Junior struggles with the lock. Perhaps Yarin can change his fortune.
Sindare looks at the others, "If we are having touble, perhaps we could break it in," he suggests.
Unk excuses himself with a sheepish smile and a prophecy:
"I uh, I foresee splinters!
...in the quick of my nail.
If I help.
Uh, you uh, go on ahead and smash it if you'd like.
I foresee success!
...for you smashing the door... not for me helping with that."
Snowball takes a few steps away from Unk and sits down, facing away.
"The witch might need help in there. I could pick the lock I think but its gonna take some time," Junior helps Uric with the door.
Sindare begins to help breaking down the door.
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In true Huey, Dewey, and Louie fashion, Uric grabs onto the doorknob, Junior grabs onto Uric, and Sindare grabs onto Junior. On count of three, the heroes pull wight all their might, and break their way into the Witch's Hut.
Glancing inside, it is dimly lit. Most natural light is muffled through the layers of webbing on the exterior of the windows. A few candles are lit and their wax spills over tabletops and window sills. The place is modestly furnished, and poorly maintained. Not surprisingly, cobwebs cover everything, and the rafters are clouded over in webs.
A withered old lady sits in a rocking chair, knitting a sock from spun spidersilk, seemingly completely unaware of your dramatic entrance.
"I foresee trouble..."
Unk steps up to the doorway with trepidation. Just outside the threshhold he casts Detect Magic and looks for the presence of magic in the witch's hut.
Uric sees the interior of a web-ladened hut, and an old woman knitting away, oblivious to your presence. An old bed is tucked away into a corner, dusty bottles and jars filled with wild-harvested components gather on one end of a table, while a few dishes with rotted and moldy foods sit around on the other end. A spinning wheel sits near the old woman in her rocking chair.
Unk, on the other hand, notices the old woman glows with a faint aura, which seems to connect to another faint aura up in the rafters, behind a veil of webbing.
As everyone gapes from the doorway, they begin to hear whispered voices, seemingly emanating from the very air around them.
Junior says loudly, "Ma'am are you alright?" If there is no response he'll approach and tap her on her shoulder.
Yarin pushes aside some spider-silk as he enters the hut. "Can you, ah... can you hear us? We're looking for someone who's been causing a lot of trouble for a nearby village."
Sindare looks around, unsure, "Something is very wrong here," he says. His eyes dart this way and that, trying to determine the source of the ominous feeling in his gut.
"I think the witch is magic for some reason..."
Unk studies what is plausibly an old lady, hoping to discern what kind of magic it is.
Snowball starts mewling and generally just freaking out for some reason.
As Junior approaches, he realizes the old woman’s eyes are clouded over in cataracts, blind, he presumes, and judging by the way she does not react, probably deaf.
Sindare feels that there is something amiss, but can’t quite put his finger on it. Perhaps the presence of something else. Perhaps it’s the spiders.
Junior places a hand on the old woman’s shoulder and she looks up in roughly his direction. Her mouth moves but no intelligible speech emits. Strangely, instead, the whispering voices only grow louder.
Unk is able to discern why. The woman is not really there. She is an illusion.
Wizzer sees the webbing. Okay... Guys, good luck with this. I'm out. he turns and starts to walk away. You've got to be kidding me....
"That old lady is coated in illusion magic, probably just an illusion. I think I see the aura extend upstairs. Anyone else hear whispering?"
Finally Snowball calms down and sticks close to Unk left foot.
Uric doesn't detect anything evil. Wizzer doesn't see anything anyone else hasn't already seen.
As soon as Unk calls out the illusionary nature of the old woman, she vanishes. Unk sees the aura in the rafters change in hue.
Junior and Yaring begin to feel like the whispers are lulling them to sleep. Drowsiness begins to overtake them until they realize there must be a caster somewhere nearby, and they pinch themselves awake.
Junior yawns, "Rude... and after we came all this way."
A frustrated, if not silky, feminine voice calls down from the rafters, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"...I am Unk. I want..." Unk blinks a few times and gathers his thoughts.
