The hut lowered the entry to the porch down to ground level, inviting the party to climb onto the porch. Everyone moved on the porch with Fanara heading for the door. Others looking in the windows saw a cozy room, with a cauldron bubbling away in the center. The room seemed larger than the dimensions of the hut that they could walk around on the porch. No additional doors or windows were seen.
Fanara pushed gently on the door and it opened easily, revealing the comfortable looking room. Bundles of dried herbs hung from the rafters, and along the walls were numerous shelves held a bewildering variety of glass jars, bottles, and vials containing all manner of strange magical components and alchemical ingredients. A massive cauldron sat in the middle of the room. No fire burned under the pot, but the liquid within it bubbled and churned, and white fumes rose and lapped over the brim. A large stove, writing desk, bookcase, and fireplace complete the room, along with a number of crates, barrels, and sacks. A short flight of steps led up to a set of double doors in the north wall, and a small ladder climbed to a trap door in the ceiling in the northeast corner. A latticed ceiling was above the cauldron showing a second level that was not visible from outside.
Fanara headed for the cauldron and Casia for the ladder. Others spread out around the room. Santrel was interested in the many containers holding magical components while Jorgen checked out the writing desk. Detect Magic found a few items spread out on the shelves, a bead, some tea leaves, a few unguents or salves, an elixir and a doll.
Casia climbed the ladder and opened the trap door. Above was a loft area. The center portion of the floor of the loft was open, crossed by wooden rafters and overlooking the bubbling cauldron in the room below. Numerous barrels, boxes, and crates were arrayed around the room's walls. The south wall held a large window. Strange since there was no second floor from the exterior. The containers in the room held more mundane supplies: blankets, buckets, candles, cooking utensils, extra pots and pans, linens, rope, washtubs, and the like. The window in this room overlooked Whitethrone's Market Square. Santrel climbed up to check for magic in the loft but found none.
After fiddling around with he crates and barrels which contained dried foodstuffs, fresh water, and other mundane supplies, Fanara and Jorgen climbed the steps to the north. The door was unremarkable and opened without need of a key. As Fanara moved through a glyph suddenly flared to life and then faded. Fanara took no damage from the trap. Neither did the rest of the party as they moved into a room where five iron thrones were arranged around a circular map in the floor of this large room. Translucent, three- dimensional images of cities and villages hovered a few inches above their locations
on the map. A large pile of bones and skulls, roped together by sinew, sat atop the center throne. Behind that throne, columns set against the wall formed a semicircular alcove filled with a swirling mass of white mist. The map in the floor had a moderate divination aura and depicted the nation of lrrisen,
As the battle was ending, Santrel noted someone standing near the entry doorway. "She" appeared to be a hunched, old crone with a long bird's beak, donkey ears, horns, and stringy black hair. She wore a peasant's dress with a red shawl tied tightly around her wizened head, but these articles did not disguise her clawed hands or the scaly bird talons that are her feet.
"We are searching for Baba Yaga. And who would you be?" Casia replied.
"I am Zorka, owner of this hut. At least I take care of it." she retorted. She then lectured the party on their lack of manners.
"Leaving the door open like you were born in a barn, moving around and taking items like you own them, who do you think you are?"
Fanara started advancing on Zorka and she quickly backed away into the cauldron room. The interaction did not seem to be proceeding well as Zorka looked more upset. The discussion evolved description and sighting of the Black Rider, his passing of the mantle to the party and their search for Baba Yaga. They told Zorka that the Black Rider had almost deputized them to find Baba Yaga and bring her to Irrisen.
"Yes, she is late coming back. You saw what the witches did to the Red and White Riders." Zorka said dejectedly.
"When did you see Baba Yaga last?" Fanara inquired.
"Probably five or so years ago. She seemed distressed but I had seen her like that many times."
"Have you seen Queen Elvanna?"
"Yes she brought the hut here to the Market Square and it hasn't moved since. How did you get the door open?"
"I destroyed the shackle on the leg of the hut," Jorgen piped up.
"How will you find my mistress?"
"We have two keys left us by the Black Rider. He died to empower them. I think we need to place them in the cauldron." Fanara said.
"Well I suppose you will try them soon. You need to find Baba Yaga as quickly as you can."
After some time Zorka warmed to the party as she understood more of their mission. She showed them a secret door on the eastern wall. She then unlocked the door with a key pulled from her pocket.
"You may want to look into the library before you go leave."
At this Zorka seemed to cast a spell and disappear. The party identified the magic items they had collected and settled down for a rest. Fanara and Santrel noted that during the party's rest that an old cracked bowl with a brown egg inside appeared on the desk.
After the rest the party started with their normal new day activities, memorizing spells, holding a seance etc. Afterwards they inspected the bowl and egg but found no clue as to its use or purpose, maybe breakfast for one! Deciding not to crack the egg, the party then entered the library through the secret door identified by Zorka. Inside tall bookcases stretched from floor to ceiling flanking a row of tables standing in the center aisle. Numerous books were strewn upon the tables, along with blotters, vials of ink, sheets of vellum, and abundant quills. A fire burned merrily in a fireplace built into the eastern wall.
