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Latest Update: 14/8/26. New ice-blue look and banner.

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The Party

Lightning Claw ("Lightning")
Dragonborn Sorcerer


Minerva ("Minnie")
Minotaur Ranger


Bain
Human Bard


Conlus Tuldu
Elf Ranger


'Ungry 'Ungry Berretta ("HB")
Giff Monk


Solene ("Sol")
Elf Cleric

Recurring Characters

Danhausen
Trans-dimensional Curse-Distributing Wrestling Man

Map

Party Inventory

This is for items the party has picked up but not distributed to anyone in particular yet.

• 6 x Potion of Healing
• 1 x Potion of Talk To Animals
• 100 x Gold Pieces
• 38 x Valuable Geodes (worth 10gp each)
• 1 x +1 longbow

Quests

Rime of the Frostmaiden

We were given instructions by an old adventurer in a tavern in Bry-Shander to find a mysterious killer who has claimed victims throughout Icewind Dale. It is implied to be connected with a mysterious darkness that has blanketed the whole region for some time.

Find Torgar & Kalto

We have been directed to find a travelling merchant named Torgar who runs a business called "Torgs". They are escorted by a man named "Kalto", who may be a figure we saw depicted on a wanted poster. Torgar may apparently be conntected with the mysterious killings somehow.

Crashed Nautiloid

There is a crashed mindflayer ship rumored to be in the area of Id Ascendent, South of Ten Towns. Lightning has recently started experiencing some kind of pinging sensation in his head after picking up a strange crystal, directing him South. We're not sure how he knows this, but it might be connected.

Lightning Claw: Cult

Lightning was approached by a group of cultists while we were out in the wilds, who seemed to want him back badly. He seems to have some history with them.

Tink: Mindflayers

Tink was approached by a group of mindflayers who seemed to want her back badly. She seems to have some history with them. Tink is now in the custody of Drar and his party, so it's unclear if we can pursue this any further.

Magic Fishing-Rod

We heard rumors of a magical fishing rod that was meant to lie somewhere in the Cackling Chasm, South-East of Ten-Towns.

Cave of the Berserkers

There's apparently a cave to the South-South-East of Ten-Towns that contains a mineral that is driving people into a rage.

Ruth

It's unclear what Ruth is, but she seems very old and powerful. We got her attention when we attempted to break into her room at the Blue Clam in Termalaine. She dispatched a party to find us, made up of incredibly powerful beings, who took Tink into their custody.

Wolves

We heard a rumour that Dougan's Hole is apparently having a problem with wolves.

Danhauser

A strange man called "Danhauser" continues to follow the party around, placing curses on anyone that refuses to give in to his demands or attacks him. Lightning and Conlus are currently cursed, as far as I can remember.

Sol: Wrecked Ship

I don't think the party noticed my nervousness when they found the note about the wrecked ship somewhere around Bremen.

Spoon

We found a small orphaned goblin named Spoon in a cave, who was likely related to one of the goblin bands we overcame while securing a cart of iron ingots for some dwarves. Spoon accompanied us to Lonelywood, and we left him in the care of the town speaker while we completed a quest to kill the white stag plaguing the town. When we returned, after an altercation where Lightning threw a coin at him, he disappeared. We're not sure if he will show up again.

Sahnar

We found a mummy named "Sahnar" rotting in a crypt in the same barrow we found the white stag guarding. They've joined us a companion now. We're not really sure what their goals are if any.

Twiggins

We also found a small sentient tree or bush that we've nicknamed "Twiggins", who was a summon or pet of a druid we also found guarding the barrow where the white stag was. They've also been accompanying us since. We're not really sure what their goals are if any.

Mysterious Spirits

We opened a chest in a cave we found in the wilderness and several ghost-like spirits seemed to enter several of the party members. What this means is still a mystery.

Dog Figurine

Lightning picked up a small dog figurine off of a mine floor, with tiny jewels for eyes. We're not sure what it means or if it has any significance. Lightning has carved the jewels out of it and used it to fashion a necklace.

Missing Fishermen

The militia captain in Easthaven has given us the job of finding some missing fishermen who were out on Lac Dinneshere, and haven't returned. We were offered a choice between a bag of wizard's possessions or an unmarked magical scroll. Both were taken from a now-executed magic user, who we saw burned alive in the town square.

The White Lady

A local legend in the towns around Lac Dinneshere is that a pale-white ghost of a lady that may have killed her husband, haunts the waters of the lake. The husband's boat along with a supposedly treasure, are somewhere in the frozen lake. We attended a seance with the ghost where we were able to ask it several questions about local goings-on. The ghost gave us several cryptic answers before departing. See the journal for more details.

We also encountred a spirit that resembled the White Lady trapped within a ship's figurehead made of a strange stone, being kept within Easthaven's town keep. Grey-skinned dwarves seemed to be intent on breaking the figurehead. We fought and defeated this spirit. We are unsure what the wider connection is between the ghost, the stone and the dwarves is.

Grey-Skinned Dwarves

We have encountered these beings twice now, the first time when we attempted to search an abandoned ferry for clues, and the second time when were imprisoned in Easthaven. Both times they were hostile and attacked without provocation. They seem to be working towards some goal related to a mysterious stone that drives men mad, the While Lady and the ferry in Easthaven's harbour. We found a map that directs to bases at Kelvin's Carin and also a place called 'Sunblight Fortress', far to the south of Easthaven. The Dwarves speak undercommon.

Completed Quests

Kobold Caves

We completed the job and negotiated an arrangement between the kobolds and Termalaine. They'll work the mine and in return, they can stay there. We were rewarded 38 geodes worth about 10g each and 1 paperback romance novel of questionable literary value.

Black Cabin

We found the isolated cabin in the woods and discovered that the gnomes there had been conducting some kind of ritual. We managed to complete the ritual ourselves and had some kind of blessing cast on us that allows us to add 10 temporary hit points every morning.

