Welcome to Witchmill
Session XI
General Summary
The Party found themselves in Vornaar's swamp cabin, about prepared to make the trip to Witchmill. Vornaar collected a series of magical items he knew he would want to sell in town, and without further ado, the group began their trek to the west.
The group elected to travel by foot along the Wyrmtail River rather than using their boat. With a relatively short walk out of the swamp, Vornaar led these adventurers to a verdant expanse beneath open skies. It was, in fact, the first open air the group had gotten to enjoy since arriving in Crossbones (without the earth rumbling ominously beneath their feet, that is).
Traveling among the craggy hillsides rising up from the plains, the group was able to locate a comfortable and secure spot to set up camp. With another of Algernon's patented Tiny Huts, everyone got cozy and prepared to rest the evening. Grihymm Phrahdrandon also surprised everyone by summoning a large (some might say chonky) warhorse to accompany them on their journey--though the horse had to sleep outside the hut.
The Cube
Just before falling asleep, Vornaar remembered a strange artifact that he had previously found somewhere in The Fellgleam. Knowing that he had had no luck selling it previously, and figuring he had nothing to lose by offering, he allowed The Party to inspect the item--a strange, silver cube that was smooth on all sides. It was quite evidently magical, but everyone had difficulty discerning exactly how. Faewynn Treewalker and Johann VonGruppen were the most successful in their investigations, and though Fae decided not to share her experience with her comrades, Johann was more forthcoming. Johann indicated that--while holding the cube--he had heard some kind of music which seemed distantly familiar to him. Although he had trouble placing it, this seemed to be more than anyone else got out of their experience. If the cube was somehow musical in nature, it apparently made sense for the bard to keep it, and so he did.
The night otherwise passed without incident, although Faewynn Treewalker had some hours to herself while everyone else slept. She thought she might have noticed some smoke rising up beyond one of the crags... but she couldn't be sure, and decided to ignore it. Within an hour, it had vanished, and was later forgotten entirely.
Welcome to Witchmill
The party arrived in town a little before noon, wading through a field of opal blossom bushes on their way to Witchmill's eastern gate. The gate was down, and the guards posted there seemed to have little interest in stopping or questioning the new arrivals, permitting them to enter unimpeded.
Witchmill's east island was, at a glance, beautiful. It was clean and quite apparently affluent, with most of the houses having two stories, and each sporting a plethora of elegant, floral designs inlaid with a rose-gold color that seemed to sparkle in the sun. Compared to the swamp, the damp of Riverrock, and the close-quartered mess of Crossbones, it was very definitely a change of pace for the travelers.
Vornaar had business in The Tower and the party decided to join him. He made a course for the waterway, and the party noted that travel by boat seemed to be a popular means of traveling around Witchmill. Finding no shortage of boatmen along the bank, Vornaar approached the smiling Klim, who was pleased to ferry the group to their destination for 5 Silver a piece. Sadly, there wasn't room for Grihymm's steed, but fortunately, this was no ordinary steed. Grihymm was able to communicate with the horse telepathically, instructing it to investigate the town's Temple of Pelor that he had noticed upon entering.
After a brief trip across the water--and some local history from Klim--the group reached their destination safely--paying the 5 Silver a piece, and a couple in leaving an additional Silver as a tip. Klim, dropping them off at the base of a stairway that led from the water's edge to a bridge entering the Tower, instructed them simply to ring the bell located there when they needed a ride back.
Janice and Castien
Vornaar, instructing the party not to attempt to lie to this woman, approached her and proceeded to sell the things he had come to sell--a scroll of Enlarge/Reduce and an unidentified (but clearly magic) sickle. After an extremely brief bartering session, he was offered 160 gold for both. This he accepted, prompting Janice to deliver his items to a pedestal in the room's center. The top of this pedestal slid away, and Janice placed each item inside. Closing the lid and waiting a moment, she reopened it to withdraw a bag of gold, which she tossed to Vornaar... who failed to catch it. Thankfully, Fae was standing next to him, and caught it for him. She did not even charge him for the bailout.
1 Sorrowbrook Rd.
Necine
Meanwhile, Grihymm was getting to know Castian for himself, and was not exactly enjoying the experience. Castian seemed quite enamored of his whole "look," and although Grihymm made an attempt to intimidate the stranger, he fell a little short and wound up amusing him instead. When Castian reached up and grabbed the dragonborn's chin, turning his head to the side to entertain himself with the sparks being produced there, Grihymm reacted by slapping his hand away. This caused one of Castian's guards to draw a sword and point it at his neck, and it started to look like things were about to get violent. Janice, however, would intervene and--informing Castian that the stock had not changed much since last week--instructed them all to leave before she escorted them out herself. Castian, apparently deciding he was bored after all, exited on his own--leaving the somewhat confused party behind him.
Gods Dammit, Johann.
