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The dragon begins telling you her backstory in typical monologue fashion, "I was once a favored ally of the Old Crone, Baba Yaga, but I fell from favor. She cursed me and left me here as an eternal guardian. I am compelled never to leave this chamber." she says before breathing a small amount of steam, "I can tell you that the nature of my curse is that Baba Yaga permanently placed a small elemental fire source in my gullet. It is a source of constant gnawing pain, and it causes several side effects. I no longer radiate cold temperatures, though fire does not harm me as much as it used to either. I've also lost my precious frost breath, which has been replaced by cursed steam instead. IT. IS. VERY. PAINFUL." she snarls.
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Flint nods at the suffering dragon.
"The curse is difficult to remove. However there are several among us that could probably do so. However to do so will consume some of our resources at the very least."
"What would you offer us if we are able to remove your curse? Do you have knowledge of the Torc of Kostchtchie or have treasure to offer?"
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The dragon is willing to allow you try since you were so nice before and she feels she doesn't have much to lose. "The greed of dwarves." she says rolling her eyes at the dwarf, "Matched only by my own. I know where the Torc is that you speak of, and I do have a treasure of my own."
Hidden under a thin layer of ice on the floor (melted by her breath and then refrozen) is Artaregilus’s treasure hoard (DC 27 Perception to locate, hp 50 or Break DC 20 to recover). The hoard consists of 5,580 cp, 17,800 sp, 3,240 gp, 490 pp, and 130 assorted gems worth a total of 11,400 gp.
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Flint nods at Artaregilus' comments.
"How true. Your current horde and knowledge of the torc will do nicely. Once you are free of the curse and this place I imagine that you will amass a great fortune quickly."
"Aurelia your plan seems to be more economical but I will let the two or three of you decide."
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The elemental returns to the plane of fire. Freeing the dragon from the main punishment of the curse. Without the elemental, the dragon is still technically cursed, but with no actual drawback (making it a fantastic oracle now).
"Thank you creatures. Now, I shall tell you of the Torc and what I know, though I warn you, you may want to protect yourselves from cold as my body drops in temperature." she says once the two magic users return from inside of her.
"The torc is not here." she says smiling. "But this is the only place to get to it." she says with a look of proud amusement.
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Flint backs up slightly acutely aware of the cold aura of mature white dragons.
"Some of us are already warded against the frigid cold however there is no need to put this warding to the test just yet."
"I assume you are going to tell us where to go find the torc. A portal to another place perhaps? Baba Yaga is well known to travel the planes."
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"There is a clock tower in the false city above. It is more than it appears." the dragon says as it tests is frost breath slightly in the air, "There is a way to use the clocktower as a portal to the torc's true location. Beware, Baba Yaga is the master of curses and has placed a curse on the torc's location. Its chamber must always have a guardian, even if the torc were to be removed."
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Aurelia nods at the Dragon's words and addresses her again.
Assuming that the dragon answers in kind, Aurelia will bow acknowledgement of her words and turn to the party.
Perhaps it has something to do with the poem inscribed.
A stitch in time saves nine,
But what loop will the witch queen heed?
In pointless slaughter
The Old Crone’s daughter
A hapless mob did lead.
Now she sits in tomb that’s frozen,
The traitors’ blood all spilled
Upon the path that she had chosen,
Enthroned with collar gild.
Ringed in steel, three loops times nine
Prized from the luckless seat,
Supplicants kneel, of porcelain fine,
The banished queen to meet.
It matters not who’s dared to come
The demon’s soul to claim,
The weak shall die, the strongest live
And forever more remain
Aurelia considers for a moment after reciting. Perhaps we should head back up to the clock tower and examine it more thoroughly. Are there any levels further below that we should also investigate before moving on?
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Flint looks at Aurelia.
"We should finish all our business before entering the clock tower. The way out might not be the same as way in and I do not want to leave any treasure behind."
"Perhaps we should proceed with exploring what is behind the secret door first?"
If there are no objection Flint scans the secret door for traps and leads the party past it to area 4.
Flint turns to the dragon.
"We are just going to explore the areas around here but we will not be long. So you might want to wait a bit if you want to take a nap. I would not want to wake you by accident."
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The dragon smashes the ice hiding her treasure before moving out of the way and curling up to rest.
The passage ends in a low grotto carved through the core of this vast ice formation. The walls, floor, and fifteen-foot-high ceiling are irregular and rough-hewn, but smoothed as if by melting and refreezing. A cold mist fills the air, reducing vision in this labyrinth of ice tunnels.
The constant mist in these tunnels that is equal to a fog cloud in effect but covers the entire area. A DC 22 Perception check is necessary to notice the vertical passage cut into the ceiling at the eastern end of the area, which rises 85 feet to area 11.
Time passed since arriving: ~22min
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Area 2: The steaming crater of a geyser has carved a jagged crevasse in the side of the waterfall here, creating a cathedral of dripping ice stalactites above. Barely visible through the steam to the right of the geyser spout is a secondary crevasse in which can dimly be seen a stair, rising upward into the obscuring ice.
From Area 4, you can fly upwards towards area 11 (85ft).
