The tiny creature proves a difficult target, however, and dodges the clumsy blow. Daegan scowls and pulls the blade up, preparing for another strike. Come, Kalhar, to its other side, let us flank the beast! It shall not escape us this day.
Axel growls in frustration "He's a lot tougher than I thought he'd be" He pauses for a moment trying to recall anything he might remember from his long hours at the university knowledge (planes) 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 but doesn't remember much of importance. He again builds up a small electrical charge in his fingertips before letting it fly at tiny creature. Scoring a direct hit on the tip of his wing that arcs down into his body in a flash. His teeth clinch as the arc passes through.
Sarlene stands a few feet behind Daegan, and draws her second dagger. She closes her left eye, squinting in order to block out the white light and fire to focus on her target. Her fingers curl delicately over the tip of the blade, and she bites her tongue as she takes aim. She hurls the blade overhand, and it swirls towards the Mephit. The blade flies wide left and lands with "pmfff" in the snow.
Digging his foot deep into the snowy ground, Jezzera winches his arm backwards and lets fly a bullet from his sling in the direction of the Mephit, grunting with effort as his arm sails in a wide arc over his head. Off course the rock sails out of view.
Kalhar's hand falters reaching for a vial that isn't there, and his fingers flex involuntarily in frustration before quickly reassigning themselves to another liquid repository. Moving to his belt now, a vile green sludge is produced and quickly drained into Kalhar's mouth. Reaching for his back, the besieged alchemist slides his shortspear out of its hangar as his muscles bulge and his eyes flash blue.
Once again the Mephit darts down in an attack on Kalhar's face, the claws going straight for the eyes.
Not quite hitting the eyes, he latches onto the eye sockets and removes the outer skin leaving Kalhar's face a red contrast of the white snow in the background.
The trapper grits his teeth and begins advancing upon the mephit. Perhaps, I underestimated you, little one... you are no troll, but still, you must be dealt with. He grips the captain's sword in both hands, raising it high before meeting the creature with a powerful swipe. The tiny creature proves a difficult target, however, and dodges the clumsy blow. Daegan scowls and pulls the blade up, preparing for another strike. Come, Kalhar, to its other side, let us flank the beast! It shall not escape us this day.
Mutagen increased AC for Kalhar. Kalhar ducks his head out of the mephits diving claws.
Damn. Sarlene looks to where her blade has disappeared into the snow for a moment. She turns to the Mephit, swatting away at Kalhar. Back again... Sarlene trudges to Kalhar's rear, and uses her larger companion as a shield.
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"Damned spirit!" Jezzera Barks.
Jezzera thrusts a supporting foot back as the Mephit's wild claws swipe at the air between he and Kalhar. He sprinkles a bit of red dust on his sling and carefully tucks a hard stone bullet into it. Flicking his wrist, he sets it into a whirling spin and hurls his arm up over his head, releasing the stone at tremendous speed. "Damned spirit!" Jezzera Barks
[ooc]On hit ==>
Nodding towards Daegan, Kalhar cracked into action, his skin splitting from the cold as he held back a coughing fit. Pushing through the snow, he stepped opposite the flying nuisance paused just an instant as the flying devil flipped around from his dive at the alchemist. His eyes tracked the flitting beast, and he thrust, feeling a satisfying jolt travel down his near-frozen arm as he connected.
Axel maintains the static charge in his fingertips and fires another bolt toward the creature but it ducks underneath the jolt.
Damn. Sarlene looks to where her blade has disappeared into the snow for a moment. She turns to the Mephit, swatting away at Kalhar. Back again... Sarlene trudges to Kalhar's rear, and uses her larger companion as a shield.
Jezzera thrusts a supporting foot back as the Mephit's wild claws swipe at the air between he and Kalhar. He sprinkles a bit of red dust on his sling and carefully tucks a hard stone bullet into it. Flicking his wrist, he sets it into a whirling spin and hurls his arm up over his head, releasing the stone at tremendous speed. "Damned spirit!" Jezzera Barks as the mephit flaps its wings and flies over the speeding rock.
Nodding towards Daegan, Kalhar cracked into action, his skin splitting from the cold as he held back a coughing fit. Pushing through the snow, he stepped opposite the flying nuisance paused just an instant as the flying devil flipped around from his dive at the alchemist. His eyes tracked the flitting beast, and he thrust, feeling a satisfying jolt travel down his near-frozen arm as he connected with the softening flesh. The mephit losing several feet of air as it struggles to remain aloft.
It immediately retaliates with another icy breath with a scream as it struggles.
