Gabe's head buzzed, not the pleasant alcohol kind of buzz moreover the 'Nine Hells, my head hurts' kind of buzz, that the bard massaged the one side of his skull with two fingers having lagged a little behind after the rest he stared blankly at the door his eyes flicking between it and Rearden whom voiced a more friendly approach to this seemingly trapped person "I admire your optimism... However-" frowning Gabe leaned into the confined room holding a finger up, snapping them in a flourish a tiny flicker of a wisp of flame appeared but a speck between his thumb and index finger the other hand firmly rested upon the banded hilt of his rapier.


"I wouldn't be too trusting.. I've heard quite a few things in my travels of this one's kind at least I assume from the knack of hissing..Their quite intelligent, devilishly and dangerously so." blowing the wisp of flame out between his fingers "Emotionless creatures, raised to reject their own feelings..But who am I to judge." the bard resisted the urge to trace a finger along the large scar that ran down his face, a memory of a darker past his hand placed upon his weapon tightened becoming white at the knuckles.

"In fact who are we to judge having greeted another with open arms..Gah! Blast it all it must be near!" the sensation buzzing like a gnat in his head caused him to once again feel his sore head, sighing "Hmph..Beg pardon, how exactly did you end up here?" he asked looking away from the door with the large padlock upon it surveying the room trying to tell if the nagging feeling he was getting would point him in the right direction to where it was what he was looking for.

As Brutrumukk and Jub continue forwards, they soon reach a fountain in the middle of the library. Standing at the circular point in the room, the two of them see that there are four paths they could take, including the way they just came from. The cats' laughter echoes throughout the entirety of the library.

The macaw speaks up, "I know they're going to the vault! We're really close. But this library is also a maze with constantly changing paths! We'll need to figure out the puzzles and riddles we face in order to get there!"

The path that brought them in was the South Path. They now have the North, West, and East paths to explore. Which way do they go?

@XxFellsingxX@rush99999




Looking at the chest, Rearden sees that it has clawed feet, and the letters B.B. crudely carved into its lid. Nothing happens as she pokes the padlock with the butt of her staff.

When Rearden examines the clay pots, she notices that the tipped over pots have compacted, hard, and cracked dirt in the pots. The dirt is hard enough to not spill out from the tipped over pots. Rooted in those pots are seemingly dead plants, practically resembling twigs. However, when Rearden looks closer, she sees that these twigs seem to have faces and arms of their own. They are all quietly wheezing and struggling to breathe.

One of the twigs, weakly outstretches an arm towards the watering can, in a silent, desperate plea.



Other than that, nothing happens to the rest of the party as they speak with the person on the other side of the Eastern Door. Zavakri doesn't say anything to add to the conversation. Instead, she simply listens as everyone speaks. They can continue to speak to her without interruption.

@Dark Cloud@ctrlsaltdel@Lurking Krog



No changes take place as you speak through the door to the people on the other side. Sshizna is free to continue speaking with them without fear of any danger.

@Vertigo

"Oi. Parrot." Brutrumukk said to the macaw. "You can fly, yeah? Why not fly up over the book shelves an' see which way the vault is?"

Aurora shook her head at Gabe. She wasn't quite sure what he was on about in regards to the person in the locked room, judging someone by their ancestry was a bit harsh. Rearden had brought up a valid point, they were locked in the room. For what reason only they and Bavlorna knew.

Being locked in a room against her will for little reason was a miserable experience and something she did not wish upon others. With that insight mind, as well as Sshizna's comment on the rules of reciprocity, Aurora approached the door setting the key in the lock.

"The Rule of Reciprocity will satisfy, I will aid you.

"I do apologize for my initial suspicions, though I suspect you would be just as suspicious of finding someone locked in a room of a hags hut." Aurora turned the key and opened the door, now finally able to see who was speaking to the group. The slight figure stood there with her arms crossed. Aurora stepped inside the room and to the side to keep the doorway clear should Sshizna wish to leave the room. She on the other hand, wanted to see what else may be in the room.

"You may call me Rory. In regards to your initial question, I know some of the rules, though etiquette was more my siblings strength." She said as she peered around, not fully taking her eyes of Sshizna.

Rearden frowned as she ran a gloved finger--lightly, very lightly--along one of the plants' brittle arms. They were in terrible shape, but that was to be expected given the level of care everything in the hag's cabin evidenced. She had thought that Hither at large was bad. It still was, really, but the fey swamps at least were an analogue to Eldath's domain.