Dwarvern Iron

We didn't manage to deliver the iron ingots back to the dwarves as promised, instead trading it to some card-players in the town of Lonelywood.

White Stag

We killed the giant white stag that had been besieging the town of Lonelywood. In return we were rewarded the deed to a run-down old inn. We found a mummy named "Sahnar" rotting in a crypt in the same barrow we found the stag guarding. They've joined us a companion now. We also found a small sentient tree or bush that we've nicknamed "Twiggins", who was a summon or pet of a druid we also found guarding the barrow. They've also been accompanying us since.

War Gods

We were been drawn into some kind of conflict between the gods Tempus and Drar. We were bestowed a blessing from Drar when we encountered him out on the Dale. A few days later we entered a temple dedicated to Tempus, and the god himself summoned us to another realm in order to face a trial by combat, as punishment for offending him. We ultimately defeated Tempus's trial, and the god himself, and escaped.

14/4/26

We stopped in Termalaine on our way to Easthaven to find Torig. Upon arriving we decided to visit a tavern called the Blue Clam. There we picked up a job from the town speaker to go clear some kobolds from a nearby mine. We were promised 60 gold and 1 book on local history for completing the job.

After we stayed to play bingo, in exchange for magical prizes, we nearly ran afoul of the elderly yet seemingly all-powerful bingo-master Ruth, who didn't like us looking at her belongings.

After narrowly escaping the encounter, and with tink now unconscious- we chose to walk to our newest assignment at the mine straight away rather than risk staying in town.

Before we could stop to rest, we were accosted by a strange man who asked us for teeth or gold, and then cursed Minnie and I when we refused. We're not sure what the curse does yet.

28/4/26

Conlus, Lightning, Minnie and I snuck into the mine that the town speaker told us about, leaving Sahnar, Bain and Twiggins outside to look after Tink, who was still unconscious. We noticed a sign outside that said "kobolds only", in common. The lettering was perculiarly neat for a kobold. Shortly after entering the mines, in the pitch dark, Lightning stumbled over a small figurine of a dog with jeweled eyes, which he held onto.

We decided to proceed slowly and carefuly without torches to keep our presence undetected. The two of us with darkvision were at the front and rear of the party to guide the others. We followed the sound of running water until we reached a waterfall flowing down a circular bottomless shaft, traverseable only by a rickety wooden walkway along one wall.

It appeared as if the walkway was not going to be able to support all of our weight, least of all Minnie, who was already having trouble getting through the cramped passageways. Using ropes as an extra precaution, we crossed one by one, and eventually made it to a room with a bucket lift connected to the lower levels. We proceeded downwards one by one.

Once we were all assembled further down in the mine, we encountered 2 kobolds but chose to avoid alerting them. We instead explored a side passage which opened onto the same bottomless shaft we had crossed further up, which we soon discovered had precious gems embedded in its walls.

While we were inspecting the passageway, Conlus suddenly disappeared. We discovered moments later that a monster living on the ceiling had abducted him, ensnaring him in its dangling tendrils. Fortunately we attacked it and it immediately dropped him. Unfortunately, it then turned on Lightning; capturing, paralyzing, and then suspending him over the bottomless pit adjoined to the passageway.

Conlus was able to attach a rope to one of his javelins and lodge it in the monster's side, allowing us to pull it closer, where we could safely attack it without dropping Lightning into the Underdark. I was able to heal him through the encounter while we all reeled the monster in. Once we got him back over solid ground- we let it have everything we have. Even so, it was still able to paralyze me as well before Conlus finally took it out, practically eviscerating it.

Even though two of us had been paralyzed and sustained injuries during the encounter, we decided to press on since it wasn't safe to rest. It was apparent the monster had come up from the Underdark and we weren't sure if there would be more in the mines. By now the paralysis on Lightning and I had worn off.

We retraced our steps to where we saw the 2 kobolds before, who saw us as we advanced back along the passageway. They attacked us before running away, and we pursued them lower into the mine. As we did, we stumbled across a note left in their lodgings, which mentioned a pirate shipped trapped in the ice near the town of Bremen. The ship is apparently carrying valuable cargo. The party didn't learn of my connection with the ship.

We entered another wooden walkway; a lower section of the bottomless shaft we'd crossed earlier, only to see 2 more kobolds above us attempting to deconstruct the walkway we'd crossed before. Minnie was able to kill one with her longbow, which halted their demolition.

Shortly after this, the rest of the kobolds emerged and quickly surrendered to us. Their leader, an unexpectedly articulate kobold clutching a sack he was extremely protective of, claimed that they didn't mean us any harm and were just defending themselves. They were trying to deconstruct the walkways to prevent more people getting into the mine. The party considered finishing them off, or attempting to find some compromise.

The articulate kobold, who spoke common, proposed that they be allowed to remain the mine, as they were using it for shelter. In exchange, they would supply the town of Termaline with gemstones. We were suspicious of the legitimacy of this at first and we weren't sure the town speaker would accept the offer. Lightning repeatedly attempted to negotiate for a kobold child to keep as a pet, without success.

While this was happening, Lightning noticed an adjoining cavern which contained a multitude of geodes. He also noticed a skull of a mindflayer embedded in the cavern wall. Upon attempting to pry it free, it shattered, but it contained a strange crytal that Lightning held onto.

Meanwhile, we asked for some token we could use to establish trust with Termalaine, and the kobolds were happy to oblige. They helped us mine a total of 38 geodes from the cavern, and the articulate kobold also offered to follow us back to town to help direclty negotiate with the town speaker.

We returned to Termalaine, and the town speaker was surprisingly happy to accept the offer. The kobolds would be allowed to stay, and they in turn would continue to run the mine. In lieu of the originally promised 60 gold peices, we were instead allowed to keep the 38 geodes we had originally intended to give to the town speaker as a peace offering.

The geodes are estimated to be worth about 10g each- the town speaker said he could offer us 7g each to take them off our hands now. We decided to wait for other offers. Also as promised, he did provide a book to us, but unfortunately instead of being a book on local history as I had been hoping for, it was a paperback romance novel.

