[CAMPAIGN] The treasure of the Frost Lord

[Lance]

Lance smiles to them.
"A pleasure to meet you all, no doubt Rajiek has told you about the task at hand, yes?"
Rajiek nods to Lance
"Well, it obviously seems so. I would go trough the details with you but I prefer to do so inside the Dragonwing. Come, let me give you a tour"
Lance climbs up the rope ladder and motions for the others to follow him.

[Adian Novar]

Adian stared in amazement at the craft. Surely there were great wonders in store for this group. He stood aside to let the others climb aboard while he tried to remember where he had seen the face of their host before. He knew he had seen it somewhere...

For some reason the smell of ale and sulfur came to mind.

The demon! In the tavern! [i:3ty470ay]That [/i:3ty470ay]was where he had seen the man before!

Adian made a sour face under his scarf. He had told the warrior off for drawing his sword too soon when moments later it turned out to have been warranted.

[Tyrmer]

Merinid moves over to the rope ladder, as he places his enormous shovel like hands on the ladder and lifts a barrow like foot, his boots glow silverish. He climbs the ladder without incident, even though his great weight would surely snap the rope.

[Lance]

Lance waits until everyone has gotten onboard, including Rajiek, and begins the tour. The ship is no less beautiful on the deck, having delicate carvings resembling dragonlike figures. There is a set of stair leading below deck, on the back of the ship the steering wheel is placed with two wooden levers, one on each side. On the middle of the deck lies a small dragonlike creature which looks much like a miniature red dragon except from the sharp barb on it tail, it appears to be sleeping.
"This is Shaelzin" Lance says, motioning at the small dragon, "he is a pseudodragon and my companion. He sometimes comes with rather good and insightsful advices but has a rather crude understanding on the minds of humanoids. He is a dragon albeit a small one. This ship, the Dragonwing, is a gift from my mother who is a silver dragon. It is operated much like an ordinary ship with two exceptions"
Lance moves over to the steering wheel.
"This lever" he lays his hand on the left lever "controls the altitude, right now the ship is set to stay on ground but with a flick I could easilly change that. This lever, however..."
Lance moves his hand to the other lever
"..controls the ship's speed. The Dragonwing can easilly outrun most flying creatures with the possible exception of dragons and this is why I think it will be useful when traveling to Icewind Dale"
A smirk can be heard from Rajiek.
"Yes, Rajiek? Did you want something?" Lance asks
"Hah, I vaguely remember that last time you traveled to Icewind Dale the ship was almost crushed in a blizzard!" Rajiek mutters
"True, but that blizzard likely buried anything not traveling by air. The ship isn't invulnerable but it is the best way to get to Icewind Dale. Unless, of course..." Lance smiles.
"...you would prefer to walk, Rajiek"
Rajiek shrugs
"You know, Lance, it is much easier to complain when aren't being entirely reasonable"
Lance laughs and leads the group on. He walks down the stairs to belowdeck and pulls up a platinum key. He unlocks the doors and show the others inside. The door lead to a large round room with a corridor continuing. The corridor has several side rooms.
"This is the living area. The thing that bothered me on normal ships were the lack of a reasonable place to sleep and therefore I made the Dragonwing much more comfortable. There are eight rooms here, each equipped with a comfortable bed, place for clothes, equipment and similar things. All to make it as comfortable as possible to the passengers. Moving on..."
Lance continues down the corridor and ends in a large round room. A round table is placed in the middle with eight chairs around it. The table's surface looks just like a map. Several lockers, barrels and chests are placed in the room and another set of stairs lead down to the next floor.
"This is what I'd like to call the 'war room', this is where the passengers relax, plan their next mission and can have a drink or two. The containers all contain food and are enchanted to keep it in top condition. The map on the table is completely accurate and even shows our position" Lance points towards a triangular symbol positioned over a dot named "Athkatla".
"The stairs down lead to the storage and the power crystal which makes sure this ship can move at all. All in all this is the Dragonwing, does anyone have any questions?"

[Tyrmer]

Merinid raises a hand slightly, as he is already stooping not to go through the ceiling. "I sleep on deck? Prefer stars."

[Velve]

Liera had climbed the ladder with ease, despite her cloak blowing viciously in the wind, and had remained almost entirely silent during the tour, remaining slightly back, away from the rest of the group and observing them as much as the ship. She shakes her head when asked if she had a question.

[Lance]

Lance looks at Merinid.
"Perhaps it is a good idea, my friend. I think you will find it more comfortable than sleeping in a room anyway"
Lance walks over to the table and seats down on a chair.
"Now, the treasure we are looking for is, quite understandably, rather hard to find. It has, after all, not been found by earlier treasure hunters. But they didn't had access to this..."
Lance says and lifts up a large book and puts it on the table. The book is bound in the scales of a white dragon and a large snowflake symbol is depicted on the front.
"The sign of the Frost Lord" Lance says, pointing at the symbol. "This book is a description of the lands when he still ruled them, complete with a map showing cities and locations which today are runied. Nothing about the location of the vault, though. But the map does show where the Frost Lord had his palace and there probably are some clues there. I have a friend who lives in Icewind Dale and he will serve as our guide when we arives"
Rajiek frowns.
"Eledriah is half mad Lance and you know it. That insane frost mage is blind to the fact that cold kills normal people!"
Lance looks at Rajiek
"I am aware that Eledriah can seem a bit...odd but he really isn't that bad. He is a good friend and he has saved my life several times. And I think he is more aware of the frost than most"
"It is your expedition, Lance, but I would be careful with Eledriah were I you"
Lance turns his attention back to the other.
"Now for something more interesting for you, and particulary for Adian, the relic of Eilistraee"
Lance puts a parchment on the table showing a beautiful image of a bastard sword. The sword's blade has elven runes and the hilt has images of drow, moonlight and notes, the symbol of Eilistraee is depicted on the hilt.
"I do not know how the Frost Lord got his hands upon a relic of Eilistraee but in the text I have been studying it is refered to as a "moonblade", if it has any connection to the elven artifacts of the same name I do not know. But the blade would clearly serve better among Eilistraee's faithful than buried in a forgotten vault in Icewind Dale"
Lance let everyone study the parchment and tells Rajiek:
"Rajiek, go and make the ship ready. We will be leaving momentarily"
Rajiek nods and goes down the stairs towards the power crystal.

