"Ok Nishimura, I just wanted to see how the curse works. It's quite the motivator seeing what it did to you. I bet you're happier now." He moves over to a large chair and falls into it. Making more notes in his book.
"Well now we're here... I think we should rest. After all, this and I'm sure Nishimura could use some proper rest? and more information on what we're really doing."
"I do not think of myself as particularly vain, but I would rather earn my old age through years of victories."
Corum dumps His pack and takes off his furs. He stretches out on them and begins eating his dry rations. "Rest. Yes."
He takes a fine needle and thread from his pack and begins crudely stitching some of his still bleeding wounds. His stitches are rough and uneven, so much so that blood still seeps from the cuts he is trying to close. After a while he swears in frustration and puts the needle away.
He turns to Nishimura. "That is something we agree on. Piling up the victories. I already yearn for battle though I still bear the marks of the last one."
He pauses then. "But what of our friends outside? If we rest safely here, they risk themselves out there. We need to stick together."
He stands, puts on his furs and grabs his pack and weapons.
"Wounded or not I'll not let them fare on their own out there. Anyone else coming?"
The group finds Corrleon and Baknarla's tracks easily enough in the deep snow and follows them deeper into the woods.
By the time they have got there, the capable pair have already constructed a very respectable shelter - though only large enough for the two of them - and have a fire burning away. A set of footprints head further still into the woods and it seem as though Baknarla has set out to hunt.
Watching the miraculous transformation before him Elleross half wished his own old age could be reversed as easily.
that has worked far more efficiently than I expected, it is good to meet you young lady Elleross says to the girl before him now Corum is right we need to find the others and introduce you, we will be safer together he says but even as he says the words they taste of ashes in his mouth as he the gut wrenching loss of sapphire and lucrezzia hits him again and his face is clouded by a deep sadness and guilt.
Nishimura your quest and ours seems to have taken the same bitter road, we have both lost friends and companions but this curse drives us onwards toward the same goal and we need you. Are you able to heal Corum? I will do what I can for him but it will drain a great deal of my power to do so he says as he motions for Corum to wait for a few minutes.
let me see if I can mend some of those wounds Corum, we need you at full strength he says and he begins to cast a long and complicated spell, weaving together two of his prepared combat spells and altering their composition to replicate the divine healing that clerics dole out with such ease
Nishimura-san gapes at Correlleon. "Sir, I'm afraid I've not seen your like before. Forgive my stare." She bows.
Corrleon rises, his ear ridges rippling briefly with surprise as the group arrives with an extra in tow. "And I did not expect your companions to return with another traveler. Are there a great many of you within that chicken-legged hut?" The question is asked mostly rhetorically, but the triaxian's genuinel confusion and surprise are plain enough.
He then looks to the newcomer and nods formally, reflecting the gesture of her bow. "Indeed, these snows have seen many foreign feet tread across them of late. I am Stalacorr Leo Nuphrides Bett Chalcedarr Dus Daxionnen, but your companions simply call me Corrleon. Apsu's grace be with you, traveler." He gestures to his fire, inviting the group as a whole to sit and be warmed.
The Tian woman's eyes fix intensely on the fire. "Yabu's Rage, it has been too long! Does anyone need further healing? Sir Wizard, I've never seen an arcanist heal before...what is the source of your power?"
"Thanks Ellri." Corum's wounds all but disappear and they head out to find the others.
He looks at their shelter with approval and says "good job that. We'll need shelter too. You all get warm and leave that to me."
He spends the next hour or so gathering fallen logs and other material and sets to building a lean to shelter for the rest of them.
Open at one side, which Corum has calculated is the Lee side of the prevailing wind, onlookers would question how it will keep it's occupants warm. But Corum has built such a shelter many times and the secret is in the position of the fire.
He builds a fire a.safe distance before the open side of the shelter, a fire which at first seems too small. Then a short distance beyond that he drives some stakes into the ground and between them layers several logs. The result is a crude wall that reflects the heat from the fire back into the shelter doubling it's efficiency and making the inside of the lean-to warm and light.
