A hungry wolf and a golden tomb

The stairs seem to descend endlessly into the ice, only the sound of breathing and the mist that floats out of your mouths to keep you company. You consider breaking the deafening silence, but the eerie surroundings seem to warn you against doing so, and your companions walk as quietly as you do. The flickering light in your palm only reaches a few steps in front of you before fading to darkness, and it feels like you've been walking for hours when the passage finally flattens and a carved archway looms ahead. Each step feels heavier than the last, your limbs numb in the oppressive cold. Faint light emits from it, and you step forward and extinguish your makeshift torch.

The other side of the archway opens into a massive cavern, bright light making its way through a huge hole and several small shafts far ahead in the ceiling. You can make up a bridge made of ice crossing the chasm high above, torchlight flickering as a shadowy group of five humanoids crosses it. Ahead of you, the rift's floor is parted by a steaming river which cuts through the ice, radiating a warm heat into the frigid environment. You step towards it, feeling quickly returning to your limbs.

After a few minutes warming up on the steam's bank, you look up to see the party has somehow made its way slightly backwards. They seem to be heading ahead at full speed, and some sort of wolf-like creature walks some distance in front of them, though they pay it no mind.

Your sightseeing is interrupted by a long, bone-chilling howl. A massive white wolf steps out of the gloom in front of you, nearly twice the size of its mundane kin, its heavy breathing leaving no mist in the frigid air. It crouches into an aggressive posture and your party readies for battle. As you snap into action, it leaps forward and unleashes a blast of frigid wind from its mouth. Your limbs rapidly numb again as the air flows by, but the wind seemingly never ceases, you and your companions slowing and slowing until you find yourself unable to move. Ahead of you, thick icicles hang off of the frozen bodies of Seramiel and Arialle. With nothing else to do, you let your gaze focus on the wolf until you can see its basic stats.

Winter Wolf, Level 30
Monster, Wolf, Magical
These wolves are said to have been born when Auria, goddess of winter, walked the earth in wolf form and bred with Fenrir. Their frigid breath can freeze the unprepared, whom they then store in their lair and thaw when hungry.

Level 30, and this is seemingly just the local wildlife! What in the world did Zoxxzzixxaith expect you would accomplish here other than ending up as a delicacy? The wolf leaps at the defenceless warlock, but is knocked aside as a gleaming arrow lodges in its side. One, two, three more pierce its hide, and then the red-winged angel leaps in front of you. She draws her sidearm, a short spear, and rushes to put herself between the wolf and her frozen friends. Seeing the unfrozen angel, the wolf growls and leaps at her. Mariel lets out a cry of pain as it bites down on her shoulder, blood flowing from the jagged wound. She manages to swing her spear around, hitting its haft against the wolf's head while her spiked tail cuts a gash in its flank. It slumps to the ground, stunned, and Mary pushes herself to her feet before stabbing the spear's point through the beast's skull. It convulses then stops moving entirely, blood slowly pooling around it. Wincing and leaning against her weapon turned makeshift walking stick, she produces a flask full of thick red liquid and downs it, relief washing over her face as she rights herself. The angel walks out of your vision and then the terrain suddenly starts moving, and finally you feel warmth reach you through the ice as you're deposited next to the river. You slowly thaw as you watch her move one of your companions after the other to the banks. A few minutes later your party has regained motor control, rubbing your frigid arms as you start to regain feeling in your limbs.

"Let's not fight one of those again. Luckily they don't seem all that well suited to actual combat, but I'm not great at close-range fighting either, and that was my only health potion." Sera unlatches a potion from her belt and hands it to her sister, then embraces her in a hug while her teeth chatter from the cold. "Thanks sis."

"Yeah, I had a chance to check its sheet when I was frozen, and it was level 30. We're only 22. We're going to need to keep a low profile if don't want to take the express route back to Imporne." You light a fire in your hands and walk over to your shivering companions as you speak, holding it close to them until their skin loses its bluish tint. "Now, let's follow this river and see what we can find."

Your party resumes their long, silent walk, stopping and crouching once when you spot another winter wolf walking in the distance. Finally, the river sinks into the wall of the chasm, the heat forming a cave a few metres to either side of it. The floor is surprisingly even, and as you walk you notice irregular gouges and scars cut into the ice, flecks of ash and metal still in them. The tunnel curves ahead, a faint yellowish glow leaking around the corner. Your party steps around to see a door cut into the ice ahead which glows with a rich reddish-golden hue, bathing the entire tunnel in warm light. Your group cautiously makes its way to the door. Inside, a massive skeleton wearing opulent, gem-encrusted armour holds a gleaming silver sword. When you look at it its skull snaps to look directly into your eyes, a faint green glow visible in each socket.