We noticed something strange about the sack the particularly articulate kobold was carrying. When the town speaker offered to provide some lodgings to him as a token of goodwill, the kobold handed it to him without hesitation. We think it might have been some kind of trade? Once the sack changed hands, the kobold's vocabulary decreased noticibly. The town speaker refused to discuss the sack with us or tell us what was inside.

Minnie was able to affect some conflictingly clumsy pickpocketing and relieve the town speaker of his newly accquired bag, which he seemed oddly accepting of, as if he'd never been carrying it. We looked inside and found only moss and lichen. Minnie is now refusing to give up the bag, so whatever was affecting the kobold and the town speaker is now likely affecting her.

We took a long rest; we're now anticipating that we'll continue our walk to Easthaven, unless we are waylaid again. Lightning started to experience some strange delusions, like a ringing in his head. It was apparently pointing him due south. That's all he could tell us. We're not sure how he knows this.

26/5/26

We left Tourmaline and elected to travel cross country rather than take the long road via Torgos and Bryn-Shander. Because we have a pair of rangers familiar with the terrain with us, we should make better time that way.

As we were leaving Tourmaline, we ran into Danhauser again, who in return for a ration from me and one borrowed from Conlus, agreed to un-curse me. However because Lightning was rude to him, he proceeded to curse Lightning instead, before vanishing.

We noticed that Lightning was experiencing some kind of pain, but despite our further attempts to determine the cause, he gave nothing away and we didn't learn what caused it.

After wandering the snow-plains for some time, we heard an avalanche in the distance. We arrived to the scene of the avalanche to find two humanoids buried under the snow: a dwarf, and a being who identified themselves as "Bala Dia".

The dwarf gave me 1 platinum coin as thanks for healing him and offered us shelter should we ever visit the Dwarvern Valley. Bala Dia, a horned, red-skinned creature who behaved both flirtatiously and cryptically, and offered to make a deal with us should we ever find ourselves "on the wrong side of the mortal coil". Both of them vanished into the snow almost as soon as we'd freed them from it.

We pressed on, and a short time later, ran into another party of six adventurers who emerged from the snow. This party was led by "Drar", a hobgoblin, who asked us who we were and where we were going.

After exchanging questions for a few moments, we deduced that this party, made up of extremely powerful ex-adventurers, demigods even- was the one dispatched by Ruth to find the person who had attempted to gain access to her room.

Seeing that we were hopelessly outmatched, we decided to turn over the sack containing Tink, who was subsequently taken prisoner, to face whatever fate she had ultimately earned.

Drar, who the more theologically inclined among us began to recognize as an extremely powerful being dedicated to honorable combat, teleported us to what he called his 'Meadhall'. We were invited to tell stories of our heroic deeds and also to drink from tankards in front of us.

Each tankard contained something relating to what the drinker desired in their heart, and could never be truly emptied. Lightning had taken a liking to another dragonborn in Drar's party, and so his tankard was filled with dragonborn bathwater. We each received a magical boon from drinking our tankard. Lightningclaw dedicated a small charm he had been carrying with him to his newfound dragonborn muse, and was granted an additional blessing for his enthusiasm.

Having impressed our host, we were then teleported the rest of the way to Easthaven, skipping most of the rest of the journey. We were now able to pursue our lead to find Torgar, who may be connected to the murders occurring throughout Icewind Dale.

Upon arriving in the town, we witnessed a crowed gathered for a public execution in the town square. A wizard, who supposedly committed crimes against the ten towns was being burned alive. He was accused of consorting with nefarious powers related to the eternal winter- which is why he was apparently not crying out as he was burned alive.

We recalled that we were told some towns were effectively sacrificing their townsfolk to try and placate or potentially even end the mysterious eternal winter that had blanketed Icewind Dale. It appears Easthaven could be one such town.

We enquired with the captain of the town militia, who was present at the burning, about Torgar and also the wanted poster we have in our possession. The captain identified the man in the wanted poster as Sephek Kalto. Kalto is Torgar's bodyguard. What the connection between Kalto, the murders, Torgar and potentially the Frostmaiden are, remain unclear.

The captain offered us a job to find some missing fishermen who had been lost on Lac Dinneshere. They offered either an unmarked mage scroll or a grey bag of wizard's belongings as a reward- items that had belonged to the wizard who was burned. Apparently the town elders would not like it if either of these items were given away to adventurers, so the captain will part with only one of our choosing if we complete the task.

I enquired about where I could find a sword in town, as I have been searching for a more suitable weapon since I arrived in ten towns- but so far we've not stopped long enough in a place that might carry such items when I had enough coin to pay for them. The militia captain says that they do not produce many goods themselves, instead relying on outside traders. She says the militia themselves may be able to spare a sword for me.

While we waited for this to be arranged, we were encouraged to visit the White Lady Inn- named for a local legend of a pale ghost of a woman who supposedly haunts the waters of Lac Dinneshere.

As soon as we moved inside, a bard sang a song which recounted the tale from the inn's namesake. The White Lady apparently murdered her husband, whose treasure is now lost in the lake, which she now haunts. We may have to ask for the tale to be recounted again.

While this was happening. we also met 'Ungry 'Ungry Beretta, a fellow adventurer in the Inn, who apparently received some kind of vision that instructed them to join us. They're a Griff, or, for want of a better description, a hippo person. I'm not sure what kind of profession they work, but they were well armed. They seemed intent on joining us, and the party was agreeable to this- they'll accompany us to find the missing fishermen.

Shortly afterwards we were offered the opportunity to take part in a seance led by the same bard who had recounted the tale about the White Lady- supposedly with the ghost of the White Lady herself. We used the opportunity to ask the ghost questions about our hunt for Torgar, Kalto and the missing fishermen.

The ghost did not know anything about her husband's treasure. When asked about Kalto, we received only the world 'evil' as a reply. When we asked about Torgar, we were told only that they visit roughly every 2 weeks, which we already knew.

