Malesinder
Yrax
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In other news... I might keep a PbP forum open for our ongoing game on Myth-Weavers if things work out alright. We'll have to see. I like the fact that you can make games private (ie. invisible to the public, and invite-only).
Great work, Ishbaad! Man, you can put the play-by-poster in front of a computer screen and make hime roleplay in person, but you can't stop him from PbPing all over the forums if given half a chance. ;-) Love it.
Great to have you on the boards, Eoferwic! I hope you saw (and liked) my little interjections, I just happened to be checking as you were posting and thought it would be fun.
Yeah, skilled is a +8. Definitely take that! Should be +14, though, if I count correctly (2 + 3 + 3 - 2 + 8).
@Surf/Marco: Ran out of time, dude. Have stuff to post - will have to wait!
Quickly, in answer to some of the above: Not far off at all, regarding Spurhorn. Eerily close. Aff. No need to add in a profile. I haven't 100% decided how things will work as a cavalier with a true dragon mount... however, probably very similarly to how it is in the book. I'm toying with a few things like 1/2 effective druid level, no druid level full stop, no size increase, advancing by age category, etc. We'll see! Either way, you'll get to weigh in... and you can decide yourself how many more levels of cavalier you want. I'd like at least 2, but you're there already.
Hey boys, so sorry for the complete lack of activity from me. I have been reading when I can, but the internet connections at the various places have been absolutely appalling. The place we were supposed to stay at tonight didn't even have WiFi. Luckily (?) they completely f*!*ed up our reservation and didn't have enough space for our kids. After being forced to politely tell them to go f~&# themselves (polite only because little ears were listening) we decided (and were able to) come to our city apartment hotel two days early. 4 clear nights of internet...bliss! Unfortunately, I'm too f$~@ing tired to use it properly today but please do expect and (hopefully) look forward to some actual GM posts from me in the next 48+ hours. How odd, right? Love your work, too, Ishbaad.
@Aaron: Still waiting.... ;-) @Chris: F*&@ing magnificent job with your posts there, mate. I'd love to respond in some way, but you've done such a great job of keeping it self-contained, though, I don't want to intrude. Those links have taken me on such a journey of rediscovery. I really appreciate your work on all of those. Truly magnificent. Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I was reading along and enjoying myself while here in Oz!
You need to dot on the gameplay thread! ;-)
Hey boys, this is for Ishbaad and Kheycear. Chime in as and when you like, I won't be keeping this daily (necessarily) and you shouldn't bother either. Ishbaad, if you would like to keep your cavalier levels, then we can talk about getting you a true dragon mount. Otherwise, a dragonkin will be your mount. We will have to modify the cavalier class a bit, but suffice it to say that your mount will be more powerful than a regular cavalier mount - and to balance things with the other PCs, also more powerful than a dragonkin mount. Oh, and yes, this is why I figured keeping levels in cavalier would be awesome.
Hey boys, this is for Ishbaad and Kheycear. Chime in as and when you like, I won't be keeping this daily (necessarily) and you shouldn't bother either. Ishbaad, if you would like to keep your cavalier levels, then we can talk about getting you a true dragon mount. Otherwise, a dragonkin will be your mount. We will have to modify the cavalier class a bit, but suffice it to say that your mount will be more powerful than a regular cavalier mount - and to balance things with the other PCs, also more powerful than a dragonkin mount. Oh, and yes, this is why I figured keeping levels in cavalier would be awesome.
