Looking up to her guardian, she watches as he gazes out the window and mutters to himself. As the intrigue settles in, the child tilts her head slightly to the side in confusion, wondering who this man is that is apparently following her and her companions. It seems odd to think that someone followed them through Whitethrone, as the city had seemed so dangerous to even move about in, not counting the fact her companions were also perilous folk in their own right. At least this was her impression of the city, but she could admit there was difficulty for her remembering properly what had happened not long ago. To her fiends what must have seemed as only an hour's span, to Aoife, was the fully lived nine years of her second childhood.
When the two men moved about the room and took up their seats, trying to rest after their trials battling though the forest to the hut, Aoife causally moved to the window in Ishbaad's place, trying to peer out. Standing on her tiptoes to fully scan all directions through the panes, it was clear to her now that there was no one outside. Even more concerning was that nothing lay beyond the hut that she expected to see.
Her mind could not process what lay around their small, secure sanctuary as they hurtled through the universe, as if the veil of the cosmos had been lifted before her eyes, causing her to stumble back from the window to hide this sight from view.
She meant to ask what Ishbaad was talking about, who he was talking about, and where the man had gone. However, all that come from of her mouth was the stunned question, "Where are we...?"
The hour passes swiftly or slowly depending upon how calmly each adventurer takes the journey. The memory-related blurriness of the Hut ceases and everyone looks around bleary-eyed. The cauldron room is no longer the same as it was. It is larger, and the windows that provided a glimpse into the vast nothingness between dimensions are no longer there. Gone too is the door. They are all sealed by ancient woodwork as though they were never there. The shelves have also changed and items arranged on the shelves have a different order than before. Many items have changed, but any object that was previously a key for the cauldron remains the same. In fact, the doctor's mask and frost giant's beard both seem to have transported themselves from the cauldron and onto hooks below several spice jars.
Ishbaad and Jorvik find that instead of sitting on the ground reading, they are both sitting on a newly formed staircase. None can remember precisely when their seating position changed... but all exits from the cauldron room, including the hidden door to the library, the root cellar and the one leading to the map room, are gone now. At the top of the winding stairway is another set of double doors, but these feature a finely carved motif of a trio of ravens flying in a circle.
"It seems we have arrived," the cat observes, "Best get out and explore the new layout."
The cat settles down to relax by the flames feeding the cauldron before noticing the blank expressions on the companions' and fey's faces alike.
"Oh, the hut changes its internal layout whenever it goes to a new location," the cat says, as though such a thing were obvious, "It makes sense when you think about it: the extra-dimensional space is different, so of course the intra-dimensional space changes also! Fie. Whether you understand it or not, the layout will be new. You can still go back to the library by rapping the code Zorka showed you and the map room will be around here somewhere... but I wouldn't be surprised if Baba Yaga trapped this layout to be sure that someone friendly to her cause was using those keys. Those weren't just any two keys you know, they were the ones she entrusted to Her Black Midnight. They lead to her... so you may need to prove you are worthy of having used them. Just a thought. Anyway, enjoy!"
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Bouncing with excitement, Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight runs around the room, taking in all the changes. "Me get it... it changes like the worlds we go to... of course it cannot be the same!"
After he takes a moment to look at everything, he runs up and bounces by the double doors. "Can we go out, Ishbaad? Can we?"
"I don't understand it," Aoife mumbles to herself, as Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight begs her guardian to be let out of the room. "So for each place we go, this room will also look different. That much... I think... I understood..."
But now turning to look at where she thought she remembered the closed-off rooms being, with the elegant woodwork coverings seeming so detailed as if each had always been that way.
"What would happen if the hut moved to someplace new, but not everyone was in this cauldron room? What would happen if someone were stuck in the root cellar?" Aoife cringed slightly after asking her questions, fearing this room was the only safe place when passing between dimensions, and that someone stuck in another room could arrive at their destination... altered.
"The cauldron room is, for what I hope are obvious reasons - but who knows with you lot - the most constant room in the Dancing Hut, and therefore the safest place to be when traveling throughout reality," the cat seems unperturbed by Aoife's line of inquiry, "But if someone were in a room - like the root cellar - that did not form part of the Hut's new configuration, then the would be stuck there until we returned to the location that included it. Oh, there are magics that could allow you to find them, but I'm sure that art is beyond you - for now.
"The library can change dramatically, as can the map room, but both do still remain when the Hut moves," Coramus-cat nibbles at some dried fish, "But finding them is not always easy. Suffice it to say, stay in the cauldron room when you travel. I do not recognize this configuration, though. Do you, Zorka?"
"I do not," replies Baba Yaga's bird-like housekeeper, "She must have set up this way point before she created me, or I may simply not have been privy to her activities in this regard."
Zorka stalks around and cluck-clucks at the shelf arrangement. Seeming not to find everything to her liking, she begins to tidy up.
As the Hut comes to a stop, Jorvik looks greenish as he surveys his new surrounding.
He loudly turns around and empties the feeble contents of his stomach in the corner behind him, gurgling and spurting loudly.
"Sweet Desna, that is worse coming up!"
He looks at the strange surroundings while listening to the instructions the feline has given them.
"New place, new hut. Got it." he ends tersely while wiping food residue and bile from his beard.
"Traps you say ..." Jorvik repeats has he places another restraining hand on Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight. "The cat said traps so let us be cautious with Baba Yaga's possessions. Yes?" he tells the goblin.
Turning to the hitchhiking First Worlders. "You are still here as our guests and as such I expect that you follow our lead. Walk where we walk, do what we do, and for Desna sake, remain calm."
