Session 20

The Petrified Forest, Part II
After taking a rest on the staircase for what felt like five months, the adventurers made their way to the second floor of the castle. They found the upper rooms guarded by six ice archons - however, upon closer inspection, the archons were non-responsive, taking no note of the intruders. Feeling safe for the time being, the heroes explored their surroundings. Taargus and Twitch both passed through a thick mist of chokefrost, hoping to find something good on the other side, while Cora dug through a pile of snow to discover a frozen whetstone. Caraga, Fausto, and Sebastian made their way down a small hallway into room containing a large frozen altar positioned across from a door. Fausto attempted to open the door, even trying to use his set of thieves' tools, but to no avail - the door remained locked. Luckily, Sebastian's knowledge of arcana revealed why - there was a magical enchantment on the door, and the adventurers would have to figure out how to break it if they wanted to get inside that secret room.

Twitch and Taargus were convinced that the key to opening the magic door was within the locked chest they had found on the other side of the chokefrost. They took turns trying to pick the lock, without any luck. They also became a little concerned that perhaps opening the chest would cause the ice archons to spring to life. They discovered that neither of these things were true as Taargus, frustrated by his lack of lock-picking abilities, smashed the chest into pieces, finding 850g and a Scroll of Magic Circle within. He gave the ritual scroll to Twitch and kept the money for himself.

Caraga began to investigate the frozen altar in the center of the room, and to her surprise, it began to speak. An unnatural voice echoed through the room, stating: "What is it, you have to answer? And to answer, you have to speak? And to speak, you have to know the answer..." Still separated from the rest of the group by a curtain of chokefrost, Twitch muttered, "Oh great, a riddle," mostly just to himself...which was all it took for the archons to awaken into action.



The ice archon Frostshaper began with an icy burst, chilling Caraga, Cora, and Sebastian to the bone. Meanwhile, the three ice archon Hailscourges unleashed indoor hail storms, pelting the adventurers with ice and slowing them down. Sebastian attempted to poison the Frostshaper with his infernal moon curse, but was unaware that the enemy was immune to poison. Fortunately, the curse did succeed in immobilizing the glacial creature five feet off the ground, allowing Cora to melt it down with her flaming sword.

Fausto attempted his normal tactic of running to a corner and shooting at the enemies from far away, but to his dismay, was followed by an ice archon Rimehammer, which battered away at him with its chilled maul. The numbing cold of the maul slowed Fausto to a crawl, meaning he could no longer retreat from combat. Even from this disadvantaged position, he still managed to steal one of Sebastian's kills, much to the Eladrin's chagrin.

Meanwhile, Twitch and Taargus made their way back out of the chokefrost, and engaged two of the archons in combat. Taargus used his flame breath to keep the arctic creatures at bay, and Twitch attempted to heal those he could, all the while dodging ice shurikens thrown by the Hailscourges.

Slowly but surely, the adventurers gained the advantage. As each of the creatures was destroyed, it melted down to nothing, leaving only some items (including moonstone gems, a pouch of frozen passage, a cloak of distortion, and a shielding girdle) and a frosty glass bottle behind. When the heroes opened the bottles, they discovered rolled-up scraps of paper, each containing a riddle for them to solve. As the last creature was felled and the last riddle was solved, the enchantment on the door was broken. The adventurers entered the room where the Ghaele of Winter awaited them.

The temperature dropped several degrees as they entered the room. The Ghaele's skin was pale and her eyes and hair were white. She appeared to be clothed in a gown made of snow. She lured the group into the room and then unleashed a burst of cold before teleporting into the room with the altar. Despite her best efforts, the Ghaele could not take down even a single member of the group. She weakened, and fell to the floor, near death. Caraga pulled out the perpetual icicle she had been carrying and attempted to stab the Ghaele, but even in her weakened state, the Eladrin was able to roll away from the attack and knock the icicle from her assailant's hand. Cora, who was closest to the action, leapt over to assist. In one smooth motion, she retrieved the fallen icicle and stabbed the Ghaele through the heart. As the icicle entered the Eladrin's heart, it began to melt; as it began to melt, the color began to return to her skin, hair, and eyes. The adventurers felt the temperature in the room rise, and the ice covering the walls and floor of the castle started to melt away. The battle over, Immeral rushed into the room to help Anastrianna, who was returning to her normal self and struggling to process what was happening around her. Immeral gave her the briefest of explanations, promising to fill her in on the details of the past 500 years later. Unsure exactly who the adventurers were or what they did, but feeling as though she should be grateful to them, Anastrianna offered her thanks. Then, as almost an afterthought, she offered them a pendant she had been wearing around her neck - it was a strange piece of metal, and as she didn't remember where she had gotten it, she didn't think she would miss it much.

As the heroes were leaving the castle, the land around them were beginning to thaw. Citizens that had been frozen for centuries were defrosting, and returning to the business they had been in the middle of when the Great Frost had occurred, unaware that any time had passed. The group knew that upon leaving the Feywild, they would find green returning to the Perpetual Forest.

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