S06E21 – The Ice Kingdoms

After recovering from the attack the heroes spend a few days in Nifleheim recovering. Mara-kai takes this chance to study the book of demons she snatched at Olga’s sex dungeon and finds various ways of sending the demon they are looking for back to Hell. Gudmundur also reveals that the Palace of the Thousand Stories that the heroes are heading towards was built by earth genies and is supposed to exist in the Elemental Plane of Earth, not in the material plane.

Meanwhile Markahn the druid confesses that she’s more than a hundred years old and that she was part of the expedition that imprisoned the demon centuries ago. The only other person who came back from the expedition besides the human leader, Daiki, and herself was Old Grim, a dwarf who now lives at Niflheim. The heroes try to communicate with him but besides having no tongue he also shows no interest in them.

The group decides to head towards the Palace by first visiting the three nearby human towns starting with Satoru’s clan. As they enter Satoru’s house Cairn reveals that Satoru probably felt insulted years ago in front of Satoru’s sister and other northerners because of him. Adding to that the group reveals that they are hunting down a demon and whoever is trying to control it. Unbeknownst to the group Satoru is the one who hired the cultists who are now trying to free it. Miraculously Ada saves the day by convincing Satoru that with “demon” they actually mean “white dragon”. Fearing more mishaps and the mounting number of samurai around them the group excuses itself and leaves the village. Once outside the village, though, a group of ninjas ambushes them and leave Cairn unconscious and his life hanging by a thread. The heroes, after putting the forest on fire, scare the remaining ninjas away and revive Cairn.

The group pushes through mist and snow and reach Takao’s village before dawn. There Takao gives them a more hospitable welcome and offers them a reward in exchange of destroying the demon which the group readily accepts. Takao also offers six of his samurai to help them complete their mission.

The group’s final stop is Himeko’s village. The northern lady is furious at Satoru and Takao because the first is putting them all in danger and the second is doing nothing. Himeko’s lustful desire for Cairn appears to remain intact since they met years ago and both her and Cairn in private and the rest of the group separatedly spend a relaxing evening inside soothing thermal baths. The next morning an augur gives the heroes personalized words of wisdom before wishing them the best in their journey. Himeko tries to get Cairn to commit to marry her but he’s postpones the decision until they are back.

Before heading towards the mines the group first pays a visit to the cultists base in a nearby island to cut off the bad guys’ reinforcements route to the mines. Once there they wait until night time and then Mara-kai, Albrecht and Fenna fly to the snow covered peak that crowns that island, they all cast their thunderwave spells simultaneously and the resulting avalanche silences the thirty or so chanting cultists that were minding their business below and sinks their ships.

The group then heads to the main land where the samurais accompanying them bring out wingsuits for everybody and teach them how to use them. They all then jump off a really high peak and start flying across a frozen inland water part of the North sea. While they are flying they stumble upon one of the white dragon mates and 10 of its wyrmlings. The heroes swoosh through them at full speed but the dragons take down two of the samurais with their breathing attacks. The rest of the heroes manage to land safely hundreds of yards away and start skating towards the cliffs.