Farad fades into the border ethereal, and the rest of you continue your slog up and into the pass.
It is virtually a white-out. The snow is not coming down that heavily, but the 40mph wind is blowing it about, reducing your vision to near-zero. The wind chill is below -50F. Even Jo-owrn is looking uncomfortable, you think. It is hard to tell, as the only exposed flesh he has are slits for his eyes. The rest of you are likewise bundled up in leathers and woollens. It is best to keep moving, to keep the blood flowing. At this altitude (10,000') the air is thinner than you are used to, and you find yourselves gasping.
Two hours into today's hike, they strike.
Five yeti suddenly rise up out of the snowdrifts at the side of the road and lunge at Leslie, Britan, Beth, Ayazin and Illyana. Only Jo-owrn's yelp at the last instant prevents you all from being surprised. Farad, on watch from the border ethereal did not see them either.
The enormous, bear-like creatures move quickly in for the kill.
Raz frowns, unsure of the threat the the creatures represent. He quickly decides to fall back on his old stand by...and launches magic missles at two of the creatures, hoping to scare the rest into retreating. He badly hurts the yeti moving towards Beth, and inflicts even more damage on the monster going after Ayazin.
Illyana pulls her two handed sword. "I hope it doesn't break."
The fighter sidesteps a nasty claw attack and swings her sword. As she does, though, she is suddenly struck by a wave of incredible weakness. She drops the sword into the snow, being too weak to even hold it.
The yeti clobbers her with its other claw for 6 hit points, sending Illyana sprawling.
The yeti making for Leslie's horse is caught off guard when the ranger suddenly becomes visible in front of it. She skewers it handily with her longsword while dodging its claw. She then finishes the yeti off with her dagger.
Aldarin fires a burning hands spell into the face of the nearest creature.
The yeti chasing Beth around drops in flames.
Britan quickly draws his glowing sword and takes a swing at the yeti coming at him.
"Whoa, Nelly! Where did you come from?"
The cavalier misses badly, but then so does the yeti.
Jon goes invisible and maneuvers for a backstab.
Farad appears a short distance away and blasts away with magical missiles before engaging in hand to hand combat. Attacking the monster on Illyana, he hurts it with missiles, and then moves in, struggling through the wind-driven snow.
Ayazin gives his opponent a quick mindblast before attacking with scimitar and shield.
The druid's mind blast seems to do nothing, but his scimitar chops down the already wounded creature.
Kelar quickly launches magic missiles at one of the yeti and then moves back to make sure nothing more is coming.
"Well, it isn't like we wern't expecting this," says Kelar.
His missiles ding the yeti on Britan.
Humphrey, glad for a chance to get some exercise, attacks the yeti on Britan with both short swords. He connects once, and kills the monster.
Suddenly Jon appears beside the last yeti - attacking Illyana - and attempts a backstab. However, his footing is uncertain in the snow, and he misses.
Illyana is trying to crawl away from the yeti as it tries to grab her. Luckily, the monster is already badly hurt and so is not moving as adeptly as usual. Then, Farad nails it with his longsword and kills it.
Jo-owrn notices a faint trail of tracks heading off towards a pile of boulders just visible in the driving snow.
Illyana struggles to her feet. She is barely strong enough to stand.
"You know," Illyana says between breaths, "I wondered when we would find another cursed item."
Illyana tries to take the ring off.
It doesn't budge.
"Well, if I have been keeping track you would be the next person to have one," says Kelar with a smile. "Any of you clerics have a remove curse?"
Ayazin shakes his head. "Sorry, no."
Looking at the tracks in the snow, Kelar states, "I think we should see what is in the lair. That is once we get our lovely fighter back on her feet."
Jon skins the the least hacked Yeti body including taking the skull.
Upset that he underestimated the power of these creatures, Raz looks to the boulders in the distance. Turning to Illyana he pauses for a moment as if assessing her injuries and then asks, "Should we investigate?"
"Not unless you are willing to carry me."
"Ahh...hmmm...that is not exactly how I ment it, Illyana. I ment that a few of us could invesigate while the rest stay here and recover a bit from the battle," replies Raz.
"And if you happen get chased back out by a white dragon or something just how am I supposed to get away, hmm? If anyone can remove this curse on me, then people can go in the cave."
"I can free you of it, if you can wait until this evening," says Laurie. "This is not a good place to stop and pray for a spell."
"We can protect you while the others check out the lair," says Leslie, in a quiet, confident voice.
While Illyana stays behind in the care of Leslie and Laurie, the rest of you follow the tracks to the pile of rocks. There, you find a small, drafty cave, filled with hair balls and the bones of previous victims. Mixed in with all of the junk you find 2000gp and 6 rings (1200gp ea.).
You return to Illyana and continue on your way. The girl is too weak to walk through the 3' of snow that is now on the ground, so you put her on Jo-owrn's horse and lead her.
You struggle up into Yeti Pass, barely able to see your way. Luckily for you, Jo-owrn seems to know it well, for he follows the trail accurately when it is totally invisible to the rest of you. Early in the afternoon the road starts to descend at last. It is still snowing, and the wind is blowing like a banshee. The wind chill is negative 52F.
Finally, as night falls the road stops its steep, zig-zag descent, and continues downwards at an easier pace. The wind seems to be dropping a bit as well. All the same, you are glad to climb into Kelar's tent again tonight.
"I don't know about the rest of you but I am begining to like the land of Puke...or at least a particular female. I think I would put up with her annoying habits and what not a few more times. This tent is a godsend," says Kelar as he wraps a blanket around him and snuggles down into a bunch of pillows. "You know, Illyana that you stay warmer if you cuddle with someone. That is if you are strong enough to."
After praying for an hour or so, Laurie casts remove curse on the ring, followed by a dispel magic.
The ring drops off of Illyana's hand, and she feels immediately stronger.
"Whew. I feel much better now. Thanks," acknowledges the girl.
"Glad to be of service," the high priestess replies.