The group stumbles up the stair and Alathos uses a burst of positive energy to keep Salrann alive, though she remains Paralyzed in the magical ice.
Salrann struggles to make her muscles move and break the ice, but to no avail.
Chu-ko's magic infuses everyone and the party, including Salrann, regroups on the far side of the dripping ice. Now that you're not getting dripped on you notice three dark lumps on the floor. A closer inspection reveals then to be frozen men. Recently frozen as well. The giants aren't the only ones here...
"Good thinking, Chu'ko," Eden says as she shifts to her troll form to heal her wounds. Without any more acid to agitate her injuries, her regeneration rapidly soothes and clears her burns.
Noticing the bodies, Eden carefully studies them with Detect Magic.
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"I am glad I was able to get us out of that, I would have done sooner, but I could not see everyone, I fared well enough, when the first blast came I was out and away from it before I even knew what was happening, the frozen mountains of my home have similar dangers, usually the great remorahz strikes that swiftly."
Eden sees several auras. After a bit of waiting for the freezing devil drips to stop, you recover a suit of +3 scale mail, two suits of +1 scale mail, a +3 dagger, a +2 battleaxe, a +2 holy cold iron longsword, a masterwork battleaxe, a feather token (bird), and a ring of protection +4 from three frozen corpses bearing symbols of Queen Elvanna, Fourteenth Daughter of Baba Yaga.
"I concur. I too was taken off guard by what happened. Regardless, I'm very pleased that your spell worked. You were capable of grabbing Salrann and Alathos from a distance; nothing I have memorized could have done that," remarks Eden in her gruff troll voice.
Before she digs out the loot, Eden shifts into a huge silver dragon to protect herself from any lingering cold. After successfully recovering all of the gear, she places it back on the ground and spreads it out carefully. Eden then retakes her lovely elf form again.
"I don't need any of these things," says the elf. "That said, they will fetch quite a pretty penny for any supply runs that I might need to make."
Once the group divides up the spoils of war, Eden shifts back into a rock troll.
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"It is an old spell from the days when the elves and tengu worked together and the spell singers were born. The spell can move us all at once even I could trade foes swapping one for another in place. It is similar to dimension door, but for all at once.."
Throws armors into the hole....
Offers the sword to Alathos....
You divide the spoils and move upward in inward to a (hopefully) more hospitable area of the Veil. The temperature here plunges again to dangerous levels for anyone unprotected by magic. Even natural cold resistance is penetrated by Baba Yaga's magical ice.
After several curving flights you find yourself in a large room at least fifty feet tall with two other stairs exiting the farside. A voice booms out when you enter, WHO DISTURBS MY SANCTUARY!
Salrann follows along, and shakes her head when Alathos asks about a cold-shielding spell. "Nothing I have prepared can do thissss."
"I believe that I may be of assistance."
Eden does not seem too bothered by the cold; something she cast earlier is probably helping her withstand the hostile temperatures. After taking a bite out of her right arm, she casually hugs her friends with her left. In the next instant, everyone is shielded from the cold.
Upon hearing the voice, Eden utters a low Troll growl and begins to look for whoever spoke.
Eden - Above you you make out the obscured form of an invisible, massive dragon clinging to the ceiling, but it doesn't smell quite right for Dragon scent.
You also see the form, Alathos.
There is a massive, invisible dragon clinging to the ceiling above us, Eden mentally warns the group through the Telepathic Bond a certain Inquisitor set up earlier. Alathos, perhaps you could try talking to it? We could probably defeat it, but it is also in our best interest to preserve our strength as much as we can.
The dragon looks taken aback at your ability to see through its ruse. It drops from the ceiling and announces itself as matetial with a resounding impact on the floor that nearly knocks you over. The voice resounds with self-confidence.
I am Artarguilus, favored servant of Baba Yaga.
A huge white dragon materializes before you, but it is not normal. Magma oozes from between it's scales and in its maw flickers an intense flame.
You want to talk? Fine. Let's talk.
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"Fantastic! Incredible! It is as if the molten core of the earth is enveloped in a glacieral age of ice!"
"There is an old tale among my people from long ago when the blade dancers first rose to power a tale of a great dragon, a song of ice and fire, surely this lost tale is of you great Artarguilus. Tell me the tale so that I may bring it back to the tengu of the far mountains. "
Diplomacy
Alathos, this thing radiates evil like that succubus radiated... ahem... it's evil...
