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7 Hammer 1371
Dear Master Zorthaster,
This letter finds me a bit shaken, and more than a little worse
for wear. I feel fortunate, though and am grateful to the fighting
skill of my companions and the power of Corellon Larethian and his
priestess Cedrik for healing. Else I would now be little more than
a frozen hunk of dragon fodder.
If you received my last letter you will know that we battled a
band of goblins in a ruined wilderness cabin. The prisoner we took
offered little information even though he was being as cooperative
as he could be. Interestingly, Xanthalus and Shane both speak goblin.
We were able to determine that the prisoner was little more than
a minor warrior who followed the orders of the band leader, Bagrat.
It was almost funny. At one point he claimed to be a great warrior
and in the next he claimed to have never killed anything except
one pig. This guy, Glabyug, knew almost nothing. He did not know
where he was or how to find home. He was not part of any organized
effort dedicated to raiding caravans. We pumped him for information
until it was clear he really did not know a thing of any value to
us. We then let him go.
In the morning we trailed Glabyug to ensure that he was not hiding
out, waiting to follow us. Or, even worse, headed straight to some
bigger band of monsters. From his trail it was clear that he really
did not know where he was going. We left his trail and got back
on track, trying to find the dwarf safehold.
We found the ruins of the site before noon but approached cautiously.
The first thing that we discovered was a dead horse. Its location
was made obvious by the cloud of ravens and jays feeding on it.
The horse had died violently and something larger than ravens had
been eating it. The rogue, ranger and halfling spent some time exploring
around the site, being very stealthy. They found human tracks and
a blood trail leading into the beaver pond toward the lodge. Most
of the pond remained unfrozen and the tracks disappeared into the
open water.
Cedrik cast a spell on Shane so he could go into the pond and explore
into the lodge without getting frozen. He went into the water as
we kept watch. We looked at a rather reptilian-looking wing print
in the snow. It was not as big as I would have expected from a dragon,
but we estimated the wingspread of the beast that left it at about
20 feet. Knowing something like that had been in the area made us
all vigilant watchers.
Trouble, when it came, was seen slinking out of the woods rather
than descending from the sky. Two wolves had crept up on us and
were nearly ready to attack when I spotted them and sputtered a
warning to my companions. Some of them had already seen the wolves
and were on the offensive in an instant. Crossbow bolts were singing
through the bushes before I knew it. I tried to use that little
ray of frost spell you taught me. Unfortunately the wolf was faster
than I expected and dodged out of the way just when I thought I
had him cold (as it were.) I did get a good whack in with my staff
while one of the wolves was busy biting at someone else. Mostly
I just stayed out of the way.
Both wolves were dead by the time Shane came out of the water.
He had found a dead man in the beaver lodge. Cedrik cast a light
spell on a coin and Shane headed back into the lodge to examine
things more closely. I thought it was a little odd that Cedrik also
made a show of "renewing" his spell protecting the halfling from
the cold. I though he had just cast a simple endure elements spell
and later on I became certain of it. The odd thing was that Cedrik
said something about the spell draining energy from the caster as
he maintained it. Do you know if there is an elven spell that requires
this kind of energy maintenance cost? The spell seemed to stay with
Shane as long as the standard spell would have. If it was the standard
spell, why would Cedrik have said otherwise?
Shane eventually came back with a pouch containing three flasks
of alchemists fire and the report of the appearance of the corpse.
He was a human with yellow hair and mustache, green eyes and some
major wounds. One of his injuries bit deeply into the inner leg
where blood low is often fatal. The man wore a necklace with a knot
like ornamentation, badly damaged leather armor, an empty scabbard
and carried only a dagger. We all wondered if this might be the
ranger Dravis. We kept the necklace and dagger, but left the unfortunate
man to his tomb.
We turned our attention to the ruins nearby. Again the scouts went
ahead to explore. They returned after finding a ramp leading down
into the earth. It appeared as though they had discovered the entrance
to the underground part of the safehold. After a bit of very cautious
sneaking, we crept down the ramp to discover a doorway and the various
parts of a door that had been badly treated. The key given to us
by Gadlan fit the lock, but obviously, someone had not bothered
to use the key to get through the door.
