Varus' Journal: Entry #3: The Witch, the Well, and…the Butler? (or Consequences Schmonsequences)

Episode 3: The Witch, the Well, and…the Butler? (or Consequences Schmonsequences)

By: Stan Lingle

After saving Sir Klavin from the clutches of the second dragon man and his bandits, our group got a well-deserved rest. A magnificent feast was held in our honor, with many courses and much drinking. Sir Klavin toasted our efforts and thanked us. He invited us to go on a hunt with him after the Guldize festival. After that, the townsfolk warmed to us. Passersby greeted us in the streets. Merchants made favorable, or at least honest, deals. Several admirers came forward. Varus, as a performer, was used to being in front of crowds. Most in the group had never experienced this new-found public favor, and several found it disquieting. From experience, Varus also knew to take such attention with a grain of salt. The mood of the crowd (or townspeople) could change quickly if the situation changed.

The bandit that we captured was questioned. It turned out that he was not a cultist. He and his group had been paid up front to capture travelers and transport them to the dragon nursery…to be used as food for the dragonlings. He revealed that Syythren'daal was an ancient wyrm, a very powerful one. Which means it was even bigger than the green dragon we saw, thought Varus. He believed someone was controlling the dragon or the dragon was controlling the cult. After questioning, the bandit was sentenced to death and hung.

After the feast, we went our respective ways to take care of business. A strange mist descended on the town, and it sat from dusk ‘til dawn. Varus started hearing “Auntie Murphy is to blame” more and more around town. He also discovered that he was becoming sensitive to sunlight. By the end of the week, it was painful to go out during the day. Everyone else suffered from bizarre waking nightmares.

We met at the tavern one evening. Basel and Varus decided it was time to discuss their research with the rest of the group.

“It is time to talk of the gems!” announced Basel, “Varus, what do you think?”

“Yes, we should discuss what we have found,” agreed Varus. “Basel?”

“We have found that the first gem emanates planar magic.”

“For my part, I have discovered that the second gem emanates abjuration magic,” continued Varus. “Of particular interest, if you place a metal object against the gem, the object will disappear.

“Valentia also found a verse that she shared with me. A very interesting verse:” Varus read it to the group.

With soft-spoken chants, the Fiver were granted

gems that would free the Banished

Where once they were placed, on ley lines,

Did the great gate ignore edicts lost in time?

Together, the gems bind, but create frailty

Balance will be lost and Ao must trust,

But dejected the saviors to a new reality

The lives of innocent will not be lost.

The Banishment of Tiamat

“These two gems, and this verse, have convinced me…that they are involved with the efforts of the cultists to try and bring Tiamat back from her banishment. This is very serious business.”

As we discussed amongst ourselves, we realized most of us had been having nightmares or visions. Tomeck saw a great being chiseling huge tablets. Flidais saw the end times, when five heads came together. Basel’s screaming nightmares have gotten worse; he also heard chanting outside his room.

We had also received many requests for help since rescuing Sir Klavin. Varus was surprised at how many people in town needed help. When we compared notes, there were six distinct requests for help:

·         Boys were going missing. A local family asked for help after their child went missing overnight. They said that another group of children have gone missing as well the night before..

·         An eerie wailing had been coming from the old town well. Mysteries lurk around it as pets and livestock have been going missing. Children and the town drunks claim that they hear whispers and chittering down the well.

·         The noble houses were in turmoil. Many of them have received dragon teeth and threats, as well as having nightmares. They were in fear of being killed in the middle of the night.

·         Giants were causing turmoil on the King's Road and have been raiding anyone that crosses their path.

·         "The Reaper" was on the loose, as he was every autumn. He was blamed for rusted tools and missing crops.

·         A team of foresters found another nursery of dragon eggs. It smelled terrible.

There was only a week or so to Guldize. There was no way we could investigate all of these mysteries in that time. What to do? Nagi told us that he had received a vision from his god—every decision has a consequence. There was a lengthy debate about what to do. Varus wanted to investigate the dragon nursery, arguing that it may be another part of the cultists plans. Tomeck wanted to try and rescue the kids that had gone missing. And Basel wanted to go down the well. He had a vison that something was down there. After many drinks and much debate, we decided to try and rescue the children and pursue the others if we had time.

