Pyrrhus holds his hands in his back, making no motion to pick a ruby as well, even if he smiles as if being offered something very pleasant.
Thorizmond:
DC 19
Thorzimond:
Dexterity drain reduced to 1
Crasius:
Ingrit:
Pemta:
Pyrrhus:
Rurik:
Thorizmond:
NPC/Enemies
1
2
The robed stranger drops the bag of rubies, saying, "Refusing my master's generosity is an insult for which you must pay!"
From his hood, his head emerges. It has horns over its brows and sharp teeth with strange tenacles extending through gaps. His hands have sharp claws. He attacks the centaur, attempting to bite him and claw him. The teeth sink into Thorizmond's flank and the tentacles cause a numbing sensation that makes movement a little difficult.
One of the clawed hands rips deep into his gut area.
Round 1
Pyrrhus
Crasius
Servant
Master in the mist
Pemta
Thorizmond
Rurik
Ingrit
Ingrit:
Ingrit got another chance to resist the Dominate Person effect but fails. She does what she can to keep her allies from attacking the entity in the mist and does not attack the servant.
Crasius:
Rurik:
Ingrit and Rurik recognize the creature attacking Thorizmond. Both can read the general information. Ingrit can read one additional spoiler. Rurik can read 2.
Shrouded in tattered leather robes, this strange humanoid looks more alien and horrific the more one studies its twitching visage.
CE Medium outsider (chaotic, evil, extraplanar)
These eerie denizens travel the universe from their strange homeland of Leng, walking uncontested only when they disguise themselves as humans by wearing loose-fitting robes and wrappings about the head and face. Under these disguises, they have horned brows, clawed fingers, mouths full of tentacles, and crooked goatish legs with cloven hooves.
Many scholars have argued over where the otherworldly realm of Leng lies—some believe it can be found among the Outer Planes, while others are convinced it can only be reached via a dimension of dreams. The denizens of Leng can travel to other planes freely, and often do so in strange, black ships, constantly seeking new breeds of slaves or trading rubies for unusual services or magical treasures. At other times, their visits are much more violent, focusing on abducting victims for use as slaves or worse. On Leng, these denizens have long fought a war against that realm’s monstrous spiders, a war that sometimes spills over into other worlds.
A denizen of Leng weighs 200 pounds and stands roughly 5-1/2 feet tall.
3/day—detect thoughts, hypnotic pattern, levitate, minor image
1/day—locate object, plane shift (self only)
Unusual Anatomy (Ex) A denizen’s internal anatomy varies from individual to individual, and has a 50% chance to treat any critical hit or sneak attack against it as a normal hit.
"Strange tentacles strike as rubies fall..." Crasius begins to intone as he steps further back.
"Oh..." Pyrrhus exclaims, his hands coming from behind his back and already working on a spell. ""Qalb muhtariqun, wasureat mushtaeila!""
A now familiar sensation of warmth in their hearts spreads as Pyrrhus strides into the room. "Otrri, you know how to bozerr zem, uhn?" The xiao nods, drawing a wand and wielding is as a greatsword!
Pyrrhus:
Ingrit guides Wapiti to move forward, not attacking, but moving to a spot directly in front of the creature in the mist. Though her hand grips her bow tightly, the string is not drawn, her eyes quickly scanning everything and everyone in the room, assessing the situation.
Servant
Master
The servant continues his frenzied attack on Thorizmond. His bite misses but his claws hit, although they are relatively small and don't dig very deep.
The glowing light winks out. Near the edge of the mist, near the ceiling, a large creature seemingly walks five feet and reaches out with claws and tentacles to attack Thorizmond as well. It is a pale, froglike creature with clawed hands, no eyes, a wide mouth, and a snout ending with pink tentacles.
One of the claws rakes crimson cuts across the centaur's body, but he is able to keep the other clawed hand and all four of the tentacles from affecting him.
Pemta
Thorizmond
Rurik
Ingrit
Crasius:
No one recognizes the monster from the mist.
Rurik says, "Now that is about what I was expecting."
He casts a magic circle against evil to help edge the party's defenses.
Ingrit:
As Rurik's protective spell washes over them all, Ingrit goes through a full-body shudder, as if just splashed with icy water. Shaking her hed, she turns to look at both of the creatures attacking Thorizmond, her eyes narrowing as she raises her bow, Wapiti taking a single step back and attacking the Denizen of Leng, while she unleashes a volley of attacks at the creature in the mist.
”Filthy mind controlling bastards!! Pyrrhus! Now would be a good time for some fire!”
Once things get dire, Pemta will run around and go for an attack with her longsword, focusing her attention on the creature.
Shuffling sideways to flank the servant with Ingrit and Wapiti, Thorizmond calls out to his fellows "Attack together, we can confuse it!" and draws his scimitar, setting about doing just that.
