Sven's words give Shanya's will the boost she needs to weather the hag's channeled magic.
Recovering from the blast of negative energy, Shanya refocuses.
Crippled. Likely near death. Back of knee looks like a weak point. Strike there for the killing blow.
She readies her mace and fights alongside Avora's bulk...
Unfortunately for Shanya, the tentative, defensive nature of her strikes turn an otherwise telling strike into a near miss. The mace merely bounces off the hags bony thighs. However the enormous bear-Avora, guided by Sven's oddly moving words, tears into the hag's flesh twice. Caigreal lets out a series of brief noises which betray her pain, but the mountain of a monstrous woman still stands under the assault.
Shrugging off the worst of the dark energy of Mestama's servant, Ankih throws a blast of holy fire in response, launching it from his fingertips. The bolt lands true, but the magical defenses of the hag harmlessly dissipate the energy.
The annis hag, gravely wounded, attempts to conjure magic to cover an escape. Distracted by the pain and bleeding gut wound, she slurs her words and the magic is wasted. She falls back anyways in desperation, leaving herself open for the quick claws and blades of the heroes.
As the annis hag steps away, Kalt swings at her, but to little effect. He then pursues her down the hall, extending his arms to reach her with a powerful strike! "I don't think so, lassie," he mutters fiercely as he cuts her, "you're not leaving us that easy."
The hag begins to hurl more insults as she retreats, but gurgles mid-sentence as the warriors strike her down. The sound of the body landing on the stone is muffled. Yet... it seems for a moment that a feeling of lightness and peace issues from the walls of Artrosa, as though the very dungeon are joyful at the hag's passing. It is probably just a trick of the imagination; looking at the walls a moment later, they are just walls once again, uncaring and ancient.
Of Jadrenka, there is no sign, and the rooms are otherwise silent once again.
Looking through her belongings, you find potion of protection from arrows, a black star sapphire worth 3,000 gp, and a jar of earwigs, a scroll of flame strike, a bejeweled skull worth 1,200 gp, and a leather sack containing 800 gp in assorted coins and small gems.
yields a sack made from a goat’s stomach containing a climber’s kit, 50 feet of giant-sized rope, and rough-cut gemstones worth a total of 2,650 gp.
To the southeast, another room awaits. While the walls of this small cavern are rough and jagged; the stone floor is smooth and has been swept clean. A small pool of water surrounded by pale white stones lies to the west. Along the opposite wall to the east, an oaken table holding a wooden bowl and a silver chalice sits in a small alcove.
To the northeast of the room., a short passage leads to a stone door engraved with the image of a naked, pregnant woman sitting in a meditative pose. The woman’s hands lie folded in her lap, and a full moon is painted upon her belly. A trio of waist-high pillars of stout gray stone stands in the corridor just before the door. Casual inspection shows the locks of this door are superior to the others encountered thus far, and those with magical sight can see a reddish aura of evocation magic slowly rolling off the door in waves.
The shallow pool to the west is filled with a foot of fresh, clean water. The wooden bowl on the table contains corn seed. The silver chalice is empty. The three pillars each have a symbol upon them: a stylized ear of corn, a six-spoked wheel, and a downward pointing
triangle inside a circle.
"I'd guess you're right, Bjornson," Kalt responds, "and if they were, I wouldn't eat it." He stands at Sven's side and considers what he's learned in his travels and how it might apply to the rather mundane-looking items they've found.
The bear-that-is-Avora gives a cursory sniff of the air, then emits a low growl, looking to Sven. She pads back into the room with the gorgon and looks about, emitting a low moan.
Shanya walks up to Kalt and hugs him. "Are you alright?" She asks, her voice muffled by Kalt's clothes.
...I wouldn't have let her do that to you. Never.
Though he welcomes the affection from Shanya, and returns it with a powerful embrace, he's a bit puzzled by the intensity of it for a moment. Then he recalls the threat the hag made when she had him in her embrace and tightens his hold on Shanya. "She is gone, and did me little harm, and none lasting," he says, reassuring Shanya. "I only regret we didn't see through her disguise sooner. But she is no more."
Shanya gives Caigreal's corpse another baleful glare. "If the b%!@@ knows what's good for her."
Is that how Mother and Father...?
She shivers and shakes her head. "Right. We... we should move on. Is there a way deeper into the structure or should we move on to the Mother?"
Avora looks about the gorgon's room, but finds it to be empty. The beautiful endless field from before has not returned, and nothing but bare walls of stone remain. The field that lay here before was clearly illusory in nature.