Standing back to inspect his labours he nods in satisfaction and begins piling more wood nearby to dry in the warmth of the fire ready to use to keep the fire going through the night.
He sits inside, on the patch of ground he has cleared of snow and sodden leaves, and begins eating more rations.
Elleross smiles a little at Corrleons surprise.
the hut is unpredictable, it’s layout changes seemingly at random. How many creatures actually reside within it is anyone’s guess. We re entered to find it had changed to a single corridor that led to this lady’s prison, she like us is cursed to find Baba Yaga but after losing her companions the hut trapped her inside. I do not know if it was luck or some other power at work but she was nearly crying Haynes by the curse, aged almost to the point of death. When we found her she was very old and frail, now she has re joined the quest she has been restored he says trying to explain what has happened
Turning back to Nishimura He says
my power comes from many many years of research. I taught myself to manipulate the arcane forces, I also studied the many forms of magic including the divine and natural magics favoured bybthose who draw power from the land.
It became a working theory of mine that all magic is fundamentally the same and I began to play with the forms of the arcane, manipulating the spells and now I am able to utilise my spells in new ways, changing their structure and melding them into new results.
It is difficult and uses a lot more of my power but it works he says by way of explanation.
"Corrleon it is good to see you and Baknarla have set your selves up well here." He looks over the camp and then sees Corum being to gather up more wood for a bigger fire. "I think I might go back to the hut. You all seem to have it handled here."
"Corrleon it looks like you and Baknarla made a nice camp for yourself here." He looks around feeling the bitter cold bite into him. "Nishimura it was a pleasure to meet you even though we were thrown together because of this curse and I'm glad we could free you, I hope we can talk again but. I'm going back to the hut, I've no idea if it will take me to the center room but I need some time alone."
Elleross watches Greyston leave, if he needed to be alone then so be it. There was little he could say to console him. He had more than enough to deal with himself.
Turning away he makes his way over to the fire his leg paining him more than usual and he limp a little more pronounced.
Setting himself down he pulls out his pipe and tobacco and lighting it with a stick from the fire he draws deeply on the smoke and exhales with a long sigh, his thoughts were bleak as he saw again the fight with the frost wyrms and again he wonders if there was any other way, but he knew such thoughts were ultimately pointless. He could not change what had been done. There was no going back.
Nishimura come join me, I know little about the lands you come from, they are shrouded in mystery. The Oni you worship Yabu, you must have great faith to not have succumbed to despair inside the hut.
To be trapped like that with no hope of escape, alone having lost your companions and ravaged by the curse...I must say I am impressed, it is rare to find such mental fortitude in one so young
He says as he blows a series of smoke rings out over the crackling fire.
Nishimura-san nods. "My people were rescued from fates worse than death by Yabu's Rage. Her Magma Menstrus cleansed our island of the filthmen who had enslaved all women. When all seemed lost, I remembered their screams. For Lady Yabu will I find the source of this winter and kill it with Her Fire." Her eyes never leave the fire. She does, however reach to the wizard indicating she would like a smoke as well.
of course, how remiss of me Elleross says as he reaches into his pack and draws out a spare pipe and hands it to Nishimura.
He then draws out a finely crafted wooden snuff box fitted with copper filigree, hinge, and clasp and he wonders again what trouble Dell was getting himself into.
sargavan tobacco, A fine gift from a friend. I hope you enjoy. he says handing her the snuff box
we will need all the blessings Yabu can grant you if we are to see an end to the winter and an end to the witches. he says and then he begins to tell her what they are likely to face in the fortress they hope to infiltrate.
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As Greyston rises, Corrleon stands as well, "Let me walk with you, Greyston." He waits until the group is well out of earshot of the camp before striking up any conversation with the man.
"You bear a terrible burden, Greyston, and I do not refer to this curse you share with the others and the newcomer." His ears fall flat, the ridges collapsing down and his face softens deeply. "We have only just met for the large part, but -" his words stall at a hitch in his breath and Greyston can see emotion already welling in the triaxian's eyes.