Traps and more challenges. We must never rest. Baba Yaga truly emulates her subjects or rather we emulate her. Never rest. We shall never rest.
Jorvik whips Frostreaver from his back and heads towards the staircase.
Ishbaad opens his mouth to begin saying something about how it doesn't matter that he doesn't understand, that the explanation of the hut being completely different was good enough, then keeps it to himself.
No sense in continuing to lower that damned cat's opinion of us. If it could get lower...
Shrugging his shoulders, and fresh out of questions, he nods to Jorvik and also takes out his mighty weapon.
"Hold Jorvik," he says, suddenly thinking of something. He walks over to his charge, bending over at the waist. He holds out his hand and takes a brilliant silver ring off of his finger. It is engraved with a simple motif depicting a coiled dragon, with etchings resembling scales all around.
"This was from the horde of the dragon, Logrivich. It should have been yours. As well as this." After handing the ring to the girl, he pulls the magnificent greatsword from his magical bag of holding.
"Now, if we are ready, let's get moving."
"Must we?" Kuragin asks, finding it very hard to get up from his seat. "I am exhausted, and out of my powers. We just fought a dragon, and powerful witch - not to speak trolls and fey. I need rest. Who knows what will await us outside."
With difficulty, he gets up. His tired mind tries to get a grasp of the cat's explanation of extra- and intra-dimensional changes with the hut, but Kuragin just ends up nodding. Yes, whatever...
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"Come with you?" Auraenos scoffs, swiping a flaming lock of hair from his eye, [b]"Not likely. You are the chosen of the Black Rider, not us. If this trial is to determine the worthiness of those following Baba Yaga, then we may not be safe. Better if you do it and tell us when you have found the exit. We will wait here." Auraenos's companions all nod in eager agreement.
Ishbaad and Jorvik lead a reluctant Kuragin up the stairs, chasing after Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight. Aoife follows and has to rush to take up her usual position at the front - where the danger usually is. Her instincts have been dulled to an extent that a mere two hours apart from her companions cannot possibly account for. It leaves her to wonder, yet again, as to the reality of her time in the window. Certainly, she seems not to have aged... but the girl feels as though she has lived two lifetimes.
The companions open the ornate double doors and are confronted by a blank wall. It forms part of a hallway that stretches off a long way, over one hundred feet, in both directions. Carvings decorate the entire length of the hall. Most depict children in various states of capture, or at various points of preparation. A smaller number of paintings are of alien landscapes and foreign locales. Thematic to all are forests and frozen regions.
A symbol carved upon the door to this chamber resembles an inverted half-circle with a horizontal line across the top and several lines exiting the circle. A single extended arrow points downward in the center. Kuragin instantly recognizes this as a symbol for twilight, carved in a style favored most by hag covens. There are subtle differences and variations, however, but he is unable to ascertain their origins.
A slight chill wafts through this room, carrying the stale scent of carrion and peat. Beyond, an impossible forest seems to have devoured the entire chamber. The walls are woven from tangled knots of black, leafless trees, and fine flakes of rusted iron cover the floor, softly crumbling to dust. A pale light emanates from a fist-sized orb that rests within a nest of black iron branches in the center of the room, turning all forms into ebon silhouettes.
The room’s only other exit, other than the ones the heroes are standing in, is a narrow passageway lined with jutting, leafless branches, almost hidden behind a tangle of dead branches at the rear of the room.
A raven sits atop a branch and eyes the new entrants suspiciously. Amazingly, it opens its mouth and begins to talk in a birdlike voice not dissimilar to Zorka's, "So, you have entered the Hut of Baba Yaga and taken it into the reaches of the First World! *squawk* You must think very highly of yourselves, but I and my sisters shall be the judge of that. *squawk*
"Baba Yaga is not here, but you can find her, never fear. *squawk* First, however, you must persuade me you possess the necessary to bear my knowledge. My question is a simple one *squawk*:
"Born twins, they live not,
Yet they grow until death.
Their fates are of’n tied.
Ever-crescent, as the moon,
Symbols of the warrior’s pride.
"*squawk*
"The answer to this question lies in the chamber beyond. Bring me the answer, and I shall give you what you seek."
As the crow speaks, Ishbaad notices a tiny iron amulet hanging from a leather thong around the bird's neck. The amulet is shaped like a crusader's shield, and the pattern engraved upon its surface appears to be some kind of spiral, formed from a mixture of continuous and dotted lines. Two toothlike daggers dangle from the leather thong also, smaller than and flanking the main amulet.
The crow hops onto a different branch and indicates with its beak that the companions should use the exit at the rear of the room if they wish to accomplish its task and solve the riddle.
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Aoife takes the small, intricately carved ring with the scaled dragon wrapped in on itself to create its circular form. At first the child does not say anything and holds the precious bauble before her eyes, taking in the wonder and exquisite craftsmanship of its making. Through her fingertips she can feel a faint thrumming of latent, eldritch power seeping into her skin that felt like the not unpleasant prickling of static energy. Moving to put the ring on her finger, Aoife found that it was well too big for her small, delicate form and only then realized that she was not wearing her father's gauntlets. She could not remeber taking them off, or even where they were at that moment, as to her it had been years since she had last worn them.
Dropping her pack to the floor, she pulled open the cinched drawstrings and revealed the supple leather gloves crammed unceremoniously into the confined, tightly packed space. Now rising again and replacing her bag, the child stood motionless as if contemplating even putting the gauntlets on once more. After a few moments of deliberation though Aoife slid on each of the colossal gloves, and was again surprised and confused how her hands could manipulate such massively oversized things.
