Time apart

• Zoyana disappeared, explored, and became a mercenary
• Fang followed Zoyana
• Aegar, severely shaken by the black dragon encounter, broke down and then took months to heal at one of his schools.
• Pliny traveled, sang, and took care of Aegar

A final goodbye to Ragvala

Leosin’s office

• The party stumbled through the portal into an office.
• Leosin was at a desk in the Harper safehouse in Waterdeep, and was in the process of writing to the party to ask them to come.
• Leosin took them quickly a few blocks away to a meeting already in progress.

The Open Council Meeting:

• The building Leosin took them to included a grand meeting hall. The meeting was contentious.

  • Nobles lined the upper gallery watching.
  • A table below housed a few dozen. Many of whom the party recognized.

• Lord Neverember invited the party to give an update of what they knew of the Cult. Not long in, the party caused a fluster with their disclosures, and Lord Neverember closed the session for a private update with a much smaller group.

The Closed Council Meeting:

• In a smaller chamber, the party gave their update to a group of about 20. This included

  • Lord Dagult Neverember, the Open Lord of Waterdeep that they had met briefly at their reunion with Leosin during their first visit to Waterdeep

  • Marshal Ulder Ravengard, Marshal of the Flaming Fist and Duke of Baldur’s Gate, who’s respect the party gained when dealing with the Murkwater Maniac

  • Sir Isteval, former Dragon Knight of Cormyr, now representing Daggerford, who Aegar had met while searching for a magic shop. His cane made of a dragon femur unmistakable.

  • Ontharr Frume, representing the Order of the Gauntlet, who they befriended in Elturel

  • King Melandrach, King of the elves of the Misty Forest, who Pliny had met previously via his father and grandfather.

  • And many they had not met previously:

    • Taern Hornblade, Former High Mage of Silverymoon
    • Lord Dauner Ilzimmer, Lord Warder of Amphail
    • Ambassador Connerad Brawnanvil, envoy from Mithral Hall, representing the dwarves of the North
    • Remallia Haventree, representing the Harpers
    • Declan Winterhound, representing the Emerald Enclave
    • A Masked Lord of Waterdeep, who’s identity was not revealed
    • Lady Dala Silmerhelve, speaking for House Silmerhelve of Waterdeep
    • Rian Nightshade, of unclear affiliation

• Lady Dala Silmerhelve gave a pertinent update:

  • “The disturbance that’s been sensed across the Sword Coast is the Draakhorn - an ancient device whose sounding alerts dragons across Faerun that great events are unfolding. It’s impossible to say what the sounding means, but the dragons hear it clearly and will eventually answer its call.”
  • “The Sea of Moving Ice was the last known location of the Draakhorn. No one can pin point its present location from the sound, or even verify with certainty that the relic is still in the northern sea, but the search must start there. And here’s why:
  • “The one person who could tell us more is a tiefling wizard called Maccath the Crimson. No one alive knows more about the Draakhorn than her, but the Arcane Brotherhood, of which she is also a member, hasn’t seen her for three years. She was investigating the Sea of Moving Ice when she disappeared.”
  • Maccath the Crimson was a one of the Arcane Brotherhood’s most notable dragon experts, and had recently gone north into the rang of the White Dragon Arauthator, known as Old White Death to investigate rumors related to the Draakhorn.
  • Maccath reported her progress to the Hosttower by way of sending spells. Her last report spoke of seeing Ice Hunters paddling their sealskin boats toward a huge iceberg, floating upon a cloud, with spires that looked like towers. She had intended to follow the Ice Hunters and investigate the iceberg. After that, no more reports came.
  • Attempts to find Maccath using scrying and other magical means located only her ship, adrift and heavily damaged. Some of the ship’s crew were seen dead, but no sign of the tiefling sorcerer was ever found. However, the lair of a dragon as powerful as Arauthator is no doubt protected against scrying magic. If Maccath is alive, in addition to the lore she can share regarding the Draakhorn, the Arcane Brotherhood would be most grateful to get her back.

• Remallia Haventree:

  • Dissension in the ranks of the Cult of the Dragon (likely due to the work of the Looting Luters, nice job), with the majority of the hoard they had been collecting having apparently gone missing, as well as Talis the White (2nd among the white Cultists)
  • She also gave quite the outburst at one point, in contrast to her otherwise quiet and observant manner, her voice echoing through the council chamber:
    • “Enough of this bickering and delay! Arthagast’s murder should be a rallying cry, a call to arms against the Cult of the Dragon that threatens us all. Our cities, our homes are under siege, and yet we waste time on trivialities. The Cult doesn’t care about our factions or our titles; they care about destruction and chaos. We can’t afford to wait while they amass power. Honor Arthagast’s memory with action, not words. The longer we hesitate, the closer they come to achieving their nightmarish goals. Are we leaders, or are we puppets dancing to the cult’s tune? Unity. Action.”

• Declan Winterhound:

  • “I must reiterate that this information is sensitive and must not leave the room: we’ve had a sighting of Skyreach Castle, flying North…”

• Rian Nightshade:

  • “We discovered that the White Dragon Mask had been stolen, but recovered by Varram the White. Some of you may have heard about some nasty business at the Cassalanter Villa. Nobles murdered in the night, investigation determined magical Silence may have played a role. Well the thieves stole a chest. In that chest was the stolen white dragon mask. But it appears that Varram has re-acquired it.”

Plan

• Council of Waterdeep plan: Looting Luters to go north to investigate, find Maccath, and report back.

• Looting Luters plan: bring back a white dragon for Aegar

Traveling

• No sooner had the plan been proposed, than Leosin ushered them out of the chamber to get their journey started (“When you get the answer you want, leave. Otherwise they might changed their minds.”)

• The next thing they knew, they were aboard the Frostskimmr, captained by a human male known as Lerustah Half-face.

  • The right half of his face was left a scarred ruin from severe frostbite suffered years ago on the Sea of Moving Ice. He kept a leather hood drawn across his face most of the time, both for warmth and so as not to frighten children. Lerustah was a brave explorer and a skilled sailor.
  • Frostskimmr was a light longship with a shallow draft, driven by a single sail or by oars when necessary. The combination of wind and oar power was needed for picking a course through close-packed ice. The ship was open to the air, but the crew rigged sailcloth shelters across the deck to keep away the wind and sleet and hold in some warmth.
  • Despite the ship’s length of nearly sixty feet, it is still light enough to be lifted by its forty crew members if it became hemmed in by ice, which the party learned as they moved North.

• A combination of luck and skill (and short session time) kept them from being disturbed.

  • Though at one point, the tentacles of a giant octopus slid along the hull before the beast disappeared in the depths.
  • And at another, they spied a polar bear in the distance, making a meal of recent prey.

Oyaviggaton Sighted.

• As the characters’ objective came into view, with the flattened expanse at one end rising to jagged peaks at the other, there was no mistaking the silhouette of the massive iceberg as matching the description given by Maccath the Crimson.
• Arauthator’s iceberg lair rose from the sea to form a floating island. The portion of the berg above the water appeared roughly triangular, with rounded corners. The plateau portion of the iceberg rose more than a hundred feet above the water, and the jagged ice peaks add another two hundred feet above that.
• Off in the distance were spires that might have been castle towers rather than ice peaks.