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egYou gather in one of the monastery's towers and Exiel casts his spell, bringing you several hundred feet into the air above the camp. From that vantage point, you can see that Rasputin's army is slowly dispersing, and the mechanical constructs around the perimeter have stopped moving. A lone figure notices you - a humanoid in spiked leather armor, but before long he too slinks away, apparently unwilling to take on the strangers who bested Rasputin himself.
Upon your return to the hut, you see Ralph and the Coffin Man standing outside. Anastasia is at the doorway of the hut, listening, though her face shows that she does not quite comprehend the conversation. Nonetheless, as you approach, they fall silent. The hut and the Coffin Man bow low as you approach, and the Coffin Man speaks up in his raspy sepulchral voice.
"Welcome back, honoured Baba."
Exiel feels a surge of approval coming from the doll in his pocket. But as his eyes settle on Anastasia, Exiel feels from the doll surprise, then pensiveness, then approval - the sort of approval that makes the hairs on his neck stand and prickle...
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Ralph cocks his head, then nods to Exiel.
"You have her then. Baba Yaga. No wonder the Hut traveled all the way back to Golarion to retrieve me. Though she is still imprisoned, of course - yes I was able to divine the nature of her imprisonment. You will be pleased to know that I have not been idle while you were away. A multi-layer prison, one nested within the other, that will take complex rituals to unlock. But Baba Yaga's power is bound strongly to her hut, and I have managed to determine that therein lies the means to free her fully. The hut itself is the key, or perhaps more precisely, the hut holds the keys within its many demiplanes and dimensions. However, most of those planes are presently sealed away. It would appear that Elvanna had been far from idle during the time she had the hut in her custody. The good news is that once we return Baba Yaga to her hut, even sealed as she is, her power will resonate with it, strengthening it and restoring it, and enabling the hut to open its innermost sanctums to us where we can completely free her. We are nearing the end of this whole venture, my friends, and I for one am greatly anticipating this final leg of our venture!"
"However, we yet have some time, and since there is nothing more to be done but leave the doll with the hut and wait for her complete her work, it gives me some time to flex my powers once more. And it just so happens that I hear the Decemvirate is looking for Seekers for some mission or other. I was not able to get the full details before the Hut appeared to me and pulled me here, but seeing as it appears to have recovered most of its dimensional traveling abilities, it should have little trouble returning us to Golarion to see what other adventure awaits."
He pauses when he finally notices your exhausted condition.
"Hmm. Perhaps after you've had some time to take a short break, I suppose."
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Exiel finds concern weighing on his heart as he looks at Anastasia to ascertain that she is ok, but otherwise keeps his thoughts to himself.
"No sense alarming the girl if I don't really know what's going on, but on my life I will protect her from harm if it is within my means to do so..." he thinks privately to himself.
"Lauriel, go keep the girl company, will you? You're the only one she can talk to, and she seems to trust you. With all that is happening, I think she could really use a friend now."
As his familiar goes to keep the girl company, Exiel flies over to Ralph.
"It will be good to travel with you again, old friend. It has been awhile, and I am sure we have both picked up many new tricks to show to each other."
