Corum stands ready, scanning for threats.
The source of the rumbling reveals itself as two enormous creatures erupt from the ice below your feet, showering you in snow and ice.
These immense white worms have a single circular eye in the centre of their heads. Wisps of icy fog waft up from between its mandibles.
Those mandibles spread and unleash huge gouts of freezing air!
Corrleon stiffens under the tremendous blasts of frigid air, his fur goes stiff and his eyes and lips limn with frosty crystals. As the beasts finish and settle back to the ground, the triaxian shakes himself free from the ice and brings his bow up. The biting, wicked cold gnaws at his limbs though, leaving his arms shaky and his aim unsteady. As he finishes his rapid volley, he brings some of Apsu's healing grace to bear for himself and a small portion of his wounds begin to knit.
HP: 46/92
Cold Resist: 20
AC: 21 (19 T / 13 FF) (includes +1 from PoF & +1 from haste)
CMD: 24 (includes +1 from PoF & +1 from haste)
F/R/W: +15/+12/+14 (includes +1 from haste)
Lay on Hands remaining: 9/12
Smite Evil remaining: 3/3
Divine Bond remaining: 1/1
Stormlure remaining: 1/1
Hunter's Cloak minutes remaining: 10/10
Ongoing Effects
Favored Terrain (cold): +4 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Favored Terrain (urban): +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Terrain Dominance (cold): +4/+4 vs terrain natives and +1/+1 vs cold subtype
Aspect of the Falcon: +3 competence perception, +1 to hit, crits = 19-20/x3
Power of Faith (1/10 rds): 30ft radius; +1 morale to AC, to hit, damage, and saves vs fear
Haste: +1 to hit, +1 AC, +1 ref saves, +1 attack in full attack, +30 ft movement
Grayston screams out as the freezing spray hits him. He is quick to move as he flys straight up hoping to get away from any more attacks. "Focus them down one at a time." He shouts over ragged breath, as he fumbles for a bomb to throw.
HP - 29/80
Fail
The massive blasts of freezing air drive Elleross backwards and he cries out in agony as his skin blackens and blisters as the cold almost kills him.
Gasping and hissing in pain he tries to focus, with a supreme effort he pushes through the agony of his body and casting his hands outward he weaves one of his most powerful spells.
Suffervefacio ventus tempestas! with a twist of his wrists a mighty column of swirling , searingly hot air erupts all around the white worm as the sirocco storm engulfs it.
Hp 12/69 ...not good
Csw
Corum howls in fury and charges the nearest wyrm.
Charge
Dam
Fail
The sudden gust of hot air blasts down on the enormous worm, forcing it's body down onto the ice. It shrieks as the scorching air sears it's thick skin.
Baknarla charges forward with Corum, raising her spear and plunging it deep into the Frost Worm's flank only to see it bounce off the thing's armour-like skin.
Hit
and
The worm takes a tremendous bite out of Corum as he rushes in, the snow suddenly spattered in deep crimson.
Floating in the air Greyston again reaches into his satchel and unleashes a torrent of explosives down on the creatures.
we have no chance against these things! They are frost worms Elleross shouts out as he struggles to stay focused if we kill them they will literally explode! The blast will end us all , we need to get away from here, all of you get to me and I will teleport us away. It is our only chance
success, just
The frst worm, constrained by the sticky strands of Greyston's tanglefoot bomb, strains against them and breaks free, raising it's head to the frigid air and screeching horribly.
The other worm takes another massive chunk out of Corum, the attack is brutal and almost fatal.
Forum's rage compels him to fight on regardless of his grievous wounds but he bears Elleross warning. Deep down a battle rages between the feral beast that is his rage and his conscious rational mind. It is a fight usually won by the beast but he has lost companions already and he.knows others will down without him to stand between them and harm.
In this instance his rational mind prevails and he trusts his fate to the spellcaster. He forces control over his rage and withdraws, sprinting back to the others. "Get us out of here then or we're wyrm food."
Following Corum's suit, Baknarla also edges away from the enormous worm.
Grayston flys down to Elleross. "Let's make this quick." He shouts out.
"Leave me if your magics cannot bare us all, Elleross. I have wings of my own if need be."
The group gathers around Elleros, reaching out and grabbing at his robe so that he can transport them away from this desperate battle.
But for the first time since they have known him, the elder wizard has miscalculated.
Sapphire realises it first.
Elleri, you can't. You have to take Baknarla, she is the only one who knows the way into the Fortress!
Her black blade fairly leaps into her hand as she looks at the terrible wounds suffered by the group - Elleros and Corrleon half frozen to death, Corum leaking like a plit waterskin.
It's alright, I will hold them off and by you time. You've got to get out of here! If we all fall then so does Golarion! Go, now!
Lucrezzia looks between Sapphire and Elleros.
Reckon I be stayin' too. I'm after keepin' you alive Sapphire if I can. And if I can't we'll be takin; what we can from these frosty swines.
She moves to stand beside Sapphire and before anyone can protest they both streak off through the air to engage the worms.
Lucrezzia unleashes a huge blast of fire. Flames erupt from beneath one of the worms in a column while Sapphire's black blade sings with the joy of battle.
