Tag: Rime of the Frostmaiden

Eleven Towns?

On By ravonlockeIn Jin, JournalLeave a comment

The goblin friends are still in Bryn Shander, but they’re ready to go home. We pack up and head south to their mountain fortress. They built it themselves! Doc finds a couple dogs in his new pockets, so now Saalym and Leshy have new pets. He also gives Twitch a bunch of papers. I don’t even remember where the robe came from. Maybe one of the ships, I guess.

On our way, we find a hurt goblin. Says he was coming to look for our friends, but got attacked and everyone else dragged off. So Eggy starts tracking back to where it happened and then follows the tracks back to a camp. There’s a bunch of people there, families and everything. Doc and I sneak forward and can see goblins and a halfling all chained up. So, we call out to them. Tell them we just want our friends back. It looks like maybe they’re already cooking a goblin for dinner. They need food, so I ask Saalym to ask Leshy about the ground up elks.

Saalym and Eggy are getting really upset that these people are eating people. But they’re hungry. Leshy says we don’t have any more elk. Eggy starts shooting and Yogi comes charging in. These people don’t put up much of a fight, and the group slaughters a bunch of them. Twitch, Doc, and I go set the goblins and halfling free during the fighting. Their leaders finally come out, but they surrender, and we give them food and tell them to stop eating people. I guess Leshy lied and we did have a bunch of elk left. The halfling in named after the bees in Good Mead, and says she’ll come with us for safety until we can get her home.

The goblin fortress is pretty big, but our friends say that sometimes it shakes and they have to go outside so it doesn’t fall on them. Saalym and Leshy start trying to figure out how to make it more sturdy. Doc and I drink with the goblins until their chief is ready to see us. He’s got a really weird crate in his office. Says he’ll trade it for food. Something is weird about him though. He’s got a cool metal mask, but it’s not just that.

He’s a Gnome! He got attacked by these guys, but somehow got inside pretending to be a goblin. Then he took over to help the be better. He’s really scared they’ll find out he’s not a goblin and kill him. I think they’re really nice goblins, and might just throw him out. Doc thinks maybe they’d be okay with his real self. He’s helped them so much. But he says they get bored really easily and there’s lots of that right now, with all the snow. So, we make a plan to help him find stuff for them to do. Get materials for them to work on building. Start a mine somewhere for them to work in for trading. We’re going to give them all our extra weapons and armor, too. So they can be a real town and defend themselves.

That all seems boring to me, but he does give us the weird crate. It’s got a big egg in it, but not a real egg. It’s made out of sticky metal. Twitch says we can’t open it in town. Saalym starts teaching kids to follow her judgy god, so I start teaching them to think for themselves. She teaches them to defend themselves, and I give them my leftover daggers. We’re arming all the adults, the kids should get something, too! Twitch makes a bunch of bricks for them. Eggy finds good rocks and Doc teaches them out to break them out of the mountains.

Twitch finally says we can take the egg down the mountain to open it. It takes a bit of work because it’s magic, but we get it open. A big weird thing slimes out and bites me! Eggy shoots it until it stops biting. The egg is really big inside, but when Twitch goes in and comes out, he doesn’t know it’s been a little while. He seems really excited about trapping monsters in there.

Once the town is ready to go, we take a peace totem from their chief back to Bryn Shander’s speaker. I show him what Sammy looks like, but he hasn’t seen him. Saalym gets mad and storms off again. I really don’t understand. How are people supposed to know who we’re looking for if I don’t show them? Weirdo. Twitch’s boss is ready to go to the city under the ice, and we’re going to look for the mage tower along the way. After we sober up in the morning, of course.

Sculptures and Symbols

On By ravonlockeIn Jin, JournalLeave a comment

Twitch says it is time to head for the castle at the center of the island. Doc and Saalym seem distracted by the freezing cold and don’t say much, so we change directions. Which annoys our ice friend, but he takes us to a big wall with holes in it. Inside is some kind of statue garden. Except they look like people that got frozen. Leshy says they Are frozen folks and critters, and we see a couple trolls having dinner of a couple of them. Nasty trolls, just biting heads right off, without even cooking them. So we kill the trolls and take all the magic stuff off the frozen dead people. It’s not as much fun with Doc in a snowblind daze.

Twitch’s boss lady wants the troll hearts. She says they can make us really strong, and Twitch convinces her to let us have them. Says I should eat one so I can heal while I’m fighting. It was almost as good as the frozen wine-sicles. We give Sandy the other one, I’m not sure if he ate it or not.

Next we find a real ice sculpture garden, not just frozen people. This one even has an ice dragon. I climb up on top and look around, but there’s no one here. And nothing moving. Everything is really pretty, though.

