Chilling Adventures in the North

(Bjorn, Qinfaren, Skeleton, Witch, Shad, Arogna)

Shad is not too far behind the rest of the party. However, after stopping to blast the witch, it has given the witch and skeleton time to catch up with him.

After following Shad, the skeleton can reach him with its longer reach. It swings its great axe at Shad, twice.

(Great axe 1: 18 Damage: 24 slashing damage.
Great axe 2: 10 Damage: 33 slashind damage.)

The witch catches up to Shad, and she also puts him within arm's reach. Therefore, she attacks him with her claws.

(Claws: 9 Damage: 12)

"Shad," Qinfaren calls.

"We need to lure them to the first waterfall," Qinfaren calls over to Arogna.

Shad is down, the axe carving into his left arm then right leg.

First death save: 7

"We gotta get him out!" Arogna calls. "Anywhere but here is fine with me!"

She lets out a lengthy orcish curse and steps back just around the corner. "Bjorn! Can you or Blue get him? Slide him over to me, an' I'll get him out!"

(Arogna is readying an action to slide Shad along the ice to Qinfaren)

(Bjorn, Qinfaren, Skeleton, Witch, Shad, Arogna)

Bjorn stops and looks to Arogna, then he turns to Shad lying on the ice. Before looking up at the frost giant skeleton and the witch that have been in pursuit of them. He turns back to Arogna and nods.

He then turns to Blue, "This could be it. Attack the witch with every thing you've got."

The dragons nods its head as it begins flying towards her.

He runs back over to Shad, and with great effort slides Shad across the ice to Arogna.

Blue then swoops down at the witch and attempts to bite her.

(Attack: 14 Damage: 5 + 2)

The dragon bites down into the witch's arm and she screams out in pain. She is looking much worse for wear now.

(Held action)

Arogna intercepts Shad as the tabaxi skims towards her, and executes a neat pass over the ice to Qinfaren. 

"Get him outa here, Qinfaren," she calls to the firbolg. "Don't look back, an' don't stop for anythin', you hear me? Nothin'. Bjorn an' me'll find our own ways outa this."  Then she unslings her hammer.

Qinfaren looks torn between staying to help and doing what Arogna has shouted. His eyes wide, he quickly nods, and picks Shad up, tossing him, gently, over his shoulder. He turns and runs down the tunnel away from the witch and giant.

As they run, Qinfaren says "sanitatem verbo".

Casts Healing Word on Shad, curing 6  

(If it took an action to lift Shad up, then Qinfaren just moves full 30' away. Bonus action was casting healing word. If picking up Shad is a free action, Qinfaren would dash a further 30')

(Bjorn, Qinfaren, Skeleton, Witch, Shad, Arogna)

The frost giant skeletons moves over to where Bjorn is and swings at him with his great axe, twice.

(Great Axe 1: 11 Damage: 27 slashing damage)
(Great Axe 2: 23 Damage: 39 slashing damage)

In retaliation for Blue attacking her, the witch slashes out at the dragon with her claws.

(Attack: 15 Damage: 11 slashing damage)

Bjorn manages to duck and dive out of the way of the skeleton's great axe.

However, the witch manages catch Blue with her claws and finishes him off.

(Dice rolls went wrong, I don't know why. Attack rolls for the skeleton were both 16, but the witch got a natural 20 with damage over 20.)

Shad snaps back to consciousness. He recalls the frozen cave and Qinfaren. He'll drop off Qinfaren's shoulder, stand, and take the Dash action away from the combat.

"Thank you," he says as he tries to get his breath back.

Arogna looks back around the corner at Qinfaren and Shad, and over at Bjorn. She lets out a fervent, but brief curse.

The tribe is the most important thing, always - Arogna knows that. You have to put your tribe first. But her father also taught her that sometimes it comes to moments like this, where helping one person puts the whole tribe in danger. And if the whole tribe gets ended by that, well, there isn't a tribe any more. Sometimes you have to put the tribe first - and one of them second.

But there is one thing she can try. "Witch!" she yells. "Let him go! Call off your big friend, an' I swear we ain't never comin' back! Nor tellin' 'em 'bout you! C'mon, Bjorn!"

Then she sprints around the corner and over the ice towards Qinfaren and Shad, stopping just behind them as she catches up, facing back towards the corner with her hammer in her hands. "Keep goin'," she says confidently. "He's comin', if they all got any sense."

(Dash action)

It is at that moment a couple of unexpected things happen.

Firstly, someone appears out of the southern passage and throws a spear at the witch.

