AD Dungeons and Dragons Part 5: The Best Laid Schemes o' Scarecrows an' Ravens Gang Aft A-gley

In which our party attempts to walk down the road and sneaks into a windmill.




When we left our adventurers, they had faced down a group of bandits attempting to murder a Vistani man at a crossroads, had a possibly supernatural encounter at the gallows at that crossroads, and then had our fortune told by Madame Eva of the Vistani. We pick up the morning after, as we decide where to go next.

Note: The player of Arf the Dwarven Paladin was absent for today's session, and in the absence of a character sheet we decided that he had too much Vistani wine to drink and was hungover for the entirety of the events to unfold.

Our party wakes up early in the morning following the festivities of the Vistani and holds a brief meeting to determine our next move. As we talk, Ismark and Irena approach us and remind us that they would still like us to escort them to Vloki, which is about 10 mile down the road yet. And while that's not too far to travel in a day, it would be best not to be traveling after dark...

We decide to set off towards Vloki a bit after sunrise (around 7:30 AM if we had clocks and Ravenloft weren't constantly overcast) and follow Ismark's lead as he knows the general way to Vloki.

(At this point our DM pointed out that we get to deal with random encounters now! The time we set off helped to determine if one would happen, and so did the card he had Eld draw from the Tarokka deck from last time. It is a pretty cool mechanic I think.)

We follow the road to the west, which skirts the river the Vistani are camped next to for quite a ways. The group takes turns dragging the makeshift sledge they had fashioned to move Alf's hungover form, ignoring his grunts of frustration with the bumpy road as the dwarf slept off his hangover. Eventually the road crosses the river at a sturdy bridge, and moves into gently rolling hills, with scraggly trees lining either side of the path. Shortly after crossing the bridge, we reach the summit of a low hill, and Seesil discerns in the near distance a figure standing hunched over in the middle of the road ahead of us. Motioning the others to a halt, the lizard points the figure out to the rest of the group. Eld decides to get a closer look, and moves through the trees, attempting to sneak up on the figure. As soon as he leaves, Seesil remembers the Pass Without Trace spell he had prepared that morning, but it is too late.

Eld stealthily draws closer to the figure, even without Pass Without Trace. The figure comes into view, and appears to be a humanoid figure in a straw hat, impaled on a stick. Getting closer, Eld is able to determine it is in fact a scarecrow, made of straw with a corncob pipe in its mouth, planted in the middle of the road and facing the direction from which our party was approaching. He skirts wide around the scarecrow, leaving at least 60 feet between him and the figure, then loops back around behind it. As he moves closer to the scarecrow's back, Eld motions the rest of the party to approach as well. Rek, Sagira and Colin move closer until they are about 60 feet away from the scarecrow's face, while Seesil stays back with Ismark and Irena.

Eld, approaching right up behind the scarecrow carefully, looks around and checks the area for traps. Finding nothing, he looks up, puzzled. "Should I set it on fire?" Sagira calls out to him. "Sure!" Eld replies, and backs away as Sagira sends a bolt of flame into the scarecrows straw torso. It is now a burning scarecrow. Nothing seems to be happening, so the party regroups and proceeds down the road.

About two hills later however, Seesil picks up a rustling noise from behind the group. Looking over his shoulder, he sees the still burning scarecrow has somehow done an about face, and is facing the party's direction of travel. Not wanting anything to do with this undoubtedly evil sorcery, Seesil picks up his pace. Walking faster than the others, he soon overtakes Eld, who is in front of the group whistling a jaunty tune. Seesil's uncharacteristic haste causes the rest of the party members to look around, and soon they too hear a rustling sound, as three more scarecrows appear at the edge of the treeline on either side of the path, very close to the group. Rek, finding one near her, runs over and chops the scarecrows body and the pole holding it in place in twain with her axe, and the scarecrow's top half falls over, apparently lifeless. The burning scarecrow behind us is noticeably close when we look back though.

Sagira attempts to get a read on the currents of magic in the area, and senses a dark magic emanating from the scarecrows, and as she feels this wave of darkness, the scarecrow Rek had cleaved in two picks itself off the ground, pulls it's torso back to its legs, and reassembles itself. The burning scarecrow behind us falls off its pole and begins crawling towards us with one arm outstretched, and the two on the other side of the road hop off their poles and walk towards us. Their eyes are now black holes in the straw face with glowing red dots at the center, and they emit a hissing noise as they close in on us.

