Chapter 11 : Fire and Ice

#### Surprise in Ice

In search of a place to rest, we turn right, away from the daylight and into the cavern where, judging by the gores in the ice, the dragon spends some considerable time. We continue beyond the tracks, and quickly see that the cave ends in numerous cracks and fissures, splitting every so often -- one may well imagine getting lost quickly in this maze where every turn resembles the other! So we return, and Rufus casts a Detect Magic, we presume, after all, that this is a dragon's lair. He finds indeed a huge section of the wall glowing in Illusion. After some false starts, we all make it through and find the tell-tale hoard of treasure, much of it in crates and chests.

We don't fancy taking the time for a thorough search and just grab a chalice and bedroll, that are the strongest magic items in view. Meanwhile, Tinder who is standing guard, hears something approach from the other corridor -- from outside. This bodes ill, and as he retreats behind the wall, we can all hear a creature stamping its way towards us. As Juneeka and Druw take stand and prepare spells, Tinder and Rufus get into position to charge and -- hopefully -- surprise the dragon, and Terrak sneaks out to find a tactical position near the rear of the beast. As Terrak starts making his way around the cavern, however, the dragon already rounds the corner, and, wasting no time, breathes his Breath Weapon through the Illusory wall -- so much for our surprise attack... Tinder and Rufus nevertheless start their charge, while Druw casts a quick Haste on Rufus, and Juneeka unleashes a Diamond Spray on the Dragon. Unfortunately, the beast is not dazzled, and Rufus and Tinder find it hard going to successfully attack it. Also Terrak, approaching from its rear, and Smiley from above, have a hard time. At the same time the dragon strikes all around it with fangs and claws. This is going the wrong way for us, and it is going fast. We continue the exchange, unable to find a lapse in which we may safely break away, until we feel a tremor run through the ice, and huge chunks of it falling down on us -- Terrak suffers a bad gash in his face. The dragon does not hesitate, but turns and runs immediately. Some of us take the opportunity to strike one last time but to little avail. It escapes and does not even seem to much bothered by our attacks, just mightily irritated (and a bit scratched here or there). We decide that whatever can scare away a dragon, should also set us running. A little while later, we emerge atop the icy ramp into the midday sun. Fortune has it that we see a shed with hounds, and two sleds standing ready. With some doings and fussing, we strap the dogs to the harnesses, load the sleds, and set off north at brisk pace. Behind us, the mayhem continues to draw nearer, as the occasional boom and gust of ice, rock and steam underscores nicely.

#### Northward Bound

We continue due north, in as much a straight line as the terrain allows. At nightfall we get out our snowball-turn igloo, and enjoy an uneventful rest, spiced up by a nourishing and fortifying meal that Juneeka conjures up for us -- very much needed and warmly welcomed after the encounters of the last day.

The next day we decide that Smiley is best equipped to scout out the terrain in front of us. If it is safe enough for him to walk over, we should be able to manage with the teams and sleds as well. We continue for another day or so, when he suddenly turns due west -- he indicates to Juneeka that it 'is dangerous' to go straight on. When we reach the point where Smiley turned, we see a field of ice-geysers stretch out in front of us, very well spotted indeed. He deftly steers around the outer rim of the field and then turns us back onto our northward trajectory. Most of the journey unfolds similarly uneventful - in fact we very quickly
start feeling the drag of the monotonous landscape - ice and snow pass by underfoot and all around, wind whipping around us incessantly, mile upon mile upon mile. Some diversion is gotten from the bowl - Druw and Terrak spend several hours one evening finding out what it does. It finally turns out to produce a nice warm flame – extremely useful in these lands. Rubbing along the rim one way turns it on. A bit more fiddling and puzzling learns us that rubbing it the other way around, turns it off again.

