Adventure Two Wrap Part One

When we last left our heroes, they were recuperating at the large estate of Lewellyn Figoras. Brill Brall returned to his home in the middle of Angleport, vowing that they'd meet again. Oltorf decided to ride ahead to Bramble, in order to inform Krimko of their progress. As for the others, having tended to their wounds, the party began to calculate their next move.
They hadn't seen the museum since the raid, and Mangy left his "Immovable Rod" in the access doorway to the sewers. Mangy and Guy decided to don disguises and go on a mission to retrieve the magic item. Walking down Wave Boulevard, they witnessed the aftermath of the previous night's activities. Unearthed corpses, long rotten, were strewn across the street in every direction. Volunteers from the City Watch, under command by the City Guard, were in the process of cleaning up the bodies. Mangy cast a newly learned spell to raise one of the skeletons from the dead, in order to craft a diversion. After bamboozling a few guards, the two interlopers managed to find the rod right where Mangy left it. A few Charm and Sleep spells later, and the two made it safely away from the museum without overly alerting the city guard.
Back at the manor house, Teffa and Lewelynn managed to spend some quality time together, thus taking their burgeoning relationship to the next level. Too bad that soon she would have to take her leave of him. On the return trip home, Guy got the impression that someone or multiple someones were following he and Mangy. They decided to take a circuitous route back, hopefully giving the pursuers the slip. Once back, the united party made plans to return to Bramble, in order to get the Rod of Ryktuss off their hands. The rod was in Zelna's possession, and the mysterious woman wasn't looking well. Even as all the others "healed up," Zelna remained weakened and sickly. She initially fended off any offers for help, so the party spoke with Lewellyn and his majordomo Shelby about renting a wagon to return them home.
Arrangements were made and goodbyes were said. It turns out that Shelby also released the imprisoned Fortiss Meer (previous owner of the cloud diamond) from the Figoras family vault, thinking the man not capable of causing further harm. For his part, Shelby drove the Figoras house carriage to the Angleport docks, where he dropped the party off at a way-station where they could hire a wagon. Lewellyn had presented them with a charter note, allowing them free passage on the good name of Figoras.
At the way-station, the party met their driver-to-be, Romar, who was still tending to their wagon, requiring nearly an hour to finish travel preparations. In the meantime, the party watched the docks from the open air stables adjacent to the way-station office. Guy, not sure if he was being paranoid, seemed to notice three dockhands watching them from a distance of around 100 feet. Sure enough, the other party members concurred with Guy's assessment, and not long after, one of the three dockhands left his comrades on some errand.
Just as the wagon was ready for travel, a sweaty man, tall, thin and bald, entered the stables. He presented himself as Esmere Elbottom, a fruit merchant from Jomor with "urgent business" in Rocha. He tried to chisel his way into a ride along with the party. After a bunch of back-and-forth, the party eventually caved and allowed Esmere to join them. And just in time. For when they set out along "The Sea Salt Way" (the boardwalk), Romar quickly realized they were being followed by another wagon. He alerted the party to this much. The group decided to play it cool until they were clear of most street traffic and pretty much on their way out the northern gates of Angleport. Once along the King's Road, and now positive they were being followed, Mangy took the initiative to fell their pursuers. He launched a volley of Magic Missiles directly into the right front wooden wheel of the wagon behind them, taking it out and sending the whole thing careening to the side of the road. At that moment, two men, apparently human, literally flew out of the wagon interior, in hot pursuit.
Aided by the speed of their magical flight, the two men quickly closed the distance to the party's wagon. As they landed on the rear of the wagon, Mangy hit them with a Thunder Wave, knocking them off (but not losing them) and nearly sending Esmere over the wagon tail. Guy helped the fruit merchant back up, but the men were still coming, continuing to use their magical flight.
Mangy let loose a bolt of magical lightning, felling one of the two men, and sending him tumbling to the dirt below. But the other man pressed forward. Almost in exchange, he too shot a bolt of lightning from his fingertips, this one streaking overhead and striking Romar square in the back. The stricken driver fell from the wagon, dead before he hit the dirt below. Teffa was forced to act quick and take the reigns, barely righting the course of the wagon.
Guy tossed an orb of electric energy at the lone pursuer, but it wasn't enough to stop the man. He flew over their heads and dove straight for Teffa, attempting to abduct her. She managed to slip past his grip, sending him hovering in front of the fast moving wagon. Teffa warned him to leave, but the man pressed on. She called down a miniature, magical storm, complete with lightning which struck the floating man. This was enough to send him crashing down to the ground. A split second later and the wagon (and its horses) ran the man over, making a few satisfying BUMPS.
