Who: I went with me, and my four new friends! Desky, Sylk, Mika, and my new brother, Forvist!
What: The Winter festival!
Where: It was Port Nyanzaru down in Chult
When: Sometime around winter
Why: They tought we had a mission we could do but there was no mission so we went to trew a portal and got to go to a festival! There was little coal critters who stole fings and little games we coul' play and had quite a good time. Dere was a big rock man with a blue gem who was stealing fruits so he coul' warm up his little snake friend. He was makin' his snake friend cold though! We swapped out the blue gem for a red gem which was hot and all and now the snake is happy and I tink the guardsman has a really strong friend now!

The following is written in a beautiful handwriting...

(5/27) DDAL00-04 "Winter's Flame"

28 Mirtul, 1502 DR*

In the Isle of Chult, the Midwinter Festival was underway.* Cold air, fresh treats, and plenty of games abound. Lieutenant Owen Ozimar oversaw the festivities, growing stressed as reports of vandalism and theft flowed in. Though our party offered to assist, Ozimar insisted we enjoy ourselves, though to look out for alleged sentient coal.

Our party, consisting of Balasar, Desky, Forvist, Mika, and myself, Sylk, did just that. Through various games and foods, and to the countdown to midnight, we partook in the fun and grew closer as a group. As a speech began, chaos erupted. A rock monster- a galeb durr- erupted from under the stage, as coal-like creatures began stealing the supply of pembelons. Though we took to fending off the monster, it panicked when Mika's familiar and Forvist entered its den. Inside was a creature called a fire snake within a cage. Forvist picked up the cage, and the galeb durr immediately surrendered.

Slab told us that it and the fire snake, Small, used to belong to a master. This mage or tinkerer or what-have-you grew violent one day, so Slab defended itself and its friends, and killed the master. Since that day, Small hasn't been itself, and Slab has grown worried. It called for its rocky coal minions to steal the local warmth-causing fruit for Small's sake. The rangers of our party recognized this would only be a temporary solution, as the ice-infused gemstone embedded on Slab was the true culprit. Mika and I coaxed Lieutenant Ozimar into surrendering the fire-infused gem he kept on his person, in the spirit of Midwinter. He complied, the swap was completed, and Slab took a shining to Ozimar as a new master. Small appeared to heal shortly afterwards.

We were able to sell Slab's icy gem, and we received items for our trouble. No one, apart from a couple coal monsters, was permanently harmed.

*Time and weather seem to operate differently between the equator jungles of Chult and the northern reaches closer to Waterdeep.

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Loot

• 245gp, or 49gp to each
• Smouldering Half Plate armor
• Candle of the Deep

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The above is written to the best of my memory. -Sylkran "Sylk" Teke'zynge

What was supposed to be a simple assignment turned into an unexpected trip to the Midwinter Festival in Port Nyanzaru after some sort of mix-up with jobs. The group consisted of myself, Balasar, Desky, Sylk, and Forvist. Upon arriving at the docks, we were greeted by Owen, captain of a Flaming Fist squad called the Snowmen. While exploring the festival grounds, we learned there had been a series of thefts and acts of vandalism occurring since before the festivities began, though Owen encouraged us to simply enjoy ourselves unless we noticed something suspicious.

The festival ended abruptly when an explosion tore open the ground during a public speech. From the crater emerged an earth elemental named Sleb alongside several coal-like creatures that immediately began stealing crates of pembelons. We engaged the elemental and discovered a strange cold gem embedded in its chest. When I sent Chibi to investigate the crater below, Sleb reacted with panic. Forvist later descended into the hole and discovered the reason why: a weakened fire snake kept inside a small cage near where Sleb had emerged.

Once the fire snake, "Smol," was brought to the surface, Sleb surrendered and explained everything. His former master had experimented on fire snakes, and Sleb eventually killed him after knocking him into a wall during an outburst of anger, unaware there had been lava beneath it. The thefts had only been an attempt to keep Smol warm and alive. After some discussion, we determined the cold gem anchoring Sleb to the Material Plane was also weakening the fire snake. Owen possessed fire-attuned gems that could potentially replace it, and after some convincing from Sylk, he agreed to part with one.

We replaced the cold gem with Owen’s fire gem, allowing Sleb to remain while no longer harming Smol. The fire snake immediately recovered enough to curl itself around Sleb’s shoulders, and Sleb promptly declared Owen his new master for gifting him the gem. Owen seemed strangely accepting of this arrangement. In the end, each of us was rewarded with a Candle of the Deep and a set of Smoldering Half Plate armor for resolving the incident.