Callix says, "Couldn't be a drinking competition, could it?" She shrugs, "Don't suppose we're supposed to follow the raven."
Letitia bends down and picks up the amulet the raven dropped. A smile starts to grow on her face that she fights back, trying to remain coolly matter-of-fact. Shaking her head, she answers Callix, "No. The raven left this behind. I believe it was satisfied by our accomplishments thus far." Despite her efforts, a slight giggle of triumph escapes her throat.
She looks at the amulet for a symbol like the other two. She shows it to Samuel, Llewellyn, and Ashling. "See if you can decipher this one like you did with the last two. If you can't, I should be able to translate it using the library. Then we need to find the Hut's exit."
She also casts detect magic and studies the amulet.
Both Logan's eyebrows rose when the Jadwiga spoke to the Raven like that. He was bemused by this reply, especially when it flew into the water which behaved very oddly...
Not understanding what he saw, the big half orc mused, "Uh that was peculiar. Is that normal water, or was it 'just' an enchanted raven?"
He paced for a moment before taking a look at the amulet, considering if he'd read anything about it's like or any symbols on it before. He couldn't concentrate as he kept on thinking about the Raven's strange exit.
Callix says, "Couldn't be a drinking competition, could it?" She shrugs, "Don't suppose we're supposed to follow the raven."
"I might certainly benefit from a bath" Samuel chuckles "It seems you really got the right hand on that one. Can I see the amulet?" the Taldan checks if there are more of the runes on this one.
"So, where to now?" Samuel will check the tunnels to see if there is any corridor missing exploration.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
i can certainly give it a shot She'll also give the amulet a look, I apologize, my eyesight is acting up, i can't tell
"No matter," Letitia shrugs when no one identifies the symbol on the amulet. "I can decipher it once we return to the library. There's also a book there about Artrosia that was written in a language I did not recognize. This morning, however, I prepared the spell that lets me understand any language, written or spoken."
Ashling gets that look of sudden realization and casts comprehend languages, I forgot i could do that, i learned the spell years ago to help with work.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Callix pauses a moment, then says, "I really hope the test of endurance isn't having us wander lost in here for weeks."
several attempts to decipher the rune come to nothing. eventually Ashling remembers a spell that could help with that. she realizes why the group had toruble figuring out the rune, it is a name. the rune is "Artrosia"
Letitia studies the amulet and figures out that the magical piece functions as a chime of opening. it is new and has 10 uses.
the party goes back to the hallway. again, it looks endless and goes in both directions. you have certainly not found the end of it yet.
It's a rune that says Artrosia Her eyes glow a bright purple from the magic running in her system, translating languages. The pale young girl's eye are usually dull and cloudy, up until recently she's only really used her magic in combat or generally kept to herself, up close her eye reassume their full purple coloration, if only for the duration of the spell.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"And the object itself is a chime of opening. It will work to open locks, doors and portals up to ten times before becoming useless," Letitia explains.
She decides to keep her detect magic spell going, devoting a fair amount of concentration to it as they resume their exploration of the hallway. "We can continue the direction we have been going, or go back to the first room, she says as she sweeps the hallway for magical auras other than the ones of the Hut itself. "I believe going back is the best, because we've already obtained the three clues to Artrosia. There's no telling how long this hallway will go, and unless we reach its end soon, we'll be leaving Ariadna alone for potentially hours."
Samuel laughs at Callix pun "As long as we have food and drink..."
"Ok, let's do this, we keep going, so far it has not taken us long to find new doors and rooms." the Taldan points to the way forward "We are always on time to retrace if we see this is going too far away."
As they advance, Samuel will keep all his senses at full alert.
To the Jadwiga, Llewellyn mused, "Three items, but what are we supposed to do with them? What if it's something silly like we're supposed to put them in her 'kettle' and say the words associated with them to uh get the hut to travel to Artrosia? Well I say we, but I mean you..."
Letitia blinks away the detect magic sight, then looks at Llewellyn with an arched eyebrow. "The amulets are clues to the keys. Not the keys themselves. The ravens said as much, as did the kikimora -- when she said that Elvanna had depowered all the keys within the Hut."