We invited Alvin Simon-Theodore over to the table to talk with him about the missing boys. He seemed a little squirrely about discussing the matter.

“Well, I reckon at least 3 boys have gone missing due to the fog. One of them was Cayenne Wheathold’s boy. He’s a farmer, and not a superstitious one. The locals don’t care for him.

“Why is that, do you think?”

“He’s very boastful about being a farmer; he thinks his crops are much better than the other farmers. But he’s one to talk. His sons have stolen from the neighbors,” Alvin chittered. “Most of the boys that have gone missing were urchins, although one was nobility.”

Alvin said all of them had contact with this Auntie Murphy. Varus had already experienced how reluctant people were to discuss her. They refused to talk about the subject. With much persuasion, Varus convinced Alvin to tell us that she was in the woods. But he claimed that he did not know where, exactly.

We loaded up the carriage and headed out to talk with Cayenne Wheathold. When the farmer answered the door, Basel tried to play it tough. Cayenne was hot and told him to piss off. Varus stepped up and persuaded the farmer to talk with him. He was very obviously very nervous, finally admitting that he had known the children were being taken, but was too afraid to do anything about it. Anyone that interfered would be cursed. Nagi took the wife aside and talked with her separately.

Tomeck was bloody pissed at these parents, who had let their child be taken, but he held his tongue. But his contempt was clear on his face.

After much cajoling and intimidation, Cayenne finally agreed to show us how to get to Auntie Murphy’s place and try to rescue the children.

“In order to do this, I need ingredients. Hen’s blood, wet vellum, and spider talons.”

“Can you write that down?” asked Basel. Then we scrambled to assemble the strange ingredients.

“For me to do this, you must grind up the spiders and add it to the hen’s blood. And drink it.”

As most of us looked on in amazement, Basel drank down the strange concoction. The room spun for a moment…and a map appeared in his mind’s eye.

“I see a map in my mind! Auntie Murphy. She’s in the forest of Woe! I see the way to her place. It’s one or two days away.”

“Then we should be on our way immediately,” urged Varus.

There was a stuffed owl on the mantelpiece. As we started to leave, it’s head turned—and looked right Basel! Tomeck slammed it with his staff. It puffed into smoke…and insects crawled into the wall.

“Why did you do that?” Basel asked in surprise.

“She’s watching,” answered Tomeck, looking around. Then it all made sense to Varus. She was watching. Auntie Murphy. None of the townspeople wanted to talk because she really was watching them. Even in their homes. And if they talked or did anything, their family would suffer.

We hastily bid the farmer and his wife goodbye with mixed emotions. Basel hooked up the horses, hugging and kissing Rao affectionately. We headed out into the woods.

“Which way should we go?” wondered Basel.

“Umm, don’t you have map in your head?” asked Varus quizzically.

“Ah, yes. Ranger, I shall tell you which way to go,” Basel declared, even though Tomeck was driving the carriage. As we proceeded deeper into the woods, we saw more and more owls in the woods. Upon closer inspection, they seem to shimmer, as if they have a glamour on them. Magic, most certainly the witch’s. She had eyes everywhere; we wouldn’t be sneaking up on her.

Flidais saw a very large one, a great horned owl, and fired her bow at it but missed. At least 20 owls flew up and away from that.

“Basel, how much farther is the tree you saw?” asked Varus.

“It’s at least another day to reach her house.”

“We should not stop. We must press on,” Nagi urged. We press on through the day; those in the carriage tried to get some sleep. After a long ride, we came to the tree that Basel had seen in his vision. We finally come to an open path, where the brambles had retreated into the forest. Will-o-wisps of light glowed along the path.

“I’ve often seen these will-o-wisps in the swamp,” Flidais noted, “Magical lights. According to legend, they are souls that have been sacrificed for no meaning. They are rumored to mislead travelers until they become hopelessly lost, and worse.”

We walked by a pond. Varus looked into it but saw nothing, Flidais looked in, and two ghastly hands burst from under the water and tried to drag her in. She managed to jump back, but not before she saw many bodies under the water.

