So the team found their way to the Hook Mountain hideout and decided to hide themselves outside of the lair while the wizard used an Arcane Eye spell to find out what was inside the cave system.
They happily scouted the place out and eventually got to the throne room where they saw Lucrecia, Jaagrath (he escaped the fort), and the stone giant bodyguard. They couldn't detect Barl as I reasoned he would always have Mind Blank up from the witches, however, they *could* tell that the others were talking to someone that they couldn't currently see. The problem was that Barl noticed the Arcane Eye spell and raised the alarm.
Barl went to the witches while the Arcane Eye decided to do even more exploring (for some reason) and used their commune ability to figure out that the party was nearby and outside. He then sent his ogres out to track them down and kill them.
Unfortunately for him, they saw the ogres before the brutes spotted them and decided to teleport (dimension door I think technically) directly to the throne room. Barl had returned there in the meantime with all the other bosses and they ended up fighting them all at once and came very close to a TPK (1 PC, that PC's Animal Companion, and the Summoner's Eidolon all got killed). However, they eventually won and have now decided that they are going to teleport out with the still living Barl as a prisoner (everyone else died).
Now I'm not sure what to do with the remaining Ogres and Witches... The Ogres will get back only to discovered that their entire leadership structure has been destroyed and something more powerful than these leaders they fear so much are still on the loose. I suspect they will book it and just abandon the Kreeg stronghold once and for all, but will they take all the loot with them?
What should the witches do? It seems like they would just leave as well.
I think the undead Lamatar would stay, no one likes him anyway.
So here's my take: The witches have a Good Thing going. Free food, protection, and the opportunity to kill hundreds of innocent victims. Wonderful! Wonderful!
But now the leadership is gone, and unless a strong leader steps up, the ogres will start fighting each other for dominance and end up getting themselves all killed when the adventurers return (as they always do).
So the witches step up and convince the slow-witted ogres to flee the cave for 3 days and hide in the forest, while the witches Reincarnate Lucrecia (the PCs didn't take the body, did they?).
The witches' original plan is to move back into the cave, rule over the ogres, and have their wonderful setup once again.
Unfortunately, Lucrecia, disgusted by her new body (whatever it is), has other plans, and insists on taking the entire group on the long, hard trek to Xin-Shalast to restore her to her former glory.
Then you get to put a coven of witches with several levels of cleric, Lucrecia with several levels of cleric, and possibly a large number of ogre bodyguards in the Pinnacle in Book 6.
Alternatively, if you don't want to wait that long, you could have the revenge-seeking Lucrecia meet up with her lamia sisters at the temple in Book 4 and make that an insanely nasty encounter...
So here's my take: The witches have a Good Thing going. Free food, protection, and the opportunity to kill hundreds of innocent victims. Wonderful! Wonderful!
But now the leadership is gone, and unless a strong leader steps up, the ogres will start fighting each other for dominance and end up getting themselves all killed when the adventurers return (as they always do).
So the witches step up and convince the slow-witted ogres to flee the cave for 3 days and hide in the forest, while the witches Reincarnate Lucrecia (the PCs didn't take the body, did they?).
The witches' original plan is to move back into the cave, rule over the ogres, and have their wonderful setup once again.
Unfortunately, Lucrecia, disgusted by her new body (whatever it is), has other plans, and insists on taking the entire group on the long, hard trek to Xin-Shalast to restore her to her former glory.
Then you get to put a coven of witches with several levels of cleric, Lucrecia with several levels of cleric, and possibly a large number of ogre bodyguards in the Pinnacle in Book 6.
Alternatively, if you don't want to wait that long, you could have the revenge-seeking Lucrecia meet up with her lamia sisters at the temple in Book 4 and make that an insanely nasty encounter...
They haven't left yet but should leave some bodies behind (almost certain due to teleport restrictions). Thanks for the brilliant idea.
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Players missed the "witches" in my campaign too. I decided to have them join up with Teraktinus in the next adventure and provide cover (read: MORE RAIN!!!!) for the scouting party while they moved.
The party has just now caught up with the Stone Giants at Storval stairs by setting an ambush for them (party realized they were ahead of the scouting party returning from their VERY successful raid on Sandpoint). The party has seen the "witches", but has failed to properly ID them. Right now, the party thinks that the three "witches" are divine casters of some sort, and is very nervous to attack.