Tink grins at Connak's question but decides to bite her tongue when Tabesha'l responds before her. Trying to stifle her giggles she instead busies herself with final preparations before stepping forward through the portal.

"Alright Whisker this is it!"

The party winds down the long corridor and before long an icy wind blasts through the passage that chills them to the bone. Pushing forward, they see light up ahead and eventually emerge from the tunnel onto a narrow pathway that corkscrews up the jagged, snowcapped mountain. High above, they see the old dwarven fortress known as Icespire Hold.

The citadel consists of two separate structures: the gatehouse to the east and the main fortress to the west, which are joined by stone bridge between them. The see nor hear any sign of the dragon, though the howling wind drowns out most other sounds...even when talking, the party must raise their voices to nearly a shout to be heard by one another.

As they move along the path, they reach southward facing side of the gatehouse. From here the party has a clear view of the valley below, and can even see the tiny hamlet of Phandalin nearly thirty miles to the southwest. Black smoke curls upwards from the village, though from this distance it is difficult to tell whether it is the consolidation of the cooking fires of the families that dwell there, or the ashes of ruin left in the wake of orcish invaders...

Tabesha'l stares at the smoke from Phandalin, finally turning a concerned face towards the rest of her party then shouting through the howling wind:

" Mayhaps we may try and hide our approach ? This-here path is much too open for my taste !"

Uncharacteristically, the elven mage doesn't seem to wear the telltale quivering aura of her Mage Armor spell today. Squinting against the freezing weather, she's grabbing the sides of her pointy wizard's hat, wrapping them like wings on both sides of her face to keep it from being blown away by the driving wind; the tip of her chin and neck are wrapped in a long, thick woolen scarf of greyish purple she pulled out of her pack. Her fur-coated, high-laced and much too polished leather boots seem ill-fit for this tortuous mountain path...

All in all, she looks less-than-excited by the prospect of facing the fortress head-on, gatehouse or not.

At Tabesha'l's question, Tink rummages through her assortment of bags and the various vials that are attached to her belt before shaking her head, "Unfortunately it seems that I do not have anything with me that could help us. However if we waited I could prepare something that would make a single person invisible. I doubt we would to use up even more time though."

She surveys the scene and shrugs, "Just try to be as quiet as possible as we approach?"

Connak surveys the situation and says, "The dwarves didn't build this place and this path so those that approach could hide.  And none of us had the presence of mind to think about preparing ourselves for cold weather.  So lets not stand here losing heat and hurry to get inside.  Hopefully Cryovain won't have guards keeping watch."

The party makes their way around the winding path until they come to a large stone door. It stands slightly ajar.

Minsys looks towards the others to for confirmation that they are ready.  Connak seems that he wants to head in there first and initially, Minsys thinks it's a bad idea.  However, he's been with the Elf long enough to realize he's quite light footed and quiet.  If that let's us get the drop on Cryo, then worth every drop of the dragon's spilt blood.  Instead of stepping though, Minsys pulls out a javelin from his back and takes a quick look inside before offering Connak the entrance.

Perception 7

 As Minsys moves to take a look inside, Tink douses him with a spray of mist from her gauntlet, "A little damp, but it will enhance your abilites for a short while."

Cast Guidance on Minsys

As Minsys looks inside, he sees four saddled riding horses are kept in stalls. A fifth stall stands empty.

ICESPIRE HOLD FEATURES

Icespire Hold is situated at an altitude of 2,500 feet and surrounded by sheer, icy cliffs. Other features of the location are summarized below.

Arrow Slits. When using an arrow slit for protection, a creature gains three-quarters cover (see the rulebook) against outside threats. A Medium character can’t squeeze through an arrow slit, but a Small character can with a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

Ceilings. Rooms and passageways in the gatehouse and fortress have 15-foot-high, arched ceilings. Ceilings in the undercroft are 8 feet high and flat.

Doors. Normal doors are made of wood fitted with rusty iron handles and hinges. Secret doors are made of stone and blend in with the surrounding walls. Finding a secret door requires a search of the wall and a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.

Light. Interior areas with no natural light to illuminate them are completely dark.

