Natalya annihilates Sylizil with a flurry of high speed blows.
With three mighty chops, Natalya tears Sylizil apart. The fiery spirit lets loose a final shriek before discorporating.
”The coven is no more. It is done,” Jadrenka says. She abruptly disappears, leaving the promised gold nugget behind.
"Well at least she left the gold nugget. I'm sure part of our deal said she'd tell us where another was and how to use them though." Izolda says in frustration, but isn't at all surprised that Jadrenka didn't meet her end of the bargain completely.
Izolda checks the nugget for magic before picking it up warily to examine it closer.
The gold nugget does not appear to be magical.
You hear Jadrenka's voice whispering in your ears. "The cancer grows in the womb of the Crone. To face the Curse of Eons, you must have time on your side." The exit to the southeast glows faintly for a moment before the glow fades.
Your victory over the coven has left you feeling stronger and more capable!
"So we have to go down the Crone? Is that the one we're in?" Natalya asks, having completely lost track at this point. "Maybe we could rest and investigate later? I could really use a good nights sleep..."
"Yeah Naty, I think that would be wise for me as well. It much too far to return to the hut, so I think we should stay here and find somewhere safe. I vote for first watch as I am not waking up halfway through a good night sleep!" Izolda says with force. Malkiel and Natalya both know that Izolda does not sleep soundly, but know the worst thing to do is to wake her up when she is tossing and turning as she will most likely bite their head off.
"I call last watch!" Natalaya adds quickly - leaving Mal with the unenviable task of waking up in the middle of the night!
You retreat to a more defensible room to hole up for the night. The evening passes without event, possibly due to Jadrenka's influence in keeping any other dungeon denizens from stumbling upon you. The next day, you return to the temple of Mestama where you defeated the coven and head through the southeastern passage.
The ceiling of this broad natural cavern arcs upward, forming a narrow crown high above the cavern floor. In the center of the cave stands a ring of worn, moss-covered menhirs, their inward faces carved with mystic symbols. To the north, a passage leads up a gentle slope to a closed door engraved with the image of a hunched and withered crone.
The air ripples as a night hag appears before you. "I am Nostafa, guardian of the transition between mother and crone. Who are you who approaches this sacred place?"
"We're here for Baba Yaga's talisman." Natalya says, ignoring the question in favor of directness. Her friends will notice how one hand is playing with her hair, co-incidentally very near Witchbane's hilt. "Let us past please."
"And why should I do that? I am sworn to protect Baba Yaga's possessions. I am not about to just hand them over to the first person who asks!" the hag replies imperiously.
"Because we have the mantle of her Black Rider." Natalya replies. "And Jadrenka gave us the first key."
She gestures at Mal to bring the gold ingot out. "Is that enough proof?"
"Hmph. Very well. If the Black Rider is truly dead, and you possess his mantle, then I suppose then these items belong to you. Baba Yaga had foreseen that she would soon suffer a great betrayal, and that if she should fail to return, I should give these to her Three Riders."
The first item she gives to you is a bottle of messages. Opening the voice, you hear the voice of a old woman speak: "If you hear these words, my own blood has betrayed me. Jadrenka has one key; the other lies in the Eon Pit. Follow my trail!"
The second item is a thick tome--Baba Yaga's cookbook of arcane augmentation. Contained within these pages is the ritual needed to free Ratibor the Bold from his service as the guardian of the Dancing Hut here in Iobaria.
"Thank you." Natalya says, passing the cookbook off to Izzy and trying not to grin as she hears the witch nearly collapse under the heavy book. "Where is the Eon Pit please?"
Izolda takes the tome, muttering at the heft unable to flick through its pages until she can put it down again later. "Thanks Nat, its what I always wanted. " She says, dryly.
"It does sound like the Eon pit is the place to go. Doesn't sound all that welcoming though."
"Terrible. It sounds terrible. Who wants to go to the Eon pit? Why couldn't it be the Eon Brothel?!" Mal mutters.
