Fire and Ice 7

General Summary

8 Arodus 4713

We set out for the portal first thing in the morning and arrived at it a few hours later. There was a cold wind blowing out of it. We stod there for a short while, knowing that once we stepped through, it would transport us far away, and once we shut it down, we would not be able to come back--not this way, at any rate. I'm not sure how to describe what it was like travelling through the portal. It was over quickly, but there was a strong senation in that brief moment. Unfortunately, that sensation was literally unlike anything I've ever experienced before, so I have nothing to compare it to. Maybe I should ask the others how they would describe it. We arrived in a forest similar to where we'd just left. However, the snow on the ground was deeper--partially because we weren't on a trail, and partially because...well...there's just a lot more snow here. It was also a lot colder. Seriously, even I felt a bit chilly, and I'm literally hot (figuratively as well, I suppose; I really need better self-confidence to believe such things about myself). Snow was blowing about in a heavy wind, and we could see a heavy storm coming in from the distance. We could also see the lights of a village in the distance, but there was no way we would reach it before the storm hit us, so we decided to find some other shelter. Moving through the deep snow was tough, and it was exacerbated somewhat by Billy being reluctant to move through it, but Bronwyn successfully coaxed her onwards. Not long later, we heard sounds of a fight ahead. At the bottom of a hill, we spotted a group of people with sleds and dogs. They were under attack from a giant praying mantis! According to Cassy, such a creature is not native to these northern lands. It had probably passed through the portal. Whatever the case, the people needed help. At least, we thought they did. To be honest, I'm not sure we really helped all that much. I stayed back and shot fire at it from a distance, but the others needed to get closer. In the time it took them to get there, the people did a pretty good job of fending for themselves. I'm not saying we didn't provide any assistance at all--we very much did. I just mean, if we hadn't shown up, they probably would have still survived, though maybe with a few more injuries. Whatever the case, they were grateful for our help. Only one of them could speak Taldan though, and she was unconscious. Cassy was the only member of our group capable of speaking their language--Skald. Once Valeria healed the unconscious woman a little, she was able to talk to us. She introduced herself as Nadja, and invited us to come with them. She knew a good place nearby to shelter from the coming storm, so we agreed. She took us to an area by a frozen pond sheltered by a curving bit of cliffside. We set up camp there. Nadja and her people provided us with canvas and furs that we could use to further protect us from the cold winds. Grinner was particularly grateful as, despite his fur, he seems to be the one of us most susceptible to the cold. Nadja told us she was a food merchant and importer, and she was just returning from a trip to her home village of Waldsby, which was not much farther. It had to be the location we'd seen from the top of the hill where we'd arrived. She also asked us a bit about who we were and what we were doing in Irrisen. We were reluctant to reveal too much information, but we did admit we had come via a portal and we were looking to shut it down. In particular, we asked if she knew anything about the Pale Tower, the location the Black Rider had told us about (we did not tell her about the Rider though). She did know the Pale Tower, and was able to tell us a bit about Irrisen, the land we were now in. More specifically, we were in the Hoarwood in eastern Irrisen. The Pale Tower was the stronghold of Nazhena Vasilliovna, the White Witch who ruled this region. Nadja clearly did not like Nazhena much, and she admitted she had had many problems with the witch. Nazhena's soldiers frequently took large amounts of the food Nadja brought to Waldsby without paying for it. Instead, they considered it payment for not harrassing the people of Waldsby much. Nadja also warned us that the people of Waldsby might not like us much. They were very wary of outsiders, mainly because the White Witches don't like outsiders. If Nazhena found out we were in Waldsby, her soldiers might increase their harrassment of the villagers. This made us reluctant to go to the village, but Nadja insisted we shouldn't worry too much. If we went there with her, she could then guide us to the Pale Tower, once she dropped off her goods. The storm passed eventually, although it was still windy and snowy out. It was getting late by this point, so there was no point continuing until morning. Around this time, we saw a figure through the snow approaching the camp. Nadja soon recognised the figure, and was noticeably angry. She told us the person approaching was Mierul Adelain, a bard who travelled all around Irrisen, performing for people and spying for the White Witches. Nadja told all of us who could not speak Skald to not say a word while Mierul was there. She must not become aware we were foreigners or she would report our presence to Nazhena. Mierul was a blue-skinned woman with horns and goat legs. Cassy later told us she was something called a forlarren, a creature that was half fey and half demon, or something like that. Mierul asked to camp with us and Nadja agreed. Of course, Cassy was the only one of us who could interact with Mierul. I couldn't understand a word being said, so I sat there and tried to not draw attention to myself. We learned later from Cassy that Nadja had tried to claim we were relatives coming to stay with her for a short time in Waldsby. Apparently, Mierul did not seem convinced. However, she didn't actively question this. She sat with us at the fire, shared some food, talked a bit with Nadja and Cassy, and even performed some music for us all. To be fair, she was pretty good. I enjoyed the music. And as long as she was singing, I didn't have to worry about her trying to talk to me. Intriguingly, she never tried to talk to any of us directly, other than Cassy. In retrospect, I think this showed she knew we weren't who Nadja claimed we were. Eventually, Mierul excused herself to head to bed. She lay herself down off to the back of the camp out of everyone's way. Cassy then talked quietly with Nadja about what would happen if Mierul just disappeared. Nadja was honest that once it was discovered, there would be retribution. However, how long it took for her absence to be noticed would depend on how recently she had been to the Pale Tower. If she had been there recently, they might not expect her back for quite some time. However, if she was currently on the way there, they were probably expecting her soon. Alternatively, if we just let her go, she would definitely go straight to the Pale Tower to report our presence. Ten-Penny had already put herself in a position to strike Mierul quickly. Turned out, while Cassy had been discussing with Nadja, Ten-Penny and Grinner had been preparing to kill Mierul while she slept. Ten-Penny waited, though, to be sure we were all on board with this. Cassy conferred with Bronwyn. As soon as Bronwyn learned Mierul was half-fiend, she had no problem with us assassinating her. So Ten-Penny moved in for the kill. However, it turned out, Mierul was not asleep and was fully prepared for Ten-Penny's attack. So we ended up with a bit more of a fight than we'd expected. But we outnumbered Mierul considerably. She didn't stand much of a chance. She did sing while she fought though, which was just weird. A fear coping mechanism maybe? We needed to make certain it took as long as possible for people to notice Mierul was missing, so we couldn't risk anyone just stumbling on her body. We burned her body, and then I melted the pond. We then threw her remains into the pond. Once it froze over again, there was no chance of anyone just stumbling across her remains. Then we finally went to bed for the night.

9 Arodus 4713

In the morning, Nadja woke us all up frantically, telling us to get ourselves hidden. The white canvases were brought out again to cover us. There was a massive swarm of ravens in the distance, and according to Nadja, ravens here are spies for the White Witches. We couldn't let them spot us. We got ourselves hidden just as the ravens swooped down over our location. Unfortunately, they spotted us and attacked. We fought valiantly, but fighting literally thousands of ravens is actually pretty hard. We took a lot of them down, but a sizeable number of them survived and flew off. There was no doubt, Nazhena would soon know there were foreigners in the Hoarwood near Waldsby. Worse, Nadja and two of her people had been blinded in the fight. So had Cassy and Valeria. When those birds surround you, they claw and peck. It's not pleasant. Luckily, the blindness was not likely to be permanent, but it would require a few days to go away on its own without healing. That was going to make getting to Waldsby difficult. I'll fill you in on the rest next time.

All the best,
Izzy (and Frono)