DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3W - Two Paths Diverged Near the Evermoors

Jaliera

"No way! I'd lose after one drink. So I'll concede now and save myself the embarrassment."

She laughs. It is good to relax after the trauma of that giant encounter. They might have troll friends now but she wouldn't depend on that.

DM

Zhu, Pavel, and Bern exit the western gate, making their way a short distance down the road and turning off on a narrow path. A low mist clings to the ground, swirling around their feet with each step. Ahead of them is a small, weathered building, seemingly cobbled together from various bits of wood and stone, with a moss-covered thatched roof. The structure blends well with the surrounding forest, as though it has grown out of the earth itself. Above the hut, a trail of smoke curls lazily from a stone chimney, the smell of woodsmoke tinged with something earthy and strange.

Outside the front door, a fire crackles in a crude stone pit, casting flickering light onto a roughly carved wooden sign planted in the ground just beyond the path. The words "DO NOT PASS" are etched into the sign in an uneven hand, painted in faded red that looks disturbingly like dried blood. Surrounding the hut are a series of intricate glyphs carved into the ground and etched into stones, a clear sign that the witch has layered her home with defenses.

The soft sound of a voice drifts from within the hut, muttering to itself, though the words are impossible to make out. The door is slightly ajar, and the warm light from inside flickers through the gap.

(OOC - I think Bern came along as well. BTW, did we get the name of the Witch earlier?)

[[ that is correct ... unless we don't want so many to go <shrug> ]]

OOC: the more the merrier. And nobody has given any name. But here's some threads to jog your memory:

• https://www.dreamlyrics.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1035327#Post1035327
• https://www.dreamlyrics.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1067910#Post1067910
• https://www.dreamlyrics.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1071774#Post1071774

Zhu

Stopping just short of the runes and the sign she takes a moment to look at the runes to see if she can identify them.

Zhu Arcana
Zeim rolled d20+3 and got 14

DM

Zhu can identify that the runes are Glyphs of Warding, although apparently intentionally not hidden, likely intended as a warning to anyone approaching. They are spaced close enough that one can not pass between them without getting within 10 feet of one of them.

Zhu

She nods and then calls out. "Hello. May we approach?"

DM

As Zhu calls out, there’s a long pause from inside the hut, the muttering stopped as though the witch is contemplating the situation. Then, the sound of scuffling comes from within, followed by a sharp clatter of glass jars hitting each other. A moment later, the door creaks open wider, revealing a figure in the dim light.

The witch steps into view, younger than expected for someone with such obvious magical skill. Her long, unruly black hair tumbles around her face, wild and unkempt, though her bright green eyes gleam with sharp intelligence—perhaps too sharp. Her expression shifts rapidly between curiosity, suspicion, and something like amusement, as though she’s engaged in a conversation no one else can hear. She wears a long, patched cloak of mismatched fabric, as if sewn together from dozens of different garments, and a few stray bits of twig and moss cling to her clothes, adding to her disheveled appearance.

"Oh-ho, approach, you say?" she mutters, half to herself, her eyes darting between Zhu and Pavel as though she’s seeing something just over their shoulders. "Yes, yes, you may! But careful now, careful! The path, you see? Stay on it! Don’t stray—not an inch! Or you’ll go boom! Or bang! Or—what was it? Ah, yes—sizzle! That’s it! Very messy, sizzling. Yes, yes..." She nods rapidly, as if very pleased with her own explanation.

Her gaze flickers back to the runes she’s etched into the ground, and then to the two adventurers. “But, but—oh, wait! You’ll need words, yes, special ones! Passwords, just for you!” She turns, grabbing a small piece of chalk from inside her pocket and begins drawing strange symbols in the air, muttering as she does. “You, tall one! You say ‘Moonberry’ when you step, yes? And you, with the curious eyes, you say ‘Featherstone’! Hmm, yes, those will do nicely. No mixing them up now!” She narrows her eyes dramatically. “Bad things happen if you mix them up. Terrible things!”

