- Shit's fucked dinosaur hoodie over Fellowship of the Icosagon.
- Soliana spends a minute conjuring a new Healing Elixir
- While the Keepers are pondering the table in the center of the theater, Niniel hears an echo-y scream from outside the temple building.
- Niniel casts Fly on herself (and Poetry) and flies up and out to see what happened and sees a couple of people at the exit of the tunnel that are startled by the statues that flank the opening.
- The two people are jut dude in tunics, both holding spears.
- They came to see what went wrong with the snackrifice.
- The sacrifices average about one person a year.
- The leader of the village / settlement who makes choices about the sacrifices is Arvid.
- Fly wears off.
- They all agree to go back and talk to Arvid.
- Niniel tries to be the last one to leave, but one of the pair of men refuses to leave her. So she tells him that you might not want to be here for this, but here we are. She casts Lightning Bolt through the two statues making them both explode. The man is flabbergasted. Shocked Pikachu even.
- The two men are extremely shocked to hear that the Keepers have destroyed eight of the guardians since their arrival.
- Some other things they learn while walking is that the village is names Frostvic and has ~500 people. Arvid is the leader of the village / patriarch of the Vinterson family. The Vintersons have run the village for as long as anyone can remember. Stenvar comes with as well, though he is quite nervous what his reception will be since he didn't get eaten.
- Arvid is well respected and is the first to defend the village if there's an animal attack or the first to go looking for those lost in weather and that sort of thing.
- As often as possible they sacrifice criminals or people who are badly injured or deathly ill or elder people who volunteer, but if there are none of those available then Arvid chooses. They don't know how Arvid chooses.
- Several hours of walking later, the Keepers and the three men arrive in Frostvic. The people of the village are all surprised to see these weird strangers. The Keepers are taken straight to Arvid's house.
- Arvid excuses everyone but the Keepers. He is a tall man with pale skin, blond hair, and a thick beard.
- Arvid explains that when the Guardians are awakened they must be appeased so that they will return to a slumbering state. They used to sleep longer, but it seems like they are wakening more frequently. The Vinterson family are the people tied to the Guardians, and the Guardians won't take them as they are connected to them somehow.
- The Guardians will choose someone, a lot of someones, themselves if an offering isn't made.
- Soliana asks about what records might have been kept from previous generations about the bond with the Guardians, and after a shot in the dark on her part, he has an amulet that anchors him to the Guardians, so Soliana casts Identify on it.
- There are magical tendrils leading out into the rest of the house, but Soliana follows one to outside and sees that its anchored to a little boy playing in the snow. There are no other tendrils outside the house, so the Vinterson family are tied to the amulet and are the only ones who can Attune to it. The tendrils are one-way from the amulet to the Vintersons.
- Soliana's only theory at the moment is that each sacrifice is becoming a new Guardian so that it's not so much they any individual Guardian is waking up more often, but that there are just more of them to be waking up.
- Soliana is shown to the library and given records to read through.
- Niniel gives Arvid a VR tour of the tunnel and village beyond using Minor Illusion (I cast PowerPoint!)
- While enjoying some refreshments Niniel tries to write to the Kraken to see if he wants the spirits or the people, but there is no response.
- From the archives, Soliana learns that this tradition of appeasing the Guardians has been going on for at least six or seven generations, and that someone back in the lineage created the amulet to protect the Vinterson family specifically. There is a record of an attack on the village by the Guardians when a sacrifice wasn't provided or something went wrong. The Vinterson family are nearly invulnerable as a part of this bargain, but only this family. The amulet only had about five tendrils when Soliana studied it. Perhaps it only protects the immediate family of the person currently wearing the amulet? When the original Vinterson created the amulet it would have summoned a "Prime Guardian".
- Soliana presents her theories and says that the amulet and the Prime Guardian might need to be destroyed.
- Caleb uses his psychic powers to connect into the amulet (maybe the Prime Guardian) and also Arvid so that Arvid can witness firsthand.
- Caleb asks if they are reproducing, multiplying, and the response is, "Our strength grows with numbers."
- Caleb says they need a solution to this situation. "Flesh is life. Life is the solution."
- "Have you considered going vegan?" Laughter.
- Caleb asks about the hearts in the tunnel, "Hearts fuel the Guardians."
- Caleb asks where did the first Guardian come from, "You ask much."
- About Arvid, "We make him strong. He makes us stronger."
- On where the Guardian speaking comes from, "Where the ice and snow reign supreme."
- On its name, "You may call me Guardian."
- The Guardian ask Caleb who he is, "I am a wizard of the mind."
- Caleb asks Guardian if he is a Vinterson, "No."
- Caleb breaks off the psychic connection. Arvid is lolling in his chair with a nosebleed.
- Niniel uses Vampiric Touch on herself to transfer 7 HP to Arvid, and he comes to.
- Arvid is clearly overwhelmed. Niniel asks if there is an inn so that everyone can rest, and we can continue this conversation in the morning.
- The Keepers decide the first order of business is to go try to destroy the hearts in the tunnel back at the Outpost / Sacred Village.
- Soliana uses Identify on Grim to examine her connection to Grim, and it had connections going both from Grim to Soliana as well as from Soliana to Grim whereas the amulet only had connections from it to the people.
- Plan B is to come back and destroy the amulet whether or not Arvid agrees to it.
- Niniel goes to use the outhouse and on her way back notices a light on, so she sneaks through the house to the door of that room and Ghostly Gazes into it and sees Arvid and his (assumed) wife, and they seem to be discussion the news and what Arvid has learned from these strangers.
- His wife seems to want him to get rid of the strangers, but Arvid wants to wait and see what happens. He believes the Keepers have good intentions.
- Soliana casts the Alarm spell (ritually) on the room they are all sharing, and they settle in for a Long Rest.
- 2,000 XP ea. for 38,500 XP total each.
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