Salamander may have blinked when Eggo Lass went into the portal. He didn't even notice her absence until putting away the tables and chairs. There was such a lack of instructions that he was surprised that people let him do whatever he wants. In fact, he built a pyramid out of the furniture rather than an actual barricade. Though it still functioned as a barricade. He learned about them dams from the beavers himself!

He was about to start asking about the adventurers when he looks around and sees one of the original members ('oh hey Sly') who had interacted with them was missing. There had been so many people in the room he forgot. He wanted to feed a goodberry to Hugh just to test something, who he saw was still under the flu. 

"Other side?" OH! THAT'S WHERE THE ELF HAD WENT. Salamander jumps up from his position. He was about to eat some cheese (his rations) when Graelor goes through the portal. "HEY WAIT UP!" Heheheh HAHAHAH

His eyes go wild. He runs across the room and grabs Hugh to bring him into chest. "Guess we'll chat later!" He tells the other adventuring group. "NOT LIKELY!" His voice grows faint as he goes through the portal. 

Salamander waves goodbye to other party, dragging Hugh along behind him, who simply just mutters 'Unhand me! I shall call the king's men onto you!' in a voice that is entirely unlike his own. Seems the flu has really gotten to him, you're unsure if he'll ever recover. Bilyur, on the other hand, mutely follows behind, still fighting a mental conflict to beat the flu's magical influence, though it looks like he's losing. Galochka, still invisible and undetected by the party, observes as usual, curious to watch without interacting like a spectator. They consider staying with the two adventurers you met, but decides against it. They want to see where this is going! 

After flying through the portal and receiving the information on the next dungeon from Ebben and the other adventurer spirits, Salamander Pie lands on both his feet on the dirt path, Hugh landing a few feet away and immediately occupying himself by scrambling into the trench and jumping on Bluey's shoulders. He whispers 'We're not so different, you and I', before going entirely silent again, similar to Bilyur who is just standing there, tight fisted and wide eyed.

Salamander immediately recognises this place. The smell of the air, the feel of the dirt. This is somewhere in his home swamp, and if the adventuring spirits are correct, this dungeon is the root of all its problems.

Sly takes some time to prepare for the further way ahead, munching on some stale but still quite tasty elven bread, flipping through her spell book.

Almost as soon as the rest is over, she sees some of the others jump into the chest, despite her warning. Horrified, the tiefling starts to protest "You fools!"

She stares at the shadow weave for a few minutes, pacing back and forth. The probability of instant death wasn't nearly as small as she liked. The Blood Archivist could not be trusted.

Eventually, she recognizes that she wouldn't be able to go on without the party anyway. And she hadn't found any arcane secrets yet. What kind of researcher would she be if she didn't try her utmost to delve deeper into these dungeons?

Resigned, she casts her customary protective spells and walks up to the chest.

She looks back at Krawkl and Kaji. "I'm sorry that we can't take you with us, but it's probably going to be a lot more dangerous than here. Stay put and best not tell anyone that we were here."

With that, Sly also enters the shadow weave.

Once she arrives at the swamp, she suppresses a groan. "The Blood Archivist does seem to have a penchant for dank places."

[[ With the fog does it block sunlight too? Just wondering if Eggo Lass' sunlight sensitivity is in play with the swamp or not. ]]

"Took you long enough." she says as the others come through. She relays what she's found. The cottages and wooden tunnels. Turning to Salamander she adds, "Seems you may have legal recourse against this hag."

As the group readies to head forth she takes a minute to cast Flock of Familiars again, this time summoning owls.

[Yeah it blocks sunlight]

At the mention of dank, Salamander feels completely at home. ... And he is? Wait- what is this HIS SWAMP?! The goblin dances for joy. He throws mud up into the air and lets it rain down upon hit (and some others). He bounces around from tree to tree, his monkey tail swinging hip off branch from branch.

"MY SWAMP! MY SWAMPPPPPPP!!!" His shrill cries echo off this place. "MY GLORIOUS SWAMP!!!" He points at Bluey, "AYYY BUDDY BOY WE'RE BACK IN MY HOME NOW GAHAHAHAHAH!" Even he doesn't know if that is a threat or not or just whatever string of thought he just had at the moment.

Looking to Eggo Lass, he smirks, "I WILL DESTROY WHATEVER CONTRACT SHE HAS HERE ON MY LAND! I'm gonna- gonna pummel her face into the ground and rub the contract all over it." He mimics stomping all over her dead body. "STRANGLE HER STUPID PITCHER PLANT EARS OFF-"

"AHHHHHH!" He just yells. Quickly his face changes demeanor and he turns back over to Eggo Lass at once, "You're gonna be my lawyer on this." 

