Grumbling, William shoves into his bag the two largest, most detailed books on magic theory and application that he can find, both citing a mysterious sage known as Treantmonk as the author.
"We could fortify the library, I've been in a siege..." he mumbles, livid at the thought of missing out on knowledge, as he readies the rifles and returns to the ice platforms.
"So, it was some sort of rhyme that activated, maybe it's a Snow White Mirror type of trick... The place that here is most tall, take us one, take us all."
Naajy reluctantly allows himself to be separated from the library
Standing on the icy tiles, William subconsciously reaches out with a flicker of magical Power. Consciously, he may not have had time to gather too much, but his intellect manages a bit of control.
Your vision fills with fog and then clears. You see a triangle of crossed steel wires runs between three wooden posts in this crescent-shaped room that smells strongly from the bird droppings scattered across the floor. Along the south wall, open windows look down from a dizzying height, admitting a brisk, cold wind. Two doors exit this chamber, one next to a large mirror to the west and another standing
between a pair of wooden chests to the northeast. The room is filled with Ravens. Ravens resting on the steel wires, ravens on the rafters. There is a chatter of ravens as the squawk across the room, discussing the newcomers.
Tallak immediately bristles like a cat dropped into an icy bath, looking suspiciously at the ravens that fill the room. He looks out the window, taking a breath of fresher, if utterly frigid, air, and tries to gauge the distance to the bottom.
"Wh-what? It actually works with rhymes?"
Flubbergasted, William takes in his surroundings. "Huh. The villagers in Waldsby did say that the ravens were servants of the Witches."
The doctor cautiously moves to the chests, not hoping to find much other than bird feed.
"Odd choice of lock, a simple rhyme. Maybe you need to speak the right tongue to use it, and your magic allows you to speak it?" Walter scanned the new area, keeping one eye on the window - you didn't serve on a battlefield long before becoming wary of just how much harm ravens and rats could do. "I can believe they might serve evil magic, yes."
"Perhaps they serve evil. Or perhaps they just serve themselves
To the Ravens
"greetings my black feathered friends. My name is Naajy. We are not your enemies unless you wish us to be. Can you understand me? Can we be allies or, better still, friends?"
Walter raised an eyebrow, unsure if the magic that allowed them to speak to others in this odd land extended to animals...or if the other man had taken a few too many blows to the head.
Walter raised an eyebrow, unsure if the magic that allowed them to speak to others in this odd land extended to animals...or if the other man had taken a few too many blows to the head.
The ravens take an immediate interest in your arrival. It is hard to read their intentions, but they are certainly intrigued and attentive. As Naajy talks to them, they hop and flit from rafter to rafter, taking positions above him and staring down at him with their glossy black eyes, their heads cocked toward him.
One of the ravens croaks, but that is not translated into speech by whatever magic allows you to understand other creatures. Perhaps these simple beasts do not rise to the level of true language. It is unclear how the spell discriminates.
They appear to be evaluating your presence, not sure whether you are supposed to be here or not.
The ravens follow Naajy's motions carefully. They seem entranced by the strange man's power.
Snake charming, bird charming, not a lot of difference, I guess.
Rather than disturb the Indian man's concentration, William observes silently the situation.
"I think that I've convinced them to not attack us, if you want to look around a little. But move slowly and don't make any loud noises"
Naajy continues to talk to the ravens, trying to soothe them. He even has Haamid lie down so as to look less dangerous
Watching the Murder with caution, Walter moved to the door by the chests, and cautiously reached out for one of them, eyeing the birds to make sure they didn't respond in a flurry of murderous, beaked death.
As Sir Walter moves toward the chest, the birds become noticeably excited, hopping form foot to foot, heads turning sideways to study his movements.
One of them caws cryptically.
Sir Walter checks the lid of the chest and finds it heavy but not locked. As he lifts the lid, he finds that the chest is full of bags. Each bag contains corn, different sorts in different bags. None of which Sir Walter quite recognizes.
"I think that we should definitely give the corn to the crows, if they want it."
Walter looked at the corn, and the birds. "I think we have rations enough without it, wot? If it keeps them content they're welcome to it." He poured one of the bags out for them.
The birds move cautiously to the floor, first one, then another, then a few more. They pluck the grain from the stones of the floor, eyeing you all the time.
Seeing as the ravens don't seem hostile, for the moment, William opens the eastern door.
"How many floors do you think there are? Just three, the two we visited and the ground level? Or more?"
"Knowing witches? However many the one who lives here wishes, and then perhaps a dozen more just to have them. Subtlety is not often a magic user's stock in trade, for all that the subtlest spells can be the deadliest." Tallak answers, joining Johnson over at the East door.
"Better hope it doesn't have a cellar, I suppose." Walter followed through the east door.
The wooden door creaks open on cold hinges. The small room beyond is full of crates and lined with shelves. On the highest shelves are several dollhouses complete with tiny clothes and furniture.