When we asked about Caer-Dineval, a town up the lakeside road to the North-North-East, we received the words "castle" "base" "devil" "cult" as a reply. When we asked about Caer-Konig, a town even further along the North-East road, we received the words "grey" "skinned" "dwarves" "invisible" "evil" "faerie".

At this point the ghost directed us to investigate a destroyed ferry in Easthaven's harbour. It might be a good idea to see what everyone else in the party recounts from the seance, to make sure we best understand the clues the wight gave us.

9/6/26

Investigating the Ferry

We left the inn to go investigate the ice-locked ferry that had been mentioned during the seance. Some of the other party members pointed out that the ghost had said "ferry" rather than "fairy" when we asked about Kaer-Konig. I must have mis-seen during the confusing blur that was communing with the dead.

The exact words were "grey" "skinned" "dwarves" "invisible" "evil" "ferry"- which means there is likely some connection to the ferry in the harbour and whatever is happening at Kaer-Konig. Whether this has some wider connection to our overall quest is unclear.

Ambushed by Dwarves

We boarded the ship and investigated. Minnie stepped through the doorway to the cabin and was promptly ambushed by some kind of grey-skinned dwarf- who attacked us without explanation.

Minnie, who was separated from the rest of the group out on deck, sustained a serious injury from the Dwarf's hammer. Ungy' (I'm still not sure how to address him) fortunately, was able to roll precariously through the door, past Minnie, and unloaded on the attacker. Conlus was also able to see them through the cabin's bow windows and cast a fire spell.

The dwarf was badly wounded- and by some form of innate ability or magic, he shrank to a smaller size. He then ran away before we could catch him.

Further Investigations

We had a further poke about the ship for 20 minutes, Conlus and I attempted to pry off the grating that separated the deck from the ship's hold, without result. We also investigated the ship's cabin for any clues, all we found was a map that charted the ferry's typical route between Easthaven, Kaer-Dineval and Kaer-Konig.

It indicates perhaps that the ferry, its owners, the the going on in Lac-Dineval are connected- but it's not a strong lead. It is after all, just a ferry route.

Ambushed by Dwarves Again

We lost track of time while investigating the ferry and let our guard down. Several of us were hit by javelins thrown onto the the ship's deck from the pier. One of them hit me, causing a serious wound and knocking me to the ground.

3 more dwarves- possibly friends of the one that ran away, attacked us without announcing who they were or what their intentions were. Just like our first diminutive friend, they seemed to be able to control their size through some magick. Our new friends nearly doubled in stature as they attempted to board the ship.

The first dwarf crossed onto the ship and attacked Minnie, who had just been healed by a spell from Conlus. The the second stood on the gangplank, blocking the third from coming aboard.

Minnie, Conlus and Master Beretta were able to successfully dispatch the first dwarf, flanked on both sides on the entrance to the gangplank, through a combination of headbutting, arrows and gunfire. I was able to crawl my way further astern and cast a healing spell on Minnie.

The second dwarf moved off the gangplank and occupied the position of the first dwarf. Conlus threw one of his javelins and hit the third dwarf, who then attempted to cross the gangplank. I cast a fire spell and burned the walkway- causing the him to fall onto the ice below.

Danhauser

At this point, to our surprise, our sometimes ally, oftentimes tormentor Danhauser appeared from behind the ship's cabin.

Minnie attempted to offer Danhauser the teeth she had collected since her last encounter with him in an attempt to have her curse lifted. Danhauser said he would take them and count them and then consider lifting the curse.

While this was happening, the second Dwarf took a swing at Danhauser as he passed, who then proceeded to curse the second dwarf and disappear in a puff of smoke. The rest of the party then made short work of the second dwarf, who like the first dwarf, had to contend with being attacked on both sides.

The third dwarf, despite being now stranded on the ice, was still at least fourteen feet tall, and was able to mantle onto the side of the ship. At this point the grating that we had been attempting to loosen earlier, which I was now lying of top of, decided to give way, and I fell into the ship's hold.

The third dwarf, no longer able to locate the person that had collapsed the gangplank on them, instead started searching for Conlus, the person who had thrown a javelin at them. Minnie was able to stop him with an arrow to the back of the head.

It rubs the lotion on its skin

With the battle now over, we discussed what to do with three dead dwarves and how we were going to get off the now gangplank-less ferry.

Danhauser had apparently not vanished and was instead hiding behind the ship's cabin again. He wasn't able to get off the ship either. Minnie was very fixated on pulling all the teeth out of the corpses, skinning them and making a dwarf skin-suit disguise.

None of us had the ability to commune with the dead, and we had failed to gain any intelligence from the dwarves before they were killed. Master Beretta suggested we take one of the corpses in search of a temple where a higher-ranking priest might be able to help us.

Conlus used the un-movable rod to make a stepping stone for us, and taking one of the dead dwarves, we made our way back into town.

Going to Jail

We dragged the corpse through the streets of Easthaven to look for a priest who might be able to commune with it. Perhaps it was the blood-loss or in the case of Minnie, the blood-lust, but none of us really gave much thought to how this would look.

We were quickly stopped by a group of guards who demanded we hand over our weapons and accompany them to the town dungeon, where we would explain ourselves to the militia captain we had met earlier.

We attempted to convince them that we were acting in the town's interest in investigating the ferry- without much success. To be fair to the town guard, a vision from a lake-bound spirit was not exactly compelling evidence.

As far as we had been concerned, we were following up a lead potentially connected to the missing fishermen, and had killed the dwarves in self-defense as they had attacked us without provocation. The thought that we had been potentially trespassing, and that the dwarves were defending their own property, had not crossed our minds.

After several minutes of back and forth negotiation over keeping our weapons or asking the guard captain to come to us and sort this out straight away, we eventually relented and surrendered our equipment, and were escorted to prison.

