“We cannot harm this little girl,” he said to them, “for she has a Protection from Evil up, which prevents physical attacks upon her from summoned creatures. All we can do is to wrap these ropes around her and carry her to the castle of the Wicked Witch, where the Witch herself can kill her.”
So, carefully and keeping their distance, they wove a net of ropes around Dorothy and carried her swiftly through the air until they came to the castle, where they set her down upon the front doorstep. Then the leader said to the Witch:
“We have obeyed you as far as we were able. The Tin Woman and the Scarecrow are destroyed, and the Lioness is tied up in your yard. The little girl we cannot harm directly, nor the dog she carries in her arms. Your power over our band is now ended, and you will never see us again.”
Then all the Winged Monkeys, with much laughing and chattering and noise, flew into the air and were soon out of sight.
The Wicked Witch was both surprised and worried when she saw the mark on Dorothy’s forehead, for although it was a secret to all but her sister Witches, she herself was a summoned creature, conjured to Oz from The Abyss. She looked down at Dorothy’s feet, and seeing the Silver Shoes, began to tremble with fear, for she knew that this must be the slayer of the Wicked Witch of the East.
At first the Witch was tempted to run away from Dorothy; but she happened to look into the child’s eyes and saw how simple the soul behind them was. Moreover, the little girl did not con red. In fact, she was only light blue, probably level eight. So the Wicked Witch laughed to herself, and thought, I can still make her my slave. Then she said to Dorothy, harshly and severely:
“Come with me; and see that you mind everything I tell you, for if you do not I will make an end of you, as I did of the Tin Woman and the Scarecrow.”
Dorothy followed her through many of the beautiful rooms in her castle until they came to the kitchen, where the Witch bade her clean the pots and kettles and sweep the floor and keep the fire fed with wood.
Dorothy went to work meekly, with her mind made up to work as hard as she could; for she was glad the Wicked Witch had decided not to kill her.
With Dorothy hard at work, the Witch thought she would go into the courtyard and harness the Cowardly Lioness like a horse; it would amuse her, she was sure, to make the Lioness draw her chariot whenever she wished to go to drive. But as she opened the gate the Lioness gave a loud roar and bounded at her so fiercely that the Witch was afraid, and ran out and shut the gate again.
“If I cannot harness you,” said the Witch to the Lioness, speaking through the bars of the gate, “I can starve you. You shall have nothing to eat until you do as I wish.”
So after that she took no food to the imprisoned Lioness; but every day she came to the gate at noon and asked, “Are you ready to be harnessed like a horse?”
And the Lioness would answer, “No. If you come in this yard, I will bite you.”
The reason the Lioness did not have to do as the Witch wished was that every night, while the Witch was asleep, Dorothy carried her food from the cupboard. After she had eaten she would lie down on her bed of straw, and Dorothy would lie beside her and put her head on the Lioness’s soft fur while they talked of their troubles and tried to plan some way to escape. But they could find no way to get out of the castle, for it was constantly guarded by the yellow Winkies, who were the slaves of the Wicked Witch and too afraid of her not to do as she told them.
The girl had to work hard during the day, and often the Witch threatened to beat her with the same old broom she always carried in her hand. But, in truth, she simply could not strike Dorothy, because of the Protection from Evil provided by the mark upon her forehead. The child did not know this, and was full of fear for herself and Toto. Once the Witch struck Toto a blow with her broom and the brave little dog flew at her and bit her leg in return. The Witch did not bleed where she was bitten, for she was inhuman, and she shot Dorothy an anxious glance until reassured that the girl had not spotted the clue to the Witch’s true demonic nature.
Dorothy’s life became very sad as she grew to understand that it would be harder than ever to get back to Kansas and Aunt Em again. Sometimes she would cry bitterly for hours, with Toto sitting at her feet and looking into her face, whining dismally to show how sorry he was for his little mistress. Toto did not really care whether he was in Kansas or the Land of Oz so long as Dorothy was with him; but he knew the little girl was unhappy, and that made him unhappy too.
