"Compared to your usual company, of course you would be impressed." The winter wolf responds curtly, apparently not at all swayed by Phoebee's words.
"But I care not for your mewling. I know she is here." It adds with a snarl, moving his head slightly, side to side. "I have your scent little girl. Your trickery may fool these peasants, but you can not hide from me."
The last seems to be directed off to your right, and looking that way, all you see is Haltani, with a worried look on her face.
"Baroness Urgalaena of Saarbotten has sent me to find her errant niece." The wolf adds to the rest of you. "For her own safety of course. Surrender her to me now, and I will allow you to go on about ...." The wolf pauses slightly, tilting its head. "... whatever it is you are doing here."
Haltani remains quiet, and merely shakes her head faintly at Malusha's query. "I'm so sorry." She mutters.
"She is Uliyara, niece of Urgalaena." The winter wolf responds for her. "Though she attempts to hide it. She has apparently been deceiving you for some time. Even now, exposed, she continues to do so."
"Give her over, and I will not call the rest of my pack to join me." The creature adds, "I grow impatient."
They are intelligent magical beasts, though this one is even bigger then you were lead to believe. They are fairly common in the country, as they have more rights here then most humans. They are also quite suited for the Eternal Winter that grips the land as they are completely immune to the cold.
They can breathe out a cone of unnatural cold damaging everyone in a small area, as well, their very bite can deliver some of this same chill.
But the same connection they have with the cold leaves them vulnerable to fire.
The white wolf snarls as Wei Tchak and Masym deny him his prize.
"You will find the sun has little power in the lands of Irrisen, human." It snarls as it stands to its full height.
"Very well, this way is more to my liking anyway." It adds. "I always prefer a full stomach before traveling."
And with that, he attacks!
Needless to say, no one is surprised.
The wolf moves amazingly quickly, bounding to the right and circling around towards where Haltani hides behind a nearby boulder for cover. His pale blue eyes seem to bear down on Wei Tchak and Masym as he goes. As he moves, his fanged jaws spread wide and a flurry of frozen air wafts out towards the tengu, but catch Nella and Phoebee as well. Where it touches, skin freezes painfully and their entire bodies frost over, covering all three in rime.
From the side, Haltani steps from behind the rock and starts to speak, her voice calm and measured.
"You may go and fetch at the whims of my aunt like a trained lap dog, cur. But I do not! I would stay and fight with these folks rather then fall under her thumb!"
You're not sure why, but her words of defiance seem inspiring.
- Round 1 ----------------------
Winter Wolf, Haltani
Phoebee (-23/-11), Malusha, Nella (-23/-11), Masym, Jones, Wei Tchak (-23/-11)
Group Buffs: Inspire Courage (+1 to hit/damage)
Party is up!
Need a Reflex save from Nella, Phoebee, and Wei Tchak (Phoebee will be unconscious if she fails)
Phoebee manages to dodge the worst of the incoming frost, but Nella and Wei Tchak are not so quick, both of the later taking the full brunt of the cold. The bard then takes a step back, pulling out a potion and drinking it, healing some of her wounds.
Malusha hurries across to Masym's side, casting a quick prayer of protection to ward him from incoming blows while at the same time, Masym quickly chugs down one of the elemental protection potions you received from the ulfen in Whiterook.
Nella, her limbs freezing and barely able to move, stumbles off to the side and channels healing energy throughout the entire area. She and Wei Tchak heal some, while Phoebee seems back to normal, other then some icy remnants on her clothes.
Jones moves to the side as well, near Nella, and launches a single arrow at the winter wolf which lodges solidly in its flank, causing a small yelp of pain.
Wei Tchak pulls out a wand and uses it on himself, once more making an infernal bargain for healing... but whether it comes in time to help remains to be seen.
The winter wolf does not seem like it wants to give anyone the chance to heal themselves, as it steps towards the nearest person, Phoebee! It latches its teeth onto Phoebee's shoulder with a vice-like grip before she even has time to react. Lifting her off her feet like she weighs nothing at all, it proceeds to shake her violently back and forth, before releasing her to drop unmoving to the ground. Blood flows freely from her severely mangled shoulder, ice forming all along the wound.
With a disdainful snarl, it then turns its attention on the tengu.
Haltani continues to speak words of defiance, as she tries to drag the fallen bard away from the winter wolf, and stem the worst of the bleeding. She says a quick spell and some of Phoebee's wounds heal, though barely enough to bring her back to consciousness. Phoebee feels a numbing cold and pain on her left shoulder as she lay in the snow, but apparently is still alive, for now!
