|
Mike steps forward and begins the assault by slashing rapidly at the dragon with a blade of pure dark energy. However his blade seems to flicker erratically when he swings it as the dragon. It only remains substantial enough to strike the dragon once. The 2 paladins take up defensive stances in their own ways and attack the dragon from above and below. Rhon swings multiple times, but only his first strike carries enough power to cut through the dragon's thick natural armor, and even so he does not think he managed to completely cut through the dragon's damage resistance. Exiel on the other hand stabs only once, but his lance finds a vital spot in one of the dragon's necks and plunges in deep. Finally 42 sends a streak of blinding white lightning at the dragon, but the dragon does not even bother to dodge as the spell dissipates before reaching him.
The dragon growls at you in a foreign tongue, and without Lauriel out to translate, you are unable to understand what he is saying. But you understand his general meaning when he rears his heads back and breaths out fire from all three of them, the streams of fire combining into a single cone that washes down from above over all of you except for the flying nuisance Exiel (who has a ring of evasion anyway).
|
Knowing that his attack didn't do what he hopped it would. 42 casts Corrosive Consumption into his sword and moves forward to attack.
Missing (i assume) 42 holds his spell into his weapon.
|
|
Mike attempts to use his powers to suffocate the dragon anyway, hoping that the dragon lacks to reflexes to strike him. He hopes in vain, for one of the dragon's heads quickly clamps down on him most painfully and breaking his concentration.
Rhon strikes at the dragon again and again, but the dragon's naturally touch scales are tougher than any armor Rhon has encountered. But as the dragon's attention is focused below, Exiel finds an opening in the back of one of the dragon's heads and strikes two more blows. 42 does not have the same luck - his scimitar glances off the dragon's scales and don't even leave a mark.
With remarkable alacrity, the dragon blasts another stream of fire over Rhon, Mike and 42 while slashing at Exiel with his claws. Exiel nimbly evades the claws, but his friends below will need to contend with dragon fire once more!
|
|
Once more, 42, Rhon and Mike are caught in the full force of the dragon's triple-breath. Rhon and Mike are left gasping in agony, but 42 succumbs and falls to the fire, flames licking at his still, prone body.
The remaining pathfinders prepare their desperate response, but it is Mike who acts first, driving his blade of gravity and negative energy deep into the belly of the beast. The dragon gasps and curses something about overpowered kineticists and bullshit paladins critting him every round before falling to the ground, unconscious.
|
|
Exiel sighs in relief as 42 comes to.
"The monsters in this place play for keeps, it seems. We should try to proceed cautiously lest we draw too many foes at once and find ourselves overwhelmed."
As he says this, he drives his lance into each of the gorynych's heads, and scowls when he sees that the wounds are still closing.
"Regeneration?" he muses as he calls forth Lauriel.
"Lauriel, are you able to advise on whether gorynychs have regeneration and if they do, how to overcome it?"
|
|
Lauriel once again shows herself to be the brains of the operation, and tells Exiel that this type of dragon does have regeneration and it is only stopped by acid. Since you brought 42 back to life, he is able to stop the regeneration with a simple acid splash cantrip. As soon as the acid touches the dragon's mutilated form, it shudders and convulses, then goes limp. You inspect his wounds and they are no longer closing.
Now that Lauriel is out, you are also able to converse with Anastasia once more. She looks to be in a state of shock at what she has just seen - her "brother" transforming into a gargantuan three-headed fire-breathing monster that threatened to kill her.
"What... what was that thing? Where is my brother Alexei? Miss Angel, what is going on here? These men... one who flies, one who wields shadows, one who shoots lightning, and one who looks stouter than any man I have ever seen. I feel like I am in some bad dream, some horrible tale told to frighten children."
|
|
Lauriel senses Anastasia's distress and moves slowly to embrace her, if she is allowed to.
"There, there, your highness. Are not angels also sometimes though of as fantasy? And if angels, and dragons, can be real, why not men with extraordinary abilities? As for your brother, I am sorry, but you said you remembered you and your family being lined up to be shot... It would appear that from the time you awoke, that three-headed dragon was impersonating your brother, not your real brother. I am sorry."
"But we still don't know how all this came to be. If you will let him, my friend would like to examine you again to make sure that the dragon did not use any other magic on you."
|
|
Anastasia takes some time to compose herself, holding on to Lauriel for comfort (as young girls tend to do). Eventually, she does regain composure and nods.
"I don't know what is going on or why I am here. If the dragon was not really my brother and lying to me, I don't even know how I survived or how I got here. If your friend can discover anything, let him do it."
|
|
"I could make her and myself both invisible and then carry her through the air to the Hut. That thing can fend for itself and its interior appears to either be its own demiplane or extra-dimensional space. That should keep her safe from Rasputin or whatever foul creature that wanted to imprison her here."
|
|
"Because she's likely to want to stay with us, which is downright suicidal for a child with no powers. It's why you wouldn't send a group of pathfinders fresh from their confirmation on this mission. Based on her story, she has no family to turn to, and we can't just turn her over to the first people we see."
|
|
Through Lauriel, you tell Anastasia of the danger of bringing her along in your exploration of the camp and tell her about the Dancing Hut and the Coffin Man. She seems bewildered and taken aback by the description of the hut and its skeletal guardian.
"I know about the hut with chicken legs. Olga used to tell me such tales of Baba Yaga and her Dancing Hut. I remember the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful, who went to Baba Yaga to ask for fire, and Baba Yaga gave her impossible tasks that she could only complete because she had a magical doll. It is said that those who gain Baba Yaga's approval can be saved from trouble, but those who fail are eaten or worse. Will Baba Yaga ask me to do tasks to hide in her hut? What if I cannot perform them?" she asks nervously.
