"Well, my father did send me here to stop an evil, so I'm guessing this probably is that evil. Besides, the white men would be lost without us."
Digger vanishes into the swirling snow from the portal. He feels a brief sensation of falling, as if he is tumbling, or possibly as if gravity has changed directions.
He falls forward into a 4 foot deep snowdrift, briefly disappearing. Despite the snow, he doesn't feel especially cold. As he scrambles to his feet, his gaze follows the ebony foreleg of a massive horse (massive like a Clydesdale, not giant or anything). He follows the curve of the creature's flank to find a gaunt rider in black armor that looks like something out of a museum. A spike of blue ice protrudes from the man's chest as though he has been speared.
As Digger watches, the horse fades into a black smoke that blows away on the wind. The man falls heavily to the snow. His eyes stare up into Digger's, and he speaks more forcefully than Digger might think he could given his condition,
"Traveller, you must listen to me. My time is short..."
Digger barely has time to notice his surroundings. The portal remains, hovering just above the ground. Here, though, the snow is being sucked into the portal rather than blowing out.
He finds himself in another forest, this one much different. The trees are all coniferous, and much larger. Without thought, his subconscious realizes that this forest is much older, much less touched by man than the wood he has been walking through. He is on a wide trail or small road, heavily covered by snow.
"Heya, pal, what happened? You look like you need a doctor."
"I was attacked by the servants of Queen Elvanna. She has betrayed her Mother. The other Riders have fallen, and I am the last."
Digger's head tilts like a confused dog. "...er, right, of course. I have a friend who's a doctor ...should be dropping by ...can I get you somewhere safer?"
William blinks looking at the spot where Digger disappeared. "I- I thought the consensus was that we were to close this thing, not jump into it and-" some rational part of William's mind screams in rage "-and disappear. Did the boy seem suicidal to you?"
"I see no way to close it from this side. Do you? Maybe it can be closed from the other side. At any rate, I'm not going to leave Digger to face the dangers there alone"
With that, he grabs Haamid by the scruff of the neck and they both step in together
Fang also walks into the portal.
The wind flowing through the portal resists slightly before tossing you into the snow next to Digger and the Black Rider.
"No, there is no safe place for me now. I can feel the power of the Mantle ebbing, flowing out as quickly as my life's blood. Listen! You must find Baba Yaga. Only Baba Yaga can defeat Elvanna and stop this madness. Only the Queen of Witches can undo what her daughter has done!"
His face contorts in pain and fervor. It takes a moment for you to realize that he is speaking in your native tongue.
"Oh, Jesus." says laconically William before walking into the portal himself.
"Doc! Can you help this guy?"
"Uh, who is Elvanna? I have heard stories of Baba Yaga but I thought her a myth. Then again, myths seem to be coming true today"
"Elvanna is the Queen of Irrisen...but of course that won't mean anything to you. Elvanna is the Queen of a kingdom of eternal winter ruled by Baba Yaga's daughters. Every 100 years, Baba Yaga returns to take the Queen away and replace her with a new queen. Elvanna has done something to prevent Baba Yaga's return, and has attacked me and my two companions. We are the harbingers who bring word of Baba Yaga's arrival. With her power secure, Elvannaa intends to stretch her icy power across the worlds using these magical portals, blanketing everything in eternal winter. You must find Baba Yaga, only she can stop this madness."
William wipes the snow from his face as he tries to take in the surroundings, until he hears that someone needs help. Retrieving the doctor's bag, he hurries to the dying man to try to understand, and possibly heal, what is killing him.
"Where can we find Baba Yaga? The stories put her in Siberia, should we go there?"
"Good, you speak Chinese. That will make things faster. Who is this Baba Yaga, and why has she gone missing? Also, where is an Irrisen?"
It doesn't take much of a doctor to understand that the man's problem is the large ice spear that has penetrated his torso back to front and still protrudes from his torso. The challenge is understanding how he could still be alive, but William has seen men linger in death from terrible wounds before.
"Baba Yaga, my master, is the Mother of Witches. You must use her Dancing Hut to follow Baba Yaga. The hut is a powerful object that can cross great distances, even travel between worlds. If you can control the hut, it can take you to Baba Yaga. Elvanna stole the hut and put it on display in Irrisen’s capital, Whitethrone, on the north shores of Glacier Lake, as a symbol of her power. The hut has many keys—objects attuned to the hut—that can take it almost anywhere. I managed to secure two of these keys, but Elvanna stole their power to prevent anyone from using the hut to find her mother. Once they are reactivated, placing the keys in the hut’s cauldron will retrace Baba Yaga’s path. I can reactivate them for you, but you will have to carry them. My end draws nigh.”
"Right. Makes sense. Walkinghot, keys, baby googoo."
"And where is this lake from here?"
So we went to a whole different world, like Dorothy? Hard to believe and yet a good explanation as for why magic wasn't real in our world before.
