"Maybe she gets them from children that leave them under their pillow..?" Jenkin tentatively asks, following Penelope's example and drawing both of his own axes.
Odelai follows the others into the hut. She eyes the goods without judgement. "Ulizmila, sister, please show yourself. I respect your caution but we are here to talk - not fight."
She waits a moment for a response. If none is forthcoming, she speaks to her allies. "There is a faint illusion in that bed and there is a stronger transmutation dweomer on that cauldron. It may not be a cauldron at all."
Verifying, illusion on the bed, stronger transmutation on the cauldron.
The bed may also not be a bed. I do not see a way to enter politely, and the fetishes outside seemed abandoned.
Svetlana states.
She racks her mind about any formal greetings she may have heard of.
Nothing moves beside the bone wind chimes outside and that is the only source of any noise.
Elowen enters the hut, staff in hand as she looks around, taking in the disharmony of the place.
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What was that Abyssal greeting phrase I learned from my "pretend to be a Succubus stunt"?
Oh crap, the one where if I do it wrong in terms of pronounciation I tell her to go eat a Dretch out of my rear end? And I dont even know if that particular witch actually serves Mestama, or is a Hag in the first place. Lets not risk it. Svetlana thinks as she considers her options.
Wise She hears a feint voice in her head, clearly feminine
Huh? Hello, anyone there? No answer comes.
Was this the witch? My imagination? The source of my oracular power? Yikes..., my guess is effing Pounce meanwhile plays happily with he Fennec with no care for the world. That Fennec does have a really nice tail.
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And then, little friend, the two legs will be in need of assistance, and we will swoop in, save them, and get all the booze, treats and tubby rubs we so richly deserve.
A flick of the tail and a quick glance at the wood can transfer much information indeed
But are you sure we can actually save the two legs if they get into trouble? The Fennec tail movements indicate a fair degree of scepticism.
Yes, because I have a very cunning plan! You see, some of the smarter two legs pretend to be 4 legs by riding on some 4 legged plant eater! This makes them more capable in battle, because 4 legs are better then 2 legs, but consider this! What happens if a 4 leg rides another 4 legs? And I think you are small enough for this! Sir Pounce invites the Fennec to take a total change in perspectives
Hmm, lets try this! The Fennec moves on Sir Pounces back
I am big now! I feel much more powerful! The little Fenec jumps with excitement,
finding it quite easy to stay on top of the tiger
Ok little friend, when we rush in, you will be the extra pair of eyes, which will allow me to focus on biting whatever is causing trouble! The Tiger indicates by looking the Fennec in the eyes, and then making a bite motion into another direction.
Sounds like a great Idea boss!
The Fennec answers by gently patting the tiger with its luxorious tail.
Odelai begins to carefully search the bed, using her hair to try to flesh out the illusion in the bed.
Seeing that the witch was clearly not present, Elowen moves into the hut, beginning to search for any sign of what might have happened, also keeping an eye out for anything that might fit the illustration if the Rat's Tail root they need.
The bedframe is broken and missing the actual mattress. Strips of shredded fabric scattered around on the floor is likely the once and former cushion. Over the frame is a shelf filled with bottles and pouches. Broken wood and piles of dust. Long white hair gently moves fabric and wood around. Something glints and you reach for it. A small green stone in a thick gold band.
But something rolls unevenly from under the bed, set in motion by grabbing the ring. Odelai finds the illusion source. It looks like a shrunken head. About the size of a lemon. Lips loosely sewn shut, dreadlocked beard and messy hair tied to a leather string, easily one of the more grotesque necklaces.
Elowen is looking through the various bottles on the shelves. A preserved snake in one large jar and another has a heart. Knucklebones with runes. Little pouches likely filled with something unpleasant. The table is scattered with leaves and twigs overtop note and drawings of misshapen humanoids. A few bowls are scattered. One is filled with ash, another small stones, morel mushrooms, and long oddly bent roots that look surprisingly a lot like a rats tail.
When she finds the roots, Elowen let's out a breath of surprise and relief. "I'm not sure what happened here, or why Ulizmila is missing, but I think I just found the Rat's Tail needed for the cure." she announces to her companions as they go though the place for signs of what happened.
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Is this all that is needed here? This place gives me more creeps then an chelaxian orphanage.
"What is creepy about a chelaxian orphanage?" Penelope asks as her eyes track around the room, still expecting something to burst out of a nook to kill them. Maybe the teeth chair would start chattering or the tiny head speaking or... a hundred other of the hundreds of possibilities.
