Reign of Winter, San Diego Pathfinder gaming group

Sessions #4 & #5: Bandit lookout defeated, lodge scouted and attacked, Zaaz sees mother in vision and gets a new hairdo...

Bullet points for the 2 sessions at the lodge and beyond:

• The group was able to overcome the small group of bandits that were set ahead of the lodge as a look-out.

• Dalomar scouted all around the lodge that was found in a clearing near a river. The bandit stronghold is occupied, so after checking it out they stormed through the front door after being discovered by a bandit checking the perimeter.

• Bandits were at the table having a meal and attacked as soon as they saw the party intrude. The cook turned invisible after attempting to join the fray, but soon disappeared after that.

• Noname kept some of the bandits occupied with eagles that come at his beckoning, and Yoska and Zaaz used the powers of their elders and gods to deliver pain and mental anguish.

• After defeating the bandits, including some that were quite sick, the party searched the premises and continued to the room upstairs. Listen. Quite. Open the door. Skeletons! Frozen Skeletons! Something invisible slips past Yoska.......

• Downstairs some of the bodies are stripped of their flesh and they stand up to engage the party. Every round the invisible foe raises yet another body into the realm of the undead.

• All seemed lost as Sadobras fell from his mount and Yoska stared death in the face in the form of skeletons that cause your flesh to wither from the cold. Should you be lucky enough to defeat them they explode in any icy burst that could drop a man if he didn't have his wits about him.

• Then, after what seemed like some sort of magic affect that caused Zaaz to fall into a temporary trance (see her journal entry below), she awoke with a newly found vigor, strength, and conviction. She screamed "mother" after snapping out of it, and her hair and facial markings changed.

• The invisible creator of the undead was revealed as a human male with a sword and clerical powers from the dark side, which he used to repair his skeletal incarnations as well.

• At this point, in a final desperate attempt to find Lady Argentina Malassene, Zaaz yelled out for her........ a muffled response! Below! Where??? Duh, look under the bear rug! A trap door opened and the lady freed from below.

• The party narrowly escaped with their lives as skeletons pursued Dalomar endlessly around the lodge back to the front. With newly acquired mounts, the party rode off as a distant man, the undead commander, yelled at them in fury.

• Lady Argentea Malassene was very grateful, thanked you profusely, and offered a 500 purse, except that she had to travel to Zimar to acquire the means.

• The party returned to town and discovered some of them were quite ill. Nevertheless they continued on to Zimar, a day's ride away, to recoup, collect their reward, and find supplies that were not readily available in Heldren. Many were sick for days, but it was eventually overcome.

• Back on the road the party searched the abandoned lodge but found nothing of interest as it had been looted of all valuables and the remaining bandit leader had relocated.

• On the trail of the bandit leader's horse as well as other recent foot and horse tracks, the party continued over the river via the bridge and pepper into the winter. They found a skirmish between some sort of giant animal, possible a badger or weasel, and what appeared to be a farmer from the Heldon region.

• The frozen/slain farmer had some supplies as well as a journal. Many entries were of no interest, but one was an odd map with "X"s marked in a variety of places on what appeared to be a road or a path. Another entry described his hunt for the giant beast that ended up eventually killing him (you assume). He describes tracking it across the valley after seeing his livestock go missing. He also describes other humanoids (too hard to tell in the dark who they were) stealing his livestock over the past couple weeks as well. "They said I made up stories for attention. They said I'd had too much to drink again! I'll show them! They'll all eat crow when they see the head of this beast! If the traps don't get it I'll get it myself!". A third entry was very unusual: it described a clearing with a hut and a strange maze of ice-like piles/blocks. He stayed clear of the the maze, but snuck up and peered into the window of the hut and saw nothing but a small doll on a chair. "Creepy" he wrote. He left the area as it "reeked of the powers of the witches to the north". "That explains everything!" he wrote. " The might of the witches of the lands of Irrisen is upon us! I will warn the town elders, but I will bring back this beast's head to drive my point home!"

From the Diary of Zaaz Bloodfortune:

Yoska and I were able to advance a bit closer when our little rattling did throw forward a smoke stick. Bursting from behind the smoke we raced forward and you wouldn’t believe what did happen next….