She appears a little more buoyed after the success with the last raven. "I don't know how the amulets will work, but we have to enter Artrosia first. This last one opens locks, and has the name 'Artrosia' on it. If I were to guess, it is how we gain entry to the stronghold. The clue to finding the matching key to the cauldron, though, is absent. Hopefully, we only need two items to use the cauldron, like last time. The Black Rider only gave us two, and it certainly worked."
Baba Yaga isn't just a legend or tale...She's one who both helped create them and who they were created for...Maybe the answer lay's in one of the books back in the Hut? The girl walks beside Letitia as she speaks, Either way a rest to contemplate and reprepare spells, food or anything is a good move. We're out of Elvanna's reach for now, Between the lot of us we'll figure this out.
"Hopefully, we only need two items to use the cauldron, like last time. The Black Rider only gave us two, and it certainly worked."
Llewellyn's eyes lit up, "Oh! So you've done this before. Now there's a story I'll have to twist your ears about sometime... If it's only two items, do you think the tusk and the hourglass would do, somebody picked that up right?"
Letitia shakes her head. "No, the ravens flew away with the tusks and hourglass. The keys will not be in the Hut, we've been told. So we must leave, and explore Artrosia."
She then turns to Ashling. "Do you truly require rest? We've been quite successful meeting the challenges so far. I've not used many resources, still retaining my full repertoire of spells except for my armor."
No, i dont. Others may and...time to think and research may be useful. We've been handed a considerable amount of information and... we are dealing with Baba Yaga. She can hardly be trusted either.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
there is some discussion of resting, but Letitia is of the opinion that there shouldn't be much of a need to refresh their resources just yet. Samuel is in agreement and starts leading the way along the hall.
Samuel leads the way along the hall in the unexplored direction. soon another doorway is seen ahead, but this one is open. and standing inside the doorframe is Ariadna! she is watching the opposite direction for your return.
Seeing her you realize the hallway has brought you in a large circle, the curve of the passageway hidden by illusion of some kind.
As you approach the door, the third amulet vibrates softly and feels warm to the touch. across the hallway from the first door you left, you see another illusion fall away when the amulet approaches, revealing the outline of another door.
"Hmm," Letitia narrows her eyes when she sees the new door revealed. "That might be the way out of the Hut."
She looks over at Ashling. "Well, should we pause and do the research like you suggested? I can still review that book on Artrosia before we investigate this new door. Or, we explore first."
While they were talking, Llewellyn examined the door and did his best to listen for any noises on the other side. He was keen to open it but didn't do so just yet...
Difficult to call...we are dealing with legends and stories. What does everyone think of taking a few moments to rest and review? catch up on Artrosia while we are here?
"Hi sister" Samuel greets Ariadna from a distance to avoid surprising her too much "It seems this place twists space in really impossible ways"
The Taldan checks his musket load "I am ready indeed. But go ahead with your reading if you think it is important. You have brought us this far and I am confident on your instincts."
That said, he checks the other door with Llewellyn profiting the sparse time.
"I believe the more we know about Artrosia, the more likely our chances of success," Letitia says.
Callix shrugs, "I don't need rest, but if the answer to the next puzzle is here to be found, then we should do it."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ariadna turns with a surprised look when you come from behind her. "I am glad you found your way back if this place turns and twists unexpectedly. I was starting to worry about you, but didn't think it wise to go on after you. What did you find?
After some discussion, it is decided that Letitia should read up on Artrosia before moving on. The enchanted book opens up a way into the reading room and Letitia gets to work with magical comprehension abilities.
while she works on that, Samuel examines the door carefully. he finds that it is locked, but he finds a way to unlatch it once they are ready to move on. Lllewellyn assists, but doesn't find any more than Samuel.
Letitia looks through the book quickly, getting what she can from it.
Artrosia, also called "the three who watch" is a fortress of some kind, put in the country of Iobara many many years ago. Whatever war it was put in place for is long since past, and now the fortress is in the middle of a region that is largely open.
there were several large cities in the region in the past but they collapsed under a particularly brutal and long plague. now the area is inhabited by roaming tribes.
The book is a collection of stories about the fortress, with varying levels of reliability. many local tribes are superstitious about it and give it a wide berth.
the fortress itself is actually three massive statues, hundreds of feet tall. they are formed in the shape of three women: a maiden, a mother and a crone. all three have one hand raised out in warning.
