Chilling Adventures in the North

Muharg raises his shield in a precise move to avoid the beast claw, then retaliates with another swing of his axe.

Attack: 18; for 10 damage.

The man's call for help heard, Bjorn wastes little time in drawing his bow and letting an arrow fly at the beast.

Attack: 18 Damage: 11

"Alright," Shad whispers to himself, "it's attacking Muharg. Clearly it is no ally of mine." He casts Toll the Dead (WIS DC 12 save) on the creature for 7 damage if it is healthy and 10 if it is wounded.

Qinfaren winces at the sight of the man's attack on the creature and then on its swipe back and then the near hit on Muharg. Right or wrong, these are his friends and he will stand with them.

He quickly moves around to help form a circle around the creature, moving to flank it, lifts his staff high, feeling the mistletoe under his fingers, shouts "Virgam magicae," and then takes a swipe at the creature.

Bonus Action: Casts Shillelagh  

Action: Attack: 25 Damage: 9  Magic Damage

Arogna growls at her miss, and brings the hammer down again.

Warhammer 2h 22 to hit for 9 damage

Bjorn fires his arrow which sails through the air and manages to pierce into the creature's side. This is quickly followed by Shad casting Toll the Dead. Unfortunately, the beast does not seem to be affected by the spell.

With the monster now weakened, the man once again swings his greataxe.

(Attack: 9 Damage: 6 slashing damage)

 However, in the man's weakened state he can barely life the great axe and completely misses the creature.

Arogna, now angered by her failed previous swings, swings her warhammer once more. This time she is much more successful. 

Muharg quickly follows this by swinging his axe and embeds it into the creature's side.

However, the final blow to the monster is dealt by Qinfaren as he swings his Shillelagh-empowered staff.

Now with the white-furred beast toppled over dead, next to another one of its kind, the man that you fought alongside with falls to his knees.

Muharg pays no attention to the fallen creature, he instead  goes down on one knee by the exhausted man and places on hand on his shoulder “Are you all right, lad? Tell us, whar happened here?” He then turns to his friends “I’m out of healing energy, how are you all doing?”

Qinfaren looks around at his companions and nods with a half smile on his face. It looks like they all came through this uninjured. But the man on the ground can't say the same.

He moves closer to the fallen human and quietly says "Sermo qui sanat."

Casts: Healing Word and heals 6 HP

Qinfaren looks around at the continually falling snow and the icy winds.

"We should get him inside. Even with this bit of help, he might not last long out here."

With Qinfaren's magical help, the man manages to struggle to his feet. "That's funny I was just about to say the same thing to you lot. This blizzard will you just as sure as the yetis if you stay out in it!"

He makes his way over to the cabin and holds the door open for you all.

Arogna nods and crouches down beside one of the clawed beasts, poking it with her hammer to make sure it is going to stay dead. "We should, an' these an' all. Don't want more wolves comin'. This your house?"

Qinfaren hesitates for a moment.

"Yetis?" he asks with a sense of awe in his voice. "I've heard of those."

He reaches down and touches the fur of one of the creatures for a moment. He closes his eyes and focuses on the feel of the fur. He gets to his feet and heads to the cabin.

"Better inside than out here much longer," Qinfaren says.

Even if the human turns out to be untrustworthy, the four of them should be able to handle him in his current state. Just before he steps through the doorway, he looks back and calls to the dogs.

"Come on you two."

Arogna drags the sledge over to the front wall of the house. Hopefully the packages will be alright outside, and she would rather the strange dagger was outside anyway. She follows inside the house. "This is real nice of you," she tells the man. 

Shad helps get the sledge close to the house. Then, hoping for fire, he joins the others inside. "I am Shad," he says to the man they helped. "We make deliveries. What do you do? And are there likely to be more yeti?"

