DM: Geokhan (02-12-2022)
Players: Nunde 4, Vivi 3, Aneksi 5, Morros 4, Rockin Rit 3, Attila 2
To whom it may concern,
The short version of the outcome of our surveying attempts are as follows. You might as well go find an iceberg to found this town on, you might have better luck. The temperature while we were out never got above the point where we weren’t having to completely thaw our waterskins multiple times a day, once did the winds die down to a ‘light breeze’, and the earth is so frozen that you honestly might have better luck cultivating plants above the tree line of a mountain. These things we were able to learn about the place within the first day’s survey around the portal and outpost.
I shall now diverge additional information that may be of some use should you continue to push forward with this full hardy plan.
During our surveying attempts around the portal we did manage to find, among other things continued evidence of there having been a fairly well built up civilization in the area at some point in the far past. Of particular note we found a very large statue, more or less human in proportions with the word ‘King’ written upon its shest in the language of the Giants. This of course being a very direct translation, a more nuanced reading of the rune would indicate a kind of reverance in service so a more faithful translation would be somewhat closer to ‘In the service of the King”.
We ventured northward finding much of the same before returning to the outpost for the night.
Not wishing to waste our time we decided to set out and try to explore some, hoping to find something, anything more suitable to a proper living. As we set out I spotted a duo of what appeared to be Orcs watching us, I simply gave a passing wave and recieved a gesture in kind and we went our seperate ways without issue. As we traveled through the day we found much…more ice, snow, and wind. It wasn’t until some time after the midday zenith that we stumbled upon a most gruesome scene.
Myself and Morros investigated the scene to hopefuly find some information of some use. Other than the obvious signs of some kind of ritualistic posturing of the mass of dismembered corpses we were not able to find out much, though I did take note of the style of tattoos the people had upon thier persons. Later that day we stumble upon a most curious sight. Leaves. Leaves blowing on the wind. At this point in our adventure I will be honest and say that this most regular phenominom was the far more startling than the script that was written upon them. The party was unable to read the script but we were able to determine that it was written in the Infernal script. I pocketed a couple of the leaves to hopefully have them translated when we returned home. (As a note, I was able to get them translated and upon the leaves the phrase, “You are Damned” was written upon them, I do hope that these leaves had no lasting effect.)
We set up camp not much later. I had hoped that we might have been able to find something better weather wise, however it was not to be had and we simply had to do our best to utilize the snow to build up a small wind block. During my watch I heard some large somethings out in the distance, hoping they would simply pass us by, and I admit largely out of habit, I simply stayed quiet not wanting to draw any additional attention to my sleeping comrades. I was barely able to rouse two of my companions by sending our a telepathic message as two large furry creatures charged, I was lucky enough to manage to dodge out of the way of the inital charge. I will be completely honest and I do not well recall the affair as I do beleive that my adrenaline boosted mind simply took over and I’m not certain I made many concious choices. I do recall waking to find Vivi having administered a goodberry to me and I followed him, spotting a clearly deseiced Morros and eventualy a barely living Aneski, to whom I was able to administer my own goodberry, bringing her back to conciousness. It was at this moment I knew we were far out of our league out here and would be returning to the outpost at first light.
I wish I could say that the rest of the night went by without issue, but that is not the case. I was later awoken by Vivi as a fairly large group of humans appeared to be approaching. I stood to meet the tribesmen, after a brief interlude of managing to find a language we were both capable of speaking we were able to learn that the massacre we had found most likely were their companions whom they were out looking for. We offered to take them to the exact location in the morning if they wished to stay at our meager camp. It seemed however that Vivi’s presence dictated much of the interaction, my best guess, based largely on what Im managed to find in the logs of others, is that Vivi’s form seemed to incite a sort of religious reverance in these people, possibly confusing our shapeless fellow with one of thier spirits that they seem to worship. Vivi was asked to let the elders know that the Valosh were on the move again. I have not been able to find any references to this name, but I can only assume that whatever or whoever the Valosh are, they were the ones responsible for the massacre we found prior.
I was once again awoken later that night to the sight of an incredibly large hairy beast, that I have come to learn is called a Mammoth. Luckily for us it was no more interested in us than we were in it and we were finaly able to get some meager rest.
I did my best to bring Morros’s body back with us, having to dump quite a bit of his gear in order to manage to bring him and make sure we didn’t get lost or ambushed. Along the way back we found what appeared to be a largely untouched set of ruins which we have made note of on the large map in the tavern. But in our current state we simply had to bypass the ruins.
I now beseach to the powers that be within our Freehold that supplies need to be increased to the poor men of the outpost. Between the near constant harrassment and the weather they are not much able to venture far from the outpost to do any of the meager hunting that is available in the first place and their fuel consumption just to keep thier bllod from freezing is near astronomical. I understand the need to protect our interests and a setting off place for any further exploration, but those poor men are dieing and they are simply not properly equiped for the environment that they find themselves in.