The Witch Queen's Revenge

Grandmother's Cauldron

After  resting, healing (and doing a little shopping via their friend local extra dimensional trader) in the Dancing Hut, the Party finally felt well enough to set out on the final leg of their epic quest. Sylziria, who had taken possession of the matryoshka doll felt a strange urge to investigate the loft once more. This time rather than an attic crammed with old furniture, the trap door opened out on to  a large, flat-topped gneiss boulder at the bottom of a grotto surrounded by sheer rock cliffs broken by myriad ledges and fissures . The sound of falling water echoed through the grotto and a fine, chill mist filled the air with sparkling droplets. Most of the grotto's walls were in shade, though bright sunlight shone down from somewhere above, refracting through the mist to create rainbows and glowing jewels of radiance. The shadow of a huge, gnarled tree was just visible through the fog toward the sound of the waterfall. Strangely drawn to this enormous tree, Sylziria was careful to let Gunnar and Gulbrand go first, Legilmar somewhat reluctantly trailing behind.

Massive knots that almost resembled contorted faces looked out from the tree's gnarled surface, and its fissured bark bore the scars of ancient lines carved into the tree that lost whatever symbolic meaning they may have had ages ago. As they approached a huge figure appeared, her head, arms, and upper torso suddenly emerging from the trunk of the tree, as if she has suddenly grown from the tree like a new limb. The tree-woman regarded them and spoke in Russian. "You have come far, wanderers, but the threads of fate have finally led you here to Grandmother's Cauldron , the root of Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut. Here was Baba Yaga's past made, and here will her future be decided. Know then that I am Vigliv, ally and mentor to Baba Yaga , for I am norn, and hold the golden thread of her fate in my hands."

"Baba Yaga has been trapped within the doll you hold by one of her own blood, her own power turned against her to do so . But to free Baba Yaga from her prison and gain mastery over her betrayer, you must pay heed to the wisdom of the universe and homage to its fate. Here, in Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut, lie the very fundamental essences of Baba Yaga's being. Should her treacherous daughter recover these, she would gain great power over her mother, possibly enough to destroy Baba Yaga once and for all."Therefore, you must seek out these elements of Baba Yaga's nature first. You must first take the fate of Baba Yaga into your hands, then find her power, her death, and her life. Lastly, you will need the blood of Baba Yaga to finally free the Old Crone . Only in this way can you defeat the daughter who betrayed her, and in so doing, save your own world. I can guide your steps in their quest. Your search begins now."

As Vigliv  finished her speech, the water beyond the ledge suddenly exploded in fury as a catoblepas emerged to attack, breathing poison gas at them and causing Vigliv to retreat back into her tree. The Party rallied round to defend themselves the huge beast gored Gulbrand as he and Gunnar swung their blades, Legilmar and Sylziria stood off and began casting spells, and the creature was soon slain.

Once the beast was slain Vigliv re-emerged and handing Sylziria a golden thread instructed her to wrap it round the doll, bathe it in the blood of the beast and then the sacred pool. Though reeling from the effects of poison, the sorcerer complied. Once the matryoshka doll was dipped in the pool, the blood washed away the golden thread of Baba Yaga's fate was absorbed into the doll. A sudden crack appeared in the wood where the cord was absorbed, and the doll split open to reveal a second, slightly smaller doll within, this one painted as a stout Russian matron holding a pullet under one arm. Vigliv then instructed them that their next objective could be found if they followed the canyon to the north west and they set off immediately.

The canyon led them to a cliff face which rose in a series of natural ledges rimed with ice and dusted with small drifts of snow. The mouth of a low cave was just visible atop the highest ledge. Gunnar gleefully began scampering up the ledges, thoughtfully helping Gulbrand up using a rope. Sylziria and Legilmar decided to forego the joy of climbing and used spider-climb and fly to navigate the ledges. As they rose up the levels they were twice attacked by rift drakes. The combat was memorable for two things, Sylziria being nearly killed and only being saved when Vasalisa's doll crept out of the dying sorceress's backpack and administered a potion and for Gunnar slaying a rift drake by leaping onto it's back, stabbing it repeatedly in the head and then leaping back onto the ledge as it's corpse  plummeted earthwards!

Eventually they reached the cave and after some hesitation, and not a little healing magic, prepared to step in. Suddenly a vision of Vigliv appeared before them and spoke. "You have taken Baba Yaga's fate into your hands. The first test is past, but many remain. You must now reclaim a symbol of her power. Know that the demon lord Kostchtchie and the witch queens of lrrisen were not Baba Yaga's first attempts to elevate some mortal to supreme power to rule in her name over lesser peoples. There was another before, a great warrior called Bremagyr, whom Baba Yaga made a queen over a vast empire on her own world . Yet when the Queen of Witches sought the obeisance due her from this petty empress, Bremagyr forgot from whence her power came and refused to do honour unto Baba Yaga . Where Baba Yaga had raised her from warrior to queen in a yea r, she laid Bremagyr and all her empire low in a night. Never again has the sun risen or set over the crumbled empire of Bremagyr, as a lesson to all who would come after and seek Baba Yaga's power but refuse her obedience."

"Bremagyr is now a shadow of the queen she once was, cursed to forever haunt her iron fortress of Vashliq, which was cast down by Baba Yaga and brought inside her Dancing Hut. Yet some vestige of Baba Yaga's power still lies within Bremagyr, and only with the destruction of the dead queen will you be able to obtain that power and continue on your quest. Now go, enter the lost fortress of Vashliq. When you have reclaimed Baba Yaga's power, bring  it back to the sacred pool to unlock the next secret of the doll that imprisons her."

Armed with this knowledge, they stepped into the cave and abruptly found themselves in a large, opulent tent made of heavy silk, its walls and roof supported by a dozen sturdy teak poles. Despite two silver braziers giving off warmth and smoke from a pungent incense, the tent's interior is still uncomfortably cold, and its walls whip and snap against gusts of icy wind. The tent was luxuriously out fitted with cushioned beds, camp chairs and tables, and amenities such as fine cabinetwork around the walls, rich wall hangings, and a large silver hookah. The occupant of the room, a sepid div attended by five veiled females, greeted them amiably and offered hospitality which they accepted.

As they sat down on soft cushions and accepted food and drink, the div introduced himself as Mametqul, telling them he had been appointed by Baba Yaga to observe Bremagyr's punishment. He also pointed them in the direction of the fortress of Vashliq -  "across the Broken Plain" and before the settled down for the night, advised him that Bremagyr's power was locked up in her crown.

