"Perhaps it is time to slow our walking? Unless we think we should stop and hunker down, wait it out?" she says, as Sparks buries himself inside Cirim's cloak.
She will cast Light on her shield, hoping it helps them stay together.
Etriel Darastrix agrees: "Wise advice, Lord Neldak. We should look for a shelter... as close as possible... and wait for conditions to improve."
The foreign traveler briefly prays to Sehanine Moonbow, The Mystic Seer, to lead her search, then tries to locate a possible shelter that can be reached quickly.
Good call. And you can't see a natural shelter around, but working quickly you can create enough of a barrier out of snow that you avoid the worst of the blizzard. (blizzard rules in the spoiler).
Blizzards
The blizzards that ravage Icewind Dale and harry travelers on the mountain pass are reflections of Auril’s self-imposed isolation. A blizzard in Icewind Dale typically lasts 2d4 hours, and whenever the characters are caught in one, the following rules apply until it ends.
A blizzard’s howling wind limits hearing to a range of 100 feet and imposes disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls. It also imposes disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing. The wind extinguishes open flames, disperses fog, erases tracks in the snow, and makes flying by nonmagical means nearly impossible. A creature falls at the end of its turn if it is flying by nonmagical means and can’t hover.
Visibility in a blizzard is reduced to 30 feet. Creatures without goggles or other eye protection have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight due to blowing snow.
Any creature that is concentrating on a spell in a blizzard must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of its turn or lose its concentration on the spell unless the creature is sheltered against the elements (for example, in an igloo).
Veering Off Course. It’s easy to veer off course while traveling through a blizzard, and it’s also easy for party members to become separated from one another, which is why the wisest course of action is to stay put and wait for the blizzard to pass.
If the characters travel during a blizzard, have the players designate one party member as the navigator. At the end of each hour of travel through the blizzard, the DM makes a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check on behalf of the navigator. On a successful check, the party stays on course. On a failed check, the party wanders off course, putting its members no closer to their destination than they were at the start of that hour. If the check fails by 5 or more and the party members aren’t tied together, one randomly determined party member becomes lost in the blizzard and separated from the others. If the group tries to reunite with its missing member, have the party members (including the missing one) make a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) group check at the end of each hour. If this group check succeeds, the missing party member is found, but no progress is made toward reaching the group’s intended destination that hour. The group check can be repeated after each hour spent searching for the missing party member.
The blizzard lasts for 2 hours, and once it passes, you are free to continue. Unless you slept in Bryn Shander, it is now about 9pm. So what do you want to do? (You have about 1-2 miles left to the place they lost the ingots. And it is 2.5miles back to Bryn Shandar. Also Idalie really struggles to see without torches pretty much all the time when not in a town as I just read this bit:
Illumination
So long as the Everlasting Rime lasts, natural light in Icewind Dale is never brighter than dim. In normal (non-blizzard) conditions, twilight extends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Icewind Dale is otherwise dark until Auril’s aurora or the full moon appears in the night sky.
And for reference, the Aurora is stated as starting every night just before midnight, and fading just before "dawn" (which doesn't exist so I am saying it lasts for 6 hours and is midnight till 6am)
Etriel Darastrix would like to continue, to try to close the matter... Going back to Bryn Shander to sleep and risk being slowed down again by a blizzard the next day would not please her...
You can also set up camp in the wildnerness. Which especially with some of the longer distances might be something required going forward so I've done some searching and found there are multiple ways people have run it due to everyone agreeing that the particularly harsh conditions means it shouldn't be easy to rest, and the method I like best is a long rest outside of a "safe haven" (which doesn't have to be a town. The hag cave with a campfire would count) only gives the benefit of a short rest.
“I wouldn’t want to be hit again by one of those blizzards, thank the Gods for your quick thinking Etriel and finding this temporary shelter! Can anyone predict the weather? If it make sense to move on and we won’t get hit, then fine, I’m fine to press on. If there is something coming, this is as good as a place to ride it out as any..”
