Chapter 25– Walls of Bone and Flaming Skulls

Wherein some of the heroes negotiate the River of Fire, while others get burned...

The forest master demands a toll

Chonkorchuk returns from his search for the bridge to the sounds of his companions looking for trees to chop down. Though he did not find what he was looking for, his journey was eventful. An hour away, along the River of Fire and on the edge of the woods, he encountered a curious hairy man with small horns, wearing his clothes backwards, and bast shoes on the wrong feet. The man demanded tribute for trespassing through his woods, and would not countenance Chonkorchuk’s claim to be working for Baba Yaga, so the hermit decided it would be best to turn invisible and to make himself scarce. Along the way back to where he left his companions, he saw what appeared to be a storm drifting along the edge of the River of Fire. Divining the storm to be an intelligence of some sort, Chonkorchuk went deeper into the woods.

At the riverbank, his companions try to decide on a course of action after the Knights took away Plamen and Khurshid, and severed the rope across the River of Fire to prevent them from being followed. Raskel, who led the effort to build that bridge, is at a bit of a loss: his spellbook, and his casting ring have both been taken by the knights, and his abilities without them are limited. He can still summon Kutkh, and toys with the idea of having the raven fly him in fox form across the ravine, but then decides the plan is too risky, and initiates a plan to chop down a tall tree so that the party can somehow get it to stretch across the canyon. Unfortunately, no one has an axe. Across the river, he sees a large storm cloud, or whirlwind, moving quickly in their direction, and bids his companions to take cover deeper in the woods. That is when Chonkorchuk invisibly comes up behind them.

Chonkorchuk does have an axe – two, actually, one being a battleaxe he stole from the Knights. But there is no way to drag a huge tree to the ravine. Instead, Raskel has Kutkh carry Chonkorchuk’s fefila – much lighter than his fox form – across the ravine, and then has her fetch the severed ropes that dangle down into the chasm. The fefila proves surprisingly adept at tying knots, and after checking and rechecking the rigging, and refashioning the harnesses, the entire rest of the party, along with Katarina and Vasya, cross to the other side. The black rider passes somewhere nearby soon thereafter, and darkness descends, so the party breaks camp, deciding to leave off the search for their companions until the return of the light.

* * *

The darkness falls on the Knights and their prisoners at roughly the same time. They have not gotten far from the River of Fire, and also have no desire to travel through Baba Yaga’s realm in darkness. On top of that, Khushid, who is exhausted after his transformation, is useless to them until he rests up. They set up their camp, and release their mounts into the woods. Inside the prisoner’s tent, and under the watchful eyes of Hans and Franz, who do not speak the Noriki tongue, Khurshid and Plamen exchange words after the southerner’s nightly prayers. He informs his companion that he cannot perform the transformation until he has regained his strength, and therefore, does not intend an immediate escape. Plamen, for his part, tells Khurshid that he also can transform into an animal, but has kept this ability secret for the time being.

The following morning, the Knights break camp, load their prisoners onto one of the horses, and set off in search of Baba Yaga. Along the way, Plamen converses with a raven who is Kutkh, sent by Raskel to find his companions. Plamen informs the bird about the direction they are traveling in, but Father Sigismund grows suspicious, and Plamen is forced to break off, while Kutkh flies back with news for her master.

Baba Yaga seems to have a metal aesthetic

Surprisingly, they are rewarded after less than half a day’s travel. In a clearing in the woods, they discover a large roughly circular wall built of bones, with a padlocked gate made of femurs and tibias. Bone posts along the wall are crowned with skulls. Father Sigismund and Andreas inform their captives that it is time for them to do their job, and to find a way to enter the compound. They recommend that Khurshid perform his transformation trick again, but the Rakhman says that he cannot do so again until tomorrow. After toying with the idea of smashing the gate, he and Plamen decide to circle the compound under the cover of an obscurement the healer conjures up by burning some leaves. While they do so, the Knights keep an eye on them as best they can from under cover of the forest. Initially, all goes according to plan, but Khursid steps on a branch, and the skulls awake, and float up from their perches. One hovers over its post, and launches a fireball out of its mouth before the two prisoners are able to take cover. The fireball strikes Plamen directly, devouring his bearskin cover, scorching his skin, and sending him into shock. His companion is a bit luckier – he is blown over by the blazing heat of the ball, has his hair singed and his skin covered with soot, but he manages to keep hold of his senses, and drags Plamen back into the woods before the skull can pursue them, or other skulls arrive on the scene.

Unexpectedly, Father Sigismund and the knights turn out to possess healing abilities, and between three of them, they are able to restore their prisoners and stop their skin from breaking out in terrible blisters. The price of their aid – Plamen and Khushid must return to circling the compound to look for another way in. Plamen calls on his obscurement again, and the two continue to circle the wall of bone, hoping that their magical veil offers them better protection this time around.

Chapter 24 - The River of Fire

Wherein the party temporarily makes common cause with the Knights...

