Shanya snorts and pokes the rider's watery remains with her boot. "Hmph. Typical fey. They talk a big game, but when it comes to actual combat, they break like twigs in the wind."
----------------
As the party arrives as what Shanya assumes is the Artrosa, Shanya turns to Erdija and bows.
She then turns her attention to the three giant sculptures. "So, which one should we tackle first?"
Kalt grins at Shanya’s question, saying, ”Well, I know which one Sven would tackle first. And I’ll say, the young one is lovely, though a bit tall for my tastes.”
Becoming only slightly more serious, he continues, ”But maybe there’s something to that approach. If we’re to explore them all, we should take them with some logic – so how about we go through them as we go through life, from youth to old age?”
He hesitates a moment, then his smile returns as he asks his friends, ”I expect we’re meant to go inside them or the stone behind them somehow. Where do you suppose the entrance is?” He can’t help but raise one eyebrow at Sven as he asks the question.
”Well, I know which one Sven would tackle first. And I’ll say, the young one is lovely, though a bit tall for my tastes.”
"What, afraid you won't be able to measure up?" Shanya shrugs and steps forward a bit. "Anyway, if we're going into those sculptures, we'll need a plan."
She kneels, takes off her backpack, and gets out her alchemy kit. "I'm prepping one more fly extract. Anyone else have ideas?"
Gathering everyone around, Ankih will channel Sarenrae's will to heal his allies.
The statues seem unguarded as the group approaches - at least at their base. The figures are in remarkably good shape for their age - some moss grows about the features, but there is far less weathering then one would expect for something of this age.
"Huh. Looks like these are magically maintained and hardened." Shanya says, examining the statues of the naked women in closer detail. "Take THAT any way you like." She adds with a little wink at Kalt.
“This amulet holds only one of the three clues you seek. It reveals the first ingredient for Baba Yaga’s kettle. Look for this key where time catches up to us all.”
Amulet with the symbol of "Gold":
“You have taken upon yourselves a great burden for that which you desire, the changeling holds.
Amulet with the symbol of "Artrosa":
“So be it. Seek now the sisters three who are one: Mother, Maiden, Crone."
"But know that the Maiden is elusive, and may only be caught with the waxing moon.”
“Look for the Mother when the moon is full!”
"Know this as well—you will find the Crone only when the moon wanes.”
Kalt chuckles at Shanya's joke and wink, then rolls his eyes at Sven's question, as if to say, Really?
Not seven hours past, Kalt recalled seeing a waxing moon hanging high in the cold sky of Iobaria.
Looking at the rock faces, it is apparent that climbing the structures is no mean feat. The handholds and footholds are narrow, with few places to rest. A cold wind blows as well, although it does not seem strong enough to hinder either climbing or so manner of magical flight.
”Well, the moon is waxing,” Kalt observes, ”and we were told ‘The Maiden is elusive, and may only be caught with the waxing moon,’ so I guess the answer is still the same. We start with the Maiden. I think there was a plan for us to fly or float up? That’ll be new.”
"I have prepared 3 castings of levitate, and 2 of fly for just this challenge. If Shanya has an extract, we can get all of us up at least once."
I
Shanya stands up. "In fact, Ankih, I have no fewer than three." She smirks, holding three bottles in her hands.
Shanya approaches Kalt & Greta with her extracts. "Here--one for you, Kalt." She hands him a bottle filled with a clear blue fluid.
Then she turns to the winter wolf. "And for you--" Shanya pauses, noting that drinking the extract may prove to be problematic for Greta. No opposable thumbs. Inconvenient, but I can work with this.
"This should grant you the power to fly about for long enough to get where we need to go." She uncorks the bottle and prepares to feed Greta the contents, assuming she consents to it. "My apologies if the taste is disgusting."
Greta turns to Lana. (Skald) "You look light enough, healer. You may sit upon my back. But let us be clear: I am no common worg. Winter wolves to not suffer riders... but neither do we fly, so perhaps we can overlook this humiliation just this once. Perhaps you should strap yourself in, in case those paws are not up to the task of holding on." She smiles, showing her teeth.
Avora spreads her arms and lets her hair flow in the light breeze. Her body begins to shrink, and her nose sharpens and becomes a beak as feathers sprout from her arms and face. In the span of a few seconds, the girl is gone and a snowy-white owl stands in her place. The owl looks at the group and then takes flight.
The calls upon manifold magics and sheds the bonds of earth behind. People would stop and stare, were there any in this cold and desolate wasteland. But for the whisper of the cold wind, the ascent is silent.
The group is about halfway to the top when the bodies of Shanya and Kalt are suddenly laced through with electricity. . In the fading afterglow of the shocks the two can just barely see small, almost transparent spheres fading into the thin air.
It is perhaps now that centaur tales are recalled of glowing lights playing over the bodies of the statues at night...
Greta growls fiercely. (Skald)"There are two of them, nearby. I've never smelled anything *grrr* like them before." She flies straight ahead, sniffing fruitlessly for the invisible foe.
(+2 in cold, mountains, underground from Kalt)
Ankih Tohep
Avora Teremocles (+3 in cold, +2 in natural settings)
Greta
Kalt Ìsson (+4 cold, underground; +2 mountains)
Lana Shahakh
Shanya (+4 v. traps)
Sven Bjornson
(+2 in cold, mountains, underground from Kalt)
Ankih Tohep
Avora Teremocles (+3 in cold)
Greta
Kalt Ìsson (+4 cold, underground; +2 mountains)
Lana Shahakh
Shanya
Sven Bjornson
Lana smiles graciously at the winter wolf. "I will try not to make the mistake of confusing you with a... common worg."