Then we’re at a mountain in the center of the island. I try to ask the icy guy if there’s a way in, but he says we have to climb up. It’s not so hard once I get Doc to help me. I wonder why he’s so out of it. Hope he wakes up soon. Up at the top, we go around to the other side of the mountain to find a big staircase we could have used. We scold our ice friend for making us climb and he runs off. It goes right up into a big skull’s mouth. Twitch says it’s called Grim Skull. Or something like that.

The doors are really heavy, but Eggy and Yogi get them open. There’s no one to stop us, so we go right on in. The first door has an old giant behind us who just stares at us and asks who we are. Twitch shows him the winter goddess lady symbol and says we’re looking for the vault. He says it’s down the hall. That was easy.

We go down the hall, staying out of trouble and find a bunch more icy friends, but they don’t want to talk. So, we go downstairs to find the vault. We find another talking walrus first. He says it’s his job to protect this place from bad people. Twitch shows him the symbol and he says we must be okay. I tell him we’ll bring him fish next time we come, and he tells us were all the hallways go out of his room. A bunch of trials and the vault.

We decide to just go for the vault. The others aren’t ready to actually make a ruckus and Doc is still being quiet. We head for the vault, but Eggy can’t get the door open. It says “The way is shut unless you pass the trials of cruelty, isolation, endurance, and… something. Twitch holds up his symbol, though, and the door just opens.

The next room has big chunks of ice with the petty goddess lady’s rules on it. Cruelty, Isolation, Endurance, and Preservation. I think the Winter Queen might get along with this goddess lady, if she weren’t so silly as to just take over ten tiny terrible towns.

Twitch waves his symbol at the next door, too. It opens up and there’s a big book in here, on a stand. It’s the book we are looking for! Twitch picks it up before I touch it, and his symbol disappears. We try the next set of doors, but without the symbol, we can’t get in. Everyone wants to leave. I want to talk to the goddess lady. I shout out, because if she’s a goddess, she should be able to hear me, but she doesn’t answer. The walrus says she doesn’t come downstairs. So we just leave.

Back down the mountain and through all the statues again. The icy guy said there were two more shipwrecks. That should be fun before we head back home again. The first one is guarded by a bunch of fishmen that Twitch calls Merrow. I wonder if they’re related to minnows. There was a bunch of money and jewelry on that ship. The last ship just has a bunch of giant oysters on it, so we have a really good dinner before going back to the dock.

Our whale friend takes us back to land. Twitch tells us all about the magical things we found. He says the book has spells and a big poem in it. His boss wants to go back to Bryn Shander and study it some before we go to the city under the ice. That sounds boring, but we do have to get back to the goblin tribe and make sure they get home safe. I really want to meet their chief.

Treaties and Shipwrecks

On By ravonlockeIn Jin, JournalLeave a comment

We stopped by Bryn Shander on our way north, and a good thing, too. There were a bunch of goblins at the gate trying to bring a treaty to the Speaker, but the guards wouldn’t let them in. I told the guards we’d take care of them, so they let us all pass. Took them right up to the townhall and went with them into the meeting. These goblins were all really nice, and they want us to come meet their leader. They say he’s partly made of metal. He brought them all out of their caves and they built their very own fortress. They were just about to start trading when Winter hit, and it’s been bad, so he’s trying to fix it with the treaty. The Speaker’s aide hears them out and says they are allowed to stay in town until the Speaker has time to respond. So, Doc and I take them to an inn and we all get drunk. In the morning, we pay for their room and give them food money. We’ll take them home when we get back, to make sure they’re safe.

Some potion buying, a quick stop to tell my Dad all about the dragon, and we’re back at the whale dock. There’s a half-orc there looking confused in robes and symbols of the stupid winter goddess lady. Only, he says he’s not allowed to go to her island, where the frost giants are. Oh cool! We’re going to her island maybe! We can fix everything! He says she was betrayed by the other gods and that’s when she starting throwing this winter fit. He agrees the Winter makes it hard for him to spread her word to the people. Saalym calls her evil, and I explain that means her god doesn’t like her. He says the goddess lady won’t let him help fix things, but that doesn’t stop him from helping us. He knows the book we want and gives Twitch a symbol to help us get into her vault. He says the last page is important. Then he goes away really fast like that bad lady in the basement of that one castle. Twitch says he was a lot more powerful than the bad lady, but it seemed the same to me. I think he’s just impressed with people stronger than him, like that lady who has come with us.

We ring for the nice whale to come, and he agrees to take us out to the island. We fish for him along the way. He even says he’ll stick around a couple days to give us a ride back when we’re done. Such a good whale friend.

Everything is really big here, because giants. I have to be Jinna so we can climb the steps easier, Jinx isn’t quite tall enough. But we get all the way up the cliff and find a flying icy guy who rumbles at us. Twitch has to do a really long spell to be able to understand him. He’s really friendly though and wants to show us a bunch of shipwrecks full of treasure!

