Caelius shrugs, "I ...T-R-Y Not To ...C-On-T-R-O-L Them. I Give Them ...F-O-C-U-S And ...S-H-A-P-E.... To Be ...H-On-E-S-T, I Do Not See My ...M-A-G-I-C As ...An-Other ...E-N-T-I-T-Y. My —Shadow-s Are R-E-F-L-E-C-T-I-On-s Of Me; They Are Me."

Akuma nods quietly in thought before offering Caelius a smile. "They are still powerful in their own way. Especially coming from you. We're all powerful. And frankly, it's a great change of pace compared to working alone. It's interesting to have someone to rely on. And people who rely on you."

Caelius nods, “It Is ...A-L-W-A-Y-S Good Not To Be ...A-L-On-E.”

Akuma nods quietly for a moment before offering him a smile. "Yes. It is."

You all go do your various things that evening. It turns out the Akiak have some pretty cool dances, and it's fun to talk to them (they switch to Common for your benefit if you don't speak Dwarvish). The next morning, you all meet Tel-Lir and Tel-Kas near the exit of the system. Both shifters are dressed for hard travel in furs, their weapons clean and resting easily in their sheaths. Tel-Lir nods at all of you. "The rules of the Tundra are simple. Listen to those more experienced than you, acknowledge that nature will kick your ass if you try to face it head-on, and if you see a Kalaak raiding party...run. Hopefully the largest threat we'll face out there is an aukarak, a reality storm. They're dangerous moving manifest zones, but better than the Kalaak. If you notice something at odds with the rest of our surroundings, tell me or Tel-Kas, and then listen to us. Reality storms are survivable if you know what you're doing. Once we near the coast, we'll shift to help us find your friends, but until then, we'll keep our shifting in reserve for emergencies." With that, she turns and pulls her hood up before heading into the Tundra.

Mechanic: Since you have two guides who know this place like the backs of their hands, no Survival checks will be needed from you guys for navigation. In fact, you could make it this whole journey without making a single roll, outside of Events. However, if you wish to help in some way, here are your options (choose 1 for each day):
Lookout: Any number of you can help look for hazards by rolling a Wisdom (Perception) check to represent you looking over the course of the day..
Clearing the Path: The Tundra is full of natural obstacles, from deep snow to gullies and piles of rocks. You may roll a Strength (Athletics) check to help clear your route and keep your pace faster.
Talk to Siepha: This doesn't directly assist on the journey, but you can talk to Siepha and see if you can help her channel some more of her abilities in human form. At your choice, we can either roleplay this or you can just roll a Wisdom (Insight) or Charisma (Persuasion) check to see if you can help her out. Siepha's stats are currently that of a howling hatred priest. Depending on these rolls and further events on the journey, she might "level up" and become more powerful and helpful in battle. You might even be able to help her regain control of her form, allowing her to shift into dragon form and assist that way in either battle, reconnaissance, or transportation.
Help: You can choose to Help another player with one of the above options, granting them advantage on the check.

Please inform me in the Discord of your plans for the next 5 days. Then I will start rolling for encounters.

"Un-understood, s-sir, m-ma'am" Taran says, tightening up the straps on his new winter gear and double checking everything was secure, "I-I-I'm u-usually th-the f-f-forward sc-scout, s-so I-I'll t-t-take an an-angle, h-h-help k-keep an eye out f-f-for tr-trouble."

He hesitates, "I-I w-w-would b-be h-honored to l-learn fr-from you, i-if y-you a-are w-w-willing to p-put up w-w-with m-me. An-And, um, i-in th-that v-vein, wh-what i-is a K-Kalaak?"

Tel-Kas makes a face. "The Kalaak are a tribe living in the Krertok Peninsula. They're savage monsters who like to practice ritual scarring on themselves and anyone they happen to capture on a raid. They made a push south recently, started getting all the way to the border." His eyes are dark with anger.

"But they were then driven back and greatly weakened by an Edgewalkers expedition a few months ago," Tel-Lir says calmly, to which Tel-Kas makes a dismissive noise. "They are far less of a threat now than they have been in a decade. I do not anticipate us running into them, but it pays to be careful when it comes to the Kalaak."

 "I-I-I s-see, g-g-good to know." Taran said, his hunch was that these Kalaak would be a different tribe of shifters, but in the end, he supposed that if he saw anyone forging across the tundra towards them, he could simply alert the team to hide.

"I-I b-believe I am r-ready to h-head out."

