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"I don't like these one bit," declares Yrja as she glares at the creatures who a) disturbed her sleep, b) are attacking her and her friends, and c) are using some very, very rude language. Jotun:
"You are sad, pathetic creatures. I bet you don't have any friends and your mothers don't love you."
Yrja whoops and cheers as Erdija stomps a few of these creatures. "They are saying very rude things. I don't think I like them very much." Focusing on the one who had been affected by her first hex, she layers another one.
Yrja awakens in a daze, trying to get her bearings in an unfamiliar place. Sadly, the situation of being ambushed in their sleep was becoming rather familiar, so the witch is quick to gather her wits and try to hex the closest creature.
Yrja responds to the offer of mutual hair-braiding with enthusiasm. "Oh, I'd love to! I've been thinking of trying this pattern where you braid three braids together." She is braiding Erdija's mane as Orik comes in, and she frowns at the centaur's answer. "If it is so rare to get the plague, how did it kill off the two-legs?" she wonders, more to herself than actually expecting an answer.
The tent feels very homely and cozy, and Yrja is immediately excited by it; she explores all the furnishings and trappings, watching Erdija as she cleans her hooves. "Would you like me to brush any bits that you can't reach yourself?" she offers, nodding at the brush.
The large celebration is a new experience for Yrja, so the young witch mostly sticks with her companions, helping translate where needed. She seems very excited about Erdija travelling with them, and asks the warrior mare-woman a dozen questions about the area, the tribe and so forth. Aside from a polite gulp of kvass, she avoids drinking and spends most of her time lurking on the periphery of groups, her eyes drinking in the patterns and decorations on their clothing.
Oh, chores she could do! Not so different than under Mahb's instruction, perhaps with less yelling. Yrja is happy to gather some deadfall and mend the tents. Her stitching is masterful, and she even adds a few elements of embroidery here and there with motifs she saw in the leader's own tent.
Yrja nods at Dez, turning again to Korag Kaag. "That is very fair and understandable, great leader, and I am sorry if our kind has caused you grief in the past. Please tell us what we could do to convince you of our sincerity."
Bowing to the centaur leader, Yrja attempts to explain in Sylvan. "Greetings, Korag Kaag. My name is Yrja and these are my friends and associates. We fervently hope that there is no need for hostility between us. Yes, we are agents of Baba Yaga, as you mentioned, but not by our own will. Still, we must do what we can do fulfill our mission, which involves finding Artrosa." The tiefling hesitates for a moment, then continues. "I do not know if it's proof of anything, but we witnessed Baba Yaga's hut kill several frost giants, so we seem to share a common enemy if nothing else."
Yrja begins to grin without realizing it, turning her head to glance at Dez. Sylvan:
"He said 'We come in peace and travel to Artrosa only because Baba Yaga compels us to do so. We will not harm you or these lands.' And also, I want to apologize that we keep saying that name which you obviously don't like, but we have to explain our situation." She fervently hopes that the one person among them who was willingly serving Baba Yaga will have the good sense to not say so in front of these centaurs.
"Oh, they speak Sylvan? Well, why didn't you say so." Switching to the language of fey and other nature-related creatures, Yrja turns to the lead centaur and bows. Sylvan:
"Our apologies, honoured one. We are unwilling servants of Baba Yaga, as you may have surmised. We are compelled to help her, and our current mission is to seek out the place I have mentioned, Artrosa. We assure you that we mean you no harm, nor do we intend harm to any who do not harm us first." She swallows, glancing at the others. "Throughout our journeys we have done our best to resolve matters peacefully. We understand if you do not wish to help us, and we will seek another way to our destination." She bows again.
"Drat, I do not know this language, but give me a moment." A brief whispered conference with Pufos, the bat nestled into her fur hood, and a sprinkle of soot and salt on the wind. Then she cups her hand to her ear in an exaggerated movement, gesturing to the centaurs to repeat their words.