"I have no magical ability to predict the weather, oh sweet guest of my soul" Etriel Darastrix smiles at Danon. "But our destination should not be far away now; that is why I would have liked to try to get there. My hope (and my estimate) is that we have a good chance of completing the journey before any more adverse weather events hit us."
After continuing on for another hour, you crest a snow-covered ridge and see a frozen, dismembered corpse in the gully in front of you. Snow covers some of the gory bits, but the headless torso and severed limbs are visible. You see tracks in the snow all around the corpse, and the tell-tale grooves in the snow left behind by a sled that has been hauled away.
Sparks sees this first so Cirim can react before the rest of you.
Cirim stops short. "Hold" she says, after a few seconds, she gasps at what her familiar sees.
"Corpses. Dismembered. I think we are here, the scene. The other side of this hill"she looks at the others, "some of maybe use to this, others can track where to go next. I. We'll I'm going to pray for a bit, send these souls onward if they are still here."
She drops to her knees, Sparks immediately lands on her shoulder, and the orc cleric begins to pray.
Etriel Darastrix briefly turns her thoughts to the Daughter of the Night Skies, Sehanine Moonbow, begging her to accompany the souls of the fallen on the special last journey from mortal life to eternal life.
The foreign traveler is acutely aware, however, that Cirim is already taking care of the souls... she, therefore, is better off putting all her talents at the service of the tracks.
The eladrin huntress therefore first examines the bodies, looking for any useful material or personal effects that can be returned to the families (the survivors can easily take care of this, oas soon as the party eets them again). Then, determined, after a brief moment of recollection with her goddess in the private intimacy of her soul, she begins to read the signs on the ground... guiding the hunt.
Danon purchases snowshoes and agrees with normal movement speed - he is excited to get underway.
You head out, following the directions. As you are travelling, you start to loose sight of the cairn, as a blizzard starts. What are you all doing?
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
"Perhaps it is time to slow our walking? Unless we think we should stop and hunker down, wait it out?" she says, as Sparks buries himself inside Cirim's cloak.
She will cast Light on her shield, hoping it helps them stay together.
"I think we should get some cover. It is too easy to get lost in a blizzard." Neldak says to Cirim
Etriel Darastrix agrees: "Wise advice, Lord Neldak. We should look for a shelter... as close as possible... and wait for conditions to improve."
The foreign traveler briefly prays to Sehanine Moonbow, The Mystic Seer, to lead her search, then tries to locate a possible shelter that can be reached quickly.
Etriel Darastrix's Guided Survival (to find a shelter): 20
If the eladrin huntress spots a possible shelter, she leads the party there, hoping to wait out the blizzard in peace...
Good call. And you can't see a natural shelter around, but working quickly you can create enough of a barrier out of snow that you avoid the worst of the blizzard. (blizzard rules in the spoiler).
Blizzards
The blizzards that ravage Icewind Dale and harry travelers on the mountain pass are reflections of Auril’s self-imposed isolation. A blizzard in Icewind Dale typically lasts 2d4 hours, and whenever the characters are caught in one, the following rules apply until it ends.
A blizzard’s howling wind limits hearing to a range of 100 feet and imposes disadvantage on ranged weapon attack rolls. It also imposes disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing. The wind extinguishes open flames, disperses fog, erases tracks in the snow, and makes flying by nonmagical means nearly impossible. A creature falls at the end of its turn if it is flying by nonmagical means and can’t hover.
Visibility in a blizzard is reduced to 30 feet. Creatures without goggles or other eye protection have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight due to blowing snow.
Any creature that is concentrating on a spell in a blizzard must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of its turn or lose its concentration on the spell unless the creature is sheltered against the elements (for example, in an igloo).
Veering Off Course. It’s easy to veer off course while traveling through a blizzard, and it’s also easy for party members to become separated from one another, which is why the wisest course of action is to stay put and wait for the blizzard to pass.
