Sorrowful images of the young girl's terror flash across the surface of each ice block, interspersed with images of the frozen dead. Terror grips each of you, and almost unbidden you find yourself fleeing through the labyrinth, until at last you find yourselves at the exit, facing a small hut on four legs, each one carved to resemble the foot of a chicken. The hut is constructed of heavy logs with a patchwork roof of shaved bark shingles. Inside the hut’s open doorway, a small figure sits on a carved wooden chair, staring across the clearing at the trail on the other side. The doll has blonde hair just like the girl you saw in the ice images, but while one eye is a blue gem, the other is a small round mirror, about the size of a coin.
"This be the hut the rider we talkin' bout." Henyan says approaching cautiously. "Ye be alive there doll?" Henyan calls towards it.
Horvan looks concerned There is witchcraft here I think. he warns.
[ooc]I know what hut represents but would our characters?[/b]
"Stay back, I'll take a look" Donovan approaches the hut.
"I am trying to ignore it, hope it goes away."
The doll remains silent, staring forward lifelessly as Donovan approaches. Oddly enough, when you take your eyes off her for a moment, it almost feels as if the doll as moved slightly (head tilted, arms moved) ever so slightly. But you never directly observe it moving.
Henyan keeps his weapons at the ready
Lets burn it. Horvan suggests. Issi?
Henyan rushes out with Grub pulling rope out of his pack as he goes.
:"I got ye!"
Horvan watches, almost rooted to the spot. He wonders what they have to dig with and if the ground it too frozen to dig.
Turn Order
The Doll
Horvan
Issi
Donovan
Henyan
Raggnor
Before Raggnor can tackle the doll, it hops out of the chair and moves out of the hut. Moving its arms in a disturbing pantomime of a wizard, it begins to rise into the air, about 25 feet above you.
Unsure what to do, Horvan steps back and pulls and throws a javelin at the doll.
Henyan seeing there isn't much he can do about the flying doll, goes to open the door to the hut
Horvan's javelin and Raggnor's spear sail past the doll. Henyan opens up the door to the hut and sees a fairly empty wooden structure, containing little more than the chair that the doll had been sitting on.
Meanwhile, the doll swoops down to about 10 feet off of the ground, and points a wooden hand at Henyan. Just in the doorway of the hut, a cloud forms above him...
Henyan takes two points of cold damage, and is staggered for one round.
With little else available to him Horvan throws again, but the throw is even more off.
"Strangest part of a strange day."
Donovan casts his javelin.
Henyan turns after the cold sets in on him, a shiver running down his spine.
Hefting his Maul Axe Henyan throws it at the Doll.
Donovan stops short of pulling another javelin and moves to be able to protect Issi
The doll narrowly dodges Henyan's axe and looks down at Issi, it's expressionless face seeming almost sad, somehow.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to pass any closer to the portal. You should turn around, or I'll have to kill you."
The doll uses its turn to wait for you all to act.
Issi recalls an old book she'd read about the witches of the far northern region of Irrisen, and their terrible powers....including the ability to trap a person's soul within a doll. Only by destroying the gem in the doll's eye can their soul be released.
Round 3:
Turn Order
The Doll
Horvan
Issi
Donovan
Henyan
Raggnor
"We will not come any closer, let us talk" he holds up empty hands and even takes a half step back.
"I can't stop. Not for long. I'll let you go past the hut, but she'll make me come after you. You really should run." says the doll. It floats back down to the ground and takes its seat in the hut again.
Henyan draws his spear , Readying himself for the doll to move in closer.
Horvan watches, unsure what to do. Finally he mentions i want to help her too but the soul of one girl weighted against the rest of the world... We can come back to help her later.
"I don't know how to get out! I'm trapped in here, and I can't escape, and I have to do whatever that horrible witch tells me to do. You have to leave here before something awful happens to you too. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't hold back much longer..." the dolls says sadly.
Henyan eyes the doll suspiciously as he goes to pick up his maulaxe before following the others and whistling for his mount.
Donovan looks to the doll. "Thank you for what you do for us" he moves to follow Issi leaving his javelin lost in the snow.
Horvan follows as well, sad to leave the girl so trapped. I fear there will be worse things to come. he says.
Continuing down the path, you move around the hut and further into the valley, until the trees part and you approach what appears to be a campsite. There are four igloos arranged around a central campfire. To the right of the campsite you see a large cave, while straight ahead and slightly to the left you can see what you've come for: the portal itself, about 500 feet from where you are at the entrance of the campsite.
Exiting from one of the igloos is a small blue man with wings like a dragonfly and shock white hair that reaches down to his waist.
"Well well well...I knew you'd be coming, but I wasn't expecting you to be children. Awful shame about the doll girl...did you destroy her on your way here? If not, she's in for it when she gets back home."
In response Horvan calls on the ancestor inhabiting his sword. The cold iron weapon becomes enchanted and begins to glow in a low cold blue light. You will not be harming the girl. He says firmly as he takes a step forward.
"Tell us who is behind this, and how to stop it."
The tiny blue man holds up his hands with a lazy smile; he clearly doesn't find you very threatening.
"Harm the girl? Boy, I couldn't care less about her, or you. She belongs to a witch far to the north, and there is no stopping this. Queen Elvanna will have this world, and all that are in it. Even if you could get past me, and the rest of us here, and go through the portal, you'd be in a foreign land you've never seen before, and I doubt a group of children and two women could survive there, even if two of you are half-orcs. And even if you did survive, and found tower, and disrupted the ritual there, you would only save this one land; there are portals all over this world, boy."
The man pauses for a moment, and looks a little embarrassed; he probably wasn't supposed to tell you all of that.
And your roll is to guard this gate to prevent any from attempting to stop this ritual?
Horvan looks around trying to find the others that the blue man referenced.
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"You're stupid." Issi says bluntly. "You're the silly bad guy in the stories who thinks he's important but just tells the heroes how to save the day. And we are the heroes." She doesn't quite stamp her booted foot, but the impression of childish petulance in suddenly very strong.
"Ragg. Squash him!"