Screams upstairs

We were placed in separate cells in the town jail. Somehow Danhauser was with us as well. The guards made us repeat our story from before, but were similarly unconvinced. We were told the captain of the militia would be by to confirm our story later, but for now were to remain imprisoned.

We took a short rest in our cells. Not long afterwards, we heard a commotion upstairs which sounded like several people screaming or shouting. Several of the guards left to investigate. We then saw Danhauser wandering around outside of his cell.

7/7/26

Jailbreak

After attempting to carry a corpse through town, without thinking about how that would look, we were imprisoned by Easthaven's guards.

After a few hours in our cells, we heard a commotion in the keep above that sounded like fighting.

Our sometimes compatriot, oftentimes recurring tormentor, Danhausen, made himself present as he is one to do. He was wandering around outside our cells, and offered to trade us a small stick, which on closer inspection seemed to be some kind of wand.

Conlus attempted to grab the wand through his cell door, but failed. Danhausen cursed Conlus in retaliation. There is now an ever growing web of various curses and uncurses that Danhausen has spun over our party. I may have to start keeping a chart. More on this later.

In any case, attempted theft aside, Danhausen was eventually convinced to use the wand, which turned out to cast some kind of unlocking magic, to break us out of our cells. The wand dissipated once we had all been freed.

Battle

We emerged from the dungeons below to find our former captors fending off an attack from the same grey-skinned dwarves that had attacked us when we attempted to search the abandoned ferry. A large sculpture that resembled at ship's figurehead, yet made of some strange black stone, stood in the centre of the hall.

Mr.Beretta attempted to gain access to our equipment, which was being held in a far room with the battle between guards and dwarves in-between. He was successful in reaching our the room, but was promptly locked inside by one of the dwarves.

We learned that the grey-skinned dwarves seem to speak undercommon, which would suggest they are related to the underdark somehow. I am not familiar with this particular subculture of dwarves.

Minnie investigated another room which turned out to be a dead end, I followed her, but also found nothing useful. Lightning, Bain and Conulus became temporarily incapacitated when one of the guard corpses was flung at them as they attempted to exit from the dungeon stairs.

During the battle, the figurehead in the middle of the room was broken by the dwarves and it released a spirit that we all recognized as the White Lady. She screeched like a banshee and this frightened anyone who cast eyes on her. Some of the party were visibly aged by this, their faces withering as years were piled upon them. This is beyond my ability to remedy. we should visit a healer of greater authority soon for a cure, lest it become permanent.

We were then caught in a 3-way fight: us and our strange-bedfellows the guards, against the grey-skinned dwarves, and the White Lady.

Minnie and I were able to corner the leader of the Dwarves, who came to chase us down when we became seperated from the rest of the battle. I had a brief exchange with him in regular Dwarvern, which he seemed to understand. I asked him who he was and why they were attacking. He replied "to complete my father's goal". I am not sure what this means, but it definitely implies he is part of some wider ongoing conspiracy with some kind of long-term legacy.

As Minnie and I were stuck in an adjacent room for the remainder of the battle, the details are a little scarce, but one moment that did stand out, was when lightning use a catapult spell to fling a chair at one of the dwarves, killing them instantly.

Aftermath

When the battle was over, the spirit of the White Lady was defeated, the Dwarves lay dead- their leader reduced to ash by Lightning, all but one of the guards was slain. Our equipment reclaimed. The town speaker came to survey the damage. He asked if any of the strange stone that comprised the figurehead was taken.

Apparently this stone has some anomalous magical properties that drives people mad, and that being around it at this distance for even a few hours is dangerous. He mentioned a group of berserkers that had been driven mad by the stone. This sounds a lot like one of the rumours we had already heard in a tavern a few days past of a cave to the South-South-East, across lake Dinneshere, where such a mineral is found.

The town speaker agreed with us that our actions during the battle absolved us of any previously alleged wrongdoing, and he said he would provide us food and lodgings. He said he would also provide us a reward as well. We're going to meet him at a tavern tomorrow to discuss finding us a healer.

Easthaven used to have a temple of Tempus, Lord of Battles in its harbour, according to the history texts i've read. According to the town speaker, there is no temple here. Either things have changed recently, or my books are very out of date.

Given that Easthaven seems to be sacrificing its own townsfolk to appease whatever power is casting the prevailing darkness over Icewind Dale- it seems likely that any other gods may have been expunged from Easthaven, lest they offend those same powers.

We found a map within the burned ashes of the Dwarf leader, which had 2 locations marked which we did not previously recognize.

The first is an outpost, presumably belonging to whatever organization the grey-skinned Dwarves belong to, located at Kelvin's Cairn. Kelvin's Cairn is a solitary mountain peak to the North-North-East of Ten-Towns, visible for much of the surrounding area.

The second is one marked "Sunblight Hidden Fortress", which lies in mountains South of Easthaven, across lake Dinneshere.

We didn't have much time to comprehend what this means, but this conspiracy of Dwarves clearly reaches across the Ten-Towns. This is a matter for after we have had a long-rest though, which we have surely earned. The town speaker is allowing us to lodge within the protection of the town's guard quarters. We will ponder on this more tomorrow.

22/7/26

Rewards

We began the next day by meeting the town speaker at the inn, as instructed, in order to learn more about this person who may be able to help us with a greater restoration spell.

He began describing them to us: "...brown hair, white face, tattoos...". "...an expert in cursing and uncursing people...".

It's Danhausen, the person the town speaker is referring to is is Danhausen.

What cosmic hilarity that such a person should unexpectedly pervade us at every turn for days on end- but he is nowhere to be found when we need to seek him out.

Hopefully, he will unexpectedly emerge as he often does, for the sake of those who were cursed with premature old age during our battle yesterday.

The town speaker handed us an envelope and told us that should we encounter this person, we should deliver this to him, it will resolve some kind of debt between them. Given our prior interactions with Danhausen, I think we can probably surmise what kind.

He also gave us the promised reward for our actions in protecting the town from the Duegar: 3 diamonds, worth approximately 500 gold each. It was quite the reward.