Now the Wicked Witch had a great longing to have for her own the Silver Shoes which the girl always wore. Her bees and her crows and her wolves were lying in heaps and drying up, and she had used up all the power of the Golden Cap; but if she could only get hold of the Silver Shoes, they would give her more power than all the other magic she had lost.
The difficulty for the Witch was that ever since Dorothy had attuned the magic shoes to her, they had become No Trade. No other player or NPC could use them unless Dorothy opted to unattune them.
But the wicked creature was very cunning, and she finally thought of a trick that would give her what she wanted. She trapped Toto in a large laundry basket and called Dorothy over.
“I may not be able to harm you, but I can kill your familiar.”
Toto, having been barking as loudly as he could, seemed to understand the threat, for he began to scrabble inside the basket and was now whining.
“Don’t you dare hurt poor Toto! Let him go!”
The wicked woman, who was sitting on the basket, was greatly pleased with the success of her trick, and just laughed.
“You have until this time tomorrow to unattune those Silver Shoes and hand them over, or I will throw your familiar down the well and drown him.
“You are a wicked creature!” cried Dorothy. And she ran to her room in great distress. Was there nothing she could do but hand over the Silver Shoes? That night she crept across the courtyard with as basket of food for Lioness and explained her woes.
The Cowardly Lioness nuzzled Dorothy to comfort her and then said, “I do not know if this is any help, but I have noticed that the Winkies never enter the small tower in the corner there. They avoid it. Perhaps you should see why.”
“I will,” said Dorothy, without much hope. But she immediately walked quietly across the cobbles to where a wooden door stood closed with a sign upon it.
Anyone opening this door will be struck by a terrible Curse!
Dorothy looked at the door with a sense of skepticism. It could possibly be that a Glyph of Warding was present, but did the Witch even have that spell? Then she cast Detect Magic. There was none. As she had guessed, the sign was a bluff, perfectly adequate to keep the Winkies away. But there was no Glyph of Warding or other magical trap that cast a Curse spell.
All the same, Dorothy flinched slightly as she opened the door and stepped into the tower. After she was safely on the inside, with increasing confidence and a growing curiosity, she climbed the curving steps to the top room of the tower, where she found a door that was open and beyond it a remarkable room lit by moonlight.
A summoning pentacle was on the floor, nearby was a lectern with a spell book (a spell book!) and the remains of burned-out candles were everywhere. Behind the lectern were shelves with mysterious jars and items such as the skull of a goat. Casting Detect Magic again and finding only a faint residue of magic present, Dorothy stepped carefully into the room and went to the book.
It was open but the words were completely mysterious, made from fanciful letters that Dorothy had never seen before. They made sense, though, as soon as she cast her Read Magic spell. For the words on the page rearranged themselves to describe the steps to be taken by a wizard in order to cast Summon Demon.
Revelation came to Dorothy. The Wicked Witch of the West was a summoned demon. That explained why she couldn’t hurt Dorothy, not while the Protection from Evil was surrounding her. And reading on, Dorothy found the section that confirmed her insight.
Demon of the Abyss (Wit
ch)
Witch level 10
HP 98 Mana 144
Str 9
Int 17
Wis 9
Con 14
Dex 10
Cha 6
Damage Resistance 10 vs cold iron or good opponents
Immunities: electricity, poison
Resistances: acid 10, cold 10, fire 10.
Abilities: See Invisible, Darkness, Dispel Magic
Skills: Perception +20; Sleight of Hand +12; Stealth +8.
Spells: level 1 x 5; level 2 x 4; level 3 x 4; level 4 x 3; level 5 x 2.
A Demon of the Abyss (Witch) has no need for a spell book and can slot any new spell of her choosing each night at midnight.
A Demon of the Abyss (Witch) always makes great effort to hide her true nature, for she has a weakness. If touched by quicksilver she is immediately expelled from the Prime plane and cast once more into the chaos of the Abyss, never to return for at least a hundred and one years.
