Descent into the Depths of the Earth (Eighth Session: November 22nd, 2009)

Lady Glimmergaunt and Drandis grow weary of Whosis Kid's gambling, drinking, and sparring with the ogres in Kodrus Vale (formerly Glimmergaunt Vale). They pronounce him recovered from any debilitation he experienced from being frozen and magically transport him to join the party, who is camped atop a hill near the Eastern Ruins.

Whosis meets up with Ilmak, who is first to rise that morning, and they are told by Yllallae Serpenthelm the ranger that Veszafein has decide to leave early and scout ahead into the underdark. They rouse the rest of the group and head off towards the cave they fought the troglodytes, bulette, and drakes in the previous day. Yllallae consults with the party, then heads off to Barovia to find the dwelling of Orcus. She agrees to meet the rest of them there later.

Heading into the passage the landshark emerged from Whosis scouts ahead and finds an area where the earth looks burrowed and a long wide passage has collapsed. He steps into the large side passage to investigate then motions for the rest of the party to move along carefully. While passing through they create enough motion to awaken two large landsharks which they retreat from back outside the cavern. The bulette's do not pursue them, choosing instead to return to sleep. Whosis lets them know when the coast is clear and they sneak past the corridor again.

Up ahead they find the roof of deeprift chasm, a large gap that passes many days journey all the way to the abandoned city at the floor of the chasm. They encounter some Dark Dwarves on the other side of the chasm who inform them that the ledge they are on travels to the left to the Kingdom of Skalamad the troll and to the right it heads to the ruins of gladomain where the bear clan khan rules. The duergar offer them safe passage to the other side of the chasm if they pay them handsomely but the party declines and heads towards the bear clan.

Whosis Kid sneaks into the bear khans trhone room, which used to be the underground throne room and tomb of the undead king gladomain from session two. He disguises himself as Lady Xyrlynn with the Cloak of Storath and tells the bear khan, who is a werebear, that the drow have betrayed them and that they must send troops with her to get revenge. The khan appears skeptical and so determines to speak with the goblin king in the western ruins before proceeding. He sends a half dozen bugbears off with Whosis to speak with the goblin king.

Whosis leads the goblins away while the rest of the party strikes the throne room. They devastate the bear clan with blasts of magical fire and ice from various spells and powers and quickly slay all who dwell there. Brock Mez'gar the undead gnoll assassin appears during the fight. He was following the party in the form of a bat with a magical cloak he has and drops in to help them at the beginning of the battle.

The duergar appear at the last minute and finish off the last bugbear with their crossbows, asking that they receive a share of the loot. The party grants them the dungeon as a dwelling and drafts a treaty on behalf of mistmeadow that they may work for the city in its defense and clear out the tunnels that are presently blocking passage of most creatures to the surface from the underdark through the ruins of gladomain keep. The duergar agree and send word to bring their kin from below Ironview, which is expected to fall soon to Orcus' undead army which arrives in 12 days.

They spend a day heading south to the Mithril Mines. There they encounter five hook horrors who stalk them in the passages. Garrick the mad lures the horrors down a side passage intent on sneaking around them, but several party members decide to engage the creatures in melee. a battle ensues and veszafein emerges from a side passage where he was studying some maps in a mining office chamber.

The party learns that the creatures are very strong and decide that withdrawing may be the best option. During their withdrawl they knock out one of the creatures, kill one, and severely injure another. Two of the horrors catch Veszafein and disembowl him, feasting on his entrails. Garret tries to save the drow but is forced to run away before he too is consumed by the ravenous creatures.

Whosis stays behind and waits several hours for the creatures to stop feasting. When they do he retrieves some remains and returns them to Garrett so he can resurrect the warlock. The party finds a trapped corridor and heads down it. The hook horrors see them enter, but decide not to follow.

Along the passage they find a trap that drops Brock and a few others into a pit that fills with acid, injuring several of them severely. Whosis has the hair burned off his body and feet. They proceed further and find some double golden doors that when opened spill necrotic energy all over the passageway draining the life from them until they press them closed again. More traps are found and disabled along the passage and they safely emerge after many hours journey in the mushroom caverns.