"We want you to help save the nearby town from spiders!" He finishes enthusiastically.
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Junior blinks several times and sits down in the webbed rocking chair, "Don't mind me I'm just resting my eyes, wait weren't we saving the town from the flu or something?" He snaps his fingers and briskly stands up, "That's it the spider flu! We're on a quest for an herbal remedy."
"Flu sounds familiar, I think there were some sick people in town..."
Snowball makes a guttural sound that could've been a growl if he were a big cat like a tiger.
Mmm, such soothing... No, this is a spell... Shake it off! Yarin forces himself to stay awake, and the sleepy feeling soon dissipates. "I'm sure you're familiar with the town nearby? Something has been bothering them for quite some time."
“Hmm... sssomething... sssicknesssss.... ssspiddersss... ssspidersss are not sssick. Ssspidersss are my babiesss. You have killed my babiesss. Do you wisssh to kill me?”
A look of utter horror washes over Junior's face, "I... I'm a... baby killer? Oh my Fred, what have I done?!" He drops to his knees, "I swear I didn't know! Of course I don't want to kill you Spider Mother. How could I, a humble high priest of Fred, make it up to you?"
The silky voice continues to sound from behind the spiderweb veil up in the rafters.
"Hmm... Sssicknesss... Yesss, I can help with sssicknesss. But what do you bring me in return?"
“Hmm... gold... villagersss... no. Magic... yesss. You have magic. I can sssee it. Teach me your magic. Give me your cat.”
There is a whispering sound and Unk feels a pleasant tickling sensation in his mind. Suddenly, he feels more relaxed in the situation, as if whoever is hiding behind a veil of cobwebs in the rafters of a derelict shack in the middle of giant spider infested woods is a trustworthy person indeed.
Standing in the back, away from the things he saw as webbings, Wizzer looks at their conversation and tries to detect any evil intentions that this woman has.
Snowball's tail fluffs up so much that it's almost as big as the rest of her.
Unk, foreseeing Snowball's imminent departure, quickly scoops the cat up before she can leave.
"There there, Snowball, nothing to be afraid of." Unk says, reassuringly while trying to pet her without letting go.
"The nice lady just wants to take a look at you.
...Right? Friends can definitely pet him all they want." Unk says, while failing to calm Snowball down.
"I can teach you the ritual for bonding to a familiar too!" Unk adds, finally remembering why Snowball is a Magical Beast rather than an ordinary cat.
Snowball continues to squirm. After failing after another few tries, she begins mewling loudly and pitifully instead of squirming.
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"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Yarin interjects before Unk can hand over his familiar. "We can show you our magic instead," he says to the voice. He pulls out a starknife-- both as part of his demonstration and so as to have a weapon in hand-- and mutters a brief prayer over it. One of the blades shines brightly, filling the room with a soft new light.
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Junior stands up and yells at Unk, "Nooooo! She means to kill Snowball in revengance!"
Sindare reaches up and grabs Unk by the shoulders, "Let's wait just a moment friend. Just to be sure."
At Unk’s generous offer, and Yarin’s display, the voice replies, “Yessssss...”
You hear movement up in the rafters, as something crawls nimbly across the sheet of webs. But then there is a strange, grotesque sound, like the cracking of chitonous carapace and the rending of flesh.
Then, as Unk and Junior wrestle over Snowball, a lithe, bare foot descends from the webbing near the back wall. As the group watches, a young elven woman effortlessly climbs down the wall. Her hair is straight, silky, and ink black and reaches down the full length of her back. She is tall and lanky, her limbs gangly and long, and she wears a full length smock of black, with a design of two triangles joined at the tip patterned in red across her front.
She turns to you revealing her glistening black eyes, wide in excitement. She holds out her arms eagerly to receive Snowball and the starknife, “Yesss... magic. Teach me. Give them to me!”
If that's all she wants... I've got a spare. Yarin holds out the starknife, then pulls his arm back. "First, we need to know something. Are you the one who's been causing trouble for the town?"