The Broken Plain

Taking their leave of Mametqul and his concubines, the Party started across the Broken Plain at the distant fortress of Vashliq. They debated for some time whether to use teleport to get there but Mametqul’s warnings that such magic could go awry here, dissuaded them and they set out on foot. An attack by a devourer mounted on a nightwing proved an interesting diversion but eventually they arrived outside the forbidding walls of the ancient fortress. There was no signs of life so they headed in towards the gatehouse only to discover their way barred by a massive 10-foot thick riveted iron plate that closed-off the fortresses’s main gate.

Scouting around, Gunnar spotted that the murder-holes in the ceiling above them looked wide enough to crawl through, and using the rivets in the iron plate as handholds scampered aloft, dropping a rope down for the less agile Gulbrand. Legilmar and Sylziria, used magic to follow. In the Upper Gatehouse they almost immediately came under attack  by a retriever, which was quickly returned to whichever benighted abyss it originated from.

A pair of spiral staircases led downwards, and in short order they found themselves on the other side of the iron plate, staring at the flooded inner bailey and a  broken causeway littered with bodies. The contemplated this for some time before Gunnar moved first, Legilmar pacing him using a fly spell. As Gunnar attempted to jump over a major break in the causeway, the piles of undead around him  rose up like some living siege tower of undead and attacked. The warsworn proved a formidable opponent and after it’s destruction they Party were in no condition to carry on and decided to head back to the Upper Gatehouse and rest up.

Fortunately their rest was undisturbed, and next morning they set out once more to cross the causeway. This time the pile of bodies was simply that, and they were undisturbed as they reached the main door of the keep.

While the others opened the door. Sylziria decided to scout up above. Unfortunately this drew the attention of a baykok patrol, who immediately howled into an attack with their bows. Sylziria was hit and paralysed and lay helpless while one of the baykoks attacked her. Fortunately her friends rallied to her help and with a combination of magic and ranged attacks managed to kill the undead.

The Entry Hall

Moving forward into the interior of the fortress, the Party immediately walked into an ambush as ten baykoks attacked from the gallery surrounding the huge entry hall. The the baykoks swooped and howled firing volleys of infused arrows. Things turned immediately dices as both Legilmar and Sylziria were paralysed by arrow hits. Gunnar and Gulbrand, at least partially protected by stoneskin spells cast by Sylziria, held their ground firing arrows in return  and leaping acrobatically into attacks, until Gunnar suddenly noticed the magic users weren't helping and quickly hustled Sylziria out of danger while Gulbrand distracted the baykoks - mostly by drawing their fire.

Eventually the paralysis wore off and the spellcasters were able to return to the fray a couple of chain lightning spells from Sylziria proving particularly effective. One by one the baykok were destroyed, though it was a close thing, and many healing potions were required in the aftermath of battle.

After taking a few moments to recover, they regarded the exits from this room, the first led to a stairway going up, but they eventually decided on the large set of double doors, guessing that would be a more direct route to the throne room.

Opening the doors revealed several things, firstly the far corner of the room was shrouded by a fog cloud spell, secondly a whole mess of lemures swarmed up from a stairway to the west and thirdly an angry buzzing noise. A fireball from Sylziria quickly dealt with the lemures en masse, meanwhile  Gunnar, using one of his abilities, could see a figure shrouded in the mist and charged in!

The angry buzzing was revealed to be a hellwasp swarm which immediately swarmed round first Sylziria and then Gulbrand. Gunnar meanwhile laid into his opponent a pit hag, despite her spells and swipes with her trident severely injuring him, finally managed to despatch her. The hellwasp swarm proved more problematic for a while resistant as it was to Gulbrand's attacks but eventually the spellcasters, particularly a series of fireball spells from Sylziria, finally saved the day.

Feeling too battered and bruised after this to continue, the Party retreated back to the Upper Gatehouse to rest.

The Fallen Throne Room

After resting, the Party headed back into the fortress where this time there were only four baykoks waiting in ambush. Three fired off their bows and one immediately headed at pace for the door at the back of the hall - only to be struck down before he reached it by scorching ray from Sylziria and lightning bolt from Legilmar. The rest of the undead were quickly destroyed, allowing Gunnarample opportunity  to show off his acrobatics once again,  and after a brief debate about which exit to chose from the hall, they decided to head for the door the baykok had tried to reach.

Gulbrand lead the way up the stair, passing by a closed wooden door and almost immediately running into another baykok ambush. His friends swiftly joined the fray and there undead too were quickly slain. After Legilmar doled out some healing they headed down a narrow corridor that overlooked a long hall that extended deep into the fortress, ending in a mass of long- cooled lava that overwhelmed the rear of the chamber. Partially buried in the volcanic rock was a large iron throne atop a dais of polished, red-veined marble, both covered in a thick rime of ice. Frozen to the cold iron beneath a layer of ice a skeletal figure wearing a crown sat in icy splendour.

Before braving the throne room, the Party decided to ensure their were no enemies behind them and checked out the narrow door they had passed by. They almost instantly regretted it as they were attacked by three omox demons in the doorway. With numerous immunities, resistances, damage reduction and Spell resistance the demons proved formidable foes, until Gulbrand was able to bull rush the one blocking the doorway which gave them room to slam and bar the door, locking the demons inside.

After consuming more of their dwindling healing supplies, they decided that the had to head for the throne room. As they either dropped from the balcony on flew into the huge chamber, the skeletal figure on the throne stirred and with a hideous cracking sound ripped free of the ice encasing her. Gunnar and Gulbrand immediately charged into her  icy cold aura! The queen retaliated, slashing with her claws and biting, each wound inflicted flared with the black flame of blightfire as Queen Bremagyr was a winterwight.

Legilmar, flew overhead, cackling her hexes to support her friends and standing by with healing while Sylziria hung back reluctant to use he most potent magic which might endanger her friends. However as the battle raged and her friend blazed with black blightfire from dozens of wounds, she knew she had no choice and carefully as she could to avoid collateral damage cast elemental blast. A creature of the cold, the Queen could not sustain ensuing the massive damage and was destroyed.

Gunnar, with Sylziria's help, eventually managed to retrieve the crown from the queen's icy head only to declare that it was a fake - copper plated in a thin layer of gold. Sylziria then cast detect magic - identifying several potent magic sources beneath them to the west. Lifting up the heavy flagstones Sylziria pointed to they found a stone staircase leading down into a vault. In the vault was the Bremagyr's treasure, gold jewels and magic items, among which was the true crown.

As Gunnar picked up the crown,  Sylziria felt the matryoshka doll containing Baba Yaga stir and saw a vision of  the severed head of the sepid div, Mametqul, wearing the crown and set within an ornate wooden wall cabinet.

