Being fully warned that another guardian lies within, Crummock casts Freedom of Movement on himself and Geist, then Aspect of the Wolf on Geist, before heading in.
Crummock heads right.
A wooden mask carved from tree bark hangs suspended from a rocky outcrop where the tunnel makes a sharp turn. Dry and cracked from age, with dried strands of moss dangling from the top like stringy hair, the mask displays a crude and somehow sinister woman’s visage.
Mr whiskers recognizes the mask as a type used in some witchcraft rituals. He knows that if anyone dons the mask, thry will feel for a fleeting moment the mask is their true face and their real face just a mask, but this unexplainable feeling will pass after a moment and leave no ill effects.
"Interesting..."
With a shrug, Crummock continues on his way.
A large cavern suddenly opens beneath the cliff. The ceiling is lost in darkness, though the tips of stalactites can be seen descending from the gloom, several of them ending in jagged stumps and displaying large gouges from great teeth or claws. Stalagmites once lined the floor, but most have likewise been sheared off and reduced to little more than rubble. A dark pool lies at the rear of the cavern, and a small stream runs across the floor from the pool to empty into a deep sinkhole near the south wall. White shards of broken bones litter the cave floor among the rubble and debris.
The ceiling of this cavern is more than 50 feet above. The stream is only a few inches deep but is considered difficult terrain. The sinkhole is 120 feet deep and drains away into an underground river at the bottom, which is littered with broken bones.
A large dragon with broad, ragged wings and its serpentine body ending in three long, flailing necks with hissing, triangular heads flies up to strike at the party.
Mr Whiskers recognizes the dragon as a khala, and it has a breath weapon.
Every 1d4 rounds, the khala can fire a jet of frigid liquid up to 60 feet in a straight line from one of its three mouths, dealing 16d6 points of cold damage to the target. Even if this save is successful, the target must succeed at a Fortitude save or be encased in ice. A trapped creature must succeed at a DC 25 Strength check or a DC 26 Escape Artist check to break free. Attempting to break free of the ice is a full-round action.
It is rumored that the khala was a rare breed of amphibious dragon before Baba Yaga came. Her arrival and the supernatural winter that came with her warped these once-proud creatures into voracious, wicked things that delight in the suffering of others.
Mr. Whiskers casts Communal Resist Energy -- Cold and tags everyone evenly with it, any odd remainder going to Nivean.
He then tries to move to cover.
Mr Whiskers manages to touch Dimitri, Geist, nivean and himself with communal resist energy.
The Khala fires a blast of icy breath at Einar, Crummock and Geist.
Geist avoids the blast entirely. Crummock manages to dodge partially while Einar takes it right in the face.
Both Einar and Crummock have become encased in ice!
Geist claws at the ice covering Crummock...
Crummock breaks free, thanks to Geist, and responds by hacking at the ice covering Einar...
...his third blow shattering the ice.
He then points at the dragon, and gives Einar a push.
"Ewch yn cael ei!"
Dimitri delays until Einar moves, then takes his place, firing a single shot.
Mr. Whiskers says "I can turn you to earth or air elemental form, allowing you to get in there Greta. I would suggest Earth so you can move through this rock."
If she agrees to either, he casts Elemental Body III on her allowing her to either fly above the others or earthglide in.
The dragon breaths at as many people it can catch.
Geist and Crummock manage to get out of the blast, but Dimitri doesn't.
Crummock gets the dubious pleasure of being an icicle yet again, but Dimitri is fine.
"Air, please, so I can get to the dragon." Greta answers. She then squeezes through the tunnels and moves to the other side of the dragon.
The first two strikes of the longspear pierce its hide, and the dragon growls at Einar. The third is turned by its protective scales.
Einar does not manage to strike a vital spot, but he does manage to hit the khala. The dragon is now injured.
Dimitri, shivering slightly, unleashes metal-jacketed hell upon the beast!
Meanwhile, Geist frantically tries to de-popsicle Crummock...
...once again succeeding on the third swing.
Dimitri does a headshot and the beast collapses on the ground below, dead. Searching the Khala, the party finds a ring of sustenance.