“Victims of Auntie Murphy, I fear.”

We saw the house, which was ringed by a crude palisade, and crept up silently. There was a huge hulking figure leaning over an elderly person. Basel recognized the language as Abyssal.

“A deal’s a deal, I gave you this, now you owe me this.”

He could not see to what they were referring. The large hulking figure turned and started marching off, turned into an owl, and fluttered off. The elderly person went back into the house. From inside, screaming began. It sounded like children’s voices.

Without a word to anyone, Nagi ran up and kicked in the door. Evidently, we were starting the battle with Auntie Murphy. For some strange reason, Varus could only think, At least I got chicken. As Nagi burst in, he saw several children in the room, filthy and dressed in rags. They all reeled back from the monk in horror, not knowing what to expect, just as another child scuttled into the group. Was that the shapechanging witch? Nagi worried.

Nagi confirmed the children’s worst fears as he slammed his quarterstaff into one boy, punched another one, and then used some of his chi to punch a third. He proceeded to knock another out and break his arm, and then landed a crushing blow on another one, putting him into a coma.

“So, looks like it’s you and me, kid”. Then he knocked the last kid out. Before anyone else had even arrived.

“I saved the kids!” he shouted out the door.

Outside of the cottage, Basel chucked a javelin at the polymorphed owl. It fell to the ground and turned into a very large humanoid. Tormeck blasted it with two volleys of magic missiles and ran away. Varus sang a song of enchantment and magically suggested that the giant creature help us.

“My, you are a large fellow. Would you help us against that nasty Auntie Murphy? She is quite mean.”

“Okay. Me help.”

“Paladin, get in here!” Nagi shouted as he and Flidais added insult to injury in a very literal sense and tied up the poor beaten and bloodied boys. Basel entered and cast divine sense at Nagi’s request.

“Certainly, there is evil in the hut, but not the children,” Basel glared at Nagi.

All of the boys were wearing amulets, and they started vibrating. Varus asked the giant to help get the children out, and he agreed. Flidais grabbed one of the amulets and cut it off, but it spoke in her mind and told her Kill Your Companions. She managed to resist the compulsion and put the amulet in a sack. Flidais cut off another amulet and was told to Poison Them. She was able to resist once again. Nagi followed suit, but when he cut off his second amulet, he saw Auntie Murphy. His expression changed, and he turned and left the hut. Basel blessed the ranger, the sorcerer, and himself (#blessed), and then cast a spell on his mace so that it struck like thunder.

Varus noticed that a giant tattoo had appeared on the chest of the ogre, but he still seemed under control. Nagi left the cottage with a blank expression on his face and headed towards Tomeck, who was just coming up after running away. The bard sensed something behind him and spun around, face to face with Auntie Murphy. She was hideous, her blue skin covered in gore, with abyssal horns on her head. Varus had heard of such evil creatures in stories. She was a night hag, a demon that troubled dreams and loved to torment good souls. She cackled. Varus paled.

“Well, well. Auntie Murphy wants to make a trade. A trade of your friend’s soul for the boys. He is interesting. He almost killed six children. What do you say?”

“No deal,” Varus answered defiantly, although he was troubled by her statement about Nagi. Was she just lying to throw him off? Why would Nagi hurt the kids?

Auntie Murphy attacked, slashing Varus twice with formidable claws. He could feel her trying to take his life force as well, but resisted. Even so, he was badly hurt and stumbled away. Tomeck realized almost too late that the monk was actually attacking him, but he was able to dodge the sudden treachery. He cast burning hands and retreated.

Things were looking bleak when the ogre ripped the doorframe off the cottage and slammed it down on the night hag. Then he picked her up and slammed her into the stone wall. Amazingly, she didn’t’ seem that hurt by the powerful attack. Flidais came out of the hut and fired an arrow right into her chest. She looked at Flidais and smiled, and expelled the arrow from her body without touching it. Nagi finally managed to shake off the spell. He dashed over and stabbed her with his silver short sword. The sword stuck in her and she screamed.

“Varus, stab the witch with your rapier!” Nagi shouted. The silvered weapons were quite handy.