After some additional bartering and assessing, Johann remembered one last thing with which he was hoping Janice could help. It seems he had this box containing one foot of Threads of the Old Weave, and he was curious what they were worth. Janice was unable to hide her surprise in seeing them presented out of nowhere, and so her offer of 10 gold was met with no small amount of skepticism. This caused Janice's already cold demeanor to grow much, much darker still, and she immediately told everyone in the shop to clear out immediately. None of the remaining patrons hesitated to exit the Tower, and the sound of the ferry bell was heard ringing loudly and desperately soon after.
Johann proceeded to explain that he did indeed understand the value of these artifacts--and he proved it thereafter. Next, as some of her tattoos began to glow, a number of the party suddenly felt themselves affected by unknown magic. Vornaar was able to resist, and Fae never noticed it at all... but Murmus, Johann, and Algernon were not so fortunate. All six, however, heard Janice utter the same words: "Do not leave the city, speak to no one about this, and return here tomorrow evening." She would add, as most of the party turned to leave, that Johann was to leave the Threads behind. Faewynn--in a perhaps misguided attempt to get something for their trouble--suggested Janice give them some kind of collateral in exchange for the Threads. Janice, apparently impressed by the sheer audacity of the request--tossed her an expensive-looking amulet. Pocketing this, Faewynn followed the party out of the Tower.
Somebody's Watchin' Me
Before the party had a chance even to debrief about their strange experience, all but Vornaar suddenly experienced the odd sensation that they were being watched. Standing in the open where they were, there did not seem to be any apparent cause for concern, and it definitely would have been hard to hide if it were someone nearby. Johann instinctually went invisible (which he would remain for the next hour), and found that the feeling persisted even for several seconds after he had vanished. However, within 20 or so seconds, the feeling faded entirely, and no apparent explanation could be found for the odd sensation.
With little recourse, the party ended up ignored it for the moment. They subsequently rang the ferry bell for a trip back to the market island, which they promptly received. Johann, still invisible, may even have managed to make the trip for free thanks to an overly trusting and polite boatman... but his conscience would not allow it in the end. He would leave 5 silver pieces on the seat for the man to later retrieve. Suspecting their friend was up to mischief, Murmus and Grihymm also donated 5 extra silver each after the trip. Although the boatman thought they were just paying for their friends, Fae, Vornaar, and Algernon all paid for themselves, and the man was as confused as grateful for the exorbitant tips. Later finding Johann's silver, the man just seemed dumbstruck as he parted ways with the generous group.
Grihymm's steed would soon rejoin the group with telepathic tales to tell about the Temple he had visited while the party was away.
Walcott's
The natural destination for Murmus at this point was to visit the smithy, and the party would join him on his quest. Moving through the intense heat and soot-filled air with a practiced ease, Murmuse was happy to find a fellow dwarf, who seemed absolutely thrilled to meet him. Walcott embraced Murmus and shook the hands of all his friends. He seemed particularly impressed with Faewynn, and felt apparently ashamed of the state of his workshop. He seemed quite sincere in claiming it was not suitable for someone of her elegance. Fae paid this no mind, but nor did she hesitate to leave Murmus behind with the rest of the party.
Mr. Bigtoe, unsurprisingly, remained behind to work on a suit of armor for his new friend, Castian. He also had an opportunity to get to know Walcott and his wife, Lorna, who each informed him that the symbol engraved in his armor seemed familiar to them for some reason...
The Gambit
The remaining party and a still-invisible Johann decided to get their lodging situation sorted for the evening. At Vornaar's recommendation, they selected The Gambit--apparently the quieter of two establishments on Witchmill's west island. Within the hour, they found themselves standing before Sheldon, a visibly ancient tortle and the apparent proprietor.
The group requested a room each, comfortable with the standard size rather than the more extravagant "grand" rooms that evidently cost as much as 50 gold per night. However, even at 10 gold per night, most pockets in this group were fairly shallow. Noting this for themselves, they collectively decided to rely on the Tiny Hut once more. Before leaving, however, they decided to make the acquaintance of a strange--and loud--patron who arrived in the foyer via a column in the room's corner. This column was distinctly reminiscent of similar technology the group had seen being used in Riverrock.
Slept rough last night, boys.
Seeing the man take up a seat in the corner, he decided to join him... although he was still invisible. With a prestigidation flourish, he suddenly appeared seated at the man's table. Shocked and confused, Johann proceeded to test the man for information. The man nervously asked if Johann had the money, and Johann asked if the man had the item on him instead. This made the stranger both confused and apparently upset, as he barked a pointed question at Sheldon about the type of establishment the tortle was running. Fae managed to allay the tension at least slightly by apologizing for "her idiot associate," but it was not enough to keep the man from leaving. He promptly left his seat and returned to the same column that he had used to enter--floating upward to somewhere above.
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