As Lucien turns the corner, he spies the little girl once again. "I have to get away! And you should too, before they see you! Run!" She sprints the opposite direction, out of sight once more.
As Talon moves after the girl, dozens of sorrowful images and the faces of the frozen dead fill the transparent ice boulders surrounding him. The images and faces frighten Talon, but not enough so that he panics, instead the brave rogue is merely shaken for 1 round.
After the haunt fires, the little girl disappears, not seen again. Your eyes then turn to the structure at the top of the little rise. The hut stands there on four legs, each one a single tree trunk whose gnarled roots resemble toes of a giant chicken. The hut is constructed of heavy logs with a patchwork roof of shaved bark shingles. Inside, the hut's open doorway, a small figure sits on a carved wooden chair, staring across the clearing at the trail on the other side.
Carefully moving closer, aware that there could be more traps, he leads the others to the hut
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Talon holds his head in pain for a moment after the images assault his psyche. When all is gone, he says "I think the girl was killed by this witch...she is no more."
Anger is evident on the rogue's face. He is clearly upset by this witch, perhaps taking things personally for some reason.
Once the group reaches the hut's doorway, Talon examines the contents of the room, including the small figure sitting on the chair, for any additional clues.
Trawets casts detect magic from behind Talon and spends some time looking at the room.
As you approach more closely, you see that the figure in the chair is not a person at all, but rather a porcelain doll. Wearing the same dress and the same flaxen curls and as the phantom girl you saw in the boulder field, the similarities are unmistakable. But the differences are far more unnerving. Instead of the cherub-like face of the girl, this doll has the withered and wrinkled appearance of an old crone, and a pair of mismatched eyes-- one a blue gemstone and the other a small round mirror the size of a coin.
She stares blankly into space, silently watching the approaches to the hut.
The doll radiates moderate divination magic.
"Well, the doll is magical. It radiates divination magic. I'd have to get closer and examine it for a bit to see exactly what it does though."
With bow ready Lucian prepares for the worst.
Meditrina files the information away about the witch, having a hunch that while the creature was merely a doll, she was speaking from personal memories...although upon reflection it could have just been a nasty trick. Mentally reviewing any information she possessed against undead, she tags along at the back of the group, lost in thought.
The doll, while a bit hideous to look at, does not move or stir as the others approach. It only sits in its chair in the hut, looking unblinkingly out at the path with its oddly mismatched eyes.
The path continues on the other side of the hut, stretching down into the Somir Valley and the spot marked on the map inside the Sentinels Lodge.
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Talon frowns at the doll, unsure what to do.
Finally, he decides to at least turn the doll around, having the eerie feeling it's looking at him.
"I guess we just keep going," he says. "This hut seems like a lookout post or something, with the doll on guard duty. Let's get out of here...it's giving me the creeps."
The rogue moves to follow the path on the other side of the hut.
Sensing this might be somthing strange, Trawets uses his scroll of identify to try and identify what the doll does.
Talon turns the doll around, and nothing noticeable happens. Trawets takes out his scroll, casting a divination that helps identify magical items.
The spell effect in place here is a form of scrying called Irriseni Mirror Sight which can used by a remote caster to see through the mirrored eye of the doll.
"It seems as if this doll is someone's look out. Whatever is reflected in the mirror eye can be seen on another mirror somewhere else. Do we want to leave this intact? We would need to break the mirror to break the spell."
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"So if someone wasn't watching the mirror, they may not have seen us here? Still, if anyone has taken the care to set this guard, they will almost certainly have someone watch the mirror," Talon muses.
The rogue looks directly into the creepy eyes of the doll. "I'm coming for you, witch. I'm going to kill you. You will pay for what you have done. I promise you that!"
Talon sets the doll back how he had found it.
"I'm torn between leaving it here, and putting it in my backpack so I can take it out and tell this same thing to the witch nightly."
Leaving the doll behind, the group turns to leave the hut. Beyond, the trail continues through a narrow pass, descending south and east into an icy valley. An unusual pattern of lines is scratched into the fresh snow covering the trail at the edge of the clearing.
Upon closer inspection, the pattern of lines in the snow actually spells out a message in Common:"Turn back before the winter devours you."
Asking struggler to help him together they search for clues.
"Wait, stop, do not read it. It is a trap."
Trawets casts detect magic to get the area the spell covers and then guides the group around the glyph.
After Lucien recognizes the Glyph spell, Trawets has an easy time, with his divination spells, steering the group around the trapped area. Thus safely on the path, and leaving the creepy doll behind, the group staggers on through the wind and snow.
Continuing to follow the valley floor for about 30 minutes, the group becomes a bit anxious as fog starts to roll in. A cold wind blows through the icy valley, bringing a spray of sleet and broken ice. The sky ahead rolls with thick, grey clouds and the sun is only a dim glow somewhere in the mist.
Wounded Beast - Surprise Round
23 Weasel
14 Meditrina
11 Lucien
9 Talon
9 Agatha
4 Trawets
Charging out from the cover of the fog and snow, the white weasel makes for Talon at the front of the party. It is obvious to all that the beast has a serious wound already, likely from the bear-traps left on the other parts of the ridge descending to the valley. The charging beast is just enough off kilter that its fierce bite misses the rogue, teeth clashing on only thin air.
Nop, no surprise round movement for me.
With a little shrug the bear approaches the weasel and tries to bite it.
Seeing the large weasel charge Trawets says a few arcane words and throws a ball of acid at it.
Wounded Beast - Surprise Round - continued
Medtrina squints into the fog, but cannot see the form of the beast until it has already attacked.
Lucien and Struggler do see the charge of the weasel, and are able to react. Lucien fires one arrow, hitting the wounded beast, and Struggler moves up to engage.
Talon draws his daggers but misses with his attacks, and then moves to the side of the weasel, looking for a flank.
Then just one arrow, but with another 2 to hit, (the RS penalty doesn´t apply)
Wounded Beast - Surprise Round - concluded
Agatha sees something pausing, not sure if it friend or foe. Her hesitation costs her as the weasel attacks.
Trawets spies the threat soon enough to evoke a glob of acid into his hand which he throws on the savage beast, burning its flesh slightly.
End of Surprise Round
Wounded Beast - Round 1
23 Weasel (10hp dmg)
14 Meditrina
11 Lucien
9 Talon
9 Agatha
4 Trawets
The wounded weasel steps away from the bear, and continues to try to savage Talon, but again the rogue is able to bob and weave away from the sharp teeth.
"It worked once, let's try twice!"
Trawets says a few arcane words again and throws another acid ball at the beast.
Moving forward the bear tries to find it´s next snack
If the nasty creature is still standing, Meditrina hurls a bolt of fire at it, fairly secure in the knowledge that it won't enjoy being roasted alive.
As struggler is in melee, Lucian carefully aims and lets loose two arrows.