Kazmir takes a stab, it is worth a guess. if it fails to pay off...he prepares tar ball...
"I am not from the lands the Ujart Clan control, but their leader is a young, strong man, is he not? One who stills rides the mammoth himself into battle? What is this about age...are you confusing your clans?"
"Oh, perhaps so, perhaps so..." the fey woman replies.
She is far too happy about being told she's wrong.
"Well, I think that I'll be on my way again," Mierul states, carefully stowing her lute in a case and then slipping its strap over her shoulder. "If I can't keep my clans straight, I suppose there's no reason to ask about them."
'Quite." Kazmir says shortly, wondering how much this wandering lute player knew or guessed. He doesn't offer anything else. The more he speaks, the more he puts them in hot water.
Nadya watches in silence as Mierul leaves. Once she's out of sight, she whispers intensely to you, [smaller]"She will report you to Pale Tower! Then they will take you, just like they take my Thora..."
Kazmir looks at Nadya, "Should we try to stop her? Bizzk and I maybe able to catch up to her..."
Then the name rang a bell. Thora..."Then a horrid thought entered his mind.
'Your Thora, was she...was she a young child?" he asks, voice falling to a whisper.
Your second question drives any thought of your first from Nadya's mind. She nods, glumly. "She is young, yes. Too young to be prisoner in Pale Tower. She should be home with her mother, but... Nazeehna know I do not like her rule."
Her hands by now have balled up into fists. "And so they take my little Thora to Pale Tower, to make sure I behave, or they hurt my little girl."
Kazmir sighs heavily. How to break this? How to even start...
'Nadya. When I found the portal, in Taldor. There was a guard...a doll possessed by an evil spirit. It...it spoke with your daughters voice, but twisted and evil. The White Witches...they must have done some foul withcraft on her." He stares directly into the ranger's eyes.
"Your daughter is dead and it was long before I ran into the mockery they made of her. I am so sorry."
Nadya stands stock-still for a long moment. Then, quietly, intensely, she hisses, "Monster. Nazeehna... she said she would be safe if I did not cause trouble... But then they turn her into one of their dolls"
She whirls and faces Kazmir, and you can see the fire in her eyes. "The witches, they are monsters. You are here to fight them, yes? I will fight, too. There is no keeping my children safe while witches rule."
She pauses a moment, then asks, more quietly, "The gem... did you destroy it? The gem in the eye?"
Kazmir wonders if he should tell Nadya about the Black Rider but decides to hold off. The druid just knows too little...
'I am here to fight them, yes." Then he reaches into a pocket and pulls out the large gem. "This is the gem. Why do you ask?"
Nadya inhales sharply when she sees it. "Give it to me!" she whispers urgently. "Is where the witches store stolen soul for the doll! I... I would say goodbye to my little girl before setting free."
Kazmir quickly hands over the stone to the Ulfen ranger, bowing his head as he does so.
Nadya grabs the gem, and looks into it, murmuring in her native tongue for a long moment. Then she gently sets the gem in the snow. She considers it for a moment before pulling out her pick and starting to attack the gem with it. Her blows are rather ineffective, often going wide (and once almost impaling her foot), but finally, she strikes a solid blow, cracking the gem, then another, and another, and it finally shatters.
There's no visible or audible change, but... there's a brief feeling of something leaving. Nadya sighs.
"At least spirit is free," she murmurs, turning back to you. "Now, is time for sleep. Best get to Waldsby before soldiers come looking."
Kazmir is not a very religious person. He preferred the clean mountain air to the incense of the temple, and the cries of the hawk over the droning of the priest. But he was a dwarf, raised as such. So as Nadya releases the spirit he mumbles a dwarven prayer as best he can. For whatever it is worth, he hopes Torag watches over the girl's spirit.
Turning to Nadya he nods, 'Then let us go. Soldiers would be bad."
"Rest, first," Nadya states. "Dogs cannot go further today. We still get back first."
'Very well. Do we need to set a watch?" Kazmir asks, peering at the snow shrouded landscape. Sitting still, in the open felt wrong to him.
"The dogs bark if something too close," Nadya replies, patting one of her dogs on the head before unharnessing her. "Their nose better at night than eyes."
