Troll, Grumok, Torvald, Manivar, Tahmeena, and Dakkar were pulled out of The Pit. King Foldrid gave the group a choice: Explore north towards and into Snowrose Trench or capture wild horses in the valley east of Barrierton. No reward was offered.

The group traveled north on the road to Barrierton discussing the Runegate dwarves’ numbers and defenses. It seemed to number 500 or so dwarves. They may keep about one-third of them at Retreat’s End. The walls of Retreat’s End are patrolled by 8-12 guards. A group of their soldiers stands by to move out from Retreat’s End to deal with threats elsewhere in the valley.

The trip up the road was interrupted when a werewolf charged the group. The creature was out of its mind, so Manivar could not reason with it. The group killed it, and it returned to its female human form.

The group reached the valley and found a place to camp. Partway through the night, a hunting cave bear found their camp. After rousing everyone, the group surrounded the bear and killed it. Later in the night, an orc approached the camp and tried to convince Grumok to join the orcs. The conversation grew loud enough it woke Troll and Manivar. The orc tried to convince Troll to join the orcs, too. Manivar used the distraction to sneak up behind the orc, discovering 8 more orcs hiding nearby. Before the offer to Grumok and Troll was settled, Manivar killed the orc, waking Tahmeena, Torvald, and Dakkar and causing the other orcs to charge the camp. At first, Troll let the orcs slip past her, but after Tahmeena and Dakkar killed two of the orcs swiftly with their cold breath, the tide turned. Dakkar pointed out to Troll which side was winning. With Troll’s help, the rest of the group made quick work of the orcs, and Troll ate one of them. One orc had tried to flee, but Grumok killed it. That helped Grumok find four horses the orcs had tethered nearby.

After searching in vain for a cave, the group made their way through the night to Barrierton to rest in safety. They had to talk their way into Barrierton, but bringing four horses for Clan Runegate helped that along. The group slept in the stables.

Before the group could go about their business, Captain Ralmid found them and ordered them to kill a yeti that had been spotted west in the tundra. With little choice, the group packed up and headed west into the tundra and a massive blizzard.

In the blizzard, the group nearly walked into a group of two frost giants, ten goliaths, and two winter wolves. Hiding in the thick snowfall, they avoided capture or death, but only for a moment. The winter wolves heard and smelled them. The frost giants and their goliaths took the yeti they had killed, sent the wolves for whatever they had detected, and told the wolves to bring their prey to the camp of their queen.

The group ran. The winter wolves pursued. Manivar, Dakkar, and Grumok made it past the giant owls, small herds of mammoths, and a ravine to nearly escape. However, Troll, Tahmeena, and Torvald were hampered by those obstacles, and Tahmeena and Torvald fell into a ravine. Tahmeena healed Torvald before he succumbed to his wounds. Troll savagely wounded the closest winter wolf, but even Troll succumbed to the relentless attacks by the winter wolf. Alerted by Tahmeena, Dakkar doubled back to heal Troll. Troll was able to kill the closest winter wolf, but Dakkar fell when a mammoth hit him. Torvald fell under the icy breath of the second winter wolf, shielding Dakkar from its breath.

When Troll failed to scare the second winter wolf away, the rest of the group returned to help Troll fight the winter wolf and rescue Torvald and Dakkar. The fight was a desperate one, but with numbers on their side, they killed the winter wolf, but not before Manivar also fell. Grumok, Troll, and Tahmeena collected their fallen comrades and the winter wolf bodies and returned to Barrierton. There, they alerted Captain Ralmid to the thread of the frost giants and their queen.

When the group returned to Retreat’s End, they were rewarded with some liberties, including Troll being allowed to keep one of the winter wolf pelts.