William marks in his mind every last nonsensical bit of information. "I'm afraid it does. A wound like this one, there's nothing I can do save for making you more comfortable." He draws a vial of morphine and a syringe from his bag. "One more question, if you can. What is the name of this world?"
"Golarion, the world is Golarion. If you will accept this quest, I will bestow upon you what power I can to aid you in your journey."
"We obviously have litte choice except to accept this quest. We can't let Fimbulwinter occur on our planet. Although I admit to thinking that I'm not at all up to it, I'll do what I can. Maybe it will be like the great Epics where the travellers miraculously succeed. Although in the Epics many die on the way"
"Go north to the edge of the wood, then west to the edge of the lake, take these gifts, find the hut, find the Crone." He points up the path, north, you suppose. Then he reaches for a bag at his waist and removes an old fashioned plague mask and a hank of white hair.
"These are the keys, my death will empower them. Take them to the Hut, place them in the Cauldron."
At that, he grasps the ice lance and rips it from his chest. Blood fountains from the cavity, spraying you. Where blood lands, your skin burns or freezes, but this is somehow invigorating rather than painful. You feel a surge of energy and wellness.
Level 3, huh? Righto :-)
Unfazed by the blood staining his overcoat, William composes the corpse of the uncommon traveler and closes his eyelids before rising back up.
"So, let me sum this up. We were just transported to a different world handed a quest upon which the fate of this world rests, one not any less vague than the search for the Holy Grail, and certainly one quite colder. We are in a land that might as well be a realm of Faerie, without much more than the clothes we are wearing, the weapons we are wielding, and direction to where we are to go, and we have just a few inklings about the uncanny laws of physics and -ugh- magic regulating it. Does anyone feel we are out of our depth? Master Singh, you spoke about Siberia, did what the man said ring any bells?"
"I know at least some of the stories. She is a great and powerful witch. She is often kind to children but sometimes eats them. She demands respect and will react VERY badly to people being flippant.
Never heard of her having daughters and I certainly haven't heard of this Irrisen"
"I think we are in the land of the Oni. I do not know what these Faeries are that you speak of."
"Christ in Heaven, you can speak English?" blurts out an astonished William at Fang.
"Maybe it's this ...Golarion? This ...uh, dead guy, well, we understood him."
"Certainly the Christian Religion talks of the time before the Tower of Babel, when all could understand each other. Maybe this Golarion is before the Tower?. Hmm
Haamid, can you understand me? Can you speak to me?"
Hammid just looks at Naajy, blinks, and says nothing
Edit: Changed phrasing. I realized that neither Naajy or myself should have used potentially insulting language. My apologies if anybody noticed my old wording and was insulted
Digger looks through the dead man's belongings to see if he has any ID or money or, well, anything useful. The snub nose in his pocket and the rifle he used poorly before seem ...no longer enough.
"No, I'm pretty sure you're speaking Chinese." replies Fang rather sarcastically.
Digger finds that the man is wearing a heavy black robe a thick leather belt, fine black riding boots, and a straight double edged dagger with a matched carved ivory handle and scabbard.
This is a Russian style kindjal
Even with various bonuses both of those are going to fail
Digger starts taking the man's clothes.
Fang shivers and wraps the bearskin around himself a bit tighter.
"Oh, grisly, this is human bone."
William picks the weapons, since nobody else appears interested. "I say we either find shelter or move north as quickly as possible. Assuming the sun's direction to be the same, it should be... that way."
"That is as good a direction as any"
You move along the path, slogging through the heavy snowdrifts between ancient conifers. The air has the feel of more snow coming, but for the moment the air is clear. After nearly an hour of difficult walking, you hear distant sounds, people yelling and screaming, dogs barking and howling, and something you don't recognize, an odd chuffing and screeching that sounds somewhat birdlike. You can't see anything on the curving path, but the sounds can't be too far ahead.
Fang, realizing he is still carrying the chest from the cave, sets it down and tries to open it.
The chest is locked.
Digger tries to identify the sound. He takes out his lock picks and works on the chest.
Whatever the sound is, it is something Digger has never heard before, but it sounds large, like a bear or a lion.
While Fang is probably considering whether to punch through the chest or not, Digger finesses the lock.
Raising the lid, you can see that the chest contains a collection of coins, jewels, and artwork. The chest holds four small iron flasks, four pieces of blue quartz that look like diamonds, a much smaller but much more authentic diamond, a ruby necklace. There is also a small painting of a snowy city, three rings set with sapphires, and a scabbard for a sword that must be three feet long. There are also quite a few coins that look to be real gold, plus some weird dimes and pennies.
William whistles at the sight of the treasure. "I guess that this answers the question of what they use as currency. These flasks... these must not be ordinary, if they were mixed in with this kind of bounty."
"Maybe it's some of that real good whiskey rich folks drink? Wherever we are, it seems we're rich."