Malthu might be concerned about the zombies, but Rikaku's attention is caught by something much, much bigger than something like that.
"Snow here?!" he exclaims excitedly. "Where?!"
The witch sees the excitement in the young kobold's eyes and has just heard Malthu's threat she thinks for a moment. "If I tell you where Snow and her kobolds are will you let me go free?"
It's something to go on Drak grumbles. I still say she loses her familiar
Yes but again, at a cost and a commitment
"Rikaku want to know," the kobold enthuses to the rest of the party, his eyes gleaming. "Snow maybe know more about Man In White. Snow maybe know also about Qanikir too. Little loss now, big gain later."
And I would get to meet another dragon for the first time...! Rikaku wiggles his tail in excitement.
Rybal snorts at the witch's bargain, then looks to Malthu.
Do you trust her to tell the truth? Then, back to the witch: [/b] How about you take us to Snow? Then we'll set you free. Play us false and die for your treachery. [/b]
The witch scratches the back of her head thinking for a bit before caving in. "Fine I can show you were she was staying, I can not guarantee she is still there but I'm sure the kobolds are so they should know." She glares at Drak. "So you would be so cruel, here then..." The witch reaches into her robes and gingerly removes a small bobcat kitten. Then hands it to Drak. The kitten squirms around in Drak's hands trying to return to the witch. "...kill my familiar if it makes you any happier."
The witch looks a little sad at what is about to befall her familiar but continues her brutish retorts. "So then" She all but spits. "If I am vouching for my live here what do you want to know about that dragon?"
Wait, so Snow is the dragon?
Using his recently learned Dracoic
That son of a lizard
Start at the beginning... How did learn of this dragon and how did you meet?
Rybal stands impatiently by, eying the desperate witch with mistrust.
"Rikaku always know Snow is dragon," the kobold announces proudly. He then fills Drak in on a few missing pieces of the puzzle (or, perhaps, his own theories.) "Snow scale, Snow journal, all together mean dragon cousin!"
Rikaku decides not to have any part of the punishment. He's far too interested in hearing whatever scrap of information the minotaur witch can give to them about the dragon.
"Learn of her? She's been around here since I was a calf. A common folktale amongst the tribes is that Snow is the dragon of the mountain. We are told stories of her as much as the White Mage, though many believe the latter to be just a legend. I can't say I've met her personally though I have seen her and I know where her lair is. She oft disappears as there has been times where the mountain is silent of even kobold activity. I went up to her lair to get myself some captives originally but seems that I stumbled upon possibly the graves for dead kobolds. She is quite protective of a select few, they look like your friend here. Wings and everything." The witch every so often darts her attention to the bobcat kitten still squirming in Drak's arms, then continues. "She is quite an old dragon or at least by my accounts, she is fairly big and if any books are to be believed that size puts her at several hundred years old. So she likely has been around for as long as this place."
The witch sighs "Some say that you can garner the greatest snow spells with naught but a single scale from her, though I doubt I'd ever be let that close. Kobolds were easier to get, though dead ones are only good enough to be zombified really."
So the scales have power? Lets file that under 'good to know'
Drak believing it's the right course of action will take it upon himself to execute the familiar. It is after all the source of a witches power.
Let Iomedae look favorably on me for this He breathes, then takes the life of the cat.
Variel winces audibly.
I am but a squeeze away from losing my power... I must acquire a stronger vessel for it, all to aware of what the lost of his own familiar would mean.
What way would we need to tread?
I cannot believe we are contemplating an encounter with a dragon... what suicidal foolishness is this that we about to do
Rikaku gasps, his eyes boggling. This is just one big surprise after another. (He's completely forgotten any pretence of being stern with the minotaur witch. Actually, he's kind of acting like a four-year-old child...)
"More... More like Rikaku?" he asks, almost in awe. "Rikaku must go! Must see... Snow maybe know why Rikaku like this, not grow so big and strong like should..." he pauses a moment and clears his throat. "And... yes... Snow surely know lots about Man In White. Yes. Important most part."
The white-scaled kobold pauses a moment in thought. "Snow diary from when Snow is baby... it from one hundred fifty years ago. How Snow so old now but book not so old? Snow also write she live in place where sometimes snow only. This place..." Rikaku looks around the surrounding tundra. "...not much like that..."
The minotaur rolls her eyes frustrated, then she flinches as the kitten dies. "I am from Akakios's tribe, I left quite a while ago. I knew about a portal in their possession, I wanted to use it to gain a foothold in the world out of this ... place. There is nothing here, it is a desolate pointless wasteland!"
The minotaur does look confused at the kobold. "I .. I don't know, she looked to be decently large, and very strong. That means she is older no?" The minotaur is now starting to look visibly distressed, not helped by the loss of her familiar.
[b]"Shall we ... shall we go to this lair?" The witch says pointing towards the mountain.
Let us go, you have done well and for this information.
So the man in white..... is not a man in any sense of the word. The man is not only a dragon, but also female.