Colin turns to one of the two approaching on the left side, and begins to chant a spell, but as he does, the scarecrow locks eyes with him. The sight sends a trill of fear down Colin's spine, and his mind is flooded by visions of nightmares he had as a child, causing the cleric to stumble back and losing focus on the spell. He remembers...

In the dreams he is running, always running from a faceless menace, unable to cry out as the danger draws inevitably closer, unable to wake, unable to escape, he will be caught he will be trapped he will die...

Infuriated at being humiliated by a scarecrow, Rek roars in anger and goes into a rage. Turning to face the scarecrow she had cleaved on the right side of the road, she raises her axe to strike again and end this menace once and for all. But as she does, the scarecrow locks eyes with her as well. She remembers...

The battle was fierce, and their forces were overwhelmed and surrounded. There was no way out, and the foe was merciless, no mercy would be offered. Suddenly her best friend Rokka raised her axe to the sky, shouting a challenge to all the foes and charged. The foe broke, allowing an escape! But Rokka took an arrow in the thigh, then in the shoulder, and though her axe was a bloody blur the swords of the enemy found her chest. The last Rek saw of her friend was the enemy falling upon her and tearing her apart. Tears blurred Rek's eyes as she fled with the rest of them...

Rek's eyes unfocus as she is overwhelmed by the memory, and tears streak her face. Her axe falls to her side, and she whispers "no, no not again..."

Eld turns and brings his bow to bear on the scarecrow approaching Rek's shaken form, intent on stopping its inexorable advance before it can do any lasting damage, when the red glowing eyes of the scarecrow snare his own over Rek's shoulder. He remembers...

He was so excited to learn the use of the longbow, as his ancestors had done for generations! It was so easy too. He had swiftly gotten the hang of the training bow, and his target scores outshone the others in his group. Today he grasped the full draw of the new longbow, knocked an arrow... and the string slipped in his grasp, the increased draw more than he had prepared for. The arrow went wide, directly into the knee of a villager who had stopped to watch the proceedings. And then the shouting started...

Memories of his failure surge to the front of Eld's mind, and he lets his bow go slack, staring in horror at his hands that caused such accidental pain that day.

Seeing his companions stumble and go slack at the approach of the scarecrows, Seesil recognizes the magical attack on their minds. Seeing few options, he quickly reaches over, touching Rek and muttering the words to the Resistance spell. Hoping that would be enough for the half-orc to shake the effects, he picked up the leads to Alf's sledge and ran straight up the road, away from the terrifying straw men.

Sagira turns to see the original scarecrow crawling towards her in the back of the group, the flames flickering and dying as it moved through the dust. Raising her hands she prepares to reignite the burning and end it, when the scarecrow looks up at her and meets her eyes. She remembers...

She hadn't meant to do it! She was just frustrated with the tutor's lessons, and while studying home alone, she had shouted at the book she was supposed to be reading. And it had caught fire! And the fire had spread and spread, and she had been helpless to do anything about it, and her house was burning, and her parents were so angry, angrier than she had ever seen, and their lives were burning around them...

Paralyzed by this memory, Sagira's hand drops, the flames whiffing out as she releases the spell.

The original scarecrow continues crawling towards Sagira as she wrestles with her memories of a home she had left behind. One of the scarecrows on the left moves closer, its straw arms now ending in sharp looking claws, and it swings them at Colin. One claw deflects from his armor, but the other digs in to his arm, drawing blood. Colin whimpers in pain through his nightmare fogged vision. On the right side of the road, the scarecrow lurches past Rek and claws Eld severely, finding a weak spot in his armor and piercing his side. Blood pours from the wound. The final scarecrow lumbers towards Ismark and Irena. Irena draws her sword, but also makes eye contact. She falls to one knee, screaming "he'll take me! He's going to take me away!" Ismark, recognizing the danger, shuts his eyes tight, and swings wildly in the direction of the advancing scarecrow with his sword.

Colin, his mind sharpened by the pain, remembers how he was able to wake himself in his dreams as a child, and turn to face the shapeless menace behind him. And as he did so, the menace would turn and flee at his courage. With this memory, he does the same now, turning to face the memory awoken by the scarecrow, and the memory flees from his judgment. Once more in control of himself, Colin resumes the spell he had been preparing before, but is unable to get ahold of the scarecrow in front of him to apply the necrotic effects of Inflict Wounds on it.