They see up ahead that the mushroom caverns are full of undead creatures covered in some sort of slime mold along with two kruthik hive lords and a dozen smaller kruthik. Garrick the mad casts wide blasts of fire and ice throughout the cavern knocking out the weakest of the creatures while Ilmak and Whosis charge under the cover of the other party members. They destroy the kruthik quickly but are exhausted from the battle and take a long rest. With just 10 more days to save Ironview they press on to the abandoned city, which according to the map given them by their duergar allies, lies somewhere ahead about a days travel down a large dry lava tunnel.

Icewarp Tower (Seventh Session: November 8th, 2009)

Garrett and Kordus awaken in Drandis' cave to find that Whosis Kid has wandered off. They set off toward the tower to find him.

The rest of the party is back in the garden of the Duke's Palace in Blackshore. Corus Copperscale helps them hide the Duke and Duchess in the stables near the garden, then he shows them the way into the palace. The sphere of Aseroth sits where it was left on the table in the dining hall. The minotaurs, ogres, and the Norselord himself slumber in the adjacent throne room.

They touch the sphere and are transported to the frosted vale. There they meet an ice elf who offers them the warmth of the fire in their lodge nearby. The party (Veszafein, Ilmak, Garrick, and Ottian) declines the elf's hospitality and continue on their way. Along the road they sense movement in the snow but continue along the path.

The two groups of adventurers cross paths near the tower and are reunited. Their joy is short-lived though as a great ice worm monster called a Rhemorhaz rears up from a snow drift and attacks. The party engages the beast who radiates heat so strong it burns those who come too close to it. The creature grabs Kodrus and swallows him whole, though the rest of the party manage to dispatch the beast and it regurgitates Kodrus in its death throws and he escapes death.

They enter the tower cautiously and find the basement is presently abandoned. They continue into the tower complex and find:

"A network of tunnels have been dug out of the ice and snow leading up to the main tower in Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt's magic school. You come to a large chamber up ahead where long ice bridges extend out over a gaping hole in the earth. Standing all around you are ice sculpters of various beings, some large and some small, some human and some monsterous. Their cold expressions greet you like an icy wind filling your lungs.

As you are passing over the chasm on the ice bridge, a handful of figures around you in the room regain their color and form, shifting from ice statues into solid breathing creatures. They advance quickly towards you to engage you in combat. You hear the slow rythmic beating of huge wings and feel a rush of cold air and the inescapable scent of rot and death from the pit below.

Turning to look down into the darkness you see the bloody reanimated form of Frostbite, the white dragon, daughter of aseroth rise up beside you. Her zombie-like form lurches upward stiffly and spasmodically, and a bluish diseased ichor drips from her maw as she gnashes her fangs with silent rage. Some of you remember the wounds well, as you inflicted them just days ago, but her undead form has already ripened significantly despite the cold, and a foul odor overpowers you all momentarily as you regain your bearings and prepare for battle."

The party fights off the servants of Aseroth, casting all but one of them into the pit below. They continue up a spiraling staircase into the tower where they find Gurmorel Glimmergaunt at the top of the tower:

"A woman with fair pale features sits on an elegant couch in the center of the circular room. To the left, a balcony with double closed doors is iced over, blocking the view outside of the snowstorm you hear battering against them faintly. Behind her is the mouth of aseroth, a great magical mirror with a reflective liquid-like surface that seems to breath or beat steadily, with slight ripples passing along it's surface from the center with each pulsation.

Sitting beside the woman on the couch is the frozen ice-form of Whosis Kid, his face staring off expressionless. Her arms are wrapped around his ice statue in an embrace and she is lapping hungrily at his cheek as you enter. The woman wears a heavy fur cloak with a hood hanging down over her eyes. As you enter she draws it back to view you."

Kodrus is unaffected upon entering the throne room (Drandis later notes this is because the curse Aseroth laid upon Gurmorel exempted servants of the dark six, including Minotaurs who are regarded as children of Baphomet). Thinking it is safe, Ilmak enters and is frozen into an ice statue by Gurmorel's ice medusa gaze.

Gurmorel can only see magical items and creatures she has turned into ice statues, so she addresses the party as the items they carry. Veszafein moves toward the balcony doors and causes a small blast of cold air to enter the passage. Gurmorel casts a powerful attack spell on Veszafein, but his cloak of cold resistance protects him.