Go Elleros! Sapphire screams again. Now!
The old elf tries to reach out and grab at the pair but he is too badly hurt , too slow, too old to reach them and he stares at his own cracked, bleeding blackened outstretched hands as they race away on their suicide mission.
Painfully he closes his hands into tight fists and wrings them in the air as he realises what he must do but it is without doubt the hardest thing he has ever tried to do.
He knows he must leave them behind, to stay was to die.
I’m sorry he says, his voice a croaking whisper and squeezing his eyes shut he wills them away and in an instant they are transported to safety and as he opens his eyes and sees the Hut before him he falls heavily to his knees as the shame and guilt and grief hit him like a hammer blow.
The silence of the clearing is in stark contrast to the howling wind of the crevasse, of the screams and shrieks of the worms.
Snow drifts slowly and settles on your shoulders. The numerous dead Frost Giants are now indistinguishable snow-covered lumps and the Hut, it's weird beak and stork-like legs tucked under it sits as still as a statue.
Baknarla says nothing but her mouth drops open and she makes a protective sign over her heart.
Greyston realises too quickly as he reaches out to grab on to Sapphire. "You're not staying if you stay we all stay!" He shouts as if what they said was insane. Elleross holds him back a split second before Sapphire and Lucrezzia vanishing from sight.
Standing in the familiar clearing Greystons heart sinks he knows what just happened he knows what it means but he can't let go."No! Take us back Elleross! You can't leave them behind! How could you do that!" He shouts out at the old elf grabbing on to him attempting to push him. "They won't last alone against them!" He shouts out again. The frustration flowing off his anger directed completely at the old elf.
As Greyston rages against Elleross, Corrleon looses a long and heavy sigh. He lowers his head for a moment, the ridges on his ears falling flat, as he raises the knuckle of his index finger up to bridge of his nose.
He sighs again, more slowly than before, then opens his eyes as a soft dome of soft, iridescent blue light ripples outward from him like a curtain of thin, ephemeral water. As it passes over each of his remaining companions, their wounds quickly begin to knit.
As the light fades way, so too does the burning halo above his head.
HP: 46/92
Cold Resist: 20
AC: 19 (17 T / 13 FF) (includes +1 from PoF & +1 from haste)
CMD: 22
F/R/W: +15/+11/+14
Lay on Hands remaining: 5/12
Smite Evil remaining: 3/3
Divine Bond remaining: 1/1
Stormlure remaining: 1/1
Hunter's Cloak minutes remaining: 10/10
Ongoing Effects
Favored Terrain (cold): +4 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Favored Terrain (urban): +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geo), Perception, Stealth, & Survival
Terrain Dominance (cold): +4/+4 vs terrain natives and +1/+1 vs cold subtype
Aspect of the Falcon: +3 competence perception, +1 to hit, crits = 19-20/x3
Elleross groans in pain as the young alchemist shakes him violently and shoves him to the ground, he doesn’t even try to prevent Greystons treatment of him. He was entitled to his anger, they all were.
i did the only thing I could. There was no other way he says sombrely trying to get to grips with what he had done. He kept turning the fight over and over in his mind but he could see no way that did not end in more death, maybe even the death of them all.
they gave their lives for us, they made their choice and forced my hand
<Dangerous place...> Baknarla says, feeling obvious guilt for what has happened having led you to the crevasse.
When Sapphire and Lucrezzia date their intention to stay Corum's instinct is to join them but he is all but spent and barely standing. He salutes them with his sword and says "You are the best of people. It has been an honour to fight beside you." His voice carries a note of utmost respect touched with a deep sorrow.
When they appear before the hut he sinks to his knees and weeps. He hopes they survive but knows that they just sacrificed themselves for the group.
He feels the warmth of healing magic settle on him and his bleeding slows. He moves over to Greyston and lifts him effortlessly off Elleross. He holds him by the scruff of the collar of his furs with his feet barely touching the floor.
"STOP THIS!"He barks. Then more softly: "They are gone Grey. There is nothing to be done now but honour them. They have given their lives for us. For Golarion. We are all sad but if we blame each other then we lose everything."
He looks down at the old elf. "Think of.the choice he just made. Elleross saved us but damned them. Could you have done the same?"
He smiles sadly "I couldn't but Elleross is a better man than me. You should thank him then join him in mourning our friends."
Greyston swings out as Corum with no effect as he misses with each swing. "Let me go!" He struggles. "We should have stayed! I could have brought them back!" He pulls himself free now and starts to pull out a few purple hued potion vials. "I have what we needed, I could have brought anyone that went down back!" He shouts out throwing the potions as hard as he can out into the tree line.
"They are dead! Just like everyone I get close to dies, this is a foolish mission it was foolish from the start. I cared for Sapphire! I... I didn't tell her how I felt but..." He tails off the tears running down his face now. "She'll never know, her last moments were of me running away. When I always said no matter what I'd protect her, I'd heal her." He lets out a long sigh as he looks back at Elleross on the floor. "You know what you really do remind me of my father, he gave and took away and said it was for my own good. He didn't think I was strong he just decided it all for me."
