In our last episode, the Travelers continued to explore the Hagg's Strange House. Eventually, they entered a tower, full of furniture sized for giants. The tower sprung to life and started smashing itself on the ground, with the party trapped inside. When it finally broke to pieces, Day, Ichabod, and Whalen finally found themselves standing before the Hagg's.
Our adventurers today are David who plays Ichabod the Wizard. I think we should snuggle up, and I need to change it. Kieran who plays Whalen the Barbarian. Nope, fucking percidence.
That looks like this place you get attacked by a junk. And our DM Hazel. There's something to imagine going on here, I better look alike. Welcome, fellow Travelers, to Legends of Chill.
Standing in front of the house, you see the Hagg's. There are two green Hagg's. They basically look humanoid. You've seen them before.
You saw their portraits in the foyer. They look very similar to those that were in different slows. And then there is this large Hagg. She is like nine, nine and a half feet tall.
She is huge. She looks like she's like covered in twigs and moss. And her head looks small in comparison to her body. And it kind of looks, her face, it basically looks just like an old human woman.
It's like you stuck old human woman's head on this massive giant body. It works in storage and giant body. Her arms are huge and hang down to like mid-calf. And they look at all of you.
We see that you have found us. That's one of the green Hagg's. In common? Yes.
Who was it that spoke to me before, if I may ask? I'll ask Ben Sylvan. The same woman who ties in Sylvan. He says to you.
It was I. I am Tabitha Rott-Crawler. I'm going to turn back into my human form. We want to thank you for the honor of visiting your amazing home.
Dress Etrad, Trac. The other green Hagg flaps. And then she turns into a dwarf. She gets much shorter.
She's got a nice beard going on. And she looks at you in weeks. It was our pleasure. And Tabitha.
Yes. I'm glad you enjoyed that. It is impressive that you have made it here, not too many have. We've been watching you for quite some time.
But please, tell us what it is that you desire of us. How can we help you? We mean no disrespect. I'll say I continue speaking Sylvan for now.
We mean no disrespect. But I would ask permission to switch to Commons. So we all might understand the conversation. Is that all right?
Certainly. She says, I'm coming. I'm mumble, translate. Thank you.
I'm the only one. I mean, she did start out in Commons. And then it came out and switched to Sylvan. I wanted to make sure it was going to be okay.
We come here from our town of Bells Run. And our town finds itself in very dire straits indeed. We come to ask if you can help us in our circumstances. We would do anything to save our people if you were able to offer any help.
And what would you have this do? Perhaps you can use your great magics to guard the town against the onslaught from the forest. If you could lay down a warding spell to protect our people. I see.
We could do that. What do you offer in return? I can see that just by the fauna that you maintain, perhaps you are fascinated by new and interesting creatures. We would be interested, nay, excited, to go and find more creatures of this sort if that's the sort of thing you would want.
The sort that only exists here in your menagerie. Hmm. That could prove interesting. We each do have our own rides already.
And I am not certain there is anything out there that we have not already seen. Tell me, is this protection, this shield, all you truly desire for your town? Would you not, instead, prefer it to be free? Free of these attacks from the monsters, forever, perhaps.
Do you know why your town is getting such trouble with these spiders? Have you ever thought why they might be coming into your town and not staying in the forest? We have spent so much of our lives just trying to survive. It's afforded us very little time to think about why.
There are far more deadly creatures in the forest than giant spiders. And they have been growing stronger, more populous. If you are willing, I think I have a course that could aid us both. We will give you some things to aid you on your way, if you agree.
If I may, the idea is that we would remove the creatures that are driving the spiders out of the forest. A bit more than that. At the center of the forest, there is a creature, a man, who guards a portal that is letting all of these foul beasts into the forest. If you go there and stop him, we will give you what aid we can.
Are you saying we can stem this corruption? Yes. We have been testing the lottery. And you seem adequate.
We can get that on a little pin. We seem... Dada dada. You're diary.
I said I was adequate today. Ooh yeah. If I may, who do you know who this man is? He isn't thou who has lived in the center of the forest for centuries, thousands of years.
Who knows really? He is a dark wizard who has opened this portal to some other plane that is filled with these monstrosities. We have tried to stop him in the past. The great kingdom that was here has tried to stop him, though most did not dare go into his sanctum.
So this, this elf is the reason that all of this corruption happened and of Arn fell and everything like that? I am unsure if he has been here longer than us. We think that perhaps these woods were always strange as far as we can tell. We think perhaps there was something here, and he just used it to make it.
To make it worse for his own purposes. So we are able to find the elf at the portal and stop him. Do you require more from us once that happens? No, and neither shall we give anything more to you.
We require no price, and you will not require us to do anything else other than the gifts that we shall give you. It is quite equitable exchange. Killing him will close the portal and spells round will be troubled no more. Can I do it in check?
You can. I would also like to do this. Oh, dang. I rolled a 2.
So, I don't know. I rolled a 7. I don't know what I'm saying. I think it's just an 8.
Oh, it's feasible. It does have a 3-level line. I believe it would be worth investigating. Can't we spend so much time just trying to push back the corruption?