Quicksilver? Dorothy searched among the bottles of the shelves until she found a small vial containing and shiny, liquid metal that did, indeed, look like silver. The label on the vial was “Mercury” and Dorothy remembered that this was another name for quicksilver. Feeling elated that she might have found a way to save Toto, Dorothy placed the tightly stoppered vial carefully in the right pocket of her dress.
The rest of the night, Dorothy spent transcribing spells from the spell book on the lectern into her own spell book, until dawn came, when—although tired—she marched out of the tower feeling like a genuine level 8 Sorceress, with her gem slots containing: Magic Missile, Jump, Feather Fall, and Shield for her first level spells; Stinking Cloud, Web, and Mage Armor for her second; Fireball and Haste for her third and Summon Monster IV for her fourth.
When the Wicked Witch rang for her breakfast, Dorothy took up a tray, with a bowl full of mercury hidden under a silver lid.
“There you are at last, you lazy girl. Are you ready to unattune my Silver Slippers and hand them over?” The Witch gestured towards where Toto was tied tight to the bedpost and gave a cruel smile.
“I will, after I’ve given you your breakfast.” Heart beating fast, for a demon with level five spells was a terribly dangerous opponent should something go wrong, Dorothy set the tray down in such a way that her body shielded it. Then she took off the lid, carefully lifted the bowl in both hands, came close enough that she couldn’t possibly miss, and threw the mercury over the Witch’s face and neck.
“No!” the Witch screamed in surprise and horror as steam began to pour from her body. “How did you know quicksilver would be the end of me?”
“I read the book in the tower,” answered Dorothy.
“Well, in a few minutes I shall be all melted, and you will have the castle to yourself. I have been wicked in my day, but I never thought a little girl like you would ever be able to melt me and end my wicked deeds. Look out—here I go!”
With these words the Witch fell down in a brown, melted, shapeless mass and began to spread over the bedspread. Seeing that she had really melted away to nothing, Dorothy shook the last few drops of mercury over the mess. She then hurried to free Toto, who jumped into her arms, licking her face eagerly.
You have slain the Wicked Witch of the East!
Exp gain 140,000.
You are now level 9.
You have 1 Attribute point to spend. You have 3 Skill points to spend.
You have unlocked level 5 Spells.
You may now cast:
5 level 1 Spells
3 level 2 Spells
2 level 3 Spells
2 level 4 Spells
1 level 5 Spell
It seemed clear to Dorothy that the Attribute point should be assigned to Intelligence, to increase her mana pool.
Dorothy, level 9 Sorceress
HP 49 Mana 108
Str 7
Int 16
Wis 11
Con 7
Dex 7
Cha 13
Next, being at last free to do as she chose, she ran out to the courtyard to tell the Lioness that the Wicked Witch of the West had come to an end, and that they were no longer prisoners in a strange land.
Chapter XIII
The Rescue
The Cowardly Lioness was much pleased to hear that the Wicked Witch had been melted by a bowl of quicksilver, and Dorothy at once unlocked the gate of her prison and set her free. They went in together to the castle, where Dorothy’s first act was to call all the Winkies together and tell them that they were no longer slaves.
There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for they had been made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch, who had always treated them with great cruelty. They kept this day as a holiday, then and ever after, and spent the time in feasting and dancing.
“If our friends, the Scarecrow and the Tin Woman, were only with us,” said the Lioness, “I should be quite happy.”
“Don’t you suppose we could rescue them?” asked the girl anxiously.
“We can try,” answered the Lioness.
So they called the yellow Winkies and asked them if they would help to rescue their friends, and the Winkies said that they would be delighted to do all in their power for Dorothy, who had set them free from bondage. She chose a number of the Winkies from those who were at least level 1, and they all started away. They traveled that day and part of the next until they came to the rocky plain where the Tin Woman lay, all battered and bent. Her axe was near her, but the blade was rusted and the handle broken off short.
