Scene Notes – C01.S03.08
| Cycle 01 | Shield 03 | Scene 08 | Notes |
What happens in this scene?
Dawndra and Shent (and two others tbd) leave Bryn Shander for Easthaven – a four hour trip with axebeaks. They are following a merchant caravan looking for a serial killer. They will find the caravan – at least whats left of it. The merchants are missing but their sleds are found covered in snow.
I am using the Cauldron Caves from Icewind Dale – Rime of the Frostmaiden. I also want to use the Magen from the published module so instead of a will-o-wisp and giant skeletons, the lake hag controls several Magen. It is a 7th-level spell, which means that Maud Chiselbone will need to be more powerful than the book provides (13th level wizard?). Also – Maud needs a source of Quicksilver… which is why these particular caves…
The pool in area U8 is frozen but at the bottom is a pool of quicksilver in pure form. Maud probably has minions digging at the ice like miners… scratch that… the pool is a a bubbling hotspring with a rich source or quicksilver at its base. Drinking or even swimming in the pool will poison you with overexposure to mercury, mercurialism. The pool is hundreds of feet deep
Maud found a Netherese sarcophagus in ancient tunnels under Lac Dinneshere… this is how I get around the 13 level wizard problem… the Magen Machine… a Netherese enchanted device… place the clean bones of a humanoid in the sarcophagus, spray a fine mist of quicksilver and close the lid. Using the rod (which she found with the sarcophagus) cast Create Magen.
Speaker Duvessa could only find two militia men on short notice. Both human male but give them longswords instead of pikes. Melthor & Harbert. Not sure I need more than that… Perhaps neither are thrilled to be assigned this mission. Or perhaps one is and the other is a whiner. Harbert sounds like a whiner so Melthor is eager to track down a serial killer.
What of Samsam?
Maybe she is more capable than Shent and Dawndra assume? Or maybe more foolhardy than any would give her credit for… They will have left by the east gate… traveling right past the Rest. Based on what I’ve written so far, she will be set on joining them. Perhaps Myrtle would say Ok to her request? If anything, Samsam will provide some comic relief… What I guess might have happened… Myrtle said forget about it. Samsam was honest and told them she couldn’t go and they bid her farewell… but then she found her fathers sword and decided to go after them anyway. She eventually catches up – near the cross road to Caer Dineval. Shortly beyond that, the merchant caravan is discovered abandoned. How many wagon sleds? 4. These were pulled by dog teams – who are still there, buried under snow and sadly expired. Samsam might have a small breakdown at this discovery… she loves dogs and the loss of 20 will break her heart.
They are still an hour away from Easthaven (3 hours from Bryn Shander). Lac Dinneshere is visible – as are the towering cliffs which wrap the North-West side of the lake. Dawndra will ask “where will the merchants have gone?” and Shent will answer “there -those cliffs… that is where I would go to escape a blizzard.” What is not apparent is that the merchants did not go of their own will. A Magen (Hypnos) appeared and was able to suggest they take cover in the caves along the cliffs
A total of 8 merchants and two guards abandoned their wagon sleds to find shelter – but never returned. (some may still be alive… sitting in a deep pit with a pile of bones which, at Maud’s will, joins together into a frost giant skeleton. It will lift a victim out of the ice pit to be thrown into the cauldron to have the meat cooked off their bones and then their bones will be used to create another Magen.
Maud has only been able to create a few Demos Magen easily. She created one Hypnos Magen but the effort took a huge toll on her. The Galvan Magen has not yet been created but she is still learning. She is trying to find a way to inflict the life force penalty of the spell onto another rather than herself. This is why she has kept her victims alive so far.
What if the will-o-wisp? The book calls it her “companion”
Statblock for the creature here and 3.5 SRD
It is both intelligent and wise – and they feasted on the fear of victims (making a good hag companion for sure) They are technically Undead but have a will of their own
| Cycle 01 | Shield 03 | Scene 08 | Notes |
What happens in this scene?
Dawndra and Shent get outfitted and travel to Frostfall Pass (The Snow Stalkers)
What about Samsam?
I threw Samsam into a scene just for a bit of liveliness… I wanted Dawndra to evoke the jealously of a young girl with a crush on Shent. Then she had to go and find her fathers sword… She is essentially a level 1 character running with a party of level 3. She is immature and impetuous and I have grown fond of her. So I am going to go back to the scene where Dawndra meets Nim and Norli and drop an mention of Samsam.
