Marriage

The first leg of travel to Whitethrone was mercifully light on falling snow, though the wind was strong. Within hours of setting out, though, the gathering of ravens foretold that the journey would have its share of excitement. The ravens gathered into a pair of flocks while the group spurred into action, with Nadya driving the sled into the forest they had been keeping on their left and Zacarius and Yrrah stopping just inside the tree line with burning spells ready The flocks followed in a stream, chasing the cart into the forest shadows; though many tried to pull up as the group's rearguard let loose, most ravens were burnt to a crisp and the flocks dispersed. The next several meals consisted of roast raven as the group journeyed on.

That evening and the next both passed quietly, though the stores of meat gathered from the evening's hunt went bad before noon on the third day. With no apparent cause, the group disposed of the putrid meat and resorted to the stores that Nadya had packed.

After leaving the forest line to cut across the plains, the group spotted a thin wisp of smoke ahead. A cottage in a small copse of firs came in to view. As the group approached, a stunning young lady with fiery hair emerged from the cottage to plea for help - her husband had been taken by trolls early this very morning. Though distrustful, the group decided to help and followed the troll's tracks back to a ravine about a hundred yards behind the cottage, to a small cave.

A beast emerged as they approached, but it was easy to tell it was far too small to be a troll. Yrrah and Zacarius moved forward to meet the creature with violence while Ash pulled his spyglass, noticing that the beast was a human with a hunch made of moss or fungus. The group engaged the man, dousing him in alchemist's fire and putting arrows to his chest; as they fought him, the fungus hunch appeared to move on it's own, often dodging out of the way of blows to let the host body suffer the strike. The man went down quickly, making it far easier to crush the mold. A quick search identified this as the young lady's husband, and the desiccated, almost mummified corpse of an ice troll under the snow nearby.

The group returned to the cottage to tell the newly-made widow of her husband's fate; though she was heartbroken, she offered hospitality for the evening, which the group accepted. During the night, Ash and Kyezra identified pests disturbing their equipment as gremlins, as they both preferred to sleep outside, away from the obvious trap. Inside, another gremlin attempted to jinx Nadya's bow, and the young lady set her sleeping guests to a deeper slumber, so she could charm her chosen victim to stay with her. Yrrah failed on her third and last attempt.

The next morning, Yrrah acted decidedly out of character, proclaiming that he would be staying to help the young lady as her new husband. Much arguing was had, until Ash took the young lady out behind the woodshed and (after trying to talk her into giving herself away) took an axe to her. She cried out and went to the ground; Yrrah raged from the house to come to her aid, while Nadya and Kyezra drew bead, at least in part to keep Ash from felling a helpless woman.

As Yrrah and Ash fought, Kyezra pulled the young lady from the vicinity, also getting her to admit to what she was, a huldra - a wood wife, a companion to men made of wood, hollow in back. After Yrrah was knocked out, Ash trussed him up to sling on the sled, but Nadya refused, for she would have no bound man on her sled.

Now, a final decision awaits: let the huldra live with her chosen mate, despite her having coerced him with a charm, or find a way to snap Yrrah out of it (or drag him along despite Nadya's objections). The group knows of no way for a charm to last as long as this one apparently has, yet Yrrah is obviously completely changed in goals - he is Destined in blood, and it is extremely doubtful that Destiny is to be a range farmer on the plains of Irrisen...