The dwarf adds, "My eyes work well in the dark." but he is tired, and he does need sleep. He makes sure Bizzk is comfortable (the bird isn't crazy about the dogs) then says, "What shall I do with my friend? I doubt the townsfolk will adjust well to him?"
Nadya considers for a moment. "How is he in house?" she asks. "Can hide with you in house. My house is at edge of Waldsby."
'Bizzk does well inside. If you think we can get him in, he'll do fine. He'd much rather be warm under cover then stuck in the snow, trust me."
With that Kazmir is ready to go to sleep and face the next day.
You have a quiet meal with Nadya and her two companions after they've seen to their dogs and set up camp. After that, everyone goes to their tents to sleep.
The next day dawns clear and cold, with dark clouds on the western horizon. The three Ulfen break camp with the same speed and efficiency they set it up at night, then again harness their dogs.
"Come," Nadya says, mounting her sled and waving Kazmir to follow. "Is not far now. Three hour, maybe."
Kazmir nods, keeping an eye out for danger or more giant insects. He has a feeling their visitor last night will ruin any chance of surprise. As they ride, the druid comes to a decision.
He turns to Nadya, driving the dogs, "Do you know anything of a Black Rider?"
"Black Rider?" Nadya frowns. "Is... one of riders of Baba Yaga, yes? With Red and White?"
Kazmir looks at her, nodding his head. "You know more then me. I...met one of them, on the other side of the portal. He was dying." He holds back some and asks, 'What do you know of these Riders? Who are they? Whom do they serve?"
Nadya is visibly surprised when Kazmir states he'd met the Black Rider. After a moment, she shakes her head slightly.
"Not much. They serve Baba Yaga--they come before she come, every hundred years, to take old queen and choose new one. They have something of Baba Yaga's power, but I do not knowing how much."
She hesitates a moment. "Did rider say who is killing him?"
Kazmir swallows before answering, 'He said Elvanna has rebelled against Baba Yaga and intends to throw Golarion into endless winter from pole to pole. He told me to go to 'the Hut' in order to find Baba Yaga and bring her here to defeat her daughter, the Queeen." Saying it out loud makes Kazmir realize how big of a job this was.
He wonders if Nadya will throw him off the sled into the snow and run away, or worse, turn him in to the officials.
Nadya shudders. "Is worse than rumors, then. Bad enough Elvanna rebel, but endless winter in all Golarion? Where we trade for food if she do that?"
She shakes her head. "Is mad, she is. But if she kill riders..." She trails off, as if unsure what more to say.
The druid shrugs, knowing even less then Nadya does. He will pass the rest of the trip in thoughtful silence.
The remainder of the trip passes uneventfully. After a couple of hours, the village of Waldsby comes into view. It is a humble hamlet, rather like Heldren in some ways, though... shabbier, somehow, or perhaps... darker, in spite of the bright white snow covering the ground.
Nadya sends her two companions ahead, and in the midst of the commotion of loading and unloading that soon takes place, she smuggles Kazmir and Bizzk into her home on the outskirts of the village.
Nadya smiles and laughs as two young boys come running up to her as soon as she opens the door.
Ah, mina pojkar! Det är bra att se dig väl!" She exclaims as she scoops them up in her arms.
After a couple of moments she turns to Kazmir. "These are Orm," she bounces one of the boys, "And Mjoli," she does likewise to the other. "My sons, safe.
An elderly woman speaks briefly to Nadya from across the room, and she responds. Then she turns back to Kazmir. "And that is Kashka. She looks after children while I am away. Come, get in! Is better if you not seen for now."
Kazmir sneaks into the house, Bizzk at his side. Her murmurs to to bencie tot he kids but the massive heron is simply glad to be in out of the frigid cold weather.
The druid bows to each introduced person in turn after he is inside, doing his best to see nonthreatening. 'Greetings and thank you for allowing me in your home." He pauses then adds, 'I know this is not a small thing, in this land."
Nadya nods. "I owe you life of a friend... and knowledge of truth," she states. "Is debt I cannot repay, but will try. Now, we will be needing supplies, yes? Is best I do shopping. What you thinking of needing?"
Kazmir waves a hand, "Do you have any idea what 'Hut' I am looking for and where it is? I can't have a shopping list until I plan where I am going and how long it'll take to get there." The druid says, realizing he has very little of a plan prepared.
