into another ice teleporter! once again, ice encases the group, then fades away leaving them to see a completely new scene.
A translucent image of a globe hangs suspended in midair, above a summoning circle in the blue-tiled floor of this large chamber. Lines of arcane energy glow across the globe's surface, faintly humming with power as they connect multiple endpoints in a raident glow that reaches all the way to the top fo the domed ceiling.
Many tables and shelves covered in books, maps, and large scrolls line the room's curved walls, and a large ornate mirror hangs between two open windows to the west. Twin ice sculptures of demonic fiends flank a bubbling cauldron in an archway leading into a deep alcove in the southern wall.
standing in the southern section of the room watching you closely is... a goat.
"Woah...do you think this could be the source of the portal?" Porablum asked as she stared at the hanging globe. She almost missed the goat completely, so focused on the globe was she, but upon seeing the goat, she started and said, "Oh, hello, Mr. Goat. How are you? Does anyone have any animal feed for the goat? With all this ice and snow, he probably doesn't get a lot of grass."
The magus gazes at the globe in astonishment after being pointed by Porablum.
"If that is the source, there surely should be some controller for it, it's placement is good for the visuals but it's not particularly easy to access. Wait, what goat?"
His eye falls on the animal and looked at it completely dumbstruck. "There shouldn't be any animals here. Stay away from it, it could be the witch's familiar or something more sinister."
you hear a crisp clapping sound from the far alcove. a tall, proud man with a sharply pointed beard steps out from behind the cauldron.
"you are a perceptive one indeed. it is wise to be careful of animals in the land of the witches. you never know which ones might be listening!
so! you finally made your way up here. really, you got further than i was expecting for such an... eclectic group. but you are interrupting vital work that I am performing for the Queen of this land, and it really is time for you to leave.
he holds up a wand made of ice and points it at you
he taps his wand against the side of the cauldron which flashes with light, completing a spell. 6 small ice creatures appear around the room! the man moves to the side of the room, behind his newly formed army
The whole party may act!
Easlis looks at the goat and then to the witch's apprentice back and forth. "It can't be, they're likeness is astonishing. You're not related are you?. Well glad that you seem reasonable by giving us a chance to turn back, alas, we're not. Do you know how much of a pain was our climb here?" After releasing an arrow, aiming for the presumed familiar, he yells: "We're going to have goat on our plate tonight"!
Porablum begins yelling at the man,
"Why would you make a goat your familiar? Goats need grazing and grass and stuff to eat, and you don't have any here in your ice land! That is so cruel to the goat! You are such a mean meanypants I ought to smack you right in them! Hjorleaf, Easlis, Brom, kick his meany butt!"
She then casts a spell to aid her allies.
She then pulls out her mace.
sorry Easlis, forgot to add in info about the globe
the globe appears to be an accurate representation of Golarion, with lines mapped into it that you recognize to be ley lines. points are mapped out that don't have any sort of legend that you can see, but are apparently some sort of locations of interest.
while the map itself is seemingly accurate, your magical senses can tell this is more than just a map, but is likely a focus for whatever ritual is using the circle drawn in the ice floor below the globe
The rogue pulls out his potion of invisibility and downs it. Before the party's eyes, he disappears. He then quietly makes his way towards the human, avoiding contact with the icy demons.
Little Nisse, Grim...take the ice creatures out. This may hurt...
Having grown up in the north and knowing full well what a witch is capable of and what a familiar means...the large man moves to engage the witch.
This ends now. I am tired of this b#*@%~#!.
As he advance his form changes and shifts to that of the black rider.
brominate goes invisible, Easlis misses the goat, and Porablum aids her allies.
Hjorleaf doesn't hesitate to prepare, he knows where the real threat lies. he wades through the witch's allies, ignoring them as they strike at him.
when he gets to the witch his transformation is complete and the Black Rider stands in the room, highlighted by the glow coming from the mystic orb above. "no, you... here? this can't be! he tries to back up but can't get away as Hjorleaf's massive axe falls, lopping the man's head clean off. the body falls, and the goat screams.
Grim fires two arrows at the nearest ice elemental, and the creature shatters
the three closest remaining elementals move to attack Hjorleaf, but in his black rider form he feels almost invincible, attacks failing on every side
the others converge on Grim
Grim takes a hard hit but is still standing.
