Nev glares at Grimkell and moves back to Karyne's position.
Lex's acid glob flies wide of the doll's head. Elxurian's blade, however, swings directly at the doll's eye ... and is suddenly deflected by a dagger clutched in its hand! The Paladin is unable to dodge the followup blow fast enough and is pricked in the arm. The doll then lifts off the ground and floats away from Elxurian.
New Round
"...Why do they always fly?" Lex mutters to herself, thinking on her compliment of spells prepare today, before stalking into the hut and reaching out with one hand. A thin cone of flames erupts from it, aimed at the doll to sear it.
"We need the fire princess!" She shouts, bracing herself for an attack from the doll.
The dagger makes a minor cut at Elxurian's arm, but the cold itself do not harm the celestial skin of the aasimar, although she weirdly is unable to move, for now.
Grimkell is clearly oblivious to Nev's glare, his eyes are locked on the doll, filled with curious wonder. As it starts moving, the skald takes a step back in surprise. Yet, he is quick to recover. Rapidly, he throws down his sword and starts reciting a battle hymn followed by a few steps toward Lex.
"What are its weaknesses?" says the ulfen in between two rhymes. He takes a look at Elxurian.
"What did the doll do to her?" finishes Grimkell while preparing to unstrap his shield.
She shakes her head as she moves forward, "I don't like zhis."
Nev moves forward with Karyne - staying protectively in front of her. Lex launches a wave of fire towards the doll, but it appears curiously untouched by the flames. It retaliates by initiating a blizzard around the hut's doorway - catching Lex and Elxurian in its radius.
Seeing the spell, she attempts to identify it...
Then she moves closer to see the doll for the first time, very clearly.
Hoping to learn more.
"Zhere is no reason for conflict. Ve only vant to stop this veather. Who do ve not vant to not see us. Talk to me...I have brought you no harm...and do not vish to, but if you continue to harm my friends, I vill have no choice..."
"Don't talk to it, just hit it!" Lex chatters, blasting the doll with a spray of colored light before stepping back out of the magical blizzard, looking pretty ragged.
Llyr waits for the opportune moment to strike. "Lure it out!" he yells, hoping to be able to get around it without penning himself in a corner.
In a rare moment of clairvoyance, Grimkell steps back trying to draw the creature out. While doing so, he draws his bow and throws down his shield, still reciting a skaldic hymn.
Karyne's unable to remember anything else about the Soulbound Doll. Lex is similarly unlucky, as her spell washes harmlessly over it without any effect. It almost appears that the spell avoided the Doll. The Doll retaliates with a beam of ice that barely misses Lex.
Elxurian feels the strength return to her limbs and finds herself able to move again.
Against her best judgement, the infuriated paladin goes after the flying doll, swinging her greatsword in an arc that goes wide!
!
When the doll attacks again. Karyne takes a few steps and makes her move.
Creating ball of snow in her hand with her magic, she gives it a quick blow as if stoking a flame and it becomes a Fire Ball.
"...That doll is seriously getting on my nerves," Lex groans as neither of her spells work out. She imbues her quarterstaff with arcane energy, ready to move in as soon as the blizzard finishes up.
"I don't work well in a bottle neck!" shouts Llyr as he sees everyone doing the exact opposite of trying to lure out the doll.
Karyne's fireball misses the doll - as does Elxurian's sword. Nev moves forward with Karyne and touches Lex gently. A faint golden glow travels from his hand to her shoulder.
The doll flies away from the greatsword-wielder and fires another ice ray at Lex, hitting her solidly in the chest. Outside the hut, the unnatural blizzard fades away.
Lex rushes up and catches the doll with a swing of her sword.
"Llyr, still want to lure it out? I just don't think it will happen!"Says Grimkell while still reciting skaldic hymns.
The skald draws and arrow and prepares to shoot at the doll if it ever comes out.
"Thanks!" Lex tells Nev before heading back in, managing to crack the doll across the chest with her staff. She swings for it once more before stepping back into the corner, giving room for others to come in and calling on Llyr. "You really want it out there where it can fly out of our reach?" She asks.
Elxurian steps beside Lex, and delivers a nice blow on the creature!
!
With a quick move, she creates her innate fire bolt and tosses it at the doll.
"I am sorry..."
With a groan, Llyr pulls out his crossbow and loads it, while taking a small step southeast to get a better bead on the thing.
Nev follows Karyne into the hut and stabs at the doll ... and misses.
Elxurian's blade finds its mark but does less damage than expected. Lex and Karyne both miss. The doll retaliates by flying away from the burning back wall of the hut and swiping at Karyne with her dagger. Unfortunately for her, the blade gets caught in the folds of the mage's robe and almost falls to the ground.
"I offered you a vay out. You attack further. Now you take a blade to me..." Her eyes seem to flare.
Taking a step backwards against the wall to put distance between herself and the knife-wielding knife.
Once again she creates a ball of fire, her heated breath shifting it from snow to fire without her even concentrating on it much.
The paladin keeps up the pressure, seeking to finish this witchery, and delivers a perfect hit on the doll with her Cold Iron Greatsword!!
!
!
"I told you we would finish you, demon!"
Karyne's fireball hits the doll squarely in the chest. Melting, it falls to the ground, where Elxurian uses her sword to grind the remains into powder.