The Red Drakes
Also I am going to rewrite a bit of that scene to include a reference to the Red Drakes. I had thought to remove them from the Frostfall Pass scene but then I realized the published adventure depends much upon them… So then Shavisala has several artifacts in play. Nim has a list of items Shavisala wants (for experiments? For power? Or what? I need to fill out Shavisala some to know for sure). Nim will say he is awaiting the return of the Red Drakes so he can send them right back to Alzvar (and he was expecting to have to pay them extra for the double duty) but they have not returned after over a tenday. In this scene… they have still not returned so he fears the prior item was not delivered. In addition to delivering this new item… Nim asks Dawndra to see if she can find the Red Drakes and especially the package they were supposed to deliver to Shavisala and – if at all possible – deliver both into her hands.
The Outfitting
Norli has three small pouches for Dawndra and Shent. Each has a magic command word to open them. They open up to a large sack – large enough to hold a large thick shawl made of yeti fur. Unlike a bag of holding – which stores items in some other dimension – these sacks magically compress items down to one tenth their size and weight (they should be warned not to put living creatures within). I anticipate that Dawndra will place her Frost Troll head within the sack… and then carry a Yeti head in a large gunny sack – expecting that it will be stolen from her as she returns to Easthaven… tricky trickster yes?
These cloaks of course enchanted. Primarily they will produce heat just as they do for the Yeti. Now this is normally not the case… a yeti fur is still quite warm but usually lose their special properties once removed from the beast. Norli has found a way to retain this property. While wearing the cloaks, they are immune to the cold effects of whether and resistance to magical cold attacks. Also… they mask scent. While wearing these cloaks, they cannot be tracked by their smells which are magically erased. Additionally… they give the wearer advantage to Stealth check while in snowy/icy conditions. Perhaps I need to give them a downside? Some of Norli’s inventions are not quite ready for prime time. I don’t know… maybe leave that an open question for now. Let us say they normally sell for 2k gp – actual cost does not matter except that Nim will want to make a mention of it… to ensure the characters know they are recv’ing a bounty.
Norli also provides a simple blindfold for Samsam. It is an Archers Boon. Norli has identified, somehow, that Samsam will be joining them and that her role should be ranged. The blindfold will make any short bow a +2 weapon and if the target is engaged in combat with another – attacks have advantage. The downside is, she is vulnerable to attacks herself. Any round she uses the blindfold, attacks against her have advantage. With the blindfold on, she is blind until she draws a bow. Once that, she sees with superb clarity and even sees a bright red spot on the exact spot where the arrow will land (magical laser sights… duh!) but once the arrow is released, she is blind again.
Samsam again
Do I need to build out a more complete character sheet for Samsam? Or at least a statblock?
Speaking of Easthaven
They leave the Cliff Caves of Xover and help the remaining merchants return to Easthaven. Rather than write through this, I am just going to recap it briefly. Was Jyn’s master still alive? Let me ask the dice [()] 9 (odd) = No. Does this matter? I don’t know… but now the Easthaven household of Boonlin is left to Thabitha Boonlin and her keeper and secret love Jynelor. (which no longer need be secret). Perhaps House Boonlin is far wealthier than appearances suggest? Or perhaps far more influential? Or maybe these NPCs will fade into the background and be forgotten. It is too soon to tell. What else happens in Easthaven between returning the merchants and returning to Bryn Shandor the next day? Maybe nothing… maybe something. Hey Dice! Does Something happen prior to returning? 13 (odd) No. So then briefly recap and open the scene in the market place of Bryn Shandor.
What of the Serial Killer?
The merchants (who aren’t dead) in the caravan gave no clues as to who the Ice Rune Killer might be. Upon returning to Bryn Shander however, there was another murder – right behind the Northlook. This time the victim was not a judge in the Fray Games… but was a contestant. It looks like Torgs merchantry was in town this whole time and they become the prime suspect.
Pakbak Cinderfoot and Sephek Kaltro
I have to tie these two together somehow. Pakbak is a warlock with a frost druid lich for a patron. Perhaps Sephek also. Rather than make him an undead like in the book.. Perhaps just the servant slave of a mad lich? Sephek and Pakbak share the same goal – to cheat the games. Pakbak just wants to win the competition for glory but Sephek does not really care about the games, or really about Pakbak… he just likes the chaos and the killing. The patron summoned him to help Pakbak and he obliged… but he will not answer to Pakbak or his ranting whims. He may even kill Pakbak himself given the opportunity because he thinks the patron would enjoy that outcome. Of course, Sephek might not live long enough to do it.
Torg’s
Why is Sephek hired on with Torg’s? Well… why not? I will enrich that combat scene when it happens. Success against Sephek will also be success against Torg – and that will mean favor from the Tentowns.