"Object Now or Forever Rest in Peace!" Chapter 4 of The Menace of the Swords through the Gate of the Icy Spire

Joroon's Dragoons crash a wedding and ruin a cake. Plus, one of their number will die!

Joroon's Dragoons:

• Joroon Hicks, Hillfolk* Storyteller
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina
• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan** parentage
• Lodar, Prairiefolk*** Barbarian
• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior

Not Present:

• Dornan Anduin, Human Paladin of Vengeance, cousin of Arne

* Hillfolk = Halflings from the Slopes of the Great Wall Mountains
** Sylvan = A fancy name for Forest Elves
*** Prairiefolk = Halflings from the northern plains

An Icy PlungeAfter defeating the water elementals, the party continued their advance into the frigid lair the Ice King. As they traveled down a curved hallway, the ice floor beneath Lodar's feet proved to be too thin to support his weight. He fell through and plunged into a pool of slushy ice water. He was soon extricated from the trap and died off using a prestidigitation cantrip. Aline ferried the rest of the party down the hall one at a time on her flying broom.

Reception HallThey entered a large L-shaped room filled with tables made of ice and dozens of light folding chairs, also made of ice. On each table were settings made of ice. Pitchers were made of ice and filled with solid water. Arrangements of flowers made of hoar-frost were artfully placed on every table. A large table at the head of the room was set for the wedding party. Another table off to one side held a huge multi-tier ice cream cake. Atop the cake were two small figures: one of an old wizard with long blue robes, long white beard, and golden crown; the other a young woman with long white braid and a blue gauzy dress.

Pengu, distant cousins of the Tengu

A dozen human slaves were setting the tables. Each slave wore an iron collar. Six ogre-like beasts, giant evil-looking penguins with massive claws instead of wings, oversaw the slaves. As soon as the dragoons entered the room, the penguin-ogres shouted out an alarm and rushed to intercept them.

Lodar ran to block the opposite exit to prevent penguin-ogres from escaping. The ensuing battle spread out across the entire room with ice tables being flipped and smashed, many on purpose. Inza went to smash the table with the ice cream cake when Lodar and Gravy shouted "No-no-no! Don't do that!" They wanted to save the cake for later.

After the battle, they instructed the human slaves to wait here. They would be freed soon. Aline also learned that the humans were protected from the cold by the magical iron slave collars they wore. Unfortunately, only the Ice King himself could enchant the collars.

We Object!A long tall corridor led to a large vaulted chamber. The chamber was at least a hundred feet tall. The natural twilight of the sky filtered down through icy ceiling. Additional light was generated by hovering globes of magical rime-fire. The chamber was filled with several dozen humans frozen in ice, all observing a marriage ceremony happening on a raised stage at the other end of the room.

The groom was an middle-aged wizard in long blue robes and long white beard and hair. A white psuedo-dragon was perched on his shoulder. A golden three-pointed crown sat on his bald head. His skin was bluish-white. His eyes glowed white with malice.

The bride was Lady Elsa of Choke, a beautiful young woman with a long gauzy dress and white braided hair. She and the Ice King lightly held hands.

The best man was a large black-and-white penguin-ogre. The maid of honor was a large ice elemental. The officiant was a gargantuan blue-skinned giant with a long white beard wearing the long robes of a priest.

The priest had just uttered the words, "..and if anyone should have any reason to object to this union, let them speak now or forever hold their peace..."

Joroon vehemently objects! 

At that moment, the doors at the rear of the hall burst open and Joroon's Dragoons charged in. Joroon himself shouted out his objection and demanded this ceremony be ended. He accused the Ice King of kidnapping Lady Elsa and declared that he and his companions had come to rescue the princess and return her and her people to the town of Choke.

A large white-furred figure stepped out from behind one of the many frozen wedding guests. He was bulky with long arms. His face was like that of a gorilla. Two curving rams horns grew from his pointed head. He wore chain mail armor and carried a large ram's horn around his neck.

He spotted Lodar carrying the magic scimitar Magmatar, and hatred burned in his eyes. "Where did you get that sword? That sword was a gift to my son, Gorak, on his name day! It belongs to him!"

Lodar strode forth defiantly, "I took it from the lifeless corpse of your worthless son. If you want it, you'll have to take it from me."

Treffek, Father of Gorak 

At that, the father of Gorak roared in anger, "I, Treffek, father of Gorak, will avenge my son!". He pulled forth the horn and blew as hard as he could.

Unfortunately, the horn exploded in Treffek's face.

...

Lodar ran forward and cut the wounded beast-man down.

Meanwhile, Inza disappeared into the shadows and reappeared in a dark corner elsewhere in the room.

Suddenly, each of the arrangements of hoary flowers in ice pots, placed artfully around the chamber, came to life in the form of short monstrous winged humanoids made of ice. They swarmed the intruders and harried them with claws and ice breath. Two of them enveloped the ceremony in fog, obscuring any attempt to attack the bride and groom from range.

Aline took flight and loitered near the ceiling. She dispelled one of the magical fogs, revealing Lady Elsa, but one remained, obscuring the location of the Ice King.

