G21 - Papers Please

Date: Planting (4) 24th, Duesday, 760

As they exited the Yeti's shop, Jonom got stolen, leaving Daisy behind. Taking in the sights of lower Winterspire, a peculiar place, matching the peculiar forest it's in. There is a heavy presence of guards, all Elves, wearing white furs. As an area it's rather small, not even village size, about 100 yards diameter directly below the spire.

Peculiarly, the kobolds said they were in the hundreds, but where were they? Also, the spire, a massive structure, is essentially floating on top of the ruins. Its base rests on the fortification walls of the ruins, but that appear inefficient.

They once again debated why they were here. Olar headed back into the shop and traded his metal shield and armor for a wooden shield, and hide armor, which turned out to be made out of a yeti hide.

Jonom re-appeared and the party went looking for the kobolds. They found 3 of them playing a game by a rather small house me out of the ruins. A few from the party recognized the game as Mole's Gambit. Both Jimmy Sprockets and Aka Noone played, winning both games and caching out.

Twinkle, one of the kobolds, told Adventure's INC that they have been greenlit by Fluff and asked them to follow him. After passing multiple traps. Along the way they passed by a shrine of Gaknulak, the kobold god of protection, traps, ambushes, and trickery. After offering a tithe to him, they went further down the caverns till they hit a 4ft tunnel. Jonom and Volgis decided to stay behind, while the others went forward without them. In the next room, they met Derp, an Ogre painted white.

Twinkle had Derp keep an eye to the group while he fetched their King. Olar played leopard and snakes with Derp while they waited. Shortly after King Choopee appeared with Fluff. The group wanted papers for Winterspire. King Choopee made a deal with them, 4 papers for a place to stay.

With the papers secured and a deal made, Jimmy create a few more and they ended up teleporting to Upper Winterspire. Winterspire is hollow inside, comprised of multiple floors with balconies. Air Elementals are used as a taxi service.

At the information desk, located next to the teleporter, they got some basic information. Half the party headed to the 11th floor for the library there to hopefully find a hint about Mel's parents. The other half of the party went to the 5th floor for the stores there.

On the store level, the group got magic items, and sold potions. In the library, Mel and Olar started looking through books. Eventually, Mel found a reference of the Frostmaiden that was about the right age and apparently came from the hometown of Mel's.

The Frostmaiden was located in a cube covered in frost on the 17th floor, the middle of Upper Winterspire. They already knew from talking to the information desk that they could visit the cube once, at 5pm. While waiting, they bought some weapons.

At 5pm, they went to the 17th floor. A fire elemental melted the frost, and they went inside, along with a priest and eight more visitors. Inside, there was a woman, with a frozen circlet that looked identical to the ring Mel possesses. To make things more surreal, Mel looked a lot like her. A stone tablet was by her feet that said ,"Here lies the Frostmaiden. Sacrificed herself to avoid the dark eye of her daughter, and saved us all from eternal winter."

...and that's when all hell broke loose. The hearths in the room turned gray, and extinguished themselves, making the group's shadows flicker in and out of existence. The 8 visitors and the priest started writhing on the ground. A shadow of a woman appeared in the flickering of the light. The wind picked up and carried a whisper, her head cocked ot the side. Her right hand over her face with an eye drawn on it.

"Thank you, my loyal minions." She floated up, grabbing the circlet and broke it off the Frostmaiden's grasp, breaking her hand in the process. Laughing maniacally, she disappeared. The party tried to process what had happened. When the priest came to, he accused the party of treachery. They tried to pretend they didn't know what had happened either. Once they got out of the cube, the priest had everyone arrested.

Volgis, managed to avoid an arrest, having stayed outside. The rest of the party was escorted to be questioned. They realized that the markings they each had from the Queen are no longer marking their bodies.