Crit Confirm?
”Filthy mind controlling bastards!! Pyrrhus! Now would be a good time for some fire!”
"Just wish forr it!" He replies.
"I wish there was an ongoing source of fire near me!!" Ingrit shouts.
Once the threat is revealed, spells are slung making everyone fight faster and better, with rousing verse to further inspire eveyone's courage. Attacks on the creature in the mist are mostly frustrated by the strange anatomy of the monster obscured by mist. One of Ingrit's arrows penetrates the enemy.
Wapiti and Thorzimond flank the servant and inflict major hurt.
** spoiler omitted **
Once the threat is revealed, spells are slung making everyone fight faster and better, with rousing verse to further inspire eveyone's courage. Attacks on the creature in the mist are mostly frustrated by the strange anatomy of the monster obscured by mist. One of Ingrit's arrows penetrates the enemy.
Wapiti and Thorzimond flank the servant and inflict major hurt.
Servant
Pemta AC 24
Pemta AC 24
Master
Wapiti AC 29
Pemta AC 24
Thorizmond AC 22
Wapiti AC 29
Thorizmond AC 22
Wapiti AC 29
Pemta slashes the servant with her longsword, putting him very close to death's door.
The servant's wounds heal a little, indicating it has some form of innate regeneration, but it is very little compared to the vicious wounds already received.
It calls out, "Master! Save me!" He attacks Pemta with his bite and claws, but only scratches her a bit.
Whether the master was trying to save his servant or just himself, he reached out from the haze and tried to claw his enemies and grab them with his tentacles. The claws missed Wapiti and Pemta, while one of its tentacles lashed into Wapiti and another into Thorizmond.
Crasius (IC, Haste)
Pyrrhus (IC, Haste)
Rurik (IC, Haste, MCAE 10 ft radius)
Ingrit (IC, Haste)
Wapiti (8 lethal, IC, Haste)
Pemta (6 lethalIC, Haste)
Thorzimond (24 lethal, -1 Dex, IC, Haste)
Round 3
Servant (80 lethal)
Master (21 lethal, 15 feet above the floor, concealment 20% miss chance)
Pyrrhus zips past Rurik, putting himself in the thick of it, which is usually a bad move. However, sometimes it is worth to take some risks. "Grranted!" He exclaims to Ingrit, and after a couple gestures he takes a huge breath... before breathing out a blast of fire to envelop both enemies!
Pemta narrows her focus onto the servant, and goes all out with the attack, swinging her swords in a dancing grace.
Crasius continues his chant, "...tentacles meant to ensnare and hold the mind..."
Thorizmond continues his flurry of rapid attacks, trying to take the servant down so that they can deal with the master.
2
3
Pyrrhus:
DC 22
Servant:
Master:
Crasius' first arrow slays the servant and he drops to the ground. Directing his other shots at the master, they either miss due to the obscuring fog or fail to penetrate the creature's skin.
Pyrrhus breaths fire on the two. He senses the master has spell resistance, but he overcomes it. The creature avoids some of the damage by covering vital spots, but still is burned. In addition, the mist remains unaffected by the heat, which is odd.
Rurik (IC, Haste, MCAE 10 ft radius)
Ingrit (IC, Haste)
Wapiti (IC, Haste)
Pemta (IC, Haste)
Thorzimond (15 lethal, -1 Dex, IC, Haste)
Round 3
servant (130 lethal, unconscious, fast healing 5)
master (36 lethal)
Crasius (IC, Haste)
Pyrrhus (IC, Haste)
A hint of a smile crosses Ingrit's lips, as Pyrrhus breathes a gout of flames. "Thank you!"
In a blur of movement, she repeatedly draws her bowstring, releasing a series of rock-hard arrows formed of solidified ash that sail unerringly through the fog, at their target.
Unable to reach the monster above them, Wapiti waits, ready to attack should the enemy fall.
Ingrit's flaming arrows take the strange creature near death.
Dropping his scimitar and shield as the servant falls, Thorizmond draws his longbow and looses an arrow.
Thorizmond:
Crasius:
Ingrit:
Pemta:
Pyrrhus:
Rurik:
Thorizmond:
Thorizmond aims his arrow carefully and hits one more vital organ in the strange creature in the mist. It drifts to the ground as the mist fades. The strange creature defies identification. His only possession is a small black glass ball 3 to 4 inches in diameter, which detects as magical.
Rurik and Ingrit recognize the other creature as a Denizen of Leng. His pouch of rubies contains 15 gems plus a larger ruby. A small, moving
humanoid figure is visible inside the large ruby, as if it were
trapped inside the gem, which detects as magical.
A search of the storehouse turns up no more valuable items, but you do notice rungs of a ladder set into the bricks of the chimney in the north room, with a trap door at the top. No lock prevents it from being opened and no traps are detected.