Lady Elsa of Choke 

Lodar charged the platform. Lady Elsa cast a spell on Lodar. Lodar became enveloped in a swirling maelstrom of icy daggers. The Ice King likewise stepped out of the fog and trapped Lodar, freezing him in place. The penguin-ogre groomsman rand down the stairs and began attacking Lodar with the help of several of the small winged ice creatures.

The rest of the group was bogged down fighting the ice creatures among the frozen wedding guests. Suddenly, suprisingly, Treffek was alive. He had pulled himself to his feet. his face was mangled and one eye was destroyed. He fixed his good eye on the approaching Inza, freezing him in an icy stare.

Inza was frozen in place. Gravy ran up to assist the shadow-walker, freeing him from the effects of the stare with a holy prayer to Thumina. Inza attacked Treffek, killing him with several powerful strikes.

Aline, she casts spells 

Meanwhile, Aline distracted Elsa with a firebolt spell, allowing Lodar to break free of the daggers and the hold. Lodar ran quickly up the stairs and, without thinking, cut Lady Elsa down with one blow in a frenzied rage. He was quickly surrounded and set upon by the small ice creatures and the penguin-ogre.

Soon after Treffek fell, the Ice King emerged from the fog and cast a magical spell that enveloped Inza, Gravy, and Joroon in a deadly cone of cold and ice. Inza remained standing. Gravy fell unconscious, frozen in place. Joroon, however, was instantly dead, his corpse frozen in gruesome agony.

Aline prepared a fireball spell to throw at the Ice King. The wizard dismissed her spell with a simple gesture.

While the Ice King was distracted by Aline's spell, Inza charged. He hit the wizard with several strikes to key pressure points, immobilizing the evil conjurer. He followed with a deadly coup-de-grace that struck the Ice King dead.

The Chilly Demise of the King of Ice at the hands of Inza 

Aline flew down and administered a healing potion to Gravy. Gravy immediately got up and ran to Elsa, healing her fatal wound and returning her to consciousness.

The penguin-ogre and remaining ice creatures were eventually defeated.

Aftermath
The Ice Elemental had apparently fallen apart when Lady Elsa was cut down. The frost giant priest had remained neutral during the fight, asked to be excused, and was allowed to leave without incident.

Lodar used Magmatar to decapitate the Ice King and the head was placed in a bag for travel. The crown was carefully handled and placed in another bag.

Aline used magical fire cantrips to melt the ice encasing the wedding guests, a process that took the better part of a day. One of the wedding guests was a frightened little girl. Gravy was able to return the girl's doll to her, which eased her fears and made her smile.

Aline also attempted to dispel any charms placed upon Lady Elsa but was unsuccessful. Whatever magic was affecting her mind was beyond her ability to remove.

Exploring the Ice King's private chambers revealed a magical font which could be used to create water elementals.

Gravy really wants that ice cream wedding cake 

Gravy and Lodar instructed the rescued villagers to carefully carry the cake out of the reception hall, up the corridor, and outside. A few moments later, they heard a crash followed by a loud splash and screams for help. They had fallen into the icy water trap. They were protected from damage by the collars, but the ice was ruined. The exasperated Gravy and Lodar helped the villagers out and escorted them out of the wizard's lair.

Once back at the village of the Grunthers, Urglorz upheld his bargain and gave the team his magical ring as payment for killing the Ice King.

The company, carrying the captive Lady Elsa, and along with the freed villagers, returned to the dimensional gate. They passed through and were able to escort everyone back to Choke. Only the matter of Lady Elsa's possession and the open portal to the world of Ice remained. They took Lady Elsa back to the portal atop the Ice King's tower.

Lady Elsa kept trying to gain the crown. She said that she could close the gate, but only if she had the crown. The company refused. Instead, Gravy prayed to Thumina to remove any curse placed upon her. This returned Lady Elsa to normal. Lady Elsa didn't know for sure how she opened the gate, but she offered to try. After a few moments of willing the gate the close, she was successful. The portal shrunk and was reduced to a single large diamond that fell to the floor. Aline took the diamond for safe keeping.

With the portal closed, the blizzard came to an immediate end. The sky lightened and the clouds began to lift. Sun poured down on the mountainside and across the snow-covered valley. Soon the weather had returned to the normal winter temperature of 40 degrees.

Coming Soon
With the death of Joroon, the party will likely change names and roster. I believe the next step is to return the head of the Ice King to the wizard guild in Yon to collect the bounty. Then, perhaps, Lodar may want to track down the wizard that killed his tribe.

...or, something else. I'm leaving it to the players. Whatever happens next, there's going to be a change of venue. I'm taking the campaign out of the valley. I'd like to explore some of the other locations in Agartha, and we've been stuck in this po-dunk valley for the last year. It's time for something different. Since all of the current characters are essentially new, it's the perfect opportunity to go somewhere else.

But first, I'm going to run the game I wrote, Exiled in Eris, for a few weeks, no more than a month. Just something different to cleanse my palate for a while.

"Champions of Urglorz" Chapter 3 of The Menace of the Swords through the Gate of the Icy Spire

Joroon's Dragoons have yet another change in line-up as they take on Gorak, leader of the Grunthers, in ritual combat.