Rek remembers the last moments of her friend's life, but then forces herself to remember the moments following the battle, as her forces escape the trap laid by their enemies, turn, regroup, and bring the fight back to them. She remembers their howls of victory and vengeance as they turned the tide and won the day. She remembers laying her friend's remains to rest, and the feeling of certainty that Rokka was happy in the afterlife knowing that Rek and the rest had carried the day. Rokka's heroic act of self-sacrifice had saved many lives that day. Remembering the heroic side, Rek's anger surges back, and she turns and swings her axe into the scarecrow attacking Eld solidly. The ghosts of her ancestors rise around her and surge forth, prodding the scarecrow and directing it's ire back towards Rek and away from Rek's friends.

Eld forces himself to remember the rest of the memory. The bystander's knee with the arrow sticking out of it, the man's shock at the wound... but also the nearby cleric, who rushed to the man's aid. The heartfelt apologies Eld himself had preferred, and that the man had accepted. "After all, mistakes happen, and you will learn from this one won't you Eld?" Remembering that he was able to take the lessons of his mistakes and turn them into a better future, Eld snaps back to the present. Finding the scarecrow next to him, he draws his rapier and dagger and slashes the scarecrow hard in the back as it turns to face Rek's axe, then turns and runs after Seesil, trying to find a safe distance from which to loose his arrows once more.

Seesil looks around the road, and finds a convenient nook in the hill near the treeline to stash Arf safely out of the way, then turns back to the fight. Seeing Ismark desperately trying to fend off a scarecrow, Seesil conjures the winter winds around the straw man, empowering the spell with the necrotic power of his Harvest's Scythe. The scarecrow, reaching out to claw Ismark's face, finds its arm stiffening and freezing, and then the arm simply drops from its body. Seesil takes the necrotic energy from the strike and channels it into the approaching Eld as a healing wind, which knits Eld's flesh back together and stops the bleeding from his wound.

Sagira finds herself trapped in the past. She remembers...

The house burned, and so did half of her parents workshop. The workshop where they had the next month's wares stored for when the caravans arrived in town. They would not allow her anywhere near the cleanup efforts as they attempted to salvage some remnant of their lives. The looks of distrust that crossed their faces when they looked at her...

Still caught up in the memories of this tragic event, Sagira remains paralyzed as the original scarecrow crawled ever closer.

The scarecrow on the right side of the road, bedeviled by phantasmal half-orcs, turns its focus on Rek, slashing her deeply with its claws. The one on the left side continues to press the attack on Colin, slashing him again, though the wound is light. The one-armed scarecrow, distracted from Ismark and Irena by Seesil's frostbite attack, turns and lumbers towards where Seesil and Eld are standing further up the road.

Colin is getting frustrated with the scarecrow clawing at him, and once more attempts to Inflict Wounds on it; unfortunately, it once more slips out of his grasp before he can channel the necromantic energy into it. However, Colin is able to summon a spectral Mace of holy radiant energy which floats in the air near his shoulder, and the mace slams into the Scarecrow's shoulder, causing part of the straw man's arm to fall off.

Rek brings her great axe around in a sweeping arc, neatly decapitating the scarecrow in front of her, but the body keeps moving, attempting to dodge around her guard. Eld dashes over to it and follows up with a double slash of his blades in an X-shape across the scarecrows back, catching it unawares. Straw flies everywhere, and the scarecrow collapses to the ground, suddenly as still as it had been before the attack. Satisfied that one scarecrow was dead, and indeed that the monsters could be killed, Eld moves around to flank the scarecrow threatening Seesil. Seesil himself, still wary of the scarecrow's eyes, ignores the one closing on him, and instead summons winter's frost in an attempt to halt the burning scarecrow's advance on Sagira, but the warmth of the embers still smoldering in its body keep his magical Frostbite at bay, and it crawls on.

Sagira is finally able to ride her memory to the end, when her parents enlisted the aid of a traveling sorcerer in helping Sagira learn to control her burgeoning powers. The memory leads to the time Sagira had spent helping her parents get back on their feet after the disaster, even using her fire magic, under supervision of her tutor, to help start up the workshop and an adjoining bakery, in time to sell their wares and baked goods to the year'y caravans. Coming back to herself in the moment, Sagira focuses again on the scarecrow crawling towards her, and unleashes a trio of Scorching Rays. One ray goes over the scarecrow, burning a long streak in the dirt behind it, but the other two strike true, and reignite the scarecrow's straw back. It burns to ash just as it finally reaches Sagira's feet, and blows away in a gentle breeze.

