Session 5-9-09

Maia 15, 23CR -- Rime Thuras, Kostchtchie's Realm, the Abyss:

The six heroes continue their trek through the frosty wastes of Rime Thuras, passing through the small canyon where they were ambushed by the white dragon and two entombed.  They briefly explore the towers, which seem to be of dwarf-craft design, and which are covered with runes of warning: "Heed the works and the doom of the Icestone Clan, which fell into freezing darkness and succumbed to the demonic power of the Abyss itself."  The towers contain no treasure, and the party presses onward.

After another half-mile hike through deep snowdrifts, the group comes upon a wide snowfield, which leads up to a tall, stony hill and Icestone Tower itself.  A swirling face reminiscent of a frost giant appears out of the snowstorm, yelling out a warning in a booming voice: "Turn back from this place, lest you incur the wrath of Kostchtchie, greatest of demon lords, and of his mightiest servant, the wizard Arbrozzar.  All who pass through here without permission are marked for death!" The face dissipates back into the snowstorm, and the heroes press on undeterred by the warning.

Their enemies are prepared to meet the party's incursion into Kostchtchie's realm, however.  Three frost giant barbarians bellow their fury as they charge down the snowy hillside to engage in melee combat, while the screech of a vrock guardian rings out from the tower itself.  Kaelin and Rockbounder team up to cut down one of the barbarians, supported by Acacia darting in and out of the ethereal plane to land sudden, precise strikes.  Jack bobs and weaves, absorbing punishment and dealing it out in turn as he engages another frost giant.  Ayotunde blasts this one with a flame strike, and Jack soon finishes it off with his scythe.

A low, deep droning chant in the Dwarven language alerts the heroes to the presence of three Icestone dwarves, collared together and chained in a triangular pattern.  Their eyes are listless and somewhat blank as they move about the battlefield dispelling the heroes' enchantments.  Clearly enthralled slaves, these frost-rimed dwarves have no regard for their own safety, and exist only to take orders from their giant controllers.  This enrages Acacia, Rockbounder and Kaelin, all of whom have a special violent place in their hearts reserved for slavers.  They redouble their attacks, striking with renewed fury.

Just as the heroes seem to gain control of the battlefield, a thunderous pounding of hooves signals the arrival of a frost giant tundra scout, mounted on the back of a huge war-mammoth.  He charges into the fray, striking hard with his greatspear and setting up a pincer maneuver with himself on one side, the vrock and another giant flanking, with the party in the middle.  A ferocious battle ensues, which ends with Rockbounder beheading the final frost giant barbarian, and then taking the battle to the vrock.  The goliath cuts down the vulture-demon while Kaelin and Jack focus on the tundra scout.  All the while, Altaer does his best to avoid the enemies' blows and put forth a steady stream of scorching, fiery blasts with his sorcerous magic.  Kaelin, Jack and Acacia bring down the tundra scout without killing his mammoth mount.  The wounded animal, now free of its evil rider, quits the fight and lumbers away toward the canyon.

Altaer catches the three dwarves in a massive blast of flame, mercifully ending their existence with an empowered fireball.  The six heroes surge ahead, emboldened by their victories over Kostchtchie's and Abrozzar's minions.  The lowest level fo Icestone Towers seems to be a combination of storage and a massive teleportation circle, or perhaps a planar gate.  Acacia discovers a dangerous icy trap warding the circle, and takes several minutes to carefully disarm it while Ayotunde heals the party from the previous battle.  As they scale the tower's steps and reach the top level, the final guardian of the tower emerges.  "Interlopers, come and meet your deaths at the hands of Ragnarr!"  Their foe is the largest and most dangerous frost giant they have ever faced, a true Jarl of his people and loyal servant of Arbrozzar.  Rockbounder leaps into action, quickly setting up a flank with Kaelin.  Acacia darts in and out of the fight while the three bladesmen ply their trade upon Ragnarr, Jarl of the Iron Wastes.  Massive blows are exchanged, and Rockbounder is nearly brought to his knees, if not for the timely healing of Ayotunde. As they fight, the heroes notice a massive, black-bladed sword mounted on the wall, which must be their objective.

"You shall never claim the Demon-Quelling Sword!" cries Ragnarr confirming their suspicions, as he slices deeply into Kaelin's flesh this time with his large, icy-bladed greatsword.  "I beg to differ," says Jack dryly. Now surrounded by the heroes, Ragnarr cannot stand against their coordinated efforts.  A massive, well-timed strike by Rockbounder, Jack, Acacia and Kaelin is followed up by a salvo of admixtured scorching rays from Altaer, who claims the kill for himself.  Ragnarr screams as he falls to the ground and burns to death, immolated by Altaer's power.  "Hah!  Loser..." he says as his rays burn the jarl to death.  The sorcerer then turns to his friends: "You know, if not for me, all of you would have been dead many times over during this battle.  It's just another example of my supreme power over the element of fire."  He smugly brushes himself off while Rockbounder peers at the large sword mounted on the wall.  He walks over and grasps the hilt, tugging the massive adamantine blade free from its moorings.

A voice echoes inside his mind.  "Yes!  A worthy master.  You have claimed me from this Abyssal prison.  Let us strike at many demons this day, and make them pay for trapping me here.  I shall serve you loyally, so long as you battle the hordes of the Abyss!"  Rockbounder smiles inwardly, knowing that he has at last claimed the Demon-Quelling Sword.  It is a large, black-metal blade of adamantine, double-edged and heavy, with a finely balanced guard inlaid with moonstones and onyx.  The six companions return to the magical circle down at the base of the tower.  Acacia takes several minutes to carefully comb every corner of the storeroom, and eventually discovers another trinket of value: a small, golden horn token (similar to a bull's horn, but only about six inches long).  Acacia hands the golden horn to Ayo, who studies the teleportation circle carefully with Altaer.  Between them, they study the runes and patterns of the circle and quickly determine that it is, in fact, a gate directly from the Iron Wastes into the Demonweb itself!

Since they have been tasked with travelling into Lolth's domain and contacting Lissondra by Rule-of-Three, the existence of such a portal is certainly a boon to the party's immediate travelling efforts.  Unsure of precisely where the gate will lead within the Demonweb, they prepare to step through.  However, after several minutes of tense discussion, the party agrees to instead head back to the Beastlands to take care of a few outstanding issues.  Rockbounder, who recently researched a spirit-bonding ritual for powerful weapons, elects to bind his new prize, "Quell" (as he has named the sword), with the ritual.  To do so will require a raging river, and the Beastlands contains many such waterways.  Further, Kaelin tracks down the wounded war-mammoth, who was wandering somewhat aimlessly through the frozen wastes.  The crusader catches up with the great woolly beast, whispering quiet and kind words into its enormous floppy ears.  Soon, he has tamed the creature and convinced it to return with them to the Beastlands, where it can begin a new life far from its frost giant masters. 

It is agreed, then, that the heroes will take a brief side-journey back to the relative safety of the Beastlands before returning to Rime Thuras via Yggdrassil to explore the depths of the Demonweb.

The Threefold Sundering