Jenkin's remains just outside the door to keep watch while everyone else begins combing through the tiny space. The small table is covered in alf rubbed away runes marked in chalk and melted candles. Broken glass is scattered on the ground.
A few minutes of looking leads to moving bottles to check behind them. Elowen scoops up the needed rat tail's while Svetlana pushes the jar with the heart in it to pull down a statue of a plump feminine form, beautifully carved from a wood that has since hardened to near stone. Polished stones under the broken bed and scooped up. And a small leather pouch with a strange powder is on the floor under the small table.
The sound of metal thudding instantaneously gets everyone's attention. The cauldron spins on its little legs. The figures decorating it move and dance across its rusted surface.
Penelope concentrates her evil detection on the thudding pot of dancing devils. In her mind it has to be evil, cause well, why not, not resources are limited so... she looks.
No matter is the overgrown kettle is evil or not, she fires the arrow she had been keeping at the ready ever since seeing the teeth.
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Jenkin leaves the minuitae of seatching the extremely creepy contents of a witch's hut to people like Odelai and Elowen who seem to find the things in there not insanely freaky, though it does make him wonder what the hell his new friends get up to in their spare time if bags of teeth, dried hearts, and shrunken heads are so so mundane. He decides it's better off to keep an eye out outside in case the witch comes back to collect more body parts, or, worse, whatever took the scary body part collecting witch comes back. Which, of course, leaves him completely unprepsred for an attack from something inside the hut. He glances back inside at the sound of something moving and Penny lauching an arrow, and his jaw drops. "We're fighting cookware, now?", he shouts incredulously, his amazement not stopping him from running inside to protect his companions from being... swallowed and cooked by the living cauldron, or whatever.
Svetlana switches to her combat "form", fangs protruding and claws expanding.
She moves in behind Jenkin
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As the cauldron leaps to life, moving forward to attack, Elowen joins her companions, springing into action as she h\shifts her staff to her left hand, her right hand beginning to darken, bark emerging from the flesh of her hand, snaking up her arm all the way to the shoulder as knots and a few random leaves sprout along her appendage. With one smooth motion, she draws her now branch-like arm, throwing a punch that slams into the cauldron with a loud ring that echoes through the hut.
The arrow hits but slides across the rusted iron. Jenkin's axe take a chip out of the uneven rim. And wooden arm makes a loud thud as it strikes the cauldron.
Hopping up on one of its little nubby legs and tilting to the side. Cobwebs and dust cake the inside. The metal groans loudly as it slams the rim onto her thigh.
Odelai is debating whether to take the band and (if we’re being honest) the shrunken head – for study – when the cauldron gets uppity. She turns around and sends her hair lashing out at the metal monster experimentally.
Burning Hands (1):
Mage Armor (1):
Dancing Lights (1):
Flare (1): x
Prestidigitation (1):
Produce Flame (1):
Effects:
xxx = None
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Penelope manages to hold in a yell of pain as the pot bites into her, taking a good hunk of her leg with it. The young woman stumbles back away from the animated caldron, dragging her bleeding leg behind her. Erastil would understand. Pigheaded stubborn courage leads to dead paladins. Retreating when one is wounded is just sound sense. And her god understands sound sense... she hopes.
Jebath Nahui Cuka Blyad? Svetlana murmurs something very rude in Irriseni, as she was not expecting a battle with Kitchen war. It is probably a good thing that Penelope does not understand her.
Undeterred, she strikes with fangs and claw
And may get a fairly reasonable hit in with her right claw.
As her companions continue the assault, Elowen's arm resumes it's normal flesh form, the tough outer bark falling away as she swings with her staff, the attack going wide as she moves to avoid hitting the incoming Tigress.
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Jenkin takes a quick step to fill in the space vacated by Penelope, which offers a slight tactical advantage over the one he was occupying, specifically, that there's a gnome witch distracting the living cauldron with her... animated hair (and Jenkin does take a moment to ponder what exactly has happened in his life that sentences like this are becoming commonplace) directly opposite. Then he starts working with both his axes, clanging on the cauldron and looking not entirely unlike an overgrown and hirsute child 'playing drums' by banging on a kettle with wooden spoons in his mother's kitchen.