Next Steps

We debated whether we wanted to head South, and investigate this "Sunblight Fortress" we saw referenced on the map we recovered yesterday (or any number of the other leads that lay south of Lac Dinneval), or if we wanted to remain in Ten-Towns a while longer.

On the one hand, our freshest leads seem to lead us south, towards the Spine of the World, and this is where we must inevitably go if we want to learn more about what is causing the eternal blizzard over Icewind Dale.

On the other hand, there is much to still see and do here as well. While we could certainly return if we wanted to, we have run into danger at every turn, even while in the comparative civilization of Ten Towns. South of here, we would be further from any potential help than we had been before.

The Spine is an enormous stretch of mountains that runs from the Reghed Glacier in the far East-North-East all the way to the coast North of Luskan, touching the edge of the Sea of Moving Ice to the North-West. It is effectively the barrier that separates Icewind Dale from the South of Faerun.

Besides fierce and unavigable weather, the Spine is generally known to be home to dragons and giants of every stripe, not to mention eleven tribes of Uthgardt barbarians, who are not known for their boundless tolerance of outsiders. On top if this, the mountains are honeycombed with caves, passes, and ancient Elven and Dwarvish ruins, that could be home to any number of unforseen enemies.

The only respite we might potentially find is Kuldahar; a small settlement that sits among the roots of an ancient oak, forming a green oasis among the snowy passes of the Spine. It is (or was) roughly to the far South-East of here.

Given how isolated they must be, and in what will become something of a theme for this entry, how little anywhere approaching recent news seems to travel from the Dale to Cormanthor, I cannot say if the Silvanite priests still reside there.

There was also the matter of the sizeable amount of gold we were carrying, and the dwindling amount of armor, weapons and food we were not.

When we had arrived in Bryn Shander some weeks past, we had been largely penniless, and it had limited our ability to equip ourselves for the battles ahead. Now, ironically, we had scraped through a dozen encounters with some of the greatest dangers the Dales' had to offer, and now had the coin to pay for something that would have helped us before- but have encountered no place to spend it.

Bryn Shander would still be the best place to collect provisions, and lies approximately a day to two days march from here, along the Eastway. We resolved to delay our decision a while longer by traveling there to stock up on supplies and unload some of our gold. If we picked up new leads on Torg's whereabouts in the meantime or some other task, so be it, if not, we would be equipped to head into the Spine.

Diverted

We were about 3 hours out of Eastmarch when the weather turned on us. Passing travelers under clear mottled-grey skies gave way to those black like an owl's moon-less pupil. The wind picked up, the snow began to hurry, shadows crept inward like spilled ink.

Our two rangers, one currently hobbled by an advanced age, another currently humbled by an advanced stomach bug, were not able to lead us, as they usually were, in this instance. As the only member of our party to be able to see clearly in the dark, I cast a light on my mace and led the others onward.

We eventually came to an intersection with a road made of cobbled stone, rather than the trodden frozen-mud thoroughfare that we had typically come to see described as a "road" in Ten-Towns. The road is not marked on my map and appeared mostly clear of snow, which was peculiar.

The party discussed our options, as it was clear that proceeding through the inclement weather was not an option. We decided that a stone road likely meant a village or a dwelling lay down it, so it might be best to divert there until the weather passed.

We had been walking a short distance when we saw a raven perched on a nearby tree. It flew at us, disappearing into the glare of my light spell and vanishing into the night. An ill-omen to be sure, but to what it portends we did not know.

Not long afterwards we heard marching feet on the cobblestone road behind us. We stopped and listened as they grew closer, but it soon stopped. We hurried on, but then saw footprints appearing in the fresh snow besides us. Just like the ominous phantom marching column at our heels, it also subsided after a short while.

As we moved on, the trees we passed turned from the usual grey-bark we had become used to seeing in Ten-Towns to a snow-clad grey-black, as if charred by some yester-flame.

We saw a signpost, that looked as if it too had been burned black. I brushed away some of the frost. It read: "Easthaven. Population: 490".

Old Easthaven

Naturally this prompted more than a few questions. As far as we knew, we had been about 3 hours walk from Easthaven when we decided to leave the Eastway. Had we been turned around? Was this some kind of spell?

Again we took a vote, and decided to press on despite the multiple bad signs (both literal and metaphorical) we had seen.

The town looked as if it had been burned, just like the trees. We found no clues as to why. We picked through the ruins. We found a building resembling what was likely the town hall. A charred fragment of parchment there among the ashes and snow held some small clue- a date about 300 years before today.

We continued searching the ruins. On the far Eastern edge of town stood a small temple. We ventured inside and it became clear after a few moments of observation that it was a temple dedicated to Tempus, god of war. A statue of an armoured figure stood atop two rearing stallions sat at the altar. Carvings of burning blades faintly visible in the temple's pillars.

Suddenly everything made sense, this is the Easthaven I had read about! For whatever reason, it looks as if the town had been abandoned and rebuilt a short distance away. It would explain why Easthaven's harbour was oriented differently than how I had seen it on maps.

Two things became clear, first, that something had happened here that had been drastic enough that they felt the need to relocate the whole town. Second, that the records on Icewind Dale kept at the Dawnspire in Myth-Drannor, are in need of some similarly drastic revision. It does throw into question if any of the intelligence I gathered before journeying here is reliable.

Given the glacial shifts, tectonic shifts, famines, plagues, barbarian invasions, and of course, the magical disturbance I have been sent here to investigate in the first place- any place I know of that might have existed once, could well be destroyed, abandoned, or the paths that lead there lost and redrawn. We will have to be wary if we choose to venture to even-less well-charted regions.

We continued to search the temple. We noticed a hatch in the floor. HB and Lighting managed to pry it open and we descended below.

Temple of Tempus

We lowered ourselves into a long corridor. The lights in the wall sconces lit themselves by magic as we ventured inward, as if the temple catacombs were awakening to our presence. We tried the first door, and entered a circular room with several skeletons sitting in stone chairs facing a round table. One chair was vacant.