This hut, though... she glanced around at the moldering contents of the room. The swamp was full of decay, but that decay fed new life--she remembered that lecture again, learning that the reason swamps were so full of life because they were full of decay. The house was full of decay as well--but instead of breaking down into new life, it just continued to sink ever further into squalor and death.

She straightened, suddenly, and marched over to grab something from the other side of the room. She spared a look over at the door as she did--thankfully, Aurora had seen fit to spare the poor creature after all. Rearden knew she needed to go introduce herself, but there were important matters to be attended to first: she had to water the plants.

The macaw answers Brutrumukk, "Aaliyah and I already tried that idea a long time ago, Clown! I can tell ya right now, that it ain't gonna work. There's an illusion in place so that it'd be really hard to discern a path from above. Your best chance of navigating through this place is on the ground. I ain't so keen on gettin' another migraine from trying ta see through that illusion,"

He then looks to Jub and he speaks, "Yer Goblin Friend looks smarter than you. He should be able to navigate this library no problem!"

@XxFellsingxX@rush99999




Rearden, set on her goal to water the plants, finds the watering can in this room. While the watering can itself is rusted, she does see that it already contains a full gallon of water! She realizes that all she needs to do is to set the pots back upright, and water them and they should all be good.

Once she does so, the plants all take long, wheezing inhales as the water seeps rapidly into the dirt. The plants are clearly drinking the water through their roots in desperation. They all give crooked smiles in joy and relief as they finally have the water that they've been denied for so long through neglect.

After a moment of the plants chattering in an unknown language amongst themselves, one of the plants soon bends down and starts digging through the dirt in its own pot. It soon pulls out a black-enameled iron key, and it hands it over to Rearden!





@ctrlsaltdel@Dark Cloud



Aurora finds that the key does indeed fit into the lock, and with a loud click and loud squeak of the door hinges, the way between Bavlorna's Hoard and the rest of her bedroom is now open! The party is now free to look around the Hoard, while Sshizna is now free from the confines of that prison.



Other than the door now being open, there are no other changes that take place in this room. Everyone is free to speak with each other and act as they please.

@Vertigo@Lurking Krog

Rearden smiled broadly at the little sprout extending the key to her. "A favor gets a favor, huh?" She knelt down and gave the plant a respectful bow of her head--only to grunt in surprise as the key bounced off her helmet. She started, then fixed the plant with a mild look. "Insistent, aren't we?" She bent down to grab the it, then stopped. At her touch, the black iron started giving off a soft light; she wasn't sure what kind of magic was at play, but after only a moment's hesitation she went ahead and grabbed the it anyway.

Looking up, it didn't take her long to notice that the lock she had just been fruitlessly poking at was also glowing. Rearden didn't consider herself a towering genius, but this one didn't exactly take an archmage to figure out.

Kneeling in front of the open chest, she sorted through its contents. Three scrolls--put those to the side for now, to check if she or any of her companions could read them. An extremely well-made... marionette? She had to admit it fit with the rest of the house's contents, though it was in rather better condition. And finally...

"Huh. Who is 'Isolde'?"

Jub looked surprised when the macaw stated he'd been able to navigate the labyrinth easily. "Me?" he said, almost with a snort. "Why me?!" Normally he'd take this kind of thing as compliment, but he was too tired and too stressed at this point.

The macaw looks to Jub when he asked why him, and he speaks, "Yer a wizard, ain'tcha?! I see that tome there! Navigating through libraries should be a cinch for you!" He then flutters closer to Jub and seems to inspect him, "Oh geez. You're one of those wizards who insists on studying at the cost of sleep, aren't you? Just like my discount wizard of a girl,"

He sighs and he speaks, "I'll help you out, but it'll be up to you to navigate!"



@XxFellsingxX@rush99999




"Cor, that's a bloody good question..." Zavakri begins to answer Rearden's question, her own voice pensive. She continues as she rubs her chin, "We never met anyone named Isolde at the Witchlight Carnival when we were there. Maybe she is one of the hands helping out?"

Gabriel pipes up thoughtfully, "But then again...why would someone want the autograph of a mere carnival hand? Mister Witch and Mister Light I can understand, but a hand who hadn't shown themselves to the crowd?"

She then shrugs and she speaks, "I don't think we'll find the answer here. I'll go help the others in that closet,"

She then walks to the closet now that the door is opened. Gabriel also moves with her calling "Wait for me!"

