A View From Below Part 2 - The Witches Retreat

The crew: Bear [Ian], Dexter [Jamie], Gillard [Kevin], Myrtle [Andrew], Oliver [Jeff], Ouzo [Darryl], Scuttle [Chris], Tu [Shane], with Debbie [Steven] succumbing to the Marmalade. Tu [Shane] and Scuttle [Chris] left early and so were effectively also suffering from the Marmalade malady for these part two events described below.

A huge flash of light

“A huge flash of light just flared up on the island” whispered Ouzo from above.

Wow, look at that. The glow is just fading now. I wonder what that means? Obviously, something is happening over there … but no one was over there! Maybe someone arrived, or left! Gosh, the witches have arrived on the island via some form of Teleport device. Maybe that is what the alter does. I should have investigated the damn thing after all.

The others eventually came to the same conclusion, so we rushed back to the flagstone room to lay an ambush. We could surprise them and pick them off as they came along the tunnel and arrived in the room. I could hide just by the entrance and Backstab a witch once she arrives, nice and easy. Cool.

We set up and waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. For over an hour.

Ouzo fell asleep twice as we were waiting, and Bear kept shuffling his feet and moving around, very noisily. Debbie’s eyes glazed over after only fifteen minutes, and she started humming. Myrtle had to prod her to keep her relatively silent.

In the end we decided that enough waiting had happened and obviously there was no one coming through the tunnel from the island. Maybe it was someone leaving the island? Ha, they have run off, the cowardly hags.

The spiral stair

Back up the spiral stairs to the lounge. I checked the door that we had wedged shut, the one that led into the rest of the witches retreat building. No traps. Ouzo had a careful check as well and confirmed my assessment as correct, of course. No traps. I pulled the wedge and Ouzo tweaked the lock.

Snick … and we open it a crack.

It opens into a largish sitting room, decked out with couches and armchairs and little coffee tables. There were no lights lit in there, and so Ouzo and I slipped in. I looked around at the pictures on the walls while Ouzo shot across the room to the only other door, on the far side.

Interestingly, one of the pictures was of the same female witch that appeared in the magical paining we had found back in the Toluene mansion house. The one that tried to suck Gillard into itself. I won’t be touching that painting thank you very much. Ouzo thought it must be a magical doorway, perhaps back to Toluene.

Ouzo opened up the other door to reveal a long and dark corridor stretching off. Each side held a series of closed doors, and about halfway along on the left was a staircase heading down.

The noisy boys waited back at the sitting room, under strict instructions not to fiddle with the paintings! Tu slumped into one of the armchairs and the low rumbling drone of snoring was almost immediately reverberating around the room.

A long corridor with doors

We slowly checked each door along the corridor, first for traps, and then silently peaked inside. Lots of empty bedrooms, full of interesting stuff. I tried to slip in and have a good ruffle through, but Ouzo insisted that we move along quickly to clear the level. He might not notice that I don’t immediately follow. But what if he finds someone in a room, he will need me to help. And actually, he’s pretty useless at checking for traps. Oh, and what if he finds a nice piece of loot and he’s all on his own. No, can’t have that.

Six empty bedrooms and a bathroom. But where are all the bloody witches? The bedrooms were mostly unused, so were they even here? Of course they are, we have seen at least five of them over the last few days. Although, I never saw them myself. Stupid telescope. Maybe Dexter was mistaken? No, Myrtle was looking too. Mmmm, when she stretches up and leans forward to peer through the eyepiece. I wonder if we could set that up in the tower, just to check out the compound …

Ouzo and I were standing at the top of the stairs, the next direction to explore. He looked down at me and raised an eyebrow. I looked back towards the sitting room where the others were waiting, then down the stairs into the unknown. Then back up at Ouzo.

With a grin and a nod, we started off down the stairs.

Wooden stairs are sometimes tricky. I always use the side of a stair, just next to the stringer. Much less likely to bend and creak treading there, keeping the weight off the middle. You’d think Ouzo would know that too. But he started straight down the middle. As I went to grab him by the belt, his foot settled on the first tread down.

