Day One

As you crest the first mountain, you find yourself breathless. Not only due to the difficulty of the climb - but also due to the spectacle before you. Hundreds of miles of alps, as far as the eye can see, with nary a sign of life. It would be tranquil if not for the crowning feature of the Flotket Alps: black, burning, and defiant against the frost and cold of the north, the volcano of Kravaraad looms in the heart of the alps. Perpetual streaks of dark smoke rise up to blend with heavy steam from the trails of molten rock that cool against the surrounding ice.

Now that the party has a vantage point to look across the Flotket Alps, Nimby takes a good look at the Empire maps which seemed to depict safe routes from the sea to Uthodurn. She determines:

• One route traverses Kravaraad on its western side, hugging the volcano tightly from a northwestern outcropping.
• A second route traverses Kravaraad on its eastern side, again hugging the volcano tightly from a northwestern outcropping.
• The final route appears to take a large detour from the northeastern shore to pass through this same outcropping.

The party make good progress this day, ultimately deciding to spend some time before nightfall to find an outcropping to camp under.

Night One

Cairns scavenges some wolf corpses from the brutal ice of the mountain and sets about making very chewy wolf ribs. Meanwhile, Lloyd tells the tale of his home.

Fed by the annual snow melt and heavy rains that wash across the Flotket Alps, Ivory Lake is the largest source of standing freshwater in the region. Many creatures throughout the Rime Plains make their way to the lake during the summer when the waters are thawed and the fish are plentiful. The banks of the lake are dangerous for smaller beasts and humanoids alike, as wyverns and other predators lie in wait to gorge on unsuspecting travelers.

The party turn in for the night.

You are awoken through the night to echoes of a brutal fight which rages in the heart of the volcano. Giant screams are followed by the telltale shockwave of blunt force impact against the world itself. Explosions ring out periodically, followed by an unsettling rumble as the volcano seems to voice its anger at the disturbance.

The sun is threatening to rise over the alps; Jonora did not wake them for the next watch. She is gone. Cairns spots a more immediate danger.

There is something more amidst the chaotic distant noise but it’s impossible to focus your senses on. Every time a scream or explosion echoes across the alps, there is the telltale crunch of snow beneath heavy feet. Something big is moving just outside your camp and appears to be circling you. You catch a glimpse of a hulking humanoid figure running across the treeline at disturbing speed. It’s hard to make out any detail in the dark, but one thing is clear: it moves upright on two feet, but its body hunches forward as if struggling to keep itself steady. Its unnaturally long arms drag across the snow.

The tracks of this beast and Jonora's tracks appear entirely separate - both in direction and in creation time. The beast's tracks encircle the camp recently while Jonora's appear to head back towards Palebank Village at the start of her watch.

Day Two

As you approach the summit of the most recent mountainous obstacle, a distant glistening catches your attention. You have climbed long and hard for hours to crest this summit - doubling back on yourself is likely to extend your journey by an entire day or more as you struggle to find another suitable ascent.

Some distance to the south - your right - is a precarious rocky ledge which avoids the summit but bestows other risks. The cliff face shielding it from the summit is a good fifty feet high, while the cliff face holding it aloft is easily three hundred.

The party decide to risk going up and over as the nest appears to have been ransacked.

The glittering appears to emanate from a nest of some kind. There are countless eggs - large, perhaps 3 to 4 feet tall - which are difficult to perceive against the blinding whiteness of the ice and snow. All the eggs look to have been destroyed.

Cairns is certain that this is a Remorhaz nest. Also known as a polar worm, they are monstrous beasts resembling a cross between a worm and a centipede, thriving in cold environments - particularly arctic regions. They produce an incredible amount of heat, allowing them to take advantage of the vulnerability that many creatures in their native environment possess. Remorhaz are ambush predators, able to lower their body temperature when burrowed beneath the snow to prevent exposing themselves.

Cairns notices tracks.

Beneath the freshly fallen snow are deep tracks. Four or five sets of giant booted footprints appear to have dragged a gargantuan creature onto some kind of sled. The tracks lead towards Uthodurn. As you kneel down to inspect the tracks, you notice that there is a terrifying warmth emanating from beneath the snow.

The ground trembles as the creature reveals itself. Leathery tough wings, an insect-like head, and a 40 ft. scaly body are the first features you notice. It is ice-blue in color, dozens of legs run down its body, and its horned back glows red with some kind of inner fire.

Wilkes wildly swipes his longsword at the creature’s back as it emerges, finding himself positioned perfectly to strike it on the flank. There is a sizzle as the sword clatters against a rock-hard horn. Then a scream as Wilkes is engulfed in a bubbling viscous secretion. He hits the ground with a thud, silent and unmoving, as the creature snarls at you with dagger-like teeth.

