"All right; be ready to fight if the giant throws off the magic. Someone get his axe out of his hands, please."
Letitia then gets ready to cast charm person the moment the giant appears to be waking up.
"ברוכים הבאים צו דעם לאַנד פון די באַוווסטזיניק. איך בין דזשאַדוויגאַ לעטיטיאַ, פרייַנד. פארוואס אטאקירט איר דעם כאטקע?"
"Welcome to the land of the conscious. I am Jadwiga Letitia, friend. Why do you attack the hut?"
Samuel smiles as he sees the giants retreating, he holds back his musket, still blowing from the epic effort "No need to shoot more gold at them."
The man chuckles at the idea of having a giant chain at his backpack "If you have such a chain I might craft good bullets out of it"
For the rest he observes how the magic works and holds his musket ready in case it is needed.
Callix wounds another giant as they retreat, but doesn't kill it. the others hold and wait for the giants to leave.
Letitia tells the others she thinks she can charm the last giant once he wakes.
The giant awakes and looks around quickly for its weapons
he yells at Letitia in Giant
Foul witch! I will not tell you anything! kill me or release me, daughter of the tyrant
Letitia draws herself up as she stands on the front porch of the powerful artifact that is Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut. Irritation that the giant threw off her spell feeds her anger as she harshly speaks.
"טייטן אָדער באַפרייען? צי איר טאַקע טראַכטן דאָס זענען די בלויז אָפּציעס בנימצא פֿאַר די טאָכטער פון די טיראַנט? קניען! דעמאלט ענטפֿער מיר שנעל צו באַרויקן מיין גרימצארן! ווי הייסט דיין קלאן?"
"Kill or release? Do you truly think those are the only options available to the Daughter of the Tyrant? Kneel! Then answer me quickly to soothe my wrath! What is your clan called?"
Callix watches the interaction, noting the change in Letitia's tone, That's an angry tone - not what you'd use on a new friend. Guess we're into plan B..
In a stage whisper loud enough for everyone in a hundred yard radius to hear, Llewellyn said something to Callix in the language of giants.
"
אויב ער רעדט נישט, איז ער געטוען פאר... לעצטע מאל האט עמעצער אזוי אויפגערעגט די יאדוויגא, אז זי האט זיי פארוואנדלט אין איינע פון די קריפי נשמה-געבונדענע ליאַלקע און אים געשטעלט צו היטן אַ [י]לאטרינע גרו[ פֿאַר אַלע מאָל!"
He had no idea if Callix understood but simply winked at her when facing away so the giant couldn't see,
Not grasping a word but understanding the angry tone of the Jadwiga, Samuel focuses on his own wounds for now. Touching the face where the rocks hit him, he looks at their Ulfen friend "Can you heal this disturbance Callix? Those damned giants use rocks heavy as lead it seems..."
Callix nods at the Orc's comments, then adds a laugh when she notes the wink, before turning to Samuel, "Aye, their axes aren't so great either," and drawing out the healing wand.
the giant replies to Letitia, looking a little more scared than previously but still holding a proud bearing.
I know well the horrors your kind has inflicted on this land. on the twelve tribes. but whoever you are, you don't know anything about us. the tribes are no more. Now there are only those who serve Kostchtchie and were spared the Choking Death.
Kostchtchie! Hmm was that name familiar? Llewellyn absently stroked his beard as he thought.
Letitia spares Llewellyn an irritated glance, but refocuses her attention on the giant.
"Spared the Choking Death only to die to the Dancing Hut," she comments derisively. "Do you who serve Kostchtchie lair near the Three Who Watch?"
Not understanding a word, Samuel mingles in the middle of the conversation trying to do something useful "Can he explain where are we and how we reach the Artrosia fortress?"
Letitia gives another irritated glance, this time at Samuel. "He's a hostile captive, and I'm trying to cow him into revealing useful information without simultaneously revealing our own weaknesses. Now, hush."
the giant makes some sort of religious gesture as you use the name of Kostchtchie.
both Letitia and Llewellyn recognize the name
Kostchtchie is a demon lord worshipped by the Frost Giants. he was once a human who was corrupted and transformed into a demon through a bargain he made for immortality. He spent many years waging wars across Iobara and at one point turned his attention towards conquering Irrisen. His hatred for women and especially witches is well known. His attempt to conquer the witches failed, and he was locked away in a prison (though no one knows where exactly).