"Let me just say that Sorrow is a long and deep road. I understand the desire to be alone while walking it," he gestures back the way they'd come, past their camp and to his simple homestead far off in the wilds where has lived alone for years upon years as if to illustrate his point, "but know that you do not have to. And while I know I cannot offer any words that will help, I can sit beside you, in the dirt and snow, and grieve." He places one hand gently on the alchemist's shoulder, moisture stilled welled up in his eyes.
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The next morning the group gathers once again.
Though most spent the night in the frozen forest, they perhaps slept better than Greyston who despite the warmth of the Hut's sitting room feels cold and isolated.
Baknarla looks somewhat sheepish over the smoke of the small fire she lit that morning to cook a small meal of some unidentified mammal and a handful of berries.
I know it is hard to lose members of your family. she says. But if we go back I can still guide you to the entrance to the Fortress. Have you told the new friend of the Fortress and Yrax?
When Baknarla approaches Nishimura, she gasps. "かわいいね!"
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"Corrleon, I appreciate it." He holds back a fit of tears as he attempts to get his words out. "But I just need this now, I need to be alone I can't stand to think of Sapphire not being there. Her strength her will to keep moving helped me more than I wish to accept."
"We found Lucrezzia, and she died. Who's next? I don't want to die Corrleon, not for Baba Yaga. I would rather it was me in place of Sapphire and Lucrezzia. I would happily trade everything to save them." He pulls away now. "I thought myself a bold man at the start of all this but I was running, I've always been running and now I can hardly keep up. It's been so long I want to go back home to a place I can never go. To feel the embrace of Emily to know nothing bad could happen to me in her arms. But I let her down just like I have everyone else." The knot in his stomach returns as he feels himself almost throw up.
"I thank you, but I'm no good to anyone tonight. The Hut gave us Nishimura because of what happened. How long tell we add another damned to our party. You are so beyond me Corrleon, if I didn't have this chain around my neck I'd have run a long time ago."
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Alone in the hut didn't make it any better, Corrleon catching up to him that didn't help either it was all just building up and now seeing just what the curse does he had to think of a way out. I've come so far, the things I've seen and duplicated maybe I can reverse what the curse does stop the side effect.
Moving over to the alchemical supplies he begins to prep for a long night of work, taking out a large bottle of whiskey he starts to pour a large drink and downs it.
He pulls out everything from his bag looking for his formula book but spots the flask Del got him, he squeezes it and then places it back in his bag. Remembering the man who got out with his life.
Throughout the night, he would stop and look around the overriding feeling of someone watching him catching movement just out of the corner of his eye but then nothing was there.
Greyston then spends the night working over his notes attempting to brew something that might rival the curse, every now and then downing a strange colour liquid the taste getting more bitter as the night goes on. He would test more than a dozen before the sun came up.
-------------------
Leaving the Hut Greyston looks half dead, the night of experiments showing on his pain, cold sweat face.
Breaking into the clearing he holds up his hand to show it's him and then sits silently for a moment, arriving as Baknarla starts to speak of the fortress taking out an old tarnished flask and drinking deeply from it. Turning to look at Nishimura as she gasps. "That's where we're going, we got ambushed but these massive creatures and there were we lost two of us."
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Corrleon nods softly, his eyes glistening and his ears still low and flat. He starts to respond, but the words catch in his throat. He draws his lips into a tight line and gently squeezes the alchemist's shoulder. "I know, my friend. I know." He stops several yards from the Hut's door and as Greyston opens it to step inside, he adds in parting, "Grief can be a tyrant, Greyston." He leaves the thought, And I will happily face her with you whenever you need, unspoken, though his simple nod communicates it clearly enough. "Be well, my friend. We will see you in the morning."