We debated the merits of sitting in the vacant chair. Even to mildly novice adventurers like ourselves, this felt like a prime moment for the dead to choose action over their continued slumber. HB was very keen on making sure we had disarmed the bodies of what were presumably the temple's clerics, before attempting to sit in the chair. We decided to take the risk of disturbing the dead, and removed a small dagger from each of their remains.

When HB sat in the chair, the self-lighting torches seemed to flare or flicker for a moment before continuing on as before. We tried to replicate this a few times but nothing happened. We decided to press on.

The next room we visited, was apparently some sort of training room. There the several intact staw dummies arrayed in a semi-circle in the room. Armor and weapons were located on the walls, but all of it was rusted beyond practical use.

HB and Lightning pushed some of the training dummies over and found weapons and armor concealed inside some of them, including a sturdy shield, a well-whetted rapier, a taut-strung longbow and a suit of studded leather armor.

Temples of Tempus are often known to house and display weapons as artifacts - perhaps the weapons were hidden down here to safeguard them when the town was abandoned? Seeing as all the other weapons we found were in terrible condition, this was clearly a prudent choice.

In any case, the suit of studded leather was passed to Bain the Bard, as it seemed an ostentatiously suitable fit for him- the rapier handed to lightning. The shield, I took for myself. The longbow was to be given to one of the two rangers when they were recovered enough to fight. Artifacts or not, our party is deprived of good armaments.

We next came to a sleeping chamber with an ajoined armory. The sleeping chamber held nothing of interest, and the armory only a little more. Like the training room, the weapons and armor there were all beyond repair. A complete suit of plate stood intact in the centre of the room. We attempted to take the helmet, but the rest of the suit of disintegrated into a red-brown rusted mist before our very eyes when we lifted it.

The Trials of Tempus

The final room we entered was another circular one, with a ring of statues. On the floor lay stone facsimiles of weapons: a sword, a spear, a shield, a banner and a bow. Inlaid into a crest in the floor was the phrase "only the worthy know the order of battle", and a flaming sword similar to the ones upstairs.

Each statue had an opening in one of their hands, as if they were to receive one of the weapons each. HB and Lightning were able to deduce that the order was shield, sword, spear, bow, banner, based on the order "hold", "engage", "exploit", "support", "victory"; a common martial maxim from many Faerunian households. They placed the weapons into the hands of the statues in that order.

Doing this unlocked a further door and corridor to explore. Unlike the previous rooms, this one was unlit, and there was no discernible exit at the other end. We began searching the dead-end for some form of hidden exit, but we soon heard marching behind us similar to that we heard on the road.

The torches began to flicker one by one, revealing, to our horror, row upon row, of skeletal soldiers. Rusted helms creaking, rusted chain gently-clinking. Cold, apathetic eyes gazing at us like so many well-armed fish swimming listlessly in the styx; the entire length of the corridor behind us. We had walked into a dead end, and the dead had come to end us.

We steeled ourselves for a fight, but none came. The fallen of Tempus stayed their blades. Then, blackness.

We stood in an arena, wreathed in flame and adorned by banners of a burning sword. The sky white, the sun crimson red, as if drinking the dawn itself had not been enough to slake its bloodlust. Was this the realm of Warrior's Rest? Wherever on the great wheel we were, there was no doubt about who was standing before us.

To say that Tempus was wrathful that we had entered his temple with the blessing of another god, specifically Drar, would be an understatement. Drar, the being we had encountered naught but two days prior, who had whisked us from the snowplains of the Dales to Easthaven, had bestowed a boon unto each of us as a parting gift of sorts, in exchange for a tale of courageous deeds.

I do not know if such an idiom exists, but there are definitely two kinds of war god: one for whom conquest and martial prowess are their own reward- and one that is something of a jovial ale-sot, that likes to eat pigs off a stick, while listening to tall-tales in a longhouse. I think I know whose realm I prefer being involuntarily whisked to.

To prove our worthiness, Tempus wishes to pit us against a trial by combat: a battle against mirror versions of ourselves. To our surprise, even our comrade Tink, who we thought a long-term guest of Drar; owing to their involvement in attempting to steal some of Ruth's belongings (a long story in of itself and one I shan't recall here), was transported to the arena to face a conjured version of themselves.

Before the battle could start, we heard another familiar yet unexpected voice among our party. Drar himself had appeared to question why his prisoner had been torn from his keeping. Perhaps he will aid us in the fight ahead? All I know is, as a Lathanderite, I had not intention to be the pawn of two different bickering war gods today.

4/8/26

So first things first: I have a sword now. Great success. Check that one off the bucket list.

It's as if my prayers for a weapon I am actually competent with have finally been answered, no-doubt by some discordant master, steering our tale haphazardly onward through the game of fate.

Given that this is what actually happened, I should be less surprised.

A Duel of Mirrors

When we last left off, Tempus, The God of War himself, had spirited us from a forgotten catacomb beneath Old Easthaven, to some plane of existence where he holds domain. There he forced our party to fight a battle against a mirror of itself. This included Tink, who had previously been taken from our party by Dragh, the god of honorable combat.

Indeed Dragh's involvement with us is the reason we were here in the first place. Tempus was very displeased that we had entered his temple while bearing the blessing of another god. Dragh had bestowed a boon on each of us as a parting gift of sorts. Dragh themselves had shown up to the arena, not only to compete for our continued patronage, but also to recover his prisoners.

As combat commenced, I tried to use a holding spell on my own clone, to no affect. Were all spells ineffective? As it turns out, these were but wispy illusory copies; militant scarecrows conjured by Tempus; arrayed against us like the modest army of training dummies we had met in his temple- only much more hesitant at being pushed over for loot. As such, as they were not truly flesh and blood, not all spells were effective against them.