Some stories claim that the reason he hates witches so much is that his bargain for immortality that caused his deformed state was made with the Mother of Witches herself: Baba Yaga.
he replies in Giant
"We will lair there. The witch fortress will be ours. The Three will Watch no more. This land is no longer yours, witch. Return home to your life of comfort or be destroyed when the Deathless Frost is unleashed. I have answered your questions, no let me go."
Letitia folds her arms and gives him a casual dismissive gesture.
"Very well. Though, I suggest you take a long and circuitous route to your destination. You don't want us easily following your tracks to your home, do you?"
After she's cast her spell on the giant, she tells the group, "He's a worshipper of a demon lord, and stated his intentions to conquer Artrosia. His goal is to unleash something called the Deathless Frost. I told him to take the longest route possible back to his abode, but killing him now might be for the best."
Samuel smirks but shuts down his mouth while he waits patiently for Letitia to conclude his interrogation "Hmmm... that demon lord must be the one defeated by a witch and imprisoned in Artrosia fortress"
"Neutralizing the worshiper of a Demon Lord can only be an act of goodness to this our world, but I will save my bullets" Samuel says and let's the giant run without shooting him.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Letitia watches the giant go as she starts musing over the information they just learned. Samuel voiced her thoughts about the rumors that the fortress was a prison for a demon lord.
"Yes," she agrees with the gunman. "But we learned far more than that. He said he worships Kostchtchie, a demon lord with an ancient connection to Baba Yaga. Stories say that it was Baba Yaga that cursed the human man who would one day become the demon lord and as such, he and his followers hate and despise women, and witches most of all."
She whispers something to Lazlo, who takes off and circles the hut high above the tops of the trees, looking around at the environs.
She stares upwards to watch her familiar briefly, then continues. "He also said that he intends to conquer Artrosia. Presuming he knows where it is -- and I believe that he does -- that can only mean one thing: Artrosia is defended."
She pauses, thinks, and adds, "Or very hard to get into."
Llewellyn listened to the conversation, he too had heard about Kostchtchie and his hatred of witches.
"They're going to love you when we turn up there." laughed Llewellyn, "I mean I assume we're going there right? Of course that begs the question, how do we get to this fortress?"
Letitia gestures to Lazlo circling high overhead. "We may have to explore, but we have advantages in that regard."
When Llewellyn mentions how Letitia will be loved in Artrosia she exhales sharply. She turns to face him, looking him in the eye with an ice-dagger stare. She slowly speaks in Giant.
"NEVER again imply that I would craft, create, or command a soulbound doll. Not even to our enemies. Are we clear?"
"A legendary fortress defended by ancient magic at the edge of the known world with a misogynistic Demond Lord trapped within calling for all the ice giant tribes to free him?" Samuel readies his musket reloading it with a bullet and laughs after Llewellyn "Oh, yes, you do not know us still enough my orc-friend, we are definitely headed there"
Used to life in the nature and defend the Border Wood back in Taldor, Samuel puts all of his knowledge on figuring out the landscape and their position to find a way to Artrosia.
The giant doesn't ask twice, though is clearly surprised that you are letting him go. he stands and quickly leaves the clearing, glancing back at the party a few times to make sure he isn't about to be shot in the back.
Letitia relays to the party what she learned through the giant, and they piece together that this might refer to a demon lord trapped inside of their destination. The group does not know where exactly the fortress lies, but they start doing what they can to figure it out.
Lazlo takes to the air to scout things out. He lands on the witch's shoulder and hoots to her
Lazlo tells you he spotted more creatures in the woods. not giants, looks like humanoids on horseback. there is smoke rising from what may be campfires to the north.
Samuel does what he can in an unfamiliar place to get bearings.
you are currently in a heavily wooded area, with a mountain range to the east stretching from north to south. It is midday, but still very cold. you can easily follow the tracks of the giants who fled the clearing, and you find tracks from various other animals. most are the kind of wildlife you would expect in this region and pose no threat. you also find tracks of shod horses.
Llewellyn is unfortunately unfamiliar with this region, though from the info that the group found in texts previously and his general knowledge of other fortresses, Llewellyn would guess that the fortress would be in the mountain range to the east somewhere. likely either on a defensible cliff or in a canyon.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Llewellyn was more than a little taken aback by the sudden venom in the granddaughter's words, but he wasn't the sort to be intimated easily. Rather cockily he replied with a voice pitched for her alone,
"Crystal clear, Peaches."
Turning away from her, he replied to Samuel in a normal voice, "I guess we'd better head towards those eastern mountains. The fortresses will be in a commanding spot somewhere up there."
