Korak Kaag's Camp

With no other choice the party decided to head to the northeast.  Casia was encouraged to leave the hut even though she was still concerned about returning.

The small clearing was surrounded by tall trees and soon the party found themselves within the confines of many of those trees.  As they moved further in the woods became more dense, comprised of tall trees with long needle-like leaves clustered into spiral arrangements. High above, their branches locked together, blotting out the sunlight. Below the canopy, the tree branches were thin, losing their foliage from lack of sunlight, and jutted out from the vast maze of peeling trunks like skeletal arms. A blanket of fallen needles covered the ground. Locked in the gloom and cold, the forest floor seemed nearly barren, except for patches of lichen and moss that cling to the rocky soil and the lower trunks of the towering trees.

As the party continued under the canopy of trees they stopped as two centaurs moved out from the forest. With longswords sheathed, one of the centaurs raised a hand and said something in a language that Jorgen thought was Iobarian.  Hearing no reply the centaur switched to Elven,

"Hail travelers! What is your business here in the Hoofwood?"

The party explained their mission, that they were from Taldor probably far to the south, and how they found and apparently took the hut. The centaurs relaxed slightly.

"Are you agents of the witch Baba Yaga?" 

"We were tasked by the Black Rider to find Baba Yaga's hut. Then we are to find her."  Casia said.

The party then explained the devious plan of Queen Elvanna of Irrisen to cover the whole world with winter.  We were told that bringing Baba Yaga back to Irrisen was the only way to stop Queen Elvanna.  

The scouts knew little about Artrosa or Baba Yaga, but they offered to take the heroes to meet their chieftain, Korak Kaag, who might be able to answer their questions.  The party agreed and the two more centaurs appeared behind the party and the whole began to trek to the northeast.

Ahead in the distance, a thin plume of smoke drifted above the trees. Soon enough, a large clearing containing a sizable encampment appeared through the trees. Broad, circular tenthuts made from hides stretched over wooden frames formed a crescent around a large campfire. The muddy ground was churned with numerous hoofprints.  Throughout the camp, centaurs milled about, performing mundane tasks such as carrying firewood, filling water buckets, or roasting spitted pheasants over a pit of glowing coals. Once the heroes enter the camp, these activities stopped as the centaurs shifted their attention to the outsiders. Few of them have ever seen a human, and the group's presence is enough to make centaur children gawk.

The Rashalka scouts immediately escort the group to the tent of their clan chieftain. This tent is much larger and of finer construction than the others, and stood in the middle of the crescent of tents, facing the communal fire. No guards stand outside the tent, but the escort waited just outside as the heroes are ushered in to meet the chieftain.

Korak Kaag was a powerful centaur with broad shoulders, a full beard and long mustaches, and a dark bay coat. He greets the heroes, offers them seating and started to interrogate them as to their loyalties and reason for trespassing in centaur tribal lands.

The group again recounted their tale, adding the battle with the Frost Giants, which impressed Korak.  He seemed to imply that the Giants were an enemy of the centaurs. He had no love of Baba Yaga but hearing of Queen Elvanna's plot he seemed willing to aid the heroes. 

The Rashalka were one of the tribes of centaurs in Iobaria. They live in the Hoofwood a dense boreal forest composed almost entirely of deciduous conifers.  To the east is the Deeprun Crevasse. Over 30 miles wide in places, the Deeprun Crevasse was a jagged gash torn into the face of the earth. Flanked on either side by treacherous cliffs , the Myrfrus River, also called the Deeprun, crashes through the crevasse floor, winding around a rocky, nearly barren wasteland filled with small crags, snowdrifts, and jagged blocks of ice washed south from upstream. 

The northern stretch of the crevasse hosted thick, almost glacial ice on either side of the river. There, hoarfrost coated much of surrounding area and huge snow drifts pile along the base of the cliff walls, some over 50 feet deep.

Farther south, rocky uplifts formed a series of plateaus that bisect the Deeprun's channel, creating majestic waterfalls. The mesas of Artrosa remain the largest of these formations and partition the southern parts of the Crevasse from the upper crevasse. The area is named after its most prominent
feature, the 3 mile-tall stone statues carved into the precipitous face of its highest mesas.

