Too far to run. Great.
Siolad gulps and casts his teleport spell again. He pictures the campsite in his head...
pleasedon'tbeofftargetpleasedon'tbeofftargetpleasedon'tbeofftarget
Siolad vanishes in a puff of smoke, reappearing in the middle of the camp with a flash!
"GuysguysguysnotimetoexplainVentusandEnsuareintrouble!" Siolad babbles. His face is pale white, in contrast to the rest of his rocky skin.
"Gaaah!" Jessamy jumps as Siolad reappears.
"Huh?" she asks as he tries to talk.
That was quick. Poor ladies.
Pirknok nods, having been half-expecting something like that. "Spose it's too late ta talk our way out of it?" he asks, standing to his feet.
"Just about. Two hags: one Blood and one Storm. Blood's the Crone, Storm's the Mother. Storm hag can fly and charge up her fangs & claws with electricity. Blood can charge herself with fire and tends to explode." Siolad rambles. "One normal human girl. Not sure if she's charmed or she's there of her own volition, but if Ventus f**ks her, something big will happen for the coven."
Siolad starts clutching at the locket he wears around his neck. "Guys, hold onto me. I'll get us back to them in no time."
The tattooed dwarf turns and gives the wizard a you're completely insane, aren't you? look when asked to "hold him"... then realizes what he means. "Oh," he mutters, "yer magicks. Told you ta keep them away from me..."
Nonetheless, he moves up beside the elf and waits for Jess to do the same.
"Didn't want to resort to it either, if it's any consolation." Siolad pants. He looks over at Jessamy.
"It's right over there, but OK," Jessamy says, holding out her hand.
"Next to nothing," Ventus said to Ensu, "Give me a second to think."
He turned the situation over in his mind, now that Siolad was gone he did not have a method of rapid egress to rearm and prepare for combat. So he bit back the retorts he wanted to sling at the hags and took a breath. They could still salvage some information out of the situation and maybe the hag's knowledge of the area would help.
"Rudeness is a street, ladies, not a river. Everything flows both ways."
"No more threats, I've agreed to pay tribute for them. Surely we can finish this business cordially and preferably in private," the whole situation now had him on edge and there was something in the Maid's eye that bothered him. He knew that there was more than one way to control a person and magic was not always needed. Of course, if it was not him, it would be someone else. He fished the signet ring from Magnimar and his bow from the chest and laid them out for inspection by the hags.
"The ring is the weaker offering, of course, woven with protection magics as it is. Payment for services rendered in the city of Magnimar. It might fetch a higher price there. My bow I found in a cavern below the Fort, guarded by a pair of ghosts. The fight was nigh crippling but in the hands of an experienced archer it is a very potent weapon."
Siolad notices the distance. It wasn't that far... and Ensu & Ventus struck him as being hardy sorts. Hopefully, they could hold out for half a minute...
"Oh..." Gods, I really need to settle down.
"Er... I suppose we can just run there." He says, colour starting to come back into his cheeks.
Without another word, he starts heading back to the cave.
The monstrous Crone gestures casually and studies the items. Impressed, she nods somewhat gracefully. ”Your offerings are acceptable. Your friends are off the hook but they need to leave if they can’t keep quiet. I won’t have them spoiling my granddaughter’s night.”
As they approach the cave, Pirknok pauses and holds up a hand for silence. As he processes the tail end of the conversation, he turns to the elf with eyebrow raised, and beckons Siolad and Jess away from the cave. When they're far enough away to not be heard from within, he grunts. "Thought you sed they wuz in trubble," he challenges. After a moment, he shakes his head. "C'mon. We're goin' back ta camp, an' we'll see 'um jus' fine in the mornin."
At Pirknok’s insistence, Siolad and Jessamy keep their distance and a couple minutes later Ensu and two hulking monstrous hags emerge. The trio share dirty looks but no violence occurs. Soon the sounds of lovemaking come from inside the cave and the tenseness fades.
The sun is beginning to break over the horizon when a sensation of incredible weight fills the air. Those versed in magic can tell that something significant has happened. The bigger of the two hags (which Sioland and Ensu can confirm is the Crone of the trio), gestures toward the cavern. ”It is done”, she says with relief plain in her inhuman voice.
Even though the sweat is still fresh on his skin, Ventus is urged to pick up his things and leave. ”My granddaughter’s life is going to change a great deal in the next few hours. There’s much I have to share with her before I go.”
She pauses to glower at the rest of the party (especially Ensu) before returning her attention to Ventus, the only one that showed any deference.
”Despite your companions betraying their word, we will offer what advice we can”, the Mother-Hag adds. ”The ogres are dim-witted and crude but lazy. They only attack because a giant arrived months ago with thoughts of conquest on his mind. In addition to his strength, the giant is a skilled necromancer and as long as he lives, the ogres will be a danger.”
