"Wake Up Pearl!"

We take a flashback to Ari’s adventure:

• About 1 month ago Ari and the group split up and went separate courses while leaving Yartar. She is feeling nervous about leaving the large group, but is excited to get away from Caulkin for a little while. On her journey north with Rave, she ask questions about the Zhentarium. 

• She learns from Rave that the Zhentarium pushes people out of their comfort zone and this gives them a bad reputation. They are willing to get their hands dirty compared to other organizations. They think the most interesting thing happening on the Sword Coast right now are the giants’ attacks.

• They are heading north to Mornbryn’s Shield, and then to an abandoned town Nesme. Nesme was destroyed about 10 years ago or so by monsters from the Evermore. Ari’s job is to ensure that the settlement is free of Vermin before an upcoming meeting with Fire Giants. 

• The meeting results in Rave and 10 other Zhentarim agents meeting with 3 fire giants. It is a mix of common and giant being spoken. Between the meeting Ari is able to pick up that the meeting was pointless. Rave’s goal was to have the fire giants ignore all cities with Zhentarium presence, whereas the firegiants wanted some Adamantine Shards that Rave was not in possession of and did not know the location of. 

• Rave does ask Ari to find an ancient talisman that exists in the Evermoor. She finds a small token, which Rave gives to Ari. Deep in the Evermoor, Ari is bestowed a promotion in a dark filthy swamp. She is promoted to a Wolf rank in the Zhentarium. 

  1. [Meanwhile, the main party is arriving in Silverymoon and meeting with Räyûvel]

• As she leaves the Evermoor, Ari receives a message in her head from Räyûvel. Räyûvel states that Pearl asked that they reach out to Ari on the group’s behalf. The party is heading to the north, far to the north, to an ancient giant temple. Head north, even further north of the Lurkwood.

• Ari follows the journey given to her by Räyûvel, and heads due north for days and days. She crosses by the large chasm and two mountain ranges. She spots a giant on her journey and heads towards him, recognizing him as a frost giant standing in front of a large cave. Upon realizing this is Harshnag they connect and introduce themselves. She pulls out the cracked giant horn she found that is etched with an image of a dragon fighting a giant. Just as Harshnag is about to reach for the horn, they hear a gong from within the cave. 

Back in combat:

• Ari joins the group as she runs into the cave. We Ari’s assistance and disruption of the earth, we manage to defeat the 3 large monsters

After the battle, the flying serpent, Eltrem, that Brylynn saw in her dream appears behind us, floating about 5’ off the ground. The create thanks Brylwynn for her service and gifts her with a charm of restoration. It can provide balance to Brylwynn or an ally.

• 2 Charges is lesser restoration, 4 charges is greater restoration. 6 charges in total. Everyone in the party is given a charm.

Eltrem fears the Wyrmblood will use the gong for evil, and that we should take it for safekeeping. We all share stories and catch up. Pearl is able to identify the cracked horn that Ari found. Pearl gets the vague sense of Transmutation Magic, suggestive of why an item so large is able to weight so little. 

• Ari is able to identify the monsters we fought off as Remorhaz. They are famed predators of the region, their blood is superheated to protect them against the cold and heat, but their blood does not retain its heat once they are dead. Brylwynn and Caulkin find a gemstores on their bodies worth 100 gold each. As the gemstone was wedge under a scale on their underside, Brylwynn thinks it may have been sitting on gems. We come up with a plan to go down the hole and look for any signs of other gems. She manages to find another 2 gemstones, worth 100 gold each. 

• Caulkin climbs back into the hold, finding an additional 1 gemstone. He also finds 1 gemstone containing a blue liquid. 

The gong is about 6’ by 6’. We try to come up with a way to transport the gong. Harshnag agrees to carry the gong, which he identifies as an old Frost Giant Shield. We decide to take a short test in the mouth of the cave. 

• As we head out of the cave, we are contronted with a beautiful, sunny day. Glittr reallizes that the Blizzard had been persisting all morning when we were talking to Harshnag earlier, but when we walked outside to speak with him again, we are hit by a bitter, bitter cold. In front of Pearl, she sees standing in front of her, The Prince of Frost.

Seeing the Prince of Frost standing in front of her, she begins to tear up. The Prince of Frost walks up to Pearl and puts his hand on her shoulder. He now makes himself visible to the group for the first time. “It is a wonderful pleasure to finally make all of your acquaintances.” The PoF states that he has come to collect what he has asked for. Pearl retreats internally, knowing she has been watched and praying for any sort of intervention. Pearl tries to conjur thava, but is unable to.

• The Prince of Frost asks the group to think about if Pearl has delivered on any of her promises to us. The Prince of Frosts asks if we have every seen Pearl conjure or use magic from the Raven Queen. He asks the troop if we’ve ever seen Pearl manifest magic through the Raven Queen, but we are unable to come up with examples.

• The Prince of Frost asks Pearl to step forward. Pearl gives Brylywnn  the Spider Staff. He says, “I had such high hopes for you.” He unsheaths a giant sword, a swings his sword down onto Pearl.”

  • In this moment Pearl is looking haggard, tired, and defeated. She knew what the timeline was to complete the Prince of Frost’s task. 

  • As the sword comes down, she feelings nothing bad. Pearl looks around, now noticing the Raven’s Queen’s cloak over her, protecting her from his sword. The Prince says, “The conversation need not end here with any of the five of you” before he disappears. 

  • Pearl levels up with a point in Cleric

We continue our way north, heading to the Temple of the All-Father. About a day’s journey north, we reach a verticle cliff face. Off to the side, we see a large staircase carved into the mountain. As we continue onward, we see the path wind through the mountains. In front of us, is this large creavasse valley. The Temple of the All-Father. Harshnag says, “and we have finally arrived!.”