Barnaby and Anticipation watch warily the bear trap operation.
Guess we picked the wrong week to stop training.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Broulnindre and Hekla round up the remaining bear traps with an ingenious method of taking a heavy stick and slamming it into the trap’s trigger plate, setting them off. They then take a small digging tool to pull out the spike stuck into the frozen ground. It takes some effort but they are able to easily disable and recover the three traps.
More than a dozen boulder-sized chunks of ice litter the clearing ahead where a strange hut sits perched on tree trunks atop a raised mound of snow-covered earth. Suddenly appearing among the boulders is an Ulfen child, perhaps 6 years old. She is shivering, clearly distraught. She calls out with fear evident in her voice, ”I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me! I never meant to call you names!” It’s not apparent who she’s talking to and it's clearly not you.
"You didn't call our names, child. Do you have us confused with someone else? Is this your home?" Dawrbrün say, gesturing towards the hut behind her.
"What's troubling you, child?
Alethea steps to the fore, going down to one knee.
"Don't worry," she says in a soothing voice, extending a hand out to beckon the poor child, "we're not going to hurt you. My name's Alethea. Can you tell me your name?"
Barnaby collects the bear traps with enthusiasm and a bit of guilt.
Both hunter and giant Ant begin sniffing the air (or whatever ants do).
Something is wrong. We notice a chill wind, even in the present climate, stirring amid the boulders. We also notice a flicker of movement in the blocks of ice.
Anticipation appears to be a bit bugged by something.
Barnaby draws his cold-iron Machete, as Ant-icipation forms a
[spoiler = Scorpion]The creature gains a +2 competence bonus on Stealth checks and grapple combat maneuver checks. These bonuses increase to +6 and +4 respectively at 8th level, and +8 and +6 at 15th level. [/spoiler]
Broulnindre looks to Frank and they both nod.
"Something isn't right." Frank explains, readying his crossbow.
The child ignores your questions and offers of comfort until Alethea asks her name. A puzzled look crosses her face and she answers, "Thora..." She disappears and reappears further into the ice field. She pleads with no one you can see, "Please don’t keep me here. It’s so cold. I miss my mother.”
Frank jerks his head in the direction of the child.
"Hy go." Broulnindre explains as she advances warily.
While Broulnindre advances, Frank hopes something is listening as he says "Anyone there besides Thora? We need to find Izoze."
I'm pretty sure Izoze is important to talk to, anyway... Frank thinks to himself.
Did that little girl just teleport? They train young around here.
Both gno.e and Ant follow Broulnindre.
"Thora, my name is Dawrbrün. We won't hurt you, child. We'll help you, if we can. When did you last see your mother?"
The girl cocks her head at Dawrbrün as if seeing him for the first time and she tearfully wimpers, "I dunno, a few days?"
She disappears again, reappearing a moment later, farther into the ice field. She angrily exclaims, "I don’t want your stupid doll! I want to go home! Take me back!"
Barnaby rubs his eyes. Anticipation chitters in confusion.
Alethea stands up in surprise when the girl vanishes and reappears someplace else. "I don't like this one bit," she says to the others, "but I can't leave her out here. Watch my back, would you?"
"I'll go with ye," Dawrbrün says, stepping forward with Alethea.
Thora screams as her eyes appear lucid for a moment, "I have to get away! And you should, too, before they see you. Run!" The girl disappears completely.
Barnaby and Anticipation decide that the foliage in front of them seems suspicious! They both go hide in there!
Once safely amongst the tulips, they both peer about for anything maliciously attempting to tear them limb from bloody limb!
Frank curses under his breath and starts looking around for someone to shoot at with his crossbow.
Broulnindre smiles and starts looking around for someone to swipe at with her claws.
Inside the ice blocks images of a sorrowful Thora appear alongside the frozen dead. Those close to the blocks are filled with supernatural fear.
Barnaby only squeaks a fart out. Unfortunately, Anticipation seems to be burying something brown in the white snow!
Frightened is like shaken, except that the creature must flee if possible. Panicked is a more extreme state of fear.
"Winter Fey and Frozen Dead?! A tale worthy of legend!" Dawrbrün declares in a tone of bravado.
Broulnindre frowns, unhappy about the lack of claw-able does.
"Is... is Thora in those ice blocks?" Frank says.
Alethea takes a hesitant step back, looking all around her for the attack she's sure is coming.
Barnaby and Anticipation calmly hide in some snow covered foliage.
"Perhaps the answer to this mystery lies within the hut," Dawrbrün speculates, as he continues to move forward.
A small hut stands here on four legs, each one a single tree trunk whose gnarled roots resemble the toes of a giant 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 small figure, a doll, wears the same dress that Thora wore when she manifested in front of you a few moments ago. However the doll's face is that of a crone but still resembles the young Thora. Unnervingly the doll's eyes are mismatched, one a blue gemstone, the other a small round mirror the size of a coin.
Peering at the strange hut on are those chicken legs? gnarled tree trunks, both Barnaby and Anticipation begin to sweat in the snow-covered foliage.
Sighing, each begin to sneak closer to the hut, using any snow-covered foliage for cover.
You feel as though you are being watched but whoever is watching does not make themselves known, if they even exist at all.
Dawrbrün continues his steady trudge through the snow, towards the hut, catching up with Barnaby and his boon-bug-buddy.
Broulnindre doesn't notice anything in particular...
She also gets closer to the hut. She approaches the doorway and asks for permission to enter: "Hy come in, ya?"
Barnaby and Anticipation watch warily Broulnindre approaching the weird, scary hut.
They both creep closer also.
In response to her question she's answered with nothing but the sounds of her companions and the forest around her. The doll quite expectedly does not give her permission to enter.
Dawrbrün trudges to the front of the hut, mutters a brief chant in the dwarven tongue, then adds, "Let's see what we can see."
Broulnindre shrugs and enters the hut, looking around for magical portals to where Thora is.
"Hoi, how can Thora go beck home?"
Both Barnaby and Anticipation are certainly not looking at something else...
They both make scared faces as the pantomime eyes looking at us!
Alethea keeps pace with Dawrbrün as he approaches the hut, but makes no move to enter it. Instead, she watches the trees around them, sword held low and at the ready.
"I've read stories like this before," she whispers. "And they never end well for the children in them."
Something catches Broulnindre's eyes and she freezes suddenly. Just as quickly she nearly pounces on the doll; the three foot tall Broulnindre stands up and inspects the top of the doll closely.
"Vy hyu no give beck Thora? Ve take her home. Hyu give or ve break doll. Make big mess." Broulnindre explains, squinting at something on the doll and gesticulating wildly.
Frank, meanwhile, moves through the icefield to get a clear shot at the inside of the hut, just in case.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The doll's head twists towards Broulnindre and its blue eye flashes brightly and a thick rime of frost covers the entrance to the hut.
While Barnaby and Ant cower in fear Broulnindre continues to bear the brunt of the doll's wrath.
Cold and frost continues to build on Broulnindre as she's nearly frozen solid.