Date: 04/26/10

XP Awarded: none

Start: The town of Sandpoint, mid winter.

As the evening passes, Kiria and Garrick become more and more loud and cheerful from the drink. A well-armored dwarf in the common room remarks that the party won't have much luck on their mission if their main fighter is missing. He introduces himself as Glanthal Urest and offers to take Garrick's place if the half-orc isn't in adventuring condition the next morning. Another traveller in the common room introduces himself as Tongtokl Thicketbotter, and the large riding dog at his feet is Copper Dragon. He is a gnomish druid from the Sanos forest on his way to Magnimar, but since the next ship that leaves town is likely to be Captain Hagrak's Stormwolf, he offers to accompany the party into the Brinestump Marsh on their rescue mission. The party accepts both offers with gratitude, since Kiria is now passed out on one of the tables in front of an uproariously laughing Garrick. The night passes with the adventurers tucked into the inn's beds, blankets piled high to protect against the cold drafts seeping through even the smallest holes in the walls.

The next morning dawns grey and cold. As suspected, Garrick and Kiria are nowhere to be seen, but Tongtokl and Glanthal are present. Glanthal pulls out a stout dwarven horn and sounds it to greet the dawn, provoking surprised reactions from his travelling companions. A little more snow has fallen during the night, and the Lost Coast Road lies under a foot of it. Though this nearly comes up to Tongtokl's waist, he has no problem keeping up with the larger adventurers when atop his riding dog "Copper Dragon".

Snowflakes swirl around he party, obscuring their vision as they set out along the snow-covered road which is almost invisible under the white blanket, but Gob's familiarity with the region helps him guide the party. After an hour the adventurers are following the road along the coast, and below them strong winds drive crashing waves against the rocky shores. Out over the gulf, ominous-looking clouds are building. Although the biting wind finds any exposed area of skin, the exertion of moving through the snow keeps the party warm. Crossing a solidly frozen Cougar Creek, the group sets out across the bleak, wintry Ashen Moor.

Out of sight of the guiding peaks it is more difficult to maintain direction, and the group mistakenly wanders. By the time they've retraced their steps and found the narrow path leading into the northern reaches of the Brinestump Marsh, the sun is sinking low over the Varisian Gulf. Finding a sheltered hollow to camp in, the adventurers pitch tents and get a fire going while Gob sends his owl Lemmywings out over the marsh to scout for the ship's wreckage. The bird returns at dusk and Gob informs the group that the ship has been driven aground near the center of the eastern shoreline of Sog's Bay, effectively near the center of the swamp. He also mentions that Lemmywings saw 'people' moving around on the ship. Tongtokl uses his nature magic to create defensive traps surrounding the camp, and the group hunker down for the night.

The next morning the party finds that strong winds have drifted snow around their camp, but the hollow they're in has protected them from the worst of it. Tongtokl leads the party down from the edge of the Ashen Moor to the thickets at the swamp's border, and after a bit of searching, finds a game trail that leads through the brambles. Now inside the swamp, the wind has died down to almost nothing. The normally soggy ground has frozen into a good walking surface, but patches of unfrozen water belie the danger of a misstep. With Tongtokl's guidance, the party makes good time along the game trail, but after an hour the trail disappears into a low-lying morass of partially frozen ponds. Faintly hearing the crashing surf, Tongtokl picks out a path across the strongest ice and leads onward to the coast.

With a splintering crash, Glanthal's footing plunges through the weakened ice and he topples over into a shallow pool. Elvisa barely dodges out of the way in time, and quickly helps him to his feet. Though Glanthal is unharmed, he's now covered in muck and his winter furs are dripping wet. Tongtokl warns that it won't be long before hypothermia and maybe even frostbite come over him. Without enough dry fuel to start a fire, the party searches the area for ways to dry Glanthal off quickly. The dwarven warrior remembers a potion he's put away for just this occasion, and unstoppers the vial of thick liquid to drain it all. Immediately the chill leaves him - though his furs are still dripping wet, he feels like it's a warm spring day. Knowing that he'll be protected from the cold long enough to dry out, the group continues on. As the first small snowflakes fall from the grey sky, the party parts a thicket of brambles to reveal a thin sandy spit on the far side of a partially-frozen stream flowing into the bay.

A hundred feet out from the shore, a medium-sized ship is run aground on some rocky columns jutting from the violent waves. The front of the ship is smashed in, and it's clear that it will never sail again. The sails hang in tattered, ice-coated sheets and what looks like a frozen body is tangled in the rigging. The ship is swarming with goblins, and behind it dark stormclouds are swiftly approaching from the Gulf of Varisia. Alongside the ship is a large makeshift raft piled high with barrels, coils of rope, strips of sail, and other debris from the ship, manned by another dozen goblins. Two goblins in the ship's steeply-leaning crow's nest spot the party and point while shouting down at the deck below.