From inside the open doorway, the trio can now see shelves packed tightly with rows upon rows of vials, flasks, and jars, each filled with ingredients from all corners of the world—some familiar, others bizarre. There are dried herbs tied into bundles hanging from the ceiling, glinting crystals sealed in jars, and even preserved animals suspended in murky liquid. The witch’s hut is cramped, cluttered, but strangely organized, each shelf packed with magical curiosities.

The witch taps her foot, staring at nothing for a moment before blinking rapidly. "Right! On you go, on you go! Just mind the path, mind the words... Moonberry, Featherstone, one after the other. Perfect, yes! No explosions today. No, no, no... I do hate cleaning up exploded guests."

She smiles suddenly, an almost childlike grin, before she turns her back on them.

But then she suddenly freezes, snapping her fingers. "Oh! Wait, wait, wait! There's three of you, isn’t there? Yes, yes—of course there is!" Her head tilts to the side, eyes unfocused for a moment as if listening to something only she can hear. "Ah, yes, and the third one, you’ll say ‘Willowdust’! All three, in order, on the path! Do come in." She retreats inside the hut, leaving the door open.

Zhu

"Well", she says with some humor, "I am certainly not the 'tall one', so after you." She glances between Pavel and Bern to see who is taller.

OOC... would be Bern... he's an inch taller than Pavel

<Bern>

With a shrug, he follows the witch into the hut saying willowdust at the gliffs

DM

No sizzling occurs as Bern follows the path, even if the word may not have been said in order. Perhaps the witch saying it was enough.

Pavel

He winces as Bern says the third word first when he walks through the wards. Then breathes a sigh of relief as nothing happens.

He follows. The second tallest and to be careful he says tge first word.

"Moonberry..."

Zhu

She grimaces when Bern steps ahead and says the wrong phrase, but nothing happens so she straightens up and moves forward, saying "Featherstone".

DM

The trio heads down the path, saying their assigned passwords, or perhaps someone else's. In any case, there's no bang, or boom, or sizzle. Whether the words were actually the password or the witch said something else to disable the glyphs, or perhaps whether there was nothing to be afraid of to begin with, they arrive at the door unharmed.

Well, as they approach the door there is a loud crackle, and a faint sizzling sound near their feet. The faintest whiff of burnt hair reaches their nostrils.

A voice cackles from inside the hut, "Hehe! Sizzle was a hint, you silly bunch!" The door swings open wide, revealing the witch standing there, grinning wildly as if nothing odd had happened at all.

The witch waves them in with a flourish. “Come in, come in! No harm done, no harm done... unless you count a little sizzle! No sizzling toes, I see, so all is well!" Her green eyes dart between them, still sparkling with the same mix of wild intelligence and distraction. "I'm Viera Hobspriggle—-yes, yes, that’s me! Hedge witch of these woods, maker of potions, commander of the weather, and... oh! Collector of... all sorts of things!” She gestures broadly to the shelves of vials, jars, and dried herbs lining the walls.

The interior of the hut is just as cluttered as it appeared from the outside, with every inch of shelf space taken up by the strange contents. Glass vials filled with powders of every color imaginable, dried roots and mushrooms, small preserved creatures floating in jars of viscous liquid—all of it seemingly categorized in some inexplicable way known only to Viera.

She turns back to the trio, clapping her hands excitedly. "Now, now! What brings such interesting folks like you to my door? Hmm? Need a potion? A charm? Perhaps a thunderstorm? Oh! Or maybe you’ve come to hear about the frogs..." Her voice trails off, as if she’s genuinely wondering whether they’ve come to ask about frogs.

Without waiting for an answer, she starts pacing around the room, muttering to herself. "Visitors, visitors... what to do with visitors? Oh yes-—help! How can Viera Hobspriggle help her guests today?"

Zhu

She smiles at the commentary and once Viera is finished she replies. "Well, Miss Hobspriggle, we would like to see if you might be able to help us identify the properties of a few magical items we've run across in our travels, perhaps purchase some potions, perhaps enchant some things, and perhaps hear about the frogs.....?"

