This session started with the party exploring the bottom floor of Bavlorna Blightstraw’s cottage
It was ret-conned that the party retrieved Bavlorna’s Big Bad Book of Bad Blood before heading to the cottage
Barnabus used his homunculus servant to examine the mirror (which seemed like a normal mirror in the water), the well (which had relatively clean water in contrast to the pit), and the lily pad (which was about 10 ft in diameter and relatively healthy)
Having explored most of the bottom floor, they made their way up the spiral staircase in the corner
At the top of the stairs was a hallway with many portraits of various races and using various techniques (paint, sketch, etc) and a singular oval mirror, there are three apparent doors in the hallway
All of portraits seemed to be of grumpy figures
The mirror seemed normal at first but kept a straight expression, PB smiled at it and it disappeared onto itself and formed into a doorway leading into a dark hallway
Upon entering the hallway, it appears larger than it should have based on the size of the surrounding rooms, around a corner the hallway dead ends into a door that is barred on this side but with a giant oversized needle
PB removed the needle and then opened the door, which opened onto a dimly lit moldy room that extends another 20-30 ft with a relatively low ceiling ending a more lit and open area like the secret hallway
They decided to wait on that and head back out of the hallway, returning the needle onto the door
The room to the northwest of the stairs is a dusty but not moldy bedroom with several shadow boxes containing mummified pixies (like you would see butterflies), PB rushed around the room to check that none of them were 7-up but thankfully she wasn’t there
The room to the southwest of the stairs led to dining room with two other exits, above the door they entered through and one of the other doors are mounted goblin heads, the plates on the table are partially eaten and covered in flies, the table has six mismatched chairs with three per side
The cabinets around the room are filled with mismatched, mostly broken, table wear
The door without a goblin head above it (west), led to a balcony of little note
The other door (south), led to a contraption of metal tubes leading with cylinders and buckets
Amrynn noted that similar (much smaller), device was used to make booze by some students at the college, while Barnabus noted that the mechanisms were barely staying together
The alcohol around the room was foul smelling
The door leading out of that room (east) led to hallway that ended in a room with cooking implements on the walls, gore everywhere, and a ruckus and clanking could be heard, definitely the sounds of multiple creatures
As they edged into the room, a short, stout creature wearing iron boots, a crimson cap, and a stained apron chasing a group of vultures around the room that are squabbling over some meat he was butchering, some large haunch of meat from some animal
The room is clearly some kind of kitchen or prep area with various counters, workspaces, and a sink full of broken or dirty dishes
The redcap says that Bavlorna won’t let him harm any of them as they’re guests
The other door heading west out of the kitchen that wasn’t the still room led to a pantry full of pickling jars
The doorway to the east leads out to another balcony with several cages hanging, one had Vancel, a naked satyr in a cage, his clothes were stolen by harengon, then he was kidnapped and Bavlorna Blightstraw told him he was going to be dinner
Barnabus unlocked the cage, Vancel hopped out, ran inside and started rummaging around the kitchen quickly finding a tablecloth to make into a toga and a bottle of wine
The party then ushered the vultures out the door to the balcony where the vultures perched on the cages
The redcap, who introduced himself as Bloody Toes, wasn’t happy about “more guests” being in the cottage
The middle door to the north appeared to be some sort of freeze with meat, with a chest in the middle surrounded by frost
They escorted Vancel back to the boat, he offered Barnabus a stick of good luck (adds +1 to ability checks and saving throws for 24hr) which sprouted into a flower
They then decided to go back to the secret passage door and into the hallway, at the other end, they saw ceramic spheres, fabric (maybe a rug), and some furniture but giant sized
It seemed like they were growing rapidly so they rushed back through the door barely fitting through but then returned to normal size
From the spiral stairwell, they opened the easter door with two creatures sitting in nasty armchairs
The first is a tall woman dressed in black
The other is a squat, toad-like figure with bulging eyes, surrounded by flies, with two smaller versions of itself on it’s shoulders
The toad-like figure asked what they were doing in her home which made it clear that it was Bavlorna Blightstraw
She said that the sprite (7-up) was the talker out of her and PB and to Amrynn, she asked if he was here to give her the rest of the set while looking at his missing hand
A Lornlings goes outside and ushers the rest of the party in
Bavlorna said that the other witch was called Charm (the owner of Wonderous Ware and Fair Fares) and they were “gossiping” about Bavlorna’s sisters “endy” and “scab”
She said before she’ll bargain with us, she needs her book, some skins from the frogs, and her bath fixed
The party tacitly agreed and went downstairs to regroup
Melina noticed that she had seen the woman in black (Charm) before when she had a vision in the steam (session-2025-04-15) but also that she didn’t have a shadow, her vision depicted her shadow separating from her and going into a window of a swampy building, Amrynn noted that she didn’t have a shadow in the room with Bavlorna Blightstraw