The scarecrow facing Colin takes advantage of Colin's inability to get ahold of it, slashing him again with its claws, although Colin's armor keeps the wound from being serious. Finding his range, Colin is finally able to get ahold of the scarecrow's arm, channeling all the necrotic energies of Inflict Wounds into its arm while his spectral mace bashes it in the face repeatedly. The arm withers and decomposes at Colin's touch, and the mace bashes the scarecrow into its component reeds. The legs fall to either side as the scarecrow simply ceases to exist.

As Ismark attempts to comfort his sister and bring her out of whatever terrors the Scarecrow had inflicted upon her, Rek runs up to the final remaining scarecrow and cuts it in half from head to waist. The two halves fall away from each other, straw falling from the scarecrows bindings, and we realize there is no movement save for ourselves on the road anymore. The sound of Arf snoring on the side of the road brings us back to ourselves after the intense battle.

Considering the situation, Sagira suggests they scarecrows seemed to be guarding something. "Treasure?" Eld says, excitedly, and he and Rek immediately begin scouring an 80 foot diameter circle from our position, searching for any hidden shiny objects. As Seesil and Sagira gather up and burn whatever remaining straw they can find (Seesil is not about to leave any remains that could come back to haunt the party later) Colin gives the situation further thought. "I think they were jut guarding the road guys!" he shouts to the search party, "Remember they didn't attack until we ignored the first one and kept coming this way. Maybe there's something further on we're not supposed to reach!" Undeterred, Eld and Rek continue their sweep while the straw fire burns out, before returning dejected to the group, having found nothing.

We continue in silence for another mile or so, contemplating the fight we had just been in. Seesil is satisfied with the outcome and happily pulls Arf along in his sledge, but the others ponder the memory of a tragedy from their past; a past of which they have no other recollection. We are jostled from our thoughts as we approach a large gateway set across the road, similar to the gates we found just before entering Barovia. Like the previous gates, this gateway is flanked by a pair of gargoyles in poor repair, and one gargoyle head lies in the grass to one side. Unlike Barovia's gateway however, these gates are propped open, invitingly. Eld scouts around the gates a bit, distrustful of anything so welcoming in this land, but finds nothing out of the ordinary. Rek picks up the fallen Gargoyle head, and standing on the moaning Arf for extra height, attempts to place the head back on the statue. The head sits in place, but Rek is disappointed that it does not magically reattach to the statue.

Satisfied we will not be immediately killed on passing through, we proceed. It is another hour of walking before Ismark calls us to a halt. He points down a side path that connects to the main road that we had missed until this point. "You asked about Old Bonegrinder last night. That path leads to the old windmill, if you are still interested. It's about a half mile up the path."

We look at each other. Madame Eva had said we would find a treasure necessary to our quest at an old windmill. Nodding, we decide to check it out. Ismark and Irena follow behind a bit reluctantly, but they acknowledge we should still make it to Vloki before dark even with this detour.

The path leads up the side of a small mountain, and we can see into a valley beyond the mountain the outlines of what may be a town near a mountain lake. More immediately however, the path approaches a dilapidated windmill standing forlornly on the side of the mountain. As we approach, we are able to start making out details, including the onion dome roof and windows on the second and third floors. The windmill's arms creak and turn slowly in the breeze. The first floor boasts a simple wooden door set into the stone walls. A raven sits on the beam over the door. As we draw nearer still, the raven begins to squawk in agitation and hop about.

Sagira turns to Seesil. "What is it saying?" Seesil shrugs. "I don't talk to tassty mealss" he responds.

Colin takes a more serious look at the raven, and using his knowledge of animal behavior, studies its actions. "It looks like it's giving us a warning, though if it's a warning to go away or something else I can't say" he says at last. Rek, ever the impatient barbarian, strides towards the door confidently. Eld, Colin and Sagira follow behind while Seesil once more stays back with Ismark and Irena and the soundly sleeping Arf. The raven flutters down from the door and lands in front of Rek. Before our eyes it begins to grow in size, causing Eld to move back several paces. As it grows it also changes, and soon before us is a human figure, kneeling on the ground before Rek, and dressed in cheap simple peasant's garb similar to the scraps of clothing we had seen on the scarecrows earlier. The man is unarmed.

