Our Heroes emerged from Jarlmoot to find a squaking crow and thunderous applause from a single person. The frost giant, Gromin Gorn stepped forward and introduced herself. She congratulated the heroes and explained that the Jarlmoot’s trials and rewards are tailor made for whoever enters the ring of thrones. She indicated that in the Jarl’s wisdom our heroes were offered the horn, and that it could play a key role in their fates.
Gromin Gorn was far more personable than any frost giant our heroes had ever met or heard of. She explained she was searching for Grimskalle, to retake it from the squatter Auril, and to increase her standing in a new Ordning.
Our heroes proposed an information sharing session, but Gromin interrupted, saying it would need to wait – as her trial was rapidly approaching.
The Ancient White Wyrm Arverituarce descended upon our heroes, destroying the Jarlmoot and attacking Gromin. Despite their better judgement and the warning issued by Gromin, our heroes remained to assist.
Our heroes, not wishing to offend Gromin, stayed mostly out of the fight, supporting from a distance. Gromin believed the Jarls were lending their strength, when in fact it was our heroes assisting by discretely healing wounds and granting blessings with magic. Even then the Wyrm’s strength was undeniable. Incidental tail slaps and wing buffets were enough to nearly fatally wound our heroes.
Largo noticed the wyrm’s eyes were encased in cataracts. This, combined with the wyrm’s advanced age could be why our heroes for the most part escaped Arveraturice’s notice, and why she believed the corpse on her back was a live rider.
Eventually, when Gromin was on her last legs, our Heroes intervened and drove back the dragon, who muttered something in draconic before flying away to the west.
Gromin’s reward was a star map leading to Grimskalle – which appeared to be floating somewhere in the sea of moving ice. She would need time to prepare, and left our heroes to continue their journey alone.
Later, our heroes would encounter an ambush orchestrated by Torga and Avarice. Avarice had a bone to pick with our heroes after they routed the Knights of the Black Sword, and she didn’t appreciate them poking around in the wilderness to potentially disrupt more work. Torga hoped to collect on a bounty on Largo’s head.
Despite this dark alliance’s preparations, our heroes shattered Torga’s dreams of early retirement and Avarice abandoned the failed ambush.
They allowed Torga to leave the chasm with her remaining caravan guards, grumbling as she packed up and promising not to try a stunt like this again.
She said the Bounty came from the Lords in the South, and was posted, like other bounties, at Revel’s End. Avarice had approached her to propose the ambush, and Torga, having just purchased a six-armed gorilla was eager to unleash it on our Heroes to avenge her slain former ally Sephek, and collect a ludicrously high bounty of 1000 gold.
From here our heroes continued their journey to the Dark Duchess, to collect a bounty of their own on some barrels of rum.