He didn't know much about Artrosa, as his people avoid the ancient site, but he gave the group a description of the three giant figures, and related the legend that they contain dungeons deep inside them. He also warned them of the will- o'-wisps that lair around the three mesas. While Korak Kaag doesn't know any more details personally, he was aware of stories that claim the door to Artrosa's dungeons lies at the top of one of the carvings' heads. According to these tales, the entrance is somehow tied to the phases of the moon, and is protected by a powerful guardian. The centaur chieftain knew nothing else about the ancient carvings.

Korak offered the heroes the hospitality of a tent in his camp for the night before they headed out.  He also would ponder on sending a centaur with them as a scout. The group was fed and offered a large tent.  The group set a watch which in the middle of the night noted three horrible creatures trying to sneak to their tent. The burly, primitive-looking creatures had an ape-like upper body, demonic horns, cloven hooves, and skin the color of a snow-buried corpse.Using powerful charges two of the Demons headed to the tent, the third grew to a large size.  The party tried to empty the tent, at disadvantage.  Milos clambered under the tent edge.

The creatures continued the attacks with slams and bits, along with an occasional breath of cold. The party tried to arouse the centaurs but no help came.  The group reorganized and finally downed the Demon Andrazku.  No magic was on the bodies, which they left in the snow and went back to sleep.

In the morning the party was directed to the Chief's tent.  When they arrived there was another centaur with Korak.

"I hope you night was fine," Korak stated with a twinkle in his eye.

"Did you know about the demons that attacked us last night?" Fanara inquired.

"I didn't know there would be any attack, but I had directed the others not to help you in case of any encounter.  I just wanted to see you in action myself!"

"That is not too friendly."

"We Voaldyn centaurs are always wary of strangers.  The Tsolniva clan likes to try and trick us from time to time.  We are always on alert, so we wanted to see if you could manage a test."

"Thank you very much," Fanara said snidely.

The new centaur was introduced as Erdija, a young centaur with wild brown hair and a chestnut coat. She would accompany and lead the group through the Deeprun Crevasse to Artrosa.  She was noted to be an able scout and fighter, quite disciplined and efficient and knew the Hoofwood and the southern end of the Crevasse well. The party was glad to learn of her help.  They asked about a town or city where they might trade goods and weapons.  The nearest was Vurnirn a large town on the Myrfrus River at the edge of the Hoofwood and the Crevasse. Erdija would lead them to the town before heading to Artrosa.

The group headed to Vurnirn, sold some equipment and bought items of interest that could be found.  Then they headed to the Crevasse and Artrosa.  After traveling for the rest of the day, the party bedded down.  Around the fire the party told of their adventures in Irrisen and their homeland of Taldor.  Erdija listened with rapt attention and then told of her own, limited, adventures.  In the morning the group once again headed north toward Artrosa. 

Before midday, Jorgen spied in the distance a warrior mounted on a mighty, white-furred great elk.  The warrior was a skeletal humanoid with icy blue antlers wielding a blue tinged weapon and wearing blue tinged armor.

"Stop immediately.  Who are you puny creatures and what business have you here?" the creature shouted in many languages.

When the party did not answer, or even react quickly, the warrior began casting a spell and an ice storm erupted over most of the party.  The group spread out trying to get out of the snow and ice, where it was hard to move and see.  The warrior charged into the group, attacked and rode on by Amadeo and others who had no attempt to react back.  The party began to move in the opposite direction. Fanara cast enlarge person on Casia and identified the enemy as a Cold Rider. The Rider was a fey creature so he suggested Cold Iron weapons. 

The battle continued with bolts and arrows flying from the party. Santrel cast a magic trick fireball at the creature which did extra damage.  The Rider continued to charge and attack with his ride-by attack and Spirited Charge but finally another fireball from Santrel dropped the creatures.  As the party healed and began to check out the body, the Glaive and Armor had begun to melt and the Rider had no other magical items.

The party then headed north to Artrosa, arriving in the late afternoon. Wispy clouds raced across the gleaming blue sky overhead, but the floor of the crevasse lay in shadow, the sunlight blotted out by the massive cliffs on either side. Gray grasses and scraggly trees poked through drifts of ice and snow, weaving their way through black boulders that lie at the base of the towering cliffs. Carved into the face of these cliffs, several miles apart, stood three impossible sculptures that each rose over half a mile in height. Each carving depicted a naked humanoid woman holding forth a warning hand. The first resembled a young maiden with flowing hair, the second depicted a pregnant matron, and the third a stooped and withered crone.