One night Rufus gets a terrible wake-up when two giant ice-and-snow hands shoot out of the frozen ground and grab him lying in his bed. His scream alerts us and in seconds we come to his help - but our options are limited for the chances of hitting Rufus are great. While he wriggles, and heaves, and squirms to escape the icey death-grip, Hender starts chopping, and Terrak struggles to properly hold the burning bowl onto the arm of ice, but we all somehow fumble every which way. We are shocked as Rufus, still struggling for life, is dragged down into the ground. Juneeka teeters on the verge of casting a flame strike - that might well do little good and more harm, to Rufus, but also to us and, more importantly even, to the Igloo. She finally decides on a Flaming Sphere, just when Terrak finally manages to get the bowl under control and put it up-side-down on the ground where Rufus had just disappeared. In short time, but in the circumstances still agonizingly long- seeming, we bore a hole downwards and suddenly see a lot of spluttering and splashing below under the pool of water that is quickly forming. Terrak hesitates no second and drags out the spluttering form - which turns out to be Rufus. As soon as the fire reached the creature that was holding him, it released its hold and fled. We strip him and search for a way to warm him quickly - despite his Ring of Warmth he is shivering severely and seems barely conscious. At that moment, Terrak remembers the blanket roll that he grabbed when we left the dragon's lair. Unrolled, it turned out to be much larger than it seemed, and beneath it we found that it was comfortably warm, giving much better warmth than a normal blanket would be able to do.

As soon as Rufus had recovered, we went on our way again. In the afternoon of one of the following days, we were surprised by something quite different. The ice field suddenly went down into what looked like the slope of a glacier. In the opposing wall, we saw a whole ship, crew and all but no sails, embedded in the clear ice. Not knowing what to make of it (1), we found a place where we could cross the gap and continued on our way. Some days later, we had our next surprise. A giant fish, somewhat like a predatory dolphin, broke cleanly through the ice-sheet below our feet and crashed onto the lead sled. Rufus and Hender could barely manage to avoid getting hit. Fortunately also the dogs were safe, but the sled seemed instantly lost. Before we could really worry about that, we realized that this fish was actually attacking us (which shows just how harsh the struggle for food and survival could get in these parts!).

While we engaged the beast, a second one came hurtling through the ice, aiming for Juneeka who was preparing to cast a spell at some safe distance from the first fish. Fortunately, it just took one stab from each of us to finish the first one, and some more and Juneeka's flame-strike to do in the second one. After some discussion about the value of the fish as food and construction material - the bones could well make a good second sled - we finally decided we had not the time nor the skills to do this now. We took the broken sled for later repair, and continued on our way. Somewhere along the journey we also suffered howling winds, snowstorms and similar discomfort. The winds made such awful sounds that they quite literally hurt our ears and chased us inside the igloo well ahead of sunset. The snowstorm got us a bit more nervous - the long winter nights already almost stretched the full duration that we could use our snowball-igloo, so we had no choice but at some point to put up our tents and suffer through the blizzard with much less protection. Fortunately the storm abated after only a few hours more.

#### Pinnacle

Some few days later, some of us spotted some changes in the distance. Instead of the almost featureless ice plains that we were almost getting used to, in the distance the ice was clearly breaking up into isolated flows. As we drew nearer, we could see the water, and finally, some distance into the water a huge iceberg with a whole city, with temples, castles and spires and all, on top of it. While we wondered how to get in, or even near it, Juneeka turned snow-owl and flew out over the water to scout. As she flew around the city, she saw a large boat with four humanoid figures being lowered into the water and briskly starting to row towards us. We decided to wait out their approach, in all likelihood they would be our only way in. Which also meant they might be our only way out. They turned out to be proper ferrymen - of some sort at least - not quite human, not with white-blue skin and icy eyes, but certainly no Frost giants. They charged a silver piece each, and after setting free the sled-dogs, we decided to come aboard. When Terrak asked for the price of the return fare, they answered it would in all likelihood also be one silver each, but they added they rarely had passengers going back. As we feared, but not as we hoped...

