Return To The Ruins (Warlords Palace)

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

The druid protects the Old Mother as if she were her own, slashing at the first person who comes to attack her.

Initiative: [1d6]=4
Falcata attack: [1d20+1]=5+1=6 [1d6+1]=2+1=3

[silifi]

Sik hesitates, unsure of who of his compatriots to trust in this manner. However, after hearing Xenos shouts, he realizes that some of the group is under the matron's sway.

Unsure of what to do with the staff as his feet, but not trusting such devilish items, Sik kicks the staff towards Xenos - suspecting that the warlock knows better than him what to do with it.

He then charges towards the matron, axe raised.

Initiative: [1d6]=5
Attack:To hit: [1d20+2]=7+2=9 (THAC0:19), damage with battle axe: [1d10+2]=8+2=10

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril moves, attempting to put himself between the Matron and any of the party hell bent on killing the sweet old woman.

"Halt! Please stop. We must work this out. Don't you see that she means no harm?" He scans the group, unable to tell friend from foe any longer.

As Akhilleus approaches, he takes a swing at the man with his staff.

Melee Attack with Quarterstaff: [1d20]=18, damage: [1d6]=1

[OGRE MAGE]

Under The Zakath Desert
Trust Is Hard
Late Afternoon?

Chaos erupts in the tiny underground home once the effects of the strange dance has waned. Kain tries to kick Belloc's staff away, hitting the hundreds of frogs now scattered across the floor and not sliding far from the recovering mages grasp. The cleric warns the others not to pick it up, and to mind the huge white toad that just arrived on the scene. Belloc wipes the blanket of toads off himself as he gets back to his feet, shocked by the explosion of actions erupting all around him. Drest uses the table as a plow, nearly knocking Belloc back to the ground a second time as he tries to pin the frog woman against the wall.

Watching with disdain as the others try to cut down the Matron, Ceana blocks Sik and his mighty ax from destroying her loving mother. Cyril tries the same on Akhilleus, actually striking the armored fighter, but for minimal damage. 1 dam Xenos tries to use his magic on the woman, but the deadly fighter Akhilleus gets to her first. Unafraid of all the horrible superstitions that might come from killing a witch, the man shows no fear, striking the woman dead where she stands. She falls to the floor of the shack with a thud, and the cacophony of her children's chirping suddenly stops abruptly and completely.

As the woman bleeds out a sickly greenish goo onto the floor, her babies all gather around her body, lapping up her fluids and covering her dead body in a mound of living frogs and toads. After hearing the loud gleeping and croaking for so long, their silence is equally as disturbing. The fat white toad sadly hops towards the doorway in silence, slowly heading towards the river.

After a few more moments pass, anyone who was affected by the witches love potions eventually come around to see the reality of the situation.

Actions?

Xenos (DS3) AC5 17/17
Drest (Sc4) AC7 22/22 Diseased
Kainaxarthos (C2) AC6 11/11
Cyril (Pr2) AC8 7/7 CLW Enamoured
Ceana (D2) AC5 13/13 Enamoured
Akhilleus (F3) AC4 31/32
Taibhse (Sh1) AC5 7/7 Enamoured
Belloc (M1) AC6 9/9 +16
Sik (Ba1) AC5 9/12 Diseased

[shaidar]

Xenos

"Well, that was...interesting. I don't think we should hang around."


Did Xenos actually cast the spell and it was wasted, or did not get that far?

[hedgeknight]

Ceana

Shaken from her enamored state, the druid looks around the room and feels a wave of revulsion and nausea wash over her. She jerks as if awoken from a dream and looks around frantically at her companions. "Gods! Did I...what happened? Did I hurt anyone?"

[Rex]

Drest

"No, for now we are all safe. But we best search this place fast and get moving."

Drest begins to search the place.

[Belkregos]

Belloc
reaches for his staff using it to stand up
knowing that his will overcame the challenge is more reassuring than the cold grip the stygian staff, he was its master, his chest felt wider, his eyes clearer as he stood

he dusted and shook off the last clinging frog servants of his vanquished foe and regarded his companions with a stoic gaze, devoid of disappointment, accusation, or reproach towards those who had attacked him. Approaching the bloated frog matron's lifeless form, he refused to dignify the corpse with a kneeling inspection. Instead, he employed the very staff that had served him in battle to turn her face and study her features.

"There must be knowledge in her possession, perhaps a journal," he mused, acknowledging the likelihood that she held valuable information about the area.

as a trophy he took any valuables from the matron lifeless body

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus maintains a fighting stance facing Cyric, but his attention is drawn by the weird spectacle of the frogs covering the Matron's body. He can't hide an expression of disgust with a bit of fear. This eery experience is not something you see or hear of every day.

Once Cyric, Ceana and Taibhse get back their composure, the fighter relaxes. He starts searching the room too, starting by prodding at the dwindling remains of the matron with the tip of his sword.

"I wouldn't have minded working for her, except for the fact that she was a frog thing and tried to enslave us. You did well, Belloc." He says while both are looking at the pulp that once was the Matron. "But what happened to you? You looked quite... blinded by your purpose of hitting her. What's with that staff?"

[Monsieur Rose]

Kainaxarthos

He watches with dismay as Belloc picks the staff back up. Unfortunate. Kain says nothing more about it for now.

"Looking around is a good idea. That garden itself may be valuable." He joins in the search.

[silifi]

Sik pats Ceana on the back. "No, but you did give me a little scare with your sword there."

Sik joins the others in searching for possible treasure in the matron's lair, but focuses his attentions on trying to listen for the sound of the snake he heard earlier.