A moment later, the other man, previously felled, caught up. He spun a magical web, tossing it at the wagon and pinning both Esmere and Mangy. Then, from the palm of his hand, a great ball of fire launched, just barely missing the party, but striking the side of the wagon, igniting a large swath of it's wooden planks.
Mangy was able to tear free of the flammable webbing, mere moments before the spreading fire ignited it. He and Guy helped Esmere out as well, just in a nick of time. The remaining enemy landed on the back of the wagon. It was clear he was badly wounded, and Mangy decided to let loose the coup de grace. He aimed his Immovable Rod at an angle aligned with the man's head, then let go. The rod stood still in the air as the wagon kept moving, thus colliding it directly into their stalker's head. The blow sent the man flying from the back of the wagon and into the ground.
Teffa pulled the wagon to a stop, and Mangy went to examine his handiwork. He retrieved the Immovable Rod and approached the motionless man in the road. Dead. But what had previously appeared as human, in death took on its true shape. The man was a drow (a Qualenti dark elf), much like Teffa. Similarly, during their exchange of attacks, the party noticed the other man's (the one trampled by horses) visage also kept slipping, revealing a bipedal tiger beneath - if only for a moment. Teffa remembered what Faylin Harbole told her of her assailants at the museum ball. That they worked for a bipedal tigress named Pasha Pakima. That Pakima was of a devilish race called the Rakshasa (tiger demons with hands facing the wrong direction on their wrists). This, coupled with the knowledge that the other man was really Qualienti, solidified in Teffa's mind that these were the bounty hunters out to catch her.
Temerity, who'd been tending to the wounded woman inside the coach portion of the wagon, informed the others that Zelna was looking worse and might not last much longer. Just prior to the altercation with the bounty hunters, Teffa and Mangy determined that Zelna had been poisoned with a necrotic wasting disease in her fight with Xanalanthi Xanaloth. The only cure being a strange flower called the Skull Blossom, which could be found deep in the Dullwood.
Not wanting Zelna to perish, Teffa drove the wagon off the King's Road to a secluded area just beyond the darkened entrance to the Dullwood. Here they left Temerity to watch Zelna, along with Esmere, who for whatever reason hadn't gone running off, all screams. Using her staff's ability to find specific plants, Teffa led Guy and Mangy into the woods.
After around half an hour of walking, the group seemed to think they were being watched from the trees above. Teffa used her druidic abilities and transformed herself into a giant spider. This must have done the trick, for the treetops quickly rustled with the sound of their unseen watchers running away. Shortly after this, the group came to a clearing.
At the far end of the open field stood a dilapidated old cabin. To the cabin's left, a field of bone white flowers... the Skull Blossoms. But in the middle of the flowered grove stood someone. Teffa, still a spider, snuck in for a closer look. The person amongst the flowers was a teenage girl! She carried a basket into which she placed carefully selected specimens from the Skull Blossoms. Teffa transformed back to her normal self and approached the girl. They spoke and the girl revealed that her name was Shiela, and that she was picking flowers for her mistress, Hedda. From the looks of it, Hedda lived in the old cabin, but hadn't quite noticed her new arrivals. Shiela warned Teffa that Hedda doesn't like strangers and that she should leave before her mistress becomes aware of their presence. Teffa informed the girl that she needed the Skull Blossom for her dying friend, and eventually Shiela gave over her basket, imploring Teffa to run.
Teffa noticed the grass moving in all directions, not swaying in the wind, but by some tiny creatures amidst the blades. The unseen creatures scampered quickly back to the cabin, moving at a ridiculous speed. Teffa returned to her companions, basket in tow, and the party suddenly heard a voice on the very wind. It was Hedda.
The "mistress" of the grove demanded an offering of the party. If they did not appease her with something "pretty and magical" she made it clear that she intended on eating them. She especially liked the taste of dwarf flesh, she was clear to point out.
The party then saw a light in the cabin's now open doorway. A light that wasn't previously there. And silhouetted against this light, a hunched woman. Hedda.
Mangy offered up Nicaro, the onyx Figurine of Wondrous Power. This seemed to perhaps satisfy Hedda. However, as we came to a close, Hedda, along with a distressing cackle, demanded the party to meet with her... inside her cabin.