Inza, totally not some kind of magic drow in a human disguise

Joroon's Dragoons:

• Joroon Hicks, Hillfolk* Storyteller
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina
• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan** parentage
• Arrn Anduin, Human Fighter and Mage-Slayer, cousin of Dornan
• Lodar, Prairiefolk*** Barbarian
• Dornan Anduin, Human Paladin of Vengeance, cousin of Arne

Introducing:

• Inza, aka "The Shadow", Human Shadow-Warrior

* Hillfolk = Halflings from the Slopes of the Great Wall Mountains
** Sylvan = A fancy name for Forest Elves
*** Prairiefolk = Halflings from the northern plains

A Good Night's Sleep, Hot Meal, and a Lot of Exposition

Joroon's Dragoons took the grunther shaman Urglorz up on his offer of a night's rest and a warm meal of fatty gruel cooked over a magical fire. Urglorz's cave was cozy compared to the frigid climate outside. They learned that no normal fire would stay lit for long in this world and that Urglorz, as a shaman, was able to create magical flames that resisted the extinguishing cold. As a native of this realm Urglorz was more accustomed to the magical cold flame of his own people. However, he had learned that the people of the world of all elements needed the hot element of Imix to sustain life, so he obliged.

While they rested, each of Joroon's Dragoons took turns reading one of the books taken from the Ice King's tower. After several hours of reading, they had learned the following facts:

The Ice King was once a sage and antiquarian named Simon Petrikov. He was not a wizard and had no supernatural powers. He gained his magical ability when he obtained the crown of Urgence Evergreen, an artifact from an earlier pre-human age.

Simon Petrikov was once romantically involved with an adventuress named Elizabeth. Elizabeth obtained antiques and artifacts for Simon to study and sell. It was Elizabeth that obtained the crown on one of her adventures. She gave it to Simon to study and re-sell.

The crown is known as the Crown of Urgence Evergreen, a pre-human wizard contemporary with ancient Nagina Samrajya. Urgence Evergreen created the crown using ruby eyes from a lava titan and infusing the gold with the spirit and power of Cryonax. Its original purpose was to destroy the asteroid that threatened the world during that time. He failed and the kingdom of Nagina Samrajya was destroyed.

According to various contradictory legends, the Crown of Urgence Evergreen grants the following powers:

• Immunity to cold
• Ice Storm
• Wall of Ice
• Cone of Cold
• Fog Cloud
• Icy Ray
• Chill Touch
• Otiluke’s Freezing Sphere
• Slow
• Grease
• Cloud of Daggers
• Sleet Storm

It is also rumored that removing the crown from the wearer's head will cause the wearer to lose all of the wizard powers gained. 

Simon did not re-sell the crown. Instead, he started wearing it. Simon also started studying wizardry and conjuration. In addition, he became obsessed with the primordial Cryonax, the Prince of the Frostfell. He began researching ways to free Cryonax from his imprisonment in the Shadowfell.

Elizabeth did not like the influence the crown had on Simon, but Simon refused to take off the crown. Simon fell farther and farther into madness. Unable to help her friend, Elizabeth left Simon. She eventually married the Archon of Choke.

Simon, now calling himself the Ice King, kidnapped Elizabeth from Choke. His plan was to cast a spell to imbue Elizabeth with the immortal essence of Cryonax. He would then marry her and father a child. The child would reunite the essence of Cryonax with the spirit trapped within the crown. The child would reunite the two parts of and would be born the living reincarnation of Crynoax, freeing the primordial prince from his imprisonment in the Shadowfell and releasing him into the world of all elements.

In addition the information gleaned from the various books, the group was able to make the following deductions.

 Elizabeth must have managed to escape. During her escape, she somehow tricked the Ice King into passing through a portal into the Frostfell. Then she deactivated the portal and used her new-found ice powers to seal the tower in magical ice that would never melt, trapping the Ice King within the Frostfell forever.

The essence of Cryonax must have still lived within Elizabeth. When Elsa was born, the essence must have passed from the mother to the daughter. The essence remained dormant until this year. That's when Anna said that Elsa's began displaying powers and accidentally killed her father.

When Elsa’s powers manifested, she must have fallen under the influence of the essence of Cryonax. She was therefore compelled to return to the tower and enter the magical ice that imprisoned it. She made her way to the top and somehow reopened the portal. The portal has remained open since then, allowing the Ice King’s minions, the grunthers, to enter.

The Ice King's new plan must be to to marry Elizabeth’s daughter, Elsa, and father a child with her instead, thus freeing Cryonax.

Urglorz confirmed that the portal was opened several weeks ago, and that grunthers explored the portal and passed through it. There they took captives and brought them back to serve as slaves and food. The captives were in the village, and reiterated that they must defeat Gorak to free them.

He explained that, as a shaman, he foresaw that heroes would come through the portal so he set his polar bear to watch the portal and to bring them here when they came through. "And so are you all here."

They slept that night without further incident. Each person that took a watch was able to witness, for a short while, the dancing lights of the faraway land of fire reflected upon the crystal sphere of the night sky.

Morning came with no dawn. There was no sun nor moon, there was only a gradual lightening of the sky from deep darkness to twilight.