Chonkorchuk attempts to shroud the Knights in darkness, then turns himself invisible, and sends the fefila into their camp to try to free the prisoners. Raskel attempts to put them to sleep. Both efforts to stop them fail. One of the knights draws a radiant sword that effectively dispels the darkness, and Raskel's sleep spell fails to slow them. One of the knights compels Raskel to abandon any plans to escape, and their leader Andreas runs him down. The fox-man tries to distract him with questions about why he is in the Otherworld, and claims of allegiance to their faith, but Andreas is unperturbed, and bind Raskel, before forcing the prisoner to walk back to their camp.

Chonkorchuk has somewhat better luck. He has trouble getting away from the knights on account of the complete darkness of the Otherworldly night, and falls prey to the trees' craggy roots on several occasions. Still, he is invisible, and the two knights have trouble finding him and striking him down. He manages to get away, and enters the camp. There, the fefila has already sneaked into the prisoner’s tent unseen, though Father Sigismund detected it, and tried to compel it to depart. The fefila resisted his efforts, and hid underneath a rug. Meanwhile, Chonkorchuk finds his way into one of the empty tents, where he lifts a battleaxe, a fur cloak, as well as the Hat of Disguise and the Pipes of Fear the knights had taken from their prisoners earlier.

The other two knights, Hubertus and Dietlieb, return empty-handed. Sigismund is upset, but thinks Chonkorchuk can be made to cooperate. Andreas threatens to torture or kill the captives unless the missing party member submits. Sigismund calls him out in a booming voice, but Chonkorchuk convinces the Knights he can help them reach their destination if they leave him free. The stress of the fight has made his memories of his earlier sojourn with Baba Yaga return. He remembers that the River of Fire, beyond which her realm lies, is within two days travel, and he offers to lead them there.

The Knights allow Chonkorchuk to depart, and set up for the rest of the night, making sure they keep the rest of the prisoners under control. They finish interrogating Khurshid, whom they have been keeping  in a separate tent tent. They have found that he has facility with horses, and tell him they can use his skills to tend to Baba Yaga’s herd, so as to win a magical horse by performing this service for her.

The following day, the Knights call forth their horses, load their prisoners on them, and break camp. After traveling for only half a day in the direction indicated by Chonkorchuk, they find the River of Fire. It is 100 feet wide, and 300 feet deep, with liquid fire flowing at the bottom of the ravine. Chonkorchuk recalls there being a rickety wooden bridge here somewhere, though none is to be seen here. He also recalls a fire-breathing serpent living in the ravine. He then goes off in search of the bridge.

The Young Falcon flies across the River of Fire

After he departs, the Knights order the prisoners to find a way to cross the river. Kurshid admits that he can transform into a hawk, and does so. The Knights send him across the ravine with a rope. He changes back, and ties the rope to a small tree on the other side. The Knights’ archers shoot a bolt with another rope attached to the other side, and Khurshid fastens it to another tree. The effort of transformation has left him exhausted, and doubts arise about the quality of his rope work.

Raskel takes over the planning. He has Khurshid retie the second rope below the first, and then has the archers shoot over most of the rest of the rope, to create a thicker bottom rung for people to walk across. He then has Khurshid recheck the ropes on his side, and the Knights tighten those on their side. Finally, the moment to test the bridge arrives. Plamen and Katarina are the lightest, but ultimately, Plamen is chosen to make the first crossing. Raskel designs a harness for him to fasten him to both the top and the bottom ropes in case he slips or one of the ropes snaps. The half-polevik succeeds in getting to the other side, and helps Khurshid to tighten the knots again. Then it’s the turn of the heavily armored Knights. The archers are sent first. Hans watches one of the bottom ropes snap, but it is then shot back across and retied. He also slips, but the harnesses keep him attached. After Hans, Franz, Sigismund, Andreas, Hubertus, and Dietlieb all make it across successfully. At this point, Andreas decides that they have the two prisoners they need, and severs the ropes from their side of the ravine. The Knights then summon their steeds, and walk into the woods, leaving the rest of the party stranded on the other side of the River of Fire.

Chapter 23– The Knights of Ritterheim

Wherein more of the companions are taken captive, but one old comrade reemerges...

Chonkorchuk awakens as a familiar set of tiny claws sinks into his shoulder. Two armored men are in the processes of binding Druvvaldis with ropes. A man in dark robes, with a wide-brimmed hat appears to be directing them, though incongruously, no sound of any kind is coming from them. Chonkorchuk wakes the snoring Vasya – it’s not clear who was supposed to be on watch, but one of the armored men easily strikes him down with his sword – a flash of light erupts from it as he does. Chonkorchuk is left alone against three, and decides to make an invisible getaway. He leaves tracks through the snowy forest floor, but the men do not appear to follow him. As he now seems safe, Chonkorchuk reflects on what has happened. The armored men bore the same devices on their shields that he had seen in his earlier vision. The hermit settles down to rest up after an eventful night, and leaves the faithful fefila to keep watch.

