”Creepy,” Lydia says. She kneels down and looks for tracks.
"Anything?" Sercha asks as she watches for threats.
"Lots of footprints, most leading out of this place. Some older ones leading in. Not sure exactly what made them."
Lydia opens the southern doors.
Sercha dismisses her weapon and re-summons it with flames.
"It feels like their eyes are following you," she says, gesturing towards one of the figures with her blade. "Unnerving."
Alainn seems uncowed by the atmosphere. "Someone has worked very hard on the decoration." They comment. "Very, retro-dilapidated. Lovely dust patterns."
Lydia attempts to open the double doors to the south, but they do not budge.
There is a secret door hidden by the peeling wallpaper to the north of the room, seems to be unlocked.
Since the doors are locked, Lydia gives the room another once-over. "Ah, there's a secret door over here," she says, peeling back some wallpaper in the room's north side. "Let's try this one."
You find yourself in a musty, narrow corridor with peeling wallpaper across all the walls, just as the wall you entered through. On the right hand side of the corridor are two old but solid doors. One closer to you and one at the end. Both have doorknobs but no visible locking mechanism.
"There are an awful lot of secrets here. Let's see where this one leads."
"Someone sure has a thing about hiding doors behind wallpaper," Sercha comments as she pulls down another strip, revealing a door behind it.
Alainn applauds as The Heroes uncover door after door (after door after door after door)
Seeing the same thing behind the secret door, Sercha holds up a hand. "This looks like it might get out of hand. We need to be logical about this," she says, raising an eyebrow at Lydia as if daring her to say something. "Let's see how far we get sticking to the left-most option. Keep an eye out for more secret doors."
Heading through the second secret door you come face to face with a half-melted wax statue depicting a winged demon; the lefthand side of its face and body distorted.
There is a solid oak door on the left-hand side of the north wall of this room.
Lydia and Sercha search the room as before for any secret entrances and find another hidden behind the wood panelling of this room. The door is on the right of the North wall, next to the visible door.
Sticking to the left, as Sercha decided, you open the unhidden door. In front of you is a dead-end corridor.
At the end of the corridor, just above the skirting board, you see a vent. You can see pressure plates on the floor just in front of it. The wood panelling around the vent is slightly warped from what you assume is water damage and you can see damp in the corners of the ceiling.
Lydia holds up her hand. ”Looks like a vent and pressure plates ahead. Likely a trap. Unless one of you have a method of disabling it, we should probably avoid it.”
The inquisitor turns around and heads towards the nearest door they bypassed.
Sercha stops and examines the wax figure a little more closely. She holds her flaming blade up to shed more light and leans in to narrow her eyes at it.
"This one almost looked like it winked at me," she says, suspiciously. She looks at it for another moment before following after Lydia.
Realizing this is clearly a purpose-built maze of tunnels, you keep searching endlessly for secret doors and heading through them, as they clearly hold much less danger than the visible doors. Whenever Lydia or Sercha take a second to check through the visible single oak doors, the pattern is always the same - an empty room or corridor with a vent and pressure plate at the end of the room.
Throughout the halls, which are all decorated in the same fashion, are wax figures in various forms including an innocent-looking deer to a devious looking imp. Occasionally you get the feeling as if they are watching you or from the corner of your eye, you swear that you see they have changed pose.
You make your way through 10 more successive secret doors in this fashion until you come across another room that is styled differently to the others.
Three statues, more expertly stylized and exaggerated than the rest of the gallery, flank the far ends of this chamber. Each depicts an attractive, middle-aged Varisian woman in a different emotional state—carefree, worried, and distraught. A pair of double doors provides the only visible entry or exit from this chamber to the North. This pair of double doors are the same design as the locked pair of doors in the foyer of the manor.
Searching further, just in case, Lydia finds another secret door in this room to the East.
Following the same pattern as before, Sercha suggests that you stick with the secret door for consistency.
Poorly maintained furniture crowds this dusty, unfinished space. Two beds, one covered in priceless silks hopelessly stained in blood and filth, occupy most of the western side while a wardrobe and tool bench fill the remainder.
Lydia, having once observed a poor halfling slave giving birth, before rescuing her and her new child from further slavery, recognises these tools as midwifery aids.
Heading back to the previous room, Lydia decides that you will all head through the double doors.
Noxious fumes, emanating from four enormous vats of molten wax, roil through this vast workshop. Tools and half-finished mannequins crowd the floor and hang from the ceiling, while tables hold squirming, undulating worms the size of a man’s arm. You can feel the heat emanating from the four large vats.
At the opposite end of the room is a giant queen ant staring down the door and a small female dwarf standing with her back to the wall, warily looking from the door to the ant. "Please Marzalee, you don't need to fight, let's solve whatever they want peacefully!" she pleads.
Marzalee speaks in a language no one recognises and from out of the vats rise some large animated wax-like gobs that come flying towards you.