As Corrleons power washes away his wounds he pushes himself to his feet wishing it could wash away his actions. But Such thoughts were pointless, Sapphire and Lucrezzia were gone, there was no way they could survive and what he had done could not be undone no matter how much they wished for it.
he is entitled to his anger Corum, leave him be
Elleross says quietly as he sees the devastation written all over Greystons face. He had seen how Greyston looked at Sapphire, how he hung on her every word and he knew once what that feeling was like,
He had been forced long ago to murder his wife, the person he loved more than life itself and It almost destroyed him, now his actions had condemned their friends and Greyston had lost the one person he cared for and Elleross did not know if the young alchemist could Get past losing her.
Turning away from Greyston he makes his way toward the hut and as he passes Baknarla he says we will rest and return tomorrow to finish what we started. There is no other option
Baknarla nods but says nothing.
Elleros climbs the few steps to the Hut's door, feeling more weary than he ever has before in his long life.
He grasps the handle and turns, but the door swings open not onto the inviting sitting room they left. For some reason the Hut has reconfigured and before you is a long, dark, featureless corridor.
As the long corridor stretches before him Elleross sighs audibly
Of course you would damn well change now. Why not. he mutters to himself as he steps inside
The hallway seems to stretch forever without end and Elleross is immediately reminded of a book he read long ago
five and a half minute hallway.... he says thinking out loud as he gazed into the dark corridor and he hoped after everything this was not a bad omen.
Without glancing back at the others he begins to walk along the corridor.
Greyston feels knee first into the snow as he watches Elleross walk off into the hunt. Everything hurts, he was like an exposed nerve. Looking down at his hands, as they were shaking uncontrollably. He wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
Elleros begins walking down the hallway, though he is doing so for a lot longer than five minutes. At least he assumes so. Once inside those black walls seem to be made from nothing. They do not feel like wood or stone or plaster, just.... darkness.
The group follows on behind, the light the old wizard produces seemingly being absorbed by this unnerving place.
On and on they go for what seems like hours, trudging ever on into the hallway. At one point Greyston looks back but instead of seeing the hallway stretch off in the direction they came, he comes face to face with a wall mere inches from his nose. The wall follows, moving after them and closing in on them with every step they take.
The alchemist, already fraught to the edge of madness is about to scream when Elleros spots a door ahead.
It is a plain door of oak, a porcelain knob sitting in it's centre.
Elsewhere, a hiss of breath moves through paper-thin lungs. Something is different. Something has changed.
Greyston turns everything just trying to make him snap today, it is almost too much. As Elleross points out the door ahead he pushes past everyone and reaches out to open it.
The room, itself, is not that remarkable. A modestly-appointed sitting room or parlor, with a thick white carpet. The sole humanoid presence seems barely alive. A female human, almost certainly, perhaps of Tian heritage. Brittle white hair, near long enough to drag on the floor, in complete disarray. She wears a red silken gown and seems almost motionless in her chair.
Until her eyes shoot open suddenly, pupils dark as midnight shining in the impossibly-old face. "最後に！ 無料!" she says, just as suddenly.
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At first glance the creature looks little more than a bundle of bones wrapped in red silk.
But then it begins to animate, pulling itself up into a stooped-crouch on withered limbs. It's face is like old, thin paper and it's hands end in pointed, claw-like fingers.
It looks for all the world like a Mummy or Morgh but those purple eyes bely an intelligence and vitality not congruent with the decrepit frame.
The creature tilts its hideous head inquisitively. A finger dressed in wrinkled parchment rather than flesh points at the party.
"あなたはここにいますか Baba Yaga？"
The corridor seems to stretch ahead without end, bleak and featureless and perfectly fitting his black mood.
Elleross strides ahead of the group, determined to find the end of this damned corridor, for no other reason than to keep his mind off the two friends he left behind to die.
His mind told him it was the only thing he could do to save more of the group, but his heart hung heavy in his chest. Could they have survived , somehow? He did not see how but maybe they should have tried.
At last with a doorway in sight he has something else to focus on but before he can examine it Greyston rushes past him lunging for the door
Greyston, wait... he says but his voice falls on deaf ears as he flings open the door to reveal the strange skeletal creature that seemingly had Inhabited this room for a long time.
His first thought was that it was some kind of undead and he reached immediately for his spell pouch only to stay his hand as the creature began to speak.
Moving up beside Greyston he tries to identify the language but it is not a tongue he was familiar with and then she spoke again this time ending in the common tongue.
what do you know of Baba Yaga? Who are you? Why are you within her hut? Elleross asks wondering if this was another poor souls trapped in the hut or something altogether more dangerous.
Corrleon watches as the strange travelers, now bearing wounds far deeper than he had any art, craft, or power to mend, step once more into the alien hut that brought them to his world. He mutters a soft prayer to Apsu beneath his breath and that his light would be a lamp to their feet.
He turns away, heeding Elleross' previous warnings of the structure, and looks to Baknarla. "It is a grievous thing, sometimes, to watch others suffer while knowing that neither empathy nor sympathy can span the gulf. I do not know how long they will remain within the witch's hut, but you and I should find shelter, my adlet friend."