The whole party may act
Global Condition: None |
Global Condition:
Grimgisli HP: 18/28 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Porablum HP: 21/24 - AC: 17/13/15 Status:
Easlis: HP: 23/23 - AC: 16/11/15 Status:
Brominate HP: 26/26 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
Hjorleaf HP: 18/31 - AC: 15/11/14 Status:NPCS:
Witch HP -51 | AC??? | dead
Yellow elemental HP -13 | AC 16 |dead
"Hey look, I've almost killed the goat. Where did the witch go?" Easlis asked completely unphased by the appearance of the Black Rider. Taking another step to the side half-elf goes aims the bow first at elemental threatening Grim then at the one most dangerous to Hjorleaf and Brom and lets loose an arrow.
[spoiler=Celestial]
"Take that, you meany ice witch! That's what happens when you're a big meany doo-doo pants!"
[spoiler]
Porablum swung her mace at one of the elementals that was next to her and Grim.
Brominate was about to use the witch as a pincushion when Hjorleaf ran up and separated the witch's head from his body in one swing. He swiftly jumped back so the blood splatter wouldn't give away his position. Okay, then. I guess I'll attack one of these things...
Hjorleaf smiles as the witch falls. He turns looking from his wounds on his body to those creatures that are around him.
...next...
He brings his ax up high and brings it down with a load roar.
Easlis dents the ice of one of the monsters, while Brominate and Hjorleaf destroy two more. Proablum is unable to hit, and the little alcove is getting crowded!
Grim steps back, back against the wall and fires twice at the closest elemental, chipping ice away but not killing it
the three remaining creatures attack once again
the goat continues yelling in a shrill voice, trying to gore Hjorleaf to avenge its master
the whole party may act
Global Condition: None |
Global Condition:
Grimgisli HP: 18/28 - AC: 16/14/12 Status:
Porablum HP: 18/24 - AC: 17/13/15 Status:
Easlis: HP: 23/23 - AC: 16/11/15 Status:
Brominate HP: 26/26 - AC: 17/14/13 Status:
Hjorleaf HP: 17/31 - AC: 15/11/14 Status:NPCS:
Witch HP -51 | AC??? | dead
Yellow elemental HP -13 | AC 16 |dead
black elemental HP -9 | AC 16 |
blue elemental HP -8 | AC 16 |
Porablum yells at the elemental,
"Hey! Your master's gone! Should you go home? I'll send you home! Come here!"
The little gnome swings her mace at the elemental again.
Feeling the head butt from the goat brings Hjorleaf around and to see the familiar.
...the smart choice would have been to flee...
The large ax comes down across the back of the goat.
...You chose poorly...
Unsatisfied with the outcome of his first attack Easlis moves away from the reach of the elementals and tries to attack again the enemy he wounded earlier.
"Don't worry black rider, I'll save you!"
Hjorleaf and Easlis finish off their targets easily.
Brominate moves over to help Porablum and Grim who have been backed into a corner
Porablum tries to hit the ice creature with her mace but is not able to chip through its hard exterior. however, it was just enough distraction for Brominate to hit a vital spot in its back and finish it off.
with only one elemental left, the party converges and smashes the thing into ice chips.
End of Combat!
the room falls silent as the last ice monster falls. the elementals quickly fade into nothingness, leaving the bodies of the witch and his familiar lying on the ground, blood pooling on the otherwise clear and pristine ice.
you feel that all of the work you have done so far has led you to this moment. a major victory makes you feel ready to take on anything in this strange land.
Porablum walks over to the body of the witch and kicks him. "That's for forcing a goat to live in this frozen wasteland, you jerkface."
Turning to the floating globe, she asks, "So, how do we turn off the portal?"
After almost falling from stepping on one of the broken shards from a slain elemental Easlis tries to regain his balance quickly and looks at the mess around them. "I guess it can get really lonely here... But enough talk about the goat, we can eat it later, let's see what we can do about this wonderous device."
With his eyes gleaming the magus approaches the globe and draws a sketch marking the location of the points of interests.
