Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone on the map to disappear in a brilliant flash of white. You find themselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself standing at the edge of a camp, its tents holding fast against a raging blizzard.
The blizzard rages for the duration of the test and is inescapable.
All of you are not dreaming; the Frostmaiden’s magic has teleported them from Grimskalle to this camp. Each party member has a tiny, glowing, snowflake floating a few inches above them—the symbol of the Frostmaiden, which most Reghed nomads recognize and fear.
THE TEST BEGINS
The camp has run out of food, and the tribe’s hunters have failed to return because of the unyielding blizzard. The nomads have already eaten their sled dogs. Now, Gunvald has decided that desperate times require desperate measures. He plans to kill four of the tribe’s eldest members and cook them to feed the rest of the camp. His evil shaman has convinced him to take this drastic course of action. All of you are brought before King Gunvald. He treats them with respect and caution, as befits emissaries of the Frostmaiden. He has the four elders lined up outside his tent and entreats the characters to describe, in the cruelness manner possible, how you would slay them, or leave the camp at once.
"Flaying. Strip them naked, take your sharpest knives and peel their skin off, bit by bit. If you're particularly careful to avoid anything major, you could stretch the process out for a few hours, perhaps a few days if they're of a particularly strong constitution. It would of course be horribly excruciating for the elders of course, being exposed to subzero temperatures and not even having skin to keep them safe, but you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelet for the Frostmaiden. And besides, you'll have to flay them anyway in order to get the parts that you want to eat, this is merely accelerating the process."
HOW MONSTROUS OF YOU.
What does it matter to you? I'm not going to heaven or hell anyway, my morality has no impact on you receiving my soul upon my death.
NO, BUT I HAD FIGURED THAT YOU WOULD NOT WANT THE OTHERS TO HEAR YOU SUGGEST THAT.
**** them. I'm merely doing what's necessary to pass this test and stop Auril. If they're too dumb to understand what the lesser evil is, they don't have what it takes.
Shrek is too dumb to understand what the lesser evil is, so he just stands there slack-jawed as Percival describes his suggested murder process. When finished, you notice that he's slowly inching his way away from Percival....frankly a little scared of him.
Shrek clears his throat with a gentle cough, approaches King Gunvald, and in a surprising breach of character (for he's quite stupid), he cites from rote memory the following story he learned as a child:
"The elder thrashed and lowed like a cow that has been hamstrung. Teeth nicked him, might have snipped his fingers at the knuckle, he could tell from the size and sharpness of them. A great, frozen giant cannibal was making love to his hand. Then his hand slipped deeper, as the beast grunted and gulped and the mouth closed softly over his forearm, his elbow, and this couldn't be possible, no way the esophageal sheath of a monstrous throat constricted around his biceps with such force his bones creaked together, no way that he was being swallowed alive, that he was going to disappear into the belly of a giant..."
He then licked his lips suggestively, pantomiming him eating the last morsel of one of the elders he's playacting like he's about to eat, and grins an evil grin whilst stepping back. He ends his performance with a little bow.
Lucas furrows his brows, he knows this is a test, and that he needs to put on an act. Closing his eyes for a moment, he ponders, recalling his darkest moment, before speaking, "To break their bodies, is easy. However, true cruelty is born out of how deep and how large of a scar you can make on a person's spirit. You ask us for cruelty, then give them hope...bury them alive, crucify them to the walls, impale them for all to see...but when you do, promise them that if they can survive, for just a while longer, they will be free. And just as they reach that point, extend it, again and again. They will have no reason to trust your word, but it is only by your word, that they have hope. So they will scream for it, claw at their own minds, break themselves to try it....or they shall break to start, and wallow into nothingness, only to wait for the release of death....which you will not give them anyway. Not until YOU wish it."
Well look who's talking to me again. Merely processing new information. And thinking.
Oh come now, this shouldn't be too hard. You saw me kill plenty of creatures during your rearing.
Yes, but the cold is not a particularly cruel death. You mostly get very tired and then go to sleep and die.
I trust in your creativity. Do not fail me. I have plans for you.