@ctrlsaltdel@Dark Cloud



Zavakri and Gabriel both approach Aurora and Sshizna as they speak with each other, allowing Aurora to answer Sshizna's question about slaying the hag. Sshizna notices that human woman, Zavakri, has golden clock faces for irises, complete with the roman numerals of I through XII, but the hands are missing. When Zavakri sees the dead lornling on the floor, her eyes start to tear up and she looks away to keep her composure.



Should Aurora and Sshizna allow Gabriel and Zavakri entry, they enter, and they take Sshizna's advice seriously. The both of them avoid the bags, the concoction, and the lornling.

Zavakri steps up towards the stag skull and she takes it off of the wall, "I think this is the stag head Clapperclaw mentioned! We can finally leave these gods awful swamps of Hither!"



Gabriel meanwhile, is desperately rifling through the numerous objects like an alcoholic looking for the slightest drop of alcohol. He speaks out loud, "I know it's in here somewhere! By Corellon, where does she keep things from the Witchlight Carnival?!"



@Vertigo@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud

Jub looked at the macaw blankly. Under normal circumstances, he would try - usually in vain, thanks to his condition - to hide the truth, but right now he was too tired (and fed up) to care. "You mean this?" Jub said, holding up his spellbook. "Hate to disappoint you, bird brain, I found this in a trash can. And these..." Jub pointed to the bags under his eyes. "Are because I've spent the last couple of days stuck in the madness that is the Feywild, and have been unable to have a proper sleep." He gave a loud sigh. "But sure! Let's do this! What can go wrong?"

"Well initially we did not think we were in a position to try to fight Bavlorna head on. We had a semblance of a plan but that fell apart rather quickly and we lost whatever means of surprise we had. We did try to regroup and form a new plan, which was useless once we found out that she had fled."

Aurora shifted away from the door to allow Gabe and Zavakri to go in there. When Rearden mentioned the name Isolde, it triggered a brief memory from the evening at the carnival. The Misters had very quietly talked about this Isolde, and they were avoiding her. "I'm not entirely sure who that is, but I believe Witch and Light were trying to avoid her. Could be another hag perhaps."

Shortly after entering, Zavakri called out that the stags head was in there a slight wave of relief passed through Aurora. "Good, let's grab that and find Gabe's missing dice. I agree, the sooner we are able to leave this swamp the better." she said before she redirected her attention to Sshizna. "I'm not sure where you are seeking to go, we are heading for Thither soon, hoping to reunite with the rest of our group.

I do have a few questions of my own for you though I suppose I'll ask the most pressing one first. How long have you been here?" While she did not expect an answer, Aurora figured that if Sshizna had been here for awhile, she might know more about Bavlorna and her coven than what the group knew right now.

Upon hearing the revelation from Jub, the macaw squawks, "Well! There's nowhere to go but up on that regard! Ya gotta try!"

Thanks to the combined efforts of Jub, with the assistance of the macaw and Brutrumukk, they are just barely able to navigate the massive library! At first, the library's organization was confusing to Jub and the group got lost.

But as they continue on down the various paths, he comes to realize that the words on the first books he spies are the clues he needed! Eventually the books bore titles such as the "A Summer's Day in the Southern Garden," or "A Winter's Eve in the Treasury,"

"The Treasury! That's where those cats are headed!" The macaw cries out to Jub.

And so, from there, it was just a matter of finding similarly titled books and they were able to find the Treasury. A large vault door was opened, and a couple of large paw prints lead into the room. The macaw speaks to the two, "They're definitely in there! If ya wanna prepare for the fight, now's the time to do it. We won't be able to once we head inside!"

@XxFellsingxX@rush99999




Zavakri glances back at Sshizna confused when she stated that she was in a better position to answer the question than Sshizna is. All she gives in response is a confused "Hm?" while holding the stag skull in her hands.

Meanwhile, Gabriel looks to the bronze frog statue, and he asks befuddled, "In there?" He shrugs and he speaks to Sshizna, "Well, I might as well check. Thank you!" before he moves to the bronze frog. He immediately plunges his hand in, before following up with his entire arm. A look of disgust crosses Gabriel's face.



"Ugh! Gross! How in the world can anyone find anything in this thing?! Oh Corellon, that was an eel! Where the hells is my dice--"

Before he finishes that statement, his eyes widen. He pulls his arm out of the frog, and holds a small cloth sack. Both his arm and the sack in question are dripping with swamp mud and muck. He moves to open the sack, and he pulls out one singular die. The die has different styles and fonts for numbers on each face. Gabriel looks at the die in disbelief, surprise, and it slowly morphs to joy.

