Jafnan Vándr [IC]

[Archer the Cat]

Gritting his teeth against the cold, Harald pushes forward.

Fort save (1d20+8)[10]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Sage

Sage, being a Neanderthal, is quite comfortable under these climatic conditions.

[DrK]

Lagertha

Wrapped in her furs she shivers against the cold bit is otherwise fine, though as the snow comes down she shifts into a lighter stance skipping along the tops of the snow in her light shoes. "Come on. We'd best hurry. Let us move before nights cloak draws too close".

Spoiler: Lagertha

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Shift into Step of the wind to avoid being slowed by terrain
She has cold weather clothing

[TankLaser007]

Gritting his teeth against the cold, Harald pushes forward.

Fort save [roll0]

Báleygr sees Harald's predicament and strides over to him. "Here" he says lowering the hood of his cloak and taking it from his own broad shoulders. "This is Álfurfeldur, she will keep you warm enough until we reach the feast hall." he places the blue fur trimmed cloak on the man's shoulders and begins walking slightly ahead.

Spoiler: OOC

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Álfurfeldur - Travel Cloak: Endure Elements vs. Cold (Constant Effect) -50°F

[Archer the Cat]

At first, Harald isn't sure if he should be insulted; he was a proud northman, a little cold wasn't going to kill him! Then he feels the warmth and decides the gift is not worth getting more upset over. "I suppose I've been raiding the southlands too long! My blood forgot how to handle a tiny bit of chill." He gives a friendly smile to Báleygr.

Let them think he's incompetent, his glory will be all the sweeter when he surprises them killing a beast twice as large next time...

[Lightning Fast]

Sigurd, though not hindered too much by the cold, seems annoyed by the icicles beginning to form in his beard. "Blast these infernal storms... and shame on me for not bringing a warmer coat. Perhaps that troll's hide would've made for suitable clothing."

FORT Save: (1d20+9)[16]

Despite his discomfort, the viking warrior is able to press on. "I've had worse, I suppose. I think we'll be fine, let's press onwards." He nods with approval at his fellow clansman's generosity. "The winter winds have claimed many lives; it is good that we are with such a seasoned ranger."

[whoiam]

Audr's in the 'dressed warmly enough to survive the cold' group.

Those watching closely would notice that her Raven's now riding inside her cloak - 'roosting' on one of the inside pockets, mostly visible as a rather-larger-than-expected lump on the left side of Audr's chest, and a beak and pair of eyes occasionally glancing out of the cloak near the uppermost clasp.

"I have a little magic ready to save one person from the cold; If you start struggling, let me know." With the redistribution of the cloak, it seemed like Sigurd was the only one really suffering the elements. And Audr wasn't about to let him escape the winds the same way Huginn did... they didn't know each other that well, after all!

[BelGareth]

Once everyone is situated, you head out, it's still several hours away, and once again, you all fall into the natural patrol of raiding. Snow continues to lazily fall as you make progress through the trees, and winter seems to be finally taking its hold upon the land.

Several stag are sent skittering through the woods at your approach, and a few sets of fox-eyes light up while they stare at the strange beasts with light, moving through the forest.

4 hours pass, and the cold does not abate.

But you are getting nearer your destination, and come up to the villages sign, you see lights flickering in the near distance, and can make out the village proper.

Spoiler: Temperature

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Temp dropped to ~around 10^o.

Everyone make a Fort save DC 16 or take NonLethal - (1d6)[6] damage.
Everyone make a Fort save DC 16 or take NonLethal - (1d6)[3] damage.
Everyone make a Fort save DC 16 or take NonLethal - (1d6)[3] damage.
Everyone make a Fort save DC 16 or take NonLethal - (1d6)[4] damage.

If you have cold endurance feat, cold weather clothing, or cold resistance 1 or more; you can ignore this check.