Conlus, freshly acclimatized to his newly acquired years, was able to deduce that if we directly engaged our own copies, we were perfectly matched; and would thus be at considerable disadvantage. One of our party did eventually land a blow against their twin. Pain was felt by the real instance. One of the copies used a spell: their counterpart felt the magic being drained from them. It seems we were also linked to our partners in some way?

So then, we set about engaging every gladiatorial facsimile that was not our pairing.

The God of War and The God of Honorable Combat

Meanwhile, the two gods were theatrically exchanging words before doing battle, as gods are often known to do.

What followed could really be equated to more of a tavern brawl at an cosmological level, than the matching of sword and wit one would expect of two masters of martial enterprise. For the god of honorable combat, Dragh did not seem to conduct himself very honorably. While all is fair in war, in honorable combat there seemed to be considerably more punishment to the genital region than predicted.

Part way through their battle, a horned, demonic being emerged from a portal, began conversing with them, and then joined the fight against Dragh, who seemed to have some prolonged history with the creature. I can't say for sure if this newcomer was fighting for Tempus or was just there to ensure that Dragh lost- if so, I have to respect the commitment.

And so the battle raged. Tempus cast a booming cry, which knocked over some of our party, while leaving his ethereal minions untouched. Literally trying to tip the battle in his favor. Such efforts were to no avail however. We and our opponents wore each other down; spells diminished, blood spilled.

Tempus halted the battle, and threatened that either we submit to him, and relinquish our fealty to Dragh, or we would meet a warriors' end. To punctuate his point, he killed the demonic creature who had been fighting Dragh in a single blow.

While Lightning-claw had certainly been more enthusiastic than most about his devotion to Dragh's dragonkin accomplice- the blessings we had received from Dragh and his company had been more a passing exchange over a shared love of stories and mead than what I think even Dragh himself would construe as some enduring pledge of allegiance.

Forced to make a choice I was not happy to make; I clutched my holy symbol, prayed to Lathander, and awaited a warrior's death.

On Deity Slaying and Sword Distribution

The prayer was answered, we were all filled with the warm, reviving energies of a new dawn. We carried the battle onward with renewed strength.

Before long, it was done. Tempus's small army of reflections, shattered. The God himself, now laid low by Dragh's attacks. Tempus, God of War, propped on one knee, and one hand, awaited the killing blow.

It is a curious thing to see a divine being gasp with lungs that have breathed no mortal air.

One by one we turned our attacks on Tempus, for whatever our reasons. Eager to return the favor for bringing us to this realm against our will, simply to survive the gauntlet he had thrown at our feet, or to receive whatever prophesied reward each of us imagines to come from god-slaying. When it came my turn, I hesitated.

Lathander and Tempus are said to not be enemies nor friends- more like distant relatives that maintain polite conversation at family gatherings. While Faerun's gods sometimes compete with each other- not all of them are intrinsically aligned for or against one another. We were forced into this situation; to become pawns between two jealous gods- but mortals still make their own choices, and I could not bring myself to make this one.

I decided to refrain at attacking Tempus directly, even when it seemed certain that he would have no means for recourse. Dragh implored me to strike a blow; suggesting that Lathander would condone under the circumstances, or at least, would not begrudge it.

In the end, I am happy in my decision to follow my conscience. I heard a voice, it was Lathander. A bright light appeared before me, it spoke that I had behaved as a true cleric. The white light was gradually eclipsed by the silhouette of a sword.

I recognized it immediately. It was the Blade of Lathander- a magical relic with a blade of ruby quartz. The sword had been forged long-ago in the city of Saerloon, blessed by the dawn itself. The weapon had been made to slay Tyranthraxus, master of the Pool of Radiance and a great tale in of itself. Perhaps now I will get to write new history for the sword, since I'm now holding it?

In any case, after its task was performed, the relic had been stolen from its resting place in Saerloon and was rumored to have been bouncing from treasure hoard to treasure hoard or even lost at sea for hundreds of years.

Now it was here, right in front of me. I reached out and touched it with a single finger.

Then, blackness again.

Bryn-Shander. Day. Wind. Snow. Icewind Dale.

Back to Bryn-Shander. Further implications

When I was first assigned the task of investigating Icewind Dale, I had suspected it was because my novice years and penchant for lexical labors over worldly experience, had convinced my superiors I was best suited to a fruitless hen hunt in a frigid backwater.

Curse or no curse, Icewind Dale is known most as a place that scrimshaw comes from and people who want to be lost go to. I'd begged for a mission, and for my sins they'd given me one. A foul smelling finger on a rancid monkeys-paw had curled and I was served up an eternal hunt for a snowball in a stack of even more snowballs.

The job had the slightest chance of turning up some small shadow of a clue in solving the grand puzzle of uncursing Myth-Drannor; but a much greater chance of a cold death in some ditch, or a far warmer and sooner one by bandit's knife or wild animal's teeth on the road getting there.

I hadn't really anticipated meeting 3 gods in the span of as many days, much less my own god giving me one of his artifacts. I am not sure they will even believe me if I manage to get it back to Dawnspire.

Perhaps this means Lathander has absolved me of what happened on the ship? Maybe it's time to tell the others? Perhaps, though, it would prove a distraction from our mission: best left buried in the ice. We shall see.

One thing I am certain of: I think I am happy to keep my feet in this plane of existence for the foreseeable future. While it's always nice to meet your idols, I think I am looking forward to solving mortal problems for the time being. Perhaps our inter-planar journeys are a portend of things to come. Maybe Sigil is next? I've read about it.

Many theological questions remain unanswered. Would any of our party absorb some power from helping to slay a god? Would this have some ramifications for belief in Faerun? What would this mean for the multitudes to people that worshiped Tempus? What will happen if we run into the multitude of Tempus ("Tempos") worshiping barbarians in this part of the world, whose god we had just helped destroy?

A more immediate question: have we arrived in Bryn-Shander ahead of Torgs?

A question of paramount speculation: will we finally get to go shopping? I won't need to buy a sword now.