Session 6: Within the Den of Evil

General Summary

Tyr, Medea, Nienna, and Kaithia were trapped within the tree in the middle of the marsh. There was only one way forward and seeing little option pushed on. The room did not special it had a simple bed, a low fire with a bubbling cauldron resting on it, and a simple workspace. They searched the room and found that one of the walls was nothing more than an illusion as their hands passed through it. The group moved cautiously and was greeted with a horrific sight. Roots of plants, and trees breached through the dirt ceiling above; hanging from the roots were several bodies all brutally scarred or wounded. The smell of rot and decay permitted the chamber and nearly caused Medea to throw up her dinner.   They followed a set of stairs that hugged the outer edge of the 20ft. tall chamber. They reached the bottom of the stairs and found themselves wading through knee-deep, murky water. Kaithia struggled as it came up to her waist but they saw a door and with Nienna casting light they made their way through the darkness. The water sloshed around them with each heavy step forward. It felt like the mud was holding their feet as they entered a hallway. As they did Tyr felt his foot slip along the edge of a deep pit and he felt hands grasping from the edge of the pit threatening to drag him down. He nearly did if not for the help of Kaithia and Nienna pulling him back from the edge.   Weary of the danger this place had they continued on. They came to crossroads with one path to their left opening into a wide room with an iron-bound door lodged between the walls of the earth. To their right, the passage wound its way with a doorway sticking out in the hallway. They decided to head right first moving slowly as Kaithia kept a watchful eye on the water to avoid any more pits. They reached the door and moved the planks of wood that acted as a door to the room.   The room was fairly large and covered in water like the rest of the area. Everything in the room was made out of rotting, waterlogged wood seemingly held together by sheer force of will. Algae and moss-draped the walls and waters. On the single patch of dry elevated earth stood an empty cauldron with a small writing table near it. The group found a journal and opened it to today's date. They read that the individual was busy preparing for a ritual with their sisters to bring about their master through a virgin woman sacrifice. Feeling pressed for time the party left the room and continued down the hallway which led to a large chamber.   They saw another hallway across from them in the chamber a large staircase that led upwards to an unseen room. They saw a number of bodies floating in the stagnant water seeing the horror of the monsters that lived here. They pressed forward once more hoping to save the woman. As Kaithia indicated the large pits that were scattered in the room they carefully made their way across to only hear more movement in the water. A sense of dread came over them as they saw the bodies begin to move on their own and approached them.   Tyr rushed ahead with his flaming sword attempting to cut down the walking dead but even the sword was not enough to stop them as they threw themselves against Tyr. Nienna and Medea faired a little better but their magic only seemed to slow down the zombies. Kaithia threw herself against the undead with daggers in hand cutting head after head of the zombies. The battle was over quickly but not before they got a few bites from the undead. Medea with her music was able to heal them as they climbed the stairs to find themselves in front of a large set of double doors. They heard chanting from behind the door and not wasting any time threw themselves through the doors.   Before the party stood three of the most hideous-looking women that any of them had ever seen. Their skin was a sea-foam green covered in scabs and boils, their hair hung down from their heads in a tangled oily mess that made it look like seaweed, their eyes were bulbous like a fish, and had lips that were cracked and bleeding. What little clothes they had on did nothing to cover their sagging skin that was bloated like a corpse. They were engrossed with a young beautiful woman who was crying and thrashing against the bonds that held her within a blood-drawn circle. All four were held in terror of the three women but mustered the courage to move their legs to save the girl.   As the party began to rouse themselves from their stupor one of the hags noticed them and chuckled as she called upon her dark power to conjure a large floating eye to attack Tyr. Another one of the Hags unleashed an arc of lightning towards Medea and the third summon more undead from the water's depth along the edges of the chamber. Kaithia rushed to attack the witch that was attacking Medea breaking the spell allowing her to once again think. Nienna attempted to cast her spells but the zombies tackled her down to the ground knocking her unconscious. Tyr fought the floating eye and zombies doing all he could to keep them at bay. The witch Kaithia attacked knocked her back with a spell sending her sprawling on the ground. Medea with her words tried to heal Kaithia and Nienna but she too was being swarmed by the Zombies.    The witches wasted no time and finished the ritual with the moon at its zenith as they plunged their cruel daggers into the heart of the young girl. The circle flared to life emitting a black light as the girls' flesh, bones, and blood began to transform. Her body became covered in coarse boar thistles, her legs reshaped themselves into the hooves of a goat, her skin and body expanded and became bloated, her arms became as thick as trees with her nails sharpening themselves into dagger-like claws. Small vulture wings sprouted from her back as her head became elongated with horns and tusks protruding from her face. The witches cackled at seeing their work completed but before revealing in their achievement the beast rammed its tusk through one, cleaved another with its claws, and the third witch was lifted up by the creature and tore off its head drinking the blood of the witch.    It looked down at the party, chuckled, and flew off bursting the small opening at the top of the chamber revealing a way out. The party found the flowers they had set off to find but did not find triumph at completing their task. They gathered the flowers and crawled out of the space and made their way back to the town.