Session 14
February 19th 2020
On the evening of our 4th day up the High Pass through the Small Teeth Mountains, 13th day of our expedition overall, we we fought our way through the cold to arrive at the mysterious mountain lair from which we have been hired to retrieve a golden scroll. Milo cast Pass Without Trace on the party and Wild Shaped into a rat, Grixis cast invisibility on himself, and then Milo, Grixis, Johannus, and Galvain snuck into the smoke-emitting cave, in which we saw a cozy little house surrounded by what looked like a giant chicken nest. In front of the house, an old woman was stirring some sort of liquid in a large cauldron. Gixis picked Milo up to tell him that he had expected giants, Galvain tried to use his Eldritch knowledge to determine what the witch was cooking up, only to learn that it smelled like soup, And Johannus sent an illusion of a dwarf toward the witch to gauge her reaction, only for the dwarf to vanish when it got within 20ft of the witch. The witch, evidently aware of our presence, motioned for us to come in. Grixis hung back, still invisible, but the rest of the sneaky squad openly approached the witch, the Milo maintained his rat form. In fact, when he crossed the threshold the illusory dwarf couldn’t cross, Milo felt as though he couldn’t revert to his halfling form if he tried. Upon learning this, Milo went back out of that area to hang out with Grixis for a while before going back to fetch Burke and Orel.
The witch asked Galvain and Johannus what we were doing on the mountain, and Johannus told her that we were hired by a green knight named Tyromenator (the “e” is silent), whereupon the witch cackled, expressing her surprise that Tyromenator hadn’t given up on getting the scroll. Johannus asked why Tyromenator wanted the scroll, and the witch said that she would answer that question if Johannus agreed to answer a question for her. Johannus took the deal, and was told that Tyromenator wants the scroll because the scroll can tell truths, but he doesn’t know that the scroll can also tell lies. In exchange for that information, the witch asked why we were traveling through the mountains in the first place, and Johannus told her that we were hired by a woman to retrieve a treasure from a nearby kingdom of monsters.
It was around this point in the conversation that the rest of the party, Burke and Orel, arrived. Milo, still in rat form, used his keen senses to sniff out the witch’s “soup,” and learn that it is, in fact, some sort of vegetable soup. The witch invited the rest of the party, including the invisible Grixis, to come in, and everyone but Grixis did.
Burke asked the witch what it would take for us to get the scroll, and the witch said that she would accept any of three things: A Favor, to be revealed and redeemed later; the ring worn by the invisible goblin; or the sacrifice of one of the party members. While we considered our options, the witch offered us some soup. Johannus asked what was in the soup and was told that it’s a simple leek and barley soup (with no poison or potions in it), and in exchange for that information, Johannus told her that the treasure we’re trying to get from the monsters is called “The Eye of the Serpent.”
Johannus asked Grixis if he’d be willing to give up the ring, but Grixis didn’t want to answer. Meanwhile, Orel initiated combat against Johannus, and we all rolled initiative.
With a 27 on his Initiative roll, Johannus moved away from Orel and behind the witch. Milo and Galvain both readied actions to try to stop whomever attacked anyone first, and Orel cast True Strike, targeting Johannus.
Meanwhile, Burke asked Grixis why he doesn’t prevent this fight by giving up the ring. Grixis said that we ought to talk about this, and that he didn’t want to talk about it in front of the witch.
Johannus cast Charm Person on Orel, but Orel resisted the Charm. He also said “We agree to give you a favor,” but the witch didn’t seem to respond.
Noting that both both Orel and Johannus had cast spells at each other, but being unable to identify either, Galvain attacked the one who cast the first spell, Orel, but his attack missed. In response, Orel shot Magic Missiles at Galvain. Milo tried to stop the fight with Entangle, to no avail.
Burke moved toward the sound of Grixis’ voice, as did Johannus, and the three of them left the cave. Now in private, Burke asked Grixis again what was so important about this ring. Grixis claimed that the ring was a greater ring of fire elemental control and that it had a powerful fire elemental trapped in it, but this was clearly a bald-faced lie. Grixis tried to run away, and Burke attempted to grapple Grixis. Grixis escaped Burke’s grapple attempt and he and Johannus ran off.
Galvain kept attacking Orel, trying to knock Orel out. Milo Wild Shaped into a Brown Bear and attempted to grapple Galvain, but Galvain’s strength held the bear off. Orel kept his True Strike active, but didn’t attack anyone.
Back in the cave, Burke asked the witch for magical help retrieving Grixis, and the witch told him that he would have to bargain for that help, while Galvain and Milo continued to try to shove and grapple each other. They ultimately wrestled each other to a stalemate, and the combat effectively ended. The witch said that she would give the party a spell that would bring Grixis back in exchange for one of the party member’s hairs.
Galvain willingly gave up one of his hairs and asked the witch how one repays a debt to a devil. Again, the witch agreed to give him an answer to his question in exchange for an answer to one of hers. The witch tells Galvain that the best way to get rid of the debt is to get someone else to take the debt for him. She asked him why he was so willing to give up one of his hairs, and he said that, after fighting in multiple wars and owing a debt to a devil, he didn’t have much left to live for.
The witch wrapped the hair around hair around her finger like a ring and gave Burke a small jar, telling him to crush the jar to summon Grixis. He does so, and when Grixis appears, Burke says “the ring, delivered as promised.” Against Grixis’ continued protests and continued attempts to flee, the party restrained Grixis with Entangle, take his Staff of Fire, and drag him back to the witch. Still, Grixis insisted that we don’t want the witch to get the ring, and when Milo asked him why not, the witch revealed that Grixis was worried that the lich whose soul was in the ring was going to cause problems. Grixis also revealed that the ring’s magic was the only reason he was able to be a wizard. The witch corrected him that, even though the lich was the one who taught Grixis magic, Grixis would still be able to do magic on his own. To prove it, the witch took the ring and put it on and asked Grixis to test his magic. He cast Prestidigitation without the help of his ring or his staff, proving that he still had magical powers.
Rather than camping outside in the cold, we give the witch some of our rations for her permission to spend the night in her warm cave. Always willing to trade information, the witch told us that she would tell us all about the monsters that have the Eye of the Serpent in exchange for one of the other treasures the monster holds. Johannus agrees, and she tells us that the Eye of the Serpent is being used by an Ogre Mage to gain intelligence, and the treasure the witch wants is a young princess. Johannus also asked if Rand, the person who hired us to retrieve the Eye of the Serpent, will betray us, and the witch said no. In exchange, Johannus revealed that he was willing to bring the princess to the witch because, having been seen monarchs badly mistreat their subjects, he didn’t care much about royalty.
After an extremely eventful evening, we have made considerable progress on several side quests. We have secured the golden scroll for Tyromenator, we got a good deal of information about the Ogre Mage who has the Eye of the Serpent, and we picked up a quest to deliver a princess to a witch. A lot happened this evening, but only time will tell how the events of this evening will play out.