Something mysterious had happened on the Paddleboat during the night. Our faithful Elf night-watch, Pibble, had taken some kind of drugs while on watch and was found in the belly of the ship in a completely useless state. There was evidence of some kind of watery creature that had made it’s way onto the deck of the boat and left dirty puddles of water to the doorway of Devi and Flow’s room. No one was sure what the creature may have been. But Ra’Cheep talked with Flow and Devi about dreams and their collective pasts. It seems that Devi has some kind of deal or binding to a water being and that Ra’Cheep has had a past encounter with a vicious dragon. It is possible that the wetness could be related to Devi’s patron. After searching the ship inside and out one discovery was made… the ship was locked in frozen ice all the way around! The river had gotten very cold very quickly as the troop sailed north on the river.
Devi and Flow began to crack and shape the water as Ra’Cheep summed a handful of flames and melted the ice to free the ship. KC went to the wheelhouse and began learning how to handle the ship from Phineous. The water was beginning to get rough due to the freezing temperatures and debris in the water so everyone decided to park the boat in a small sheltered inlet while we waited for better weather.
Oddly one of the kittens was found in the mid-decks to be the size of a goat. It still wanted it’s mother’s milk but seemed to be three times it’s mother’s size! After a brief investigation it was concluded that the kitten had touched the Asimir healer “Darla” who was still recovering from encountering raw wild-magic. Ra’Cheep scolded the mother cat and Flow found something in the kitchen to feed this enormous kitten.
Devi, Flow and Ra’Cheep explored the inlet and discovered that someone lived nearby. They went through the trees and found a small farm further up the valley. Inside they met a woman named DAISY? She was very old and frail but welcomed her guests inside and began to make a delightful soup and some tea. Quite shortly after meeting them DAISY began to give away a few of her belongings and introduce them to her goat named Flossy. The group spent the evening with her and determined that her daughter was alive and probably in a nearby town. Devi and Flow were unable to track down her dog.
The next morning there came a noise from outside. When Ra’Cheep opened the front door a huge snowdrift fell inside. The cabin had been buried in snow during the night! Flow and Devi made it out the attic window while Ra’Cheep melted the snow blocking the entryway. Outside something was burrowing around under the snow. A brief battle ensued, and three very strange mindless fleshy robots were killed/destroyed. The group climbed a nearby cliff and found an egg structure that the creatures had probably hatched from. They salvaged a little bit of tech from the egg and returned to the cabin. Inside they realized that Daisy had become very drawn and pale. Her breathing was getting shallow, but her smile remained as she appreciated the company of others. She slowly, calmly slipped into the next world guided by the Raven Mother (Ra’Cheep’s matron). With teary eyes the group laid her to rest in her garden next to her late husband. They then collected the goat and searched the cabin for anything useful before returning to the boat.
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