A Mountain Top Storm. An Ice Cold Encounter.
As the morning shifted towards the afternoon, the beautiful blue sky became a darkish gray. The Last Gaard Mountain peaks were covered with frozen plants and piles of snow laced dirt. For the six former Steel Legionnaires, who had managed to reach halfway up the mountain due in part to their dwarven guide, it was now a race to find some kind of shelter before the impending storm.
"And I say it's all superstition," said Lynsey after listening to Melinda's estimation of when the storm would actually hit the mountain.
The wizard scowled at Lynsey, then turned to Dorm. "You can choose to believe if you want, but I will tell you the only thing that is superstition is her mistrust and hesitation to believe that I am right."
"Some things never change," Timber whispered as Melinda walked over to join Roxi. Together, the wizard and the cleric searched for nearby shelter.
"I know," Dorm whispered back, watching as Lynsey went to join Ash for some lunch. The black haired ranger put his arm around her and whispered something into her ear. Although this made Lynsey giggle, Dorm felt a sudden urge to blacken both of the eyes of his fellow ranger. His thoughts were interrupted when a low rumble filled the sky. "I know," he repeated as he turned to Melinda, whose face was filled with a look that screamed 'I told you so.'
Cicily walked up to Dorm and yawned. "Sounds like a storm is brewing. Well it just so happens I know of a shelter that can lead us through the other side of the mountains. Only problem is a band of thanoi roam the tunnels."
Ash's ears perked up at the mention of the walrus men. "The thanoi in the tunnel should be no problem. I'm sure all of us strong men and women can handle ourselves." And with that, Cicily signaled them to get their gear.
Once they were ready, the dwarf led them six feet to the North, to a vast open mouth cave that went deeper into the mountain. They entered single file, gazing at the tiny ice crystals that sparkled and glinted from the mountain wall. Small stalactites and stalagmites littered the ceilings and corners.
After continuing through the tunnels for another hour, the companions found that their path divided into two, one way going forward while the other went right.
"A fork in the road,' commented Timber in a cynical voice. "So which way do we go?"
"Let's decide after rest," Dorm answered, sitting cross legged next to Melinda. Lynsey, Ash, Timber, and Cicily formed a circle inches away from the brown haired ranger and the wizard.
Roxi was about to join Dorm and Melinda, but then she heard a faint voices coming from the distance. Part of her wanted to alert her friends about the mysterious voices, but another part of her, one that was more attuned to her kinder curiosity, wanted to go see if these voices were of friend or foe.
I'm sure they won't mind if I slip away for a few minutes, she said to herself as she proceeded down the right path. Her heart raced as the voices grew louder with each step she took.
"Who do those voices belong to?" she wondered. Taking a few more steps, the cleric found herself in a wide open area blanketed in ice and snow.
"It's…cold in here," Roxi said softly as she put up the hood of her winter coat. "Maybe coming here…wasn't…wasn't such a go…good idea." She went to take a step back, but suddenly the mounds of snow around her began to shift. When she turned to run, she heard something jump out from under the snow.
The priestess of Mishakal dashed to the door as fast as her legs could carry her. "I've got to…" She fell to the ground with a soft thud, her face buried deep in the freezing snow as the cold and wet rubbery claws grasped her by the scruff of her robes.
Timber stood up and looked down the two paths. "She's been gone for too long. I'm going after her."
Ash stood up and walked next to him. "I'll go with you Timber."
Melinda watched the two start down the path that went East. "How do you know she went that way?"
They kept their backs turned to the mage and the others. "I noticed her inching towards this path," replied the elf. "You all should go on ahead and see where the other path leads us."
Timber and Ash went along their way, leaving Dorm and the women in silence.
The four began their path down the other route, their hands on their weapons incase of an ambush by thanoi, ogres, or other hostile creatures. After walking for what seemed like an hour, they stopped when Cicily pointed to a small section of the mountain wall.
"There's a secret door right there," the dwarf acknowledged in a very excited voice.
Both Dorm and Lynsey raised their eyebrows as Cicily felt up the wall, trying to find the switch or button that would reveal what was behind the door. Only the wizard seemed concerned of what the guide was doing. "No you shouldn't open that!" Melinda shouted, trying to pull the dwarf away from the door.
It was already too late. A small section of the wall descended into the floor, revealing a dark and empty space. Lynsey was about to ask Melinda what was wrong, when hundreds of transparent shapes flew at them, each one cackling at the top of their lungs.
"This is a Ghost Trap," Melinda whispered as she reached into her robes and drew a silver opal. She shouted words that caused the opal to glow brightly. A flash of bright light covered the room, driving the ghosts back into the area behind the wall. Once they were all inside, the section of stone slid back up, sealing the ghosts inside.
"That was an interesting spell…" Lynsey said to Melinda as she put away the opal.
The wizard's colorless eyes beamed at the red haired woman. "Ghost traps were invented hundreds of years ago by necromancers. It is merely another defense mechanism, but can be powerful, depending on how many ghosts are used in the trap."
"I see," was all Lynsey said to her. The warrior then turned to Dorm and said," Do you think we'll run into any more ghosts down here?"
"I wouldn't think so, unless we happen to come across anymore secret doors." Dorm's eyes shifted to the dwarf, whose lips parted in a sheepish smile.
With their weapons drawn, Timber and Ash cautiously entered the area covered in snow. The elf's eyes scanned all over the floor and walls, searching for the missing cleric.
"There she is," Ash cried, pointing left. Timber followed the ranger's hand and found Roxi bound to the wall in shackles and chains that were made of ice, the expression on her face was of sheer terror.
"She must have ran into something very horrible if her face is twisted like that," Ash commented as he began looking around the room. Next to him, Timber nodded. It was well known that kender weren't afraid of anything, and though Roxi was only half, there were few things in the world that could frighten her.
Timber and Ash began walking towards the wall where she was bound. They would have easily made it over in seconds, had a very mound of moving snow not blocked their path.
Ash placed both his axes in front of him as the walrus man burst from the mound in front of him while from behind, Timber waved his rapier as another thanoi jumped in front of him.
Both thaoni came at their targets hard, slashing their claws, hoping to inflict much pain and blood loss. Ash spun his axes up, batting away both claws, then came in low, making two low slashes at the creature's legs. After watching two small trails of blood hit the snowy ground, Ash made two vertical swipes, cutting off both the thanoi's arms.
After watching his foe hit the ground, Ash turned to find Timber stabbing his rapier multiple times through the thanoi's jugular. He finished the walrus man with a well placed slash to the throat, then watched as the thanoi's corpse slumped to the ground.
Normally, Timber would have quickly gone through and looted both corpses in hopes of finding treasure, but his mind was set on other matters. He quickly ran over to where Roxi was frozen and sheathed his rapier.
While Timber was chiseling away the ice that was keeping the half-kender prisoner, Ash had taken it upon himself to go through the bodies. He found no coin or treasure on either corpse, only a piece of parchment with handwriting on it. Handwriting that was very familiar to him.
He quickly slipped the document into his pocket, then went over to help the elf free their comrade.