"As much as I hate to admit I don't possess knowledge on recalibrating teleportation devices. The good part is that, due to our unfortunate circumstances, we won't have the necessary time nor should we do a clean job such that it can be easily reassembled. A shame really, such a marvellous device, channelling raw magic over such long distances through the summoning circle."
Easlis sighs and points to different spots on the map. "I doubt that this is the only focal point. Once we disable it, its malfunction will be discovered quickly, we should do it last."
Looking around quickly for more enemies, Hjorleaf relaxes slightly after the battles is concluded.
Blood dripping down his body from his many wounds, the large man walks slowly to the headless body that was the witch. He looks down at the corpse and spits at it.
...for a witch I expected better...
He wipes clean his axe on the body and walks away.
Taking a deep breath he lowers his bow and puts the arrow back in its quiver. He walks over to the remains of the elementals and moves the chips around with his feet studying what is left of the creatures.
He turns to Easlis as he ponders what the brave magus told them. "How long to you think we have once it is disabled before they notice it?"
He takes a look around the area to see if there is anything he notices about it.
"He was just the apprentice. I guess he did not have the chance to learn too much. I doubt things would have gone this smooth if the true master of the tower was around."
Kneeling next to the headless remains he starts searching for anything of interest avoiding touching the blood as much as possible.
"Oh, they'll notice, no need to have high hopes about that. First the ones next to the portals. Then the others will be notified, though the mirrors, ravens or devices like this. The question is how fast their response will get here and what would be our next move."
He looks first at Porablum and next to Hjorleaf: "I know that the departed rider has suggested Whitethrone, but nothing good will come of us meddling in Irissen politics."
Porablum looks at Easlis, looks at the floor, looks at the others, looks at the floor again, and then says, "Well, um, we kind of have to go to Whitethrone. This isn't the only portal, right? There's other portals in other places, and probably other witches guarding and maintaining them. Illarion said that Elvanna is trying to blanket the entire world in winter. There's a lot of places that winter never comes to, with animals who have never known cold and snow and stuff. Plus there's lots of plants and things that require warm weather to grow. We can't let Elvanna get away with her plan, but we probably aren't strong enough to stop her. We need someone stronger, and that person might be Baba Yaga. Illarion said we should go to Whitethrone so we could steal Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut from her and go to this Artrosia place to maybe meet with the other two Riders or Baba Yaga herself so we can stop Elvanna from turning the entire world to winter. We don't need to do anything involving politics. You guys did say you would help me stop winter from coming to all of Golarion.
"He also said we need to disrupt the focus of the spell to close the portal. Is the focus? Could we disrupt it by breaking it?
the group surveys the room after the fight is over. there is a lot to look at in this place. from this room there are 3 more doors leading to the sides of the room. around this room is a trove of books, scrolls and aclhemical items
two flasks of acid, three flasks of alchemist’s fire, two pinches of flash powder, three flasks of liquid ice, three smokesticks (each a different color), a sunrod, two tanglefoot bags, three thunderstones, 15 tindertwigs in a silver canister (worth 50 gp), and three applications of cold iron weapon blanch
the Cauldron in the alcove is also portable and is radiating magic
Radosek of course has some interesting items on him, some of which register as magical
a wand made of an icicle,
2 potions,
1 scroll,
magical amulet,
magical cloak,
magical ring,
spell component pouch
The room contains lots of notes and books related to the ritual that is ongoing in the room. it would take a lot of time to go through it all, but you are starting to piece together what is going on here
you can identify this location as well as Heldren. they are connected by a ley line that is shining brighter then all of the others on this globe
you understand the workings of the magic being used here and think you have figured out a way to shut it down without causing a massive reaction that could destroy the tower and everyone in it. at least you think you have it.
someone needs to cast a conjuration spell within the globe, while making a concentration check to disrupt the magic. alternatively, you think you could mess with the summoning circle, very carefully altering it to make it inert, using a UMD check
Grim stares at the globe for a bit trying to figure out what their course of action is and if there are any details he or his companions overlooked.
He stands away from the globe and comfortably outside of the magic cirlce but seems to run his hand just over a globe as if it is right before him...looking at the path from point to point and carefully studying the globe. He seems to be deep in thought for a moment as he moves his eyes from point to point of the one line that is glowing brighter than the others.