Looking up at us, he speaks. "Ah, you're alive! I didn't expect you to make it this far, especially after that incident in the graveyard." Eld shouts from a safe distance "I thought it was the same raven! What the hell dude!" The man looks back at Eld and stands up. "Yes, quite the mess you got yourselves into there. You need to be smarter about where you go. I'm guessing those wolves that attacked you in Barovia were sent by one of Strahd's lieutenants trying to make a name for themselves. I'm just glad they didn't call my bluff when I arrived. I was hoping they'd think there were more of my organization involved than just me, and it worked well."

"Why were you there in the first place?" Colin asks.

"My wife Escher is buried there, and I like to pay her visits from time to time." We look at each other, remembering the gravestone the raven had landed on simply said "Escher", with no other markings. One mystery solved at least?

"If Strahd's people want you dead, you may be my friend at least," the man continues. "I have a favor to ask of you. Consider it a trust building exercise before I fully trust you and before you fully trust me," he says, shooting the suspicious Eld a look with his last words. "There is a coven of hags living in this windmill. One of them, Morgantha, murdered my wife, and maybe with your help I can take them down for good. If you help me, then perhaps I can help you."

"What your name?" Rek asks.

"Where are my manners? I am Doran, Doran Oprea. And yes, before you ask I am a were-raven."

"So what's this about hags?" Eld asks.

"They're a group of monstrous creatures with great magical powers. They tend to live in covens of 3 individuals. I know one of them is home right now for sure. They seem to run a business out of this windmill, I've seen them get visitors, but I'm not sure what they make. I did observe one of them in Barovia recently. She was going to certain peoples' houses after dark and knocking on their doors. When they answered, there was some sort of exchange, and then the people of the house would just hand her their children. And the children didn't want to go! They were protesting the whole time. I don't know what's going on, but it can't be good. I'd have dealt with them before now, but my organization doesn't think they are the most pressing concern. Also they feel my interest is too... personal. And I can't handle them alone."

"You've mentioned this organization before, what's all that about?" Eld asks.

"I'm afraid that's one thing I cannot tell you about, at least not yet," Doran replies.

"Don't worry, I'll cut their head off." Rek says to Doran, as she hands him a spare longsword from her pack. He smiles, and we go inside the windmill.

The first floor is a disorganized clutter, crates and barrels are scattered around the room. On one side are a group of fenced in chickens, making a fair bit of noise. We also hear toads croaking somewhere nearby. We smell the sweet smell of pastries cooking, mixed with a truly awful smell coming from a barrel standing in the middle of the room. We hear several shrieks of cackling laughs from up the stairs. Eld decides to sneak upstairs with Colin. Seesil stops them long enough to cast Pass Without Trace not he entire group. Magical shadows envelop us and hide us from sight, and our footfalls cease making sounds. Eld and Colin, thus cloaked, head up the stairs, Sagira trailing behind them, as Rek posts herself at the foot of the stairs, prepared to rush in when she inevitably hears screaming. Seesil takes the opportunity to sneak up on the chickens, and steals the three eggs sitting out in the coop, adding them to his rations. Doran pokes around the first floor, checking for anything useful.

As Eld and Colin crest the top of the stairs they find themselves in another narrow room, light spilling in from windows on the sides. In the center of the room is a large grindstone, slowly turning. An old woman in a bloodstained apron with pink flowers embroidered on it stands in the middle of the room, sweeping up a pile of bones. The cackling laughter echoes from the next floor up. Seeing the bloodstains, Eld immediately draws his rapier and dagger, creeps up behind the woman, and stabs.

However, despite his concealment and care, the woman somehow senses the attack, and his blades stab into thin air as she spins around to face him, shouting "Bella! Ophalia! We have assailants that need to be dealt with!"

Downstairs, Seesil, Rek and Doran all look up at the shout. Doran buries his eyes in his palm in dismay.

Undeterred by the loss of surprise, Eld presses his attack, slashing the old woman (presumably Morgantha) with this blades and drawing blood. Colin sneaks up behind the hag and bludgeons her with his mace as well. Sagira comes far enough up the stairs to see the action, and sends a bolt of fire directly into the hag's arm, singeing her. At the sounds of combat, Rek charges up the stairs, shouting herself into a rage and swinging her axe wildly, landing a brutal slash across the hag's chest. The hag merely looks annoyed, and pushes the axe out of the wound.

Downstairs, Seesil casts resistance on Doran as the only person still down there. "Thanks," Doran says. "We're going to need all the help we can get... this isn't how I pictured this going." Seesil shrugs, confused how else Doran thought this might go.

