Chapter 21 - What happened?
Days 44-45
That night, the old woman did not make an appearance. After some discussion of the news they had received from the elves, the party decided to return to Viz and seek a route through the forest beyond in search of the children. But first, it was decided that the gnome heads should be propertly disposed of by sprinkling them with holy water and burning them in a fire.
As they traveled back along the highway, the part spotted a figure with a donkey dart off the road and into the forest to the north. Suspecting that it had been the old woman, they set off in pursuit, Aldur easily following her route through the woods. After an hour of pursuit, they entered a clearing to find the donkey tied to a tree, the woman nowhere in sight. Wary of her ability to turn invisible, they rummaged through the belongings that had been left on the donkey, finding nothing of interest. In an attempt to lure the woman into the open, Jrak dragged the donkey into the open clearing, threatening to do it harm. The ploy was successful, as a swarm of wasps emerged to attack the party, soon followed by a bank of magical fog that enveloped the donkey and Jrak.
Having learned from the previous attacks, Leandrie concentrated on detecting the magical aura from the invisibility spell that hid the woman from sight. Guided by his instructions, Jrak, Neela, and Trykaar were successful in cornering her and she was struck dead with a final blow from Trykaar's sword. Searching the invisible corpse, the party discovered a belt that, once removed, left her visible.
In the confusion of the battle, the donkey had taken flight. The party set out to find it, tracking it back across the highway and finally to a farmyard where it had stopped to rest. A terrified peasant was quick to allay their fears that this was the abode of the witch, and was glad to take possession of it, once the party was confident it posed no further threat.
The party then resumed its travels back to Viz, taking a route that parallelled the highway westward, then swung to parallel the road to Viz, staying clear of the main area of Genasi settlement. For the night, they made their camp in an pleasant forest glade.
As Trykaar stood watch, he heard the fluttering of wings but could see no sign of winged creatures. Choosing to be cautious, he awoke the party. Aldur had chosen to sleep in a tree, safe from any attack on the ground. But on waking, he discovered that the air carries nuisances of it own. A score of pixies had decided to alight in his tree, and was currently occupied with rummaging through his possessions. Angered, he swatted at one of the creatuers, his blow sending it tumbling head over heels. The pixies were suddenly alight, many of them carrying Aldur's belongings. Two of them, wielding his enchanted arrows like lances, charged at him, drawing blood with the sharp arrowheads. Aldur quickly cinched the magical belt and turned invisible, tubling out of the tree and sending a spray of magical fire up into the branches above, setting several of the small creatures alight.
The the agitated fluttering of pixie wings became an angry buzz. The creatures activated their own enchantments of invisibility, and were soon cirling throughout the camp, firing arrows and casting enchantments over the visible party members. In a few short moments, Jrak and Trykaar found themselves dancing with a mad fervour, unable to stop themselves. As more of the tiny pixie arrows pierced their flesh, they found their memories fading, and all they knew was their feverish dance. Neela also was hit by enchanted arrows, but was merely overcome with a magical slumber. Leandrie, finding himself entangled by animated plants and enshrouded by a magical mist as pixie hands groping about his person, kept a tight hold on his holy symbol and purse while trying to calm the creatures with soft words.
The pixies soon lost interest in the party, rendered harmless by their magics, and flew off, many of the party's coins and small items in their possession. Aldur, the awakened Neela, and Leandrie took inventory while trying to explain their situation to the clueless Jrak and Trykaar, who could no longer remember any event in their lives before the attack.
In the morning, the party resumed its travels to Viz, arriving in the early evening. Cautious of residual ill will from their last visit, Leandrie magically took on the visage of an elf and Aldur and Leandrie entered the town while the others waited at a safe distance.
Aldur went to seek out the healer who had assisted them in their previous visit, but she knew of no way to return memory to someone who had lost it to an enchantment. She could only suggest that the party seek out an elven healer. She also informed Aldur that there was a bounty on their heads, placed by an old woman who had accused them of theft.
While the real elf visited the healer, Leandrie sought out a shop where he could exchange his accumulated copper coins for a smaller amount of silver. Finding a general store open, he was successful in doing so at an unfavourable exchange rate. Asking if he might purchase jade to replace a spell component that had been stolen from Aldur, he was directed to a specialty shop that would be open the next day.
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