Looking for Answers

"Looking for Answers" is the second chapter in the Witches of the Wylds campaign.

Summary
After defeating the gargoyle, the group began salvaging bits of the monster. Whatever fangs were left and claws, and especially the leg that was cut from the monster, were taken by Azure, hoping to receive some payment. They then all began to make their way back into town, and on their way in they saw a distressed man talking to one of the Hunters.

“Please, have you found anything? I have to know!” he said.

“Your case is still being looked into, but right now we have plenty more pressing matters to attend to regarding the entire town. Please, go inside.” Hunter instructed.

The party intervened and asked what the issue was. The man explained that several weeks ago his two children had gone missing, a boy and a girl. The Hunters had begun a case to try and find them, but so far they haven’t been found. He said that the girl had long blonde hair, and the boy shaggy brown hair. The party took this knowledge with them, and went into the city.

They arrived at the Fiend Hunter’s Guild Hall and met a new face. A human paladin named Zen, who had apparently also taken part in the fight to protect Thimea just an hour ago. He is a follower of Tyr, the god of justice, and came to Thimea because of a premonition he had. After this, the party asked some more questions, mostly regarding the missing children. Deanmus explained that they had looked into this case before. The farthest they got was they found out they were dealing with a demonic entity of some kind. Zen actually confirmed this when he felt a dark presence lingered in the town. The trail had apparently gone cold, the Hunters could find the lair or location of this entity. And now it’s of course had to be put on hold due to the attack. However, for a long time now these missing cases have been coming up more and more. Citizens and travelers have been disappearing from Thimea for a while.

While discussing this, Zen decided to join the party, knowing it was his duty as a paladin of Tyr to fight for justice and to protect against any force of evil. The group decided it was best not to rest until they met with Yandaichi, the Earth Witch they had met during the attack. Before leaving town, Azure went to a few shops, organizing a deal to get his dragon some armor and a large leather satchel to store monster parts in.

Meanwhile the rest of the group travelled along a dirt road coming out of the city, walking through the poor district of Thimea, where farmers and small families lived and tried to get by. They reached the end of the road and saw a hooded figure slumped over, sitting at the head of a cart.

Inanna walked forward as Azure joined them, and tapped on the side of the wooden cart, “Uh, hi?”

The figure looked up, and they saw it was a Tabaxi man with dark grey fur. His eyes were covered with wraps and he grinned. His whiskers were long and drooped down. “Ah… hello. Would you like to ride with Coach?”

Apparently, this Tabaxi was a stagecoach master. He offered rides not for any price of coin, but just for a good story. Most Tabaxi valued being told stories over anything else, and this one named Coach certainly enjoyed a story from a fellow adventurer. The party agreed and asked to be taken to the swamps nearby, as this was where Yandaichi apparently lived. He agreed, and Inanna proceeded to tell him the story of the attack in Thimea, and what they were doing. Coach seemed to enjoy it.

Their ride to the swamps was uneventful. Coach was kept entertained by Inanna’s story and the rest of the party seemed to be getting more comfortable in each other's presence. Nearing the end of their brief ride they began to see frogs hopping on the side of the road, and distant sound of insects hinted that they were very close to their destination. Coach pulled the cart to the side of the road and said, “Just beyond these marshes you will find yourselves in the swamps. Coach will wait here for you to return.”

The party then proceeded through the swamp, treading carefully through the thick mud and murky waters. They found a small hut with a light glow coming from the inside. They approached and were greeted by the kind-hearted Yandaichi, acting a bit different than how she had in the battle. Clearly she was more relaxed and spoke softly with them. After bringing them inside and making everyone cups of tea she proceeded to answer their many questions and explain what exactly they were potentially up against.

“Well I’d first like to apologize. Our time was very short when we first met and I wish I could’ve explained everything as quickly as possible. But, I hope that you have each gotten to rest, and that the people in Thimea have been seen to?” The party nodded, telling her that the Fiend Hunters were making sure all the families were being brought back together and order was slowly being restored. Yandaichi continued, “As I told you, that attack that happened at Thimea has occurred before. The same creatures ravaged that poor city many years ago and I was there to fight back against them, as were three other witches. I’m sure you’ve all heard the stories?”