Pinch Hitters
While the team prepared to trek across the snow to the village of the grunthers, Joroon felt a magical buzzing in the stone of transposition in his pocket. Aware of its effects, he threw the stone onto the ground. Suddenly, Dornan Anduin appeared. Dornan seemed confused. Yesterday evening, he was in the wizard's tower. Then, he was in Swallow. He spent the night there, trying to get his bearings. He had a polished river stone in his pocket. This morning, he held it and pondered its significance. He thought of Joroon, and suddenly he was here! Just before Aline could explain the working of the magical stones of transposition, his cousin Arrn disappeared! In Arrn's place was a tall pale figure in dark robes, his hood drawn. The figure seemed calm and said, "Hello."

Dornan drew his weapon to claim vengeance for his cousin. Joroon and Aline held him and explained to him how the stoned worked. They asked the stranger his name and his origin. He was friendly and introduced himself as Inza the Shadow. He explained that he was recently in Swallow and was given this stone by a mysterious old wizard named Ezekiel. The wizard told him that whenever Inza was bored, all he need do was hold the stone and think upon a life of adventure and danger. Inza had seen Dornan thinking upon a similar stone in Swallow and had witnessed him disappear. He immediately seized upon the opportunity and did as the wizard bade, thus he found himself here.

When he learned of the workings of the stones, he calmed Dornan, telling him that his cousin was likely safe and warm in an inn in Swallow. Dornan tried to use his stone to travel back, but it was no use. Apparently, they are either unreliable or need time to recharge after each use.

Dornan still wishes he'd bought those boots.

Inza was filled in on the situation and the agreement made with Urglorz to defeat Gorak, leader of the tribe of Grunthers, in ritual combat. Afterwards, Urglorz would help them defeat the Ice King and rescue Lady Elsa of Choke. They further explained how the Ice King planned to wed Lady Elsa and father the reincarnation of the primordial Cryonax, the Prince of Elemental Cold, and one day plunge all of Agartha, indeed the entire world, into a wasteland of ice.

Inza replied, "What are we waiting for then?" And they were off.

A Display of Power
After three hours of hiking across the icy ravine, the entourage came within sight of a village. The village was made of stone and ice. The icy breath of cold flame rose from a collection of igloos. Grunther guards stood watch over the approach.

As the party neared, dozens of grunthers came into view. Uglorz called out to them in their native language, "Gork! Gork gork gork! Gork gork!" Joroon cast a linguistics spell and translated the proceedings for the rest of the party.

The grunthers on the wall were taunting Urglorz. Urglorz responded that he had returned with champions, mighty warriors! He warned the villagers that his champions were avatars of their god, Cryonax, and that they had come to destroy Gorak for his sins! He challenged Gorak to a test of leadership.

Urglorz then turned around and, using his ring of thought sending, instructed the members of the party to be intimidating and put on some display of force or prowess.

Aline cast a fire bolt spell at the gate. Many grunthers cowered in awe at this display of elemental flame!

Gravy spoke a prayer to Thumina and created sacred flame, causing more awe.

Dornan and Lodar both flexed and went through weapons katas as an intimidating display.

Inza moved to the edge of Aline's magical light, becoming a silhouette in the dim twilit day. The silhouette sank into the snow and stealthily reappeared 60 feet away next to Urglorz.

Finally, Joroon cast a Shatter spell, causing a section of the wall to explode into icy shards with a thunderclap. This last spell echoed throughout the canyon and was sufficient to cow all of the grunther onlookers.

Joroon's name is a killing word!

The gate opened and a tall dark form strode out accompanied by a dozen grunthers. The tall creature was head and shoulders taller than the grunthers. As he neared, it became obvious that he was different from the grunthers. He was massive and covered in long white fur with long arms that nearly touched the snow. He had curving rams horns, a pointed head, and a face like a gorilla. He wore chain armor and carried a scimitar that glowed hot in its sheath.

Urglorz acknowledged Gorak with a grunt and the enemies exchanged insults. Urglorz told Gorak that his champions were sent by Cryonax to punish the tribe for their disobedience. He could surrender now or face them in the Test of Leadership.

Gorak accepted the challenge with a defiant sneer.

Gorak

The Challenge
The party and the grunthers traveled nearly a mile to the place of testing, a steaming lake filled with boiling black water. Black-skinned seal-like pinnepeds, apparently the chief source of food and hide for the grunthers, dove underwater for safety. Dozens of huge ice bergs calved off the glacial banks of the lake and bobbed in the boiling water, the magical ice resisting the heat of the geothermic lake.

Each side was to select up to twelve champions. Only eight joined Gorak and his second in command, four declining Gorak's summons out of fear of the newcomers. Urglorz had the six members of Joroon's Dragoons. The champions took positions on the bergs. The rules were simple. Anyone touching foot on the shore after having touched an inceberg would forfeit the contest and would be killed. The last one alive in the lake would be the winner.

The teams took positions. They rushed towards each other, throwing ice javelins and jumping from berg to berg. Aline took the magic flying broom and flew into the sky. Dornan threw his magical javelin which transformed into a bolt of lightning. The second in command threw up an obscuring fog, protecting them from ranged attack. Aline threw a massive fireball spell, banishing the fog and obliterating everyone within, leaving only a few survivors who were quickly killed.

