The Cage

Marta is exhausted, she looks over to see if anyone is in need of first aid................she is wondering who is that new stranger who seemed to help out our cause???(pondering)

Cronar calls out a greeting, and apologizes for mistaking him for one of
the witches minions. "The timing of your arrival while fortunate in many
ways, was also unfortunate in that your intentions were not immediately
clear, and our desperate situation did not allow time for niceties and
questions. I humbly beg your pardon."

Marta curtly nods at the stranger, "well do you have a name, or do you
prefer us to call you stranger?"

The stranger gingerly touches his shoulder where the crossbow bolt struck him, but
inclines his head and says, "Completely understandable. There is nothing to forgive".
He looks across the water at the wounded and says, "If one of you would toss me a
rope, I believe I can do something for your friend...."

Cronar tosses a rope, holding on to the other end securely.

Glant looks up from his position on the ground, "yes please join us, new
friends are always welcome."

The stranger takes up most of the slack then ties the rope around his waist. Holding
onto the rope he steps boldly into the water, again taking up the slack as he
proceeds. The chilling water laps about his leggings as he nears the drop off, losing his footing and swept briefly toward the falls Cronar heaves and pulls him out, safe but soaked from the experience. [20,000 xp for all but Oeric, please send me updated character notes with any changes to level and saving throws. All hit points may be rolled by the Irony dice server]

Glant checks himself over and tries applying what few herbs he has to
the spot where the lightning bolt initially hit him, and then addresses
the stranger "if after you have tended the rest of the group, you have
any healing spells left over, i would be most appreciative if you could
use one on myself"

Picking himself up off the ground, Talanos turns to the stranger. "Thank you for the
healing. That...demon, or whatever it was, was almost more than we could handle."
Looking down, Talanos sees the javelin. Picking it up, he holds it in his hands and
slowly rolls it across his palm. "Very strange weapon," he says to himself. Testing
its heft, he says, "It appears to be made for flying, not for jabbing like a spear. It is a
magnificent weapon, and if no one minds, I would claim it for myself. And I will call it DemonSlayer! I only hope that I can add witch to that!" Looking again at Oeric, Talanos asks, "It appeared that you were following the demon up the stairs. Was that the case? And, if it was, do you know where it came from?"

Oeric smiles faintly and says, "You are quite welcome. Glad to help". He shrugs and
adds, "It just seemed the thing was shrugging off magics cast directly at it, so
something indirect was in order..." The newcomer shakes his head, "No, the first I saw of it was when I came up the stairs and saw you fighting it. I saw no trace of it below". He stops, considering the group a moment, then continues, "You wouldn't be the seekers of the Ravens would you? I have come here compelled by visions from Freya of this mountain, the Ravens and a band of heroes who seek them".
"Oh, which of you is Lester?" Seeing the group's long faces, the druid raises an
eyebrow and adds, "A strange, small man beside the waterfall below bade me bear
greetings to 'Lester'. 'Ho', I believe, was his exact message..."

Siobhan wanders over towards the water and greets Oeric with a smile ...
"A timely entry there Oeric. Thank you for your assistance..." with that
she knees at the waters edge and attends to cleaning and bandaging her
wounds. "I can't go through that kind of scrape again too soon, " she
says finally rising to her feet. "If that beast was sent to find and
kill us it damn well near succeeded in killing us all. I suggest that we
move on quickly before anything else arrives...."

Cronar replies "You speak wisely Siobhan, Let us go forward!"

Glant, recalling the opening they saw when first entering the room,
picks himself up and goes to take a look to see where outside the
opening leads.

Siobhan follows Glant towards the opening, glancing over her shoulder
she comments "Talanos has the Javelin, Cronar the Shield (I think), I am
wearing the Chain and also have the ring and oil. There is still a
Scroll of Protection from non-magic missile and a small Crossbow with 25
magical bolts if someone wants to make sure we remember to take those
with us."

As the group study the opening you see a beautiful vista of the lake, the meandering canyon stream in the valley beyond. Looking up you see more sheer rock perhaps 50 to 100 feet straight up.

Glant "well if we are ready, let us go.anyone got any ideas which
direction to head, since that room was a dead end? by the way did
someone get the rest of the stuff in the room?" Suspecting that there must be something here, Glant begins looking around for a hidden switch or entrance of some kind

Marta thinks that it would be to easy for anything to be visible, looking up
the cliff face if there any spots which look like they hide shadows or are
there any footholds of any kind?