Recalling that the moon was in a waxing gibbous phase the group headed to the Maiden mesa. When they arrived they began a circumnavigation of the mesa looking for a door or entry into the tower.  No doors, secret or otherwise, were seen.  They did uncover tracks and various other signs that indicated both frost giants and centaurs had recently passed through this area, as well as the presence of an inordinate number of humanoid bones of varying ages in the area.  There was no path up the side of the mesa nor was it evident that the tracks of giants and centaurs had headed up the mesa although in one place the tracks approached and ended without retreating.

The group decided to wait until moonrise to determine if there was another way into the mesa under moonlight.  Climbing the tower seemed very daunting even with ropes, pitons and limited magic spells. And Fanara also reminded the party that there were Will-o'-Wisp on the mesa.  When the moon rose the party did not find any difference in the appearance of the tower, apparently the moon did not make a difference.  The party then decided to retire for the night.

At sunrise, after the seance and spell memorization, Fanara suggested that they use the Wand of Spider Climb to scale the mesa. The Spider Climb spell would allow each party member to climb to the top of the mesa, and more, given the possibility of a fight with Will-o'-Wisp along the way.

"We only have 14 charges so I don't know what to do if we need to climb the Mother and Crone mesas also," Fanara warned.

Erdija said she would stay at the bottom of the mesa and wait for the party's return. Each party member had Spider Climb cast on them and they began the climb to the top.  About two thirds of the way up they saw a line of lights to the east.  As Milos moved to investigate, he was attacked by a Will-o'-Wisp.

A battle then began with four Will-o'-Wisp, eventually.  Santrel cast Glitterdust on the first two and then another later.  This kept the enemy from using its natural invisibility.  While the party was easily harmed by the Will-o'-Wisp, they eventually were able to overcome the enemy. The climb to the top of the mesa was easy from that point and the party climbed over the edge and walked on the flat surface once again.

Vertiginous cliffs surrounded the mesa top on all sides, though a rock wall backing the top of the figure's head rose above the plateau, creating some cover from the cold winds blowing across the mesa. From every direction the view was dizzying, offering a clear panorama of miles and miles of Iobarian wilderness. A small copse of bare, weathered trees stood in the shelter of the rock wall, their knotted roots clung desperately to the cold, hard stone. Dozens of bones littered the ground before the grove, some so ancient that the trees' roots appeared to grow right through them. Behind the trees, a shadowy
arched opening in the wall led deep inside the rock. The gutted carcass of a centaur was hanging from one of the trees.

In the middle of the copse, nearly 18 feet tall, stood a tree appearing similar to a willow tree with a trunk in the shape of a woman seemingly grown to resemble the maiden. As Jorgen approached the grove a voice boomed from the largest tree.

"All who seek to enter Artrosa must first present me with a sacrifice."

"What kind of sacrifice do you need?" Jorgen asked.

The willow tree pointed to the gutted centaur in the tree as an example of the type of sacrifice she desired, but explained that the hero's sacrifice needn't be as extravagant as such a gift of one of their own kind.

"You must prove your worth to pass inside. Offer me something warm, living, and bloody, or I will take a sacrifice myself - one of my choosing. I have stood here for centuries and claimed many sacrifices. Their bones are a testament to their foolishness in thinking they could win their way past me."

The heroes tried to think of a way to get an animal but there did not appear to be any on the top of the mesa.  Of course Erdija was below, but she was not an option.  Fanara and Casia began to bring up the subject of Baba Yaga and the party's quest on her behalf.  During this Casia noted that the tree was hiding something, that perhaps a sacrifice was not the only way to get past the guardian.

Fanara identified the tree as a witch tree but nothing additional.  Continuing with the discussion and the type of sacrifice and the party's association with Baba Yaga warmed the tree so that it reluctantly revealed that they could also prove their worth by answering a riddle. Once the party agreed the witch tree grinned wickedly. She explained that if they answer her riddle correctly, she will allow them to
pass. If they fail, however, she will take her sacrifice.

Midnight, Morning, Bright Sun -- 
Spoke thee with but one.
Accursed now you be,
For he befell the wrath
Of two times seven.
Oh tell me, who is he?

Fanara immediately interpreted the first line as the Three Riders, White, Black and Red.  The party had only talked to the Black Rider and maybe now they were accursed.  But what to make of the two times seven she was not sure.  But Santrel was sure of the last line.

"Illarion Matveius," he shouted triumphantly.

"Yes that is correct," the witch tree said with obvious disappointment. "You may pass."

The heroes walked with suspicion past the tree and into the doorway beyond.

DM's Notes: The party is now at 8th level with 34,162 XP.