Wine Cellars: The Never Ending Winter part 1

 The Never Ending Winter part 1: Eye of the Forest Oracle

Our tale begins in the Dog-N-Bone tavern, where a collection of adventurers have gathered with the locals to discover why winter, which should have receded some two to three weeks prior has only worsened! Rumors of the Cold Prince have been rampant, and if the conditions remain as they are past the spring equinox things could become quite grim for the town and those who dwell here.

a frozen town in trouble

Our Party for the first leg of our tale consists of the following players:

Selina - Tobuscus "Ole' Tobi" Barrackbomb - Dwarf Fighter/Linguist

James W. - Skrog the Skald - Dwarf Fighter/Poet

Steve F. - Rook - Thief

Joshua V. - Sliish - Magic-User/archaeologist & Mable the mule

Joe P. - Icirus - Owl-man Magic-User 

Bryan W. - Brulan Cobyr - Elf Conjuror/Swordmaster

On the 8th day of Symswald the group heads south to the Druids-wood. They intend to locate any surviving remnants of the druidic order that was hunted and exterminated by the Duke's minions years ago. All anyone knows for sure, is that if there are any of them left they should be found at the Moon Tower. The trick however, is that without express permission from the druids the wood itself will resist attempts to traverse it. The group knows they have their work cut out for them.

It takes a full days travel on foot heading south following the Black Crag river to reach the Druids-wood. The weather was clear and cold but did not hinder them. A camp is made and they warmed the chill from their bones, the night was uneventful.

The group awakes to a freezing rain and breaks camp. The march is slow and everyone is miserable, the cold seems to bite right through their winter cloaks. After a few hours wandering aimlessly not sure which way they are headed they begin to wonder if the Druids even exist any more. 

Just as the party is about to break for lunch, they come to the edge of a clearing and see a cave mouth in the side of a hill. There is a terrible stench of body odor and rotting meat. Mable seems uncomfortable so Sliish stays at the edge of the tree line while the others scout out the cave and ridge.

The cave

Brulan and Ole' Tobi spy what they believe to be the top of a tower further uphill beyond the cave. While Rook, Skrog and Icirus note the well trod path from the cave that heads off to the left along the ridgeline. Icirus marks the stone with chalk and turns to the group. "I'm going to try something. Stay wary." mutters the Owl man as he weaves a spell and slowly rises from the ground into the air. Floating upwards until he can get a better view of what the elf and dwarf spotted. Sure enough, there is a slim stone tower a few miles further up the hillside. Icirus also spies a stone bridge spanning a fast flowing creek a few miles to the west of the tower. Once back on the ground the party elects to head for what they hope is Moon tower as quickly as possible. 

The sound of tinkling laughter is the only warning before the group is stung with small icicle darts! A swarm of frost pixies zoom down from the treetops and begin to harass the group. Their sodden and frosted garments already barely keeping the icy cold at bay is now useless against the piercing attacks of the tiny creatures! Skrog starts cursing and waving his axe around threateningly, as Rook, Brulan and Sliish try to use the trees as cover from the icy assault. Icirus prepares to cast a spell, when Ole' Tobi throws back his hood and in a high pitched tone he speaks to the pixies!!  

"Hey now you little varmits, why you stitchin' our hides with your icicles?"

Frost Pixies

Amazed and a bit dumbfounded that they are actually being spoken too, and in their own language no less, the swarm ceases attacking. "What's this, what's this!? It speaks to us in our tongue!" 

Ole Tobi brushes the frost from his short curly beard and motions to the pixies that he wishes to parley. "If''n you'd be so kind. My compatriots do not reckon your fancy tongue. Might I be so bold as to request we speak in the mortal slang so we all might converse together?"

The swarm tinkles in a peal of laughter, swirls around the party and drifts in closer to parley. "Because you're so polite, we shall do as you ask." the pixies respond in unison and in common. "Why are you trespassing in our woods?"

"We are lost and seek a safe path out of the woods, do you know one?" asks Icirus.

"Ashk them if they know about the Cold Prinsh." suggests Sliish as he shakes a layer of frozen rain off his cloak. 

"How close are we to the Moon Tower?" inquires Brulan.

"Moon tower, Cold Prince, lots of things lost travelers know." the pixies spike up in hoar frost.