The corridor split and we took the left. Shane and Aramil, scouting
ahead, found a pit trap by springing it. Shane was not able to leap
out of danger and fell int a very deep hole. We fished him out and
the priestess bandaged him up and cast a healing spell. We puzzled
over the trap. It was triggered by a pressure plate that was very
tricky to find. We eventually determined that we could cross the
trap's trigger using a big piece of timber from the shattered door.
Rather than crossing though, we decided to explore the other corridor.
This route led around another corner into a room with a lever and
a floor that appeared to lower down to another level. We did not
want to go deeper just yet, so we went back to the trapped way.
We set up a clever rope system using the corners of the corridor
and two grappling hooks to provide a hand support for us as we inched
across the door timber. Using this system we crossed the trap with
no further difficulty.
Around the corner we found a lever that did not appear to be related
to the trap. Beyond the corner after that we discovered a frost-covered
passage blocked by a portcullis. I examined the pattern and extent
of frost covering the floor and walls. I had hoped to determine
if the unexpected frost had been caused by a spell such as ray of
frost or the more powerful cone of cold. Unfortunately, any patterns
that would have alerted me to the real danger here went unrecognized.
We speculated that the lever may open the portcullis, but only if
the mechanism was strong enough to break the ice encrusting the
bottom of the grating.
We threw the chain shirt we found in the ruined cabin down the
corridor, hoping to trigger any traps from a safe distance. There
were no traps, but we did succeed in drawing out the savage white
dragon wyrmling that was living on the other side of the barrier.
It thrust its head through the grating and let loose with a blast
of frost that filled the corridor with ice and fog. Shane yelled
at me to pull the lever to trap the beast's head in the mechanism.
I tried, but the ice holding the portcullis closed proved too much
for me. Shane came over to help as the others shot bows or hurled
alchemists fire at the monster. We got the lever down and the portcullis
rose. The dragon was fast and was in no danger of getting caught
in the slow-moving grating. I peered around the corner. Steam was
rising from the melting ice as blue flames from burning oil flickered
atop the ice and water. I could hear the crackle of melting ice
crystals. The fog cleared just a little and I spotted the dragon.
Its shoulders were wreathed in fire from lamp oil and alchemists
fire. I cast my sleep spell and thought I had the beast. Just when
it looked like he was going to succumb to my spell, he gave a shudder,
came back to full, savage alertness and blasted me with his icy
breath. The pain of the cold hit me like a lance and I instantly
passed out. That is the last I remember for some time.
I awoke after the priestess cast the last of her healing spells
on me. Shane had delivered the final blows in the battle as he did
a spinning kick that landed on the top of the monster's head. The
group explored onward and found a series of rooms, one of which
contained the wyrmling's lair. It was ice covered and very cold,
but one corner was lined with soft pine boughs that was somewhat
comfortable. Oskar and Shane returned to the site of the battle
to drag the wyrmling back around the corner and close the portcullis.
The little halfling was able to slip right through the grating.
Others explored the lair while I rested. They found the frozen remains
of a warrior still clutching a very fine rapier, 140 lions, and
2000 thumbs. They also found a narrow crevice to the outside where
the dragon entered the ruins. It was too narrow for any of us except
Shane to squeeze through.
Feeling secure as may be in the lair of a dead dragon, we decided
to stay here and rest. We recalled the rumor we heard of a white
dragon family being killed north of Daggerfalls. I wonder if this
little wyrmling was one that escaped where the rest of its family
perished.
The healing skills of the priestess did much to restore my health.
I am still not feeling fully recovered as I site here and write
to you by the flickering light of my candle, but I'm certain that
a little rest will put me back to rights. My confidence is another
matter. I did little today to use my Art effectively in battle.
The only use I was to my companions was when I whacked a wolf with
my staff. Even that was done weakly. To put it simply, I am badly
shaken and I'm not sure I have the courage to go on with this adventure.
I see now very clearly what you meant when you said that adventures
are all well and good when they happen to someone else and you can
discuss them around a warm fire over a nice goblet of wine. I wonder
just now if I will ever be warm again. In that place deep down where
I though my courage resided, I find there now lives a crystal if
ice.
If you happen to see my parents or sisters, please tell them that
they are much in my thoughts.
Yours,
Cedar
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