"Move!" Everyone snaps into action at your alert. Mariel and Ari bombard the hulking undead warrior with enchanted arrows while Sera charges with a yell, the ring of steel piercing your ears as her blade catches that of the enemy. Tlax wraps around the skeleton's body, ribs cracking under the **** of her embrace. You light a plume of fire in your hands when a wet hand grabs your heel and pulls you off-balance. You fall face-first into the hard ice, then turn to see a rotted hand reaching from the stream. Groans echo through the cavern as zombies pull themselves out of the water. You manage to cut off the hand wrapped around your leg with your tail, and it falls limp to the floor as you regain your footing. The now-armless zombie seems undeterred, dragging itself from the stream with its good arm until you incinerate it with the fire you had intended for the skeleton behind you.

The two archers launch a barrage of arrows into the zombies, but neither the magical nor non-magic ones seem to give them pause. You chant, causing the ice to burst into flame as a long wall of fire leaps up parallel to the river, obscuring the zombies from your vision. A yelp behind you causes you to spin around, and you see Sera pushed to the ground, steel ringing out again and again as the skeleton attempts to hammer her into the floor with its huge sword. Seeing this, Ari draws her sword and charges, the blade flickering an eerie green. With a powerful swing she cleaves the skeleton's legs off, and it falls to the ground, sword forgotten. Ari extends her hand to the angel and pulls her to her feet, and the two of them step back to regroup with you.

The roar of fire around you is suddenly interrupted once again by groans, and charred zombies step through the wall of flame, tongues of fire still flickering across their forms. Mariel steps back into the room only to yell, and you turn to see the skeleton reattaching its leg with one hand while it chokes her with the other.

"MARY!" Her sister immediately reacts, cleaving through bones with her sickly-black blade. This time, the bones disintegrate upon contact with the sword, and your group retreats into the room while the zombies press in behind you. As they bunch in the door, you unleash another fireball, finally cleansing the area of undead. You take a seat, catching your breath while you look around the room you've just entered.

The chamber in front of you runs about fifteen metres in each direction and is almost perfectly cubical. Torches burn in sconces across the walls, and the middle of the room is dominated by a massive golden sarcophagus covered in carvings. The scene fascinates you, and you can't help but stand up and walk towards it, running your hands over the intricate and beautiful carvings.

You light a fire in one hand to see better and while your other hand's index finger traces the stories laid bare in front of you. They show a wizard surrounded in bowing soldiers, arms raised high as a bolt of lightning strikes his staff. Next, the wizard leads his army up a mountain, and then he is depicted standing in front of a throne bearing a robed, regal woman with several huge, bushy tails. The woman stands up and draws a mace, but the mage holds a staff in one hand and a stone in the other, and lines connect the woman to the stone. In the next scene, the woman has vanished, and the mage sits on her throne, a glowing stone hung around his neck. Back where you started, you look at the top of the sarcophagus, and it depicts a young, handsome, robed man lying with a pendant bearing a stone around his neck and a staff clasped between his hands. Wind rushes through the chamber, and you could swear the words releasssse meeeee are audible in the draft, as if spoken by a man ancient beyond years. You reach a hand to either side of the sarcophagus, trying to fit your fingers into the crack, but suddenly a warm hand clasps itself on your shoulder. You spin to see Ari looking at you with a perplexed look on her face.

"Azazel? Hello? You've been staring at that thing for an hour. Why don't you come check out what we found? This sword is pretty neat. I'm also not sure we should stick around here: I have a bad feeling about that sarcophagus." You step away, and now that you think about it you aren't sure what drew you to it. You shake your head and step out of the room.

"Let's go. I want to put a bit of distance between us and that thing. I'm not sure what happened, but it's nothing good. So, babe, you said you found some sort of sword?"

"Yeah, the one the skeleton was using. Check it out!" She holds it in front of you for you to inspect.

Frostfang
This longsword was forged by expert frost elven smiths guided by Aethane herself. Its blade is made of manasilver woven with ice in a fashion that ought to be impossible, and its hilt was carved from a massive sapphire and wrapped in winter wolf fur.
Effects
Cold resistance: The bearer does not feel mundane cold, and gains 50% resistance to magical cold damage.
Mana conducting: This weapon is forged for warrior-mages, and conducts mana unusually well. Spells channeled through this sword are 50% more effective.
Rime: This weapon emits a chilling mist that slows nearby enemies and emits a faint blue light. This effect can be toggled at will by the wielder.

"Not bad! I admit I haven't seen many adventurer weapons, but that seems like a far cry from anything we could enchant back in the lair."

"Yeah, sorry, but I think it's time for an upgrade." She tosses her crudely enchanted blade to the side and it clangs against the ice wall, sheathing Frostfang in its place.

Suddenly, the entire cave begins to vibrate, water splashing from the river as a low rumble fills the air. It stops as quickly as it started, but your party draws their weapons and carefully moves downriver in silence, anxious at whatever lies ahead.