"Oh, I have an even better question for you crow" Samuel smirks and follows up after Ashling one "What are WE doing here?"
"Shush!!" Letitia hisses vehemently at Samuel. "This is a raven and you'd do well to apologize right now!"
She turns to the raven, seething, as she tries to salvage the relationship with one of Baba Yaga's allies. "Please overlook the ignorant comment by this one. He was raised in the south, and is as soft-headed as a summer child sometimes."
i doubt it will actually care about that considering the circumstances. We are the only hope of fixing the balance, little words don't mean much in the long run. There are some beings who might respect how he speaks more than praises. When you hear compliments and praises all day every day they get... tedious
The Raven ruffles its feathers when the party comes back
"very good, very good. you have proven yourself in the challenge of strength. You seek to follow Baba Yaga, but only the worthy will find her breadcrumbs.
It lowers its head, shaking off the amulet from around its neck. The iron amulet falls on the ground in front of you.
“This amulet holds only one of the three clues you seek. It reveals the first ingredient for Baba Yaga’s kettle. Look for this key where time catches up to us all.”
Letitia looks relieved that the raven apparently took no offense. Her expression of triumph, however, fades quickly. "Breadcrumbs..." she mutters.
She scoops up the amulet and turns it over in her hands as she studies it. She quickly casts detect magic and examines it for auras.
Letitia turns away from the raven without thanking it. She tries to keep her face calm and in control, but the corners of her mouth turn down and her lower lip trembles slightly.
"Baba Yaga's... Kettle!" remarked an amused Llewellyn, "Clearly we're were going to need eye of newt!" 'In the play if not in reality,' he thought but didn't say out loud.
Despite his levity, he considered what he'd heard about Baba Yaga and her Kettle. In some respects it was going to be like any witch's cauldron but Baba Yaga wasn't just any witch.
Samuel grits his teeth as Letitia calls his attention, but breaths relieved as the raven just deals well with the misconception.
"Where time catches up to us? Is he referring to death? Perhaps a graveyard or something alike?" Samuel looks around for something similar "Perhaps we should look for more clues in the tunnels"
"Mmm." murmured Llewellyn in appreciation, "A good guess Mr Samuel! Not sure where we'd find a graveyard round here though, wherever here is."
actually... i might be able to help explain. My brother during his studies with the fey learned that in their realm time runs differently... so it stands to reason that not all times run like our plane and some magics may be able to bypass time... Maybe we've gone back in time or something? I doubt it would mean death, that would be to easy...At this point i think its fair to say we are dealing with forces that shape the universe and world around us. Such fantastical concepts aren't out of reach She puts away and wraps whatever meat she can salvage and the pelt if possible, There are many things it could
mean, but as it said that amulet is the key...
Letitia sighs exaggeratedly as she starts heading back the way they came. "No. Just, no. It's a riddle, like the one for the tusks. It will be obvious when we see it."
She spins around once she's about halfway back to where they started from. "I couldn't have been the only one who heard. 'Breadcrumbs'? Baba Yaga isn't here. Likely, she's not even at Artrosia."
She throws up her hands in exasperation. Then she starts ticking off her fingers. "Queen Elvanna negated all the keys to the Hut that are here. So the only keys that work are the ones outside the Hut. Baba Yaga's kettle is what is used to control the Hut. So we need to find three keys to send the Hut someplace else that's not here. We've one clue so far, to one key. That means we need to find two more clues, and then find the keys, to go find the next breadcrumb!!!"
Letitia's voice gets more and more strained as she speaks. When she's done, her composure is nearly cracked and she's almost out of breath.
Ashling lets out a little giggle at Letitia losing her composure, We've made it this far, Elvanna is irrelevant, we are out of her reach.
"Uuuggghhhhhh!" Letitia groans in total vexation. She gives Ashling a venomous glare, then spins around and stomps back to the first chamber of the hut. She gives Ariadna a look that probably has the girl shrinking back as she moves past. She activates the library book and steps through the portal.
Callix follows Letitia and says nothing, extending out her aleskin before adding, "Drink. We need that sharp mind of yours calm if we're to pass the test. The first was clearly meant to be a test of strength and mettle, and now they test our wits..." She adds gently, "..so let's do our best to keep them."