There are no accounts of what happens inside the fortress. it is said that the entrance is in the top of the heads of the three women, but the writers of the book knew of no one who returned from an attempt to enter.
Several stories agree that the fortress was built to be a prison rather than a defensive structure. A demon lord was reportedly defeated by a great foreign witch and imprisoned inside Artrosia.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"We found three ravens, offering up challenges to test our worthiness," Letitia tells Ariadna. She then recites the two riddles to Samuel's sister, to test her intelligence. If Letitia was going to train this girl as a winter witch, she needed to ascertain her ability. After that, she then tells the girl the three clues from the ravens regarding the Maiden, Mother and Crone. She lets her ponder on that while she goes to read the book on Artrosia.
Once done, she shuts the book with a thump. Her eyes are wide and what little color is in her face has drained away. "A prison for a demon lord..." she whispers to herself.
After a short while lost in thought, Letitia blinks back to the present. "Well, then. It's entirely possible that this book of tales is nothing but exaggerations. But legends usually have a grain of truth to them." She then recounts what she learned from the book for everyone.
Her pulse has quickened ever since reading the book, and she inwardly chides herself for her anxiety. "I still see no other option than to go inside Artrosia -- at the very least, we need the keys within to control the Hut. We still don't know exactly where the Black Rider's keys took us, though I have to believe we're close to this... prison. Iobaria. We'll do Baba Yaga -- and the whole world -- no good by lingering here." She shakes her head. "The trail of breadcrumbs left by Grandmother lead us to Artrosia, so that's where we must go.
"And it likely holds greater dangers than I'd ever dreamed."
Callix takes a pull from her aleskin, "Well, if it were easy, anyone could do it," she offers wryly, then shrugs, "Difficult, I expect, but this is a test of endurance, so I'm imagining that we'll be doing something other than fighting a Demon Lord."
She chuckles, "Unless this is all an elaborate ruse to have us stick our heads into the dragon's mouth. And, if so, well done."
"A Demon Lord? Is that not the kind of thing that inhabits the Abyss?" Samuel looks circumspect "I am no expert but that is not the kind of thing I want to be involved with."
Then points to the door "I have figured out how to unlock that door. As that is the only place left to explore, let's just go in there and see if we find an exit or further clues."
"I doubt it's that," she responds to Callix. "Though we should be very cautious that we do not free what Artrosia imprisons."
Letitia stands when Samuel suggests checking out the door. She checks to make sure her wand is easily accessible, and grips Emberchill in her hand. "Let's proceed."
Llwewllyn had always liked folk stories so he found the book fascinating, still if even a fraction of it was true he was worried. Like the warrior maiden Callix he found the talk of a Demon Lord rather unlikely but you never knew...
"Indeed, lets see what's on the other side" Llwewllyn chimed in cheerily. Even so his hands where on the hilt of his sword and he readied his buckler.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Callix nods, "Seems wise to not accidentally loose an ancient evil when trying to... uh, save an ancient evil... from... a more modern but potentially worse evil..." She shakes her head and takes another pull from her aleskin, "Sorry. I'm good. Let's go."
Ariadna thinks over the riddles that Letitia relays to her. The first one (the tusks) stumps her for a while, but she gets it on the third guess. the second riddle is easier and she guesses time fairly quickly.
Letitia then tells her about the phases of the moon and mother/maiden/crone riddles.
I don't understand what the question is with those riddles. tying the full moon to the mother and so forth makes sense, but that's not really a riddle is it? what would they mean to seek the mother when the moon is full? another key that you have to find?
Letitia relays what she reads about the possible dungeon inside of the fortress, which is met with varying levels of belief from the group.
they decide that the next step in any case is to leave the hut armed with the clues they have been given, so Samuel opens the hidden doorway.
This spacious room resembles the interior of a wooden cottage. Stairs to the right of the entrance climb to balcony atop which rests a wooden table. A wooden walkway continues around the room to a small landing and another set of stairs to the left of the entrance. A third staircase leads down from the walkway to an alcove opposite the hidden door, where there is another closed door. Crates, boxes, barrels and other mundane materials crowd the space.
standing on the walkway is a well-armed human man. his back is turned to you and he does not seem to have noticed you yet.
Surprised to see a man in the Hut, Letitia clears her throat to get his attention. "You there! Are you friend or foe of Baba Yaga? Speak quickly!"