The party then hears Baba Yaga’s voice in their minds, ”Stab…death into..guardian.” Einar takes the cold iron athame containing Baba Yaga’s death into the Khala’s body, which causes the blade to turn gold. ”Submerge…selves into sinkhole.” Baba Yaga orders telepathically, and the party steps into the dark, cold, and filthy waters with the detritus of the khala that has been living there for god knows how long.
The world shimmers, and the party finds themselves in the Gug cave. Fortunately, the gugs are still out there dancing over more barbequed goat. Crummock windwalks the entire party, and the party makes their way back to the grotto.
While flying back into the grotto, they find that there is now a wooden fort constructed, and the Russian soldiers, together with the cauldron of plenty are now inside, with their own wooden dwellings and a well. The sentries point their guns at the approaching windwalking party, but lower their guns when they realize who they are. Anastasia is practicing magic, with Zorka’s tutelage outside, well within the view of the fort’s sentries.
Anatasia waves at the party, then looks at Dimitri, ”Oh yes, I promised to help you, but I couldn’t find you guys the next morning.”
”Where’d you all go? I haven’t seen any of you for days! You guys just disappeared without a trace!” She asks the party frantically. She casts restoration on Dimitri, who thanks her. She then turns to Mr Whiskers. ”You owe me 1000 gp. I have to get used to this charging money for healing thing, you know.” She adds impishly. ”Urm – if you want lunch, it’s in the fort – I’ve been told that I’ve been barred from using the cauldron, because I can’t cook. Leo and Igor are in charge of the meals now.” She admits, mildly embarrassed. ”Though I’d say all they do is get cooked meat out of the cauldron, and not enough vegetables.” She grumbles.
”Welcome back.” Anton greets the party as the rest of the soldiers wave. ”Glad to see all of you made it in one piece. Lunch’s Schi, Kotlety, Beef Stroganoff, Pelmeni, Golubtsy and there’s Kompot to go with it. No drinking while on duty, so no alcoholic drinks allowed in camp.” He adds. ”If you wish we do have a separate wooden building for you to sleep in if you want to stay in our fort.”
”…right. …business.” The party hears Baba Yaga’s voice in their heads. ”Embed..athame into doll. Soak in…pool.” Einar does as Baba Yaga commands and the athame sinks easily into the doll. When the doll is submerged in the sacred pool, the doll splits open once again (this time along the crack made by the athame), revealing yet another smaller doll inside, just as impervious as the previous ones. Baba Yaga grants a third boon to the party. Each person receives the benefit of a breath of life spell (CL 20th) the next time he takes enough hit point damage to otherwise kill him. This benefit only works once. . The athame blade turns boack, but Mr Whiskers realizes it has been magically enhanced ansnis now a +3 cold iron heartseeker dagger.
Then Vigliv appears out of her tree, and the Russian sentries train their guns on her, before recognizing who she is, and lower their guns again. “The death of Baba Yaga is no small thing, and you have succeeded in finding it where none have before. Now that you have secured her death, however, you must also locate and obtain her life. Although Baba Yaga hid her mortality away so death could not find her, to be more than a walking corpse, she must still have life. To this end, she ensured that a wellspring of life would flow in an ever-renewing fountain for her purposes. Guarding and protecting this source of life she tasked to her daughters, the Queens of Irrisen. After one hundred years of rule, these queens rejoin Baba Yaga and take up the responsibility of ensuring that her wellspring of life never runs dry. Now you must face the queens of old to reclaim Baba Yaga’s life and escape with your own as well.” Vigliv tells the party.
She gives the Russian sentries a dirty look, ”I’d get them for deforestation, but I don’t even HAVE a case since all trees grew back after they chopped them down.”
Baba Yaga begins yelling in a child-like manner in the party’s heads, ” It’s mine and I want it! Get it back from them—they can’t have it! You’re going to get it back for me first thing tomorrow!” Then the party doesn’t hear anything else from her.
