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| | == {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|96}} == | | == {{Rise of the Runelords chapter|96}} == |
| − | [[Image:Something.png|right|240px|thumb|The dead tree or the chain golem.]] | + | [[Image:Something.png|right|240px|thumb|.]] |
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| − | Finally the winter let go of it's grip and the warmth of the spring arrived. The time had come to set up our expedition to finally stop Karzoug's plans to return to rule the world. We had to travel east into the high, wild and unknown mountains. As it was on the way we all gathered in Turtleback Ferry and made sure we had everything ready. Kaven closed The Golden Giant and brought most of the inventory of food and spices. I left Creampuff in the care of Old Jobe. I really though we should bring a mule. Old Jobe had told stories so many times of how his mules had saved him over and over again, that I doubted that we would make it without one, but no one of the others thought so, so I gave up the idea. When getting our last things from the general store to be ready for climbing cliff sides, we were told of an old expedition that left Turtleback Ferry some twenty five years before. According to the tales it had reached Xin-Shalast and returned. That expedition had been made up of dwarves. They borrowed money from several people in town to finance another trip and setting up mines in the gold rich mountains. They never returned. I asked Maelin to make a list of who had lost how much of the ones still in town. Perhaps something could be returned.
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| − | Early morning we set out. We walked to Bitter Hollow where we had a light lunch. It was kind of strange, traveling on foot, but as we left Bitter Hollow we also left all trails behind and rounded Lake Coal to follow the river beyond. We didn't know for sure if it was the right river but Velicia had told us that was our best guess. The hilly landscape soon turned into mountains and it got harder and harder to get around over the rocky ground.
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| − | For how long?
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| − | After what seemed to have been walking forever we saw a wooden building from afar. I clung to the hillside standing almost hundred feet high. As we got closer I guessed it was less tall but probably looked that way because it was built by dwarfs. At least that's what Nathaniel said. Around it the ground looked dead. Nathaniel guessed it had been poisoned from mining. There was an old, blackened, dead tree just outside. We stayed back and Honeypot cast protection rituals to protect us from poison, cold and acid. We went closer and Nathaniel said that the ground probably had been poisoned by arsenic. Apparently you get that or use that when mining. I pointed out that arsenic is a poison that can be hidden in food. Honeypot said that the tree wasn't a tree but an ent. We moved closer to it when Nathaniel pointed out that something was glittering in a slag heap behind it. I got interested and sneaked a little closer. I didn't really trust that tree. As Honeypot went up to it to see if there were any seeds I turned out to be right. It moved. Quickly I threw my dagger at it hitting and damaging it although the others had trouble getting any good hits. Velicia taunted it with her magic and teleported out of its reach only to be chased around. The undead ent screamed in a horrible voice and it was answered by an even worse. Honeypot said that the other voice could be a vendigo. I didn't know what that was but Velicia said it was some kind of cold monster. The answering howl grew louder and an awful storm surrounded us. It was hard to move around and the sight was somewhat lessened by snow filling the air but I could still keep track of the undead ent and threw my dagger into its cracks. I used its blind focus on Velicia, chasing her around, to get into good positions. She teleported into the house to hide. Then she told us that she saw a ghost of a dwarf. Nathaniel and I fought it while Honeypot started to cast a ritual to counter the ice cold storm. I tried to keep my distance from the monster but it was hard and its cold presence almost sucked the life out of us when we got close to it. The monster found out that Velicia had hid inside the building and it smashed a hole in the wall, striking her. As the storm lulled around us Nathaniel finally hit the monster. His burning sword set it on fire and it fell to dust that quickly disappeared in the wind.
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| − | Even though Honeypots ritual had some effect on the storm it was still bad weather so I jumped through the hole in the wall made by the monster and joined Velicia inside. The others soon followed and Honeypot helped us to get our blood flowing again from the cold aura of the monster tree, but the tiering storm made it impossible to get any rest.
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| − | Look around
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| − | I scouted ahead and started up the stairs. The others followed but was a level behind. In the middle of the shaft a heavy chain hung down a little more than half way. It ended in an old bucket. Not far from the top I found a trap making the stairs fall away if stepped on. I disarmed it well before the others caught up and continued on. Suddenly the heavy chain came alive. It surprised us all, but I kept away from its flailing metal. I leaped up the stairs and climbed up to the ceiling, stabbing hard at the wood where the chain was attached. I could see below how the chain wrapped itself around Honeypot and Nathaniel trying to throw them down the shaft in the middle, but they hung on to the railing. I doubled my efforts and pried open the top link of the chain making it fall down. Seeing it fall I got very aware of the height. It fell about sixty feet down to the stone floor, where the chain crashed down. It fell into a heap but raised up looking like a huge humanoid made out of the chain. It reached up with a rusty arm almost thirty feet high before falling to pieces and staying down.
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