The party was inside or just outside a now dimly lit room. An albino Raven was talking to them and they had just identified the symbology of the carvings on the doors. Casia continued her conversation with the Raven.
"We are in search of Baba Yaga. The rider in black armor tasked us with finding Baba Yaga and returning her to Irrisen," Casia said beseechingly.
"I wondered who you were and why you were here," the Raven responded.
"Can you help us with our goal?" Casia asked.
"While you have convinced me of your intentions, you have yet to convince me of your wit. To prove your cleverness, you must find the answer to my riddle.
I mark night's coming,
I will mark your end.
I run not in fear,
I have not a friend.
"The answer to the riddle lies within the passage of night. To find the path to what you seek, drink from the silver chalice within the grotto. Go now and do not return to me unless you can prove your worth."
A dark path led away from the chamber. Jorgen moved cautiously down the hallway which then opened up into a larger chamber. Hundreds of tangled roots dangle from the raw earthen ceiling of the rough-hewn grotto, which was filled with dark, placid water. A narrow stone walkway led to a circular platform in the center of the room upon which rested a stone table set with five silver chalices. About the perimeter of the grotto, a few feet above the waterline, five deep alcoves had been dug into the grotto walls. Though shadowed by darkness, a faint glitter sparkled from deep within each alcove.
Jorgen again moved forward to the center with and found that each chalice was half-full of a dark red liquid. Around the rim of each chalice a rune was etched into the silver. Santrel moved forward with his newly useful spectacles and identified each rune. Going clockwise around the table the runes were Iobarian for mirror, apple, hourglass, key and athame. Fanara asked if anyone could detect poison and Milos stepped forward to analyze the liquid. Only the chalice corresponding to the hourglass was not poisoned.
Again Jorgen volunteered to drink the non poisoned liquid and touching the chalice caused a flash of moonlight illuminating alcove for a few seconds. This revealed an hourglass in a cage, chained and padlocked to the stone floor. Touching the other chalices similarly revealed the items specified in a similar situation.
Jorgen took a sip and found the red wine of a fine vintage, so he drank the whole amount. As he did three stepping stones emerged from the water leading to the alcove with the hourglass. As he put the chalice back on the table he noted that it was again half full. At pace Jorgen made it to the alcove and fumbled with picking the lock. Just as he did so he felt the stone beneath his feet sink into the water. Catching himself on the ledge of the alcove he felt as if the wind was knocked from his lungs and he gasped for breath. Fanara took a drink of the liquid and the stepping stones reappeared. Jorgen hurriedly crossed back to the center with the hourglass in tow.
Jorgen showed the hourglass to the Raven who cawed in delight and flew over to take the hourglass. The Raven left Jorgen with an iron amulet and then cawed out a response.
"You have taken upon yourselves a great burden, for that which you desire, the changeling holds. Know this as well - you will find the Crone only when the moon wanes."
The raven clutched the hourglass in his talons and winged off into the passage to the water chamber vanishing into the darkness. The amulet was magic and had a rune etched into its surface. Santrel came over and identified the rune as the Iobarian symbol for "gold". The magic of the amulet indicated that it was an Aegis of Recovery. Jorgen put the amulet around his neck.
"We are come looking for Baba Yaga. The rider in black armor sent us," Fanara began.
"Do you mean to help Baba Yaga return to Irrisen?"
"We are tasked with finding her. I suppose she will want to complete whatever task she has."
"Baba Yaga is not here, but you can find her, never fear. First, however, you must persuade me you possess the strength necessary to bear my knowledge. My question is a simple one:
Born twins, they live not,
Yet they wow until death.
Their fates are of'n tied.
Ever-crescent, as the moon,
Symbols of the warrior's pride.
"The answer to this question lies in the chamber beyond. Bring me the answer, and I shall give you what you seek."
"Sounds like horns," Casia surmised.
"BRING me the answer," the Raven cawed with emphasis.
Fanara and Jorgen led the way through a hallway whose walls were of the same woven tangled
knots of black, leafless trees, that dominated the first chamber. After turning a corner the group came upon another chamber. The walls were lined with gray, lifeless trees and thorny tangles of brush. In the center of the room stood a gnarled and leafless tree whose outstretched branches twisted like cruel, beastly talons.
