Fire and Ice
an adventure for 4-6 characters 7-9th level by Bill Sweeney
dedicated to my wife Giro on her birthday, 8/11/96
please send your comments or suggestions to wsweeney@ix.netcom.com


Introduction

	Long ago, in a time when the world of Faerun was much younger, men lived in gleaming cities on the shores of great inland seas, and wizards ruled on high, experimenting with magics unknown to men today.  This was the time of ancient Netheril, when magical carpets and flying castles filled the skies and men still warred with elf and dwarf alike.  The common people of the land were little more than slaves to their magic-using masters, wizards who dabbled in the search for immortality.  Over centuries, the wizards of Netheril grew powerful, mighty enough to challenge even the gods of the heavens with the ancient secrets they had discovered.  The gods of old looked down on Netheril and the foolish pride of its rulers and chose to curse the land in punishment for the wizards' pride.  
	Soon, Netheril's seas dried up and its crops withered, sands filled the lush valleys and the wizards' towers crumbled.  Many of the evil mages escaped to the southern lands to rebuild another empire, but the common people where left to fend for themselves.  The gods looked down and pitied these people who were now left in a ravaged land for no other reason than their ruler's arrogance.  So the god Tempus, Lord of All Battles, sired a son named Uthgar to lead them people of Netheril to a promised land.  Uthgar led the refugees of Netheril into the western wilderness and away from the sandy wastes his people had renamed Anauroch.  It was in the savage frontier of the wilderness that Uthgar taught the refugees of Netheril how to live in harmony with nature and revere the beasts of the forests and the mountains as the spirits of the gods.  
	Today, over four millennia since the fall of Netheril, tiny bands of nomadic barbarians still haunt the wilderness of the utter North.  Collectively, these people call themselves the Uthgardt, in honor of their savior.  Each tribe worships a different aspect of nature through one of the beast totems of the wilderness.  They are a simple people, one that time has somehow forgot.  Since the Uthgardt left Netheril, man has ceased his battle with elves and dwarves and has instead strengthened the bond between the goodly races of Faerun in effort to achieve what Netheril once had.  But from time to time, the barbarians of the Savage Frontier look to the heavens in their time of need.  And sometimes, when the stars and the moon are just right, Uthgar hears their cries and sends heroes in his stead.

A Dream

	There are some dreams more disturbing than others; ones where difference between reality and the subconscious are not so clear.  Tonight, each of you are having such a dream, indeed the very same dream.
	A red-furred tiger walks slowly across a frozen landscape, one which is concealed by thick rolling mists.  The creature is beautiful; thick muscled legs propel a slender, slinking form through waist deep drifts.  However, each step seems a burden to the great arctic cat, and you realize that he is leaving a trail of blood behind him in the snow.  You are not aware of your bodies in this place, so you can offer no help to the injured beast.  As the great cat turns away, you are able to see that its far flank is burned and torn, savage wounds created by some unknown creature.  The red tiger pads off softly into the mists, moaning in pain.  
	You are alone in the snowy wastes for just a moment when the mists part from where the tiger disappeared.  Standing motionless in the snow, staring at you with cold blue eyes is a barbarian human dressed in only hides and furs.  He stands over seven feet tall and his legs and arms are as big around as tree trunks.  A golden hoop hangs in one ear and a thick scar runs down his face and under his weathered leather breastplate.  In his hand he carries a worn wooden war club, spiked and bloodied.
	The warrior's gaze meets yours and he then looks off to the left as the mist parts again to reveal a wizened old barbarian on his knees, chanting and praying.  The warrior looks in sadness at the older man and then back at you.  The barbarian speaks slowly; "My children call upon me for help, but I am no more...You will go in my stead..."  The younger barbarian turns and disappears into the mists as the old shaman continues to chant, raising a small object into the air with both hands.  From here you can see it is a human skull, worn and yellowed with age.  The old man screams a final chant as he collapses into the snow and unconsciousness; "Uthgar, your people are in need!"  All around you darkness falls as you slip again off into sleep.

Cold Awakening

	It is terribly cold in you room this morning, and before you even open your eyes, you reach to pull the blanket up closer to your chin.  Hardly even cutting the chill, your brain begins to wonder why it's so cold in the end of August.  It is only a minute later when you realize you are not in your own bed, or in your room, or even the same place in which you fell asleep.  Almost in unison, six bed-raggled heads shoot up from their slumber to take stock of their new surroundings.
	You are in a small, cramped tent that smells terribly of sweat and musk.  The walls are made of a thick layer of fur and lashed together wood.  There is no obvious exit to this place except for a hole in the roof that allows the dying fire in the center of the room a place to send its smoke.  It is clearly morning outside, but the temperatures must be below freezing.  Strangely enough, a number of your companions, as well as a few strangers, sit prone, much like yourselves, around this camp fire.  By the look on everyones' faces, it seems that they are as surprised to be here as you.  You look beside yourself to find your adventuring equipment and weapons in just the same arrangement as you had left them last night.  The only other item of interest in the tent is the body of an old sweaty barbarian, clutching a yellowed skull, which lies unconscious next to the dying embers of the fire.  He is strangely familiar, like someone you have seen in a dream.

	Unless the shaman is disturbed he will not awake.  The characters should have time to gather there things and introduce themselves if need be before awaking the shaman.  There is a door to the tent but the flap is hidden by a hanging bear skin.  Characters familiar with the Uthgardt might make connections with the dream and these people as well as the fact that the shaman wears a red tiger pelt, indicating he is a member of the Red Tiger Tribe.  If the shaman is wakened, he will look up in fear at the sight of the characters and plunge headfirst through the flap in the tent and out into the morning cold.

"Torch"

	You follow the stumbling shaman out of the tent and into the piercing bright landscape.  It takes a moment for all of your eyes to adjust to the sunlight reflecting off the thigh-high layer of snow that surrounds you.  You stand it what seems to be a barbarian encampment at the foot of a great mountain range.  To your left, towering mountains of broken granite reach up into the clouds and are capped with thick mounds of frozen ice.  To your right, the mountainside slopes downward to a sheer cliff of ice, obviously a great glacier which butts up against the mountains from the north.  There is only rock and ice here and a few lonely tents that keep out the driving cold.  The old shaman is running away from the tent screaming as he struggles through the deep snow toward a cluster of tents across the clearing.  Your eyes go wide as you see a gargantuan red form lying between these shelters.  A shiver runs through you as a great crimson serpentine neck rises from the mass of red scales and muscle to look your way.  Fully 300 feet long from head to tail, the ancient red dragon shifts its weight in the snow to turn toward you, its eyes narrowing into dark yellow slits.