In the room with the Mother's door, Kalt has a brief moment to look at the symbols before Shanys draws him away for a moment. The symbols carved into the three pillars of this room represent corn, the sun, and water. It would seem that they are part of a fertility ritual, and it is likely that placing the correct elements into the bowls on the pillars in the right acts as a magical key.
Ankih nods. "May her warmth guide our steps, and lead us through the dark paths we must walk." He casts light upon the bowl, and the moment the magic touches the stand a loud grinding begins. The stone door slides back into a recess in the wall.
Beyond, the revealed passage seems to lead to well appointed apartments and a conventionally locked door. The door is set in whitewashed walls; it appears locked with a good padlock, keeping something inside.
Shanya lets Kalt go, feeling better. "Alright--let me take a look at the door."
The door is simply locked, and appears to be without mechanical or magical defenses. Shanya does hear a faint, melancholy sigh coming from the other side of the door as she presses her ears against it.
Shanya pauses. "Hmm. Someone's inside."
She knocks at the door.
A noise replies from the other side. The voice sounds feminine and slightly high pitched, as if on edge. "Jadrenka? Is that you? Let me out here! Let me go, please!"
There is a pounding on the other side. "Jadrenka, no more tests. No more games. I loved you - I gave everything up - everything! My heart, my tears, my manhood! All that for you - and still you have no faith in me. Yes, I had the nymph's lock of hair, but it meant nothing to me. This isn't fair - let me go!" The plea is cut short by a gasping sob.
"Um... miss, please calm down. We're not with Jadrenka. Just give me a minute--I'll get you out of there in no time."
Shanya kneels down and digs her lockpicks out, getting to work on the padlock.
Working the padlock feels second nature to her at this point.
Kalt stands by as Shanya competently tackles the lock, wondering if another betrayal awaits on the far side of the door.
The door creaks open under Shanya's delicate touch. Standing on the other side is a woman dressed as though she were a warden or a ranger - green cloak that accentuates her short-cut, reddish-blonde hair and golden eyes. Pointed ears belie a strong touch of elven blood. There are a pair of axes strapped to her belt as well as a spell pouch peeking from beneath the belt. The room she stands in is opulent, with a plush feather bed, velvet curtains, and a solid oaken chest.
The woman focuses on Shanya as the door opens. (Iobarian) "Jadrenka? What trick is it this time? Now you bring others along to stage your deceptions; this is more then humiliating, this is... evil Jadrenka. Evil. Your illusions and deceptions need to stop now, and let me out of this cage."
Shanya blinks as the woman addresses her, seeing the illusion permeating the room waver and shift into what it truly is. Deplorable. Why someone would subject their lover to this is a mystery to me...
The changeling takes a small step back as the woman accosts her. "...miss, I assure you I'm not Jadrenka. I didn't even realize she was keeping you in such a filthy cell until now."
She translates the woman's words for the others, but she has a feeling that she's not making any progress with her.
Kalt wonders why someone would make a prison cell so comfortable, and is unable to follow the conversation between Shanya and the woman. When he hears the translation, he attempts to appear as unthreatening as possible, the support Shanya's efforts to win the woman's trust.
"Indeed," adds Lana with a slight smile, "I too am not Jadrenka."
Avora sniffs at the woman, then steps back to let Shanya work.
It is finally Lana's calm and even tone that seems to relax the woman.
(Iobarian)"...you're not Jadrenka. You're not Jadrenka." She whispers it to herself several times, as if slowly mulling over the concept, as if it were an alien thing. Finally, the tension evaporates from the half-elf's face and is replaced by a look of puzzlement. "You're not Jadrenka?" she says a third time, this time inquisitively. "Who are you then? What are you doing here? I am... sorry for my outburst earlier. You have no idea what I've been through."
She slumps against the wall of the room, passively. "And I suppose I should welcome you to Artrosa. I imagine I'm the only living thing here you've met that was born of a human mother. I hope you are one of the few here who can come and go of your own will - many here cannot."
Lana translates for the others, then turns back to the woman. "Who are you? Why are you here?" she asks, tilting her head as she studies the woman.
Shanya digs in her pack for some rations and offers them to the lady. "Here. You look like you could use a bite to eat."
"I am Shanya. These are Sven, Kalt, Ankih, Lana, and the bear is Avora. That's not her *actual* form, obviously." She points to each person in turn.
As he's introduced, Kalt nods his head and awaits the reply to Lana's questions.
Greta continues to skulk in the shadows at a distance from the group, both unwilling to help and unwillling to flee given her current relative helplesness.
The woman sighs and responds. (Iobarian)"My name is Marislova. I am - I was - a hunter and adventurer, originally of Orlov and once called Maroslan. And, until lately, partner to the Lady of these stone walls, Jadrenka."
