(I'm wondering why Cassandra is so insistant on this too. Maybe some "evil play" to try and "corrupt" Tanea somehow? I wonder if that ploy works, if Tanea just wants to protect those who protected her so far. Meaning: Now Tanea doesn't want to "bail out" by handing the dagger to someone else to do the job like it's (Edit: not "below her") "beneath her" or something. After all: The others fought nightmares and the first Hag they encountered already.- Assuming Gertrude is evil -which seems the case- and considering that Tanea is expecting two more Hags to show up soonish, meaning letting Gertrude get back on her feet would probably get everyone killed. On the other hand: Considering that Gertrude is supposed to be the most powerful of the three, she was alarmingly "easy" so far. - Or the team was just lucky.)

(I am very skeptical about everything.)

(A few turns into the game, I PMed Doc and asked him if it would be alright to have a phaser and tricorder added to my inventory to complete the image for my character. He said I could have them but they've been mysteriously drained of all their power making them no more than props. It wasn't until the Hag cast her lightning at Cassandra when the power came back to them.)

(As for Tanea, the prophecy Cassandra stated said it would be Tanea to take down the Hag. But from what I saw in the Southern Tunnel, these Hags can be killed just as easily as hacking away at them. So this dagger may in fact do something we are not aware of. Tanea's fears of Cassandra being a Hag in disguise may well be valid.)

Captains Log Stardate 73362.5
The plan worked. The phaser exploded and the Hag laid motionless on the ground critically wounded. Now it is up to Tanea to stab Gertrude with the bone dagger and end this once and for all. My efforts will be to provide Tanea with cover with my shield and to attack the Hag further.

Shield raised, I provide cover to Tanea walking just a few feet ahead of her. If the Hag tries to launch any spells toward Tanea, I will block it with my shield. I make sure to not be in the way of Tanea's "Sleep" spell. After Tanea casts "Sleep" but before she stabs the Hag with the dagger, I will attempt to decapitate the witch. Captain BenKii has seen enough 21st century horror movies to know you make sure the bad guy is always dead. I also keep an eye on Strigon's summoned Bone Knight. If Strigon loses control of his creature and the Bone Knight tries to attack either me or Tanea, I will strike the Bone Knight and put it down.

Current Situation:

Cassandra's Throne Room:
BenKii's phaser plan worked. Gertrude lies sprawled on her back, most of her right leg and part of her right arm missing. She is gazing up into the trees, covered in blood. Shins and the painting were carried away by Tanea's Ice Elemental towards the forest for protection. Tanea casts Dispel Magic at Cassandra but nothing happens. Cassandra whispers to Tanea "Now little one, it is time." It's all up to Tanea now to stab Gertrude with the Bone Dagger.

Current Actions Summary:

4 - sasuke12 - Strigon - Drow Necromancer -- (Protection from Acid, Death Armour, Levitate, Summoned Bone Knight )
I Strigon, drow necromancer, take cover behind the trees then I shoot magic missiles from my wand towards the witch, and then I control the undead to physically attack her as much as the undead can.
The undead shall attack the witch until Tanea comes close to the witch to stab her, then i shall order the undead to stop attacking the witch.

58 - FlockeSchnee - Tanea - Halfling Shaman -- ( Summoned Ice Elemental )
1. Tanea says a little prayer for whichever creature this bone belonged to and asks the spirits to help this one's spirit find rest, should it require help to find rest.
2. Then Tanea walks over to Gertrude from Gertrudes right side while praying to Yondalla in silence, asking her for guidance and for courage to protect the ones she came to hold dear in this unexpected journey just as they have been protecting her.
3. When Tanea gets within 3 feet of Gertrude she casts "Sleep" on her (twice if necessary), she hopes that her studies about biology and anatomy (from when her sister Sanna was very sick) can be of use in locating the Hags heart and stabbing it, which she will then do swiftly, but "gently".
EDIT: Tanea will try to stab Gertrude in the heart even if "Sleep" doesn't work. (It will just be more messy then "gentle" I guess, if successful at all.)
4. If Tanea doesn't wind up dead/transformed somehow and she can still act:
She says a prayer for the dead Hag and (just remembering the bones in the other Hags prison cell) also says a prayer for all those others who may have died within these walls, whoever they were, and asks the spirits to help those spirits find rest, should they (still) require help finding rest.

38 - ZyloxDragon - Roy Jenks - Half-Orc Battemage -- ( Protection from Elements, Magic Shield, Reflect Spells )
Something doesn't "feel" right.
Roy is going to glance around the room, at the painting, and up in the ceiling. If he doesn't notice anything, he's going to focus his attention on Cassandra.
Web or Fireball spell is readied to be cast.