The battle continued but we managed to close with them. The finale was fierce with one of them making a run for it, but with the help of our furry rat friend, we managed to finish the last of them off. Actually though, I finished the last one. Yoska has too soft a heart for adventuring I thinks. We had one down, but not quite dead yet and Yoska wanted to stabilize and capture him. Where could we keep him short of taking him all the way back to the village? So I put my knife down and went through his belongings. And by putting my knife down, I mean in his soft and warbilies to ensure no stability was achieved.

We finished searching them and then went on to the spot Dalomar spotted them initially. Taking the opportunity we settled down for a bit of lunch. I gave Grr a few bits I had hacked off a horse that went down in the battle.

Continuing on we eventually came to a large cabin in the woods. A feeling of great foreboding came to me and the whispers grew dim and mostly silent in my head. Experience has taught me this is a point of change where the spirits themselves grow unsure of the outcome.

Dalomar advanced forward from a bit of woods than came fairly close to the cabin and peeked in. Not seeing much he came to the next window and then the next. The rest of us debated if we should move up, but it seemed easy enough so we all moved close. As he came to the back side of the cabin things came to a head and we had to take out one of the bandits that came out quick and quiet-like. As he’d left the door open for use, we obligingly used it to go on in. Inside we found quiet a few bandits eating their meal round the table. Most were human except for the cook who seemed to be a half-orc. We fought and battled for a time and managed to kill all of them, including a few sickly types that came out of one of the side rooms. Well, we didn’t get to kill the Half Orc as she managed to escape. Damn invisibility!

Once they was all killed we made the next big mistake. We expected to find the noble woman here and so started searching the upstairs room we found. In there awaited icy death. Three ice skeletons were there ready to fight us and kill us with cold. If one fought them, they froze you, if they died, they exploded with cold, if you stood next to them, the cold would seep into your bones. Also all in a rush, something invisible brushed past us and into the room. That something invisible started waking the dead from what should be eternal sleep, and had them start to attack us. Up on the ledge by the door things were looking pretty grim. I was badly wounded, out of spells, fighting creatures no affected by my Hexes.

The reality of it struck me then. I was likely at the end this to be dead, mayhap even raised to be a plaything of the evil lurking here. No path lay before me, no choices left, no more…. This despair lay on my heart growing more powerful with each moment as I watched my friends fight vainly on. The voices in my head were quiet as death and my mind turned then to the reason I was there at all… Mother. The thought in my head was like a breaking of thunder and time ceased to flow.

I was home as a child, eating breakfast with the family, laughing and enjoying the day. My heart was filled with such Joy as I haven’t felt in many years and a weight was lifted from my soul. But…

Something was wrong with this vision I knew. My mother placed some eggs on the plate before me and speaks to me. With this I am no longer there, but on a hilltop I recognize well, the place I lost my mother. She stands beside me, her eyes upon me with a serious, yet loving intensity. She says nothing, yet I hear every word as her voice fills my mind saying:

“My dear Zaaz! I've been given but one moment in time for my sacrifice, and that moment for you has arrived. I gave up all those years of being there as your mother for this one chance to make a difference for you, our clan, and the entire Taldor region! When the vision came to me I was given a choice… and I took it…I’m sorry you had to grow up without me, but I hope you now see why the sacrifice was made by me.

I saw your potential destiny in that one fateful vision, and then I saw it snuffed out by the icy grip of a premature death. I was given the opportunity to intervene this one time in exchange for leaving my body behind. It has been a lifetime since my departure from your perspective, but simply a moment for me, and now I feel an irresistible pull to the other side. My powers are very limited in this new form, but I pray it is enough….

Before I depart I want you to know that there are dangers falling across the land, and you have found yourself at a pivotal place in time. Be wise, be strong, but also be very careful as I cannot come to your aid again, and my vision of your future is from this point on uncertain.

Go now my beautiful Zaaz and seize this opportunity that my life's sacrifice has enabled for you!"

