James and Kelris successfully hem in the Winter Wolf and destroy it before it can get help. Returning the short distance to the group they see Uliyara looking a touch affronted at being compared to something 'soulless'. Nevertheless she answers each question in turn, starting with a story.
"You remember those barbarians that stopped us on the river? The ones from Whiterook that wanted to attack? I was the emissary sent to negotiate trade and peace with them. My aunt Urgalaena sent a pack of raiders out to kidnap me, which ended in the death of my retainers and some of the Ulfen. I managed to get away with my hat of disguise.
That wolf was working with my aunt. She probably still wants me for political leverage over my mother. She feels safe doing so because I am one of the few Jadwiga, descended of Baba Yaga, member of the ruling class of Irrisen, that is not also a witch. And I wanted to continue to travel with you, so I avoided my mother for the time being. She keeps pushing me to be an aristocrat." The look on her face leaves no doubt in your mind what she thinks about that.
She turns on Fethril, single dainty finger pointed in his face, "And the magic I can do doesn't just affect other humans." She tries to temper her words with a smile, "But it is mostly helpful rather than harmful."
Uliyara smiles, "I appreciate that. Most judge me based on my heritage as the Jadwiga have not always been...kind to others. When our ancestor is one of the most dangerous witches in history we tend to be pushed away or attacked in fear."
She looks forward once more, "Fethril you can stop shaking my finger now..."
Uliyara smiles and shakes her head before gesturing everyone into the newly made ice tunnel.
Intricate gilded stonework adorns the entrance, and a complex marble mosaic paves the floor. Arrow slits flank the north and south sides of the hall, but the north side has collapsed and is choked with rubble. On the eastern end, two 10-foot-tall marble statues of armored dwarves flank a fresco depicting an opulent throne room. The faces of the statues have been broken off.
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How the eff is Fethril lovable? Why does this happen to the NPCs?!
Fethril takes a moment to activate the magical protection held within one of his wands.
Fethril investigates the dwarven statues. "They may always be dirty, but the dwarves can be excellent craftsmen. Granted, elves work with living material, but still, this artistry is impressive. If you bother to look over here, there is a concealed latch. Hold on a moment. Ah, there we are. It was stuck from all the ice."
Fethril presses the button and reveals the armory beyond. He casts a simple spell to detect any magical auras that may still linger here.
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"I can't imagine that a poison would have survived the cold, and any mechanism that complex would have been frozen solid...or slowed enough to make avoiding it nearly an automatic thing. Besides, who traps a hidden button? One only traps what they feel will be found. We must speak more about your paranoia, my dear Aura. Perhaps Uliyara's revelation has affected you more than you realize."
Thousands of icicles cover the ceiling of this cylindrical chamber. The outside edge forms a perfect circular curve, cutting into stone without mark of chisel or tool, impossibly smooth. Only places where ice flows over the stone, or where the structures have collapsed, mar the perfect precision of the cylinder. The remains of workshops and living spaces, still furnished, peak through holes in the cylindrical void. At the southern and western edges of the cavern, large portions of the stone and ice have collapsed, cutting into the immense void with piles of rubble.
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Kelris hides his smile at Aura's comment. Moving a head 10' Kelris keeps his eyes open and ears ready for anything.
"Let me take the lead." Kelris buckles on the new shield, drawing out his dagger. "This isn't nearly as fearsome as I would hope. Remind me to buy a sword or something when we get back."
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Sabert stays nonchalant through the encounter, but his eyes widen in wonder as Haltani reveals her true self. "As I told you.." he says with a smile and an outflung arm to indicate the rest of the group. "We look after each other. Though honesty is the best policy, I can understand your hesitance. I'm glad to meet the real you at long last!"
Sabert follows along behind the rest of the companions, guffawing out loud as Aura gives as good as she gets from Kelris and Fethril. As Kelris returns a likewise suitable nickname to Aura, he chimes in "Best be careful my friend.. She's liable to use put some of those arrows someplace rather uncomfortable for you!! Besides.. until one of you gets used as a demonic dogs chew toy, I think that I have the honor of the best nickname here.."