	The red dragon will inspire fear in the characters at first glance.  Characters must make a save vs. spells at -3 to prevent dropping their weapons in fear.  The dragon will slowly rise up out of the snow, unfurl his wings, and begin to walk toward the characters cautiously.  The characters will see barbarian women and children come out of the lodges and watch the encounter.  The characters can attack, but should be sorely outmatched, and Torch doesn't want to fight anyway.

	The dragon stops some 30 yards from you and plants himself into the snow, his gaze never leaving yours.  A snort of acrid smoke issues from his nostrils and he then speaks to you in a smooth and refined Common; "Put away your weapons warriors, for I mean you no harm, at least not yet.  You do not look like barbarian heroes to me, but you will do just as good.  Allow me to introduce myself; I am Torchindraxcrandos, red wyrm of the Spine of the World Mountains.  You may call me Torch, as many of your kind do so."  
	"I wish no harm upon you or these simple folk.  I have asked their shaman to summon his ancestral heroes here to do my bidding, but you will have to do in their stead.  It is all very simple you see, I wish to hire you for your services, and if you succeed in the quest I have in mind for you, I will spare the sixty-some odd women and children you see behind me.  Otherwise, I will sear the flesh off their bodies with my breath and dine on their entrails like I did their husbands and fathers.  Your choice is simple, join me or watch each one of them become a living torch.  Yes, the paladin in you might think you could defeat me or at least get in a few good blows, but what is to stop me from incinerating them before I take my last breath?  Think now adventurers, and choose wisely..."

	After deliberating the ethics of this situation, the characters should at least ask what is the dragon's proposal.  

	"Look northwards mortals and you will see, however faintly, a lonely mountain amidst the great Endless Ice Sea which is the glacier that lies before us.  Three days journey from here Lonefang Mountain stands as a silent sentinel to the northern wastes.  Within the heart of the mountain lairs the treacherous wyrm Arauthator, known to the creatures of the north as Old White Death.  The ancient white dragon is keener and much more clever than the rest of his kind and has mastered the Art better than most of dragonkind.  Arauthator has stolen a bauble of mine to which I hold a great sentimental attachment.  Your quest is this; journey into the glacier and retrieve my treasure from Arauthator's lair.  The object of which I speak is a green sphere of glass etched with golden designs.  The sphere can be as small as a fist or as large as a beholder, such is the nature of the device.  Bring this item to me, and you have my word that these people will go free."

Torch; red dragon wyrm; AL CE; AC -10; MV 9, Fl 30; hp 140; THACO 1; (claw1d10/claw1d10/bite3d10)+11; breathe for 22d10+11 (5'-30', 90' long); spells 2222/2; MR 60% SA affect normal fires, pyrotechnics, heat metal, suggestion, hypnotism, detect gems; XP 19,000

	The characters can decide to accept the quest if they wish, otherwise they will have to go to battle with Torch.  If the characters agree, Torch will give them a staff of duskwood on which is attached a fist-sized ruby that pulses with a fiery light.  Anyone breaking the staff, along with all creatures within 10 feet will be teleported to the dragon's location.  This item should be used to return to the mountain camp.  The staff functions as a staff +4 until the shaft is broken.  It also allows Torch to watch the party's progress (this power will not function within the orb of draconic influence's radius of power).  Torch will also give the characters bear and reindeer pelts and enough food and water for exactly three days travel.  He will warn that for every day the characters are late, 5 tribes people will die.  When the characters are ready, the wyrm will direct a young barbarian warrior to escort the characters to the glacier.  As they make their way to the ice cliff, read the following.

	The barbarian that walks beside you is a young man, perhaps only 16 winters old, and by his dress and the trinkets adorning his furs, you believe he is of some importance in his tribe.  You are startled as he addresses you under his breath as you make your way away from the dragon.  "I am Shinoras, son of Adalwulf, chieftain of the Red Tigers.  I know some of the common speak for I have spent time in the city of Silverymoon with my father.  The dragon burnt him to ashes with the other warriors when he refused to call upon the ancient spirits for the dragon's evil quest."
	"I heard what you said back at the camp and I must thank you from my people.  I am truly sorry you have been brought into this but your appearance must be part of Uthgar's plan.  My people can offer you little in return other than our lives but I can tell you some of what lies before you.  Indeed Lonefang Mountain lies three days walk from here, but that is if you could walk across the glacier like it was an open plain.  The Endless Ice Sea is riddled with great crevasses, sinkholes, and chasms, too great to cross for any man.  However, legend says that there is a way under the glacier, through the Canyon of the Despair, that leads to an underground entrance within the mountain.  I do not know the way, nor do any of my tribe."
	"However, legend also speaks of a tribe of the Uthgardt who became lost in the glacial rifts and have settled there.  We call these peoples the Lost Tribe, and it is taboo for the Red Tigers to travel into their domain.  If you can find them, perhaps they can show you the way."
	Shinoras points to a great crack in the side of the glacier and the narrow pathway that lies within.  "That path will lead you to the Canyon of Despair.  May Uthgar and the spirit of the Red Tiger be with you."

Day 1:  The Canyon of Despair

	The Canyon of Despair is a cold and lonely place where winds rip through daily.  Characters must make constitution checks every 3 hours or suffer a loss of 1 constitution point.  For every point lost there is a 10% chance of hypothermia which will cause the character to lapse into unconsciousness and ultimately death if not warmed within the hour.

	You trudge ahead through the crack in the glacial cliffs and squeeze through a narrow passageway that delves deeper into the glacier.  The walls on either side of you are sheer and slippery and tower at least a half a mile above you.  You can see the clear blue arctic sky high above as you twist and turn down the narrow cleft in the glacier until you reach a cliff overlooking the Canyon of Despair.
	The reason for its ominous name becomes clear even as you approach the canyon lookout.  The fierce polar winds, gusting up to fifty miles a hour, tear through the canyon mercilessly, creating a deep moaning sound that sounds like a woman crying.  
	As you reach the overlook, you see that you are standing at the end of what is a tremendous rift crevasse in the glacier which is the Endless Ice Sea.  For many miles to the north the canyon stretches to the horizon, the only landmark being the lonely slopes of Lonefang Mountain rising out of the ice beyond.  The canyon seems devoid of life, only ice and more snow.  You spot a narrow and treacherous trail which leads downward to the canyon floor off to your right.

	The canyon trail ends as soon as the characters reach the bottom of the pathway which necessitates 10 dexterity checks to pass to the bottom.  Each time a character falls, he or she must make another check to see if they can stop their rapid descent.  A strength check is needed for a successful stop.  For each dexterity check missed, the characters take 1d6 damage.