He dashes through the brush and cover to head straight towards Lisa Lilylips, his lips curling with burning hatred to kill his neighborhood. He watches the owls overhead but he knows exactly where she is.

((Stealth: 16 + 2 = 18))

((He has the same ecstasticism for this place as Spongebob does for the 'it's not a boulder it's a rock!!!" thing))

((also sorry this was late had like no energy yesterday after cleaning and stuff))

Despite his enthusiastic and angry approach, Salamander runs all the way up to the front door of the house without any of the inhabitants hearing his approach. The front door is made of gnarled oak and a well-worn brass knocker is hung in the centre, inviting you to knock and supposedly be greeted.

Sly looks at Salamander, trying to muster enough energy to be surprised, but failing. "You live here?"

The wizard squints at the hags abode, waiting for someone other than her to make the first move. Her cautious nature hasn't changed. But this hovel promised to be of some interest to be sure. Hags weren't exactly known to be as thorough as wizards, but perhaps this one had written down some of her knowledge.

Eggo Lass shares a bit of Sly's surprise. She's still getting used to goblins, wondering if Salamander is typical or more of his own thing. (Seems goblins can be rather peculiar.) she telepaths to Sly.

She gets a smile on her face at the mention of lawyering the hag. She thinks for a moment, wondering if there's any other claimants to rule of the swamp or particular laws about conservation of wildlife and or prohibitions against dumping toxic waste.

History: 7+2 = 9

Barring any actual evidence, could be interesting to think of how to twist things. Fey were always annoying in a court.

"Yes!!! Yes!!!" Salamander stands at the front door nodding vigorously with a huge smile. Then you can almost see the lightbulb (latern?) turn on over his head. "THIS MY SWAMP! ...AND MY PEOPLE!" He has a scream-whisper type thing going on right now, like it's soft but it's shrill. 

He does some sort of dance that starts with a wave then a slide to the left, a slide to the right, twirl, left foot stomp, right foot, then a cha-cha real smooth, then freeze. He waves his hands about wildly. He then slicks his hair backwards.

"CITIZENS OF THE FOREST! WE DEMAND YOUR RECOURSE! ARE YOU SICK AND TIRED OF THIS HAG?! DO YOU WANT JUSTICE?! JOIN US!" he says with his Speech of the Woods at any nearby creatures. The way he says this ultimately sounds like a series of animal growls, clicks, barks, and ribbits as he speaks to everyone simultaneously. "JOIN US IN YOUR FIGHT TO DEMAND COMPENSATION!" 

((Persuasion: 18 + 1 = 19 hahah we're going disney princess on this one))

Graelor puts his shield on the ground, takes some mud in his hand, and writes, “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE” on his shield. Graelor inspects his crudely made protest sign and concludes that it will do. He then straps his shield back to his left arm and marches back and forth in front of the hut, chanting “STOP BEING HARSH! GIVE BACK THE MARSH!

Salamander calls out to the creatures of the swamp, and makes a rather enticing appeal, except there aren't many beasts around to revolt, considering the area is closed off from the rest of the ecosystem and slowly being killed off by the Shadow Weave. A few hardy slugs do slither out with a bit of zeal, but that's about it. His wild display, along with Graelor's chanting, result in the door of the cottage flying open, a woman at doorframe. Her hair is sinewy and made of pondweed, whilst her body seems to be consisting of some kind of moss and leaf texture. What's most intriguing though, are her eyesockets, that are filled with bright pink lily blossoms, and her funnel shaped ears. She simply shouts 'Be quiet! I can barely hear over all this racket!' She then seems to calm down slightly and responds 'My apologies, esteemed guests, my ears are just very sensitive, that's all.' Her lips slide up her face into a gruesome grin, and she says 'I'm Lisa Lilylips, and I'll be your host whilst you stay in my humble halls. Please, you are welcome in, just make sure to wipe your feet at the door!'

((GRAELOR ))

At Graelor's protests Salamander's wicked smile lengthens. He joins him in on the protest, chanting and kicking. At the slugs' arrival he is more than happy. He scoops them up and holds them against his chest. That's when the door swings open and he jumps. After she finishes he takes in such a sharp inhale.

"YOU!" Salamander insinuates this so hard, his eyes narrowing and his sentence ending with a hiss. He refuses to enter. Standing outside he grumbles, looking in through his backpack before retrieving a very messy, crumpled up brown piece of paper. "I am here to serve you these! I am your neighbor and you are trespassing on MY property!" The paper is slip from the local courts filled out in horrible handwriting that reads 'Summons for Ms. Lisa Lilylips for grievances according to Mr. Salamander M. Pie of 'Health code violation' and 'Unauthorized construction'."