Odelai mobile hair slams into the cauldron and makes it wabble on its three stubby legs. While Svetlana bites at the air. Though her claw glide along the old iron and pull some rust away. Elowen misses to avoid hitting Svetlana in the face. And on of Jenkin's axes takes a small chunk out of the iron
The caldron lunges at Jenkin and snapping unyielding iron on his leg. Metal groaning and the little imps that dance across the belly of the cauldron seem to be laughing.
Safely away from the biting bowl, Penelope puts her weight on her remaining good leg and pulls a blunt arrow out of her quiver. In her head, she reasons that hitting a kettle with a hammer, instead of a dagger would make more sense. Not that she's attacked a kettle with either before in her life.
It is worth a try she reasons. Pulling back and firing into the melee.
Her mind pipes up as she releases her arrow. 'As long as you are using logic, young lady...' her brain acts like a grandmother at times when it is chastizing her. '... you might want to reconsider sending a speeding stick into a chaotic frenzy of biting cookware, animated hair, staves, teeth, claws, and hatchets. Where almost all of those Things are being wielded by your ALLIES, little one.' the mental grandmother gets stern, as the young woman watches in horror as her arrow goes really wrong, adding 'You'll put someone's eye out with that thing if you are not careful.'
Odelai's hair lashes out to smack the cauldron again.
Burning Hands (1):
Mage Armor (1):
Dancing Lights (1):
Flare (1): x
Prestidigitation (1):
Produce Flame (1):
Effects:
xxx = None
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Jenkin bellows as his thigh gets chomped by the cauldron, kind of like stepping in a bear trap but without any teeth. "What, you think that hurts? I've been EATEN BY A DRAGON!" he says, boasting and exaggerating to something that... probably doesn't even have the capacity to care, actually. Well, maybe it cares about being beaten on. He gives another rain of 'drumbeats'.
Letting the arrow loose and thinking that this place is rather cramped. The arrow flies over Jenkin's shoulder, perhapse a little to close to his ear for comfort. Clearly to high of a shot the arrow shatters a jar, glass and bones scatter across the broken bed frame.
Odelia's white hair slams into the cauldron and sends it spinning again n its stubby legs. Jenkin misses his first swing as the cauldron tumbles out of the way, the imps continue to smile. But his second hit drives the hand axe into the ancient iron.
Breathing heavily, the half-elven has a wide-eyed look of horror. Not at the crumpled wrought iron heap, or even the blood seeping out of her leg.
No her eyes are staring at Jenkin's ear, picturing how close her arrow came to taking it clean off of his head. She swallows hard. "Jenkin Ternham... I am DEEPLY sorry!" she says, rather loudly, and honestly. Her hands grasped her bow to her chest, white knuckles twisting around the wood.
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Engaged in combat at the time, and now engaged in extracting his axe from the metal side of the cauldron it's embedded in, Jenkin never even noticed how close he came to having an inadvertent facial piercing. "Nah, don't be, nothing to be sorry about..." he says, grunting as he rests one foot on the body of the kettle and heaves with both hands. "That probably took some of the edge off, but a little time with a whetstone and she'll be back to her old self..." With a agonized screech like nails on a chalkboard made out of iron, the axe pulls free of the metal. "There! I have removed the axe from the cauldron! I am the destined true king! Just kidding, this is Andoran, we don't do kings here." He clips the axe back on to his belt. "So..." he nudged the cauldron with his foot. "Is this thing actually dead? I mean, for a kettle."
"Looks that way, or whatever spell was animating it has gone dormant." Elowen says looking at it. "Odd that it was still active if something attacked and took out the witch, it would have fought for her no?"
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Penelope's heart settles at Jenkin's jest, though her brain would be beating herself up about it for a while now. She does notice his leg wound and hurries over (well limps over) while trying to fumble with her bag to pull out a scroll. It turns out to be too many things to try and do at once: walk, limp, retrieve, hold a bow and arrow, then she trips, catching herself by grabbing his shoulder, then... her hand glows.
And his wound closes.
Penny looks at his leg, then her hand, then him, and BEAMS! "Erasil, be praised." she whispered like a school girl given a kitten with an overflowing awed joy.
"Thanks, Penny..." Jenkin says absentmindedly when she heals him. Then he takes a second to reflect on the fact that she... didn't actually do anything to heal him and reacts in a suitably awed fashion. "Huh. That's new. Can you do the same for your own leg? Looks like it chomped you worse."
Odelai collects the band and shrunken head for study while voicing her own opinion about the irate cauldron. ”Likely, when you broke the cauldron the magic animating it was unknit.”
Speculating broadly, ”Ulizmila may have been attacked away from her home and defenses… leaving her cauldron to wait.”
