Letitia Frost's page

Assuming the group waits for the Mercane to arrive with their purchases, Letitia completes the potion she'd been brewing earlier before they got the knock on the door that brought Natalya and Thashara into their company.

Once her potion of fly is bottled, corked, and stowed away for later, Letitia gives some instructions to Ariadna and Ratibor for them to wait and guard the Hut until their return. Assuming that Ashling and Callix are also to remain as they fade into the background

She joins the rest of her companions new and old, and steps into the cold alien landscape. "I, too, am ready to journey to Spurhorn. While we travel, you can tell us what forces we can expect laying siege on the fortress."

Ready and willing!

Any chance this game is going to get underway?

Thanks for letting us know. Any answer to the question about bringing Llewellyn and Samuel up to the standard WBL? I'm in favor of that.

The talk of playing cards has Letitia's eyes rolling. "If you want something to do, it would be advisable to find Bescalylie so that you could make plans to break through the siege around Spurhorn. She should be able to give us the numbers and types of foes that we would have to defeat or bypass in order to gain entrance."

Letitia nods in understanding. The Ulfen diaspora across Golarion was, of course, rooted in the Winter War when Baba Yaga invaded their lands to form the nation of Irrisen.

"So you are from Golarion, then. I am also from there. Irrisen, to be exact, although I can say with certainty that my story began in Taldor."

With pleasantries out of the way, she turns to more practical matters. "Can you speak Draconic? The natives of this planet favor that tongue. The clue we have from Baba Yaga is that we must procure a two-headed eagle from the commander of a fortress called Spurhorn, which requires us to assist in breaking the siege that surrounds it. If you like fighting as you say, you will get your wish."

"No," Letitia replies bluntly. "Wings would be unwieldy and inefficient."

Another question finds its way to the top. "You were introduced as Natalya Orinsdottir. That surname sounds derived from Ulfen naming conventions. Are you from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, on Golarion?"

A quick glance toward Letitia, his voice lowering just a touch "So unless someone's got a better plan that doesn't end in frostbite or fire, I say we get moving. Probably lend Spurhorn a hand. Maybe we even live long enough to regret it"

Letitia sighs and shakes her head. "We still have some number of hours to wait for the merchant to return with your purchases."

When Natalya invites questions, too many come to mind. She sifts through them to find the most important. "There is much I wish to know," she replies. "But only a few questions are necessary. How are you beholden to Nagubel? How do you feel about fighting for a cause that is imposed upon you?"

Letitia remains still as an ice sculpture, not responding to the talk of future friendships. A friend is someone to whom you've given the knife they will eventually use against you, her mother had cautioned long ago. Friends betray one another, and the one betrayed never sees it coming. There is no place for friendship within the Jadwiga. Letitia brings her mother's lessons to the forefront of her mind now as Thashara and Nagubel promises they'll become best friends.

A smile and a promise of friendship is more deadly than a knife to the throat.

Letitia smiles back.

Letitia's eyes narrow at Thashara; the innocent-seductress technique wholly ineffective against her. She arches an eyebrow when their closer proximity allows her to spot the milky cloud over the newcomer's irises.

I've seen that before, she recalls.

"I am Letitia," she says, keeping her voice cold and folding her arms. "This task we have undertaken is not 'fun'. I've already spoken of the types of threats we've overcome thus far, and I've every expectation that what lay before us will be just as harrowing, if not more so."

"What."

Letitia's usual quick mind stalls at Nagubel's outlandish claims and its sudden extension of aid in the form of its two companions. The mercurial alien being defied common logic.

She nearly opens her mouth to decline the assistance of the two unknown women, but stops herself. She had asked for aid after all, and declining what was offered was rude even though she had hoped he would move them farther along the breadcrumb trail instead of adding two more bodies to their retinue. Aid asked for she would have to accept. However, she wonders about their motives and reliability.

"I see. Are they... under a geas or some obligation to you that you can pass to us?"

Letitia's nostrils flare as she feels a surge of exasperation mixed with an anger she can't quite explain when Samuel flirts with the female companions. The blushing of the blue-white girl further raises her ire for unknown reasons.