"Proceed through that door and enter the Crone. Head south through the first door and it will take you to the Eon Pit," Nostafa says.
Beyond the door, a long passage leads ahead. It is dark and cold, its walls engraved with images of winter, darkness, and death. The passage ends at a door decorated with a wreath of goat skulls woven together with catgut and cornhusks and then hardened and stuck to the door with lime and shellac.
Beyond the door, a withered cornfield extends in all directions beneath a waning moon in a starry night sky. Dozens of dead ravens lie strewn on the ground among the shriveled stalks.
A bent and aged crone stands in the center the cornfield, leaning heavily on a staff. She bears a striking resemblence to Jadrenka--she might be the changeling's grandmother. "You are near your goal. But the giants who have invaded Artrosa stand in your way. Defeat them, descend into the Eon Pit, and at last you will attain what you have come for."
The crone disappears in a flash of light, and the illusion cloaking the room fades to reveal a rectangular room formed from chiseled granite blocks. Carvings of lifeless cornfields adorn the walls, and withered cornstalks and dead ravens litter the floor. Where the old woman was standing is a scroll of age resistance.
The door that Nostafa told you to enter hangs open on bent hinges and bears huge gashes on its splintered surface. The remains of a giant wooden statue, carved to resemble a stooped and ancient beldame, lie broken and scattered across the floor of this chamber. A set of massive iron double doors stands in the south wall, their faces engraved with a procession of humanoid figures. At the top of the doors, the figures are young women in the bloom of youth, but as the parade continues down the doors, the figures age, turning into pregnant matrons, stooped crones, and finally, at the bottom of the doors, into capering skeletons that vanish into a gaping tomb.
Two frost giants now guard this room. As soon as you enter, the giants draw their greataxes, call out a warning, and charge to attack!
Natalya doesn't hesitate, taking advantage of the giant's slow reflexes to get under their range and attack!
Malkiel turns invisible and moves to flank behind Natalya.
Izolda watches as Malkiel blinks out of existence leaving just Greta and Naty to defend her and her face forms a snarl as she is absolutely fed up of things getting in their way.
As Mal disappears, Greta rushes forward and bites a giant's leg. The other giant crashes to the floor, snoring loudly as he succumbs to Izzy's hex. Nat moves up beside Greta and slices up the giant.
Howling in fury, the giant tries to slice Nat back with his greataxe!
"Mal, get the slumbering one before it gets back up!" Izolda shouts before turning her gaze upon the other giant.
Natalya may have a smaller weapon but she knows how to use it - cutting deep gouges into the giant's torso.
Malkiel trips coming out of invisibility and poorly positions himself for all of his attacks.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA +4 Bleed damage with SA.
Greta and Mal fail to find a chink in the giant's armor, though Natalya slices into him twice. Despite succumbing to Izzy's misfortune, the giant still manages to strike Nat two times as well, cleaving her with his greataxe!
Failing to find any weakness to exploit, Mal continues to circle the giant with Greta. When he thinks he sees an opportunity, he leaps forward and slashes with his daggers.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
Natalya is far to stubborn to die, or at least to go down without fighting!
Izolda watches as her best friend sways on the spot and rushes in.
With the final two blows from Natalya, the giant falls! Greta swiftly dispatches the sleeping giant.
"Natalya, are you okay?" Izolda asks even thought the answer is clear. She scoops up Aurora and rushes to Natalya. "Let me help more." She says, before providing more relef for the barbarian.
Natalya gives her bestie a wide smile and holds out her hands so that she can pet Aurora while Mal checks the giants for valuables.
"I'm fine. He wasn't so tough."
The double doors leading out of here are barred from the other side. With enough heavy blows, Natalya is able to break them open!