Mametqul's Tent

The Party rested the next couple of days in the Upper Gatehouse, where after a night's rest Caedwallis used restoration to help Gunnar and Gulbrand recover their ability damage. Sylziria tried, and failed, to summon their friendly mercane merchant that they might replenish the supplies they had extended. Eventually it was decided it was time to confront the sepid div and fulfil the vision Baba Yaga had given to Sylziria, so they set out across the Blasted Plain.

On arrival at the tent Sylziria and Caedwallis remained outside while Katya, Gunnar, Gulbrand and Legilmar went in - without waiting to be invited! Mametqul was at first the perfect host offering sweetmeats and coffee, but there was a definite atmosphere and repeated requests from the sepid div to see the crown. Throughout the conversation Gunnar and Gulbrand silently made eye contact, waiting for the perfect opportunity and trying to size up their opponent. Eventually during a lul in the conversion they sprang to attack! As they did, Mametqul's veiled attendants revealed their true forms, four pairaka divs and two shira divs.

An epic battle ensued, two of the pairaka divs risked a dimension door to attack Sylziria, who ably aided by Caedwallis was able to fight them off, her periapt of health, rendering her immune to their disease-laden attacks.

Within the tent there was a furious melee, the fighters trading fearsome blows with their opponents, while Katya danced around the battle sneak-attacking where she could. Legilmar meanwhile focused her magic on the hulking shira divs to great effect, before eventually falling close to death.

Fortunately Caedwallis was able to step in and channel enough  healing energy to save the fallen witch. Eventually after a combat that seemed to last for hours the Party were triumphant.

After getting their breath back and a generous dose of healing from Caedwallis, the grim task of removing Mametqul's head, crowning it and placing it in the cabinet was undertaken. This proved to be the portal key to opening a portal in the back of the cabinet which enabled them to return to the Vigliv and undertake the ritual to break the second seal around Baba Yaga's imprisonment.

The Isle of Buyan

After summoning, their friendly inter-planar shopkeeper the party finally felt ready to set out to break the next seal on Baba Yaga's prison and sought out Vigliv once more. Vigliv informed her that they must next seek "Baba Yaga's death"!  The norn went on to explain that to prevent her true death, Baba Yaga cast a great spell placing her death into an athame, a witch's knife, which she then placed in a chest hidden in a corpse and buried on a distant hidden island on a far-off world, she then uprooted the whole island and hit it within the Hut. The Party then spent some time wandering the surrounding canyons before finally hitting on the right path, which led upwards along a cliff face.

Unfortunately they quickly discovered a gang of gugs had taken up residence in the area and had to clear them out first, after which they decided that they really needed to rest.

In the gugs cave they found a mortar and pestle which Baba Yaga suggested they take, and much to Sylziria's annoyance then spent the night taking over the Sorcerer's dreams teaching her how to use it! Next morning, a grumpy and not at all rested Sylziria informed the others then needed to bathe in the nearby pool.  Doing so they found themselves transported just offshore an island and, for the first time in what seemed like forever, it wasn't freezing!

Caedwallis and Sylziria had to be helped to swim ashore, but eventually they all assembled on the beach enjoying the warm offshore breeze, when a group of maftets flew down from the cliffs above and confronted them. Fortunately the maftets proved generally friendly and the Party had just received an invitation to meet the queen, when Katya spotted something swooping in  to attack from above!

She just had time to call out a warning before the popobala swooped down and quickly tore two of the maftets apart.

As battle was joined, Legilmar, Katya and Sylziria were badly hampered by the popobala's frightful presence and stench  auras. Gunnar and Gulbrand managed to close and engage the creature which proved to be hard to kill, but eventually they prevailed and they accompanied the surviving maftets flying up towards the north.

The Golden City

On arrival at the maftet's city high on a cliff face on the northern shore of the island, the Party were greeted as heroes and introduced to  Queen Esmyra. She invited them into the palace and asked them about their arrival on the island where the had few visitors. On hearing of their quest for the witch's athame, she said she might be bale to help but, as powerful heroes, she begged their aid first.

The queen told them that two days ago, strange creatures from the depths of the sea emerged upon the  island's shores and demanded that the maftet swear loyalty to their rule. The maftet  fought them, but were hopelessly outmatched. These enemies have demanded that the queen be chained to the old sacrificial rock below the city tomorrow at dawn or they will invade the island and kill all of the people. The queen continued that as they were unable to stand against their enemies, that she had agreed, but hoped that with the Party's arrival perhaps the tide can be turned against their foe. The Party agreed to help and, after a brief rest and a late lunch, asked to be taken down to the sacrificial rock to scope it out. This proved to be rather an adventurous decision as they were attacked by a sea serpent which nearly ate Gulbrand before being driven off!

Next morning they accompanied the queen to meet her fate. Two guards chained the queen to the rocks before hastily retreating while the Party either hid or rendered themselves invisible. As the first rays of down broke on the horizon, five nuckelavees emerged from the sea to claim their prize. These ultimately proved no match for the Party , although it was touch and go for a while! Queen Esmyra was most grateful and that evening a banquet was held in their honour. Next day however, Katya, Gulbrand and Sylziria all felt seriously unwell having contracted what Caedwallis identified as mortasheen, a disease contracted from the nuckelavee's attacks. The disease prove quite resistant to Caedwallis's attempts to heal them, and they suffered though all that day and night.

Early next morning one of the maftet guards awoke them with word the enemy were attacking the southern shore. Sylziria cast fly on those unable to do so for themselves and they headed off to confront the attack. This time it was relatively easier, as the nuckelavee, unable to fly were trapped on the beaches and slaughtered largely by a combination of chain lightning and lightning bolt.

Assassins in the Night

The Party decided to set watches even though they were honoured guests of the queen. It was fortunate they did as during Legilmar's watch she heard scream coming from outside. After waking the others she cast shadow step, arriving outside to find that four hezrou had teleported into the city plaza, intent of reaching the queen. The maftet guards there were doing their best but basically being slaughtered. Sylziria used shadow walk to bring the others, except Caedwallis who preferred to make his own way, and battle was joined. Most of the Party, except for Legilmar and Gulbrand decided to take to the air, unfortunately this left the majority of the hezrou free to simply charge inside the palace, smashing their way through the doors. Caedwallis tried to block them with a wall of force, but they simply used teleport to get past it!

While Gulbrand enjoyed himself wrestling with one of the demons while Katya sneak-attacked it from above with a combination of arrows and acid beads Legilmar chased after one of the hezrou, rapidly running through her repertoire of spells and hexes. Caedwallis came under attack from one of the hezrou who leaped up and bit him, grappling and trying to force him to ground - which remarkably the aasimar somehow managed to resist! Sylziria decided to go and rescue the queen using dimension door, only to find she didn't really need rescuing! Eventually all the demonic assassins were slain and the Party headed off for a well-earned rest.

