Combat aftermath

The Dryad will be snoozing for a long time. You tied her up, and put her in a spot away from trees and the thicker vegetation, so she can't cause any trouble if she does wake up.

Trimyrai collects his arrows.

You notice that where the Mound collapsed, the plant life is starting to grow visibly. It is "normal" (except for the speed) growth of grasses and shrubs. It is not the twisted plants that walked and attacked... You deduce that the Hags took the magic that promoted plant life in this area, and corrupted it to create the Shambling Mound. With their death, their influence died with them.

When Iskander was engulfed by the Mound, he thought he heard a voice inside. He figured it was his imagination (blood pounding, suffocating inside a plant pile), but now that the combat is over, he still hears a muffled voice from somewhere underneath the Mound remains.

After Trimyrai finishes collecting his arrows, he turns to jack. Trimyrai: (to Jack) "You were right, we should have been far more cautious with the dryad. I'll be sure to listen to you next time."

“Thank you, Trim. Although I can’t quite say I expected Hags. Or a Giant Plant.” Jack gives his own sword a small look, as if to tell Leroy ‘I told you so’. Jacks insight prevails once again, even in the strangest lands!

”I can’t Say I was trying to knock her out, either. I was honestly aiming for the Hags location, seeing as how she was invisible. Must’ve been luck that I got the Hag with my Sleep Spell. But, now we remember- Chen said they’d try to trick us, curse us, but abide by a no harm rule. That little experience must mean that clearly not everyone abides by it, then.”
”What should we do with the Dryad?” Jack says, as he moves to pick up his Boomerang that he threw. “She’s crazy, and the hags said she was crazy because they attacked her tree. Is there a way to fix that? Dying is one thing, but being forced into insanity the rest of your life, that’s another.”

Reverie looks at Froskan with a smile. “Thank you, Froskan! Your lamp did give us an opportunity to finish them at once.”

Then she looks back at Trimyrai and Jack quietly as she walks towards them. “We were being a bit reckless, didn’t we?” She mutters as she casts lays on hands pool on Jack (using 12 hp). As for the Dryad, Reverie gazes at the Dryad for a moment. “Since Froskan says the Dryad will become insane once her tree dies...” A pause. “Let us keep watch on her for now. Maybe there is a way to help this Dryad. The Dryad seemed to listen to our words. When that hag mentions about their attacks on her tree, she attacked the Hag instead of me. I was standing in front of her.” Another pause. “If she is going to trick us again, then I will end her.” She’s still angry what the Dryad and the Hags have done to her friends.

 After a single pat on Jack’s shoulder, she walks over to Iskander, casting another lays on hand pool on him (using another 12 hp). “Are you all right? You were swollen by the Mound.”

Isk was pretty badly mangled and breathes a sigh of relief after Reverie heals him.

"Thanks Rev, though it appears there is someone, or something, under the mound.  Be ready." He says, and then uses the blunt end of his glaive to clear the vegetation away from whatever is underneath.

Quote from BoboBoombang >>

Jack says, as he moves to pick up his Boomerang that he threw.

Jack twirls the Boomerang between his hands casually while talking.  (Weapon text: "On a miss, a boomerang returns to the thrower's hand.")

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

Isk... uses the blunt end of his glaive to clear the vegetation away from whatever is underneath.

Isk hits something metallic a few inches below the surface. (Kind of like digging a hole in the ground with a shovel, and striking a buried box.)

A female voice from that same area (still muffled under the mass of compost): "If you are going to beat me, at least let me see the sun and breathe a bit of fresh air first."

Froskan nods and smiles back at Reverie.  "It certainly came in useful this time," he says.

Isk is a bit taken aback by the request, "Beat you, no, we aren't going to beat you.  Well, i guess that depends on your disposition once out from the foliage."   He then starts to uncover the...person?

"With you smashing that stick (blunt end of the glaive) around here, it seemed like you were trying to bludgeon me. I would appreciate getting out... You've dealt with the plant beast, but you should hurry before the Hags that made it come back."

Iskander (and anyone else?) moves aside more of the Mound remains, to find an iron cage. It is a cube of less than a foot length on each side. The bars are close enough together to keep the plants and muck out. Peering through the gaps of the cage bars, you see a Pixie, resembling a fair elf with gossamer wings. The pixie is a foot tall, so the cage is small enough to force her to be cramped and uncomfortable.

(You've uncovered the cage cube, but not done anything else yet.)

Jack sheathes Leroy, and approaches the square cage that was hidden under the Plant. “We killed those hags, they were driving other people insane.” Jack would pick up the cage, and look at the pixie underneath. “How’d ye get in there at all? You look far too big to have gotten in by yourself.”