(Attack: 22 Damage: 5)

The spear flies through the air and stabs through her shoulder.

This is followed by a couple of crossbow bolts flying at the witch.

(Attack: 5 Damage: 11
Attack: 14 Damage: 10)

The first bolt misses but the second strikes her in the chest and finishes the witch off.

Two more people then appear out of the passage way, one of which you recognise as Captain Imdra Arlaggath.

This the frost giant skeleton then begins to collapse without the power's of the witch to keep it animated.

"I'm glad that I managed to find you lot," Arlaggath calls out.

Qinfaren stops his run when he hears a decidedly human voice from the chamber around the corner. He looks at Shad and then over at Arogna before cautiously returning.

He raises a hand in greeting when he sees Arlaggath, his eyes almost immediately drawn to the collapsed giant skeleton.

"Hi Captain," Qinfaren says.

He moves closer and prods the pile of bones with his staff and then looks at the witch.

"We found the missing anglers," he says. "But not alive."

Qinfaren then looks back at the captain.

"How'd you find us?" he asks "Wait, did Muharg tell you?"

Captain Arlaggath nods her head, "Yes, I had seen the dwarf on his return to Easthaven. I must say, I was pretty surprised to see him return alone. He did mention that you had run into a spot of trouble here in these caves. Thinking that I may have sent you off to your doom by coming to find the missing anglers, I felt I better check to ensure you are alright. Especially with one from your party leaving you short in numbers.

Looks like I arrived just in time."

Arogna nearly drops her hammer on her foot in relief, and runs after Qinfaren. "Capt'n Arlaggath! I thought you'd sent us here for - Well, I guess it ain't so. She ate 'em!" the half-orc blurts out, managing just in time not to metion the sacrifices.

"Well done, you lot," she tells the guards. "You alright, Bjorn?"

Qinfaren comes back to where the witch had her cauldron going, and looks around the cavern.

"Maybe there are personal items their families might like back," Qinfaren says.

But he also looks for anything of the witch's. She couldn't have survived out here on just passing anglers.

Besides looking for anything that might have belonged to the victims, he also examines anything the witch had, including the cauldron.

Casts Guidance to help with his search.

Perception: 20  plus 2  (from Guidance)

"She ate them?" Captain Arlaggath replies. "What a horrific way to go."

Bjorn just stares at the remains of the witch and the frost giant skeleton. He watches as one of the men that accompanied the captain retrieves his spear from the witch's body. A spurt of dark blood splatters the man's trousers.

Captain Arlaggath then orders the men to help assist Qinfaren in searching for the belongings of the missing anglers. However, nothing worth keeping can be found. Mostly just body parts lying scattered around the cauldron with a few chunks floating in the stew.

Apart from the tools used to carve people up, the only other item that was in the witch's possession is the cauldron.

"Come on," Captain Arlaggath finally declares. "Let's get out of these caves. Then I want a full account of everything that has happened here back at the town hall. Then you can claim your reward."

Shad will follow Qinfaren and the others. He too will look around the camp: Perception 13. If he remembers correctly, the witch worried that someone would take it.

"Thank you for helping us," he says to Captain Arlaggath. "And thank you for helping me," he says to Qinfaren, Bjorn, and Arogna.

"Yes, even if you're all members of a cult, that doesn't mean you're all bad," Qinfaren says to the captain.

When Shad remembers the witch worried about someone taking her cauldron he goes over to it as well. 

"Should we tip all this out, maybe?" Qinfaren asks Shad.

If there's no objection, Qinfaren will attempt to drag the cauldron to one corner and tip it's gruesome contents out, looking in the empty cauldron for anything of value or in what comes out. 

"C'mon, Bjorn. We made it. Blue'll be back soon," Arogna says encouragingly to the goliath. She pokes the witch's body with the toe of her boot. "Wonder if we oughta pitch this inta the lake. Or maybe not. Don't wanta poison it like."

As Shad looks closely at the cauldron, he sees that is made from a thick copper that has turned a dark green with age. More interestingly, are the images of satyrs and nymphs in repose, holding ladles that are embosses on the sides. At the bottom of the cauldron are five little clawed feet that prevent the cauldron from tipping over, unless someone was to deliberately tip it. 

Captain Arlaggath frowns at Qinfaren's words, "We're not a cult."

Qinfaren then empties the cauldron by tipping its contents on to the ground, in the corner of the cave.

Bjorn shakes his head, "You are right, my friend. Do we want to take this cauldron with us, or should we just leave it here?"