Reign of Winter: The Snows of Summer IC

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin stuck his head back out of the carriage to continue the conversation.

"No, I'm not a mortician or a Pharasman, I'm not going to insist on anything. It just that -- well, why did you take them out of the carriage in the first place if the plan was to end up putting them back in here?"

[drayen]

The Ulfen looked back to the halfling, "My purpose was as I said, the ensure that the noblewoman was not amongst the bodies. Only way to be certain was to pull them out so we knew nothing was hidden in the bottom of the pile. By nothing, that means no other clues are there.
Speaking of which, how goes your search?"

[Stelio Kontos]

"Very... hmm. Very well actually!" Dorrin exclaimed, slipping an arm underneath one of the carriage seats and emerging a few seconds later with a what appeared to be a jewelry box of some kind. He opened it and whistled. "I bet someone will be missing these!" he crowed, before continuing a bit more solemnly "unless she's dead, I suppose."

He began fishing through the box and pulled out one piece after another and set them on the not-bloody parts of the seat as best he could. By the time he was finished he had laid out a signet ring, a pair of earrings, a set of pearl-inlaid bracelets, assorted gold and silver necklaces and one sapphire pendant. "And that's all of it. Quite the lover of the fineries, I suppose. No idea what it's worth but I bet it's a lot. Who wants to carry it?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Appraise: (1d20+2)[4] Edit: clearly it's worth "a lot".

[PersonMan]

Kira steps forwards. "I can keep hold of it until we find the lady," she says, already half-unslinging her backpack to put the jewelry (once it has been re-boxed) in.

[Stelio Kontos]

"Fine with me" Dorrin replies, scooping the jewelry up and carefully placing it back in its container. "Here you go. Now, let's tend to the fire?"

[The_Shaman]

The ice melts unnaturally slowly, but eventually the body and the guard's sword-arm are free.

As you walk along the trail, heading deeper in the Border Wood proper, the weather continues to sour. The snow continues to grow stronger, and soon it becomes difficult to see too far between the trees. At the same time, the chill in the air grows as well, biting at any exposed skin.Perhaps to your surprise, it is Dorin that takes the lead as he navigates the trail in the white-covered forest. At times, you wonder if this is indeed the way, but every now and then you notice signs that the path has been used recently. Around a mile and a half in, you enjoy a short break in the near-constant treeline as the trail passes through a small clearing among the taller trees before contuing uphill and out of sight. What Dorrin does notice, however, is that half-buried in the snow at the side of the road lies a fairly large chest, apparently unceremoniously dropped by those who had come this way before.

Spoiler: Environmental Rules Are Fun! Eh, not really.

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The weather is sufficiently bad that the following rules are in effect:
Cold: Temperatures in the zone are a few degrees below freezing during the day, dropping to about 10 Fahrenheit at night. Every hour spent in the wintry conditions requires a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) to avoid taking id6 points of nonlethal damage. Those who have taken nonlethal damage from exposure suffer from hypothermia (treat as fatigued), and if this condition is not remedied, they will eventually from frostbite.

Snow: Falling snow has the same effects on visibility, ranged weapon attacks, and skill checks as rain (reduces visibility ranges by half, resulting in a –4 penalty on Perception checks), and it costs 2 squares of movement to enter a snow-covered square. In the current snow cover, overland movement speed is halved.

Also, now is a very good time to roll one of those fortitude saves to resist the cold. Don't forget any bonuses you might have from trait or equipment!

[Stelio Kontos]

"It's getting more than a little bit chilly here" Dorrin remarked idly. He closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly searching his memory for some tidbit of information, before remarking with equal idleness "There, that's better." He then closed his eyes again, spinning slowly in place and coming to a halt facing perpendicular to the path, opening his eyes and pointing straight ahead. "That's north, so that means we've been walking generally east, in case we get lost later."

He removed his gloves and a bit of his outer clothing, with seemingly little care for the biting cold and wind as he cracked his knuckles in anticipation ,cracking a wry smile. "Now, let's see about that chest shall we? Unless anyone else wants to have at it. Doesn't look big enough to be holding more than five or six me-sized zombies, I'm sure it'll be fine."

[PersonMan]

Kira, making sure to properly protect herself from the cold, follows with Lyubimaya Sestra loaded and at the ready. One could never be too careful in the wilderness, after all. Sweeping her eyes over the snow, she pauses as Dorrin points out and approaches the chest. "Don't," she says. "It's a trap. Ignore it, and anything like it."

After a moment, Kira shrugs. "If you're really interested, we should at least check it thoroughly first, and disperse. If the chest explodes or hexes everyone close to it, I'd rather only one of us die than everyone at once."