East: A wide variety of plants, from mundane shrubs to aromatic herbs to colorful exotic flowers, grow in unkempt profusion in this garden. Glass greenhouses and fenced enclosures hold more greenery, and a grove of larger trees flanks the garden. A small wooden shed sits to the southwest. While most of the plant life here is harmless, a few of the larger enclosures hold specimens of more dangerous plant creatures: a basidirond, an assassin vine, and a shambling mound. These creatures attack anyone entering their enclosures. Several pounds of valuable spices in the garden, including allspice, nutmeg, saffron, and various rare herbs are ready to be harvested and are worth 450 gp in total. In addition to mundane gardening tools, the garden shed contains a cupboard holding a container of defoliant polish (Ultimate Equipment 291), four oils of goodberry, a wand of plant growth (9 charges), a wand of speak with plants (12 charges), and six flasks of alchemical defoliant (Ultimate Equipment 103).
Southeast: A tangled mass of overflowing weeds and thorny brambles grows in profusion here. A scattering of bleached bones lies entwined in the barbed tendrils of the wiry thicket. A giant flytrap lurks in the thicket, lying in wait to ambush anything that can provide it with sustenance.
South: Several flat-topped tree stumps stand amid thick grass in this clearing, hinting that this place was once as thickly forested as the surrounding wood. One of the stumps is actually a Wolf-in-Sheep's-Clothing with a lure of an old domestic cat sitting on it. The cat, while part of the WISC, turns out to be an intelligent former familiar of a former queen of Irrisen and daughter of Baba Yaga. It shares a few things it knows about the hut before combat with the WISC (nothing vital). Killing the monster also kills the cat, but the cat can be brought back to life, either with raise dead (thanks to the cat’s daily castings of gentle repose), reincarnate, or similar spells. In this case, Syvet (as the cat is named) can accompany the PCs and continue to share information with them, effectively becoming a recurring NPC (and provide companionship for Fisk).
The Cabin: The shelves contain a variety of spell components and mundane alchemical ingredients, in addition to numerous trinkets that normally function as keys to dimensionally transport the hut. All of these keys, however, have been deactivated, with the exception of the keys the PCs have already acquired and used (such as the frost giant’s beard, plague doctor’s mask, dragon scale, and gold nugget), which may be found on the shelves as well.
When a character bearing the mantle of the Black Rider first enters this room, three ravens suddenly take to the air, cawing loudly as they fly about the room. The ravens are only quasi-real, the product of a shadow conjuration spell mimicking the summon minor monster spell (Ultimate Magic). Reminiscent of the three raven oracles encountered in the hut’s Iobaria layout, the ravens cry out, “Baba Yaga has gone on, off to see her only son. But a trail she left behind, if the breadcrumbs you can find!” before picking up several objects off the shelves and dropping them in front of the PCs. First, they take a stuffed two-headed eagle from a shelf, then place an iron spur and a drinking horn beside it. Next, they take an elephant tusk and a small hand mirror and drop them atop a bearskin rug. The ravens then disappear, repeating their cryptic phrase a final time.
While most of the items in this room are nonmagical, 4 doses of flying ointment (Ultimate Equipment 299) can be found on the shelves, and a habit of the winter explorer hangs on a hook next to the outer door.
PRICE 13,380 GP
SLOT body
CL 3rd
WEIGHT 7 lbs.
AURA faint abjuration and transmutation
This warm outfit consists of a woolen coat and pants, boots, gloves, and a heavy fur cloak with a leather hood. The habit of the winter explorer provides a constant endure elements effect in cold weather (it has no effect in warm weather), and the wearer gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against magic cold effects and spells with the cold descript or.
When the hood of the habit is drawn up around the head, the wearer’s eyes turn a piercing sky blue color. The wearer becomes immune to
snow blindness and gains the ability to see through natural or magical fog, sleet, snow, and other similar weather conditions with a range of 60 feet.
The habit of the winter explorer also grants its wearer a +4 competence bonus on Stealth checks made in cold weather (temperatures below 40° F). In addition, once per day in cold weather, the wearer may turn invisible for 3 rounds as the vanish spell (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide 253). All pieces of the habit of the winter explorer must be worn for the item to function.
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS COST 6,690 GP
Craft Wondrous Item, darkvision, endure elements, resist energy, vanish APG
"Both of zese arre sinisterr." He says, handling both the sphere and the gem. "Zerre is magic in ze gem, but I believe it not magic item. Don't know what it is, but ze trrapped perrson inside disturrbs me."
"Zis spherre I know what it is... Eye of ze Void it is called. Upon command it will open and strrike fearr in hearrt of men." He watches the others reactions upon this revelation. He was new to the group so was unsure if they'd be comfortable with the use of such thing.