* * *

Father Sigismund

At the knights’ camp, the raiding party shows up with two more prisoners – Druvvaldis and Vasya. They put them in the prisoner’s tent, where Katarina and Plamen are already being held. Plamen was captured several days ago and interrogated by the man in the wide-brimmed hat, who had his knightly companions deliver blows with mailed fists and the pommel of their swords, to show that they mean business. Primarily, they want to know what the party’s business in the Otherworld is, how many allies they have, and whether they know the way to Baba Yaga’s abode. They are also interested in Plamen’s specific powers – whether he can perform magic, fly, transform into other beings, and so on. Plamen lets on only that he is a healer and a tender of animals, and that as a half-polevik, he has some facility to affect fires. Otherwise, he tells the knights nothing they don’t appear to already know. When not being interrogated, he is watched closely by the knights’ two servitors – Hans and Franz – who are generally quite vigilant, and point their crossbows at the prisoners at all times. That night, they do nod off, and Plamen tries to free himself from his bonds, and roll out of the tent. But the bonds are too strong, and the tent is well moored to the ground, so Plamen misses his opportunity. He does learn, during the period of his captivity, that aside from Hans and Franz, there are three heavily armored knights, and an unarmed advisor called Father Sigismund, who leads most of the interrogations. Sigismund, along the knights, speak the Noriki language, though Hans and Franz do not appear to. Sigismund and Andreas, the knight’s leader, appear to treat each other as equals, while all the others seem to be in a subordinate position. There are also three horses about – they were used to carry the bound prisoners through the woods – but they did not accompany the group while they were on the lake, and do not appear to be about presently.

* * *

Later that morning, Chonkorchuk is awakened by the fefila again, warning him of another intruder. The intruder turns out to be none other than Raskel-Rodion. He had spent the winter in the woods north of Medunitsa – strange, because Chonkorchuk and his companions have only spent a few days in the Otherworld. After learning of Lionia’s escape, the takeover of his house by Yelizarov’s people, and the destruction of Chonkorchuk’s hermitage, Raskel hid his share of the treasure and wintered in fox form, but as spring arrived, he began to search for his old companions, who had disappeared without a trace. That is when he ran into Baba Yaga, who chided him for stealing her treasure (though she made no attempt to recover it), and for abandoning his companions. She conducted him to the portal, and ever since he emerged from the shrine with the standing stones, he had been following, first, his own companions, and then, the Knights after they had captured them, in fox form. After Raskel finishes reciting his tale, both send their creature companions to search out the knights’ camp, while the two of them try to hunt down some food.

Toward evening, the fefila, whose search is more successful, returns with intelligence. It reports on the number of captors and tents (three), and the horse tracks near the camp. It also discovers some sort of magically charged circle almost imperceptibly laid out in white pebbles and crumbs around the snowy encampment. Rodion, who has studied such things before, surmises that it releases radiant energy if someone attempts to cross the circle. The fefila also reports that the man in the wide-brimmed hat does cross it on occasion to fulfill his natural needs. Rodion and Raskel debate whether they should capture him, or use one of their captured hares to trigger the protective circle, and then invade the camp, and free their companions. They decide in favor of the second option, because they can’t see clear to what use capturing the wide-brimmed hat man (who Chonkorchuk says is a warlock) will bring them.

Andreas von Drachenberg - leader of the Knights

That evening, the knights awaken late (after their raid last knight), and begin the process of attending to the day’s business, and to interrogating the captives again. Plamen decides to put on a demonstration of his powers, and is taken outside the camp to create (and then magically extinguish) a flaming sphere. Sigismund appears to be impressed by the demonstration, and Plamen is not beaten that night. Signs of the fire are later detectable to Rodion and Chonkorchuk, as they move in on the camp, using Rodion’s mystical lights as illumination. They position themselves about 100 feet away. The wide-brimmed hat man briefly emerges, but does not come close to the hidden ambushers, and returns to the camp. Rodion then summons an unseen servant, and makes it trigger the circle of protection. The three knights soon emerge, and converge on the spot where Rodion and Chonkorchuk are hiding.

Chapter 22 – The Accursed Forest

Wherein the Otherworld begins to reveal its dangers...

Shortly after arrival at water’s edge, the sounds of hoofbeats are heard nearby, and darkness quickly covers land and lake. It is likely the Black Rider, and Chonkorchuk, along with Druvvaldis, go off to investigate – perhaps this rider also dropped a valuable item. It is too dark to find anything, however, and after Chonkorchuk takes a few tumbles in the darkness before their arcane senses reveal nothing as well. But when the hermit and the traveler return to the water, they find the rest of their companions – Vasya, Katarina, Plamen and Khurshid – gone. Druvvaldis calls forth a luminous beetle, and helps his companion search for tracks. Curiously, Chonkorchuk finds about a half dozen prints of mailed feet heading along the water’s edge, and several sets of horse tracks as well. He and Druvvaldis follow them to the place where they earlier sighted a dugout – their dugout. However, the boat is gone, and the tracks disappear near it.

