Session 3: Ice to Meet You
General Summary
Shopping in Ketterpesh
The trio awake in Ketterpesh Meadhall, having convinced (/tricked) Kuklo and the Mishkinaries to leave the village of Ketterpesh alone. Kuklo can be seen dancing along the road to Ketterpost with his puppets and the Mishkinaries leaves with the Ketterpesh mailcoach towards Ketterburg. Before leaving, the trio decide to bathe in the Banya, where they meet Pobeg the Halfling who runs the baths and the bathhouse spirit, a Bannik. Vasilly greets the bathhouse spirit with the suitable level of respect (calling him "Old Man"), and requests use of the Bannik's future telling gifts, which the Bannik reluctantly agrees to. Vasilly asks if it would make things better or worse if he went to the well in the Glittering Valley and is told that if it were anyone else asking, the answer would be a very firm making it worse, but the Bannik tells him that he and his companions specifically would have a better chance of making things better due to their history and connection with Spirits of the Old Beliefs. When Vasilly asks the Bannik if having other spirits present would increase his chances of success, the spirit grumbles that Vasilly asks a lot of questions, but agrees that it would help Vasilly's chances. Vasilly goes to pick up Bogdan's new Bed, while Bogdan goes to the Blacksmith to enhance his weapons with Cold Iron. This proves to be far out of his comfort range, but for 400 gp, Kuznetsovina coats each of their weapons (including painting Baboushka and Sergei's claws) with a coating of 10 charges of cold iron each.
Show spoiler
She uses up most of her Cold Iron supply in the process.
Fight with a Kikimora
When they got home to Vasilly's hut, the trio discovered Kiki, the Kikimora who had been stealing all their stuff, heating herself by the fire with one of Bogdan's Bunny Rabbits resting on her knees. Bogdan and Sergie are able to sneak up on her successfully, and a brief fight breaks out, during which she summons another swarm of spiders, Bogdan trips her and she falls to the floor, Vasilly strikes her with an almost-deadly blow and Sergie catches her in his teeth. They are able to intimidate the Kikimora into showing them her hidey-hole, which is in a tiny pocket dimension under the stove (the former home of Vasilly's Domovoi). They discover all the items that she had taken, alongside some extras, including the book On the Origin of Spirits and a shard of unmelting ice.Unmelting Ice
In an attempt to discover more about the unmelting ice, Vasilly, Baboushka and Bogdan try out a bunch of techniques, including an elaborate chain of questioning an ice elemental via dolphin and summoning a mite that they couldn't talk to. They discovered that the ice freezes ordinary water, but does not change its properties (the ordinary water melts when heated in a way the unmelting ice does not. A Detect Magic spell reveals an overpowering Cold aura. And it is significant that, while Kiki and Bogdan feel a sense of unease around the ice, the ice elemental did not exhibit the same level of fear. The hardness of the unmelting ice appears to be no different from any other kind of ice, and its only unusual property seems to be that it doesn't melt.A Song Bird, a Crow and an Owl
With no other leads, and a desire to heal up a bit before tackling the Samovila of the Glittering Valley, the trio call it a day. As she sleeps, Baboushka experiences visions of three birds: a song bird (representing hope), a crow (representing change) and an owl (representing wisdom). In her dream, she knows that she is being asked to pick one, with the understanding that she will not lose access to the other two choices.
Show spoiler
After some deliberating, and stalling to examine the snowy ground in her vision (which appears to be just as she imagines snow would be), Baboushka settles on the Owl, with the logic that she does not know the correct choice, and perhaps wisdom would help her uncover it. The owl flies over to rest on her arm and she wakes up to discover that Greeb, her Dweomer Cap mushroom familiar has changed colour, to reflect the greens and purples of the aurora borealis.
The choice is to determine which aspect of Baboushka's aurora patron will personally guide her.
Show spoiler
The mushroom transmits the impression of a message from Baboushka's patron: wisdom about the unmelting ice will be uncovered at the Glittering Valley.These are also the colours of Zorya Polunochnaya, the Zorya of the midnight aurora.
Report Date
23 Dec 2021
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