"Hold your britches there, this don't need to go sour now." Ole Tobi says as he slowly reaches for his trusty slingshot.

At that moment cries of "Liars!", "Trespassers!" are screeched out by the pixies and a battle begins! Brulan uses an empty sack to great effect to catch a few pixies, as Skrog spits a cloud of dwarf whiskey and ignites with his flint to instantly vaporize a pair of the tiny terrors! A group of pixies curse Ole' Tobi and much to his surprise every hair from head to toe removes itself from his body! A second curse is placed on the Elf of "Liar, liar pants on fire!" and the slim warrior finds himself shoveling snow onto himself to douse the faerie flames!  After a few minutes of utter chaos a handful of pixies retreat into the woods and the party find a single survivor in Brulan's sack. They take this lone pixie hostage and imprison it within a lantern that Icirus keeps a watchful eye on.

 With only a few hours till sunset the party finally arrive at the Moon Tower. The place has been ransacked and looks as though a fight took place as well. The group figures it has been a few weeks

Moon Tower

since whatever took place happened. Ole' Tobi is lamenting the loss of his beard to the pixies as they search the tower for survivors. A root cellar full of supplies is discovered, and Slish is able to bring Mable in to the ground floor stables and get her out of the freezing rain. From the tower roof Skrog spies a large item stuck in the snow that seems to have been thrown into the woods close by.

The group go to retrieve the item in the trees, while Sliish stays behind with Mable in the tower. The Magic-user decides to weave a beard from straw in the hope it will lift the spirits of his dwarf companion. Meanwhile the rest of the group find the item in the trees. It is a coffin sized wooden armoire with intricate knot-work carvings on it. They pry it from the frozen ground and use a Floating disc spell to get it back to the tower.

The armoire is brought to the second floor of the tower where a fire is started so everyone can get warm. Sliish presents the woven beard to Tobuscus and the old dwarf thanks him whilst quickly donning it and claiming it worthy of a dwarf.

Inside the armoire the group discover the corpse of a frozen maiden. By her garb and jewelry they determine she was a druid. Rook touches her to see if she is truly dead or perchance in a magic slumber. As skin brushes skin the Thief is overcome with a vision!

"What was that!" exclaims Icirus.

"I saw her death." says Rook, "A huge ugly woman cast a blast of freezing death upon her, and said something about the giant's rising again."

Rook reached out a second time to grasp the dead girls hand. This time he communed with her spirit and learned that she was murdered by her supposed friend, a Hill giant woman called Vistra. He also discovered that there were 3 more druids, a young girl, a middle aged man and an old man. "I think the giant either killed them, or hopefully has taken them prisoner."

"That cave we found earlier would be my guess." chimed Brulan, "It stank of giant."

"Let us bed down for the night and search for survivors in the morning." suggested Skrog.

 As the party set to sleep, a discovery of a partial map was discovered. Of note was the fact that whoever had written the titles on it was certainly not a giant. The script reminded Brulan of elvish.

The map

"We should crossh that bridge and check the Nine Shtones. If shurvivors were hiding anywhere I bet it might be there." pointed out Sliish.

The group agreed they would start the search at the Nine Stones in the morning. The night passed uneventfully, only cries of far off wolves were heard in the forest. They never came close enough to cause undue concern.

Come dawn the group was frustrated to see that the freezing rain was still coming down. Donning their heavy cloaks the party headed west along the path towards the bridge. Much grumbling about the state of the weather was heard.

At the mid point of the bridge crossing the group spied a body half covered in snow below. It lie just at the edge of the fast flowing creek. It was decided that Rook should scout it out and he was sent over the side of the bridge with the use of a Levitation spell. He discovered a dead fur-trapper who had been stuck in a very large bear trap. After relieving the corpse of any useful gear, Rook freed the body from the trap and the party then spent the time to lay it to rest as best they could.

Eventually the path led them to a clearing where the group found the ring of stones just as the map showed. Intrigued with the aura of the area the party moved in to get a closer look, and perhaps find a clue or two.

The ring of Nine Stones

The pair of Magic-Users were very taken with the runes carved into the stones. Icirus took a charcoal rubbing of three of them whilst Sliish determined that the markings were indeed Druidish and most likely related to their in seasonal rituals etc. Skrog and Ole' Tobi stood guard and Brulan cast about the circle looking for signs of survivors. Rook felt a strange urge to enter the circle proper and started to do so when Icirus circled around a stone and was overcome with a fear so great that it made him run a few feet away from the stones.

