(OOc: Only the two dwarven maidens have a lead on the murders. They are the only ones who know about the killer, having trailed him. ) 

For those living here:

Once the group is assembled Feral and Gretta go over what they told the others with Annique and Hadi. 

"I think that Torg's caravan was heading for Bremen. He does an open shop kind of a thing. Sells wares to any and all." Feral says from the back of the tavern. 

"I will check out where he is supposed to go next and if he comes back," Gretta adds. "You do tour thing and come back. People should be safe for at least two ten-days now that ..." Her voice trails off, " well you understand." 

"Now, you should all get some sleep. Things are turning ugly out there in the wilderness toward the Spine of the World. If a whole caravan can go missing you should tread carefully."

Rooms have been prepared for each of you and Gretta tells you that she will have a good breakfast ready for you in the ùornong. Warm clothes can be bought here also. 

Annique finishes off the rest of her drink as she converses with the others.  Once Gretta mentions getting some sleep, she agrees and stands to head off to her room.  "An early start tomorrow and then we try to track down this caravan?"

Quickly heading off to her room, Annique gets right to sleep, planning to be up very early the next day. 

Jarvis nods and will head for bed. He does his best to lock and cover doors, windows etc, even bracing furniture against them where possible.

"It seems we’ll have another early morning.” Hadi sighs. “Though I agree. Let us complete our task at hand before we look into the murders here.” He then is ready to head to bed to get as much sleep as possible before having to wake up ‘early’ the next day.

Thaddeus goes to bed immediately.

A little bit of a retro posting to answer Jarvis and Thael questions.  

 OOC: I messed up that part and writing it I can see why some of you might have been frustrated about the sisters not answering. You made a good call telling me about it and don't hesitate to do that when issues appear.

Iarroris/Jarvis insight 

The sun rises early over Bryn Shander and the only way you can tell is from the light shadow that spreads overhead. 

For Thaddeus 

Food is set on the table when you get down and Gretta is already setting a few warm coats and boots on one of the tables. Several packs are also there. 

"I have prepared rations for you and your travels. " Gretta announces to the first one getting down. " It will make your trip easier." 

Wen Annique or Hadi arrives she will add; " Your guard friend came by early. Word is that there was no sighting of the caravan entering any gate." 

She looks at the group. " Looks like it's going to be a good old rescue mission for you all." 

Jarvis gathers himself in his new warm clothes and sets out after Rinn. 

Hadi wakes up groggy so ‘early’, but otherwise feeling good. Sitting down for his meal he pulls out his spellbook to check a couple things, and whistles a bit, clearly trying for some notes, and just not quite getting what he was looking for. A bit disappointing, but knowing that it’ll come in time, he shrugs, finishes his meal, grabs his pack, and is ready to go with the rest.

Annique is up early and has all her gear packed.  She thanks Gretta for relaying the message from Garend and lets the others know that the guards did not see a caravan enter the city. She quickly eats some breakfast then waits for everyone to be ready. 

"So do we just follow the road south and try to find some sign of the caravan?  And if we can't make it back here tonight...  well, does anyone know where we might safely stay?"

She glances at the warm clothing and rations as she stands near the fire while waiting.  "I have rations packed, but can carry a bit more. Is anyone else taking any?"

As the group trudges through the fresh snow still packed in the streets they can see that things seem to get back to normal. People are opening stores and going to work. Still, they hurry to close doors and windows and scurry to keep out of the biting cold. 

Moving to the gate, you find it closed but this time a friendly face comes to you.  Garend looks at the group and shrugs. 

" You are crazy going out there, but I wish you the best." His smile is bright and teasing, " Take care of each other and come back through here if you find trouble. This gate won't ever be closed for you again if you need to find refuge."

Perception check against 13 ( except Annique who can read) 

Then he shouts " Open the gates. and let these brave adventurers go forth."  He seems to be enjoying himself. 

As you move out of the ^rotection of the city walls you are once more surprised by the bitterness of the cold. For a second you want to get back, protected. 

For all: 

Annique heartily thanks Garend as she passes by him.  Once outside the city she pulls her heavy fur cloak tightly around her and scans the road ahead.  "I think we just have to follow the road south and hope we run across signs of the caravan?  Unless someone else has an idea. I'm not nearly as familiar with the territory as we head away from the Ten Towns area." 

She is open to taking whatever path others might come up with.  She has some skill at Survival and would offer to help keep the group following the road.  Others could perhaps stay vigilant for other signs. 

Annique gives Rinn a nod,  letting her continue on ahead.  She keeps to the road and prepares to follow it,  unless someone has an alternative.

He listened in silence as the dwarven sisters answered most of his questions. Race, occupation, residence, the three victims seemed to have nothing in common, besides the manner in which they meted their end - and ice knife to the heart. That did suggest a single killer for all the victims, but Thael was not sure it was enough to incriminate Sephek or even to relate the killings to Auril. The warlock had no sympathy for evil deities, feminine ones least of them all, but a creative bandit could very well try hiding behind the name of the so called Frostmaiden. It would be a good way to deal with enemies, faster than sorting them as sacrifices.

Of course, it was just as possible that some fanatical bastard had killed for their beloved mistress. The only way to be sure would be to investigate more about the victims and the council. But in that neither Gretta nor Feral seemed inclined to help. At least not in that particular moment. So be it, concluded the dark elf. It was to clan Battlehammer that he owed some loyalty. Finding the lost caravan was the priority and his compatriots thought as much. Annique updated the group on her findings and was updated on their newfound mystery. She suggested a rest and early morning, ideas echoed by Rinn and Hadi.

With a courteous if not brief farewell he headed for his room and like the night before he checked weapons and tolls. After making sure everything was in order, he entered a restful trance. In the morning he took his breakfast in silence, lost on his own mind. Outside the city the party started discussing their next step.

“I agree with you both”. Thael says to Rin and Annique, following the group. “Hadi, could you call forth your owl again? Bird-eyes view could really help”.

And not only to find tracks, but to make sure that they met whatever interfered with the caravan instead of the other way around. Not to mention that with the never-ending winter there would be no shortage of starving beasts.

The path is easy to follow. The Ten Trail once the well-traveled road linking the Icewind Dale region to the rest of Faerun is almost indistinguishable from the rest of the snowy expense. 

Luckily signs are still there to show the path to take. 

It takes a long time to travel a small distance in those conditions and you all need to stop and check your equipment from time to time to stop the biting clod from finding a way to your skin. 

After 5 hours of travel, you find yourself halfway to the Redrun Crossing. 

Survival DC 15 to read.

 For Rinn: 

Annique remains mostly quiet as the group travels through the biting cold.  While constantly being mindful of keeping herself covered and warm, she tries to keep an eye out on their surroundings.  She tries to signal to Rinn to take a brief halt - though it has been a bit shorter time than usual.  Once everyone is near she speaks loudly, trying to be heard past her face covering.  "I believe we are being trailed. Any thoughts on how to handle it?"