[TankLaser007]

Despite his beard being rimmed in frost and his shoulders being dusted in snow Báleygr endures and marches on. When he catches sight of the outskirts of the settlement his mind turns to more pleasant pursuits. Maidens, mead and meat. Dangerous but well worth the risk on a cold night such as this. Thankful for his bear trimmed woollen gear he presses on keeping a eye out for any of his compatriots who seem to lag or suffer ill affects from the inclimate weather.

[DrK]

Lagertha

Shivering despite her cold weather gear, thick fur boots and padded armour Lagertha whistles to the others trailing her as she flits from tree to tree. Bow in hand and scouting the way. "Finally aye, the welcome glow of a longhouse,
meat and mead. We have earned it this day and the long cold walk." She jogs forward cautiously, bow held high above her head to show she mean's no harm. Approaching the gate directly she calls out. "We are weary travellors. Sent by the Jarl to aid the earl."

[Archer the Cat]

Thankful for the cloak, and thankful for getting to the town, Harald lets out a joyful praise to Odin for such fortune, a boon for killing such a beast.

[Lightning Fast]

As Sigurd notices the temperature continuing to fall, he resorts to somewhat drastic measures, pulling a large winter blanket out of his pack. He wraps the blanket around himself like a cloak, then catches up to the rest of his group, shivering a bit as the cold overtakes the group. ((OOC: I don't know if using the winter blanket would actually help fight off the cold.))

Spoiler: Saves

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(1d20+9)[27]
(1d20+9)[17]
(1d20+9)[15]
(1d20+9)[22]

Shockingly enough, Sigurd doesn't seem too perturbed by the cold, a testament to his considerable natural fortitude. Though clearly not enjoying the weather, he presses on, smiling with relief and joy. The gods are good...

"I am Sigurd Geirson of the Volsungar, and I can corroborate her story. We have come from far away lands, representatives of our respective clans, to help one of Cnut's bannermen."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Sage

Oblivious to the torment of the cold, Sage moved along with the group and into town silently. She was wondering about this Troll-creature, how it kept bleeding and what that could mean. Surely something to remember and discuss with those that safeguard knowledge.

[BelGareth]

“I’m not sure how it happened, the rain turned to snow that afternoon. A lazy dreary snow that took its time to settle on the boughs of the trees, the furs took it stoically, accepting their heavy burden with gentle sighs of the wind. It wasn't like normal snow, it tasted strange, like ash in your mouth, but still, it floated lazily through the air, a stark contrast to what was happening around me.”
-Thrane, five winters after the Battle of Svolder

You approach the village of Guilden Morden several hours past twilight, the villages observation towers flicker in the night as the watch fires burn with a greedy hunger, willowing around in the strange clam windless night.

It had gotten colder, colder still, and those without protection were feeling it, your feet were cold, your hands colder, and icicles had began to form on your beards and hair.

Moving forward, towards the promise of heat, mead, and merriment, you call out to the watchmen in the towers, hopefully they had seen you, but you wanted to make sure.

“Hail!” You yell out, easily reaching them.

At first, you think they must have seen you, and were either busy, changing shift, or perhaps had forgotten you could not see them, and nodded their assent.

But as you get closer you feel like something is wrong.

The back of your neck tingles, you get goosebumps beside the frigid air, and something feels off.

Someone else calls out, hesitant. “Ho there?”

Nothing.

You are close now, a hundred or so feet from the towers, and now you are seeing no movement at all, none in the towers, and none the village, though, this could be normal, it is past the resting hour, perhaps all inside, asleep? But no guards? That is strange.

Spoiler

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Anyone with nonlethal damage is fatigued, healing 1 point removes this

[TankLaser007]

Báleygr

The large man pauses. His one good eye narrows as he scans the wall, his hand instinctively drops into Spjótheim and draws out Járnleir without a conscious thought from him as he begins looking around the gates and the lands surrounding the settlement. He holds his left hand up to the others as if to signal silence and he listens to see what secrest the snow and trees might divulge regarding the affairs of this night.