Now the child took the ring and fished the beautiful trinket over the leather finger of the gauntlet, though it was a bit of struggle to fit the almslt now too small piece of jewelry, though eventually the ring was secured snuggly on her glove's index finger. With a slight hesitation the child held up her gloved hand and looked upon her new prize, she even forgot about the frustrations he felt toward her guardian in that moment, and could feel the flow of powerful magics bolstering her strength and resolve.
Next she draws the sword from her back and looks upon the etchings that had previously meant so much to her. In honor of Nadezhda, the words carved into the blade's surface pained her to see, the worth and meaning confused with all that has happened between the child and her mother. There were so many questions she had for her mother, especially after the passing of her beloved father, but she would first have to survive this current undertaking and then perhaps, one day, Aoife could set out to find Nadezhda. When Uncle Ishy had first asked for this carving, Aoife has been overjoyed and was looking forward to proving her worth, the folly in thinking that somehow, some way, her mother would know of her daughter's accomplishments. Now, after reading of her mother's unforgivable acts in the journal, the carving and meaning behind the etchings held little value for Aoife. Though even this fact directly contradicted the loving memories Aoife still held, and remeber as if they were truly real, from her second childhood, and so at all moments her mind grappled with understanding how she actually felt about Nadezhdal.
Taking hold of the magical greatsword, sized perfectly for her, the child's eyes were wide with wonder at the blade. She carefully moved the blade through air, in slow arcs simulating swings, and then looked back up to her guardian.
"Thank you very much, Uncle Ishy. This means a lot to me," she says, her tone clearly honest and greatful.
"You once told me that all great swords have names..."
"Since I left you all in your time of need, I will do my best to make it up and protest you all in the future." The child thinks of the cat's comments regarding the First Worlders and their imortailty within their native plane, but also that they cannot be trusted. This had left an epic impact on her, fearing for the safety of her now family. It was then that the youth realized this was how she could protect her companions, by using this blade to guard against the fey and their infinite lifetimes, and therefore distorted view of reality and the worth of life.
"I will call it," she says, looking first to Ishbaad and then to the strange, fey newcomers to clearly establish her meaning toward them. "Eternity's End."
Ishbaad smiles warmly back at Aoife, forgetting for a moment the previous turmoil.
"It is a fitting name." he says, affirming her selection.
And you are a fitting harbinger for that as well...
When the bird squawks his riddle, Ishbaad listens intently, doing his best to commit the words to memory.
When the Baba Yaga's servant finishes, he looks to the others to see if they are ready.
I and my sisters... There will be more then. No doubt this raven is not their true form...
"Another step in this journey. Let's just keep pushing forward."
After Ishbaad has announced his readiness, he makes to open the door.
Jorvik stares at the oread and his ward.
Eternity's End is the end of all things. So dark for one so young, but I am fool to say that I did not help lead her to it.
"Riddles? I would not have expected it from the queen of witches. Yet it talks of strength, something that is know and respected in the north. Twins that do not live - speaks to me of rocks or metals. But crescent shaped and symbol of the warrior's pride? This I should know.
"Hopefully when we enter the chamber the answer will be made clear."
Jorvik glances sideways at his homeland companion looking for something that has triggered in the witch's memories.
The party enters the chamber beyond, Aoife at the lead. Their world goes dark for a moment, a gloom that even Ishbaad and Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight's eyes cannot penetrate. As the gloom recedes however, another chamber is revealed. As with the previous chamber, the walls here are lined with gray, lifeless trees covered in thorns. In the center of the room is a gnarled tree whose branches seem to form all the other trees as it splays up to the ceiling and becomes one with the room.
No sooner has Aoife planted a foot on the floor - which itself is little more than a tangle of roots - the tree ahead opens to reveal a snarling beast. It resembles a boar, but is far larger than any such creature has a right to be. Its eyes seem to spark flames from within the black recesses of their sockets, its snout puffs smoky breath like brimstone and its twin tusks are massive bone crescents the size of cutlasses.
Before its presence can be registered by the minds of the adventurers, it is charging full speed for Aoife. She is gored, badly, in the side and blood sprays everywhere. Jorvik calls out a rallying cry, filling his friends with righteous anger and rage as they advance on the beast. Ishbaad perhaps wishes he'd kept his boar spear, but Sanctus Custos does its job as Ishbaad responds in kind to the assault on his ward. Bleeding at the sides, the boar lets out an ear-piercing scream... allowing Kuragin to respond with his own such scream. Blood pours from the beast's auditory orifices and it howls again. This time, Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight has the response and a bomb flies directly into its mouth. The explosion rips through the creature, leaving it burned and blackened, but somehow harming neither his allies nor their animal companions.
The beast is unsteady on its feet but looks like it will get a second wind. Aoife, however, has other ideas and leaps boldly upon its back. She grabs the crescent-tusks that tore into her body moments earlier and tugs them sharply and to the side. The sound of the hellish boar's neck snapping echoes but the once in this warped chamber and then all is silent and still.
The child falls off the back of the beast as it crumples onto the tangled mass of roots. It takes a moment for her to rise, laying strewn on her back with both hands holding fast and applying pressure to the bleeding gash at her side. Her eyes are welling with tears and there is an intense pain shooting through her body while the youth lays motionless. The only thing to be done for the pain in that moment is to grind her teeth together and let the waves of biting pain radiate the corners of her body.
"I forgot how bad things can hurt," she manages to say at last and rises to her feet. "I don't remember feeling pain once in my second childhood."
"It's been so long since I've felt anything like this," Aoife adds, peeling away her hands slightly to see her side matted and stained red, with still more blood pouring from the wound. "This isn't something I've missed." The child tries to laugh, but instead only coughs, and feels a sense of vertigo and dizziness take hold as a another wave of pain ripples across her body.
