Fire and Ice 6

General Summary

The last two days have been...well...eventful? hard? both? Yeah, both and more.

6 Arodus 4713

We found the giant weasel that killed Dryden Kepp. Well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say it found us. We weren't looking for it. It just came at us. We killed it. It wasn't all that bad. It feels a little weird saying a giant weasel that had killed a man and who knew how many other animals or even people wasn't all that bad. I'd been travelling with this group for less than a week, and was already starting to think of all these fights we get in as just another one. Does one really become so insensitised to violence so fast? The answer is both yes and no. It's yes becaue you think you do, and for some of it, it's true. But then you're reminded of the reality. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Not long later, we were passing a small plateau and a voice called down to us. It was the fey, Izoze that Bronwyn had spoken with previously (though apparently, she's not actually fey, but she is a fey leader; I don't really get it). She mocked us for breaking our word and for being greedy. I'd say I don't know where she got the greedy part from, but Grinner proceeded to confirm her accusations by expressing his love of gems, jewellery, and money. Izoze went on about how mortals only care about money and care nothing for the natural world. When the natural world dies, we won't be able to eat money. Or something like that. Of course, we ended up in a fight with her and a couple mini whirlwinds. Cassy called them elementals. Izoze flew around above us and was a tricky target to bring down, but we prevailed, as we usually do. I was a little hurt in the battle, so afterwards, Bronwyn placed her hand on me and some of my wounds healed! I had no idea Brownyn was capable of that. Apparently, neither did she. It's a new ability she's developed. Given how many fights we get into, more healing is always a good thing. Kind of. It didn't help later. But I'm getting ahead of myself again. Of course, when Bronwyn touched me, my skin burned her. It was just a minor burn--much less damage than she healed on me--but still, I felt bad. Still do, and probably will keep doing so every time she uses the ability on me. I don't want to hurt her. I don't really want to hurt anybody. Frono thinks I worry too much about this, but I disagree. Just past the plateau, we reached a camp site. There were some igloos, a cave entrance, and... It's hard to describe. There were giant spikes of ice arranged in rings around a central icy pool or something similar. We didn't really have a chance to get a good look at it. There was also a fey--an atomie like the one that had pretended to be a talking elk--and he attacked us immediately. There were also several sprites that came out of one of the igloos. This had to be their main base. But they weren't everything. While we fought them, we heard something farther back. One of the trees near the circle of ice had moved. Igmar, brave as ever, charged round to face whatever was coming. We then heard a blood-curdling scream. I rush round to see what was happening and to see if I could help. A giant creature--Cassy later said it was a moss troll--had literally skewered Igmar on the end of its spear. There was no life left in him; Igmar just hung their limp. Dark blood of the sea! Reality had just smacked me in the face. The violence we were regularly partaking in had a price. Enraged, I threw fire at the beast. Turns out it was particularly vulnerable to fire, which is perhaps the only thing that kept me and the others alive because even with its vulnerability, it kept coming. We could barely damage it. It came at me. As the one with fire, I suppose it identified me as the greatest threat. It was probably right. I went down. Not dead, obviously. I wouldn't be writing this otherwise, but it hurt me enough to put me close to death's door. Valeria healed me a bit once she'd dealt with the sprites. Somebody--Grinner?--had dealt with the Atomie, and Ten-Penny was trying to get at the troll. She and Valeria managed to start inflicting serious damage on the beast, and after great effort, the troll finally went down. Fire ensured it didn't get back up. The others confirmed Igmar was dead, but we didn't even have time to really process it. There was a massive gust of wind, ice, and snow from the ring of ice spikes. A black horse and rider appeared. The rider was adorned in black armour with a horned helmet. I fully expected to die. The horse took a few steps forward and the rider slumped forward. There was a giant spear of blue ice in his back. A moment later, he slid off the horse and the horse dissolved away in mist. We rushed forward. Perhaps this wasn't our death, but someone in need of our help. The rider removed his helmet to reveal an elderly man. Bronwyn tried to heal him, but it didn't work. The man said he was beyond help now. He identified himself as Illarion Matveius, also known as Black Midnight, a harbinger of Baba Yaga. I had no idea who Baba