Letitia resists the urge to glare at the gunman, instead fixing her attention on Nagubel. "As he said. You could be most useful in our endeavors to find Baba Yaga and restore the natural order of things. What say you?"

Letitia dares to hope when Nagubel sees through their deception yet commends their caution. Zorka's confession upends her hope that they could convince these beings to leave, so she could only trust that the truth will not doom them.

"I appreciate your understanding of our caution. We do seek to find the Mother of Witches, my grandmother. I am Jadwiga, child of Irrisen and loyal to the White Throne -- if not the current queen who is past her time. Elvanna has somehow overthrown Baba Yaga. My companions and I follow the breadcrumb trail left by Grandmother, from the Golarion nation of Taldor, to Irrisen's capital Whitethrone, and to the fortress of Artrosia. It has been a journey fraught with dangers of all kinds, from capricious fey to agents of Queen Elvanna to worshippers of Kostchtchie. We have overcome much, which should speak well of our capabilities. "

She pauses, watching Nagubel's reaction while her hand grips Emberchill tighter. "We also have little time for games. Queen Elvanna threatens to place all of Golarion under an eternal winter. Aid, we will accept, but hindrance will be unwelcome."

Letitia takes a slow breath. "Worse than powerful. Nagubel may very well be the same being that legends say helped Baba Yaga create this very Hut."

Her mind spins. Their journeys thus far on the breadcrumb trail of the Mother of Witches have laid bare her cruelty in Letitia's eyes. She had placed beings in unending servitude or tortuous imprisonment for unknown slights or her own capricious whims. A being still allied with her after countless centuries would be immensely powerful and just as dangerous.

"These could be our final moments. Llewellyn, we may require your silver tongue to continue the falsehood that Baba Yaga resides within the Hut and get them to leave. Otherwise, Nagubel may decide he has the rights to take possession of the Hut and slay its inhabitants or, at best, leave us stranded on an alien world."

Letitia's face remains a mask while the robed being introduces itself and its two companions. Hastily, and before her loose-lipped associates can speak, she replies curtly, "Give us a moment to inquire if she will see you." Then she closes the door to the Hut without waiting for a response.

Inside, she backs away from the door looking to her companions. "That should give us a moment to prepare. I hadn't anticipated that Grandmother gets visitors. This could very well be disastrous for our quest."

She hurries to collect the cracked bowl and egg control. "No telling how powerful associates of Baba Yaga will be; we may need to make use of the Hut itself if we need to drive them off. Someone fetch Ratibor as well. We may need his steel." She turns to Zorka. "House spirit, have you heard of Nagubel? Does Baba Yaga truly know of this being?"

Knowledge (of Nagubel): 1d20 ⇒ 13
planes -- +19; arcana -- +19; history -- +11; nobility -- +17

Letitia perks up fron her bubbling cauldron. She takes precautions to ensure the potion she's working on doesn't overflow, then hurries to the front door to make sure no one blunders more information than is truly necessary.

Letitia looks down with a sad smile as the cat rubs up against her legs. "May this be a respite from your torment, Syvet."

She gently picks up the cat if it allows her to, and she carries it to Ariadna. "This is Syvet. It's polymorphed, so take care not to casually throw any dispel magics around it, or you'll be faced with a very hungry tentacle creature. I've no time to dally with this now, but someday I will restore its mind."

When Lazlo hoots at her, Letitia's eyes go wide. "A parting gift? That's wonderful. Thank you, Syvet, though you cannot understand me at the moment." She scratches under the cat's chin.

Smoothing out her dress, she turns to the others. "Well, my errands have come to a close. All that's left is to wait for the mercane to arrive and complete the transactions."

Not one used to being idle, she begins brewing another potion if it appears that the mercane will be long in arriving.

Will add teleport and dominate person to Lazlo's repertoire

Letitia stares into the spot where the treant and mercane had stood after they disappear. She struggles with unfamiliar emotions kindled by the treant's joyous shiver when it was given a means of freedom. The tree creature's suffering had been palpable; she had taken an active role in rescuing it from its plight. But at the same time, she can't help but fret over unmaking Baba Yaga's designs. She will one day, hopefully, find the Mother of Witches and face her.

