Ashley's mouth moves like a guppy as she sees the creature in front of her.  No words emerge, and she is frozen to her spot.  She stares back at the horrific looking creature, unable to look away and trembles on the spot.

There are a lot of things happening all at the same time.  The boat rocks, with the eels beneath and the weight of shifting passengers.  People are getting scared.  Chaos reigns.  

And amongst the chaos is Talon's stomach.  The various things he was picking up as they went through the Stinkroots, bugs, rotten food, roots, etc, are starting to churn in his gut.  The Kobold was quite literally starting to turn green as the red drained from his scales and a ghastly, gross pallor fell over him.  

Seig stepped between him and the weird gross fish-chick a second too soon.  Talon made a bit of a startled gurgling sound before lunging forward, past Seig, and puking his guts out in a stinking pile on the hag's feet.  Chewed food comes out in a green spray, and the smell...it's like the Stinkroots..****y worse.  The Stinkroots with puke.  

"Fightforyourlives!"  Talon screams, sick still dribbling from his chin.  He pulls out the quarterstaff he had previously 'acquired' after the fight with Fistmeat, and tries to thrust it between her ankles in an effort to trip her out of the boat...

Dardek tries to cover his mouth and nose to prevent himself from throwing up from fright and Talon's barf, but is too slow. He atttemps to throw up off the boat but instead nails Nib square in the chest wit whatever breakfast he was able to eat during their trek....It's not nearly as nasty as Talons as Dardek does have some standards, but the smell mixed with the fish smell of the boat, and Talon's stinkroots breakfast is.....alot. 

The smell hits Nib and he starts making little motions with his mouth, the smell of the fish, the waves, the danger all too much.  He hunkers down in the boat and throws up all over Dardek’s feet.  “Uugggghhh!” Is the only sound that comes out of him.  What we are left with is a complete and total barfarama.

The grotesque, piscine crone in front of you begins bouncing on the balls of her feet, smiling wide and hissing out a wet, breathy cackle of perverse delight as you cover the deck of the barge with your sick...

But her focus shifts the moment Talon moves for his quarterstaff. Before he can make the attack, she pivots towards him with frightening speed and lashes at him with a set of four-inch-long dagger-sharp claws that extend from the tips of her fingers...

...as his bloody body flops to the ground, the hag turns to the rest of you, still smiling... Blood still dropping from the claws and warns the rest of you, "Don't do that." 

She then stares directly at Pal waiting to see if he'll make a move with his weapon as she addresses everyone. "Now lets try again... Why don't you tell me your secrets. Where are you all running off to in such a hurry?"

PARTY'S TURN IN INITIATIVE 

(Wisdom save : 13)

Nib wipes the vomit from the corner of his mouth and stands, taking a step closer, but he sees his new friend eviscerated in a heartbeat by this … thing.  Somehow he’s much calmer now, despite the horror of the situation.  “Hey…” he calls out from the back of the boat, “Just stop.  He was our friend!  No one else need die here…mmma’am.  Like we tole you, we are headed crost the river.  We’re gonna go to Faeglen Forest!  If we can make it there.  I want to see the elves!”  He kneels down to check on Talon from behind him, but detects no breath, his blood starting to fill the bottom of the boat.  He stands back up and steadies himself amid the rocking of the boat.. and the sudden, deadly violence.  

Dardek still reeling from the smell of vomit now watches Talon struck dead....He turns away in greater horror now (Wis Sav 7) looking out into the river to see if the eels are near his side of the boat.....maybe he could swim to the bank, he thinks to himself.... He stands on the edge of the boat ready to jump but he hears Nib try to stop the fighting.....he pauses to see what the rest will do before jumping.

Stunned by the murder, Pal will stand and stare in wide-eyed horror, "Y-you... k... k... *gulp* You killed him!" He'll then back away from the thing and huddle in the back of the boat next to Nib

Action: Disengage

Movement: Next to Nib

Ashley stares in horror as Talon goes down in one swipe from the awful old woman.  She can't take her eyes off his bloodied, slack body and anger starts welling up in her, but it can't overcome the fear (Wis save 9).  Trembling from both rage and fear, she asks, "Why did you do that?  He was just a funny little lizard man.  He helped us through the stinkroots..." She finally lifts her head and looks over at Seig, wondering what the elf was going to do.

Her fear stops her from doing anything at the moment, but if the woman lashes out again, Ashley readies a shove to try and push the woman off the boat.

