The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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Warriors of Winter
Following maps given to them by Cadrivaine, the
Player Characters travel into the cold waste in
the north-eastern corner of the Eagle Nations,
in search of the frost citadel of Bastirak the Ice Mage.
Their maps show a large trading town, Ommersdale,
before the cold waste begins; but upon arriving there
they discover only the snow-covered remains of what
was once a human settlement.
The boundary of the cold waste has expanded by more
than 20 miles since it was last mapped. If the Player
Characters had been expecting to find supplies at
Ommersdale, they are out of luck. As they progress
further in, they encounter monstrous humanoids fleeing
the region and signs of bizarre extraplanar creatures
making their homes in the waste. Clearly, there is
something afoot at the citadel of Bastirak.
The Player Characters must reach and confront the ice
mage to learn the truth about his newfound power. He
has indeed been working with tenebrium, gathering
huge amounts of it on his travels off-plane and trading
it with emissaries from the drow. Bastirak has made a
pact with them, pledging to supply them with the largest
tenebrium crystals he can. In return he has received
the direct assistance of a group of drow wizards, who
are now resident in his citadel, helping him with his
magical experiments and fortifying the building with
their spells.
Journey to the Waste
Nobody in the Conclave is entirely sure where the citadel
of Bastirak is. The wizard does not welcome visitors,
nor is it possible to scry on the place, so accounts of its
whereabouts are impossible to find. Those who have
found the frost citadel tend to have stumbled upon it
by accident. There is no other option than to travel to
the nearest settlement, Ommersdale, and ask questions
there. The townsfolk will undoubtedly have heard of
Bastirak and may be able to point the Player Characters
in the right direction.
The Player Characters have two options for travelling
to the Waste. They can either travel by ship all the way,
using the closest sea-portal to cut down on travel time
or they can allow Cadrivaine to teleport them there.
Cadrivaine has been to Ommersdale once before and
offers a good chance of arriving on-site accurately. This
method would also avoid any unpleasant encounters with
sea monsters. If anyone thinks to scry Ommersdale first
in order to improve the chances of hitting the target,
they can see that it has been devastated and have more
warning.
If the Player Characters opt for teleportation, then
the Games Master may assume for narrative purposes
that Cadrivaine misses the mark slightly and arrives
a mile to the south of Ommersdale, thus allowing the
Player Characters to discover it in its wrecked state.
Alternatively, the Games Master may have the Player
Characters teleport into the ruins of Ommersdale and
have Cadrivaine panic that he has sent them to the
wrong place.
Location: The Ruins of Ommersdale
The devastation around you makes it hard to believe
that for a determined group of people, this place was
once a home. Walls and roofs that must have taken
hours of hard work to build are now reduced to a jumble
of timbers again.
In the empty roads lies the debris of people’s lives:
copper kettles, smashed plates, sodden blanket and
even a woven wicker cradle. These are all simple items
but valuable out here on the frontier, and it is strange to
see them scattered like rubbish. There seems no sense
or purpose to the destruction. It is as if something huge
had smashed in cabin after cabin, flung the contents out
into the snow and then moved on.
Whatever it was that struck here, the people tried to fight
it. Broken weapons lie half-buried in the snow, close to
the stiffened remains of those who wielded them. It is
hard to see details because of the gentle white covering
of snow, but it looks as though the bodies are crushed
and broken, flung about like toys. They were killed
quickly – perhaps even playfully.
Characters who search around the ruins can find the
following:
Tracks: The tracks that lead into and out of Ommersdale
are relatively easy for a tracker to follow. The raid took
place three days ago and although snow has fallen since
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8