An inspection of the crates finds a variety of preserved foodstuffs, salted meat, pickled vegetables, turnips, potatoes, onions.
silver medallion decorated with sapphires (worth 300 gp), a gold signet ring with the signet of the Jadwiga Tashanna dating back to the Witchwar 500 years ago (worth 250 gp), and three blue quartz crystals (worth 100 gp each).
The doll houses fascinate Naajy and he will definitely use his powers on them
"These doll houses seem REALLY out of place here. Let me try and see if there is anything strange about them"
"Fascinating." remarks the doctor, holding a turnip. "An alternate reality where evolution diverged enough to give us owlbears, never mind every trick that magic can bring forth, and they still grow the most bland and tasteless vegetable known to humankind."
"Oooh, check out this sweet knife!"
"Look on the bright side, we could make Shalgam ki Sabzi or the like. Indian cuisine knows how to turn a turnip into something rather less bland." Walter shrugged as he poked through the room.
"You've never tasted bland food if you haven't eaten Dahl in the Himmalayas. Now THAT is bland :-)"
Tallak picks up a bracelet in the shape of a dragon, examining it with a but if curiosity. "Hm. I'm not sure what this is made of; I've never seen the material up close before." He tucks it away in his pack and looks over at Johnson and his turnip. "Tasteless they may be, but they grow damn near anywhere you care to plant them and keep for an eternity and a half. That's important here."
"Oh, and, if the stories my parents told me are any guide, owlbears were an intentional creation. They're used as a parable about the dangers of dabbling in magic without being careful: apparently, their creator was their first victim, as well."
Upon further examination, Digger finds that his knife appears to be made entirely of silver. A strange material to create a blade with. So soft.
Finally, all of your rattling about attracts attention. As you search the strange storage room and the doll houses, the other door opens violently, slamming into the icy wall.
From the door appears a woman. Her skin is icy blue and her hair seems to more in a wind that you do not feel. She wields a wooden shield and a short spear. She calls out to the ravens. Your magic translates her words to, "Wing-ed friends, why have you not alerted me to the presences of these intruders? Who are these people?"
"Agricultural inspectors." answers William in the same language, presenting the turnip he's wielding. "There are toxic parasites in your vegetables, and unless you start treatment, any who eat them may experience dizziness, hallucinations and epilepsy! Who's responsible for checking the crops?"
Walter snorted in amusement.
"These English are crazy!! But, I already knew that"
"Sir, to reveal that now could lead to panic!"
"Agricultural inspectors? Who sent you? Why are there so many of you? And why are you so heavily armed? Expecting some dangerous carrots. And who dumped all of this grain out. The ravens are not to be fed so much...!"
"The Ice Queen ...multiple redundancies ...I'm not supposed to say much. You understand."
Tallak wisely remains silent and stone-faced, taking a sudden and keen interest in a nearby turnip.
William quickly thinks of some details to make Digger's statement more believable.
"You know better than me how dangerous these lands are: among us are experts in mundane and magical diseases, as well as bodyguards and a local scout. Hence the reason for our numbers and weapons. Are we talking to Madam Jadwiga?"
"I can't believe this is working
The blue skinned woman squints as she looks you over. "You are produce inspectors? And Orlov let you up here? I am Jaeress Sonn, priestess of Gozreh and keeper of the ravens here in the tower. All of the foodstuffs for the tower are stored here, other that what is in the kitchen on the level below. Above this is only the domain of Radosek and the mistress of the tower. Of course, she is away."
Digger certainly thinks that the woman is taken in, for the moment. The suggestion confuses her somewhat, but how else would you have come to be so high in the tower, and such a strange lot.
"Miss Sonn, a priestess is exactly what is needed. You know the lay of the land, if you can help us find out where these crops came from we can deal with the epidemics. I'll need you to find the records. And forgive my ignorance, but who is this Radosek?"
William proceeds to delve deeper into the lie, looking for a way out.
Walter looked around. Since he could only follow half the coversation it seemed better to look out for any other threats.
"Radosek Pavril is the current commander of the tower while Nazhena is away handling the invasions. Radosek maintains the portal devices. He has no time to discuss turnips with the lot of you. As for where they came from, I couldn't say. I'm sure they were raided from somewhere across the border. I can't imagine anyone would trade for turnips."
Amazed that this is working so far, Naajy decides that the best way he can contribute to this is to say nothing at all. The good doctor is on a roll, its actually beautiful to watch.
"Normally when the Limeys lie through their teeth I'm disgusted. But there is something to be said for it when the lies are in your favour"
"Well, then, ma'am, we need to be sure that the disease is not on its way to become endemic, or it could wreak havoc on the local bioequilibrium. In the worst case, we could have a full-blown famine. Would you kindly visit the nearest hamlet and check if any of the peasants have been taken ill? The symptoms include hallucinations, nausea, convulsions and unconsciousness. We will do the same after we've finished examining the crops. If we can isolate the infected areas, we can stop it from spreading."
The symptoms of ergotism seem plausible enough. Now get out, you gullible priest!