The dragon bristles with pride at Chu'ko's words, but you sense a twinge of regret as well. He tells the tale of being the first of Baba Yaga's servants. The one who oversaw the destruction of whole armies at her command. Then the tale turns to sorrow as he falls from grace and is bound here to watch over her monument to the futility that is resisting her divine will. His punishment? The binding of a source of elemental fire in his core. That is what is producing the living paradox before you now. But I will be free. I will get out of this museum and prove my worth to Baba Yaga. I have sworn it!
Say. If you beat that troll in discovering the method of my release, I'll eat him instead of you. How does that sound, little birdie?
Chu'ko examines the room and finds several auras, some of which threaten to overwhelm his enhanced vision. The power of the aruas force him to turn away before he can get a good read on them. Eden lasts a bit longer and divines several effects, all of a power far beyond anything she has seen. There is a divine binding spell woven into the very soul of the dragon, first of all, but there is also a divine level binding spell on the room, limiting the dragon to the immediate vicinity. Baba Yaga chained up one of her most valuable servants like a guard dog in punishment!
The trigger to release the spells, however, are tricky at best and deadly at worst. You need more information.
Oh, and the dragon has a ring of sustenance on its back right claw. And there are a couple aruas coming from the floor, probably a hidden treasure trove.
"Great one, if we can free you, we will do so. But it may be beyond our capabilities."
Salrann carefully attempts not to ire the dragon, as fighting it does not seem like the most fun prospect.
I know this, little Naga. That is why I'm providing competition. There is a troll and his guard that passed through here a few days ago. He offered to free me as well. If you can solve the riddle of my imprisonment before him, I will eat him instead of you.
You can hear the hunger lacing voice.
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"Undoing the foreboding of one as powerful we risk death in doing it , as possibly do you Artarguilus, for your soul is bound up within the enchantment and severing that tie might sever your soul from your body....."
"I doubt the troll from one passing knows how to free you."
"Eden?"
"I suppose he could have meant freeing your soul from it's mortal coil, actually the easiest way to "free" you."
Eden the Troll raises an eyebrow when the dragon talks about eating her, but upon hearing the dragon use male pronouns, she quickly realizes that there must be another troll elsewhere.
...I have very mixed feelings about what I am going to say, and my brain might not have regenerated correctly from all the damage I've taken recently, but... Eden mentally notes to herself.
"...I could try to Wish you free," Eden offers carefully. "I am not Baba Yaga, but in terms of arcane might, I could probably throw down with a Thassilonian Runelord and win. A carefully worded Wish might do the trick; in my experiences with the spell, it tends to cover these sort of situations. That said, please be aware that warping reality is always dangerous. If you are willing to risk it, then give me... fifteen minutes, and I will see what I can do. Alternatively, I could try a Mage's Disjunction."
Alathos, I sensed possible treasure, the Polymorphed elf mentally informs the Inquisitor. I only have one Wish diamond, and it was for an emergency, but... with enough treasure, getting another would be trivial for someone like me. Perhaps you could convince the dragon to hand over some of its horde in exchange for me freeing him. I would ask, but my diplomatic skills are... occasionally hit or miss. Meanwhile, your Silver Tongue essentially conquered the Moon.
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"I fear there are too many magical auras in here for us to thorughly study the intricacies of the spell, great dragon, can we remove the auras from beneath the floor the magic is bleeding through?"
"Yes Eden you have the magic, but I can guide you with my magic as well. Seriously though we do need more information."
The dragon Huffs at the mention of it's horde. Your mind instinctively braces for the cold of a White, but you feel the blistering heat of a Red. You are not the only ones to offer me freedom. You are not alone in being able to wish the world away, and you are a fool if you think a simple play of words will undo the will of Baba Yaga herself! All that you need lies beyond. GO! Before I loose my patience...
"...My apologies," Eden remarks with a respectful bow of her head. "As I said, I am not Baba Yaga, and I was not fully aware that all we needed was elsewhere in the Veil. We will take our leave then and further investigate this situation."
As she makes her way toward the chamber's exit, Eden the Troll gestures for her friends to follow her.
We should probably move along while we are ahead, Eden mentally notes to her team.
As the group advances, Eden keeps her Troll eyes, ears, and nose peeled for danger.
Upward stairs emerge through the floor near the base of a forty-foot-high wall topped by a balcony. Another set of stairs across the room climbs to the balcony itself. These stairs bear a glistening sheen, as if wet, and scattered pieces of broken wood lie at its foot. As soon as you enter, a gruff voice demands in Giant, What's the Password!