Chapter 1 - Cold Ambition: Hibernation Ends

[Vardaen]

Flint Striker manages to chow down on a bisket and a few pieces of bacon before the warrior, already ready, stand up and make to leave. Grey Fox grunts, "If you are coming Flint Striker, hurry up, we leave... now."

The hunters and trading party leave the house of Broken Stone, laughing and enjoying themselves, they make for the edge of town, heading for the mountain roads with or without Flint Stiker. As the warriors reach the village edge the laughter fades, and the heavily packed, and heavily clothed Bear become far more somber, quiet and alert for dangers in the snow covered Skyreach Mountains.

[JohnnyWeird]

Trying to make up for his laxness in the morning, Flint Striker is especially watchful on the trail. While willing to answer a question or a joke, he uses few words. Gone is the laughing youth of last night; today a man walks to the Seal lands.

[Vardaen]

The Bear are on the way, the trail will lead east along the mountains, and then down through Icerock Pass, a narrow ledge through glacial ice and rock. For today however the trip is familiar and things go well. Regardless everyone is silent, too much noise may attrack preadators like Frostlings or cave bears. Worse yet loud noises may cause avalanches, and no one wishes for one of them.

The group travel for the length of the down the mountain and along trails without more trouble than some cold fingers, and a stubbed toe. The trail is however cold, and Flint Striker knows that too many days exposed as such will eventually not be good. The hunters however encounter no trouble on the first day and set a small camp up. A small fire is made, and simple tents are pitched. The night will be cold, but character building. Each hunter is given a shift to watch, Flrint Striker, the youngest, gets the worst of the shifts, the mid one, so he will have to walk from sleeping and keep watch before going back to bed.

The black night sky is over head, the stars are out, and Flint Striker put another small stick on the fire as he sits up alone, watching over the camp.

[JohnnyWeird]

Flint Striker understands the decision of the other warriors. Nobody would want such a shift, and a young pair of eyes may make all the difference in the night. Keeping his back mostly to the fire so as not to dull his vision, the newly-made man keeps careful watch, his axes never far from his hand.

Action

Spot checks, I guess, plus full defense if the rules permit it.

[Vardaen]

Cold and alone, Flint Striker keeps an eye over the camp during the middle hours, eventually he wakes the next man, and goes back to bed. A howling wolf in the far distance the only excitement for his trouble.

Morning arrives, and the Bear are ready and moving before the sun is fully risen. The group will move through Icerock Pass today, after an hour on the trail the Pass comes into view. Named so because the pass is actually a tunnel through an alpine glacier that sticks out over the mountain, slowly moving a few inches each year down the mountainside. Icerock pass is dangerous, the slightly warmer weather lately has been causing snow to melt and water to pool on and under the glacier, this makes the ice very unstable borth above, and below the travelers. Broken Stone stands looking at the tunnel, and then at the Bear. Silently he heads into the natural tunnel, water dripping from the ceiling, one by one the Bear traders, heavily laddened, duck into the large natural tunnel and into the strange blueish light that fills the tunnel (the natural hue from the sun through the ice). The trip through the pass will take an hour if all goes well.

[JohnnyWeird]

The blue-lit pass holds no small fascination for Flint Striker; ever curious and cautious, he proceeds silently, looking with awe over the beauty of the ice.

[Vardaen]

Flint Striker is awed by the blue ice as he travels through. The trip is going well, that is until it takes a turn for the worse. There is a rumbling noise from deep inside the ice, and then a crack, like thunder spits the silence. Snow and ice falls in small pieces on the heads of the Bear warriors. The rumbling causes everyone to pause a moment, heads over heads. Broken Stone looks around at everyone and the debris around them, he whispers, "We run now..." without waiting he takes off at a dead run toward the far end of the tunnel pass, the rest of the warriors follow suit. Hearts pounding the Bears make a few shallow turns following the tunnel's path, and up ahead they can see the exit, the bright white sunlight beaming in through the tunnel. However right there in the middle of the narrow passage is a massive white bear!

The beast rears up on its hind legs, its head scrapping the ceiling. Weighing several tons, the massive white bear has strange stoney ridges of bone. The beast lets out a terrible roar, a roar so loud that the entire cavern shakes, breaking off more pieces of ice and snow above the hunters. Broken Stone slides to a halt, looks up at the faltering ceiling, and then at the massive polar bear, and beyond to the tunnel's exit. "We must get out, before it brings down the whole tunnel." Another roar rocks the cave and cracking ice splinters all around the men.

Initiative

Round 1 Initiative: Flint Striker 17.3, Bear Warriors 3.1, Polar Bear 3.0

Since you've played in my other games, I don't think I need to explain how combat works.

PLEASE convert your online sheet to a Word Doc sheet. It is much easier for me to use the Word Doc one.

Dire Polar Bear

Flint Striker, reacting before anyone, even Broken Stone...

Map

The bright blue is the solid ice walls, you can't go on that. The dark mottled to the right is the outside.

[JohnnyWeird]

Flint Striker draws the steel axe that is his dearest trophy and, crouched low, begins to lope forward, gesturing to Broken Stone to take the bear from the right as he attacks from the left. With a little speed and a little luck, they may yet make it through.

Action

Waiting for Broken Stone's initiative, then moving forward with him to flank and attack at -3 for Combat expertise (raising my AC to 19, since the last thing I want is a taste of a Dire Bearclaw, delicious as it may sound!).

[Vardaen]

Initiative

Round 1 Initiative: Bear Warriors 3.1, Flint Striker 3.1, Polar Bear 3.0

You delay, that means your initative changes. You will want to post again, and please realize that movement and such is important, which is why I post maps. So you can't move and flank the thing so easily. 5ft spaces, etc.

Broken Stone pauses just long enough to think, "We need to get out of here, take that thing down." He motions everyone forward and the Bear Warriors move forward drawing javelins from their sides. Broken Stone and two others throw their javelins as one unit. Broken Stone's and one more hit the bear and bounce off its thick hide doing minimal wounds to the massive bear. The third man goes to throw and hits a patch of ice with his foot that is recently wet, the man slips and falls prone on the ground with thud. Grey Fox and the other man move up, both men drawing heavy bone bows, and setting arrows, and fire over the heads of the front line. One arrow finds home, the other skims off one of the boney ridges flying out of the cave.

Roll

Broken Stone: Move/Draw, Throw Javelin 21 Hit for 7 Dmg
Grey Fox: Move/Draw Bow. Shoot 19 Hit for 4 Dmg
#1 Move/Draw, Throw Javelin 'œ1' (Fumble: 15) Fumble
#2 Move/Draw, Throw Javelin 22 Hit for 5 Dmg
#3 Move/Draw Bow, Shoot 18 Miss

Flint Striker, having delayed, now acts...

Map

Remember you can't move on the blue ice walls.

[JohnnyWeird]

Flint Striker nods to himself; the elder warriors show better judgment than he had originally, using ranged attacks to pick off the monster before risking its claws and teeth. He was wise to have delayed, but foolish to have imagined himself closing with the beast at its full strength. Humbled, he moves forward with his fellow warriors.

Action

Full move action forward (6 squares east), draw throwing axe and throw at the bear. Sorry to be dense; image and doc are forthcoming this afternoon.