Aline doesn't mess around

The rest of grunther onlookers fled in a panic back to village.

Lodar claimed the glowing scimitar of Gorak. The blade had the look of being made of obsidian and basalt with a glowing red and yellow edge. He soon learned that the scimitar burst into flaming molten lava. He learned that the name of his new blade was Magmatar.

Upon returning to the village, Urglorz was reinstated as chieftain. Urglorz thanked the company, saying that they were not avatars of Cryonax, but truly were they avatars of Imix, Lord of Fire!

Urglorz held up his side of the bargain. He freed the captives and promised to show the way to the secret entance to the lair of the Ice King. Joroon instructed the freed humans to wait here in the village until they returned with the others. They then set off for their showdown with the Ice King himself.

The Lair of the Ice King
They found the secret entrance a mile away on the side of the cliff that formed the ravine, exactly where Urglorz told them to look.

Within the entrance was a passage made of ice. The interior was magically cold, even colder than air outside. They wrapped themselves tighter against the cold and soldiered on.

They soon came across a small room where six grunthers were corralling a large group of humans. Lodar charged at the first grunthers while Inza faded into the shadows. Inza immediately appeared in the hall on the opposite side of the room, where he snuck up on and attacked a guard by surprise. The rest of the party poured into the room around Lodar and the grunthers were soon dispatched.

Lodar, whose job description includes charging into rooms and killing everything.

The shivering human captives warned their rescuers of the room with the living water and that a blue giant was with the Ice King. The rescuers, in told, informed the captives of their freedom and instructed them to return to the grunther village and regroup with the others. They would return to the world of four elements soon.

As they advanced deeper into the lair, they came across an almost spherical room, sixty feet wide. The room was made of ice, as was everything in this subterranean abode. Sensing a trap, Aline flew across the room holding a rope while Inza merely appeared from the shadows on the other side. Aline's passage, however, awakened a water elemental guardian that was merged with the ice. Although the elemental momentarily engulfed Lodar, it was soon destroyed by the others.

TO BE CONTINUED

Next Week!
A Wedding Interrupted. A Showdown with the Ice King and his Bride, Elsa. A fight with a Frost Giant. And MORE!

After Thoughts
I had fun with the book reading exposition scene this week. I printed up 16 or so little slips of paper. Each slip had a different little tid-bit on it. I asked each player "You need six hours of rest. Other than that, how much time do you spend reading the journals and notebooks?" Everyone answered two to four each, so they each got one random slip for every hour they spent reading. The random nature of the notes meant that they got a narrative all out of order, with bits of info here and there. It was up to the players to share their notes and put together a coherent narrative of what happened, which they did.

I did trick them up by giving them multiple descriptions of the powers of the crown that contradicted, so they don't know which is true and which is legend.

In all, it made what would normally be either me reading a boring story nobody cares about or me giving a handout to someone to not read into a fun exercise of putting together clues. Also, they didn't get all the clues I printed.

For the purposes of this blog, I assembled all their clues together into a coherent narrative and filled in some of the gaps. In reality, the story of the Ice King, the crown, and Elizabeth, was a lot more jumbled and filled with holes.

"Lodar of the Prairie Folk", Chapter 2 of The Menace of the Swords through the Gate of the Icy Spire

The King of Ice

Joroon's Dragoons explore the tower of the Ice King in their quest to rescue Princess Elsa and find a portal to a frigid world. On their way, they meet a new friend, Lodar of the Prairie Folk.

Joroon's Dragoons:

• Joroon Hicks, Hillfolk* Storyteller
• Gravy, Human Priest of Thumina
• Aline, a Thaumaturge of half-Human/half-Sylvan** parentage
• Arrn Anduin, Human Fighter and Mage-Slayer, cousin of Dornan

Introducing:

• Lodar, Prairiefolk*** Barbarian

Not Appearing This Week:

• Dornan Anduin, Human Paladin of Vengeance, cousin of Arne

* Hillfolk = Halflings from the Slopes of the Great Wall Mountains
** Sylvan = A fancy name for Forest Elves
*** Prairiefolk = Halflings from the northern plains

An Unwanted Result
The wizard Aline sat with Princess Anna around a small table in a private room in one of the hostels of Swallow. The heavy curtains were drawn, the darkened room was illuminated by small motes of magical light that drifted through the air. Burning incense created a thick sweet miasma as Aline gently passed her hands over the crystal ball in the center of the table. Aline concentrated on the lock of dark hair set on the table between her and the crystal ball. She reached out for Anna's hands to help establish the link with the princess' missing sister. The globe began to glow faintly and ectoplasm started to seep down the walls.

Aline's eyes rolled back as she was overwhelmed by a sense of falling head first into an infinite void. Ahead of her lay a cold bright light, the closer she approached, the farther away the light seemed to recede. Aline was chilled by a feeling of intense cold. The light seemed near but remained forever away. Suddenly, Aline was snapped back through the void and back into the room and into her body. She was lying on the floor, having fallen out of her chair. She got up and looked around and saw Princess Anna frantically trying to open the door and escape the room, glancing back over her shoulder in terror.