Corrleon chuckles at Nishimura's outburst. "Yes, yes, I imagine you will see stranger sights yet than Baknarla here or myself, newcomer. But, joking aside, our task is a harrowing one and you should steel yourself for it." Corrleon's tone shifts at this, his ear ridges rippling, leaving him with a more angular, serious countenance; the normal softness in his demeanor gone. "The path we walk is now a grave, and beyond a fortress held by a dragon warlord who has rendered Baknarla's people displaced and my own besieged. We walk into hardship and violence, both for the good of Triaxis and to placate this Baba Yaga who chains each of you so."
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As the night draws in around them and the temperature falls Elleross settles himself on a fairly comfortable lot and leans back against the trunk of the tree behind him and as he puffs lightly on his well worn pipe he closes his eyes to the world around him.
The air around him was crisp and cold but he felt no discomfort, not here.
Even though the garden was gripped in perpetual winter it’s bite did not reach him.
He moves slowly across the frozen ground, his stride strong and even, no sign of a limp at all and soon enough he passed the grand archway that led to the frozen lake at the centre of the garden.
The black rider as ever reached heavenward in desperation.
Reaching the frozen lake he stepped out onto the ice and shot forward, gliding at tremendous speed toward the pearlescent Spire at its centre.
Reaching the circular door of crystal he looks at the etching of the wild girl and her wolf and he hangs his head in sorrow.
we have lost more of our Pack Nasrin, I ...lost them. But we have gained as well and we continue he says and as the door swings open the crystal likeness of his fallen companion nods its head in understanding and swiftly he ascends the stairs.
Stepping into the large circular room he moves across the dark marble flooring and gazed up at the newest addition to the room.
One of the huge floor to ceiling windows was now transformed into an exquisite stained glass work of art. Before him writhed the great frost wyrms, their bodies glowing with an icy blue light and locked into mortal combat with them were their lost companions.
Sapphire and Lucrezzia.
Sapphire was depicted mid flight, hurling herself at the creatures her black blade reaching eagerly toward them while Lucrezzia stood before them defiant and courageous to the last as she unleashed her powers upon them.
At the base of the window one of the stained glass panels bore a bold epitaph
sine sacrificio nulla victoria
without sacrifice there can be no victory he reads the words in a whisper his heart heavy, sitting before the window he remembers them and all they did together.
we will not let your sacrifice be in vain, we will end this winter he says with a grim determination as this latest loss further polarised his hatred of the witches and their ilk
"So, we are to continue our quest by freeing these kawaii dog people? This is WAY better than being stuck in a room!"
"Baknarla's people are called adlets, but yes, essentially. Yrax has forced them from their lands and they now suffer for their separation from it. Perhaps in not so different a way as you suffered while within the hut."
"Yrax's blood will stain these snows just as he has been a stain here." There's a glint of something in her eye as she casually swings her meteor hammer.
Corum laughs at that and punches the air. "Yes! You got that right my new friend."
"Then let's get to it..." He hesitates a moment realising just where they are going, and what he hopes not to witness. "The quicker we get this done the quicker we can be away from all this."
With the group gathered Elleros teleports them back to the crevasse.
You steel yourselves for what you might see there and for Greyston in particular the prospect of seeing Sapphire and Lucrezzia's broken bodies is almost too much to bear. And yet the image keeps swimming to the surface of his consciousness and he cannot shake it off.
When you open your eyes you are back in the deep, icy crevasse. A wind whips through and snow drifts steadily into your faces.
Almost collectively, your mouths drop open.
The site is an enormous battleground. In a circle a hundred yards across, there are swathes of blue blood and viscera. Huge areas of ice have been melted into weird shapes from blasts of powerful fire and chunks of ice and rock have been thrown up here and there as though belched from the ground.
There is no sign of the second worm, nor of Sapphire and Lucrezzia.
Corum inspects the scene and says with deep respect. "They killed one of the worms here. Just the two of them. What a battle that must have been."
He turns to Greyston then. "no sign of Sapphire or Lucrezzia though. I bet they chased the other wyrm off eh? Right back to its cave."