Between the party and the ship is a sandy spit of land dotted with rotting tree stumps, separated from the swamp by a narrow frozen lagoon. Hundreds of feet away a tall sand dune rises on the far end of the spit, and next to it is a large pile of debris from the grounded ship. Atop the dune stands a snow-white wolf the size of a large horse - as it turns it's icy blue eyes upon the party, it barks orders to the goblins swarming around the debris pile below him. They drop the rope and wood and a large group begins to rush towards the party, while another group with bows climb the sand dune or the debris pile to get a better shot.

As some of the adventurers take cover behind the large rotting stumps that dot the area, the light snow and fierce winds disrupt the goblins' archery. The huge white wolf lopes towards the party but dodges behind one of the larger stumps as Gob begins to cast a spell. A glowing red bead of fire shoots from Gob's fingers to explode in a searing ball of flame at the front of the shrieking wave of goblins. Despite it's cover, the wolf is badly singed, while all that's left of the goblins caught in the fireball are charred black spots on the sandy beach. The rest of the goblins scream in terror and their charge falters, but a sharply barked command from the wolf forces them to resume running toward the adventurers.

Tongtokl begins a spell and the grey clouds above him start to flicker with an internal, electrical light. Protected by the effects of the potion he drank, Glanthal wades through the icy waters of the stream toward the oncoming goblin horde. Elvisa takes a running leap and easily clears the stream, landing next to Glanthal. Goblin arrows continue to rain down around the party, but Glanthal's armor and shield make him effectively impervious to them. Elvisa sees one streaking towards her heart and with incredible reflexes, snatches the arrow out of the air with her bare hands. The wolf again runs forward, and with a burst of speed leaps across the mouth of the stream to land in front of Tongtokl and his snarling companion. Tongtokl finishes his incancation just in time, and a jagged fork of lightning streaks down from the swirling clouds to thunderously explode into the wolf. Copper Dragon jumps forward and sinks his teeth into the momentarily stunned beast.

The goblins racing towards Glanthal and Elvisa cross the frozen lagoon and Elvisa steps forward to meet them with her fists at the ready, but the ice pops and crackles threateningly under her weight and she quickly leaps back. The first of the goblins reach Glanthal and are quickly cut down by his flashing axework. Meanwhile, the white wolf confronting Tongtokl snarls in a gutteral voice "You'll never reach the Sinking Tower in time to rescue your friends!" and then looses a howling gale of arctic wind from his mouth to wash over Copper Dragon and Tongtokl, who are frozen by the unnatural cold.

Protected from the frosty blast by the stump he's been hiding behind, Gob casts a spell. Silvery arrows of force flash from his outstretched fingers and slam into the wolf, and the enormous beast comes crashing down onto the snow-covered sand. Another hail of arrows from the goblin archers rains down around the spellcasters, wounding Tongtokl and Gob. Tongtokl sends Copper Dragon to fight the goblin horde, then brings down another lightning bolt from the roiling clouds onto one of the goblin archers, who is briefly outlined in a brilliant blue-white light before falling to the ground.

With a running leap, Copper Dragon clears the frozen stream and attacks one of the goblins trying to surround Glanthal. Elvisa and Glanthal continue dropping goblins one after the other. When they see the white wolf fall, terror enters the goblins' eyes and they turn to flee. Most are struck down by the warriors as they run, but a handful escape and disappear into the thick brambles behind the beach. The goblin archers also flee into the brambles, but Elvisa is able to catch up to one and kill it before it disappears.

The group explore the pile of debris on the beach and Elvisa finds a terrorized goblin huddling in the center, but she quickly kills it. The party can see that the wind is picking up and the snowfall is becoming heavier. The crashing waves have already started to tear apart the makeshift raft tied alongside the grounded ship, and several goblins are visible running around the tilting deck. Tongtokl uses his druidic powers to assume the form of a seal and plunges into the icy waters, swimming around the ship. He can see that the wreck is in danger of being pulled off the rocks by the strong waves, and is likely to break up or be washed out to sea. He doesn't see any sign of humans, so he returns to shore and the party discusses what they should do next.

Tongtokl points out that the wolf said something about a sinking tower, but nobody in the group knows what that might refer to. The wind is too high for Lemmywings to take to the air, but Tongtokl is able to assume the form of a large eagle and get airborn. He is only able to do a few low circuits over the nearby swamplands before the wind becomes too strong even for him to fly and he lands roughly on the beach. Tongtokl says that he was able to see something that could be stone ruins a little bit inland, and the rest of the party agree to check it out.

The party enters the swamp and after a bit of searching, Tongtokl is able to find a relatively dry path to follow. It begins to sleet, but Tongtokl keeps his eyes on the path and about an hour later, the group is winding around small hillocks rising from the bogs. Climbing over the top of a particularly large one, the adventurers see a low, swampy clearing dotted with floating logs. Low stone formations rise from the bog here and there, and some of the logs have been positioned to link the stony islands together. Atop one of the stone ridges, four goblins atop snarling wolves glare at the party, bows trained.