Sahsara sighs and nods, "why couldn't there have been creepy s*~# in the woods instead"
After gathering her courage Sahsara starts, slowly, up the ladder.
+4 for hidden objects and a further +1 for traps.
Jeydavu and Chtonthoth move forward with the rest. "Be careful Sahsara. We will be right behind you." He takes his cold iron scimitar and prepares to swing if they are threatened.
Ecaterina follows Sahsara up the ladder, keen to see what secrets the hut will hold.
Tristan takes a last nervous look around the clearing, mutters to himself, "There's no way this ends well," and follows the others into the hut.
Sahsara climbs the ladder and swings up onto the porch. There is the chair sitting in the entrance to the hut. Upon the chair is a small doll, about half a meter in height.
The doll is crafted of fine porcelain and dressed like a young Irriseni girl peasant. Its long flaxen hair is done up in braids. Sahsara notes a jarring thing: Instead of the young child's face one would expect of a doll like this, the visage depicts an ancient crone. Wrinkles, bags, and a double chin are all faithfully rendered in the porcelain, which is tinted a sickly grey color. One eye is a deep blue color and the other is a mirror, reflecting Sahsara's image.
The rest of the hut behind the chair is completely empty. Sahsara seems to hear whispers coming from within.
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Jeydavu tells his moose to stay and climbs up the ladder to follow into the hut. "Sahsara, wait a minute before entering, let us join you first and let me give you some help with whatever may be inside." says Jeydavu in a loud whisper. When he reaches the top, he casts resistance for each person about to enter the hut including himself.
Seeing everyone else climb up (besides the moose), Alikai finally clambers up reluctantly, only peeping onto the porch while staying on the ladder. When she sees the doll's face, she ducks back down again.
"Lovely. What child wouldn't want their very own crone doll? Is it magic? Is it cursed? I'm not coming up if that thing's a hex or something."
The superstitious archer remains on the ladder below the level of the porch to avoid any malignant doll magical beams that might be around.
Malden will climb up too.
"The doll just sits here so far," Malden calls back down to Alikai. "It is shocking, but I am not certain it is cursed. Ecaterina, are such dolls common in your homeland?"
"Hmph." Alikai peeks at the doll again. "Anything that ugly is going to curse someone. Or it's already been cursed. Either way, it's bad. And oarbes are often witches of the bad sort."
She cocks one eye at Malden. "Can you give me a blessing in case it decides garuhit?" She wiggles the fingers of one hand as if making a magical sign.
The doll rests motionless on the chair. The sound of faint whispers in the hut can be discerned, but actual words cannot.
“Sarenrae bless and keep you, Alikai,” says Malden, making a Sarenraen sunburst sign with his hand. “Well … perhaps that will not help. I do know a more powerful blessing, but the effects will only last for a few minutes; I should wait for danger to present itself, perhaps?”
"That's the mistake everyone makes; wait until danger is present before taking precautions," Alikai grumbles good-naturedly. She clambers onto the porch with the rest. "But who is whispering in the hut?" Alarm spreads across her features once again.
"A good question ... knowledge may dispel fear."
Malden thinks of what he knows of ghosts and hauntings to try to determine whether the whispering is the work of some unquiet spirit or haunt.
"I have heard of such whispers coming from magical spells, but also from the unquiet dead," Alikai murmurs softly, still peering into the gloom of the cabin.
Alikai believes that the whisperings might be from spellcasting. Malden believes they might be the product of a haunting. The whispers come to a sudden halt. Alikai suddenly feels one of her arrows lifting out of her quiver. It floats above her head spinning slightly.
Alikai freezes, except for one hand that reaches out to tug Malden's sleeve.
"Uh... Mal?" she whispers, rolling her eyes up at the floating arrow, "Am I haunted?"
Gaelin looks with alarm at the arrow moving of its own accord. He calls out to anyone who might hear. "Enough of the parlor tricks! Show yourself, whoever you are!" He holds his sword ready, hoping that the situation is more mundane than it appears.
The arrow drops to the porch, rattling. Suddenly, the doll begins laughing and rockets into the air. It's hag-like features animate with an evil glee as it hovers out over the ice boulders
"Fools you are
And dead shall be
The winter queen
Knows all I see"
With this cryptic quip the doll shoots off into the surrounding valley forest, laughing maniacally
Malden is slower to react than he would have liked, bewildered and disturbed by the doll’s pronouncement and action. “I believe that something here is haunted,” he answers Alikai slowly, “though I do not think it is you. And perhaps it is gone with that strange doll … To be sure … Sarenrae, cast your light upon us I beseech you, whither the evil that dwells in these shadows!”
Ecaterina moves forward with Sahsara and attempts to examine the doll.
When it speaks and flies off, a worried look comes over her face.
"Beware," she warns the others, "it is very likely our enemies now know of our presence here. we must be doubly cautious from here on in."
"'The Winter Queen'? Who or what is that?" Alikai looks to Ecaterina for an answer, since she seems to be familiar with most things creepy and wintery.
Ecaterina:
Malden is slower to react than he would have liked, bewildered and disturbed by the doll’s pronouncement and action. “I believe that something here is haunted,” he answers Alikai slowly, “though I do not think it is you. And perhaps it is gone with that strange doll … To be sure … Sarenrae, cast your light upon us I beseech you, whither the evil that dwells in these shadows!”