	Traveling through the Canyon of Despair is a treacherous and bone-chilling ordeal.  The winds whip at you mercilessly, forcing you almost backwards in mid stride.  Chunks of razor sharp ice and treacherous slopes assail your every step and your fingers and toes have become numb even through your thick fur clothing.  By mid-afternoon you have traveled a dozen miles from the glacier's edge, but Lonefang Mountain seems no closer on the horizon.  The sun is getting lower in the sky and it looks as if a weather front maybe moving in later today.  Finding a decent shelter in this arctic wilderness will be important for tonight.  Ahead, about five miles deeper into the gorge, you can see that the canyon walls narrow and that there maybe some shelter to be found there from the howling winds.

	As you enter the narrow ravine in the canyon, the sun rests on the western horizon, beginning to dip down into the ice.  Your lips are dry and cracked and your face windburnt and red.  Thankfully, the ravine does cut down on the wind, which is beginning to pick up now that the sun is setting.  As you climb down deeper in the ravine to search for a cave or some other suitable shelter, you see ahead of you a large pinnacle of ice lying in the center of the canyon floor.  Encircling the pinnacle are six 20' diameter holes in the ice which look like they have been melted into the ground.  The lips and sides of these holes are polished smooth and lead to tunnels that dip into the glacier below you.

	Characters staying more than a few rounds here will awaken the family of remorhaz that lair under this portion of the glacier.  What seems like a slight tremor at first becomes an earthquake as the four remorhaz attack simultaneously from different holes, battling the party from different angles.  The backs of the remorhaz are red hot and they will try to devour each party member.  If any remorhaz drops below 1/2 their hit points, they will retreat to one of the four lairs beneath them.

Remorhaz (4); AC 0,2(head),4(belly); hp 44,49,58,93; THACO 13,13,11,7; dmg 4d6 (2), 5d6, 6d6; SA heat lash (10d10), swallow whole on 20; XP 11000,11000,12,000,18,000

	The lairs underneath the remorhaz holes are empty and contain only bones and scraps of debris.  However, a careful search of the far eastern chamber will uncover a crevice that leads down 40' to where an elf adventurer leapt to his death while trying to outrun the remorhaz.  The frozen corpse still wears boots and a cloak of elvenkind and lies atop a shattered short sword.

	At the conclusion of the battle, characters will see figures running about the ledges around the top of the ravine but they will be too far away and the lighting too dim to make them out.  Moments later a group of glacial barbarians will arrive on the backs of haundar.

	Your peripheral vision picks out a number of figures running along the cliff sides high above you in the ravine.  They seem to be humanoid but at this distance and with only the last few rays of the sun shining in the crevice, its hard to be sure.  The crunching sound of snow alerts you to danger below on the cavern floor behind and in front of you.  From behind the shadows that now line the canyon walls, slithers six tremendous arctic ice-slugs.  Over 30' in length, with two probing pseudopods on each head, these giant slugs are plated with a hard chitinous layer of armor on their backs which protect their soft tissues.  The entire creature is a brilliant white color, but its hardened carapace is mottled with a swirling green phosphorescence.  Even more threatening than these six giant ice slugs are the riders which sit upon their backs, barbarians dressed in armor made of the ice slug shell and who wield cold mithril battle-axes set with diamonds.  The barbarians glower at you from under a thick coat of white paste that they have painted onto their faces.  The lead warrior slides off the back of his unusual mount, draws his battle axe, and marches across the ice toward you, his face passionless.

	If the characters do not attack, the barbarian stops several feet away from the character who personally killed the largest of the remorhaz.  He will stare down the character and then finally reach under his armor and pull forth a necklace made of remorhaz teeth which he places over the character's head.  With a hoot and a smile, all the warriors begin to cheer, including those in the walls above and the warrior will pat the character on the back and make room for the party atop the haundar.

	You are surprised when the barbarians pull the harnesses of the ice slugs around to head back the way you came but you hold your protest as you feel the slug beneath you begin to levitate off the ground.  You hold on for dear life as the ice slugs begin to undulate beneath you, their massive bulks swimming through the air like it was water.  Seconds later you climb up and out of the valley, flying high above the arctic glacier on the back of these magical beasts.  Your silent barbarian companions look back at your astonished faces and laugh to themselves as you watch them steer the great ice slugs to the northwest where several cooking fires burn on the horizon.  Far to the north, the last rays of the setting sun strike the western flank of Lonefang Mountain, and you just can make out its immensity as the ice slugs begin to descend toward the barbarian encampment below you.

	The barbarians land in a rocky cleft in the glacier that is clean of ice and snow.  You realize that volcanic pools, heated by magma under the glacier, have formed where water has upwelled here, creating an oasis in the middle of the ice sheet.  The barbarians help you dismount as you watch women and children stare at you with astonishment.  The barbarian men who brought you here push the women and children aside and lead you toward an icy cave entrance at the far end of the encampment.  It is much warmer here and you wish you could strip down and jump in the heated pools that lie scattered around this village.  However, the barbarians who brought you here seem intent on you following them, especially the one warrior who gave the necklace.  
	You follow the men into the cave which opens up into an ice-walled cavern in which sits a old woman with long white braids hanging from either side of her head.  The warrior bows to the woman and then takes a position beside her throne of volcanic rock, whispering into her ear as she watches you.  The woman seems ancient, her skin leathered and wrinkled from many years of exposure in the arctic sun.  You watch as the old woman picks a small crystal pyramid from her belt pouch and crushes it to dust in her hand.  She looks at you with the passionless stare you have come to know in these people and then begins to speak in a thick language of hoots and whistles.  Strangely, her foreign words seem to hold meaning to you and you realize she has cast some sort of spell to communicate with you.  "I am Chalaba, elder of the Ice People.  My son says you have defeated the great worm Jurithankus.  Is this true?"

	Chalaba will continue to ask the party questions and will answer theirs' as best she can.  Her questions include; why they are here, who sent them, and where are they headed.  She can tell the characters about Arauthator, the path to his lair, and some of the dangers they might face.  She knows nothing about the gnomish village but does know some about the shazz, who she sees as thieves for hunting the haundar.  Chalaba can also tell the characters that the cold around Lonefang is even too much for the haundar and that the mountain is magically protected by some force which prevents scrying and teleportation.  She will offer a haundar mount to the characters in exchange for a magical item to carry them to the end of the canyon in the morning.  Finally she will ask the characters to celebrate with her people this night in honor of the slaying of Jurithankus.  
	The celebration includes racks of reindeer cooked on dung fires and lichen and fungus that grow on the glacier as food.  The characters may sit in the hot pools and regain 1d8 hit points during the festival which includes dancing and singing.  Several barbarians try to trade their haundar plate mail to the characters for weapons.  The armor is half as light as normal armor and is acid resistant.  During this time, the barbarian son, named Rendak, asks to take a PC female as a mate.  The barbarians do not understand how the character could refuse but Chalaba understands that her heart maybe with another and gives a philter of love to each male PC as a gift the next morning before the characters leave.  The philter of love has been created to make those characters fall desperately in love with the female character for the remainder of the adventure.