The vasilisk - the first deadly denizen of the Otherworld

Fearing to continue their search in pitch-blackness for an apparently strong, armed group, the two companions set up shelter for the night. During the night, while Druvvaldis keeps watch, a strange creature wanders into the area lit by the beetle. It appears as a black rooster with red eyes and a long, serpentine tail, and the shaman recognizes it as a vasilisk – born of a rooster egg, and capable of turning its victims to stone with the peck of its beak. He makes a move to wake his companion, but the creature immediately flaps at him and attacks. As he attempts to hold it back with his scythe, the roused Chonkorchuk blasts it with magical energy. The heavy weapon is difficult to maneuver, and Druvvaldis is left at the mercy of the foul monster’s beak, but as luck should have it, it trips on a crag, and soon Chonkorchuk finishes it off before it does any harm to anyone. The hermit attempts to cook it, but soon sees that the creature is dripping black liquid, and is unwholesome. The pair is left undisturbed for the rest of the night, though without adequate heat, Druvvaldis catches a cold.

After it gets light, the pair resumes the search for their companions. Druvvaldis transforms the beetle into a fish, and it swims around the place from which the boat was taken, but finds nothing. He then changes it into a raven, and bids it fly to the island where the group discovered Khurshid, and search there. In several hours, the raven returns, having seen nothing. Druvvaldis then sends it along the lake in the direction they were moving the previous night, and a ways down the shore, the raven discovers the empty dugout. The two men follow the bird, and begin to search around once they locate the boat.

A Knightly device

Along the way, Chonkorchuk discusses the visions he has seen about their predicament with his friend. He beheld Druvvaldis as a younger man, lying in fear near a burning building, as well as a white horse’s head. The memories are painful to recount, but Druvvaldis tells of the invasion of his home island by the Knights of Ritterheim, who display such a head as their device. Of them, he says only that they seek to bring the whole world under the sway of their faith, and kill all who do not submit. He is not sure what they are doing in the Otherworld.

After finding a trinket likely dropped by Plamen, they follow the tracks of the group of armored people and their mounts into the woods, and camp nearby. Before that night is done, they are awakened by Vasya. He says that he and the others were taken by a group of armed men, whom he describes in less flattering terms than those he reserves for Chonkorchuk. He is not sure what device they have, aside from the fact that it is some kind of animal – maybe a duck. He does know where their camp is. As for their purpose, he says they seek the flaming river, beyond which Baba Yaga’s realm lies. The people who captured them seek knowledge about how to find this river, which Vasya claims to possess. Apparently, they want to cross in order to contract the crone to pasture her mares, in exchange for getting some of them for their service. But now Vasya has escaped, found the two of them, and is now prepared to lead them back to rescue their companions. With the help of the fefila and the raven, the group discovers an encampment at the end of the following day, and settles to make a plan of attack.

Chapter 21 - The Enchanted Forest

Wherein the Otherworld begins to yield its gifts...

Having packed the bear meat onto Druvvaldis’ mule, the five unlikely trekkers through the Otherworld finally depart from the temple. The recently freed Vasya, as the person who has spent the most time here, is put in charge of leading the group through the dense woods. It is difficult progress – the tree roots are craggy, and the absence of heavenly bodies makes traveling in one direction difficult, so the bear-man does the best he can with the aid of his companions and the occasional appearance of the three riders, which all seem to travel in the same direction.

Khurshid awakes in the
Otherworld

By nightfall, the group comes to a lake. There is a small island with a single tree a little ways offshore, and Vasya insists that if they continue traveling left from the standing stone, they have to keep going straight, and through the island. After some discussion, the rest of the group agrees, but for this, a vessel must be fashioned. Chonkorchuk finds a suitable tree, and begins fashion a dugout from it. After resting for the night, the work resumes, and by late morning, the dugout is ready (in the meantime, Plamen summons up restorative magic to rid Chonkorchuk of his festering wound, and his lockjaw, to boot). Finally, after dispelling the mule, the group climbs into the dugout, and paddles to the island. After arriving, the discover a sleeping man, dressed in leather, and armed with a spear, snoring away behind the tree. After being awakened and questioned, the band discovers that the man is named Khurshid ibn Ali, and that he is a noble and courtier from far-off Rakhman lands. The last thing he remembers is being waylaid in the mountains by bandits, and he has no idea how he came to appear in this strange land. Having martial gifts, he agrees to accompany and protect the band while he searches for answers.

After taking refreshment, the group of six continues rowing across the lake, until reaching the opposite shore. Here, they disembark, and continue on foot across particularly difficult terrain. As they travel upland, Chonkorchuk discovers a copper necklace with a green stone hanging from a thorny bush. There is no indication how the item got there, but the hermit soon discovers that the item possesses magics that aid their wearer against noxious gasses and other dangers. During that night, Plamen discovers another arcane item nearby the group’s camp – it is a shepherd’s pipe that seemingly whistled to him. In the morning, he attempts to play it, and succeeds in frightening Katarina and Vasya, who have to be restrained by their companions to prevent them from fleeing into the woods. At the end of the night, the White Rider seemingly charges the band as it breaks camp, but instead of attacking, he just rides by, and accidentally drops a fur-lined hat. When Druvvaldis examines it, he discovers that the hat allows the wearer to magically disguise himself.