"I had hoped we were close," she says softly before accepting the aleskin. "I thought Grandmother would be waiting for us in Artrosia. But no. Only more riddles, more breadcrumbs." She takes a drink and wipes her mouth on her sleeve before handing it back.
Calming as she takes Callix's words to heart, Letitia nods and straightens. "You are correct. Let's see if our wits are up to the next challenge."
Llewellyn raised an eyebrow, this was an interesting side of the Letitia's otherwise frosty character. So he too followed her through the portal, although just before he stepped thorough, he glanced at the fierce youngling and Mr Samuel and made a slight motion with his head to suggest they come too.
Overhearing the conversation he added quietly, "Mmm. I get the impression your Grandmother will not be easy or quick to find. Why even have a bunch of riddles? Likely to slow down and weed out those who are deemed unsuitable. Considering the power level of anyone your Grandmother might deign to notice sufficiently to regard them as unsuitable, we can be sure things are going to get hard."
Ash takes a breath and follows, If she didn't do these riddles anyone, could follow. including her enemies or those unable to actually help the situation which would worsen things. Or it could be part of a ritual of some sort, or even as preparation for things to come...To get to this point we had to fight a dragon, whose to say there isn't worse up ahead and these riddles and tests are to increase our strength
Letitia pitches her head back, a sign she hasn't fully mastered her current frustration. "Except she needs help. The Riders were bested. Her hut stolen. Elvanna still rules Irrisen. Why put us to the test when she should be drawing allies to her?"
When Ashling speaks, folds her arms and looks down, pondering. "It's true she needs to make sure we're not Elvanna's minions. And... Grandmother's ways are inscrutable. Maybe we're not meant to know."
Letitia looks up briefly and there's a deep homesickness in her eyes. Suddenly uncomfortable with all everyone's attention on her, she shakes off her melancholy and repairs her icy veneer well enough.
Callix nods at Ashling's statement, "Honestly, that's likely it. These tests probably make it very hard for anyone who supports Elvanna from reaching her -- perhaps while she's gathering her strength to strike back. Or, even more terrifying, Elvanna's stroke, whatever it was, has locked her away -- and these are simply the tests that were always there to keep out the rabble."
"The Black Rider said that her allies had orders to return to Artrosia if things should go badly." She looks at the amulet. "I fear that the secret fortress will not be our final destination. We may yet have a long journey still ahead."
Letitia is quiet for a moment, as if she is trying to get used to the idea. Soon, she nods and exits the library. "Let's check the other path, then."
Letita examines the amulet and finds using her magic that the amulet is a magical item in addition to being a clue. after a little study, Letitia figures out it is a brooch of shielding.
Llewellyn uses his knowledge and examines the amulet and the runes on it. the runes stand for the word "dragon"
The raven does not wait around for the discussion to unfold. he takes one boar tusk in each claw and flies off towards the shadowed tree boughs. as he flies away he leaves you with one last cryptic phrase
"look to the Mother when the moon is full!"
As the others try to figure out what the Raven's words meant, Letitia puts the pieces together. If Baba Yaga left breadcrumbs, it may be a longer trail than this single stop to find the Mother of Witches. the party now has one clue, but more will be needed. and you are still inside of the Hut, as proven again by Letitia opening the library.
Callix and Ashling try their best to console Letitia, helping her to see reasons why Baba Yaga may have made this all so complicated.
After some discussion, Letitis moves onwards. She peers. down the impossibly long corridor, which looks very much the same in either direction. she starts walking down the path the opposite way from where you started.
Replying to Ashling, Llewellyn said "Speaking of dragons, that's what the runes on the amulet stand for. I wouldn't be surprised if you'll get a chance for another notch on your belt before this is over!"
"look to the Mother when the moon is full!"
Llewellyn sighed, "That's either extremely obtuse or possibly a time limit... What is the current phase of Somal anyway?"
He pondered this as he followed the Jadwiga down the seemingly featureless corridor.
"It is not worth trying to understand the reasons of the Crone. Most probably not even her has a reason for this" Samuel looks down at the amulet after following the others "This rune you are saying, perhaps some part of a dragon is the key for the next transportation..."
