by falling snow and ice driven by the constantly howling winds. "Too dangerous to move fast, its gonna take another night to be safe"

It’s uncomfortably, dangerously cold. The moment you stop stops moving, you feel the sharp pain from freezing extremities and know death is coming if you stay still for long.

"A visitor? Ye thinkin that bloody Ogre came back fer more? Would have bet my beard the thing was dead good" After checking the tracks that Agna found the dwarf stops to think for a moment. "Them not lookin like no ogre I have seen before. Maybe some sort of em wild beasts?"

Having spent some extra time to recover as much as they could and bury the dead as properly as conditions allowed, the caravan finally gets on its way again, though as a much slower pace than before the tragic avalanche. Agna immediately sets out ahead of the convoy to scout any possible dangers and alternative paths. She noticed an area of light, powdery snow atop heavy, slushy snow and, finding a broken tree branch, she tests it. "Quicksnow!" she warns the others as they approach and guides them around the dangerous area.

After her terrible experience with the deadly cold mountains, Adaia is now much more aware of the real dangers of the Ten Trails. Feeling much better after having Agna's warm brew, the elf is paying as much attention for any surprises on the way. "Stop! There a crevasse!" she shouts at some of the merchants walking besides the wagon where she as she notices the long deep crack hidden by a thin crust of ice and snow. Unsure how long the crevasse is, she uses her magic to blow the snow away and reveal the entire 10-foot-deep hole in the snowpack.Izuhn stays in the back, making sure not only that no one gets lost. Off in the distance, he notices that the storm looks . . . odd; behind them, the winds are bringing snow of a dark crimson color. "The snow, cover youselves!" he warns everyone as the whirling snow becomes stinging pellets of coppery, dark-red sleet, which blows into eyes, noses, and mouths and threatens to freeze solid everything in its path. Luckily, everyone caught in the icy winds manages to climb up or hide behind a wagon, but the dwarf is still disturbed by the blood like appearance of the snow...

After traveling for almost half of the day and having avoided many of the potential dangers on the trail, you notice the wind abates for a moment. Not having to fight the icy winds boosts everyone's moral and the caravan pick up the pace. However, something that’d normally be a good thing, unexpectedly turns into a new danger, halting the progress. Sparkling snowflakes the size of dinner plates lazily drift down from the storm above and, while beautiful, they’re razor sharp - something that becomes immediately apparent as the wind picks back up and sends the snowflakes whizzing around the area cutting limbs off the evergreen trees.

Izuhn's magic allows him to rally everyone into safety, as Adaia's snowstorm protects everyone as they reach for safety. However, Izuhn takes one second too long for himself, and one of the ice razors chops off his braid, and with it, a bit of his dwarveness. Agna manages to spot a cave in the distance, which will provide shelter to everyone until the storm calms down. She guides the caravan though the swirling snow, which she notices moves in odd patterns, but she can't stop to think of it. Safety is her priority.

As the cave she spotted comes into view, so does new trouble. Withing the odd snow lambent, yellow-orange eyes burning with malice suddenly open. And the white creatures that have so far remained invisible in the snow take flight, clearly intended on driving you away.