With one hand holding the cage, Jacks other hand would go through his Bag of Holding for a small Dagger, simultaneously placing the Boomerang in his pocket. 

Reverie blinks as she looks closer to the Pixie... Silently agreeing with Jack. Just how did it get into this small cage? Pushing a thought aside, she gazes towards the Dryad if she's still asleep. "Did the Hags put you into this cage? How did you get stuck in the Mound also?" A pause. "Do you also know the Dryad's sister? The one who is asleep—" she points at the Sleeping Dryad, "—had mentioned about her sister. Do you know her by any chance?"

"You took care of the 3 hags? Excellent. Too bad I was buried in the dark there, might have been nice to see it happen... You may not be in a rush, but I'd really, really appreciate if you could get me out of this thing. Maybe sooner, rather than later?" Grabs the bars, but the cage is too solid for her to even shake. Frustration and impatience are starting to build up in her voice.

"Yeah, the Hags captured me. When they got bored of striking me, they stuck me in that cage. When they got bored of that, they put the cage inside that suffocating pile of walking garbage for 'safe keeping'.

"Sister? No sister. After the Hags lightning blasted the Dryad tree, breaking the Dryad's mind, the Hags decided it would be amusing to pretend that they were a caring sister who didn't exist before... They also got a laugh at using those bear costumes and illusions while attacking other people who came here. I don't get it."

Froskan shakes his head sadly at the creatures tale.

Trimyrai is keeping a healthy suspicion after recently being lured into a trap.

Insight: 7  (if allowed)

Jack as well watches her facial expressions, and overall movement as she speaks. (Insight: 20 ). He’s not sure what to think right now, it’d make no sense for them to hide a random pixie in a Mound. It’d make even less sense for that Pixie to be trying to trap them somehow. But her impatience reminds him to be careful, and even if it wouldn’t make sense. The Shadowfell was full of horrors, their home was filled with monsters, but the Feywilds would be filled with deception.

”Froskan, Reverie.” Jack calls out to his familiar crew members. “I know Rev has the ability to sense evil and such. Froskan, do ye have a way to identify magic? It’d be useful to use it on the cage if we can. The Hags were low on Magic when we fought them, remember? They might’ve used it for something else.”

Quote from BoboBoombang >>

Jack as well watches her facial expressions, and overall movement as she speaks. (Insight: 20 ). He’s not sure what to think right now, it’d make no sense for them to hide a random pixie in a Mound. It’d make even less sense for that Pixie to be trying to trap them somehow. But her impatience reminds him to be careful, and even if it wouldn’t make sense. The Shadowfell was full of horrors, their home was filled with monsters, but the Feywilds would be filled with deception.

(Considering she is still in a cramped, painful cage, while your group is debating... Her impatience has to do with her desire to be free, rather than some master scheme.

Stuffing the pixie into the Mound was partly to hide her, but also to inflict more suffering on her. Not a pleasant place to be.

She seems to genuinely have been tormented by the Hags, and is pleased that the Hags are dead. In general, Pixies are Neutral Good, and this one follows that trend.)

Jack’ll still wait for potential assistance. He trusts his gut, but certainly doesn’t trust the Hags skills. They went through all that trouble to hide her for a Reason, they could’ve trapped the cage as well.

In the meantime, he pats Leroy a bit, because he’s almost Certain that Leroy’s going to say something about Chivalry. Could be trapped. He thinks to himself, hoping the Blade can get the memo. I fell for a trap once, not again.

Quote from BoboBoombang >>

Jack’ll still wait for potential assistance. He trusts his gut, but certainly doesn’t trust the Hags skills. They went through all that trouble to hide her for a Reason, they could’ve trapped the cage as well.

(Does anyone ask the Pixie if it is trapped? That is assuming that you don't think she is lying.

Does anyone check the cage for traps? Investigation check for physical traps, Arcana for magical ones.)

The cage doesn't have any doors. Iron slabs and bars have been bent and twisted together to close the cage... Apparently, the Hags used their brute strength to "open" and "close" the cage.

(Jack clearly doesn’t know of every magical spell and curse out there, despite being trained as an excellent Spellcaster. Hence why he asks someone more advanced to search for Magic-related Traps. However, his time as a ‘marine’ has made him a more trap-aware person... Jack’ll check for physical traps, but allow Froskan or someone to inspect for Magic-related things.)

Invest.: 8

(oh yeah... I forgot Jack’s practically blind when it comes to this stuff, lol)

Reverie looks back at Jack when he calls out for her along with Froskan. Come to think of it, they have been trapped by the master plan of Hags but those three hags were low on magic indeed. Reverie's gaze lands back on a Pixie in the cage for a moment quietly. "We will try to get you out from this cage as best as we could, but we also want to be careful after what we have gone through."  She says as she checks on the cage.

Investigation - 19