Wherein the heroes make new friends in the Spiderwood, sample some tasty treats, and save some townsfolk from themselves.
Having come together again after a season of downtime, our heroes reconvene at The Gilded Goblet (this time, minus Kragh, who is off investigating the source of the goblin malediction) to discuss new plans.
After some discussion--spurred by rumors of lumbermen and townfolk who want to "burn the witches" out of the Spiderwood--the heroes decide that their own investigation is in order, if for no other reason than to save the lumbermen from a grisly end entirely of their own making. If they aren't witches, then the townsfolk aim to murder and if the they are, they're likely to be murdered in the attempt. Ultimately, the decision is made for the heroes to seek out these "witches," and to make their own judgment.
The Spiderwood is not nearly as ominous as rumored, though it is heavily populated by its namesake arachnids. Before striking into the wood, they meet with Ford--chief among the lumbermen antagonists who aim to confront the witches--to dissuade him from pursuing the task without further investigation. By virtue of the charisma of the heroes, they succeed in delaying the group--at the same time gaining maps to the forest trails, along with the location of the witches' hut.
The hut, situated in the middle of an unnatural clearing in the Spiderwood, is found in short order. In front of the hut is a bubbling cauldron, attended by a haggardly old woman who occasionally samples the contents of the cauldron with wooden spoon. Upon approaching the hag, her companion--a bubbly, gentle old woman--enters the conversation, and introductions are shared along with a tray of candied spiders, which everyone enjoys. Petunia and Magnolia are new to the area--they leave the source of their arrival, and of the hut & clearing, shrouded in mystery--and offer their help to investigate the goblins, claiming that to best do so, they need a live specimen.
Feeling that this is a task easily accomplished, the group leaves Petunia and Magnolia--only to find themselves shrouded in darkness, and that hours have passed outside of the clearing while they were only within a short while. Unable to explain the phenomenon, they leave the forest, passing by an iridescent trail of spider webs which seems to beckon the group further into the forest.
Following trails discovered previously by Granny and Kragh, the party heads to the barrens north of Riverside, to the last known location of goblin attacks. Knowing the goblins to be feral and vicious in their attacks, leaving the slaughtered and eaten corpses of their victims, Nash lays a trap for the goblins, which succeeds in drawing the attention of seven diseased goblin warriors.
By the virtue of Granny's forest magic and the shafts of the heroes, all but one of the goblins are defeated and the other is brought in due course back to the Spiderwood. Hoping to discern the nature of the seeming magical passage of time, the party splits to deliver the goblin--but this effort is fruitless. Is it some magic of the witches? Of the Spiderwood itself? Or is it some property of the candied spiders, eaten earlier?
Petunia, the haggardly witch, receives the goblin and, before anyone can react, unceremoniously dumps it into the cauldron, sampling the result. As a sign of good will, Granny also samples the "stew," and her stomach roils. Magnolia directs her to consume a tea of amaranth to soothe the ill feeling, and Petunia holds up her end of the bargain. She claims to have known the source of the problem all along--a foul, bubbling pit far to the north of Riverside--giving the party more clues as to the origin of the problem, if not much help as to actually remedy the problem.
The heroes make to part ways with the witches, and they offer their own task to the group, with promise of reward. They seek a bejeweled diadem, which apparently lies somewhere in the Spiderwood, and while sharing no information regarding the properties of the item, they express gratitude that the group may deliver information about the diadem, should they come across it. The group leaves on good terms, disappointed in that the temporal phenomenon does not happen again.
The party delays until night time, hoping to encounter the iridescent spiderwebs again--but are again disappointed. Not willing to give up quite so easily, the party investigates further and eventually Daisy--following a hunch about moonlight--uses her mirror to discover the strands, which the party follows to an old stone tomb, covered in shadows and overgrowth, deeper within the Spiderwood...
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