Letitia keeps her cold stare on the half-orc for a beat longer, to punctuate how deadly serious she was.
When he turns away and suggests heading east, Lazlo drops down to her shoulder and informs her of what he saw. "Perhaps we should go north first, rather than just blindly heading toward some mountains and hoping that we'll stumble across Artrosia. Lazlo spotted cookfires to the north, tended to by some people on horseback."
She coos to her familiar for a moment in their shared language, then lets him fly into the nearby trees to hunt for a brief time. She calls for Ariadna.
"Pack your belongings and come along. We'll trust that the Hut can defend itself adequately -- and that the giants have learned their lesson."
If we can control the hut...Could we not simply take it with us?
"I think Llewellyn has it right about finding the fortress in the mountains, it has the most sense, and I think I can guide us through the forest" Samuel looks back then at Letitia and Lazlo "But we might do well to check those cookfires north first. I have seen the tracks of shod horses, which means it might be good to have a talk with natives just to make sure we are not seen as intruders or something."
If we can control the hut...Could we not simply take it with us?
"Yeah, let's take the hut with us, at least for now... although it is probably a good idea to leave it behind before approaching the camp, we do not want to scare the knights."
Callix shrugs, "Could, yes. Should.... a different question. Here, at least, the Hut is largely out of sight. Start walking it toward a fortress - or knights - and things change."
Letitia considers the situation. "If Baba Yaga wanted her Hut to appear next to the entrance of Artrosia, no doubt it would have. Though, the stories of her Hut say it keeps to the forests. Perhaps that's why the forest sprung up around it when it was chained to the Water Palace in Whitethrone. If we take it out of the natural forest, will another one spring up around it?"
i only say because... it is a powerful tool at our disposal. And it would solve several issues we might have about leaving it and its inhabitants
"That's true," Letitia agrees, "but it cannot be stolen out from under us. It has Ratibor to defend against entry. And even if he is overborne, the keys to move it to another location are not within the Hut."
Sensing the party is mostly divided about this and with the idea to move the group forward, Samuel starts walking in the direction of the fires "Ok, another long discussion over this is not going to help us, so let's just leave it here for now. As Letitia says, it is defended. If we find an insurmountable obstacle we can always come back to gather its help."
And as the Taldan starts to walk into the woods he adds "Let's see whom those knights are. Perhaps they are Taldor expeditionary forces! I would not be surprised for our knights are known to have reached all corners of Avistan and beyond!"
Letitia gives Samuel an amused look at his optimism. "Let's make sure that we recover any valuables that these giants were carrying. Their bodies will serve a proper warning against getting too close to the Hut."
She casts detect magic and looks for auras amongst the bodies.
Callix shrugs, "I'm not expecting Taldans, Samuel -- but at this point, I don't think anything would shock me."
Surveying the snowy scene Llewellyn remarked, "It's probably a little cold here for most of your compatriots, but who knows maybe they got lost and need directions!" Not that Llewellyn had the faintest idea how to get back to Taldor from here, wherever here actually was.
There is some debate about whether (or how far) to bring the Hut. Samuel forces the issue somewhat by heading out on foot.
Those who have left the hut will have trouble going back in without a fight, but if Ashling and anyone else on the porch chooses to they could command the Hut to follow those on foot.
Ariadna looks between Samuel and Letitia waiting for one of them to indicate what she should do. when Samuel starts walking she joins him, not wanting to be left behind. She carries a small pack of belongings and gear with her, but is not well provisioned for a long journey.
Letitia examines the bodies. for the most part they don't carry anything of value, just large-sized axes, armor and sacks with rocks in them.
one of them does have a maical item, however, and Letitia retrieves a fist-sized glass bauble. Tiny white crystals hang suspended in a clear fluid inside the bauble, which contains a miniature scene of leafless trees in a snow-covered landscape.
Staying put in the dubious safety of the hut wasn't Llewellyn's style so of course he followed Samuel initially. He was also curious about the giants and watched Letitia examining their remains from a distance.
He frowned when she found the glass bauble, recognising it as being ensorcelled. Not knowing what it did, he left her to it and wandered back over to Samuel and Ariadna and remarked, "Wasn't much of value on the giants, but the granddaughter found herself a little snowglobe. Strange thing for them to be carrying."
"Maybe they took it from a witch?" Samuel shrugs and let's Adriana have the globe unless there is someone more interested "Seems a beautiful souvenir from the North. If you had a good time there"
With that, he goes into the woods, but he tries to find a path wide enough for the hut to go through in case Ashling or anyone else wants to drive the hut after them.