I don’t really like the icy water, so I send Doc out to the first one with Twitch. He comes back after talking to some walruses though, and with a potion, too. He seems alright, so I go with them for the rest. The next one has a couple sharks in the hold. They’re really friendly and hungry. Doc gets the chest from the bottom of the boat and we give them some jerky to eat. Twitch doesn’t like them and hits them with a little bit of fire, but we take off before he can kill them. Poor sharks. The chest has lotsa rum n potions n coins. Rums really good. Warmssus rightup.

Next ship is full of creepy dead guys. They just keep coming and coming. It’s so much fun stabbing them until they fall down again! Saalym and Leshy even come to help. There’s some magic stuff in the bottom of this one that Twitch seems to think is important. The next ship is over the water, so we just all go look. There’s an even bigger chest in this one. It’s got lots of money and there’s a magic trident, Twitch calls it.

The next ship is really near the coast, so even Eggy comes out to see. This one has a frost giant skeleton that wakes up and we have to knock it back down. Doc takes his axe. The icy guy says the next one is the newest one, so we keep going.

But we find a dead person first. Frozen in the snow, and an unfriendly weasel, and a really grumpy orb. Twitch calls the orb Professor, and seems to know the dead person. He’s really happy she’s dead. Saalym and Leshy pull the dead lady out of the snow and start trying to help put her to rest, but I guess she doesn’t want to. Twitch starts yelling and firing off magic and there’s a ghost there! She just wants to go find the book, like we do. You gotta let ghosts finish what they started so they can go away. So, I let her get inside me so everyone will stop hurting her. Saalym and Twitch get really, really mad. Saalym screams at me and I stop walking, then Leshy explodes the ghost lady right out of me.

Twitch is still mad, so he wraps the orb up in a bag and takes it back to where his boss and Eggy have been waiting. Leshy says I should drink the nice shrine water because the ghost might have hurt me and it will make me feel better. It tastes really nice and I do feel a bit more relaxed as we head for the next shipwreck.

This one has a coven of sea hags inside it. They invite us down to eat, which is really nice of them. But then they say they want to eat me, and Doc gets really mad and attacks them. Almost everyone joins him in that, but I keep trying to fix things. We have plenty of food to share, and hospitality must be upheld. But they start throwing lightning around and the others kill all three of them. Twitch also didn’t join in the fight, maybe he understands after all. They had some money and a really nice coral figurine that I want to give my Dad. Everyone’s tired after that and we take a little break.

Demon Dragon

On By ravonlockeIn Jin, JournalLeave a comment

We got to East Haven as the demon dragon was still attacking it. It’s all on fire and falling down. We gotta get it out of the town, so I grab the alarm horn from Eggy and blow it at the dragon. It really works and it breathes pain all over me, but I’m fast and smart so it doesn’t hurt that bad. Doc gets really big and just keeps hitting it right in the face while we all throw stuff at it. Saalym and Sandy fight with a bunch of the blue dwarves first, and then run right up Doc so they can punch it, too! I kill it though! Cuz I’m the strongest! It falls right down in front of us and Explodes! That was really fun!

Doc and I run off with a piece of scale to show the town what I did. We help them kill the rest of the blue dwarves, and tell everyone they’re safe now cuz I killed the demon dragon. Leshy came with so she and Doc can help the hurt people. When we save the people at the townhall, I show them the scale and he takes it. But Leshy says it’s dangerous and takes it back. He says we should take the big statue, too. It all needs to be destroyed or something. I’m going to keep my piece though, it won’t hurt me, I’m too smart!

In the morning, Twitch says he has a new mission for us, to help with the stupid winter goddess lady. Says there’s an old city under the ice with big magic things. Says the dragon heart he got yesterday is a battery for the sun thing, but there’s even better under the ice maybe. We have to go get a book first though, that knows how to get under the ice. That seems like a really smart book, just like me. I know how to get through ice, you chip it out of the way. Twitch says it’s on an island of frost giants, so that will be lots and lots of fun!

Twitch asks then if I still have any of the demon rock. It’s mine though. Eggy says it’s dangerous and it could hurt me. Doc is worried about me, too. Eggy doesn’t want me to end up in a cage like the gnolls’ guy, or crazy like the king we killed. I think he might kill me and take my head, even though I’m faster and smarter than him. I could kill him first, but Saalym wouldn’t like that at all. So, I bury it near the dragon rocks. I know where it is, I can get it back if I want to.

We go check on Good Mead first. The bees are okay, but most of the town is wrecked. We go check on the church where they put Sammy, but the crypt is open and Sammy is gone! Saalym is really upset and no one knows what happened. Maybe he wasn’t really dead. Maybe the winter goddess lady took him. Eggy says we should ask around wherever we go to see if anyone has seen him.