This vast natural cavern is drowned in darkness. To the southeast, a ring of towering black basalt menhirs surround a great gaping pit torn into the cavern floor. Spiraling runes etched in white chalk cover the faces of the standing stones, which are painted with fresh blood. The bodies of two frost giants lie on the floor outside the ring. A border of countless skulls, both human and animal, surrounds the pit. A break in the border forms an entrance leading to the edge of the pit. There, a flight of stone steps carved into the perimeter descends into the abyss. The air above the pit seems to waver and ripple as if from heat, though there is no discernible change in temperature.
Slowly circling the perimeter of the stone ring trots a fierce-looking centaur carrying a great warhammer his hirsute body drenched head to hoof in blood. The gore-sodden centaur turns towards you. "You are too late! Baba Yaga is gone, and soon, all of her power will be mine! Kostchtchie has rewarded me for my sacrifice. He will be reward me for your deaths as well!"
The centaur whistles, and from the shadows to the north, a centaurlike creature with a frost giant’s torso atop the body of a tremendous eight-legged stallion emerges! It levels its lance as it prepares to charge!
Malkiel is not about to be charged. No way. He disappears from sight and moves to position himself out of the way so he can attack once the charge is done.
Leaving the bigger foe for Nat to take on, Greta rushes across the room and lunges at the centaur. She tears a chunk of flesh from his legs but fails to trip him.
Howling with fury, the centaur takes a step back to bolster himself with divine power. The hulking frost giantlike beast thunders forward on its hooves to attack Nat, impaling her with its lance!
Natalya lets out a fearsome howl and dives towards the centaur, ducking low to get underneath his guard.
Izolda starts muttering an incantation quietly before letting the energy flow out of her body and wills it to take a grip upon the centaur with the lance.
Flanking, Malkiel pops out of invisibility and slashes twice.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
The giant centaur resists Izolda's hex. Nat rolls under its reach and slices its legs with her blade. Malkiel appears behind it, but can't find a gap in its defenses. Greta bites the smaller centaur again!
Snarling with fury, the centaur swings his hammer at Greta and attacks with his hooves. The giant one drops his lance, instead lowering his head to gore at Natalya and stomp on her with his hooves as well!
Natalya lands a single solid blow, shaking off the horns without much effort.
"Damn!" She curses as she switches tactics and instead tries to put the same centaur to sleep.
The tauric frost giant resists Izzy's hex again!
Malkiel continues slashing opposite of Greta, his third attack finally finding purchase!
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
Nat and Mal each land good hits on the tauric giant, leaving it badly hurt. Greta lands another bite!
The centaur bashes Greta several times, and the wolf falls unconscious with a whimper. The giant centaur gores and stomps Nat again!
Mal says "Hang in there!" and continues to hack, hack, hack away.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
Natalya doesn't bother responding to that and just keeps slashing.
Izolda swears loudly and rushes to Greta, ensuring she doesn't fall afoul to her wounds.
With flashing blades, Nat and Mal manage to take down the giant centaur! It falls to the ground with a massive crash!
Meanwhile, Izzy moves to heal Greta, stabilizing the fallen wolf. The smaller centaur snarls angrily. "There are no screams for those who die the frozen death!" he shouts as he slams his warhammer on the ground, releasing a crackling bolt of ice that shoots towards Izzy.
The ice immediately freezes around the witch, trapping her within a 9-inch-thick solid block of pale blue ice!
Malkiel shouts "iz-ZY?!" as he catches sight of her being iced. He moves to slash at the second centaur, but is too distracted to do so effectively.
+4 Bleed damage with SA.
Natalya strides over and smashes at the ice, using the flat of Witchbane thankfully.
Isolda panics as she's enveloped in ice and then panics even more as a wide eyed Natalya swings her sword directly towards her. Within a few seconds however the ice is shattered and she's free to cast once again.
Greta gets back to her feet and helps Nat break Izzy out of the ice. The centaur succumbs to the witch's evil eye. Growling angrily, he swings his hammer at Mal!