- Round 2 ----------------------
Winter Wolf (-10), Haltani
Phoebee (-15, disabled, prone), Malusha, Nella (-17), Masym, Jones, Wei Tchak (-17)
Group Buffs: Inspire Courage (+1 to hit/damage)
Party is up!
Malusha quickly loads a bolt into his crossbow, firing it at the winter wolf, but rushes his shot and it disappears off into the snow.
Nella tries a different tactic, summoning up a spiritual glaive to attack the creatures' flank. The ghostly weapon slashes a large gash in its side, and it staggers slightly from the force of the blow.
Masym steps forward, to guard his injured comrades, but can not get his spear past the enraged beast's gnashing jaws to land a solid jab... but it does give Jones an opening to sink yet another arrow into the wolf's flank.
Wei Tchak, ignoring his serious injuries, steps in beside Masym, his katana whirling around with deadly precision. His initial slash is turned away by the creatures tough hide, but the second swing manages to connect, leaving a glowing mark where it scores a wound on the winter wolf's shoulder.
Beset on all sides, the wolf gives a frustrated snarl.
"Fine. Then it is my pack you will face!" He growls, as he falls back and then turns to lope across the icy ground to the southeast, it's gate marred by its injuries. It pauses once to raise it's muzzle and emit a long mournful howl, before continuing on.
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Masym watches the winter wolf retreat, briefly considering loosing his spear at it, but holds off on the impulse.
Best to get everyone up and find a more defensible place to face that pack!
He reaches into his pouch and pulls out his potion, gently forcing it down her throat. "Rest time is over. We have to get moving." He says in an oddly gentle voice. To the others he motions to the area around him. "We has best find a place to make a stand here. That bastard's friends will be by shortly!"
"If his pack was nearby, they would have been together." Haltani says, from the back.
"I am sorry." She adds quietly, "For all of this."
She reaches up and removes the fur cap from her head, and suddenly her form shimmers slightly, and instead of the dark haired Varki woman you've been traveling with for the past week, you find yourselves looking at a tall jadwiga girl, with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She can't be more then a teenager, but the resemblance to Nadya is obvious.
"I thought once we reached Dalun, it would be over." She says, her voice contrite.
"Uliyara," She adds. "Baroness Nadya is indeed my mother."
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Masym nods in reply to Wei Tchak's suggestion. "Yeah, best get inside now. Much better terrain for us should that wolf decide to bring her pack."
Turning his attention to the newly unmasked woman, "So, it looks like your attempt to escape the notice of your relatives has failed. What do you wish to do now? Once our mission is completed we will be heading south, away from your home. Are you willing to travel that path? Especially knowing your mother and sister will do anything to find you and bring you back to them." Masym says, his tone blunt at first but growing sympathetic by the end.
Uliyara sighs. "I did not know I was trying to avoid my own family. Not until now." She whispers.
She tilts her head slightly, as if listening, and then relaxes a little. "The wolf howls, but listen... no answer. We will be home before he finds any allies to aid him."
She looks at you all sheepishly, clearly not sure where to begin.
"Mother sent me on that trade envoy to teach me whatever it is mothers want to teach their children. We disagree on many things, but peaceful contact with other countries is not one of them. So I went..."
"But as we arrived at Whiterook, suddenly there was screaming and fighting and blood." She shakes her head at the memory. "I didn't know what to do. So I used a minor illusion to disguise myself and fled. The others were not so fortunate."
"I didn't know what happened. I thought that Whiterook attacked us!" She pauses slightly, before adding, "Though now it seems more likely my aunt forced the issue. It would not be the first time she has sabotaged Mother's attempts at outside trade."
"But by then I was stuck, the ulfen were hunting me..." She shrugs helplessly. "And probably my aunt's forces as well, now that I think on it. I couldn't go back, so I just kept running, afraid to drop the disguise. Their people would not look kindly on a jadwiga in their midst."
"So I followed the river as best I could until I reached the city." She shakes her head slightly, clearly recalling a journey far more harrowing then she's letting on. "When I heard of your Venture Captain looking for a guide to reach Naldak's Point, of all places, I figured it was providence!"
"I thought I was safe once we reached Dalun... but by then, you knew me as ... well... Haltari." She shrugs. "I did not think there would be any point then, other then confusion."