Reflex
Kalhar raises his shield anticipating the attack and Sarlene narrows her profile behind him as the spray is largely diverted.
As Kalhar shields himself and Sarlene from the icy breath Daegan emerges from behind it and sticks the captain's longsword through the back of the neck, the breath ending as the sword emerges from the throat. He whips the sword towards the ground and the mephit hits the snow with a soft "thwmmmp"
It is still hard to see with the snow whipping around but this appears to be some sort of camp, with huts made of ice.
After all foes are slain and no newcomers are apparent, Axel moves towards Kalhar. "Hold still for a moment. This may feel unpleasant for a second." Axel begins chanting and gesturing and his hands turn to the color of a dark bruise. Near the end of the spell, the color leaps off his hands and lands on Kalhar, seeping through his armor and clothes. At first, Kalhar feels no different. After a moment or two, Kalhar begins to feel the life return to his limbs. The frostbite is chased away by the fire now running through his veins.
After his friend is tended to, Axel moves to the fallen monster. He mumbles more words as his eyes turn bright blue. "Interesting..." the wizard says to nobody in particular as he rummages through the items attempting to identify each one in turn.
A 2-foot-long blade extends from the heavy crossbar of this +1 boar spearUE. Designed to catch and hold humanoid prey, a spear of manhunting automatically resizes to match the size of its wielder when grasped. Once per day on a successful critical hit, the wielder of a spear of manhunting can cast hold person as an immediate action on the target hit by the attack (Will DC 13 negates). The hold person effect immediately ends if the spear is dropped or withdrawn, such as by making additional attacks with the weapon
Daegan rips the captain's sword out of the mephit's neck and the tiny body falls to the ground with an unceremonious crunch. He wipes the bloody sword on his cloak and sheathes it with a sigh. He surveys the carnage and nods approvingly. He speaks as if coming back from a long, arduous journey: tired, but happy to be home.
...this was a good battle, friends. We have made short work of our adversaries. Yet, I feel the troll and his conspirator's fell work has not been completely undone... I suspect our journey has only begun. Motioning to the corpses, large and small, and then to the huts, he continues. We should burn these bodies, examine their camp... perhaps this will prove a suitable place to rest for the night.
He checks on Kalhar, who seems to have borne the brunt of the mephit's fury. Finding him cold, but well, the trapper then approaches Axel, and watches silently for a moment as he examines the duo's possessions. What have you found, friend?
Axel holds up the small vial of liquid. "This potion is very interesting. The one who drinks it becomes exceedingly light on their feet. You could easily walk across the top of this snow or through thick brambles or even across dense rubble. It seems very useful for a scout. Perhaps you would get the best use out of it." He offers the vial to Deagan.
"This spear is quite interesting as well but a bit more gruesomely so. This type of spear is generally used for hunting boar in the wild but this seems enchanted to be particularly effective against humans and those similar in build. If you were to strike the vitals of a human or an elf or even our troll here, the magic in the weapon would paralyze them but only so long as the spear stays embedded in the unlucky persons flesh. Also, it seems that this weapon, unlike most other enchanted weapons, always seems to be the right size whomever wields it. A truly remarkable weapon. Personally, I've never been one for the martial arts, perhaps you or Jezzera could make use of it."
Sarlene begrudgingly recovers her daggers from the snow, slush, and exposed mud of the battleground. Stephen joins her, fluttering down with a loud squawk from his orbit in the skies above. She joins her comrades, and squats in the snow wearily.
Well, glad to know that even trolls can have friends, eh? Sirs, I hope you all find yourselves well?
She surveys those around her, before realizing that the topic of conversation has turned to the instruments Axel recovered. Upon hearing his description, she shows visible disgust at the boar spear.
Seems a bit cheap, eh? I prefer my trusty harpoon.
The snows and wind continue to swirl and eddy coming strongly from the north.
Axel applies key to lockbox, making sure others stay well back. "My ribs still ache from the last box we opened"
The chest holds four potions of feather step in an iron coffer, four blue quartz “ice diamonds”, a silver diadem, a near flawless diamond, a jeweled necklace, a painting of Whitethrone, three sapphire rings, a decorative filigree longsword scabbard, and a small scrimshaw sculpture of dancing sprites surrounding a piping satyr, as well as 2,457 gp, 3,313 sp, and 1,760 cp
Kalhar breathes heavily for a minute or two, and then finally speaks. "Thank you, Axel. I thought for certain I would die frozen to this metal." he coughs, a bit of soot escaping his lips. Kalhar wipes some off of his armor as well, and nods a second silent thanks to Sarlene. Pushing his way through the snow, he buries his spear in one of the undisturbed banks nearby and shields his eyes from the blizzard's wind, eyeing the spear.