[Adian Novar]

Adian stared at the image on the parchment. If the drawing were accurate, it would indeed by a genuine Moonblade...a treasure beyond price for the followers of the Lady. And most adventurerers, truth to tell. While he was unlikely to be worthy of weilding it, there were certain to be some at the Promenade who were.

[Unen_Stealthfoot]

[color=indigo:1elbd79i]*you hear soft footsteps on deck, and if anyone looks there is a drow woman wearing a greatcloack and a pair of excellent quality boots.* "I am Serafin, and I am an emmisary from the city of Lisse Linath, the city of my lady, Eilistraee. Is this the place I was supposed to come to for retreiving the Frost Lords treasure?" (she says this if anyone comes up to her, if not, she goes down to find them and then says it)[/color:1elbd79i]

[Adian Novar]

Adian turned quickly and bowed.

"Indeed it is, my Lady," he said softly. "Welcome. I am Adian Novar of Eilistraee's Promenade in Undermountain, servant of Qiliue Veladorn. It appears we have a common interest."

[Tyrmer]

"And me." Merinid rumbles. "I come from sands of the North but serve the Dark Lady. I wish to find the sword of Our Lady. Now I unpack." He squeezes back on deck and removes his pack, then slowly unpacks a sleeping roll and carefully pins it to the deck, measuring exact distances between each pin, which he pushes in by hand. Then he rigs up a small awning from a tent above it, utilising a small asayers tool to erect it with geometric precision above the sleeping roll. He then pulls out a neatly folded fur blanket and lies it on the sleeping roll. Finally he pulls out a large book with a full moon inlaid upon the cover and sits down cross legged to read it.

[Lance]

Shaelzin looks curiously at Merinid when he unpacks on deck, wondering what the strange human is doing. Then he lets out a purr and lies down again. Meanwhile, under deck, Lance speaks to Serafin:
"Why, welcome Serafin! I am Lance Dragonmar, the organiser of this expedition. As I stated earlier the treasure of the Frost Lord lies in a forgotten vault somewhere in Icewind Dale. I have a few good leads, though, and with such a competent expedition we stand a good chance of finding it. You may also be interested in this:" Lance says and hands over the painting of the moonblade.
"This is a moonblade, a great Eilistraeean treasure, and is said to be included in the treasure, for a follower of the Lady it is particulary interesting. Now, you are free to unpack in any room of your choice, the same is of course true to everyone, and I will make sure we take off"
Lance turns to the stairs down.
"Rajiek, is all well down there?"
And the response is heard:
"Seems so, the crystal is functional and we are clear for takeoff!"
Then Lance turns around and goes above deck. He walks to the steering wheel and check all levers one last time.
"Ok, everyone hold on to something! The start may be a little bit...bumpy for those not acustomed to it"
Then he puts his hand on the left lever and pulls it slowly upwards. The ship's wings slowly begin to extend until they have reached their full length. Then the ship begins to levitate upwards, first slowly and then as it hovers above all buildings and walls the speed increases, Lance pulls down the lever and the ship stops gaining altitude.
"There, now we have reached our proper altitude, now to find north..."
Lance turns the wheel and the ship rotates about 120 degrees until it is pointing towards what the compass defines as "north".
"Now we are starting, this will get bumpy!" Lance shouts and pulls up the right lever. With a a tremble the ship starts accelerate, faster and faster until Lance pulls down the lever and the ship maintain its speed.
"So, now we have the right course, is everyone all right?"

[Tyrmer]

As the ship takes off Merinid jolts slightly and falls over onto his back from his sitting position. Looking annoyed he gets up and straightens his clothing then sets his sleeping area right before sitting back down cross legged to read.

[Velve]

Liera ignores most of the goings on, prefering to find an occupied cabin and claiming it as her own. She looked about the room, then covered a yawn with a slender hand, glancing at the bed regretfully, she leaves the room as the ship starts to ascend. She catches herself on the doorframe to the deck as the ship lurches forward, sending a balefull glare in Lance's direction. Regaining her footing quickly, she steps out on deck, moving to the bow and placing her gloved hands on the railing as she stares below, the wind whipping at her hair and cloak, yet she seems not to notice.

[Adian Novar]

Adian was glad to have prepared for the hostile climate ahead of time: fur versions of the clothing he usually wore, cli,mbing equipment, rope, and other cold survival gear.

He selected a modest cabin for himself and lit a candle when the ride began to become steady. He settled himself before it and sang a song quietly to the Dark Lady as he prepared to meditate. He called for guidance and strength to keep up with the mighty warriors he was accompanying, and hoped that he would represent his home well. And he sincerely hoped to at least glimpse the Moonsword if it were there.