Basel ran up right then and bashed the witch with his mace. The thunderclap shook the ground and slammed her against the wall. She grabbed his shield but could not budge it, so she cast a spell on Basel. For a moment, he seemed to be in the pond with the bodies. He was able to resist, not realizing the dangerous spell she had cast. But nobody puts Basel in the pond. He stabbed her with his javelin of fire. She started turning ghostly, and we knew that we had to finish her before she did. If she survived, she would not stop until she had taken her revenge. Tomeck blasted her with missiles of magic while Varus hit her mind with dissonant whispers. The ogre charged in, knocked Basel up against the hut wall, and slammed the doorway down on… the palisade. Flidais hit with another arrow combined with a hail of thorns. Basel then took her head clean off with a mighty blow of his mace. It landed near the palisade and glared at Nagi and Basel. Basel cut off one of her horns as a trophy.

With the battle over, Varus led the ogre down the path for a while, thanked him for his help, and sent him on his way. He headed off into the dusk. We searched the cottage and grounds and found a considerable hoard accumulated by the witch. There was a phylactery of health, 5 scrolls (fireball, prayer of healing (10 minutes casting, 2d8 + spellcasting ability), spider climb, etc.), 7 potions, a longbow that radiated evocation magic (string from the ethereal plane, arrow of ethereal force), studded leather of poison resistance, 350 gp, and 10 pp. There were many vials of spell components and a ledger written in Primordia. There were also vials with numbers on the corks. There were empty vials with Varus and Nagi’s names. The amulets that the children were wearing have crumbled to dust.

When everything was secured, we loaded up the boys up in the carriage and made the long ride back to town. We gave food and water to the conscious ones, who were noticeably wary of the monk. It was early morning by the time we made it back to town.

We informed the town guards that we had killed Auntie Murphy and rescued the missing boys and. Her body was out there, but the guards didn’t know the woods and had no intention of retrieving it. We healed the kids and reunited them with their parents.

Dawn came with no fog, but Basel still had the screaming nightmares and heard the mildly distracting chanting. Basel, Varus, Tomeck had the same dream of fog. Basel was up early to visit the blacksmith. We had taken the suit of plate mail from the second dragon man to the blacksmith. Everyone chipped in to help pay to have the large armor adjusted to fit the paladin. Basel was very excited.

“Adventures, let us pursue the well and the hammer!”

We headed down to the old town well. Varus peered down into the well and saw a clown looking up at him.

“You got nothing. And if you come, you’ll float too.”

He shook his head, and the clown was gone. He could see water at the bottom of the well, but rocks were visible, so the water wasn’t deep. We brought the carriage close and tied a rope to it. Basel slid down clumsily and cast detect evil, his mace glowing. The light revealed a chamber that was a 15-foot cube. There was a corridor that led north, as well as doorways on the south and east walls. The rest of the party joined Basel, and then we were all silent as we took a moment to listen. Some the wall structure was crumbling down here. Then we smelled the heavy, sweet smell of death to the north. Nagi lit a torch and we headed that way.

Varus cast invisibility and moved up ahead of the others. There was silver webbing here, spider silk. He came to the doorway of a 40 x 40 room with a 30-foot ceiling. Gossamer webbing that almost glowed filled the room. He saw shapes cocooned in the webbing, and they became clearer as he studied them. A cow. Small pets. A halfling! A glimpse of a metal haft. Nothing was moving. As he moved back, he heard skittering. For some unfathomable reason, he decided to don the studded leather armor of poison resistance that they had found…at the witch’s place. In the middle of a possible battle. Without telling anybone.

The bard created the minor illusion of a dog entering the room, but there was no reaction. He cast sleep, and all the animals and the halfing went to sleep. Varus recognized the halfling as Tommy Ninefingers! Varus signaled the group to come up, and we rescued the halfling and torched the webs. When most of the webs were burned away, it revealed a skeleton clutching a hammer. Tomeck blasted the skeleton with a firebolt, and the it caught on fire, but it seemed to clutch the hammer even more tightly.

Then all hell broke loose. Flidais pulled her new bow and fired a force arrow at the skeleton. It shot out and then reversed course and struck the ranger! Then she found it nearly impossible to put the bow away. Nagi was horrified with images of mummies and his body rotting away after being touched by one. Varus went blind.

