Merry Witchmas

5th December 2022

## Adventurers Attending

* Casper
* Jackal
* Willow
* Bearhugger
* Fizz

## Mission Notes

After arriving at the guild hall meeting room Beefington explains that kids are going missing from Ornament and that they should go to the guard house to investigate. After heading outside to Hamer and the cart they make their way to Ornament, onto the guard house in the east of Ornament.

Arriving and finding the guard captain Smithy, he beckons over a juvenile guard named Barry with whose testimony they discover that children have been disappearing in the night owing to some lights coming from the Flowering forest in the east.

Investigating the area between ornament and the forest and visiting some of the parents houses they learn to watch for lights that come in the night to bewitch children into the forest.

Setting up on the edge of the forest at dusk and building some small blinds, our adventurers lay hidden waiting to observe the lights. As the lights appeared and were tracked, they were lost sight of before our adventurers found themselves in combat with two dryads.

As the dryads set about bewitching both Fizz and Willow, turning them to protect the dryads, bearhugger set to trying to set them alight with flame, while caspar surged with his mace and Jackal loosed arrows from his bow. As the female dryad fell to Caspar' inflict wounds, it left Fizz as the only one still bewitched, trying to save the male dryad by carrying him from the battle before Jackal sent the last killing shot against the dryad leaving him near death on the floor. With the last of his health and his eyes turning from black to white he named the witch as the architect of evil and pointed our adventurers in her direction, before disappearing into a nearby tree.

Venturing further into the forest through the thick overgrowth our adventurers came across a wicker fence of interlaced reeds, branches and roots, woven into figurine designs. After throwing a rock at it to no avail, caspar approached setting off a warding glyph which presented itself as caspar's deepest fear of death, sending him escaping at pace back into the forest before coming too from the illusion.

Eventually making it to the Witch's clearing after some navigational help from Jackal taking to the skies, they discovered a small cottage with sets of work tables and benches out front as well as wood storage huts. It appeared the witch had created herself a small industry of tiny woodcarvers set to make toys and figurines. On closer inspection this workforce was chained to their worktables and appeared changed from children to elves.

Using cunning stealth our adventurers set upon the witch raising little prior suspicion, allowing them to grapple and restrain her. With little fear or trepidation the witch laughed at the party's attempts, suggesting that if they had come looking for the children, they would need her to turn them back from elves. Instead offering them a bargain. Should they fetch some high quality wood from a nearby tree in a fey glade, she would accept this in exchange for turning the elves back into children and turning them over to the guilds care.

After some debate about whether to kill the witch and bearhugger struggling with the ethics of helping an evil witch in order to save some children the party finally agreed to the Witch's bargain, but thought it best to take the witch with them restrained while they set about finding the tree.

Stepping through a stone arch at the rear of the property they found themselves in a small fey glade with a fountain and a chair sat beside it strewn with a cape, a hat, a pipe, a water vessel and close by a small crank handle box. Collecting the items they headed to the nearby tree, which the witch was kind enough to point out.

Jackal took it upon himself due to his flying ability to cut a large enough branch from the tree, awakening the tree in due course leading to our adventurers fleeing back to the portal with the tree in hot pursuit before they found themselves back by the Witch's cottage.

Releasing the witch from her bindings she set about concocting a brew in her cauldron and agreed to turn 11 of the 12 elves back to children before they would hand over the branch before turning the last child. Jackal set to using his woodcarvers tools to whittle another branch of similar appearance to hand over to the witch. Realising our adventurers were trying to dupe the witch, she set set upon them in combat.

Circling to protect the children many arrows were fired, bears were conjured and maces swung before realising the witch could turn invisible, turning bearhugger to light up the place with faerie fire making the witch visible to all. It was at this point Fizz sent the last of their scorching rays to burn the witch back into oblivion.

## Loot

* Guild gold and xp as per level
* From the Witch's hut
* 5 x Potion of watchful rest (1 for each adventurer)
* 1 x set of woodcarvers tools
* 1 x branch of the finest elmwood worth around 25gp to the right buyer
* From the fey glade
* 1 x Alchemy jug
* 1 x cloak of many fashions
* 1 x hat of vermin
* 1 x Pipe of smoke monsters
* 1 x non magic small toy music box which when its handle is turned plays a plinky tune of we wish you a merry Christmas

## Rumours

* Who's possessions did our adventurers take from the fey glade?
* Who was the witch making toys for and why was she going to such lengths to make them?