Day 2:  The Glacial Tunnels

	The glacial tunnels are barren and frigid but more sheltered than the tunnels.  Characters must make constitution checks every 4 hours or suffer a loss of 1 constitution point.  For every point lost there is a 10% chance of hypothermia which will cause the character to lapse into unconsciousness and ultimately death if not warmed within the hour.

	You awake the next morning to a new coating of snow on the barbarian encampment, one which has already started to melt from the heat of the hot springs.  Gathering your supplies, Chalaba gives several of your party members magical potions to aid them in your quest.  She smiles at all of you as she lets her warriors bring you to the haundar mount, looking at you like you are her children leaving home for the first time.  The six of you easily climb on back of the haundar as it begins to glide up and away into the clouds.  For many miles you fly across the glacier, the rugged icy crevasses being left slowly behind you.  Lonefang is not visible today because of a fierce snow storm which is lashing the area north of the canyon, but you can still feel its ominous presence.  The haundar glides downward toward the canyon end and lands in a soft pile of fresh blown snow.  Before you, the end of the canyon rises up in a sheer wall of ice, the only passage being a narrow 6' high tunnel at the wall's base.  The tunnel seems old and unused due to the thick icicles that partially obstruct the entranceway.

	Any character over 6' tall will fight within the shazz hives with a -2 to hit and damage.

1)  Entrance

	The tunnel leading into the side of the ice cliff is dark and the walls of the passageway have been carved by worked tools to form almost perfectly rounded tubes.  The tunnels are of impeccable construction and the ice here has a bluish tinge.  To continue further into the tunnels, a light source will be necessary.

2)  Iced Portal

	The wall to your right seems to have been a carved archway at one time, but the opening under it has been covered by a sheet of ice,
	Smashing through the ice, you uncover a frigid tomb.  A number of frozen corpses, what look to be shriveled husks of insect-like humanoids lie in heaps in this room.

	If the room opened is the southernmost, there is also a raised dais on which sits the shriveled corpse of the former queen of the shazz, surrounded by petrified leathery eggs.

3)  Gaund Lair

	This room is shadowy and dark but you can make out the shapes of what look to be dung piles and bones littering the floor.  There is some movement in the corner of the room that captures your attention and you watch as three 6' tall slate blue lizard-like creatures stand up on their hind legs and turn their heads toward you.  Three glowing blue eyes are set in their foreheads, the middle one being the largest.  Behind them, each sports three tails which twist and turn like writhing serpents.  The fey creatures have razor sharp talons and teeth, and when they see you, these flicker in the light as the beasts leap toward you to attack.

	This description of the gaund can also be used if they are attracted by the vibration of sound made by characters bashing through the doors,  

Frost Gaund (3); AC 6; MV 15; hp 33, 29, 28; THACO 17; dmg 1d4/1d4/1d6/1d8tail; SA cold gaze as chill metal (1d4,1d4,2d4); XP 650

4)  Open Room

	Unlike other portals in this complex, this wall has an open archway leading into a room.  From your vantage point in the hallway, you can see a slate blue lizard-like creature crouching in the shadows, unmoving.  It in hunched over and tucked into a ball in the corner of the chamber.  You stand in the entranceway for a few moments but it does not seem to move.

	The gaund is alive but "playing dead".  If a character approaches within 10', the creature leaps to the attack for a +4 to hit and damage.

Frost Gaund (1); AC 6; MV 15; hp 31; THACO 17; dmg 1d4/1d4/1d6/1d8tail; SA cold gaze as chill metal (1d4,1d4,2d4); XP 650

5)  Egg Room

	As you near the end of the hallway, you can see green-blue glow coming from around the left-hand corner.  Turning into the adjacent passage you look to the south to see four of the lizard creatures up on their hind legs and staring directly at you with their three glowing blue eyes.  However, two of these lizard creatures look much different than the others you have encountered; both their bodies are pulsating with a sea-green aura.  Behind these two very large and radiating creatures, a pile of slime-covered leathery eggs are heaped in a corner.  The four frosty lizards leap to the attack.

Frost Gaund (2); AC 6; MV 15; hp 41, 32; THACO 17; dmg 1d4/1d4/1d6/1d8tail; SA cold gaze as chill metal (1d4,1d4,2d4); XP 650

Pregnant Frost Gaund (2); AC 6; MV 15; hp 66, 59; THACO 15; dmg (1d4/1d4/1d6/1d8tail)+4; SA cold gaze as chill metal (1d4,1d4,2d4); XP 650

6)  Broken Bridge

	The chamber beyond was once spanned by a bridge made of ice.  This natural glacial feature once traversed a distance of 60' to the other side of the crevice which looms below you.  Sometime in the past, the bridge that connected this passageway collapsed, separating the these tunnels from the tunnels beyond.  You can feel the weight of the glacier bearing down upon you as you study the 40' gap separating the 10' of ledge on either side of the of the shaft.  The gorge below you drops over 400' onto a bed of icy stalagmites.

	This obstacle is one to test the character's ingenuity.  Any character stepping on the 10' of ledge that remains of the bridge has a chance of falling.  If more than 300 pounds of weight stands on either side, at any given time, the ledge will break off and fall into the chasm.  Characters that are standing on the ledge must make a dexterity check at -2 and a strength check at -2 to grasp something to prevent from falling.

7)  Shazz Guardhouse

	A set of encrusted stairs carved up into the ice of the glacier leads to a short hallway illuminated by two glowing yellow torches.  Beneath the torches, and along the northern wall, a pair of insect-like humanoids stands guard to a pair of icy double doors.  The insect-like creatures have the torso of a wiry man, a furry insect like abdomen covered in a thick layer of down, four spider like hairy legs to support their weight, and two arms on which taloned hands grasp silver spears and shields.  The creatures' heads are vaguely human, but a pair of mandibles sticks out from the corners of their mouths and two antennae jut from their heads.  The creatures look something like a cross between a human and a woolly spider.

	The shazz warriors are both knights in their clan and have direct empathic links to the queen in room 8.  The shazz will take defensive positions if the characters approach, and will fight if needed to defend themselves.  The shazz will not be aggressors however, and will seek to bring intelligent creatures before their queen for her to question them.