Kodrus and Garrett plead with Gurmorel to understand that she has been tricked and that the world outside has been corrupted due to the trickery of Aseroth. She allows them to open the balcony doors to the outside, letting in a blast of cold air. She has a magical eye spell cast on Kodrus so she can see the outside world and regains some of her senses when she realizes that her kingdom has been corrupted. The delusional veil she lives in is briefly lifted.

She whispers in Kodrus' ear and he lifts her from her couch. She cannot move because her legs are permanently frozen by her curse:

"Kodrus carries Gurmorel Glimmergaunt's weak frame over towards the mouth of aseroth. The mirror pulsates with a cold dull hollow voice and speaks, "I am ready to receive your sacrifice. Who's soul do you offer me?" Kodrus speaks, "I offer myself to you." The mirror replies, "Kodrus, Barbarian from the pirate clans of the northern ice flows, Guardian of the house of Ottian the honorable of Ironview, Explorer of Gladomain, Liberator of Mistmeadow, Champion of Baphoment, Servant of Pale Night, Savior of the Eladrin, and Dragonslayer of Blackshore. It will be my pleasure to consume your soul!"

Kodrus steps forward carrying Gurmorel Glimmergaunt who also speaks, "Foul Aseroth, you have betrayed me, and now I seek passage to your realm in Soulfreeze where I undo our pact. Kadrus' soul will grant me passage to your world. May the legend of your treachery and failure outlive the memory of my own."

The mirror emits a hollow scream as Kodrus and Gurmorel pass through it, and a moment later the silver reflective surface freezes over into a solid hard plane. Outside you see the blizzard clear and the clouds retreating at an unnatural speed, revealing the sun in the heavens which rotates dizzyingly backwards in the sky orbiting in full in a matter of seconds, becoming night for a few breaths and then becoming day again. It seems as though many days has passed in this manner as if time is reversing itself, and you see the ice melting on the tower walls and the entire valley and tower seems to spin around mercilessly throwing you all to the floor, where you cling to the nearest objects holding on for dear life.

A great boom followed by a falling and crashing sensation lands you heavily back in the world of Gladomain, where you can see from the tower balcony you have been returned to the Silent Vale. Slowly, the residents of the once frozen valley begin to stir and gather in wonder around the thawed ruins of their once pleasant valley.

The bears bound playfully across the meadow. The ogres on the hillside leave their hall with great steins full of ice wine and their songs bellow across the once silent valley. The halflings roll out of the basement of the tower, holding each others hands and dancing in circles in the main courtyard, where they are joined by the pixes who have been restored to their true form and who flit around their heads.

You see the frost elves emerge from their lodge with cautious faces, and they begin gathering up the handful of Aseroth's servants who remain. They drag them kicking and screaming towards their hearth to be cooked and eaten. In the distance, you see many Rhemorhaz writhing on the ground, their boiling blood melting through their now too-warm skin.

The mouth of Aseroth crashes to the floor as Gurmorel Glimmergaunts body flies through it and the magic portal is shattered, destroyed forever. She moves slightly, then lays still, barely breathing and unconscious. Drandis the silver dragon lands on the balcony and squeezes his thick trunk and wings through the double doors where he crouches protectively over the lady of the tower. He nods his head towards you in a silent thankful acknowledgement. In the distance you hear a sound unheard in the silent vale for almost 1000 years birds singing…or rather cawing.

The Raven Queen appears as a flock of ravens who encircle the tower, blotting out the sun then form into her on the balcony (darkness envelopes the tower and blocks out the sun and sky) – she speaks:

Long ago, when Lady Glimmergaunt was a young and very powerful warlock, she made a pact with the Lord of Stygia, the icy realm in Baator, to keep the winters touch away from her valley and the surrounding area (which in those days included Lighthedge Point, SummerSpring, and Mistmeadow). The terms of the infernal pact where that upon her death her soul would be surrendered to the Lord of Stygia, but in return the lands would forever be free of Winter.

Lady Glimmergaunt grew very powerful with age and as she grew older she sought to thwart her earlier pact with the devil in Baator. She drafted a pact with me, the Raven Queen, so that I would grant her agelessness, under the condition that if at some point in time she was killed or wished to end her life, I would claim her soul. She did not however inform me of her earlier pact with the Lord of Stygia, and so there was a conflict of interest, as both I and Baator now had equal claim to Glimmergaunt's soul.

