The wind raged forever on against the barrier of Joti’s chanting. The storm had started during the night, and had continued raging on ever since. The whiteness surrounded them, stopping their vision.

Sera would sometimes stop the group and look through the snow storm, before allowing them to continue. They would often grunt in giant to one another, and Joti would react accordingly.

“We will need to walk through the night. If you become tired, I will carry you,” Karasmith said.

Adam frowned. “That would be too embarrassing,” he replied back to her.

“When it comes to the snow storms, there is no such thing as embarrassment. It is the matter of life of death, and we will not allow such emotions stop us.”

Adam scratched his chin and nodded, embarrassed by his immatureness in such a dire time. The raging storm whistled and howled wildly.

Tough Save

D20 + 7 = 12 (5)

Omen

12, 18 -> 18

Tough Save

12 + 7 = 19

The cold almost set into his bones, but he fought it off. His body was growing weary, but he continued to force himself forward. He thought for a moment about whether he should leave it to luck, but decided against it since they wouldn’t sleep that night.

“I will carry you,” Gant said, looking to the women. They didn’t seem to mind it so much, as Adam thanks the older giant. Gant nodded knowingly, and Adam was glad that the giant man understood.

Adam climbed onto the giant’s back, recalling a time when he was young and was carried around by his father. Then there was another memory, something which was blurring into his mind, like a hazy summer day rolling in. There was a smell of a cedar of some kind, and he could feel the rhythmic bounce of the man walking. He could feel the top of the axe beside his tiny ankle, a shield against the other. There was something familiar, something warm about the scene.

He eventually awoke to find himself laying on the snow, a large barrier around them as the wind and snow continued to crash against the dome. Adam blinked and then sat up, looking aside to the giants, who were each sitting down in a circle and talking with one another.

“Good morning,” Adam said, though he was uncertain of the time of day. The sky was still snowy and keeping time was more ethereal in the north for him.

“Good morning,” Joti said. “It is nearing noon. You were asleep for many hours.”

Adam rubbed his face as it flushed red. “Sorry about that,” he said, trying to avoid Joti’s gaze.

“If you are tired, do speak. It won’t do for you to be tired during our most dire moments.”

“I didn’t realise I was so tired. It might be the lack of vitamin… the sun.” Adam shrugged his shoulders. “I’m a human and I’m not really used to the north.”

Joti hummed to himself and then bowed his head. “The journey will become more dangerous. Do you wish to continue, or should we return back to Muten?”

Adam straightened up. “We can keep going. Don’t stop on my account.” He frowned. “I don’t want to be the reason we fall behind.”

“We do not care about falling behind. Better to return with no icewyrm and alive, than to return with an icewyrm and with you dead.”

“I’m not so easy to kill, Chief.” Adam puffed out his chest. “You should know that.”

“In a fight,” Joti said.

“Right,” Adam replied, nodding his head. He was great in a fight, but they were also trekking for hours on end through the snow. If he didn’t have Joti with his chanting and the furs and cloak, this would have been a far more dangerous journey. “I’ll be alright.”

“Then I will not impose on you,” Joti said.

Insight

D20 + 1 = 7 (6)

Adam glanced at the gazes of the other giants, though could not read their faces. He clenched his fists together. He wouldn’t become the reason why the task finished. They were going against Gutt and Lotag, and he had to represent for his side as the only human.

As they continued on, the howling winds muffled against the barrier, they made their way deeper into the north. Now there were times when they had to veer around small hills, crevices, and they had to hike above certain mountains as well. They would constantly find near runestones, each time Joti checking the smaller stones. Sometimes there were a few stones which had been set months ago, and they even found one which had been buried years ago.

They climbed up a mountain, finding a small cave, which was rather large for Adam, to sleep in. There was a runestone, but Joti did not use it.

“Here we can rest and eat,” Joti said.

Gant squat down and reached into a small hole, pulling out something which looked like a turnip made with ice. He tossed it behind him, and repeated the action until there were five ice turnips. He continued to shift around there, but Karasmith was already cutting into the ice turnip, revealing a small circle. She drank the inside of the turnip, which seemed to be filled with a clear liquid.

“Here,” Sera offered him.

Adam grabbed it, almost dropping the ice turnip with how heavy it was. He grabbed his blade, and was about to cut into it when he recalled that he had used his blade to fight Joti. Karasmith offered her knife, which was more like a longsword, and he cut into it after a quick thanks. He peered inside the ice turnip to see a clear liquid. He slowly sipped on it, surprised with how sweet it was. The liquid had a creamy texture and flowed smoothly down his throat, like hot milk on a rainy evening.

“Man, that was good,” Adam said, sighing when he was done. He watched as Karasmith then began to slice the, probable, fruit. She cut it into thin slices and offered them to Gant, who pulled out the pot to eat.

“We will need to climb tomorrow,” Joti said. “It will be a dangerous task. Rest up as best as you can.”

Adam nodded, looking out the cave to see the snow falling outside. Then he looked towards the pot, which Gant was currently filling with some fat of some kind.

“Are you done with the svitnut?” Karasmith asked.

Adam assumed that was the name of the fruit he had. He checked to see if there was anything else to drink, and then gulped down the last bit of it before offering it to her. “I’m done.”

She cut into it and then offered it to Gant, who pulled out some of his meaty rations. The others offered their rations to him, and Adam did the same.

“We’ll eat well tonight,” Sera said, keeping an eye out on the cave entrance. “Svitnuts are a rare delight. They only grow this far north, near the runestones. We’ll leave a few of the seeds behind to make sure they continue to grow. Make sure you savour it, we won’t be eating so well for a long while.”

Adam raised his brows and then nodded. He wondered what it tasted like. It didn’t take long until Adam was able to eat it. It was very similar to sweet potato, though had the texture of fried onions. The meat was great as well, but it was obvious that it wouldn’t have tasted so good unless it was paired with the svitnut.

The mood grew light after dinner and the group became more lively. They spoke of various idle things, in the basic tongue so Adam could understand. Their chatter eventually lulled him to sleep.

It had only been two hours into their trek when they had come across a giant mountain side, one which could not be avoided. Joti’s soft chanting carried through the air, only broken by Sera approaching the mountain with her maul in hand. She wound it up and slammed it into the side of the mountain, causing much of the snow to fall over the dome.

Karasmith grabbed a piton from her bag. It was fairly long and thick, runes covering it in its entirety. She whispered something and then tossed the piton up. It flew out of sight, but Adam watched as various pitons began to fall down towards them, each connected with rope. The rope eventually dangled towards them.

Adam looked up at Karasmith and then back to the pitons. “Cool,” he whispered.

Joti stopped chanting and the wind and snow began to wail all around them, though the giants did not complain as they began to tie themselves to one another. Joti then began to climb up, followed by Sera, then Gant, then Karasmith, and then Adam, who had tied himself to the Runesmith.

Athletics

D20 + 8 = 10 (2)

D20 + 8 = 27 (19)

Being the gentleman that he was, he remained focused on the rope and the pitons. The journey up required much of his focus, his arms beginning to burn as he tried not to be a burden to Karasmith. She may have been very strong, enough to easily hoist Adam up, but he was still a man.

They heard a screech in the distance and suddenly each of them tensed up.

“Up!” Gant roared as they sped up their ascent as the beating of wings soon filled their ears.