"Perhaps these words about the moon and such, means the doors at the heads of the statues only can be opened during those phases of the moon" proposes Samuel after listening his sister.
After opening the door, the Taldan is swift to gain the stairs to the north. While waiting for an answer to Letitia, he maintains his musket down "Yeah, who the heck are you and what are you doing here?"
The man spins around and readies a shield and spear. he shakes his spear and starts yelling at you.
"stop right there. who are you, and how did you get inside? where is the Witch? What are you doing in here?
if no one responds, he tries again, with a little less yelling, this time in Draconic
the man seems more confused than anything, and seems to be trying to intimidate you while he figures out what to do.
Callix asks, "Any idea what he's saying?"
Ashling begins to speak in draconic, She steps forward, putting her hands up in the calm down motion.
We come in peace, which witch are referring to? we are hunting one as well. I am a hunter, known as the Phantom, these are my comrades.
Both of Llewellyn's bushy eyebrows rose when the man started yammering in one completely foreign language and then in the tongue of dragonkind. So far in his life it had been one of the singularly most useless languages he'd picked up, but now perhaps it might prove it's worth.
Echoing the fierce young one's words he gave the man a winning smile and replied in draconic.
"Indeed we come hoping for peace. As for the Mother of Witches, by all accounts she is indisposed..."
"What is he saying?" Samuel looks at his teammates not knowing what to do, then hears Ashling and Llewellyn responses, also not understanding, and looks back for the answer.
"The man is very confused about us being here, but I can sense his tone is intimidating nevertheless, even if I have no idea what you are talking about" he keeps his musket low but at hands.
the man nods, having found a common language to talk to you in.
"I have never seen someone come through that door without Baba Yaga before. My name is Ratibor The Bold. I am forever bound to guard this door from any intruders who might enter the hut. But you seem to have already been in the hut. and with no Baba Yaga here to straighten this out....
I have decided I will let you live. But know, if you leave and come back through that door I will be compelled to stop you if you are not in the presence of Baba Yaga
Letitia's lips press together tightly as Ashling and Llewellyn communicate with the stranger in a language she doesn't understand. Suddenly in a situation where she's not the one with the most information, she quietly fumes with impatience while waiting for the conversation to be translated.
If Llewellyn found the Jadwiga's obvious frustration amusing he hid it too well for anyone to tell. Instead he faithfully translated the man's words adding, "He calls himself Ratibor The Bold, he seems to be the guardian of this door. Apparently he'll be a problem if we come back through without your grandmother..."
"Hmmm... well, you can tell him that Baba Yaga has been kept away by her enemies and we are trying to find her, so that is kind of the reason we are alone now" Samuel relaxes, distractedly leaning over his musket "Can this Ratibor The Bold point us to the three statues of Artrosia fortress?"
"That is a problem, because we likely will not find her within Artrosia," Letitia replies to Llewellyn. Samuel's suggestion is sound, though she doubts it would be that easy convincing him without proof. She holds up one of the amulets and gestures to the ones held by the others. "Inform him that we have been tested by the ravens of the Hut and have been found worthy. Perhaps that will convince him to allow us back inside."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Llewellyn translates, talking to Ratibor in the language of dragonkind.
To be fair the thought of Baba Yaga accompanying them terrified Llewellyn, although he tried not to let it show in his voice. He privately doubted they'd find her easily, which was the only reason he hadn't run away before now.
[b]"yes, yes, I'm sure you have a great big quest and it's really important and all that. Baba Yaga is often sending people on weird and complicated quests.
Look, I'm not saying I don't believe you. see? I'm not attacking you right now. but if you come through the front door without the right permission I cannot choose whether I stop you or not. I am bound to this duty, understand? my choice has nothing to do with it.
The man speaks calmly but seems very sure of what he is saying.
Samuel looks at Llewellyn trying to understand what is going on "Look, we just want to get out of here right now. Can we or not?"
Letitia had been focusing on the conversation as if she could understand the language through sheer concentration alone. It was frustrating.
She glances over at Samuel, the irritation in her voice plain. "I believe that we are able to leave without a problem. The trouble is being allowed back inside without a conflict."
She listens to the exchange helplessly. "I could charm him, but that would last only a few hours. It will have expired, considering our exploration of Artrosia will take phases of the moon."