Rime of the Frostmaiden Sessions 1 & 2: Meet the Goblinoid Giantslayers

It begins! The Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign! This is my first time running more than a one-shot in 5e, and my first time reading a WOTC book. A whole adventure. I've written about many of the changes I've made to the game in this blog over the last couple weeks and on the dedicated subreddit, so now you can see how they turned out at the table. 

Icewind Dale has been under a spell of endless winter for the last two years! Auril the Frostmaiden, goddess of winter's fury, has made her home in the Dale, and all suffer for it. As the land and its people die, a caravan brings a strange group to the Dale. They will change its fate, but to call them heroes may be inaccurate...

The Party

Avar, a Human Enchantment Wizard. Modeled after Rasputin, has a knack with owlbears. 

Elton John, Neutral Goblin Celestial Warlock. Fabulous, with a dark past. (Joined session 2)

Neddie Elyeti, Neutral Bugbear Druid. Raised among the yeti of Icewind Dale. (Absent Session 2)

ORK, Neutral Half-Orc Barbarian raised among the Many-Arrows tribe of Icewind Dale. 

Stughok, Neutral Bugbear Rogue, in Icewind Dale to free an old friend from prison.

It is not until I made this list that I noticed every character who put down an alignment used Neutral. Given their behavior thus far... I genuinely have no idea how to pin the party down. Obviously, it is almost entirely composed of goblinoids, and the token human doesn't conflict with their proclivities much. This is going to be... different from my other campaigns.

Accomplishments

Accepted Dzaan's offer to catch a chwinga for him.

Recovered the body of Jericho the Tinker.

Accepted Sheriff Southwell's bounty for the anonymous killer.

Recovered Garm Blackiron's iron shipment, and took several goblins prisoner.

Reached Level 2!

Adopted Fef's fox as a pet and gained the friendship of a chwinga.

Slew the verbeeg and all his allies, recovering two mead casks.

Endorsed Shandar Froth for Good Mead speaker, and stayed for the party. 

The Game

• The party first met in Luskan, the City of Sails, to the south of Icewind Dale. All were seeking passage there, some returning after an absence, others going for the first time. They fell in together while waiting for the rare caravan to take them over the Spine of the World, all of them outcasts from typical society.
• They found a wagon and sled team going to the Dale, and had to share space with a wizard, Dzaan, and his bodyguard, Vetala. Dzaan's magic kept the wagon comfortable even as the temperatures dropped precipitously. He also offered the party a mission: track and catch an elemental spirit called a chwinga, bring it back to him alive, and he would pay them. They could even keep the tracking lamp. The party accepted.
• As they crested the Spine, the sun faded from view. Welcome to Icewind Dale.

• The whole Dale is in twilight for a few hours around noon, and in the depths of night at all other times. Terrific for our monstrous party, all of whom either have natural darkvision or who can use it through their familiars. 
• The sled was headed straight for Bryn Shander, the largest and best equipped city left in the Dale. Just a couple hours out, the sled driver called out. The light of a tinker's sled was up ahead. If the party wanted to buy anything before getting to Bryn Shander, best to get their coinpurses ready.
• As they approached, they say that the tinker's sled dogs were lying dead in the snow, fed on by gaunt arctic wolves. The wolves growled at the sled, and the party took that as their cue to engage in violence.
• They quickly killed three of the wolves, and the remaining one fled into the tundra. As they examined the scene, they found that the tinker was also dead and frozen, still in his seat.
• But he hadn't been killed by the wolves. Neither had the sled dogs. Every one of them had a deep stab wound in their head or torso, the actual cause of death. The wolves had only arrived later to feed. 
• They looted the caravan, skinned the wolves and dogs and took their meat. No sense letting anything go to waste. A letter in the tinker's pocket identified him as 'Jericho', and they wrapped the body in a tarp as they took it with them. 
• Their investigations by the sled turned up a set of humanoid boot tracks, with huge discontinuities, as if the attacker jumped immense distances. Avar sent his owl to follow the tracks, which turned out to lead to Bryn Shander.
• They continued on their way, arriving through Bryn Shander's southwest gate. The sled driver pointed them to the Town Hall, where he recommended they report the murder to the sheriff, to the House of the Morninglord where they ought to leave the body to receive its final rites, and to the Northlook tavern, where they could find a room. Dzaan parted ways with them to find his own lodgings, leaving them the tracking lamp and instructions on its use.
• On their way to the Town Hall, they passed through the market square, where covered outdoor stalls were being closed down. A voice called out 'last call for Torg's Caravan, we've got what you want, so get it now!' Neddie, a follower of the Frostmaiden, took up a position in the marketplace and started preaching about the virtues of Auril and the vicissitudes of the Dale folk.
• They were approached by a caravanner with bright blue eyes named Sephek Kaltro, who asked them how much the tinker's body was worth. He was a bodyguard on the caravan, and a bounty hunter, who assumed the body was a bounty, and offered to transport it to its destination for a fee. After clearing that misunderstanding up, he left them be, while signaling to Neddie that he too was a follower of the Frostmaiden.

