Nuruk gives a nod to Willow, noticing how the shadows lovingly cling to him and there was a warmth there that brought a smile to his face. It stilled his chainmail like gentle hands upon his chest, letting him move with the most uncomfortable quietness. No redoing the bucket scene at the carnival's camp again.
With his weapon in hand, he would follow behind Khalil to secure further ahead while the others investigated the room for more details.
Willow peeks into the door and frowns a little, looking back at the others and speaking in a whisper. "This is the entrance. I bet we will find where we need to go past the cocooned harengon..." She looks back into the room, the book catching her eye. "Going to take a look at this, though."
The book appeared to be a record of individuals who paid their toll to the harengon, and were allowed to pass through the swamps unmolested. A few names are listed, but no dates. Someone named 'Sir Ravalat', Vansel (with a scribbled note that says “unpaid” next to the name), Glister, Gleam, Sumai, and a name familiar to Willow and Karley -- Hurly, brother of Burly the bugbear, who works security at the carnival. Hurly has been missing since before your first encounter with this whole mess, and Burly often lamented his missing sibling.
Those of you preparing to enter the next room quietly crack open the door to peek...You see a room that is by no means opulent, but it clearly belongs to the leader of the brigands. A four poster bed, rickety and worn, towers on one side of the room, while a once-beautiful wardrobe and desk are poised on the other. Collections of things are gathered here and there, but the room seems generally free of clutter. A thin wooden door stands next to the bed, seeming to lead to the center of the stump.
Seated at the desk, writing, is a harengon with a long blue scarf.
Willow would take note of the names, especially of Hurly the Bugbear, and then rejoin the others as they peek into Agdon's room. Once she is back with them, the shadows re-engulf the group (30ft radius) and blanket them in silence.
She moves away from the door to quietly speak to the others: "Let's try the same tactic. It's been working. Sneak in and try to get him all webbed up. What do you think?"
Khalil-spider nods knowing it'll be more difficult to try and cocoon the harengon while he's awake, but at the very least, it'll provide a good distraction. As soon as all are ready, he slips through the door and moves along the ceiling.
Vashrin somewhat skeptically nods in agreement and moves to try and put the harengon leader to sleep.
"Khalil, hopefully my spell will work, but if not I have faith you'll be able to tie him down." he whispers to the spider before he moves in.
The bard sneaks into position, targeting the blue scarfed rabbit folk with a slightly stronger version of his spell of sleep.
If one was a fly on the wall, they would have the unsettling perspective from Longscarf's perspective. The door opening without a sound as a shadowy tiefling and half-elf stalk their way in and disappear in the dark. A skittering something moves along the ceiling, the faint lights giving some idea to its horrendous shape but not truly showing it. Some small and mischievous thing scampers in before a hulking monstrosity.
The hulking figure would begin to move closer, giving a look to his allies as he approached. Tying him up and sparing him would get them more answers than what they could get from a corpse. With a nod to his spidery comrade, Nuruk would finally close that distance and try to wrap the harengon in his mighty arms.
Agdon was oblivious to your entrance, busily writing in his book. Vash casts his spell, and Agdon's head droops for a moment, before snapping back up and rising so quickly his chair flips over. Agdon darts to the far side of the room, avoiding Nuruk's grab, grabbing a branding iron from the fireplace and a dagger from his belt, and putting his back to the wall to face you all.
"GUARDS!" he shouts, clearly taken by complete surprise.
Willow darts into the room and laughs darkly at Agdon's shout. "They're a little busy," She says scornfully, grasping her holy symbol to focus the wild, divine energy within her. Her eyes flash brightly for a moment and a duplicate of herself appears on the other side of Agdon, standing menacingly over his shoulder.
"Agdon Longscarf..." Nuruk says, standing up to his full height as he pulls his greataxe off of his shoulders. "...for preying upon your countrymen and aiding the hags, we come bearing judgement. If you surrender, mercy will be shown. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your safety." He begins to move closer, menace in each step.
The hefty greataxe moves with uncomfortable speed as he swings at the harengon, aiming to break him down and make it easier for his companions to incapacitate him.
The axe strike goes too high and Agdon ducks underneath the blow, his trademark scarf just barely missing being clipped by his weapon.
