| 22 |
#DarkDuchess Arriving at the Dark Duchess, the party couldn't help but feel like they were being followed in the last hour of their journey. Nevertheless, the presence had not appeared and the icy, rimed shipwreck loomed before them. Exploration of the main deck revealed a collapsed hole in the center and freshly battered railings along the forecastle. A large creature was heard stumbling about the hold. It was identified to be an ice troll by Oona and Fern. Meanwhile, Tetro was spending time thawing the frozen door to the captain's quarters, and Azgul used his unseen servant to pry through the rear captain's windows, reaching his logbook. |
| 22 |
#DarkDuchess The Dark Duchess had been wrecked by Arveiturace, a thousand year old white dragon. The treasure inside was a part of her hoard. Upon this realization, the heroes made a concerted effort to leave as quickly as possible, taking with them furs and the items found in the captain's and crew's quarters. With the clock working against them, the party was fastening their cargo onto sleds during their final preparations for departure on the edge of the frozen sea when Arveiturace landed on the splintered prow of the ship. The heroes fled into the snow. |
| 21 |
#DarkDuchess The party considered their next steps, unfurling a map and eyeing possibilities near the Sea of Moving Ice. They decided to begin at the west, heading towards the Dark Duchess in search of treasure. They learned that the vessel was supposed to be carrying ale, even, with a bounty set by the Five Tavern Center in Bremen. Moreover, they recalled that Sephek Kaltro had rode that ship, as did the Arcane Brotherhood apprentice Nass Lantomir, who stole a magic bauble from Vellynne Harpell as she was setting out from Luskan many moon ago. Specifically, Avarice had told them this tidbit, and noted that the item's recovery would grant the party a great deal of favor in her eyes. |
| 21 |
#battle #DarkDuchess Tremors were felt in the tundra as the party took a short rest for the sake of their sled dogs. Several chwinga were spotted atop a nearby snowy mound. On approach, the mound was discovered to be a mammoth corpse. Large claws had grappled it recently and sizable chunks of flesh were torn out by an even larger maw. The markings tracked with that of a dragon. The tremors they had felt increased in intensity until the ground surrounding the mammoth carcass caved in. An adolescent remorhaz reared its head, grabbing at the corpse to scavenge. The party attacked, and thus the beast retaliated. Eventually the remorhaz was slain, but only after it swallowed Oona and began to tunnel away. Thankfully, she cut herself out of its dead belly before its acids could burn her to the bone. Several hours later, the party arrived at the wreckage of the Dark Duchess. |
| 20 |
#TheForgottenRealm #DarkDuchess #ArcaneBrotherhood As told by Avarice, an apprentice of the Arcane Brotherhood named Nass Lantomir had stolen a valuable bauble from Vellynne when they first left Luskan. Nass fled aboard the Dark Duchess, the very ship whose wreckage has since been reported. Hoping the bitch died, Avarice suggested the party investigate the matter. The bauble knew things, she said. Many thing. Things that may uncover Ythryn. Things that may weaken Auril. Avarice insisted she'd gladly guide the party to the core of Ythryn itself if they were to ally. |
| 12 |
#WhaleHunters #DarkDuchess The party banters with a group of thuggish seamen at the Black-Bearded Brother, the lot of whom are already soused before midday. They're conspiring to head north to the Sea of Moving Ice to capitalize on the whaling colonies' incompetence over hunting a particularly large whale. They also talked about the wreckage of the Dark Duchess, a Luskan merchant vessel. |
| 12 |
#ColdHeartedKiller In Torg's Targos warehouse, the adventurers were able to discern that Sephek was a recent hire of Torg's. He was a former sailor from Luskan who served on the Dark Duchess. Sephek seemed to be a Midwinter Child from his lack of warm attire. He had ice blue eyes. Tetro and Hazel offered Torg assistance in removing and burying the nameless body and left the scene. |