• They went into Sheriff Southwell's office in the Town Hall, told him about the body, and got the story. Jericho was now the fourth such murder, the second in Bryn Shander. The others had occurred in Targos and Easthaven, the next biggest towns in the Dale. The towns were trying to keep this under wraps, and Southwell offered the party a bounty for the killer. They accepted.
• They were also informed of the Bryn Shander lottery. Every town in the Dale sacrificed something on the new moon to appease Auril, and Bryn Shander sacrificed lives. Ned, being a good follower of Auril, immediately went and placed his own name and those of his fellow party members in the lottery, and was thanked for being so prompt by the clerk; the last lottery was just a few days ago.
• From there, they took the body to the House of the Morninglord, the local temple of a solar deity. On arrival, hey heard a huge shouting match inside. 
• "NO HE ISN'T! GET LATHANDER'S NAME OUT OF YOUR STINKING HUMAN MOUTH!"
• They knocked, and the shouting stopped. They were greeted by a smiling human and gnome, Mishann and Copper, the two attendants of the temple. Based on the argument they heard before, the party pieced together that they were worshipers of Amaunator and Lathander, two solar deities called the 'Morninglord' at various times. Amaunator worshipers insist Lathander is just an aspect of their deity, and vice versa. 

GM: This is a little game I like to call 'Religious Tension.'

Irish player: Oh aye I know a thing or two about this. *Proceeds to tell joke about the Troubles*

• They handed over the body, and upon mentioning the tinker's name, Copper went nuts. He knew Jericho, and told the party about the last few days. He said that Jericho had been paranoid about the lottery, convinced that he would be chosen, but by the drawing day had gotten over it. Just the night before, he had been seen rushing through the streets, hitching up his dogs and just running, despite clearly not having enough supplies to cross the Spine.
• The temple was also healing a trio of heavily frostbitten dwarves. One stirred as the party approached, introducing herself as Hruna, and asking the party to deliver a message to a the town blacksmith about a lost shipment. They were carrying it back to town, but they were attacked by a yeti during a blizzard, and had to leave it behind.
• The party headed over to the Northlook to find lodgings. Outside, they heard people chanting 'Poke the fish' louder and louder, and through a window saw a young soldier walk up to a huge stuffed trout, which turned and bit his finger. Blood sprayed everywhere, the whole place laughed and drinks got passed around.

• The party entered as the tavern's proprietor, a tough looking soldier names Scramsax, took a small coinpurse in exchange for touching the fish, called Ol' Bitey. They got their lodgings and stayed the night, catching several local rumors along the way. They heard about goblins building a fortress in the mountains under a new, seemingly very intelligent leader, about the town of Dougan's Hole suffering from attacks by horse-sized wolves, and the local smith raising prices on his wares, despite their poor quality.
• That night, the party put the tracking lantern on the owl familiar, with orders to fly around the city and environs and report if the lantern indicated chwinga activity. It returned later with an all-clear. 
• The next day, they went to the smith, made a deal with him to get back the shipment, and headed out on the tinker's old sled, pulled by ORK and the bugbears. 
• They traveled two days through the tundra, braving a blizzard, and reached the site of the lost shipment. The dwarves' igloo had fallen apart, and their dead companion Oobok's body was there... and his arms were over there... and his legs were waaaay over there. 
• But their sled was missing. A set of fresh sled tracks and small humanoid prints led off south. They followed for a short while and saw a light up ahead, moving slowly. The dwarven sled, being pushed along by a pack of goblins. 
• The party moved in stealth, successfully ambushing the goblins, killing several and holding a couple more hostage. They cried out for mercy in the name of Yarb-Gnock, a Goblin name meaning 'the Ever-Gnawing.' Their new chief, apparently. When asked where the sled was being taken, they pointed further south. A two-story goblin wagon, pulled by a polar bear team, was just nearby.