The citadel of Spurhorn is a cold place... but more borne from no need for heat rather than the cruel, unforgiving chill of Irrisen. The companions have been well received by Commander Pharamol and the council in general. The commander has even consented to give away his prized two-headed eagle - a cauldron key to their next destination - provided the companions take out Malesinder and join in a raid on Ivoryglass (where the second key, a bearskin rug, is located). The companions agreed, and were told that they must take to the skies if they were to be effective in combat. The revelation that some of the slightly humanoid dragonkin are willing to take on humanoid form has been astounding, to say the least. Two dragonkin stepped forward, willing to be bonded with aliens from Golarion. Talsune, a literally huge copper dragonkin wielding a greatsword gruffly challenged Eoferwick to ride him, if he could... and the two went off to train. Aoife found kinship with Nevra, the female blue dragonkin who greeted them upon their arrival at spurhorn. She wields the traditional glaive, and the two young females seem to be getting along famously. Marcos himself finds training with Calissus, a female white dragonkin summoner who teaches him how to grow his eidolon's wings. Redwood meanwhile is given a pair of winged boots and trains himself in their use. Kheycear was stunned by the revelation that he is this 'Promised One' a prophesied 'Traveller from Beyond the Stars' who was to restore the Skyfire Mandate as the one true power on Triaxus. What this meant, he did not know, but Marlen - a robed white dragonkin and high priest of Apsu - stepped forwards and collected him from the council meeting. The two now go to the chapel at the northern edge of the underground complex of Spurhorn. "Is it true?" Marlen asks Kheycear, "Have you come from beyond the stars to restore the Dragon Legion as the caretakers of Triaxus? Will you be the one to tip the balance against the Draklanders and allow us to rule once more?" Ishbaad seems at a loss at first. His companions are taken away and paired off or given some other means of flight. The light-furred Commander Pharamol approaches him with a smile on his lips. "Have you a means of flight?" he asks the beleaguered inquisitor.
Fine by me. I'll give everyone tomorrow to wrap it up. Let's say you take the unconscious form of whatever Jorvik is now back to the hut. Say your goodbyes to Jadrenka. I was thinking Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight and Kuragin might decide to use the Hut to go back to Whitethrone to ensure their respective faction / team's success. Might make for a nice farewell. We can say that Zorka has those keys.
Thank you for the kind words, Steve... and you are all of you welcome. I had a great time and thank you for the time and effort you all put in to making this campaign come alive. I've come to realize that it was a lack of time and not fun that has caused me to stop. Sure, the time factor sometimes made it not fun, but if I had more spare time, I could think of little I'd rather spend it doing than GMing this PbP for you fine writers. Alas, it is not the case, but I'm really satisfied with this ending. It feels beautifully dramatic, and the death of Jorvik is something I never saw coming - so it's a breath of fresh air for me as a GM also. Still got a little time for more wrap-up, so enjoy the rest of this week of posting. Remember, though, it will come down on Monday (15th).
That's fine. Deadline on this wrap-up will be Monday 15th. At that time, I will close this thread.
Hey boys, as of now I am officially unable to post anything - no time before GenCon! I will leave this thread open for a week or so after GenCon to allow us to wrap up our stories and the death of Jorvik. Feel free to post between now and Monday, just don't expect a GM response. Cheers!
Heh. Monday will be fine for the last piece... but that does only give everyone 1 full day to react before moving on to GenCon!
Loving everyone's posts in the wake of Jorvik's death. I'm going to miss this format... if not the time it takes. Thanks again everyone for making this such fun, and also thank you for the kind parting words earlier.
Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight wrestles the corpse that had moments earlier managed to suck in a single breath. He pours liquids down its throat and mutters assurances and instructions to it. All the while, the liquid pours out freely onto the stony ground of this open cavern. It mingles with the blood there, belonging to half-elf, monstrous centaur and giant-god alike. Not one drop finds its way down the dead body's crushed esophagus. A gnarled, withered old hand grasps the goblin's shoulder. The strength of that grip is incredible and seems to snap Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight from the delusion that had come over him. He sees properly for the first time since he heard the breath. The very still, crumpled corpse of Jorvik is below him, and spilled potions are all around.
The moment Ishbaad plants his dagger in the wall, the scale shakes loose. It is craggy and almost tarnished in appearance. The thickness, size and number of lines traveling down the scale tell the age of its former wearer at well over one thousand years. Later examination also reveals that it is nonmagical and mundane in every way save for the fact that it is a scale from an ancient silver dragon. Sensibly for now, though, with scale in hand Ishbaad rushes up and out of the Eon Pit. The artificial aging stops almost immediately, but does not reverse. In addition to the age spots, rock hard skin can be found in Ishbaad's elbow, knee and knuckle areas. His joints ache, and not just from the battle. Kuragin, on the other hand, seems largely unaffected by the pit. Perhaps it is because he is a witch... perhaps it is because, as it is for all Jadwiga, he has the blood of Baba Yaga in his veins. Both men stand once more in the cavern when Jorvik's dead body sucks in a quick, ragged breath.