Inanna confirms that she has explained the legend to everyone.

“Myself, an Earth Witch, fought those monsters with a Fire Witch, a Water Witch, and a Moon Witch. The four of us formed a… Witches Guild made up of us. We made some allies and traveled to every settlement and city in the Wyld Lands, fighting back these fiends. Eventually we found the source of their appearance. A portal of great flame and… what felt like pure... hatred… we worked together to seal the portal. Our magic combined was strong enough to close it off, but for some reason… the seal must have broken again. Either someone on our side of it broke the seal… or whatever power that lies within that dimension is too strong.”

Yandaichi looked a little troubled to continue on, but explained further, “This is why I asked for your help. You see 2 years after we sealed the portal, we began to… go our separate ways. The four of us haven’t seen each other for many years… and I’m not quite certain where they are. I do have a lead for us to start from. There is a young sorcerer who lives nearby that might help, rumor says that she has been in contact with Ophelia Ayer, the Fire Witch. I have a good guess as to where we can find her.”

After this exposition dump, the party decided now was the time to rest before they went to go find their Sorcerer. Before they all went to sleep though, Azure prodded Yandaichi about her own quest in tracking down the Bowstrings of Legend. Yandaichi acknowledged their existence and told her that the Earth elemental tribe had one of the bowstrings in their possession. A Stone Bowstring of some kind. She suggested maybe that should be Azure’s next stop, but she wasn’t sure where to direct her being that she only rarely interacted with this tribe. Yandaichi remembered that they had set up near the lake close by.

After this, they all spent the evening at Yandaichi’s hut and got some well deserved rest, and the next day the group got up early and ate a good witch’s breakfast and met Yandaichi outside. When everyone was there, the witch focused her energy and just as she had disappeared previously, a coalition of leaves and grass emerged, completely surrounding them. The group was then propelled up into the air as they flew high above the swamp. Some even saw way down on the ground Coach sitting by a fire and making his own breakfast. It looked like he had spent the night in that very place he left them.

Within moments they landed in the middle of Whisper Forest. A few were not quite able to stick the landing and tumbled as they landed on solid ground.

Yandaichi looked about, taking in their surroundings. “We must be close…”

In the distance however, the group could hear loud thuds as something was approaching. Everyone could hear it clicking and whirring like it was some mechanical being. The thing emerged and was recognized was a large automaton of gnomish design. It saw the group, and immediately mistook them for a threat. “Potential threat spotted. Beginning combat procedure.”

A brief fight ensued where the party essentially had to just fight to survive, as there was no way they could take this thing down. Zen however suffered an extremely fatal blow and fell unconscious after one swift swipe from the automaton.

Luckily just as the automaton was preparing to strike another blow, a distant female’s voice would call out “WAIT!” Then a small female gnome, the blue hair and dressed in magical robes stepped in front of the Automaton. She spoke something to it in gnomish. The automaton then lowered its arms and relaxed, then saying, “Compliance.”

The gnome, out of breath, looked to the rest of the party and apologized profusely for everything and said that the automaton was meant to be patrolling about looking out for more fiends. Yandaichi called some of the others over, as Azure and Grukk hoisted Zen up and carried him. From there the gnome began to lead the party back to her cottage and invited them all inside.

The little gnome explained that her name was Salnapip Pilwicken and she was, indeed, a sorcerer. The automaton was called S.T.A.N. and was not meant to bring harm to anyone innocent. When she was asked about her connection to the Ayer family she explained, “Yes, I used to see all the members of the Ayer family many times. They had called upon my help for my expertise in healing magic. Ophelia had become dreadfully ill you see… and I visited them regularly to conduct spells and perform brief rituals to try and bring her back to good health. Strangely though she… Ophelia… privately requested that I not come back for a while. I was not sure why she didn’t want me to come back… I’ve been concerned for them ever since…”

Zen by now had come to, and joined the rest of the party in listening to Salnapip talk. At this moment however, he and Yandaichi had stepped up and the two saw a tall hooded figure slowly approaching the house. When the rest of the group joined them, Azure, Inanna, and Grukk each saw, and only them, saw several hell hounds slowly making their way forward as well…

With their new enemies closing in… the party had no choice but to go outside and meet their new opponent…