DM

Viera’s eyes light up at the mention of magical items, potions, and enchantments, but when the party member brings up the frogs, her grin stretches wide. “Oh, the frogs! They were everywhere, yes, yes—leaping and hopping all over the hut! But that’s another story for later, yes, yes..."

She stops pacing for a moment, focusing her gaze on the adventurer who spoke. “Magical items, potions, enchantments, you say? Delightful! I do so love working with magic... especially when there’s a little mystery involved, hehehe.” She reaches for a nearby shelf, absently flipping a vial between her fingers. "I can help you with all that. I’m quite the expert, you see! Items, potions, enchantments—they speak to me, oh yes."

Then, almost as if a new thought pops into her head mid-conversation, she suddenly blurts out, “And I’m working on something quite grand, you know. I’m going to change the weather! Yes, yes—just a little rain here, sunshine there, not too much snow. All over the whole town of Calling Horns! They’ll love me, you see! And when I can do it, they’ll let me back inside without having to pay those dreadful taxes to Tamalin's deputies! No more of that ‘protection fee’ nonsense!”

Her voice dips into a conspiratorial whisper. “I don’t need protection, not with my runes and magic. But they don’t understand. Not yet.” Her grin turns mischievous. “They’ll see! But—but—but—I need one more thing for my spell! Just one! A troll bladder! You’d think they’d have plenty of troll bits in the market after the trouble you caused with those four trolls, hmm? Hehehehe! But... I can’t go in there. No, no, no—they don’t like me much, the town folk.” She frowns for a second, then quickly brightens again. “But you—you can help! Get me a troll bladder! And I can work wonders for you!"

She pauses, twirling a finger in the air as if stirring an imaginary cauldron. "Oh! Yes, yes—troll blood! I use it in my potions, you know. It’s got such a wonderful regenerative property, mmm yes, makes for the best healing potions, too! I could make you some... or enhance a few things. As for your magical items, I’d be happy to take a look, so happy.” She glances around her cluttered shelves, eyes darting. “I’ve got just the tools for that. It’ll take but a moment to figure out what wonders you’ve brought me.”

Viera claps her hands together, practically bouncing in place. “So, what do you say? I’ll help you with your items and potions. And you can find me a troll bladder. Oh! And... we must talk about the frogs later! You’ll love that story, yes, yes...” She gives an absent nod as though fully expecting the frogs to come up again.

Zhu

She glances at Pavel and Bern but she doesn't see why anyone would object, and with all of the troll corpses around recently, obtaining a bladder should not be terribly difficult. "Certainly sounds reasonable." She replies. She glances at Bern. "Maybe you can go get it while we review the rest? Save time."

<Bern>

He nods and heads back to one of the bodies for a bit of surgery.

Pavel

It seemed like a reasonable request. However, he wasn't certain what the townspeople had done with the bodies. Or if the bodies still existed. He'd heard something that you had to burn a trolls body to actually kill them. But undoubtedly someone had harvested the bodies for their useful parts before the bodies were destroyed.

Since he was still carrying the largest of the items he was resolved to stick around while Bern went off for the payment.

"So while Bern is looking for the bladder, will you start looking over the items we collected?"

Zhu

After Bern leaves and Pavel asks his question she removes the two Rune Stones, the Vial, and Bracelet the group has accumulated. "If you can take a look at these and let us know what their features are and how to use them? Also, Pavel has a largish Rod that is of interest." She goes on to relate where and how they found the items, including the things the Rune Stones were doing seemingly of their own volition. For the Rod she adds, "We've learned a number of things. and surmised more, about this Rod. Apparently the Giants are searching for things like this. Possibly part of a larger mechanism. Historically important to them, and likely powerful."

Pavel

As Zhu is talking, Pavel places his bag of holding on the ground and opens it. Reaching in he rummages around until he finds the rod and pulls it out still qrapped in the rags that he'd wrapped it with. Once it was clear he placed the rod on the ground and unwraps it to show the witch.

