"It's Clear!" she calls to the others.
Eirikr begins to run towards the hut, his fangs seeming to shine in the light as he ducks behind a tree. Ashen begins to bark furiously at the doll but as he does he scurries into the hut, besides Inire.
Once he is safely behind the tree, a though occurs to Eirikr. He rmembers a story, a fairy story, not one that he heard from his mother, strangely enough, but from his father, about wolves dressing up as men--no, not as men--
There was no way this could work. But...
"Why, tis only your grandmother, come to give her favorite grandchild a visit," sputters Eirikr, raising his voice as high as it can go, praying to whatever dark power that can hear him that his voice doesn't crack. "Won't you come down and say hello to your dear old grandmother?"
Morgraine follows Ashen into the hut, hoping they aren't somehow jumping from the pot into the fire.
Morgraine joins the others in taking cover.
Eve is up!
After waiting for everyone to get into position Evelyn moves up with them, once she was in place she used her gaze to weaken the dolls mind against her incoming spell. "Fall."
The doll looks down at Eve. It's gaze is as inscrutable as ever, but Eve feels the familiar sensation of one of her spells penetrating an weak mind and implanting a command.
Tiferet is up!
"Frost fall! Don't step into it!"
She bites her tongue as she realizes the advice has come a bit late, at least for Nathara. Another arrow flies toward the creepy marionette as Tiferet keeps on closing the distance.
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Tiferet's arrow grazes the doll's arm, inflicting some minor damage though not impeding it in any significant way yet. However, the doll is starting to show the signs of battle, her clothing scorched and torn from the last few strikes.
Vosi flies down next to Nathara. "Vosi can't hurt doll with his bow," he says. "But he can help elf make her shot."
Nathara is up!
Nathara sends a smile to Vosi. He called her elf! She would have to find out what kind of fey Vosi was, exactly. But while the spell of the doll did not real hurt her, it severly wears her down and she has to focus to get anything done at all.
She raises the bow which she is still holding in her left, picks one of the normal arrows from the quiver and lets it fly towards the doll.
She would like to follow Inire and Ashen into the hut to lure the doll there, but it appears she has been to slow to slip by the doll in time.
Vosi and Nathara combine their skills and make a near perfect shot, sending her arrow straight through the dolls chest. You can hear the sound of shattering ceramic as the steel arrow head goes straight through her.
Inire is up!
The doll seems very confused, both by its injuries and by the party's shouts in its direction. It's head turns back and forth, looking at the group of people around her. "Mama... help me..." the little girl's voice says, though the sound seems to emerge from the air all around the party, not quite from the doll itself. The doll lowers itself to the ground and falls back.
Inire is still up!
As Inire sees the doll plummet to the ground, she recognizes her chance... but it wasn't a very -good- chance. She could make it better, though. With it on the ground she didn't fear retaliation quite so much. She did a small handspring from inside of the hut to outside, opposite the door. "Ashen, a little help?" she calls, and then waits for the wolf to move into position to flank (hopefully), so that she can take advantage of the enemy's exposure.
As soon as the wolf moves into position, and the doll is adequately distraction, she lashes out with her weapon, trying to aim for the points that have already taken the most damage. First bodies raised without souls, now souls raised without bodies...
Mouse easily tumbles into position, the doll not being in any position to actually try to stop her.
Eirikr is up!
For a moment, Eirikr feels a pang of guilt as the doll call out for its mother. You'll be with her soon enough, little one, I promise that, he thinks as he runs towards the doll, nearly bounding on four legs, his mouth opening wide, ready to devour--something, anything, whatever he could find. Ashen dashes out of the hut, taking the position across from Inire, and bites at the doll with his fangs as well--fangs not as long and sharp as Eirikr's, it seems, but perhaps sharp enough.
As soon as the wolf moves into position, and the doll is adequately distraction, she lashes out with her weapon, trying to aim for the points that have already taken the most damage. First bodies raised without souls, now souls raised without bodies...
With the doll injured and helpless on the ground, even Eirikr's clumsy strike is more than enough to clamp onto the prone construct. His teeth aren't strong enough to get through it's magically reinforced body, but he still leaves a decent crack on it's 'skin'.
