The priest of Torm assembles a new group, drawing on his contacts in the church and with the assistance of Malchor, they are returned to full strength. The long journey to the Barony of Botkinburg is accomplished with a minimum of fuss, and the group manages to obtain a couple of potions they hope will aid in the defeat of the Witch Queen. Which queen? Witch Queen!
All made invisible by Malchor, they manage to find the secret entrance to the lower levels, after narrowly avoiding an encounter with some robe-clad humans that have some sort of discussion in the courtyard before heading off in the direction of Ludensheim. The entrance is opened and the trap is disarmed.
Once inside they seek out the lower level of the place and (after suitable magical preparations) quickly make their way to the throne room, where it appears that the queen has been expecting them. The ogres have been upgraded to trols and there is a squad of 20 uber-orc warriors standing by as the cleric and company roll in.
The cleric gains the initiative and promptly hurls one potion at the throne where it incinerates two of the trolls and the concussive blast sets much of the contents of the room to smoldering, As the first fireball is lifting towards the roof, he follows up with a blast of fiery breath courtesy of the second potion – and manages to take out the remaining trolls and damage the now airborne witch. Malchor’s magic missiles ends her ascent and the sight of the falling queen and the roasting trolls breaks the orcish morale and the squad flees in panic.
The group takes advantage of the confusion to quickly exit the complex and hide in the woods. The ranger is left behind to spy invisibly upon the area while the rest of the group recovers. They wait a few hours and regain spells. The group assembles near the pyramid of death and the wily elf dons a hat of disguises. Based on the description provided by the only person to have seen the Witch Queen and lived, the elf mimics her and the group boldly approaches the main avenue. This causes much consternation, but there is enough uncertainty that they manage to ascend the step pyramid and bypass the guards.
They seek the lower levels and spend time investigating and plundering and killing the few things they encounter, though there aren’t many minions willing to directly challenge the Witch Queen no matter if she isn’t quite like herself, They haul their loot stash to the top of the pyramid and post guards while they rest and sort out what they have plundered. The ranger tells them of the exodus of bolts of silk from the weaver’s quarters and how they were carried towards the city of Ludensheim. When the dawn comes, the question is raised again…now what?
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