"Cicadas take you! Stupid trees." Neverhome goes between angry shouting and angry growling as he takes another swing at the Frost fur.
The Frost Firs seem completely unaffected by Zes' hexes. Luckily, everyone else lands solid blows and smashes all three to pulp.
Ah ok, thanks! Just checkin'.
"Mmm, Cicadas... Things are defienently going wrong if even the trees are attacking us. I can try and pick up the Weasel's trail again but we should really get that portal closed soon..."
Blik will say, stowing away his little sling. He'll take his time looking about at the mess caused by the attacking trees.
"Is... is Charger dead?"
Blik will ask with solemnity, moving to help the animal if that is not the case.
Hobbes will help attend to Charger, wand in hand.
Silence too slid from his mount Rushing to the dependable Mule Charger.
His tail lashed violently back and forth as Hobbes came over, the feline had an almost panicked look to his face.
[b] Yes yes yes. The healing stick. yes yes." He said
"Alright, I'm on it."
"Come on, Charger you can do it" Zses will say as he rush to the animal.
"Hang on!" Crow will add.
Zses will nod at Blik's mention of the portal. "Yeah, this things probably came from that portal, too. You usually find them in cold climates, up in the north"
The feline samurai almost leapt for joy as the stoic mule brayed suddenly as the healing energies took effect. He hugged the mule who eyed him strangely before regaining his composure.
"Yes yes friend Blik, lets find the giant weasel to keep the people safe, then to the portal, we will close it soon and save the day I just feel it yes yes!
After reviving Charger, you continue onward. As the trail descends, Hobbes and Blik are easily able to point out the locations of several bear traps. It takes some delicate maneuvering, but you're able to get the slaygon through. It's not much longer before you come to a clearing littered with over a dozen boulder-sized chunks of ice. In the center, perched atop tree trunks on a mound of snow-covered earth sits a strange wooden hut.
Hobbes will double move forward while keeping a look out.
Zses eyes shine as soon as he see the hut, but manages to restrain himself to rush towards it.
We have to be careful, or it'll be the Snowman trap all over again...
Before he says anything, Crow will fly off Lyosha's hood, circling the area with the blocks of ice to see if something is amiss.
"Let's be careful before entering the clearing, okay?" he will say to everyone, with a worried voice, as he prepares to cast .
He will look at Hobbes with panic as he sees the half-ling walk towards the hut. "Hobbes, watch out! We don't know if those ice blocks are dangerous!"
Blik will follow after Hobbes, keeping a careful eye out, but will stop when Zestrian shouts out, keeping clear of the ice with wide eyes. He'll pull out his sling and load it just to be careful.
At Friend Zsestrian's warning the feline would pause glancing about looking for trouble. Slowly he would sheath his katana and take out the Naginata, granting him a bit of reach and additional defese(in that he has reach no bonus to AC). Taking a hold of Mule's reigns he frowned...
Strange place for a hut Yes yes?"
"You have no idea." Neverhome will grimly respond to Silence's statement.
As you begin to move deeper into the ice circle, a shivering Ulfen girl suddenly materializes in front of Blik and Hobbes. In a panicked voice, she cries, "I'm sorry! Don't hurt me! I never meant to call you names!"
"What in the? Where did you come from? What are ya talkin about?"
Keeping the concentration up for his spell , Zses will start walking in the direction of the girl
"Call your names? What do you mean miss? Please, calm down."
As usual, Zses voice came off as slightly unnatural.
This will only distress her more. To be fair, this feels like another trap, but...
Meanwhile, Crow will eye the Ulfen from above, looking for something strange or dangerous.
"Names?" The large feline began tilting his head to the side.
This was certainly strange and he wasn't sure he liked it. Like the others he moved forward skirting to his left around the ice,though wary of the strange blocks of ice.
"Is your mother home little girl? in the hut perhaps yes yes?"
He called torwards her as he moved with Mule in tow.
Blik won't say anything to whatever this is, but he will approach from the side silently, like approaching a wild animal. He'll hold his sling behind his back and try to appear as non-threatening as possible.
The girl vanishes, but reappears in front of Blik. "Please don't keep me here. It's so cold. I miss my mother."
"She looks like a little girl, but she twinkled when she appeared and disappeared!" Crow will shout from above.
Zsestrian will move a little closer to the girl, "Why you can't leave? Is someone keeping you here? Can we help you in any way? We have blankets, and you look like you need one."
I have a bad feeling about this... but if she's really in danger we can't leave her! She'll freeze to death!
While she talks to the girl, he will be focusing to keep up, and see if there's anything odd about the girl.
At the sight of odd child by herself, not to mention in close proximity to the hut, Neverhome will draw his sword and be on guard but make no other agressive actions.