Showing some semblance of wisdom, we decided to retreat up the well, but when we got there, the shaft had been webbed. Two purplish spiders were there and not there, phasing in and out. We sprang into action. Nagi missed with his sword, but hit with an unarmed strike. Tomeck fired twinned magic missiles at them. Varus hit one spider with Dissonant Voices and inspired Basel. Flidais slashed the webs, which seemed to resist. Nagi was bitten and poisoned badly. Both spiders disappeared. Basel tried to climb up the rope with the sleeping halfling, but cannot keep going. Nagi tried to climb over him, and all three tumbled back down the well.

“I cannot be of much help if I can’t see,” announced Varus. “Hand me the rope.” He grabbed it and started climbing. Flidais cured Nagi, and then one spider phased in; Tomeck blasted it with magic missiles, but it bit the ranger. The other spider appeared in the well and bit Varus, hurting him badly. Basel cast Bane on the spiders and put Tommy Ninefingers on his back, but could not climb the rope. Nagi stabbed the spider but missed two other attacks. Varus managed to cast a sleep spell on the spider attacking him, and it fell down the well and died. Flidais stabbed the other spider and killed it. Varus climbed up the rest of the way and dragged himself out of the well. Flidais took the halfling and climbed up to join Varus. No one else followed.

“Hello? Where is everyone? Why aren’t you joining us?”

“We’re going after the hammer. We’ll be back soon. When we give the signal, start the carriage and pull us out.”

The others went back to the room, and Tomeck blasted the skeleton with magic missiles again. They heard a voice.

“It is a hard monster that hides from day with many legs and many eyes and silver chain.”

The skeleton’s hand released the grip and dropped the hammer. Basel grabbed it, and the walls started crumbling. They all ran for the well shaft and the grabbed the rope. Varus heard them yelling and signaled Flidais to start the carriage. Nagi, Flidais, and Basel were pulled up and out of the well, although Basel slammed against the ceiling. As he went up the well, a large rock fell on him, but he deflected it and was not crushed. The well crumbled in as they escaped, barely escaping the collapse.

Basel inspected the hammer, which had a horse’s head and mane, and realized it was magical. After that, we headed back to town and directly to the temple of St. Cuthbert. Flidais erupted into black flame and passed out when we got there, but the Cuthbertians saved her. They were willing to remove the curses on the witch’s magical items as well, but at a cost. They removed the curses from Nagi’s amulet of resistance, Flidais bow, which now shot black flame arrows. They removed Varus’ blindness, and the studded leather now had spider climb. He gave them a donation of 20 gp. We also found out that Flidais’ soul was cursed, or tainted somehow.

We went to the Defeated Pillow and showed Alvin the vial of blood with his name on it.

“Alvin, what is the deal with this?”

“My great great-grand-father sold out to her. Only the seventh son of a seventh son can bring him back.” Then he faded away, like a ghost! We needed to do something with the other samples. We headed back to St. Cuthbert’s with all of the blood and gave it to Nagi. Basel blessed the vials, and they started breaking and bursting into black flames, which evaporated when they hit the floor.

Since there was a little time left, we decided to follow up on the noble houses complaints. They had reported doors and windows being opened in the night. Lizards nailed to the walls. Dragon claws in their beds. Terrible nightmares. Caravans have almost stopped. People have been received exploding runes. Some nobles say the cultists are shaking them down, quite possibly one of the other noble houses. One of the nobles finally revealed that is was one of the noble houses closely related to Sir Klavin. The Dal’ren family. Just more recent upstarts. Came in before Tormund. They came from a land of ice and snow. We waited until dark and went out to investigate.

The Dal’ren family lived in a longhouse on the King’s Road. As we approached, we could see that they displayed the Cult of the Open Hand. There was no doubt now. We would strike. Varus sang a song and disappeared. Tomeck knocked on the door. When the butler answered, he introduced the group. Nagi intimidated the butler and pushed his way in over his objections. There was a large parlor with sumptuous furnishings. There were gorgeous ceramic dragons of all colors, including silver, and gold, and bronze. There was an ornate gong on a stand with a sign beside it.