Shazz (2); AC 4; hp 7 each; THACO 19; dmg 1d6 or 1d4 + poison; SA flight; XP 270

8)  Queen's Hive

	The spidery warriors lead you down their icy hallways to a single door set in the middle of a hallway.  With a tug, the door slides open and the creatures usher you inside.  Within this icy cave, a full twenty of these creatures stand armed and ready.  Another score of them seem to be smaller and more fragile, clustered about a huge, bulbous queen.  This creature has the upper body of a swollen and well-endowed female human but the egg-laden abdomen of a pregnant spider.  The queen's eyes are as black and empty as the night sky and they have a mesmerizing quality to them.  The room in front of you begins to blur and a buzzing voice begins to echo inside your head.  "We are shazz...we mean you no harm...go in peace...".

	The characters need only to think to have everyone in the room understand what they want to say.  The characters can ask about the tunnels leading deeper toward Lonefang or anything else.  The Queen will speak of little men who hold thunder, a river of diamonds, and icy toads.  If any character bestows a gift unto the queen, that character will immediately gain two shazz warriors as henchmen.

9)  Shazz Nests

	Individual families of shazz live in each of these caves.  In total, the hive has 20 combatant male warriors, 20 drone females who care for the queen, and the psionically enhanced queen herself.

10) Exit to Deep Tunnels

	It will take the better part of the day for the characters to crawl through these tunnels to arrive near the River of Diamonds.

Day 3:  The River of Diamonds

	The River of Diamonds is warmer than other places in the Endless Ice Sea.  Characters must make constitution checks every 4 hours or suffer a loss of 1 constitution point.  For every point lost there is a 10% chance of hypothermia which will cause the character to lapse into unconsciousness and ultimately death if not warmed within the hour.

1)  Cavern of the Haun

	After over eight hours of climbing through the twisting tunnels of ice that lie below the Endless Ice Sea, you finally emerge in a towering crescent shaped cavern where you can stretch your tired backs and muscles.  The walls of this chamber are steep and curve away to the northeast, obstructing the far end of the room.  From here you can hear muffled shuffling and moaning from around the corner.  Strangely, you can feel what seems to be a slight breeze.

	Around the corner is a giant haundar that has haun parasites.  The haundar is moaning in pain as the haun parasites that have burrowed under his shell are trying to force the haundar to attack the intruders.  The haun have cut slats in the side of the haundar's carapace as eye holes to see the surroundings.  Presently, there are three hauns burrowed within the unfortunate haundar.  As the characters round the corner, the haundar loses control and glides into attack, using its acidic spittle and then its bite.  The haun will use their psionic powers to try to force the characters away from their lair.

Infected Haundar (1); AC 2; hp 105; THACO 1; dmg 2d8 bite or 4d8 acid spittle; XP 12000

Hauns (3); AC 10; hp 3, 4, 4; THACO 20; dmg 1d4; SA psionics: telekinesis, animate object, inertial barrier, mindlink, aversion to worms, inflict pain, invisibility, repugnance; XP 175

	The haun look like 4' long purple maggots covered with white fur and have little fang-mawed heads.

2)  Iron Rungs

	The crescent-shaped cavern ends in a sheer wall of ice that has been pierced by a number of steel pegs.  From where you stand, two rows of these evenly spaced pegs have been driven into the ice from the floor of the chamber almost to the ceiling.  It looks like the steel climbing pegs end at a shelf 200' off the floor of the chamber.  

	There are 100 pegs in the cliff side and all but number 93 are securely seated in the ice.  Number 93 will give way when weight is applied to it and the climbing character will have to make a dexterity and strength check to prevent falling to the floor below (9d6 damage).  A further dexterity check is needed to see if the character can hold onto the peg, which is sharp and can impale the character below the climber if another dexterity check is not made by this unfortunate party member (1d6 damage).

3)  Gate

	Ahead of you, the natural icy tunnel ends abruptly in what looks to be some sort of a fortification.  Blocks of ice, cut into perfect rectangular bricks, have been stacked here, from the floor to the ceiling, in the attempt to make some sort of a gatehouse; complete with arrow slits in the side walls and a portcullis made of mismatched wooden splinters lashed together with rope.  A crude sign hangs from the portcullis itself and written in Common upon it, are the words "Open Me" (the e is backwards).

4)  Courtyard

	You pull down the portcullis and step into a huge, dimly lit cavern.  Roughly two hundred feet across and half as long, this chamber is illuminated by a glowing glacial river that runs against the western wall of the room.  Along the side of the river is a dock where three kayaks lie moored.  On both your right and your left, small squat dwellings made of ice and twisted scraps of metal form a small community within this cave.  In the courtyard before you stands a squat little man with a bulbous nose and tufts of snow white hair that stand out straight on his head and beard.  The gnome is dressed in a dirtied scarlet tunic and soiled trousers.  In each of his hands he hold a device which can only be described as a trumpet on the end of a wooden stick.  There is a crazed look in the gnome's eyes and he has queer grin on his face.  
	"Listen here you wart-ridden, slime-sucking neogi scum-lords, I'm not goin' down without a fight.  I waited a long time for this and I'm blast you right back into wildspace! Eeee-Yaaa!"  You watch in horror as the two horns in each of his hands release a flash of fire and a crack of thunder.

	Mordakan Bucklewiser is a shipwrecked gnomish spelljammer who is the last of a crew of space-faring gnomes that crash-landed on the glacier several decades ago.  Mordakan's companions have been eaten by Arauthator one by one and he has been left to go quite mad by himself.  Having stockpiled all the smoke powder left in the stores, Mordakan prepared for an assault by the neogi pirates that shot down his ship.  That was over twenty years ago, but the mad Mordakan has been waiting for this moment for a long time.  He has 8 single shot muskets and two starwheel pistols on his hips with 4 shots in one and 3 shots in the other.  He has practiced the defense many times but has never used any slugs because he has so little smoke powder.  Therefore, many of the old loads are faulty and so the backfire chance increases to 20% except for the pistols where it remains 10%.

Mad Mordakan; male gnome; F9; THACO 10; hp 76; dmg 1d10special; XP 2000

	Mordakan can be healed by way of a heal spell.  If he is healed of his madness he will join the characters as the henchman of the most mechanically inclined PC.
	The village is deserted as all the other gnomes have been eaten.  Mordakan will not explain about his origins, but the twisted pieces of strange metals point to some mystery here for the characters.  Mordakan will not divulge the secret of Spelljamming to the characters in hopes not to trouble their simple minds.

5)  Dock

	A raised staircase off to the left side of the cavern leads downward to a dock area set below the level of the rest of the cavern.  In ice-rimmed rope stretched across the river entrance keeps three two-person kayaks tethered next to the docks.  The boats are of exquisite design and resemble miniature longships with dragon-headed prows.  The river in which they float glows from light that reaches down into the depths of the glacier from the surface and reflects in a prismatic twinkling in the water.  The water itself is more a current of slush than it is unfrozen water, and with the prismatic effect of the reflecting light, the river looks like a flowing stream of diamonds.

