So, remember how we got dropped in the lake by that dragon last time? Ice bath aside, we'd made it to Caer-Dineval and plodded our cold, wet way to Geralda's shop. It’s Gunnar's mom's place, and like a treasure trove for locals – with a quirky twist! There are these stuffed trouts all over, dressed up in different costumes. Some were fishermen, others were like little chefs. I guess fish need jobs too, never thought about it until now.
We huddled around the hearth, warming up, drying off, and digging into this hearty stew. Our gear was sprawled everywhere, creating a cozy chaos. Gog decided to strip down completely. I guess he wanted to dry off in his own unique way.
We were just unwinding, recounting our adventures, when Geralda let us know she didn’t think Orille was the baddie here. Strange, but I mean, she’s not a cultist or anything, right?
Then, things got really weird. Gunnar suddenly froze, like he was hit by an ice spell. And before we knew it, we were trapped inside a snow globe! Talk about unexpected twists! I do like snow globes though.
Turns out, Geralda was actually Avarice – you know, from the Arcane Brotherhood. She rummaged through our belongings like a kid in a candy store, taking our notes and journals. She told us to pass a message to Velyne: "4, 3, 2 soon 1." Whatever that means. Then she threatened us and our families. She left without a trace, except for her threats and a magical puff of smoke. Gog didn't notice any of this, too busy being naked I guess.
But the trouble didn’t end there. Two gargoyles came to life and attacked us! They were tough, but we're tougher. We managed to beat them, but not before they set the house on fire. It was crazy – we were scrambling to save Gunnar who was looking for his mom, get our gear, and save many of those trout as we could.
After in a pub, we learned from Gunnar's Aunt Iris that she saw Geralda around two days ago. Odd, considering it's a small town where everybody knows everybody – especially since half the town seems to be related to Gunnar.
The worst part? We realized Avarice had swiped Dzann's notes and the map to Ythryn. She left behind my diary, though. Maybe she can't read pink crayon?
After sending a magic message to Velyne, we all agreed to meet at the Northern Outlook in Bryn Shander. We pooled some gold together and left it with Gunnar's family to rebuild the shop – they’re going to make it just like it was, trout and all.
Our journey back to Bryn Shander turned into a pub crawl. Fun and easy compared to our last travels. We met up with Velyne at the Northlook and told her about the tower and Avarice. She handed us a measly 100 gold for our trouble. She thinks Avarice is after the Candle Sill of White still and revealed there’s a fourth wizard in their club – Nas Lanthemere.
So, this Candle Sill thing is apparently on Solstice, a spooky island in the Sea of Moving Ice. It used to be frost giant land, including a big skull fortress called Grimskull. And get this – Velyne lost her orb friend, Professor Sconse, there too.
We took a magic door in the ground to Frostember, which was more of a dock than a town. Velyne’s ship turned out to be a hollowed-out zombie sperm whale, crewed by skeletons. Gross. Inside, it was like a haunted house on water. Belasco got super claustrophobic, and Velyne had to use her magic to calm him down. I wonder what the Morning Wood Lord thinks of all this.
Gunnar, oh boy, he bit into the whale's wall and ended up puking everywhere. Note to self: don't eat zombie whales. Later we even found skeletons playing cards, they didn't even notice us.
The next day, we surfaced near this icy island and ventured out. It was freezing, but I braved the ice-cold water for a quick bath – felt like a polar bear!
Navigating through the ice, we finally landed on Solstice. The middle was mostly Grimskull, the frost giant fortress. It was super huge, but giants are big too.
This chatty ice mephit, Sopo, greeted us. He led us to a frozen corpse, which turned out to be Nas Lanthemere! Her familiar, a weasel named Zelemer, told us about some scary women who took Professor Sconse towards the sea. How was he alive if his wizard was dead? Magic probably.
Out of nowhere, Gunnar went crazy, casting a boom spell that knocked us off our feet. It was like watching a friend turn into a stranger – super scary! Belasco, Gog, and I acted fast, grabbing and tying him up before he could do more damage. Turns out, he was possessed by a ghost! How long had it been there?
Once we subdued him, the ghost left his body, revealing its scary ghostly face. It was so scary that I aged decades instantly – I'm basically my own grandma! Maybe I am now, who knows. Despite feeling tired and wrinkled, we managed to defeat the ghost. Velyne was there the whole time, but magic or not, she couldn’t cure me. Guess I’ll be rocking the silver hair look for a while.
Searching Nas’s body, we found a spellbook full of powerful magic. I'm a wizard too, you know. We followed this magical aura to a sea cave, guided by Velyne. Inside, we found a coven of sea hags – they knew exactly why we were there. One of them was holding the orb, and it spoke with Professor Sconse’s voice!
Sister Blight Eyes (what a name), one of the hags, offered us a deal – she wanted the heart of an ice troll from the Garden of the Dead in the fortress. Plus, there was this statue of a young man in fancy clothes in the "Toppy Airy of the Ice Queen". If we brought them that statue, they’d fix the curse and make me young again. A troll heart and a statue – sounds like a shopping list for adventurers, right?
So, there we were, a bunch of brave folks in a sea hag’s cave, making deals and plotting our next move. The adventure never stops in the Frostmaiden's realm, and neither do we. Off to find a troll heart and a statue, and maybe Avarice and this Candle Sill.