• The party trussed up their captives and moved up. The goblin boss, Izobai, was in the top of the wagon, and the party hatched a plan to draw her out. They tempted the polar bears with dog meat and sliced the tack of one, letting it loose. The goblin boss was drawn out and sniped, but she was tough, and they failed to take her down. She sounded the alarm, and grabbed a torch, threatening to sned the wagon and its contents up in flames.
• The party jumped into action, slaying the remaining goblins, rushing up to the top and Sparta-kicking Izobai into the snow.
• They congratulated themselves too soon. She survived the fall, drank a potion, and all of a sudden the remaining polar bear began to defend her. They calmed the bear back down and knocked Izobai unconscious, adding her to the captives. 
• They recovered what little treasure there was, moved the iron over to their own sled, and interrogated the captives. They were informed that not long ago, their tribe was taken over by a new chief, the cunning and canny Yarb-Gnock, who was leading goblinkind to greatness in building a massive fortress called Karkolohk. 
• They returned to Bryn Shander, keeping the polar bear with them by feeding it goblin meat. They planned to keep it as a pet before they realized just how expensive it was to feed.
• Back in town, they got their reward and much deserved rest, making it to Level 2. They found a message left for them by Dzaan, telling them that he hitched a ride with Torg's caravan to Targos, and would go to Bremen from there, where the party could find him once they located the chwinga. 
• The next day, Neddie stayed behind, working on his personal igloo outside the walls of Bryn Shander and keeping an eye on the prisoners. The party was joined by Elton John, the goblin warlock, apparently totally unfazed by the murder and enslavement of his people. The party set out to travel to Dougan's Hole, interested in the reports of 'horse-sized wolves.' They figured themselves more than a match for a pack of dire wolves. This would also offer another opportunity to look for chwingas.

• Along the way, they had to drive through the town of Good Mead. They were approached by a hunter an hour out of Good Mead. His name was Fef, and he informed the party that Good Mead had just been attacked by a giant, which killed their speaker and stole several casks of mead. He offered to sell the party a fox he just caught. It was oddly docile, even though it was hanging from his snare.
• Avar excitedly paid the hunter a pair of gold pieces, and was delighted when the fox stayed with them instead of running off. They asked Fef where he caught the fox, and he pointed to a copse of evergreens on the outskirts of the forest. 
• The party investigated, finding a nest much like that of a ground bird. But no such animal lives in the Dale. Inside, they found tiny coats woven from pine needles, as if made for dolls. The fox seemed perfectly comfortable there, and the tracking lantern changed color ever so slightly.
• They continued towards Good Mead, finding the townsfolk split between getting drunk in the mead hall, and paying their respects to the speaker in the shrine. The eulogy was given by a woman of Chultish descent, Olivessa Untapoor, who afterwards informed the party about the gray-skinned giant which had speared Speaker Rielsbarrow through the chest and made off into the forest with several casks of mead. 
• That delivery had been meant for Easthaven, and with the giant roaming about they had called off other shipments lest they too be ambushed. A party of five militiamen had already been dispatched, following the tracks, and Olivessa offered the party free room and board for a tenday if they backed the militiamen up in killing the giant. The party deliberated amongst themselves about going after a giant, a risky venture, versus just hunting dire wolves. In the end, they took Olivessa up. 
• A scan of the forest by the owl familiar told the party that chwingas were nearby. They followed the tracks of the giant and the militiamen, which led them to a scene of bloody carnage. The bodies of the militiamen were crushed into paste in the snowy ground. The goblinoids took a couple bites, reasoning they could blame that on the giants later. 
• As they continued into the forest, the tracking lamp's flame turned bright green. A little while later, a wee snowball whizzed past Avar's head, and they saw a miniscule figure, dressed in a pine-needle coat, dancing atop the snow. The fox dashed forward, playing with the figure, which jumped atop its back and rode the fox like a horse.
• Avar was enamored, and used illusions to communicate with the chwinga, which could not speak, but mimed and chirped. It indicated that the giant (the party had determined it was an ogre) was big and scary, and that it was in love. 

Avar: That's why it was getting the booze. Hoping to get some action.

Stughok: Do I have to make a Wisdom save if I see ogre sex?