Hey guys, just wanted to touch base. New York has been awesome, and more fun to follow today. Still, can't wait to get back to the kids and I can't believe it's only 10 days to GenCon!!! ZOMFGWTFBBQ??!1!! Please do feel free to ask Jadrenka questions if you have them and / or post an epilogue post. Thank you everyone for playing over PbP. This has been a very rewarding (if time consuming!) game for me to run. The depth of story here is unmatched in the PFS world and it has been a pleasure running for you. Sorry I couldn't continue over PbP, but real life comes first and it was beginning to suffer. This coming year is going to be a big one, too. More on that in 10 days! See all of you on the Zedroom... and in my own epilogue posts. Thanks again for all the fun.
Read Gameplay First Seriously, please do. ... ... Okay, time to go to New York. Thank you very much for those incredible post-death posts from all of you. As you may or may not have figured out by now, John and I were already aware of the hero points available, and decided this would be the way to go. I wanted to make sure there was an appropriate sense of loss here, and so didn't want to go into a lengthy discussion with everyone about it. Sorry I didn't have time to let you get another post in before the rez, John, but you can please please please feel free to retcon it, especially if it's mostly written! I can't wait to see what you do with this next life, resurrected as you are now from the very essence of Kostchtchie the Deathless.
Kostchtchie replies, predictably, He leaps the final distance to menace Jadrenka directly and raises his mighty hammer to strike what will surely be a mortal blow.
The enlarged oread and demigod tumble into the blackness of the Eon Pit. Kostchtchie's mighty hand lashes outwards to smash into the wall of the pit, and sticks there. Their momentum is halted, and Ishbaad is almost thrown free of the spear shaft that he clings to. The grasping, flying Jadwiga does not help the situation. screams the demon-lord and would-be god, flecks of icy spittle flying from his mouth, Ishbaad looks down at his hand, which is wrinkling and sprouting age spots before his very eyes. While dangling precariously from the giant form of Kostchtchie, somehow, Ishbaad's eyes wander to the wall of the pit. There, inlaid and surrounded by the patterns carved in the stone, is a singular shiny scale... larger than a man's fist, the scale of an elder silver dragon. Ishbaad and Kuragin are suddenly slammed from the front and then from the rear. Dimly, they become aware that they have been swatted off Kostchtchie and into the opposing wall. The enormous frost giant once more ascends the steps of the Eon Pit.
A massive, balding blue head crests the horizon of the Eon Pit. From the blackness emerges a thirty foot tall frost giant. Its cruel laughter peals out from a face that seems to carry a permanent scowl. he begins, his voice painfully loud, and seeming to penetrate the companions' very minds, With that, he smashes the ground with his mighty hammer. A trail of ice snakes in fractal fashion from the point at which it strikes to rush towards Ishbaad, currently the largest of Kostchtchie's foes. The line of frost strikes his feet and explodes upwards, encasing him from shoulders to toe in thick ice. Were Ishbaad his regular self, he would not have been able to break free, as it is, however...
Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight's first bombs strike Vsevolod in the chest with incredible effect. His beard is singed and he grimaces, the pain almost too much for him to bear. The goblin judges that, while it appears Vsevolod is indeed vulnerable to fire, it is having some kind of diminished effect. Aoife's blade strikes deep into one of Vsevolod's eight legs. It hits an artery and blackish blue blood streams forth to coat Aoife's face and arms in shockingly cold liquid. This time, Vsevolod screams in pain and the bellow reverberates throughout the entire cavern. Ishbaad follows it up with an incredible blow from his now-enlarged giant-bane longspear. Vsevolod turns from Aoife at exactly the right moment for the oread to plunge the weapon deep into his chest, directly in the middle of the still-flaming scorch marks left by Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight. Disbelieving, Vsevolod looks down at the weapon protruding from his breast and swats ineffectually at it a moment before crashing down upon the ground in a heap. The thunderous sound of the Centaur Prince collapsing echoes throughout the chamber and is followed by complete and utter silence.
