Frimmsreach Episode #20

EPISODE #20

Game Date: 08-25-14

Cast: Sparruu, Gul’Daryh, Frothgar, Argus

Supporting Cast: Quilliam, Skat, and 3 armored dwarves

With the fire lit and the mowthgar in a panicked charge the party takes the opportunity to duck and run. Kilminster Barrackbomb is eager to charge into the fray and save his brethren from the upcoming sacrifice. But the odds are overwhelming and reason wins out over blind heroism.

Retreating to the black pools the team faces down a small contingent of orc scouts rapidly running them down. Victorious, they continue their mad flight, lead now by the old man called Argus Emir (no relation to our dear Argus the barbarian). But the other Argus, the barbarian, passes out as he nears the glowing orange globs lurking above the water. The orange blight is still upon him!

Argus the elder leads them through a shaft that slopes steeply upward while Argus the younger is carried. Killminster and the dwarves collapse the roof to discourage orcs from following. The trail leads to the surface and back to the wind and cold.

The party discusses their plan. The sacrifice, somehow related to the Shrine of Worms, must be stopped. A dwarven stronghold is nearby – Northpoint Stronghold, commanded by Krakster Farznickle. Hulktall, Bruiser, Killminster, and the few dwarves they brought out from captivity all head to the stronghold while Frothgar accompanies the other captives along with Sparru, Argus, Skat, Quilliam, and Gul’Daryh to the village of Argus Emir.

The dwarf Silverchain does not accompany the other dwarves. She is tired of the cold and wishes to find a warm place to rest. On the walk to Frostmyr she reveals something about the Shrine of Worms…an old tale she was told by her mother. The Shrine was built deep in the earth beneath another shrine on the surface…one dedicated to an ancient and forgotten goddess. No one knows how they were destroyed but both have been dormant for a thousand years.

The village of Frostmyr is not far and the crew makes it before dark. Low round houses covered in ice and snow reveal themselves by spindly trails of chimney smoke. The village common house, owned by Argus Emir and Edda, welcomes the party heartily with hot bowls of gariboo and ice turtle soup and mugs of stout ale. Villagers come to meet with their lost friends.

Old Edda and Argus Emir suggest that the orange plague that Sparruu and Argus suffer must be attended immediately for they have heard of such things before. Such an orange plague took poor Edda’s husband years ago. Argus leads them to the dwelling of a strange old hermit outside of town who he calls Blart. They meet him atop a hill by his house and he quickly reveals himself to be eccentric and magical.

Blart, a short and rounded figure (like the houses of the northern villages), seems distantly interested in the heroes’ quest to prevent the reopening of the Shrine of Worms. He agrees to dig up what information he can and to have a look at the various trinkets they have recently acquired…to see what strange properties they possess. In exchange, he will take two of the trinkets for himself. For the price of a single gem he gives Sparruu and Argus each a small orange disc of some strange metal. “Sleep with it on your tongue.” He says. “It will cure the orange blight.”

The heroes take their leave of Blart’s small house with the intention of returning the next day.

End of episode #20.