Lana extends her spirit to Kalt.
"Where are they?" Kalt says, gritting his teeth as the electrical current surges through him. "Find them, someone, so we can fight them. "
The owl that is Avora flies about anxiously, but she is unable to do much.
Seeing his friends surrounded by electricity, Ankih veers from their path, and casts a quick spell.
Seeing Lana gesture to where their invisible opponent is, Kalt flies to the position, his blade sweeping in a wide arc to try to strike it.
Shanya yells out as she gets zapped with electricity before she looks for the thing that did it!
Lana yells her warning to the rest of the group while Shanya's keen eyes locate the other invisible assailant. As Ankih cleverly goes invisible, Kalt rushes in to where Lana points, sure he can hit the creature . Unfortunately, he can just make out the whoosh of air as it dodges out of the way of his blade.
Sven tries his hand at hitting the nimble, invisible creature and has more luck - something between a sigh and a scream emerges as though from thin air.
Shanya curses as she sees the shimmer in the air.
"I found it--no idea what the bloody hell it is though." She flies around, stopping next to Kalt. "Whatever it is, I hope it's vulnerable to conventional weapons!"
Shanya, Kalt and Sven feel a blast of air from the thing in front of them... but the creature does not attack. Instead, the unearthly moans and shrieks that issues from the wounded creature seem to quickly fade into the distant; it seems the invisible foe is in retreat.
The creature's invisible double, however, seems intent on continuing to harry the heroes in their ascent - the universe smiles upon the warrior, as a sudden breeze pushes him clear of the creature at the last moment.
Greta, perhaps not particularly sensitive to the presence of her rider, circle around and snaps at the invisible creature. Her smell guides her true despite its invisibility, but her bite misses the foe all the same.
Kalt glides gently forward to where he believes the remaining creature to be, swinging his blade in wide arcs through the space in the hope of hitting it. As he attacks, he says to Sven, "Wonder if the other one has gone for reinforcements? I'm not eager to fight any more of these things, while we fly about."
Sven svings tvice at where he imagines his foe to be, but his blows only find empty air.
Flying up behind Sven, Ankih intones a prayer and pats the Ulfen on the back.
"Blessed be."
Lana frowns and focuses on extending her spirit's reach to Shanya.
Lana takes the pain of the others into her body while Kalt, Sven, and Shanya continue to harry their invisible foe. Eventually, Kalt's weeks of training fighting blind finally enable him to land a telling blow, and the second invisible will-o-whip (for that is what they were) flees the battle, unwilling to continue fighting against such troublesome prey.
As the heroes continue their ascent they behold an awesome sight. Vertiginous cliffs surround the mesa top on all sides, though a rock wall backing the top of the figure’s head rises above the plateau, creating some cover from the cold winds blowing across the mesa. From every direction the view is dizzying, offering a clear panorama of miles and miles of Iobarian wilderness. A small copse of bare, weathered trees stands in the shelter of the rock wall, their knotted roots clinging desperately to the cold, hard stone. Dozens of bones litter the ground before the grove, some so ancient that the trees’ roots appear to grow right through them. Behind the trees, a shadowy arched opening in the wall leads deep inside the rock.
In the center of the grove sits an enormous willowy tree that stops and gives pause to any who look upon it. Hanging in the branches of tree is the mangled carcass of a rashalka centaur. The trunk of the tree is in stark contrast to the grisly decorations; it is shaped in the form of a young maiden, a duplicate in miniature of the enormous rock statue upon which the heroes stand. The tree is clearly magical - it rocks and twists with a motion of its own, swaying to no wind.
The branches rustle, and although the mouth of the wooden sculpture does not move the tree speaks. (Iobarian)"Welcome, quick-blooded, to Artrosa."
"I know not what it is, Sven, though its name is on the tip of my tongue," answers Kalt. "Nor do I speak its language, though it sounds like the tongue the centaurs spoke earlier. But I am fairly sure it means us no good."
Shanya eyes the tree with a great deal of suspicion. "That's a witch tree. It eats sentient people and can twist people's minds to get them to bring them fresh victims. Fire and electricity aren't as effective as cold and acid, and enchanted weapons are the only things that can consistently cut through its bark. It's also resistant to magic in all its forms. Engaging it in close combat is a risky proposition: it can easily pick a man up in its branches and crush the life out of him." She whispers to the party.
Her brow furrows. "Oddly enough, witch trees--this one in particular--aren't normally found in this part of the world. Its shape is peculiar too... it appears to be out of its natural environment, not unlike the cold rider. I recommend extreme caution."
Greta sniffs at the ground, and then tosses her head up. (Skald)"The frost giants and some man-horses passed this way. Their stink is fresh here."
The witch tree rustles as it waits for the group's response. It seems to pause for a moment and then tries its greeting again, this time in the common tongue of Taldane.
"Perhaps you are foreigners then? Good, I do love a taste of the exotic. Welcome, and know that those who seek to enter Artrosa must first present me with a sacrifice. No gnome or orcs among you - a shame. I would take that one though - he looks to have an interesting flavor.” She snakes a tendril through the air in the direction of Ankih and makes a beckoning undulation with the appendage.