The group sets off with its new finds, and by dusk finds itself before a body of water. A brief investigation reveals that they have circled around and returned to the same lake they crossed not two days earlier.

Chapter 20 - The Otherworld

Wherein our heroes explore a new world...

Vasya complains about being chained to the standing stone, and pleads (or demands) to be released. He claims Baba Yaga placed him, along with the cauldron of silver, for the party of suitors, to dispose of as they see fit, but Chonkorchuk is skeptical. He believes Vasya will escape, and leaves him chained, while he retreats to the high-gabled temple inside the compound.

A heathen shrine rises above the heath

The temple is clean and empty of any statuary. No one seems to be present. At the center of the hall is a lit fire pit, but it gives off no heat whatsoever. The ceiling is covered with symbols that Chonkorchuk cannot read, but it reminds him of the scratchings inside his hermitage. Soon, his companions join him. Meditating by the cold fire, Chonkorchuk and Druvvaldis recall stories of the old gods – Perun – ruler of the sky, Veles – ruler of the Netherworld, and Mokosh – the Moist Mother Earth. The Thunderlord and the Lord of Cattle had a disagreement over who could claim Mokosh – a disagreement that reflects the permanent state of strife among the Old Gods. Sitting by the fire, both, along with Plamen, who is also their servant, intuit that this is the reason why the Old Gods lost control of the Visible World Yav’, from which they hail, to the adherents of the New Faith. The Old Gods retreated, or were forced to retreat, here, to the Otherworld, where they marshal their forces, and wait for their chance to reclaim Yav’ for themselves. Mokosh – the keeper of Fates – tries to maintain the peace and to work for the reconciliation of her divine kinsmen, but often to no avail. In other forms, she is known as Baba Yaga.

The companions inspect the grounds. The other standing stones are tended, but no offerings have been left anywhere but at the stone to which Vasya is chained. The compound stands atop a hill, and a narrow path leads down. A huge, dense forest surrounds the hill, but a patch of rocky, open land several versts wide surrounds the hilltop. No visible rivers wind through the land, which is, however, dotted with lakes and ponds. No sun is visible in the sky, which is nevertheless bathed in golden light. The sounds of hoofbeats are heard below, and Plamen espies an armored rider, dressed in white, and mounted on a white steed, charging by down below. The forest is illumined in bright light.

Bride? Horse? Death?!?

The three companions, along with Katarina, descend down the steep winding path, and find themselves on a desolate heath. At the very bottom of the path is a large boulder with an arcane inscription. A raven sits on it and pecks at it. The writing is the secret script used by the volkhvy – the servants of the Old Gods – and Plamen, instructed by his uncle when he was yet a child – is the only one who can read it. The boulder is a Doomstone, and proclaims that those who go left will win a wife, those who go right will win a steed, while those who go straight will lose their life. Plamen attempts to converse with the raven and asks what lies about this place, and whether there are any towns or settlements. The bird responds that there are small settlements scattered in the woods, but no large towns are to be found anywhere near. Only Baba Yaga and her servitors, along with the strange riders, go by here. Plamen searches for the healing and nourishing berries he found in great abundance in his own world, but here, none are to be found. Snow covers the earth, and winter grips the land.

The companions go back up the hill, and put in a halfhearted effort to free Vasya from his chains – Chonkorchuk is still not convinced he should be freed, though Katarina argues for his release. In any event, the group only succeeds in bending the links out of shape, which makes the chain harder to remove. They then head off to search for food, promising a desperate Vasya that they will return once they have found some sustenance. Druvvaldis summons a mule spirit, to help them carry back whatever they find.

They proceed leftward past the Doomstone, not wishing to find their death, and having apparently already found a bride. Soon, they find themselves in a dense wood. It is hard making their way in one direction, as there is no sun in the sky, and no familiar growth on the south side of trees. Nevertheless, the party proceeds as best they can. They find no game, but as scramble over gnarled roots and prepare to turn back, they are set upon by a monstrous bear, which roars out that it will destroy them. Plamen attempts to fend it off with his cudgel, while Chonkorchuk and Druvvaldis try to blast it from a distance. Druvvaldis' mule comes in to help the beleaguered healer, while Katarina shouts that she feels power within herself, but cannot release it without some sort of channeling mechanism. The bear rips at Plamen’s chest, and lays him out onto the turf, but Chonkorchuk is able to put the beast down with a well-placed blast, while Druvvaldis summons forth a helpful serpent spirit to revive Plamen, who is now sporting a nasty scar.

The group returns to the temple, their mule loaded down with bear meat. Along the way, they search for a way to let Katarina release the power she acquired after the bathhouse initiation, until Chonkorchuk grants her the ivory-handled dagger he took from the smugglers. Plamen tends to Chonkorchuk’s wound acquired in that fight, and wonders if they should return to their own world to seek the aid of Hegumen Yaakov. Katarina finds a tree struck by lightning, and two loadstones near the Doomstone, to use as casting components. As they approach the hill, a black-clad rider on a black horse passes nearby, and soon, the land is shrouded in darkness.