Temperature. The temperature is slightly above freezing during the day and plunges at night. Whenever the temperature is at or below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, a creature exposed to the cold must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw at the end of each hour. Creatures with resistance or immunity to cold damage automatically succeed on the saving throw, as do creatures wearing cold weather gear and creatures naturally adapted to cold climates. On a failed saving throw, the creature has disadvantage on ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws, and its speed is halved. The creature freezes to death if it suffers these effects for six consecutive hours. These effects end on the creature after it spends at least an hour in a place of warmth.

Seeing riding horses in the stalls, still saddled, raises a lot of questions in Connak's mind.  He'll point this out to the group, then he'll sneak over to the nearest horse and try to find clues as to whom they could belong by looking at their tack, in the saddle bags or for brands on the horses themselves.

Stealth: 23

Investigation: 14

Animal Handling (if necessary): 11

Connak moves into the second stall and inspects the horse. He finds no identifying marks or emblems that would identify their owners as belonging to a well-known organization or military unit. Glancing into the adjacent stalls, he sees that each horse is outfitted with different types of saddles, reins, bridles, etc. which would also suggest a non-military affiliation due to their lack of uniformity. The horses are old, but in good condition and appear to have been adequately fed and sheltered. A quick search of the saddlebags reveals nothing of value or that could otherwise be used to identify ownership of the horses.

As Connak finishes up his inspection and looks towards Minsys, the horse gently lifts its tail and drops a massive load of fresh dung on the hay-strewn stone floor. 

Connak will mention to the others that the saddled horses imply others are here.  He will then stealthily move down to the corner (8 squares below Minsys) and peek into the next area.

Stealth: 20

Despite his best attempt at a quiet approach, when Connak looks around the corner, he sees four figures standing in a square hall staring back at him. "C'mon out little one, we know you're there...saw you coming up the pass through the arrow slits we did, you an' your friends. Don't make me send Jabarl over there to fetch you now, just cooperate an' everything'll be just fine."

The one speaking is a lean, hard-looking human woman with cold eyes and several scars across her face. 

Connak will stand a little bit more in the open (same square, just not using the corner for cover anymore) and motion to the rest of the party to move up.  Connak says to the strangers, "If you want to talk, I have just the person to introduce to you."

Tabesha'l, upon hearing the conversation and seeing Connak signaling to them, decides to follow her intuition and daintily takes position about a dozen feet behind the archer along the western wall, out of sight of the roughnecks. She quickly sends a mental note towards the wood elf, using her Message ability: " I daresay thou art doing quite well here, Thuniviel dearest ! Do what thou doeth best and taunt away ! Earn us time, while I test their loyalties here..."

As she says this, she focuses her attention on her pointed hat and attempts to invoke a new cantrip...

The hat connects with the Weave in an instant and she manages to manifest the illusion of a distant roar up in the air directly above the gatehouse, accompanied by the approaching sound of the beating of great wings. 

She smiles to herself satisfyingly, then sends another quick flurry of telepathic notes to her group:

" Tis but a simple parlor trick, but yonder ruffians' reaction will surely betray their intentions as to our draconic prey, shall it not ? Let us watch and observe !"

Connak sees the four ruffians look skyward as the sound of Tabesha'l's "dragon" manifests far above them....seconds later a second dragon roar is heard followed by the beating of another set of wings...

Minsys rushes up javelin still in hand and stops by his friend.  He looks at them hard and then over towards the sound of the dragon.  "We are hear to slay the dragon.  You either help, get the he'll out of the way or die... Choose!"

"That's OUR dragon to be slayin'" says the scar-faced woman, "now, if you'll kindly lay down your weapons and be on your way, we'll get to exactly that," she follows as she draws her sword and points it in Minsys' and Connak's direction.

Connak, not appreciating the sword pointed at him, guffaws, "I surely won't get in the way.  Have at it.  But I'm not laying down my weapons.  I'll need them if you fail."  Connak will clearly put his arrow away and sling his bow across his back, so as to appear to be disarming.

Minsys whips his head around to Connak. "What!  You're giving these 2nd rate hacks our kill?"  He grumbles a little before looking at the rival group.  "Fine, go have first Crack.  When it goes to shite it will be our turn and we'll clean up your mess."