Getting into the city was easy, but did involve registration, as 'explorers'. We then made our way to the city's (only?) inn, which was run by a human. The common room held a mixed company of assorted races, much like you would expect in these parts - in one corner we even saw a pair of Frost giants sitting at a properly sized - to them – table. Now, again, we need time to think and plan. Somehow we feel we are still missing some piece of the puzzle. We came to seek this Jug, connected to the lake ... wossname... But this city is in no lake, the water here is sea. The party that raided the crypt in Snovirn was not just Frost giants, but possibly some people from this city. Where does that leave us now? What do we have to go by from here?

#### Pinnacle

We wander around the city for a few days, clearly without plan or goal. Rufus is keeping an eye on the harbor, for signs of whatever trade may be going in or out, while I try to feel out the undercurrents of the city. But our aimless wanderings seem to be out of the ordinary here. So much so, even, that our innkeeper warns us that we will be drawing attention to us. People normally come here for business of one kind or other, so not having any clear reason for being here will make people suspicious. We ask him about the organization of the city and he refers frequently to The Law – or something similar – without much detail or explanation. It is more or less stated as a universal fact, something that everyone will know, like that you cannot go out at night because it is dangerous, cold, and you might get hurt.

Rufus decides to have a look at the harbor at night, but the innkeeper shows up and stops him from going out, repeating the warning he gave earlier and adding that everybody knows that is not allowed. When we press for more details, such as who it is that determines what is allowed and what not, he first refers again to The Law, but in the end sort of glazes over – it is as if his face closes and he refuses to answer anything on the topic. Meanwhile we are getting the impression of this town of being well organized. Our innkeeper told us it is a free haven of sorts, and people who want to be here usually are criminals, running away, or looking for quick money, or likely all three of these. What keeps eluding us is what the primary source of income is for the city, it seems pretty prosperous but there is no visible trade. This, also, is one of the topics where our innkeeper and pretty much anyone else that we approach, keeps silent on. Interestingly, I've not been able to detect any undercurrents in the society here – basically everything is arranged as one layer. This is unlike any city I've ever been in before, where there always is some manner of underclass of outlaws or repressed people.

After a few days, we've been pondering over the letter that we found at the border fortress, which mentions 'goods that spill easily', and 'new shipments', and was written by the lord (or someone at least) from Pinnacle – and it is signed by an unspeakable name. Juneeka decides to Scry for this person, in hopes this might give us some clue on where and how to proceed in our quest. She Casts the spell and concentrates, and finds her vision shifting to a room underneath the city's castle. She sees a half-circle of figures standing around something. They have something hanging from their heads and faces, but before Juneeka is able to get a better look, one of them turns around abruptly. He makes a striking gesture in her direction, and Juneeka reels back as if hit – losing the connection in the process.

She needs a while to recover her bearings, and then tells the rest of us of what she saw. We decide these creatures are most likely mindflayers.(2) Importantly, we now have a clear aim to go for – infiltrate the castle. I'm convinced there must be a secret entrance through either the harbor – which is located in a deep chasm at one side of the iceberg – or through the temple at the city center.

#### Harbor and Temple

We decide to split up. Juneeka and I will scout the harbor and temple, while Rufus, Hender and Druw will go see what they can learn about the castle and how to enter it. My first intuition was that the far end of the harbor chasm would be a good place for the start of a secret passage to the castle. But it appeared none of the docks, walkways, staircases or other structures stretched far enough. Apparently there was nothing there. From one of the street bridges spanning the chasm, we had a good view of the chasm's end, but through the murky ice surface, we could see no signs of any structures.

Suddenly, we heard a loud bang in the distance, and a while later we heard a bells tolling. This triggered a major uproar in the city, with people mentioning 'another pair of fools let themselves be caught' and 'they know they should not have gone into the castle' – Juneeka and I silently agreed; why had they gone from scouting to infiltration? This placed us in a bit of a dilemma. Would the city watch be coming for us soon? How could we be of any help to our bunch of fools?