Then disaster struck as the boar once again ripped at Jorgen savagely. Jorgen took a large amount of damage and fell to the floor of the chamber and stopped breathing. The amulet crumbled to dust as its magic healed some of the damage but it was not enough to bring Jorgen back to the land of the living. Milos rushed to Jorgen's aid but he had no ability to bring back the dead. The rest of the party continued to attack the beast and Fanara landed a major attack that downed the beast. As the rest of the party discussed what to do about Jorgen, Casia carefully removed the tusks from the Beast.
Returning to the Raven, Casia presented the tusks, but before handing them over she inquired if the Raven could return Jorgen from the dead.
"Since you are looking for Baba Yaga and have proved your metal against the Beast of Gelglast I will grant you one additional favor." the Raven replied.
Flying over to the lifeless body of Jorgen, the Raven cast a Raise Dead spell. Jorgen coughed, splattering blood, and then sat up ready to fight the Boar once more. He instead relaxed and asked what had happened. The party started to explain but the Raven at that point gave Casia another iron amulet, and took the tusks, one in each talon. Hovering over the orb he said.
"This amulet holds only one of the three clues you seek. It reveals the first ingredient for Baba Yaga's kettle. Look for this key where time catches up to us all."
He then landed on the orb and its light light winked out and the raven disappeared, but not before
he cawed one last mysterious phrase:
"Look for the Mother when the moon is full!"
Santrel again identified the amulet as magic and found a rune inscribed on it that indicated "dragon". The magic of the scroll was a Brooch of Shielding.
"Didn't you see the Queen with a dragon's scale in the hut?" Santrel asked Fanara.
"Yes, I suppose we will have to return to the hut to find it." Fanara replied.
"Now we should continue down this hallway. The Raven said there were three clues and we have only found two rooms." Casia suggested.
Following the seemingly endless hallway, the party passed the chamber of night and then came upon another doorway. The symbol carved upon the door to this chamber resembled an upward facing half- circle resting on a horizontal line. Several arrows point outward from the circle. At the center of the half- circle, a single extended arrow pointed upward. Using the spectacles Santrel identified this as the Iobarian witch symbol for dawn. Jorgen was prepared to open the door but Fanara suggested he take it a little easy for this encounter and pushed open the door herself.
Flowering vines draped the walls of the chamber. Winding, pebble-strewn pathways weaved through a magnificent garden of honeysuckle and lilac. A pale, warm light filled the room, emanating from a stone-lined pool of water in the center. The purple and orange reflection of the early morning sky glittered upon the pool's surface. The party entered the room, using the now familiar script, and watched as another black Raven flew down and settled at the edge of the pool. Fanara again spoke of the party and their search for Baba Yaga.
"Before I aid you, you must first convince me you have the resolve to fulfill your desire. To prove your mental fortitude, you must face what I, the herald of the coming day, cannot.
Each night it visits --Sometimes horror,
Sometimes wonder,
Sometimes prophet,
When dawn wakes, it flees.
"When you face this thing, you shall know its desire. In its desire, you shall find your own. Only by sharing this desire with me can I bind your fates . Once they are bound, I will be able to see your destiny."
Jorgen had found a hallway heading off of this room with a door at the end. This door was not locked nor apparently trapped, so Jorgen opened it. The small, candlelit bedroom was empty save for a plain wooden bed and a night table where a pale candle burned in an iron candleholder. The bed was perfectly made, but the sheets displayed an ominous, dark crimson stain in the middle of the bed.
The party tried to engage the woman in a discussion of how or why she was here. Fanara asked her name and she replied, Yelizaveta thirteenth daughter of Baba Yaga.
"So you are Queen Elvanna's mother?" Fanara asked.
"No, sister." Casia replied indignantly.
Sometimes Yelizaveta would answer the questions and sometimes not. Each time she answered it was clear she was becoming more enraged. It seemed that she was reluctant or unwilling to answer in general but the group found that she was a prisoner, neither dead nor alive and trapped in an eternal netherworld to repeat the same cycle of nightmares for all eternity. She her seeks freedom from Baba Yaga's binding clutches and vengeance against the Queen of Witches.
At this point she attacked with violence.
DM's Notes: The party earned 2,000 XP and now have 25,095 XP on their way to 8th level.
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