Her legs feel weakened causing Aoife to drop to her knees beside the boars head. It is then that her eyes catch sight of the bone-like sickles arcing from the creatures mouth.
"Born twins, they live not, yet they grow until death..." she says, forgetting the pain in her side for a moment, continuing to stare at the tusks.
Standing now, she reaches down and takes hold of one tusk, and with all her might pulls upon it. Again her teeth grind together as Aoife begins to twist the tusk this way and that, attempting to sever the creature's tooth cleanly from its mouth.
"Their fates are of’n tied. Ever-crescent, as the moon, symbols of the warrior’s pride..." she say, giving up on the first and moving to the second tusk, starting again to pull it free.
"Someone," she states, still struggling to remove even a single tusk. "Help me to break these off... I think these are what the raven was looking for."
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The smell of roasted pork fills the room with a sweet aroma that makes Jorvik thinks back to the last time he ate and the contents he left in the corner after their terrible travels. Drawing a hunting knife, he slices off a small cutlet and begins to eat nosily. He small repast over, Jorvik joins the youth by the downed beast.
Checking to make sure that she is not in any eminent danger, he grabs the other tusk. Removing his work axe from its holster by his side, he grips the tusk in one hand and the axe in the other. He raises the axe and chops the other tusk off.
"Aoife, you are the one to have solved the riddle, you can take the other tusk."
Jorvik extends the bloody tusk to the small child.
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"Eefie!" cries Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight as he throws a bomb to save his now-returned friend. He is surprised to see her leap onto the back of the creature that had just gored her, happy to hear the crack of its neck breaking. He runs up, pulling out one of his healing drafts [ooc](potion of CLW, caster , handing it to her. "Please, drink this, it make you better."
He watches the girl wrestle with the boar's tusk, but knows he is not strong enough to help. "Maybe if you crush the lower jaw with a club it will come free?"
When Jorvik cuts the meat from the carcass, he almost gets sick, something that never happens to a goblin. The taste of troll flesh is still in his mind, and even though the pangs of hunger have long since hit him, he is reluctant to eat. Still, he watches the half-elf chew on the meat, and without knowing it, is drooling at both the sight and the smell.
He checks his inventory, to discover he has only one bomb left. It has been a long day for the friends, and Kuragin is not the only one short of powers. Only one extract remains in his pouch, and he fears the single remaining bomb will not be enough should danger rear its ugly head. Still, he is a goblin, so decides to himself that he can still push on.
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"Well done!" cries the raven when she is presented with the bloodied tusks, "You have defeated the beast and solved the riddle more quickly than I could possibly have anticipated. Baba Yaga's Black Rider has chosen well for his champions." The raven dips her head and lets the amulet fall to the floor.
"This amulet holds only one of the three clues you seek. It reveals the first ingredient for Baba Yaga’s kettle. Look for this key where time catches up to us all, and look for the Mother when the moon is full!"
The raven flies up to the glowing orb in the blackened branches adorning the room and nestles down upon it. In an instant the orb and the raven both are gone.
As the solver of the riddle, Aoife picks up the amulet and inspects it. The amulet bears a single rune in a language Aoife cannot translate. Kuragin and Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight both recognize it as having fey origins but written in neither Aklo nor Sylvan. It is then that Kuragin notices he still has the glasses from the library on him. Quickly, he puts them on his nose and reads aloud: "Dragon."
Left with little other choice, the companions continue along the passageway. It curves immediately after the door and the floor rises sharply. It seems as though this passage leads back over the previous one, despite being a continuation of the same corridor. Eventually, it leads to another set of double doors, with another curved hallway leading beyond.
A symbol carved upon the door to this chamber resembles a downward facing crescent resting on a horizontal line with arrows pointing outward. A vertical bisecting line with arrows pointing both directions runs from top to bottom. It is yet another hag's rune, the symbol for night. Aoife pushes this door open, as she did the last, to reveal a pitch black room beyond. Wavering darkness devours everything that lies beyond the threshold, and not even Ishbaad or Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight can take in the room's features.
Walking blindly into the room, the companions eventually see a pale red light. At its center is a faintly glowing blood-red orb that dangles from a black iron chain in the center of the room. The orb sheds light for 10 feet around itself before that light, too, is consumed by the darkness. Thick stone columns and wooden beams, entangled with pale moonflower blossoms, support the room’s high-vaulted ceiling.
Shockingly, a pale albino raven appears from the darkness. The blood-red glow of the orb lends it a truly fearsome aspect, despite its small size. Around its neck is a leather thong and a near-identical amulet to the one its sister wore... the one now hanging from Aoife's neck.
"Ah, I see you have met my sister, Moc. That you have her amulet is a sign that you do indeed intend to be Baba Yaga's champions. Well met and I am Rozum. You have convinced my sister of your intentions - which is good enough for me - but you have only shown us your strength. Now you must prove your wit!
"To do so, you must find the answer to my riddle.
"I mark night’s coming,
I will mark your end.
I run not in fear,
I have not a friend.
"The answer to the riddle lies within the passage of night. To find the path to what you seek, drink from the silver chalice within the grotto. Go now and do not return to me unless you can prove your worth."
The glow from the orb extends itself somewhat, and those paying attention note that there is a passageway through the tangle of roots and branches, leading into another darkened room beyond.
The child looks down to the amulet hanging from her neck, then back up to the pale, ghostly raven. She takes a moment regarding both pieces of jewelry, and cannot help but wonder what ancient magic the pale raven's amulet is possible of producing.
