August 9, 2026
16th Dulthila
The Torchbearers began hiking back toward the mountain.
17th Dulthila
In the afternoon, the Torchbearers were attacked by a rukkator patrol of three archers and three warriors. They took some hits from the archers, but dispatched the warriors and drove the archers away. Gunter slew one of the archers as they retreated.
19th Dulthila
At dusk, the Torchbearers arrived at the foot of the mountain. They found the siege toboggan still concealed and in working order.
20th Dulthila
The Torchbearers began the climb. They used several lengths of rope to run safety lines to themselves and pitons driven into the rock.
About halfway up, a windstorm gusted and blew several of the party from their footholds. The pitons began to ping out of the rock face. Dorethin held her grip, but Hilda dangled from one side of her and a cascade failure led to the rest of the party falling on her other side. Alwin cast feather fall on Magrun, who was immediately adjacent to Dorethin. As Magrun sank, it became clear that the weight of that daisy chain would pull Dorethin from the cliff face. Tearfully, she began loosening her sword in its sheath.
Hilda, gambling everything on the rope not shattering, used a ray of frost to freeze the rope to the cliff face. This new anchor took Magrun’s weight, and the party dismounted the climb.
Trying a new approach, Hilda and Dorethin went up alone with a block and tackle. They reached the top of the cliff and secured the rope to the plateau above. They raised the other party members one by one, and when all (save Gunter, who came last to secure the rope to the siege toboggan) were above to help pull, they slowly lifted the toboggan as well.
They bivouacked in the first sheltered area they could find, hiding themselves from aerial observation and for once not fearing attack from the ground.
21st Dulthila
The Torchbearers hiked along the mountaintop and climbed onto the thin glacier at its peak.
22nd Dulthila
The Torchbearers were walking across the ice sheet when the afternoon sun made it groan and crack. Curate Brandt slid down into the fissure. From the bottom, he called up to them that his leg was injured, but he was not in immediate danger.
Then, naturally, they heard the whuffling of a great beast and Brandt screaming for help. As they prepared to descend, his screams were suddenly cut off, and the distant light of their magic lantern disappeared.
Girding themselves for rescue, the Torchbearers descended into the fissure. They found themselves in an ice cave with two exits. The floor yielded no clues to Gunter aside from many overlapping circular divots.
Choosing a direction, they proceeded. They came to a crack in the side of the passage with a large chamber beyond, lit by an ethereal glow. They heard a woman’s voice singing.
Hilda wormed through the entrance and approached the lights. Then the chamber was plunged into darkness, the singing stopped, and Magrun’s torch went out.