Day 1: The first day passes without event. You head along quietly, Kaori and Vishal clearing the path well while the two shifters guide you along the Tundra. Taran keeps watch and sees nothing out of the ordinary. Tel-Lir often explains why they took a certain route or something of that sort to Taran. Siepha seems to respond well to Caelius's words, engaging him quietly in conversation.

Day 2: The second day also passes with only one small incident. The eight of you pause briefly when a pair of shifters wearing a different style of clothing to Tel-Lir and Tel-Kas are spotted on the horizon. Tel-Kas closes his eyes and transforms into a more heavily furred, feral-looking version of himself before practically blurring over to them and engaging them in what seems like conversation. "They're Saartuk shifters, from a different nation to our east. We'll probably see more of them as we near the coast. Tel-Kas will find out any news from them and explain what you are doing here, and they'll pass it along to the rest of their tribe and then through the rest of the nation so we don't startle anyone," Tel-Lir explains. Sure enough, Tel-Kas returns shortly, still shifted despite more than a minute passing. "Nothing new," he says simply. "I let them know we're here. They'll keep an eye out for the Telaani guiding the other southerners as well, make sure they don't run into a Chuniigi party or anything like that." As he speaks, his fur and fangs finally recede and he returns to his normal self. After that, you continue.
If you would like to further engage with this situation, let me know in Discord and we can do so either in a private channel or lunchtime, depending on how public said engagement is. But I'm moving on to Day 3 here for expediency's sake.

Day 3: Day 3 seems to be progressing much like the others, other than Kaori's unsuccessful attempts to talk to Siepha. Until suddenly Taran spots a collection of four humans, all heavily scarred and wearing what looks like bone jewelry that's been pierced directly through their skin. Their hide armor is stained with old blood, and they're close. You didn't see them before because a line of snowmounds blocked them from view.

Taran would swiftly sign to the Shifter's letting them know of the potential threat, while loading his crossbow.

Tel-Lir looks where Taran signals before cursing softly. "Qok! Kalaak. They shouldn't be this far east, but we don't have time to deal with them. We'll have to try to slip away and alert the next group of Saartuk we see of the threat."

"Th-The C-Censer I have l-lets m-me s-s-summon an a-air el-elemental." Taran whispers back, keeping one eye on the distant group, "Th-Think it w-w-would be a g-g-good d-d-distraction o-or j-j-just g-g-get th-them hu-hunting us?"

“Let’s try some stealthing from the shadows first. Let’s keep that as a back up.” Vishal suggests, “There is still a lot of day left in case we need it.”

Akuma nods with Vishal. "I could assist with our sneaking past if needed. But I agreed we should try not to be involved if at all possible."

Caelius nods and signs,

"crr Sneak..." Kaori coos softly and slumps, her armour grinding just enough to prove her point.

“Don’t worry about your armor there, we’ll help you sneak and it’ll be no problem Kaori.” Vishal tells her with a reassuring smile 

Once everyone seems ready, Akuma nods, the shadows flickering on her arms, warping the light and area around the group to offer them a better chance at sneaking. She keeps towards the middle of the group, and unless told otherwise or provoked, maintains Pass Without A Trace up for the full hour.

Working together and thanks to Akuma's magic, you all manage to sneak away and get out of sight of the Kalaak.

Day 4: The next day you spot another Sartuuk patrol, and Tel-Kas shifts to make his way over to them and inform them of the Kalaak. This conversation is much briefer, and he's only spoken to them for a few moments before returning, while they all shift and race off to the north, rapidly vanishing from site.

Day 5: The next day seems to pass utterly peacefully. You camp that night in a circle of icy stones, and are just wrapping up dinner when suddenly Tel-Lir's eyes fix on something in the distance. Turning to follow her gaze, you see boiling towards you from the horizon a strange distortion in the air. It almost looks as if the world itself is coming in and out of focus, fragmenting like it's a mirror, with pieces of it spinning away and then coming back. It doesn't make sense, and yet there it is, like a funhouse version of the Tundra. "Aukarak," Tel-Lir breathes, eyes wide. "And it's from the Plane of Madness. Pack up camp, quickly. We need to get away before it hits."

Everyone roll Dexterity checks to see how fast you can pack camp up. You have 9 minutes until the storm hits.

Taran immediately springs to his feet, prioritizing gear in order of importance as he puts it all away and quickly as possible.

(Bonus for Fast Hands letting me use Action and Bonus Action for item interactions? I also have Expertise in Sleight of Hand, giving me an additional +6 if it can apply.)

Dex Check: 16