Hekla casts a lingering glance at her mirror, then shoves it in a pocket and stands up. She wipes her bloody hands on her pants and grins at the group. "An adventure it is then! I can't help but feel my destiny awaits past that portal."
Barnaby looks at the portal. He looks back toward town.
Are we adequately equipped to face the horrors of witches and winter beyond the Portal?
"Not in the slightest!" Alethea says cheerfully.
Hekla nudges Barnaby with a laugh. "If you get too cold, you've got Ant to keep you warm."
Stepping through the portal you are deposited on a forested hillside. In the distance you spy the lights of distant fires, too many to be a camp, likely a village. The cold is biting, carried on by gusting winds.
"There's a helluva storm coming our way," Dawrbrün tells the group. "We should head for that village, and try to get out of the cold."
Barnaby and Anticipation both look at Hekla with a smirk.
It ain't the cold that bothers us. It is the evil fey, murderous sprites, icy trolls, winter witches and snowmen.
They both shakes with a chill not of the cold.
Snowmen are just plain spooky.
Shrugging and sighing, both Hunter and Vermin companion Stride with purpose through the Portal.
Viewing the lights off in the distance, the gnome starts trudging that way. Anticipation follows.
Hekla stretches and takes in this new land. Something about the North felt like home. Maybe it was all the stories her father had told her of growing up in the lands to the west of their new clime, or maybe it was just something in her blood. Her heart was beating fast with excitement.
Spurred by Dawrbrun's comments, she looked off to the sky and to the village.
Cold? It hardly felt cold. If anything, she felt less cold here than she had felt in Taldor. "It's not as cold as I expected here, but look at that! The sky, the breeze, that carpet of white. It's invigorating!"
"It seems much nicer now that I don't have to worry about freezing to death. I think I finally figured out Barnaby's trick." Frank explains as he casts Endure Elements on his donkey and himself. Broulnindre looks miffed right before disappearing.
"Let's not wait around, c'mon Caladrel." Frank says as he pulls his donkey forward, trudging through the snow.
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Hekla reads the keys to the Hut but finds that the psychic signature of the Black Rider's sacrifice drowns out all the potential impressions. She experiences the man's last moments of life as it slowly drains away and into the keys.
Lyndumilla knows that Elvanna is the 14th Queen of Irrisen and has been so for 100 years. Like her predecessor, Yelizaveta, she is a daughter of Baba Yaga. Every 100 years Baba Yaga returns to Irrisen to place another daughter on the throne while she takes the current queen to explore strange new worlds, times, and dimensions. It seems her distant cousin has other ideas.
Baba Yaga herself wrested control of Irrisen, then the Linnorm Kingdoms of Raemerrund and the Djurstor Confederacy 1,400 years ago in a conflict know as the Winter War.
Barnaby and Anticipation both start looking around in....Anticipation....
In the trees you can hear yelling of people fighting for their lives,
Another screams, "Secure the sleds! We have to take it down!"
As you crest a hill, across a frozen river you spy a group of peasants in five dogsleds trying to out run a mantis as tall as a house.
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Dawrbrün moves at a steady, deliberate pace across the ice towards the mantis.
Dawrbrün holds his position, and begins banging his axe against his shield.
"Oi! Come face me, you cantankerous cockroach!" he yells in the creature's direction, in an attempt to draw its attention from the peasants.
Barnaby looks at the giant mantis, bug, insect....
Anticipation just shakes his mandibles.
Hekla calls out to the scrambling group speaking her father's tongue.
To her own group, she says "Don't let it get their sleds!"
Then, she stares daggers at the beast as she trudges forward. Her glare is made manifest as a glowing eagle pops into existence between her and the mantis. It screeches at it dives towards the enormous insect with outstretched talons.
The eagle rockets towards the giant insect and it plucks the bird out of the sky in a lightning strike. The mantis tries to draw the eagle's mangled body to it's mouth but finds the conjuration magic has been spent and the eagle's body gone.
The mantis turns towards the party clearly drawn to you. The bug's wings begin to buzz as it lifts off towards you in a "short" hop. It's claws scrape against Dawrbrun's scale mail ineffectually.
The peasants appear to have escaped the insect's clutches, at least for now.
"You speak skald too?" Frank asks, surprised. Then he shows off by summoning celestial eagles, which all flock down to attack the mantis.
The celestial eagles attempt to smite the mantis and claw it from all sides.
Dawrbrün steps back out of the reach of the mantis' claws, and begins a rumbling chant.
"It cuts like a knife, ooooooooohhh, and it feels so riiiiight!"
Under the cover of birds, Alethea trudges forward through the snow and within the mantis's reach.
Hekla seizes the opportunity as well and hustles across the ice, leaving an opening for Dawrbrun.
"You sound surprised, but my father was Ulfen Guard. The stories he told!" She gestures toward the iconic cloak on her back, passed down to her recently.
Lyudmilla stares at the giant mantis in deep regret and a smidge of ennui.
Of all the creatures or ghouls that awaited them in the winter realm, this was not at the top of her list. Her eyes wonder across her companions jumping into action before spotting the other giant insect. She steps forward gives the mandible shaker a reassuring pat and a genuine laugh at the absurdity of it all, undercutting her growing anxiety.
Barnaby watches with pride, as Dawrbrun gets picked like a hungry hippo picks its teeth after a specially delicious hunt!
Dawrbrun! It does not look like it wants a hug!
The gnome and Ant then duly trude, trudge through the snowy terrain to tag behind the others.
Barnaby looks at Anticipation with a bit of frustration.
You really need to eat more vegetables.
