Climbing Against the Wind

The mountain did not wait for the party to be ready. Cynthia's cave sat behind them, warm and safe enough to make leaving it feel foolish. Ahead, the route toward Virgil climbed back into snow, stone, and the occupied heights above Smiteclaw Village. The party was not fighting Githyanki yet. They were fighting the weather. The wind came in waves. It shoved snow into their faces, turned stairs slick, and made the mountain itself feel like an opponent taking turns. They moved in starts and braces, each person looking for rock, wall, or stair edge to keep from being thrown backward. Nick had barely rejoined before the Lonely Islands began testing whether he belonged there. He answered by climbing. Nick pushed up the stairs and reached the top in a burst of ridiculous confidence, turning back toward the others like the climb itself had been a victory. It was not the safest place to celebrate, but it was very Nick, and the moment gave the group a little momentum. Ash tracked the real route. The polar bear signs from the earlier descent were still there, but now the footprints gave the party a trail. Ash followed them down toward another ledge and found the shape of an entrance in the rock. Somewhere nearby, Virgil might be hurt, hidden, or worse. Getting everyone there was the problem. Gusts knocked people prone. Jonah fell again, proving that the mountain had not finished humbling him. Victor, moving with his new wooden stump and very recent trauma, was thrown into a tree and managed to come down more gracefully than anyone had reason to expect. Maine tried to brace himself with Mage Hand, only to be blown back and dropped hard enough to make the climb personal. That was when Maine remembered the potion of climbing from the sewers. Once he drank it, the mountain changed for him. The wall became a route instead of a barrier, and he could move across the rock with the confidence the rest of them had been pretending to have. The group gathered near the smaller entrance Ash had found. From there, they could see that the cave had more than one way in: a larger opening elsewhere and the smaller side entrance in front of them. Jonah tested the dark by throwing a rock inside. The answer was a roar. There was a bear in there. That did not mean they were in the wrong place. It meant Virgil's rescue had become exactly the kind of problem Cynthia had warned them about: cold, hungry, and alive. Jonah cast Aid before they went farther. Maine drank a healing potion. The group argued briefly over light versus stealth, because sneaking mattered less if they could not see the thing waiting in the cave. The mountain had led them to the den. Now they had to decide how to enter it.