Aline asked what was happening. Anna, panting, threw open the door and ran out of the room. Aline followed but closed the door behind her. She grabbed Anna by the wrist and demanded an explanation. Anna said that as soon as she entered the trance, Aline began to chant in an alien otherworldly voice from hell. The orb began to glow red. Light and smoke swirled above the ball and formed into a small devil, an imp from hell! The imp screeched at her and turned invisible. At that point, she screamed and ran out of the room. The imp had to still be in the room!

Aline told Anna to remain calm while she dealt with the imp. Aline returned to the private room, wand at the ready. The room was empty, the imp must be invisible. She cast a web spell, covering much of the small room in thick sticky webbing. The webbing revealed a struggling shape hiding in a corner.

Aline the Wizard

Aline called out, "What are you? What are you doing here?"

The voice answered, "You tell me! You summoned me here!"

Aline was momentarily confused, "No I didn't."

"Yes you did! And now you've caught me. If you release me, I am compelled to serve you. What are your terms?"

Aline thought about this, "You must serve me forever and do as I say."

"No way! Set me free and I will perform a single task for you."

Aline was offended, "Pfft. No. Forever."

"Okay, how about a year and a day."

"Nope."

"Okay then. Here's a better idea. How about I break free and eat your face!"

The imp burst out of the webbing and attacked Aline's face. Aline counterattacked with a super-charged magic missile spell, obliterating the imp which exploded in ectoplasm, fire, and sulphur. The walls were splattered with exploded imp slime.

Aline returned to Anna to tell her it was now safe. She paid the fee for the room cleaning and purchased some cold weather clothing. She bade Anna farewell, pulled a magic river rock from her pocket, and thought of Joroon.

Meanwhile, On the Slopes of Mount Zacha
Joroon, Gravy, Arrn, and Dornan stood in the foyer at the entrance of the tower of the Ice King. The interior was very cold, as if the entire tower had been dipped in frozen nitrogen and preserved. Hoar frost covered most surfaces. Dornan was about to say something when he suddenly disappeared and was replaced with Aline.

Arrn the Wizard Hunter

Arrn, never having met Aline and believing that wizardry had just killed his kinsman, screamed and prepared his axe to strike down the newcomer. Gravy and Joroon, having been made familiar with the Stones of Transposition, quickly held out their palms and stood between Arrn and Aline. Gravy explained that she had simply swapped places with Dornan, and that Dornan was likely safe. Arrn held his hand but demanded to know where his brother was sent. Aline explained that she was just in Swallow. She expected to appear in Joroon's wagon. Dornan must have taken the stone by accident. She told Arrn that his cousin was safe and likely warm. Arrn checked his book of wizard bounties and found no mention of Aline. He begrudgingly accepted her into the party.

The dragoons explored the first floor of the tower. To the left they found a sitting room with a few books and some antique furniture. A fireplace in the corner of the room contained a bright bluish-white flame that radiated cold. Within the room was a small crystal statue of a hideous creature with the body gorilla, tentacles for arms, and the head of some creature that was a cross between a baboon and an ourk. Perusing the books, they found a few tomes on the nature of the elemental planes and the elementals, including descriptions of the five elemental princes: Ogremoch, Imix, Yan-C-Bin, Olhydra, and Cryonax. The image of Cryonax matched the crystal statue. They also found a journal belonging to Simon Petrikov, Sage. Within were notes on the sellers and prices of various antiques and relics. On on wall was a painting of a beautiful woman with reddish-brown hair, a sorceress wearing bookish horn-rimmed glasses, clad in a dark green turtleneck and a grey cloak. The plaque underneath the painting said "Elizabeth".

Across the foyer was a dining room with a long table, empty for mundane furniture and another fireplace filled with magically cold flames. Also on the first floor was the servants quarters. Within were the bodies of two servants, clad in black and white livery, having died, frozen while hiding under their beds, decades ago.

Grunther Guardians
The dragoons then heard someone coming down he stairs. The team made a lot of noise as they scrambled to hide. Whomever it was paused to listen, then hurried back upstairs. The team abandoned their hiding spots and charged upstairs.

The second floor was a magical laboratory filled with desks, tables, bookshelves, and crates filled with alchemical paraphernalia. Six brutish creatures were grabbing morningstars made of hardened magical ice, having been warned by their lookout.

The creatures were slightly larger than man-sized with broad muscular frames. They were covered in white fur, like a polar bear, and blue-skinned hands and feet and a bare face of blue leathery skin. Their legs were bowed and their arms long and dangling. Their faces were like a mix of goblin and polar bear with bearish snouts, black beady eyes, and long blue pointed ears sticking out horizontally from the sides of their heads. They wore black leather armor and carried heavy melee weapons made of magical ice. They spoke an unknown language that sounded like "Gork! Gork gork gork!" These creatures could only be the grunthers described by the Winter Wolf.

They met Joroon's Dragoons in combat. One grunther leapt on Aline while she ascended the stairs, pulling her down to the floor below and nearly killing her. Another grunther performed the same trick on Gravy.