Morgraine is up!
With her crossbow unlikely to do much harm to the doll and with it being surrounded by her companions, making it impossible to use her spell without hitting them as well, Morgraine steps out of the hut and waits.
Evelyn is up!
While Evelyn is tempted to surround the fallen foe, she thinks it would make it harder for their heavy hitter to get in position so instead settle for standing nearby and doing what she could to make sure Tiferet could strike.
Eve moves up to aid the other in combat.
Tiferet is up!
Sensing blood in the water, Tiferet drops her bow and moves in for the kill. Due to the slippery terrain, however, her movements are clumsier than usual and her swing would have been completely off-mark if it weren't for Eve's intervention, who helps her regain her balance at the very last second.
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Tiferet charges down the defeated doll, raising her ax above her head in a brutal slam. The doll attempts to roll away, but Eve's sword cane lashes out and pins it in place as Tif's ax comes down hard. There's a final crunch and the doll goes motionless on the ground, only it's head still intact after that horrific blow. It's unnaturally blue eye still seems to look up at you.
Combat ends!
As soon as Tfieret's ax smashes the doll and it stops moving, Eirikr shifts back to his more human form. He leans over to where the doll's body lies and picks it up from the ground, looking into its eyes as he does.
"We'll make things right. Somehow," he says as he runs his hand across the doll's broken face.
"Should we...should we bury it?" he says, looking back at the rest of the party.
"No, not yet, Eirikr. The sapphire eye. It contains the soul of whomever was enslaved to the spell. As long as the gem is intact, it will remain trapped within, conscious and helpless to its maker. It will also continue to learn and feel within the stone. It should be destroyed so the child can at least hopefully find rest."
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So this is how it works.
Despite all her researches, Tiferet has never been able to pinpoint the exact mechanisms through which a soul is syphoned into a doll. Luckily, it appears Morgraine's knowledge of all things Irrisen runs deep indeed. As usual.
First horror, then rage mounts up inside her at the thought a magic so foul could exist. Without uttering a single word, she tears the gem off the doll's face and repeatedly stomps upon it, attempting to crack it under her heel.
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Nathara is relieved as the doll is finally beaten, but she remains silent until Tiferet has destroyed the crystal, she only gives a short nod to Morgraine as she details how it works.
When that is done she merely says. "I hope the soul of this child is going to get another chance for a life. Do we know the name of this winter witch? This is getting personal."
To Evelyn she offers an appreciative nod. "You have a remarkable way with word, human lady. Whether it is a spell by magic or the sweetness of your lips, your power is remarkable. I've rarely seen such a simple spell spoken so efficiently."
She looks briefly around. It appears no one got hurt, the doll hardly had a chance on doing anything at all and that she wasted on Nathara herself, whose link to the abyss "blessed" her with an unnatural termperature tolerance.
"I am going to get Lily, I left her near the entrance, but I am still concerned about the story of a giant weasel out there."
Tif's first attempt to crush the stone beneath her heel seems useless, but her second stomp is backed by pure fury. The gem shatters under her boot. You hear a howl of icy air and a blast of pure force knocks Tif off her feet as the ghostly image of the girl appears again. "Goodbye. Please tell mama I'm going somewhere better." And with that she disappears in a shimmer of golden light.
Evelyn watches with worry as Tiferet goes berserk on the gem but witnessing the soul escape draws a sigh of relief from her. "Well that's one way to beat a spell."
"Does anyone know how they do that?" Mouse asks quietly, moving back into the hut. "Trap people, I mean."
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Once the gem has been removed, Eirikr walks slowly to the edge of the clearing, the doll still dangling in his hand, and begin to gather a small bit of brushwood. He breaks it into pieces, making a bed of needles framed with twigs, before placing the doll softly upon the makeshift pyre.
"May Pharasma judge you kindly. May you find your mother in the next life," he whispers, making a Pharasman sign to ward off evil with his hand as he does. When he finishes, he holds his hands over the doll; sparks fall off his hand, and soon it is a blaze. He watches as the doll burns, little bits of ash floating into the air, a few landing on his hands and skin, but he doesn't turn away until the doll has been destroyed. Then, without a word, he buries what remains under the snow before returning to the rest of the party.