Aseroth, the Winter Warlock, learned of Glimmergaunt's treachery, and since he desired her for some time, he threatened to expose her fraud to the Lord of Stygia and me. Aseroth told her that if she came away with him he would save her life. Desperate to escape death, Gurmorel succumbed to Aseroth's charms and he dragged her and her realm into imprisonment somewhere between the elemental plane of ice and his home called Soulfreeze, a desolate layer of the Abyss.

When my servants investigated and I learned of her deception, I could not locate or rescue the Lady to exact my justice on her and her people. Now she has returned and I may do so, if I choose. But I have more pressing business to attend to. I like that you have offended Aseroth, as we are both rival immortal gods of winter, and I despise him. Also, I believe that we could be of some use to one another.

Orcus, my other rival immortal god of death, has an avatar on this world. He keeps all the souls he takes in his army's campaigns, when they should lawfully come to me in the Shadowfell. If you will pledge your service to me, I will grant you the power to wield Hellsong, the godslayer until such a time as you have destroyed his avatar on this world. At that point, our pact will end. Also, I will remit my claim to the soul of Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt in exchange for you rendering this service. Do you accept?"

Ilmak takes an oath to banish Orcus with the blade. The Raven queen quickly withdraws outside of striking range after granting Ilmak the full power of the godslayer. She addresses Garrett:

"I see that you are also plagued by the pestilent influence of Vecna. I know of this worm who haunts the Shadowfell, and seeks the power over death that is rightfully mine. His soul will suffer eternally for his defiance of me, and I will be rid of him one day before he can realize his dream of power over all gods. If you wish I can remove this burden for you."

Garret declines, claiming that he believes it is Ioun's wish that he bears the burden. She presents a dead gnoll's body before the party. The same one they saw in the throne room in Blackshore.

"This is Brock Mez'gar. Once he was a skilled assassin in the service of the dark six, but he was betrayed after he killed Emperor Goldspawn for them.

Putrid gnoll, I am resurrecting you so you can exact your vengeance on the dark six and your mortal enemy Lady Xyrlynn, the one who betrayed you, and sent your soul to me in the Shadowfell. You will be a loyal ally to these noble adventurers in their quest to thwart the dark six's plans for this world. Brock Mez'gar stirs and rises to his knees, bowing deeply before the Raven Queen. She hands him a black feather plucked from the collar of her cloak and hands it to him. When you have defeated Orcus, hold this feather and call to me. Then I will come to claim what is mine."

Brock rises. The party asks him how they know they can trust him and he assures them he will prove himself when they need him, then he takes his leave of the party. They decide to journey on to Mistmeadow, leaving Whosis Kid in the care of Drandis and Gurmorel until he recovers from being unfrozen and weakened by his ordeal. He spends his recovery time over the next few days sparing with the Ogres in the valley and drinking large quantities of ice wine and ogre mead.

On the road to Mistmeadow they meet Yllallae Serpenthelm from Lighthedge Point, who they met in the first session with the rest of her party. She reveals that Baron Redspawn in SummerSpring has conscripted all citizens to guard the city and declared martial law. She and the former mayor of SummerSpring lead a small group of deserters who came to the aid of Lighthedge Point and helped them drive back the goblins and some of the Norselord's raiders. The magical creatures of the Sybarite Isle including the Treant and the Leprechauns came to the aid of the city as well and helped them push back the invaders.

Yllallae's friends, the heroic trio of Blackshore, have helped restore the city and driven out the Norselord and the undead. Marfalcon Moonshadow has become a regent of the magic school there. Fahana Silverkin has taken over as master of the thieve's guild and Graward Shortcloak is now the Duke's Champion and personal bodyguard.

When they arrive in Mistmeadow they find the local elves and tell them they must help the elves in Glimmergaunt vale who have fallen into the practice of cannibalism. They agree to send a delegation to speak to the feral elves and help ease them into their new environment.

They go to the mayors house and find he has been badly injured in one leg and is mostly immobile now. Juliana and Orlando say that a red mist appears nightly from the ruins of Gladomain Keep and envelopes the city. Out of the mist appear terrible creatures who cover homes in black viscous webs, kill city watchmen, and consume residents in their homes. The slow siege, presumed to be an attack by the drow, has sapped the city of it's morale.