Penelope looks at her leg "We can only try. hmmm..." she places her hand on her thigh and concentrates. A moment later, it glows and most of the cookware bite is gone. "That is... handy." she grins, waving her no NOT glowing hand. The excitement she feels has affected her joke-telling ability.
"Alright. Let's get going, while we still have daylight." Elowen says tucking away the Rat's tail in a pouch.
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Tak, rzeczywiście, zanim ta prawdopodobnie czcząca mestamę wiedźma, czy cokolwiek sprawiło, że jej tu nie ma, pojawi się!
She speaks in a strange melodic tounge
Yes indeed, before that probably mestama worshipping hag, or whatever made her not be here shows up!
Dlaczego tak na mnie patrzysz? Bełkoczę czy co?
Why are you looking at me like that? Am I speaking gibberish or what?
Sir Pounce shows up behind her , raises on his hind legs and
gently boinks her on the head with one of his paws
Hej, yeah, Elowen great idea to get doing as long as we got daylight!
Svetlana apparently speaks common again.
So two legs get better if you pat them on the head? These sounds were kind of nasty! The Fennec asks by exitedly tapping its tail on Sir Pounce
My 2 leg sometimes does that, I think its because they use the same thing to eat and talk, probably because they dont have tails to communicate in a civized manner! Sir Pounce regally answers with a set of quick tail movements
Let me try! Hmm, which 2 leg shall I adopt? Hmm, this one smells like he makes much food and is thus a useful tributary! The Fennec gracefully jumps on Jenkin's shoulder and pats him with his tail.
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Jenkin goes very, very still as the little fox jumps on his shoulder. He's clearly trying not to move quickly and spook it off, but has a big smile on his face. He does gently break off a piece of jerky from his rations and slowly places it on his other shoulder for positive reinforcement. The fennic is thus rewarded with a treat, and Jenkin is rewarded with a small amount of fennec slobber on his shoulder. "Well, that's a good start..." he says, as it hops back down, though still sniffing around his feet and clearly keenly interested in him as a potential source of treats. He makes a point of dropping little bites here and there as the group leaves the hut and hikes along to the next destination.
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You made a good choice and picked a good pupil! The 2 legs is already learning! Maybe smarter then my 2 leg, it took me longer to teach her how to make hams!
Sir Pounces tail wags as he reviews the Fennecs actions
YesYes, good tributary he will be! The Fennec gently pats Jenkins legs with its tail.
Odelai determines the nature of the shrunken head and clucks her approval before pocketing the grisly item… ideas percolating in her head on how to put it to best use.
As they leave the witch’s grove, Odelai gives the place a final look and a bow of respect for her (presumably) fallen sister. On the trail, she turns her attention to the band () trying to determine if it is magical and, if so, what is may do.
Burning Hands (1):
Mage Armor (1):
Cure Light Wounds (1):
Dancing Lights (1):
Flare (1): x
Prestidigitation (1):
Produce Flame (1):
Effects:
xxx = None
Best Odelai can tell the ring is not magical in nature but it is well made. An older style so likely a family heirloom. Rubbing it clean you find the band looks like twisting vines and on the inside of the band is the word Larko.
A little ways from the clearing the sounds of the forest, of life, return. Birds and bugs continue to make their noises. The fennec is shamelessly holds up his paw and looks up pleadingly at Jenkin.
A few hours roll by at an easy walk. Following winding game trails as the forest is denser this side of the lake. But Elowen lives in these woods and easily leads the group though the woods until it starts to get dark.
Odelai shines up the ring, ties it on a string and hangs it around her neck. Given Ulizmila's age, reputation, and calling - with 'Larko' being the only other clue - returning the ring to the witch's family was a long-shot but she wanted to try.
Some time later, as they walk, she fields the idea to her allies. "Ulizmila had a ring. It looks like a family heirloom with the name 'Larko' on it. I imagine it is worth some coin but, with your permission, I'd like to at least try to return it to her family first."
"Permission to do right?" Penelope sighs at the need for that, then pats the gnome lightly on the shoulder in appreciation "You have mine." she doesn't think the others will argue that point, but she does prepare a glare in case they do... and mentally calculates her finances to pay for someone's share of the ring so it could go to family.
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"I... guess that's the right thing to do,..." Jenkin says, a little doubtfully but not wanting to come off as an ass either. Is that what adventurers normally do with treasure? Find the original owner? Well, I guess, maybe, if it has a name on it...