25 - BenKii - BenKii - Human Warrior
Shield raised, I provide cover to Tanea walking just a few feet ahead of her. If the Hag tries to launch any spells toward Tanea, I will block it with my shield. I make sure to not be in the way of Tanea's "Sleep" spell. After Tanea casts "Sleep" but before she stabs the Hag with the dagger, I will attempt to decapitate the witch. Captain BenKii has seen enough 21st century horror movies to know you make sure the bad guy is always dead. I also keep an eye on Strigon's summoned Bone Knight. If Strigon loses control of his creature and the Bone Knight tries to attack either me or Tanea, I will strike the Bone Knight and put it down.

74 - runnerex - Yeenwi - Drow Necromancer -- ( Death Armour, Levitate )
While Yeenwi waits for Tanea to finish Gertrude off, he tries again to look for some of the valuable trinkets, mentioned by Cassandra. If he finds any, he inspects them carefully and takes them, if they don't seem dangerous.
Then, he casually shoots a magic bolt from his wand at one of the toadstools, but makes sure to hit it.
"Oops", he says, so that Cassandra can hear him. "A small wand misfire. They don't make them like they used to."

Haven't taken turn yet:
76 - Lemon_Curry - Shins A'Hoy - Halfling Thief

(Skeptical? You're positively paranoid :D, but that's exactly why your posts make a great reading.)

While Yeenwi waits for Tanea to finish Gertrude off, he tries again to look for some of the valuable trinkets, mentioned by Cassandra. If he finds any, he inspects them carefully and takes them, if they don't seem dangerous.

Then, he casually shoots a magic bolt from his wand at one of the toadstools, but makes sure to hit it.

"Oops", he says, so that Cassandra can hear him. "A small wand misfire. They don't make them like they used to."

Yeah WTF, that was a "slight" advantage in this fight.. O_o

( I'm thinking Doc "allowed" the phaser in the fight because most of the adventurers left to go into the blue portal leaving a skeleton party to fight the Hag. Also, I think the Gold Dragon painting that Rufus burned may have been a side quest that led to a potential weapon to defeat the Hag so to make up for it, Doc enabled the phaser. I have no way of confirming this. These are only my thoughts.)
(Added your actions to the summary.)

(Also, I forgot to take into account Tanea's "Sleep" spell in my actions. My post has been edited to reflect this.)

(Well ... I have the tendency to always expect the worst. If that means I'm paranoid, I definitely am. ;-)
I'll take that as a compliment. -But you should know, that I was considering to let Tanea cut/prick Cassandra -just a little bit- with the bone dagger to see what would happen -if somehing would-. But it wouldn't have made sense for Tanea to do this -yet-. She still could go insane though, depending on what happens after she killed Gertrude -if she does- and survived.
I'm happy someone is enjoying my weird posts then. :-) )

(Well Loradan could have made it back, if he had done so immediately, assuming he could have levitated that high. The portal stayed for one full turn -unless I remember that wrong-.
Well, that is one of the things that made me suspect Cassandra to be a Hag too. Everyone who could have "sensed" if she is good or not left through the portal/got abducted-.
But maybe he did, so you wouldn't try to get back to the "easy" Western Tunnel, seeing how Cassandra seemed non-threatening and a potentially easy way out?)

Yeah exactly, that's why I think she's either being superstitious/ceremonial, or there's another purpose to the dagger as well, since Hags can be defeated normally. Maybe she's grooming her to be th new Hag? ;) Well, we'll see! It's interesting she picked a halfling though.

I personally didn't think she's evil and it didn't cross my mind until people started talking about it, the point where I started thinking she's most likely too is how she's insiting on the dagger, when there are other warriors who could wield it around. It's interesting the rats are friendly though! Maybe there's more to it. Since it doesn't make sense she seems like a nature lover yet wants a poor, pacifistc halfling to murder a hag.

Cool! It's nice that your roleplay worked out! And yeah, it's good if it's a boost to having lost the majority of your party members. I think the portal was most likely activated by pulling the chain btw. Maybe originally, when he thought there'd be less people, he put it there so that one tunnel could get more people in case they were hurt a lot? (the northern tunnel had some massive losses with the nightmares and the mindflayer). Although if we didn't pull the chain, we wouldn't have met those hags, as they were the bonus round, so you'd be really facing three of them now, haha! It's good we got them!

(Yeah, Tanea's got everyone paranoid now. :D )

(But just in case that dagger does do something negative, I stated in my actions I would try to behead the witch before the dagger is used. If what Cassandra said is true, then the Hag should still be alive even after taking her head off. Thought there would be no harm in trying that first. Also, the Captain would like to preserve the halfling's innocence by taking the Hag's life himself. If the Hag still lives, then Tanea can still use her dagger and kill the witch for good.)

