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Previously on Rime of the Frostmaiden
Starring:
Valravn, level 8 Eladrin Bard of Eloquence
Fray, level 8 Halfling Barbarian of the Beast/Fighter
Celeste, level 8 Half-orc Sun Soul Monk
Edmond, Level 8 Human Alchemist Artificer
Thimbleweed, level 8 Gnome Swarmkeeper Ranger
We left off last week with a frost giant mounted on a woolly mammoth barreling down on the party. Like many D&D encounters, it didn’t quite go as anyone would have planned.
Despite having disadvantage on initiative rolls due to his player secret, Valravn was first in initiative order. He cast Charm Monster on the mammoth, successfully charming it, though had no way to communicate with it yet.
While Fray rages and charges at the polar bear, the angry frost giant directs the mammoth to charge at Fray. The gory tusk miss thanks to her deflecting tail. The giant hurls a net at Fray then skewers both her and Valravn for 25+ damage with his giant lance.
Celeste finishes off the polar bear while Thimbleweed shoots the giant with a chardalyn arrow, blinding it.
Valravn’s turn comes around again. As an action he uses Universal Speech to communicate with the mammoth, slowly walking towards it and convincing the mammoth it doesn’t need to fight.
A funny thing happens. Thanks to Universal Speech, the mammoth (and giant) can understand Valravn, but not vice-versa. Thimbleweed, however, had cast Speak with Animals earlier when communicating with the first, friendly polar bear (who has since been cowering during the fight).
When the mammoth replies, Thimbleweed translates, and it’s fucking hilarious. He uses what I can only describe as Jaded, Chain-Smoking, Truckstop Waitress voice, and it’s glorious.
The two have a hilarious conversation and it’s all the DM can do to hang on for the ride. Even though the giant has taken barely any damage (and the mammoth none) the RP is so damn good that I end the fight then and there, Valravn having successfully convinced the mammoth to leave them alone.
Being an expert beast trainer, the giant, Bergelmir, is impressed with Valravn’s mammoth-whispering (also getting magically blinded by an arrow after seeing his other polar bear get brutally slaughtered). He agrees to leave the PCs, and the cowardly bear alone.
Before he leaves, he tells them of a sacred frost giant site nearby, Jarlmoot. A place where they can prove their strength and receive the blessing of the jarls.
Jarlmoot is less than 10 miles away, but Dark Duchess is much closer. After a short rest, they continue to the coast of the Sea of Moving Ice.
Crossing the sea of ice floes requires a few Athletics and Acrobatics checks. Edmond and Valravn fall in the frigid water, but Valravn has his Ring of Warmth to prevent exhaustion, while Edmond makes the CON saving throw before Fray fishes them out. Edmond casts Flaming Sphere to help dry them off.
After a treacherous mile they reach the Dark Duchess, a pirate ship resting above the ice. They tie a rope around Fray as she and Thimbleweed magically climb their way to the top of the deck using their Ranger and Barbarian class features. Celeste shows off her monk jumping skills, while once again poor Edmond and Valravn bring up the rear with Fray’s rope.
On top of the frozen deck they see deep scratch marks and a gaping hole into the hold below, where the sounds of snarls, grunts, and thumps signal something lurking in the dark.
But this isn’t exactly the most tactically stealthy party. Before it winks out, Edmond hurls his Flaming Sphere into the hold, lighting it up like a flare. They see glimpses of a vast treasure hoard, as well as a monstrous humanoid creature.
Fray stomps down the stairs with Valravn close behind. The ice troll surprises them when they reach the bottom, but Fray can activate her Rage to take her turn like normal, swinging into the beast with her axe and using its absorbing rune to mitigate its cold damage.
The rest of the PCs charged down to meet it head-on. Thanks to a low initiative roll for the troll, it takes lots of damage in the first round.
Edmond gets to show off his new infused boots that allow him to teleport back to a previously occupied space, safely avoiding the troll’s icy aura.
Fray tanks all of the damage but survives, while the troll falls to their onslaught. Before they can catch their breath, however, a second troll crashes through a nearby door with a half-eaten goat in its mouth.
We’re not finished yet, but we’ll deal with that fight next week.
MVPC – Valravn
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