"Pin their hands and feet to the ground with stakes. Then let frostbite finish them," Vetis says simply, pulling her hood deeper forward. "Then the meat will keep longer that way as well. If you need some of the food now, cut off their feet instead of pinning them and cook that while waiting for them to die."
Ah, there's my vicious little winter. You didn't even make any moral objections.
Sobek growls softly. ‘You can do little crueller than you already have. You have failed your tribe, and now you turn upon your elders. You have broken faith, fractured your people, and have now broken their spirits. What matters how you stop their hearts after that? If you must wallow further in your depravity, deprive their deaths of meaning. Kill them not to eat, but just to reduce the burden on the rest of the tribe.Cast their bodies out into the snow and ice.’
Satisfied, after one hour, the symbols above your head go bright, and in another white blinding flash, you are teleported back to Grimskalle. It's time to choose another test. Southweast or Southwest.
Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone in the room to disappear. You find yourselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself at the edge of a camp under clear skies. All the fires in the camp are out, and the only sound you hear is the flapping of the tents as the wind hits them. Closer examination reveals dozens of corpses half-buried in snowdrifts. It becomes clear that a massacre took place here recently. You hear the squawking of buzzards coming from the middle of the camp and see a half dozen vultures picking at two bodies outside one of the larger tents.
This camp was home to the chieftain of a clan who stood in the way of Isarr Kronenstrom’s rise to becoming king of the Wolf Tribe. All but one of the Reghed nomads in the camp have been killed by Wolf Tribe members loyal to Isarr Kronenstrom. The sole survivor is the nine-year-old son of the clan’s chieftain, a noncombatant named Aerix Vokototh who stayed alive by hiding in the snow. He was born on the Midwinter holiday and as such is blessed by Auril with resistance to cold damage. He wears only a light woolen poncho, as extremely cold weather doesn’t bother him. When the characters arrive, Aerix is cowering in the chieftain’s tent while six giant vultures feast on the corpses of his mother (the chieftain) and father (the camp’s shaman). If the characters kill two or more vultures, the others take to the sky and circle above the camp for the remainder of the test.
To pass this test, everyone must stay alive in the bitter cold until Aerix is rescued by another tribe.
The other tribe will arrive in 12 hours. Party members can weather the first 6 hours. At the end of every hour after that, each must make a Constitution saving throw. The DC is 10 plus 1 for each additional hour that passes (DC 11 at the end of the seventh hour, DC 12 at the end of the eight hour, and so on). On a failed saving throw, a character gains one level of exhaustion. Any party member who completes the watch with four or fewer levels of exhaustion passes the Test of Preservation.
Aeydof the Dragons || Wood Elf / Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk Demetrios Zalaoras || Protector Aasimar / Paladin of Torm Hawke || Kalashtar / Circle of the Moon Druid Morticia || Half-Aasimar Rogue Yvan || Goliath / Path of the Wild Soul Barbarian | Paladin of Helm /ᐠ。ꞈ。ᐟ\
"We've rested, but there's more challenges ahead. Let's get going." Percival heads towards Northwester G15. Kai follows.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
G16 - THE TEST OF CRUELTY
Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone on the map to disappear in a brilliant flash of white. You find themselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself standing at the edge of a camp, its tents holding fast against a raging blizzard.
The blizzard rages for the duration of the test and is inescapable.
All of you are not dreaming; the Frostmaiden’s magic has teleported them from Grimskalle to this camp. Each party member has a tiny, glowing, snowflake floating a few inches above them—the symbol of the Frostmaiden, which most Reghed nomads recognize and fear.
THE TEST BEGINS
The camp has run out of food, and the tribe’s hunters have failed to return because of the unyielding blizzard. The nomads have already eaten their sled dogs. Now, Gunvald has decided that desperate times require desperate measures. He plans to kill four of the tribe’s eldest members and cook them to feed the rest of the camp. His evil shaman has convinced him to take this drastic course of action. All of you are brought before King Gunvald. He treats them with respect and caution, as befits emissaries of the Frostmaiden. He has the four elders lined up outside his tent and entreats the characters to describe, in the cruelness manner possible, how you would slay them, or leave the camp at once.