DM

Viera Hobspriggle squints at the two large stones, their heavy, rune-inscribed surfaces resting on her cluttered table. She hums a strange tune under her breath, waving her fingers dramatically in the air. “Well, well, well… don’t these look fascinating?” Her eyes narrow as she pulls out a gnarled wand, tracing a complicated pattern in the air, as if peeling back invisible layers around the stones.

“Ah yes, I feel something now... Let’s see, let’s see... a little twist of magic here, a little tug there.” She moves her hand above the first stone, muttering an incantation as a faint glow begins to emanate from the rune.

Suddenly, she cackles, clapping her hands together. “Aha! This stone’s got some real weather magic in it! You trace your finger along the rune—just like this—and bam! Three times you can call lightning from the heavens, like some storm giant throwing down thunderbolts. Boom!” She makes an explosive gesture with her hands, clearly enjoying the thought. “It’s a third-level spell, too. Very impressive! But it’ll only work if you’re attuned to it. Otherwise… pffft! Nothing but a heavy rock.” She snickers.

Turning to the second stone, Viera repeats her motions, her brows furrowing as she dives into the magical essence within. “Hmm... ooooh, I see what this one’s about! Fear, fear, yes, yes. You trace the rune—just so!—and you’ll cast a third-level Fear spell. Three charges, like the other one. Same deal—needs attunement. But let me tell you... you trigger this baby, and anything around you’ll want to run as far away as possible! Hehehe.”

Satisfied with her work on the stones, she turns her attention to the bracelet and vial the party brought. Her eyes twinkle mischievously. “Ahh, now these... I know exactly who made them.” She grins, toying with the bracelet. “Yes, yes, your identification is quite correct. A lovely job by my apprentice, I must say! He’s talented, but still learning, you know. These little things are precisely what they seem. No surprises here... except for maybe how quickly he made them! Hehe!”

Viera seems about to set the bracelet and vial aside, but her gaze lingers on the rod the party produced. Her eyes widen with a flash of recognition as she steps back slightly, letting out a low whistle. "Oh... oh ho ho! Now this is something special. A Rod of the Vonindod, yes? I’ve heard of these. Never thought I’d see one up close, though.” She leans in, inspecting it closely but not touching it just yet. “Very rare, very powerful. Very heavy, too, but then again, fire giants aren’t ones for making dainty things, hmm?"

She hesitates, then begins to explain, her voice a touch more serious now. "This rod was crafted by a wizard under the employ of Duke Zalto, one of the nastiest fire giants around. It’s adamantine—tough as anything, made to withstand the heat and power of their forges. It’s got ten charges, and it’ll recharge some of them—[OOC: 1d6 plus 4 charges]—every day at dawn. You can use it to cast Locate Object by expending just one charge. But here’s the kicker: when you’re trying to detect objects made of adamantine—like the fragments of the Vonindod construct itself—the range jumps up to ten miles. That’s a long, long way, yes?”

She steps back, gesturing dramatically toward the rod. “Now, the Vonindod… that’s a name you should remember. It was a massive construct, built by the fire giants during the Thousand Year War to lay waste to their enemies. Imagine something like a colossal machine—an engine of destruction, made to crush kingdoms. [OOC: sound familiar?] The fire giants built it from adamantine, but it was destroyed long ago. Now, those with power and ambition—like Duke Zalto—want to rebuild it. Piece by piece.”

Viera’s voice lowers to a whisper. “This rod… it’s not just for finding any old objects. It’s for finding those pieces. If Zalto gets his hands on enough fragments, he could bring that monstrous construct back to life. And that would be... very bad for everyone.”

She steps back, her usual manic energy returning. “Quite a find, though! Very rare, very powerful. But... if you’re dealing with fire giants and their little projects, well, I’d say you’re in for more than just a few run-ins with trolls, hmm?” She gives a sly grin, clearly impressed with the rod, though aware of the dangers it could bring.

DM

Meanwhile, back inside the town walls, Bern finds the temporary shop selling various magical components already closed, but the right amount of coin convinces the shopkeepers to make a special exception, retrieving one of the stored and preserved troll bladders from a nearby cellar. For the right amount of coin, no questions are even asked.