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A single tear rolls down Nadya’s stoney face, but it doesn’t fall, instead it crystallizes and freezes to the woman’s face. She takes a moment to compose herself and asks you directly, ”What are your intentions when you arrive at the Pale Tower?”
"I'm so sorry, Nadya," Alethea says, her voice soft and comforting. "My intention, at least for the immediate future, is to hold this Nazhera accountable for what she has done to you and your daughter." Her voice catches for a moment, her mind flooding with thoughts of what she would do if something had happened to one of her little sisters.
Barnaby speaks
Our intention is to determine the cause for the winters erupting all over the continent, confront/defeat/destroy/parley (never mention parley to a pirate of the Caribbean) them/her/him/those/it(s) and then enjoy a good Summer vacation!
"Aye," Dawrbrün replies in a tone of contained rage. "Child-killers are not deserving of mercy."
Lyudmilla gives a solemn nod to Dawrbrün. “Their territory is dangerous as vell. If we venture near the Pale Tower, a confrontation vith either is likely. “ She continues serving the mantis and gifting out the leftovers to Nadya’s people. Her thoughts turn dark when remembering the ‘noble countrymen’.
Hekla dumps the ice out of her mug and reaches for more tea. "Aye, she shan't be hurting any children ever again once we meet."
Nadya twists her face in confusion at Baranaby but as the others explain she nods and speaks in a hushed tone, "I will help you. What do you need? I can provide shelter in Waldsby but you'll need to be careful, they have spies everywhere and they don't always wear human faces."
Frank simply nods agreeably as the others explain that the winter witches are not long for this world.
"Thanks for help setting up camp and the words of warning." Frank replies, sipping his tea.
"I guess we'd better get some rest." He explains before taking one last bite of crunchy mantis and turning to go to his tent.
"Shelter would be lovely," Alethea agrees. "We've been out in the freezing wilderness for far too long."
Barnaby just grins stupidly. They both yawn when resting is mentioned.
The night passes without incident, Nadya and her crew help you construct shelters if needed. The storm passes early in the morning and you are able to resume your trek to Waldsby.
As you travel you notice a dark shape in the sky fast approaching. As it gets closer you see what it is, hundreds of crows, each with a malevolent glowing third eye. Nadya swears and calls out to her crew, "Get the tarps out." She motions for you to hide under them, "Quickly now."
Not one practiced in remaining unseen. Dawrbrün follows the lead of their new compatriots and does his best to hide.
Hekla was just terrible at hide and seek as a child.
Frank isn't usually great at sneaking about, but at least he isn't wearing heavy armor.
Broulnindre, meanwhile, is essentially never anywhere to be seen when she doesn't mean to be.
Barnaby and Anticipation cover each other in snow!
Groggy as all hell, Alethea does her best to do as she's told, but she's never had much talent for avoiding conflict.
Lyudmilla's anxiety begins to build the cross her brow has she helps set up the tarps to cover their makeshift caravan. Hiding was never a particular skill she'd picked up on, though she tried often in her youth not to be noticed by peers in youth. She holds her breath as the tri-eyed avians draw near.
The crows circle the caravan growing more and more cacophonous as it spirals closer. They land close and begin to peck and scratch at the tarps, clearly not fooled in the slightest.
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Barnaby and Anticipation both look up in time to view the intent of this flock of murderous crows (thought I would squeeze in a flock of seaguls reference, did you).
Run! Run so far away!
Anticipation just shakes his head!
Living creatures that take damage from the swarm can potentially be blinded as their eyes are torn out.
The gnome stops. He looks at Anticipation.
Well that sounds f~&!ing horrible.
The Hunter then nods to his Ant.
Flame on!
Produce Flame
Frowning, they both Take Cover!
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Dawrbrün begins to bang his axe against his shield in a steady, driving rhythm.
"I don't know why they're flocking about,
This murder that clouds my vision,
But these fluttering fowls in their night cast cowls,
Will not live to regret their decision!
To Battle, I cry! These crows, they must die!
In pain, in terror and fear!
An end to their flocking as well as their squawking!
And a toast to their deaths with a beer!"
"Fire huh...?" Frank mutters as Barnaby throws tiny fireballs at the birds.
He unsummons Broulnindre as he moves to take cover behind the nearby tree.
Hekla trudges forward confidently towards the birds and tries to lay into the cloud of them with her axe.
Barnaby is too distracted by imagining the party's eyes being ripped out by sharp beaks to remember to aim his mini-fireball. A patch of ground that hasn't seen air for centuries is suddenly uncovered however.
Hekla swings her axe in a wide arc, bisecting several crows at once.
Seeing the fiendish fowl descend upon Alethea and Barnaby, she makes a quick decision to throw luck their way, deciding with the flip of a coin who it should go with.