The Taldan relaxes his musket over the shoulder while following Letitia through the corridor, in opposite direction this time "Humm... where time catches up to us all... the dragon we are looking should be there..."
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Letitia utters the words of a spell and places her hand on the wall, leaving an arcane mark to track their progress.
She lapses into a sullen silence as they move down the hallway. Listening to the speculation about the possible meanings of the raven's riddle, she shakes her head at the futility of guessing at this point.
"It's too soon to tell. We should just keep our wits about us when we leave the hut for Artrosia. The hints are for how we can discover the next set of keys. We won't find them in here, remember."
She gestures to the amulet in Samuel's hands. "Someone should wear that. It's a powerful defensive item. You've heard of the wizard spell that strikes unerringly? This will protect the wearer, completely shielding him or her from those attacks."
Samuel will remember that when they left Whitethrone the moon was waxing, only a few days after a New Moon.
the group continues to try out theories on what the phrases spoken by the raven might mean.
Letitia leads them down the corridor for some distance (it is hard to track distance very reliably in these long straight and non-descript halls) until another door can be seen in the wall.
A symbol carved upon the door resembles 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.
you know the carving to be the Iobarian witch symbol for night.
"The symbol for night," Letitia says confidently. "We should be prudent upon entering; there will probably be another being to test us. We've demonstrated strength so far, so likely wits, or agility, or something of that sort."
If no one else does, she pushes the door open.
"Probably wise to bring light with us, then," Callix suggests, quickly casting a light spell on her buckler, before nodding her readiness.
Samuel looks the amulet in awe and offers it to anyone that ones to wear it, as so far he is happy with the one he has around the neck. If no one wants it, he just stores it at the handy haversack as the other stuff.
"Let's keep our eyes open then..." the Taldan comments, just following after Callix light and into the room.
Llewellyn nodded to Callix, the soft radiance of her buckler would no doubt help Mr Samuel's aim.
"Indeed." replied Llewellyn, "Lets hope for ordinary darkness rather than the magical kind, I don't fancy bumbling around unable to see." His tone was lighthearted but the worry was there none the less.
the part opens the door.
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.
It is, as Llewellyn hoped against, magical Darkness. the light spells you have cast only emit dim light inside the room, and only in a small radius.
Callix sighs, "A little predictable... Sadly, I didn't prepare a daylight spell... though I could tomorrow."
Letitia steps inside without fear. She looks around, eyes peering into the darkness.
"We come as allies of Baba Yaga. There is no need to hide yourself, if you are loyal to the Mother of Witches," she calls out.
"Who turned off the light?" Samuel touches forward trying to see something "Where are you guys? I do not want to shot the wrong head..."
"I do not know how these things work, but perhaps if we cover the source of the darkness we can see something?" Samuel questions.
Callix says, "That could work, if this were a simple darkness spell. But things in here don't seem to ever want to be simple."
She suggests, "At least our spells offer some light. Maybe if all of us who could make lights were to try to spread them out -- throwing stones, for instance -- we could get a look at things farther out than the length of a blade?"
Llewellyn nodded and with a spidery word his shield started glowing softly. Cautiously he followed Mr Samuel inside the inky darkness, remarking "Careful of the floor, wouldn't want to step on into something..."
He tried to follow his own advice but not being able to see beyond the end of his nose was a new and unpleasant experience.
"I did not prepare the magic to create light. But my patron is the moon, and I am prepared for when it offers no light at all."
Letitia idly puts her hand on a flask that contains a potion of darkvision that she had prepared many days ago that still rests in a pouch. She doesn't drink it yet, however. She trusts herself not to fear the dark, and for whatever lurks within to reveal itself.
a rustling of feathers can be heard in the darkness. a bird flaps around, buzzing past the party a few times from different angles, cawing loudly.
after a moment it lands on the red orb, casting weird shadows and illuminating the body of another Raven. it stands still, watching you for now.
Letitia waits a few moments for the raven to speak. If it doesn't, she clears her throat. "Greetings, proud raven. I am Jadwiga Letitia. My companions and I must find Baba Yaga, and we believe that you possess a clue to her whereabouts. Put us to the test, if you must, or simply provide us with the information we seek. Our time is not infinite."
