Dan Chapman hoshisabi

Session 3 (May 8, 2026)

DDAL10-02, or Soon

Back at the Coldpeak camp after a few days of rest, the party learned that Savin — the hunter who’d escorted them in — was being quietly groomed for tribal leadership despite wanting nothing to do with it, and that Broken Tusk had been watching everyone with the patient eye of someone who has caught people lying for sixty years. The peace didn’t last: a hunter returned with a mangled mountain ram and news that the creature had returned and the hunting party had gone missing. Broken Tusk suggested bringing the outsiders along; Kaarsk, the tribe’s lead hunter, grumbled and relented — Berg speaking Orcish probably helped.

Getting there was its own ordeal. Kaarsk moved at a pace that required an Athletics check just to keep up, and a frozen river claimed Alina, Berg, and one of the hunters all at once. Alina fought her way out after the first round; Berg spent two rounds under before surfacing. The hunter didn’t make it back to full fitness; Kaarsk sent him home with an escort and pressed on with just the party. The blizzard had cleared, which should have been a relief, but the quiet stretch of rest they found by a cliff was interrupted by a snow creature forming from the air and blasting cold, followed immediately by an Ice Toad and three Ice Mephits. Berg went into the toad’s mouth. Everybody had a bad time. The toad left behind a potion and a handful of intricate bone masks when it died, which Dr. Medicine immediately began mentally pricing.

Kaarsk then led them somewhere he clearly felt ambivalent about: a shaman’s sacred spring — warm, verdant, impossibly out of place in the Arctic cold. A small muddy creature had taken up residence and declared itself the Guardian, ready to trade. Dr. Medicine, in his element, traded a regular dagger (rebranded as the Dragonlord’s Dagger, Guardian of That Mountain Over There) and some baubles for the spring guardian’s one magical item — a sending stone. The spring guardian departed to guard its new mountain. Inside the shaman’s yurt, the party found a journal belonging to Durok Deepseeker — the tribe’s missing shaman — which told an unsettling story: a rockslide had revealed something buried in the mountain, a staff had started whispering to him, he’d named a great beast Rimetalon and begun sharing power with the local wildlife, the standing stones that were keeping voices at bay had failed, and the last entry mentioned a stolen runestone and a lesson to be taught. The mud guardian, the party realized, had been that lesson. The necklace and herbs in the yurt also quietly disappeared into someone’s pockets while Kaarsk wasn’t looking.

Leaving the spring, wolves circled them — herding rather than attacking, accompanied by something whispering meat, meat, meat on the wind. The large wolf who led the pack could speak, and called the party food for her children before breathing a cone of ice that dropped Alina. It did not end well for the wolves. Berg drove a pike through the pack leader for 13 damage and that was the fight’s turning point. Kaarsk skinned the wolves afterward and gave River a nod for helping — high praise. The large wolf had been wearing a bone necklace with a name on it: Chanon.

The party returned to camp to find the missing hunters had made it back the night before. The tribe celebrated. Then a scream from outside, and two orc guards dead in the snow, their bodies arranged around a rune of goat entrails with a single bloody white feather at the center. The rune read: Soon.

Player Highlights

Berg portrait

Berg — The Ice Toad swallowed him whole. Berg kept swinging from the inside until the toad reconsidered its dietary choices. When the pack leader wolf called the party food for her children, he drove a pike through her for thirteen damage — and that was the end of the debate.

Dr. Medicine portrait

Dr. Medicine — When the frozen river took Alina, Berg, and a hunter under at the same moment, Dr. Medicine was already moving — hauling people back while the current made counter-arguments. Later, when the pack leader wolf opened with a cone of ice, he answered with Witch Bolt and made it expensive.

River portrait

River — In the spring guardian's little market, River polished worthless junk until it looked like heirlooms, turning the trade into something the guardian actually wanted to make. When the wolves came calling, sneak attack found the gap nobody else could thread.

Alina portrait

Alina — Wizard-new but not timid — Alina's spells cut through the Ice Mephits with the conviction of someone who has read the statblock and wasn't impressed. The wolf's cone of ice dropped her anyway. The party pulled her back up. She threw a second-level spell into the pack leader on the way.

Achievements

Under the Ice

Under the Ice — The frozen river took Alina, Berg, and a hunter under all at once. Alina fought her way out after the first round. Berg spent two more rounds under the current before surfacing. The hunter didn't make it back to full fitness; Kaarsk sent him home and pressed on.

The Toad Ate Berg

The Toad Ate Berg — The Ice Toad swallowed Berg whole. Berg objected, from the inside.

The Dragonlord's Dagger

The Dragonlord's Dagger — Dr. Medicine convinced the spring guardian to trade its one magical item for a regular dagger he renamed on the spot. The Guardian of That Mountain Over There departed to take up its new post. The sending stone is now in the party's hands.

While Kaarsk Wasn't Looking

While Kaarsk Wasn't Looking — The necklace and herbs from the shaman's yurt quietly disappeared into someone's coat while the tribe's lead hunter examined Durok's journal. No one mentioned it.

Meat, Meat, Meat

Meat, Meat, Meat — A large wolf that could speak told the party they were food for her children. Berg drove a pike through her for 13 damage. Kaarsk skinned her afterward and gave River a nod for her part. High praise.

Soon

Soon — The party returned to find two guards dead in the snow, their bodies arranged around a rune written in goat entrails with a white feather at the center. The rune read: Soon.

Rewards