Should they do so, she first raises her empty hands to show that she is not armed, then slowly inches forward to scratch in the dirt the three statues of Artrosa, as best as she can.
"I think Elbrynn is right. We should greet them." Centaurs were not really in the curriculum that Mahb had taught the young witch, and once again she reflects on how far from her imagined life fate has brought her.
Yrja first does a bag check, making sure she has all she needs for a lengthy trek through the wilderness, including warm clothes, spare socks and blankets. She sighs mournfully at the weight before hoisting the pack on her shoulders - she dearly missed Momo's strong back now!
"..." Yrja swallows, opens her mouth, closes it, swallows again, looking a little green around the gills. "Remind me not to ever anger the Hut, please," she says faintly, avoiding to look at the remains of the giants. "Well. Where to, now?" The young witch dismisses her fog cloud and looks around the clearing, trying to discern a direction to pursue.
"That is a good idea," responds Yrja. "I can provide the mist, if you like."
"Alright. In that case, Pufos and I will work on some spells that might help in the fight to come. I can make some of you larger, if you think that would help?" The witch looks at their new companions in particular as she explains her arcane capabilities. "Most of my magic is aimed at incapacitating our foes, but I can also make everyone move a lot faster for a short time. And I can conjure a foul-smelling cloud to try and keep us from getting overwhelmed, so if you see a bank of fog do not walk into it!"
"The Hut better 'take care' of the rest, or else we'll all be dead, and there won't be anyone to help Baba Yaga! Seeing how all her heralds are gone and all, so who is going to put a geas on the next round of 'helpers' who do her bidding!" Yrja's patience finally snaps as the young witch turns on one heel and marches towards the door, chin held high and fists balled up at her sides. "Well then, let's get it over with!" She places a hand on the door leading to the exterior of the hut.
Yrja swallows at the sight of so many frost giants. While one of them would probably not be a great challenge to fight if they had to, a dozen was a different story altogether. The Hut, the Hut... "Zorka? Are you there? We, uh, could use a little help here, please!" Raising her voice to call for the kikimora, Yrja glances at the others to see if they have any other thoughts on how to handle this.
While the spell is still in effect, Yrja gets Ratibor's attention once more, pointing to the giant outside the hut and making exaggerated "???" gestures at him.
"I think we are safe to leave, for now. I'm not exactly sure how to reverse the geas, yet, but I am hoping that the answers we seek are out there," Yrja offers, wincing like a student who hadn't done their homework.
Yrja's cheeks turn bright purple at Dez's compliment, and the young witch stammers through her incantation to detect magical auras.
Yrja smiles and nods at the warrior, explaining his words to the others, then adding in a lowered voice. "I'm sure the rules can be... adjusted a little. He seems to be under a geas, but I think it can be broken, as it hasn't been sealed in blood. Besides, we entered the Hut before, so he must only guard this specific configuration."
"Baba Yaga sent us. To help free her." Yrja replies in Taldane, but she does her best to mime the context to her answers. First she pretends to ride a horse, sweeping her cloak behind her, then points to herself and her companions, then pretends to be an old woman in shackles. "Baba Yaga," she says again, then points past the warrior towards the (hopefully) exit of the hut.
Yrja casts the spell that allows her to comprehend any language for a brief time, then gestures at herself and her companions, introducing each by name, and repeating "Baba Yaga." Then she gestures at the warrior to speak. It would have been better if the spell worked the other way around, but that was the best she could do for the moment. She hopes that the Iobarian can ask questions that they can then answer with affirmative/negative.
Yrja doesn't speak Iobarian, but Baba Yaga's name on the warrior's lips snags her attention. She tries, in Skald, to communicate the gist of their situation in simple terms. "We work for Baba Yaga. Will you allow me to cast a spell so that I can understand you?" She repeats the same in Hallit and Common.
"Let us try that. I'll take the left side." Yrja moves to ring the left-hand bell while Dez rings the other.
