Chapter 41 - Firing the Forge
General Summary
The respite proves longer than expected, but during that time, Drazhan dreams of the hammer. When he wakes, he finds it shrunken down to a size he can use, and feels a bit sheepish about his earlier stubbornness. Vasilisa has the same experience with the amulet taken from the gryphons - it has now shrunk down to fit her neck.
After rousing, thoughts turn back to the forge. The stone ducts leading from the forge are filled with solid iron, but there appears to be no other egress from this line of text, and the forge room seems to be the prime candidate for finding a way further into the complex. Drazhan has the idea of using the giantess' body parts to light it, but that only leads to smoke and dripping fat. He inquires about the boar sequestered with Lumír in one of the the other letter-rooms, but Vasilisa recalls that there is actually wood stacked up in the giant's cave near the entrance. As the lines of text, and much else besides - gryphons, forges - are associated with Svarog, Sasha recalls that beech, cherry and cypress are all types of wood sacred to that divinity. Vasilisa and Drazhan return from the giant's cave with armfuls of beech. As the party prepares to light the fire, Chonkorchuk recollects that Svarog is also the Smith who works on the Alatyr Stone - an item he and Plamen have been looking for since their days back in Lazarevo.
As the logs catch fire, the flames spiral up, intertwining, and soon form into two large, twisting and flaming serpents, which spew flame and bite with fiery jaws. As they do so, the iron in the ducts begins to audible sizzle and seep away. Plamen changes up the usual strategy and summons four bears, but the serpent fire extinguishes all but one of them in short order. Unable to target the whole group, the serpents swirl, swiveling this way and that, until a particularly hot blast strikes Sasha square in the face. It is by some miracle that she is not immediately incinerated, and Vasilisa grabs her out of the flames and revives her companion before going back to dagger work. Chonkorchuk blasts away from a distance and remains unharmed, but it is Drazhan with his new hammer, which emits blasts of thunder, who is caught in the midst of the writhing serpents, and somehow, absorbs several blasts of their flames before subduing the remaining one.
The company is considerably singed by the encounter, and though the way through the ducts might be open, going through seems dangerous at present. Chonkorchuk sits down to meditate, and emerges from his reverie with two revelations - the smith's anvil made of a translucent stone is not far away, and beckons to them. As well, he sees two hands reaching for the branch with the golden apples. The one dripping with blood picks an apple, which glows with a warm, life-giving, life-restoring light.
That is, indeed, a powerful draw, so the fact that so many Powers are drawn to them is hardly a surprise. As the Yokels settle down for another rest, Sasha asks Vasilisa if the boy Filipok they saw in Yarozersk was a Chud, given that this whole complex is filled with their writing. Vasilisa, who has some knowledge of these creatures, answers in the affirmative.
Missions/Quests Completed
- Two flaming serpents defeated
- Metal in ducts next to the forge melted
Report Date
03 Oct 2020
Primary Location
Secondary Location
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