Exploration of the Wizard Freezer - 01/05/20

Hooo, what a day it's been. Right from the start it was pretty rough. As Zhess and I gathered our stuff at the grim pig we received terrible news that our friend Lucy was sick and couldn't come, I suspect she has swamp worms eating her brain. Our numbers were bolstered when, in the tavern, we met up with a strange creature with a metal shell. I'll have to ask if he's perhaps a distant cousin of Tortles, my tribe would love to see him. We also met a bald man named Grez and Victor decided he would tag along. Anyhoo, we set out with our new friends and Zhess in an ill fitting halfling coat. After a short walk we ran into 3 puddles of mud that threatened to beat us up if we didn't give them treasure. I told them I didn't believe them but to my surprise they turned into these winged mud gremlins and started beating up Zhess and Grez. I distracted them with a gold piece that I threw into a lake and they all started fighting over it while we left. We made it the rest of the way without an issue which was good because our troubles were only just starting. When we arrived at the freezer we found two strange men dressed in furs and wielding axes. I was excited as these were the first people we met out here. We had a friendly greeting and they said their names were Eric and Morder Tradson. I especially liked the bones Eric had tied in his beard, very fashionable as the folk outside my tribe say. They said they lived in a hut to the north and that the monsters that come out at night leave them alone, knowing what I know now I'm not surprised. They seemed to know that me, Zhess, and Lucy had been here before and seemed to be disappointed that Lucy wasn't here. I asked if they had been spying on us and they said they knew what happens on the weeping road. Suddenly and without warning Morder said it was good to know the name of your killer and then they started charging us. At the same time we were also attacked from both sides of the road by strange twig men.

Grez proved his prowess when he leapt into one group of the twig men and destroyed them with a deafening boom. I stood side by side with Zhess in the middle of the road as Morder and Eric charged us. They swung at us like men possessed. My shell protected me from the worst of it and I faced Morder down with staff and claw. I was surprised when I looked to my right and saw that Zhess was nowhere to be found. Instead I saw Eric cleave the metal tortle with a blow that could have cut an unshelled in half. As I saw this, I felt the same pain as Morder hit me with a blow harder than anything I've ever experienced; another like that and he would have had me. Fortunately, my shell still protected me from the remaining twig men. I summoned all my training and unleashed a flurry of blows that would have made Ma proud. Every blow they took seemed like it should have been crippling, they bled like the fat Summer Longfin clenched between our mighty jaws. Victor tried to use his magics on Eric but all he said was "Beware the weeping road, your blood draws us closer" and didn't seem very bothered.

The battle was turning against us until Zhess reappeared and slew Morder. He hit Morder with just a claw to the face but he EXPLODED into a pool of blood. And not just his body but his clothes and even his axe. Just before this he had turned to Eric and said "Hurry brother, we don't have long". After Morder died his brother seemed to weaken and was quickly beaten, dying in the same kind of blood explosion as his brother. I'm not very familiar with humans but I don't think they're supposed to do that. Poor Grez had been knocked unconscious during the fight and the rest of us were in pretty bad shape so we took a rest before heading into the freezer. Once we were rested we bundled ourselves up and headed in. Since we were last here, the whole area had gotten a bit frosty and the biting cold set in as soon as we entered. Everything was just the way we left it, just a bit icier. We made it down to the room with the crystal and we had a good look around, Zhess got into a chest and me and the metal tortle noticed a pile of snow with a horn in it. I set up a trap and we were going to surprise whatever was in the snow but Grez wanted to try to talk to it. He said hello to the pile of snow and suddenly a Yeti jumped out of it! My trap had no effect on its thick furry foot. I'd never seen yeti before and I hope I don't see another one, its icy looks froze me in place. I got to watch the entire fight unfold as I stood frozen in the middle of the room. My friends moved around the room keeping the Yeti moving around between them. Zhess made it look like he was running away and hid in a pile of barrels. At first I thought he was what we call "all shell and no bite" but he managed to draw the Yeti over and push the barrels onto him, truly his tactical prowess knows no bounds.

With some moving words from Victor, I finally managed to break free of whatever strange effect I was under just in time to see the metal tortle crack the beast's back with a rock. He must be incredibly strong. With the Yeti beaten, Grez and metals went to work on figuring out how to move the crystal. I set to work on skinning the Yeti; waste not want not. I was sure to give the beast the proper respect and drew my tribes symbols for respect and strength on my face with his blood. We got out of there with some Yeti bits, the crystal, some gold, and some frozen wine from the barrels. It was a shame to leave so much good wine behind but we can only carry so much. Perhaps the most interesting part of all of this was a book we found. There were only a few pages that were still readable but we were able to make out some of it and its very troubling.