Would Baba Yaga approve of her actions thus far?

Letitia shakes away her doubts. Nothing she has encountered thus far has made any other course of action a more viable enterprise. Her home was denied her until Elvanna is deposed, and the only way to do that is with Baba Yaga.

She goes to find her companions. "We've a day before your purchased items will return. In the interim, I can brew a potion, rest, and prepare the spells to save one other tortured soul in this realm."

If left to her own devices, she selects certain rare herbs and plants to craft a potion of cure moderate wounds, then rests.

After eight hours of recovery, she works with Lazlo to prepare her daily allotment of spells. She casts threefold aspect, mage armor, and youthful appearance.

Once her spells are ready, she goes to Syvet. "I've returned as promised. Hold to your mind, but if you have any control over yourself, submit to the magic when it warps your form!"

Casting baleful polymorph, DC 22

Anyone have any thoughts re what to get for Llewellyn? I could go boring and get upgrades for the big six items, assuming we have the coin.

A tuned bowstring is a pretty neat item if you're ever worried about running out of bardic performance uses.

Other ideas for a bard include pages (or rings) of spell knowledge, or runestones of power to increase spellcasting versatility.

But increasing the numeric values of the big six is always useful (if uninspired). Having ~37,000 gp means both Llewellyn and Samuel's can upgrade their respective belts/headbands to a +4, which is always useful, and by selling back the existing belts and headbands, we have over 9,000 gp left, which is enough to get a couple +2 amulets of natural armor or +2 cloaks of resistance.

The mercane nods sagely at Letitia, "indeed, I have divined that this is quite the unique space, but quite open to my preferred method of travel! In gratitude for my freedom, I will bring this treant with me on my departure and find a suitable domicile for it."

With a gesture, the chest disappears with a pop of displace air, and it turns back to Letitia, "Show me this poor trapped treant, so I can free it from its own prison."

"That is an elegant solution," Letitia says when the mercane informs them that it could bring the treant to another plane.

"Follow me this way," she says, traveling north to the copse of trees. As they enter, Letitia calls out in Sylvan, "Treant! Stay your wrath and listen well! I have found a being that can travel across the planes, and has promised to take you to a place with real light and soil! Your long torment is about to come to an end! Will you let us approach?"

I could also throw in my cloak of the yeti, which only gives me a +1 natural armor bonus. The other things it offers, the endure elements effect vs. cold and +2 on Intimidate checks, I have from other sources.

That's another 2,000 gp we could collect for its sale.

Letitia gestures to the garden all around them. "This place, if you cannot tell, is a demiplane. The means to leave physically is too small for a treant to squeeze through. Therefore, it will require magic to aid in freeing it, such as gaseous form."

Now that we've found a merchant, I'm doing a loot audit and here's what we've collected so far that I believe is up for sale since our encounter with the centaurs:

1,153 gp -- Baba Yaga's Pestle (+1 Greatclub)
675 gp -- +1 Breastplate
1,157 gp -- +1 Heavy Flail
??? gp -- Cursed broom of animated attack
3,000 gp -- Pipes of haunting
315 gp -- mwk cold iron scimitar
161 gp -- mwk alchemical silver punching dagger
5,500 gp -- phylactery of negative energy channeling (unholy symbol of Mestama)
3,000 -- black star sapphire
300 gp -- potion of protection from arrows
1,125 gp -- scroll of flame strike
1,650 gp -- scroll of age resistance
6,500 gp -- gem of brightness
855 gp -- wand of levitate (19 charges)
300 gp -- potion of reduce person

25,691 gp Total (not including the cursed broom).

Also, while I was going through the posts, I noticed this:

The group examines the bodies. The svathurim has nothing of real use to the group, everything is sized for a large or huge creature and is all non-magical masterwork weaponry and armor

The centaur has some more interesting items. I've delayed you all enough, I'm going to assume you're able to identify these items so this time I'll just write them out

2 potions of cure serious wounds
mwk breastplate,
frost-thunder hammer (+2 warhammer nethys link),
belt of mighty constitution +2,
periapt of health,
key

The room itself has the giant pit, with stairs descending into darkness. at the top of the steps, two giants have been killed, it looks like they have been ritually sacrificed.

