Episode 20
"Ice-scapades"
(c) 2000, Matt Grossman and J. Sage Schreiner

Tron Malkaszar, an irreverant elf -- Matt Grossman
Norel Bolderdash, hulking woodsman of the Adri forest -- Tom Morin
Nigil Palom, noble from a far-distant land -- Kevin Osborn
Aran, a newly remade Paladin from Tenh -- AJ Drexel
Sapphire nee Tika, a courageous gnome -- Corey Paganucci
Rhahid, a mysterious spell-crafter -- Eric Kruller 
All others -- Sage Schreiner

Nigil: It's payback time!
Sapphire: Put me down!

Nigil flies over the humanoids, drops Sapphire, and lowers himself to
the ground.  Seen up close, the enemy can be seen as partially decayed,
ghoul-like creatures.

Nigil: Yuck.
Ghoul Leader: (casts a spell on Sapphire)
Sapphire: Huh?  Whazzup?
Ghouls: (pummel the gnome)
Sapphire: Ouch! Ow! Ouch! (severely wounded by the savage attack)
Nigil: Whoah.  Maybe this wasn't such a great idea.

Fortunately these ghoul-like creatures do not appear to have a
paralyzing touch.

Aran: They cannot stand alone!  For Hieroneous! (leaps onto the
iceberg and starts making his way along the side of the bluff that
Nigil and Sapphire are on)
Norel: I think there might be a way up on this side. (follows Aran)
Cormak: Try and burn my ship will they?  I'll show those bastards!
(leaps overboard and follows the paladin)
Rhahid: Wait!  Cormak you fool, you will get killed!
Arlo: We will all get killed if we don't put this fire out!
Jola: (trapped in the aftercastle by the fire)  Help! Fire!
Gabriel: Waaaah!
Tron: I can't see what's going on up there.  I'm going too.
Rhahid: (empties bucket of water on fire) This ship does have a mast,
you know.
Tron: Huh?  Oh yeah, the tall thing... (heads for the mast)

At that point three ghouls climb over the aft castle and advance on Rhahid.

Rhahid: Uh, guys?

Meanwhile, on the bluff...

Nigil: Taste steel, undead hell-spawn! [hack cleave]
Ghoul: Urk.
Sapphire: [swish] Yeah, what he said.
Ghoul: (hits Sapphire)
Sapphire: Urk! [thud]

The gnome falls to the ice unconscious.

Meanwhile, below...

Norel: I dunno, it's even steeper on this side.
Aran: There's got to be a way up!  A paladin of Hieronyous never
stands aside from a fight.
Norel: Hey, what's that?

Nigil grabs the unconscious gnome and skids her down the steep ice
slope towards the ranger and paladin.

Aran: Gnome! Incoming!
Norel: (grabs Sapphire)
Aran: (heals Sapphire)
Sapphire: Ooh, I still don't feel too good.
Norel: I can't see Nigil, but I can see one of the ghouls fighting
him... [twang]
Ghoul: Aaargh! [thud]

Nigil: (trades blows with the ghouls)

Meanwhile, on the ship...

Skanda: Begone foul undead!
Ghouls: (appear completely unaffected)
Tron: Don't move. [twang]
Ghoul: Urk. (pinned to the blazing wall by an arrow through the skull,
it soon stops twitching)
Rhahid: Never trifle with a wizard! [bzort bzort] Yes!
Tron: The last one's mine. [twang twang]
Ghoul: Urgh. (falls into the hold)
Desh: (in the hold) Umm... ripe meat!

Meanwhile, back on the iceberg...

Nigil: (flies down to join the rest of the "away team") It was just
too hot for me up there.

The fighter indicates his battered armor.

Norel: They're keeping back from the edge.  I can't get a shot at any
more of them.  Maybe if I climbed that bluff over there.
Sapphire: I'm going back to the ship to get some healing.
Cormak: (struggling to climb the bluff) I'll kill them all!
Aran: ...

Rhahid: (casts Fly on himself) Yes!  Now this is the way it should be!
Tremble in fear, monsters, your day of reckoning is at hand!

The wizard flies up into the air... just in time to see the ghoul
leader casting a spell!  A thick blanket of fog instantly shrouds the
top of the bluff, hiding the ghouls from view.

