The Chronicles of 'Team B' - Chapter 27 - The Navii of Sitnitsa
General Summary
A stranger with a distinctly blue-green sheen to her hair has followed the Zmeebortsy from Ladeisk. She is Zalyn, and she is on a mission. Though sporting a freshly stolen overcoat, she has rarely been out in the woods, and promptly gets lost, though she finds her way to a pond which is teeming with water-devils. As she settles in the muck for the night, she addresses the denizens in the nechist' tongue. They give her leave to spend the night, if she fetches the travelers who had just passed this way, and brings them back. Fortunately, they match the description of the people she is following.
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A short ways away, the Dragonslayers waken after a tough night. They fled from the bog after the water-devils had nearly killed Yuri, and camped over a verst away, but now, their final watcher, Lokan, has gone missing. Agapia is gone, too. Alden gets down on all fours, and sniffs around. He discovers two sets of wolf-tracks, one of which certainly belongs to Lokan. Agapia's scent lingers, as well- the wolves seem to have led her away. Yuri prepares to mount up to search for the girl, over Svetlana's protestations that he seems to care more about her. After placing his betrothed in the saddle, the horse suddenly bolts, perhaps spooked by the wolf-scent. Yuri tries to hold the reins, but they break, and the horse flees, with Svetlana holding on for dear life. Yuri tries to give chase, but his damaged leg fails him. To the others' amazement, Zorina transforms into a fox, and begins to pursue the wayward horse.
Zalyn, who is now traveling in the opposite direction, sees a horse, and then a fox come running by out of the woods. Soon, Yuri himself comes limping by. Zalyn hails him, and introduces herself, telling him that her patron sent her to convince the group to meet up with Zinovii Surikov. Though Yuri is confused as to the patron's interest in the matter, and what Surikov has to do with their current mission, he allows the newcomer to accompany them after warning her not to act as a spy. Soon the horse returns, as does Zorina, and the pursuers return to their camp, along with a new companion. There, Augusta and Alden greet her as well. The nun, like Yuri, is somewhat taken aback with Zhadan's interest in Surikov, whereas Alden briefly melts down after beholding Zalyn, taking her to be an apparition from his past. Once he has been reassured, the Dragonslayers tell Zalyn their story, while she relates hers, sipping Augusta's wine.
The introductions having concluded, the group travels southeast. There is little desire to stay in Sitnitsa, which lies that way, after all the trouble in has brought them, but the road brings the party to the outskirts of the village nevertheless. While the rest of the group stays out of sight, Yuri and Zalyn go into Sitnitsa to investigate. Strangely, the place seems abandoned - even the dogs have gone. Yuri inspects the house of their erstwhile hosts, and finds that the whole family, other than those that traveled to Ladeisk, have been slaughtered - their throats have been cut. Some have axes buried in their skulls. While Zalyn takes the opportunity to relieve some of the corpses of their overcoats and boots, Yuri inspects several other houses, which present a similar picture - no one, it seems, has been left alive. Following a hunch, Yuri inspects the house of Cherniava the Witch, but she is not there. He and Zalyn do discover Terentii there, and question him about her whereabouts, as well as the whereabouts of Agapia. The rat-man says he knows nothing, aside from the fact that a wolf came to the camp, and told Lokan to follow her, and to take Agapia along. Scared, he hid, and then made his way to the village to seek out his older mistress, but found everyone else already killed. Seeing nothing obviously false about the story, Yuri has no objections to him changing back into a rat, and scampering onto Zalyn.
As the leave the village, they see a crowd of people shambling after them. They are the villagers, apparently risen again, as navii. There are over a hundred, so Yuri and Zalyn flee, to warn their companions. The Dragonslayers move deeper into the woods, where Augusta calls upon the Lord to build a tabernacle to shelter them from those who now walk the earth without His Grace. Yuri mounts Zorina's horse, and, once the navii begin to arrive, he begins to taunt them, to lead them away from the tabernacle. Most scamper onto the dome, seeking a way in, but some do follow him into the woods. He repeats the procedure once more, hoping to lead them far enough away to allow his companions to peacefully spend the night. But enough remain to create a sense of dread among the rest. Augusta considers driving them away with the Redeemer's Rebuke, but after the previous night's debacle, she thinks better of it - it is likely to affect her own companions, including the newest one - Zalyn. Nevertheless, anxiety wins out, while Yuri is engaged in his deceptive maneuvers. Zalyn scampers out of the dome, avoiding most of the clawed hands trying to grab her. She then summons forth a blast of thunder to cleanse the top of the dome, but initially, this only provokes the navii, though some peel off to give chase to Zalyn. Zorina then emerges, and begins trying to pick off the ones that have moved with her arrows. Alden, too, climbs out, and begins moving the remaining nezhit' with his scythe. Knowing there is no way back into the tabernacle after they have left, Augusta takes a chance, and rebukes the navii, causing many of them to turn to dust. Zalyn, who did manage to blast a good number of them before Augusta presented her crucifix, turns to flee, but the returning Yuri rides down the few dead men that remain.Missions/Quests Completed
- The navii of Sitnitsa are destroyed or led into the woods
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
02 Aug 2019
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