Anastasia also looks for Mr Whiskers. ”I just learnt something new today.” Then a shadow passes over her face. ”But it’s not a very nice thing. I’ll show you what I mean.” She then wishes for Mr Whiskers to be protected from cold. ”Get ready to break him out.” She informs Einar. Then she begins to cast Icy prison on Mr Whiskers, as she yells the command, ”Stay.”
Mr Whiskers is encased in a block of ice, and Einar breaks him out the next round.
Mr Whiskers counters Anastasia’s spell.
”That spell would trap the target in a prison of ice. So – if there is someone you don’t like, you can just trap him in the icy prison and watch him die in front of you. The prison cannot be broken by the one trapped within. Is that what you wanted me to learn offensive magics for? So I could do that to those who displeased me?” Anastasia states, affronted.
Crummock breathes a sigh of relief when the dragon is destroyed.
"That was an unpleasant beast!"
He then happily casts Wind Walk on the party, so that they can head back to camp.
When he arrives, and sees the new fortifications, he gives a whistle of approval.
"Glad I am to see that they have been keepin' busy! This is turnin' into quite a reasonable little fort..."
Crummock smiles, and nods to Anton.
"Aye, it is refreshin' for each o' us to come back in one, livin' piece, for a change..."
He then happily accepts a selection of the food on offer.
Crummock shivers as he feels the magic of Baba Yaga's latest boon suffusing his flesh, settling into his soul, stitching it more tightly to his corporeal form.
He then frowns, as he listens to the next task.
"We need to fight the Hags o' old? That could be difficult. I dare see we will be needin' to prepare to deal with a lot o' winter magic..."
He then settles down for the night in the accommodation that the soldiers have thoughtfully provided for the party.
"Yes, and I'm right glad to see all of you here safely back. At least no one had to be brought in in body bags."Anton replies.
Dinner in the fort is Borscht, Knish, Zharkoye, Shashlik, , dressed herring with plenty of black rye bread to go along with it. There is Morozhenoe topped with chocolate as dessert and there is peach kompot served as a drink.
Once night falls, wooden lanterns are lit in the watch towers and around the fort for illumination.
Leo then leads the party to their wooden building in the fort. Their wooden building has tables and chairs, and cupboards, and a wooden floor, but no bed. ”Sorry, we don’t have cotton here. So no beds or mattresses."Leo apologizes. "There’s heather in the stores if you need to line the floor to sleep on.” Leo also points out in the fort where the supplies of heather are.
Dimitri is in a rather pensive mood as he looks at the stars outside the window. ”So we’ve recovered her fate, her power, her death and there’s only one more to go, her life. It’s almost over, isn’t it?” He asks the party. ”Have you thought about what you’d do when all this is over?”
”I mean look at the constellations out there – it’s the same as those in Russia. But after all I’ve seen and gone through, I wouldn’t want to go back – a fledged chick can no longer return to its nest. Go back to a country torn by war and famine? Go back to the harsh winters where everyone struggles to survive? I joined the Russian army because it was better then starving. But the world of the living isn’t for me anymore – I just want to go back to Axis to retire once the job is done. “ Dimitri tells the party.
”I was hoping that once we free Baba Yaga, she would grant us a boon – I’d ask her if it were possible that all winter wolves could shift to human form whenever they chose, so we would not be bound to living in the Howlings if we wanted to be able to shift to human." Greta says.
Einar gets himself a nice roll of green hide.
Suffice to say, even if it happened, it'd do nothing to her, until the ice eventually melts off - since this area is above 0 degrees.
"Even a stone wall can be blown down by tanks. Besides, its not as if they had an iron mine, and a granite quarry to begin with. Electricity would also require a steady supply of coal which I'm not sure there is around this region." Dimitri defends the efforts of his countrymen.
"I think Igor used beef and pork. You can ask him. Basically the cauldron produces whatever you ask it to produce. Including peas soup."Anton winces at the memory.
"Look. Don't insult us. Those who wanted to return as farmers returned to their homes in Russia. And Federal Law No. 53-FZ of 1818 on Military Duty and Military Service states that no consumption of alcoholic beverages is allowed on active duty."Pavel answers. "If you want to drink, it's your own business, just that we won't be having any alcohol in camp."