"Flaying. Strip them naked, take your sharpest knives and peel their skin off, bit by bit. If you're particularly careful to avoid anything major, you could stretch the process out for a few hours, perhaps a few days if they're of a particularly strong constitution. It would of course be horribly excruciating for the elders of course, being exposed to subzero temperatures and not even having skin to keep them safe, but you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelet for the Frostmaiden. And besides, you'll have to flay them anyway in order to get the parts that you want to eat, this is merely accelerating the process."
HOW MONSTROUS OF YOU.
What does it matter to you? I'm not going to heaven or hell anyway, my morality has no impact on you receiving my soul upon my death.
NO, BUT I HAD FIGURED THAT YOU WOULD NOT WANT THE OTHERS TO HEAR YOU SUGGEST THAT.
**** them. I'm merely doing what's necessary to pass this test and stop Auril. If they're too dumb to understand what the lesser evil is, they don't have what it takes.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Shrek is too dumb to understand what the lesser evil is, so he just stands there slack-jawed as Percival describes his suggested murder process. When finished, you notice that he's slowly inching his way away from Percival....frankly a little scared of him.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Does that mean you are not participating?
Shrek clears his throat with a gentle cough, approaches King Gunvald, and in a surprising breach of character (for he's quite stupid), he cites from rote memory the following story he learned as a child:
"The elder thrashed and lowed like a cow that has been hamstrung. Teeth nicked him, might have snipped his fingers at the knuckle, he could tell from the size and sharpness of them. A great, frozen giant cannibal was making love to his hand. Then his hand slipped deeper, as the beast grunted and gulped and the mouth closed softly over his forearm, his elbow, and this couldn't be possible, no way the esophageal sheath of a monstrous throat constricted around his biceps with such force his bones creaked together, no way that he was being swallowed alive, that he was going to disappear into the belly of a giant..."
He then licked his lips suggestively, pantomiming him eating the last morsel of one of the elders he's playacting like he's about to eat, and grins an evil grin whilst stepping back. He ends his performance with a little bow.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Lucas furrows his brows, he knows this is a test, and that he needs to put on an act. Closing his eyes for a moment, he ponders, recalling his darkest moment, before speaking, "To break their bodies, is easy. However, true cruelty is born out of how deep and how large of a scar you can make on a person's spirit. You ask us for cruelty, then give them hope...bury them alive, crucify them to the walls, impale them for all to see...but when you do, promise them that if they can survive, for just a while longer, they will be free. And just as they reach that point, extend it, again and again. They will have no reason to trust your word, but it is only by your word, that they have hope. So they will scream for it, claw at their own minds, break themselves to try it....or they shall break to start, and wallow into nothingness, only to wait for the release of death....which you will not give them anyway. Not until YOU wish it."
Vetis is silent for a long moment.
Having trouble?
Well look who's talking to me again. Merely processing new information. And thinking.
Oh come now, this shouldn't be too hard. You saw me kill plenty of creatures during your rearing.
Yes, but the cold is not a particularly cruel death. You mostly get very tired and then go to sleep and die.
I trust in your creativity. Do not fail me. I have plans for you.
"Pin their hands and feet to the ground with stakes. Then let frostbite finish them," Vetis says simply, pulling her hood deeper forward. "Then the meat will keep longer that way as well. If you need some of the food now, cut off their feet instead of pinning them and cook that while waiting for them to die."
Ah, there's my vicious little winter. You didn't even make any moral objections.
Since when have I cared about mortal morality?
Stella Diamant, Human Rogue 17 (Swashbuckler), The Exploits of Misfit Company
Kat, Medtech, Cyberpunk: Red
Shi, Changeling Bard 4 (College of Spirits), Tyrant's Grasp
Dani, Human Artificer 9 (Armorer), Skulls and Starships
DM, Project Point (Teams Scimitar and Longsword)
Everything Else!
Sobek growls softly. ‘You can do little crueller than you already have. You have failed your tribe, and now you turn upon your elders. You have broken faith, fractured your people, and have now broken their spirits. What matters how you stop their hearts after that? If you must wallow further in your depravity, deprive their deaths of meaning. Kill them not to eat, but just to reduce the burden on the rest of the tribe.Cast their bodies out into the snow and ice.’
clearly unhappy, he adds
‘And then cast yourselves after them...’