"Easlis, this line...it glows brighter like some waypath or line could this be connected to the teleporter you speak of?
He frowns as he thinks upon Porablum's words. "I am not of the mind to go to Whitethrone and poke a sleeping bear. But I am not sure we have a choice now. Porablum your words are wise and sound but no matter what we do we are caught in this hornets nest now so no matter how much we want to stay out of it my guess is if we run we will still be hunted down for what we have done here. I would rather bring the fight to them then wait for a time of their choosing. And as you say we will need allies... I am not sure I want Baba Yaga or any of her servants as my ally but it appears this is the fate that is before us."
Easlis continues rummaging unabated through the witches belonging as Porablum spoke until she got to the stealing part when the magus lifted his eyes, a look of horror visible on his face. "You're not actually planning to go along with that madness? Just because we have the mantle of the rider and decapitated a witch's apprentice doesn't mean we should rouse the queen's anger. Baba Yaga is not the kind of person one wants to have dealings with. We all want to stop the winter from spreading, but putting us between these two powerful forces will only end with our swift demise. We should close whatever portals we can and stall for time until a more capable group is able to restore the balance."
Easlis takes some of the magical items to inspect them closer to the fire.
"If the waypath starts from this tower it could very well be the teleporter." Easlis responds, more focused on the way the magical items react to the flame.
Porablum stares at Easlis for a moment, then yells at him, ”Wait for a more capable group? Like who? Who out there is capable enough to take on Queen Elvanna and Irrisen? Who knows what’s happening and is actually in a position to do something about it? Who is out there to do this? How long do you think the world has before it’s completely covered in snow? There is no one else who can do this! No one who knows what has to be done! No one who is capable of doing this! We can’t go around, trying to find other portals and close them! They aren’t all going to be guarded by the witch’s apprentice! If this globe shows the location of the other portals, than we have to assume that they all have a focus like this, and as soon as we close the portal, they’ll know at every other portal. They’ll increase the number of guards, and next time we’ll face a full witch - or multiple witches! We only have two options - we can either go to Whitethrone, get the hut, and find Baba Yaga; or we can bury our heads in the snow like cowards.
“Well, I’m not burying my head in the snow, and I’m not a coward! There is no one else in a position to act! I’m going to go to Whitethrone and I’m gonna find the hut and find Baba Yaga and stop Elvanna from plunging the world into eternal winter! And I’ll do it by myself if I have to!”
Turning on her heel, Porablum walks over to the books and says, ”Now, I’m gonna see if there’s any information about how to close the portal in here.”
Hjorleaf looks from Porablum to Grimgisli.
We go to Whitethrone....
He turns to Brom
You are welcomed to join us if you like.
He shakes his head at Easlis in disgust.
If this is too hard for you to handle...just go home then.
Easlis sighs and starts looking through the books as well. "If you find anything on portals, the hut or... witches names let me know. " After skimming though a couple he adds "Look, we made great progress getting all the way up here but retrieving the hut is going to be much more dangerous. They're looking for the black rider.."
Easlis stops for a moment to check what Hjorleaf was doing. ... they expect that one of Baba Yaga's agents will attempt to seize the hut. And even if we succeed there's no telling how the great witch will react, she might find the opening of the portals a step in the right direction."
The magus forces a smile:
"Yet after all we've been through, it would be a shame if I don't get too see how these two northerners will have their ass handed to them by a scrawny witch."
"Yet after all we've been through, it would be a shame if I don't get too see how these two northerners will have their ass handed to them by a scrawny witch."
Without missing a beat...the look of disdain is there for all to see.
...since you do nothing but hide while everyone else is fighting, you should have a great view of it and be ready to flee with your dress tucked into your s$@% stained undergarments....oh and if you think degrading a witch by her looks impresses anyone...you know nothing of the north. Actions determine the worth of an individual, not size. Seeing that you lack the testicular fortitude to fight even a Winter Vole...speaks volumes.The large man turns his back on the elf and walks away.
