Chilling Adventures in the North

Qinfaren kneels down and looks through the ice at the giants.

"No. I saw a similar skeleton but it was standing up. I think just the bottom," Qinfaren indicates from about his waist down," was trapped in ice. The top was free I think."

He stands back up and looks at the tunnels.

"If I had to guess, that one to the south might go straight to where the other giant skeleton was, and that one over there," he says, pointing at the one to the southeast, "would lead to granny."

Shad looks around for anything that the giants might have had on them but finds nothing.

However, he does remember that frost giants are creatures of ice and snow. That they dwell in high peaks and glacial rifts.

If the others have finished examining the skeletons through the ice, Qinfaren moves towards the southeast opening, doing his best not to step down too loudly.

Stealth: 22  

Arogna is staring in fascination at the skeletons, but she tears herself away to follow as quietly as she can after Qinfaren. "Imagine dyin' an' bein' frozen. 'S like makin' yourself a statue."

Stealth 2

Shad will turn from the skeletons buried in ice. He'll move stealthily down the southeast tunnel as well, working to stay quiet: Stealth 9.

"Well, it was part of their ritual," Bjorn reminds Arogna in a quiet voice. "Maybe that's the purpose of it all?"

(Bjorn: 10)

You attempt to approach the area to the southeast quietly. However, Arogna, Shad and Bjorn make too much noise.

It's not before long that you reach a large cave, in the middle of which sits a large cauldron. Then there, before the cauldron stands an old woman. The woman wears tattered furs that cling to her in an attempt to keep her warm in the bitter cold. She is currently holding a rust hatchet whilst she chops up some meat to throw into the cauldron.

As you approach, she looks up with her cold dark eyes.

As Qinfaren quietly enters the chamber, the noise of the others behind him jostling and slipping on the ice makes him smile.

Qinfaren bows his head slightly and waves a hand at the old woman.

"Hello, grandmother," Qinfaren begins in his booming voice. "We're a search party looking for some lost anglers."

He looks around the cavern as he speaks.

"You haven't seen them by any chance have you? Their boat was tied up at the entrance to these caves. The little wolf upstairs didn't want to talk about them so we're hoping maybe you have some information."

As he finishes looking around the room, and trying to identify the meat if he can,

Identification Roll: 15  (+6 if Survival would help identify dressed game, or +3 if Nature would help)

"Speaking of boats, how do you manage to get around? Is there another entrance to these caves from above?"

Shad smiles. He tries to look reassuring and harmless. "I'm cold too," he says. He'll pull his coats tight. He focuses on the old woman, but without staring too aggressively into her eyes. 

Based on what he sees, her body language, and demeanor, can he make an Insight check to know her intentions? If it's not too early? Insight: 18

Shad tries to study the woman's body language to reveal any clues to her intentions. However, for the time being, the woman is quite happy to continue with what she is doing.

"It's hard to say," the woman replies. "What did these anglers look like? There's no entrance to the cave from above. Although there is a way down to an underground river."

(Did Qinfaren have any luck identifying the type of meat she was chopping up? Roll in #3448 above)

(He can determine that it came from a mammal and not fish.)

"Well," Shad says to the woman, "there were four of them. They had been drinking. I don't think they had their fishing gear with them. From the village not far from here. The village leadership is concerned enough about them to send us and will probably send more folks if we aren't successful. What am I forgetting?" he says to Arogna, Qinfaren, and Bjorn.

Shad will look at the chopping block, the floor, around the pot, for signs of bones. Does he see skulls or femurs or other bones he would recognize? Perception: 18 and Investigation in case you would like it instead,TheBritGeek: 13.

"That's about it. We don't know what they look like." Qinfaren says. "But I'd guess you don't get too many visitors out here. So, really have you seen anyone? Their boat was still here and we found signs of their campsite in one of the caverns above."

He looks at her chopping and tossing the meat into the pot.

"What are you making?" Qinfaren asks.

"Enough for your tribe?" Arogna adds. She is attempting not to look intimidating, which requires some effort from her.

Shad looks around but doesn't see any bones. If the meat was brought to the cave on bones, then the old woman has already disposed of them. On the other hand, it is possible that she has them already in her cauldron.

"Oh, I get the occasional wanderer in here," the old woman replies. "After all, you four are walking around in these caves too. But they can't be very good anglers if they didn't have their fishing equipment with them.

As the villagers, a nasty, brutish lot if you ask me."

Qinfaren nods at the assessment of the villagers.

"They do make sacrifices to this Frost Maiden," Qinfaren says.

He steps closer to the old woman and the cauldron to get a better look at what's already in the pot. As he looks inside, he frowns.

"How do you know they didn't have any fishing equipment with them?" Qinfaren asks. "We didn't mention anything about what they had with them."

The old woman tilts her head and gives Qinfaren a curious look, "He did, just now. The big cat."

She then points a grubby finger at Shad.

"He just said that he doesn't think they had their equipment with them."

Qinfaren takes a step closer to the cauldron to get a better look. He whispers "ductu" to himself and waves at the cauldron.

Casts: Guidance on himself for an Investigation check of the cauldron: 20  

"Mmm," he begins. "Right. I think he meant they left their equipment in the boat so if you saw them in here they wouldn't have had their fishing gear."

((Not sure why it changed the roll - didn't re-open the post - original roll was 5, and that included the guidance add on).

"What are you cooking again?" Shad will try to get his stomach to growl at the right moment. "I'm hungry enough to pay you for a bit of a meal, if you're comfortable with that."

While he doesn't plan to eat angler, if the woman is cooking something else, Shad's willing to eat.