Bear Hunting (2/1/10)

In many ways, it was unreal. Just days before, Euwyn had been walking in the rolling hills north of Black Lake, and now he and his companions were high in the mountains traversing a snowy pass under the ever-present weight of a freezing wind. Well, a wind that should be freezing. Fact was, the prince felt completely comfortable. They all did. What a difference magic made in the world! Ilyana’s transformation powers had lifted them to these great heights, and Marty had called down the power of Strom to shield them from the elements. It was all so amazing!

When Winter and Ilyana found a mutilated, half-frozen mountain goat buried in a snow drift, it had been odd. Winter believed it had been killed by some great beast, though the tracks Ilyana found were almost too big to be any known animal. Rather than let the monster terrorize the area, the order of the hunt was given.

They tracked the beast to its lair, and met and fought a great bear with white fur and bizarre crystalline growth jutting from its skin. Though it’s blows were powerful, one beast was no match for their team.

After the bear fell, they ventured deeper into the cave which quickly passed from natural cavern to roughly worked passageway. The tunnel led to a mine - a dwarven mine. The main room looked to have been the site of ancient pitched battle where dwarf fought against dwarf and not a life was spared, but the party had little time to wonder at the cause before the bodies animated and attacked. Their numbers proved troublesome for a time, but in the end teamwork and magic won the day, with the power of Strom playing a vital role. It seemed Mjelde was blessed with a gift even Marty did not possess – she could channel the flowing life energy of Strom to destroy the servants of unlife.

Inside the storage-house/barracks, the party found the payroll and a magic device with a programmable alarm system. Ilyana spotted a secret shaft hidden behind a failing ward of illusion. At the bottom of the shaft was what looked like a laboratory of the Ancients, with dwarves preserved in suspension. Not just dwarves, but also a human, but one with features more like Hedge than Euwyn. After some debate, it was determined the party would rest and on the morrow, use Euwyn’s magic to bypass the magic barrier which protected the lab.