But it was not to be, a few hours later they were woken by another commotion outside. Sylziria headed for a nearby watch-tower where she could see a huge column of water rising up from the beach below the cliff the city was perched on ring to meet another column of water coming from the city's huge water cistern! If the two columns met it would prove a perfect bridge for all manner of aquatic based creatures to flood into the city and slaughter the inhabitants, and indede she could see a mixture of nucklavees and water elementals below . Gulbrand and Legilmar charged down the winding path to the beach while Katya and Sylziria cast fly and took to the air. Caedwallis meanwhile headed to see the queen had had time for a glass of early-morning wine and cast stoneskin on her  before sauntering towards the cistern.

While Gulbrand and Legilmar raced across the sands, Sylziria cast chain lightning  - only to see it fail to have any much effect on the attackers! Legilmar then manoeuvred closer only to fall foul of a combination of their breath weapon attacks and their frightful presence auras. Katya swooped down and cast fly on Gulbrand from her wand. Back in the city, Caedwallis cast anti-magic field around himself and leaped into the water spout rising from the cistern, negating the powerful magic causing the waters to rise and coincidentally suppressing the water elemental summoned there by the nuckelavees to prevent anyone interfering.

The Witch Tree

As the huge waterspout the attacked had been riding subsided due to Caedwallis's intervention above, the Party redoubled their attacks. The nucklavees charged across the beach trying to reach the jungle, but a series of enlarge plants spells from Legilmar blocked their way, and they began frustratedly to hack at the undergrowth. Gulbrand with assistance from Katya managed to dispose of one  water elemental and Sylziria's spells finally took out the other. Two of the nuckelavees spotted the winding path up to the city and charged towards it. Unfortunately for them this brought them straight towards Gunnar, and considerably shortened their life span -especially when Gulbrand joined him! This freed the Party to tackle the nuckelavees trying to get into the jungle, who were swiftly despatched. Their assault broken the remaining attackers fled to the safety of the ocean. The Party headed back up into the city where they were rejoined by a somewhat soggy Caedwallis and hailed as heroes. After the by now traditional feast, they were finally able to get some rest!

Next morning the queen arranged for one of her soldiers to lead them deep into the jungle, heading to the "witch tree". The approached cautiously, but suddenly roots erupted from the ground around them and dragged Gunnar and Gulbrand bodily towards a gargantuan wizened tree. Sylziria, Legilmar and Caedwallis began unleashing their spells at the venerable quickwood but found many of their spells ineffective . Katya began firing arrows while Gunnar managed to free himself from the roots and attacked, as did Gulbrand from within the tree's grasp.

Caedwallis then managed to sneak forward and free Gulbrand from the grapple using a dimension door spell, after which the Party renewed their attacks, eventually overcoming their opponent. As the Party caught their breath, Legilmar pointed out what looked like the outline of a grave beneath the tree.

The Guardian's Cave

With a weary sigh, Gulbrand picked up a shovel offered to him by one of the others and began digging. With some limited help from Katya and Sylziria he eventually dug down about 8 feet before finding what Katya advised was a large body wrapped in a burial shroud. They pondered for a while how to exhume the body from the grave, eventually deciding they needed to expose the whole thing, and Gulbrand set to work again.

It was nearing sunset when the body was fully exposed, although there had been no sign of any danger until Gulbrand tried to remove the shroud to see what was beneath and the body reached out and grabbed at him, revealing it appeared to made of stuffed human skin stitched together with cloth, rags, leather, and human hair, its body pierced with large pins and needles. Legilmar identified it as some huge variant of a witch-doll and most likely a construct. As it grabbed him, Gulbrand felt a strange feeling as he and Gunnar reached for adamantine weapons and attacked. The magic users and Katya joined in the assault, but Gulbrand reeled as every time the witch-doll was hit, he felt it's pain. Eventually the others realised what was happening and Caedwallis, Legilmar, Sylziria and Katya concentrated on healing Gulbrand while Gunnar finished off the construct. One makeshift autopsy later, they had retrieved a small iron casket from the witch-doll's interior. Katya promptly picked the lock and they retrieved the athame.

Acting on mental instructions from Baba Yaga Sylziria led them southwards to the cliffs near the beach they had first arrived on to a small cave. Passing on a warning from Baba Yaga that she had left a guardian therein, Legilmar and Caedwallis led the way, followed by Gunnar. It was a tight squeeze in the narrow passageway which almost immediately led to a T-junction. Legilmar chose the left hand branch and began manoeuvring through - which she almost instantly regretted as it led to the lair of two carnivorous crystals.  Finding herself trapped Legilmar cast harm on one ooze, causing it to flee and then Caedwallis used dimension door to get them out of trouble, leaving the other ooze to Gunnar and Sylziria to deal with.

They regrouped and led by Gulbrand and Gunnar this time, headed down the other path. The magical elements in the Party spent some time playing with Baba Yaga's witch-mask which they found hanging on the wall, while the fighters moved on into a huge cave with a stream an pool of water. They were immediately attacked out of the darkness by a khala, its breath weapon hitting Gulbrand square on and encasing him in ice. Gunnar immediately moved to attack, throwing a dagger. As Gulbrand wrenched his way free from his icy bonds Katya offered to cast fly on him from her wand. The Khala retaliated with a couple of flyby attacks against Gunnar before casting incendiary cloud (cold) to try and drive them back. By this time the magic users had arrived, except Caedwallis who found himself blocked by the incendiary cloud. Legilmar cast a lightning bolt and Sylziria opened up with her best fire spells, only to be hit by a polar ray in response. Gunnar and Gulbrand took to the air and attacked killing it just as it khala cast empowered ice storm.

They had no time to recover, before Baba Yaga bullied Sylziria into jumping in the pool. Gunnar followed suit immediately, but the others found themselves left behind as the two vanished immediately. Arriving back near Vigliv, Sylziria realised what had happened and began the long track back to retrieve her friends, who amused themselves making  tea while waiting. Once they all assembled near Vigliv they undertook the ritual to break the next level of Baba Yaga's prison.

The Cottage in the Forest

After resting for the night, guarded by Vigliv and despite Baba Yaga's incessant nagging for them to "get on with it", the Party headed up  along a winding path that rose up yet another steep canyon wall. Their was was suddenly blocked by a wall of ice,  and before they knew it they were under attack by bone devils that had been lurking invisibly. Eventually the devils were despatched after a tough fight, aided by Caedwallis casting true seeing  and they made their way onto a large ledge where they quickly discovered the bone devils had been summoned by two ice devils who hit them with multiple ice storm and cone of cold spells.