Khalil drops down from the ceiling in an attempt to both bite and startle the bandit leader. Unfortunately, the druid has yet to master the death from above ability and ends up missing the harengon entirely.
Khalil drops down from the ceiling in an attempt to both bite and startle the bandit leader. Unfortunately, the druid has yet to master the death from above ability and ends up missing the harengon entirely.
Vashrin closes in, rapier in hand stabbing at the blue-scarfed harrengon.
Agdon yelped as a second Willow appeared behind him, then squeaked out another sound of terror as he ducks Nuruk, sidesteps a descending Khalil, and spins away from Vash's blade. His speed is incredible, his form literally seeming to blur behind his motions in a series of afterimages.
Karley casts her illusion, and Agdon's scream becomes a shrill shrieking as the little figments assail him and he tries slapping them off his arms. Too terrified to focus on discovering the illusion, he lashes out with the branding iron, aiming one strike at Vashrin and another at Khalil.
Both Khalil and Vash feel searing heat as a brand is burned into their chests...and then they both cease to see the harengon. It's as if he blinked out of existence.
"Nimble bastard, aren't you? Too bad it won't help."
-----------------------------
Sweating a bit from the heat of the brand that just barely missed him, Vash stabs at the harrengon again, this time aided by the positioning of his large draconic friend.
Willow makes a soft 'tsk' sound and steps forward, snagging the harengon by the wrist. "Bu chòir gum biodh tu air gèilleadh. Tha Zybilna a' cur a cuid dhùrachdan," the cleric of the Dreamwalker says as she channels more divine energy through her focus and out of her fingertips. The purple glow bursts out from her hand and stabs into the harengon like so many daggers, threading under his pelt and causing the skin to erupt in weeping, putrid wounds.
Nuruk growled as the nimble harengon dodged underneath his attack, the mighty axe swinging too high. Nuruk's strength follows through on the backswing though, righting the massive blade and bringing it down lower this time. His comrades wielded might magical forces but for himself, it seemed that he was a simple fighter.
"Le àithne na banrigh, stad!" Nuruk commands, glowing glyphs of fey power enveloping his blade. The axe grows tangling vines upon it as he swings to strike the enemy down.
Spider-Khalil hisses with pain as the brand sears his furry flesh. The burning blow is enough to snap Khalil back into his normal form clutching the burn scar still hissing angrily in his stomach. Unable to see the bandit, the druid scrambles backward and tosses another batch of fairy dust and pollen into the air in the area where Nuruk seems to be fighting something.
Fortune turns in your favor, as you all hit the leader of the harengon bandits with everything you have. Vash stabs his blade into the rabbit's shoulder, and as he yelps, he gets a mouthful of Karley's poison. Nuruk brings his axe down, vines wrapping around Agdon to hold him in place, and then Willow, entreating Zybilna, rends Agdon's flesh apart. Wounds open all across his body like cracks spreading across ice, and he falls to the floor, unconscious from the pain. Khalil tosses his faerie fire across the prone form, realizing belatedly that you'd already won.
"Help me restrain him," Willow entreats the party, working with whoever will help her to prop Agdon up. "He has information we need."
She unwraps the rope attached to her backpack and ties his hands together before him, then casts Cure Light Wounds on him.
She crouches down in front of him, resting her elbows on her legs as she squats. "Hello, Agdon. We have some questions for you."
Khalil kicks the hot brand away from Agdon and helps Willow tie him up. He doesn't say anything as he winds the rope around the bandit's feet so that it is nice and snug. Satisfied the quick moving bandit won't be getting away, he stands back and lets the more intimidating members of his band ask the questions.
Khalil finds it an odd experience, seeing the glowing outline of the harengon but not the harengon himself. He can still touch Agdon, and helps tie his feet by feel.
Agdon comes to, groggy, still in rough shape from his injuries, and finds himself bound with all of you standing over him. His eyes go wide. "Don't hurt me! I'll tell you anything you want!" He struggles a bit as he tries to shrink away from you all, seeming very much the coward.
When nobody pipes up to ask their own questions, Willow continues on. When his eyes open after her healing, she regards the coward with a stony, stoic face, leaning forward in her squat a bit. Her holy symbol, the crow's foot, hangs prominently, almost tauntingly, from around her neck.