The Winkies lifted her tenderly in their arms, and carried her back to the Yellow Castle again, Dorothy shedding a few tears by the way at the sad plight of her old friend, and the Lioness looking sober and sorry. When they reached the castle Dorothy said to the Winkies:
“Are any of your people tinsmiths?”
“Oh, yes. Some of us are very good tinsmiths,” they told her.
“Then bring them to me,” she said. And when the tinsmiths came, bringing with them all their tools in baskets, she inquired, “Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woman, and bend her back into shape again, and solder her together where she is broken?”
The tinsmiths looked the Tin Woman over carefully and then answered that they thought they could mend her so she would be as good as ever. So they set to work in one of the big yellow rooms of the castle and worked for three days and four nights, hammering and twisting and bending and soldering and polishing and pounding at the legs and body and head of the Tin Woman, until at last she was straightened out into her old form, and her joints worked as well as ever. To be sure, there were several patches on her, but the tinsmiths did a good job, and as the Tin Woman was not a vain woman she did not mind the patches at all.
When, at last, she walked into Dorothy’s room and thanked her for being rescued, she was so pleased that she wept tears of joy, and Dorothy had to wipe every tear carefully from her face with her apron, so her joints would not be rusted. At the same time Dorothy’s own tears fell thick and fast at the joy of meeting her old friend again, and these tears did not need to be wiped away. As for the Lioness, she wiped her eyes so often with the tip of her tail that it became quite wet, and she was obliged to go out into the courtyard and hold it in the sun till it dried.
“If we only had the Scarecrow with us again,” said the Tin Woman, when Dorothy had finished telling her everything that had happened, “I should be quite happy.”
“We must try to find him,” said the girl.
So she called the Winkies to help her, and they walked all that day and part of the next until they came to the tall tree in the branches of which the Winged Monkeys had tossed the Scarecrow’s clothes.
It was a very tall tree, and the trunk was so smooth that no one could climb it; but the Tin Woman said at once, “I’ll chop it down, and then we can get the Scarecrow’s clothes.”
Now while the tinsmiths had been at work mending the Tin Woman herself, another o
f the Winkies, who was a goldsmith, had made an axe-handle of solid gold and fitted it to the Tin Woman’s axe, instead of the old broken handle. Others polished the blade until all the rust was removed and it glistened like burnished silver. A grandmaster tinsmith then added the Eversharp condition.
As soon as she had spoken, the Tin Woman began to chop, and in a short time the tree fell over with a crash, whereupon the Scarecrow’s clothes fell out of the branches and rolled off on the ground.
Dorothy picked them up and had the Winkies carry them back to the castle, where they were stuffed with nice, clean straw: and behold! Here was the Scarecrow, as good as ever, thanking them over and over again for saving him.
Now that they were reunited, Dorothy reformed the party group and her friends spent a few happy days at the Yellow Castle, where they found everything they needed to make them comfortable.
But one day the girl thought of Aunt Em, and said, “We must go back to Oz, and claim his promise.”
“Yes,” said the Tin Woman, “at last I shall get my Paladin class restored.”
“And I shall get my Intelligence,” added the Scarecrow joyfully.
“And I shall get my Rage,” said the Lioness thoughtfully.
“And I shall get back to Kansas,” cried Dorothy, clapping her hands. “Oh, let us start for the Emerald City tomorrow!”
This they decided to do. The next day they called the Winkies together and bade them good-bye. The Winkies were sorry to have them go, and they had grown so fond of the Tin Woman that they begged her to stay and rule over them and the Yellow Land of the West. Finding they were determined to go, the Winkies gave Toto and the Lioness each a golden collar of +2 Charisma; and to Dorothy they presented a beautiful bracelet studded with diamonds with a + 2 Armor Class bonus; and to the Scarecrow they gave a gold-headed Walking Stick of +5 Acrobatics, to keep him from stumbling; and to the Tin Woman they offered a silver oil-can, inlaid with gold and set with precious jewels and filled with Oil of Evasion.
The Wonderful LitRPG Wizard of Oz (LitRPG Classics Book 1) Page 9
