While we were meeting Gertie, Obscura was clinking glasses with the nobility of Rel Astra at the Arts and Antiquities Hall.  There she met an older couple – Harold and Wilhelmina Henoraiers who were interested in the Sad Lady and purchased it for 10 gems worth 200 gp each.

We tell Obscura of our adventures at the Dark Coven and if she is available to come with us that evening to save the children.  She agrees.

We also tell her that Sam Creed may have something she may want.  Samus goes to find him and comes back with Sam.  I offer him some cheese and he takes it, hiding it one of his many pockets. We buy: Dark Shard Amulet (O); Potion of Superior Heal (S); Scroll – Dispel Magic (A). We say goodbye to Sam and head out to Gertie’s as it was starting to get dark.

Gertie had her wares laid out in front of her when we entered.  We chose all the items that had recipes so that Friz could make them when we needed them.  They were: Oil of Thunderous Striking; Dragonbone Broth; Roast Bean Juice; Maiden Tears; Wax of Sealing.  We also bought for the party the Candle of Eldritch Efficient (A), and Glass of Sudden Respite (F).  Raelin bought a Sword of Swiftness,  and Samus bought  Stocking of Superior Speed and Deftstep Sword.

Gertie called her pig Seymour and we headed out the west gates.  Took us close to three hours to get the Iron Road and another 4 hours to the Western Road.  “Head down this road for about 2-3 hours and go right toward the bridge over the Mecar River. 

We followed the road when we came to place that looks like a camp.  We find a shoe and a broken arrow shaft and some tracks that look to be feline, though much larger than Mouse.

We send Mouse to scout and she smells cat, large cat all around and when the smell gets strong I send her back to me.  The moment she is with me the Beast of Displacement jumps out a tree and attacks Samus and me.  Samus grapples but the beast pops away.  We are able to discern it’s pattern and soon it is very wounded and heads up a tree blood dripping like rain.  Friz runs around trying to capture 2 pints of the blood.  Obscura and Raelin shoot at the tree and Raelin’s bolt finds cat.  I send Mouse up to see where the beast is and it is dead in the tree.  Raelin shimmies up and wraps his grappling hook and rope to the beast and Samus pulls.  Half the beast comes down on the first pull and the rest on the second.  Friz collects:  Teeth, 2 pints of blood, bones and tentacles of the beast.

We continue down the road and I can hear the river before we see it.  As we round the bend the bridge comes into view and two large Ogres are guarding it.  Samus is able to grapple and pin one, while the other stays on the bridge and throws spears at us. We quickly dispatch the first when two more come through the woods from the left and the right. Samus gets big. Raelin pulls the Gauntlets of Ogre Power and a pouch from the fallen Ogre and puts it in the bag of holding. 

Samus tells the Ogre on the bridge that he is going to do the same thing he just did to his buddy if he doesn’t leave now.  The Ogre sees big Samus and runs – calling for his grandmother.

With the bridge now ours we bottleneck the not too smart Ogres and dispatch them one at a time.  Raelin and Samus collect 2 pouches.

We get across the bridge and see a house on chicken legs walking toward us.  Friz yells out “Little Hut, Little Hut, turn your door to me,” and the hut stops and turns toward us.  There is a balcony to one side and Raelin gets his grappling hook up on the railing and everyone climbs up…except me.  I can’t seem to get a good grip.

I hear yelling and crying out of pain, and when I finally get up I see my team wounded but in battle with Natty.  The two children are in cages and so is the ether toad.  Samus has the witch grappled but it’s not stopping her from casting spells.  Friz goes down and Raelin is turned into a pig, when Samus runs past me with the screaming Natty in his arms and flies off the balcony landing 60 feet below.  I have no idea if Samus is dead or alive but I can see Friz bleeding out.

Natty flies back up to the balcony and I pull out my Orb of Storms.   I yell at Obscura to get Friz and Raelin and get to the furthest corner of the hut.  She protests, what about the children,  but I yell at her – go, now! 

She gets Friz up and the three hide in the corner as I scream “NEPHUS” and unleash the fury of the storm in Natty’s face.  Before I black out I see a lightning bolt hit Natty on the top of her head.  I awake to Friz helping me sit up. “Samus?” Friz nods.  “He’s hurt but alive.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” came the angry voice of the boy, Jonathan.  “It took us months to infiltrate the Dark Coven and we got to Natty and you messed it all up.”  He opens his cage and pulls a mask off, the girl doing the same. 

“Who are you?” Obscura said.

“We’re ARTS, just like you. And you screwed up our mission.  This is Mary and I’m Lou.”  Mary was a gnome and Lou a halfling.

“We saved you from getting eaten,” I pointed out.

“It would have taken her weeks to eat us.  We’re out of here. We’re late for a meeting with Nephus. Thanks for nothing.”  They shimmy down the rope and disappear. 

Samus climbs back up and we explore the cabin. We find a dinner plate size diamond and two odd glowing orbs.  Friz touches one of them and a voice asks a riddle.  I sat down, pulling the cage with the Ether Toad close and feed it the fireflies I brought for it. I was too tired for riddles.  Samus and Obscura proved up to the challenge and were able to answer all the riddles. 

The hut was ours and Samus quickly learned how to make it work.  It could walk on the chicken legs or be on the ground, it could get small enough to fit in ones pouch, and it was really good at kicking enemies.  We dubbed it the KFC Hut – Kicking F-ing Chicken Hut.  We take our new hut with the Ether Toad and headed back to Idlewood. We will have to figure out how to sort of tell the truth to Gertie about the children without giving anything away.