Apetir knucklewalks with Tsin to the treehouse. He walks around the tree looking for tracks or things of interest.
Survival
Apetir makes a gesture like he would pick up Pems and throw him into the treehouse. He then looks around to see if anyone would think that would be a good idea.
The house appears to have been lifted into the air from its foundations. The branches creak as the house teeters and sways with the wind.
As you approach, you hear two children's cries for help coming from above.
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Pems, hearing the children's cries, is distracted enough that he doesn't notice the strange gestures Ape-tir is making toward him. "There's someone in there! How does that happen?"
Pems looks down at the ragged robe he wears and suddenly smiles. Pulling a patch off, he throws it to the ground where it turns into a 24' long wooden ladder!
"Ah ha! Good thinking, Pemsworth! 'Always carry a ladder in your pocket,' something your father used to say too? Brilliant man, your dad. Full of good ideas."
Apetir looks at the ladder then at Tsin, then back at the ladder.
He points to her going up, rather than himself and waits to hear her response.
Tsin considers as best she can which side of the house to secure the ladder.
"What do you think, boys? I'm not sure that it would be able to support our weight if we were to climb the ladder to its porch."
You're able to secure the ladder carefully enough that one of you can climb it, discovering a man and his son and daughter inside.
"Please," the man groans. "We need help. My leg; it's broken. The little ones are too scared to climb down and I feel like the house could fall at any minute!"
Tsin holds the ladder, allowing Pems full use of his ladder. "If the house starts to collapse, leap for the ape, alright, Pems? Just because you hear children doesn't mean you'll find children above. Remember the doll and the hut? Yes, it feels eerily similar."
Tsin remains below, and waits for Pems to report his findings. She adjusts her armor, and bites her lower lip. "Quinn, are you able to cast another length of flying time? It was quite useful, maneuvering in this armor."
Apetir positions himself below the house, seeking to steady it using his long monkey arms.
He seems very eager to save the children, using his own body to as cushion against the ground if need be.
C'mon Tsin, get the children.
Malavarius tugs on his beard, jerking it to the left then to the right as the ladder is guided to its eventual resting place against the elevated house. He nods happily when it seems the ladder does not cause the house to tip from its perch. He calls out, "Jump if you have to! I've got the perfect magic to catch you!"
Pems nods at Tsin, and begins to climb the ladder, trying to keep his movements as smooth as possible so as not to make the house wobble more than he has to. When he gets to the top, he calls into the house, "We're here to help. Slowly move toward me, and I'll help you down, one at a time. Just don't make any sudden movements or the house may tip."
"Jump if you have to! I've got the perfect magic to catch you!"
"What kind of magic is that, Mal?" Tsin asks with genuine interest. As long as it's not summoning a pillow... I'm much more satisfied with the choice to send the small one up instead of myself.
"I don't mean to rush you, Pems, but we're losing precious time attending to this accident, when there are likely fouler things stalking us right now in this forest." And chasing after children is likely to get us killed foolishly.
Quinn slides next to Tsin, "The gifts of Cayden are plentiful and I've not yet asked for the favor of flight today. Simply say the word and the gift is yours." Quinn prepares to cast flight on Tsin, while keeping one eye on the treehouse.
"I can't move," the man says, pain clear in his voice. "My leg..."
The children huddle fearfully near him.
"What kind of magic? The magical kind, of course. As if there were any other sort." Malavarius scoffs and shakes his head but keeps his eyes fixed on Pemsworth and the house up above, ready to bring his magical magics to bear should the need suddenly present itself.
Tsin's face lights up as Quinn mentions his grace held in reserve. "Oh, wonderful! And yet, it didn't last as long as I would have hoped, so let's perhaps wait until this 'rescue mission' is over before we engage in flight." Tsin looks back up the ladder, expecting Pems to return quickly, with imps on his heels.
Tsin raises a stocky eyebrow at Mal, but doesn't pursue clarification. Airy air... dirty dirt... watery water... fiery fire... sigh...
Pems sighs and crawls from the ladder into the house. Staying low, he moves across the floor. "I can offer you healing. Is the leg set? Hello, children. My name is Pemsworth Ignotus Smith, a locksmith and traveler. Have you ever met a talking rabbit? This is Flash. While he doesn't talk much, he occasionally does do magic tricks. Can you follow him over to the ladder while I speak to your father?" Pems murmurs to Flash in their secret tongue and asks him to lead the children to the ladder.