Glant stands still thinking intently of what could possibly be the
solution to this, "you guys don't suppose this view is an illusion
created by the witch to hide the entrance to her domain, do you?"

Standing by the opening and looking up at the sheer rock face, Oeric
says, "Perhaps. Or perhaps her lair is up there. Would make a bit
of sense. Easily defensible, possibly only accessible by magical
means..."

Glant decides to feel the rock wherever he can reach, to check and see
if it feels as solid as it looks. if he discovers nothing then he will
return to the huge doors and look to see what he see on the other side
of the water that surrounds the stairway they came up on.

Glant makes a suggestion "what say we cross the water and check out that
other side ? we can always return back here if we find nothing."

Cronar replies: "I agree, we must cross the water and investigate this
area, we may learn something."

When the others re-enter the cave, Talanos looks closely at the rock face to either
side of the opening in which the group finds itself. Thinking aloud, he says, "Could
this be an illusion the evil witch has conjured up to fool us into looking in the wrong
direction?" Reaching out a hand, he feels at the stone to see if that is indeed the
case.

After a thorough search of the Scorpion's habitat reveals no hidden entrances or other exits the group decides to re-cross the busy stream and check out the far wall. After several missteps and careful maneuverings you manage to reach the far side with no one being swept over the falls. As you study the area Talanos reaches out to touch the wall and his hand passes through the wall as if it were merely an illusion.

Glant "well shall we move on? or rest up a bit first? I must say it seems
every time we stop to recuperate something else comes at us, so I vote
we move on." Glant then moves along the wall feeling to see how wide the
illusion is.

Siobhan
"Personally, I vote we move on a little way. The illusion should provide
us with some protection from creatures approaching from behind and if
something comes seeking us ... well it will probably locate us if we are
moving or not... Still a chance to rest would be nice..."

A little surprised that nobody saw fit to answer his questions, Oeric shrugs and puts
it down to the bad manners of city-folk and decides to get on with things. "I'd guess
the witch can probably see us, either through the illusion or some other way, and sent
the demon against you. I guess I suggest we press on before she gets a chance to
spring any more surprises..."

" Staying in one place is not an option unless we can find an area that is
both hidden and easily defensible. This spot is already compromised, we
will not be allowed to recoup here, we must go on." Cronar remarks.

Marta thinks it is unwise to stop, perhaps if the site is easily defendable
maybe. But otherwise lets move on.

As the party considers its next move a giant claw reaches out of the solid stone and grasps Cronar dragging him away.

Glant, upon seeing their comrade being hauled off "does this witch never
need rest?" and then proceeds to try and feel the stone the rock around
the area Cronar disappeared in, so he possibly attempt a rescue.
If he finds the rock is illusion he will draw his sword and follow the
claw, and attempt to strike it, if he gets the chance without injuring
his friend.

Marta draws a dagger and steps out of arms length from the wall, seeing
that nothing is after her she takes a step back and then jumps into or
through the wall.

With a quick prayer to Freya for her protection and guidance, Oeric steps through the
wall (or at least that's his intention....) after Cronar and his new play-mate.

Assuming that Oeric passed through the wall Siobhan will draw her swords
and follow suit.

Cronar attempts to resist the efforts of the claw, trying to pry himself
loose and wriggle free.

After Cronar disappears into the wall Glant boldly dashes in after as well as Marta, Oeric and Siobhan. Talanos waits apparently guarding the rear. The first noticeable change when you pass through the wall is an acrid smell and the smoke filled atmosphere that limits visibility to ten feet. Breathing the air doesn't effect you. You hear the sound of insane cackling off to your left. You see no sign of Cronar or the claw but the smoke is swirling as if something just passed through the area quickly.

Glant, putting his sword away, begins the words to an incantation as
quietly as possible, and moves forward through the mists in the
direction the swirling indicates someone just passed through, drawing
his sword again when he completes his spell.

Oeric takes a deep breath, draws his scimitar and pursues the
swirling smoke.

Drawing both swords, Talanos follows the others through the wall. Seeing the swirling
mist he follows in its wake, trying to catch up with Cronar and the clawed hand that
has the huge human.

