"I have healing available," Milos offered.
Fanara and Casia were busy picking up the pieces of their armor but said they needed healing, maybe more than the others!
After healing Santrel set about mending the armor and buckler of Fanara and Casia's armor. It appeared as good as new, or at least how it had appeared before. Then the two heroes took time to put the armor back on before the party headed anywhere.
At last they started up the stairway, winding around and around the hollow cylinder. Milos took off first as he would more than likely soon fall behind.
At three hundred feet up Milos began to flag and the party slowed, to allow him to continue following at a slower rate. The stairway continue circling the cylinder and Jorgen finally saw a cap around seven hundred feet above the floor level.
The party was relieved to see the outline of a door at the top of the stairs. Jorgen opened the door and peered outside. The view was similar to the top of the Maiden, he figured they were on top of the Mother now. 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 appear to grow right through them. The witch tree stood in the middle of the copse, close to the door but it seemed to pay no attention to Jorgen. The party stealthily moved out and onto the mesa's top circling wide to avoid the witch tree.
Without incident the party made it to the edge of the mesa, Fanara again cast spider climb on most of the party but Amadeo used his ring of feather fall to transport himself and Fanara to the bottom. There were few tracks around the bottom of the Mother and the party decided to return to the Maiden to pick up Erdija if she was still there waiting for them.
Erdija was at the Maiden and was glad to see the party safe and somewhat sound. Together they returned to Vurnirn and Korak's camp. This took two days of uneventful travel. At the camp the party spent a night with the centaurs who feted them with a meal and wanted to know all the details of their adventures in Artrosa. After spending the night the party headed back to Baba Yaga's hut.
On the way Santrel related to the party that he had found a ritual that may release Ratibor from his servitude to Baba Yaga. It was in the Cookbook of Arcane Augmentation. Everyone agreed that they should try it as soon as they got to the hut, no need for more loss of life. Ratibor was really an innocent bystander.
The hut was still standing in the glade where the party had left it. Approaching the building the party saw no differences and peering in the windows revealed Ratibor steadily watching the door. Fanara opened the door so they could have direct effect to Ratibor. Santrel began the ritual with no reaction from Ratibor. After an hour the ritual was complete and Amadeo made a tentative move into the hut where he was not attacked by Ratibor. At this the whole party entered and engaged Ratibor in discussion.
"I am going to go in search of my old kingdom now that I can freely leave the hut. Thank you for helping me," he said to the party and then headed out the door into the snow.
The party returned to the cauldron room and discussed their next moves.
"I would like to have some items upgraded in Vurnirn," Fanara said.
"That would certainly help," Amadeo added.
"Maybe we can sell and possibly buy some items also," Santrel added in.
The party then headed back to Vurnirn where they found artisans that could upgrade some armor and weapons. Then they went in search of shops to sell their wares and possibly buy some new items. It would take 9 days for Casia's sword to be upgraded so the party took refuge in a local inn to wait. After two days the party began to feel weaker and somewhat less dexterous, intelligent, even charismatic.
"What is happening?" Casia wondered. "Is Baba Yaga punishing us somehow? Two days of not following her path!"
"We are carrying the mantle of the Black Rider, this may be related to that," Fanara added.
"If this continues I may refuse to do anything. Damn that hag!" Casia shouted to the skies.
The next day the party felt the same and continued with their preparations. On the fourth day the party felt worse again. Casia was more furious and Fanara began praising Baba Yaga and saying she was the greatest ruler of Irrisen and other realms. Milos attempted a restoration on himself but it did not reverse the effects.
On the sixth day the group again felt worse again and they were praying for the days to go by quickly. The eighth day brought another day of feeling worse but on the ninth day Casia picked up her sword and the party returned to the hut. Again Milos attempted a restoration but it still did not reverse the effect.
"What do we do now? Should we wait to see if this goes away?" Santrel asked.
"We can wait here or we can stir the keys into the cauldron and see where it takes us." Fanara responded.
"But we have to wait and do nothing if we are not better when we get to the new place, no adventuring feeling like this." Casia demanded.