Greystons throat is dry, he's never felt colder in his entire life when they appear back in that crevasse. It takes every ouch of his self-control to stop himself shaking and retching. "I'm sure they are in its cave now having a wild time." He says sarcastically, not really paying attention to Corum but just looking out at the battlefield. "Let's keep moving. Baknarla can you lead on?"
"I have prepared a protection prayer where Lady Yabu will shield us all from the cold. Would you like me to cast it? I am unfamiliar with the spellcasting consent culture of Avistan."
Corrleon moves forward slowly from the back of the group. He places one hand on Greyston's shoulder as he passes, offering a single, firm squeeze to express his solidarity with the man. As he passes Elleross, he extends the same silent gesture.
Arriving at the edge of the crater-like depression, he turns to look at Nishimura and nods in understanding but then shakes his head. "I am already inured to the cold much more than you travelers are, but thank you for the offer."
He then turns back to the crater and takes a knee, touching one open hand to the ice and with the other making the sign of Apsu's wing over his heart. After a few moments of silence, he rises and waits patiently for the others to ready themselves for the trek before them. We the group moves to depart, he does his level best to remain alert to any possible dangers.
HP: 92/92
Cold Resist: 20
AC: 19 (17 T / 12 FF)
CMD: 22
F/R/W: +15/+11/+14
Lay on Hands remaining: 12/12
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
The group[ trudges on, trying not to look back at the site of the battle with Frost Worms.
After around ten minutes of ploughing through the crevasse, the natural path through it diverges north west.
Baknarla knows that is the way to Ivoryglass. An old way, and a secret one. Help me with this last thing, to retrieve Sarnok's relics so that I might inspire my people once more.
Even as she speask she doesn't stop, but continues following the path south. Perhaps it is for fear that now you know the way to Ivoryglass, you may not accompany her.
Pushing on, you enter a wide, open area.
Cracks and fissures riddle this jagged, frozen grotto. Sharp icicles hang from the uneven ceiling and thick ice covers much of the walls. A vertical sheet of ice fills the western end of the cavern, and the frozen remains of several creatures are visible within the ice, sealed within the frozen wall.
Teleporting back to the place where he condemned their friends to die was hard, cruel hard but there was no other choice and as he gazed out silently over the debris field he knew they could not have survived, it would have taken a miracle.
He feels Corrleons hand on his shoulder and he nods slightly to the triaxian in acknowledgment but he has no words.
Moving along side Nishimura he says any help you can offer the group will be gratefully received, I for one would be glad to receive your blessing, thank you he says as he makes his way after Baknarla.
She casts Endure Elements, Commmunal happily. She didn't bring her winter kimono.
This is it! Baknarla says excitedly, rushing up to the ice wall. Sarnok rests here! as she turns her wolfish grin drops into a look of shock and some fear.
She drops into a crouch, ready to fight as she spots something lurking on the roof of the cavern. A huge eye opens in this conical creature’s front, just above a toothy mouth. Long strands of fibrous material whip from its sides.
Corum spins around, his sword a blur as it leaps from its scabbard. He stands in a crouch next to Greyston with it held ready to strike.
"You bomb that thing to the nine helps and I'll keep the tentacles away."
Corrleon's bow leaps into his hand, but the triaxian doesn't take a shot immediately. Rather, he calls out, "Terrazen Zerata!" and a flash of light lances down from somewhere far above, limning him in a shimmering glow before it gathers in a radiant, pearlescent halo behind his head.
HP: 92/92
Cold Resist: 20
AC: 20 (18 T / 13 FF)
CMD: 23
F/R/W: +15/+11/+14
Lay on Hands remaining: 11/12
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): +1 to AC, to hit & damage
"たわごと！巨大な氷の膣です！" Nishimura curses as the thing appears. "Eat a hot ball!" She swings her meteor hammer in a tight circle, and a bead of fire flies towards the strange creature.
Corrleon watches the newcomer's magics fizzle and his ears fall flat in concern. His voice, though earnest, is soft with encouragement, "You are far from you home, Nishimura and your Yabu has sustained you thus far; do not let your faith waver now!"