One option would be to go back to the Inn, wait to be arrested and hope to take it from there when we got into the castle. Another was to lay low and then try to find back the rest. But since we were looking for a way into the castle, we thought we might as well continue with that. I decided I should be able to manage searching the temple for secret doors without anyone noticing what I was doing, or even without noticing that I was there at all, for that matter. I worked my way around the large columns around the open temple interior. The couple of monks sitting at the benches didn't seem to notice. But when I was searching the third column, they got up and came right at me. My first impulse was to walk away, pretending I hadn't been there, but a bird calling from a short distance away somehow re-instilled the trust in my own abilities.

Almost to my amazement, the two monks walked right by me and went up to the next column, where with a few practised hand movements they opened the secret door I had been looking for! When they were inside, I went over and started searching for the mechanism that opened the door. I had some idea where to look and what to look for, so in a short while I located an indentation that outlined the doorway, and within some sort of lever that unlocked the door, allowing it to be swung inwards. Once inside, I realized it also closed manually – and I closed it of course. Juneeka had joined me and now transformed back into her human shape. Together we made our way down the pitch-black staircase, careful to avoid making any sound.

Below, we found a corridor with lines of doors at either side – some twenty in total at first count. Beyond we could hear the soft noises of several people sitting in a room. Ruffles can tell us it is a kitchen, which at first makes our hearts sink – this sounds like a dead end. But when Juneeka asks him if there is another way out, he can confirm that. We decide to get into one of the rooms to find a pair of robes – using these we may be able to bluff our way in. I first listen at the first several doors on either side, and we take the first one on the right as that was one of the ones without snores. The lock on one of the chests is no problem for me, and in moments Juneeka and I are dressed up for business. We take a deep breath, put on a straight face and walk out into the corridor, heading for the kitchen. Drawing nearer, we see several monks sitting around a long table. Some of them look up to see who is approaching, and we notice with a bit of alarm that none of them is wearing cloaks. Hearts thudding, we maintain our course, and without a work, we walk around the table to the nearest exit in the opposite wall, certain that at any moment they might challenge our right to be there.

We cannot believer our luck as we walk into the corridor leading away from the kitchen. At its far end, we see a soft blue glow, which turns out the be a – clearly magical – circle embedded in the icy floor of a large, square room. Juneeka determines it to be of transmutation, which rules out Summoning and several other nasty possibilities, and includes Teleportation. We hope this will bring us to the castle, but cannot help wondering towards what the other corridor might lead. As we step into the room, two nude female figures descend from above, hovering just inside the magical ring.

#### The Castle

Rufus, Hender and Druw walk up the ramp, leading out from the city up to the castle. As the doors are open, they decide it should be fine to walk straight in. As they stand in the courtyard examining the four walls, and triple sets of double doors, the main doors slam shut behind them. Immediately, the two double doors at either side open, and a pair of giant worms enters from both. Druw casts a Haste on himself and Rufus, and when the melee closes in, a high-pitched whine fills the courtyard. Rufus and Hender manage to shake it off, but for Druw's tender ears it is simply too much – he freezes where he stands and has to look while he and his friends are attacked while is is unable to do anything.

Rufus gets Smiley out, and together with Hender the three of them engage the worms. Their bites are vicious, but all they can do, while Rufus and Hender with their Haste churn out one striking blow after another in rapid succession, and Smiley adds his bit of bite and claws. In a matter of moments, four huge bloody and battered carcasses litter the courtyard and a bell tolls higher in the castle. As soon as this happens, Druw regains control over his body and starts playing his Invisibility song on his harp.

While ice giants storm down the stairs, they dart in the opposite direction into the castle. Wandering from room to room, searching for the way down into the castle basement, they stumble upon a room with an ice golum.

