Alpha company lounges at Inn Decision, the Quietreach resort founded by intrepid Hall of Doors explorer Rodolf, at a level of comfort that often precedes extreme danger invariably beginning with an unexpected knock on the door.
There is an unexpected knock on the door.
Portent has a mission that has rolled downhill to Alpha. Local townie Lyla Thornstitch reports that Wardenwood, home of her sister Lydia, Lydia’s husband Remy, Lydia and Remy’s daughter Hanna, and Hanna’s imaginary (or at least invisible) friend Whatsit, is constantly threatened by at least one werewolf. Portent and Lyla must hasten out, but Portent refers Alpha to information broker Rodolf for the details. As it is happy hour, Alpha heads downstairs to the bar.
Over mead, whisky, and prune juice, barkeep Rodolf explains the ups and downs of the Hall of Doors. The main “up” is that a person can quickly travel to and from many several places and times through this road-shaped nexus. The notable “downs” include the fact that the linearly arrayed doors stretch on for a vast, maybe unknowable, distance so some travel is still required, and the Hall of Doors is randomly frequented by belligerent things that may wish to fight. Oh, and the doors can lead to objectively terrible places like the inside of a volcano. So, for a poignant example, the optimal path to Wardenwood would be found 382 doors to the left and across from where one emerges from the Inn Decision onto the Hall of Doors. Because getting the door count wrong could be so terribly lethal, there are unique runes above the doors identifying the destination to anyone with an accurate index. Rodolf indicates the appropriate rune for Wardenwood in his hopefully accurate index. Moth carefully records it.
Rodolf dramatically reveals his personal stash of hand-crafted potions nestled in the back wall of the bar and, to demonstrate his confidence in Alpha versus werewolf, generously dispenses two double-dose healing potions and a couple of curse removal potions each to Nala, Moth, Scram, and Snory. Rodolf, using his neck key, escorts the party into his locked cellar and out to the Hall of Doors.
Rodolf returns to his inn and the party counts doors down the thankfully vacant Hall of Doors. Happily, the 382nd door matches Moth’s rune. Scram opens the door into a forest deliciously smelling of sap and rain instead of lava. Snory demonstrates the doorway travel is reversible so the party steps into the forest and treks northeast toward Wardenwood in the late afternoon.
Scram uses short bits of rope to mark the return path in case circumstances allow any survivors to return. A well-kept cabin becomes noticeable through the trees ahead unlike the root beasts camouflaged around the party. A horrid burble paralyzes all but Snory who removes one beast with an infliction of wounds. A new root beast takes its place and they slam paralyzed Moth.
Fortunately, a lovely old grandmother wielding a handful of burning sage appears from the cabin and shoos the root beasts away. Mission focused Scram leverages grandmother’s local knowledge: Where were wolf? Were where wolf? Where where wolf? Grandmother inquires about the kenku’s obvious affliction in the blunt way old folk seem to get away with.
Grandmother Drusilla invites the party in for some restorative poultice and stew. Snory, detecting Fey trickery, subtly throws the prearranged sign of Fey to the party. Drusilla’s hospitality is declined. The party’s hasty departure is interrupted by a childlike cry from beneath the cabin. Snory’s innocent inquiry as to Drusilla’s family way is met by her transformation into a combative hag. She misty steps outside the cabin barely avoiding a face full of Scram’s juicy, melfy acid arrow.
Drusilla, working from the forest through the cabin window, puts Nala to sleep. Snory wakes Nala and she busts the lock off the basement door with her greatpick. Dropping into the basement, Nala locates twelve manacled children who quickly relate that Drusilla is very mean and they do not understand why their parents might so punish them by sending them to her. Pinky Zigz offers his toy to Nala if she would only get them home. If that were not endearing enough, Pinky follows up with a joke about a horse that steals saddlebags, but there is not time to sort that out right now because Scram and Drusilla are exchanging magic through the cabin window.
Scram breaks a vitriolic sphere over Drusilla and drops below the window. Drusilla conjures vines that hold Snory and Scram pinned while she dispatches a root beast into the cabin to beat on Moth. Nala rushes to help Moth beat on the root beast but gets paralyzed by a second root beast that rushes to help his buddy beast beat on Nala. Confident Drusilla misty steps back into the cabin to wail on Moth and then retreats, closing the cabin door behind her.
Drusilla momentarily pops in the door just long enough to attack the party. Vine grappled Scram and Snory begin timing their cantrips to retaliate. Moth and Nala destroy the root beasts. Nala meets Drusilla at the door and runs her off but slings her greatsword out into the forest accidentally and must retrieve it. Moth frees Scram and Snory from the vines. Snory tries to restore some of Moth and Nala’s health as Nala charges into the forest after Drusilla. Nala has no difficulty locating the hag, well-lit by Scram’s scorching ray, with her greatsword. Moth tries to catch up in time to get a piece of the action but surging Nala hits Drusilla in all her critical areas and slays the hag. The quaint cabin reveals itself as a decrepit hut neglected for a hundred years.
Snory searches the cabin for a manacle key but finds only a wand for Scram [wand of paralysis], extra manacles for more kids, and a bag of silvered nails. From the search, Drusilla appears not to journal her schemes or correspond by post. Outside, Moth locates a manacle key on Drusilla’s defeated remains.
The kids offhandedly complain about Drusilla sticking them with the silvered nails. Before Nala releases the children and gets the party trapped in a basement with 12 potential juvenile werewolves, Snory does a medical examination and debrief with Hanna. Finding no evidence of lycanthropic characteristics or tendencies, Nala releases the children to enjoy iron rations and potable water while the party dresses wounds and rests.
The children are arranged in a marching order for the nighttime trek to Wardenwood. Nala and Moth lead, Scram and disciplinarian Snory bring up the rear. No sooner has the march cleared the cabin than the air is filled with dislocated howling, paralyzing Moth with fear and panicking one child into fleeing. Irrational fear spreads through the party and all retreat to the house, scooping up fleeing and scared children along the way. Despite the horrible death rattling, no threat is visible. But a darkness is falling over the hut and the darkness seems to shelter the approaching problem.