The Large Dumbo

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

I've also been doing well myself! Finished up my first playthrough of Elden Ring a couple of days ago, which is about the peak in terms of interest on things that I've had happen recently.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

I am a shitty person and I'm sorry for not posting

@Dark Cloud

I plan to get a post out soon but life has been dragging me to a halt. Sorry Kythor!

@Birdboy

Don't worry about it, y'all! Things have been a bit busy on my end personally, but I can't fault anybody for getting posts in late given my track record Remember, it's supposed to be fun, not a major stressor - life should take precedence over the game.

question before I post: was Kythor calling Dullin big guy?

@Birdboy

To clarify, he was referring to Zagren - I figure that's probably his nickname for the absolute unit of a dragonborn.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

If everyone else is, I'm ready for us to skip to the boat.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Another post by yours truly arriving right on schedule. Definitely did not get sick a couple of days ago and spend at least two of the past few days basically in hibernation, no sir.

All jokes aside though, I should be back to a more regular posting frequency now. I would've had a post up sooner, but being sick sapped a lot of my energy. In any case, I'm feeling better now, so I can actually follow up on my promises to get a post in when I say I will in the future!

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

Once he had finished his business with the boatman, Kythor decided it would be best to retire for the evening. There was little else he needed or wanted to do, and besides, he needed some time to recover the energy he had expended in that spell he had cast on Zagren. Quietly, he wandered outside. He wasn't interested in paying for a room for the night, even though he had more than enough money to take care of it. Pushing the stable doors open, he quietly found a pile of hay - one that wasn't occupied by the sleeping dragonborn - and lay upon it, shutting his eyes and quickly falling asleep.

---

By the time Kythor woke up, he noticed that Zagren had already awakened and left, presumably having gone into the tavern. With a sigh, Kythor pushed himself upright. Today was going to be the day that they set out in search of the missing fishermen, or what remains of them. This would not be a quick journey, he imagined, nor would it be an easy one if a hag was involved. Still, it was what they had agreed upon. The villagers needed it done, and since none of them would rise up to the occasion, it fell upon their little traveling group. In any case, it did him little good to complain, especially to himself. He needed to spend his time in preparation for the upcoming journey, and to do so as quickly as possible. Using his hands, Kythor flattened out the little bed of hay that he had rested on as well as he could. Before he would get breakfast, he would like to spend a moment of meditation, to reattune himself with nature.

Once he was satisfied with the flatness of the bed he had made, he shut his eyes and began to clear his mind. The job they had agreed to, the group he found himself a part of, and even the stables; all of these melted away as he sat and meditated. In his mind, he repeated the teachings of his elders, all of the wisdom that had been imparted to him. The proper way to shoot, how to tend to the injured and dying, how to survive- nay, how to thrive off of the lands they inhabited, where few else could. Though they were mighty, they were also to be humbled, for the natural world was a tempestuous and fickle mistress. One day she can be warm and gentle, then cold and harsh the next, and nowhere in the world was this felt in greater effect than in these lands...

After several minutes of meditation in solitude, Kythor reopened his eyes. Silently, he stood up from the pile of hay that he had perched himself on. After making sure that everything was in its place and nothing had been lost or taken from his person, he stepped out of the stables, entering the tavern. Once he spotted Dullin and Zagren sitting at a table, he decided to join them and pulled up a chair. "Mornin'," Kythor said. "You two slept well last night, I hope?" Between Zagren's injuries and how devastated Dullin was at Kythor's decision to leave the woman to her fate last night, he was aware there could easily be issues that had prevented, or at the very least, made it hard for them to get a good night's rest. "Big guy, how're ya feelin'?" Kythor asked, firing a quick curious glance to Dullin and the cat that had leapt up onto her lap.

Once the opportunity presented itself, he would wave over someone available and order some fried fish for breakfast. While he could, in theory, provide his own breakfast with ease, it would be a wise idea to start the day off with a hot meal before they headed out.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

I'll have a post up tomorrow - I think given Kythor's personality, he'll probably have also slept in the stables.

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

Kythor held his frown as he watched the wizard shrink back before completely withdrawing from the table. When he noticed how much his words had affected her, he felt a little guilt. It was always hard to leave someone condemned to their fate, but it was in not only in the best interests of the town, but the people who would be doing this theoretical rescue. It'd certainly be a wonderful, heroic achievement if they were to pull something like that off, but Kythor had little interests in heroics. He came first: and while it was certainly tragic that this woman would be offered to the Frostmaiden as a sacrifice, better her than him.

With a heavy sigh, he shakes his head and turns back to the boatman. "Can't blame her for wantin' to try to save the woman," Kythor says, "It just ain't realistic, y'know? I might know my way around the land, 'n you might know your way around the waters, but we've got too much goin' against us to be risking something like that." He pauses for a moment, pursing his lips in thought. "In any case, we'll just need to hire you - 4 gold. Boat's taken care of, so all we need is for you t'be ready to set out early in the morning, yeah?"

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

Kythor crossed his arms, tapping them onto the table as he looked at the boatman, then to Dullin. The sacrifice of a woman he'd never met or had any particular reason to care for... so, why should he? He shut his eyes and shook his head. City folk... either they cared too little, or they cared too much. This was the city's affair to sort out, most certainly not his. Besides, was it really worth all of them risking their lives? Was the weight of one life that much greater than his own, or his compatriot's, or even the boatman and the fishermen's? Not to him, it wasn't. Not by a long shot. He opened his eyes and leaned back as he turned in his seat to face Dullin directly.

"Well, look, Dullin," Kythor explained. "It's a shame they're planning on killin' her for the sacrifice to the Frostmaiden, yeah? But, to be quite frank, I figure it's better her than us, you know? We've got a whole blizzard to weather, the fishermen to find and bring back if they're alive, and 'a course we gotta find a way to keep the hag knocked out so she can be properly sacrificed..." He leans back and clasps his hands together. "Seems like a pretty tall order. You really think we even have the faintest 'a shots at something like that?"

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

Kythor

While the Tiefling had taken a brief pause from their conversation to observe the approach of yet another newcomer to the tavern, as well as the strange behavior of the dragonborn as he wandered out once again - hopefully not to succumb to his wounds in the biting snow - he was immediately drawn back in at Dullin's request to expedite their venture into the waters. The tiefling looked first at her, theb the boatman, with an incredulous expression. "You want to head out now? After our scaly lizard friend went and got himself nearly killed outside just a few minutes ago? I've barely got any magic in me to patch up his wounds, let alone anyone else's... Whatever these new stakes are, they'd best be somethin' real important, yeah?"

D&D 5e Rime of the Frostmaiden.

I really hate to keep sounding like a broken record, but sorry for taking so long to reply. I've been busy, and a bout of demotivation has taken hold on nearly everything I'm involved with. I think if this becomes a habit, I'll see myself out just so I'm not continuously holding anything back like this - it's not fair to you guys to have to wait on me.

Anyways, I plan on getting a post up tonight, but I do have some questions concerning the sacrifice of warmth to the Frostmaiden. I'm not sure how much of this Kythor would really be aware of given his status as an outsider and someone who's lived on the fringes of Icewind Dale, or if his tribe would even practice something like this or if they'd even be aware given their mostly-isolationist status. Is the offering made to Auril usually in the form of a living creature, or if such a condition cannot be met, are there alternatives?

Although I do plan on trying to get something in tonight, I'll edit my post as necessary later to make his response more appropriate to his knowledge/thoughts on the matter.