Blik will literally flip out, leaping away to hide in the snow, crying out in surprise and fright.
"Aaaah!!
Wait, can Human children disappear?
Blik will stick his head back up out of the snow, keeping a careful eye on this mysterious child.
His whiskers twitched as he crept forward again, his tail slowly lashing. Disapearing girls were not normal.
" Little girl.. who is your mother? is she a nice lady in Heldren?" asked still moving forward.
"Oh boy, I think even this little goil is gonna try ta kill us."
The girl vanishes and reappears in front of Silence. "My mother is Nadya Petska. Who are you?" A second later, her face turns scared and angry as she looks into the distance. "I don't want your stupid doll! I want to go home! Take me back!"
"Doll? We don't have no doll, little goil. Somethin's up here."
"nadya Petska?" he questioned unsure of the name... He blinked and she disapeared into the distance. The feline stratched his head.
"I am called Silence little one, mostly because i talk a lot, yes yes, We will take you home, if you tell us where your home is.
He added approaching closer to the hut. He had a feeling that the hut here in the middle of nowhere had a purpose, and the strange spirit child... well. His fur was standing on end.
"I am Zses. It's nice to meet you. What's your name?" Zsestrian will ask with a smile as he moves closer to the child. Then, with a tad more caution, "And to who were you talking a little earlier? Who wants to give you a doll?"
Meanwhile, Crow will land near the hut and peek into one of the windows, if it has one.
Upon hearing the girl say her Mother's name Neverhome will turn his full attention to her. "Are you and your Mother Irresani?"
Leaving the child to the others, Blik will move closer to the cottage, curious to see if there are anymore disappearing children or unusual things within.
The girl's eyes clear momentarily, and she locks eyes with Silence. In a panicked voice, she cries, "I have to get away! And you should, too, before they see you. Run!" She starts to flee, but only runs about 20ft before vanishing.
Zses could feel the chill that ran trough Crow spine. "The house has chicken legs and there's something sitting in there!" the raven will shout to the party.
Zses completely threw off by the disappearance of the girl, the chicken-legged hut and what appeared to be an impending danger, moved with shaking legs towards his animal companion and cast on the area where the girl disappeared.
What's going on here?
"What are ya talking about? Oh, we're all gonna die.."
"Who is 'They'?"
Hanging back from the unusual house, Blik will look confused at his friends who seem shaken by the building's unusual features. Already on alert thanks to the strange child, Blik will ask hesitantly,
"Uh, uhm, should we not enter then? Is it another trap?"
He asks, intent on learning from his past mistakes.
He too moved forwards off put by the strange little girl. Something was in that hut, and the way their luck had held it was something... sinister. He gripped the haft of his naginata grimly.
"Little girl... is this your home? He began perplexed. It was a strange looking home if it was indeed her home. He paused glancing about and slid his naginata in the loop in the addle for it, if something happened in her strange house, he wanted his katana in hand.
There's no sign of the girl, but Silence can see a faint shimmer where she once stood . The hut remains silent.
"Well it's not coming toward us..." Neverhome will grumble as he begins his way towards the hut.
Hobbes will follow the intrepid human to the hut.
While Zses was deciding what to do, Crow will fly to Neverhome and perches himself on his shoulder.
It didn't take a magical, intelligent bird to understand that entering a chicken-legged hut was way safer if you were on the shoulder (or in close proximity) of a 6 feet tall half-orc.
Curiosity will win out over caution, and Blik will hurry to follow after the others into the strange house, his sling held at the ready.
He closed with the others, letting loose of Mule's reins. "Guard our backs Mule, let nothing in." He instructed the warhorse patting his wonderful broad neck before withdrawing his katana and following the others.
Sitting on a chair inside the hut is a tiny doll. It looks identical to the scared Ulfen girl, but the face is that of an old crone. Even odder, one eye is a blue gemstone, while the other is a coin-sized highly-polished mirror. As you look at her, the light inside the hut flickers - as if a candle flame was being blown by wind.
Well, I'll check that place where the girl was in a minute
Zses thinks, as he hurries to the hut.
"Give... me...a second..." the witch will say as he stop to catch his breath. "Give me some time and I'll scan that hut to see if there's magic there."
As he points to the hut, he realizes that in there was the creepy doll the poor victim of the giant weasel wrote about.
Why does it look like that girl?
Zses peeks into the hut to see if that doll remembers him of anything he knows, while Crow examines the interior of the hut from the safe position of Neverhome's shoulder.
"I've got a bad feeling about this."
"Will you stop saying that?" Neverhome will quickly chirp at Hobbes with narrowed eyes. Assuming nothing or no one stops him Neverhome will attempt to cross threshold into the hut.