28/1: Joined by magically-transported Zerda, heroes & giants ambush Hyperboreans & Frost Corpses near the cliffs, defeating scout group killing a Hyperborean & 10 frost corpses. The main Hyperborean force retreats to find another way, giving the group about a day's head start. Head inland.
30/1: Travelling up into the mountains upriver, around mid-day reach a rift gorge.
As the river valley ascends into the interior of Nimoth, the
snowfields which once dusted the shoulders of the hillsides
slowly creep lower and lower until they reach the valley
floor. Dark peaks streaked with snowfields and hanging
walls of ice loom close by, peeking over the hills on either
side of the Dauthur’s valley. The vegetation that was plentiful
in the lower valley has dwindled to dwarf pines, lichen,
and clumps of scrub grass clinging to crevices in the rock.
Crusted snow lingers in every shadowed eave, and the
backwaters of the river are now iced over in places. Even
amid the rapids a rime of ice lingers.
Ahead of you, the river passes through a narrow canyon
between 100-foot cliffs. The canyon is only about 30 feet
wide at its floor, and the river fills it with a swift, strong
stream.
A narrow valley with ruins and a tower atop high cliffs, snowy ruins on the valley floor.
Beyond the canyon lies a small, steep-sided vale. To the
west, the Drauthur descends down from a great snowfield
on the flanks of a mountain—this is the source of the river.
To your east, on the shoulder of the mountain, stands a battered
stone tower of ancient workmanship, proud and lonely
amid the snows. Directly ahead of you on the valley floor lie
the snowy ruins of several stone buildings, clustered around
a large cave mouth in the wall of the vale underneath the
looming tower. Wisps of steam escape from the cave.
A fierce manticore attacks, but is stunned by Kasumi and swiftly slain. A steamy cave leads up into the roots of the Lost Tower.
The cave rises more than 100 feet into the side of the
crag. A small rivulet of hot water trickles down the passage
from the interior. About halfway along its length, the
passage transitions from a natural fissure to a large, circular
tunnel 15 feet in diameter bored out of the rock. At the
end of the tunnel, you find a mass of iron pipes and valves,
dripping with scalding water. In the middle of the pipes sits
a 6-foot-tall round metal hatch with a round hand-wheel in
its center. The hatch evidently leads deeper into the mountain,
but it isn’t clear what the purpose of the pipes around
it might be. There is also a large automaton armored in
heavy iron plates that stands in front of the piping and the
hatch. It regards you in silence.
