Part 2: Payment Comes Due

Horace quietly slips through the door. An astonishingly sumptuous chamber, its walls hung with purple drapes and floor strewn with fine carpets, seems to serve as both a bedroom and a study. A fine armoire stands opposite an elegant bed and nightstand. To the southwest, a writing desk with several drawers has been placed near a small, padded chair. A wooden cargo crate also sits at the foot of the bed.

A hellspawn woman is sitting at the desk, studying an open tome. She scowls and shakes her head, her sharp nail tracing a line under the words as she studies the text. This must be Lady Wormwood. She seems absorbed in her work and hasn't noticed Horace yet.

Lady Wormwood looks up in annoyance. "Ugh. Now what?" she grumbles as she stands and moves to the door. Looking at the tome she was reading, Horace can see it appears to be a magical text full of spells.

Wormwood steps out into the room where the rest of the group is waiting. When she sees you, she narrows her eyes. "Hmm. Ah. You must be Gideon’s lapdogs, here to take back the prize I snatched from the Society’s clutches. If they had their wits about them, they wouldn’t have lost their precious cargo in the first place. In any event, it’s mine now. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll return to your boss and tell him that the only way I’ll let them go is if they abandon Vyre completely. Okay then... off with you! You have a message to deliver."

Horace notices that the crate has been opened but then had its lid set back loosely in place. Within, among copious packing straw, are the items originally intended as payment to the Dragonfly Society that Gideon sent you to recover.

Meanwhile, Lady Wormwood sighs at your attempts to negotiate her. "I'm in no mood for your prattle. I suppose your heads will serve as a fine message instead." She reaches for the hatchet at her belt!

Lady Wormwood succumbs to Bekassine's slow spell, then critically fails to avoid her clinging ice. The ice clings to the hellspawn's legs, significantly hampering her movement. In response, Wormwood casts a spell of haste on herself to counter the slowness!