The mysterious third rider

Upon their return, the party begins to roast the meat, and then settles down for the night, which passes uneventfully. After a red-clad rider passes by down below, the sky lights up, and the group rises for breakfast. Chonkorchuk has trouble chewing, however, and Plamen surmises that this is the result of being stabbed with a rusty blade by one of the skeletons in the warren. He again brings up returning to the Lazar’ and Liudmilla Abbey, but soon realizes that the power to purify and make things whole resides in him no less than in Hegumen Yaakov, though it will take a little time to summon it forth. In the meantime, he invokes the bear spirit that he calls on during battles, and grants its power to Vasya, who finally, with some help from Katarina (who uses her newfound magic to realign the deformed links) rips the chain off the standing stone. As the group makes preparations to descend back down, Chonkorchuk peers into the temple fire one least time to see whether it is a good idea to free Vasya. He sees only Baba Yaga’s laughing face in the fire.  

Chapter 19 - – Bathhouses and Dragons

Wherein the veil is finally pierced...

Annar departs to retrieve the anvil he buried, while the rest of the team plan the fetching of Katarina – the bride who is to wait on Baba Yaga. Annar’s agreement with the Hegumen regarding provisioning the village with Plamenka’s grain will have to wait – the band doesn’t have access to the granary, anyway, because Raskel took the magical tools that open it with him, and his whereabouts are unknown. Chonkorchuk doesn’t share the contents of the racy vision regarding Katarina with the rest of the group, but he is struck by an idea: Baba Yaga never specified exactly what ‘waiting on her’ entails, and the hermit considers whether the meaning was more metaphorical than literal. He has long thought about abandoning his self-imposed isolation, and starting a coven, which would augment his magical powers. So perhaps bringing Katarina to Baba Yaga actually means getting her to accept the Crone’s patronage, and not coincidentally, joining forces with Chonkorchuk himself. Given her adventurous spirit, she seems to be an ideal candidate.

Chonkorchuk questions Druvvaldis, who is more expert in the subject of magical lore, about how arcane initiations usually take place – his own took place long ago, and was perhaps idiosyncratic. The Galind relates that he has observed in his travels that initiations in this part of the world generally take place in bathhouses, where steam, a generous consumption of psychoactives, public nudity, and blood sacrifice can, under the right conditions, invite powers from the Otherworld to share their gifts with mortals. That seems to explain the vision, at least in part, and the trio begins their search for a suitable location, as well as the necessary materials for the ceremony.

Chonkorchuk sends the fefila into the village invisibly to look in on Katarina, and find out what is happening in her hut ever since she sent out the bun to converse with his band. Katarina is playing with the bun, but her mother is keeping very close watch on her, and questioning her about who the strangers that came looking for her earlier were. She mentions that Zhitko instructed the whole family to keep Katarina under very careful watch, and to report any strange visitors who might show up. Soon, the smith himself shows up, and begins asking about what happened earlier in the day. At this, the fefila (which had worked its way onto Katarina’s lap) escapes out the open window, and rolls back to the warren. Chonkorchuk and his companions proceed openly to the village, and confront Zhitko near the smithy. They must perform a ceremony of initiation for Katarina, the hermit explains, if they are to get access to the Otherworld, and hence, the Alatyr Stone. Zhitko is hesitant, but agrees. He says that the family has its own bathhouse by the river, and on the very edge of Lazarevo, so the initiation, which he will participate in, will commence at midnight. In the meantime, Chonkorchuk and Druvvaldis go to hunt hares, which will play a key role in the blood sacrifice, while Plamen goes to (once again) raid the stores in Plamenka’s room, for he is sure that she kept hemp for just such an occasion in one of her storage jars.

Katarina prepares for initiation

At midnight, the three approach the bathhouse. Its chimney is already smoking, and the air is thick with steam. Zhitko informs anyone with a crucifix to leave it outside, but as everyone is a heathen anyway, they simply disrobe, and walk inside. Zhitko is in possession of a hairbrush that gives off a protective magical energy that binds the maiden to Zhitko. After inspecting it with their spirit sight, Druvvaldis tells Chonkorchuk that it will bleed if anything happens to Katarina, letting its holder know that she is in danger. Both are also aware of a bond of enchantment between the two of them. Zhitko himself radiates wild, transmutative magic. Katarina enters the bathhouse as if in a trance. The whole place seems to radiate magic, and it is hard to concentrate on particular effects for long.

The initiation begins. Zhitko throws some water on the hot stones in the stove, and then begins to whip everyone present with birch switches. Plamen throws his hemp on the stones, and permeates the air with its intoxicating, sweet stench. Druvvaldis begins to pound out a driving rhythm on his drum as everyone sways in time with it. Finally, as the pounding reaches a crescendo, Chonkorchuk recites his dedication, invokes the Crone to accept a new follower, and opens a gateway by sprinkling Katarina’s body with the blood of the freshly-killed hare.

