| Session Date | March 11, 2023 |
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| Base XP Gained | Carry Over |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
During the first watch of their rest, there came a banging knock at their door. A high-pitched voice demanded to know where the sentry was. Dane answered to quell suspicions but this only resulted in everything getting very quiet. So, the party threw the door open and found six Ice Imps, four moving to the north, two to the east. Hans slowed them all while ZZ silenced them and Sirius cast a web to block egress to the east. Jarrik and Dane rushed those to the east while Mordecai, Burt, and HelgaVinka took those north, supported by arrows from Deaglan. The Imps fell quickly. The party quickly disposed of the bodies in the same room as the dead Trolls and decided to move their camp to the secret room where the White Pudding had attacked them.
The rest of the night was uneventful except that Jarrik felt something impinge on his mind, which he managed to shrug off. The next morning, ZZ cast detect charm and learned that both Mordecai and Sirius were under some sort of compulsion, almost certainly from whatever was in the pool. Dispel magic by Hans was effective in breaking the effect. The two explained that they’d fallen under the influence of an “alien mind or minds” from within the pool. The minds had ordered Mordecai to cast hold person on Jarrik, then steal the ring of wishes and throw it into the pool. The charm was such that the two were not compelled to harm the party but had been convinced this was all for “the greater good.” Also, the intelligence had queried them by mental contact to learn all about the party members’ strengths and weaknesses. The party considered going after whatever was in the pool but ended up not doing so.
Finally, the party headed out to explore again. They discovered more Troll rooms not far away, now empty, and surmised these were the Trolls that ad come to aid the first batch. They also found a decent chest of treasure there. Further on, they came to a bare room with a raised platform of black, opaque ice. Four pillars of the same material rose 7’ to flank it. In the center was a three-foot pedestal of more ice with a hand-shaped indentation on it. Not wishing to experiment with this yet, they decided to explore south first, soon discovering an ancient temple to Orcus, now with faded murals and graffiti reading “bow to the two-headed lord!” This room they searched at great length, finding nothing.
They now took a dead Troll to the ice platform. Burt cast unseen servant and ordered it to place the Troll’s hand in the imprint. After a few moments delay, the Troll vanished and a wave of cold air washed off the platform. Hans then scried it using the crystal ball, finding it on a matching platform in a dark room. Sirius and ZZ stepped onto the platform and the former put his hand in the imprint. Once again, there was a delay, followed by the two vanishing and reappearing on the other platform with dead Troll. But, Sirius was blasted by an intense cold. They did find themselves in a larger room with a passage heading out of it. Not wishing to explore alone, they reversed the process with ZZ this time bearing the cold blast.
The party surmised that the teleporter required a password much like the guardian statue. So, they made their way back to the dead Imps so ZZ could use the Spirit Vessel to speak with dead. He asked one of the Imps four questions. What is the password for the statue? (verglas) What is the password for the teleporter? (Fimbulwinter) How many teleport locations are there? (two, unless you mess it up) How often are passwords changed? (unknown)
The party now returned to the statue room. When they felt the vibration, they said “Fimbulwinter” and the vibration stopped without an ice storm forming. Pleased, they decided to explore this level further before hazarding the teleporter. They moved back into the vast river cavern and headed north, past the frozen pool. But, from above, five Ice Spiders dropped into the party. These were quickly slain with no one poisoned. Further on, they came to a very large side cavern occupied by a blue, 11-headed Hydra. A sharp melee erupted, but this was the party’s day and it was slain without too much trouble despite its immense size.
The party spent a good deal of time searching the Hydra lair. While this was occurring, Sirius noted an invisible Dwarf prowling around at the edge of his enhanced sight. Sirius hit him with a dispel magic and he appeared, looking quite perplexed and frightened. He appeared geared as an adventurer type and claimed he was Kavatch, an explorer in search of plunder. When questioned, he said he came form the Halls of Kadrun. He told the party of extensive natural caves to the west (nothing new to them) but he had not explored east as yet. The party told him not to sneak around them and to announce himself openly if they encountered each other again. But, otherwise, he was free to go despite some misgivings.
When he’d departed, the party (except ZZ) went invisible and Sirius and Deaglan rushed after the Dwarf to follow him a bit. He had a decent lead already but they were able to more or less keep tabs on him now that he was visible. But, unexpectedly, he turned into the finished passages and into the guardian statue room, shutting the door behind him. Deaglan rushed forward to listen and heard him whisper the password, verglas. Deaglan now picked the lock but, buy the time they entered, the dwarf had already left. Searching and attempting to track were unsuccessful and, having lost the quarry, the two returned to the party and checked in. Hans employed the crystal ball once again, finding the Dwarf hurrying through various passages and then up a very long staircase. He soon entered a more complex area of many twisting passages, doors, and the like, but never once encountering anyone. Finally, he arrived in a room that was clearly his quarters, where he seemed to be deep in thought. Also, his face had assumed an exceptionally nasty expression of evil and hate. Most importantly, he had not seemed to raise a general alarm.
The party now finished exploring the river cavern, coming to a great wall of glacial ice from which the stream issued. Buried deep in the ice, Jarrik noted a tremendously huge face several feet within with a rather unpleasant expression. Dane sensed evil emanating from whatever was there and the party opted to let well enough alone…