The Enemy of My Enemy...

We picked up right where Hagnight left us: in the attic arena, with a cauldron, three night hags, and Tasha herself bleeding and crawling out of the muck. Tasha battle The hags tried to keep Tasha magically pinned, their magic clawing at her while the Uninvited stood armed in the middle of the spectacle. The crowd watched from the edges, terrified and fascinated in equal measure. Tasha, even half-naked and bloodied, was still Tasha. Between spells and snarls she spoke to the party: Pleading with them to help her break free. Threatening them that, if they stood in her way, she would have to kill them. The fight turned into a chaotic triangle: the Uninvited, the hags, and Tasha’s volatile power trying to burst free of her restraints.

In the end, the party made a choice: they would help Tasha. Once they committed, their attacks shifted fully onto the three hags, battering down the coven’s control. Between blows, they demanded answers, pushing Tasha to explain why they should trust her. She told them about Moroz, her assistant: Moroz had a workshop hidden in a pocket-dimension tied to the Shadowfell. Inside that workshop, he had been working on a method to kill Baba Yaga. The party, naturally suspicious, pointed out the elephant in the room: Rumors say Tasha is Baba Yaga. So why doesn’t she just go get this research herself? Tasha’s answer: She can’t leave this plane. If she does, the spell she has cast on Baba Yaga will break. Right now, Tasha is holding Baba Yaga at bay, locked in a castle in the north of Hither. If she leaves to fetch Moroz’s work, Baba Yaga is unleashed. She needs someone else to go get it. The key to Moroz’s Shadowfell pocket dimension is a teleportation circle sequence. That sequence, she says, is inscribed on a shield she once had her harengon army gift as a prize at the Gossamer tournament. So the job is simple in theory and absolutely insane in practice: Go to Gossamer. Get into or win in the tournament. Secure the shield with the teleport sequence. Use it to reach Moroz’s workshop in the Shadowfell.

With their decision made, the Uninvited finished what they started. The three night hags were slain, their ritual broken, and Tasha was finally released from their control. Magic crackled, screams echoed, and when the dust settled the attic was a ruin: Some of Alderman Viko’s guests lay injured. Others were dead. The rest were in shock, confronted with the cost of the “exotic entertainment” they’d signed up for. Kilijan, very much done with the nobles’ games, confronted them all. He didn’t flatter, negotiate, or ask politely. He scolded them. Kilijan laid it out: all these degenerately rich guests would donate 60% of their earnings to the army. No more hiding behind luxury while other people bled. The party had just turned Viko’s exclusive little horror show into a very expensive lesson. Part 4 After the chaos at the manor, the Uninvited returned to Revillon. There, they regrouped with Tamil and Taylor. Together, they began to sketch out the next steps: Travel to Gossamer. Enter or infiltrate the Gossamer tournament. Get close enough to claim or steal the shield that bears Moroz’s teleportation circle sequence. Use that sequence to reach Moroz’s Shadowfell workshop and retrieve the research that might be able to kill Baba Yaga. Tasha is still anchored to this plane, still supposedly keeping Baba Yaga bound in the castle in northern Hither. The party, meanwhile, now carries the weight of a choice: They didn’t kill Tasha. They agreed—at least for now—to help her.