Moving into the complex, Sabert gives a small whistle of awe as he looks around. "Mighty fine work to still be standing here under all this ice for so long.."
Desks sit empty, a few scraps of meaningless paper littering the drawers. A weapon rack in the southeastern corner of the room contained the town’s arsenal during their heyday. The door to the iron cage in
the northeastern corner of the room is locked with an average lock. Only the tattered remains of an old cot and manacles remain in the room.
The frozen corpse of a dwarf slumps against the wall, perfectly preserved in a block of ice. He wears a hexagonal hematite beard clasp with a single dwarven rune inscribed on the face. Lying on the nearby table is a dwarven waraxe, edge shimmering in the cold.
As Kelris steps forward the ice cracks around the dwarf, its face changing to one of hatred and hunger as it moves to attack!
Sabert calls out for everyone to be prepared and begins singing a ballad of Lastwall's stand against Tar-Baphon and his undead minions.
The dwarf rushes Kelris, eyes focused on Uliyara as it screams through frozen vocal cords, "I'll kill those witches!"
With Sabert already singing Uliyara doesn't have much to do, so she pulls out her shortbow and takes aim at the ghoul.
Her arrow thunks into the threshold of the doorway, unable to get a good shot with Kelris in the way.
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From outside the doorway, Sabert continues to sing out his song of triumph against undead.
From within the notes and words of the song, Sabert weaves a counter tune, telling of a funny dwarf that fell off the battlements and was saved by landing in a snow pile.
As he awaits the dwarfs response, he draws his crossbow.
The ghoul, with its frozen and underused vocal chords lets out a giggle, then a chuckle, and before too long has fallen to the floor holding its stomach laughing in the most raucous and ear-shattering manner possible.
After a small amount of time the ghoul takes control of itself and shakes on the floor in a combination of indignation and muscle spasms.
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James and Aura work together to take down the ghoul while it is still recovering. Soon it is nothing more than frosty chunks of undead. Searching the frozen corpse reveals a journal, at least one entry of which is legible.
The cold winds howled fiercely last night. I fear that the cataclysm may truly be as
great as the strange sorcerer Hao Gin warned. She has been knocking at our doors
every morning, and today, I made the decision for the clan—better to take the risk of
letting her whisk us all away into her mysterious realm than the certainty of freezing to
death. Unfortunately, Bardak didn’t agree. My son is far too stubborn for his own
good. He ran off, and I couldn’t find him anywhere. Now it’s too late; Hao Gin
spirited away the rest of the clan, and I’m stuck out here in the last few rooms that she
left behind. Even worse, a giant block of ice froze over the only way out of here. I could
swear I heard cackling laughter from the other side of the ice, before it grew thick enough
to seal off all sound from the outside world. I can only pray to Torag that Bardak
changed his stubborn mind and accompanied his kin.
Uliyara looks over it with you, "Well this explains the strange perfect circle taken out of this site."
After you finish looking through the room you trek back through Naldak's Point and realize there is someone barring your way out, a young woman bearing a resemblance to Uliyara in coloration, accompanied by some monster made of ice and a white bear the size of James.
The woman smirks, "You have good eyes for a non-Jadwiga. I am a witch, but I don't know what you're talking about. Wolf? I'm here to stop spies from Saarbotten from taking my cousin Uliyara. My Aunt Nadya thought that might be you."
Uliyara pushes her way forward causing the other woman to startle. "I'm fine Kiryena, as you can clearly see. These people have been nothing but nice to me since I joined them, even before they realized who I was."
Kiryena, still a bit nonplussed gives your group a hard stare, "And how do I know you haven't been charmed in some way?"
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"Why that is quite laughable really. A witch being enspelled? That is highly unlikely. I thought your kind was quite resistant to that kind of thing. Or is it your cousin's abilities and mental fortitude that you doubt? Well, in either case, you are welcome to use your arcane sight to look for any auras placed upon her. Now, the ice construct with you, is that of your own creation, or is it on loan to you for study? That reminds me of a time in Kyonin, you may want to sit down as this will take some time to recount correctly..."