Rime of the Frostmaiden - Adventure

As the snowball hits Marva square in the back, the dragonborn turns her head, “No fair, Ophelia! I’m trying to hold this pole! Throw some at Olfin!” She sticks the end of it into a snowbank, gathers a snowball to throw back at Ophelia with a smile. She then divides her attention between Ophelia and the area all around the house. (Perception: 17)

Olfin, following along with the group and upon seeing the disturbance, quickly glances at the lantern. Bright Green. He thinks to himself, so this is what adventuring is like. I LIKE IT, he thinks to himself. 

He whispers a few inspiring words to Marva in hopes of enticing this bugg... Cute little one to come with us. 

Olfin, upon hearing "snowball fight" gets a childish, but wicked grin and starts to gather snow.

Marva, you see little tracks going out back of the house. They are three sets of tiny footprints with a thin furrow behind them, as if the three were dragging something behind them. The tracks lead to a small gap in the town wall, a gap that is only one or two inches wide and tall. Since the wind and snow have not removed the tracks, you guess that the chwingas were here just a few minutes ago. Meanwhile, there is cutlery on a string, snowballs in the air, poems being spouted, and illusions flying about, all trying to lure the illusive chwingas out. The lantern is green but is getting slightly less green. 

Olif, coming back to his senses and seeing the lantern light growing fainter, says "Hey, hold up. I think they are moving away." He then moves in the direction of the tiny steps. 

Dvu gets excited and starts to track the footprints, asking for the lantern to follow as a guide, he bends down trailing the footprints.  “Come, quickly!  Bring your cutlery, but not in a we-are-going-to-eat-you manner!”

Survival : 14

At Marva's smiling protest, Ophelia grins and chucks her second snowball in Olfin's general direction, then takes off at a trot.  Giggling as if this is the first fun she has had in months, if not years, the she-elf weaves and dodges to try to avoid frigid projectiles thrown by others.

Yet when Olfin and Dvu point out that the Chwingas have likely exited the town walls through the little gap and she notices that the green light from Ellora's lantern is growing fainter, her laughter subsides to a smile and Ophelia hastens to follow the goliath guide, chasing after the source of the tiny Chwinga footprints and whatever they were dragging away, still hopeful at the chance of a potentially playful side of winter to juxtapose the implacable, deadly one.

(Presumably none of the PCs, least of all Dvu, can fit through the few inch wide/tall gap in the town walls through which the tracks lead?  We need to find a nearby gate to get outside the walls and relocate the tracks... that or scale the walls, which seems unlikely.)

“They really were here!” says Marva in wonder. “Look at those little tracks! But we’d better run around to the other side of the town wall, don’t you think?” She starts to head toward the town gate, only hesitating to see if the rest will follow, especially Ellora with the lantern.

Dvu is so intent on the tracks, he is looking directly down and sniffing, he doesn’t see the size of the break in the wall ahead.  He goes right up into the wall headfirst, collapsing down with a thump on the ground, dazed for a moment.  He hears Marva, stating to run around to the other side.  "Sure..." it comes out woozy.  "Maybe somebody stay here to nab 'em if they try to sneak back through.  Let's go round and get 'em."  He comes to his knees, then with effort stands, running after the Dragonborn.  

Ellora too notices the green light in the lantern fading and nods to the others, quickly following them. "Wait, Dvu!" She calls out, but it is too late as the massive golith literary heads into the town wall. "Hey you, luckily it was only your head huh." She says with a teasing smile as she keeps following the others towards the nearest town exit, also calling on Oculus from his cosy demi-plane abode, instructing the trusty snow owl to follow the tracks on the other side of the wall and try to spot the curtlery thieves and see where they are heading.

Oculus perception if relevant: 18

Dvu uses his head to come to the conclusion of the search inside the town (OOC - great picture, Twombley!), so the team decides it must exit the town to chase the chwingas.

Ellora sends her snow owl to follow the tracks. It circles as far as it can while still reporting back to Ellora (100') and uses its superior sight (120') to look for tracks. It finds them heading into a clump of pine trees not far from the intersection of the wall and the lake.

The party goes through town and sees the lantern return to its disappointing but expected yellow color. When exiting the gate, one of you says hopefully to the guards, "Be right back!" You also see the fishmonger and her pile of fish slowly heading towards Bryn Shander - it is clear she will never make it during what passes for daylight at the rate she is going.

You step off the perceptible path to circle the wall. Whomever is leading, make a Survival check with Advantage (DC 10) to find the tracks. As you make slow progress along the wall towards the lake, the lantern starts to resume its green color.

Who if anyone stays behind in town by the small opening? 

Normally, Marva would be happy to let the goliath guide do the guiding. However, he seems to be a little delayed by his enthusiasm and she is running ahead. (Survival with advantage: 13 and natural 20 + 3!)

Olfin is right up there.

Drift grumbles to himself. He sees the fading light. The fisherwoman risking her death to travel to Bryn Shander alone. The snow. The green flame. 