After another tough battle they devils were defeated and Caedwallis suggested they head into the cave in the canyon wall. Unfortunately no-one else could even see the cave, never mind enter it, despite Baba Yaga's ever more shrill promptings. Eventually Caedwallis cast anti-magic shell and stood in the cave entrance suppressing the powerful illusion there. At the rear of the cave was a small crawlspace rimed with frost from which occasional gusts of frosty air emerged, almost like breaths. Once again Baba Yaga nagged them forwards, but Sylziria was reluctant. Gulbrand led the way, rapidly discovering that the crawlspace was in fact the mouth of an enormous frost worm!
After a painful and uncomfortable journey through the frost worm's gullet he found himself standing in a thick forest staring at a small cottage. One by one Katya, Caedwallis and Legilmar arrived. However there was no sign of Sylziria and they were somewhat surprised when her backpack appeared next to them with Baba Yaga shrilly complaining from within it. Katya and Gulbrand led the way forward, after Legilmar and Caedwallis doled out some healing. As they arrived at the front door, a somewhat tardy Sylziria appeared also.

Katya checked the door for traps, finding none, nor was the door locked. Opening it she and Gulbrand headed into the room. A skilled wood carver had obviously  been hard at work carving and painting all manner of wooden toys, ranging from small animal figurines to life sized mannequins with articulated limbs painted to resemble uniformed soldiers, princesses and regal kings wearing crowns of gilded foil . The smaller pieces cluttered tables, shelves, and even the floor. A small fire place, its ashes cold, occupied one corner, while next to it stood a comfortably padded chair. A small table held an assortment of small carving knives and a half- finished wooden figurine . Wood shavings covered the floor in drifts and piles.

The Battle of Baba Yaga's Kitchen

Moving forward across the workshop cautiously, Katya had the creepy feeling that the life-size toys were watching her as she and Gulbrand headed for the kitchen.A great cast-iron stove in one corner kept this room pleasantly warm. A plate of cookies sat atop the stove's cooling shelf, filling the room with a delicious aroma . A small paper placard stood next to the plate. Moving forward Katya read the note which said - "Welcome to Granny's kitchen. Thank you for coming for dinner. Please come in, have a cookie, and make yourselves at home."

She read it, the stove unfolded into a vaguely humanoid shape whose stovepipe head brushed the 15-foot-high ceiling, the banked fire in its belly immediately roaring to life. It grabbed Kata and dragged the unfortunate rogue inside, a metal grating immediately closing over the opening. Gulbrand rushed forward to help as Katya struggled against the flames engulfing her. Meanwhile, as their friends rushed to help, the life-size toys in the other room leaped to attack! In the struggle Katya eventually managed to escape using her chime of opening and took refuge under the kitchen table.

An epic battle ensued. Sylziria struggled as most of her magic proved ineffective until she hit upon using acid arrow. Legilmar too found much of her magic useless and at one point, badly wounded, had to flee using dimension door to get herself up to the roof. Gulbrand and Gunnar proved a little more effective bashing away at the constructs and managing to destroy several. Caedwallis meanwhile struggled to keep everyone, including himself alive. As it was several of them had to rely on the breath of life spells donated by Baba Yaga. Suddenly, Gulbrand fell in combat, and a badly wounded Sylziria used dimension door to  get them both out of trouble.

This had the unfortunate side effect of leaving Katya alone in the kitchen. Fortunately Legilmar, up on the roof, had managed to remove some tiles and Katya managed to clamber up though the ceiling and to safety. After healing up as best they could, Gulbrand led the way in a renewed assault that destroyed the remaining constructs. As the fires in the stove dimmed Katya thought she saw a shadowy figure fleeing from within. After a brief discussion about whether they should rest further, Legilmar, pointed to the now-whole ceiling, and suggested that as the cottage appeared to be self-healing and it might repair the toy soldiers and furnace over time, they move on.

They moved on to the next room, a bedroom occupied by an extremely large though very polite troll who introduced himself as "Gaj". They were enjoying a conversation with him when Katya spotted a shadowy figure moving towards him. The troll suddenly stiffened, his eyes glazed over and he attacked. Legilmar immediately hit him with a maze spell and he vanished. Searching the room they found little  of interest. However when  Sylziria cast detect magic she noted the floor of the closet radiated strong conjuration magic, and incidentally  that there were a couple of magic sources back in the kitchen. Katya realising they needed help from Baba Yage, went to fetch Caewallis, who retunred and passed the doll-p;rison back to Sylziria, at which point Baba Yaga began chanting saying, "Hidey, hidey hole. Can't get in unless you knock, knock, knock with the witch's stick. You have to find it! I left it in the hut somewhere!"

The Ice Cavern

Following a suggestion from Legilmar, they set off looking for a broomstick. Katya and Gulbrand searched the cottage to no avail. Caedwallis eventually located it, cunningly hidden by lying casually against the wall on the porch.

Taking the broomstick, Sylziria tapped the floor of the closet which immediately vanished, plunging them into a deep shaft. Legilmar and Sylziria managed to cast feather fall but the others slammed into the ground about 30 feet below. The cave in which they found themselves was rimed in ice and at the far end a heavy set of woollen curtains hung, obscuring their view. After some debate they decided to rest, their decision somewhat pre-empted by Caedwallis rolling himself up in his bedroll! Gulbrand took the first watch, during which he spotted a ghostly figure peering through the curtains at them, but no further trouble ensued.

Next morning, Sylziria offered to blast the curtains down with fire, but the others decided it was probably simpler to just open them! Beyond, was a huge ice cavern the smooth floor some of which was covered in large shards of ice. The going was quite difficult and slippery, so those who could, took to the air. As they crossed the ice cavern they were attacked by several huge ice elementals which proved quite a challenge to defeat. In one spur of the cave they found what looked like supplies for an expedition neatly stacked. Sylziria found a ice-carved salt shaker that he identified as some kind of portal key. Legilmar commented that the salt shaker was marked with the sigil of the Royal House of Irrisien.

Moving forward to a ledge, they could see an enormous cave filed with thick black smoke about 60 feet below them. After fly spells were cast all round, Legilmar led the way cautiously around the walls of the cavern as no one was able to see more than five feet around them. They had gone some distance, when suddenly Gulbrand, Katya and Caedwallis were  jerked towards the centre of the cave by a powerful force.  As their friends disappeared into the smoke, Sylziria and Legilmar found themselves under attack by rays of violet energy.