Spoiler: OOC

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Basically, Kira is saying "if you want to look at it that bad, at least Take 20 on a Perception check first", because this smells like a classic baited trap.

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin shrugged. "I'm sure it's fine, but yes, sure, let's take a look before we crack it open. Can't be too careful, I suppose. Hide behind "

He gently brushed the snow off the top of the chest and gave it a thorough examination.

Spoiler: OOC

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Sure, why not, I'll take 20 on Perception.

[drayen]

Vilgeirr trudges through the ever increasing snow fall like he's never seen such a thing before. Shivering, he quietly hopes his fellows do not see how thin-blooded he has become in his two years living amongst the southerners.

At the appearance of the chest and the halfling's interest in opening it, the Ulfen shrugs his shoulders. "As you will, little man. I, too, will remain afar back."

Spoiler: Actions

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Survival (1d20+5)[10]

Spoiler: OOC

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Status
AC 19; HP 13/13; Init +2; Speed 20' (medium armour); Perception +1
F +5; R +2; W+1
Combat Stamina 3/3
Shield Bearer 1/1
Throwing Axes 4/4

[Stelio Kontos]

"Well, that's not very sporting" Dorrin remarked with a frown, gently running his hand along a rope half-buried in the snow, tracing the line along the ground until it snaked up a tree, tied to a number of spiked logs. "Well, would you look at that. Score one point for Miss Kira."

"Right. Well. Two options, I think. Well, three really. First one is we can just leave it there, but that's no fun at all, and someone else could get hurt by it. So that's out. Second one is we spring it and run really fast. Third one is we figure out how to disable it safely. Maybe if we... hmm. I mean, really, who would do such a thing?"


He considered the matter for a little while, murmuring to himself "no, can't cut the rope, that will bring them down, can't run fast enough...aha, that might...yeah, that's not bad!"

"Okay, you might want to stand way, way back for this, but I've got an idea. If this goes bad, please do pick up the pieces of me you can find and put them in a sack." He dug into his pack, pulling out a neatly wound ball of string. He very carefully knotted one end of the string around the rope, wheeling the string out from the spool as he slowly backed a good forty feet away. "Now, one good yank should bring it down. I think. Anyone want to do the honors?"

[drayen]

The viking, giving an involuntary shudder, points out, "Won't that hit the chest when it comes down?"

[PersonMan]

Kira shrugs. "If it does, then there's nothing in it," she says. If there are no further objections, she'll take the string and give it a good yank.

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin quipped in response to Vilgeirr "well, that will save time in opening it at least?"

[drayen]

Vilgeirr gave a non-committal shrug and waited with his heavy oaken shield at the ready.

[The_Shaman]

The thin thread snaps and over a dozen large, gnarled logs crash over and around the chest, many of them barrelling down the path. When Dorrin approaches again,he notices that one of the logs has split the chest right through... but he catches the glitter of metal underneath.

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin gave a gleeful whoop followed by a cackle as the bundle of logs came crashing down, arms wide open with joy. "Ha! Man, look at that chest would you? You'd been standing there Kira, you'd have been looking up at me!"

Giving the trees a quick scan to make sure it was safe, he strode forward toward the chest. "Don't suppose you want to set it up again for me? That was a fun one! Hey, looks like we got something here after all."

Still with a broad grin on his face, he began to pick carefully through what was left of the chest to examine what was underneath.

Spoiler: OOC

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Uh, perception (1d20+5)[21] I guess, if there's anything that needs to be perceived. Obviously will take whatever time needed to pick through the rubble to get to the shiny bits.

[PersonMan]

Kira smiles at Dorrin's reaction to the trap's springing. "Maybe once we're done," she says, approaching the now-chestless spot with some curiosity. Now, setting another trap made sense - after all, if you could decimate anyone trying to come and find the lady before they got anywhere near your camp, or just kill enough people to avoid a fight entirely, it made sense to set some up. But trapping a chest, on top of something actually valuable? It seemed odd. "Who leaves their things under a trapped chest?" She wonders to herself, scanning the trees for any additional traps that may have been set.

Spoiler: OOC

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Perception: (1d20+5)[18]

Because layered traps is a possibility.

[drayen]

The Ulfen shivered as the logs came crashing down the trail. Once the cacophony ended, he followed his companions to inspect the sundered chest and it's contents. "If we had to pull the string to break it, would not it have been easier,
and much more quiet, to just simply push the chest toward the logs?"