Rhahid: Bah!  A simple gust of wind will dispel this fog!
Tron: So do it!
Rhahid: Unfortunately, I do not have that spell.
Tron: ...
Rhahid: What?
Sapphire: (trying and failing to climb aboard the ship) Ahem. Could someone
give me a handup? Sorry to bother...

Cormak blunders up into the fog and disappears.

Arlo: Hey, if everyone doesn't help this ship is going to be
completely burned.
Sapphire: Hey, can somebody pull me up?  Hey, I'm down here!  This
isn't funny!  I'm very badly wounded!  Hello!

While Tron and Norel keep watch for more attacks, the rest of the
party extinguishes the flames on the ship.

Nigil: Oh Jola!
Jola: Oh Nigil!  I was so worried!  The fire was burning right outside
and...
Nigil: Glad to see you're ok, I have to go scout this iceberg while I
can still fly. (flies off)
Jola: [sniff]
Gabriel: Wahhh!
Sapphire: Hello! Yoohoo! Could someone give me a hand up? Any day now...

Cormak: (blunders down out of the fog) They all ran away, the
cowards!
Aran: You are so lucky...
Cormak: Arlo, you lazy Rhenee bastard!  Start repairing the ship, this
is no time to be farting around!
Killick: Maggie! (cradles her corpse weeping in grief)
Tron: What a wuss.
Sapphire: This really isn't funny, you know...

After a couple hours, the party gathers to decide what to do.

Rhahid: It seems that this iceberg is a few miles across.  I found
some evidence of shipwrecks, but no other life forms.
Nigil: I found the skeleton of some kind of big lizard.  It didn't
seem important.
Norel: Anyway, the question is what are we going to do now?
Tron: We can see the caves these guys are hiding in.  I say we go in
there and kick some.
Aran: And while we're in one cave, they'll come out of another cave
and burn our ship.  And then we'll be screwed.
Tron: Oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that...
Aran: So it's agreed, we leave and try to reach shore before the ship
sinks.  We'll have to row, because they're using the sail to block the
leak.

Rhahid: The fog around this iceberg prevents me from seeing the sun
and stars, which I need to navigate.
Norel: We can just head away from the berg, until we reach clear
skies.  It's pretty clearly the source of the cold, so we should be
able to steer away from it.

It is a desperate plan, but the party can see no alternative.  They
set off into the fog.

Sapphire: (frantically bailing, since she is too short to man the
sweeps) I thought you said you fixed it!
Arlo: (rowing) Just temporary [huff] repairs [huff] good for maybe
[huff] two days [huff].
Cormak: Belay that chatter! Row you scurvy dogs, row!

Bonden: (emerging from wherever he had been hiding during the battle)
Heh, this reminds of the time in '72 when I was on the...
Tron: Shut up! [thwack]
Bonden: (puts his dentures back in) What was that about, sonny?
Skanda: Tron, Pholtus says that we should respect our elders.
Tron: I'm his elder!  I'm 116 years old!  He should be respecting me!
Skanda: Hmm, you've got a point...
Tron: Let me tell you about those orc slave mines, boy!  This is
peanuts compared to that!  Why, I once had to...

Nigil: I never realized [huff] Tron was so [huff] old...
Aran: He's [huff] somehow managed [huff] to grow old without [huff]
growing wise.

Boy: Clear skies! Clear skies off the starboard bow!

Sure enough, they have come clear of the fog.  A couple hundred yards
away, they can see another ship, a barbarian trading vessel.  It's
sail is furled and there is no sign of life on board.  The party
hails, but gets no response.  They row to within 100 yards, then Tron,
Aran, and Arlo get in the ship's longboat and row over.

Arlo: I don't like this.  There could be plague on board...
Aran: The faithful and pure at heart need never fear disease.

They tie up along side and climb on board.  The ship is in good shape,
but completely deserted.  There are some suspicious-looking stains on
the deck, but no sign of the crew.

Arlo: Something bad happened here.  I'm staying in the longboat.
Tron: Bah.
Aran: I sense... a faint aura of evil.
Tron: Well, let's go make it fainter. (opens the hatch to the hold)
Come out and get some!

The elf and paladin explore the hold.  It is deserted of life.  The
only unusual thing that they find are deep scratches in the wood above
where the sailor's hammocks hang.