Samuel shows the amulet they already got to the craven "Here look. We are the winners of this game. You see this precious? We had to kill a giant boar for this one."
"If the next test involves ingesting large quantities of alcohol I know this party can excel at that too" offers the Taldan with a smile in the darkness.
The presence of another presumably dead Raven was something of a surprise to Llewellyn. Part of him idly wondered how much of what he was seeing was real and what if any magics were present, so he stared softly humming a mantra that would attune his senses and hopefully gain some insight.
Unfortunately the overwhelming enchantments of the hut and the ones they brought along with them blotted everything else out.
Callix says, "Do you mind if we approach, Raven? I am wondering about the plight of your dead companion."
Letitia does not see an amulet on this raven, but addresses it to explain their quest. Samuel displaying the amulet gets a reaction from the bird
[b]You have proven your strength, and your intentions are good. But, you have yet to convince me of your wit. 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.”
a second red light appears. It is very dim but is enough to illuminate a passage on the left side of the room.
Letitia sighs with a note of impatience, but nods toward the raven. "Very well. The chalice awaits us." She moves toward the left passage, allowing one of the larger and more martial members of the troupe to step in front of her.
"Another riddle, as expected," she says after they've gone a few paces down the passage. "The moon seems like as good an answer as any at this point, but I'll wait to see what the chalice reveals to us."
Llewellyn rolled his eyes theatrically at this one, remarking "So a test of wit is to see who drinks or not from a random chalice! Mmm if I had a suspicious mind..."
Following behind Llewellyn replied to the Jadwiga, "I agree the moon could mark night's coming, but death? Well I suppose there's Groetus... Hmm no, this is going to be something really obvious in hindsight like time or something."
hmm...The moon... maybe it's Time? something of that nature Ashling quietly contemplates out loud
Samuel follows in good mood "It seems I was not erred on the nature of the next test" he appears not as bothered by the test like Letitia, but even amused instead. The Taldan taps on Callix back "I am sure you are going to rock it on this chalice drinking test my friend of the cold North"
As they get in the next cave he adds to the conjectures "My guess it is darkness, as it both heralds the night and the arrival of death, but I am confused about the 'run not in fear' part"
Callix says, "The moon is often in the sky even in the afternoon. While part of the night, it does not mark its arrival. And, while time does flow, it doesn't mark anything either. Your guess, Ashling, puts me in the mind of a sundial - as that, clearly marks the arrival of night -- but it doesn't run. Same with Samuel's guess of darkness -- all of these fit many aspects and feel close to being right, but don't quite solve things."
She shrugs, "Hopefully something in the grotto will be revealing."
She smiles at Samuel's joke and says, "Aye, if there's anything I'm good at, this would be it. Though I'm guessing that either the chalice won't be available unless we get this right -- or, more likely, drinking will kill us if we get it wrong."
the group discusses their guesses to the riddle for a few moments before heading onwards. they walk towards the second red light and find an entrance to a hidden grotto.
Hundreds of tangled roots dangle from the raw earthen ceiling of this 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.
Each chalice is half-filled with a deep red wine.
the magical Darkness effect continues in this room
Callix takes a moment to bring her light forward, trying to get a good look at each chalice -- and the glitter in the alcoves -- and how they might contrast with each other.
Samuel gives a look at the chalices and the wine and smells the red liquid "I am not versed in wines, but they smell not bad for being here abandoned for who knows how long time"
The Taldan gives a look at the alcoves and the glitter, trying to guess how difficult it could be to reach them and climb up.
Overall he waits to see if there are any magics involved, but he looks for traps where possible for him.
Letitia considers the other guesses to the riddle. "I'm most concerned about what has no friends. Darkness can very much be someone's ally, as can time. Though... not forever because all things come to an end. Also, I expect the raven will expect something to be brought back as our answer. How does one depict darkness, especially in a chamber shrouded in it so? The same goes for time, though Callix is right that a sundial could be an appropriate symbol. Or perhaps an hourglass?"
When they enter the grotto and see the five chalices, Letitia frowns. The raven said for us to drink from the chalice. The trick, I presume, is how to discern which is the correct one?"
While Samuel studies the alcoves, Letitia walks out on the stone walkway to inspect the chalices closely.