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin briefly gave Vilgeirr a look usually reserved for those accused of cannibalism or necromancy. "Well, first of all, the time for that would have been about three minutes ago. Second, that would have involved standing under the logs, which as you've seen could have been a very poor life choice. And third, and most importantly, this way was much much more fun." He couldn't help breaking into a broad grin at the last, before he turned serious again.

"Hey, are you OK? It's pretty chilly out here. The alchemist lady gave me a few things that will help if you're too cold, just let me know. There's a fine line between machismo and losing some fingers, and I'd rather you stayed on the right side of it." He tapped the pack on his back with his ungloved hands as he spoke.

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin removed the splinters of chest, revealing a stash of weapons and armor beneath it. "Hunh" he shrugged. "Guess there was probably a less fun way to disarm it, since they would have needed it. Oh well! Hey, couple of these look pretty nice."

He started pulling out items one by one, digging further and further into the hole that had been dug beneath the chest, setting a dagger and a chain shirt to the side as he grunted while lifting out some of the heavier pieces. "You said something about cold iron, right? Anyone got a crossbow?"

Spoiler: OOC

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The stash of stuff consists of: three sets of leather armor, three sets of studded leather armor, a masterwork chain shirt, two light wooden shields, five longswords, two spears, a masterwork dagger, and three light crossbows with a total of 30 bolts - 24 regular and 6 cold iron

[PersonMan]

Approaching the uncovered gear, Kira gives it all an appraising look. "Weird place to put your wardrobe," she comments. "Oh, I can melt those down. Get some cold iron bullets," she adds when Dorrin brings those up, patting Lyubimaya Sestra. "Do we carry it all in, or leave it for later?"

[drayen]

Vilgeirr nods at the halfling's words, "Maybe if it doesn't get better." Looking at the items that are dragged out of the wreckage of the chest, the young Ulfen points to a couple of the items, "That dagger and the chain shirt are very finely made.
Someone should take them. Of the rest, I cannot carry it all, but I can carry the studded leathers,
the swords and the crossbows. The shields are flimsy and would not hold up in a wall. The spears are heavy and the crossbows are better at range. Of course, we take the bolts. Worry about melting them down if we make camp, otherwise we should each carry one with the cold iron bolts readied in case we encounter any of the kaldlyndur feigur.

Vilgeirr shrugs out of his backpack, sets it on the snow and begins stuffing in the armour and swords. "Well, who will wear the chain and dagger?"

[PersonMan]

"I can take the knife, but the chain is too heavy," Kira says after picking it up, with clear disappointment. "Unless we have someone carrying my drinks and extra powder," she continues, patting her backpack and some of the variety of things hanging off her belt.

[Stelio Kontos]

"Not really my size" Dorrin said, a bit wistfully. "They're beautiful pieces though, would look spectacular mounted above a mantle. We really should bring them along if it's at all possible." (He said that last in a tone that clearly indicated that 'we' actually meant 'someone else'.)

[drayen]

"We are in debt to those villagers and this gear helps to pay it back. One of you pick it up and put it in your pack. If you suddenly need to move faster, drop your pack." The viking intoned.

[Stelio Kontos]

"Sure, why not" the halfling said, picking up the armor and rolling it up as tightly as he could, and using the string to wrap and secure it as tightly as possible. "No chance this fits inside the pack" he remarked, using the string to secure it as best he could to the back of his pack. "Let's go, I guess", and he set off, very top-heavy and at a reduced pace, down the trail.

[PersonMan]

"I don't think we need to take it now," Kira says, taking the knife but nothing else, though she doesn't offer complaints and seems ready to follow further into the woods.

[The_Shaman]

You pick up the pace again as you head deeper along the trail. The snow becomes increasingly deep in this part of the forest as you reach a windswept gully with thick snowdrifts that seems to carve a path through a tree-covered ridge. Ahead of you, a branch over-laden with snow breaks, the crack followed by a hiss as a small pile of snow falls on the ground.

Kira notices that despite the new snow, there are remaining tracks of people travelling this way recently, but it's hard to tell how many or just when. As Dorrin's sharp halfling eyes dart towards the broken bough, they narrow further.

[Stelio Kontos]

"Hold it" Dorrin whispered, halting his steps suddenly. He nodded in the direction of what appeared to be a snow bank. "Something over there."

"yellow-eyes, green-scales, on a tree; vyper, raptor, what you'll be?" he wondered aloud, breaking into an unexpected bit of rhyme and nodding along to an unspoken beat. "Tatzlwyrm, that's what you be."

"This would be an excellent time for you to stand in front of me with large sharp objects, if you don't mind..." he whispered, loosing the heavy pack from his back and lowering it as quietly as he could to the ground.