We decided the next course of action would be to just move directly upon the windmill, as stealthily as we could, but still rushing to get across the open land. A tense jog brought us directly to the base of the windmill. There was a small walkway around the second floor, so Nim climbed up to have a look inside the dirty windows. Using his paladin senses he detected that there was a hag in the room on the first floor and two more hags were somewhere below underground and moving away from the mill.
I climbed up to cast my faerie fire spell into the room, as the hag seemed to be invisible. We did not follow through with that plan because Nim detected that the hag seemed to have moved down below the mill as well. We opened the door and a group of the eerie Shadow Mastiffs charged at our front ranks in the doorway. We very quickly moved into our standard defensive posture. The creatures were defeated quickly with no wounds falling upon our troupe. Uphir's mighty axe strikes were notably devastating against these beasts.
Investigating the room, there was a stairway leading up and a door to a dank tunnel leading below. Worst of all was the knowledge that this was a kitchen - the Hag's kitchen. There were pastries burning in the oven, a cupboard filled with strange and macabre ingredients, a crate filled to the brim with frogs and a cage of chickens. The whole room was ramshackle and dirty. There was a barrel filled with a noxious liquid that reminded the group of the smell of the fiends they had just fought on the roadway. I set the poor frogs free to escape into the landscape.
Our dreaded suspicions were proven true as we continued to investigate the upper floors. The second floor held the large millstone and my heart twisted inside me and I almost dropped to my knees. The stone was covered in bone dust with small bits of children's bones laying about. The wretched hags captured children, slew them, and ground their bones up like wheat into flour as ingredients for their cursed pastries! I am not prone to outbursts of anger, but I am sure the rage that was building within me was noticed by my comrades, as I noticed it in them as well. We will avenge these poor children.
The third floor held a rough looking bed, the machinery of the mill in the center, a ladder leading up to a trap door, and a closed closet to one side. The shock was no less than it had been below, to find the tattered clothing of countless children stuffed tightly into the closet. We were somewhat stunned to see them there, with our previous discovery still sinking into our hearts - this drove it home even more. We knew we were in a rush, as the hags were escaping, but we had to continue searching the attic area in the hopes of finding at least one child still alive!
The small attic was almost filled with the machinery of the mill, and could only accomodate Nim and myself, with Uphir and Janlynn peering up from below. There was little to search in this cramped space, but a strange glass bottle was found sitting in a birds nest in this area. Nim lifted it up to examine and within the bottle rested the queerest creature I had ever seen. It looked like a large tadpole almost too big to fit in the confined space it was in. It had a singular evil looking eye, which it fixed upon Nim, even as it's strange almost human mouth twisted into a sinister grin.
Soon this creature was speaking to us in our minds, introducing itself as Snelb. Initial questioning of this creature was very trying, as we were in a rush and it was not very forthcoming with answers. We quickly decided to put this creature in my pouch for now and deal with him after we have caught up with the hags. Squeakers was not happy to be evicted from his home, and he tore quite a strip off me for that. I promised I would make it up to him. For now he will attend to my shoulder and try and stay out of the way. Squirrels are very temperamental you see.
Down, down and down we went until finally we were ready to proceed into the dark tunnel leading beneath the mill. Our plan was to go cautiously, with Nim scouting ahead and the rest of us following some ways behind. Nim lamented not being able to see in the dark as Akiir and I can, and upon hearing this, the strange creature in the bottle spoke to Nim, offering to grant him that ability for a price.
He would grant Nim this power and all he had to do was give Snelb a drop of blood every ten minutes or so. Upon hearing of this proposition, Tetsuo stepped forward and bluntly proclaimed that he could give Nim this ability through his mystical monk training, and it would cost Nim nothing.
Calling upon some eastern power I will never comprehend, Tetsuo became very calm as his hands came together to form a specific gesture. His breathing seemed to slow down as he closed his almond shaped eyes and seemed to be meditating. When his eyes opened again, he brought one hand forward - thumb out with the middle and index finger extended and the others curled into his palm. He touched Nim on the forehead and it seemed an unseen energy passed between the two, as Nim's head twitched backwards. Nim had gained the ability to see in the darkness of the dank tunnels. Tetsuo is constantly surprising me with his mysterious powers.