The Rage of Lodar
Meanwhile, in a larder behind the first floor kitchen, slept Lodar of the Prairie Folk. He had entered the tower seeking shelter from the blizzard outside and had found a larder filled with frozen food. He managed to build a real fire, not one of the frozen flames burning throughout this accursed tower, and was able to cook a sausage. Afterwards he took a nap, his dreams filled with rage, hatred, and vengeance.

Lodar of the Prairie Folk

Lodar was suddenly roused by the shouts of those engaged in battle. He grabbed his magical scimitar and rushed out to see a man of the hillfolk, one of his remote kinsmen, engaged in deadly struggle alongside a female sylvan and two humans against foul inhuman creatures. He rushed into battle without hesitation, screaming "RAGE!!" and plowing through the blue-skinned white-furred creatures.

While the raging newcomer and Arrn dealt with the four grunthers in the wizard laboratory, Gravy, Joroon, and Aline dealt with the two down below. Lodar, in his rage, pulled a bookshelf down onto his opponent before slaying him with his magical scimitar. Soon, all the grunthers were dead.

The newcomer introduced himself as Lodar, from the northern plains. The dragoons explained their purpose and asked if the newcomer would care to join them in their quest. Lodar shared a similar hatred of evil wizards as Arrn and welcomed the opportunity to sate his rage killing the fiend.

Exploration
The party explored the laboratory, noting books on magical research for future use and finding several vials of alchemical frost, but found no stairs or other way to ascend to the third floor. Aline, however, spotted a magical engraving in one corner of the room and deduced its purpose. It was a kind of Tenser's Floating  Disk spell that elevated those standing on the engraving who say the magic word. She had seen such magic on display when she trained at the Roving Gortleflexion of Emiril Legasse. She even recalled the activation word.

At that, the dragoons gathered over the sigil and the words were spoken. They rose magically into the air and passed safely through the illusory ceiling to the room above.

They found themselves standing in a library with a solitary desk and chair and a single door. Aline cautiously opened the desk with a Mage Hand spell, setting off the magical ward that protected the desk, causing it to explode into splinters!

Beyond the door, they found a bedroom with more bookshelves and fine antique furniture covered in black leather. A cold blue flame burned in the fireplace. The walls were hung with ancient tapestries. They checked under the bed and found a pair of nunchaku made of ice, an odd choice for a wizard.

They found a door behind one of the tapestries that led to an adjoining study with another desk. A hatch in the ceiling was open to the blowing snow and frigid air of the magical blizzard outside.

On the desk was a note, written in the scrawl of a madman, that read "That idiot archon has stolen my Elizabeth from me! He will pay! She will be mine, one way or another! In this life or the next!"

Aline used her Mage Hand spell to open the drawers, once more causing the desk to explode into splinters.

The dragoons found another levitation spell on the floor leading to the roof.

The Guardian of the Gate
Much of the roof was covered in great spiky growths of ice. A circular disk about ten feet wide hovered vertically over the center of the roof, rotating. The disk was a link to another world, and that world was bleeding into ours. Everywhere around the tower, one could see two universes superimposed on each other. One was the blizzard of the valley, caused by super-frigid air blowing through the rotating disk. The other was a cave, somewhere else. In that cave was a monstrous humanoid being of ice.

Footprints made a clear path through the snow towards the gate. A child's doll lay crushed into the icy snow. Gravy picked up the doll, noting that the captured villagers had been taken this way and through the gate.

Gravy, Priest of Thumina

As Joroon's Dragoons stepped towards the gate, the icy guardian on the other side came to life and stepped through the portal into our world.

The company of heroes sprang into action, doing furious battle with the icy beast. It was eventually destroyed, shattered into countless icy fragments, and the heroes pushed against the icy wind and stepped through the portal.

A Whole New World
Joroon's Dragoons found themselves in a cave. A constant frigid wind blew from the mouth of the cave into the portal. They pushed against the wind to the mouth of the cave and looked out over a canyon more than six miles wide and twenty miles long, bending in the distance out of sight to the left. The mouth of the cave was located about two hundred feet up the side of the canyon wall. A path led down to the canyon floor to the right. Large boulders stood at the foot of the path.

The frigid cold air outside of the canyon drained into the portal of the cave into our world.Once outside the cave, the wind was more tolerable.

The sky overhead was dark blue, there was no sun nor were there stars, yet a dim chill illumination like bright moonlight permeated the place.

Joroon, Storyteller of the Hillfolk

Joroon produced his magical flying broom and, saying the activation word, flew up into the sky to scout around. As he breached the edge of the canyon, he caught a brief glimpse of a flat plane of ice punctuated by sharp mountains of ice before he entered an area of turbulent wind of hurricane force. He tumbled about, his face turning white from the freezing air, barely holding onto his broom. He quickly descended back into the pocket of safe air in the canyon below.

He then descended to scout the rocks below. There he spied a large white bear with a spiked metal collar. The bear saw Joroon, looked at him, and turned away. After a few steps, the bear paused and looked back over his shoulder, then walked a few more steps.

Joroon came near the bear and used his magical bardic skills to communicate with the beast. After a brief conversation, Joroon learned the bear had been waiting near the cave for several days, waiting for heroes to come through. He was to lead the heroes to his master a few miles away.

