Part I
At the hollow tree the party found two notes. The first one thanked them for buying the weapons, unfortunately they were weapons that the resistance had stolen from them recently. It was likely the thieves guild stole them and resold them too. The last part of the note asked them to travel to the crossroads south of Winnowing Reach and meet up with other resistance members.
The second note was scribbled quickly urging them to leave immediately for the crossroads and get there as quick as possible. Someone or something needed to be escorted to Winnowing Reach, the opportunity may have passed already. Without a moment to lose the party left, Cyrus going with them this time, leaving Max to stay with their unnamed guest.
Normally what would have been at least a three day trip, the party covered in half the time, several of them arriving exhausted. They were met by a hedge who introduced himself as Quill Parkit. After some awkward conversation and introductions trying to figure out if everyone was with the resistance, a cervan named George came out and looked them over. He walked a little ways away and stood for a minute before returning and saying their descriptions checked out with M.
The party was led to a camp in the woods that was well hidden. Along with Quill and George there were three other folk waiting for a package to be delivered. Quill didn't know what was in the package, but looked at George when he said this like George might know and wasn't talking.
The party learned a bit more about the resistance as they waited days for the package to arrive from Saltar's Port. The leadership of the resistance had been based in Alderheart but roughly three weeks ago the gnolls rounded up many of the members. Much of the top leadership was captured or killed and the resistance was struggling to reorganize itself.
Dúne asked about his father who'd left for Alderheart, Quill and George had never heard of him. Quill do know of Dúne's sister in Brackenmill, he'd been very active in the resistance there. He said she was alive when he'd left.
The party took turns sharing watch, day and night waiting for the package. When it did arrive (by a humblefolk on horse) the group immediately left for Winnowing Reach. Thanks to Snow's knowledge of bandit trails, they traveled through the woods making good time. Along the way Dune noticed three gnolls were following them. After a quick debate of whether to outrun them or kill them, the group set an ambush killed the gnolls without much trouble.
Everyone agreed, it was unlikely to be a coincidence that gnolls found them in the forest. Quill asked if anyone had been identified as members or suspected members of the resistance, everyone denied it. George came over and asked why Dune, Snow, Amichai, Cyrus, and Adina all glowed with transmutation magic. They explained the explosion in Wolpertinger Caves which seemed to satisfy everyone.
Quill called for a vote of whether to slow down and be more careful or continue a fast pace. All agreed, fast was better. Once it got dark they came upon some ruins and they stopped for a short rest. Cyrus and Stitches (the other mapach) patrolled the perimeter while everyone else took a break.
It was quiet, with nothing suspicious happening when Stitches pitched forward, dead, with an arrow in his back. Cyrus quickly pulled him back to the rest of the party who was nearby. Stitches was hearty enough a single arrow shouldn't have killed him. Quill did a quick examination as everyone got their gear ready to go. There was poison on the arrow and Quill said the The Scorpion, the Scorpion, must be out there. His voice shook, betraying his fear.
Part II
Quill sent the party north to draw off the enemies and planned on taking George and the others a bit south, hoping to regroup. The plan partially worked as the party quickly encountered gnolls and attacked. Half a minute into the fight there was a loud howl to the south and the three gnolls immediately left and ran toward it. This allowed the party to finish them off just as a fireball lit up the sky. Moments later George found them and he said everyone else was either dead or worse, captured. They immediately set out for the spider ruins.
Upon arriving they were very cautious, searching the area as quietly as they could. George said they were supposed to have some horses and wagons there for the rest of the journey to Winnowing Reach. The party found the wagons hidden in some underbrush (no sign of horses), an old teleportation circle that had been covered up, and a rock in the walls of the ruins with the message, "For K" scratched on it. George had stayed behind and when they went back to him they overheard him talking to someone, saying there must have been a traitor in the group. When asked who he was talking to, he said just himself.
George inspected the rock with the message and suggested everyone stay a safe distance away in case it was trapped. When he came out, he had two healing potions and one potion of greater restoration. Someone had left these for them, or for the resistance anyway. He also took off an arm band and gave it to Amichai saying it was an Armband of Healing.
They sat down to wait and talked for a bit. George said the resistance suffered a terrible blow when everyone was rounded up in Alderheart. Very few got out and he assumed someone had turned traitor and informed the gnolls. When asked who his guess was, he said look to the survivors first, likely it was one of them. George admitted, the resistance was pretty much starting over.
By now, the party wanted more concrete answers, and wanted to know if they could fully trust George. Amichai cast zone of truth, and each party member stepped in and stated they never had and never will collaborate with the gnolls. George did the same. They asked him if he was talking to Kuato earlier and he admitted he was. They asked what race Kuato was and he declined to answer, saying that the resistance preferred to keep that a secret for now, for safety reasons.
He showed them the item he'd been delivered, the Eye of Anubis, an artifact of the gnolls that the resistance knew was a sentient magic item. The gnolls didn't know it had been stolen yet, and the plan was to get to Winnowing Reach where the resistance knew of an small anti-magic zone under one of their safe houses. It could be safely hidden there and the resistance could decide what to do with it later.
A short time later the teleportation circle lit up and a corvum named Laney came through with horses. He said Kuato told him George was here and ready to go. He also said something had happened at The Avium, but he didn't have much information. Whatever it was it had the gnolls worried, and nothing had been heard from Xander Zibbik. George told him to get word to Kuato if he learns anything more, and Laney went back through the teleportation circle.
The party was off with the wagons going as fast as they felt safe. Several were feeling exhausted from being on the run for over 24 hours straight. A group of gnolls with chariots set upon the party. Gritting their teeth, the party started killing the horses of the gnolls as the quickest way to defeat them and get away. The last two gnolls were dealt with by Cyrus, who jumped onto their chariot and sent them flying out the back with a series of swift kicks and punches.
After a long rest, the party snuck their way into Winnowing Reach the next night and found the safe house. A group of four gnolls were carrying in what looked like cases of wine bottles, everyone agreed it looked like the safe house was compromised. It turned out the gnolls were placing bottles of alchemist fire in the house which they lit and the house burst in flames. The party moved quickly, killing the gnolls, Amichai used divine magic to put out the flames, and everyone quickly searched for the hidden door that led to the anti-magic zone. It took a moment to find and they wasted no time getting the Eye of Anubis placed there just as alarm bells were beginning to sound. Their mission complete, they lit the safe house back on fire and left town.
The party took George back to their camp south of Meadowfen and then showed him Wolpertinger Caves, as a possible new base for the Resistance. Leading up to the caves were numerous signs written in Gnoll, warning everyone to stay away from the cave, it was cursed. There were religious symbols drawn all over them too.
Inside the cave everything looked fine, because the game was running late and the DM decided not to have the roper attack which might have TPKed the party. Opportunity lost, don't worry, there will be other opportunities. Meanwhile, George like the look of the caves with the large meeting area and some places for quarters not too far away. He also appreciated the anti-magic circle, which he thought the party should have mentioned when they realized the safe house was compromised. The party looked at the ground, mumbled, and shuffled their feet.