Pardon the Theatrics
General Summary
Vornaar and most of the Party found themselves meandering about Witchmill waiting to be rejoined by Murmus Bigtoe and Grihymm Phrahdrandon. With roughly 24 hours to spare before their planned meeting with the engimatic Lady Mallory, their time was an uncharacteristic lesiure for the group.
Murmus had not been seen since being left in Walcott's Smithy to work on a set of armor for Castian. Grihymm had made a point to visit the local temple of Pelor and left his friends to their own devices for a little over an hour. Grihymm, atop his phantasmal horse, rejoined the group on the town's middle island where Johann VonGruppen was giving an incredibly memorable busking performance.
Despite opting to play the "Battle Hymn of Buhblubuh" and receiving everyone's rapt attention, he found that those present did not seem to recognize the time-honored tune. Nonetheless, he collected a respectable amount of coin, and the Murmusless group continued their meandering around the marketplace, waiting for nightfall.
The Hut in the Market
Committing to their frugality, the group scouted an open space on the market island to make their camp. Waiting for nightfall, Algernon set up his Tiny Hut and the group laid down to rest under the stars (after a fashion). Not seeing any need to keep a watch, each member passed out quite swiftly. Their rest, however, was disturbed after an indeterminate amount of time by a knock on the wall of the hut.
The group awoke to find a number of authoritative-looking individuals standing outside their enclosure.
With a polite knock on the wall of the Hut, Captain Riley Marbelle of the Witchmill guard requested that those inside show themselves. Standing close beside the captain--as usual, according to Vornaar--was her lieutenant Anya Filaurel. The two were accompanied by some additional guards, one of whom was wearing mage's garb.
Faewynn Treewalker and Vornaar exited the hut first to address the arrivals, but perhaps owed to their unexpected awakening, neither were very charismatic in their attempts to defuse the situation. With a nod from Riley, the mage dispelled Algernon's Tiny Hut, revealing the motley crew within.
The captain explained to the Party that what they were doing was making folks uneasy. The magic involved in the Hut, though perhaps trivial to those previously inside, indicated an impressive talent for magic. They explained that such talent was rarely limited to the non-destructive, and a mysterious, impenetrable dome appearing out of nowhere within the city walls doesn't exactly go unnoticed.
Although outfitted and prepared for a fight, the retinue did not seem interested in one. They suggested that there were a couple of inns that the party could use for the night, or if they insisted on using their "pillow fort," the captain suggested they take it beyond the city walls. After being informed that The Iron Oar was a materially cheaper option than The Gambit, the group agreed to spend the night there, which passed without incident thereafter.
Get Over Here
The group reunited with Murmus after sleeping in for once in their strange lives. After hearing of the party's unusual evening, Murmus reported back a pleasant night's rest in the home of Walcott and Lorna, whom he thought were simply delightful hosts. They even took him to see Castian, in a manner of speaking. However, Murmus' account of the meeting was peculiar--to say nothing of the new suit of armor he still carried and intended to give to the Goldblumian elf he just claimed to have seen again.
Vornaar provided a more in-depth tour of Witchmill for his companions, pointing out various landmarks and giving everyone the lay of the land should they need it in the future. This, combined with general meandering, helped them kill some time before evening, when they made their way to The Tower Shop.
Inside, a few patrons were still perusing the wares, but Janice cleared them out as efficiently as ever. Once they were gone, she directed the group to join her around the pedestal in the room's center. At her instruction, each person placed their hand on the pedestal, and to the sound of gears moving beyond view, the center of the room began to elevate. The group found that they were unable to remove their hands from the spots upon which they had placed them. Looking up, it seemed that the domed roof of this room had apparently opened up to reveal... some kind of black void.
Just before reaching the darkness above them, Janice turned to the party and, in a tone somewhat at odds with the abrasive personality they had come to expect from her, she simply said:
Pardon the theatrics.
