Wachter lunch

#2021-08-22 2h session (24/8, afternoon)
We made our way to the Wachter house, a borderline mansion
walked around back, the half-orcs and Benedict made an awful first impression walking around the back, looking for danger, but perhaps it was necessary, given our group’s dangerous history.
We were welcomed by a woman named Lady Fiona Wachter into an... unenviable abode.
I get the sense that she means to make a deal with us, one that will favor her much more than us. She tells us that the lord of these lands, Baron Varakovich, punishes those who speak out against his ever-more-frequent festivals. She claims his family was the steward of these lands for generations. She thinks him a madman and announced her desire to replace him! She told us, quite earnestly, that she would protect her populus from the forests and dying by restricting their movement. The poor old woman lost her husband in his sleep, which explains the unkempt appearance of this place. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s looking for more power. I’m a bit wary of her. Especially considering that Tim informed us, via Benedict, of an evil presence in her basement. She brought us down to a pentagram hidden behind a secret door and told us that it is what she uses to learn about threats. In this rather foreboding atmosphere, Benedict revealed to us that he detected a Fiend familiar on her shoulder when he snooped about with his mage hand. According to Lady Wachter, there are many foul cults in these lands, some of which are likely responsible for the foliage having its own sort of consciousness (?). Benedict and I searched for secret doors since he reasoned that there must be more space in the house according to his unimaginable senses. We found a path upstairs to a secret room full of cats and quarters for her remaining family, three (two?) sons and a mentally disturbed daughter. Wachter related to us that the young woman was deemed insane after the devastating loss of her father. Even after searching her entire house, we apparently managed to stay on her good side, thanks to Minosperyn’s silver tongue.