On the second floor, two more hags descend from the third floor, presumably Bella and Ophalia. Bella points to Rek and Eld, saying "Nuisances." She then points to Colin and Sagira, and pronounces "These two need to die." She raises and arm and points a finger at Eld, and a beam of magical light shoots from her outstretched hand, but merely burns a hole in the wall above Eld's head. Ophalia spreads her fingers at Sagira, and 5 Magical Missiles fly out, striking the tiefling about the head and shoulders. Morgantha, in between Eld and Colin, takes the opportunity and transforms herself into a mouse, dodging their attempts to hit her as she shrinks, and runs up the stairs.

Doran runs into the room, shouting "Come back here Morgantha!" He runs up to Bella and throws a spray of green liquid into her eyes, causing the hag to scream in pain.

Seesil sidles upstairs, allowing Pass Without Trace to drop considering the element of surprise is flown, and casts resistance on Sagira as well, then calmly walks back downstairs to talk to the chickens.

Eld pulls out his longbow and shoots Bella. The arrow lodges in her forehead. The hag looks up at Eld, saying "Ok, I was irritated. I'm now agitated." With a yelp, Eld ducks behind the grindstone and tries to hide himself.

Colin summons a burst of Sacred Flame which burns Bella as it envelops her form, and once again she screeches in pain. Colin's spiritual mace appears again, but fails to connect when it swings towards Bella's head. Sagira sends a Chaos Bolt surging towards Bella as well, but the hag merely raises her hand and catches the spell, dissipating it. "Stop doing that!" Sagira shouts.

Rek swings her axe, but Bella raises her right arm and deflects the blow as though her arm were made of steel. Seesil again pops his head up the staircase, and conjures winter's frost around Bella's arm, freezing two of her fingers and interfering with her aim. We hear noise form upstairs as Morgantha resumes her normal form and sets about doing... something.

Ophalia spots Eld, and throws a handful of dust in his direction. Eld blinks and feels a moment of lethargy, but his elven heritage saves him from the magical Sleep spell. Bella raises her hands, now sharpened into dangerous looking claws, and swings at Rek. Her frostbitten hand moves sluggishly and Rek sidesteps the blow, but the followup from the other arm hits and rakes down Rek's back.

Doran sprints past the group, dodges around the two hags on the stairs, and pursues Morgantha to the third floor. Eld ducks around the grindstone and shoots another arrow into Bella's shoulder, but she seems unconcerned. He ducks back into hiding as Colin moves closer to Bella and tries to connect with Inflict Wounds, but his luck in the previous fight returns and he cannot find a grip. His spiritual mace again flails about but fails to land a blow. Sagira sends another Chaos Bolt hurtling towards Bella, but the hag nimbly steps out of the way, and the bolt splashes harmlessly on the wall. One of the bricks in the wall in fact turns to water and splashes to the floor as the chaotic magic infuses it.

Rek again brings her axe down on Bella, but the hag continues her motion from dodging Sagira's bolt and the axe swishes through empty air. Seesil however is able to hit Bella with Frostbite again, once more freezing her fingers to the bone. She glares at the lizard man, and he flees back to the first floor rather than attract her wrath. Denied of the scaly target, Bella swings at Rek. Again her aim is thrown by the frostbite, and she only connects with one of her claws, digging into Rek's arm. Ophalia once again tries to hit Eld with a beam of searing light, but it impacts not he grindstone Eld is hiding behind and dissipates harmlessly. Eld move from his cover, casts Hunter's Mark on Ophalia, and fires an arrow directly into her stomach. "We don't have time for this!" Ophalia cries, "We have more baking to do!"

Colin attempts to find inspiration in Eld's critical success, but is still unable to land a blow with his spells. His spiritual mace however finally finds it's mark, and smacks Bella in the head. Sagira sends a third Chaos Bolt at Bella and this time, the hag is unable to get away. The bolt smashes into her face with a thunderous boom. Flush with success, Sagira channels her sorcerous energy into another Chaos Bolt that follows the same path, hitting Bella again with another deafening crash of thunder.

Rek, beginning to feel the blood loss from Bella's constant strikes, pulls the stopper off a healing potion in her belt and quaffs it. Seesil pops up again, this time chanting a Healing Word which combines with the potion to knit several of Rek's gashes closed.

Ophalia sends more magic at Eld, but once more misses her mark. "This is pathetic!" she shouts, petulantly. Bella however swings her claws at Rek again, and without the frostbite to slow her down, lands two solid hits, reopening wounds that had just magically closed.

