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Paul DMing; Scott: Smudge (shadar-kai rogue 9 / barbarian 2) and Martin (duergar cleric 11); Dane: Tudo Fleck (dwarf cleric 11); Matt S.: Gritz Rattleboom (goblin artificer 11)
Last time, the adventurers wrecked their catamaran and made contact with the ice gnomes.
Possing as journalists (😆), the party gets a brief tour from Master Unshattered, leader of the ice gnome Communion of Absolute Zero. They hear rigmarole about ice gnomes being the master race, the blessed oblivion The Void Entity will soon bring to the world, and how much better The Communion of Absolute Zero is than the pitifully confused Sodality of the Unblinking Orb. Also, that either the transport tube/slide/cannon fired from the Communion or the wendigo-pulled sleigh can take them to The Void Entity Site, about 100 miles to the north.
After watching Smudge's familiar get vaporized in the big transport tube/cannon, they decide to ride the sleigh instead, but not before visiting the neighboring ice gnome cult.
While crossing the street, they noticed a strange red flash of light somewhere to the distant north, just a glow on the horizon.
The party crosses the street to the (starkly less popular among the ice gnomes) Sodality of the Unblinking Orb. The adventurers watch a couple of ice gnomes sacrifice themselves in the big central dome by using a drum to summon an ear whale. The ear whale shoots a high-energy beam through the ice and up through the Sodality's big central chimney, partly melting the sacrificial ice gnome in the process before the ear whale swallowed them.
Gnolan, one of the ice gnomes in the waiting room, explains that adherents of Sodality of the Unblinking Orb believe their lives were better when they were slaves to The Unblinking Orb, Majestic Apprehension of the East, Padishah Awoken, Gods' Conflagrant Scrutiny. The Sodality adherents hope that their master will see the ear whale beams and come to re-enslave them.
Gniki, another ice gnome in the waiting room, adds that they wouldn't have to sacrifice themselves by summoning ear whales if they still had the device that lets them communicate with the flying ship of His Extraordinary Regard. Unfortunately, Master Unshattered from The Communicion of Absolute Zero stole the communicator and hid it. Sleigh ride