Elxurian will look after the ghost child, to see if it has been released.
As the dolls remains get picked up by the wind and scattered out throughout the forest, you all feel a slight chill run down your spine and then want that you can explain. you feel stronger somehow, more agile perhaps smarter perhaps.you feel as if God self has come back into your live. You feel the other entity that was once there strange feel more at home, more comfortable.
Lex looks down at the guardian doll, before reaching down to examine the remains, trying to see if she can salvage its gem eye. She also looks at the meager flames that lick the back of the hut, the results of her own efforts to destroy it. She helps with patting them out so the hut doesn't burn down - they'd certainly need the shelter.
"I suggest we camp here and set off again in the morning," She tells the others. "Because I doubt we'll find such good shelter further into the woods."
"I would push it further, since we seem to have some daylight available yet, but I'll understand if you are tired." She raises a closed fist. "I'm feeling powerful for what we just did. It was a good thing."
Grimkell lowers his bow, slightly disappointed by the fact that he did not have time to battle the doll. He restrains himself from immediatly walking to get a closer view of the doll. Instead, he reaches for his sword and shield which he left on the field in his hurry to reach for his bow.
Once he retrieves his equipment, he rejoins the others, now letting his curiosity unbridled.
"Lady Morozov, why did you want to leave it unharmed? What was that thing? Was there truly a witch watching us?
Grimkell shakes his head.
If thi is so, it is not good, I have seen true witches from Irrisen fight, they are dangerous. We will need to take her by surprise if we want to succeed.
The skald turns to Elxurian
For once, I would opt for resting, this might allow us to prepare for such a foe."
"If zhe girl vas trapped in zhe doll, then I had hoped ve could find a vay to free her vithout destroying her. Zhat became impossible."
Hearing Grim's words she gives a soft smile, [b]"Zhe Vitches of Irrisen...are dangerous, indeed, but perhaps ve have somezhing zhey don't expect." She throws the hood back and looks at Grim, "You know zhat I am Jadwiga, but you are not clear just how close I am to zhe throne. My mother vas a witch. Her mother vas Queen Yelizaveta. Her mother vas zhe founder of Irrisen, Baba Yaga. I have been alive for over one hundred years, and if a vitch vishes to harm zhis land. Zhey have no idea vhat zhey are up against."
"...You're over a hundred years old?" Lex asks her, looking slightly weirded out by that. "Gods, I really need to think about researching eternal youth or something like that if I want to look like you do at your age," She quips, continuing to check the doll's remains.
Lex pauses only when she sees a snowy white owl perched on one of the ice boulders, its golden eyes peering at the group inquisitively. She looks straight back at it, an idea forming in her head. "I need a familiar," She mutters.
Just as the surprise of learning the age of one of her comrades clears her face, the small owl, snowy white and fluffy, flies to her shoulder and perches. It has a note in its beak and is nuzzling Lex's cheek, the note obviously for her indicated by the green ink spelling her name on the front.
My dearest Lexie,
Please turn back! The path you travel is not a safe one and I couldn't stand to lose you. You have no idea how powerful the forces that are at work here are. I can't write more.
And remember My Lexie, I will always love you.
-Mom
The magus blinks as the owl flutters and perches on her shoulder. She's especially surprised by the note, staring at the handwriting on the front and going pale. She opens and closes her mouth several times, before unfolding it with trembling hands.
She reads its contents with pursed lips, her shoulders tense and everything else forgotten for the moment, going over them again and again. She ignores the owl preening on her shoulder for the duration, stepping into the hut and taking a seat in the corner, continuing to stare at the note.
She's the quietest she's been since starting to adventure with the others, not saying anything - just staring at her note.
Elxurian pauses at Karyne's comment, ignoring Lex and the weird Owl who just appeared from nowhere. The paladin's eyes shine with controlled rage for a moment, but she sheathes her greatsword with one hand, keeping her gaze aimed on the witch-to-be. She calculates the possibilities of this turning bad, but decides to give her the gift of doubt, for now, although her eyes are focused and determined, as those of a predator hunting its prey.
"Be warned, Karyne. Between good and evil there's a very thin line, on which I stand, and which I guard. You haven't done anything for me to consider you a threat, and for your honesty I believe you have nothing to fear. One should not be judged by what it is, because no one chooses how they will be born, as I am also more than I should. But... If your witch blood ever gets a hold of you, remember I'll be here. And I'm not the kindest paladin."
Llyr takes Karynes announcement in stride. He knew she was a witch, so he'd believe pretty much anything. He does shed a tear for the dolls gemstone eye that seems to have turned to dust.
Just like Elxurian, Grimkell seems strongly affected by Karyne's statement: his face hardens. The bard shoves the paladin aside to get closer to Karyne.
"Then, Lady Morozov, tell me, have you never heard of Ogmundr? The druid who escaped Irrisen, and slayed countless Jadigwa's? The fugitive who was never brought back to the land of the witches? Were you linked in anyway to the attemps to recapture him?" says the bard, in a voice as harsh as when he first addressed her in the inn.
He stares at her, waiting for an answer, his eyes a mixture of rage, disappointement and hope (hope that she was not involved).
Ogmundr had apparently fathered a daughter which could become a powerfull witch. However, when the witches came to steal the child, he slayed then and escape the country with a few of his followers. Many witches were sent to hunt him, but none came back.