Eld lands a glancing hit on Ophalia with his bow, while Colin once more summons Sacred Flames to burn Bella. His spiritual mace absorbs the sacred flames and connects solidly with the back of Bella's head, burning and bludgeoning at the same time. Bella is finally beginning to look haggard. Sagira attempts to finish the hag off, but her fireboat goes wide. Rek connects with her axe though, and Bella may be on her last legs. Seesil follows up with another dose of Frostbite, but forgets to duck out of the way this time, and is hit by five more Magical Missiles from Ophalia for his troubles. However, turning to face Seesil opened her up, and Eld takes advantage of the opening, slipping behind Ophalia and stabbing her viciously in the back before retreating to the cover of the grindstone.

Colin, seeing his chance, grabs Bella's shoulders and channels all the necrotic power of Inflict Wounds into his touch. At the same time, his spiritual weapon comes around and smashes into the injured back of the hag's head. Her body withers from the magic, and the repeated blows from the mace finally cave in the back of her skull, and she falls to the floor, dead.

Ophalia begins to look frantic, and is taken by surprise when Sagira conjures a bonfire at her feet, scorching the hag's legs with magical fire. Rek attempts to keep up the momentum, but her axe swings wide. Seesil keeps up his assault of freezing pinpricks, once again casting Frostbite and freezing Ophalia's fingers. Ophalia backs up the stairs out of the bonfire, and sends five more magical missiles flying into Colin, only for two of the bolts to be intercepted by the ghostly forms of half-orcs summoned from Rek's raging spirit. Three bolts hit home however, and Colin is beginning to feel the length of the fight.

Eld continues to pester Ophalia, hitting her in the shoulder with another arrow. Colin continues his success and hits with Inflict Wounds, but Ophalia shrugs off most of the damage. His special mace is too slow catching up and is unable to land a blow. Sagira however catches Ophalia in the side with a bolt of fire, adding to the smell of scorched flesh in the room. Seesil's Frostbite continues to wear away at the hag's claws.

Ophalia, assessing Rek as the most dangerous foe, attempts to remove the half-orc, but much like Bella, is unable to connect with the frostbitten hand, and only lands one blow. She is rewarded with another arrow from Eld's concealed location, and then watches as the injuries on both Colin and Rek begin to stitch themselves up as Colin channels a large amount of divine healing power into them. The spiritual mace lands a glancing blow on Ophalia's leg.

Sagira, having doused her initial bonfire, recognizes a more tactical option and this time places the bonfire on the stairway behind Ophalia, preventing her from retreating further. Rek and Seesil both land hits, first with an axe and then with more chilling temperatures. The hard-pressed hag finds herself unable to land a hit on Rek this time.

Eld steps out of hiding, lines up a shot, and releases. "Bake this," he says, and the arrow buries itself in Ophalia's forehead. She falls over backwards, lifeless, and begins to roast in the bonfire, until Sagira thinks to put it out.

We hear more fighting upstairs where Doran and Morgantha went. Eld charges to the rescue, but Rek pauses to drink two more healing potions as Seesil chants another Healing Word to regenerate the half-orc.

The third floor is even narrower than the first two. A molding bed sits in one corner of the room. Morgantha stands over Doran's fallen form, laughing and kicking his twitching body, obviously enjoying herself. Next to her is a closet, the doors long ago fallen off the hinges. inside are a stack of three wooden crates. We hear cries for help from within. Next to the closet is a pile of discarded clothing. Behind Morgantha, a ladder leads up to the roof.

Rek runs into the room past Eld, already roaring and swinging her axe. She buries the blade in the surprised hag. Seesil pokes his head up and casts Healing Word on Doran. His breathing stabilizes, but he does not regain consciousness. Seesil attempts to Frostbite Morgantha, but she glares contemptuously at him as the spell fizzles.

Morgantha then raises her hands and blows dust into Rek's face. Rek feels a heavy lethargy settle into her limbs for a moment, but her rage brings her out of it and she resists the spell. Eld runs into the room with his blades drawn and jumps on the bed. He applies his hunter's mark to Morgantha, and stabs her with his rapier, drawing the blade down her side as he withdraws it. Colin perches on the stairs and brings out his crossbow, sending a bolt into Morgantha's leg. His spirit weapon follows him into the room, but is unable to find its mark.Sagira, seeing the room is already crowded, decides not to venture further in. She wedges her quarterstaff against the stairs and uses it to brace herself and she pokes her eyes above floor level. Seeing Morgantha, Sagira once more summons a bonfire at the hag's feet. Morgantha yelps in pain and stamps her feet, attempting to put the fire out, but the magical flames endure. Unfortunately, we realize the fire is also beginning to heat up the nearby crates, and the cries for help turn to shouts of fear as the occupants realize the danger. Rek, suppressing her desire to hurt things for a moment, attempts to shift the crates out of the closet, but is unable to get a grip while dodging Morgantha's claws.