Crummock looks thoughtful, as he listens to Dimitri.
"I wouldnae try to change a man's mind when he has his heart set on something, but there be far more out there than just one world; yes, there be a lot o' sufferin', and evil, but there is also happiness, joy, contentment, and good. Don't go writin' off the entire multiverse due to a few bad apples - they don't spoil the entire barrel."
He then smiles wanly.
"If, however, ye really *want* to retire to Axis permanently, I would be happy to see if we could arrange for ye to take up residency there, whilst ye are still alive; that way, ye could live out the rest o' yer days there."
Crummock then lets out a long sigh.
"As to what I will be doin' after all this is over? Well, as ye know, I have been buildin' me own little world - a private Eden, that I can go to for rest. That is where I will probably ultimately retire to, although I will still make a point o' seein' me old friends.
However, before I do that, I still want to travel; before I got mixed up in all o' this, I was a simple traveler, who relied on mercenary work as a caravan guard to fund his journeys, as he fled the pain of his past. Now though, I have seen so much more - not just new continents that I had never been to, but entire worlds, and planes of existence. The multiverse is just so full of life, and new experiences... how could I give up all of that?"
He then smiles ruefully.
"Of course, I have met many in me travels, some of whom have remained allies... some more dear to me than others. I will do me best to make sure that they are not forgotten, and looked after, as best as I am able."
"Yes, I'm sure I want to take up residency there. And since I've been offered a place twice, they're definitely partial to having me there. The streets in Axis are clean, and not full of empty or half drunk vodka bottles and don't smell of puke and urine and smoke from coal factories. There aren't families with their hungry children begging you for food and money when you have none to give."Dimitri answers.
"I've always wanted a peaceful place to call home, and Axis is it."
"Is there nothing you can't do with magic?"Dimitri asks Crummock. "I can't build my own world - guess I'll make do with whats already available. Besides I suspect if I were the only person in that world, I'd get bored."
"If you do come by Axis -I'll be sure to show you around."
"I'm not sure if my friends would want to come to Axis with me, and I'm not sure if they'd be welcome there, honestly. Nor do I have any way to bring them there."Dimitri confesses.
Crummock shrugs modestly.
"There is very little that cannae be done with sufficient application o' magic. It does come with costs, though..."
He then smiles wanly.
"I won't be entirely alone... and me magic will allow me to watch o'er, and talk with, anyone that I wish, regardless o' where they be in the multiverse. Not quite the same as livin' in a city o' like-minded individuals, I grant ye, but it has its advantages, as well as its disadvantages."
"Thinking of what magic can or can't do just makes my head hurt. On one hand I wonder how it would have been different had I that power, on the other hand they say that absolute power corrupts absolutely." Dimitri replies.
"Different strokes for different folks."Dimitri answers philosophically. "I was thinking of setting myself up a construction business. Would you believe they haven't got Russian buildings there? When I asked them, they said no one's started building Russian style before, but they were interested in the idea. SOMEONE really should be looking into it."
Crummock frowns thoughtfully.
"I would like to think that a person's natural inclinations would still shine through. Still, none o' us have absolute power. It may seem so to someone who doesnae wield magic, but believe me, there be beings far more powerful than we are, that could squash us like bugs, if they bothered to notice us."
He smiles when Dimitri mentions starting a construction business.
"Everyone needs a hobby, or passion. I might even have some commission work for ye, if you could stand to make a visit to me little Eden..."
"I'm not so sure about that - why do the Bourgeoisie only care about how much they can exploit the proletariats? Are they all inclined that way? Or rather has all that profit they were making made them turn a blind eye to the working conditions?" Dimitri replies.
"And that coming from the person who's raised me from the dead several times over? And created his own private Eden? Really, there are more powerful beings then you?"Dimitri laughs.
"We'd need to work out the logistics of transporting materials over." Dimitri muses over the issue."I know you can transport people across planes - can you transport concrete, granite, mortar, paints and other building materials? Or do you have ways on producing large quantities of building materials on the spot?" Dimitri asks Crummock.
--- Return to Grotto
”Where’d you all go? I haven’t seen any of you for days! You guys just disappeared without a trace!”
