It had only been a couple of weeks since the party had ran off in search of treasure with their archeologist buddy Lukas and now here he was again with another tale of lost ruins and stories of treasure. This time it was the lost citadel of Thunderdelve Mountain. A keep built high in the Frost Peak Mountains by humans and dwarves over 200 years ago. It was said to be a bastion of safety for the various hill and mountain villages at the time. It was also supposed to be a refuge for any future mining taking place in the area. A possible fort and marketplace at the top of the known world. It was just that until a greedy and hungry white dragon arrived to lay the place to ruin. The dragon along with a small army of dragonborn followers captured the citadel. Only a handful of humans and a trio of dwarves are said to have survived the dragon attack. The remaining people were captured or killed. Once the survivors made it down the mountain they disappeared as did the location of the citadel.
Now with the help of various 100+ year old maps of the region and an oral account from a 200+ year old dwarf who said to have been at the citadel during the attack…..Lukas was ready to travel up into the Frost Peaks to find archeological proof of this ruin and possibly some coin along the way.
He went off to recruit the only people that were crazy enough (or greedy enough) to accompany him on an insane trip up a mountain during the winter. He met them at the Slaughtered Hog Tavern ( and Slaughter House ).
After a story and a bit of drinking, a ½ orc barbarian, human monk and dragonborn thief were ready to travel to some small remote foothill village three/five days away from Stonekeep. They hopped a steam carriage ride for two days and then another day on mules to a small tavern, inn and trading post in the middle of nowhere (two days southwest of Ferrous Spur). They crashed. Awoke. Packed for cold weather and began a trek up into the Frost Peak Foothills.
The first day was easy since they were following an old logging trail/ Then they had to split from that and begin the task of riding and walking mules slowly up into the mountains. After almost 10 hours of crisscrossing up a mountain the party made camp. A cold but uneventful night of cold weather camping. The next day was more of the same until they reached a ravine. A ravine that spanned about three hundred feet. They stopped by the remains of a bridge that at one time spanned this ravine. They also found a small cart path leading down into said ravine. This was good sign as this location was on the maps Lukas had studied.
The party camped again since night was quickly approaching. This night Lukas regaled the group about the village of Bronislav. A small village South if Thunderdelve Mountain. If they could find the ruins of this village, then they were surely on the right track. This village should be a day North of this ravine.
Next morning and it was down into the ravine and across the small creek running through it. The might river that once flowed through here was now nothing more than a couple of feet (at best) of slowly running water. As the party made their way across the rocky bottom they found: various remains of hand carts, horse bones, old tattered clothing, ruined gear and the occasional human bone all scattered about. The barbarian ranged ahead to check for any danger while the remaining party members brought the mules and gear across. That is when a trio of large lumbering hairy creatures appeared seemingly from nowhere to attack the party.
Yetis! A trio of them looking to feed on the group. They attacked viciously, but were no match for the trio of adventurers. A matter of minutes later and the hairy beasts had been dispatched. The group went about policing the area to ensure no more of these critters were lying in wait for them. While searching they did manage to find a small overhang where these beasts look to have nested. Here they found all manner of adventuring supplies in various states of disarray. They also found an old and untouched crate of equipment. Inside they did find a quartet of healing potions. The bottles were identical to the healing potions they acquired from the local House of Healing in Stonekeep. Could it be another expedition had discovered the location of Thunderdelve Mountain? If so, it looked like they had made it no farther than this, which was a good/bad scenario for Lukas and company.
They climbed the ravine and noticed some wisps of smoke on the horizon! Could those be the signs of civilization? Was that the location of the village of Bronislav? If so, it was only maybe 8 hours away and up and over small “hill”. The party continued to work their way up and into the mountains toward the location of the smoke they saw earlier. As the day grew longer the clouds began to roll in and begin lightly snowing. It was getting on towards evening. The mules began to bray and honk. The party drew weapons in preparation of battle.
Just then a giant saber-toothed cat leapt at the rouge. Three more of them raced from the tree line. They were wild for the taste of donkey flesh! The party was able to fend off the giant cats with little issue. They made camp again for the night.
The following morning they made way again to try and find the source of the smoke. By midday the clouds had rolled in once again and a light snow was starting. They also noticed some occasional small lights bouncing and floating through the forest around them. The lights never approached but they seemed to be flanking the party. This went on for several miles until they just suddenly stopped. That was about the same time as they discovered five people frozen in blocks of ice in the woods ahead.
These five people-cicles were all in various states of movement when they were frozen. They appeared to be running from something. One could not tell how long they had been frozen here. It was the fashion of clothing that gave the group an idea of at least a minimum of 5-10 years. They could do nothing for these poor fools and continued on up the mountain.
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| Like this but with a few less houses and swap out for pine trees |
As they traveled higher and higher the forest began to thin. This made it easier to transverse up the mountain and also made it easier to spot a giant statue of a standing and very angry bear with a snowflake carved in its’ chest. Behind the statue they say a trio of small log cabins. Two of them had wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys. A fourth build was a very long log building with a smaller building attached to the back. It was from this building that a giant of a man burst form the door. He looked to the party and threw his arms wide as if the was trying to hug the entire group.
“WELCOME TO BRONISLAV! COME INSIDE! EAT! DRINK! WARM YOURSELVES! YOU ARE WELCOME!” he bellowed in a deep and thick ( Eastern European ) accent.
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