”But he is still a man and men are such flawed creatures”, the Crone adds. ”Pierce his flesh with this and his power will be diminished enough to make slaying him a great deal easier.”
From a pouch, the bigger hag produces a curved black-bladed dagger. She offers it to Jessamy.
Jessamy's eyes get wide.
"Oh, thanks. I ... don't know what to say."
She grins again as her eyes travel between the dagger and the unlikely ally.
"Do you know where they are? The giant and ogres, I mean?"
Siolad clears his throat. "Er... I... I feel I should apologize. For my words and actions before."
He hangs his head. "I overreacted. I panicked. I was out of line, and I was a sodding idiot."
"I'm sorry."
The Crone glowers at Sioland but doesn't say anything right away. ”Short-sightedness is just one of the more charming attributes of your gender.”
Looking to Jessamy the hag gestures northwest (the direction the party was already headed).
”At the crown of Hook Mountain is a cave mouth. Inside is where the ogres lair and where the giant has built his throne.“
Before the party returns to their camp, the Crone stops Ventus. ”One more thing. A gift in thanks for your part in my granddaughter’s apotheosis.”
She presents Ventus with a small stone, roughly the size of an infant’s fist. It’s red-black, warm to the touch, and roughly shaped like a human heart.
Ventus accepts the gifts, "I'll be back one day. I may not truly understand what part I've played in your rituals but a man... no, a person must both bear witness and take responsibility for their deeds."
He looks directly at the Maid, "Hopefully you will find what you once wished for at the end of this road. You never did tell me your name."
The young woman, no longer a Maid, catches her breath and pulls her furs higher to hide her still flush flesh. ”It’s Kathrine.”
"Well Kathrine, I hope to see you again when I next come this way, hopefully when there are fewer ogres breathing down my neck."
”As you wish”, the girl says with significantly more confidence than earlier.
The Mother-Hag cackles. ”Tell your rude friends to stay home.”
"So, wait, will this work only against the giant or against, well, other things too?"
Ensu stares at the Crone as she glares at him.
"Well apparently my advice worked like a charm then. If the Uncaring One, cared, I am sure my work here would be blessed by him."
Ensu heads back to camp, whistling a happy tune.
Siolad sits on his bedroll biting his lip.
"I really hope we never have to do that again." He says, his face turning red before curling up under a blanket and trying to rest.
"So, should we go get the giant? Pirknok, you like fighting giants, right? Can you give me some tips?"
Ensu, quietly reading a book, says almost absentmindedly, eyes never leaving the page, "Fighting them isn't hard, getting out of the way when they fall, that can be tricky."
The party returns to their camp and tries to relax again, eventually sleeping in a few hours to make up for lost time. After donning armor and preparing spells, they set off again.
The rest of the travel is uneventful - treacherous, but uneventful. There are increasing signs of ogre presence (splintered trees, measily killed and skinned animal carcasses, etc) but no sightings of the actual brutes. It’s evening when the party reaches the top of Hook Mountain and the cave mouth the witches warned of. Two burly ogres stand guard, noticeably more attentive than the ones the party encountered at Fort Ranneck.
"So what do we want to do?" Jessamy whispers. "We could try to make friends and see if they'll take us to the giant. But then we might have to deal with everyone at once?"
"Do any of you speak ogre?" Ensu asks as he peers around the others.
Siolad glowers as he looks on at the ogres. "If ogres are able to speak Giant, I can communicate with them." He tightens his grip on his staff. "The better question, I think, would be: why speak with these degenerate freaks of nature? Why not just burn them all?"
"Well, I am not opposed to violence as an answer. Wouldn't stealth be more important? My point is, ogres aren't known for their brains. Perhaps a bit of deception will allow us entry into the cave mouth."
"Not all ogres are bad folk," replies the dwarf, staring at the elf thoughtfully.
Pirknok doesn't make out any tracks on the rocky mountain path.
Jessamy however picks out several partial bloody boot prints. They’re too small to have been made by ogres. It’s likely they’re from the rangers.
"I think they're definitely in there," Jessamy says, fingering the strange new dagger the witches gave her.
"That duzint make sense," mutters the tattooed Shoanti. After a moment he shakes his head. "We got some answers ta find. Come on, let's go talk to 'um."
As the party gets closer, it becomes clear that these ogres aren’t very healthy. Their flesh is pale and eyes, lifeless. One is missing a large chunk of his skull and the shriveled brain matter within is exposed to the night air.
They are undead.
With wordless grunts, ogres attack.
"I thought they were captured or something?" Jessamy says.
"On, no," she says, as she sees their foes. "Maybe the rangers aren't even alive at all!"
Slipping under their guard, she rips her sword and the new dagger from their sheaths, stabbing them into the closest ogre's gut.
Pirknok gives a wordless grunt of his own and moves warily to meet the attack.