The watch sent a team to the ruins but they found there was no way into the underdark through the keep. All paths are sealed save some very narrow vents that carry the mist up through the statue of Tiamat in the ruin's courtyard.

The party offers to help and sets off for the ruins between SummerSpring and Ironview, directly east of Gladomain Keep. These ruins are the closest alternate route into the underdark. When they approach the ruins, two guard drakes rush out of a cave to attack them. Ilmak charges in through another entrance and surprises a half dozen troglodytes who rally and surround him.

A sorceress appears out of a passage nearby and begins casting spells on Ilmak. Garrick and Veszafein fight of a bullette/land shark that rises from the earth and attacks them. Garret and Yllallae take on the drakes, then help Ilmak finish off the Troglodytes, though Yllallae is badly injured. Vesafein and Garrick kill the bulette. Before they can press their attack to the mage in the cave she casts a spell that freezes their feet to the floor and she retreats into a tunnel leading down into the earth.

The party sets up camp to rest the night. Yllallae decides to stay behind to keep watch on the entrance while the rest of the party heads in. She will notify them if any follow and then will go attend to some other business in the area.

Heroes of Blackshore (Sixth Session: October 25th, 2009)

The party discusses their options with Corus Copperscale and he recommends that they move to the sewers and head toward the Duke's Castle. The alternative routes are blocked. The rooftops are guarded by goblin archers, and the streets are blocked by overwhelming number of undead.

Veszafein, Garrick the Mad, and Ottian stay behind to help put out some fires and preserve the wizard school. Kodrus, Corus, Whosis Kid, and Garrett head down into a secret passage Veszafein uncovered behind a bookshelf that leads to a basement. There they find a portal above a ladder that drops down into the sewer.

In the sewer they find three kobolds trying to capture a crocodile. They have a lever and pulley system and are trying to hoist it out of the water. Whosis kid cuts the rope holding up the croc and it drops back into the water, angrily grabbing one of the kobolds and devouring it.

The other two kobolds bring a pack of wild dogs with them and attack the party. Corus hides in the sewage, as he detests fighting kobolds. The rest of the party finishes the beasts off easily and the crocodile retreats away down the sewer.

Travelling further along the sewer for an hour or so, they reach a large junction between several passages. They detect movement near a large drain pipe and go to investigate. A large carrion crawler emerges from the pipe and attacks. While they engage, an enormous carrion crawler rises out of the sewage behind them. They kill the large carrion crawler then engage the enormous one, but find they have trouble injuring the great beast and they have even more trouble evading it as it lashes out with it's crippling venomous tentacles.

Corus finds a ladder up out of the passage and calls to the rest of the party. They devise a plan to strike at the ceiling to try and bring it down on the creature, immobilizing it. Their efforts are eventually successful and they manage to pin the monster beneath some rubble long enough to run away. They find the ladder leads to a smugglers den with some hidden treasure and they hide there until the carrion crawler has freed itself and moved on.

Moving along they decide to move away from the sound of Kobolds since they are likely going to have more carrion crawler like pets and head the other direction. There they meet a group of ghouls who do not attack but do not shy away either. They parlay with the ghouls and learn that they have been running low on food lately and they are not pleased with the turn of events. They offer to lead the party to the duke's palace if they will enter the tomb of the first Pirate King of Blackshore and retrieve his bones. The ghouls cannot enter because it is hallowed ground.

The party agrees, though Kodrus is a bit perturbed that they are desecrating the tomb of a Minotaur. Upon entering the tomb they find it is inhabited by a magical ballista that attacks them along with a small swarm of diseased dire rats that have made a nest there. They clean out the rats and destroy the ballista, but Corus becomes infected with a dripskin disease in the process. The early symptoms set in within hours after they loot the tomb and give the bones of the pirate king to the ghouls.

The ghouls show them an entrance through a drain tunnel into the dungeons of the Duke's Castle where the torturers used to dump bodies they were discarding. The party sneaks up through the pipe and ambushes the hobgoblin and human guards that are gambling in the adjacent room with a pile of valuables. They hurl one of the humans down the drain pipe, and Garret is also pushed down the tunnel and must crawl back up.