We advanced, Nim thirty feet or so ahead of the main group. To remain stealthy, we decided that those of us who could see would lead the others through the absolute darkness of the tunnel - Janlynn ready to provide light when needed, in an instant. Soon the rough tunnels led to a three-way intersection of sorts. One of the passageways was covered in webs, the other looked like a dead end, and within the one Nim thought would lead to the hags, strange sounds and movements could be heard.
It was decided to light a dim torch at this point as Nim headed down the tunnel. It was not long after that, that death came for us all. Charging out of the tunnel that Nim had begun to go down were half a dozen (Alright maybe only four) gigantic scorpions. At the same moment, Akkiir was stealthily attacked from the dead end corrider by a sticky web and drawn into the tunnel and up out of view.
Nim retreated and Uphir stepped bravely forward to meet the rush of scorpions to try and hold the end of the corridor, breathing dragon acid down the corridor to wash over them. This worked for a brief moment when finally Uphir was captured in a mighty claw. The other scorpions began pouring out of the corridor into the intersection. Nim, hearing that Akkiir had been taken, swiftly leapt into that tunnel and could see Akkiir dangling from a sticky strand and fighting for his life against two strange insect looking creatures.
Janlynn and I sent our energy, both divine and fey, towards the advancing scorpions. Tetsuo was a blur as he deftly attacked the scorpion who had captured Uphir, doing considerable damage. Even as Janlynn and I were both captured in their constricting claws, Tetsuo managed to avoid capture! His precision strikes brought down the scorpion holding Uphir, and I could see she was bloodied by these attacks, but was in a furious rage of hatred towards these creatures. Her axe dripped with blood and ichor.
I could feel the life being crushed out of me in the claws of this creature as it stabbed at me with it's poisonous tail. Mighty Uphir would make more use from my small healing powers than I could, as I felt my death imminent, so I cast a rejuvenating heal at her and smiled, knowing she would make these creatures pay and avenge my demise. Obviously my death did not come on that day, thanks be to the gods of luck and to the Morninglord Lathander.
The battle continued furiously with Uphir's axe hacking mighty gashes into the scorpions and spells blasting away. I blasted the scorpion crushing me and used all of the force I could to try and get it to let go. This did not work as all I managed to do was toss the creature, and myself, about the room. In the confusion, Uphir, standing upon the collecting corpses of the scorpions, was buried beneath one in the scuffle. This did not stop her long as I witnessed her incredibly hefting one of these giant arachnids off of herself and swinging her axe to help Tetsuo kill the Scorpion who had me.
We battled on, sorely wounded and desperate, as the bodies of fallen scorpions piled up about the area. The scorpion who had captured Janlynn had almost squeezed the life out of her. She swooned as it retreated with her back down the tunnel. Tetsuo took off after her while Uphir finished off the last of the other scorpions. I rushed forward, through the treacherous battlefield and managed to cast a healing spell upon her.
All this time, Akkiir and Nim were in a desperate battle of their own. Two "Cave Fishers?" were trying to kill them. Akkir was dangling from a web line and using all of his weapon mastery to damage both creatures. The other Fisher was spitting line after line at Nim in an attempt to capture him in it's sticky clutches - but Nim was too nimble and launched dagger after dagger up at the beast with good result.
As the battle raged on in the intersection, both Nim and Akkiir did tremendous damage to these strange insectoid creatures. Soon the one holding Akkiir dropped from the ceiling to crash into the floor below, Akkiir dexterously dodging out of the way. The second one, wounded as it was, backed up and into a tight crevasse to hide.
Tetsuo met the scorpion holding Janlynn with a leaping attack, both staff and feet crunching into chitinous armor. He had managed to attract it's attention and it brought it's full attacks upon him, crushing and rending into his slight form. I could see the dramatic effect of the attack as life seemed to drain away from his once determined eyes...
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