The Owl-man pointed to the ring and said, "A strong and powerful presence resides inside the ring."

"Intriguing!" exclaimed Sliish, "There'sh tales of Druid connecshins with Shpirits of the Foreshts."

Skrog sensed the party was being watched from the treeline opposite from where they had arrived. The dwarf drew an arrow from his quiver and called out. "Haloo, in the woods! We are friends and seek the Druids."

In answer there was a loud crack of tree limbs snapping and then a large rock slammed into the earth right beside him!!!

An exchange of missile fire broke out causing Sliish and Mable to start a retreat towards the forest path, while Icirus took cover behind a stone. Brulan made a beeline for where he determined the rocks were being thrown from. In this confusion Rook found himself drawn into the circle of stones and was overcome with waves of anger that drove him to his knees.

At this point Skrog was smashed to the ground by a large stone and sorely hurt, Ole' Tobi fired back with sling stones to no avail. The old dwarf drug his cousin into cover while cursing giant's aloud! Icirus spread his wings and flew up into the air to get a better vantage on their attacker, as Sliish and Mable circled back towards the Nine stones when they saw a large shape heading to cut off their escape. Brulan was now amongst the trees and quickly caught the white-cloaked giant by surprise!!

Rook in the meantime was able to show the spirits of the circle that he and his friends meant no harm and he told them of his vision for the deceased woman. At this point Brulan was hard pressed to fight the giant single-handed and was knocked from his feet by a glancing blow from a large fist. 

The spirits of the stones let out a terrible howl and flew from the circle towards the trees where giant and elf battled! Icirus stayed aloft and watched from above as the spirit host charged the giant. Realizing he was outmatched the giant turned and ran into the woods with the angry spirits hot on his tail.

The party regrouped at the stones and awaited the return of Icirus who they watched fly off in the direction the giant fled. When the owl-man returned he had a large white furred coat he had snatched off the giant. This turned out to be a Snow-cat cloak and made the one who wore it practically invisible in the snow. Icirus relayed that he could lead the group after the giant and that by his trail had guessed he was headed back to the cave the group had seen the day before.

Arriving at the cave, the group decides to attempt to lure the giant out and take him down before he can recover from the beating the spirits gave him. Brulan scouts the cave to see if he can learn anything and triggers a rock-fall trap. Unharmed the elf returns to the group letting them know that at least two giants are in pursuit! The group realizes they are dealing with a family and not just a pair of giants. 

Hill Giants!

Moments later a pair of hill giants emerge, Brulan engages one and Rook drops from above to deliver a mortal wound on it. The second giant is taken out with a Sleep spell and left alive as it posed no threat in this slumbering state. The party moved with haste to get the jump on any other giants within the cavern but are soon caught in a trap! Brulan is ensnared within a magical net, and Skrog suffers a broken leg from a hill giant's club! Surrounded and running low on magic the group fears this may be the end, when Rook (in his viper form) attacks the Vistra the leader and his venom slays her outright!

Once back outside the cave the group is confronted with a problem. The Giant they encountered at the stone circle informs them they have a pair of hostages whom they will kill unless a deal can be worked out. At this time Sliish pulls a bluff and convinces the giants they have no bargining power, as the Party may be smaller and weaker physically, but magically they could kill them all in a single stroke!

The captives are turned over to the party and turn out to be the Older man and young girl from the Moon Tower. The remaining giants swear to stop all hostilities or suffer the wrath of extermination.

After spending the night at the Moon Tower with the Druids, the group is taken to the Eye of the Forest and a ritual is cast allowing them to ask three questions.

The Eye of the Forest

With the information they needed gathered, and a small reward from the Druids the party sets out for home. 

Arriving back at the village of Marqest on the 12th of Symswald.  A meeting is called to discuss the next step in tracking down the villain responsible for the Never Ending Winter!!  A Fey Lord called Lord Never-be-borrowed. Where can he found? Well only the inhabitants the Frost-Hold know. 

What happens next? Who will face the secrets of the Frost-Hold??

Find out in The Never Ending Winter part 2.