"We will solve your riddle, pale raven," she says, locking eyes with the creature. "We were chosen by Black Midnight himself. We intend to be Baba Yaga's champions, though that was not our intentioned when each of us set out on this quest. Now, we've come too far to turn back, so that leaves us with only one option..."
"We will solve this riddle or perish trying," she adds finally, then takes her place near the passage through the tangled roots and branches. If she were more clever, Aoife would have responded with a rhyme of her own, but knew that her wit would be no match for that of the pale raven.
Placing a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him, believing it to be Kuraign, Jorvik tries to carefully place each foot firmly in front of the other. A stomp on his foot later,
Emerging from the blanket of darkness, he spies the raven.
A white raven. That is unnerving.
"A battle of wits you say? You shall not find us wanting."
Looking to his friends, "It seems that he have yet another riddle to solve. Marking night's coming could mean a device of some kind, like an hourglass or some such. But I could make guesses all day. Best to keep moving and drink from the chalice in the grotto. If we have any luck it will be filled with crystal mead to warm the body. Unless any of you have something intelligent to say to this unnatural denizen from Baba Yaga." He looks to see if any have questions before moving down the passageway.
"How many sisters do you have, Rozum the White Raven? How many riddles will we be facing?" Kuragin inquires, keeping his tone of voice as polite as possible. They may look like ravens, but who knows what they really are in this land of the fey.
'Mark the night's coming...' Dusk, darkness, cold? Well, we best to enter the passage to find out.
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"Me thinking on this. Me think that sun going down mark night's coming, the fading of the light. But maybe that too literal. Before we kill boar, we not think of tusks, either."
He makes his way forward, into the dark. He starts singing quietly to himself, "I make night's coming, I will mark your end..."
"Twilight..." Ishbaad mumbles as he follows his companions through the tangle.
"Twilight of an age, twilight of a queen's reign... though what kind of object we would acquire to symbolize that, I do not know. We shall see."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I have two sisters, Moc and Tryva," notes Rozum the raven, "We are the ravens three. Each holds but a single riddle. You have solved the twilight riddle, and now you face the night riddle. I am certain, even if you cannot solve this one, that you can figure out which is the final riddle you will face."
The companions enter the darkened room beyond. As they cross the threshold, their sources of light suddenly work again. Tighearnán's wayfinder illuminates most of the room.
Hundreds of tangled roots dangle from the raw earthen ceiling of this rough-hewn, circular grotto, which is filled with dark, placid water. A narrow stone walkway leads to a circular platform in the center of the room upon which rests a stone table set with five silver chalices. About the perimeter of the 5 grotto, a few feet above the waterline, five deep alcoves have been dug into the grotto walls. Though shadowed by darkness, a faint glitter sparkles from deep within each alcove.
Experimentation reveals that it is impossible to penetrate the darkness inside the grottos and the companions wisely avoid touching too much. Inspecting the chalices, they find that each is decorated with a distinct and beautiful silver filigree pattern. The vessels are half-filled with some kind of clear liquid that seems a little more viscous than water.
The patterns are runes that Kuragin and Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight identifiy as First World runes for:
"Mirror";
"Apple";
"Hourglass";
"Knife"; and
"Key".
Jorvik smiles when Kuragin notes the hourglass rune. Confident that he solved the riddle before it even began, the Jadwiga grabs the corresponding chalice and takes a gulp of its contents. The liquid is bitter and thick. It sticks to the sides of his mouth and leaves a foul aftertaste.
Slowly, three stepping stones rise from the inky depths of the water, leading the way to one of the alcoves. When the third stone rises into place, the alcove becomes illuminated, revealing a simple but elegantly made hourglass within. The rocks are slick with water, but Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight is a nimble goblin and retrieves the hourglass with ease. Boss Jorvik smiles and takes the object from the reluctant snow goblin. At least it doesn't seem very valuable.
Striding back out into the next room, hourglass in hand, the raven nods its head. "You were indeed right about the hourglass, Jadwiga half-elf," he says in what sounds like a mock congratulatory tone, "You have earned the amulet and the clue to the location of Baba Yaga's second key in this world.
"You have taken upon yourselves a great burden," Rozum adds, "for that which you desire, the Changeling holds. Know this as well—you will find the Crone only when the moon wanes."
The raven bows its head and the amulet falls to the floor. As its sister Moc did, Rozum flies over to the glowing orb and nestles down upon it. The glow dissipates, but so too does the darkness permeating the room.
Reading the rune on the amulet as before, Kuragin notes its meaning: "Gold."
Jorvik places the amulet around his neck, a sign of his victory over this riddle.
"Well done, old friend. Looks like you have some talent for riddles. And it sure will come helpful in this land."
Three ravens... Just as I suspected. A powerful number for witches and fey
Satisfied with the progress, Kuragin is almost looking forwards for meeting the next raven. But who knows how many riddles they must solve before this part of their journey is complete.
"Two amulets - Dragon and Gold. And riddles to go with them. I hope they will become more clear within time." Kuragin studies the amulets hanging around Aoife's and Jorvik's necks, but is rather clueless on their meaning.
When the patterned runes are deciphered and revealed to the group, Aoife turns and looks in ashtoshment at her older brother. She does not speak to Jorvik until the group has returned and presented the hourglass to the raven, Rozum, unsure and uneasy about revealing too much in front of the guardians of this strange place. As soon as the creature has disappeared along with the orb, and Jorvik has received an amulet of his own, she turns with excitement toward him, forgetting to restrain herself as she has done moments before.
"That is amazing, Jorvik!" she says happily. "How did you figure that out before even seeing any clues?! I would never have figured out the tusks riddle before seeing them on the boar, but you knew this one right away..."
