Storm King’s Thunder: Session 25. The Spine of the World

11^th-17^th Alturiak 1458DR

It was now late and so they asked Harshnag if they could stay the night, to which he agreed. He bid them goodnight and then turned in for the night in a huge rough bed in a corner of the cave, pulling his furs over him. The Griffons pulled out their bedrolls and lay down for the night. They woke up in the morning with red-rimmed eyes and tired, as Harshnag still snored like a thunderstorm. Not needing sleep, Fenris felt fully refreshed. Harshnag seemed surprised that they hadn’t slept well and set about cooking them some breakfast.

Aware that the Spine of the World was extremely cold, they went to buy cold weather clothing. Darius remembered a mountaineering shop in the Trade Ward and after a short walk they found it: “Gunnar’s Winter Wares”. Heading inside they found it quiet but also fully stocked with climbing gear, winter clothes and rations. Fenris haggled with the dwarven owner Gunnar for a 5% discount in return for sponsorship: his logo of a mountain would be added to their Gilded Griffon’s tunic on the shoulders in light blue.

Now fully kitted-out they head back up the winding cliffside path to Harshnag’s cave and told him they were ready. He picked up his equipment and they walked to the Teleportation Circle within the crypt in the City of the Dead. Before entering, Maganose cast Polymorph on Harshnag, turning him into a regal-looking hawk in white and light blue. He tested his wings for a moment and then perched upon Maganose’s shoulder, his claws gently yet firmly digging into the elderly wizard’s flesh.

They activated the Teleportation Circle for Mirabar and stepped in. Instantly they saw white and felt the now-familiar sense of shifting through space and time. They suddenly all found themselves falling in a heap. They saw a wooden roof above them and a straw-covered wooden floor beneath them. They could smell horse sweat and manure and heard a voice from downstairs: “Easy lad, hold there while I brush ya”. Harshnag the Hawk fluttered for a moment before flying downstairs and disappearing. They climbed down a ladder and found a surprised-looking dwarf brushing a horse. Talking to him, it became apparent he was the Harper agent tasked with watching over the portal. They asked him about the city, if there was anything to watch out for and any particular sights to see on the way out.

Before leaving the city, they chose to visit a renowned weapon’s shop named “The House of the Bright Blade”. This apparently old and distinguished shop stocked a range of magical and non-magical weapons. Amadeous looked through the store and settled on an enchanted greatsword named “Barrakul” - a vicious-looking jagged weapon in dark metal.

They also purchased some potions of healing and then head out to the hills east of the city, where they met Harshnag (now transformed back into a Frost giant).

They head east into the low foothills of the Spine of the World, a beautiful wilderness of pine forests and established trails through the lower mountains. At the end of a day of hiking, Maganose pulled out Daern’s Instant Fortress from the Bag of Holding and activated it, watching as it grew to full size. They rested for the night in the magical tower, still struggling sleep with Harshnag’s snoring coming from outside.

The next day they were passing through a narrow valley when they heard shouting and arguing echoing throughout the mountains: deep brutish voices bellowing in Jotun. Fenris and Amadeous snuck forward and from a small copse of trees saw the culprits: a group of ogres who seemed to be lost and arguing about the best direction forward from a small stone map. Fenris stepped out and introduced himself, which confused them as they deduced he must live in the tree. He was able to calm them down and then took the map, explaining that the mountain on the map must be the one to their west. They seemed unconvinced however. Korrak then appeared and introduced himself, which further confused them as they wondered how many more people lived in the tree. Korrak explained that he was from that mountain and it was definitely to the west and there was a lot of food there. On the map there was also an icon of a huge angry head, which Korrak explained was his father and he was cross because they hadn’t arrived yet. Seeming to take his word for it (and fearing Korrak’s father’s anger) they head west and out of sight with their map.