Caedwallis managed to escape the mysterious force pulling him by using dimension door, but Katya and Gulbrand found themselves inexorably dragged towards what looked like an enormous amorphous globe of floating purple liquid which slowly engulfed them.

Descent into Darkness.

The Party struggled epically against the plasma ooze for some time until suddenly Legilmar hit it with a maze spell which enabled Gulbrand and Katya to escape it's clutches. This gave the Party time flee the immediate area while the creature was gone. Along the way they found a partially digested body, obviously one of the Irrisien expedition,  whose magical equipment was quickly gathered up. They also discovered an eversmoking bottle which was the source of the dense smoke in the cavern.

Heading up a side passageway, they discovered among lots of dessicated corpses stacked neatly against a wall, one fresher corpse, who again looked like a member of the Irrisien expedition. As they moved to investigate, a red handed spectre leaped out of the body and attempted to possess Caedwallis. It failed in that attempt, but subsequently managed to possess Gulbrand whose eyes glazed over as he attacked his friends under it's malign control.

As Gulbrand fought against the malevolent entity possessing him, trying to pull his blows, the other pondered how to attack the spectre without harming their friend. eventually Caedwallis cast heal, damaging the undead spirit possessing Gulbrand and his comrades  followed his lead casting wherever healing magic they had to hand and finally destroying the undead within their friend.

Fearing to rest, lest the maze spell imprisoning the plasma ooze ended before they had escaped the area they moved on, discovering a large sinkhole. A rope, affixed to a piton, hung down into the darkness. Fly  spells were quickly cast and they descended down. At the bottom they found the badly burned body of an ice troll and the broken body of human. Again, it seemed like members of the Irrisien expedition had met untimely ends here.

They also quickly  discovered the cause of these deaths as a pair of  crag linnorms laired in this vast cavern. The crag linnorms proved formidable foes, almost killing Legilmar before succumbing to the Party's combined assault. After Caedwallis doled out what healing he had left, they decided to rest on one of the ledges after recovering some magic items from the bodies and the crag linnorm's nest.

The Magma Rift

After an uninterrupted night's rest the Party, led by Gulbrand headed through the bronze doors at the far end of the cavern. As they moved forward though the passageway beyond, they could hear what sounded like the barking of dogs, and almost immediately cam under attack by Nessian warhounds . The combat although relatively brief, was brutal. Legilmar was badly wounded and then went down under one of the warhounds breath weapons and was only saved when Sylziria was quick-witted enough to grab Caedwallis and teleport to her side. As the battle abated someone commented that the baying of the hounds  it had put paid to them sneaking up on whatever the hounds were guarding.

This proved true, as the Party led by Gulbrand and an invisible Sylziria followed the passageway into a large cavern which ended precipitously at the edge of a chasm filled with slow- moving magma, they came under attack by flaming rocks hurled from across the rift, where two columns of stout, black rock buttressed a stone wall between them. Caedwallis immediately cast wall of force to protect the bulk of the Party. Sylziria caught on the wrong side of the wall of force took to the air, where she could see several fire giants crouched down behind the wall, each with a plentiful supply of rocks.

Passing word back to her friends she cast fly, flew over the magma and began casting chain lightning and cone of cold. Caedwallis dropped the wall of force and courtesy of some fly spells from Katya's wand the others moved to attack. Gulbrand was straight in there, instantly surrounded by giants, his greatsword swinging . Legilmar started casting lighting bolt to accompany Syziria's magical assault. Somewhat uncharacteristically Caedwallis got into the thick of things slaying one of the giants with slay living.

The giants dealt with, the Party moved on down the passageway, almost immediately to come under assault by flaming arrows and an enemy spellcaster to cast black tentacles, trapping Katya. While Sylziria and and Gulbrand moved forward, coming under attack by erinyes, Caedwallis cast anti-magic shell in order to free Katya.

A Devil of a Time

More erinyes emerged from the darkness firing their flaming arrows at the back. As they party responded in kind, a handmaid devil teleported in and attacked Gulbrand. Caedwallis dashed forward his antimagic field suppressing the devil's damage reduction and magic abilities. On by one the devils were slain, the handmaid devil being the last to go.  After Caedwallis doled out some healing, they began searching the area they found the last of the Irissien expedition that the devils had tortured to death. Sylziria and Katya quickly stripped the bodies of anything of value, while Caedwallis to forestall any talk of moving on, wrapped himself in his bedroll and settled down to sleep. He was rudely interrupted by Sylzira as Gulbrand was still badly wounded. After healing the fighter, he went back to his slumbers, the rest eventually deciding to join him.

After a peaceful night's rest they headed for the huge iron doors at he end of the cavern. Katya quickly disabled the trap on the door but as the doors were frozen shut, she had no way to open them. After Sylziria had cast a wall of fire in front of the door to melt the ice, Katya moved forward to open it. Unfortunately the trap had reset and a cone of cold blasted through the Party, Katya herself avoiding any damage courtesy of evasion.

The corridor beyond was short but deadly cold. The iron doors at the far end were frozen shut as well, so Sylziria cast another wall of fire to melt the ice. Opening this door revealed a huge cavern with fourteen thrones arranged in a semi-circle, on twelve of the thrones frozen corpses sat, twitching uneasily.

The Hall of Thrones

As Gulbrand led the way into the room some of  the frozen crone queens on the thrones began to stir. One stood, and raising a bony finger, cast a polar ray at the fighter. A second ripped free of her icy bonds and charged forward attacking with her staff. Across the room two more rose from their ice covered thrones, moving forward threateninglt towards Sylziria. 

Legilmar Caedwallis and Syziria began casting spells as Gulbrand and Katya attacked the crone queen that had charged, while the other cast spells at them. The two other queens focussed their attacks on Sylziria, eventually causing the sorcerer to flee for her life. As the battle raged, the Party found themselves in increasing trouble as the queens proved to be formidable foes, particularily as their attacks did energy damage as well! 

At one point Legilmar was nearly slain, requiring Caedwallis to save her at the last minute with a heal spell, and by the time Sylziria retuned to the fray, spewing her fire magic, most of the Party has serious wounds and were severely weakened by energy damage. Syziaria's fire magic seemed to finally turn the tide however, and eventually the last of the queens fell in smoking ruin.

As they recovered their breath and healed up. Baba Yaga began screeching at them to remove the hearts from the frozen corpses. Gulbrand and Katya undertook the grisly task after which they were instructed to place them in a samovar standing on a table nearby. The Party instantly appeared near Vigliv and Baba Yaga then talked Sylziria through the ritual to free her from the next layer of her prison. The Party then summoned Zilvazaraat and placed a order for resupply after which they  rested. 