As I noted, John and I have already discussed Jorvik's death. He is dead. As for the viciousness, I considered splitting up the hoof attacks to put the last one on Heafoc, but it just wasn't thematic or appropriate, given Vsevolod's attitude and that Heafoc was essentially doing no damage. For sure I would have split it up if anyone else was in melee... or if this was PFS.
Read gameplay first. ... ... ... I wanted to let you all know that I have emailed John about what happened to Jorvik. Firstly, he's taking it like the trooper that he is. Secondly, it did indeed happen. Jorvik is actually dead. Please do react appropriately. Of course, you are rich beyond your wildest dreams and upon finding civilization, you can no doubt pay for whatever spells you need. Please do keep in mind, though, that this is the first time this has happened to a PC, that these spells are not infallible and that it is still a very traumatic experience for all involved. I know your roleplaying of this situation will do Jorvik proud.
The snowball pounds into the gigantic torso of Vsevolod, Kuragin proving that he can indeed hit the broad side of a barn. The cold energies, however, dissipate harmlessly across his enemy's flank, forming frosty circles that add to the frozen condensation already covering parts of his body. Gripping the massive spear tightly in his white-fleshed hand, Vsevolod lashes out at Jorvik with all he has, stabbing again and again.
Not finished, the enormous eight-legged centaur lashes out with horn and hoof, first ducking to pound Jorvik with his goat-like protrusions and then rearing back to slam down with four hooves that are more like two pairs, with each pair acting as one.
Unrelenting, Vsevold smashes into Jorvik again and again, until all that remains of the half-elven skald is a shattered corpse upon the ground. The halls surrounding the Eon Pit grow infinitely more dark in the heroes' eyes. Even the thundering of Vsevolod's mighty hooves cannot break the palpable silence as a dull numbness comes over all.
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Vsevolod booms,
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The massive Jorvik rushes forwards to meet Vsevolod head on. He notes that his own torso is roughly the same size as this enormous centaurs, though with the horse-like body it stands at least five feet taller than him. Both mighty blows hit, and the smacking sound they create echoes throughout the chamber. Some of the icicles hanging from the mighty thing's beard dislodge and crash to the ground. The towering monstrosity known as Vsevolod grits his teeth but shows no other outward sign of pain. the giant grins,
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Heafoc's scratches and pecks do not come close to penetrating the behemoth's thick hide. It swats at Heafoc distractedly, but the bird easily avoids the clumsy - and likely subconscious - blow.
Without further delay, the companions swing wide the double doors separating them from the Eon Pit and enter the cavern beyond. 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-like creature carrying a great longspear, his body drenched head to hoof in blood. Unlike any centaur the companions know, however, this creature is enormous, sanding at roughly twenty feet tall . Its lower body is that of a massive stallion, but with eight thick legs pounding mightily upon the floor. A giant-sized humanoid torso completes the thing, corded muscles tense at the ready and its piercing blue eyes and bearded face project an aura of menace. Spiraled horns curl upwards from its forehead, and small icicles dangle from every overhang of its features, and a crown of ice tops its head, glittering in the artificial light brought by the companions. it rumbles, causing the entire cavern to shake, There can be no doubt that this mighty thing is indeed Vsevolod, the Centaur Prince... but he is clearly not a true centaur. What creature he actually is can only be guessed at. :
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Level 8-10 chronicle. Amaranti would be perfect for it. As for prep... the doors await, but you can buff for as long as you like. I just ask that you please do a single buff post each and track your own buffs.
Okay, so the vote is to roll this out. I'm going to get it started pretty soon... so please do have whatever character level you'd like to use (8 or 9) ready to go! I will also implement an 8 hour bot-clock. I know this is tight, but so is time.
