Putting as much distance between the remains of the walking corpse of a Kobold and us was a fortunate side effect of progressing deeper towards where Jäger suspected the witch resides. Even though there was a chance of having to deal with a potential witch at our next destination, I was just happy to put that crime against nature behind me. I knew that in the future I will be exposed to great evils that will make an undead Kobold seem tame and that was what scared me to think about. Jäger kept his cold as ice demeanour and I could see Loral's resolve was stronger than ever before. Even Oakey was not fazed by our encounter, I was glad to have such strong companions to inspire me.
So, the four of us pressed on towards the witch's home, following Jäger's lead. Because of Jäger's extensive knowledge and interpretation of the local geography we were able to find a glade exactly where Jäger expected it to be. It was then we all noticed just how eerie the forest had become. The trees seemed to favour spreading their branches away from the glade as if frightened of the building and none of us, not even Jäger, could hear the sound of any wilderness at all. We pressed on nonetheless, the needs of Falcon's Hollow were far more pressing than a little shaken nerves.
Once the trees started to thin I was able to see the witch's dwelling, if it could be called that. In it's prime, the building could have resembled a fetching cottage in the woods but in its current state it was little more than a dilapidated hovel which looked as though only the evil that I could sense within could be holding it up. I looked over towards Loral to find her looking at me, waiting for me to take the lead. I stepped out into the glade towards to building and she followed close behind me. Jäger and Oakey expertly melded into the woods and supplied us with cover in case of the unexpected.
The cottage was darker to look upon than I initially thought. Makeshift skeletons constructed from the remains of all sorts of creatures decorated the open clearing. What little breeze there was caused them to rattle like some sort of troupe of the dead. I had to be a strong example to the rest so I pressed on towards the cottage.
With Loral beside m I approached the door. It was merely half attached to the frame and in as good a shape as the rest of the building looked. Never the less it was jammed shut. Something was blocking it from the inside, but nothing a little brute force could not fix. As Oakey was not to be seen, it fell on me to push it open so I did and with only a little help from Loral.
The inside was even worse than the outside. The musky smell of rot washed over me as the door cleared the pile up from within. You could feel the damp on your skin as it irritated you to your bones. I called out to any one inside under the hopes that the 'witch' still resides within and was misunderstood. There was no answer so Loral followed me inside. The cottage hallway lead to a single room that took up most of the floor space of the ground floor. Mould and rot was everywhere but still standing in the room was a large chair, almost throne made from the bones of a long dead and unrecognisable beast. Sitting in the chair was a dead body wrapped in linen and in front of the throne sat a cauldron which took up most of the floor space. It sat in a hole in the ground making it treacherous to step near.
After having concluded that the building was empty of life (and indeed undead), I called out for Jäger and Oakey to join Loral and myself to help find the ingredient rat's tail. The two of them bleed out of the tree line and join us in our search within the cottage. Oakey and Jäger both look around and tread carefully as they search but in my haste I make a mistake. Jäger investigates the body in the throne as Loral and begin our search at the shelves and workstations that lined the cottage room. Jäger discovers that their is no body wrapped inside the linen but instead it is stuffed with sticks, mud and cloth.
As I reach out to take hold of a full jar to investigate closer, the cauldron bursts into life and attacks. It hits hard and almost incapacitated me. The animated cauldron was then distracted by Jäger's attack just long enough for Loral to cast healing on me so I can continue the fight.
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