"Sorry about that. It wasn't my original intent, but it looks like you've done well while we were away." Mr. Whiskers comments.
She casts restoration on Dimitri, who thanks her. She then turns to Mr Whiskers. ”You owe me 1000 gp. I have to get used to this charging money for healing thing, you know.”
"Yes, you do need some practice on that." Mr. Whiskers comments. "May I suggest that in the future you ask for the money before casting the spell? I will pay for the materials you needed this time, but I've got to talk to the others about them paying a share as well."
He then hands over the money.
... She admits, mildly embarrassed. ”Though I’d say all they do is get cooked meat out of the cauldron, and not enough vegetables.” She grumbles.
"I will talk to them about offering some variety."
--- In the Fort
Mr. Whiskers looks around, commenting "Nice work with the barricades! If you don't mind, I would like to look them over more closely later."
Then Mr. Whiskers goes over and sniffs at the food. "Anastasia mentioned you took over the cooking, and this looks much better. I do have to agree with her on one thing though, a few more vegetables would be nice...especially in the soups." Looking at them, he asks "Do you suppose some sort of balance could be reached between you? Keeping the essence of what you have done, but adding something on the side that complements it and isn't meat or potatoes?"
I hope they can work something out. Although I suspect that Einar would like this, I like a little lighter meal.
At mention of staying in the fort, Mr. Whiskers asks "Where do Anastasia and Zorka stay?"
Vigliv says ”I’d get them for deforestation, but I don’t even HAVE a case since all trees grew back after they chopped them down.”
Looking back at the fort, he comments "They aren't elves. I've heard that elves have ways to make shelters that utilize the plants without harming them, I hope someday to see that." Turning back to her, he asks "Is there something I could request of them to make such building less objectionable to you? This is your space and we are just visitors. I would hate for you to think me an ungracious guest."
--- Spell Demonstration
Mr. Whiskers twitches his nose when Anastasia talks of her new spell. "I don't generally like being the target of such things, but if you can prevent me from taking permanent harm I will acquiesce."
He sets Nivean off to the side, so she isn't in the area of any of the magics.
He had no problems when she casts the spell to allow him to resist cold. I wonder if there is a reason she is using cold spells. The witches used them extensively, to the exclusion of some other very useful spells.
When she starts casting the Icy Prison, Mr. Whiskers twitches. No, don't cancel it! She wants to do a demonstration, as the teacher I need to allow her to do so this once. He has trouble standing still as the spell takes form, fighting his own instincts. The others will get me out. I just hope they don't laugh and leave me in here too long.
She is lecturing me while I can't respond? Perhaps I shouldn't have allowed this after all.
Seeing Mr. Whiskers encased in ice, the small lemming freaks out. It rushes to the ice, trying to burrow through in order to rescue him. Seeing Einar approach and hammer at the ice, she settles down a little.
She then glares at Anastasia, clearly unhappy with the woman.
"Oh, so you charge first, then you cast. I geddit."Anatasia answers.
"Oh no problem, we'll show you around the fort."Pavel shows the party around the fort.
"More vegetables?" The cook, Igor, furrows his eyebrows. "But everyone prefers meat!" After some consideration, he adds, "Well, I could fix up an Olivier salad, I suppose."
"They have their own building in here too,"Pavel points out another building. "Hey Zorka and Anatasia, can I show them your rooms?"He hollers over the wall.
"Go ahead."The party hears Zorka's voice, followed by Anatasia's, "It's fine."
Pavel opens the door of the building revealing a similarly constructed building like the one the party is allocated, except that it has squiggles on its interior, and there are two piles of heather shaped like a mattress. The cupboards are lined with the books Mr Whiskers passed to Anastasia to study, as well as assorted jars of herbs. There is a cauldron in the room.
"We told them that magic practice had to be done outside, after we had hail in the fort while she was practicing."Pavel replies.
Einar breaks Mr Whiskers out, then returns the favour, turning a surprised Anatasia into a popsicle.
The ice doesn't seem to harm Anastasia any. Nor does she mind overly much sitting in there...since it's just a short while before Einar breaks the prison.
