Bulvi advances keeping his eyes peeled for traps and ambushes and advances towards the looming shapes. "Let's hope it's a village and we can get some warmer clothing to keep ye going."
Selena looks around hoping to recognize where this is evsn though she probably doesn't. She hasn't exactly traveled all over Irrisen, and the snowstorm wasn't helping either. She was also wary of other guards, but unless this was a restricted area, she had less worry about that. She was a native after all.
She looked wary, yet joyous, totally unfazed by the cold, though the blurriness from the heavy wind was irritating.
As the others follow through the portal, she turns to them, "You are here with me, Selena Snoe Yelizaveta of Badelund. No garuntees that it will keep you out of trouble, but it should help a little in the larger towns. It also means you need to behave. There are many here who will kill you if you make them angry. Others who will be looking at me and my family if you cause problems, so don't."
She turns and starts walking towards the "towm," unless she recognizes it as a place to avoid.
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so as you are trying to get your bearings, and not really seeing too much to tell you the exact location at the moment, though as you move to the shadowy figures you see a group of people with a Giant Mantis
The Mantis taking notice of the group approaching turns its attention as the people it was attacking scatter for the time being
Swings at Bulvi
~~Round 1~~
Knowledge Nature to ID
Bold to Act
GM
Sakitu
Quasit
Findurel
Ibona
Selena
Bulvi Grabbed
"Gods no it's that damned weasel all over again!" Bulvi calls out as he struggles to break free of the creature.
Selena sighs and moves up and strikes with her longspear with an intimidating yell like she is trying to scare the creature off.
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Quasit manages to just barely hit the creature managing to draw blood from it
As a free action the creature lets bulvi go, and turns around to the closest target that wounded him Quasit
fail
fail
The creature manages to just grab quasit
~~Round 2~~
Knowledge Nature to ID
Bold to Act
GM -19
Sakitu
Quasit grabbed
Findurel
Ibona
Selena
Bulvi
Released from the creature's grasp Bulvi draws his cold iron longsword but his muscles ache from his wounds and he can't penetrate it's hide.
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Quasit stifles a shriek of pain as the mantid's vice-like claw crushes her torso, and the sound come out as something between a piercing squeak and a whimper. Tears of pain squirt from her eyes, but she grits her teeth and looks with hatred into the multifaceted eyes of her attacker.
"Not today honey!" she snarls through her teeth, and she continues to attack, and jabs straight into the chest of the beast.
"If I die, we go down together!" she hisses wickedly.
Selena speaks and as she takes on a pale blue swirling aura which blends well in the snow, she darts forth to touch the creature.
"Just die!" Bulvi raises his sword again but his blade bounces off it's thick hide.
Selena once again tries to touch the creature with her spell. Failing that she blinks above the creature, hoping to land on it by surprise, which would be touching it.
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Between Fin and Quasit the beast falls to the ground, dead and bleeding. The people who scattered earlier come out, and the leader Nadya speaks "Thank you for dispatching that Mantis for us,I am Nadya though you look ill prepared for travel here, and not to mention the storm that is to be coming. Please come with us to the nearby town of Waldsby" with wary and caution you notice the dog sleds and a few "guards" for the traveling group.
During the travel, they stop as the weather starts to worsen and they set up camp and heat to keep warm with while they wait for the weather to calm down
"what brings you to our land here?" asking Nadya curiously about the group
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Between Fin and Quasit the beast falls to the ground, dead and bleeding.
Quasit's adrenaline is pumping after the life or death struggle with the giant bug. Though one arm gingerly cradles her crushed torso, with her sword arm she flourishes at the carcass exultantly.
"Mm! Yeah! In your face, bug! Stay down!"
This demonstrating really seems to hurt her though, and her knees nearly give out. She puts her sword away and hugs herself with both arms now.
"Selena, I've been in your country for 5 minutes and I've gotta say, so far I'm not a fan."
The people who scattered earlier come out, and the leader Nadya speaks "Thank you for dispatching that Mantis for us,I am Nadya though you look ill prepared for travel here, and not to mention the storm that is to be coming. Please come with us to the nearby town of Waldsby"
"Hi Nadya. Everyone just calls me Quasit. Thanks for offering to let us... wait a minute, did you say a storm is 'coming'?? You mean it gets worse than this?"
She looks over to Selena. "Selena, I've been in your country 6 minutes, and I officially hate it."
"You're right Quasit we should go with them before it gets cold!" Bulvi holds out his thick cloak to shield Quasit from the storm. "You might as well come over, I'm already covered in blood too."
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Sakitu greets the group and gladly accepts their hospitality. She helps setup camp with them and finally finds herself sitting on a thick carpet laid over a pile of snow in front of the small fire.
"Why are we here, you ask?" She nods when Ibona answers. "Yeah, it's pretty much like that. We were given the chance to come here and, well, it seemed like the right thing to do."
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"You're right Quasit we should go with them before it gets cold!" Bulvi holds out his thick cloak to shield Quasit from the storm. "You might as well come over, I'm already covered in blood too."
Quasit doesn't argue with a little warmth. In fact, now that the adrenaline is wearing off, she seems even more sore, and perhaps in the mood to be taken care of a bit.
"Thanks Bull." she says, huddling under the cloak. "Hey Ibona, could I get a couple pokes with the magic stick, or does it not work on thieves? My bruises have bruises."
*****
Once the group is in camp, she is about to spill the whole story to Nadya's group, when she notices her companions being cagey in their answers.
Foreign country. Full of spies. Run by rival witches. Maybe being less than 100% candid makes some sense.
"So Nadya. How far are we from Whitethrone? And what's the news around here? Anything interesting going on?"