The eagles grasp at the mantis with their talons and even two manage to pierce its exoskeleton, drilling two holes in its armor. The mantis plucks another eagle from the sky crushing it into nothingness while deftly ducking under the cutting music made manifest by Dawrbrün.
One of the peasants draws a bow and fumbles with the arrows.
Alethea surges forward with a twirling slash from her falcata, though the attack has more enthusiasm than precision.
Hekla overextends herself on the unstable footing at the shoreline and swings very wide.
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"Hard-hittin'! Shell-splittin'! Make a break like'eh mason's piton!" Dawrbrün chants as he swings his axe at the massive insect.
Alethea dazzles the battlefield with her impressive display of martial prowess, unfortunately the mantis is incapable of being impressed. Her friends and the peasants are in awe however.
Dawrbrün, ever practical, aims his axe squarely at the bug’s thorax, nearly bisecting it. The mantis’ spiracles pucker and convulse visibly as the near death blow strikes it.
The celestial eagles fly overhead as they scratch and peck at the creature's chitin to the rhythm of the song.
Frank fires his crossbow in the general direction of the mantis. He shoots wide, over compensating for the presence of his allies, and the bolt knocks a small amount of snow out of a tree.
Barnaby and Anticipation both continue to chug chug chug along closer to the giant mantis.
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Lyudmilla's frown sours further. Not even Dawrbrün's righteous tunes lifted her spirit. A bug!? OF all things...a big bug, sure. But what was she supposed to make out of it? Bugs are for survivalist and adventurers...
Sigh
Realizing that's what she was now, first and foremost, she finally settles on grilling the damnable thing.
Lydumilla aims her crossbow and pierce the creature’s multifaceted eye. It twitches and thrashes in its death throws but fails to stir up any more trouble than a dusting of snow.
The woman with the bow stows her weapon and hails you in passable common, ”Welmet strangers. I’m Nadya Petska. I am grateful for your assistance but if you don’t mind my saying so you don’t look like you’re from around here.” Looking between the group, ”Well most of you anyway.”
Alethea sheathes her blade with a flourish before turning to Nadya and giving the woman a quick salute. "Glad to help, Ms. Petska. My name is Alethea Gracchus, and you're right. We're a long way from home."
"We're not- er- most of us?" Frank replies, suddenly more curious about the origins of each of his allies.
Hekla wipes her hands off in the snow and smiles at the new group. She greets them in Skald then switches to common. "Hello! I'm Hekla Nornsdottir. We've only just arrived, could you help us get our bearings?"
Huffing and puffing, sweet and frozen tears on their faces, both hunter and Ant kick the carapace of the cockroach!
Barnaby and Anticipation both then look up at the woman.
Nice to meet you, Nadya Petska. I am Barnaby Bastien Bridge and this is Ant-icipation.
Dawbrün stoops and washes the mantis ichor from his axe with a handful of snow, then holsters the weapon.
"Well met, lass. Dawrbrün Amberbasher. We were investigating why an unseasonal winter fell upon our little part of the world and we quite unexpectedly found ourselves here. We're just not sure where here is exactly. Might you be so kind as to tell us to which country we've arrived?"
The woman quirks an eyebrow incredulously and says, "The Land of the Winter Witches, Irrisen. We're in the Hoarwood forest, my village Waldsby is nearby. There's a storm coming in and we should make camp rather than get lost in the snow. Please share a fire with us."
"Ah, Irrisen. That explains quite a bit, the weather in particular. Yes, my dear. We would be grateful for your company, shelter, and fire."
He turns to the others, and says, "Shall we, friends?"
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Barnaby and Anticipation begin looking around at the sky, blowing snow, and the way those squirrels are shivering.
After a few moments of staring contest with said squirrel, the gnome and Ant shrug (actually both loosing to the squirrel) and face the woman.
Looks like it will be cold and snowy today.
He smiles and follows along after her.
"Camp it is then, and a cozy fire. Mum, would you care to cook for these good folk?" Hekla looks over to Lyudmila and her shop before turning back to Nadya. "What has brought you out into the storm, and what can you tell us of Waldsby? Do you have any towers in Waldsby, perhaps Pale ones?"
Alethea inclines her head and moves to follow. "That's very generous of you, Ms. Petska. Thank you."
You set in for the night with the travelers from Waldsby. They help you construct temporary shelters to shield you from the wind and set up campfires to keep you warm. They exchange food and warm drinks with you.
Nadya's face turns graven as she considers her answer to Hekla's questions, "Yes the Pale Tower. It is several miles outside of Waldsby but it is the reason we are braving the elements. Nazhena Vasilliovna rules over this region of from the tower. She has... taken my daughter. My silly girl spoke out of turn in her presence and Nazhena took her to the Pale Tower. My friends and I have gathered food and supplies to trade to Nazhena in hopes that she will let my little Thora go."
Alethea frowns, a mug of tea halfway to her lips. "Thora, you said?"
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"Auntie knows best" Lyudmilla says with a sarcastic wink to Hekla, flipping open her knife roll.
Munching and crunching on bites of cricket-baked pie, both Barnaby and Anticipation look up.
Pale Tower to save a princess. Cool!
Hekla shoots a grim look over to Alethea, a cold fire burning in her blue eye. She goes to sip her own tea and nothing spills from her mug, the tea suddenly and inexplicably frozen solid. She sets it down.
"Nadya, spare the goodwill and steel yourself for revenge, which we are happy to assist with. Nazhena used your beautiful child to fuel her schemes and turned her to one of her sick guard-dolls, trapped her soul in a gem. We met her on our way here. Did what we could to help her, comfort her, give her peace."
It was blunt, but her mother had a right to know.
Dawrbrün turns a sympathetic gaze toward Nadya. He says nothing, but waits to see how she takes the news of her daughter's fate.