Joroon flew back to the rest of his dragoons and filled them in. They climbed down the path and followed the bear through the deep snow of the canyon floor. The journey to the bear's master took about an hour and many of the company were cold, wet, tired, and miserable. Finally, they reached a cave in the canyon wall. The entrance to the cave was covered in thick black leather skins, creating a door. The bear bade them enter.

Urglorz
Inside the cave, they found an older grunther stirring a large pot heated with warm flames, actual warm flames! The pot smelled delicious and was filled with some kind of meaty stew. The old humanoid appeared to be some kind of shaman or druid. He motioned them to enter his cave.

Joroon quickly cast another spell known to Bards, that of Tongues. The old shaman spoke in his own native language, "Gork gork gork? Gork gork?"  Joroon responded, "Yes, I can understand your language. Why have you brought us here?"

For a moment, the middle-aged grunther looked slightly disappointed, then continued. He introduced himself as Urlgorz, former chieftain of the grunthers of this valley. He spoke to the party flatteringly, complimenting them on their fearsome appearance and demeanor, muttering under his breath that they would do just fine, and offering them a warm meal of hearty stew.

When he realized that only Joroon could understand him, he looked a little relieved, then surreptitiously touched a ring on his hand. Suddenly, he was sending thoughts directly into the minds of everyone present in a language they could understand. He continued.

Joroon told Urglorz that they were here to rescue a princess and some villagers from the Ice King.

Using telepathy, Urglorz indicated that he knew all about it, and informed them that he knew where the prisoners were being held. His thoughts revealed that he would take Joroon and his dragoons to the hidden place, but first they had to provide him with a service.

He said that he had until recently been the chief of the tribe of this valley, but that his power had been usurped by his rival, Gorak, and exiled. If Joroon and his dragoons defeated Gorak and restored Urglorz as chieftain, he would help them free the captives and the princess.

After a brief discussion, the party cautiously agreed.

Urglorz was delighted, and offered his cave as a refuge where the party might rest and recover. He offered some of his stew, which he had prepared in case outsiders came. The party took a short rest and ate the stew.

Meanwhile, Aline produced her crystal ball and sat in a corner of the cave. She wished to attempt to scry upon Princess Elsa. She once more entered a deep trance. This time, she could see the princess clearly. She wore a blue and white dress and had long silver white hair in a braid. She was lying supine on the floor at the base of an icy throne, draped over the arm of the throne and staring up at its occupant like an adoring puppy. Her eyes appeared glazed and vacant.

The occupant of the throne was a middle-aged man with light blue skin and a vulture-like beak of a nose. He wore long blue wizard robes and had white hair and a long white beard. He wore an ancient gold crown on his head studded with three rubies. His eyes were cold and white.
All around them, villagers wearing black and white livery were appearing for some kind of wedding ceremony. Some of the villagers were frozen in blocks of ice, their eyes darting about in desperation. The hall was made entirely of ice and cold dim light filtered down from overhead. The entire palace seemed carved from the interior of a glacier.

She returned to her body in the cave of Urglorz to find the aftermath of a battle.

The other members of her party had just slain some kind of shadowy amorphous creature, a devil from hell! They told her that as soon as she entered her trance, her eyes began to glow and she began to chant some kind of infernal ritual. A cloud of black smoke coalesced above the crystal ball and formed into the shadow fiend. They had just slain the monster before she regained consciousness.

Aline was perplexed. She informed them of the earlier encounter when she tried to scry upon Elsa. She theorized that since her first use of the crystal ball had no ill effects, the devils must be a side-effect of using the crystal ball to scry on this world. She promised not to use the artifact again until they once more returned to their own world.

TO BE CONTINUED!

After Thoughts

The Stones of Transposition
The Stones of Transposition are a convenient device to introduce player characters who have no logical way of entering the story, and also of eliminating player characters from the middle of the story. Trevor was out sick this week and Lucinda was back, so Dornan was gone and Aline returned. Next week, when Trevor returns, he'll accidentally use the stone in his pocket to magically reappear. If no one is holding the stone on the other end, he'll just switch places with the stone.

Elsa and the Ice King? Really???
Yes. Elsa and the Ice King. It's an ice-themed adventure. Sue me.

Really, its because I bought a miniature that looked like Elsa so I painted it liked Elsa. And the Ice King just because it's funny. When they found the Ice King's bedroom in the actual game, I described it as a dude's hangout. There was a drum set, a weight set, the tapestries displayed various bards and princesses, and a Kung Fu magazine, the kind you'd find in convenience stores in the early Eighties, was next to the bed, and port was under the mattress. Few of my players watch Adventure Time so few got the references. They just thought it was strange. I rescinded the descriptions with a "Just joking" and replaced them with more fantasy world appropriate decor.

I promise that my Ice King will be actually evil and not the sad sympathetic story of Simon Petrikov from Adventure Time. He's got a cool (no pun intended) back-story and evil agenda in my world. I'm just waiting for my players to take the time to read his journal.

I thought about making the Ice King be Urgence Evergreen's pupil Gunther since Gunther lives in a time roughly contemporary with the age in which my campaign is set. But that would ruin my back-story and Simon's obsession with Princess Elsa.