[Ahlmzhad]

Taibhse

Frozen between his desire to serve this woman and his lust for the staff lying on the ground he has been inert. Belloc's reclaiming the staff breaks that and he slowly comes round to the scene of death and disorder. Hearing Belloc speak of journals he joins the search for anything of value monetary, magic, or knowledge.

[shaidar]

Xenos joins in the search.

[OGRE MAGE]

Xenos would retain the spell since it wasn't actually cast.

Under The Zakath Desert
Killing Hooks
Late Afternoon?

Once the party is sure the Matron is dead, her hundreds of "babies" slowly lapping at her remains, they begin the daunting task of searching this strange place. Rolling the woman's body over deters the feasting toads momentarily, allowing a search to be done. Besides her plain robes, the woman carried a single dagger and wore an odd amulet made of withered flesh and twisted herbs. The shell shaped driftwood castanets she threw off earlier sit on the dirty floor nearby. In one inside pocket is found a ruby gemstone worth about 500 gold coins.

A shelf nearby houses a row of old books, one of them is indeed a journal of sorts. This moleskin tome details out the last 10 years of the fungi garden harvest history, complete with documented details of each species properties and effects. Looking out over the vast garden, Ceana believes this information to be the most valuable of anything else they find. Another book appears to be bound in human flesh, its contents appear to be magical phrases, sigils, and notes on spells. Other books contain information on animals, fish, and many different specie of plants and fungus. A single page of recently scribbled notes has the words dwarfs, philtres, and something about an invaluable magic gem written on it, but the ramblings are otherwise impossible to decipher.

One ledge above the black cauldron contains several glass vials and bottles, 4 of them still containing liquids of varying colors. On the bed rests what appears to be a fabricated doll of a dwarf that has a long iron pin sticking into it. A sack under the bed contains another pair of red rubies similar in size and quality to the one Matron carried. A pewter wash tub sits next to the bed, covered by a thin slab of slate that is balanced precariously on top of it. A slight commotion of movement can be heard from within the tub. And finally, Sik discovers a small wooden box where the hissing noise was coming from. Inside rests a harmless specie of sand snake, likely a pet or possibly even food.

Despite the disturbing number of frogs and toads hopping around, some in the group wonder if they could make this place a temporary underground home base of some kind. Belloc still feels like a god among men, his health nearly bursting at the proverbial seems. Drest and Sik are starting to feel a little feverish and dizzy from their earlier rat bites.

Actions?

I will be rewarding XP for these last few encounters once this search is over and the group decides on what to do with the spoils you've found so far.

Xenos (DS3) AC5 17/17
Drest (Sc4) AC7 22/22 Diseased
Kainaxarthos (C2) AC6 11/11
Cyril (Pr2) AC8 7/7 CLW
Ceana (D2) AC5 13/13
Akhilleus (F3) AC4 31/32
Taibhse (Sh1) AC5 7/7
Belloc (M1) AC6 9/9 +16
Sik (Ba1) AC5 9/12 Diseased

[shaidar]

Xenos will examine the flesh bound spellbook to see if the spells are those of the necromancer.

[Rex]

Drest

"I am not feeling well, not sure how much longer I can keep this up. I think we need to determine what here is magical if at all possible."

[shaidar]

Xenos

"One of those potions might help you. Or there might be a recipe for some potion to fix you up in the journal."

[Rex]

Drest

"Not sure I am ready to just drink random witches potions without any clue. Maybe one of you could figure out what they do from the journal?"

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

"Aye. Most of you are learned people, unlike Drest, Sik and me. Maybe you could take a look in those books and examine those liquids and see what can be done.

You two." To Drest and Sik. "I think you should rest..."

The warrior takes the castanets from the floor, the dagger, the gem and the strange amulet from the Matron's corpse and then the other two rubies from the sack under the bed.

After doing this, the warrior will start patrolling from the entrance of the Matron's house and back inside into the garden, in case something unexpected comes from somewhere unexpected. He also checks the windows, if there are any.

Here's a list of all the objects:

Akhilleus will takes these for save keeping.
(Dagger
3 rubies (500gp each?)
1 amulet made of withered flesh and twisted herbs
1 pair of shell shaped driftwood castanets)

1 moleskin journal with detailed information on fungi species and thejr effects
1 human flesh bound book with magical phrases, sigils, and notes on spells
A single page of notes with the words dwarfs, philtres, and about an invaluable magic gem

4 vials with liquids of varying colors
1 doll of a dwarf with long iron pin

All of these things seem very interesting in my opinion. I think PCs with high intelligence or wisdom should try to identify them after we have found a cure for Sik and Drest.

[Belkregos]

Akhilleus
"I wouldn't have minded working for her, except for the fact that she was a frog thing and tried to enslave us. You did well, Belloc." He says while both are looking at the pulp that once was the Matron. "But what happened to you? You looked quite... blinded by your purpose of hitting her. What's with that staff?"

Belloc
begins to whisper, seemingly reassuring and reminding himself of his responsibilities
'The staff is no mere instrument of power; it is a fissure in reality, a wound in the fragile bubble that separates our existence from the cosmic chaos of the outer realms. It is a small tear now, and only in whispers the desires of the forces beyond seep through, but it beckons to those with hearts steeped in darkness, a tantalizing promise of power at a cosmic cost.

the staff will widen the tear, slowly if Left unchecked, fast if the voice beyond is heed, but it can be restrained by unwavering commitment to hold back the impending chaos. The one who wields it must remain ever vigilant, lest their sanity is forfeit to the forces that yearn to break through.

These forces will employ any insidious strategy to corrupt their wielder. They will whisper promises of power, fulfillment, and control, and they will prey on the wielder's weaknesses and insecurities. It is a constant battle, and the weight of responsibility is immense, The path of righteousness is fraught with peril, but it is the only way.