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Apetir hoots as the bird explains what the big hairy ape wanted.
He follows along, squeezing through doors and along hallways, trying to stay 'behind' Tsin, lest his impressive backside be-stoke Tsin's affections again (never can be too sure).
Know (Geography)
When the gabblegobblers are done talking, Apetir points down the hallway, ready to find the next riddle.
Continuing on, the hallway leads to another door, this one bearing a symbol resembling a downward facing crescent resting on a horizontal line with arrows pointing outward. A vertical bisecting line with arrows pointing both directions runs from top to bottom.
As before, Flash's nose twitches toward the symbol, and Pems recognizes it as the Iobarian witch symbol for night.
Wavering darkness devours everything that lies beyond the threshold. Thick stone columns and wooden beams, entangled with pale moonflower blossoms, support the room’s high-vaulted ceiling. A faintly glowing blood-red orb dangles from a black iron chain in the center of the room.
Seeing Hektir lagging behind, likely still frightened by the dream, Tsin steps into the room, eyes elevated and awaiting another Raven's appearance.
"Hello? Raven?"
She walks to the center of the room.
“So be it. Seek now the sisters three who are one: Mother, Maiden, Crone. But know that the Maiden is elusive, and may only be caught with the waxing moon.”
"Well, three sisters is a heck of a lot better then more witchy fey that try to ensorcel us. Things are looking up you big ape!" Quinn punches Apetir in the arm, then directs a thumbs up finger point to the old man, "Sounds like there is even one for you, Mal." Filled with optimism, Quinn casts light upon a candle and hands it to Tsin before she enters the room, then follows behind her.
A hideous albino raven with red eyes appears at Tsin's words, hopping forth along the beams before fluttering to rest atop the orb.
It stares at you as you enter the room.
Apetir knucklewalks forth to commune with the Raven on a primal level.
Druidtalk
"Hey, Raven" Quinn calls out cheerily, "Have you seen three sisters around here, in particular there should be a maiden among them?" With a hand cupped in front of his mouth and nose, Quinn does a quick breath test, then adjusts his attire to maximize his allure as he looks about expectantly.
As Quinn heals her this time, she studies what she can as the wand restores in her what was ripped by the dream. "What exactly did it damage? There is no laceration, no gore hole, no flap of skin hanging..." She doesn't expect much of an answer, as ephemeral as the injury appears to be.
...
"Ugh. Why isn't this one black like all Ravens? Is it diseased?" Tsin speaks as if the Raven was deaf.
The raven continues to stare at you, beady eyes blinking twice at Quinn's and Tsin's questions.
"Why have you come here?" it asks.
Apetir thinks the bird is open to discussion. He points at the party and makes the yappy-yappy signal with his giant apy hands. He wonders which of the yappers will yap first.
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"Have you seen three sisters around here, in particular there should be a maiden among them?"
"Why have you come here?"
"Look, I just told you, we've a date with three ladies, one of them is certainly attractive, have you seen them?" Quinn peers about the gloom, looking for an attractive lady and her sisters...
...as Quinn looks over Tsin's shoulder, dandruff gets in his eyes and he stumbles back while blinking away tears.
"Hmmph," the bird (somehow) caws. "There are no women here, other than one that you brought with you."
Pems shakes his head. "We've inherited the mantle of the Black Rider and are tasked with finding Baba Yaga. Can you help us?"
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"So you say, but you hardly seem to be worth her while," the crow caws.
Apetir stands dumbly, wondering both if he should change back and, if he did, whether he would have anything of value to say to the Raven to try and convince her.
"Pems, show the Raven your new amulet, so recently awarded by the other Raven. The bird requires something tangible, a token. Just be careful, since they like to line their nests with baubles."
Zeno hops from the bowl of Malavarius' winter hat to the head of his staff, sweeping one wing out wide and bringing it in against his breast as he bows to the albino raven.
"Hello there! Please excuse these land-bound lunkheads, they can forget themselves sometimes. I'm Zeno, this is my wizard Malavarius, and the others are... of little consequence. Do you have a name?"
Malavarius groans, "Ack! Zeno! Blast it all, you're being very rude again. None of us speak bird, don't you know."
"Of course we're worth her while! How could she not want to see the likes of us? We even travel with a half sized witch, aren't they adorable?" Quinn gestures to Pems.