"Oh yes, you will tell us anything we want. I'm glad you're feeling so cooperative. You may call me Willow. I am a servant of the Dreamwalker, although you know her as Zybilna." She pauses for a moment, reaching out to take the end of his scarf into her hands gently, running her thumbs over the magic-infused cloth.
"My companions and I have heard quite a bit about you. You've got a bit of a reputation," She says, tugging at the scarf slightly to jerk him into looking at her. "Thievery. Banditry. Destroying Demalyn's home. Serving the hag," She finishes, still grasping the scarf between long, thin purple fingers.
"You're going to tell us about the hag and what, exactly, you did to Demalyn's home. This tree. What happens after depends on you."
Agdon nodded frantically, wincing when she pulled his scarf. "I don't know who Demalyn is but Zybilna trapped me with this tree. Wasn't fun being left out in the elements so I carved out a home -- when my band freed me, we expanded it. Bavlorna said the rule of ownership was negotiable, so long as we gave her a share of what we took from folks. She leaves us be so long as we pay her." The words poured out, stream-of-consciousness style, as he was eager to try and win favor with his captors in the hopes of sparing himself.
"We'd be best off to get that scarf off of him, but from what I understand, that may not be possible. Maybe we should tie the end around an anchor and leave him in the swamp." Vashrin muses, waiting for Agdon to spill what ever information he may have.
"Ah, well, this tree is Demalyn's home. She's a dryad. Rules of Ownership get tricky when sentience is involved, I would think."
Willow glances up at Vashrin when he speaks and then nods, silver eyes glittering with amusement. "He's doing so well answering our questions. Maybe we won't need to kill him slowly."
The cleric turns her gaze back to the terrified bandit and locks eyes with him. "Agdon, what's the best way to the hag's lair, and what are some of the dangers we need to look out for along the way?" Willow asks, beginning to slowly wind the scarf around her hand--just for a few wraps--to pull the harengon a little closer.
Khalil blinks and rubs his eyes, but to no avail. The harengon was still nothing more than an odd shaped cloud of glitter and fae light. Looking at the others, he could only assume that they could all see him just fine. Perhaps it was something to do with the wound he'd received from the bandit's brand? Regardless, Khalil added his own question into the barrage from Willow and Vashrin.
"What did the hag put or do to the center of this tree? Or was it you who planted or caused some malevolent force to take root near it's heart?"
Karley took hold of the free end of the scarf, the end Willow didn't have a death grip on. She tried to slip it from Agdon's neck somehow, but he made an 'Urk!' sound and it didn't budge an inch. He didn't notice, on account of assuming it was Willow's tugging that choked him.
"Downfall! She's in Downfall! The boggards there follow her orders, but aren't aggressive on sight."
He turned to Khalil. "Malevolent force? There's nothing down there..." He gulped. "Okay, ok, ok, ok, it's where I put my treasure. Maybe some of it is causing the problem? I'll come down with you and show you the traps I placed, if you'll promise to let me go."
Willow furrows her brows at the choking harengon--she could have swore she was a little gentler than that. With the end wrapped around her wrist, Willow yanked the bandit to his feet and glanced around at the group, raising an eyebrow. She seemed to ask, 'Am I missing any details I should ask about?' and hoped her childhood friends caught on.
She makes a show of considering Agdon's request, tapping at her chin with her free hand. "I promise I'll consider it, provided we get to the heart unharmed."
Vashrin grins, thinking to himself, Must be that fiendish ancestry...didn't know Willow had that in her.
"I'd suggest you take the young lady's offer, you're not likely to get a better one." he adds running his hand along the flat of his rapier.
"Your...treasure." Khalil slowly shakes his head. "What you've stolen over the years you mean."
The druid contemplates what could be stored down there. What this petty thief could have found or stolen and then casually tossed aside because it seemed to have little immediate value. He sighs. Given this is the Feywild, it could be anything. The thought made his stomach churn with worry and a growing sense of urgency. Urgency that only grows as he glances toward Damelyn. He couldn't let anything more happen to the dryad, she'd already suffered plenty. Whatever was down there, he see it dealt with or die in the trying. It was a vow he made to himself even as he offered the dryad an encouraging smile.