"A trapped person, you say? Is there any way of discerning who it is?"
"Hrm. Otherworldly creatures, entities from beyond the void. Probably the results of various summoning spells," the cleric idly muses. "The ravens' message about breadcrumbs... what heraldry has a two-headed eagle on it?"
"We should free whoever is in the gem." Crasius says with a look of concern, and then continues, "But I am not sure how. Perhaps we can try and dispel the magic?"
"We can cerrtainly trry... but zerre is chance of who is trrabbed to be evil and wish us harrm." He looks to the others, before readying himself.
"Perhaps they will be violently evil, but if that is the case it is better that we deal with them then someone who is not prepared to face such a threat." Crasius says as he knocks an arrow.
"That may not be the best idea. There is no guarantee that whatever is trapped in that gem isn't more dangerous that whatever put it in there..and we lack the magic to put it back." Ingrit says, looking at the large ruby doubtfully. ”If the orb can create fear…well it may yet be useful, and might even avoid bloodshed at some point.”
"Is it not possible to identify the person, or at least gain some general understanding of their capabilities, before freeing them?"
"No idea, magic is far from my specialty." Ingrit replies.
Crasius:
Pyrrhus:
Rurik:
Crasius is able to dispel the magic effect, which releases the soul trapped in the gem. There is a flash and a bit of smoke in which there suddenly appears a ten foot tall, 500 pound humanoid with blue skin clad in loose, flowing robes. Its alien face has too many eyes and its hand have too few fingers.
He looks around cautiously, but when no one attacks him or casts any spells at him, he relaxes and speaks a sentence no one understands. Then he says another sentence in another language. Eventually he says something draconic, which Pyrrhus understands, and after a few words back and forth, the stranger begins talking in common.
"A thousand blessing upon your houses and all your descendants! Thank you for freeing me. I am Zilvazaraat, a peddler of wondrous wares from across the Great Beyond. I am a Mercane. Perhaps you have heard of my people?"
Indeed, Crasius, Pyrrhus, and Rurik have heard of the Mercane.
He concentrates and on the table next to him appears a well crafted, expensive looking chest. He opens the chest saying, "May I interest you in purchasing some of my magical wares?"
He opens the chest and begins pulling out various items, which he describes and sets on the table for your examination.
wand of see invisibility (38 charges) (3,420 gp).
Crasius:
Ingrit:
Pemta:
Pyrrhus:
Zilvazaraat examines the magic items offered to him for purchase, discusses a fair price and takes leave of the Dancing Hut with a promise to return in a day with payment.
With a day to rest, attention turns to what is outside the hut. It is in a region where the ground is covered with snow and in a mountainous area. As this landscape is observed, however, it quickly becomes clear that this is not Golarion. The sun is bright but tiny, illuminating the area with only dim light until a few hours before noon and after, when the light is not as bright as on Golarion. At night, no moon can be seen, although the constellations look normal to a casual glance.
Zilvazaraat returns as promised with payment in the agreed upon form. He gives everyone an opportunity to purchases his wares. Whether or not anyone purchases anything, he gives the group a small sculpture of a raven made out of polished obsidian. It is magical and Zilvazaraat explains that its magic allows the possessor to send him a message.
"Activate the raven," and he demonstrates how that is done, at which point the stone turns into an actual normal sized raven. "Tell the raven whatever you want me to get and then dispatch him to find me. This he will do and I will locate the item and use the raven's magic to return to wherever the sender of the message is. We can then agree on a price and you may purchase it."
Once everyone is ready, it becomes time for the group to act on the message from the ravens, given when they first reached the outer room, “Baba Yaga has gone on, off to see her only son. But a trail she left behind, if the breadcrumbs you can find!”
The clues provided, a two-headed eagle and the juxtaposition of a spur and a drinking horn, will have to solved to find the keys that will take the hut to the place Baba Yaga wants those with the mantle of the riders to go.
After hiking uphill to a place with a good perspective on the surrounding country, the view reveals rugged snow-covered mountains in all directions. Nothing can be seen to indicate any civilization, communities, fortresses, or even a road or smoke from a campfire.
Soon however, someone spots a flying creature approaching. The hilltop is barren and no hiding places are available to get away from view and, in any case, the creature flies fast enough to pass over the group at an altitude of 50 feet before any significant movement could take them out of sight. This reveals the creature to be two, something that looks like a dragon as large as a horse or other riding mount, with a humanoid in armor sitting on a saddle over the flyers wings and shoulders.
The rider is in plate armor, which makes it hard to see its features, although it appears to be female at least. She has a lance, bow and arrows, and a spear. Her armor has a crimson cape, and the helmet has an ornament like a horse tail in similarly bright red. An odd thing, the dragon-like creature has a large sized glaive attached where its front limbs could draw it and perhaps wield it. It has red scales.