Next morning, Caedwallis dealt with the level drain most of the Party were suffering, after which Vigilv reappeared, informing them the final key to free Baba Yaga was the life blood of her daughter Elvanna, who had, she informed them in passing, finally commenced the final ritual to freeze Golarion into the same eternal winter as Irrisien and complete her power over her mother. She gave each of them the gift of a golden thread drawn from their own fate, and somewhat reluctantly they set out. 

They followed Baba Yaga's directions down a narrow winding ravine  that finally widened into a box canyon on the far side of which, across a small lake,  was a stone stairway leading to a shadowy entrance. Moving forward to the side of the lake, Gulbrand was attacked and dragged under and swallowed whole by a gargantuan crocodile, but fortunately was able to shoot his way out of it's belly and emerge spluttering on the surface!

Howl of the Windwalker

For a moment all was silent, then suddenly two things happened almost simultaneously. Firstly a huge glabrezu appeared on the shore and cast chaos hammer at Sylziria and secondly the surface of the lake erupted as the fiendish crocodile took to the air on huge wings and charged Sylziria!

Quick thinking, Caedwallis dashed forward towards the huge demon, which winked out of existence as it met his anti-magic field! The others redoubled their attacks on the fiendish crocodile  before it could swallow the hapless Sylziria. Katya and Gulbrand opened fire while Legilmar hit the beast with a feeblemind spell. Enraged the crocodile cast Syziria down to the ground below with a toss of it's head and it charged Gulbrand! Another flurry of attacks from the Party soon  put paid to it for ever!

While the others got out various healing wands, Caedwallis waited patiently in place, ignoring the clamouring of his comrades for healing until he was confident the summoning of the demon had lapsed. Then, urged on by an insistent Baba Yaga screeching at them them went through the portal at the top of the stairway...

...Finding themselves in the midst of a lonely, frigid steppe with a bitter wind howling out of what they assumed the north. The sky was an endless leaden, overcast dome above a icy plain of frozen rivers, icy mud and frozen vegetation. Seeking direction from Baba Yaga, somewhat  frustratingly she told them to walk "that way" to get to the "kurgan"! Unable to get any more coherent directions they set off, walking for hours through the frigid landscape until sunset neared.

Gulbrand found a passible campsite with a bit of shelter, and they settled down for the night. As they did a mournful howl carried on the wind proved an unsettling accompaniment. Their sleep was uneasy that night and as Katya stood last watch, about an hour before it was over, the howl sounded again, even those asleep heard it in their dreams!

As the sun began to lighten the leaden sky, Katya was on her way to wake Caedwallis when the howl sounded a third time, but his time she could see the source! Across the frozen river a tall, emaciated creature stood it's pale skin stretched taut over bones that seem to push outward and threaten to split the flesh. Its head resembled that of a monstrous elk, but with deeply inset eyes gleaming with a feral, hungry light, and tattered, bloody lips that parted to reveal jagged broken teeth. Humanoid in basic shape, the creature's legs ended not in feet but in blackened, charred stumps. Instantly the creature floated over and attacked her furiously!

As she attempted to rouse her friends it became apparent that some of them had been adversely affected by the wendigo's howls as Legilmar and then Cedwallis fled in panic, Katya rapidly joining them. Sylziria cast dimension door to get herself across the frozen steam and began a summoning while Gulbrand, foolhardy as ever, grabbed a sword and charged! 

An elder fire elemental appeared and attacked, which helped Gulbrand enormously as the wendigo focused its next attacks on the pesky fire creature. As Gulbrand redoubled his attacks, Sylziria began going through her repertoire of fire spells , summoning another elder fire elemental when the first was destroyed. By the time the others recovered from their panic attack and returned it was all over!

Moving on at Baba Yaga's insistence they walked randomly for what seemed like hours through the icy wasteland until, rising from the bleak plain like a beacon a huge earthen mound appeared. It was clearly artificial, protruding prominently from the otherwise flat steppe.  A low, dark entrance, little more than a cave opening, led into the mound near the bottom on the south face, framed by two mammoth tusks. Two squat, lichen-covered female statues flank the opening, but the details of whatever they once depicted had long since been erased by the years. The other thing they saw was four giants riding enormous beasts, right in their path!

The Forgotten Idol

Sylziria quickly moved forward, casting an elemental blast into the giant riders, which caused them to charge forwards. The giants, mounted on their great beasts were formidable foes, but ultimately the Party's superior firepower took it's toll leaving them free to enter the mysterious mound.

The entrance to the mound was shrouded in a mysterious barrier that seemed to block all light from entering, but there was no bar to actual entry and Gulbrand, Legilmar and Sylziria were first to move in. The huge chamber beyond was dominated by a huge hippopotamus-headed statue holding a double headed axe. As they moved forward an advanced glacial ooze erupted from the statues moth blocking the entrance. As the party moved to defend itself the statue lumbered into life and attacked Syziria, wounding her grievously.

While, Katya, Caedwallis and Gunnar began hacking their way in, through the glacial ooze. Legilmar dashed forward ignoring her own safety and grabbing Sylziria cast dimension door to take them outside the mound. This left Gulbrand alone with the great statue who moved to attack, but fortunately it wasn't too long before the others had hacked their way in to join the fight. It was a brutal combat, the members of the Party taking huge amounts of damage before Legilmar was able to get close enough to use disable construct to abruptly end it!

After healing up, they spotted two exits from this chamber and decided to take the left one. The corridor widened to create two alcoves containing stylized stone statues of sabre-toothed tigers engraved by the ancients with crude glyphs and sigils.

The Hall of Guardians

As the statues moved to attack and pounced at Gulbrand, Legilmar identified them as a kind of constructs know a taotiehs and advised the use of adamantine weapons. Most of the heavy lifting in the combat was left to Gulbrand while most of the rest of the Party fell into support roles, though Katya got too close at some points and was attacked and grabbed though she managed to wriggle free. Legilmar, her magic limited by the taotieh's construct nature  cast a retribution hex on them which helped considerably, while Caedwallis desperately tried to keep every one alive! Eventually the constructs were all defeated, Legilmar and Katya finding an instant fortress in the remains.

They moved forward through a tunnel to the north only to find their way blocked by a roof collapse, which Gulbrand advised looked very recent and was probably deliberate. They headed back towards the idol room, only to meet a winter witch Cold Sister and four Winter Guards coming the other way,  presumably to investigate all the commotion. Gunnar and Gulbrand immediately charged-in while Katya merrily tossed fireball spells from her wand and Legilmar hexed anything that moved. The surviving Winter Guards and the Cold Sister, finally fell to a flame strike from Caedwallis.