Pems is able to heal the man's leg, and the three of you carefully make your way down from the house, the ladder making it far safer than you think it otherwise would have been.
The children cheer as Flash hopes down. They edge away from Ape-tir, though they seem fascinated by the seemingly partly-trained simian. Karend, as the man introduces himself, nods his appreciation
"Here," he says, pulling an amulet made from some sort of scale from around his neck.
"I gave it to my late wife years ago to keep her safe,” he explains. “You saved her children today. She would want you to have it.”
As Pemsworth makes his way into the house, Malavarius calls out encouragingly, "I say, Pemsworth? Pemsworth? Lad, while you're still up there, spare a moment to see if my good hat is up there, won't you? You never know with spontaneous woods like this!"
He then looks at the father and children and smiles, "Karen, you say? An odd name for a man, but things are often odd in Irrisen. By the by, you haven't seen my good hat in these parts, have you?"
Apetir carefully lets go out the home after the children (and Pems) are safely away, jumping out of the way himself. He offers another huge teethed smile to Pems for his heroics.
He looks at the amulet greedily once it is explained, but understands if anyone else dons it.
He, by means of gesture, offers to escort the family out of the maze to the City.
"Huh. More actual children. They're like rabbits in these parts." Tsin looks up the ladder. "Pems, you saw nothing else suspicious while nosing around up there?" She turns back to the man, allowing him to show his gratitude, before pressing him.
"How long, exactly, were you holed up in that house? What have you been able to hear or see while up there, or were you tucked away, and out of sight? We are heading deeper into the forest, anything you know about it will be welcome. As for your exit, you must head that way, where we entered. There is nothing between you and the town now, so make haste. Tell us what you know, then leave quickly."
Pems shakes his head, before wiping his brow and allowing Flash to hop back into his backpack and giving him a quick headscratch for his efforts. "No, looked much like any other house." Turning to the man, he smiles at him and his children. "I am honored to be of use. Be gentle on the leg and take care of these children. We must venture further into the wood."
"Thank you," the man says again. "I think we will be all right. Trevis and Crina can help me walk and I think I have enough authority that they should let me leave the woods."
The three look back once as they head for the exit, leaving you seemingly alone again in the woods.
Apetir points to the lake to the left, desiring to go that way.
Apetir knucklewalks over that way, trusting his companions to follow.
Tsin sneers as the man walks away, leaving questions unanswered. She looks back up at the house, and decides there is nothing more to do with it. If it falls, at least we know where it will land, likely.
She listens for sounds of activity, either from the forest itself or its inhabitants.
Tsin returns to examine the pool of water to the west.
A pool of strange silvery water stands in a clearing here. On the pool’s surface, ripples begin at its outermost edges and rush inward to a single point, where drops of water fall up toward the sky. The entire pool rains skyward while snowflakes float down between the droplets. A brisk wind rustles through the trees. A path continues on to the north out of the clearing.
A humanoid figure stands in the center of the ankle-deep water with one shoulder hunched and his head cocked at a crooked angle. Eldritch energy burns within his eyes and strangely colored hair crowns his head like a torch, while gleaming white teeth shine from his grin. He cradles a pipe in his long, graceful fingers.
You believe it is a dawn piper, a strange and enigmatic creature from the First World.
"Zeno! Zeno, look at that! I think that's a dawn piper! I wonder what he's doing here in Whitethrone." Though Malavarius' words are whispered to Zeno, they're still quite loud enough for anyone present to clearly hear him.
Zeno simply shrugs at Malavarius' musings and keeps a wary eye on the piper. Frowning at Zeno's seeming lack of interest, Malavarius turns to the strange man in the pool of water, "Oh! Hello there! I say, you're from the First World aren't you? You haven't seen my good hat laying about here or perhaps in your realm, have you? I've been having the most terrible luck tracking it down."
If it's fey, it's not long for this world. Tsin doesn't advance yet, as Mal engages it in conversation. Lure it closer, Mal. She keeps her blade to her side for now. Bait it into saying something mildly offensive, old man. She shifts her weight uneasily from foot to foot. Get ready to be upset, Mal, because it's unlikely this creature is here on accident, and it stands in our way, surely. Like all the other fey... Tsin looks back up at Hektir briefly, but decides her attention is better served on keeping the creature's center of gravity in her line-of-sight.
The man looks up, staring down his nose at the five of you for a moment.
"Yes, old man, I am indeed from the First World. But I have not seen your hat," he answers in a detached voice.