"Only one more riddle to go. We are almost done here," Aoife says. Taking a moment to look around at the others, she questions a loud but does not particularly expect a reply. "What exactly happens once we've retrieved all three amulets?"
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Aoife's question hangs in the air as the quintet once again makes there way into another winding section of the Hut's hallways. This one also bends around and over itself, leading ever upwards. A long straight section follows, with similar carvings adorning the walls.
Predictably, when the straight portion of corridor ends, a set of double doors greets the heroes. Looking for the symbol carved on the door even before it can be clearly seen, they note it is an upward facing half-circle resting on a horizontal line. Several arrows point outward from the circle. They do not need Kuragin's newly acquired spectacles to determine that this is a rune representing Dawn.
Aoife pushes through the double doors and enters the room beyond.
Flowering vines drape the walls of this chamber. Winding, pebble-strewn pathways weave through a magnificent garden of honeysuckle and lilac. A pale, warm light fills the room, emanating from a stone-lined pool of water in the center. The purple and orange reflection of the early morning sky glitters upon the pool’s surface.
The reflection seems to be fed from yet another orb, and from behind it a third raven, also bearing a near-identical amulet, flutters forth to face the companions. She nods appreciatively at the two amulets hanging from the necks of those who have entered her domain. "You have been tested and not found wanting," she squawks to punctuate her words, Jorvik fancies that he hears admiration in her tone, "But this final test may be more than you can handle.
"Before I aid you, you must first convince me you have the resolve to fulfill your desire. To prove your mental fortitude, you must face what I, the herald of the coming day, cannot.
"Each night it visits—
Sometimes horror,
Sometimes wonder,
Sometimes prophet,
When dawn wakes, it flees.
“When you face this thing, you shall know its desire. In its desire, you shall find your own. Only by sharing this desire with me can I bind your fates. Once they are bound, I will be able to see your destiny.”
The raven hops backwards to reveal a passageway hidden behind some shrubbery. At the end of the short passageway, a door - like a child's bedroom door - seems to invite the companions to open it.
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"Me think me understand the riddle this time... but me not know what sort of thing would personify dreams. Me dream every night... sometimes me dream of giggly-pokes, sometimes me dream of fires, or battles, or whatever. Sometimes what Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight dreams comes true, but not very often. So, me think that we need to find something of dreams..."
He thinks a moment longer... "Or of monsters hiding under your bed. Why you look at me so funny... goblins can have beds to! We not all barbarians!"
Confident that he has solved the riddle, he strides forward into the next room.
I shall find my desire in the desires of this... whatever we will face?
For a moment, a flash of different memories flood Ishbaad's mind, and all of it is washed over with a fear and worry that his past sins will be made clear again, except this time with nothing to blame or dismiss it away as trickery and witch magic.
Silently, he nods in agreement with the goblin's assessment of the answer to the riddle, and his curiosity of how dreams might be represented as a physical object.
Ishbaad doesn't speak at all, an irrational fear that any form of communication will reveal his secrets suddenly coming over him. Instead he grips his blade, and moves into the room.
"Sweet Desna! Sometimes a blind man just finds a diamond in the dung pile. What a luckily turn of events."[
Turning to the child, Jorvik whispers, "Honestly I have read much and it was a guess. A lucky one at that. Methinks Kuragin is the one to answer these raven riddles."
He bows to the raven as he places the amulet around his neck. Jorvik understands the curative power of the amulet he has been gifted and is pleased.
"Dreams. Yes it must be dreams. Or Pillows. If it is dreams, my friends, are you prepared to share your deepest desires with us?"
Jorvik glances at Kuragin, knowing how the man detests the commonness of it all. And Ishbaad and Aoife. Those two have no secrets between them. And Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight, who knew the dreams of goblins. Who wanted to know for that matter?
Ishbaad tenses and Jorvik philosophizes, but Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight solves the riddle and strides boldly forwards and into the chamber beyond. After all, solving a raven's riddle is not enough. You need to show it what you know, after proving your worth.
This small, candlelit bedroom is empty save for a plain wooden bed and a night table where a pale candle burns in an iron candleholder. The bed is perfectly made, but the sheets display an ominous, dark crimson stain in the middle of the bed.
As the only anomaly of note, the companions' eyes are drawn to the stain upon the bed. As they stare, they find they cannot look away. Slowly, mists blur the edges of their vision with the stain at the center. Then, gradually, the mists coalesce to become something more solid and the sheets - nay, the stain itself - rises from the bed. Occasionally, the swirling mists provide the companions a moment of clarity and they see within a beautiful but tortured blonde woman, clad in the century-past noble regalia of Irrisen.
"Yelizaveta," Kuragin says, not even aware that he spoke. This was indeed the ghostly image of Yelizaveta, Irrisen's thirteenth queen and Elvanna's predecessor.
"Who comes here, to my nightmare?!" she screams, looking around before becoming mist again. It seems as though she is as blind to the companions as they are to her most of the time. Suddenly, she appears directly in front of Kuragin's nose. He can feel her cold breath on his face as she demands, "Who are you and what do you want of me in this most private of places?"
"I am Jorvik Rybalt, called the Bloodspeaker. I am here as a representative of the Black Rider to find Baba Yaga. It appears that to be found worthy of this undertaking, I must complete three riddles by the ravens that call this place home. To solve the last remaining riddle, we need your dreams.
Or that is how we are understanding it."
Jorvik looks impassionatly at the woman, ancient royalty. He knows that he should soften his words, speak with the eloquence Desna has blessed him with, but he is tired. Weary. And looking forward to more boar steak.