Siobhan moves to the left, following the wall, and looking for signs of
the witch.... as Talanos follows her through the wall she signals to him
and says "Cronar seems to have been dragged that way and the witch is
over here somewhere..." she indicates to the left... "I think we are
best getting her before she causes any more damage."

Cronar struggles mightily with the giant claw which is dragging him through the smoke filled area. Managing to get a good purchase he pries himself lose and drops to the wet stone floor. Looking around he notices that the Claw is gone but he can just make out through the smoke a large pot over a fire and a figure stirring the pot with an oversized ladle. "Ah ha ha ha," the voice of the figure cackles in a decrepit whine. "You have found me eh, well goody for you son. Come here and I will tell you a nice story while I whip up this stew." About this time the rest of the party come feeling their way through the smoke to Cronar's side. "I see you brought your little friends, that's wonderful, we'll have a little party, ha ha!"

Glant, looks around the whole room, trying to find the trap that must be
waiting, for it cannot be this easy after everything they have gone
through so far "all right witch, what have you done with the ravens!"

Cronar scrambles to his feet and unsheathes his weapon. He takes a
defensive crouch hopefully to prepare for surprises by the witch. He
attempts to disbelieve the witch image before him, he suspects she is not
really in the location she pretends to be.

Marta is thinking of going left but decides to go straight ahead for 10 feet
and then stopping, crouching and listening.

Looking to Cronar, Talanos raises the javelin at the witch and holds it ready.
Listening closely, he attempts to listen for the sound of the ravens. After a moment
of listening, he grows impatient. "Witch! Tell us where Odin's Eyes are! Tell us now
and you might yet live. Tell us not and you'll not live to taste your stew!"

Siobhan moves to keep the mist between her and the witch. Once out of
sight she quickly extracts from her backpack, her one (and unfortunately
only) Healing Potion. She consumes this and casts aside the container.
Moving to get into position behind the witch she prepares to attack as
soon as Cronar / Talanos make their moves.....

Suspecting a trap, Glant holds back for the moment with sword drawn, and
waits to see what happens to his friends when they go to attack.

As you edge closer you see the witch stir the pot and expose a partially decomposed human head it's eyes hanging from bloody sockets, "Be not afraid my children the birds you speak of are very safe from harm, trust me," she snickers then coughs up a wad of green gunk that shoots into the pot as she continues to stir. She seems all to real. You also note that a feint blue glow surrounds her.

Cronar being a fairly unimaginative sort when it comes to cannibalistic witches, attacks.
You note that a feint blue glow surrounds her. No he will try and splash the witch with the stew to distract her using his sword to flip a floating boy part at her head.

Seeing that Cronar has launched his attack, Talanos follows suit by heaving the
javelin at the witch. He watches just long enough to see whether or not it hit, he then
reaches for his swords and draws them both while stepping toward the witch.

Cronar manages to get some stew spilling out near the witch and Talanos prepares to throw the javelin but impales the kettle instead. "What er ya do'n chief," says the witch as she side steps the poorly ladled stew. "Poke my kettle will ya, well not very neighborly I'd think." Dropping the ladle the witch pulls on the front of her tattered dress and flees in the opposite direction of the party.

Marta pulls out her daggers and throws them at the direction of the fleeing
witch, thinking it maybe and illusion of sorts. after that she will cast
flaming sphere at her.

With sword in hand, Glant goes after the witch, keeping a wary eye out
for traps along the way.

Siobhan leaps into the fray and jumping across the gap, throws herself
at the witch with the intention of knocking her to the ground. If time &
opportunity allows she will then attempt to stop the witch from getting
away, and if possible casting any magic.....

Cronar looks around for other enemies, convinced that the witch is trying
to draw them into some trap. He concentrates on the presence of any evil
within 60'.

Short swords at the ready, Talanos follows close on the heels of Siobhan. If she is
able to knock the witch to the ground, he will place one of his blades against her
throat in an attempt the persuade her to not to try and cast any spells. If Siobhan
is not able to bring her down, Talanos will try to catch her himself. If not, or if the
witch is just out of reach, he will attempt to skewer her with one of his blades.

As the witch flees from the onslaught a couple of daggers come whizzing her way one misses but the next buries itself up to the hilt in the center of the witches back. "Curse ye I will," she screams in pain. Siobhan grabs the witch from behind and wrestles her to the floor. Glant and Talanos arrive in time to secure the witch from moving. Cronar meanwhile is sensing about for evil doers but find none within the area excepting for the witch herself.