	Character can get aboard the kayaks use the paddles within them to steer the boats north, downstream along the river.  Read the following to the characters after they begin their voyage;

	As the light from above slowly fades to darkness with the setting of the sun, you are left in the cold dark glacier, your kayak drifting slowly along on a subterranean river cutting into the very heart of the Endless Ice Sea.  Through deep canyons and lonely caverns you and your companions guide your ships past great hanging icicles and sheer walls of ice.  At times, the current speeds up enough for you to have to hold the sides of your boat and at other times slows to a crawl in which you have to paddle.  All throughout the night you make your way through the passageways and chambers that lead toward Lonefang Mountain, alone in the darkness of the glacier.  It is only when the first rays of sunlight begin to trickle down through the ice and make the river start to glow that you see that their is an ice jam in the channel ahead.  You brace yourselves as the kayaks drift up against the obstacle.  The river continues further down the tunnel but now a thick layer of ice lays atop it.

Lonefang

	Temperatures within the mountain are terribly cold, primarily due to its polar location but also because of the presence of old Arauthator.  Characters must make constitution checks every hour or suffer a loss of 1 constitution point.  For every point lost there is a 10% chance of hypothermia which will cause the character to lapse into unconsciousness and ultimately death if not warmed within the hour.

1)  Diamond River Entrance

	After unloading your belongings from the gnomish craft, you and your companions wrap your furs tightly around yourself and begin your trek northwards down the frozen underground river which leads to the dragon's lair.  Within minutes, you can see the ceiling of the channel opening up ahead of you and beams of sunlight dancing on thick mounds of ice and snow past the river exit.

	There is no signs of passage through this area is the recent past and as the characters approach the channel exit, cold winds whistle and roar down the chamber.

2)  Crater Lake

	You emerge from the glacial river channel after  a day of traveling under the icy weight of the Endless Ice Sea.  The scene that unfolds before you is breathtaking.  A tremendous chamber stretches hundreds of feet in each direction before you, the walls arching into sheer cliffs that rise thousands of feet above you to the rim of this ancient canyon.  Whether it was volcanic or erosional forces that created this magical place, you realize that you are standing at the far shore of frozen lake set deep within a crater that sits in the center Lonefang Mountain.  Islands of ice and rock jut upwards from the smooth lake surface, but everything coated in a thick layer of fresh snow.  The light of the arctic sun reflects and dances on the icy walls of this enormous canyon, sending sparkling motes of light swirling through the air.  The air itself is frigid here and cold winds tear down the crater walls and buffet you continuously.  There is a stench of decay here, frozen yet still obviously the smell of death.  Across the lake lies a gaping maw of a cave entrance which delves deeper into the heart of the mountain.  A channel off to your left seems to route the Diamond River away from the crater to the northwest.

	All characters must make their constitution check when entering this area.  The walls of this crater are naturally not climbable without magical means.  As the characters approach area 4, the stench of the dragon will begin to burn in their nostrils.  While crossing the lake, the characters will be attacked by a colony of ice toads that have camouflaged themselves as rocks on the island shores.

Giant Ice Toads (8); AC 4; hp 20, 22, 27, 31, 33, 33, 36, 40; THACO 15; 3d4 bite; 3d6 cold radiation; XP 270

3)  Diamond River Exit

	This channel leads several miles to a large open lake where it disappears underneath the glacier into a channel that is completely flooded and impassable.

4)  Lair Entrance

	Stepping into the cavern entrance blocks the assailing wind but does little for the intense cold which seems more powerful within the cave's depths.  Darkness clings to the far corners of this debris strewn entry chamber, bones and bits of shattered wood lying in twisted piles throughout the area.  Several pieces of ancient weaponry and armor lie half frozen in the ice amidst the rubbish strewn about.  Your breath comes in sharp gasps as steam rises with each exhale.  There is something very evil here and you can feel it as the hair begin to stand up on the back of your necks.  The chamber divides into two wide passageways that arc away from each other to the northeast and northwest.

	The collection of bones are mostly small pieces that Arauthator missed in his tidying and are comprised almost entirely of rothe remains.  Several humanoid bones are present but not at nearly equal amounts.  The weapons and armor in this chamber include; 3 short swords, 4 battle axes, a short bow, a quiver with 5 arrows +2, a spear +3, and a large body shield -1 missile attractor.  From this point onwards, any loud noises or conflicts will surely awake the slumbering Arauthator.

5)  Bone Pit

	The arcing passageway stretches to the northwest where is suddenly ends in a sharp cliff that drops into the depths of the mountain.  The smell of rotting carcasses is strongest here and you wretch to hold down your nausea.  Peering over the lip of this pit which dominates the western half of the chamber, you can just make out the mounds of bones and rotting flesh that sits at the bottom of the 100' shaft.  A narrow passageway leads deeper into the ice to the north.

	Characters moving about the edge of the bone pit must make a dexterity check or slip on the polished ice and fall to the pit bottom (10d6 dam + 3d6 impalement).  Characters attempting to scale down the pit into the bones will be rewarded by finding the remains of a barbarian warrior who still wears boots of the north and wields a long bow +2.  Brave explorers will also be set upon by a giant white pudding who was placed there by Arauthator to consume the garbage.

Giant White Pudding (1); AC 8; hp 72; THACO 11; 1d20+7 damage; immune cold, poison, acid; lightning and weapons divide; only fire or magic missiles; XP 4000

6)  Gnomish Prison

	Upon entering this chamber you a greeted with a peculiar sight.  Hanging from a great steel chain in the ceiling of the towering cavern is a cylindrical shaped object made of what looks to be a dark black metal.  The object is the size of a small house and is suspended over an island of ice that lies in the center of a great glacial chasm.  The island and the cylindrical object are unreachable from where you now stand, but from here you can make out strange bits of cloth and twisted metal that hang in tangled masses along the sides of the mysterious object.

	The object suspended from the ceiling is in reality an ancient gnomish spelljammer that crashed on the glacier several decades ago.  Suspended 50' above the floor, the ship has served as a prison for captives,  No one resides within the ship now, but the frozen corpses of three spelljamming gnomes lie in silence within the shell.  The interior of the ship is entered by way of a hatch on the upper rim of the cylinder which leads to a sparse one room chamber that is tipped on end and filled with debris including star charts, a shattered minor helm, and overturned seats.  A careful inspection of the captain will reveal a fully functioning starwheel pistol on his hip.  The pistol has but 4 shots left (1d10 dam) and has a 10% chance of backfiring.