#### Lights Out

-- We have split up – Juneeka and Terrak entering through the temple, and the others trapped in the castle, trying hard to find an entrance to the lower areas while avoiding the search parties

As Juneeka and I step into the room, two nude female figures descend from above, hovering just inside the magical ring. The left one asks 'What is the Password' – Juneeka and I exchange glances – neither of us has any idea of what it might be. We ventured it might be the writer of that letter we found in the Frost Giants' lair at the Ice Wall. I'm not sure how it came out, I tried to make it something like 'They didn't give me a password,' but it may not have mattered and in any case they started coming for us. One disappeared from sight immediately, while the other came forward. Juneeka and I closed in and attacked, I caught it by surprise in my first strike – and making proper headway for a few rounds with solid blows. I got slowed down a bit with animated rope lashing itself around my feet, but I managed to ignore it mostly. However, the Succulus turned her Charm on me, and I found my thoughts flowing away from the fight. She told me 'why don't you stop fighting?', which suddenly seemed like the obvious thing to do.

Juneeka, bless her, kept up her fight, but had no time to spare to catch my attention. While I decided that freeing my feet from the rope had nothing to do with fighting, the other Succulus suddenly appeared at my back, and she started taking me away. The first one reassured me that she wanted me to go with the other – so I went along placidly, leaving Juneeka behind... The Succulus took me back into the Kitchen, through which we had so successfully bluffed our way in. She announced us with an offhanded 'We caught another one'. This prompted the assembled monks to rise, and soon after one clubbed me unceremoniously over the head My lights went out.

Juneeka manages to overcome the remaining succulus – fortunately remaining safe from its charms, either through being female, or a druid. Hearing the commotion from the kitchen area, she chooses the safe option for the moment, and enters the magical circle. As we suspected, she gets Teleported – into a small room with six magic circles and a single door. It is locked, but she assumes the form of a mouse and squeezes through the crack at the floor. She hears commotion around her in a few directions and realizes that she probably would be in the castle – it would certainly make sense to have a direct connection between Temple and Castle, and we already knew fighting must have started in the castle when we heard the doors slam and the bells toll. She starts to move in the general direction of the loudest ruckus.

#### Lights Out

The others, Rufus, Hender and Drew, stumbled upon a room with an Ice Golem. Weary of possible – likely – pursuit, Rufus closes the door behind them. As he does that, the Golem comes into action, and is surprisingly swift in reaching them. But, before the onslaught of Hender's Axe and Rufus' swords, chips of ice fly everywhere and the construct is soon silent once more. The frantic search through the castle continues, up again, and then out onto the bulwarks which are, strangely, still deserted. They are caught in the middle of the walkway when at both sides in the castle towers the doors open, and two Frost Giant stick their heads out. Drew's circle of invisibility apparently still holds, because they exchange some words and withdraw back into the castle again. We guess that they probably said something like, 'I know they went this way, so if you wait there, I'll wait on this side'.

And, indeed, when patience ran out between the three of us and Rufus went out to open the far door – one of the giants was still standing just inside. It didn't see Rufus, but did see a door swinging open apparently out of its own accord. It charged out, and from inside several others seemed to spring out from nowhere, together with another, pale-faced creature. Some confuser melee ensued and pretty soon also three more arrived from the other side, leaving us trapped in a tight spot. With some maneuvering, between the three of us we manage to flank three or four of the giants, and with Smiley with us to help keep all of them occupied we feel we have a fighting chance.

Still we realize it will be hard work and no guarantee of success. We start laying around with swords and axe – targets aplenty for us all – but these beasts are built to last, as we know from experience, so it still takes quite long before we even managed to get the first one down. Smiley manages to bring one to the ground by attacking it's face and scratching out the eye. It still tried fighting back, but was not very effective, and in the meantime Smiley simply holds on and keeps chewing and clawing – man, what a way to go! The rest of us are getting beat pretty badly, while giving easily as much again as we get – but we see things getting tighter with the heartbeat. When Hender fells his first giant, the next attack brings him down, just after a Flamestrike suddenly appears out of nowhere. When the second Flame strike comes down, we recognize Juneeka's voice coming from somewhere above. She sends down a Lightning bolt while Drew attempts to stabilize Hender. When he fails, Juneeka takes over, and Drew joines Rufus, who is holding back one of the last giants, while Smiley just finishes chewing through the throat of another one. The Flamestrikes and Rufus' vicious attacks have already taken two others off our minds, and this world. As Hender springs back up and strikes the last giant standing, Drew goes down, and while Juneeka is healing him, also Rufus suddenly is down.