Glant, sword in hand, presses his sword against the witches throat
"call ' Alfred off, or you die. "

if Alfred stops, then he will let the witch live.

If Alfred is not called off, he will curse under his breath, and remove
his sword, for he cannot kill anything in cold blood, he will retrieve
both daggers, one from each boot, and launch them at Alfred, and then
wait with his sword held defensively.

Realizing that control of the witch is the only thing that might stop
'Alfred' attacking Siobhan quickly retrieves some rope from her backpack
and sets about binding and then gagging the witch.
Siobhan keeps looking over her shoulder as she works to see how Talanos
and co. are doing with the advancing 'Alfred'..... ready at a moments
notice to use the witches body as a shield....

Swords held at the ready, Talanos looks about to see if there is anything about that
might help him and his friends against the approaching Alfred. Spying the javelin he
unsuccessfully used against the witch, he decides upon a course of action.
Replacing his right hand sword in its scabbard, he turns and sprints back to where it
is still embedded in the pot. Looking it over, he tries to determine if there is any
danger of hurting himself by pulling it out. If there isn't, he grasps the javelin and
places one booted foot against the pot and pulls on the weapon.

If the javelin comes free, he turns and runs back toward Alfred, throwing it once he
closes the distance a little and if the area is clear. If it does not, or if it looks like he
would get hurt by trying to get the weapon free, he curses and redraws his weapon
and charges back to await an opening to attack him.

Cronar moves forward to block the creature. Figuring that if it is evil,
he is the best one to face the menace.

Marta takes a step back so she can get a spell off if needed, is Alfred
advancing now?

As the witch is threatened by Glant the giant Frankenstein like monster stops as if frozen. You manage to bound and gag the witch. With no immediate threat you search the room and discover the cage where inside lay trapped the Ravens of Odin.

Marta is still wary of the witch and Alfred, she suggests bounding Alfred
as well.

Glant, still wary and agreeing with Marta, stays with the witch while
someone bounds Alfred." Once the big guy is bound, i suggest we get the
birds and get out of here, though i would check that cage for traps
first."

With his two swords still unsheathed, Talanos steps toward Alfred. Gingerly stepping
around to the rear of the odd creature, he takes up a flanking position in case he/it
should start toward the witch and her captors again, in which case he moves in close
and attacks from the rear, hoping to draw its attention away from those others that
are pre-occupied.

Cronar is suspicious and believes that this still might be part of some
trick by the witch.

Siobhan
"Can anyone tell if the cage is warded in any way...." she says nodding
in the direction of the cage, "... or shall we get one of these two to
open it for us???"

With Alfred bound as well as possible you notice a scale standing near the cage. This scale has a cup on one end and on the other it is hooked into some sort of apparatus that links to a system of chains and pulleys that disappear up the wall and into the ceiling.
As Talanos looks the mechanism over, he suddenly snaps his fingers and says, "The
poem! Remember the poem that Jourgen told Marta in Bree?" Looking to Marta he
nods. "'A flagon full is needed, brave shalt the heart lie full upon the stone of
everlasting light and from hence will fly thine eyes of ye Lord and Master, King of the
Gods!' That's it, I know it. We probably need that chalice from the pool room below
us, and maybe even the water from that pool." Looking about the room at the others,
he asks, "Did one of you pick the chalice up? Or get some water from the pool? If
not, then we need to send at least a couple of us back down to retrieve it and get
some water. Meanwhile, the others can look about for the 'stone of everlasting light'!"

Double checking to make sure the witch is secure, Glant goes over to the
scale, and empties his waterskin into it, and if his is not enough he
suggests the rest of the group do so also. Glant holds up on dumping his waterskin in the cup, as he hears Talanos remark "are you sure we could not use just ordinary water?" Glant kind
of frowns to himself.

Some water sloshes out of Glant's waterskin and falls into the waiting cup only to vanish almost instantaneously.

Marta decides to run back and get the chalice..............leaving swiftly
she asks if there is anything else that she should grab while down there?

Glant "hold on I will come with you, and what exactly is this tone we
are supposed to be looking for?"

Siobhan
"Two people should go...just in case. The rest should wait here, keep an
eye on these two.." she indicates the prisoners ".. and search this room
for anything else that may be of use." Looking at the cage again she asks "Can anyone tell if that thing is warded ??"