7)  Trophy Hall

	A towering hall of ice stretches out before you to the east, its great weight supported nine crystal clear frozen pillars of ice.  The columns are randomly spaced along the length of this chamber, and as you approach, you realize that there are bodies trapped within each pillar, frozen statues of warriors and wizards who have been imprisoned within the ice.  From the vicious wounds and blood soaked garments, you realize that these people where placed in the pillars of ice after their deaths, but the transparent ice makes it look like they are standing still, either sleeping or staring off into eternity.  The ice has preserved the bodies perfectly, and much of the unfortunate's belongings.  As you stand in this chamber you can feel the weight of the icy mountain looming above you.

	The removal or weakening of more than three pillars in this room will cause a cavern collapse.  Any pillar removed with an adjacent pillar will also start the collapse.  Characters caught in such a catastrophe will suffer 10d10 points of damage from the falling rock and ice (no saving throw).  The contents of each pillar are as follows starting from the farthest western pillar to the farthest eastern; 1)  wild elven female ranger equipped with long bow and 7 arrows +3, 2)  human male barbarian equipped with broken battle-ax and backpack filled with diamonds (40,000 gp), 3)  priestess of Auril with bastard sword +3 frost brand, 4) an orc chieftain with a halberd +1, +3 vs. magic-users and a shield +1, 5) a shazz warrior with a spear, 6)  a priestess of Selune with a set of scale mail +5 and a shield +4, 7)  a red-headed warrioress who looks just like Garm's wife armed with dagger of throwing +3, 8)  a southern wizard in white robes grasping a staff of the magi, 9)  a dwarven cleric with a dwarven thrower +3. 

8)  Ore Storage

	This long narrow chamber is filled with piles of dark volcanic rock streaked with silvery bits of metal and clusters of gems.  This looks to be a collection of rich unrefined ore and the metal seems to be mithral spaced between pockets of imperfect diamonds.

	The DM can adjudicate the amount of wealth allowed for the characters to obtain.

9)  Food Storage

	The passageway begins to rise steeply as you continue farther north down this wide passageway.  Off to your left, a pile of frozen rothe carcasses lies in an icy heap in a large alcove.  Partially eaten cattle lie atop the mound and you realize that whatever eats these frozen carcasses must be truly enormous by the size of the bite marks.  Ahead in the passage to the north, you can make out what seems to be a faint blue glow.

	There is nothing of value in this chamber, but the steep slope to the north has been trapped with a variant of the alarm spell.  Any character climbing up the frozen slope will set off a silent alarm that will awaken Arauthator.  Characters climbing the slope must make a dexterity check at -2 or slide to the bottom of the hill taking 1d6 damage.

10)  Grand Foyer

	You surmount the icy slope to find yourself in a towering chamber of ice and snow.  The ceiling lies over 300' above you and is domed to make this room seem like a great cathedral.  A faint blue light dances about this chamber and seems to be centered around an unusual object floating in the center of the room.  A beautiful and delicate snowflake, perhaps as wide across as man's hand, hangs motionlessly 4' off the ground.  A steep chute of ice drops off deeper into the mountain off to your left.

	The snowflake is actually a trap set by Arauthator by means of his frost vortex spell.  Characters touching the snowflake will cause it to explode, coating a sphere 20' in radius with ice and doing 6d6 damage.  Characters must make strength and constitution checks to avoid being slowed for 1d4 rounds or fall for an additional 1d4 damage and dropping all weapons.  Two hundred feet up on the western wall of this chamber is a cave opening that leads to Arauthator's Lair.  It is undetectable from the bottom of the shaft.  If Arauthator is aware of the character's presence he will speak to them here in a voice which echoes through the ice caverns (making the source location undetectable); "<chuckle> It has been so long since any have dared enter my lair.  I do so wish to add to my collections.  Come down to me mortals and taste the cold of my breath. <chuckle>"  Characters sliding down the ice slide take 1d4 damage as they land roughly at the bottom.

11)  Warehouse

	The end of the ice slide stops in a roughly circular shaped cavern filled almost to the ceiling with crates and boxes covered in a thick layer of ice.  Markings and script on the boxes identify them as belonging to several mercantile and trading costers here in the Savage North.  It seems that the crates have been positioned and stacked to corral intruders down a narrow pathway that cuts through the stolen merchandise.  

	Investigation of the contents of the crates will uncover a wide variety of textiles, pottery, and weapons.  Characters climbing the crates must make a dexterity check to prevent slipping on the ice and falling for 1d6 damage.  As the characters turn the first corner, they will activate a magic trap set by Arauthator.  First, a slender wand of polymorphing (3 charges) set high in the crates at the end of the passageway will fire a green-yellow beam of light at the lead character.  Any character missing his save will be polymorphed into a gnome but will keep all of his abilities.  Second, walls of ice will rise up out of the ground to entrap any characters in the passageway and will rise to a height of 15 feet.  Finally, 10 frost vortexes, previously hidden by an invisibility 10' radius above the characters, will begin to float slowly down to explode every round within the walled off area.  This is a deadly trap and might kill a number of the characters.  Characters escaping the trap will find another ice slide heading into the darkness.  Arauthator, beginning to feel some pressure, will speak; "Interesting...rarely do I find ones like you this far north.  Each of you deserve your own place in my collection, except the gnome.  There is nothing I like better than a plump little gnome... <chuckle>"

12)  Ice Bridge

	Before you, an icy span of bridge, without railings, traverses a narrow but deadly gorge.  The bridge looks like it is entirely made of ice, polished to sparkle like a span of diamonds.  The gorge is tremendously deep, plunging perhaps 1000' to a rough bottom littered with sharp chunks of ice and bits of debris.  The ceiling to this chamber is half as high but this enormous shaft is buffeted by strong winds that force you to take hold of the wall even where you stand in the entranceway of the chamber.  A small opening hundreds of feet above you in the side of the mountain seems to be the cause of the winds, the arctic air spiraling down from above to blow intruders off the icy ledges to their deaths below.

	Observant characters may discover the wand of lightning (5 charges) that has been lodged in the northern wall and is pointed to the center of the bridge span.  Any character stepping on the center of the bridge will be struck by the lightning bolt from the wand.  Furthermore, to cross the bridge, a character must make 3 successful dexterity checks at -4 penalties or fall to their deaths below.  Obviously, crossing the bridge is not supposed to be easy and the characters should devise an alternate route or some safety precautions.  If the wand of lightning hit the bridge 5 times the bridge will shatter sending everyone to their deaths.  Character reaching the other side will find another ice slide as well as Arauthator's voice again; "I warn you mortals, do not test my strength or my patience.  Give up your foolish quest now for I have seen your cities and your peoples rise and fall over the centuries, but I myself am everlasting..."

13)  Ice Pool

	The ice slide from the bridge brings you to a ledge overlooking a frozen pool that dominates the southern portion of the room.  Thick pillars of ice rise up from the pool to support the ceiling 25' above you.  A slick ramp curls around the northern shore of the pool and leads to yet another ice slide that seems much steeper than the others you have encountered.  It is deadly quiet here but the stench of dragon is overwhelming.

