Date: Sunday, December 17th, 2011
Players: Anton, Craig, David, Henk, Hertzog, Peet
Level: 7+

Note: The Estenwood Field Office does not have a Mission Announcements notice board. Instead, Tavius Hume is assigning missions to groups on an ad-hoc basis, and briefing teams as events require.

It is the morning after the relocation of the Irregulars' Estenwood Field Office to a new location, following the discovery that the nearby Glistening Hill posed a serious threat. Zulak is making hasty travel preparations following the arrival of a messenger from the elven city of Mistyvale last night. Stricken with filth fever by an otyugh during their previous mission, Clunk and Stoella have also parted ways with Petru, Ubu and Xav. Joining the three of them on this mission are Ash and Florian, who arrived recently in Lockenport from the far north, and Gloomhol, an enigmatic figure with unusual mental powers.

Tavius introduces Terwilligan Swiftfeet, a halfling explorer whom Petru has met before. Terwilligan has discovered a freakishly cold region at the edge of the foothills, a large area he estimates to be two or three miles wide. The group's mission is to investigate the cause of the sudden winter, and if necessary, takes steps to deal with it. Terwilligan will lead them back to the cold region, but his riding lizard refuses to travel any further into such cold terrain.

Delk's special note: I am honored to have been chosen by Tavius to prepare the mission report for this prestigious assignment. It gives me particular pleasure to again be working with the famed shadar-kai bard Petru, with whom I have had the privilege of adventuring previously (see case-files 209/11/099 and 209/12/029).

Case number: 210/01/038

Irregulars participating: Ash (1618), Petru (486), Ubu (3699), Gloomhol (2198), Xavorin (5764), Florian (3141)

Leader: Petru

Summary: The goal of the mission was to investigate the cause of the wintry region of Comack Island and “takes steps to deal with it”. According to the mission participants, the phenomenon was caused by a persistent portal to a wintry region of the feywild. Negotiations with an eladrin noble lady were initiated by the group, and they obtained instructions to temporarily seal shut the portal from the feywild side. Although some hostiles made use of the portal to enter the Estenwood before it could be sealed, the Irregulars successfully closed the portal, and halted the spread of the unnatural winter.

Fatalities: Ubu claimed to have slain a dragon. As if I'd fall for that. I might be new to debriefings, but I wasn't born yesterday.

Notes:

• On their way to the mission, they encountered a number of yetis. (They specified “stinking” yetis, but I'm not sure if that refers to a specific type yeti. We didn't have any yetis where I grew up.)
• The Irregulars mentioned that they stumbled into some sort of territorial dispute between a “Frost Prince” and a “Lady of the Feywild”. The stone portal they discovered was in the disputed region. The Frost Prince was described as hard of heart and strong of will.
• They had an audience at the Court of the Whispering Winds. Petru mentioned a High Impact Opera performance, whatever that is.
• Petru also claimed to have made a deal with a bog hag, who took the color from his sight, in return for her help.
• The group mentioned a weeping willow, but I didn't quite follow the connection to the portal. They all seem to talk at once during their debriefing!
• They fought four wolves and a snow witch during their travels, and evaded some frost giants. Or possibly just one frost giant. I tried to clarify this, but the answer was a coughing sound.
• The group seemed surprised to know they'd been gone for three days.

Declarations: A wand of frost, a wand of inevitability, a skyrender greatbow, 2200 gold coins and an emerald worth about 500 gold. Tavius didn't give me any instructions on what to do about these, and it seemed rude to ask them to give their treasure to me, so I just kept quiet and let them keep everything.

Commendations: Xav is said to have “rocked” in the battle with the stinking yetis. And Ubu went on again about that alleged “dragon”.

Leadership: “Adequate”, “best improved”, “his flirtations were creepy”. (But who was he flirting with? And why?)

Further investigations:

• Apparently an ice-breathing beholder and a frost giant escaped through the portal. We'll need to warn other Irregulars about those when they get assigned new missions.
• How long is the portal going to stay sealed? The group muttered something about a “week or so”, which wasn't very specific.

Accounting notes:

• According to the file note, all Field Office assignments are being treated as non-commissioned. That's never a good sign! I wonder if that applies to the ground staff as well? I hope not.
• See Field Office accounting memo.

/=========================================================\
| XP notes                                                |
|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Yetis (10 x 200)                              = 2000 XP |
| Frost Witch                                   =  350 XP |
| Snowstalker Wolves (4 x 350)                  = 1400 XP |
| Bonus: High Impact Opera                      =  900 XP |
| Bonus: Avoiding Hulmruk the Frost Giant       =  360 XP |
| Bitterstrike, the White Dragon                = 2500 XP |
| Quest: News of the Portal                     =  450 XP |
| Quest: The Crone Who Watches                  =  900 XP |
| Quest: Seal the Portal                        = 1800 XP |
| Quest: Winter Comes Early                     = 1800 XP |  
|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Total                                        = 12460 XP |
| Per person                               ÷ 6 =  2077 XP |
\=========================================================/