Spoiler: OOC

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Draws Morphing Spear Járnleir from quiver.
Spot - (1d20+16)[17]
Listen - (1d20+13)[16]
Survival - Track - (1d20+22)[38] any signs of traffic or strange tracks fighting or anything amiss???

[BelGareth]

You expertly scan for tracks in the area, and strangely, there are none. It is late, and has been snowing, so you should have seen some. You spot nothing, again, strange, and the village is eerily quiet.

[TankLaser007]

Báleygr

"Something is not right." He sweeps Járnleir across the landscape indicated the ground, "there is no sign of any traffic. Snow or no... and where is the sound? The night bird? The wolf? No guard? Be prepared all is not as it should be."

[whoiam]

Spoiler

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Audr's 'Take 10' on spot/listen comes out at 18 and 19, respectively, so she should be able to notice the silence just like Baleygr.

"Normally, I would be considering sticking my muzzle into a settlement like this, see what's going on. I... don't think that's a good idea, here. Doesn't sound like there's much life - I'd probably stick out a lot if I tried it."

After a brief debate with her conscience, Audr fishes Huginn out from inside her cloak.

"I'm sorry to ask this of you in this weather, but could you do a quick flight over the village? Just once over, and let me know how many live humans you see. And then you can camp by one of the watch-fires to stay warm, alright?"

Spoiler

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Huginn understands Old Norse instructions, but isn't capable of speaking it in turn. That said, Audr and Huginn have likely worked out in advance ways for Huginn to convey simple information - pecking at Audr's arms X times to convey a count of X, for instance. She doesn't prepare that many Speak with Animals per day, after all.

Huginn has Low-Light Vision and 60' Darkvision, so ought to be able to do the flyover 60' up without missing anything human-sized... if there's anything human-sized still active down there.

[DrK]

Lagertha

The woman looks at the village and pauses, dropping to one knee by a shrub to take cover as she nocks an arrow to the bow and looks over the quiet walls and deserted watch towers. Moving like a wraith she switches into a hunting stance, all of her senses hyper alert as she glides towards the gates. "A giant nearby. Could there have been more that have devoured the village? But surely there would have been signs of trouble. A guard should have been raised!"

Carefully she starts to enter the village...

Spoiler: Skills

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Spot (1d20+9)[13]
Listen (1d20+8)[12]
Survival (1d20+10)[16] scent
+ 2 vs animals, giants, humans

M.Silent (1d20+11)[18]
Hide (1d20+11)[18]

Effects:
Hunter's Sense Stance
Primal Hunter spell

[BelGareth]

AS everyone gets themselves ready, looking into the flickering darkness of the apparently abandoned village, Huggin bobs up and down, nodding at Audr's commands, he took off, flying higher over the village, and circling around, looking as instructed for movement of any kind.

A few cold and quiet minutes later, he returned, "CAW, CAW" as he landed next to Audr. Huggin does nothing, and indicates very simply, that he saw nothing.

[Lightning Fast]

"Bah... and here I was hoping I'd get a chance for a rest..." Clearly, the cold took quite a bit out of Sigurd, though he attempted to put on a brave face regardless.

Despite the cold having taken quite a bit out of him, Sigurd follows ten feet behind Lagertha, great-ax held firmly in both hands and winter blanket still tied around him in a makeshift coat. "On your guard..." he mutters, "There is wickedness in these lands. That ever-bleeding beast proves it."

Spoiler: Perception Checks

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Listen: (1d20+12)[27]
Spot: (1d20+3)[4]

"One must wonder..." Sigurd mumbles quietly to himself, "Is this cold natural? Or perhaps the work of some wicked sorcery?" (rolling Knowledge (Nature) to possibly find out: (1d20+6)[26])

[BelGareth]

Spoiler

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DC 25 hits the DC. This weather is not natural, although, not unheard of, the speed and onset of this soon-to-be blizzard is incredible.

Additionally, the head has stopped bleeding.

After learning little from the little scouting trip, you decide to head into the village, all is quiet, fires flicker in the wind, dying slowly as the weather takes a turn for the worse. You start to search for people, and none are forthcoming, even when you open doors and clear a building or two. It is obvious the village is empty.