”Yeah, that's if you HAVE magic to counter. Lets say I did it on someone without magic. Wouldn't that make me a bully since he can't defend himself from me?” She asks Einar and Mr Whiskers. ”And its not just restraint, its a death sentence."
"I don't think your lemming likes me very much."Anatasia looks at Nivean edgily.
He shakes himself once Einar has chipped him out. "Thank you, Einar!"
As he is about to reach down and pick up Nivean, he sees Einar turn his hammer on Anastasia and nearly panics. "Wait, no!" Then he sighs with resignation and gets out his handaxe to help chip away at the ice surrounding her.
Sensing something of Nivean's mode, he decides to leave her off to the side until Anastasia is free.
Once she is free, he says "Lecturing someone when they are helpless isn't the best way to make an impression."
Going over to where the little lemming is, he picks it up. "Given the fright you just gave Nivean, I believe we will find a different way for you to do your demonstrations in the future." He picks up his talisman at the same time.
Setting the lemming on his shoulder, he then turns back to Anastasia.
"To answer your question, no I don't want you to learn those magics so you can inflict your will on others. I wanted you to learn some so that you could protect yourself from those wishing you harm."
"As for being a death sentence, that is only true if you leave them in there too long." Scratching behind one if his ears, he says "That spell isn't a bad compromise, since with many opponents you would have time to break them free before they died of the cold. Unfortunately, many of the people who might wish you harm are immune to the cold."
He watches her reaction to his words. Does she know anything of the Winter Witches? I'm pretty sure given some of the things he said that Rasputin told the queen of her.
"Let's spend some time later trying to figure out other spells that you may want to learn. A mixture of defensive and healing magics, with enough offensive magics to defend yourself when needed. After all, I doubt you would like feeling helpless."
"There are defenses that even someone without magic can use that would have negated your spell." Showing her his talisman of freedom, he explains "This is just one such item, there are others. Please do not assume because someone can't cast spells that they are less of a threat to you."
"Yes, I suppose it isn't. "Anatasia looks down at her feet at Mr Whisker's lecture.
"I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to keep people from killing me. I'd dissappear if I could, but I can't. I wish there weren't people who wanted to kill me." Anatasia sounds wobegone.
"Yes, the world would be a much nicer place if that were true. I certainly never intended to make enemies when I left the burrow." Mr. Whiskers gives her a sidelong smile "On the other hand, I have met some good friends because I went out and traveled the world."
"I would suggest that you just do your best to try and help people. Don't start the fights, but try to have some way to respond when someone else starts one with you. Try not to make enemies, but do not give way to a bully just because it would prevent a fight." Looking to her, he asks "Does that make any sense?"
"I don't like them chopping down trees but I suppose mortals will do what they want, and the trees did regrow afterall. Tell them not to take anything from the grotto that they do not really need." Vigliv answers, sighing.
"Or if they really need something, you could make some out of silt for them. That way they don't need to chop down more trees."
Nodding, he agrees to talk with the men about chopping down trees. "As for magically creating things, I probably need to learn a bit more about crafting items first. I've taught myself the basics of crafting a weapon, but have never worked with stone or bricks."
--- With Igor ---
"That salad sounds tasty! Yes, I think something like that would be a welcome addition." Mr. Whiskers is quite eager to try the salad Igor describes. "If you want to try other types of food, I can see what sort of cookbooks I can find. I've quite enjoyed the variety of foods we have encountered in our travels."
"Ah. But its a fairly simple matter, especially with a little magical help."Vigliv replies.
Igor whips up some Olivier salad for Mr Whiskers. "Actually I'd like the recipe for the German Pork Knuckle and Sauerkraut."Igor mentions to Mr Whiskers.
--- Salad ---
Mr. Whiskers thanks Igor and tries the salad. After a few bites, he breaks out into a grin. "Excellent!" he tells the man. After he has finished his portion, he goes off.
After a quick trip to Baba Yaga's library, he returns with a cook book that includes the requested recipe. "Would this do, Igor?"