A surge of energy flows through me like nothing I’ve felt before. My wounds are healed and I feel the wisdom of the spirit realm pushing on my soul. I feel alive and more than alive, like I could shrug off wounds that before would have killed me. Another wave of energy hits and my hair, white from the painful day I lost my mother comes to silvery mithril in color, gets longer, and thick. The spells that wait me each morning after communing with Grr are back once more. I have been blessed and now understand my mother died not because of her inability to face what the spirits told her. She was not weak as some said, but stronger than I can comprehend. She gave all for this one chance at change, to shift the balance at this one point. I must not fail. I shout my thanks with the one word that is all that is necessary, "Mother"!

As I become aware again of the battle raging around me I call forth my energy and place a spell of protection upon myself. The party is in disarray with some calling for retreat and others saying we must continue. Yet, how can we retreat when the ice skeletons are upon us. At that thought a rush of wind and spirit flows past us and the door slams home. Mother has once again saved us. My companions jump down into the room as I try fruitlessly to wedge the door shut. Down in the room, the dead begin to rise as that invisible something imbues them with unholy power. Lucky for us, not more of those covered with hoaryfrost, just normal skeletons. Taking a chance I rush down into the room figuring if we are to win we must defeat the one bringing the dead to this twisted parody of life. Working with Grr I narrow down where I think he may be and let loose with a blast of burning fire from my hands, but for almost for naught. While I kills one of the skeletons, not a sign the evil one felt my power. Soon the frosty ones are rushed down the steps and upon me. Doing the only thing I can think of I splash the oil in my satchel in a line so it lights off the remains of another burned with oil giving me a chance to back off. Do we stay or go, I ask the room at large. Dalomar is already outside being pursued by a pair of the skeleton nasties. Yoska, Noname, and Sadobras are mostly together on the other side of the room. Yoska says to go, but I say I believe we must defeat the invisible one. As that comes from my mouth, a voice from mother comes to my head urging me to run for now, that he is beyond us in power. Understanding he worry I make one last try at finishing our mission and cry out, “Lady Argentia, are you here?”. Within moments a cry back shows me she is just below me. I should have known the bear skin rug would have some kind of trap door beneath it. I throw it back but we are quickly back into combat with more of the skeletal horrors and I cannot free her. Just as I think we might have a chance at doing so the evil one summoning the skeletons comes into view and his visage is so powerful to behold befor I can think, I’m a rabbit out the door. I run for a time and then come to myself just in time to see Dalomar headed my way. I set up and prepare to swing a torch I lit during the battle and quickly discover it’s not an easy weapon to wield. From the corner of my eye I see my good cousin Yoska approaching on a horse and wonder of wonders he has freed the Lady. If we can but away we’ll have done what we came to do. And then I was down.

The skeletons with me wounded me sorely and of the rest of the flight I know only from what my companions told me. Noname and Sadobras rode his cheetah away. Yoska rode triple with myself and the lady, bravely shielding us both with his body, taking arrows in the back to keep us safe. They retrieved Noname’s horse and raced back to town. There, healing was found and I came back to myself. More than myself I found myself bettered. In my mind I felt I could hold more of the energy expended in casting of spells. I and my companions felt more alive in having completed this dangerous task. Wealth and reward were promised us, but the real treasure of our fight was this. The waking of our skills and powers to reach to a new level. Yes, shut up I know I sound full of myself, but that’s what it was. I was full of MYSELF. Damn voices.

What was next was mostly the mundane. We journeyed to the next big town and spent most of a week escorting the Lady, gathering items, resting, and carousing. With my share of the reward and a mite more from my companions I bought one of the treasures any witch hungers for, my very own cauldron. With my newfound skill and power I worked over the days perfecting the art and learning to imbue my power into potions. I made a bevy of healing draughts before we headed back to Heldron.

From Heldron we journeyed back to inspect the cabin we did battle at before. There, we discovered not much had changed. The dead had been gathered and neatly stacked and a trail led off across the bridge and river behind the abode. Following them we eventually came to a scene of battle. Blood and bits most everywhere. Continuing on a bit we got lucky and discovered a foot sticking up from the snow. Examining it carefully and exhuming it from the snow, we found a journal and maps. The journal was of the man we had heard claimed he had seen a giant weasel roaming the woods. From his wounds, it was pretty obvious he had met his quarry, but not been the equal of it. It also spoke of a mysterious hut where none had been before inhabited only by a strange doll.