#### Luck?

I guess we should count ourselves immensely lucky to have such a fortunate string of events that allowed us all to survive this encounter – at any number of moments things might have turned much for the worse for us; Juneeka arriving a heartbeat later, for one. She also manages to heal Rufus just in time, and between him and Hender this last giant suddenly is no match anymore. But as we turn to get back inside and down the stairs, we see four Frost Giants marching up the opposite stairway, and we guess rather than hear four more coming up the stairs on our side as well. This isn't over yet.

While we close the door on the four Giants, we hear a big explosion coming from somewhere near the castle entrance. The footsteps that were coming up the stairs halt for a heartbeat, and then go back down. We decide to keep looking around in the castle, but also carefully work our way back to the exit again – we have little clue of where to go looking further. We go through the double doors leading into the arena space at the center of the castle. Rufus wants to go down into the arena pit immediately and find out what the hole at the center precisely is – but the rest wants to know if we could get out again after getting in. So we make our way to the opposite side and enter yet another storage area. Below is yet another barracks, then a corridor with guest rooms, and then Juneeka says she recognizes the area.

This is where she appeared after teleporting here from the temple, and indeed at the left of this corridor is the teleportation area. There is a short deliberation about whether we should go to the temple and get Terrak, but we decide that at this moment we can still benefit from the diversion – after the explosion, we now hear lots of fighting going on near the entrance. The right side of this corridor opens into the arena, so we can do what Rufus was suggesting all the time. We find the floor slopes upward, a bit volcano-like, with a large hole at the summit. From this hole, a jet of icy – really icy – cold air streams upward. It is so cold that we even cannot bring ourselves to go near it.

#### Reunited?

While we study the icy-jet of air, we hear the door opening through which we also entered and see two monks carrying an unconscious Terrak in between them – or rather, more or less dragging him along. Our first impulse is they would likely toss him into the jet, but they turn right and go along the wall towards another door. They enter and leave. We follow and find a flight of stairs going down, in the depth we can just make out their torchlight. The stairs first go straight, but soon turn into a winding staircase. When Hender, who walks in front, reaches the bottom, the rest of us still cannot see into the room. Suddenly, he starts running, and Rufus finds himself facing another Ice Golem. Hender, meanwhile, has charged right into one of the monks, pushed them away from Terrak, and is now fighting them in the next room – we hear slashes and wild shrieks of pain.

Rufus steps in to attack the Golem, and soon after Juneeka finishes it off with a well-placed Flame Strike. Only a puddle of water and melting ice remains. Hender has meanwhile chased the monks through the other room – a Blast of Ice and a wall of Ice Fire did not stop him, and they flee out the other door. Soon, Rufus joins them and while they think a minute of what to do, they hear a terrified shriek from behind the door – then silence. Juneeka and Druw have revived Terrak, who is a bit battered and bruised from being dragged along, but otherwise seems in good enough shape.

#### Locked out or in?

We open the door and see a huge cavern – so big we do not see the walls or ceiling, nor the far end. Some distance ahead, we find where the trail of blood left behind by the monks suddenly stops. We continue straight on until we reach a huge iron fence that looks like it stretches from wall to wall and floor to ceiling – and indeed it does as we find when we follow it. We also find out pretty soon there are some sort of huge flying lizzard snakes on the other side, who appear to be quite territorial. We also find on the other end of this cave, the source of the ice-jet. Here is a small lake (which miraculously but not magically is not frozen), and in the middle a small island – again appearing like a volcano made of ice. Being bored and running out of options, Rufus first tries to climb the fence and has to jump down when one of the flying beasts hurls itself at him again. Then, he actually swims the icy water, and clambers onto the island. He almost freezes his face off when he gets too close to the jet. I use my grappling hook to give him a rope to climb back on, but halfway something snaps at the far end. This turns out to be the hook – metal becomes brittle when frozen so cold!The cave beyond the fence, we decide, probably ends up connecting to the chasm we saw previously, and the fence is there just to keep vermin out. So we look for other options again.