The next room had a must air about it and smelled faintly of decay. hundred of bundles of pelts and hides were stacked against the walls which Legilmar and Caedwallis surmised were votive offerings left by whatever people had built this place long ago. As Gulbrand moved towards the exit there was a rustling sound among the pile sof hides and a hollow serpent slithered out and attacked him, wrapping the fighter in its coils.  As the others moved in, those nearbyy were covered in clouds of dust shed by the creatures and felt their skin begin to wrinkle and flake as the hollow serpent's dessication aura affected them.

The Witch Queen

Gulbrand and Sylziria between them eventually managed to destroy the hollow serpent, and after healing up and Katya finding a cloak of resistance among the pelts, they began to move on through the complex. Sylziria cut her thread of fate to relearn some of her spells as they moved forward. Almost immediately, they came across another room with what appeared to be two of the taotieth they had encountered before. Unwilling  to face another gruelling encounter Sylziria used dimension door to bypass the area.

A long curving corridor led to a a huge set of doors with a curious symbol written upon them. Legilmar and Sylziria moved forward to inspect it unfortunately discovering it was a symbol of vulnerability. As the power of the symbol ripped through the Party, the doors swung open of their own volition to reveal a chamber cut from the heart of the kurgan in the shape of a crescent moon. A pale glow from the centre of the room illuminated two tall stone statues. The one on the left  was a crude female figure with exaggerated feminine features, an ancient fertility idol representing the name less goddess revered by the original builders of this mound. The one on the right was much more skilfully carved with more modern techniques, depicting a beautiful woman standing tall and proud, robed in witch's garb, her left hand extended outward to receive a supplicant and her right holding up a crescent moon above her head. Between the two statues, an ancient, pitted iron cauldron bubbles over a fire pit, steam rising from its contents, and giving forth the pale, white radiance that provided the room's dim light. A tall mirror with a frame of glittering ice stood behind the cauldron. Also in the room was their objective - the witch queen Elvanna herself, guarded by two slimy demodands.

Elvanna was first to react casting mass suffocation on them. As the Party struggled to breath as the air was wrenched from their lungs one of the slimy demodands summoned two tarry demodands to attack Caedwallis and Sylziria while the other moved to protect Elvanna. As the others struggled to breath, Katya collapsing dying to the floor Caedwallis cast anti-magic shell to suppress the summoned demodands. Gulbrand and Legilmar cut their tread of fate to remove the suffocation effect on them and the fighter charged in. Sylziria cast dimension door to move into the room, grabbing Legilmar and Katya, who's boon from Baba Yaga had kicked in restoring her to life.

As spells flew wildly round the room from the various protagonists and Gulbrand's sword hewed at the demodands slimy hides, Caedwallis charged forward attempting to suppress the Elvanna's magic, but the witch queen cast mage's disjunction to dispel the effect. Unfortunately this also allowed the tarry demodands to rejoin the fray. Sylziria summoned an elder fire elemental which only served to trigger the release of one of the cavern's original guardians as  one of the statues sprung into life. In retaliation Elvanna cast an ice tomb hex on her.

Eventually, as they struggled valiantly against what appeared to be overwhelming odds they realised they had to focus their attacks  on Elvanna and ignore her guardians. This proved more effective, though painful, and though all of the Party bore fearsome wounds, the witch queen was eventually slain. Her attendant demodands, their patron was gone fled the scene, leaving the Party to savour their triumph. In the aftermath, Sylziria took the doll containing Baba Yaga's spirit and following instruction bathed it in Elvanna's blood, freeing her. With a flash of light, the Party appeared back in the main room of the Hut - much to Anastasia and Zhorka's surprise!

Baba Yaga herself stood opposite them in person. She regarded each of them with a piercing gaze and them offered then a boon. Caedwallis requested Golarion be freed from the eternal winter gripping it , to which she agreed and the air was filled with the sound of a thousand mirrors smashing. Baba Yaga then moved the Hut back to Whitethrone and taking Anastasia with her, set out into the city to deal with anyone still loyal to her errant daughter. This left the Party somewhat at a loose end and so they decided to head for the nearest tavern, Sylziria going to look-up Greta on the way.

What Happened to our heroes next?

	Caedwallis Initially, Caedwallis joined the others, as a follower of the new queen, but, growing embarrassed by the levels of attention, moved to a cave to the west and became a hermit, dedicated to the study of magic. The Book of Eibon led him down dark paths and he started tunnelling, until he found Deep Ones off the coast. His cave soon gained a dark reputation and he masked the entrance with a maze of walls of stone and permanent illusions. Eventually, driven mad by his failure to understand why Dispel Magic had worked, he tunnelled up from below the sea floor, flooding his home. The maze became a draw for adventurers, and many tried to see fortune there, most finding only death.
	Katya Katya offered to help the queen settle in and generally based herself around court. She also put word out and tried to find the bunch of nomadic entertainers & odd-jobbers she was originally with before joining the Party, to see who survived & help out, maybe get them a gig or two at court. She also went on missions outside the court for the queen or just wandered off occasionally, still having a broad streak of wanderlust in her.
	Gulbrand Gulbrand admired the courage and bravery of young Anastasia whilst in the prison camp whilst facing Rasputin. Gullbrand went to the palace to offer his services to protect the Queen as in the future she might need a strong sword arm.  Gulbrand hopes that Anastasia will make a good queen and govern her subjects well.
	Gunnar
	Legilmar Legilmar offered her services to the new Queen that very night thinking that who but someone who had trod the path of a Winter Witch could advise the Queen how not to go that way.  That and the Queen (not being an Issian native) might find a fellow Russian speaker somewhat useful!! Legilmar watches the wastes – looking out for the evil that she knows must eventually come from the cold, cold North.
	Sylziria Sylziria offered herself as Councilor to Anastasia, the young queen Whitethrone. Sylziria hopes to counter / temper Baba Yaga's future influence over the young queen. At the same time Sylziria seeks out the female Winter Wolf, Greta, with the aim of fulfilling her promise to help Greta find a way for her to assume human form even when she's not in Howlings or Redtooth.
	Baba Yaga After removing the surviving Elvanna loyalists, Babay Yaga returned to wandering the Planes in her magical Hut. No doubt at some point she will return to Golarian to once more cause trouble.
	Anastasia Nikolaevna Installed on the throne of Irrisien after a  a band of adventurers thwarted the plan of Elvanna and her brother, Rasputin. The life of the common people of Irrisen knew a marked improvement in her first years of rule, yet many winter witches are resentful and regard her as the Fraud Queen.