If the characters travel during a blizzard, have the players designate one party member as the navigator. At the end of each hour of travel through the blizzard, the DM makes a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check on behalf of the navigator. On a successful check, the party stays on course. On a failed check, the party wanders off course, putting its members no closer to their destination than they were at the start of that hour. If the check fails by 5 or more and the party members aren’t tied together, one randomly determined party member becomes lost in the blizzard and separated from the others. If the group tries to reunite with its missing member, have the party members (including the missing one) make a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) group check at the end of each hour. If this group check succeeds, the missing party member is found, but no progress is made toward reaching the group’s intended destination that hour. The group check can be repeated after each hour spent searching for the missing party member.
The blizzard lasts for 2 hours, and once it passes, you are free to continue. Unless you slept in Bryn Shander, it is now about 9pm. So what do you want to do? (You have about 1-2 miles left to the place they lost the ingots. And it is 2.5miles back to Bryn Shandar. Also Idalie really struggles to see without torches pretty much all the time when not in a town as I just read this bit:
Illumination
So long as the Everlasting Rime lasts, natural light in Icewind Dale is never brighter than dim. In normal (non-blizzard) conditions, twilight extends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Icewind Dale is otherwise dark until Auril’s aurora or the full moon appears in the night sky.
And for reference, the Aurora is stated as starting every night just before midnight, and fading just before "dawn" (which doesn't exist so I am saying it lasts for 6 hours and is midnight till 6am)
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Etriel Darastrix would like to continue, to try to close the matter... Going back to Bryn Shander to sleep and risk being slowed down again by a blizzard the next day would not please her...
The others?
You can also set up camp in the wildnerness. Which especially with some of the longer distances might be something required going forward so I've done some searching and found there are multiple ways people have run it due to everyone agreeing that the particularly harsh conditions means it shouldn't be easy to rest, and the method I like best is a long rest outside of a "safe haven" (which doesn't have to be a town. The hag cave with a campfire would count) only gives the benefit of a short rest.
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Neldak would either want to camp or continue.
OOC: Have we rested since the hag fight?
“I wouldn’t want to be hit again by one of those blizzards, thank the Gods for your quick thinking Etriel and finding this temporary shelter! Can anyone predict the weather? If it make sense to move on and we won’t get hit, then fine, I’m fine to press on. If there is something coming, this is as good as a place to ride it out as any..”
(you've rested since the hags)
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
"I have no magical ability to predict the weather, oh sweet guest of my soul" Etriel Darastrix smiles at Danon. "But our destination should not be far away now; that is why I would have liked to try to get there. My hope (and my estimate) is that we have a good chance of completing the journey before any more adverse weather events hit us."
Cirim agrees with Etriel and Neldak, "Let's keep going!"
With the blizzard over, she'll let Sparks out to fly and scout, staying about 100 feet in front of the group and returning if he see's anything.
After continuing on for another hour, you crest a snow-covered ridge and see a frozen, dismembered corpse in the gully in front of you. Snow covers some of the gory bits, but the headless torso and severed limbs are visible. You see tracks in the snow all around the corpse, and the tell-tale grooves in the snow left behind by a sled that has been hauled away.
Sparks sees this first so Cirim can react before the rest of you.
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Cirim stops short. "Hold" she says, after a few seconds, she gasps at what her familiar sees.
"Corpses. Dismembered. I think we are here, the scene. The other side of this hill" she looks at the others, "some of maybe use to this, others can track where to go next. I. We'll I'm going to pray for a bit, send these souls onward if they are still here."
She drops to her knees, Sparks immediately lands on her shoulder, and the orc cleric begins to pray.
Etriel Darastrix briefly turns her thoughts to the Daughter of the Night Skies, Sehanine Moonbow, begging her to accompany the souls of the fallen on the special last journey from mortal life to eternal life.
The foreign traveler is acutely aware, however, that Cirim is already taking care of the souls... she, therefore, is better off putting all her talents at the service of the tracks.
The eladrin huntress therefore first examines the bodies, looking for any useful material or personal effects that can be returned to the families (the survivors can easily take care of this, oas soon as the party eets them again). Then, determined, after a brief moment of recollection with her goddess in the private intimacy of her soul, she begins to read the signs on the ground... guiding the hunt.
Etriel Daratsrix Guided Survival: 17
Neldak looks over the scene with a little bit of confusion. "Why would a yeti take the sled? That doesn't make sense."