Samuel and Llewellyn spot a chest that has been tucked out of the way on their level. it is locked with a very sturdy lock.

I don't see where we investigated the chest, but we were there in that room for 18 hours while we rested and Letitia picked up some new spells from Jadrenka's familiar. I think this is just an oversight and I would suggest that we probably would have opened the chest to see what was inside, assuming that the key on the centaur worked on the chest. So probably whatever was in there, we should be able to claim.

Please?

Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (10) + 18 = 28 Assuming that's enough to read the spoiler

Letitia relaxes when the imprisoned creature turns out to be a mercane. "Well met, merchant of the magical," she says, though she lets the bard initiate the commerce.

When the outsider shows off his initial wares, her lips purse in some disappointment that nothing showed immediate use for her or her companions outside the buckler.

"Hmm. The buckler holds promise for those trained in its use," she suggests. "I'm glad that you can return to us with additional magical wares. Would you be able to procure a potion of gaseous form? There is a trapped treant that I believe could be freed with such a tincture."

Absolutely!

Letitia is pretty loaded for gear, thanks to this being a witch campaign. A lot of it is for story purposes -- for example, Emberchill is an expensive weapon, mediocre in combat (+1 frost sickle) but it has incredible lore and meaning for Letitia since it's supposedly created by one of Irrisen's former queens. In the hands of most parties, it's worth 6,500 gp to sell for better items. But Letitia could never bring herself to sell it, even though we're in trouble if that's Letitia's best option in a combat.

But I've always been keenly aware of the discrepancy, so I'm all for helping out the other characters get good gear and items.

With the matter of returning to the Hut settled, Letitia turns to begin walking back the way they had come. She listens to anything Bescalylie says about the siege of Spurhorn so that she can plan for her allotment of spells for the next day or more, assuming that their errands within the Hut will take only one day.

Assuming we reenter the Hut with no issues

Letitia tasks Ariadna with harvesting the herbs and flowers from the garden with Radosek standing guard. She assists as necessary to ensure all the valuable plants are collected.

With that task underway, she looks to her companions to decide what should be done about the soul within the gemstone. "My hope is that the creature inside, if not simply a mortal soul freed to go on to Pharasma's Boneyard, will be grateful for our freeing it and not attack. That being said, it could be a demon or devil that will offend your sensibilities by its very nature, so if the decision is to smash the gem, be ready to fight."

We still have a handful of quests still left back in the Dancing Hut. By my recollection, we have:

- Freeing the treant

- polymorphing Syvet the wolf-in-sheep's clothing

- harvesting the rare herbs and flowers

- deciding whether to free the soul trapped within the gem.

I don't believe the treant can be rescued at this point, but everything else is within our capabilities. The rare herbs are just pure treasure I think, and can be sold/traded for their gp value or used as components for spells and crafting materials.

I think all we need to save Syvet is for me to cast the spell and have it fail. That can be done with a night's rest for Letitia and a couple (hopefully low) rolls by the GM.

Plus, there's the ongoing mystery of what happens to the former queens of Irrisen, so Syvet might still have more information once he's fully lucid.

In the interest of pushing us along to meet our new players, I suggest we say we did those things (resting, harvesting, and casting), then get back outside the Hut and moving toward the siege of Spurhorn.

Whew.

Letitia relaxes visibly when Samuel relents. She then gets somber when Alec is mentioned. "A wonder indeed. I believe your aim has gotten better since that day. I believe if any weapon can break their scales, it would be that musket."

She turns back to Bescalylie and switches back to Draconic. "We were discussing our next steps. We require leave to return to the Hut for a brief period to prepare and equip ourselves. Would you like to escort us, and while doing so tell us all about this siege and the features of Spurhorn that can be used to our advantage?"

"We're not--!" Letitia starts to shout, but mindful of their audience she cuts herself off and smiles at Bescalylie. Then, through her smile and gritted teeth, she tells Samuel, "we're not just following them... and we're not hiding in the Hut. I want information before we act, and I have made a PROMISE that I will not forsake!"

