23/3/2214 Assault on the Ghostberg, battle with legions of Draugr & Bruneval's hydra; around 34 Draugr + Bruneval - 8 marines are killed before Finnris fells Bruneval and the remaining draugr collapse. Bruneval's remains are taken to the Tower of Azura for consecration and ritual burial.
29/3/2214 Vorstag and Zerda carouse. Gilded shields taken from the draugr ship on the melting iceberg are sold to a collector for 6000gp; Vorstag gives his share to the survivors while Zerda Finnris & Aeshma take 1000gp each.
The Battle of the Iceberg - Aeshma
The next day we meet with the Queen and General Urmal Urugan at the Tower of War to discuss the threat posed by the haunted iceberg in Sarvin Bay. Now we know that Bruneval is cursed, the discussion turns to his true nature and how he and his undead followers may be best defeated. Zerda suggests that if Bruneval is slain then the undead too will collapse; Vorstag, calling on his knowledge of Kang, the White Death, believes that the ice itself is the root of the problem, the glacier being calved from Kang itself.
We ask for a couple of shallow draught boats with which to approach and support from the Quodethi military. Two barges are found and a platoon of twenty marines with a sergeant are placed under Zerda’s command. The plan is for the marines to act as artillery support while we take the fight to the undead, but as they say: no plan survives contact with the enemy…
The first boat carrying Zerda, Vorstag, Finnris and Aeshma, handled by Zerda’s servant Thagnar and four marines, moors to the iceberg long enough for the four of us to disembark. Wearing crampons to make it easier to move on the ice we climb towards the icebound longship. Vorstag grows to giant size ready for a fight while Aeshma calls on Mithra to ward her from Evil.
All around us on the slope the ice has been disturbed as if the undead hidden below are merely waiting for the right time to attack. Above us we see the longship, gilded shields glittering on its sides. Bruneval steps to the fore, surrounded by about fifteen of his draugr, gloating that we have fallen into his trap. As expected the ice around us shatters and the remaining thirty or so draugr surround us.
Before we can act further, Bruneval’s other ally, the hydra, comes at his bidding and upturns Thagnar’s barge before its many heads swoop down on the unfortunate marines. Bruneval is too well hidden behind his draugr for any but the most accurate ranged attack to hit, so the four of us stand back to back, ready for the attack.
The battle lasts barely a minute but it seems like hours have passed. Vorstag quickly shrinks back to his normal size so as not to offer so large a target, but strikes down more draugr as every second passes; Finnris mows down the undead with wild swings from the Spear of Asura, withstanding their return attacks only by dint of his uncanny endurance, but even he has his limits and is soon forced to resort to a less reckless strategy. Zerda summons a gust of wind, throwing the undead away from him while using his magic to defend himself from the few attacks that reach him. Mithra’s protection blocks most of the draugr’s attacks against Aeshma as she steadily wears down her opponents.
Away from our sight, the hydra is waging its own battle against the marines. Thagnar is killed but the remainder are able to damage the hydra sufficiently that is chooses to retreat rather than continue its attack. His loud voice easily carrying above the sounds of battle, Vorstag exhorts the surviving marines to join the fight against the draugr.
Seeing his draugr falling before us, Bruneval is forced to join the fight but rather than attack us directly he chooses to target our marine allies. Seeing his chance, Finnris takes advantage of Zerda’s Gust of Wind to speed over towards Bruneval. As before, the cursed Frost Corpse has no defence against the Spear of Asura and is killed. At the same time the handful of remaining draugr crumble to the ice.
As the ice melts around the longship, we take the gilded shields and make a good profit selling them to a collector. The proceeds are split between the party and the marines or, in the case of those who fell in battle, the marine’s family. Vorstag donates his share to their cause and further decides to fund a memorial to the marines who died in the defence of their city against the undead.
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