The hag fixes her gaze on each of you, snort-laughing at your pleas as she extends a long, bony, clawed finger.... "Eenie, Menie, Miney, Mo..."

Her finger lands on Ashley and her grin widens... You can see what look like twitching mollusks impaled on the rotted spines she considers teeth.

Ashley feels something the moment the hag's eyes lock on her... Her soul is seized by an indescribable but revolting dread.... Like everything she's ever known or desired is poison to the core.... That hope is lost. That her heart no longer has any purpose in beating anymore... but then... something stays that final excising of life from her body.

Gelatinous saliva drips from the hag's fetid maw... As she asks in a wet, noxious unnatural growl... "Can you smell her terror... It's intoxicating... Tell me, little minnows... Are the ones you flee from? The ones who held the pretty one prisoner... Are these the ones that want to steal our magic?"

Nib hudders in the back of the skiff, seeing her “teeth” and hearing her voice. He concentrates and succeeds on not wetting himself, then he says back ”Prisoner? What are you talking about? We were running away from those people trying to steal magic…” he looks to Pal, trying to get confirmation, meeting his eyes quickly, ”There were people that chased us through the stinkroots. We were running away from those Reclaimer people, yes. Just stop! Lady… uh.. please!”

Nib puts his hand down on his dagger, trying for some reassurance, but feeling that he is looking at certain death if he attacks -

Dardek stops himself from jumping. Thinking he’s being spoken to, he speaks out still staring at the water ”I was captive of both the Clerics of Qoneus and these Reclaimers….I thought I was being saved by the Reclaimers but they quickly put me in shackles and sent me to a cell. If not for Ashley saving me…..this is why I owe her a life debt”

Pal follows Nib's lead, but remain quiet. His gaze flicks back and forth from the monster to Talon's corpse as he grips his B.O.O.M. stick.

Ashley stands there, head down concentrating on breathing as it is the only thing she can handle at the moment. As she focuses on that and keeps her eyes away from the hag and from Talon's poor body, she at least feels the fright that had ahold of her, leave. She hears the others tell the old thing what she wants to hear and feels complete and utter loss and hope just gone. All the elation she had felt since waking up in Onifax's storage room... completely depleted. Tears start falling down her cheeks and without looking at the hag, she responds, "Yes." She then disengages and backs away from the woman, moving over to where Dardek is.

Sieg sees red. His fists tremble with fear and fury in equal measure. While his heart commands him to throw caution to the wind and tear into the hag, his legs feel like lead and will not oblige. Instead, his hand moves to the kobold sling he had retrieved back in the sewers… With a snap, the lead projectile is released - but arcs wide!

With the slightest of eye movements, the hag shifts her gaze from Ashley to Seig.

The potent magical force of her Death Glare flows from her black eyes into the very core of Seig’s being, ripping the life from him. He drops to the ground in a heap with Zero Hit Points.

She then looks to the rest of you. As she does, her sick smile fades and she says, ”I told you not to do that.”

The smile returns as she continues. ”Why would you invite such horrors upon yourselves by acting so nasty when all I want to do is help you, my little minnows? I have no love for these magic thieves who’ve harassed you so… And if helping you flee brings them unhappiness…” Her vicious smile grows wider… ”It would give me great joy.”

She cocks a hairless eyebrow and looks to Dardek, ”But I cannot let you go without extracting a toll…” She reaches out to him, “So, come closer, pretty one. Let granny give you a little kiss goodbye… And then I’ll carry you and your friends to shore.” As she extends her arm, Dardek feels a weight lift and he is no longer bound by the Frightened condition.

”Ok, so then help us! Stop killing us! Oh my goodness gracious!” Little Nib says as he looks over at Seig collapsing to the bottom of the boat, turning back toward the Hag. ”I’ll stick my dagger in those Reclaimers myself if I get a chance. So just… stop, okay?”

Nib continues to look at the Hag wide eyed, hand on his dagger and feet apart in the skiff for balance. He looks uncertain of what to do.

Pal shrieks as Seig falls to the floor and the hag approaches Dardek, "We already paid your damn toll! Enough!" He'll point his B.O.O.M. stick at her and do his best to put on a stoic face. He'll whisper to Nib, "This ***** killed your parents and two of our friends Nib." 

”Did you? Did you kill my parents? Were you responsible for that flood? Are you Sally Snailpants?” Nibs asks, his voice is climbing in a crescendo, he is starting to visibly shake as he looks for answers...