"Is this spear magic, then?" he asks, before shifting his vision to the other things gathered. "And what of this mirror? Didn't the little doll have one of those, as well?"
Sarlene moves slowly, and looks over Axel's shoulder. Well s~#~. Her eyes glitter. Treasure...
Furrowing his brow, Kalhar trudged over a few steps to where Sarlene and Axel were standing, and his eyes too went wide. "S%*+!" he echoed, staring down at the riches.
The wind continues to impose itself as the snow whitewashes vision.
The bright blue light fades from Axels eyes and they return to their normal brown color. "Aye. It is a magic weapon indeed. I've read about these types of weapons. They are best used on a boar hunt, thus its name I'd suspect. The hunter would goad the boar into charging the holder of this weapon since it is most effective when used defensively. The crossbar here helps protect the wielder. I've never actually seen one before though."
Axel brushes snow out of his eyes and off the gemstones. "Perhaps we should find a place to shelter from this blizzard." Axel puts all the loot back in the chest and closes it. Then, grabbing it by the two handles, tries to lift it but to no avail. He smiles sheepishly at the others "Er, perhaps someone a bit stronger than I should carry this."
A quick respite from the snow and wind reveals a bank of quill-like icicles spearing outward in a ring, seemingly grown from a heavy sheet of ice covering the ground. A second ring of giant icicle-shaped monoliths stands inside the outer ring, surrounding a swirling cylindrical vortex easily ten feet in diameter. Icy winds and driving snow blast again from the vortex, hiding itself some thirty feet away.
Kalhar holds up his hand to shield himself from the new blast of cold, and slowly walks towards the monoliths, silently taking in the bizarre wonder unfolding in his vision.
The swirling vortex hurls the falling snow out of the ring of icicles to pile elsewhere throughout the camp. So as Kalhar walks into the ring of monoliths he is no longer waist deep in snow.
"This must be what is causing all of the cold! This has to be what's creating this horrible weather!" he shouted, trying to overcome the roaring wind. "We have to find a way to turn it off!"
Daegan watches Kalhar with concern. Caution, friend! I do not trust this apperation! He glances about, and worriedly grips the longsword in its sheath. Axel! Come, see this! he calls out. Perhaps the tinkerer can figure this one out... He again returns his gaze to the swirling vortex, wracking his brain for any memory of stories his father might have told him about such things.
Knowledge Arcana
You surmise that the effect actually emanates from somewhere on the other side of this portal. In order to close the portal, you’ll need to go through the portal.
A surge of wind suddenly blasts from the swirling vortex in the ring of icicles, gusting outward in a stinging spray of snow and ice. Suddenly, a gaunt horseman with curling ram’s horns and wearing coal-black armor lurches through the portal astride a black warhorse, surrounded by tendrils of cold, dark mist. The rider slumps in the saddle, a shard of blue ice jutting from his back. As rider and mount come to a halt in the snow, the horse suddenly dissipates into black smoke, and the horseman falls to the ground with a groan.
Kalhar surges forward, falling to his knees and cradling the horseman in his free arm, protecting him with his shield. His tone is worried and his words come quickly, "Who are you? Where do you hail from? Who did this to you?"
Turning back to his friends, he once again bellows over the shrieking cold "This magic comes from the other side of this nexus! If we are to close it, we will need to venture through!"
The rider groans pushing himself off the ground and managing to balance himself on his knees. He dismisses his helm and armor in a puff of black smoke, waving it away from his face as he places his right hand on the ground to steady himself. He looks up at Kalhar as an old man in slick black robes.
“Once, I was called Illarion Matveius. Now I am known as Black Midnight. I am Baba Yaga’s Black Rider, harbinger of the Witch Queen’s return.”
He grunts as he tries to adjust and give comfort to the blue shard sticking out of his back.
“Done to me by the servants of Queen Elvanna, ruler of Irrisen and betrayer of her own mother.”
Kalhar blinks twice, his mouth opening slightly in surprise as his head drifts away from the man for a moment, trying to take in his words. After a moment, he speaks again. "Betrayal? How has she betrayed Baba Yaga? And what does that have to do with this winter spilling forth on these lands of summer?"
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"This just got way more interesting," Coyote said after a moment of stunned silence, licking his teeth.