The surge of prosperity infuses with Alethea as the coin lands heads up. More irritated than creative at that moment, she begins listing terrible avian recipes. Burnt, undercooked, soggy, and so on.
Hekla steps back up to the crows and continues to swing her axe at them, this time to the rhythm of Dawrbrun's song.
As she swings, she feels a black mantle manifest briefly on her shoulders and the Black Rider grants her swings strength.
"Get back!" Frank says as he trudges away to make room.
He summons a small fire elemental next to Dawrbrün which immediately begins grilling crows.
Anticipation begins puking his ant guts out all over the formally pristine white(ish) snow!
Ant decides to create a trail of vomit back toward the rocks and boulders and rumble behind the group!
Barnaby decides to trudge through the snowy ground and then the gnome Produces another Flame at the murderous crows!
Dawrbrün builds his beat with steady intensity then releases the magical force behind it, spraying the crows with...ahem..murderous shards of razor sharp crystal.
Alethea staggers backwards from the swarm of birds, clutching at her eyes in pain. A brief flash of light stops the bleeding, at least, but doesn't restore her vision. She swings her sword ineffectually.
With a coordinated effort the party strikes down a score of crows with each attack. The effort ends in the party's victory as Dawrbrün's music is made manifest blasting the crows with murderous intent.
The ragged remains of the swarm fly in all directions away from you.
Nadya comes over to check on you and says with renewed urgency, "We need to get to Waldsby and out of sight. The crows are spies for the Winter Witches. Normally they ignore the likes of us, but your southern garb must have drawn their ire."
"Abadar's brass b@#*&%%s, your eyes are gone! Healer, come quick! Grab my hand, I'll help you along."
"What's going on?" Alethea asks, still waving her sword around for several seconds before settling down. She grabs on to Hekla's forearm and allows herself to be led.
Both Barnaby and Anticipation just stare pure murder at the retreating crows!
They then both look at the swashbuckler.
Wash them eyes out properly, wrap'em and you should be fine in a few days.
That s#@$ looks f~#*ed!
"I can't fix your sight, but I can stop some of the bleedin'," Dawrbrün says, reaching out and placing a hand on Alethea's shoulder.
After the crows fly off Frank dismisses the fire elemental and eventually notices Alathea's face.
"That... doesn't look good."
Waldsby
As you roll into the nearby village of Waldsby you're first struck by the gazes of the locals. Most stare and point at you, while a few voice concern for Nadya's safety. While a single old woman inquires about fabrics and foodstuffs imported from the south.
Nadya does her best to lead you past the throng and to her home. As you travel through the town you're struck by an eerie familiarity. Waldsby is a strange mirror of Heldren, even some of the peoples look like they could be related.
Nadya's home is a stout unassuming cabin on the edge of town. Two boys rush out the door as you approach. They shout, "Mama! Mama!" and embrace Nadya. She introduces you to her twin boys, Orm and Mjoli along with an elderly woman named Kashka who looks after them while Nadya is away.
Barnaby and Anticipation greets Orm and Mjol with a smile and a wink. It seems the boys are not quite certain what an Ant's smile looked like, so they may have confused the gnomes face as smiling, but with a nervous twitch in his eye.
After a bath, food and a pipe, both Hunter and Companion go out I to town to shop, get into bar fights and then drink with the same sturdy folk they tangled with.
Best to keep the blood burning for when the Black Rider's mantle compels us to deal with the Pale Tower in some fashion.
They both grin.
Broulnindre gives Frank a look and a telepathic info dump.
Alethea's first inclination is to stay in and rest, knowing she's only a burden to the others in her current state. Still, she does her best to put on a brave façade for appearance's sake.
"Don't cause too much trouble out there, Barnaby. We don't want to bring the Tower on our heads before we're ready."
Hekla warmly greets Nadja's family warmly in Skald but stays a little aloof. She starts to head out the door with Barnaby to head to the tavern, but turns back at Alethea's warning. "Rein him in yourself, sheriff. Or at least come with us, what better time to get smashed than after your eyes were gouged out? That offer to help you didn't end at the door here."
Alethea grimaces but, after a moment, nods in assent. "Fine," she says, climbing unsteadily to her feet, "but you're buying."
"Course I'll buy you a drink." She follows up with an exagerrated stage whisper to Barnaby "And she won't even realize if I use her coins to do it."
---
Along the way, Hekla sees the abandoned house. "Oh this looks promising! Up for a bit of exploring?"
Frank nudges Broulnindre.
"That was just the house spirit. We should leave a snack out for it." He replies aloud, for the benefit of his allies.
When Hekla leads the way out, Frank and Broulnindre follow. On the way out he pulls out a pound of trail rations and explains in skald that it's for the house spirit.
---
When Hekla perks up at the ruined house Frank wrinkles his nose.
"Maybe B should take a look first?"
The travel-sized Broulnindre tries to get a closer look at the ruined house unnoticed.