Dardek still staring into the water hears the hag beckon him for some lovins….He lifts his foot in the air to fall into his watery grave but something stops him. ”I told you my secret…why must you torment me.” He puts his foot back down and turns back to the hag. He sees two of his companions dead…. ”What will happen to them all if I allow this? What will...” He swallows hard. ”Happento me?”

Ashley winces as Seig falls to the bottom of the boat next. Was all this her fault? Did she cause this wheel to spin and the death of these two lively people? If she hadn't escaped her cage... would they still be alive and the other three not staring into death's eyes? Her crestfallen state falls even further as these thoughts race through her mind.

She sees Dardek turn towards the hag with consideration to the request. She decides she isn't going to give up on him. She's ready to shove the woman overboard if she does anything hostile towards Dardek.

The party can can already feel the eels carrying the ship to shore...

It's close now. Maybe 500' away or so. In response to Dardek's question, the hag continues to crook her finger, beckoning him closer. "I've had enough fun with your little friends." She says. "After all, if I killed you all now, who would be left to fill the air with such delicious whimpering and lamenting..." She leans forward. "No, dearie... I have no desire to harm you either... I simply want to place my lips on your pretty little cheek..." She reaches into the soiled rags she uses for clothing and withdraws something that she holds concealed in her hand... "...and give you a little gift to help you along your way."

Dardek reaches for his cheek and takes a step closer "You promise the ones that are still alive will not be harmed? The clerics were unable to figure out what my cheeks if anything do....But you know...What will this do for you and do to me?"

But the hag simply continues beckoning, "Yes dearie... I promise... You'll see... You'll see..."

Dardek lowers his gaze to his feet and walks towards the hag scared for his life but hoping the others live.

The rancid fish smell forces Dardek to wretch slightly as she moves her dripping maw close to his face (think Aliens 3). An uncontrollable shudder passes through Dardek’s body, putting the hair on the nape of his neck on end as her cold, wet, clammy lips touch his cheek. When she draws away, Dardek feels a lingering sensation on his cheeks.

Dardek’s silvery cheeks start to tarnish, then crust over with barnacles… but then they suddenly glow with faint celestial light, causing the barnacles to crumble into dust. The hag snarls in frustration. ”Fancy trick, resisting my improvement to your face, little minnow.” she says. ”I should slash your pretty throat instead, and see if you can resist that…” Her clawed hands flex with a desire to strike… yet she resists.

”…but a deal’s a deal.”

As she says this, the boat finally lands on the other shore. ”You paid your toll, let me have my kiss… and now I have something for you…"

She extends and opens her hand, revealing a rotted-looking mollusk shell. ”You have a choice… You can take this lovely trinket, which will grant you one chance to ask for my help against your rude human pursuers…” She closes her palm and looks towards Talon’s corpse. ”Or, I can breathe life back into your brave little kobold friend…”

She opens her palm again, grinning maliciously. ”The choice is yours”

Ashley’s hope has been completely dashed. Hell, She was wondering if she should go back if she was going to put others at risk. Never really landed on her that the old hag never noticed her really. But when the choice came up that the woman could actually do this… that not only she would but that such a possibility existed? She jumped up off the bench and pointed to Talon. “Him!” She cries out. Then, looking to the hag she asks, “Is the other one alright?”

Dardek looks to his feet and grimaces at Ashley jumping in and making the decision for him. He owes her a life debt he says to himself.

Nibs eyes dart around, looking from the Hag, to Ashley, to Dardek, to Pal. Just one word escapes his mouth… Trinket?”

 The hag places a hand on Talon’s shoulder. Immediately, a forest of slimy, whiplike cilia emerge from the dead kobolds wounds and start stitching themselves together in a grotesque weave. Barnacles and aquatic fungi sprout all over Talon’s body like warts, sundering scales and making him look monstrous. It’s a transformation that involves both decomposition and regrowth until his body is something… different than it was.

As the kobold’s chest once more begins to rise and fall, she whispers something inaudible to most of you. With her work complete, the hag steps away from the body, looks at the others once more and begins transforming into her earlier form of an elderly woman. She smiles at you knowingly and says, ”Our business is concluded, little minnows… but take care. There are many other dangers out there in this world… and I wouldn’t want any of them to steal you from me before I can have more fun with ye.” She cackles at her own joke as she drops to all fours and climbs out of the boat, disappearing beneath the murky waters until she and her eels vanish from her sight.