"And Urgalaena has her spies everywhere, I suspect even in Mother's court, I couldn't just walk back in... I wanted to finish what I promised and guide you here." She glances down the recently exposed hallway, clearly curious.
"Mother knows my pseudonyms, she would know it was me when you mentioned my name. I can only imagine what was going through her head, though." She sighs ruefully. "She may not have had you executed... but my days are probably numbered once I get back."
"I didn't think there would be any harm coming here with you then."
"That creature must have been on my scent for a while."
Ahead of you, heading into the hill to the west, you see intricate gilded stonework and complex marble mosaics heading along a wide hallway. Arrow slits flank the first thirty or forty feet of the hall on both the north and south sides, though the northern side seems to have caved in as all of them are choked with frozen rubble.
The entire floor is covered in a thick sheet of ice, and you see numerous frozen flows of ice running from the ceiling to the floor as if there was once water flowing in from above, before it all froze over.
At the end of the hall, it opens up into a larger area where you can just make out two large statues.
Everything is well lit, the ice seeming to direct the light from outside into the long buried complex.
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Haltani... or sorry, Uliyara.. why go back to potential execution?... when we leave here to return home to Absalom, come with us, join the pathfinder society... You would be welcome there, your knowledge of this land would be of great value, and you'd get to travel to other lands as well, and learn so much of the world outside of all this ice and cold."
Moving down in the hallway, he walks cautiously though quickly, well, as quickly as the terrain allows, heading toward the statues.
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"Like Tchak says, you'd be welcome to come with us when we leave, if that's what you want," Nella agrees as she draws her healing wand and gives herself a couple of taps with it.
"But...I know this land is your home and I'd hate for you to have to flee if there's any way that we can get you back to Dalun and ensure your safety," she adds. "It's your decision though and you've got some time to think on it, okay?"
With that said, she falls back into line near the rear of the group as they begin making their way further down the newly-excavated tunnel. She glances around, mindful for any potential hazards such as falling rocks or holes in the ground.
_____________
Uliyara looks confused for a moment, then her eyes go wide. "What? No! I was joking!" She explains quickly. "My mother doesn't execute people! She's just... well... you know... my mother."
"I was not hiding from her."
"But if I went in with you, she would not have allowed me out to come help you here... and I'd promised."
As you carefully make your way down the ice-covered hallway, you can almost feel the age of the place, and you suspect you're walking on ice that has not been disturbed for over a thousand years.
The open areas behind the arrow slits on the north wall are indeed completely clogged with rubble. On the southern side, however, you can make out space on the other side, but see no way to access it.
You realize the roof has numerous cracks in it that were not part of the original design, most of which appear to be where the water was once coming through... before it all froze solid.
At the end of the main hallway, it opens up into a larger area, on the west side of which are two ten foot tall marble statues of armored dwarves, both of which have had their faces broken off. Despite the damage, it is the first positive sign you've seen to confirm this might indeed be the remains of Naldak's Point. Between the statues is a rime-covered fresco depicting an opulent throne room.
A narrower hallway continues off to the south, showing more rubble strewn icy hallway, before disappearing into a vast open area.
The damage to the statues appears to have been caused by the ice freezing and expanding the water along the intricate design work that once graced them. You even see a few shattered pieces frozen into the ice on the floor. The fresco on the wall behind them seems relatively mundane, though time and the temperature has marred it severely.
As Jones examines the area, his keen archer's eye does note a small protrusion on the northern wall, just behind the nearby statue, that appears to be a switch of some sort. Flipping it causes a small section of wall along the northern wall to shift slightly, revealing the outline of what appears to be a secret door, though it does not quite open properly due to the ice encasing pretty much everything.
With a little more effort, and slightly better purchase on the slippery floor, you are able to haul the door open enough to get through. Beyond it, you find a short narrow hallway, and a room that looks like it was once a armory of some sort. There are frost and ice covered weapon racks and armor stands throughout, all of them empty.
The eastern end of the room has collapsed in, making this little more then a dead end now.
A quick search of the area will reveal a heavy steel shield and a strange exotic-looking heavy crossbow with an intricate ivory hilt. The crossbow you find discarded on the floor, the shield partially buried under the rubble.
Once you bang off the ice that has built up, both are obviously of very high quality. The shield has a large runic logo on the front of it, and the crossbow, that you now realize is actually a repeating crossbow, has some dwarven inscriptions on it as well.