Turning back to the harengon whom he didn't trust as far as he could throw the creature. Khalil nods at both Willow and Vashrin and then back to the bound bandit. "He has no choice but to accept. He'll lead the way down." Khalil says with a thin smile. "That way whether he wants to or not, he'll see we are warned about any traps."
Willow takes a deep breath as her companions speak, closing her eyes for a moment to poke around in her mind. Something dark was lurking at the edges of her psyche, something she had not needed since rejoining the Defenders. The Fey-run carnival entertained with wild and fantastic displays of whimsy and cheerful spectacle; below the surface, well...one didn't survive eight years in a Fey-and-hag infested place without getting their hands dirty. Without developing certain skills.
The cleric exhales a long, slow breath, and she opens her eyes to glance at Nuruk, a brief flash of anxiety striking her over his witnessing this side of her. She keeps one end of the harengon's scarf wrapped around her hand and wrist like a leash, gesturing grandly for Agdon to take point. "Shall we?"
She would follow behind Agdon as he led the way, the blanket of shadows and silence that she maintained silencing their steps.
Nuruk was more than happy to let his fellows take charge of the interrogation as the dragonborn knew how to play his part immensely well; he was big, menacing, and scarred from years of training. Those red eyes stared at the harengon with disdain at his cowardice. He gave a nod of approval at the terms stated and hefted his mighty greataxe off of the ground before following along. The shadows clung around them warmly, protecting them from sight and ear as they descended alongside the bandit leader.
"Well done everyone. I would not think it possible to take out a whole gang of bandits without shedding lifeblood but we have found a way. Most impressive." His admiration for his friends grew at their showcased talents. Despite the ease that darkness could flood into them, they remained beacons of light in their actions. Despite such wickedness brought upon them, they were still the kindhearted friends from so many years ago.
"Of course, of course, right this way!"
There was something too eager about the way Agdon agreed to show you down below. He was walking too quickly, his voice pitched too high. He wanted to lead you all down there.
Willow raises an eyebrow at his tone and suddenly yanks him back by the scarf, aiming to knock him to his feet. If he falls, she would stand over him with a booted foot resting on one of his shoulders, applying soft pressure to the bandit's joint. She regards the harengon with a cold stare. "What are you so excited about, Agdon?"
"He is trying our patience. We know that there are traps down below, I could just free him from his curse and take his head now." Nuruk said calmly, shifting his greataxe as he towers over him on the ground.
Vashrin frowns at Nuruk's comment. "Now why would we want to go easy on him like that? That's way too quick and clean for the likes of Agdon Bluescarf."
Turning his gaze to the harrengon bandit, and with a wicked grin Vashrin calmly and coldly states, "We have waited a long time to get here. We can be very patient if you get my meaning."
"Excited? N-n-n-nothing, I'm just eager to help, to show you what you want so you can take it and let me go. You s-seem like reasonable people, and I'm sure you'll come to see I can be helpful, alive."
His ears drooped low hearing Nuruk and Vash threaten his demise.
"N-no, please, no need for violence. I'll cooperate."
"I think you're full of s#$@," Willow says flatly, but she can't figure out exactly what is sparking such a feeling. She maintains her hold on his "leash", pushing him forward ahead of them as they go, deciding Nuruk is likely right - he's testing them.
"Keep an eye out," She says quietly to the rest, watching her steps and the path ahead of them carefully in case the bandit was as untrustworthy as he seemed and not just a sniveling mess.
"I'm inclined to agree with that." Vash says to Willow's comment.
"Then again, folks might do all manner of things when their options are as limited as his." he says following along down the stairs
Even though he couldn't read the rabbitkin's features, Khalil spotted the harengon's eagerness to lead them down below. He couldn't help but smile at the grim banter between Nuruk and Vashrin, but something still bothered him about the situation.
But as Agdon reiterates his cooperation, Khalil hesitantly stays quiet and continues to follow the others. Still, he'd briefly felt the darkness or taint that was lurking at the trees heart. It frightened Damelyn. It was killing this massive tree once blessed by the fae queen herself. Whatever it was, it was dangerous.
Walking down the stairs, Khalil begins to glow as his form once again takes on that of a celestial constellation. The starlight softly illuminating the darkness as they descend into the arboreal depths. A radiant arrow nocked in his bow of glimmering starlight.