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"I must confess, I've never been the most methodical student of magic" Tiferet says to Eve as she slowly gets back to her feet, still a little stunned from the energies that were released as the soul finally found her freedom. "Having spent most of my youth getting in trouble all around Oppara, I've kind of learnt that hitting things sometimes solves problems subtlety seems all but impotent about. And if that doesn't work, hit them harder."
She attempts a half-smile, as if to exorcize the gravity of the moment, but as Inire whispers her question her demeanour turns sombre again. "No idea" she says. "Only guesses. One more horrific than the other." She shrugs, but she's actually trying to conceal a shiver which just went down her spine. It's clear this is a matter she can't bring herself to linger upon for too long. She watches wordlessly as Eirikr's impromptu funeral comes to an end, whispering a prayer for the girl's soul to safely reach that better place she spoke of. Pharasma knows where her real body is. What the Witch did with it. For the first time since their adventure began, she feels her emotions threatening to overwhelm her as her Celestial blood screams for vengeance.
The Witch dies.
Inire digs out her diary once more, moving to the back again, and scribbling in something a bit longer than usual in this particular section.
"May you find the next life better than this one, little one. I am sorry." Morgraine whispers with an almost guilty expression as the spirit departs. It had been a risk, suggesting they destroy the gem. She had seen and heard only of souls being captured, never released. There was not much telling what sort of countermeasure might have been added in event the doll or gem had been destroyed by an enemy.
Still staring into the air where it had been a moment ago, she very nearly opens her mouth to absently respond to Inire's question when she suddenly comes to herself with a little shake. Her mouth pops shut and she glances sidelong at Tiferet, the warrior poet's fiery eyes seeming to promise to unleash holy hell at any moment.
Wordlessly, Morgraine narrows her eyes and turns to head back into the hut to see what she could find there, if anything.
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Eirikr watches as Morgraine enters the hut. There was something that he had been wondering about--and hearing what Morgraine knew about the witches--she knew a lot. And the thing, the thing was--he didn't really know anything about her. He knew Inire was with the Pathfinders and Tiferet's people were exiles, and Nathara worshipped Sarenrae and Evelynn--well, he still didn't really know anything about her, but he wasn't sure anyone did.
Everyone has secrets, and secrets can be dangerous, and they always seemed to find a way of outing themselves, one way or the other. Eirikr walks into the hut behind her, looking to see if there is anything of note in the hut, but not really paying close attention--glancing back at Morgraine occasionally while they search the building before he finally speaks
"There's something I've been wondering. About you. You're not a wizard, I don't think, you don't have a book. And you don't really ever talk about any gods. All the clerics back in Ustalav, they'd never stop talking about Pharasma. And you know, the crow, it called you a duckling. But then it called you a swan, and then it called you a witch," he says, glancing back at her but still facin the wall.
"But I'm asking you a question. Because I've been wondering. How do you know so much about Irrisen?" he says, turning around to face her, one of his eyebrows raised, trying his best to get a look at her eyes--blue eyes, like his, but paler, like ice.
Nathara comes back after a while, leading Lily. In her mind she is shifting the bits and pieces of knowledge they have about the actions of the winter witch, her minions, the magic she employs. She does not come to a conclusion. There is simply not enough information.
She hears the last part of Eirikr's question in Morgraine's direction but she does not react to it directly.
"We may not wish to linger on this place, but move on in order to bring light into this darkness." The way she phrases it appears very thoughtful and her elven accent is stronger than usually. For a moment it appears like she wanted to say more, but she halts there.
Evelyn helps Eirikr search the hut. "Trapping live minds I might be able to help you but calling back the dead is something I'd rather avoid at all costs."
The hut seems to be almost entirely empty. It barely even has dust and the only furniture is the chair that the doll once sat in. There seems to be nothing else at all.