Suddenly, the maiden looks alert, stands up, and purposefully, walks out of the bathhouse, and heads toward the frozen river. The men all run after her, but when she fails to stop, Zhitko grabs her, and begins to drag her back toward the bathhouse. After imploring him to release her, Plamen casts a spell to paralyze Zhitko, and then, with some effort, he and Druvvaldis manage to pry the girl from the smith’s stiff, but powerful arms. She immediately heads back to the river without saying a word. Chonkorchuk runs after her with handfuls of clothes, while Plamen remains behind to keep an eye on Zhitko in the eventuality that the spell loses its hold over him. Druvvaldis stays behind as well, and throws Katarina’s brush on the fire inside the bathhouse.

The flame serpent in pursuit

Soon, the paralysis does lift, and a furious Zhitko, after demanding to know where Chonkorchuk is taking Katarina, begins to transform into an elongated, scaled, glowing shape. Before anyone can stop him, the flaming serpent soars into the air in pursuit of the girl and the hermit. Chokorchuk sees him coming, and turns Katarina invisible. As Druvvaldis and Plamen desperately run to catch up to save their companions, the serpent reaches Chonkorchuk, and towering above him, demands to know where Katarina is. After the hermit responds that she has gone to join their mistress, the serpent belches forth a column of flame at him. Able to avoid the worst of it, and to jump away before the ice he is standing on turns liquid, Chonkorchuk sees his spell on Katarina lifted by the strength of the serpent’s fire, so he decides to try to flee by making himself invisible. As the serpent prepares to take off after Katarina, suddenly, another shape appears, as if form nowhere, out on the ice. As it approaches, it becomes clear that it is Hegumen Yaakov, perhaps come from his nearby island abbey, alerted by all the noise. Yaakov holds his crucifix aloft toward the serpent, and demands in an unearthly voice for it to begone in Gaal’s name. At this, the serpent turns, and flies off, over Plamen and Druvvaldis, back toward the land. Yaakov then turns to Chonkorchuk and the rest, and tells them to flee as fast as their feet will carry them. Surprised at this unexpected aid, they obey, and soon, they lose sight of the monk in the darkness.

By the time they reach the other bank of the river, the nude bathers have managed to get some of their clothes on. They are very cold by now, but Katarina shows little sign of freezing. When they are able to get her to speak, she simply expresses a desire to reach the Otherworld as soon as possible. The four jog through the woods in wet clothes, and when they reach the vicinity of the old hermitage, they meet the crone, standing by a large and deep hole in the ground that definitely was not there before, though Chonkorchuk is starting to remember it from many years back. Next to the hole is a tree, with a rainbow-colored string of yarn tied around it, and dangling of into the hole, and into darkness. The hag bids the band to descend down the string, as this is what they came for. Katarina goes in first, and the men follow.

The string proves surprisingly strong, though after beginning to climb, everyone loses the sense of where the sides of the crevice are, and feels a sensation of falling through a thick, soft fog. Finally, they all land softly, but in complete darkness. Druvvaldis’ companion lights the area in the form of a fire beetle, and they all espy a small ladder leading up to a trap door in a cellar. They all climb out into daylight, in the middle of a heathen sanctuary. Standing stones representing various Old Gods stand in an enclosure of a large, multicolored wooden temple. Chained to the closest standing stone is Vasya Toptygin, and next to him, stands Chonkorchuk’s camping cauldron, filled with silver 

Chapter 18 – The Hag, the Hegumen, and the Heartthrob

Wherein our heroes begin to tackle the last task set before them by Baba Yaga...

While Druvvaldis watches the perimeter to make sure the escaped smugglers don’t return with reinforcements, Annar, Plamen and Chonkorchuk deal with the chaos of the battle’s end. Annar restrains and binds the felled Vasya while Plamen feeds him berries to ensure he does not die. Upon regaining consciousness, Vasya alternates insulting Chonkorchuk with complaints about being turned over to Baba Yaga, whereupon he is gagged. In the meantime, Plamen uses his natural polevik power over fire to extinguish the burning cottage. The group then moves in to search what’s left.

The takings appear to be rather meager. Chonkorchuk finds a dagger with an ivory hilt on one of the vanquished smugglers, while Plamen takes another, ordinary, dagger. Chonkorchuk also replaces his torn and bloodied overcoat with another overcoat, as well as a padded surcoat worn by one of the more dangerous-looking smugglers. Annar, for his part, lifts a few loose coins from several of the bodies. He is much more interested in the smugglers’ iron cauldron in the fireplace, and an incongruous anvil he discovers near the door. The volot undertakes to carry the anvil, the cauldron, and the bound Vasya as the group travels to find Baba Yaga, but then thinks better of it, and decides to bury the anvil outside the cottage, resolving to return to reclaim it later.

The group travels back toward Chonkorchuk’s neck of the woods, crossing the two rivers in the same places as they did when they walked to the smugglers’ hut. On route, Annar enquires where they are to find Baba Yaga, to which Chonkorchuk replies that she usually finds them. That turns out to be the case. As the group crosses the Vydra, Plamen spies her sitting on a tree branch, smiling and chortling to herself.  Annar is surprised to discover that she is the same crone who pointed him in the direction of Druvvaldis when he first crossed into the Land of Nor’.