Dragash. Wasn't that what the wax golem called itself? Let me throw out a theory -
Something is corrupting wishes right? What if Snow's wish was that Dragash was alive and the wish manifested itself in the form of that golem. Snow could be a victim rather than the perpetrator. Of course there is the side effect where when a wish is made the ones who make it turn into crazed mist creatures, but as an older dragon perhaps she was able to resist the worst of the effect?
I will go to see this dragon, if need be. But first I would have a drink with our friends to toast our victory. Akakios--a drink?
Rikaku shakes his head vigorously at Drak's assertions.
"Snow not Man in White. Qanikir know Snow, but Qanikir hate Man In White. Qanikir angry when talk him, not Snow. So Snow not bad, not Man In White."
He has a look through the journal entries again, frowning, and eventually shakes his head.
"Rikaku no understand. Maybe understand when see Snow. We go, maybe. But carefully. This Snow here in this place maybe not Snow from here," he pats the journal's cover softly.
Akakios nods at Rybal and places his axe on his belt. The Minotaur rolls his arms back. "A good drink would do wonders for my mind right about now."
He points quite threateningly at the Witch. "Damali, you may have meant something to me once but if I catch wind that you hurt any of these short ones when you take them to the lair. I will see to it that you never leave this place."
The witch for once is in silence at Akakios's threat, although it seemed quite a simple one it hurt the Witch more that she is letting on. "Orc, take your drink and let's go.. the..the sooner you let me go the better." The witch trundles along after the group as they return to the camp.
The witch waits near the fire with the other two minotaurs watching over her. Rybal and Akakios indulge in a drink with anyone who would like to join them. Akakios spends the time telling very poor jokes but stupid enough that they get a chuckle out of everyone there.
After the party ready themselves the Witch guides them around the mountain, to around the opposite side to where they first entered this snowy wasteland. The Witch heads in approaching the base of the mountain, pointing up towards part of the mountain that isn't covered in snow. The group can see several cliffs and overhangs around that area, presumably so that Snow can take flight from these areas.
The Witch bids the group follow her on a trail upwards, it is small winding path that slowly scales the mountain side, Rikaku feels like the path is perfect size for him. Everyone else is marching quite steadily with their bodies against the wall. As the group goes up they see climbing spikes entrenched near the path and rope between them. The Witch is surprised at first but then continues her climb. If any of the group stops to inspect them they see that there is barely any snow on the spikes themselves which means that they are fairly recent. There are other signs like scuff marks up along near the ropes as well. Whomever it was climbed up this way recently.
Once the group reaches the end of the path they find a small tunnel, again, easy for Rikaku to fit through though the others have to bend down. The party isn't dumb enough to let the Witch go in last so she leads the way, having to crawl on all fours to actually fit through. It is quite dark in here save for the light coming from outside, the first person to light a spark or turn on a light hears the sound of an arrow go whizzing past them. The arrow embeds itself into the wall, it is easy to spot who shot it as there is a humanoid shape on the ground not 20 feet from the entrance.
This lady who is on the ground is trying to draw another arrow, the lady has a large bow and is dressed in leather armour. She seems wounded since she is struggling to get the arrow. No sound comes from her though, she is eerily silent as she fumbles around. Taking a closer look her mid section is missing, there is nothing linking her legs to her torso, further still there is no blood. Rikaku and Variel recognise the woman to their dismay. This woman is Hin, one of Diaz's group.
Hold Hin! Hold your arrow! It is I, Variel. May I approach?
In a softer voice he says She could be undead or an animated foe
First, Rikaku will do a general scan of it. Detect magic and Spellcraft/Knowledge (Arcana). Pretty sure Rikaku has learned a lot more about those topics since then, so he might have some new ideas.
Second, unless he figures out something particularly interesting from the above, he'll do some quick practical experiments to see if anything makes the scale react. He'll try casting simple magics near it (cantrips), maybe even try targeting it with a ray of frost. He'll smell it, lick it, bite it (lightly), wave it around in the air, bury it beneath the snow for a few minutes, growl at it, and speak to it in Draconic. Pretty much anything he can think of to see if anything happens.
The awkwardness between Akiakos and Damali goes right over Rikaku's head, and he doesn't partake in any alcohol either. He's too busy running through a series of bizarre tasks in his investigation of the scale. (He of course does his best to keep out of sight of the minotaur witch, not wanting her to get any ideas of bamboozling the scale away from him.)
Treking up the mountain is surprisingly entertaining for Rikaku, for he enjoys the cool and rugged terrain, and of course he doesn't have to deal with any size issues! Normally it's that eveeeerything is too big for him. Now the bigguns would understand what it's like for a change.
As an arrow whizzes overhead, Rikaku yips in alarm, hurriedly reaching for his trusty wand. But when Variel shouts out the familiar name, he pauses, frowning. Just out of precaution, he does a quick scan of the area, both magically and mundanely.