The giant screams and wails from the blows dealt it by the companions. In the end, Aoife's blade strikes the killing blow, piercing a femoral artery and causing such a massive amount of blood loss that it can no longer stand. It blubbers incoherently a moment before it crashes to the ground, crushing a distracted Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight beneath its bulk.
"... no longer visible..."
The goblin has done his job though, as the suddenly visible and body-guard-less crone looks very nervous. "Against Baba Yaga? You are misinformed, foolish man!" screams the crone in answer to Ishbaad's earlier question, "We go against Jadrenka! We are children of the Queen of Witches all, and Caigreal is Jadrenka's mother. Jadrenka has not even undergone the rites to become a hag yet. Baba Yaga erred in appointing Jadrenka as guardian, and we sill show Baba Yaga so... by killing Jadrenka and all her allies!" Grishelmuk seems to be unaware of Caigreal's death. Sneering, she prepares a spell and a massive spread of cold arcs from her hands. It strikes the companions with mighty force, chilling them to their very bones in a way they have not felt since first marching into the wilds of Irrisen. Only Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight with his giant-cum-blanket is unaffected. Grishelmuk laughs victoriously... and prematurely. Sanctus Custos enters her side first, the cold iron blade burning her insides. Eternity's End pierces her next, from the front. Kuragin manages a withering stare that any Queen of Irrisen would be proud of, reducing her defenses while Heartseeker proves true to its name and pierces the icy cold, blackened lump that is the hag's heart. In a burst of energy, she becomes an ice statue. The heroes remove their blades, shattering the thing. Oddly, the pieces of her do not melt despite the moderate temperature in the cavern. Searching the place, the companions find a broom of flying and a cookbook of arcane augmentation. On a stone table in the center of the standing stones, a puzzle similar to the one found in the Maiden aspect of Artrosa can be found. Quartz figurines carved to match those in the entrance lie in a wooden bowl, covered in rose petals this time. Arranging the figurines correctly as before, Aoife - deliberately this time - spills the roses onto them. Slowly, the room melts away, as do the standing stones. Whereas before they were in a massive cavern, now they are within a much smaller, narrower one. Behind them is a long, snaking passageway leading to a blank wall where a door should be - and would be again with the waning moon. The journey through the Crone aspect of Artrosa is a long and hard one. The rooms and passages of this dungeon are dark and cold, with a motif of winter, darkness, and death throughout. A darkness effect keeps all but the companions' brightest light sources extinguished. The guardians in this dungeon are much less disposed to talk even than the others. They fight a strange creature covered in spikes that was bathing in a scaldingly hot cauldron. A diseased and half-dead rat, grown to the size of a pony, stalks the five and eventually they confront and destroy it. They come across a prison / school filled with the bastard children of Kyrisjana and Poryphanes, folarren all. There, they concoct infestations and poisons the likes of which the heroes have never seen. Demons and frost giants left behind by Vsevolod also harry the five bearers of the Mantle. In the end, however, the companions are victorious and come to another enormous cavern near what they assume to be the center of this aspect of Artrosa. The darkness effect that has been an almost cloying presence throughout their journey is gone here. 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. Her clothes are a tattered ruin. Her skin hangs loose upon her frail frame. Her movements seem painful to her as she limps slowly toward the companions.
Cautiously, the companions continue along the path to the standing stones and the portal to the Crone aspect of Artrosa. A long and winding passage finally ends at a cavern. The ceiling of this broad 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. This ancient feature seems to be roughly ignored by the current inhabitant, however, as the cavern's walls support rough wooden shelves piled high with all manner of weird bric-a-brac: tiny sculptures, fetishes, amulets of metal and clay, locks of hair, pin-riddled cornhusk dolls, and more than a few weathered tomes. Yellowed glass jars hold vile and suspect-looking samples suspended in unknown fluids, and small clay pots overflow with unknown dusts, powders, and sickly colored unguents. Beneath the shelves, a couple of crude worktables, covered in mysterious stains and clumps of aged tallow, hold more items of similar nature. A huge wooden mortar bound with iron bands stands near the tables, its club-sized pestle propped within. A hunched, barely-humanoid woman with frostbitten skin is tending to some potions, flanked by yet another enormous frost giant. She turns from her brewing and snarls at the new arrivals to her cavern. She points a frosty-white finger, blotched with black at the adventurers. "Prove your worth!" she screeches at him in the language of the First World, "Destroy these intruders and prove Vsevolod's worth to our cause." "As you wish, Grishelmuk," it replies in a ponderous voice, moving with its club to intercept the companions. Meanwhile, Grishelmuk quickly downs a potion and suddenly disappears from view.