	Arauthator lies in wait at the bottom of slide invisible.  He can see fully into this chamber and will cast an icemelt spell at the ramp when the characters begin to climb down.  Characters caught atop the melting ice will be pitched into the pool which is covered with only a sheer layer of ice.  Arauthator will then activate an ivory wand of frost (14) that is hidden on the southern wall to trap any creatures who fell into the pool with a 6d6 damage cone of cold.  Characters trapped in the ice must make a constitution check every round and are subject to hypothermia.  There is a steep ice slide (2d6 damage) at the end of the chamber but there is no words from the dragon.

14)  The Sea of Diamonds

	You reach the end of the final ice slide and stand within a sparkling chamber of inestimable beauty.  This long and wide cavern is the deepest of the ice caves and is carved completely from ice.  However, it is what lies imbedded within the ice that is truly marvelous.  Fist sized diamonds, thousands of them, lines the walls, floors and ceiling of this icy cavern.  Two torches burn brightly at the far end of the chamber, sending flashes of flickering light dancing off these diamonds and splitting the radiance into prismatic flickering that illuminate the cavern in purples, blues, greens, yellows, and reds.
	The chamber is divided by a fifteen foot high wall of ice that stretches across the width of the room.  Behind the wall of ice, a raised dais, on which sits the pair of torches, provides what looks to be an oversized wizard's laboratory.  Rows of ancient tomes and texts line the walls of this corner of the room, and a bed of diamonds and magical treasure lies next to them.  But indeed, the most amazing feature of the room is the sphere of green volcanic glass, 10' across and etched with golden geometric designs, that sits in an ironwork stand upon the dais.  An eerie green glow radiates from the orb, but does little to illuminate the room.  The stench of dragon is overpowering here but there is no sign of Old White Death until you here his voice rumble like a winter gale (although he is still invisible); "So you have passed through my traps and have reached my lair.  From what I have seen, you are powerful, more powerful than most of your pitiful kind.  I would like to offer you an agreement, to prevent the spill of any more blood this day.  I am in need of worthy adventurers like yourself to secure my position as Lord of the Northern Wastes.  Join me mortals and together we will rule the north and all its peoples!"

	Either way, Arauthator wants the characters dead and will twist any bargain to his advantage, breaking it if need be.  Either way, Arauthator has already cast haste on himself and will cast wind wall on the area above the wall of ice to block missile attacks.  Arauthator will then use his breath weapon to take out as many opponents as possible and then will use spells to destroy the strongest warriors.  Arauthator wears two rings of fire resistance on his claws that cuts all fire damage immediately to 1/4 (1/8 on save).  Read the following as the dragon breathes.

	The air around you erupts into icy shards as a wall of super-cooled air rushes past you, blistering your skin and freezing your limbs.  The blast of dragon breath knocks you off you feet and dazes you momentarily.  You look up and over the wall to now see the visible old white dragon, Arauthator, Lord of the North.  Over 60' long and with an additional 60' of coiled serpent tail, Arauthator is the size of a large inn.  His scales shine brilliantly white but have a pale blue sheen cast over them.  The back of his head sports a single leathery fin and his claws look like sharpened icicles.  His eyes burn with red fury and his maw is like a bed of needles.  The dragon roars as he bellows with rage.

Arauthator; old white dragon; AL CE; AC -3; MV 12, Fl 40; hp 120; THACO 5; (claw1d6/claw1d6/bite2d8)+8; breathe for 8d6+8 (5'-25', 70' long); spells: detect magic, magic missile X2, wall of fog, icemelt, continual light, dispel magic, frost vortex, cone of cold; MR 20% SA gust of wind; XP 11,000

	If reduced to 40 hp or less, Arauthator will smash through the ceiling of the cavern and exit through his secret passage into room 10 and then out over the lake and out to a safe hold located in the Spine of the World Mountains.  If reduced to 10 hp or less and he cannot escape, he will try to hand over whatever treasure the characters desire to spare his life.

	There is a king's treasure in diamonds in this chamber and character encumbrance should be considered when allowing the characters to take diamonds.  The diamonds are worth 5000 gp each and there are several thousand of them imbedded in the walls and in the dragon's bed.  The bookshelves contain a number of spell books of Netherese design as well as a personal spell book that is full of every ice-related spell imaginable.  The DM can decide the specifics of these books.  The items laying in the treasure bed include; a cloak of comfort, axe of hurling +4, storm star +3, wand of wonder, shining body shield +1; and a whip of Amatar.

	Of course the real treasure here is the orb of draconic influence that sits on the pedestal.  A careful perusal of the laboratory will uncover a number of Netherese texts that include diagrams of the orb sitting on the pedestal.  Unless the characters can read ancient Netherese, these books are of no use.  However, one volume has what looks to be Thorass runes written in a margin which read; "Obviously, the creation of the orbs of draconic influence have, like on so many other worlds, given mankind the power to stand against these ancient creatures....in the wrong hands, or those of a dragon, they could indeed be used as a means of destruction, as shown in the Year of the Dracorage. -Elminster the Sage, 897 DR

	Once the orb has been recovered, the character should use the dragon's staff to return to the Red Tiger encampment at the base of the Spine of the World Mountains.

The Orb

	Once the staff is broken the characters will be teleported back to face Torch.  The dragon demands the orb immediately and if it is given to him, he will free the tribes people but will turn of the characters unless he swore something differently.  The orb can be used to control Torch and force him away if the characters concentrate upon the sphere.  They will make life long foes of the dragon, who can't attack the bearer of the orb if its powers are known.  These powers should be discovered by the players before they return to Torch on the mountainside encampment.  The end of the adventure comes after a festival with the Red Tiger Tribe the night after their victory, and the coronation of Shinoras as chieftain.  Read the following to the characters after the celebration quiets down;

	You make your way away from the main tent and toward separate lodging that the barbarians have set aside for you.  As you walk across the frozen clearing under the stars and the light of Selune, a thick mist rolls down the mountain slope, sinking you waist deep in fog.  A man steps out from the mist, a familiar tall barbarian carrying a bloodied war club.  At his side is beautiful red tiger cub which purrs and clings to his feet.  The scarred barbarian smiles at you and then turns to disappear again into the mists.  The fog lifts away as quickly as it parted and the six of you are left standing in a field of wheat.  The songs of crickets chirp through the air and lightning bugs buzz around your heads.  You turn around and look down from the ridge on which you stand at the tiny village that lies in the center of the lush river valley.  The oil lanterns of the Dalelands light up the windows of the inns and taverns and beckon to you.  You finally have come home...