Her hands ball into trembling fists. "If you choose to not to return to the Hut with me, then I will go alone and you will have to make your way without me until I have accomplished my aims." She sets her jaw and glares at Samuel, daring him with her eyes to test her resolve.

Letitia's eyes widen in genuine surprise when Bescalylie immediately puts together the first half of the clues. Then she immediately chastises herself silently for not connecting the outpost "Spurhorn" with the two objects.

"Well, yes. That is in fact quite the sign we were looking for. Fortuitous." She had hoped to not embroil themselves in the conflict, but it appeared inevitable.

She clears her throat while looking at her companions. "If we are to get involved and assist your... Mandate, more information would be appreciated regarding the forces beseiging Spurhorn. We are experienced in combat, but we are few in number. Simply throwing ourselves against an unknown enemy is folly no matter the pressing need."

She eyes the others, and mutters in Taldane, "Remember we still have unfinished business inside the Hut. I need to free Syvet, and Ratibor and Ariadna should be informed of our whereabouts."

"If true dragons are conducting a siege, I do not expect it to last long," Letitia comments.

She tries to draw conclusions from the brief summary. Assuming the "true dragons" Bescalylie mentions are in fact the same as Golarion's true dragons, a war with them would be dangerous indeed. Her claim that the Mandate is on the side of good is something that will need to be proven. She hopes that her companions will not immediately assume that, and Winter forbid, get involved in the local politics.

"We have no intention of interfering with your defense of these lands. Unfortunately, we have to find some specific objects in order to leave. They are mere trinkets; if there is any inherent value to them, I assure you we can compensate the owner."

She inwardly grinds her teeth in frustration because she hated the vagueness of the clues they had so far. "We have what I can only presume are clues about our objective here in this place. If I recount these clues, could you let us know if they mean anything to you?" Assuming Bescalylie agrees, she says, "Does a two-headed eagle mean something to you? What about an iron spur or a drinking horn? Lastly, a mirror and elephant's tusk upon a bearskin rug.

"I apologize for the randomness of these so-called clues."

I went back and checked; looks like we've been doing the 1/2 hit die plus one. That means that even with your low rolls you're above the baseline.

Welcome, by the way!

Um.

>Raises hand<

This is a game and therefore there has to be some form of suspension of disbelief to ensure the players come together. I'm not going to mind some level of "forcing" it to get the game going with the new players brought in.

Saying that because I'm not super crazy about just assuming Callix and Ashling were never there and the new players have been with us the whole time.

But that's just me.

Letitia narrows her eyes at the rider when it approaches, though feeling satisfied that it is within range of her hexes. She stays wary, of course, since they would likely be within range of its abilities.

Her eye twitches when the rider simply confirms that they don't know what the Skyfire Mandate is, when Llewellyn just admitted that. Speaking in Draconic, she announces, "I am Letitia. Yes, we do not know what the Mandate is, just as you apparently do not know who Baba Yaga is. Now that we have shared what we do not know, let's move to more productive matters for the sake of your impatient friend. Baba Yaga is a traveler of worlds, and we follow her trail. Now, I believe my companion had asked you what the Skyfire Mandate is?"

Checking on the state of this game. It got moved into inactive status.

I've put out the call. So far, one has expressed interest although is currently on a vacation so could not start for a couple weeks.

I'll let you know if there are any others interested

I never got an answer so I never reached out to see if anyone would want to take Callix's and Ashling's roles.

Glad you're back! I can do that in the next day or two.

Glad to see you're still around, even if life is tough ATM.

Only thing is, still no sign from Callix or Ashling. Would you want me to reach out to some people to see if anyone would like to pick up these characters? I think at this point in the story I'd rather someone try to fill them rather than coming in with all new characters.

Let me know your thoughts.

Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (4) + 20 = 24 +1 if ice magic

Letitia doesn't focus as much on the humanoid as she does the dragon, deciding that the power of the creature would be reflective of the strength of its rider.

"It speaks the language of dragons, a language I recently learned. And be wary of throwing around the name of the Mother of Witches, as we have met both her allies and foes," Letitia speaks to Samuel while listening to the exchange between the rider and Llewellyn.