However, as she looks around the grisly room and the gargantuan dragon-corpse on the floor, it seems she is not averse to leaving this place either.
|
|
"I can assure you that Baba Yaga is not in the hut at the moment, and will not return to the hut for some time. Certainly not before we are done here. And do not fear the coffin man either, your highness. Though I'm not sure we can call him an ally per se, our interests currently align, and I will make sure to let him know in no uncertain terms that if he harms you he will have to answer to me. Moreover, the Hut at least appears to be on friendly terms with us, and Lauriel will be there with you as well. If something happens, Lauriel will signal me, and I will come immediately," Exiel says reassuringly, and then asks Lauriel to translate.
Exiel looks to the other party members for approval of his plan.
|
|
With the group's approval Exiel carries out his plan. When he opens the door, he sees before him the husk of a building that might once have resembled the one you currently occupy, but its wooden roof and walls are broken in multiple places and looks fit to collapse without a moment's notice.
Nonetheless, there do not appear to be any hostile forces outside, and Exiel casts another invisibility spell on Anastasia before the two of them depart.
As you near the hut however, despite your invisibility, the hut perks up as you approach. The doors of the hut swing open and with a lurch, the coffin man is sent flying out from inside the hut, landing face first in the snow.
"Blasted good for nothing pile of timbers," the skeletal creature snarls between coughs he raises his rattling staff at the hut, but he stays his hand when he sees that the hut is now bowing at something behind him. Turning around, he sees you and Anastasia descending towards them, and he too bows in a show of obeisance.
"Greetings, honored granddaughter. Welcome home."
Whilst Exiel is gone, the camp appears to remain mostly quiet. Going by the sounds outside the building, Rhon, Mike and 42 determine that the grounds are patrolled intermittently troops on foot as well as troops of horseback (or at least some sort of hoofed creature). Fortunately, none of them look inside the building you are hiding in. For now. The only other sounds you hear are the occasional rumblings of thunder and roiling lightning coming from the North.
|
|
Mike will spend his time going through the Kyton's possessions to see if it had anything of use.
"So, it looks like there are humans here, so I think I'll try to dress to blend in." Mike will nod, and he is suddenly wearing a similar style of clothing to what "Alexei" was wearing.
"So Rhon, how did you get an earth elemental to follow you? That's gotta be an interesting story. Were you part of the recent expeditions that society is making to the planes, or was it something else?"
|
|
Exiel looks at Anastasia in surprise as the coffin man greets them. Or more specifically greets her. He calls forth Lauriel to translate between himself and Anastasia as he gently sets her on the ground.
"It seems there is far more to you than we realised, your highness! At the very least, it seems that we will not need to worry about anyone here hurting you..."
|
|
Mike does not find anything else in the room or the Kyton apart from what 42 already found - a set of 5 bandages of recovery and a bloodletting kukri.
But he also finds a curious little necklace on "Alexei's" body.
42 identifies the necklace - it is a necklace of proof against detection and location.[/ooc]
Anastasia seems completely bewildered by all that is happening. Becoming invisible, flying invisible through the air, coming face to face with the fabled Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga, and now a skull-faced daemon bowing before her. But in spite of all this it is the implication in the coffin man's words that seem to affect her the most.
She is silent for some time, and an uneasy silence hangs in the chill wood. But after a while, she draws herself to her full height (such as it is) and adopts a surprisingly commanding and regal posture.
"What do you mean by those words? I am the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna. Do you mean that my mother was a daughter of Baba Yaga?" she asks in a gentle but firm voice.
The coffin man's telepathic laugh fills your head for a brief moment before he quickly cuts off his psychic communication. It takes a while longer for him to reply.
"I am afraid you are mistaken - your mother has no relation to the honored grandmother..."
Anastasia gasps, but before he can say anything more, the hut quickly springs up and steps over him. The hut had closed its door while bowing and now when it opens its door again and stoops down in front of Anastasia, the room inside is clean and well-appointed with a soft bed, clean linen and a beautiful white dress draped over a wooden chair. On a nearby table is a washbasin that gives off a lazy trail of steam. It kneels once more before Anastasia, inviting her to enter. You notice that one of the hut's chicken legs is now pinning the coffin man under the it.
Anastasia's gait is unsteady as she walks towards the door.
"I, I wish to be alone for a while if that is ok," she says in a shaky voice as she climbs the steps of the Hut's porch and enters the room. By this time, the coffin man has been able to extract himself from under the hut and makes to enter the hut after Anastasia, but the Hut's door suddenly slams shut once more, right in his face. The coffin man glares at the hut with his burning eyes. You easily pick up a telepathic murmur of grumbling from the coffin man as he sits himself down on the steps and rests his skeletal head on a bony hand.
"Children..."
"Well, what are you gawking at? Don't you have a mission to complete?"
|
"I might as well see about finally getting Earl to us before we run into any more issues."
Rhon will summon Earl to his side with a summoning spell.
After Earl has arrived. "Mike, it is a rather simple thing. One merely must place their full faith in Torag and he provides the bond to the earth. That is how Earl came to be by my side."
|
|
Exiel chuckles a little at the odd exchange between Baba Yaga's servitors.
"I suppose even in the midst of all this darkness, there can be some levity. I just hope the young girl is ok. Look after her, old chap," Exiel says as he flies up and pats the roof of the hut absently, then flies back to rejoin the rest of the pathfinders before his invisibility spell runs out.