Pems steps forward. "Would you happen to know how this forest came to grow so fast here in the square?"
Malavarius frowns, "Ah, a pity."
Know (Nature)
Apetir knucklewalks over to the water, sticking a large paw in to bring up some water for him to sniff.
Survival - safe to drink?
Apetir drinks if the water is safe, but otherwise waits by the water, waiting to see what the rest of the party say/do to the creature.
"Indeed," the dawn piper replies to Pems.
The water, though, cold, seems safe to drink. The dawn piper eyes Hektir, but takes no action as he dips his paw into the font.
"Please tell us. We must reach Baba Yaga's hut." Pems grits his teeth at the literalism of the fey, trying to stay calm.
"It's stalling..." Tsin speaks quietly, before joining Hektir at water's edge, a little to his south. She takes a closer look around, wary of small, flying fey.
Apetir splashes in the cool water a bit, then lets it settle so he check out his rugged good looks in the mirroring the water.
He bares his large teeth and checks out his cool bite, pretending he is chomping the mirror Apetir and admiring his strength and fierceness.
"The hut. It seeks to defend itself. You probably won't get there. I'd suggest turning around for your own safety."
Tsin, you don't see any small, flying fey.
Hektir, you remember dawn pipers can use a musical instrument to unleash a deadly torrent of sonic vibrations that tears at the very physicality of its enemies. This is similar to a breath weapon that deals sonic damage in a 15-ft. cone.
They can also infuse a 40-foot-radius area with the primal qualities of the First World. The dawn piper gains additional spell-like abilities based on a single element while within range of its elemental font. Dimensional anchor and dimensional lock stop the flow of power, preventing the piper from using the additional spell-like abilities.
They tend toward chaotic neutral, and have damage resistance (5) that can be overcome with cold iron.
Apetir shrugs, not sure what to make of the fey. If he knows more, he does not grunt.
Apetir points to the north and begins to knuckledrag along that path.
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Quinn follows the knuckle dragger, as he has done in the past, often while dragging his own knuckles.
Tsin focuses keenly on the dawn piper. "We are no mere commoners here, Flame Hair. We have been summoned by the Black Rider to locate Baba Yaga herself, and have been touched by him so that we may use that hut to travel to her. The hut will obey us, for we are marked. I suggest you not stand in our way, for your own safety."
Apetir turns to look at Tsin and her strong words, wondering if she is begetting trouble.
Does she require help fomenting trouble?
The dawn piper merely smirks at Tsin.
"If you say it, it must be so," he responds.
Ape-Tir leads the way forward, through the cold, dark woods, when suddenly he stumbles. As he tries to right himself, two trees suddenly come crashing down on him and Tsin.
Reflex
Perception
Apetir roars as he scoots away from the tree, looking back at Tsin as he does.
That's sure going to hurt.
The dent in her armor makes it hard to breathe for a moment, as she regains her legs. She looks down to make sure she hasn't dropped her blade, and considers for a moment. She sheathes it, and draws the cold iron, sensing she's about to deal with more fey, even if she can't see them now.
"Ssss, Quinn, aaaahhh. I think a rib is broken..."
Quinn eyes the witched woods suspiciously, even as he expels the healing energy of Cayden.
If nothing leaps forward to threaten the party further, then Quinn concentrates his healing energies.
Tsin winces and smiles as the healing sets in, and she starts looking for something to pay back for the recent pain. "Thank you, Quinn, as always. I would know more of the finer types of spirits you enjoy, for the next time we have a rest."
The Black Rider must have known we were going to be assailed this whole time...
Tsin readies a strike should anything leap out at her.
Malavarius leaps into the air in surprise as the trees crash down atop Hektir and Tsin, "What the devil- the forest is collapsing!" He spins around, looking at all the surrounding trees with suspicion. "What's happening and why is it, well, happening, Zeno?"
Quinn
Tsin
Hektir
Malavarius
Pemsworth
?
Startled into alertness by the falling trees, you take defensive actions in case any other threats manifest.
Quinn channels healing energy as Tsin pulls her sword.
As the rest of you look around, you don't see anything, the trees blocking the path also making it hard to see ahead. After a couple moments, though, you see two hideous, hunchbacked creatures with three glowing blue eyes and oily hair growing from its head and back, covering it like a cloak run forward.
They're a type of gremlin known as a nuglub.
They run toward the fallen trees, though keeping them between you and them, staring and gesturing toward Tsin and Quinn.