Nadya frowns. "Stories say Baba Yaga lives in hut on chicken legs that walks where she say. Is probably hut to find. If in Whitethrone, then Elvanna have it, and she not keep it secret that she beat her mother."
Carefully Kazmir asks, "How far are we from Whitethrone? How can I travel there? Will I need a disguise?" The questions tumble out, suddenly exhausted, faced with an impossible challenge and alone in a cold, white world.
Bizzk comes over and lays his huge head on the druid, kreening softly to soothe the dwarf.
"Is several weeks' travel," Nadrya says, "Most through wilderness."
She frowns in thought. "My uncle live near there, by lake. He know more. But if soldiers from Pale Tower follow, we not get there."
A long trek through the wilds was actually good news. "Wilds mean less soldiers. This is good." Kazmir says, "As for soldiers from the Tower, I must move quickly. Do you have a map or something so I do not get lost in my trek? I can buy the paper and such for you, if you need it."
Kazmir is thinking hard now. 'I would hate to put your uncle in danger by visiting him. But it may be useful to know, in case I am desperate."
Nadya barks a bitter laugh. "Knowing uncle, is probably already in danger."
She thinks for a moment. "Maybe good if I go talk to neighbors, see to buy supplies for us. These troubles are new, start happening while I trading. Should wait to plan until after hear what happening, yes?"
Kazmir nods his head, 'Sounds good to me." It was no good to plan without solid information. It had a way of blowing up in your face.
Nadya quickly says goodbye to her children, promising to be back in an hour, then leaves. Kashka settles back down on the chair she had risen from. Orm, who looks to be about five, looks over at Kazmir and asks, "Hvers vegna ertu svo stutt, herra?"
Mjoli, meanwhile, is looking at Bizzk with a mixture of curiosity and fear.
Kazmir eyes the children, having no tongue in common. Wondering if Bizzk might be a way to break the ice he has the bird sit down and spread out a long, feathered wing. Carefully, he shows them how to brush the feathers in a way that makes Bizzk chirp in pleasure. He encourages the youngsters to do the same, wondering if they are brave enough.
Kashka speaks briefly with Orm, who looks rather disappointed by what she says. Mjoli, meanwhile, shyly approaches Bizzk, watching Kazmir's hand. At Kazmir's encouragement, he cautiously reaches out and touches Bizzk's wing, then jumps back, laughing.
After some initial uncertainty, Orm and Mjoli are soon happily playing with the long-suffering heron.
Soon enough, Nadya comes back in. She is frowning, though a bit of a smile passes over her face as she sees her children playing.
"Is not good news," She says, smile fading as she turns to Kazmir. "The soldiers, they swarm over the trails and through woods, searching everywhere. More ravens from Pale Tower fill skies, people say. Looking for Black Rider, I am thinking. You will not get out without be seen, and when news gets to Pale Tower... is bad."
She pauses, and a hardness enters her eyes. "But not bad as could be. The Pale Tower, it does not have that many soldiers, and people also say witch Nazheena is not in Tower, only apprentice. This mean one thing--The Pale Tower, it is weak now. They not expect attack. And without head, wolf is not so scary, yes? They will not follow if one to give orders is dead."
Kazmir raises an eyebrow. The Ulfen's in Irrisen were not a beaten people, despite what Kazmir expected. Still...he coughs, "That is a bold plan. Very bold. Even weakened, we are only two,w ell three counting Bizzk. Can so few strike hard enough?"
"Is better than Witches waiting at Whitethrone. Soldiers here report to Pale Tower, and Pale Tower reports to Nazheena. If Nazheena in Whitethrone, and she know you coming, you not get in alive and free. But..."
Suddenly there is a knock at the door, and a harsh voice shouting. Nadya jumps and whispers under the noise, "Soldiers! Hide!"
Kazmir bolts to hide.
Nadya calls out something to the door, and quickly motions to her pantry. She slowly makes her way to the door, giving you time to hide.
Once she's delayed as long as she can, Nadya opens the door. From your hiding-place you can just barely make out a man in armor beyond her, who gestures and speaks angrily. After a few moments of argument, he reaches out to grab Nadya...