Wherein one changeling's quest for the truth yields unexpected results.
The band hurries back
to the granary to make sure that Rodion/Raskel and the supplies are safe. He
is, and says he is not seen the apparition. Those who have just been attacked
by her are quite drained and want a chance to recuperate. Rodion would prefer
making the granary their base, and slowly taking over the entire warren, but
Plamen objects that the warren is already home to the poleviks, and that his
companions are the ones spreading darkness and destruction. Dmitri adds that
it’s unlikely Plamenka could have killed all those people and turned them into
skeletons, considering how easily the group bested her. Rodion suggests that
they don’t know the full story, and Plamen is being blind to the fact that he
is a good son raised in a family of monsters. He futher ventures also that the
group needs to think through what it’s doing here – there is little reason to
continue putting themselves into harm’s way just to become enslaved to Baba
Yaga. Chonkorchuk is offended by this, and responds by saying they do this
voluntarily to learn ancient secrets, and to win the hand of Katarina. In any event,
there is little sense in staying here and look for a treasure trove other than
the grain, because they have searched the whole warren already, and Plamen
asserts that there is nowhere else it could be stored. His visions from his
queen have been cloudy, likely for a reason, and he needs to separate himself
from the group for a while to meditate on what to do next.
 |
| Is this the real treasure? |
Chonkorchuk departs
for his hermitage, while the rest of the group prepares to leave also. Rodion
comes up with an idea to use Plamenka’s blankets and tapestries to make more
sacks, since no one thought to bring any back. While he is busy sewing them up (and Dmitri - stuffing his quiver),
Lionia shows up, bringing one additional sack with him. He had just encountered
Chonkorchuk on the way out of the warren, and had a brief exchange with him, in
which the ascetic told the Old Fox to inform his companions of any tales of
flaming skeletons ahead of time, and to stop worrying so much about the
material world. Lionia did not see the apparition on his way to the bedchamber
and the granary, but he is concerned that the band is being pulled in different
directions, and seems to lack a plan. If people cannot continue with the search
after the previous day’s encounter and insist on leaving, they should have a
place to recuperate and store the grain without risking dying of cold, or
burying full sacks in the ground (much less taking them to the hermitage, which
has already been attacked once). He again offers his own house. Rodion accepts
gratefully, while the others, including Plamen simply accept it silently as the
most viable move in the absence of alternatives.
Before leaving, Rodion
would like to close up the granary. Thinking this should be done the same way
it was opened, he traces an outline in the entryway with Plamenka’s sickle,
while burning another section of the sash with a sigil on it (one now remains).
The outlined doorway glows green for a moment, but nothing happens. A
discussion between Rodion and Druvvaldis establishes that the characters making
up the sigil are for opening portals, and may be successfully reproduced by
someone who knows the formula for the opening spell, and acquires the necessary
ingredients for the ink to scribe it. Druvvaldis successfully reproduces the
sigil on his drum. The band then pushes the section of wall that swung outward
back into place. The entryway glows for a moment, and then the doorway once
again becomes invisible.
Exiting from the
warren is easier now after the burrowing job done by the fefila, and the group
proceeds to Lionia’s house in Medunitsa across the frozen river. The bitter
cold spell has ended, but the ice is still solid, and everyone arrives at his
house without difficulty. It is a small hut at the edge of the village, and it
does seem to have hives in the back, suggesting that the occupant does indeed
keep bees. The inside of the house is stuffed to the brim with jars, tools, and
junk of various kinds, but Lionia declines Rodion’s offer of helping him clean
the place, saying he knows exactly where everything is. He would appreciate
some help with the chores – chopping wood, carrying water, and perhaps,
catching some game in exchange for his hospitality, while he is off at church
in the morning (it being Nedelia). He finds a plucked chicken and some other
viands in his cellar, and sups on it with his guests.
 |
| Lionia's place: a house of mystery, or a just hoarder's hut? |
The next morning,
after breakfast, Dmitri takes Druvvaldis into the woods to teach him how to set
traps, while Plamen has a conversation with Lionia and Rodion about what
happens next. He reiterates that he does not believe the story about any
skeletons, as he has not seen them, and thinks it is the band, and not his
mother, which is the cause of great evil, having invaded his family’s home, and
engaged in wanton slaughter. Further, the doesn’t think there is any treasure,
as he has seen nothing other than the grain, which he thinks his family grew
themselves. Rodion and Lionia contest his take on the proceedings, and point
out to him that everyone has seen the skeletons (they were responsible for
Dmitri’s loss of his arm). The disappearance of the villagers at Crows’ Meadow,
and the fact that parts of the meadow remain unexplored need to be taken into account.
They should proceed on the basis of what is known, not fantasies, of the type
Chonkorchuk peddles. Plamen says that he wants to investigate the matter for
himself, asserting that he wants to protect the rest of the sleeping poleviks,
and that he will learn more by himself by specifically going to where the
treasure isn’t and talking to the denizens than the party will by following the
violent methods it has been using. Lionia says it is too dangerous to go there
alone. Even though he disagrees with Plamen and Chonkorchuk about their
approaches to the task at hand, he respects their abilities, and does not want
to lose them as allies in a common enterprise. But in the end, he and Rodion
realize they cannot stop Plamen from going back. Lionia demonstrably mouths a
prayer, and Plamen sets out alone.
He approaches the
warren in the same way as before, but proceeds south rather than east from his
own chamber, and works his way toward the rooms of his stepfather and
half-siblings. When he comes to a long hallway that he recognizes as leading
back to a shed in Lazarevo, he encounters four skeleton warriors, who attack
him, as he cannot flee quickly enough with his limp. The skeletons are clearly
armed with old Kochmak weapons, and wear old pieces of Kochmak armor, he notes.
Plamen draws upon the power of thunder to smash them to smithereens, but he
also wants to awaken the warren’s denizens with the noise. He manages to
survive the encounter unscathed, but is almost immediately confronted by the
livid image of Plamenka, who floats up to him, and mouths a demand that he
leave immediately. Plamen complies, and exits the warren via the long tunnel.
He sneaks out of the
shed cellar at Tsibulka Tsibulkovich’s tavern. The yard and the village are
quiet and almost entirely empty – everyone is at church. After he
surreptitiously leaves the yeard, he runs into Chonkorchuk, who had returned to
the meadow from the hermitage. After he heard the thunderous noises of battle,
the fefila directed him back to Lazarevo. The two of them now make their way
back to Medunitsa.
Lionia returns to the house from church shortly after
Plamen, claiming he feels cleansed after the service. Plamen then admits that
Lionia and the others were right about the skeletons, and tells them about
encountering the apparition again. He now doesn’t know what to think, and is
ready to return to the warren to inspect the passages in the other part of the
warren, that he was warned by his mother to stay away from, the following day.
Lionia is happy to hear that, and pushes for a new expedition, saying that the
enlarged entryway is increasing the chances that someone else will find what
they are looking for first.