Never occurred to me. It's an option to stop it. One man can stop it, James. How do we stop him?
Do you have more information about the man and his protections and stuff like that? I can tell you that it will be a hard path. He is surrounded by monsters, and the closer you get to this center, the more challenging the monsters are. We will not be able to protect you from the force that we did on your journey here.
That's a good feeling. That's the worst feeling that ever happens right? I mean, I guess unless we would have died from that matrosh gap, if they hadn't been protecting us. There were plenty of opportunities to die.
Yeah. For all of our lifetimes, and I suspect many lifetimes before, there was a merchant that came to our town. Is he playing a part in this? Only if he's a weak overhead.
You see the large hag. She reaches into a path on her back, and she takes out these handfuls of bones. All different sizes. Some of them look like they could be human.
Some of them look like they're from animals of very sizes. And she takes them, and she tosses them on the ground. You can see them roll and tumble. A couple of them crack open.
Mm. And she bends down, and she looks at them intently. And she goes, this merchant was of the fae. And he traveled here.
And other places that something stopped him. He was denied. That's why you were here. Something powerful.
I cannot see what. I mean, if we have an evil elf that already has accessed other dimensions, I don't imagine it would be too much of a stretch to say that that wizard has something to do with it. Especially if he's suddenly gone stronger. Right.
He would have to have, because the merchant has been coming as long as anyone in town can remember, even the professor. The spider's ass weren't always this bad. So it's the more power he's amassed. Stewart disrupted.
Hell if I know how it works. But, alright. I don't speak for my companions, but I will accept his job. I think we should accept to investigate.
I don't know if we can promise to kill centuries old wizard. Well, I think that if we fail in our investigation, that's because we have died anyway. Yeah. Probably.
I agree to try it. I think. Okay. Excellent.
And she has these long fingernails. You've probably seen like the people in the game's book of role records. She just takes a section of that and she clips it off. And she hands it to you.
Ew. How long? This will allow us to talk to each other. Now, as for the aid that we can offer, she holds up a modified hand.
This hand will be a faithful companion. And it will lead you straight through the forest to the center where you may find this wizard and slay him. The dwarf hag comes up and holds up. A fairly standard lantern with glass panels in it.
Except for there is a beating heart inside of it. She says, this lantern will allow you to see any invisible creatures. And it will be able to better spot any secrets, doors, traps or anything that is hiding. And then the large hag pulls this tall conical object.
It's got three feet high out of her pack. It's got a couple of like tentacles that hang down and it looks like it's made out of stone. And she says, this hat will draw your enemies closer so that you might stab them better. Or it will allow you to lift yourself up to get the better vantage point.
So does anybody like the sound of any of those particular items? I already have a hat. So to think about, I guess the hat is mine. Okay, now I'm with the rooper.
Ah, now I know why you were smirking the whole time you were reading mine. I feel like I'm going to eat my hands on the lamp. Not she just really likes ropers. So anybody with a hand or the lantern?
Well, does the lantern only work for the person who uses it or can... It's just the person who uses it. And I mean, the hand will be holding to one of us but it'll help us all out, essentially. I'm good with either.
I think that possibly since I spent so much time as a creature, it might make more sense for Ichabod to take the lantern because he always has things. But I don't want to brag. But either way, works for me. Yeah, you take the hand, I'll take the lantern.
Wow, okay, I have a whole sheet of paper. How's that, Bock? You guys need to find the house. Great.
Have you ever been really bad in the sea? Yeah, I would have... Which is Bock or Leopold? Bock or maybe telling us to go by the wizard.
Yes. One tragedy at a time, right? It sounds like they're level of... Or after level of XP between here and there.
Yeah. But still... It seems different. It has blind sight.
It understands our language. It's immune to many things. It's immune to be turned, which is cool. Oh, it's not.
What is it? A mummified hand, hag item, uncommon. This unmoving hand can be awakened with a command word, which I seem to tell us. A siderope.
Once a bookend will follow its companions instructions until it's command-run spoken again or until it loses all its hit points. If it loses all its hit points, it will fall into a dormant state and cannot be reawakened until the next dawn. That's powerful. In combat, it acts under its own initiative.
And it can be used as a guide. So it's a CR one-quarter undead creature. That's pretty strong. It's immune to poison, charm, exhaustion, and turn on dead.
And it has the ability, guiding hand, which is the same as the spell. You can name it later. A major landmark such as the City Mountain Castle or battlefield on the same plate of existence. And it will guide you to it.
Sweet. Oh, and it can cast a flip to wounds once a day. Ooh. I probably should have raised the CR, but I wasn't really too worried about it.
It's a modified clock clock. It was originally a CR one-quarter. Yes. Now it can cast a flip to wounds once a day.
It's probably like CR two, three. Oh, and it claws the same as me. I can even choose the type of damage. It doesn't blow or crawl.
It crawls. Its feet is the same as a person, though. And it can climb the same speed. It's climb of 30.
Okay, thanks. It only has ten points. Which I bumped up a lot. I was like, well, I'm making this more combat useful too.