Those of you with tracking find it almost immediately upon entering the center of the village, before the longhouse, the chieftains own, there is an obvious mass trail of people, which all lead out of the village the opposite way you came. Most definitely why you saw no tracks on your way in.

Spoiler: Temperature

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Temp has dropped to ~-10^o.

Everyone make a Fort save DC 18 or take Nonlethal - (1d6)[3] damage.
If you have no protection, you must save every 10 Minutes. (with a +1 DC modifier per save)
If you have cold endurance feat, or cold weather clothing, you take the damage but must only save every hour.
If you have cold resistance 1+, or Endure Elements you take no damage.

If you take any damage, you suffer Frostbite & Mild Hypothermia. (pg 9 of Frostburn)
Frostbitten characters suffer a -2 to Dex
Mild Hypothermia characters are fatigued

That winter blanket is not going to be of any use here (level 0)

[TankLaser007]

Báleygr

Báleygr pulled his snow goggles over his eye, and then looped the oblong bear claw button through the eye of his muff closing off the bottom half of his face and pulling the string in his tundra hunter's tunic which tightened his hood. Heading back to one of the smaller homes he saw that still had remnants of a fire, dying or no, he began taping each of his compatriots on their shoulders motioning them to follow and pointing to the house with his spear.

He wasn't sure why, but some of them didn't come prepared for such weather, and he had seen enough to know they wouldn't make it if forced to press on. A corpse was hard to carry after a battle and a freezing man was just as heavy during one. No. They would have to try to wait out the worst part of this storm, at least until the sun was up -- even unnatural blizzards had to let up at sometime. Rest and warmth is what many needed. Give them time to ready themselves, eat, and scavenge proper gear and equipment for the hunt to come. From what he saw this village was empty, he was hoping there was enough gear left behind to outfit those of their number who were lacking.

Having found a suitable house, just large enough accommodate them all but not so large that it would waste their heat and take too long to warm. Lagertha had her prey they could put on the fire and he was sure he could find a barrel or two of mead, somewhere in this accursed place.

"Everyone, here!" he called to the group as he stood by the door of their commandeered lodgings for the night. "Quickly inside, see that you get a fire going" as Harald passes to enter the dwelling Báleygr reclaims Álfurfeldur, shaking himself off before donning the elven cloak and pulling up its deep fur lined hood.

[DrK]

Lagertha

As the temperature plunged Lagertha reached into her pack pulled out a thin willow wand and tapped herself lightly on the chest. A warm blanket of magical air surrounding her as she began to resist the freezing cold. She looks around at the others. "I can protect a couple of others if you need it? If not I will scout to the far side of the village. There is a dark aura here that leaves me feeling uneasy. A shadow dwells here. . After heading to the far side of the village and exploring she heads back to the others and into the stout house that is being used for shelter. There she greets the others and relaxes pulling out a flask of rough spirits from her flask and watches as the rabbits turn on the fire. "Something to warm us up?" she offers. "If we are to rest the night here then regale su with stories of your valour?" she asks the massive hulking warriors.

Spoiler: Lagertha

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Uses wand of endure elemnts

[Lightning Fast]

"More sorcery... bah," Sigurd mutters, shaking his head at Latherga as she casts her spell, "Though I don't suppose you can do that more than once? There'll be plenty of time to atone while I'm not freezing to death." Clearly, in dire straits, even the most faithful men are willing to resort to... otherworldly powers.

"And besides..." Sigurd says as Latherga works her magic, "I can tell that this blizzard is not natural. It is the work of some supernatural force or ancient curse. We must fight it with any and all means that we have at our disposal. For now, though, it may be wise that we rest. Though if the villagers only left here recently, we must see if we can catch up to them..."