The battle is hard-fought, with those striking the Remorhaz in melee finding themselves the victims of terrible burns. Cairns maintains a safe distance by manifesting a draconic tail which pierces the Remorhaz.

Nimby launches crackling Chromatic Orbs from a safe distance, finding the stress of the fight requiring her to tap into her wild magic to redirect the misfired orbs. The energy which flows through her begins to swell and surge towards her fingertips. Knowing that it must be unleashed on those nearby lest it consume her, Nimby fires arcing lightning towards her friends. They immediately enter a panicked fight for their lives as they find themselves weakened by the shock.

The party is victorious. Lloyd is left with nigh unusable arms, Nathrow lives to fight another day, Phelps has gained a repuation as a coward, and Wilkes is fallen. Cairns gives him a rudimentary snow burial on the mountainside before setting about carving the Remorhaz. He gains:

• Three Remorhaz legs, perfectly usable for tonight's dinner.
• A Remorhaz heat gland which takes hours to cool to the point of being save to touch.
• Antennae which are likely good as alchemical ingredients for sale in Uthodurn.

Night Two

Nathrow shares his tale of The Myriad as Cairns prepares the Remorhaz legs for the party.

Any civilized society will turn the people it has failed into criminals, and the societies of Wildemount are no exception. The continent’s largest criminal organization took shape about eighty years ago, when a shipping company in the Dwendalian city of Yrrosa - to me, home - turned to smuggling contraband to make ends meet. This tightknit group of clever smugglers soon began to bargain with their competitors, employing blackmail and offering membership to their organization as an alternative to elimination.

The syndicate grew with alarming speed, infiltrating the criminal underbelly of every major city in Western Wynandir. Masquerading as purveyors of antiquities and foreign textiles, the Myriad focused on providing their clients with exotic goods, such as illicit substances and magical beasts, or supplying hired muscle to intimidate their clients’ rivals. The worst of the Myriad even dealt in... human merchandise.

Members of the Myriad were sworn to keep the syndicate secret by pretending that their chapter was still just another local gang. This gave the Myriad a sinister and enigmatic reputation, which further obfuscated its activities from the authorities. Since members of the Myriad prefered coercion to public displays of violence, officers of the law often failed to recognize Myriad activity until it was too late.

The empire scored a major victory fifteen years ago when they discovered and raided the central Myriad stronghold in Yrrosa, forcing the surviving leadership to scatter across the continent. My hope is that the Myriad has emphasised the narrative of its own fall in order to keep a low profile, though in fact it has retained most of its power. I wish to travel down to Shadycreek Run to see for myself if the Myriad is gone and the bickering families have taken over.

Goose is put on sentry duty as the party camp in the Remorhaz nest, figuring that they already dealt with the threat in this region. The faithful robot begins to spin at an impressive speed to observe all around the party. He is given clear instruction by Nimby that he should alert the party of anything with comes within sixty feet.

As you begin to doze off, the hair on the back of your neck stands up. You feel as though you are being watch. Rising from your beds, you look to your companions for reassurance, but instead find confirmation of your fear in their eyes.

Claw marks encircle the camp as though a hulking beast has circled it twice or thrice as you settled down for the night. Perhaps even while Nathrow told his tale of the Myriad. Whatever it is, it's gone.

The party conclude that this is Goose's fault and ensure that watches are taken throughout the night. Almost immediately, as Nimby huddles against Goose for warmth, she spots a one-eyed giant walking towards the camp. It does not appear to see the party; it's path is simply taking it by the camp. It carries a boulder on one shoulder and wears nothing but a musty loincloth.

As it gets within sixty feet, Goose begins to scream about the danger. The giant hurls its boulder which clatters through the camp and crushes Goose in the process.

SYSTEM ERROR 3735928559.

SHUTTING DOWN.

The party begin to fight the Cyclops, though Cairns quickly determines that they share a common language: Giant. In a way which only Cairns and the Cyclops understand, the Cyclops determines that Cairns is strong enough by golf-swinging his club at him. The giant produces a damp bag from his loincloth and gifts it to Cairns as he turns and leaves.

Inside the pack, Cairns finds:

• A half-full keg of ale which is leaking inside the bag.
• A wooden oar snapped into three pieces.
• A mangy fur pelt.
• A sweaty riding saddle.

The ale is given to Gerry and Cairns sets about mending the oar to its former glory as Nimby struggles to come to terms with Goose's current condition.