Two bugbears arrive from an adjacent prison chamber and the melee continues with the party victorious. Whosis and Kodrus torture one of the humans who they defeated in the second session back in Gladomain keep. He tells them that the castle is lightly defended and that the daughters of darkness and Lady Xyrlynn are upstairs. They torture him further and learn that Lady Xyrlynn is actually Lady Frostbite impersonating her. Lady Frostbite is the daughter of one of the dark six, Aseroth, the Winter Warlock.

The party moves up the passage and witnesses the following:

"Peering through the wall vent you hear great merriment on the other side. Beyond the metal bars of the vent is the great feast hall of Blackshore. A long table stands along the length of the room. At the head of the table to the north sits Lady Xyrlynn, majestically silent and sprawled across the throne of the once Duke of Blackshore, she traces a clawlike fingernail in circles around the top of her chalice, which bubbles with some smokey beverage.

On the east side of the table sits Xyrlynn’s chief advisor, Lady Ilsa Von Zarovich, one of the daughters of darkness, along with her two bodyguards. The three of them are pale with harsh glowing red eyes, gaunt features, and wicked grins baring razor sharp fangs.

On the west side of the table with their backs to you are the other two daughters of darkness, the Winter Witch and Lady Gladomain. The Winter Witch cackles menacingly every time Lady Von Zarovich speaks. Lady Gladomain scratches her decaying flesh compulsively, sending dry flakes of flesh and bone to the vermin covered floor.

Gathered before the table are a line of petitioners to Lady Xyrlynn. Ilso von Zarovich handles all of their inquiries and does all of the speaking for the group.

The first petitioner is a mob of a dozen or so servants of the Goblin King, who lives in the ruins to the south of Blackshore. The strongest among the goblins push a runt out from the crowd who cowers before Isla and the rest in fear. Isla and her two bodyguards approach and the rest of the mob kneels before them.

The smallest of the group sends his regards from the Goblin King and says that the King has said he has sent all the troops he can send at the current price negotiated with Lady Xyrlynn and that he needs a higher price in order to spare more forces to garrison the gates. Ilsa grabs the messenger by the throat and bites deeply into his green torso with her fangs, then spits out a jet of green blood into the faces of the goblin mob before throwing the still twitching, screaming body of the runt to her bodyguards, who eat him alive.

She grabs one of the smaller more pathetic looking goblins and hoists him up to her bloodied face, declaring that he will carry the message to the Goblin King that he will send more troops immediately, and that until he can send anything that tastes better than his sickening goblin soliders, he will only be paid half the normal rate. She orders the rest of the goblins to set off to raid Lighthedge Point to find some more tasty creatures to bring next time. She lets them know that failure will mean they themselves will feed the evilest creatures in Blackshore.

As the goblins depart a Gnoll in dark armor wearing a heavy black cloak and carrying an executioner’s axe approaches Isla. He stands eye to eye with her unwavering in her fearsome presence. She addresses him:

“Brock Mez’Gar, hero of Marshgate, who led the forces of Shadowmarsh Cliff to victory over the followers of Kord and the armies of Ironview, you who liberated our father Orcus from his prison so that he may now stalk the night once again, and teach his enemies what it is to fear death and the night, we honor you.”

All at the table nod to the gnoll and with a gesture from Lady Xyrlynn’s taloned fingers Ilsa removes her own black cape and draws it around the neck of the dogman tenderly. She continues.

“You have already received all of the worldly wealth you could desire for your service, so now we offer you immortality. Carry out one final task for the dark six, and eternal life will be yours. Take this cape, which will give you the form of a bat, and travel to your home city, the Imperial capitol of Draconis. Sometime after the Death’s day festival, but before the feast of Kord, you will find your mark, and assassinate Emperor Goldspawn.”

The gnoll nods confidently and with a deep sweeping bow he turns on his heal and leaps into the air, magically transforming into a bat and flying out a tall open window on the east wall. The Winter Witch cackles loudly and menacingly for many minutes and Ilsa and her servants join her with a cacophony of wicked mocking cries of dark mirth.

Two servants bring in the struggling form of ambassador Tul, who has been stripped naked and bound to a large golden serving platter. Her body is covered in food and blood, and the goblin servants lower the struggling meal to the table, moving aside the heaps of jewels, treasure, and maps there, before they quickly scurry off under Isla’s harsh cruel stare.