Santrel looked for magic finding only a pair of spectacles and a large book on the central table. The book had no Title but he cover page indicated it was an Index. Inside were lists of book titles. Santrel took a book a shelf and its title was found in the large book. No manipulation of the large book seemed to help finding the corresponding tome, nor did moving the books on the shelves have any affect. In the center of the large magical book contained a detailed painting of the library room. But again no effect was evident on the map even though the book had a strong conjuration aura. Growing bored the party left the library to enter the final door that they knew about.
The last door, unlocked and not trapped opened on a flight of steps that led to a cool, earthen chamber beneath the hut that by all rights should not exist. A grinding sound filled the air, emanating from a millstone in the center of the room that turned endlessly, powered by some unknown force. Several small bins sat along the north wall, next to a few bulging sacks in the northeast corner. A small wooden box wrapped in chains sits in the southwest corner.
The chest wrapped in chains was magical but since the chain had no lock or keyhole and it seemed rather dangerous it was left alone. The bins along the wall contained potatoes, turnips, onions, and other vegetables that required low temperatures and controlled humidity for safekeeping. The sacks in the corner contain several pounds of bone meal and dried grains. Zorka indicated the meal was for Yaga's bread.
The last investigation was trying to use the map to move the hut. The map was detailed but individuals could not be seen. The view was only of Irrisen. Casia wondered if the map would change if the hut moved to another area. Zorka told the party the cracked bowl and egg were used to control the hut. She did not know how but that was what she knew.
Finally the group decided to drop the lock of hair and plague doctor's mask in the cauldron. As Fanara stirred the cauldron the items were consumed. Everything in the room seemed to swirl and shift. The group experienced a strange, almost euphoric, sense of momentary displacement, before the room solidified with a final shimmer-but it was not the same room the heroes were standing in just moments before.
A sturdy black cauldron still sat in the middle of a rustic room with timber floors, log walls, and a high ceiling framed by long beams cut from whole trunks. A grand cobblestone hearth filled one corner, its dying embers feeding the room with a dull red glow. Various barrels, farm tools, crates, and other miscellaneous items cluttered the remainder of the space. In the corner opposite the fireplace, a rickety wooden staircase climbed to a small wooden landing. A shallow alcove off the landing held two thick oaken doors. The crates and containers in the room held simple, mundane tools and supplies.
Fanara and Jorgen headed to the doors which opened easily even with their heavy weight. A long corridor stretched out to both sides, the aged plank floors seemed to continue forever. Solid logs formed the passage walls, intricately carved with knotted designs and images of lances, centaurs, ravens, and female figures. Pale-winged moths and tiny fireflies fluttered through the hallway, their flickering glowed filling the corridor with dim light.
The party headed off in what appeared to be the northern direction. The hall seemed endless but the design was the same, images carved on wooden walls. After about 100 or 200 feet the party came upon a door. A symbol was carved upon the door resembled an inverted half-circle with a horizontal line across the top and several lines exiting the circle. A single extended arrow pointed downward in the center.
As the door was not locked or trapped, Jorgen opened it to peer inside. A slight chill wafted through the room, carrying the stale scent of carrion and peat. Beyond, an impossible forest seemed to have devoured the entire chamber. The walls were woven from tangled knots of black, leafless trees, and fine flakes of rusted iron covered the floor, softly crumbling to dust. A pale light emanated from a fist-sized orb that rested within a nest of black branches in the center of the room, turning all forms into ebon silhouettes.
Casia suggested leaving this room alone, darkness and a bad smell put her off. So the party headed further up the hallway, no turns or corners or intersections were encountered just the same hall with the same carvings on the walls. After another time they cam upon another door with symbol carved on it. This one resembled a a downward facing crescent resting on a horizontal line with arrows pointing outward. A vertical bisecting line with arrows pointing both directions ran from top to bottom.
The door was again unlocked and not trapped so Jorgen opened it. Inside was black, just black. The light from the door barely broke the surface of darkness just inside the jamb. Fanara cast light on a rock and tossed it into the room. It made the interior bathed in dim light just enough that the party could see what was in the room. Thick stone columns and wooden beams, entangled with pale moonflower blossoms, supported the room's high vaulted ceiling. A faintly glowing blood-red orb dangled from a black iron chain in the center of the room. Santrel used his mage hand to tap a coin against the orb. It tapped the orb but no sound came from the contact. He then grabbed the chain with the hand. It could move sideway and up and down but the orb could not be removed from the chain.
"You can decipher the writing if you wish. Try to read it!" the raven cawed in return.
Santrel pulled out the Spectacles and tried to interpret the image as language. In the vast recesses of his mind he realized this was the Iobarian witch symbol for night.
"Recall the other symbol in your mind and see if you can read it," Fanara suggested.
Drawing on his memory from the previous door Santrel realized it was the Iobarian witch symbol for twilight.
Hearing the name of his almost forgotten homeland, Jorgen exclaimed "Am I back to my home of snow and cold?"
DM's Notes: The party is now at 7th level having completed Book 2, "The Shackled Hut".
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