“Ice Witch’s Toe!” He spits, before marching after them, at the back of the line. “We’re all going to freeze to death! You do know that don’t you, Dvu? Chasing wee magical creatures into the wild is a thing for Moonshae ffolk ‘nd elves! Not ten town people!”

Ophelia hesitates as Drift admonishes Dvu that Ten Town people should not chase after strange elemental magic creatures into the wilds.

“Ice Witch’s Toe!” He spits, before marching after them, at the back of the line. “We’re all going to freeze to death! You do know that don’t you, Dvu? Chasing wee magical creatures into the wild is a thing for Moonshae ffolk ‘nd elves! Not ten town people!”

Her voice is soft.  "Aye, we shall freeze and the Ten Towns with us if we wait too.  Is this Auril's way?  First daylight and summer forsake these lands.  The lakes freeze next, and the beasts above water which yet survive in the cold perish too, depriving the people of fish and meat.  As the seasonless years grind on, the trees recede as their sap solidifies, leaving nothing to burn for warmth.  Not long after, the howling winds stack snowdrifts a hundred feet high, rendering roads impassable.  Turning each town into its own prison.  And in the end, when whatever waits behind the veil of Winter and the ghostly light in the sky comes to claim us, we shall find that we have been freezing to death all along.  It is only a slow death until it becomes a fast one."

Yet seeing that the others are all continuing the pursuit (if indeed Drift follows them), Ophelia implicitly volunteers to wait by the small opening through which the Chwingas apparently departed with their loot of kitchen utensils.  She takes a torch from a sack that is bound to her pack and lights it with a gesture and word in Elvish (Druidcraft).  Then, holding the illumination aloft, she waits in vigil at the gap in the wall, walking in slow circles to stay warm.

Ophelia's Passive Perception:  12 (let me know if an active Perception roll is needed)

(If instead, Drift would like to stay behind, Ophelia would instead hand the lit torch to him, then turn to follow the others - Nope she'll stay back.)

((Drift may be less useful in a tussle than Ophelia, so he’s happy to wait by the gap, but if there’s any tool use or such he might be quite useful. I think he’d follow them, if Ophelia is willing to wait by the gap?))

"Oculus reports that the chwingas are heading for the trees over there." The young white-haired woman says excitedly, pointing over at the pine trees not far from intersection of the wall and the lake, picking up her pace in that direction, hoping that the light in the lantern would go even greener. "No one's going to freeze to death, not today, come on, if we catch a chwinga quickly we can return to Bryn Shander and help that fishlady too." She adds with an encouraging smile.

Month: Hammer, Day: VII, Time: 1215

Ophelia stays behind, guarding the gap. After watching everyone depart, the old lady approaches Ophelia to ask, What's wrong, sweetie? Don't you wanna help an old lady? The old lady is close enough to pet Ophelia's hair, which she reaches out to do. 

With Marva leading the way, the party makes quick but tiring progress through the snow and ice. Between the increasingly green light from the lantern and assistance of Oculus, you find three little figures with frizzy hair playing on a snowbank in a clearing amongst the pine trees. They have a dinner plate with branches and pinecones arrayed on it. One chwinga is sitting at the edge of the plate while the two others are moving a fork and a knife as if to cut and eat the “food.” The chwingas look at you when enter the clearing. The chwinga not holding a piece of cutlery starts moving its hands, mimicking eating while looking up at the characters and making welcoming gestures. Another looks and points with the spoon it is holding at the pole with its collection of cutlery attached. The third pats its stomach and continues to mimic eating. You catch your breath and .... 

"Well aren't you the cutest." Ellora says with a giggle and a warm smile to the frizzy-haired figures, offering them some of her rationed food from her backpack, gently placing it on the dinner plate among the branches and pinecones for the chwingas to feast upon. "I don't know if you can understand what I say but how would you consider coming along and meeting with a friend of ours that could offer you an abundance of food and civilized trinkets?" She says softly with a gentle and friendly tone, trying her best to show the same with her hands.

Lucky persuasion if relevant: 17

Quote from BillM328897 >>

Ophelia stays behind, guarding the gap. After watching everyone depart, the old lady approaches Ophelia to ask, What's wrong, sweetie? Don't you wanna help an old lady? The old lady is close enough to pet Ophelia's hair, which she reaches out to do.

Ophelia stands, torch in hand, shivering slightly in the cold and skittish like a doe as the devious ice hag avatar of Auril old lady draws close.

The lucid part of her mind wonders why the strange woman seems less frantic now about her lost cutlery and torment at the hands of the Chwingas.  And why she seems to be reaching out to touch her head.  But Ophelia's lucidity has been a transient thing.  What she proclaims aloud is:

"And all who see shall stop and stare,
And all shall cry, Beware! Beware!
Her flashing eyes, Her floating hair!
Weave a circle round Her thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For She on Winter's light hath fed,
And froze the tears of Paradise."

Making no direct move to prevent the old lady from touching her hair, Ophelia nevertheless stands ready in case of aggressive actions or magic.
(Will use Lucky Feat to impose disadvantage on any attack/spell-attack roll or confer advantage on any saving throw Ophelia may have to make.)