Celtra tries to listen but much of it is over her head.  "I dont know if I understand this all but is it like the soul powers the body and shes just using a different soul to power the body?.. You know, on second thought I dont want to know.  In stead, I want to hear about this Emptyone and the three sisters."

"Emptyone," she hisses, grinning wickedly while pointing at Fulca.  

Her crooked finger, warty and gnarled, streaks to Taman's face, hovering before his nose.  "More questions, more payment!"

Her face withers at Bryn's remark and spittle flies as she slaps her finger to her lips "SHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Wicked child!  Say not these things! I am but a fly on the wall of the hags' hut; a worm beneath their feet!"  She cowers dramatically, though somewhat theatrically.  "Think they that we not notice?  Are we fools?" She squirms her body out of her chair and is suddenly in Cimeri's face.  "Does not the ant know when man destroys his hill with man's new toy?"  She swings to Azaka.  "Yes.  Yes, we all feel the ripple of what they do. Water spiders on the lake of the leviathan."  Spindly, spider like claws encircle  Celtra's bicep, breathing corpse-burp into her nostrils.  "Leviathan," she whispers.

Blink, and she's in front of her chair again, but the lights in the hut have dimmed.  "Speak not of the Meddler," she whispers, looking now like a dead, rotten child.  "Lest his eye fall upon you."

Celtra looks around at the others.  With as much warning at Taman had given them about Hags, she expected more from her but it seemed that she was just fearful of other Hags.  "Right... so uh we sticking around for this ceremony thing or we just gonna head south?"  The ton of her voice remains even but her face clearly shows that she would rather not be here.

"As I have no intention of giving further payment, I guess we leave." Taman says with a shrug.

Fulcra clears his throat, "ahem.  So...you could replace the part of my missing soul with the soul from this pterafolk?  That seems, like a terrible terrible idea.  But, maybe if I got you like, a really good person, strong, powerful, nice and smart....and...sacrified them, you could fill in my soul with that.  Though....now that I say it out loud, it sounds like a questionable thing to do to a person like that."  He turns back to the group, "Oh, I'm missing part of my soul to the soul monger."  As if that explains everything he turns back to the witch, "You call me empty one. If I provide payment, is that how you would help me? Or do you have a different solution for me?" 

Cimeri, who was about to leave that hut in disgust, now was standing with wide open eyes, looking at Fulcra with expression of deep horror on her face. If that was a joke (and she still hoped it is) - it was beyond detestable or even sick-making. She shook her head in disbelieve and left the hut for good, waiting for party a good hundred meters away from the entrance.

"She does not have your answers friend." Taman tells Fulcra.  "The answer is to the south, and any payment this one asks for that information will not be worth the cost."  He gives Fulcra a squeeze on his shoulder, then heads out as well.

Azaka sheathes her scimitar, spits on the floor of the hut, and leaves.

Celtra, Bryn, and Fulcra are left in the hut with the crone.  "So brash, these youths... you three have older, more sensible souls, perhaps?"  She cracks her knuckles with a toothless grin.  "Emptyone, have you ever seen one of these?"  She points to a circle the size of a hand made of incredulously bent and shaped bone.  Sinew has been strung across it to create a web of sorts, and other bone fetishes dangle from the small hoop.  "Soulcatcher it is called.  Need you ask what it does?  The net has been full for some time now... since the Soul Monger was forged," she finishes in a whisper.  "When did you lose your soul, Emptyone?  Do you catch my meaning?"  She irritates you with an evil grin.  "Yes, I have it.  Here.  What will you do to get it back?"

Fulcra raises and eyebrow, his jovial carefree attitude evaporates and a cool, almost dark visage spreads across his face.  "Be wary with whom you bargain with witch. The shadow of Thay stands behind me. Name your price." 