Creeaaaakkkkk

Crap, that sounded like a bell going off in the darkness. No one up here, but who knows what might be waiting at the bottom of the stairs. No option but to check it out quickly now. We’ll need to alert the others if anyone had heard us.

Ouzo mumbled an opps and then moves to the side. Duh. Down we went, silent as the grave for the bulk of the decent. And quite likely to the grave if there is anyone waiting at the bottom! In the foyer space. Since it’s a foyer space here, with three doors leading off in different directions.

The leering creature

Ouzo looks off to the right while I look off to the left. A door. We each take a step towards the doors in front of us. Mine looks boring, but by the sounds behind me Ouzo’s one opens up. Spinning around I can see through Ouzo’s legs and spot an ugly figure walking through his door towards us. Whoever it is, same very scary and half rotted male dude, stops and looks straight at Ouzo, then turns and hurries back through the door.

Shit, shit, shit. Ouzo immediately runs back up the stairs, quite silently this time I note, with me right behind him. He takes two steps at a time, and since I can’t he gets a bit ahead. As I get to the top of the stairs he is just entering the sitting room where everyone was waiting for us to scout out the rest of the place. He’s not exactly yelling, but it’s pretty easy to hear the panicked desperation in his voice.

I figure I can just wait here at the top of the stairs, and they’ll all be along momentarily. Sure enough, the party clumps out of the sitting room and clatters their way along the corridor and down the stairs. Pretty sure they didn’t even notice me, except perhaps Myrtle. She gave me a glance as she rushed past.

Ouzo was going on about the “huge” guy he saw.

Bear was out in front, rattling like a steam train at full head. Dexter and Myrtle close behind, with Oliver at the rear and little Gillard flapping her halfling legs like crazy to keep up. She was waving her magic armour piercing short sword around and muttering about waiting for her or regretting it.

I follow at the very rear. Down the stairs and around towards the left-hand door, away from the direction where the figure we saw hustled off to. Leaving the rear exposed, where I was. Shit.

I slipped into a shadow at the base of the stairs and kept an eye on that door, while everyone clattered through the other door and headed off into a long corridor heading away. Just before their door swung closed, I followed, but cautiously, and always watching the door behind where I expected that hulking figure was likely to emerge. But no. Thank heavens.

After following the very noisy fighters along a long corridor, around a few corners, and along an even longer corridor, I could see them at a closed door in front of me. No time for trap detection I guess as Myrtle cautiously reached out for the door handle… pop … and just disappeared.

Oh, one of those! Everyone else reached out for the handle and disappeared as well, so of course I followed. Pop.

Everyone was standing in a kitchen, weapons raised alertly, with Ouzo crouched at one of the three doors leading out of the kitchen area. He held up three fingers and waved at the door, then jammed one of his door wedges under it.

Oliver was waving his magic black dagger in the air and muttering about Undead.

Spice racks on the kitchen wall

I took at look at the collection of pots and spices on the shelves beside the fireplace. Their spice collection is pretty comprehensive. Oh, saffron and annatto! Cool, I’ll have those ones. Into the backpack with you two!

And look, there is a small staircase heading down into a cellar over there in the corner. Maybe there is one of those MALECHAI alter things down there. I head towards the stair, but it absolutely reeks down there so I back off. Ewww.

Bear crashes through one of the other doors out of the kitchen, with Myrtle and Oliver right behind him. But before anyone else can follow, the wedged kitchen door is thumped heavily from beyond, and begins to slide against the wedge. Ouzo nearly trips over backwards as he stumbles back. You should have seen his face, priceless.

Almost immediately the door springs open and a wispy translucent woman wielding a shimmering blue sword floats through and moves towards Gillard. Dexter, Gillard, and Ouzo spread out and attack. Gillard takes a mightily hit from the blue sword and staggers back. [Gillard receives a “critical” hit from the creature and rolls a three on the critical table which inflicts one extra damage, imposes a negative one to all attacks for the rest of the combat, and causes her next attack to be at the end of the next round]

I’m sure they’ll cope fine, and since I can head the sounds of battle from the door where Bear, Myrtle, and Oliver have gone, I peer through behind them.