Marta and Glant leave the way they came with help from Cronar and Oeric they cross the stream and clamber down the stairwell quickly lost from sight. Meanwhile Siobhan searches the room but doesn't find anything of value. As Talanos, Cronar and Oeric join the search the Druid comes across something unusual, a necklace with pendant of wrought silver with the depiction of a star on both sides. Handing the necklace to Talanos he says, "Perhaps this is of some use to us, magical perhaps."

Marta and Glant find their way back to the fountain room grabbing the chalice and dip it into the water. As you turn to go back up the circular stair you see three skeletal figures coming down the stairs towards you.

Marta drops the chalice and backpedal to ready a spell...........flaming
sphere.

Addressing Marta "it looks like we have company "Glant draws both his
shortsword and his longsword and awaits the skeletons, when one comes in
range he attacks with both swords.

The skeletons are consumed by the sphere of fire and of the two left who managed to step free of the flames are dropped almost carelessly by Glant's maniacal sword play. You return with the chalice and water then consider the crossing. How are we going to get across this rushing water?

Glant pauses in reflection "hhhmm, this poses a bit of a problem,do you
have any rope with you Marta?" Glant then looks around for something to
secure a rope to.

Marta digs 50 ft of rope out of her pack, why don't we empty the chalice now
and refill it from the stream...........

Glant "because the stream water will not work for some reason, or at
least I don't think so."

With unusual grace and dexterity Marta fords the rushing stream once again with Chalice held high and not spilling a drop.

Glant shrugs, and follows Marta across the stream, seeing no alternative.

Marta watches as Glant comes across the stream, once across she thinks the
duo should head back to the rest of the party.....

Marta and Glant rejoin the rest of the party with the Chalice full of water from the fountain.

Glant "so what now? we just pour this water into the cup on the scale?
anyone found this stone we were looking for? if so perhaps it should be
placed in the cup first."

Siobhan
"I think we will need to explore the immediate viscinity thouroughly to
see if we cn located the stone. Initially forays in here haven't located
anything.... but it could easil be hidden by an illusion or simply be
store out of sight...."
Looking at Alfred and the Witch she continues "... there is also the
issue of what we do with these two. We can't exactly leave them where
they are and it will be tricky getting them back to the church
authorities to be dealt with for their crimes .. at least without the
main evidence which is still locked in the cage. Any Ideas???"

Cronar salutes the amazing feet of Marta. He offers to stand guard while
the mages take charge of the rituals. " I feel comfortable commanding the
battle operations, but I defer to those more versed in lorecraft for these
more arcane operations".

Marta is pondering what to do with the chalice and the next sequence of
events, she decides to place the chalice into the cup end of the
scale.................any objections from the others before I do so.....??

Cronar suggests that the party continue with the ritual and worry about the
witch later.

Glant "no objections here."

If there are no objections Marta places the chalice in the cup..............

As the Chalice is placed the scale tips in balance towards the cup. Quickly you see a small chain reaction amongst gears, ropes and other bizarre devices unknown to you. Amongst the noise you hear a clanking above your head and a small portal gradually opens revealing the light from outdoors. The light cascades down into the room illuminating a section of rock about 8 x 4 feet.

Marta: Well I don't know about you guys but should we try standing in the light? Or
should we place one of the prisoners in the light????

Cronar goes over to that section of rock, convinced it is an illusionary
wall. He attempts to physically prove his theory.

Glant "could this be the stone we were looking for? it seems awful big.
what was it that was supposed to be done with the stone, anyone
remember?"

As Cronar enters the light you hear a blast that drops you all to your knees as if lightning had struck at your feet. Cronar seems unaffected. He is immersed in a brilliant glowing light that is impossible for you to look at. Then you hear in a thunderous voice, "For my eyes!" A ray shoots from Cronar's fingers engulfing the witch then stops revealing nothing but ash. "Be free my friends!" From Cronar's hand a huge lance appears and he throttles the cage slicing through the bars like it was thin air. The two Ravens fly out and circle the room squawking and cackling then exit through the hole in the ceiling. "For your valor this day I gift you back the lives of your two friends and a key to power beyond your dreams." This said Cronar falls to one knee apparently himself once again. Laying upon the stone before him is an iron key with the impression of an ox upon it.

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