Wow, just saw the GenCon countdown... 14 days! I'm going to New York this weekend, and I want to make sure I have enough time to send out your chronicles and for you to properly level up prior to the 'Con. As such, I am going to absolutely power through the remainder until the final encounter/s. I'm already removing a massive pile of useless and very dungeon-y combats, leaving you with just those that are relevant to the plot (this adventure really is 100% dungeon-crawl, interspersed with some plot related stuff that may never ever know the relevance of). So... my aim is to complete this on this coming Friday or Monday and have chronicles out soon after that. Please give me the following: PFS - Character #:
Note that, as with the previous chronicle, multiple chronicles from this AP have added benefits with the Mantle of the Black Rider boon - so if you're struggling to decide, that will hopefully help. Also, if you feel like it, you may LEVEL UP TO 9 for the final encounter (when we get to it, I'll ask if you want to roll it out or not - and I'll hand out chronicles during the combat). You certainly don't need to do the level up, just thought I'd offer it.
The second giant pulls back on the boulder, split seconds away from hurling stony death at the open target that is Ishbaad. Jorvik's second arrow takes the brute through its massive eye-socket. The boulder crashes onto its own head. As the thing stumbles forwards, perhaps not realizing that it is already dead, it mutters, "Kostchtchie, we have failed you..." before tumbling face forwards down the gaping pit. Meanwhile, the giant Aoife has mounted crashes immediately back to the ground. Eternity's End did indeed find its heart, and intermittent geysers of blood erupt from the wound once she removes her blade. They gradually become weaker and weaker until a massive pool of the giant's lifeblood begins to drip into the pit, no doubt splashing onto its former companion below. Searching the room, the companions note that the game the giants were playing a version of 'pick-up-sticks'. Most are broom handles of varying lengths. However, the 'trap stick' (used in the crueler variants of the game) is actually a +1 Giant Bane Longspear. The companions renew their efforts to head southwards and to the crone dungeon. Down a western side passage, they glimpse a grand chamber that has the hallmark appearance of a grand temple. Kuragin recognizes it as belonging to Mestama, the demon lord of cruelty, deception, and hags. On the floor of this temple, a the bloodied corpse of a green hag lies there decaying and quite dead. Shortly after the temple, the passageway leaves the heroes no choice but to travel east - as Marislova had informed them. As she perhaps neglected to say, this way is barred by two massive iron doors - both securely locked and decorated with the witches' spiral-like symbol of motherhood, but also a straight line that suddenly drops directly downwards for a short distance. Kuragin identifies this as the universal witch symbol of death. Once more, they find that the key Jadrenka provided them with opens these doors. Ten mausoleum facades protrude from the walls around the perimeter of this cavern. Above each door is a keystone engraved with a name. Throughout the room stand ten life- sized statues of proud, matronly women. The women are all barefoot and similarly dressed, but they each have their own unique appearance. Some are wear feathered cloaks or bone necklaces, others clutch gnarled staves or carry brooms, and a few have a raven or an owl perched upon their shoulders. At the end of the small crypt, the five interlopers can see that the passageway continues to wind its way east.
"You are really surprised that Jadrenka is a changeling? You did not know that Caigreal was her mother? Or did you not know that hags spawn changelings?" Marislova has clearly assumed the companions know quite a bit more than they necessarily do. Perhaps their being servants of Baba Yaga is the cause of said assumptions, perhaps something else.