#### Strange movements

While Rufus is drying himself, we hear some movement at the small house where the winding staircase ends. I go to scout, and see figures moving in the corridor, but they shut the door. I hear more movement, and footsteps going further down a staircase. We must have missed something there. Inside, we find the other room was once a temple, and another room which was a bedroom. Both are well and thoroughly smashed. In the bedroom we find some scraps of paper with a note on it that the people from below are taking over. So, this might explain what we first couldn't understand – the submission of these people to some mind-control. We have another small world to save here, apparently.

We search all we can think inside these rooms, and only find that indeed some part of the corridor floor is different. But no sign of an activating mechanism. We rest for what remains of the night, and then wait for the next party to go up or down. In the end, we install Druw above the corridor floor on Rufus' rod wedged between the walls – so he can be there invisible and see what happens. Frustratingly, we see no sign of them activating anything but we do learn they leave the staircase open while they are downstairs, so we decide we will just have to follow the next party on their way down.

#### A path onward – or down

More hours later, we get our chance and under cover of Druws invisibility we take our chances. A largish group of Frost Giants are leading a group of cowed but conscious humans. We follow and see them take the slaves around a corner. Two of the giants guard the corridor going straight on. We hear some noises from around the corner, a bit of a fight or something, and then the giants come back. Six of them, two abreast, walk towards us and there is now way we can avoid them in this narrow corridor – so we attack. Surprise is on our side, but still the fighting is heavy. These beasts are solid, and deal heavy blows. One grabs Rufus and holds him in a crushing embrace. Smart tactics, but it does leave him open to crippling strikes from Hender. Juneeka takes care of the rear four with one flame strike after another, and finally a ball of flames as well. In addition to damaging them badly – they don't like heat much – the fire also melts the floor, trapping them in a puddle that quickly gets hip-deep for them.

Between my slashing, Hender's hacking and Smiley's clawing and biting – he rips one open in a single tearing bite – we finish the first two, which also sets Rufus free. He switches to using his Spear to get to the next one in line, but after his first stab the Giant grabs his spear and swings him upward. Just before the butt reaches the ceiling, Rufus switches his Rod from Spear to ladder. The Frost Giant is caught completely by surprise as the expanding ladder first thrust through its chest, and then folds out its footrests sideways. Meanwhile, while Hender and me are finishing off the other in the second row, and Rufus also starts attacking this one from atop his ladder, one of the rear ones clambers free of the pool and steps onto solid ground.

Afraid he will sound an alarm, Rufus tries a hold person, and also sends Smiley after him. The hold person has no effect, and although Smiley manages a few strikes, the Giant breaks free and runs away much faster than any of us can follow. Hender and I have finished another one, and the last also flees the scene.

#### From the Frying Pan into the Fyre

We cannot waste any time, so Hender extends his rope of climbing across the water and tight-rope-walks across it. I want to follow, but see him hesitating near the end. The rest of us are still more or less stuck when, while Rufus starts preparing his Rod as a ladder again for more easy crossing, Hender splashes into the water, and within the same heartbeat some sort of wave washes over us. Suddenly, we all sort of feel unable to do anything at all – except for Hender who tries first to get out of the water again. When we look back – from where this wave of whatever came – we see a mindflayer standing there...

1. It now seems that this is where we left the 'land' and crossed out onto the ice over the water - sea or lake.
2. Later, I was wondering whether mind-control exerted by the mindflayers may also explain the close-mouthnedness that we were experiencing on several topics – particularly the abrupt and quite final way in which the people seemed to 'shut down'. In addition, it may explain the lack of an underclass in this city – they won't allow it and it would be (near) impossible to hide anything.