Sessions 38 & 39: Ronin Group

Sessions 38 & 39: Ronin Group

They started out arriving at Athas and came to find it completely deserted. After a quick trek to the center of the town, they encountered Matthias, who told them that he'd been left behind by friendly forces to help guide them through to Ivrestel. From there, after introductions were shared, they made their way out of the town, and through the bowels of a craggy fissure in the northern ice field.

After navigating their way to the very end of the canyon, they came upon the sounds of a camp, a slope leading upward to the ice fields, and a dead end cliff face. Matthias tried to climb the cliff face, stumbling a few times but stubbornly keeping with it until he reached high enough to see the campers, who happened to be trolls that'd already detected the party and were making their way down from the top of the slope.

After a bloody battle, but one well fought on the party's end, they set the corpses of the trolls and their body parts afire, leaving them to smolder as they came sight Ivristel in the distance. Matthias soon expounded on the instructions given to him, that he was directed to yet another fissure about thirty paces northwest of the end of the last, where a set of alcoves lined each side of an unnaturally, smooth-walled canyon.

After explaining his instructions, that the hidden passage to Ivristel would be known by three echoes reverberating from each sound one person makes, no more and no less, they eventually found the right spot, which wasn't an alcove, but a trap door leading down into the ground.

They made a quick journey through the underground tunnel to Ivristel. It was almost too cramped to take their horses with them, but they managed, and got through the oaken door, which was guarded by a number of Northstar's men.

After an exchange with them, they were taken to Northstar, who explained the situation in more detail, and that their mission was to undertake an excursion to the Plane of Ice.

They were each given a set of items to protect them from the evercold of the plane, as well as supplies such as rations, and also a horn of recall. Tasha left the group at this point, saying that she wanted to stay and fight on her own world. At that point, Northstar brought in one of her own, a red-haired elf named Sera, who was more than willing to go on the quest.

Northstar had her magi set up a portal, which would lead them to the Plane of Ice. They went through it, to find themselves on a path of snow in the middle of a forest of snow-patterned ice blades. The group carved a path through them, until they were accosted by a gang of ice mephits, which asked to know why they were here. Through diplomacy, Matthias was able to dissuade them from blocking their passage, and so they flew away.

Eventually, they got to the end of the path, which opened up to what looked like a snowy beach, on the edge of the plane of water. Here they only had a few seconds to look on it, as they were attacked from behind by an ice elemental.

After the battle, having melted the ice elemental, they found a mephit still alive that was located in its core. After an exchange, in which the mephit was raving most of the time, they persuaded him to show them how to talk to this 'Lady' he was speaking of, and how to go beyond the shore.