Tom Liberman

We returned to Baron Greigory with the Shadow Rune and he was pleased with our success although saddened to learn of the betrayal of Baron Zachereth. With this information he was able to deduce that Frederick the Shadowcaster whose kidnapping we failed to prevent earlier was being held by Zachereth at a place called the Frozen Spire. The Baron asked us to try and rescue the man.

It took us six hard day of travel to get near the Frozen Spire and I picked up a nasty coughing hack that slowed our progress. We reached a long stone bridge not far from the Spire itself but as we prepared to cross were ambushed by minions of the Overlord!

While a massive ettin kept us busy the dragon began to destroy the bridge. Jain spotted a Dragon Bane crystal secreted across the way and dashed passed some of the winged beasts guarding it leaving mighty Grisbane to deal with the ettin and Avric to take on the winged creatures. This proved to be a flawed strategy as the winged creatures quickly overpowered poor Avric and repeatedly sent him to the ground. Grisbane fared little better with the ettin and even though Jain succeeded in pushing the dragon back with the Dragon Bane crystal it was not enough to stop the beast from destroying the bridge.

With the main route now impossible we had to take a more circuitous journey and only arrived at the Frozen Spire after the sun had set. The place was freezing cold which did not seem to effect stout hearted Grisbane or even Avric but poor fragile Jain was badly tested by the conditions.

Once inside we encountered another ettin along with a pair of the winged beasts. This time our strategy was better and we rushed the ettin quickly killing it while the winged creatures tried to make their escape. Grisbane and Avric tried to prevent their exit while fleet-footed although weakened Jain dashed toward the cell where Frederick was ensconced. She rescued the poor man but his mind had been twisted by the Overlord and he attacked poor Jain.

Things looked grim for a moment but a few well-timed blows from the Shadow Rune wielded by Avric wounded our enemies and healed our injuries at the same time. Stalwart Grisbane destroyed any foe who dared test his mighty axe and eventually we were able to overcome Frederick as well. Jain shivering with cold and clearly miserable hoisted the prisoner upon her shoulder and dashed out the exit with Grisbane and Avric not far behind.

It was a close thing but we had saved Frederick. Hopefully his mind is not permanently destroyed and he can give us insight into the Overlord and his plans. We must stop this evil from overtaking the land!