Finally the group decided to move ahead and Casia dropped the gold nugget and dragon scale into the cauldron while Fanara stirred the pot. The heroes once again experienced a sense of displacement as the hut's interior warped and shifted before their eyes, then settled into a new configuration.
The wooden walls of the hut disappeared, replaced by large windows set in delicate iron traceries that looked out in all directions over a wide, gloomy garden. Thick clouds hung unnaturally low over overgrown stands of trees, barren flower beds, and white pebble paths. The sky and distant landscape seemed peculiarly artificial, almost as if they were part of a faded and blurry watercolor painting. A large iron cauldron sat atop a round, marble-topped table surrounded by four white wooden chairs in the center of the circular room. A set of framed stained - glass doors to the south provided the only exit.
Milos tried once again to reverse the effect of the weakening, to no avail. Casia sat down in one of the chairs and refused to move. The rest of the party decided to follow her suggestion for once and everyone stayed inside and rested. About five hours later a rainstorm began and lasted for an hour. After the sky looked just the same as before although there were puddles on the pathway. Another five hours passed and the party decided to rest and memorize new spells. After the eight hour rest the party felt all the disabilities were gone and they were back to full strength. Jorgen had been granted a restoration by Milos to recover his lost level as they waited in Vurnirn.
Now the party examined the exterior landscape, to the north was a thicket of coniferous trees, to the east a stand of deciduous trees. To the west was a full grown jungle and to the southwest a piney forest. Only to the southeast could they see a tangled mass of overflowing weeds and thorny brambles. To the northwest the path led to a small building. The horizon seemed to stretch on for miles until the sky and horizon met.
Exiting the building the party found the air was fecund with nature. The smells of different tree growth all mixed into one. The white pebble path was solid and the party headed to the only know building to the northwest. It turned out to be a well-house with a working hand pump. Milos tried the pump and it moved with some difficulty but the water was brown and fetid. Continued pumping finally cleared the pipes so that clear, clean water was available.
Fanara and Santrel kept walking to the northwest but soon bumped into a solid wall. The view still seemed to go on forever but they could not move further. The wall was smooth and likely unclimbable. The flat wall continued upwards as far as the two could reach, even with the lucern hammer. Seemed like the entire ceiling and walls were one big illusion, and a pretty potent one at that.
Amadeo suggested having his owl scout the wooded areas, maybe that would give a hint of which direction to head. He pulled out the figurine and threw it on the ground with the command for the horned owl. The owl flew around and telepathically conversed with Amadeo. The northern area had an open glade inside the trees, to the east was a tilled patch of ground and several small buildings. To the southeast the brambles seemed to be mixed with bleached bones while the southwest had an area of tree stumps in the middle. To the west was a medium sized building surrounded by the jungle.
So it was off to the west where the white pebble path gave way to a path of soft and springy dirt. Towering tropical vegetation grew in profusion, and the canopy of green foliage gave the impression of a leafy ceiling overhead. Thick creepers choked the trees and taller shrubs, each straining to reach the light above. Hidden in the jungle was a gabled one story building with a double doors facing east no windows were evident on the east side of the structure. Jorgen and Fanara approached the building but did not attempt to enter.
Amadeo joined Casia but did not move close enough to attack. Another plant of the same type took a bite at Santrel and tried its tentacles on Milos and Fanara. Fanara meanwhile hit it with her hammer which did not seem to be that affective. Santrel moved back and responded with a Burning Arc which Milos followed with a prayer.
The battle was set as the party focused on the damaged plant. Meanwhile Amadeo was bit and seemingly swallowed by the first plant. It then spit him out wrapped in a tight cocoon of fibers. As Amadeo fought his way out of the cocoon the party dispatched the first plant even as it was healing up. The second stood no chance against the full fury of the party and soon collapsed in a pile of chlorophyll. Milos did a quick heal and the party was anxious to move on inside the building.
DM's Notes: The party is now at 10th level but has no idea where the hut might be.
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