As the platform entered the darkness and all of the party's vision was totally occluded, there was the sound of several crossbows firing before the void, the central pedestal, and Janice all vanished in an instant. Though most were fortunate enough to dodge this initial volley, an arrow struck Murmus, putting him somehow immediately to sleep. With barely a momment to acknowledge their bizarre, new environs, the party found themselves flanked by four strange humanoids, quite unlike any they had ever seen before.
The next bolts followed quickly behind the first, but these were made entirely of metal and attached to chains that trailed behind them. Several of the party dodged these, but those who were not so fortunate found themselves getting pulled back toward whatever it was that had fired it. With some strength, members of the party found that they could pull the arrow out, but not without pain. Failing to pull it out, however, was more dangerous still as the chain began to retract, pulling its target within melee range. Algernon was the first to suffer this outcome, and he would suffer it again before the battle concluded.
Grihymm would move to wake his slumbering friend Murmus, which he was able to do without issue. Murmus, however, seemed pretty comfortable on the ground, deciding to spend the majority of the fight there. This turned out to be a popular tactic, starting something of a trend within The Party as everyone realized the difficulty this imposed on their opponents' ranged attacks.
Early on in this battle, Johann VonGruppen told a magical joke to one of these strange foes. The thing found it so impossibly funny that he simply retired from fighting for the rest of his life. Although apparently incapable of actual laughter, it fell to the ground and started convulsing, which it would continue to do even after being violently struck. It would continue even after having its entire body heated to intense degrees. The only thing that would ultimately abate this thing's silent laughter was its utter demise.
The young dragons were quite wary of not only the enemies in this space, but also the strange pink mist that filled the pit surrounding the center platform. They would spend most of the fight sticking close to their friends, not daring to approach the odd foes or the hazards around them.
The remainder of the battle would see Vornaar summoning a spectral direwolf by plunging a magical blade into the ground, as well as enemies exploding upon being defeated. Grihymm also unveiled a unique magic to assume the pain of an incoming blow to his friend Algernon. The embattled dwarf would find himself downed by one of these opponents despite Grihymm's sacrifice, however. After some action that none of the party noticed, Algernon's body vanished from the battlefield. They would not see him again before defeating their remaining foes, which they managed to accomplish.
Lady Mallory
As the final foe fell, our friends found themselves far from the fatal fray, in a foyer and face to face with the fabled witch. Slightly disoriented after witnessing an entire room vanish before their eyes, they were relieved to find their friend Algernon the Tall resting peacefully on a couch nearby.
The room in which they suddenly found themselves was warm and inviting, and significantly less imposing than the battleground they left behind. Janice was playing a song on a piano, though she deftly concluded it as the group arrived. The other woman standing before them was regal in both her fashion and demeanor. She had an imposing presence even before she spoke, and her voice only underlined it. Wearing none of the pink that her town and citizens seemed so incredibly fond of, the lady was dressed in autumnal hues of red and orange as she addressed the party.
Lady Mallory addressed the party, apparently impressed with their performance in that fight. She addressed each of the party by name and shared her surprise to see Vornaar in anyone's company--let alone that of this particular lot. The lady told that she was in the business of information, and that she expected the party to have quite a bit of value to tell her. Upon explaining their time at Riverrock, Mallory seemed to relax a bit as their story began to make more and more sense. However, she seemed resistant to answer questions at this juncture.
When she finally inquired into "the camp in the forest," she noted the reaction she provoked among the adventurers. However, when once again they were unable to speak of it, Lady Mallory was swift to piece together the nature of what she called a "very clever curse." At this time, she permitted the party to ask questions of her, although she would reveal little. The party was interested, however, to note that the name Lilli Longshadow apparently meant nothing to her.
After some further conversation, Lady Mallory announced that it was perhaps time to rid this group of their curse. She mentioned that she knew of three possible ways--correctly assuming the person behind the curse was unlikely to lift it for them. Noting that none of the options would be easy--and that all of them would be painful--she shared three possible solutions to their problem.
One path would take them into a tomb of ice; another into a temple of flame. The last option would take them into The Feywild to deal with creatures called hags. Alhough she left the choice to them, she offered one final warning:
You cannot trust anyone who deals in favors.
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