Ilsa speaks, “Ambassador Tul, we are so pleased to have you for dinner tonight. Muahhaahaaaaaa!”"

When the party enters, Whosis fails miserably at sneaking into the room and...

"Lady Xyrlynn turns in her throne sitting upright for a moment and looking intently at her new visitors. She does not appear to recognize you. Lady Gladomain grins menacingly and chomps her dry mandible hungrily as she rises to face you. The Winter Witch screams so loudly that the deafening sound reaches through your bones to your very soul. Ilsa and her two bodyguards dart along one wall, looking to outflank you.

Lady Xyrlynn sets aside a crystal ball filled with swirling snowy lights and places her smoking chalice on the table. She stands atop the edge of the huge table gracefully and unties a brown, plain looking cape from around her neck. As the cape drifts to the floor, her face elongates and her piercing eyes become black and solid. Her flesh turns pale white and her taloned fingernails become actual claws. Huge wings unfold from behind her back as she transforms into a large white dragon. The table buckles beneath her weight but does not break. She lets out a loud roar and charges toward you."

A desperate battle ensues. Whosis valiantly frees Ambassador Tul who joins in the melee using a sharp knife from the dinner table. Lady Gladomain falls first, followed by the howling hag and the Ilsa von Zarovich and her vampire followers. Lady Frostbite, the large white dragon is the last to go down.

The party uses the cloak of Storath, a magical artifact that Lady Frostbite used to assume human form, and take the form of Lady Xyrlynn. They go to the goblins in the palace and tell them all they are dismissed and are to return to their king, which they enthusiastically do without hesitation.

Kodrus touches the sphere of Aseroth as they gather the treasure together and disappears instantly. Garrett also touches the sphere and disappers. Whosis Kid gathers up the remaining treasure, bids farewell to Ambassador Tul and then touches the sphere and disappears into the giant snow globe.

They appear in the swirling cold of a snow storm. The village around them in the snow covered valley appears to have been burned down with every available piece of wood harvested to make fires. They see the dead forms of people covered in snow huddled around small long burned out fires. Some of them seem to move as if undead toward the warmth of the party, but they move so slowly that they are harmless at present.

They meet a group of small beings called the snow pixies who in riddles tell the story of the Lady in the distant tower who is crazy and rules over the land. They also mention some elves, bears, giants, and dragons who live in the valley. The party sets off for the tower.

They arrive an hour or so later and travel down into the basement of the tower where they meet many halflings brewing ice wine. The halflings explain that they make the ice wine for Lady Gurmorel Glimmergaunt in the tower and that it is the only form of currency used in the valley. The party asks if they can rest there and the halflings welcome them. They awaken the next day undisturbed, though all the halflings have left the tower.

Rather than heading further into the tower, they decide to journey off and meet with the dragon. They find a massive cave covered in ice and snow and stumble upon the form of the sleeping dragon when they enter. Though it is covered in white ice and snow, Garrett correctly identifies it as a huge silver dragon. The perturbed dragon breaths a cone of frost on the party until it pries its ice covered eyes open and apologetically invites them in to his den.

The dragon explains that Lady Glimmergaunt was drawn into the Abyss by Aseroth, who decieved her, and that all of them have been trapped there for a long time. Aseroth gave the children at the magic school away to Pale Night (who the party rescued in Session 5), and kept the rest trapped in the Frosted Vale where most perished.

The only way to leave the Frosted Vale is through a magical portal called the Mouth of Aseroth which requires a human sacrifice to provide transportation. The dragon Drandis says that only Gurmorel has the power to reverse the curse of Aseroth, but that she has grown too mad in her unnaturally long existence to act coherently. She lives in a delusional world where everything is untouched by the blight of winter and all her people are happy.

Drandis also gives the party a sword called Hellsong with was once weilded by Asmodeus and later his sone Graz'zt. It is a godslayer, and if an oath of loyalty is granted by a god the sword can be used to permanently slay a god (though few gods would grant such an oath fearing that the sword could be used against them). Drandis offers them the blade hoping they may find a way to use it to save the valley.

The party rests the night in the warmth of Drandis' cave.