Faced by an obvious card situation Alainn produces The Queen Mother and, since the ceiling is pretty low, remains behind Lydia and Sercha.
”The Midwife next, Alainn!” Lydia calls. She pronounces another judgment before moving up to attack the wax.
Sercha interposes her shield to deflect the wax and swings at any others with her flaming blade.
Lydia cuts deep into the wax with a grievous blow, practically cutting it in two but the wax flows back together. Sercha rushes forward to aid Lydia and manages to use her flaming sword to slice through a gob, which also reforms.
Gob 1 89/118 HP
Gob 3 93/118 HP
Gob 2 118/118 HP
Marzalee 92/92 HP
Marzalee, chittering at the far side of the room retreats into the corner. The wax gobs mindlessly slam forwards into Lydia and Sercha. Each hero takes a solid blow and manages to find parts of their limbs encased in solidifying wax.
Lydia cries out in pain as the wax burns her skin. "Desna! Free us from those that would restrain our freedom!" the inquisitor calls, and both she and Sercha slip free of the their bonds!
Alainn meanwhile rises to the greatest height the room offers and plucks a bright red berry from its wing. The berry whizzes across the room before exploding in a mighty blast!
With Lydia's magic freeing her up - for the time being, at least - to attack without restriction, Sercha slashes away at the wax aggressor.
Gob 1 64/118 HP
Gob 3 14/118 HP
Gob 2 118/118 HP
Marzalee 92/92 HP
Freedom of movement round 2 begins.
Lydia and Sercha, breaking free from their waxy bonds, angers Marzalee further; especially with the added flaming inferno in the middle of her workshop. She begins contorting herself to squeeze through the gap between the vat and the wall at the right of the workshop to come to aid her creations.
A dwarf at the side of the room yells out "Stop this violence, please, all of you! This is the home of the creator!"
The wax gobs, clearly ignoring the dwarfs call, continue their mindless attacks at the beings in front of them at Marzalee's command.
Sercha stumbles, somewhat, as the gob slams into her, but comes back swinging.
Alainn switches targets to focus on Marzalee. Two jets of fire streak across the room towards the giant ant queen!
Lydia resumes attacking, focusing on the most damage wax glob.
Gob 2 118/118 HP
Gob 1 2/118
Gob 3 - eliminated
Marzalee 68/92 HP
Freedom of movement round 2 begins.
Sercha's first strike manages to slice the wax gob in two and it falls to the floor spreading wide into a puddle of molten wax at her feet. She turns to the gob in front of Lydia continuinhg her onslaught, slicing off large sections of wax reducing its size somewhat.
Lydia follows Sercha's lead and they fight together as if it were second nature, their blades twisting and turning at precisely the right moment.
Alainn's bolts of fire cause Marzalee to recoil in pain.
Marzalee moves forward to protect her creations and swings her heavy mace at Sercha. The gobs continue trying to slam into Sercha and Lydia as their creator instructed.
"There must be another solution - stop!" the dwarven lady shrieks desperately from the side of the room.
"Tell Marzalee to call off her wax globs! Then maybe we can talk!" Lydia shouts, leaving the actual diplomacy for one more skilled in it. She continues to slice at the wax constructs.
"Sercha, you're hurt! Fall back!" she adds, seeing the fetchling's injuries.
Alainn unleashes MORE FIRE! (At Marzalee)
"I'll fall back when you do!" the fetchling challenges as she continues to strike at the wax gobs.
Dead gobs.....
Marzalee 42/92 HP
Freedom of movement round 3 begins.
Lydia and Sercha continue to fight harmoniously and eliminate the wax gobs, turning them into hot puddles of wax on the floor.
Marzalee screeches in pain at Alainn's fire attacks and speaks suddenly in an unrecognisable language, holding up her two front legs in surrender.
The dwarf shouts across the room.
"
"Marzalee says that she surrenders,"her voice laced with urgency, relief and fear.
"She is asking what you're here to steal or kidnap like all those other thieves."
Lydia lowers her sword and stops concentrating on her freedom aura. "We are not here to steal anything or kidnap anybody. We did not wish to do you harm, but we were fighting to defend ourselves. We have come to ask permission to borrow some larvae for a matter of great import. It is to ensure the continued functioning of the machinery that keeps this realm running. And if you have one of the so-called Conspirator's tokens, we would like to borrow that as well, that we might stand up to Zassiron the Patchwork Lord and free this realm of his tyranny."
With a temporary cessation in hostilities, Alainn fishes the Midwife out and waves it around dramatically as Lydia commanded.
Marzalee doesn't drop her weapon and keeps her hands up in the air, clearly showing her reluctance to argue. She starts talking in the unrecognizable language again, be seems to have understood Lydia's request without translation.
The dwarf translates for you all: "She says that she can provide you with a few small undeveloped larvae, but to tell Tick-Tock that he needs to stop being such a liar and thief. She also does have the token, but says she cannot part with it freely but would be happy to part with it for an important favour."