"Samuel!" Letitia hisses urgently as the gunman scouts away from the Hut while she remains on the front porch while holding the control mechanism at the ready.

"Why are we scouting on foot on a strange world when we have the Hut!?! Better to go forth from a position of strength, yes?"

Grumbling to herself at the man's impetuousness, she watches with her heart in her throat and repeatedly tells herself that if he is swallowed by another giant plant he has only himself to blame.

When the dragon and its rider begin circling she tries to activate the Hut and have it move up to defend their scout.

UMD: 1d20 + 14 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 14 + 2 = 28

Still around. Busy weekend

Letitia's eye twitches. "What are we waiting for? How about Samuel's sister? Ratibor? We have valuable herbs yet to harvest, a tormented familiar to save, and a pair of outsiders that still lurk just downstairs. Not to mention a gemstone holding a trapped soul."

She waves at the surrounding alien landscape. "Wander far field if you wish, but I recommend caution."

Letitia presses her lips together tightly as she tries and fails to place the trees into any recognizable phylum. "We are someplace very far from where we started. The winter gate we passed through transported us leagues. The Hut took us to another continent the first time. Now? We must be someplace so far that even the sun and sky look different. I have my doubts that we are even on Golarion."

Letitia grabs the cracked bowl, expecting it to be the control mechanism for the Dancing Hut, before stepping out onto the porch in case there are threats surrounding them like the frost giants from Iobaria.

She squints at the pale sun and the visible stars in the sky. "Odd sky," she observes, then looks at the strange trees. "Odd... everything."

I don't have Knowledge (geography). Would (nature) help me identify the foliage?

Kno (nature): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (9) + 19 = 28

Not recalling any tales or documentation of a son of Baba Yaga, Letitia shrugs. "She must have kept him a secret from Irrisen. I wonder why, but speculation is pointless at this point."

I make a DC 15 Perception check automatically

Letitita sighs a breath of relief at the presence of the keys from the prior uses of the Hut. "With the plague mask and lock of hair, we can return to Artrosia, and with the nugget and dragon scale, we can return here. However, I don't expect that we'll be so lucky as to find more keys within the Dancing Hut. The kikimora explained that Queen Elvanna depowered all the keys within the Hut, hence our tasks of following Baba Yaga's breadcrumbs. And we've been given six items, when only two have been needed."

She picks up the stuffed two-headed eagle and turns it over in her hands. "I would not risk blindly tossing items into the cauldron, at least not until we've checked what lay beyond that door." Letitia nods toward the single door leading outside.

Letitia is silent for a time as she considers the revelations given to them by the crows. She takes in the curios and knickknacks around the cabin, then studies the specific items set down by the ravens before Ashling. But more than those items, her mind spun at the information about where their breadcrumb trail will lead them next, and to whom.

"Baba Yaga had a son?!?" Letitia finally gasps.

Knowledge (history): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

She thinks on if she'd ever heard stories of a son of the Mother of Witches.

Letitia shakes her head in frustration when she can't identify the creature within the gem. "No way to tell from out here. Let's keep this from our 'friends' and see if they stay true to their word about leaving. Then we can break the gem, or not. Souls trapped thusly are quite valuable even unidentified."

Yeah, I've been watching for them to show up. I'd really hate to lose them; this game just wouldn't be the same.

Hopefully it's just a little life that's happening, and they'll be back with us shortly.

"I don't believe it works that way," Letitia says when Samuel suggests asking the gem what it contains. Still, maybe he is right that the figure trapped inside can be identified. She also looks closely at the being within the gemstone.

Knowledge (planes): 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34

Letitia nods at Samuel. "Breaking the gem would most certainly free the soul trapped within. If it is mortal, the soul would be able to go on to its judgment and final reward. If it's an outsider, however..."

She meets Llewellyn's eyes and his mention of a trap. She hadn't considered that, but why stash it away for them to find? "If it's an outsider, it would return to its full corporeality. Whatever it is. And it could be anything. A demon, a devil, an angel, or even another Denizen of Leng. Or a denizen of one of the infinite outer planes. The possibilities are staggering."