Horace is gone. But the party struggles onward. They travel farther and farther through the
cave. As they progress, the ambient
temperature chills; before long, they can see their breath. A partial tunnel collapse separates Azkadelia
from the group. Although their numbers
are dwindling, their confidence remains high after a wave of alpha mutations
gives them impressive temporary powers.
The tunnel flares out, and reveals a frozen, crystalline palace. Clearly, their tunnel has led them to the ice
cave on their map. They are immediately
confronted by the booming voice of an ancient warrior; “Who enters the cave of Youric?!
Begone, vile trespassers!” The team,
however, calms the tensions, and informs Youric that they merely want to exit
through his cave. Youric drops his
confrontational and Shakespearean tone, saying “Actually, uh… my wife’s been a
bit testy lately… She’d be super-pissed if she saw me having some guys
over. Truth be told, I’ve been sleeping
on the couch most nights. Ever since I
got her that big crystal, she’s been so quick to anger.” The party resolves to power through Youric’s
cave anyway, to which Youric says “I’m staying out of this one” and retires to
his tool shed.
The party doesn’t make
it far before they are separated by a slippery, icy slope. Nyridius, Little Rock, and Optimus are
attacked by mutated ice-cold lap dogs. Optimus
makes short work of them by busting out the big guns first – he uses his “life-leech
explosion” mutation to crack open the dogs’ skulls and drink the sweet, sweet juices
inside. Nyridius and Little Rock make
themselves feel like big, strong men by beating the hell out of the last
remaining dog. On the other end of the
cave, Lim’Dul meets a large spider who tries to communicate with him. He utilizes a miniature gecko to translate the
spider’s speech, and convinces the spider to fetch Helga, Youric’s wife.
As Optimus crosses the
ice cave’s living room to meet up with Lim’Dul, he finds a large, hollow
podium. After breaking it open, his
suspicions are confirmed; it contains the ice crystal that Youric spoke
of. Furthermore, the crystal is giving
off a field that makes everyone in the party except Lim’Dul incredibly
short-tempered and somewhat violent toward each other.
When Helga enters the
chamber, she sees Optimus covered in her dogs’ brains and smashing her display
case. SHE. IS. PISSED. She attacks the group, and calls another pack
of ice dogs to assist. Her infuriated banshee
shrieks deal psychic damage to the group, and her ranged ice beam attacks nearly
freeze them in place.
The men, however, gang up on her, and are successful in beating an old married woman unconscious.
Youric enters the room
and surveys the scene. He thanks the
group for not killing his wife, and begins nursing her back to health. In addition, he realizes that the ice crystal
was the cause of all the violence, yet he knows it cannot be destroyed. Youric offers to keep the crystal safely
contained within his cave. He also
offers the team a warning; he says that he’s seen very strange behavior
displayed in the lands surrounding his cave, and he can’t help but wonder if
the crystals are to blame for it all.
Azkadelia meets up with
the party as they exit the ice cave, asking “What’d I miss?”
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