• Chapter 29: Journey Through the Frigid-Phrygia Mountains

    The five adventurers soon made it to the northwest edge of Olympalantis, and already the cold breeze of the Frigid-Phrygia Mountains began to touch them. Even with their winter clothing on, they could still feel the chill, albeit slightly.
    “Which route should we take to get to Silver Artemis Mountain?” asked Valerius.
    “Well,” said Nauplius, “thanks to Erebus, ALL routes are dangerous, but I can take you to the most direct route there.”
    “We’ll have our weapons at the ready, then,” said Rouvin. “Lead us, Nauplius.”
    The dwarf nodded with a smile.

    The first trail was tame enough, as the only danger here was hypothermia for the unprepared explorer.
    Eventually, though, the adventuring team encountered some Ice Goblins. These cyan-skinned picayune pests wore armor made of marble, and wielded pickaxes made of the frozen water.
    Galina prepared a tornado spell to blow away most of them, but a few held their ground by picking into the rocky path and holding on until the wind subsided.
    Nauplius said, “I guess some want to go the hard way!” At that, he swung his battle hammer and sent them sailing.
    “You’d be a menace in golf!” wisecracked Rouvin.
    “I may have to play a few rounds of that game when this is all over,” chuckled Nauplius in reply.
    After a good laugh, the party continued.

    They soon made their way to a mountain pass. It was wide enough for all to see the tower and the mountain it rested on in the distance.
    “There’s our destination,” said Nauplius. “Just a few more miles to go and we’ll be entering the tower.”
    “Combining the mountain and the tower,” said Valerius, “we’re in for one beast of a climb.”
    “I’m sure there are some elevators to help cut down the hassle,” said Zanthe. “Even the tower had to have had some renovations over the years.”
    The dialogue was cut short, when the five heard large rumbling footsteps, and felt the tremors that went with them.
    They then looked and saw a Frost Cyclops. This one-eyed giant had lavender skin, armor that was made of ice and stone, and had a large ice hammer that would even give Nauplius’ stone hammer some competition, as far as damage goes.
    “Who dares enter my mountain pass?!” roared the Frost Cyclops in a medium-low pitch roar.
    “We are just passing through to get to Silver Artemis Mountain,” explain Valerius.
    “I don’t care if you’re trying to reach the moon itself!” said the one-eyed titan. “This is my pass, and no one passes it without my consent!”
    “Obviously one-eye here won’t be reasoned with,” said Rouvin.
    The party got out of the way of an ice hammer swing. One would be surprised to see how hard ice can hit, but the crater of the resulting swing showed just how strong the hammer was despite its makeup.
    When all five travelers got back up, Rouvin, in a desperate move, shot an arrow into the Frost Cyclops’ eye. It was lucky enough to hit its mark. The Frost Cyclops roared in pain and began to glow cerulean before turning into a statue of ice.
    “I must’ve pierced its brain as well!” Rouvin said in amazement.
    “Well, we had to do what we did,” sighed Valerius. “He just couldn’t listen to reason, so we had no choice but to fight.”
    Everyone else nodded as they continued through the pass. It was a miracle the fight didn’t trigger an avalanche to block the pass.

    The mountain pass protected the party from much of the cold breeze, save for the occasional gust that went through.
    Most of the howling sounds came from the wind itself, creating an eerie song as they walked through.
    It was noon, but that meant little in this nearly Arctic-like area.
    A different howl was soon heard when they neared the end of the pass, and it wasn’t the wind this time.
    The five looked and saw what looked like the three-headed hellhound Cerberus, only this was made of ice, snow, and various magics that held it together. It was an Ice Cerberus.
    The Ice Cerberus didn’t speak, but it did not need to. Its barks, growls, yips, and howls conveyed a message that it was made by Erebus to stop the party in their tracks, or at the very least stall them for more time.
    “Time to teach this bad doggie to play dead!” said Nauplius. He swung his hammer at one of the heads, but the central head retaliated by breathing a cold mist that froze his legs in place.
    “I better move before it makes Nauplius its personal chew toy!” said Valerius as he swung his Plasma Blade at the head to stop it. He then used the Plasma Blade in just the right spots to thaw his Dwarf friend out.
    “Much obliged, Valerius,” said Nauplius.
    Zanthe then cast some spells that summoned her own golems to attack the Ice Cerberus. The strain soon cause cracks in the ice.
    Nauplius then made another swing at the beast. His hammer cracked the ice shell further, exposing softer snow portions.
    Galina cast a lightning spell that not only wounded the beast even more, but paralyzed it so it would be exposed to one final hit.
    “Finish it now, Valerius!” she yelled.
    “Right!” replied Valerius. He then plunged his Plasma Blade into the exposed snow. The heat quickly channeled through the icy body, cause the Ice Cerberus to melt into slush. The magic that gave it life quickly dissipated.
    Zanthe then joined her magic with Galina to create some warmer airs to dry off the party, so they would not get severe chilblain from the moisture resulting from that battle.


    A few more miles, and the team soon got to the foot of the trail of Silver Artemis Mountain.
    “Here we are, my friends,” Nauplius said, with a voice that was cheerful yet cautious. “This is Silver Artemis Mountain.”
    “Let us prepare for anything,” said Valerius. “Knowing Erebus, he doesn’t want us to reach him too easily. And even some of the neutral monsters might get in our way, if the encounter with the Frost Cyclops taught us anything.”
    “Yes,” said Galina. “These are interesting times, as well as dangerous. We must expect the unexpected.”
    “Tyche be by our side,” said Rouvin, as he joined his comrades up the trail.