"She says that she is having a nightmare with the Nightpeddler and the Tick-Tock man. The Tick-Tock man keeps coming in, stealing her children, and then sells them to the Night-peddler for slave fodder at the flesh market just to get money for supplies to repair his useless machine. She says if you can kill one of them so that their essence returns here, she can then take time to rebuild them herself, slowly and excruciatingly to get revenge on them for all the atrocities they have done to her children, the storykin of this realm, then she will part with her token."
Alainn winces, ready for the explosion that will no doubt erupt from Lydia now that Marzalee has used the 's-word'.
Always with the favors, Lydia thinks to herself. Her face remains stoic, though, as she nods. "Very well. If the Night-peddler is a slaver then he is anathema to what my goddess stands for. We will slay him and return here for your token. I believe we should rest first before going after him, though. If you would kindly direct us to where his flesh market is, we will head there soon enough."
That was more reasonable than I expected... Sercha must be a good influence on her. Alainn thinks. Clearly it's the power of True Love!
The dwarf gives you all some unclear directions, but when Sercha shows her the Ringleader's map, she gestures to the whole circular area bordering the main map as the Desert.
"The Nighpeddler is constantly moving around the desert in his trade caravan to pick up any wayward broken or malformed storykin, ready to snap them up to sell on. The flesh market is moveable and I would have no idea where to direct you."
She offers you the manor you are in as shelter to rest, but also explains that if you have made it to this room through the secret passages then you have seen the whole of it already.
Marzalee provides you with some very small shrivelled larvae from a table. These are clearly the worst specimens she owns but she still tends to them carefully.
Sercha watches both of the opponents carefully with an eye toward betrayal. When it doesn't manifest she seems almost ... disappointed?
"This is a strange realm," she says once they're out of earshot of their 'hosts'. "These larvae are her 'children', I guess? And she wants to kill this slaver for enslaving them, but will happily trade some of them to get what she wants." She shakes her head. "These people are twisted."
She tosses out her bedroll near Lydia's. A moment later and she shifts it just a little closer. Another moment and she moves it away a little further before finally settling down for the night.
Casual, keep it casual.
"It was good fighting with you today," she says after a bit.
I missed being by your side.
Don't say that don't say that don't say that.
"Goodnight."
Lydia watches Sercha's indecisive bedroll positioning with bemusement.
"Yes, it was very good fighting with you," Lydia agrees.
She gives it a few beats, then adds, "Sercha... I've missed you, too."
She missed me? Does that mean ...? Does she ...? Should I ...?
Silence follows, but it's a long time before the restful sounds of sleep come from the fetchling's bedroll as her mind spins with indecision and confusion.
"She likes you!" The overly excitable whisper comes when Alainn pops up right next to Sercha's head. "Go closer, it'll work! I know it will. She's just waiting for you to go and kiss her! True Love always comes through!"
Lydia watches the fetchling for a while, only falling asleep once it's clear that Sercha is asleep as well.
***
The next morning, the inquisitor dons her armor and begins to lead the party into the desert.
Sercha buries her head under her thin blanket and attempts to ignore the fey babbling in her ear.
She almost seems less rested the next morning, although she's thankful for the healing the Lydia offers.
Unfortunately for Sercha the fey is extremely persistent, and doesn't seem to need anything like the amount of sleep a reasonable being would.
And has a terrible habit of singing a popular song which features prominently the lyrics "You know you wanna kiss the girl".
And seems to have tied one of Lydia's boots to one of Sercha's the next morning.
And swapped their packs.
And seems to have tried to move both bedrolls closer during the night, if the drag marks between them are anything to go by.
It doesn't take long at all to reach the closest edge of the desert through the shaded woodland until the woodland ebbs away and suddenly gives way to a vast mass of sand - vaster than anything you have ever seen before.
Parched earth and featureless dunes stretch as far as the eye can see, blurring with the sky and obscuring the horizon. The sun above shines brighter here, but sickly and yellow.
There are no tracks as you see of yet and therefore Lydia, Sercha and Alainn begin by heading clockwise around the central area of the realm according to the map, sticking within sight distance of the trees.
What feels like hours pass, and trekking through the desert is getting very monotonous with no track in sight, especially when it is unclear as to the distance that you are covering as the sun does not shift position at all.
After another hour, you find some tracks moving across your current sand dune deeper into the desert.
Lydia ascertains, with a small interjection from Sercha, that this is clearly a four-legged hooved creature, and that it must have travelled here since the last desert storm.
Though there is some new found relief at finding anything in this vast expanse, you all are feeling weary after hours of travel through the desert in the unforgiving sunlight.
Lydia wipes the sweat from her brow. "We can't go on much longer. Let's find a safe place to rest before nightfall."
The gathlain is visibly wilting, literally wilting in the sunshine, so when Lydia suggests setting up camp all she gets is a tired nod from Alainn.
Once camp has been set up and water arranged the seed-born perks up again.
"So, are you two going to share a bedroll tonight? I don't mind keeping watch."