Spoiler: Survival Check

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Survival Check to see if the tracks are fresh: (1d20+12)[22]

[TankLaser007]

Báleygr

Once most of their group, namely those lacking proper attire, are in the house Báleygr accompanies Lagertha on her circuit of the village, keeping an eye out for any cold weather gear that might be taken for their immediate needs as well as any mead, or meat, bread, milk or cheese. He is also keen to see if there is anything apparent as to why everyone seems to have suddenly up and left into the harsh winter night.

Spoiler: OOC

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Search - (1d20+7)[24] (-4 for wearing the Snow goggles already included)

[whoiam]

"Fort Save" - (1d20+9)[20]

Audr, too, will join the scouting party. While the others are looking for cold-weather gear, Audr (who already has hers) is looking for anything that can hold water. Considering the weather they're facing, it makes sense to carry their own - thawing out wells or rivers isn't going to be too practical - and even if she knew about Lagertha's everfull mug, it still wouldn't be enough to keep the party going indefinitely (especially if any of them wanted to wash... or clean troll blood off themselves or their weapons). So she's looking for both containers she can carry water in, and a tub she can dump the excess into - she's only got the one Create Water prepped today, after all. Best make sure they make good use of it.

[BelGareth]

You manage to find a good house with supplies, it looked like the family inside might have been preparing evening meal, a pot was bubbling with boiling water above the fire, and bread and cheese lay out on the table. the inside of the house was arm enough, and the fire, now stoked, and being cared for roared to life, enough to thaw any of those who suffered from the adverse affects outside.

You can easily find some cold weather clothes in here, several sets of winter furs, and winter clothing (3 each) stuffed in the back, along with a larder of dried meats, cheeses, fish, dates, dried fruit, and hard bread. You will not run out of food anytime soon. It's easy enough to look through some more houses nearby and find enough winter furs and clothing for anyone who needs it. It would seem, the village had no use either.

Looking at the tracks, you surmise they are indeed fresh, within 8 hours or so, but the newly accumulating snow is making it almost impossible to keep searching, and within 20 minutes, you lose them altogether, without magical aide, you fear you cannot follow them.

Your search finds several leather waterskins, some even full, but they offer little protection from the elements, and some have started to freeze.

Spoiler: Frostbite or Hypothermia

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Anyone who suffers from these will need a heal check.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Sage

Silently, the Neanderthal woman had followed the team into the village, looking for tracks and clues. She does not appear much bothered by the weather. When Lagerta offers the magical protection, she smiles: "That is very kind and considerate. I may take you up on that offer if it gets cold." She is rather eloquent for someone with her barbaric background. She joins the search for proper clothing, food and clean snow to melt, clearly at home in the wilds.

In the hut, when the team is pondering the fate of the folk of this village, her face looks grim. "We should search for the villagers, I´d say, and fight whatever is causing this weather, but we may have to consider that people on the run, leaving so many valuable supplies behind, might not stand much of a chance. We may not like what we find soon."

"Is everyone able to deal with the frost. And if not, can we make them so? There is no point in trying to save others if we need saving ourselves. Once one is cold-struck, it typically only gets worse."

Spoiler: Sage and frost

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Sage does not have to save between -20 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 and 60 degrees Celsius)

[TankLaser007]

Báleygr

Returning from the small expedition Báleygr drops the clothes in a pile near the fire, so the accumulated frost will melt and evaporate. The water and other provisions he lays on the table, and cuts a piece of cheese and bread from that on the table.

"The people of this village left here. Maybe eight or so hours ago. In this weather they are likely dead or have been forced to hold up somewhere along the the way. I wouldn't advise we pursue them until the weather improve and we've all had a chance to rest and refresh ourselves." the large man pours some water into a bowl and sips from it before putting several chunks of bread in it. "there are some clothes for those who need them," he says chewing the bread and slurping some of the slurry,"we shouldn't set out again until everyone has properly prepared themselves."

His single blue eye scans the room and he looks at each of his companions in turn. "So who will be the first to regal us with tales of their valour?" His eye narrows a bit as he face splits in a wide grin, "and who found the mead?"