Callix chuckles, "I think my scars will be more than enough of a reminder."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Letitia studies the snow globe.
She frowns while studying it. She glances up briefly, then turns it over and over in her hands before looking irritated. She masters her expression and passes it to Ariadna. "Let's see how your studies have progressed. Can you ascertain this globe's properties?"
'Well well well,' thought Llewellyn, 'She doesn't know either!'
He was curious to see if Mr Samuel's sister could identify it and how the Jadwiga would react. Eyeing her discreetly, he felt he had a good idea how this was going to go down (winter witches were fairly notorious after all) but there was the faintest possibility she was different so he waited for confirmation.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ariadna looks nervous to try to identify the item with an audience. she hasn't been asked to do a lot of tasks for the group yet and it feels like a big moment
She spends a lon time looking at it and turning it over in her hands, but in the end she shakes her head
I am sorry my Lady. I cannot tell what it does. I... think I need to study more. Can you talk me through how you figured it out? I need to learn more about the thought process I think
Samuel ranges ahead of the group, finding a clear path through the woods that will take the party towards where Lazlo saw smoke.
Ashling will have the hut... follow them as suggest, at a distance
Ashling will have the hut... follow them as suggest, at a distance!
Samuel pads his sister's shoulder "Do not desperate Ari, you are just beginning, and you have a great teacher that can fill in the details in a brisk" the man tries to bring comfort to the would be witch.
After that he points out to the woods "I think I found a path while you were examining the trophy. Shall we proceed?"
If Ashling manages to keep the hut at a distance, Samuel will try to scout a bit ahead for the party, used to the woods, this is no real deal for him.
Letitia doesn't appear especially disappointed that Ariadna failed to figure out the globe's magic. She gestures for her to put it away in her pack. "Later," she says. "Your brother has found us a path. We can discuss the process of identifying the properties of magical items when we stop to rest. Let's instead be alert as we pass through this unknown forest."
She calls Lazlo back from his hunting and has him alight on her shoulder. He hoots something to her softly. She shakes her head.
Callix nods, "Let's. But let's be careful.. " Her expression changes before adding, "We don't have Alec to scout the route ahead," her voice only slightly forced.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Samuel pushes ahead slightly to scout. the rest travel together. the Hut follows at a slight distance. it looks like it is trying to be quiet. but a giant chicken hut can only be so stealthy...
The wood is dense, comprising tall trees with long needle-like leaves clustered into spiral arrangements. High above, their branches lock together, blotting out the sunlight. Below the canopy, the tree branches are thin, losing their foliage from lack of sunlight, and jutting out from the vast maze of peeling trunks like skeletal arms. A blanket of fallen needles covers the ground. Locked in the gloom and cold, the forest floor seems nearly barren, except for patches of lichen and moss that cling to the rocky soil and the lower trunks of the towering trees.
Samuel is not completely up on his game, and gets startled by someone who spotted him before he spotted them.
A rider appears from the trees, a sword level at you. You are startled by his approach, so it takes you a few extra seconds to realize the man is not mounted. He is the horse. a Centaur to be precise, with the bodies of a horse and man combined. he addresses you in Iobaran
Samuel is a bit distracted enjoying perhaps too much the lichen and moss that recalls his time at the woods. It seems like a different life to him now. He is too distracted to notice the presence ahead of him.
When the centaur appears, Samuel looks completely surprised and raises a hand in a sign of peace.
The man raises his voice to let others listen "Not a Taldan knight I guess..." and unless it seems he is being understood, he tries to talk in Hallit "Greetings, I am just a lost traveler looking for shelter." if this does not seem to trigger understanding, he attempts with the language of the fey, Sylvan "My name is Samuel Soulkeeper, who are you?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Before walking into the woods, Letitia applies her Healing Hex to herself and the others who were wounded in the fighting.
"Mr Samuel has been a while, let's catch up with him." remarked Logan as he followed the Taldan's footprints.
Samuel tries replyin in Hallit, with no response. the scout does not attack, however and recognizes the peaceful motion of an empty hand being raised.
When Samuel tries again in Sylvan there is a spark of understanding.
Samuel Soulkeeper. A human who speaks the language of the fey. I am Huurak, a Rashalka of the Kaag clan. We are tracking giants that were moving through these woods.
the rest of the group moves along, having no seen Samuel for a few minutes. you hear his voice ahead. he doesn't sound like he is in danger, but he is speaking to someone.
you spot several creatures moving quietly in the forest just far enough away that they are difficult to see clearly. they appear to be mounted