Jezzera stood in bewilderment, not knowing whether to trust this mysterious and mystical stranger. His hand at the ready by his sling, he kept a defensive posture as the old man spoke.
"These next few moments will decide the fate of our young cub and his pack. Watch carefully," Wolf murmured to his brothers.
“Something has happened to Baba Yaga. Every hundred years, she returns to Irrisen to place a new daughter on the throne. But Queen Elvanna has other plans, it seems. Baba Yaga has not appeared as planned, and Elvanna intends to slay everyone loyal to her mother. She hunted down those of us who would herald Baba Yaga’s return and slew my associates. I am the last of the Three Riders and a threat to Elvanna’s plans.”
He takes a few drawn out breaths before continuing, the color quickly leaving his face.
“Her plan... to take Baba Yaga’s place, and claim all of Golarion as her personal kingdom. Irrisen is a land of endless winter, created by Baba Yaga’s magic. Elvanna seeks to cover the entire world in ice and snow, using portals like this one.”
"Where does this portal lead? Are her forces on the other side?" he looks back at his companions with uncertain eyes, and then back at the old man. "...How do we stop her?"
“You must find Baba Yaga. Only Baba Yaga can defeat Elvanna. Only the Queen of Witches can undo what her daughter has done. You must use her Dancing Hut to follow her. The hut is a powerful artifact that can cross great distances, even travel between worlds. If you can control the hut, it can take you to Baba Yaga.”
His hands tense, finding their way to fists as his breathing becomes more measured.
"I'm no longer capable of my duty."
His free hand fumbles to fish out a necklace from his robes. Finally he elects to just grab and rip the string off his neck, two charms dangle from it. A tied lock of white hair and a plague doctor's mask. He sets them at his side for the moment.
“Elvanna stole the hut and put it on display in Irrisen’s capital, Whitethrone, as a symbol of her power. You must go through the portal to Irrisen and find the Dancing Hut.”
He eyes Sarlene with a question in his eyes.
The trapper stands stock still, his hand locked on the half-drawn captain's sword. It is a long moment before he speaks, as the rider's words turn about in his head and he tries to make sense of them.
What you speak of, sir, it's... He pauses and starts again. Your words seem mad, sir, but the things we have seen in the past week would appear to confirm them. It all fits... the unnatural cold, legions of dark fey, the devotion and cunning shown by our adversaries... He moves finally, pushing forward to kneel at the dying man's side. What you ask of us seems impossible. But if I have learned anything in this past bloody, frozen week, it is that my companions are up to any task... perhaps even impossible ones. He brings his face close, staring into the man's eyes. We shall not fail.
He rises and turns to the others, locking eyes with each in turn. It has been many years since I have gazed upon the lands of Irrisen. Everything I once had there is gone, and... truthfully, I never thought I would return. But perhaps it is time for a homecoming.
In a flash, he draws his sword, raising the blade into the air. Are you with me?
Kalhar's face remains in numbed shock, and he turns back the way he came Heldren...Willowbark...Everyone. These guys are just going on an adventure. I'd be leaving them behind. He seems uncertain, teetering between futures and locked in his own thoughts, before shaking his head and standing up, starting to trek away from the portal. "No. This is madness. I need to get back to the shop. I need to get back to my village." he stated, his voice feigning resolution but tinged with fear.
"Ask yourselves, how did so many familiar with Irrisen come to stand here as I fled through this portal? Spearman, there will soon be few corners of the world to cower in. Please do not refuse my dying request. I will not leave you unprepared."
Setting the charms on the ground in front of him his free hand struggles with the ornamental knife tucked away at his side.
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Jezzera furrowed his brow.
"Kalhar, I believe I understand your hesitation," he murmured grimly. "None of us asked for this when we took our first steps into the snowy forest. It is beyond the comprehension of most men, what has been tasked of us."
He scooped a bit of dust from his medicine bag and held it in his hand.
"But is that not all the more reason we few ought to heed the words of this rider? I speak not out of excitement or wanderlust - the desire for adventure is gone from my mind and only duty remains."
He tightened his fist around the dust, allowing a bit to scatter in the harsh winds.
"Where there is good to be done for Golarion and billions of lives at stake, are not the capable few obligated to do so? How craven it would be for us to abandon this man and abdicate that which he has beseeched us in his final moments."
Brother Wolf and his canine family looked on in silence, marking Jezzera's words.
"My clan has a saying - 'With great power comes great responsibility.' We seek not to be heroes, only to do what is necessary. For our lives, and the lives of everyone we know.
"I am in."