"Now we may speak..." Yrja's eyes widen hugely as the witch takes a very large breath and holds it for a few moments before blowing it out in an exasperated sigh. "How many more hurdles do we need to jump through? Or was that 'jump over'? Wait... what do you mean, 'bound'?" She looks at Dez and Orik. "The room where we first left from, do you remember which one that is?"
Yrja breathes in relief as Dez manages to retrieve the hourglass without being blasted, or swallowed by the intense darkness forever. "Now we return to Rozum. I truly hope there are no more trials after this."
"I think you are both right. The mention of night could be intended to mislead, but I think the hourglass is our answer," Yrja offers, peering at the wine in the chalices. Surely there was some negative effect to guessing wrong, but what was it?
Yrja begins to search for magic, carefully sweeping over each alcove as well as the table and the chalices.
"They keep saying they want to test our wit, and we keep having to fight things," complains Yrja as she reaches out for the chalice. "What could the answer be? Darkness? Does darkness run? The moon? But the moon doesn't always mark the night's coming, not if it's a new moon..." The witch keeps trying to puzzle out the answer as she takes a sip.
"'Dragon'? That is curious. Are there dragons in Iobaria?" Yrja looks to Dez, fully expecting him to know the answer - he knew so much! "Well, one more to go. Let's not waste time." She strides down the corridor towards the third and last door.
Yrja approaches the orb cautiously, seeking for traces of magic. Was this something they could take with them, something they might use?
"More riddles," the witch sighs. "I will guide you out, those who cannot see in the darkness." She moves to Orik and Anyanka, gently taking their arm and steering them towards the exit.
Yrja wraps a scarf around the lower half of her face as she dispels her flying magic and approaches the dead boar. "Exceptionally well-done, everyone. This creature has brought so much death to others, but now its menace is ended." She points at the fearsome tusks. "I believe this is the answer to the riddle."
Yrja hexes the boar, attempting to soften it up against future debilitating effects.
"Oh no... The Beast of Gelglast. The stories did not do justice to the stench." Making a disgusted face, Yrja's fingers quickly weave a sign in the air as the witch takes a step back to try and escape the reek.
"I wonder if the tree has shattered the stones. Everything feels dead here." Yrja begins to search for traces of magic.
"Oooh, that's a tricky one! I can't think of the answer right now, but let's see what we find in the next room." Yrja's braincogs are already turning, the tielfing muttering to herself as she tries out and discards possible answers. "Ears? Some kind of weapon? The moon is not 'ever-crescent', though..."
Sighing inwardly, Yrja nods at the raven. "Greetings. We are in service of Baba Yaga. We have completed Tryva's challenge. Do you have another challenge for us?"
I'm down for exploring the other two doors! Twilight, then Night.
"I think... we may already be there. So we could try to exit the Hut and see what happens," offers Yrja.
"Of course it is," Yrja sighs. "What about the other doors here? Should we check them out?" She glances at the pool where the raven disappeared. "I suppose they have other challenges, perhaps we will get more clues about what we are supposed to do. Right now we only have a location."
"And what did he mean, that we did the challenge out of order? We went where he told us to!" Yrja huffs, clearly frustrated. "Then I suppose we need to ask the hut to take us to Iobaria. Have any of you ever been? I don't know much about the place, to be honest."
Yrja sighs. "I feel a bit sorry for... whatever that was. And for the real Yelizaveta. Your own mother killing you..." The tielfing shakes her head. "Not that we have a choice, but I don't like helping someone who is capable of that." With a final dejected sigh, the young witch retraces her steps to the previous room, looking for the demanding raven. "Hello? We solved the situation next door."
"Why don't you try taking a nap? Can dreams dream? I guess we'll find out." Yrja turns the figment's own magic against her with a flick of her fingers.
Yrja waves a hand in front of her face as if to chase away a moth. "No, thank you. I like being awake right now."
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