After another night’s rest and another day’s hike they came across some dwarves camping on the mountainside. They had unearthed a large Stone Giant monument, which they said they were investigating as they didn’t want to prospect here if Stone Giants were still active. Over ale, they chatted about the trail and the monument and the Griffons decided to invite them back to the Tower to rest and for more drinks. What followed was a whirlwind night of dwarves drinking while one of them played raucous tunes on a zither. The Griffons had another poor night’s sleep as the dwarves didn’t seem to want to go to bed. In the morning, with red-rimmed eyes they met Harshnag, who complained about the noise, to which Amadeous replied that now Harshnag understood what his snoring was doing to their sleep.

They hiked for another day and while keeping watch from the Tower’s battlements Fenris saw something: a goblin. He called out and it replied by sneering and making an obscene gesture. He threatened to fire an arrow and it fled into the bushes. It returned shorly after with more goblins, one of whom held a staff. It cast a spell and suddenly the tower top was extremely slippery: it had cast Grease. Fenris kept his footing and the goblins drew their bows to fire them but Fenris caught them first, downing two of them. As his bow struck them, the arrows he fired from the dragonbow he had purchased in Waterdeep released a thundercrack that woke up the other party members. A brief skirmish followed that lead to a lot of dead goblins but also some confusion as Darius and Amadeous ran out to fight the goblins without getting dressed first. In Darius’ case the goblin shaman blasted him with psychic magic and Amadeous slipped on the grease before dropping the last goblin with a crossbow bolt. Tired and annoyed, they went back to sleep.

The trail head upwards and the land became noticeably colder: snow covered the ground and the air became thinner with a chill wind blowing through the peaks. They occasionally saw people watching them from the mountain sides: people dressed in crude furs that didn’t approach but observed from a distance. They came across an icy river 30 feet wide at it’s narrowest with a fast current churning rocks in the water and shards of ice flowing on it’s surface. However this was easily forded as they asked Harshnag to carry them and the 20 foot tall giant lifted them across with ease.

After another day of walking the chilly mountains they stopped to rest for the night. While Amadeous was on watch, something strange happened. The campfire slowed and then froze, not extinguished but stuck in place. He heard a voice behind him: a seductive female voice that called out his name and claimed to know him. He looked behind him and saw a woman with grey skin, horns, black eyes and a black dress: beautiful yet terrible. When asked if he knew who she was he blurted out the name “Lilith”. She was interested in him: he had been passionately spreading her word and she wanted to know why. He told his story of being born as an Aasimar yet cheated of his divinity and all of his life he had been robbed of what he deserved. She agreed: life was unfair and power was taken. She told him that he should use this anger on his enemies and make them suffer for his being cheated. The more he did for her, the more power she would release. The fire roared back to life and she disappeared. None of the party believed him when he said he had been talking to Lilith as he often spoke to himself anyway.

On the third day of walking through the snow, fur-clad people stepped out onto the trail in front of them clutching weapons. More appeared from the mountainsides and the Griffons appeared surrounded. The largest man ahead of them called out that he was the Chief of the Grey Wolf tribe of the Uthgardt. He demanded to know who they were, why they travelled with a giant and why he should grant them passage across the mountains. After they had explained their intentions to simply pass through he demanded a trial by combat: they should pick a champion to fight the strongest among the Grey Wolves. Korrak pushed Darius forward and the Chief said Darius could “keep wearing his tin pots if he wanted”: referring to the armour but insisted they should fight as men without magical trinkets. Darius suggested they fight with fists in that case, which amused the Chief. The Griffons insisted that they had a custom of a drink before fighting, which the Chief was welcome to participate. Unknown to Darius, Amadeous managed to slip the Potion of Frost Giant Strength into Darius’ wine. With his enhanced strength, the Chief and Darius punched, knee’d and headbutted each other until the Chief and Darius were badly bloodied. After the final headbutt from Darius, the Chief spat out blood, laughed and said the “little man” had earned his respect. That night the Griffons feasted with the Grey Wolves, sleeping well for one of the first times since arriving in the mountains.

In the morning they bid farewell to the Grey Wolves, heading up into the highest peaks of the Spine of the World. This was a harsh and frigid land, seemingly bereft of life and quite literally the top of the world. They knew that it would take another 30 miles of hiking this icy wasteland before they reached their goal: The long lost Eye of the All Father.