"Before I go in, I'll have you know I have my attorney present!" He shoves Eggo Lass to the front, casting Enhance Ability on her. "Anything you do and say will be held against you!"

((idk which one would be good so @VitusW you pick what effect

Bear's Endurance. The target has advantage on Constitution checks. It also gains 2d6 temporary hit points, which are lost when the spell ends.

Bull's Strength. The target has advantage on Strength checks, and his or her carrying capacity doubles.

Cat's Grace. The target has advantage on Dexterity checks. It also doesn't take damage from falling 20 feet or less if it isn't incapacitated.

Eagle's Splendor. The target has advantage on Charisma checks.

Fox's Cunning. The target has advantage on Intelligence checks.

Owl's Wisdom. The target has advantage on Wisdom checks.))

Lisa Lilylips listens closely to Salamander and then sighs, responding dryly with 'You seem to a bit confused on current matters. No worries, we can discuss this inside over a cup of tea. I'm sure your 'attorney' as a lot to say.' She takes the piece of paper but pays it no attention, simply folding it up and hiding it away in the folds of her leaf dress. It then occurs to you that since she's blind, she can't read. She interrupts this train of thought though and just claps her hands, saying 'Chop, chop, come inside! The fog will make you loopy if you stand out in it too long. Besides, I have other guests to deal with.'

[[

For the enhance ability perhaps Owl's Wisdom. IIRC we're treating legal deception/intimidation as advantage already, so that could be the way to get a clue on how the hag is thinking, what does/doesn't work. Possible fears of hers. Fox's Cunning to get actual legal precedents would be tempting, but I also feel like Eggo Lass is the kind to confidently BS. 
 
]]

"Very well, may as well have some pleasantries before getting down to business." she says, going towards the house.

Eggo Lass steps inside and a floorboard beneath the doormat gives an audible creak. Bluey follows his mistress and enters without a word, Hugh still on his shoulders, who simply whispers 'Two minutes or two days? What has my fate came to?' in a voice that sounds like his own, yet hollow and saddened. When Bluey enters, the floorboard makes a much larger creak from the weight of a fully grown orc and a halfling on top of it. The foyer looks well furnished, at least for a dungeon and has a homely vibe to it, but still has the expected oddities of a hag's abode. The potted plants are all strange and bizarre flora, whilst the paintings and picture frames on the wooden walls are irregular shapes and show paintings like hundreds of eyes, or just straight frogspawn squeezed between the frame. Overall, it makes for a slightly twisted version of a modern home.

Lisa Lilylips waits at the side of the door for you to all come in, and says 'I am eager to have the discussion with you, but first I feel it is best you meet your roommates. You'll be spending a lot of time with them after all!' Once you're all inside, Lisa will take you into the eastern room, which she claims is the bedrooms.

(Roomates? Lot of time?) telepaths Eggo Lass to the others. (I don't like this one bit.)

She tenses up, willing to see what the others think of the hag's supposed hospitality.

((Cool Owl's Wisdom it is! ahaha oh man I wish I actually watched Avatar. I've always heard it was good. that scene tho XD ))

((also Hugh's just sentience as an NPC oh man. bro's next about to clip out the map))

Salamander's tail thumps to the ground when the paper is crumpled away. 'A trip to the country clerk's office for nothing!' His hands ball up into fists as he walks inside. "I think you're confused about something," he mocks. 

He admires the decor on her walls, especially the frogspawn, and he would ask if he could have a taste but finds it would be rude to take a bite out of furniture. He doesn't really pay attention to any of Hugh's whispers, waving it off as "yeah, yeah. Portal weird."

The goblin's ears perk up once the drow telepaths to him. He tilts his head, then nods. "I don't need a room. I live next door. I'm here because I want to talk to you. Do. You. Understand?" He speaks real slowly like talking to a child, putting his hands on his hips as he does this.

The hag sneers at the goblin and she says 'No matter if your home is next door, you can't pass through the mists to get there. I effectively exist in my own demiplane at this point, and you're going to be staying here with me, as a trusted guest.' Her face lightens a touch, pointing down the hall and saying 'You are welcome to stay. I understand that it'll take time for you to adjust but we shall have lots of valuable time together to discuss whatever it is you wish.'

Sly does not trust this talking piece of flora. Not one bit.

Nevertheless, it didn't look like this abode had an alternative route to take, and they did say that you should keep your enemies close. So the wizard enters. She does not say anything more to her companions in the belief that the hag could probably overhear everything.

The tiefling is curious about what other occupants may be present. But on the way to the rooms, she tries to have a look out for interesting looking books and spell components. This was the house of a witch after all.