A natural fissure has formed in the ice of the waterfall where it meets the stone of the cliff face, climbing to a height of one hundred sixty feet. The rock face itself is broken by a series of shallow, natural terraces covered by only a few feet of ice. The ice is transparent enough to see the blackened corpses of hundreds of human warriors manacled to the cliff face. Many of the manacles hang empty or hold only the dismembered remnants of limbs. In some places, the ice has actually been chipped away to expose the rock wall, and the exposed manacles hang empty—their previous occupants conspicuously absent.
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Gaius looks thoughtful.
"In reviewing that poem, and cross-referencing what we have uncovered thus far, I find it curious that one of the porcelain dolls was missing, as was one of the 27-link chains from the throne.
Given the reference to 'Ringed in steel, three loops times nine / Prized from the luckless seat / Supplicants kneel, of porcelain fine / The banished queen to meet.', I think those items might be keys to access the next 'tier' of this place? Although whether one pair for the party, or whether we each need one, is open to interpretation. I think we should err on the side of caution, and have a pair each. We probably then need to touch them to that clock, I suppose...?"
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This vast, many-columned chamber has icicles forming a maze of stalactites on the ceiling and frozen curtains and ice pillars throughout. The floor itself is crowded with broken shards from dozens of ice columns that have shattered, creating razor-sharp stalagmites of ice.
You smash open the ice to reveal the black tar and the treasure. The immense mound of black slime thunders forward, eyes and mouths and even stranger things forming in its heaving bulk.
[spoiler=knowledge dungeon DC 29]
Although even lunatics and doom-saying prophets desperately claim the monstrous shoggoth is nothing more than a drug-induced vision or thankfully unreal nightmare, the truth is altogether more dire. The shoggoths exist, although they keep to the deepest of ocean trenches or the most remote of forgotten caverns and ruins, emerging only rarely to spread madness and destruction in their slime-caked wakes.
DR 10/—; Immune blindness, charm effects, cold, deafness, ooze traits, sonic; Resist acid 20, electricity 20, fire 20; SR 30
fast healing 10
Fort best save, Ref worst save, Will slightly better than worst save
Please make a will save on your turn. Applicable traits include madness/confusion, auditory/sonic, and mind-affecting
Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Flint
Tuwo
Enemy
Aurelia
Gaius
Rinaldo
Messa
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Flint tries to weather the sonic cacophony produced by the beast. He recognizes the monster from his study in Irori's temple and shares this information with the team.
"An ideal specimen. Well, at least at the moment."
He clusters all his attacks together to attempt to put down this mighty adversary. Flint clicks his boots for a touch of added speed. He calls upon the power of Irori to empower his attacks against the Shoggoth.
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The ooze becomes filled with arrows that it tries to absorb into its body, but their enchantments prove to be nearly too strong for it to recover. A single arrow falls out of the ooze as it recovers part of its body.
The ooze then charges the entire group! (Trample)
Please make a will save on your turn. Applicable traits include madness/confusion, auditory/sonic, and mind-affecting. If you fail a DC
Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Flint; trample choice
Tuwo; trample choice
Enemy, -319hp
Aurelia;
Gaius; trample choice (combat reflexes?)
Rinaldo; trample choice (combat reflexes?)
Messa;
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The Shoggoth dies before it even gets to react to being freed. You collect your treasure before returning to the Clocktower.
Heaped about the ice-encased shoggoth are 7,670 gp, 11,800 sp, 33,250 cp, 16 blue spinels worth 500 gp each, a copper snuff box (worth 15 gp) holding diamond dust worth 1,800 gp, a gold statuette of Desna with emeralds for eyes (worth 2,000 gp), a +2 bladed scarf, a ring of improved climbing, a scroll of iron body, and a scroll of sunburst (both CL 15th).
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This structure resembles a large, two-story cottage with wide double doors at its front and rear. Above the southern doors is a giant clock face, ten feet in diameter. The clock bears strange, arcane symbols instead of traditional numbers and has four hands—one short, one long, one forked, and one wavy—that appears to be keeping time in no recognizable system. Rows of identical white marble statues depicting a bent old crone holding a scythe with a blade of dull-gray metal stand at the building’s base. These statues appear to be on railed tracks of ice that loop around the sides of the clock building, from one set of double doors to the set on the opposite side.
The 28 marble statues are all images of Baba Yaga and hold masterwork scythes. Whenever a living creature approaches within 30 feet of the Witch Clock, it suddenly sounds with the peals of a giant bell and the statues begin to move. The south doors open and two statues emerge, sliding along their tracks. All of the statues slide one spot around in their revolution, and the north doors open for the two statues there to slide back inside the building. The entire process takes 1 round. The following round, the doors snap shut and the two statues that emerged animate as special caryatid golems and attack any living intruders they find
A stitch in time saves nine,
But what loop will the witch queen heed?
In pointless slaughter
The Old Crone’s daughter
A hapless mob did lead.
Now she sits in tomb that’s frozen,
The traitors’ blood all spilled
Upon the path that she had chosen,
Enthroned with collar gild.
Ringed in steel, three loops times nine
Prized from the luckless seat,
Supplicants kneel, of porcelain fine,
The banished queen to meet.
It matters not who’s dared to come
The demon’s soul to claim,
The weak shall die, the strongest live
And forever more remain