Rikaku doesn't know much about the scale just by studied but has an idea of the magic locked within it. It seems to be an amplifier of some kind, though it is not natural to the scale. It is clear Snow added something to it. Trying some of the outlandish things does nothing but casting a ray of frost amplifies the effect of the spell itself.
The scale dulls a little after Rikaku does this, however he can feel the magic rejuvenating inside slowly.
Malthu sees that there is no Evil Auras around Hin, though there is remnants of one having past by recently.
Hin pauses for a moment then drops her arm to the ground, Variel remembers that Hin doesn't speak but the fact that she is no longer threatening them means it should be alright to approach.
Rikaku senses a huge pool of magic around Hin, it is a constant stream of leaking magic. Other that that Rikaku doesn't notice much else around the cavern.
Variel approaches Hin and he can see that her midsection is like that of a broken pot. There are shards of ceramic all over the place, the bits of her legs and torso that are still attached are torn pieces of ceramic as well. Looking at her legs they appear to be hollow.
Gods of Nature! What happened to you? Dragon Breath freeze you?
Its clear he can't save her legs but he starts looking over her midsection and body... but eyes on her face so he can try to pick up any surprise attacks.
Heal
Hin shakes her head at Variel and makes a motion with her hand slicing her across her midsection.
Variel looks over Hin, trying to figure out what can be done about the situation. As he begins to diagnose the problem it slowly dawns on him. Hin isn't actually alive. He doubts she ever was, these shards are actually a part of her body, there is no blood as she never had any to begin with. The ceramic parts when he picks them up are relatively soft on one side, the side that would be her skin. Variel is unsure how to fix such a being, having a quick check with detect magic Variel comes to another conclusion. Like Rikaku magic is leaking from her but her body is stopping the spell from detecting the magic beyond her skin. As Variel peers into her empty shell there is plenty of magic there but it is slowly leaking away.
Hin nods at Malthu, she points further down the cave. She roots around in her pocket and produces a white cloth. She points at the cloth then down the cave again.
A... magical construct?,
He seems baffled by that revelation but catches the meaning of the white cloth easily enough.
The Man in White did this to you, too? His grasp is too far-reaching--it's time someone chops his hand off. You can still fight! Come with us and seek vengeance!
This situation wasn't making any sense to Rikaku, but at Rybal's words he tugs at the big half-orc's arm and shakes his head. "Hin no speak, Hin sister said cut off tongue. Rikaku never think Quiet-One would not be human though..."
Rikaku heads on down the cave, slowly, quietly and carefully, using his darkvision to look around. If the cave twists so that he would not be able to see the rest of the group, he heads back.
Hin nods at Rybal to answer his first question. She makes a motion with three fingers across her arm, then motions that arm punching someone. Next she draws an outline of a bottle in the air and motions a backpack. Then points down the corridor.
Rikaku heads off being very stealthy, looking down each place in the network of tunnels. There are a few offshoots of tunnels where he sees white kobolds huddled away in caves scared. Rikaku then hears a song being played on a flute, a familiar tune. One that sounded when they were about to enter Fayences caverns. Rushing along he hears the sounds of clashing of blades.
In the next room Rikaku sees Diaz fighting mano-a-mano with the Man-in-white. The Man-in-white is holding a walking cane that has a blade at the very end of it, on the side that the Man-in-white is holding has several buttons like that of an instrument.
One side of the room is open to the elements, a cliff, a sheer drop. One of the openings of the mountain that the group saw on their climb here.
Diaz has a pair of claws that is attached to his wrists, elongating out to form menacing weapons. He is jumping from wall to wall trying to attack the Man-in-White from above, pushing off from the walls to gain momentum to strike at the Man-in-White then pull away from him. Diaz doesn't look like he wants to stay close to the Man-in-White at all.
The Man-in-white is fighting rather arrogantly, he has one had firmly placed behind his back and one hand on his weapon. He paces quite steadily towards Diaz, a slow but purposeful pace. On one side of the cavern there lies a dying abomination, with several broken vials of liquid around him.
The Man-in-white addresses Diaz "You seek to hide her? At the cost of your own life? I pity you, I have not wronged you, yet you fight me. I could have given you anything and you chose to defend her?" Diaz doesn't drop his guard no answer the Man-in-White, he just brings his claws up again looking ready to attack.
Rikaku boggles at the scene, stunned in his tracks that he would simply stumble upon... the man they had been seeking for a very long time. He struggles with the desire to attack the man-in-white before being noticed, but knows that could spell his death in an instant. Instead, the little white kobold turns tail and runs back to the group as fast as he can, waving his hands in the air to try and attract their attentions.
"Come! Come now! Must come! He here! Man-In-White here!!"
Variel hurries on, worried that he is not as prepared as he would want to be.
The group moves up the tunnel to the scene that Rikaku described, Rikaku brings them to the place he was hiding so that the Man-in-White doesn't see them. Diaz hasn't been hit yet but you can see that he is getting tired trying to keep his distance.
Variel will step up and hit the man in white with a hex to make him harder to fail saves.