--- What to do after ---
Dimitri asks the party. ”Have you thought about what you’d do when all this is over?”
---
Mr. Whiskers is surprised by Crummock's statement about building his own little world. I must have missed something. I wasn't even aware that he was doing something like that!
Once the others have had their say, Mr. Whiskers looks to Greta and mentions "You may want to limit your request a bit more. Allowing all of the species to do that would take considerably more power than a select few." That plus it would make many humans even more mistrustful.
Looking towards Dmitri, he says "I hope you don't feel it was a mistake when we brought you back. I wasn't sure we would have the opportunity at first. Regardless, I hope you do find the stability and sanctuary you seek."
Gesturing with his paw, he then says "Myself, I plan to travel Golarian. I want to see the forests of Kyonin and the deserts of Thuvia. I'm not sure about the jungles -- they sound too wet for my tastes." He makes wide sweeping motions with his arms as he talks of the forests and deserts.
With a wistful smile, he admits "I never intended to get involved in something like this. If they had left a choice, it is very likely I would have just fled the Winter Witches." Looking to Einar, he explains "That is what my people generally do, pack up the burrow and move when trouble comes."
With a sigh, he says "Given what we stumbled into, that really wasn't a good choice. When I saw where the portals from the Pale Tower went, it didn't leave any place on Golarian to flee to."
Shaking his head in sorrow, he adds "Even now with all the magic I've learned, I don't think I could evacuate a burrow to someplace that would be safe from the Winter Witches. My people have more than just one burrow."
"I do hope this is almost over. I tire of the battles. I much preferred using my magic to turn myself into a dragon and flying with other dragons to anything I did in battle."
"Being able to take on other forms is exhilerating. It allows me to fly with wings, swim like a dolphin or manta-ray, burrow through the earth. I can gain new senses such as a bat's ability to see with sound."
"So many wonderful things to experience in the world. I want to experience more of them. Then, I would find our burrow and rejoin the community."
Looking to Dmitri, he says "I come from a section of Golarian that most consider a cold, snow covered, wind swept wasteland. I know that there is life and beauty there, but not everyone agrees."
”Oh yes, this is most excellent. I will tell Zakhar to prepare German Pork Knuckle and Sauerkraut tomorrow. Besides, you wanted vegetables, right?” Igor winks at Mr Whiskers.
”To be honest, the winter witches treat us more like guard dogs,” Greta replies unhappily. ”They know we can’t go anywhere else if we want to walk around as two-leggers. And most of the world is prejudiced against us – they think us as little more then rabid beats or fur coats! That’s why I wanted all of us to be able to be able to change into human form. Then people could never look at us that way again.“
”It wasn’t a mistake,” Dimitri reassures Mr Whiskers, ”I don’t really like breaking a promise or leaving a job half-done. It just isn’t right. Besides that vacation isn’t going anywhere.”
”I never had the chance to travel – we were too poor for that. But now that I’ve travelled with you, I think that most places are ugly – this grotto looked fine, except we were sharing it with a very angry cow that tried to kill us. Then in the other place with the ruined fortress, it was cold and filled with Baykoks that killed me. Probably couple of times over. I lost count. The island of Buyan was peaceful, but beneath the waves lurked nuckelavees that threatened to plunge the nation into war. It’s like wherever you go, SOMEONE is out to kill you. I don’t really see the point of going to new places now.” Dimitri answers sadly.
”Usually the typical human response to deal with threats is to get together as a group, get the biggest guns, tanks and planes you can get your hands on and keep firing until the other side is dead, or you are.” Dimitri barks out a cynical laugh.”We’re too big to fit in burrows, unless trenches count.”
"I'm tired of fighting too. That's why I want to retire in Axis. There's no fighting there unless you choose to enlist and there's plentiful food around. Clean, ordered streets, too." Dimitri replies.
”Russia’s pretty much a snow covered, wind swept wasteland, for about a quarter a year. You learn to live with it.”
"I'd rather run away if anyone started a fight with me. I don't ever want to deal with bullies or nasty people." Anastasia disagrees with Mr Whiskers. "I'm not even sure why my magic became that offensive."