The wave of positive energy makes the group feel better
With the doll gone and the creepy whispers banished, Alikai sighs with relief. "Thank you, Malden," she hugs her friend, "It feels warmer already, at least in my heart. Do you think it is safe to explore this place?" Though she has named Malden in her speech, her eyes turn to Sahsara and Ecaterina questioningly.
Aside from the chair the doll sat in, the hut is an empty one-room soace
"Well, this doesn't look like anything much with that doll gone." Alikai slips into the hut proper and slinks around it like a dog expecting a kick, seeking anything secret or hidden.
Malden returns Alikai’s hug. “If I am honest, I do not know if I helped,” he confesses, pulling away after a moment. “I think the evil presence was in the doll, and it was on its way before I did anything. Now … there is not much to see here …”
The room is empty of all enchantment
"With those supports, it's almost as if I expect this hut to follow us. It would not be the strangest thing we've seen in these woods, at any rate." Gaelin accompanies this dry remark with a final appraisal of the hut's interior.
"This architecture is clearly not native to these woods, so I would say we are on the right track. Let us move on and see what else we may find."
Alikai swings off the porch and drops to the ground. "Maybe we should take it down. Or burn it," she says darkly, "And what about that doll? Do you think it is watching us?"
“I’m certain the doll was watching us,” says Malden darkly. He looks out the door of the hut, up into the iron grey sky. “It appears to be gone now though.” His expression brightens. “I do like burning things however. Perhaps we can try to burn this long-legged hut.” He turns to Jeydavu. “With this snow, would such a fire spread to the trees of the forest do you think? I do not think my goddess would be overly pleased with me should I burn down the whole wood … ”
"The dolls are not common magics, but I have heard of them. Fell creations that utilise the trapped souls of children to power them." She sneers in disgust. Such magics are cheap ways to power. True power must be earned, not powered by others...
"I would take it to mean that The Winter Queen is Queen Elvanna. But surely she cannot be the architect of this, at least not directly. If it is indeed her that is doing this, and not her minions like my mother suspected, then we are in far more danger than I at first thought." She seems to ponder for a moment. "No, if it were in fact Queen Elvanna, then there would be much more powerful guardians here. She may ultimately be aware of what is happening, but I suspect that this is some plan of one of her pawns."
"Burn it if you wish," she says to Malden. " There is nothing here for us, and it will be one less outpost our enemies have in this place. we must be swift though, as now that our enemies know of us, we shall more than likely see some trouble ahead."
"Ecaterina, do you know where we should go from here? If they know we are here and they know that we know what way to go, we might be best served by not going straight there, so they don't know where to ambush us. They may have been better served spying silently than letting us know that they know."
Alikai is not certain that came out right, but she stands by the statement. And by burning. It pleases her to see her friend pyromaniacally happy.
Ecaterina ponders for a moment before answering.
"I must admit that I do not know this land very well, and therefore do not actually know where it is that we are going. My plan was to simply search the area until I found what I was looking for, something which I now must admit that I was woefully underprepared for. So I feel that we may just have to continue searching the area, but more carefully."
The snow swirls in the air as the party ponders their next action
Malden climbs back down from the long-legged hut and looks about. If it seems feasible – if there are some fallen branches and kindling he can gather, and if adjacent trees seem far enough away, and / or there is enough snow to stop a big fire from spreading AND if the druid or someone else does not stop him, Malden will begin setting up to try to burn down the hut.
There are enough broken branches to make a decent pyre. Burning the large chicken leg posts would be troublesome, especially in the windy cold environment. Malden builds the pyre inside the hut.
"Do any of you have, that you can spare, some lamp oil?" Malden asks his companions.
Alikai looks crestfallen at Malden's request. "No. I have torches and flint and steel, but no oil."
Despite the lack of oil, Malden is able to get his wood pile going. The flames begin to claim up the wood
"Well at least that's dealt with."
Tristan looks around for any sign of a path out of the clearing, starting with the direction the creepy doll fled in.
Alikai looks crestfallen at Malden's request. "No. I have torches and flint and steel, but no oil."
"There is no problem Alikai," answers Malden. "You prefer torches, and I do appreciate the naked flame more than one contained behind glass. We shall get a fire started regardless."
Once the fire seems to be under control, Malden follows Tristan and the others, looking for an obvious route further on, or following the direction the doll flew if not.
Standing clear of the smoke, Alikai sniffs the air to try to find the right course to take the group to the source of the bitter chill. Doubtless straight into the wind's cruel teeth, she speculates internally.
Alikai sees that the pass leads out of the clearing , so the party put their backs to the burning hut and continue on the way they had been following.
As they head out of the clearing , some strange markings are visible in the snow ahead on the trail. As they get closer they resolve themselves into writings out of branches. They read:
Turn back before the winter devours you
"Look, threats. We must be on the right path." Alikai scowls at the figures for a moment.
"Are those characters magical? They only worry me if they have some dire spell that will slay us all when we try to step over the writing."
Gaelin looks about the signs to discern who might have made them or perhaps any clues about when they were made.
"They have these wards in the wrong order. Anyone who wasn't scared off by the creepy doll isn't going to turn back because of a sign," Gaelin muses, while he waits for one of the magic-users to examine the writing.