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Eirikr walks into the hut behind her, looking to see if there is anything of note in the hut, but not really paying close attention--glancing back at Morgraine occasionally while they search the building before he finally speaks
"There's something I've been wondering. About you. You're not a wizard, I don't think, you don't have a book. And you don't really ever talk about any gods. All the clerics back in Ustalav, they'd never stop talking about Pharasma. And you know, the crow, it called you a duckling. But then it called you a swan, and then it called you a witch," he says, glancing back at her but still facing the wall.
"But I'm asking you a question. Because I've been wondering. How do you know so much about Irrisen?" he says, turning around to face her, one of his eyebrows raised, trying his best to get a look at her eyes--blue eyes, like his, but paler, like ice.
Morgraine halts, then turns to look at the man as he glances back at her, his body still turned towards the wall. "One day I am going to wring that crow's scrawny neck", she promises, then chides herself as well. It wasn't as if she had been all that discrete either. But what choice had she had in the circumstances?
So it is the wolf who first pounces.. Morgraine's pale blue eyes regard Eirikr warily for a long moment and she gathers her thoughts. For as much as she had fretted about this very question, one would have thought she would have been better prepared for it.
She glances quickly behind her then back to him. They were yet alone, though Evelyn looked to be heading towards the hut.
At last she speaks, and softly answers Eirikr's last question, technically the only one he had asked. It was a truthful answer, even if not a fully honest one.
"Because I have been there before."
"You've been there before," he whispers back at her, stepping forward, his eyes looking up and down at her, slowly taking her in. The fox that followed her around--the magic she used--how she knew everything, it seemed, about the white witches. There was only really one answer, one answer that had been there all along, travelling with them, making camp with them, helping them--and what else, what other purpose could Morgraine have had for coming with them. Eirikr flinches, his eyes darting towards to door, outside where the others are, where Ashen is,--his hand reaches behind his back, like he's scratching it, or maybe do something else--before he speaks again, and asks her--
"Morgraine--are you--a white witch?"
Morgraine replies, her voice whisper soft, "No. I am not." Again, every syllable true, and yet the answer something considerably less than honest. She watches him watch her, not moving so much as a finger.
"If I was..," she continues, eyes meeting his, "..you would be no more."
Inire sits quietly in the corner, eyes darting back and forth between the two, charcoal pencil touching the pad, but not moving. Eyes wide, and holding her breath, muscles tense, she seems to be waiting for something.
"We can't hide who we are. Not forever. Whatever it is that you have inside you--it finds its way out, one way or the other," says Eirikr, smiling--no, not smiling, just flashing his teeth, teeth too sharp and too many. He starts to leave the cabin--but he stops at the door, and reaches into his shirt, pulling out the pendant that he wears around his neck. It's broken, and it's hard to tell what it was supposed to be before it broke--but now, more than anything, it looks like a half moon, part of it white like the day and part black like the night. He glances back at Morgraine and smiles slightly before tucking the pendant back away in his shirt. "I can keep your secret. Hope you can keep mine."
As Eirikr starts to leave, Inire seems to relax visibly. Her eyes still dart between Eirikr and Morgraine. Or was it Morgraine and the door? "I... you're not, are you?" Tiny Mouse asks, voice so low it's squeaky. "If you are... how do we stop... that... from ever happening again." she just nods towards the small mound that Eirikr had dug.
Morgraine's gaze flickers down to the pendant then up again to Eirikr, her expression unreadable. At last she nods, inclining and tilting her head slightly in response. She stands watching him as he makes to leave, oblivious that there had been a Mouse sitting and listening in the corner unseen. But then...
She whirls at the squeak, eyes wide. "How long?" Then her shoulders slump and she shakes her head. "I.... don't know. We don't. Not without killing every white witch that might have the ability and wiping knowledge of the spells from off this world."
Mouse looked down towards the ground, then out towards the mound once more. Her lips pulled tight and her brow furrowed. Then she sighed, before finally answering.
"I came in here when everyone started burying the doll." she says, as she moves the charcoal back into her belt pouch, and then closes her book once more. "Secrets are strange." she says as she pushes herself up off of the floor. "We are who we pretend to be." she repeats as she puts her book back into her bag, and settles it on her shoulders. "I'm ready if you are."