How nice of you! Let's see how it works out! :)

3 turns left to escape.

** TURN 17 **

Western tunnel:

Gertrude lays in the grass, black blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She starts laughing.

4 - Strigon - Drow Necromancer you fire Magic Missiles at the stricken Hag *rolls dice* they thud into her, causing her body to jerk in reaction. Her laughing continues. You order your Bone Knight to attack *rolls dice* but with a flick of her eyes and a blood spattered word the Bone Knight is blown apart and the pieces sent hurtling your way. *rolls dice* You duck just in time as the Bone Knights sword goes flying past, within a whisker of decapitating you.

The DM slams his fist down on his desk and sighs loudly to get a curious look from his dog lying at his feet.

2 - Tanea - Halfling Shaman you say a little prayer then walk over to Gertrude approaching from the right side. Her sudden activity and laughing makes you nervous. You cast Sleep towards the Hag *rolls dice* it fails. You cast Sleep again *rolls dice* it is resisted again but this time Gertrude has noticed you and her lips start moving.

38 - Roy Jenks - Half-Orc Battemage something feels off to you. You ignore the Gertrude situation and focus on Cassandra looking for any sign of treachery, spells at the ready.

74 - Yeenwi - Drow Necromancer deeming Gertrude to be beaten, you again look for valuables *rolls dice* you notice two earthenware pots tucked behind one of the toadstools. You move over and notice gold and silver trinkets fill them to the top. You start to fill your pockets while Cassandra watches, wondering if you should share any with your companions.
You shoot one of the toadstools with your wand - "Oops", he says, so that Cassandra can hear him. "A small wand misfire. They don't make them like they used to." She merely raises an eyebrow before turning her attention back to Tanea.

25 - BenKii - Human Warrior *rolls dice* seeing Tanea in danger you rush forward to decapitate the Hag. *rolls dice* As you approach Gertrude finishes her spell and you are blasted at point blank by a lightening bolt. Your shield is blown apart and you are sent flying back to crash into a tree. You struggle to keep your eyes open but you have undoubtedly saved Tanea's life.

25 - BenKii - Human Warrior earns the achievement *A Noble Sacrifice*

58 - Tanea - Halfling Shaman *rolls dice* with a horrified squeal, the smell of scorched flesh in your nostrils, you rush forward and slide the dagger into Gertrudes chest.
The Hag arches her back, mouth open wide, before laying flat and lifeless.

A crackling energy fills the glade and a shaft of light reaches down to hit the ground just behind the cauldron.
Cassandra stands up, her energy renewed. Where before stood 8 giant rats are now 8 wide-eyed Halfling children. One, a brown haired girl, runs over and wraps her arms around Tanea's leg. A dark haired boy picks up a stick and walks over cautiously to Gertrudes body before poking her in the face.

Cassandra walks to BenKii whose breath is coming is shallow gasps. "Your ship still needs you dear Captain, death shall have to wait for another day to lay claim to you."
She raises her staff and a glow surrounds BenKii.

25 - BenKii - Human Warrior you feel yourself being pulled back from eternal darkness and open your eyes to gaze up into the glowing smile of the Elf Witch. The sound of childrens squeals of delight fill your head and you see Halfling children happily running back and forth between Cassandra and Tanea, though keeping their distance from Roy Jenks. You wonder where they came from?

38 - Roy Jenks - Half-Orc Battemage more Halflings you grumble to yourself and snort in disgust.

Tanea says to Strigon and BenKii with a wide, warm smile and a little bow to each: "Thank you, Strigon." "Thank you, BenKii."

(Wow. 8 Halfling children? That's cute. - But a very inappropriate place for children.
I need to let all of this sink in for a bit. *can't stop grinning*)

(Just my first thought though: 3 turns left to escape and the way out seemingly right there. Can it really be that easy?
I guess, we will find out about the intentions of those two Drows now - whatever their chosen alignment/goal may be.)

(EDIT: And I'm really curious about how all these "paths" connect. Great story so far. :-) )

(Okay. Now, two hours later, I can't help but wonder why Gertrude was laughing: The unexpected realization she might die? Insanity? Her (their?) "hidden plan" working?
The result seems to be peaceful right now. But will it last? Maybe it's "too peaceful"?

I didn't let Tanea tell the Ice Elemental to carry the painting too. Was that an oversight? Or is that "shaft of light" not the way out, but the painting is? Or maybe the way out is different for some of the group? Light/getting above ground might not be good for Drows, who seem to be vulnerable above ground/in daylight -if I remember what I read right-. But the painting leads outside/above ground too. Then maybe the "shaft of light" doesn't lead above ground? Hm ... Or it could lead to whereever one wants to go.)