C1 S6 - Frost At the Doorstep
This session played June 13, 2025.
B5 Grassland (Safe) - Day 4 Morning
@ Denton offers to try and cure Una’s twisted ankle. Before attempting, he prays to Ord for success.
d: 1d20 (Adv): 15 + 3 (WIS) = 18 vs DC 11 → Success!
→→ Una’s ankle is healed (narrative)!
@ Denton wants to try healing Matteo again as well (comfort; staving off possible infection).
d: 1d20 (Adv): 14 + 3 (WIS) = 17 vs DC 11 → Success!
→→ Matteos wounds disappear (narrative)!
@ Ryarn removes the dressing and helps clean the area.
Una massages her ankle.
Matteo squeezes Ryarn’s arm as she gently sponges a scratch on his face.
@ Does Ryarn take anything from that gesture?
d: 1d20: 6 + -1 (WIS) = 5 vs DC 15 → Fail
→→ Ryarn smiles at Matteo, taking the gesture as a thank-you.
@ Daeniel approaches Una as she stands and offers her his flint & steel and some rations. Says he wishes there was more we could do to help.
Una: (smiling) We’d both have died in that swamp if not for you. You have our sincerest thanks.
Daeniel: Say, does the child not speak?
Una: He never has. I blame the Oath. They cursed my child in the womb because his father was a subordinate of the Archdruid. He has never spoken a word, and treats all, even his own mother, as a mortal risk. Even as I nursed him, the babe looked at me as though he thought I would set upon him like a beast. Still, Matteo is good, and strong, and he is mine. No doubt we will help each other survive the journey ahead; I rely on him as much as he on me. (She pauses.) Is there nothing I can say to sway you from confronting the Oath? Their power twists the very air and groudn around them wherever they gather. It is as winter among them even in the height of summertime!
Ryarn: Sadly we have no choice. If they are so powerful, how did you escape? We would be grateful for any advantage.
Tbl: Solodark Prompts - How did Una and Matteo escape?
d: 2d100: 94; 46 → CHANGE WEALTH
Una: (with a twinkle in her eye) Greed. All of the Oath are sworn to poverty, all save the Archdruid at least, and by a stroke of luck I managed to procure a rare-looking gemstone. I bribed our camp-mate with the gem so she would look the other way, simple as that. But I’ve tarried too long as it is. The morning is well underway and once the Oath realize Matteo and I are gone, they’ll be after us. Take care to avoid them as long as possible! Matteo, to me.
Matteo joins Una. Una thanks the party and the pair heads east.
@ Party convenes to figure out a game plan. By now angry cultists are almost certainly beginning to mobilize and they’ll be four hours out on foot, two mounted. If they have a trail to follow, it’ll take them as far as that swamp, and after that they’ll have no choice but to fan out. We’ll want to control if and when our run-in with Una & Matteo is discovered by the cultists, and not be caught directly on their trail.
Daeniel: I can help us cover our tracks if we head northwest and circle back south to approach the village from another direction.
@ Party agrees.
@ Party moves NW into A4 Grassland (Unsafe).
A4 Grassland (Unsafe) - Day 4 Afternoon
As we continue over low hills, sparse shocks of trees, Daeniel guides the party, having us shuffle our steps, share footprints, and other methods to hide our trail. No immediate sign of Oath cultists or other folk around.
? Random encounter check
d: 1d6: 6 → Clear
@ Party decides to break south to try and approach the village by nightfall.
@ Party forages for rations first.
d: Ryarn 1d20: Natural 20! (INT) → Critical success!
→→ Ryarn manages to take out two rabbits; saves the extra for a party member who fails.
d: Denton 1d20: 18 + 1 (INT) = 19 vs DC 12 → Success!
→→ +1 ration
d: Daeniel 1d20: 18 + 0 (INT) = 18 vs DC 12 → Success!
→→ +1 ration
d: Brolga 1d20: 6 + 2 (INT) = 8 vs DC 12 → Fail
→→ Brolga accepts Ryarn’s spare rabbit.
@ Party moves south into A6.
A6 Oath of Frost Village - Day 4 Evening
As the sun begins to set, party notices the temperature dropping steeply. Too much. The farther south we move, the colder it gets.
Daeniel: There’s frost on the grass!
Brolga: Be on guard.
Before long we see several fires nearby—torches, campfires—and the dancing silhouettes of large tents. Now there is snow dusting the ground and it’s uncomfortably cold.
Ryarn: We do not mention Una. We will act with the utmost courtesy until we are in clear danger. Keep an eye on your exits if we get invited in.
Sentries, wearing fur-lined cloaks in matching cream colors, but no obvious armor, notice our approach and call out:
Sentries: YOU THERE—HOLD, AND STATE YOUR BUSINESS.
@ Party stops and we show our hands. In the fading light, Ryarn steps forward.
Ryarn: Hail! I an Ryarn, daughter of Varond, the one true King of Meridia. My brother Daeniel and our companions Denton and Brolga come in peace, and hope that your people might aid us in a most important quest.
Tbl: Shadowdark Random Encounter reactions - Sentries’ disposition?
d: Ryarn 2d6: 5 + -1 (CHA) = 4 → Hostile
Sentry: We have no love of “adventurers” nor patience for quests. (He readies his bow) Begone!
@ Brolga steps up to try and deescalate.
d: Brolga 1d20: 10 + 0 (CHA) vs DC 15 → Fail!
Sentry: This is your last chance!
Tbl: Solodark Prompts - Is anything happening that the party can see?
d: 2d100: 64; 85 → WARN TRUTH