Approaching the Mountain
The path up the mountain is easy to spot. the lightening at the summit seems more intense, and and high overhead you see large winged figures circling lazily.
Ahead of you on the path someone has placed a snowman. A scarf wraps around its neck; an old top hat rests upon its head. As you near, you see another, similar, snowman further down the path. And another beyond that.
- The Snow Golem - Definitely Not Frosty
- The second snowman is the golem. The other snowmen are just ... plain snowmen. Of course, the golem is indistinguishable from the plain snowmen until it strikes.
- The snow golem will move if attacked or if a majority of the party has come within 20 feet.
- The preferred attack tactics are to launch a Hypnotic Pattern followed up by Charm Person.
Up the Mountain
The passage up the moutain is winding and twisting. Being this close to the mountain has one advantage - it tends to shield you from the worst of the windblown snow. You are soon hundreds of feet up the mountain, and you finally see the circling forms clearly.
A pair of pterodactyls circle lazily over a large nest. In the nest is a red suited man with snowy white hair and a tremendous beard. He is dressed in a red coat trimmed with white fur, and he is presently dodging the attacks of 4 young pterodactyls in the nest!
"If you could hold them off long enough," the red suited man says, "I'm sure I could get out of this nest. There's no need to kill these wonderous creatures!"
- The Pterodactyls
- Loud, raucous music will disturb the pterodactyls and confuse them sufficiently that the hermit will be able to climb out. Any bard will immediately know this. It is a DC 13 Nature (INT) ability check for other character classes. A bard using Thaumaturgy and who is proficient in Performance will automatically succeed. Otherwise it is a DC 15 Performance ability check, which can be aided by other players (for advantage), with a +5 bonus for using Thaumaturgy.
- The pterodactyls mysteriously lose interest in the party and the hermit once the hermit is out of the nest.
- If any of the pterodactyls are slain, the hermit will be very saddened. Make a note of any character expressing bloodlust or joy at killing the pterodactyls - they will be on the naughty list!
Santa's Story
The old man proves surprisingly spry as he bounces out of the nest. With a twinkle in his eye he leads you up the path a bit, the pterodactyls now mysteriously ignoring your presence.
"Thanks!" he begins, "I would have gotten out eventually, but I am glad you were able to speed things up. There is much to do before Yule - and you must be the ones to do it!
"Ahead lies the evil tower of the great necromancer Nakatomi. 35 years ago that terrible man tried to raise an army of the undead to take over the world. He was roundly defeated, though, and the tower was abandoned. But recently a hedge wizard named Hinkle sought the treasures though locked in the tower's vaults. The children are hostages to keep out the interfering villagers, but Hinkle is about to learn that the last vault lock is a death lock. He will undoubtedly sacrifice the children to open the vault - and when he does so a most terrible evil shall be released!
"You must make your way to the top of the tower and stop Hinkle before it is too late!"