Satisfied, after one hour, the symbols above your head go bright, and in another white blinding flash, you are teleported back to Grimskalle. It's time to choose another test. Southweast or Southwest.
OOC: "Southweast"?
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
THE TEST OF PRESERVATION
Opening the door to this empty room causes everyone in the room to disappear. You find yourselves whisked away to a Reghed camp in the frozen tundra of Icewind Dale. Your surroundings vanish in a flurry of snow and ice. When your vision clears, you find yourself at the edge of a camp under clear skies. All the fires in the camp are out, and the only sound you hear is the flapping of the tents as the wind hits them. Closer examination reveals dozens of corpses half-buried in snowdrifts. It becomes clear that a massacre took place here recently. You hear the squawking of buzzards coming from the middle of the camp and see a half dozen vultures picking at two bodies outside one of the larger tents.
This camp was home to the chieftain of a clan who stood in the way of Isarr Kronenstrom’s rise to becoming king of the Wolf Tribe. All but one of the Reghed nomads in the camp have been killed by Wolf Tribe members loyal to Isarr Kronenstrom. The sole survivor is the nine-year-old son of the clan’s chieftain, a noncombatant named Aerix Vokototh who stayed alive by hiding in the snow. He was born on the Midwinter holiday and as such is blessed by Auril with resistance to cold damage. He wears only a light woolen poncho, as extremely cold weather doesn’t bother him. When the characters arrive, Aerix is cowering in the chieftain’s tent while six giant vultures feast on the corpses of his mother (the chieftain) and father (the camp’s shaman). If the characters kill two or more vultures, the others take to the sky and circle above the camp for the remainder of the test.
To pass this test, everyone must stay alive in the bitter cold until Aerix is rescued by another tribe.
The other tribe will arrive in 12 hours. Party members can weather the first 6 hours. At the end of every hour after that, each must make a Constitution saving throw. The DC is 10 plus 1 for each additional hour that passes (DC 11 at the end of the seventh hour, DC 12 at the end of the eight hour, and so on). On a failed saving throw, a character gains one level of exhaustion. Any party member who completes the watch with four or fewer levels of exhaustion passes the Test of Preservation.
Shrek is also resistant to cold, just like Aerix, so he's quite comfortable keeping him company while we wait for another tribe.
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Con:7
Con:23
Con:10
Con:7
Con:9
Con:19
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Vetis tugs up her hood and settles in to wait out the night.
DC 11: 19
DC 12: 11
DC 13: 15
DC 14: 19
DC 15: 20
DC 16: 14
Stella Diamant, Human Rogue 17 (Swashbuckler), The Exploits of Misfit Company
Kat, Medtech, Cyberpunk: Red
Shi, Changeling Bard 4 (College of Spirits), Tyrant's Grasp
Dani, Human Artificer 9 (Armorer), Skulls and Starships
DM, Project Point (Teams Scimitar and Longsword)
Everything Else!
Sobek walks around the fires, using Druidcraft to light them all again, making sure they're well-fuelled against the cold.
He'll split his time between keeping the fires going, and keeping watch.
DC11: 14
DC12: 24
DC13: 21
DC14: 23
DC15: 14
DC16: 21
DC11: 10
DC12: 21
DC13: 13
DC14: 9
DC15: 15
DC16: 21
DC11: 18
DC12: 18
DC13: 25
DC14: 24
DC15: 13
DC16: 17
Aeyd of the Dragons || Wood Elf / Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk
Demetrios Zalaoras || Protector Aasimar / Paladin of Torm
Hawke || Kalashtar / Circle of the Moon Druid
Morticia || Half-Aasimar Rogue
Yvan || Goliath / Path of the Wild Soul Barbarian | Paladin of Helm
/ᐠ。ꞈ。ᐟ\
DC 11: 12
DC 12: 21
DC 13: 19
DC 14: 16
DC 15: 14
DC 16: 12
Corinne Hemlock: Dhampir courtesan and dusk huntress
Kraig Bronzeaxe: Dwarven archaeologist and guerilla archer