Chilling Adventures in the North

Qinfaren looks wistfully up at the wall and the tower before turning back to join the others to find the other route out of town.

"Spine of the World sounds rather majestic, doesn't it?" Qinfaren asks the others. "That would be a sight to see."

He starts humming as they walk.

"But, yes, Muharg, Arogna, you're right. We have agreed to deliver packages and deliver we shall."

Shad looks dejected, but understands he will have a chance to try and fine-tune his invention soon enough. "The tinderbox is a good idea, Arogna," he says. To the others, he says, "Sorry if I got us started in the wrong direction. Just excited to make a delivery or two myself. Though I don't mind helping folks out either. Whatever the Cat Lord asks of me."

As they head out of town the same way they came in, Shad eyes the sky and tries to guess when the next storm will hit.

You wonder back through Hundelstone, back past all of the smithies and workshops, and soon find yourselves on the outskirts of the town on the western border. For now the sky remains clear from falling snow, even if it is still grey. However, the deep white blanket of snow that covers the ground, makes it difficult to move. Even with the dogs pulling the sled, the trek to Ten Town along the Ten Trail will be slow going. However, Hundelstone soon fades into the distance behind you as you make your way north west. Ten Trail stretches ever out before you.

As you go you recount your adventures so far since leaving Luskar. You first boarded the Icebreaker and met Captain Silvermane and his crew, and on the first night Muharg was a witness to something being thrown overboard. And despite his best efforts, Muharg had to return to the ship failing to save unsuccessful in his attempts at rescue. It was only later on did you discover that the assassin, Fanger Bosh, was onboard the ship. You finally defeated the wererat in Aurilssbarg after delivering a bottle of brandy to the dragonborn Glarth Druma, which was sent my the Rool, the half-orc. This was the second package that you managed to deliver.

The first package to be delivered was sent by Nezznar the Black Spider, a drow. That package turned out to be a coded letter to the duergar, Griggle Duskloch. Griggle had been working on a method of smelting raw adamantine into adamantine bars by drawing on the power from the elemental planes. This caused mephits to appear in Fireshear and cause destruction in the town.

With those two deliveries completed, that left four packages left to be delivered near Ten Town. This meant that you had to part ways with your parcel master and the crew of the Icebreaker. This lead to you saving Alvan from a battle with a yeti and in return he gave you shelter from a storm. He then took you to Hundelstone to meet his family.

As you continue along the road the wind beings to pick up and turns into a frigid wind howling around you. At least you think it's the wind.

Just past midday, on the side of the road you discover a smashed cart. Two sets of tracks lead away from the cart into a grove of snow-covered fir trees.

Qinfaren looks around as he moves to the cart, hefting his staff in one hand and swinging his shield around with the other.

"Another yeti?" Qinfaren suggests to the others.

He looks around the smashed cart for signs of anyone who needs help, and failing that looks down at the sets of tracks and tries to determine what kind of creature made them.

(Skill Check: 16  If Survival is most appropriate +6, or if Nature is more appropriate +3)

Qinfaren gives a quick look around the cart and sees nothing in the cart or around the cart apart from the tracks. Turning his attention to the tracks, Qinfaren realises that one set of tracks belong to a humanoid, whilst the other set of tracks are that of a horse's hooves. However, he spots that just a short distance away the humanoid tracks disappear.

Qinfaren points down at the tracks.

"Looks like a horse, probably the one pulling the cart," he says. "Though I can't imagine the horse is too happy to be out in this cold. Poor thing."

He looks in the direction of the horse tracks.

"Maybe the other set were whomever the cart belongs to and they decided to ride the horse."

He cups one hand around his mouth and shouts after the tracks.

"Anyone out there? Anybody need help?"

Shad peers into the grove of tree. If the trees aren't too thick, he is hoping to see a horse and person: Perception 18. "Anyone see a traveler among the grove?" he says.

He also considers what he knows of horses and animal handling: 19. "What smashed the cart? Was the horse startled enough to batter it into pieces?"

Muharg examines the cart wreck looking for signa of violence “What could have made a traveler to head into the woods after an accident?”

He then walks towards the forest threshold following the tracks and gives an eager look at his companions “Shall we? Somebody’s life might be at stake.”

Perception for signs of violence: 8

As you follow the tracks into the grove, Shad is the first to spot the grisly scene that lays before you. The first thing spotted, is the frozen remains of the horse. Besides that, is the frozen remains of a half-elf man. Both corpses are half-eaten with blood having splattered across the trees. However, in the hands of the half-elf is an iron lockbox.

Qinfaren sighs when he sees the dead horse and man.

"This is not an easy place to live," he says to the others.

He nods at the lockbox.

"That must have been important to him that he died holding it. Maybe we can figure out who he is and deliver it to his family."

Qinfaren searches through the man's pockets and whatever else might be around to see if he can find any indication of who he was and where he might have been going.

Perception: 8   

Qinfaren finds nothing of use on the remains of half-elf man but does notice the paw print of wolves in the snow.

Arogna frowns, a deep ridged frown as if the plates of her forehead were slowly colliding and pushing up a little mountain range in the middle. "Yeah, this ain't good."

She prowls around in a circle centered on the fallen man, looking through the trees for any sign that whatever did this is nearby. "Hope it's gone back to its den to sleep off the meal. Poor [an orcish curse-name applied to a victim of some misfortune, usually intended affectionately. It translates approximately as "accursed of the luck goddess"] ."

Perception 12

Arogna looks around the grove but sees no sign of any other creatures nearby. The sled dogs also seem rather peaceful whilst waiting by the sled.

"I can't see nothin," Arogna says, "And the dogs ain't bothered. Guess it's gone, for now anyways. You want that box open, Qinfaren?" She hefts her hammer meaningfully.

Seeing the paw prints Bjorn kneels down to take a closer look. The north was harsh and death was a constant companion. Shaking his head he rises to his feet, "I'll dig grave to put the body in. We may not be able to bring his body with us but at least we can stop the animals from doing any further damage."

With that Bjorn will start dig a shallow grave as best he can to bury what is left of the body.

Shad lacks any equipment for digging, but he wants to be helpful. "Should we start a fire to melt the frozen ground, Bjorn?" he says. (Helpful, but always interested in being warm.)

He also watches the area around the trees, wary of wolves. "The horse must have panicked at the smell of the wolves and crashed the cart," he says. 

When he notices Arogna gesturing with his hammer, he says, "I know a little about locks. If we want to open the dead man's possessions, I can try."

"Good idea, Shad."

Qinfaren kneels down by where Bjorn is digging. He rubs his hands together, focuses on the mistletoe around his staff for a moment and then opens his hands, showing a small burning flame.

Cast: Produce Flame 

He reaches over and places it on the ground, hoping it will help warm the ground and make it easier to dig a shallow grave.

Qinfaren then looks over at Arogna and nods. "It might hold a key to who this man was and where he was going."

"Shad, you best try first," Arogna says. "The hammer'll do the job good, but it won't do it careful, if you know what I mean."

Shad paws through his gear. While he is proficient with Thieve's Tools, he can't seem to find any among his equipment. "How embarrassing," he says. He looks back at the miles of empty snow and leagues of icy water. "Did I drop them? I would have sworn by each of the Cat Lord's hairs, I had a set," he says.

(OOC: Sorry. TheBritGeek, if possible, Shad will try Slight of Hand with his thinest dagger and a bobby pin: 7, but I understand if the answer is no dice.)

Shad attempts to pick the lock with his dagger and a bobby pin. Unfortunately, the two items are rather clumsy to use in comparison to a set of thieve's tools and Shad just cannot manage to pick the lock.