A feeling of sadness rests upon the child as she observes the crimson stain upon the bed, even for everything she has witnessed so far along this journey, the sight of such things would never be natural. They would move her, and bring her to sadness, no matter how hardened or uncaring she might think she has become.
As the shape began to rise, the child involuntarily began to step away from it. The long, slender limbs and contradictory images of the beautiful woman so obviously tortures set Aoife heart into a fearful flutter. Turning to Jorvik, the child hardly has time to process the courage and bravery he must possess in order to speak to such a tortured soul.
Be careful, big brother, the child thinks, looking ahead at the warrior addressing the thing. She looks dangerous and deadly...
Aoife looks to the others, noting their silence as well. It is then that she realizes her breathing heavy- the panting, ragged breaths of someone who is fearful for their life. As her eyes fall upon Kuragin, she realizes how closely the creature is watching and regarding the witch, and the damning question that seems so obviously directed at him, and so the child bites her tongue and waits, knowing that Jorvik, with Kuragin's help, will put this soul to rest.
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"What is it you want to know? My dreams? My deepest desires?!" the image of Yelizaveta seems wholly affronted, "You, who champion the cause of Baba Yaga, the bringer of my torment, have invaded my most private sanctum - my very dreams - and you have the temerity to demand to know my desires?
"Well, Jorvik Rybalt, half-breed representative of the Black Rider, Herald of my tormentor, I want to see you f*%&ing suffer!" she screams and plunges a clawed hand deep into Jorvik's chest. The pain he feels is nothing short of spectacular. However, the pain emanates not from his heart, where her hand still rests, but from his very mind. Visions of thousands upon thousands of women - Jadwiga all - whipping at his flesh assault his mind. Each lash feels like agony as they tear into his skin.
All the while they cry insults that would have shaken the old Jorvik to his core.
"Half cast!"
"Unworthy!"
"Your mother should have killed you at birth!"
After what seems an age, the woman withdraws her hand and the visions are gone. All that remains of the pain is the memory of it. Jorvik slumps to the ground, exhausted but still able to move and speak - though only barely.
The child steps up to her brother, now slumped on the floor of the bedchamber, and stands beside Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight. She places a hand on Jorvik's shoulder, then takes another step forward, interposing herself between the half-elf and the tortured form of the spectral woman.
Aoife holds both arms outstretched to her sides, clearly shielding her injured brother from the likes of this creature.
"You may torture us for the terrible fate that has befallen you," Aoife begins, still standing before the woman with Jorvik at her back. "If Baba Yaga has treated you unfairly or unjustly, am truly sorry. I will not stand attempt to justify the actions of the Queen of Witches, for I know not what she has done to you, and I do not doubt she could be cruel..."
The child stands for a moment, still breathing heavily, a terrified but resolute glint in her eyes. "I simply hope to know about you, Yelizaveta. To beg for the understanding of what happened to you. What were your desires as the thirteenth queen, and what became of them? What happened at the end of your rule?"
"It is your story to tell, if you wish it."
"Torture me if you must, to satisfy your vengeance and hatred for the Queen of Witches, but know that I do not stand before you in defense of Baba Yaga, but simply as one that wants to know what has tormented you so..."
"... And, please," she implores. "Do not hurt my brother any more..."
"When I ruled? Ha! It was a farce," she spits at Aoife, "I want now what all the lowliest of my subjects craved from me... freedom! Freedom and revenge!" As she spits the last of that out, she slams Aoife in the side of the head.
Suddenly, the poor girl is transported back to that barn. This time, however, it is she and not her mother who is atop Ishbaad - strangling the life out of him with her father's gauntlets. The oreads eyes bulge and blood streams in tiny rivulets from the sockets and down the side of his face.
Just as quickly as it began, the vision fades but the emotion remains. The mists fade and the stain is gone from the bed. The room is plain once more.
Their true selves gradually returning, the companions pick themselves up and return to the raven.
"Well?" it asks, "What have you learned of its desires?"
Jorvik instinctively raises his hands off to ward the blows that bypass his material defenses.
He can feel pain. Pain he has never felt before. His mind reeling, he is transported back in time to his youth, the beatings and torments of the Jadwiga women. For the briefest of moments he believed it. He was that tortured youth. The outcast. The loner. The anomaly.
But from the corner of his eye he can spot the concern from Aoife, hear the pleas of Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight, and he knows that those days are long gone. Here he was surrounded by people that loved him, cared about him. He had taken upon the mantle of the Black Rider.
With a willful push, he tries to throw off the strange denizen's mental attack. But he can do nothing. It is only when she feels that he has suffered enough that she relents.
He slumps to the floor, struggling to breathe.
Through his chest heaves he is able to breathe out "No." to Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight's question.
Aoife stumbles back when the vision ends, her eyes wide with terror and confusion, but blinded. Her vision is seeing another place entirely and watches through her own tears, through a mixture of revoltion and perverse satisfaction, as the life is strangled from her guardian.
She falls and crawls backward across the floor until her back presses against the wall. As her chest heaves, seeming as though she cannot catch her breath, she stares toward Ishbaad as her vision returns but cannot bring herself to say a word.
When at last the apparition dissapears from the room, and the crimson stain with it, Aoife takes her place at the rear of the column but still does not speak. She cannot and does not want to process what she has just witnessed, and so hangs her head low and shuffles behind her companions all the while regretting having spoken to the creature for the punishment and vision she has received, though she does not regret standing before her brother...
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"Please don't leave us, Boss, like Coramus did. Please..." He moves up to hold the big half-elf, looking to see if there is anything he can do to help. He pulls out a potion, and an extract, asking "Do you need healing?"