"This...This is it. All of my dice may have been combined into one, but...this is definitely it!" He breathes out.

He laughs happily, "I got my dice back! I finally have them back!!!"

He looks at Aurora, Sshizna, and Zavakri, "By the Gods! Thank you! Thank you so much! I am indebted to you!"



@Vertigo@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud

As Brutrumukk stood before the breached treasury vault, the bugbear gnome took stock of himself. On top of his weakened state, the events leading up to this moment had left him weaker still. He was injured, down to his last rage, only had enough of his newfound ability to sense magic for one more use of it for the time being, hadn't had enough time to let the Will-o'-Wells' boon recharge, and all he had for an arsenal was a pair of daggers and some paint. Brutrumukk imagined Jub was in no better condition. And now they were about to go fight a pair of cats that were as big as ogres and had the ability to turn invisible. As eager as he was to kill them, Brutrumukk could only avoid the facts for so long. In the state they were in, Brutrumukk and Jub just didn't have very good odds of success.

...Or at least it seemed that way from where Brutrumukk was currently standing.

They were about to head into a vault full of magical treasure. Perhaps there was some artifact they could use in there. Some defense system they could trigger to even the odds. "You ever been in there, before?" Brutrumukk asked the macaw. "If you 'ave, d'you know if there's anythin' in there we could use to 'elp us beat the cat ogres? Some magic treasure or weapon? Some trap or defense like those suits of armor we fought? That sort o' thing."

Aurora looked to Zavakri in confusion as Sshizna mentioned Zavakri would be better positioned to answer the question. Could Sshizna have been here that long? It certainly did not seem like it to Aurora, even without knowing much about Yuan-Ti. "You probably have been here for some time. From what we have learned from others, the land of Prismir has been split into three, Hither, Thither, and Yon."

Gabriel's exclamations drew Aurora's attention as he dug inside the bronze frog statue. Part of her wondered if her missing items were here as well. She considered how Gabriel had explained how he felt, that he could almost sense his missing dice. That gave her pause and led her to try to see if she could sense anything. After a few seconds of it, she remembered that Gabriel had been able to tell since the group had arrived in Hither. Wherever her signet ring was, it was not here.

Regardless, it was good to see Gabriel so happy. "You do not owe me anything Gabe." She said before looking to the others. "We should probably get to Clapperclaw before too long. I have a feeling the longer we stay here, the more likely we are to be stuck in Hither."

The parrot answers Brutrumukk, "There are some security measures in there. Like beams that can incinerate someone. But ya have to figure out how to actually turn the dang things on and where. They're typically shut off if someone managed to get in past this front door here. For safety reasons,"

@XxFellsingxX@rush99999




Gabriel smiles at Aurora's response to his gratitude, but blinks at Sshizna's words. He answers her, still very cheerful, "Of course. I won't let you down on that! On my honor!"

While Gabriel was speaking with Aurora and Gabriel, Zavakri finds a porcelain jar made of varnished white clay rests on a wooden table. The jar has legs that have been painted to look like the legs of a chicken. Inside the jar are two broken pieces of a wishbone. She takes out the two pieces and sticks them together, and she blinks in surprise. She is left to mumble under her breath in realization, "So that's what the carousel horses meant...!"

Gabriel and Zavakri nod in response to Aurora's words about leaving the house. Zavakri adds, "I believe there's still one room to check before we leave, if you would like to cover all bases," Gabriel disagrees, "I'd rather get out of Hither. I'm tired of these swamps..."

With everyone agreed, they begin to leave the dreary cottage in the swamps, and make their way back to Clapperclaw.





The party makes it back to Clapperclaw without much issue. It seems like nothing has changed in the swamps of Hither.



As they approach, they can see that Clapperclaw, the small scarecrow is speaking with a stout, hairless figure. He speaks to the man, "A group of adventurers already went into Bavlorna's Cottage to find my stag skull. Once they come back, I can..."

He then looks to the party as they approach and he happily cheers, "There they are! And you have my stag skull!!!"

@Vertigo@Lurking Krog@Dark Cloud@CajunRobinHood

Brutrumukk nodded his acknowledgement of the bird's words before turning to Jub. "Right. 'Ere's what I reckon we should do." Brutrumukk said. "Me an' Feathers'll 'ead in there first an' get the cat ogres' to look away from the door. Once we've done that, I'll find a way to slip the words 'bree-yark' into a sentence. That'll be the signal fer you to slip in all quiet like and find a way to turn on one o' those beams to beam the cat ogres with. That sound good to you?"