Chilling Adventures in the North

Arogna deflates slightly but visibly. "Guess we better save the tavern-crawlin' for when we gets back then, and needs it more. We all done?" She gestures around at the remains of breakfast, and pockets any remaining meat wrapped in a handkerchief to give to the dogs later.

“I’m all set! Shall we, lads?”

"Smiths are often warm places. Glaciers are often cold. But, I'll love the warmth more once I've been chilled." Shad puts on one coat and then another. "I'm ready," he says.

Qinfaren claps his hands together, gathers his gear and gets ready to leave.

"If we move quickly," Qinfaren says to Shad with a smile, "you'll feel warm enough."

He looks to the others and then nods his thanks to Ogden.

"Looks like we're all ready. Off to Caer-Dinival."

After taking a short time to prepare, you depart from Bryn Shander shortly after dawn. You travel out of the city along the Eastway, a wide dirt highway that connects Bryn Shander to several of the other towns. Your journey through the arctic landscape is cold but uneventful. By dawn on the third day of travel, you stand at the base of Kelvin’s Cairn prepared to climb the mountain.

Shad considers the mountain. He has rope and spare daggers that might work as pitons. He will use what he know about survival (11) to suggest a route up the mountain, but he is very open to what more experienced folks, especially Bjorn, have say.

Qinfaren looks up at the mountain.

"I was really expecting just a few rocks stacked on top of each other," he says taking in the mountain in front of them. "Odd place for a delivery."

Qinfaren then looks around, searching to see if he can see a route or trail that people might normally use to go up.

Perception (or Survival - same modifier): 19 

Arogna nods. "Yeah. This Kelvin was havin' a laugh, I guess. He better be home when we get up there. Where is his home at, anyways?" She scans the mountain for any sign of a dwelling.

Perception 6

Shad notices what seems to be a trail near the bottom of the mountain that others must have used recently. Qinfaren, however, notices that on the mountain, buried in the snow, are many corpses that are rimed with frost.

Arogna looks around but the only dwellings she finds are those of the nearby Caer-Konig that you had departed from that morning.

Qinfaren points out the frozen corpses to the others.

"Shad, you mentioned something about the undead being involved with this delivery, didn't you?" Qinfaren asks. "Might be best if we keep an eye on these poor souls as we make our way up."

Muharg looks uphill and sniffs sharply “Well then. Let’s see what awaits us up there.” He then turns to his friends “Be wary, lads, for Arthur Cimber is supposed to be about to face an army of undead, so some of those nasty creatures might be scattered about. Anoyone sees a way up? Bjorn?”

After Qinfaren’s warning, Muharg nods at the firbolg “It’s great that you spotted them, Qinfaren. Let’s double our caution and keep our eyes peeled.” He then will expand his senses when they are less than 30 feet away from a frozen corpse, trying to feel whether or not those might be undead.

Divine Sense on the first frozen corpse the group gets close to.

(OOC: Muharg will actively be looking for any suspicious movement on the climb up.) 

Perception: 23

At the bottom of the mountain, Muharg senses no undead nearby, and neither does he notice any movements as he begins his climb.

Shad points out the trail he noticed. "That's a trail head, isn't it?" he says. He will also search his pockets until he finds his Luckstone. He squeezes it, remembering everything he knows about asking the Cat Lord to make undead flee.

"There is a particular blessing the Cat Lord gives, my friends," he says. "It will make us all very well hidden. We will be able to pass without a trace, perhaps surprising or creeping by any foul undead. What do you think? Too soon?"

"That is indeed a nice boon the Cat Lord grants you." Nods Muharg, "I just tried to feel any undead presence in the area and doesn't seem to be one nearby. The area I can sense is not too extensive though, so..." he then thinks for a moment, before asking "How long would that blessing last for, Shad?"

As you stand there looking at the route up the mountain, you realise that the dogs would have had difficulty following you up whilst pulling the sled. Thankfully, you had the good sense, and fortune, to have left the sled and dogs with Glen the friendly half-elf who owns the tavern in Caer-Konig.

(Just a quick explanation of where the dogs are whilst you climb Kelvin's Cairn.)

"I'd sooner no dead folks sees us," Arogna says with a frown. "An' the guy we're deliverin' to might get nervous an'all if he spots five'v us headin' up hill. We can always climb quicker like, if it don't last long."

Shad says, "Hmm. Usually, [Tooltip Not Found] lasts as long as I can focus on it or an hour. So, a good amount of time. But it you're not feeling the presence of any undead, should we wait?" Shad eyes the mountain, already suspicious of it. 

"I think we had better get going," Qinfaren says. "We don't want to lose daylight on our way up."

He starts humming a tune to himself and starts up the pathway that Shad had found.

"I'd guess we have more than an hour ahead of us," he says over his shoulder. "We can't see anything dangerous on this first part so I think I'd wait until we get up the path a bit before calling on your Cat Lord"

"Good advice, Qinfaren," Shad says. He will pull his coats tight and follow the others.

Arogna offers to bring up the rear. She breathes in deep lungfuls of the cold mountain air, and looks around at the scenery with appreciation. "This is proper walkin'."