u/darkslide3000

I generally consider myself relatively experienced with the rules, but this one had me stumped for several minutes trying to figure out wtf just happened. So in light of Duskmourn draft being back in rotation, I thought I'd share:

Say the other guy has a creature enchanted with [[Sheltered by Ghosts]], and you don't have a real removal that can kill it. But what you do have is a spell that can temporarily take control of a creature (but without a sacrifice outlet), such as Duskmourn's local Act of Treason variant [[Vengeful Possession]] (and the mana to break through Ward). If you cast it on the creature, you don't just get to swing for one turn, you'll also destroy the enchantment and get your exiled card back. Why?

Sheltered by Ghosts is "Enchant creature you control", which is a part I'm always overlooking because that's basically what I'd almost always want to do anyway. This creates not just a targeting restriction for the initial casting of the enchantment, but also an enchanting restriction that stays attached to it throughout the game. When you temporarily take control of the enchanted creature, the enchantment itself is still controlled by your opponent so it's no longer a "creature you control" for him, and thus the aura is now enchanting an illegal object and will be immediately put in the graveyard as a state-based effect.

Almost lost a game because for several turns I didn't actually realize that the spell I had could swing more for me than it said on the tin.

My party is about to finish up on Grimskalle and I could use some advice on how to plan the next stage. Last we left off, they were in the fortress cellar about to pick up the Codicil and high-tail it out of there while Auril was out casting her spell. They know their ride (Angajuk) is not coming back, so they will likely find a small boat on one of the surrounding shipwrecks and steer it back to the mainland by various magic means. Auril will notice that the Codicil is gone and become hellbent on retrieving it as soon as she returns, and then she and her roc will fly out hunting after the thieves. Either the party manages to escape with good rolls and clever tricks, or if they do get caught I'll have some merrow and maybe even a kraken jump in and give them an opening to escape at the last moment (since Auril gets reckless trying to chase the thieves and flies too low above the water in a weakened state, I figure this would be seen as a good opportunity by Umberlee's servants to try to make a move). So far, so good, and they should arrive on the shore exhausted from a scary chase and with a clear idea that they are now enemy no. 1 in Frostmaidenland.

However then they still need to trek several days worth of travel across the frozen tundra, and the book doesn't have any further content until they arrive, which sounds a little boring and I would like to spice it up a bit. I would like to give them the feeling that they're now being hunted by all of Auril's servants across the Dale, e.g. say an awakened snow bunny finds them, relays the info to a frost druid who tasks a few awakened owls to tail them and keep reporting their position, and then eventually some druids and coldlight walkers might set an ambush or try to attack them while they rest.

But I'm not quite sure how to do this mechanically and narratively. How do I give them a chance to notice that they are being followed without making it too obvious? I'm afraid if I keep describing animals watching them from the distance that would probably be too on the nose because there's otherwise not going to be much to describe during those day-long marches. But if I don't say anything unless someone happens to roll really high perception, it'll just feel like they're randomly getting attacked at some point.

Does anyone have some experience with running something like this, or how to generally make a long voyage through the wastes more interesting? I know there are random encounters earlier in the book but they are mostly for chapter 2 situations and don't really fit that well anymore once the stakes have been raised so high.