Ulkatel 14th, 989 IaC
- Bursting through the front doors of Cloverhall in early evening, Erdo Elfast recruited the Initates Caedali, Lambchop, Ilryn Dewsong, Steve Moran, and Merjquinallurjafrey Acridoneypso to assist him with a supposed mission of revenge
- Immediately departing, Erdo escorted the party to the edge of the Scratchwood, making camp for the night
- After pestering Erdo, the group settled in for the night, keeping a close watch on the Scratchwood's border
Ulkatel 15th, 989 IaC
- The party ventured through the forest, attempting to keep quiet and far from its various dangers
- At nightfall, the group made camp, with Erdo establishing a perimeter with a string and bells
- Lambchop set a bear trap, believing there to be a "golden squirrel" in the woods
- Into the night, Steve and Cora spotted a faintly bobbing light through the trees of the forest, but thought better than to investigate it
- Cora woke Erdo, who grumpily lined the perimeter with salt and went back to sleep
- During Merja's watch, a strange creature with a head of light and a rotting human body approached the line of salt, questioning if she was alone, and asking her to let it in
- The creature began to push up against an invisible wall made by the salt
- Intruiged but disturbed, Marja eventually woke up Cora, and seeing the halfing wake, the creature vanished into the night
Ulkatel 16th, 989 IaC
- The party asked about the creature from the previous night, and Erdo identified it as a Valfither, otherwise known as a witherer
- Erdo suggested the party not touch it.
- The party continued to forge deeper into the woods, passing by a strange, vaguely lupine creature that Erdo assured the party was harmless.
- The small forest path the party was taking eventually connected with a larger one, flanked by colorful flowers
- Lambchop decided to take some of the flowers, receiving a foreboding shiver after doing so
- Following the flower path for a time, the group came to a clearing with a large rock in the center with felled trees blocking the paths, which Steve discerned were likely dragged from elsewhere
- Sensing something was off, the party approached cautiously, eventually spotting a large human attempting to hide behind a rock as Lambchop yelled out for their attention
- Erdo became nervous, as if he didn't expect to meet any bandits, drawing the suspicion of the party
- The party attempted to surprise the bandits by sneaking around the rock, but combat broke out as Cora attempted to climb the rock and was met with a blade in her face
- The party met the apparently cannibalistic "bandits" in battle
- As Erdo and Lambchop circled around to meet an angry sickle-wielding bandit in battle, Cora was knocked off the cliff as the apparently leader jumped down to engage her
- Ilryn managed to kill the fat bandit with a Thunderwave, drawing the ire of a burly bandit that slashed at her with dual shortswords and spoke of eating her
- Merja and Steve peppered the bandit leader with spells as Cora stabbed into his, pissing him off as he revealed a strange spear that turned to pure radiant energy in the bandit's hand
- After taking significant damage and having his red bandanna cut off by Cora's sword, the leader's form changed to a strangely lithe one, complete with long, pointed ears and eyebrows that spread out off of his face
- The leader suddenly began weaving magic spells, disappearing in a cloud of mist and reappearing on top of the rock
- Following commands from the leader to "bleed them", Ilryn, Erdo and Lambchop suffered severe wounds that began to bleed profusely
- Going toe to toe with the burly bandit, Ilryn began to retreat back towards the party as she fell low on health
- Backed up by Merja and Steve, the burly bandit was taken down
- Erdo and Lambchop managed to take down the sickle bandit after some heavy wounds and then went to hunt down an archer hiding in the treeline
- The archer then ran towards the leader, who had just finished impaling Cora with with spear of light and jumping off the rock
- As Cora attempted to follow and fell flat on her face while jumping off the rock herself, the bandit leader killed the archer, tearing out his heart and eating it
- The party converged on the leader as he attempted to run, stating that he would kill them all, either in this life or the next
- Lambchop was forced to run in fear after being subjected to a enchantment
- Finally brought down with a Firebolt from Merja, the leader fell dead to the ground.
- As the party began to recover, the corpse of the bandit leader started to become enveloped in a strange, milky chrysalis that appeared to glow slightly
- The party tore through the carapace, and Lambchop lopped off one of the corpse's hands
- Suddenly, the spear of light that was still embedded in Cora's chest reverted back to its prior state, causing her severe internal trauma and forcing her unconcious
- Lambchop, with Steve's help, was able to stabilize Cora by moving the spear out of her lung, but refrained from pulling it all the way out without a healer
- Lambchop then set the chrysalis on fire, which burned through the corpse for a while as the group took a short rest
- Despite being burned, the chrysalis continued to manifest, and Steve discerned that it was powered by many different types of magic after casting a Detect Magic spell
- The group resorted to burying the carapace after Lambchop noticed it was filling up with acid, and Erdo peed on it
- Erdo came clean about his true intentions; he sought the help of an oracle in the forest to provide him with information about the creature that killed his best friend, Jumps Through Lies
- Erdo revealed that he is a compulsive liar, and wanted the party's help to protect him in this dangerous area of the forest
- The party continued on, and Cora eventually awoke in Lambchop's arms, in severe pain
- Eventually, the group made it to a strange hut lit by a fire from the inside
- A terrified Erdo had Lambchop go in first, and he began asking about his golden squirrel
- The rest of the party cautiously filtered in, as they met with a strange, gross old lady swaddled in furs and old blankets
- Erdo offered a strange, wriggling sack to the lady, and she revealed the name of the creature that killed his friend, a Lathotas
- The woman noted that the beast was not native to the forests here, and that it was enraged by strange magic
- Erdo was too terrified to ask for more info, and thanked the woman for her help
- Lambchop again spoke of his golden squirrel as the woman admonished him for attempting to hunt in her forest and picking her flowers
- After Lambchop offered the hand of the bandit leader, the woman happily accepted and told Lambchop of a cairn located in the western side of the forest, past the river, known as the Foxmoon Cairn
- Merja offered some of her pottery, which the woman took and sniffed, asking if it could store a soul
- Merja affirmed this, but her attitude rubbed the woman the wrong way, and she declined it, with Merja leaving it anyways, not wishing to take it back covered in snot and saliva
- The party left the hut, heading back to town
- Erdo was very silent on the return trip, which took til the 18th
Ulkatel 18th, 989 IaC
- The party arrived back in town, returning to Cloverhall where Erdo paid each Initiate 20 gold, flipping Cora an extra 5 for her injury
- Erdo offered a half apology for the circumstances, and rushed out the front door, claiming he had someone to meet
- A half orc sitting at the tables introduced himself as Rorug, and managed to squeeze out some information about Lambchop's golden squirrel from him
- The peculiar individual stated that he studied ruins
- The group then rushed over to the Righteous Pilgrim, where Cora's wound was addressed, and the spear removed with clerical magic by Lasley Yonnelfield
- Finally, the group retired back to Cloverhall and began to rest