Zero's #1-02: The Mosquito Witch (Inactive)

Game Master Super Zero

The bolts of force slam into the miflit, who squawks and then falls to the floor, his sword clattering on the stone and several more darts rolling out of his quiver.

All is quiet. Actually no. Is that... crying? Coming from deeper into the caves.

Heather reloads her crossbow. "Hello?" she calls, "Are you in trouble?"

Distant voices respond to Heather with panicked shrieking.

"They're gonna kill us!"
"Why'd we listen to Gwibble!?
"We're sorry, Mosquito Witch!"

Investigation a little further into the cave finds a group of 11 additional mitflits, huddling together in the corner of a small room. They're unarmed (save for one holding a shovel defensively), and as soon as they see the Pathfinders half of them burst into tears and the other into panicked groveling and apologizing.

"We're sorry!"
"Don't kill us!"
"Gwibble made us do it!"
"He said humans can't even talk to bugs, an' he said if we told the mosquitos and bloodseekers to harrass them they wouldn't be able to do anything about it an' he said it would be funny an' he said it would make the Mosquito Witch happy!"
"It's a tribute!"
"Don't kill us!"
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery you know."
"But we made her mad! I know we made her mad!"
"And we made all those adventurers angry, too!"
"Don't kill us!"
"When it was one or two Gwibble and those guys just killed 'em but now there's at least 50!"
"We'll give you all our treasure if you don't kill us!"

The mitflit noncombatants' treasure turns out to be 17 copper pieces, a wolf fang talisman, and assorted scraps of metal and cloth.

"Thank you Macondi! You are awesome!"

Aztryx stands up, and casts a spell - causing bolts of force to shoot from his fingers and strike the last mitflit.

"You are pretty impressive too," Macondi says, suitably impressed by the spell and its effects. "I want to learn that one."

When they approach the rest of the mitflits and they all start talking over each other, Macondi closes his eyes and tries to focus on anything important that they might be saying. "OK, hold on. You know the Mosquito Witch. Who is it? Where is it? A person, or just that big bloodseeker at the tunnel entrance?"

Barak leaves the flickmace by his side and sighs as he sees the non-combatant miflits. "So... how did you guys bring all the mosquitoes into the town? Did you just call them, or did you create a breeding ground somewhere? We need to clear the town of the bugs."

"She's out there!" the mitflit points vaguely outward.

"I've seen her red eyes in the forest!"

"No!" lies another, "The mosquitoes will stay unless we tell them to leave. You have to not kill us or they'll stay forever!"

"Think we saw that one," says Andor weekly.

"Ducks. We need ducks. That would fix this."

Heather looks at the assembled mitflits, not knowing what to do. For the first time, she's completely flummoxed... (Considering this is her first adventure other than bounties, it's an accurate statement! :))

"Ducks?" says one gremlin, looking baffled, "Why ducks?"

"Oh yes sir, absolutely sir, ducks are a great idea sir," says another, vigorously nodding.

"Ducks in the pond. Keeps the mosquitoes away. Come on Heather, let's go see if we can find some ducks."

"Send the mosquitos away, now. When the last of them leave, you will be allowed to leave. But, even then - you will have to disperse. Scatter. Go very far away from here. Otherwise, we will chase you. Then..." Aztryx claps his hands together to kill a few mosquitoes. He then shows his hands to the mitflits, dead bugs burst by the clap ""Do we understand each other".

The mitflits continue to claim that Gwibble pushed them into pretending to be the Mosquito Witch, but the mitflits are now frightened the ruse
has turned on them and that the real Mosquito Witch is angry—not to mention the very real issue of angry adventurers at their doorstep. They are adamant that the Mosquito Witch is real, and that they have seen her glowing red eyes in the darkness and heard the buzzing of her wings in the forest at night. They believed at first that by helping spread fear of the Mosquito Witch, she would spare them from her wrath, but now they’re not as sure.

The mitflits explain how they used their control over vermin to pose as the Mosquito Witch and frighten villagers. If the Pathfinders specifically inquire about Lasarte, the mitflits attempt to claim the Mosquito Witch took her, before dejectedly admitting the monster hunter escaped them weeks ago and they don’t know where she is for sure.

None of the mitflits have any explanation for a number of recent events, such as the carriage crash, Andor’s disease, where Quintus went, or the mysterious haunted potion in Lasarte’s gear, beyond their own fearful mutterings that these events were likely the doing of the Mosquito Witch. The more inexplicable evidence the Pathfinders provide, the more terrified the mitflits become, increasingly worried that the Mosquito Witch is real, that she’s near, and that she will kill them for impersonating her.

Defeating Gwibble and the mitflits ends the slough of attacks on Shimmerford, though the villagers are slow to return in the wake of the insect plague. The exorcist Haru thanks them sincerely, but she quickly departs to continue trying to find her friend Lasarte. The Pathfinders can find the Andor magical help for his disease in Tymon, leaving him healthy but traumatized by the experience.

A few days after the Pathfinders defeated Gwibble and his mitflit warriors, the entire mitflit compound collapses in a freak cave-in, a small and intricate paper doll found in the mud nearby. Whether this is the doing of the Mosquito Witch or another force seeking revenge on the mitflits remains a mystery.