Aran: So they were trapped in the hammocks somehow and clawed at the
ceiling in their despair...
Tron: Or agony...
Aran: But then who threw the bodies overboard?  There's definitely
evil at work here.  Perhaps some sort of vampiric octopus...
Tron: This ship's not sinking.  I say we take it over now and
worry about the details later.
Arlo: No way. This is a plague ship. Or something. There's sickness here.

The other adventurers agree with this plan.  However, not even Aran's
eloquence can convince the crew to switch ships.

Aran: ...that other ship is intact.  This ship is sinking.
Cormak: I'd rather risk drowning then face whatever curse is on that
ship.
Arlo: No way I'm going back over there.
Aran: Hey, you guys are agreeing on something!
Rhahid: Can you at least rig that other ship for us, you know, put up
the sail and tie all the ropes and stuff?
Cormak: No. The longer we stay here talking, the more likely it is
that we're going to be swimming to shore.

The party realizes that while they have little chance of making it to
shore now, they have no chance without a crew.  Therefore, they decide
to stick with the "Osprim's Will".  They do however take a sail and
some other useful items from the ghost ship before moving on.

Aided by the sail and the desperate muscles of the party, they finally
sight land near dusk of that day.  They beach the ship on the north
shore of a small bay, set watches, and collapse in exhaustion.  Even
Tron, with his remarkable endurance, is tired.

The next day the crew starts unloading the ship, in preparation for
dragging her up on shore and repairing her.  The party discusses their
predicament...

Rhahid: According to my calculations, we are in the middle of the Bone
March.
Norel: And you know what that means...
Tron: There's sure to be plenty of trophy-grade orcs nearby.
Aran: Don't forget that many previously wimpy monsters have gotten tougher
lately.
Norel: We'll have to go on safari soon.
Nigil: Maybe we should just have walked to Ratik, it might have been
simpler.
Tron & Norel: No.
Rhahid: Anyway, I am going to climb that hill and see if I can get a
good view of our surroundings.
Aran: I will go with you.

The wizard and the paladin set off, while the rest of the party
lounges around relaxing.  AFter a hike of a few hours, they reach the
summit of a small hill overlooking the bay.

Rhahid: Hmm, I see the ruins of a town at the western end of the bay.
There could be treasure there...
Aran: It looks like there are old shipwrecks along the island in the
middle of the bay.
Rhaid: There is a southern current that sweeps them there. I think they
failed to round the point.

There is a rustling in the bushes.

Aran: Hey, there's something in the bushes!

Suddenly two enormous rats, weighing about 250 pounds apiece, burst
from the bushes and charge the characters.

Rat#1: (tries to overbear Aran) SQUEE!
Rat#2: (tries to bite Aran) SQUEE!
Aran: Fore! (decapitates Rat#1, sending the head flying off the summit
of the hill)
Rhahid: Allow me. [bzort bzort bzort]
Rat#2: (smoking)
Aran: And...again! [chop]
Rat#2: Urk. (rolls on its back and sticks its legs in the air)
Rhahid: Well, I guess that answers my questions about there being any
monsters around.

The two intrepid heroes head back to the ship.

Aran: ...and the rats here are bigger than me!
Desh: Rat yummy.
Tron: I say we go explore that ruined town tomorrow.
Rhahid: Hang on, I have a familiar!
Nigil: Oh, is that what that owl was doing following us in the middle
of the ocean?
Rhahid: Yes.  (the wizard communicates with his familiar
telepathically, and soon the owl is winging into the dusk)

Rhahid: Hmm... Hooter says that there is "lots of big food" in the
ruins.  He says that the food is going on two and four legs.
Tron: Hooters?
Rhahid: Singular.
Aran: More rats.
Nigil: Or wererats. Or both.
Tron: Either way I say we get them tomorrow.  Tonight is the dark of
the moon, even my excellent eyesight is almost blind.
Norel: Errr... shouldn't we be more worried about them attacking us?
Tron: Naaa.  We just won't light a fire.  They didn't bother us last
night.
Aran: Are you crazy?  We've got to set up fortifications...
Tron: We don't have time.
Cormak: What's this about rats?

TO BE CONTINUED...