Her eyes flick around the occupants of the hut nervously.  Then she grins again, maddeningly.  "Yes, why not," she seems to whisper to herself.  "Here," she hands you the Soulcatcher.  "Useless without my art, for it is bound to me.  A token of my good will, that your companions are so quick to judge."  She withdraws her hand.  "Three sisters," she whispers, "the Sewn Sisters, they work for the Meddler... they play a long, long game and Nanny can play as well... but Nanny needs something.  Each sister would have a bag... for souls.  Bring me one of their bags, and I shall return the soul you so easily gave away."  She turns to her chair and sits, seeming to fall asleep.  Before you can ask, "South," she whispers.  "To the south.  Follow the souls.  Look through the Soulcatcher and follow the souls."  Turning over the Soulcatcher in your hands, you exit the hut, knowing in your gut that no further answers will be forthcoming.

Fulcra takes a deep breath in the darkness of the hut, and then he turns away from the witch and a smile spreads across his face and he gives Celtra and Bryn a playful wink.  Resuming his whistling he strolls out of the tent, soul catcher in hand, and heads over to Cimeri.  "Hey kiddo.  Don't worry about all that nasty business.  I've learned a long time ago how to talk to people in a way that they'll listen.  We got what we needed.  Our compass to the Soul Monger, as it were.  I would never sacrifice someone like that....but the witch didn't know that."  He touches her on the shoulder and makes eye contact to make sure she understands, then nods and turns to Taman.  "South."  He holds up the soul catcher. "We just follow the stream of souls..."

With one hand, Bryn will wipe down the full length of her face to brush off the hags spit from shushing at her. She could have went for less spraying, but understood and the hags point was made. But it didn’t stop her brows from raising and furrowing with curiosity and attempts to understand and read between the lines of what Nanny was saying. There is knowledge here. Even though it was obvious that most of their group did not agree with Pupu’s ways, Bryn was interested in hearing what she had to say.

Fulcra’s lack of and possible retrievable of his soul was truly none of her business. She had no part to play in the discussion between him and the witch, so she’d simply listen with a raised brow. It was interesting to see the opposing side to Fulcra’s upbeat facade.

Once the conversation was done, Bryn would pause for a moment before leaving the hut. She’d look over to the witch to ask a question even though she didn’t expect an answer, “Sewn Sister weakness? Sewn Sister strength? For Soul Bag success.”

"And I wonder what that will cost you, and us, in the long run?" Taman asks as he sighs.  "Regardless, the price is paid now I guess, whatever that may be." He nods to the device.  "Which way are the souls going now?"

Cimeri answered with a long unblinking look, her expression softened at the end and nodded - they all went through too much together to truly suspect one another of some foul play. There was a task at hand and no matter the reason their path now led to the south. So there she would go.

"So, there was a ship stuck in the trees we could see?  Let's go check that out and then head south? Do we want to have a good nights rest in the Pterafolk cave, now that it's safe. I bet we could get a proper sleep in there for once.  Then head south?"   

If it is an option to use the cave for a good long rest, Taman would be all for it.

Celtra stared at the, witch, hag, creature as she spoke about souls and sisters and what not.  All the while thinking, why did I push that statue off and join these people?  She shook her head as they left.  Why did she join, it sounded like a good way to make money.  Why she staying?  Because those creatures have fu**** the natural order of things.  "After all that, if even half is true, then it's more serious than I could have ever thought."

"Yup. Pretty darned serious."  Fulcra nods as he heads to the cave.  He fills a bag full of dirt and brings it down into the cave with him.  He spends 30 minutes tossing dead bodies down the cliff, and then cleans up as much as possible, covering blood with dirt from his bag.  He then finds a pleasant place to rest after the group divides up guard duty. 

Bryn listens intently. 
“Find the dolls, captives of the sisters. The dolls can help you, at the end.”

A shiver runs through her body  “Do not let them have your hair.  Nor your flesh, nor blood.”

Outside, Azaka speaks. “Pterafolk could have been out hunting when we struck. We rest there, they may find us. I do not know that we could face that.” She looks from the hut to Fulcra. “It seems we work for the hag now. She will not kill her employees. We might be safe here. “

Fulcra, "We work for ourselves. It's our choice if we return to this place or pursue her ends. Besides, this is my situation, not a burden for the rest of you.  However it seems at the moment our goals are aligned.  Still, I don't agree about being safe here. I wouldn't sleep here. Let's investigate the nest quietly.  If it is indeed occupied, we'll just head on our way and sleep in the jungle like usual.  Ok?"