Baba Yaga, sporting some new duds

The crone happily receives her cowed quarry, and appears surprised to meet the volot as well, though claiming she hasn’t seen one in a long time. When asked what he is doing there, Annar offers that he is seeking Perkons, his divine master. The hag replies that he has come to the right place, and that this god, and many other old gods besides, reside nearby, and are making plans to return. She tells him that she will reveal his presence if he aids the party in its last task – the recovery of the bride. Annar accepts the assignment, but asks for no reward until he fulfills his part of the bargain, which Baba Yaga assesses as a wise decision. She then takes possession of Vasya, and parts ways with the party.

Chonkorchuk leads the group back to Vasya’s old prison underneath the oak tree where he, Durvvaldis, and Plamen recently spent the night. Annar is too big to fit through the doorway, though, so the group departs for the hermitage. Chonkorchuk finds his old abode destroyed, however – it is partially burned, and the logs with mystic inscriptions have been smashed with an axe. He suspects people from Lazarevo, and then decides to set up camp nearby. A fire is lit – the experience of the previous night convinces him that roughing it in the cold is dangerous to his health. Prior to turning in, the hermit calls forth a vision of the bride they seek, and sees an image of Katarina, naked, chained to a wall by her arms by an iron chain. The vision fades, and then changes into another, of Katarina, again nude, washing herself.

The first half of the following day is occupied by hunting. While Annar manages to hunt down a couple of hares to supplement the diet of berries conjured by Plamen, Chonkorchuk has another vision of villagers packed into a church, where Hegumen Yaakov is leading a service. Slowly, the group makes its way down toward the warren, as they come up with a plan of action. Annar can’t fit into the chute, so a decision is made to send him into the village. He is as yet unknown, and perhaps may learn something of what is going on with Katarina, and in the village in general, without being suspected of working with Chonkorchuk and his band of misfits. After arriving, Plamen, Druvvaldis and Chonkorchuk take cover in Plamen’s old chamber, while the volot heads to Lazarevo.

Hegumen Yaakov

Upon seeing the giant man, he is immediately surrounded by fearful villagers, and soon, by the monks’ armed servitors, who conduct him to the island along the ice. The volot is led to the mess hall, and fed, and then left alone for a private audience with Hegumen Yaakov himself. The abbot seems fully aware of Annar’s collaboration with Chonkorchuk and Plamen, and of their recent activities, and the threats these present to the village. He does aver that he dealt with the walking dead men, however. Annar, largely unaware of the conflict between the monastery and his strange new friends, reveals the full extent of the group’s work for Baba Yaga, and their plans for Katarina. Yaakov unexpectedly offers Annar a deal: deliver the grain requisitioned from Plamenka’s warren to help stave off famine, and he will not stand in the way of the group’s plans, provided they do not bring further chaos upon Lazarevo. He also asks Annar to swear that whatever happens to Katarina, he will protect her with his life and ensure no harm comes to her. Annar agrees to the terms, and, being offered warm accommodations after months in the wilderness, sinks into a bogatyr’s sleep.

The following morning, Plamen and Chonkorchuk, leaving Druvvaldis to watch Plamen’s room, walk into town, unaware of Annar’s activities of the previous night. The hermit disguises himself as a peasant, while the changeling healer turns into a dog. Chonkorchuk knocks on Katarina’s door, and is confronted by her mother, who seems upset by the fact that a stranger and his dog are asking after her unmarried daughter. She refuses to let them in, though they do espy the girl listening by the window. Chonkorchuk leaves after announcing that they will wait for a meeting with Katarina a short ways outside the village. After they leave, Annar, who awakens late, approaches the same compound. He is looking for Katarina’s father – the smith. After he is fetched by his assistants, Annar solicits him to make weapons fit for one of his size, and offers him two kopecks. The smith laughs, and says that he is not really a weaponsmith, and that at any rate, the cost will be significantly higher. Annar then offers to deliver him an anvil, which intrigues the smith, if only because it can be melted down.

The volot leaves, preparing to fetch the anvil, and runs into his companions in the meadow. Chonkorchuk is not entirely happy about Annar’s revelations to Yaakov, and doesn’t think that Katarina’s father (as opposed to Zhitko) is the right smith for the job of weapon making. Plamen, for his part, sees no way in which the village is entitled to his family’s grain stores. In the middle of the discussion, a small baked bun made of dough, with raisin eyes rolls in, and tells the group that it was sent by Katarina, who wants to learn what they want. Chonkorchuk replies that they want to meet her in the meadow to speak to her about a private matter. Annar attempts to kick the bun, but it avoids him, and begins to roll circles around him, insulting him and telling him he is a big dumb oaf who cannot catch it before rolling toward home. Offended, Annar goes off to fetch his anvil, while Chonkorchuk and the dog Plamen return to the warren.