“Yetis you said? Is that what you call...” Gestures with his hand at the white furry corpses “these fellows here? Interesting. Are they a common threat on these lands?” He then proceeds to the inside of the house, adjusts his belt and continues “Thank you for your hospitality, we’ll really appreciate the warmth. Would it be possible for us to spend the night? We can pay you some coin of course.” Then turns to the others “What do you think, lads, should we stay for the night if we are welcome?” Looks back to the man “Oh! Please forgive our manners, let me introduce ourselves. He is Shad, as he just said, the tall bald one over there is Bjorn, then Qinfaren, this fair lady here is Arogna and my name is Muharg. We are here on a courier endeavour. What should we call you, sir?”

"No," the man replies to Muharg. "The yetis normally stick to higher ground. It is not common to see them down here. But please come inside my home."

Once you have entered the cabin you discover that it is warm and surprisingly spacious, given its quaint appearance. The man put a brass kettle over the fire before sitting down in a large chair.

"The kettle should be ready in a few moments," the man informs you. "I am Alvan Shorthelm, but you may have heard of my parents... well, my adopted parents. They are master smiths in Hundelstone Falstaff and Grimelda Shorthelm. I don't live with them any more, but I still train as an apprentice every day."

He then pauses to wait for any response given. It is here though, next to the fire, that you really do get a chance to see Alvan. Even under his thick clothing, you can see that he has large muscles, most likely from working in a smithy all day. He is hair is long but he keeps it tidy. He has some facial hair which is kept short and groomed. However, even sitting down, Alvan still has a large form, which must be six and a half feet tall when standing up right.

Well aware of the dangers of blizzards, Bjorn gratefully accepts Alvan's hospitality. Making sure to dust of the snow of his shoes and clothes at the door, Bjorn joins the man in his home,  "Well met Alvan Shorthelm. Thank you for allowing us into your home. I am Bjorn of the Akannathi tribe of Skytower Shelter. As you have said it is rare to see yetis this low, is this the first time this has happened?"

Qinfaren warms his hands by the fire while looking at Alvan.

"I wonder if something pushed the yeti away from their homes," Qinfaren says in his loud voice. "You're quite large for a human, aren't you?"

He then offers his hand to Alvan.

"As Muharg said, I'm Qinfaren. Back home they call me Qinfaren the Quiet," again in a loud voice that is trying to be quiet. "I think it's because I find it very hard to be quiet."

"Thank you, Alvan, for sharing your warmth and shelter," Shad says. "I think we are all very glad to have it." He rubs his hands, cups them, and blows into them in an effort to warm up. "Do you know Hundelstone well? I think we will be making a delivery there. And," he asks, "are there ways we can repay you for your generosity?"

When the tea is ready, Shad will offer and try to help distribute it. If there is a pause in the conversation, he will ask, "What could drive yeti from anyplace they want to be?"

Arogna laughs at Muharg's introductory compliment. "Thanks, man. I ain't no lady though, I gotta be honest."

While the others discuss the yetis, she scratches the dogs behind the ears and drinks her tea, enjoying the contrast with the cold wind and driving snow outside. "We got a whole bunch a meat on the sledge, if you wants it," she will offer if dinner is discussed.

Alvan lets out a deep hearty chuckle at Qinfaren's comment about his size, "So you have observed. I think you are quite right, which is funny when you consider that I was raised by dwarves. Though, I suspect that I might not be completely human. Not that I would know. My parents might not know either, or at least they don't tell me."

At that moment the kettle bigs to whistle. Alvan gets up from his chair and, using a rag, he fetches the kettle off of the fire. He then turns around and places it on the table. The brass kettle now sits on top of another rag next to some brass goblets.

"Warm mean, anyone? Help yourselves, but please don't wait on my account."

Before sitting back down Alvan moves to the back of the cabin and begins to rummage around. After a moment he returns with some warm furs. The oldest of the furs he places on the floor next to the dogs, and the rest he gives to you.

"There's no need to thank me for my hospitality. You came in the nick of time. If you hadn't shown up, I'd be gone."

He then sits back down in his chair.

"As for what brought the yetis down this way, I do not know. However, they are not the only creatures that have been acted strangely in recent tendays."