I'll give it ten points. It won't die in one hit. Good. Nice happens at one of the party with hearing points in me.
I have a pummel at the rober. As an action, you can cast a multi-attack. Or you can use multi-attack for each two-tenthals once each and use real. The tenthals have a 25-foot reach, which is very useful.
Each general has an AC of 16, an HP of 10. Damn. Destroyed tentacles. We grow it next dawn.
And I can pull any creature or object grab by you 25 feet straight to you. Or pull yourself with one line. Or pull yourself 25 feet toward any creature or object that you want grappling. I like that.
Yeah. That's very positive. I know it's pretty cool. It's kind of ugly.
It's a big three-foot long thing on her head. We all have ugly head accessories. What are you having on her head? My arcane focus is a knit hat that I make myself.
Oh, that's all random bits in yarn. And it has big other tassels at the sides of the face. Isn't it? We want to use a stick with a plastic.
Yeah. And the goggles. Oh, right. The goggles.
We look weird. Do you tell us about the leg? It's got the beating heart inside it, which previously belonged to one unfortunate soul. It was very good at finding things that were hidden.
How important of a puff. When I'm holding it, I gain the ability to see invisible creatures. I gain advantage on spotting traps, secret doors, and hidden creatures. And also I can use it to cast knock once per day.
When you reach charges. Oh, nice. That's nice. I do think so because I thought this is the weakest item, but it might be useful enough that it's comparable.
Knock once a day is comfortable to inflict wounds once a day. And the guiding thing is a random plot nonsense anyway. We need to come with a name for pant. Okay.
And if you have more questions for the hags, I feel like we should. Um, was there anything else that we absolutely had? Oh, are you going to look into one of their eyes into tab with his eyes because she seems like the leader. And I'm going to hop.
No. It's always confusing. Okay. Roll and intimidation.
I'm not trying to do it. That's what I want you to roll. Okay. This would be the time to roll.
13. Or an extra one. She lifts you and she cuts her head. What are you doing?
Uh, before we set out, somebody told me to watch their eyes and hop. So I'm trying it on everyone until it works. Oh. Mad Marley.
You, you, you, Mad Marley made it to see you? No. No, if you did not make it past the mind light. It has been some time since we have seen anybody from your town.
That makes sense. Have you been waiting for someone to come? Yes. I recognize that you're probably not going to answer me straight and that's cool.
Are you watching people from other places or is it just us? If it makes you feel better, I'd be happier if there were people from other places because if we screw up, our town is just fucked anyway. And that's it. I'm trying to, no, I'm not talking to give you time.
I'm like really just explaining it. I'm trying to figure out what else might border this forest. I know Yauncey is just across the road. They're so insular though.
Yeah. We are watching other faces, but they are much farther over from Bell's run. And unfortunately, they would have to come through a thicker part of the woods and they would not have the aid of the Witchwalk. We could move it, I suppose.
But right now Bell's run just seems like the best place. I give her this look that's like you recognize that we're almost definitely the last people coming out of Bell's run if we don't succeed. Can you see that? Yeah.
Yes. If you do not succeed, then we shall move the Witchwalk to our most likely next candidate. Cool. We would never dare to make any demands, so consider this to be a humble request so that we may focus all of our attention on the mission ahead of us.
Would it be possible for you to provide temporary protection to Bell's run? I would hate to think that we might be distracted by worrying for our loved ones. Give me a persuasion check. Can I aid?
Yes. Can I say I would give anything for that? I would owe you a favor if you want. That's a good one.
She looks at you. And then she turns back to the other three, other two hags. They're not four. Anybody stay giant?
No. All right. So they move closer together and they start talking amongst each other in giant, which is very loud. And then after a while, how does it turns back?
And she says, as long as you remain alive, we can provide this protection and should you survive, you will certainly take that favor. Of course. Consider that offer to also be for me. I believe we have a lot of it.
He has a family. You know I couldn't let you face whatever they need to do alone. I'm going. Yeah.
But you don't have to be open to a nebulous favor. All right. The Anasag comes forward. And in her hands, she is clutching this large bone.
It was like the leg bone of some large creature. And she holds it with one hand before you and takes out this large stone knife. And she hands it to you first. She says, CAV-YOSINITCHA.
In the bone? Yes. Okay. With this large knife.
Do I have to use this? It's a little unwieldy. I can do it. I just, okay.
So I'll do that. I'll do it like runes basically. Yeah. Actually, Karla's done a lot easier than you thought it would.
Okay. So I'll sign my name away usually. Okay. So I'll take a bite.
All right. Karla, good. I do. Now we're married.
I'll get a little more quiet. Me and I take a bite on this egg. Are you all married to each other? After the two of you sign, you see the signatures start to light up red and start to smoke.
And then she takes the bone in her mouth and she chomps down onto the center of it. And when she pulls away, you can just see these black like indentations of her teeth. Cool. In the bone.
That's probably good. Not on but as a law. And then she takes it and she walks into the hut. I'll spend some time attuning to this little hand buddy.
Yeah. Unless anybody wants to do anything else, that is about all that I have. Okay. That bone thing that I just made up was pretty cool.
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