• They told the chwinga to stay at a distance once the fighting began, but remained friendly with it to keep it from getting away. They tracked the giant to a cave complex, with a fire burning inside.
• Stughok took the lead, sneaking around with ease. The cavern with the fire in it was home to a pen filled with sheep and goats in good condition. From one direction, he heard lourd snoring, and from the other, whistling and the sharpening of a knife
• Investigating the snoring, he found the sleeping ogre, with the mead casks nearby (one had already been drunk) and a system of baskets rigged above him. He brought the party into the cave, removed the ogre's greatclub from its grasp, and using the power of teamwork (and a bugbear rogue's truly busted sneak attack damage) they proceeded to beat it to death before it could so much as cry out.
• They recovered the mead casks and the pitifully small amount of treasure in the baskets, and investigated the rest of the caverns. There was also a cave bear sleeping in an adjacent cave, which they also succeeded in killing without resistance, and an ancient tribal burial, friezes depicting the arrival of Icewind Dale's tribesmen. 
• Finally they found the verbeeg, the spear-wielding gray-skinned giant who had attacked Good Mead, whistling to himself and sharpening a knife. The party snuck around into position and ambushed the verbeeg, but without catching him asleep were unable to avoid a combat. ORK took a pounding, but was still standing when the verbeeg was slain. With the caves cleared, they got to work rolling the mead casks out and getting the livestock to come with them. Until a cry came from the east.
• 'DUHG? I'M HERE!'

• Another verbeeg. His lady love, carrying a basket filled with metal shards. The party abandoned their herding and hid, except for Avar, who just stood in the animal pen in plain view. The verbeeg came in, alarmed by the lack of a response, and Avar kept her distracted claiming to be a sheepshit merchant that Duhg had invited to make a deal. 
• She was not convinced, but this was enough for the party to get the drop on her. They fought, and she was even tougher than Duhg, with ORK taking yet another solid beating, but they soon had her on the ropes. When the battle was against her, she inhaled and blew a fog cloud out of her nose, and turned to run. But Stughok dashed after her, and got her in the back with a critical hit, jumping on her and driving his blade into her neck.

Party: Go see your husband in hell!

Gahg: He was... just... a friend [dies]. 

• The metal shards Gahg had been carrying were strange. They were scorched and twisted, but also beautifully smooth and well forged. Looking upon it, the party saw strange visions... Nautiloids burning through the Phlogiston... lasers glittering in the distance... and as soon as the visions came, they passed, and were forgotten.
• As the party finished up their herding, and took the heads of all the giants and the bear as evidence, Stughok was himself ambushed... by the chwinga, which launched itself out of the trees onto his back, poking a twig into his neck in the same way he had killed Gahg. Stughok mimed dying, and the chwinga giggled and jumped onto the fox's back, running around swinging the twig like a sword. It then offered the party a magic stone, and stuck with them as they returned to Good Mead.
• Once back in town, they were hailed as giantslayers. The party decided to call themselves 'The Giantslayers' until they could come up with a proper group name. They sold the goats and sheep for a good sum, as well as the heads of the giants to be stuffed and mounted. They were feted by the townsfolk, and as the night wound down, Olivessa spoke to them about the election. The town speaker was dead, and they needed another one to represent them to the other towns. Her friends were telling her to run, but she didn't altogether want the job, and she floated the idea of one of the party running. They quickly decided that wouldn't work out, and Olivessa admitted she didn't think so either. 
• Not wholly satisfied with the prospect of a speaker who didn't really want the job, they asked who the other candidates were. The other credible candidate was a dwarf named Shandar Froth a popular logger, who was at that moment dancing drunkenly atop a table across the room. Elton John approached and developed a rapport with Froth and the loggers, offering to trade the endorsement of the now-legendary Giantslayers in exchange for a little quid-pro-quo. 
• Froth castigated Elton John for being so unsubtle, but agreed. The party put up their feet in Good Mead for another day, watching the election the following night, as news of their endorsement swung the townsfolk solidly towards Froth. They spent another night getting drunk on mead. 
• The next day was their eighth in the Dale, and that was where the second session ended. 
• The party plans to track down Dougan's Hole's dire wolf problem, and from there find Dzaan in Bremen. Will they be able to complete their mission? Will they ever give up their cannibalistic ways? And who is the mysterious serial killer they've only gotten hints of? All this and more in the next session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden!

Takeaways

I opened my Castle Xyntillan campaign with a tavern, and now I've got another cliché opening under my belt, the caravan! I think it all made sense and didn't outstay its welcome.

The adventure contains both dark and violent moments as well as cute and funny ones. The chwingas are solidly in the latter category. This might threaten a wildly inconsistent tone, but it's worked so far, and the players really responded well to having a cute pet and to a little elemental which imitates humanoids. The true test of my GMing will be in how well I can turn cute and fun elements into horrifying ones...

This wasn't how the book wanted the party to complete the chwinga quest, but it's how it worked out. Makes more sense for my money, just because elements of the adventure should actually interact. Not the intended chwinga encounter, but it all worked out.