"Would you two stop it! Just shut up. You can't always have the last word! Like it or not, we need both of you. Plum, cool your haunches too, for just a sec. We were tasked by the governing council of Heldren to close the portal into their land. Obviously, the situation is much more dire than any of us could have dreamt. Is there any way we could get word back to Lady Argantea?" He sighs. "I miss Zeke."
He heads towards the north door.
"If the raven lady was still alive we could have had a way, a way to warn each of the lands with portals of the dangers to come. I doubt Heldren has more resources now to help us. We need to close the portal behind us and find a new way to return if we're still alive when all of this over. The half-elf lowers his head somewhat ashamed. "Sorry for the outburst. I miss Zeke and Dusty as well."
Easlis manages to identify all of the magicla items, but is unable to figure out the secrets of the ritual at the same time.
you find:
2 potions of cure moderate wounds
1 scroll of animate object
1 amulet of natural armor +1
1 cloak of resistance +1
an icicle wand with 24 charges
a Cauldron fo Overwhelming Allies
Brominate checks the door and finds it unlocked and hears no sounds at all coming from the other side. he opens the door, finding a small bedroom. it contains a bed, desk, chair, storage chest and several paintings of winter scenery adorning the walls.
Porablum begins looking through the books and documents for clues about the ritual. it appears that this ritual is certainly what is holding the portal open, but you had surmised that already. surely something in these books could help you figure out how to stop it?
Brominate offers the cloak to Porablum or Easlis, if they don't want it, he'll take it.
He examines and attempts to open the storage chest, then examines the paintings.
After explaining the proprieties of each of the item the magus continues the research through the note apparently not interested in any of the items.
Grim walks to the southwest door and puts his head near it and listens for a few moments. "We all miss Zeke but right now we need to focus on what is ahead of us. Easlis the best thing you can do is find a way to turn that off." He poinst to the portal.
He checks the door handle to see if the door is locked, if not, he turns the handle and pushes the door forward enough so that he can nock an arrow and push the door open with his foot and step into the doorway with his bow up. He then scans the room from left corner to right corner looking for any threats.
He will lift is hand and wave it to alert his companions and then point to his ear and then the door. Then he will step back and knock an arrow and wait for his friends.
Porablum continued researching the books to close down the portal.
Grim opens the southern door after checking for traps and listening for sounds and finding nothing. the door opens to a small bedroom that is unoccupied. there is a small bed and several shelves. the shelves have a number of porcelain dolls, several of them smashed beyond repair. there is a small girl's outfit laid out on the bed.
Brominate opens the small chest in the first bedroom, finding a collection of more art pieces. these ones show much more variety fo color, showing scenes from lush forests, open meadows and colorful trees in autumn.
Grim steps through the threshold with his bow at the ready and scan from left to right looking once more for any danger. As he does he drops to one knee and checks underneath the bed looking for movement or anything out of the norm. If nothing is under the bed he rises andH listens for any movement in the room as well and then moves to the bed and inspects the clothing and then the broken dolls.
Hjorleaf moves to cover Grim.
Brom pops his head in to where Grim is, looks around and says, "This must be where they kept her; Nadya's daughter. We'll have to let her know what we've known all along: her daughter is dead."
Porablum walks into the room, looks at the broken dolls, then says, "Wait. Do the witches kill little girls then bind their souls to dolls?"
Grim looks around to his fellow companions and back to the bed. "If that is so I would think the young girl's clothes being out on the bed as if ready to be worn says she is alive...not dead."
He looks at the clothing to see if they have been worn and just left on the bed or if they or clean and waiting to be worn...crisp edges and such.
He turns to Porablum..."If that is the case maybe Easlis can offer some advice on what we have here." He shudders at the thought of a little girl being transformed into a foul doll...servant of the witches...
the clothing does appear to have been worn heavily, it is not very clean. the dolls do indeed look very much like the gaurdian doll, all dressed like children but with the faces of old women. they all have one mirrored eye, but none of them have the gemstone eye that the doll you previously encountered had
Grim turns to his friends..."I take back what I said...these clothes are worn...well worn which means whoever was in them appears to no longer need them. These dolls are like the one we encountered but they missing the gemstone eye... I fear this is the outcome of some sort of fell magic." He frowns as he points to the clothes and the dolls shaking his head. "Best to let Easlis inspect the room along with you Porablum."