Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our heroes called for Granny Gretel's Hut and tried to negotiate for healing potions and the like. Mary thought back to one of the last times she and her friends were in the hag's presence and realised that the card readings they'd received then, had all come true without them noticing. She asked Granny for another card reading and received it… although it turned out quite shocking. The last card combination revealed that they were going to be summoned to help a druid but it'd be too late.
And just then, Bruno received a Sending telling him that his sister Paulina--a druid--was dead.
“It can’t be!” Mary protested. “Paulina can’t be dead!... This must be a mistake!… How do they even know, anyway?!”
Bruno didn’t react to her words. His brows were low over his eyes as he relayed the message he'd received.
“Paulina and the Saplings were sent to Nurvureem’s lair. They fought her, and they died. At least two of them were eaten. Paulina is gone.”
Mary couldn’t wrap her mind over the news. “How do they know?” she repeated desperately.
“Paulina’s raven, apparently. He’s escaped with the information.”
“But that’s not possible. Paulina didn’t have a raven! There must have been a mistake!”
Bruno held his hand in front of Mary’s face. He kept on sending messages.
“Apparently they found Nurvureem in a cave near Pamagos. ‘The Devil’s Hole’, or something. They had a unit of soldiers with them. All dead. The situation in Pamagos is getting dire.”
Bruno turned to Aurum. “We must get there as soon as possible. Can you teleport us?”
The bard shook his head. The fight with Racox had drained him of his powers and he needed rest before he could do such complicated magic.
“You then?” Bruno turned to Granny Gretel.
She shook her head. “No, dear, I’m afraid I can’t. I don’t have a teleportation scroll that you can use and you can’t travel with me.”
“But why?” Mary cut in. “Can’t we just stay in the Hut while it’s flying?”
“You’ll die, dear.”
“On it, then?” Mary insisted.
“No.”
“But why?!”
The hag sighed.
“I gather that we’ll have to fly above some populated areas,” she said. “I’m afraid the Hut will attract too much attention.”
After a short pause, she continued, in a more upbeat manner. “But you are quite close to Frinkeltong, aren't you? You can get there on foot before nightfall, and teleport from there."
“Useless!” Mary spat out. She couldn’t believe that the hag would be so heartless in their time of need!
“Mary Windfiddle, why would you say that?” Granny said indignantly. “Haven’t I always helped my grandchildren?”
“Yeah,” Mary grumbled. “Some more than others.”
“What do you mean?”
“You said it yourself, there’s a hierarchy among your grandchildren.”
The thought of Jared being in cahoots with the hag was screaming in Mary's mind. They’d seen him with Nurvureem last time. He must have been involved with her in some way.
The hag was covering for him!”
“Do you have anything against Granny?” the old lady said, a little bit more sharply. “I’ve always taken care of you! I’ve given you everything that you’ve ever asked of me. Haven’t I?”
Mary stared at her feet, biting her lips in frustration. Every time she started questioning the hag's integrity, she was firmly reminded that if it wasn’t for her magic, Mary’d be a cripple.
“We don’t have time to waste,” she murmured. “Lets go. I have a new thing I’ll try for faster travel, and if I fail, we'll just go on foot. But before that…” She looked at the hag defiantly. “Let’s burn the dragon skin. After all, Granny said she didn’t need it, right?”
Agatha looked back at the hag and shrugged apologetically. Mary scoffed. The tabaxi was still new to this, she didn't know that it was unwise to trust such a person.
And, when they went out, her mistrust was justified. On the ground, where Diohastos' skin had been lying, there was now just a dent in the snow and some drag marks that led towards the backdoor of ‘The Hut’. Bruno let out a frustrated grunt and rushed back into the hut.
"Where is our skin?"
"What skin, dear?" Granny said with a grin that should have probably passed for innocent.
"Don't play dumb with me! You knowexactly what skin I'm talking about!”
“Why, dear? Did you need it for something?”
“It doesn’t matter whether we needed it or not! It wasn’t yours to take!"
Aurum stepped forward.
"Granny, why are you lying to us?”
“What do you mean, dear?”
“You could have thrown us ten gold coins or something, and called it a day. You didn’t have to deceive us.” He shook his head. “I trusted you. I liked you, maybe more than anyone else here. And you…” He clenched his fists. “You put Mary in danger.”
Mary stared at him in confusion. That was a sharp turn…
“What? When did that happen, dear?” Granny Grettel asked, looking just as befuddled.
“You changed her with Nymphadora! You sent her to Nurvureem!”
“That was her decision,” the hag said. “I told her it was dangerous. Don’t you think you’re angry at someone else, and not me?” Her eyes slid towards Mary.
Mary’s heart tightened. Aurum was mad at her? Why hadn’t she noticed?
The bard gestured to the Fey amulet on the hag’s chest. “I gave you my most precious possession to keep her safe!” he said.
“Didn’t I give you something just as precious in return?” the hag argued.
Mary found her opening and used it as quick as she could.
“What?” she insisted. “WHAT did you give him?!”
It was an unfair deal! It must have been! And if she found it out, she could argue, and take the amulet back, and then…
“Your leg.”
There was dead silence in the room, while Mary slowly realized what the hag had said. She looked at Aurum. He averted his eyes.
“N-no, I…” she stammered. “I payed for my leg, I did. You named a price and I… I…”
“Did you really think a hundred gold pieces were a fair price for growing out a whole leg?”
Mary’s eyes filled with tears. She looked at Aurum once again.
“It was more valuable than the amulet,” he said quietly.
Mary winced. Aurum had given up his protection, his fortune, his lucky charm, all because she’d let her leg be torn off. She went back to all the moments after Ekoba, when the bard had had small misfortunes – a cloth he’d torn, a puddle he’d stepped in, a poisonous plant he’d touched by accident… It had never been like that before, when he had his amulet!
“Let’s get to the question at hand,” Bruno grumbled. “Where’s our skin?”
Granny refused to admit that she had anything to do with it. Not even when they pointed out the drag marks leading from the skin to her Hut’s back door. Finally, after everybody--even Agatha--had already had enough, she sighed and rolled her eyes.
“And you wonder why there’s a hierarchy among my grandchildren!” she huffed. “There are those who call me more often, not only when they need me."
She turned to face them, more stern than Mary had ever seen her.
"You three only look for me to ask for things! I've done things for you free of charge, looked for items you needed, kept secrets and gave advice as best as I could. But you refuse to meet me halfway! Always suspicious, always wary, never calling me for my benefit!”
She regarded them each with a look, as if to emphasize each of the occasions she’d mentioned.
"You only care about yourselves, and that's… fine. But don't expect me to extend grace indefinitely. You knew I collected oddities, but didn't think to call me to just give me that dragon skin. You called because you had questions and needed a ride. For your own benefit, not mine. And now you act like you're entitled to some payment, as if you owned the item."
“We don’t, we just…” Mary said.
“We’re wasting time,” Bruno said, rolling his eyes. “If she can't help us, we should move to Frinkeltong and then to Pamagos as quickly as possible. There might still be time to bring Paulina back.”
This episode had so many revelations and so much drama! I'm not sure I managed to relay everything in the best way possible, so please tell me if you have any questions.
But anyway. Do you think it wise to anger a hag? 😅 I hope it doesn't come back to bite out heroes.
See you next time! Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.