Chilling Adventures in the North

"Related to me?" Artus asks as he tilt his head and raising an eyebrow. "I'm not exactly sure why you think any of it would be down to my actions. No, I was only here to stop Sklade pure and simple.

Anyway, if the others are resting then you had better go and find them. Don't worry I kill keep watch and I have aid when I need it."

With that Artus gesture's with his hand, and the ring on his finger glows blue. Then suddenly, a large creature made of ice appears beside him which vaguely looks a polar bear.

(OOC: I guess Bjorn meant Skalde?)

(OOC: Facepalm! Yeah. I meant Sklade. Was a typo.)

Bjorn realizes his mistake and corrects himself, "I'm so sorry. Was a slip of my tongue. I meant Sklade. I just wonder if her had anything to do with those creatures."

Artus shrugs his shoulders, "Well, Skarde possibly created some as I said. Though not necessarily all of the undead in the north."

"Thank you, thank you," Shad says as the others compliment him. He blushes under his fur. 

He will follow the others up, find a spot out of the wind, and curl up to rest. While he seeks to harmonize himself with his new dagger and understand it more completely, Shad watches and listens the conversation between Artus and Bjorn, his ears turning slightly. His eyes go wide when the ice polar bear appears. He will search his memory for magical rings: History 11

"I see. Thank you then for your time. I'll rejoin my companions," dissapointed to know that the undead plague on the north seemed to be far from over, Bjorn takes his leave and rejoins the rest. Finding a comfortable corner he settles down to rest. Halfway through the rest, Blue gives him a nuzzle before blinking out of existence.

Arogna admires Artus' ice bear as they rest. "That's real neat, Mr. Cimber! They like a bodyguard or somethin'? D'you an'the bear kill all them undead things up here on your own like?" Her tone is friendly, polite, and complimentary, as if she is trying to make up for something. Cimber would probably just get the impression that she is a very polite person.

She also asks him, "Do we gotta do that rope thing again? Ain't there anythin' we can use for a bridge?"

Arogna's remaining hit die: 4

Shad thinks for a moment trying to remember anything about a ring that could create ice creatures, but fails to remember anything.

Artus watches as Bjorn leaves him, only for Arogna to replace him by his side.

"Well, mostly I did the killing. This ring can do more than just conjure up ice creatures and my dagger has a couple of tricks it can do as well.

Now that we are on this side of that gap we can climb down this side and up the slope on the other. It will be far more easier than trying to swing across.

How did you even manage to get the rope to other side anyway?"

"The guys tied Shad's bow to Qinfaren's pole an' made a long hook thing," Arogna says, sounding quite proud of the team's engineering smarts. "Muharg took a dive twice tryna get over, though. Still, can't keep a good dwarf down, hey." 

Shad wishes he had paid more attention to conversations about rings in the past. 

"Did we decide to rest for a short moment or for a longer period of time?" he says. "I need to commune with this fascinating dagger, the Cat Lord, and my body. Might take a while. Frost burns!" he says. "Am I right, Muharg? Painful stuff, the cold."

"It doesn't bother you at all?" he says to Artus.

"No, I have no issue with the cold," Artus replies. "That's all thanks to this ring. It's been in my keep for over a century. Though it's not exactly a blessing. Evil forces are always after this ring, and it's evil too."

"Evil?" Shad says. "Evil. How do you, you know," he pauses, "resist?"

He wonders for a moment, and this is probably obvious in his body language, if they are still safe.

"The ring is sentient," Artus explains. "I resist it with great difficulty, but for now it is dormant. Though by sunrise, it might attempt to seize control once more. Though it might be satisfied with the number of zombies I killed here today."

Qinfaren catches up with the rest of the party and catches the end of what Artus says to Shad.

"Has the ring succeeded in getting control before?" Qinfaren asks. "What happens if it does?"

Before he settles down for a rest, Qinfaren focuses on the mistletoe on his staff and then says "Spiritus sanitatem."

Casts: Healing Spirit (heals for 1d6)

A shimmer of energy rises up from the ground and slowly coalesces into the shape of a large black bear, a large transparent black bear. 

"Don't mind the bear," Qinfaren says. "She's just hear to help. If you're still feeling beaten up by what we've been through, just step through the bear. She'll help heal you. Should be enough power in her to do it five times."

Muharg chuckles at Shad’s words “Too much cold is a bit annoying, that’s for sure. But what bothers me the most is to find it face down on the ground after a several feet fall! About that rest, I think we could all use a good night sleep. Besides, we’re not in a rush now, are we?”

He then turns to Artus “Which reminds me… Artus, well, first of all, let’s hope you resisit it once more then, huh? And besides of this, you wouldn’t know the whereabouts of Jarlaxle Bane or [insert the-name-of-the-other-recipient-that-I-can’t-remember-right-now here], would you?”

(OOC: What time of day is it now, what time did it get dark, and how long did it take us to get from the town to this location? Trying to work out if it's better to stay in the cave overnight, or attempt to return to town before nightfall.)

(After walking to the foot of Kelvin's Cairn and climbing up it has taken most of the day, and sun set hours ago.)

"Truth fully, yes the ring has taken control in the past. It craves destruction and it likes inflicting pain on others. But it can hear you and it can see you. I can sense its mind, it doesn't like any of you.

I have heard talk of Jarlaxle having been seen in the north, but I don't know of his exact whereabouts. He shouldn't be too hard to find, I mean how many drows do you know in the north with an eye patch and a feather in his hat?

Vanifer well as far as I know, she is not in the north. So if you are told to bring a package to her up here, you know more than I. Just ask a few of the locals if they have seen any tieflings lately."

Arogna frowns at the ring, as if she doesn't like it either. "If we spend the night in this cave right here, are we gonna wake up with them bits an' pieces all woken up again an' all? It ain't safe wanderin' around a mountain after dark, but it ain't good wakin' up in the middle of a fight, neither."

She heaves herself up from the ground and moves back over to sit next to Qinfaren's spirit bear, leaning gingerly into its flank, then admiring it for a while. "'S beautiful," she says quietly, but it sounds like there are some layers of awe there that she doesn't really have the words to express.

Qinfaren looks from Arogna to the "bits an' pieces" of the bones and the remains of the zombies. 

"Perhaps a bit of fire would help clean this up a bit," Qinfaren says.

He begins to scrounge around for anything combustible - branches, twigs, dried moss and lichen - roaming outside the cave entrance as well. If he can find enough (Survival roll if needed - 24  ) he'll start a fire just outside the entrance to the cave and once it's going, start adding the skeletal pieces to the center where the fire is hot enough to burn them, eventually adding the zombie bodies too.

Shad will help get the fire started, but he is deeply torn between the warm it radiates and the smell it gives off. He wanders the edge of the heat, his nose plugged. He'll take his long rest this way, becoming attuned to the dagger.