Chapter 55 - The Way North

General Summary

The Yokels return to Sobolevo from the site of their triumph over Bayun. They relate tale of their victory, and soon, the whole village is abuzz. Gennadii Bobchinsky arrives and invites them to stay on his estate in Bobchinskoye until such a time as they are ready to leave. As a reward for dealing with with the cat problem, he tells them he is prepared to reward them handsomely, provided it is within his capabilities. The Yokels don't want for much, but discussions of further plans increasingly revolve around going to Alknost to charter a ship. Gennadii has no ship of his own, of course, but he can help defray the costs of passage, and grants each of the Yokels five more sable pelts.
The plan is to leave the next day, on the first day of the year, and head north and west. Plamen can conjure horses, and summon eagles to significantly speed travel for the first half of each day. The excited planning and celebratory mood is ruined by the disappearance of Sasha and Biggy that very evening. They vanish without a trace, and Vasilisa's attempt to track the volot founders when his heavy footprints simply end in the middle of a moss patch in the woods. Suspecting something afoot, Chonkorchuk peers into the The Otherworld, where he hears Baba Yaga's resounding voice tell him that his missing companions were being punished. There is no further explanation, but as a faithful servant of his mistress, the hermit takes the pronouncement as a given. They will have to continue without their muscle and their chronicler.
The following day, they set out, cross the Brus'nia, and continue past the cat's clearing and the fallen post deeper into the northern woods. Soon, they meet a traveler with a gusli slung across his back. He is dressed as a foreigner, but has a Norik air about him, and speaks the language fluently. His name is Sobek Werba, and he is returning from a long sojourn at the Padishah's court in the city of Al-Azraq. There, he served as a poet and diplomat, but decided to take leave of the court and to travel back north, closer to the lands of his birth, and to complete his own masterpiece. He is now traveling to Alknost, and could use the company of experienced travelers, especially now that he has left the confines of Nor' behind him, and does not speak the language of the native tribespeople in these parts.
As they converse, the Yokels tell him of their travels and mission. He is intrigued about their tales of Baba Yaga and Koschchei, though he is a bit surprised that they take them seriously, figuring always that these were nothing more than legends. Koshchei, he says, is rumored to have a stronghold somewhere in the South, though he is surprised that the tales speak of his Death being hidden in the Far North .In the course of the conversations, it also becomes clear that he has heard of Sasha, who also sojourned at the same court, and is intrigued at having found her new companions.
The following day, as the travelers settle down for the night, a large swarm of crows appears overhead. They circle above in a spiroform pattern. Chonkorchuk awakens his companions and observes them closely. Obviously, the spies of the Dread Lord are watching the passage north. He demands to know what their master wants, and the crows answer, in the Norik tongue, that the master demands to know what Yaga's agents are doing here, and that he will brook no interference with their plans. They demand the Yokels sweak allegiance to their master. Vasilisa is willing to negotiate, and tells the crows that she will keep them abreast of any of the Crone's plans and orders .But Chonkorchuk summons dark magic that makes crows fall out of the sky. There are so many that dead crows bombard the Yokels, causing some not negligible harm.
Later that night, while Plamen watches to keep the group safe, a group of hunters surround them. After he wakens the rest, Chonkorchuk converses with them in the Kuz' tongue. They say that they are people who were engaged in trade with the residents of Bobchinskoye and Sobolevo, but that they were dissatisfied with what they were offered in return - mostly weapons, which they need to fight off the selfsame Noriki. They decided that it would be easier to simply end the trade, and the appearance of the cat gave them that opportunity. For Plamen's medicines, they would be willing to trade some fish teeth, and to allow the travelers to speak to their elders. Somewhere nearby is their camp, where Vasilisa senses the presence of reindeer.

Rewards Granted

• 5 sable pelts to each of the survivors for defeating Kot Bayun

Character(s) interacted with

• Gennadii Bobchinsky
• Sobolevo and Bochinskoye residents
• Some crows - Koshchei's spies (???)
• Some Kuz' tribespeople

Report Date

01 May 2021