Pems groans for a moment, then pulls himself together. He holds up the amulet they receieved from the last raven and looks the albino straight in the eye. "Whether or not the witch wants to see us or not, we're all she's got. The Riders are all dead, and we're the last hope to find her. Apparently she's in need of us. So aid us, Raven or get the hell out of our way."
The raven seems to sigh.
“Very well. While you have convinced me of your intentions, you have yet to convince me that you are not witless. To prove your cleverness, you must find the answer to my riddle.
“I mark night’s coming,
“I will mark your end.
“I run not in fear,
“I have not a friend.
“The answer to the riddle lies within the passage of night. To find the path to what you seek, drink from the silver chalice within the grotto. Go now and do not return to me unless you can prove your worth.”
"What, all of us must drink from the chalice? Or a representative among us? Death has no friend, doesn't run in fear, and marks us all, Raven. Why not accept our answer now, and avoid the drudgery of ceremony?" Not terribly interested in meeting my demise face-to-face...
“GET me the answer,” it crows demandly, turning its head to the left as if pointing in that direction.
Pems nods and steps into the other room, glancing around to see if there's some sort of deadly prop.
Apetir nods ape-ily as the Raven finally spills the beans.
About time, these birds are for the birds.
He pauses a moment to pull a rod out of his polymorphic pouch, casting extended Barkskin, then put the rod away.
He's ready to move on.
Perception
Zeno frowns, as best a thrush might, and flits back to his wizard's hat as the others make for the grotto, or whatever else might await them in the direction indicated by the large bird.
"They're allies of Baba Yaga, Zeno. It'd undoubtedly be best if we didn't have to talk to them and they didn't have to talk to us. Welcome to Iobaria, by the way. Charming place, isn't it?"
Tsin regards the albino raven before following the others. "Raven, do you have many visitors here in this Hut? Do you see us as intruders? Why would the Hut have let us in if it didn't recognize us as allied to its purpose? I'll grant you, Baba Yaga already 'welcomed' us with a pile of bones, so perhaps anyone can enter the Hut unopposed. But we traveled with the Hut, so that should indicate to you that we are more than thieves walking these halls." She waits patiently for an answer.
"Many things can be found in this hut. Not all have the best of intentions, so we must make sure they are fellow servants of Dear Grandmother before we render them aid," it replies.
Those who go south find hundreds of tangled roots dangle from the raw earthen ceiling of a rough-hewn, circular grotto, which is filled with dark, placid water. A narrow stone walkway leads to a circular platform in the center of the room upon which rests a stone table set with five silver chalices. About the perimeter of the grotto, a few feet above the waterline, five deep alcoves have been dug into the grotto walls. Though shadowed by darkness, a faint glitter sparkles from deep within each alcove.
The room is dark.
Pems casts light on his dagger and holds it aloft. He's going to move toward the stone table and examine the chalices.
Apetir sniffs the air, then shrugs at the darkness.
Apetir gestures with his hands, grunting.
Apetir closes his big primate eyelids...and sees. Apeitr walks halfway down the walkway and 'looks' around.
Perception
The five chalices on the table in the center of the room are half full of dark red wine, and the rim of each chalice is etched with a rune in a repeating pattern.
The runes read: mirror, apple, hourglass, athame and key.
Each alcove contains an object, locked within a cage and chained and padlocked to the stone floor. The objects are a mirror, apple, hourglass, athame and key.
Try as he might, Pems cannot decipher the symbols.
"What's that you're looking at there, Pemsworth? Let me take a look, if you don't mind." Malavarius trundles along the path and looks over the symbols while stroking his beard sagely.
"Mmm. Mmmhmmm. I see. I see. Ah, very clever." Looking up at Pemsworth, Malavarius grins, "Haven't the foggiest idea what they mean, my boy. Strange, senseless squiggles void of any possible meaning, no doubt." He fishes a scroll from one of his baggy sleeves and unfurls it. "Care to double check for us, lad?" The wizard then draws the magics from the last of this type of scroll and lets the spell settle over Pemsworth.
Apetir groans and beats his chest, pointing at the five alcoves, trying to communicate words that his simian lips can never say.
He picks up a rock, casts light upon it, and hurls it into the first alcove (if he misses, he does it again).
The alcoves remain dark.
Tsin looks down the hallway, sees the walkway, and decides to return to the Raven room. She observes the albino, beginning to respect the creature for its role in the whole affair, much as she fulfills her role. It called us fellow servants to Baba Yaga. Servants. It serves, so expects that we seek to serve as well.
