Realms S2E5 Difficult Choices

After battling and then saving a family of troll creatures known as Riku, the party learned of a greater enemy threatening the area. Acting quickly to secure the safety of those at the Monastery, the group then headed east to find something that nobody expected.

### Player Characters Present

Eclipse, Naphako, Keywynn, Kyrealle, Kerrick

### Synopsis

The cave was quiet. One large troll laid sleeping by Naphako’s spell, another burnt and unconscious while Eclipse drew his blades from the back of the smaller one. As that creature fell to the ground reaching for the burnt troll it yelled out in giant, Momma. Keywynn, the only one who speaks giant, was mortified. Hearing this, Naphako immediately rushed to heal the young creature. With the young troll stable and breathing the group looked at one another, completely confused on the reasonings for her actions. As the group discussed Keywynn looked at the pile of corpses and realizing they were all humans and dwarfs and turned to heal the burnt troll who woke up, looked around, and rushed to the small troll.

In the chaos, Honkers took a bite from the sleeping troll's face removing the left eye. Waking up screaming and looking around for his family, the troll began to speak not in giant, but in orc. Confused and intrigued the party conversed with the very articulate troll, later finding out he was a Riku, a more civilized race of trolls. Tek, the once-bound, one-eyed Riku stood up and explained what really happened: he witnessed a group of humans and dwarves wearing white clothing attacking some nearby travelers. While he was too late to save the travelers, he made sure those white cloaks wouldn’t hurt anyone else, though two white cloaks escaped and ran east. Tek thanked them for sparing his family and said they were heading north. With no reason to not trust the Riku, the party bid them farewell. The group searched the cave for clues about the white cloaks or anything useful. They found hints that the white cloaks were in fact closer and more established in this area than they originally thought.

They traveled back down to the monastery to inform Nila of the news. In a blink of an eye she alerted the town and they were packed and ready to go. Assuming it would come to this, the town had prepared to travel to Nightcrest for safety. Nila paid them for the job they completed and said she would double the next job if they could track those surviving white cloaks east towards the Vonh Highlands. She had a hunch that the missing people over the past few months heading that direction might be linked with the white cloaks. The party agreed, took rest in the tavern and began their journey east.

They made great time while traveling and found a recently raided village. With no apparent survivors they decided to continue the journey, not wanting to camp too close to that town. An hour or so later they found an abandoned campsite with a full horse cart. After careful investigation they didn’t notice any signs of struggle. Kyrealle did, however, notice that this horse cart belonged to her friend's uncle Tutan. The cart was still full of his shop's wares but no sign of him. They decided to investigate more in the morning. During the night Naphako had another nightmare about the young Tabaxi girl and Keywynn shared the story of how her brother disappeared and she left her village.

The next morning they discovered tracks which showed Tutan walking then running from the camp towards the mountains. The group followed the tracks. When they arrived at the entrance of a cave Eclipse and Tyvar crept stealthily into the cave to see if it was safe. Simultaneously Kyrealle and Keywynn saw images of their loved ones, looking scared, rushing into the cave. In a flash they too were rushing in after them. Naphako and Kerrick without warning followed their careless friends, but it was too late. Kyrealle and Keywynn rushed into what seemed to be a portal on the inner cave wall following their loved ones. Eclipse completely confused at first noticed something of his own, his younger sister, and rushed into the portal after her. Naphako saw the young tabaxi in her dreams as well and rushed in. Kerrick, completely confused and a little frustrated, tied himself off on a close rock and rushed in to save his friends.

Immediately the party was hit with a frigid cold they had never experienced before, looking around for the ones they followed to no avail. They quickly realized they must have followed an illusion, but even more puzzling Naphako and Eclipse realized they were looking for the exact same Tabaxi girl, Light in the Shadows. Confused and freezing they looked around for anything to help identify where they are. They noticed a faint light all the way down the mountain that hinted towards a town. Kerrick activated the black thermal cube which provided a little warmth so that they wouldn’t be freezing as they begin their journey down. Part way down they heard a violent struggle. Darting into the snow they observed two very large crag cats fighting over their kill. Once the cats were gone they continued their journey. When they arrived at the scene it was horrific. Body parts and blood scattered everywhere. Keywynn heard sniffling coming from behind a tree. She carefully moved closer and found a yeti tyke calling out for his momma in giant. Holding back tears Keywynn couldn’t bring herself to explain what happened and asked if there was something they could do to help. The little Tyke asked to join them, and join them he did. A little further down the mountain Kerrick found a sign point towards the faint light. The sign read Trevak 5 miles ahead.