She pauses as she mentions the name, an unhappy look upon her face. "But now we are nothing - or rather Jadrenk mocks me by calling me "guest". She accused me of unfaithfulness. Ridiculous, when you think of the things I've done for that woman. Do you know the ways of the fey? Their world is nothing like ours - the First World has no death, no birth, no passing of time. At least, not as we know it. Because of that detachment from consequence, all things are a game to them. Only, when they come to our world the never leave the game behind. Look at the gnomes - they're children of the first world and everybody knows how mad they can be."
"There is a nymph here, a fallen creature trapped in Artrosa by Baba Yaga herself centuries ago - and I fell prey to one of her games. She gave me a token of inspiration, but then spread slanderous lies about my faithfulness, and used the token as false evidence. And Jadrenka believed all the lies without question."
The half-elf leans back again and sighs. "Can I blame her? Raised in Artrosa, among hags and fey. Why would I expect her to understand my heart, how much I care?"
She stops. "I've been in here too long, and without anyone to talk to. I ramble. You still haven't told me why you are here?" She straightens. "If you intend to steal the secrets of this place, you'll face the wrath of its warden. If you intend to harm her..." the half-elfs hands hover by her side over her weapons, although the motion is perhaps merely reflexive for an experienced adventurer.
Shanya patiently listens to Marislova's tale, translating for her.
"Wait--what was this nymph's name? Because we slew a demon-blooded nymph as we came through here."
"Kyrisjana - you slew her? Oh Shelyn's blushing face - that's the best news I've heard all day. I won't shed a tear for that creature. I don't suppose you took care of her twisted children or their father Poryphanes too? The world would be better for it.". Marislova's mood lightens at the revelation.
Shanya scratches her head as she translates again. "I THINK we did--if the children were creatures capable of blinding a man with light and their father was a satyr, then we certainly left them broken and bloody as well."
"Nor did we ask to see their family trees before we slew them," Kalt adds, relaxing a bit as the tone of the conversation eases, "but they are dead all the same."
Marislova waits while Shanya and Lana comment and translate. "No the triplets are forlarren - they mix the blood of fey and demons much the way of my own sire and dame shared elven and human blood. They are not deceivers like their mother is... was." She wrinkles her nose in disgust. "Those ones call themselves "alkemists", a bit those odd sorts I've heard that live in Alkenstar and Oenopion. They do things, awful things, to animals. I don't know why Jadrenka tolerates them; maybe she has no choice, like the Baba Yaga forbid her from harming Kyrisjana."
"We have fought such creatures before," Kalt offers in reply, "but not in this place. It sounds like these triplets yet live."
The woman listens to the translation of Kalt's words. (Iobarian) "You must be strong to have slain the nymph but this place... this place is evil. No, that's not it; there is much evil here, but this place is full of power. It is the power of women and witches, the power of life and death. I became a woman, so that I might try understand it... and to understand her." She looks Lana and Shanya directly in the eye. "If you are here for steal that power, leave. There isn't anything good here for mortals like us, believe me. And if you are here because you walk the witches path, then you barter with forces beyond you ken, and you walk a fool's path."
Her warnings given, she picks herself up. (Iobarian)"Will you let me go?"
(Iobarian)"Jadrenka is - a master of witchcraft. Curses and charms, transmutations and enchantments, such is the way of witchery. She is brilliant... but so charmingly naive." She laughs. "The magic that binds her to this place keeps her young, but she has seen as many centuries as an elf."
"Artrosa changes you. For Jadrenka, she reflects each of the three as she moves between them, she becomes the maiden, the mother and the crone. And she serves Baba Yaga, as do most here - and who can say what things the witch queen has tasked her with."
Seemingly having satified all questions directed her way, Marislova quickly packs her sparse collection of belongings. She spends some time studying from a spell book - it is apparent that she is preparing some magics (such as feather fall) to aid her flight from Artrosa.
The half-elf thanks each of the group for their unintended rescue. "I'll say it once again; this place can leave you changed, and not for the better." she counsels, before fleeing down the passages.
The prison is as fine a place as any to rest it seems before continuing into the labyrinthine tunnels. During the night, Ankih prepares the magic to cure the she-worg of her blindness, although he does so only after delivering a somewhat timid and half-hearted lecture on listening to the wisdom of others before charging in.
Marislova does leave a gold encrusted water clock behind - a gift now unwanted whose gold filigree could fetch a thousand gold to the right buyer (should one ever be found in the forsaken wildernesses witches inhabit).
Two passages lead from the prison - one to the north, one to the west. They are both blocked by locked doors, no more difficult then the last to pick.