Hit once in case of emergency.

Someone of obvious noble bearing entered the room.

Jeeves was obviously peeved. “You have…unexpected company, my Lord.”

“Thank you, Bartleby. Good evening, guests. My name is Draco Dal’ren. How may I help you?”

“We are here to help with the recent struggles of the nobles and heard that you had been affected,” Tomeck told him, “We wanted to help.”

“Well, your reputation proceeds you.” Tomeck schmoozed with Draco, who asked the sorcerer to join him for a drink. Draco led him past the coat room, storage, the kitchen, and a bunk room to his study. He poured wine for them both. Tomeck explained the situation and pretended to drink with Draco. He put his boots on the table. Draco drank his goblet, set it down…and grabbed Tomeck’s goblet and drank it as well. He slammed the goblet down, and flipped the table at Tomeck. The half-elf dodged, but a cultist came out of a closet and him as well. Draco took a 5’ foot step towards Tomeck, pulled out a scimitar and slashed. Tomeck threw up a shield spell just in time and blocked the attack. He stepped back but got hit hard, then unleashed burning hands on both of them.

Bartleby tried to find the hammer to ring the gong. Flidais put the Hunters Curse on him and but missed with an arrow. The butler turned and kicked the gong, and a pit opened under Nagi and Basel. They managed to avoid falling in, but were splashed with acid. The monk dashed out of the foyer, through the kitchen, and into a collections room, which had two large, stuffed owlbears. Basel charged Bartleby, but the butler pulled a cord and almost pitched Basel back into the acid pit. Basel recovered and slammed the butler with his new hammer. Flidais shot Bartleby with her bow. Basel dropped his shield, took his hammer in both hands, cast divine smite, and crushed the damn butler’s head.

During this time, Varus, still invisible, had searched the bunk room and found royal documents and…some more pieces of the map! He grabbed everything and searched for valuables. After that, he splashed oil all over the bunk room, set the room on fire, left, and closed the door.

Nagi ran up beside Tomeck and attacked, but couldn’t hit through the doorway.

“I see you like to play with fire. Play with this!” Draco sneered. He opened his robe and threw two vials of alchemist’s fire, splashing both with magical fire. Tomeck cast magic missiles in return, killing the cultist and badly injuring Draco, then ran away. Nagi ran in and killed Draco and searched the body. He smashed a vial of alchemist’s fire on his body.

On the way back, the monk checked out a glimmer in the owlbear’s mouth, which turned out to be a gem. The mouth slammed shut and snapped his quarterstaff. Nagi smashed the beak and managed to retrieve the gem. Varus told everyone we had to leave now. The house caught on fire and we all fled.

The longhouse burned through the night and burned down to the stone foundation by the following dawn. That night, after it had cooled, we went back to investigate. After a short search, we found a hatch with drag marks. We opened the hatch and headed downstairs. At the bottom was a stone door, which we opened. A stone corridor ran out of sight. On the right was a room roughly 15’ x 15’ with leather strips hanging down from the ceiling. Basel went first and discovered that there were metal hooks embedded in the leather straps, and he took some severe damage. Nagi took out the hooks, and noticed what looked like poison on them. Basel looked bad. Tomeck blasted the leather strips with firebolts. Flidais and Varus healed the paladin.

Nagi found three crates and we busted them open. In the first were clothes of noble birth, daggers of the open hand, and letters with runes. In the second was a cache of coins and gems (1500 cp, 900 sp, 60 gp, 59 gp gem, 2 chyrso 50 gp, etc.). There was also a healing potion, and two recipes: one for a healing potion and one for a bag of holding. The final crate, held forged official documents that promoted a new noble birth and detailed a scheme to overtake the nobles. Varus gathered up all of the documents so that Tyala could examine them with her expertise.

With no time remaining before Guldize, we had taken care of three of the threats facing Norrington. Auntie Murphy was gone…hopefully. The old well was no longer a threat. And an evil noble house had been destroyed. But the festival would start soon. What of the other three? The giants on the road? The dragon and its allies? The Reaper? We knew the storm was coming. Varus started investigating the unidentified magic items so that we would have as much help as possible for what was to come.