Chapter 37 - Magic and prophecy on the road to Yarozersk

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

When the day comes to an end, the Yokels examine the contents of the suspicious box more closely. Chonkorchuk, scanning them with his wandering eye, concludes that none of the contents are magical as such, but that at least some of them were created with a very powerful spell. The suspicion is that the creator is Koshchei, but there is no proof. Also strange is the fact that the metal shavings and the pearl seem to be spell components for Sasha and Chonkorchuk, but the strands of hair appear to belong to Sasha and Vasilisa, so the message is unclear. Neither woman appears to have had any hair cut from them recently.
Sashs's suspicions do not prevent her from trying the use the pearl to learn about the magical sack. She learns that the two thugs in the sack are bound to beat whoever utters the command to summon them into unconsciousness, or until they are themselves sent back into the bag by one of two ways: by either being knocked out themselves, or by a reverse command, ordering "two into the sack!". More abstract questions - such as where the two thugs are when they are not summoned, remain unanswered. Upon learning this, Chonkorchuk immediately wants to conduct an experiment, by summoning the thugs, and bending them to his will by showing them they cannot win, though the test is to be saved for later.
The following travel day is uneventful, as Vasilisa competently leads the group northward toward Lake Saiga. In the evening, while setting up camp, Plamen wanders into a thorn bush, and is set upon by two wolverines, which savagely attack him. Vasilisa tries to intimidate the beasts, but as it later turns out, they are actually the offspring of a giant wolverine that emerges from underground to protect its young. The wolverines are no match for the party, but Vasilisa's idea to harvest them for fur runs into Chonkorchuk's signature foul darkness spell, which destroys the pelts of the mother and one of the young. The third pelt is successfully harvested by Vasilisa, however. Drazhan, out hunting, misses the fight.
Having concluded the fight, Chonkorchuk peers into the future, and sees that within the next week, the party will have to face trees that are to awaken and attack them, though he is not sure whether to take this vision literally. No one tries to thwart the party during the following day's travel, so Chonkorchuk decides to test out his theory about the sack. He summons the thugs, and attempts to intimidate them, but they react the same way they did during the fight at Devil's Nose. The thugs appear to be incapable of learning, though one of them refers to the other as 'brother'. Ultimately, the test proves unsuccessful, though Chonkorchuk still has other ideas about fooling the sack, and turning it into a useful item. Before turning in, he peers into the future to see if the Yokels are fated to meet any more servitors of the Dread Lord, and learns that they are, on the morrow. The form of the servitor is unclear, though he sees a little seed - likely, an unripe grain of wheat - in the vision.
The following morning, the Yokels make it to a lake toward the second half of the day. There is a path leading in either direction, with one seeming to be more well-traveled than the other. If it leads to a settlement, or to Yarozersk specifically, is not clear, but the party decides not to proceed there, instead taking the time to fish, hunt, and work more with the sack. Soon, a boat is sighted off in the lake, and after a while, it begins to approach the travelers. Inside are two people - an older man, Ustin, and his son, Aleksei. Ustin introduces the two and asks about the travelers and their purpose. He is friendly, offers to give them some fish, and invites the party into the village for respite and trade. The villagers mostly trade in furs, but might be interested in whatever the party is bringing. Ustin also reveals that the village is owned by Gennadii Bobchinskii - Vasilisa's onetime lord. Bobchinsky owns the land, however - the village residents are free. Ultimately, the Yokels decline the invitation, and say they may see Ustin and his family later.
As the fishermen pull away from shore, Chonkorchuk scrutinizes them with his lazy eye, and notices that the father is under some sort of enchantment. Not sure what to make of this, he decides to devote the rest of the evening to further testing the sack. This time, he uses magic to disguise his voice as Vasilisa's. When she summons the thugs, they begin to beat Vasilisa, and having learned this useful bit of information, Vasilisa recites the reverse command to force them back into the sack.

Rewards Granted

• Wolverine pelt

Missions/Quests Completed

• Most of the functions of the magical sack are determined

• Wolverines defeated

Character(s) interacted with

• Ustin Nikolaevich and his son, Aleksei

Report Date

05 Oct 2019

Primary Location

Yarozersk