The companions set off to the south and, at the advice of Marislova, they ignore all detours to the west and the east. It is after traveling down seven hundred feet of ornately decorated hallway that the companions finally reach a large chamber, artificially carved from the raw rock of the mountain in which Artrosa is nestled. A deep, black pit gapes in the floor of this chamber, hewn by hand from the surrounding stone. Rows of rusted iron manacles hang along the room’s walls, their chains hammered deep into the stone. A rack along the east wall holds numerous cruel-looking torture implements. A passageway leads further to the south beyond the pit, and it appears to curve eastwards. This will need to be cataloged in their minds for later use, however, as two massive frost giants with deformed and gangly limbs stand up from their game of chance at the far side of the pit. "Fresh prey, brother!" one of them says in the language of the First World, the lilting and chaotic way of speaking sounding odd on his lips. The ponderous and harsh tongue of the giants would be far more appropriate. "Indeed. Their flesh will taste all the sweeter after what that foul b&%%% did to our friends," replies his friend, "Time to show that Vsevolod what a true Frost Giant is worth!" With that, they both pick up boulders - there are many piled next to them - and begin hurling them at the companions. While the first two boulders miss, stone shards fly from them as they break upon the wall and slice into flesh.
My bad, I mis-spelled it on the post! Should be "Kyrisjana". Probably why a thread search didn't match it up. As for the Three Amigos... if it's available on demand at the hotel, let's get some six-packs and watch it!
"The motherly and feminine power of the dungeon here is strong," Marislova chooses to answer Aoife first, "While my gender was unimportant to Jadrenka, changing from a man to a woman allowed me to stay here all the longer to be with her. Artrosa's halls would not long suffer a male non-fey presence. Such is my love for Jadrenka that I wished to stay here for the rest of my life, and so I became a woman." Marislova wipes the unbidden tears from her eyes as she recalls an earlier time. It is a while before she regains her composure. "Hmmm..." Marislova thinks on the riddle Ishbaad presented and looks at the amulets, reading the words 'dragon' and 'gold' on the reverse sides, "It seems you do indeed likely need to go to the Crone aspect of Artrosa and journey to the Eon pit. There is a set of standing stones in these halls that you can get to by following the central path south until you have no option but to wind your way east. At the end, there is a teleportation puzzle that I am forbidden from revealing the solution to. Since you are here and it is not the full moon, I have every confidence you will prove a match for this puzzle. "As for the key itself, I do not know what 'dragon' means, but I assume it is something to do with the description of the key itself. We do not have any dragons here in Artrosa. "For the other one, this 'gold' key, Jadrenka is the only changeling Baba Yaga would trust with a key is Jadrenka, so she must hold the last one. Maybe she doesn't know it, or perhaps she is being coy with you. I do not know anymore... please, if you can convince her of my fidelity, I would be forever in your debt. For now, though, thank you for unlocking this door. Tell Jadrenka I wait for her at the grove a mile north of Artrosa's entrance. I can stay here no longer while she is like this."
I'm out of time for today, so no hurry! I'll push it along on the weekend, so ask whatever you need to ask before tomorrow. :-)
The half-elf sniffs as she looks quizzically at Jorvik. "You are looking for keys but you do not know when the moon will wane? After the full moon, of course. It waxes for about two weeks, then it is full, and then it wanes. You do not seem to be of the First World, and so if you are here I must assume you are from Golarion. Have you not observed the lunar cycle before?" Marislova shakes her head, trying to clear it. "What can you do for me? You certainly are not from around here. I want more than anything for Jadrenka to realize that Krisjana tricked me - and her! We were never lovers. I have eyes only for Jadrenka... I even became female to extend my time here in this bastion of motherhood! "What more does she want from me? If you cannot convince her, though, help me to escape. I cannot stay locked in here for months on end with nothing but Jadrenka's cruel tortures to break the monotony. This room may look comfortable and opulent, but it is an illusion that I have long since seen through." Jorvik fancies that he can see the room become a little translucent, glimpsing the worn drapes and meager straw-filled furniture beneath.
Another spiral-patterned door After a short walk, the passageway leads to a large set of doors, carved with a symmetrical maze-like pattern surrounding an inlaid iron wheel. Kuragin instantly recognizes the iron wheel as a witch's symbol, representing motherhood.
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