Seesil also sees the danger the crates occupants are in. "How long can fleshy ones hold their breath?" He asks, to no one in particular, before summoning the powers of nature to create 10 gallons of water which flood through the crates, steaming in the corners near the bonfire but cooling the surprised occupants before streaming out the bored-in air holes in each crate. The shouts of fear turn into spluttering coughs as the water runs off.

Morgantha's leggings begin to burn in the fire, but she is unable to move out of it, and smoke begins to fill the room. Morgantha then attacks Rek, stabbing the half-orc savagely, but the claws skitter and snag on Rek's leather armor and what could have been a serious wound is largely deflected.

Eld once more attacks from the bed, slashing and stabbing with rapier and dagger and drawing more blood and shrieks of pain from Morgantha. Colin turns around and opens the third floor window, letting out some of the smoke before it becomes hazardous to the group. Sagira sends a bolt of fire that burns off some of Morgantha's ear as it passes her head.

Frustrated at her inability to grab the crate but determined to save the children inside, Rek reverts to form and smashes the wooden box in the middle of the stack with her axe. Fortunately the child had backed as far as possible from the sounds of fighting, and was uninjured despite the splinters flying everywhere. Seesil returns to Frostbite duty, freezing Morgantha's fingers in her distraction. Morgantha responds by getting her unfrosted claws between Rek's armor and her shoulder, drawing even more blood in the process. Eld loses his footing in the molding bedding, and his blades fly wide of their target. Colin raises his crossbow and fires, but the bolt embeds itself in the ceiling, having missed Morgantha entirely. Rek calls out "Colin, I could use some healing please!" At this reminder, Colin chants a Healing Word, restoring some of Rek's spilt blood.

Sagira, fed up with this whole business, evokes her most powerful fire and sends three Scorching Rays at Morgantha. One misses, and burns into the stone wall behind her, but the other two smash directly into Morgantha's chest, knocking her back a step. This gives Rek the opening she needs, and turning she kicks the bottom crate repeatedly until the side is a mess of broken wood and the child inside is able to escape. Seesil keeps up the frosty pressure on Morgantha and also sends a Healing Word to Rek, keeping her standing after the ordeal of the fight. Morgantha glares daggers at the group, but it is her last act as the bonfire rises and consumes her knees, and she coughs, staggers, and falls to the floor, dead. Sagira extinguishes the bonfire quickly.

The children crawl out of the wreckage of the boxes, gasping and coughing from their confinement, heat exposure, and near drowning, as Doran slowly regains consciousness. The children explain to us, through coughing fits, that the old woman (Morgantha) sold pastries to their parents, and after that their parents became obsessed with those pastries. So much so that when Morgantha returned, their parents were more than willing to barter their own children for another taste of the pastries.

As the group recovers from the exertions of the battle, Eld looks around for treasure, He finds nothing on the third floor, but climbs the ladder to the 4th floor, which is mostly a repair area for the windmill's mechanisms. Nevertheless, he finds some jewelry stashed there in a bag, possibly by the windmill's previous occupants. As he explores upstairs, Seesil returns to the first floor, and begins preparing a nice chicken stew for the group. We all take an hour long rest on the first floor, calling Ismark, Irena and Arf in to join us. As we recover our strength, Doran looks at the items Eld found in the attic, and points to one of the wrapped items. "This is something rare indeed. Those hags probably didn't know what it was." He takes the package and hands it to Colin. "I believe this was meant for you. It will help you in your quest. I must take my leave now, but perhaps in the future, I and my organization can be of help to you. I will tell you more then, but for now, I must say farewell." He hands the longsword back to Rek, turns into a raven again, and flies away.

Colin unwraps the item he had been handed. It is a metallic sun made from platinum with a ruby in the center of it. The ruby emits a soft light even when no light shines upon it. Gold chains extend from the disc in either direction, allowing a string to be tied on so the medallion can be worn as a necklace. Colin can feel magical power radiate from the medallion.

We have found the first artifact Madame Eva directed us towards; the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind.

To be continued!