So, I turn into him, as best I can remember and head off to ask everyone in town. Eggy and Saalym shout at me, but it’s what Eggy said to do. I don’t understand why they’re mad. I’ll get her some mead so she doesn’t have to go near the bees. I don’t know why she hates the bees so much. Nobody in town has seen Sammy, but I tell them if they do to tell the Speaker. I make my funny hat change my clothes so they look like Sammy’s, too. But only to show the kids. I think the others would like that even less. Weird.

Saalym doesn’t want my present of mead, so I drink it myself on the way back to the mountains. We gotta make sure all the blue dwarves are dead before we go kill a bunch of giants. But some other blue dwarf lady has taken over the castle. At least she can talk so we understand. She’s not gonna play with the demon rock and doesn’t want to take over Ten Towns, so we let her be. Boring! I wanted to kill more blue dwarves! Time to head for the giants’ island then.

Down With The King!

On By ravonlockeIn Jin, JournalLeave a comment

The weird blue Dwarf King says we’re intruders and trash! He sends his even stranger creatures to attack us, poor fungus things. We put them out of their misery. Him too. It’s been a lot of fighting, especially for Saalym and Leshy who went up the elevator alone. Silly girls. What goes up comes back down. So, they take a moment to rest.

Doc and I take a look around. There’s a room full of fungus nastiness. A guard station with some pretty rocks that Twitch won’t let me touch. There’s a big door, but there’s noise behind it, so we wait for everyone to catch up. There’s some blue Dwarves there, trying to tie up a big bug. I shout for them to leave it alone, and they do. But then it and they attack us. Oh well. Mean, nasty blue Dwarves.

The next room is a huge forge that seems to pulse with a heartbeat. There’s lots of blue Dwarves in here on top of a bunch of towers. And there’s some of the big furry guys from the throne room down by the forge. Eggy shows off the head of the crazy king, trying to say we set them free, but I guess they didn’t like that.

We fought the ones on our tower and shot at the ones in other places. It looked like some of the other Dwarves liked that the king was dead, because they was fighting on some of the towers. Doc went down with Sandy to fight the furry things, but there were tiny ninjas on the floor that kept stabbing his ankles. They took care of it all though. Eggy says there weren’t ninjas, it was just a spell. I don’t think that’s how spells work.

When everyone’s dead, we take a look around the forge. It’s really hot! Twitch says there’s a dragon’s heart in the forge, from a red one. He wants to kill the heart or the forge or something, so that they can’t make another demon dragon. That’s boring though, it doesn’t fight back. There’s all kinds of scraps of the tingly demon rock, so I snag a really small one when Twitch is busy. It’s not fair I’m not allowed to have one.

Doc and I take a look around. There’s a bunch of clothes and gear on one wall, so we go in the nearby door. There’s a big Dwarf lady statue in there, but her head’s cut off, and there’s a weird purple guy chained to it. He doesn’t look so good. Doc says he’s dead. There’s more doors, so we keep going. There’s a blue Dwarf behind one of them. He wants to experiment on me, just like he did the dead purple guy outside. That’s no okay, so Doc hits him, and he turns all red and spikey and then he explodes. I take his hat, I like it, it’s funny. Everybody came running because of the fight, and Twitch gets really interested in the stone tablets in the room. He starts rubbing paper over them with charcoal or something. Seems boring.

Doc and I wander off again, but this time Eggy and Leshy follow. We find a couple dwarves in robes torturing a couple other dwarves. We save one of them. A lady dwarf, but she runs away. There’s weird coffins in here, but they have spikes inside them. Next we find a bedroom with moldy ale and empty chests. Then we find some of those big armor Dwarves and a lever. I make the lever go and then we smash them out of their armor. They were protecting a room full of chests with locks on them. Eggy remembers that we have a paper of symbols that might match them, so we come back later.

The next room we find is lots more fun. There’s six blue Dwarves all drinking. When Eggy shows them the dead King’s head, three of them help us attack the other three. But then more arrive and some of them are bad and some of them help us. Only four of them survive though. But at least it was better than none like it seemed in the forge room. There’s also a hall full of lightning.

We gather the group back up again and find a prison with some naked people the Dwarves had kidnapped. All their stuff is back out by the room with the rocks, so we give it all back and help them get back out of the castle. There’s also a bunch of big riding lizards, but Eggy can’t make friends with them, so we leave them alone. The only other tunnel down here seems to go all they way under the dark.

We talk about taking a big rest, but people are worried about the dragon. So they think about the map and distances and think maybe we can save a couple towns if we leave right now. So, we head back out of the mountain and down. We run into a friend of Twitch’s. She’s nice and came to find us to get our help with the dragon. So, off we rush.