They are in a large dining room with a huge central table, thirteen chairs, and an array of glass doored cabinets around the walls. The door on the far side is swinging violently and Bear has engaged with two haggard looking men. One of which is the figure Ouzo and I previously saw.

Oliver is waving his magic black dagger in the air and yelling about Undead. But he quickly snaps off a Magic Missile into one of the men. Myrtle is swinging her black obsidian staff around to no avail, while Bear is taking hit after hit from the undead creatures.

I slip under the big dining table out of sight. Oliver backs off into the doorway to the kitchen, but there is still battle raging in there. I can head the sound of blows being exchanged.

Looking up at the underside of the table I don’t see any drawers, which is a shame. Best place to get into drawers and things, from below.

Bear is covered in blood at this point, and Myrtle has shrunk her staff and put it away. She casts a Heal, which I think is most opportune as Bear took another hit and temporarily swooned and slumped towards the ground. Myrtle and Bear back towards the kitchen door, where Oliver has now disappeared.

From the kitchen there is a large clatter, of a dropping sword, and the sounds of fighting from there die away.

Bear has switched to pure defensive mode now but is still taking blows from these two undead things and is being forced back. Blood is spraying about from cuts all over him. Yuk, and in the dining room too.

Myrtle casts another Heal.

And then the rest of the fighters burst through the kitchen door and assist Bear.

Looking around I don’t see much of interest, although there are some nice-looking landscape scene paintings on the walls, and some fine-looking knick-knacks in the wall cabinets. In fact, that dark stone statute of a small cat looks really interesting. If I could just get that cabinet door open … ah, yes, I see. Snick. Sweet.

But what’s happening in the fight now?

Gosh, those things must be tough as! Both still up and making progress against the fighters. Even Tu has pulled his sword and is having a hack. Bear, Gillard, and Dexter are bashing away to little effect, although Gillard is slipping the odd swing past their defence and making mince work of their legs. Dexter is wielding a shimmering blue long sword!

Oooh, Ouzo is slipping behind for a backstab attempt! I guess I can give that a go too, since they obviously need a bit of sneaky help. I’ll get that other one.

Just as Gillard chops one of the creature’s legs off with a great blow of her short sword, Ouzo launches onto the creature’s back and thrusts his dagger through its neck. [Ouzo makes a critical hit with his backstab, rolls a four on the critical table which means the blow avoids its armour, and the creature staggers forward and looses its next rounds attack] It goes down in a crumpled heap.

I leap silently off the dining table and make a successful backstab on the final creature, and it drops to the ground. Another timely intervention by myself!

Everyone pauses and looks around at the doors. No noises from the house. We may have been lucky, very lucky.

Myrtle is out of spells; Oliver has one left. No more Healing! Everyone is groaning, mostly cut to pieces, not many hit-points to go around.

The witches kitchen

After a minute or two of self-inspection, we all gather in the kitchen, and then cautiously peer through the forced open door to where the wispy woman came from. Some sort of sleeping room with three cots. Seems like even wispy woman had to sleep. And why would undead creatures need to sleep? The room was definitely unnaturally chilly, evil chilly!

Oliver uses his last spell to Detect Magic. The whole room he reckons, and the shimmering blue long sword.

We undertake a quick search of the remainder of the retreat. We had actually been into most of the spaces by now, but we discovered an empty lounge room and drawing room on the ground floor.

We gathered back in the kitchen. One hour to light reckoned Oliver.

The third door lead outside into the grounds and just then we spied the night patrol of Orcs and Wargs returning across the grounds to one of the barracks buildings. Everyone ducked down below the windows while Myrtle peeped out.

She exclaimed that they were carrying the decapitated heads of our horses, and a whole lot of equipment that looked like our camping gear from up on the ridge.

So, the undead creatures were finally dispatched. I had performed a mighty backstab that felled the last one just before it wiped the party out. But do they thank me? No.

We were crowded around the top of the stairs in the kitchen that led down into darkness below. A foul spell was wafting up on the unnaturally chilled air that was rising from the depths. What the hell could be down there? And where were the other witches?

Where are they?