"Raven, would you indulge further questions? I have only met the Black Rider, while he still drew breath, but his task became my task, though I knew nothing of the man himself. We are not Riders, of course, but I think we share a goal with Baba Yaga, to stop the queen of Irrisen from spreading her evil winter to all corners of our world." She pauses, if only to study the bird further.
"What is she like? Baba Yaga. Does she take disrespect well?"
The alcoves remain dark.
Apetir demonstrates the light-cancelling effect to Mal, repeating the process of tossing a lit stone again and again into the darkness until the man (or Pems or Quinn) understands.
When that fails, Apetir will draw a map of the room in the mud/dirt, pointing out the alcoves and repeating the process.
Quinn watches as the ape throws stuff at random locations. Typical Then the mighty butcher with her strong arm, the muscled might of the party, walks away from the group. Pttth, Enchanted again! The old man and his litany of confusion offer few answers, the only one working toward a solution is Pems, so Quinn joins his efforts. "Say, buddy, ain't that the same symbol we got blasted by back in the snowy tundra?"
Malavarius looks up at Hektir after he finishes with his scroll and scratches his head. "Yes, yes, by all means, Hektir, keep attacking the darkness with those magical missiles you're throwing." He chuckles softly then arches his eyebrow in confusion as one of Hektir's glowing stones vanishes into an alcove. "I say, what was that? That's magical darkness there, isn't it? Very interesting. Zeno, go stick your head in there and see what's going on behind that darkness."
Zeno squawks in surprise,
Staring at the symbols under the effects of Mal's spell, Pems can understand them. He points at each chalice in turn. "Mirror, apple, hourglass, athame and key. Mirror might be self, but that doesn't seem to fit. Apple? Food? Hourglass? Time. It marks night's coming, doesn't 'run' in fear. It fits, right? Here goes." Pems takes the chalice marked hourglass and drinks from it.
"You certainly do not know Dear Grandmother," the bird responds. "I should not want to be the one to disrespect her. Her power is awesome and her temper fierce. Baba Yaga is not one to be crossed, as any who have met her would know."
--
As Pems touches the chalice, a pale flash of moonlight illuminates the alcove for a few short seconds, just long enough for you all to see the hourglass within.
As he drinks -- noting the liquid in the chalice remains strangely at the exact same level -- three steppingstones rise from the black waters, creating a path to the alcove.
Tsin nods as the Raven responds civilly. "Yes, I fear some among us will need more time to learn that before we ever encounter her. I appreciate your words, Raven."
She wanders back down the hallway, just in time to see the stones arise. Unaware of what's triggered it, she stands in wait, observing what happens next.
Pems wipes his face with his hand, and seeing the stones rise, steps tentatively forward toward the alcove to take the hourglass from within. He'll then take it back to the raven and present it.
Pems is able to collect the hourglass from its alcove.
“You have taken upon yourselves a great burden,” the crow caws, “for that which you desire, the changeling holds. Know this as well—you will find the Crone only when the moon wanes.”
It present an iron medallion, similar to the prior one, and then clutches the hourglass in its talons and wings off into the passage to the grotto, vanishing into the darkness.
This amulet also bears an Iobarian rune.
It is the rune for “gold.”
"Masterfully done, young Pemsworth. You've more sense about you then the rest of these bumblers combined." Malavarius beams but his smile turns to a frown as Zeno's beak cracks into his skull. "Ouch! Blast it, Zeno, what was that for?!" He rubs his head and grumbles as Zeno alights atop the wizard's staff once more, "Confounded birds and their beaks! I've half a mind to turn you into a- into a- a ball of fluff! Zeno! Remind me later to figure out how to turn troublesome birds like yourself into fluffy balls of fluff, won't you?"
Apetir watches Pems cross and earn the hourglass. He is noticeably impressed (assuming you can interpret simian body language).
He pats Pems gently on the head with his large gorilla fist.
Apetir leads the party down the hall to (presumably) the next set of double doors...which he'll open and look for a raven.
After Pems picks himself up off the ground as Hektir's 'approval' knocks him to his knees, he takes the amulet and stares at it.
Pems notes the rune and pockets the amulet.
Malavarius leans over Pemsworth's shoulder as he examines the amulet. "Hmmm. 'Gold'. What's that on there for, I wonder?"
"Why are we being presented amulets? The first bird didn't require one as proof, nor the second. These birds come in thirds, eh? What will three amulets do for us? None of what they discuss tells us we'll require them when we talk with Baba Yaga, right?"