Selena changing back to human before the approaching figures become clear, releases her spell into the surrounding snow.
"Quasit, the winter forges us into hardy and strong people. Can't get that in a paradise. Besides, you haven't seen it in clear weather yet. Doesn't get easier, but it does get pretty."
At the camp, with the welcoming people, "Well, I am on my way back to Badelund. I was away taking care of some business in southern lands. It's nice getting away from the heat. It gets terribly hot down south." she converses easily enough, "So, any unusual troubles been going on recently?" she asks with genuine curiousity.
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Nadya is silent for a moment, but she speaks softly out of worry "Nazhena, the White Witch holds my daughter Thora at the pale tower. I am hoping to appease her with the cargo we are taking to the town and have her released."
Nadya gives a slight description of her daughter and asks if you all would help. The description closely matches the doll you fought in the cabin as well as the horrorifying image Quasit saw of the lady in the ice in the same area
"You definitely shouldn't try to do anything other than that... even though it might not work. Now if a group of outlanders who couldn't be connected to you in any way, well any attempts they made has nothing to do with you now does it..." He smiles softly and leans forward "But those outlanders might be more likely to succeed in any meddling if they knew more about the Pale Tower and this Nazhena."
Selena frowns. "There is not a lot I can do. Openly at least. I'm from here. I'd not be risking just myself, but risking infighting among my family and the local nobility. If my mother didn't outright disown me for it. Such fighting rarely ends well, neither for the common folks, nor us witch families. Odd though, normally it's the fey taking kids. Why did she take your daughter? Was there an accusation of crime or something?"
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Quasit gapes like a fish and looks around at her group in utter confusion.
She had just gotten herself in line with the idea that we shouldn't be too ready to trust this Nadya woman, and telling her as little as possible, when suddenly everyone was volunteering to sally forth on a rescue mission for a child who was almost certainly already dead. It was a bit heartwarming actually, but at the same time it just seemed the height of foolishness. Antagonizing the local witch was almost certainly not going to help the group find Baba Yaga's hut, and if anything was going to make it more likely that the Queen witch would become aware of them. Not to mention bending over backward to offer life and limb for a stranger while she herself was so wounded and sore she could hardly move.
But everyone was volunteering so readily and confidently, she couldn't help but feel ashamed at her doubts. It was that Pathfinder thing again. It was something about that organization that just made you a little mad. It was like none of them could say no to a dangerous mission. Even seemed to give them a hunger to find the missions. And to not even ask for compensation. Nevar had gotten to be the same way. Maybe it was some sort of enchantment that the Decemvirate put on people. Maybe the whole world was run by witches. It would certainly explain a lot.
It was pointless to say anything. Of course she was going. She was stuck in Irrissen with these people now, what choice did she have? Soon her soul would get sucked out and put into a creepy doll as part of the winter invasion of the world. Tally ho.
She warms her hands by the fire and sighs.
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Looking at Selena, Nadya speaks "There was claim that Thora insulted Nazhena, which she was then taken as punishment, I dont know if that was the only case"
as if she was about to answer an unexpected visitor approaches the camp seeking shelter—a winter-touched forlarren named Mierul Ardelain. The product of an unholy union between a fiend and a nymph. Mierul has a hairless body, bare goat legs, and a horned head.
Nadya is somewhat startled and nervous when Mierul arrives, uneasy about the cold fey’s request to join them and yet unable to refuse without arousing the forlarren’s ire or suspicion.
Mierul sits well away from the fire as she joins the evening meal, doing her part to provide an evening of entertainment with songs, music, and tale-telling. The forlarren’s attention is soon drawn to the group, however, as she senses something different about them.
When Mierul starts to ask about you all Nadya speaks up stating that you are relatives from another town visiting
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When the forlarren wanders into the camp, Quasit can't help but stare at it. It was... well... in a way it was beautiful, but in a totally disturbing, wrong way. She couldn't take her eyes off it. Sure, she'd spent days fighting strange monsters and undead things, but she'd never encountered anything quite like this. A small part of her felt like kissing it, an instinct that instantly provoked an intense shudder in the more sensible 99% of her.
It gets even weirder when the thing starts singing and reciting stories. For a moment she considers pulling out her little tin flute and trying to play along, but the idea of hitting a wrong note and having that thing LOOK at her with anything like disapproval was more than she could bear. She sits quietly and watches and listens.
Then suddenly she becomes aware that Nadya is telling Mierul that the group are her relatives. The obvious lie snaps her back to herself and focuses her again.
"Yeah, when we heard about poor Thora... well, I for one had to come and give my support to Cousin Nadya. I want her to know that she's not alone in this. We just hope Nazhena can find it in her heart to be merciful. I've heard she's both wise and beautiful. I only hope that's true. Right Bull?"
She gives Bulvi a surreptitious wink.
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Sakitu tries not to stare at the forlarren. She has never seen a creature quite like that before and is a little scared of her. But as the creature starts to entertain the group, she becomes a little more comfortable with it.
When Nadya explains that they are relatives, Sakitu starts to get nervous again. Nadya must know something about this new comer that is motivating her to obscure the truth.
In the end Sakitu just sits quietly and watches.
Best not to get overly complicated. "Hrump." He mumbled in a generally dismissive way his head bobbing up down. The more he said the more he'd land them in it so keeping to general nods and grunts seemed best.
Selena isn't bothered by the newcomer's race, being quite used to all sorts being part of society. She remains rather silent about the relatives part, happy to let the newcomer believe wrongly, but figured that she could be recognized, even if unlikely, it was possible, sp she figures being truthful about her own identity is best, if it can't be avoided. She also starts formukating possibilties about having "hired" her companions as the reason for the presence, and then Quasit speaks, so maybe not Quasit then.