044 - Dashing through the snow

... with a 900 lbs crystal ball!

Act 44, Scene 1 - Dashing through the snow

After cleaving the Palantirs from the altar, the two living members of the company set on foot to reach the Raven before nightfall. Sir Galdor was weighted down by his armor. Halin offered to carry his hauberk to lighten his load. To maximize their speed, they decide to travel on the hard ice of the fjord, which should put them on sight of Mulkan at some point. Finbert, as a wraith, decided to follow the two and scout ahead. 

The snow was falling with increased intensity. By the time that the pair was passing east of Mulkan, the visibility was less than the width of the fjord. Finbert flew over to the village to take stock. The Lossoth of Mulkan were picking up the pieces after the wave of destruction of the afternoon. Halin and Sir Galdor never realized that they had passed the village.

Ac 44, Scene 2 - Naked in the snow

Finbert kept ahead of the two until the mouth of the fjord. He followed the path to Hlechui until the village was in sight. He dropped to the ground. Letting the Imenstone shard go was a struggle, but it eventually slipped off his hand and fell on the ground. Finbert found himself naked in the snow. A little girl emerged from a grove of trees with a pile of wood in her arms. Finbert called to draw her attention and asked to see Elder Taaso. The little girls freaked out, tossed the wood at him and ran in to the village. Fin was taken to the elder. He was offered oversized Lossoth clothes, and explain the day's events to Taaso. Incredulous, the elder rounded up a few hunters and asked Finbert to take them to the Palantir. 

Halin and Sir Galdor were dragging their tired feet to in the snow when a group of Lossoth met them on the path. Finbert was there, now breathing and living. Taaso asked to see the Southron stone. He refused to touch it when Halin pulled it out of his pack. Uneasy, the lossoths rushed the company back to shore.

Act 44, Scene 2 - A weird green Syssiphus

Back on the mound of Shapithui's body, the wraiths tried to coordinate to lift the Masterstone of Weathertop. Without Finbert, the burden was even heavier. At this rate, getting the stone to the Raven would take 6-8 hours. They attempted to lift it above the cloud cover, but instead got quickly concerned that they'd never find the ship without any landmarks to navigate with. They decided to drop to the ground, on the firm ice of the fjord and instead push the stone. Arnadil and Irina would act as scouts.

Irina flew over Mulkan and saw the crushed temple. A lossoth watchman spotted her but she flew away without looking back. It was well after sundown that the wraith had managed to roll the stone all the way to the edge of the ice pack where the Raven was tethered. 

The wind had picked up and was pushing the ship against the ice. The wraith decided to bypass the ship and hide the masterstone under some snow near the Raven. They then headed for the Imenstone. There, they hoped, they would find their clothes and equipment.

They found the Imenstone guarded by a lone Lossoth wraith. The combat was brief and furious as all company member rushed him. Araliniel accidentally knocked his sword from his hand (with a critical) while other grappled him. Held down by other, the wraith came to an end when Arnadil thrusted Astor into the wraith's eye, dissipating him. The wraith turned into a dull shadow and was dragged down to the Imenstone where his cry became muffled, then died down. 

Act 44, Scene 3 - Unwraithing

Irina was volunteered to dropped into the shrine and gather the equipment for everyone else. She touched the ground and effortlessly released the shard. She reached for her clothes first. Kasper was atop of the shrine's wall, struggling to get the shard off his hand. He announced the company that he wasn't done being a wraith. Arnadil tried to convince him that he had to let go, but Kasper resisted. Arnadil firmly ordered the wraith to drop the shard, but Kasper laughed. He claimed that men had no authority over him any longer. In a desperate move, Arnadil drew Astor and knocked the shard off his hand. Kasper materialized immediately with a profusely bleeding left hand. Irina got him to jump down and bandaged his wound. 

Across the shrine's wall, Thannolf struggled but eventually dropped the shard. Arnadil, now confronted with his own mortality almost refused to let go (he needed to use a cp to reroll that Will check). However, Araliniel couldn't let go. She didn't even seemed to be struggling. Arnadil tried to talk to her, but it appeared to make her angry. Rather than pounce on him, the flew up and away from the company. Further plight were left unanswered as her wraith disappeared in the blizzard. 

The company put their clothes back on. Thannolf appropriated Finbert's purse. They set on their way, totem in hands, for the Raven. They got there without any trouble. 

Act 44, Scene 4 - A drake in the riggings

When Finbert walked up the gangway to the Raven, one of the sailor inquired about his oversized outfit. Finbert casually replied: "Lossoth women...". The trio walked down to the lower deck and reached for the nearest keg of ale. Halin drank, lost in his own thoughts. Finbert and Sir Galdor recruited sailors for the celebrations.

When the rest of the company arrived on the Raven, the party was already well underway: Sir Galdor had harvested a few celebins from the sailors. Finbert befriended the few ones that he hadn't already. They kept the cause for celebration quiet. That Araliniel didn't make it back didn't seem to be a big deal at the end of a day like that. But still, Arnadil felt it as a personal and professional loss and drank heavily.  

The Raven in all its glory!

Much later into the night, the Raven was shaken by something. The company could hear some sailors on the main deck. They reached for their weapons and headed up. The night was dark and a snowstorm was raging [ Dark -2, Snowstorm -1, rough footing -2 ] [+]. The deck was covered with almost a foot of snow. Halin and Galdor spotted a drake hatchling high up in the rigging. Much of the ropes were tangled or torn. The company rushed out. Arnadil was drunk, and merrily charged towards the mast. In a single leap, the hatchling closed in on the company member. Halin and Galdor climbed the stairs to the forecastle. The drake blew a jet of snow in their face, but they dodged the worst of it and managed a few attempts to strike the creature. The drake ran out of place to retreat and jumped up to the mast overhead.

Peek-a-boo! The wicked drake can see you.

While he was harassed by Irina's arrow, Finbert's darts and Kasper's spells, Arnadil and Thannolf had made their way up the rigging. While Arnadil was hanging on a rope in between the center and forward mast, the drake ordered him to drop down. Arnadil ignored that strange command. When Arnadil set foot on the spar, he felt his body temperature dropping very quickly, but managed to break sorcery off. The drake then ordered Arnadil to hand over Astor, his gondolin sword. To his surprise, Arnadil obliged. The drake grabbed it in his mouth.

Thannolf sneaked from behind and attempted to grapple the drake. Arnadil took advantage of the distraction to grasp on Astor and try to wrestle it out of the drake's mouth. The drake started to bleed at his lips. A poison dart hit him on the neck. He released Astor and commanded Arnadil to jump off the spar.

Arnadil lay on the ground, paralyzed by
a major wound to his pelvis.

Arnadil dropped down without a question. He landed hip first and heavily crashed on the deck.  He crawled to get his hand back on Astor. Overhead, Thannolf was still wrestling the hatchling. Kasper was standing on the spar of the center mast and the rest of the company was running around, helpless. The ship's rigging was now in bad shape, the raging storm grinding the Raven against the ice pack.

And thus ended the session...