"She want freedom... but she will is not a nice person, so will fill the hole in her heart with pain... pain caused to others. If we free her, me think she be happy.
"Is this what happens to the queens when the next queen takes over? No wonder current queenie no wanna give up." Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight looks very sad when he makes this pronunciation.
Kuragin lends his frail frame for Jorvik's support, when they walk out of the chamber. The man shows no signs of physical damage, and dreams shouldn't be able to hurt anyone - except perhaps one's mind. So he keeps an eye on the half-breed Jadwiga, hoping he'll be fine before long.
"Yes, it wants freedom, but perhaps most of all it desires revenge against the ones who captured it." Kuragin adds to the goblins answer.
"The fate of the former queens is unknown. Perhaps Baba Yaga imprisons them somewhere, perhaps not. But was this truly Yelizaveta, we cannot know. I doubt it was a true spirit of the former queen, and more an illusion. A dream, just like raven's puzzle hinted."
"Almost right, little goblin, but your Jadwiga master has the right of it," the raven nods appreciatively at Kuragin's more complete answer, "It was indeed dream, but the question that you should be asking is whose? I will leave you with this, who was the center of that dream? Then who is the center of any dream?"
The raven seems to smile a cocky smile before flying over to its orb. This time, instead of simply disappearing, the raven of dawn spreads its wings and seems to be engulfed, phoenix-like, in light. The light fills the room and it seems to all as though day has come.
The amulet drops from the sky to land at Kuragin's feet and the bird's voice can be heard to say:
"Seek now the sisters three who are one: Mother, Maiden, Crone. But know that the Maiden is elusive, and may only be caught with the waxing moon."
Kuragin turns the amulet over and reads the rune on its back: "Artrosa."
The meaning is not apparent to the witch, even wearing the glasses, so he ascertains that it must be a proper noun.
With nowhere else to go, the companions continue back along the twisting halls. Despite only remembering ever going upwards, they somehow arrive back at the door to the cauldron room. The sound of Auraenos's flute can be heard within. More importantly, however, a doorway has appeared opposite the door to the cauldron room. It is a relatively plain door, but old like the rest of the Hut. Light emanates from beneath the door, but it is muted - as though beyond the door is a room with windows, rather than the outside world itself.
"All seems to be fine within the cauldron room, and I am already past wondering how it possibly could have gotten here. Let us see what lies in this room before we use these keys."
Ishbaad waits to see if the others agree before opening the door.
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"Rest. Just some rest and I will be good as new." Jorvik responds to the goblins concerned questioning. "Though I do appreciate your concern Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight. Desna willing, I have many years before I go the way of Coramus. Desna willing."
Jorvik nods as Ishbaad speaks. "Yes. 'Tis always better to know than not, and I for one do not fancy leaving anything unexplored in this magical place. If it is here, it is important for us to know about.
"And Kuragin. Very astute with your observations. So I had this dream about Nadya, a pot of honey, and a badger. What do you think that means?"
Looking up toward Jorvik, the child stares on questioningly. It is clear she does not understand what her brother means, but she can also judge by his tone that she probably doesn't want to know.
Taking another step closer to the man, she places both hands on her elder brother and literally begins to push him toward the door leading out of the cauldron room. Her guardian also stands close to this exit, which seem to make the child uncomfortable. "I don't think we have time to discuss that, Jorvik," she says.
Because of how the child continues to keep Jorvik positioned between herself and Ishbaad, it is clear Aoife is hesitant to stand beside her uncle. Her mind is still reeling at what it saw with the ghost of the former queen, and what lingering thoughts and feelings it held in regards to that old barn from her second childhood.
"Let's keep moving..."
Cautiously, Ishbaad presses open the door and steps inside. Aoife follows while Kuragin ponders Jorvik's pseudo-erotic fantasy. Was Nadya dead or alive in this dream?
This spacious room resembles the interior of a wooden cottage. Stairs to the right of the entrance climb to balcony atop which rests a wooden table. A wooden walkway continues around the room to a small landing and another set of stairs to the left of the entrance. A third staircase leads down from the walkway to an alcove opposite the door. Crates, boxes, barrels and other mundane materials crowd the space.
Despite the clutter and vast number of walkways and stairways, this is indeed a single room. The balcony has a large window in it, very much similar to the window of the attic in which Ishbaad found Aoife. Those who ascend the stairs see that it is indeed the same window, peering out from the 'beak' of Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut. The view outside is of a vast, sprawling mountainous forested region. Snow falls steadily and covers the ground and trees, decorating the vista in white more pure than any seen on Golarion. A sun rises on the horizon, but its movement is actually noticable. Kuragin estimates that, at its current speed, it will set again in a little over an hour.
Looking at the interior a little more, they notice that a cracked clay bowl sits atop the table on the balcony. Inside the bowl is a brownish, speckled hen’s egg. A quick detect magic reveals nothing out of the ordinary with the egg or the bowl, though Kuragin can somehow feel the power of the items. Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight soon discovers that the bowl cannot be removed from the table.
Below the balcony, a wooden door identical to the one the companions entered the hut from allows beams of morning sunshine in from the outside. Despite the cracks, no cold seems to be let in to the Hut's warm interior.
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"Is this a test?" ponders Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight, as he stares at the egg. Moving the bowl hasn't worked, and he doesn't think that anyone would want to make an omelette in a cracked bowl. "What we supposed to do here? All this is test after test. Me not have this many test since Longshanks bring me to island."
He carefully touches the egg, to see if it is warm, or anything. Then, if nothing has happened, he will gently spin the egg in the bowl.