Chronicles of 'Team B' - Chapter 40 - The Water of Life and the Water of Death

General Summary

Svetlana and Mira run into the chamber as the battle ends, to say that the shimmering curtain has vanished, but they are greeted with a horrible sight. The Slayers then rest the best they can in the statue cavern, hoping that the next day, or night, will bring some relief. When they awake, Malina , Misha and Agapia work together to minister to their broken bodies. Agapia attempts to remove the curse laid upon one of the statues, but this has no effect. Misha then inspects the pile of arms in the cavern where the viy emerged, and dons the bakherets, which should serve as better protection. Some shinies in the pile catch Agapia's eye, and she takes those. She then leads her companions to the chamber with the sword in the stone, which Misha has no trouble pulling out. Then they proceed to the next room, with the small waterfall and the basin with brackish water. Misha prays to God for guidance, and concludes that both the waters have an aura of residual magic - evocative and necromantic, respectively. He collects some in one of the helmets from the other room, and carries it to the statue, but this has no effect.
But God opens his eyes to another possibility. Agapia carries two Ladles which Lokan procured from the cave with the huge wolves - they are also residually magical. He uses the golden ladle to scoop up some water from the basin, and this produces a reaction, which scalds him mildly. He then fills it with the fresh water from the waterfall. This produces no dangerous side effects, but his sense tells him that the magic of the water has been activated. He drinks some, and is nearly consumed in a searing flash of light that erupts from within. Misha's companions just barely manage to revive him. The water must have some other purpose, and is dangerous to play with. Next, they decide to pour some of the fresh water from the golden ladle onto one of the statues. It smokes a bit, but produces no salutary effect.
Suddenly, Agapia has a revelation. "You're supposed to pour the Water of Death first! It makes the body whole, before it can be restored to life!" A couple of more trials that nearly kill Misha again convinces the rest of the Slayers that the girl is right. Silver ladlefuls help heal Misha's nearly broken body, and then, another silver ladleful is poured on one of the statues; it turns to flesh, and collapses onto the floor. But the flesh is intact, and the horrible grimace on its face dissolves into a beatific smile. They then pour a gold ladleful of the Water of Life onto the body, and it stretches, yawns, and rises from the floor. "How long have I been sleeping?" the man asks as he rises. The Slayers ask him who he is, and how he got there. The man introduces himself as Stavr Godinovich, a bogatyr, who apparently has a prominent wife. The bogatyrs fought the invading Kochmaki near here, and defeated them, but became boastful, and swore that they could easily defeat an army from the next world. Then, a man appeared, and challenged them. One of the bogatyrs cleft him in half, but two appeared to take his place. The more of these the bogatyrs killed, the more appeared, and after realizing that this was a battle they could not win, they ran inside this cave, and that is all he remembers. He soon discovers that he has been here for nearly hundred years, and that the Kochmaki still rule the land, and collect tribute from the Noriki princes.
Now that the two waters have proven their potency, the Slayers begin to revive their dead comrades. First, Zorina is treated with the Water of Death, and her body becomes whole. Then, she is revived with the Water of Life. Afterwards, it is Yuri's turn, and he responds to the treatment just like Stavr. As he rises, he finds that his numerous wounds have vanished. Svetlana is overjoyed, and puts her hands on him in disbelief, not certain that he is real. Then, another bogatyr, named Dunai Ivanovich, is brought back to life. The two bogatyrs immediately begin to flirt with Malina and the other women and the party. But Malina is distracted - she has realized that the magic of the ladles is being depleted. The silver ladle is now spent, having been used on Misha multiple times. The gold one is efficacious, but they fear it is nearly spent as well. And there is still one companion to revive - Lokan - though there is now no way to heal his wounds. It is disappointing that only two bogatyrs have been revived - they were hoping for more in the coming war against Grey Wolf and his minions. They wonder why the viy was guarding the two waters, and whether there is a way to reactivate the ladles. Dunai suggests that they sell them, but the Slayers figure they have much greater worth still. In any event, the bogatyrs offer to help them, as they know nothing and no one in this new world. And that is better than nothing.
The party collects the remaining treasure - a sizable horde of coins and rubles. Malina casts a spell to allow them to walk across the river of mead, and then, they slowly make their way past the pit of bones, and into the tunnel that leads to the Doomstone. There they find that Slavomir, whom they had rescued from the wolves in Vladykino, has expired - he spoke about wanting to die when they found him. But there is one portion of the Water of Life left, and they pour it upon Lokan, who, still badly hurt, struggles to his feet, as a living, breathing man. He recalls sleeping in a dark, shadowy, joyless place, but has faint memories of the woman inside the golden ring.
Finally, the entire group exits the cavern, and begin to make plans to ride to Ladeisk. But Svetlana now speaks up, asking Yuri why he is going there. Her husband answers that the prince has summoned them to fight off the wolves, but she counters that he owes the prince nothing now. He has done what he can to revive two bogatyrs, and indeed, gave his life to the effort. She is with child, and wants to part in facing death again. If he will not come with her to find a quiet place to live to raise a family, she will go herself, though she asks if anyone will accompany her. Yuri and the rest of the Slayers now have to decide which way their path leads.

Rewards Granted

• 130 pulo
• 1700 kopecks
• 43 rubles
• 7 gems (various)
• 4 shishaks (helmets)
• 2 round shields
• 1 kite shield
• 1 pantsyr (light mail)
• 1 baidana (heavy mail)
• 1 bakherets (reinforced mail)
• 1 pair mail stockings
• 1 coif
• 1 pair arm braces
• 1 pair knee braces
• 2 spears
• 1 sabre
• 1 battle axe
• 1 longsword
• 1 morning star
• 1 longsword pulled from stone

Missions/Quests Completed

• 2 bogatyrs revived
• Yuri, Zorina, Lokan brought back to life

Character(s) interacted with

• Stavr Godinovich 
• Dunai Ivanovich 

Report Date

20 Nov 2020

Primary Location

Cave of the Sleeping Bogatyrs