Rime of the Frostmaiden Session 3: Big Bad Wolves

In the last sessions, the party arrived in Icewind Dale, got involved in a murder case, tracked down an iron shipment, slew some giants and got involved in local politics. Now, they journey to the benighted town of Dougan's Hole, where rumors tell them huge wolves terrorize travelers and kidnap children.

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.

Accomplishments

Found Garagai's Lodge

Slew the mammoth Norsu

Rescued Silja and Finn

Defeated the winter wolf brothers

Reached Level 3!

The Game

• The party rested in Good Mead following the festivities, and set out for Dougan's Hole. The Good Mead townsfolk cautioned them about the Hole, and the wolves that the party sought to hunt.

Source

• On the road to Dougan's Hole, they were approached by a hulking, horse-sized figure out of the darkness. They immediately saw that this was no dire wolf, as they had thought. It was a winter wolf, deadly, sapient creatures raised and kept as pets by frost giants. This one approached the party, limping, whimpering and with its tail between its legs.
• He asked for the party's help, and introduced himself as Koran. The party immediately sprang into action, trying to bandage up his injured leg, but the wolf backed off. He spoke with the party, telling them about how his master, a frost giant named Garagai, beat him and his brother, Kanan, and forced them to kidnap children from the village for Garagai to skin and eat. 
• Koran asked the party to come to the giant's lodge and rescue the children; that would teach Garagai a lesson, and he would think twice about beating his wolves again.
• The party agreed, and diverted their course from Dougan's Hole, instead following Koran to the lodge. It was a massive building, much larger even than the mead hall in Good Mead, built entirely of ice, with three huge arching entrances.
• Along the way, a couple of the party members sensed something following them; another wolf, Koran's brother, but they didn't take any action.
• Koran told them that the children were through the central arch, and the party entered. The corridor beyond was choked with icicles, and though the bugbears tried to sneak on by, the crunch of snow underfoot gave them away. 
• Something big and heavy started stomping towards the party. A woolly mammoth came into view, and all of the advance party managed to hide, except for Neddie. 
• He began to speak with the mammoth, learning that its name was Norsu, and it used to be Garagai mount. Used to be, since Garagai was dead, and had been for a long time now. He had been killed by humans who forced their way into the lodge, and now Norsu was taking revenge. The wolves brought humanoids to the lodge for Norsu to kill, and captured the children so they could slowly freeze to death. 
• Norsu charged, and the party's efforts to slow him down failed. He gored Neddie with his tusks, and if not for his good reflexes, Neddie would have been stomped into paste. The rest of the party had snuck around nearby, and beat on the mammoth, severely injuring it. 
• Then Avar stepped forth and used his Hypnotic Gaze on the mammoth. It was entranced, and the fighting stopped. The party considered what to do now that it was pacified, but decided that it would be impractical to take it anywhere. Stughok and ORK lined up and executed the mammoth on the icy ground. 

• They began to explore the place, finding Garagai's hacked-up corpse encased in a tomb of ice, which they considered melting before they realized there was no treasure inside. They also noticed his throne, carved with a Giant rune. Avar sat on it, and immediately became aware of its magical power. The creature which sat in the throne could call down a blizzard to envelop the lodge and its environs. 
• They located the children in a cage. The party broke them out, and learned their names were Silja and Finn. They both had some facial deformity, which creeped the party out. 
• They party found some treasure, including a scrimshaw goat, several huge barrels of whale oil, and some remorhaz residue, which they collected.
• In the giant's meeting room, hiding under the huge table, they encountered a trio of kobolds, next to a stone chwinga statue. Elton John used his warlock magic to transform from a goblin to a kobold and befriended them. They were overjoyed that Norsu was dead, and that there was another kobold they could speak with. 
• The kobolds had been traveling through the snow and decided to shelter in the lodge, panicked and hid when they saw the wolves and the mammoth, and while hiding were startled by a chwinga, which they killed. They mentioned to Elton John that they were traveling to find their Lady Arveiaturace. Elton misunderstood them, and thought they were seeking Auril, and told them that Neddie was also a devoted follower of their Lady. When this misunderstanding came to light, the kobolds became antsy and stopped talking.
• The party realized the whale oil here was very valuable, but the amounts were simply too much to carry out. They settled on taking one barrel and returning to the lodge with more villagers and sleds for the rest. 
• On their way out of the lodge, they still had to deal with the wolves. They sent the children back inside, and to their dismay, the kobolds also hid. 
• Koran and Kanan emerged from the darkness together. Koran wasn't limping anymore. They monologued at the party and cursed them for failing to die to Norsu, and attacked. 
• The winter wolves were deadly opponents, focusing fire on ORK with both fangs and wintery breath weapons. The spellcasters did their best to aid from afar, but it looked bad. 
• Finally, they managed to bring down Koran. Kanan was already injured, and fled after taking one last swipe at ORK. Thanks to Elton John's healing, ORK was only reduced to 0hp, and was swiftly revived as Kanan ran off into the endless night.

• The party headed off into the wilderness with the kobolds and children in tow, finding the road again and finally reaching Dougan's Hole. They were welcomed by the entire town... all fifty-odd of them, all of whom looked to be each other's inbred cousins.
• The whole town was miserable and run down, but it was situated next to a set of megaliths called the Stones of Thruun. The party experimented a bit, but were unable to get any reaction.
• Silja and Finn's mother rewarded the party with her late husband/brother's Boots of the Winterlands, and the townsfolk negotiated a price for the whale oil and the location of the rest. The party came away with substantially heavier pockets, and more clout with the people of Ten-Towns.
• The session ended there, with the party sleeping the night in Dougan's Hole, and leveling up as a result! That night, they were also accosted by terrible dreams. But that will have to wait for next time.
• Next time, the party plans to investigate rumors of strange dreams in Targos, on their way to deliver the chwinga to Dzann. What will they do with their newfound wealth? What terrible dreams are they having? Who is this Lady Arveiaturace the kobolds were on about? All this and more in the next session of Icewind Dale, Rime of the Frostmaiden!

Takeaways

These players, Avar especially, absolutely adore animals. I didn't even have to do any persuading for them to immediately buy the winter wolf's story. 

I have a habit of asking 'will a 23 hit?' both as a GM and as a player. It's honestly not sarcastic, I'm just accustomed to asking and do so without thinking. In the fight with Koran and Kanan, it got comical, and I had to force myself to stop.

Like in the previous session, I was worried that facing down a mammoth and two winter wolves would just destroy the party. Luckily, one short rest between the encounters was enough, and besides one grievous injury and ORK going down, they were fine. This time, I promise I'll stop taking CR too seriously. My system instincts still aren't very well developed for 5e. 

One of the examples I used in my post, 'Stop Antagonizing Your GM with this One Simple Trick: Action Adjudication' was from this game, Garagai's entombed body. It was what inspired me to write that post to begin with.