Yaga was, but through a combination of Cassy's knowledge and what Illarion told us, I can summarise the following: Baba Yaga is a god-like being who created Irrisen, a land far to the north. Irrisen is blanketed in eternal winter and is home to "winter witches" as well as creatures like winter wolves and ice trolls. Every 100 years, Baba Yaga returns to Irrisen to place a new queen on the throne. However, according to Illarion, the current queen, Elvanna desires to remain queen and laid a trap for Baba Yaga. Evanna's servants found and attacked Illarion and the other two riders who herald Baba Yaga's return. They killed the other two and gave Illarion a mortal wound. Elvanna is now enacting a plan to spread the winter of Irrisen over the entire world. The strange winter in the Border Wood is a result of that. Winter here can be ended by shutting down the portal. To do that, we would have to go through it and find the source on the other side. However, this is just one portal. There are numerous portals to different areas of the world and more being opened all the time. Only Baba Yaga can shut them all down. We asked what had happened to Baba Yaga, but he didn't know. Not exactly. Elvanna has imprisoned or trapped her somehow. However, Baba Yaga's hut can be used to find her. I don't really understand how, but apparently the hut can travel to different places, even other worlds. Elvanna captured the hut, but has put it on display in the capital in Irrisen. Using the hut requires a key. Illarion said he had two. They had been deactivated by Elvanna, but he could reactivate them for us. We just had to agree to find and rescue Baba Yaga. For some of us, this wasn't an easy decision. I pretty much decided right away to agree, but Bronwyn had misgivings because Baba Yaga is technically evil. We pointed out to her that the fate of the world was at stake. Illarion called not saving Baba Yaga a greater evil. Cassy reminded Bronwyn that sometimes two enemies have to unite to face a greater evil, just like Sarenrae herself and Asmodeus had united to fight Rovagug. So Bronwyn agreed. Ten-Penny had different misgivings, feeling that she (and the rest of us) weren't really qualified to save the world. She was kind of right, but who else was there? She had to admit there wasn't really any other choice, so agreed. We all did in the end. Illarion produced the two keys--a lock of white hair and a plague mask, of all things. He then slit his throat. He did it so fast and without warning. His blood spilled over the keys and soaked into them. When it was done, they did not look bloody, so I guess that meant they were reactivated. We definitely felt something then though. I felt stronger somehow--not in the sense that I could lift more or hit things harder. Stronger in the sense that I could better stand up to things. Somehow, I knew that troll would have had a harder time taking me down if I'd had this ability when fighting it. It would have had to hit me more and/or harder. But we became aware of a price too. We now had the Black Rider's mantle upon us and with it came a requirement to fulfil the duty we had promised. If, at any time, we stop searching for Baba Yaga, we will start to weaken. A little bit each day until we resumed our quest. Now, we can take reasonable breaks as long as they are in service of the search. So it's okay to craft or buy supplies that will help up, or to spend a day or two to recover from illness or injury. As long as what we're doing is to make it easier to continue our quest, we'll be fine. It's just if we stop the quest entirely. Illarion did not warn us of this, but I suppose we did agree to it. I guess we should have asked about side effects. Still, we were going to do it anyway, so it shouldn't have any real effect on us, and having that invigoration is nice. After Illarion's death, all his clothes and equipment dissolved away, leaving only his body and the spear of ice that had killed him. We searched around the camp, and collected a number of useful items and treasures. Grinner once again confirmed Izoze's accusations of greed by stealing Igmar's money and the body of the atomie. Obviously, we discovered this in the end (when we kind of tried to do the same), and he turned things over to us. It felt a bit wrong going through Igmar's belongings and taking most of them, but he had things that could aid us on our quest, and I'm sure he would have want us to have them. Right? I hope. We then carted his body back to the Lodge, where we gave him a proper farewell and cremated him. We spent the night at the lodge.

7 Arodus 4713

We returned to Heldren in the morning. The plan was to spend today selling a few things, and purchasing and crafting more supplies. We also needed to let the Council know what had happened. Councillor Teppen expressed Heldren's gratitude and wished us the best of luck. We also bade farewell to Elder Natharen. In the morning, we would head back to the portal and go through. I'll let you know how that goes. Assuming I survive, and I know now that's not guaranteed.

Love,
Izzy.